#based off a manga panel i saw

[jolee]

Girl dinner

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

based off a manga panel i saw for death island where chris was wearing the tightest shirt possible for no reason and me and all my friends all made fun of him for buying XS shirts just to show off his muscles

[codenamesazanka]

assorted 408 thoughts

When I first saw this sequence of panes, I thought, wildly and hopefully, that’s Shigaraki Tomura. That could be Shigaraki Tomura, someone who holds the quirk All For One and who, despite everything, is kind.

＊

It reminds to be seen if Shigaraki Tomura can be stopped. As Deku says himself in Chapter 406, he still haven't come up an answer yet.

Since his first appearances, Shigaraki Tomura is infamous for being childish, talking about fights and battles as if he was playing video games. He's matured since then and his game metaphors have lessen in quantity, but his enjoyment of video games is still significant to his character.

But Shigaraki Tomura is also the one who created the League of Villains, a haven for outcasts and misfits. Twice considers the League the only place he belongs. Toga found life easier to live while with Shigaraki and others. The League is home to it's members, because Shigaraki made it that way.

Part of that is because Shigaraki Tomura is considerate of his teammates feelings and desire. This is core to Shigaraki - even as a child, he went out of his way to befriend those left behind, to include the children no one else wanted to play with. Underneath the layers of bitterness and rage caused by society's rejection, Shigaraki is still someone who cares a lot:

＊

One thing I really like about the new chapter is that All For One kept Yoichi's severed hand.

Why? Who knows. All For One isn't allowed any real human emotions by the story. But still - All For One kept a severed hand, a memento of a lost one and whatever significance is embedded in that; it's evidence of what he's done - killed his brother - and a symbol of his new purpose - to hunt down the other remnant of Yoichi.

Years later, he would do the same for Shimura Tenko, when he gives the boy the hands of the slaughtered Shimura family. And he intends for them to have the same meanings and purposes - for Shimura Tenko to remember the massacre, and for that memory to spur him onward.

That AFO repeats this gruesome gesture with Tenko, essentially reproducing the same horror he experienced onto the boy who he intends to be his heir. This recontextualizes The Hands a bit - instead of just what seemed to be a sort of unique psychological torment imposed out of revenge against Shimura Nana's descendant, it's also AFO just raising Tomura after himself. It's still a incredibly fucked up cruelty, don't get me wrong, but now it feels less because specifically Shimura, and more because AFO wanted an successor that mirrors himself, down to the same traumatic trappings.

＊

But of course, Shigaraki Tomura still greatly resembles Yoichi.

Overall, this panel of Yoichi does closely resembles the panel of Shigaraki from Chapter 221. Just— everything from the angle of the face and the direction of their gaze, to the position of the hand.

But based on Yoichi’s expression - the eyes, the slight smile, the whole demeanor - my first thought went to Shigaraki in Chapter 148, when he was telling Toga and Twice that he believes in them.

This is Shigaraki, revealing his face to Toga and Twice, when in the previous panels, it had seemed like he was insensitively ordering them around, without consideration for their feelings, telling them to work with Overhaul who had just murdered their friend Magne. But once the hand comes off - voluntarily, for the first time, facing them straightforwardly - we see a look that convey a lot of things - Shigaraki's resolve in taking down Overhaul, his trust in Twice and Toga, his sincerity in what he's saying. It's Shigaraki with probably his kindest expression in the entire manga.

It parallels the context somewhat too - in Yoichi panels, it had look at first like he was despondent, sad and weak, lamenting that he dependent and was unable to do anything against the evil that was his brother. But instead, with the face reveal, we're seeing Yoichi's own indomitable will and kindness, so much that he still sees the hopeful possibilities of All For One's power.

Both are victims of All For One, but both have always kept their strong sense of self and core sense and desire for kindness and justice.

＊

If you ask me what AFO and OFA combined would look like, I have to say: Shigaraki Tomura.

[deelavis]

WAIT WAIT WAIT, I just need to point something out that I noticed while doing visual research for drawing Mello with his gun.

Buckle in, this was supposed to be a short thought about the narrative use of trigger discipline but now there is extensive image research.

If you don't know about the concept of trigger discipline, it basically means that when holding a gun your finger should be resting outside of the trigger guard and should only be on the trigger of a gun if you actually intend on shooting what it's pointed at, at that moment.

While I was looking for ref of Mello holding his gun the first thing I noticed was that he has HORRENDOUS trigger discipline, I mean look at this.

Pretty much every instance, even in promotional art when his gun is at his side, he has his finger on the trigger. I thought it must just be a character choice with the amount of guns that are drawn in this series. Even when Halle is in the shower (bottom right image) he keeps his finger on the trigger. I also use the top right example with Halle, as this is the second she walks in the door. BUT THEN I saw this post and noticed...

is his finger in the trigger guard???

Proportionally it is quite ambiguous in this shot. However even if his finger is inside the guard what strikes me is also how the other instances we see Mello with his gun he is choked up on the trigger. Though when pointed at Near, his grip is quite loose. Let's start from the beginning of the sequence.

We first see Mello on page 126, if you are unfamiliar with the manga, at this point Mello and Halle have been in contact for a week. They are tenuous allies. When Mello moves his gun away he keeps his finger on the trigger, this will be an important point for later.

Next page, Halle has entered the shower. Mello continues to keep his finger on the trigger of his gun, even though he knows Halle is unarmed.

2 pages later, Mello still has his finger firmly on the trigger. This is one of the best shots of his gun that we get in the manga and is quite indicative of how we see him handling his gun throughout the story. Also we can see the safety, the small switch above his thumb, is set to off.

I'm going to skip ahead but note that between Pg. 129 and Pg. 135 we see Mello enter the SPK headquarters with his gun on Halle. He has his finger on the trigger the whole time.

After Near asks Geovanni and Rester to lower their guns, Mello does as well. But for the first time we also see him place his finger outside the guard.

Now the moment when he turns his gun to Near. While his finger is in the guard, ready to pull the trigger when he points his gun at Near, something that struck me was how differently his hand is drawn in these few panels. As you saw previously, Mello normally has his finger curled tightly around the trigger of this gun, even when at his side. However in the first panel of Pg. 137, I wasn't even sure if he had his finger in the trigger guard with how it is drawn. It isn't until the final 2 panels that we see him tighten his grip. I find this to be a very interesting departure from the rest of the times we see Mello using his gun.

Finally, after Halle breaks them apart and Mello lowers his gun we see him actually use trigger discipline!!! For the rest of the scene!!! Regardless of your shipping preferences, I find this to be an incredible detail in how Mello behavior shifts around Near. While Near seems to make him fly off the handle emotionally, he also shows an increase in care with his weapon when around him. Another fun little drawing detail to notice (and another reason I find these choices to be intentional) you can see in the final panel of the last example that the safety of the gun is now engaged, while in all the other panels it was not. For reference, Mello uses a Beretta 92FS Sword Cutlass pistol, though stylistically it seems to be based off of Benvolio's Taurus PT99 AFS from Romeo + Juliet, right down to the cross hanging from the handle! This shows an incredible level of detail when it comes to the handling of guns in the manga.

Listen I know I've got yaoi brain worms, so if anyone has any other examples of Mello using trigger discipline I would love to see them!

[secondlina]

I just saw your post about inking pages for Crowmance (which I adore by the way), and now I’m curious. What kinds of pens do you use?

Also, would you have any tips for inking to share? I find my inking to be shaky and I am looking for ways to improve.

I don't really have tips that are that useful, since I learned to ink by just doing a lot of it and saving cool panels with textures I wanted to try. It was extremely trial and error. However, I do suggest you check out books by Alphonso Dunn. There's a lot of vintage how to draw manga books where they got industry professionals to show off, which are nice. https://www.amazon.com/Pen-Ink-Comikers/dp/1569709173

I also love all the videos of Kaoru Mori inking (author of Bride Stories) that have been posted to youtube.

