#it’s the having a superiority and inferiority complex at the same time isn’t it

[vampelune]

ill have peace when people realize that theres barely any romantic implications beyond waifubait with hajime & chiaki in sdr2 (hajime is even like “what is up with this girl” multiple times because she cant hold convo, love her) meanwhile there’s immediately romantic implications between hajime & nagito

hajime and chiaki’s relationship is not inherently romantic beyond it being a boy and a girl who care about each other, and people thinking that needs to be romantic. it makes more sense as an important friendship. because chiaki is important to and cares about ALL of her classmates in the same way.

but ultimately chiaki COULDN’T save hajime. not in dr3. it’s true that a vision of her manages to talk hajime out of his despair in chapter 6. but the REAL chiaki could NOT save him from himself, because she has a fundamental mismatch and doesn’t truly understand his feelings on worthlessness and lack of talent. she has a talent, she even says to him that it’s “harder” to be talented than not, and she’d prefer it. that’s completely ignoring his feelings on the matter.

while it can be argued that dr3 shows more romantic implications between them, it’s also where she’s least compatible and helpful for him. she can’t understand why he’s so upset about talent, so she can’t talk him out of his mindset and prevent him from doing the project. even if she doesn’t know that’s what her words are doing, she still fails.

i won’t say komaeda would talk him out of it, because i don’t think many people could. hajime hates himself deeply enough to become another person, it’s hard to talk anyone out of that mindset. but komaeda understands hajime in a way no one else does - because everyone else in sdr2 is talented, and doesn’t really ride or die for the whole “talented vs untalented” dichotomy, but they don’t not participate in it. 

komaeda isn’t really talented on the other hand, and he even wishes he wasn’t, and treats himself like he isn’t. because he believes he doesn’t deserve the title. just like hinata, he believes strongly in the worth of ultimates and the worthlessness in comparison of those beneath them - like himself and hinata.

komaeda’s worldview is nearly the exact same as hinata’s, just pushed a bit further and a bit more twisted. hinata’s worldview isn’t any more healthy than komaeda’s, either - a healthy worldview doesn’t lead to you lobotomizing yourself. they understand each other in a way no one else in sdr2 can because they both have this inferiority/superiority complex about talent.

that’s why the narrative revolves around them so much. their stories begin and end with each other.

chiaki is important to hajime, yes, but not in any romantic sense. they’re friends. and that’s fine. a male and a female character don’t have to be romantic to be deeply important to each other. danganronpa is not above putting an m/f ship as endgame, this is obvious with naegiri, and if that was ever the intention with hajime and chiaki they would’ve. but instead we see a literal scene where hajime leaves his memory of chiaki behind and moves on from her, as he needs to, as they all need to, carrying her memory with him but not living in the past, and as he leaves her he joins nagito instead.

and this is the FINAL shot of them. to end the series.  i think it’s pretty clear what they intended with this.

essentially, nagito and hajime complete each other. they are soulmates. end of ramble

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

hori constantly acts as if he isn’t the writer and has full control of the story and it pisses me off to no end. gonna drop some examples below. these are from the street wear profiles from the manga.

sen kaibara - “I love his Quirk, so I can’t wait to portray it more.” he’s acting like something/someone is actively holding him back from doing so.

tetsutetsu tetsutetsu - “I hope I get to show him in action more.” once again, acting like something is stopping him. side note, why tf did he give him that name. it’s just so lazy. and it’s not even funny. just annoying to say and annoying to write.

hanta sero - “He’s mostly just for one liners in the background, but he’s a good guy, and I’d like to feature him more. At some point. For sure.” and then proceeds to never do that.

this might just be me being bitter abt all the amazing characters he’s completely disregarded and disrespected. this might just be me not understanding what it’s like being a mangaka. but it still bothers me.

i just hate how he’s created this insanely interesting world and amazing characters and never expands on anything bc he’s too busy sucking bakugos dick.

speaking of bakugo, as someone who has narcissistic tendencies, he’s a textbook case.

he obviously has some sort of inferiority/superiority complex and a mild to severe case of a god complex. at best he’s dismissive of people who he sees as inferior to him, at worst he’s downright cruel.

his “nicknames” are all just fucking insults aimed at peoples insecurities.

raccoon eyes/horns: mina was probably bullied for her appearance and then her so called “friend” exclusively calls her names that poke fun at her appearance.

bird brain/bird face/other bird names: tokoyami has probably heard it all at this point but once again bakugo making fun of heteromorphs.

dunce face: denki has shown to be insecure about his intelligence and once again his so called “friend” mocks him for it.

tentacles/arms/octopus: again, mocking heteromorphs.

tail: i’m beginning to see a pattern here.

ears: ok how has no one pointed out how most of his nicknames are him basically just calling them slurs.

i don’t think bakugo has ever called someone their actual name. maybe a handful of times? but it’s like a massive event when he calls someone by their actual name.

exclusive calling people insults isn’t exactly heroic.

anyway rant over i just needed to get all this shit off my chest.

No, no honey, go the fuck off.

I will say as a writer, I have experience with 'my characters have a mind of their own' and that through writing our plans have to change because the characters adapt more, but I will also say that Hori dropped the ball BIG TIME.

I am firmly of the belief that he had to have been pushed into making some choices by the publishing company because like... dude! You have so much cool stuff and you focus on Bakugou? The 'rich kid with superiority/inferority issues' you find in every drama?

All the insults is just another tick in the 'let's be honest no one would like this guy in real life' column, and it is so fucking funny to me that people try to romantisize that shit. Hell, look what everyone does to the name Deku.

'Oh he couldn't read it properly'

Did you watch or read the manga? Cause he did, and realized that it could also mean this.

'He called Izuku Zuku before'

No.

'It was after-'

Nope, before the diagnosis, also the fact people try to use it to excuse it is fucked up. It would be like calling me the r word for my autism as a 'fun nickname'.

(I will say I know people with the same first and last name in real life. Some own it, some go by a middle name. I think it's funny that his name is Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu)

I saw someone say Bakugou has face blindness but even then you're right. Why the fuck is he making those jokes? He's like that white friend who makes racist jokes you ignore but will say someone is being sensitive when he gets called out.

Bakugou is just... ugh. He's so boring. My anger towards him has become: you're just a dull little man.

[clowns0up-felix]

i’m OBSESSED with the way you characterize link in your reversal of fate AU…. i feel like people like to focus mostly on zelda’s pre-botw trauma (which is totally fair since it’s what the game mostly focuses on) but they forget that link has been training as a “sacred knight of the goddess”since he was 4,,,,, that cannot be healthy!!! (i like to give him both a superiority and an inferiority complex because of this,, like the kind of stuff you get growing up as a gifted kid)

also people tend to mostly excuse giving him a carefree demeanor because he’s an amnesiac but i feel that subconsciously he would still have some of the bias that comes with being such an important figure even though he’s not anymore,..

Thank you!!! I really do think he has some deep issues because of his upbringing (as well as the whole calamity stuff ofc haha),,, Though I think he does gets way more carefree and silly in botw without his memories but I couldn’t imagine that his body doesn’t remember! I think his body tenses every time he’s in the castle, he gets stiff when the ghost of the king is revealed, and stuff like that,,, My post botw pre totk Link Design is wearing the leg piece from the hylian armor set. I think this is because he desperately tries to tie himself to the person he was pre botw, like he’s still fulfilling his duty, even a hundred years after his role stopped existing basically. That part isn’t too though through yet so I might revamp it but rn it’s kinda what I think! I like to make him complex in a way where he clings onto someone he’s not, but someone he (in his eyes) should’ve been (also same thing with the triforce scar!) ((I also love exploring Zelda’s trauma and experience, both of them have such great characterization potential!!!))

Him having both a superior and inferior complex is really interesting! The inferior complex is something I also see but the superior one is new to me,,, personally I think he prefers to be a nobody but I love that hc it’s so cool!! Maybe I could see him sometimes falling into a stoic superiority around people? I’ll think on it

Sorry for the ramble, this might be a little non-sensical, I don’t keep good track of my thoughts

Thanks for the ask!

[shions-chin-scar]

do you have any sad headcanons about shion?

A few, yeah!

- Has a massive inferiority-superiority complex with an absolute zero in self-worth. No one who's actually confident goes around babbling about how much stronger and better they are than everyone around them. And remember how it's mentioned that he dislikes "cocky bastards" in the character book? Take that as self-loathing or insecurity, but either way it's well-known that people tend to dislike traits in others that mirror their own least favorite traits.

- Related to the above point, the main way Shion tries to increase his self-worth himself is through comparison with others. He looks up to Izana as an ideal to reach for, while also being immensely frustrated that he'll never be on his level (see: his conversation with Rindou in the charabook). He demolishes opponents without mercy, with a brutality that we've seen shocks even his own gang members, because it gives him proof that he actually has worth - more than those weaklings he's just beaten at least. He’s stronger and strength equals worth in the world of delinquents/gangs. His enjoyment of fighting isn’t just about the process itself (though he probably enjoys the adrenaline rush that comes with it), it’s about the validation.

- Thrives on praise and the admiration of others, so he constantly has to act tough, look good, and prove his worth. He can’t stand the idea of being left behind, forgotten, or dying useless and unwanted, which is why he always overcompensates in every direction. He's also very easily manipulated because of this.

- The reason why he cares about Tenjiku so much is because he's never felt like he had a place he belonged before. The gang didn't just give him a status and power, it gave him comrades that came from similar circumstances as him. Tenjiku is his safe haven, something he can fall back on and be sure and certain of the safety net available. Nothing was the same after it got disbanded.

- Was "raised" by a single, shitty dad. I'm sorry but his behavior just screams daddy issues to me. Said dad didn't visit him once during his time in juvie when he was 13. Shion ended up moving out (running away) when he was 16. He now lives in a small, run down apartment, but rent is cheap and no one bothers him aside from the landlord.

- His humiliating defeat against Mikey as the Black Dragon leader took a huge toll on him because not only did he lose his gang and leader position, he disappointed Izana, the person he admires most in the world. He was eager to prove himself during the opening match against Toman years later because it was supposed to be his "redemption".

- Was the one who took Izana's death the hardest aside from Kakucho.

- Has had several flings but no actual relationship by the time of Kanto Manji Gang. It's not that he's against it per se, he's just... very difficult to deal with. Of course that just reinforced him in his idea that he's inherently unlovable, which shows up on the surface as "no one is good enough for me anyway".

[roszabell]

some of matthew’s character/relationship flaws

Because he’s not perfect, and that’s what makes his personality of genuine kindness and gentleness so wonderful in the long run. He chooses to be empathetic, positive and warm, even when sometimes it’s difficult for him to do so.

Altruistic

^ Inferiority complex, yet at the same time convinced hes morally superior to everyone ("free healthcare and lack of gun crime eh!!" bro ur doing the bare minimum)

His self-esteem issues partly stem from trauma, and partly are just his personality. that said, he can tend to have a victim complex and make his own self-esteem issues everyone else’s problem (deflecting)

^ RE: the victim complex, he’s also kind of a gaslighter (to himself and others)

Passive-aggressive tendencies when something is wrong, and he can really be a judgmental asshole sometimes. but this ONLY exists in his head unless he really actually flips his lid (he also almost always feels bad abt the thoughts).

Clingy, anxious-attachment style - gets jealous ridiculously easily, though he may not want to be

Unhealthy coping methods: soft drugs, sleeping as avoidance, isolation. He doesn’t want to ask for help (n sometimes will outright refuse it) but he really does want someone to find him like this and help him. (Very much teenager crying in their room after an argument and just hoping someone will come check on them :( won’t take initiative himself though)

Honestly very whiney, and wallows in his mental health issues and doesn’t take steps to help himself unless pushed. (That said, I do think he drags himself to a therapist, even if he doesn’t take their advice). Often casually self-deprecating, he’s not being a pick-me he’s just thinking aloud or fawning/anxious, but after a time sympathy wanes and it can get old for others around him

TBH, secretly attention-whore (he’s really not that different from Alfred, at their cores)

Fatal flaw: selfless and loyal to a fault, if he decides he loves you, then boom he’s attached for life unless something major tears him away. (This can also make him overbearing or bitter if the feeling isn’t returned T-T the strong loyalty that he feels so naturally, if not mutual it makes him feel betrayed) Will stand up for the people he loves/trusts even when they’re atrociously wrong, or kill for them in a heartbeat, it brings out that side of him almost scarily. Even when that person doesn’t want him to; overstepping. The selflessness comes out in the more negative way that he doesn’t think much of himself, so he’ll gladly take someone’s place in death/sacrifice, without really thinking. He needs to value himself more :(

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

Takeomi, Self-Esteem and Denial (and more)

@raizelswitch, thank you for waiting!

TL;DR : I want a BD spin-off and I want it from Takeomi’s POV even though he’d be such an unreliable narrator (and like that we could also have a Akashi siblings spin-off, two birds, one stone). Takeomi has a lot of issues and making him raise children and naming him vice captain was a bad idea since it only made things worse. He had developed both an inferiority and superiority complex to cope. And we were robbed of any interaction between him and Inui, the other famous ‘can’t let go of Black Dragon even after x years’ character.

Who wants to read about 17,000 words about Takeomi (I didn’t expect to write this much, what the heck)? Clearly not Tumblr because I spent way too much time having to reorder this post, it mixed it all up everytime ! It also refused to post it for hours

The translations of Wakasa’s and Benkei’s ‘a day in his life’ as well as Takeomi’s failure story come from the Twitter user RanHaruchiyo

I feel like I made a few mistakes so there : English is not my native language, I apologize if some sentences don’t make sense. Sorry for any type of typos as well.

I referred to the past (beside the final timeline) as ‘canon-timeline’ several times because I had no clue how to name it. It’s not the futures, it’s not the original or final timeline, it’s… it’s the past until the final timeline comes in.

When you reach the top – the only way is down. (and up and down…)

Let’s get started with something very quick – Takeomi was created to be the exact opposite of Shinichiro. And when you’re the exact opposite of a character who’s perfectly good, loved by everyone (other characters and fans alike), then the writer uses you to be bad. Not necessarily evil - Takeomi isn’t evil - but ‘not good’.

And Wakui doesn’t shy away from that. I’m keeping the analysis of the kanji of the Akashi and Sano siblings’ names for the end, so I’ll just talk about the ‘shi’ of ‘Akashi’ here, to show what I mean.

司 (Akashi) means ‘administrator, official, a governor whom the emperor chose to carry on the imperial policies in provinces’. It fits Takeomi’s role pretty much, right ? He had a high rank in Black Dragon, but Shinichiro was above and that’s when it starts to be very interesting. 司 upside down gives 后. And it means ‘monarch, king, emperor, queen, empress’ – nice coincidence, isn’t it ?. It’s literally the same kanji upside down. Takeomi is Shinichiro upside down. Is that why he’s the rain bringer while Shinichiro, always being seen in a positive light, would be linked to the sun ? I already thought of Takeomi as a ‘teru teru bozu’ since they’re supposed to bring rain when hung upside down and it’s not stupid to think of Shinichiro, oh so perfect Shinichiro, as a ‘sun bringer’ – after all, like Mikey, he took over Japan, did he not ?

Plus, the sun is their most famous goddess (Amaterasu)’s symbol, Japan’s symbol, and by such the emperor’s symbol.

And when you’re that. When you’re the mirror of such a perfect character, how can you not be made but only of flaws ? You’re made to be bad in everything he is good – and the opposite isn’t guaranteed to be true. What if making you good in things he’s bad in makes you good ? No, no, you’re supposed to be bad. Because he’s good, and you’re his polar opposite. He’s bad in excusable things. You’re bad in barely forgivable things. It’s not important for him to be a horrible fighter, even in a story centered around gang fights. It’s unforgivable for you to not know how to raise your siblings, in a story built on siblings' relationships.

And Shinichiro is great at raising Mikey and Emma, while Takeomi isn’t that much of a fighter. We see him fight a bit when he goes with Brahman to confront South about Draken’s death, but it’s not big important fights, Benkei and Wakasa, and later Senju, are the ones fighting. And Benkei and Wakasa were Black Dragon 1st generation’s main fighting power, as the guard and special attack unit captains.

(Heck, Shinichiro is listed n°1 best in bikes riders, Takeomi is n°3 worst - yet another thing he's either bad or average at. (Wakasa is n°3 best, we dont know where Benkei lies. Mikey is 2nd best, Takemichi and Senju are respectively 1st and 2nd worse))

Shinichiro is good, even when he kills. Takeomi is only ever bad or less-bad. Perhaps Wakui initially planned scenes where he was ‘good’, but they never came to be, so instead we’re stuck with a character who has a potential for a redemption arc and who never got it.

(Look at this ! He became self aware! And finally stopped living in denial !)

(We never see him again after this btw. He never gets to talk to Sanzu.)

If there’s one thing Takeomi is good at, it’s strategy.

He is feared, he is called « God of War », he is named vice-captain…

By other people. By other delinquents. By Shinichiro.

He doesn’t think he’s the reason all of that happens. He isn’t those things, he receives them (use of passive voice). By such, if people don’t give him, then he’s left with nothing. No matter if he is good at something, if people aren’t there to tell him, then he doesn’t think he is. Takeomi thinks of his worth, his validity as a person by how others perceive him - they praise him ? He must be great ! They ignore him ? How pathetic has he become.

When do people say that ? When he’s Black Dragon Vice-Captain. When is he Black Dragon vice-captain ? When Shinichiro is on top. That’s why he panics in chapter 230 when Shinichiro tells him about disbanding the gang. If the gang gets disbanded, what does he have left ? If Shinichiro tells him to stop following him around (chapter 230: “I was always by Shin’s side”) what is he supposed to do ? He is but “an ordinary kid. Whether it be in sports, or studies, [...] just average. [...] a normal child, not special at all” (same chapter) whose childhood friend “had a mysterious charm that attracted people around him. Even with that charm, Shin never resorted to violence.[...]he was just very earnest and kind” (same chapter). Without Black Dragon he’s nothing. Without Shinichiro he’s nothing. Because he never learnt to let go of Shinichiro‘s hand, nor did he wish to. But Shinichiro just.. let go one day. We know how Shinichiro is. If he was aware of how much he is needed by Takeomi, he would have done things differently. And while he shouldn’t be responsible for Takeomi’s well-being, he is the reason whether Takeomi’s self-esteem is stable (or a bit too much over the top) or not. Takeomi made him responsible for it, and Shinichiro surely would’ve helped if he figured it out, (because Takeomi is a stranger to himself and wouldn’t have ever asked for help (he doesn’t know he needs help after all)), but Shinichiro didn’t. The same way Mikey didn’t notice why Baji acted the way he did during Valhalla arc until it was too late. It’s not because they’re childhood friends that they read each other like an open book.

