#and for a mix of reasons I don’t want to confront my parents abt this bc I know it will be everyone against me

[scratxhed-cd]

ah… I shouldve known better :/

[stargirlfics]

idk if i can really have any opinion on it bc im fully black, but when other fully black ppl tell biracial ppl (whether they’re mixed w/ white or anything else) that they’re not black or eliminates their blackness rlly upsets me & idk it’s just kinda mean, i understand why we should start saying “biracial”, “afrolatina”, & “blasian” bc hollywood keeps casting not fully black women as black women, halsey wearing protective hairstyles even though she’s 25% black, & even a 25% black woman winning a

Anonymous said: pageant specifically for black woman, but i don’t rlly know i see biracial ppl get upset abt it & it just kinda makes me upset. im asking 4 ur thoughts & what u think abt it since ur afrolatina (srry if i was being rude in both of these asks) 💓💓

———

I get what you mean yeah and as someone who is Afrolatina I think it’s complicated bc it centers around colorism and racism and how the two are linked

It also upsets me when we start playing the game of “you’re not black” bc that’s a slippery slope and something white people have been doing to us all collectively as black ppl since forever and is the reason colorism is directly linked to racism, you’re a little more palatable if you’re mixed or white passing or have features that aren’t so “Black” and especially if you’re lighter skinned than darker skinned and historically that’s been the name of the game going hang in hand with racism across the board

I think there’s room to acknowledge colorism and be aware of the differences in experiences for mixed race black people compared to black people who’s parents are both black while also being able to not strip us of our blackness which is there whether we wanna acknowledge it or not

I think it kinda goes back to only being shown and told there’s a certain kind of blackness that makes you valid in a way if that makes sense like those age old stereotypes did damage and stuck around and didn’t allow us to really be given room to be and look different without not being attributed to white people things or bringing your identity into question bc the rigidity of how we’re perceived as black people whether mixed or not has prevailed even today

It creates a sense of like ok where can I reside? Where are my people? Where is my community? Why won’t you accept me? Am I really not black? What does this mean for who I am? It hurts, it just sucks and doesn’t feel good to be told whether by another black person or a white person or whoever that yeah you essentially aren’t part of us at all or enough

Personally it took me awhile to understand that about myself and to be comfortable and proud and own the fact that yes I am a black person who also happens to have Mexican heritage alongside it and it doesn’t cancel my blackness or make me not black, my father is a black man, that can’t be erased from who I am it’s just there it’s a fact

The issue is, whether it’s Hollywood or other media or anything else, not giving the world proper representation of every single facet and kind and shade of black person there is within the vastness of our culture and people

Dark skinned black women in specific are not given proper representation and space to be fully fleshed out complex people in movies or stories and things bc of colorism and racism and Hollywood’s idea of diversity is just putting a toe in the sea and saying here’s this lighter skinned black woman that’s all we’ll give you bc that’s historically been someone slightly more accepted to be seen than darker skinned black women

There’s room for us both but unfortunately even then, racism comes to make that difficult too and many light skinned black people (biracial, blasian, just light skinned, what have you) don’t want to acknowledge that or confront it and it’s important that we do for the success and representation of all of us rather than just some of us

I hope that made sense! 💖

[kouei116]

Jakou no Lyla - Trap of musk: European night

Come, look at me. In return, I'll show you the most wonderful dream.

Well, I'm supposed to study for an exam, I thought I'll only procrastinate & play for a litttle bit, but... Welcome to the newest hell I'm currently stuck in - Jakou no Lyla (人´ω｀*)♡

It is originally a 3 part PC otome game but has been ported to the Switch. This game is one out of 3 games from triAngle project, so... there is a Spy Ending where MC will be with both guys ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Longer details under cut. 

Part 1 European Night - Vince Lugan (seiyuu Taniyama Kishou, e.g. Amnesia Memories Ikki) on the left hand side of the above photo - Rolan Crydelle (seiyuu Tachibana Shinnosuke e.g. MidCin Louis) on the right hand side of the above photo, my 2nd fav

Part 2 Asian Night - Korei Rin (seiyuu Okitsu Kazuyuki, e.g. Brothers Conflict Masaomi) the white hair guy sniffing MC's shoulder in 1st photo, my fav :3 - Kirei Rin (seiyuu Sato Takuya) the black hair guy at top right corner in the 1st photo

Part 3 Arabian Night - Lizaru Shanasa (seiyuu Morikawa Toshiyuki, e.g. DL Carla) the tan-skin guy with a whip in 1st photo - Jemiru (seiyuu Murase Ayumu) the guy with upside-down net bra(?lol) over his eyes in 1st photo 

The popular ranking (voted in Oct 2019) result is Lizaru (1), Jemiru (2), Kirei (3), Korei (4), Vince (5), Rolan (6). 

