#also like... i COMPLETELY forgot what being around people my own age was like. and like we're a bit older than most of the people there

[bonkingcat]

Regarding thistle's age I know that it's to each their own but as far as canon information goes, the bible's page on earmuffs does imply he's younger than pattadol (who is the elf equivalent of 16) so there Is a basis for him being around the elf equivalent of 15 if not younger due to demon bullshit. I don't mean to change your view of his age or anything, just explain where that interpretation comes from

oh true! i did not take the bible into consideration i completely forgot about it. i do think he is a younger elf but there is just so many different holes in the story that make it more confusing.

i am not someone who would really care if he was a child or not (granted i do like the young teen/child story more) but there was so much conversation in the manga about why thistle doesn’t have the same curse on him as the villagers (he can taste food and experience hunger) so then he would most likely have a different spell on him? either way that in mind while also the things written in the bible makes it quite confusing! plus even if he physically is 15, he has still lived 1,000 years and thus effecting him in different ways mentally.

and no need to worry! i am always open to my views changing/i didn’t have a set one anyway, just conversation based on what we know from the manga. and ofc if you just age him up for shipping purposes then that is definitely weird… so i really only thought to because of holes in the story.

oh kui please give us more lore and content!!

people debate the heck out of marcilles age as well even when she has a canon age… but people have translated her canon age to around 10 years old before or called her a p3do so thats why this conversation in general is hella tricky 😭😭

[blue-slxt]

Punishment

🔞Minors Do Not Interact🔞

A/N: This was requested by an anon and honestly, thank you to that person for the inspo because this really scratched an itch in my skull. This isn't proofread so if you see any typos, no you didn't. Anyways, I hope you guys like this. All characters are aged up.

Pairing: Lo'ak x Fem!Metkayina!Reader

Warnings: Explicit Smut, P in V, Spitting , Dom!Lo'ak, Creampie, Degredation Kink, Praise Kink, Exhibitionism, Fingering,

Word Count: 1.2k

Summary: Lo'ak gives Ao'nung a gentle reminder about who you belong to.

Talking with Ao’nung was always…odd. Sometimes it was tense and awkward. Most times he would crack jokes that would make you cringe.

Other people would say he was trying to flirt with you. You didn’t think so. Flirting was supposed to be smooth and charming. Ao’nung never struck you as either of those things. Especially since you had grown up with him, you saw all his most awkward stages and phases.

You know who was smooth and charming? Lo’ak. Now, he always made his intentions very clear with you and he never failed to turn you into a swooning mess.

The thing that really struck a chord with you about him was how possessive he could be. Normally, that was something you hated in a man. You had lost count of how many men you had rejected for behaving that way. But the thing that made it different with Lo’ak? The way he chose to handle his jealousy. He didn’t yell, he didn’t fight, or anything of the sort. What he did do? Fuck you until you forgot your own name.

Today was going to be no exception.

He found you at the secluded section of the beach that was supposed to be reserved for just the two of you, but you weren’t alone today. Ao’nung was standing in front of you and it made his blood boil in his veins.

“You know, you always were good at finding the best spots for having a little privacy” he said looking over you hungrily. He doesn’t even notice Lo’ak coming up behind you.

His hands rested on your waist as he pressed his chest into your back.

“What you two talking about, yawne?” He asks into your ear.

It makes you stiffen with excitement feeling his breath on the shell of your ear and knowing that you were in for a punishment. Lo’ak was never the type to really care if you spoke to other men, so long as it was kept strictly friendly. But he knew that it was never fully just friendly when it came to Ao’nung. Not to mention, he was here at your secret spot. That, he could not let slide.

“It’s none of your business.” Ao’nung frowns at him.

Lo’ak shoots him a look, “Anything involving my mate concerns me. She is mine. Got it?” His grip on your body tightens. “All of her, especially this.” One of his hands travels past your waistband and cups your pussy. The bold move makes you jump, but also makes you incredibly wet. Ao’nung swallows hard as he’s unable to tear his eyes away from your blushing face and half-lidded eyes. Your breaths are coming out as small pants.

“You nasty girl. Are you getting wet from being watched?” He coos teasingly in your ear while he drags his fingers through your slick.

You whimper under his teasing but he won’t accept that. “Use your words, yawne.” He orders as he pushes one finger into you.

“Y-yes…”

“You know what to do.”

You immediately knew what he wanted. He asked the same thing of you through every punishment. You untie the strings of your top and Ao’nung is the one blushing now. He’s confused about this whole situation, but most of all, why he’s getting hard right now.

You shimmy your loincloth down your thighs until it falls around your ankles and you step out of it. Standing here fully bare in front of Ao’nung made it hard for you to meet his eyes even though his gaze was completely transfixed on you. You sink to your knees in the sand while Lo’ak circles you like a predator.

“On your hands and knees.”

You do as you’re told and keep your eyes trained on the ground below you.

“You see this?” Lo’ak says to Ao’nung. “I’m the only one who can make her act like this. Isn’t that right, yawne?”

“Yes sir” your voice is meek and small to align with your current state of submission.

Lo’ak kneels behind you and crouches over you with his fingers trailing over your wet cunt. “Maybe we should demonstrate for your friend.” He emphasizes the word ‘friend’ inserting his finger into you again. “Tongue.” You tilt your head back towards Lo’ak and hold your tongue out. A long line of his spit rolls off his tongue and into your mouth. You swallow and open your mouth for him to see. “Good girl.”

He easily undoes the knot on his loincloth for it to fall off him. He pulls his finger out of you and lined up his tip with your entrance. “Now, tell him who you belong to.”

“I belong to you” your embarrassment makes you mumble the words at the ground.

“Oh, you must not want it as bad as I thought” Lo’ak backs away from you ready to deny you your pleasure.

“I belong to you, Lo’ak!” You say louder this time and look Ao’nung dead in the eye. His ears twitch and his loincloth is about to be torn in half from how hard his boner is pressing against the fabric.

Lo’ak smirks to himself looking at your dripping cunt on full display for him and how your hole clenches in anticipation for him. He slowly sinks himself into you and your head falls back finally being filled.

He sets a slow, but steady pace watching your ass bounce back against his hips. Every thrust pushes a new moan from your lips. Your eyes squeeze shut taking in all the stimulation.

Lo’ak reaches forward and holds your jaw to bring your face back up, “Look at him. Look at him and tell him who gets to fuck you like this.”

“You do, Lo’ak” your mouth is agape and you’re panting heavily. Lo’ak speeds up his pace.

“And whose dick do you love the most?” he growls behind you.

“Yours, Lo’ak!” His pace speeds up even more so that he’s full on pounding into you. Ao’nung can’t tear his eyes away. As much as he hated to know that he would never have you, he couldn’t help the way that seeing you so fucked out of your mind right in front of him made him dizzy with lust.

“And who gets to fill this pussy?”

“You do, Lo’ak! Only you!”

He leans forward so his lips are right next to your ear, “Now beg me for it in front of his face. Beg me just like you always do, you fucking slut.”

Lo’ak’s word is law right now. There is no denying him. Your eyes lock on Ao’nung’s whie you speak your broken words. “Please Lo’ak! Please cum inside of me! I need it! Make my pussy drip with your cum!”

Ao’nung can’t help the way he bites his lip listening to your vulgar pleas. He had always dreamed of hearing your sweet voice say such filthy things. “That’s right, baby. Just like that. I’m gonna give you exactly what you want.” Lo’ak neared his peak just as you finally fell into yours. Your whole body shook as he continuously drilled into your sweet spot.

With three more sloppy thrusts, he came inside of you filling you with all of his hot, sticky seed.

“Fuuuck” he groans while gripping your ass cheeks.

You fall to the ground since your body was exhausted from the force of your orgasm. Lo’ak stayed on his knees just watching as your body intermittently twitched from the aftershock.

“Remember that next time you try to move in on what doesn’t belong to you, reef boy.” He smirked up at the Metkayina who was still frozen in place and had a huge dark spot on his loincloth from where his precum had stained it.

[teamfreewill56-blog]

Can you rank the hashiras and reasons why?

This ask took way longer than I thought it would, I believe I overthought the question and then it took me a while to really think over the hashira and choose. And putting it into words took longer than I expected.

@plutonianmoons I interpreted this question as who do I rank in terms of favorites and why, if you meant it in another way shoot me another ask and I’ll respond. I’m going to start with the list so that those who don’t want to know my reasons don’t have to go hunting for where their favorite hashira is. 

Kyojuro Rengoku

Uzui Tengen

Mitsuri Kanroji

Muichiro 

Shinobu

Sanemi

Iguro

Giyuu

Gyomei

Kyojuro Rengoku

I feel like this will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody lol. He’s my favorite character after all and probably my favorite of all time. I hopefully have been able to sprinkle my reasoning of why I love Kyojuro so much throughout my posts so I will try not to ramble too much. Though, not repeating myself is kinda impossible haha.  

Kyojuro resonates with me so deeply, and even I don’t fully understand why. One reason I think is because he makes me feel….seen. His struggles and grief and pain, and how it came about, a lot of it I can relate to, it hits very close to home for me. And seeing what he goes through and how he dealt with it, its helped me to see and realize that my own experiences and feelings are valid, and its helped me process things I haven’t been able to, even with years of therapy. He isn’t just a ball of sunshine who hides his pain, that’s such a gloss over. He IS a flame, all his feelings make him burn, his anger, righteous and otherwise, his love of his family, his comrades, of his hobbies, the way he devotes his all into everything he does and how so many of his actions are driven by love and compassion and that that’s what drives him to be so duty-bound. He’s someone like many of us, has gone through grief and pain and so much and because of his situation didn’t get to have it addressed or dealt with, he just figured out how to live with it. I love how he isn’t Mr. Positive, if he is confronted by something negative, by someone’s hurt feelings he addresses it, he validates, and yet he’s not perfect in doing that either, because with some people he can’t address it even though he wants to. I love brave he is, standing up for others but also facing criticism and cynicism and hatred again and again and being so certain of his creed and who he is that he doesn’t let those things infest him, he burns them up immediately. I love how much he loves Ruka, how even though he lost her at such a young age he never resented her but kept her with him always. He thought of her, shared his memories of her, she touched every aspect of who he grew up to be and he never forgot that. I love that even though he is stubborn he isn’t unyielding where it matters. If he makes a snap judgment and realizes it he will change it, will he always? No probably not because just like everyone else that’s going to be different from situation to situation. I love how even though he was told he could never be a Hashira and that he should abandon it, that he didn’t. He worked and worked and worked and he accomplished it. I love how warm and welcoming he is to others, that even though he can sit there stiff as a board he does things that make you know he’s paying attention, the way he invites the Corp member from Mugen Train episode 1 to join him, the way he pats the seat indicating he wants Tanjiro to sit right next to him. The way he gives Senjuro his complete attention and focus when they are talking about emotionally difficult topics. I love how he is honest when he easily could lie to try to spare feelings and yet he is so careful and mindful during those times too. I love how freaking intelligent he is, and that it’s subtle. That it’s not just book intelligence but he’s just actually intelligent. The conversations he has, the way he breaks down what’s going on around him, the choices he makes when he acts. The questions he ponders and asks himself and tries to figure out the answer to. The fact that when Shinjuro told him he didn’t have what it takes to become a Hashira, the way that he thought about that question and pondered it and came to his answer---he could have just got upset and hurt and focused on those feelings, but he didn’t, he delved into it and found his answer. I love his expressions, and I know people joke that sometimes there’s not a thought going on behind his eyes but I disagree, I think he looks like that cause his brain is thinking of so much at once. I love how he has a bunch of shared traits with the other Hashira but in a way that’s uniquely him. I will cut myself off here because if I don’t I’m never gonna stop lol. 