Shinichiro, while he never intended to and we can’t blame him for this either, is the reason Takeomi turned out like he did. Takeomi followed him everywhere, he wouldn’t have entered delinquency if Shinichiro didn’t. Takeomi tried so hard to climb to Shinichiro’s level and kept comparing himself to him and it got worse when he was appointed the role of vice-president. His ego skyrocketed. And even if Shinichiro had noticed it, would he have figured out how to change that ? For sure, if he knew how to help he’d have helped – then again, would Takeomi accept this help ? He’s a professional when it comes to denial, he pushes everyone away. And denial is what he does best. From denying he would be nothing without the other Black Dragon founding members and hiding behind his God of War persona, to denying his involvement in Senju and Sanzu’s life. Even if Shinichiro, Wakasa and Benkei did try to help, you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped, who refuses to believe there’s something wrong, and by doing so who refuses to talk about it. It’s all made to protect himself from the truth. Because the truth will hurt him, facing it will make him realize he’s not special and that will shatter his self-esteem. It will make him feel painful emotions he can’t deal with. So he runs away from it, and thus, dives deeper into misery. If you refuse to see the problem, then it will grow, and Takeomi’s problems, his mistakes, grow a lot. The world changes but he doesn’t, he keeps the same behaviors, and soon they turn against him. His fame turns into debts. Debts he can’t pay anymore, but he refuses to admit it. Because he would have been able to pay, if Black Dragon had remained. Takeomi likes to live in luxury (his dream is to be a multimillionaire), so he’d keep on denying the fact he can’t afford it anymore just to carry on living this way.

Maybe the reason him and Wakasa & Benkei aren’t close isn’t that they see him as ‘Shinichiro’s childhood friend we’re obligated to endure/tolerate even though he’s insufferable’ (when the BD founding members interact, Wakasa and Benkei always tease, laugh at Shinichiro, chapter 230, Benkei “Look at all your battle scars !” Shinichiro, “Quit it !” Wakasa, “A loser in both fights and love !” Shinichiro “Hey man, that's none of your business”; chapter 269: Benkei “You sure are dumb, Shinichiro !” Wakasa, “Haha. Well, that's shin-chan for ya.”) they’re never shown as friendly toward Takeomi) but more that, even if they did try, Takeomi, unconsciously, never let them know who he really was underneath it all. To be fair, Takeomi lied to himself so strongly he wasn’t aware he wasn’t this façade he had created. I’m not sure if Wakasa and Benkei succeeded in seeing through his lies, Takeomi himself surely didn’t. Shinichiro was left but whether it be the original timeline or not, he didn’t succeed to help Takeomi. Takeomi compares himself to others (him being an ordinary kid vs Shinichiro not being one), is sensitive to criticism and compliments alike (while he didn’t seem hurt when Kakucho uno-reversed him by asking him if he had forgotten about Shinichiro after Takeomi had asked him if he had forgotten about Izana, he did react, unlike Kakucho who remained unfazed; “Drunk in the praises of my name, I became arrogant”), seeks attention and validation, makes things about himself (“[...]He talks about the Brahman Senju created as if he created it. [...] I remember he used to brag about Shinichiro's achievements as if he himself had done them[...]”, Benkei’s ‘a day in his life’) and has troubles admitting his faults (even if he eventually apologizes in chapter 230 to Senju, he is fighting back tears while doing so). Those are all things inferiority and superiority complexes share (beside the low self-esteem). And while there are signs we can’t be 100% sure he has, reading about Takeomi echoes to those two complexes. First, inferiority complex. Feeling insecure, incomplete or unworthy → “not special at all”; “I was broke and powerless“; ”at the lowest of low. But they accepted me as I was”. Withdrawal → “I got news of Shin's death. But I was too busy in struggling for money.”, that ‘too busy with money’ (in good (“treated as a VIP [...] never got short on money” and in bad “my debts piling up”) seems like the perfect excuse to avoid your friends and family. All or nothing thinking, things are either good or bad → he’s either at the top of Japan and everything is doing great or he’s not and nothing’s working in his life. Insecurity in relationships → Benkei and Wakasa are his disliked/feared people because "they look down on me" (3rd guide book) (there is no proof of that but I’ll dig into that later). Feeling good when doing better than others → only felt at ease when he was the God of War. Finding fault in others, demeaning others as a way to transfer their feelings → will go back to it way later, but his relationship with Sanzu is basically that. Shutting down because of shame, guilt, embarrassment or an inward sense of defeat → once again, what he did after he started to be indebted.

For superiority complex there’s : hiding feelings of mediocrity and underlying or persistent low self-esteem or feelings of inferiority → hiding his “powerless”, “ordinary” and all behind his mask of second in command of Black Dragon and Brahman. High valuation of self-worth, a self-image of supremacy or authority, overarching belief that they are better than others → “the first generation Black Dragon once ruled the nation - with me as the vice captain. I was feared, since my decisions determined how any conflict would end. I was called the « God of War »” . Feelings of entitlements and boastful claims that aren’t backed up by reality → he brags about Senju and Shinichiro’s achievements, they aren’t his own (even though he must have some). Which goes with: need to be in control → he’s the one who’s in charge of making Brahman gain money (and he’s the one who decided of it, Senju is against his ways), Brahman listens to him when he says they’re attacking Rokuhara Tendai and not to Senju who tell them to stop, and is convinced Senju is only where she is thanks to him, Wakasa and Benkei being around and dealing with everything (chapter 229, Takeomi: “Senju got herself included in the ‘three deities’ only through first gen Black Dragon’s support. Senju can't take this fight alone !”).

There are also signs which I can’t find quotes or panels to say Takeomi has them but, knowing the character, it wouldn’t be surprising. These include : feelings of hostility, frustration, nervousness, or aggression (he does express those but given the context it's justifiable; he's impulsively decide to go against Rokuhara Tendai even though Senju tells him no because they aren't ready, Benkei says "It's no use, Takeomi has lost his cool". There's also his nicotine addiction which does not help). Highly competitive, perfectionist paired with an avoidance for any kind of competition where efforts might be compared with others’ ; don’t do something if there are risks one would fail (he dislikes efforts (3rd guide book), so that may mean he only does things when he’s sure of his own capacities and refuse to leave his comfort zone, he doesn’t participate/try if he’s not sure of succeeding). And : unwillingness to listen to others (if BD founding members tried to take his head out of the sand, it failed). Overcompensation to specific elements of life (perhaps linked to his childhood but we have no information about it). Mood swings, often made worse by contradiction from another person (→ him seemingly aloof, becoming mad very quickly at Sanzu when he or Senju do something wrong ? His whole reaction to Draken’s death; “I'm gonna destroy Rokuhara Tandai right now.[...] Assemble everyone in Brahman for an emergency meeting !!”, followed by South’s comment in chapter 225: “It's so rare to see Akashi getting all rowdy like this.” and Senju’s trying to calm him down (only making it worse). Takeomi’s interaction with Kakucho about Izana and Shinichiro in chapter 212 too maybe). Gets offended if there’s no positive feedback.

I will like to add that no official list of signs exist or if it does, I didn’t find it. But knowing how both of these complexes work, it was interesting to talk about it, in my opinion.

(By the way, Takeomi was listed number 1 worst at ‘who is needy when dating ?’ (whereas Sanzu and Wakasa were 1st and 2nd best). Except that in Takeomi’s case the reason he’s not needy is because he's straight-up avoidant which isn't better. As opposed to Senju and Draken (2nd and 3rd worst) who seem non-needy in a healthy way.)

Takeomi wants to stand at the top, Shinichiro knows how to go up there, so he just has to tag along, easy-peasy. But like for a jungle gym, you have to get down one day. Did Shinichiro want to become Japan's number 1 ? I’m not that sure. It may have been a goal, but not the main one. What he liked most was the journey, not the destination, if it was then he wouldn’t have disbanded Black Dragon. But Takeomi wants to go on top of the jungle gym. Takeomi wants to be Japan number 1. Forever. Takeomi wants to learn how you get up there and how to stay/keep standing still.

That’s one of the most tragic point with Takeomi in my opinion. He was the brain of Black Dragon, he was the brain of Braham (it may have been an excuse but Senju recruited him for his guidance, his wisdom), and he was, supposedly as Mikey’s advisor, the brain of Bonten. He knows how to get on top of Japan. He knows how to become influential, how to make money (Brahman’s B-1 fighting club), how to recruit people and make them stay, he knows which decision to take to assure victory or defeat.

He’s smart, insanely. And he. doesn’t. see. it. If he did, he could have managed to live without the gang.

For Takeomi, it’s not that he becomes number 1, it’s that there’s a number 1 by his side and he knows how to follow them (his special skill is ‘taking advantage of others’ (3rd guide book)). He is aware he was the lead actor as to why victory or defeat were but – Takeomi isn’t a fighter. Wakasa and Benkei are. Shinichiro sucked at it but he was still insanely strong.

Takeomi doesn’t fight and that’s not his role. He likely knows how to pull out punches and other fight moves but as a ‘God Of War’ he’s mainly a strategist. He takes decisions, Shin agrees or not (and Shin is the one who has the last say), Wakasa and Benkei, and the rest of the gang, apply. (chapter 224, Benkei answering “yes, sir” to one of Takeomi’s command (even though Senju is clearly against it))

However, he’s not the one who brought them together. All of what he has. It’s thanks to Shinichiro. Wouldn’t be number 1 without him. Wouldn’t be friends with Wakasa and Benkei without him. Takeomi lives on what Shinichiro gave him. Him, an average, good-for-nothing kid. And when it’s time to say farewell to all of that – he doesn’t.

Shinichiro has his own shop. Wakasa and Benkei have their own gym.

Takeomi stays as if he was still on top. As if he wasn’t already falling, as if the impact on the ground wouldn’t damage him. As if Shinichiro, who decided climbing the jungle gym wasn’t fun anymore, didn’t stop stabilizing him.

He lives in denial. And it works at the beginning. People still think of them as number 1 so it’s not too hard. But then they realize they aren’t. But Takeomi is an average kid. In everything. He’s only good at what Shinichiro designed him as. And he didn’t think he'd be good at it. He isn’t good at anything else. He can’t do anything else. So it goes on.

The debts pill up.

Shinichiro dies.

And ? And repeat. Without the debts, this time.

Senju, joyous, cheerful, strong-willed Senju, asks him to join her gang. As her second in command. Even though he is “broke and powerless”. “At the lowest of low” (chapter 230). Even though Wakasa and Benkei are right there.

(Shinichiro asked him to be his vice captain. Even though Takeomi was average, good at nothing but following his childhood friend around. Even though Shinichiro had become friends with Wakasa and Benkei who were in this world since way longer.)

And so Brahman is created.

Their prestige comes back. They remember mannerisms days after days, they remember how you do it. Brahmam grows. They have hundreds of members, they make a lot of money with deals and underground fights. Whereas Wakasa and Benkei moved on (or, way more than Takeomi did), Takeomi didn’t and it shows even in their Brahman uniforms. If you look closely, they don’t have the same patterns on their sleeves – Wakasa and Benkei both got flowers, although different from the other’s (same thing for Senju) but Takeomi has a dragon. (Average Brahman members have the same thing they have on the back of their uniforms)

Draken dies. Draken dies. He shouts it – It’s not a childish brawl (chapter 224). I find it hard to believe that during Black Dragon 1st Gen, they never lost anyone, but Draken’s death snaps him back to reality. It isn’t like it was with Shinichiro. There’s no fun. It’s war. Standing at the top isn’t like standing on a jungle gym. Draken is dead and so is Shinichiro. Why isn’t he ? (chapter 225, Takeomi: “Souuuuuuuth !! Why did you kill Draken !? He wasn't even a formal member of Brahman ! If you wanted to kill someone it should've been me !”)

Either Draken dies, or Senju does.

For what else would have Takeomi joined Bonten ? Actually, let me change that question ; where is and what does Senju do in Bad Toman and Manila timelines ?

Because Mikey goes down a dark path in all the timelines so, did she try to stop him ? If yes, is she dead ? The three deities battle might or not have happened (South wouldn’t have the same members if that’s the case – Tenjiku never came to be in Bad Toman and Izana is alive in Manila). And… And if that’s the case or not – why are Wakasa, Benkei and Takeomi nowhere to be seen ?

Wakasa and Benkei work in a way that opposes Takeomi. Not only with how they dealt with Black Dragon disbandment but how they dealt with Senju’s death. No matter how it happened, Takeomi joins Mikey after his sister’s death (Bonten), Wakasa and Benkei join Kanto Manji when Senju doesn’t (nowhere to be seen in Bonten).

Difference being, if Senju dies, Wakasa can’t witness Mikey’s dark impulses and can’t talk to him about it. And even if he witnessed it, if Senju is dead, would Wakasa care ? Wakasa must know there’s nothing against the dark impulses so why join Kanto Manji ? They love Senju, their princess, do they want to keep her safe ? Surely. Why take this option then?

It's never stated. So it's interpretation/theory time.

Wakasa would choose Shinichiro over Mikey. In chapter 270, he says "Honeslty speaking, I'm glad that Manjiro has passed. I was worried that you'd be first to die [...] Right now, you're just rotting away", now, Wakasa from the original timeline and from canon-timeline aren't the same. Original timeline Wakasa had the time to accept Shinichiro had lost his brother (and Mikey could perhaps regain consciousness one day, but the more day passes, the more the chances lower), but he couldn't see his friend rot away. His previously bright and charismatic friend was being devoured by sleep deprivation, helplessness and so much more. Hence, if Mikey dying would free Shinichiro from his suffering (although it would also add to it, he wouldn't have to work himself to the bone to take care of Mikey, and would finally have time to process all of what happened to him) then Wakasa is okay with it. Shinichiro is important to him, more than Mikey could ever be.

Wakasa, is the only person Shinichiro talked to about the original timeline. Out of the two people knowing about it, Wakasa is the one Shinichiro went to to tell him about it (Sanzu is the other and he came to Shinichiro asking about it). We don't know if Shinichiro planned to tell more people, and if yes, Wakasa was on the top of his list. Thus, this means Wakasa had heard Shinichiro telling him he killed a man and then himself. Because Mikey died. So that Mikey won't die. And he probably was murdered because of it later on too, because Shinichiro told him the homeless man's last words – because Shinichiro told him everything with every details.

So, when Wakasa finally sees Mikey again, sees the level of destruction he causes, sees that he kills like it's nothing, like he's enjoying it, this boy his friend killed for to keep alive... Well, Wakasa, dragging Benkei along, joined Kanto Manji to keep Mikey alive — because that's what Shinichiro sacrificed himself for, so, so many times. He can only stay near Mikey and try to not have him killed when they're in a world where being murdered is common. Mikey is strong, but he won't ever survive a bullet shot in the wrong place.

For Takeomi though, when he joins Bonten, his sister is dead. After his best friend. He failed the two people who meant the most to him and who appointed him as their second in command because they trusted him. He let them die. It’s not a child game anymore. South signed his death warrant.

And Takeomi hasn’t seen Mikey or Sanzu in years. (They’re the only ones left, he can’t leave them alone. He can’t stay alone.)

That’s the first theory. Second is, he crashes, he and Mikey end up meeting again, he gives him the role as his advisor. Rinse, repeat. The circle continues ; Bonten is at the top of Japan. Mikey is at the top of Japan – and that, even without Kisaki. 

Even without Kisaki.

Is Takeomi on the same level as Kisaki ? I don’t know. Kisaki is the moon to Mikey’s sun. But what was Takeomi to Shinichiro ? Perhaps his rain. And I'll keep going with the ‘perhaps’, because we’re never shown what Takeomi is to Shinichiro, beside a friend. Every meaningful interaction they have is from Takeomi’s POV. In Shinichiro’s chapters, Takeomi is briefly mentioned once when Sanzu gets out of the juvenile center, then when Shinichiro time leaps, he is too focused on Mikey to give (me) us any useful interaction/thought about Takeomi. There’s only one case, “Takeomi…” in chapter 273 but without that ? The start of chapter 269 is shallow. It gives us information on Shinichiro’s relationship with Mikey and Takeomi’s own relationship with his siblings (“I'm like his father figure at this point. Its best from him to learn from his peers” /"What kind of parent would let their kids learn from gang rides ?”) and also a quick information on Black Dragon founding members but that information is basically ‘they’re good friends :)’.

Anyway, Shinichiro nicknamed Takeomi ‘Rain Bringer’. So what does rain symbolize in Japan and does it somewhat fit Takeomi ? Rain is strongly linked to death and rebirth (as water usually is in Japan), to becoming something, someone else. This makes a nice little link with his siblings as Senju’s flowers are sakura (and so is her image color, pink sakura) which also symbolize the cycle of death and rebirth, the fleeting nature of life, how short if is, but also renewal and optimism, and Sanzu got his name from Sanzu no kawa, the three-crossing river, who is a river souls have to cross to get to the afterlife and/or to resurrect.

Takeomi’s other nickname, which wasn’t given by Shinichiro, is God of war. Japan has two gods of war, either Hachiman from shintoism, or Bishamonten from buddhism (since it’s Japan we’re talking about, those two got mixed up a bit but). Hachiman is a god of war and agriculture and was said to determine a samurai’s fate in battle (chapter 230 : “[...] my decisions determined how any conflict would end”). Bishamonten is a god of war and warriors, a punisher of evildoers and the ruler of rain. Bishamonten also carries a chatra (a kind of umbrella that symbolizes kingship, sovereignty).

This, while it gives more tracks to analyze Takeomi, doesn’t answer the question ‘What was Takeomi to Shinichiro’. So, if the story refuses to give us the answer, we have to find some parallels with other characters and see if they fit.

Shinichiro’s...

...Baji

That’s right ! Baji and Takeomi share the same role. For this topic, Sanzu (and Senju) is the anomaly between him, Baji and Mikey.(and although we could say Sanzu is Baji’s parallel, he’s mostly Kakucho’s.)

Let’s start with why Wakui decided to depict them that way.

For Mikey and Baji, it was mostly there to show how long they’ve known each other. Mikey had said they were childhood friends but that doesn’t give us a time indication as to when they met. Then, there is the ‘Baji is behind’ aspect. It isn’t a problem between them, that Baji never wins against Mikey, no matter the years. Baji is just after Mikey and can’t reach the top yet.

For Shinichiro and Takeomi, it’s the same. ‘They’ve known each other for how long?’ ‘Probably since then’. Takeomi is behind Shinichiro who is standing at the top. Takeomi wants to do so too, and Shinichiro helps him to. Takeomi can’t stand here unless Shinichiro holds him still.

Shinichiro doesn’t enjoy being Japan’s number 1 - standing at the top. He became a delinquent to form relationships, to have fun, to deal with his father’s death and his mother’s stay in the hospital. He wasn’t against becoming the strongest but it wasn’t his goal (chapter 142, Shinichiro, in a quick Inui’s flashback: “Is winning really that important ?”). After all, if there’s nobody above you, the only people left are below, and Shinichiro says it, it’s only bullying and that’s meaningless (chapter 230, “Now that there's no one better than us, at this point it's just gonna be bullying the people weaker than us, wouldn't it ?”)

