#should write about her again

[ghostwritergirl]

DPxDC Prompt: Open Invitation

Every ghost in the Zone and out of the Zone knows about the Christmas Truce. The single day of no fighting has lasted since Christmas had been called Yuletide and other names, that every single ghost respected it and tried to make it, especially if they weren’t in the Infinite Realms. After all, when you were dead, it was fun to have a little party and cut loose without fighting and where any grudges or rivalries were temporarily suspended.

And despite being ghosts who mostly resided in the living realm, Deadman, Gentleman Ghost, Marilyn Moonlight, Lady Gotham and other ghosts like them all attended the Christmas Truce party—once, Lady Gotham had brought Solomon Grundy, and no one cared. He may be a zombie, but undead was still dead and Grundy was more halfa-adjacent if it came down to technicalities, and had been welcome there ever since. JLD, of course, had an open invitation due to their association with Deadman (though Constantine tried to avoid the Ancient of Time he hooked up with one—okay, several—times), and after Danny started attending after the Ghostwriter incident, his fraid had an open invitation too, despite how half of them were still among the living (not like it mattered anyway, since they were liminal enough to count as ghostly)

It was due to Danny’s, and later Dani’s, attendance that Lady Gotham and Deadman realised they knew a halfa, who the Truce party’s open invitation extended to even though he didn’t know. And being in the pure ectoplasm of the Realms might help the halfa with the issues of his core and the damage the Lazarus Pit had done to it, and the Phantom twins would be thrilled at meeting him, that all three weren’t alone.

So, on Christmas Eve, Lady Gotham and Deadman go into Crime Alley and bring Red Hood into the Ghost Zone to where the Truce party is being held at (re: kidnap him)

Jason has no idea where he is, who these strange, glowing people are aside from Grundy or why they’re all drinking what looks to be Lazarus Water or why he feels better than he has in years since he came back, but for some reason he doesn’t feel like he’s in danger and like a part of him belongs here, and these people haven’t batted a single eye around him and are instead encouraging him to let loose and drink some shots and have some fun, it’s a Truce party after all. And when in Rome, right?

Danny rocks up a couple hours later and has no idea why the regular human vigilante Red Hood is in the Ghost Zone or drinking ectoplasm while having the time of his life and is internally freaking out and not having a single clue that he’s a potential halfa. Yet (Dani knows, having arrived before both of them and Deadman had let her know right before he and Lady Gotham had brought Jason, and is having the time of her life meeting another halfa despite how gross his core feels and seeing Danny lose his mind before he realises, too)

Meanwhile, the Batfamily is low-key worried (read: high-key panicking) about Jason’s disappearance and trying to figure out where the hell he is.

[butteronabun]

i think i read this concept somewhere before but imagine f! reader swooning with the other ladies of mondstadt abt this one particular romance novel that has been getting popular as of late. diluc gets word of this ( maybe it’s because of elzer, or probably even kaeya, the tease ) because don’t tell anyone this but he kinda likes you.

( “. . . kinda? what are we, twelve?”

“shut it, kaeya.” )

and he wonders what the fuss is all about—

“it seems that lady,” adelinde calls your name fondly, as she stands beside the master of the house eating his dinner. “has been involved with a book club. some of the maids are members, and they told me that it had been a joyous time. they would discuss the books over delicious cups of tea and pastries that she and her friends had made.”

diluc is happy to hear this, of course, that a delightful woman such as you is having the time of her life in mondstadt. his heart skips a beat in his chest as he imagines you, the ever beautiful, endearing you, sharing anecdotes. he tries to hide the growing smile on his face as he remembers how you focus into the small and tiniest details—it is no doubt that the people in your book club are always entertained by your presence.

they’re surely lucky to have you. diluc, if only he wasn’t so busy, would actually really love to be part of that book club as well. ( “eyeing something, master diluc?” lisa winks, when diluc finds himself in the library. ) but alas, it was only reserved for ladies, and he was too shy to actually be in it.

— not until this one fateful night. not until he finally understands why.

of course, the abyss is up to no good again. diluc does his daily patrols on the outskirts and even outside of the city.

then, he hears it.

( a cackling abyss mage approaches your quivering form. you have books in your arms, tightly clutching them to your chest. you bought these for the new members of your book club as gifts since some of them can’t even afford it, and like hell you’re gonna lose them to some monster! these are expensive!

and since gods do really like tampering with fate ( or is this just destiny? ) before the abyss mage gets to throw its icicle at you, it disintegrates, and you blink upon the arrival of a familiar figure.

clad in black and donned in a mask, your lips part in shock. the smell of burnt wood and grass reaches your nostrils. the figure—the man, turns around, and you can’t help but feel a little clumsy. “t–thank you so much, um—!” some of the books fall to the ground, and you yelp. the man kneels down to grab your novels, and you feel your cheeks begin to steam. “um, wait—!” )

after rescuing you from a pesky abyss mage, diluc is really happy to get to interact with you again. last time he did was when you were in the tavern, drinking out with your peers. there, he realized how low your tolerance is, and there, he also realized how actually weak he is for you. you had been so friendly and sweet to him—you included him in your conversations and was always so understanding. how can he not like someone like you?

or maybe the cherry on top was when you invited him to go stargaze at the starsnatch cliff ( how did you not know what that meant? is it because you’re from fontaine, and you’re still getting used to mondstadt? ) and requested for only diluc. no master of the house diluc, nor wine tycoon diluc. just diluc. just himself.

he’ll do everything for you, as long as it is okay with you.

as he descends to the ground to retrieve some of the novels that you carried, diluc lifts one. he listens to you stammer— and he wonders why you’re so flustered, not until he sees the front cover.

it’s an image of a man. he’s wearing a dark getup: a dark brown tunic, black pants, and a midnight cloak. diluc ponders over why he’s getting deja vu.

then, he also has a a bird mask, and red hair peeking out from his hood. wait, red hair?

on his muscular arms, is nothing but a damsel in distress looking at him with so much adoration. much like to the expressions you’ve had with the ladies whenever you ramble about the popular book that diluc has been curious on ever since forever—

oh.

diluc raises his head slowly, and sees you fumble over you words. “mr. darknight hero, i apologize—!”

oh.