2. Uzui Tengen

One of the reasons I love Tengen is I was so surprised by him, I thought I was going to hate this man’s guts--especially after his introduction to the boys. But instead it was just character beat after character beat of why I would and do like him. You look at him and its like “oh he’s the wild one” but he actually isn’t. He had a lapse of judgment and was rushing when he kidnapped Aoi and wasn’t thinking straight but he also got talked out of taking her pretty easily. I don’t like that he slapped her butt, and I think its still a weird thing for him to do but its in there and I’m sure his wives and Shinobu got on him for that whole incident. But after that we see quickly that he’s one of the responsible ones, and like Kyojuro he really really cares about people and their safety, he sees and acknowledges the boys as boys and does his best to take care of them and watch over them while at the District. Of course, he doesn’t do it perfectly, but he does a pretty damn good job. I love that he actually verbally acknowledges to them that he made mistakes and he put them in danger and owns his poor behavior and decisions. I love that once Zenitsu gets taken he instructs Tanjiro and Inosuke to leave and gives them that important wisdom that surviving isn’t a loss and it isn’t failing. I love that he doesn’t try to shoo the boys off once they are in the fight, he adapts and lets them help him. And even though he lets them stay he consistently is making moves to protect them during the fight and trying to take as much weight off them as he can. He is aware of what the boys’ states are in the midst of the fight and tries to finish things quickly and change the battle to keep them safe. I also love his dynamic with them--he absolutely understands how teenage boys are and how they work and he lets them be boys in his presence without letting them do something terrible. Inosuke gets overwhelmed and starts trying to headbutt people and just rampage in his anxiety? No you don’t boar boy back over here with me. Zenitsu wanders off and starts getting enticed by the women? Boy don’t you even think about going in there I will carry you by the collar through the whole place. His dynamic with Zenitsu is so fun, because they bicker at each other and he teases him like a guy who is 10+ years older than their younger brother would. I love how Tengen truly loves his wives, and that he doesn’t love them all in the same way or show love in the same way to them all. He knows his wives and treats them as his individual partners. I love how calculating but also wild he is in his fighting. His fight with Gyutaro and Daki was such fun to watch. 

3. Mitsuri Kanroji

I love how Mitsuri allows herself to feel all her feelings, how once she stops pretending to be who and what she isn’t, our Love Hashira wears herself completely on her sleeve. And she isn’t ashamed of it or prideful about it. In her fight against Zohakuten she starts out confidently attacking him, jumps right in there and saves Tanjiro and her character beats are so good, she’s freaked out about how big Zohakuten’s dragons are and yet immediately turns her attention to Tanjiro with a smile, confidence and warmth. She sets him down and tells him to take a break, praises him and tells him she’ll take care of it. When Zohakuten calls her a “shameless tramp” she shows such a genuine reaction of shock and upset and I can’t help but adore how honest she is in showing her feelings and being able to show multiple feelings at once. She isn’t arrogant when confronting Zohakuten that first time, but even then, she doesn’t stay dwelling on the fact that he insults her she is ready to go and move to attack once Zohakuten strikes at her. When the dragons start dodging her and moving faster she doesn’t hide her feelings of nervousness, she shows her panic but she doesn’t stop attacking or give up, she just freaking adapts and keeps going, seriously goes “can I take on this many at once?” AND THEN JUST DOES IT. She gets smacked point blank in the face with a sonic blast and instinctively defends her whole body by tensing it up. I love how her confidence isn’t iron-clad, insults, harsh words and reactions, they all hurt her and she doesn’t ignore them but tries to deal with them the best way she can, even if sometimes its the wrong way like she does when she becomes more reserved after finding out Shinobu’s reason for being a Slayer. I love that instead of being ugly or mean to the person who is ugly or mean to her, she honestly defends herself and feels her feelings without trying to hurt the other person. I love how she wants to have a husband but also wants to help people love themselves and once she becomes a slayer these two things no longer conflict for her. She loves people and trusts that one day she’ll find a good man in the Corp to marry. I love how genuine she is with her acceptance of people. She genuinely accepts Tanjiro and Nezuko and treats Nezuko like a younger sister, hugging her, singing with her, playing with her, and protecting her. The fact that she sheds tears of joy seeing not only that Nezuko is alive but also talking--there’s no doubt she loves these kids. Her love for people as individuals is so strong:  even though Genya is mean to her she wanted to talk to him, when she saves the Village leader and he makes a flirty comment she teasingly chides him. And in both instances she could have gotten really angry but didn’t. Nor does she call Genya names or anything, and she talks about him kindly when he’s brought up later. I love how Mitsuri actually is willing to do the tough things, but isn’t shy about saying how she feels about it. I love how she never actually hated the things that made her different, she always cherished them, but it just took her a little while to reach her full acceptance. I love how much she has in common with Kyojuro and that in some instances you can see it and it doesn’t have to be brought up. Mitsuri reminds me a lot of Sailor Moon’s Usagi and I kind of love that. 

4. Tokito Muichiro

Muichiro is part of my little brother baby trio. Comprised of Muichiro, Genya and Senjuro. I love how well this amnesic child does deadpan humor and yet in the same breath can be so RELENTLESSLY sassy. Like I’m sure Tengen thinks he is the sass master but Muichiro would DEVESTATE HIM. His sass is sharp and clever and our little Mist Hashira knows how to time his humor beats perfectly and in the optimal way to jab his opponent. The way that he’s passive-aggressive while he has amnesia, without meaning to be is also really funny. Karate-chopping Tanjiro, holding his nose to make him wake up, like Muichiro really is going for the fastest route here. 

I also love how fierce he is, like yes Muichiro was taunting Gyokko but he was not messing around in his fighting and you could see it in how he moved. Plus the way that he came at Gyokko from within the mist and then minced him into sushi? So hardcore.

 I adore how he isn’t bitter about having amnesia, like, he could very easily and rightfully be angry and upset and hold those feelings but he doesn’t. Instead, he focuses on trying to remember things but also not let it stress him out if he can’t. I love how truly kind and gentle he is, even when Yuichiro was being mean to him and aggressive, Muichiro didn’t return that. He loved and cared and respected every member of his family. He admired all of them.

I love how his motives to originally become a swordsman were so pure and kind-hearted and that he wanted to help people the way their parents taught them. I love how when he regained his memories he was able to revisit those memories and realize that his brother did love him, that he was worried and scared and just a 10-year old trying to take care of his only remaining family. I admire so much that he was able and willing to think about his past and realize that the way he thought about his brother was wrong and not the truth. His relationship with Tanjiro is so adorable, like hands down Tanjiro is his favorite person and the favoritism and kindness he shows Tanjiro after he gets his memories back is so cute it’s like that aggressive best friend who is nice only to their bestie and just a terror to everyone else. 

5. Shinazugawa Sanemi 

There are so many wonderful, devoted big brothers in Demon Slayer and Sanemi is one of the top for me. We can tell in Genya’s flashbacks that Sanemi was completely committed to his role as provider and caretaker for their family. He loved and respected his mother and he loved his siblings and Genya trying to support him and stand with him back then meant so much to him and you can tell. Even after what happened to their siblings and mother, that devotion stayed, Sanemi just had to go about it differently.

I think the way he acts towards people is understandable although not justified, like many other characters he was completely unaware of demons before his family got slaughtered and unlike Gyomei, Giyuu and Tanjiro his family got slaughtered by his own mother and he killed her not realizing it was her until too late, and then had to deal with the realization that he killed his mother as well as having the brother he fought tooth and nail to protect curse him and things just got worse from there. Yes, Sanemi isn’t the only one who has lost comrades but he is one of the few slayers who has to wonder if a demon showing up is because of him and not the other way around. He never hated Genya for the things he said when their mom died, he was never bitter towards him. He loved him and knew his little brother well enough to know how kind hearted and sensitive Genya was and that’s why he was so harsh because he was so scared of losing Genya too and of Genya going through the traumas he had. Scared enough that he was willing to maim him if it meant getting him out of the Corp. And more than willing to let Genya hate him forever. I mean seriously, think about the mental and emotional will power you’d have to conjure up to be able to look at your younger brother who is pleading to talk to you and make the decision to try and blind him and keep insisting you’re not family. I don’t agree it was the right thing to do but the fact that he could even bring himself to attempt that geez. 

 Not to mention hearing Genya had eaten demon flesh probably scared him because that kind of makes Genya a demon and if he goes out of control someone would have to kill him. I think his rage is understandable, I think his anger initially at Nezuko and Tanjiro is very understandable and it’s shown on his face when he looks down after Nezuko rejects his blood. This demon rejects human flesh, why couldn’t my mom? Why did I have to kill my mom, lose all my siblings and lose my remaining brother, lose my best friend, but this kid gets to keep his sister who is a demon? Would anyone else in his shoes respond differently? I really doubt it. 

 I love how he’s like the unexpected wild child of the Hashira---not completely unexpected I mean look at him--but the fact that he just pulls an Inosuke and just picks fights with people left and right and he really seems to enjoy his fights but he’s also not ignorant about it. He is aware of what’s going on and he is calculating and strategizing and he’s so -adaptive- like Sanemi will try literally anything in battle if he thinks there’s even a hint it might work. The fact that he knows how to be annoying and cocky to his opponent but isn’t arrogant in his fighting (exception being his fights with Giyuu I think) is a refreshing take on this type of character. Sanemi doesn’t think he can beat everybody, he doesn’t think he’s invincible but that’s okay with him because he still wants to try it regardless. And like Muichiro he knows how to push those buttons and he has such fun doing it and honestly, I have so much fun watching him antagonize his opponents. 

6. Obanai Iguro

I love Iguro’s design. I love that he could have just hated people and cursed them because that’s kind of what you’d expect from someone who’s own family treated them the way the Iguro clan did to Obanai. His family sliced open his face, tried to sacrifice him to a demon and then cursed him for surviving when it backfired on them. He had no social interaction until he was friggin 11 with anyone outside of his messed up family. I appreciate how honest he is about his reasons for being a demon slayer. He isn’t doing this to be noble or because its the right thing. He wants to try to purge his family’s tainted blood from himself by killing demons for others, knowing he can never truly purge that blood but at least its -something-. I love how even though he was hurt all for the sake of a snake demon that he doesn’t hate Kabamaru (check spelling) and he treats that precious white snake so well and that Kabamaru isn’t just a decoration but his partner. I appreciate how even though he doesn’t know how to tell Mitsuri he loves her verbally---he’s constantly showing it. Writing letters back and forth with her, sitting with her and just letting her eat as much as she wants, giving her socks that match her eyes because he knew she was uncomfortable at first with her uniform. When she starts trying to explain how she got the Demon Slayer Mark and its all gibberish and he just face palms---not even upset just like “my poor wife she’s doing her best”. The way that he gets jealous of Tanjiro being buddy buddy with Mitsuri is so funny because its so stupid and yet he has Muichiiro’s petty streak, just listing off all the Corp members “crimes” when Tanjiro is like “did these people commit some sort of crime?” I love how he changed his mind about Tanjiro and he was -such- a good battle partner with Tanjiro when it was just the two of them for a bit. The fact that he got right between Tanjiro and Muzan’s Akira-like jaws knowing that would definitely kill him, he didn’t go to pin Muzan he went directly to save Tanjiro from getting swallowed.To me it seemed so clear that in this final battle Iguro accepted Tanjiro and supported him, they worked as a team and Loner Iguro is good at it I can’t wait to see him in the new anime content. 

