#anyway these manga posts are becoming a nightmare for me

[astralhope]

This is a sort of service communication: I have many posts about the ending of the Zexal manga that I want to publish (some of them have been in my drafts since May!), but to not spoil those who haven't read the manga yet, I will tag the posts that are about the last five chapters of the manga (so from chapter 51 to chapter 55) with #Zexal manga spoiler, just to be safe, so who doesn't want to be spoilered can blacklist the tag.

(I'm also writing this so I can bring myself to actually finish writing the tags and publish the posts, because I kept procrastinating, and then I'm anxious because I still haven't posted them. And now that I'm saying that I will post them, I hope to convince my brain to finish editing them and posting them. I think this is the actual reason for this post)

[puzzleshipping-library]

Any recomendations of Fics that's centered around the Post-Fire Arc? (After Yugi assembled the Puzzle in a fire) preferably based on the manga 👀

Wow okay, I thought I had one or two offhand, but ended up finding nearly TWENTY fics. Only one was specifically identified as manga-centric (see: Burning Hearts), the rest are a good mix of one-shots, missing scenes, and canon-divergences. Plenty of platonic/gen mixed in with the explicit stuff too. I didn't include any sweeping epics that re-tell the series because I think that's a lot of work to read if you're looking for one specific scene :')

Note: some of these fics are old enough to vote. Be sure to comment and give them some love if you read and enjoy them!

Anyway, here is what I've got, in alphabetical order for lack of a better option:

The Altruist by Bakura's Guardian Angel [Rated G, ~1.5k words, 2012]

The warehouse was burning, and Yuugi was burning with it. But as long as the Puzzle was complete, the Spirit had a chance. And Yuugi was the only one who knew how to put it together. So—no matter what happened to him—he had to fix the Puzzle.

Broken Pieces Amidst the Flames by Snafu Kazoo [Rated T, ~2k words, 2011]

Within the raging inferno, Yami nearly suffocates in darkness, and Yugi is willing to sacrifice his own life to spend his final moments with the spirit he loves.

Burning Hearts by Silvershadowfire [Rated, <1000, 2005]

(Manga-centric) Yami's POV when the Puzzle was smashed and Yugi had to put it back together.

Contact Your Doctor If You Have the Following Symptoms by kamenutehp [Rated T, ~6k words, WIP, 2020]

After risking his life to reassemble the Millennium Puzzle in the midst of a blazing inferno, it’s only natural that Yugi isn’t feeling very well. But over the course of a few days he seems to decline even further, and with the Battle City tournament just around the corner, he needs to figure out what’s going on if he wants to help Yami fulfill his destiny and save the world.

Day 1: "We've got you" by StarrySodaSkies03 [Rated T, ~1.5k, 2023]

Joey has a nightmare about the warehouse fire Yugi was lured into and almost died in. Yugi and Atem comfort him. (Note: This is Joey/Yugi/Atem, not strictly puzzleshipping!)

Episodic Puzzleshipping Companion Pieces by AuroraTenchi [Rated E, one-shot collection, see Chapter 1 "Forever", 2023]

I’d been avoiding him since I was discharged from the hospital.

lessons by elystia [Rated G, ~4k words, 2017]

Yugi shows the Spirit many things, after pulling him from his prison within the Puzzle. Anyone looking in from the outside probably wouldn’t believe it, based on appearances alone; what does Yugi Mutou have to teach a figure so imposing? They would all be wrong, of course, because only the two keepers of the Millennium Puzzle will ever know the extent of the lessons exchanged between them.

Heart of a Champion by DarkChao1663 [Rated G, ~4k words, 2014]

Thanks to his loyal friends, Yugi is safe from the warehouse after having his Puzzle stolen. With him in the hospital, Joey, Tea, and Yami reflect upon that day. Yugi also comes across thought-provoking ideas regarding friendship and everyone's talent to endure vigorous situations.

Hold My Heart by Faythren [Rated T, one-shot collection, see Chapter 5 "A Burning Warmth". 2019. Fem!Yugi]

Yugi grows a lot during her time with Yami. She helps him and he helps her and they just sort of fall through life together. Neither of them expected another kind of falling. They avoid acknowledging it, but that doesn't mean it isn't there, burning softly. That warm, unspoken thing, waiting for a chance to ignite.

I Will Never Be Free, Until You Come Back For Me by Onezumi Daisuke [Rated M, ~7k, 2013]

What happens when Yugi's puzzle gets broken…?

The Name of the God by DeathAfterDawn [Rated M, ~13k, 2013]

It all started because of that fire. Yugi feels depressed about almost losing the puzzle to an unknown enemy,as they both try to affront their fears, lost memories of Yami's past life become real when a single word is remembered.

phantom limb by killdoll [rated T, ~3k words, 2018]

In the hospital after the fire where Yuugi reassembled the Millennium Puzzle, Yuugi and his Other Self have a heart-to-heart.

Pieces by routavaurio [Rated T, one-shot collection, see chapter 7 "Wish", 2013]

Yugi Mutou had no idea what the puzzle he had worked so hard to finish truly held within. But when he finally figured it out, it was the start of a rather strange friendship. A series of one-shots focusing on the friendship between Yugi and his other self.

Sanctuary by Skye-Yue [Rated M, ~11k, WIP, 2012]

A puzzleshipping take on what happened after Yami Marik was defeated.

The Seldom Seen by clydeside [Rated T, ~44k (complete), 2020]

Yugi’s soul has gone missing after reassembling the Millennium Puzzle in the fire, leaving the Other Yugi to fill his place. As he tries to hide the truth from Yugi’s friends and family, he searches for his partner and the scattered pieces of his soul. But without Yugi at his side, he is losing control of the Puzzle’s power over the shadow realm… and the creature it contains.

Two AM by ErinNovelist [Rated G, <1000 words, 2011]

After the fire in the warehouse and Yugi nearly dying in the duel with Bandit Keith, the Pharaoh's worse fears get the best of him.

You'll Be In My Heart by Difinity [Rated G, ~2k words, 2002]

Yugi feels scared at the thought that he almost lost Yami in the fire after his duel with Bandit Keith in the old warehouse.

What's at Stake by Pleurez Mes Yeux [Rated G, ~1k words, 2014]

A little one-shot in the aftermath of the puzzle being smashed.

This last one is no longer available online, but absolutely deserves an honourable mention (there are copies floating around if you ask the right people *cough*me*cough*)

These Cherished Moments by spirithorse [2010, one-shot collection, see chapter 5 "Hellfire"]

Anything I missed? Feel free to comment, or reblog with your additions!

[peaterookie]

Shin Lupin III Japanese Scans in High Quality

I hope someone's had this on their Christmas wishlist! 🎁

It's long overdue... This is all* of Shin Lupin III scanned in high quality. I hope you guys will enjoy this holiday gift from me to you❤️

*Welcome to Adultland! has not been scanned yet. This will be done in the future.

This has been a 4 month long endeavor that me and my friend, @cometecti, put our whole effort on. For the longest time, the Lupin manga community's only source of Shin Lupin scans was a poorly done ai-upscaled version of the book, causing the artwork to become a blurry mess.

This is frankly unacceptable, thus I've dedicated all of fall to scan my own bought copy of Shin Lupin, cleaning every single page and re-stitching and repairing double scans. For a while it was all I could think about... if there was any free time I could spare I would always dedicate it to cleaning the pages.

So, I hope that everyone is happy with my hard work these past few months. It is not only a dedication to Monkey Punch's work, but a love letter to the series and community that I love very much. I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy Shin Year !!! (heh)

When you open the drive, please make sure to read the CREDITS.txt file. It will answer a couple of question and clear up some of our methods to cleaning this book.

Here's also the mega folder for this:

I also want to add that these scans are a biiit better than the one's found on Mangadex in English...

anyways uh yeah im gonna maybe post about my experience going through this absolute nightmare of a project, that would probably be cool. this is so worth it though. i love seeing lupin in high quality. ive been genuinely using these scans from time to time.

when will adultland be scanned? i am not sure, because that would require me to spend more money to buy a copy of a volume that contains that chapter. maybe if you guys can support me financially, the scan will come faster! i might open comms soon teheheheheeee

[maleyanderecafe]

The Yandere Angel is Obsessed with a Good-Natured Succubus 2 (Manga)

Created by: aironiro

Genre: Smut

This one is a sequel to The Yandere Angel is obsessed with a good-natured succubus, and because my brain has been very scattered lately, this recommendation will be a bit "late" since usually I do posts on Tuesdays. Anyways, this was translated by our translation group, Lovesick Translations, so if you want to read some more yandere content, please give us a look at. But anyways, this one goes a bit more into the relationship of LIlith and Cyril.

