#death frenzy

[cravingmoremangacaps]

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Death Frenzy

The crocodiles' putrid jaws swallow everything but the screams.

Artist: Steve Prescott TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[transangledlozengeggbutt]

[none-shall-caricature-me]

Shigurui (Death Frenzy) by Takayuki Yamaguchi - Analysis, Ending Explanation and Review

So I found Shigurui recommended on a blog and finished reading it.

PROS : The fight scenes were very good and strategic, and I appreciate the no - holds - barred, brutally honest approach to the living conditions, politics, exploitation and violence that happened in past times (and still does tbh). The ending is a very very good climax of the story's central themes. I also liked that the characters and their actions were mostly very realistic.

CONS : In between the aforementioned excellent scenes are many. many boring diversions to other, insignificant characters, pointless flavour dramatics and details. I'm talking a 60 - 40 or 65 - 35 ratio of slop to brilliance. The plot swings between meh and AWESOME, with no in between.

Overall, whether I would suggest this manga to you depends on your willingness to skim a big big bunch of slow - ass moments for a lesser percentage of great ones (and there are a total of 84 chapters). It's the kind of story that doesn't begin to truly shine until you reach the end, imo. I personally finished it because the anticipation buildup worked on a bored sucker like me. It was the final chapters that gripped me to write the following analysis. HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD.

Speaking of the ending and of Seigen, Fujiki explicitly says in that final arc that Seigen 'was pride itself' and 'was disgusted at being ordered to kill'. Throughout the story we're shown multiple instances of people at all positions in the samurai / feudal hierarchy resolving to humiliate and harm others, or putting themselves in great peril / abjection, because they are ordered to by a superior they respect or fear. The Kogan school does many cruel things like the 'beautification', inventing murder culprits and enacting career - destroying punishment on Seigen, all to maintain their supremacy. Fujiki apathetically slices off the fingers of one who asked for a friendly duel, only because he guilelessly stated the fact of Seigen's victory over Iwamoto Kogan. Of course, these things were sanctioned by the moral code of that time, but then our faithful samurai are often on their receiving end - the futawa to prove absolute obedience, loyalty to your senile master even when he slices your gums open, gratitute to Kogan who gave them the chance to become samurai and rise in society even though it involved incredibly dangerous training. I don't entirely fault the Kogan disciples for this attachment though, seeing as they were struggling in life before their sensei took them in.

On the other hand is Seigen, who embodies individualism and self - determination. He doesn't subscribe to dehumanising merit, fealty before mercy or lauded servitude over concrete personal gain and independence. He wants to be his own master. He's not self - sacrificing, he does kill or endanger lives when he thinks it advantageous to his plans - see him killing his acupressure teacher who disapproved of martial kosshi jutsu, his former martial arts instructor, and - if I'm not wrong - his mother, to either end her misery and his heartbreak over it, avoid shame by association, or as a symbolic sloughing of his burden. He also tries out risky sword techniques on and involves Iku in his revenge plans. It's possible that he was the one who tied Fujiki's armour too tight so he could then rescue and one - up him. But he does this all to rise to a life of security, pleasure and respect from his horrible condition as a prostitute's child. He doesn't play by the feudal system's extortionary and unnatural ideal of bushido and lord - worship. He uses the system to his own ends or rejects it. At the same time, he has a rather humane side - rages at his mother's deprivation, empathises with and looks after a scorned beggar, refuses to allow the Todouza member to demean himself while exalting him, asserts the innate equality of humans across social classes, feels camaraderie with his fellow disciples assuming they shared his views. He does care for Iku, too, and can at the very least recognise Mie's agony at being imperiously pinned down to mate for the sake of the clan.

In the final battle, Fujiki does not waver while rending Seigen's body in two. He reminisces about his past with him, but his thirst for vengeance does not falter. It is only when he is ordered to rip off the head of this rival that he quakes. Like he says, Seigen was pride personified, someone who hated being a tool of others. Fujiki despised Seigen but also genuinely admired him as a swordsman and a paragon of unfettered insight, selfhood and freedom. He also knew that until that point Seigen had the favour of even the Shogun's brother. To see how quickly the aristocrats changed their tune upon his defeat, calling him a presumptuous blind man unfit for the sacred battle grounds, and urging this disrespect to his corpse as both a Samurai rite and a test of deference, breaks Fujiki's worldview. He does it anyway after hesitating a while, probably to restore the Kogan clan's standing in the Shogunate.

