#all I do is compare panels and lose my mind

[no-brain-just-akutagawa]

Thinking about Dazai's memories

I think it's interesting how we basically got two sets of Dazai's memories within 3 months, so since I analyzed the Beast ones, I thought I'd analyze these as well. As always it's just me rambling under the cut, and remember guys that below there are spoilers from everything up until this point!

The first memory memory we see is a completely new one. I love it when montages use new memories instead of simply reusing what was shown before, so I appreciate this little scene. Their outfits are taken from chapter 31 and seeing Chuuya in these clothes was so strangely nostalgic. The only difference is that Dazai has his arm broken instead of his leg. Also I like how young they look here. They're just kids annoying each other just like Dazai is saying in the background.

The second memory I'm pretty sure is also one of the new scenes we haven't seen before. It looks like Fifteen, but I don't recognize this background and the closest illustration I could find is the one from the light novel. Maybe it's supposed to show how they gained confidence and were ruling the city (judging by the building in the background), but yeah that's all I have.

After that I noticed a scene from chapter 31 in bottom left. It's taken right from the manga with no changes besides Chuuya's jacket being coloured in. Considering Dazai's fascination with corruption, it makes sense that it appears in his memories. Here, it's been 4 years since they fought together and it's the first time Dazai could observe Chuuya being possessed in a long time. Interestingly, it's not corruption in its peak that's portrayed here but the moment when Dazai is bringing Chuuya back to his senses. With the context of this chapter, it might mean that Dazai wants to protect Chuuya and despite liking danger and sending Chuuya to fight directly, he cares about him.

Bottom right seems to be from chapter 31 as well, just slightly changed. And that also makes sense because these are supposed to be his memories, so he might not remember each detail perfectly. It's the moment when Dazai sends Chuuya into action, which is something I already mentioned. Dazai likes to see Chuuya fight and to tease him, and this chapter had both.

With this next one I have no idea which scene it could be. I'm like 75% sure it's from their first meeting after 4 years back in chapters 10 and 11, but it's a reach. We only have Dazai's legs, a bit of his coat and Chuuya's shoulder, so there's not a lot to work with. But it does make sense for it to be from their first meeting after 4 years, because it was important for them both. Dazai stayed in that dungeon partially because he wanted to talk with Chuuya and this is what this memory could be alluding to. My first thought was Dazai leaving Chuuya behind after Oda's death, but I don't think he got his coat right this soon.

Then we have one of the most iconic skk scenes from Storm Bringer. Not to spoil it too much, but in this scene Chuuya decides to save Yokohama even if it means never getting to know if he's a human being. In this scene he trusts Dazai's plan and goes into action, something Dazai must be looking back at fondly. I kinda wish we had the scene in which he catches Chuuya after the fight, but I guess it would be too fluffy for this angsty chapter.

And I left 2 memries that I thought were the most interesting additions for last. The firts one being this scene from Dead Apple and I'm so happy that it made it here for a few reasons. First of all now we have a proof that Dead Apple is canon in the manga. I know it was canon before, but it wasn't mentioned or anything, so there was this shadow of doubt. Now, it's 100% canon. The other reason is that I'd love to see Dead Apple with Harukawa's art style and it's great that we now have this scene even though it's just a shadow. I wondered how it would be shown in the main manga and now I don't have to anymore. It also looks way more desperate than in the movie or Dead Apple manga, because of the wind and how Chuuya reaches his arm to Dazai before he punches him. It's also most likely Dazai's imagination, since he was unconscious when it happened.

And last but absolutely not least (on the contrary, I wanted to hype it up), we have one of the most iconic skk scenes, and here comes the question, is it even from Fifteen? Because as we can see, the positions of hands are swapped and Dazai isn't wearing this brace type of thing on his arm. This scene isn't in the original light novel, so either Asagiri and Harukawa were like screw it, we're adding it to the canon or it's a different instance. And if it's a different situation, then what was this fight? It's also possible that the positions are switched because it's Dazai's pov not Chuuya's like in the anime. Either way hand-holding is now canon and I'm so happy about this fact.

In conclusion

Dazai's memories with Chuuya seem to be a mix of their fights with enemies and some other moments they shared as well, putting an emphasis not on the fights themselves (since there are no other people and they aren't in combat stances), but their connection throught them. I wish we got to see more scenes, but I understand going overboard could be on overkill, especially if it's just a cliffhanger death meant to fool us. It's hard to judge Dazai's reaction, because he could be putting on a show, but it also seems to be genuine and cherishing these memories would make sense for his character. I'm so glad we got to see this little peek into Dazai's mind and his memories, and now I want more.

[daedelweiss]

“LIFE MISSION: SAVE MY BROTHERS” 💖 The Red Knight’s Mission (Episode 1: The Buried Memory Page 28-41)

and, finally, the last set for this episode. this was actually harder to get through compared to the rest of the sets, physically and emotionally 😭 drawing leo grieving broke me and i cried like a baby sketching that panel. i wish i could add more panels in but i didn't want to drag out the comic too long and give myself too much work. it was supposed to play out similarly to "E-Turtle Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" where leo's memories pushed back against him to avoid painful memories but i feel like that would've destroyed the vibe and somberness of the softer moments. plus it'll make the episode much MUCH longer. also leo didn't actually lose the colors of his scarf. it was more for symbolic reasons. and if the last panel of page 35 looks familiar, i took inspiration from the movie and imitated the expression mikey had when he tried to open the portal for the third time to save leo. (no, i did not trace it) it may or may not be foreshadowing for later 🤭 and yeah, the comic will be taking a hiatus……. to make more of the comic 😂 dw it's not for mental health or personal life reasons… actually it's partly that because i have an upcoming VISA interview 😭 bUT i'll still be making LM stuff behind the scenes, dw >:3 next episode won't be as drama or action packed as this one but… we will meet raph for the first time 👀 i'm really rEALLY excited to work more on the comic, and that's TWO reallys! i just hope y'all will be patient with me because it is no easy feat working on this. i love it but i'm only one person, after all 😄 thank you so so much for supporting this comic again! comments and shares are very much appreciated! 💖 BEGINNING / PREV / NEXT EPISODE (coming this april) •

( 🌿 please do NOT repost, edit, trace, use, and/or sell 🌿 )

[jarpadswalker]

Part II

I am back to answer the rest of the two questions related to Jensen and the prequel gate...

About my views on Jensen... Early on, especially when I started following con panels and attended two myself. I became Jared girl, Jensen, for me, was an accessory. He was just like any actor, nothing special. When I met him, I knew instantly that though it is an informal event, it is all business for him. Now, it wouldn't have meant much because I am used to actors' behavior, but for me, the behavior stood out coz I had just met Jared, who was the big ball of energy. So meeting Jensen immediately after Jared was like someone sucked the energy out. This is exactly why, for the next day, I kept Jared at the last because I wanted to end my day with the positivity.

So I didn't mind Jensen as he didn't come across as rude or insulting like Misha, nor was he amiable like Jared. He was just like any actor.

For me, the first red flag came during AKF and YANA debacle, which is when I realised that Jensen is not how he appears to be. He is very calculative and shrewd. He supported YANA despite knowing it was a blatant copy for AKF. Still, I said fine you launch YANA. There is no copyright on supporting MH more the support better it is. BUt, Misha and Jensen were totally insincere with the campaign. They didn't take efforts to understand the gravity of the situation nor gave any thoughts on how the campaign was being presented. It was clear that YANA was nothing but a money minting project for M, Jensen, and CW. The worst was when the campaign failed, Jensen bailed, leaving Misha alone to take the fall. He didn't have balls to stand up for the project that was supposedly important to him. The moment it failed, he went. Nope, I wasn't interested in it, I just did it to help M. Everything was M's idea.

Since then, I started doubting Jensen intentions and didn't believe a word he said. I realise that he is opportunist. The moment he sees profit into something, he latches to it. Not only that, but even in terms of putting effort, he does the bare minimum, but when it comes to appreciation, he is first to take credit.

