#(and how he does not see himself as human and feels alienated from human society bc of it yet he is written to be the most relatable- | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

crowbasils · 1 year ago

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BASIL (OMORI) — A complete (for now) analysis

spoilers under the cut !! ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

BASIL is actually more nuanced than the game makes him out to be, and has hid his emotions far before KEL has, and is as tragic, if not more tragic, as AUBREY is.

HIS CHILDHOOD （＾_＾）

Let’s start off before he met the friend group. As POLLY says in-game, his parents left him when he was a toddler, with his grandmother being the only one there for him. She also does note that she’s only ever seen them once.

…This is obviously something that affected BASIL’s life a lot. Being left with only one person—an old one at that. She cares, yes, but the thing is, we don’t know how she was like. All we get is old art, old concepts, but even then, it’s how SUNNY sees her. Maybe she was pretty strict, maybe she was someone that was lax but when upset, her punishments would be severe, traumatizing, even. Even then, despite the fact that he’s left with someone that cares for him, it’s still pretty bad. Why? Because he would realize that she isn’t his parent. That his grandmother isn’t his parent. And that realization hurts. He’s left to wonder why his parents left him. Why his parents abandoned, and neglected him. Why he seemed unwanted compared to others. Was it because they found him to be weak? Was it because they hated him? Was it because they had no time for him? We never know, and he really never did, either. It does not help that canon implies that there was no communication from him to his parents either.

This can actually cause children to feel like an alien. To feel like they are abnormal in comparison to others. To feel like they aren’t human. To feel that they can’t “connect” with society. They don’t know how to interact “properly” with people, because they can’t relate to other’s experiences. Because they have not experienced interacting much with people. Because they don’t know how to relate, they don’t interact much easily. Because they don’t know how to relate, their speech and manner of expression may not be up to standard. They don't know what a “parent’s love” is, a “mother’s love”, or what “love” is in general, because they weren’t exposed to that. This is, most probably, the case with BASIL. Even though he has a grandmother, it’s not really enough. It’s not enough, because it’s not his parents, it’s not the ones who gave birth to him. It’s not the ones who others would say “would love you unconditionally”. It’s not the ones who others would say “would love you the most”.

Considering that it’s his grandmother, BASIL might’ve actually had to tend to himself and mature faster than anyone did. His grandmother is old, and old people do have quite a lot of complications to deal with. Even if they’re healthy, they’re a bit fragile. He might’ve had to run errands for her, do house chores for her, and stuff like that. A grandmother isn’t the most reliable parental figure, because they could fall ill at any moment, they could die at any moment. He probably knows this, actually. If you take the hunter thing as canon, this does kind of add to the… y’know since he does have to see carcasses. We also don’t know if she’s actually nice. We don’t know if she was a good grandmother, we don’t know if she was a bad one either.

… Anyways. All that combined probably makes you think that BASIL would turn out to be a really sad and depressed kid. As in, something like post-incident SUNNY. But… surprisingly, he’s not. He’s happy, smiling, and if you look at the pre-incident art, more than SUNNY (although, SUNNY states that he doesn’t really like to smile in the traditional sense. BASIL sees right through him though, and knows if he’s smiling or not.). He’s smiling more than SUNNY, which admittedly, makes no sense if you take it as something that indicates “Oh!!! BASIL is happier than SUNNY and SUNNY pre-incident is traumatized!!!!” when you consider both of their childhoods. Which brings us to the next point…

THE INSIDE (PRE-INCIDENT) ( T_T)＼(^-^ )

While not specifically expressed in canon (SUNNY and OMORI aren’t reliable narrators and their views won’t always be accurate), it is pretty implied that he hides feelings. Probably the most obvious indicators of that would be the fact that he vents to SUNNY, and the existence of STRANGER (who is implied to be the parts of BASIL that Sunny finds “unpleasant” while also being a positive figure and guide to him. Not to say that he dislikes BASIL, but he pretty much has this black and white view when it comes to the world because yeah, he’s young and has experienced a lot less pre-incident) and some parts of BLACKSPACE.

He probably has hid more feelings than the game lets on. Maybe he thinks of himself as “inhuman” and feels “strange” compared to everyone because he can’t relate that well to their experiences with their parents and peers, and uses smiling and laughing as a way to cope and/or cover that. Maybe he thinks of himself as “less”, that sometimes, he feels empty, sad, and even angry, and that’s why he acts the way he does. He involves himself in the activities of the friend group, because he’s so scared of being left alone again. To avoid being forgotten and abandoned, he helps everyone and tries to be the reliable friend everyone needs. Maybe because he’s never been able to make a lot of human interaction, he is the way he is. Maybe, he even exaggerated some of his emotions, for a lack of a better word. He wants to get “in” to the moment, truly feel it for what it is, which leads to his emotions being a mix of genuine and a mix of a slight exaggeration. He feels joy and does feel genuinely happy, but he exaggerates it at times. To him, it will all be but a fleeting moment, and when time comes, the friend group will collapse. He values his relationships with the friend group more than anyone, because to him, they are his true family. He takes photos of them, because he’s afraid to lose them.

They say, “opposites attract”, correct? Then perhaps the reason why BASIL hangs out more with SUNNY, is because he is the very opposite to him, by technicality. SUNNY isn’t physically expressive with his emotions. SUNNY doesn’t smile, neither does he laugh a lot, but unlike him, But at the same time, SUNNY isn’t empty. SUNNY is so full of life. He is full of dreams, imagination, often good and fantastical. SUNNY has been around people who love and trust him his entire childhood, while BASIL hasn’t. SUNNY has been loved and cherished by everyone his entire childhood, but BASIL hasn’t. BASIL wasn’t as loved and cherished by everyone as SUNNY was. SUNNY had many people care for him before the friend group, while BASIL didn’t. SUNNY experienced parental love, but BASIL didn’t, and will never experience it. In his eyes, SUNNY is perfect, because he experienced what he cannot. Because he is loved by everyone. Because he is cherished, and treasured. He is what BASIL cannot be, and will not ever be. He is the “good person” he wishes to be, yet cannot be.

With that being said, BASIL probably does have trust and abandonment issues that he hid as well. His photo album can be a sign of that. Abandonment issues, caused by his parents leaving and the fact that his grandmother can fall ill / die at any moment, and trust issues caused by the abandonment issues. The photo album is also described as a collection of “things he is afraid to lose”.

He is also implied to be depressed and/or suicidal in a certain incident which will be addressed in the next section

“THE INCIDENT” ∑(ﾟДﾟ)

The incident is a major part of the OMORI story. It is the very thing that serves as the catalyst for all the events ingame. As for this section of the analysis, it will attempt to give a reason—but not excuse—as to why BASIL did what, and what it may imply when it comes to his character. As well as clearing common misconceptions on why a character did certain things and why the misconception is incorrect.

The question “Why did BASIL hang MARI?” is a question asked by a lot of people. The answer to that is… quite simple, and that is because he didn’t want SUNNY to get in trouble, and hated by everyone. “But he could’ve called the ambulance!!! Or even his parents!!!” That is true, but consider, he was in a stressful situation, and he didn’t even know what to do, as witnessing a death of a friend caused by another friend is a hard thing to take. This and the fact that the police and medical services in OMORI FARAWAY seem quite incompetent and/or lacking, considering how AUBREY was able to get away scot-free while having a bat with nails on it. Also, him hanging MARI does also implies that he knows how to tie a noose. While that can be excused as something that comes from gardening, the thing is that. he knows that it’s for suicide, which also in turn, implies that he knows how to commit it. Which is concerning, especially when you take into consideration that he’s a 12 year old, and that it’s pretty rare for a 12 year old to know that back in the time OMORI is implied to have taken place in. The internet also didn’t exist back then, which makes it pretty impossible for Basil to know what suicide is and how to do it unless he planned to do it himself.

A common yet popular misconception in the fandom is that he is the one who scribbled up the photo album, and to that I say, “No, he wasn’t.” It was SUNNY. SUNNY was the one who scribbled up the photos, and BASIL just took the blame so that he wouldn’t get in trouble and be hated by everyone. BASIL actually says that it was SUNNY in an earlier version of the dialogue before the BASIL fight. (SUNNY even takes a step back when the rest of the gang (minus BASIL) hugs AUBREY! Which is an indicator of at least something.

Another common yet popular misconception is that this is the only reason why BASIL is depressed/sad and that after the game, he’ll go back to being happy again, and to that I say, nope. Absolutely not. It’s not the only reason why BASIL is like that. Even if he healed from the trauma the incident has caused, a lot of his issues are still left unaddressed. The feelings from his grandmother dying, the worsened abandonment and trust issues, the strong yet not acknowledged and repressed feelings from AUBREY bullying him, the feelings from SUNNY leaving him, the feelings from… pretty much everyone leaving him are still there. Him also being suicidal and scared yet again to reunite, because he feels like it will dissolve even faster than before. He’s also still scared that they hate him, and even if they say they don’t, he feels like they’re lying and inside, they hate him and want him to die.

…Also, the incident is not completely BASIL’s fault. He wasn’t the reason why SUNNY shut himself in his room and became a shut-in / hikikomori. And while yes, his SOMETHING is in the shape of hanged MARI, SUNNY became a shut-in / hikikomori due to the guilt of killing Mari, and not because of BASIL hanging her. It’s not BASIL’s fault that SUNNY became a shut-in and that the group fell apart, because the group would’ve fallen apart anyway. It’s just that it’s no longer only SUNNY’s fault that the group did. And even if the hanging didn’t happen, the majority of the group wouldn’t be mature enough to understand the situation fully. We, as the players/readers understand it, because we have almost all of the pieces of the puzzle, but they won’t.

