#but i read the manga first and it will always remain superior for me

[yohankang]

banana fish opening still fucks

[grandhotelabyss]

A few weeks after the Kafka vogue, Andrew Martin considers the youth appeal of Osamu Dazai, as filtered through Soundcloud rappers and TikTokkers (repeat after me: "ironic metaphysical quietism"):

To someone with a great deal of interest in postwar Japanese literature and almost no working knowledge of TikTok, anime or manga (surely I’m not the only one), this combination of elements is baffling, if not alarming. What would it mean to unabashedly identify with a novel that turns on the Hobbesian epiphany that society “is the struggle between one individual and another, a then-and-there struggle, in which the immediate triumph is everything”? Why is Dazai, continually in print but long overshadowed in the United States by his philosophical and literary inheritor Yukio Mishima, now prominently featured on display tables at Barnes & Noble and prompting new translations and reissues of his 75-year-old back catalog from New Directions, the venerable independent publisher not exactly known for viral hits?

As a dilettante-generalist, I know equal amounts about postwar Japanese literature, TikTok, anime, and manga—more than the average person off the street but less than the expert or otaku. I'll pass on Bungo Stray Dogs for now; it sounds pretty distant from my interests, though "Kafka Asagiri" is a good name.

I was more or less ordered to read No Longer Human in 2019 by my Japanophiliac art students. One of them ruminated sagely, albeit with a bit too much east-west narrative essentialism of the kind we just saw Naomi Kanakia debunking, on the difference between a culture that prescribes No Longer Human and one that prescribes The Great Gatsby as a schoolbook. I liked No Longer Human, but I can also understand why Mishima overshadows Dazai. Mishima seems a superior novelist to Dazai in something like the same way Dostoevsky is superior to Camus: the former writers have more of the world in their books than the latter. This may render the nihilism impure, but then if your nihilism were pure, you wouldn't write a book in the first place.

Anyway, if any TikTokkers are out there, you may enjoy my essay on Dazai's No Longer Human—

Here we see the distance between Dazai’s fiction and contemporary narratives of the superfluous man, such as Todd Phillips’s Joker, whose delusional hero might have been saved by a good therapist and the love of Zazie Beetz, and who in any case manages in his mental illness to lead, however inadvertently, a legitimate social rebellion. On the absolutist terms offered by No Longer Human, this naturalistic faith in secular salvation, whether through psychology, love, or politics (or, for that matter, money and social status), is all nonsense.

��and my essay on the revered horror mangaka Junji Ito's graphic novel adaptation, into which I also folded a few skeptical thoughts on that overrated film Come and See:

Ito is too literal a visualist of Dazai’s verbal vision—almost as literal as a camera, the way the best comics and films never are. Dazai’s novel gave me more reason to ruminate than did Ito’s manga; likewise, Jerzy Kosinski’s novel The Painted Bird, for all its notorious problems, offers us all the horrors and then some—and all the horrified questions—of Come and See, with much more besides, including a philosophy of individuation that we experience by growing with the protagonist. This happens in the inner theater of the mind, where we feel and think it at once and as the same thing; but the film remains always outside, a beckoning or threatening spectacle that never becomes one’s own, a permanent dissociation of sensibility.

Do you think, in the age of "ironic metaphysical quietism," we can meme The Painted Bird into a TikTok sensation next? It could be said to combine Kafka and Dazai, though it may be too pornographic for our gnostic straight-edge puriteens.

[em-uhhh-lee]

1/29 readings

The readings for today explicitly portrayed scenes from the wartime and postwar periods that Japanese soldiers and citizens experienced.

The story of "Onward to Our Noble Deaths" follows a battalion of Japanese soldiers in dire circumstances on the battlefields in Papa New Guinea during World War II. Malaria is rampant, there is hardly any food or water, and all of the soldiers have more or less resigned themselves to the fact that they will die before the war is over.

This leads to many of these soldiers expressing doubt over the validity of their having been stationed in Papa New Guinea in the first place, especially when they're receiving word that Japan is being bombed constantly. Regardless of these doubts, though, they all remain committed to the orders of their superiors, even when they know those orders will get them killed.

There is a large emphasis on the view that suicide is related to honor and dignity. A suicide charge is ordered in order to spare the troops the shame of dying "like dogs" in the jungle, and later on, two soldiers are pressured into committing suicide after making it out of the suicide charge alive. There are plenty of characters in the story that voice dissenting opinions to this line of thought, pointing out how ridiculous it is to give orders that ensure that each soldier dies, but even then, they follow orders.

I noticed as I was reading that death in this manga is almost always rendered in a realist art style. This makes for some very jarring contrasts between the (still tragic, but) cartooney renderings of the soldiers in their daily lives being followed and the reality of the war when they inevitably die. The level of detail is simultaneously disgusting and difficult to look away from.

The second reading "Goodbye" was a lot shorter but was still very heavy. It's set in postwar Japan during the American occupation and centers around a prostitute named Mariko. The image I included above was the most impactful to me when reading. Having read about and discussed the conditions of postwar Japan in class last week, the boisterous presence of the American soldiers and the reactions from (mostly male) Japanese onlookers stood out to me. It really highlighted the element of emasculation that former Japanese soldiers experienced in the aftermath of their loss and when seeing occupying American soldiers with Japanese women.

[arcsoffaith22reflection]

MARY GRACE FEUDO

PRELIMINARIES (MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS)

I was drawn to learn about the wonders of monotheistic religions during the preliminary sessions because it is believed that they are devoted to the doctrine of one God. On the other hand, they are the founding principles of newly imposed faiths at this time, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islamism. They are also known as the Abrahamic religions.

REALIZATION: My take on it is that we need to be responsible for our own doings, especially in the present time, that sins are scattered, and lust are getting its way to the top. Having humility is instilled to be a great thing above all. Although, there is a God who is ready to die for us, it doesn’t mean we become faith dependents ourselves. That we must take actions for everything and not blame it to our faith but instead reflect on oneself. Churches are a way to have a presence to God and not boast that we still believe on something and act innocent. Superiority is vacuous for those believers who just think they are the ones that can dictate a belief of another. Judaism and Christianity are just cursives and printed of each other as they are both rooting in Jesus and Abrahamic descendants, but Judaists has a point or choice, while Christians must abide.

MIDTERMS (POLYTHEISTIC RELIGIONS)

We've gone Poly during the Midterms, tackled about the Regions from India, Thailand, China etc. I am in deep realization through their practices as Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism is introduced. I am able to explore more, there reasons why they have that many auras and faces of faith.

REALIZATION: At one point in the Eastern Polytheistic Religions, they have so many Gods to pray for, surely that they cannot lose faith to all. Their practices are different from ours but that is what they stand for, and it is vital for them to solely find purpose in the teachings. They have these certain scriptures to abide all the time and holiness is all over their vocabulary, that to extent they bring it always on any occasions. In my views as a non-polytheistic person, it has its disadvantages like; people will tell you to pray for him, believe that, do that, because it is written. Yet who knows what it is like to be on their dressers, so I am grateful to at least seek the broadness of this topics.

FINALS (SHINTOISM, INTERFAITH DIALOGUE, IP)

During the finals we have 3 remaining topics, which consists of Shintoism, Interfaith Dialogue, and Indigenous Religion... For the record I have gathered so many lectures and information towards our country and globally.

REALIZATION: Through Shintoism I am at awe in their practices and the belief of conjoining love and making it to a world, like what the God and Goddess did, paying attention to the lecture. It is like their famous manga plots that applies to the religion itself and it is enjoyable to be encountered. On the other hand, Interfaith Dialogue is what binds us as a whole, listening to some podcasts it shaped minds of many that regardless of what beliefs a people have we can still be at peace; and 9/11 is a commemorative step through that and should not be overlooked as a joke of racism, instead a declaration of oneness and good relations. Indigenous People are Philippines's POC version, they are often read in books but never really paid attention too, yet this topic made me look forward to it that our origin must be kept through and enhance by discussing it more and teaching young minds to volunteer kindly, rather than not useful things they do with life. In reality, I am a half-blooded Mangyan as my father's origin and I know some backgrounds and words it is nice to hear familiars on the lesson as I am proud to be the half of one, being with blood to people who set foot first in this country is an honor.

[natsukitakama]

What kind of Yandere Floch is ?

Could I please get Yandere Floch since I’m really curious what type of yandere would he be but with a fem s/o who isn’t member of yeagarits and she’s with Hange and others instead, wanted to stop Eren. She’s also afraid of Floch since she can sense something odd about him

Hey I’m that anon who request yandere Floch with a reader who isn’t a yeagarist, well just so you know they’re not dating but perhaps they are friends and the reader is type of person who’s not ready to be in relationship even if she has a crush and Floch is aware of that. you could reply this ask at the same day when you post this request

Hey it’s me again, the same anon who request yandere Floch, there’s something I want to add more is that the reader figure it out that eren was using and manipulate Floch and the reader was telling Floch that he’s being used so really curious what would he tell her. Once again reply this ask until this request is posted which I know you’ll take long but I’m fine with it since I’m patience

Author note : Hi there, first of all thank you for being so patient with me ! I hope you’ll enjoy your request. It’s like a HS of my what kind of Yandere are they with two part : part 1 and part 2, the only difference is this headcanon got context

Before we started, let me reminds you those relationships are TOXIC please be careful. No one should treat you the way they did in this headcanon, you’re precious and deserve someone who’ll be able to take care of you properly.

Warning : violence / Mention of stress / Toxic relationship and behavior / slight nsfw / mention of violence / Spoiler from season 4/manga if you didn't catch up with the manga you might be spoil so be careful

-->if you don’t feel confortable wit those kinds of things don’t read, I want you to feel good on my blog this is a happy place.

Masterlist

We’re going to start with the basic, during a long time you guys got a hate/love relationship

None of you knew if you hate each other or if you were too into each other, like you were always teasing each other, always trying to get on the other’s nerve.

It was kinda cute until it became an obsession for Floch.

He didn’t notice it though. Not at first, he thought that he was genuinely crushing on you. I mean you were pretty hot, you got a big mouth not afraid to tell whatever you had in mind, you were even bold enough to argue with Floch with that damn smirk of yours.

Before he could acknowledge it he was already in his kneel for you (not literally not now though).

But to you, you were just friends. With your life and what was going own outside of the wall you knew it wasn’t the right time to get in a relationship, so even though you were in love with Floch you decided that it wasn’t appropriate to start dating.

But Floch disagreed with you. It was already too late, he was into you. He wanted to be by your side, he was craving for your attention whether it would be by arguing with him, fighting (not in a bad way you know just teasing each other) or even romantic attention.

He wanted to get everything that you might give him.

And he was ready to do everything in order to get what he was craving for.

At first you didn’t mind it, you didn’t even notice how bad the situation was. I mean, you were in love with him and as you got to know him you realized that he went through a lot of things. You were aware that the Shinganshima’s event left a huge mark on his soul and now he was dealing with a trauma that might stay forever.

It pained you to see him sometimes struggling with his dream because he was always dreaming about the death of his friends, the way he almost dies and for nothing. Yeah they got Shinganshima back but now they needed to be strong in order to fight the whole word outside the wall.

He needed to be strong so he wouldn’t live this again, he needed to be strong so no one would be able to touch you. He knew at this point he became addict to you and you were the only who can maintain a sort of serenity around him.

So yeah when it came to Floch you weren’t exactly unbiased, you cared a lot about him, so you couldn’t manage to just straight up and tell him to let go.

And he knows it oh boy he knows and he is not afraid to use it against you.

Especially when it was time to choose your side, would you be a yeagerist or would you stay with Hange ?

He expects you to make the right choice ( aka follows him in case you were wonderin)

But it was more complicated than that, of course you were afraid. Since you’ve realized that your nightmare started because some people outside of the wall (who used to be your boundaries) decided that you were monster who needed to be killed because some of your ancestor made war against them. You weren’t a fool, you were aware that talking won’t be enough, it’s been decades since the outside hated you, but you weren’t ready to use such a powerful and dangerous power (aka the rumbling) against people without being a hundred percent sure there weren’t a way out.

So for now you decided to follow Hange much to Floch’s dismay

Not gonna lie he was ready, I mean he knew everything about you so of course he kinda expected you to not follow him easily (where’s the fun then ?)

Even if he expected you to confront him and not follow him already, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. I mean why you wouldn’t follow him while all he was doing was fighting for a better word for both of you ? Why wouldn’t you agree with him when he was protecting his people ? Why would you disagree when he was obviously right

So yeah he felt bitterness against you, especially because since you’ve decided to join Hange’s side all you were doing was to confront him about his relationship with Eren. « He is obviously manipulating you ? » « Why are you following him ? I thought he was an ass ? » « We didn’t even try to talk to them how could you be so sure there is no other way ? »

Quickly you came to realize that you couldn’t change his mind which pains you, even though you weren’t ready to be in a relationship for now, you couldn’t help the feeling of emptiness each time you were thinking about him.

Yeah you were missing him, you missed the way you two used to tease each other, you missed his cocky smile each time he was showing off to own some of your precious praise.

But sometimes you swore this man was scaring you, the way his eyes was always on you no matter what (he could have been talking to some of his companion his eyes would remain on you)

Sometimes, you swore that he was following you even though you didn’t have any proof that he was doing it, you just felt it. He was here no matter where you were he was here looking at you from your usual spot to your training spot, you were even starting to think that he was here when you were showering or when you were sleeping.

This sensation was driving you crazy, everyone started to believe that you were a little bit paranoid (yes the man was always looking at you but he told you he was in love so it’s normal right ?)

The feeling became stronger after one of your last confrontation because his behavior (and himself) change brutally :

When you decided to follow Henge-San no matter what, you knew that it would affect your relationship with everyone especially the one you got with Floch. After all he decided to become a yeagarist and to betray everyone in order insure paradis’ safety. In his mind everything made sense, his trauma, all the things he had to go through was because of them, because some people behind the wall decided that paradis was the real danger and needed to be annihilated. What he couldn’t understand was why you hadn’t join him yet ? His goal was noble, he was doing everything to provide you safety. Why were you against him ? Why would you meddle into his plan ? At first, he thought you were playing hard just to amuse him, because you used to love teasing him and while he was enjoying a little opposition coming from you, now that he was about to betray everyone including his superior by changing them into titans he needed to have you by his side. He couldn’t wait anymore, the plan already begun so he needed to convince you to follow him.

