demon-ness

[demon-ness]

25. Museum

...while we still have time.

[demon-ness]

An incident has just occurred in the Russian bakugan fandom.

A thought appeared in the long-rotten minds of the subscribers of the local ASK. A terrible thought.

We came up with an idea…

Masquerade/Runo

[demon-ness]

23. Responsibility

The city looks bad because I paint the backgrounds bad, is that clear? The issue is closed.

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21. Room

All your problems are in your head. But if there are too many of them, then the pressure on them will not be skull, but walls.

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19. History

I want to sleep

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I just read an article on Wikipedia about humans as a biological species.

Well, you know, because this article is pretty funny. It's funny to read a description of HUMANITY in terms of habitat, habits, and other scientific terms. And then I thought of one sad thing.

If you think about it, this article is exactly how Masquerade perceives the human society in which he exists.

A boy who has an analogue of a Wikipedia page about humanity in his head. He knows about our habits and reflexes, about traditions and culture, about fears and goals. But he doesn't know how to feel it himself. How do you feel about your parents? What is the fear of the first day at school like? Can you really get sad because someone else is sad next to you?

He is not an alien studying earthlings. He's more like a piece of blank paper left by someone in the library.

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17. Test

Sometimes a test is a battle for your life, or, more importantly, for what you consider worthy of such a risk. But sometimes the test is knowing that somewhere far away your friends are fighting for their lives. And there's nothing you can do to protect them.

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15. Wax

If I HAVE STARTED a job, then I WILL FINISH it. Maybe not right away. Or maybe I won't finish at all. But I will do my best!

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13. Hierarchy Well, you get it. It's like a hierarchy of angels. Damn, I don't like this art so much. But there is no time to redraw anymore.

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11. Result

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9. Organ

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7. Scream

Yes, I'm running out of time again. But is it my fault? (YES)

[demon-ness]

In fact, Masquerade is the most interesting and well-made character in this anime. The problem is that the authors of this anime don't know about it. I'm not going to talk about it in detail today (believe me, I can analyze any of his quotes for an hour, and it's not even a joke). Just small details.

Episode 44. "Just this one time." Funny line, isn't it? Masquerade jokes in his own way, telling Dan that even now they are not friends. Dan was lucky today, but it won't happen again. It was a joke. It was funny for both of them. But do you remember that this was the Last Battle for Masquerade? And the fact that he was definitely aware of it? Have you ever thought in general that this whole battle is suicide? Have you ever thought that in a joking manner this guy confessed to Dan that he was going to die today? I understand that this is obvious. But I'm surprised by the fact that it's in a children's show.

The first meeting of Masquerade and Dan. We will not discuss the battle itself now, we are concerned about the "dialogue" after its end. Everything Masquerade says may seem completely meaningless at first glance. But if you think about it… the Death Note did not even dream of such a level of manipulation. "I could have taken Drago, but I felt sorry for you." Of course, he couldn't. The rules work differently. In such a situation, he basically couldn't do anything at all. But Dan DIDN'T KNOW that. I'm sure Masquerade just said that to piss Dan off. I wouldn't like it either if my opponent (whom I was going to defeat without any problems) took PITY on me. Masquerade then tells Dan a little bit about the real state of affairs and the significance of the fights. And then he adds, "To save the world, YOU have to defeat ME." And this, again, makes no sense if taken literally. Masquerade is just a pawn of Naga, defeating him will not save the world. But Dan DOESN'T KNOW about it. So Masquerade gently guides Dan along the path he needs. Indeed, from that moment on, Dan devoted all his time to strengthening Drago for the final battle. Without even realizing that he's actually just cooking the perfect dinner for a Hydranoid. Simply put, what you might consider the senseless pretentious nonsense of a "very cool and mysterious" clown was actually quite an effective way to fool Dan. And you, to be honest.

I can't help but notice that in the trio of main villains of the first season, Masquerade is the most human-like. Not only externally, of course. What makes him a REAL PERSON, what his colleagues don't have… he fucks up a hell of a lot. Seriously, watch all the episodes with his appearance. In at least half of these episodes, something will not go according to his plan. You will very often see him staring at others in surprise, not understanding what nonsense they are doing and saying. He is almost scared when Shun ALMOST hits him in the face. During the battle with Joe, he is already preparing to pose victoriously when everything starts to collapse. And he's just upset. Yes, globally, in fact, everything was going ABSOLUTELY according to his plan until Dan returned from DD. But if you pay attention to the details? He almost always doesn't know what's going on and just tries to adapt. Because, you know, he has little life experience.

It's very difficult for me to talk about Masquerade without the context of his entire character development arc. Keeping the main points in mind, you will easily notice how every tiny detail makes sense. Almost emotionless behavior for most of the season, sometimes illogical actions, a nervous breakdown and a crack on the glass left after episode 38… Everything makes sense. Especially if you remember that we are talking about a not-quite-human character.

We'll talk about it again, if that's our fate.

[demon-ness]

I'm SOOOO sorry for you. I literally have sketches for MLP x bakugan reboot crossover. I even have art with pony! Magnus and Dan. But I don't think this idea has been worked out enough, so I won't show it to you yet.

[demon-ness]

5. Duty

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3. Freedom

[demon-ness]

Don't ask. Just don't ask. It took too long. I'm tired.