7. Kocho Shinobu 

Shinobu is also kind of a typical anime girl but I still like her. Short angry girl is a pretty common trope but she does it well. I love that she is biting and vicious with a smile on her face, kind of like what you expect from the stereotypical mean rich girl, but you can tell that’s also not Shinobu because she will -actually- mess you up in a heartbeat. I love that she’s not a “mean girl”, she loves her friends and her butterfly girls and she cares a lot about people and she’s not ashamed of being a “healer”. I love that instead of writing herself off, “I’m small and therefore can’t fight the same as everyone else” she figured out a method that worked for her, and it is probably one of the worst ways a demon can die---it’s definitely the most painful. I love how one way she showed Kanae her love for her was choosing to always smile even though she’s never actually happy. That it’s not forced positivity, and Kanae wasn’t asking that of her. But it was “My sister loved my smile, so I will continue to smile for her.” I love how she is constantly stepping in to show support to the characters. Talking to Kyojuro before he left, confronting Mitsuri about her starving herself once she found out about it, encouraging and showing happiness for Kanao starting to speak up for herself and being a sort of mother figure for Inosuke where she cared for him but was also able to discipline him in a way that no one else really could. I do feel like her best interactions are when she’s with Zenitsu, Douma and Giyuu but it could just be that I find those moments with her to be the most fun and entertaining. 

8. Tokito Giyuu

Giyuu’s is kinda funny because he’s typically the type of anime character who is my favorite in a series but compared to the previous 7, yeah he’s here. I do love that he’s a tried and true introvert, like he is a devoted Hashira but at the same time gives off the Shikamaru vibe of “Gosh I’d rather be at home”. I enjoy that even though he has a bond with Tanjiro that doesn’t like cure him of his introvertness, he still gets overwhelmed by Tanjiro sometimes and is just like “no, not today” and tries to split. I love that that’s not really attempted to get fixed, that’s just how Giyuu is and that’s okay. He still has moments of joy and sass and all the other feelings but there’s no “we need to heal Giyuu” thread in the story besides the side story of everyone trying to get him smile/laugh.  I will always be saddened by the fact that he for the longest time didn’t feel like he was a Hashira and just wrote himself off but I also kind of like how the Hashira weren’t suddenly like, “That’s crazy, we love and accept you Giyuu!” But by the end I feel like he was mostly accepted, particularly by Sanemi which was nice since those two were almost like unspoken rivals it felt like. His scenes with Tanjiro and Shinobu are the best to me, because he obviously cares about Tanjiro a lot while he simultaneously just has no idea what to do with this kid unless he’s fighting alongside him. I  love his dynamic with Shinobu, its not one I usually love a lot but theirs is so much fun and Shinobu really brings out Giyuu’s sass and sarcasm which is fun to see especially with him doing it deadpan. I appreciate Giyuu’s struggle as a character because I feel like its one that a lot of us can relate to and its nice to see him accept and grow comfortable with himself as the story progresses. 

9. Himejima Gyomei

I will probably get a lot of hate for this one, but oh well. Unlike the other Hashira where I do like them on some level, I don’t like Gyomei at all. If you pushed me I guess I would say his extremely impractical weapon? But like, that’s really reaching. I feel like the only reason I don’t immediately forget about him is because he’s massive and is always crying with his hands in prayer stance. He’s a monk but like in name only. Maybe its just because there wasn’t enough time but I can’t think of a single time where Gyomei showed monk behavior besides saying “Namu Amida Butsu” and Genya mentions that the mantra he used fighting the Emotion Demons was something he learned from Gyomei but nothing past that. Even his crying seems to be more of an at-random thing and not a “he’s feeling deep or spiritual emotions”. We never get an explanaton for why he cries all the time and then suddenly doesn’t cry during his fighting and gets all….macho? I guess I would call it. But yeah look at that conversation between him and Tanjiro at the boulder, if those are spiritual teachings they are not good ones…so to me he doesn’t practice what he preaches, but we also aren’t really shown what he believes spiritually. 

My biggest issue with him is his attitude towards children. He was bitter and mistrustful towards children after the demon attack because the TRAUMATIZED FOUR YEAR OLD didn’t express gratitude for him saving her life. Children struggle with expressing gratitude period, especially that young, they definitely aren’t going to be thinking about expressing gratitude after going through watching you bash another adult’s skull in. 

And because of this he believes that children “Are pure and innocent. Weak. They lie easily…are casually cruel…and selfish.” Children are this way unless they are taught correctly, adults are this way even if they ARE taught correctly. Children’s brains aren’t fully developed at four years old, and yeah, Gyomei doesn’t know that science but seeing as he was raising other kids there, he should understand kids better than he does. Children lie easily because at that young of an age the worst thing that can happen to you is getting in trouble, so you lie to avoid it. You have to be taught how to deal with that properly. Children are not “casually cruel”, they don’t understand that their words and actions impact other people’s emotions and feelings the way that adults do they have to be shown and taught it, just like everyone else. That’s not something that just comes from predisposition. Children are selfish? So are adults, and children don’t become selfless unless they are shown and taught it. Gyomei went through this trauma too, so I don’t blame him for his knee jerk reaction being upset at the child, but the fact that afterwards he stayed upset and decided that children are all these things, and staying upset that she didn’t show gratitude? That’s ridiculous.

[made-this-cause-why-not]

Quick rant about ATYD because, the slander just does not make sense to me. It's not a perfect fic and people are allowed to not like it but some of the reasons for people not liking it are just so weird to me. Like- people don't like it because Sirius is sexist.... Sirius is a teenage boy. Do the people that say that hang out with teenage boys IRL? They are sexist and sometimes racists, pieces of shit- especially around their guy friends or girl they think 'are cool with it'. Also, it was the 70's. Like, do people not realize that a white, rich (like fully out of touch with reality, Billionaire with money dating back to the 15th century Rich), SEVERLY TRAUMATIZED cis guy from the 70's would be a piece of shit as a child. Like, as Sirius got older he would grow to regret all the fucked up stuff he said an take the time to actually apologize and stuff but we never saw that because he was 21 when he was imprisoned. He never even left his frat boy era. And then I have seen others be mad because they made Dorcas white. This is a complaint I have only seen from white people and as a Black mauraders fan, it literally does not matter. Like- Dorcas meadows is a character mentioned less than five times in the entire series, with her race being nothing more than a token black person that J.K shoved in The Order to prove it wasn't all white and that the HP world has diversity. Her being made white changes nothing in the plot. People also say that wolfstar is toxic in it, like this isn't a fic about two deeply traumatized boys with no role models or healthy relationships or base their own off of, other than Effie and Fleamont which they don't meet until they are like 13. Like, of course they are going to be toxic and fucked up- their entire lives have been fucked up. The only valid critique I have seen is the fact that the G word is used to describe the wolf packs. Granted, I didn't know that was a slur until 2021 or so, it's still a fucked up term to use. But yeah, I feel like people often say it's a bad work, which is fine if you just don't vibe with it, but the reasoning for not liking it makes me pause a little because 'what?'.

Edit: Forgot to say this but people also hate the characterization of Mary because she is oversexualized, to which I say: so is Sirius. Like, they are both sooooo fucking slutty and sleep around a bunch, the fact that people only talk about Mary in this light can be attributed to one of two things. Either A: grasping at straws, or B: Putting the weight on Remus's narration. Him being inexperienced for alot of his time as hogwarts would allow for any kiss or hookup seem like the end of the world for in his eyes and by reading with the grain I can understand that- but even then don't slut shame the black women and not the Black. "but mary lost her virginity at 14"- people get their sexual urges right as they hit puberty. Teens are horny. In the 7th grade my middleschool took an all day trip that used to be over night until two students got caught fucking in a cabin. 13 year old 7th graders. I am not saying it is right to loose your virginity at such a young age but it isn't unheard of.

Edit 2: Last edit I swear, but I just saw some one's post saying they didn't like how remus having a learning disability was for shits and gigs or that he did drugs and joined a gang. Firstly, remus having a learning disability is a beautiful metaphor for his lycanthropy and class. He is studying along side his friends, completely confused and just playing along to not give anything away. It doubles onto how isolated Remus must have felt and his whole problem with opening up to others. Also, the fact that Remus had to push himself so hard academically just to get the same grades as his rich friends who coast by on their name and the fact that they have been learning latin and french from tutors since they could walk- I mean, it's just chef's kiss. And, do people not realize that people in the real world do drugs? That a lot of people struggle with addiction and are more prone to said struggle when they grow up in a shitty environment with out learning proper ways to cope with the traumatic events? Remus was in a gang because he was surrounded by people who were in a gang- people who understood him more than James or Sirius did.

Like, I know that I can't really say this because I am a legal adult ranting on tumblr, but all of the slander just makes me want to tell people to go outside. Make friends irl- not mutuals. Touch grass, hand out with people you age. Like yes atyd isn't perfect but it was very much accurate to how real people would have been in the 70's and I personally prefer that to the babygirl-ification of every male character in Harry Potter to the points where they are almost caricatures of themselves

[fourswords]

Just as the people had begun to lose hope, a lone young boy traveling with little but a sword at his side appeared. When this boy heard what was happening, he said only, "I will defeat this sorcerer." He boldly entered Vaati's palace, mystically trapped the evil sorcerer in the blade of his sword, and returned the young girls to their villages. The boy then went deep into the forest and disappeared. The villagers asked the girls how a boy so young could have saved them all and defeated the sorcerer when no one else could. The young girls told a story of how with just a wave of his sword, the boy's body shattered into four pieces, each of which then formed a complete copy of the boy. These four young boys then worked to defeat the sorcerer.

some thoughts about the hero of the four sword:

definitely has a lot of similarities with the link from the og legend of zelda. young boy appears, kills the bad guy, and instantly disappears afterwards (although og link did eventually return as shown by zelda 2: aol. this kid just completely vanished off the face of the earth).

the four sword was with him when he stumbled upon this scene. this tracks because the four sword was never actually placed in any sort of pedestal at the end of the minish cap—the hero of the minish still had it! which means that the sword had to have been passed down to the hero of the four sword, which would also explain his apparent mastery of it.

like, he was whole, and he just waved his sword and split into four, and then sealed vaati away and reformed himself before disappearing forever. he not only knew how to control every aspect of the transformation but he knew how the sealing capabilities worked as well!

(just to bring the fsa manga into this, i do think it's very funny how much this contrasts with the hero of light in terms of. um. Everything. red&blue&green&vio arguing for the millionth time in a week while the hero(es) of the four sword stormed vaati's palace and beat his ass in three hours. speedrunning king. really beginning to think that the hero of light is the cringe idiot of the four sword hero lineage or whatever you want to call it.)

off the top of my head, he joins the hero of men in being one of the only two links without zeldas (in the games. if you want to count the mangas i GUESS the first link could count but hylia was very much there. so. two and a half...?)

given that the four sword had to have been passed down to him, i do wonder if part of his motivation to defeat vaati was the fact that Vaati Was Supposed To Be Fucking Dead. the hero of the minish VERY much killed him. so either vaati reincarnated a) NOT of his own doing (gives some credence to the "vaati was actually the first incarnation of demise" theory) or b) of his own doing (his whole thing is being a mage so i could also see it). interesting nonetheless. ANYWAY.

given just how much his age is stressed to be Young As Hell I think he had to have been around the same age as the hero of the minish. so like. the 8-10 range. this only makes the idea that the hero of light sucks bad at being a competent wielder of the four sword even funnier to me

he was apparently just living in the forest before it was even cool. take THAT hero of time/hero of hyrule.

