#but he's great. he is a system and for a manga that came out in the 90s it is handled rather fucking well

[the-acid-pear]

Btw only today I remembered the time a Baki character crawled thru and out a man's asshole.and his only explanation was I could do that because I'm very small (he's 160cm).

[fandoms-x-reader]

Goth! MC

Requested By: @fernstarsblog

Headcannons

Summary: How the OM! characters would react to an MC who is goth/drawn to the supernatural. The Sevon Demon Brothers & Diavolo, Barbatos, Simeon and Solomon Word Count: 2,504

Lucifer remains as expressionless as ever when he first sees you.

After all, you’re a new human exchange student. That’s what everyone should be focusing on, not the way you did your makeup or the way you were dressed.

At the end of the day, you were a target to lower-level demons no matter how you looked.

But, take away those formalities, and Lucifer is completely attracted to your look.

You had an ethereal beauty to you - something he had yet to see in any other human and it drew him in like a moth to a flame.

He’ll notice everything about you - your outlook on life, your interest in the dark and mysterious, etc. 

And he’ll find the opportune moments to have conversations with you about these topics. Lucifer is as much a well of information as Satan, he just doesn’t typically flaunt it the way his younger brother does.

Lucifer is particularly interested in the Gothic culture when it comes to buildings and decoration. Would you say the House of Lamentation fit the bill?

Lucifer only agreed to allow you to put eyeliner on him after a whole lot of Demonus was in his system.

And he wore it with absolute pride. 

Until he realized you took a picture of him with the makeup on and sent it to his brothers.

It’s funny that you’re attracted to the supernatural because he’s about to turn you into a ghost.

Mammon came into the assembly hall with so much confidence, ready to tell you off in front of everyone and make sure you knew that he was the one in charge.

But, when he actually saw you, he stuttered.

He still managed to get his words out in the end, but why were you dressed like that?

Mammon thinks you look great, but you weren’t what he was expecting and you definitely didn’t look like a pushover like he was hoping.

Mammon will boast about your look to others, and he’ll dare someone to comment on it in any way that he didn’t deem acceptable.

But if you’re interested in the supernatural, that’s where Mammon draws the line.

Let’s not forget he’s a scaredy cat when it comes to things like horror movies and ghost stories and whatnot.

He’ll act all brave in front of you, pretending as though he’s interested in the same stuff just for a chance to spend time with you.

But if you go somewhere scary he’ll be holding your hand and if you watch a movie that frightens him, he’ll sit closely to you and offer to turn the light on - all for your sake, of course. He can’t have his human having a heart attack!

That being said, you did notice that Mammon’s latest photoshoot was all goth-themed and he even did the makeup to perfection.

Levi knows all about goth culture.

There are so many iconic characters in his manga and anime who are goth and he can’t help but admire the way they look and act.

There’s something just so intriguing and mysterious about them!

Not to mention the fact that a ton of his video games have designs modeled after gothic looks for their playable characters, NPCs, and the overall setting of the game.

Levi has even considered trying out the gothic look himself when he wanted to cosplay as one of those characters.

But, he’s never been able to bring himself to do it, afraid he won’t be able to get the look right.

But now that he has you, he’s ready to try it!

Please show him all your tricks on properly doing the makeup. He wants to look like this character in this anime!

You’re a bit surprised at how well Levi pulls off the goth look. The eyeliner really brings out his features.

He freaked out when you told him that, but he’ll keep it in mind.

He can’t wait to play all of his favorite games with someone who can truly appreciate the gothic nature of them!

Satan was one to notice your appearance straight away.

There was something different about you than the typical happy-go-lucky and naive humans he had seen pictures of in his books.

Your appearance was something that enticed him.

There was something beautiful and mysterious about the makeup and clothes you wore.

His initial thought was that you looked like you walked right off the pages of one of Edgar Allan Poe’s books.

He even went so far as mentioning that to you and if you tell him that you knew who he was talking about, Satan would be ecstatic.

He believed that Poe was an excellent author in his own right, but he was also from the Devildom so he couldn’t be sure that humans would hold the same affection.

He’ll offer to read some of his stories with you excited to use the similarity to try and get to know you. 

And if you have any other books or authors that were similar he would be more than happy to read those as well!

If you’re drawn to what humans would consider “supernatural” Satan is the best person to turn to.

His knowledge is extensive and he will happily tell you about any creature that you’re curious about.

If you want simple information, he’ll just tell you if it exists or not.

But if you want to know more than that, he’ll excitedly tell you all of the facts he knows.

If you mention a creature he doesn’t know about, he’ll take you to the library and the two of you will do research together until you find what you’re looking for.

All in all - he likes that you’re goth.

Asmo is a bit taken aback by your appearance at first. 

He isn’t used to seeing others wear heavy make-up or such interesting clothes. 

He kept up with all of the latest fashion trends, so of course he knew about the “goth” look.

He just doesn’t typically do it on himself.

But, he loved the way you looked. So much so that he considers you his inspiration for his new look!

Asmo will be attached to your hip, asking you which makeup products you prefer and which colors you tend to use.

He liked making his own clothes and he will make up some outfits that have a gothic look to them with a touch more of Asmo.

He’ll set up a whole photoshoot to show off his clothes and he’ll ask you for help with his makeup.

He wants to make sure he does the look right!

He’ll ask you to do the photoshoot with him, wanting the world to see the two of you together.

But, if you decline, he’ll just take double the amount of photos to make up for it. 

After that photo shoot, you do notice that others in RAD have started dressing the same way.

You and Asmo have started a new trend.

Beel doesn’t focus too much on appearances. It’s all about what’s on the inside for him.

He likes your overall aesthetic, but at the end of the day, he isn’t completely wrapped up in the details of your appearance like some of the others would be.

Did you call yourself “goth”? You’ll have to explain to him exactly what that means.

He’ll ask you if goths eat the same food as other humans in a completely innocent and curious way.

Bad time for a vampire joke.

Beel thought that you were serious about drinking blood and was a bit wary of you. 

Beel can bond with almost anyone about almost anything so he’ll find a way to connect with you.

He enjoys learning more about your culture and he even lets you put makeup on him to see what he would look like.

He 100% pulls off the goth look. 

He also likes listening to you go on and on about your knowledge of the supernatural.

He’ll happily munch on food while he listens to you talk, smiling at the way your eyes lit up as you talked about something that was so closely related to his world.

Belphie is one to make witty comments about your appearance.

He’ll joke about keeping you away from garlic or keeping you inside during a full moon.

He’ll tease you about wearing too dark make-up and will ask you if you have more than one color in your wardrobe.

Basically, anything he can to hide the fact that he finds your look insanely hot.

He’s a total sucker for the goth look but you would never get him to admit it.

He finds your conversations so much more interesting than any other humans because where they shy away from dark topics, you embrace them.

He’ll feel naturally drawn to you and one day you caught him looking up how to do goth makeup on his D.D.D.

He immediately denied it but from that point on you made it a point to try and convince him to let you do his makeup.

He declined every single time and you eventually had to wrestle him and pin him down so that you could apply eyeliner to him.

It was obvious that he wanted to see what he looked like with it because he could have easily pushed you off if he really wanted to.

Belphie pulls off the look effortlessly. He fit right in with the goth culture.

And the next time you were in his bedroom, you noticed eyeliner sitting on his dresser.

Diavolo found your appearance strikingly beautiful.

As the future King of the Devildom, he was drawn to all things dark and mysterious and you fit both of those categories to a T. 

How could he not be attracted to you when you already looked like you belonged?

Diavolo is a very busy man though and didn’t have much time to get to know you at first.

Instead, he had to admire you from afar.

He noticed the way that you wouldn’t be afraid of things in the Devildom. Most humans would have already run for the hills by now.