POST-INCIDENT, FARAWAY SECTION (¬_¬)

Before I’d like to start off this segment, what the fandom fails to acknowledge most of the time is that BASIL is 16. He’s not a crybaby. He’s not scared of everything. He’s not a scaredy-cat. Most of those assumptions come from the fandom’s inability to recognize that BASIL has suffered as much as SUNNY and AUBREY have. He is as pained and hurt as them. He was hurt and in pain because of them, too.

The first time we see BASIL, we see him asking for his photo album, but getting bullied and getting told “no” instead. This makes a pretty bad first impression to younger fans and illiterate fans, and because of that, he is often watered down into this “uwu coward soft boy who cries a lot”, which he isn’t. He may seem like it, but he isn’t. The second time we see BASIL, he is at the old hangout spot, and calling for help. This… actually does imply a lot of things, one of them being suicide. He might’ve came there to die in a place where he missed, to look at the place one last time before he would commit suicide, but he was stopped by the hooligans. which most likely bullied him (even though they say they didn’t). And the last time, the sleepover, he either kills himself, or stabs SUNNY in the eye due to hallucinations and stress.

The BASIL we see here, in Faraway, is a more broken version of BASIL. He still acts and hides feelings—or at least tries. It’s not as effective as before. One thing I’d like to point out is the fact that we never really actually see BASIL do anything connected to his past interests. While yes, his photo album being missing may be a part of it, he doesn’t really take photos anymore. We don’t see him taking care of his flowers, either. Maybe he could’ve lost interest in it, as a result of the incident. One POLLY line actually does say that he stopped taking care of his flowers completely at some point before the game.

BASIL probably doesn’t eat much. We don’t see BASIL eat the food in the time SUNNY and KEL were in his house. POLLY does state that he’s been going to the bathroom a lot, too.

That aside, let’s get deeper into it. BASIL, in faraway, is most likely at the lowest point of his life. He had to see his friends leave him one by one (even KEL! even HERO!), and have one bullying him. He no longer has an outlet for his extremely bottled up emotions. He doesn’t have anyone, and his grandmother fell ill as well. POLLY is also paid to be there for him too, which means she doesn’t really count as someone he has. She isn’t close to him, either. She isn’t as close to him as the fandom makes her out to be. She cares, yes. But she isn’t close to BASIL at all. She does say it as well

The reason behind why BASIL stabbed SUNNY’s eye was because he was hallucinating, and not because he actually wanted to stab SUNNY. He stabbed SUNNY’s eye because he thought his eye was a part of SOMETHING (that… he is implied to hallucinate heavier for whatever reason), and not SUNNY. Although, it’s not completely all because of that, it’s a key part of it. His repressed anger and hatred, him being genuinely upset, as well as his desire to protect SUNNY from SOMETHING—a thing that he genuinely and wholeheartedly believes is real and something that exists in reality—is also a part of it too. This part does not mean that BASIL put his selfish desires first, this does not mean that BASIL puts his desire to keep his best friend above SUNNY’s safety. This doesn’t mean that he’s only concerned with what SUNNY can do for him and not concerned with what is best for him. BASIL was going through a breakdown, so a lot of the things he says are in this confused state where he doesn’t know what he’s feeling, what is really happening, and isn’t thinking clearly. BASIL is not doing all this with a clear head and mind. Both the safety of SUNNY and not wanting SUNNY to leave are both on the forefront of his mind, it’s just that, because of the overwhelming stress and the fact that his thoughts aren’t that clear, his method and way of protecting SUNNY is a bit “confusing”. He cares, he cares for SUNNY’s safety, but in this context, the “normal” way of caring doesn’t apply, because the situation isn’t really normal to begin with. The part where he states that he’ll end both of their pains (by murder-suicide) is most likely out of stress, because his situation is extremely stressful, and it’s sad that nobody recognizes it.

He also does use toxic positivity, saying “Everything will be okay…” even if it won’t. It’s just… less recognized.

POST-INCIDENT RELATIONSHIPS & WHAT LIES BEYOND (・・?)

BASIL, post-incident, probably also does have a lot of hidden feelings as well. This time, feelings like anger and even hatred towards his friends, an intense and deeper emptiness, and a lot more worsened negative feelings are added to it.

BASIL still thinks of himself as “weird” compared to everyone else in the friend group, especially after the incident. He feels inhuman, even worse now because if people knew what he did, he knows that they would think of him as a monster and someone unforgivable. He knows now that what he did could be considered inhuman, and feels regret for it. His problems have been intensified, his mental health took a nosedive, and so much more.

With that being said, deep down, maybe he did resent SUNNY. For leaving him when they promised that they would be there for each other. For leaving for 4 years and making him bear the brunt of the judgment. For leaving him when he needed help the most. For leaving him and letting him take fault for something he did (blacking out the photos). But he can’t help but still love him through all of that, whether you take it platonically or romantically. They are tied by a string of fate, they will find each other no matter what, and will try to forgive themselves and each other. The path to recovery is laid with hardships, and complicated feelings. BASIL and SUNNY are each other’s weakness, but each other’s reasons for going on. SUNNY’s desire to save HEADSPACE BASIL that carried on to the FARAWAY BASIL, and BASIL’s desire to see SUNNY again, if only for a while. It is not only KEL who helped SUNNY stay alive, but BASIL as well. Even if BASIL thinks that he’s too far gone to be found, if he’s someone who cannot be helped anymore, SUNNY still tries to help him. SUNNY wants to help him. It is not BASIL that forces him to, but SUNNY’s own desire. BASIL doesn’t force him to, he asks him to, but not force him. SUNNY is doing it on his own accord, because he wants to help BASIL. BASIL understands SUNNY, and SUNNY understands BASIL, both on a much deeper level than anyone else. They have hurt each other, yes, but everyone in the group has hurt each other at some point. They are each other’s triggers, but they are also each other’s sources of comfort. They are why they were able to face and accept the truth of the accident and incident. It is because of each other that SUNNY was able to accept that MARI died, and that SUNNY was the one who was at fault when it comes to MARI’s death and the accident. Even if SUNNY lost his eye because of BASIL, it is also because of BASIL that he was able to remember and face the truth of the accident and incident.

Now, to AUBREY, deep down, he probably resents her too, possibly much more than SUNNY. One thing that I’d like to mention is that bullying is, in fact, a form of abuse. I’m not calling AUBREY an abuser, but she did do fucked up things. She was a horrible person, but she wasn’t evil. He’s not calm because he understands, he’s calm because he thinks the one at fault. He thinks he deserves it. He understands, yes, but that’s not why he’s calm. He’s calm because he genuinely thinks there’s something wrong with him, and that he’s the one who needs to adjust. People who get bullied tend to think that there’s something wrong with them, that they have to be the one to adjust, especially if said person was close to you before it. Some don’t realize it’s bullying either until they reflect and think more about it, especially if they were once a friend, or a family member. Technically, what she did Is abuse, since bullying is considered abuse. It doesn’t matter if it was verbal abuse at first, it still counts as it. Verbal bullying is STILL bullying, and it is also still abuse. It’s a pretty gray area when it comes to AUBREY, because I don’t want to be too harsh and call her an abuser, but yeah. In terms of forgiveness, words and feelings don’t matter without actions, much like how actions don’t matter much without the words, which is why AUBREY does need to be treated a bit harsher by the fandom, since the bullying isn’t something you should brush off when it comes to analyzing BASIL’s character. Forgiveness from BASIL will take a long time, it’s going to be a rocky road for them to be even comfortable with each other, for BASIL to not flinch every time AUBREY tries to get close. To not feel uncomfortable whenever she even gets close. Which is not a thing that is acknowledged when it comes to BASIL.

Onto KEL. I think it’s pretty clear that KEL and BASIL haven’t interacted much before the 3 days left. KEL even acts surprised about BASIL being there, with this line.

While there isn’t much to say about them, BASIL might’ve resented him too, just not as much as SUNNY and especially AUBREY. KEL left him too, even if KEL mentioned that they wouldn’t really respond, it doesn’t stop BASIL from feeling that way. Maybe he would’ve resented the fact that he seemed to prioritize SUNNY over him, maybe he would’ve felt like he was less important to the eyes of KEL. And while yes, this may not make sense to us players/viewers because we know why KEL is knocking, BASIL doesn’t know. The mind is both rational and irrational, after all. Even if another person feels something, it does not stop someone from feeling, well, another thing. BASIL most likely doesn’t know if he should resent him or not, he knows that it might be because SUNNY’s house is marked “for sale”, but he wishes the same effort was spent for him, as well. He might’ve felt like KEL prioritized him the least, he might of thought that KEL sees him as “less”. Keep in mind, his feelings and thoughts are not necessarily true, so these aren’t facts. KEL does care, but it doesn’t stop BASIL from feeling like that. (Just thought I had to make that clear because some people might take this wrongly)

BASIL and HERO… There isn’t much to say about this segment. While it’s understandable that HERO left because of college, sometimes he does resent him for leaving like everyone else. He resents all of them for leaving, some even more because of certain factors or actions. But…

BASIL still loves all his friends. He does. He cherishes them all, but he can’t help but feel that way towards all of them. He can’t help it. He feels disgusted for feeling that way towards all of them, he feels disgusted for feeling negatively, but he can’t help but still feel it. No matter how much he tries to tell himself he doesn’t deserve to feel like that towards his friends, to think negatively of them, he will always feel these things deep down.

