#// holy shit. i live. maybe-

[adrielxle]

if you had to ask me what the manshine city trio would be as a song.... i would say 2 baddies by nct 127. why?

well...

two baddies one porsche, the lyrics says.

which two people are a badass duo? reo and nagi.

who is fast asf? chigiri.

a baddie duo, and a porsche (one of the fastest cars).

i think yall already understand what i'm getting at..

[hplonesomeart]

Hey. Sorry about the inactivity, but pretty sure no one cared that much anyways lol. Been a looooong time since I kept that distant from Tumblr…at least now I know I’m able to survive without checking posts every day/being chronically online! I’ve got an intense love-hate relationship with this lifestyle I’ve dug myself into. Think I’m getting a little bit better with the balance even if school isn’t really giving me an option. Got a load of work I need to keep catching up on if I don’t want to disappoint my professors. We’ll survive somehow. Here take a quick batch of Puzzle doodles k bye

[gl1tched-g0th]

hey guys.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

i've gotten several asks as to how i'm doing after the update, and uh.

well refer to This Image for your answer-

[slyandthefamilybook]

every single "does x belong at pride" poll should include a qualifier about whether or not you've ever actually been to a pride march

[gazpacho-deluxe]

the evangelical taboo of living with your partner pre-marriage is so perplexing to me. multiple people i know have gotten married after less than year of dating (straight out of highschool i might add) and they have never lived together prior.

i mean, how do you know that they won’t drive you insane? shouldn’t you do a trial run? what if they… don’t know how to do their own laundry or something?

[ahalliance]

how do i turn qantoine’s spontaneous marriage proposal to qetoiles into evidence of his early-days fear of qfrench drifing away and keeping secrets from one another

[neembu]

talked to my father's best friend's son about college and all and he so sooo attarctive oh my god, he isnt that old (21 i think), his voice. oh my god his voice. and he is incredibly intelligent and good at what he's doing. man. i feel filthy as i type this.

[mummelthecryptid]

eowyn as a field medic during the time where ithilien is being restored and minas morghul gets destroyed

[feline-evil]

Never gonna be over how unutterably pathetic and in dire need of ANY kind of companionship or friendship that doesn't revolve around their band the entirety of dethklok are. I love these horrible idiots who are so devoid of any real connections outside of themselves that they will latch onto anyone unfortunate enough to get too close to any one of them! And GOD help anyone they latch onto!!

[r0semultiverse]

From season 3 episode 10 Revelations Chapter Two Live Blog

that's so fucking real, yeah & I'm glad Jim is finally fucking listening

That is an interesting insight into the potential laws of physics or I guess thermodynamics in Fromville.

OKAY SO SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT HAPPENED AT THAT TRUCK IN THE PAST. MAYBE CHILD KIDNAPPINGS? IDK

YA GOT CAUGHT. lmao

Ellis probably wants to scream at this little boy, I get it, but oof this whole situation fucking sucks.

Well, that's unsettling to hear you say that so confidently. Not beating the you-know-where-she-is allegations that's for sure!

YEAH ACTUALLY, THAT SOUNDS PRETTY CRAZY! Once again, unsettling to hear you say that so confidently!

My brain: "Hey Shadow, it's me, the devil, like in the Bible!" /reference

Boyd, I think this collective influence hollow ghost waterlogged lady thing isn't gonna let him.

OH MY GODS, WAIT, WHAT IF THE VOICES WERE TALKING ABOUT THE LITTLE BOY IN WHITE? I'm probably super late to figuring this out.

Not if the chest burster from Alien or Predator or whatever it's called has anything to say about it.

Elgin, that also sounds absolutely not within the realm of possibility! Especially not with at least 2 more seasons planned (idk if greenlit or not though).

YEAH, LIKE I WAS SAYING, UNDERSTANDABLE REACTION! Poor Elgin though, he's hardly in his right mind. Fromville's got it's grips on his psyche right now.

DONNA ME TOO THE FUCK, HOLY FUCKING SHIT. THIS WENT FROM 100 TO 500 REAL QUICK!!!