But you welcomed those things and even looked excited while experiencing them.

When Diavolo finally had a chance to speak with you privately, he wanted to know everything about you.

He was curious to know how you perceived the supernatural and what stories the human world offered about them versus how they actually were in real life.

He wears his classic boyish grin as the two of you talk about it. It’s the first conversation in a long time that he’s been so invested in.

After the two of you grow closer, you manage to convince him to try the makeup.

But, he’ll only do it in your presence. He doesn’t want others to see him with goth makeup in case he can’t pull it off.

But, goth makeup on Diavolo is a 10/10 - especially if he’s in his demon form.

Barbatos won’t mention anything right away, but he does find your goth appearance intriguing. 

Were humans starting to become more in tune with the dark secrets the world had to offer or was it just you?

He had been alive for far too long to be able to keep up with every fashion trend that came out. They all blurred together for him.

But this one stood out. It was alluring in the best way.

It was a look that demanded one’s attention and then refused to let it go. 

And whenever you were in the same room as him, his attention was all on you. 

He would do his best to perform his tasks like normal but his eyes would find their way to you no matter how many times he tried to look away.

He can’t deny the excitement he has when you talk to him about the Devildom.

You have such a natural curiosity for dark things and Barbatos has such an affinity for talking about them.

And your perspective on things in life is refreshing. 

He’s had so many mundane conversations in his life but you find a way to always grab his attention.

The two of you would get along very well.

Simeon is a bit taken aback by your appearance at first.

He came from the Celestial Realm where everything was bright and bubbly. 

So, he didn’t know what to think when he saw you decked out in such attention-grabbing makeup and clothes.

There was no doubt about it, you looked great.

But what was it about your look that was so appealing? He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Simeon does some research on the side to understand goth culture.

He finds it much easier to bond with you after knowing why you wear the makeup that you do and the customs surrounding it.

As an angel, he should have been put off by the fact that you were drawn to darker-themed ideas.

But, Simeon secretly had an inner desire to try some darker things himself.

He’s lived his whole life as an angel - don’t judge him.

This inner desire is what drove him to ask you to do his makeup. He just wanted to see what he looked like with it on. For research purposes.

Luke ended up catching the two of you and nearly had a meltdown. So, Simeon didn’t dare try it again.

But you did inspire his main character for his new book.

Being a fellow human, Solomon knows all about the goth trend.

So, there’s no need to have to sit him down and explain it to him.

That being said, you are the first person he had seen execute the look so perfectly and he can’t help but admire you.

How do you manage to get your makeup to look so perfectly? And do you make your own clothes or do you buy them online? Surely you can’t find some of the items you wear at the regular outlet store.

Oh, you want him to try the look out? He couldn’t possibly do that…he says as he’s handing you the eyeliner.

Solomon pulls off the look very well and you have him questioning himself. Why hadn’t he ever thought to try this out?

Solomon will use his new look to prank the brothers with you - especially Mammon.

They don’t quite understand the goth culture so he’ll make it a point to go out of his way to make them think it’s so much more sinister than it is.

“Mammon, let us drink your blood, won’t you?” The white-hair demon ran faster than when he was running from Lucifer.

“Satan, I think I’m having an allergic reaction to the garlic you put in this meal.” The fourth-born laughs it off until you both start hyperventilating.

Then he’s freaking out and looking for a cure until you and Solomon burst out laughing. Not funny.

Solomon would 100% be your partner in crime.

[traumxrei-archive]

What if Ortho get a cute little kid crush on us (real or just a set-up lol) and it's because of that that Idia starts crushing on us too? Goes from "stay away from my brother" to "oh no, we're competing for the same person"

HELPPP but ortho's oblivious about it. he just thinks that it's great that idia's also becoming friends with one of his best friends meanwhile idia is having a level five mental breakdown bc oh my god he had a crush on the normie that he thought was going to take way ortho but actually you were a decent person who was willing to play pvp games with him even though you lost—

at first, idia was suspicious of your intentions. because...to be honest, no one had ever tried to befriend ortho with pure intentions. (he couldn't count the amount of times he had an alert on his tablet and rushed over to find someone stun-gunned next to where ortho was. seriously, it was way too many times.) and idia had a bit of a protective streak when it came to ortho. okay, he had a lot of a protective streak, but that was besides the point !!

it wasn't like ortho needed help picking out his friends. he had equipped ortho with an interface that had a built in heart rate monitor, and surely with having the literal internet in his mind, it was easy to differentiate the mob characters from the friendly npcs.

and even so, friendly npcs stayed friendly npcs because he scared them away. he wasn't really trying to, it was just people found him...too depressing. hell, even idia found himself too depressing at times, so he couldn't blame them. all the affection points ortho gained were balanced by the negative points that idia gained.

but what he couldn't understand was how you took his presence in stride. he remembered the first time he walked in to you and ortho huddled on the floor of his room. he had tried to turn around and leave, but ortho had spotted him. and he couldn't just leave, because in scenarios like this if he left it would look like he was running away. he played enough rpgs to know at least that much.

so he stood there as ortho introduced you as his friend. friend. friend. not an npc, not a mob, but a friend—

idia was about to pass out. he snuck a glance at you only to find you staring at him. he immediately looked away, scolding himself because that was a mistake only an absolute noob would make. he clearly didn't have enough AP to try and deal with you now, plus he would attract ortho's aggro if he was discorteous toward you in front of him. so idia bided his time.

okay, so idia was both forgetful and a coward, both un-protagonist-like traits, but he still had them! this was the reason why he liked playing rouge or magician characters in his rpgs. but, okay, he was getting off topic.

it's just that you were...nice. you were nice to him, and he could see how happy ortho was whenever you two were together. his room became a place you visited often, and idia had gotten used to you. just a little bit.

(do not remind him of the first time ortho left you in his room together. idia had felt like he was about to explore. his brain was lagging behind and you were staring at him expectantly. he had said a couple of jilted sentences to you and now his social skill was on cooldown. but no, idia wasn't going to talk about that or remember it)

and he found that you weren't as normie as you looked. you liked anime and mangas, which was already a death flag avoided for your future in idia's eyes. if anything else went wrong, you could get isekai'd, you claimed, and idia had seconded your opinion. but he would've probably been reincarnated as a canon fodder character. you immediately told him that even if he was canon fodder, he could easily break the system.

(idia wouldn't admit it, but he found you extremely based for around 0.8 seconds before he regained his sanity. he wasn't supposed to like you. or get along with you.)

and you weren't that bad at the pvps that he showed you. you showed a lot of promise. your movements in-game were clumsy, but you had a pretty good reaction time. and you always voiced out creative strats that gave idia goosebumps.

over time, he even got you hooked into one of his favorite rpg gacha games. and whenever ortho left you two alone, you would proudly show him your levels and characters you had accumulated. idia would only snort, because you had barely scratched the surface of the game, but then you would launch a pillow at his head, so he learned to hide his gloating from you.

ortho was delighted by this progression. he exclaimed that it was nice that they could all hang out together now, and play three-player games that idia had been saving for years. (the three of did do that one weekend. they spent the entire time playing those games until even idia's back started hurting. but he was having such a great time that he couldn't stop.)

it was all fine and well until idia started noticing how you came up to him in the rare times he went outside. to be fair, he was grateful to have someone to hide behind whenever ortho wasn't there, but his heart was beating too damn fast.

like that time when you went into the mystery shop to get his box of snacks for him because it was rush hour. it was so....so pog, that he couldn't help but feel his heart flutter—

wait...was he playing too many otome games, or did his heart just flutter at the sight of you....?

oh no.

oh no, this was bad, this was nightmare level, death flag raising type of bad, because...you were supposed to be ortho's friend. you weren't supposed to be his irl, 3D, not-virtual-reality c-word ! (c-word. cru— no, idia couldn't bring himself to say it, it made it all more real)

and now he can't get that affection bar out of the his periphery, nor can he get the sparkles and roses out of his eyes whenever he saw you. he was playing to the rng gods that he would pick the correct dialogue options that led to the good ending. after all, he wouldn't mind you being his official player two.

