#THE FINAL ARC IS UPON US ARE WE READY

[milesliceof-art]

Oh boy what a nice day. Surely nothing goes absolutely wrong. No sireeeeeyyy!! ABSOLUTELY FINE!!!!

[felassan]

New Details on DA4 from this IGN article: "Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Is Officially Being Renamed, With Gameplay Reveal Set for June 11 - EXCLUSIVE"

"BioWare confirmed that The Veilguard will feature seven playable party members, and that it will feature “fun and fluid, moment-to-moment combat” while continuing to center strategy via the unique powers of each companion.

BioWare general manager Gary McKay explains that while Solas is “still very much a part of the story of Dragon Age: The Veilguard,” the team wanted a title that reflected a “really deep and compelling group of companions.”

“One thing that’s important to remind fans is that every Dragon Age game is a new and different experience and this game, more so than ever, is about you and your companions – a group that you must rally to fight by your side,” McKay tells IGN. “We can’t wait for players to meet, connect and form their own personal relationships with the unique companions that make up The Veilguard. That’s the spirit of this game…of this story. Choosing who will join you on your adventure, fight alongside you, and be there by your side in the end.”

McKay claims that the name change wasn’t a matter of focus testing, which commonly informs decisions like these. He even goes so far as to admit that sticking with Dreadwolf might have been easier.

“We actually think sticking with Dreadwolf would have been the safer choice – ‘Dread Wolf’ is a cool name after all!” McKay says. “In the end, it was most important for us to have a title that was authentic to the companions that are the heart of this adventure we’ve created. We’ve worked throughout development to create really incredible backstories for each companion that intersect with the main narrative in meaningful ways.”

As for why it’s not simply named “Dragon Age IV,” McKay says it’s for the same reason that Dragon Age Inquisition wasn’t called “Dragon Age III: Inquisition.”

“Every game in the series tells its own unique story and the title is an important element to help set the stage for the next standalone adventure inclusive of its own hero, companions, narrative arc, villain, setting, etc,” he says.

Asked what it means for BioWare to finally be able to show The Veilguard to the world, McKay said, “As the studio head and executive producer, it’s been incredible to see the journey, resilience and passion that this team continues to bring every day. We have an incredible group of both BioWare and Dragon Age veterans who have been with us for years, as well as new faces and voices that love the series who have helped to create an unforgettable experience we feel will be worthy of the Dragon Age name.”

So who exactly are the Veilguard? In the lore, the Veil is a barrier between the physical world and Fade, which is Dragon Age’s spirit realm. Solas, who helped create the Veil, now wants to destroy it. Hence, as McKay puts it, “the Veil needs guarding.”

While acknowledging that the why and the how is definitely spoiler territory, McKay says, “The biggest clue I can share is that you and your companions – that make up The Veilguard – are central to taking down a new evil threat unleashed upon Thedas. It might not just be Solas.”

McKay isn’t quite ready to reveal the party members quite yet, but does provide some hints on what to expect, including some initial info on romances.

“We spent a lot of time making our companions feel authentic based on their own unique experiences within this larger fantasy world, which in turn makes the relationships you form with them feel even more meaningful. We’ve tapped into Dragon Age’s deep lore and explored its most iconic factions to bring each of the seven companions and their stories to life,” he says.

“I won’t spoil next week’s reveal but I can say we’ve created a story where you can impact the world and the companions that surround you. Player agency is important to the Dragon Age: The Veilguard experience and allows each player to form unique personal connections with their companions of choice. And, yes, you can romance the companions you want!”

McKay says the decision to pare the number of companions from nine to seven is mostly down to it being the “right number for the story we’re telling.” Each one is intended to represent a unique faction or element from Thedas, and will feature their own arc with “stories of love and loss, each with meaningful choices and emotional moments.”

He continues, “As you accompany your companions to unravel their backstory and earn their loyalty and friendship, you’ll visit more regions of Thedas across a deeper variety of biomes than any Dragon Age before it.”

McKay mostly sidesteps questions of how Inquisition’s characters might fit into The Veilguard’s story, though he does confirm that it will once again feature an original protagonist similar to The Warden, Hawke, and The Inquisitor, noting that each Dragon Game has its own standalone story with its own thread and conflict.

“Games across the Dragon Age franchise are never designed as a game-over-game continuous storyline. There are familiar arcs, factions and heroes important to the overarching Dragon Age universe that weave through the new story we’re telling,” he explains. “The previous games, characters and events aren’t the anchor of Dragon Age: The Veilguard it’s about your adventure with a brand new cast of companions that you must rally to fight against a powerful force.”

He once again teases another villain beyond Solas: “I don’t want to get too deep into spoiler territory but I can say that the Dread Wolf is not the only god players need to be worried about.”

When The Veilguard is finally revealed on June 11, BioWare’s presentation will include 15 minutes of gameplay from the opening moments of the game, which will help set up the story. On the gameplay front, McKay says that The Veilguard’s combat was a “big area of focus” and something the team wanted to push forward. Among other things, McKay says that The Veilguard will feature an ability wheel designed to give players more direct control over their characters.

“As an RPG, strategy in combat is important as you bring two companions to every fight. Each companion brings unique powers and abilities that have a direct impact on how you choose to take down the enemies at hand,” he says. “To add another layer to that strategic element, we’re introducing a new ability wheel where you can pause the action and set up your next move – whether it’s your companions’ abilities or your own.

“The ability wheel opens up a huge amount of strategic possibilities, giving players the ability to control the flow of combat and link powerful combinations of abilities between players and their companions that can quickly turn the tide of any battle. We think we’ve found an exciting balance between fun, fluidity and strategy for every encounter.”

“This is a game and experience that continues BioWare’s tradition of single player RPG storytelling set in the epic fantasy world of Thedas,” McKay says. “We know Dragon Age fans and the community have been waiting a long time for the next game and we could not be more excited to share our gameplay reveal on June 11.""

[source] (emphasis mine)

[makimacult]

on sunday & the dreammaster // sunday's parallels with aventurine

the dreammaster's relationship with sunday is actually extremely fucked up and uncomfortable when you look at it as a whole:

when the siblings find the charmony dove, he tells robin that her idea of simply building a nest for the dove is "idealistic" and prods at sunday until sunday finally says that he wants the bird to live no matter what, even if it's in a cage.

ages are vague in star rail, but at least from the ~vibes~ sunday gives off (+ robin is referred to as a "young songstress" at one point), i think we can say that sunday was probably pretty young when he was made the bronze melodia. gopher wood is the dreammaster, the leader of penacony—and he's okay with making his orphaned foster son, who was p much already displaying trauma responses as a child (the immediate conclusion that "the dove's parents abandoned it", saying he has no dream and simply following what robin says her dream was) listen to the confessions of the sinners of the dreamscape? sunday being appointed as bronze melodia is the direct triggering event that leads to him losing faith in the harmony.

the dreammaster telling sunday about robin getting shot and almost dying—this is such a strange way to tell your adopted son that his sister was in mortal danger. "perhaps as a reward for her consistent deeds of harmony" its all just rather passive-aggressive and manipulative; definitely aiming to be the nail in the coffin for sunday's faith. if robin, the ideal advocate of xipe, can't be protected while doing charity... then what is the path of harmony even worth?

the most damning part of course is sunday's final conversation with the dreammaster, where the dreammaster references robin, basically sets down an ultimatum for sunday that one of the siblings must follow the path of the order and fulfill the plans they've set in motion till now. by now sunday's relationship with the dreammaster is much colder than it was in the two flashbacks about the bird and robin's gunshot wound—he clearly doesn't fully trust him anymore, but at the same time he has lost all hope and believes only in the path of the order that the dreammaster personally set him on.

the two excerpts below basically summarise sunday for me—"someone has to stay awake in the sweet dream" // "we sleep because we are afraid to awaken from our sweet dreams." firefly admits that sunday is a pessimist who feels deep compassion for all; he creates the sweet dream paradise using the order's power because he genuinely believes it will enable everyone to live their best lives.

the interesting thing is, a rejoinder to sunday's thesis of: "people sleep because they are afraid to wake up from their dreams" was already given in version 2.1, through aventurine's character arc and the conclusion he comes to during his conversation with acheron. i've already talked about sunday and aventurine's surface parallels here, so i'd like to focus specifically on their views about "dreams" in this post.

acheron and aventurine agree that people sleep because they are not ready to welcome death, and are preparing themselves for their inevitable ending—ratio adds that it is impossible to be "dormant" in the dreamscape. this is directly contrary to what sunday wants. sunday rejects that inevitable death, and wants to create a stagnant, safe, paradise in a cage for everyone. a macrocosm of what he wanted to do with the charmony dove as a child all those years ago.

version 2.1 and version 2.2 directly build upon each other, especially through sunday and aventurine's character arcs. you would imagine that aventurine, who has constantly suffered, is terrified of death and not really a big fan of living as his life was atm, would be exactly the sort of "weak" person that sunday wants to build a paradise to protect. but as he goes through his journey in 2.1, we see that he comes to an entirely different conclusion from sunday. he decides to keep moving on, so that he can make his parents proud when he meets them again at the end of his journey. sunday, meanwhile, loses all hope and quite literally falls from grace. still, robin catches her brother at the end; there's still hope for him.

[yumeka-sxf]

I've been waiting to see Yor's epiphany chapter in the anime and it did not disappoint! I felt like analyzing more than usual because I loved this episode so much~ 💖

I hope that any anime-only viewers who at this point still had the opinion that Yor's just ditzy/submissive, one-dimensional, or whatever negative traits associated with her, have changed their minds. Throughout the cruise arc we've seen so many sides of her character: how she's struggling to understand the exact reason why she's taking on these dangerous assignments when her original reason for doing it (supporting Yuri) no longer exists, how her internal desire to seek her own happiness - live a peaceful life like Olka - is at constant war with her diligence to complete her mission, her yearning to be with Loid and Anya and how sad she looks when she has to tell herself that they're just a cover-up family and she'll have to leave them without a word if anything drastic happens, and how much more confident she is when doing something she excels at - assassinating - yet still retaining her kind and polite demeanor (Unlike Twilight, who dons the mask of Loid Forger, Yor Forger is not a mask for Thorn Princess, at least not in terms of personality. So everything she says as Thorn Princess can be interpreted as her true feelings, including the now two times she's hesitated during fights because of the thought of having to leave the Forgers).

