#SO MUCH HUMAN CHAINING

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

Watching Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron again as an adult is so great because not only do you appreciate the nostalgia and joy of it, the stunning 2D animation mixed with early 3D techonology and well written tight story with a main character that never speaks.

But also you appreciate that the plot relies on horses, despite not being typical talking horses in cartoons, being extremely intelligent to the point that they are aware of their captivity and exploitation. And it involves a hyper intelligent horse dismantling (or, at the very least significantly delaying) American colonialism's expansion into the west.

This horse also very likely killed many colonialists when they were either launched at high speeds from his back, kicked in the head or blown up in a train explosion.

Good for him.

[lotus-pear]

regret

[captainhysunstuff]

Content Warning: Implied nudity and marks from prior saucy shenanigans ahead! Nothing explicit is shown.

15 more images below the cut:

After figuring out how to properly engage in sexual intercourse, L asks to hear the origin story of Light's Kira career to understand their situation better. Following a brief interaction with Ryuk, L is slightly reassured about the shinigami's role in Light's life. Then, the boys decide to get saucy again (to the shinigami's chagrin).

Next (not yet)

Previous (Community Content Warning)

Previous super abridged (safer)

First

Master List

Transcript

[lazycranberrydoodles]

COME ON GUYS DON'T LET DIANXIA DOWN

[hellofastudysession]

am i rlly going to write a death note literary analysis when i could be doing other things

about the discourse going on in the tag abt "death note is acab and thats why the characters couldnt better the world with the note (/written in somewhat jokey matter)" vs "death note is trying to say we all have potential for evil, especially if you get a chance to insta-hurt ppl without repercussions, and it doesnt matter if youre a cop or not", i personally feel like it ignores the things that i like abt death note, which is "both of these things are true", and simultaneously "both of these things do not matter". the first part of this is dedicated to the first point, the latter to the last.

first point. i think its an important part of the message and themes (unintentional or not, and i lean on the former because... come on, can you really say the author intended you to not think of the cops as good people, at least compared to light and l) that light is a cops son, and that almost everyone who gets the death note is cop adjacent/thinks like a cop and is already corrupt/powerful when they get it (mello raised to think hed be just like l, yotsuba group is self explanatory; you cannot look me in the eyes and tell me teru "churchill" mikami, who was hand selected by light out of a bunch of rabid kira supporters, is a normal citizen). i appreciated the cop post bc its rlly important to not gloss over that aspect.

all of this would be an argument for "only someone like them would do something like this, and i am not like them, so im above them and immune to thinking about what id do with it", but... misa is the MOST important outlier in all of this bc her murders are solely selfish in nature and shes not doing any of this for "the greater good"!!! her nature of being an exception and still a very very bad person is really really important...

or it would be if death note gave a shit about her character at all!!! im not talking about her tragic side, im talking about exploring the ramifications of her killing people the way lights murders are (somewhat) explored. that would strengthen the message greatly! but shes dismissed and that weakens it overall. firstly, she's dismissed by the characters when l only sees her as a way to get to kira and basically shelves her the rest of the time. secondly, shes dismissed by the narrative when her character is gradually ground down to a stump and (not to sound perilously close to the bad takes ppl meme about) she never faces repercussions for her actions. every other character using the death note is treated relatively seriously, but misa just dies bc her love is dead. im not saying this isnt a... fitting punishment or that it isnt in character, but it doesnt fit snugly into the theme other people are talking about of "you reap what you sow" at all.

we do have something of an equivalent to misa's grayscale motives. surprise surprise, its light yagami. first is light's characterization in the musical (i will also note that misa never kills anyone in the musical). light's thinking is coplike, yes — he literally starts his first song by talking about "throw[ing] away the key" — but also, oddly enough, could be read as progressive and therefore sympathetic to tumblr ("let the corporations make the regulations / and hold no one accountable when everything gets wrong / let the rich and famous get away with murder / every time a high-priced mouthpiece starts to talk, his client gets to walk"). compare to the anime and manga, where his bigotry and pride and disgust come from a place of lukewarm dissatisfaction and boredom. the musical has much less time to play around with lights character, so it gives the audience something to immediately hook on. more on how that actually plays out later.