I use pretty basic pens - I've used these since I was a teen. Pilot Fineliner and Sakura micron pens. Nothing special - you can buy them at pharmacies here. I like soft squishy nibs.

While I don't think you need fancy pens & paper to ink well, the quality of the paper does have an impact on the art based on if the pen snags on the paper texture, and whether or not the paper absorbs the ink well. I tend to use smooth bristol board and Japanese Maruman sketchbooks. While it's not really high grade (and remains affordable), it's smoother paper than you basic pencil drawing sketchbook. That helps!

[darkcircles4lyfe]

Life after NDE

Before reading, please see this post. It’s where I first explored the possibility that what we think we know about One for All is unreliable. It also ends with my own guesses about how Katsuki plays into it all. Now, with chapter 404, I can continue where it left off.

There are a lot of different tangents floating around here that I need to bring together for you, so let’s start with what came to light in this newest chapter. There’s a clear emphasis on Toshinori’s vestige form:

but did you catch the slight of hand?

How about now?

As soon as I saw the panels where Shigaraki talks about how the vestige is taking full form, I was practically shouting “OBJECTION” Ace Attorney-style, because they were a complete contradiction to how we were made to understand vestiges in chapter 304 (oh hey look, exactly 100 chapters ago!). Back then, it was suggested to us that Toshinori was special because of his quirklessness, that it allowed him to imprint upon OFA in a way that none of the other previous users could. In contrast, Shigaraki makes it seem like Toshi is no different from the rest. Like oh yeah, this is just how it works, they aren’t fully formed until they die, right? Hello?? No? I thought we were assuming the vestiges didn't have to do with actual souls, apart from Toshi? Given Shigaraki’s own brand of unreliability in his immature frame of mind, I found myself wondering: is he making an assumption, or is he letting slip a secret bit of information about OFA? Idk man, OFA wasn’t even doing this whole vestige thing until like a few months ago, so.

Either way, we can observe the change. As Toshinori’s lifeforce fades, he appears in OFA. I’m left with the simple observation that if he were truly different from the other vestiges because of his quirklessness, it would not have happened this way, since OFA doesn’t have Toshi’s own unique quirk factor to work with, but rather the other way around. You would have expected his vestige to stay the same, or possibly disappear altogether, since it was ostensibly exclusively based on the influence of a living consciousness.

That exception to the rule described in 304 never sat right with me anyway, and I’m not convinced that OFA contains mere memories of its previous users via their quirks just like AFO does. Sure, it’s nice and edgy to imagine that OFA/AFO are more similar than they are different, deep down. But poetic opposites are more interesting to me: AFO isolates by taking, while OFA connects by giving. Previous OFA users give themselves to their successors. One for All was “truly born” not when All for One tossed Yoichi a stolen consolation, but when 2nd extended his hand. There is something distinctly emotional and personal about that. Nana was right—it is kinda romantic.

Because Toshinori kept living, because Izuku has meaningful relationships, that chain of giving linked down through OFA was finally brought to light, like a circuit that’s being closed. At least, that’s how I see it. That’s pretty much what I talked about in my previous post.

Back then I also suggested that this theory of personal connection in some way explains Katsuki apparently having a vestige. Since chapter 403, where Toshinori describes his legacy as being embodied in both Izuku AND Katsuki, I was reminded of how Toshinori was gradually shown this over the course of the manga, as he came to understand Katsuki and his relationship to Izuku, how they are inseparable.

When Toshinori was inspired to pass OFA on to Izuku as he witnessed him trying to save Katsuki, he had no idea the two boys even knew each other. What he saw as a random act of selflessness was in reality a desperate manifestation of a connection that extended beyond memory, of osananajimi. With the eyes of traditional heroism, one could choose to see this as Toshinori’s fatal mistake, that he accidentally chose a successor with a “weakness” of personal attachment, but we all know that heroic isolation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. No, I think Toshinori made precisely the right choice.

This is going to seem like it’s coming out of nowhere, but bear with me: you know how we still haven’t been told how the first OFA transfer happened? I feel almost silly admitting this, but I think it absolutely had to have been done instinctually, because it’s just too damn specific. As in, they didn’t know what they were doing or what it would accomplish, but they did it anyway. As in. They moved. Without thinking.

Toshinori didn’t fully consciously understand what he was seeing when Izuku ran to Katsuki, but deep within OFA, perhaps he recognized something familiar.

What if, somehow, without knowing it, Toshinori gave One for All to two people? His conviction and intent to give it was inspired by Izuku’s connection to Katuski. Yes, the transfer is inherently physical, but it also relies on mental assertion. Plus, how we think the transfer works may also be an assumption (again, the first time it happened was probably on instinct). Let me break it down even more: Toshi probably thought, as he passed OFA on, “I’m giving it to a successor who has my same balance of heroism—save to win, win to save.” But, in reality, Izuku relies on Katsuki for that balance, as his image of victory. Therefore I think I can argue that their relationship is irrevocably bound within the pact of the OFA transfer. Maybe because Katsuki’s part of OFA is based on emotional connection, once that connection is reciprocated…

…the full extent of that dual transfer is awakened.

I understand I’m making a lot of logical leaps here, but there has to be some sort of explanation for the Katsuki we see at the point of his death, talking to Toshinori’s vestige. I used to think it meant Katsuki had a vestige too. But then why are Katsuki and Toshinori alone, and without Izuku knowing? Moreover, why didn’t Katsuki materialize from the metaphysical mist around Izuku when he died, just as Toshinori did here?

Here comes the other thing I realized in 404. The simplest explanation may be that Katsuki isn’t a vestige at all, but rather he was visiting the OFA interior just as Izuku has done in his sleep or in a coma. Because he’s not a previous user, he’s a current user. The sequence of Toshinori’s NDE (near death experience) in 404, the way it manifested externally around Izuku as something Izuku was aware of, rather than internally within OFA from Toshinori’s point of view, shows me that what happened to Katsuki was different.

A lot of us have been speculating that Katsuki “has access to” OFA in some form or another for quite some time now, but I think the way the idea is suggested in 403/404 is an important distinction because it specifies the mode of connection. To me, it matters that they have two halves of a whole given to each of them, as opposed to, “the chosen one + his sidekick with a little extra OFA boost.” This puts them on equal ground, and it implies that the closer they become, the stronger One for All will be against All for One. It promises that these two idiots who have been toeing around each other and leaving things unspoken for so long will have to really face the facts of their relationship.

One last thing: you might be wondering why the other vestiges apparently haven’t picked up on what’s going on and told Izuku. Well, Yoichi may have felt it? (Where has he been?) But also, Toshinori is the only one directly involved, the only one who realizes his legacy is carried by two. Up until this point his connection to his vestige self has been limited, sort of one-way. For example, he could tell the other vestiges about his research into OFA, but in return he could only faintly pick up on things, and only while Izuku was unconscious.

The time Toshinori spent as a full vestige was brief, but I’m sure it was enough to learn some things about where the shade of himself has been. Even if I’m wrong about everything else, I bet he can give us the answers now.

[yumeka-sxf]

Very cute new chapter today~ Though I couldn't help my first thought when I saw Sigmund being "Omg, they're gonna meet Albert Einstein?!"

(he could also be based on Sigmund Freud, or some combination of him and Einstein, since he says "Eureka!" a lot, lol).

As usual, even for these stand-alone chapters that are seemingly slice-of-life only, Endo manages to slip in war and other social commentary without it being out of place. We see more of the "spy scare" that's plaguing Ostania with the kids thinking Sigmund is a spy, as well as Sigmund's comments about how horrific the neighborhood was during the war.

The scene of the kids chasing Sigmund away because they think they're "saving their country" by getting rid of a spy is a nice parallel to the black-and-white view Yor has of her assassin work...that she's helping her country by eliminating "evildoers," not realizing that one of them could actually be a decent person (same could be said for Yuri and his job at the SSS).