OH I ALMOST FORGOT TO WRITE. his mastery of the four sword's ability to split the wielder into four separate people directly implies that its ability to do so was NOT a result of any magical interference by vaati as lots of people in the fandom think. the reasoning for the difference how it splits the wielder between the minish cap & four swords/four swords adventures is seemingly just a natural progression of its power coupled with mastery of said power. when you think about it, in the minish cap, the hero of the minish really doesn't wield the four sword as we know it all that long because he was assembling it throughout the game. the hero of the four sword's story literally clears up that question. vaati had literally nothing to do with the four sword's power shift.

[mischas]

i've been a lifelong ryan and marissa stan but now in my late 20s and after living a quasi-situationship, i can finally understand just how messy r/m were and how exhausting their dynamic would be. still love them and it's tv and what not but now i get why some people throw the toxic label around. also their attachment styles are interesting to think about, ryan's deffo avoidant and marissa's probably a fearful avoidant. they basically met at a time when they both had a lot of healing to still do to be healthy together

Ah yeah I get this. The version I have of them in my head absolutely has them sit down to talk their shit out eventually but I think it's apparent from at least s2 on, and the forthcoming book basically says this, that the show benefits from their miscommunication. It shoots them in the foot, but the show actively engages with Ryan and Marissa never being on the same page due to their avoidance issues. It only propels the plot and the writers' room was only looking for tension when it came to their storylines. So my love for them still to this day is taking elements of those building blocks and imagining a healthier scenario for them that's not always looking to be torpedoed by a writers' room who stopped knowing how to properly write for them by s2. I can understand why other people don't do the same lol. But so much of viewing this show, to me, is looking at what they gave us at face value and realizing that it's torture/trauma porn for Marissa and how absolutely gross that is. And trying to pivot from that whenever I can just so I can enjoy it at all. Still no word from the book on how harmful that is as a narrative for a teenage girl. It's like they still don't get why she was so relatable to at least half their audience.

I think the word toxic gets carelessly thrown around a lot and RM are thrown into really dark and counterintuitive plots but I don't get why people think their actual relationship is toxic. They're avoidant but moreso because plot + dealing with adult feelings/situations at such a young age. Marissa feels she can't speak to her boyfriend about her feelings so she leans into a third party character meant to be her emotional support. That's, like, actually really sad. And it's not right, but both those plots resolve themselves without Ryan and Marissa having a real conversation about it! Insane. The show didn't want them to resolve anything because then there's no more constant conflict. They aren't even allowed to talk about the assault or shooting! Or even the death of one of those third party characters. It's just.... such bad writing. The writers' room hated them bad after s1 and it's really obvious.

ETA: Sorry I completely forgot to mention your own situationship. I'm sorry that it seemed (on my end here) to be a bad thing in the end. I think they can be really tricky and a way for a lot of men (though not exclusively) to string people along and that really sucks. Emotional maturity is something I'm still working at myself and it's really hard. So much of what I've seen of situationships is like settling for all someone can give you and I don't think it's inherently all that bad really, but everyone involved deserves better. And better tools to confront those things.

[itsm3m00n]

Gasp if this is too personal you can ignore me but you're in a relationship? What kind, who, when, how, are they as wonderful as you also do you have any cool stories about them or a past relationship omigosh spill.

its funny, because me and my partner literally have a whole backstory and i am about to unleash it upon you

Let me tell you The Story Of Space Potato

a long, long time ago, i was seven years old, and taking swim lessons at my local YMCA. in my class, was a kid who we'll call Kase (the german word for cheese) Kase and i were like every other seven year old who was put in a close vicinity with another their age, and quickly became friends.

while we took these brief YMCA swim lessons, the two of us played a game we dubbed "Space Potato" which is where you stand in the shallow end, jump up, curl into a ball and bob around like a, well, potato.

that swim practice session ended, and just like you do with all other playground friends, i completely forgot about Kase's existence.

flash forward a few years later and i graduated from YMCA swim lessons onto an actual swim team. now, this was funny because my mother was extremely excited to tell me that Kase's younger sibling, Krankenhaus, was on the swim team as well.

i remember my mother said to me, "do you remember Krankenhaus? they did swim lessons at the YMCA with you!" and so forth.

i had quite literally never heard of Krankenhaus before in my life.

however, when i came to practice on the first day, i was in a lane (lane 2) with several people, one of which was my classmate. we all got along fairly well, being fourth grade females.

one of the children in my lane introduced themselves to me as Kase. we werent the closest in our lane, but we were what the children nowadays refer to as "homies"

a good few practices in, and one day i say to Kase, "hey, want me to show you this thing i came up with called space potato?"

Kase's reaction was something like "broh i made that up" and suddenly we remembered the swim lessons at the YMCA.

the year progressed, and Kase and i were slightly closer than before, but not really at "close friend" level. we would talk during practice, and at meets, but it never really meant anything.

quite some time later (like a lot of years) and it was the end of the swim season, and Kase asked for my number. this is a normal thing to do, as we were friends and wanted to communicate.

i remember literally one of the first texts Kase send me was a gif of Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing On Rainbows, which really got us off on the right foot.

swim years came and went, and i was trying to figure out what my next school would be, as i had graduated. Kase was going to go to a school their mother worked at, and told me that i should apply.

i applied to Kase's school, got in, and chose it over my other two options, a horse girl school and a bunch of barns.

now the summer before i would go to this new school, i was at a theater camp doing stage tech and set design, it was a week long camp and i remember distinctly that on tuesday night, me and Kase were texting, as people do.

now i had been questioning my feelings for about a month now, because i was unfamiliar with the special condition known as Not Straight that i was dealing with.

on this tuesday night, we were chatting about random things. the two if us have a lot in common, we had read the same books, liked to draw, so on. and in a moment of idiocy, i texted something sort of like "brooo are we like soulmates?"

and then immediately regretted it because like actually who says that

but this moment of panic grew to extremes when i got no reply. i stared at my phone screen, not even the three dots showed up. i actually almost cried.

turning my phone off, i pulled a blanket over my head to wallow in my own self pity. desperate, i opened my messages and lo and behold, there were several texts, the last few being things like "where did you go?" and "did you like die or something"

turns out my FUCKING PHONE didnt send the messages through at the most horrible moment possible.

the funny thing is, the conversation turned from being best friends roommates (oof) to us spamming the word "mooses"

we also signed a soulmates contract.

however, this is not the actual story of how we got together. i might write a part two later, but my fingers are tired of typing

To Be Continued

[stillgrows]

get to know the mun

what made you pick up the current muse(s) you have? oh, goodness. there are so many and they are so varied. they're all muses i've picked up over the years who have spoken to me; in some ways, it's funny to look back and see what my "type" was at the time (see: huey laforet and johannes cabal being from things i was into around the same time, and then luxord and kariya being from similar times for me as well; looking @ my new gnshn additions is funny because yeah, you're into the fake people lately, aren't you).

is there anything you don’t like to write? while i love shipping, i dislike relationships where there is no... challenge? not even challenge in a butting heads way, but they have to be able to provide something to the other. they have to enable growth in the other. so i guess completely 100% fluffy cute happy ships without any substance (and the substance does not have to be negative in any way... it just has to actually be there).

is there anything you really enjoy writing? i love parallels and foils in narration. i also do love writing smut, i shall not lie; it's a good way to look into the dynamics of a character with themself and their own body as well as of a relationship. in general though i enjoy anything that really pries open a character and lets me examine them in different ways.

do you write in silence or do you play music? depends! i have character playlists i will usually use, but sometimes the vocals are a detriment and i'll just write in silence (or with music on in the living room so it's Noise but i'm not Listening)

do you plan your replies or wing them? yes? it really depends. sometimes i'll reply instantly and in that case i'm winging it, but i've usually had inspiration occur to me which counts as vague planning even if instantaneous? with replies being so short it's difficult to say, vs writing a novel where i know the ending and am winging the middle.

do you enjoy shipping? forgot this question was coming and kind of answered it already... so, yes. a lot. but it has to give something to the characters. i don't just ship just to ship. i'm not rewriting my above answer so y'all get the same thing twice.

what’s your alias/name? syd, or plant (although i've had several additional ones over the years) age? 27 birthday? 18 july favorite color? burnt orange favorite song? currently my top song on my on repeat playlist is over & over by rio romeo but i think axolotl by cosmo sheldrake may be my actual current favorite. this changes very often. last movie you watched? uh. it may have been my ghost in the shell rewatch a while ago? last show you watched? a murder at the end of the world last song you listened to? currently listening to brain damage by joywave favorite food? oh, um. hm. raw oysters with a good mignonette. favorite season? late summer/early fall do you have a tumblr best friend? does my girlfriend count?

tagged by: stole from @kkriitters tagging: you

[wintercosmicskye]

I designed Halkenna a spaceship! Say hello to the Midsummer Meteorite!

It’s a flying saucer-esque ship but more rounded. I actually got the name for it from animal crossing new horizons, its what i made Halkenna’s passport title lol (i might show that in a another post sometime). Forgot to mention this in the ref itself, but the windshield is what open and closes and how he gets in and out.

I think he was around 13 when he found the ship in the scrap yard, and almost 15 when he first went to Earth. I think the spaceship lasted until he was roughly halfway between 17 and 18 when it became too busted up to just keep repairing over and over like he had been until that point. (These are only rough estimates and may be adjusted as needed, I haven’t completely figured out my timeline yet). It lasted a surprisingly long time for something he found in a scrap yard that he repeatedly repaired over the years with various odds and ends. Despite already being a bit obsolete by the time he found it, the technology is still leagues better than Earth’s, as going 80,000 light years away is a fairly reasonable task for it. If that spaceship’s considered old and obsolete, makes you wonder just how advanced the newer and larger ships are.

For awhile he wasn’t sure what to name it, but he thought of it a little awhile after he started visiting Earth. The first time he went there was during the summer, and his landing was a bit rough. A few people (his soon to be girlfriend and her friend) had briefly seen it while it was in the sky, but from where they saw it it merely looked like a meteor/shooting star, granted a little brighter than usual (I’d like to think to she saw it first and made a wish, immediately followed by a hmm uhh wait that shooting star looked a little different actually, further followed by a loud but distant thump). He had luckily landed in a forest and not in the middle of civilization heheh, probably would have caused quite a few problems otherwise. Did she investigate that night or the next morning? I haven’t quite decided that part yet, I’m leaning towards that same night. I got from Bug Spray (the song) that her dad doesn’t like it when she’s out after dark. Either the friend she was with seemed mature enough to him for some lenience to stay out later and watch the stars, or it was a snuck-out situation. Or maybe she just managed to see the meteor and hear the thump from her window. Like I said before, there’s definitely still a few things i need to work out.

The Midsummer Meteorite had its pros and cons. It was fast and agile, but it had no built in weapons and had a lot wear and tear over time. Due to its small size, it would often be overlooked, and it was easy to hide away if need be as well as easily fit on larger ships. Friends he made over the years would sometimes tease him about his ship being “dinky,” but he didn’t really care. Halkenna is used to piloting defensively and a bit unpredictable, because of this he was often described to pilot “like a lunatic/maniac/idiot” (depending on how they each preferred to phrase it) and as such the majority of his friends refused to let him pilot their own ships.