in the animanga, none of this is justified from the start. animanga light could say he was just killing people to make humanity way, way worse, and that wouldnt matter, because at the root of it, it was always his boredom that made him pick up the note. of course he actually believes in justice and believes hes doing the right thing (no, he believes he's doing the wrong thing, for the sake of the world... the right thing, because he is god...), but it was boredom at the start. all animanga light says about justice and righteousness and the law is a front in the end, bc he is exactly like l and misa — amoral. selfish. searching for entertainment. hedonistic. we know this. he kills naomi misora*. he kills lind l. turner. everything hes saying deserves to be dismissed from the beginning.

"but doesnt that mean you agree with the discourse post you wrote this post to argue against?" like i said, i agree with both of them! but i... still think its not right to reduce death note to the message of "the power to kill people is bad". because that is not exactly what the story is saying, even though that's literally its whole plot and therefore reaching that conclusion is self explanatory (lmao). let's look at the concept of mu. nothingness. "there's no heaven or hell". The Real Slay The Princess (Death Note Essay) Starts Here.

in light's final moments in the death note manga, while screaming about not wanting to die, he remembers that the first day they met, ryuk told light that "there's no heaven or hell. no matter what they do in life, all people go to the same place. all humans are equal in death". it is retroactively revealed that light knew this the whole time, operated under this knowledge for all the years we watched him — the knowledge that nothing he does is actually bad, that nothing any human does is actually bad, that shinigami are not "evil", that the universe does not care. that no one cares except humans. this oblivion absolutely terrifies him more than anything anyone could ever do to him. its what he thinks of before anything else as he flails there, screaming, dying. one could say everything he does after that day is him trying to escape that fact, or wrest control over it. but it doesnt work.

here are the lyrics of requiem, the musical's final song, sung over the bodies of l and musical light, a light who was at least somewhat good-intentioned at first: "sleep now, here among your choices / then fade away / hear how the world rejoices / shades of gray / gone who was right or wrong / who was weak or strong / nothing left to learn". this is the final message the death note musical and the manga chose to leave us with. there is no judgement. even after all that acknowledged hurt, after all the damage done, there is no judgement.

in the manga and anime alike, the world is just as fucked when light picks up the death note as when he dies. sure, we as readers can guess otherwise logically (and be optimistic, believing the world was never fucked regardless), but that's not what death note wants you to think. it ends with matsuda and another member of the task force noting how the world is worse again even though they killed kira (matsuda is clearly much worse for wear, but still determined), we see the shitty motorcycle band again, it ends with misa and a whole kira cult on a mountain even though kira died a long time ago...

its extremely important that light is never killed by any human or any aspect of the law. he is always killed by ryuk: a chaotic force completely detached from human sensibilities, one that does not care about good and evil. same with l; in the anime, manga, and musical, he is always killed by rems senseless, morally gray love (and you could argue in the kdrama that hes killed by love there too lol). justice is just a set dressing.

this is not just because death note is a tragedy, because good and evil can still matter in a tragedy. the theme of "nothingness" and "good and evil doesnt matter here" is also shown in a situation relatively unrelated to light winning or losing, or being good or bad. and its in fucking lawlight of all things. we all know ls not a good person. we know lights not a good person. this is tip of the iceberg death note knowledge. but the moment they start to interact, none of that starts to matter. textually, their relationship becomes more important than the people theyve killed and hurt. and the thing is? the thing is? THAT WORKS STORY-WISE. THAT'S ENTERTAINING. AND IT'S NEVER TEXTUALLY CALLED OUT IN A LASTING WAY. l and lights relationship, no matter how much i meme it, is genuinely important to the themes and "mu" because it makes it clear that despite all the pretensions, despite everything, this was never about good and evil. and it still works in the story. this is why death note is simultaneously a comedy — isn't the battle of good and evil supposed to matter more? well, fine, i'll keep watching this anyway. that suspension of disbelief comes crashing down the moment l dies, though, and a relationship built on nothingness (the "mu" sort, meaninglessness, not "character development" nothingness, theres plenty of character development) gives way to just nothingness (again, "mu", not light's post-l depression nothingness), forever.