My doubts were confirmed with Prequelgate. At first, the sheer unprofessionalism was appalling, but I thought there might be some miscalculation. He won't stan Jared immediately after the end of the show. But that illusion broke when Kripke tweeted, apologizing Jared and stating that he assumed Jensen must have informed Jared. It proved that whatever Jensen did was intentional. He always wanted to own the SPN brand. I think somewhere it always hurt Jensen that despite being senior in the craft, it was Jared, a conparatively young actor who got the lead. Jared was always in the forefront when it came to media attention. If you have time, then just compare the kind of media that gave coverage to Jared and Jensen and the amount of time they do it, at least during SPN. Jared, with his extrovert attitude, is mainstream media fave. So I feel it was deliberate. He was to slyly make the brand for himself, and he knew he would lose Jared's fan if he told the truth. So he lied about Jared. When he was called out, like a coward, he once again ran and hid.

What is the worst was the MR podcast that showed the world hus true face. Instead of apologizing, he tried to shift the blame on Jared. Which was the dick move and then his constant lying and changing the reason as to why he didn't inform Jared. It was when I lost all the respect for him. In fact, according to me, at that point, he seemed worse than Musha. With Misha, we knew what to expect, but Jensen pretended to be a friend/brother and then backstabbed the said brother. Such people are the worst.

Post prequelgate, Jensen behavior came to light. Things that were ignored becoz his association with Jared came to like. It became quiet telling how Jensen never supported Jared. How he never asked his fans not to hate on Jared PS, immediately after prequelgat Jared actually asked fans not to hate Jensen. Jensen never extended the same courtesy. In fact, he piled on to the hate by making sparky comments. He would always diss Jared. How he never took ant effort to make Jared feel special, not even during his birthday. How he always used Jared and then dissed him from everything . How he would steal Jared's jokes and ideas and pass it as his own.

Infact, now when I look back I feel Jensen always tried to one up Jared. See, everything that he has done it is immediately after Jared. Jared shifted to Austin and bought a house with open field and stuff, Jensen immediately shifted to Austin and bought the house at the lake front. Jared entered pub business with San Jac salon and curated an alcohol with Stephen, Jensen started FBBC. PS: Jensen had zero idea about beer , nor did he bother to learn about it. Unlike Jared, who studied the entire market. Gen started her influencer journey, Dannel tried to copy it and, when she failed, resorted to dissing Gen like a child. Jared and Gen got into production, and so did Jensen and D. He has always copied Jared. Even now, Jensen is trying to copy Jared's long hair look. Over the year, he has seen how Jared long hair look has been appreciated, so he is now trying to copy it. He couldn't do it earlier because producers and directors didn't allow him to. Now we know why they did, Jensen looks like cheap motel pimp.

[super-paper]

:re your tags about body motifs in bnha got me curious about something. I can think off the top of my head several examples of how this applies to the trio, and a couple more about how this applies to AFO. But can I ask you to expand on how the eye motif is present in AFO specifically? The hands and mouth are obvious, but I can't say I've ever picked up on the symbolism around eyes when it comes to him. Well, unless you're referring to that scene with the sensors in Tartarus. But I'm curious if there's more that I missed, and since I'm a slut about themes and symbolism (and the eye theme relating to the todofam in particular), I would love a deep dive into it and how they're connected, if you don't mind sharing, of course 👀 Really love your meta btw

Thank youu~!

Yea, the eyes def receive less focus overall compared to the emphasis placed on AFO's mouth/hands-- but I feel that AFO's association with eyes is still pretty important even if they don't get as much focus, and the rare scenes where we -do- get to focus on his eyes + his relationship with eyes do a lot for his character.

↑ Breaking down AFO's character design to its barest essentials, you can see Hori more or less designed his "true" appearance with these three elements in mind: mouths, hands, and eyes. A perpetual mask-like grin, the stigmata marks to both hands, and completely blank white eyes. Hori uses the composition and lighting in his art to further emphasize these aspects, usually by placing focus on one part/motif at a time-- AFO is essentially introduced to us in pieces, bit by bit, body part by body part.

I would say act 1 focuses primarily on his hands, while act 2 shifts to focusing on his mouth/smile. The final act is where we finally start exploring AFO's relation to eyes-- and imo, Hori chose to focus on AFO's eyes last b/c AFO's eyes seem to be what connect him to his humanity and """true""" feelings:

Panels that emphasize AFO's eyes specifically are almost always tied to Yoichi! It's a neat and completely loaded little detail. In what's heavily implied to be the aftermath of Yoichi's death, we suddenly shift from obscuring AFO's eyes to obscuring his mouth-- the total reverse of how he's typically depicted during flashback scenes. His eyes (and tears) receive all the focus. The narration doesn't match or address what we're actually*seeing* in a fashion that's eerily similar to the way that Tomura narrates over the deaths of his family. There's a lot of set up here already, and I'm looking forward to see how it all ultimately pays off.

And if eyes are ultimately the motif that ties AFO to his humanity, then the lack of eyes throughout Act's 1 & 2 also feels intentional.

Blank eyes are also a design trait he shares with Twice (i.e. "Guy whose own quirk drove him to insanity and completely wrecked his sense of identity/individuality") and Sir Nighteye (i.e. "Guy whose quirk lets him see into the future of others, and the future he saw caused him to fall into despair and become a bitter husk of his former self")-- both characters are depicted w/ blank eyes for 90% of their screen time, but "gain" pupils during key scenes. Twice stands out in particular, bc Hori starts consistently drawing him with pupils immediately after he's able to verify his identity and overcome the trauma associated with his quirk.

Also worth mentioning: Jin kicks off his entire arc talking about the importance of knowing who you are and lamenting about the pains that come with losing sight of yourself/no longer being able to connect with or trust others, and he completes his arc by affirming that he knows exactly who he is and dedicating his heart completely to others. Nighteye's entire arc is about smashing past his fear of the future and the fear of change while *also* learning to value Mirio and Izuku as individuals instead of merely viewing them as vessels for OFA. Both arcs are very much relevant to AFO's whole deal as a character/antagonist and the overall theme(s) of MHA as a whole. Twice and Nighteye serve as semi-heroic foils to AFO who manage overcome the same shortcomings that AFO implicitly struggles with, specifically because they allowed themselves to care about others-- So imo it's neat that these three all share this particular design trait!

they're also the two characters whose deaths have the most narrative impact outside of Yoichi and Nana/The Shimura Fam (whoops)

The final act has also been placing more and more emphasis on how a person's eyes look when they finally get to be their best selves and follow their dreams, and how they sparkle and shine when they think about their origins and their hopes for the future (and I've talked about how this contrasts with Tomura's fairly dead-eyed expression whenever he talks about his "dreams" of destroying everything before (link!), so I'm pretty pleased that the narrative is now calling attention to how a person's eyes look + making the total lack of ~shine~ in Tomura's eyes a very intentional thing).

AFO addresses this directly-- on the surface, he appears to be echoing Touya's desire to be "seen" and expresses resentment that people aren't looking at him. But where Touya longs to be seen in a way that truly validates his humanity and reason for existing, AFO instead wants to be "seen" as something completely devoid of those human qualities. Dabi wants people to see Touya, Mysterious Shigaraki X only wants people to see "AFO." He wants to be a looming, mythical figure who blots out the sun itself-- and when people look towards their future, they should only be seeing a path that ends with him and him alone:

This sequence will never not be thematically relevant

Tomura, Himiko, and Touya all desire the basic human connections that are associated with Hands/Mouths/Eyes. Even as they continue to lash out and use their respective motifs in increasingly violent/self-destructive ways, their core desire never changes. The desire to be touched gently, the desire to be spoken to like a normal girl, and the desire to be truly seen-- that longing for human intimacy (and who they ultimately seek understanding/intimacy from) betrays what their true desires are more than anything else.

AFO shares the same body motifs as the hero and villain trios, but he's a corrupted version of those motifs and represents what hands/mouths/eyes are capable of at their absolute worst. AFO doesn't truly "see" others. AFO doesn't see people as individuals, he only sees them as extensions of himself or as bit-part "roles" to be played out in his increasingly off-the-rails real people fanfiction. AFO doesn't want people to look to the future or even attempt looking beyond him. AFO doesn't want anyone to see what lies behind his shadowy mask and the AFO persona. AFO counts on society to avert their eyes from problems and pretend they don't see, so he can swoop in and play the benevolent savior to those who have been abandoned. AFO doesn't want anyone to see "Tenko," he only wants them to see "Shigaraki." Et cetera et cetera et cetera.