We also get this bittersweet scene from Yor where she's wondering if Anya longs for grandparents.

Interestingly, she mentions that Loid's parents are gone too. While we never saw Loid specifically tell her that both his parents are dead, it could either have been an off-screen conversation, or Yor deduced that based on the fact that Loid and Anya never talk about them (not in the present tense at least).

But anyway, it was a wholesome chapter, lots of funny antics between senile Sigmund and Anya (mis)reading his thoughts 😅 I was half expecting the chapter to end on a darker note with Sigmund being more senile, where we learn that his wife is actually dead and his home no longer exists. Endo could definitely go that direction, but not this time!

I wonder if the Authens will become reoccurring characters? Maybe Endo wants to expand the cast a bit in anticipation of the manga going on for longer? We'll see! The last panel of the Authens making out in front of the Forgers was a great way to end the chapter. Twiyor needs to take notes! 😂

[blackstarchanx3new]

FSR rambles 17 ways Dark can insult you

It's been aWHILE.

Not Green practically begging this man to stop abusing Dark Link.

Shadow being insanely bitter at Green's position as the "Leader" of the group isn't well hidden here. When Shadow was in charge of things, he has shown to be very...Abusive. Like there's not a lot of ways around that lmfao. He was seemingly way less abusive to the Hinox's than the rock monster but like, we barely saw them interact.

Green appealing to Dark's emotions by stating "Shadow's kinds scary" is hilarious to me. Throw the shade Green Shadow deserves it a little at this point.

Green's got the right idea that introductions this late is probably a very bad idea given EVERYTHING going on.

I personally just love Dark chewing on Green's fingers it's cute. It's the kind of thing a cat would do lmfao. Green doesn't seem to mind it since he lets him do it till the next panel lmfao.

"Vaati's such a prick!" Shadow says. As if Vaati chose to make the curse sentient...And it wasn't like. A mistake. Quite the assumption there pal.

Ya think it would have assumed a physical form 7 years ago when he was created if that was the case but ehhhh-

As soon as Green falls into his anxieties Dark laughs like a crazy person. Because this dude feeds on emotions and that power is rated E for everyone, he doesn't discriminate against good or bad emotions.

Yeah well for laughing like a loon Daddy Shadow's gonna abuse him some more. You're a terrible dad Shadow Link.

Poor Green is concerned about Dark's wellbeing.

The fucking face Green makes after Dark is yanked is based on this meme:

Because it's funny as hell to me.

Also Shadow wrongly assumes what Dark's powers are:

I mean it's TRUE that he does feed off negativity. But the same is true for positive emotions too. Dark Link actually outright admits to preferring them on a few occasions. Dark Link is bad at being a parasitic curse.

Shadow dramatically stuffing Dark back into his hat is one of my favorite panels of this sequence. It's so dramatic and silly.

CALL. HIM. OUT. SIS.

Shadow needs to know when he's being an ass.

Green will give credit when it's due but Shadow was AWFUL TO THEM.

Some stuff to note:

Green doesn't actually answer the question on if he forgives Shadow or not. Haaaah.

That sure won't be relevant later, but it's pretty heavily implied he hasn't fully forgiven Shadow but IS willing to make an effort to accept him anyway.

Green being a bro here is smth I liked writing.

Green's hard to characterized so I ended up taking him in a different but SIMILAR direction to his cannon manga counterpart.

Like...Green didn't have a lot of his own traits vs the OG Link. He mainly just existed to be the voice of reason. Which is fine. But giving him depression means he can be a bit more interesting in my eyes than just "Diet Link" XDDDD

Green reminding us that him and Link had full conversations with each other at various points.

Which is. Interesting. I can't remember how much I dived into the concept of that in fsr rambles. But that is weird.

It suggests a level of detachment Link has from the four of them to the point he is able to have his own opinions/thoughts/and is able to do actions completely dethatched from all four.

Link is destinctly his own entity compared to the four of them...If that's the case. Where did that consciousness GO.

Perhaps a question to look into at a later date.

For now Green's giving some good ol hugs and thoughts to his pal Shadow Link.

Hah I'm sure you were glad Shadow.

And this page makes me laugh like hell at the implications in the 2nd to past panel.

I'm flabbergasted yall didn't catch that on release of these pages.

Like.

C'mon now.

They're blushing and touching each other.

Next panel they're missing articles of clothes (Their tunics specifically.) and have distinctly embarrassed looks on their faces, Green is hiding his neck for some reason and Blue's dialogue eludes to a substantial amount of time passing.

They did smth sus off screen and yall just, missed that.

I'm very disapointed nobody caught that till I pointed it out. I thought I was being too obvious with that shit.

Green hasn't exactly been hiding the fact he's been very eager for physical contact is all I'm saying.

LMFAO. Okay funny thing:

Shadow didn't have a bed. Because: Why the fuck would you give a shadow a bed.

Shadow also couldn't FEEL things in his weird limbo shadow state. Because he has been IN Link's bed before. Just couldn't actually feel it being comfortable.

No wonder dude has been touch starved to hell.

Idk what it is about the second to last page but I like Green and Shadow interacting and Shadow being a happy little camper.

Even though he's a dick he deserves to be happy with his family. (Smth I dislike strongly is how that dude got relegated to being Link's damn shadow at the end of the manga like...Noooooooo)

Green's had time to think about the things necessary for them all to live together which is sweet.

Link didn't do this before to have less suspicion he was actually gonna draw the sword.

Adding rooms to the house when he lives alone would have been SO SUS.

Green's excited at the prospect of their new life. Even if it'll be hard.

I did an oopsie in this page and didn't color shadow's glove and I'm not fixing it lmfao. Pretend it's there, this is a free comic on the internet. 😭

Blue yeeting a pillow at Green is funny since this is the second time this night the dude has told Green to get some damn sleep.

Greeeen can't sleep though.

I get it pal. I'm an insomniac too. 😞

Vaati's back.

And he cut his hair.

Dark's a silly goofy guy and noticed that because he's a creep.

There's just a whole other level of rude here because like:

Dark it's cut already wtf is he meant to do? X'D

Visually: it's worth noting they're in the temple Shadow dragged vio to at the beginning of the story.

Vaati has seemingly made that place his new home.

Dark's bluntness in the first panel just gets a kick out of me. He really thinks Vaati is dumb as hell and it shows.

Just to make it more obvious:

Dark wasn't ever referring to Vaati with the term "Master" in reference to he himself being Vaati's worker. He was referencing it in terms of Vaati being his teacher.

Which is like rubbing salt in a giant stab wound considering Vaati's former Master Ezlo and him weren't on good terms.

A fun thing to note: After Dark asks up front what he SHOULD call Vaati. Vaati responds with "Get off my bed" and didn't verbally protest to just "Vaati".

You'll notice Dark calls Vaati just "Vaati" from here on out I believe exclusively.

Which is pretty funny to think about because if Vaati had pulled his head out of his ass for a second and just told Dark what he preferred to be called, Dark probably would have actually listened in this moment since it was a genuine question.

Dark Link is only an annoyance if you fall into his traps. or have a bloated as hell ego like Vaati.

Vaati holding Dark Link like a spider by the leg here is so damn funny to me while Dark just, openly shows he would start touching this man the second he got to close if given the opportunity.

He did kiss Vaati without warning a few chapters ago so, don't really blame Vaati for wanting to avoid that. X'D

This entire sequence is just funny to me. But what's new.

Dark's being an oversharing weirdo and Vaati can't handle affection.

Smth I'm sure yall have noticed: Dark's expressions started off as creepy and disturbing and now have evolved into being goofy as fuck.

Dark can't emote properly. So the idea his face is just, all kinds of messed up expression wise has just as much comedic value as creep value. It can either be uncanny or silly.

The more frequently Dark makes "Disturbing expressions" the audience will get numb to it. As Dark becomes a character the audience outwardly is meant to like, smth disturbing about him becoming smth funny is a way of shifting perspective on a lot of aspects of him.

