#enki deserved better

[chancellor-reno5]

Nanbaka Ramble incoming

Enki deserved better. The way that the murder wasn't his fault, it was instead Elf's. He lost a brother because of Elf. He lost his job because of Elf.

He ripped his own heart out because of Elf.

If someone had realised it was Elf the whole time, Enki would've lived

And why did it have to be Samon that found his body?

Ramble over (I may have gotten some bits mixed up but heyho !)

[lesbiamano]

the way i can see either enki, ragnvaldr, or cahara taking up the role of girl's parent/guardian EXCEPT d'arce,,, like ive tried but i feel like throughout the entire dungeon crawling experience she is too out of it to like be a proper parent figure to the girl. not to say she wouldnt take her in if she found her and protect her, i feel like she would, because its funny seeing her take in le'garde's child without knowing it. but either way she'd be too stuck in her own head and her want to reach le'garde as soon as possible/revive him that she wouldnt be able to give her the proper parental love im sure girl yearns for.

ragnvaldr used to have a child, he probably sees his kid in her, and he takes her in not just as some child he found that hed take care of until they got out or until she died, hed see her as HIS child and would truly care about protecting her and not letting anything come her way. she'd feel like a way to make up for the fact that he could not protect his own child and im sure that one day when he realizes shes the child of the man who ruined his life and family, it'll be extra painful.

for cahara, hes already expecting a child on the way, and so whats one more child to pick up and take home too? enough of cahara dying in the dungeon after girl ascends to godhood, he gets his treasure and gets out of there with her. he can give her and his newborn child the best life he possibly could, and i feel like hed definitely raise her as his own child, so his newborn gets an older sister. shes part of his family now!

for enki, hed begrudgingly take her along with him on his path to enlightenment. at first hes not really fond of her, but eventually, realizes he cant just let her go after he gets what he wants! i mean, gods, thats a waste of an assistant, right? as much as he hates admitting it, hes found some sort of fulfillment and contentment in teaching her spells and seeing her do them decently as she follows him around, and nosramus definitely wouldnt let him just sacrifice her or something. so he keeps her. and shes his child now, even though he only says shes his assistant/student.

but for d'arce, as much as i WANT to give her a happy ending where she gets out of the dungeon and live her life with her three weed smoking girlfriends, i feel like that just wouldnt happen. and even if she does care for the girl and keep her safe, its not the maternal sort of way that the girl probably desperately seeks, even if not specifically from d'arce, but from anyone. d'arce cannot stop and think that perhaps it would be better if she and the girl turned around and left the dungeon when she finally gets to le'garde and sees his corpse lying there. no. she absolutely loses her mind. she has to get le'garde back, he had so much left to do and she trusted that he knew what he was doing. and besides, shes never been one for the children. with the work she does as a knight, be it a knight of rondon or a knight with le'garde's group, settling and finding a partner and even having kids felt like a distant reality. even with le'garde, hes always been out of reach for her and she knew that she couldnt have something like this. she's committed to this. because if she does back out, where would she go? she abandoned the knights of rondon and her family for the sake of the knights of the midnight sun and for the sake of le'garde. she cant go back home. she cant give girl the life she deserves outside the dungeon. she digs le'garde out of his grave and lies in it for the sake of everything she chose to leave the life she knew for.

tldr. d'arce i will not allow you to have a happy ending

[badtzsmile]

Funger oc bc I'm cringe AND free.

Moonscorch and info belowww

Yeah uhhh it's still pretty much a concept but yeah.

This guy's name is Andrej Hájek, born in Prehevil and sent to the orphanage at 11 years old due to his parents passing away, his mother poisoned his father and his father smashed his mother's head to death. This guy got sent to St. Domek's and got to know Levi until he was sold. Andrej was often abused, the priests frequented him a lot, he took out his frustrations and the dirty feeling on others or himself; it either ended up on torture or him feeling guilty and crying himself to sleep, most of the time those three things got mixed. He got adopted around the age of 13, almost 14. Things got better for him, but of course he was left scarred. He's now broke, homeschooled and doesn't have the money to enroll into university. He is interested in entomology, he's always been captivated by these creatures that often provoke repulsion, he sometimes can't help but feel like one of them too. He has the ability to interact and get help from bugs and insects (kinda like in the first game as enki, but not limited in talking to them). He came back to Prehevil with the excuse of its unique ecosystem, many different types and species could be found there, but he knows that the horrid shirt hole that was Prehevil pulled him back as he hadn't entirely cut ties with the place, despite his desires of doing so. He couldn't name an honest, coherent reason himself.

Other general info abt him is that this guy was made with the purpose of giving Levi his very own Samarie boyfailure (of course he isn't a stalker, he's just pathetic for someone he loves) bc I got a bit too obsessed with him and decided to make an oc x canon situation.

He would CERTAINLY do anything for Levi, really. Love urself a bit more man. 😭

He feels guilty for thinking or fantasizing (not even in a sexual way, just like imagining scenarios about holding hands or cuddles) about his crushes because of what they did to him back in the orphanage.

I think he's bi, leaning towards men, and a hater too, he likes to talk shit about the people he dislikes.

I made him suffer a lot so in my mind they do end up together, he deserves that.

I also don't know what his soul could be.

[myreputatioooon]

buy low-key Cahara deserves a good ending or at least a better one.

Okay maybe not actually in a good-good way but in a bad-good good-bad way that IS good-good as long as you shift your morality fifty degrees to the left.

Cahara who came to wretch a monster out of Fear & Hunger itself like The Knight D'arce, Kaiser's Most Blind Loyal, not to save the monster and let it rampage for centuries then on, but to provide for his Beloved and Future Child.

Cahara who took in a Child under his care. A Girl many others would regard as dead weight or meat or a shield against Fear & Hunger. Protected her from the horrors whereas The Outlander Ragnvalder The God of Ultraviolence crusaded against it within and outside the dungeon, legacy fading into nothing. like He was supposed to

Cahara who guided her like his own unborn child and brought her to the pit of the God of the Depth's corpse, and witness her ascent to godhood as The Dark Priest Enki The Enlightened rejected it.

Cahara who cannot be a father to His Flesh and Blood, His Beloved Celeste for he is the Father of Fear & Hunger. The Ascended Goddess has acknowledged his suffering. The suffering that will continue if he lives, so he shall now forever rest.

Cahara who taught Her dances with daggers and gifted Her dolls to dote on in the Divine Dungeons.

Cahara, Father of the Goddess of Fear & Hunger and Father of The Cruel Age which his own beloved girl drives.

Cahara, who's name is blessed, praised and scorned to come all eternity. Who's Beloved Celeste is taken in by the Goddess's worshippers, whose baby never knows a day without community and family under the care for the sister they'll never have.

Cahara who's family is a holy, divine bloodline. The only one.

Cahara who never wanted any of this

[jestersurgery]

Apologies if this was already asked rip

Anyway anyway what are Arlekins thoughts on all the characters in the game?

I briefly drew this out before but I'll go into more detail about Arlekin's opinions and I'll also talk about some other characters other than the main cast :O

Cahara - He finds this guy quite fun, he'd probably enjoy his cheeky antics and they'd banter together!!! He'd get a bit caught off guard if Cahara made any teasing remarks but in the end he'd think it's all good fun!! they'd be a whole zest fest together... stupids

D'arce - He'd be impressed by her strength and determined nature. He'd pay her the most respect out of all the other characters especially since her goal in the dungeon is so selfless(he thinks she deserves better than stinky leg guard though)

Enki - HE REALLY LIKES TO ANNOY HIM and finds it amusing to get a reaction out of him. He'd probably finds his dismissive and irritated nature as a challenge to annoy him even more lol. Otherwise he thinks he's quite intelligent but thinks he should take a chill pill. He may have a little crush on him erm.

Ragnavaldr - He'd be really put off by him cause Arlekin always pays extra attention to people's expressions and he'd be unnerved cause he wouldn't be able to read his emotions. He'd find him a little scary and intimidating and wouldn't want to mess with him...!!!! he'd also be like wow this guy is ripped he must have that beast in him

Le'garde - Because of how highly D'arce thinks of him, before meeting him, Arlekin would think "Wow this guy must be great!". UPON MEETING HIM THOUGH his opinion of him would do a whole 180 and he wouldn't like how arrogant and full of himself he is.

The Girl - He'd be quite upset to see a child in such a place like the dungeons :( He'd try his best to cheer her up with tricks and jokes !!!

Nosramus - He wouldn't have a lot of time to interact with them so he'd just be like wow who's this pretty lady(?) doing in the mines...

[1dreamsareweird1]

I'm a firm believer that Aphmau should have had an unhinged arc in MCD

Her entire existence was unraveled, everything she thought about herself and her experiences weren't even hers to begin with. She had to figure out that she isn't quite human and that she isn't quite a goddess either. She's a fragment of a person she's trying so hard to live up to because there's no way out for her. She can't just leave behind or ignore that part of her like Travis can regarding the Demon Warlock and Enki because she isn't just a descendent which in and of itself is dangerous. She IS Irene, at least a part of her.

