#the brain on op (pos)

[lifeline-zone]

sun god and first worshipper

[ask-shane]

wow… you’re so smart… we should get married

married?! are you drunk?

it's a monday night. i think it's time to put the drinks away.

[treeangle-roots]

Omg your artstyle is so cute I love it!

thank you so much!!!!!! :]]

[these-posts-arent-real]

(masterpost link)

Aaand we have returned to the madness on a larger scale! What are these cats up to...

#sighh #i know i've been away from dash sim posting for a while #was dealing with my last few days of school #but #that is Over Now #i can return to fulfilling everyone's need for Warrior Cats But Tumblr

57 notes

🐦 s3afow1s--sc0wl Follow

PLEASE stop talking about the most recent TTDV slates without spoilers, it hasn't made its rounds to ShadowClan yet and I don't want to know what's going to happen before I read it!!!!

#ttdv discussion #ttdv:rp #through the desert vast #ttdv: rattlesnake path #ttdv #through the desert vast: rattlesnake path #especially since i heard the newest slates have seafowl in them a lot #he's my specialest guy...

9 notes

🔁 🛤 carnation-stem-02 reblogged

🍲 ex-thundrclan-kipper Follow

I think the worst thing about no longer being a Clan cat is that a lot of the time I have no idea what y'all over there are talking about. What is TTDV?

🦁 lionsight-x3 Follow

TTDV stands for Through the Desert Vast. It's a new slate series everyone's going bee-brained over... I haven't read it yet because I prefer for a series to be finished before reading, but I've heard good things. Queer rep within the first couple chapters of the first slate-set, a non-traditional setting and cast (a rogue group living in the desert), and complex characters... needless to say I'm excited for when it finishes and I can read it!

#it's been on my to-read list for a while #maybe this is a sign #it seems pretty cool #ttdv

2,070 notes

🔁 🐦 s3afow1s--sc0wl reblogged

⛰️ fc-rockpaint Follow

In honor of Through the Desert Vast becoming popular, I've decided to make a rock-dye project on all of the main characters. Today's character is... Seafowl!

Unfortunately I don't have the right paints to portray him accurately (I haven't been able to find any white herbs for his patches, but I'm still on the lookout!) but this is mostly accurate to how he is described in the slates.

🌠 nightshade-tast3s-yummy Follow

Pssst... @s3afow1s--sc0wl

#eeeek! seafowl! #i looove him so much... my precious boy... #art #ttdv #ttdv seafowl #thanks for the tag!

162 notes

🔁 🌻 l1llyst3m reblogged

🌻 l1llyst3m Follow

Aahhhh I've finally gotten into TTDV and... NOBODY was gonna tellme that one of the characters is heavily implied to be transfem? Nobody thought I'd find this interesting????

🌻 l1llyst3m Follow

SCRATCH THAT. IT'S CANON. PIT VIPER IS CANONICALLY TRANS.

🐚 hermitcrabfriend Follow

I had wondered if you were talking about Pit Viper when I saw this post a cople days ago! Apparently so ^w^ yeah, it's canon, gets confirmed in the second slate set.

🌻 l1llyst3m Follow

This makes me wonder. Why is everyone on this site talking about Seafowl saying he gives "egg vibes" when we have. An actual confirmed trans character. Right here.

Nothing against Seafowl but the only vibe he gives off to me is traumatized.

🏞 trouttail-prefers-bass Follow

He's your typical prettyboy cishet protagonist type and everyone is pissed off that he's a side character rather than ttdv's ✨️specialest boy✨️. So they're trying to make him special by claiming he gives off trans vibes when he clearly does not and is happy as a tom.

🌻 l1llyst3m Follow

#wait till op reads rattlesnake path

What do you mean by that-

#what do you MEAN by that— #im gonna need context #is this /pos or /neg #does something bad happen in rattlesnake path?? #help someone pls #through the desert vast #ttdv

103 notes

🔁 🥬 rxttencatmint reblogged

🥬 rxttencatmint

Im so fucking irritated... my mom wont let me read TTDV because it's "inApPrOpRiAtE." Which. Of course. Is because it has lgbtqia+ characters.

🥬 rxttencatmint

WONDEDFUL NEWS. MY MENTOR LET ME BORROW HIS COPY OF THE FIRST SET. AHHHHH!!!!! I GET TO READ IT!!

#YIPPEEEEE #òwó im so exCITED!!! #ive been wanting to read ttdv for a whileee #i love my mentor sm

5 notes

🪵 i-eat-moss Follow

My unpopular opinion (TTDV:RP SPOILERS INCOMING)

Keep reading

#ttdv:rp #ttdv #rattlesnake path spoilers #ttdv spoilers #ttdv:rp spoilers #nothing against pit viper!!! #i like her as a character #i just dont get why we got a whole book explaining her backstory

203 notes

🐚 hermitcrabfriend Follow

I LOOOOVE RATTLESNAKE PATH SO MUCH. IVE JUST GOTTEN TO READ IT AND IM SO EXCITED. OMG.

Not only is it a whole set dedicated to my favorite character !!! like a dream come true!!! It ALSO contains good intersex rep (Ball Python my beloved!!!). Over all just a FANTASTIC set in a fantastic series.

12 notes

🌱 dirtdigger-23 Follow

I'm... back?? I'M BACK ON CLANBLR!!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO

#i thought i'd never get back #stuck on Tumblr...

0 notes

🍽 the-post-maker

I hope y'all enjoyed this insight into what the cats do when they get fandom-y... and if you want to discuss TtDV further... well, there's a server for that ;) now back to your regular dash

[cyberdragoninfinity]

wild dana spotted howling and barking about yugioh arc-v out in the parking lot

oh BOY oh boy it's bout that time again. i can't believe it's been OVER A YEAR (?!?!?) since i last did one of these 'i just finished a yugioh here's my little rambly retrospective about it' posts but we are BACK!!! Finished my first ever watch-through of Arc-V last Tuesday after some 8 months of it putting me through the spin cycle and now as it's wedging itself permanently into my psyche i need to talk about its Everything or i will explode. so LET'S SWING INTO ACTION!!! I'M TAKING CONTROL OF THIS DUEL STARTING NOW!!!

[SPOILERS ahead for this decade old anime, of course]

WOW. YUGIOH ARC-V, HUH. before i started it watching it, I knew two things: A.) every single bit of knowledge I'd learned about it from Duel Links events or otherwise had me so, so, unbeliebable fucking hyped. I was absolutely certain this Yugioh was going to be so full of Danabait and completely fry my brain like an egg on the griddle. I had to physically restrain myself for TWO YEARS to keep from jumping the gun and watching Arc-V before I'd finished all the series before it (a decision I'm ultimately thankful for--Arc-V hits kind of fuckign crazy as a chaser to four other yugiohs.). And also, B.) when people Talk About Arc-V they always talk about it in a Very Particular Way. like. it's hard to describe. I feel like you know it when you see it. There is the full range of human emotion in the way people talk about Arc-V. People talk about Arc-V like its a confusing, malicious specter haunting their living room. And this admittedly got me even more hyped to watch it.

And then I watched it and here I am and I KNOW NOW. I KNOW NOW WHY PEOPLE. TALK ABOUT IT LIKE THAT. FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART: WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT. SLASH POS. SLASH NEG. SLASH SECRET THIRD THING.

Arc-V is a fucking MESS. It starts out SO strong and then it starts setting plot threads on fire and writing conceptual checks it absolutely cannot cash. It falls down the narrative stairs like it has a goddamn death wish. It introduces 342052805 characters and then forgets to do anything with 99% of them. It does things to its girl characters that makes the back half of 5Ds's girl writing failure look like the height of feminist theory. If the stories I've heard about its deeply troubled production are any indication it is some kind of MIRACLE this show got made and aired at ALL. IT'S LIKE WATCHING A CAR WEAVING THROUGH TRAFFIC AT 90 MPH ONLY TO PLOW DIRECTLY INTO THE SIDE OF A PARTY CITY.

and goddamn if I didn't have a FUCKING BLAST watching it. GODDAMN IF I DIDNT HAVE SO, SO MUCH FUN. goddamn if Arc-V might very well end up being my FAVORITE yugioh out of ALL of them when all is said and done. WHOOOOOPSSS!!! 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴

like. imo Zexal is absolutely from a quality/art direction/narrative/everything standpoint leaps and bounds better than Arc-V. Definitely one of my favorite cartoons I've ever seen period, and most people should give it a shot. Such a beautiful work of art. But Arc-V....... girl they put something In this one. My pre-show hype was absolutely warranted. This show is just one blast of Shit That Makes Dana Crazy after another. Every character absolutely delights me and is my best friend. I'm going to be losing my mind over Yugioh Arc-V for the rest of the year and maybe forever.