Smth I particularly like about the last panel is how Vaati visually cannot see dark but just knows he's there. XD

The fun thing about this scene is how you could really see it from both their perspectives here.

Vaati is very cynical. He's been hurt a lot (His own fault but still) he doesn't trust people and feels very alone. He misses the one time he connected with someone (Link from Minish cap).

But he's hesitant to make connections due to his attempt at redemption falling flat.

And then There's Dark Link:

Dark Link, is delusional to a degree but also painfully aware of other things.

His delusion is that he's a hero. Vaati's specifically which is why he compared Vaati to Zelda when he spoke to Shadow Link.

Vaati is the one he's protecting and keeping safe, Vaati is someone he cares about deeply even if Vaati, in every way: Sucks majorly.

But unlike Minish cap Link he doesn't try to get Vaati to change who he is.

He likes Vaati for who he is. Even if he thinks he's literally the worst.

At the end of the day: Dark isn't protecting Vaati because he was MADE too. He protects him because he wants too. And that's smth Vaati takes majorly for granted which we'll see down the line...

Dark's offering him unconditional love and Vaati can't understand that shit. Dark's loyalty confuses and just kinda frustrates him.

Since it's not logical. It's purely emotional.

Oh so much to say.

It's so hard to put into words what I think about their dynamic and why I love them. They're very messy but on equal footing. Vaati could push Shadow around and disrespect him in FSR I took the route Shadow and Vaati have an abusive parent and child relationship. But with Dark, that shit just doesn't work on Dark (at least for now) because the man is delusional as hell.

He truly believes he is not only smarter than Vaati but that he is THE ONLY THING protecting him and in a lot of ways: That's outright true.

A LOT of Dark Link's delusions have roots in reality. (Shadow saying they were "Family" so he wrongly associates Shadow as his "father" the only family Link had for instance.)

Vaati has to be kinda stupid from a writing standpoint (Cannon manga or not) because he needs to be defeat-able. His flaws boil down to making stupid as hell choices because he's narcisistic to a fault.

He can't think of shit outside of purely benefiting himself which...In the long run fucks himself over.

Dark is the kind of person you cannot argue with. Because he's insane.

Dark's not afraid of death, or pain...So it leads you to wonder what his weakness is. (And oh boy I hope that pays off haha.)

You throw something at Dark, he will spit it right back in your face 10 fold and he will be MEAN about it. Dark will low blow you into oblivion because it works.

Dark's morals are ALL OVER THE PLACE because he simultaneously thinks he is a curse made to destroy people emotionally and also thinks he's a hero.

In this case, Vaati's ego is Dark's ego.

At this point: Dark hasn't failed. He's done exactly as he's been asked in a round about way/depending on how you look at it.

I ain't even gonna pretend this scene wasn't meant to be sus.

Dark's very "Words are important" kind of guy for someone who sucks at communication haha.

Smth to note dialogue wise:

Dark's insult in the 2nd to last panel was him calling Vaati a baby effectively lmfao.

Since Picori are like mice/rats him calling Vaati a "Pup" was meant to insinuate Vaati is acting an infant Picori which just adds to the insult imo. Like instead of JUST calling Vaati a child he used language that was more suited to Vaati's upbringing.

That just cracks me up.

He went the extra mile to effectivly say "you're a poopy diaper baby huh?"

The last panel is just such: You have to get the last word huh? moment for Dark hahaha. X'D

1st panel:

Dark insinuates he is something OTHER than a curse which is odd. Though you can assume he just means he's a hero. But then again: Why does he think he's a hero exactly.

And the further conversation leads to a very odd revelation.

Vaati, by being in the four sword connected to Link, was cursed.

Which explains why Dark Link can see his memories when Vaati earlier in the comic referenced that he SHOULDN'T.

Woops.

This also explains why it works on Shadow Link. Because Shadow was magically attached to Link at the time of being cursed, Dark affects the three who were influenced by the sword and it's wielder at the time.

Dark's dialogue is further confusing/has weird implications when he asks Vaati:

"Perhaps you forgot what you WANTED, and where you WERE when you created me?"

Dark on multiple occasions has outright referenced the idea he was made to protect Vaati.

Which is weird if you think about it.

Dark wasn't made to just hurt people, but to protect something. Specifically VAATI, but this behavioral aspect makes a lot of sense when you consider he was created for.

Smth a bit morbid:

Dark Link outright states here he believes Link/his colors will kill him. And doesn't seem to care in the slightest.

Well Dark seems fine with his mortality as long as he gets to use it to protect Vaati.

2nd panel insult had me rolling it's so mean and out of pocket but what's new for Dark.

He brushes off Vaati's threats of curse breaking because: Well he's right about Vaati needing him at least for now.

We end on a very goofy note of Dark begging for more kisses if he does a good job. Which shows dude has optimism pouring out of his ass rn.

[weewooooweew]

‼️BSD SPOILERS‼️

If Dazai Goes Back to the Port Mafia.. :(

I keep seeing things about people postulating that Dazai is gonna go back to the Port Mafia, like based off manga panels of the ADA but they exclude Dazai, and that one little deal between Fukuzawa and Mori. Und so, I was texting my favorite pookie (🩷‼️) and accidentally wrote a fic‼️‼️

I hope you all cry.

❗️warnings:❗️suicide (attempts and committing), death, Dazai, angst, uhhhhh oh yeah, implications of cutting. I think that’s all, but please tell me otherwise if I missed something 🤩

‼️BSD SPOILERS UNDER CUT‼️

In the event that Dazai goes back to the Port Mafia, I think it will be the end of Dazai Osamu.

At his prior employment in the Port Mafia, Dazai’s yearning for death was much different than it is now with him at the Armed Detective Agency. At the Port Mafia it was much more real, more desperate, more escapist; frantic running from the so called life he was leading, from all the things he was forced to go through with, from the atrocities he was made to commit at the ripe age of 14-16, the things he was ashamed of but did not see a way out of other than death. He was miserable, he had few friends, and the few he had left him or died, and he blamed himself for that. We saw how he taught, rather, abused, Akutagawa when Dazai was his mentor, and we know that his “teaching methods” are a reflection of how he was treated in the Mafia. Dazai was an executive, a top dog in the Mafia, he had status, he had influence, and yet, at what price did that come at? What was the price for a boy, barely a teenager, who can’t even legally drive, to become a top executive in the Port Mafia, an underground crime organization who certainly doesn’t care about him beyond his base use and application to the Mafia as a whole. He was suicidal in every sense of the word, he hated himself, he hated what he did, he hated who he worked for, he hated his life (if you could call it a life) and he hated how despite his very real attempts, he can’t seem to die.

And now, at the Armed Detective Agency, it’s different. He no longer legitimately wants to kill himself. Yes, he still makes attempts, but none of them are actual attempts for the sake of actually dying, no, more now just for amusement, to see if he can, he’d never let it actually happen to himself. At the ADA, he feels loved, useful, wanted, and not just for what he can provide to the organization, but for who he is! He helps people now, he’s proud of what he does! He’s proud of himself! He doesn’t hate himself anymore, or at the very least, as much!

Can you imagine what would happen if he was made to go back? All the progress that was made there, imagine the processes it would take for the PM to undo that, to make him their loyal bitch boy again.

The ADA and the PM had just won, defeated the Decay of Angels, they’d just gone through all that and then, Dazai has to go back to the PM. Of course he’d never make that choice on his own, no, he did it so Yosano wouldn’t have to return (due to the deal that Fukuzawa had to make with Mori due in the fight.) So Dazai goes back and it takes all of a week or two, just a few mafia missions for Dazai to start slipping again. His attempts get a little too real again. His bandages become more than just fashion again. His eyes get duller again. His face gets sallow and sunken again. It’ll be a good month before he picks up a gun again, another before he uses it, but he will use it. And he’ll hate it. He’ll hate himself. He’ll hate what he’s doing. He’ll hate who he’s working for. It might be worse this time. It might be worse because now he’s reliving his early teen years, all that overwhelming trauma, floods back with ever face he sees, ever scream he hears, ever hall he walks, ever door knob his scarred fingers brush against. It’ll be worse now because he’s fighting against the people who love him for who he is not what he can do. It’ll be worse this time because now he’s going against those who picked him up when he was broken, those who brought him back, those who are his friends. It’ll be worse this time because it’s oh so easy to break that which had already been broken.

