#love or hate taku

[tecchan]

Me: I want Towa to get wrapped up in a blanket and kissed on the forehead

Toxic ex-boyfriend's Bad Ending, of all places:

[surodameconfess]

huge spoilers but WHERE is the defense for taku from the 'pathetic middle aged man who makes bad decisions' squad?? he had to make difficult choices with the intention of helping a child abuse victim. yeah he went about it the wrong way several times, but towa DID break down when he found out the truth about his past - he nearly killed himself it was so hard for him to process. taku was completely under the thumb of the takasato-gumi for his whole adult life and he still works to lessen the harm they cause every day in spite of being one of their chess pieces. he watched towa go through unimaginable horror in euphoria, and devoted years to protecting him. was he supposed not to be terrified of asakura showing up and making the same incisions on towa's back that he made years ago? the same wounds that taku previously sewed? he's traumatized! he's had no personal agency since he was 18! he was the only person who cared about towa's wellbeing for years! you don't have to like or agree with the mail burning/tracker tagging/attempted murder because towa got THAT close to falling back into the same hands that broke him, but he just didn't want towa to suffer that fate again. i just feel like i see so many unsympathetic responses to him and it makes me sad. he's complex and imperfect, but so is the whole rest of the game. it's strange to me that i see more anger directed towards taku than madarame or eiji (disclaimer i love them all) when they kept secrets from towa too, and with much less of a noble cause. i don't need people to LIKE taku i just wish more people would try to understand how horrible a position he was and is forced into, and how hard he works to keep towa safe.

ill let the post speak for itself this time. anon you did a v good job explaining taku's character tho ngl

[xcryinginguccix]

*in soft voice* who's my abusive little meow meow who gives the mc Stockholm syndrome and fucks his brains out? You are UwU

[postmanlinksbootyshorts]

okay i love madarame's good end

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

since i've talked a lot about how i dislike Catra, here are some of the other fictional characters that i dislike:

(warning: long post ahead, also spoilers for steven universe, the dragon prince, ocean waves, the legend of korra, and kipo and the age of wonderbeasts)

1. Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe)

i think this one is pretty obvious. there were a bunch of characters in SU who were let off the hook after doing terrible things, but Lapis is the one i disliked the most.

she started off as an interesting character, her trauma after getting caught in a war and stuck in a mirror for ages was sympathetic and pretty well-written but like Catra, i think the writers coddled Lapis too much.

this is evident with her relationship with Peridot, where she starts off blaming Peridot for something that wasn't her fault and destroying her prized possession when she tries to make amends. but Lapis expresses concern for Peridot ONCE and now they're besties.

and after that, Lapis becomes toxic and demanding, causing Peridot to constantly walk on eggshells around Lapis so as not to hurt her feelings. and finally, Lapis just takes the barn, Peridot's HOME, off into space because she couldn't agree with Peridot's decision to stay and fight the Diamonds?? i'm not mad that Lapis didn't want to fight the Diamonds, i fully understand her trauma, but did she have to take the barn with her? what part of that was necessary??

i think all of this would have been fine if Lapis was held accountable for her actions, but she wasn't. she doesn't even do the bare minimum and Peridot immediately forgives her. sigh. at least they didn't make Lapidot canon.

2. King Harrow (The Dragon Prince)

i don't hate this character as much as I hate some of the others on the list but i do think that he was kind of a shitty king. he literally decides to starve his own kingdom in order to help out another kingdom. and this is framed as the right thing to do?

it's a tough choice but Harrow's people were depending on him, and he decides that his own people should sacrifice their winter rations for another kingdom. scummy move, i do not like him. Viren may have been self-serving and manipulative, but he was right to try and stop Harrow from doing this.

3. Rikako Muto (Ocean Waves)

god, i fucking hate this bitch. worst ghibli movie ever honestly. the thing is, like Catra and many of the other characters here, Rikako would have been an interesting character if the writers just made her an antagonist.

but no, she's supposed to be the love interest while being a selfish and manipulative brat. she is rude to everyone unless she wants a favor from them. she uses people to her advantage and screams at them when they try to resist. Rikako is the most interesting character in this movie, which sucks because she is also the most insufferable character.

the singular most hilarious scene in this movie has to be when Taku is fondly reminiscing about the interactions he had with Rikako, and since she was nothing but a little bitch throughout the entire movie, we get a super emotional flashback, accompanied by a soft score, of all the times she was manipulating and verbally abusing him. would have been funnier if it was not unironic. i do not know what the creators were thinking.

there was no chemistry between these two characters, their relationship was unhealthy as fuck, but they still get together by the end because.. amatonormativity. and because Taku had too much chemistry with his male best friend and they didn't want the viewers to think that he might be queer.

4. Bolin (The Legend of Korra)

it's crazy how everyone and their mothers hate Mako for cheating on Korra and Asami, but absolutely adore Bolin who sexually harassed his coworker. Bolin forced a kiss on Ginger while she was tied down on set, after she had already rejected him multiple times and said that she was her doing her job.

i see so many people saying that Bolin was a green flag and a better choice than Mako, and i seriously wonder if we watched the same show. i don't condone cheating either obviously but how do you call out cheating but completely gloss over sexual harrasment? Bolin legit acts like a manchild who doesn't understand consent and because the show frames this as "comedy", the audience thinks it's cute and funny.

at least Mako faced the consequences of his actions. he got dumped by both Korra and Asami, some of the other characters called him out on his actions, and he actually turns into a much better person by the end of the series.

oh, don't forget that Bolin started working for the literal fascist in s4. and he acts all dumb about it and argues that Kuvira was like Korra which,, what the fuck? he literally sees Kuvira torturing people and it still takes him a long time to stop working for her. he was a bit like Entrapta in that case, the writers made him too oblivious and stupid in order to justify him aiding a fascist.