That’s why you were here now, in jail behind the bar while Floch was looking at you a frown on his face. No, it was more than that, it was the face you made when you were about to scold your child from acting like a brat. He looked disappointed and quite angry, though you got some ideas why he might be angry you couldn’t however understand why he was so disappointed. After all, you told him that his plan was insane so why was he acting like this ? To be honest you should be the one being angry, he got the nerve to send some rookie from the survey corps find you to arrest you so they could bring you to your jail. You’ve been here since your last argument with Floch and it was like a week ago.

« You know I always knew you were a bad looser but I didn’t expect you to bring me into jail for not being cooperative. Don’t you think it’s a little bit excessive ? Like a LOT »

« Always sassy right Y/N »

« It’s not sassiness at this point it’s just being rational »

« Rational ? You are talking about being rational while being the one who claimed that my plan was full of shit ? »

« I didn’t really say that I just underlined the fact that we still got some cards to play before sending whatever Eren want to send »

« The rambling »

« Yeah whatever that’s not the point »

« It’s definitely the point »

« Absolutely not there is plenty of things to do before even consider sending them titans to kill a whole population »

« A WHOLE POPULATION ? Did you hear yourself y/n ? THEY kill us, THEY were the reason we don’t have a home anymore THEY are the reason so many people died and for what uh ? »

« Not because their government want us dead does it mean the people want our death most of them are probably innocent. There are other way Floch »

« There is no other way y/n the world has to be fix »

« Fix ? Now you are scarring me Floch »

« It doesn’t matter what you think y/n »

« May I ask you why ? »

« Because you’re not leaving this jail »

« I beg your pardon ? »

« Look, here you’re safe from both them and the yeagarist »

« I’m not afraid I’ll kick their ass »

« I won’t take the risk of losing you, so you’re going to stay here all you cute for me yeah ? I Wont be too long I need to work on a little problem then I would be back and you could yell at me as much as you want ok ? I’ll be back »

« No no no Floch look come back OI come back ! I’m not going to stay here you now I’ll find a way out »

« No you won’t nobodies know you’re here I told the yeagarist that you were dead. They won’t look for you, your friends believe you’re dead too. I’m the only person who knows where you are. But it’s okay, it was always about us right ? »

With that he just left your jail, without even a look, all he could was your scream but he didn’t care. The jail was hiding under the military court no one would even think about looking for you here. Besides the wall was thick enough so no one would hear you screaming, for now he decided that you will remain here until he was done saving paradis. But of course, he promised himself to take great care of you so don’t worry.

After this « incident » (aka his way to save you from the trouble outside according to him), his behavior change toward you. You noticed it, he became possessive and rather paranoid when it came to you.

So you might ask what kind of Yandere he is ?

Possessive : I mean he was already possessive before he became the Yandere that he now is, he just lost so many people that now he was afraid that you would be next. So yeah he always makes sure to have his hand on some part to your body mostly your hips or even better holding your hand, since you were attracted to him you let him do his things. But as he falls gradually into darkness, his touch which used to be light touch became more rough. Floch wasn’t holding you anymore he was grabbing you, as if to demonstrate to everyone that he owns you. It wasn’t a mark of affection, but a way for him to illustrate your affiliation to him (as if you were wearing a leash). Speaking of leash, he started to think about it when he notices way too many people was looking at you as if they didn’t understand that you belong to him. And when you two started to be intimate, he was more than ready to mark each inch of your body whether from his teeth, mouth or even from the way he is grabbing at your thigh. It quickly became a habit of him to ask who you belong to especially each time he was giving a rather hard slap from his hips or his hands (because if you think he wouldn’t spank you for being naughty or a brat you’re wrong he loves that) and even though at first you didn’t like the idea of moaning your belonging you quickly discover that it was better for you to just do as he said.

Paranoid : It might because of his trauma from the mission in Shinganshima or because he was more aware about the fact that everyone outside the wall want to erase paradis from the world but he was afraid to loose you. I mean since he joined the survey corps all he has do was losing someone, he lost Erwin, he lost his friends, he lost a part of his mind, he almost lost his life. There is no way he was about to lose you. So yeah as you may notice before, he started by locking you from the world in a jail under the military court after claiming to everyone who wanted to hear it that you were dead. One night he woke up after dreaming that one of the yeagarist would discover you in jail after bringing another prisoner, what if they unlock you ? So after multiple days in jail, without any light, he decided that he couldn’t let you here it was too dangerous, although he claimed to you that he did because he noticed your unhealthy body cause of the lack of light. But since he wasn’t sure if he could trust you enough, he took some handcuff with him so he could link you and him, which made him laugh cause it was as if he put a ring on you. That day he locked you into a house secluded from the world, meaning that you couldn’t reach any city without a horse, it was safe for him and for you and here he was sure no one would ever notice you.

Threatening : Of course, you wouldn’t let him do as he pleased, so some times you tried to kick his ass to steal his horse, or to climb into a tree to help you finding the closest city. You even tried to make him believe you kill yourself so he went completely crazy, screaming, crying so you could knock him you. Unfortunately it never works, and after your failed attempt to leave him he started to threaten you. At first he uses light poison, like he gave you a poison that he mixed on your meal or your drink without you noticing so you were ill during the whole day and you needed to wait like a good s/o that your lovely husband as he calls himself, so he could give you the medicine. Sometimes he even let you believe that he might give you something that will change you into titan like : Do you remember all your officer ? Yeah ? They all drink that famous spinal liquid that change everyone into titan, what if you drank it by accident mh ? Maybe when he gave you food he already mixes your drink with that poison ? Whether it was true or not no one will know, but it works you never attempt to leave him after that.

Violent : I hate to say it, but at some point when dark would entirely cover his mind, he would start being violent against you. Though he would never be something that could kill you, he wanted you to remember that you were living a peaceful live because of him, you were safe because of him. To him you got no reason of being such a brat to him, not when he was giving you everything you wanted. He took care of you, you had no right to be mad at him. So yeah sometimes he had to break your ankle, or maybe your leg so you won’t escape. Sometimes he would strangle you slightly just enough to knock you out. It barely happens because to act like this he needed to be really really angry, like loosing every common sense you know ? So it barely happens but it happens. Your body still have so marks as proof that you shouldn’t get on Floch’s nerve. Despite his physical violence, he tends to be quite violent with his word too so it wouldn’t be a surprise that you’ll break. The emotional amusement in addition with the physical violence would be enough to break anyone so you shouldn’t be ashamed. After all maybe he has been looking for this since the beginning ? Who knows ?

[izkaya]

on deku vs kacchan 3 and the way mha uses fight scenes

I think that a really distinct reason of why every “Deku VS Kacchan” match feels far heavier and different than most other fights in MHA is because it doesn’t matter who wins.

Rewatching both fights so far recently had me thinking. I opened up the clip on youtube and watched it, feet kicked back on my sofa. The video started and hummed and hawed as per usual on the remarkable development and comparison of this to their current relationship in canon. Hey, I thought to myself then. I don’t remember Deku winning in their first fight.

But I rewinded it. I watched it. I opened the wiki and I reread it. And he did.

I was obviously taken aback. I remembered most of the MHA plot, having read and watched both the anime and manga and being up to date. I could remember a vast majority of the fight scenes simply because they were my favorite parts about the anime. So why didn’t I remember the outcome of DvK1?

I eventually understood.

The thing about every fight Katsuki and Izuku have is that who wins or loses never really meant to matter.

You see, with every single fight in MHA, it was almost always a matter of who wins or loses. Villains, obviously, were meant to lose each time--and in any situation where they won, the intention was to strike fear into viewers and make them doubt the hero. The narrative of these fights were always about winning or losing because of the stakes behind them.

Eri. Kouta. Bakugou.

There was always a higher stake. Something to be won or someone to be saved.

Even with students, there was always a reason behind every win or loss. Even narratively. Deku VS. Shinsou, for example, had a stake on either end. Shinsou needed to prove himself to the hero course. He needed the validation that he could be a hero and eventually work his way into the hero course. He lost in the end anyway, because he needed that little kick to encourage him to work harder to make it in with guidance from Aizawa. Deku VS. Shinsou had Deku win because through this, he was able to realize the weight of One for All’s true nature (the vestiges breaking Shinsou’s mind control) as well as prove himself worthy in front of everyone’s eyes.

This same structure is applicable everywhere else. In Todoroki VS Bakugou 1, it was to push Bakugou into creating a rivalry and becoming invested in Todoroki’s improvement because he won ‘unfairly’ and to highlight Todoroki’s remaining inhibitions due to his past in an impactful way that eventually encouraged him to finally speak with his mom. Even in minor fights like Tokoyami vs. Yaomomo, Momo’s quick loss was needed in order to introduce and plant the beginnings of what would become her major self-doubt issues at the beginning of her character arc.

To put it simply, winning and losing was always a huge part of how MHA developed fight scenes.

So why are DvKs different?

The main reason why DvKs always feel different in comparison to every other fight scene is because, in my opinion, they aren’t actually fight scenes. At least, not in the sense that MHA uses them as.

DvKs are always built up, always lead through and hinted at through entire seasons. It was never just an arc between them, never just a Sports Festival or Final Exams or anything. Whenever a DvK battle happened, it was always something that had been festering for episodes.

In example, the first Deku VS. Kacchan. The fight happened in episode 7, and was naturally introduced because it was part of a school exercise. The tension was most obvious in the episode beforehand, viewers bracing themselves as soon as we saw that Midoriya and Bakugou would be going against each other in the first round.

But like, okay.

The tension and traces of this battle were actually lined up since the very first episode. Hear me out. In the infamous “Take a swan dive off a roof and pray you’ll have a quirk in your next life!” scene, we hear Katsuki already placing loads of doubt on Izuku’s capabilities. His respect for Deku was rooted in what he knew. And that was, Deku is quirkless and therefore cannot be his equal. Any idea that contradicted to this would mean two things:

A shift in their relationship

A shift in Bakugou’s world views

From the first episode, we are already laden with hints that Katsuki would not take lightly to knowing at all that Deku had any power. He’s stubborn and also incredibly flawed in his values, believing his assumptions about Deku’s character were correct and that he was superior to Deku in every way that ‘mattered’. When we finally get to the parts where Deku is given OfA, it snowballs more and more until by episode six, literally everyone is aware that a battle between these two is inevitable.

The subtlety of these hints meant that we as the viewers were expecting this fight, whether we consciously realized it or not.

No other fight is set up like this--excluding villain fights like the Overhaul arc, which is excusable because the set-up used in these battles were always about its stakes. In DvKs on the other hand, the stakes were practically nonexistent unless you had a huge bias for either character (obviously, in most of our cases, Deku because Bakugou wasn’t exactly winning anyone’s hearts in the first season).

Each DvK fight is less of an actual fight and more of a conversation. They’re utilized to dispel the growing tension between Midoriya and Bakugou and repair their relationship regardless of who wins or loses. Deku didn’t have to win DvK1. Either way, Katsuki still would have gone on with the knowledge that Deku had a quirk he never told him about. Either way, Katsuki would have walked away with the ultimatum that he now had to acknowledge Deku properly. Regardless of winning or losing, both Deku and Katsuki were able to leave these fights knowing something new about the other and having a conversation to dispel tension caused by misunderstandings.

DvK 2. We’ve all seen plenty of analysis posts on this episode. Did it matter that Katsuki won? Did it matter that Deku lost? Aside from that really tense final scene where they pinned each other that I’m sure all of us remember, the result of DvK 2 had no significant change on the outcome.

The fight was a conversation. It was where Izuku and Katsuki were able to see each other eye-to-eye. The tension that had been boiling--had been continuously hinted at by Kamino Ward and then the Licensing Exam Arc just like how DvK 1 was prepared for since the first episode. There was always a catalyst behind these fights that had nothing to do with the actual need to win or lose--that aspect simply inherent to both Katsuki and Deku’s wins.

Don’t get me wrong; the win or lose aspect is something that still has an effect on either of their characters, but the difference is that they aren’t the main point of each battle. This is something even Bakugou admits in DvK 2 when he tells Deku to stop overthinking their fight. 

It was never about winning or losing or strategy. It was about the intentions behind it.

Both Deku VS Kacchan fights so far have always occurred when there was a needed turning point in their relationship. Each time unsaid secrets or opinions between Izuku and Katsuki pile up, the metaphorical straw that breaks the camel’s back is another fight. They’re less of interjected conflicts and more of milestones for their relationship.

(For sure, if DvK 3 does happen in the manga, we’ll definitely be in for a surprise on how Deku and Kacchan develop next.)