However, the childhood friend dying changes. For Mikey and Baji, the one climbing dies ; for Shinichiro and Takeomi, the one at the top does. How can we interpret this ? We already did for Takeomi – that means the one climbing falls. But for the one already on top ? The person who (tried to) followed him there died on the way. He’s still on top, but now he’s alone. Mikey is never alone, but after Shinichiro, Baji’s death is one of the last indispensable nail on his coffin. A nail aggravating his isolation and loneliness.

Personality wise, Baji and Takeomi are awfully different. Takeomi is awfully different to all characters – he is one of the most flawed and most fans don’t find him any redeeming quality.

Baji does share one of Takeomi’s characteristics, and that’s what (ironically) led to Shinichiro’s death. As Kazutora says in chapter 44 while stealing the bike: “You might complain but you always go along with whatever I'm doing”, Baji follows people. He can do well on his own (Valhalla), but if it wasn’t for his stubbornness in pursuing Mikey around (chapter 39, Mikey: “We lived in the same neighborhood. It’s not like we got along that well. He was always picking fights with me”), they wouldn’t have become childhood friends. They are also younger than their childhood friends (Sanzu and Shinichiro are the oldest).

Baji is Shinichiro in one aspect though: he is the one to have created Toman and to have assigned every founding member their role in the gang. (Baji does it in a flashback of chapter 63, Shinichiro gave Takeomi his position as vice-captain so it won’t surprise me if he gave Wakasa and Benkei their). They both also challenge people stronger than them. (Shinichiro on a daily basis “He'd challenge guys way stronger than him to fights”, Baji with Mikey “He was always picking fights with me. And I handed him his ass every time.”).

If there are parallels between Shinichiro and Baji – are there parallels between Takeomi and Mikey ? The answer is yes. They both don’t know what to do after Shinichiro’s death (and Mikey is even more lost after Baji’s), so much that if you push them in the wrong path, they end up as the number 1 criminal organization of their country (Kisaki for Mikey (Bad toman, Manila) helped to speedrun the process — as we see with Bonten, Mikey’s circle in Bonten (Sanzu “There they are ! The dark impulses ! I've been waiting for this” Haruchiyo) helped too. And the one thing to do to get Takeomi back in his prime is to restore his self-confidence (Bonten, and what he was close to do with Brahman)), they both cope with their emotions the same way as well, ‘I’ll keep all my emotions right here. And then one day, I’ll die’ as one may say. They hide between smiles or blank faces. Little things matter as well, so.. chapter 123, Mikey “I wanna stand out” - they both do (even if Mikey is about 4 in this chapter).

...Kisaki

the fact takeomi is both baji and kisaki is hilarious pls. Those two hated each other so much. Well i wont be surprised if Wakui made it official that Takeomi hates himself

Yeah you read that right. Takeomi is Shinichiro’s Kisaki to the same extent he is Shinichiro’s Baji. Like with Baji, he fills Kisaki’s role while dealing with it differently – they don’t have the same personality so it’s not that surprising.

They’re both the gang’s ‘brain’. Whereas Takeomi was given the position, Kisaki approached Mikey with this exact idea in mind. Kisaki wanted to make Tenjiku Toman (chapter 126, “I'm going to make my own Toman”), and Takeomi was about to transform Brahman into (a much darker) Black Dragon (Chapter 219, Senju: “Brahman’s gotten bigger.. and Takeomi has changed. Now, instead of making brahman ‘stronger’ he thinks that making it ‘bigger’ is more important”  → all the more people to praise him). Both had the same goal too (to become number 1), and end up being criticized for it because of their way to attain it by Mikey (“in order to make Toman bigger I've ignored your underhanded methods until now. But that ends here [...] Your arbitrary decisions will screw up my dream”) and Senju ("I get that not all the jobs we take will be clean. However, thinking about dirtying Brahman for trash like that pisses me off”) when those two asked them are the one who asked them to guide them (chapter 265, Mikey: “there has been ‘something’ dark inside my heart. Sometimes that ‘something’ expands and drives me to destroy absolutely everything. Kisaki… I want you to stay by my side with that part of me. I want you to guide me, Kisaki” (and worse, when Kisaki asked him if he’s sure, even if Kisaki doesn’t guide him the way he wants, Mikey answered “yeah, I don’t care.” But then, it was before Takemichi waltzed in his life); chapter 230, Senju: “I want someone who I can trust ! Someone who can give some guidance to the team ! Will you fill that role, big bro ?”). They had different reasons, for sure, Kisaki wanted Hinata’s love, Takeomi wanted (to keep) that idolizing love other people had for him, but those different reasons have the same roots.

They never grew up from their child-mindset.

Kisaki kept that childish logic of ‘Hinata loves Takemichi. Takemichi wants to be Japan's number 1 delinquent. Hinata loves Japan's number 1 delinquent. If I’m Japan's number 1 delinquent, Hinata will love me.’ (and he wanted Hinata’s love because she was the only one interacting with him and being nice to him, she said “He’s a good kid” when everyone else doesn’t, even back in elementary school where he is described as “creepy”) and Takeomi kept that childhood wish of being important, needed, validated.

Now, they turned out differently because of a very essential point :

Chapter 182, first chapter of Kisaki’s flashback : “When I was in elementary school, they called me a child prodigy.”

Chapter 230, Takeomi’s chapter : “Whether it be in sports, or studies, I was just average. I was but a normal child, not special at all.”

Kisaki was made aware from an early age that he was smart. He is as arrogant as much his intelligence allows him to be (sure, it’s insufferable, but he is as smart as he says). He is well-assured of his capacities and is the one to make his life decisions, he is very independent from Mikey or anyone else. Kisaki has an actual self-esteem. He doesn’t under or overestimate himself. He knows what he does, he knows he is the one doing so. Takeomi is the opposite. He’s too arrogant, doesn’t know in what he is smart, but the others say so, so he must be, he makes his decisions while looking at Shinichiro – he got there thanks to Shinichiro. And Kisaki got there thanks to Takemichi, although in another way. Kisaki also followed Takemichi around. By stalking him, but still. And unlike Takeomi, Kisaki is very conscious of it when he lies, it is but another strategy to manipulate people.

Kisaki is Takeomi if people had noticed and talked about his capacities in his childhood. Takeomi is what Kisaki could’ve been if people never praised him, if he never finished number one at any national mock exam and if he became childhood friends with Takemichi (instead of stalking him).

Both of them corrupted Toman and Brahman (and Black Dragon if Shinichiro hadn’t been Shinichiro). “Brahman is closer to a group of adult gangsters than they are a motorcycle gang. Some nasty rumors follow them, too.” (chapter 215, Inui); “Money is power. How valuable do you think your ‘strength’ is !?” (chapter 229, Takeomi); but are also the reason why they became huge organizations. They are the reasons why Brahman (almost) and Toman fell into criminal organizations (although Toman would’ve anyway).

They also both first got into a gang when they were 13. (Black Dragon was created the 22nd February 1995 – Takeomi was born the 10th march 1981 (the year after Shinichiro’s own birth btw, Shinichiro who is the oldest Black Dragon founding member), so he was about to turn 14 BUT HE WASN'T, and in 2005 Kisaki is 13 since he was born the 20th january 1992 (two years younger than Mikey, one year younger than Takemichi))

...Draken.

Shinichiro and Mikey both have their “This is the breeze of a new era !”(chapter 230)/”I’m gonna seize this world” (chapter 223) speech that only Takeomi/Draken could hear ; and they’re both vice-captain/second in command.

When Black Dragon gets officially disbanded (their final garthering), Wakasa and Benkei shed a tear or two, Shinichiro being the crybaby he is, has a lot of tears running down his face, and Takeomi… too. Takeomi is the only one with his eyes close. He grins his teeth. He can’t accept this reality, can’t look at it. Even if Shinichiro talked about it with him beforehand. And… it’s the same with Draken. Not that Mikey informed him before saying Toman was over (and they didn’t have a second generation to lend the name too, as opposed to Black Dragon), but with how he reacted. On paper, he said he agreed with it (even after his “What ? What’re you goin’ on all of a sudden ?” in chapter 189 which is the same as Takeomi’s “Disband !? But why !? I mean, we just became Japan's number one !” in chapter 230, and Mikey also disbanded Toman after becoming Japan’s number 1), that since it was Mikey’s choice, he had “no objection to the leader's decision” (chapter 189), but in reality, not only do we learn it’s not true when they dug up the time capsule (chapter 198, Draken reading his letter : “I’m at a crossroads in my life right now. Toman disbanded. […] I actually regret it. Toman is everything to me. Im sure everyone in toman felt that way ? I’m worried… I cried”), but he also joins Brahman. There was nothing prior to that revelation pointing at it. In Bonten he has his shop, he says “I’m retired” and “I left everything i had back in Tokyo Manji” to South (chapter 211) in his letter he wrote “So, I'm leaving all of my regrets in here” and that’s what teenager Draken tried to do. But he joined Brahman instead. And we learn why after, when he says in a flashback to Mitsuya (chapter 238) : “Have you grown accustomed to living life without Toman ? Because I can't seem to move on from it. That’s why I think i’m gonna go back to the life of deliquent. I’ll continue following Mikey [...]”. Draken couldn’t leave Toman, his whole life behind. Then why did he in Bonten ? Because Senju died. Not only must it have affected him, but it affected Takeomi, Wakasa and Benkei. And, yes, we can say Senju died in Bonten regardless of the fact it’s never said. Why ? Bonten is a memorial for Izana, its symbol, its members’ tattoo come from Izana’s earrings and the (天) ten of Bonten 梵天 from Tenjiku 天竺, the (梵) bon of Bonten 梵天 comes from Brahman 梵. The executives, advisor, second and third in command, are either former Tenjiku member or Senju’s brother (or both for Sanzu but again, can we really say he was a Tenjiku member when it’s clear he was acting as a spy on Mikey’s unaware behalf..) - and its leader had a deep relationship with those two as well. There’s no need for Senju to have the same role as Izana in Bonten if she’s not dead. So, Senju’s death is the answer as to why Draken utterly left Toman (and Mikey) behind in Bonten timeline (he loves Mikey very much but he can't lose any more loved ones). But Draken’s wish to get back to Mikey until then, his refusal to abandon Toman, was what led him and Takeomi to understand each other. That’s what led to Takeomi recruiting Draken (because he must have been the one to come up with the idea, like he is the one to have thought about recruiting Takemichi). That’s what leads Takeomi to get this angry at his death. Not only is Takeomi is partially responsible for it, Draken is essential to bring back Mikey, and Takeomi is not. And so, “If you wanted to kill someone it should've been me !” (chapter 225). And also why he becomes even more angry when Mikey arrives (“Fuck off, Kanto gang ! You guys abandoned Draken !”). Takeomi takes his role as Senju’s second in command very seriously, she asked him to guide the team and he accepted, he swore to give his all for them (chapter 230). He is the one telling her to keep cool and not being driven by her emotions (chapter 218), which is ironic because he’s the one to act before thinking after Draken’s death whereas Senju tries to calm him down (and fails).

Kanto being “a three-way state of equilibrium between these three teams and has entered the three deities era” (Yamagishi, chapter 208) was not an innocent choice when it is also revealed in chapter 226 by Senju that “Benkei and Waka. Before the first generation of Black Dragon happened, these two divided the Kanto region. Kanto used to be divided into two parts”. South takes the role of Benkei, and Senju, who created Brahman for the only purpose of stopping Mikey the same way Kodo Rengo was formed to stop Ragnarok’s expansion, takes the role of Wakasa. This is also backed up by their fighting style and body type. Mikey takes Shinichiro’s role, but whereas Shinichiro ‘defeated’ Wakasa and Benkei and became their friends and leader which lead to them ruling over the region, Mikey crushed South/Rokuhara Tandai and made Senju disband Brahman, for the same result (Takemichi could’ve taken on Shinichiro’s role but the power of friendship can’t do everything). And Draken is in Takeomi’s role. Not Sanzu. (because Sanzu doesn’t care about Toman while Draken just wants it back.). Furthermore, I like the fact South, in the final timeline, “is a heavyweight champion of foreign martial arts. When he visits Japan, he hangs out at the Gojo gym” because not only does South finally have friends (like Senju, he is friendless in canon-timeline) but because Benkei’s dream is “to produce a MMA champion from Gojo gym”, which while not being exactly the same thing is still close enough for me.

A difference between them worth mentioning is that while Draken is the oldest of Toman founding members, Takeomi is the youngest of Black Dragon founding members.

(+ Inui, Kokonoi:

The other character introduced as refusing the end of Black Dragon is Inui. He's a character who is developed alongside Kokonoi who can't accept Akane's death.

But whereas Takeomi seemingly doesn't do anything by himself to get out of his vicious circle and debts, Inui actively tries to keep Black Dragon alive. He even takes Shinichiro’s shop as his hideout (with Kokonoi), although it has been abandoned. Nobody else came to keep that place alive – it reminds them of a too painful reality. And it could've with Inui too, but Inui has only good memories of this place (chapter 143, Inui: “All those senpai who’d stop by were so dazzling and awesome. [...] I heard so many stories in this bike shop from our senpai. They all had so much fun talking about their old leader [...] Even as an adult, he could still laugh about the dumb stuff he did years ago together with his friends.”). Not to say the others don’t; but Inui is able to see pass the pain of this happiness unable to come back.

Inui is the first out of the three to let it go. He finds Takemichi and realizes that.. maybe he could live without Black Dragon. It takes a bit but Bonten Inui has let it go completely, unlike Kokonoi and Takeomi, both going deeper and deeper into criminality ; both still running away from reality, refusing to look back and see what they loved isn't there anymore.

Inui heals in Bonten. He doesn't in Bad Toman, where he's with Hakkai who became BD 11th leader. He doesn't in Manila, where Izana who was the 8th BD leader and the first leader Inui worked under comes back. Always running after BD shadow. Manila Inui met Takemichi, but Manila Inui wasn't separated from Kokonoi, not for years, not for more than a decade, since Tenjiku merged with Toman. They probably didn't have their 'Akane is dead, I'm Seishu!' talk, and if they did, it clearly didn't change anything.

We don't know how Inuis family life is. We know his parents couldn't pay for his sister's surgery and she ended up dying. We know he had had to witness his best friend lose himself in the prospect to make money. We know somewhen, he met Shinichiro. Spent time with him at his shop. Perhaps to stay away from home ? Home who burnt him? Home who took away his sister ? Meeting Shinichiro did a lot to him accepting his sister's death, surely. A bit of positivity in his life. But nobody was there for him when Shinichiro himself died. When Izana disappeared nobody knew where and the Haitani Brothers left Black Dragon when it became to hard to deal with, leading it to fade away (chapter 105, Kokonoi: “They ended up in a tough spot when the Haitani brothers of Roppongi came to power… So they ditched the gang, and disappeared.”).

Inui learnt about it after getting out of juvie. He went to juvie for Black Dragon. For Izana. This can't be the end of it. So he makes Taiju the 10th leader. He's not loyal to him because he's Taiju, he's loyal to him because it's the Black Dragon leader (chapter 143, Inui: “That good old Black Dragon I used to know was no more. I panicked when Black Dragon died for a while. That’s when I sought help from Shiba Taiju.”). But the Christmas Showdown happens, and Inui witnesses the force of nature that is Takemichi Hanagaki. And he's like Shinichiro was.

He leaves Black Dragon behind when he puts on Toman uniform for the first time. Black Dragon won't ever leave him, but he can let it go and cherish the memories he has. He didn't get to be in Black Dragon when he wanted to (chapter 143, Inui: “I’ve always admired such a team. That’s why I joined Blakc Dragon. But by the time I joined Black Dragon it was the eightth generation. It was shit.”) and that changed him (as being in a gang changed Takeomi) (chapter 143: ”During the eighth and ninth generations.. our gang did extortion, robbed people, sold drugs, all sorts of heinoius stuff. There was no trace left of the gang’s original intentions. And before i knew it, the gang’s evil had an influence on me. I landed myself in juvie.”), but he can maybe experience a similar thing with Takemichi, or maybe it'll be completely different. It's okay, he has turned the page. Now, he has to bring back Kokonoi and make him turn the page as well. Except Inui had a slow and nice 'turn the page', while Kokonoi won't.

Kokonoi needs more time, Kokonoi can't let Akane go just yet, even if Inui yells at him to stop acting as if he was seeing his sister instead of himself. Inui practically slaps him up. He has failed during Tenjiku, but this failure planted a seed in Kokonoi's mind which finally bloomed during the battle with Kanto Manji. It's a more abrupt realization than Inui got, but it doesn't hurt him. Akane tells him to let go, that she's glad he did all of that for her but that he doesn't need to continue – she's dead. Seishu is not. And even if that's meaningless, even if he knows he's, they're, going to lose, he goes help Inui against Wakasa and Benkei.

Takeomi's realization of having done something wrong falls upon him all at once. A part of it. His realization concerning Brahman, about Senju and Sanzu is there ("I've failed Brahman principles"(chapter 230)/"But me going crazy and Haruchiyo going astray[...]"(chapter 241) and it hurt him. Acknowledging his mistakes to himself and to others, to Senju, made him cry.)

But where is his realization about Black Dragon and Shinichiro ?)

But not Shinichiro’s Takemichi.

Takeomi isn’t Shinichiro’s Takemichi because for starters, Takemichi is Shinichiro as it is constantly repeated throughout the story.

Takemichi changed Mikey’s life (if it wasn’t for him, he would’ve kept listening to Kisaki, kept thinking he only needed darkness, he would’ve killed Kazutora (chapter 265)). Takeomi didn’t change much Shinichiro’s. Not the same way Takemichi did at least. Mikey, like Takeomi, needed someone to guide him, to follow around, whether this person was Takemichi or Kisaki depends entirely on the timeline’s events. Shinichiro could guide himself, he didn’t need somebody to show him the way. So what ? Why does it matter? It matters because all the friendships in this story have an impact on the characters it concerns. Whether it be the Twin Dragons, Izana and Kakucho, Inui and Kokonoi, Mikey is changed by Pah (going to jail), Kazutora (Shinichiro’s death), Baji (him siding with Kazutora and his own death), Draken (“Draken is Mikey’s heart. He compensates for what he’s lacking”) (not Mitsuya though. Which is very sad. I want a concrete example of how Mìtsuya impacted Mikey's life!!)… And the Black Dragon are out of this rule. Especially Shinichiro. Takeomi, Wakasa and Benkei all changed because of him (in good for Wakasa & Benkei, in what could’ve been good but ended up bad for Takeomi) but the other way around isn’t shown to be true. Wakasa & Benkei became friends, really good friends since they own a gym together in several timelines, and Takeomi got something to fill his lack of self-esteem which then got taken away from him without him having learnt how to cope with it in the meantime.

