#[vol18]

[pattrat]

14 saikyosetsu doodle i really like actually. theyre idiots DO NOT TRUST THEM. EVER.

[wanopo-daily]

Day 30:

HORROR

"The devil has come again. I feel weird and nasty down my neck.."

This song was produced by MinusP and was performed by Rin.

FUN FACT THIS SONG IS FULLY IN ENGLISH!! its banger

[critdeeznuts]

there’s truly no character like kou minamoto. he’s ginger. he’s bisexual. his crush died. he’s hot but only when he’s 20. he’s 15. he does all the cooking and cleaning. his crush died. he loves his siblings. he’s an exorcist but doesn’t exorcise spirits. he offered to kill himself to be with his twice-dead crush forever. he’s a middle child.

[windbreaker-timely]

Vol18 sketches

[atzupdates]

[240229] DICON Be Artistic #æverythingz

DICON Vol18, ATEEZ

2024.02.29

[oceanwithouthermoon]

(vol8 vs vol18)

did he buy a fucking cellphone when he got more friends ???? ☠️☠️☠️

[blur0se]

I imported the special edition of vol18 of the gx manga and its in las vegas right now so now I'm thinking about modern Au jinshi and maomao in vegas i will not be taking questions at this time

[aszles]

spoilers for csm vol18 and onwards, or specifically ch154-170

hi guys i just woke up, i want to talk about this though...

since the cover for volume 18 was revealed, and now the inside cover too, i'm seeing a lot of the sentiment that this confirms nayuta's death.

but ever since i saw the cover i've been thinking it's the opposite. come back and laugh at me if this ends up being cope but.

i want to bring your attention to the chapters featured in volume 18. it goes from 154 (all pets) to 164 (charred remains).

but charred remains is NOT what "confirms" nayuta is dead. in fact, her body is nowhere to be found, and the only character who claims she is dead is yoru (bad source). i think that this chapter specifically gives the reader hope that nayuta could be alive.

so if that's the case, why would the cover be nayuta to finalise her existence? if that were the case, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to feature her on volume 19, where we finally see her head and lose the hope we were hanging onto?

idk what else to add, but yeah (p.s. this is easily the best chainsaw man cover thank you fujimoto p.s p.s HER EYES ARE RED??????)

[hostilemuppet]

cannot begin to describe how important lyndata was to me back in the day. it started with me obsessing over ardata (upper middle class and privileged, you think shes got it all and shes using it for evil, but shes actually stuck in a situation she has no way out of: she WANTS to leave, shes the only character who LOOKS FORWARD TO leaving the planet bc it means an escape. it can easily be read as a metaphor for suicidal ideation, coupled with her literally self harming in front of you, and then saying youre the only person whos ever tried to be her friend) and being so sick of the way people treat her, glossing over her and treating her as if shes just evil for no reason, while worshiping the ground all the male characters walked on

then we got lynera, and she was another complicated female character (middle of the road, all but isolated by greater society, hated by almost all of her cloister mates except bronya, who she loves, cherishes, ADORES in an extremely unhealthy way, and doesnt want anything to happen to her, and shes miserable living like this but its all she knows), and she was also tossed to the side in favour of the dude she shared her volume with

and then... yknow... i just pushed em together! two women, suffering under the system that punishes change, i thought theyd compliment each other. then i got obsessed with them, as you do, they worked so WELL together, and they never even interacted! if everyone else got to ship tagora and galekh, who didnt even canonically know each other until galekhs route, then why cant i do the same with two girls!

AND THEN.

AND THEN.

THEY *DID* ACTUALLY INTERACT.

PRIOR TO VOL18s RELEASE, THE STEAM PAGE WENT UP, AND IT HAD THIS

someone sent it to me, and i thought it was a FAKE SCREENSHOT. i thought they made it and sent it to me bc they knew itd make me happy, and it did, but then it was REAL. IT WAS REAL! THEY WERE ACTUALLY IN THE SAME SHOT! my silly little crackship that i was so invested in and NAMED, IT HAD BASIS. and not only basis, but THIS

SHE CALLS HER "MY SWEET THIIING"!!!!!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH I WAS FREAKING THE FUCK OUT?????????????????? sure, galekh had a "canon crush on tagora" who "presumably reciprocated" or whatever, but lyndata, my crackship with the COMPLICATED LESBIANS, had a PETNAME. by that point i had resolved myself that the writers had completely dropped the ball on ardata, and they kind of also did on this route (what they had was FUNNY and CUTE but it made no sense how she went from vol1 to vol13 to vol18), but they brought her back one final time. my favourite character, and they put her in the SAME SCREEN as my SECOND FAVOURITE, and they actually talk to each other and its cute and she calls her her SWEET THIIING!!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pattrat]

[wanopo-daily]

Day 22:

Comic/コミック

"Don't fear, don't cry! Go on, you can get up and go!"

the fourth song in Volume 18, composed by JesusP and performed by both Rin and Len.