(an aside: there is no one to root for in death note, and the only things to root for are either interesting character relationships, convoluted plots, or complete and total destruction: for everything to end so no more damage is done.)

not to say that death note does not encourage its readers to consider what damage they might do with the death note (obviously.), or that its characters never do. look at matsuda, a much easier heroic figure to latch on to than soichiro because of his unique place in the cast dynamic and because he's willing to consider both sides of the situation and kill light instantly for all he's done. its just that the story's own stance on the subject is... complicated by the existence of shinigami worldviews and by its own insistence that the world cannot change for the better.

also, this is not to say that this is executed well by the death note manga at all. it is a very strong tool, artistically, to establish and then violently remove any emotional connections between characters and make your story only about the exceedingly convoluted lengths characters go to to survive and catch each other so the reader can realize how ultimately pointless all of this is, but like... is that a good story choice if that's all you do? i would say not really. add in a good dollop of misogyny that destroys the second-to-last character who might actually be an interesting contrast to the rest of the cast's dull one-track focus on winning and justice, and youve got yourself a shitty story that... honestly still achieves what it went out to do, just not in a way id ever want to replicate.

anyway, back to the parts death note's actually trying to say. no matter what any human does in their life, no matter how they try to hurt or help the world, they all die in the end. hey, light, they all die in the end. once dead, they can never come back to life. and the seasons turn. and the world rejoices. and you say "goodbye"...

that's all.

no analysis of death notes overarching theme would be complete without nears final monologue, the definitive roast of light, the "you're just a murderer" speech: "what is right from wrong? what is good from evil? nobody can truly distinguish between them. even if there is a god." if we take this as talking about the actual god in the room (ryuk) as well as light, then near admits that humans will never be able to withstand these overwhelming forces and that, using justice and happiness and selfishness, they are just scrabbling to find meaning in things they ultimately have no control over.

but of course, near does not stop there. "[...] even then i'd stop and think for myself. i'd decide for myself whether his teachings are right and wrong." nears alright with not having control over everything, because near can still control nears own actions. these forces can and do exist, but they have no sway over nears own humanity — unlike light, who caved.

one of the creators of death note said they believe its message is "life is short, so everyone should do their best". the first time i learned this, i was like, thats... nice and optimistic, but an awful reading of the story! "life is short, so everyone should be desperate and striving like light yagami", who literally cut off other ppls lives for his own life? what character in death note are we supposed to strive towards when we "do our best"? they all do awful things with their lives! honestly, maybe they shouldnt have tried their best, if this is what their best is!

but with the view of "mu"... it makes a bit more sense. just a little. maybe.

there is no good and evil. there is only what humans think, and no matter what we do, we all die in the end. it is easy to be crushed and terrified by this in the same way light is, but what is more important than justice and righteousness and finding meaning is... doing your best. not being a person that hurts others too much. not letting yourself get swallowed up by an ideal. not going too far. and simultaneously, trusting yourself.

it leaves a few questions, though... was the currently dead l even a little bit right about his blatantly amoral approach, then? was there a point to this pain, and me slogging through this dumbass manga, and all the people that have lost their lives to a selfish teenage cop's son and the whims of everyone chasing after him? was there a point to any of this...?

the manga** never answers this. it stays clinically impartial until the very end. the musical is anything but clinically impartial (and i love it so much for that), and its ryuk that has the last word.