And, in the moment where she's facing death right in the eye, all the doubts she's had since getting this assignment culminate, not only causing the samurai assassin to get the upper hand, but causing her to take a deep, introspective look into her reason for fighting...if it's not for the same reason as the other assassins, what is it?

What's even more amazing is that these things about her character did not come out of nowhere just for the sake of a flashy climax. We saw in previous episodes that not only does she understands that being in the Forger family makes her happy, but most importantly, how she's lived her life only thinking of the happiness of others above her own. And what's most tragic is that, upon finally realizing that her original reason for being an assassin is gone (since Yuri no longer needs support) she's ready to die then and there...until she remembers Olka's words about wanting to live a peaceful life, which in turn makes her remember her core reason for becoming an assassin was to not only support Yuri, but to make the world he lives in all the more peaceful by eliminating the villains in it.

Despite how naive Yor is about many things (due to her upbringing), she's certainly not ignorant about the needless tragedies that exist in the world. And here is where she makes her decision to keep doing her assassinating, not because she enjoys killing people, but because the result of it will make the world a better place...because now, she has even more people whose happiness she desires to protect.

Even if she sacrifice her own happiness by leaving the Forgers, that's not as important to her as preventing tragedy from befalling her loved ones, or the world in general. And these thoughts are so similar to Twilight's reasons for becoming a spy! Coincidently, as Yor has these thoughts, she thinks of how Loid complimented this aspect of her personality way back when they first met...and the thought that the man who she trusts and respects so much would approve of her decision, gives her the final push to keep on going (I love that they reanimated this scene too and didn't just use the exact frames from episode 2).

So yeah, if anyone who wasn't sure of how much depth Yor's character has, I hope this episode shed a lot of light! This is the right way to make a character both cute/sweet but also a total badass who's strong on the outside as well as the inside.

(I will probably reword a lot of this for my upcoming Twiyor analysis posts but I couldn't wait until then, lol).

[multimousenette]

bkdkbk longfic recs

for @miss-multifandom-mess, who wanted fics that are:

Long & completed ☑️

Good balance of genres: angst, comedy, romance, the package deal

Accurate bakudeku (as a pair and individually)

Great dynamic 👍

Izuku is not ‘feminized’ or made uwu

I'll give title (linked to the fic) & author, word count, rating, dynamic if relevant*, content warnings, major tags and a synopsis.

I'll also put them in the following categories:

Canon compliant: this does not disagree with canon in any way (eg. character study of Kacchan during dark hero arc, anything during the 8 year time skip that has Kacchan saving up/Deku teaching)

Canon consistent: yeah that could more or less be canon (eg future pro heroes especially where deku keeps OFA)

Canon divergent: something during canon actively changes, but the world is the same (eg. becoming friends in middle school, one of them is on a different course, pro heroes but my gut says it's too far away to be really canon consistent)

Canon adjacent: feels like canon except for one Major Thing (eg. omegaverse, (non-quirk related) hanahaki but still heroes)

Alternate Universe (AU): completely different universe (eg fantasy, sci-fi, or no quirks)

*it ended up being mostly either bkdkbk (ie switching) or dkbk -- I've highlighted these red just in case, but I've included them cos people tend to use bkdk for the ship generally if they don't have a preference, and I couldn't see anything saying you were fixed bkdk on your acc

... and I'll put them below the cut cos this is already so long oh my god

In order of word count (high -> low):

I Will Find You by Purple_Insomniac (174k, T, canon consistent)

CW: Alt universe character death

Major tags: Parallel universes, angst w a happy ending.

Deku disappears in the middle of a rescue mission. Turns out, thanks to some OFA weirdness, the person who sent Izuku into an alternate universe… doesn’t know which one he’s in. Somehow, Izuku and Katsuki can speak in the OFA Vestige Realm, but it’s still a total nightmare trying to find which universe Izuku’s in — let alone bringing him home.

For it is Something That We Lost by TheGraveyardChild (160k, E, top Deku, canon divergent)

CW: past domestic abuse, past child abuse.

Major tags: Kidfic, angst with a happy ending.

Number four pro hero Dynamight returns to his hometown, but — to (number five pro hero) Deku’s surprise — he’s kind of flaky now. Turns out, this is because he has a daughter, and they’ve only just escaped his abusive ex. Slowly, Katsuki and Deku grow close again, but everything’s complicated when they start work on a child kidnapping/trafficking case — especially when Katsuki’s daughter is caught up in it.

Halfway to the Moon (But the Sun is So Bright) by Catsired (105k, T, canon divergent)

CW: Graphic depictions of abuse and self harm; depressed & suicidal Izuku; physically, financially, emotionally and verbally abusive Hisashi; bullying; mild homophobia.

Major tags: Middle School AU, Slow burn, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending.

Izuku has a lot on his plate. It’s his final year of middle school and between his training with All Might, the part time job he’s picked up to help his mum with bills, and Kacchan… being Kacchan, he’s about ready to drop. And then his dad comes home, and his mum is so happy he can’t bear to tell her that Hisashi hits him. Meanwhile, Katsuki notices there’s something up with Shitty Deku and somehow decides it’s his responsibility to fix it. And maybe, as they grow closer, he finds that doesn’t hate Deku so much anymore. Maybe he never really did.

Surprise Reunions and Childhood Rekindlings by ladyofsnails (90k, G, AU)

Major tags: Slice of life, no quirks AU, uni/college AU, mutual pining, FLUFF.

Izuku and Katsuki haven’t seen each other in five years, but it turns out their friends are friends — and incredibly shocked (and concerned) when the first thing Katsuki and Izuku do upon meeting is start roughhousing. The two of them fall straight back into their chaotic childhood dynamic… and in love. Obviously.

After All We’ve Been Through (You get turned into a fucking rabbit) by TigerLilies64 (88k, E, switching, canon consistent).

Major tags: crack treated seriously, fluff, hurt/comfort.

Pro hero Deku gets hit by a quirk that turns him into a rabbit hybrid. To make matters worse, he shapeshifts into an actual rabbit when his heart rate gets too high. Kacchan... helps. 

Tidal Hearts by macksmilesback and SamIsNotLegend (83k, T, AU) 

Major tags: h2o just add water/early 2000s mermaid AU, high school drama, mild angst, fluff.

Izuku and Katsuki were best friends as kids, but that all changes after they nearly drown while swimming in the ocean and Inko moves her and Izuku away. Years later, they reunite, and after Katsuki saves Izuku from a nasty hazing prank, end up… growing a tail any time they get wet. Well, that’s one way to spend their senior year of high school!

The Spell in Her Name by MerryWeatherWeather (62k, E, top Katsuki, canon divergent)

CW: Past OC teacher/student relationship, past minor character death, past child abandonment.

Major tags: kidfic, domestic fluff, mutual pining, angst. 

Pro hero Katsuki returns from working in the US and due to some complications, has nowhere to live, so pitches up at Deku’s house — and is shocked to discover that Deku has a child. Turns out, she was abandoned on his doorstep as a baby, and he took her in. When her mother initiates a public custody battle, Deku will do anything to keep his daughter — and Kacchan will do anything to help.

just for your love (I’ll give you the world) by thwnderpoint (52k, E, top deku, canon consistent)

Major tags: idiots to lovers, (light) angst with a happy ending, mutual pining.

Katsuki confesses to Izuku, and Izuku doesn’t want Kacchan to suffer or feel like he has to hold back his feelings. So he tells him not to. Kacchan takes this offer and runs with it. Izuku quickly realises that while he hadn’t considered Kacchan as a romantic option, he is in fact absolutely in love with him… but Kacchan thinks Izuku deserves better than him. Izuku, of course, can’t let that stand. And now they’re engaged in some sort of psychological flirt-off, much to the dismay of everyone around them.

Photo Op by whitetail (50k, M, top deku, canon adjacent)

CW: transphobia, gender dysphoria

Note: I LOVE the characterisation of Deku, he’s an absolute disaster, but I can see that it might be love it or hate it as the author does exaggerate his social issues a lot. This Deku is explicitly, intentionally autistic and it's a close third person POV so we're very much in his head... which is kind of a mess.

Major tags: trans izuku, autistic izuku, massive simp kacchan, comedy of errors, miscommunication, light angst.

Pro hero Deku has PR crisis after PR crisis and now the whole world knows about his Dynamight thirst blog and he’s newly insecure about his bottom surgery. And for some reason, Kacchan won’t stop asking him (him!!) to join him for a photoshoot, as if Deku’s stupid ugly face won’t ruin everything again. Still, he can’t say no to Kacchan… 

In Another Life by hollyandvice (44k, M, canon consistent)

Major tags: Parallel universes, grief/mourning, angst with a happy ending.

While fighting a villain, Kacchan disappears. Turns out, the villain has a parallel universe swapping quirk, and he was aiming to swap number one hero Deku for a quirkless civilian. Except, the only world the villain could find where Deku isn’t a hero is one where Kacchan is dead — so when Katsuki took the blow, no one swapped with him, and now no one knows how to get him back. Meanwhile, Katsuki discovers a dystopian world where half his friends are dead or injured — not to mention this world’s Deku, who is all sorts of broken up over meeting an adult Kacchan. Will he be able to fix the problems with this world before he gets home? And which world will he choose to stay in?

last days of war by antisora (44k, M, AU)

Major tags: Pacific Rim AU, Sci-Fi/Dystopian, angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort, misunderstandings.

Note: I've never watched pacific rim and had no issues with understanding what was going on. Author said there were lots of references, but you don't need existing knowledge to enjoy this.