[volfoss]

how about ranking bucciarati's team?

regret to inform you that ur gonna get a very long answer bc i have passionate feelings about them all! also trish is in this bc she is part of the team and no one will tell me otherwise and will also include some rambling bc it is me and i have so many feelings towards these characters and none of them r cohesive

under the cut just in case (post writing yes it was long)

Giorno Giovanna:

way way more complex than ppl normally give him credit for (i will not go into feelings on how a majority of the fandom treats him unless ppl want me to then i will in fact make a very long ranty post and will not be stopped)

mildly op (esp at the beginning with how hes kind of able to just use his stand really well w no problems altho i think thats true of most of the jojos that we have seen animated?)

i am emotionally attached to him and want to give him a big hug

hes just a kinda goofy kid and is maybe a bit not good with figuring out hey this is a semi dangerous situation maybe i shouldnt be taunting him (leaky eye luca for example)

has the actual best theme

i love how he works off the rest of the team so well (even w members who do not like him)

is in my top 3 jojos i love this kid sm i would adopt him if he was real

7/10

Bruno Bucciarati:

the fucking way his character develops from licky man to best dad material is my favorite thing

his outfit is so so so good i would die to wear it

in general this man is one of my fave jojos characters and i get a lot of comfort from him

hes just really neat and has a good taste in music

he did his fucking best and i will always love him for that

imo the way that his death was drawn out was genuinely one of the most heartbreaking deaths in the entire series and fucks me up each time i think of it

i feel like he really is the one to hold the team together in a way that everyone feels cared for and saved

def has a savior complex tho for sure

dilf but im ace

also manga superiority bc he either makes the stupidest faces or looks very nice (anime has a lot of weird animation in regards to his face) and also because its lingerie there instead of a tattoo that changes thickness and placement every second

10/10

Leone Abbacchio:

guilty pleasure liking man

i am obsessed with his vibes and wish to become him

i cannot physically express just how much i love him but hes one of my faves of all time (not obvious by my theme at all wdym)

i miss his manga palette but also the colored manga isnt my beloved but also black lipstick abba

hot take maybe but anime abba looks better than manga minus the lipstick debacle

hes so so tall and i will steal his height in a nice way

his past man his past it fucks me up

his death fucks me up normally but when i was rewatching recently, i saw he gave this tiny lil smile after helping the kids get their ball and i could not take it anymore

him and brunos relationship (canonically and out of canon too) is one of my favorites in the series

also fandom hot take as i guess i am doing those for everyone- but ppl either have him as cosntantly trying to murder giorno or being like good son and v out of character, and it is really weird? not sayign that ill do better when i write them but also like im convinced some ppl havent seen the show or smth

i will steal both him and bruno and marry them both <3

this man is beloved i love him to death

10/10

Pannacotta Fugo:

i cannot spell his first name to save my life

also fandom take- ppl make him constantly only angry boy all the time and it really irks me. ik araki did not give him 2 much to work w in terms of canon personality but its frustrating

the light novel purple haze feedback is so so so good and adds sm to his character and i really like it for that!

fugo is one of those that imo deserves a lot and didnt get that

genuinely the vibes between how he treats narancia is v interesting to me, like its clear he cares about nara but nara not doing great w math really frustrates him

i love their interactions and how he is genuinely a kind person at times

the manga colors r superior here, my strawberry boy <3

i just really love and appreciate him a lot and wish that ppl gave him more love

i keep getting assigned him on kin quizzes

very smart good boy

ALSO ok fugo did not do any wrong by leaving

unsure if thats a hot take but i genuinely dont blame the character one bit for leaving and again purple haze feedback really delves into that and why he did it

if ur a fugo fan go read it

his past is really upsetting esp in the anime i will cry over it

his stand is adorable and i wanna hug it

his vibes r fun and i wanna gift him strawberry dangly earrings

8/10

Narancia Ghirga:

this boy i am also adopting (i am adopting most of them sorry)

i really hate how ppl act as if hes stupid bc bad math skills do not equal stupid like did ppl not see the fight w formaggio??

the way he just fucking dove into the water after the boat and how brunos face went all soft and happy it will never not make me cry

he is constnatnly making me wanna cry if i think too much about him for 2 seconds i love him sm

how can anyone not adore him when he set an entire street on fire yk

hes just happy despite his past and it makes me sad i love nara sm

torture dance is one of my favorite memes from the show

ALSO ok the way he died so suddenly absolutely broke me bc the remaining team members r really just seeing everyone die in front of them so quickly

his goofy and laid back moments r my fave

i love just how loyal and caring he is to his friends

his stand is really cool and again the fight w formaggio was so fun to watch

8/10

Guido Mista:

probably my least favorite member of the team for a semi good reason:

the jokes towards trish are really really uncomfy and how fugo doesnt wanna be involved but he is pushing him to do something that makes him uncomfortable did not make me like him a lot

hes goofy but not goofy enough for me to be ok with the repeated jokes about that esp in the body swap episode (ik it was supposed to be funny but it just felt off)

his vibes r good but i wish we got to see his hair

the fandom interpretation is normally pretty good of him overall?

despite not loving him a lot, i really enjoying writing for him (one day might open up headcanon requests or smth but unsure)

hes someone id wanna watch movies w but his taste in movies and mine r very different

love how he and his stand get along

honestly has very very good comedic potential

i really like how he and giorno interact as the series goes on (in a platonic way i need to clarify that i love their friendship)

again him in purple haze feedback was really interesting

probably a 5/10?

Trish Una:

beloved and deserved better

her first outfit in the manga > outfit in the anime

actually in general i believe in manga trish superiority like her hair in the manga looks so cool

her stand her stand her stand i love sm

if u dont include trish in the group i am murdering u <3

HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!! IS SO GOOD!!!!!!

fandom gripe is how people either pretend she does not exist or has the trish first introduction thing where shes using her defense mechanisms and acting a bit spoiled

OK but her in purple haze feedback!!! mild spoilers but how bruno was taking care of her post the ending of vento aureo makes me so happy each time i think of it

very mad that she canonically didnt really get an ending and yet again PHF my beloved actually gave her that

how spice girl starts out as a stand thats helping her thru a very stressful situation is so cool and i love it

DAD BRUNO DAD BRUNO DAD BRUNO *frothes at the mouth*

but more seriously how she leans on bruno and begins 2 trust him and nearly point blank is referring to him as a father figure always fucks me up

esp because of the resulting fight afterwards

and the very ending of the arc that ends w bruno being like bye gonna go in the clouds and look ethereal now, oh man it makes me so sad

bc giorno is the only one that knew what happened and people that were closer to bruno due to knowing him longer didnt

i wanna see how trish coped w that personally

despite being introduced not at the beginning i think her arc and character in general were as well paced as it could be!

9/10

finally done! sorry that took so long but oh man i have so many feelings towards these guys its not even funny

[twistedtummies2]

Moriarty’s English Dub

As of today, “Moriarty the Patriot” - my new favorite anime - has its own English Dub. As of the moment I am posting this, I have binged all eleven episodes of the first season with the Dub. I must admit, I was both extremely eager and somewhat worried about how the Dub would turn out: as anybody with even a modicum of interest in anime will tell you, the English Dubs for shows tend to be hit or miss. For every FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, you’ll have a Beyblade. And given how much I love(d) this series and its original voice cast (even if I couldn’t understand a word without those lovely subtitles), I was both excited to hear how new actors would handle them in my own language, and yet had some trepidations, worried the end result could prove vastly inferior. SO...the obvious question you readers are asking is...what do I think of it?

My overall opinion of the Dub is that it is a good one...GOOD, mind you. Not perfect, nor brilliant. I wouldn’t say it’s as good as the original voice cast...but it’s not BAD, either. There are just one or two points where I feel the original cast is decidedly superior. The minor side characters and supporting roles of the show are mostly pretty good; the only places where I feel things don’t quite work are some of the characters who are meant to be kids, where they are...very, VERY obviously voiced by actors or actresses who, bless their talented hearts, just cannot sound like kids. XD Having established and settled that fact, let us consider the major characters. Of the Moriarty Gang, Howard Wang is absolutely spot-on as Louis: prim, proper, usually gentle, but with a coldness and viciousness to him in necessary moments. Chris Guerrero as Albert, meanwhile, is not quite what I anticipated: he has a lighter, somewhat more theatrical voice than I imagined. The more I hear of him, however, the more I warm up to him: he’s a case where the unconventional casting actually works in the Dub’s favor, bringing a new dimension and element of the character to life while still feeling like the one I’ve come to know and perceive from earlier interpretations. And just like the one from the original cast, I somehow never question him as a younger man, either. Clearly a good sign. Less spectacular are Caleb Yen and Christopher Wehkamp, as Fred Porlock and Sebastian Moran, respectively. Now, I should point out neither necessarily does a BAD job - there’s nothing wrong with their ACTING, they’re handling the characters well enough, and if I hadn’t seen the original, I might not have any issue (might not; hard to say for sure. In the case of Yen, the issue is simply that he sounds too old for Fred’s rather obvious youthful standing...and as for Wehkamp? To be perfectly honest, it’s hard for me to say just what my issue with his performance: while Albert’s voice has warmed up to me after seeing eleven episodes, Wehkamp’s just leaves me trying to figure that problem out every time I hear it. I don’t know what the matter is because, objectively, there shouldn’t BE any problems: the dialect makes sense, the quality of the voice is fitting, and yet, for some reason...I’m just sort of always aware of the fact he’s being dubbed, if that makes sense.  On the Holmes side of the spectrum, let me just start off by saying that Suzie Yeung is PERFECT as Miss Hudson. She is at least equal to her original Japanese counterpart, if not better. Dr. Watson is played by Ryan Colt Levy, who evidently is a big Holmes fan and was ecstatic when he got the part. Well, his passion is evident in the power of his voice, because his Watson is pretty perfect: he’s got something of a laid-back quality to his voice, which surprisingly matches the grounded, rational normalcy of John in the show, and there’s a quality to his voice that reminds me of some of my favorite Watsons in the past, most notably Jude Law. He captures both the sweetness and the tenacity of Watson in this version brilliantly. Again, most assuredly on-par with the original so far. Once again, a weak point here is Inspector Lestrade. He is voiced by David Matranga. He has both the same and the opposite problem as Yen’s Fred Porlock. The same in that his voice really doesn’t seem to match the age of the character’s design and demeanor; opposite in that, instead of sounding too old, he sounds much too young. Honestly, he’s my least favorite casting choice of the bunch, possibly: it’s just so distracting hearing that voice from this big, gruff fellow who is very clearly older than the tone seems to indicate. All this brings us to our two leads: Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. I am happy to report that both impress me a great deal. Holmes is played by Theo Devaney; he’s perhaps SLIGHTLY older-sounding than I’d imagine, but unlike Fred, it’s never to a degree that’s distracting. What I love about Devaney’s voicework is it really does match THIS Holmes, if that makes sense. The brilliance of this series is that, for all the changes it makes, Holmes remains basically the same character we’ve always known, at his core. Devaney’s voice matches that idea brilliantly; some of his lines and deliveries call such actors to my mind as Basil Rathbone, Nicholas Briggs, Jason Gray-Stanford, Barrie Ingham, and other great classic Holmeses of the past to my head...yet he still brings a unique spin all his own, his dialect having a roughness others lack, and keeping the energy necessary for this version. I can easily imagine his voice when reading the manga or especially the Conan Doyle classics. I do still prefer the original voice actor more, mostly because he was just so intensely exuberant in his style and I think captured Holmes’ mood swings more incredibly, but Devaney still does a grand job. So, we come to the main man himself: William James Moriarty. He’s voiced by Aaron Dismuke, whom I primarily know as the voice of Lucifer from “The Devil is a Part-Timer!” I wasn’t quite sure what to expect here, but...honestly, the more I listen to Dismuke’s Moriarty, the more I adore him. I’m not gonna lie, I think, astonishingly, I might like him MORE than Soma Saito, the original voice actor. Now, I don’t like the changes to some of his dialogue (”Come and catch me if you can, Mr. Holmes”...seriously, that line was IN ENGLISH in the first place, why change it?! It sounds all clunky THAT way!), but in terms of the voice and his performance, I think he hits the nail on the head beautifully. It is more or less exactly the voice I would imagine this Moriarty to have. I have no idea if he and Devaney were ever in the same room at any point, but the way the two characters bounce off one another is as powerful as ever...and for every line change that feels odd, there are line changes throughout this series (not just for him, but in general) that either have no effect and therefor are not very noticeable, or actually come across as BETTER than what was originally said. Which still doesn’t excuse them changing...you know...arguably the most famous line/moment in the entire thing, but...whatever. Win some, lose some. So, in conclusion...while I overall prefer the original subtitlted version to this dub, the dub is not necessarily bad. There are better ones, but there are certainly worse, and I would say this is even better than being “just okay.” I’m not sure exacatly where to rank or rate it, but I think the bottom line I can give is this: if someone wanted to watch the Dub of this show instead of subtitles, for any reason, I wouldn’t discourage them in the least. To me, I think that’s ultimately what matters.

[yandere-wishes]

//Yandere Obey Me//

I’ve been addicted to this game since it’s relese! I just had to write a quick something something! Enjoy!

Lucifer

Lucifer is a sadistic and controlling yandere who wants his darling's pure devotion. He wants his darling to obey him to devote her entire soul to him. To be at his beck and call. In reality, the views his darling as a pet of sorts more than a lover.

He takes a long time to select a darling wanting one that Is already somewhat superior compared to others of their kind. Someone who will be slightly easier for him to mold. He kidnaps you the moment he's sure that you are the right one.

"(y/n)...."

He has so many strict rules that you must follow. They're even worse than the laws set for the other members of the house of lamination. He controls every word you speak, every direction you step in, every person you talk to. He suffocates you with his presence and commands, depriving you of your thoughts until all you can think of him and what he wants.  

His punishments are harsh and frequent, even the smallest mistake will earn you many cuts and bruises. He adores physical torment, leaving markings on your flesh, bruises on places you can't cover-up. He relishes in it and the sounds of agony and pain that you make are hymns to his ears.

He also finds pleasure in degrading his darling. Reminding them of how weak and useless they are and how powerful and flawless he is. He even likes to make a show of it sometimes calling you names and even punishing you in front of his brothers.

"Behave yourself!"

Additional notes

He always dresses you in the finest and most lavish dresses. They vary in length and brand but are always in shades of black, grey and red. You always have gold necklaces around your neck, earrings that may be a little too long and bracelets that shimmer far too brightly. He even has a custom made ring with his name in graved in it. It one of his "rules" that that ring is never to leave your finger.

Lucifer loves to hear his darling beg, it proves to him just how much control he has over her. He also enjoys humiliation making you feel ashamed and pleased simultaneously gives him another boost of pride.

Mammon

At first, Mammon views his darling as a possession that he can do with as he pleases. If they're using full he'll keep them around. If they start to bore him then he'll simply get rid of them right....?

Wrong! It doesn't take long for him to notice just how much he wants his darling. That they have to stay close to him for him to remain sain. He has to have them, only he can have them, touch them, hold them, own them.

