#but it WAS real actually Lavi the Lavi we know

[allenwalkerbitch]

HEY WAIT, that was technically a Lavi appearance!!

[sweeterlovers]

HIS LOSS / LANDO NORRIS + JACOB ELORDI

lando norris x piastri reader + reader x jacob elordi / SMAU

FACE CLAIM / hadar lavy

WARNINGS / cheating!

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f1gossip F1 GOSSIP: Lando Norris caught cheating on Y/N Piastri??? Lando Norris has been spotted with a mysterious blonde woman!

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user6 WHAT WHAT

user78 holy shit bro

user0 no more papaya rules….

user2 LMFAOOOO

user613 mclaren garage bout to be real awkward

user8 the DRAMAAA

user03 SINCE WHEN WAS LANDO DATING SOMEONE???

user836 where have u been????????

user5 bro i don’t know.. i didn’t even know oscar had a sister 😭😭

user6782 you’ve been living under a rock

user111 what the actual hell

user3 his loss i guess

user521 i don’t even know anymore

user778 landoscar 😭💔

user89 well that’s over with

user2000 anyways Y/N deserves better

user58 welp!

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y/n.piastri well it’s just me and my stuffed animals against the world 🙂

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user2 girl you deserve better

user57 wait the stuffed animals are so cute

user05 i know 🥹 what are their names???

y/n.piastri well the octopus is named mimi and the kitty is named princess mellow!

user267 awww

yourbsf anyways your so hot wtf

y/n.piastri 😘😘😘😘 ilyyyyyyyyy

user9 stop she looks so sad :(((

user2 i wonder why….

user88 i wish i looked that good after getting cheated on

user892 the fact that he’s still liking her posts….

user0 ugh he’s so icky

user83 i hope she can still come to the paddock and support oscar!!!

user543 me too!!! we may have to wait a bit for that tho

user452 🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁

user362 your so pretty!!!

oscarpiastri why are mimi and princess mellow so far apart?

y/n.piastri idk they need space

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MESSAGES

yourbsf

ok y/n you’ve been sitting in your room for the past week, you need to get out and go party!!!

y/n

i’m not in the mood

yourbsf

ok well i don’t really care!

y/n

?????

yourbsf

go get ready! i’m picking you up and we are going to the club!!!!!!!

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y/n.piastri 🍾🪩⚡️

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yourbsf HOTTIE

y/n.piastri LOVE U CUTIE

user3 okkkk i see youu

user0 you look soooo good

user67 revenge outfit 🔥🔥🔥

user1 party girl era?????

user56 imagine she goes to a party and sees lando as the dj

user9 i would die

user267 this post is chaotic and put together at the same time

user78 you look amazing!!!!!!

user566 😻😻😻😻😻😻😻

user6 i want to party with y/n piastri

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MESSAGES

my dear brother 🤧🤧

how was the club?

y/n

it was alright

my dear brother 🤧🤧

did you meet anyone?

y/n

nope!

my dear brother 🤧🤧

i’m sorry, if it makes you feel better i can run him over!

y/n

it’s whatever, but i wouldn’t be made if you “accidentally” crashed into him

my dear brother 🤧🤧

noted

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y/n.piastri i was going to wear this to the club but i changed 👍

comments on this post have been limited!

user9 jacob elordi in the likes????

user0 oooooo!!!!

oscarpiastri 👌👌👌

yourbsf you look good either way!!!!!

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INSTAGRAM

jacobelordi

hey! i know this might seem weird but i’m in australia visiting my family and i’m free and i was wondering if i could take you out on a date?

y/n.piastri

are you being for real?

jacobelordi

yes?

y/n.piastri

sorry this was just unexpected! but i would love to go out with you!

jacobelordi

great! i’ll dm you the details

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y/n.piastri date night 🤍

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user6 WHAT

user78 ok girl!!!!

user10 looking gorgeous!

user2 i’m glad your moving on from lando <33

user9 yeah he’s a 🚩🚩🚩

user34 most of the drivers are 😭

user16 true

user57 gorg!!!

yourbsf i see you!!!!! 👀

y/n.piastri LMFAO

yourbsf well text me the details…

y/n.piastri yes ma’am 🫡

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y/n.private lately with me 😘😘

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yourbsf cuties!!!!

jacobelordi what is that second picture?

y/n.private it’s a picture of you with a bow edited on you! 🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀

jacobelordi did you do that?

y/n.private yes!!!!

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y/n.piastri 🤍🤍

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user3 SOFT LAUNCH??

user88 i know!!!

user00 anyone know who the guy is?

user2 i think it’s jacob elordi cause he’s been liking her posts

user7 idk but @oscarpiastri & @yourbsf may!

oscarpiastri maybe 🤷

yourbsf i can’t disclose such information

user675 😻😻😻😻

user013 the last photo 👀👀👀

user4 and the first one! they seem so cute together 😊

user37 ok but she looks sooo pretty in the second pic

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jacobelordi me and my girl @y/n.piastri

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user56 my husband 😖😖😖😖

user78 i can’t have anything 🪦

user0034 😍😍😍😍😍

user4 she kinda reminds me of rapunzel in the second photo!

user00 ok but they’re kinda cute together

user3 i guess…. i’m kinda salty about it

user6 like you had a chance??? side eye 😒

user002 who even is she?

user23 she’s the sister of a Australian f1 driver (oscar piastr)

user22 ok i see him!

user46 love to see a fellow aussie

user378 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

user402 and the kangaroos 🦘 🦘

y/n.piastri you beat me to the hard launch ☹️☹️

jacobelordi i’ll make it up to you :)

user4002 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

oscarpiastri i swear if you hurt her…

jacobelordi you’ll run me over with your race car

oscarpiastri bingo!

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y/n.piastri me and my mans 🤍💙

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user3 cute!!!

jacobelordi love you baby

y/n.piastri yeah yeah i love u too

user03 🤗🤗🤗

user77 an upgrade!!!!

user49 damn…..

user00 🇦🇺 🦘

user622 the flowers 😻😊

user08 i know!!! so cute!

oscarpiastri cute.

yourbsf CUTIES I LOVE LOVE 💗💗

y/n.piastri THANK YEWWW

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SWEETERLOVERS - sorry that took my so long to write 😭

[looniecartooni]

DGM Chapter 252 spoilers Past!Allen: I have a confession. Nea: What is it? Past!Allen?: My name isn't Allen. I don't actually have a true name because I am actually a Bookman. Nea: Wh-what? Past!Lavi: I've been going by the name "Lavi" during my current observations. Nea: Then... whose Allen? Past!Lavi: There is no Allen. It's just me. Nea: Well we have to find Allen then! He's supposed to be my host! Past! Lavi: N-no- I am still willing to be your host. I just thought that you should know that my name's not- Nea: *holding actual Past!Allen* I found Allen. Past!Lavi: Wha- who is this kid? Nea: It's Allen- I just told you. He's my new host. Past!Lavi: WHAT?! Real Past!Allen: I have no idea what's going on... Past!Lavi: Nea- you can't just kidnap a random child and make them the host! Hi... Allen. I am... so sorry about all this. Where're your folks? Past!Allen: I... don't... have any that I... know of. I was- well... Nea: He was fighting in a war and I found him dying in a lake. Past!Lavi: Oh my gosh... Nea: So- I asked him his name, offered to have him become my host, and saved him. Past!Lavi:... Nea- you made it worse! I'm so sorry, Allen. Allen: Eh- it's fine. I didn't really have anything to live for. Past!Lavi: *deep inhale* Okay. Allen- you can stay with us for a while. Nea and I will let you know what this whole host thing is about, and we are going to make sure that you are safe and sound and don't ever have to- wait Nea, where are you going?! Nea: I'm going to go find Mana! Take care of real Allen for me, would you, fake Allen? Past!Lavi: Um- Nea: Thank you- buh byyyyyyye.... *runs away and never returns* Past!Lavi:... I think I upset him. Past!Allen: He's kind of weird. Past!Lavi: Yeah... he's fun when you get to know him though. You hungry? Past!Allen: ...starving. Past!Lavi: Alright- let's go pick up some food then. Come along. Past!Allen: Okay... is... is he coming back? Past!Lavi:... probably- he's kind of like a cat. He might be back for food. Might bring another friend or two back too. Hopefully... Past!Allen:... hopefully.