He was devastated when the Midsummer Meteorite did inevitably kick the bucket. It was of course a long time coming, not only because of the damage and age, but since he had gotten it when he was only 13 he had grown taller over the years and the little ship became more confining and awkward to use (it was likely initially designed for a species a little smaller than himself). Like how a hermit crab eventually outgrows its shell and needs to find a new one, Halkenna too outgrew the ship on top of the damage done to it, and had to find something new.

It almost pains me a little to have had so much fun designing this spaceship only to ultimately decide it eventually has to be replaced, but not only does it ultimately make sense but it also kinda matches some of the themes present in the music project. Yknow like moving on and stuff, best summed up by Jami Lynne’s quote in the description of Ultranimboy A Letter to a Dying Star. Despite working fine earlier, for some reason im not able to paste things on tumblr so I can’t put the link to it, so here’s a screenshot of it instead:

I actually wonder now whether it might work even better if he decides to to move on from it before it officially kicks the bucket.

I like to think he keeps a few parts of it to add to his new ship maybe. Speaking of his new ship, im actually not sure what it would look like yet, and before you ask nooo its not gonna be the Mercury Retrograde from Omori. The Mercury Retrograde is cool and all, but the vagabond vigilante Galactic Love Defender Space Boyfriend and his newly adopted little brother Little Jack dont need a ship THAT big for just the two of them or any guest they might have, and there’d need to be a whole crew to man all that. I’m thinking there’s maybe a few separate rooms, at least a separate cockpit and bedroom to sleep in unlike before where Halkenna would either sleep in the seat or on the floor of the Midsummer Meteorite in a sleeping bag.

I’ll elaborate more about some of these things later, this post has already gotten quite long

I actually rambled a lot more than I meant to, especially considering all the stuff i already typed in the image itself lol. Anyways, I hope you like it ^v^

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

(Note: All of these asks are before episode 206 (Season 2 finale) so some may be dated.) 1. do RS defenders realize the issue is in the fact that, despite being a woman who claims to be a progressive feminist marketing herself to be making a progressive, feminist "reclaiming" of mythology, her work and actions being indistinguishable from awful male writers is?? really bad?? the "if the roles were reversed" argument is to point out her and her work is really no different from the same misogynistic, bigoted men and their stories that she and her fans claim she and LO are better then.

2. The thing is an age gap isn't the actual issue, the issue is the fact Persephone was made A TEENAGER who looks/acts even younger and even in comic it was found gross, THAT's why people were and still are grossed out by it and find Rachel's insistences "subverting it" questionable at best, and an outright lie at worse. This especially is more pointed with the timeskip, because Persephone still looks/acts the same as she did at 19, so it just makes you wonder WHY Rachel made her 19 to begin with.

3. Ok but it IS important to point out how the double standards within LO and RS and especially the fact she is a rich white woman who wants the praise of being progressive and feminist yet her actual actions and story do not show that. We also have to point this out because of how she and her fans weaponize this to say any legitimate criticism is merely "hating women", over the fact she DOES promote and do harmful things other creators (like queer and BIPOC creators) dont get to "grow" from

4. I'm sorry if this comes across as racist. That is not my intention. I hate the human skin colors Rachel Smythe uses. They look unnatural. Like paper grocery bags or potato wedges from KFC.

5. If 10 years passed, shouldn't Dionysus already be born? Semele died? I feel like RS forgot about a whole Olympian God. 🤨

6. I'm reading the comments on Rachel's insta, with the fast pass showing the pink nymth, and the comments speak volumes. Everyone's questioning if it's another lover, or someone is trying to seduce Hades, or Kronos is possessing him (??), Some fans even talk about getting anxiety/blood pressure spikes. Wow... It's almost as if a trama bonded relationship isn't stable. It's almost as if Hades has been unfaithful to past lovers. As if there's a pattern here that makes the readers want to blame the nymth (who has NO voice lines yet, btw. Their attacking her for putting her hand out (smug) and showing side boob (telling her to cover up? That's ironic)) rather than Hades himself. You know. The other person in their relationship. And don't even tell me they're not official yet, I'm tired of beating around the bush, Persephone is literally the queen of the underworld. 

7. Do LO fans know that flipping out over even potential other women in Hades' life, despite the fact the whole selling point is knowing Hades and Persephone ends up together, only gives the impression they're not confident in their relationship to begin with? Like yall know they end up together, there's absolutely no reason to flip out at the inclusion of a random woman other than they knowingly or not think the couple is too weak too stand on their own (also misogyny but that's a different convo)

8. Not to be a nerd or anything, but I think LO completely mixed up Kronos and Chronos. The former is the titan of harvest and leader of said titans, while the latter is the personification of time. Similar names, but distinctly separate entities.

-----SA Discussion Below-----

9. Yeah it's hard to say RS is a staunch supporter of SA victims and takes the topic seriously/handles it with care when she made Arion and the result of his birth a child support "joke" when the actual mythology is Demeter being violently r*ped. It's honestly disgusting the fans defend it as "just a joke' while claiming the series stands up for victims. No, it stands up for CERTAIN victims, the rest, what, "deserved" it? Especially Demeter because she's not their "precious cinnamon roll"?

10. The issue with the SA plot too is she uses it to push P towards Hades, but then also can’t just have them jump into bed because of the obvious barriers there from the assault, so she’s basically stuck in this bizarre juggling act where she wants to be praised as this “serious writer who tackles serious issues” yet does nothing because she just wants to draw them boning but can’t because she doesn’t know how to handle SA & its trauma without ignoring it outright, so she doesn’t tackle it anyway!

[morganlefaye79]

What kind of experience are you?

I was tagged by @theviridianbunny, thank you so much!

Valaire

you leave people feeling challenged (affectionate).

a shiver. a breath of cool winter air, a stick n poke tattoo; the last few switchbacks at the end of a hike. a deep red. a proud sweat, a delicious ache. early dawn’s blue hour. a favorite story you love to retell. the excited scream, the staggering leap into water below. not fearless, but not afraid to let a good memory leave a few scars or stains. while you have moments of being rough around the edges—an acquired taste, a book not fully grasped in the first read-through—you can rest knowing that there will be people that rise to your challenge. you give off a sense of knowing yourself, and while that could be the case, you’re still learning, too. the close people in your life aren’t afraid of your seasons, your come-and-go silence, or your own way of showing love. they’re there to stay. they’ll join you on that blue hour dock just to read. they’ll take that last-minute road trip to the desert. you’re here to say, “I know you could do it.”

Joris

you leave people feeling inspired.

a moment of stolen breath. aquarium peace, walking through an art museum alone; a mesmerizing chorus of crowds singing along at the concert. turquoise blue. a sunshower. stained glass. paint stains on jeans. finishing a good book. pressed flowers. glasses of wine on your best friend’s balcony, the sun flirting from the horizon. spending time with you is nourishing in a way that feeds growth. it is the creative way you view the world, the way you move through life (whether expressed through dance, writing, music, visual art, cooking, or otherwise) that sparks the imagination of those around you. they watch you translate your experience in the truest form you know how, and they feel inspired to do the same. you seek to find universal understanding through these mediums, and the ones you hold close admire that hunger; maybe also happy to join in and get dirt under their nails, digging to the heart of things.

Vicco

you leave people feeling nostalgic.

drug store valentine's cards. a favorite childhood song crackled through the radio; secret folded notes to find later. a soft yellow. christmas lights. knowing all the movie scenes that make your best friend laugh. birthday candles. a favorite hot chocolate mug. arcade carpets. lazy sunny saturday mornings. young, but not naive. you give people the sense of being held. falling asleep in the car and being carried safely inside. an acknowledgment that no matter how we age, there’s still something small and reaching within us that never goes away completely. (and that it’s not a bad thing.) there’s something sweet about you that feels hard to come by nowadays. a “they don’t make them like you anymore.” maybe it’s a chance to dip a toe back into childhood or a less pressured place—into imagination again, if even for a short while. a chance your presence gives in allowing people to enjoy it all more fully this time around.

I tag without any pressure: @wanderingaldecaldo | @honourandsteel | @genocidalfetus | @therealnightcity | @chevvy-yates | @just-a-cybercroissant | @kittenchrissy | @ghostoffuturespast | @maimaiapologist

If I forgot someone, mea culpa, I lost my taglists 😞 But feel free to pretend that I tagged you 😉

[dirtyvulture]

😎 I am literally so mad right now because I just had a very long and well thought out post of a head canon but completely lost it because something in my phone freezed and glitched. Ahhhhhhhh fuck !!!!!! It was so good too and I will admit I went off in on an accidental rant and history lesson about how dating , marriages , children and teenagers were viewed in R’s day . How R is confused by the notion of “Teenagers” and what R does for the school. What was expected of R as a girl from money in R’s era and what was expected of boys from money at that same time . If you want me to repost it and if you want to read it let me know, I wouldn’t do it now because I am still so mad and like I said it is long .

I was also saying that I forgot to mention that people from the Hudson family also had blue eyes , Esther Hudson had green eyes ( with the same shade and brightness of movie and this world’s Nat ) but after her it was a pattern of blue and green eyes ( the green eyes were a emerald or frost green and the blue was electric blue) but their eyes were always distinctive. All the Hudsons had red hair but some were a darker shade of red than others , they also had curly or slightly curly hair.

I was thinking that the beads of R’s necklace were Red, Green ( emerald or forest),and Blue ( electric) as a remembrance and a way to honor the Hudson family. I have no artistic talent and no money to commission a piece but I was thinking that the lovely @amanda13parker would do an amazing job of the “ how to take care of your Wolverine” book and the Hudson family crest if they wanted to do it because that are truly talented. Or any of the amazingly talented artists out there , I am sure that it would turn out great if they wanted to do it as well. Vulture or the artist can choose they family colors because historically if a family had a crest they had colors to represent their family or their house. And to make it easier on the artists if they want they can change the family crest to a circle with the letter x in the middle and three claw slash marks with it and forgo the silhouette of a wolverine.

The Hudson family crest : the silhouette of a wolverine ( optional) , the letter X , three claw slash marks. The Hudson family colors: Vulture’s or artist’s choice.

I will let you come up with the bit of how R discovered that tampons could be used for the feminine hygiene purposes that it is used for now as opposed to the intended purpose of when it invented in 1931 which was to was to help stop bleeding cause by injury and applying medication ( because tampons wig me the FUCK OUT , absolutely not and no thank you) but I will say this. R would have gone around and tried to help as many people as she could as a nurse during the Great Depression or just in any way that she could. Maybe through this effort she met and became friends with Dr. Earl Hass ( the inventor of tampons) and that is how she made the discovery of how tampons could be used as the feminine hygiene product it is today.

As for Mutants being as common and accepted back in the days of when R was born ( from what we were are shown in the movie version of Wolverine and I don’t know about the comics but it doesn’t seem like mutants were too terribly common) and it was and is shown that mutants were and are not not widely accepted. That is why the school was built in the first place, to be a safe haven for mutants and a place to train in controlling their abilities. A place to belong and call home . Wolverine’s own mother called them a monster when their claws came out ( Wolverine has ✨Mommy Issues ✨ but I will touch on that another time) , it is canon ( in the comics) that mystique was place in front of a firing squad because the locals thought she was a witch along side Wolverine ( he was being a horse thief) back in the day . Being a woman our Wolvie and not dying when she is supposed to or not aging like she is supposed to R was probably thought of as a witch by r he fearful population and they probably tried a myriad of different ways to end her , all of which were obviously ineffective. We have seen how mutants are treated and feared in the “ present day” in the movies ( and other media) so not that much different as when wolverine was born .