Vince: ... I want you

MC uses her special tattoo to seduce Vince, it is working... kinda. But Vince is a tough cookie, he realizes something isn't right with himself, grasps his short sword and squeezes his right hand on the sharp blade in front of the  speechless MC. He wants the pain to pull him away from the desire for MC.

V: Come in... Hey, turn this way. Look at me, Y...

During the Conference break, V saw MC talking with Rolan on the way to the market. He got very grumpy aweee. At the market, R fell down, MC helped R get up and her clothes got muddy too. When she returns to the palace, grumpy Vince saw her muddy clothes and told her to take a bath with him. He tried to kiss her but she pushed him away, poor V :’(

Y: Rolan-sama, please sto..

The special tattoo doesn't last long so the salon master comes to the palace to help her refresh. I thought she only has one on her chest, but apparently there is one on her back too :/ She has to keep it uncovered for 2 hours to dry. R came by and accidentally was affected by the tattoo. He started touching and kissing her back. She knows she has to push him away but she doesn't want to because she already knows abt his tragic past. She’s afraid pushing him will hurt his feeling (I'll explain his past in his route summary). She tried very hard to grab the veil, cover her tattoo and R turned back to normal, frantically apologized to her. 

R: You don't need to think about anything. Surrender everything to me...

MC (name is Shirien) is a dancer at show salon Kamal. Her parents were killed, the village was destroyed. The salon master took care of her and her best friend Aisha so she wants to do everything to repay him. The master also helped another kid (who arrived heavily injured) named Jermiru and asked MC to look after J as his older sister. MC and J works as secret spies for the master. MC has a special henna tattoo (made from teromeana mixed with medicine herbs) that can seduce men to the point they lose all reasoning. Then she uses a sleeping needle on them to make them sleep & dream that they are ichaicha-ing with her but in reality, she tries to find materials/info in their rooms for her spy mission. In addition, she collects blood of young healthy ‘excited' men to help research a cure for the salon master's sickness. The master also prohibits her to kiss the men targets because it can sway her heart (hence she pushed Vince away in the bath when he tried to kiss her). 

In part 1 European night, her clients are Theo (Vince's best friend) and Rolan Crydelle. Her mission is to seduce Vince to find out the whereabout of Pamela - Rolan’s younger sister - who they think was kidnapped by Vince when V destroyed the Crydelle kingdom. Theo will pretend to lose the drinking game and gives MC to V as a winning trophy.

V is a tough cookie to crack though, he pays 100% attention on his country/work, doesn't want to waste any time with women. In his country Lugan, women are not allowed to speak unless they are given permission. This is because in their history, a king lost part of the territory bc he spent too much time on women. That territory becomes the Crydelle kingdom. In contrast, Crydelle is led/dominated by women, while men only stays inside the house and cannot go out unless given permission by women. Rolan is a shy and naive because he is indoors all his life, he cares deeply about his younger sister Pamela, he carries a doll that looks exactly like her.

I only know a little bit about V from the common route and his appearance in Rolan's route, but he isn't as cruel as the rumour says. The more time MC spends with him for her spy mission, she realizes he (and his touch on her) are gentle and kind. Everything he does is for the benefit of his country. He did destroy the Crydelle kingdom, killed the royal family (except Rolan who was living in a secret room) so other princes at the Conference sneer at Vince during the policy discussion. Personally, I think the choices Vince suggests are actually effective and to the point, not wasting time trying to be merciful. In Rolan's good end, he even helps Rolan save MC. He gives me the IkeSen Nobunaga and MLQC Victor's vibes. 

The last Rolan photo above the cut is after the confrontation with Eleanor (who looks exactly like his sister Pamela but said she is not Pamela), R is very sad and ran to the old harem area to be alone. MC chased after him and tried to comfort him. He hugged her and started kissing near her chest, offered to make her feel good and begged her to not leave him (poor bb ;u;) MC stopped him, tried to calm him down asking him to tell her everything. In short, due to his past, R always wants to keep people happy, he thinks pleasing people is the only thing he can do to make his life has some values, the only way to keep people staying with him. MC told him none of these are true. Even after hearing his past, MC didn't look down on/feel disgusted abt him, and told him from now on, he will learn many other ways to make people happy. This makes him very happy, he asked to hug her for a bit longer ｡ﾟ( ﾟஇ‸இﾟ)ﾟ｡

---

Tbh, when I first looked at the suitors, I thought I'd go with Vince, but oughhh Rolan stole my heart during the common route. I guess not likely many people will like Rolan (he actually ranks 6th out of 6 suitors, my poor bb ;u;). It’s okay, I luv Rolan. I love his character growth throughout the route, desperately trying to grow stronger to protect MC. And his yandere doll-carrying creepy vibe. His 2nd bad end broke my heart badly ~ like CxM Shiraishi's bad end 4 level of heartbreak（ｉДｉ）I will write his route summary after I (hopefully) pass my exam.