[desceros]

sometimes i think about the future symphony "i should have married you" post you made and it makes me so sad but the other night as i was falling asleep i was struck with absolute agony by the awful idea of "i should have married you" because marrying her would have made her hamato and maybe just maybe then she would have been able to become a hamato spirit. and the brothers most likely would have been able to make contact with the hamato sprits like they do in the series. and because if he married her at least he would have been able to contact her spirit. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh anyways thought i should share hope your day is going fabulously captain desceros

oh, this is awful. allow me to make it even worse :)

we’ve seen in the series that you dont actually have to have the hamato name to be ‘a hamato’ as april demonstrates. we’ve also seen varying levels of. hm. ninj-oscity? ninpo skills? from the boys. like raph and leo doing a ninja mind meld. just. just mikey.

and we’ve always seen that donnie struggles with ninpo the most.

his ninpo is mechanical. when he uses it at its most conscious level, we see it manifest as blueprints coming together. literal pieces, as if constructed with real material. when he panics or doesn’t go through this process, it’s a vague shape that isn’t as strong or as defined in purpose.

so let’s take this scenario you’ve brought to us.

viola-chan would have, unquestionably, been a hamato. and for that reason, i can definitely see her having a hamato spirit.

…..but i dont think donnie would ever be able to communicate with it.

mikey would be the most likely, since he has the strongest ninpo. but he’d be in high demand since he’s so strong, so i think it would tire him and i dont know how much time and energy he’d have to talk to anyone. not to mention the stress he’d feel when donnie would come to him like Hey Can I Talk To My Dead Girlfriend and mikey’s like…. dude i just got home from 24 hours of straight ass kicking i’m about to pass tf out.

and raph, i imagine, died not too long after viola-chan, so whether he could or not is moot.

leo. well. i dont think leo could communicate with viola-chan either. leo is rather avoidant when he feels guilty or ashamed, and (without going into too much of spoiler territory) he’d feel largely unworthy to talk to you, i think. and since we’ve seen that it takes an open heart to use the technique, it wouldn’t work.

and donnie. god. donnie would try. he would try so, so hard. he would try, hours upon hours, every free moment, banging his fists on his thighs as he’d meditate until he’d collapse. reaching out. seeking. already not as strong at this whole ninpo nonsense. unable to calm himself from the need to see you need to see you please just let me see you one last time please please please that would make it impossible to focus. he’d start thinking about tech that could bridge the gap. that’s how his ninpo works, after all. modeling his blueprint. so if he can design a machine that can talk to you. his ninpo can bring it to life.

but he doesnt exactly have a lot of time to dedicate to a personal project like that, let alone one so fucking insane in scale, so actually impossible to do. and as the time passes he grows more and more obsessed with thinking about it. yet simultaneously more and more sure it’ll never happen. i feel like his last moments, alone, bleeding, staring up at the rust-colored sky, he’d be smiling. because of course he he has some kind of death drone army set to go the moment his ninpo cuts off, and it’s one last middle finger to krang. …but also i think he’d be a little relieved. hoping his spirit will find yours and lavi’s.

(do they? who knows. no more hamato exist in that timeline to find out.)

[onomatopagu-et-cie]

Some other theories and observations, part 3

First impressions after re-reading DGM Some theories and observations, part 2 Notes on Link, part 1 & part 2

Again have a nice week!!

(SPOILERS UP TO CH248!!!!)

▶ Allen's curse

Will the manga elaborate more on Allen’s curse? The pentacle reappeared on volume 28’s cover again and D is an integral part of the title. (Btw, I can’t wait to read the copy I got of volume 28 as it’s now out in France! The cover is so beautiful, Hoshino outdoes herself every time with the new format, the back cover is pretty!!!)

This is the only piece of information we’ve got on it, apart from its evolving abilities. How can Komui be 100% sure a curse can only be inflicted on humans? Given how the majority of the Order didn’t know about the Noah and Apocryphos, I wouldn’t be surprised this could be false too.

▶ Allen/Neah’s (?) hidden ability

(thisoneislongsorryyyy)

Note: I wrote this BEFORE ch248 came out in July: it revealed the Allen we know was entirely remade by Apocryphos, and this could finally explain Neah, Road and Wisely’s confusion over Allen’s strange powers ; however, this doesn’t explain Apocryphos’s own confusion over Allen when he first encountered him nor exactly to what extent Allen was 'remade', so I kept these notes as is since we still don’t know more!

At the beginning of the volume 25, Wisely addresses Road as his brethren, probably because of the similarities of their powers. Wisely worries over Neah’s powers because he can’t read his mind somehow. At the end of the volume, after saying « Allen » is dangerous to Neah and them, Road states that she can’t connect her dream realm to his at will for some reason.

The two scenes mentioned sort of answer each other: both take place in Wisely/Road’s realm, one is at the beginning and the other at the end of the volume. And while Wisely thinks it’s Neah that outweighs his power, Road believes « Allen » (edit after reading ch248: Allen as he's remade by Apocryphos) the true danger instead.

Road’s inability to do as she wants might then involve a power we have not been officially introduced to when it comes to (past?)Allen besides his Innocence. And I don’t believe it’s about Neah at all, since she deems Allen dangerous (and also other people/things she refers to as ‘they’), and wants to warn Neah. If it was about Neah’s ability, this scene wouldn’t even happen and Road wouldn’t have questioned it since she knows him fairly well (while the other Noahs don’t because of the memory gap Neah caused).

In this chapter, Road also says « they’re using us », suggesting they could be the reason Allen is that threatening. She uses 奴ら (yatsura, plural) to refer to ‘them’: 奴 (yatsu, singular) is a derogatory/familiar pronoun.

EDIT: It's actually Cross, not Road, who says this specific part ('Allen is dangerous', 'They're using us.')!!!! She only speaks in the next page in her mini form, about her dream realm! This also means Cross and Road might've been communicating (and it's not only Road one-sidedly using him like I thought initially eg. manipulating him to lead Allen to the mansion), working together because they share some common goal (eg. protecting Mana and Neah)!

The only subjects triggering that pronoun and hatred from the Noahs (essentially, their memory crying out ‘I won’t forgive/I hate’) so far were:

→ Innocence (eg. Skinn Boric’s awakening as a Noah) → the exorcists (eg. the Earl when the Ark was saved by Allen) → Neah (eg. Wisely as he talks to Road) → the Pillar (eg. as Cross mentions it to Road)

Maybe Allen’s power is something close to what both Wisely and Road have since that sort of power can equal theirs to the point that both can’t stay omnipotent against that, just as they usually are eg. Wisely with supposedly all the Noahs (and also when he forced Alma’s memories with Allen and Kanda) or Road with Lavi.

And we have already seen (but without any real explanation yet) that Allen experiences « visions » (夢, yume, which we usually associate with Road, the Noah of dreams, can also mean vision):

→ Lenalee and Allen's respective apocalyptic dreams

→ Allen sensing Lenalee is drowning while facing the akuma Eshi

→ having a kind of out of body experience and seeing Krory and the ghost after being KO’ed in the Destruction of the Black Order Arc

→ his second dream in which what we now know as the Pillar talks to him ; Mana calls out to him in the original version by « ••• » (which is weird in itself since Neah is supposed to have no Noah memory??? Since Mana and Neah were two « halves » of the Earl, and we don’t know exactly what each half covers, could there have been some sort of mix-up between the two along the way?)

→ a glimpse of Kanda’s past when Marie talked about it

→ witnessing Cross’s ‘death’ through Apocryphos

→ whatever was happening when Allen and the Earl shared the same vision of Road protecting Mana in volume 24 was never explained (I put it here but it simply could be because Mana and Neah were revealed as the two halves of the Earl in the next volume)

→ seeing Johnny reaching out to him in the inn when we know it was Neah who sleep-talked after having a dream about the Campbells and woke up (idk if I should count this in bc it could just be Allen’s semi-consciousness fighting Neah)

But when Allen saw Cross’s ‘death’ through Apocryphos, he called that a consequence of the « parasitic » influence over « Allen ». According to him, it went on for many years. He then proceeded to merge with Allen in order to « erase that influence and suppress the 14th’s memory »: this might suggest that Apocryphos deemed Neah as the parasite of the exorcist Allen.

If he’s really talking about Neah, what Apocryphos says could contradict Road’s assumption that this power comes from Allen, not Neah. So, between Apocryphos and Road, who is right? ????????

Let’s consider for a moment that whatever is going on is due to Allen’s ‘long’ experience with a ‘parasitic’ Innocence and that Apocryphos never meant Neah when he talked about a parasite. But we know from Cross that Red’s arm didn’t show any sign of activating at all. Moreover, Neah wouldn’t have been shocked by the Innocence’s influence over past!Allen’s arm after awakening 35 years later if the latter synchronized with it when they knew each other, it wouldn’t make sense. So where does this long influence fit in? Are we talking about the parasitic-type Innocence or is Apocryphos referring to something entirely different?

It doesn’t help that the type of Innocence Allen has is called a ‘parasite-type’ in the original version and the English localization.

It helps even less that Apocryphos uses the same terminology as Komui when he first introduced the parasite-type: 寄生型. Except for Komui the furigana reads 型 as the loanword ‘type’ (kisei-taipu) and for Apocryphos it reads ‘kata’ (kiseigata) as the kanji should be pronounced.