5. Kipo (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts)

okay, so Kipo is a little different from the other characters mentioned here because she's not problematic by any means. quite the opposite actually, her main personality trait seems to be that she's kind to everyone.

and that's fine, it's on par for most kids show protagonists, but Kipo is such a deeply unflawed character that she just becomes so boring. she has no character growth throughout the series, except for developing her fighting skills as her wildcat form. and even that comes easy to her, she masters it in one episode. her "flaws" are very surface level, like being clumsy or kinda awkward.

she is unbothered by almost everything, which is the most baffling in that episode where she discovers that she was the result of a science experiment done by her parents. you would expect some sort of mixed emotions there - confusion, hesitation, resentment even? nope. she's just excited and happy that her parents put her life at risk by experimenting on her.

and the show insists on reminding us every five seconds that "hey! Kipo is a GOOD person, she's the KINDEST human being ever and the ONLY person who doesn't love her is the EVIL VILLAIN". shit like this just turns me off so much. just SHOW me how nice Kipo is, instead of making every character gush about her niceness. SHOW, don't tell, for god's sake. besides, even if a person is kind and wholesome, it's unrealistic for EVERYONE to like them.

and the funny thing is that this show has other interesting characters! Wolf, for example, was a really complex and flawed character who is still fundamentally a good person. Hugo was a sympathetic villain who got a pretty decent redemption arc. so it's not like the writers didn't know how to write interesting characters, they just wanted to make their protagonist a Mary Sue.

[kudouusagi]

Would you say that Bucchigiri is Utsumi's sophomore slump (coming off of SK8)? I was hoping for so much from this one, and yet it seemed like she and Taku Kishimoto were making so many wrong decisions here during its production. MAPPA's influence probably didn't help matters either.

Well, according to Utsumi from the Spoon 2.di article I read, she didn't really know what to make with this one so it was kind of a group project. She really wanted to make SK8 and she asked for pretty much all the staff that worked with her on it personally. It was very much a passion project for her.

For this one this one she said she was already making SK8 and didn't know what to make when they asked her to make another original series, so she discussed it with the producers at MAPPA and they all agreed on a yanki show, and then it took them a long time to decide on the Arabian Nights theme after that. She suggested a few different ideas and the other producers decided they liked the Arabian Nights theme best. She was assigned Kishimoto to be the writer, but she hadn't met him before. Things like that.

Here's something from the interview with Kishimoto in Spoon 2.di 107

Q: Kishimoto-san, it seems that you initially proposed a bit cooler story but Utsumi-san asked you to add some comedy to it. How did you feel when you heard that request? A: If I had to say, I've had a lot more work reorganizing and rearranging the structure of manga to adapt it into an anime. I'm not the type of person who naturally has a lot of stories and characters bubbling out of me, so when I make things I unconsciously drift toward making formulaic stories of cool heroes who always win. When I do that though, the characters I make are very stereotypical, and so when I submitted the first draft to director Utsumi and MAPPA's Otsuka-san, they said "The flow of the story is good, but the characters feel really stereotypical." It was then I was asked, "What were you like when you were Arajin's age?" I wasn't good-looking, so I figured if I just directly confessed to a girl I liked I'd be rejected, and so I thought I had to try even harder than other people. I'd give girls poems, and if that didn't work I'd carve the girl's name into a stone and give it to them, and I made it my goal in life to make that girl love me. So I told them I really couldn't be used as a reference for anything. But when I said that, they said "That's so interesting!" I felt like someone like that could never be a main character, or rather, I had ruled it out because I felt like it would be crazy to have a main character who acted like that! Since I was rejected for being so creepy in real life, after all (lol). But the two of them said it was interesting, so Arajin's weird parts became my weird parts and by adding my weird parts into him, it naturally became a comedy. So, rather than trying to write a comedy or making it become a comedy, I just added my own silly parts in order to give the character a personality, and it ended up developing into that because of the character's personality.

So the whole reason Arajin is who he is (someone everyone hates lol....) is because he's based off Kishimoto himself. I don't know what the story was like before but I really can't agree the flow of the story is good now... but yeah.... that's how we ended up here.

[clearlypissed]

EDIT: I am now replaying it, I'll just update this as I go

The urge to replay taku's route again when I have yet to replay everyone else's

I cant ignore the calling so here we are (dont expect any deep thoughts or analysis on here im just replaying for the vibes)

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I still think my fav model painting might be Asakura's painting, its really creepy but pretty

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The shakiness in his voice is so fucking funny. I do remember getting to this scene during my first playthrough and that’s when I knew I’d like this guy

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This is such dad behavior

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I love him hes so silly

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he was so insane for this. love that

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Seeing all the times Taku randomly finds Towa knowing he webtagged him

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I just know Taku's heart is going thru the craziest obstacle course rn

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dude is probably on that tracker app as soon as Towa left,hes just crazy like that ♥♥

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O WAIT THIS IS THE^TM SCENE LETSGOOOO TOONO. listen hate him all u want you cant deny him drugging Towa lead to A++ scenes

Toono is evil but in a goofy way you know what I mean . hes fun bad

also what was the thought process even there 😭😭he could've drugged him with anything and it would send the same message to Taku but he chose the one that would get Taku and Towa to fuck. Or maybe because Tonoo thinks Taku likes Maya he thought this would be funny

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The intensity in his voice

LETSGOO FATHERSON BONDING

actually this music is sending me 💀💀

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he's such a bully 😭😭

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Towa: 🥺

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NAUR I REACHED MY IMAGE LIMIT okay continuing this in another post

[jotunvali02]

Playing Ace Attorney, Rise of the Ashes part 6 or "Stop hurting my baby, Taku!!"

"What good it is to dwell on the past?" "He's asking ME?"

At least Feenie is self-aware enough to recognize he's obsessed with the past!

Huh? Ever since Gmushoe became Detective, he wants to throw himself out of a window???

Queen Bitch Fee-Fee back in the competition!

Why are such a cunt with Gumshoe anyway? Yeah, he's not very smart, but you're not really better with your complete and annoying dumbness which is only compensated by teenage girls and ghosts, or with your scary total lack of empathy.