The story starts out with Lilith talking to her mother figure at a party. Her mother talks about her latest prey and takes her fortune, seeing that she has a red thread of destiny on her. It seems that LIlith came to this party to look for her friends in the previous story. Upon leaving, she ends up meeting her childhood friend, Zafen, who starts to flirt with her, though she doesn't reciprocate. He ends up kissing her right before she leaves, much to her disgust. When going back home, Cyril ends up pinning her down and recognizes another guys scent on her. As a punishment, Cyril ends up using the power of an angel to make her more sensitive, and to mark her. The two of them have sex, with Cyril overstimulating Lilith. He talks about how he gets jealous as succubus are known to cheat, and that he will make it so that Lilith won't ever have to. Lilith ends up communicating to Cyril about her feelings, how she only had Cyril in her heart, which makes him really happy. After sex, Cyril wishes that he will become demon soon.

Thank god that I didn't have to translate that entire thing, but I did have to do all the sfx for it, which was a nightmare. Hopefully this one is a bit less confusing than the first one, but I think in general, this series tends to be a bit confusing. It might be because I haven't actually read a lot of the other works that the author have made regarding the other characters, but the world itself is still a mystery to me. The smut is probably nice though there was so much sfx I had to go through I thought I was gonna die at certain parts. I think it's pretty sweet that Lilith ended up staying loyal to Cyril in the end though, even with the amount of foreplay that Cyril tortures with.

Anyways, there's not too much to say about it because it's a smut. There is an extra part to this one that has Lilith top for a bit which is always nice and talks about Yvette who is the sweetest boy. If you liked the previous yandere angel, this one will be a good read.

[cosmicjoke]

It kills me when people say Levi is heartless or lacks any sense of kindness or empathy. I’m pretty sure that in one of the short stories, we are told that Levi barely sleeps at night because he has nightmares about his comrades dying. This just goes to show how much he cares about others. If he didn’t care, I don’t think he would be losing sleep over that.

People that say Levi is without compassion or empathy, or say he's ruthless, don't know or understand the first thing about his character. You have to assume, whoever makes these claims, either didn't actually read the manga or watch the anime, or they're completely lacking in media literacy. His defining trait as a character is his compassion. It's literally what drives his every action and choice. I've written countless posts analyzing this specific topic, and I even wrote a couple of analyses of the very short story you're talking about. If you want to read it, you can do so here:

Anyway, I'm right there with you in being annoyed as hell by people claiming Levi is some unfeeling psycho. I seriously don't know how people can be that blind. I was browsing reddit the other day and came across a thread asking who would win in a fight between a child Levi and a teenaged Mikasa, and for real, there were people commenting on the post saying Levi would be too ruthless for Mikasa and he would, and I quote "use her compassion against her". My eyes rolled so hard at that, they almost popped out of my skull. I was like, what is Levi, Zeke? Since when has Levi ever used anyone's compassion against them? That's the very tactic Zeke used against Levi, knowing Levi would be too soft-hearted to deny his men their request to bring the whine spiked with his spinal fluid to the forest, and counting on Levi's compassion to allow him to escape, thinking Levi would rather let himself die than cut down his own men, even after they'd been turned into Titans. And Mikasa, as much as I love her, has never been as compassionate as Levi. She learned to become compassionate by the end of the series, but again, Levi's defining characteristic is his compassion. Dimo Reeves literally says it, literally spells it out for the audience in the most explicit terms, when he calls Levi "Awkward but kind", and people, somehow, still don't get it.

There's just too many morons in this fandom. A story like "Attack on Titan" is just too sophisticated for them to understand. If things aren't explained to them like an adult would explain something to a toddler, they get confused.

[thorchickmotorchick]

This is my first time writing a post or something online.. (Not counting the failed attempt 10 minutes ago.) I'll just be posting my THOUGHTS AND CANON THINGS about Thor/Loki. Some people will be interested, some will not...

Anyway.. The current topic is about the Dark World. You know, it seemed like Thor's attitude towards Loki was a little harsh, but justified by Loki's actions and Thor's character. But I still had the feeling that we had missed something.

And yes, maybe I was right.. Quite a long time ago I found an official manga about the events after the first Avengers film. The plot itself is about infection with the Chitauri virus, but that’s not what we’re talking about now. Thor became infected. And he had a nightmare.

Guess who was in this nightmare?

Certainly. Loki. (Zombie Assemble. 2017, manga)

The point is that Thor CONSTANTLY has dreams where he tries to save Loki, but gets a knife in.. Oh, sorry, nope, he got the scepter right through😮.. (Joke, joke, heh..)

Why did I say constantly?

"Avengers Assemble" season 2 episode 21. (Let's ignore the fact that the animated series is a different universe..😊)

Context: Thor is hit by a villain's beam and his guilt is released from his mind.

It hurts me to look at Thor.. He really suffered because of this..

My conclusion: Thor literally blamed himself for Loki becoming a villain. He believed that he was responsible for this, he had to be stern, hiding the wounds from the inside. The movies... They didn't show us what was going on in Thor's head. Imagine how desperate Thor was seeing these dreams over and over again? He stored up anger inside himself. I dread to imagine what he dreamed about the day Loki first “died.” I dream that Thor will have his own series or animated series.

Next topic: Also about the Dark Wold, about the Desire of the heart. (Haha, yes, intrigue. I forgot to say, sorry about English. I use a translator.)

I don't care how you take it, romantically or brotherly. It doesn't matter to me. Maybe I should have said it more gently... But anyway, I'm wondering if anyone is interested.

[bcbdrums]

Soul Eater NOT - part 1

I was going to make a single post, but it got insanely long, so I'm breaking it up into many. Some of them will still be long.

Once again, I've recently finished reading the manga (official translation in hard copy - THANK YOU @cannibal-nightmares 😁) and I have comments. Anime watch is in progress, but, I wanna get these manga thoughts down before I forget.

I truly love all of the minor world-building things that NOT details, especially about academy living for the students and a bit of universe mechanics. I made a couple of posts about this already so I won't go into those things again. But NOT clarifies some more major story details as well, and also brings up further questions, and of course the wonderful spinning of headcanons and theories that we all love to do in fandom.

A non-spoiler that needs establishing: the academy has two classifications of students. EAT - Especially Advanced Talent - the fighters. This is Maka, Soul, Tsubaki, Black Star, etc. Then there is the NOT class - Normally Overcome Target. I find both these acronyms.... Well. Let's remember that the author's first language is not English and he was probably trying to be clever. Anyway, the NOT class makes up the overwhelming majority of academy students! It trains weapons how to use their weapon form without hurting themselves and others, so they can live a normal life. I'm not sure why meisters are in the NOT class at all.... But if along the way these students change their minds, they can work in attempt to advance to the EAT class and become fighters.

This, along with my previous two posts about NOT, can be considered the overview... Now follows a long series of posts that detail certain aspects of the manga, characters, plot, with a few questions and much commentary.

Come along on a journey with me....

[groofz]

PART I: "Midlife Crisis for Dummies"

How would I describe a midlife crisis, in a nutshell? Complacency seeps in, slow and silent. Before you know it, you hate your job, your wife, yourself, and your life. The everyday routine that once brought you peace has turned on you. It sneaks into your home, screws your wife, and burns down the house with the kids inside—all in slow motion, right in front of you. And somehow, you've forgotten how to even find words for the feeling—not even to yourself. It's not like anyone would listen, anyway; you don't speak their language anymore, and they can't see you at all.

Halloween just passed, but that's not why I sketched the Invisible Man. I sketched him because I'm living through a three-year midlife crisis that started back in 2021 and hasn't let up. I used to think the "midlife crisis" was a myth. I mean, what could possibly top puberty? Many of us barely survived that as it is! But this feels a lot like puberty, minus the zits and hormone spikes (though there's still confusion, the feeling of being an outsider, and plenty of horniness and depression). After one of the most productive phases of my life, I lost touch with everything | ever believed in.

I drifted away, forgot how to connect with other people, lost my sense of self, my identity, my sense of belonging. Just like that, I was gone.