— okay, that's it from me ^^ such a cute concept and i ended up writing a lot more than expected haha— i just love the idea of idia going from strangers to acquaintances to friends to gaming buddies to c-word. idk i love writing idia sm,,,and the addition of ortho being the oblivious but supportive younger brother is the cherry on top sjfkjdsfk

[lostsoulaltair]

Owari no Seraph Chapter 140 - Thoughts and Analysis (Warning: Spoilers ahead)

Hmm, before starting, I'll make another post about my thoughts so far...I think, or rather I believe at this point, people have grasped the situation with the manga. The way it goes, it has started to connect like a massive web whose missing points are finally fitting...like a whole gear system.

(Hehe, yeah those thoughts will be for the next post)

Now returning or focusing to the latest chapter. In personal taste it was pretty much a bit tad boring given that there was a degree of expectation in terms of what'd appear but of course it doesn't mean it's bad. Actually, we got a new insight along a possible follow up fight between Ferid and Ky Luc.

First of all, the chapter starts with the ones trying to break free who are now again dancing to "save the world". Still, there's a degree of uncertainity given the "cost" of that "saving" the world.

Of course, I'm talking about a difference of ideals between Rigr Stafford, more commonly known as Saito and Urd Geales.

Urd and Rigr being the elders of the vampire council, tend to be the ones to take the decisions that are give more benefit to the world, but given the truth Rigr learnt first hand, doubt began to spread within Rigr along a change of mindset and heart given what the First went through.

Whereas for Urd, such action goes against order. Still, the two of them chose to listen what Yuu had to tell them.

Next, Yuu. Yuu is finally playing smart. We got answered a big doubt ever since Shikama got devoured by Shinoa. Only 30% of his power is within Yuu, whereas the 70% lies with Shinoa.

As to why I mean he's playing smart, it is mostly that he is using that "love" the progenitors have for the First despite everything along the fact of the memories Rigr, the rest of the progenitors (excluding Krul and very likely all those 3rd progenitors that were turned into cursed gear) along Yuu. The fact that the angels existed is a key piece on what exactly the ideals align. But why do I state this?

Simple, Yuu does not exactly have full knowledge of spells. While it's true the First gave three special spells...it does not exactly mean he has all the requirements to trigger them and the second one to know about magecraft is Rigr Stafford as stated in the chapter.

(What I think here is that...Yuu is actually underestimating Guren, Mahiru and Ferid a lot. While it's true he chose to finally leave the nest, there's a reason why I state this which will be for another post, yeh sorry eheh)

But within this, why did the idea of actually taking over the First's goals came to be?

For love.

Rigr at first was like a child, hoping the First would actually acknowledge him as who he is, instead, he found that the First has been trying to resurrect all angels back, and of course with this, it goes with a second point which is "finding a reason to live".

The vampires were left with no reason, spending millenia without changing and now that a fragment of a possibility comes, Rigr isn't hesitating whereas Urd wishes to maintain order.

But why is that? Why is it that Urd is against?

The reason very independent from the love he has for Rigr (I'm not saying it is a romantic love, but I leave it to interpretation for people. We don't know what they endured together when they were human but mayhaps one day we will) is the fact that there are heavy prices to pay in order to save the worlds mentioned. True, everything sounds like a great plan, like the best of the best saving every single thing out, but in order to do so, in order to create a miracle, something must be paid at the same level for such miracle to happen.

The progenitors so far only have a vague idea of the price; and so far they are still dancing to one end goal which was stated back in chapter 108

The final event of the story is very likely heading to that detonation. The battle against the angels, BUT, that will only happen or course depending on which party wins. What do I mean?

Right now, there are four parties at hand.

-Human Team represented by the King of Humanity Kureto Hiragi.

-Guren's Team. A team that is made of Guren, Mahiru and their wild card Ferid Bathory who so far will likely succeed on devouring the 5th Progenitor Ky Luc.

-Yuu's Team which is integrated by the Progenitors, Mikaela and Yuu himself.

Though, how far will such team endure everything? It is unknown for one factor that I'll actually explain later.

And lastly, the new team no one suspected to ever appear given that they were like lambs obeying and following due to the lack of power.

-Shinoa's Squad. Obviously, the team made of Kimizuki, Yoichi, Mitsuba and Shinoa. Who now have a possibility to turn the tables against the King of Humanity and very likely Guren's Team.

All the lines or paths are finally starting to align, the big puzzle is finally merging; and the real battlefield is about to start. The war that will follow up won't be just power alone but strategy and how far the love each team will take them to.

Even if the Progenitors that are currently working with Yuu have chosen to follow up what the First was doing, there are possibilities that such plans won't exactly go as planned given that there are several things in common within three parties and that is the very fact that they are underestimating their respective enemies.

What do I mean?

Vampire Progenitors

The progenitors while holding deep knowledge along having a representant in such field such as Rigr, they have done one thing nonstop which is underestimating lesser Vampire Progenitors such as Ferid along humanity itself. Given their form of being immortals, they believe their battles will forever be won but humanity within the story has displayed that they can still take leaps in order to pursue their objectives.

Humanity's Team and their King of Humanity

While it's true Kureto, despite his methods, has actually tried to make sure humanity prevails; still, he's still in the dark, he has no clue he has several walking corpses but given that factor, along how chapter 140 played at the end, Guren won't allow the walking corpses to turn into dust but rather he'll keep fighting until their goal is set. But still, again they underestimate something. What is it?

Given that they belong to one generation, they believe they'll eventually have the upperhand, which means, they might pull a fight against the Progenitors but not exactly vs Yuu and the Shinoa Squad.

Guren's Team (Mahiru, Ferid and Guren)

Within this team, two of three are underestimating the guinea pigs they managed to gather, what do I mean?

While it is very likely that Yuu's departure was planned, one sole thing wasn't exactly planned. What do I mean?

Correct. In all the story of the manga, Guren made sure to only give power to one sole person within the Shinoa Squad and that was only Yuu given the purpose and goal he had in mind from the beginning. This also includes Mahiru and to some extent Ferid. But the new Wild Card that has popped out is not from the Black Demon Wielders but rather from Shinoa herself.

Given that Shinoa gave a full evaluation along having a purpose for life given that "love" is what fuels her goals along treasuring and protecting the family she has; true, Mahiru has awareness of the power Shinoa has to some extent but not how far they can go, and the very moment Guren's team left the squad and Ferid actually stopping watching them, this gave the opportunity for Shinoa to give her squad to fight on a more equal ground and now that she has the majority of the First's powers along knowing how to enhance and channel the power of all the demons, this can play as backfire against all the demon wielders within the story so far.

How long will it take for the story to finish? I'm not certain, but it is very likely that the end will eventually connect everything into one single thing.

What do you think guys? Let me know?