He is shell - shocked and looks to Mie for comfort but she has already killed herself. Why ? Because earlier, Mie had latched onto Seigen for being the only one to stand up for her personhood against his lord's orders. She considered him one of the few who were humans and not puppets. After Seigen's 'betrayal' of the clan, she looks to Fujiki as another dude who commits to retribution and restoration against all odds - seemingly a person with agency. But when she sees him, her source of optimism, becoming the ultimate quiescent pawn in desecrating Seigen, she loses all hope in a dignified, self - sovereign life in this cruel society of puppets and puppeteers. To renew the clan would require such acts routinely conducted in unfeeling thraldom and self - preservation. Mie, someone who yearned to break free of such dog - like conduct, could never stomach this.

Some other interesting things I noticed - one, if I'm not misremembering, then Seigen's revenge killings of the Kogan disciples only gave Mie joy for his revival. On the night Seigen was to arrive in person, logically to kill his final wrongdoer, Mie was euphoric. She never expected that he'd kill her dad. Does that mean she believed Fujiki to be the target, and was totally fine with it ? That makes sense considering she likely scorned him for remaining Kogan's lackey even during her coercion and Seigen's despair. Which means that her later acceptance of him was either forgiveness due to his earnestness or pragmatism in order to avenge her father.

But I'm still confused at why Seigen left a cure for Fujiki's coma. It was such a huge risk to his career and his life and he ultimately paid for it.

It's also noteworthy that the instant before Seigen's death has a dream - like vision of him almost embracing Fujiki. That's not at all out of the blue lol, these two could've been friends and at points wished to understand the other but they took opposing paths and were limited by their own biases. Seigen never came to know that Fujiki fawned over violent Kogan not purely due to calculating or dumb complaisance, but due to a family - like bond. Fujiki never considered Seigen's perspective or his pain until the end.

[kdval]

ELDEN RING

› Shadow of the Erdtree: cinematic bossfigths [1/?]

[stiddies-fanclub]

(x)

[godasfarasyoureconcerned]

tonight i’m thinking so hard about the fact that stede killed ned low and immediately dismissed himself and when ed went in to check on him he took ed by the collar and slammed him against the wall to give an outlet to some of his energy and bad feelings. what i’m thinking about in particular is the moment where ed stopped at izzy’s suggestion, and more importantly the moment where he pushed forward against izzy’s suggestion

thinking about izzy saying “give him a minute. first kill’s always a mind fuck” and about ed ignoring his advice. thinking about the fact that izzy could probably tell stede would be feeling bad after this, or at least “mind fuck”ed enough to need some space from people, something that izzy frequently takes for himself when he feels bad too. thinking about ed disregarding the suggestion and getting real actual fucked by the mind-fucked guy. thinking about whether or not they would’ve rushed into sex if ed had truly given stede the space and time that izzy was suggesting. thinking about how he knows that it’ll be hitting stede hard and about the fact that he cares enough about that to try and lessen the blow. thinking about izzy giving an order to ed for the sake of stede, rather than giving an order to stede for the sake of blackbeard. thinking about ed ignoring it because they’ve long grown out of any semblance of that relationship where izzy offers advice to blackbeard. thinking

[ramuelisms]

some hollow knight textposts i made when i was having an autism frenzy

eta; oh hi you should check out my art its cutesies<3 please. this has 1k notes

[morgue-ratt]

Pretty in Pink, A Valentine's Day Fic

Strade x Reader// NSFW// 2.6k Warnings: blood, torture, noncon, wrist trauma,

YOU wonder where Strade goes when he leaves the house. It’s only once or twice a week, he has everything delivered and he works from home. Still, the hours when he’s gone are a slight reprieve, even if this time he had left you locked in the basement.  

You know immediately when Strade is home, the door upstairs slams and you jump. His footsteps are heavy and getting closer and your heart fills with dread; his excitement is never good for you. You try to will yourself to calm down but any hope of that is gone as he flings opens the door at the top of the stairs. Oh god, he went to the hardware store. If that’s the case, it’ll be a long night with you and whatever new toy he found to extract his pound of flesh.  