POST-TRUTH REVEAL FEELINGS AND POST-GAME SPECULATIONS (´ｰ｀)

Post game, a lot of BASIL’s problems go unsolved. He isn’t exactly portrayed to have reconciled with the rest. While yes, you can take the “Let’s make new memories together, okay?” line as BASIL wanting to make new memories with his friends, it’s DREAM BASIL that says that, and he, despite looking like FARAWAY BASIL, isn’t BASIL himself, so that isn’t reliable. His grandmother, his only source of comfort for those 4 years also dies, leaving him with someone who he isn’t sure he can trust due to her being there because of a job, and obligation. All that combined does just feel like instead of getting better, his problems will just fester into something worse. He’s basically alone as well. Even more so due to the reactions to the truth. SUNNY left yet again, he took the brunt of the reactions, he isn’t close to the friend group, he is still suicidal. POLLY isn’t someone who is a mother figure to BASIL. She isn’t even close to him. He doesn’t even feel comfortable with her.

… That’s not saying that the friend group won’t try to get closer to him again, because yeah, they do have a chance to try to get closer to him, it’s just that BASIL’s issues and problems go unresolved because he probably won’t open up to them for a while, or even open up to them at all. His problems still aren’t solved, either. Yeah, sure, he might admit some things, but they won’t be the closest anymore. It’ll probably take a very long time for BASIL to even warm up to them again. Might even take 2 years. Maybe he even tries to be more like himself pre-incident because he perceives it as a way for him to be redeemed in their eyes, but because of that, he hurts himself even more. He wants to be himself around everyone, but maybe he feels that “himself” isn’t who they want.

This part is mostly just speculation, although it is something that should be acknowledged more. His problems are still there, and even if you give him therapy, his problems will still be there, therapy is not something that solves your problems, it helps you until you can deal with it. It is not something that will magically make you emotionally intelligent, but more of something that helps you identify emotions better.

CONCLUSION ☆彡

Overall, I think BASIL is the character least talked about in this much depth, and often mischaracterized along with HERO and MARI. Many people fail to recognize that he’s also as tragic as SUNNY AND AUBREY are. Many people fail to recognize that his issues go far beyond the incident as well. Not a lot of people recognize that SUNNY’s issues and trauma isn’t worse than BASIL

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b0ylik3r · 8 months ago

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I dont wanna get myself involved in any more ZADR discourse, but I also don't want misinfo to spread around and people to get discouraged or anything like I had been for a while. So I'm going to say this: Zim in Invader Zim is most likely a child.

There are a plethora of reasons I think this, but if you don't care then scroll. I'm going to provide my reasoning under the cut.

My first reason is that from a writing standpoint, there is absolutely nothing appealing about the dynamic between Dib and Zim if Zim is an adult. What would or do you find enjoyment out of their dynamic if they are not meant to be foils of one another like the show HEAVILY implies them to be NUMEROUS TIMES? If Zim is a child, their dynamic becomes "2 children want parental approval and go against each other for it, when in reality the approval and love they seek is unattainable because the parental figures will never give them it. They would be better off being friends or allies, but instead keep fighting to be loved because they're dumb kids and don't realize that it's fruitless and dumb". If Zim is an adult, their dynamic becomes "Immature man cannot beat child". What is to be enjoyed or explored there?

My second reason is that Zim acts like a child in a multitude of different ways. His interactions with The Tallest, his general immaturity, and even how he surrounds himself. He goes to school. He has made himself robot parents to support that idea. He needs different disguises to act like an adult. Again, from a writing standpoint, if he was an adult infiltrating a school building and pretending to be a kid, that's just fucking weird. I don't think Jhonen is that type of person. I don't think the writers are that type of people.

Also on this subject is the episode Tak: The Hideous New Girl. At the point of the episode, Zim was trying to impress and "crush on" and be the boyfriend of this middle school girl. It doesn't matter if Tak was actually irken. It doesn't matter if she is the same age as him actually. It doesn't change that Zim was trying to get into a human relationship with what he thought was a middle school girl. If he is an adult, that's pretty fucking weird. Again, I don't think Jhonen is that type of person and I don't think the writers are that type of people.

The "flying ships before you were born" only proves that on Irk, he was an adult or at least the age that would permit him to fly ships. Calendars are manmade, why would irkens use the same years? Zim's age could also easily translate into human years into the late tween years. We also have to think logically about things.

Also, I sometimes feel like people are forgetting that Irk is a dystopian society. They are a hyper-militarized alien race that codes people's brains on the daily and does not wait for the children to grow up even a little before they start military training (or, at least training for military training). What morals prevent them from using child labor or child soldiers? We also have to remember that in accordance to The Trial, Zim was a smeet or older allowed into violent chemicals and resources that can kill, like it did Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork. That, in a way, proves that Irkens are not above dangerous child labor.

One other argument I have is that in Enter The Florpus, during the species change clip, Zim, Dib and Gaz switch species. The thing is, Dib and Gaz look the same as Zim in this clip. They don't become little smeets, they don't become tiny kids. They become Zim's age. Zim also does not become an old man in this clip. He stays the same as Dib and Gaz. Being that these are their canon human/irken translations, I don't see how someone could still defend this.

You could take all of this and say "Okay, but ZADR is still proship because they are abusive to each other so why are you so pressed". But like I said in a previous post, there is a major difference between "haha 2 people fight each other n get hurt haha" and "this adult man is grooming this child sexually". That's not funny. That isn't cartoony. That is a fully serious topic taken seriously in every single media that it is represented in. Cartoony unserious fighting has been a staple for years in animation and media. Grooming is not cartoony. That is why so many people have a problem with it. Some people don't enjoy shipping things that are seriously fucked up in the real world like that, or shipping proships.

This all started because of one singular tweet Jhonen made that you all believed. I bet if he tweeted "guys invader zim didnt actually happen and dib was hallucinating the whole time, lmao dream theory is canon", some of you would believe it.

I leave you off with this: "If it looks, sounds & acts like a kid, it's a kid, no matter if it's actually 1000 years old or not."

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chaos-of-the-abyss · 10 months ago

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i recently finished rewatching psycho pass season 1 and, as always, the thoughts about makishima shogo are flowing. i think, on my first watch of the show, i didn't quite understand makishima's character or the messages that it was presenting, but i think i've got a better grasp on it now, so. here are my two cents that no one asked for.

there are two words i predominantly associate with makishima: isolation and boredom, though my main focus is on the former as i feel the latter is not true apathy but rather a byproduct of isolation. makishima is isolated because of his criminally asymptomatic nature, meaning that sibyl, the system presiding over all of japan's society in the setting of psycho pass, has no power over him. no matter what he does, no matter what kind of person he is or how many heinous deeds he commits, makishima will always be an upstanding citizen in the eyes of sibyl. in a manner of speaking, sibyl, the ultimate authority of the world he lives in, cannot "see" him, and he himself is unable to change this fact. and because makishima is isolated, cut off from the rest of the world and the people around him, in such an extreme manner, he's bored.

the rest is under the cut for length. and fair warning, this entire post is pretty much me going:

so. in kogami's assessment of makishima, he basically likens makishima and all his actions - his manipulations of the people around him, his murders, both direct and indirect, his attempted bioterrorism - to a kid throwing a tantrum about being left out. kogami here, i believe, is in some ways projecting a part of himself onto makishima, but that's not a topic for this post. suffice to say that despite his projecting, kogami isn't entirely inaccurate. makishima is a lonely person who wants to destroy a society and a system that rejects and denies his existence and personhood. once again, in sibyl's eyes, no matter who makishima really is, it doesn't matter. all that sibyl cares about is that his crime coefficient has never exceeded regulation level, and therefore he's a model citizen. ironically, makishima is subjected to sibyl's dehumanization just as much as any other individual in psycho pass' setting. people don't matter to sibyl, who they are inside and who they are to other people don't matter to sibyl. only their crime coefficient and their psycho pass do. while, in the enforcers like kogami, the issue of sibyl's dehumanization is highlighted through the fact that many of them are not bad people at all and yet they're treated like disposable assets, in makishima's case, it's the opposite. he's a murderer and a terrorist who can kill people without blinking an eye, but sibyl doesn't care about that. sibyl doesn't care that he's not a good person, his numbers are perfect and that's all that matters. who he is doesn't matter. (though i will note that i think makishima's status as a villain is muddled by the dystopian nature of sibyl and psycho pass' setting, but we can all at least agree that he's not a good person.) it's dehumanization; it's just that for makishima, it's the opposite of the typical trajectory with which that dehumanization is applied. arguably, and as kogami states, this could be taken by some people to be a blessing - after all, yippee, i can do whatever i want since my numbers will never exceed the accepted norm - but makishima takes it as an indication of how alienated he is.

makishima tells akane that he believes the only time people's actions have worth is when they commit them of their own free will, and that he wants to see the splendor of the human soul and judge for himself whether that's a good or bad thing. i think makishima feels that he has never truly been able to interact with others due to the overarching, restricting influence of sibyl. people can't let their true desires and wishes out because it would stigmatize them in sibyl's eyes. therefore, they are not acting of their own free will, and what they do does not represent the human soul that makishima claims he wants to see. therefore he wants people to break out of those restraints and be more "honest" about who they are. however, it's also that sense of isolation that makishima feels that hinders him from truly interacting with others on the same level. this is significant because, as shown by the series, interaction between people is one of the major factors that help individuals solidify and develop their own sense of self. kogami rediscovers his idealism and his sense of right and wrong by working under akane, which is something he tells her in the second(?) episode: that he feels that, under her, he might be able to be a detective, not just a hunting dog. akane, too, in interacting with kogami and to a lesser extent, ginoza, and the other enforcers, develops a strong grasp on what she believes to be just. by the end of season 1, she has a firm understanding of her own ideals which she lacked at the beginning, in part thanks to her experiences with those around that have helped her flourish.