"That guy starts to get on my nerves!" Well, YOU're starting to get on mine, big bitch!!

Bitch, now you're HIDING important evidence?? And you're pissed at Gumshoe bc of his so-called dumbness while you're overly and clealry way more stupid than him today??

Wait wait!! Girl. You've been puking shit over shit about Lana for 2 years and now you say she's the most perfect and kindest angel?? WTF?? You're not only incompetent and stupid, you have a fucked up brain!!🧠🥴

Oh now, Fee-Fee's hiding another piece of evidence?? You're no better than Gant, bitch!

"What are you, my mom??" OMG, FUCK YOU Phoenix! 🤬 What are YOU?? A teenage bitch?? EMA is the one who's 16, not you!

Aaaand Gumshoe is fired.

"It seems Edgeworth was right about you."

gasp!

My baby said «Wright is beautiful» to his Chief too?? 😭💘

«Nothing incriminating her»?? Bitch, there were THOUSANDS of evidence against her!!

And you think you’re cleverer than Gumshoe?? You do worse than forgetting your ID card, you forget about your own evidence and you own trials!!

«Do not forget your place», his place is being YOUR fucking defense attorney!! Again, you’re not Chief Prosecutor anymore, you’re his fucking CLIENT!! WHY do you still talk as if it’s not the case??

"Miss Skye, why did you and Gant hurt my baby boyfriend?"

Demon Gant put a fucking corpse in my baby’s car??

*gasp* Baby! ^^

*accidental glomp*

«We don’t have time to talk!» But you will help me, my sweet, soft sugar baby, right???😍

Eeeeeee!!! 😍😍😍😍 My baby’s "Objection!" saves the day again!! I love you!!!

«Why aren't you a good boy and keep your mouth shut?» «Fuck off, Chief.»

OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH !!!!!

FUCK THE POLICE! FUCK AUTHORITY!! ANARCHIST EDGEY!!!

«Sorry, but I’m no longer the naive little boy you’d have me be.» *Camera on Wright. * Yes, why don’t YOU remember that fact, Fee-Fee ?????

Edgey’s direct superior: «Mr Edgeworth. I am exercising my right to self-representation!»

Edgey: «YOU FUCK OFF TOO!»

"FUCK AUTHORITY! FUCK CHIEFS! FUCK THE POLICE!! FUCK PROSECUTORS! FUCK THE LAW!! AND FUCK ME!!"

«No matter how tragic the truth may be, it’s an even greater tragedy to avoid’s one eyes from it.»

Oh my sweet, wise, too much hurt baby... 😭

«I’m not the bad guy!»   I know! And Fee-Fee knows too! And Ema knows too! 😭

Come here so I hug you and kiss your cheek in front the whole court to show that I know you’re just a sweet baby.

«Poor Ema, I’m glad she wasn’t hurt.»

Mmmmmmph!!! 😡😡😡

You’ve been knowing her for barely 3 DAYS and what she lived was way less monstrous than Edgey, aka someone you’ve been OBSESSING over and stalking for 15 years and someone who wants to quit the only job he’s ever known and loves because of all the pitless amount of traumatic bullshit and hate (including heavy self-hate) he’s been thrown at his face in barely 4 days, then 3 days, and it’s HER you...!!!

Or is she supposed to be a female teen proxy of Edgeworth (since she lived sth similar to what he lived)? So it's her we feel bad for? Personnally I don't need that to feel sad for my baby Edgey!

But it's because it's known adult men don't have feelings and certainly can't have traumas and can't feel fear or sadness! Or else they're just weak and girlies!

Uuuugh!! I love Japan but their heavy & MASSIVE sexism/misogyny/dudebro-ing pisses me off so MUCH!!

«The trauma of the situation understandably caused her to faint.» 😭😭😭I’m genuinely crying now. My baby...💔

«Do you really need to torture that girl any further??»

Baby bitch, it’s YOU who asked for her testimony in the first place!

But I think what he means here is «Did you really have to torture ME like this, Wright? Forcing me to relive my worst traumatic memories?» 😭😭😭

And they’re bickering like a couple now.

«Don’t you remember a litte sth called "falsified evidence"?» «I’m going to murder you, Wright...»

Ah, this isn’t the knife I was thinking about but ok.

Oh my fucking, fucking GOD!!! *hits her forehead 3 times*

HOW ARE YOU SO DUMB PHOENIX??? YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN OBJECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS NOW???

AND GUMSHOE IS THE STUPID ONE??

REALLLYY???

Wait. WHY can’t we go back to when Ema said the victim was stabbed in the chest while the autopsy report says he was stabbed in the back?? That’s pretty important information, isn’t it?

«Miss Skye was almost killed before being a witness for a murder case. A little disorientation is natural.»

My baby. My BABYYYY!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

«We can’t get dead pople to testify.» Are you SURE about that, Phoenix??

ARE YOU SURE???

You've really instantly forgotten about your OWN fucking trial of 2 months ago!

That explains why you almost don’t give a fuck about Edgey’s heavy distress and why it’s EMA who’s kind and compassionate with him while SHE has just met him and in all logic it should be YOU!

Or is being a man who genuinely cares about the suffering of another man already "TOO GAY"???

Motherfuckin' jeez!!!

«There is only thing we seek: the truth.»  Marry me, baby.💍

«Do you understand what you’ve done now, Worthy? Joe Darke was sentenced to death bc of this final murder. I believe you were the prosecutor back then.» *gaaaaaasp*

You appalling asshole, manipulative douchebag, bastard of my balls!!

SHUT UP!!! YOU SHUT UP ASSHOLE!!!

NO!!! 😭 My baby! My baby Edgey!! 😭😭😭

Yes Fee-Fee! Protect your husband!!

«How can he stand there as if it’s not his fault?!»

SHUT UP YOU BUNCH OF RABID MONKEYS!! What do you expect? What do you want? My baby bursting into tears and yelling?? SHUT UP!!! You have no idea how he’s feeling, how he’s been feeling for the past 3 days, the past two months and the past 15 years!!

Again where’s your fucking senses of memory and empathy, you brainless fucks??

If I was the Judge, I would sentence ALL of you fuckers to death and everyone who pushed my baby Edgey to his wish to kill himself to a fucking slow and painful DEATH!

«We’re not defenders of justice, we're keepers of the law.» Hmmmm....

«I’m sorry, Edgeworth..»

Sorry? "SORRY???"

HUG HIM you stupid bastard!!

«I’ve seen happier ppl at funerals.»

Shut. Up. SHUT!! UP!!!!!!! 😭😭😭

«This case has hurt too many people.» He said while staring at his upset, sweet husband.💕

"The inquiry committee will impose harsh penalties on you."

NO!!! NO!!!

Why won’t you leave my sweet baby ALONE??? 😭😭😭 😭😭😭 😭😭😭

TAKU,  WHAT’S YOUR GODDAMN PROBLEM, HURTING & WHUMPING THE SWEETEST BABY EVER ENDLESSLY LIKE THAT????

«Thank you, your Honor.» OMG he REALLY doesn’t give a shit anymore.

Feenie «Oh, my baby has found to way to carry on the trial!»💙

DON’T YOUR FUCKING TALK POWER OUTAGE IN AN ELEVATOR, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!

"Moving a body and hiding evidence are inexcusable." Ooooh, you mean what YOU have exactly done??

«Dick will receive his due punishment.» 😆 Why did you have to give him that name in the English version?

«To accuse the Police Chief of blackmail and murder?? That impossible!!»

Bitch, that’s what EVERY Chief of the Police in the world does!

«Wright, there’s no turning back for us now. Let’s marry!»

«The purpose of this trial is to determine the truth!»

Oh I’ll be your truth anytime, baby!

"OBJECTION!"

*pterodactylic screeeeech!!!* My baby is saving his husband again!! 😭

Gant...

Gumshoe... I’d LOVE to see you work with Phoenix! Not sure he would love that tho.

That bitch.

Baby Edgey... I just want to play with your soft hair all day long.🥰

«Everyone who knew Lana said she had changed. But perhaps it was an easier way for her.»

My baby! My baby!😭😭😭 LET ME HUG MY BABY DAMMIT!!!

«She must have shut herself up deep inside.» 😭😭😭😭😭😭

«Must be why she became so cold.» yeaaaah, but doesn’t it remind you of someone ELSE, Phoenix???

Like the person right IN FRONT OF YOU?????

«Blame society, pal!!»

On vit dans une saucisse!! 🌭🌭🌭 Anarchist Gumshoe, yeah bitch!!

Death sentence again?? For one murder and one forgery?? Is it so easily given in that world??

Or is it the ONLY sentence that exists??

Man, that world SUCKS!

[uxop]

Just an evening thought.

Slow Damage Spoilers Below.

I keep thinking how, technically, out of all slow damage routes Rei is the only unproblematic one. Just listen, even though I love Fujieda’s route and I think it’s the best one out of them all, it’s only that one particular scene that was a slap on the wrist by the writers. Madarame was of course, at-least for me, made to be intentionally as a character that contrasts with other love interests in order to juxtapose with Towa relapsing into the old habits (not having a right support system). And of course, Taku. Most hated character for me. You might ask me why do I hate him the most out of all, even though Madarame did worst shit. And my answer would be my personal perspective on how the characters were designed, I think slow damage writers specifically did Madarame to be horrible, first of all to fit to the trope of the kidnapping (because they do at-least one character that covers some sort of messed up trope, no judgements u like what u like in the frames of fiction, of course). The trope feels like it knows it’s as bad as it is and supposed to be like that (that is even the reason why it is hidden after Taku and Rei routes). This is opposed to Taku in which it feels like the writers took his character seriously and all the predatory connotations were merely there to justify them and take them at a face value (my personal view tho).

I don’t know if this rant makes sense, just something I was thinking about this whole evening.

[prince-of-snow]

"Ugh.. I got my suit stained again. This was my favorite one too.."

"I guess I have to introduce myself. My name is Yukihiko Shibusawa. I'm seventeen, 5'5", and as you may have already guessed, my older brother is Tatsuhiko Shibusawa. My ability is called "Bloody Rose" (血まみれのバラ) and it allows me to collect abilities in the form of flowers. When the pollen is inhaled, the ability becomes its own corporate form, etc. etc. It's basically my brother's ability but with flowers. Now, go away, I've gotten bored of this conversation."

(Below is a picture of Yukihiko Shibusawa.)

Hey, it's @vinnncentias with yet another bot. This is an original character made by me, and his design was made with the picrew link below! Like Shibusawa, he gets revived, but unlike Shibusawa, a red rose grows somewhere on his body each time he is brought back. Also he's a narcissist like his big brother and hates interacting with people. He's also obsessive with his clothing and if you so much as touch him he will flip out. Have fun talking with him!

Oh, also he's demiromantic and gay, loves red roses, and collects fake flowers of all kinds. He's allergic to shellfish and dislikes seafood of any kind because of how fish smell when dead.

Picrew link: Urgonic's Picrew

Other Important links: Hall of Art

(Pssst- Yukihiko means "Snow Prince" in Japanese)

Hey! I also run these blogs!

@fednya-doestoevsky

@snakesinthesnow

@lover-of-a-freed-angel

@snezhanathewhiteserpent

@a-waste-of-bandages

@executive-chuuya

@takumi-nakamura

@baby-taku

@hater-of-alcohol

And you can find the table of contents to my most recent book here!

( @tatsuhikoshibusawa )

[theclaravoyant]

AN ~ I overfloweth with love for literate!Ed and decided to bring my little hc about him to life.