The first sign? An onslaught of angst and the overpowering urge to reread The Catcher in the Rye for what must have been the 25th time. At first, I wondered if this was puberty all over again-maybe thanks to the COVID vaccine. Once I started becoming aware of it, though, there was still nothing I could do. I got more depressed and suicidal than l'd ever been. Like so many creatives, I left art and comics behind years ago, focusing on a responsible, modest lifestyle, building a career and a family. By 29, I was an ordinary guy-content, or at least settling. Then life came along and sucker-punched me in the balls, stole my powers, and burned it all down. Out of nowhere, though, I felt the spark of something new. It was time to go on a quest.

PART II: "There and Back Again"

I wanted to draw the Invisible Man because that's exactly how I feel. I feel like Gregor Samsa, trying to murmur an "I love you" through my own twisted exoskeleton, only to terrify anyone who matters. I feel like Frankenstein, Godzilla, or Toru Okada in a surreal, postmodern search for meaning, lost in a dark hole. I am body horror-aging itself is body horror. It reminds me of that Cronenberg film Shivers, where an old man opens his trench coat to expose his shriveled body, croaking, "Even old flesh... is erotic flesh." It's grotesque, yet somehow, it's all part of this journey.

PART III: "How to Survive a Midlife Crisis (Or Any Crisis) "

How do you survive a midlife crisis—or any crisis? By diving into the toxic wreckage of this post-apocalyptic, dystopian nightmare we call life and finding the art buried inside. Let it in; let it take over like radiation or cancer. Become someone new-reborn, inspired, creating art and comics, and vomiting pop culture.

During the worst of it, I went back to my old survival strategy. I gorged on every piece of media I could get my hands on-comics, manga, art books, classics, film noir, vintage BDSM movies and magazines. I started drawing again, and fast. Now it's all coming together, fusing into something new. This is what I wanted. More to come?

P.S. Did I mention I might've jerked off 40 times a day and visited a few escorts in all this? Guess that should've been in here too, since I'm drawing hentai late at night.

Feels like this is going somewhere. I'll just have to follow my heart and see where it

[vocalintel]

Top Ten Gougars of All Time

I don't know how to explain the complicated linguistic evolution of slang in a Discord server but I know that it is very much akin to how salamanders in underground cave systems turn white and lose their eyes, hyperspecializing to an ecological niche to the point that they are destroyed when agricultural runoff pollutes their primordial cave water. Anyway basically we have ended up referring to a specific class of horror movie guy as a gougar, and in the interest of using this term in further posts I will give examples of some of our favorites.

10. That weird little baby from Phenomena

Argento apparently thinks of Phenomena as one of his best films, and I kind of don't. I think it was like highkey kind of ableist as a matter of fact. But the part at the end when they're fighting on that boat and he's trying to GET Jennifer Connelly with his little knife-on-a-stick contraption is funny to me.

9. The Byebye Man

Do people still think the Byebye Man is funny? I know it was a huge meme on here when it came out. Am I old now? Anyway I'm really fascinated by how absolutely terrible this film was, down to the minutiae. If it came out today I would accuse it of having an AI generated script. I would like to give a shoutout to Mr. Byebye's pet dog that's made of hamburger for some reason.

8. Snake Woman

I know she's from a manga but bear with me. This bitch is fucking fiendish. She's actually scary. I think if I was like a little 6-7 year old girl and this thing showed up pretending to be my mom I would have nightmares about it for the rest of my life. Therapy could NOT fix that.

7. This Specific Halloween Prop

Yes I know it's the image from The Russian Sleep Experiment. Yes I know The Russian Sleep Experiment sucks and isn't even scary. That does not change the fact that this thing is freaky as hell. It does all the heavy lifting for that shit ass story. There are very few creepypasta jpegs that are still unsettling outside of their original 2000s imageboard context and this is one of them.

6. Mr. Boogie

I like the first Sinister movie, my friends seem to hate it, life goes on. However, we can all agree that Mr. Boogie (née Baguul) is an iconic gougar. The only reason he's not higher on this list is that his competition is so stacked against him. We're getting into the real heavy hitters.

5. Newt Gingrich's wife

:(

4. Mesmer

Cure is one of the best films of all time and if you haven't seen it you need to go watch it right now. This guy doesn't show up in person once in the whole fucking movie and he's still like one of the most earth-shatteringly creepy gougars ever written. It's like a yuri of absence thing. Horror vacui.

3. The Fucked up Guy From Possession

This thing turns into a real(ish) guy later but holy fuck, when it first shows up. It's like a cross between a dick and a hammerhead shark with John Carpenter Silent Hill textures. It's so, so viscerally unpleasant. We weren't expecting it either, because the film hadn't had any shit like this right up until you get full frontal with it. Isabelle Adjani has sex with it. To each their own.

2. Pazuzu

So the demonic entity in The Exorcist wasn't like actually onscreen or named until the disastrously terrible second film, but then in the 'Director's Cut' edition of the original, they added in these blink-and-you'll-miss-it cutaways to this dude in vaguely expressionist white face paint. Due to RedLetterMedia's lambasting of the "I am... Pazuzu!" scene from Exorcist II, he has become a permanent fixture in our collective horror schema. Every time anything even vaguely scary happens, whether in a game or a movie or perhaps my house, it gets blamed on Pazuzu. Often we mock terrible horror writing/jumpscares by saying it was Pazuzu. At this point he's just a guy we hang out with.

Dr. Freudstein

I don't even want to mock Dr. Freudstein because he literally is just one of the most disgusting, unsettling horror villains I have ever encountered. The only time I have ever been actually nauseous while watching a film was because of him. I cannot think of a more iconic guy. Fuck Freddy, fuck Jason, there is nothing in any of their films even half as scary as when Dr. Freudstein starts cry-mewling like a little baby. This guy was in someone's basement! He could be in your basement! Fulci is a genius for making someone (something?) so creepy.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

I’m ngl that tiktok thing sent me into an “oh shit have I ever been doxxed” paranoia spiral too LMFAOO I’m just glad I somehow thought to toggle that off because I’ve def clicked on a tiktok link that’s been j floating around (I think on Reddit too omfg imagine a Reddit dude bro catching me watching an edit or sth posted on a subreddit) so if tiktok still notified people of me despite me toggling that off id lose it

Omfg oaeu is gonna cook so hard…..when I was reading this response literally live reaction “reos a cheater???” Then “LMAOOO NAGI” anyways…it’s funny and ironic and mildly like “wtf man” that sae won the poll and he’s probably like (from our povs) the least interesting LMAOOO but the people have spoken ig lowk your sae idea still cooked though I feel like it fits him perfectly….idk like seabird the idea just works with him very well but I am SOOO hyped for the other ones too….

DAMN IM CRYING THATS KINDA SAD??? LMAO???? Reo sitting in a room by himself sth abt that specifically makes me feel bad for him

Gotta gate keep irl Mira lest your rizz leaks out onto here and attracts dudebros /j OK gonna go watch do lmk if anything funky happens or if the notification thing still happens….although with both of us with the switch off id assume not…if it does im fr questioning TikTok’s functionality

LMAO I love how the edits are numbered and also half of the shinah ones being from the same person I was lowk not expecting the audio from the first one to be used with him though LOL but SHINAH looking majestic as ever!!! Also hakyona>>> and INUMAKI I WAS ALSO NOT EXPECTING THIS AUDIO LMAOAOA lowk im actually not sure if I’ve seen this Inumaki one??? Maybe not??? But I’m crying I was fr just thinking “guys it’s the same SHINAH scene in ever edit” REBOOT WHEN need more content for him omg

That cafe would be so hilarious LMAOOO esp w Isagi and Nagi managing I’m crying Hiori behind the camera trying to motion to him like “no no you can’t say that!!” While Rin just ignores him and keeps flaming sae LMAOOO

I fr cried laughing when I read that it’s giving Thomas the train LMAOOOO like bro what kinda aura is that like yeah we’ve got the big cats death anddddddd yup you’re local bullet train

Ok but the chigiri foreshadowing in epinagi has been crazy first hiiragi now himizu?? You’re right I almost forgot that this takes place before current manga so I mean we know he’s still alive and kicking (lmao) right now but I’m fr stressing about the future!! I’m not ready for chigiri downfall omg I’ve gotta mentally prepare myself DHSHS IM NOT READY

- Karasu anon

LMAOAOAO we are in the paranoia spiral together it’s okay but i think we have successfully escaped unscathed and undoxxed 🤩 omg getting outed to a redditor is a nightmare so glad you managed to avoid that!!