"there's no point at all."

of course theres no point. none of this was ever supposed to happen. that is what matters more than all the hurt and the crimes and the pain.

and that's... actually okay, because it's over now.

yes, death note has many really important themes present in its story, but its viewpoint is nihilism first and foremost. thats why its so fun and easy to play around with all the other messages, because no matter what fun or torment or awful things or righteous justice or absolute nothingness or sentimentality happens in between, there is always an end.

there is always the end.

[r0semultiverse]

Okay, we’re only one episode in, but if you like the premise of The Boys & you like anime, I think you’ll enjoy Go Go Loser Ranger!

Smooth animation, a somewhat unique art style, & a twist on the sentai genre! Please check it out!

[anghraine]

My best friend and I moved in together with his closest friend from his MA program, and while I had met her before (the friend; my bff is a man), we hadn't spent much time together because I've never lived away from the West Coast (and only two years out of the PNW) and she's never lived outside of North Carolina and only briefly visited the PNW once, when she went to Portland last year.

It's been a delight to show her around the PNW and realize we need to explain things that are just sort of omnipresent in our lives. The bff and I were casually griping with each other about having to run an errand to Trader Joe's at an inconvenient hour, and were telling her, "it's okay, you can stay in the car and avoid the people if you want" and she was like "NO I MUST SEE IT, I'VE ONLY HEARD OF THEM" and nearly ascended to another plane when we showed her around the store.

The bff and I grew up in the same town in NW Washington (him for his first 18 years, me from 9 to 19) and he lived in Bellingham and Seattle for years before he went to NC for grad school (I went to the SF Bay Area for mine, a very different experience). Both of them are hardcore coffee aficionados, but he struggled with the different Coffee Ways of the South, so for the true PNW experience they want to tour various indie coffeeshops next.

Also, she adores Kaidan in Mass Effect and we were like, oh, is your passport up to date? We could take a trip sometime and show you your boyfriend's beloved English Bay. It's very beautiful :)

her: O_O

me: Actually, it's worth going to Vancouver BC for its own sake as well, it's truly spectacular. We used to go all the time as kids.

bff: And Victoria!

her: O_O

[shadelorde]

“To hate me is to give me breath. To fight me is to give me strength.” Is actually like one of the gayest lines spoken in Legend of Korra and yall sleep on it WAY too much

[libelelle]

You don't have to watch the movie here's a link to his death

JHFKLWJAEFSJL; HELP HELP HELP HJELP WHY DID IT MAKE THTA NOISE WHY

[moeblob]

What Deacon thinks: what did that mean? did he want me to wear a collar too? why else would he mention my neck? i mean, if he /asked/ me i would wear one but he didn't so would wearing one be weird?

What Ymber meant: It's nice to be near someone who isn't tethered to this world to serve it with a physical reminder for all to see.

[awesomenikie]

I remember reading the Heroes of Olympus series and thinking Jason was doomed and oh boy do I hate being right. I think it’s in the scene where he talks back to Zeus or something like that and its worded a certain way as to say this never ends well that is talking back or defying Zeus. I can’t remember exactly what it was I haven’t read the books in a while but the way it was worded I knew it was going to come back and haunt him and it did.

[ikemenomegas]

so since you said before in a previous post that satoru is basically always possessive and is the most jealous person and in another post, he'd act clingy towards you in public or something along those lines, when he feels jealous. say, he's around his students and sees someone persistently flirting with his alpha, would he show his jealousy in that moment or would he wait for a more private moment?

Gojo gets a little more reasonable as he gets older so that's at least one thing in your favor😅. Yeah, his life of entitlement makes him jealous and possessive and he has a terrible sense of "personal boundaries" because his are always up. So even though it's really not socially acceptable, he will get in your and anyone else's space if he wants to or feels the need.

When the situation allows, Satoru will indulge in a playful expression of his inclination to jealousy and possessiveness. However, the question you ask is pretty broad...