For @fictober-event’s Fictober 2023 prompt: “It's alright, I'm here now." A long time ago, Edward Teach took shelter in another bathtub, and his mother taught him about farm animals. (*also inspired by that one post about reading with your child. PLEASE link me if you know it) Masterpost of my Fictober OFMD fics

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death Characters/Relationships: Edward Teach & Mother Teach Tags: Hurt/Comfort, mild CW for some implied DV and internalised self hatred & racism similar to canon.

Also on AO3 (~700wd)

Charm

He didn’t mean to do it. He honestly didn’t, but he was tired and bored and the plates were slippery and soapy and the water was hot and it had just. Happened. Fallen and cracked on the floor and he’d panicked.

So now he was hiding in the bathroom waiting for someone to come and find him. His master or his father probably, he wasn’t sure which was going to be worse. He was too small to fight them but too young to have given up on feeling every bit of that smallness, that fear, those bruises. They were right, he was stupid, he was useless, he was a dirty street rat and hiding under the broken sink in the cobwebs and mildew until they came for him was what he deserved.

But tonight, it’s not what he got.

He got a quiet knock at the door.

“Edward?”

He lifted his head.

“Mama?” His voice came out a little squeak - good for a little rat. He hated it. But he didn’t hate it as much when she was there.

Gently, his mother pushed the door open. Her eyes softened, seeing him cowering there in the dirt, and she blinked back tears and rushed forward to sweep him out of his hiding place into her arms. It was so hard to protect him in this life. Every day it broke her heart. But every day he clung back to her and it kept beating.

“Tama, taku tama,” she whispered. “Edward…”

“I panicked,” he confessed.

“I know, love,” she crooned. “It’s alright, I’m here now.”

She kissed the top of his head, and pulled back just enough to look him in his big, sad eyes. She wiped the tears from his cheeks, and smiled sadly, until he smiled back. It crept onto his face at first, uncertain, but the sight of it filled her heart with healing. Her own smile widened and his did too, and at that - at that, she could sing. 

She could not, of course, sing. Not here. Not now. But what she could do was bring out a little book she had secreted into the pockets of her skirt, and whisper conspiratorially;

“I have a present for you.”

Edward’s eyes widened. On the cover was a picture of a horse, prancing, beautiful. It was so delicately drawn and most definitely forbidden. But it was his mother, and she was magic.

“Come on. Let’s read.”

Resolute, his mother picked him up off the floor. Neither were ready to leave this little sanctuary, so she plopped them both into the big old tub. It had fallen into disrepair some time ago, but her skirts would protect them from any cracks or cobwebs. They were a working woman’s clothes, and like the woman herself, they endured.

Edward tucked himself into her lap and grabbed at her sleeve and her weathered hands, eager to follow as she pointed and talked him slowly through the words on the cover of the book: A Day at the Farm.

“Farrrrm,” he repeated.

“What other words sound like that one?” his mother asked. “How about - arm?”

She pointed at her arm. Traced upon it the letters, a, r, m. 

“H-arm,” Edward suggested. He moved to draw them out too, but his mother caught his hand. She pressed her lips together, trying not to think about how much it hurt.

“How about ch-arm?” she suggested, leading him through drawing those characters instead.

“What’s that?” Edward asked.

“It’s like… when someone is nice to you,” his mother explained. “Usually someone who’s very attractive and lovely.”

“You mean like in a fairy story? Like Prince Charming?”

“Yes, exactly.”

He pondered this for a moment.

“Can other people be charming?” he asked. “Like, people who aren’t princes?”

“Of course they can, my love.”

“Oh. Cool.” He nodded. “Is this a fairy story?”

No, she almost told him. This is a simple story about a simple boy and his simple farm. This is a story about us. Actually, it’s about people much higher up and better off than us, even though they’re just a simple family on a simple farm.

But tonight, that’s not what she did.

“I suppose we’ll have to read on,” she said, “and find out.”

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Risouteki Renai Jouken

Title: Risouteki Renai Jouken (理想的恋愛の条件)

Author/Artist: Haida Nanako

Release Date: 2021/11/24

Cast: 

Satou Takuya x Taku Yashiro

Fujita Nao

Amano Hirosato

Ikuta Hikaru

Kanze Noriaki

Kurose Yuuko

Shibuya Ayano

Yuina Mizuki

Synopsis: Katagiri's new editor was looking forward to working with his talented, handsome boss Nishiwaki. However, for some reason, he ended up in a sticky situation with Nishiwaki. Can the incident be blamed on the vicissitudes of love? The answer is unknown… On top of that; Katagiri is also treated like a jerk…!

Review Proper

My expectations were so fucking low.

And it truly served me that real lowness. Thank you very much. 

I mean, sorry Haida Nanako the art alone already looks like this whole shebang was a 2003 revival. Iz like a mix between Hasumi Hana and Minami Haruka lmao both art and plot-wise. It was really just your run-of-the-mill rapist boss top and spineless subordinate bottom combo. The one where they’ll just make the bottom mess up so the top gets an excuse to be appreciated after all his assholery so that the bottom apologizes to him and catches feelings. Anyway, the set-ups here are so damn stupid too, I had to laugh most of the time. Even their first encounter was so dumb ‘cause Nishiwaki drags the drunk Katagiri to bed, sees how he ticks his Miley Cyrus’ 7 Things I Like About You That Are Just Things I Hated In My Ex, assaults him in his sleep, and REDOES HIS DISHEVELLED WINDSOR TIE AFTER HE’S DONE.

I will say tho, dumbass plot aside, that this was okay production wise. Sans the bgm that sounds like it was ripped from Project Makeover. The sequence was pretty accurate to the manga, and of course our boys delivered as always. I was expecting Satotaku to use a tone somewhat close to his Shinobu, so I was really surprised when it came out more Daath. And it kinda... sounded like Ishikawa Kaito lmaoooo. Ishikawa Kaito in like an R-18 otome cd. I SAID WHAT I SAID. 