[sunlight-shunlight]

also this is not meant as a slight to anyone who enjoyed the vg solavellan content, but. ouuugh. to me it was. not enjoyable lmao.

like ok. lavellan never gets even an option to be openly pissed off? bitter? or even just... a bit stoic, and not willing to yap about a really painful, personal issue to a near-stranger? she HAS to be sweet and mild and "uwu but i still love himmm 🥺" about it? not even a crumb of being able to express negative feelings?

and then just the concept of "yay! lavellan is now fully fluent in elvhen, speaks in the same cadence as solas, and is totally fine with ditching thedas and her entire life, to go eternally sit with him in the fade jail!! :)" is just. so dull. it deprotagonizes her imo, and if lavellan is a playable, customizable character, it's really grating for her to have to be funneled into such a specific characterization. and frankly speaking, combined with how flat and useless every other female character in the game is... i do just hate it haha. it is very Sexy Lamp to me.

personally this is just my bias towards heist missions, but can you imagine how fun and emotionally affecting it would be for EITHER a romanced or friendly pc if it's like:

solas can be peacefully convinced of a [better plan than what he initially had to violently drop the veil] after the pc puts effort into learning about the blight/fade/elves/titans, and formulates something less damaging.

and then solas says something like "thank you so much for stopping me. i'm glad to be wrong about this. however, i was not kidding about the dinan'shiral thing. i DO still have to lock myself into the black city to seal it, and inside i will get blighted and die. please don't be sad about this, it's truly been an honour, dareth shiral, etc" in a very nice and sweet speech, and then goes in there resigned to sacrifice himself and die alone.

but then, if you fulfilled some other prior requirements, the pc has the option to go "hey, fuck this actually? this is my bestie/lover and i don't agree with this?" and do a last-minute, extremely convoluted fade jailbreak to Rescue Solas from his self-imposed martyrdom mission.

which is actually!! extremely sweet!! like it goes full circle - solas started off on his whole arc bc he wanted to break people out of captivity. his flaw is that he's prideful and doesn't trust others, underestimates the competence of mortals, and unilaterally makes these huge decisions on their behalf. one of the very first flirt lines is offering to protect him. and throughout the entirety of dai, on high approval or romance, the main theme is that he remarks on being surprised by the inquisitor.

and perhaps the most surprising possible thing they could do, is disagree with his Unilaterally Decided Plan, then successfully go extremely out of their way and take on huge dangers to rescue him, purely out of affection rather than any strategic benefit. opposite of mythal, one might say! rather than locking him into something he didn't want to do bc they needed his expertise, they remove him from a fate he's miserably resigned to, just bc they like having him around as a person.

[squeakyleftsneaker]

Colonialism Apologetics? In MY Space Mecha Kids TV Show? MORE LIKELY THAN U THINK

I will soon #discuss this but for now I'm just pissed off by it like really TV show? REALLY?

Wait also this is totally unrelated but I am still thinking about the Voltron Show episode where like I really do think they could've stumbled upon something interesting about 1: the fact that the Paladins suddenly become these like. Objects. Symbolically speaking. And then to the resistance movement there is a tension because they're not actually like. Doing shit. But then the paladins themselves feel objectified

Idk like there's so many things that you could do there that would be pretty doable to handle for the audience and keeping the tone of the show! Have Shiro feel uncomfortable with the Shiro The Hero [TM] persona because it reminds him too much of the Champion!

Have the rebels like in the Blade of Marmalade or Olkarion or other rebel outposts (which we barely even see because the show dgaf about the people fighting for freedom jfc) feeling some kinda way about it! A FUCKING MARVEL MOVIE DID THIS!!!! THAT'S HOW SIMPLE THIS IS TO DO!!! (I watched the first Captain America movie for the first time last night. It is extremely simple and very pro military. BUT IT UNDERSTANDS HOW TO DO WHAT IT NEEDS TO DO)

Like idk have Loverboy Lance be tied to Lance's own insecurities about what he brings to the team AND the war– have him feel some kind of way about being portrayed like that as MORE than just jokes!

Don't even get me started on Hunk this fucking show is so awful to Hunk

HAVE ALLURA REALLY GET TO GRIPS WITH THE FACT THAT SHE'S GOT TO PLAY A GUY WHO SHE IS BOTH VERY SIMILAR TO AND ALSO HE IS PART-GALRA, THE SAME GALRA WHO KILLED HER PEOPLE! IT'S A REASONABLE HESITANCY TO HAVE! IDK! IT JUST PISSES ME OFF MAN THERE'S SO MANY THINGS THIS SHOW COULD DO BUT DOESN'T

[backpackingspace]

Hi yes more unhinged penelope pleaseeee.

[acid-waste]

I'm so mad actually I can't believe some people took this scene in chapter 3 and turned it into a who's right about their grief when the scene in chapter 4 literally has ivypool saying I don't mean to make it all about me- haven't thought much about how dovewing is handling her own grief- people read chapter 3 and to me it seems as if chapter 4 doesn't even exist and the rest of what ivypool says in chapter three after saying this doesn't as well

“Dovewing, I’m truly sorry that Rowankit died. But losing a sickly kit—a kit you’ll be reunited with in StarClan one day—is different from losing a full-grown cat who was just coming into her own as a warrior. A cat who doesn’t exist anywhere—who is just gone.”

ignored this and what was said and called it a day

[burningcheese-merchant]

The relationship between Burning spice and Pepper Jack reminds me terribly of the relationship between CrowFeather and Breezepelt

of warrior cats

you just inspired by them?