“Liebling,” He calls, his voice light and friendly. You can feel your heart in your throat as he comes into view. “I’m home, did you miss me?” He doesn’t wait for your answer. “I brought you something!” He holds up a pale yellow, paper bag and your eyes narrow. You can see the lavender tissue paper lining the bag, clearly it’s not from the hardware store. More like a little botique. He’s down the stairs now and he shakes his head. “Silly me, did I forget to tie you again after this morning?”  

“What did you bring?” You ask, your heart pounding. Just because it wasn’t from the hardware store doesn’t mean it can’t be used to inflict evil.  

“Aw,” Strade rubs his thumb over your cheek and you wince. “Do you wanna see your present, Hase? It’s almost Valentine’s Day, you know.”  

“Valentine’s Day?” That does catch you off gaurd. You have no way of knowing how long you’d been here but... Valentine’s Day. Febuary. Nearly a year. It’s staggering. His collar around your throat suddenly feels heavy.  

“Yes!” Strade beams. “So I brought you something... special.” He shoves the bag into your hands and looks at you expectantly. “Well? Open it!”  

The bag is light, which gives you some hope that it isn’t something to inflict pain. Still, you stall as long as you can before you have to look inside. “Valentine’s Day.”  

“Look inside,”  

You pull aside the lavender tissue paper and you feel almost... sea sick when you realize what he’s brought you. You take out a light pink baby doll dress and a matching pair of lace panties. There’s a slit going up the front of the dress, stopping just at the chest with a tiny ribbon bow The whole thing is made of soft, sheer fabric with delicate lace around the edges.  

“Oh... Strade,” You should be releived that he wasn’t planning on cutting you to pieces but the dress makes your stomach churn. “That’s... so sweet of you...” 

Strade was grinning at you like you were something to eat. “Put it on.”  

“What?” You choke.  

“The sale’s lady was very nice, she helped me pick it out. Now put it on.”  

You know that tone, it’s the same one he uses when he orders you to cut yourself. It means do it or else, even though to anyone else it would still be playful. You don’t want to put it on, the idea of making yourself pretty for him makes you almost wish for the hammer. “Okay,” You say quietly. 

“Ah, Liebling. Don’t look so sad.” He runs his hand through your hair and you shudder. “It’ll be fun, I promise.” 

You don’t like when he promises things but you know arguing with him will only make things worse. You take a step back from him and look down at the dress. It’s so strange... this is probably more expensive than anything you have ever would have been able to afford but as you put it on, the silky fabric makes your skin crawl. You stood before Strade in the dress and panties and he gives you that horrible smile again.  

“Oh, Hase, look at you,” Strade purrs, you can feel his eyes comb over you and you cross your arms over yourself, looking down. “Aw, is my Liebling shy, hm?” He laughs. His laugh is always bright, it’s only sinster because of how you know him. “I have another surprise for you.”  

Your heart sinks as he turns towards his work bench.  

“No, Strade,” You can’t keep the panick out of her voice as he opens a drawer and pulls out a handful of nails.  

He laughs again and as he works, he hums a little tune. “There’s no need to be so... nervous.” Strade turns around, hoisting a bright yellow nailgun in his left hand. 

Of course. It will never just be a pretty dress.  

You start to back away. “I don’t--”  

Strade doesn’t seem to care, crossing the basement in two strides and putting his free hand over your mouth. “Shush, shush, it’ll be fun,” He says again.  

You’re looking into those... strange golden eyes so you don’t see when he suddenly kicks you in the shin. You fall to the ground and in a second, he is on top of you; his knees on either side of your ribcage, digging in slightly.  

“There we go,” He says, leaning in so far you can feel his breath on your cheeks, his greasy hair hanging around your face. “That wasn’t so hard, huh?” 

Strade’s hand moves from your mouth down to your throat. He’s smiling down at you, he can see your fear and he knows you well enough to know when you’re holding back tears. He traces his fingers over your collarbone. “You’re just so... pretty.”  

You try to shift under him and his free hand jumps to your left arm, pinning you to the concrete floor. “Strade,” You try but you’re silenced when you feel the barrell of the nail gun pressing against the skin of your forearm.  

