#and kept her alive anyway

[meowunmeow]

Red string of fate not because of destiny but because Andy's blood is always with Fuuko

[lgbtlunaverse]

I feel like too often people frame Nie Mingjue's issues as ignorance borne from safety. Like, they think that because of his privilege as a sect leader he doesn't know what it's like to be in danger and forced to make hard choices to survive. And I disagree. Strongly.

First of all, Nie Mingjue is very familiar with death not only from war but from. You know. Actively dying since the age of fourteen. Let us not forget Nie Mingjue is dead! Super dead! And maybe he didn't die the exact way he expected to but he did, absolutely, know he was going to die. To act like Nie Mingjue is unfamiliar with the scenario of "do something you find morally reprehensible or die" is to ignore that he has been living that exact scenario and chose death.

Nie Mingjue knows death is a risk for someone like Jin guangyao, in fact he explicitly acknowledges it even in his worst moments like the stairs in chapter 49. Had his issue been ignorance, then he would've responded to Jin Guangyao saying that he's in danger and has to sacrifice others for his own safety with "No you aren't you'll be fine." But he doesn't. He accepts the fact that jgy is in danger with no qualms and says: then you should die.

That's not him betraying his values, those are his values. He is, essentially, pro-suicide. Jgy is like hey I have a moral dilemma what should I do and nmj straight up goes "Kill yourself" and earlier that same chapter when he was faced with a moral dilemma he went "I'm gonna kill myself." He believes the solution to moral dilemmas is suicide! He is extremely consistent about this! When it's pointed out to him that it would have been dangerous for Wen Qing to oppose Wen Ruohan it doesn't phase him because he thinks putting yourself at risk to do the right thing is the only moral choice. The idea that he can only hold this belief because he is himself somehow not in danger, again, requires you to ignore that he is dying the whole time. And it doesn't deter him. He is the idea of self-sacrifice as a moral good taken to its absolute logical extreme. Someone who is ready to die and demands the same from everyone else.

It makes him a very fun case study for fandom, because a lot of fandom spaces also tend to revere self-sacrifice as the ultimate good, and yet we get very uncomfortable when someone starts demanding it of characters we love. Like woah, hold on, that's a bit too far isn't it? Only we the audience get to do that!

[ineed-to-sleep]

*me immediately after going through a terrifying and traumatic experience* haha yeah I guess it was rough but I'm fine now like I'm totally chill. It was kinda funny actually if you think about it

[pockethep]

Okay…now that I’ve calmed down…

This chapter was undeniably one of my favorites in the manga. It also feels like one of those moments where part 1 and 2 really run in parallel.

Just a few of my rambles on this chapter...

Happiness and Makima

As much as I hate him Barem is easily one of the most interesting characters in part 2.

Barem has an intense loyalty, and honestly somewhat of an obsession, with Makima and by extension her legacy. Even after Makima's death and being freed from her control, Barem continues with her goal of using Chainsawman to defeat the Death Devil. When Nayuta tried to use her control devil abilities on him, he resisted and admitted that his heart still belongs to Makima.

It's because of this that he's "honoring" her will and following the same guidelines Makima did. (She wrote the rulebook on torturing Denji) He's destroying Denji's happiness. He is taking EVERYTHING from Denji.

(Heck if you wanna go a step forward, he's taking that peace sign)

Of course we know that Makima's true goal was to create a better world so that she could stand equal with others and form relationships. Making an ideal world was her attempt to realize her own dream.

Barem doesn't understand Makima and his devotion is a misunderstanding about her beliefs, which is a great foil to Denji.

Throughout part 1, Denji was devoted to Makima despite not knowing her true goals until the end. Barem is devoted to Makima because he's deluded himself into believing that he understood her and did so enough to be able to follow through with what he thinks she wants.

Nayuta and Makima

Although I'm praying this is a fakeout or a body double or just some kind of ruse to get Denji to snap there are a lot of interesting differences between the Makima and Nayuta eating scenes.

When Denji eats Makima there is an entire dedicated set up. He chops ingredients and makes a home cooked meal, taking care to set up his dishes and table.

He actively takes time to savor the meal. He doesn't scarf down the food, the waits...lets the flavor sink into him...and continues eating relatively peacefully despite what's really going on. It was something deeply personal and he ate in an empty house.