Oh my God... Jesus, Mary and Joseph... Warrior Cats........ Got sent back in time like 15 years with this ask. I feel so old right now.... Live footage here

No actually, I wasn't thinking of Crowfeather and Breezepelt 😅😅😅 in all honesty I've been taking a lot of inspiration for Burning Spice and Pepper Jack's relationship from Kratos and Atreus from God of War (4 and 5). The sort of redemption arc/change of heart and post-redemption attitude/behavior I gave Spice in my canon bears a bit of resemblance to how Kratos behaves in GoW, and while I was imagining his relationship with Jack I remembered what Kratos goes through with his own son and realized I could maybe learn from that and see how I could make my version work with these two characters instead. Former mass-murdering, vengeful lunatic who's calmed down and realized the error of his ways and is just trying to carve out a decent life with his new family, having some issues connecting with his son because they're so different from each other in so many ways, and also because the father is hiding the truth of his dark past out of shame and fear of what the son will say and think. (Obviously I don't want to just straight up rip off GoW, just take inspiration haha. I think I've made my own take unique enough that I don't have to worry about it much)

I do want to draw Spice and Jack dressed up as Kratos and Atreus one of these days though :P maybe for Halloween or something. Gonna title it "God of Destruction" instead of God of War. It'll be cool I promise

... Chat, should I try to depict the family as cats from Warrior Cats now? I'm getting hit with nostalgia so fucking hard rn

[rookamell]

I don't really care about people's takes on what the current situation in Thedas is or whether or not people like that the Chantry was centred less or whether or not people like that the mage rebellion was mentioned in Veilguard or not everyone has their own interpretations and everyone has their own readings of stuff said in the game but one commonly repeated line I have seen in both Veilguard positive and negative posts is that 'it's ok that the Chantry wasn't mentioned as much because we're in Northern Thedas and it's different there'... no? Correct me if I'm wrong because I'm very far from a lore expert but there's only three places in Thedas that don't follow the Orlesian Chantry and that is Tevinter, Seheron, and Rivain and Rivain doesn't really even count because they do still follow the Orlesian Chantry it's just that they're a lot more relaxed about it because of the qunari and Seer influence there. And the Circle got annulled because of that. (Let me just reiterate an entire group of people got brutally murdered for their unconventional take on religion and that is an actual quest that is a part of the game Dragon Age: The Veilguard that still somehow fails to bring up religion at all during it, but I digress). As for Tevinter, they still follow the Chant, the literal only difference is that 'magic was made to serve man' means something different. Yes mages have a lot more influence and the templars don't have the same power because of that, but the Shadow Dragon organization's (that our PC can literally be a part of) tag line is "Bring The Light". What light do you think they're talking about? The same light they're talking about in the fucking Chant. Because one of the leaders of said organization is a major figure in the church. A fact that's never brought up in a substantial way. It's a huge part of all of this, and it isn't really brought up in any meaningful way even though we literally prove this oppressive overarching religion wrong. It honestly even irks me slightly in relation to the Antaam because the whole reason the Antaam exist is because of the Qun. I know there are codex entries talking about how the Antaam fractured and their way of life influencing this but idk. And honestly I'm more complaining about fandom dismissing this as 'not a real critique' than I am of the game for not including it. But anyway back to my point, Antiva follows the Orlesian Chantry, Nevarra follows the Orlesian Chantry, obviously Ferelden and Orlais do. It's actually not that much of a stretch to be asking questions about why this previously very pervasive religion is somehow not mentioned At All in the game despite the fact that it's a follow up from Religion: The Game. And so many of the revelations have major impacts on it. I understand it's not necessary for the story but I think it takes away from character depth and also worldbuilding. And again, if you don't feel that way about it, fine, whatever, play the game how you want and interact with the world how you want, but claiming people are stupid for bringing it up because 'we're in a different part of the world' is not a valid dismissal and is quite rude actually too.

[ganondoodle]

Sonia redesign + Zelda (ancient)

she is the one to seal ganondorf in an intentionally cruel way to take revenge for him killing rauru

she also had a daughter from a previous marriage that she named Zelda after an ancient legend from long forgotten times; while she technically had both time and light powers, she could only take ahold of one (struggeling to grasp a certain power you are pressured to awaken reference ;) ) which is time, it was not the one she was supposed to manifest as her status was always associated with light, in her younger years she was often looked down upon but despite that later proved to be a capable leader

shortly after her first marriage was ended rauru and the rest of the remaining sonau (engl zonai) came from the underground to warn the folks living on the surface from a great evil that was told about in ancient texts they had found while mining desperately for the stones they had grown reliant on for survival

this warning later evolves into the plan to seal ganondorf away before he could even become a threat, through all those discussion and planning sonia and rauru grew closer and eventually married; the plan was to be executed in secret to give ganondorf no time to even consider to reveal what demon they believed he really was, but the secret got out and ganondorf enacted a counterattack in the form of stealing one of the enigma stones in order to put pressure on the hyrulian kingdom, but he gets betrayed by the gerudo that will be their sage in the last confrontation, however in the time that the gerudo sage takes to warn sonia and mobilize to save rauru ganondorf has already confronted him and though he did not plan to kill him he does so, more on accident really, as rauru did not listen to a single word he said but instead acted erratic like a helpless man trapped in a cage with a hungry bear, essentially starting a fight of life and death

when sonia arrives at the scene it is already to late; thanks to the enigma stone ganondorf can escape her grief-striken rage but sonia is out for revenge and sees him killing rauru as proof of the warnings of old, she wages war and at the end seals ganondorf in a cruel cage between life and death, even at the cost of her own life

her daughter, having witnessed it all, grows up bitter and determined to make hyrule a kingdom that will never fall again