All Izuku’s ever wanted is to save the world with his best friend… but his life doesn’t seem to be headed in that direction, especially when he doesn’t make it through the physical entrance exam for the best Jaeger pilot training school, UA. But after seeing him ace a Kaiju simulation, the world’s greatest ranger, All Might, intervenes, and Izuku is able to enrol at UA after all. Unsurprisingly, Kacchan’s there too — and their drift compatibility is through the roof. Much to Izuku’s dismay, even piloting a Jaeger together isn’t enough to regain their close friendship as children. Will almost dying (twice) be enough for them to finally be truly honest with each other?

The Time Between Our Lives by Fitzrovia (36k (56k inc. sequels), E, switching, canon divergent and AU)

Major tags: Hurt/comfort, angst w a happy ending.

Deku and Kacchan are sent back in time by a villain’s quirk and end up in an abandoned temple, quirkless. In order to escape — and return to their old lives — they must rake the gravel in the garden into a design that shows the beauty of all life. It takes a very, very long time.

Spacewalk by SamIsNotLegend (35k, M, AU)

CW: Major character death

Major tags: Sci-Fi/Horror, angst w a happy ending, grief/mourning.

Astronauts Izuku and Katsuki are set to co-lead the first manned mission to Jupiter… but a year and a half before launch, Izuku is hit by a car and dies. Katsuki has to lead the mission — their mission — alone, and sure enough, everything goes wrong. And keeps going wrong… until it starts going right. 

and a bonus totally-not-a-longfic-but-it-slaps:

Vertigo by Cyhyr (15k, T, canon adjacent)

Major tags: hanahaki, angst with a happy ending.

Pro hero Deku has hanahaki. He makes a plan to run away and just... die (when it gets too severe to keep working), but he didn’t account for Kacchan. 

[dogwaterdish]

As promised, I'm back to talk more about Midoriya being autistic! I'll talk about special interests, stimming, social difficulties, intense emotions/empathy, and other miscellaneous things I think are better explained about him when looked through the lens of Autism.

Special Interests

One of the most obvious traits is his strong- often described as obsessive- interests. Mainly heroes, All Might, and quirks. These interests are pretty much just special interests - the level of intensity and long term hold on him is how special interests can function.

Some people might argue he's just using it as an escape from his reality of quirklessness, but these interests were visible before and after he was quirkless. When he got diagnosed as quirkless, he had already had a passionate interest in All Might.

And while All Might and heroes are loved by the majority of the population, it's been noted by many people that he has a lot stronger of an interest in them than most, to the point some call it creepy and obsessive. He's very knowledgeable about these topics, and infodumps about them very often! For example, when his class met the pussycats:

As we can see, he's very ready to start spewing hero facts, and is excited by seeing heroes. He does this often, and knows very much about most heroes- as we can see in the first chapter as well. He knew the name of Kamui woods big move despite him being a new hero, and knew several facts about him off the top of his head. This muttering is also frowned upon socially, but he doesn't pick up on that much at all, and continues his muttering until he either gets distracted or stopped by someone else. This all makes me believe that these are his special interests!

Stimming

Midoriya has some things that he does that I categorize as stimming! The biggest one is muttering, he's seen doing this often, and a lot of the time it seems to be a form of regulation. For example, during the USJ when he hurt is finger:

He is often seen muttering in times of high emotions (which is often for him with the intense emotions he experiences) and it seems to help him calm down, focus, and relax, as well as make plans.

Another example of him stimming is when he was talking with Nighteye about an All Might clip!

These motions are often used by him during times where he is excited, scared, and even focused. A common stim I've seen from him is pulling on his bottom lip!

While stimming is something everyone does to some degree, autistic people stim much more regularly for emotional regulation and to keep a proper amount of stimulation, and Midoriya falls into the latter category, where he stims much more than neurotypical people. This stimming has been pointed out by many characters and some have called it odd, mainly with his muttering.

Social Difficulties

Another major thing I see in him that is reminiscent of Autism is his abnormal behavior socially, and his cluelessness when it comes to social interactions.

Here we see Midoriya wave to Shinso, then get confused about why he ignored him. This could be just general confusion that many people would experience but I think that since stuff like this happens to him somewhat often its pointing more towards social issues n such !

Another example of this was during the final exam arc, where Tsu was asking Uraraka what her and Aoyama were talking about and Uraraka got flustered. Midoriya was clueless during this whole interaction and they made a point to put a question mark by his head. I cannot find this picture for the life of me right now, but if I do I will edit this post and put it in!

I think it's very interesting that he is often characterized as very observant (with his very detailed notes and pattern recognition with how Bakugou fights (another autism thing...)) , but when he is clueless about something it's always a social interaction. Here's some more miscellaneous pictures of him with question marks by his head:

It's very common for autistic people to be lost or confused during social interactions, and to have problems being entirely calm or oriented during conversations. Midoriya has also been shown to be a bit fretful, anxious, or quick to overexplain during conversations, such as when Iida and Uraraka were asking about the nickname "Deku".

Intense Emotions and Empathy

Midoriya is shown many times to have extremely strong emotions, it's one of his key traits along with his high empathy. These big emotions he has are very unregulated, at least early in the series, and he is prone to bursting into tears at a moments notice. This upcoming picture was when he met up with All Might after receiving his UA acceptance letter.

If you have seen any clips of MHA, you have seen how much he cries and how intense his emotions are. However, he doesnt always cry when he has strong emotions, like when he gets excited and pumped up about his classmates or heroes, and starts muttering and sometimes flapping his arms.

Along with that, he has strong empathy for other people and can "feel" the energy and emotions of others when they're particularly strong. He also has more empathy and compassion for the villains than most people, insisting he must save Shigaraki rather than just kill him like everyone suggested. Irregular emotions and empathy levels are yet another trait of autism that he possess.

Other traits

Like I said in the start of this post, some of these things aren't necessarily indicative of autism or anythin', but they make so much more sense when looked at through the lens of autism, and combined with all the other traits he has, only add to his likelihood of being Autistic!!

One thing I've seen Midoriya do quite often is doing raptor arms! Heres some examples of that:

here are also some examples of Midoriya sitting in peculiar ways as well! Not a trait of autism particularly, but I've seen odd sitting common in many autistic people!

Conclusion!!

So all that is pretty much to say Midoriya is a pretty autistic character! Whether it was intentional or not he's super autism coded and I think it's very neat. I also think it's neat we have essentially the same spins (all might!). All the info from here comes from research I've done, along with referencing my own experience as an autistic boy.

Happy birthday to him as well!! :] ty for reading all that

(also @animaatra since you wanted to be tagged :] )

[thesillyeli]

Okay! So D9 (partially?) confirmed that Max and Chloe broke up after Life is Strange 1 in Bae timeline and why it's a good, logical thing that needed to happen for Max.

First of all, I think it's understandable why they did make them break up. Not because D9 hates Pricefield but this is a game about Max finally facing her traumas. How would they break up? As much as Max says that she and Chloe will be together forever, we forget the aspect of both of them being very problematic. Let's start with Chloe's flaws.

Chloe is so affected by her past that whenever she tries to do something good she can't help but cause more harm, yet she does so little about it. She's so consumed by her grief that all she does is self-pity. It's always someone else's fault and never hers. She also tends to push people into situations they're not comfortable with almost making them hostages of the circumstances.

Max doesn't love herself. She doesn't feel part of the world around her. She feels like she didn't use her powers for true good and only used them for her benefit. Even a part of her doubts if Chloe truly loves her. She is so lacking in confidence, and so afraid of losing her, that all she does is write it down and talk it to herself (literally).

As much as Max and Chloe care for each other, their self-destructive behaviors don't help them much. Lack of communication, selfishness, foolishness even. It's the perfect recipe for a relationship to go catastrophically wrong. And it seems it did. And this is as Life is Strange as it can get.

Life is Strange hits as hard as it does because it feels real. When I go on how flawed Max and Chloe are, I'm not intending to diss the characters but remarking how real they are. Real people have a problematic side, even good people. And even people who love each other can ruin their relationships. Because if you don't love yourself first, loving someone else can only get you so far.

I know the relationship between Max and Chloe is important to many. But life isn't a fairy tale where saying "we'll be together forever" is all you need. Love is something you work on every day. And if you don't, expecting everything to be just fine and taking it for granted, you lose it. But not because you lose something, it means it'll be lost forever. True love prevails even when it seems it's gone. And if you work on yourself and fix what you broke in the first place, your chance to have your happily ever after will be waiting for you.

DE's arc for Max is built upon the premise of exploring her trauma after all that happened in the first game. The thing about trauma is that, no matter how much support you have, if you're not willing to open up and explore it as painful as it may be, there isn't much to be done.

Max bottles up her emotions and tends to deal with an issue until it's up her neck. If the death of Chloe's dad was enough to drive them apart, imagine what watching Chloe die over and over, getting SA'd and almost killed, and tearing reality apart, and the guilt of letting a whole town die did. It's a whole new level of personal conflict that we never saw her overcome, and based on her behavior, don't have many reasons to believe she did. But Safi's death will make her do it and finally face these traumas. And when you face your traumas, there are only two-way outs: sinking even deeper, or coming out to the top, ready to become the best version of yourself. A version capable of loving yourself as much as you love someone else.

It's either they broke up or that line was just a misderection.

[oddp1ant]

A handful of loose reflections I wanna put down before time moves on, things change etc

One, Viktor. The biggest thing I'm feeling right now is grief. We knew he was doomed from the start, to lose parts or all of himself, but seeing it happen still hurts. I was unsettled during act 1, feeling so much of him was already lost with little fanfare - would the narrative just move on? I'm actually mollified by this second death, seeing it delivered with narrative and emotional weight, even if we haven't gotten the (Jayce's) reasoning for it yet. Plus, I'm fairly confident we've yet to see his final evolution. So again, he was already (mostly) gone, but now it's like the narrative has acknowledged it, too. Even less will be left off him in his final form, but by god, I hope it's his wrath. If he's truly left an empty shell for the arcane I think I'll cry.

Second, Jayce. What the hell man. Explain yourself. Ngl I love him so much, seeing him get cut up with a chainsaw and apparently run through the arcane autoclave was oddly satisfying. Both him and Mel felt a bit, idk, like they'd gotten a PR treatment in arc 1? Like I love the "my place is here in the lab with you" and "Viktor will return to us" as much as the next guy but both of these characters have been very shitty to Viktor very recently and erasing that feels too cheap. I'm glad to see Jayce return to making Big Swings in the worst possible direction. I only wish he'd said something to Viktor before. Well. Y'know.