I enjoy this game much more than I expected: kisses sound yayyy (not DL’s level of kissing & blood sucking but enough to burn my ears huehue), nice arts and BGM (melancholy music to stab on my heart even more while reading bad ends, nice!). I prefer the bad ends, they are more haunting and memorable to me; good ends everything get solved quite easily, but overall the story is fine so far. I get completely sucked into this game and finished all 6 ends for Rolan and Korei in 4 days (what is sleep, what is exam :3) Normally I only play the routes of the guys I’m interested in then move on to next game, unless I want to collect PS Vita trophies and autoplay. But I have high hope that since this game can surprisingly change my favourite from Rolan to Korei (still very close, I luv both of them lotsss) from the route story, I should read everybody’s routes properly and see who my favourite are in the end. My 2020 otome game year is off to a wonderful start already ahhh~ (*´╰╯`๓)♬

[mxnark]

♫

♫ rk memes - song drabbles

now playing… you’re the reason (acoustic) by victorious ft. victoria justice 

because the acoustic one fits this better than the original

it was supposed to be like any other night for mina.

when it came to her favorite shows, she'd make a point in the house that she was going to stay in her bedroom and watch whichever one of her favorites was on from the start time until it ended. she never actually brought it up to her family though, considering everyone had other things to do than bother her with anything. not to mention, she'd just get another lecture by her mom, saying she was going to ruin her eyes by always keeping her eyes on whatever screen was nearby her. but she always ignored her because 1. she's a teenager and 2. she ignores her mom's commands on a daily basis anyway.

like the kids in her school and her mutuals on social media, she was a fan of survival shows. the reason why is because of her interest in the idol industry in general, as she's always looking for new songs to cover and new groups to fangirl about. she also just liked the fact that this one felt like any other western singing competition, except mixed in with real idol companies that were willing to make them become a star and not a dumb british man who looked like an egg.

she was prepared in the most extra way. she brought up microwaved popcorn (that she secretly brought up to her room so that her mom wouldn't yell at her about that), a bunch of blankets, a fully charged laptop for streaming, and her phone that was opened to her stan twitter account. when the show finally starts on her stream, she watches the episode with excitement over the possible superstars she'll see. she can't wait until she is able to get a good screenshot and make it her icon until the next episode where she'll get an even better icon and so on.

so far, each of the contestants looked promising to her and she doesn't seem to recognize any of them. it's expected, really. she didn't really think she'd be able to meet a future idol anyway since she's always kept to herself. however, as the episode progresses, she does recognize one face. she goes on her twitter account to tweet "omg i think one of my brother's friends is on this season of mgas holy Shit my bro knows a future celebrity".

she continues to watch more contestants go and she makes her comments on them, saying which ones seemed god-tier talented and which ones were super attractive. but when she sees him, she drops her phone on her lap and pauses the stream quickly to make sure that her eyes were not fooling her. no... no. it can't be.

but as she clicks play to return to it, she hears his voice and it only confirms her previous thoughts, leaving her shocked as she watches kang daniel, her older brother that literally lives with her, is on her laptop screen. he's on national fucking television. she stays in that shock until she sees the popup that says "hello, daniel’s parents!" where she tries to hold back a laugh. as if both of them, let alone their mother, would watch this.

“they don’t know i’m here, actually. think you could keep it a secret? between you and me?” he asks to who she assumes to be an interviewer behind the camera, but it also somewhat feels like it could be directed to her. it wasn't like she was going to tell them anyway, considering mina's very aware of how her mom would react to it all. if he's lucky, he could be able to get out of the house with his head still above his shoulders. plus, the two of them had each other's back since she was born. she's not going to snitch on her ride-or-die bro. maybe to james, but definitely not to daniel.

as the episode goes on, she opens her phone and quickly types her thoughts in a tweet: "yo, that dude who sang the jesus song is kinda crazy for not telling his parents abt this. but u know what? he's talented . u go jesus dude"

she prays to god he doesn't find her tweets in the future. sure, she's under an alias and doesn't have any selfies on her acc. but if he knew that she called him jesus dude rather than just saying straight-up "my brother"? that would be humiliating.

...

"hey, can we talk?"

it's surprising to hear that come out from her own mouth. usually, she'd hear it being said by him or her parents. she was never much of a confrontational person growing up, not to mention this quote sounded... mature in a way and that didn't suit mina. but, it was the appropriate thing to say in this situation, especially after the one dinner where she was basically giving him looks full of suspicion. she doesn't know if he knew that she knew about the mgas, so she waits until the appropriate time to go up to talk to him about it... a.k.a on the drive back to school.

he tenses up and it makes her frown. "you don't have to shit your pants. you know what i'm going to talk about."