Even Ellis is having some second thoughts here it looks like at least to me.

Oh shit and with that I'm hitting 29 images already. Better make the 30th one count I guess. (okay took out a few images actually I'll try to be more sparing with them)

What is Victor gonna show him that's gonna make him angry?? I'm so confused.

Buddy, that's your papa, I don't think he could hate you.

KHATRI'S ACTOR IS SO FUCKING COOL EVERY TIME. lmao

Ghost Khatri or whatever is making itself look like him kinda has a point.

Khatri's making some good points, but is it him or a mimicry? Kinda interesting to think about especially given Jade's earlier words.

FATIMA OH GODS THIS IS GONNA BE HARD TO WATCH ISN'T IT.

LMAOOOO OH NO POOR JADE xD that is the look of a man who is about to lose his shit on some ghost kids HAHAHAH I'm fucking screaming "something more to say than fucking 'anghkooey'" got me fucking cackling audibly

HOLY SHIT IT'S LIKE THE CICADAS ARE LAUGHING AT HIM WTF OR IS THAT JUST HOW THEY SOUND USUALLY?

OH BUDDY DON'T.... DON'T DO IT...

Even Ellis is trying to stop him. oh Boyd....

"Now I need to do what I need to do." OH FUCKKKKKK THAT LINE GOES HARD!!

Thank you Henry for being here for your boy even though it's a super traumatic moment. :(((

HOLY SHIT MUSIC LANGUAGE!?!? I was just listening to a Homestuck video about that! 🤯

Elgin, you aren't making a great case for yourself right now. Boyd, I don't even know at this point man idk.

Okay, but why "can't" he though? Is he literally physically unable to? Or will ghost lady fucking kill him if he does? I mean Boyd is about to if she doesn't so idk maybe just tell him.

OH GODS THIS IS HARD TO WATCH FUCKKKKKKK

HOLY SHIT WHAT IF QUE SERA SERA IS THE FUCKING SONG THAT'S BEING DECODED? IT'S THE FUCKING OPENING SONG I BET.

Tabitha, you're a fucking genius.

A STORYWALKER?????? Someone who visits chapters of the story that already happened huh... wait will this have a butterfly effect on things?

WAIT YEAH THE FUCKING ROPE, SO IT DID HAVE AN EFFECT..... WAIT HOLY FUCK SO.... HOW MANY WEIRD THINGS HAVE BEEN PEOPLE TIME TRAVELING??

'No one can change a story once it's been told." Okay so explain the rope thing then?? Time loops theory??? idk

Sara.... what are you doing hun? What's uhhhh what's going on? Oh gods is she gonna continue where Boyd left off?

OH SARA HONEY NOOOO OH GODDDDDSSS OH NOOO DON'T PLEASE DON'T BUT IDK SHITTT THIS WHOLE THING SUCKS

oh god SARA NO SARA NO SARA NOOOO YOU WERE DOING SO GOOD

HOLY FUCK SO HE COULD ACTUALLY TELL THEM, BUT OH NO SARA :(((((( OH GIRLIE.....

MUSIC TIME BABEY LET'S DO THIS TIME TRAVEL SPACE TRAVEL OR SPACE TIME TRAVEL SHIT LETS MEET SOME GHOST KIDS IDFK

Okay anyone know what song Jade is playing like actually? Or was it commissioned for the show? Man looks damn good playing that violin though! 🔥

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT'S COMING OUT OF THAT TRAP DOOR WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

YEAH OKAY JUST GONNA PUT A SENSITIVE CONTENT WARNING ON THE POST MAYBE, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS THAT?

"I'll be right behind you, okay?" Famous last words...😬

wait..... these stairs look like Tabitha's light house dream!

Well, you've summoned them with their song! 👀 The unofficial captions call it "Jade's melody."

WHAT IS THAT LIGHT????