as i said, though, makishima is unable to really, meaningfully interact with others - at least outside of a handful of people - and so his introspection and self-understanding have been considerably hampered. makishima is a very outwardly-knowledgable person and makes no secret of it, but i don't think he knows himself very well. he receives mixed messages from the dissonance between his own actions and sibyl's assessment of him, and the confusion, for lack of a better word, is only exacerbated because he feels that he can't have relationships with others that are actually worth anything. not only does he feel alienated by the world because he's criminally asymptomatic, but he also feels alientated by everyone around him. therefore, he seeks companionship (and utility, of course, but that's not the focus of this post) in seemingly like-minded people, who also appear to, in one way or another, reject and be rejected by the society that they live in. it's to foster meaningful connection that can actually teach him something - though i don't think he's consciously aware that this is part of his motivations - because he wants to know himself. essentially, he looks for himself in other people. But these other people, his accomplices - like masatake and rikako - disappoint him and fail to give him that companionship he seeks because they are ultimately also lacking their own sense of self.

in masatake's case, he is able to flawlessly play the role of multiple avatars because he relies on them - made-up, virtual constructs - to give him his identity. it's precisely because he has no well-defined "self" to speak of that he can, not only emulate the original owner of the avatar, but surpass them in his ability to embody and become their avatar. due to lacking his own unique identity, he serves no purpose to makishima, so makishima kills him. when it comes to rikako, while makishima is initially interested in her because of her resentment towards sibyl, said resentment and her resulting murders are very directly tied to her father, his beliefs, and his works. as kogami puts it, she lacks originality, because what she's doing is ultimately lashing out at the world for what was done to her father, not because she has some dissatisfaction with sibyl on her own independent principles. though, an aside: i actually think rikako does have some genuine frustrations with society less related to her father's situation, but they don't hold particularly significant sway over her. maybe if they had, makishima might have at least kept her alive longer.

as for senguji, i have less of an understanding of what makishima thought of him in comparison to masatake and rikako, probably because it's a little more ambiguous about whether makishima truly and totally cut him off like he did those other two, or if he was just going for a coin toss to see of senguji could survive his games. but i digress. my approximation is that senguji, despite his platitudes about the wonders of his near-complete cyborgification(? is that a word?), is actually deeply bored and dissatisfied, in part because so much of him is mechanical. being a cyborg means that most of the prey he hunts essentially poses little threat to him, and this gap is further widened by the fact that the "hunts" take place in senguji's own territory, so to speak. they aren't actual challenges. they don't truly stimulate him, but much like makishima who knows so little about his own self, senguji doesn't realize that. makishima, of course, who is ever-attuned to the people around him, picks up on this, which is why he tampers senguji's "game" with kogami to introduce unexpected variables that enable kogami to pose a legitimate threat to senguji. and, as senguji notes, only then does it sink in that he hasn't felt truly alive in a long time. the last time he did was when he was in a war zone, in mortal danger with his friend shot dead right next to him. in the present game with kogami - someone skilled and dangerous and as much of a threat to senguji as senguji is to him, unlike all of senguji's other hunts - senguji is once again in extreme peril, and for the first time in so long, he experiences that sensation of being alive. also, note the obvious parallel of makishima, at the top of the NONA tower, thanking kogami for doing away with his boredom for a little while. i'm pretty sure this is intentional; senguji's whole deal with boredom and dissatisfaction is, just like with all of makishima's accomplices, meant as a narrative reflection of makishima.

i would also feel remiss if i didn't talk about choe gu-sung. (who i'm pretty sure is korean btw. i don't believe his nationality is ever stated, other than that he is a foreigner, but the way his name is pronounced by the other characters - "chwae goo-seong" - lends itself perfectly to korean syllables. anyway.) gu-sung is interesting because, aside from kogami, he is the only person to pretty much sustain and live through the, shall we say, conundrum of makishima's interest. makishima does not kill gu-sung; they're in league until the very end, and in fact it's during their shared plan which they conducted together that gu-sung is killed by sibyl, and makishima actually has a faint but noticeable reaction to this. it's easy to see that gu-sung is more up his alley than masatake, rikako, and senguji. notably their dynamic is also different from that of makishima and his other accomplices, because they actually have normal (semi-normal...) discussions and makishima discusses and debates literature with him in the same way that he does with kogami. makishima is maybe not totally honest or open with gu-sung, but he is genuine with him. i think this is because, from what i can tell, gu-sung is someone who does have a true, defined sense of identify, and legitimate awareness about his own self. he doesn't get much expansion and we never know anything significant about him other than that he is a foreigner, a latent criminal, and a genius hacker, but what sticks out to me is that he's open about and aware of the fact that makishima has a certain engaging effect on him. in gu-sung's words, when "i'm with him, i feel like i've gone back to my childhood". additionally, during his conversation with kagari as the latter is trying to find and arrest him, gu-sung explains his dislike for the sibyl system and the fact that it forced him to live like a hunted rat, running from corner to corner. this antipathy comes from a sincere place, and doesn't seem to be tied to anyone's opinion other than gu-sung's own. i think makishima liked that about him: his self-awareness, his understanding of his own personal resentment and dissatisfactions, and his willingness to acknowledge those things as a part of himself. gu-sung is the opposite of makishima in some ways, imo. they're both geniuses, but while makishima is more oriented toward planning and widespread manipulation, gu-sung is a specialist who is unparalleled in his particular niche. their inverse duality is even partially highlighted by their dialogue, right before they commence with their plan to plunge the town into chaos using the cymatic scan-fooling helmets. gu-sung says he is a foreigner, and i believe he also says he's grateful just to be able to live in this country, while makishima states that he was born and raised in this town. despite their differences, they share a grievance with the system, and they have united to address that grievance. it definitely says something that makishima has someone like gu-sung in his life; someone who you could look at and call his friend, regardless of what those two considered themselves to be.

...all that word vomit to say that the people makishima abandoned and killed - masatake, rikako, and probably senguji - are mirrors to his own lack of self-understanding and lack of a fixed sense of identity. meanwhile his one lasting relationship aside from kogami is with gu-sung, who stands in narrative opposition to him in the ways i described. what i'm trying to get at is that masatake and rikako definitely, and senguji maybe, don't give makishima a true look at the human soul he wants to witness - at least in his view they don't. therefore makishima, still isolated and without companionship even while in their presence, grows bored and ultimately kills them. that's where kogami comes in. kogami, i believe, satisfies makishima's desire for companionship, or at least makishima grows less isolated in his presence. unlike masatake and rikako, kogami knows himself, and i'd argue has a better grasp of himself than ever by the time he meets makishima face-to-face thanks to coming to know akane. i'm reminded especially of his conversation with masaoka right before he (kogami) leaves the public safety bureau to hunt down makishima, when he explains that his actions aren't out a sense of ideals or an intolerance for evil, but rather that this is what he wants to do, and if he doesn't end things with makishima now, he will grow to resent himself. his self-awareness and defined identity means that with kogami, makishima is not left feeling bored and dissatisfied.

but it goes further! kogami, like makishima, is someone who both rejects and is rejected by the sibyl system, the dominant power governing the society they live in. sibyl rejects kogami as a latent criminal, but kogami also proves that he denounces it right back when he chooses to go off and try to kill makishima on his own, even though sibyl wants makishima alive. in other words, makishima's solitude as a pariah is understood on a fundamental level by kogami. not only that, but kogami, like makishima, is in some ways like a kid lashing out at being excluded, which makishima comments on at the end of episode 21 in response to kogami calling him out as such. according to makishima, kogami is angry that his own suspicions regarding sasayama's death were rejected by sibyl, that his own anger about letting sasayama die was simply ignored and swept under the rug, and he was left to process it by himself. and it was an outburst of that anger that provoked him to leave everything he had at the bureau behind and truly put a target on his back, perhaps for the rest of his life, in order to confront and put an end to makishima. this mirrors kogami's judgement that makishima's actions are essentially a temper tantrum that his feelings of solitude are not even seen, much less acknowledged, by the world around him. and just like how i stated at the beginning of this now-obscenely long post that kogami was projecting a bit in his assessment of makishima, i also believe makishima is projecting a bit right back. but, again, like kogami's assessment, makishima's assessment isn't necessarily invalid or incorrect just because he has personal biases mixed up in it. his words to kogami have a degree of truth to them. in this way - both of them acting a little like kids, both of them projecting in their evaluation of the other as someone acting like a kid - they are also similar.

one more thing that i'd like to say regarding kogami and makishima is that it is stressed many times throughout the season how well kogami can put himself in makishima's shoes and replicate his thinking. while akane gains some understanding of makishima's thought processes over time and interaction, by her own admission, kogami is even better than her at gauging makishima, and this is because the two of them think alike naturally. it's why kogami has such a good nose for what's really going on behind the scenes throughout the season; because his thought processes are similar to makishima's, he can easily parse out what's up. i don't think this requires much further explanation since it's very cut and dry as another way that the two men are alike.

the final point about kogami's significance to makishima, specifically how he relates to makishima's solitude and boredom, is that makishima at his core is someone who wishes to be seen and judged. the sibyl system, and by extension society, has refused to give this to him. the person he is is not seen, much less judged, because, once again, all that matters to sibyl are his numbers. it's precisely because of this that he feels isolated and wishes to be acknowledged and judged as everyone else is; but in a vicious cycle, makishima's inability to receive that acknowledgement and judgement feeds right back into his deep sense of isolation. it's like a positive feedback loop, wherein the cause contributes to the effect and the effect contributes to the cause. however - kogami does see makishima. kogami does judge him, and he judges makishima just the same as sibyl would other murderers in the series: as someone who deserves to die. in other words, makishima is finally getting equal treatment from someone. the isolation that he experiences as a result of his perpetually clear psycho pass and his stable crime coefficient is stripped away when it comes to kogami, because kogami doesn't care about those things - he cares about who makishima is. and to him makishima is a murderer and a criminal who painfully killed one of his friends, and just like any other murderer and criminal under sibyl, is to be killed. plus, notice how makishima is typically very calm and serene when interacting with others, but grows markedly more animated and excited when interacting with kogami, be that through talking or fighting. that's the isolation and boredom that he's stewed in his entire life, evaporating in kogami's presence. ultimately, makishima's solitude is alleviated, and his desire to be seen and judged is fulfilled... because of kogami.

it's just as akane says.