As usual I primarily watched the dub, with some sub episodes sprinkled in if I got tipped off about a big change, or just if I wanted to see what was going on back there. (glad I did, of course, for a number of reason--least of all that Arc-V's OPs and EDs are SO fun and so charming!!) (THOUGH SIDE NOTE: THE DUB OPENING SHREDS SO HARD IM SORRY. IT'S UP THERE WITH THE GX DUB OPENING FOR ME. CAN YOU FEEL THE FUCKING POWER!!!!!) Anyway, gotta say, really was blown away by this dub!! It's tied with Zexal for what's imo the 'best' yugioh dub--the majority of the voice performances were just fantastic (truly all the love in my heart for Michael Liscio Jr.'s performances as the yuboys, they all have such unique and charming voices and im OBSESSED WITH THEM.) and having watched some sub eps side by side with the dub it's really cool seeing a dub that genuinely tried to faithfully translate Most of the Original. idk it's just a really solid localization to me!! I loved it a lot!! ALSO IT'S EXTREMELY FUNNY. I SAY THIS ABOUT EVERY DUB BUT IT'S TRUE. there are line reads in the arc-v dub that have me SOBLAUGHING.

anyway. I like to do these little subsection breakdowns in these little retrospective roundups, so let's get into the weeds with it:

Stuff I Didn't Like: loooooooooong inhale through my nose. looks at you with mildly pained eyes. alright. let's get this one over with.

though I did really try to go in as blind as I could/avoid most spoilers with this one, I did inevitably get spoiled by some things from Duel Links, but in the case of. uh. Riley Getting Turned Back Into a Baby At the End. 👶🏼 I AM glad I had that spoiled for me, so I knew it was coming. Because if I didn't know that was going to happen and that clocked me over the head I would have been on the NEWS. I WOULD HAVE BEEN, SO MAD. HEY, YUGIOH: WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 👶🏼👶🏼👶🏼👶🏼👶🏼 WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO RILEY!!!!

"character gets permanently turned back into a baby for Critical Plot Reasons" has gotta be one of my LEAST favorite tropes in anything, it's NEVER GOOD. AND IT'S ESPECIALLY BAD HERE!!! Riley is such a good character, he's got such an interesting arc going on, and THEY JUST RIP THAT TO PIECES. SO RILEY'S JUST FUCKING GONE NOW I GUESS. COOL. ALRIGHT. SURELY THERE COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER WAYS TO DEFEAT ZARC. SURELY. just. good GOD. it was a small miracle to me when this happened like 8 episodes before the end, it was like ripping the bandaid off early, it was like "oh thank christ i got past that. ok well whatever happens it cannot possibly be as bad as the shit they did to riley"

^ (and imo it wasnt. thank GOD. actually let's talk about that)

LIKE. MAKE NO MISTAKE ARC-V'S ENDING IS CONFUSING AND CLUMSY AND SO STUPID AND NOT GOOD. WHY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH DOES THIS SERIES NEED EIGHT EPISODES AFTER ITS BIG BAD DUEL.WE COULD HAVE WRAPPED THIS UP IN 2-3!!!! it feels like watching Chopped and the contestant has 20 seconds on the clock left and theyre like "i gotta make my whipped cream" like WEEEE DONT NOT HAVE TIMEEE FOR THAT!!!!! WHAT ARE WE DOINGGGG. why are we dueling jack AGAIN. FOR TWO EPISODES. EVERYONE IS YELLING AT YUYA LIKE ALL OF THIS IS HIS RESPONSIBILITY AND FUCKING IS IT??!?!??! HE'S 14. AND THEN THOSE EPISODES HAVE THE GALL TO THROW SO MANY COOL IDEAS ON THE TABLE (Gong fully exploring dueltaining, the Dimensional Highway, etc) AND IT'S LIKE. COOL!! WISH WE COULDVE HAD THIS ANY OTHER TIME THAN THE LAST POSSIBLE SECOND!!! WHAT ARE WE DOINGGGG

BUT all that being said, the way people talk about that fucking last episode I was expecting some genuinely godawful 'zuzu is yuyas mom again like in the manga' tier absolute nightmare scenario. i literally made a secret prediction chart of what insane plot twist i assumed the last episode was going to drop on me.

AND THEN THE LAST EPISODE WAS JUST. FUNNYBAD. just a run of the mill whimper at the end of eight episodes we KIND OF REALLY DID NOT NEED. THE SHEER AMOUNT OF RELIEF I FELT. like absolutely i think going into it completely blind/encountering that ending watching live I would have been pissed, folks are rightfully frustrated with it, but I WAS TRULY. EXPECTING MUCH WORSE. IT ENDS LIKE A FAKE TUMBLR POST. "AND THEN EVERYONE CLAPPED" ASS ENDING. I DO HAVE TO LAUGH

^ YIPPEEEE SIX CHARACTERS HAVE EFFECTIVELY STOPPED EXISTING YAAAAAYY (😬😬😬😬)

ALSO, IN GENERAL. SPEAKING OF. GOD. THE BRACELET GIRLS. YALL ARE SO COOL AND THEN POOR LULU AND RIN DIDNT GET TO DO A GODDAMN THING EXCEPT HAVE WORMS IN THEIR BRAINS!!!! HELL ON EARTH!!!!!! WHY DID THEY DO THATTTT GAHHHHH again!! show that introduces SO many characters, so many FUCKING COOL CHARACTERS, and then does NOTHING with them. Or hits them with PARALYZING NERVE GAS FOR 20 EPISODES. CHRIST!!! WHY DO ARC-V GIRLS SUFFER MORE THAN JESUS. LEAVE MY GIRL ZUZU ALONEEEEE

TO THAT END, ARC-V JUST MAKES; SO MANY CONFUSING CHARACTER DECISIONS. AND CHOICES. why is Yuto just out of the picture for like 60 episodes!!! Let him be Yuya's brain buddy!!! WHY WASNT HE. DID YOU NOT WANNA ANIMATE HIM FLOATING NEXT TO THE DUEL RUNNER??! BE REAL. It's like. GRAHHH In general Arc-V has a pacing problem that is like. Atrocious even for yugioh's bad pacing problems. This series needed to be 400 episodes long. I like the IDEA of a yugioh with a big cast, spending episodes cutting between different groups of characters like some kind of bulky YA fantasy novel, but in practice it got. Real Muddy. RIP Xyz dimension arc you shoulda had so much more to you. And then there's that combined with this way it's trying Really Really hard to ape the themes of the past yugiohs ('dont forget to have fun,' grief/moving on after loss, classism) but it's hitting every damn branch on the way down and just completely fumbling ALL of them, it's not actually doing much to Earn being able to have those kind of themes resonate properly. IT'S SUCH A BAFFLING SHOW. IN THE THEMES DEPARTMENT. AMONG OTHER THINGS. "DONT EVER BE VISIBLY PUBLICLY SAD" IS A FUCKING INSANE MORAL. AND IT TAKES THAT SHIT WITH IT TO THE BITTER END. WHY IS THE FATE OF THE WORLD HINGED ON YUYA MAKING A BABY LAUGH. WHERE AM I!!!!

god. god. ok. ok im calm now. im sure in the coming weeks i'll have more barking about arc-v's various fumbles. but i'll leave it at that for now, i wanna talk about stuff i DID like now lol

Favorite Season/Arc: ok well. this actually is a hard question. um. hrm. LIKE. I'LL GET SHOT BY SNIPERS IF I SAY IT WAS SYNCHRO ARC BUT ALSO

IM SORRYYYYYYYYYYYYY I GOT THAT DOG IN ME (A BACK HALF OF 5D'S LIKER'S SOUL.) and unfortunately I WILL go in there and think about it that hard (the absolutely fucked to hell sociopolitical situation happening in Arc-V New Domino City and how it contrasts with the NDC in 5D's) (one thing about me I love weird fucked up yugioh old people I love those bitchass old centrists apparently governing the entire dimension and doing a piss poor job of it it's just like contemporary American politics!!!!!!) ROGET WAS JUST REANIMATING DEAD PEOPLE AND PUTTING MIND CONTROL CYBERNETICS IN THEM AND WELL YEAH SURE I'LL BE NORMAL GRIP ABOUT THAT. NORMAL. i need to make an arc-v AU Aporia so fucking bad THEN YOULL ALL SEE *talking to empty room*

YES synchro was way too fucking long. but regretfully i love turbo duels and will never not be charmed when yugioh puts guys on motorcycles that have no business being on motorcycles. DAMN I JUST FUCKING WISH YUYA AND YUGO GOT TO ACTUALLY TALK AND MEET IN THE SAME ROOM THOUGH!!!! BUT ANYWAY!!!!

im. kidding at least a little, I actually thoroughly enjoyed like...all of Arc-V's seasons/arcs at least a little (barring a lot of the Weird Post Zarc Duel 8 Episode Dead Zone.) The first 50 episodes really are just peak banger Yugioh, I do love action duels to absolute bits (though Action Spells. Uh. Need Some Workshopping 8| If I See Evasion One More Time Im Gonna Lose It) and the shit especially that first season does with the crazy Action Fields is AWESOME. GENUINELY. GO DUEL IN THE VOLCANO. DO A FLIP. RIDE YOUR MONSTER. it's practically running on Pokemon universe logic i cant NOT love it. And well Fusion Dimension arc does just have a whole lot of episodes that make me go cuckoo bananas crazy. Truly something for Dana in every crevice of Yugioh Arc-V.

Favorite Characters: god I do think like a solid half of why I think Arc-V may be becoming my top fav Yugioh is that the cast is just, really Really fucking good. Like yes so many of them are underutilized but the time we Do get with them really just shows off what delightful characters they all are. Half the reason it took me so damn long to finish was I was having so much fun and was going to miss seeing them!! IT'S GENUINELY HARD TO PICK A TOP LINEUP OF FAVS. THERE'S SO MANY DANABAIT GUYS IN YUGIOH ARC-V. YES EVEN THE SYNCHRO ARC GUYS. LUCAS SWANK I MISS YOU SO FUCKING MUCH.