TBH THAT WAS REO’S REACTION TOO like uhhh AM i a cheater?? and then aiku brings up nagi and reo’s just like 😐 JFJSJS omg no but agreed our dislike of popular characters came back to bite us in the end 😩 i def think it’ll have a seabird vibe but the opposite almost?? like reader will be a super soccer fan…ooh wait maybe sae will think she likes aiku because aiku is so popular w ladies and reader is bad at flirting but aiku’s like no she obviously likes you bro and sae’s just like no 😒 she doesn’t 😒

NO IT IS REALLY SAD AND IT’S MEANT TO BE SO like he and reader talk for a while and she’s like damn are you lonely and he’s like no i have lots of friends but then she’s like oh rlly because i don’t think a single person down there could be considered your friend 😭 then reo’s all like yeah ok you’re right i have zero friends and then reader’s like nah we’re both wrong you have one 🙂‍↕️ and that’s how they become besties for life 🥹 they’re actually very sweet together ngl peregrine reo and reader getting together would be a good fic all on its own…like a fic of a fic or smth SKFHSJSJ unfortunately her and nagi are very much my favs so reo has 0 chance but they’re honestly very kdrama coded somehow and in the hands of a more normal author they’d definitely be endgame

DBKSDJSJ can’t let my irl self infect online spaces it’ll go too crazy 😩 jkjk ofc…nothing crazy happened on my end i think we’re safe YAYYY

LMAOOO THAT ONE ACCT CARRIESSSS THE YOTD FANDOM so many majestic edits from them literally just scroll through their acct whenever you need edits of literally any of the characters you’ll find a million of them 🤩 shinah is truly the most glorious majestic beautiful man ever AHAHAHAH and omg the inumaki edit pls the audio is crazy but lowkey the beat fits kinda well idm it �� no fr shinah has zero seconds of screen time so all of the edits are the same to diff songs but we must take what we can get 😩 i will literally go to my grave praying for a yotd reboot it needs to happen!!

ZANTETSU FR IN HIS THOMAS ERA 😭 pls honestly it fits how goofy he is compared to those three…also i loved the chigiri x zantetsu crossover i rlly love how epinagi takes the time to highlight every character’s strengths instead of just the protag’s (although ofc nagi gets plenty of focus there’s also a lot abt reo chigiri barou and even tabieita + kiyora now) i wish the main story of bllk did that more too!! but then again epinagi chapters are also longer so it’s more content at once which might make it just seem more fluid than the shorter weekly bllk chapters

BRO EPINAGI HAS IT OUT FOR CHIGIRI I’M SHUDDERING and omg not hiiragi 😒 bro better get his act together or his bastard half sister will appear in bllk and bitch slap him before giving otoya a kissy kiss 😘 most female interaction otoya will have had in months bro might actually pass away and freak out more than his sengoku era counterpart will once he finally gets with the reader for good

[chromotps]

🤝🤝🤝 it really is fun to discuss and like, work through these feelings.... I ended up writing a lot about One Piece as a show and its tone, which is one of my favorite things to ramble about, so, you know! thanks for the opportunity. ahaha

omg I felt the same re: "frustrated that Ace's death wasn't really mentioned post time-skip until Dressrosa really". Like, I get that the time-skip was meant to speed up Luffy's training as well as his grieving, but I was still kind of unprepared as a viewer to enjoy things like the Sabaody reunion and Fishman Island Arc. Maybe it would've been different if I hadn't been bingeing the show and instead had been watching/reading it week-by-week? That way as a fan we'd have had time to process, like Luffy did... but...... hmmm :\\

I don't want to spoil too much (I'll try to be vague!!!), but there are a few other characters that die in later arcs, but to your point, they're mostly side characters, and especially ones that feel like part of the "older generation".

Mmmm regarding Ace's death as a "punishment" I'm still uncertain... Like, I think Oda maybe meant to frame it differently (but didn't execute it 100% perfectly, since some fans clearly walked away from Marfineford blaming Ace for what happened :[ ). Oda gives a few current-timeline characters (like Whitebeard!) deaths that focus on how they were taking a stand for honor/the ones they love/an ideal they had/etc, and those deaths seem like badges of honor in a weird way? I know that's a terrible way to word it, but I'm having trouble getting at it--but it's that thing that shounen manga does a lot, where honor is such a tangible virtue that dying with integrity (especially in some badass show of strength) is framed as more valuable than living with ''''cowardice''''.

(Which makes me think about the toxic masculinity in a lot of shounen stories, when they frame being "tough" as better than being "weak"/vulnerable/asking for help. Though I'm generalizing like, a tonnnnn here 😅. But still, in a One Piece world where there wasn't so much emphasis on characters shouldering suffering alone to be manly (thinking of like, Zoro insisting on taking Kuma's pain thing instead of Sanji, or... some more stuff in Wano I don't want to spoil 😂)—in a One Piece world like that, Ace wouldn't have ended up in that final predicament anyway!!)

I very much agree with everything you said about Luffy's Journey... especially "we're told that it adds weight more than we're shown that it does". Like, Sabo's post-timeskip actions fit with that too—we get one quick, and admittedly very heartbreaking scene of him becoming aware of Ace's death......... and then he's fine! Ready to go kick some ass and protect Luffy and do what needs to be done. Though, again, this kind of feels like a One Piece... trait? I don't want to say flaw, bc tbh I like the overall tone of One Piece, but a lot of characters (Nami, Sanji, Robin, most SHs 😂) go through deeply traumatic things and then act just kind of... "normal" within a couple episodes? I guess? Anyway, it would have hit a lot harder/more effectively if we did get just a little more direct evidence of Luffy being changed.

But thennnn like........ I don't know if it would still feel like One Piece at that point! Like, I saw some bit of trivia that I'm 65% sure is true, that Oda confirmed in one of those Q&A things, that Luffy has nightmares about Marineford. (actually, there's a one-off line about Sabo having nightmares, too!) That detail's incredibly touching and adds so much depth, but I also do think I'd be kind of put off if I actually saw something like that in an episode of the anime. Like, OP walks this weird line by having some intensely dark moments, but never giving them too much weight/attention so that the optimistic tone is carefully preserved. Comparing it to a show like Attack on Titan (which I stopped watching bc I honestly got sick of characters being killed off for shock value and people thinking that was good writing), I'd much rather have One Piece's manner of showing death and grief...

ajksgldfh I keep saying this and then waffling, but ok yes. 100% agree about Ace and Worth. Like, through a shounen manga lens, I can see Oda really thinking Ace had a full satisfying emotional arc. But when you start applying anything even slightly more nuanced to it/more modern thinking, he clearly had so much hurt left to resolve. Totally heartbreaking, totally agree, ugh.

Hm!!!!! What you said about the live action!!!!! god part of me is terrified for my heart if they do make it to the Marineford Arc, and the other part of me is terrified they won't. 😂 But dang it'd be cool to see an Oda-approved........ alternative? Or just, yeah, what changes would they make, considering they've already tweaked a few other plot points to make them stronger or more appealing to a more modern audience!!

I just watched MelonTeee's video on Ace and Worth and man the internal debate I have with myself on whether I agree with the choice or not...

Her video explains the fandom's love for the character so well, as well as why the tragedy hit so hard. For me personally I have not been that affected by a character death in a LONG time.

And I understand it from a certain narrative perspective – mainly how Ace's past continues to feature in the story a decade later, and Whitebeard's line that someone would carry Ace's flame, because that clearly describing Luffy. He goes after the mera mera no mi and finishes what Ace started in Wano.

But there are two major narrative reasons given for Ace's death that I disagree with. And are largely why I think it shouldn't have happened, and also why the death has hit me so hard.

This is going to get long, but I would really love to hear everyone's thoughts on it if you choose to read!

To give Luffy the push he needed to be stronger: I am pretty confident this is Oda's stated reason (in addition to Oda wanting to prove he could kill characters which I guess he said at one point and which is bleh). Anyway. That push already happened on Sabaody when Luffy lost everyone to Duma. He was HELPLESS. More helpless than he was through most of marineford. And when Rayleigh convinces Luffy to do the 2 years training, Rayleigh only brings up their epic defeat on Sabaody. He does not bring up marineford or Ace's death as a reason Luffy needs to get stronger. Because Luffy did not need that reason. The only argument I can think of is that maybe once he landed on Amazon Lily, and he realized the strawhats were likely alive, the terror he felt on Sabaody abated slightly. And therefore maybe he needed a reminder of what "loss" truly is to re-motivate him. However, I don't think that is really fitting with his character or the story.