(totk rewritten project)

[necrotic-nephilim]

bro come back we need your commentary more than ever. Jayhelena canon event

AHAHAHA I'VE BEEN LOSING MY MIND FOR DAYS ANON HOW'D YOU KNOW. perfect moment to show off the shitty meme i made based off a random message i sent in a discord server a couple of weeks ago.

jokes aside: i do have a LOT of thoughts on all of this, and even more thoughts on the reaction to it so ty for giving me the chance to rant.

as far as the comic itself goes: i am? cautiously optimistic, personally? hopes are high but expectations are grounded. Gretchen Felker-Martin is a *fantastic* trans horror writer (i highly rec her novel, Manhunt) but she's pretty new to the comics scene. she's written a single issue with Jason, a Beast World story that's pretty polarizing. most fans i know dislike it, my personal opinions on it are... it's a bit lackluster? i think some parts of it miss the mark on Jason's psyche, but the overall theme it's trying to convey about cycles of violence enacted on victims like Jason and police brutality are interesting. while it's not a great start for GFM with Jason, the Beast World event was so shit overall, and the whole concept of all these characters being "not themselves" mentally, i'm willing to overlook it. (idk if there are any good BW stories but all the ones i've read are shite... Helena's BW story has her literally being beaten by Cass using a laser pointer on her so... i will take *anything* over that personally lmao at least GFM seems genuinely interested in exploring Jason's inner workings, yk) it could go really well, or really poorly. i don't think we have enough info on GFM's writing to know how she'll handle an ongoing with these two, but my fingers are desperately crossed.

the main concerns i have about the comic are firstly the plot itself: which is described as Jason tracking down a cop-killer, and how that could so easily become copaganda. however, the Beast World issue GFM wrote was incredibly anti-cop. (and she even said on her bluesky that ppl shouldn't be worried about this run being pro-cop) so, i do think there's hope there. my other worry is the history of these characters GFM can't control- this story is happening right after H2SH which is frankly, a fucking disaster for Jason. and Helena's biggest Rebirth feature was Batgirl & the Birds of Prey, which was an even bigger disaster for her mythos. neither of these characters are standing on great foundations, and i haven't cared for either of their current characterizations for the past decade or so. it's an uphill battle for even a fantastic writer to try to meld good characterization with the current state of these two, and i could see it screwing GFM over, which rlly sucks she's not getting as fair of a shot as she could be.

all that said, the aesthetics look fantastic (tho, i'm not personally the biggest fan of either suit redesign) and i do love getting Helena and Jason out of Gotham, bc it means we won't have the everlooming Bat presence hanging over their actions. and as for the romance? i'm CACKLING. i've *always* suspected that if we ever were lucky enough for a Jason/Helena team-up, they were bound to end up fucking, and i'm DELIGHTED to be vindicated. this ship is one i do adore in concept (mostly as a hatefuck sort of thing) but could see go horribly. i trust GFM to write women, so i don't think Helena's going to get sidelined as a one-dimensional love interest, which is the biggest fear i've seen expressed. it's not *entirely* unlikely she'll be OOC (i don't think we know enough to comment either way atp, given GFM has never written her) but i do think she's going to be dynamic in this run. and honestly? with the shit content Jason has been getting recently (Robin Lives, the current fuckass Jaybin comic) and Helena having her backstory mutiliated and getting sidelined to hell as current comics don't seem to know what to do with her, i want this to go well *so* badly. i'm rlly hoping it will! and i do think the romance can absolutely work in a fun and interesting way. wouldn't be my top canon pick for either character, but i love the intrigue of it and how these two could (and hopefully are going to) challenge each other and find solidarity in their respective victimhoods.

that said, i certainly don't begrudge Helena fans for being pessimistic about this comic, or disliking the concept in principle. i'd far prefer Helena be getting a solo than be a supporting cast/love interest for a man's run. that said, i think calling this run a "power fantasy" and "wank content" (takes i have seen) is absolutely asinine. we don't have it in our hands yet, we literally can't say until it's out. (and tbfh- these takes are transphobic against GFM, even if unintentionally.) but at this point, i think anything is something for Helena, and i am not going to insult the concept until i've seen the story. if Helena fans don't want to read this bc they don't like Jason or just don't want to see her sidelined, i get that entirely.

beyond that, the take i am *not* a fan of is that this is bad bc Helena has been Dick's love interest. anyone who says *that* loses all validity to their argument for me. Helena has been a dynamic character long before she met Dick and to *only* view her as an extension of Dick and thus define every future relationship she has through Dick is the most ass backwards misogyny i've seen. also. it's comics, man. everyone's going to team up with everyone and fuck everyone. it's just the nature of these characters getting used over and over and over. it's so wildly degrading to Helena to pretend you're protecting her dignity and honor by not wanting her around Jason, or by treating her as just "Dick's love interest". (when she and Dick never properly even *dated* and have never been right for each other. that was sort of the whole point. but i digress.) i also think some takes from Helena stans about Jason are made in incredibly bad faith, just because some Helena stans find some sort of superiority complex in liking her and hating him. it has always read incredibly performative to me.

in summary: i have been deserpate for *years* for these two to interact, and i'm genuinely looking forward to reading this comic. i have reasons to be a little doubtful of some issues that *might* come up, but GFM is a great novelist and i hope that translates to her ability to write a great ongoing. did i ever *actually* want this ship to go canon? no, but under a queer woman whose pretty solid at exploring intersectionality and leftist politics in her works, i'm willing to hear it out.

and just so we're clear: the *second* this comic is out i'm putting the Robles variant cover where Jason and Helena are almost kissing straight on my wall. even if the comic is shit. i'm forever immortalizing it as a giant win for me personally, one of the few ppl capable of liking Jason Todd and Helena Bertinelli at the same time and being cool with the idea of them kissing, lol.