He grins when he sees the fear on your face, finally his eyes light up with that usual sadistic glee. “Hase,” He purrs just as he pulls the trigger. Your forearms explodes in pain as it cuts through skin and muscle to the concrete below. You don’t even scream, the sound you make is closer to choking on your own siliva. In fact, you don’t scream until the second nail hits bone. When you do, Strade leans even closer to kiss you, effecrively cutting you off. Your tears stream down your face and into your mingling mouths. He pulls back to mutter something in your ear (“Du gehörst mir.”), but you are barely aware of anything except the nails in your arm.  

He pulls away, your mouth feels dry. You turn your head towards your arm and the sight makes you ill; they’re long nails, at least eight inchs. Your breathing gets faster and Strade notices;  

“Excited, Liebling?” Strade asks, brushing the tears off your face. He brings the nail gun to your other arm.  

“No,” You say quietly, trying to shake your head. Strade brings the barrel of the gun to your wrist. “No, no, Strade--” He pulls the trigger and you scream again. You try to twist away but it only causes the nails to tear through flesh.  

“Oh... oh, darling;” Strade puts the forth nail in, right below the crook of elbow. He’s enjoying this, your screams and your refletive attempts to get away that are only bringing you blood and pain. He’s elated.  

You’re sobbing so hard you could barely see him. He flicks the nail in your wrist curiously and you can only whimper. He leans down and kisses you, it was slow and deep and it would have been... sweet. Strade pulls away slightly, kissing the collum and your throat and your eyes flutter closed. Maybe he’s done, maybe his bloodlust is satiated, maybe-- 

You shriek when Strade suddenly sinks his teeth into your collarbone and your eyes fly open. “Look at me,” he muttered, his face buried in your chest before he bites you again, even harder. His mouth is covered in your blood, he watches it flow down from the wound like a cat watches a bird. Strade drags his hands through it and you watch, horrified, as he starts to draw hearts on your stomach and throat.  

The sight of your red only spurrs him on. Strade sits back on his haunchs, no longer looming over you, but only to undo and pull off his belt. You know what’s about to happen, you knew the moment you saw frilly pink lace. You feel it, wrapped around your body like miasma.  

The sound of Strade’s zipper cuts through the haze your feeling, dull alarm bells go off somewhere in the back of your mind. Strade’s calloused fingers loop under the waistband of the pretty pink panties and pulls them down. He’s being careful, he doesn’t want them to tear, unlike soft skin of your forearms.   

There was enough blood on Strade’s hands for him to use it as lube, you watch with lidded eyes as he runs his fist down the length of his cock, staining it red. He disgusts you. In fact, you didn’t realize how close fear and disgust really are until you ended up here.  

Strade pushes his way into you but it’s the least of the pain you’re feeling. It almost feels... nice, until he ruts into you. You move with his thrusts, causing the nails to pull through your flesh; your forearms, your wrist and your elbow. You can’t help but cry and again; “St- Strade, please.”  

“Shush,” Strade looks... hungry. He thrusts in harder than before and you scream. “Yes, that’s it.” He says quietly. He grips your hips as he sheathes himself fully inside you, watching as your face twists in pain. “Does it feel nice? Do I make you feel good, Liebling?”  

His mistakes your cries of pain for moans of pleasure, or perhaps he doesn’t care. Strade bares his teeth, the glint in his eyes is paralyzing. You can’t breathe, your tounge is heavy in your mouth. He kisses you hard as his hands creep around your throat without actually choking you.  

Strade is crushing you into the concrete, all you can smell is his him; sweat, beer, grease and metal. You can tell he’s getting close, no doubt your tears are helping him get there, he licks them off your cheeks, leaving your face coated in saliva. “Hase,” He breathes, his lips against your ear and he pants. He’s going faster and faster and you can’t hold back your desperate screams as the nails slash and pull through your flesh. “Mein süßer kleiner Hase,”  

One final thrust causes the nails in your forearm to rip further through your skin. He finishes as your scream echoes through the basement. You’re sobbing, your heart is pounding so hard in your chest you wouldn’t be surprised if he could hear it to. Strade lays on top of you, breathing heavy and hiding his face in the crook of your neck. You can feel his smile against your throat. “Oh, Liebling,” He just lays on top of you his head resting on your chest as you cry softly. He doesn’t seem to mind, he’s watching you as he reaches up to wrap a lock of your hair around his finger.  