THE THINGS THAT CAME OUT AT NIGHT SACRIFICED THEIR CHILDREN??? OH FUCK.... SO WAIT..... OH SHIT... OH NO IS FATIMA BECOMING ONE BY FROMVILLE'S HAND? OH SHIT OH NO OH FUCK PLEASE NO

Fromville's entity promised those former people they would live forever if they sacrificed their kids to it? Monkey's paw type of deal to make I guess given what it turns them into. 👀

The gang's all here! /reference

Oh gods please don't let Fatima become one.... oh no oh fuck.... oh god if she does there goes multiple main characters too... oh shit oh fuck im nervous.

THIS BABY IS THE SIZE OF A GROWN ASS ADULT WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT IS HAPPENING?!?!

OH NOOOOO THEY FUCKING BROUGHT BACK JERMA!!! 😭 Why is the fucking happy smiler back?? Stay dead!!!

ANGHKOOEY MEANS "REMEMBER" OMG

DID THEY JUST INHERIT THE MEMORIES OF THE FROMVILLE MONSTERS PRE-MONSTERFICATION???

Jim be less aggressive, but I'm right there with you, I'm also confused as shit. Did she make multiple bracelets to cope with the loss of Thomas? What's Jade's deal then???

"The reason I felt what Miranda felt is because I was Miranda." IM SORRY????? EXCUSE ME!?!?!? Like as in reincarnation?? Wait then who was Jade?? Was he Christopher??

HE WAS OH MY GODS WHAT THE FUCK

WAIT THAT'S NOT OUR JULIE!!! HER HAIR IS SHORTER!!!!! WOAH OK OKAY SO TIME TRAVEL REAL THEN TIME TRAVEL SUPER FUCKING REAL

MGM OR EPIX OR WHOEVER THE FUCK YOU BETTER GIVE US THOSE 2 MORE SEASONS BECAUSE WHO THE FUCK IS THIS AND WHY IS HE OUT DURING THE DAY!?!?!

Well, RIP Jade and Jim probably. Right as Jim became a likeable character too smh. 😔✌

THIS IS THE FUCKING PHONE GUY!?!??! "Man in the Yellow Suit" oh yes very fucking specific, thanks.

Never thought I'd be calling a 2nd character phone guy, TWO NICKELS!!

"Well, RIP Jade and Jim probably. Right as Jim became a likeable character too smh. 😔✌" I WAS JOKING I WAS JUST MAKING A WITTY REMARK OR WHATEVER 😭😭

ALSO THE LIGHT HOUSE DREAM HAVING THE CHILDREN'S VOICES MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW BECAUSE THOSE SAME STAIRS LED TO THE MONSTER BIRTH SCENE & THAT'S INVOLVED WITH CHILD SACRIFICES

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

guess who got so brainrotted over jaiden animations that they finished their first animatic

[abbey-abdominal]

I really don’t understand why Pomni’s character has this forced implication that she’s this pathetic loser (even by Glitch the studio). Like are we watching the same show, Glitch? Pomni is … kind of a heroic protagonist. She’s so far from being pathetic, but ??? Hey, man, that new Pomster plush is adorable. Whatever man.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Hello! Hope you don't mind the random ask 🥺 You said after the newest episode that Mushitarou is one of your favorite BSD characters; could you talk a little about your thoughts on him/why you love him/his arc? He's one of my favorites too, and it makes me so so sad how underrated he is, because imo he's one of the most well-written and tragic characters in the entire series, despite how little screentime (pagetime?) he gets :' ) I wish more people would talk about him. Really hope that changes after the next episode 💚

I honestly almost screamed when I got this ask YES I CAN TALK ABOUT MUSHITARO. I CAN TALK ABOUT HIM ALL DAY.

Ok well first of all he is the poor little meow meow. Pathetic scrunkly man. I'm sorry but you can't deny that it's true. Even in-universe, it's like he's the BSD world's chew toy. He keeps getting kidnapped by different organizations with like. No breathing room in between. Give him a BREAK. Funnily enough, I enjoy and usually like to poke fun at these kinds of characters, but they're not typically my favourites. Mushitaro is, by far, an exception to my usual favourite character types.

Second, I am a lover of bittersweet tragic storylines. Yeah. Honestly, the way the storyline built to the slow reveal - I knew immediately after Poe mentioned the water droplets that they were his tears, and I was starting to suspect what was really going on, but the way it was unraveled was so, so painful and beautifully done. Even knowing it was coming today when I watched the episode, it still hurt.