And yet, it could be slightly better. I could be better because of Chuuya. Chuuya will see Dazai break, Chuuya will see how this is hurting him, see how Dazai is slipping and falling and not bothering to plead for help. Chuuya will nonetheless help him the best he can. Chuuya does have morals, virtues, and more importantly, he does care for Dazai, his friend. Chuuya might not notice his attempts getting more serious, because they’re the same attempts that Chuuya saw before with Dazai at the PM, Chuuya never saw Dazai’s “attempts” at the ADA, he doesn’t fully grasp just how much better Dazai had gotten, and consequently just how bad Dazai is becoming again. But Chuuya does realize that something’s wrong, something more than before. And while he’s not that good at comforting, he’ll do his best.

Though his best might not be enough when he walks through the door of Dazai’s apartment and finds that he has to crane his neck much higher than normal to see Dazai. Has to guide his eyes all the way up to the support beam over the sofa. To see the cloth belt of Dazai’s trench coat tied around the wood beam, Chuuya’s friend swinging softly in front of him,

a foreign look of unbothered peace on Dazai’s face at last.

[rinskazuu]

rating record of ragnarok characters /10, because i can.

DISCLAIMER: i’m only rating the characters based off what the manga & anime has portrayed. i’ve done little to no research on these people themselves, which is why i don’t condone anything immoral that they’ve done. this was written before the release of chapter 73+

a/n: i think i wanna do this for every anime + genshin & val. PLS WATCH IT & LMK IF YOU GUYS LIKE IT. also i dont care abt grammatical and/or punctual errors, this is a shit post

MANGA SPOILER WARNING!!

THOR: first of all, he’s so fucking hot. his smile caught me so off guard tho, i kinda just stood there watching the screen, baffled. not much character to him, he’s just hot. 7/10

LU BU: i’m chinese, i literally feel so happy when i see chinese characters. biased, but definitely a plus. he, just like thor, has little to no character. first character i called hot, is hot, but there are hotter characters. (what, i am not talking abt hermes wdym?) 7/10

HERMES: 10/10. no explanation. my man right there. i literally scream & cream every time i see him. why is he so fine. not a single panel or clip where he looks bad. pls eat me out, sir i beg. i will serve you. ONE CHANCE. JUST ONE?? i’m in love with him. who needs real men or women when hermes.

GOLL: she is SO ANNOYING. her eng & jp voice are both annoying asl. she’s that one character, that exists in mostly every anime, used to explain background info & battle info on other characters. brunhilde is too nice on her. she reminds me of when i first saw yachi (haikyuu) on screen. yachi, too, was annoying. but i grew to love her🫶. 1/10

BRUNHILDE: SHES SO HOT. ATE. SHE ALDNAHDISKZ. yeah, what else is there to say? 8/10

APHRODITE: she truly lives up to her version in the greek mythology. hottest woman/goddess alive. ate. her boobs, i want to squish them & bury my face in them. WHEN IS IT MY TURN TO HOLD THEM? 8/10

ZEUS: idgaf what anyone says, he’s not hot. not even his younger self. he looks like mirio (mha) turned netero (hxh). love his character tho. the eyes scared me at first. he’s hilarious. 5/10

ADAM: my friend, the one who recommended snv to me, told me he’d be more my type. he was, minus the fact that’s he literally butt fucking naked. nice ass cheeks tho. def pretty boy, his wife is hot too. i want her more😋. his line abt fighting for his children made me cry. should’ve won. i say, let hermes be uncleless & fatherless. 7/10

POSEIDON: he was fs the blueprint for adam. anywho, yk hes fine. SOOO FINE. meowing for him. he doesn’t beat hermes tho. nobody beats hermes. well, look wise at least. it was rlly hard choosing who to root for in this fight. that’s a lie, i was always on humanity’s side. sad he died:( 9/10. -1 for being a little, arrogant, narcissistic, egotistical bitch. 8/10

SASAKI KOJIRO: see, zeus coulda been hot like him at that old age. man aged like fine wine. character was a W. hot, determined, good character, funny. what else can you want from a man? 8/10

HERACLES: disappointed. so disappointed. he looked better in the disney ver. this fight was so boring for me. you’re telling me i’m supposed to watch the fight instead of ogling at hot characters? no. character was okay. 6/10

JACK THE RIPPER: massive L. not supporting a murderer. next. 0/10

SHIVA: hot from the beginning. 4 arms? do what you want to me, sir. 3 WIVES? tengen (kny), is that you bro?😭 anywho, he’s cocky, def my type irl LMAO. i wouldn’t let that slide tho.. his wives are hot too😋 8/10

RAIDEN TAMEEMON: i paid very little attention to this fight. don’t remember his backstory too well (i read this fight not even 24 hours ago btw). not that good looking, not ugly either. i liked his character, upset he took 3 of shiva’s arms. why 3? why not 2? he got 1 arm left. 4/10

BUDDHA: THATS MY GOD RIGHT THERE. ate. i’m not religious, and neither are my family, but they are buddhist, so by default, i am too. i personally think buddhism is the best religion, but we’re not gonna get into that. i have very valid reasons btw. love his personality, love his looks. massive W. ofc he fights for humanity. he’s a walking W. 9/10

ZEROFUKU: precious. definition of deserved better. what made me sad, is how he was written during the fight. he’s consistently hitting, with little to no strategy. his backstory is sad, but his battle exp was written poorly. also the random ass monster possessing took me tf out. 7/10

HADES: fine ass mf. he’s so different from how he’s usually portrayed, both look & personality wise. the first W netflix has pulled. he’s hot and responsible? persephone, we can share him babes. also, the relationship between him & poseidon made me SOB. like actually. hurt so bad i made an angst edit. 9/10

QIN SHI HUANG: first off, i don’t do research on my own ethnicity’s history. i didn’t even know who tf lu bu was. my family knew tho. with that aside, PROUD TO BE CHINESE❗️ he’s so fine. SO FINE. the way his character was written, was wonderful. i loved the fight between him & hades. the tension & the lengths they went to try & win. 9/10

BEELZEBUB: his backstory was so tragic. what i didn’t like, was how they rushed his & lilith’s story. like, they kinda randomly said i love you to each other. i’d love to see their adventures tgt. lilith, leave that emo thing, and come be w me. he’s fine too. i rlly like how they introduced him. 8/10

NIKOLA TESLA: i don’t have much of an opinion on him. very chatty, which i don’t actually mind. i guess we’ll have to wait for more chapters to release before i form an opinion on him. 5/10

ODIN: the hair bro. THE HAIR. i keep forgetting he exists, but i’m not his biggest fan. not bad, but i prefer his sons. i do like the theory of him being a traitor. he looks the part. 5/10

LOKI: honestly, i liked him a lot in the beginning, but now, it’s like he’s kinda on the side. cute & hot. thor is the better brother tho. speaking of, how tf are they even brothers? moving on, i like his personality. i like his shocked, mixed w angry, facial expressions more. 7/10

ARES: the hair again. very stylish, i do like it, but it took me out. walking around looking like a school girl. i don’t like how he tries to be a know-it-all w hermes, when he literally relies on him for info. but that’s my man for you. his expressions are SO WELL. 6/10

ADAMAS: i was awfully confused, at first, when there were 3 older brothers to zeus. usually, it’s just hades, poseidon & zeus. not his biggest fan, his character was rushed. 4/10

BONUSES

JESUS: i was very happy to see jesus. i’m not sure why, i just was. why is he the only character, THAT LOOKS LIKE THEMSELVES? 9/10

LU BU SIMP AGENCY: 10/10. i don’t need to say anymore. W cheng gong. love that man.