Speaking of Mel, I absolutely love the arc she's getting. Even just the fact that she's getting an independent arc, tbh. Most beautiful woman in the world is also magic? Gays stay winning.

And it feels almost redundant to mention but. The sister arc. Suffice to say I'm chewing drywall. The scene in the glow mushroom tunnel. Vander. Possible Vi Jinx Cait teamup in act 3. Love me some natural character/relationship development!!!!!!

Side note: love the ambiguity whether Vander is actually at least Vi's bio dad. Get it, you dog.

I'm not ready to talk about Isha.

Finally, I'm feeling a peculiar kind of melancholy for the diverse but largely congruent Divorce Era fanon that sprung up in between seasons - the visions of Machine Herald and Defender of Tomorrow built from an amalgamation of League and Arcane, making a shared space for creators to play in that has birthed some of my very favorite stories. It's been so, so much fun and I'm floored by how much of it was really founded in shared fandom interpretation and imagination. Now that Arcane canon has set out its own, unique direction, I wonder if this nebulous genre and its characters - a Machine Herald that is neither of League nor Arcane but all our own, the meeting and friction points between Jayces Giopara and Talis - will fade into the past, a weird limbo between the solid pillars of canon, or if its grounding in league lore will keep it alive.

- Honorable mention to the fics where arcane-adjacent and league-ish versions of jayvik meet and fuck absolutely nasty about it. You're the real ones. I could (and have, thank you to my very patient, non-fic reading friend) talk for hours about the complexity and depth of character explored in robotfucking timetravel porn. And none of it, not just the stories but the shared framework and subtext they're based upon, would exist without the beautiful minds of fans! Thank you ily.

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

The C file & her reverse psychology

She's a reflection, a shadow of the past and that was graphically depicted by Storer with the very first image we had of C on the show:

She showed up like that, not like this:

Carmy was blindsided when C showed up unannounced and uninvited.

Syd walked into his life right in front of him and knocked first, they were face-to-face, after calling for the sous position and scheduling an interview.

C was always represented as a mirage.

An unwanted figure in his life, that's why he gave her the wrong number to begin with.

The fact that later she forced herself into his life.

And he ended up giving in and even enjoying it, as I mentioned in this previous post → He let her take the wheel, is beside the point because in this case, the point is his real intention behind that behavior all along because he was compensating - projecting - sublimating and masking with her, as I thoroughly pointed out:

Here

So what was behind all that or underneath, what was he trying to cover with C?

His real feelings → More about that here and here.

The haunting

The haunting feeling Carmy described, is nothing but ruminating thoughts based on guilt, which is rooted in his own omission and irresponsible behavior and the fact that that relationship lacks closure, and that is what is keeping him stuck till he faces the consequences of his actions and turns the page but not just unilaterally as he did here and here, it has to be agreed upon or at the very least briefed. All parties should be in the loop for "the haunting" to end, the unfinished business is what's causing it, and giving it closure is what's gonna end it.

Reverse Psychology

What in this case triggered the ruminating thoughts was not just Carmy's inaction but also Claire's.

In the past C did the chasing now she's no longer doing that and the reactive nature of Carmy is reacting to that change of pattern C initiated. Since he noticed, his haunting began.

Typical reactive nature. If she had kept the chasing pattern they had going on, he would have either apologized and continued going out with her or apologized and ended things, but no "haunting" would have happened. One way or the other he would have "reacted" to her actions but since she halted all efforts he has no way to react, so he is stuck as I explained above.

This will end when they finally have a conversation and he reacts to her words.

As far as I know, that scene has already been shot, so we are cool.

Catalysis

C is a catalyst character as I explained here.

That being said her role can't be fulfilled unless Carmy is ready to realize what she's gonna show him.

Meaning: Claire shows him what he needs to heal because she's a healer, what he needs to change because after her he will be very clear on what not to do. And with her he will also learn to do what needs to be done, to use his words, to open up about what he wants and what he doesn't want, and also who he wants it or not with. She enables all of that in him. But not if he doesn't react.

So right now her role is unfulfilled because they are yet to have that conversation and that will enable Carmy to make a final decision. At that point, the catalysis will be complete and her role will no longer be necessary in the story. I'm not sure how they will go about this, therefore IDK if she will definitely break up with him after that conversation, or the other way around, or even if they will agree to give each other another chance, which is a possibility. What I do know is that when Carmy goes through this catalysis with her, she will no longer be necessary for his redemption arc because after that all those feelings that he keeps in his BOH, will move to his FOH, more details on that metaphor → here. This catalytic process will enable that.

Bonus track: The L Carmy already made a decision about his priorities, which are the restaurant, and the star, in that order. That leaves no room for C, and that decision was confirmed in the last scene where symbolically he was being "signaled" by the L to Loop back → The Loop. If he'd loop back to C, assuming she'd still have him, that is, he couldn't focus on the star, because he has always seen her as a distraction and he has already vowed not to leave Syd alone again:

And regardless of how Syd feels, in his head, he hasn't broken that promise because the one who is haunting him is actually → Sydney.

Remember to follow my tag #Gingerpovs 💋

[novankenn]

Tenuous Partnership (6)

As soon as Glynda was able to calm her racing heart, she grabbed Jaune gently by the sides of his head.

"Look at me. I need to see your eyes."

"Aunt Glynda?"

"You Petrified that grimm, you are fifteen years too young to be able to do that." Glynda informed her beloved nephew. "Show me your eyes."

Jaune relented and allowed his aunt to tilt his head back so she had an unobstructed view of his azure eyes with her own lucid greens. She concentrated looking for the minute tell tell signs of one capable of petrification, and she was disappointed when she saw it. Tiny grey dots about the iris.

"You're too young." she muttered as she continued to study his eyes. "I can also see the indicators for our paralyzing gaze."

"I don't understand." Jaune commented, but remaining as still as he could for his aunt's examination.

"Damnable Arc genes." Glynda cursed as she released her grip upon Jaune's head before pulling him back into another lingering hug.

"Aunt Glynda what's going on?" Jaune asked his voice becoming shaky, "Is there something wrong..."

"NO!" Glynda snapped. "There is nothing wrong, just something unexpected. You show the hallmarks of being able to use both types of gaze attacks attributed to our species... which is rare... very rare."

"Both? But I was taught..."

"Yes, I know what your mother and I taught you, Jaune. Normally we can only use one or the other ability, with the paralyzing gaze slowly vanishing to be replaced by the petrifying one by the time we reach our thirties, that is of course if you weren't born outright with that ability."

"What does this mean? Do I have to..."

"No, you do not have to dwell in the basement anymore." Glynda cut him off. "You are staying with me. That's final."

"But..."

"You'll just have to take extra care to wear your visor when not in our apartment, and I'll have to train you." Glynda responded. "If you have the markers of both, then it is possible that you can choose which to use at will."

"Is that really possible?"

"I don't know, but we will find out." Glynda released her hold upon her nephew. "Now gather what arrows you can, and put on your visor. I'm calling for a ride back to Beacon. I need to talk to your mom, and the Headmaster."

Jaune did as he was instructed, and after gathering up everything he could locate easily, he returned to stand next to his aunt. his visor firmly seated over his eyes. He had to suppress a giggle, though.

"And what is so funny?"

"Seeing you in a visor." Jaune replied, snickering. "I've never seen you in one, and it looks... different on you."

"Well my contacts are lost, and I can't wander through Beacon without some type of eye filter, and you know why."

"There are some that are susceptible to our gaze even without us activating it, and the faunus. Seeing our eyes sends them into a panic."

"A panic that can have them flee from us, or attack us outright."

"And that's mostly dependent on their heritage."

Glynda reached out and pulled Jaune into her side, with her arm around his shoulder.

"You did well Jaune. Very well." Glynda spoke as they watched the growing dot that was the evac-shuttle approach. "I'm proud of you."

Jaune wrapped his arms about his Aunt's waist hugging her back. A couple minutes later the bullhead that was stationed at Beacon to function as a evac-shuttle landed a short distance away. Professor Port hopping out the side doorway his weapon at the ready.

"Are you two okay? No injuries?"

"No we are fine Peter, thank you for asking." Glynda answered.

"What happened?" Peter asked as he assisted the pair into the bullhead.

"An amalgamated pack, with two Alphas." Glynda replied.

"That is not, unheard of, but very improbable around Beacon considering how often we patrol." Peter responded from his seat facing Jaune and Glynda. "I noticed the stone... was it that bad you had to use your gaze?"

"Yes. The pack was easily handled, but the Alphas were... old. They attacked when they sensed I was tired and distracted."

"Well you must be famished. When we get back, go get cleaned up and I'll make sure the kitchen staff prepare you something suitable... Jaune, are you okay lad?"

"I... I'm..." Jaune's head fell forward, and his body would have followed if Glynda had not grabbed him and guided his head to her lap.

"Glynda?"

"He can use petrification... he did use petrification." Glynda stated to her peer.

"He's too young." Peter commented, echoing Glynda's original statement a good twenty minutes ago. "He started out with paralyze, correct?"

"He did, and he shows signs of being able to use that attack as well."

"I see." Peter sat back stroking his mustache. "That is unusual, highly unusual, but not unheard of. Does Ozpin know?"

"I'm going to tell him after I inform my sister about her son's abilities." Glynda replied.

"When we get back, head to your room, I'll have the kitchen deliver something appropriate to get you both back on your feet. I'll inform Ozpin of what you've told me, you speak to Jasmine, out of the two she is the more important. Sound good?"

"Yes. Thank you Peter."