Thirdly, Mushitaro's circumstances raise some intriguing questions we still don't have answered. He was captured by the Seventh Agency and made to work for them with his ability - he considers them a worse alternative to Dostoevsky and refers to them as tyrants. (We also know of another shadowy organization that takes on ability users with useful skills for nefarious purposes, V. V also somehow managed to not be discovered by either the government or Ranpo in 13 years. I'm not saying there's a connection there but... but... there might be. 👀) Anyways, point is, there's stuff goin' on there. And I wanna know. (Also I like the motivation parallels with Ango very much.)

But most of all, I fully agree with you - he is very well-written. What I love most about his character is actually the way his narrative showcases what I believe to be some of the series' character writing's biggest strengths - to excellent (and heartbreaking) effect.

Characters are often revealed to be quite different than what their initial introductions would suggest. Later revelations serve to recontextualize earlier character cues - these early cues are often misleading but not outright lies.

To be clear, this isn't a hard or particularly unique thing in character writing - in fact, this is... kind of a minimum requirement. Your audience should be able to go back after the fact and notice new things about characters that you only get on re-read. But I find BSD is interesting for this because these initial impressions don't frequently tell you what these characters actually value - the "establishing moments" are often incredibly misleading. Mushitaro is an excellent example of this.

The best part of the perfect murder arc is the way it slowly unravels piece by piece - and as it unravels, more and more, we get to see the real Mushitaro. He starts off with these terrifying facial expressions, bragging and boasting about how he is the "detective killer" and how none stand in his way, cackling like a shallow cartoon villain. There's not much there to suggest a deeper character. Then there's the first flash to Yokomizo's murder, and Mushitaro appears to revel in it and the idea that he can't be caught. Another flashback shows him making these arrogant demands of a literal terrorist, like all his tableware being silver and porcelain and having access to a library of occult books for his study. Ok dude. This all paints the picture of a selfish individual, primarily concerned with expensive things and money and image - all things that perfectly fit Ranpo's initial conjecture as to the kind of person behind the Kindaichi murder. And just like Ranpo later says, it's a little too perfect.

The reveal builds slowly but surely, and Mushitaro's built-up image as a dramatic, remorseless murderer crumbles. Because he didn't kill out of hatred at all. He killed Yokomizo because Yokomizo asked him to do so. Because this, and the legacy of a mystery that transcended fiction into reality, was his only friend's dying wish. It was enough for Mushitaro to delay his escape just to fulfill it - what Ranpo refers to as a kind of willing self-destruction.

What Mushitaro ultimately values then is honouring the wishes of those he cares about and repaying those he owes. He will take the secret of Yokomizo's ultimate mystery to his grave. He used what he likely thought were his last moments alive to grab the transceiver and warn Ranpo about the danger the Agency was in. He only decided to trust Ango after Ango admitted his use of the Seventh Agency was to honour Oda's memory and wishes.

So, going back and re-reading his intro again, it becomes more clear that he was suffering from a kind of cognitive dissonance. "But wasn't he just playing the role he was supposed to?" No. He wasn't. The first flashback to Yokomizo's murder is much more violent and ends with Mushitaro cackling and going into a full villain monologue when there is no one else around but him. There's no one to perform this role for - except Mushitaro himself.

Both the killing and the ensuing grief stemmed from the exact same source - Mushitaro loved his friend deeply. But there is, I believe, no small amount of bitterness too, for the way they argued frequently, and the way his friend asked this of him. It's practically irreconcilable in his mind, and so Mushitaro leans into his role as the evil perpetrator who hated Yokomizo to such a degree that I honestly think he started to believe it - Mushitaro, with two narratives in his mind running parallel to each other that are fundamentally conflicting, tried to make a monster of himself. Insisted on being the monster, at least until Ranpo made it impossible for him to deny the true motive behind his actions - protecting his friend's last wish.

Fittingly for the climactic reveal of a mystery storyline that blurs fiction and reality, Mushitaro's real-life grief was his perfect fictional role's undoing.