[corviiids]

back in your asks unfortunately you can’t get rid of me. i’m going to keep enablign you.

you bringing up the kr version of hurricane and the martyr complex light has in it is great bc what fascinates me about hurricane as a song is how radically different it is in different languages? as we all know in the manga light has this horrible visceral reaction to what he’s done. he looks like he’s gonna be sick when he has that guy hit by a truck. when ryuk turns up he admits that he’s been losing weight and barely sleeping. but the musicals differ so massively in how light is portrayed? because in english light seems to have this very strong sense of justice from the start - in where is the justice he denounces the corporations corrupting the legal system and asks “how can we turn away and say that’s just the way things are?” and then in hurricane he hardly seems upset at all by what he’s done. he seems vaguely surprised at how easy it was and then turns around and sings about how he’s got this insanely strong, perfect, untraceable power that he’s going to use to deliver righteous retribution. BUT then the jp versions of witj and hurricane are much less certain and light seems more horrified and then hopeful. the focus is on creating a perfect world, not necessarily punishment. he’s more a glass half full kinda guy. and then it changes AGAIN in the kr. it’s so fascinating he is a completely different version of himself in all three versions and i just need to ask. what are your opinions on this. am i making this up. do you understand how my brain is firing

you are NOT making this up and i DO understand how your brain is firing. listen. listen. in that same post about light/achilles (intertextual comparison not ship) (although?) and prompted by a response from someone else cool i reposted these tweets (which you have literally just seen because i shoved them at you but ill post them again so everyone can see)

to me it is like, very key that every iteration of light yagami SEEMS really different. in their behaviour, their values, what it takes to push them to acting and how they react, etc - obv you've brought up light as he appears in the three most well known languages the musical exists in, but i also am a huge fan of comparing his animanga self (already two different iterations to an extent) with the tv drama, which has maybe the most distinctive version of light out of all of them and which i BELIEVE? drew criticism? but i am not 100% because i was not here for this because i watched death note for the first time in fucking february. because i am hip with the kids. #rad

anyway this is part of a much larger ramble of mine that i am not really doing justice here but i actually really like that that version of light is so incredibly different - and yet he really isnt, somehow, because he ends up not only at the same ending but recognisable as the same person. that's what i think is so interesting! these differences are undeniably there and they're BIG - as you said, between musicals he ranges from being a vengeful guy on a power trip to being an idealist with a martyr complex, and you'd think those are two totally different sets of core values. between animanga vs tv drama he goes from being this cool and collected hyper prepared cynical idealist to being a depressed nihilist who's working extremely hard to shed his own ability so he doesn't have to deal with the pain of caring. again, these seem, and factually are, completely different sets of values.

and yet they're actually perfectly reconcilable. every iteration of light no matter how distinct and no matter how much their core values seem to oppose or contradict each other ends up reconciling into the same guy partway through the story, where all of these different directions he's been going in all converge. his priorities even out - regardless of if it was the power trip that came first or the desire for the perfect world, they balance ultimately and coexist. regardless of whether his idealism led him to bitter radicalisation or nihilism, they also balance ultimately and coexist. is light affected by his first murder? yes - how does it show it? that differs, but none of the lights are actually deluded enough to think that murder is good. they all think it's bad but defensible and justifiable and then visibly cope with that fact in different ways. light looks like a VERY different man depending on which of his values are being pushed to the fore in a given interpretation, but all that really does is serve to spell out exactly how complex he is internally once you watch them all converge at around similar points in the story, even when at the barest and most uncharitable interpretation he just looks like a maniacal serial killer with a delusional god complex. this is why i like him so much unfortunately

also none of this applies to netflix light who is irreconcilable and irredeemable. and white

[gojosbf]

hi i just saw ur post about how gege forced his audience to confront what happens when you reject death and i 100% agree w you. i feel like some people who are reading jjk have forgotten that jjk is not about gojo finding a happy ending, jjk is and always has been about the larger themes of systemic oppression and how harmful it is, and about how love and the loss of youth is in direct opposition to things like duty and sacrifice. it feels like people have lost the larger plot along the way while being swept up in the idea of 'i love this character so much' and can't look at the story as a whole if anything bad happens to that character. idk i feel like i'm in the minority of loving 261; gege certainly isn't without faults as a writer but the story implications and the reinforcement of all those themes was rly well done i think! i would have loved for gojo to come back and i'm very sad that yuuta's been forced to do what he did but it all feels very earned imo like it doesnt feel (to me) like gege is just making this up on the fly

exactly!! i will never say gege is the greatest writer ever (looking at all the characters he had to kill because he didn't know what to do with them and how he handles his female characters) BUT he does write great plot twists. of course everyone was going to hate the chapter when it first came out, i did too!! that's my gojo how dare you treat him like that?? but then as a tragedy enjoyer, someone who loves pain and a consistent theme and parallel plays it tastes sweeter in a bitter wine way the more you sit with it. we can go back to the beginning of the manga the theme from there till now in this latest chapter it just has one main motive: "doing what you need to do to win, to save the people you care about." so even if it sucks atleast it sucks good.

[hannigramislife]

I am not a dazai hater by any means, but you talk so respectfully (and make a lot of sense) about your opinions on him I can't help but really enjoy your blog! I particularly loved your ship opinions posts. Any other characters you want to share ship opinions on?

Hi friend!!

I'm glad I came off as respectful and left a positive impression on you! I do a lot of shit-posting about Dazai, but I do feel like I am at least fair to him when I am analyzing his actions? Other times, yeah, I'm just indulging in my desire to beat him bloody. Just, like, once. To get it out of my system XD. For science.

And the ship posts! Those were soooo fun to make. And oh, let me think about any other ships and my thoughts on them...

Fyolai (Fyodor / Nikolai) – Remember how I was like "there's just some things you don't write if you don't want people to ship two characters?" This is another case. This is the reason I disagree with people that go like "bsd is the only manga where no ships are necessary," like bro, there's so many things wrong with that sentence. It is absolutely necessary to make a bond such as these two's feel almost tangible to the viewers. It is essential to understand Nikolai's emotional dependance on Fyodor as a driving factor to his actions. Nikolai is orbiting around him, and you can see Fyodor having a genuine interest in this man, who doesn't play a big role in his grand plans. To me, these two feel kinda like Soukoku? Something something "the stars aligned so we could meet." 10/10 ship.

Ranpoe (Ranpo / Poe) – What God do I need to pray to in oder to get about 50 OVAs with these two?? Season 4 Ranpoe was the biggest treat and gift to me, personally. I love love love their dynamic so much. Like, yeah, Poe idolizes Ranpo, but he is now just as much in Ranpo's radar as well! Ranpo imprinted on him, he is Ranpo's emotional support rich boyfriend for fuck's sake. The way Ranpo uses his ability seamlessly?? Like it belongs to him?? Like he's so goddamn comfortable with it?? And what about the, "What would I do with myself if Ranpo-kun were to die..?” They're literally soulmates. They met and clicked so hard, they found each other, they suit each other, they complete each other. 10 million/10.

AtsuLucy (Atsushi / Lucy) – Firstly, I love Lucy, I think she's a great character, I love her design and personality and ability and everything. My baby. However, I have no particular attachment to this ship. It's not bad, and it's perfectly valid, but I don't see like- a need for it, you know? They understand each other, have stuff in common, and impacted each other's lives; I do love when two characters save each other left and right, so kudos for that. Honestly, they seem like they'd be absolutely amazing friends, really close, and honestly, I would love to see Atsushi have such a friendship, I think it would be good for him, but personally I don't see them in a romantic light. 9/10 ship due to the lack of feels I got from their interactions.

HiguGin (Higuchi / Gin) – I think that they're amazing and I would die for them. I need a spin-off of them. I need at least a whole WAN episode of them going on a date and shopping and eating ice cream and training and going to the beach– basically everything because they'd have the best relationship ever. I can just see them cuddling on a couch and watching TV as sskk fight over the last dumping in the kitchen. I need more about them like I need air. Also, petition for Beast Higuchi and Beast Gin to take over the Mafia. For reasons. 10/10 ship.

FukuMori (Fukuzawa / Mori) – Yeah, yeah, they're divorced Double Black and whatever, but let's be real for a second; no one can convince me that when Fukuchi first showed up, y'all's reaction was not, "Hold on a second Fukuzawa, what about your husband?!" The way Fukuchi behaved with Ranpo screamed new boyfriend trying to gain the son's approval, I was dying XD. "But Fukuchi knew Fukuzawa first!!" Yeah, yeah, I don't care– I'm not a zskk shipper until Fukuchi enters the screen. Let Fukuzawa and Mori be the yin and yang pillars of Yokohama. 9/10 ship because Mori is *sigh* a bad guy. Sad.