Note: in French they chose to call this type of Innocence a ‘symbiotic-type’: it emphasizes the close association between the accommodator and the Innocence more and suggests the bond is mutually beneficial, but we know after all these chapters that it’s a totally one-sided control led by the Innocence over the accommodator’s body. It’s anything but mutual in retrospect. Parasite suits the Innocence more!

Interestingly, the word used for Allen’s role as a host is 宿主 (shukushu). I didn’t know the word ‘host’ could refer to the organism affected by a parasite!

Both Neah and the Innocence are parasites hosted by Allen. The imagery is also carried by the Fallen Ones’s design. When Allen witnesses Suman’s suffering, he uses the verb 蝕む, ‘mushibamu’:

What looks like giant worms pierce his body and tinier worms gnaw at his heart:

And also, I never considered it but 寄生, kisei, ‘parasite’ almost sounds like 犠牲, gisei, ‘sacrifice’ with just one letter difference: if intentional, these paronyms ironically bring out Allen’s sacrificial role even more. Ch240’s cover illustrates this dimension even more:

I might be missing something or this doesn’t really add up.

It’s also interesting to note that ch222 is titled « Hypokrisis ». Cross calls out Allen’s selflessness once again:

The noun ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis) meant 1) answer & 2) role (on the theater scene, the masked actor was called an ὑποκριτής, hypokritès, separate from the chorus) in ancient greek. But its meaning became morally (and religiously) loaded, now suggesting a duplicity in someone’s behavior (their personality, qualities, principles, opinions, …).

This chapter shows Allen in a dream staged by Road that leads him to the Campbell mansion. Facing Cross offering him to stop his search for the truth, he gives his definite answer to once again fulfill his vow to Mana and « keep walking » even at the cost of his own existence and the bond to his home. It’s also a call back to « Mana’s mask » during the Phantom Thief G arc.

Behind the scene, Road now understands she made a mistake she should have realized sooner: she’s being manipulated herself (along with Neah and perhaps the other Noahs) by someone else and Allen is dangerous, a reality that was concealed to her eyes until now.

The phrasing also parallels Cross’s late realization:

Were they making the same mistake on Allen’s true nature? After Red’s flashback, at least we know one mistake Cross made: Red didn’t say he was « Allen » (thinking Cross asked about the dog) ➾ even though he didn’t want the Innocence close to Mana (as it could 1) destroy him, being a Noah and 2) call forth the Earl, I guess), Cross didn’t monitor Red enough to see the influence of Apocryphos ➾ Red synchronized with an Innocence and the Earl was called back.

So far, Road (and the other Noah) benefits from these consequences: she wanted the Earl’s awakening to destroy the present world in order to take revenge of the Pillar. So either Cross and Road talk about two different things or there’s more to it than that to the point that even Road considers this a mistake despite the advantages at first glance.

At least, I guess it’s (kinda?) safe to assume Allen’s body = past!Allen as Neah knew him. Allen wouldn’t have been able to move the Ark otherwise:

Another lead to whoever past!Allen was might be linked to THIS in volume 27:

????? Who was this? And also what kind of situation were they in? It looks like the mystery person held past!Allen right before parting (before he lost his memory maybe?)/dying. They look as though they’re stuck in a tricky situation: their clothes look torn to shreds, and particles in the air look the same whenever there’s action in the manga? OH. Perhaps the transfer of Neah’s memory into past!Allen would be successful if and only if the memory of his past self was erased? Because two memories maybe can’t safely coexist in one body: we know even the Noahs, described as « superhumans », struggle with their memory and it threatens their sanity if they don’t suppress it. So this could be worse should a human unrelated to the Noah experiment the same thing.

But could one erase their memory in the universe of DGM? It doesn’t seem that far-fetched since:

Neah’s memory was successfully transferred in Allen,

magic is a thing in this universe,

Skulls can ‘reprogram’ a human’s brain to transform them and Apocryphos can easily rewrite memories,

in ch209, when Johnny was searching for Allen, Crows (who use sorcery) coerced him into drinking a drug that would supposedly erase his memories of the Order??? (now I know it could be a lie and it was poison instead since the Central and the Crows’ methods are rather radical):

Heck, past!Allen could even be from another timeline/from the previous/future world destroyed by the Pillar! Which could explain Allen’s recent dream of the Pillar? It could even be linked to « ••• » in this dream eg. his ‘real’ name or role (since the syllables don’t even match Neah’s even though it triggered Neah’s awakening once he woke up)??

▶ Road and Apocryphos

It’s more apparent in the original version but Apocryphos wavered, looking almost surprised/bothered to face Road as it’s accentuated with the ツ. Compared to his confidence in taking down Tyki, calling himself their Reaper and so on, this looks like Road could be a bigger threat than the other Noahs. (Perhaps it’s only random but Road stabbed Apocryphos in the left eye, just as she did to Allen in the rewinding city!)

It’s also interesting to note he recognized Road as the 9th Noah only once Tyki shouted her name. It could mean:

Road took another appearance we don’t know of 7000 years ago, and it’s confirmed in the manga: she’s stayed like this for 35+ years. We know that since Wisely awakened as a Noah and met them.

Either Apocryphos didn’t meet her since she took on this appearance (so in this 35+ year span)

Or he did meet her but didn’t recognize her as the 9th Noah

If he only recognized her after his punch, how could it have badly hurt Road? I thought you had to know her true ‘identity’ to harm her, which was why Allen couldn’t hit her with his sword.

Allen could harm Tyki but not Road, and only Apocryphos could???? Since he was present 7000 years ago and most likely was responsible in whatever happened then, it’s safe to say he should know about the Noah and the world they lived in enough to be able to harm Road.

▶ Chapter 219: Butterflies, the souls and the Earl

(thisoneisevenlongersorryyyyy)

When the Earl vanished before Katerina and split into Mana and Neah in ch219, two butterflies are seen flying above them.

My best guess would be they’re respectively male and female white cabbage butterflies (pieris rapae, or the great white butterfly, pieris brassicae, a close relative to this species), pretty common butterflies:

I also found that pieridae caterpillars often PARASITE cruciferous plants (they often eat cabbages, broccoli, kale, mustard) ie. plants with flowers that have CROSS-arranged petals (yes, it’s a detail that’s probably irrelevant but it was fun to find that randomly, I live in overthinking and reach-land haha).

In Japan, butterflies often symbolize the souls of the living and the dead. It’s also a symbol of spirituality (the cycle of life, birth, death, metamorphosis, reincarnation, immortality), as the cycle of a butterfly embodies it in its four stages (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly).

As the later part of the manga focuses on helix magic and its principles (the body, the soul and the spiral of life), the ‘death’ of the Earl makes way for Neah and Mana, a ‘rebirth’ of some sort. Which makes me believe that what we saw as the Earl against Allen in volumes 24-25 (and perhaps even the rest of his appearances in the manga with the suit) was actually his ‘body’, which takes the shape of his suit (we even see the costume ripping in half with what looks like a zipper). According to past!Allen, a body is merely a vessel that needs a soul for life to exist. The costume of the Earl might be in desperate search of its lost soul (Mana + Neah), which is why it endlessly devours human souls (through perhaps the making of akuma?): Hoshino said there’s a reason why she draws the Earl plump, it’s just a theory for posterity haha! Is this the same mechanism that turns Timcampy this big?

Note (see the end of this point for more on golems and DGM!): I read on Twitter that at the exhibition held in honor of DGM, it was explained that Adam was the name of the ’skin of the Millenium Earl’ and Adam was the first golem (just like in the Bible, Adam was made of the dust of the earth and was animated by God’s breath)! (With their poison, Akuma turn humans to dust………… Timcampy also turned to dust once touched by Cornelia’s bark…………. Innocence also turns to dust, just like Mugen when Kanda left with Alma or just like Allen’s did at the Asian branch…………)

This is pure speculation, but perhaps the Earl decided to forsake his tragic millenium role once he finally witnessed the beauty of this world (be it his meeting with Katerina and/or something else). After all, according to Neah’s words: « Seven thousand years of life… yet the Earl’s heart is stuck in that scenery. » Maybe he realized the Three days of Darkness were meaningless, that they would feed an endless cycle of atonement, hatred and vengeance? It could also be why he gave life to Neah and Mana. Neah holds the power to destroy the Noah while Mana seems to be able to devour the Noah: perhaps the Earl intended Mana to first devour all the Noah in order for Neah to finally destroy them all and put an end to this all?

However, something ruined this project: the Noahs probably disagreed, determined to see their vengeance through (by sacrificing the Earl, summoning the Earl and destroying ‘this world’ they created). It could also be the Heart, or both the Noahs and the Heart working with each other. In one way or another, they managed to persuade/compel Mana to devour Neah (perhaps that’s where Joyd played a significant role in all this?).