==> One <==> Two <==> Three <==> Four <== ==> Five <==

[tare-anime]

Hi, your posts about Spy X Family are real good. I see chapter 105 as improvement of Franky's role and character. Wheather he'll get lucky - or not - on the Finding a Girlfriend case is a hot one. I wonder,when will Anya she's fed up with Damian's disdaineful,toxic world? I posted my thorough stydy upon this case. I've ceased to believe for a friendship(or romance between them). Unpopular truth:All these (old and new) cruel and awfull insults of Damian to Anya, in the end reflect and represent his Papa(: So in my opinion she and Papa "Twilight" will get the documents of Donovan's scheme by an other source.By the way, if government officials and the SSS are not his lackey's ,associates for his scheme then who they might be? And when WISE uncovers it what will be their actions against him and his network? Are we ready to see how Sylvia has killed people,real villains say Ostanians similar the assassins yor has killed? See you :)

Oh wow, thank you so much. I'm glad you find my rambles to be enjoyable 🥰🥰

As for chp 105, yes it's one of my favorite kind of "side character building up" type of chapter. And this time, we got to see Franky's character building. For me, Franky is such an amazing character that know how to enjoy his life. He has his princips and stays true to that, and didn't stop being kind, while at the same time he has a very smart view of the world and very logic in thinking process. I do hope he will find a woman who will appreciate him as who he is. But first, he has to decide when he want to settle down before doing it.

As for Damian. Yes, unfortunately if I have to be honest, I don't like Damian very much if he is showing his tsundere side and keep pointing and hurting Anya. But, he is still a boy, who tried too much. I hope he will one day learn to accept that there's nothing wrong by enjoying the process of growing up, and not too focused on the goal. And the fact that his Dad IS NOT someone he has to look up to. I believe Damian has good heart though, as we already seen in so many occasions. And just like every kid, in the growing process, the influences from other people particularly their peers are huge. And I hope Anya (with her own problems and difficulties) alongside with Ewen and Emile and Becky, can help Damian grows into a fine man. This is why, my fave chapter of Damian will always be where he can act like a boy of his age.

And I do agree. I do hope Twilight will find some other way to approach Donovan. And not pushing it through Anya and Damian friendship. Let these kids be friend without ulterior motives other than being friends.

The mystery of Donovan ascossiates are still there. This man has so much power, and yet, we know he is not with the incumbent of Ostanian govt. He is not directly leads the SSS, though without a doubt there will be fractions of SSS who is loyal to him up until current timeline. So where did his power came from? This remains a mystery until Endo decides to move forward with the plot, I guess 🤭

Tbh, I don't think WISE is 100% good either. It is possible that Op Strix be WISE's own plot to overturn Donovan because this man dares to oppose WISE. Anything is possible in politics after all 🤣 so how will WISE reacts when they finally got the information on Donovan? That will also depends on further information given to us by Endo himself.

Come on Endo!!! Give us more plot development 😫😫

Regarding Sylvia, Oh yes, through her speech during Inu-san crisis arc, we know that Sylvia has killed people during her life. This has eating her soul, but she has to carry on with her life. The same goes to Yor. Yor must know that not all of her clients are guilty per se, but she has to numb her soul because that's how she carry on with her life.

Thank you so much for the asks. I hope I manage to give satisfying answers 🥰🥰🥰

Good day to you too!

[lurkingshan]

Breaking Down the I Feel You Linger in the Air Finale

Okay pals, I got some sleep and I'm ready to dig into this finale and all its beautiful messiness. I love this show and I'm frankly a little frustrated that we got such an incomplete resolution to the (hopefully) first season when there was ample time to do it right. As ever, pacing and time and information management continue to be major weaknesses for Tee Bundit. As I said last week, the writing for this show has been undeniably messy but it's still holding together on the strength of the production and the performances and the success of some of its big themes and character arcs; that take held firm through the finale and some of the baffling choices made about where to spend our time in this final installment. So, let's dig into it!

The Long Goodbye

I'll say upfront that this is my biggest beef with the pacing of the finale. We spent all of last week on a long and painful goodbye for Yai and Jom, perfectly executed, but for some reason we did another 45 minutes of it this week, not so perfectly executed. While I loved the covering of the mirrors, the saddest sex scene ever (complete with sex moans running as the audio over a memory montage how dare you show!), and the pain of Yai realizing he drew the final picture and watching Jom disappear, we didn't need to retread them saying goodbye to each other over and over again for two entire hours of story time, and we didn't need a long, sappy, on the nose speech from Jom saying things we already knew. As I told @neuroticbookworm, this might be my aro showing but I found the series of repetitive emotional goodbye conversations and memory montages exhausting and not in a good way. If I were the script doctor, I would have kept the mirrors, sad sex, and Yai drawing as the start of the episode and cut the rest, moving much more quickly into the next phase of the story.

Back to the Future

Jom returning to his present day life, trying to cope with his anguish and loneliness and adjust back into things, and further investigating the time travel mystery to figure out a way to reconnect with Yai should have been the main narrative of this episode. Instead, we got a truncated version of it that didn't have time to breath because we'd used up so much time on the above mentioned retread. For my money, Jom's devastation upon finding Yai's letter to him was the most emotionally resonant moment of the finale and the first part of the episode where I almost cried. But we had barely sunk into that feeling before it was abruptly cut short because we were out of time and Tee needed to wrap this baby up.

Eyebrow Scar Yai

Here’s where I get actually kind of peeved, because this final (pre-credits) scene was so poorly set up and executed that to even call it a resolution is a stretch. A modern version of Yai walks into the room, asks Jom why he's crying, tells him he's been waiting for him, kisses him, and then the credits roll!

Now I've been in the tags so I know this caused confusion for anyone who has not read the novel (me too, fam!). And that's because the show had not bothered to establish:

That Yai does in fact have a modern doppelgänger

Who the heck that doppelgänger is and how he’s connected to 1928 Yai

How that doppelgänger would be able to remember Jom when no other doppelgängers in the story can remember their past lives

Based on what we know, could we piece together a reasonable theory about who this man is, how he got there, and the final pieces of the mythology that make sense of it? Sure. In fact, bookworm and I pretty much guessed exactly what the explanation for this was after watching the show, and many of the elements at play here were theorized in conversations we had last week. Book readers like @tipsyjaehyun have now confirmed the full explanation for anyone who cares to go read it.

But the show did not tell us any of this information. If you have to read the novel or have novel readers spoil you on aspects of the story that the show didn't bother to cover in order to understand the ending of the story, the execution has failed. And given the pacing notes above, there is really no reason we couldn't have gotten a better set up for this ending with Eyebrow Scar Yai (yes I know his name but no I'm not using it because the show didn't bother telling me; I am petty like that). Jom could have found this descendant during his time of processing and the ending could have hinged on us realizing this modern Yai is a reincarnation who has his past life memories intact; had we gone into a final kiss between them feeling grounded in all of that knowledge, it would have landed so much better.

Hello Commander

And now on to the post-credits scene, where Tee puts a plea into the universe to give him a second season so he can play around in another time period and explore what is evidently the origin of this soul tie between Jom and Yai. I chose to read this episode tag as separate from the actual season 1 narrative, and I think that was the intention given its placement. If they secure funding for a second season, this tag scene becomes the beginning of that next story, with Eyebrow Scar Yai's kiss sending Jom into another time travel adventure. If they don't we can just ignore it and pretend the pre-credits scene was the end (which is why I'm not happy it was so poorly done). I, for one, would love to see a second season to explore another time period and give Tee a chance to clean up some of this mess he has made of the mythology and season 1 resolution. Shouts to @clairedaring for reporting back from the live showing of the finale on what the possibilities are looking like there. Fingers crossed we get a continuation of this story some day!

Tagging in @waitmyturtles and @twig-tea who also have linked posts above. And shouts to @blmpff @cankersoregirl @pharawee @wanderlust-in-my-soul @italianpersonwithashippersheart @bengiyo @dragonsareawesome123 @wen-kexing-apologist @junghaesin @stuffnonsenseandotherthings @slayerkitty @respectthepetty @chickenstrangers @sunshinechay @btwinlines for posting about this show every week and making it such a fun watch despite having a small audience on here. It was a pleasure watching this with you all!

[phoenixtakaramono]

I believe Cheating Men must die is a great story

It adds wonderful twists in existing tropes and genres. The protag isn't perfect but she's great, she likes eliminating assholes, which is valid

It's also interesting how Su Luxia doesn't have an identity issue since she lives under so many identities but I guess she's hardened for the job

For everyone who hasn't read Cheating Men Must Die (comic "Wan Zha Chao Huang" (万渣朝凰) by Shi Dai Man Wang (时代漫王)), this is an open invitation for y'all to read it. Genre: quick transmigration, revenge story. Basically your ex-cannon fodder MC, Su Luxia, is a System agent who transmigrates (isekais/ world hops) into the bodies of women of each world who are wronged by the Male Lead, Female Lead, another canon fodder, author, etc and changes their fate. I forgot how many chapters of the manhua there are presently but I believe the freshest ones that are still being updated in Mandarin Chinese are over 700+ chapters of art. (The MTL offers English translation, but y'all can also peep at other sites for ENG fantranslations.)

There are a couple of different summaries but I love this summary the best:

Don't you think that all cheating sc*m need to die? Su Luxia, an intern pro working in a transmigration agency, doesn't believe in that. For her, all cheating bastards need to rot in hell before they die. Or else they won't suffer the taste of their own medicine! Using elaborate means, she beats up countless cheating bastards and b*tches. Su Luxia sneers... "People take everything they get for granted. The more they get, the more they don't strive for it. An unrequited love is an example. There is always a sc*m who takes advantage. Since they brought this upon themselves..." She studies her face in the mirror and smirks, "... let them have a taste of their own medicine." System: "You're making that scary face again!" Follow our female main lead, Su Lüxia, who is bound to the Female Lead Counterattack System and transmigrates to several small worlds beating up countless sc*m.