He shifts so quickly into a possessive obsessive mix. He puts so much time and effort into learning everything about his darling, even certain details she may have not known herself. Still, it's not good enough, something is missing.

"Look (y/n) I don't love you, I own you!"

So he kidnaps them, locking them up in his room away from everybody else. He doesn't see it as a bad thing though. In his eyes, this is the safest option for his lover they are secure and safe and his. What else could they possibly need?

Mammon spares to expenses when it comes to his darling. He gets them the most expensive dazzling jewelry that he can find. All their clothes are over the top and a bit too revealing. Anything they have ever wanted is swiftly given to them. In a sense, it's the only way Mammon knows to show his affection for his lover.

“...Okay maybe just a little”

Additional details

He has a solid gold collar with his "property of the great Mammon" engraved into it. He insists that his darling wears it at all times.

He's very kinky and has very odd tastes in sexual activities. One thing he adores his laying his darling stark naked on a bed covered in grim and other jewels. It's a mix of his two favorite things; wealth and his darling!

Mammon's punishments are usually isolation. It's mostly due to his oversized ego. He believes that depriving you of his "great: presence will be enough punishment. To an extent he is right, Mammon is the only social connection that you have left. Having him leave you for so long crumbles you. By the time he gets back you are quick to hug him while sobbing and promising you'll be a better lover and do anything h says!

He also enjoys soft touches and sweet praises coming from his beloved. It means they like him! It has to! All he really wants is for them to love him.

Leviathan

Levi is very possessive and very easy to drive into a jealous rage. He believes that he knows what's best for his darling, that's why he pushes his interests onto her as much as possible.

He keeps them locked up in his room alongside himself and Henry 2.0. Making them partake in playing video games, watching anime and reading manga with him throughout the day.

"You love me right (y/n)?"

He always dresses you up in "cute" clothing, usually mimicking Ruri-chan's outfits. He even does your hair to look like hers, heck he's probably already died it the same color too.

He's also very clingy wanting you to constantly be touching you. He makes you sit on his lap when he's on his computer. He always has an iron grip on your waist when the two of you are sleeping. Making it hard for you to move and sometimes even breathe.

“Or are you just lying to me?!”

Additional notes Levi loves to role play it's his biggest kink. He loves to reenact scenes from his favorite shows or books with certain sexual twists.

He constantly has you shackled as a sort of reinsurance for himself. He loves you but he doesn't trust you. No matter how well behaved you are there is always still an inkling in the back of his mind saying you'll turn on him somehow.

His punishments are physical and sometimes degrading. If you make him too mad he might not even notice that he's gripping you too tight and leaving bruises. If you go over the board he may even start to punch you while screaming about how much of a "normie" you are and how useless you would be without him!

Satan

Satan is a sneaky and manipulative yandere, he twists all your emotions and thoughts to better suit himself. At first, he may seem like the perfect boyfriend, kind, caring, a true gentleman. And he's happy to play the part to hide his true for just a little while longer.

Slowly Satan will convince you that you don't need your friends or your family members. That they never cared about, that he is the only one that ever truly cared. The thought hurts like salt to a wound. But the more you think about it the more the likely hood grows. It soon becomes evident to you that Satan is the only one that ever loved, ever cared about you! It's the truth it has to be!

Oh, how wrong you are...

"(Y/N) haven't you found out that I'm not the innocent flower..."

He tries all so had to make you into the "perfect darling". Teaching you all formes of etiquette, making you read his favorite books and memorizing the most famous quotes.  

Satan will even try to outdo Lucifer. Wanting you to dress and look even more glamorous than his brother darling. He wants everyone to talk about how well behaved and stunning his darling, he wants them all to drip in envy of him and his lover.

"...I'm the serpent underneath"

Additional notes

Satan isn't too big on physical punishments. He prefers scolding you and turning your own emotions on you. He morphs whatever it is you've done to upset him making you believe that he'll leave you and never come back. Despite the hatred you posses for him you still can't bear the thought of him leaving you. It sends you into a maniacal fit. You need him, you don't know why but you do.

He'll have you crying and begging for his forgiveness, clinging onto his leg pleading with him to stay. Promising that you'll be good that you'll never upset him ever again!

Satan likes to keep you close by at all times. One of his favorite things to do is to have you sit on his lap while he reads. Of course, that usually turns sexual very quickly.

Asmodeus

Asmodeus is a very tricky yandere to pin. He's not loyal to his darling he cheats constantly, always has a new "lover" clinging to his arm. At first, he doesn't even really "care" about his darling, they can do whatever they please as long as they always come running when he calls.

But then he sees you with someone else, talking and touching and kiss and... It's too much for him! The sight sickens him to his stomach! He doesn't get it. It shouldn't bother him that you have other lovers, God knows he has plenty. But he can't push the thought away. He needs you to be his to only touch him, to only kiss him, to only be with him!

"(y/n) put this on..."

One night he simply decides to take you. To keep you locked away forever as his own little pet! It's not a difficult task to accomplish, he simply uses calls you over to spend the night. It's happened so many times before that you don't even think twice about it.

The shock -and hindsight- hits you in the morning, when you can't move your aching body. Legs and arms spread at different angles. Asmodeus his sitting next to you tracing pattern of hearts and stars in your bare skin. He's never been so happy! Your all his now!

"...You’ll look so sexy!"

Additional notes Asmodeus uses sexual punishments for when you misbehave. He gets you all turned on and then just leaves you for hours on end. When he gets back -most likely from a party-  you'll beg him to take you. Apologizing for misbehaving and vowing to do anything he asks if only he'll take you then and there.

If you've really made him angry than he'll make you watch as he "plays" with another one of his lovers. It'll break your heart but it'll also teach you a valuable lesson. That to him, you are replaceable.

He always dresses you in the most revealing outfits -if they can even be considered as "outfits". He personally does your hair and make up, wanting you to be almost as stunning as he is.

Asmodeus is very clingy he'll always be touching you in some way. It's not always sexual sometimes it's even very casual. Of course, it'll take time before you realize what Asmodeu's version of casual really is.

Beelzebub

Beelzebub is a soft yandere but also very possessive. In his mind, he owns you just as much as you own him! You belong to each other and no one can ever separate the two of you.

He treats you like a goddess, giving you everything you could ever dream of. The cutest stuffies, prettiest clothes, most delicious foods! Anything! Anything at all, say the word and Beel will do anything in his power to obtain it for you.

"I love kissing you..."

But there is another side to the affectionate demon. He's lost so many that he's cared about, he can't lose you! It will destroy him. It's for your own safety that he keeps you locked away in his shared room. It the only way to ensure that no harm comes your way.

Out of the seven brothers, Beelzebub is the most relaxed when it comes to showing off his darling. He wants his brothers to love and accept his darling as they do with him. He also wants his darling to befriend his bothers and their respective darling.

"...Your flavor is so addicting”

Additional notes Beel has a bit of an "older brother" complex especially after the "death" of Lilith. He may treat you as a sibling sometimes other than a lover.

He'll definitely want you to get close with Belphegor and his darling. It may even end up that the twins might share their darlings or go about choosing the same one.

Beel never uses sexual punishments. He prefers to keep sex as a reward much like food. He does, however, force his kinks on to his darling, under the pretext that they'll "learn" to like it/them.

Beelzebub's punishments are typically leaving you on your own. He hates getting mad at you or even hurting you. He'll probably just storm out and come back later after he's let off some steam. Then he'll sit his darling in his lap and ask them why they misbehaved and try to talk it out.

Belphegor

The most delusional yet also most lax of all the seven brothers. In Belphi's mind, the two of you are already dating so there's no need to lock you up or even constantly follow you around.

Sure he gets jealous when he sees you with someone else. But even then all he does is drag you into his room after telling the other person off.

"(y/n)..."

Belphegor has every inch of your flesh marked with wither hickys, love bites, bruises or cuts. He doesn't mind seeing you in pain if it's to "prove" his love for you.

He gets slightly tense when you go outside worrying that something bad might happen to you. That fear is enough to leave him awake. Eventually, he'll give up and just follow you around until you return home.

However, when it comes to school or the house of lamination he'll just leave you be. His brothers are around so you're practically untouchable. Sure some of them (*cough* Mammon and Asmodeus *cough*) are useless but Beeluzbub and Satan are trustworthy enough.

"...Come sleep with me"

Additional notes Belphegor has a very low sex drive. He enjoys marking you and even watching you touch yourself. But that's usually as far as it goes.

He really likes the idea of sharing a darling with Beeluzbub and maybe even Lilith if she was still "alive". It means his darling his much safer than if it was only him looking over them.

100% of the time he will cuddle his darling while he sleeps.

Bonus!

Diavolo

Diavolo is an obsessive type with certain manipulative tendencies. He desperately wants to keep his darling safe from all three species and thinks the only way to do so is to keep them locked up in the devil king’s castle.

He uses blackmail as a means to keep them cooperative. He might just threaten to annihilate their family and friends or maybe he threatens to hurt them.

"I love you.."

Overall Diavolo tires to be as sweet and caring as he can. He rarely uses any painful punishments and even buys them rewards when they've been bad. He's so desperate to prove his love to his darling that it honestly sort of frightening.

Really it wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't always so close and frantic. Always touching you and praising you, kissing you. It's just so so much...

He always has you wearing long heavy dresses that rival those of the victorian era. Delicate golden crowns are elegantly placed in on your head. Nomerues rings and bracelets decore your fingers and wrists

"...My queen"

Additional notes

Diavolo loves to show you off. He wants everyone to see just how amazing you are!

He holds so many events/ parties in your name. "Oh, it's your birthday? Well, now it's going to be celebrated as a national holiday in the Devildom!"

Diavolo regularly plans to get together with Lucifer and his darling. They're mostly quiet tea parties where the boys can discuss matters regarding the student council and how to better control their lovers. While the two darlings whisper about how frighting and annoying their self proclaimed lovers are.

[k7l4d4]

Kamen Rider Info and Ideas (Feel free to ignore)

As a huge fan of Kamen Rider, I always wondered about ways it could be expanded, and maybe not improved so much as become More. So, right now, I am gonna make a list of Kamen Rider Series, starting with Black and RX, and continuing all the way to the Reiwa Era! Everybody clap your hands!! *Cricket noises* Okay, here we go!

Kamen Rider Black, and its sequel, Black RX, details the journey of Kohtaro Minami, or Minami Kohtaro for those who prefer the traditional Japanese naming conventions, on his mission to defeat Gorgom, an ancient tribe/organization that has evolved into a cultic terrorist organization bent on world domination. While still holding to the Showa era’s tradition of having Cyborg Riders, Black and RX were the first in which, aside from Kamen Rider Amazon, the supernatural played a prominent part in the powers of the riders, as Kohtaro and his stepbrother Nobuhiko were the designated heirs to the leader of Gorgom, the Century King, and infused with the relics that contained his power, the Kingstones. Both Kohtaro and Nobuhiko were infused with the Kingstones, in the attempt to convert them into the Villains Black Sun and Shadow Moon, with only Kohtaro managing to escape.

One of the things that I felt could’ve been at least a little better in regards to the series was if Shadow Moon could regain his original self and rejoin the path of justice. It would’ve also been pretty cool if Shadow Moon gained his own upgraded form, which did actually happen in tie-in novels and manga, and if either or both of them gained the ability to unleash a final form that drew upon the power they wielded as the New Century Kings. Ah well, that’s what fanfiction is for!

Kamen Rider Kuuga details the battles of Yusuke Godai, the successor to the ancient warrior of justice, Riku, as the Kuuga. Kuuga’s powers are derived from Growth, allowing him to access a variety of forms and powers based on what he needs to grow into, and can be bolstered by mystical energy sources to ascend even further! Yusuke’s enemies are the Gurongi tribe, ancient monsters who abandoned their humanity to satisfy their love of death and conflict, and wished to have all of humanity become as dark and twisted as them, with the “honor” of being the Gurongi to start the process going to whichever of them managed to win their tournament, in which the Gurongi Tribal-members all battled to the death as a whole.

One of the things that bugged me a little, was that Kuuga never fully evolved all his forms, and that his true final form was even used in his series! I mean, seriously, what!? Once again, budget concerns limit the awesomeness of a series before it can bloom, sigh.

Kamen Rider Agito is the story of Shoichi Tsugami, a young amnesiac who belongs to an offshoot of the human race known as the Agito. Agitos possess incredible psychic powers and exist in a perpetual state of evolution, adapting to the changes in themselves and the world around them at an incredible rate.

My only real beef with this series was the limited number of forms Agito had as compared to Kuuga, and that one of the Extra Riders had the lazy name of Another Agito. You heard me right. All in all, not to bad, but a little frustrating.

Next up, Kamen Rider Ryuki, which also served as part of the inspiration for the list. Honestly, with how much I plan on covering JUST for Ryuki, I’ll probably leave this off after this and pick up more tomorrow. Ryuki is one of the first series in the franchise to fully exploit the nature of multiple riders, and basically invented the concept of Dark Riders, which I will also explain.

Ryuki involves the Rider War, a conflict taking place in the real world, and a parallel realm known as the Mirror World, populated by unfeeling monsters known as, you guessed it, Mirror Monsters, which must constantly kill when in our world in order to remain stable, or at least they are allegedly supposed to. The Rider War was a conflict set up by a man known as Shiro to revive his dead sister, under the guise of a tournament to the death for a reality-warping wish, which Shiro wanted for himself. The war brought together 13, yes you read that right, 13 Riders, all with variances in their styles and abilities. This selfish conflict is partially, if not entirely why I said that introduced Dark Riders properly to the franchise; Dark Riders are individuals who bear the same transformative powers of Kamen Riders, but instead of using them to fight against the wicked and monstrous, are instead put towards their own selfish ends, and none of them are the type of individual you wanna run into in a dark alley.