On the subject of the souls, since Neah describes Atuuda’s power as the opposite of Mana devouring him (and we now know the Earl feeds on human souls), it certainly works as the partial transfer of the owner’s soul to another to ‘heal’ them (or is it something like ‘rewinding’ their state to before they got injured? Does this have something to do with whatever rejuvenated past!Allen and aged up Mana’s appearance??). Before Link healed Neah in ch221, Allen’s jacket was pierced ; Atuuda mended his injury and the hole in the jacket was also gone.

Zuu only described it as Atuuda exhausting his own ‘life-force’ to transfer it to someone else, he was not specific in his explanation so it’s only guesses here.

Design-wise (and reachland-wise haha), the six spots on the female white butterfly could be a recurring motif related to the soul, like the six dots on Link’s tattoo 8D

(Also noticing just now but dude Link must have a lot of gloves in stock, he came back with a glove when he saved Neah haha)

I can’t decipher what Zuu wrote to summon Atuuda but they’re replacing the dots here. Atuuda also has three spheres on each mustache-thingy!

I found a retelling of a Japanese legend of a white butterfly (in Myths & Legends of Japan, by Frederick Hadland Davis). I found it narrated on Japanese Folktales: The Butterfly Soul – Under the influence! if you want to check it out! A white butterfly visits an old man at his deathbed. It was the soul of his beloved that died when they were young, the old man never left her alone and would keep tending to her grave. The butterfly didn't leave until his soul left with her.

The butterfly in ancient greek was ψυχή (psyche), which holds several meanings: the wind blow or breath and by extension life force or breath, life, soul, butterfly and Psyche (essentially known from the myth of her love with Eros/Cupid and its trials). Interestingly, « psyché » in French also refers to a piece of furniture with a window-frame in which a great mirror was mounted. It was a great Art Deco symbol and was a motif depicted in paintings. It reflected its owner from head to foot, just as the mirror reflected Mana, Neah and the Earl’s souls in volume 25.

It’s also a symbol of (tragic) love sometimes eg. the chinese legend of the butterfly lovers.

Final note on golems: the word ‘golem’ was used once in the Book of Psalms to refer to Adam when he was what was translated as a shapeless mass, an embryo out of clay lacking a soul. The Talmud sometimes calls Adam a ‘golem’ when referring to the first twelve hours of his life: it was still only an inanimate body without God’s breath of life.

Golems also have a mystical origin, created by magic spells. The methods of creation and destruction vary from a tale to another eg. dancing and chanting the hebrew alphabet in different combinations ; using a pure mass of dust, water, sand, earth or flour ; prayers, fasts, purifications ; engraving ‘emet’ (truth, God’s seal) on its forehead and erasing the first letter alef to call its death (met means death).

In ashkenazi hassidic traditions in the 15th century, the golem became a real creature, serving its masters and fulfilling the tasks it was given. This tradition became really popular in the 17th century, and was linked to the ancient belief in the possibility to resurrect the dead by putting in their mouth (or on their arm) a piece of parchment marked with the tetragram. Following this belief, it could turn into an evil being that had to be destroyed to prevent terror and death from spreading.

The golems embody both the figure of a protector/servant but also of a creature of destruction:

→ Golem | Jewish Museum Berlin « A golem is a creature formed out of a lifeless substance such as dust or earth that is brought to life by ritual incantations and sequences of Hebrew letters. The golem, brought into being by a human creator, becomes a helper, a companion, or a rescuer of an imperiled Jewish community. In many golem stories, the creature runs amok and the golem itself becomes a threat to its creator. (…) Originally, creating a golem was a way for medieval Jewish mystics to come closer to God. »

I don’t know why, but these two pages of ch231 comes to my mind when I read the last sentence:

I wanted to know more about golems in general, and I came across this conference of Ada Ackerman, an art history specialist that dedicated a great part of her works on the golem and its representations through time (religion, myths, books, cinema): YouTube

She quoted a yiddish play excerpt and it was really reminiscent of the creation of Akuma. The golem in the play pleads with a voice (which is unusual, since it is mainly represented without a voice and genderless) its creator to not create them. It is already conscious of its potential for destruction, and asks to remain into nothingness:

I tried to translate it very roughly: « I have a voice that is not yet a voice. I have a heart that is not yet a heart. (…) I will say it again and I warn you, please do not create me! See those stars dying! And so will the light of every eye laying on me. My footprint will only leave desolation, and from what my hand touches only ashes and dust will be left. »

Interestingly, גּוֹלֶם in modern hebrew designates both the pupa and the golem, as well as a dummy, a mould or a fool.

▶ Chapter 219: Poppies, puppets and myths

Flowers also grow at the foot of the tree Cornelia. When the Earl disappeared, Katerina was plucking those flowers. It could be poppies, that often bloom in wheat fields. These flowers are also on the chapter’s cover.

In hanakotoba, poppies can symbolize peace of mind, sympathy, presentiment of love, sorrow of parting, comfort or consolation, rest or relief. This is pure speculation, but like I said above, this could fit with Katerina and the Earl meeting and whatever he found in the mansion, making the latter realize his war against the world is meaningless.

Poppies in Japanese are 芥子, keshi. I remember seeing on her ig account that Hoshino wanted to emphasize the meaning of flowers in her story. For example, the lotus held a heartbreaking significance to Kanda and Alma’s arc. She also focuses a LOT on the puppet/staging/dramatic imagery in DGM (Lala, the exorcists controlled by the Innocence and Apocryphos and the Noahs by their memories, Crown Clown, the circus, …)

And funnily enough, poppies can be phonetically associated to a kind of japanese traditional wooden dolls, こけし, kokeshi. Kokeshi doesn’t have a kanji writing people generally agreed on: I read that before an exhibition in the 20th century, dolls were referred to by many names. Artisans and collectors agreed on ‘kokeshi’ in hiragana only.

Therefore, you could have various combinations to write kokeshi:

→ the ‘ko’ in kokeshi could refer to ‘child’, ‘small’ or ‘wood’ (then deriving from 'ki') → the ‘keshi’ in kokeshi could refer to the verb ‘chisel’ (削る, kezuru: kokeshi are wooden pieces chiseled on a lathe). It could also correspond to ‘poppy’. But most interestingly in DGM’s story, it could be linked to another verb, ‘erase’ (消す, kesu eg. an eraser is a 消しゴム, keshigomu): Neah said the Earl disappeared only once off the face of this earth, Mana ‘devoured’ Neah, and Allen is now facing the risk of disappearing himself.

Kokeshi can be made with cherry wood, japanese maple, but also dogwood. Dogwood’s variety is also known as cornus in latin, that Cornelia’s name could also originate from aside from cornix (raven).

One of the kokeshi features is sometimes the lack of limbs, just like the Innocence and the Fallen Ones.

Note: Poppies and crops (just like the Campbell mansion landscape) are also symbols of Demeter, the greek goddess of the harvest, the fertility of the earth. These flowers are also associated to Nyx, the goddess of the Night, Hypnos, the god of dreams and sleep, and Thanatos, a minor god of death, who are her sons. The abduction of Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, by Hades also involves poppies. In some tales, as the poppy was cultivated for the sleep-inducing and anesthetic properties from its sap, it is said that Hypnos gifted Demeter the flower to find sleep as she grew desperate at her daughter’s disappearance and left the earth barren. Other tales explain that poppies would grow to announce Persephone’s return to Earth, symbolizing the nature and Demeter’s rejoice.

▶ Mana or the Earl’s destruction?

I’ve been wondering about this since Allen’s escape from Apocryphos & Cross’s involvement with the plot: what real difference does it make whether Mana/the Earl is destroyed by Neah or the Heart?

Ch237 introduces these two paths clearly as opposites in Cross’s pov: « Right now, Mana has forgotten that he is the Millenium Earl. For the Innocence… The Heart, this is an opportunity like no other to destroy the Millenium Earl. Neah must be the one to destroy Mana. I have wandered this world for decades for that very reason. Searching for Neah’s host. Anything else that draws near Mana, I eliminate. And by that, I mean anything. Anything at all. »

Dude was hellbent on this mission to the point of 1) killing a kid should he come too close to Mana & 2) making a deal with Luberrier to ‘protect’ Neah (and eventually use him as a weapon)??? And THIS makes me wonder (when I read the trivia on his wikia character page):

What was his relationship with Neah? He was dragged in this mission by him. Which is interesting since Cross was introduced in the story as Neah’s supporter by outsiders ; we now get to see a more nuanced relationship. I wonder what differs from his relationship with Mana.

So, in addition to what it carries emotionally (to have Neah destroy Mana to save him from his misery), the consequences must be different depending on who (Neah or the Heart) kills who (Mana or the Earl) somehow. It must be the same consequences for Allen as overcoming Neah’s memories by himself and letting Apocryphos fuse with Allen to get rid of Neah. In ch236, Apocryphos witnesses Mana and Red embracing each other, saying Red will destroy the Earl so that the Heart will be reborn????? (First of all, it is a loophole in the Heart’s description by the Order: it is an Innocence that presumably holds an absolute power over the others, its destruction by the Noah would be fatal to the Order. Since it will be reborn, how come the rest of the Innocence still exist, eg. Cross’s Judgement and Maria were both seen, idem for the exorcists experimented on for the 2nd gen. project before that alleged rebirth?)