The one person who knew Irene was Hyria and she was always so cryptic and she denied Aphmau's pleas when she was practically begging Hyria for answers. Hyria should know better than anyone that Aphmau is not Irene no matter how she came to be in the world, she is only a part of her and the mental strain it put on Aphmau when trying to figure out should have been her breaking point. She deserved to run rampant and lean away from being the voice of reason and everyone's caretaker.

Sorry for any spelling errors I feel like this could have been such an important character arc for Aphmau being her own person and not just Irene 👍👍

[erionlextib]

Travis HCs because he deserves them:

• Ain’t no way he isn’t younger than the rest of the group (except Vylad, because dead people don’t really age per say), he gives me the vibes. Perhaps like 18-19 or something

• He wears a mini pony tail to keep his hair out of his face when he’s fighting and what not (or just in general because he finds it quite annoying)

•he has a few freckles..? (not like many, there’s like 6 or 7 in total)

•dimples (that I don’t know how to draw)

•He lives in the tree house along with Vylad and Laurance. Aaron sleeps either at his little set up camp, or sometimes at the tree house when the weather gets rough. (A big ass tree makes for a big ass house)

Travis does eventually get his own place, although it’s on the island. he also claims the little cave on the mountain as his own

• He can shapeshift (cuz witchcraft + demon abilities and whatnot, plus if the imps and his dad can shapeshift, so can he ), but not extended periods of time. He’s a) not very good at witchcraft and b) part human so he struggles a bit more w/ that stuff

It doesn’t really bother him all that much before the rest of the cast scoops him up, as he (canonically) lives in an isolated cabin, in the mountains, away from any sort of civilization (the closest being the town, which just about hates him and still isn’t all that close). Who the hell does he need to look human for? The snow? The trees?

He mainly uses his human form only to sneak in and out of the village to get foods he can’t find in the forest (fruits and vegetables imported from warmer regions, meats when he can’t catch anything) and his (fully) demon form when fighting mainly his dad and his dad’s imps (just to look a little more intimidating)

• When he becomes part of the group though, he becomes kind of insecure; he fears rejection and is scared that if they see what he actually looks like they’ll change their minds on him and hate or hurt him and he’ll be all alone again.

This leads to him pushing his limits and often hiding away whenever he needs a moment to regain his strength. Until the moment w/ the Demon Warlock on the new island, only Aph knows. When she found him (Enki Island), he wasn’t expecting to find a human so far away from the village. Took him a while (most likely longer than in canon) to believe that she wasn’t his father or one of his imps, to which he changed to his human form and apologized profusely when he realized.

• His human form is mostly made up by him in an attempt to look more like his mom. Like in Canon, he has a couple different forms, but his “natural” forms are mixes between a human and a demon. They just kinda change every once in a while depending on his environment, health, ect. *, so he never really looks quite the same. Both his human and demon forms (as well as any other form e.g animals, other people, ect.) are forms he physically has to shift into/require and use up energy to be in

*e.g climate/weather may determine some aspects like horn size and skin color; dark energy/vibes (like those around the nether, or his father) or high stress situations makes him (his natural form) look a little more demonic as his body reacts to the energy around him, while he looks a little more human in relaxed, light hearted situations where he doesn’t feel in danger or when there is overall good energy/vibes (like the energy Aph emits when she heals stuff) and that sort of stuff

Like a defense mechanism (kinda like how some animals try to make themselves bigger in the face of a threat)

• Canon was wrong, he is not.. like that.. no. His mom taught him better than that. He respects women very much.

•He’s socially awkward, and definitely comes off as a little weird and blunt and overall just a little off. (He’s really sweet, just not smooth with his delivery)

• His mom was a really big inspiration for him growing up and he really strives to be like her and he’s deathly afraid of becoming like his father (canon I’m pretty sure, but thought to include it anyway)

• He’s really good friends with Vylad and Aaron; they are like partners in crime, and bond over not being very good with words/social interactions.

When Aaron died and Vylad went off with Laurance to the nether, Travis felt at just about his worst in a long while. He would barely go out (specifically after Aaron’s death, but got worse after Vylad and Laurance’s disappearance), often staying in his room for a few days on end until Katelyn and Luci would drag him out to get some fresh air and get his mind off things. Sometimes they also went with Aph as she was in a similar boat. Travis got closer to Katelyn and Luci during this time. He also started hanging out more with Aph so that neither of them would feel so alone (*coughcoughnotalonebuddiescoughcough*)

•He steps outside and within 10 minutes he is sun burnt and on the verge of a heat stroke /hj

He can be outside for short periods of time before getting some symptoms of heat exhaustion (the amount of time he is able to be outside lengthens the longer he stays in Ru’aun as he starts to adapt to the climate)

When he first got there he was not vibing. Like At all.

He protects his skin a lot, so he gets less sunburns

•Since there is no such thing as AC in this era, as a welcoming gift, Luci took it upon herself to put a spell on Travis’s room so that it would stay colder (aka it’s like a freezer now), so he actually gets sleep at night. Vylad and Laurance like to hang out there when it’s too hot out during the day, although it gets too cold for their liking after a while

Anywayyyyy

Here’s also a small drawing of him I made to try out a new stylus that inspired this entire post

[nightlight-stardust-and-rain]

Polaris re-reads Nanbaka, in chronological order.

(beware of spoilers if you haven't gone past the Anime or if you stopped reading at some point I guess?)

This manga is so fucking sparkly. Love it.

You know, I had forgotten that the first time we see Samon he's in the warden's office. They are actually pretty close aren't they? It's a surprisingly wholesome relationship.

Love how Musashi is homicidal for a grand total of like three chapters and the instant he loses his powers (pretty much a wish he's had for years) he becomes the chillest, kindest guy. I had completely forgotten how many languages he speaks, this guy is insane.

Love how Musashi's wearing a skirt and no one says anything about it.

He's such an absolute nerd despite his appearance.

Jyugo's and Musashi's relationship is so cute. Puppies.

Fascinated by the workings of Samon's tail. Like this is clearly a tail but texture-wise it is clearly a belt. Way too smooth to be a tail. What the hell.

Tsukumo my beloved. Him and Jyugo being awkward beans who have no idea how their real selves are and have no idea how normal society functions together... Solidarity baby.

I love Samon's tattoos, they're so cool.

Uno meeting Musashi was actually so wholesome. Uno realizes this scary guy is actually timid and sincere and nice and goes oh well, no choice but to adopt him now. We already have Jyugo, what's one more. It's in moments like these where you see how truly kind Uno is.

Uno inviting Musashi to the game room!!

Samon as a whole. My beloved.

Mao why are you so mean. I wonder if what he's saying is true tho like he is absolutely the type to make shit up just to get under Samon's skin. (edit, a lot of chapters later : indeed there were bad about building 5. Because Mao made them all up ! Dude bow petty are you!)

Getting Aiolia-Aiolios vibes from Enki and Samon. You know, elder brother's a "traitor" therefore the younger brother is distrusted?

Samon is actually a good teacher. That's neat.

Completely forgot he actually swears a lot? It's fun.

In Qi's backstory, he's not wearing any (eyeliner?) makeup. I think it's sweet that he is wearing makeup in prison, he's more free (ironically) to express himself! Also it's so cute that Samon provides makeup for his inmates. (though he seems to be wearing nail polish in the flashbacks. At this point I am genuinely wondering if everyone wearing nail polish is a manga feature instead of Actual In-Universe nail polish)

It's so incredibly sweet that the building 5 inmates see Samon as the one who's giving them a second chance and helping them become better people. Like really all you would need to cure Samon's self-esteem issues would be to give him mind-reading powers and an hour with his inmates.

(chapter 91) really I can't with them. Qi holds Samon in such high esteem! That's genuine respect! And Samon trusting Qi and telling him that his skills (that have been used for such terrible things before!) are valuable and useful and good! And taking his inmates to see the gardens using a loophole to authorize it even thought it seems to be forbidden!

Samon being the one to reconnect Upa with his family! It was so wholesome...... Samon is just such a great guy, no wonder his inmates like him so much. He deserves it!

Kshshsh what do you mean the reason Honey and Trois are in this top prison despite committing the pettiest theft ever is because their escape attempts from previous prisons were actually about a hundred times more fucking intense and bloody than the crimes that landed them here in the first place?? Unfuckingbelievable. They cannot be real.

Jyugo having yet another crisis about the meaning of his existence. Baby it's not that deep, the meaning of existence is to be happy and enjoy life. You're overthinking again (very justified tho. Fuck Elf).

Love the contrast between Honey's special skill (extremely technical, extremely delicate, really hard to handle, extremely specific) and Trois' (Things That Make Huge Explosions). It mirrors the contrast between their personalities, Honey's being explosive and Trois' being sly. They're made for each other (I don't ship them, but it's very clear they're a package deal).

Honey finding out Tsukumo's a celebrity and keeping quiet about it because that's what Tsukumo wants is actually really cute. He's an asshole but he's not bad.

This chapter where they all exchange hair colors - Musashi with blonde-pink hair was surprisingly cute.

Samon can feel people's presence? That's fascinating. Enki can probably do it too given some of his comments. How does it works.

Enki's uniform is so ugly. Baby why did you think this red and this green together was a good idea.