Is he boastful? Arrogant? A bit of a coward? Absolutely. But Mushitaro is no monstrous villain - he is a man unable to confront his grief over his friend's death, and who, ultimately, doesn't intend any real harm.

Because other than Yokomizo, revealed as an agreed upon assisted suicide - Mushitaro never murdered anyone.

2. Characters are not cured of their pain and trauma. They continue to struggle with it during their development and it actively impacts the way they view and interact with the world around them.

Mushitaro's story is heavily themed around grief and his consistent denial of it's effects on him. At first, he denies by embodying the role Yokomizo wanted him to play - it seems to the point where he legitimately started to lose it. He's slipping when we first meet him. In a weird way, for as much as Ranpo tore his perfect crime apart... I feel like he also saved him, in a sense. The dissonance he was experiencing likely only would've gotten worse if he had not been forced to speak the truth aloud.

After that point... the denial focuses solely on the idea that Mushitaro doesn't miss Yokomizo at all. That he's doing just fine and Yokomizo should be jealous (he's far from fine; he doesn't even see a point in going outside anymore now that he won't be able to see his friend) and that he hated him (he doesn't. he never did. but he has to. he can't deal with it.).

Another thing I really like about his arc is that Mushitaro's grief also clearly stems from the entire thing being traumatic for him - but neither Yokomizo nor Mushitaro are demonized or victimized for this; rather the situation is just shown as it is. It's nice, that the story allows the reader/viewer to draw their own judgements. Both had their reasons for their actions - Yokomizo was already dying and wanted to go out in a way that was meaningful to him, while Mushitaro chose to fulfill this wish in spite of the cost to him. They both mutually self-destructed, in a way.

The narrative doesn't frame either as the villain. It doesn't fully frame either in victimhood either. It's a tragedy all the same.

Mushitaro continues to see and hear Yokomizo wherever he goes, not because he can't get rid of him... but because he never wanted him to be gone in the first place. Stabbing me would hurt less I think. :/

3. Characters often grow and change before they consciously realize it or have any sort of "epiphany".

This ties in a lot with the ongoing theme of uncertainty, and I above all really like this aspect of the series. BSD has characters grow and change and try to be better, do better by themselves and others... without being sure of the outcome. Sometimes before they're ready to consciously admit a change is necessary. There are few epiphanies. The characters are forced to slog through hardship and only then suddenly realize how far they've come - for better or for worse.

Mushitaro does change, even in the short span of time he is a focus character. I love the first little signs of it too - Mushitaro, who doesn't even like mystery novels, uses a trick Yokomizo told him about to help himself, Atsushi and Kyouka escape. Look at him :')

Afterwards, he starts to wonder if he can see Yokomizo whenever he enters a locked room - as in, if connecting to the memory of his friend through what he loved in life will mean that he keeps that memory alive.

And as annoyed as he is with Poe's attempts to get him to write a mystery... a part of him is happy to be around people that he could start to consider his friends. Enough that the Yokomizo he hallucinates wonders if maybe he doesn't need him there anymore. And finally Mushitaro bursts.

But this is actually good. He's finally past that denial phase, the part that had him talking about hate when really he missed him all along. Thing is, he'd already been developing and changing by this point, in that he needed the growth to come to terms with this truth, and it was not the truth that drove the growth.

In a sense, Mushitaro working through his grief and uncertainty led him to a brighter outcome, one where he has more friends and can start anew. He lost the closest person in his life. But his arc continuously asserts that in spite of the fact that he will always miss his friend, Mushitaro himself is still alive. And he should live that life - both moving forward and keeping the memory of his friend with him.

Odasaku believed that writing a novel was to write people. Poe was so insistent on getting him to write because it's a way of seeing the people we want to see anytime we want.

What a beautiful character arc, that began with fiction as an escape from real-life pain, and concluded with fiction as a means to work through it and with it instead.

Plus he's just such a funky little dude.

I. Love. Mushitaro.

[shiroselia]

Play 13 Sentinels I am no longer asking

[hopelessfandomfreak]

this gives me hope