Ace's dream was fulfilled: Oda has talked about the reason he doesn't kill villains is because not having your dream fulfilled is a worse fate than death. I think part of the tragedy of Ace's death was that his dream wasn't fulfilled. Even for those who accept his last words - that he had only one regret which was not seeing Luffy accomplish his dream - the amount of time he got to live with that dream was literally the last moments of his life. But I don't think just because you die with no regrets, does not mean your dream is fulfilled. Especially when Ace never truly internalized what his dream was. His final choice to turn around showed HOW MUCH he still was that lonely, scared little kid he was at 10 despite his warm smile and his growing family. The most heartbreaking part of the flashback was not Sabo's death. It was watching Ace asking the question "do I deserve to exist?" and giving all his devotion to those who said yes. It was him making the exact same decision he would make 10 years later, to refuse to run, because he felt like if he ran he would lose everything and Luffy was standing behind him. Ace's final words do more than state he has no regrets. He also gives the answer to the question he'd asked Garp, and that Garp had said only his actions could decide. Ace died thanking Luffy and his family for loving him despite the "worthless" or "good for nothing" person he was. Ace was moved to tears to hear his family emphatically saying "YES. You do deserve to live! We want you to live!" But Ace never actually believed it. His last words were a reflection of gratitude for the love he was given that he didn't feel he deserved. And thus his final answer to the question "Do I deserve to exist?" was no.

That he was too "good" This is kind of the most upsetting one I've heard (thankfully not a lot) and also the one easiest to dismiss. Ace, being the actual son of the pirate king, being super powerful, growing in strength and reputation faster than Luffy (debatable), put him narratively in competition with Luffy. What I mean by that is it positions him as too much the golden character, the mary sue, the typical protagonist, when One Piece is about Luffy's story, not Ace's. I disagree with the premise of seeing Ace's character that way. But also even he was "that" character, it's pretty clear Ace's dream would have taken him to becoming Whitebeard's heir - whose dream it was to build a family - while Luffy is Gol D Roger's heir. So Ace's journey would have supported the main story of One Piece and also be narratively satisfying.

---

What Was Ace's Dream?

The dreams Ace stated out loud were more reflections of his actual, deeper dream. "I want to be the king of the pirates" - because he wanted to prove his existence and his worth to the world. Which switched to "I want to make whitebeard the king of the pirates" - because Whitebeard loved him despite his blood, and so even if that wasn't what Whitebeard wanted, it was how Ace understood he could repay Whitebeard.

Both of those stated dreams get back to this question he'd been asking his whole life - that of worth. Worth and Love, which, for Ace's character, are inseparable.

For Ace's dream to truly be fulfilled, it's not enough for him to accept he was loved – which he did on the scaffolds, crying from happiness – he had to believe he was worth that love. He had to love himself.

Ace died with that dream tragically unfulfilled.

---

The Purpose of One Piece

Of course the decision to kill Ace makes the story more realistic and of course it is heartbreaking, tragic, moving, and obviously inspires deeper discussion.

However, what rankled me from when I first learned about his death, which was way before I was even introduced to the character in Alabasta, was that he is the only character of the younger generation (outside of flashbacks) to die.

Honestly when I first heard Ace was one of the only characters to die, I was just worried it would make him seem weaker or stupider than every other character, which is a personal pet peeve of mine. Luckily for most fans, it didn't do that.

Instead, what wound up upsetting me was how it seemed to contradict the purpose of the story that is One Piece (at least what I think the purpose is). In doing so, it opposes the meaning that many fans find in this absurd, ridiculous, inspiring, heartfelt, heroic tale about a boy made of rubber.

One Piece is an escapist story about a boy named Luffy who inspires every good guy he meets to pursue and achieve their dream. It's also about Luffy beating up every bad guy who punishments are that they cannot fulfill their morally reprehensible dreams.

Because of Ace's premature death, he is the only good guy character in the main timeline who does not get to pursue his dream. And what's extra tragic is that he is also one of the most deserving of seeing his dream fulfilled.

[bluevelvet-room]

please talk to me about naokei :3 dont mess with the naokei fandom theres like 5 of us

ohoho anon. i promise you with my entire heart that i am one of those 5. not a day goes by that i'm not thinking about those boys. now, to preface any ramblings that may happen after this, i will say: a lot of how i view naoya's character has to do with the manga, but not All of it. i've never actually read the manga, just played the game (smt persona, not revelations). i basically treat the smt persona characters like they are my own personal blorbos in my head, and i am not responsible for anything that might not align with your own view of naokei (though all views of naokei are valid)

ANYWAYS. (under a readmore for the rambling, hope it works)

in my head, their relationship doesn't happen until post game. i mean, obviously i dont really think it should happen while they are going through the worst questionable amount of days of their life, but i also dont really want it to happen during their school years either. naoya has some healing to do and kei has some growing up to do. i do think at this point kei has a crush on naoya, but that it is not necessarily reciprocated.

BUT, being wayyyy more detailed about my own personal naokei (the naokei that lives in my brain and is therefore superior) i do have a version of this vague thought where they do like. kiss during the events of the game, similarly to naoya recieving a kiss from fake maki - kei initiates, naoya gently rejects. and then it is a game of sort of avoiding each other in a fun misunderstanding way and everyone else is like guys what tf happened??? you were fine and now we can't get you to be in the same room for longer than two seconds? annoying!!!! once they graduate, kei goes off as he canonically does to work in his own company to become Humbled, and naoya leaves for new york city with yuka and mark to study art (hehe. artist friends :3 yuka's studying for fashion design but she is also modeling. no we couldnt get thru anything related to smt persona without me bringing her up)

and then the events of persona 2 (and part 2 electric boogaloo) happen. no i havent played them we dont need to talk about it. what i DO know is that at the end of the second one the st hermelin bitches have a reunion and naoya appears there. convenient, yes? (i had to go look it up to make sure i had not made this up) naoya has had time to heal and trust close relationships, kei has matured. their friends wont shut up about the "fight" they had in high school, they wont stop insisting they never fought and they are Not avoiding each other. they are both tipsy to full on drunk. they leave the bar together. they either fuck or have a heartfelt conversation or both. either way they are dating by the next day. (and then a few years later in p1 parents au they adopt baby akira, bc this is fully canon to that au)

i really like their dynamic in the end bc it's like. you'd think theyre total opposites but they actually have a lot in common? and they love each other :3c

in conclusion.

naoya, was playing pokemon the entire time they were in a nightmare hellscape: in case you haven't noticed, i'm a gamer. i game. i don't stop gaming. and i dont want to stop gaming. you ever see me without this stupid gameboy in my hands? that's video games.

kei: what's a pokeman????????

(sorry if this is not what you wanted from me anon, and i'm sure i can pull more thoughts out of my ass if anyone ends up interested)

[sleepparalysisgeek]

They Shouldn't Have Made Melatonin Gummies

I could have fully leaned on becoming the demon you think we are, but then I realised being intimidating and feral every night as you lie there helpless is pastiche, you know?

So, hello, welcome to the site!

Obviously, I’m not the best in my line of work. I prefer you awake so I can actually have a conversation. Then again, you won’t get to see me and I can’t influence your dreams.

That’s why we’re here! People start and end their days holding their phones, and so I might as well post about my interests here like anime, books, dungeons and dragons, and other things. Then have you read it so you have context when you’re hallucinating while I’m there.

Look at me, a supernatural entity having worldly interests. If I had money, I’d have spent it all on that.

I admit, I’m most likely just bored. But hey, you’re already scared right, I might as well make it interesting for you.

Anyway—do you know what sleep paralysis is?

It’s a glitch in your brain that happens between wakefulness and deep slumber.

Once you reach REM sleep, the dreams become more vivid, intense. Then your brain does this clever thing when it turns on a switch that paralyses your body and prevents you from acting out your dream.

Useful, isn’t it?

Think about some of the more graphic dreams that you’ve had.

Go ahead and take a minute.

Was it a good dream? One of those happy memories dredged up from your years in school. When your crush walked in looking tired and haggard from climbing the stairs, and you for one reason or another felt love for the first time.

Was it a nightmare? An embarrassing moment being played in a loop. Silhouettes of people looming over you, guffawing as if they’ve seen nothing more than a big joke standing in front of them — you, helpless and alone. Their faces begin to carve wide, grinning lips, sharp teeth visible from where you stand.

Sometimes that switch fails.

If I ask you which of these you’d rather live out, I think I know the answer.

But you never get a choice, do you?

The worst thing about nightmares is insomnia.

As I’m writing this, those of us on shift are waiting patiently for you to sleep.