What if (see my theory in the previous points): → the Heart destroys the Earl (after destroying Neah) ➾ perpetuation of the cycle, the Pillar is again summoned since the end of the world is also « God’s » will: the Earl must forever be God’s sacrifice in atonement of his past sins. The manga suggests → Neah destroys Mana ➾ the end of the Noahs, set free from their vengeance and the Pillar

At this point I’m even starting to believe the Heart is a Noah haha (I was thinking about Road but what if it was Joyd 8D? He was perhaps not yet ‘reborn’ when Apocryphos changed Mana and Red’s fate because Neah killed him, and he was the only Noah seen destroying Innocence in the manga when he destroyed Allen’s)

In volume 25, we learn through Neah the Earl disappeared only once, dividing into Mana and Neah (so prior to the Heart’s rebirth). After Apocryphos mingled with Red and Mana’s fate, we see one of its direct consequences is the Earl’s awakening. And in ch202, we learn the Earl (or a piece of Mana’s consciousness) asked the Noah to protect Neah from the Heart even at the cost of their lives?????

The first time we learn of the Heart’s existence is from the Order’s point of view. With the search for the Heart from the Order's perspective, we take it for granted that the Heart is a single human being synchronizing with this special Innocence. Since the story revolves around the possibility it might be told by an unreliable narrator (the existence of Apocryphos and its ability to rewrite entire pans of memories, Innocence — a false ‘God’ the Order is fighting for, Noah’s hidden truth, the other side of the war …), who is to say the Heart comes in a shape no one expects?

In ch111, Lavi states the Heart should only be one. But should it, really? The original version of this panel puts accent on ‘one’:

For example, the Heart could be two halves forming a whole, just like … Mana and Neah form the Earl … Mana and Red were also needed for Apocryphos’s plan to succeed … I don’t believe the Heart is the Earl, at least not alone (why would it first want the awakening of the Earl and then his destruction?), there must be more to it than that.

▶ Joyd

I never paid attention to this bit in ch226:

I get the feeling that whatever made Mana ‘eat’ Neah was also urged by Joyd. Especially because Joyd appeared grinning as soon as Tyki set out on destroying Neah’s bond with the Earl, the obvious bad blood between Neah and Joyd (+ the fact he reincarnated with an uncanny resemblance to Neah, and his peculiar existence apart from other Noahs was hinted at by Road since ch93) and these panels:

Mana sounds helpless here, overwhelmed by whatever made him do this.

[cosmereclysmic]

⚠️ Full Stormlight Archive Spoilers ahead!!!

My toxic trait is that I think the Davar soulcaster belonged to Shallan from day one and that Lin promised it to the Ghostbloods at some point and that's why they're riding the Davar's asses about it. I might be misremembering, but there was something about that scene where Shallan mentioned to Mraize the GBs lent the soulcaster to them, and there's SOMETHING about the way Mraize replied that felt like a lie. I'm convinced he rolled with Shallan's memory-twist bc if he said "no your dad promised it to us in the first place in exchange for figuring it how it worked" she might reclaim it / turn the situation around on him. (She wouldn't bc she's riding on self-deceit.)

The theory actually gets wibbly when Jasnah is looking at the soulcaster and says that, no, it's fake also. But what makes a soulcaster fake and what makes it real? Is definitely the metal. But maybe Shallan, with her dissassociative lightweaving shenanigans, light weaved it to look fake??

Either way, the biggest clue IMO is when we first met Testament, her inkspren buddy said he found her on an island in the East, then traveled to Nameless together. Nameless is just South of Urithiru, which is the center of the super continent. To the East of Nameless is Khabranth, then the Frostlands, and oh, I don't know, the place where the Wind's Pleasure sank?? You know... where the soulcaster was lost "forever"??

"But Megs, there's the matter of the scene where Shallan takes out Tyn. We don't know if that was Testament or Pattern!" STILL THE FROSTLANDS. STILL EAST OF NAMELESS. So are the Shattered Plains, where Shallan opened the Oathgate. That may have been where Shallan finally dumped Testament once and for all. A little island to the East.

Shallan also can't soulcast worth a single lavis grain. It wouldn't surprise me if Soulcasting reminds her of her time back home. Can't be remembering too much about that time by repeating something you might've done in secret, like making mineral deposits to help your parents' financial troubles, and risk all that guilt and shame crashing down and breaking her for good, right? Soulcasting is heavily tied to Testament, while Lightweaving is tied to Pattern. Compartmentalization, baby!!!!

There's also the Nostalgia that floods Veil when she first holds the communication box to Mraize. There's something very interesting going on there. The Davar's are connected with Ba-ado-mishram. The Ghostbloods REALLY want BAM. Little Shallan finding a communication cube, either pilfered from her father's study out of curiosity? Maybe dropped my accident? Maybe dropped on purpose? 🤔

Anyways there's my crack theory hope it actually makes sense thank you for coming to my TED talk. 👁👄👁💅

[hirazuki]

You know, normally I see an update; get excited about reading more of the story and seeing more of Hoshino's gorgeous art; am ever so slightly confused with some details while reading because updates are so sporadic and I haven't had the chance to go back and give everything a proper re-read; and, unfailingly, leave with a wistful longing for Lavi (12 years real-life time since we last saw him and counting ✌️). This has been the pattern for the last several years --

but

but

BUT

This? I never thought I'd see this. I never knew I needed this. Link's expression? His posture? The direction their relationship is developing in? The lighting??

I am 100% okay with Lavi not appearing in this chapter, actually.

[poupeesdecirque]

Travel Blog: Leipziger Buchmesse Friday

Timcampy's Adventures, meeting Friends & Religious Gold

Day two of the Bookfair. Today I was about to wear the new variant of the Runaway Outfit again, which I had made for the Polaris back last year AND the new Innocence I just made one week before the con.

Day two started very early for me ... I woke up at 3 in the morning and with a cat using me as trampoline and the overstimulation from the day before I was alerted by everything.

But I wanted to cosplay still. And even work with Make up again. I am super unskilled with Make up for Cosplay because aside the curse I haven't used any since my teens and just started doing it in ... October. I have learned quite a bit since then like switching to a different type of make up that doesn't need 5 days to be scrubbed off, that's better for my already sensitive eyes.

I also snapped off one of the nails from the Innocence and learned I need ... assisstance when visiting the bathroom while wearing it. oof.

I'm thankful I was not the driver for this day and just was able to chill for once after being stuck in traffic the evening before.

This time we actually started with taking different photos before the hall got too full, we even made a small video.

For the fair itself the section for comics/manga had started as a part of the fantasy and children's section ages ago and 10 years ago it got its own hall and even was expanded last year to 1 1/2 halls. Hall 1 was mainly artists this time with a HUGE department for artists and several rows of an artists alley along with some merchants. The half of Hall 3 was different publishers like Crunchyroll, Tokyopop, Nintendo and bigger merchants or even other conventions.

I have to say my feeling of hunger was not existent that day but I felt my eyes were getting worse, I even had to put on my glasses for a while, hoping it would be better. Was truly motivated me was that the german DVD/Blu Ray Publisher of D.Gray-man still recognized me and asked me to return with the 1st Uniform to take Photos for promoting the series on their Instagram and I was just .. wow. Still can't believe they asked me.

While we wandered the glass hall several times for finding my DGM Mutuals we decided to give the other sections a visit as Alu had a mission and as we walked through the religious section one vendor gave us a little bible book and ... "real gold" ... uhm.. Mister you know I'm running away from the church yes? :'D

After that we went to one of the big book shops and of course I had to look up some cook books. My guilty pleasure. But this time I didn't end up buying a ton, I only got one.

Back in the glass hall I was finally able to locate my DGM Mutuals and we made a pile of Tims as you can see. Haha. I'm so glad I am brave enough to talk to people again, it was an issue in the past that I just shyly crossed their ways and wished they would notice me, but nope, not this time. I also walked to other cosplayers and told them I love their costumes. Just to brighten up their day.

A few more impressions from the location itself. If you look closely you can spot the D.Gray-man Nendos of Allen, Kanda and Lavi. Oh and I finally got a pocket watch again! Mainly for my past!Allen Cosplay if I will wear it again, the owl reminds me of the bookshop emblem we see in chapter 249.

As we later sat down in the glass hall, we got myself a snack for photos and put aside our stuff and I didn't notice but a friend of a friend took Timcampy and played around with him. Until they complained that parts weren't made to their liking and that was the point I was close to snapping. I can tell my was over everything already with the little sleep I had, my eyes acting up, running around all day long already.