The Riders of Ryuki derived their power from two things, their Contract Monster, a Mirror Monster that they formed a bond with in order to exist without needing to bring about death, and an Advent Deck, a Deck of Cards that harnessed the power of the Mirror Monster it bonded to and allowed the Riders to survive in the Mirror Realm, which is inherently fatal for humans to be in. One of the key aspects of Advent Cards is how they work, each one draws and harnesses an aspect of the Contract Monster it is connected to, or wields a power specifically to fight other Advent Riders. Now, before I get to my thoughts and ideas, I am going to list each Rider from Ryuki, as well as the nature of their Advent Decks and fighting styles.

Shinji Kido: Kamen Rider Ryuki himself, and contracted to the fierce Dragon-Type Mirror Monster, Dragonredder. With a Dragon on his side, you’d expect him to be the powerhouse of the group, right? HAHAHAHAHA no. Shinji stumbled upon the Rider War by near-complete accident, and, being the nice guy he is, decided if he was going to be a part, he would protect the bystanders from the conflict and ensure as many of the Riders made it out alive as he could. Easier said than done. Out of all the Riders, Ryuki has the least straight-forward fighting style, not helped by his incredible clumsiness, with his deck emphasizing the ability to have as many options as possible; jack of all trades master of none, but better master of none than master of one.

Ren Akiyama: Kamen Rider Knight, and the contract holder of the Bat-Type Mirror Monster, Darkwing. He comes across as aloof, cold even, whose only in it for himself, but in truth he decided to enter the war to save the life of his ill fiance. Knight’s fighting style blends straight-up direct combat, and subterfuge based war tactics, with his deck emphasizing this by providing him with both weapons and special abilities that optimize getting the drop on his foes. Hmm... themed after a bat, a knight, and mixing close combat with dark and spooky tactics. Now where have I seen THAT before?

Masashi Shido: Kamen Rider Scissors, a Dark Rider, and the contractor of the Crab-Type Mirror Monster, Volcancer. A corrupt cop and detective, Scissors took bribes and cuts in illegal dealings, and used his Mirror Monster to liberally dispose of witnesses as he pleased. He ultimately died when his contract was destroyed and Volcancer turned on him. Despite his practices necessitating subterfuge, Scissors’ fighting style is rather extravagant, emulating that of a gladiator, with his deck providing cards that mix heavy combat with putting his enemy into an unfavorable situation to seal the deal, fitting for a backstabber.

Shuichi Kitaoka: Kamen Rider Zolga, one of the neutral and later heroic elements in the war, and the bearer of the contract for the Minotaur-Type Mirror Monster, Magnugigas, a colossal bio-mechanical behemoth. A shady lawyer with a lot of wealth, Zolga was diagnosed with fatal cancer, and desired to become immortal to continue living his lifestyle forever. While initially uncaring and selfish, he ultimately came to see the value in others, and lamented all the criminals that walked free due to his actions, hoping Ryuki would win. Cunning, intellegent, and crafty, Zolga’s fighting style favors both heavy defense and massive firepower, burying an enemy in a storm of blasts while he hunkers down, with his deck further emphasizing this with a bevy of long-distance combat cards and barriers.

Miyuki Tezuka: Kamen Rider Raia, a fortune-teller beyond compare, he enters the war to save lives and honor his deceased friend, and bears the contract of the Stingray-Type Mirror Monster, Evildiver. Raia’s fighting style places heavy importance on movement, offering cards that can offer him superior movement, and uses a whip as his principle weapon.

Jun Shibaura: Kamen Rider Gai, an utterly selfish and monstrous beast of a man, he wields the contract of the Rhino-Type Mirror Monster, Metalgelas. A prodigy of computers and gaming, Gai sees the death match that is the Rider War as nothing more than a game, and the fighters as players he can wipe out at his leisure. Gai’s fighting style is a straight up rush of overwhelming force, with his cards emphasizing interfering with his opponent’s options to force them to fight him directly and his brutal power of himself and his Contract Monster gives him an edge.

Takeshi Asakura: Kamen Rider Ouja, and the main Dark Rider of the series, holder of the contract for the Snake-Type Mirror Monster, Venosnaker. A sadistic monster to his core, Takeshi killed his own family as a child, and left a bloody trail in his wake for years, remorselessly cutting down anyone who falls in his path in his bloodlust. Despite his seemingly simple minded nature, Ouja is immensely cunning, favoring a sadistic fighting style that emphasizes causing as much pain to his enemy as he can before they die at his hands, and he is far from afraid to get his hands dirty. Ironically, Ouja has one of the weaker decks in the war, bearing limited options to fight with, Ouja thrives due to his sheer brutality, fighting ability, and utter ruthlessness. “Fun” fact, unlike the other Riders, Takeshi never realized that a wish was up for grabs, he was just having a good time! When he finally learned that the winner got a wish, he decided his wish would be to have ANOTHER Rider War, so he could kill another pack of warriors! Ouja’s deck does have two solid advantages over the other riders; Ouja possesses extra Contract Cards, meaning he can add other Mirror Monsters and their powers to his deck, ultimately deciding to save them to take the Mirror Monsters of the Riders he kills, with his other big trick his Unite Card, which allowed him to COMBINE his Mirror Monsters into the horrifying Chimera-Type Mirror Monster, Genocider (ain’t that a name).

Odin: Kamen Rider Odin, a Rider not designated Dark only due to the fact he doesn’t have enough of a mind to be one, and wielder of the Phoenix-Type Mirror Monster as his Contract, Goldphoenix. Odin is unusual, in that he is essentially a puppet, a brainwashed shell that acts as Shiro’s representative in the war that occupies whatever body Shiro gives the Contract to. Out of all the Riders, Odin has the greatest immediate strength, allowing him to overwhelm just about anything in ideal situations, and if things go wrong, Odin (along with Shiro) can REWIND TIME to reset the war until Shiro gets the outcome he wants, only giving up when he accepts that he won’t be able to bring his sister back.

Satoru Tojo: Kamen Rider Tiger, a man who wants to be a hero, and wields the power of the Tiger-Type Mirror Monster, Destwilder. Tiger is a broken individual, lacking a LOT of basic understanding in regards to people, he wavers between good and evil in his desire to be a hero due to his incomprehension of what it means to be heroic, ultimately becoming a hero when he selflessly sacrificed his life to save a father and son about to be hit by an oncoming truck, finally realizing what it truly meant to be a human in his last moments. A highly inexperienced fighter, Tiger often lost, which didn’t help his instability, forcing himself to rely on ambushes to win, his deck favored close-range melee and offered him support in the form of ice attacks.

Mitsuru Sano: Kamen Rider Imperer, a self-styled mercenary rider, and wielder of the multi-type contract allowing him to command the power of the Gazelle-Type Mirror Monsters, with Gigazelle serving as the leader of his horde. Imperer was raised to believe that wealth was what was most important in life, completely missing the fact that his idea to be a mercenary in the Rider War was impossible as all but one of the contestants must die for it to complete and you cannot quit either. After falling in love, Mitsuru seemed to be realizing that there is more to life than money, he tragically died before he could act on his new views, trapped in the Mirror World, reaching out to the image of his love, screaming in fear. Imperer’s fighting style makes use of boxing, and bum-rushing his enemies with his massive swarm of Contract Monsters.

And, because I am starting to grow tired and this is REALLY LONG, I am gonna finish this later today before I burn out.

[rosebloodcat]

I got up today and had an epiphany about BnHA.

The world of bnha is one where Prof. X's methods won, but Magneto's ideals were taken to heart.

Xavier and Magneto are the opposing sides from Marvel's X-Men, and as such the characters who've done the most in introducing me to how having super-powers appear could effect people socially, politically, and personally. And the extremes that things could be taken for each side.

Xavier believes in a world where Mutants and Humans can live together peacefully, and his Institute is all about taking in young Mutants and teaching them to use and control their powers to they can live normal lives. In the beginning he was also very much about helping his students learn to hide their powers too.

And he was a civil leader when Mutants were forcibly brought into the open and tried to help fight for their equal rights. (Pretty sure? It’s been a while since I read/watched X-men)

Magneto, on the other hand, believes Mutants are superior to normal humans (to the point of referring to Mutants as 'Homo Superiors' instead of 'Homo Sapiens') and that they should live separately. He fully believes that if he can't force people to treat them as equals, then Mutants and Humans can never coexist.

He runs the "Botherhood of Mutants" which is full of the young (and adult) Mutants who either agree with him, or just hate Xavier's side.

Xavier teaches all the mutants he finds as a normal school, but he also teaches them to control their powers and to use them to protect people if they have to.

I'd even say Xavier's school would have been considered the first Hero School to exist, if it wasn't for the fact that he wasn't actually trying to teach them to be heroes.

But Xavier is also firmly against the abuse of their powers. At first it's because mutants were still trying to remain hidden, but also because a mutant could do a lot harm to a normal person if they weren't careful.

It's a perfectly logical stance, right?

Magneto also teaches his Brotherhood how to use/control their power, but he never teaches them to hide it or to avoid harming others with them. In fact, he (sort of) encourages it.

He tells them to embrace their powers fully and themselves by extension. But most of the Brotherhood is basically his personal army in fighting for the "Freedom" of Mutants.

While reading bnha, I can see Xavier's methods and beliefs on the surface.

"Only use your powers to help people. Never use them for selfish/dangerous reasons. If another person with powers is causing harm, you must use your own to stop them. You mustn't use your powers on people without them. If your powers are too harmful/dangerous, you must learn to not use them or find a way to practice them safely."

Even with all the DC-type superhero themes slapped on top, it's really easy to see that a lot of Xavier's policies/lessons line up with bnha's.

Until we get to the Quirkless people.

That is where I see Magneto.

Quirkless people are the unspoken second class in that world. They are treated like shit. Talked down and belittled at every turn.

Always second fiddle to the people with quirks.

Even if we say Izuku's school was an exception in terms of severity, they showed the base mindset that society had developed about people without powers.

And I think that's why so many people are so quick to hate Bakugo.

Everyone else hides their bias behind a veil of worry (sometimes fake, sometimes real), but he doesn't.

Society has the same views about quirkless people as he does, he's just the loudest person who doesn't try to sugar coat it.

On the surface, everyone says the things Xavier did. But underneath? Those opinions have been twisted until they matched Magneto's views.

"People with powers being able to do a lot of harm" was twisted into "People without quirks are weak."

And there is a villain with that exact mindset.

All for One

The guy who could take and give away quirks to everyone and who forcibly gave his "pathetic" quirkless brother a power.

He also lived in the shadows of society for, like, 100 and some years? (I remember he was there for the early quirk era but don't remember how long ago that was in the manga)

More than enough time to plant people/ideas to try and shadow rule the world.

Or, at the very least, twist it so that everyone thought like he did about quirkless people.

(Basically, I'm saying he was the Magneto of bnha and probably secretly twisted things to make the world terrible for quirkless people.)

Continuing on the point I was actually getting to, that's actually the biggest problem with Izuku trying to be a Hero.

No one would ever actually allow a quirkless hero to be a thing.

Even though there are heroes who's quirks had nothing to do with their fighting skills (Sir Nighteye and Eraserhead/Aizawa), they at least have quirks. And people with quirks are "stronger" than people without them.

Even if he convinced Nezu let him into UA's hero course (by either the entrance exam or by transferring after the sport festival), no one would take Izuku seriously.

They would be shuffling him away or pushing him behind them because "That villain has a powerful quirk, Deku! You could get hurt!"

The people he tried to rescue wouldn't take him seriously. Because he doesn't have a quirk, and quirkless people are "weaker" than quirked ones. Who would want to be saved by someone they felt was lesser than them?

And honestly?

A lot of fans believe it too.

Izuku is always being given powers in fanfics. Even if he's not given a quirk, he still has to have powers.

Because only people with some kind of power can fight a powered person.

It's amazing, in a way.

Fans go on and on about how amazing Izuku is and how he could totally be a hero despite being quirkless if someone just gave him a chance! And then in the same breath they say "So I gave him magic/had him get experiment on/find powers that weren't related to quirks so he can be a hero now!"

I've fallen for it too.

And it feels a bit like we've missed the point.

They say they want him to be the "First Quirkless Hero" and then give him some kind of superpower to fight quirked people with.

Quirkless means no powers, and you gave him a power.

You have just voided your own statement.

There is only 1 exception that I seen to this.And that's the people who have Izuku Batman/Ironman it.The ones that have him go ape with support gear to combat not having actual powers, and those are the only ones where I'll believe them about Izuku becoming the first Quirkless hero.

(I think I lost the point I was originally trying to make. Lemme back track a smidge.)

I was first going into the X-man thing to say that Izuku's problems weren't just a lack of a powers. It wasn't just people thinking that trying to be a hero when he had no powers would get him hurt. He couldn't be a hero because no one would believe he could actually help them. Any attempt he made to help would have people either shrugging him off, or panicking and making things worse.

And this wasn't just true for being a Hero. Being a hero just seems like the main one because it's the thing Izuku wants to be the most.

This would probably hold true no matter what profession Izuku wanted to take part in.

If Izuku said he wanted to be a doctor to help people, everyone would say he'd get ignored for everyone with medical/healing quirks.

Disaster relief? He's get passed over for people with helpful quirks.

Search and Rescue? People with useful quirks would get prioritized.

Police? He'd be lucky to get out from behind a desk.

Hell, he could probably say he wanted to be an accountant and everyone would tell him that "A quirkless loser like you is too stupid to get a job like that."

(Though probably not in those words. Unless they were Bakugo.)

Basically, the world as a whole would see him as lesser for not having a quirk.

The cards would always be stacked against him.

All because he was born without powers.

And a lot or people seem to ignore that.

[jackcinephile]

L'Inferno (1911) Movie Review!

As promised, we're gonna be celebrating this Spooky Season with a Devilman Crybaby headcanon! In order to fully express my HC, I will be reviewing icons of horror cinema and literature that helped contribute to many of the themes and ideas that are prevalent in Go Nagai's original manga. So, without further ado, let us descend into the Blind World. Put all fear and cowardice aside. I will be your guide through this eternal place, where you shall hear the shrieks and see the tormented spirits who all bewail the second death.