FORSETI: what a loser. he was so annoying. 2/10

EVE: mother? mommy? whatever. MEOW. 9/10

SASAKI SIMP AGENCY: love them as well. 10/10. walking Ws all around.

i don’t think i’m missing anyone, am i?

[innerchorus]

Arslan Senki Chapter 126 (Part 2)

And unlike Kmanga you don't even have to pay twice for the privilege of having it split into two. SPOILERS for this chapter, I can't stress enough that the ending is a huge fucking cliffhanger so if you don't want to get spoiled please don't look.

That's a piece of the (Un)Holy Master's cloak...

Nicely dealt with by Andragoras!

Anyway, this is proper confirmation that Team Zahhak's clothing has magical properties / a life of its own and can potentially be dangerous even when separated from the wearer.

Given how fast the Master can dodge (or more correctly this is a teleportation style of evasion that I mentioned before where he reappears behind them) it's impressive that Andragoras actually landed a blow, though it's not even close to being a fatal one. Still, he looks like he's aiming to finish the job until the Master tries to regain control of the situation by attempting to blackmail Andragoras with the location of his child!

These panels of a shocked Hilmes in the background just watching all this drama unfold, lol

Anyway, it turns out Andragoras cannot be blackmailed and he'd rather renounce his child than be manipulated like this, which is... very on brand for Andragoras, regardless of what the truth about the child turns out to be in Arakawa's manga.

The Master: tch! Hilmes: Yikes

(Is anyone of the Parsian royal line a good father? Doesn't seem that way in recent generations. Hilmes, please reverse this trend with Irina by your side, I'd love to see you both happy with a family!)

Anyway GUESS WHO'S KNOCKING AT THE DOOR IN THAT LAST PANEL? THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S ZANDEH, PUPPY BOY TO THE RESCUE! And he's still got that little guy who was one of Kharlan's soldiers with him, and that warms my heart for some reason, I hope he gets to live.

Hilmes... 😭

I wonder what Zandeh thinks? It's clearly not 'nothing at all'.

Anyway this makes me really sad because where we saw Arslan open up to his followers and receive their support, Hilmes... can't bring himself to do that. Personally, I feel that at this point, Zandeh would support him regardless (as would Sam, who unbeknownst to Hilmes already knows the truth) but Hilmes can't bring himself to admit it, to admit the fact that he's based his whole life around a lie. Without his claim to the throne, who is he?

It's sad that he can't see that the right to rule and the qualities that might inspire loyalty and love are based on so much more. I'm not saying that he's a worthy ruler right now, unlike Arslan he hasn't even thought about how he'll govern the country for the better, but I do find it sad that his mindset leaves him so isolated here when it doesn't need to be that way.

(I'm going to need an Irina mention soon. At least show that Hilmes is thinking of her, even if he feels he can't speak with her.)

That's it for Team Hilmes content this chapter, anyway.

Who should Team Arslan bump into on the way to Mount Demavant but the Zot with a leashed Don Ricardo, still clinging on to Rukhnabad! So while Arslan did deliberately set out to get the sword, in the end it looks like it's going to happen via a chance encounter (well, if anyone can ever persuade Don Ricardo to let go of it).

Gieve recognising Rukhnabad is a great moment! Even he is so shocked that it seems like he's struggling to form the words as he processes what he's seeing.

I feel pretty sorry for Don Ricardo, he hasn't really recovered mentally from his encounter with Zahhak, he doesn't look to be in a great state, and while the Zot are merely intending to hand him over to Arslan, they can't communicate with him so presumably all he knows is that he's their prisoner, he has no idea what his fate will be and nobody to reassure him. Likewise, they don't know what he's been through.

Team Arslan try to figure it out thanks to Estelle, but Don Ricardo is too distressed, so they decide to find a village to stay the night. It's at this point that alarm bells started going off in my mind.

Narsus says "It's too quiet." (I start thinking of the village he stayed in with Alfarid where Arzhang had killed all the villagers.)

The horses start freaking out (we know they react this way to Team Zahhak)

Team Arslan find bodies of villagers with only their brain eaten (and who do we know of who has an appetite for brains?)

OH FUCK, OH SHIT, OH FUUUUCK

A weird mist begins to seep into the scene; Zahhak in the novels was described as exuding a miasma of sorts, I think it provoked fear in those who were close to it?

PANELS THAT FILLED MY HEART WITH PURE DREAD

Gods, I hope everyone survives this encounter. I don't know how it's going to go down but it strikes me that this could be it, this could be the actual deciding fight as far as Zahhak is concerned, because we have Rukhnabad on the scene right here, it could really be happening in Arakawa's manga right now, and I'm not sure I'm ready?

My head is ringing with questions. What does Zahhak's full form look like (we see the snakes clearly but not what they're attached to)? Is he fully resurrected or are the shoulder snakes just operating on the instinct of hunger? What happened to Kaykhusraw's body? Are any members of Team Zahhak here with the Snake King? If Team Arslan do fight Zahhak here, how do they go about it? One on one? As the strongest warrior, will Daryun take him on? Will Arslan (with Estelle's help) manage to persuade Don Ricardo to hand over Rukhnabad, and will he opt to take on the Snake King himself with the sword's powers?

Man I wish Kubard were here... I've always said he'd set everyone straight about the notion of taking on a being like the Snake King in single combat... Just kill it, any way you can.

Part of me feels like Zahhak won't be defeated yet and this encounter will serve its purpose mainly in showing Team Arslan that he truly has been unsealed, so now they'll know what the sorcerers were working towards and they'll know what they're up against. But will they come through this unscathed? I'm not ready for character deaths!

My working theory as of this post: Zahhak is not fully conscious and is mainly being driven by the snakes' hunger; he is heading for Ecbatana for some sort of ritual involving the head jars where he will truly return in full. The final confrontation will take place after matters in the capital with Andragoras and Hilmes have been resolved, and may involve entering Team Zahhak's lair beneath Ecbatana (ArAkAwA sHoW mE tHe DaRk TeMpLe).

Guys... I am utterly exhausted, this chapter has wrecked me. I'll keep an eye out for raws / somewhere to read the simulpub for free and post a link if I see it.

[chzdavmpr]

Ok so I have read all of the manga Versus (The one by the author of One Punch Man) that is currently out, and this post will just be a collection of thoughts I have about it. Btw, if you haven't read it, I would definitely recommend reading it, or at least the first 2-3 chapters to see if it's your cup of tea. Go in completely blind tho. Trust me. Spoilers below for chapters up to 10a.

Firstly I gotta say, the concept is a very enjoyable one. One might say it's a little close to the multiverse concept, which many people are tired of at this point. But for me the idea is different enough here in execution that I feel it's still nice and fresh.

The worldbuilding is very fun. The way each of the 13 worlds (that we know of so far, I don't think they'll introduce more but who knows) look different visually, to where you can easily tell which one a character is from just by their clothes, or which world a location is from just based off looks, is just super satisfying.

I love how the concept is almost an inverse of One Punch Man and Mob Psycho. Where instead of the protagonists being overpowered beyond belief, it's every single enemy that's OP. It makes for a really fun dynamic, especially when written by One.

That being said, as of writing this, the most recent chapter is released is 10a, where Hallow is just about to fight Kiva, and I really really hope that they do not just have Hallow become strong enough to beat him. I feel that would defeat the point of the whole story. We saw a bit of that when Alio was able to somewhat hold his own against the giants and new humanity using a super ultra final technique, admittedly he still lost after like 20 seconds, but I think that for this story that's 20 seconds too long.