Anyway--!!

There's also the underlying implication that AFO wants everyone to have eyes that are just like his:

Blank. Empty. Completely devoid of spark and soul, pushed past the brink of total despair, with no hope whatsoever for a future.

[creativewildflowers]

Tea & Cake [P2 / ?]

the conversation derails...oops!

it'll get back on track worry not

funniest part of this is TDP saying "I'm not prying into your life" as he's doing literally just that /j

some more explanation:

1) in my mind, TDP would in fact know of places like the Runelords labyrinth that schezo ended up at as a kid. he probably knew of the Runelord himself as well, and noticed long ago the "corruption" that trailed along with schezo wherever he went, he just chose not to say anything until this conversation came up

2) technically arle does know of the whole "losing head" thing, but schezo has pretty much assumed she's either forgotten it or moved past it considering she's much better now all things considered, hence why he says nobody knows

3) ever since I read about schezo's dynamic with the Runelord and how he doesn't want to BE him, even though he supposed to be carrying on that legacy, I've always wanted to do something like this where he initially gets compared before insisting he's not. and he never will be. he is his own person after all, and honestly if you look at his improvement from the madou games compared to now it's definitely noticeable!

there will be a happy ending to this I swear <3 it's a longer project of mine so!

this one came quicker since it's a lot of similar panels :] this updates focus was mostly movement & expression practice!

I actually find that TDP of all the people out there being able to sympathize with Schezos struggle is very compelling- especially considering in more recent games where he's trying not to be so clingy, but also gets the idea of immediately being deemed "evil" usually first purely because of his past (see his breakdown in the PPT games when arle initially blames the disaster on him for instance)

which is why I thought that he'd be the best for this conversation!

(ignore that the title still hasn't come into play that'll be next update)

[ @fluffernauto because you wanted an @ for updates ! ]

[argumentalist]

The grandaddy Gundam, and the grandaddy of all Real Grade kits...

I really enjoyed the RG Zaku II I built, so I had to get another Real Grade kit. And I figured I ought to start from the very beginning, with RG01, so I could see how the line has evolved.

Imagine my surprise when Bandai announced a 2.0 version of this kit. Now I'm eagerly waiting to get my hands on that one so I can compare the builds.

Once again, my mind was blown by the Advanced MS Joint runner. I just don't understand this thing. I can't wrap my head around the engineering needed to produce movable joints on a single runner like this.

But I also don't really understand the point... It's got to be expensive and time-consuming to make something like that. Wouldn't it be easier to just build a normal inner-frame?

I absolutely love the detail in this RG kit. Five tiny pieces to assemble a bit of ankle armor that'd be just one or two pieces in an HG kit.

Unfortunately that detail leads to increase complexity and some unfortunate compromises. This ankle armor, for example, makes the heel very weak. It's hard to get a good, solid pose out of the feet.

I thought I'd lost a piece for good.

I was putting this tiny little almost-invisible bit of grey plastic into the leg, slipped, and it just vanished. One moment it was there, the next it was gone.

I never heard it hit anything or land anywhere. I spent about an hour crawling around under my desk... But the plastic is the same color as my carpet. I thought for sue it was gone for good.

I ran the robovac overnight in a vague hope that it might find the piece... And it did! The next morning I emptied out the dustbin and there it was.

I need to work on my building and detailing process...

I like to do the panel-lining during the build. I find it easier to do before everything is completely assembled. But I later discovered that some of the decals were supposed to go over areas I'd panel-lined already.

Maybe I need to do decals during assembly too?

The detail, again, is just fantastic. I'm kind of stunned at what they can cram into this tiny little 1/144 scale model. So many different shades of color, tiny little bits of plastic, gimmicks. Little opening hatches and moving pieces of armor. Amazing.

There's even a tiny little transforming core fighter. It can fold up and go into the Gundam's torso - just like in the anime.

While I did build and fully detail the core fighter, I decided not to actually use it in the model. You lose a little bit of flexibility if you use the core fighter instead of the MS Joint part.

I thought it'd be a shame to use the included sticker-style decals on such an intricate model, so I grabbed some waterslide decals. These aren't anything special - just the official Bandai waterslides for the kit.

They're basically a duplicate of the sticker-style decals that are in the box. This means that everything is accurate... But you also get some weird, boring, flat versions of the metallic stickers from the box. I'm really not sure why you'd use those for anything.

And, of course, once the decals were done I had to topcoat the whole thing. I did a couple very light passes with the Mr. Hobby matte topcoat and I think it turned out well. Things still softened and blurred maybe a little more than I wanted them to... But the end result wasn't horrible.

Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed this build. I love the level of detail and complexity in the Real Grade line. It's absolutely fantastic.

Unfortunately the kit is a little soft and fragile once it's built. It's not falling apart on my desk... But it didn't like being handled much. I kept losing thruster bells off the backpack when I tried to pose it.

I'm eager to see what the 2.0 is like. How detailed it is. What they do (or don't do) with that MS Joint runner. How it'll compare to this grandaddy of grandaddies.

[mapsareforbraindeads]

omg wait do u have more thoughts on light having did cos i would love to hear abt it 🙏 the only time i ever see system light headcanons is in a really ableist way so i would love to hear ur perspective. sorry if this is a weird ask lol

no, it’s fine! ty for enabling me. anyways my thoughts are under the cut.

EXHIBIT A: CONFINEMENT

okay so anyone who’s even remotely into death note knows that light gets amnesia in the yotsuba arc. albeit, self inflicted, but still amnesia. while this instance of amnesia was supernatural and not caused by did, there are other aspects to his behavior that should be addressed. i want to point out his drastic changes in personality after giving up his memories. and no, these have nothing to do with the notebook.

as an example of this, let’s look at chapter 35, when light first loses his memory.

obviously, the many theories of light having an “evil kira alter” are false and extremely ableist. however, that doesn’t mean that another alter couldn’t have switched in at this moment.

take note of light’s thoughts after giving up the notebook. he thinks, “what am i doing here?” which i think was odd wording. after all, he knows why he’s there. he volunteered to be confined under suspicion of being kira. we know that he didn’t lose his memories of this because he constantly refers back to this action within the yotsuba arc. in fact, he references it again in the next panel.

the wording of, “what am i doing here?” rather than something such as, “why did i put myself here?” suggests that either multiple alters were co-conscious, or that a rapid switch took place as his memories were being rearranged.

although, this is not the only inconsistency within light’s wording. let’s look at the next few panels.

L responds to him and repeats light’s request for confinement accurately. instead of saying that he asked for confinement, light has to process his memories for a moment before agreeing with him. as a system myself, this is something i do constantly. it’s common for alters who suffer from blackout amnesia to have to think about when and why they could have said something that they don’t remember.

it’s also common for (usually undiscovered) systems to refute those claims with something like “something must have been wrong with me,” or “i would never say that,” like light did. again, i’m projecting, but the inconsistencies are obvious.

let’s go down the page again.

again, his demeanor shifts and he forgets why he’s in a cell. keep in mind that just a few minutes ago, he admitted that he asked for confinement himself. he knows why this is happening. his brain just won’t let him admit it.