And Wakasa & Benkei aren’t supposed to have a gym in canon-timeline. Wakasa is a gang leader in the original timeline – supposedly he only changed vocation because Shinichiro told him about the original timeline and he decided not to go down that path. But then, when did Shinichiro had the time, during his time in the past, to tell Wakasa about his time leap ? He barely stayed one day. So did Wakasa, in the original timeline, came back to the illegal world so he can produce/obtain money and help Shinichiro out ? We don’t know what Benkei does in the original timeline, but I’d find it hard to believe he’s not with Wakasa. As for Takeomi, his situation is most likely the same, he’s in debt (which would explain that brief “Takeomi…” from chapter 272 from Shinichiro before he has to focus on the date, and very much alive Mikey). Or, if we want to look at another option, since Shinichiro got into “shaddy stuffs” (as he says in chapter 270), they could’ve followed and got back into delinquency. If they did it fast enough, Takeomi probably didn't get to the point of having debts. If you add the “Join my gang, Shin. With you we'd be the top gang in the world” of Wakasa (same chapter)  to any of this option, and the lack of negative response from Shinichiro you end up with one terrifying timeline where Shinichiro could have become, actually, a bad guy (or kill himself anyway).

What did all three of them do to make Shinichiro grow, positively or not ? Nothing (concrete that is, his admired/respected people are ‘’the Black Dragon First Generation Members‘’). Shinichiro’s entire personality, and that’s one of the only if not the only character, is centered exclusively around his family, mostly but not only, Mikey. He is changed by his father’s death and his mother’s hospitalization and starts to be a delinquent, he is changed by Mikey’s accident, by Emma running away, by his grandfather dying, by Mikey’s death and is so broken he is ready to believe in time travel, maybe was he also changed by Izana’s reaction when he discovered they weren’t blood-related. Only Wakasa is here in his flashback. No Benkei, only a mention of Takeomi. That’s not right. They’re his friends, why aren’t they here ? Why do we have so little information ?

Shinichiro stays the same until Mikey has his accident. He isn’t shaped by anybody else, not even his childhood friend whom he has known for more than a decade.

Shinichiro didn’t need guidance like Mikey did, but he didn’t need to stagnate either.

– which beg the question : Why did Wakui decide to put the exact same kanji, pronounced the exact same way in both Takeomi (武臣) and Takemichi (武道)’s name ? As a writer, making this decision means something (most of the time), alas, i didn’t find what. (Takemichi like Takeomi has self-esteem problems at the beginning of the story because he got beaten up as an middle school student by Kiyomasa but other than that..)

What I did find was Wakasa, Benkei and Takeomi pages in the third guide book. There’s still not much about Shinichiro (he is listed as all three’s admired/respected person), but there’s a bit more about their relationship with Takeomi. First, the one thing that actually surprised me : Wakasa and Benkei are listed as Takeomi’s disliked/feared people. Then, Wakui was kind to explain since it’s followed by “(They look down on me )”. Now, to see if it’s true or not (if they do think that, or if it’s just Takeomi (who must be such an unreliable narrator)) we have to take a look at Wakasa and Benkei’s own page.

Takeomi is only mentioned once for Wakasa, in his ‘a day in his life’ :

“I had a one-week holiday, so I went on a quick trolling trip to Okinawa. I wanted to enjoy fishing alone, but Takeomi and Benkei came along. The aim was yellowfin tuna. Takeomi got tired of not being able to catch anything after 3 hours on the boat and said he wanted to go home, while Benkei was seasick and exhausted. I knew I shouldn't have brought them along.”

We learnt that Takeomi isn’t that patient (to be fair, fishing isn’t something he likes to do, unlike Wakasa) but not that much is said about how Wakasa really thinks about him and him alone. He is irritated by both of his friends, who ruined his holiday, equally. You can’t say if he looks down on Takeomi or not.

For Benkei, Takeomi is also mentioned once and it’s in his ‘a day in his life’ as well :

“The gym is closed today. Takeomi persistently invited me out for a drink. I usually don't go, but we went to an izakaya together. His drinking is long. At first its fun, but as we get deeper into it, he starts to brag. He talks about the Brahman Senju created as if he created it. He has always been like that. I remember he used to brag about Shinichiro's achievements as if he himself had done them. Shinichiro liked him, including such a bad part of him.”

It gives more than Wakasa’s did. First, Takeomi, although he dislikes/fears them, still tags along with both of them when he can. Second, not that much of a news, Takeomi brags and takes on Senju’s achievements, the same way he took on Shinichiro’s. Third, Shinichiro was aware of it and didn’t stop him ?

While we can say Benkei is probably irritated by it, like for Wakasa we can’t say he looks down on Takeomi.

It pains me that there’s not much interaction between them. You can say Wakasa and Benkei are friends – but do they consider Takeomi a friend ? I don’t think he’s still labeled ‘Shinichiro’s friend’ in their mind, but – especially with Takeomi’s fall – they aren’t close, have they ever been. They don’t have that kind of relationship like Toman’s founding members have for example. Perhaps they did once.

Takeomi’s page, in my opinion at least, is the one that gives the more information on the character it‘s about. He likes Akechi Mitsuhide because he has the same birthday as him (sure why not – Akechi Mitsuhide, to make it very short, a general in the Heian period who attempted to become Shogun, and whose reign as Shogun lasted thirteen days), he dislikes making efforts (makes sense, he makes others’ achievements his own, which also leads to:), his special talent is taking advantages of people, and his dream is to be a multimillionaire (he is also ranked number 1 best to ‘Who has a way with words ?’).

Except confirming what I was already thinking, it still doesn’t offer much (but i’m so glad it has been explecitely written). But his failure story, that’s, well, another story.

And all of that offers a great transition, but let me change the topic first –

Family - the first thing you learn to run away from

(You were probably waiting for it from the start, sorry it took so long for me to talk about it !)

Takeomi’s failure story goes like this :

“I was their father figure. My father was busy because we are a motherless family. I was strict with Haruchiyo because he’s a man. He cut my face with a knife one day and left the house. He’s a hell of a fucking brother. I vowed that one day I would let Senju punish him.”

Sanzu gave him the scar.

Worse, looking at the timeline, Takeomi doesn’t have the scar when Black Dragon is founded (in February 1995 Sanzu would have been 4 so, not that surprising) but he gained it along the way, before Black Dragon disbandment (in late spring, early summer 1999, so Sanzu was either 8 or 9 (Takeomi was 18 – they have a 9 years gap)). That’s… young. What could have pushed Sanzu to do this ? Did Takeomi really do such a poor job raising him, Sanzu decided that attacking him was the only way out or something like that ? Sanzu, who says to Senju, “I wish I knew how to talk back to big bro like how Mikey and Baji do…” (chapter 241), cut his brother’s face with a knife before the age of nine? (he was nine when he said that, so perhaps he did stand up for himself before but then he gradually stopped (or all at once, it depends on how Takeomi reacted to being cut i suppose.)).

This leads to a question : did any outsider of their family know about it ? Sanzu probably wasn’t running around yelling about what he did, but did Takeomi complain (to Shinichiro) or did he keep his mouth shut about how his scar came to be. Both ? Complained about how hard it is to raise Sanzu (who ran away after what he did) while saying his new scar is from a fight he has gotten into ?(of course he didn’t get his scar from a 4-9 years old. Who do you take him for, he wouldn't let anyone, let alone a child, scar him like that.) Since we know Sanzu doesn’t go home when he’s in Toman (chapter 206, Muto : “What's with that look in your eye ? You don't have anywhere you belong ?”), it may not be an unusual thing for him to run away. (Which begs the question: what does his grandmother and father think about it ? Are they even aware of it ?)

Looking again at the timeline, what did Mikey and Takemichi do during the final reset ? They came back in October 1998 (Sanzu 8, Takeomi 17), yet Takeomi has his scar during the wedding. So either Sanzu cut his face before (and be 8 years old at most), or Mikey and Takemichi failed to prevent it.

this baby cut his brother’s face.

Talking about scars… We never got to see how Takeomi reacted when Sanzu got his. Did he blame him (he thought Sanzu was the one who broke the toy plane before Senju confesses she is in chapter 241) ? Did he just not do anything and left (oh sweet guilt) ? Did he decide to stay away from Mikey a bit ? Did he go to the hospital ?

For both Sanzu cutting Takeomi’s face and the toy plane incident, I pity Senju for having to witness it and feel guilty for not doing anything, but also because she knows sometimes she should be punished and not Sanzu. Her and Hakkai should get along well (once he stops freezing everytime girls talk to him).

But above all, I pity all of them for witnessing how the Sano family works. How, even though they also have absent parents, they’re healthy. How Mikey talks back to Shinichiro, how Emma loves her brother without feeling unwanted or lonely, how Shinichiro knows how to raise his siblings even with his family life, his parents' condition. And my heart ached the first time I read chapter 273 and Sanzu called Shinichiro ‘Shin-nii’ – thing Mikey never did. They addressed Takeomi as ‘Take-nii’ in their childhood, but they stopped. (Sanzu calls Shinichiro ‘Shinichiro-kun’ in the original timeline, which makes you wonder why, but I think he did since he was young and stopped because, for one, Shinichiro is too busy with his study and taking care of Mikey, and two, Sanzu went to juvie.) And Sanzu goes directly to Shinichiro after getting his memories back. He shares his confusion with Shinichiro, even if what he says seems unbelievable (even for himself) because he trusts him and knows he can share his worries with him. And Shinichiro answered to this 13 years old needing reassurance by telling him he killed a man.

I’d give a lot to see how the Akashi father is. I’d give a lot to see how Takeomi was raised. Because with Shinichiro it’s easy. Mama Sano and Papa Sano, for the little we’ve seen of them, seemed like good, stable people. They must have raised Shinichiro great until they couldn’t anymore. We don’t know when Mikey’s mother got to the hospital, but his father died when he was 3, so Shinichiro at least spent 13 years of his life with (guidance from) his father. Sure, it would’ve been better if it be longer, but it’s already more than.. Taiju (which, with some calculation, was 8 when his mother died). But we don’t know for the Akashi. We only know that Sanzu and Senju don’t call themselves Akashi. That Senju says “ We’re the mysterious siblings !” which is funny but makes me think about ‘let’s not talk about whatever’s going on in our family/at home’ which is not funny. Think of it, if the Akashi parents were the same as the Sano, they wouldn’t have turned out that way. It’s not fair to compare families or even people but to be fair they’re characters so they’re meant to be compared. And maybe the Sano siblings would have turned out like the Akashi siblings if their dad survived and their mom still died, who knows.

Takeomi didn’t take Senju and Sanzu to gang meetings, or anything gang-related whereas Shinichiro did. There could be two reasons (which can both be true at the same time) : 1, gang stuffs are dangerous, who would bring kids along, seriously, Shinichiro ? (chapter 269, Takeomi “are you stupid ? what kind of parents would let their kids learn from gang rides ?” after Shinichiro said “I'm like his father figure at this point. It's best from him to learn from his peers”) 2, it was the only thing he had that wasn’t family/home, where he could be himself and not have to care about his siblings (and be completely crushed under his responsibilities and doing a poor job because of it--). The fact he didn’t isn’t that important, Sanzu didn’t want to be part of a gang to start with (chapter 277 : “Nah! I don’t wanna be a delinquent!”), he only joined Toman after having his memories from the original timeline back and talking with Shinichiro about it (and Shinichiro dying). But Black Dragon, like for Shinichiro, was Takeomi’s life and by not bringing Sanzu and Senju in it, he didn’t interact with them much, he let them out of his life. Mikey and Emma “followed him [Shinichiro] everywhere” (chapter 109, Mikey), Takeomi needed his me-time, far away from his siblings. He couldn’t, unlike Shinichiro, put on the ‘perfect big brother’ role/façade.

Since he left his house often, Sanzu was left in charge (chapter 241, Takeomi “[...] you have to set a good example for her”; chapter 249, Sanzu (to Senju) “Did you forget who raised you [...]?”). If Takeomi had to take care on their father's role, it’s easy to understand that he delegated his big brother role to Sanzu. This was clearly not a good move, but Takeomi back then didn’t understand how strict he was with Sanzu, nor how unfair it was that he would blamed him for things Senju had done (following the rule of ‘you’re the older, you should have taught her better’) (perhaps Takeomi was so strict with Sanzu because he lashed out all of his self-anger/hatred on him; there's also the fact he may have recognized himself (his childhood self at least) in Sanzu – shitty move, but as a professional of denial, Takeomi might not have even been aware of it). But Takeomi wasn’t meant to be their father figure in the first place, and he could have failed his big brother role as well even if their life had been different, but he shouldn’t have had to endorse the responsibility of raising his siblings, had he been given the choice or not. It’s also somewhat ironic, that Takeomi did take on their father’s role the same way their father did – he left home for work and everything to the oldest child who stayed. Just like Shinichiro took on his father’s role. Not only because Shinichiro spent time with his siblings, which their father seems like he would have done, but also because, like his father, he gifts Mikey a toy, and tragedy soon follows (his father’s death in the car accident, Sanzu’s scars or Mikey’s accident). He was also a crybaby – although his father never cried in public (chapter 263, Mikey: “My father also cried easily ?”, his mom: “I wonder if he ever cried in public? That man was hopeless”). Mikey looked up to him, like he looks up to his father. I honestly think Mikey, who was also a crybaby as a child (chapter 263, Mikey’s mom: “[...] you too… used to be a crybaby when you were younger. All you did was cry and wail.”), started to stop crying (in public and in private alike) after his father’s death. Sure, he was very young when it happened, but children lack life experience not intelligence, sometimes they’re very capable of reading the room, and Mikey, who probably didn’t understand what was happening, knew that weeping wouldn’t help his already crying brother and mother. Mikey saw his father as this very strong, capable man who protected the family and decided to take on that role by being ‘strong’, by not crying and by beating people up (chapter 263, Mikey: “I am not going to cry. That's why, mom, I'm going to protect you, so come back home”; “I met that big guy from east elementary’s third grade. And I beat him up !”, his mom: “You're so strong, Manjiro. Just like your father.”). He has one memory of his father, where he hands him a superhero figurine – and what are fathers if not the superhero of their young children ? 

Sanzu was a better big brother than Takeomi was. Sanzu, like Takeomi in the past, doesn’t want Senju to be in a gang and much less a gang leader (chapter 216, Senju : “Haruchiyo doesn't like the fact I’m the head of Brahman. He doesn't like that I'm the strongest and that Takeomi endorses me.”). “Because of my mistakes, Takeomi got mad at Haruchiyo even so Haruchiyo was always nice to me” (Senju, chapter 241) ; he could have. He could have let out the anger he had on Senju since he couldn’t talk back to Takeomi. He didn’t, because Sanzu was a kind child, but also because seeing how Takeomi favored Senju (in his actions, this does not mean he loved her more) if he had learnt Sanzu got angry at her or even made her cry… Sanzu was already aware of how his brother acted when he got angry.

I refuse to believe “The curse Shinichiro created by killing the time leaper, that is what my ‘dark impulses’ are. It affected everyone around him” (chapter 274) as the reason behind Sanzu and Mikey’s behavior. Simply because, if it did, then why was Wakasa, Benkei, Emma, heck even Sano grandpa, not affected by it ? And why was Kazutora ? The only way I accept it is with ‘it affected Sanzu because he was Shinichiro’s trigger, so they shared the power and by such, Sanzu had to carry a bit of the curse’ (im not going to talk about mikey’s case here but i also came up with a more complex reason as to why he was affected, that is not just ‘he was close to him’). However, we don’t know what the curse does. The homeless man only said ‘’curse you’’ (chapter 271), any explanation from a character who isn’t the homeless man can’t be taken as the perfect truth. Anyway, all of that to say that behind Sanzu (and Mikey’s) actions, there was a bit of genuinity. The curse pushed them to act, but a part of them wanted to act, the curse made them unable to stop (and think of alternative solutions), worse, the curse made them like it. (okay, it’s theory time heck it. the curse feeds on tragedy, the more tragedy, the more it grows, the more it grows, the more hungry it gets, the more it wants tragedy, the more it triggers tragedy. And by feeding on tragedy i mean all the negative feelings that go hand-in-hand with. Sadness, despair, helplessness, rage, regrets, guilt… It clings to someone who already has a tragic life (Mikey, Sanzu, … Kazutora,…) and it worsens it. End of theory time.) ANYWAY. All of that to say that, this ?

Was something Sanzu would (without the curse) regret, but did anyway because he couldn’t stop it (because of the curse) because a part of him wanted to (not necessarily, hit Senju with a pipe, but get a pay-back from what he had had to go through as a child. Who knows what he would have done to Takeomi if Wakui decided to not drop our ‘God of War’ by the road before the last fight of the story). And he says things her ‘always nice to her’ brother wouldn’t have said (especially) to her such as “fighting all flamboyantly like that.. you buzzing disgusts the hell out of me. You disgusting fly !” (chapter 248)

Sanzu knows Senju isn't responsible for Mikey's curse, but he learnt about it when he was 13; not before (i'm not saying that's why he hit her, that’s not my best transition). Who knows, maybe somewhere in his mind he did blame Senju before memories of the original timeline flew back to him and he realized whether the toy had broken or not, Mikey would've turned up like that either way. This also begs the question : what did Sanzu think about the accident, before Shinichiro admitted what really happened on that day, before he got his memories from the original timeline back ? What did he think about staying friends with the one who scarred him for life ? Did he really wholeheartedly agree to stay friends for life with Mikey to Shinichiro?

Speaking of the original timeline, Takeomi is said to be on “non-speaking terms” with Sanzu. But let’s put everything back into context : Sanzu “used a damn katana and slashed all of his friends” (Baji ; chapter 270) (which also doesn't support the 'it's because of the curse' explanation or the "You can't erase the curse! [...] I've been following Mikey as if I was in a trance [...]"(chapter 275) of Sanzu. Because there wasn't a curse in the original timeline to 'explain' Sanzu's behavior), and Baji himself says to Shinichiro “Why do you give a fuck about somebody like him ?”(same chapter). Whether Takeomi blames himself for how Sanzu turned out or not, Sanzu at best hurt his friends, at worst killed them. And in this timeline, Takeomi still has Senju to look after – hence, he can’t let Sanzu interact with her, and he refuses to talk with him after what he did (whereas in Bonten, Senju is dead and Takeomi came back in the game and ends up accepting murder as part of his, their, life) Takeomi is also against Mikey killing (South), as he says “Are you even human!? There’s no reason for you to go that far, y’know?!”(chapter 233) which Mikey kindly answers to by kicking Takeomi in the chin and saying “you're better off dead, too.”(same chapter). Shinichiro, like Sanzu, justifies it ; “He just attacked them because they were talking shit about Manjiro. Isn’t that how Haruchiyo is ?”. Would Shinichiro have justified it in another timeline, though ? If Mikey was okay, if Emma was there, if his grandfather didn’t die… Would he have accepted Sanzu’s actions ? Shinichiro in the original timeline, is in deep, deep denial about his entire life collapsing around him.