The Lancers alone are SO good, theyre up there with Team 5D's in terms of Favorite "Main Yugioh 'Friend Group'/Organization". Group of guys who kind of have horrible synergy and only like 3 of them are actually competent. Declan came up with it when he was 13. Funniest group of teenagers imaginable, I love them all. LIKE .YUYA MAY BE MY FAVORITE YUTAGONIST??? IM NOT SURE YET BUT. I DO LOVE HIM A LOT. HE'S A PATHETIC WET PAPER TOWEL AND I WANT TO GIVE HIM A NOOGIE. SLASH POS.

And I mean I'm always gonna be Z-one biased but I do like Zarc as a Big Bad a lot too... damn if I don't love Just Some Guy Has Become God and Is a Huge Tool About It <3 WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS!!!!

ah. but. of course. i'd be remiss if i didn't bring up. Rainbow Carrot Rock Your World.

hey guys. why'd it happen again. why'd the Yugioh Carrot and Company get in my head and completely fry my brain AGAIN!!!!!!!! ORANGE CARROT. PURPLE CARROT. YELLOW CARROT!!!!🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕 YUGO ISNT EVEN MY TOP FAV BUT HE'S IN MY HEART AND IN OUR HOUSE FOREVER NOW. meanwhile i dont want. to talk about what yuri is doing to me. if i think too hard about this little purple freak i'll start going bonkers ballistic chewing my leg off. I like all the yuboys but he is especially. Gripping Me. La Cucaracha Loca. My shithead gay son.

dennis needs his own post he's just. a Lot. may very well be one of the funniest yugioh characters ever. Among Other Things. his dub VA's performance needs to be marked as culturally significant. AND THEY JUST KEPT BRINGING HIM BACK.

IN GENERAL, AS I WAS COMPLETELY EXPECTING, FUCKED UP AND EVIL DUEL ACADEMY REALLY DID ME IN I love you Fusion Dimension kids I love getting sick in the head thinking about card game child soldiers.My Actual favorite Arc-V character may just straight up be Sora..... I just like him a lot. He's got a really solid character arc, his deck rules, he's a little fucker AND an absolute real one. Just 10/10 little guy.

GOD WHAT EVEN IS MY TOP FIVE FAVORITES. UHHHH Okay Sora and Yuri for sure, and Declan, I love Declan. Yugo..... god. GOD IS THE FIFTH ONE DENNIS FOR REAL. I FEEL HIM IN MY BRAIN SO BAD. AAAAUUGHHHH (Runners Up: Yuya, Yuto, GONG MOTHERFUCKING STRONG!!!!!!, Rin my girl my badass mechanic girl IM ON MY WAY. I'LL THINK ABOUT YOU THAT HARD., Riley, Arc-V Aster unfortunately a Dana Guy ever. Why Is He Here. He Didnt Even Go to DA in GX. But all of this is subject to change in coming months as the entire cast continues to hit me with weapons. An honor and a privilege to induct these characters into my Blorbo Hall of Fame)

Favorite Duel: HEY QUICK QUESTION: WHY ARE ARC-V'S DUELS SO FUCKING WEIRD. LIKE. NARRATIVELY. There's like 4352984589 ties and duels that get cut short and DUELS WE JUST NEVER GET TO SEE THE FULL OUTCOME OF ON SCREEN?!?!? WHAT WAS GOING ON THERE. It feels like another symptom of arc-v just desperately trying to bite off more than it can chew 😭 Frustrating!! And god I LOVE the zaniness of Action Duels, but we neeeeeed to do something about Action Spells... GRABBING AN ACTION SPELL SHOULD NOT BE THE CRUTCH OF YOUR WHOLE DECK.........

coughs. anyway. My actual honest to god favorite Arc-V duel is Yugo vs. Celina in the Friendship Cup <3 IVE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT IT BEFORE BUT IT'S JUST SUCH A FUN ONE. It's got some great character moments on both sides, a yugioh girl Getting to Be Cool, the colors are gorgeous, it's SO funny, I just get such a kick out of it....I think part of what I Do like about the Friendship Cup is it really shows this sense of kinetic energy that the WRGP in 5D's really needed. I also really like the Shay vs. Dennis Friendship Cup duel for just going completely off the rails. Blow Up This War Criminal and The Whole Stadium With the Giant Bird Satellite Cannon. DOES NOT GET MORE YUGIOH THAN THAT!!

for all its weirdness Arc-V has a LOT of really fun duels that i enjoy--Shay vs. Sora is beloved for a reason, it also goes hard as hell. So many Season 1 duels are just a goofy blast, I really need to rewatch the quiz show one. For as much of an unnecessary mess as those last 8 episodes are, I DO really like Yuya and Dennis's duel too (THAT GETS REALLY REALLY GAY AT THE END???!?!? ARE WE ALL SEEING THIS.)

Hell even the Zarc duel started making me kind of sick in the head--watching Yuya's friends passing around his pendulum necklace while trying to save him makes me turbo emo WHAT CAN I SAY!!!

Arc-V also has the thing I had with Zexal where there's just some individual episodes that are absolute bangers for me. i love the Prison Break episode, it's fucking INSANE. HIP HIPPO SAID FUCK COPS FUCK THE PRISON SYSTEM!!! I love the episode where Gong and Dennis duel. FOR HOW LONG IT DID DRAG SYNCHRO HAS SOME REALLY FUN ONE-OFF EPISODES which I just really enjoy. Also love when Zuzu and Sora beat the shit out of a pack of cops. Based for that for real.

i do also love Yuri and Yuya's duel. Of course.

Other Miscellaneous Gushing/Shrieking/Losing My Mind About Yugioh Arc-V For Good and Bad and Everything in Between: arc-v arc-veeeeee yugioh arc-fiveeee theres just so MUCH. TO TALK ABOUT. THIS ONE'S GONNA BE IN MY HEAD FOR EONS I FEAR. THINKING ABOUT THE EVERYTHING. The sheer amount of narrative traits that make me specifically lose my mind (in a good way. as opposed to. the babyfication making me lose my mind. in a Real Bad Way :////) that they crammed into this. It's like digging in the treasure chest of elaborate fanfics I was writing in my brain in freshman year of high school. The Sick and Twisted Evil AU Version of Duel Academy. The Trained to Be Weapons Child Soldiers. Mind Control Reanimated Corpse Brain Chip. Alternate Dimension Selves. All of the Split Different Dimension Bullshit. Soul Splitting and Soul Fusion Framed as Fucking Terrifying. It's good I didn't have Arc-V growing up it would have been doing IRREVERSIBLE THINGS TO MY DEVELOPING CREATIVE BRAIN. INSTEAD IT'S DOING THEM TO ME NOW.

(side note, re: terrifying soul fusion: Arc-V is SO FUCKING SCARY SOMETIMES?!?? Like "ohh i wish yugioh was still a horror story" DAWG ARC-V ROUTINELY HAS SOME OF THE MOST DREAD-INDUCING CONCEPTS GETTING FLUNG AT YOU AT 90 MPH. SKIP BOYLE FORGETS HIS DAUGHTER EXISTED AND IT'S ONE OF THE MOST HEARTBREAKINGLY HORRIFYING THINGS IVE EVER SEEEEENNNNN )

The shit Arc-V does with Yugioh's themes of identity, these "when does a piece of yourself stop being you and start being their own person?" "what happens when multiple free standing people are one person" type ideas, you KNOW that makes my Aporia Turbofan ass go CRAAAZYYYY. AND THEN IT HAD RELIGIOUS MOTIFS TOO <3333 YOU'RE ME AND IM YOU AND IT DOESNT MATTER WHO DOES WHAT THE DEVIL WILL COME BACK REGARDLESS 😊💞💞💞

Arc-V takes such bold swings at things and 95% of the time it misses the ball entirely and spins up and out and directly into the fireplace but that 5% of sheer genius and thematic weight hits like a truck. Is Arc-V good? FUCK IF I KNOW. PROBABLY NOT. BUT ALSO YES IT IS. BUT ALSO IT'S NOT. BUT ALSO IT'S SOMETHING SO SPECIAL, AND I LOVE IT. That first like 50 episodes makes for such a good yugioh starter course tbh, the way it goes over different summoning methods and is very engaging and energetic, and then the rest of the show is an 18 car pileup of Card Game War that makes me automatically like DONT. START WITH THIS ONE. WATCH ANOTHER YUGIOH OR TWO FIRST AND THEN COME MELT YOUR BRAIN IN HERE. AND THATS SUCH A WEIRD DICHOTOMY TO HAVE WITH ONE YUGIOH. weird like everything else with arc-v i suppose. :,)