Musashi being vulnerable with Yozakura! And talking to him! And Yozakura believing in him! And the way Musashi changed Yozakura too! It's because of Musashi that he thought about asking for Enki's motives, that he understood that criminals are not evil ! It's sweet.

Enki being offered an opportunity to ask for help and denying it. I wonder how many times he's done that. Motherfucker your brother adores you, would it kill you to open up a little for once.

"you wouldn't understand" fuck you Enki, Yozakura might be one of the only ones who would understand (on account of having listened to Musashi's story and believed it). Also that's a flimsy excuse when you didn't even try to make people understand!!

Kiji is scary. And good at feelings, which is arguably more terrifying in a manga like that.

I know Hajime's violence is meant to be comedic but uh. I don't really like how prompt he is to beating up the inmates or his coworkers.

Samon still believing in Inori even after his betrayal and the cruel things he said...... I love him. Hope Inori knew the amount of faith Samon had in him.

But also Samon baby you need to stop blaming yourself for everything that's just not healthy.

The other guards being worried about Samon working too much... That's sweet.

Samon and Hajime working together are undefeatable uh.

Me during the entire Enki arc : *chanting without stopping* someone give Samon a hug someone give Samon a hug someone give Samon a hug-

It's cool that Samon knows how to use all the different weapons that the guards of building 5 use.

Inori is pretty good. It's sweet how he thinks that Samon's strength is believing in others. I think it's nice that he's trying to spare Samon a confrontation with Enki because he knows Samon still believes in his brother, like, yeah guys stop blaming Samon for hesitating to fight his brother whom he adores.

Aw, Samon's learning to rely on his subordinates! Good for you baby!

the flashback about the organ trafficking case :( Samon tries so hard to help Enki and Enji just rejects his help so harshly.... I mean I'm pretty sure he was trying to protect Samon from the consequences of his actions but he simply did not have to be cruel about it. That kind of stuff, when said by someone you love and admire so much, stays with you for years if not your whole life. It's no wonder Samon's got self-esteem issues with a brother like that really.

Jyugo having his 56th identity crisis of the month. And I'm sorry to tell you it's nowhere near done!

Samon's and Enki's grandpa is weird. And their parents don't seem super good either. Did these kids have any good adults?? No wonder they've got issues relying on others.

"the strength I wish for is not something you can understand" Enki, baby, he's five. Of course he can't understand. You gotta explain at least a little bit.

The Gokuu brothers are on a interestingly similar wavenleght but they gotta learn to communicate with words.

Babies Noriko and Samon... They're so cute. Samon adding to his goal to become stronger so he can stand close to Noriko without fainting! So she won't be lonely! Definitely siblings. It's a different relationship from the one with Enki because he was already strong enough to touch Noriko to begin with while Samon really put in the effort for her. No saying Noriko's and Enki's relationship is lesser, I'm just biased because Samon's my favorite.

Noriko being able to say, to know without a doubt that she is not a monster thanks to Enki and Samon... That's love right there.

You know I was wondering why Noriko didn't believe in people despite having Samon and Enki and Houzuki but.

Holy SHIT

Her family imprisoned her. In a CAVE. For TEN YEARS??? When she didn't do anything?? Death for all of them.

Samon doubting Enki is framed as a bad things but like. He was literally there when "Enki" killed someone. I don't blame him for not automatically thinking of mind-control.

Is Kiji actually good at feelings or is he there to explain the internal reasoning of someone who won't do an internal monologue?

Samon using Noriko's ki shield.... That's love, too.

Awww, his tattoos are reminders of Noriko's lessons!

Samon promising to help his big siblings because they always try to do everything themselves... He's so precious.

That's also very painful, because I remember what comes next.

The more I see of Enki's and Samon's makeup the more I feel like they're birthmarks or something. Samon had it when he was five!

Ah, "what comes next" is here. SOMEBODY GIVE SAMON A FUCKING HUG.

Well, that's not quite a hug, but a headpat, a good cry, and a "you still have family here" is good enough. Well done, Inori.

Somehow getting the flashback of when everything was okay right after that hurts so much.

The warden patted Samon's head twice onscreen and absolutely many more times offscreen. It's hilarious and cute. She's not immune to his charms.

"I'm not that tall" Enki baby have you heard of a certain river in Egypt by any chance.

First of all. Samon sitting on Inori's shoulders is cute. Second, the fact that he needs to do that to look his brother in the eye, rofl.

It's interesting to think that Samon and Jyugo are linked now. Samon's siblings have changed Jyugo... Even if with the way those things tend to work, Jyugo will forget about them and they won't be mentioned again :(

"did my habitual truancy backfire?" Qi I love you so much-

(chapter 159) Qi and Musashi being nerds together was actually so cute. I wish we could see them interact more often.

The bath guys are fucking insane. Nanbaka really is a comedy.

Musashi asked Hitoshi if he could maybe talk to Qi again !!! That's so fucking cute. They're friends!! Good for them!! People who have had a hard life making friends again!!

Several of the dogs of building 4 have piercings!! Kshshshsh this is too much

Mao is still holding a grudge for Samon blaming him and saying he hated him when they were, what, Nine ? Ten? Is a bit, man, get over it. I personally think that Mao does feel guilty (even tho I'm pretty sure the bad guys would've found Noriko even without him, he did play a part in it) and can't deal with that so he is projecting the blame on someone else....

The biggest mystery of the manga is actually : does the warden have a really bad case of resting bitch face or is Hajime just really bad at reading people's faces?

Sometimes I forget some of those people are real adults. What do you mean Yamato's got a daughter. That changes his whole character.

There's quite a bit of teasing Samon about his intelligence or lack thereof but to honest I don't really see where it comes from?

Literally two seconds after I wrote this : ah.

So he ranked last in the prisons written exam....

Come to think of it did he even have formal education??

"maybe he was just searching for a human who wouldn't die when wreathed in flames" and he found one :((((

! Noriko and Enki mentioned several chapters later! That's good, Jyugo hasn't forgotten the lessons they taught him yet.

Aw.... Musashi turning off his fire right when he could have killed Jyugo easily... And losing his sight in the process.... :( I love him

When Musashi talked about their past he made it sound like he turned homicidal the instant he saw the blades... Without mentioning that he apparently could have killed Jyugo but chose not to. I wonder if he didn't say anything about that because he thought Jyugo or the guards wouldn't believe him?

Jyugo didn't know Noriko and Enki were dead :(((

Love the dress Musashi's wearing in the flashback.

Wish he had kept the longer hair....

Jyugo clocked Musashi as a good guy the instant he met him. So cute. It's also interesting that he said that they were the same because 1) he didn't know Musashi had powers or a past with the man with the scar at this point, and 2) this might have been the first time Jyugo actually felt companionship, which is awesome for my they are siblings agenda.

Musashi sneaking out of his cell just to go to the library. I love him so much and as a fellow bookworm, I approve.

Aw, Musashi's teaching Jyugo things. That's sweet. I wonder if anyone else taught Jyugo things before?

Jyugo getting severely beat up just to bring Musashi a book... And he used to say that he didn't have any wants before. Clearly he always had at least one and it was making his friends happy.

Jyugo pointing out that Musashi's bad at sneaking and that's because our boy is a goody-two-shoes lmao. This flashback really shows that Musashi was just a good kid who did literally nothing wrong. He got framed and his life was destroyed just because of the way he was born :(

Aw, they really were good friends.

Which makes the falling out worse. Musashi felt betrayed because he thought Jyugo worked with the ones who destroyed his life and Jyugo felt betrayed because his (probably) first close friend attacked him for seemingly no reason. And technically they were both right :( such a mess

It is. So interesting that before using the shackles to harm Musashi he had barely thought about them. Getting them off was his goal since the start of the manga so it made it seem like he'd been focused on that since the shackles appeared but actually he paid them no mind at all until they were used to harm his only friend. The one reason why he wanted to find the man with the scar and get the shackles off is because they were the reason Musashi wouldn't talk to him (technically correct). The man "ruined everything" as I think Jyugo's said before, but only now do we discover that "everything" was his relationship with Musashi. He was really important to Jyugo, much more than just a simple former cellmate. It's just so.... To discover that his whole reason to live (finding the man with the scar) was actually about Musashi all along! It's huge! I joke about them being siblings but man I had forgotten how much they genuinely loved each other.

As someone who also thinks Musashi is great I relate :D

Musashi was actually investigating uh. I love when we get reminded of how smart he is.

Musashi trusting Jyugo because he never called Musashi a monster is kinda cute but also baby, you have the lowest standards. That's the bare minimum!!

Jyugo crying on Musashi..... I'm telling you they're siblings! Also it's sweet how Musashi doesn't panic at all despite very obviously having never experienced this level of emotion coming from Jyugo.

Aw, he was patching him up in the flashback.

Jyugo calling Musashi's warmth "like the sun"..... I love both of them and their relationship.

Alrlkshakl Musashi feeling bad about winning money in a drinking contest...... He is so fucking earnest. I love him so much. Also he looks good in non-black-and-red clothes.

Aw, he's teaching Hitoshi languages. It's sweet, and nice that he has company.

One big consequence of what happened to him is that he's bad at believing that when he speaks he will be heard and believed. It's really good that he's learning to speak up! All of them need therapy but I guess it's a start.