One second he’s working at a job he likes and wants to do, the other he is a university student, a nurse and his brother’s main and only caregiver. One second, he lives with what is left of his family, the other his brother is his only family left, and he can’t leave the hospital. Not only did his life go downhill after Mikey’s accident, he must blame himself for it too. Why did Mikey have his accident ? Because he didn’t want to lend the Concorde to Baji and the rest. Who bought the Concorde as a gift for him ? Shinichiro. He guided his brother, the boy he raised, to his death, and the girl he raised is nowhere to be seen (which might have been in part his fault since he was too busy studying for Mikey to pay attention to her), even though he had promised to his father to look after the both of them (chapter 269, “Father [...] I’ll take care of both Manjiro and Emma for you.”). His parents, his grandparents, he had nothing left. But Mikey is still alive. So he keeps on focusing on that, only that. Mikey can’t interact with people, nobody knows if he is aware of his surroundings, but he is alive and that fact alone is the only thing keeping Shinichiro from facing reality, from realizing that at this point, he is his family on his own, it’s the only thing keeping him going. He has to keep Mikey alive, to the price of his health (chapter 270, Baji: “In order to get the qualifications to be a caregiver he had to study while working in the hospital. I’m sure he doesn't even have time to sleep, his life is a total mess”; Wakasa: “I was worried that you'd be the first to die [...] Right now you're just rotting away”), his money, his morals (same chapter, Shinichiro: “I've gotten involved in many shady businesses. So I could help Manjiro in whatever he needed. I've done whatever therapies and even paid a lot for those suspicious religious groups”) anything, anything for Mikey. So of course, Haruchiyo was justified in his actions, no matter what Baji or Takeomi might say (plus, Baji says all kinds of things (“He isn't right in the head.”) but he still tags along and interact with Haruchiyo, he doesn’t fool many people. Then again, does Baji have any friends ? If “there’s nothing great about middle school”, he can’t meet Chifuyu, and who knows if he met any other founding members, if he met Kazutora at least.) because killing for Mikey is exactly what Shinichiro does.

The homeless man tells him to gain the power he killed his predecessor, and for a man who has lost everything, killing isn’t much. Except it doesn’t work. Shinichiro doesn’t go back to the past instantly after killing this man. His last hope is gone. And it wasn’t even one – he helplessly believed in the idea of time leaping because it was the only thing left he could believe in. So he kills himself. There’s nothing left anyway. Wakasa, Benkei, Takeomi, Haruchiyo, Baji ? Not enough. And then it works. He’s back. He saves Mikey. Then when he unexpectedly goes back to his present (2003) and goes look for the homeless man, he doesn’t find him. Probably to talk, to thank him. But the thing is, he killed this man. But not once is he seen feeling guilt about this. Denial ? Maybe. Or maybe it’s because he finds it justifiable. He killed for Mikey, for his baby brother, for his own sanity. One doesn’t mean the other isn’t true – he could justify it to stay in denial. He dies too soon after for him to learn to cope with what he did anyway.

There’s also the fact that out of everyone, he goes to Wakasa to tell him about the original timeline. Not Takeomi (who isn’t doing well in any point anyway), and not Benkei (who… we don’t know), but Wakasa. And he confesses his murder to him (as we’re told by Mikey, chapter 268 : “I was informed by Wakasa” ; chapter 274 : “the curse Shinichiro created by killing the time leaper… that is what my dark impulses are.”), the same way he confessed what he did in his previous timeline and what he thought of doing (“In these four years, I've gotten involved in many shady businesses [...] Maybe I should kill them all for deceiving me.” (chapter 270)).

So, while in the original timeline, Takeomi focuses on Senju even if that means neglecting Sanzu, Shinichiro focuses on Mikey which leads to Emma running away (to where, we don’t know). And those two little sisters fit their role differently. While Emma cooks (she is seen several time cooking; and to Draken after he asked her if she was housekeeping “well, gramps is old and…” (chapter 263)), likes cute things (the teddy bear she wanted and Draken got for her birthday), isn’t a fighter and in the final timeline becomes a housewife, Senju chases Mikey, Baji, and Sanzu around, wants to play with their toys (Mikey’s concorde), trains at Wakasa and Benkei’s gym and is a gang member. Takemichi refrains her to buy punk clothes and even though she still buys a lot of items, she prefers Brahman’s uniform and she goes shopping because Takeomi tells her to (“We’re shopping in Harajuku because Takeomi told me to ‘do some girly stuff sometimes.’ This is his card.”) and gives her his credit card (whose money comes from Brahman’s activities, so as to whether it’s his or Senju’s decisions leading to him being rich..). They’re both feminine, but Senju is a bit more of a tomboy in what she likes. Emma doesn’t feel lonely (“Since then, I've never felt lonely. Not even once”)(she has friends her age, such as Hinata), Senju clings to Takemichi the moment he joins Brahman (“Brahman’s full of old guys, so I’m glad people my age are joining”(chapter 216);”So can i think of us as friends now ?”(chapter 219))(seemingly, her only friends remain Mikey and Baji, whom she likely hasn't seen in years, even before Valhalla arc). They are also the only girls Takemichi saw in bra (chapter 9/chapter 216) but uh.. I don't want to know if that was made on purpose or not. But it joins the feminine/tomboy dichotomy – when Emma undressed, she had something else in mind (which, fortunately, didn't happen) and she has lace underwear, whereas Senju is very uninhibited (“Oh, it's fine. It's just sports bra”, chapter 216) and is wearing a sports bra like she says. They were raised the same way (Emma taking care of/helping her grandfather with chores ; Senju being forbidden to use ‘ore’ by Takeomi because it’s not ‘girlish’, making her go shopping for her to ‘do some girlish stuffs’; both being surrounded by men/boys (who are gang members, or former)) so it’s not because of outside influences they came to have different personalities and behaviors – Senju doesn’t fight or is tomboy-ish because she was raised among men (heck, she lives/lived at her grandmother’s while Emma had no woman/girl family members), she simply likes what society deems ‘for boys’ because she is herself and likes those things ; same for Emma, she doesn’t force herself to be someone she isn’t.

The Akashi are a motherless family but we don’t know why. If the Sano parents are dead (beside Karen, Emma’s mom) then I have two theories coming to mind. Either, the Akashi parents are alive or, they are indeed dead and the father in charge of raising them is Senju and Sanzu’s but not Takeomi's (or a mix of both, who knows). There are various details pointing to Takeomi being half-siblings with Senju and Sanzu.

First, it would be another obvious parallel with the Sano → Emma is Shinichiro and Mikey’s half-sister, but make it a twist by making the half-sibling the oldest instead of the youngest. Second, Manjiro (万次郎) and Shinichiro (真一郎) share a kanji and so do Haruchiyo (春千夜) and Senju (千咒)– if their parents wanted to give them names with a same kanji why don’t they all share it ? I get it with Emma (her mom probably named her and we don’t know how involved her father was in her life, plus, 郎 is a kanji that literally means ‘son/boy’, but she could have have a name ending with 子(ko) meaning ‘child’ and who’s only used in feminine names), but Takeomi ? If they wanted to do that, even if Sanzu and Senju came after, couldn’t they choose 武 or 臣 ? Both feminine and masculine names with those kanji seem to exist (and even if they didn’t, it’s the Japanese name system, they could very much invent it – that’s what they did for Senju!(can’t find information on this name like Wakui decided to write it)). And third, the Sano brothers look a lot alike (Mikey did get his hair color from his father but beside that, they both look a lot like their mother) while Emma looks like her mom (they don’t realize straight away she’s their sister “Isn’t she a foreigner ?”, chapter 123 and Takemichi, Hinata and Naoto don’t realize it either and think she’s dating Mikey for a brief moment in chapter 66 (although Takemichi ends up saying “They do have some sorta resemblance actually” after being told, but Mikey asks him “Really ?”), Sanzu and Senju both look extremely alike while Takeomi doesn’t (different hair color, eye shape, eyelashes, eyebrows - perhaps same eye color).

If we go along with this theory, which also makes their mother the parent they share and not their father like the Sano do (like they stay at their grandmother’s but the Sano stay at their grandfather’s), then the answer as to when Takeomi stopped living with his biological dad and moved in with his step-father would be important. Which one is responsible for how he raises his siblings, or perhaps they are both at fault ? When did their mom leave/die? Did someone ever tell Sanzu and Senju Takeomi was their half-brother ? If Takeomi’s step-father’s family name is Akashi, then Takeomi doesn’t use his birth family name either. And since Takeomi’s mom left him, does he feel the same way Emma feels about it ? (not saying his mother left for the same reason/the same way)

Or they could share the same father and have a different mother like the Sano. Either way, I’m craving for more information about them. They better not stay the “mysterious siblings” forever. Wakui pls

The Sano siblings are 4, we all know that. Izana is a Sano. So what if he throws the parallels off-balance ? He doesn’t. If you’re as delusional as I am, Muto is the Akashi’s Izana.

While Izana knew Shinichiro and Emma, and never got to know Mikey before dying in Tenjiku, Muto knew Sanzu and never got to know Takeomi and Senju. When they met, Mikey had lost Shinichiro and Emma, Sanzu left his home (and most likely stopped interacting with his siblings - although the “Haruchiyo doesn't like the fact im the head of Brahman. He doesn't like that I'm the strongest and that Takeomi endorses me” of Senju in chapter 216 means that he made his disapproval known). Izana knew of Mikey (Shinichiro kept talking about him), Muto didn’t know of Sanzu’s siblings. Muto also has the same age gap with Sanzu (and Senju) that Izana has with Mikey (and Emma). Izana was meant to parallel Mikey, Muto was meant to… parallel Takeomi. He parallels Sanzu too, in some points (staying loyal to their first ‘king’, being very harsh on betrayers/spies, having nowhere to go, Muto to Sanzu, chapter 206, “You don't have anywhere you belong ? You and I are pretty alike.”) but Sanzu said “I would've loved to have a big brother like you”(chapter 206) and so… either Wakui came up with Mucho or Takeomi first. Maybe he didn't even intend to narratively tie them in the first place. But they're still shaped in a way to be opposite. Sanzu took Mucho as his big brother figure first because he’s the opposite of the big brother Sanzu got and who failed him. Mucho’s betrayal against Mikey leaves him to die by Sanzu’s hands anyway, however, by betraying Mikey, he also betrayed Sanzu’s trust. His big brother failed him, again. A brother who told him “it's fine to be devoted to the king, but take care of yourself, too.”(chapter 206), not only validating his actions but saying he’s important as well, a brother who gave him his jacket, a brother who is the reason behind his favorite food (Sanzu’s favorite food is cheesecake for Cozy Corner and Mucho’s failure/heroic story explains why : “to make Haruchiyo Sanzu open up, Mucho bought him cheesecake from his favorite shop, Cozy Corner. The atmosphere was awkward and Mucho asked if something was wrong, to which Sanzu replied that he hated cheese, but would give it a try. There was no conversation after that.”), a brother who tried to make him open up, who tried to understand him, a brother who thought handing him a mask was a good idea because he was “missing out because of those scars” (chapter 206). Another perhaps useful information is that Sanzu dislikes “smothering people”, which was probably what Takeomi was to him (we already know Takeomi likes, has to be in control).

We only have one example of a moment the Akashi siblings spent together, only the three of them. And that’s Senju’s “it's super sparkly ! I haven't been [in an amusement park] since second grade of elementary school !” (chapter 219) and her hidden volume cover (which happened the same year Sanzu got his scars so between April 1st and July 30th 1999).

(Takeomi is the only character, on a (hidden or not) volume cover, we can’t see the face of. Most of them look directly at the reader, and if they don’t we can still see a bit of their face (just like Sanzu and Senju here).)

Final Timeline

It’s not a rant about the entire ending, that’s not the purpose of this post so I’ll only stick with Takeomi.

He’s the only one I have a problem with in this ending. Not him in particular, but his role, his job. Mikey and Takemichi fixed everything (the best they could), including the Akashi siblings’ relationship. All three of them work together.

I won’t say it’s bad for Takeomi’s development, it depends how it’s done and since it’s a happy ending for everyone, it shouldn’t impact anyone badly, But. Was him being the ‘self-proclaimed producer’ necessary ? I’m not against it, especially not if he has another (official) job on the side (and we know he’s smart enough to have one, and one who pays lots, which would also explain how he succeeds to ‘produce’ Senju & Haruchiyo). The only small problem I have with this is – he still lives by being someone important, needed, for somebody else, living on somebody else’s success. And it can be healthy ! But why is it ‘self-proclaimed’. Yuzuha isn’t Hakkai’s ‘self proclaimed’ manager. She is. Takeomi could very much be Haruchiyo and Senju’s producer. Sure they’re youtubers and I don't know if they can have official producers, but why? Takeomi, especially final timeline Takeomi, doesn’t need to brag about others’ achievements as if it was his own, he needs to brag about what he can and what he does by himself, without the need of anybody else.

And I don't say it’s what happens in the final timeline. But it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I hope he has another job where he constantly realizes he is the only reason why it succeeds. Because I don't need him to say ‘I raised them’ or ‘I produce them’ when someone praises Senju and Haruchiyo, as if he was the reason they became famous. I don’t need him to get Haruchiyo and Senju under the spotlight to steal it from them. I need him to be their producer because he can, because he wants to help and bond with them, without taking what they did for himself. I need him to have an individual job, to have built his career without anyone’s help, to see that he can succeed alone. And unfortunately, that’s not what this last chapter made me feel was happening.

Still, it is (and that’s why we’re here for, not me rumbling about how Takeomi’s job is the only one to piss me off because he’s the only character who ends up with a job that can screw up his development). First, I'm so glad the Akashi actually get to be siblings. There are still some issues they had had to fix (with Mikey and Takemichi’s help-), Takeomi and Haruchiyo’s relationship was already pretty bad (Takeomi has his scar on his face) but it got fixed ! Second, Takeomi deserves to feel needed (and to be), which he is by being their producer and i wish, if both sides do take advantages of the other, that it’s in the most healthy way (if that makes sense) – that “the money [...] spent out of Takeomi’s pocket” was his idea and Haruchiyo and Senju accepted (with perhaps the intention of paying Takeomi back later, maybe not with money, since Takeomi doesn’t seem to need it, but still, to do something to show Takeomi it was appreciated) and that Haruchiyo and Senju thanks him publicly, without his ego feasting on it.

I hope he got his self-esteem restored. Which of course that’s what happened, we’re in the final timeline and everything’s good. But. I really hope he did.

And I choose to believe that the “same old Takeomi.” from Shinichiro means Takeomi the same as he was when they were kids. Maybe not exactly, because Black Dragon 1st generation and Takeomi’s superiority complex happened, but that Shinichiro recognizes his childhood friend is doing well, that he’s still here somewhere and got healed.

+ What’s in a name ?

(I'm gonna do something I didn't do for the Shiba (there wasn't much to say about it for them))

Writers are careful with how they name their characters (I'm making generalities here) – and it's especially true with Japanese and Chinese Writers whose characters' name change meaning depending on how they decide to write it

So it's been odd to me, when I realized the ‘Take’ in both Takeomi and Takemichi were the same. Why would Wakui do that? It can't be a coincidence, right ? And indeed. The Akashi siblings' names hold meaning.

Let's start with 明司 (Akashi). 明 (aka) means light, bright and is made of the Kanji used for sun (日) and the one used for moon (月). Then, 司 (shi) means official, director, administrator and was once used to design governors the Emperor had appointed to carry out the imperial policies in provinces. So 司 is for people in power, but not at the top. As said before, 司 seems to come from 后 which is the same kanji upside down and which means ‘emperor, king, monarch..’.

武 from both Takeomi and Takemichi means ‘military, war’. Takemichi's name is actually made of the exact Kanji as Budō (武道, way of war/way of the martial arts). 臣 (Omi) means ‘retainer, subject’ and could be used as a ‘I’ when addressing one's master. Ah, and it can be pronounced ‘Shin’ by itself. Because of course it does.

Takeomi is either: the warrior retainer or the war/military retainer. But he can also be in some way, the director of the light (and so can be Sanzu and Senju.)

I've got more to say about Sanzu than Senju so I'll start with her. Search "Senju Japanese name" into a search bar, you won't end up finding it written like Wakui decided to write it. Not that it means it doesn’t exist, but it's not popular. And for cause, Wakui chose to write Senju: 千咒 – A thousand curses.

Now, who would name their child "curse", I don't know. Perhaps it's one of those names where they're supposed to be degrading so as to push bad spirits/ghosts away? I have two theories for this but they’re without any real basis. One of them is ; the person who named her was really angry at her birth and since we don’t know where is/what happened to their mother.. Yeah (either she died giving birth or for some reasons she named Senju that way before leaving/disappearing). Or it could be one of those ‘Kira Kira names’ (names outside of the norm parents decided were cool). Anyway, Senju thinks she is the reason why both Mikey and Sanzu (+Baji) turned up that way, which isn't true as we're being told after, but Senju thought she was the reason behind Mikey's curse – without knowing it was a curse.

I didn't find any real concrete stuff about Kawaragi. Which is sad. 瓦 means roof tile and 城 means castle. When put together with the Kanji 礫, 瓦礫 means rubbish, wreckage, debris. With the Kanji 解, it becomes 瓦解; collapse, downfall. Normally I won't dare to talk about things who seem to be a bit too coincidental. But 土崩瓦解 doesn't feel coincidental. It can either mean 'complete collapse' or, '(something) going to pieces', meaning 'broke beyond repair'. Which she did. Or rather, thinks she did (not only the toy plane, but “Ever since that day, they all changed… mikey, baji and Haruchiyo. They all changed, and it's because of me” (chapter 241, Senju)). Also, 瓦 is 万 but backward and 万 is the first Kanji of ‘Manjiro’ (万次郎). Which makes a lot more sense. I guess ? For 城; there's 成, meaning 'promoted' it's notably used in Shogi where some pieces can be, well, promoted.

I like to think Sanzu started calling himself such because Mikey and Baji decided to find themselves different names (even if Baji is never even once referred as Ed or Edward). But whatever the reason, Sanzu is one hell of a name. Quite literally, hell. If you look up "Sanzu'' and ignore the Tokyo Revengers-related things, you'd scramble upon: 三途の川 – Sanzu no Kawa. River of the three crossings. A place the deads have to cross after their deaths, and which leads them either to heaven, to hell, or to resurrection. Souls get punished there. Every sin gets met with a trial.