"sorry, sorry," he responds, relaxing a little. he's silent, as if waiting for her to just say it. he knows her well enough that she's not going to beat around the bush.

"no offense, but you never seemed like a person who'd stand in front of a video camera and sing to it willingly," she says off the bat. "why did you audition for this? don't you know lots of people are going to watch you on stage?"

"i wanted sungwoon to audition, but he said he wasn't going to go alone," he explains, making the situation make more sense to mina as to why the both of them were there. "i only came as support but i..." he drops the sentence to let out a sigh.

just from the explanation, it made her feel a little bit bad for him. she understood why this was stressing him out, considering he actually cared about what their mom and dad thought of him. even if she wasn't able to relate to that, she knew that their reaction to it wouldn't be as supportive as both of them wished it would be. and the fact that he's stuck in this just because he wanted to give his best friend support? that was so on-brand of him. mina wasn't angry at him to begin with. sure, she was a little hurt that he didn't say anything about it to her. but after hearing this? it's practically impossible to be angry at him now.

"look, if you're worried about me telling mom or dad about this, i won't," she says as an attempt to reassure him. "snitches get stitches. if i tell anyone, you can run over my phone or something. but i won't, so you don't have to do that and make me hate you for the rest of my life."

the exaggeration makes him laugh and it makes mina internally sigh in relief to know that it worked. "oh god, i can't imagine taking you-know-who's title. that'd be awful."

"hell yeah it would," she says with a big smile. "don't even compare yourself to him, though. that's self-deprecation. you're obviously a little bit better."

as the car pulls up to their house, mina quickly unbuckles her seatbelt, assuming daniel had somewhere else to be since he wasn't parked at his usual spot. before she could open the door, he says something. "mina?"

she turns back to face him. "what?"

"thanks," he says. even if it's simple, she knows there's something more within it. and though she was a queen for the dramatics, she wasn't going to make it a big deal. she never did when it came to showing affection anyway.

she gives him a playful, light punch to his arm. "you're dumb," she says. "you know i got you. kang gang through everythang." as soon as that comes out of her mouth, there's a look of disgust on her face. "that sounds disgusting. forget i ever said that."

she ignores the amused reaction and leaves the car. when she walks to the door, she looks behind to see his car disappeared. she smiles when the feeling of refreshment comes down on her. it was always felt good to talk to daniel, especially when it came to family stuff. even if they were more different than they were before, it felt good to know that she wasn't alone in this. she can't say that she was lucky to be an only child because she definitely wouldn't be able to handle her mom on her own. she can't say that she's lucky for not being an only child either since their oldest brother was also not making her life easier when he was still living with them.

maybe she's just lucky that she has daniel as an older brother, too. in school, she's always surrounded by kids who constantly complained about their older brothers and sisters and while she can add to that discussion when talking about james, she never really had anything bad to say about daniel. the only time she does say bad things about him is to him personally, and most of the time it was just light-hearted teasing.

without him, she didn't know where she'd be.

...

home did feel a little bit different now that daniel wasn't around anymore.

it didn't really click on the night that it happened. to mina, it felt like he was on timeout and wasn't allowed to go back home until she calmed down her temper, even though she didn't show any big sign of anger to him during the discussion. even though he told her about it, she didn't remember showing any sadness. she only smiled and gave a thumbs up while saying "you're finally escaping the evil witch's lair! congratulations!" he gives a sad smile, but the conversation goes on as normally until it ends with a hug and an "i won't miss you too much."

but on the night after that, when she took notice of the empty chair, it finally did hit. it was for his own good, she told herself. if he stayed any longer, he'd probably feel trapped forever. you wouldn't want that for him, would you?

the table was quiet that night, save for their dad trying to get some small talk. mina went up to her room and cried about it before she went on the internet as an attempt to cheer herself up.

she did get used to it. by the time the fifth season of the mgas was on, she was used to the fact that he was off on his own like a dove or something. it's not like the both of them totally lost contact, anyway. even if things were a little different, he still drops her off to places when she needs a ride and she'd see him at their grandma's church once a month. even if she was on her own now with the "ultimate boss", it was still kang gang through everythang. she's said that twice in her life and she felt like a bigger clown for it the second time.

had it not been for their text conversation about the auditions (with a bunch of eye emojis coming from mina), she would not have known that he would end up in the fifth season. she was able to convince her dad to watch the show with her, no mom insight, and they watched the show together in the living room with the blankets and popcorn and mina going on her phone before her dad tells her to focus on the show if she was going to watch it.  she knew she was going to see his band, but she didn't expect to see songhee and yeji and jeongin on the show. when her dad points her cousins out, asking if she knew about this, she only shook her head, letting him know that she was surprised as he was.

the next few episodes go by and mina goes through an emotional rollercoaster, to say the least. she blames it on her being so sympathetic to her brother that after seeing minhyun and sungwoon get kicked off the show, she throws a silent tantrum rather than a loud one with a warning from dad. seeing the friendships her brother in the show as well as his interactions with the people he already knew makes her feel a sense of pride in her brother. she remembers her group chat being spammed with asking mina if she could ask him to get an autograph from convex (she sent a reaction image of a buff cat instead before saying "no").

though the finale was bittersweet, especially since she believed that her brother deserved a chance with his friends and yeji, she mainly felt pride in him for at least making it that far and for being less awkward than last time. she doesn't text him right after it aired since she thought it would be awkward to say all the encouraging bs after he technically lost. but, she doesn't keep that thought in her forever.