When your brain inadvertently wakes up and your body is still paralysed, you’re stuck in that paradoxical state between being awake and asleep. The vivid imagery of REM spilling over like a dream forcing its way into your reality — that’s our gateway. Like a vampire waiting to be invited into a space, that’s how we appear in yours.

It’s easy to assume we’re malevolent because of how we look once we’re there. The moniker ‘sleep paralysis demon’ is totally understandable. But some of us don’t mean harm, honest!

Here’s a trade secret: we don’t need you to be afraid. Not too much at least. I was told it’s the vulnerability we feed on more than the fear.

We just happen to look hunched over, red eyes glowing in the dark, fanged and ready to pounce. If it makes it any easier, just think of me as jetlagged next time you see me.

But for most, that’s traumatising.

Each night you anticipate seeing a ghostly figure in your bedroom, when really it’s just a string bean looking demon about to tell you the latest manga leaks. Scary!

So you don’t sleep! Then you develop insomnia because you don’t want to see us.

That’s why we follow schedules now and can’t visit every night. Insomnia is bad for business, but worse than that, it’s bad for me! I don’t want to hang out with these guys. 🥺

On the bright side, I have more time in between shifts to click on ‘Continue watching’ for the nth time, and add to the off-grey scuff mark on my wall from throwing books when I’m feeling overwhelmed.

And I have more time to collect the stories I want to share with you!

At night.

Through your nightmares.

While looking the way I do.

Yikes. 😬

Melatonin gummies are berry-flavoured nightmares.

I tried ZzzQuil for a while, and they taste great!

They really shouldn’t have made those into melatonin candies because I’ve downed gummies five at a time.

Of course, that means even I’m getting the side effects, which I’m told isn’t normal for us.

It’s weird to be upstaged by gummy candies.

My nightmares were horrifying. They were like a chimaera of memories chasing me in places that I think should’ve been familiar to me. I was seeing people I don’t remember call out to me for help, and I couldn’t get to them because it felt like I was running through sludge.

See? If All Might had been there he could just Carolina Smash our way out of that ordeal. If all of the night creatures had their own sleep entities who had a pinch of imagination, one of them would have added a random concert from 4Town.

Suffice it to say, I take the melatonin gummies only when I want to remember.

Anyway—this is just a long winded way of saying I hope you enjoy your stay. And may your dreams be sweet and nerdy.

[broxklynn]

The End Of My Candy Love

Warning!

Alright, so. This post will contain a lot. First of all, it's gonna be really sloppy. I'm very emotional person and I easily get attached to games, movies and stuff. I know it's a bit weird, but yeah, I'm a weird person. Anyway, that's why there's a warning: there's gonna be a lot of sloppiness, grammar mistakes (at least I think so, specially since english isn't my native languange) and it's probably going to be long. So, if you're intrested in reading my thoughts about everything - good luck.

First Adventure

I first heard about "My Candy Love" in 2015, six years ago. So, I was basically a baby (I'm pretty young). And I started playing a year after, I got totally obssesed with Lysander and I fell in love, seriously, haha. I was into writing back then, but I couldn't find any ideas on "what to write?" and MCL gave me just that - inspiration (that's most likely why I'm just a romance freak).

My Story

You know, I was a child so I couldn't really pay for AP, but I always found some kind of way to get them. But then I got my phone I just used money from that, geez, I was nuts. The old AP system was so iconic, looking for Nathaniel, finding Kiki, I'm gonna miss it.

Anyway, I got along with Castiel pretty well (which suprises me 'cause I found about walkthroughs in 2017, like year after, so maybe it was because I was a brat?), but I adored Lysander. Oh, I also loved Ken (I was so sad when he went away) and Nathaniel. After I met Armin, I liked him too.

Again, being a child and playing a game like this I came across all diffrent kinds of emotions. I was laughing, crying, dying from embaressment (this thing with Nath and locker room, aaa) and getting seriously mad (Deborah's arc, Priya, Charlotte). I remember impatiently waiting for new episode to come out or crying my eyes out during Lysander's amnesia plot. Jesus. I loved the way Castiel was teasing Candy, I loved this cute-clumsy Kentin, I loved the old Nathaniel, I loved Armin and most of all - I loved my precious Lysander. I adored the interactions between characters, how funny or cringy they were and how much fun I had. I even like this secret-dating plot even when it got on my nerves. I still remember staying up late to watch videos like "lysander illustrations" and stuff. I also really enjoyed reading MCL manga and I spent hours trying to translate it from Spanish to English or my native languange (funfact: I still haven't finished it! I don't know where to find those mangas) or trying to draw something from the game up ending up terribly failing. Anyway, I was crying during the prom thing, my Candy was so grown-up, I got emotional, haha. So, 40 episode came in. I was pretty excited 'because, me, being extremely naive (I got to say, I've never had a problem with Beemoov before, I started playing MCL in 2016 and Eldarya in 2017, so there were no major issues with them, only the price of PA, I think) thought that my Lysander is going to propose (I was a child, ok?) and maybe, there's going to be a second season with us living together. Haha, how naive I was. Whole episode 40, really got me tearing up, I was a wreck, seriously (When Kentin couldn't take Candy's bra off I lost it or this whole ananas thing in Castiel's route, omg). But I finished it feeling happy. I truly enjoyed spending my time on this game. But, then this whole university thing came out. And the fact, that Lysander, Armin and Kentin won't be with us foe the next season. I spent entire vacation crying (I was a kiddo, ok?) and being mad at everyone. I felt like I got robbed. It was horrible.

"A New Chapter"

I was one of these people who just couldn't accept the change. Not in the world. Never. They stole my Lysander, Kentin and Armin from me and changed AP system to some kind of bullshit. God, I was mad. Really mad. Seeing Castiel was quite nice, but I didn't fill the void of my baby. But, oh, my, God. When I saw Nathaniel I just couldn't believe. I said I was mad? Then I was furious. I really liked the old Nathaniel, he had his own vibe, his backstory, his character and it was just, damn, amazing. But they changed him completely, for what? They wanted the second Castiel? Yeah, they got it. Priya as a love interest was quite a good move, tho. I even though I didn't like her (in highschool or in university) I liked the idea of adding a female interest. But the thing that hurted me, was the fact that Lysander was taking care of the farm. Like, no! He didn't want that. He didn't like the countryside. He had such a potential to become a author and Beemoov didn't let him. God, that broke my heart. Anyway, I didn't spent a single penny on MCLUL, but I have to say - I kinda enjoyed it. You know, it was the guily-pleasure kind of thing. I didn't like it as much as I liked highschool, but there were some good or funny moments. I loved Rayan's kiss scene. I adored Chani. Or Hyun making us watch "Toy Story". Nathaniel's ulgy green hair or all these crazy threesomes. I liked it. Kinda. I hated Nath tho. The ending, hm, it was okay, I guess? I do feel sort of nostalgic thinking about it 'cause I got some nice memories from it, in the end. But yeah, going on.

Love Life

Oh. My. Lord. I was so sceptical about it. Like, I was sure that, at this point they're going to do "My Candy Love Mid-Life Crises" next or some other shit. But in the end, I "kinda" like it. It wasn't good like highschool or fresh like university, but I was nice to see new chapters with our annoying-cringy Candy, that I love (btw, I started playing other otome games and I realized that Candy wasn't that bad). Meeting Eric was nice, even tho, this whole cheating plot really got me ragging. Like, damn, Beemoov, seriously? And if you going this, why not with old LIs? Just kidding. Anyway, I truly enjoyed meeting Dan and Eric, the two of them were quite a characters. I won't forget them, hah. I was happy with single ending, 'cause I think about it as a "open ending" when my Candy can go back to my baby and everything's going to be alright.

Regrets & Complaints

Now, now. Where do I start? AP system was a freaking nightmare. Replacing old Nathaniel with some kind of weird Castiel was a nightmare. Removing Lysander, Nathaniel, Armin and Kentin was a nightmare. Not finishing plots was a nightmare. And why in the whole Love Life I haven't seen Amber once? Why Alexy never mentioned Evan like they're not brothers? Why Castiel doesn't care that I was dating his bestfriend? And why, in the world, after changing the system finding Kiki is so damn easy? Why AP is so expensive? So many questions!