For all the mess and all the madness there truly is so much I love, though. I love the character dynamics, even when the show isnt doing much more with its cast--Yuya and Gong's friendship may be one of my favorite 'yutag and best friend' bonds, it's SO sweet and I'm going to be mad forever that Gong isn't more popular in western ygo fandom. I love the DUEL MONSTERS!! Performapals are SOOOO sillygoofy I have to adore them, the dimensional dragons all kick so much ass I love you Clear Wing my big legless weirdo. I love Shay's increasingly bigger Bird Guns. I LOVE FRIGHTFURS!!!! I LOVE D/D/DS!!!!! SO HAPPY TO SEE THEM ON ESPECIALLY SCREEN AFTER PLAYING THEM FOR MONTHS IN DUEL LINKS. MY FREAKY DECLAN DEMONS. I love the miscellaneous callbacks to past iconic monsters and funky weird AU retrains of the Legacu character's decks. Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend my friend Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend

I also do love that Arc-V in theory is trying very hard to be a celebration of past Yugiohs, but it's also instead being completely fucking insane with its 'tributes.' Oh you like Heartland City from Zexal? It's a carpetbombed warzone now! LIKE... HUH!!! When Lazar showed up at the end of season 2 i SCREAMED. I WANT TO KNOW THE LOGIC OF THESE CHOICES. THEY DONT MAKE ME MAD OR ANYTHING REALLY IM JUST FASCINATED BY THEM. i cant really be too angry at arc-v I'm just. transfixed. at every baffling choice it's ever made. I've really truly never seen a show that's so thoroughly felt like some kids doing a roleplay on a forum somewhere, players dropping in and out and mods not really knowing what to do with the lore anymore as things become more and more convoluted. I watch arc-v scenes and i can picture the text RP in my head, the players' forum signatures and all. It's truly some kind of feat to achieve that inherent vibe, that's for sure.

ok im running out of steam i think... what else. god. Yugioh Arc-V is just.... such a teetering Jenga tower of a show, a complete nuclear meltdown of clumsy writing and fantastic vocal performances (dub and sub) and confused handling of its own lore and occasionally some of the fucking coolest most intense expressions and gorgeous shots of any yugioh

I held out on watching it for so long cuz i just fuckin KNEW it was going to grab me by the brain and swing me into the wall and WELL!!! I WAS RIGHT!!!! SHES A MESS BUT SHES MY MESS BABEYYY!!! IS ARC-V GOOD? MAYBE NOT BUT, BROTHER, I FUCKIN LOVE WHEN YUGIOH IS BAD ❤ ive been a disciple of Bad Yugioh for 20 goddamn years and im not stopping now!!!!! I love you Pendulum summoning you insane busted ass mechanic. I love you all four completely fucked up dimensions. I love that they localized Maiami to Paradise City. I love the little nods to past yugioh things (like fusing with a motorcycle <3 Primo Moment...2!) I hate you Leo Akaba explode and die forever (though 'parent going mad trying to bring their child back' do also go me a little bananas.) I love the kickass shots of Yuya's monsters being set in the pendulum scale.I love Sora's relationship with Yuya and Zuzu. I love every fucked up crazyass expression Yuri makes. I love the sense of character design in this show. I love the Action Duel start chants. I love seeing the Synchro Math again and the Overlay Units and the deeply unsettling fusion hand gesture kids use with Polymerization. I love that third ED thats just the Lancers dicking around in different locations and having fun. I love Declan and Riley's complicated but deeply loving bond. I love when characters RIDE THEIR DUEL MONSTERS!!! AND I LOVE THAT DESPITE EVERYTHING I ALREADY WANNA SEE THESE CHARACTERS AGAIN. THEYRE MY FRIENDS!!!!! THEYRE IN MY BRAIN!!!!! MY KIDSSSSS

I KNOW NOW. WHY PEOPLE TALK ABOUT ARC-V LIKE THAT. AND IM ABOUT TO START TALKIN LIKE THAT TOO. YUGIOHHHHHH!!!!!

[aratribow]

AAAAAA, i was literally just looking at your account to see if you posted anything/look for one of the arts you did for someone’s ao3 stories, closed the app for a bit, and come back to see the boys !! happy brain juice /pos (i love your art sm, and i want to look like it)

AWWWWWW HAPPY TO PROVIDE OP! Also thanku sm for your kind words! ^3^

Have a good day/night! MWAH

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Trying (and Mostly Kinda Failing) to Give Meaning to Lyric Placement and Background Shapes in "Cat"

(Or: me going insane over things I’m not even sure mean anything)

Hello people of the jury! Today I want to talk about a few things about Kazui’s latest MV, Cat, which have been eating at my brain for a while. Essentially, the way that the transcribed lyrics show up all over the place, out of order, in different colors and languages; the shapes we see throughout the background in different colors; and what both of these things could mean. I emphasize could because it’s all a mess and I’m not entirely confident we’re supposed to read into these things as much as I’m reading into them here. But oh well, if I don’t share this my head is going to explode, so I might as well.

(There’s also a chance a lot of what I say here has been said before. Sorry if it’s redundant)

CW: Suicide and depression, tumultuous relationships, internalized homophobia.

OP what the fuck are you talking about

Let’s start with what I mean by “lyric placement.” As you’re probably aware, the Cat MV has its lyrics transcribed in a very particular way. Sometimes words show up way after the lines are said, sometimes they’re repeated, sometimes they’re in French, sometimes they have extra words thrown in there, etc.

The main thing that tipped me off that something may be up is this line:

As you can see by the subtitles, the line is:

Since when have I ignored my feelings? It’s better to be a let down, than be let down yourself.

However, the MV also has the word “lie” on screen, even though it’s never said in the lyrics. Unless the subtitles are wrong, but I trust that’s not the case.

Now, if I had a nickel for every time a weird-ass MV showing the inner thoughts of a blue haired liar with somewhat homoerotic undertones had English words which appear on screen yet do not correlate to the Japanese lyrics being sung… I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice. (/reference)

And it’s not difficult to figure out why that would be the case. If you recall from his second voice drama, Kazui believes he should have kept lying to Hinako, to keep her happy. This is also stated in his interrogation questions.

(T1) Q18: Do you regret your “murder”?

Kazui: I do regret it. I should have kept lying.

Unless he’s lying, which he has no reason to do, we can tell he would have preferred continuing the lie if it meant Hinako stayed happy. That means, in his eyes, being a let down is worse than being let down himself. That’s why the word “lie” shows up when he says the opposite in the lyrics, he doesn’t actually believe it. It’s assumedly just something he told himself right before “letting down” Hinako by telling the truth.

So, since the MV pulls a cute little trick with this line, is it possible that the placement of the other transcribed lyrics is significant? Well, that’s what the rest of the post will try to answer.

Then there are the colors. As you know, geometric shapes of all kinds of colors appear throughout the MV, and I believe these could mean certain things. Take a look here, for example.

to touch, to caress

That’s the lyric we’re shown as Hinako’s crush towards Kazui is made evident for the first time in the MV. And in the background, we see a blue circle and a pink circle intersecting, and in the video, pulsating like a heartbeat. If we assume blue to be Kazui and pink to be Hinako, it’s showing the idea of the two being together, “touching and caressing.” I noticed this thanks to Napkin's MV analysis, I recommend you watch it if you haven't!

So now, if that really is significant, are the other shapes and colors significant? For one, as blueepink07 pointed out in this post, it’s possible large part of the color scheme was chosen to align with newspapers, because Kazui wants us/Es to uncover his lies as if we’re/they’re getting information from a newspaper, or something like that. For more specific ideas… that’s what the rest of the post is for.

Hypothesis

>The placement of the lyrics sometimes recontextualizes their meaning, and we have to figure out how.

>Lyrics in French, which are always smaller, are used in two ways. Either they simply repeat what the English words say, to give them emphasis, or they replace English words, which usually happens when the line alludes to Kazui’s "temptations", aka his homosexuality. And yeah, I’m assuming he’s gay, because in my eyes it’s honestly more heavily implied than some of the stuff we believe about other prisoners. I’ll give some of my reasoning later.

>The color of the lyrics and the shapes in the background can often be important, though there's a non-zero chance a lot of it is just aesthetics. As a warning, some of the wilder things I bring up not even I fully believe, but I'm going for the completionist route. If you have any better ideas for any of these, please feel free to tell me!

>Blue represents Kazui, pink represents Hinako. As much as gendering colors is stupid in concept, it is useful for symbolism, so.

>Light green represents Kazui’s "temptations", since it’s connected to the green apple which shows up repeatedly.

>Yellow… Okay, so this one is where stuff begins to break down. It’s really hard to tell what yellow could mean, but seeing the meanings the color usually has, I’ll say it represents a sort of desire for happiness. It’s similar to light green, but not quite the same, it’s more general. Yet, it still makes the same dark green color when it mixes with Kazui’s blue as light green does. His happiness and temptations are closely linked. Yes I’m even bringing the intersectional colors into this.

>Red represents Kazui’s deepest desires. It’s the color which floods the background as he bites the pigeon, after all. It’s “stronger”, deeper than light green and yellow, but it’s sorta similar still.

>A darker red appears occasionally on some intersections, possibly representing blood and therefore Hinako's death.

>Purple only exists as the intersection of two colors, but its meaning changes depending on which colors are mixing. When blue and red mix, it’s Kazui’s desires; when pink and blue mix, it’s Hinako’s desire to be with Kazui.

>Orange... shows up like once it's kinda weird. I took to google again, and it usually represents enthusiasm, which is different enough from happiness that I'm comfortable saying that's what it is.

>The reason so many colors have similar meanings is to be able to convey Kazui’s emotions with more nuance. Please bear with me.