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fizzywashere87 · 8 months ago

Note

Can you write a raph oneshot where reader comforts raph after the kraan incident and gets him a giant plushie

notes: yuhhhh i need to be doing more oneshots anyways :D I hope you like it and apologies for the super duper long wait!

M.List

It'll Be Okay, Big Man

You know it's crazy how fast society moves on as a whole after the world was so close to ending.

It's crazy how quick they just forget four mutants stopped an alien invasion.

Even as the city was being cleared of the debris, torn buildings, the weird ooey-gooey bubble gum looking fungus? Not even scientists knew what to call it. Either way, even as they seen the evidence something big had went down in New York City everyone just seemed to move on, making jokes about it for clout and giggles, nobody seemed to be too shaken at what happened, yeah?

Humans just seem to be silly like that. They don't acknowledge anything that they don't fully understand. Well, while society as a whole moved on, forgot that the sky opened to make way for a huge alien spaceship that seemed to come from the back of a fucking Lebanese shawarma restaurant, forgot about how it looked like a deadass apocalypse went down in New York, there were a few that acknowledged what actually happened- you could even go as to say they were in the center of everything that went down. They were probably the ones that made the spaceship explode, they were probably the ones that made the sky close back up, they could have been the reason New York was able to go back to whatever was trending that week. Don't ask me who, I probably wouldn't know.

It's hard to move on like the news channels decided they would when you were in the middle of it.

Who are these people? I know you're waiting for me to shit it out

Raphael was having a lot of trouble moving on like those silly humans did.

Those stupid thoughts wouldn't leave his head like he wished they would. This wasn't like him at all, he was so out of it. He doesn't even remember what he did under the Kraang's control if he was being deadass. Part of him wishes he did but the slightly bigger part was grateful he doesn't.

Raphael couldn't help but think it was his fault, what exactly? Everything. From the very beginning, to the end of it where it almost ended in his younger brother getting stranded in a whole ass different dimension with something his dad would've told him wasn't real because monsters didn't exist, it was Raph's fault.

Everything that happened that day still haunts him, and he hasn't told anybody about it.

Raphael hasn't told anybody how he gets little flashes- little visions- images- whatever you wanna call it- little touches- feelings- it doesn't matter. It was evident to him that the battle he had to fight internally to win the external was far deeper than he thought. 'Tough shit,' he wants to tell himself. He tries- he really does, he wants everything to be normal again, those little arguments with Leo he could deal with, they always made up- but more importantly he just wants that sticking feeling to go away.

Raphael felt dirty.

You had a feeling Raph wasn't being honest with you. He seemed... off. That's sugarcoating it, he seemed as if he was ready to break down at any moment- any second- you felt it coming.

So there you were heading, to him, you'd already sent a text explaining you on the way to the lair, ready to see your boyfriend. He seen the text and had replied with an 'okay! <3' to which you smiled at softly and picked up your pace, you and the teddy bear in your hand. You were gonna dominate the world with that motherfucker, jus look at 'im!

Earlier, you had decided to put a little gift basket together for your boyfriend. You'd figured he'd needed some extra loving right now, he wasn't so great at hiding it. That- or you knew him very well. Why can't it be both?

You put little pieces of candy you were sure he liked, a king sized bar of Twix because let's be fucking real, they're better than your grammies cookies. You'd included little plushies, a blanket, a little album of pictures with his family- you and April included, and the teddy bear which was currently in your other hand.

Raph would like it, and you hoped it would make him feel better, at least bring a sense of comfort to him in his state. Maybe added cuddles and kisses would help if it didn't. For once, you were confident in your ability to give gifts to people you actually like. The chances of him liking it were higher than the chances it would make him feel worse so you figured- hey! why the fuck not?

You're such a good partner.

Alas, you arrived at the lair, goodies in hand, high hopes for your reptilian boyfriend. You walk some ways to find Raph in his room, curling a dumbbell whilst sitting on his bed. You smile and walk towards him with the gifts in hand, "Hey teddy bear," im sorry i visibly cringed. "How are you?" You ask, testing him, will he lie and tell you he's fine? Will he open up to a conversation about it? You hoped it was the second option.

Raph's face lights up as he sees your good looking ass, even more so as he sees you brought gifts too. "Heya sugar! Raph's doing just fine," Liar "how about you?" He smiles and gets up, placing the dumbbell down and pulls you into a gentle hug. "You brought gifts?" He adds with a smile.

You decided to ignore his little lie, as you were going to bring it up in a bit anyways, instead, choosing to answer his questions. "I'm doing alright," you add with a smile, reciprocating the hug best you could with the things in your hand. "Yeah, I figured you needed a smile." And that was your first attempt to attack the situation.

Raph raised a brow, and allowed you to put the stuff down, and sit on his bed. He joined you, the bed dipping at his added weight. "Why do you say that sweetie?" You knew him better than he thought.

"Well," You start, "Lately you've been off, and by 'off' I mean you seem upset. Upset with yourself. And you've been on edge." You finish, looking at him, scanning his face, and you came to the conclusion he was about to break. "Do you want to talk about it?" You gently ask, placing the teddy bear in his lap.

Raph sighed, so many things, so much stress, so much fear. Damn. "I'm not a good brother." He says quietly, so quietly you thought it was in your head. After convincing yourself he actually spoke and you didn't hit your head that fucking hard in the morning, you sigh quietly and bring him closer to you.

"Why do you say that?" You murmur quietly, rubbing his arms in a comforting manner. You scan his face for any clue, hint, anything that might give it away (thought you were sure it was the reason you had in mind). His eyes welled up with tears and you sighed. "You don't have to tell me right now." You assured him softly, you'd figure he would talk about it when he was ready. You look to the basket of stuff and a soft smile comes across your face, he needed a small distraction right now.

"Hey Raph," You start and he looks to you with glossy eyes, giving a hum in response, you offer a small sympathetic smile to your boyfriend in return and reach for the basket and had it to him. "You never got to look at what else was inside, would you like to do that instead right now?" You ask and a small smile makes it's way across Raph's face. He clears his throat and nods, "Sure thing, sweets." He looks at you in gratitude as a silent way of calming down and thanking you for it.

Raph opens the basket and his small smile turns into a brighter grin, "Aw baby, my favorite candy! I knew keeping around would do me some good!" He gives you a wet kiss on your cheek making you giggle and swat at him with pink cheeks. "Hey!" You couldn't keep the giggles from escaping as you tried to sound mad at him for his comment, "What did you mean by that?!" Raph chuckles and shrugs, "Don't worry about it." He replies. As he looks through the basket he finds the little plushies and immediately his sadness is gone. "Baby!" He pulls you onto his lap and squeezes you tight (always careful to never be too tight), he pulls out the blankets and wraps them around you both, immediately feeling back at home. He finds the album and immediately you feel some weight lift off of his shoulders as if you two were one.

You two spend the rest of the night flipping through the photo album under the blanket as he snacks on his candy, plushies all around you guys, problems pushed aside for now. It was just you and him.

Raphael's problems were nowhere near gone, nowhere near fixed and if he sat quiet for long enough he would feel that need to be cleansed- he would feel dirty again.

Even though that may be true, he simply didn't feel it when you were there to make his mood better, it didn't erase his problems, no,

but he knows you'll always be there to tell him,

"It'll Be Okay, Big Man."

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the-demon-prodigy · 8 months ago

Text

oba yozo and warped perception

ok heres an absolutely giant analysis (its 2k words ermm) that i wrote in an essay format! i cant rlly say im proud of its strength as an essay but i do like the concepts i brought up here so i might eventually redo but it took me literally a week so i cant not post it

yozo is my little guy i want to put him under a microscope and study him like a bug/aff

its under the cut :]

TW: su1cide, s3xual a$sault, misogyny (all mentioned, not depicted)

Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human, a Japanese literary classic, is told through the writings of the protagonist, Oba Yozo. Yozo is a deeply traumatized and alienated human being, and his perception of both himself and others is distorted by his traumatic experiences.

Yozo makes the judgement very early on in his life that he lacks what constitutes humanity. He separates himself from humans because of this, but unable to renounce their society as he is, he instead opts to display a public facade of light-heartedness and, on occasion, foolishness. Yozo feared that which he did not understand, and he therefore feared people, finding them and their society riddled with unspoken societal guidelines, utterly incomprehensible. (It’s likely that Yozo only feared the unknown so much and only came to this conclusion due to his intelligence, which he is mentioned to have, at least academically. Generally, it would be extremely unlikely that Yozo is an unintelligent character, seeing as how often he pokes and prods at the philosophical and existential.)

Yozo finds himself inhuman, due to how he fails to understand that which humans seem to be born into this world understanding. Additionally, he lacks something in his nature that he believes to be absolutely inherent to humans: a deep, animalistic anger. Yozo never describes being angry throughout the book; he only fears, and fears, and fears some more, until he fears every last thing in this world. It’s likely that this immense fear came only as a result of the life he led. Even in his teenage and adult years, he gauges himself to not be seen as a friend or even a person to some of the people he knew, thus determining that he had never made a friend. And, having been sexually assaulted at a very young age, it’s only natural that Yozo would believe human beings to be cruel and animalistic by nature, hence justifying his fear.