And how appropriate? Because our first film is the 1911 adaptation of The Inferno by Dante Alighieri. I suppose it's only right to begin this saga of horror films with one of the first horror films ever made. Okay, "first horror film" is actually debatable, so keep in mind that I said "ONE of the first." In any case, it remains one of the most important landmarks in horror cinema.

"Stopped, in the middle of what we call life,

I looked up and saw no sky, but rather a dense cage of leaf and tree and twig,

For I was lost."

The film opens as the iconic poem does. Dante Alighieri is a middle-aged man who finds himself lost in a dark, gloomy forest. This opening of the story always had a way of making me feel somewhat lonely and isolated. In my interpretation, I always saw this forest as being symbolic of how Dante felt after the death of Beatrice. Allow me to explain...

For those who don't know, Dante met a young girl named Beatrice when they were both nine years old. The young boy immediately fell in love with her, even though they hardly interacted. Despite their lives continuing in separate directions, Beatrice had always and forever held a special place in Dante's heart. When he received word that she had died, Dante was absolutely devastated. He felt that she deserved to be immortalized in what he intended to be his magnum opus; The Divine Comedy.

I believe that this opening to the Inferno is actually Dante going to a journey to find Beatrice so that he could say goodbye to her. Along the way, he got lost, both literally and spiritually. That, in my opinion, is what this forest symbolizes. In many ways, this opening kind of reminds of the opening to Silent Hill 2, just from how dismal it is.

Having said all that, I think the film does a very poor job of conveying those emotions. Sadly, I just don't feel any of the despair that was present in the original poem. He just wanders around for a few seconds, then steps out into a clearing. But don't worry! As soon as Dante steps into the clearing, the film IMMEDIATELY gets better. Upon entering this clearing, Dante finds himself at the base of, what I believe to be, Mount Purgatory. I can only assume that's where he is, because the gates of Hell are at its base, and Dante seems to suggest the gates of heaven are at its summit, just like Purgatory. Unfortunately, his path is blocked by three ravenous beasts: a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf, all representing different Earthly sins. He runs back the way he came, before being rescued by a strange apparition. It's here that the film begins to remind us all of why the original poem is regarded as a self-insert fanfic...

Upon introducing himself to the apparition, Dante learns that it is the actually the ghost of Virgil, author of the Aeneid. The significance of Virgil being in the story is that he was Dante's favorite poet of all time, and Dante always longed to meet and interact with him. It's literally a self-insert fanfic of Dante meeting and interacting with all of his inspirations. It's honestly a mystery to me why I love The Inferno so much, because it's everything I hate! It's a Catholic's fanfic about why he sees himself and his friends as morally superior and why everyone he ever disagreed with is going to Hell. Somehow, in spite of all that, I still love it.

So why did Virgil even decide to help Dante in the first place? Well, remember when I talked about Beatrice dying? It turns out, she descended from Heaven into Hell to ask him for help, because she knew how important he was to Dante. She tasked Virgil with being Dante's guide, after seeing that he has gone astray.

This is where the film's innovation starts to take shape. Beatrice has often been drawn as having a halo around her head. The problem is, how do you show that in a film made in 1911? The effect was strikingly realized with, what I assume to be, spinning rods covered in reflective material. I can only guess this is how it was done, but it appears right to me, because that's how a similar effect was created for the lightsabers in the original Star Wars. It looks like the rods were placed behind the actress, so that the rig couldn't be seen, making it appear as if the light was emanating from her head. This scene also displays an early appearance of wire work on film. In those days, that shit wasn't easy. It was even harder to hide the effect, which this film does fairly well.

So, Virgil explains to Dante that he must take him on a pilgrimage through the three different stages of the afterlife. To be perfectly honest, I never understood why. Maybe I'm just an idiot with little to no reading comprehension. It's also a factor that I haven't read parts II and III of the Divine Comedy, so maybe it's elaborated better in there. From what I gathered, since Dante is going on a journey to find the literal Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin intensifies) Virgil needs to take him to Hell and Purgatory, so he can face his sins and better appreciate Paradise. And thus, Virgil's pilgrimage to lead Dante through the Afterlife begins!

"Through me, the way to the City of Woe

Through me, the way to everlasting pain

Through me, the way among the people lost

Divine Power made me

Eternal I endure

Abandon Hope, all ye who enter here"

That is the inscription above the Gates of Hell. It is here, that Dante is already planning on turning back. Virgil literally tells him to stop being a pussy, and I was satisfied. Once they enter the gates, it becomes apparent to the viewer, if it hasn't already, that this isn't just an adaptation of Dante's work. This film is actually a cinematic translation of the ICONIC illustrations by Gustave Dore that were created in the middle of the 19th century. So much care and detail was put into recreating his AMAZING artwork, that many consider to be his magnum opus. This film was basically the Zack Snyder's Watchmen of its day!

Those familiar with the story will recognize this iconic scene that is being recreated onscreen. Dante and Virgil have come to the shores of Acharon, where the souls of the damned board Charon's vessel to be taken before Judge Minos, who lives in Limbo.

Speaking of Limbo, that is the first spiral of Hell Dante visits. This is where good people who weren't Christians come to face eternity. Their punishment is meant to be the denial of Paradise, but if you ask me, it doesn't seem so bad. Apparently Dante felt the same way, because this is where he meets his other great inspirations, such as Homer and Ovid! The poets all enjoy their visit together before Virgil must take Dante on his way. This is honestly the part that makes me cringe the most. Nothing reeks of self-insert fanfic more than meeting your idols and being greatly respected by all them. This is exactly why I abandoned my Silent Hill fanfic.

Anyway, Minos's throne lies at the lower boarder of Limbo. The king himself appears as a giant naked bearded man with a snake tail. The tail is used to determine the punishment of sinners by wrapping around Minos's own neck multiple times. However many times the tail coils determines which spiral the sinner is sent to.

And here we get to my favorite scene in the whole film: Lust! This spiral perfectly displays the true innovation of special effects. In this spiral, sinners are punished by being caught in a tumultuous whirlwind. The wind symbolizes the tumultuous feelings that arise between lustful lovers. It's one of Dore's best illustrations, and it blows my mind that the filmmakers were able to recreate it so well!

Our two pilgrims move onward to the Spiral of Gluttony, where we come across Cerberus. He guards this spiral, but Virgil subdues him by throwing a clump of dirt in his face (still more respectful than Lore Olympus). Honestly, Gluttony is nothing to write home about. It's just a raining landscape with people laying in the mud. Still, I have to give credit for the meticulous recreation of Dore's art!

Down in Greed, who else do we find guarding this spiral, other than Plutus?

SIDE NOTE: I've read a very strange "translation" of his dialogue. The original line reads, "Pape Satan, Pape Satan, allepe!" Strangely, no one seems to agree on what exactly this means, so most translations are different. Particularly, in the case of Douglas Neff, he translates "Pape" to "Papa," which is strange because "Pape" means "Pope" in Itialian. Then, he changes "allepe" to "you are my king." Let's also not forget that Plutus was also occasionally used as an epithet for Hades and/or Pluto. This means Douglas Neff literally wrote Hades to say, "Daddy Satan, I worship you" (still more respectful than Lore Olympus)!

In the Spiral of Greed, the sinners are forced push heavy sacks of gold around for eternity. Once again, this scene is nothing special, but still an admirable recreation of the illustrations that inspired it.

The next scene, however, shows off more of the innovative talent that makes this film so amazing! Virgil and Dante move on to the Spiral of Anger, where the sinners are punished by being submerged in the black sludge of the River Styx. The only way across is by boat. This is where Phlegyas comes in. The two poets stand by a giant tower which they use to signal for passage to the City of Dis. Along the way, the boat is stopped by Dante's political and intellectual rival, Philipo Argenti. It's here that one realizes just how petty Dante truly was. "Oh, I disagree with you politically. Therefore, you deserve to drown in sludge for all eternity!" He sounds like people I used to know. Hell, he sounds like me in high school!

All while this is going on, we see an amazing special effect of a double exposure of Dis in the background. It's an amazing miniature of the city's outer wall, optically printed to take up the entire top half of the screen.

Finally, they make it to the other side of the river, where we actually get a cameo by Hades' and Persephone's children! No, not Zagareus, Makaria, and Melinoe. None of those people were Hades' and Persephone's children. I'm actually referring to the Erinyes (also known as, the Furies). They block Dante's entrance to the city's gates, so Virgil calls upon the aid of an Archangel to rid them of the Furies. It is here that Dante asserts the superiority of Christianity over the Hellenistic faith (still more respectful than Lore Olympus).

Within the City of Dis, Hell begins to look more like how we always imagined, with fire and brimstone. In the Spiral of Heresy, sinners are stuffed into eternally burning ovens embedded in the ground.

Beyond that is the only omitted sequence from the poem. In the original Divine Comedy, the Spiral of Violence is originally guarded by the Minotaur! Beyond that are sinners, stewed in a boiling river of blood (The Phlegethon). On the banks, we see a heard of Centaurs practicing their archery on them. These are the individuals who were violent towards other people. In order to cross the river of blood, Dante and Virgil must ride on the back of one of the centaurs. You know, having heard of centaurs' notorious reputation for being horrible rapists, it makes me concerned for the sake of our Pilgrims. Maybe they didn't include this in the film because they couldn't figure out how to make a centaur?

On the other side of the Phlegethon, Violence continues into the suicide forest (*Logan Paul reference here*). Here is where sinners, who were violent against themselves, are punished. Once judged to this spiral, they grow into trees. The symbolism being that trees are a symbol of life, of which these sinners have deprived themselves. I'm surprised this scene isn't more controversial. After all, seeing as how seriously mental health has been taken recently, it's fucking awful to tell someone they're going to Hell for committing suicide! As a peice of horrific imagery, I love this scene, but knowing that Dante actually believed this makes me despise it.

In addition to being a horrifying concept, this scene also includes one of the first instances of bloodshed in a horror film. Virgil explains to Dante that he can speak with the sinners if he breaks one of their branches. When he does, blood sprays out of the tree like a drinking fountain!

After a brief conversation with the sinners, Dante moves on to the final section of violence, where people were violent against God. Here the sinners are punished in a desert that perpetually rains fire.

Now, not every special effect in this film is good. Because when Dante rides down to the eighth spiral on Geryon's back, it is such a stiff, unnatural, badly puppeteered marrianet that they couldn't even keep stable for the shot!

"There is a place in Hell called the Malebolge..."

Now, we get to my favorite part of the whole poem: The Spiral of Fraud. Here the deceivers are punished in a myriad of ways, depending on how they lied to others.

In the first Spiral of the Malebolge, those who pander towards others are mercilessly whipped for all eternity. This marks the first appearance of the classic image of the winged demons that we all know and love.

In the second spiral, the flattererers bathe in a stagnant pond of their own feces and vomit. This symbolizes the value of the words that they spew at other people. I think this might be where the expression, "You're full of shit," came from. Think about it; you say that to people whom you think are lying to you, and this is in the Spiral of Fraud.

Incidentally, this punishment was referenced in a Turkish horror film called Baskin -- a film about a small group of off-duty police officers who crash their car and wake up in Hell. In that film, the main characters realize they're in Hell when they find demon raping someone, while shoving her face in a bowl of her own face and vomit. Baskin is not a part of this HC, so I'll have to talk about it later. For now, I'll just say it's one of the best horror films I've ever seen!

In the third spiral, those who joined the Catholic Church for their own personal gain are buried head first, with their feet sticking out in the air.

In the fourth spiral, fortune tellers have their heads turned backwards. This prevents them from looking forward, symbolizing their attempts to see into the future.

In the fifth spiral, the sinners are repeatedly dipped in boiling tar. This scene is especially interesting because it shows that the demons we see aren't actually monsters. They're just creatures doing their jobs, punishing sinners. In fact one of the demons named Malecoda assigns a group of demons to help escort Dante and Virgil through the rest of the Malebolge. That, unfortunately, doesn't work out, however, because the demons are distracted by a sinner trying to escape, so Dante and Virgil move on alone. What's also unfortunate, is that other demons, who assume that Virgil and Dante are also sinners trying to escape, chase them into the next spiral. Luckily, each demon is confined to their own spiral, so they can't keep chasing them.

In the sixth spiral, the hypocrites are forced to wear robes made of solid gold. They also find Caiaphas nailed to the ground. As someone who has Jesus Christ Superstar on his top three list of favorite albums, I was happy to see Caiaphas get referenced.

In the seventh spiral, the thieves are bound by snakes, whose venom causes them to burn to ashes. One thief in particular gets attacked by a giant lizard that makes him into a lizardman (someone tell Alex Jones).

In the eighth spiral, the false advisors are eternally engulfed in flames.

In the ninth spiral, the sowers of discord are viciously mutilated. My favorite part about this scene is that it's one of the first instances of gore in a horror movie. The prophet Muhammad has been cloven from his belly to his throat with his guts spilling out all over the place. That's right! Muhammad is depicted in the Inferno. Not only that, but Gustave Dore drew him. Damn. Dante has no chill. Hey, the founder of the most homophobic religion in the world rots in eternal Hell? I'm not complaining! This kinda makes up for the portrayal of suicide victims.

In the tenth spiral, the falsifiers are punished with enternal leprosy.

At last, we make it to the Spiral of Treachery, at the center of the earth. Here, the traitors are frozen within the Lake Cocytus.

"Lo! Dis Himself!

Emperor of the Kingdom of Woe"

Finally, at the climax of this horrific epic, we see Satan, and it's not what you're expecting! He is in the very center of the lake, frozen up to his waist in ice, and forced to eat the three greatest traitors of all. His body is covered in course fur, and he has three heads and six wings. Satan's appearance in this story is disarming and almost pathetic in a way. You'd imagine Satan to be this fearsome king, but he's just shown to be suffering like everyone else. It's kind of sad, really.

The film ends with Dante and Virgil climbing down Satan's leg fur and ending up at the base of Mount Purgatory.

L'Inferno is one of the first true masterpieces of horror! It's hard to believe that this movie is almost 110 years old! Just think of how it would have been to see it in theaters for the first time when it was new. We owe it to this film for proving the language of Cinema could be used to tell the most epic stories possibly conceived.