[hestzhyen]

Already Waist-Deep

Hi internet void. Please allow me to kagura my bachi all over the place for a little bit. I've got a bad case of the brain worms about these boys that I haven't even had together for 20 chapters yet, so let me ramble a little bit about why they're already so compelling as not only a duo, but a ship.

First off, a caveat. Kagurabachi is a Weekly Shounen Jump (WSJ) action series. That means that if romance is ever addressed in the series itself, the protagonist is going to end up with a girl. Doesn't matter how underdeveloped or lackluster his relationship to her is, or how flat she is as a character. Invest lightly and come along for the ride without any expectations of m/m ships becoming canon. (That said, it might not be the worst thing in the world for our MC to end up with a girl in this case- more on that later.)

Second, I don't really ship that often. Not seriously at least. I need more than two guys being close with each other to start wanting them to be a pair, y'know? So I hope you understand the intensity of the material Hokazono-sensei has been giving us the past few chapters. I am on the brink of going all-in on HakuHiro/ChihiHaku in less than 20 chapters, it's that insane.

Third, I will be talking about current developments without marking potential spoilers. There are only 38 chapters out as of writing this, but there are at least two reveals that would be better appreciated going in blind. Spoilers for the oneshot Farewell! Cherry Boy are also a thing near the end.

Okay? Okay. Let's begin.

Who's Involved? First up is our protagonist Chihiro Rokuhira, an 18 year old boy and the son of a famous swordsmith. He was raised with genuine love and care by his father (no idea what happened to his mom yet), taking care of their day-to-day life while learning his father's trade. And from the very first chapter he is steeped in tragedy as he witnesses his father's murder and life's work being stolen. He then sets out on the long, fraught road of vengeance.

Sounds grim and not exactly compelling, right? Especially when this scene from the first chapter was making the rounds being memed to death:

But there's much more to Chihiro than meets the eye. Flashbacks to his time growing up show him being a natural caretaker to his dad and their fish- cooking meals, keeping his dad on task, and so on. We see glimpses of underlying tenderness when he meets and rescues Char, a sweet little girl with her own tragic past. And we get some insight that he might not be quite as resolute as he's projecting himself to be when he faces off against Sojo, a fan of his father who worships a much different version of the man than Chihiro knew. And now the Rakuzaichi arc has definitively shown us that Chihiro isn't as collected as he seems. One of his father's killers easily cracks the mask and shows us Chihiro is really just a desperate kid with a heaping helping of trauma, then Tenri's pointless sacrifice shakes him to his core. But despite it all he's still doing determinator things in the most badass way possible. Chihiro has layers, man. A lot of them. And the best way to understand our protagonist right now is through his foil: Hakuri Sazanami.

Who is Hakuri? A 17 year old boy with a special lineage, but he's a loser who needs to be saved from common thugs. A pathetic guy who latches on to Chihiro and doesn't take the hint when Chihiro literally runs away to ditch him. An utter failure to his family. A lost puppy looking for a samurai.

Hakuri Sazanami is one of the best goddamn foils I've seen in shounen manga yet.

Let me tell you all the ways I love the writing around this kid and Chihiro because MAN I can't even contain all these feels.

What's Going On? From the start, Hakuri looks like he's just another person for Chihiro to bail out. He witnesses Chihiro's awesomeness fighting Sojo in the streets and decides to imitate it by standing up for a little girl being kidnapped. Instead of winning out, though, he's captured and kicked around. Once he's coincidentally rescued by Chihiro he's immediately all-in on tagging along and keeping Chihiro in his life. Look at this pitiful guy:

Chihiro decides to hear him out due to his connection to the Sazanamis, the Big Bads of the arc. He's initially put off by Hakuri's intensity but brings him along anyway, as Hakuri's insider information regarding the Sazanami family makes him useful. Then, as Chihiro wavers under Hiyuki's assault, Hakuri is truly useful for the first time:

And it only gets better from here. We see Hakuri hanging off Chihiro's every word trying to be as useful as possible for his samurai, striving to do anything he can, though it ends up with him forcing Chihiro to give up his precious sword Enten in exchange for his life. (Yes, Chihiro "buys" Hakuri from Hakuri's own family.)

Later on during the invasion of the auction is where things go into overdrive though. We see their character arcs start to invert and shape each other's as the action unfolds and Hakuri's own tragic past comes to light, eventually awakening him to his special abilities. Chihiro's bravery and strength help him pull this off and finally defeat the older brother that tortured him in the name of "love". Hakuri ascends to being the strongest Sazanami since the progenitor that started their line centuries ago. He's the Special Boy!

All this to say that Hakuri Sazanami isn't just a deuteragonist or a foil…

He's the goddamn heroine.

Kagurabachi's Built Different What makes a shounen series heroine? Firstly, they support the main character without getting involved in most of the heavy fighting. A shounen heroine will usually at most have a fight against another girl while the Big Event is happening nearby, making sure the main character has the spotlight. Second, most of the value they bring to the protagonist's story is emotional. They encourage him, validate him, provide a bit of a refuge for him to safely let his guard down. They can get him to express softer emotions that he wouldn't normally show around others. Third… they're the love interest. Hinata, Orihime, Chichi, and now… Hakuri? Really?