All The Good Times

But, I got to say. I will never forget this bitchy Castiel, cookie-monster Ken following us around. Or cute Nathaniel. Castiel buying Candy some kind of weird McDonald's. Or Lysander's parents exposing him having crush on Candy. Or seeing Kentin kissing Amber (ew). This super akward-funny sex ed lesson. Deborah's arc and losing my shit over it. Or Thomas (this weird child) stalking my Candy and her LI in the park. And Lysander asking us how to hide a body, aaa. Or Armin telling us he loves us. Or Kentin. And Cookie ripping this huge teddybear apart. Or the water fight in Kentin’s spin off. And crushing on Alexy and later on finding out he’s gay. Or spin-the-bottle game and Lysander getting jealous. Or Dake, being a creep for entire game straight. Or guessing what was guy's surnames. And for sure, I will never forget this demonic Kiki dog.

What it worth it?

In the end, yes. Have I ever told you that I want to become a professional writer? Silly dream, I know, but writing is a huge passion of mine, and well, my first story was based off My Candy Love (it is cringy as hell, but I feel kinda nostalgic thinking about it). All these years spending on playing game that I wasn't supposed to be playing was amazing. It was one of the best experiences I had in life and I will never, ever forget that.

What now?

Well, Beemoov is working on a new game and I'm kinda optimistic. I know, it's really naive of me, but I want to believe that they won't f*ck this up, this time. And going back to Sweet Amoris, well, I truly missed this place! And the teachers... And Kiki. I wonder, when it will be released and will Beemoov finally open up about telling us surnames and ages of love interests. Anyway, I want to believe they learnt from their mistakes.

In the end. Thank you, My Candy Love, for creating so many memories. I will be forever grateful. 

(I just re-read this post and it seems like I have really love-hate relationship with this game)

[catintheruemorgue]

Why I believe Edgar Allan Poe from Bungou Stray Dogs has PTSD.

I wrote this up real quick lol 

warnings: heavy topics discussed, small mention of sexual/physical abuse (in the first line only), trauma and ptsd symptoms.   

When people hear about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder their first thoughts are combat veterans or physical / sexual abuse victims. While those are the most prominent and well known it can also be caused by any type of traumatic incident, it really all depends on the person. The main one I'm going to be focusing on is humiliation.

Humiliation is traumatizing because it can be used to assert power over someone, stripping them of their confidence and honor. When I watched Bungou Stray dogs and read the manga Poe’s character stood out to me the most, maybe it was because I could relate with a lot of the feelings he shared and his erratic mood swings. As someone who's lived with a father and mother, both diagnosed, and was diagnosed myself, all the signs popped out. I believe humiliation led to Poe having ptsd.

Poe speaks about the day Ranpo beat him in the competition six years ago and says, “the humiliation of that day has been plaguing me all this time!” This man spent six years just thinking of the pain that Ranpo caused him, so much that he was prepared to get revenge and trap him in a book forever, yet claiming to find violence boring. Poe also goes through a lot of emotional dysregulation, he's laughing maniacally, cowering, confident, and desperate. Although Ranpo and Poe become “friends” after this chapter, the writer does sometimes fall back into his old ways like in chapter 45 when he shows slight excitement at the thought of Ranpo being defeated.

I believe Poe got his closure and is moving on and getting better as he makes friends and is able to show his worth more here are the signs he's shown:

reliving the experience through flashbacks, dreams or nightmares,

emotional dysregulation, this means it is difficult to control your emotions.

not even like two seconds later

also

problems relating to others/ problems in relationships

negative self-perception such as feeling worthless or defeated,

(muttering/ talking low(in this case) can = not wanting to be / believing you should be heard)

hyperarousal such as anger, panic, irritability or sleep issues,

hypervigilance such as feeling on constant alert. Or being overly sensory to stimulus such as smell and noise, and avoidance.

look how he holds himself in public.

It’s also said that Poe dislikes the chattering of crowds (sign of hypervigilance) which could be because he lacks trust and can’t tell what everyone’s saying. Could it be about him? He doesn’t know but it would be very overwhelming.

Anyways I could say a whole lot more but I feel like i’m just repeating myself at this point. Haha I didn’t bring up him in the Angels of Decay arc because I believe he’s really starting to come out of his shell and we are seeing a lot more of him as a character rather than just Ranpo’s rival. :)

This article is very interesting and informing!!!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4560131

Do not use this analysis when talking about a romantic relationship with Ranpo, unless it’s exploring why it wouldn’t be healthy. I don’t mind the ship in general but not if you’re going to be using my analyzations. I’m not mean!! If you’d like to know why I dislike the ship feel free to ask me @poeshoe !

[onesunofagun]

Undeath in the Era of the Hero of Time : 1

aka Seeing the Hero’s Shade in this TP replay shook up all my feelings of agony again and now I’m working backwards from there because I like to hurt myself.

Part One: An Overview of How Fucked Things Are ™

aka The Blood Soaked Hyrule of OoT’s time 

Take it as you will, in the Zeldaverse, the colour green has an overwhelming association with undeath. 

Sure, sure, life too, I hear you. Farore came down and produced all the living beings that would uphold the law, apparently (specifically not claiming monsters and demons, but that’s another thing). On the surface, that make sense. Forests, lush green fields, prosperity, all of those good things. Green the colour of the most common rupee, green the colour of the Hero’s tunic. Green the colour of magic, and potions that revitalise the body and spirit.

The thing is, revitalising the body and spirit is a flexible idea. To imbue something with new life and vitality can have a lot of implications, especially when you stop talking about the strictly living. 

I feel vitality is certainly the best word, not only because of it’s association with life and potency ala the Goddess origin stories, but in the ways that the game uses green itself, such as a measure of both magic and stamina. Green is the colour chosen to represent the unlocked potential within young Heroes. 

Vitality specifically refers to a state of being strong and active, and it also refers to the continuance of something to exist. That’s a great thing for plants, or economies, or a potion taken by a young Link who’s swung their sword around or fired off a spell one too many times and feels a little low.

But the dead, though?

As it happens, Hyrule is absolutely littered with human remains, in no small part due to the very recently ended civil wars. 

The Civil War, if you need the reminder, is described as a time when the many races of Hyrule were divided and each focused on establishing dominion over the Sacred Realm (because Triforce). I touched on this in my last meta post, but basically, its no holds barred to stop that from happening because if the wrong person gets into the Sacred Realm and makes a wish, it immediately malfunctions. 

The criteria for getting into the Sacred Realm and touching the Triforce without royally fucking everything, is basically impossible for anybody not chosen by Hylia. 

If you are neither of Hylia’s Bloodline (The Hyrulean Royal Family) or one of her Chosen Avatars (The current incarnation of the Hero), you are not supposed to touch the Triforce. Ever. You WILL be found wanting, it WILL shatter, the Sacred Realm WILL be corrupted by your selfish desires, it WILL unleash and onslaught of mystical influence (reflecting your heart) onto the country.

Now, if it’s Zelda or Link who touches it, that’s fine. Good vibes will pour out. An age of prosperity will ensue. The Sacred Realm is in its default state, a blank and neutral wellspring of magical force.

The game has been rigged from the get go because Hylia still had a job to do. She had to get creative because Demise almost captured the flag, so to speak, leading to the snafu of the Cycle and all that because she cheated at the game, but ultimately Hylia’s task was to guard the Triforce. And that still remains true, for the most part. The Hyrulian Royal Family (and the Shiekah by extension) had to stop at absolutely nothing to win the wars and unify the country, and retain the stasis of the Realm and Triforce, because that’s what their divine orders are.

That’s what they’re supposed to do, ‘the very reason that they’re born’, to lend a quote from King Daphnes. With Hylia on their side by default, they’re willing to do a lot of fucked up things to make sure that happens, ‘for the greater good’.

These dark times are a result of our deeds... -- TP Zelda

In OoT The Sheikah are known as the Shadow Folk. They are heavily associated with death, whether that is caring for the dead’s rest in the graveyard, or working as spies and assassins on behalf of the Royals, or dabbling in various forms of necromancy. Red eyes are an established trait of their people. I will note that, at least from a Japanese point of view, red is often used with the intention of intimidating evil spirits. But it is also a color identified with power and vitality.

So, one could suppose, the Sheikah red eye also symbolises power/control over evil and darkness (spiritually).

That’s a little something that plays nicely with things like the OoT Manga’s explanation of the tear on the eye (and the previous betrayal of the Royal family) and the high probability of a Shiekah faction defaulting during the wars and being banished with other traitors to become the Twili. I know the manga isn’t canon and also SS Impa has a tear, but if you squint, that might be because of her own feelings of personal failure to the Goddess after Hylia’s shedding of her Divinity. You could headcanon that. The existence of the Yiga later in BoTW as a similar happening of division and betrayal lend some more weight to things.

Also, Sheikah who defaulted during the civil war might have even been the ones who actually utilised the Shadow Temple. 