But with Nayuta...

It's rushed, messy, and ugly. There's none of the previous tranquility. It tracks, Denji was in the safety of his home. But in Chapter 170 he's at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. A buffet style restaurant thats filled with people while being antagonized by Barem (He even goes as far to say "Good Boy" to Denji) and having just come off of what happened in 168 and 169.

And this is all without him even knowing what he's eating.

Everyone in chainsaw man is hungry. They are starving for way more than they could ever stomach, and not always in the literal sense. They are hungry for revenge, money, comfort, love, whatever the opposite of being alone is to them, or whatever else. It is because of this yearning and hunger that so many of the characters end up exploited or worse.

If that head truly is Nayuta...now Denji is way past the point of no return.

There are very few stories currently running that can even begin to make me feel what Fujimoto can. He is a wonderful writer even if I wanna burn his pen sometimes.

[hannahwdraws]

Just a couple of girls from The Free Marches

"I can't believe the girl I taught to weave flowers at the Arlathvhen grew up to be the 'fearsome' Inquisitor."

"I can't believe Varric didn't put two and two together sooner that we might have already known each other."

"Try not to blame him, you're so different from the girl I knew from back then."

"I'm still just a Dalish girl from The Marches"

[moeblob]

Ladd: but why would you kill me when I'm willing to kill for you?? Lass: omg you can't just say you'd kill someone, Ladd. that's murder and it's frowned upon.

(and then Ladd does kill for her but it's fine and part of the job)

[isagnesalive]

TMagP 24

Is Agnes Montague alive? Status: Unconfirmed

[daisywords]

\

[toytulini]

I thought Ursula was pretty Biologist-core but in the end her arc was less Biologistcore than others. Levi was also pretty Biologistcore. maybe even Ghost Bird core?

[metanarrates]

lee sookyung giving up 20 years of her life and trapping kim dokja in a way she knows he will hate her for is such a good parallel for the defining choice she made in the past. years in prison. an essay that will follow kim dokja wherever he goes. a bond permanently damaged. she'll always hurt him in the same ways, because it's the only way she knows how to protect him

[linabirb]

you know you've hit rock bottom when by the end of the session your therapist hits the head in hands pose and goes "let's. l-let's just try to stay alive for now. n-no meds we'll just focus on finding the reasons to keep you here"

[man-destroyer]

tell us about ancient spanish?

Yeah!

so. In the beginning of my comic (I'm assuming you havent read it, if you have I'm sorry) the main character is getting established as sort of a "master bullshitter" and very lucky. He's not stupid, the reason he's alive is because he reads situations quickly and lies very well... and at this point my editor had been repeatedly treating him with this sort of bumbling idiot trope, so I was already a bit frustrated.

He's caught as a stowaway on a pirate ship, and is bullshitting a treasure hunt so the pirates keep him alive long enough that he could escape. So, he makes a fake treasure map in Spanish, hoping that the pirates won't know any... because if they can just kill him and take the map, they will. And one of them knows Spanish!

So, the joke I put in to resolve the situation (which I kept) was "but can you READ Spanish?" where he's banking on the pirate's illiteracy, and he lucks out because she can't read.

but my editor wanted him to say "but do you know... ancient spanish?" which makes no sense and isnt funny LMAO to me.

There were a lot of instances like this, but this is the one I remember the most because my editor like. argued with me on putting ancient spanish in there... It was a back and forth for a good bit.

[khaotunq]

"gets weirdly intense about houseplants" would definitely be in my bio if i were a character

[ishouldgay]

The thought of Karlach running around with the words ‘My Champion the Demonsbane - My blood is her strength’ in Infernal on her horns is so sad to me. I have no doubt that she wasn’t exactly jumping at the idea of getting branded either.

My urge to write a one shot post canon with Karlach having Shadowheart shave off the words on her horns so she can cover it with sliver etched with night orchids is so so strong. I love the idea that she replaces her broken horn with a metal one too.

[eskildit]

you’ve heard pyrrha/palamedes but I would like to propose, either by au or perhaps river shenanigans, g1deon/camilla. pyrrha likes land mines? well g1deon likes dangerous women who are down to kill. This is how g1deon/pyrrha/camilla/palamedes can still win-

[blueheartedmayor]

OOC: