#sad murderboi

[frogs-in3-hills]

so having finished the first big berserk volume (covering the black swordsman + a bit of the golden age)… i guess i was expecting to be bored by the edgycoolguy of it all, and maybe it’s just because i’ve seen the anime and have the context to understand what kind of place guts is in, but it’s genuinely really good! there’s a lot here that balances out the edgelord stuff—obviously puck is basically carrying this arc on his back, but one of the things that really struck me was guts himself. him crying after theresia swears revenge on him + all the other horrifying bullshit that happened (griffith!!! holy shit! truly putting into perspective how worthless guts feels) was good ofc, but what really stood out to me about guts’ early characterization is his fear. because look. our edgy cool guy tearing up isn’t THAT archetype defying… plenty of murderboys can also be sadboys and it’s fine, even Cool, if they shed some manly tears. more ingrained is that murderboys don’t get to be afraid. it’s lame. but we see guts scared a lot, and it shows openly on his face (notably puck also makes a point of “you’re afraid aren’t you” in his guts thesis). this arc drives home again and again that even if guts is a master swordsman, he’s so unfathomably insignificant, these demons are so, so much stronger than he is. he is trying to kill a hurricane here. and how could he possibly accept that! it’s a big part of why he behaves the way he does!

anyways i just thought that’s a really good place for miura to take him, because honestly “oh but he’s saaaaad”….. wouldn’t have actually worked for me in making guts more sympathetic. we’ve all seen the sad sad edgelord. an edgelord who screams in visceral terror as he fights demons is a little less precedented.

[biopsssihozz]

my darling boy

my little sad traumatized kitten

im so happy he is getting some love in shippuden, he deserves all of it, my lil psychotic murderboi <3

[indigayghost]

Sometimes I remember Guillermo won the murderboy poll and I get so sad

Look what they did to him... His own creators....

[mjrkime]

Am I sick bitch for finding some of the Punisher comics absolutely hilarious?

Yeah, I absolutely love the sad murderboi from the series (the Kastle has me on a chokehold, yup) but the way some of the dark morbid absolutely unforgivable shit is framed just reeks with the evilest irony and I'm here for it. Double the evil cackling when some groups of assholes see Punisher as their role model. But I'm mostly here because I love Frank and the way some of the events go just bring me immense joy.

Like that comic where he accidentally ends up heavily wounded by the house of the woman, Joan, that he saved some time ago and she finds him and bandages his wounds only to find out that a whole bunch of mafia goons are after him. And Frank tells Joan to call the cops on him because otherwise none of them would survive. And she says "No, Frank, you saved my life, I have his house because of you, I'm not gonna do that". And he asks her repeatedly "ARE YOU SURE?" and Joan says "YES", so he tells her to GO TO AN EMPTY FIELD WITH A FUKTON OF DEAD BODIES AND RETRIEVE HIS GIANT GUN AND BRING IT HERE AND THEN THEY PREPARE TRAPS AND STUFF AND THAT SHE HAS TO HELP HIM WITH THE MACHINE-GUN BELT BECAUSE IT'S FUCKED SO SHE SITS NEXT TO HIM WHILE HE SHOOTS THE GOONS WITH ONE BROKEN ARM AND JOAN IS JUST THERE, SCARED TO DEATH BUT PATIENT SAYING "GODNESS, GODNESS" WHEN HER DUCKS GET KILLED IN THE CROSSFIRE. AND THEN THE BIG BAD COMES IN WITH HIS DOG NAMED "STALIN" AND JOAN'S DOG NAMED FRANKIE RIPS IT'S TONGUE OUT AND THEN WHEN IT'S ALL OVER FRANK RECOVERS, CLEANS UP THE MESS, HELPS JOAN REPAIR THE HOUSE AND THEN SHE TELLS HIM THAT IT WAS A PLEASURE TO HAVE HIM AS A GUEST FOR A FEW WEEKS EVEN THOUGH THE BEGINNING WAS HORRIFYING.