Odango (Oda / Ango) – They are married. No, I will not accept criticism. This is canon to me.

KuniBram (Kunikida / Bram) – My sister has decided they're also married and coparenting, so the conclusion is that they're married and coparenting.

I can't think of any ships right now, but do mention if there's one you like that I have missed!

(Honorary Mention: Dead Apple Trio) – So, we agree they fucked, right?? That wasn't subtext in the slightest, that was the greatest amount of subtle and yet ostentatious display of repressed homosexuality I've seen since SuperWhoLock hit this website. Dazai did not look that good to simply not be pushed against a table/wall. That's a disservice to him.

[slamdunktheories]

Sannoh's Unusual Team Slogan

Sharing a little Slam Dunk shrine that's in my study! Let's use this to jump into a topic that's rarely discussed: Sannoh's unusual slogan. I might be overthinking here but... considering that Inoue was a Literature major in college before dropping out to become a manga-ka, I'm pretty sure there's something interesting going on here and it didn't happen by accident.

Let's dive in!

Sannoh's slogan (一意摶心) was only revealed in TFSD and I loved it from the moment I saw it. Of all the team slogans that were shown in Slam Dunk, this was by far the best one IMO. What a kickass slogan. What a philosophy to live by. And so on brand. But... there's also something weird about it.

First, what does the slogan mean? The first phrase that comes to mind is actually 一意專心, a similar phrase that's pretty well-known in both Japanese and Chinese. It's a very similar phrase but not exactly what Sannoh has for their slogan. And 一意專心 loosely translates to: to focus or dedicate yourself single-mindedly and wholeheartedly to something.

It's a phrase that still gets used in modern day Japanese and Chinese. And it does seem to fit Sannoh. Just like the phrase itself, there's an air of austerity/Zen-ness to the way Sannoh is depicted in the story. The tradition of the team shaving their heads and resulting in that monk look, the simplicity of their uniform (in both design and colour choice), the discipline that's so evident in the way they play on court during the critical moments, etc. Of course, this is all inspired by Noshiro, the real life high school with a famed history in basketball.

But the thing that made me pause over the Sannoh slogan was the third character: 摶. TFSD was the very first time I'd seen this character in my life (despite being a native Chinese speaker and fairly well-read). I wasn't even 100% sure how it was pronounced. Why would Inoue opt for the more complicated and obscure 摶 instead of 專 when the latter would have been just fine per the modern phrase mentioned above? Was he trying to achieve something by opting for this character for the slogan?

So I did a bit of digging and it turns out... even Japanese natives don't know this character. In fact, some online Japanese dictionaries don't have an entry for this character. And for good reason: Sannoh's slogan is a phrase that first appeared 2,500 years ago during China's Zhou Dynasty, in an ancient text titled Guan Zi written by a philosopher. However, the phrase that was coined in Guan Zi (aka Sannoh's slogan) has virtually not been used outside of that particular book; all subsequent mentions of this phrase actually reference Guan Zi. And there's been barely a mention of this character in recent centuries.

Also, note that even though 2,500 years sounds like a long time ago, in some ways it isn't, considering that the Chinese civilisation is essentially one continuous civilisation that's ~5,000 years old so this was already 25 centuries into its development. The Zhou Dynasty already had a bunch of technology and tools; irrigation systems, canals, chopsticks etc. had already been invented. It was also the time of Confucianism, Daoism, and complex military strategies that still remain relevant today. (That seminal book on military war strategy, "The Art of War", came from this period. GREAT book, BTW.)

Anyway, the next time this phrase appears in another piece of text, it's written as 一意專心 (aka the contemporary version of the phrase). So it could be that the modern phrase that Chinese & Japanese speakers know so well is a corruption/mistranslation of the original phrase (aka Sannoh's slogan). Also, this ancient character 摶 has the additional meaning of unity, circle, and harmony, which 專 does not possess.

When you look at how 一意摶心 appears in Guan Zi, you get a fuller context of what this original phrase actually means.

The original is here for those interested, but loosely translated it means: to calm your breath and your pulse, to hold your posture upright, to purge your senses of distractions, and to singlemindedly and wholeheartedly devote yourself to a cause, letting nothing distract you physically or mentally from it.（full breakdown of this text here in Chinese)

So that is actually the context in which Sannoh's phrase appears and makes 一意摶心 so much richer than the modern phrase. Again, it evokes a Zen-ness and discipline that fit Sannoh to a T.

In my view, Inoue-sensei wanted to go back to the roots of that phrase and honour the original intent behind it, which carries connotations of unity and that makes sense for a team sport. I'm still amazed that he knows this phrase, considering that it is not known to be in any Japanese texts; again, it really only exists in a Chinese text called Guan Zi.

Anyway, hope this was interesting for at least some of you! Would love to hear what people think about this (and if you have insights on the Chinese or Japanese aspects, please do chime in! I'm not a literary specialist.)

Further reading: This article (Japanese) - it offers some interesting interpretations as to why it was picked for Sannoh's slogan that I didn't mention here since this post is already so long XD

[gayerthanthegays]

I once saw someone post about yandere dark Nikola Tesla x reader x yandere dark Beelzebub with body horror and smut and I have not seen anyone try and write it so fuck! I'll do it myself! But! I wanted everyone in the manga so fuck!

This reader is Isekai and has a system btw and male

Warning:basic writing with face changing (you are perfect no matter what)

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You were just chillin in your bedroom,eating stuff and looking through job applications

After graduation you were just trucking by really,even with your parents help you were just not satisfied with reality

And so you escaped through Fantasy

Every day you would scoured the Internet,trying to find any media that would satisfy you for the day

Until one day you came across Record of Ragnarok

Truly you didn't have any expectations for it really,seeing that it was a battle manga with very real character death

But you digressed,trying to atleast read a chapter of it to just give it a shot

And after you really enjoyed it

Like really enjoyed it

It was no surprise to you that you had an interest in men,I mean come on!

-Who in this world wouldn't want any of these fine ass men!? Not you of course! Infact you want all of them!

But you digressed trying to keep the inner gay demons away you tried to atleast write it out

-It was a mistake since all you would write were fanfictions of going on dates with said men

-of course writing leads to obsession and that leads into no longer having a life

-so yeah with no life you began going deeper into the hole that we all call hyper fixation

-of course that leads into day dreaming of how you were the darling of all the fine men from Thor,to lu bu and even Thomas Edison because you cannot deny he is gorgeous even if he was a dick in real life

-though of course your day dreaming has some disadvantages,like no longer having a social life,being akward with your interests and the wish to have a gorgeous face just like all the gods and fine men in manga,heck maybe you can do it for yourself too

-and maybe that just happened

-one day you were doing your thing,having a new set of products you just bought from the market you began cooking your breakfast,maybe doing a little shimmy while making some food

-once your done you ate some eggs and bacon with a little bit of pancake with a slice of chili on a hotdog before going to the couch,and whoops you died in your sleep,on the couch

-yeah apparently isolating yourself really messes up your immune system and makes it weak,and eating a bunch of things filled with sustenance like chili on a hotdog really messed you up bro

-and so then you died,your soul floating about in the abyss when you heard a ding sound,and boom you had the system!