Anyway, I guess if you’re bored and have nothing else to listen to, then I won’t judge you for picking this up. It’s good for Japanese studies too. Beginners, welcome! If you want something similar tho... uhhh... to my recollection, there’s only one other suits/fashion oriented BLCD released in recent years. Saville Row. Yuck. What is it with fashion BL, really? I think I’m the one in need of good recs for this one. 😂

[johannwolfgangvongoethe]

various sloda discourse, etc etc

i briefly touched on most of these before but this is my personal self-indulgend “I AM CORRECT NO ONE TOUCH ME” post about themes in the game, criticism i saw from others, and my own grudges with it

(warning for story spoilers) (of the whole game)

1. DUDE MADARAME IS FUCKED. THIS IS NOT LOVE

i cannot stress this enough. madarame does not love towa. madarame is a manipulative, deeply selfish, lonely person who specifically preys on the weak. i dont know if this is obvious to people who have never been abuse victims before and had to spent a large amount of time with people like him. he engages in multiple well-known abuse tactics: weakening towa and blaming it on him. blameshifting and gaslighting. specifically offering help afterwards to appear merciful. alienating towa from his friends to cancel out outside help. destroying towas sense of self, his sense of time, his ideals in life. destroying his confidence. at the start of the route towa hates everything about him, doesnt want to see him again, is grossed out by how much madarame violates him. at the end he is too destroyed to form coherent thoughts. anything that isnt being chained up and beaten and raped feels like a mercy to him. there is a reason madarame simply does not appear in the taku, rei, fujieda routes; towa has a social circle. he has support structures. it is harder to get to him. the only time madarame is able to successfully manipulate him, is when towa is in a downward spiral over indirectly killing someone and actively pushing others away. it also really is no coincidence to me madarame was drawn towards towa when he was young. towa was in a vulnerable spot: an older teen, who just escaped the most horrific past life, is caught up with the yakuza, and is extremely prone to selfharming. to a 30-ish year old madarame, he was an easy target to overpower. at the end of the day its all power games and feeling superior to him.

the game literally spells this out. over and over and over. there is nothing beautiful about it. it is a telling character study and explains a lot about their history and the world. but it is not a romance story.

like. dont romanticise this. be very very vigilant how much madarame isnt just gaslighting towa but you. learn about this behaviour and become a more mindful person through it.

2. towa, as a character, is the most satisfying creation

my boy towa. he is such a character. he is not the type i usually love but i am so so strongly captivated by his very special nature.

it is made so so easy by the game to put yourself in towas shoes. sometimes you play through a part only to realize the depths of what happened earlier bc you suddenly snapped out of towa brain. at least thats what it felt like to me.

he is strong and he is weak and he is manipulative but also brutally and compassionately honest. and it never feels out of place. i cannot describe how much i love this skrunkly. i especially love when he gets chattier later into a route... when you can tell he acts like a loner but loves his friends and loves to have people around him. he is a hot mess but he takes his meds and works his silly little job. they really captured the perfect image of a person who has given up on everything but underneath it all there is still a drive. there is still so much will to live.

i also feel like most people probably drastically changed their opinions on him while playing through the whole game. you learn and grow with him. theres a real sort of connection.

3. WISH IT WASNT A PORN GAME

slow damage, for all its rawness and aspirations, really gets held back by being sold under the premise that theres a set amount of porn scenes in every route. this is especially rough to read and sit throught in the madarame and foujieda routes but its odd for the other two as well. i understand there must be a certain amount of consistency if youre trying to sell a product, especially if you are nitrochi and, well, known for dick and balls. but at best it feels very out of place in this carefully crafted self-aware universe and at worst it just comes across as straight up offensive.

there were many times where i thought that either not having a sex scene at all would have been more meaningful (fujieda route, after towa almost killed himself. AT LEAST LEAVE THE CUM DIGGING OUT. or let towa do it himself. GOD.) or focussing on towas feelings instead of eroticism would have been better from a storytelling standpoint (madarame) and more tasteful.

I ASSUME this is as much a problem with boys love/vn media in general as it is with this game. though i cant say i read much BL. because i am not interested in reading about trama porn and shock value, which are an infamous stereotype. there is a time and place for graphic content but i feel like normalizing it and making it fapping material (sorry for my cringe wording) is really offensive and just damaging to readers in the long run.

4. the gender of it all

i have been thinking about this for a while and i think the localization team really made a great effort with getting the gender of characters across. imo, it would have been perfectly reasonable to have rei use she AND he pronouns throughout the story. though, see the point above, i dont know how limiting the genre is in that regard. and i do appreciate they really captured reis like... quirky bubbly personality and she and the gang do collectively go by “girls” a couple of times, iirc. it would have also been fine to use she/her for honami, junko, and arashi but i really Really love them all going by they/them as well. i did not expect them to be such heartfelt precious characters without transphobic violence ever being a topic and it was a breath of fresh air and so wonderful. their little clique truly is such a source of love and courage in the story. usually universes without any sort of bigots feel fake BUT in an enviroment like shinkomi it doesnt feel out of place! at least to me. you see all kinds of diverse people there. i do not doubt for a minute that the transgender community background of this city is probably the best thing about it LOL

in general, i did not expect gender to be such a big topic in general. reis development is interesting to watch and analyse. why does him becoming masc happen here but not in other routes? is this truly the end to the rei gender journey? is this party brought into place bc rei identifies moreso as a gay man than a woman here? lots to think about!!! not in a negative way at all, i think reis struggle with gender performance was really relatable+well executed.

ADDITIONALLY the fujieda bad end provides such an interesting take on this conglomerate between towa and his mother. the switches between pronouns were FANTASTIC and such punches in the gut. i absolutely LIVE for this monstrous uncomfortable weirdly gender creation and the little touches of “i thought there stood a woman....” and “it didnt matter to me if it was him or her”

5. somewhere between high empathy and cognitive dissonance

ngl, it is not inherently something i like but i am absolutely obsessed with the slight hypocrisy in the storytelling. (affectionately. they did well for what they had written out.)

shinkomi is a city filled with the impoverished, the disadvantaged and underprivileged, the sick and the preyed on. this is often mentioned and shown to be the case in the background, yet all the characters we meet live under stable circumstances. the danger never touches us, it is merely a setpiece. yet we are supposed to understand how rough life there is.