"he looks happier this time," she mentions to her dad. "like.. he didn't win, but he got further than last time and he's definitely better."

he nods in agreement. "i wasn't sure how he'd be doing after he got kicked out, but after seeing this, i think he'll be fine." he looks over to her. "you should get on this show, too. you like dancing, right? maybe you'll get as far as he does."

mina laughs at the idea, but it wasn't in a way to show that he was ridiculous for thinking that. "we'll see."

[reigensarataka]

S7 is the season we see Klance is canon or not. The final cannon shall be shot in August 10th announcing our lost or victory. We have come a long way, my fellow soldiers. - 🦑

GOD THIS RLY IS FORREAL HUH………. I AINT READY FELLAS…………………

im putting the rest under a read more bcs its rly long HGDJAHGJA

I took your advice and treated myself. I got two video games and a Pokémon plushie, Thnx boo~💖 - 🦑

HELL YEAH MUAH!!!!!!!! also which two video games *eye emoji*

I feel bad for not using the emoji anon thing cause I have an emoji. I just overthink my ask every time. Anyway how’s ur day been-🏳️‍🌈

IK U SENT THIS YESTERDAY IM SORRY ILY but im gnna say that Today has just been. one big ass rollercoaster……………..

I took a nap! But yeah- I sleep talk/walk a lot and this is the 2nd time this week I wake up in the middle of sleep talking. Its weird because I continue speaking while conscious but also unknowing. Its kinda hard to explain- All I remember is the broken fire alarm beeping and me sitting up muttering- “I cant believe they did that to Keith- Its sooo obvious- I just-“ It was something along those lines- Knowing me, I probably dreamed of straight!Keith and just went off hahah ~🍞~

WJHGBHJASHJJ i used to sleepwalk a lot when i was a kid and that shit was rly creepy tbh…… my sister used to do it a lot too and one time we just started screaming and shaking eachothers shoulders at the same time and UHWUHFU still dont know what the fuck that was all abt but creepy……….. ALSO ME AT THE KEITH THINBG KAMKGJIAG

My dad bought me a red backpack for Christmas last year and I really like it but it has Keith’s galra sword and bayard on it on a really small patch so it’s lowkey, but I’m going into hs now and I want a cute aesthetic backpack and I don’t really want a voltron backpack in highschool soooo wish me luck on trying to get one -🦎

BRO, BE A REAL ONE AND TAKE THE KEITH ONE……………. uhwuhwutgf it sounds so sexy…………………………….

sorry nessa it seems that imma be telling you every time i have a gay moment but… the girl i like SO much drew me today and im feelin v confused lesbian bc of that, bc she’s sending me mixed signals since i confessed some time ago and she said she needed time to think then, and we never talk about it now bc im an anxious mess&hate confrontation but then SHE comes OUT HERE with her CUTE ART and SEDUCES me all over AGAIN!!! what does that mean!!!! does she like me too??? no?? yes??? UGH! - 🐢

GOD NEXT THING SHES GNNA ASK U TO MARRY HER DUDE!!!!!!!! ask her out……….. I WLD DIE IF SOMEONE DREW ME LIKE HELLO???? thats Love bitch….. keep me updated i love hearing abt ur gay moments wuhwzutuzhguh

lance wears his hood when he’s moping and he doesn’t like to feel like the downer by moping around the paladins which is why we don’t see him wear the hood on screen -🍓

man…. this lowkey made me sad but……. ur right…………….