EXHIBIT B: MASKING/FAMILY INTERACTIONS

i’m gonna be jumping around a bit throughout this section, so bear with me.

if there’s anyone who’s known light for a long time, it’s his family. and by extension, light knows them well too. they know light’s habits and light knows theirs. he tries to appear “normal” in his family’s eyes, but there are times when visible amnesia slips though the cracks.

let’s start in chapter 3.

light’s usual plan relies on him being a perfect son/brother to his family. he helps sayu with her homework, he wants to join his father in the police force, and he cares deeply for his mother.

now, in what world would light have to say that he’ll be cleaning his room, so he doesn’t want his mom to come in? we know that he starts locking his door after he obtains the death note, so why would he have to say this? especially when sachiko herself says that she hasn’t cleaned his room in years.

this may seem like a stretch, but this is likely either an alter that hasn’t fronted in years, or a simple lapse in memory caused by amnesia barriers. but it’s obvious that this interaction, and the others like it, are out of character for the light we know.

next, i’d like to compare and contrast two pages. one from chapter 3, and the other from chapter 9.

both of these statements from light are extremely contradictory. in chapter 3, light states that if he messes up, his only option would be to kill his family in order to remain active as kira. while in chapter 9, light says that if anything happens to his family, he would see to it that kira was executed. or rather, that he would cease activity or turn himself in.

one factor in his differing behavior is who he’s speaking to. in chapter 3, he speaks with ryuk and in chapter 9, he speaks with his family. obviously he’s more candid with ryuk, but ryuk himself states that light has a “soft spot” for his family and could never directly hurt them.

these pages show two different thought processes that light uses throughout the series. one that needs to protect the body at all costs through whatever means necessary, and one that prioritizes the lives of loved ones instead.

i could go deeper into this, but i don’t feel like it. i hope you enjoyed your essay 🫶🏻

[the-heart-of-a-monster]

I'm still midnight-the-ultima, i just changed my blog name

OKAY SO THERE IS SO MUCH I WANNA DISCUSS ABOUT THESE LAST FEW PAGES. Since I know how to reblog (And I will be reblogging a ton of ur stuff) properly now, I was planning on talking about it via that, but you may not see it so I chose to do an ask instead.

---

First up: The contrast!

There is a clear distinction between the themes of what's currently going on with Shadow and Sonic compared to Amy and Rouge. While the boys are sitting down and drinking some soup with a lovely village full of wonderful people, the girls are stuck wondering what's going on with their friend. They have to deal with a group of agents trying to take their buddy away from them, something they obviously don't want! Meanwhile, the guys are just having the time of their lives with each other! (Well not really, but this is probably the best night Sonic's had in a while!)

The way these stories are being told, back to-back within the same issue, is just such a great writing technique! The contrast is stunningly good!

It- I don't really know what else to say about it. So... MOVING ON I GUESS!

Next: People being mean to Omega

I really like Omega just because he's fun and shares my sense of humor, so seeing him get confiscated like this hurts me. (But in a good way)

uhm

uh

thats it

Numero Tres: wtf is even going on with this robot like huh?????

Aight I honestly have no clue, but I'll try and piece it together as I go. Bare with me.

So, the first sign of Omega seemingly getting "Hacked" was all the way back in issue 6, when the girls went with Omega to scout for any dangerous Dark Gaia monsters. This was when Amy discovered they could be peaceful creatures if given the chance to be. Omega charged in though, and from then on it just gets even more interesting!

As shown in the third panel of page 16, Omega's bullets and bombs don't do anything to harm the monsters. Poor guy is absolutely useless against them. This is because someone needs Dark Gaia energy within them to do any damage to them and thus absorb their energy. This is, similar to this issue, a stark contrast to Sonic earlier on in that same issue. Sonic was able to kill a group of giant monsters with ease, and even started eating their corpses when he was done absorbing their energy. (Maybe I'll get to that in a reblog who knows) But this bit is about Omega so we'll mostly forget about Sonic for now-

The point when Omega gets hacked may take place in the first panel of the very next page, or in the fourth panel of page 16. Either way, I think I know how exactly he got hacked.

The Gaia Monsters could sense that Omega was a robot, and chose to absorb themselves into him by force. Since these creatures work best with organic beings, which I'm pretty sure they know, this action screwed up Omega's internal workings and made him self-destruct. His body, while up in flames, was still somehow intact, so the Gaia monsters were still okay within his body. Meaning that once Rouge and Amy fix him up, he's still messed up.

Also, something I noticed about Omega when he imploded, was within the explosion itself. We see the eyes of the Dark Gaia monsters surrounding Omega while they're all grabbing him as he explodes. If this isn't possession foreshadowing or a sign that he isn't himself anymore, then idk what is.

This scenario perfectly ties into his character, though! As an Eggman robot with free will, Omega has a mind of his own. He refuses to let anyone control him, not even his own friends, which is a very good mentality for a war machine! When he goes along with Rouge and Amy, his first thought when seeing the creatures is to kill them all and show no mercy! (He loves violence, making him one of my fave characters instantly) Of course, when he begins losing his autonomy to the very same creatures he wishes to destroy, Omega would rather sacrifice everything about himself, even his own body, just to be rid of them. He may not have a brain, but Omega still wants all these monsters out of his head! And if destroying himself will do the trick, (Even if it doesn't) then he will gladly take that risk, as long as he still has his free will intact.

What could this mean for Omega moving forward? Uhm... idk, he loses his personality? He goes apeshit?? Is he gonna remain peaceful, like how the Gaia monsters were with Amy before Omega attacked?? I really don't know, as the author-

Also I wanna mention that I forgot about Omega's obvious hatred and negativity that the Gaia Monsters were able to feed off of, like what Amy mentioned. Whoops! I guess that explains how they managed to get inside his head.

So about him getting confiscated and being called an 'It," really depends on his behavior after this. If he's still on their side, I don't see a point to it. If he's not, then get him tf outta here ig

i may agree with Amy about calling Omega a person, because as stated before he does have his own free will and autonomy, but I do love the added touch of the agents arguing that he's literally just a malfunctioning war machine and nothing else. Really shows how on the fence we are about G.U.N. being a force of good or not.

OKAY I KNOW THIS IS REALLY SUPER LONG BUT THERE IS ONE MORE THING I WANNA MENTION BECAUSE IT HAS TO DO WITH BOTH SONIC AND OMEGA HERE-

RIGHT! So since my theory is that Omega has basically a buncha dead Gaia monsters swimming around inside his head, I literally just realized that it has to do with the whole theme of this book. Some people may not notice it because I sure didn't for a very long time, but I recognize the theme as "Having and keeping your autonomy, and accepting yourself as a person." We see this in every time Sonic doubts his own worth and autonomy, we see it whenever someone steps up to him and goes "No u wrong," and we see it in Omega as a character.

Compared to Sonic, Omega is completely confident in himself and he's well past his character development arc in terms of his autonomy. Omega has been reminded time and time again that he isn't just a robot, but a friend and an adversary. While he may be fine with being just a tool of destruction since that's basically all he wants in life, he is very much aware that he also has a soul somewhere inside of himself, and that he isn't a heartless monster. He has friends, whether he likes it or not, and is very confident in who he is.

Sonic is the exact opposite right now, unsure of himself and questioning how far he'd go during a fight. He wants to keep himself intact, wants to be this selfless, brave hero that everyone knows him to be. However, in this dream to keep being the person everyone thinks he is, Sonic is losing his sense of self and autonomy. He has been slowly going through more and more character development as time goes on and is carefully putting himself back together, bit by bit, but he still has yet to fully accept himself for the hero he truly is. Sonic still sees himself as a monster, something to be ashamed and afraid of, and can't yet tell which half of him is real and which one is fake. He hides all his insecurities away, tucking them into a tiny box and not letting them see the light of day.

The poor little guy is afraid, while Omega is confident. It's a complete contrast, like I mentioned before, and it's great storytelling!

okokokokokok that's finally it kaythxbye-

I AM LOOKING

im so excited for you to see where this is going

i also want to thank you so much for those essays i appreciate them sooo much it makes me sooo happy to read through them

[quill-n]

This picture always makes me lose my mind because Shinya is just. SO small compared to everyone he’s standing beside??? I know he’s not that small but he LOOKS small here.

Edgeshot. More like EdgeSHORT/lh

BGHHRG4HWHNAJSHHAAHSHDN YOU'RE RIGHT

He's so tiny compared to everyone else. They really are just looming over him. The downsides of being average height when all your colleagues are trees. If he wasn't a hero, he'd be a park ranger because he works with a fucking FOREST. The real reason he's so stealthy is because he's so short that everyone looks over him /j

Also, his specific scene makes me cackle because he's EVEN SHORTER IN THE MANGA LMAO

[ID] A panel from the BNHA manga, featuring Tiger, Endeavor, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, and All Might standing side by side. Edgeshot is significantly shorter than all his peers. [end ID]

(This image also makes me cackle because one (1) of All Might's tits is bigger than any of their faces and I think that's incredible I love it when men do that)

I think Jeanist's height is also funny to consider though, because he's canonically supposed to be a bit shorter than Endeavor, but he's very consistently drawn to be taller than him (in the manga, at least)

Example:

[ID] A panel from the BNHA manga, featuring Best Jeanist, Endeavor, and Hawks standing side by side. They are all wearing formal suits and are standing before podiums and microphones with serious looks on their faces. [end ID]

Tall. Lanky. The human equivalent of a lamppost, if you will.