The childhood trauma that Yozo suffered also caused further complications in his life, outside of the obvious feelings of needing to please in order to be ‘safe’. Yozo seems to have difficulty processing/facing outright his emotions and traumatic events, his flowery style of writing carefully dancing around describing exactly what happened to him. I doubt that Yozo has truly suppressed the memories of his childhood, but he at least doesn’t process them correctly. Yozo also does this in regards to things that remind him of his trauma or, in other words, trigger him.

It’s important to note that the presentation of No Longer Human is inherently biased. There is not a single scene told from objective reality, even in the prologue and epilogue which aren’t told in Yozo’s perspective. While the unreliable narration is pivotal to exploring the recesses of the human mind, it’s impossible to grasp exactly what actually happened at any given point. Had Yozo outright lied about certain things? Were there times when he had forgotten important memories that eventually constituted his personality? Yozo himself even admits to having a side of him that exaggerates for effect, not even to his benefit, and it leads a reader to wonder just how much was affected by that trait of his.

In the epilogue, one of Yozo’s acquaintances says that the way that his life turned out was due to his father: “it’s his father’s fault.” However, Yozo barely talked about his father in the book, save for mentioning his fear of being reprimanded, which was par for the course for anyone that Yozo spoke to. Although his father did affect the way that Yozo lived, with the information that Yozo gave, it would be impossible to say accurately that it was his father’s fault.

Although it’s tempting to instead say that Yozo’s unfortunate circumstances only worsened because of him, it’s important to note that Yozo demonizes himself endlessly. Yozo feared humans to the point of decreeing all on his own that he was disqualified from their race, but he still sought out love from human beings. He still wished for connection, but because of Yozo’s deep-seated self-hatred which came only as a result of seeing the most distasteful parts of humanity as a young child and feeling alienated from that, Yozo ended up separating himself. However, Yozo states over and over again that he fakes things, that he has a facade, that he only plays the clown and is not one, but it’s impossible to tell whether Yozo was truly the faker he thought that he was or if that was truly his personality and he simply didn’t know it.

No Longer Human also has misogynistic themes, at times. While Yozo states that this is because he finds women to be boring, it’s possible that he is, once again, being unreliable, and the true reason that he has an aversion to women is because he experienced sexual assault at the hands of women from a young age and, many times throughout his life, he has experienced love with women that failed to come to proper fruition, hence causing his aversion to women and becoming attached to them.

Yozo spends the majority of the book fairly lost, not understanding humans, not understanding himself. So who is to say that Yozo was truly a liar, or that he simply thought that he was? It’s possible that Yozo only internalized the concept that he was a calculating, deceptive young man in order to make the thought that humans would never love him easier to swallow.

Yozo being the intelligent and alienated sort of person that he is, he comes across as slightly conceited at times, seeing as he’s rather opinionated, and internally refers to one of his acquaintances as an utter fool completely lacking in artistry, for example. With this acquaintance, he plays two word games, and his opinions can tell us quite a bit about him. The first game is about tragic versus comic nouns. Yozo believes that, just as pronouns can be divided between masculine, feminine, and neutral, nouns can be divided between tragic and comic. It’s primarily a game of connotation (for example: steamship and steam engine are tragic, while bus and streetcar and comic).

Of the highlights of this game is that Yozo’s first opinion is that death is comic, while life is tragic. This is a reflection of his unique view on death, specifically him seeing it as a sort of cathartic relief, in comparison to life. Yozo views his own life, particularly, as shameful, making it tragic.

The second game is about antonyms. Yozo’s first example is that black is the antonym of white, but the antonym of white is red, and the antonym of red is black. In order to get a different result each time, you will need to repeatedly switch your perspective. Black and white are visually in opposition. Red is only the antonym of white figuratively, however. White is surrender while red is offense, white is purity while red is tainted. Black is the antonym of red in that red is fierce and passionate, while black is empty and void.

These also reflect Yozo’s personality. He is visually the opposite to humans, seen in how an outsider views his photos in the prologue. He is tainted, or corrupted, because of the crime that was perpetrated upon him as a child. Yozo also experiences his emotions in a complex way, sometimes void, like ‘black’, but at other times too heavily, like ‘red’.

(And you, dear reader, may ask, “Aren’t you focusing too much on Yozo’s sexual trauma?” and I’d respond, “No Longer Human is an inherently subjective work due to the lack of representation of an objective reality. Yozo may ignore his sexual trauma more often than not, but I don’t have to, as that kind of experience is part of what created the ‘Oba Yozo’ that we come to see in the novel, regardless of how often it is directly addressed.”)

It’s also important to note that this example that Yozo provides is a one-way street. Black to white, then white to red, then red to black. Red is not the antonym of white, despite the fact that white is the antonym of red, because the antonym of white is black. This disjointed yet ultimately related style of thinking is reminiscent of the way that Yozo fails to properly reconcile all the concepts that he contemplates daily and how he fails to process things that were traumatic.

A highlight of the little antonym game that Yozo and his acquaintance played was when Yozo’s acquaintance mentioned that the antonym of crime was sure to be ‘the law’. Yozo internally scoffs at the concept, and states that crime belonged to a different category. Through the following paragraphs, it becomes apparent that Yozo sees crime as being a moral concept at heart. Whether or not something is a crime is not dictated by whether it defies the law or not, but by an intrinsic judgement system that exists within the heart of all people. He also states that vice is different from crime. Vice is a societal construct in Yozo’s eyes, whilst crime is not. Crime always exists and will continue to, even if there are no people in existence to observe it. Crime may even be above morality in a sense; there exists things that are crimes even to the earth itself. To Yozo, at least.

To Yozo, punishment is the antonym of crime. Through a reflection of Dostoevsky's work, Yozo came to the conclusion that crime would only be paired with punishment if they were meant to be of completely opposite affiliation. The reason his brain works in this way is because of the unique life that Yozo has led. Because the most horrific of crimes that were perpetrated upon him were met with no punishment, it’s only natural that he would see the two as inherently disconnected concepts.

Yozo also loses plenty of people important to him; Tsuneko and his father, to name two. Although the grief that Yozo experiences is very rarely directly addressed by him, it’s crucial to take into account the effect of these events on Yozo. He spends the latter parts of the book impacted by grief, and it shapes the ‘Yozo’ that we see. There is no objective reality in No Longer Human, there is only the clouded lens that Yozo views it through, and this concept permeates the entire story, which means that if, perhaps, Yozo hadn’t lost the people that he did, the second half of the story would be different. The entire book would be different if told from the perspective of someone else; this is where the truly genius subtext of the novel lies, in the fact that almost everything that the viewer ends up consuming about the story is Yozo’s own thoughts, inseparable from the experience of reading the novel.

“He was a good boy, an angel,” is the final line of No Longer Human, said about Yozo by one of the people who knew him. The unlovable, monstrous, deceptive Yozo that he claimed himself to be for his entire life was perceived as an angel by those around him. Yozo accentuated the many ways he had been taken advantage of, the things he had to keep secret, and yet someone who barely knew him was fond of him in a way he would never process as true had he been present for that moment. One might even say that there were a number of people in this world who loved Yozo.

By existing in a world that he determined could only ever be lonely, Yozo’s perception of humans was warped by the multitude of ways that he had been broken by others, and his perception of himself was warped by his personal opposition to the definition of ‘human’ that he had crafted. This is the core of what makes No Longer Human tragic: the fact that Yozo was seeing an emptier world than all others, and he had given up on his life before it began. That Yozo will never see the world that he lived in for what it truly was.

#pls dont let this flop bro i spent a wholeass week on it/lh #☆thoughts☆#☆analysis☆#☆scheduled☆#bsd analysis #bungou stray dogs #no longer human #oba yozo #classic literature #japanese literature #osamu dazai #dazai osamu

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yukichouji · 16 days ago

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Meet Hakiem Mercar (more under the cut).

Taken by Tevinter slavers as a small child, he was to young to remember anything about the before. His parents, the place he was born, the people he belonged to. He is elven yes, but what does that even mean for him other than the price he fetched when he was sold on the markets or the abuse he sufferen after being bought? He grew up with no roots, fighting to survive and, eventually, was freed by the shadow dragons at age 14. The dragons helped arrange an adoption with a kind, elderly human couple in Minrathous. The did the best they could to help a heavily traumatized kid in survival mode find some footing in life. Hakiem is very grateful for their kindness and they did give him the ability to function somehow in the context of the society that harmed him so, but a sense of alienation still remained through it all. They had never been slaves themselves, were humans with no connection to elves or elven culture, and their main motivation for taking him in had been their sense of self as good Andrastians, eager to share kindness and do good. His gratefulness ever waring with the acidic, volatile anger he carries in his gut constantly, fed by every casual cruelty whitnessed, every slave that passes him on the streets and the uncaring acceptance of this from the people around him. With no direction to point his anger in, Hakiem struggles with it greately, fighting anything and anyone poking at his wounds and getting into trouble *a lot*. Hakiem has always been on the scrawny side and not the tallest either, so at the start he ended up getting his ass kicked most of the time, despite the visciousness of his fighting surprising many of his impromptu rivals. After a while, he began to figure out that blind rage wasn't helping him and he learnt to use his stature to his advantage, banking on being underestimated and being fast and lithe and very able to take a punch or then and still keep himself on his feet.

Once Hakiem turns 18, he decides to leave the relative comfort of his current home to find the Shadow Dragons again, desparate for a sense of purpose in his life. They let him join and he, for the first time in his life, feels like he actually has the power to make a difference for people like him. He pours his entire heart and soul into his work, regularily risking everything without regard for his own skin. He is constantly torn between the help he can offer to others and the opportunity for healing that might be, and the ever growing rage at the system and the people perpetuating it that abuses its power so horribly and the cruelty and perversion of it all. This is what eventually gets him so in trouble with the Venatori that the Shadow Dragons feel the need to hide him away for his safety. Hakiem does not respond well to that.