>Sometimes, colors mix very little, to the point where I think it’s not meant to be important. I have to add this or else the post is impossible. You’ll see what I mean.

Alright, still with me? Sorry for the prelude, but it was easier to explain it all now before we really get started.

Unhinged Analysis, Start!

(Ah, Tumblr 30 image limit my beloved. Making me do shitty collages in Microsoft Powerpoint just so I can have visuals in my post about the funny apple man)

We open with the song title for obvious reasons, as well as blue backgrounds because it’s Kazui’s MV, a small overview of the colors we’ll see later, and a lyric repeated in both English and French for emphasis.

Lie until it gets better, follow the king of the masquerade

It’s the main thesis of the song, that Kazui, the king of the masquerade, believes it is better to keep lying until things improve than tell the truth and cause harm.

We also see his name and prisoner number, and an interesting introduction to the colors in circles. These are likely purely aesthetic, but if you want an actual explanation... uh.

UNHINGED INTERPRETATION START!

To the left, red and blue intersect and form pink, which doesn't usually happen. Usually, when red and blue intersect you get purple or a deeper red, not pink. I think the colors are partly inverted on this scene, noting the darkened background, so we're meant to take whatever the colors would usually mean, and reverse it. So Kazui and his deepest desires intersect on Hinako? Well, it's actually the opposite. Kazui's deepest desires don't include Hinako. Does that make sense? I say this is the meaning because the lyric there is "Love (plus) Destiny = Crap, smash it, shatter it, bye-bye". Keeping in mind the "destined love" is Hinako, it's clear Kazui doesn't like the relationship, we been knew.

The intersection also exists on the right, but there's also a white circle which inverts the inverted meaning and thus shows the truth. (???) So the part where Kazui is by himself turns into an enthusiastic orange and the intersection with his deepest desires turn into green.

You may have noticed that already makes absolutely no sense. I hope you can forgive me. Remember, I said they're probably just aesthetic here.

UNHINGED INTERPRETATION END!

Anyways, the masquerade lyric and the title show up again but in inverse order for aesthetic reasons, which I think is neat.

I really think this is just an introduction, and there's not much to read into.

The road the car is on is yellow and blue, with them mixing into dark green in the middle (that color does not exist on its own). As everyone does in life, Kazui is trying to stay on the road to happiness. Yes, we start off with quite a stretch, but most of this is going to be reaching, so. The dark green shows that part of that happiness would be something related to his “temptations”, his likely homosexuality.

There’s a pink circle hovering around, Hinako. She also seeks “the road to happiness”, and has her own desires (the red from the intersection of her pink and the yellow). That leads her to getting close to the blue of Kazui. Eventually, she becomes so prevalent in his life that her pink color strikes through the entire frame, showing the two were probably close in some way before the whole marriage thing happened.

I’ve already explained how and why the word “lie” is added into the visuals even though it’s not in the sung lyrics.

Behind “I just wanted” we see a blue and a light green circle intersecting almost fully, cementing light green as the things Kazui truly wants.

The circles behind “to touch, to caress” have already been explained.

“I just wanted to be touched” is accompanied with an interesting visual; a light green and a pink semicircle separated by a yellow triangle. I believe this represents the divide between Hinako and the things Kazui truly wants, the divide being his happiness.

You’ll notice that pink and light green intersect slightly, which is why I said sometimes that doesn’t mean anything. They don’t intersect enough for it to be significant. How much intersection is necessary for us to consider it relevant? Well… whatever fits the scene the best :v

“So” is pink for Whit- wrong fandom sorry

“So, it’s wrong?” With the pink “so”, Hinako stands behind all the regrets Kazui might have about what he’s done.

(My arms hurt from reaching too much-)

This scene is one of many which really makes me doubt the colors actually mean anything most of the time, but I can still try to think of an explanation. A lot of the colors pass by, as if they’re simply events and experiences in Kazui’s life. Temptations, happiness, etc, with nothing intersecting too much. Though worth noting, blue and pink never touch on this scene, as if Kazui doesn’t want to be too close to Hinako, even though she’s an important part of his life.

There is one intersection I think may be interesting, though. Front and center, a blue rectangle is split right through the middle by a red line. Although there’s a lot going on in Kazui’s life, his deepest desires are always right in his core, front and center. That’s part of why red works as these “deepest desires.”

Oh shove that! INNOCENT, isn’t that right?

The lyrics here are just what’s being sung, but it’s interesting that they’re on the floor. It’s almost as if Kazui is looking down on these words, disrespecting them by walking on them. He doesn’t truly think he can shove aside his wrongs, he doesn’t consider himself forgivable. At least, not yet.

(T1) Q19: Do you want to be forgiven?

K: I’m not sure. I also want my weakness to be tolerated, to be honest.

Well, sorry my guy, but I’m still voting you inno, compared to the other people here you did some wrong things but it’s really not that bad.

(I'm skipping scenes that don't have anything relevant)

The blue background is just because this is the turning point of Kazui’s life, when he succumbs to societal pressure to marry Hinako. A bit self-centered to think of your color when proposing to someone else, maybe, but that’s not entirely new for Kazui, huh? Flawed characters, gotta love ‘em.

However, you’ll notice the lyrics never actually make it into text.

Maybe, perhaps… or… could it come true… like It’s for the sake of true love, who wouldn’t lie for that?

These are some of the only lyrics in the song which are never ever transcribed. The others are:

Let’s take a breather

To be caressed by you, that would be perfection - I wanted to be loved, just like a cat

Lick that sin and oppose punishment, until you can meet the king of the masquerade

I cannot for the life of me give you a good answer as to why that happens, but I can give a weird and stupid answer!

Because “Let’s take a breather” is framed as the start of the conversation Kazui and Hinako had which led to her death, it’s possible the lyrics not transcribed are things Kazui said to her in that conversation, and they show up out of order. Not literally, he wouldn’t tell her he wants to be loved like a cat, but more so the meaning behind them. He told her he lied “for the sake of true love”, as he thought “it could come true” if he just stuck with it long enough. He wanted to be loved for who he is (“like a cat”), and, uh… to savor that sin of lying, so she can meet who he truly is? Maybe something like that.

I don’t know. It’s a huge stretch, but I don’t see why else they wouldn’t be transcribed.

Oh, yeah, this clusterfuck.

As far as I can tell, the lyrics here are only the ones from the following chorus, not the previous lines. I can make out, vaguely:

Love (plus) Destiny = Crap, smash it, shatter it, bye-bye That sticky-sweet sequence: Dinner + Camouflage + You-Know-What Loving Affection (minus) Love, it’s tacky, this two-way deceit Victim and Perpetrator, let’s keep it simple

I believe these lyrics are represented like this to show inner turmoil, a chaos inside Kazui’s mind. He despises the love assigned to him by “destiny” (societal expectations), but he goes with the sequence anyways: dinners (dates), camouflage (lies), you-know-what (you know what? I don’t actually know what that means, though I can assume). There’s affection, but it’s not really love. This love is a two way deceit, as Kazui lies to Hinako and himself, telling himself this is what he wants.

“Victim” and “perpetrator” are written only in blue, pink and yellow, representing the union of Kazui and Hinako in search for happiness, but excluding Kazui’s actual desires. (Or maybe it's just the newspaper thing). “Let’s keep it simple” is in both pink and blue because both of them are involved in the “victim-perpetrator” duo.

Notably, “Victim and perpetrator, let’s keep it simple” also shows up in French, again for emphasis. It’s a core part of Kazui’s character that he blames himself fully for what happened.

So this is the big part for all y’all Kazui/Bartender shippers out there. Kazui grabs a green apple out of a bunch of red ones, and it turns into a glass of an alcoholic drink. (The hand disappears from view for a moment, but it's still the same one as Kazui wears his watch and wedding ring on the same hand). And hey, you know how Hinako is represented by a red apple at the end? (Note how it falls and hits the ground, possibly representing Hinako’s suicide). I and others before me think red apples are women, the ones which Kazui is expected to like, while the green one might be a man.

I say that because it turns into a glass, which may represent the bartender, just as the next line plays:

Phew, oh wow I’m drunk Hey, so what if I said I liked-liked you, what would you do?

Note that he says the line, he doesn’t actually sing it, possibly implying it’s an actual thing Kazui said in real life. Now, it’s actually very possible that this isn’t happening at the bar from half itself. As pointed out by errorscribes in this post, the furniture doesn’t actually match either the bar or Kazui’s home, meaning he might be in a secret third thing. Still, however, the connection between the apple and the glass remains, especially since this “one thing turns into another” trick does actually happen a few times in the MV, notably with the wedding ring.

There’s a few more things which make me believe it, but that was just a small tangent to explain why I'm decently convinced Kazui is gay, since I still see quite a bit of discussion around that.

After confessing to possibly the bartender, Kazui explains he wanted to ask “so it’s out in the open.” Note how that’s color-coded blue, possibly implying Kazui is “out in the open”, as in exposed or, perhaps more literally, out of the closet. He seems laidback and relaxed as he says it, but it’s likely a lie, as the background suddenly turns to an ominous black while he retains the same position.

That’s when he says “I just got a little greedy”, with “greedy” repeated for emphasis. The pink is likely because this is something he wants to tell Hinako, as a sort of half-apology-half-excuse.