[anotherworldash]

What is your take on Kaname and THW ship if it isn't romantic? How does it compare to Yume?

hello i'm glad you asked! i've been thinking about thie series for a while! and to answer it:

(this is my personal take and you can agree to disagree but i will stand by my opinion. if you ship THWxKaname and aren't happy with my answer please just kindly leave my blog without trying to convince me)

i don't think kaname loves THW romantically although they were in romantic relationship. in the sense of... it's clear there's a panel where she kissed him on the lips so their relationship were romantic.

i think they were together because: at that time, both were looking for companion with same goal in mind. their action were quite controversial. so, they did bond overtime.

but he wasn't attracted to her that much. he didn't have the hots for her like he did to yuki. yeah i'm not even joking on this part. haven't we read enough how much kaname yearn for yuki physically? kaname is literally so horny when it comes to yuki. we've seen how they kiss or drink blood.

(with this description, i'm pretty sure attraction is a big part of relationship for a man like kaname................ god i love him . taken from volume 10 btw)

so THW's kiss with kaname is a pale comparison. in my personal opinion, it's rather one-sided. (THW leaning in for a kiss and kaname's somberly touch her flowing braids... i feel like this could be any woman x kaname if she is the one giving him direction/power/companionship at that time., i think it's expected when two opposite gender that respect and doesn't hate each other spend a lot of time together. he's got his 'he's just a man' moments if you know what i mean when he take blood from ruka)

let's say he had a slight attraction to THW. still, it's already over once she's dead. he also had completely moved on from THW, yuki herself asked if kaname is looking for replacement for her and he said 'no one can be a replacement to anyone'. he didn't lie when he said this. there's literally no need for him to lie. he did regret losing THW but that's it.

(let me add some personal opinions/headcanon : i also don;t think THW and kaname had done anything more than a kiss. i long wondered how did kuran family has descendants if kaname didn't have a child himself back then with THW? if he had one then surely he would had a reason to live , or at least the child will appear in his memory. but, no that just doesn't exist. the more accurate guess would be : perhaps kuran family doesn't consist only ancestor kaname, but he had other siblings/family member who procreated and that is where yuki/rido/juri/haruka came from. the reason why they weren't in picture was because they didn't agree with kaname's goal to live alongside human. so they separated way) (ya know this could be provven wrong in the future VKM chapters as the series is still ongoing but i will stand by my opinion for now as it makes the most sense. if you think about it, someday ai's descendant will call rido as 'kuran ancestor' too.)

rather than in love, it's more appropriate to say kaname is still in the same page with THW when it comes to problem solving. because, they were doing the same quest together. and he actually agree that her plans to kill are purebloods and her decision to sacrifice herself were GOOD SOLUTIONS. when all plans failed, he remembered he could use her solutions.

this is the space where Yuki came in too late to save Kaname. it's not entirely Yuki's fault because Kaname deliberately keeps Yuki away from this problem because he knew how she'd sacrifice herself for him and he don't want that.

when it comes to yume, eventhough kaname sees yuuki as his lover and beloved, he was unable to see her as his equal. perhaps it's due to big age gap between them. therefore, kaname already has this mindset that decide yuki can't handle this much of a problem. and even if she can, he wouldn't let such a baby get involved in this problem.

the point in his struggle is he wants her to live and be free, just like he wanted himself to live and be free. kaname longs for the mortality and carefreeness that might set him free from his responsibility and burden (but he can't, so he try to at least give it to yuki. but OOPS, he turned yuki back into a vampire and now he's gotta keep those purebloods and opposing vampires in check...cause they're not endangerin only him, but yuki as well. not to mention the furnace and vampire hunter weapons are getting less effective.)

kaname meant it when he said yuki has became a hindrance for him. this is exactly why at the end of series, he wanted zero to be with yuki.

originally, that is not what he wanted, he wanted yuki for only himself. this is shown where he turned yuki back into vampire. although this was initiated by yuki. let's admit he partly agree so he could have her by himself. and show zero that yuki is HIS. that was not a part of his original plan.

but then he realized things have gotten too complicated and the price is too high to pay. (the price is yuki's safety and happiness that he fought for long and many times. he also saw that yuki wasn't as happy as she used to be in her new life as vampire and he felt guilty for it)

by the time he said she is a hindrance, he already hated himself. perhaps he already hated himself from a long time ago and now he got to see for himself how far his course of actions have gotten everyone in trouble. he didn't feel like he deserved yuki's warmth for a slightest. for him, it's already over. everything is over. his life is over. he wants nothing but redemption. i think this explains why he's so nonchalant when yuki held him tight. but, he still talked to her once he heard yuki erased zero's memories to chose him.

<Additionally, it explains why he decided to leave after their night together. Things have gone wrong so many times. Why would it work this time? It's the state of a depressed mind.>

ultimately he just want to protect yuki and prevent her from perishing like THW. because, he might not 'love' THW romantically or passionately but her sacrifice showed him how regret feels. he learned from it and try his best to prevent it in the future.

this is also why he rushed to throw his heart into the furnace, he didn't want yuki to change his mind again knowing her safety is at stake. especially when he know yuuki is too empathetic and caring of others.

kaname has this mindset : "If you want to marry an Angel, you must first create Heaven for her. Angels don't live in Hell".

as her ancestor,brother,husband,lover, he feels responsible to yuki's wellbeing.

unironically, he's a simple logical man. he's got a goal in mind and no price is too high to create heaven for yuki, a safe place she can live in. even if the cost is his own life and happiness

[ouatsnark]

I am so frustrated that I am about to scream. I saw a poll about if Emma swan deserves hate right? And in the comments one person says 'I hate her ingernalozed misogyny and internalized homophobia'.

Basically says she adapted so that Snow wouldn't abandon her and that the writers wrote the perfect closeted lesbian relationship with her and Regina.

They also censored h00k and I'm just so pissed and annoyed I could loose my mind.

THEY HAVE A FUCKING LESBIAN COUPLE IN THE SHOW. TWO ACTUALLY.

If they wanted swanqueen to happen, they would have made it happen.

Someone also said they were iffy because of how she reacted towards Regina because Regina is a 'good' mother and Emma was like 'I don't know about that'.

I feel like I am losing my mind.

The hilarious thing is that Regina deserves nothing but hate and all she gets is love, sympathy and understanding from that crowd.

“Internalized misogyny and homophobia” are buzz phrases they throw around to back up their lack of valid arguments. All they have to do is claim something is "sooo bad it's this and that" and it justifies whatever else nonsense that comes out of their mouths.

How does Emma have internalized misogyny?

Because she is in love with a man who has done, pretty much nothing to her, compared to the woman they want to watch walk all over Emma? The examples they use are things Hook did or said while a villain & while they were enemies or when he consumed by darkness. To which we respond: and? That’s not the real Hook nor the Hook we ship Emma with nor the Hook that Emma is in love with! Regina Apologists refuse to acknowledge the change in Hook.

So they claim that Emma lets Hook put her down which is just 100% false meanwhile they ignore the canon fact that Regina does put Emma down and has made Emma doubt herself. They claim that it’s just Regina’s “sass” or my favorite is “well, wifey deserved it” because yes Regina gets to abuse other characters but if a character upsets poor mass-murdering rapist Regigigig “that character bad, that character evil”. Well, Hook was consumed by evil so if Regina’s “sass” can be used as an excuse then being consumed by a literal evil entity should most definitely be a free pass for Hook. But alas we’re talking about double standard hypocrites here.

How does Emma have internalized homophobia?

Because she isn’t in love with the straight woman who held a male sex slave for 28 years? And yes, sorry loves, canon wise Regina is straight! What the actress says off camera doesn’t count! But somehow saying this stops them from her being bi/lesbian in their head canons? Oh the power that I wield!