I 100 percent believe that R looks strikingly similar to her mother ( Elizabeth Howlett) , Wolverine in the movies and comics have been said to look like their father but in this world and in case of our Wolvie being a woman . It just makes sense and it is one of the reasons why her hates her more feminine appearance and her original feminine voice ( i. e her long hair and her original higher pitched voice) because every time she looked into the mirror or listened to her own voice R saw a cold and distant face staring back at her or hear trances of a uncaring or indifferent tone talking to her. Wolverine’s mother was very cold and distant towards them and never showed them any love or affection , hence the ✨Mommy Issues ✨ . So whenever R saw herself as an adult in photos or the mirror she would see her mother looking back at her and before all the smoking and drinking striped her throat out she hear trances of her mother’s voice into her own . Esther, the Hudsons and R’s old friend made her love her hair and voice but when R lost her old friend . She couldn’t take looking at herself and feeling the lost of the friend and seeing her mother. She hates when her throat is healed up enough for or when some of her old original voice comes through. Because she can’t handle hearing her mother without her old friend.

Don't worry, anon, I think I got (and posted) your other message!

You're also in luck, I talked to @amanda13parker and she has graciously agreed to sketch us a family crest for the Hudson family! More to come soon.

...I will not think about the obvious way R discovered tampons could be used for the feminine hygiene purposes lol.

Not the witch hunts for the Wolverine 😭 Poor R. I hope she can find a good love one day who will accept her with all of her trauma and issues... 😉

[beyblaiddyd]

Chainsaw Man Extended Thoughts Edition Under Cut

Denji: Just makes me sad not even on an effective emotional level it’s just a flat ah man kinda sadness that you feel when someone like trauma dumps in another person’s twitch chat and you feel bad for them but are also like dude I didn’t ask. I think theoretically speaking exploring the like Stupid, Naive, Young Shounen Protagonist and how rife that situation is for manipulation and exploitation Could be really interesting and the author’s clear personal investment in the situation could’ve primed him to do something interesting with it but the fact he hasn’t at all come to realize why these things happen in society and is just haunted by the Woman Devil or something. makes it. uhm. He’s sooo scared of the idea of a woman wanting to date him for an ulterior motive he does that plot literally 3 times. At least this final time it’s like another teenage with her own complex motivations and not just literally the USSR’s Bomb Devil Sleeper Agent (real plot point). I will say there is a certain low tier intrinsic satisfaction to seeing his development with Asa where he says he won’t just listen to what he tells him and is going to go do what he wants.

Makima: When she’s not on screen with Denji I did actually find her to be an interesting character and villain. The idea of a devil who by her very nature doesn’t hate humans and instead wants to build a perfect cage for them is like, not unexplored, but certainly less common than villains who just want to destroy shit for fun, so that was at least a little more fresh than the alternatives that could’ve been done. And the thing about her losing because in her egoism she never once recognized Denji as an individual person and only cared about him for Pochita is like a fine narrative cap even if the way that Chainsaw Man obsession was written was fucking unimaginably misogynistic. But my god her writing around Denji most of the time oh my god oh my god this writer hates women so much.

Power: I mean she’s just a joke character the writer got far too invested in. Having her around as the only teenage girl of the main cast to give Denji someone his age to bounce off of was something of a relief though the way the author framed and wrote her also made me want to kill him with a tire iron. Her plot progression ultimately felt so condensed like he realized he forgot to do a narrative for her and needed to do it all at the end. The whole “find me again and make me Power again” thing was I guess cute #besties.

Aki: Only character with an actually compelling story that was told completely. It felt a little rushed, unlike every other plot where I was begging for any kind of development or progression at all he was having progression happen to him all the time in fast forward and then he exploded and died. The snowball scene was horrifically corny but at least kind of emotionally impactful. Predictably his dynamic with Angel is the only thing I actually care about.

Kobeni: I can’t think about Kobeni for too long or I’ll get actually angry. The fact so many misogynistic men who were fetishizing her until the anime and then were like “omg she’s actually so annoying” and people were like “lol that’s the point !!! see it’s not misogynistic it’s feminist” makes me literally want to kill somebody. It’s not even like she’s that bad of a character like she’s being full force blasted by the misogyny beam but I could’ve tolerated her better without knowing the external reaction to her from every source. I think the only way they could’ve salvaged a good gag from her character is if when her car got totaled she’d flipped the fuck out and killed Santa herself like that is the only possible way Fujimoto could’ve salvaged any part of the joke of her character but that would mean letting any female character have a smidgen of agency and he couldn’t do that so. Other than that I think the only tolerable part of her character is that she became absolute besties with the Violence Devil if ONLY that had gotten explored more.

Angel: Not technically a main character but he is in my heart. The fact he was able to break out of Makima’s mind control has so many interesting implications that will never ever be explored. Is it because as a fellow devil who holds no hatred (though still holds malice) towards humans their powers are actually very close to each other? We will never know because the author doesn’t care! The scene with Aki grabbing his hand to save him is the only one that exists in my perfect mindscape.

I guess I HAVE to talk about these guys since they’re main characters now

Asa: I cannot fucking believe that this guy who clearly thinks it’s the ultimate evil to sexually exploit teenage boys is perfectly fine drawing Asa the way he draws her. Her researching fish for hours to go on a fake date with Denji is some kind of maneuver I am mildly charmed by her but the noxious radiation of how she is treated and also the fact this manga is Still Going For Some Reason makes it hard to think about her.

Hirofumi: I’m glad he’s back I found his design so cutie he is like a cat to me. Straight up thought he died in the Hell Devil/Darkness Devil encounter. We don’t know enough about him for further commentary.

[stellaluna33]

Ya know what’s funny, is that we’ve basically gotten to see Jess and Rory in almost every stage of their lives (through fanfic in regards to younger them specifically) but something I never noticed is that I’ve never read or heard about their pre-teen years like 12-14 and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Like in some alternate universe out there where they met where they were younger, what was pre-teen them like together?? Separately?? I’m too curious now. 😭😂

Hmmm! I think a lot might depend on whether they'd met when they were younger or not. What I remember from my own childhood (and observing other kids) is that younger kids are more open-minded and willing to make friends with just about anybody, but I definitely went through a period (roughly from age 10 to about 14) where it felt like people were more insular and I didn't want to associate with boys because they were "annoying" (to be fair, they totally were at that age. 😂). I don't know how common that is, but my mom (a psychologist) says it's a pretty common stage of "child development" or whatever, so apparently it's common enough for that... And then in highschool I became more open to making friends with a wider variety of people again.

So... I guess what I'm saying is that I could see Rory and Lane (because they're inseparable!) being friends with Jess at that age if they'd already been friends for a while, but if Jess was only just moving to Stars Hollow? I could totally see them maybe having a bit of a vague crush on each other from a distance, but they'd probably never talk to each other and attempt to seem disinterested and aloof if they ever had to interact at school (but secretly find each other fascinating and/or terrifying). 😂 I have a definite headcanon that Jess went through a "skater boy" phase around this time, so I can picture him doing skateboard tricks to "show off," but then be completely incapable of stringing two words together if Rory ever tries to speak to him and just stares awkwardly, haha. She probably thinks he doesn't like her. 😂 He would definitely punch Chuck Presby in the nose if he made fun of Rory, though! Let's see... I read a fic once (I forget which one!) where Jess and Dave Rygalski were on the same Little League team and became best friends while sitting on the bench together because neither of them have any athletic ability. 😂. Isn't that ADORABLE?! I immediately adopted it as my official headcanon (for a universe in which Jess moved to SH as a kid), so Jess and Dave are definitely best friends. They're probably JUST starting to really get into music at this point, and it's a mutual obsession. But they also both used to listen to a lot of Weird Al and They Might Be Giants when they were younger, because they're NERDS!

Rory and Lane are an inseparable unit at this point. They don't need anyone but each other. 😌. They are ALSO just starting to really get into music now (aided and abetted by Lorelai, of course), but that doesn’t mean they talk to Jess about it, or are even aware that it’s something they have in common, because he’s a stupid BOY and they don’t talk to him. (And also they don’t talk to anyone but each other...) They turn up their noses at his stupid skateboard tricks and clownery, because they are much too dignified and mature to pay attention to such antics.  As if!  (Rory was the only person in their 5th grade class who knew that Clueless was an Emma adaptation, and she rants indignantly to Lane about it.) Ok, maybe he’s a little cute, but we don’t talk about that (except maybe as a slumber party confession, hyped up on too much sugar and too little sleep. There is much giggling.), and this is all the more reason why we must give every indication that he is Beneath Us.

ETA. Because I forgot about school! Rory is Not Amused by Jess's class disruptions and lack of participation. She thinks it's annoying, and is also confused and frustrated by it, because she sees him reading all the time! But whatever. She just glares at him sternly from time to time, and studiously ignores him the rest of the time. Jess just stares at her shiny hair over the top of his book from the back of the class and hopes no one notices.

[the-storming-sea]

i dont go here but give me your wrightquill hcs

oh my god a wrightquill ask?? **starts violently shaking my raft**

Because AA5 kinda erases AA4 Phoenix's character we are just. not acknowledging it. Instead we get a lawyer with AA4 Phoenix's personality bc that makes sense in my head, which intrigues Simon bc this Phoenix Wright is not the Phoenix Wright he heard about from his law classes

pulling in my own au here where the first time Phoenix meets Simon is actually during the 7 year gap as a favor to Miles. Phoenix was instructed to study Simon and see if he was a trustworthy man. while he still did not understand Simon after that, he's pretty convinced that Simon wasn't a murderer after that

he keeps coming back to play poker with Simon after that, whenever Kristoph starts getting under his skin. Simon can't complain – it gets lonely as fuck in jail – but he is a little confused

unfortunately they bond. its what happens when you both have overwhelming feelings of guilt revolving around protecting your weird little girl while being blamed for the law world absolutely going to shit

They also bond over the mortifying ordeal of caring about someone who wasn't who they said they were and said person also trying to kill them at some point, bc thats an oddly hyperspecific situation they can both relate to

they will occasionally play poker together on terrible evil days when they want to exist as their worst selves

Anyways after Simon's exonerated and he's had his mental breakdown, Phoenix is the most helpful in bringing Simon back to semi-normal life (along with Athena) because Phoenix knows what it's like to be forced to get back to normalcy after living approx. seven years on the edge

indulging in my asian-american nature for a moment. Simon is half Japanese while Phoenix is completely Japanese but is a immigrated to America at a very young age and is not in touch with his culture at ALL. He thought he didn't care about his culture until he started talking with Simon and then he realized that unfortunately he cares A Lot. So Simon gets to infodump on him while Phoenix gets to learn

The first time one of them kisses the other, Phoenix kisses Simon's cheek in front of the rest of the WAA and then just LEAVES, turning off his phone, and subjecting Simon to the WAA's questioning like the smug bastard he is

both Simon and Taka are big fans of the stubble

Simon makes a lot of bird jokes/phoenix jokes at Phoenix's expense bc you know. birds. jokes on Simon, they forgot to inform him that Phoenix is a dad pun menace

As is customary for every person Phoenix dates/is friends with, Simon loves the Steel Samurai and watches it religiously with Miles, Maya, and Trucy at Phoenix's apartment. Phoenix will never escape the Steel Samurai. half of his apartment is covered with Steel Samurai Merch.