It takes a few chapters to just kinda introduce the premise, but once it got that out of the way I really liked the characters. They have very expressive designs, unique character traits, and work off each other very well even the nobodies just introduced in the giant mission to die have so much character (except the machine world ones, since they all have identical armor) it really makes you invested in them, and ups the stakes when the story shows that they do not have any plot armor and all of them can die.

Kayla is especially great. So far giving big neurodivergent vibes. Zaybi is another standout character.

The Natural Enemies are all pretty fun. Some of them seem pretty simple, like the giants, but others I want to know more about so much. Like what's the deal with Recreation Hell World? Couldn't they just go in there and start shooting the games? Do they like hypnotise you to force you to play? Or Misfortune World, do they just have kaiju or do they just have a lot of natural disasters? If it's the later how are they suppose to fight bad luck? Aren't the bandits of Lawless World definitely like the least of a threat since they are just humans? How is Mad God World going to fit into any of this, cause that one seems like a big deal? All of these questions and more are the kinds of things that keep me wanting to read more the most, it's such a fun setting.

Small note: WHERE ARE THE GAMERS? They literally appear in 2 panels (seen below). They are in the war room, they accidentally explain what their natural enemy is, and then they just aren't even in the background of any of the other panels of that room, or anywhere for that matter. Did they just walk home and no one stopped them?

I love the fashion of New Humanity.

I do not like PanePane.

[lai-mar]

Can't wait till this blog is old enough so posts start showing in main tags, but for now, a salty lil rant

Shipping aside, I'm surprised by how Laios + Marcille even as friends doesn't get as much fan attention as I expected considering how heavily the series focuses on their development? I consider Laios to be the protag and Marcille to be the secondary protag but I can see the argument for the two of them being dual protags especially starting from around Thistle's house arc / Marcille becoming the dungeon lord. The protagonists are party members who bond over losing and finding a loved one. They save each other multiple times and live with each other in the end. They get copious amounts of screentime together and separate. They clearly care for each other and love each other (in whatever way). And there's no forced romance.

Before I read the manga, I saw all the yuri on my TL and was like YESSSSSS I'M READING THIS FOR THE YURI WOOOOOO and finished the Red Dragon anime episodes like "wow that was soooo good and gay. Let me go on Tumblr to see what people are talking about— people are shipping Marcille and LAIOS??? Probably annoying straight people who cannot conceptualize a friendship between a man and woman 🙄". So I started out with a squick for the ship. I think the fan perception made me believe F/M is canon and anything else would be like queer erasure? Except I later learned no ship is canon and was genuinely confused when the manga started giving us L/M crumbs (like the succubus chapter) because I thought the shippers were pulling this ship from thin air lmao.

The more I read, the more I was like.... "okay.... why are they kinda... okay I get it now... why am I.... oh shit... I'm really in it now" and I apologise because I really get it now 😭 and it baffles me to see people who have seemingly finished the manga going "Laios and Marcille have NO CHEMISTRY their only line of connection is through Falin". Like, okay, maybe that was how they were at the beginning (but I would argue they have chemistry even from the first few chapters), but that's the POINT and we get to see them evolve and get closer because they both love and miss Falin. Laios moves on from being "Falin's brother" and Marcille moves on from being "Falin's friend". L+M know about each other's deepest, subconscious desires. Marcille lives with the siblings at the end. No matter the bond, they are the two most precious people to her.

I was still squicky about romantic L/M even at the succubus chapter (which I know is probably the starting point for a lot of shippers) but THEN THE RABBIT CHAPTER. And after that when the Canaries found Marcille and she immediately jumped onto Laios I was like "Oh fuck. I'm really in this now fuck fuck FUCK". (Nothing makes me get into a dynamic more than having an initially squicky reaction because I'll need to have a strong enough conviction to overcome the squick LOL)

Anyways. Seeing people being annoying and pissy about L/M only made me like L/M more 🤡 because at least the shippers appreciate their bond. I'm a little desperate here. Even their platonic bond is kind of a rarepair in the English fandom 💀

I'm so glad the anime is going at the pace it is now because this is only the beginning of the L+M development!!!! The anime onlies will understand later!!! I made the same mistake and judged too early and I'm sorry!!!! So many anime L+M moments and panels and crumbs yet to be seen 🥺

Anyways. Laios and Marcille's bond is absolutely central to the plot and character development. But I wouldn't have guessed that if I didn't read the manga and just based it off fan attention.

[i-write-hurt-not-comfort]

@yuukanaazu hi there! thank u for your question, i would LOVE to talk about this. i've thought about this so much and i love the who Mukami backstory. i would like to disclaim i'm not a history expert but i've researched this a fuck ton. whilst a lot of the Mukami routes have bits of the Romanian history lore scattered around, the most lore comes from Ruki's MB but especially his LE, so i'm going to be using that as my main source.

putting this under a cut here because it's very long. TW for discussions of the Romanian orphan crisis.

so right off the bat in MB, we see Ruki clearly has this trauma surrounding something which happened in an eastern european nation, as seen in this manga panel when he's sitting in class and the teacher is talking about an outbreak of orphans.

although they don't SAY Romania, it's pretty heavily implied that it's Romania as this was where the infamous orphan crisis occurred and we know the Mukami's met in an orphanage. the REAL confirmation of what actually happened in Romania comes from Ruki's LE.

credit where credit is due, rejet did alright with the Romania lore. in the 1960s, Romania was under a dictatorship by Ceaușescu. Ceaușescu's socialist policies had Romania and its capital Bucharest in declining conditions. wild-spread poverty caused children to run away from home so there were already some children on the streets. Decree 770 was enacted in 1966 which banned abortion and contraception with the hope of population growth directly leading to economic growth.

Ruki's father was supposedly a politician during the time of Decree 770 being enacted. it is implied Karlheinz convinced Ceaușescu to impose Decree 770 to cause wide-spread casualties particularly in children and use these for ghoul experiments. Karlheinz also convinced Ceaușescu to impose higher taxes and embezzle public funds.

it's unclear exactly when Ruki's father was dismissed from his political position, but we see it happen in LE and he becomes an alcoholic. over the next few years, birth rates would increase substantially, especially over 1967, 1968 and 1969 when the policy was still knew. parents who were unable to take care of their children gave them up to orphanages. by 1977, parents were taxed for being childless. potentially this is when Ruki's father dies and they all enter the orphanage.

children ran away from home due to parents being overloaded with children and poverty stricken. by the 1980s, conditions in the orphanages had significantly declined. Ceaușescu was killed in December 1989. supposedly, Kalrheinz was assassinated at the end of the revolution too, and was hung in public, but his corpse disappeared.

conditions in the orphanages were as follows:

Children did not have access to food, water, medicine or basic needs

Many were not educated and were illiterate 

Hygiene was below standard and sexual assault common 

HIV/AIDS spread throughout orphanages particularly in the 1980s 

Military run orphanages often saw violent child abuse 

Children self-harmed and abused aurolac, a type of paint inhaled as a solvent (commonly distributed around Bucharest during this period right through to common times) 

Gangs were formed inside and outside the orphanages which led to further violence

There weren't enough beds 

Some children were sold off as slaves for money or to be abused (Kou is an example of this) 

Disabled children were sent to special places and were treated the worst

the Mukami's lore is mostly implied from theories, and the bullet points i'm about to drop are only my perspective. though it is based off canon events.

here, we are going to assume the timeline matchup or make some kind of sense…

it DOES kind of make sense if you imagine the Mukami's to be born in 1966/67 due to the abortion ban

thus they would be around age 10-11 in 1977 when they all entered the orphanages

obviously the orphanages were overcrowded by this point in time, hence the conditions were so bad 

Azusa was at the orphanage first and when Ruki arrived, he followed him around

Ruki was creeped out at first but eventually came to see Azusa as a younger brother

then Ruki meets Kou when he's in the middle of trying to kill himself and calls him a loser 