We know the third one will not happen for HakuHiro in canon. But what about the first two? Well, let's recap what Hakuri has done for Chihiro so far.

Hakuri can defend himself now, but his most useful ability is access to an interdimensional storehouse. Given the way that his magic works -he needs to prioritize maintaining the storehouse or using Isou- he'll likely be the means of keeping the enchanted blades safe rather than a front-line fighter. Support-centric character that will still get some combat time against lesser opponents: check.

Hakuri's given Chihiro some much-needed direct emotional validation that he hasn't gotten from anyone else yet. ("You saved me." … "That katana suits you.") Hakuri's words fortify his resolve and Chihiro later pays it back by trading Enten, an incalculably precious sword and memento of his father, for Hakuri's life. He even uses the same phrase when asked why he'd do that for someone as worthless as Hakuri ("That guy… saved me."). He later reaffirms that Hakuri's encouragement gave him the courage to let go of Enten in the first place:

This is AFTER we see Chihiro open up to him for the first time just minutes after they met:

Chihiro's been a stoic good guy with buried trauma up until this point. But somehow Hakuri is the first person he outright admits his fears to- not Shiba, not Hinao, but the freaky kid he just rescued. Emotional support pillar: check.

"Well that's not enough!" you say. "That's just taking some moments and doing that thing you said you didn't do- smushing boys together just because they're close!" OK but look at how Hakuri thinks about Chihiro:

Chihiro has been his inspiration from the first time he saw him. It can be read as admiration and hero worship, but doesn't that feel like selling Hakuri's feelings short when remembering how devoted he's been since they first met?

And just look at Hakuri's face here, he's beaming when Chihiro busts in to save him just like he believed he would:

Mostly, though, Chihiro is the one who gives Hakuri strength in the moment. The Ice Woman broke him free of his family's mentality, and now Chihiro gives Hakuri what he needs most: hope. Something he never had before, which doomed his relationship to the Ice Woman; he couldn't prove to her that there was more to life than despair because that was all he knew… but that completely changed once he met his samurai.

And that's been their thing through this arc. Each one is giving the other the vital thing they needed to grow and keep going. When Hakuri was struggling at the start, Chihiro was his guiding light towards a better future. And when Chihiro struggled in the aftermath of Tenri's cruel death, Hakuri pulled him along so they could finish the job. They're in perfect sync now as they take down the Rakuzaichi. Don't just take my word for it, check out Hokazono-sensei's color page for the most recent chapter (38): https://twitter.com/KaguraShiba/status/1804898273859445181 From Hella (KaguraShiba): >Kagurabachi Ch 38 JP Color Page 「阿吽の呼吸で薙ぎ払え」 "Two people dancing to the same beat, mowing down enemies" >阿吽の呼吸/"Aun no Kokyuu" Synchronized breathing >Or when people are the most in tune with each other >阿吽の呼吸/"Aun no Kokyuu" Is a Buddhist expression in Japanese meaning something close to "harmonizing in sync together" >"Aun" is also used to indicate an "Aun relationship", indicating an inherently harmonious relationship or nonverbal communication Yeesh. But holy shit it's paying off. In chapter 38 these boys are already in harmony- Hakuri registers Chihiro into his storehouse (yes they both "own" each other now) and sends him in to fight his father. During the fight, Chihiro trusts Hakuri to interpret his intent and it works. Chihiro wordlessly tags a bunch of grenades with his spirit energy and Hakuri pulls them out into the real world to bomb the shit out of the Rakuzaichi audience. They didn't plan this beforehand- they had no idea Kyoura had fucking grenades laying around in there. But they're close enough to understand each other's thoughts already. Peak soulmate material right there!

What's got me most interested now, though, is how they will pull/push each other after this arc. Chihiro's going to be focused more than ever on tracking down his father's killer and the swords. But Hakuri, well… I think it would be very interesting if he starts to become a despair monster. A reflection of Chihiro's state at the very start of the manga where nothing mattered to him except exacting revenge. We're seeing shades of this in the most recent chapter (38) where he's slumped over and obviously depressed about how all this is turning out. He's going to end his family's cruel trade but at what cost to himself? Will Chihiro see some of himself in Hakuri and be able to help him out, or at least promise to find relief from the pain together? Obviously a Bad End where Hakuri takes himself out is in the cards given Hokazono-sensei's previous works but… on a meta level, I think his storehouse ability will keep him relevant. I mean yeah he could be used to slap Chihiro across the face by showing what a bad end for his revenge story could look like but I think (hope) that won't happen. [Note to future self: I give you permission to go batshit insane if Chihiro stops Hakuri from committing sudoku.]

And this is where my brain worms are coming from. In just under 20 chapters we have an extremely strong set up between them- so much room for them to teach each other; push to grow and pull back from the brink when tragedy strikes again.

But where's the real meat, you ask? The actual literary analysis in this gushing rant about how much I love these boys I barely know? Well, fine. Buckle up because it's time for some…

Daddy Issues The Rakuzaichi arc really digs into comparing Chihiro's affection for his dad to the Sazanami family structure. And I gotta talk about this because it's the key aspect that makes Hakuri such a brilliant foil.

First off, the similarities. Chihiro and the Sazanami kids are all intensely devoted to their fathers. All of them were raised with love while learning the intricacies of their family trade. We see the Sazanami kids getting praised for doing well, just like Chihiro. Hakuri and Tenri were even told they were special. During the arc, the Sazanami kids put their lives on the line to defend their dad and family legacy with zeal matched by Chihiro's intensity to avenge his dad. When he falls, Tenri's final words are apologizing to his father.

It's truly heartbreaking that Kyora never really loved them back.