They're some of the only people who can handle each other's sense of deadpan morbid humor (aside from Ema ofc). Hearing them joke around is kind of terrifying for anyone involved

[valkyrieblogs]

continuing my second playthrough of 13 sentinels: aegis rim in an attempt to do more analysis and character study. i FINALLY UNLOCKED HIJIYAMA AGAIN and write so very much about him and okino. i have so many feelings about them.

this time i’m covering:

nenji ogata (25% - 37%) (in which i talk a little about okino and manipulation)

2nd area shibugaki city 0002

tomi kisaragi (0% - 12%)

2nd area shibugaki city 0003

yuki takamiya (28% - 42%)

2nd area shibugaki city 0004

natsuno minami (25% - 37%)

2nd area shibugaki city 0005

nenji ogata (37% - 50%)

takatoshi hijiyama (14% - 28%) (in which i talk a lot about the shifting levels of trust between hijiyama and okino, okino's decision to let hijiyama back in when he would isolate himself from anyone else, hijiyama's fantasy when he recalls meeting kiriko for the first time, and in general talk so very much about their dynamic help)

nenji ogata (25% - 37%): escape failed

this time got the loop where ogata successfully stops kisaragi from getting on the train, and they run away... i love ogata just desperately asking everyone about the key, even wajima.

and then at the end when he meets okino again... him getting okino's attention when he says he doesn't care about the key, he just wants kisaragi to be safe. and how okino just takes that and realizes he can use it, force ogata to focus by saying that he can help kisaragi if ogata gets him the key. i love the way that he gets this information and completely uses it for his own benefit to manipulate him! it's so good. i'm sure he's thinking, again, that this is more efficient than just explaining to him. after all, we know okino is willing to overlook a lot if it means advancing his plans and getting one step closer to saving humanity. what's a little manipulation in the face of that? he's a person where i feel like the ends justify the means. not to the point of ida and his cruelty, but enough. (since we know that okino will eventually explain, if pressed. he would just prefer not to, especially if it's unlikely the person will understand or believe him.)

god, i forgot how short these loops were with ogata. it feels almost like a palette cleanser.

oh! and i finally unlocked kisaragi with this. at long last...

2nd area shibugaki city 0002:

hmm, i'd forgotten how the fourth generation sentinels were designed by okino after he'd had exposure to the deimos and had taken inspiration from their designs. god i love how okino reacts to it, though.

hijiyama: is that true?

okino: he makes it sound so cool. i was basically copypasting random design elements with no idea how it'd actually work.

i love how much okino being sloppy with coding and other design elements is just a recurring thing.

tomi kisaragi (0% - 12%): prologue

god i really love kisaragi being from what is essentially our era while she's looking around showa-era japan. her reacting to the phonebooth in particular is how i feel if i still see a rare one these days!

i love her absolute lack of tact when seeing ogata and his hair. treating this like it's an exhibit or a place she's going as a tourist, more than anything else! without regard for the people she's interacting with! we already know she has so little tact to begin with (it's one of the things i really like about her), but there's something about it coupled with how she's basically here as a sector 3 refugee, and how surreal all of it must be for her to see. no wonder she's even ruder than usual! i doubt any of it feels real to her.

also poor ogata when he also got this treatment from miura, too.

i find kisaragi's approach to age kind of interesting when this happens. in her head it's like everything's fossilized as it is in 2025, especially when she talks about the people in her class being old enough to be her mother. but i think it's just because she hasn't actually met them yet, so she can't conceptualize them as living, breathing people who are, in reality, just as old as she is. even the way she talks about her own age is interesting, though—that she doesn't know how old she is, technically. i guess because she's thinking that she wouldn't be born here, yet. it's so different from how i conceptualize it, where it's just like... well, you were 15 then, so you're obviously still 15 now. you're still you.

i'm actually kind of surprised that we don't really see tetsuya ida interacting with this kisaragi. i know part of it is because he's pretending he's dead after the sector 2 infection, but i honestly would've been curious to see him interact with her in some capacity when... here's kisaragi again, flesh and blood, a human. even if she's not his kisaragi. it would've been interesting! tetsuya ida encountering her, having to talk to her, see for himself that she's this real person, separate from his kisaragi, and likely still making the decision that no, he would have rewritten her data with his kisaragi's if given the chance. but also seeing these echoes of the kisaragi he used to know one loop ago, before explosions and lost data.

watching kisaragi interact with gouto here, and i keep thinking back to that moment in shinonome route where she tries to help shinonome get away from him. i keep wondering what motivates her to do that in that moment, if there's something in particular that makes her distrust him, other than his clear affiliation with shikishima.

god i love kisaragi thinking she can find leverage on shikishima in her school's library. her school which is also associated with shikishima. it's actually no wonder that ogata goes here, when i think about that.

i still really want to know how miwako, ogata, and kisaragi end up getting caught in this shift despite where they're located. i know that, at this moment, this is when sekigahara and shinonome are having a confrontation over at the shifter in the science room, and that's what causes all of them to accidentally shift to sector 3. but i really want to know what's up with this targeting. shinonome and sekigahara getting caught up in it makes sense to me, but the rest of them...

god, i really love them getting stranded in sector 3 like this. the survival element of it is so strangely cozy to me. having to scavenge for things, them camping out, trying to keep themselves safe while avoiding the deimos (or androids). it's so good.

2nd area shibugaki city 0003:

not too much to say about this one, since it's more just about the deimos evolving and expanding its reference data when creating more deimos... i do just appreciate okino still calculating during all of this, anticipating what may show up next based on the current evolution of deimos, and coming to the conclusion that they may end up facing other sentinels at this rate.

i do also just keep thinking about okino always being a bit cynical, if not still realistic. but i think that attitude is so interesting for him to have while for so long (after the sector 2 infection), he was working alone to save humanity. that he pushed through that nagging that i'm sure was at the back of his mind and yet, kept working on it anyway.

yuki takamiya (28% - 42%): girl with red glasses

not too much to say about this loop, so far... mostly a lot of retracing steps trying to get access to the girls' washroom.

it's surprising to me how 426 seems to intentionally hang back when miwako is present. while she did apparently spot him while he was in tamao's body, it wasn't automatically suspicious, but he's obviously careful. also how 426 kept his distance from ogata—and was right to do so, since he knows the real erika aiba!—when he shows up on the rooftop, making some feeble excuse that won't possibly work on takamiya.

and with this... i finally got the girl with red glasses ending, which means i finally unlocked natsuno again. after all this time!!

2nd area shibugaki city 0004:

once again, i love the fact that amiguchi used to be such a punk when he was younger, actively fighting alongside ogata. we know the reason for tetsuya ida's image change, but i wonder about amiguchi's, since he obviously had something that made him reconsider his behaviour. although he still hangs out with ogata. but we've heard before how he's at least tried to pare back on that behaviour, like ogata mentioned in a previous destruction mode where he talked about amiguchi trying not to steal bikes anymore.

natsuno minami (25% - 37%): my best friend's meddling

it's been so long since i've been able to play natsuno's route... i really appreciate that she's been running around trying to find miura since she got back to sector 4, even if we don't end up seeing it.

god i really like ogata, but i'm always so put off whenever he ends up making these more objectifying comments. like here, where natsuno is running away from the SIU, and he just gets so distracted by the idea of them undressing her to search her. or like how he was back at the locker room, too. i get he's 15/16 and all, but!! this is less a criticism and just my own preferences where i'm just not a fan of this. like, he still does the right thing and tries to help her, but!

i keep thinking about how i don't have too much to say about natsuno herself. i actually like her a lot, and i really like her route. i'm just less compelled by her as a character, so have less to say even though i enjoy her a lot.

2nd area shibugaki city 0005:

it's interesting to hear gouto talk about when he simultaneously piloted eleven sentinels in sector 2. especially since it sounds like he still could control them—it was just that their processes were influenced by the deimos, too. it makes me wonder exactly how that works? if in setting them to be more automated, it also gave universal control some level of control over them, even if it wasn't to the extent of the deimos. but then that makes it sound like similar things could've happened with the biped units preceding the sentinels, too. hm. maybe just because the sentinels in particular utilize D-code.

i also appreciate that kurabe quickly picks up what's going on, that he's clearly suspecting that these aren't just the automated sentinels that they lost. and that this is confirmed by okino post-battle, too.

oh hm, post-battle okino mentions again how he never intended to have the sentinels piloted directly, just like he does at the end of hijiyama's route when he realizes that they're in their growth pods. the other thing about the first generation sentinels that i find interesting that okino mentions here is that as a result, they have a less stable connection to their pilots than the other generations do. that's why they have limiters, since they were intended just to be autonomous.

GOD i love hijiyama hearing about this and immediately being so down to take off the limiter, even if it means it'll put more strain on him. he's just!! so willing to do what needs to be done to succeed in this situation, no matter the personal cost. i know i touched on this before, but i really believe that it's not that he doesn't value his life, he just values the lives of others more. and he is, at his core, very much a soldier. he's prepared for this!

okay, and with this... i'm locked out of destruction mode again until i advance amiguchi's story.

nenji ogata (37% - 50%): victims of poison

another loop... this time it's the one where shinonome appears, and ogata follows her.

it's interesting seeing him run into tetsuya ida here, given that he's never met him. it does make me wonder how all of this is being generated by ogata's brain. especially since this seems like a more sympathetic tetsuya ida for once, too. admitting that sekigahara and shinonome are just collateral damage. even seeming a bit sorry about it. but also how he has this really pessimistic view, even saying that "mankind was the cancer all along", which feels more in-line with 2188 shinonome's views.

yeah. i just really wonder where ogata's subconscious seems to be getting access to this information. especially since i think in one of the next loops is when he encounters 426, too. if it's maybe a result of how his innerlocitor works, and what it communicates with, and if that's where it's pulling some of this information from...

god i love how okino is still refusing to give ogata any answers. he's only really responding to confirm or deny if what he's looking for is the right thing (or the right people), and nothing else...

and with this... i've finally unlocked hijiyama. IT'S BEEN SO LONG.

takatoshi hijiyama (14% - 28%): that damned okino

god, i love how even in his consider: tsukasa okino, he's still mulling over how he was just posing as kiriko... and his justification for agreeing to help okino, in that if he does it, it can help them win the war. in japanese the second line in this is a little different from the english ("ロクな者ではあるまい"), where rather than saying "i don't know what he's up to", he's remarking on how okino probably isn't a good/respectable person? but that he's going along with this anyway because of how okino can help him.

i really do see hijiyama as having these two points he fixates on most: the pacific war (and later applying that focus and determination to saving everyone from the deimos), and okino. ever since it really clicked to me how he has this tendency to get so singularly focused on certain things, and refuses to move on from them, i keep thinking how it's these two things more than anything else. it's even reflected in his thought cloud to some extent, if you want to think about those as a reflection of what the characters have on their mind at any point, rather than just a game mechanic.

oh, this part just before hijiyama recalls meeting kiriko for the first time... in english, he talks about time passing being like a fairytale, but in japanese he refers to a specific one? 浦島太郎, urashima tarou.

i love this flashback so much, and how clearly distorted hijiyama's memory is of it. we see an objective view of it in miura's route (no. 034, "sentinel pilot cadets"), but in hijiyama's recollection... his focus is immediately on kiriko, and only kiriko. as the scene progresses, tamao and miura both fade into the background, disappearing from the scene. and, more than that, the dialogue changes, too. he's not bumbling or awkward, accidentally spilling military secrets. he's smooth and flattering as he talks to kiriko. calling her stunning, talking about remembering this day forever because of it being the day he met her. her calling him a funny guy (using 面白い, which can be used for either "funny" or "interesting") being more flattering, rather than a comment on his mistakes. even the way he views her. before she was more composed, amused. but in his memory of her, she's more demure, and even blushing. even the fact that she continues in his memory, saying that, "you seem pretty incredible yourself, takatoshi-san"! plus even the fact that she calls him "takatoshi-san", rather than "hijiyama-kun", using his first name and signalling a slightly closer relationship... (even if it's still using -san.)