Art bait for y'all who are still hesitating (and some of my favorite arcs, and those that'd surprised me like the arc where she transmigrated into the Second Male Lead):

RE: I have to agree! Ty for the Ask, @bernkastel11! I had a response ready for ya the day I saw this in my inbox and literally typed a long essay with links, but lo and behold tumblr ate it. 😭 But finally I have the motivation for a take 2. Honestly the manhua is a guilty pleasure of mine. The art's great (we definitely see the artist improve over time with each arc...even with the obviously borrowed assets and sometimes janky perspective, hahaha) and I love how Su Luxia is a badass femme fatale (white lotus & green tea b*tch), as well as her friendship with her cute talking hamster System. I also love how the artist is giving variety; it's not all just kicking butt, chewing bubble gum, finding romance. She's become an empress, made a friendship with the exorcist Female Lead, become a mother, led revolutions, survived a death game, became a guy, made a Male Lead yandere and obsess over her to the point of trying to hunt her down in whichever world it is, has some...questionable sapphic overtones, transmigrated into a BL novel, revisited some worlds with reoccurring characters, etc. They satirize a lot of preexisting tropes, and I love it when artists and writers have fun with the meta. I also like how they're slowly expanding on the lore of her interest with previous System agent Zero (the whole reason why Su Luxia became a System agent).

"It's also interesting how Su Luxia doesn't have an identity issue since she lives under so many identities but I guess she's hardened for the job"

The thing about QTs in general is the artist or author usually don't put much emphasis on the consequences of transmigrating so many times into other people's bodies. It's just a staple of the genre (because they're usually portrayed as badass, cunning, and OP, what have you with a strong willpower to assume all these identities, overcome challenges, and not experience dysphoria). So far I think the only writer I can think of off the top of my head that addresses it is: The Exhausting Reality of Novel Transmigration (novel / manhwa). I highly rec it. So far it is one of the few works where they explore that concept of how mentally exhausting it is adopting another person's identity as well as the consequences of "the characters" finding out (it's not your usual "oh, you hopped into my dead daughter's body and assumed her identity? Well la de dah, guess you're my daughter now." No, we're talking about the mother suspecting, finding out, being horrified, and having a mental breakdown trying to exorcise "the evil spirit" who's taken possession of her daughter's body). It also touches on the danger of an ordinary woman transmigrating into the body of a Female Lead in an R18+ novel where the Male Lead is a yandere.

Since you'd mentioned CMMD, I can give you several other links:

Cheating Men Must Die animated audio version of the first few arcs (King of the Phoenix), comes with ENG subs

Mission in Parallel 2022 Chinese short drama (it's the late 1910s socialite arc where she transmigrates as the overweight nightclub owner & wife of the abusive husband who gets seduced by a singer who's also a transmigrator), comes with ENG subs

Cheating Men Must Die (2022)(it's the arc where she transmigrates into the world where she's the villainess and the CEO Male Lead is self-aware, and the author has signed with the evil System trying to kill off Su Luxia so that she herself can transmigrate into the body of her own FL), comes with ENG subs

[cafeleningrad]

Let's talk about the real Chida Mamiya.

He's the entire reason the Black Rose Arc happens. This arc is revealing to the audience what silent violence is at constant work at Ohtori. All the seemingly stock Shoujo setting characters are revealed to have desires, worries, sorrows, and pain equal to the candy-colour-highlighted duelists, bar of the autonomy of dueling to state their demands. Whereas protagonists Utena gets increasingly discouraged to look deeper into any issues, is withheld information, regard duels- which she previously opposed- as routine. Her final duel with Mikage is even demanded on her own accord, she doesn't hesitate to inflict violence on him.

And yet Mamiya in his true self is barely shown, and so many memories of him entirely rewritten. He wasn't the elegant boy who resembled a mythical figure. He was a regular looking boy with freckles (bar the symbolic eyes of disillusionment).

Nemuro before meeting Tokiko and Mamiya was often feeling excluded from his peers. Even though he's still a student, classmates call him professor. To a point Nemuro believes himself to be unfeeling because everyone else says so. Until he meets Tokiko who organizes a massive project for a single boy. Mamiya's and Nemuro's talks, and contemplation about mortality actually make Nemuro realize that he can care for others. Mamiya in his wisdom, in his struggle for life, in just being can touch upon Nemuro's to touch upon more sympathetic, compassionate feelings. He knew he was about to die soon. Yet everyone around him tried everything to prevent his death. Even though Tokiko loved him, she tried to constrict his finite time to his bed. But Mamiya had accepted that he would die. More than anyone else of the entire cast, he was ready to accept his mortality.

Yet Mamiya's actual will got drastically rewritten: Anthy!Mamiya says he wanted immortality. So Neumro becomes Mikage Souji. All his previous work can continue to be used for Akio's purposes. So, Akio can continue to rope Souji for his purposes.

Even in his life, Mamiya's actual desire got ignored, talked over, and instrumentalized for the desire of others to do good. And finally evenTokiko's and Nemuro's good intentions were exploited for Akio's gains.

The original Black Rose circle actually didn't care at all about the dying boy. All the desperate efforts of Nemuro's hard work were just for their benefit. The didn't care Mamiya died.

He also became Mikage's scapegoat. All the bad things Mikage did, the mass murder out of deep despair that none cared for the one overlooked boy, the manipulation of eventual duelists, using the pain of others for his own gain, he ould blame them on doing them for Mamiya's sake. But Mamiya never asked to be saved.

The real Chida Mamiya didn't look special, but he was deeply loved. His sheer life was what made him stand out of Tokiko, and later Nemuro. The memory of him got rewritten to the point that his personality became unrecognizable. We barely see what he really looked like, and that he refused eternity, actually. In fact, only his grave contains his memory at Ohtori. Otherwise Souji is forced to graduate, Tokiko leaves Ohtori. None else will know how important and detrimental a simple boy was in the history of Ohotori. Mamiya is just like all the over disenfranchised Black Rose duelists: False perceived, misrepresented, overlooked, overheard, actually not looking distinctive.

The only who remembers him correctly, is Tokiko. She remembers her brother so dearly, she returns to the place that brought her so much grief to bring flowers to his grave. The one who could accept his passing and mortality, remembers the actual, real Mamiya. And how important he actually was.

[tyrantisterror]

No Small Feat Art Pt. 9 - The Bonus Bosses

By request, I’m gonna show off some of the artwork for No Small Feat, a Midgaheim story my friends and I told through the TTRPG system Fabula Ultima. I drew a lot of characters and monsters for it, and my friends - in particular, @dragonzzilla, @scatha5, and @dinosaurana - helped line and color them so we’d have cute little sprites to use on our online battlemaps, which really helped sell the whole “we’re playing an oldschool turn based RPG” vibe that Fabula Ultima’s system is going for.

Before we cover the last two arcs, we're going to look at the Bonus Bosses - optional encounters I placed in the game to give my characters more of a challenge and some additional story if they so desired, which they did!

Bleak Annis played an important role in starting the story, and our heroes realized that if they wanted to truly know what was going on with both the greater conflict and their own personal arcs, they'd have to meet with her. That was easier said than done, though, as before they could find Bleak Annis, they would have to prove their worth to the wicked witch's coven. So they sought out Peg Prowler, Nelly Longarms, and Jenny Greenteeth, three other famous witches from British folklore who are in the same league as Bleak Annis herself.

During their first trip into Fairyland, our heroes stumbled upon a huge and terrifying prison. Locked inside was a Fomorian, a fairy being of such terrible arcane power that its very presence could corrode reality should it escape Fairyland. Worse, the Fomorian's prison was weakening, and should it break free, the gang would have a much worse problem to deal with than the succession crisis and its supernatural side effects that they were already struggling to end. So, like good RPG players, they level grinded by playing the main plot a bit, then went back and killed the fucker when they had enough levels and endgame-worthy gear to do so without too much fuss.

The next bonus boss they saved for later was Katastrophi, a mountain ogre who Prince Goligaunt claimed was his aunt (though perhaps that was more in an honorary sense than a biological). She scrapped with them for a bit to wake herself up fully, then let our heroes go on friendly terms before climbing up the tower to give her punk nephew a good talking to.

Then our heroes went off to chase a sidequest they'd been given a while ago, seeking out the Elemental Masters of the mortal plane: the Royal Ruhk, an enormous eagle who displayed supreme mastery of wind magic; the Sharp Humped Behemoth, a mighty beast who was unparalleled in its domination of earth magic; the Jasconius, a colossal leviathan whose rule over water magic is unquestioned; and the Great Red Dragon, a master of all four elements to be sure, but whose supremacy over Fire magic was mightiest of all. The four masters put our heroes to the test, and rewarded them with materials to make some masterwork armor and weapons to take them through their final arcs of the story. But there was one more bonus boss, the master beyond masters.

The final master and bonus boss was none other than Death Himself - well, a death at least, and specifically the one who had acted as Guard Father and benefactor of Kaboldt von Hubert's grandfather. Foreshadowed in arc 2, Death made his proper appearance much later, and made sure our heroes were truly ready to stop Maelys and reforge the crown of Engelsex.

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Okay, a good amount of time has passed, and after having seen this post by @weretiger-be-my-horse , I've been turning it over and over in my brain going absolutely feral over this concept. I need to expand upon my thoughts on this idea and all the evidence there is pointing towards it, whether that be actual tangible things, or purely strong vibes I have.

First of all, full disclaimer: I did not like the season 5 finale, and how it wrapped up the DoA arc. To say that I "disliked" it is putting it extremely lightly, in fact -- I absolutely hated it, and I am still, to a degree, in disbelief that I actually even watched those 24 minutes with my own two eyes, and that it somehow wasn't a complete fever dream. While I'm not going to go in long-winded detail into all the ways that I feel like the finale almost completely bastardized all of its featured characters and destroyed any and all buildup we've had going on in this arc for 50 some chapters now, because that's not the main point of this post, I will not make any attempt to hide the fact that the theory-crafting I'm about to pose here is partly influenced and prompted by how much I hated the finale, and how much I desperately hope that it will not end up being manga canon. Therefore, if you enjoyed the finale — and that's fine! — and don't want to read any negativity about it, then I would not recommend reading any further (I mean, you've probably already left by this point, which is fair lol), While obviously it's important that I be as objective and unbiased as possible when explaining my thoughts, some of my negative feelings about the writing will be a part of this analysis, even if this isn't going to be a full-blown rant. Just know that if you proceed.

With that out of the way, let me continue.