You loose track of time. Eventually, he gets up off of you and your eyes follow him. Strade goes over to his work bench. “No” You say, your voice soft. “No...” he only laughs as he pulls someone off the pegboard. You shift your hips but you can’t do anything more. “Stop...” You’re almost whining at this point. He turns around, holding the hammer. “No,” you shift away as much as you can.  

Strade settles on top of you, keeping you caged between his legs. He brings his fingers to his lips and you fall silent. You don’t even blink and he grips the hammer. He brings his free hand to your left arm, pushing it down onto the concrete between the two nails there. He uses the claw of the hammer to pull out the first nail and you let out a strained choking sound as the nail pings against the floor.  

“Shush...” He purrs, prying another nail free from your flesh.  

He’s... helping. He’s hurting you but it’s only to help. You met his eyes and try to even out your breathing. You sound like you’ve just come up for air as he claws the nail out of your wrist and your fingers twitch. The sound of the nail bouncing off the floor echoes in your head. You barely feel the last nail as it’s exhumed from your elbow. All you can do is sigh as Strade collapses on top of you yet again. You feel his stubble scrape against your cheek as he whispers;  

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Liebling,”  

[eldintower]

something i've noticed is how when you put together the symbol of messmer's flame & the seal of melina's eye, you create something quite close to the frenzied flame symbol. messmer's flame matches very closely to the outside of it; melina's three toed fowl's foot (an in-world sign of ill omen which is very fascinating storytelling) resembles the curl of flame at the center of it, specifically in how the digits themselves curl. that leaves of course the rest of the interior design....

melina's deathly eye contains an eddy of twilight, which, given that the siblings as counterparts- death and the serpent, death in the embrace of flame, the one who walks alongside flame, etc- could fill in the sort of ragged swirl within the symbol. not literally, considering it's empty, but as a match. the sigil of blackflame fits it best (upside down, lol). now, i don't believe melina is the gloam eyed queen- the gloam eyed queen of the godskins wrought in legend (don't think she's marika either)- so keep that in mind. to me she represents & was born one half of prophetic doom- the death to messmer's flame- and the blackflame represents that, the oblivion to which the base serpent delivers. the resemblance between the blackflame symbol & metyr's fingerprint, the abyssal woods, the abyssal serpent, blackflame being heavy... Anyways I think it's interesting. mostly because it calls more into question the nature of melina's seal, aside from the in-world superstition, or rather because of it. she's quite interesting! she has a lot going on!

[cravingmoremangacaps]

[thebramblewood]

An Ill-Fated Afterparty: Part III

Previous / Next

Lilith: [frantically] CALEB!!!

Caleb: [mutters] This isn't your problem, Caleb. Do not get involved. Do not get involved. Do not-

Lilith: [hysterically] CALEB!!!

Caleb: Damn it.

-

Caleb: Jesus Christ, Lilith.

Lilith: I didn't mean to do it, I swear!

Caleb: You always go too far.

Lilith: It was an accident!

Caleb: Well, maybe if you exercised even a sliver of self-control-

Lilith: You can lecture me later, Caleb. Fix her!

Caleb: Look at her, Lil. She's beyond repair.

Lilith: Then turn her!

Caleb: It’s far too late for-

Lilith: Please try. It was a moment of weakness. Is that what you want to hear? I'm weak and you're strong and I need your help! I'll get on my knees and beg if I must!

Caleb: [sighs heavily] Just get out of my way.

-

Caleb: I’m sorry, Lilith. I think she’s too far gone.

Lilith: Then get rid of her.

[lumiilys]

Lost motivation to finish colouring this in but! Little shop of horrors au send post!

[transangledlozengeggbutt]

[stiddies-fanclub]

[mineral-vulture]

Chapter 250-262 of Blue Lock or Chapter 259-262. Actually any time Kaiser got one upped by Isagi is this.

I was inspired by seeing this comic which inspired by this comic I KNEW I had to draw Ness and Kaiser as this because well this is their dynamic...well WAS until their break up.