You see, the Sazanamis are one of those families that put their lineage and craft over everything else. Every member of the family lives for ensuring the Rakuzaichi auction goes off without a hitch. One of the clan is chosen to inherit the storehouse, and the rest are trained to defend it to the death. Kyoura, the current patriarch, has no compunctions about letting his son Tenri die just to delay Chihiro and the gang for a few more minutes. He had his kids put their lives on the line to defend a storehouse door that he had already broken in secret- making it completely useless. And he's equally cold when it comes to children who can't perform to standards like Hakuri. Once Hakuri (apparently) fails to manifest an ability for sorcery, Kyoura turns a willfully blind eye to the abuse his kid starts to suffer. He knowingly lets Hakuri be tortured by his older brother for years and does nothing, then disowns him once some "merchandise" kills herself in front of him. There's no love for children who can't be useful to the family's traditions. And yet any love that does exist between father and child is manipulated as seen here:

What the fuck man.

So Hakuri is going into this arc firm in his conviction to end his family's evil ways. He's been abused physically and emotionally for at least five years straight; he knows his father doesn't love him. But even now when he's about to bring the whole place down with Chihiro, he's still yearning for his dad's praise. Hakuri's family is fucked up bad and he needs a hell of a lot of healing after all is said and done.

Meanwhile, every flashback with Chihiro shows us that he was truly loved and cared for like every kid deserves. His dad wasn't perfect but he was exactly what a parent should be- kind, understanding, and supportive. His goofy advice helps Chihiro to this day. Chihiro and his dad had a genuine father-son bond that was broken by tragedy and thus Chihiro's desire to do right by his father's memory is driven by grief, first and foremost. So when we see his expression after Tenri's death, we know why he's so badly shaken. They clashed out of love and duty for their fathers, supposedly prepared to pay the ultimate price. The Sazanami version of "love" is a very different, much less wholesome version than the kind Chihiro knows… yet no less effective in terms of motivation.

You can practically hear his heart breaking for Tenri. And his inner thoughts in the next chapter say it all: he was naive to think he could enact revenge while holding fast to the kindness he grew up with. Chihiro's kindness that he learned from his father is a liability to him in this situation. In contrast, Hakuri knew from the start that he had to finally give up the last of his familial affection. He hardened his heart and steeled his resolve to do whatever it took.

Both Chihiro and Hakuri knew what it was like to be loved. Hakuri's version might have been twisted, but it was still painful to have that bond suddenly broken. And now we've seen Edgy Revenge Man's inner softness hold him back while Silly Soft Guy has a heart colder than the arctic. I go absolutely feral comparing and contrasting their situation and how their positions have reversed. Yeah, Chihiro's going to be the action guy who saves the day but Hakuri's the reason he can do it. Hakuri's surprisingly strong core has pushed Chihiro to put his feelings aside to get things done. I can't fucking wait to see how this arc ends and where these boys end up. What will the the most important thing Chihiro takes away from Hakuri here? I hope it leads him to be a bit more openly compassionate and soft around his allies- Hakuri's situation being a lesson in not letting your family's bonds overtake everything else. For Hakuri, well… I think being around Chihiro, Char, and the rest will help him heal. But I hope it's Chihiro that keeps him stable as the person that can relate to him best.

Meta Ramblings Whew. Now then… Yo dumbass writing this, we're not even 40 chapters in yet. Don't you think it's a bit too soon to start getting hyped for a character that could be shelved as soon as the arc is done?

It's interesting to see the themes and characters Hokazono-sensei's reused in Kagurabachi. From the four one-shots available to read, it seems like he's is interested in writing about characters encountering tragedy through various kinds of love. I think it's intriguing that three out of the four end in despair, and the one that doesn't still involves a fair bit of sadness. It's a bit early to say about Hakuri's circumstances since this is only the second proper arc in the series, but given Hokazono-sensei's past works, I think Hakuri is here to stay. For one, Hokazono-sensei seems to love his color-coded foils (Chain, Enten, Roku no Meiyaku). Farewell! Cherry Boy also explores the circumstances of a blindly loyal boy who feels useless being given his first chance to prove himself… I think this is a theme that Hokazono-sensei is revisiting in a more in-depth fashion with Hakuri, so there's a good chance there's more planned.

And just for fun, if we want to look at his romance stories… Madogiwa de Amu is all about one person being the other's greatest hope, their reason to persevere in the face of hardship and seeing that reciprocated in turn. Complete with the weaker person becoming strong enough to protect the person who inspired them first. Hmm. (Hopefully it doesn't end the same way though 'cause man, I can see Hakuri doing something similar right now…) It's also not impossible for Kagurabachi to touch on love given we see Farewell! Cherry Boy incorporating love as the crux of the narrative, despite starting as a gangster story. The true MC is quite like Chihiro as well in terms of motivation and action plan.

I also think it's impossible to overstate how important it is for Chihiro to have a friendly peer to compare to, narratively speaking. Char is a woobie, Shiba's an uncle figure, and Hiyuki is set up to be the aggro rival/frenemy. Hinao could become more than a side character but it seems unlikely at this time. Chihiro needs someone his own age to just be himself with. And that, I am 99% sure, will be Hakuri. A guy who's suffered just as much as he has. Someone who knows what it's like to have a famous last name and lineage to protect. An equal who's unquestionably on his side, who will lift him up when he's down, yet will still need some protection and care. So yes I think Hakuri will be sticking around to be Chihiro's foil. He might take a back seat at times as heroines do, but he'll still be there to support our sad boi through thick and thin.

Anyway that's why I'm ready to jump feet-first into this ship. It's got all the hallmarks of a wonderfully strong bond and I hope we get to see these boys comforting each other for years to come. If you read all this… thank you? Maybe get yourself checked for brain worms? And tell everyone you know to read this amazing action-packed tragedy laced with BL crack cocaine.