[tomoyoo]

Posted by a real one on a manga reading site (NOT MY WORDS)

Kamui's real wish is for the end of the world to stop while Fuuma's wish is for Kamui's happiness ("...my wish can only be realized by Kamui", "The more you care about someone, the more you lose sight of things. And maybe while you don’t even notice it, you’re hurting a person close to you", Kakyou: "he only realizes other people's wishes" & "The Kamui of the Dragons of Heavens hasn't realized the wish of the Kamui of the Dragons of Earth, yet [...] and he'll never know it from begining to end"). However, if Kamui continues saying his wish is for Fuuma to return to his former self (thus why Kamui will be unable to defeat Fuuma), Kamui's wish will be granted but only because of the shock Fuuma will have from killing Kamui. As Kakyo said in vol18 "If the “shinken” is used, you will meet Fuuma. However…inevitable they’ll be even more tragedies" (as Kamui's death will cause the end of the world).

During his converation with Subaru at the end of vol17, Fuuma wonders if he should also leave a part of himself behind for Kamui, similar to what Seishirou did for Subaru, to remember him by. He's stuck between staying with Kamui, who does wants him back, but will inevitably cause a lot of pain for Kamui with everything that's happened, or disappear from Kamui's life, but Kamui will come to cherish whatever Fuuma leaves for him.

When/if(?) Kamui's able to recognize his true wish, Fuuma will put a stop the destruction by killing the Dragons of Earth who want the world to end. It'll be the reason why Kusanagi and Subaru won't be targetted ("You have to fill the missing space in the Dragons of Earth. You don't necessarily need to do anything"). Since Arashi's brainwashed into wanting to destroy the kekkai Fuuma will go to kill her too. Sorata will sacrifice himself to protect her. Arashi's wish that Sorata not die will be granted when we learn that she's pregnant with his child.

My opinion is when whoever kills Dark!Hinoto and destroys the last Kekkai, that'll be when Kamui realizes what his true wish is (so no one else suffers like Keiichi has with the loss of his parents during the earthquakes) and is able to summon his Kekkai and protect the world.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

I'd argue the first gif along with sequences like these showcase him thinking and fretting over Ray just as frequently. There's vitriol thrown into the mix because of how hurt he was by Ray's perceived betrayal, but if anything the ferocity behind those sentiments are what propel him to so swiftly and strongly swing the pendulum back to viewing Ray as a dear friend who must be protected and deserves to be saved at all costs.

This in turn influences Ray to see Norman atop the wall during the escape as the final marker of him genuinely internalizing one of the deepest desires in his heart that he had locked away for so long, which I personally put on the same level as Emma having a vision of Norman after Leuvis stabs her in chapter 93 and find interesting what leads one to be played up over the other. I'd also say the focus on Norman voicing how much he wants to see Emma again too, though to be fair the anime lends itself to this as well.

But yes, the way he consistently voices wanting to see the both of them along with the rest of his family again and the facsimiles he'd conjure of them to keep him going 🖤🤍🧡 (already posted these fic excerpts on another post but they're just as applicable here and they own my ass for how foundational they were in my interpretation of the series with their poignant portrayal of the dynamic between the trio so yolo)

(smoke and mirrors by @salsae)

(Between Your Fingers, Between the Lines by honeynpeaches)

And even after they reunite, his thoughts repeatedly return to the both of them as he ruminates on what he plans to do.

(Chapter 129 | Chapter 145)

While desperately wanting to reach out to both of them the entire time for help.

(Volume 18 Cover and Inner Cover | Chapter 154)

Ray TPN

KLJDFKLVDK HIM THOUGH??

(S1 Episode 6 | Chapter 181.1 | Chapter 93 | Chapter 119 | banana_slug_army's A Bizarre Proposal | 2020 Exhibition Interview)

[noa-ciharu]

I have a question why is Karen Kasumis tarot justice?

I think it's because of couple of things (like being logical, trying to be fair etc.) but mostly due to disbalance of how she views others vs how she views herself. Keep in mind X is very dark series. Most of characters fit descriptions of their reversed arcanas as well (like Kakyou or Seishirou for example).

Blindfold in Justice card is often meant to symbolized unbias but combined with chains and restrains here I think it's also meant to symbolized powerlessness to move from one's maladjusted seemingly logical but actually flawed views. On weights we see flame (symbol of why she was shunned and demonized her whole life) and feather (could symbolize freedom but I think in X context it's more about fate of the world matters; which once more can be tied back to matter of freedom, fate vs coincidence). Same powers which give her ability to protect those she cares about also hurt her and chained down to maladjusted mindset. If it weren't for the fate she wouldn't have those powers and wouldn't be dehumanized. If it weren't for powers she wouldn't have found herself in situation she is in X. So where coincidence begins and fate ends? What's the cause and what the effect? Anyhow connection exists, and justice is all about colerations and balance.