Ikkaku baby you need sooo much therapy. But so does everyone else so I guess you fit right in.

His nails are like claws. Cannot help but think of the practical aspects. How do you even scratch yourself without taking flesh off.

He was the one who gave Musashi his blindfold? That's.... Interesting given that he had no way to know that Musashi would be blinded. So his blindfold really is some random straps of leather (?) ? Does it says something about Musashi's feelings for Ikkaku that he kept it all this time? Or does he just not care since he can't see what he's wearing.

His fucking toenails are long and pointy ?? Not only does that seems impractical, it also seems unhealthy!

Musashi not wanting to fight Ikkaku because he helped him before... And trying to talk to him... He's so good and it's not working in his favor :(

Hmmm. So Zakuro's and Ikkaku's goal was to escape with Musashi and Jyugo?... Not sure if I believe it yet.

(really funny how they both point blank refused to leave without even taking a second to consider. Sorry, all the people they live are in this prison, there's literally no reason to leave)

Musashi seeing right through Ikkaku wanting to use him was so funny. In your face, motherfucker.

Turns out I was right to not believe in Ikkaku and Zakuro.

You know I feel like Musashi and Ikkaku could be great friends if Ikkaku was less of an asshole. Introverted friend and extroverted friend.

Musashi using physics to fight Ikkaku! And the dogs saying that Musashi's true strength is his mind! I really love when the manga reminds us how smart he is.

Him deducing Ikkaku's motives and how he was at the center of many things!! I really love how smart he is.

Lmao the contrast between Musashi's and Ikkaku's fight (bloody and dramatic) and Jyugo's and Zakuro's fight (over in five minutes because Jyugo's a weakling).

Aw, Zakuro :(

Yeesh. Dude really went through it. That's no way to live. No wonder he's a little bit insane.

And even with everything that happened to him, he still wanted to help someone in the same situation as him! What a good kid.

Jyugo's unthinking faith in Musashi is killing me. He knows Musashi won't turn on him or Zakuro, because that's just how it is! He also knows Musashi will win his fight, because he's strong. That's just how it is. He believes in Musashi so much!!.

Musashi tricking Ikkaku into close combat to win his fight! And using Hitoshi's sword because he's been fighting for Hitoshi too! He's so smart and cool I love him so much. I'm repeating myself about him being smart and it's because I really appreciate it.

Ikkaku getting captured by dogs.... Rofl. Just what he deserves.

Pretty sure that's where I stopped last time I read nanbaka. So from now on everything is new!

I know this is meant to be comedic but I don't think beating up a very traumatized guy is a very good idea??

Woof. Uno's fucking savage.

What the fuck is up with Dread.

Kojiro's cute.

Tauro seems good.

Wow, Jemi and Jeni are flat-out monsters.

Tauro is a good guy! I like him :)

Aw, Jun is great.

Hm.

Fuck Rokudo.

Ban :(((

Tauro really is a good guy.... It's good that he at least got to know that his sister was alive before he died.

FUCK ROKUDO.

The one bright point in this backstory was Jemi and Jeni getting what they deserved (a violent death)

There's a lion lady! Love her design

..... Knowing this manga, is it a lady?

(chapter 236) Lmao Jyugo confirming that Musashi got his power back and his only reaction is "could you heat up my hot chocolate? :3". What's funnier is Musashi doing it despite being mildly offended.

!! Musashi accepting that his power is a part of him !!!

And obviously the first thing this absolute nerd does about it is trying to study his own power. What else.

Lololol Jyugo burning his tongue and Musashi scolding him but the next panel you can see Musashi holding a glass of water. He's such an older brother. The sibling energy in this chapter is off the charts.

Jyugo pointing at Musashi and Musashi scolding him is killing me for several reasons : first of all, the fact that Musashi is blind. Which means that he knew Jyugo was pointing just because he knows Jyugo well !! I love them so much. Also, once again, the big brother energy is strong. And, lastly, I feel like this is giving us a glimpse of how their relationship was before all the drama : Jyugo did say Musashi was teaching him things, and with that little interaction I am now 100% sure that "things" included basic manners. They're so sweet.

Musashi's getting out of the underground!! :D

Musashi stopping Zakuro from falling and telling him he was overwhelmed at the number of people too and it's okay to go at your own speed and you don't have to force yourself into everything right away and everything will be okay eventually 🥺 he's so good......

Aw, Musashi and Zakuro are pairing up at cards, that's cute.

Zakuro is such an awkward bean, but I like that he's awkward in a markedly different way than Jyugo. They have different traumas so it makes sense.

The bath guys scare even Upa!! Wow :D

Yozakura saying that he'll do his best to be useful to Shin and Shin being an ass about it. Fuck you man, leave our beloved dog alone.

That said, them bonding over their dislike of Hajime is hilarious (even funnier that they dislike him for the same reason).

Hitoshi being indestructible will never get old.

Yamato's wife and Nadeshiko meeting the mercenary brothers made me so uneasy. Please please please get away from them.

Ikkaku and Kojiro being friends is sweet. Even assholes like Ikkaku deserve friends I guess.

Ikkaku was the one who tattooed Musashi? How interesting.

Ikkaku saying that Musashi's power is great because Musashi is the one who has it... He really does respects Musashi. It really does feel like they could've been genuine friends in another setting.

Love the casual background Musashi-Jyugo interactions. Jyugo failing a test and Musashi bopping him on the head with said test. The reason he's irritated is probably because he tried teaching Jyugo stuff and it didn't stick haha

Wow, didn't think we'd be getting new supervisors at this point.

Is that a fucking sarcophagus.

Snake person!! Snake person!! Snake person!! :D

Shin being weirded out by the supervisors like any normal person would is so funny because 1) it implies that even the more normal guards are not, in fact, up to the in-universe standard of normal and 2) Shin is a goddamn weirdo, what do you mean he's the first one who's being reasonable about the supervisors' weirdness??

Kitsune-looking supervisor : *takes off his mask* *there's another mask underneath!* *wait, no, that's just his face*

Building 4 is the building of education? Oh, no wonder Musashi ended up here.

I don't like Shin, but his reactions to the supervisors introducing themselves are gold. Or maybe they're glass? *badum tsss*

(completely in accord with him about building 12's supervisor tho)

Building 12 is the building of the sun? What does that even mean.

Hajime didn't say what building 13 was of......

Some of the buildings like the building of art and the building of education make sense but some of the others... Do not.

I really like that Shin brought up Enki because I was scared he'd be forgotten. In a lot of mangas or books, things that happen earlier seem to have a tendency to be forgotten so I was afraid that'd happen to Enki and Noriko.

Orochi, I like you, but you're being suspicious.

Honestly, several of these people being some kind of immortal is not that surprising.

Love Kiji's culture. I feel like he and Musashi would get along.

It's interesting that Kiji and Samon were able to feel Elf's presence (Samon somewhat more clearly than Kiji?) despite not having elf cells.

Hmmm. I may have to revoke my dislike of Shin.

More Musashi flashbacks !! Yes !!

You know, he looks more tiny in the flashbacks.

Love how curious and analytic he was about Ikkaku. This guy just always wants to know things uh.

Musashi "recognizing" Ikkaku is interesting. Is there some sort of link between people with powers?

Ikkaku's a good actor, uh?

Maybe I've just been reading too many Clone Wars fics but it feels like naming someone, as Ikkaku does here, is significant.

Despite that and him being friendly and helpful, Musashi never really trusted him, which turned out to be the correct decision.

It's interesting that Musashi is still able to guess that Ikkaku's hiding something despite not really knowing him.

! He's hiding a place from the others (except Kojiro) !

(they really are friends uh)

He doesn't have elf cells ?

Me, five minutes ago : he vomited ink?? Nah, why would it be ink.

Me now : it was ink

Ikkaku letting the prison think that he was weaker than he was looked like really good power control but in actuality he was poisoning himself to not fry them all when he lost his temper. Guess his control was not as good as it looked.

We already knew those guys were somewhat evil but yikes. The casual mention of torture.

Interesting that his feelings about the man with the scar seem real. He probably used those to convince Musashi that he was actually against him.

Talking sharks :D

Ikkaku telling one of the sharks that he said to not go to the river because it was dangerous.... Uh! He cares about them!

Ikkaku eating raw crocodile. Baby what are doing.

Fuck these rich kids. Leave the sharks alone >:(

Ikkaku being mean but only to motivate Kojiro... It's... Sorta sweet in a twisted way?

Kojiro's first instinct being to talk it out.... Baby.... :(

And getting splattered with the blood of his friend for it!! Fuck these rich kids.

Feels like Ikkaku's trying to make Kojiro tougher so he will survive. It's a twisted way of caring but it's still caring.

Can't believe this guy is seeking vengeance for Jeni. Of all people.

Kojiro still giving one last chance to these assholes........

And these assholes not taking it! Man, have you got no sense of self-preservation? Or any sense at all? When someone who's got your life in their hands tell you he'll spare you if you apologize, you grovel ! Even if the apology is a lie!

Holy shit Kojiro has a lot of shark friends.

Awww. Ikkaku helped the dying shark! He was so talking shit when he said these cruel things to Kojiro!

It's so sweet that he helped Kojiro even though he's really weak right now and Kojiro probably didn't need his help.... Ah, can't help it, I like him again.