(Plus, it's interesting to know that those you get drag to Jigoku, "hell", fall in the water/river where a bunch of snakes await them. Whereas people who get a pass to Tengoku, heaven walk over a bridge. Sanzu is never called ‘sanzu’ in the original timeline. But you know how Shinichiro died the first time ? Yeah, you do. He isn’t called Sanzu once in the original timeline, and even if he is in the final timeline, I decide to believe it’s because Mikey and Takemichi are too used to calling him that way to realize it and he just picked it up.)

春千夜 (Haruchiyo), is the only name among the Akashi who don't have any kind of negativity in it. Senju has curses, Takeomi has retainer (which isn't a negative thing in itself, but we've already established that Takeomi wants to be so much more than to be at someone's else service), Haruchiyo means "Spring of a thousand nights". Just like Senju, he has 千, ‘a thousand’ in his name.

Remember the 武 from Takeomi and Takemichi ? Yeah ? Well I'm a bit of a liar. Rather than a liar, I didn't say everything. There's a third character with 武 in his name. But it isn't pronounced 'Take' for one, and for two, it's in his family name, not his first

武藤  泰宏

Muto Yasuhiro

(I can't imagine the pain he has to go through every time he writes his name down. 藤 is one hell of a kanji.)

Ah... Mucho. Sanzu's big brother figure. Better than the other. But who did the only thing Sanzu would kill anyone for: betray Mikey. But that's not the point here, we're here to talk about his name. Beside the obvious 武 meant to add to the fact he's Sanzu's big brother, like Takeomi but reversed, 藤 means wisteria. 泰宏(Yasuhiro) means "peaceful' and 'broad' which describes Mucho's personality accurately but, but, but. In 泰 there's 𡗗 just like in 春 ;) (it actually doesnt mean much because taiju also has it in one of his kanji but shh). Or, just like Sanzu shares a kanji with his sister, he shares half one with his not related by blood brother. And ⺢ is a variant of 水, water, just like Sanzu is a river.

朕 is also in there. It's the royal ‘I’, ‘we’ – completely opposite of the servant 臣, ‘I’. More globally, wisterias represent the imperial family in Japan; thanks to the Fujiwara who impacted Japan by a lot when they were the ones ruling the country. And I’ll stop there with Mucho because I may be going too deep here and at some point digging further is meaningless.

Shinichiro and Mikey’s names are… It made me chuckle, not gonna lie. Not because of what the kanji means, but because those are extremely common kanji found in names. 一郎 in 真一郎(Shinichiro) means ‘first’ and ‘boy/son’. 次郎 in 万次郎(Manjiro) means ‘next’ and ‘boy/son’. These (reading ‘Ichiro’ and ‘Jiro’ by themselves) were rather common names for children from not-upper class families. It’s much less common nowadays. Then there’s 真 who means ‘real, sincere, genuine, truth’ and 万  who means ‘ten thousand’. And I didn't quite understand why their parents would choose that kanji, but if you add 全 to it then it gives 万全 or, ‘perfection, flawlessness’, and suddenly it makes my heart melt and also more sense. (it also seems to come from his grandfather’s name Mansaku (万作))

Sano 佐野 too, is a rather common name. Or at least half a common name. since 佐 may make you think of 佐藤 (Sato) which is the most common Japanese family name. However, the 藤 comes from the Fujiwara clan, since the Sano don’t have this kanji (unlike Muto) we can say they don’t have samurai ancestors (or if they do, it got lost along the way). It seems like family name with two out of three of the following kanji : 田, 中 or 村 are reasonably common. And 野 (Sano) has both 田 and 村. (although unlike Tanaka(田中), Nakamura(中村) and others they are stuck inside one kanji).

Unlike Akashi which describes someone of the upper-class, the Sano are everyday average people (Sano means ‘to help’ and ‘field, plain’ but also a prefix meaning ‘wild, lacking a political post’). Except they aren’t. But Wakui must find himself funny for this.

EDIT: 'Sano' is a city in the Tochigi Prefecture in Kanto, which economy revolves around agriculture and light manifacturing. It was also once the name of a clan.

(By the way, the -no of Terano (寺野) is the same kanji. As in, Terano South. And there are some parallels between Mikey and him.. (ill mother, no father, a parent who's a foreigner – but Mikey was born and raised in Japan while South had Brazil), person who raised him showed him the world of delinquency (but they had clearly different view of it), go live with their grandparent(s), person who raised them died when they were 12 (Shin died before Mikey had turned 13) because of ‘dark impulses’ (South himself; Kazutora), they both have ‘dark impulses’ (although we might never know why/how/if they are really the same dark impulses for South), they are both known by a English name rather than their official Japanese one (but Mikey chose his while Dino named South)… We don’t have enough about South and I don't like it.)

(Even worse, because if you’re as delusional as I am, you would notice that if you take out two strokes of 南(South) you end up with the kanji 幸. And since Mikey loved his mother very much, and she loved him very much, and South loved his mother very much… Then his mother must have loved him very much as well (even if she was incapable of fully taking care of him). And 幸 means ‘happiness, luck, blessing fortune’. But then it’s a girl name. But perhaps that’s what his mother wanted her child to be named if it was a daughter ? It’s still hidden in the ‘’Minami’’(南) Anyway, as I said, I’m being delusional and 南 is not an unusual name in Japan. Leave me and my headcanons alone. There's also the possibility it was his father who was Japanese, of course. After all South’s name is Japanese, but then, we don't know a thing about his father so we can't say if him and South’s mom were married. But no matter which one was his Japanese parent, he either had no vocabulary in Japanese or only the basis and had had to learn everything when he was sent to live with his grandparents in Japan – who probably don't speak a word of Portuguese so it didn’t help South having very violent habits. They couldn't communicate.)

I didn’t find something that caught my attention with Baji’s kanji. Sad. But Edward means ‘guardian, protector’ so at least he chose a name that does describe him well. Micheal means ‘who is like god ?’ and of course reminds you of Michael the Archangel and knowing his mother called him ‘my angel’, well my heart is currently aching. I mean… Baji is made of a kanji meaning ‘place’ and another meaning ‘ground’ (the kanji for Keisuke means ‘jewels/corner’ and ‘meditation’ and i really have no idea for those) – Michael is one of the most famous angel name and Sanzu is linked to the afterlife so.. perhaps Baji is the ‘human’ of them three ?

(Baji Keisuke is written 圭介場地. Out of all these kanji there's only 圭 I perhaps found something interesting about. In Shogi, there's a piece called 成桂; 'promoted Katsura' and its abrevation is 圭. Btw, in Shogi, the 'king' is 玉将 or 王将 (if you're a lower rank player or a challenger VS if you're a higher rank player or a reigning champion) notice the dot ? It's 瓦 from 'Kawaragi' vs 万 from 'Manjiro' again)

Emma and Izana's can't be analyzed this much. I didn't find anything for Izana (If i go on Behind the name, in japanese the name Izana (rare and only used in pop culture) comes from the verb izanau ; to invite, to ask someone to do, to call for, to tempt, to lure, to entice ; but honestly, searching for the etymology of this name doesn’t give you a lot of answer (not enough sites say the same thing for me to believe it)) and Emma is "universal, whole" when it comes of German etymology and "all containing" when it comes of Hebrew etymology.

Also it’s interesting how Sanzu and Senju decided to change their family name and not their first like Mikey and Baji. Plus, Baji gets called by his family name every time so it didn’t serve much – like Senju who changed her family name but is never addressed by it in the story (even Brahman members yell ‘’Senju’’). But then Mikey changed his first name and gets called by it and Sanzu changed his family name and gets called by it. One option for each possibility, so it could be in/Wakui’s purpose! The one who didn’t use their other name as much as their real one are the ones to die, whereas the one who, to overstate the point, changed their identity by identifying with something that wasn’t initially them, actually got those selves erased. It’s more clear for Sanzu. Sanzu came up with ‘Sanzu’ and ‘Akashi Haruchiyo’ wasn’t anymore. Mikey came up with this name for another reason but it was still to get rid of ‘Manjiro’. And he didn’t get rid of ‘Manjiro’ until his brother, the only person left to call him that, died. Mikey’s flashback (chapter 264-265: “I.. really like ‘strong’ people [...] Until that day [Shinichiro’s death] [...] I was looking for ‘something’ other than strength [...] All the guys in Toman are good. They're so good but there's something I can't figure out. I wonder how long… there has been ‘something’ dark inside my heart [...] ‘strong’ alone is not enough [...] After all, all I need is ‘darkness’.”) tells us he was already starting to follow his Dark Impulses ; after his brother’s death. He confesses it to Kisaki (“I wonder how long… there has been ‘something’ dark inside my heart. Sometimes that ‘something’ expands and drives me to destroy absolutely everything”). Manjiro Sano died with his brother. Other people may still call him that way, like his grandfather, but Mikey is Mikey. And this innocent name he once chose to make his sister feel less lonely became a metaphor for his incoming loss of sense of self.

We can also add that Shinichiro may have not changed the way he called Mikey because since his brother, 'Manjiro', was the only thing left from his life before it went downhill, calling him 'Mikey' instead of 'Manjiro' would have created even more of a distance between Shinichiro and his past 'normal' life from his childhood.

Baji and Mikey chose their name (Micheal & Edward) to try to make Emma open up. To get closer to her (especially Mikey). And Emma gets her birth name (Kurokawa) changed as Sano, which makes her even closer to her two brothers (and less from Izana). Sanzu and Senju chose their name to separate themself from Takeomi (and each other).

Of course, they aren't the only characters being best-known as a name they chose themselves of have been given by others. Draken for example, doesn't show any kind of resentment or even neutrality against his name; Ken is still present in Draken. We also know he chose it as a child (like the others), but (unlike the others) a reason is never given - he most likely thought it was cool; just like Mitsuya's dragon and his new tattoo were. Same with Benkei. It is written in katakana in the manga, but with kanji Benkei and Keizo have the same 'Kei'. Benkei is one of the most famous historical figure in Japan, by the way. (He is the servant of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, born Ushiwakamaru. Birth name which shares a lot of kanji with 'Imaushi Wakasa'. Both were great fighters). South, is another example of a name given to change one's identity – but South didn't name himself 'South'; Dino did, after making him kill someone, or giving him a bloody baptism if you prefer. And 'Minami' means 'South' but Minami never grew up enough for us or himself to know who he was.

(+ 

mikey baji sanzu and senju are four and so are bd 1st gen doesn’t feel like a coincidence. But i cant think of something that makes it very interesting. Wakasa and sanzu both know about the og timeline, baji and takeomi are used as parallels at least once, senju has some commons traits with Shinichiro, but mikey does too (and more), senju and benkei.. both like MMA ? And their favorite catchers are rivals ? Thats not much for me to talk about ngl)

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hi BPP

Apologies in advance if this ask is haphazard. I am not as deep in the kpop world as I’d like to be. I think I actually only know about Hybe groups and maybe a few songs from other groups due to Instagram and kdramas.

In the 1.5 years I’ve followed BTS, I’ve been absolutely wowed by them and their performances. I’ve not felt the need to check out other group performances as much.

Being on tumblr, naturally, one comes across discourse or opinions on other groups. And I’ve seen some people comment about BTS fans being entitled or harsh towards other groups. This was most apparent when Taemin came out with Guilty. Now, I’m not going to take away from his artistry but guilty is not my type of music. The only reason why I even know of Taemin is because of the dance challenge he did with Jimin. And to be honest, I find Jimin a better dancer. For all the videos I’ve seen with the two of them dancing togerher, Jimin always comes out top.

I know Jimin has said before that Taemin inspires him a lot. And it probably is very true. From what I’ve read, Taemin debuted at a very young age and was the stand out performer in Shinee. I will give credit where due - the concept for his Guilty music video is very boundary pushing and speaks of an artist who isn’t afraid to experiment his/other darker sides, afraid of pushing the envelope. But that doesn’t make him the most amazing dancer or performer?

But it also doesn’t mean that BTS fans should call him a cheap Jimin copy. Whilst I do think Jimin is a superior artist, I think the fact that he respects Taemin and has been inspired by him should be enough of a reason for his/BTS fans accord the same to Taemin.

In your opinion, BPP, do you think Taemin is a better dancer, performer, artist than Jimin and are his fans right when they scoff at comparisons with Jimin (whom they may or may not love but consider an inferior performer)?

***

Lol fun fact: I’d seen SHINee in concert a couple times before BTS debuted.

Also, I find your ask interesting because reading it, you seem like a fan of Taemin and his music despite you saying “guilty is not my type of music.” Or at least, more accommodating of the ideas you’ve picked up about him.

That said, yeah I agree with you that some ARMYs view BTS (and Jimin) as being the best there is when it comes to performing, and they are critical of other performers in comparison. On one hand, it’s understandable given BTS are the best performers around. That was literally BTS’s claim to fame and they outshot every group while they were active, including SHINee that’s also a very good group when it comes to performing.

A second reason you see this dynamic is because it’s constant across all fandoms in k-pop. Every fandom has a superiority complex on account of their favourite groups/idols. Shawols and SM stans will tell you SHINee/Taemin is better; Stays will tell you Stray Kids is the better group; YG stans will tell you Big Bang/GDragon is the better performer. Most stans have this weird chip on their shoulders on account of the groups they stan. ARMYs just happen to be the fandom that has the results and critical acclaim to actually back it up.

Taemin is a remarkable artist and he’s improved a huge lot since debut, especially in terms of performing. It’s also true that his friendship with Jimin is enduring and they’ve both shared that they inspire each other. In a perfect world, stans would consider these facts when they discuss the idols and hopefully, they’d do so with respect. In reality, people like what they like and hate what they hate regardless of anything else. Why do you expect people who like Jimin to view Taemin positively when those same people don’t even view Namjoon positively, Namjoon who is closer to Jimin, Namjoon who Jimin has repeatedly said has inspired him over the last 10 years, Namjoon who is in the literal same team with Jimin.

Regardless of what Jimin has said about Namjoon’s character, skill and artistry, many of his stans don’t care, so why should Jimin’s connection to Taemin have any bearing on whether they like him if they genuinely think Jimin is better anyway? This whole space would be better if people were marginally respectful when discussing idols they might not like, but that’s not what happens - whether Shawols discussing Jimin or ARMYs discussing Taemin, and so we get the dynamic you’ve observed.

Personally, while I can appreciate Taemin’s dancing skillset, Jimin for me is the more dynamic dancer. I also prefer Jimin’s vocals the best as I’ve said several times before. SHINee’s choreographies in general have limited appeal for my tastes for several reasons, but Taemin’s individual stuff is really good even though over the years I’ve been watching him, I’ve noticed a pattern in the sorts of routines he gravitates towards and as I’ve said before, my tastes for choreo are… less refined. For better or worse. It’s hard to explain but Taemin is viewed as the more explicit performer, often leaning into themes exploring sexuality and sensuality, but it’s actually Jimin whose performances feel more raw, and give me more of an edge, regardless of the theme.

Anyway, I’m team Jimin if that’s what you’re asking. If seeing k-pop stans and/or ARMYs peacocking on account of either Jimin or Taemin bothers you, then I suggest curating your timeline. It’s likely not ever going to change in wider k-pop fandom lol.

[letterstotheuniversepage]

Celebrating Cultural Diversity: A Filipino Perspective

Culture is a perfect manifestation of the art of what it means to be a human being living in this world. It illustrates the way of life of every person in a community, tribe, or country. Culture isn’t something that can be described with just a few words; I believe that to fully grasp it, one must be a part of the flow and actively get involved. Tradition and culture are inseparable. One cannot exist without the other. But the most important element is the people themselves who shape the culture and tradition that have existed up until today.

As a Filipino, our culture comprises many wonderful aspects that amaze me every time I think about them. One cultural custom that I find fascinating is our resilience: our ability to get up after a downfall and smile in any situation or with any person we interact with. This world is not always sunny, but we Filipinos always find it in our hearts to dance in the middle of the storm, and that is truly beautiful. Another cultural value that I am most proud of is our faith in God. I don’t want to sound biased, but this is the truth. This quality is the foundation of our resilience. We survive and prosper because we never lose hope. We get up each day with the thought, “This is just a bad day but never an awful life. God will send me His divine grace to help me get by.” Once again, I am proud to be a Filipino, and living in this society while engaging in this culture gives me a unique identity worthy of being known.

As I have stated in the previous paragraph, I greatly appreciate our own culture. But just like all other traditions, nothing is perfect. There are no superior or inferior values and heritage, but if I had to alter two specific norms in our country, perhaps it would be gossiping and the crab mentality. I want to change these aspects because they can cause more negative effects than positive ones. These traits can be self-destructive and may badly affect others as well. As a concerned citizen, I suggest that changing them is the right thing to do for the betterment of the community, to keep the lifestyle of everybody in harmony.

Culture is undeniably diverse. Many kinds of ethnicities, races, and nationalities are spread out all over the globe. As I continue my journey in life, meeting individuals with different cultures and philosophies is part of it. There are no specific steps to flawlessly communicate with people who practice unfamiliar traits and values, but I can strive to be more empathetic, open-minded, and sensitive in dealing with them. I believe that our differences are not the reason we are divided, nor why there are conflicts. The true reason behind societal divergence is our lack of capacity to accept new ideas and ways of living.

Every person is a complex being, and as we live together in this world, certain issues like conflicts and misunderstandings between countries or in a community are almost impossible to avoid. But this must not always be the case, because after all, we are breathing the same air, and we are under the same sky. Our goal is to be at peace amidst diversity, not at war.

Written by: Amaranthine Briar / Akahana

𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞

Content Copyright © Rose R. Sales All rights reserved.

[blues824]

Just saw the uzui mc headcanon, if you don't mind how about if with the obey me brothers seeing how mc can have more partners?

I got this request on August 8, and I finally finished it… I am so sorry to the person who requested this.

Lucifer

Yet another power couple. You are natural-born leaders, so it makes sense that when you get together, nothing can stop either of you. Whenever you or Lucifer post something on Devilgram, it goes viral almost instantaneously.

When you tell him about your ‘family tradition’ of polyamorous relationships, he turns into the unimpressed emoji. You merely laugh it off, telling him it was a joke… but he remains unamused. He wants you all to himself, Y/N.

He’s glad that you found something to do in your spare time. Exercising and working out can be good for both body and mind. When you are working out, he makes sure you stay hydrated as well as making sure you don’t take it too far.

As for your physique, you are built. You take your job as Lucifer’s bodyguard very seriously. Not even Mammon could be paid or persuaded to mess with you or even call you ‘human’. Built like a tank, you are.

He won’t admit it, but he loves seeing your soft side. The fact that it’s only reserved for him and him alone fills his heart with an overwhelming sense of pride. In return, he will be more lenient towards you. His hard gaze would be softened when looking at you.

You both have really big egos, so he won’t be calling you “flamboyant god/goddess of festivals” anytime soon. He would call you “darling”, “dear”, etc. to annoy you and make you mad since he’s not calling you your desired title.