The lyrics of the next scene, with Kazui and Hinako having a dinner and all that, are transcribed right after, in what may be both the most interesting and the hardest-to-explain scene for this theory.

So, here's what I think we're looking at here. It's a chronological retelling of everything that happened after Kazui and Hinako got married, that's why the numbers are there. That's why the song's title, Cat, and Kazui's name are constantly on screen; it's the main story of the song.

We start with a glass falling, the calm before the storm, the moments before the disaster. In French and red, we see the lyrics from the scene prior:

All those things I wanna do that I can’t say out loud I gotta keep it inside and act The beating of this heart… see… it’s no longer about good and bad… it isn’t I realize the futility, but I still can’t help but dream

Kazui is repressing his feelings for now, those things he can't say out loud. The desire to express his feelings slowly stops being about good and bad, moral and immoral, it's a primal need, like a cat's need to hunt doves. See the connection to red?

"I realize the futility, but I still can't help but dream" is repeated in English for emphasis. Even though he knows it will be useless, he can't help himself, he wants to act on his true feelings. In particular, I believe the "dream" is to be loved by whoever the hell he confessed to (possibly the bartender), and this is what caused Hinako to commit suicide, seeing the distorted line in his Voice Character Reveal.

I'm so d[um]b... Wh[y] d[i]d I [h]a[v]e to [dr]e[a]m?

Note that "01" is written in both Kazui's blue and the yellow of happiness, showing that this scene is about him looking for happiness (deep analysis there, folks). Note the arrows, too. Hinako's pink arrow is literally between Kazui's blue and his happiness (yellow).

And that was when his feelings were repressed; because then, the glass hits the ground, showing that number 02 is when things went wrong. The lyric in English is "Phew, oh wow I'm drunk", as it's something Kazui isn't afraid of admitting. But in French, smaller, we see something he may want to say a bit quieter: "Phew, oh wow I'm drunk. Hey, so what if I said I liked-liked you, what would you do?"

(By the way, I'm not using direct translations, but rather what the corresponding lyric is in English. Probably should have mentioned that earlier)

We reiterate he’s drunk, potentially to further imply a connection to the bartender, and we have Kazui’s confession. Notice the colors used are yellow and red, possibly because we’re seeing the confession of Kazui’s deepest desires as he attempts to be happy. Well, technically you might say a few things are pink, but since the saxophone is red, I’m assuming that’s the main color we’re supposed to take note of. Instead, the pink is almost an afterthought, as if Kazui is only thinking of Hinako sparsely in brief moments of lucidity from his drunkenness.

03 is the weirdest in terms of colors. The lyric displayed is “Love (plus) Destiny = Crap. Smash it, shatter it, bye-bye.” I believe this is referring to the aftermath of the confession in 02, where the “destined love” of Kazui and Hinako starts to break down.

Why is there orange, then, if the relationship is breaking down? Well, because Kazui doesn't like the relationship. He's originally enthusiastic about revealing the truth and shattering the relationship (orange), because he thinks it will bring him happiness (yellow). Well, enthusiastic is maybe an exaggeration, but it's close to it at least. I'll explain what makes me believe that in a moment, bear with me. However, that's not how that would play out.

To see that it didn't go as Kazui had hoped, we have to look at the blue bars and the orange circles. It took me way too long to notice, but I think the blue bars are for the piano that plays in the scene, like the saxophone that showed up in 02. By that logic, the other thing could be some… kinda flute? I don’t think so. I have no idea what that is.

In any case, although it's a bit of a stretch, something interesting happens with these bars and circles. It’s hard to describe without the video, but if you look at them (preferably at 0.5 speed or something) you’ll see that when 03 first shows up, the bars and circles appear in a neat pattern, but as the lyric “solidifies”, the bars and circles begin “sputtering”, the pattern breaking down.

Neat pattern, few lyrics.

Broken pattern, full lyrics.

So, I think that's meant to represent Kazui hesitating about the destruction of his relationship. He starts enthusiastic, with the pattern stable. But as the idea that the relationship will come to an end starts to solidify, represented by the lyric slowly forming more and more, he starts to realize there might be some drawbacks he hadn't anticipated, which is why he starts to hesitate, and the pattern breaks down. The pattern doesn't have a concrete meaning, it's meant to give the vibe that Kazui is hesitating, which I swear makes sense if you look at it in the video please I swear I'm not that insane yet please-

The reason for Kazui's hesitation becomes evident in number 04. Do you see those white ovals around this number? Don’t they look a lot like clouds?

I believe this is the balcony scene, when Kazui tells Hinako the truth, and she commits suicide. That’s why her pink is front and center, while Kazui’s temptations lure in the background in light green. They’re the context, the set dressing, for Hinako’s part of the play, if you allow me some half-adjacent metaphors. The colors mix into a dark red which almost looks like blood. I don’t think I need to explain how the death scene is connected to blood.

And with this scene in mind, where Hinako dies after learning the truth, Kazui reaches the conclusion represented by the lyric on screen. “Lie, until it gets better, follow the king of the masquerade.” Repeated in French for emphasis,. After Hinako dies, Kazui starts to believe he should have simply kept lying as he was doing before, when he still was “the king of the masquerade.”

Does any of that make any sense? I am grasping at straws and trying my damn hardest to reconcile all these things, but most of them are nonsensical. I have to remind everyone, I’m still not entirely sure I’m not just looking at nothing here.

The lyric that plays as Kazui falls to his knees is "I can’t stop, I can’t be normal. This feeling, it can’t be gratified", which is transcribed in the next shot.

Before we get to the shapes, we have to talk about the added lyric, which I find very interesting. The word "can't", big in the background and in pink. Possibly because Hinako can't gratify "this feeling." However, there's a funny thing about the word "can't"; it's a homophone of Kant, the philosopher Kazui and Es discuss in the second Voice Drama. I think this might be intentional.

As the characters discussed, Kant believed that lying is always inherently inmoral, even if the liar has good intentions (oversimplification, don't come at me philosophy majors). However, I want to talk about it a bit more in depth. Although I am dumb and I am not very good at philosophy, what I could gather is that Kant believes lying is unethical because it impairs the ability of others to make rational, informed decisions. He argued that because our freedom ends where others' begin, then we cannot lie, for that would impair the other's freedom. Regardless of what you think about this belief system, it's clear some connections can be made with Kazui. Under this logic, his lies impaired Hinako's freedom, as presumably, she wouldn't have married Kazui if she had had all the information from the start.

(Again, I am likely oversimplifying things, but I am not gonna write a thesis on Kant to try and figure out the funny liar Cat-boy)

Why am I bringing all this up? Am I just trying to trick you into thinking I have any idea what I'm doing? Correct! Seems Cat taught you well to avoid misdirection.

But in all seriousness, it's because that logic is the best (read: not actually that good but it's what I have) way I have of interpreting the shapes on the background. There's yellow triangles crossed by blue and then pink, but notably, they intersect little and seem to go in different directions. As if the path Kazui and Hinako are in are different from the one which leads to happiness. The idea here is that while Kazui obviously isn't happy with how things are going, Hinako couldn't be truthfully happy under Kant's ideas. Because she wouldn't have true freedom of thought until Kazui stopped lying to her, so in a way, her own happiness was also a lie. Thus why the lines representing her always go in a different way from happiness. And because she can't be happy, the yellow of her fake happiness turns into dark red as it crosses that word, again possibly referencing her death.

Is it a stretch? Oh, absolutely! I don't even know if I'm interpreting Kant right! But I frankly have no idea what else these things could mean. It's possible some of the shapes are merely aesthetic, and this is one of the scenes which make me believe that. I'm open to audience participation, you figure it out.

More imagery of a scattered and broken relationship, with blue and pink shapes all around Kazui, but which only barely intersect. The small French words are part of the lyrics, "this feeling, it's yearning to be satisfied." As I said, sometimes French words are some of Kazui's more hidden thoughts. This brings up an interesting dichotomy of "this feeling can't be gratified" being expressed in English and bigger font, while "this feeling, it's yearning to be satisfied" is in French and smaller. It's possible Kazui finds it easier to admit that his feelings can't be satisfied, rather than admitting he wants them to be satisfied. Interesting insight if true, it would mean Kazui has an easier time accepting hopelessness regarding his feelings than actually admitting to the feelings themselves. It sounds a bit weird in text, but I think it sorta makes sense in an "internal conflict" kinda way.

Let's take a breather

Thank you Kazui, I really needed a breather after all those stretches I made. Anyways, as part of this MV imposed intermission, I want to explain what I meant when I said Kazui was "enthusiastic" to break off the relationship.

Kazui takes off the wedding ring and turns into a cigarette, as Hinako watches in horror. The symbolism here is important; what Kazui is doing is pulling back the curtain, he's revealing how he actually feels about the relationship. It's like a cigarette, something he engages in for some form of momentary relief, relief from societal expectations, but still something ultimately harmful for him. This truth is why Hinako looks so horrified.

And we see exactly what Kazui is trying to do with this relationship when he puts the cigarette to his hand. He's trying to put it out, and in his mind, this is an abrupt and almost violent act, as that's the impression we get from how fast this frame flashes on screen. It's also worth noting, the act of putting out a cigarette like this would also hurt, showing that Kazui is also harmed by this action.