Yuma joined the orphanage last, and became friends with everyone after meeting Kou in the punishment cell 

so the order is Azusa, then Ruki, then Kou, and then Yuma 

Ruki

Ruki's father was a politician… until he wasn't

when Decree 770 was enacted, he turned into an alcoholic and began abusing Ruki's mother

it's explained in Ruki's LE Maniac Epilogue and it's a bit vague but I do think the implication is that Ceaușescu imposing higher taxes (potentially the childless tax in 1977) is what caused Ruki's father's dismissal 

this means Ruki was a baby when Decree 770 was first enacted but he was pampered so he didn't know that was going on in the real world 

1977, Ruki's father was fired then committed suicide, his mother had an affair and ran off, and Ruki entered the orphanage

he was beaten up a lot for being an ex-aristocrat 

Kou

Kou was born to an aristocratic family but they were exiled when he was still young 

(i headcanon his parents being from another country, possibly Italy considering his name was Emilio) 

he was off-handed to a nanny but she abandoned him when he was young

she potentially abandoned him due to having to care for too many orphans (early 1970s)

kou spent most his childhood on the streets, at which point he was shown to beg for food and money

he exchanged this (IN CANON!!) for aurolac (which i write about here) 

eventually he was taken into the orphanage, right when some army officers shot some people in front of him 

there he was sold off to aristocrats, aka slavery, and gouged out his eye

continued using aurolac in the orphanage

Yuma

i will assume he ended up in Bucharest around mid-1970s

his farming family in the village which burnt down was poor due to socialist policies and higher taxes 

he was in a gang as the name Bear and was one day thrown into the orphanage when everyone else was shot 

his leader Lucks had been shown to be prostituting himself to get money for the gang

Yuma steals food from the orphanage and got into a lot of fights due to people insulting his gang

Azusa

Azusa was raised by Romani people

it isn't clear whether he was born into a Romani family or whether he was born accidentally and abandoned and then taken in by the Romani people 

i personally headcanons the former 

he was weak compared to everyone and Justin, Melissa and Christina beat him up a lot

one day they were killed for burglary and Azusa cried

then he passed out in front of a shop and was sent to the orphanage 

he enjoys getting beaten up at the orphanage and that's when he meets Ruki 

i am sorry that this is SO LONG. if you made it to the end, thank u and congratulations. i love this lore. if you want it saved somewhere, i have it all here (+ more information).

[leportraitducadavre]

Hi! First, I wanna thank you for writing and categorising your analysis for the Naruto fandom. It’s been an eye-opening experience reading your take on the manga. I read the series when I was younger, and I can’t believe now how much of what the manga was trying to convey had escaped me e.g. Hyuuga clan’s slavery and state-sanctioned genocide, and the deconstruction of Hinata — I’ve usually written her off or ignored her but realising her role in the endorsing her clan’s slavery system had really smacked me wide-awake. So thanks for that. I’m rereading the manga with fresher, more critical eyes.

I do have a question though, if you have the time. With everything on the table, what would you think would’ve been a good direction to take from the Chuunin exams, after Naruto and Neji’s fight, to improve the Hyuuga? Or to improve the Hyuuga in general?

Would having Hinata branded with the curse seal after Hiashi passed her over for Hanabi change the narrative? 🤔 Would having Neji interact more with others from the branch family open his eyes to the superficial change in the Hyuuga Hiashi made after his fight?

After reading your analysis, it does make my brain itch for, for change to have taken place, how would it have been brought about? Like what could have been done?

@ melting-puppets

Sorry I never replied to this, honestly speaking, I’m not a fan of “what if” or “how would this be fixed” scenarios as those go beyond what I usually like to do and are mostly irrelevant to the manga in itself. 

Hinata getting the seal isn’t what I consider would be a “good conclusion” to the Hyüga narrative –me pointing out her lack of seal isn’t to complain about “how she doesn’t have it” but about pointing out the inconsistencies within the Hyüga system as it’s a slavery-based structure that presents itself under the premises of “order” (division between castes) and the “protection of the Byakugan”. According to what is presented to us by Neji in the Chünin Exams, Hinata once demoted from being the heir should have gotten the seal, yet she didn’t, as Hiashi decided to spare his daughter from a life of servitude, something he didn’t extend to his own nephew. This contradiction is unjust because the ideology on which it rests is unjust and paradoxical from its very core structure. At some point, someone within the clan secluded a position of power for themselves and decided that those they considered important should be protected by those they considered lesser members of their family, guaranteeing an unwavering loyalty and obedience for themselves through the use of force.

About what could have been done, realistically speaking? Nothing. Neji was a character whose relevance rested in his position as a counterweight to his family’s structure; he was relevant as he opposed the Hyüga oppression, but once he stopped antagonizing such practices, he became inconsequential to the narrative itself, and he was mostly used as a secondary device to move the plot forward without being consequential to it (like when he and Team Gai helped Naruto and Team 7 to open the cave Deidara and Sasori had Gaara in).

“Would having Neji interact more with others from the branch family open his eyes to the superficial change in the Hyuuga Hiashi made after his fight?”

There was not a single change brought by Hiashi, not a single panel proofs otherwise, the only thing we saw was Neji and Hinata fighting together during the war, and that was a very specific case were all shinobi were told to join forces (minus the heir, as Hanabi wasn’t present). Their behaviour during a warlike conflict can’t be translated to the new norm in between the branches, as there’s not a single indication of something changing within the family during non-armed conflicts of such scale. 

“How to improve the Hyüga in general?” 

I mean, to put it simply: stop branding childs with the Cage-bird Seal. It’s as easy as that, all clans have a system of inheritance of the leader title, so the structure itself can be maintained as Hanabi is told to be the strongest fighter amongst them (sans Neji, who is a weird occurrence).

[qworflordking]

Ok, so as The Guy who went completely balls-to-the-wall in my Metor City fanfics, I wanted to share some stuff I especially delighted in this chapter! I went incredibly hard with my worldbuilding based off... a few lines, a few manga panels, so I'm really thrilled to see some of my base theories confirmed!

Meteor City Loves Their Children

I saw too many depictions of Meteor City as some lawless and cruel wasteland where only the strong survive, but they actually do care for each other. Even Uvo might be a bully, but his definition of "killing" is "hitting someone with a stick" - literal child's game rules, and the other kids are aware of Uvo's feelings and discuss them. It's worth noting the missing generation here - we see children (happy children, in patchworked clothing) and elders. The abductions and deaths are a tragedy they're too helpless to prevent, and it's not like the relationship with the mob was something they willingly entered - who was abducting them in the first place but the mob? Not to mention how we see them mourning their losses in the Ant Arc

2. The Life-Debt

I've seen so many people cite the "killing a member is the only requirement to join" rule, as told by Hisoka, as reasons why they find the Spider confusing. Despite the fact that most of what Hisoka tells Kurapika about them is demonstrably not true and the fact that they are suicide bombers. Seriously. I don't know why. But Togashi has finally added it to the tenets of Meteor City. Done and done.

3. Chrollo was Chosen

Confirmation: Chrollo was picked by the elders for a greater purpose. I know Togashi said he was elected to be a leader and never sought power himself, and I was always like "dude you did not put that crucial information in your manga" but here it is! I think the heart of Chrollo's internal crisis was that he did indeed sacrifice something of himself for duty, and even as an innocent kid we see him always thinking of everyone rather than just himself. One of Chrollo's core motivations is genuinely just to have fun with his friends (yeah, he has a twisted definition of fun) but also to protect his people - his definition of fun has changed from "dubbing sentai shows in a language everyone can understand" to "armed robbery woo", but it remains the same.

Anyways. I can't wait to see the next chapter! Meteor City and Chrollo are kind of a hinge-point for me on which the entire dystopic world of HxH hangs. They have this insane sense of justice stemming from utter desperation and I honestly didn't think we would see so much until the final arc of the manga.... and maybe I was the fool, lol, because pretty much every time we see the Spider we learn something new about where they're from. This really has been over twenty years in the making and it's finally here!