This is how Varric finds him. Varric sees a kid with a lot of potential, a good heart and too much anger than is good for him and decides a Hakiem is Varrics problem now. Not surprisingly, Hakiem latches onto Varric immediately and Varrics mentorship means a lot to him. It actually calms him down some and he quickly realizes that he trusts Varrick (and his judgement) with his whole heart and has no small amount of hero worship for the dwarf, because Hakiem has been so starved for someone to believe in him like that in his life, someone Hakiem can rely on, a friend, and whatnot.

The scars on Hakiems face are from when he was 12. He dropped something valuable while cleaning and his master got so angry with Hakiem he broke a nearby vase over his face. Hakiem was very lucky to not have lost his eye in the incident. The rest of his scars have been accumulated over the years, both in his time in slavery as well as the fights that came after and finally his work for the shadow dragons, due to lack of care for his own skin.

As mentioned earlier, Hakiem has a complicated relationship with elven heritage. He started reading up on elven lore and tradition when he got out of slavery, but quickly found that he did not have the patience for it and that it didn't evoke the sense of familiarity and belonging in him that he had hoped it would, so gave up on it agian. He's never tried to seek out elven tribes or anything like that, because he has no interest is what he tells himself, because he's afraid it will only confirm his feeling of not belonging there as well what he won't admit to himself.

Being passed the torch of responsibility by Varrick in a situation as dire and overwhelming of having two ancient elven gods roam free and having Solas stuck in his head is pretty terrfieng to Hakiem and he struggles under the weight of that responsibility a lot. He feels at fault for what went wrong and the guilt of that doesn't help. His default attitude is matter of fact, get shit done, no room for goofing around and fucking shit up, though when he sees someone in need he can be very kind. With his backstory, he is very guarded with most people and has a hard time shutting that off. I think as the game goes on and he gets to know the people around him better and learns to trust them on a more personal level, he will thaw a bit and give himself room to joke around when there is no immediate threat in front of him.

That's what I've got so far. I hope you like my blorbo as I gently hold him out to you on my cupped hands. Thank you for taking the time to read this rambling assortment of thoughts. I love you <3

#me things #I present to you my OC #Hakiem Mercar #ok to reblog #I ramble that's what I do #My brain is tired and I did not proof read this all mistakes are mine #tw abuse #tw slavery

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kryptonbabe · 4 months ago

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DC's Mutants or How Perry White Won his 3rd Pulitzer

Superman #265 (1973) by Elliot S! Maggin & Curt Swan

A normal day in Metropolis, and as we can see in the panel above that is Perry White deciding to stalk two unassuming citizens. Their crime? Wearing gloves. But first! Did you know Perry White won a Pulitzer prize? Well, actually he won three, two of them related to Superboy (the first one due to this interview young Clark gave him revealing he was an alien and the second one when Superboy revealed to Perry he was living in Metropolis... yeah, it's that easy). I'm only mentioning it because this is a story about how Perry White won his third Pulizer, and it all begins with the intrepid journalist pursuing a glove wearing couple.

During this time Morgan Edge owned the Daily Planet - I believe that happened in issue #233 of Superman - and he was not happy with Perry and his old ways, a traditional reporter, 20 years away from his last Pulitzer. In a way Perry shares Edge's frustration, he feels behind and powerless in this new position as Morgan undermines his editor role. I feel for Perry and that's why I'm ok with him following and questioning random people in the streets.

Suddenly the guy Perry approaches shoots him with an energy bolt from his fingers. Proving Perry's suspicions were right all along, the man still got it. This is just like his times covering the Korean War all over again.

Clark sees the energy bolt and realizes that is a job for Superman, while Perry feels like it is a job for a middle-aged journalist. They follow the couple to a heliport and there Clark, already as Superman, gets knocked out by their energy bolts, Perry then hides himself in the helicopter, tagging along with the gloved people.

When he wakes up Clark heads back to the Daily Planet and there he has to deal with the real menace to society: Steve Lombard's sex drive. He deals with it in a very silver age-y way and I approve of his methods. Glurgg indeed, Steve.

Meanwhile Perry gets off the helicopter, knocks out a guy, take his clothes, hides the body, applies some makeshift make up to his face and infiltrates the Air Force base he sees himself in. The feel of it is like watching a spy thriller, Perry getting cooler and cooler by the minute, he's proving something to Morgan Edge, proving something to himself. My favorite parts of the issue are the spy Perry White.

Enter Calixto, a government employee and mad scientist, who 20 years before planted a mutagenic substance in a atomic bomb testing (yeah, while Perry was winning a Pulitzer Calixto was violating human rights, the choices you make in life).

Calixto must have been a pretty smart guy because his mutagenic substance not only made the kids to be born mutants with specific energy powers and two opposite thumbs, but they were also weak to hypnosis. The amount of testing it must have take to achieve these results. I also like Maggin's logic here, if the evolution of the human opposite thumb made so many technical advances for our species possible, imagine having two thumbs, the possibilities could be endless.

Calixto's origins are weird, but his goals and methods of conquering are mad scientist villain 101, gather an army of mutants, mentally control them, take over an army base and plan a announcement to blackmail the world into submission. And he would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for Superman and meddling journalist Perry White.

Superman finds their base and does an anime girl spin trick he learned from Flash to fight their energy blasts. While at it he thinks "No force in the universe is completely irresistible!", and it is a hard hitting thought, especially coming from Clark whose powers are already seen as unstoppable. Coming from him this sentence goes to show how he doesn't believe completely in his own invulnerability, since no force in the universe is irresistible, himself included. Even the biggest challenges are not impossible to overcome... Am I reading too much into this? Probably, but it's cool anyways.

Proving this point... Superman goes straight to a wall of energy and passes out (for the second time in this issue, spending too much time with Hal Jordan maybe?).

To what undercover Perry reacts to with a surprisingly nonchalant "Hmmm..." that made me chuckle a little, Perry is adorable. His mind is cooking however, never doubt.

It's Superman's pal Perry White acting all spy-like again, this time he releases Superman from Calixto's jail, gives him the clothes of a guy he knocked out and suggests Clark to wear a pair of glasses as well.

So we have Clark as Superman disguised as a third person wearing glasses, it's a Russian doll scheme of secret identities. Perry almost figures out Superman wearing glasses looks uncannily like his colleague Clark, and he would probably win five Pulitzers at once for discovering that.

"Go sit on a pomegranate Calixto!" I don't think Calixto ever recovered from that comeback.

In a nearby desert Superman builds a giant tuning fork that disrupts Calixto's power over his mutants, their trance is over and they leave, now Calixto is alone and hysterical, absorbing a ton of energy to fight Supes. Then, in a very Superman fashion, when realizing Calixto's energy intake was exceeding his body limitations, Clark got in his way trying to save the man, to no avail though. The energy ray was too potent and the whole building blew up, leaving only Clark alive, crawling from a giant crater. Dramatic!

I think is cool how the mutants decided they would simply leave Earth after Calixto's death, they must've been up to date to their X-men reading, because I can't see things going well for people with two opposite thumbs here on Earth really.

Perry's reports his investigative work, his exclusive on Calixto's rise and downfall. I know Superman is close to the Planet crew and he helped to solve the whole Calixto crisis, but how many times is he called to comment on national developments like this? I'd gladly listen to his inputs so I'm not complaining, but I do wonder.

"But these mutants are the lucky ones... they at least had the choice to make!" do I feel a tinge of bitterness here Kal-el? Are you unhappy with our services? I mean, I know we're not the best but we're no Apokolips or I don't know... Warworld - I know we're bad, but are we worse then Warworld? Tell me Clark.

Overall, Curt Swan's art really fits the story, it's not over the top, the action is clean and the character's expressions elegant. Maggin's writing is charming, infusing the characters with a sense of purpose, especially Clark and obviously Perry. Calixto is more on the generic side, his mutants were interesting though, not exactly bad people, just manipulated, why did they chose to leave Earth? How are they now? In which planet are they? I have questions. Perry White is the main attraction of the issue for sure, he feels even more heroic than Superman, which is nice to see if you already like Super family characters and thinks investigative journalism is so cool (I do). I heard there's an Action Comics also written by Maggin in which Perry gains super powers... That's probably what I'm reading next. Thank you for reading this!

#superman #clark kent #kal-el #perry white #elliot s! maggin #curt swan #morgan edge #bronze age #comic review #single issue #review #text #dc comics #dc #comics #long and unnecessary deep dive #long ass post

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okayto · 7 months ago

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Kishu for the impression ask game?

[ask game link]

Okay! This is based on the manga and OG anime, because I haven't gotten to watch Tokyo Mew Mew New yet, so any new worldbuilding/details from TMMN are ignored.

First impression Ears. EARS. (Second impression: wtf are those sleeves. How does this shirt work. Why are there long ribbons.) So, basically all visual.

Impression now

He's just a funny terrible guy. Like, I want to punch him. He deserves it. But he is gleefully terrible and I also want to take one of those helpful hand grabber-claw things and pull on his ridiculously-oversized ears (I noticed that the new series makes the ears more sensible; some points of the manga and OG series had them absolutely ginormous).

He's also like, 13. So he's terrible but also in that lacking-adult-supervision way that makes you worry. Where are Alien Child Protective Services.

Favorite moment

Okay, I know this is really more Zakuro, but...

Look at the way he scrabbles for the portal!

Idea for a story

Basically, see my headcanon down there at the end? That thing. I'm probably never going to write it.

Unpopular opinion

These days? Not sure. In Ye Olden Fandom days, it was definitely not popular to ship Ichigo with her canonical love interest, Masaya, rather than Ryou or our spicy alien here.