As for your jewelry and makeup, he’s kind of indifferent towards it. He sees strange and unusual styles whenever he walks to the bustling town. Whenever he goes out and sees a headband that reminds him of you, he will buy it and give it to you when he gets back.

Lucifer is impressed by the abilities and skills you have as a demon slayer. You can easily kill any demon that is foolish enough to mess with you. The blade you carry around is specially made to do that task, so he is glad that you aren’t completely defenseless.

Mammon

Another power couple situation. Y’all will strut through the hallways because you know everyone would kill to be either of you. I imagine you both pick up modeling gigs with each other. Your Devilgram follower count isn’t something to laugh at either.

I think he could be convinced to add another person to the relationship. However, he’s the Avatar of Greed, so if the other person is taking up too much of your attention and time then it’s time for them to go.

He teased you once (called you ‘dumb human’) and you punched him in the stomach so hard. He couldn’t breathe correctly for about an hour. He never messes with you again. He knows you work out a lot, so you obviously have muscles for days.

A few weeks before a modeling gig, he would join you in the gym to get a bit toned for the shot. He would complain about how he was sore… even though he did one sit-up. Halfway through the workout routine, he passes out from exhaustion. You had to carry him to his room.

He absolutely loves your soft side where you’re more quiet and calm. He soaks up all the attention you give him and he will have a giddy smile on his face. He’s the Avatar of Greed, so he’s going to be greedy about your caring and loving side.

Mammon has both an inferiority complex and a superiority complex… but that’s not what I’m talking about today. He would call you “Flamboyant God/Goddess of Festivals” if he needs or wants something. Or if he’s in trouble and he needs you to protect him.

When he sees your jewelry and your makeup, he thinks you’re going to a costume party at first. Then seeing you wear it the same way everyday makes him realize that it’s just your style. He would definitely get you a bunch of headbands, but deny it because he’s a big tsundere.

He turns into the star-eyed emoji whenever he sees you demonstrate your skills as a Hashira. He realizes how much work you put in to get to where you are today. The amount of dedication and effort to set yourself up for success. He’s glad that you can fend for yourself and that he doesn’t need to defend you.

Leviathan

You remind him of the Sound Hashira from “Help! Rip-off Michael Jackson turned my sister into a demon and now I’m trying to find a cure for her!” You are definitely wearing the pants in your relationship, though. He’s too socially awkward.

He definitely doesn’t want to add anyone to your relationship. He’s the Avatar of Envy, he gets jealous when you say ‘hi’ to anyone else that isn’t him. When you bring up your ‘family tradition’ as a joke, he won’t take it as that. Instead, he will think that it’s your way of saying he isn’t enough for you.

You wouldn’t catch him dead working out. He never ventures outside of his room, save for meals and to restock his snack stash. He would be there to sit on your back as you do push-ups to add an extra challenge for you. However, he won’t be actively doing the push-ups.

Levi knows that you are built like a tank. He’s happy to have you as his bodyguard. Now he can go out in public without having to socialize with anyone because you handle the situation. Because of how intimidating you look, no one wants to mess around. You’re like Levi’s secret service.

He loves your soft side. He absolutely soaks up all the special attention you give him. It boosts his ego because all this attention is for him and him alone. He’s the only one who gets to experience the gentle and kind person behind the tough and flamboyant mask.

He probably would call you the “God/Goddess of Festivals” from time to time… especially when you’re sad. He doesn’t really know how to comfort people, but he knows that it’s a tiny surprise to help you through the tough times. Other than that, he’d call you by your name or “Henry”.

He likes your jewelry and makeup. He understands that it’s your style, but the first time he saw you like that he thought you were cosplaying your favorite character from your favorite anime or manga. He would definitely buy you a bunch of headbands whenever he sees them.

He would definitely record you training and post it. As you use your Sound Breathing, he would be so blown away. When you unsheathe your swords and cut through trees, he audibly gasps. You’ve even cut through a solid boulder! You move with such grace and elegance. It was truly breath-taking.

Satan

I think this is a good and healthy balance between loud and quiet. You aren’t exactly a power couple, but you do attract a lot of attention. Satan prefers things to be on the down-low, whereas you prefer to shout it out loud for the world to hear.

I don’t know if he’d add anyone to your relationship. Maybe… if you play your cards right. He will have a full list of terms and conditions for the other person. If they even go near breaking any rules, they’re out of here.

He might join you on a peaceful walk or even a jog. I don’t think he would do a full-fledged workout unless he needs an outlet for his anger. Like Leviathan, he will sit on your back while you do push-ups to give you that extra weight lift.

Everyone can see your muscles. For many, that’s the first thing they notice about you. It was probably the first thing Satan noticed about you as well. However, it’s not the thing he judged about you in your first interaction. 

Satan soaks up all the attention you give him when you’re in a soft mood. He will lay his head in your lap as you gently run your scarred hands through his hair. It’s a routine that can calm him down after a frustrating day, and it makes him take a break to appreciate the good things.

He most definitely would NOT call you “God/Goddess of Festivals”. To him, it’s like admitting someone is better than him, and he doesn’t like that. The only time he would call you that is when you both are fighting with each other, which doesn’t happen a lot surprisingly.

He does notice that you do your makeup in a completely different way than most. He also notices the tons and tons of jewelry you like to wear. He’s indifferent towards it because he believes judgment should be based on actions and intentions rather than physical appearances.

He might come with you to watch you train, but he thinks it’s all in Beel’s level of experience. His exercising consists of long walks to and from different places. Although, he would totally go to support you. As you work, you both talk to each other about anything that comes to mind.

Asmodeus

Another power couple. You both are trending on Devilgram, anything either of you post almost immediately goes viral. I feel like you would both build off of each other's energy in social media influencer events. A lot of demons are jealous of either you or Asmo, or the both of you.

He would say that he’s absolutely down for another person in your relationship, but he is secretly jealous over the third person who catches your eye. Like, was he not beautiful for you to be happy? He would always be passive-aggressive towards the third partner until they get the hint and leave.

After a tough workout, Asmo would lead you into some calming and soothing yoga. He probably wouldn’t do any of the extreme exercises that you do, but he will make you some cute workout clothes. At most, he’d sit on your back as you do push-ups, as well as give you kisses for every time you sit up while doing sit-ups.

You are built like a brick wall, and Asmo knows this. He often traces your arms whenever you hang out. He’s always surprised whenever you lift something super heavy or whenever you pick him up and either throw him over your shoulder or carry him bridal-style.

Asmo becomes a literal sponge when you show your soft side to him. I’m talking cuddles, kisses, whispering sweet nothings to one another, the whole nine yards. Self-care is an absolute necessity. Days where you put on some relaxing music and you apply some cleansing masks, gossiping away are a must.

He would put your contact name as “ My God/Goddess of Festivals” and would start every call or conversation by addressing you as such. You’re more of a party animal than even he is, so in his mind you deserve such a grand title. He doesn’t mind either way, though.

He has seen how you do your makeup and he is thriving for it. There are days where he feels bored of his usual makeup routine and he plops himself on your bed for you to do his makeup. The amount of pictures he has of the both of you with identical makeup is astonishing.

As for when you’re training, he’s most definitely impressed by how well you wield your swords. He’s the kind to 1) keep you hydrated and 2) push you to take breaks. He doesn’t need you passing out from either dehydration or exhaustion. He most likely would post a picture of you flexing your muscles as well.

Beelzebub

Gym partners for life. While Beel is a bit more quiet than you are, you both are still pretty loud. You aren’t a power couple, but when you walk into the room, your presence is immediately noticed. I feel like you are in charge in the relationship as well.

He probably wouldn’t want to share you and your love with anyone else… besides maybe Belphie. If you and Beel are in a relationship, Belphie is naturally there as well. I’m talking cuddle piles on the bed, Beel carrying the both of you over his shoulders (he’s a demon, he’s much stronger than you).

Beel works out with you a lot, however your reasoning behind doing these excessive  workouts are completely different. Belphie offers his services as an extra weight to create a more difficult challenge for the both of you. You all talk about the days you had, Beel passes out snacks, Belphie passes out… fun times.

You both are carved from an entirely different block of marble. I’m not talking about the muscles, but the noble hearts within as well. Everyone sees you as something that’s stronger than them and therefore intimidating, but only a select few know the real you.

Beel loves all the attention you give him, especially after a Fangol game. You offer to give him a back massage as he tells you about how it felt to get the winning touchdown. There are date nights where it ends up in the both of you laying on his bed, just cuddling.

He would probably call you “God/Goddess of Festivals” just whenever. He knows that no one really calls you that, so it’s a pick-me-up for you whenever someone uses your preferred title. He also probably shortens it and just calls you “My God/Goddess”.

He doesn’t understand makeup, but he thinks you look so good and unique with your style. He sees how your jewelry ties together the whole look as well. Now, whenever Beel is in public, he keeps an eye out for any accessory he thinks you’ll like (you also have a necklace that has a red B on it, and he has one with your first initial).

Your training is completely different from a workout, and Beel doesn’t know anything about your training. He will go with you and watch as you bring out your swords and cut through solid objects with such grace. Wait… wasn’t your previous occupation slaying demons?

Belphegor

Literal opposites. You’re so energetic and cheerful and flamboyant, while he’s probably got a hoodie somewhere that says “more espresso, less depresso”. Your personalities tend to clash often, what with both of you being very dominant people.

He wouldn’t even share you with Beel. He’s been described as ‘yandere’, and it shows in your relationship. He gets insanely jealous whenever you talk to anyone else besides him and his brothers, and even then he still gets angry if it wasn’t Beel who you were talking to.

He doesn’t have the energy to workout, but he would lie if he didn’t find it hot whenever you did something like pull-ups or flex your muscles. Like Hello, sailor! He would offer to sit on your back or hold your feet down whenever you needed something more challenging.

There have been many times where Belphie just passes out and you have to carry him back to his bed so that he can sleep comfortably. You also throw him over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes whenever you can.

Even though he would never admit it, he loves seeing your gentle side. He can feel you running your fingers through his hair while he’s asleep. Cuddles are necessary as well. Btw, he’s the little spoon! Anyways, he can also hear the sweet nothings you whisper into his hair.

He would not be calling you “God/Goddess of Festivals”. Don’t even try, you won’t get anywhere on this topic. This is basically stating that you are of a higher status than him, and he’s seen God. You aren’t Him, though in his mind you would be better.

He thinks your makeup probably takes a lot of effort, too much effort for him. You look good though! He might secretly add necklaces to your collection, a little dash of him here and there. Same thing with headbands.

Your training seems super difficult, and he’s proud of you and how well you do during your training sessions. He’s never seen a dual-wielder, so the technique is a bit different. You move with the grace of an archangel going to slay a beast.

[s0methingmoonlit]

So what if O!Sky was soft?

Ah, the brainrot just won’t go away. I think FNF Soft is wonderful! Mostly because the concept and aesthetic, and Grace! She’s my favorite of the bunch. Oh, I could ramble on and on about her, but we’re focusing on the Skyverse, especially O!Sky! This is my design for her! I tried my best to imitate Alex’s style, I think it’s pretty good. A little wonky on the limbs though.

Madison has a unique sense of fashion, I mean she wants to look stylish so makes sense. She’s a part time hair stylist, but dreams of becoming a fashion designer. She dyed parts of her hair blue because that was her second favorite color. She loves purple the most, and it’s pretty much 99% of her closet. Madison is not too short, only 5”2. But there are many more people taller than her, which is why she wears platform shoes. I was originally going to make her similar to her sister, but I think it’s better not to do that since that wouldn’t make much sense, mostly because of her backstory. If you wanna read it, just click or tap the magic button (aka keep reading LOL)

The two photos above are two other outfits. Madison’s outfit on her reference sheet is very similar to the second image, only that in the traditional drawing, the skirt is flowing, while in the one above, is a tight skirt, like the one in the third image.

Now let’s get into the backstory…

Madison wasn’t abused in her past like Benjamin was, but instead she heavily bullied someone. Specifically her younger sister. Yes, I do mean the Soft Sky we all know and love.

The Sky Siblings used to live in “The city of Stars” together with their parents. The father worked very busy as a Tailor, so they didn’t suffer too much financially. When they were young, Madison was always the one doing better at… pretty much anything. Sports, art, singing…whatever you name. At least their mom’s eyes. Mom would always give her older daughter attention and neglects her younger daughter. Because of that, Madison liked to treat her sister like crap, always bragging about herself and how she was better while Sky couldn’t “do anything” or was just “stupid and talentless.” She said lots mean things every single time she had a chance to. Their mother always just brushed it off as playful teasing because they were just kids! Kids don’t know morals. Same thing happened with the dad, but unlike mom, he actually started to slowly catch on to Madison’s hateful behavior. He then constantly reminds her to be more nicer to her younger sister, but that didn’t seem to work. He also began noticing that his wife was actually neglecting Sky. Before the siblings started middle school, the parents had a discussion with each other, which then turned into an argument, which lead to them getting a divorce. Sky and their father stayed at home, while Madison and their mother moved to another city. And that’s when Madison slowly starts to realize her behavior that past years. The less she was with her sister, the more days that went on, the more she felt guilty for her past actions. Her superiority complex slowly turned into an inferiority complex.

Nowadays, she’s much more mature, but isn’t very open to others. In other words, she’s very mysterious. She has a nice facade in order to please customers at her job, but in college she’s very avoidant of others. Like I said before, she strives to become a fashion designer, but also mustn’t reveal too much of herself. So yeah the reason Mother Mairest reminds Madison so much of herself is because she acted too much like her younger self. Also she only sees herself in Marilyn and not Frank is because 1) He’s ugly (at least Marilyn has a decent fashion sense) and 2) Madison never physically hurt Sky, at all. Even as a child she would never go far to physical harm. So no, Madison couldnt have caused that to Sky’s left eye.

Unfortunately, Mama Sky is a not a good mom in this AU. Actually, we know absolutely nothing about O!Sky’s mom OG universe, but I’ve always assumed she’s a good mother! But despite this, Madison still maintains a good relationship with mom. I mean, Mama Sky isn’t manipulative or abusive towards her, just was playing the favorite game in the worst way possible. I know many parents play favorites but this mother just takes it too far

“Ok, but what about Benjamin Fairest? What does Madison think of him?” Good question! You see… I actually didn’t think that far. Well, this is literally called the soft AU so the characters should seem less rambunctious and more calm. I guess Madison would just be neutral towards him. Like she wouldn’t care about his existence, she only wants his parents to get a good well deserved punishment. So yeah, he’s just okay in her eyes.

“What about Grace/Pico?” She has no idea who either of them are. Actually she knows the latter, but that’s only because a bunch of people made jokes about him in her high school.

“Wait, Sky Sky Curls?” I headcanon Soft Sky’s real name would be “Libby” but again, it’s only canon in my head, so I tend to stay away from using that.

I went on several different baby name websites for names that meant “heart.” Yes that is a reference to Old O!Sky’s sister being named Hearts. I kinda sorta gave up because I was doing this late at night. I chose Libby, or Libi, because it meant “my heart” or “girl” which isn’t exactly what I wanted, but I guess it was good enough.

Basically Libby was what I personally thought was most fitting for Soft Sky. If you read the small crossed out text, ok then.

Hmm… I guess that’s about all I could say! If you have any more questions, then the ask box is open! I think even people who don’t have a Tumblr and only came from my insta can use the ask box. You can ask anonymously or not.

[girl4music]

What the prejudice/bias of soulless/ensouled vampires/demons reveals to us about the character Buffy Summers.

Something that’s always bothered me about Buffy’s character and something I do consider to be a flaw of hers is her prejudice and bias of demons/vampires. I always find it quite poignant that the character to “therapize” Buffy in ‘Conversations With Dead People’ is a newly raised vampire who she briefly knew as a human and how he finally puts a name and definition to Buffy’s shows-long complex trauma and condition and basically diagnoses her ‘inferiority complex about having a superiority complex’ in that Buffy deep down feels like she’s better and above everyone else but constantly berates herself for feeling that way. And it’s something significant to unpack and analyze about her character because it tells us why she redefines the meaning of what it is to be ‘The Slayer’ and specifically that it doesn’t only have to be her.

Similar to how in Xena the Olympian Gods were much better people as mortals - as human, in Buffy vampires/demons were much better people with souls. But in my view good is as good does and evil is as evil does. There is no inherent-ness to either good or evil. Sure, mortal/human people have internal moral compasses. But even so they’re still capable of great evil, just the same as demons/vampires without an internal moral compass are still capable of great good. So it’s not as simple as what/who is inherently “good” and what/who is inherently “evil” because which it is doesn’t exist as a permanence. As inherent.

"You are what you do. You can recreate yourself every second of your life." - Xena, ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’.

Buffy only seems to have any real faith in any demon/vampire when they have a soul. Angel being the obvious example as the only vampire/demon with a soul at the time, and then later, Spike when he chooses to restore his soul for her. And okay, given the show’s “canon” vampire/demon lore, this makes sense, right? The Slayer isn’t supposed to like or love demons/vampires. Just hurt/kill them. That’s what she’s there for. But then the show itself purposefully blurs the lines when Spike and Druscilla come into the story. And one in particular - Spike - starts to do good. Exhibit signs of goodness like selflessness and altruism. And Druscilla - well, while remaining evil - does tell us that it’s capable to love without a soul. That they can “love quite well, if not wisely” is how she puts it. Meaning that the love isn’t pure for a vampire/demon. It’s twisted up with desire and obsession. Passion and pain are conflated together because vampires/demons are naturally emotionally stunted so they can’t understand the purity of love and most certainly can’t differentiate it from being an emotion - something they feel - to something there. Something real in that it is something reciprocated. So for the most part, unrequited love is really all a vampire/demon without a soul knows. It’s all they’re familiar with. A love that cannot be a pure love because it’s personal to them and them only. And therefore desire and obsession is confused as love.

But then you have to factor in the actions and choices a soulless vampire/demon makes surrounding the theme. What they might do or decide based on feeling a love that is tainted. An unpure or unclean form of love. And this is Spike and Druscilla and even Darla. And you ask yourselves whether that’s “good” or “evil”. But it’s not the right question to ask really - because again - as I said above: “good” and “evil” is not a permanence. Like “positive” and “negative” - they’re just energies and energies can’t be inherent. They’re felt as if they are always there and they can consume either a living or un-living conscious being. But they’re not an external thing or source outside of the being that experiences them as part of them.