hijiyama's recollection differs so much from the original that it's clearly part-fantasy, and it makes me wonder just how many times he's thought back on that memory, for it to be so different in his mind. if in going over it, again and again, it caused him to slowly lose his grasp on what it was actually like at the time... especially when you think about the timeline for this, where this meeting was in october 1944, and this is now about seven or so months later (since okino didn't flee until november, and the deimos invade in may). i'm sure it's a memory he's gone back to a lot in that time, with how clearly he's still in love with kiriko (and by extension, okino), even now.

also, a small thing, but: i appreciate how hijiyama changes his speech depending on who he's speaking to. when he talks to kiriko (and other women as well, iirc?) he switches from ore/kisama to using watashi/anata instead.

meanwhile, hijiyama's interrupted from his reverie by okino showing up: his authentic self. i can only imagine what okino thinks as he walks in on what appears to be hijiyama talking to himself as he plays out this scene... no wonder he's amused. and despite what hijiyama knows now, he still reacts and blushes when okino talks to him. i just!! no matter how in denial he might be, his feelings are the same as they've ever been. he just has more to wrestle with as he works past the betrayal of kiriko's real identity, and also okino's gender.

i appreciate how so much of this exchange is a reflection of how hijiyama doesn't trust okino. that while okino's level of trust for hijiyama is the same as before (if not better, because he tells him the truth and shows him his hideout), hijiyama's trust is really shaken after finding out the truth about his identity. which makes sense! but i think it's interesting to see the way the balance has tipped at this point.

i'm also still thinking a lot about okino's decision to let hijiyama into his life even to this extent. post-sector 2 infection incident, we know that he hides his sentinel, and flees to sector 5 where he changes his identity so that no one will find him. we know that he works alone to bypass DD-426. we know he views hijiyama and miura as little more than guinea pigs to experiment on, at least at first, and that's why he feels awkward around them when they first meet. when sekigahara successfully finds him (and he realizes that sekigahara is hiding the identity of the person who installed DD-426), that's when he decides it's time for him to go.

but with hijiyama... when hijiyama chases after him and finds him before he flees sector 5, he explains himself, even though he doesn't have to, and even though he assumes that hijiyama will not understand. (normally, he doesn't want to bother with the effort with most people.) and he even admits to hijiyama that he'll miss him, and so he obviously formed a real connection with him, even while posing as someone else. and when hijiyama arrives in sector 4, okino studies him, watches him for awhile. he knows what hijiyama's been up to. where he's been living (or more accurately, where he hasn't been living), how he's been surviving with working manual labour, and how he's never given up looking for okino this whole time. and when he finally does run into hijiyama one day... he doesn't run from him. yes, he leaves the scene, but he allows himself to be followed. he allows hijiyama to find the hideout. and he's even thoughtful, buying his favourite food for him when he knows he lost his meal that day. and when they finally reunite properly, hijiyama fully realizing who he is... he invites him to stay, and even says he wants his help. for someone who, until this point, has been in self-imposed isolation, it really says a lot about his feelings for hijiyama that he actually lets him get involved. even if he's not telling him absolutely everything yet.

anyway. hijiyama's own distrust. okino was expecting him to stay back at the hideout and wait for him, because obviously, showing him the hideout was already a reflection of his trust, right? and i think it's what he expected with the hijiyama he's known up until this point. but hijiyama's really been shaken by everything, so of course he has doubts, and doesn't want to let okino out of his sight again. the safest course he knows is to follow okino until he can be convinced he really isn't about to run away again, especially when okino is his only way of getting back home. and yet, despite that, he does fully believe that okino will fulfill his promise. or at least, he has no other choice. i wonder if, on some level, it might even be a little bit hurtful to okino. but i think he's also enough of a cynic to understand where hijiyama is coming from, even if he expected him to act differently.

i also appreciate that even here, while okino seems willing enough, he does still push back a little, bringing up whether or not hijiyama will even believe him about what he shares. but hijiyama sees through that as an excuse, dismissing it. he's not just blindly following along with things. he wants to understand what's going on, and what he'll be doing. and hijiyama is determined enough that it's difficult for okino to say no, even if he still omits information here.

one of his evasions is already what the deimos are. but it makes sense that he chooses not to explain; after all, that's not relevant to what he wants hijiyama to do. why should he bother explaining? i feel like this is another example of okino and his tendency to cut corners where he can. unless it's necessary, he would prefer not to do it. (we also see this with ogata when he continually refuses to explain what's actually happening when he's searching for the key.)

god, this part where hijiyama initially responds, and okino actually looks a bit mad at him, saying he knew he wouldn't believe him! wasting his time. i feel like people continually underestimate hijiyama and his ability to understand things. but i think so much of it is that they mostly see how he is around okino, where he's continually flustered or stumbling over himself. but in other situations (like in destruction mode), he's actually pretty competent! and he does, through miura, have a working understanding of a lot of these concepts, even if they're through the sci-fi novels he used to read rather than through lived experience. but this is another one of those situations where okino looks down on his intelligence. and again, it makes sense. after all, okino sees him when he's not at his best, because his feelings for okino usually crowd out everything else. (except in those situations where his fixations align: protecting okino, as we see toward the end of his route, and in destruction mode.)

i appreciate how after hijiyama's gotten some answers, he seems less combative, immediately asking what okino wants him to do.

oh, this line when hijiyama chooses to leave... it's just slightly different in japanese. instead he talks about being naive/honest to a fault ("馬鹿正直") by blindly following okino's orders when he chastises himself, so it again comes back to the fact that he doesn't fully trust him. in english i feel like he just sounds like he's being defiant, instead. ("you can't just let okino tell you what to do!")

when hijiyama leaves and comes across amiguchi and fuyusaka talking, the localization kills me yet again. in japanese he's using 男女交際, just talking about men and women interacting (and his opinion actually seems even stronger because he uses 怪しからん ("outrageous/inexcusable/disgraceful")), but translating it as "this kind of... hanky-panky has no place here" is incredible. i love it. what a choice. i also find it amusing that he feels so strongly about this despite his own interactions with kiriko, although we didn't see them as much when he was acting in a more professional capacity. maybe he was more careful in other instances, since he seems to make this clear distinction that this is unacceptable in this particular setting. but then even here, he can't help but comment to himself that he thinks that fuyusaka is cute, too. i think he has this really clear vision of how he feels he (and others!) should conduct themselves, especially in certain settings, but his ability to actually do that... isn't quite there.

i also love how he can't help but comment on how fuyusaka has no taste in men if she finds someone like amiguchi attractive. because of course he has opinions on whether or not men are attractive. big fan of bisexual hijiyama.

god, also hijiyama reacting to overhearing miwako calling him cool, too...

i can't get over the slight affect okino puts on in this scene where he does this false confession to ogata. his voice sounding slightly lighter... even using "anata" instead of "kimi" like he normally would to refer to him. i also love ogata just absolutely falling for it.

i also can't get over hijiyama being completely distraught over this, falling to his knees, in japanese even saying that this is a lie! plus even referring to kiriko as being his woman, as though they were in a relationship already? i know we never actually see his confession to kiriko, or how okino (as kiriko) responds, but here he's acting so possessive! i've been writing a fic that references it a bit, and my own headcanon is that she maybe had to run away before she got to respond properly, but... he sure acts like they're a couple already, here. despite all his protestations when he's faced with okino directly, too.

god and then him charging right over to ogata and knocking him out, unthinking. how he seems shocked by his own actions, remembering himself. i also love the way that okino strolls over to him, makes sure that he's close before accusing him of being jealous. and hijiyama being unable to face him, turning away and denying it. it's honestly incredible how deep in denial he is when his feelings are so obvious.

and then hijiyama being almost... sheepish after. apologizing, saying that okino can like whoever he wants. meanwhile okino is taken aback that he thinks he actually meant it. but i love how okino also doesn't get distracted by this, and just goes right back to business. saying how this is actually opportune for him.

i love how despite all of this, hijiyama still checks with okino that the only reason he confessed to ogata was to get a chance to analyze him. even if he's calmer here, he's still jealous. still worried that okino might feel that way for someone else. even while he still wrestles with his own feelings for okino, and tells himself he can't be in love with a man!

i really love how when they're talking about the sentinels here, and counting on using those against the deimos, okino uses hijiyama's knowledge of the pacific war to help him understand the situation.

it's so strange seeing the jump from that scene to hijiyama waking up in the abandoned factory, tied to a chair, wearing the headgear. obviously when we play through ogata's route, we know that they successfully brought him back there, and tried to find the key through him. yakushiji shows up then to rescue him, and knocks out hijiyama. so okino must've come back to the factory to find him like that, dragged him up the stairs, and then tied him up. because he's unconscious here, i also assume this is when okino likely would've made modifications to hijiyama so that he can use sentinel no. 12. we don't see any other opportunities where he would've been able to do that.

god i love hijiyama going back to being combative here, wanting to be untied, remembering again how okino is a dangerous person.

okino's line, "this isn't all that different from the old days in the factory lab" really makes me wonder about how much time they spent together, especially since it sounds like it was just the two of them? i desperately wish we got to see more of them back in sector 5. there's also a little left out from the japanese, where okino says that he would tamper with hijiyama like this, and that's when hijiyama starts blushing.

i love this part where okino is talking about how from his biometrics, it's clear that despite what hijiyama is saying, he's actually enjoying this. in japanese he even says he's happy/pleased with this. there's also something about the fact that when okino is usually so shameless, even he's blushing a little in this scene when he says these lines, calling him a pervert.

also okino's surprise when he sees that hijiyama cannot stop thinking about him. which, while he denies it, is still true!! and even okino calls him out on that, saying that he's lying to himself. i love that he flaunts this knowledge when hijiyama is so desperate to deny it.

i also just think about okino a lot in this scene, and how he has such a clear disregard for other peoples' autonomy, and even privacy. with ogata, he doesn't care about manipulating him if it means he'll get what he wants. and he needs to be ruthless about it, because his goal is to save humanity. and while what he was doing with hijiyama was initially more of the same, then he ends up being more focused on hijiyama himself. his reactions and responses, and how he feels about him. he stops being goal-oriented for a moment. other than his little moments with shintaro, hijiyama really is the only other thing he allows to capture his attention, and that he's willing to spend time on. even when he has much more important things to do.

in some ways i think that willingness to give that time to hijiyama says a lot about how he feels for him, when he's unwilling to do that for anyone else? obviously here it's all still a bit twisted by his lack of concern for hijiyama's own wants, although the biometric data allows him to argue otherwise, since he sees that hijiyama secretly likes it.

i really wonder what else okino got out of this. especially since the next part of hijiyama's route actually makes it sound like his feelings for okino intensify, rather than liking him less for his treatment of him here. he recognizes okino as dangerous, but he's drawn to him despite everything, and is so attracted to him anyway. okino, meanwhile... at this point i feel like he's still playing around, although he clearly enjoys it and clearly cares for hijiyama, and wants him to stay. it's not until the yakisoba pan scene after shintaro that i feel like his own feelings toward hijiyama start to change.