IM OPTIMISTIC AS FUCC AND YALL PESSIMISTIC KLANCERS CAN FIGHT ME WE’RE GETTING KICK THIS SEASON!!!!!!! -💧

HELL YEAH BABY THATS WHAT I LIKE TO SEE

  ADAM…..!!!!!!!!!!!!!????!!!!!! hansome. -🐀

HES LITERALLY SO GORGEOUS i wld let him ra

OK SO,,,, I LITERALLY HAVE LIKE FUCKING BUTTERFLIES IN MY STOMACH RN AND MY HEART SPEEDS UP EVERY TIME I SEE ADAM AND EUZNWKFKALW IM RUBBIJG UP AJS DOWN MY HALLQAY BC I LOVE MY SON SM AMD HES SO PRETTY MY BOY I WOULD DIE FOR HIM VLD KEEP YO UGLY ASS HANDS AWAY FROM HIS BEAUTFIUL GLASSES AJD GORGEOUS EYES A FSNGIRL UWU COME THROUGH GIVE ME MORE OF ELZHWHDISNWJEJ A D A M - 🐢             

i literally wrote this entire thing, turtle anon how r u me, im me

(KFGHFAJGKJADHFHAGJKSDGZH)

So season 7 really is that binch huh? -☕️    

S7 IS GNNA DO IT TO US SO BAD………       

URGH AND WE STILL HAVE 4 MORE DAYS!! ~🐩

IM NOT GONNA HOLD ON FOR FOUR MORE DAYS DUDE…………

ASKSDJFS I’VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR SEVEN HOURS AND I COME BACK AND ASKEFJLDSFJJ -🍓

IM SCARED TO EVEN GO TO SLEEP TONIGHT LMFAJUJHGKAJG

concept: veronica and lance are twins -💧            

DELICIOUS POST raindrop anon i STAN u

In the middle of all this bullshit I just gotta stay relentlessly positive and everything will be okay!!!!! -🧚‍♀️            

YES BABY THANK YOU MUAH

black paladin veronica or we riot - 🐚

M E ME EMEE EGHAGKJDG

“you’ll all love veronica. trust me” YEAH BECAUSE SHE’S ONE OF THE GAYS I’M CALLING IT - 🐜

DAMN RIGHT!!!!!! WLW QUEEN

Since were talking about moms, my mom thinks Keith is a girl and she once said “Oh that’s a cute girl” while pointing at a photo of Keith. - 🦑

LMAO?????????? FORREAL??????????? SADHGKJADGKJ

 i think we all know the real reason why keith named his wolf cosmo is because he’s secretly a massive fan of the fairly odd parents and just doesn’t want to admit it - 🐜 

GOD u r so fucking right we r all fools………….

[dragimal]

alright just finished Crybaby, and here are my Opinions

(big spoilers for anyone who wants to watch it, and if u do plan on it, be aware of major trigger warnings like hardcore gore/body horror, death, full-on nudity/sex, and sexual assault. some of these elements are present in most dman adaptations to some degree anyways, but imagine those adaptations ramped up to 50)

things I liked:

- art style! I’m a HUGE fan of the fluid, gangly style, and it works so well w/ the high-action, intense fights

- the crying theme. it's a rly nice visual indicator that Akira is still in there, and how much he was affected by all the death and heartbreak. one of my fave parts of Akira as a character is how he has to reconcile his demon instincts w/ his humanity, so to see Crybaby Devilman break out into tears is esp powerful

- the development of the side characters. the bullies are some of my fave characters in the original, and I rly like how they were adapted into disenfranchised rappers in this one (and I esp love the relationship the one rapper had w/ Miko briefly like?? precious). speaking of Miko, she was EXCELLENT, easily one of my new faves, and her confession to Miki was heartbreaking. I also love that one gay runner (forgot his name..), and his camaraderie w/ Miko was truly mlm/wlw solidarity at its finest (before he y’know.... betrayed humanity...)

- I also rly like the approach to Miki’s character in this one; making her strong and capable was a good move. some ppl may know that I have mixed feelings abt og Miki, b/c I like her individually, but I hate how whenever she’s w/ Akira she bullies him for being soft (at least pre-Devilman) and forces him to protect her in fights she instigates. I like how Crybaby completely cut that from this adaptation and just made her awesome and actually nice to Akira. and believe it or not, I actually ship them in this adaptation, which is shocking to me b/c I’ve only ever shipped them in the chibi “Go Nagai World” adaptation and Devilman Grimoire. like that bit where Akira was all over-acting like, “oh yes, I saved you!” and swept Miki off her feet? I die. actually I ship Miki w/ several ppl in this adaptation, like Miko (of course), and that one bald rapper. also, was her “witch” nickname a reference to Grimoire? if it was, that’s cute <3

- the restructuring of the plot points to fit a slightly new plotline were mostly p good. like it was cool how Crybaby had Jinmen possess Akira’s dad, making for a double-whammy of pain seeing both his parents die at once. or how Devilman sucked Ghelmer straight out of Miki and burned the water out of his own body. just some neat changes. also I didn’t think any adaptation could ever top Jinmen’s subplot in terms of heart-wrenching pain, but look at that! Miki’s demon-bro topped it! thanks Crybaby I didn’t need my heart anymore!!!!!!