Just because the writing didn’t go where they wanted it to go they have to pull out the homophobia card. It’s ridiculous. The writers were not writing “the perfect closeted lesbian relationship” which they outright say in a panel. Even if they were then it was far from perfect and more on the toxic side since the SwanQueen fandom claims that Regina was in love with Emma while actively trying to murder her and her parents. It would have been far from perfect since SwanQueen claim that Emma was in love with Regina while fighting against Regina purposefully hurting her and her son. But apparently they think all of this made Emma hot for Regina? Abuse is not love! Repeat after me: ABUSE. IS. NOT. LOVE.

Regina apologists think that Regina abusing her son because she’s afraid makes her a good mother

The Regina Apologists will never acknowledge the abuse Regina heaped on Henry nor the fact that Emma was there to save Henry from her curse which was causing him emotional distress. That alone makes Regina a horrible mother and Emma the better one. Regina deserved everything she got in S1-2 and more.

But again we’re back to the fact that Regina apologists think that everything Regina does is someone else’s fault and that her abuse is really love.

What proof is there that Snow would abandon Emma if she weren’t straight?

This is another pretty popular talking point and it’s based off a tweet by Ginny Goodwin. And she was 100% correct. I don’t know what the exact quote was but it boiled down to this: that Snow would have a problem with Emma being with REGINA because Regina is Snow’s step-mother. If they could use logic they would understand that from Snow’s perspective that would be strange, awkward and a little upsetting. I mean, come on, Regina sent men to murder Snow’s child, the same child they want Regina to get with. So this isn’t about any other woman being with Emma but it was specifically about Regina.

Snow is best friends with a bisexual woman and supported her relationship with Dorothy. But the RAs/SQs ignore this little fact and Regina’s history with Snow so that they can continue spewing their buzz phrases. Also, they like feeling like victims.

They like to claim that Emma had to choose Hook because that is what her parents wanted which is just not supported in canon anywhere and you can point to S3 pushing her toward Neal and their wanting Emma to let Hook go in S5 as clear examples. Snowing wanted Emma to be happy. That is it.

P.S. It makes me laugh when they still censor H00k years after the show ends. They started doing this so he wouldn’t trend on social media and thus make it look like he was popular because they have always, wrongly, believed that he wasn’t popular at all.

[deludedfantasy]

Trimax Vol.2

Hello! I’ve been lurking in the book club so far but I wanted to jump in the ring and add my own thoughts to the mix. Fun fact: I actually binge read the manga about two weeks, but read it so fast I didn’t absorb much. I’m taking this as an opportunity to read it more slowly and really savor it, and hopefully understand it a little more. My first experience was fun, but I was also a little confused by the end. 

I certainly can’t compare to some of amazing analyses I’ve read so far, but here are some thoughts!

Ch1

WOW. What an opening. This only gets more horrifying on reread. I was actually very confused the first go around because I thought Midvalley was the one shoving all those people in the trucks and squashing them and my knowledge of him from 98 did NOT fit this at all. It was a great way to reintroduce Legato though 

I’m STILL wondering who this giant person is that’s carrying Legato around in his Iron Maiden. Just another Knives minion I guess?? They got put on Legato babysitting duty

Ch2

Well, Legato is somehow more unhinged than before

Genuinely sometimes feel like Legato mauling that steak when I’m reading this manga though 

Love when Vash and Wolfwood are being stupid together. Also Vash driving is me when I drive

Vash’s ridiculous greeting Rai Dei is preceded by him having a Very Serious moment staring at the empty town. I appreciate the ability this manga has to insert moments of humor into otherwise incredibly serious situations without it being jarring. 10/10 great character and storytelling

Death skull rollerblades??? Death skull rollerblades!!!

I really like this panel of Vash, right after Rai Dei reveals he knows about the colony. Something about how most of his face is obscured, it really underscores how terrifying Vash can be. Every time something he loves is threatened, he gets very, very scary very fast and the way Nightow shows this is just amazing

Ch3

The cover for this chapter is on point

Not actually sure what Wolfwood is saying here? He’s going to help Vash…because the Gung Ho Guns are inhuman humans? They’re too determined and this will take too long? 

Vash acrobatics!! Big fan of Vash acrobatics!!

He just won a fight but he’s such a goofball about it

Ch4

“C’mon. Leading a normal life, it’s not so bad, y’know.” He’s speaking from experience and this line makes me kinda sad. He really liked it, but he had to give it up to do the right thing :( 

You know, for some of the backstories of the Gung Ho Guns, it makes sense where they got their abilities from. Like Monev and Rai Dei obviously trained for years and years to become these expert fighters. But for the others, like Dominique and Legato, I’m constantly wondering where they picked up what are essentially supernatural abilities without being plants or something. Though this may just be the fact that I saw tristamp first talking, since they do explain that there.

WHAT? How did I not notice Rai Dei had a gunblade??? My favorite ridiculous anime weapon

Also, uh oh Wolfwood’s done it now

Holy shit, did Vash just punch him?!?!

Hmmmm, oh yes, this scene made me lose my mind when I first read it (last week lol). Wolfwood trying to prove a point about making tough decisions by making Vash literally put a gun to his head and calling Vash a coward for refusing to kill and get his hands dirty

Unfortunately, it also confuses the hell out of me because it feels like they’re having multiple conversations at once and I can’t pick up on maybe more than half of one.

But!! The thing that stands out to me: Vash calls Wolfwood out, saying that he knows he’s better than this, that he wants better than this, but he’s so scared of hoping that he becomes a devil instead. I love how these two really see each other. Even when Wolfwood is kinda scared of Vash, he’s trying to understand him more than anything, and though he struggles, he does see him and get him

On a lighter note…Ahhh yes, the girls are back!! I’ve missed them the past few chapters.

Ch5

Oh no, Wolfwood’s dream :( It makes me so, so sad. He just really doesn’t think there’s any way for him to go back or wash his hands clean

The tone shifts are honestly masterful. Wolfwood goes from having a horrible nightmare to slapstick comedy because Vash crashed Angelina again

Gotta love that Wolfwood just dumps Vash facedown on that couch

Oh my god, Vash, you have a concussion, what are you doing!! Why did Wolfwood just leave him there on his own? I know they haven’t spent that much time together, but does Wolfwood not know him at all? Vash will get into Situations if left to his own devices.

Hmmm, Rob’s situation really underscores the argument Vash and Wolfwood were having last chapter. Especially his father’s line about not everyone being able to gamble with their lives so easily

Jesus, Wolfwood is terrified of Vash. I thought on my first read that this is a bit of an overreaction to this situation, but thinking on it again, after Fifth Moon and seeing all the crazy shit Vash can do, it has to be scary to see a guy who’s hurt and reeling and still manages to cause massive damage. So yeah, can’t really blame him for wondering what kind of monster he’s gotten himself involved with

But then he’s reminded…Vash is also just some silly guy who really likes food. Ah, the duality of man and monster. Again, the tone shift from Wolfwood having serious thoughts of fear and doubt to Vash being a certified goofball.

Ch6

The opening of this chapter is great. We get a little bit of Wolfwood’s backstory and start to understand how dark it is. Who shot him as a child? Where did he come from? But also, we find out he has a deep conviction to stay alive

You know, I completely forgot Rei Dei threatened the colony two chapters ago because for a hot sec I was really confused why they’d been traveling so hard and why the hell they’re on this weird contraption right now.

What’s interesting to me about what Wolfwood says here—about living his life the way he does, about the reason he kills—is because he’s doing it to protect something. Just reminds me of that bit of Stampede where Vash asks Wolfwood if he has something he wants to protect above anything else. And how protect has a different meaning to each of them—for Wolfwood it’s about who he’d kill for and for Vash it’s about what he would do to save them. Idk, there might be more there but I’m having a hard time explaining it.

Vash has a moment of doubt in front of Wolfwood! He admits he’s not always sure of what he’s doing. I kind of read Wolfwood’s silence as him not knowing what to say to that because he wasn’t expecting that

Okay, but how hidden is this place really if there’s a platform and an elaborate construction to get into it. Are you telling me no one has stumbled on it before and wondered where it led?

Vash is so afraid when he opens the door! His first thought is of all the horrors his enemies have promised to him and he doesn’t know if he can face it

Look at him!! He’s so sweet! He’s relieved and immediately goes to play with the kids. (While Wolfwood just poses lol)

Oh god, he gets teary eyed, he’s so happy! How rarely have people reacted to his presence with joy or care? 

How dare!! This was cruel. Crueler then if he’d walked in on corpses. He’s literally given something he wants so deeply and then has it snatched away

Ch7

Wolfwood really went, “I’m done listening to your bullshit” and interrupted Leonof’s evil villain speech. Respect.

Ooooh, Wolfwood did it because he was angry. He felt Leonof was too cruel! He cares so much about Vash already.

Hey um so…did Leonof just say his puppets used to be people?!?! That he dissected while they were alive?!?!?! Yeah, no wonder this guy is unimaginably cruel.

Oh, Vash is angry. I love how he’s drawn when he’s like this. He disappears behind his glasses and his face gets very still. That’s when you know he means business. 

Vash is crying blood!? And he’s so angry he’s emanating some weird aura that paralyzes Wolfwood and emits a “sensation of death.” I’m actually having trouble finding the words to describe how I feel because this is a very different Vash from the one we’re used to. It’s jarring and terrifying to see him like this. And that feeling also reminds Wolfwood again that Vash isn’t human, something Wolfwood is very fixated on.

Despite that, when Gray the Ninelives appears and Wolfwood makes eye contact with Vash, he doesn’t immediately go to shooting him! We’re making progress already.

That’s that for this volume! Excited to get started on the next one and see how the big showdown with Leonof goes!

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 164

Chapter 164: "The Smiling Devil"

These two soldiers need a raise. Or some sort of promotion after all this chaos is over with. We've seen just how rare it is for demons to think what's best for their whole society rather than their own personal needs and I hope these two are doing well once Mujika eventually takes over as queen.

As great as their intentions and views are, these two soldiers really can't change much on their own, especially not when the majority of the town, the other soldiers and the higher-ups are against the use of the evil blood. Even with the whole world against them, they still wanna help out these two kids and that's more than enough.

We barely see anything of Awla & Mawla's parents but I already feel so darn upset about them. Their poor kids.

Dude if the evil blood was such a threat, then why did y'all wait a whole three days to get rid of Sonju & Mujika?? Literally one of Peter's biggest mistakes. At he would've had some sort of backup plan after Isabella & the other moms & sisters betray him, but since Leuvis wins over the citizens by praising the evil blood upon his return and everyone in turn accepts Mujika and their new queen, Peter loses all the support he had on the demon side.

I hate this man. I hate his stupid, little grin as he breaks Nat's finger. Sure, a finger seems like nothing compared to when Isabella broke Emma's leg, but Nat is our special pianist! Damage done to the fingers is literally the worst for this boy!

I don't think I have ever laughed so hard at anything Peter ever said more than during this moment. He's asking the kids if their mother aka Isabella aka the person with the strongest facade in the entire series has taught them to not lie.. bitch, that woman practically invented lying! Who are you kidding? She might not have told them outright how to do so, but she was the perfect example of how to lie successfully and make your actions believable. How else do you think Emma became such a brilliant actor? She watched and learned from the master herself and I'll always be proud of that.

I wish to hold this man's neck firmly in my hands and not let go until his face turns twenty shades of purple.

When I said I wanted Anna to get more spotlight, this is certainly not what I had in mind. I just wanted to see our bright, young medic prove how smart and exceptional she is, not be forced to make such an impossible decision between Jemima's life or the trio's and the state of the new promise.

Favorite panel/moment:

The fact this simple lie works without any issue is wonderful.

Also, Awla & Mawla's faces are too cute. Even they're surprised the other two soldiers believed the lie. Thankfully they're a bit dumb and didn't even think to double check if the kids had the evil blood or not.

[gralunaisland]

Part 3 of "Why Gray is NOT a Tsundere"

(An Anti-gr///via Post)

[Links to Part 1 and Part 2 are linked here.]

Some Instances of Gray's Lack of Tsundere-ness:

I went and found some moments where Gray is clearly showing how uncomfortable he is. I think it's fitting to provide my own evidence since Author did, but I was going to add examples anyway even if I hadn't read Author's post. Anyway, in anime and manga, the mangaka always makes it clear when someone is a tsundere, always makes the little details show that the tsundere actually likes the other individual. I see no such details in these panels.

Come on, look at how his hair is standing up in the last panel. His hair is literally standing on its end, which is indicative of chills running up your spine and being completely unnerved and freaked out. He's not joking that she's scary, he's not trying to cutely cover it up that he secretly enjoys this. The voice actors do a great job of showing how distraught Gray is by this in the anime too.

Yeah, Gray's face says it all. Those vertical lines on his face are used in manga to show when someone's uncomfortable or feeling some sort of negative downer feeling. And wow just look at her language. Gray right out says he's not into this type of thing, it's not something he's comfortable with, that he doesn't have these perverted hobbies, and yet she responds with "But I doooo~", showing very clearly that she doesn't care whatsoever about what makes Gray happy or at peace of mind, just that her own fetishes and fantasies are being fulfilled. Wow. The more I investigate juvia, the more I am disgusted. I didn't think it was possible tbh, but I suppose I should've known since it's juvia we're talking about, queen of toxicity and creepiness.

Just look how disgruntled and aggrieved Gray is here. He's literally sweating bullets. No ounce of blush, no once of him trying to hide any underlying feeling, just pure unadulterated discomfort and unease. juvia's not even denying what he's saying here (her deplorable behind is actually proud of her actions, which you can see on her disgusting smug expression). He obviously didn't invite her or happily let her in; she literally barged in and would NOT leave his house, which just means that she followed him to his new home, so yeah, the stalking never ends, people!!

I don't even remember which episode this is, but Gray's expression is full of distress and absolutely freaking the heck out. He doesn't find this endearing or cute at all, and he makes it clear that he doesn't even want to be associated with her by others nor to have to deal with her.

Also don't remember which episode, but c'mon, she's a naked chick rubbing up against him, and he's STILL disgusted. Those lines of discomfort on his face and those sweat drops again. Not even juvia's superficial paltry looks can make him interested.

Ah yes, I'm pretty sure this was from an Omake after the GMG where the losing FT team had to do a punishment game or something or other. Again, juvia's naked breast has been whipped out despite no one wanting to see it, what an actual disturbing pervert. (And no, this is not comparable to Gray's stripping habit in the slightest because juvia has full control of herself despite never using self-control, whereas Gray's stripping is sort of an instinct [I've seen some people say it might be a trauma response/coping mechanism, and I think it could very well be that] ingrained into him by his deceased mentor where he actually gets really embarrassed once he finds himself down to his boxers, as he does it unconsciously. juvia however has no shame and is actively sexually harassing Gray by doing this, not to mention just plain copying him with a complete lack of dignity, and she is showing that she literally has no personality outside of Gray and is literally amalgamating with him.) And instead of liking the view, Gray's utterly creeped out. You might think that Gray just doesn't appreciate the female form like that, but Gray shows that to be false through him going gooey-eyed when Virgo changed Lucy in front of him, or when he was excited to check the shower for Lucy when they were looking for her, or how he fantasized about Lucy in a skimpy paper outfit, or even how he blushed really hard when Virgo was helping keep Lucy's skirt down in high winds while her own was flashing him. All in all, Gray likes the female form, just not THIS female form because it comes with a psychopath.

Again, no blush, all freaking out, despite, again, a nigh naked woman glomping onto him full force (which is sexual harassment might I add since he doesn't consent.)

Note here, what's funny is Author used the first panel in their "proof", and yet they coincidentally decided to leave out the very next panel where Gray is clearly creeped out by juvia's refusal to face reality and her refusal of acknowledging his boundaries. Again, all sweat and all seriousness. Nothing about her reaction to his rejection is funny to him, nothing is being hidden, he's genuinely creeped by her (and honestly who wouldn't be?? Pros, think about it. If someone kept pursuing you despite you not being interested and despite you telling them you're not, would you not be creeped out? Why do you support this witch again?)

This last picture is even from the 100yq, something I don't even consider to be canon thanks to Gray being completely OOC, where gr///via has been hammered into being 'canon', and even here there are still scenes where Gray is just grossed out by juvia and completely uncomfortable, in a nervous sweat to boot. You can still commit sexual harassment even if you're dating, I hope y'all know that.