He cares about Kojiro's freedom so much!! Of course it might be because Elf having a bigger presence in Kojiro could mean trouble for his plans.... But still! That speech he gave Kojiro! He really does care! (I'm shipping them now)

Kojiro deciding to have fun. That's his goal in life and he's sticking to it. You go baby!

He was a child soldier? Are we finally getting some Ikkaku backstory?? :D

No way his nails grew back just because he got his power back up. That's not how it works.

Looking at the sharks closer.... Do some of them have tattoos ?? Did Ikkaku tattoo these sharks?? :D

A freaking megalodon???

*firm nod* Kojiro's powers are actually of cartoonish origin. There's no other way.

"it's fine, he's not my real dad" so it's fine if he dies just because he isn't your biological parent? Kid. :/

"I don't see gods as something to be worshipped, I see them as something to pick fights with". This old man is cool. And would enjoy building 5.

Aw, the kid was just being a tsundere [saying this, it threw aside a large rock]. Their backstory is cute. Two people who lost their families finding a new one with each other :) it's cute how worried he is.

Kojiro's too good for this world.

Ikkaku really isn't as ruthless as he makes himself look, uh.

The both of them making friends with the cops who came to arrest them. It's so light-hearted.

Yikes, the zodiac fishermen escaped a very messy death by like five minutes.

Taura!! Lady are you freaking haunted ??

Lion lady is not a lady

:(((

(chapter 266) Rock is being suspicious. Does this guy maybe..... Comes from money? I'm not very good at deductions so I'm probably super wrong but oh well.

(chapter 269) I should've expected Trois' calm personality to be a good match for Musashi.

Lmao, Nico asking Musashi to warm up his drink. I smell a running gag coming.

Jyugo giving Musashi a stupid nickname behind his back.... Sibling behavior I tell you.

This Chimney lady is so fun.

Liang getting some Naruto-style therapy! He needs it honestly. Or rather he needs actual therapy but I'll take what I can get.

Nanbaka really is a comedy. This is just like Hajime using Hitoshi as a club.

What a missed opportunity for Nico to go "just like a manga".

Rock also getting some mid-fight therapy.... Honesty I'm mostly having second-hand embarassment because everyone who watched the match could hear what they were saying.

I cannot believe that this joke of a match ended up being so important to Rock's and Liang's character development.

Their friendship is sweet tho.

This Chimney lady is so goddamn extra. Love her.

I was right about Rock ??? Uh. That doesn't usually happen.

RIP building 6, victims of their own aesthetic.

Is that a fucking watermelon vampire!!! :D

He made his cape out of curtains!!

Uno's fucking ruthless. My beloved.

The watermelon vampire is so bitchy ! :D

Tsukumo, I had not realized I missed you but I definitely did.

The inmates can get certifications! That's really good.

Lmao. Tsukumo casually taking commissions to act like a ninja for five minutes because it makes the inmates happy.

Why do I only now notice that Nico's teeth are fucked up.

The vampire's bitchiness is no longer funny. We go back to eating the rich I guess, even if I don't like watermelon.

Kshshshsh Tsukumo making traps in other people's buildings. Baby. Why. (it's even funnier than if he was doing it in his own building, but it'd be highly illegal either way)

The building 6 inmates have the range : they're mostly (Bio excluded, perhaps?) complete goofballs, and they're also dangerous and competent when in their own territory.

Two of them assuming that Jyugo's blades are a costume is such a normal reaction. Obviously if you saw someone with blades for arms you'd assume it was a prop, duh. That said they also have in their group someone who can somewhat manipulate illnesses by biting people or himself so.....

I thought "curse" was just a fancy way of saying poison but no, as it turns out curses and other supernatural occurrences are very much real in nanbaka. Deer lord.

Holy cow. Uno's playing 5d chess every time he fights.

So Rock can just. Flat-out. See and hear ghosts?? Because ghosts are real in this manga?? Jfc what are the chances it's never useful or even mentioned once the Halloween event ends.

The building 6 guard going "the last obstacle is A Lot of Really Difficult locks!!" and everyone from building 13 (+ Honey) going "ah." was pure gold. Those locks have met their natural enemy.

Oh dear. Mister watermelon vampire takes his sleep Very Seriously. How relatable (except for the firearms).

The whole coffin is a weapon. Wow. This really is a crack manga. How does mister watermelon vampire even manages to lift it? He's a noodle.

Sure just give an inmate an extremely dangerous weapon. Like, that doesn't seem very wise (of course the alternative was him dying so I guess it's alright).

So V was a literal, actual slave. Wonderful. He needs so much therapy.

"it's one thing after another!" you've done it, Hajime. You've summarized the entire manga.

V needs sooo much therapy.

Yikes. All these years Rock thought that V had killed himself because of him (in a convoluted way)? That's got to have left a mark.

Lololol and during this extremely violent sequence of events, Tsukumo and Honey were just serenely cooking breakfast. Are The rooms here soundproof??

Lmao. Jyugo can be so sneaky! Asking Tsukumo to convince Honey to help because he remembers Honey's a huge fan of Tsukumo! And Tsukumo just going along with it without a single question!

Tsukumo is no good at being a ninja but he is very good at costumes and disguises.

Oh! He just changed the color of his hair because he is now able to control the hair-changing disease he caught from Nico! Turns out he is not that good at disguises haha.

Bio's and Nico's powers are science-induced rather than being natural....

V baby you are way too extreme. Also embarrassing. Calm down.

Hajime is good at feelings (this is a threat).

It's a very agressive form of therapy and it's only by plot device that it works honestly.

Jyugo getting stuck in the coffin with the vampire..... And there was only one coffin!

In addition to being a watermelon vampire, he's also periodically possessed?? There is such a thing as too much for one character.... But that's not the case here, that guy's great.

Tsumuji (mask person) is really cute. Wonder if he's trans. That'd be great.

I'm glad I was wrong about ghosts not being relevant past building 6 :)

What do you mean the ghost's name is hell. Lmao.

When Taura got possessed, her entire appearance (clothes included) changed, but Isou didn't remark on it at all, which makes me think that he can't see the change. So either the change is entirely spiritual therefore only people who can see ghosts can see it, or there is actually no change and it's just for the sake of the reader. Leaning towards the first option tho.

It's sweet that Tauro was here with Taura and Hell the whole time. They got more time together :)

Hell's backstory killed me. It was just a gigantic accident haha

Jun..... Ban....

:(

:/

The one bright point in this is that Ikkaku looks good in normal clothes.

The man with the scar's face is definitely plot relevant.

Freeing the togabito seems like a noble goal but tbh I have less than zero trust in him or elf or the doctor.

I don't even need to say anything about the alien (except are they actually an alien or a togabito).

The inmates call him Sith?? Which star wars fan was responsible for this.

Absolutely fascinated by the fact that Tauro and Mei seems to know each other.... Relatively well? Were they friends?? Hmmm. I say exes.

Taura has a whole ass cow tail. And it's not even disguised as a belt like Samon's and Mao's. What the fuck. Is that normal.

Aw, baby Enki fighting the tiger supervisor with one finger just like Samon fought Rock! The parallels!

What counts as a togabito? Musashi's and Ikkaku's powers are obvious, but what about Hitoshi's ability to go through a concrete wall without a scratch? What about Hajime's strength? Do these three people who are exceedingly cat-like count?

Tengu!! Oh I love his hair.

It's sweet that he's friends with his supervisor.

Yamada and his snakes are so cute.

We've seen, like, five people from building 7 and I can already tell it's fucking insane.

Musashi's way too candid.

Tanaka, Yamada and Tengu's friendship is cute.

Lmao, Musashi calling Yozakura to help in the battle solely because he felt that Yozakura wanted to participate and he'd have felt bad if Yozakura couldn't have fun. Fire boy is doing this for entertainment and nothing else. He's super chill because he literally has nothing to lose.

Aw, Musashi's become even cooler! Also, don't call it a water wall if it's an ice wall.

Musashi being resigned about everyone hating him because he used his powers in public... :( he had zero doubt that he was going to be treated like a monster again :'(

But then! Everyone cheering and so many people saying that he and his power were cool and awesome!! :') I bet it healed something.

Sophia's a cutie who deserves better.

Oh dear, maybe it's a red herring but if she has the power of sleep it may interact interestingly with a watermelon vampire who apparently gets possessed while asleep.

I know Samon, Kiji, and Yozakura are meant to be closer to the warden because of their thematic but it's still sweet how they get excited when they see her for the first time in a while :)

Musashi and Jyugo bickering was cute too.

Lmao. Hitoshi's invincible. I love him.

Oh dear. I had forgotten that the vampire's not the only one who can get possessed when unconscious.

(for future me reading that later and not getting which capter I am referencing, Jyugo just got possessed by elf)

Oh no, mister watermelon vampire got kidnapped by highly unsavory characters :(

I believe that one of the reasons Hajime is so irritated by Samon is that Samon gets him. Hajime, as we've seen with his rather violent therapy speeches, is rather good at understanding people's motives, but I don't think he is used to being understood (which is exactly what Samon is doing).

Aw, the mummy person is cute.

Samon and Ruka bonding over destroying people who speak ill of Enki was fun too.