I tried to get lost while we went on another window shopping trip and actually bought a Ramen and an Udon bowl. Just to drop the bag 2 minutes after buying. Then I only had a Ramen bowl and a pile of shards. All went downhill then I didn't want to talk, I didn't want a hug, I sat down and tried not to have a panic-mental-breakdown-whatever. I even went out into the rain just to RUN to get the steam off. I went to my friend Julia who luckily involved me into small talk that calmed me down. But the day was ruined. I returned to my friends but some of theirs popped up and started a conversation, usually they are very lovely and I like them but I just couldn't listen to someone talking anymore. I left them to just walk around.

It was late already and it had started pouring, for now I decided just to stare at the rain running down the glass.

My friends wanted to calm me down, hug me, but I declined. I didn't want to talk. We went back to Schu's place, I had dinner and went to bed, rolling myself into a blanket like a burrito.

[starbudspresents]

Re.Gray 036 - Vampire pt. 6: Repatriation

[ Masterlist ] [ Read on AO3 ] [ Raws ]

Summary: Lavi vs. Krory. Meanwhile, Eliade and Allen reveal their true colours.

Volume 4, Chapter 36

Vampire of the Lonely Castle ⑥: Repatriation

♦ 175

36th Night - Vampire of the Lonely Castle ⑥: Repatriation

♦ 176

sfx: DON BAAN gagah [various battle noises, as Lavi and Krory go at it hammer and teeth in the cemetery garden]

Lavi: ...In short, Akuma are weapons1 wearing human skin! Krory: That so.

Lavi: So it's Akuma blood you've been sucking, okay?

Krory: That so. Krory: But wait? If that were true, should I not be dead of its poison? Krory: I find your tale hard to credit. sfx: zah [he and Lavi break apart momentarily]

Lavi: Heh. Actually, I can think of others who've survived it. Lavi: This is what I'm thinking: Lavi: Akuma poison doesn't work on you because, like Allen, you're a parasitic-type Accommodator. Lavi: And you've unconsciously only gone after Akuma...

♦ 177

Lavi: Those crazy-hard teeth of yours are Innocence, right?

Krory: ......

Lavi: You like hunting Akuma? Join up with us and you'll never run out. Lavi, side: Red-carpet welcome! Lavi: You're strong, so to make you listen, Lavi: it looks like I've gotta go all-out. Lavi: So tell me yea or nay when you come to, yeah? sfx: zu [a ring of seals springs up in the air around the hammer 2] Lavi: Krow. ♪ 3

♦ 178

sfx: baki baki baki [Allen's ribs creaking under the pressure of Eliade's tightening grip]

Allen: cough Allen: hack Allen: cough

Eliade: What's the matter? You were breathing fine a second ago. Eliade: I'll crush your ribcage if you don't fight back, you know?

Allen: ——... Allen: wheeze... Allen: ——...

♦ 179

Allen: ? Allen: It's hot... Allen: I'm losing my grip... Allen: It's like something is sapping the strength from my whole body. Allen: My senses are fading... Allen: I'm sleepy...

sfx: dokah [Eliade punches him hard in the face with her free hand] Eliade: No? No reaction? Eliade: Or don't you have the guts to fight?

sfx: bota bota [books fall from the shelves around Allen's shoulders] Allen: ......

Eliade: Perhaps Arystar did you some real damage.

♦ 180

Eliade: Well, then.

Allen: I mustn't... Allen: Mustn't fall asleep. Allen: Can't feel the pain, or anything else... Allen: My senses are numb. Allen: If I fall asleep, I'm dead. Allen: Talk. Allen: Come on, think. Allen: We have no... intention of... slaying Arystar Krory... Allen: So there's... no reason to fight...

Eliade: Ah. Eliade, side: It speaks.

Allen: He may... be neither vampire... nor monster... Allen: but rather... one of us...

sfx: baki [Eliade hits him hard across the face, no longer smiling]

♦ 181

Eliade: Aha! Eliade: Ahahahahaha!! sfx: doka baki doka baki goki dogo goki dogo [vicious successive hits, sound changing as his face gets pulpy] Eliade: Ahahahaha!! Eliade: One of you? Don't make me laugh. sfx: DON [she slams him back into the shelves with both hands] Eliade: He is a vampire! Eliade: You think I'll let you take him...?

♦ 182

Eliade: This is why Eliade: I have to kill you. sfx: dokan [impact]

sfx: dosah [Allen slumps bonelessly to the floor, prone] sfx: nuh [Eliade produces a wood axe]

Eliade: Off with your head. sfx: goh [she approaches] Eliade: I'll drain the blood from your body and hang it it from the gate, sfx: goro [she kicks him over onto his back] Eliade: so that no one will ever come near this castle again.

♦ 183

sfx: nu [she lays the blade against his throat] Eliade: I'll save some face if I offer his life in place of Krory's.4

sfx: ZAN [she swings]

♦ 184

Eliade: !! sfx: gugugu... [she strains, but Allen holds the blade fast in his left hand and it won't budge] sfx: gugu [still trying] Eliade: Tch. Eliade: Still got some juice, huh. sfx: gugugu [his grip remains tight and unyielding] Eliade: !! Eliade: Wait, he's... Eliade: unconscious...!?

♦ 185

sfx: gikin [the red hand tightens and the axe-blade shatters] sfx: kah [a sudden light shines in Eliade's face] Eliade: !?

♦ 186

sfx: DO [Eliade jumps back, wounded in the chest but not fatally] sfx: zuzu [the arm makes the zipper noise] sfx: haa haa haa [Eliade panting] sfx: dokuh dokuh dokuh [Eliade's heart thundering] Eliade: What is he? Eliade: His left arm is moving on its own!?

♦ 187

sfx: zu zu zu [a black pentacle appears over his closed left eye in a slow, twisted knot] sfx: ZU [it finishes unfurling, an ornate capital D forming in the center] sfx: shu... [a wisp emerges from it] sfx: shuru... [the wisp slowly takes the shape of a skull, black pentacle blazoned across the top and D written above its left eye socket]

♦ 188

sfx: kah [it stares at Eliade, sees her, and she feels it like a physical blow]

Eliade: !?

Mana?: I'm home, Allen. Mana?: The darkness has returned... sfx: zuuu... [the skull begins to retreat back into Allen's head without losing its shape, phasing through his skin and bone] sfx: zubububu [there seems to be some resistance, an almost elecrical buzzing at the boundary being crossed]

♦ 189

Allen: My senses have returned...

sfx: kachin [the skull settles comfortably into place within Allen's, ghostly black tail dangling into his throat; Allen's cursed eye, healed, opens for the first time since Road stabbed it out, and it's pitch black]

♦ 190

Allen: So you're an Akuma. sfx: sutoh [his left arm sets him lightly on his feet]

sfx: jujujuju [Eliade's wound churns with scales and little gears] Eliade: Strange boy...

Allen: It's returned again. Allen: This black-and-white world.

♦ 191

Mana?: Welcome home.5

Allen: I'll have to eat my words. sfx: vuvu VU [Innocence thrumming, now in controlled cannon form] Allen: Seems there is reason to fight.

END OF VOLUME 4 - MARSHALS IN DISTRESS

♦♥♦

FOOTNOTES

Mismatch: Kanji: 兵器 heiki "weapon" Furigana: メカ meka "mecha"

Lavi calls Akuma "mechas", which is an interesting reversal; normally, with mechas, the squishy human bit is on the inside, piloting, and the metal is the outer skin being piloted, but Akuma are the perfect opposite. [ ♠ ]

Starting from the frontmost, counterclockwise: - 天 (heaven) - ? - 木 (wood) - ? - 火 (fire) - hidden behind Lavi - ? - 地 (earth) - ? - 水 (water) [ ♠ ]

Original: クロちゃん kurochan "Kro-chan". Kuro also means "black", of course, so there's a bit of wordplay there I can't preserve. Opted to add a little to make up for it, playing on "black" and "has wings, or something like them". [ ♠ ]

This is a reference to her mission as an Akuma; she hasn't killed Krory as she was supposed to, so she's hoping killing an Exorcist will make up for that somewhat. [ ♠ ]

I'm pretty sure this is what the chapter title "Repatriation" is referring to; that word describes the return or restoration of a person to the country of their birth or citizenship, the return of an exile to the place where they belong. Here, the curse is welcoming Allen back to the monochrome world, which he was temporarily exiled from by his injury. (Will have to be careful when typesetting to make it clear through font which of them is speaking through this section. It's obvious in Japanese because the curse speaks mostly in katakana, while Allen's thoughts are normal, but English only has the one alphabet.)

Also, I know it's a bit awkward, but where I used the word "return" three times in short succession at the end there, those were (also somewhat awkwardly) all the same word in Japanese, 戻ってきた modottekita. I don't know how significant that is but it struck me. [ ♠ ]

[siamesefightingpiano]

It's Halloween and Wonderlands x Showtime are visiting the Sekai. Tsukasa starts feeling off but doesn't think anything of it. Everyone's discussing the show they'd just put on and celebrating. Through it all Tsukasa keeps smelling something tasty but knows there's no food in the Sekai so he just ignores it (do you see a pattern here). The smell keeps lingering and starts making him hungry but he seems to be the only one who notices the smell.