I would love to post more evidence, really, I would, but the internet actually just hates all things Anti gr//////via unfortunately. Looking up anti gruvia just brings up mostly anti-anti gr///via content because of course that makes sense, and I don't feel like rewatching all their "moments" right now because I value my sanity a little bit.

Oh well. That's why I run this blog. Gotta represent.

Whenever I do my next re-watch, maybe I'll take screenshots of all the times Gray is grossed out by her. Does NOT sound fun because I don't want to have juvia's pictures on my phone, but it might just have to be done.

Anyway, all that I put into these three posts (and probably more tbh but my brain is fried from thinking about juvia so much rn) is why I think Gray is NOT a tsundere.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Closing Notes:

I think I'll just end this trilogy of posts quite unceremoniously here. I've spent hours and hours working on it, so I really just want feedback on it at this point. I hope I don't sound too mean throughout the posts; I tried to be transparent and honest though.

Please do let me know your thoughts on the subject of Gray being or not being a tsundere, and please give me your thoughts on my post! Discussion helps get us closer to the truth! Please remain respectful even if you disagree with what I said, though.

(Also, I would like to know whether my readers like these long, in depth studies into different aspects of Pro gr///vian arguments, or if y'all like my shorter responses to asks instead. If you don't care, that's fine too. I don't do much of these longer posts anymore because I have so many actually amazing asks, so maybe that's for the better, idk, lmk.)

Anyway, thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoyed my analysis! Have a wonderful day/night!

[vampibrainrot]

I have some conflicting feelings about White Widow #1 preview. I like that they are giving Yelena her own space, building a life the way she wants, far away from the Red Room and Nat's shadow. Plus her fighting cap and not giving a shit about who he is or the avengers trying to stop her was good.

What I don't like are the changes and retcons that are probably being made to make her more similar to her MCU counterpart. The preview already showed that her origin was changed. Now she is someone who was taken from her family, trained since her childhood, and forced to become a widow. There's even a panel of her hugging Natasha's dead body and the narration talking about losing family. I wouldn't mind these changes if it wasn't ignoring a big part of Yelena's character, her motivations and one of the biggest differences between her and other widows.

Yelena chose this. She chose this life. She joined the Red Room of her own will, bc she wanted to do something good for her country. Almost every story featuring her talks about how she is different from the others bc she had a choice and her choice was to be a widow. Yeah, the Red Room lied about things and she wasn't 100% aware of everything, but she knew that life as a spy was hard and painful, but she wanted this anyway. Yelena's wish to help her people and change things was stronger than anything and she endured and faced everything the Red Room threw against her. Comparing herself with Natasha and hearing it from others made her want to create her legacy and something for herself, but this also included her wish to do something good. Replacing it with the MCU storyline adds nothing to her character, actually, it takes a lot, making her just a copy of Nat. The second miniseries is all about Natasha trying to convince her to give up and live a normal life, saying that Yelena is too naive and that she (Yelena) doesn't understand what means to live like this and what it takes while Yelena's response is just "I don't care. It's my life, I will live the way I want and you don't have the right to interfere or stop me".

The second complaint, her jokes. These just... don't suit her. She was shown to be the type of person who has more acidic and dark humor, the type that feels like throwing salt in a wound (and she probably wouldn't even notice sometimes). She is brutally honest. The jokes on the preview felt.. idk it just doesn't feel right for her.

And lastly, and this is a minor one, why is she living in the US? Why not make her return to Russia and explore her love and loyalty to her people? Show more of how she plans to help and how she deals with those who stand in her way (*cough government cough*), bring back the winter guard. It feels like a wasted chance ik?

[unohanadaydreams]

More TYBW reread. Mostly me just losing my mind over Mayuri.

ZERO HESITATION.

You could put so many other shinigami in this position and they’d be dead.

He’s so good at handling things as they come and reacting in a split second.

He has no idea if he could have just kept his arm, but it wasn’t responding how he wanted and he could see something change physically in his fingers so he just ripped it off to be done with it. He does what he feels will get back to the fight.

You can see why he survived coming up from the depths of the rukongai.

You can tell Mayuri is feeling excited about this new Quincy because he’s borderline manic in his speech. The juices are flowing and he’s feeling very creative. Everything needs more expounding and commenting on than normal.

Confirmed he would call you a cheap meatball as a pet name.

Like, Kenpachi is just trying to find out if he needs to rip off a limb every time he makes contact with this guy and Mayuri is thinking of all the ways he can describe a meat ball.

I just really like this panel. I laughed. Because he really does have a habit of asking himself questions to feel out a situation! The fight against Tosen, for example. Although technically he was questioning himself through questioning what he imagined Yachiru, Ikkaku, and Yumichika would say.

But also because this is his way of telling Mayuri to shut the fuck up while also asserting that he fully understands what Mayuri has been implying (that he doesn’t have the capacity to ask himself questions/feel out a situation as well as Mayuri).

Also is his eye patch seriously bolted to his fucking face? I wouldn’t put it past him but I’ve always wondered at the same time.

Like….you don’t have to live like this, Kenpachi.

(Angst hours: what if he started wearing it like this after his fight with Unohana, as a way to punish himself for being stronger and ruining the fight he had longed years for by ending it.)

WHO THE FUCK ELSE IS DOING IT LIKE HIM!!!!!!

like what other zanpakuto even compares. Why does anyone bother at this point.

This man commits so fully to his aesthetic of macabre humanity that he’s sliding his fingernail under an eyelid and presumably pressing the eye beneath till it bleeds to command his zanpakuto.

Like ???????? Anajaishxjaoqbshxkanwbw

He’s fucking demented!!!!! I love him so much!!!!!

He’s literally high on discovery and the knowledge that these actions will not have consequences. They are splintered off from the main group and their victory is uncertain—he gets to handle this situation however he sees fit.

This is what unchecked power does to a mf.

And like….he means this too. He could have never prepped Jizo’s power to go against someone like Zaraki without trial and error like this. There’s no one as strong as Zaraki at his disposal to test it on. He can only use his best guess with the perimeters—just like he couldn’t conceive of a suitable device for Aizen until he knew it was for Aizen.

If Mayuri could test his abilities on Zaraki in actual trials he would. He doesn’t like the threat of losing the Seireitei but he sure as fuck loves the opportunities and discoveries the war has brought.

I wonder if Mayuri comes to the 11th division after the war with Nemuri like ‘I will let you babysit Nemuri if you let me use you in this trial’.

He’s just saying words at this point. It’s not a sacrifice to paralyze Zaraki and Mayuri can slap dash an arm for Zaraki in seconds.

Mayuri is just full on talking down to Pernida and treating him like a fool. He is buying time to observe this Quincy while also positioning Zaraki getting paralyzed as this huge deal, because the shinigami are just So above you and a hang nail would be too much to take against someone like you, Quincy—which is peak Mayuri.

See? He’s just taking the piss. He’s taunting. He’s wondering how long it’ll take for Zaraki to gain mobility and dissecting that information with how long it’ll take him to get to the root of this quincy’s power so Zaraki isn’t legitimately lost and all this fun and games and discovery is marked a failure.

Don’t worry, Mayuri! It isn’t Zaraki you need to factor in right now.

Also once again I LOVE HIM SO MUCH HES SUCH A CREEP IMSHXHZKAHSIXOhai

LMAOOOOO. ‘Just as Urahara described except is it really? Seems like Urahara wasn’t completely accurate. Unlike me, the superior scientist who takes in the contents of an eye ball into account.’

I’m literally just sobbing over here at how much I love Mayuri. I’m seriously incoherent with how much I love the shit he pulls.

Mayuri Poppins over here pulling out his fucking gigai stretched-skin umbrella that expands out of a cute little ball.

You think he has a catalogue for this stuff? Like he makes it and he obviously shit like Chappy sells super well. But what about this? I mean, I would DOUBT IT.

But I bet he goes out of his way to inundate whoever DOES buy this with survey offers like ‘on a scale of 1 to 10 how cute do you find the portable umbrella’ ‘on a scale of 1 to 10 how often do you choose this umbrella over others’ ‘on a scale of 1 to 10 how likely are you to purchase another umbrella you can feed’

It’s stuff like this that makes me wish I had the time and energy to RP again bc GOD. I want to link my mind to his.