The abyss was cold,very cold actually,you didn't expect that the abyss had any feeling to it really, infact you didn't expect yourself to feel anything at all since you know,your dead

You were about to accept your fate before a ding sounded

"ding! The system has found a host! Greatings host! I am the wishfuffilment system"

You a dead soul was suprised, after all you didn't actually thought you could get a system,since you know- your a real life person but as you always do,you rolled with it

So after awhile the system gave you some options of subsystems and such and you a greedy thing you are picked all the ones that will make your irresistible

[siflshonen]

I kindly request you elaborate on why Bakugou would respond to a girl's love confession with immediate suspicion

At the beginning of the manga he is standoffish and mistrustful to almost everyone and certain that he needs to prove himself to the rest - and this conviction persists for much of the series. He’s also the overall third-ranking, sports-fest-winning guy in UA’s top-performing class, 1-A, so everyone else would be, from a performance perspective, “inferior”. This matters in his mind less as the manga goes on - you and I both surely know he doesn’t totally trust the illusion of meritocracy that is the current social system as accurate, but he knows damn well that it exists, other people do believe in it, and as a middle schooler he would play into it as needed to shore up his poor self-esteem.

Katsuki is also probably the single student in 1-A with the highest media profile (sludge villain, sports fest, Kamino, whatever else is happening right now during the current arc if we’re going that far) with Shoto Todoroki being the only other kid with comparable spotlight (Iida and Momo seem to stay out of the limelight.) Whatever little spark of excitement or surprise or cutesy-giddy feelings he felt about this would likely be pretty heavily tempered by his awareness of his position and how he comes off.

If the chocolates came from someone in his class or even 1-B with whom he has interacted and observed, the suspicion might not be as great (or it would be infinitely greater. What if they came from Monoma?) and there’d possibly be room for other ways of thinking, but yeah. I think he’d be suspicious and not too keen on reciprocating the obligation created by the chocolates.

….and if he can’t handle making friends or not being, you know, Like That all the time, how is he going to handle a love confession? For one, he’d sniff out if it was fake or shallow in record time and THEN I’m sure you can IMAGINE how poorly he’d take that confirmation even if he internalized it instead of blowing up or whatever.

[todomitoukei]

Villain stan, I was already expecting an ending like Naruto's anime. Complete trash just for people that experience the story through fanon more than canon. Still, I feel robbed.

This is an anime about SUPERHEROES! What was the idea of finishing with the complete LoV dead or in jail? It would have costed nothing to put Toga, Spinner and Mr. Compress running amok, ready to avenge Twice, Magne, Shigaraki and Dabi. Marvel and DC never had a problem with having villains running free and getting ready for a next battle. An open ending that re-starts the circle as the hores need their villains.

Because Toga's death was bs, not only for being avoidable, but because the fans basically took the moment Ochake opened up about her grief towards Toga to make a DekuChako moment (Neji's death all over again >:v, the only difference is that this time it wasn't the Mangaka's intention to move a ship, but the fans decided to spit in Toga's death none the less).

And honestly, while every villain stan was "Dabi will live" I was "Gods, I hope he dies, because enything else will be a trash ending" and I WAS RIGHT! AT LEAST GIVE HIM THAT LAST SATISFACTION!

Also, Spinner just staying in jail like WHAT? Spinner was the villain who most respected and was the most loyal to Shigaraki, don't make him just write a book, MAKE HIM LEAD THE NEXT LEAGUE OF VILLAINS!

And of course, Endeavor and Hawks have no consecuences for their actions, everything just forgiven, even by the victims. Honestly, I was always in the posture of LoV as family >>>> Todofam, so I wasn't expecting Dabi's end to be more than a "We did it, we stopped Dabi. Now we are free of the past and move on, even if Dabi honestly can't" and this is one of the few times I hate to be right.

(Sorry for the venting, thank you for putting this space to talk about it.)

No need to apologize <3

You're so right about Toga's death immediately being used for different characters having a moment instead of, you know, focusing on her. I'm not sure if this manga could pass the Bechdel test.

That really is why the ending is so bad - the villains seem to not have left as much of a mark as they should've, the fact that the hero ranking system continues being in place is proof of that. You would think that society at the very least realized that treating heroes like celebrities was problematic, and yet nothing about that part of the system changed.

To be honest, I'm surprised they even let Spinner write and publish his book rather than seeing this as some kind of propaganda or safety risk. Remember how early on in the story when those Stain videos came out? It's surprising then that they let Spinner do this.

An ending that suggests the cycle starts again would've been interesting, but remember, Hori went for a "happy" ending

Hori was clearly in over his head writing a story that he ultimately was incapable of writing. The story had so much potential, yet here we are with a story that eventually decided to have nothing change.

I think the Todofam would be great, but I've always been of the opinion that it could never work with Endvr around, which is clear when you look at the Todofam finale where they are all supposedly eager to talk to Touya, only for none of them to say anything beyond that except for Endvr, who also ultimately says nothing other than how much of a victim he is. Boohoo.

Yeah, we were right. But at what cost...

[watertribe-enya]

What are your thoughts on Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist (manga/Brotherhood)?

I have many thoughts on Scar, because I love him to pieces. Best character in both anime and manga

One thing that bothers me even among people who are staunchly pro "Scar did nothing wrong (except the one time when he was completely out of it due to immense trauma)" and "Scar should have been allowed to kill more people" , is that they completely overlook that Scar just doesn't enjoy killing people. He does it because he feels that those who denied his people the right to live would never face justice for their actions otherwise. And also because he's really, really mad at them of course. Actually the part about justice might be moreso the fandom's view of it, and Scar's desire for vengeance is his primary motivation(when you look at what he said while fleeing through the desert). So Scar feels he's doing what is necessary, but he doesn't usually take enjoyment out of it. The closest he came to show glee during a fight was when Mustang showed up to intervene in chapter 7/ episode 5. And that was more grim satisfaction than anything. He doesn't even show any joy when mangling Envy and Kimblee, who kickstarted the genocide and brutally murdered his family. Every action is trenched in anger, and that anger is born from tremendous pain and loss.

So Scar doesn't want to kill (or at least doesn't want his whole life to be centered arround it). He wants to protect. He wants to do something for his community, his people. But for the longest time he felt that he had lost the chance to do so forever. His immense relief at finding out how many Ishvalans had actually survived was wonderful to behold.

Now you might say "But he's doing the right thing by killing those unrependant war criminals! He shouldn't feel bad about it!" And while that's correct (at least from my perspective) you have to look at Scar's other circumstances too. It's not an enjoyable life if you spent your days solely focused on the people who brutalized you. And Scar is doing it all alone, with no help or support system. With no breaks from the struggle for survival and recurring death battles. It's good that he stopped killing (outside of the necessary battles), not because Edward and the other good guys kept whining at him, but for his own sake. Because he finally feels he's actually doing something for the people he loves again.

Anyhow, how painful is it that Scar who was afraid about his brother creating or turning into a human weapon via alchemy, became exactly that?

"Your brother may discover a way to gain enough power to face those state alchemists, and perhaps even enough to destroy their army. With power that far surpasses theirs, to retalitate against them with alchemy! Make them pay for their sins with blood!'

I'm crying.

Another great thing about Scar is that you can guilt trip this thirty something, hardened warrior with "You'll make your brother sad." And he has no proper reply for that.

To end this with my personal headcanon, Scar outlives all the remaining State Alchemists sans Edward, and dies aged 103 surrounded by his 20 grandchildren.

[bipirate]

favourite things: 2023 edition

last year i made one of these and i thought it'd be fun to make another one. i have a notion spreadsheet with all the media i watch/read/play throughout the year (not just things that came out this year!) and i give them ratings. these are the highs (and some of the lows) of 2023 (not in order).