- Miki’s cat became a demon?? 10/10 easily the best part of the series

things I didn’t like:

- Ryo. just.... fuckin Ryo. part of me wants to like Ryo in any dman adaptation, so I didn’t actively hate him while watching the show, but the more I think abt how his character was portrayed in this, the more frustrated I get. like, Ryo is easily my top fave character from Devilman as an overall franchise (if not necessarily every specific adaptation), alongside Akira. so to see this character I love just whittled down to what he is here... it hurts, man. for those who aren’t super familiar w/ og Ryo, let me show u a panel that I think encompasses his temperament

Crybaby Ryo is cold, calculating, and largely unemotional. og Ryo, on the other hand, rapidly flips between stone-cold, almost comically blank, and hysterical. he’s not a “cool” character necessarily; Go Nagai may have attempted that portrayal originally, idk for sure, but any reader will tell u that’s not the outcome he achieved, nor how he was eventually portrayed in the OVAs. og Ryo is unhinged and clearly not emotionally prepared to take on the world, but by GOD that fucker’s gonna run in guns a-blazin’ or die trying. the simplest way to describe him is, “nihilist conspiracy theorist with a gun, oh god why does he have a gun who gave him that-”

just imagine this guy w/ a gun, shades, and blonde mullet, and that’s Ryo. but instead of getting that Ryo in Crybaby, we get, “unemotional nihilist (with a gun)” Ryo, and that’s rly all there is to him

and one of the worst things abt Crybaby Ryo is that he’s so.... reprehensible. not that og Ryo doesn’t do some terrible things-- he absolutely does-- but he either does them in such a hilariously goofy manner, or he’s so earnest u can’t help but shake ur head at him like, “Oh Ryo~” (again, not to excuse him, but trust me, there are ways to make villains charming, and Go Nagai originally hit on that p damn well, whether intentional or not). plus I don’t rly remember og Ryo ever killing ppl for the sake of “covering his tracks”. I only ever remember him killing ppl who were directly harming himself/Akira, and then just injuring ppl as a part of his goals (like that scene w/ him slashing ppl at the black sabbath is in the og version, b/c the sabbath needed fresh blood to initiate the transformations). I could be wrong, but I don’t think og Ryo particularly cares who sees him committing crimes, so long as he’s not directly confronted abt it. he’s.... not exactly a gr8 strategist in that respect... or at all....

and this is double sad for me b/c not only does og Ryo actually have emotions, but he’s so clearly pining for an oblivious Akira throughout the story, which is why they’ve always been my dman otp. there are some cute moments b/t Akira and Ryo in Crybaby (the pool scene, mainly), but they seem more instigated by Akira on an unwilling Ryo, and Ryo seems to only keep Akira around for the muscle/demon-power, so I can’t rly buy Ryo’s apparent “affection” for Akira here at all....

- there was too little build-up to Akira becoming Devilman. like the whole first volume in the 5-volume og series is dedicated to Devilman’s buildup and initial transformation, yet only one ep of this 10-ep series is dedicated to it. this fails for several reasons: 1)  the longer build-up in the og establishes how close Ryo and Akira rly are, and how willing Akira is to help Ryo, even at the expense of his life. 2) the og build-up gives you time to get attached to Akira before his transformation, and not only feel his pain at losing parts of himself to the transformation, but also the ability to recognize when his Akira-brand humanity is making an appearance post-Amon. 3) why the hell did Akira believe Ryo so readily? why isn’t he concerned at all about either demons’ existence or Ryo’s mental health? where’s Akira’s classic, “WHERE’S THE PHONE,” reaction??

- now setting aside my love for og Ryo, and Crybaby Ryo’s likability as a character for a sec, Crybaby’s approach to Ryo RLYYYY fucks up the entire Satan plotline for me. in the original, Ryo also doesn’t remember being Satan, so he is also trying to help humanity. but in the original, you FEEL that! you can feel how hard he's trying, and yeah he goes abt it in often dangerous/morally dubious ways, but in the end (before he regains his memories), his goals are for humans. he's a, “sacrifice the few for the many,” kinda guy-- which is absolutely questionable, but still has humanity as a whole in mind

Crybaby Ryo, on the other hand, doesn’t feel like he has ANY protectiveness for humanity, even when he's still under the impression he's a human. hell, I thought this adaptation had him start out knowing he’s Satan and actively manipulating Akira for his plans the whole time, that’s how little I believed in his want to protect humanity (I mean, the 2004 live-action film went that route, so u can’t rly blame me for being wary). maybe it would have been different if I had come into this fresh, not knowing Ryo was Satan, but I just never bought that he was anything but manipulating everyone specifically for the demons, so I was kinda surprised when he started to “regain” his memories b/c I thought he already HAD them. which is just frustrating b/c that big reveal is one of the best twists ever, in the original! b/c u believe this weird gun-toting dude’s rly truly trying to help out humans, but it turns out he’s been in the demon’s league the whole time!