Favorite relationship

I am pretty sure I hold the distinction of being the world's only Kisshu x Kanna Saionji shipper. Kanna is an anime-only character from episode 32, is a spoiled rich girl who considers Minto her rival, and I think that once he learns to be less of an assaulting asshole, they would be obnoxiously delightful together. Also, her dominant color is orange hair, and orange and green look nice together.

Favorite headcanon

Kisshu and co are part of a cult.

No, listen. It's a cult that has some power to it, since Deep Blue gets himself incarnated on earth and is actually a threat, but "three guys and their semiconscious boss" are not an invading force. I could kill more people by dropping a medium-sized rock off Tokyo Tower; these nerds can fly and create giant monsters and as far as I can tell, never managed to kill a single person during their genocide attempt. Even if you argue they were basically just killing time until Deep Blue woke up, that was a terrible plan to give their human opponents time to study them and get stronger.

Their small numbers and general lack of plan (and bizarre decision to start their invasion in a highly-populated modern city rather than setting up a base in a less-populated area where they could have straightened out any problems and let Deep Blue awaken without interference) make more sense if you consider all them them zealots on the fringes of their society. Disaffected young men living in a not-great place, vulnerable to the idea of doing something meaningful and active that makes them feel powerful.

Their people left earth three million years ago; for most of the population the concept of former planetary home they could retake is likely a myth, though I wouldn't be surprised if there were others looking for other places to live, or to terraform their current planet. (For reference: humans have been around far less than one million years; homo sapiens evolved around 300,000 years ago and our oldest myths are still less than 50,000 years old.) Our guys definitely found/uncovered/rediscovered something because their attempt has power behind it (and their spaceship, and whatever the alien dimension is), but in no way do they seem like the chosen heroes of an entire race.

#ask #alien cult alien cult alien cult #Tokyo Mew Mew

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glorified-red · 2 years ago

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As someone fortunate enough to attend DC's panel at MegaCon today with some of the biggest names in comics (Geoff Johns [Justice Society of America], Joshua Williamson [Superman], Simone DiMeo [DC vs Vampires], Mitch Gerads [Batman: The Brave and the Bold] and Phillip Kennedy Johnson [Action Comics]) here's all the information I managed to write down on what they discussed regarding the future of DC:

All quotes are NOT direct quotes, they are paraphrased. I may be a fast typer but not that good. Spoilers Ahead! Obviously.

Kicking off with the Flash Family, the upcoming releases will explore what Barry and Iris do when they "disappear" every week for date night. No one knows what they could possibly be up to! Turns out, they love to visit the future together, how they get there will be the true story. They also mentioned digging deeper into how being trapped in the speed force impacted ____. (I dont follow Flash so I don't know who they were referring to)

Next is the Superfam (and Arrowfam breifly):

Johnson spoke on Action Comics and said he wanted to evolve the Superfamily as much as the Batfamily has been. Recent comics have been able to take each member of the Batfam and develop them as solo characters to then let them interact with the others as a family. Johnson wants the same for the Superfam. He hates how the family has been boiled down to "looks" (i.e. Kon is just the one with the jacket, the twins are the lookalikes, etc) instead of them as defined characters. Within Action Comics and hopefully more, he hopes to delve into their entire family dynamic just as much as DC has done with the Bats.

Action Comics has been introducing the idea of Aliens coming to earth and certain protests spawning from it, wanting the earth to remain isolated and independent in the galaxy. They breifly teased the idea that this could be emotionally taxing on the Supers---especially Jon and Clark as the more active heroes atm---since they themselves are technically "Aliens". They also said that this new enemy set up will be very impactful for the future of the DCU.

Williamson Chimed in quite a bit to discuss the psychology behind Lex Luther and Clark Kent. "Lex isn't stupid. He's one of the smartest people in the DCU. When he looks at Clark, sometimes he recognizes that the world does need a Superman, but a good one. Lex may just have ulterior motives---i mean, he's lex, he always has ulterior motives---to force Clark to be a better Superman. And when Clark looks at people, all he sees Is the good in them. He sees their potential for growth. But when he looks at Lex, all he feels is disappointment. He feels disappointed in Lex sure, but he feels even more disappointed in himself for failing Lex."

"I love the backstory that Lex is from Smallville. When Clark leaves Smallville, there's what, ten years? Before he makes his way to Metropolis. And when he gets there, Lex is already there. What was he doing during that time? Metropolis had its fair share of villains but he destroyed them so that he could be Lex Luthor, the true villain of the city."

They then mentioned briefly about wanting to do the same thing for the Arrow Family as they did with the Bats and strive to do with the Supers. An upcoming series will explore Oliver getting "lost" and the family coming together to find him. Very exciting.

They showed plenty of beautiful artwork that has not been released yet! Sorry for the grainy photos, I tried as best as I could with my Motorola ok :P

This is for my fellow writers out there!! When asked about this image, Williamson and Johnson said that Clark "wishes people could hear what he does. He hears all of humanity in a connected thum, it's one heartbeat, not billions overlapping. All of our hearts beat together as one. When searching for specific people, he has to focus in through that single heartbeat."

Green Lantern was next! They announced a new run titled War Jounrals which follows US Marine John Stewart. They took heavy inspiration from 80s action movies such as Alien vs Predator when crafting this series. With DC's emphasis on mental health awareness and representation, I really hope they dive into the PTSD that comes from war. Not much was mentioned about this series to confirm or deny this.

Stargirl continuation: When asked about the writing/inspiration behind the future of her comics, they said they "wanted to dig into what being a side kick means---used to mean, anyway---and bring that back. Side Kicks are supposed to be a hero starting within the community, starting small, but always taking the time to save a kid and instil hope in that kid. That small difference makes a side kick. They start with so much hope only to be forgotten about, we want to bring back the old bright tone that was in Young Justice."

The Justice Society of America will follow the Huntress. She brings villains onto her team to offer them a chance to reform and walk a better path, a good path. She wants to be the same way her father, Bruce Wayne, was with her mother, Selina Kyle. The Huntress will link into the rest of the current DCU as she will get trapped in a timeline? Do I know what this means? Absolutely not. But apparently its gonna be important so

And finally! The Batfamily!!!

The first major announcement was the relaunch of Batman: the Brave and the Bold. Upon looking back at the original source material, they decided to extend the 9 page issue to a 96 page story line. They really wanted to deep dive into the series since they thought it had more to tell than what it did originally.

Since this is year one Batman, this will be the story of how Batman first encountered the Joker himself. They didn't share much on the contents but said it would stay true to the original, so this is not a retcon, it's just a more intesive retelling.

The artist for this series admited that he actually forgot year one Batman wouldn't have such a modern suit. After realizing this only after completing the series, he had to go back and redraw every panel with Batman in it. He very proudly said "shit!"

And of course, the HUGE announcement taking the internet by storm:

Batman and Robin

This series will follow after the events of Lazarus Planet and the Lazarus Tournament Damian went through. It will follow Bruce and Damian Wayne as they "come together not just as heros this time, but as father and son." This series is going to be a pretty heavy one since it will dive into how they come together "without Alfred as the buffer as the mentor figure for them both." Not only will Bruce continue on his current character arc of viewing each of the Robins as his sons and truly supporting them, but Damian will be front and center to cope with Alfred's death.

Williamson spoke on this heavily as he was supposed to leave Batman and Robin, but he actually went to DC and said "I'm not done with Damian, there's still more story to tell. He's not going anywhere." But he also mentioned a key point for Damian's growth: "He was trained by Talia and of course by Bruce, but he was also trained by Alfred so you'll see how that shapes Damian interacting with Bruce going forward, especially as they grow as Father and Son."

They said this will tie into the next big series in the DCU which follows Damian having "nightmares and demons". That was all that was mentioned about that.

The Gotham City Zoo will be a huge set piece for the series and I truly hope we see more canon content of Damian's love for animals in this run.

The focus of Damian is him growing into himself and become more emotionally aware of himself and those around him. With Alfred's impression on him, there will be key moments of Damian interacting with Bruce as Bruce goes through tough times.

Additinally, Williamson adores Damian being a fan of manga. Since it's shown Damian has been reading a romance one, there's some hope for emotional connection with others not in a romantic way, but moreso in the ability to be vulnerable with people in a way he has only been able to read about. It's implied he could be reading this manga as a yearning for connection to others on a deeper level, especially as someone who grew up to ignore his emotions. So this will follow Damian as he tries to let himself be more connected to his loved ones the way Alfred was teaching him to. Plus, his love for manga will not be going anywhere, it's "staying strong."

Damian will get his own car! Williamson wanted to give him a car that matched him since hes "a little rough around the edges." It will be a fun addition while the duo grow as family since Bruce will have to be okay with Damian driving. "Its gonna be Bruce saying he's gonna drive and then you turn the page and Damian is saying 'he's got something' and Bruce has to get used to letting his son drive him."

Very much Bruce growing out of strictness to be more soft with his sons as we've seen in the more recent comics.

And ofc, Simone Di Meo will be the artist for this series!! As well as the cover artist for The Brave & The Bold!

----

I am super excited for how DC is starting to write the Batfamily and even the Superfamily. They're starting to tackle a lot of mental health issues and the trauma old comics have left the characters with. It's not perfect by any means, especially with Batman v. Robin being more than a little rough, it had it's moments.

My main concern is how they'll be treating Tim going forward. With TDR getting shortened and Damian returning as Robin, I really really hope they don't just forget Tim exists. My hope is that with Tim's new title, there will be room for another solo series under that title in the way Nightwing and Spoiler has been done.

The last thing I want is for Tim to go through all this work finding where he belongs and how he views himself just to join/lead another team. He's defining himself aside from the Robin legacy to define who he is under his new title. I think he needs time as a solo hero before rejoining a group for an extensive time period. I don't want them to erase all his personal growth just because they don't want to give him another solo series. I'll be more than a little upset at the lost potiential.

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