You can watch the film for yourself here:https://youtu.be/cMUPbPOGPdM

Now, you're probably thinking, "What the Sam Fuck does any of this have to do with Devilman Crybaby?" Well, for starters, in Go Nagai's original manga, the character Asuka Ryo implies that Dante's Divine Comedy might have been based on a true story. This is futher validated when the demon Xenon appears and bears a strong resemblance to Dante's description of Satan. But beyond the surface-level details, let's discuss some of the deeper implications of what Hell actually is. Within this headcanon, the Afterlife is an entirely separate dimension, occupying the same space as our Earth, but invisible to our eyes. There is a way, however, to see and explore this separate dimension. You see, when different dimensions intersect at certain angles, they sometimes leave gaps through which we can come through and cross over to the other dimension. It was through one of these gaps that Virgil was able to find Dante. These angles and gaps between dimensions will be further explored in a later film.

[undermebius]

An examination of each of Yuki’s three short stories during the Editor In Chief ✰ Full Speed Ahead chapters

As a preface, I interpret the first poem as being in relation to Yuki’s creation, the second as being in relation to her relationship with her body, and the third as being in relation to her place in the SOS Brigade. Please keep each interpretation in mind as you read the poems to better understand my analysis.

Untitled 1

It was XXXX ago that I met a girl who said she was a ghost. I asked her name. “I have no name,” she answered. “Because I have no name, I am a ghost. You’re the same, aren’t you?” It was true. “Now then, shall we go?” Her stride was fast, and she seemed like she was alive. “We can go anywhere. Where would you like to go?” I thought about it for a while. Where was I trying to go? Where was I? Why was I here? But all I could do was stare into her dark eyes. “Weren’t you thinking of going to XXXX?” When I heard her words, I finally understood my purpose. Yes. That was where I was trying to go. Why had I forgotten? It was such an important role. It was the reason for my existence. “Well, that’s settled, then. Goodbye.” The girl disappeared, and I remained. Perhaps she had returned to where she belonged. Just as I was trying to return to where I belonged. Something white began falling from the sky. Many...white...unstable...water crystals. They were one of the wonders that fill all of space-time. This world is overflowing with wonders. I stood there, still. The passage of time lost all meaning. That wondrous stuff continued to fall, piling up like cotton. I decided that would be my name. So I thought, and in thinking so, I became a ghost no longer.

I‘m sure this goes without saying to those familiar with the three poems, but the first one is by far the most comprehensible. There are some interesting things to note, here, though. Firstly, I believe the other girl here is Asakura. In the manga, her features are vague and don’t look like any character we know, but as you’ll see with later poems, Yuki has an acute understanding of what the people in her life talk like, and this character sounds very much like Asakura. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that Yuki had a sense of wonder through which to pick her own name, even three years before interacting with any auto-evolution triggers or meeting any friends. While her reflection on this event may be influenced by her current perspective, given how reflective these poems are of herself, I believe it’s accurate to assume that Yuki is not misportraying the creation of her name, and that she always had emotions, on some level, from the moment she had a body. Moving on...

Untitled 2

Up until that point, I had not been alone My other selves once bound together like ice, soon dispersed like water, then finally diffused like vapor. One atom of that vapor was me. I could go anywhere. I went many places and saw many things. But I learned nothing. The act of seeing was the only function I was permitted. I performed that function for a long span. Time was meaningless. In that false universe, no illusion held any meaning. But eventually I found meaning. Proof of existence. Matter attracts matter. That was true and correct. It was because it possessed a shape that I was drawn in. Light, dark, inconsistency, sense. I met each, intersected with each. I did not have their capabilities, but I may have been permitted them. If I were permitted them, I would have them. As I continued to wait, would those wonders fall? Those tiny wonders.

Less words, more symbolism. Thanks Yuki. First, I believe line 2 describes the evolution of the Data Integration Thought Entity. Not literally, of course, as they have no form, that’s why she uses similes. I think them “diffusing” refers to them expanding to encompass the whole universe.

Interestingly, despite the word ‘not alone’ initially making it seem like a more positive time in her life, the rest of the poem contradicts this, describing how the mere act of having more than one sense and confirmation of her own existence was incredibly transformative for her. She says she saw everything and learned nothing, and that the idea of having a body ‘attracted her’, all but saying that the simple act of having a body was what allowed her to evolve and expand her intelligence. This is especially interesting considering how most of her kind seem to regard organics as inferior kinds of life. Here, Yuki’s thought process and what separates her from the other TFEIs is made clear: she thinks having a body is an evolutionary advantage to humans and to herself.

There’s also a hint of bitterness as she discusses not being permitted to do anything other than see. This likely refers to both her life before being given form and after. Recalling the Endless Eight, being unable to act on her own and just having to watch is obviously quite a sore spot for her. This side of her is actually quite similar to Asakura, wanting to act was exactly what led to Asakura being terminated after all, hence why she herself couldn’t bring herself to start doing it without the promise of Haruhi’s protection from her superiors.

Also, notably, there’s a lot of talk in both these poems of time being meaningless, another allusion to the Endless Eight and being forced to just watch the world proceed without her, not participating. And speaking of not participating, that brings us to the last poem...

Untitled 3

There was a black coffin in the room. “Hello.” “Hello.” Atop the coffin in the middle of the room, there sat one man. I don’t know what my expression was. “I am sorry I am late” The person within seemed to be a girl “The presentation has not yet begun, there is still time.” The presentation. I tried to remember. What would I present? I was nervous. I couldn’t remember. “There is time. Let us wait until you remember.” I remembered one thing. Just one thing. I belonged within that coffin. I had come from it, and I had returned her so I could go back to it. But I had nothing to present. The man began to sing in a low voice. The white sheet danced along with it. If the man did not move, I could not get into it. I was not qualified to participate in the presentation. If he did not move, I could not get into it. Now, two or three pages after this, Kyon says that he thinks the man is Itsuki and the white sheet is Mikuru. I think this is correct, actually. Mikuru says “I’m sorry I’m late” (without hypens, because Yuki is allergic to those), which is a very Mikuru thing to say. And it wouldn’t make sense for the man to be Kyon himself, Kyon is not an obstruction to Yuki in any way, shape or form, at this point in time. But Itsuki is.

Because Itsuki is the member of the SOS Brigade who most hastily disregards Yuki’s humanity and capacity for emotions. Not that he’s outright cruel to her, or wouldn’t protect her from harm, but he makes it very clear that he doesn’t believe Yuki is capable of having emotions.

Then there’s the coffin. Now, this is not a metaphor for Yuki dying. TFEIs cannot die, and canon has very well established that they struggle to understand the concept. Therefore, as a symbol of death in most literature Yuki would’ve encountered, it represents just that: human concepts which she hasn’t evolved enough to understand. Barricaded off from her by Itsuki. With this, one half of the poem’s meaning becomes clear: having her capacity to develop her emotional abilities denied by Itsuki...denies her the ability to develop her emotional abilities. She feels stunted by it, like Itsuki is impassable, and that she can’t do anything about him. She says that “if the man did not move”, specifically. She suggests no option she herself could take to remove him of his place on the coffin, but rather firmly states that until Itsuki gets out of her way, she can’t do anything.

She says that she belongs within the coffin. Now, in the first poem, she claims that she was going back to where she belonged, and here Yuki, after firmly deciding her name and to have a body, she has found it. Her place is not high in the sky with Asakura, but in the coffin. She belongs where she is engaging with human concepts which she cannot yet understand. This, along with her later declaration of protectiveness towards Mikuru after the kidnapping incident, establishes that she, just like Mikuru and Itsuki, is now more loyal to her friends than her faction. And that she wants to remain learning about them forever. Which is adorable. But moving on.

Next, there’s him and Mikuru “performing”, which Yuki believes herself to be underqualified for. I imagine this is about how they perform their roles for Haruhi’s enjoyment. Firstly, when Mikuru arrives, Itsuki says that the presentation ‘hasn’t begun’, meaning that it’s something that isn’t always in place, separating this from Itsuki’s place on the coffin, which is omnipresent. This fits their relationship with club events. They’re all quietly sitting in the clubroom until the ‘performance’ begins, at which point Itsuki will lead with whatever event he’s orchestrated for Haruhi to enjoy, Mikuru will follow the tune of the preplanned adventure...and Yuki will just stand there. She’s unable to come up with something to do, to participate, until brought in by Haruhi or Kyon with instructions, who aren’t present here. It’s just the three magical children, and Yuki cannot fit in with them without help. Or without Itsuki moving.

k i’m sad as shit now end post

[eyesupmarksman]

Ice Cream Asks

literally no one asked me to do this but i’m depressed and bored so--

Chocolate: When was your first kiss?

22 (technically 18, but I’m not counting it shh)

French Vanilla: How old are you?

24, but feel 80!

Cotton Candy: Three places you want to travel to?

Berlin, Rome, anywhere along the Amalfi Coast where I can be boujee

Strawberry: A language you wish you could speak?

I want to be better at Irish. We learn it here from 4 years old to about 17/18, and not a single person in Ireland can string a sentence together (it’s taught so badly within school). I was so bad at it. But I feel like I’m getting better now. 

Coffee: Favourite cosmetic brands?

None. I don’t wear makeup lmao

Mint Chocolate Chip: Indoors or outdoors?

If it’s a nice day, outdoors. But I live in Ireland. So it’s never a nice day.

Cookie Dough: Do you play any instruments?

Violin (but very badly lol)

Rocky Road: Favourite songs at the moment?

Setting Sun - Lord Huron / Cloudbusting - Kate Bush / Anything Novo Amor has Ever Composed

Butter Pecan: Favourite songs for life?

Dinner and Diatribes - Hozier / Attica - Hailaker / Thus Always To Tyrants - The Oh Hellos

Cheesecake: What's your zodiac sign?

Aquarius

Toasted Coconut: The beach or the pool?

Beach. I can’t swim so I ain’t going near the water lmao

Chocolate Chip: What's your most popular post?

It’s a post I made about being slightly annoyed of people comparing Hozier to Hades when he’s clearly Lugh, the Irish pagan warrior entity symbolising the arts and law

Bubblegum: books or movies?

D: Movies. Books. Books. Movies. Movies--

Pistachio: manga or anime?

Neither tbh

Salted Caramel: Favourite Movies?

Children of Men by Alfonzo Cuaron (not the happiest film, but an amazing film) / The Man from U.N.C.L.E by Guy Ritchie / Rogue One by Gareth Edwards (the superior of the Star Wars films don’t @ Me) 

Birthday Cake: Favourite books?

Lovely War by Julie Berry (I CRIED) / All That Remains by Dr. Sue Black (if you like bones and death, it’s very interesting!) / Mythos by Stephen Fry (I like Greek Mythology. I like Stephen Fry. Need I say more?)

Moose Tracks: Favourites for manga?

I’ve never read any D:

Orange Sherbet: Favourites for anime?

Never seen any (or any that I can remember)

Peanut butter: Favourite academic subject?

I did an English and History degree so either-or. 

Black Raspberry: Do you have any pets?

I have an English Cocker spaniel called Leo, and three horses (fully owned by me) called Kaliban, Sysaro, and Romeo. There’s another horse on loan to me called Dante (or Danny) and he’s an actual demon from the nine circles of hell--

Mango: When and why did you start your blog?

2012 (gross). I don’t...really know.

Mocha: Ideal weather conditions?

Sun’s out (gun’s out), with a slight breeze. I cannot COPE with heat. I need a breeze lol

Black Cherry: Four words that describe you?

Funny (I think I’m funny); Independent (too much so for my own good); Dependable (again, too much for my own good); emotionally-compromised (oop)

Neapolitan: Things that stress you out?

Anything and everything.

Raspberry Truffle: Favourite kind of music?

Indie-Alternative-Rock ???

Chocolate Marshmallow: Favourite brands of candy?

I don’t really eat candy anymore, but I am partial to a good Dairymilk chocolate bar.

Toffee: A card game that you're good at?

Coup. It’s a game about lying. And I am very good at lying to people’s faces. 

Lemon Custard: Do you eat breakfast?

I make sure to eat food in the morning...does that count?

Dark chocolate: Turn-ons?

Humour. Be able to make me laugh, to be honest...

Fudge: Turn-offs?

Arrogance and ignorance. The two tend to go hand in hand. Also a pure lack of communication skills. 👀👀👀

Peach: How do you relax?

Shower. A long shower. I’m talking like a chunk of time just standing under some water. Or going for a walk. 

Praline: A popular book you haven't read yet?

Anything from Rick Riordan (if my friend sees this she’ll fucking kill me oh my god). I have every intention of reading it, but I just never did. 

Superman: Do you like sweaters?

I’m so picky with sweaters. Prefer hoodies.

Cherry: do you drink tea or coffee?

Neither. Tea is just hot water and coffee gives me a major migraine. 

Dulce de Leche: An instrument you wish you could play?

My violin (because it’s originally my grandfather’s (who has long since passed away) and I restored it). I’m so bad at it. Or the piano. I don’t have the dexterity for it.

Blackberry: Have you ever laughed so hard you cried?

Oh absolutely. I’ve also cried so hard that I’ve laughed.

Ginger: A new feature you wish tumblr could have?

Idk just fix it pls

Blueberry Lemon: Favourite blogs?

@frrankzhang / @duelling / @dutifullygranddragon /

Almond: Favourite mean girls quote?

Boo, you whore.

Butterscotch: What colour are your nails right now?

Naked. I don’t wear nail polish or any makeup :I

Cinnamon: Have you ever been confessed to?

I, very stupidly, made myself everyone’s therapist for a long time so absolutely. I know too many things about too many people. 

Blue Moon: Have you ever had a crush on someone?

Yup.

Cappuccino Crunch: Do you take naps?

Everyday. We love that Hypothyroidism and anaemic life ✌🏻

Mint: The most embarrassing thing you've ever done?

There’s so many...Idk, thought that I would have my life in order by 24 haha 😬

Brownie Batter: Do you like sushi?

Yesss, but it has to be from a specific place

Key Lime: where do you want to be right now?