One of Karen's major traits is that she doesn't want to burden others. Here she'd rather put herself in jeopardy than let other Seals be in harm's way. Why? Because according to her words 'noone would weep for her'. That's why she drugged Aoki in this scene so he doesn't go to defend a Kekai and dies (and leaves his wife and kid alone). What she failed to realize that if she dies, someone would be sad. Aoki told her so much later on. I'll return to this ideology later on.

In similar fashion she's concealing her emotions from Aoki because she doesn't want to burden him. Kind of her, but once more she's purposely suffering on her own just for sake of someone else. Karen is kind, compassionate, empathetic, understanding but only towards others. She never treats herself with that compassion. That's probably result of her messed up childhood and having to raise herself up pretty much after her mother died. Given how her mother regularly blamed her for her powers and called a demon because of same, no wonder Karen has no sense of self-worth. Later on she became a sex-worker and whilst none of her work hours were shown it's safe to assume she's being treated more as sex object than human being there. Once again, lack of compassion towards herself. Still, as she's a kind human being, she offeres that compassion to others - disbalance

She has two major connections throught the series: with Aoki and Nataku. Let's go through Aoki first since situation is more clear cut. Beside being the first one to show her kindness and admit to care about her, I think what attracted Karen to Aoki in the first place was stability he has in life. He has a family, stable job, life outside whole apocalypse mess - something she doesn't have. We've never seen Karen interact with someone who isn't involved in end of world business, I think it's safe to assume she leads life emotionally disconnected from others (or more precise, compassion is one-sided where she gives and gives but gets nothing in return). Also she's the only Christian character in the series (given how cross she holds looks like safe to assume Catholic Christian); christianity itself is deeply rooted in glamorizing idea of suffering for greater cause. Perhaps Karen herself believes she's a better person by not sharing her burdens and suffering in silence because she appears more resilient than way; nonetheless she needs something to keep her going in life and it can be her faith.

What's interesting is that Karen immediately felt connection to Nataku. It's the resembled, the empathy evoked based on echo of one's own past. Karen said so herself during vol18, Nataku has same eyes of a lost child she once had. She was drawn to them (I'm not sure how to refer to Nataku so I'll roll with they/them) because she saw her past self in them. That's why she's so bent on reaching Nataku's heart and making them realize they're human being capable of feeling emotions. Their pasts are also similar. Nataku grew up in a lab where they've constantly heard they're human-like creature with no emotions and one and only purpose: to be involved in World end business. Karen has been dehumanized all her childhood by her mother as well. Of course there was resemblce, no wonder Karen referred to Nataku as a child despite them looking like a grown up. Deep down Nataku is akin to lost child. But so was Karen long ago.

Again, it's interesting she chose to help someone who resembles herself but not herself per se. Maybe it was cathartic to show Nataku compassion and connect with them, maybe Karen deep down felt like she was helping her wounded inner child as well. Maybe being compassionate to Nataku is closest to being compassionate to herself she can get.

Alas, relationship with Nataku ended on tragic note because of their suicidal wish. Here Fuuma is trying to make Karen see the truth: if killing is such unforgivable crime, why is it fine to wish to be harmed yourself? Karen herself told Aoki in vol13 that agreeing to not weep after someone close to you dies is promise you should never make - then went out to defend Kekai herself where she could have potentially died. Just so she could protect Aoki. Nataku did the similar here: they loved Karen so much they'd die for her. That's a fatal flaw most of X characters have: they lost themselves in love they feel for others to the point where they failed to realize by letting themselves be harmed they ended up hurting their loved one. Fulfillment of such wish leaves noone happy.

If Fuuma turns out to be Judgment card, then this convo of theirs would be interesting since Judgement is about analysis of what dwells in own heart, wheras Justice is more about analysis of surroundings. Fuuma is trying to point out something about Karen herself and in turn she's deflecting that introspection while trying to find an answer in surrounding (examples of other people). She's biased in her judgemnt since she'd protect others while not caring about what happens to herself.

Nonetheless I'd say Karen is on right track to figuring out why her logic is flawed and that she can't protect others before she wishes to protect herself alongside too. Balance between compassion towards others and compassion towards oneself must exist for relationship between two to be stable. In any relationship two must be equal and same rules must be applied to both sides. If she realizes message Fuuma has been trying to convey then maybe she won't meet a terrible fate by the time X ends.

[atzupdates]

[240226] DICON Be Artistic #æverythingz

DICON Vol18, ATEEZ

2024.02.29

[kemojisource]

Teaser for vol18 from Aimoto-sensei! Featuring Sakura and Tsubaki and their little flame birds. Looks like they are hugging.

This volume should also introduce the girls' profiles and will contain chapters 70 to 74. Goes in sale February 3.