b/c of this, the Crybaby ending also severely lacks the emotional punch of the og end, when Satan realizes they were wrong (and no, ”you taught me abt love,” is not the same thing as confronting their mistakes)

- and that leads into how Crybaby dropped the ball on the demons in general too. in the original, the demons were Earth’s original lifeforms, but this didn’t please God, so he tried to wipe them out. Satan was the only angel who defied this, trying to protect these creatures who had the right to keep living. THAT was why Satan was cast out of heaven, and Satan convinced the demons to freeze themselves into hibernation until they could later confront God together. upon reawakening, Satan and their demon crew are pissed to find the world taken over by humans, and THAT’S why demons have a grudge against humans. thus, Satan decides to disguise themself as human and tuck their memories away in order to intimately learn the weaknesses of our species in order to end us. all the demons were in on this plan, and were willing to sacrifice themselves to the cause. in the end, when Satan is sitting on Sadness Island w/ (half of)Akira, they realize that in their rage, they turned into exactly what they originally opposed, but it’s far too late to reconcile their mistakes

what’s the motivation of Crybaby’s demons? uh... fuck man, idk. snuff films? I guess they want to be revived, but why aren’t they in on Satan’s plans? why are they all surprised when Devilman is made, when this is a specific goal in Satan’s grand scheme? why didn’t Jenny reveal this plan to anyone else? how did demons’ “essence” survive, can we plz have more of an explanation for that? it doesn’t make sense???

not that the og didn’t have its own weird explanations for things (”global warming is melting the demons out of their hibernation! also here’s a complete misinterpretation of evolutionary theory!”), but idk man, at least it mostly made sense w/in its own canon, I think. 

- the one other big thing that bothers me is the fact Devilman, the franchise, exists Crybaby? like I get that it’s just a joke, but it wasn’t just one-off, like this is brought back SEVERAL times, and it rly breaks my immersion every single time. like if the dman franchise exists in Crybaby, why is anyone here surprised by anything? and it’s not even an obscure story in-canon, it’s popular enough that ppl recognize the character, and Miki’s brother is obsessed w/ it. so if there’s a rly popular story that already reveals more-or-less Satan’s entire plan to the public, why are ppl so shocked?

the only way I can justify this is that it seems like maybeeee the only part of the dman franchise that’s present in the Crybaby universe is the 70′s tv show, which has a distinctly different plot from the original, and doesn’t feature Satan at all. but even with that explanation, not everyone who’s watching Crybaby knows that, and it’s still immersion-breaking even knowing that. like if they wanted a cute reference to Go Nagai’s works, why couldn’t they have featured Mazinger Z, or hell even Violence Jack

- some of the psych horror of the og/OVAs was cut and that’s a real bummer b/c it was honestly more horrifying than the gore. like og Miki’s parents phasing thru the walls/furniture when Ghelmer is attacking? that haunts me. also a lot of the demons in the og sacrifice themselves by merging w/ humans and killing the humans and themselves in the process in order to increase mass panic in the humans, which is a horrifying but cool tactic

- thankfully these bits were p quick, but everything involving the Amazon natives was....... uncomfortable at best. like, fair-skinned boy being worshiped as a god by darker people? hmmmmm. like idek why that part even existed, why didn’t Ryo just immediately wake up on that island where Akira lived, why did he have to be raised by the people in the Amazon only for him to become an orphan on that island anyways. Akira could have still found him on that cliff later on, it’s not like Satan Themself would have died if he wasn’t cared for as a baby. it would even make sense for Crybaby Ryo, considering that lack of affection in his formative years could have made him into the sociopath he is today

also when Ryo was explaining how old monsters of myth are demons, there were a few shots of gods shown, like.... Ryo.... those aren’t monsters those are religiously/culturally significant figures wtf are u doing...

- this adaptation is weirdly sexual? I mean, most dman adaptations have weirdly sexual elements, but most of the time it’s purely nudity with some /hints/ at sexual elements. like, ppl just Happen To Be Naked, and also sometimes make sexual comments. not that this isn’t questionable in and of itself (Silene’s og design, w/ her tail feathers UNDER her buttcheeks is uhhhhhhhhh), but it never felt like sexual assault or anything when ppl were fighting; ppl just happened to have their Whole Titty out when fighting. in Crybaby, there’s a blatant connection between the violent gore and the sex, and it’s uncomfortable at times. like I’m not necessarily a squeamish person, so most of the time I wasn’t that affected, but when Akira-- our hero-- effectively raped Silene on-the-fly during their fight I was like NO THANKS

overall opinion?

despite how long the “didn’t like” section is, I do like the show a lot. it’s strong as an independent series, and there is a lot to love as a dman fan as well. however, Ryo is not only an important character to me, but to the Devilman franchise as a whole, so to drop the ball on his character isn’t just insulting to me personally, but weakens Crybaby’s overall lore/plot in places it should be strongest