Rui's explaining how one of their stunts work with Tsukasa as demonstration and Tsukasa realizes he's really hungry. Halfway through an explanation, Rui looks at him and pauses. "Tsukasa-kun, are you feeling okay?"

Nene then also pipes up. "You look pasty and you're panting like a dog. Are you going to be sick?"

Tsukasa swallows his mouthful of saliva and licks his lips. "Don't worry about it, I'm just hungry. I'll have something to eat once I'm home." He takes a deep breath and savours the delicious meaty smell he's been subjected to for the last while.

Emu nods sagely. "I know how you feel, Tsukasa-kun! Sometimes you're just hungry and reaaaaaally want to eat something that makes you go fwaahh and mmmmm and that's all you can think about!"

Tsukasa runs his tongue over the dips and ridges of his teeth. "I'm going to pretend I understood what you just said."

Rui chuckles and moves in to adjust Tsukasa's form. "I'll try to make this quick then. We don't want our future star to have low blood sugar, do we?"

Between one blink and the next, Tsukasa's pressing Rui to the stage floor, fingers tight around his shoulders. Tsukasa breathes in deep and ah yes, he can smell it, that delicious scent, rich and warm like a broth during winter. Mouth watering, he stares down at Rui's wide eyes. "I think," Tsukasa says thickly, "you should probably get out."

Nene recovers from her shock. "What are you doing? Actually, wait, do I even want to know?"

Emu is uncharacteristically serious. "I think there's something wrong with Tsukasa-kun."

Tsukasa peels himself off Rui and stumbles back to sit on the floor. He addresses the group but can't keep his eyes off Rui. More specifically, Rui's neck. He takes another breath and shivers at the fragrance. Slowly standing, he finds himself smiling for no reason, lips pulling over his very sharp teeth. "Didn't I tell you to get out? You should run, because I'm very, very hungry. And soon I won't be able to stop myself." Eyes roaming over Rui's body, Tsukasa can't remember why stopping was ever a good idea. In fact, he can't think much of anything other than filling his stomach.

Rui doesn't move from his position on the floor. "Tsukasa-kun?"

"Your teeth." Nene scowled. "Is this some sort of joke? Haha, real funny."

Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, MEIKO takes hold of Tsukasa's arms while KAITO pulls Rui back towards the girls.

"You need to go now." KAITO says urgently. "Before Tsukasa-kun loses what's left of his self-control." He herds them away, but not before sharing a look with the other Virtual Singer.

Tsukasa chuckles with amusement, complacent in MEIKO's hold. As his fellow troupe members disappear out of sight, he tips his head back and laughs, pitchy and unhinged.

Don't they know? The hunt always makes the food taste better.

This was brought to you by listening to Hirose Daisuke's cover of Lavie on repeat. If you haven't listened to it yet, you should.

And then they find out that they can't get leave the Sekai so they have to wait out the rest of Halloween while trying to escape Tsukasa.

[lavibookmansflatass]

Angst Lavi prompt that I haven't seen around but one day either want to write or see it written....

Bookman having a stroke or something and he can't communicate with Lavi or take care of himself. He's slowly dying in a nursing home or somewhere and Lavi just wishes beyond belief that Bookman would somehow just let him know he's proud of him somehow (let's be real Gramps is quite hard on him. I know he's a jokester and immature but Bookman is kinda an ass sometimes especially during the Edo fight where Lavi and Krory were trying to carry the whole ass group. I didn't see Bookman start helping out until later on and all he did was call Lavi weak.)

We never actually hear Bookman say he's proud of Lavi or that he's going to make a great Bookman (unless yall have but I havent). We've seen them shed tears for each other so we know they got a bond but Bookman never really straight up told Lavi much encouragement. It's always been criticism or telling him to do shit.

I mean you're in a tough spot and may end up dying as the present Bookman, you should at least let your apprentice and incoming Bookman know that you have faith in him. I would be nervous beyond belief if I was Lavi and that old man croaked. Give the kid some encouragement!

[xxxdoppel]

6th Anniversary Experience (Part 1)

Although things started pretty slow… she delivered.

Hi, all! It’s been a while since I’ve talk to you and I wanted to begin apologizing for my absence. The past few months I’ve had this hard-to-let-go-of lethargy that has kept me away from wanting to do anything. All I could focus on was my job cuz I need food for this body of mine. Other than that I’ve literally been sleeping my life away.

~Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s clinical depression~

Anyway, since the anniversary rolls are officially over, I wanted to share with everyone all the cool units I got this year. I got a total of twenty-one four star units including doubles! That’s unbelievable. Unexpected. Wild. Exciting!

This was my first year actually spending money on the game, so it was really fun to enjoy the various little privileges it offers. I mean, I had a good reason to do so. There was no way I could come out of this anni without HER.

So, without further ado. Let me begin sharing the goal of these $160 dollars I put on this game:

Devil Homura

She’s so precious! The beautiful queen of ai yo! Oh ma gah only a fool would not roll for her tbh cuz she’s IT. I tried the step-up gacha and it felt like glory when I got her on the first step. Thank you, algorithm, you did so well! Accele gorilla babe!

But things didn’t stop there! After three years, I, was blessed with the presence of no other, but…

Ren Isuzu was my first four star unit that I rolled in the NA server. That is after Mitama, of course. F2P heh! She’s kind of special to me, but the bitch kept evading me in the JP server. I actually had to pinch myself just to make sure this was real.

I also got this girl no one cares about. Yes.

Now, I have A TON of forest units, too many for my own good. That being said, if there’s one girl I would not mind getting a thousand times is…

Lavi Himuro

This girl is a combination between the cutest character Umi Aoki has designed with the ugliest magical girl outfit Ume Aoki could come up with. It’s not just that the outfit is controversial, but the outfit is absolute garbage as well. You’re welcome. Still, that face and that hairstyle is chef kiss adorbz!

I got spooked by these two on the unlimited gacha…

Can’t complain, I’m very happy with them. You can’t really have enough accele gorillas in this game.

Last and definitely not least:

P O W E R

My original goal for the unlimited gacha was Mikoto because I am still hurt that I didn’t get her when her banner came, but we had to do some last minute changes. After a couple of years, I noticed that Fart had become a little outdated so it was time to move on to the next goddess of fight.

Now, I know what you’re gonna say: But aren’t you a Kanagi stan?! How could you do this betrayal to Darkness Kanagi blastness, you monster?!

Hear me out, sis. I wanted the diagonal blast. Period.

:P

Yeah, and that’s all the new units I got! Not many, but I got more doubles than new units and that’s WAY more exciting to me. You guys know ;) I’ll be back tomorrow with part 2! Talk to you later, sis!

[drizzileiscool]

keroro movie 1 review

6/10

it's a sgt frog movie, as advertised

short, spoiler free review: just another power of friendship type movie. i do not like the whole power of friendship trope

spoiler filled review:

subtitles and other stuff

i get that this isn't a fansub like the rest of the anime, but the subtitles give off netflix vibes. that's a bad thing. i would at least like to be able to read anything

mois's name was changed to moa, lavie is now rabi.

plot

keroro and fuyuki go buy a gundam model together, suddenly they find a weird shrine and it has a portal in it. keroro tries to make an offering of 100 yen but it falls through the portal so they go through and accidentally break some crystal that guards an ancient super weapon. for some reason everyone has x's on their faces and can do telepathy now. at first the telepathy is cool and everyone is doing it. there's even a koyunatsu scene where natsumi does the telepathy thing with koyuki and asks what she likes and koyuki responds with "natsumi". it's followed up with a natsugiro scene with the exact same thing and I don't like that because natsugiro makes me uncomfortable.

the next day the telepathy only starts working on negative thoughts so everyone is much less happy and more depressed. a new keronian called mirara comes in and explains the situation. the super weapon, now known as kilulu, will destroy earth because everyone's telepathy stuff gives off negative energy because they're depressed. mirara is all like "you're all doomed and also you can't save the world because humans and keronians can't live together because keronians are aliens so you can't get along" to which fuyuki responds with "actually me and sarge are besties so yes we can".

uhhh. more stuff happens that I can't be bothered to write, mirara tells them that she knows how to deal with kilulu, fuyuki and keroro's x's are gone and replaced with o's, mirara turns into a key, and a really long scene where they try to get mirara (now a key) into this large space ship thing to stop kilulu. saburo is here and has an important role for once instead of being a joke character that natsumi is in love with. natsumi uses her ultimate warrior super hero weapon outfit thing we saw several episodes ago in season 1 and then never again so it's cool that they brought it back.

another natsugiro scene that I hate happens but that's over quickly and we cut to fuyuki and keroro in the ship trying to get key mirara to the thing. we get a scene where they're all friendship and stuff and fuyuki's like "we're gonna buy gundam models. Together." they get the key into the thing and everything is done woohoo movie's over yippee the end. but their house is completely destroyed from everything so keroro's still in trouble. the end for real this time

art stuff

it's nearly identical to the original, but now in 1080p. that's cool I guess but it doesn't really.. fit.. if that makes sense. I mean I'll probably have to get used to it by the time the new keroro anime comes out but I don't wannaaaa.

final thoughts:

6/10

as stated before, I do not like the power of friendship trope. i get that it's a movie aimed at children and they can't have scenes that are too emotional but pokemon has ash fucking die in the first movie. and then he died again in another movie I think. why can't this movie kill off someone and bring them back. kill off dororo so the platoon realizes "oh shit, dororo exists. we kinda need him" and bring him back for a scene where everyone is crying over his death only to realize his death was faked. or something like that

this movie is exactly what you'd expect from a sgt frog movie.