If it's just some stranger and you don't realize this other person is flirting, having the students around to witness Satoru's moods only holds him back or changes the way he's going to expresses his feelings, it wouldn't stop him as long as it's not deadly serious. (... look at the very cringe worthy violin teacher bit)

If it's something a little more uncomfortable, like you know this stranger is flirting and can't get away from it, Satoru has no issue being rude to people in public and the students know he's like this, so he'll steer you away or casually guide an encumbrance into the way so you have an opening to leave. (He would call you from across the street and be obvious about it haha). He might bribe or convince the students to help stage a distraction/intervention. He once sent a very young Megumi to pose as your implied son and fetch you back.

If it's necessary for you to talk to this person, maybe for business purposes, and he realizes they're flirting, he will wait until you get what you came for or let you deal with it yourself. If he's hurt at all by your inability or unwillingness to stop this person from flirting with you but is in a delicate situation, he will wait until you get home to maybe go a little feral. He dislikes that he wants the reassurance, but he is more likely to want it. If he can though, he'll melt and pout all over you right away and you should take him out for a quick ice cream or dinner.

If it's another sorcerer and tied in with clan politics, that's where Satoru is really good at walking a line where he can say something that looks normal written down, but everyone in the vicinity understands that this is Gojo-sama, the Six-Eyes user, the strongest sorcerer, and you do not lay hands or eyes on his mate, you do not assume that his having an alpha in any way changes his position in the clan structure, and you do not offer disrespect by association in approaching his alpha with an intention towards seduction.

Also, I feel like I'm not saying this well so I do want to clarify that (the way I try to write the typical au characters), Gojo doesn't act jealous or possessive because of a lack of trust or "ownership" in the objectifying sense. The more obnoxious part is that it's more about having your attention - if it's on someone else, it's not on him. He knows that alpha would not cheat on him, but he also has human emotions - he's just really bad at behaving in a socially acceptable manner about them. Admittedly, it never feels great when someone is implying that they could steal your partner.

Idk his "jealousy" is hard to explain because it doesn't come from a place of insecurity, it has nothing to do with a lack of trust, it has to do with Satoru being an unreasonable demigod who's used to acting on emotions in the moment when he can get away with it, but also because he knows you could walk away because he'd let you. That's one rule he's always subconsciously stuck to - he's not going to force you to stay. Yes, he's always had everything he can physically ask for, but Satoru has been forced into a lot of things his entire life.

He never outright manipulates anybody (in the way of setting up situations to back someone into a corner. If they let him know who they are, he's going to use that information but that's not as dark as it could get). He refuses to actually play politics in general. He's remarkably innocent in the way he relies on earnestness and the threat of potential obliteration as his tools to get things done, they're pretty honest all things considered.

So he's not going to blame or criticize, he's not going to yell or belittle or go all creepy possessive on you. His public persona makes it seem like he would do these things regardless of who's around, but we've seen repeatedly that Satoru is painfully, remarkably rational, almost to the point where he'll lay aside any personal feelings about a situation if it makes sense to do so. He acts out when he can, but it's seldom as chaotic as the higher ups seem to think it is. I guess what I'm saying is he's got boundaries and rules that he follows, it's just that the lines are so far away from what most people experience, this makes him look completely unhinged and he plays this up because when people expect unpredictability from him, it's so far played to his advantage.

[mars-ipan]

do you guys think aziraphale heard the myth of prometheus for the first time and lost his mind a little

[captainhysunstuff]

22 more images (with some saucy shenanigans and immature "seduction" tactics towards the end) below the cut:

Ryuk makes his grand return and is brought up to speed with Light and L's immoral union. The date seems pretty successful~.

Next (Mature)

Next (Super Abridged)

Previous

First

Master List

Transcript

[quixoticanarchy]

hm chemical weapons interest may have gone dormant but is not dead. the spiral calls...

[loserelf]

maybe i do need to go to therapy bc its probably not good that ive been living on autopilot and the last 7 years went by so fast but also bc i was deliberatly Wanting the time to go by to put as much space between me and the events of 2017-2020 as possible all while somewhat knowing my young adulthood was slipping me by and now both my teenage years and my early 20s are gone and i still feel like my 19th birthday was yesterday yeesh!!