[banthaboyboba]

Not people moralizing about shipping characters with Bo Katan when they think every sad murderboi can be cured by the power of pussy

[altocat]

I love that anxious seph is a thing now. I have anxiety so we need more of that stuff because he's so distraught in crisis core and I feel so bad for him.

So with that all said, how does your seph unwind or relax? I want soft boy doing soft boy thingsssss

YESSS Anxious Seph!

I have clinical anxiety too hhh so maybe I impose that on Seph a lot BUT he does exhibit actual traits!

-Anyway, in the rare instances when Seph gets to unwind and relax, he typically will do a number of things. One of them, of course, is engaging with Angeal and Genesis. As his trusted companions, they're good at getting him out of his shell, as well as helping him take pleasure in more simple things in life. Later on, he feels this way towards Zack as well, perhaps even more so since seeing Zack becomes probably the only thing that relaxes him in what is essentially a series of constant losses and uncertainties.

-Apart from being around his companions, Sephiroth likes taking long, warm baths. No loud noises. No bright lights. Just a quiet dark soak in the tub, maybe with some wine and a lot of self-care and self-soothing. He avoids being near anything that could potentially trigger turbulent emotions, going off the grid for a few hours just to bask in a bit of warmth and silence.

-Sephiroth is rather fond of scented candles. They hold a relaxing aroma. His cabinet is probably secretly filled with them for later use.

-Hair care! Sephiroth loves brushies.

-Sephiroth suffers from chronic insomnia. Some of it is stress and some of it, unbeknownst to him, is because he's partially nocturnal. He's sleepiest during the day and in the offhand chance he actually has the day off, he likes a nice cozy nap with his window open and a bit of sun filtering through the blinds. Catboy hehe

-Deep breathing techniques! Sephiroth is extremely good at appearing calm and completely put together. The only time he really shows his true expressions are when he's alone and unmonitored. If he's having a particularly rough day, he tries to center himself by steadying his breathing. Lots of closing his eyes and counting to 10. Lots of sensory techniques to take his mind off of current stressors.

-Sephiroth is at his absolute worst after lab visits. Though he's willing to stand up to Hojo now that he's no longer a child and very actively gets violent around Hojo if he falls prey to the scientist's goading, the procedures themselves take a heavy toll. He will occasionally be granted breather days afterwards, where he mostly just hides out in his room to recover. Sephiroth doesn't actively sign up for break days so much as they're assigned to him, but even he has limits. He will spend a few days just kind of lying inert and avoiding everyone. Completely nonverbal and isolated.

-As a child, Sephiroth loved puzzles. Puzzles were his favorite way of settling himself, especially if they were particularly difficult. If he's focusing more on solving the puzzle, he doesn't have to think about bad or scary things. He does the same as an adult, busying himself with crosswords and other idle objects to draw his attention elsewhere.

-Sephiroth finds that he sometimes has very strange yearnings. Things he can't quite express or articulate. The need to be held--not romantically. Simply...held. Held tight. Held close. Bundled up against something warm with warm hands around him. He views the need as incredibly weak and beneath him, but the feeling has lingered his entire life. He wishes he could pinpoint its source. But it always slips away at the last moment. Sometimes, alone in bed, he holds himself, trying to capture the feeling. It's so strange. Human and warm and safe. But he can't quite replicate it. He's disgusted with himself for trying or caring. And yet...

[kaen-ace-of-diamonds]

Huang Cheng Du really did turn me into a Xue Yang apologist in four minutes and nineteen seconds huh

[nymphicushollandicus]

speaking of yamamoto, i feel like he should never have been exposed to real fighting. his potential for bloodlust seems pretty high

[sapphicambitions]

What do you mean John Silver is an unredeemable sad murderboy?

Today on, U Can Be Critical of A Character and Still Love Them,

[daylighteclipsed]

Woah, where’s that raw-ass quote you put at the end of your tags from??