[gaiamossiah]

Very random but hear me out, this has been in my mind for a while and finally for the first time since 2010, i can finally talk about it.

The only thing i didn't like about the 2006 animation of D.Gray-man was the filler episodes of Lulubell chasing the cross team. Actually, separating the group as they travel to get to Cross was NOT a bad idea and is actually kind of a good way to introduce Lulubell. BUT the way they got separated is quite dissatisfying 😅 like, would Lenalee really fall for something like that?? You see your double, won't you stay alert and keep your distance? Allen's eye is not reacting, yes but of all times, do we forget the Noahs now? Lenalee has been very helpful and reliable prior to this filler arc, she of all people would be on guard in this peculiar situation. Curious, but ON guard. There is so many ways to prove she's the real one haha and the writers just chose not to do it. For the plot, i guess. So i was really shocked to see them make her fell in the trap in that way. A noah popped out, out of nowhere during the Rewinding Town incident... Why not now when the Earl has officially announced war against the Order? And they are on their way to meet a General which Noahs seems to be targteting and with Allen?? The guy who can differentiate akuma from humans??? And he already met a Noah before this?

[I was actually doubting myself because i discovered that some filler episodes aren't really fillers but scenes (or at least based) from DGM Reverse, the light novel so it's not in the manga but still written by hoshino at the very least??? (the arc with Mother and the broker doctor as an example) so i was worried that that arc and lenalee being like that is actually canon but I've yet to find any written official content with it so i guess it's safe to say that the lulubell arc was really a filler. ]

That stupid act of pushing each other in circles can easily be avoided by Lenalee. I don't really get why would she go along with it instead of pushing those arms down and stop the nonsense.Tricking Arystar and Allen (with him used to relying in his eye) is one thing. But Lavi, Bookman and Lenalee??? Maybe Lulubell did such an amazing job on shapeshifting that the Bookmen, with their awesome eyes (Lavi found the real key in the Noah's ark, right?), weren't able to point the real one, i can accept that. But the pushing around in circles sh*t was beyond me. 😮‍💨 They could have done better, Lulubell could have done better. I know this sounds stupid that I can't specifically say exactly what they could have done instead but at the back of my head, i know there's a better way to do it lol. Specifically the part wherein Lulubell causes the confusion of which is who.

Haha idk it just felt like a very desperate attempt to make Lenalee look like a damsel in distress 😞(she is not btw, if there is any confusion) i kind of believe that any lenalee hate that i see mentioning that's she's like that pink-haired character from another anime, started from this arc. The portrayal was so poorly done. Which evidently clouded most people's reactions when Lenalee suffered after losing control over dark boots after the Level 3 fight.

Tch, my girl needs more respect!!!! Would you not be frustrated if suddenly you can't fight? Would you not cry if you see your teammates get injury one after another and you can't do anything because apart from losing control over your weapon, the enemy has started targeting you cuz your condition seems special?? Thuuuus having your already injured friends protect you, too???!!

I have so much more to say but I'll stop here before i offend anyone 🥹 thanks for reading if you did (hopefully no one does, i just want to get this off my chest)

[icharchivist]

he's also lowkey given visuals with the moon!

also "Lavi" isn't his "real name" because he comes from a secret organization that means he has to change his name for every single missions (he's at his 49th name rn) and therefore his base, given name, is linked to the organization he's from :) he joined another organization for hidden purposes :) And he has a full arc realizing that "Lavi" means more to him than any of the 48 names he had before if only because this is when he allowed himself to care :)

he's the blueprint i tell ya

and while honestly it's still unclear if the person above is actually him (it's a mess) we do have an official art of Lavi with glasses.

we were all very normal after this one.

so, you know <3

Megane 😳

DLFKJDFLKJFDLKDF welcome to how we're losing our mind, we haven't recovered. (character has been teased for a long while and just now we're learning more about him)

he's so. god. we're so fucked.

glad it fits your fancy ;D

[akirayuri]

So, after doing some digging for why was D. Gray Man Hollow cancelled or specifically why it became concerning, I found out that the studio released a poster featuring Allen and Kanda in rather scandalizing position.

So here is the debate weather Hoshino-sensai got angry because of the poster or the fact that they published it without her permission.

And, dose she hate Yullen?

I think it has more to do with the fact that they published it without her permission. As we know that Hoshino-sensai is more or less dipping her toes in the LGBTQ community. We have Alma who can be considered non binory. And we also have his complicated yet simple relationship with Kanda which rivals a romantic relationship. I would say it's one of the most heart wrenching canon relationship of the whole series. It breath taking how much thoughts and emotions Hoshino-sensai puts into their relationship. She went beyond gender boundaries to create what is presented to us.

So I don't think it has anything to do with the 'Homophobic' thingy that happens with most of the mangaka.

So does it means that she is solely against Yullen?

Well. I don't think so.

If you guys are manga readers or even anime watchers [ though I suggest to only anime Readers to check out the manga cause it's far ahead of where the anime ended. Please, you won't regret one bit. ] You will notice just how thoughtfully crafted Allen and Kanda's relationship is. From the 1st chapter of the manga and the 2nd episode of the anime we are greated with their constantly heated relationship. From physical fights and taunting insults to getting to know eachother more then any one, knowing eachother's deepest secrets and understanding eachother more then anyone. Dose it looks like Hoshino-sensai is near any where near done? Their insults no longer hold that malice anymore. Kanda was the one to find out that Allen's hold on the 14th was breaking. Allen was the one to see a part of Kanda he didn't want anyone to see. Kanda was one of the few people to see through Allen's perfectly crafted mask.

And don't even forget the fact that giving Kanda and Alma freedom was the reason for Allen's demise or the fact that Kanda came back for Allen's sake, to pay him back and now he is constantly fighting his innocence from making him a fallen. That just how much important their relationship is to the manga. Oh and I totally forgot the borderline Possessive behaviour Kanda is showing towards Link for Allen's sake.

Look me in the eye and say that this isn't Possessiveness or protectiveness in Kanda's own trigger happy way.

[ you know what? This scene reminds me so much of Joongdok. If you don't know what Joongdok is, it's a borderline canon ship of the manhwa and webnovel series called Omniscient Reader Viewpoint. I totally recommend to check it out if you're a fan of apocalyptic fantasy, borderline isekai, unreadable narrative of a lovable yet 'I wanna smack some sense into him' MC, angst and good, plot heavy storyline with complex and good Characters with, of course homoerotic subtext, check it out! ]

They have a big role to play and I don't think Hoshino-sensai will let something so petty hinder her works. As I have read Hoshino-sensai's works just like other dedicated fans of this manga, Hoshino-sensai values her Characters too much to let something so petty get to them. And I respect her for that. Treating you're characters as, well like real individual can help.

It has to be Kanda who can chase down Allen. Lenalee, though a very strong individual but she is far too soft towards Allen to actually drag him down. Lavi as a bookman cannot get personallity involved with any of their business has to stay in the sidelines. And yup. That poor guy is held captive by the Noah's.

Kanda is not soft like Lenalee nor does he cares about anything the order says. The sole purpose for him return into his personal hell is to stick with Allen untill the end. He is the one who can rival Allen in stubbornness.

Not to mention we have this;

This

And this

And yes they're officials by Hoshino-sensai herself. So, antis you have this.

They contrast eachother. They compliment each yet blend into eachother flawlessly.

Let be true here. The last thing I am concerned about is the romance. D. gray man is far better for this. Hoshino-sensai has her unique style to write relationships between characters. So I am not necessarily concerned about the non existent romantic sub plot because I am better of worrying weather Allen will get his happy ending at the or not. I really don't mind if this series doesn't even have a romantic relationship canonically involving Allen cause he needs love as any form of love that has to offer. Plotanic relationship holds more value anyways.

I am really curious about what you guys think about the subject. I will be glad to hear. I don't know how to end this...so I will just leave it here.