Ruka is so sly. It's fun!

Ruka didn't know Enki was dead... :(

Aw, Samon picking Ruka for the fight because if they win, Ruka will be able to visit Enki's grave.... He's so sweet I can't.

Samon is too good for this world.

Uno wondering when Samon and Ruka got so close is funny because I like perplexed POV but also sweet because Uno is so fucking observant he'd have noticed if the closeness was not genuine, which means it is! I'm happy for Samon and Ruka :)

[ciaossu-imagines]

And for the last fandom for this fandom prompt, I'm hitting a fandom of mine that kind of desperately could use a lot more love than it currently gets, Nanbaka! It's part of why I love creating for it so much, because I do feel it doesn't get the love or attention it should! For anyone wondering, my lovelies, I have about six more fandom prompts I plan on throwing up soon and then I'm hoping to get at least one, but possibly two, good quality responses to a request out before shit-posting some gif reactions/non-gif reaction headcanons for various fandoms that I have kicking around.

Send me a fandom and I will name a character:

Who I will protect at all costs: Nico is a precious treasure. He’s gone through so much that he shouldn’t have had to but he’s still so cheerful and sweet and pure and just…ugh, I want all the good things for him.

Who deserves better: Shiro! So many people seem scared of him but he’s just a gentle giant who loves cooking!

Who was killed off too early: Nobody. Absolutely nobody that my mind can come up with at all. Nanbaka really did start out as a comedy, after all.

Who I used to hate but now I love: I hated Honey at first. Just something about him really irked me with his first appearance but I did really grow to enjoy him. I don’t quite love him as much as some other characters but he definitely grew on me.

Who I used to love but now I hate: There’s nobody who fits that bill because, while there’s character’s I mildly dislike, there’s none I absolutely despise, to be honest with you all.

Who needs to be killed off asap: I think it’s just because of my own personal feelings, but Inori could disappear forever, and I genuinely would not care.

Who is unfairly hated: There is really nobody, either by the writer or by the fandom. I won’t question the writer’s decisions for their own story, and I firmly believe that everyone has the right to feel however the feel about fictional characters, love or hate!

Who is unfairly loved: See the answer above.

Who needs to sort out their priorities: Oh, so many but I’ll go with the notable one. While I understand a lot of where Enki was coming from and why he did what he did, I also feel there were vastly better ways to handle it all. The way he did what he did was shit and it left lasting repercussions for those around him.

Who needs a hug: Samon. I really feel Samon would benefit from a daily hug. He really does get the brunt of it and isn’t respected enough. Also, the group from his building that we see a lot of, that is Liang, Qi, and Upa, also qualify for this.

Who needs to get out of their current relationship: Either Elf or the man with the scar. Those two together are toxic and take everything horrible about the other and amplify it, at least the way I view and see it, with the headcanons I have.

Who the writers love: Honestly, it’s Jyugo. However, he is the main protagonist, so it is only natural and they definitely don’t fall into the trope of making him just this incredible person with no flaws. I actually really enjoy his character and don’t mind the amount of focus he gets, though my heart, as with most of my fandoms, belongs to the minor characters.

Who needs a better storyline: A lot of characters honestly. I’m not fully caught up in the manga, so there is a chance a lot of the characters got more fleshed out and got character development, but a lot of the minor characters could use more focus. Even ones we really should know more about, like Mitsuru, don’t really have full storylines or fleshed out characters yet. However, Nanbaka did start out mostly as a gag manga, so I can get the reasoning behind why they don’t.

Who has an amazing redemption arc: I don’t think it counts as a full out redemption arc, considering there wasn’t really a lot of backstory or build up to it, but I liked seeing Qi’s character growth from his introduction to where he is now.

Who is hot as fuck: No lies, there’s just something about Rock that really does it for me.

Who belongs in jail: So yeah, funny thing…most of them kind of are in jail? Or guarding a jail. So, this question for this fandom is kind of a moot point, haha!

Who needs to be revived from the dead: I really don’t have an answer for this in this particular show/manga, honestly. The only person I can think of that I would really like to see more of, that doesn’t get much screen-time and could kind of fit this category, is Jyugo’s father. I feel like there’s a really interesting story there that would be well worth reading or watching.

[verdantrivers]

Forever reminded why Shouryuu and Enki's chapters are some of my all time favourites:

“So, is a civil war going to break out?”

“Looks like it.”

“A lot of people will die.”

“Kingdoms are built from the blood wrung out of the common people. The fact of the matter is, they’d all be better off without kingdoms and the like.” Shouryuu added, a smirk in his voice, “But the powers that be are clever enough to make sure they never figure that out.”

“The last thing I’d expect an emperor to say.”

“It’s the truth. Life for the people goes on without an emperor, but an emperor can’t go on without his subjects. The emperor eats the food they harvest by the sweat of their brows, no different than a poacher or a thief. In exchange, he does those things they cannot do as individuals.”

“Probably.”

“An emperor exists by killing and exploiting his subjects. So he should keep the killing and exploitation to a bare minimum and do it as nicely as possible. Keep the numbers low enough and he may even deserve to call himself an enlightened despot. Though the numbers will never reach zero.” Rokuta didn’t answer.

[let-it-ripperoni]

Ilma's past

Ilma came from a wealthy, political family, and was the firstborn, making her an heiress. Her dad is a politician and CEO of a company. Her mother was a wealthy heiress to the company Ilma's dad now owns, and the marriage was arranged for political purposes. Throughout Ilma's life everything has been about keeping images, and showing the world you're the perfect family.

Behind closed doors, this wasn't the case. Far from it, in fact. Ilma's dad was emotionally abusive and extremely narcissistic. He wanted nothing, but perfection from her. This moulded Ilma into being extremely people pleasing, and to always know how to show what people wanted to see. She innocently convinced herself if she tried her best she would gain her parent's love and affection. She would constantly wish on the moon at night for this, and confided in it her deepest, darkest, secrets, something she'd continue to do all her life (A reoccurring motif that I will go into further in another post, possibly).

One of her few passions as a child was Beyblading. She met her bit-beast, Enki at the age of 10. Unfortunately, her father deemed this activity to be "unbecoming of an heiress" and demanded she throw away such ridiculous toy. Ilma pretended to comply, but instead hid her beyblade away from prying eyes. Enki would be kept in storage for the next several years, nearly forgotten.

Somewhere down the line, Ilma found out by accidentally eavesdropping that his father was unfaithful, and had several mistresses. She couldn't believe it at first, so she looked into it more and found out it was all true. She rushed to her mother about it, and told her about her findings. Her mother, Sabina just sighed in defeat and said she already knew. In fact, she revealed the reason behind their marriage wasn't for love, but all for political gain. Ilma would have to get used to this as this too was her future. This obviously, struck Ilma as wrong and she began her rebellious phase. This period of time was riddled with constant lectures about her behaviour, and skipping lessons. She didn't want her life to be decided by those around her, she wanted her freedom.

Ilma naively decided to take things into her own hands, believing that if she showed her dad the errors of his ways, he would change. She gathered evidence and found out her dad's corruption, and illegal doings. She had the idea in her head that if she could tell him his faults, and offer better solutions he'd have a change of heart.

Boy, was she wrong. Her father grimaced and expressed his deep disappointment in her. This was the most displeased he's ever been of her, as far as she can remember. His father claimed this was the last straw, and that he's done with her. He didn't think he'd raise such a soft, and weak-willed heir, and decided she wasn't fit to run the company, or be part of the family. He disowned Ilma, and removed her from the family registry.

This didn't phase Ilma, but what did, and consequently traumatized her the most was her mother's reaction. Completely stone-faced and nonchalant. How could her mother not stand up to her? How could she stand by an unfaithful, and evil man? Everything was wrong. Everything about his family was dirty, and she'd lost hope of ever having a decent relationship with them.

Despite the disownment Ilma was offered a hefty sum of monthly allowance as hush money for the information she knew. If word got out, her family's reputation would plummet. They also let her have a maid. This would seem generous, except the maid, Katrina was meant to be a spy for her father to keep tabs on her to ensure that she's behaving, and not spilling the family secrets.

Katrina however, remains loyal to Ilma and reveals this plan to her. She's the only person that's ever cared for Ilma, and was the mother she never had, but deserved. Katrina gives false reports on what Ilma is doing so that she may keep her freedom and live her life to the fullest.

In hindsight, being disowned was the best thing that happened to Ilma. Because of this she develops a new image of herself, a brand new her. A perfect her. She becomes outgoing and social, and popular among her classmates. Ilma also finds out that she's a very good actress, and develops a passion for acting. She's encouraged by her friends to join the theatre club, and the school play despite her severe stage fright (this incident is what brings her to meet Brooklyn, but that's a story for another day), and takes up beyblading again.

This in a way is all a mask to run away, and distance herself from her past. Despite all of the positive changes Ilma made, she isn't completely grounded in reality (this is also partly due to her bit-beast's, Enki's abilities). She's still detached from others, and doesn't develop any particularly close bonds. The bonds she has with people are very shallow, despite the people in her life wanting to get close to her. You could say she's just floating, and drifting through life. Because of Enki's abilities influencing her, she has a dreamlike quality to those that encounter her. She's almost like a fairy, enigmatic and mystical. She doesn't feel real because she never lets anyone get close to see her human side, and flaws. She hasn't truly faced her past as of yet.