John Milton’s Paradise Lost! He has a fascinating take on Lucifer. That quote’s specifically from part of Lucifer’s monologue after he’s cast out of Heaven. He self-reflects, even considers repentance, before deciding there’s no going back.

[cowthropologist]

That said, Eliot Spencer is definitely my favorite character on Leverage.

[frumfrumfroo]

Do you think the “It’s abusive and toxic/Lmao they’re siblings/cousins” label on Reylo will fade eventually, or will those things follow the ship around forever? I suspect there will be an increase in the former especially if Reylo becomes *undeniable* canon in IX, I don’t think there’s any way to avoid that in the lead up to and immediate aftermath of IX, but I shudder to think the most popular discourse around Reylo in five-ten years might still be “It’s an abusive ship about a bad boyfriend”

It will fade. Seriously, I’ve been sat here multiple times explaining to people that the hellish, relentless Loki Discourse ever existed because unless you were in the trenches it might as well not have at this point. Multiple times Ben fans have posted their theories on why he is uniquely hated and Loki didn’t get the same crap even though they are extremely similar characters. Except Loki did get the same crap, it’s just no longer trendy and also pretty embarrassing to keep calling fangirls delusional Nazi apologists when our reading has been vindicated at every turn and the character has quelle surprise remained sympathetic and only dies a tragic woobie martyr wept over by the hero (three times even) not murdered by his family while cackling with villainy. The ‘apologist’ interpretation which was unacceptable is now the default common sense reading. Because that’s what it always fucking was.

There will be some people who hang on and cling to their bullshit forever, but I promise you once canon has sanctioned the character/ship and some new thing to hate comes along, the hot takes sink into obscurity. Casual fandom in a few years will have no concept it was ever ~controversial. You’ll still have Moral Guardians writing occasional thinkpieces about how it’s Bad For Little Girls because any ship with an aspect of female–>male redemptive love always does, but it won’t be like it is now. And, you know, this is a deathless trope which people love and no amount of calling Beauty and the Beast Stockholm syndrome on tumblrdotdumbass is going to stop it being one of the most popular stories ever told.

[loversword]

VILLANELLE MA'AM....

[saysaraelle]

I am very excited about the possibility of a Tom Hiddleston-led Loki tv series. Can you tell?

[altocat]

I feel like they are going to give Sephiroth more emotional expressions. Like that scene when he mentions Angeal. It's a little different than original.

While I will always prefer the old models/VAs, I like that they seem to be emphasizing Sephiroth's sadness a lot more this time around.

Ex. The "How petty" line was said with disgust/disapproval in the original whereas it's a lot more wistful and regretful in the new one. He's UPSET dammit!

What I'm trying to say is that we're going to get a LOT of Seph stans in the coming months. It's about time more people saw what a big sad baby he actually is in CC. I think the original game will probably remain a lot more subtle when it comes to Seph's presentation, but whatever.

Also, they kept his little skin-smudges from Remake. I appreciate that. His bulkier stature also matches the infamous trio battle cutscene a bit better (though I still prefer his thinner, sleeker model from the original). Tyler and Zack's new VAs still need a lot of work but TBF they have had significantly less lines (like maybe twenty each??) than the new cast so I don't think they've really settled into the characters yet. Like YES George and Rick will always be the undisputed voices of these characters in my head, but I want to give the new guys a chance. Nibelheim will probably be good experience for them to grow in their performances.

Anyway ye. Expressive Seph! Sad murderboi. No friends.

[starrymothwings]

Hey

so, I'm gonna make this short. This year's been pretty rough for me and I just got back from burying my step-father, so I'm feeling...A lot of things right now.

So I just want to say to everybody reading this: hey, thanks for making it this far. No matter what you're going through or the severity of it. Life can be tough getting through it, but here you are anyways—and hey! That's hella neat!! Thanks for sticking around.

Anyways, I love you and I hope you have a good rest of the day. Take care of yourself <3