Headline: Necromancer ninjas in the process of torturing enough info out of the enemies of the Royal family, who were reportedly seeking the Sacred Realm, decide ‘hey fuck it, let’s take it ourselves’. 

That certainly fits into the description of, ‘interloper skilled with dark magic started to appear, seeking dominion of the Sacred Realm’, for me.

Anyway, to the point.

In ostensibly one of the most haunted areas of the game, Kakariko village, we’re treated to the Graveyard and the Royal Family’s Tomb, the Shadow Temple, and the Bottom of the Well. All of these showcase the obvious death and torture that went on, as well as the creepy byproducts of places so saturated with blood, pain, regret, and hatred.

There are skulls in little alcoves on the walls of the catacombs, literally built of bones, who deliver messages to Link. The ones that whisper these messages are all marked by the glowing green eye sockets. Here, the green is used to make the presence of a ghostly sentience inhabiting the skull. 

Unsettling. Musty. 4/10 heebie-jeebies.

The Deadhand, giver of childhood trauma that it is, really does its job to hammer home the fact that there has been so many deaths, so much anguish and horror, that those remains can seemingly form into entirely new monstrosities. An amalgamate of undead flesh and nightmare fuel, made up of the body parts of torture victims and the grudges of lingering spirits, seeking to consume the living vitality of whatever comes near-- Link wearing green around the thing might as well be red to a bull.

When defeated in game, it typically drops a small green pot that refuels Link’s magic.

This is a common theme with undead enemies, specifically the ones that are of the zombie flavour. Redeads, Gibdos, Deadhands. All of them generally give up, effectively, distilled magic as a drop item.

Terrifying. Probably smells even worse. 11/10 heebie-jeebies.

Literal torture device. So many people died here, the room has a green tinge to it. It is soaked in the spiritual imprint of the pain and anguish that took place here. Blood sits here looking freshly spilled, despite the civil war ending many years prior and the Shiekah having ‘died out’, save Impa.

Elsewhere in the temple and under the well, blood splatters are darker red and at least have the decency to pretend to be old. This means one of two things:

Impa still has to make sacrifices to the Seal that contains Bongo Bongo, or feeds people to the undead creatures who lurk down in the dark so they don’t wander up. (Cue the gasp of ‘so that’s why she let the Hylians into Kakariko! Every so often one of them goes missing!’)

Which is a fun dark headcanon to play with, but probably not the case.

Or more likely, the residual spiritual energy that the green haze suggests manifests fresh blood in a manner typical of extreme hauntings. For the victims, their hatred and pain persists so strongly, that their blood seeps up from the cracks no matter how long it has been.

Poltergeist shit. Slip hazard. 8/10 heebie-jeebies.

Then there is this. Some people say its just another torture thing, it could have been intended to convey some sort of acid dip. If not torture, maybe bodily disposal. And sure, that’s a reasonable guess. 

But it is at the very bottom most cavern of the Well of Three Features, and if it were acid-- for how long the bodies have just been marinating in it-- you can assume nothing would be left of them to stick out. And the fact that all the bodies are neatly spaced, with the arms oddly preserved. They’re presumably like that from lowering bodies in from the wooden beams, the victims may have been tied up with their arms straight upwards. 

But, given the Redeads wandering around nearby, I’m pretty sure that’s what this thing does. Make Redeads.

The liquid itself hurts Link, but Link is also alive, and this pool seems to be lacking much of a glow. It’s green, sure, but it’s not exactly teeming with energy. And I think that might be part of its designated purpose-- extracting that green vital energy from living prisoners, draining them until they’re dead. I’m talking juicing people and scooping out the good stuff like the pulp from a really disturbing OJ. 

But still steeped in the juice as a corpse, you’re basically pickled in magic brine, so then those gross husks crawl out as Redeads. (Hey, you know what’s handy in wartime? Scaring the shit out of enemy forces by sending some zombies at them. And if they kill them, you’ve lost nothing. If the Sheikah could actually control them? Undead soldiers. Excellent stuff.)

But all the pulpy good stuff is gone, and has been for a while, so most of the bodies in there haven’t pickled in enough magic to reanimate, I suppose.

Human juicer that churns out zombies. Out of juice currently. 6/10 heebie-jeebies.

Now, THIS is active zombie juice, if I’ve ever seen it.

This is the Royal Family’s Tomb, by the way. Note the skeletons, picked clean, missing a lot of bones. And that’s a choice they made, because there are also full skeletons around to find. 

There are plenty of Redeads down there, for good measure, so I’m going to assume the skeletons are potential graverobbers who were eaten. If Sheikah can presumably command the dead, then the Redeads down there might actually be a counter measure against thieves. If a thief freaks out in the dark when he realises there’s undead down there trying to eat their face, there is also a good likelihood they’ll trip and splash into this green death. A few seconds of exposure is probably enough to kill the average person, and then if their corpse stews for a bit, you have another Redead. 

Their living energy revitalises the goop. Their body becomes bolstered security measures. It’s a self sustaining system.

Horrific but effective. 5/10 heebie-jeebies.

Also, there’s a chance that a couple of the skeletons or one or two Redeads down there are the remains of the Composer Brothers. But they will get their own special part in this series, covering Poes in particular.

But for the moment, let it be noted: their eyes are also that ghostly green.

Poes are spirits that are unable to move on and who have the unfortunate fate, if left unattended, of turning into phantom monsters who forget their human selves and prey on the living. They tend to pop up the most in two places. One, the Kakariko Graveyard, is obvious and somewhat expected. Dead people, lots of lingering spirits, most of them probably Sheikah and Knights of renown who died in the line of duty. Understandable.

So when you apply the same thought to the fact that Hyrule field is the second most common place to find them, you may as well be concluding that it’s an enormous mass grave of war casualties.

We have established that mass quantities of concentrated death, especially earth that is saturated by the spilled blood of strong soldiers and highly skilled warriors (full of life and magic, as it were), can result in creepy shit made from human remains reanimating over time. 

Poes share their haunting of the field with these bumpkins:

These hauntings are not the result of Ganondorf, or the corruption of the Sacred realm. They are not a particular curse placed by anybody.

The Poes and Stalfolk are present in the game from the very beginning, and quite normal fare for Hyrulean life. Lon Lon ranch and castle town are walled off for good reason, and the drawbridge raises at night specifically in response to the literal skeleton monsters who roam around at night. 

Stalchildren, specifically, seem akin to the Deadhand in that they are not a direct reanimation of any one particular set of remains. Rather, they seem to be mutated amalgamations of various parts. In the case of the Stalchildren, they rise up under the dark of night, a not-quite-human formation of bone and magic. They seem to possess an aimless drive to attack, perhaps possessed still by the orders of the soldiers who died there. 

Interestingly, in a somewhat similar fashion to BotW’s blood moon reanimating the fallen monsters (due to the potency of Malice in the land peaking at those times), Stalchildren only seem to be active under the moonlight. They disintegrate when the sunlight touches them, which promotes the idea that they are the bones of the fallen possessed by the ghostly memory of the war.

They also appear to wear raggy leather kilts, which is a feature they share with the related monster, the Stalfos, who are often acting out the part of a soldier as well. Even better, those bastards are actually WEARING GREEN, to boot, which given the history of Hyrulean Knights prior and their uniforms (SS and Minish cap) is pretty self evident. 

Stalfos, however, are also confirmed as humans who have died under certain unique circumstance (such as the magical influences of the Lost Woods) and reanimated as a consequence of what I assume is basically magic poisoning.

It could be a bit like an overdose, succumbing under the intense mystical forces at play within proximity to the Deku Tree (which the strong of spirit can resist). It could be a draining effect, maybe even just a gaseous version of what’s happening when people come into contact with the green goo, except extracted by the forest spirits and plants (also possible that the strong of spirit might resist). That could go either way.

The forest absolutely does eat people’s spiritual energy, though. RIP to Grog and Link’s mother. They’re Stalfos now.

"Anybody who comes into the forest will be lost. Everybody will become a Stalfos. Everybody, Stalfos."

Upon killing both kind of Stal, however, the bones rapidly deteriorate into flames.

You guessed it: green.

I’ve already pointed out a BoTW reference already, but to add more context back into this thing about the tie between green and things in Hyrule that refuse to die properly:

That last one is cheap of me I’m sorry but we’ll get to him too

So we have established that green has an overwhelming association with not only life, but states of undeath.

The overview is, things were already pretty fucked in OoT Era before Ganondorf got the Triforce.

On to part 2!