IN FACT CLASS IS SO IMPORTANT TO THIS UNIVERSE that i want to argue it was not necessarily the scars that helped fujieda and towa to bond, they were just a visual cue that thematically fit into the story. what really lifted any reservations between them was the recognition that fujieda comes from less than stellar place as well, that he has known a socially and financially unstable and dangerous enviroment. it eradicates fujiedas standing as a member of the upper class and makes him approachable.

mentioned under point 3: the underlying evil of the game is the sexual and physical abuse towa suffered in the past. yet current sexual abuse is often written to be sexy and appealing. it is quite dishonest

there is no love interest that does not have blood on their hands yet the only one to speak about his grief is taku. this makes sense because as a doctor, his sense to do good is deeply ingrained into his person, it is simply in character to do so. but shouldnt rei get to have a heart to heart about the people she had to beat in moneymatches, at the very least?

eiji as a character is this whole concept personified LOL i like him a lot

6. alas, fujieda is still in the trenches

slow damage really managed to cleanly wrap up so many little sideplots and the main mystery and tragedy surrounding towa and his mother was executed absolutely beautifully.

but alas, fujieda stayed in the trenches. he very much comes across as a side character to towa in the final route. yet he has his own trauma, his own regrets about his past, his own unresolved struggles. the end very much hints towards him and towa slowly healing together but ah.... i cant help but think i would have loved to see more that vulnerable side of him more...

from what i have heard about the artbook story (havent been able to check his afterstory drama cd out yet! but i definitely plan to listen to it eventually), it took half a year for him and towa to get physical again. thats so... strangely calming. the entire time throughout the post-shower scene i couldnt help but think they are searching for warmth but also slightly retraumatizing eachother. bro.. the sweet pain of seeing him readjust towas hands and face if he touched or kissed him in a wrong place. gently and quietly. without saying anything. you could tell he is still deeply hurt and was using the skills from his own undesirable past just to please towa. its very sacrifical in that way. this sounds like im not talking about what was really just a prostate massage but yeah. anyway.

i cant help but think fujieda hates sex. not that he dislikes intimacy. and he certainly seems to adore towa. but he has clear limits. sad but also nice to see, i think??? i love the vulnerability of it.

7. jast usa made a lifelike translation and everyone hated them for it

OK YES!!! YES!!! I DONT SPEAK JAPANESE!! but talking about it with my friends who do......... idk man i think they just tried to create a lifelike translation and put some funnies in there. its honestly fine. also on behalf of the very consistent they/themming i am willing to eat out of their hand. yes, yes maybe rei did not originally end all these sentences in “, hun?” but you know what. if english pronouns are putting a limit on you, you have to have him talk like a motherhen.

8. ok we have to do this. we have to talk about DISABILITY

towa is... so disabled. towas is deeply chronically ill. and we need to ackowledge this. to truly grasp a lot of the significance of the story. he is missing an eye, he is super mega depressed and suicidal, he is terribly underweight, no doubt his has multiple other physical issues caused by past injuries.

when everyone supports him unconditionally, they want to include and spend time with their struggling disabled friend. when people violate him, they are specifically abusing a disabled person with less chances to help and save himself. when taku is impossibly protective over him to a point where he neglects to tell him things, he is acting out a pseudo-custodian role he voluntarily picked up just because towa means a lot to him.

i spoke about this before but autonomy is of HUGE importance to towa. both because his specific backstory and childhood trauma AND because he is a disabled person. i think the fact people dont try to hold him back from going on self destructive sprees has a lot to do with this. they know it is his weakest spot. he does not react well to it. also shown quite effectively but how much freedom he loses in his bad ends.

in a way the madarame route makes specific use of this; madarame denies him his right to stay unharmed and stable and sells it to him under the guise of independence. but i think everyone can understand that this will never be a realistic permanent solution for someone in need of care, even if it might seem temporarily desirable. you cannot survive and thrive like this.

9. pick your coping skill; the game

slow damage, in my opinion, is a game mainly focussed on hurt and coping skills. everything towa does is a direct or subconscious attempt to cope with his life and past experiences. as such, to me it seems like the routes are less about love interests and more about different ways of dealing with it.

taku -> just fight the symptoms. take care of yourself. you can be happy in a new life. just attempt to bury your issues.

rei -> socializing is really really good for you and will help you build up confidence <3 also keeps you from running into traffic bc your friends will actually let you know your life matters

madarame -> just badcope lol. wear it like a shield and lash out against yourself and others. hurt hurt hurt but at least you dont have to work on yourself. it is the direct easy way out

foujieda -> radically tackling the roots of the issue. you will be SO hurt but you might be able to heal in a few years time

10. personal favourites (unimportant, i just wanna gush)

fav characters: taku (his old man sad boy swag has bewitched me, i just really love his struggle with doing the right thing, as a person AND a medical professional. he is the only character allowed to truly express his pain and guilt), ikuina (i love a good softspoken yandere what can i say. also flowerboy <3), igarashi (WHaT WAS HIS DEAL I NEED TO KNOW HOW HE ENDED UP WITH THE YAKUZA he is such a honest puppy of a person. his last post-game dialogue makes me think this isnt even a facade, he just is an upstanding person) honorable mentions: towa (how can you not be obsessed with him), rei (sweetest girl. literally did no wrong. joy of my life), eiji (HIS REVOLVER OCELOT LARP WAS UNBELIEVABLE literally hes just so funny and evil)

fav good/euphoria end: ITS NOT PERFECT BY ANY MEANS but taku. definitely taku. yeah the weird dependent relationship between a doctor and a patient with 20 years age gap is quite creepy. i could not imagine this irl. but their chemistry and just... fluffy, gentle, sweet bond. is. everything to me. while it is not the ideal solution by any means, i also love the sweet pain of towa just never finding out about his past and starting a new life without it. it will always hurt a little bit in the back. but he can be happy and surrounded by friends. I ALSO REALLY LOVE FUJIEDA GOOD END i think i would be way more obsessed with it if i saw them interact more in a very casual setting? since the plot moved on quickly, they had very little time to really... establish what connects them outside of painful things that happened in the past?