With the understanding that Kazui is actively trying to end the relationship, also shown by him biting the dove later, his expression tells us a bit of how he feels about it. And it's all smiles and smirks up until Hinako falls.

Now, to clarify, I think Kazui is presenting himself as far more aggressive and enthusiastic than he actually was at the time. I really doubt he actually smiled when he broke the news to Hinako. But I also believe it isn't a complete lie, there was some enthusiasm on his part to maybe try to live the life he genuinely wanted. And that's why 03 has the color orange.

I'll repeat it because this really isn't something I want to be misinterpreted on. While Kazui was somewhat enthusiastic to break off a relationship which was clearly making him unhappy, the video is very much exaggerating how much enthusiasm he actually had. At least, that's how I see it.

As stated, the lyrics cut back and forth very quickly to give the scene an aggressive edge, as if Kazui revealing his feelings is somehow a visceral act of violence. Accompanying the words are the definitions in French, because why the hell not. And yes, some parts aren't transcribed. Don't ask.

Like I said, red floods the background, as Kazui’s deepest feelings become all encompassing for the scene. They’re what caused Hinako to commit suicide, after all.

As I mentioned, “to be caressed by you, that would be perfection. I wanted to be loved just like a cat” aren’t transcribed, but:

Maybe act capricious, at my word and at my fancy

Are the words which make up a silhouette of Hinako as she’s about to jump. If you’re unaware, “capricious” essentially means unpredictable, acting on impulses. So, like a cat. I believe the pictogram here is meant to represent how Kazui’s “capricious” actions led to Hinako’s suicide, and it doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.

… Well, there’s also a way to read this where Hinako is the one acting capriciously, killing herself purely on impulse. You know, it’s been pointed out before that Hinako’s hair was already fluttering when Kazui bites the dove, implying she was already falling when Kazui revealed his feelings and destroyed the marriage. If you want, you could read this as saying that Kazui is subconsciously aware that his truth wouldn’t be enough to push the average person to suicide, so Hinako was “already falling” in the sense she had some pre-existing issues which contributed to her decision. For example, if she was already suffering from depression. And thus, in a sense, she also acted unpredictably, capriciously, when she jumped.

I think this is a possibility, and it would make Kazui’s inner world more nuanced than it already is. He’s a smart man, so even if he can’t quite get himself to believe it, it’s possible he logically understands suicide isn’t something which people usually do for only one issue. I’m not sure if he would call her capricious, though, feels a bit mean in my eyes.

Anyways, while I wanted to acknowledge that possibility, I still think the first thing I said is the most straightforward interpretation.

Finally, my torture the video ends with the ever prevalent “Lie until it gets better, follow the king of the masquerade,” this time with yellow, blue and pink. For aesthetics mostly, I imagine, but it is interesting that once the apple splats, presumably representing when Hinako hits the floor, the color pink disappears, so “follow the king of the masquerade” only gets blue and yellow.

Another interesting thing is that the word “Lie” accompanies Hinako as she falls backwards, and it almost looks like a mountain of lies is pushing her back, as in, pushing her to suicide. “Until it gets better” and “follow the king of the masquerade” also have fun visual things, but I do think those are purely aesthetic.

Red consumes the background as we see Kazui covered in blood, the result of his deepest feelings in his eyes.

Finally, the last line, “lick that sin and oppose punishment, until you can meet the king of the masquerade”, isn’t transcribed anywhere. I’ve always found that line interesting, though. What does “licking the sin” imply? Is he speaking to us when he tells us/Es to “oppose punishment”? And have we not met the king of the masquerade yet? Presumably there’s a good bit of background we’re still missing on Kazui, but how far does it go? Is he trying to manipulate us/Es into an innocent vote?

… I swear, this fucker better not have a complete heel turn on trial three. I’m choosing to trust him… for now, but I might have to look into it further.

Still innoing him now though.

Conclusion

So what did we learn? Not really all that much, most of this is somewhat nonsensical, and almost everything else could be gleaned from the lyrics themselves. I just wanted to share my pain, even if I have my doubts about a lot of this. There were a few interesting things to note, I guess. I don’t know what else to add, frankly.

Anyways, inno Kazui. And while you’re at it, inno Amane too.

If you made it this far, then I think you deserve the color yellow! Take care!

[fostercare-expat]

Came home from work a bit late, so only had 1.5 hours until the kids went to sleep. It was a chill time, enjoyed a dinner together. My Older Daughter was in a good mood the whole dinner, no sass, praise the merciful lord. I’ve started having Younger Brother read to me from this collection of easy books I have. I’ve had all the kids, even Fearless, read them out loud and then they finish them, we write their name and the date on the inside cover. My Older Daughter picked up one of the box and we discovered she had read it 9 years and 1 day ago. She jokingly read it out loud over dinner to prove her reading skills have improved. It was a nice moment to reflect that the efforts of parenting really do have an impact. She just finished her 10th book of the Percy Jackson / Olympians series. I guess all that effort painfully sounding out each letter and then doing it again and blending the sounds until she finally figured it out word by word 9 years ago was worth it.

My Younger Daughter and I sat down to help Younger Brother read Book 2. (For reference he is 8.5 years old.). And he actually recognised some words from yesterday in Book 1. Yesterday we had to literally sound out “the” “and” “she” “was” and “are”. He couldn’t sight read them. But today he sight read “the” “she. He still needed to sound out the rest though. It’s embarrassing to admit that he has been here 2 months and I’ve barely read with him. I read with him awhile ago and realised he’s so far behind that when I’ve been helping him with homework, I just read everything out loud to him so he can focus on getting the answer without the extra brain power of needing to do the reading. I’ve also been focused on meeting the emotional needs of so many kids, and working with him on his pronunciation (which I will say is significantly improving) and his po. .oping issues (which sadly are not improving yet). Reading has been very far down on the list. I hope I can spend some time with him over the next few months getting his reading level up.

[nyxraex]

EDITED [ Canon & AU ] This has likely been asked before, but I got curious, soooo...

'Older sibling' MC is either: a) tired of having to clean up after the "kids" but would never actually hurt the Soul Riders in any way. More likely to bicker and less likely to have heart-to-heart convos. Usually awkward with emotions and more likely to keep physical contact minimal but will be there when needed. b) the more warm, guiding force who offers advice and a shoulder to cry on when times get rough. More comfortable with physical affection & showing emotions. More or less the Mom Friend™. 'Younger sibling' MC on the other hand: a) is a bit more naive and tends to look up to the Soul Riders and tries to be like them. b) tries to prove their worth to the Soul Riders, but usually needs to be saved due to MC's inexperience. [ And just to clarify: sibling = sibling-figure; not real siblings. ] [ Also; I personally am the oldest of 3 so apologies for lack of elaboration on the 'younger sibling' part... ]

/neg is a "I want nothing to do with you" and more akin to MC feeling surrounded by toxic, gaslighting narcissists and wants to get out. /NEG is the more visceral hatred that would make MC commit things that should never be committed, and would likely make them a villain. [ edit: Just to make it clear that I'm in no way shape or form calling the Soul Riders toxic here. I wrote these from viewing the MC as an unreliable narrator and mainly based on an AU pov that isn't 100% true to the canon. I'm also aware that the Soul Riders are just as much the 'victims' as the MC is when it comes to the Keepers. I also made this poll with the idea of not everyone in this fandom being fond of the Soul Riders in mind. Not that there even are that many cases of it on here on Tumblr when compared to, say, Instagram/TikTok/Reddit. ]

If you pick '???' I'd like to know what it is. :3 Please enlighten me! Or if it's a combination of different options, too!

[stranger-rants]

This user has already been dragged to hell for the fatphobic and racist tags on this post, but I do want to address these tags for a minute:

Viewing a teenage abuse survivor as a piece of shit who sucks ass absolutely cannot go hand in hand with helping them survive.

It's something I had to learn, because I have certainly run into my fair share of teenagers who have said and done hurtful things to me. However, I am an adult and I have power. The way I think about the teenagers I work with can have a positive or a negative effect on their lives - especially their ability to access resources that could improve their lives.

I have had to make a conscious effort to put aside my personal feelings whenever I've been called a slur or threatened or attacked because I am also the person who could connect them with a counselor or social worker or CPS, and too often these teenagers in particular get cast aside and suffer extreme amounts of abuse and neglect because people like you view them as a POS.

And I have to iterate that the teenagers I have worked with have said and done much worse than Billy. I had a student who murdered someone. I had a student who stabbed someone. I still hope that the both of them can recover and make amends. Just last week, my coworker was cursed out and called a f****t over and over in response to them telling a student they need to be in class if they want to graduate. It's that simple. It makes me furious to hear those things, and they're personally triggering to me to hear that kind of violence since I too come from an abusive home... but this is what happens when young people are immersed in violence, because no! Being 19 doesn't magically make you capable of understanding every right and wrong. Not when your brain has been wired by trauma. CLEARLY age didn't stop OP from posting what they posted. Why expect moral enlightenment from a young person actively surviving abuse?

There are many teenagers who get assaulted or killed every year and headlines will read that they were "no choir boy" or something of the sort. This is an intentional effort to minimize the systematic and institutional harm that was done to them and it disproportionately impacts teenagers who aren't white or straight or cisgender or Christian or able bodied or conventionally thin or neurotypical and so on and so forth. You CANNOT claim that these ideas (Billy is a POS & Billy deserves help) go hand in hand, especially when you fucking draw Eddie and Max flipping off his grave. You CANNOT maintain this attitude in all seriousness if you think that people like Billy deserve help because you are making a mockery of what he went through.