Games

Tunic - such a great and beautiful game that i do not want to spoil. seriously, play it. if you like zelda, exploration, solving puzzles, and cute little foxes, then it's a must

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - what can i say, i love a zelda

Portal 2 - just an even more excellent sequel to an excellent game

TV

Alice in Borderland - i didn't know what to expect at first but it was excellent and highly addictive

Not Me - my introduction to thai BL (for better and also definitely for worse lol). anyway this show changed my brain chemistry. it has everything: gays, a twin switch situation, leftism, arson, rooftop kiss... you know

Bad Buddy - speaking of rooftop kisses...... if you know you know. anyway this is also a thai BL and it's still rotating in my brain. i rewatched it almost immediately, that's how good it was

The King's Affection - cheesy historical kdrama about a crown prince who is secretly a woman, with a swoon-worthy romance and political intrigue. this one's for the bisexuals (after all, the male love interest falls in love with the prince before he finds out it's a woman)

Vinland Saga - this anime fucking wrecked me. season 2 had me crying every single episode. thorfinn is my new child and i WILL name my future cat after him

The Devil Judge - a kdrama about a dystopian south korea with a fucked up justice system. anyway kang yohan character of all time. oh and also toxic homosexuality (affectionate)

Books

The Poppy War trilogy by R. F. Kuang - what an excellent series to get me back into fantasy series. it was not without faults, but i was hooked anyway

Babel by R. F. Kuang - i read this brick in 5 days straight. it's beautifully written and has such interesting things to say about language and colonialism. again, it has flaws but i wasn't bothered, i was obsessed with this book

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon - i didn't realise how much i missed high fantasy until i read this. it has lesbians, dragons, a bitter old homosexual, magic, and did i mention dragons and lesbians?

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker Chan - the sequel to She Who Became the Sun, my favourite book of last year. this sequel fucking DELIVERED. i went insane about it multiple times. it's a must read

Graphic novels/manga

Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama - i started this manga 2 years ago, but since it's still ongoing and I've read new chapters this year, it counts for this year as well

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run by Hirohiko Araki - not finished with it yet but it is truly as good as everyone says it is

The Adventure Zone: The Eleventh Hour by the McElroys and Carey Pietsch - i know not everyone likes the taz comics, but i do, i think theyre great adaptations, and this one looked incredible

Movies

Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse - not as good as the first one, but still really good. beautifully animated and extremely entertaining

Bonus: the lowest of the low, titles that earned my 'sucked shit' rating

Theory of Love - amazing that out of the 3 thai BLs ive watched, 2 managed to make it on my favourites list, and one of them was some of the worst television i've ever seen

Where the Crawdads Sing - read the book for book club last year, we all hated it, and now we decided to watch the movie for a laugh. it also sucked

[coralinnii]

Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

If I’m being honest, I have been more into just listening to music during my free time more than anything and while I read a lot of manga, my goldfish brain would blank out if someone were to ask me anything about it. However, I will tell you my list of definite rewatch/reread series though some of them are pretty old or obscure.

My Top 10 (in no particular order)

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-Kun (manga/anime)

At first, I watched it mainly for the fun aesthetics (cute colourful characters with spooky backgrounds) but I fell in love with the characters and world-building of this series. The whole cast, be it main or supporting, are absolutely amazing and capable of running a story arc of their own even without the main cast which is seriously impressive. And while the anime only just scratched the surface, the author really built the setting of this series with great thought, with its own politics, history, systems, and culture that impacts the story well. No random fact is without purpose and I love it.

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (manga/anime)

I’ve been watching anime since I was 4 so I can confidently say that I’m familiar with many classic anime tropes and cliches. This series is like a kudos to longtime anime fans with its jokes and jabs as it follows a strong psychic boy being absolutely done with the insanity of his life as he tries to keep his powers a secret from his schoolmates like a sports anime jock, a shojou girl, delinquent gone good, etc. The comedy coming from this deadpan omnipotent high school student is just an absolute delight. I kin Saiki so much

Nope (movie)

I’m a real fan of horror movies, especially those with undertones that bring a critical element to humanity. While I love all of Jordan Peele’s current works, Nope has got to be one of my favourite movies overall. I’ve heard of some of the criticisms people had with the film (pretty ironic ones too) but I personally love the pacing and suspense of the film. While it’s fun to watch monsters and killers get crazy from the get-go (that’s why Saw movies and slasher films were popular) but Nope touched on that all-too-real fear of not knowing what’s going to happen. That fear where you’re afraid but you’re not sure of what yet.

Petshop of Horrors (manga/anime) and the sequel Neo Petshop of Horrors (manga)

Speaking of horror with critical undertones, I was obsessed with this manga series that came out in the late 90s. I would try so hard to find a way to read this series every chance I could growing up. It’s a sorta episodic style story that stars a mysterious petshop owner that often becomes a suspect in the deaths of people who have bought animals from his shop. I love the philosophy of each new story that touches on humanity and how different (or similar) we are to animals. It questions our societal norms, expectations, base desires, mythology, what it means to live, and what is “acceptable” in our world. Unfortunately, the series was never fully translated and only published fewer copies than typical manga series due to reasons I’m not too sure of (possibly conflicts with ownership and company copyrights at the time, think Baccano situation). The series had an anime but even that anime only had 4 episodes (I still highly recommend it however). I’ve managed to get a few volumes for myself and I know people are selling certain volumes online but I have to save for essentials so collecting them is unfortunately a lower priority now.

Pokémon (video game/manga/anime)

Is this a cop-out? Nah. To this day, I would still have to physically fight myself to not buy plushies and games when I’m already broke af. Pokémon might be one of the first animes I have ever seen (I have seen both sub and dub because my brother found a way) and I would still on occasion go back to rewatch literally any season and any movie of theirs, Nintendo really hit the marketing jackpot with this franchise. The creativity and design are so iconic and memorable that it’s so easy and fun to get into the fantasy of going on an adventure with your favourite Pokémon. There’s of course some nostalgia at play since I loved the moments where my older brother would watch the movies with me and my cousin and I would collect the figurines together.

One Piece (manga/anime)

Is this also a cop-out? Don’t care. I LOVE ONE PIECE! I will sacrifice my time and tears for this series. I have legitimately managed to rewatch this 4 times in my life (granted I started when it only had 400+ episodes so I had an easier time) and I would willingly cry over a flashback, a whale, even a boat over and over again. The action and story-telling of this series just keeps me running back for more even if I keep meeting dumb gatekeepers (yea, people don’t believe me when I tell them I’m a One Piece fan, what are ya gonna do?) I haven’t watch the Netflix live action yet but I probably will once I get my friends to watch with me (I like to fangirl with friends~)

Forget my Husband, I’ll Go Make Money (manhwa)

Despite my blog probably being best known for the villain/ess series, the banner of my blog is not an isekai villainess story but a fantasy series where a woman who can see the past, present, and future tries to make money while being married to a foreign prince before expecting a divorce (because she assumed he rather marry for love than for political reasons). Fun fact, this series was actually one of the foundations when I was writing the villain/ess story for Leona. The art and main couple are just absolutely delightful, I can’t help but reread it as it returns for a new season. Not only is the art just gorgeous, the main couple is just so gosh darn entertaining with their conversations, personal dynamics, and hilarious misunderstandings. Just beautiful.

Hotel Del Luna (K-drama)

Leave it to my interest in horror to love a romance drama with ghosts in it. It’s funny, it’s cute, and some of the ghost’s backstory is heartbreaking as well. This is a great story to just have a nice cry out. I love the story, I love the music, but most importantly, I love IU! She is my queen and every scene she is in, she kills me with her fashion, her haughty character, and her tragic backstory. She and the male lead was such a fun twist of the typical k-drama relationship where she was the powerful but broken character who ended up being healed by the kind, hardworking character. I've watched this 3 times at this point, but I still cry Every. Single. Time. No exceptions.