So. In the aforementioned post, the theory presented is that the anime may be operating on an alternate timeline, and that this will become evident once we read the upcoming October chapter, wherein things will go completely differently post-chapter 110 than they do in the final episode — probably for the worse, with the s5 finale intending to lull us into a false sense of security and make us assume that everything in the manga arc finale will wrap up as smoothly and consequence-freely(? lol) as it did in the anime one. It also suggests that the Fukuchi we see at the very end that sskk are fighting came from the manga timeline, where he won, and that he used the Book to jump to a timeline where he lost, the anime one, proven by the fact that this Fukuchi is wearing a mask with the same design on it as the mask Fukuchi is wearing on the chapter 110 DoA color spread/title page.

First of all, I want to note the fact that it's not just the mask design that's the same: the entire outfit is roughly more or less the same as well. It's not completely 1-to-1, because the anime can never fully match the intricacies of Harukawa's beautiful outfit designs, and the Fukuchi in this scene has the kimono half-off because of the... super saiyan mode he's in, but most all of the main pieces of clothing are there. Any small inaccuracies could also be attributed to the fact that Harukawa probably didn't have this finalized art ready back when this episode was being made, so the animators wouldn't have had the complete design to work off of. But in general, because it's all so similar, I think we can quite confidently say that the ending episode Fukuchi is meant to be the one from this manga art.

Also, people have pointed this out, but it's worth mentioning that the mask Asagiri wore at Anime Expo in July was referencing this Fukuchi. It's not a crucial detail, but it just proves more that Asagiri is a gigantic fucking troll, and that he clearly wanted to draw attention to this Fukuchi design. It's important. He describes the mask here as made in the motif of an ellipses inside a speech bubble... could that perhaps be referencing meta aspects, like the Book?

Next, I want to talk about the even bigger elephant in the room, which to me is the most damning and undeniable piece of evidence there is of the anime operating on a completely separate timeline from the manga:

This Fucking Hand™️

As we all know, in the anime, Fyodor injures his hand when the password input device blows up, and as we all know, this does not happen in the manga. In the last episode, Dazai claims that the final nail in the coffin of his impromptu plan to kill Fyodor relied on this hand injury: because Fyodor couldn't pilot his escape helicopter himself, he would ask one of his Meursault vampires to do it for him, unaware that Bram and thus this vampire was now on the ADA's side, and said vampire could kill him while his guard was down.

Ignoring how utterly stupid and contrived this plan is when you stop and think about it for more than two seconds, the fact of the matter is that something that initially seemed like nothing more than an odd but inconsequential anime original addition ended up snowballing into being the entire reason one of the big bads was brought down. If Fyodor hadn't hurt his hand, he wouldn't have needed another pilot, and so the traitor vampire wouldn't have had an opportunity to get near him and kill him without him expecting it even though said vampire was presumably with him as they were leaving Meursault, and was probably already a traitor by then, so there was plenty opportunity for him to still die. not to mention by Chuuya's hands at literally any time he wanted to, because Chuuya was coherent the whole time. Also there's absolutely no way Dazai could have known exactly what Ranpo would do, no matter how smart he is and how much he trusts him. idk it's fucking dumb, just roll with it. Therefore, putting aside all other variables for now, we can conclude that, on the most basic level, this signifies that no hand wound = no death.

And let me tell you, this hand wound bothers me. It really, really does. Because they focus on it a LOT — they go out of their way to draw attention to it MULTIPLE TIMES, from the moment it first happens to the end of the season. Fyodor even talks about it to himself, about Dazai being able to cause him tangible, visible, bodily harm, (something that, again, as far as we've seen, has never happened in the manga). Hell, even after Fyodor's death, they're still drawing attention to it, because his right arm is all of him that survives, and Dazai picks it up and gives it to Nikolai to do his hilarious sad little gay fondling of it played completely straight even though there's nothing straight going on here at all! It's like it's a big red flashing sign at all times going "you see this injured hand? This is important. Are you picking up that it's important? Are you taking note of it?" Why is that? Obviously, it serves to give us the lore crumbs about Fyodor and "that man", but that's hardly the main, much more glaring reason, as I've already mentioned.

Fyodor doesn't hurt his hand in the manga. Fyodor won't die here in the manga. I am so dead serious by this point about this, and it's not just simply the fact that this was absolutely not at all the time for him to die, or the fact that his hand is the reason for his death in the anime in and of itself, but how much EMPHASIS they place on this, and on the hand in general. What would be the point of adding something like this, if it's not meant to alert us to the fact that it has a major impact on how the story plays out? We all know Bones: they struggle to get right and include everything that's already there in the source material; they would never go out of their way to add something this noteworthy if there wasn't a very good reason for it, if it wasn't absolutely necessary. I've seen a few people bring up the fact that Fyodor gets shot in the shoulder by Sigma and that that could lead to the same outcome in the manga, but I disagree: although he has blood on his shoulder in the manga, it seems like the bullet just grazed the top of it, because his arm and hand appears completely functional afterwards (not hanging limp by his side or anything). But that doesn't even matter, because this isn't even about the semantics/logistics of how the hand wound caused Fyodor's death because again, it's a stupid outcome, or what could serve as a substitute in the manga — thematically, this is a textbook example of the butterfly effect. Countless parallel universes exist within this series, ones where even the most minute differences lead to a majorly different outcome: this just happens to be one of them. There's no reason to think it isn't, and there's no reason to not think that the anime wants us to clue into the fact that things only went as smoothly as they did on the Meursault side because of this wound; in other words, that things will go very differently in the manga thanks to the absence of said wound. They wouldn't have added it in the first place and put such clearly deliberate emphasis on it otherwise.

Things are going to happen very differently in the manga, at least when it comes to the Meursault crew (but then, if you assume that, you then naturally assume it all will be very different). This is the only conclusion one can come to with the presentation of this anime-only wound, combined with the fact that parallel universes are a very real thing in BSD.

I'm going to go on a bit of a tangent, so bear with me. I play a lot of visual novels, and although such concepts aren't really as original now as they were a while ago, some of my favorite and some of the very best VNs out there are the ones that break the fourth wall and make the visual novel branching route format directly intertwined with the story: you know, the ones where the characters go "if only I had done things differently, maybe everything would have turned out better...!" in a wink wink nudge nudge moment, and the ones where the characters are aware of the different timelines, even, or even have the ability to gain information from their selves in said alternate timelines to influence events in their current one (I'm intentionally not naming the games I'm thinking of for the sake of spoilers, but if you know, you know lmao). It gets very meta in this regard, and this is how I started viewing BSD through the lens of ever since I first learned about Beast: like a visual novel with many branching routes, and only a few routes that feel entirely "right".

When I first read Dazai's Entrance Exam, I was struck by how unnerving the ending sequence in the abandoned hospital felt. Obviously, Kunikida's internal struggle over Sasaki's actions and motives is him still desperately clinging to his ideal world that does not exist, but the specific type of phrases he uses — "who is wrong?" "[who is] the cause of all this?" "there has to be an ideal world" "there has to be something, I'm sure of it" "There must have been something we could have done!" — and the framing of the scene in general, is eerily reminiscent of a bad ending in a visual novel, to me. There's a haunting, looming, bleak sense that a different outcome could have been achieved, if different decisions had been made, or if things outside of anyone's control had been different... and we know that this is true, because in Beast alone, Kunikida never goes through the Azure Messenger incident, because Dazai doesn't have his entrance exam. Hell, you could even consider the anime's version of the Azure Messenger arc an alternate timeline in of itself, if you really wanted to, long before we even arrive at season 5.

When it comes to Beast, this timeline has almost the opposite feeling of what I described above, that I've also encountered in visual novels: the idea of a "good route" or "good ending" that still doesn't feel quite earned, or as perfect as one would expect. Beast is presented as the "ideal" timeline purely for one sole reason: Oda is alive. It is the only timeline where he's alive, and keeping Oda alive is the ultimate goal Dazai wants to achieve, the only reason this timeline exists; therefore, disregarding all else, Beast should be the best timeline, because Oda's death is the greatest devastation in the series to date. We all want him to live, so why wouldn't the timeline where he does be the best one? And yet... of course, it isn't. Dazai is alone, and steeped in darkness and loneliness without Oda, and dies by the end of the story for Oda's continued living. Atsushi has Kyouka still, but he's suffering and more traumatized, and unable to heal while stuck in the mafia, and neither can Kyouka. Akutagawa is living a much better life in the ADA... but without his sister, and without what he has from his bond with Atsushi in canon, that isn't replicated in Beast. And Oda... Oda is alive, and he has his children and his novel, but there is a feeling that he is aimless, that something in his life is missing. He has everything he ever wanted, but all that means nothing without what he truly needs: Dazai, and his time with Dazai and Ango at the bar. In this way, things going well and us getting what we want — in this case, Oda living — goes against how it's supposed to be, the natural order, which is why it feels so hollow. In the specific visual novel I'm thinking of here as a comparison (again, shoutout if you know), there's an alternate ending that involves you inputting information you gain at the end of the game very early on in the game, wherein the protagonist now has memories of the future and is able to bypass and prevent all of the events that take place normally. This means that people who die or are hurt somehow in general are saved from that fate, and nothing bad ever occurs; everything wraps up neatly and nicely... but again, there's an undeniable, unsettling feeling of emptiness, of a victory that rings hollow, because what's the point if everything is simply handed to you easily, where's the sense of accomplishment, without any struggles to achieve said victories, or any growth along the way? How can it feel earned if one doesn't have to, in Dazai's words, "scream within the storm of uncertainty, and run with flowing blood"?

You can probably already see where I'm going with this.