[chxna-cheeseycake]

MCD Post-apocalyptic AU Idea

Hi I'm actually posting on here lol but anyways I'm bored rn and feel like ranting about an MCD AU idea I have cuz I don't have anybody to talk about MCD stuff with 💔 Be prepared for this post to be a bit lengthy as when I have an idea I wanna talk about, I'll just keep going on and on and nothing will stop me! So feel free to skip this if you don't like reading long stuff lol. Anywho, you can read my silly little thoughts about my silly little AU under the cut!

Anyways, my AU idea I had basically takes place in a modern day MCD (no not like Mystreet just strictly having the MCD characters in a modern day era). And this world is normal at first but one day an apocalypse pretty much happened as somehow several different types of portals opened, releasing all sorts of deadly creatures that reeked havoc on the population. This apocalypse was also pretty much started by both Shad and Irene but that can be a separate post for later as I put far too much detail into that lmao. However, Irene and Shad lie to their respective followers/supporters that they had nothing to do with this tragedy and put the blame on the other for it happening.

I chose Dante to be the main character of this AU because goddammit my boy deserves more love and if no one else will do it then I sure will. Anyways, Dante was 2 years old when the apocalypse happened so the poor kid just grew up in such a harsh environment. He never knew what it was like to not have to hide from vicious creatures and constantly scavenge for food. He also never knew his dad as his father, Donny (not canon name btw just something I personally use) died early on in the apocalypse in an attempt to save his family. Meaning that Maria was left to take care of 14 year old Gene and 2 year old Dante by herself during a disastrous apocalypse. But luckily... there was someone out there that was willing to take the poor woman in and help her out.

And this where I'll get into Shad and Irene's whole deal because I mean they're pretty important here. The Divine Warriors still exist in this world and are also still kind of treated like religious figures. However, I should make it clear that all of them are actually immortal gods instead of just technically being humans that hold a relic or whatever canon stated cuz I lowkey kinda forget some of the details of that. I should also make it clear that Irene and Aphmau are NOT the same person here. I decided to make Aphmau the demigod daughter of Irene cuz I thought that would work better with the AU. Aaron is also the demigod son of Shad because of their familial relationship in canon MCD. The Ro'Meaves are still descendants of Esmund but just like in canon their familial relation is more distant compared to Aaron and Aphmau's. And as for Travis and Enki... well they're related too but I can get more into that later.

Regardless, Shad and Irene seem to be the only Divine Warriors that are still around as the others have miraculously vanished for some reason. So most people nowadays only really acknowledge and worship Shad and Irene. Because of that when the apocalypse broke out, Shad and Irene formed their own respective factions that were compromised of their devoted followers. But these two would also go out of their way to save people that hadn't joined either faction and basically encourage said people to join them. The people would do this too as they felt as though they should be grateful that one of the Divine Warriors saved their life. Shad had pretty much done this with Maria so her and her boys became part of his faction and also started to worship him.

So Dante grew up in an environment where he was taught that Shad was a great man and would be the one to save everyone from this apocalypse. He was also taught that Irene and her faction were the enemy, that Irene was the sole cause of their world being destroyed. And Dante also viewed Shad as a father figure due to the fact that his bio dad died when he was too young to even remember him. Shad even comforted Dante after Maria unfortunately died when Dante was 9. Dante had always admired Shad and that admiration only grew after Shad made Gene his right hand man and one of the generals of Shad's army. Dante truly looked up to both his big brother and his father figure. He wanted to be just as great as them.

But then the main story begins and Dante's life does a complete turnaround. In the main story, Dante is now 12 while Gene is 24 and their life is just how it was before. Nothing strange. Nothing unusual. Gene would go about his duties as general, you know like go over battle strategies with the other generals such as Aaron. And when he had the time, he would check up on his little bro who was hanging out with the other child faction members. Dante would just stay in the designated area for the children until Gene was off duty and then the two brothers would eat dinner together, possibly do something fun too before they had to go to bed. This was their normal life.

However, Shad's lair gets attacked suddenly by Irene's army and everything starts going to shit. The civilians of the faction are panicking and screaming as they thoroughly believe that Irene has come to kill them all (she isn't but they don't know that due to Shad's influence). Gene goes into a panic too as he worries about Dante's safety. So he goes to find his little brother, completely ignoring Aaron's calls for him to come back. Gene makes it to the child area and thankfully finds Dante safe and sound. He then takes Dante and tries to rush and find a way out of the lair. For awhile they aren't seen by any of Irene's soldiers but it doesn't stay that way forever. As they round a corner, they hear the voices of two unknown men which definitely puts them on edge.

Gene tells Dante to stay where he is while Gene goes to investigate what's up ahead. Dante listens to his big bro, albeit hesitantly and watches as Gene slowly makes his way toward the voices. The voices belong to none other than Garroth and Laurance who quickly notice Gene's presence. The three get into a shouting match until weapons are pulled out and a scuffle occurs. This goes on for a bit until Laurance ends up landing a lethal attack on Gene, getting him right in the heart. Gene falls to the ground and Dante, who was watching the entire time, rushes to his brother's side not even caring that he would be caught by Irene's men. Garroth and Laurance are in shock as they weren't expecting this to happen.

With tears pouring down his face, Dante tries to save his big bro by pressing down on Gene's wound. He's desperate to do anything, something as he can't lose Gene too. Gene is the only family he has left after all. But Gene knows there's nothing to be done, he knows he's going to die soon. So with shaking hands, Gene takes off the skull necklace he always wore and hands it to Dante, telling his little bro that he loves him and to be strong for him. Gene takes his last breath, Dante sobs and Laurance feels nausea because he just killed a young boy's older brother right in front of him. Unsure of what to do next, Garroth and Laurance follow Irene's orders of taking any civilians with them so they could be "much safer" at Irene's lair. So they grab Dante who kicks and screams as he doesn't want to be separated from his brother. He especially doesn't want to go with the men that killed his brother.

But being only 12 years old, Dante couldn't really fight back against Garroth and Laurance so he was ultimately taken back to Irene's lair. At the lair, Dante was incredibly stubborn and refused to talk to anyone, didn't want to eat any food that was given to him, didn't want anything to do with the people that he was taught were the enemy. Aphmau would try to get through to him but Dante just ended up yelling at Aphmau that she and her people were monsters that took everything from him. Aphmau silently walks away with Dante's words echoing in her mind. Dante didn't want to be there anymore, he just wanted to be with his brother again. He wanted his old life back. So one day he does something no one expects, he runs away from Irene's lair. The kid has no idea where he's supposed to go now but he just keeps running until he knows that he's far away from Irene's domain.

He's in an alleyway when he hears a strange noise. He turns around and sees some type of creature. A deadly one with a raging hunger in its eyes, eyes that are looking right at Dante. The boy tries slowly walking backwards but ends up tripping and falling on the ground. The creature takes this as its opportunity to strike or it would have but its head gets instantly chopped off in what feels like a split second. Once the adrenaline wore off, Dante realized that there was a man that stood in front of him, holding a large ax and breathing heavily. The man turns around, looking at Dante before walking closer to the boy and outstretching a hand for him to take. Dante did so a little hesitantly, thanked the man and asked him who he was.

The man introduces himself as Zane and begins to scold/ask Dante why the hell he was out there by himself without any sort of adult by his side. Dante hesitates for a second, tears up a little and explains that his older brother had just been killed so he was now left without any family and had no idea where to go or what to do now. Zane softens a little after hearing that and proceeds to offer Dante to come with him to his hideout with his other friends so he can at least have a proper bed to sleep on for the night. Dante at first questions if he's part of Shad or Irene's faction but Zane scoffs at that and says that he and his group aren't part of either faction. They are their own group that gets referred to as The Outcasts by Shad and Irene. Dante finds it odd as he's never heard of The Outcasts before but ultimately decides to go with Zane as he does have no idea where to go now.

When Dante gets to the hideout of The Outcasts, he meets these other friends that Zane was talking about. These people being Janus, Ivy, Lillian, Michi, Travis and Vylad. Dante isn't sure what to think of them at first, he kind of finds some of them to be scary. But soon enough, Dante would learn through them that you can't always judge someone's personality by how they look. He also learns that what he was taught may not be as true as he originally thought. Because then he finally learns how exactly the world became what it is and has to accept the fact that he was possibly lied to his entire life.

Anyways, I think I will end it there for now because I have so much I could keep going on and on about but I don't want to make this too long, you know? But because I care this AU very much I'll most definitely talk about this in the future.

[ava-of-shenanigans]

Various notes from reading all the stories about Ishtar/Inanna mentioned on her Wikipedia page, because I must ABSORB ALL THE ISHTAR KNOWLEDGE INTO MY BRAIN LIKE A SPONGE

One thing I noticed almost immediately is that Inanna/Ishtar is characterized very similarly to Aphrodite in that she acts pretty entitled and presumptuous and gets very mad when things don’t go her way. I think the difference between her and Aphrodite is that Ishtar seems to be enough of a badass to generally finish what she starts.