Hell Girl (anime/manga)

If I haven’t sold you on how I was probably that kid with creepy interests, maybe this will convince you. This was my go-to show back when I was in middle school. There is no excuse, I just really love the psychological horror of this series. In the show, there is a website you can access at midnight where you can ask Ai or Hell Girl to send your most hated person to hell, with the price that you will go there too when you die. While there was a linear storyline in the background, the episodes were always new people who requested Ai’s help with different cases of their own hell on earth. It touches on some really heavy real-life topics but what made it memorable to me was how sometimes I would feel saddened by the choices the people in the show made. Sometimes, they’re in the situation where all they can do is curse someone to hell but then was it really worth losing your chance at a happier afterlife? I watched this show with some of my friends who either saw Ai as a villain for sending people to hell, or a saviour who helped these people find an escape from their torturer, and that honestly made me think about what it means to have that much hate in you. I always wondered if I was ever in that situation, what would I do if given the chance?

Big Hero 6 (movie)

Arguably the first Marvel-Disney movie since Disney bought Marvel, I remembered people having weird thoughts on the usually cartoony company taking over the superhero franchise but I fell in love with everything that was this movie. It had Marvel-style action mixed with classic Disney wholesomeness and gut-wrenching emotional moments. I loved the message and warmth that was in this movie. Having an older brother myself, I couldn’t imagine how I could go on if I lose him but watching Hiro being so well supported by Baymax and his friends cemented within me the importance of helping others and that supporting those in pain can be as powerful as stopping bad guys (sappy, I know but hey I’m now learning to be a preschool teacher so this really stuck with me). Tadashi’s recorded message brings me so much comfort that I didn’t realize I needed. He may have been the closest thing to a Disney crush for me.

[mezzy303]

In light of another week break from One Piece, I'd like to share an observation I made about the Great Kingdom that was before I even knew about the Atlantis theories lol

Above is an image that was shown both in the manga and anime while Professor Clover was talking about the Great Kingdom to the Five Elders. I was looking at this image after chp 1113 came out and the buildings at the front reminded me of something:

This is an artistic rendition of the palace of Knossos on the island of Crete. It was built by the Minoan civilization (contemporaries of Ancient Egyptians, the site was abandoned over 600 years before the golden age of Ancient Greece) and they were named after King Minos from Greek Mythology (the guy with the labyrinth and the minotaur) since it was believed he ruled at this palace. We don't actually know what they called themselves, among other things, since their writing system hasn't been cracked yet.

We do know that there were Minoan settlements on the island of Thera just north of Crete, you probably know it as Santorini

The island didn't always look like this though. All those small islands were once part of one larger island, and it looks how it does today because of a massive volcanic event during Minoan times known as the Thera Eruption. It's given a Whole Name because it's one of the largest volcanic events in human history. Like,,, there's records from all the way in China describing a volcanic winter around the time of this eruption. The entire north side of Santorini's bay? that's a whole fucking caldera. When the eruption happened, it completely reshaped the island and sunk a large chunk of land with it. Crete itself was hit by massive earthquakes and tsunamis because of it (the islands are only about 140km/90mi apart, the waves are speculated to have been up to 12m high, that's as tall as a small giant in One Piece!).

The kicker here is that there's theories about this event inspiring stories of Atlantis. All of this might be a stretch but I'm also not putting it passed Oda Lover of World Histories and Cultures Eiichiro to be drawing from Knossos when designing that image of the Great Kingdom. Whether or not that's what the kingdom actually looks like doesn't really matter. It could be just an early design since it was made all the way back in chp 395. What it would mean is that Oda was doing a shit ton of research in his early development of the Great Kingdom.

Tl;dr: the image of the Great Kingdom from chp 395 looks strikingly similar to the Knossos Palace in Crete, which is associated with a significant volcanic eruption that possibly inspired stories of Atlantis. There's also connecting themes of a writing system lost to history and a major phenomenon that caused sinking land, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

[dropintomanga]

A Thought On Talking to Someone Who Wants to End It All

Goodbye, Eri finally came out in print this past June and people who missed out on last year’s digital release got to see how great this one-shot by Tatsuki Fujimoto (of Chainsaw Man fame) is.

I myself wrote about Goodbye, Eri last year and revisited the one-shot again after getting the the print release. There’s a few panels I want to talk about here.

I will be talking about suicide after the jump.

If you’ve read the manga, you know the initial premise about the main character, Yuta, creating a film for school documenting his mother’s last days and how controversial the film ending was. Many of his classmates criticized him for being tasteless. As a result, Yuta decides to kill himself by jumping off the roof of the hospital where his mom died. It is there where he meets Eri, the female lead of our story. She then asks if Yuta’s going to jump and then says the following.

The reason I want to focus on those 4 panels now compared to last year is because of knowledge I’ve gained about talking to someone thinking of suicide over the past year. Eri doesn’t try to comfort Yuta. She probably knows he’s in a lot of pain and wanted him to unleash it on those who are disrespectful to others. Although Eri does save Yuta from jumping off the roof, it’s somewhat indirect as she comforts him in a different way than how I see most people in the West do it.

Last year, I watched a Hong Kong mahjong comedy. There was a scene where the main female lead was about to kill herself after losing everything in mahjong. As she’s about to jump off the roof of an apartment building, she hears the sound of mahjong tiles being shuffled and notices her mentor and peers playing mahjong right next to her. Her mentor asks her if she’s going to jump, the heroine says yes, and then he tells her to come down and play before going to jump off. There’s a subsequent conversation about mahjong and the mentor convinces her to keep playing/living by empathizing about her situation.

In my experiences with consuming Asian media so far, I feel like when things like suicide attempts/prevention are shown, the support system usually says you can try so-and-so before actually considering dying. Eri does this with Yuta by dragging him to watch movies with her non-stop and gain enough knowledge to make a new film for his school.

In the West, there’s no true care for the person experiencing suicidal thoughts or bad advice being given to those who interact with said individual. I can give a real-life situation. I listened to a podcast story about a woman who felt tremendous guilt over witnessing the death of a young girl she met by suicide on a expressway. She was a nurse who seemed to always have the answers for her patients at her job. But once she was in a highly tense situation outside of work, she became uncertain over what to do. She talked about what she told the girl before she died - to think about the people who love her. The girl didn’t respond well to that by saying that nobody loved her. The nurse thought about physically grabbing the girl before anything bad happened, but was worried about the response. She didn’t and the girl would walk away from her to get run over by a car. The nurse had to live with a lot of guilt and social isolation for years. When the nurse started to come to terms with the suicide and got better mentally, she said that she would’ve told the girl that life does become different and gets better over time.

So to me, it sometimes feel like the West’s mindset is “Oh my god, there’s a problem. Someone wants to die. I need to fix it or else I’ll be a failure. I can’t deal with the pain of what this person is experiencing.” while the Eastern mindset is “Ahhh, you’re thinking of dying. I see. I understand. Wait. Maybe I can show/share with you a moment of joy that you might like before you go.”

I could be VERY wrong here. But this is what I have observed over time.

Talking about death and the grief that comes with it will always be hard, but it doesn’t need to be hidden for the preservation of cultures that want to “move on” because it’s not productive for “society.”

I do think that people who experience any kind of suicidal ideation want some kind of acknowledgement of any kind - especially of the physically comforting kind from someone who doesn’t look like a threat in their eyes. Eri does this by grabbing Yuta’s hand when she drags him to the abandoned building where they would make many precious memories watching films.

After reading what Eri did and hearing the nurse’s regrets about not saving someone from suicide, just be the hope and don’t be afraid of doing so. The best way to not say goodbye in a tragic manner is acknowledge their pain with compassion followed by showing them an empowering solution (not vice versa). Suicide forces us to confront our own bias regarding emotional pain and the social aspects that lead to it. Maybe that’s why a lot of Westerners struggle with with talking about suicide.

I would argue, as this manga and maybe non-Western views show, that human love or healthy connection is the best answer.