This finale feels weird. Really, really weird. It feels too cheap, too simple, too unsatisfying. So much so, in fact, that for almost the entire runtime, as I was bombarded with resolution upon resolution one after another, I kept thinking "There's no way this can be real. Where's the catch? When is the "gotcha!" moment gonna happen? The "it was all a dream" reveal?". And this isn't just because I hated the writing, and that it really did feel like a fever dream watching fanfic levels of bad (actually, that's an insult to fanfic writers, tbh; they could do better) — no, it genuinely feels so incredibly fake. Even upon rewatching it and already knowing what happens, my brain still naturally keeps expecting some kinda of "sike, you THOUGHT!" moment to suddenly appear. It just.... feels "too good to be true". Dazai and Chuuya come out unscathed, and it's revealed that they were never in any real danger to begin with. Fyodor, one of our biggest threats, is dealt with supposedly for good (I say "supposedly" only because of the Jesus line, but if anything imo, I think that's just a hint that this won't be the canon ending in the manga, so in a sense he's going to "come back to life"), and Nikolai seems somewhat at peace with his death. The other biggest threat, Fukuchi, is also dealt with, and he and Fukuzawa get their final moment together of closure. Yes, Sigma is left in Meursault don't even get me started on how angry this alone makes me, and Fukuzawa loses Fukuchi, but overall, everything is portrayed in a positive light, and any negatives or losses are quickly glossed over. Everything is tied up nicely, neatly, and smoothly. ...And that is exactly what makes it feel so wrong, and hard to trust in.

I'm not sure if this will make sense, but to me, the finale is so incredibly poorly written that it almost feels.... intentional. It's so bad to the point of feeling self-aware in how bad it is, how unrealistically happy and convenient an ending it is. It had to end this neatly in order to rush to wrap up this arc for the season finale and not leave the last episode on a cliffhanger — which imo is chiefly the main reason it turned out this way, and, if this whole theory is true, Asagiri just used it to his advantage — and I'm not saying this was probably an effect Bones had in mind intentionally, I'm sure they just threw shit at the wall and went with whatever stuck, maaaaybe with some suggestions/approval from Asagiri, but the result is that you have a conclusion that contradicts so much of what was set up before and goes against so many character arcs, making some characters so out of character and even regressing in their development Dazai. I'm talking about Dazai abandoning Sigma, because he would never; hashtag #NOTMYDAZAI. Also Nikolai, Nikolai for most of that is so ooc I can't even begin to describe it oh my god. Everyone is OOC to a degree though lmao, and opens so many plot holes, to the point that it's impossible not to watch all that and get the feeling that it is subtly saying to you "did you really think it could be this easy? It feels wrong, doesn't it? It doesn't feel satisfying. It feels unearned." I find it incredibly interesting and suspicious in particular that they confirmed multiple theories people had about soukoku in Meursault: that Chuuya slowed the elevator's fall so that Dazai wouldn't die from it, that Chuuya slowed down the bullet so that it only penetrated Dazai's skin and not his skull, and that the both of them used Fyodor's camera angle to their advantage because they knew he wouldn't be able to see certain things from his view. I'm not saying that Asagiri trawled BSD twitter and tumblr after those chapters dropped for the most popular theories before the final episode was made lmao, there was no time for that (imagine though lol—), but I do think it's highly likely that he already had in mind exactly what theories would be made about these parts (I mean, the evidence for the gun scene was all there), and that Dazai rattling them off in his long monologue to Fyodor at the end is essentially him speaking to the audience and going "yeah, that's what you would predict, right? Those are the clichés, after all", much like him suggesting earlier that he can maybe bring Chuuya back to himself with a few moving words and the power of friendship, and Fyodor using the split personalities trope to fool Sigma. We expect these tropes to be true. Of course we'd fall for them, as Fyodor tells Sigma, especially if the evidence is right there. But Asagiri himself has explicitly said that he likes doing the opposite of what people expect. And so just because people predicted correctly with the three things I mentioned in this timeline... doesn't mean they'll be true in the manga's. Things happened how we wanted and expected it to, and everything turned out happily. So we can relax now, right? Everything will work out just as easily in the manga, right? Or... is the reason most of this finale feels so fake and unsettling and unsatisfying because it's meant to lull us into a false sense of security before all our heroes lose in the manga? Because deep down, we don't want an ending that's this simple, because we'd rather have a conclusion where our characters have struggled more and grown more and come out the better for it, and we know it?

After rewatching the episode a lot, and watching some other videos, and doing a lot of thinking, I am pretty confident in suspecting that the only part of this finale that is actually from manga canon, aside from Aya jumping off the building of course, is Fyodor and Nikolai's exchange after Fyodor leaves Meursault — specifically, them talking about Fyodor leaving Sigma behind, and their "new game" and Nikolai being excited at the prospect of it. This little conversation actually feels in character for them, and it's easy to tell this when contrasting it with everything that happens immediately after, wherein Fyodor is fatally stabbed, and Nikolai, completely at odds with what he was just talking about, just... stands there and watches Fyodor die while Dazai monologues lmao. I'm not sure if the helicopter is still a factor, but I would bet good money on Fyolai getting out of Meursault being manga canon, and that Dazai and Chuuya getting out as well and killing Fyodor + everything with FukuFuku, is part of the anime original ending, in order to wrap up everything positively. It makes much more sense if you think about, in reality (aka in the manga), Dazai and Chuuya still being left behind in Meursault (where they can eventually try to get Sigma), because none of it was an act and things did not go according to plan, and Fukuchi having an entirely different goal that doesn't feel so stupid and contradictory to his character, and Fukuzawa possibly dying — everyone seemingly loses, with Aya still being the last hope, perhaps by awakening her ability like we all speculated.

There's a youtuber I watch who covers BSD in-depth, despite being an anime-only (she reads the respective manga content after each season, though). Going into this finale, she knew about the fact that the anime had overtaken the manga, though she didn't know where the cutoff point was; despite that, however, she made predictions about what was from the manga so far and what was anime original, and it was almost entirely spot-on, based mostly on what she basically described as "anime original dialogue." She talked about how you can always tell when dialogue is veering into the realm of anime-original, because the sentences are very short, choppy, and slightly out of character, but generic enough to not be TOO out of character, and so that anyone can easily write said lines, even if they're not extremely familiar with the character like the original author would be. And when I heard this explanation, everything clicked — because so much of this finale has dialogue like that. The Fyolai scenes just feel peppered with it, around the lines I mentioned earlier, the Dazai dialogue does too, and ESPECIALLY shit at the end like Fukuchi and Fukuzawa exchanging the cliche death lines to end all death lines: "Are you there? I'm a little tired." "Rest up." That just isn't Bungou Stray Dogs. That isn't Asagiri. BSD is cheesy at times, yes, but it isn't like this; it's smarter. The dialogue is smarter, the explanations/plot twists are smarter, Asagiri is smarter, and the aforementioned youtuber I watched agreed. She's a pretty casual fan of the series, so if even she could pick up on these things, I think it speaks volumes.

I mentioned this briefly earlier, but this theory makes sense if you consider that this situation probably came about because of Bones wanting two seasons back-to-back when they did, and this arc being as long as it is. Season 3 aired in 2019, and I imagine Bones would have wanted season 4 in 2020, and might have then been willing to wait a bit longer for season 5 in order for more of this arc's manga chapters to come out — but then covid happened. Because of that, season 4 was delayed to 2023, creating the longest gap we've had between seasons, and I wouldn't at all be surprised if the delay made them want season 5 right together with it, after getting so far "behind", so to speak. S4 was announced in November of 2021, and roughly around that time, Asagiri was finishing up writing the plot of the DoA arc. If Bones came to him sometime in late 2021 and said they wanted two seasons now (so basically, one giant two cour season), Asagiri would know that not only of course would this arc not be finished publishing in the manga for a very long time yet, but that roughly 20ish episodes would not be enough to cover it all to the end, with this arc being longer than any arc the anime has adapted to date. Because of all this, and the arc manga chapters being nowhere near fully drawn to completion, he'd have to make a decision about what to do, and what to give Bones. Without ending season 5 on a massive cliffhanger that wouldn't be resolved for years until an eventual season 6, the only other option would be to rush towards an anime-original ending for the DoA arc.... and for Asagiri to take advantage of that, and integrate it into BSD's lore. Thereby creating a truly unique cross-media experience that utilizes the different mediums to create multiple timelines, that could make both the anime and manga interact with each other and become part of a bigger picture (not that you'd need to see both to get the full experience, mind you, just that it'd provide a little bonus if you did).... and would without a doubt be Asagiri's biggest surprise yet.

...I feel like at this point I'm starting to ramble, and my evidence become more and more incoherent and less substantial lmao, so I should probably end this post. 💀 Thank you if you've read this far, and hopefully it made some semblance of sense, despite not being structured very well; I know I promised at the start to try to be as objective as possible and curb my negative feelings, but I'm not sure how well I succeeded in that regard. If it weren't for the Fukuchi thing and the Fyodor hand thing, I probably wouldn't take how wrong and strange and bad the finale feels to me as serious evidence about it being an alternate timeline, especially since I seem to be one of the only people who actually hates all of it.... but combined with everything else, I am just so convinced of this theory being true. It started off as pure copium, but as more time has gone on, I fully, 100% believe in my bones (ha) that there is no way that finale is the same Bungou Stray Dogs I know and love, for so many reasons. It just isn't. It can't be. I know BSD better than this, I know Asagiri better than this, and I know that it's absolutely in the realm of possibility for him to cook up this whole scheme to completely blindside us with in the upcoming chapters, because that's exactly the kind of shit Mr. "Please Be Surprised!" himself would pull. If I end up being completely wrong, I guess I'm wrong, and you can laugh at me all you want then.... but I just know that ages ago people were teasing the idea of the anime operating on a different timeline from the manga, and I truly do think that only now are we finally seeing that idea come to fruition, as a setup for Asagiri going full-bore insanity with the Book in the upcoming arc(s). if I and the OP of that theory end up right, this will be the wildest time in the BSD fandom's history.

Like. I cannot even emphasize how hard they are trolling us at this point. Something is going on. Something is being cooked over there, the likes of which we've never seen before... and I don't think any of us are ready for it.

Oh yeah, and one last thing of note: both Fyodor and Nikolai here have their right arms hidden from view. Is that alluding to anything? I'm not sure. I also think that since chapter 110 was so short, next chapter will likely be 110.5 instead of 111, and if that's the case, this title spread could still technically be associated with the next chapter... wherein we might see this Fukuchi, who ends up wreaking havoc, right before he jumps to the timeline in the anime, as we see him at the end of the s5 finale.

I guess we'll find out on Tuesday.