This makes me wonder if Astarte, being the link between Aphrodite and Ishtar, was characterized like this as well, since so far I’ve only seen her show up in the background of myths.

In Enki and the World Order Enki describes Inanna as: "destroy[ing] what should not be destroyed […] creat[ing] what should not be created." And I thought that sounded like a pretty on point description.

In "Inanna and the Huluppu Tree” Inanna plants and waters a tree with her feet instead of her hands, which is an incredible feat of toe dexterity.

Also in the huluppu tree story a “phantom maid” called Lilitu starts living in the tree, preventing Ishtar from turning it into a throne. Lilitu’s main descriptions in the story is that she “laughs with a joyful heart”. Apparently she might be a precursor to Lilith from Jewish folklore. I’d really like to look into her more, she sounds interesting.

Apparently a hymn called Inanna and Utu contains a myth about Inanna (who doesn’t know anything about sex at the start) getting her brother to take her to the underworld so she can eat fruit from a tree that will let her know about sex. This is supposed to explain how she became the goddess of sex. This story sounds really interesting but I can’t find the hymn or many references to it anywhere, which makes me sad. 

The translation page for the myth Inanna Prefers the Farmer calls it Dumuzid and Enkimdu instead, but I like Inanna Prefers the Farmer better because it sounds like the title of a manga.

I know there are a bunch of love songs/love poems between Dumuzid and Inanna, and I’ll probably want to look into those another time

While doing additional googling about this I found there are also carvings of Inanna and Dumuzid having anal sex. And good for them to be living their best Moche pottery life. (See the reason I’m better than an old timey Egyptologist is cause I make the joke but I still say anal sex out loud.)

In Inanna and Enki it says Enki knows the intentions of all gods. And yet he still gets seduced by Inanna during a drinking contest into giving her all his mes.

I noticed that in a lot of these myths, Inanna/Ishtar is referred to simply as “the woman.” So shoutout to Ishtar for being the ultimate woman I guess.

In Inanna and Ebih, in which Inanna decides to fight a mountain because it wasn’t respecting her, An calls Inanna “My little one” and tells her she doesn’t know what she’s taking on by fighting the mountain. She in fact does and absolutely destroys the thing.

Apparently Inanna’s movements in Inanna and Shukaletuda can be mapped to the movements of Venus through the sky.

Also about Inanna and Shukaletuda: it probably says something that I’m finding myself thinking this, but is so refreshing to read a myth where a rapist is presented as an uncool loser who deserves to be punished. 

I thought I remembered that Inanna went into the underworld in Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld because Dumuzid had died and she wanted to get him back, but no she tells the gatekeeper that she’s come to observe the funeral rites of Ereshkigal’s husband. Also she gets the beings from the underworld to drag Dumuzid to the underworld in her place at the end because he was being all ostentatious instead of mourning her loss.

While in the underworld Inanna girlbosses a bit too close to the sun by demanding that Ereshkigal get off her throne so she can sit on it instead. These seven judges called the Anuna get mad and shout at her, which turns her into a corpse.

The two beings that Enki creates to save Inanna were supposed to be sexless, but I didn’t see anything about it the text of the myth? Maybe that element is elaborated on more somewhere else, or present in the story in a way that couldn’t be translated into English. I’ve heard this element is more present in the Akkadian version, so maybe I’ll look into that more another time. I’ve also heard there was some interesting defiance of the gender binary stuff going on with Ishtar’s priests, and that ambiguous gendering is a characteristic of a lot of goddesses similar to Ishtar, so maybe I’ll look into that later, too.

I’ve noticed that “deciding a destiny” is something gods can do for mortals in a lot of these myths. That’s cool.

The fact that it’s basically just the first part of The Epic of Gilgamesh but with girls and that Ishtar is described as “danc[ing] around gods and kings in her manliness” combine to give the Song of Agušaya (first part of the translation here, second part here) big lesbian energy.

[official-mistah-j]

REIGN WAS MY RX FROM A WANNA-BE HARLEY

he was a man

that said he aint straight

idek

cover up

or cover girl

who f****** knows

a friend of hers

got me through

when there was no one

just songs and tears for you

dancing in my head,

the things we did and words we said

but were they my own, the songs i heard

we wre connected

everything

cycling again

morticia smokes but she doesnt use nic

i think its quite lovely

whatever are we

divine

times 3

a foot for a fucking foot

devil box

my passion

says a dream

joker box

making the world

suitable for Enki

my father in Translyvnia Vampire Cour

The necklaces

are to keep

Dracula's ponty teeth

away

from an andreline rushed

artery--

everything will come to pass

again

nothing ever lasts

maybe though

it will be ink

i create from ashes of you

and i will

blacken

everything

and i will still see

you're riding with death

and im so grateful

maybe the only thing

if being able to see you

right now, my emotions tell me im alive

and my pulse quickens

rocking out, gathering crystals and gems

deejeeing and making and doing silly jokes

that belong in museums

but are quickly forgotten

and our lips are locking

cat has my tongue

and i cant sleep

my nymphetamine,from hell are we, not our fault, this unwanted place, a 3d realty, lol.. to 4d, a little better, in our shadow are we, and i like it, you all men dont deserve to see, a friend of them ill always be, ill always choose a goddess over any man,

well

thats kinda embarrassing

-----------------------

louie did the dishes

samael swept the floor

asmodeus vaccuumed

and satan hid us from the bullets

and jet cursed his woulda been cousin (how cute, our family is being followed ugh by skinwalkers that are more real, more "in the flesh" of a skin walker, you know, clawed hands and points knows, im a man with a heart black as sin, and they said leave that one alone, boy, and they will again, and yes,my sisters youngest son, they never let em grow up, he's a bit of a suck up, but if you believe in santa, you';l get mre presents and in my house, im carolling, cause thats my prison

christmas land

he said i did a good job

with a smile on his face

of handling gifting this year

and things to bake

(though i didnt partake)

im clean off everything,

so much time on my hands

meant to play

and wither things

it screamt she is a bad mommy and shes soory

prolly cause shes really the dad

in heaven and hell and prison and in the well

and between these dimensions inbetween these realms called heaven and hell

you arent the first to see this dream this, scene

she said

"little girl"

and i will forever

guard our dream, no longer dead

using these powers, to bring to life instead

and happy nightmares

[pryotra]

It has been many months since LB 6 has been released so I hope you don't mind answering this without problem from spoilers. What is GilHaku's and Proto Merthur's reaction to the truth behind the creation of Avalon Le Fae, such as laziness of the 6 Great Fairies that resulted in not forging Excalibur and them backstabbing the God Cernunnos and using his corpse to make the land, as well as the terrible fate the Human Priestess suffered as a breeding machine.

hehe

Gilgamesh, it must be understood, has no pity for the lostbelts and less for the Crypters. They're dead timelines. Corpses, that have been propped up into some macabre dance while their masters pretend they are as good or better than reality. While he sees some potential in people like Paxti and the twins, he finds their existence, thrown into a world that will devour them, to be an insult.

As such, it's not surprising that he sees this world as an aberration. The horrors of it are, to him, just more proof that this is a world that deserves no pity and should not deserve to exist. In his words, this isn't a world he wants to rule. By the time he's seen heard that humans were devoured, he'd already taken out Enki. Maybe it's a mercy?

Hakuno is the one who is horrified. The absolute and utter casual cruelty of the fairies makes her stomach turn. The fate of Cernunnos, the fact that the planet itself is just trying to die at this point, and the final fate of the Human Priestess. All of it is just a litany of horror that never ends. So much that when, at the end of everything, and Gilgamesh has unleashed his wrath, she can't bring herself to comfort Percival at the end. This wasn't a beautiful world. In this one incident, she can't even stand against Gilgamesh's rage as he ends everything. She can't even pretend there was something worth saving. Maybe if she wasn't human, maybe if she hadn't seen how things could be...but this...this was hell, and she can only hope that some form of reincarnation exists, and those people who were thrown into it, get something better.

For Arthur it's a slap in the face.

He once, as he lay dying, cursed his reign, thinking that someone, anyone, could have been a better king than him. Now he sees the results of the fae without any restraints on them, and a version of Morgan who is horrifying.

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

i saw your post on rin isthar and i completely agree with you. isthar is better when written as just herself, not as rin or as someone to be paired along with enkidu and gil. that’s why the isthar from strange fake is amazing to me. because she’s not just rin or someone to be with gil and enki. she’s herself. she’s allowed to show her true colors and isn’t as watered down as fgo isthar. i love when isthar in sf is just straight up terrible, because of that. we deserve a better isthar honestly

i keep hearing good things about strange fake, going 'i should read strange fake', and then not reading it...

but yes! basically whenever you take a character and use them just as an accessory to someone else it always ends up hurting their chances to develop on their own, and it's hard for ishtar bc she wasn't necessarily like that in her intro chapter but she's definitely degraded a bit in fgo, which does like to reference 'meta' jokes, and it really shows how much of a good change it is when they let them stand on their own as a character. like i remember reading somewhere one of the reasons eresh works so well was because the writers forgot she was a rinface and its like...yeah....

tldr; if you're going to have a character reference other characters/works don't use it as the crutch for their entire character, let them stand out on their own. or at least don't make their interlude revolve around someone else?