fav bad/madness end: FUJIEDAAAAAAAA it is so fucked up. it is the scariest one despite being the least bloody. there is something deeply deeply haunting about watching towa go through all of this, experience so much pain and suffering in the name of uncovering and rediscovering his own life......just for it all to be for nothing. he got worse. this truly is the most chilling outcome of them all and i think it is a fantastic last end for a story that mainly focusses on trauma and recovery. isnt that the ultimate horror story.

also i am quite fascinated that in every other madness end, towas life gets ruined by his love interests. fujieda however is as much in the role of a victim as he is, though. and the slight cry for help at the end really drives home why he cannot leave. they are caught in worlds unhappiest yet loving marriage.

fav route to play: FUJIEDA ONCE AGAIN just because the game got so quirky with visuals and you finally get all the information and clues and emotional gratification of it all. yes it also destroys you mentally but thats part of the joy.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY. reis route. it is so deeply defined by his beautiful friendships and there is a real sense of life and love when you see his little clique hang out... it definitely is the most fluffy and feel good to play through. i dont really like reitowa as a romantic pairing but seeing them hang out is SOOOO sweet.

thank you everyone for coming to my ted talk

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

We already know your feelings on C//A, but are there any other ships that you actually like? Or also dislike?

are you talking about ships in spop or in general? in spop, i like glimmadora (as i'm sure it's already quite obvious) and entrapdak. i also liked huntfuma, i think they had more chemistry than scorfuma. and scorptra had a lot of potential too, until they ruined it in s4.

all the other ships were just meh for me. rogelio and kyle was an interesting choice but there's not much in canon to suggest that these two would make a good couple.

outside of spop, here are the ships that i like from animated shows:

ryan x min-gi (infinity train; not a canon couple but they're canon in my heart <3)

steven x connie (steven universe; such a cute ship, i have no idea why it got so much hate at one point)

sokka x suki x zuko (atla; again only sokka x suki is canon but i like the idea of them being a polycule)

eda x raine (the owl house; we need more queer ships between middle aged or older characters!! <3)

pearl x rose/pink diamond (steven universe; an example of a well-written unhealthy relationship)

vi x caitlyn (arcane; actually GOOD enemies to lovers ship)

amaya x janai (the dragon prince; actually GOOD enemies to lovers ship pt.2)

lapis x jasper (steven universe; another example of a well-written abusive relationship honestly i just like their fusion more than the ship itself)

and here are the ships that i dislike (i might make a detailed post about this sometime):

mako x korra (the legend of korra; the whole love triangle was a huge mess but makorra in particular was pretty toxic imo)

lapis x peridot (steven universe; not canon and i'm so glad they didn't make it canon)

taku x rikako (ocean waves; the only ghibli movie i HATE, there was such a good setup for a mlm relationship and they ruined it)

hunter x willow (the owl house; poorly written, no development and completely takes a shit on hunter's character arc)

varrick x zhu li (the legend of korra; i regret to say i once shipped them but looking back it's so obvious how unhealthy their relationship was, zhu li deserves so much better)

there may be more but these are the ones i can think of at the moment! hope that answers your question!!

[sweet-little-dude]

hi taku i am brainrotting about fucking kitty cats again idfk my warrior cats hyperfixation is back chasing me with an axe 😭

but anyways. i am also once again thinking about takuya x akkun... well i am TRYING i am too distracted thinking about boxer!takuya with bloody knuckles it’s horrible. (it’s a giant asexual w tho bc one of my classmates boxes too n she keeps coming to school with bruised knuckles and somehow i have a fucking fixation on that (it’s just really pretty okay) and by god i don’t think i could survive being turned on every time i see her hands) but yeah. takkuya. slow dancing to songs that don’t match the rythm/speed of their dancing at all. they probably end up on the floor crying i feel like it’d make them sad so they’d just start venting to & comforting each other idk

HELP NOT THE WARRIOR CATS 😭😭 /j STAY STRONG ELYS

ABSOLUTE W’S THINK ABT TAKUYA X AKKUN FR 💪💪🫵🫵 (OMG SAME IDK WHY BUT HANDSSSS >>>> cant blame u tho i would be on my knees everytime i see her hands like uhhhh stay sane yk!) help their shipname is so cute i love them T T stop that lil headcanon reminds me so much of 10 things i hate about you (rewatched it last night with my sister i love it dearly) like being at a party where a hype upbeat fast paced song is playing but they’re slow dancing to it shxbhdbehd :((

but sweaty hot boxer!takuya and photography student!akkun who has an assignment to take photos of the athletes at his college and so he meets takuya and hahxjshehe (im getting carried away sorry continue)

[xcryinginguccix]

Hello, fellow humans. I'm Alex. Just reactivated this account.

So I recently downloaded Slow Damage, and finished Madamares route. Spoilers ahead.

At first I wasn't very optimistic about it, since Madamare gave me the same type of ick Mink from DMMD gave me (I hate his guts), but to my surprise I actually had a great time. At first I had very mixed feelings about it, but as the story progressed I slowly fell in love with this duo. I started to like their chemistry and how they interacted with each other. It hurt me little seeing how the relationship between Taku, Rei and Towa just got worse and worse. I absolutely adore this trio so seeing them fall out was something I didn't enjoy, but after I witnessed Towa, Madamare and the gang kicked the shit out of Takasato-gumi, my mood was lifted. Also, bimbo blond Towa is the best thing ever. Overall, I had a great time ♥️