[creedei]

op….. i love your mind… please…. i need to harvest your brain and absorb your genius. /pos you're such an amazing artist i'm gonna tear you apart <3

-🐟

Thank you sm!! You can have my brain I don’t use it anyways

[tubzthelilbeeboy]

My range of emotions after reading multiple different fics after another (one chapter each):

The first home that stayed (tfhts)- crying screaming pulling hair out/pos PLEASEEEEUHHH

The golden phoenix- nooooo theseus noooo 3:

Barbarians never miss- wow Douchebag..... IS A DOUCHEBAG????? AND ALIVE???? REVIVED??? SURVIVED??????

Chaos Plan- Kenneth Mccormick, stop being dumb. Use your brain. Please please please please please oml please I'm crying ur better then this Butters is obvsly ur op plz

Butterfly Reign- *bursts into tears and refuses to talk*

[mikey-soft]

OP UR HAZBIN HOTEL REDESIIIGNS ROOOCK? LIKE I AM LOOKING AT THEM ALL WITH MASSIVE HEART EYES??

Rosie: Though I adore her regular design and honestly wouldn't touch most oh her design...but then I saw ur redesign and WOW? I'M ABSOLUTELY ENAMORED WITH IT? Right, I ADORE Rosie's design beacuse of her overall atheistic being a personal attack on my personal favs but YOURS? TAKE EVERYTHING I LOVE ABOUT THE OLD DESIGN AND UPGRADES IT? A BIGGER LEAN INTO HE BONES AND MAKING HER VULTURE THEMED? FUCKING GALAXY BRAINED MOVE RIGHT THERE!! THE LITTLE RED BLOOD DROPLET ERAAINGS AND THE ADORABLR DIMPLES? THEY'RE SOO CUUUTE OP I WANNA POKE THEMM OOOUGH SHE!! AND THE CUTE AF DRESS WITH THE CORSET AND THE CUTE LITTLE SKELE BOW? UGH IT'S PERFECTT

(This ig kinda long so I'll talk about the other separately but know I STIM/POS)

I HEART ROSIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i really like the idea that all sinners have some sort of animal or creature motif and i honestly felt a little lost on rosie so i took initiative !!! i think the cannibals would all be similar, scavenging birds, hyenas, wilddogs, etcetc!! i just really wanted to give her a theme !!! <3 here is a drawling of OUR wife

[topsii-turvii]

oh my god i'm sorry i assumed he killed children😭 it was just his NAME oh god

Brain is tisming OP my bad my bad

im actually obsessed with how you thought his name was child killer 😭😭😭it lives rent free in my head its just too funny /pos

i think that i might turn him into a child killer in honor of you!!

[kyuuxmizu]

I went to watch both events for the Gintama Ato no Matsuri!!

The afternoon event via live-viewing in the cinemas

The evening event inside the actual venue, Ryogoku Kokugikan~

IT WAS HONESTLY THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!

(2023 is also my 15th year as a Gintama fan so what better way to celebrate than attend the matsuri!!!!)

Hihi we used the penlights inside the live-viewing theater too.. hey most of the ppl in our row were using it too okayyy😂😂 It was so much fun!!!

ofc nothing beats the experience of watching it LIVE inside Ryogoku~🥹🥹

3Z Anime announced!!!! Everyone was like majiiiii????

They kindly asked us not to post any spoilers on social media until the evening event ends, so I kept mum about it XD

Upon arriving at the Ryogoku, my friends and I took pics of our matching Sonjuku ita-bags!! 🥹🥹 (Mine is the Takasugi one hehehe)

So many ppl!!

Then I went to pickup my preordered goods, which I'll post later!! XD

Outside Ryogoku~

Inside Ryogoku~

With my sibling wearing our matsuri shirts and sukajan~

We won the tickets during the Advance reservation lottery so we got pretty good seats~ マス席 in the first floor and facing the front! My friends were seated on a different row T^T

On to the event~ (A lot of screaming and crying XD)

I already knew most of what was gonna happen since I watched the afternoon event so I thought my hype would be dampened??? But the emotions just kept flowing!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭 (Tho ngl I wished they unveiled the 3z anime in the night event instead... I was expecting another bomb to drop actually hahahah xD)

The atmosphere inside Ryogoku... everyone's so passionate!!! You could feel the love not only from the fans but also from the seiyuu and bands as well!!! Aaaa I love Gintama and it's fandommm 🥹🥹💞💞

Never watched One Piece but the hype inside the venue and Kitadani's energy was so high it made me sing along too, idk how I managed to do it cuz I barely know the song😂😂 they went all out with this even parodying the OP of One Piece and the seiyuu mimicking the strawhat pose😂

Then the 生アフレコ went a trip down the memory lane🥹🥹 Makes me wanna rewatch everything all over again 😭

I started getting emotional when ChicoHani started singing ヒカリ証明論 (Kiheitai tapos Bansai death scene talaga..mashaket po mga mamshie...😭)

And サクラ舞う暁に..it's my fave ChicoHani song okayyy Chico shouting Matsuri ja Matsuri jaaa🌸🌸🌸 So fun to sing along with the crowd!!! Almost everyone switched their lights to pink!! one brain cell~ XD

Their surprise was the Samurai Heart cover!!! 😭😭😭

ChicoHani's gntmと出会わせてくれた song, Pride Kakumei!!! When the Honeyworks guitarist shouted "saikou da saikou" waaaa the hype!!!!! Crowd went crazy!!

Otsu-chan so cute I didn't expect the fox at all (Gintama always subverts expectations so true even for events like these x3)

Toshi always up for anything riding the Thousand Sunny Sadaharu-Eli ship hahahah And Sakaguchi-san!!! 🥹🥹

Then 生アフレコ again~!! XDDD

Surprise was KUROKO's special appearance (with Suzuken as Murasakibara and Nakai-san as Imayoshi!! Chiba-san's side comment: なんかイチャイチャする 😂😂😂😂)

SuzuKen funny he said he could hear Kensho Ono from the Kuroko mascot hahahah

plus GINCHAAAN (for the evening event)

It was so adorable how Sakaguchi-san took a pic of Gin-san and Sugita on stage... He really loves Gintama, ne (The whole cast loves Gintama!! that alone makes it so special)

Sugita's side comment: he wants Oguri Shun to join too hahahaha

DOES so cool!! Everyone switched their lights to red when DOES started their set list~

It's also no secret that Wataru-san loves Gintama sm, he mentions it in his SNS accts frequently🥹🥹 ワタルさんかっこ良かった...有難う! Crowd shouting Wataruuuu Bravo!!! XD

The SPYAIR covers gosh 😭😭😭 I almost cried listening to the Wadachi cover 😭😭😭 (I did cry when I rewatched it through Abema haha 😭😭😭)

From the band's message in the end, it was apparent that SPYAIR really wanted to attend but alas they have no vocalist yet 😭😭😭

The highlight of the event for me was Yama-chan's surprise appearance 🥹🥹 LITERAL CHILLSSSSS I mean... THE KOICHI YAMADERA...

Apparently, Yama-chan never attended events like these and Ato Matsuri was the first one. That alone just made me.....🥹🥹🥹😭😭

is Gintama that special he agreed to make an appearance 🥹🥹😭😭

Or did Higuchi-san (producer) really splurge their budget on him ahahahah

We were joking that they must have spent most of the special guest budget on Yama-chan that's prolly why no other guests appeared 😂

And gosh that man has range.... I also learned that Yama-chan voiced Donald Duck from Kingdom Hearts..!!! That's why his animal and nature dubs (from the special Matsuri manga) are on point 😂😂😂😂

He can sing too (He sang JPN version of Prince Ali and Circle of Life) and had a duet with Hirano Aya (Nobume VA) for the Yakuza game 😭

Koyasu-san was a no-show as usual (I had high hopes since he attended the Isekai Oji-san seiyuu event at Anime Japan last year) He had a voice message tho, saying his ponpon was in pain (basically he had a stomachache) 😂😂

And then there's Sugita's closing message 😭😭😭

That even though gntm has ended 4 years ago, he hasn't forgotten about Gintama

That he'll be Sakata Gintoki until he dies..no, even if he dies 😭😭😭GURL I GOT SO EMOTIONAL!!!

Then he says "Chinko"!! how very Gintoki!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

And finally the Ginpachi-sensei anime which will be part of a series of projects for Gintama's 20th anniversary (which will last until 2026!!!) I am so excited 😭😭😭😭

AAAAAAA MY HEART AND WALLET ARE READY

As Suzuken said 終わらないね銀魂ァァ

Thank you so much Ryogoku~ See you again in the next Gintama Matsuri!!!

[crossover-enthusiast]

i want you to know im still listening to Losing my Patients AND STILL PICTURING IT AS OP PATTY.

especially the fucking "Pretty soon you’ll be surfing the One way gurney to purgatory" i picture her literally riding a gurney like a toy and just having a blast

AUGH throws you at a all /pos

HEHEHAHAH

She SO would, I love her

Seriously the moment I saw your drawings of her being a fucked up nurse I immediately connected that song to her in my brain <3