So I FEEL throughout the show Buffy herself - as our lead main protagonist character - is also just as emotionally stunted as our blurry antagonists. You know, she’s very much the nature of a vampire/demon herself as The Slayer. Human in body but supernatural in mentality and emotionality. She’s fundamentally part demon herself and Season 7 reveals that to us once and for all. Something we always really knew or guessed at. So her prejudice and bias of vampires/demons with/without souls - while as a flaw - also reveals something really quite profound about her character - of which is why all the queer-coding and queer identity-based allegories hit and work so well. She’s essentially constantly in conflict with her identity/nature as a Slayer (queer person) and is taking it out on the vampires/demons (queer people) just like her. So her prejudice and bias towards soulless vampires/demons - specifically Spike - is really - in metaphor - all about her trying to deny and escape from her true identity and her true nature. Which is - part demon. Something of which is only truly negative in her head - and so the narrative follows suit because it’s her show told through her eyes. From the perspective of others characters - supernatural specifically - this is not how it is. In fact they reveal to us something quite the opposite and contradictory to what we’ve been told thus far through their personal experiences and lived history as a soulless vampire/demon. ‘Fool For Love’ being the quintessential episode for this revealing. Showing us how “William” informs “Spike” and back again, and then later in Season 7 also informs ensouled “Spike”. What we’re shown through the actual vampires/demons is something completely different from what we’re told by Buffy or Giles or Wesley or the Council.

Buffy’s entire characteristics are encapsulated and surrounded by this Watchers Council-only education/indoctrination of what is a “vampire/demon”. And if anything, her whole arc is about stripping them away. Learning who and what she is without a conditioned, dangerous and purposefully misinformed ideology where Slayer VS vampire/demon is really just herself VS herself and coming to terms with that revelation that she is a superior species because she straddles the line between both worlds and belongs to neither just like all your half-breed demons and supernaturals.

Of course this is not what Joss Whedon intended, but who even gives a flying fuck about what he intended? This is what actually makes sense and is simple and logical enough to be understood by a wide range of people. That is relatable and resonant to minorities. That is what makes this show stand the test of time and is what also actually works with the “canon” lore rather than just makes it irrelevant and confusing. I think watching the show through this lens is worth it.

[radioactiveradley]

join me in pell (piss hell)

Let's talk kidneys!

Your kidneys are situated:

Inferior to the liver and the suprarenal glands

Superior to the ureters

Anterior to the posterior wall of abdomen and diaphragm

Posterior to the peritoneum (sack with yer guts in it)

Their job is to:

Regulate blood ions (like sodium) and control blood pH

Maintain blood volume (by extracting or conserving water)

Secrete hormones

Excrete toxic waste (urea, ammonia, creatinine…)

Guess what shape they are. Go on, guess.

YEAH THAT’s RIGHt – IT’S BEAN TIME, BITCHEs

[CW: beneath the cut you will find CT images of kidney trauma]

(and here is some very basic anatomy, sketched on… that same bean)

The renal cortex + renal pyramids together form the PARENCHYMA, aka the functional bit of the kidneys (aka where your peepee is made)

But HOW is that peepee made, I hear you cry?

Lemme introduce you to my good friend

The Nephron

The afferent arteriole carries blood to the Glomerulus (which isn’t actually some weird DnD spell – just a knot of arteries surrounded by the Glomerular Capsule!) This arteriole then slims down considerably to form the efferent arteriole. This pressure increase forces loads of waste products and water out of the bloodstream into the glomerular capsule – but the holes in the arteriole wall are too small to release blood cells, plasma proteins, and other large molecules. This part of the nephron is called the ‘corpuscle’ (again, not a DnD spell). It’s where your blood plasma gets filtered!

The arteriole then follows the nephron around its windy path, wrapping around it at several points – notably the proximal/distal convoluted tubules, and the Vasa Recta that runs parallel to the Loop of Henle. To horrifically simplify a complex process, this provides lots of opportunities for secretion (Bad Stuff to be squeezed out of the blood – those dangerous ions and waste products we talked about earlier!) and selective reabsorption (Good Stuff (water) gets squeezed back in). It’s a careful balancing act, orchestrated in part by hormones! The end result (theoretically) is that all the stuff you DON’T want is shlorped into the nephron as urine, and all the water you need is shlorped back into the blood.

Once your kidneys have produced your peepee, it takes a fun rollercoaster ride through a series of ducts and tubes! Collecting duct -> papillary duct -> minor calyx -> major calyx -> renal pelvis -> ureter -> urinary bladder -> urethra -> you know the rest.

Your kidneys produce 180 litres of fluid a day (aka, a hell of a lot) but most of this is reabsorbed in these little nephrons, with water & useful solutes going back into the bloodstream! As a result, you only pee about 1-2 litres a day (though I swear I feel closer to the 180 litres some days)

Because kidneys are SOOOO important (your body does NOT like to be full of urea/ammonia/sodium, or acid!) they’re really, really vascular (lots of blood supply). They receive up to 25% of your resting cardiac output! So, when you’re just chilling, literally 25% of your blood is being gobbled by those hungry, hungry kidneys!

This means the kidney is VULNERABLE TO TRAUMA.

Although kidney trauma can be picked up on Ultrasound, we will take anyone who has suffered abdominal trauma through to CT, as you get better pictures there! We usually use a multiphase protocol – a longer scan, basically – to show us the extent of the injury, with a non-contrast phase (shows calculi clearly), an arterial phase (evaluates any injury to the renal arteries), a nephographic phase (shows renal lesions clearly), and a delayed phase (shows bleeding and injuries to the urinary collection system). Basically, contrast quickly moves to your kidneys from your blood stream, and filters through the collection system – so if we give a bolus of contrast and watch it flood through the renal arteries, then wait a little while, we can see how the kidneys are processing it or if it’s spilling into the surrounding space.

Kidney trauma is graded from 1 (no laceration but a haematoma (bruise) within the kidney capsule) to 5 (kidney torn away from renal vascular system and dying as a result, actively bleeding, structure of kidney shattered). Here’s a grade 5 (Left (looks like the right side of the image)) in comparison to the normal healthy kidney (Right (looks like the left side of the image)). Note the massive visible laceration + huge haematoma!

Loooooads of other stuff can go wrong with your kidneys too – but that’s a whole other post! Which I will make, one day soon, because it's super fascinating!

(Have you ever heard of a stag horn calculus? It will put you off holding onto your pee FOR LIFE. If you're sitting there kinda needing the loo but not going... GO NOW. PLEASE.)l

[atopvisenyashill]

my dumb “no one has even seen farscape why am i writing this” meta is not like, nice to tyrion or anything, i feel like it’s very obvious i find scorpius a more compelling character, bc it is fascinating (to me) how they have the exact same backstory of “mother died in childbirth specifically bc the birth was dangerous bc the baby is disabled, went on to be abused by a woman for being disabled, and it led to an incredibly fractured psyche where both men posit themselves as the victim despite doing things that any person in any time period would look at and go ‘surely you realize that was evil tho right’”

but whereas tyrion takes all the abuses of his childhood and externalizes it out to be the problem of every woman he meets that dislikes him, scorpius is much more clear eyed on who the culprit is for his shitty fucked up life (it’s the people in power) and while he definitely externalizes out his trauma onto an entire species (of which he is part of tbf? i guess?? i mean he’s still a genocidal freak so) similar to tyrion, scorpius holds no loyalty to the genocidal freaks he’s thrown his lot in with, like he doesn’t actually believe the species supremacist shit his side is pushing, they are simply a means to an end (the end being the destruction of the power source of the alien species that raped & murdered his mother) whereas tyrion full throatedly believes he is superior to everyone around him because he’s a lannister.

this isn’t a criticism of tyrion, it is simply that i find it FASCINATING how these two characters were developed. scorpius is legitimately part of a fascist government that seeks the eradication of “inferior” species but makes it clear he doesn’t actually believe other species are inferior, he just really fucking hates the scarrans. whereas tyrion imo has this superiority complex bc he actually reaps material benefits from buying into the idea that he’s worth more. he ties this privilege up with his disability - ie “i’m worth more but i’m given less bc i’m disabled so i simply have to Take More” - and when everything around him seems to confirm that idea until Taking More (killing tywin) doesn’t make him feel as good as he thought it would, so he gets completely lost in it, culminating in the horror show behavior in adwd. scorpius’ more egalitarian/brutalist (i think that’s the right word, unsure) approach of “everyone is worth the same at the start, it is up to the individual to Take What They Think They Deserve” makes him much more competent as a villain and a leader because he sees the cripples bastards and broken things he surrounds himself with as equals instead of as charity cases.

[alicevandrusen]

TDLR; Why Seigfried Didn’t Work As A Kaiba Expy, He Wasn’t Neurodivergent

Hi everyone! While I’m writing the next chapter and trying to survive Capitalism despite living its real-time collapse (I work two jobs, why chapter production is slow these days), I’d like to make a post like this while it’s still Autism Awareness month. Now, not to say you can’t enjoy the pink haired frilly goofy man. I never have though. I felt like he was a let down after Dartz, who is my favorite villain of Yugioh, I SAID WHAT I SAID. And I’m also saying you can enjoy your villains of Yugioh, and I will enjoy mine. All that out of the way, I would like to dive into an analysis of Seto Kaiba and who I felt were his good expies, Noa/Noah and Alister/Amelda. Anyone who has autism (myself included, I’m not 100% on paper yet but I’ve had multiple doctors agree with me), you know. There’s a Neurodivergence ESP, when you are talking to someone you just Know when someone else just isn’t neurotypical This is based off of their canon, observable in the show behaviors, trying not to lean into anything headcanon unless it slightly grays the area a little. Using dub names but will tag original names later (I just don’t like Amelda as a name...) But first starting with Seto himself, he’s very blunt and impulsive. Which isn’t helped by the fact he’s got a lot of money. So he can act on literally every impulsive thought he has. Man probably filmed that idea to send Duel Monsters cards into space the minute he had it in GX. He’s very egocentric, which a lot of people get confused with his arrogance. Not that he’s not both, but he really genuinely believes that any time his company is under attack, it’s because someone’s trying to take it over. Not that it’s the one sure-fire way to draw him out of hiding, it’s that everyone is out to get him. Always! (as an example, during Season Four his company gets bought out by the villains. He’s convinced this was ALL a ploy to take it over, when really Dartz needs him out in the open because he needs to kill him.) His special interest is Duel Monsters. Literally all his money comes from making electronics and technology specifically for playing his special interest. And he’s richer THAN the person he pays royalties to because Seto doesn’t own Duel Monsters. Pegasus does. All Seto did was invent the technology to play it, and fixing the rules to actually make the game playable (The rules of Battle City were his, after all.) He’s pretty close to being nonverbal, a LOT of Kaiba’s lines are actually thoughts in his head rather than stuff he says out loud, except when he’s delivering snarky comments or talking to Mokuba. He’s got a perpetually weird relationship with the protagonists because he’s not good with social cues or interacting with people in general. Not that he wouldn’t die for them, he’s not good at expressing it though. They’re his friends, but they gotta squint to hear what he’s actually saying. ----- Noah’s is going to be a lot shorter as far as canon behaviors go since we only have a few episodes with him really, and I’d also think of him as having both BPD and autism (which happens co morbidly, around 15% of BPD patients also meet the criteria for having ASD.) (There’s also that they all have some very intense levels of PTSD, but that’s another kettle of horses.) His biggest sign that he’s both is his emotional state of being when we encounter him in his half of Season Three. Not to say that his environment didn’t help him any, but I think it’d just made it more obvious. Both conditions affect mood stability, which cause intense emotions and a grandiose sense of self at the same time. But there’s also a sense of emptiness and a negative impact on self esteem, a diffuse of self (in TVTropes words, he definitely has a Superiority-Inferiority Complex.) Much like Seto, as well, social cues aren’t something he excels in. The idea of anyone being nice to him is confusing, but he really develops one bond (Mokuba), and he convinces himself he needs to die for him and the people he brought into the Digital World. But a few scenes before he steals Mokuba’s body briefly, he can’t comprehend why someone is being nice to him. He thinks he’s being slow and steady with the reveal he’s about to drop on the protagonists of being Gozoboro’s son, but remember that his entire arc is only a few hours of one day in Battle City (when they cut to Yami Marik being like ‘.... Where the hell did everyone go?’), so they’re not really there long before he starts traumadumping and infodumping about his own monsters. He’s so socially deprived that he’s A) going to tell you all what he’s been through because all he wanted was to be loved by someone who couldn’t possibly love him, and B) He’s going to tell you about his niche interest in computer programming to make the world he’s in more interesting, as well as the extremely niche tidbits of information he has about Spirit Monsters and their development in the game of DM. (Remember, the Deck Master system and the rules of their abilities is the stuff he made up. Pegasus still made the Spirit Monsters, don’t let the rules of the Season throw you. They’re using a database of every known card, they’re in a computer, and it doesn’t trip up the rule of Season Four of the Orichalcos. Because it’s being used by one specific cult and no one else. The cards in Noah’s deck, broken effects and all, actually existed in-universe, and given how all of the protagonists had never heard of them until the duel with Noah, despite Solomon owning a Card Shop and there being more in Domino, that means he was into the REALLY obscure cards of the game.) ---- Alister is probably the most neurodivergent of them all, to start he has a very one-track mind ability to hyperfocus. The only thing on his mind ever is getting revenge on Seto Kaiba because he’s the living body still. If Alister COULD kill Gozoboro still, he would. Unquestioningly. He’s got a very strong sense of justice powered by a black-and-white morality way of thinking. He is definitely someone you want in your cult to destroy the world, it takes very little convincing that someone is evil and needs to be destroyed. And he can’t be swayed from his opinions, either. He’s got very intense feelings that are being taken advantage of. He’s got a very declarative memory and trauma dumps with very little prompting. He’s got a comfort item that ties into his traumas, of course. He’s got some odd reactions too and is strangely very naive despite everything (aside from the normal response of ‘Who are you?’, doesn’t seem to question that he’s straight up hallucinating/receiving a mental link directly to Dartz the first time they ever speak. Not a ‘what the hell is going on, what is happening, where did the world go’, ect, ect. Just ‘This person can tell me what happened and who hurt me? Okay.’ ) Alister’s also got issues with social situations, the only friends he has you can count on one hand. And that comes with its own weird rules of That’s Just How They Talk To Each Other. (He does love Raphael and Valon, even saying that he and his ‘new family’ are saving the world.) Also, this one is semi-canon, semi- head canon, hence the disclaimer earlier. He’s got sensory issues and is sensitive to light (he wears sunglasses inside of buildings, and during the nighttime.) And his clothing, at least to me, suggest he gets hot easily but still needs pressure due to an aversion to touch. (His shirt is midriff exposing, but he also has like eight belts and a huge ass trench coat on. And heat intolerance is a littler-known sign of autism) ---- I never got anything that deep out of Seigfried. He really just that butthurt about his company. While my story doesn’t go past Season Four, I know how I’d fix Season Five.

[tinyreviewtyrant]

OF HOW I FOUND MYSELF IN KASHAF MURTAZA

Things that are most personal to you, are more often than not those things which have moved you in your worst of days, been there for you when no one else was, as the only thing that kept you going. Cinema, for me, is one such thing. However, before I could fully appreciate and comprehend the art cinema, I had stumbled upon this series that changed my life forever, for the better, of course. My first ever series, Zindagi Gulzar Hai was this Pakistani series based on the novel by the same name. At an age, where you're struggling to find your voice, too baffled to develop a personality or a value system you would abide by, I found myself in Kashaf Murtaza.

There hasn't been another character I've related to as much. Kashaf Murtaza was flawed, headstrong, confident, feisty, self-made, class conscious, fastidious, egoistic, fragile, sensitive, indifferent; all of which I'd never seen in a female protagonist before.

An intensely tangled character with nuanced layers, the arc her character attains by the end of the series, is what transformed me as a person forever, wherein I began to accept my flawed self.

From a lower middle class family, Kashaf Murtaza is the "chudail awwal" who outperforms the richest brats of her university, people who have twice as many opportunities than she can ever have. She's proud of the Kashaf she is, but suffers from the complexes of being a Murtaza, being the daughter of a father who abandoned her mother for giving birth to three daughters, compelling her mother to raise them on her own almost without a father.

In university, she initially tries to fit in only to realise that her clothes or accessories can never match upto them, "isse achha hain ki main apni energy usme lagao, jisse main unka muqabla kar sakti hoon, jaise ki padhai." Even though this was her epiphany, for me this was something my mom always told me, every time I tried to fit in somewhere I didn't belong, that my work should speak for itself.

She's at loggerheads with a rich brat Zaroon, who in her opinion, is privileged, entitled and elitist enough to be living in his own utopian world. Little did she know that all that glitters isn’t gold and neither did I, until then.

It is her achievements that lend her all the self-worth she possesses, she takes a lot of pride in her achievements, for it's always through the worst of days that she had to pass, to live to taste the fruits of her perseverance. She, however, isn't immune to her insecurities.

She has insecurities about her nose being crooked, hair not being great, of having an average looking face. Something I also garnered in my school days. She has an inferiority complex which she masks inadvertently with her superiority complex; she fears people would judge her for her habits, her values, her neighborhood, her family; hence, is always with her guards on. I was always the "nerdy studious helpful girl" (Ref: all my slam book pages) in school, who was anything but “cool" and that was something I always secretly aspired to be.

From a lower middle class family, Kashaf Murtaza is the "chudail awwal" who outperforms the richest brats of her university, people who have twice as many opportunities than she can ever have. She's proud of the Kashaf she is, but suffers from the complexes of being a Murtaza, being the daughter of a father who abandoned her mother for giving birth to three daughters, compelling her mother to raise them on her own almost without a father.

Her mother being the only parent and for the women she is, who raised them to the best of her abilities, is the person she's closest to. So am I. Kashaf is me who can't help but confide in her but never wants to add to the problems already on her plate.

"Tum laakh samjho mujhe sangemarmar, main tumhare saamne rait ki deewar nahi ban sakti, mujhe toot jane se khauf aata hain."

Having had to tackle the worst of problems by herself, Kashaf never felt the need to open up to anyone, lest they mistake her strong outer shell to be fragile, tag her misery as her frailty.

She's secretive about her feelings, her problems, her insecurities, which only manifest themselves in unprecedented ways, only to allow plenty of room to be misconstrued. I'm Kashaf once again, for I still can't put my feelings on a plate and hand it over to anyone, not even my mother. This sometimes makes me good, but not good enough.

Kashaf eventually learns it the hard way that nobody's life is indeed perfect, but it is we who should count our blessings and see life for the bitter-sweet flower bed it is.

Zindagi waaqei mein gulzar hain. Jaise Zaroon usko kehta hain....Zindagi abhi bhi baki hain. Bas farq yahi hai ki ab meri diary mein Allah ke liye shikwe kam hain. Maine unn cheezon pe raazi hona seekh liya hain jo wo mujhe deta hai. Aur unn cheezo ki talaash chhodd di hain jo laahasil hain."

[studious-arson]

Can someone explain to me how the fuck I manage to kin characters which are complete opposites of each other???

Like what even is my fucking brain and where can I get a new one