[serenadeofsunshine]

bunnypostings tonight ? yes……………

[shannonsketches]

Thinking about how Toriyama wrote an Entire Plot centering around how Vegeta has spent the last seven years learning how to be happy and comfortable with his family on Earth and how he loves his wife so much that being Gently Reminded that he loves his wife was enough to pull him out of a violent midlife crisis and made him such a powerful guardian of Earth that Heaven broke its own rules just to put him back in that position

and Toei was like 'okay but in the sequel to that plot their marriage is terrible and he's never home'

[essenceofarda]

The Dark Heiress

aka -> Villainess Celebrian ROP Au!

Galadriel was with child when her husband went to war, or she would have joined him. Not long after giving birth, she resumes her duties as a general, but it was too late--news had reached her that her husband had been slain. Her daughter Celebrian's first few years were relatively solitary, her father dead and her mother busy with her duties. One day, little Celebrian decides to run away from home (a habit she had picked up to try to get attention from her busy mother). She is captured by orcs, and brought before Sauron, who sees potential in the little elleth. He decided to raise her as his own, and mold her into the prefect dark general who could even easily infiltrate the elven forces. However, not long afterward he takes her as his adopted daughter, before she was fully grown, and with the help of Adar an the orcs, she overthrows Sauron and kills him, taking over Sauron's forces. Several years later, Celebrian hears that Sauron may have returned. And not only that... but was in the company of her own mother, whom Celebrian considers herself estranged from...

just a silly little Rings of Power au where Celebrian is the adopted daughter of Sauron, Galadriel thinks Celebrian was killed after running away (Sauron fakes her death so her former nannies reported to Galadriel that she died). Galadriel never forgave herself, since she was a bit of an absent mother in Celebrian's early days, focusing more on the war efforts and her role as a general, and has trouble speaking about Celebrian without guilt and grief.

The fic would center around the conflict and tension between Galadriel and Celebrian, and ALSO the sweet sweet Enemies to Lovers on Steroids with Celrond

😏😉

[psychopomp-namine]

thinking out loud. idk if this was ever confirmed in canon or not. but does liu xiao know about li tianxi's (now qiao ling's) ability?

I assume he knows about li tianchen's possession ability. but how much did li tianchen tell him? would he have told liu xiao everything, or would he hide li tianxi's involvement?

like, let's do a quick check. who actually knows about li tianxi's ability before S2? qian jin and li tianchen both knew about it. did liu min know? I don't think li tianxi joined any of the meetings with liu min iirc, so maybe li tianchen never told liu min (and why would he, anyway? all liu min needed was someone to do the work for him, and for all he knows, li tianchen is enough to do it). so maybe liu min doesn't know.

more importantly, does liu xiao know? would li tianchen tell him, pre or post S2? or is this something liu xiao just kinda figures out on his own?

'cause I'm thinking about if he knew li tianxi's ability... would yingdu even happen? li tianxi's ability is probably the most useful to liu xiao while he's in his "getting the necessary items" phase right? (his goal each season was to possess a key item like liu min's phone and cheng weimin's notebook). guess it depends on how easy it would be to get a good photograph though. 'cause for yingdu, for example, it's either they bait cheng xiaoshi to bridon, or they find a photograph and then get li tianxi to use her ability to search wang qing's memories so they can figure out where the notebook is. I guess that still requires them learning about who survived the fire (learning about wang qing), which is the info that cheng xiaoshi unknowingly uncovered for them.

of course the simplest answer would be that, "not using li tianxi makes for a more interesting story" which is real and valid.

but if we're just looking at the story from a watsonian perspective, I feel like a lot of liu xiao's plots would just be less messy if he had roped li tianxi into his plans (which involves a lot of information gathering). so since he never uses li tianxi, I'm assuming he doesn't know about her ability. which has interesting implications imo. because if liu xiao knew about li tianxi's ability, would he have let such a valuable chess piece die in the first place? (perhaps not "let die" but more of... "ensured her safety" -- which is also a viable method for gaining li tianchen's trust). but he must not have known, because if he did, then is li tianxi's death (and the perceived loss of her ability) a valuable enough trade in his eyes to ensure li tianchen's descent in darkness ("those lost in the darkness are my friends") and subsequent loyalty to liu xiao?

moreover, if liu xiao never knew, what does that say about li tianchen? like I think li tianchen would have told liu xiao about his possession ability. but although he clearly idolizes liu xiao, perhaps he still prioritized li tianxi's safety over him. because it would still be safer for li tianxi if nobody knew what she could do. but at the same time, do you think li tianchen would have trusted liu xiao that he'd tell him?

like I guess I'm just wondering what liu xiao ever thought of or knew about li tianxi, since he seems to have always targeted li tianchen, but li tianchen is way more "useful" when he can link his ability with his sister, you know?

[sm0lcatfish]

can we talk about the ending to shubble’s afterlife series?? please??

like yes, mechanically, she lost her tenth life. she jumped and died from fall damage. but that’s not how she ended the story.

shulk shubble (shulkble?) had just witnessed the death of the only other person properly remaining, the inverse of herself, shadow joey/shadow boy/shadow 2.0. the last thing she wanted to do was watch the sunset and have a picnic, the one thing she endlessly craved on her first life back when she was the shadow.

“everybody’s kind of.. long gone and dead. onto the next… life. after-afterlife?”

“…i don’t really know what comes next.”

and then she simply vanishes. she simply says this is goodbye, and then the camera is obscured by a stray leaf and she’s gone. it’s quiet, there’s just the sound of the wind as it goes dark.

she always loved watching the sun.