Anywhere that’s away from where I’m living rn--

Red Velvet: do you wear prescription glasses?

Yup! I didn’t for a long time and I went into my local eye doctor’s because whenever I would use my laptop or the screens at work, I had to squint and come really close to it. It also gave me a very bad headache. Turns out I got a astigmatism in one eye!

Green Tea: favourite flavours of ice cream?

Vanilla (but if it’s going to be that plain, it has to be a good vanilla) or chocolate. I’m also partial to some caramel but sometimes it can be a bit too sweet.

original post with questions

[miohmy]

softie - kabakura x koyanagi

fandom: wotaku: love is hard for otaku

characters: kabakuura x koyanagi

summary: Koyanagi’s wishes she was softer (or Koyanagi has a little too much to drink)

Koyanagi was not a romantic by nature. Kabakura was her boyfriend and she was his girlfriend, but the pair both failed to put on the conventional airs of a relationship. Their constant bickering, mutual aversion to PDA and reluctance towards sweet talk made their relationship more akin to rivals than lovers. 

But that’s what they were. Lovers.

The word felt strange, especially when she thought about it for too long. It would get caught in her throat like a lump she couldn’t swallow, or sink to the pit of her stomach like a rock. “Lovers” felt reserved for people like Hirotaka and Narumi. People who were soft towards each other. 

Kabakura wasn’t soft, not really. And Koyanagi definitely wasn’t either. They were both intimidating, competitive, confident individuals. In the work place those were positive attributes. But when it came to matters of the heart, conflict was abound. People like Koyanagi and Kabakura did not fold easily into compromise. Hence the constant bickering.

Admittedly, she didn’t reflect on their relationship often. She was happy, so why question it? 

The only times she truly became existential were after a couple drinks. Normally she would rationalize their arguments and competitions as the natural result of their stubborn dispositions. No one was really at fault, she would tell herself, they simply couldn’t help it. 

But deep down, she was worried. And if there was one thing alcohol was good at, it was unearthing buried concerns. 

Sometimes she felt she was too harsh. Whenever she’d see other couples out on the street, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, smiling like a pair of idiots, her teeth would clench and heart ache. Kabakura would never hold her so closely in public. And even if he tried, she would probably find it unnerving and out of character.

The foundations of their relationship had set up its current dynamic. Kabakura had first come into her life as an obstacle. Though they (reluctantly) warmed to each other over time, that innate high school rivalry always remained, underlying their every interaction. Any situation, no matter how small or benign, was made into a challenge. A chance to prove their respective superiority.

Normally she found such a dynamic to be tolerable. It could be playful, even. But on the days were she got just a little too tipsy, she’d find herself consumed with doubt.

Sometimes she didn’t care about being right. Sometimes she just wanted to be held.

---

For the past three hours Kabakura had been lying on his bed alone, quietly reading a manga, waiting for Koyanagi to come over. She had gone with Narumi and a few of their co-workers to get drinks after work and ended up staying out longer than anticipated. Kabakura didn’t mind. He knew the day had been tough for her (even if she refused to admit it). She could use a little time to unwind.

Kabakura on the other hand wasn’t feeling drinks. He was tired and, more importantly, he had just gotten to a really good arc in his manga. So he declined the offer to join them. Koyanagi similarly did not mind. She, of all people, could understand his eagerness to come straight home and pick up right where he left off.

They parted ways after work with the promise that Koyanagi wouldn’t stay out too late so long as Kabakura waited up for her.

It was around 10 PM when finally she stumbled in. Kabakura knew she was more than a little tipsy from the way she had fumbled with duplicate key. She also didn’t greet him like normal, instead choosing to putter around the kitchen for 20 minutes, mumbling incoherently to herself and doing God-knows-what, before slowly inching her way over to his ajar bedroom door. There she hovered, as if waiting to be invited in.

“What are you doing?” Kabakura asked, putting the manga down and giving her his full attention. It was then that he noticed her hair was down. 

“I’m staring at you,” Koyanagi responded softly. Indeed, her eyes were locked on him. 

“Yeah, I can see that,” he said, careful to match her tone. He had to be mindful of his voice whenever Koyanagi was drunk, for she became skittish and sensitive, like a cat. Depending on how he came across, she might take something personally and say something she’d later regret.

“How was tonight?” He asked, sitting up and patting the empty space beside him. Koyanagi blushed a deep red - further evidence that she was no where near sober. Her eyes flickered to the floor as she made her way over to his bed. The moment she sat down, Kabakura‘s palm was against her forehead.

“Feeling alright?” He asked. 

She shook her head. 

“Too much to drink?”

She nodded.

He smirked, brows furrowed, and sighed, as if to say, what am I going to do with you?

“I guess it’s fine, as long as you don’t throw up in my bed.” 

Koyanagi’s expression faltered and, for a moment, she appeared sad.

At this, Kabakura’s grin fell as well. He pulled his hand away from her forehead, tucking a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear, before gently cupping the right side of her face. Something else was bothering her, he just didn’t know what. There could have been any number of things that set her off during the night. He tried looking into her eyes for the answer but she kept averting her gaze. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or do I have to guess?” He finally asked.

Silence.

“Okay, fine then. We don't have to talk about it - “

Koyanagi interrupted him. “Do you wish you were dating someone else?”

It took a second for her words to register with Kabakura. His hand dropped from her face in quiet shock. He allowed himself a beat of consideration, before saying,

“What the hell gave you that idea?”

Koyanagai was slow to speak, but the tears welling in her eyes served as a sufficient answer. Kabakura had a sneaking suspicion that, whatever this was about, it had nothing to do with him. While it was true she was especially critical and discerning with her boyfriend, there was exactly one person she held up to a higher standard: herself.

“What’s this really about?” He asked, trying to keep a level head. Calming her down and dispelling the irrational drunken fears had never been easy with Koyanagi. Saying one wrong thing could mean sleeping alone. Or getting slapped. Or both.

“I’m not very nice...and...” her voice broke and tears began to spill over, “...and we’re always fighting. Wouldn’t you want to be with someone cuter....and softer? Like Narumi?”

Instinctively, he laughed, which was definitely not the right response this situation, but he couldn’t help himself. The mere idea was absolutely ridiculous to him.

“You’re right, we do fight a lot, and you are a lot to deal with...especially when you drink.”

“This isn’t funny! I’m being serious,” she snapped, but he stopped her.

“What then? Do you want to break up?” He asked, becoming suddenly serious. His gold eyes grew hot with intensity, seeming to burn holes in her. Koyanagi’s gaze, in contrast, was distant, dulled by the alcohol.

“No!” she slurred, and then, once calm and collected, repeated firmly, “No.” Instinctively, her hands grasped at the fabric of his shirt, desperate and scared, as if he might actually try to leave.

The warmth returned to his expression. “Good. Because I don’t want to either.” 

“But I am worried,” she confessed. Her fingers unfurled and she pulled back inwards. “...terrified, actually.” 

“Terrified of what?”

“A lot of things.”

“Like?”

“Like how much I love you. And how much it would hurt if you left me...” She paused, letting the words echo in their minds. Kabakura felt himself suppress a grin, not wanting to reveal how stupidly happy her intoxicated confession had made him. 

“Why would I leave you? I love you, idiot. There’s nothing to be scared off.”

“But - “

“But what?”

“I am scared,” Koyanagi tried to keep her thoughts inside, but the alcohol eventually forced it out, “...because I didn’t plan to love anyone this much! Especially not stupid Bakakura...” She trailed off. 

Kabakura’s eye twitched, lips quirking upwards. Really now, he thought, where did all this come from? With another exasperated sigh, Kabakura took his shirt sleeve and wiped away the remaining tears.

“There, there, Hanako. I’m not going to leave you...even if you are an ugly crier.”

He expected to be slapped. That would have been her usual reaction. But the blow never came. Rather, she did something quite unexpected. Grabbing Kabakura by collar, Koyanagi pulled him into a clumsy yet passionate kiss. He was caught off guard briefly, before slipping comfortably into the familiar feel of her lips. She still tasted strongly of alcohol, but he didn’t mind.

The two had been dating since high school, but even after all this time, they still found themselves breathless after a kiss. Koyanagi came up for air, gasping softly. Her face was bright red. Whether it was from the tears, booze, or embarrassment, Kabakura wasn’t sure. He didn’t think too hard on it either, instead focusing on her eyes. They gazed up at him with the sweetest expression.

It was true - drunk, emotional Koyanagi was an absolute pain and consoling her was tedious. But there were certain perks that came with the job. On any given day, the woman he loved was hard to please, prickly, and easily provoked, so Kabakura learned to cherish the rare moments of intoxicating vulnerability she allowed herself. Though fleeting, these moments were potent. He had learned long ago that, below the teasing and sarcasm and insults, Koyanagi was a complete and utter softie. 

“I love you so much,” she said, still breathless, as if the weight of feelings were crushing her. In some ways, they were. 

“I know,” he whispered before pressing his lips back to hers.

[ninatheauthor]

Challenges

In this post, I’ll explain how Basima was created, the biggest problem I faced and how I tried to resolve it.

Background

When I made headcanons with canon characters in summer 2016, I created a new character during that period. I found a name, described her appearance and ethnic origins. I had vague ideas about her purpose in the canon universe ; she was a soldier and Squad Leader in the Survey Corps for no particular reasons.

Two years ago, I’ve developed Basima for another story. I wasn’t interested anymore in SNK, therefore I wrote nothing concerning the manga and its canon characters. 

Then, I’ve had a sudden rush of nostalgia about SNK just few weeks ago: I fell in love again with the story and my favorite characters. For the first time in nearly four years, I thought seriously about my OC within the canon universe. I’ve done research to fabricate a profile for Basima. It’s not easy to fill in but I’ve been doing my best. The profile is still in progress as I’ve not published yet the second second part with Basima’s history, her relationships and a trivia. 

Pairing an OC with canon characters without making them act OOC

While writing Basima’s backstory, I imagined a sort of love triangle evolving into a triad between her, Moblit and Hange. The love triangle plot is cliché but it I kept the idea. Basically, it went like this: 

Moblit and Hange are close - they aren’t dating but they have a close bond

Moblit and Basima are in an intimate relationship (friends with benefits)

Everyone except Hange knows about it

Hange discovers the relationship a year later

They’re jealous about it, tensions arise between them and Basima

Basima confronts them after they overstep her boundaries

Moblit explains he cares about them and Basima

Hange apologizes, Basima accepts their apology

Basima is harassed by MP soldiers, Moblit and Hange rescue her

Hange and Basima get closer after the incident

The triad is formed

My reaction after I realised how awful this scenario was: 

I had to take a step back, ask myself “What should I do?” and correct my mistakes.

1. Develop Basima’s personality

Once I did it, I could imagine clearly how she would react in various situations. I tried to have the same amount of strengths and weaknesses.    

2. Don’t forget about Moblit and Hange’s own personalities

According to Attack on Titan Wiki:

“Moblit came across as an intelligent and responsible person, which may have been the reason he was tasked to keep his overzealous and eccentric superior out of trouble. Much of the time, this left him in a state of near-panic, having to constantly remind Hange to be more careful or yanking her to safety. That he remained at her side constantly suggested he was a loyal person, regardless of the stress involved with being under her command. However he was able to show signs of a serious nature when it came to missions, such as the time he twisted Peaure's hand when he was taking notes[4] or when he held Djel Sannes' chair down when he was being tortured.[5]”

This is a good description. I came across this interpretation from snkirschtein, which I find very interesting:

“Moblit is very meticulous, and very observant, which translates to his work as well as his everyday life. He picks up on the smalls things, which can help him decide if someone is trying to get one over on him or if someone is trying to manipulate him or another. He is good at reading people. He’s also very careful with his words. He’s very smart, especially with people, and knows what to say or not say. It makes him charming in a way people often have trouble understanding.”

Imo Hange is probably one of the most stereotyped and misunderstood characters in this manga. A lot of fans tend to only view them as a “crazy researcher who loves Titans”. They forget about other aspects of their personality:

“Hange is a genius, using her brain to create weapons, tactical plans, and inventions for the benefit of humanity. As a leader, Hange is thoughtful of her comrades, and can easily figure out complex problems in order to create plans for her teammates to carry out. On a less cheerful note, she can use this genius anyway she can, being able to easily manipulating people to do what she wants in order to benefit humanity (...)” (source)

“Though Hanji loves titans, they also love and care about their comrades/humanity. They can be vengeful, and willing to do what it takes in order to protect someone they care about. They also take threats to those they care about very seriously. So all-in-all, let’s not forget about that serious and protective side that Hanji also has.” (source)

3. Don’t erase the canon relationship between Moblit and Hange

“To Hange, Moblit was her right-hand man and went everywhere with her on almost all of her business, an important friend, and comrade. Even though he was under constant stress, Moblit fulfilled his duty to keep Hange out of trouble to his last breath.” (1)

“(...) Even so, he cared about her and in his final moments, put her safety over his.” (2)

In this post, Anon asked “what Hange would want/need in a romantic partner” (who’s also an OC). The description also reminds me of a certain canon character:

“Hanji is definitely someone who needs to be taken care of. Though they can be independent, their regard for their personal safety is kind of nonexistent, what with the way they recklessly get close to titans and etc. So someone reliable (makes sure Hanji takes care of themselves), caring, level-headed, and/or quick-minded would go really well with Hanji.

“(...)The OC just needs to know when to relent, but at the same time keep a close eye on Hanji in case they need to step in and get them out of trouble.”

“(...) If anything, I could see someone who doesn’t mind letting Hanji talk their ear off while they focus on other things at the same, grunting and humming every now and then to let Hanji that they’re still listening or etc.”

“When asked what type of partner they’d be interested in, Hanji said “Someone who is fine even if I can’t pay attention to them, I guess”. Which, in my opinion, means someone who isn’t very needy or clingy, and needs attention constantly.”

4. Write about the polyamorous relationship in a realistic way

Basima was a comrade of Moblit and Hange. Through the years, she became friends with them. Hange thought she was an attractive lady ; it didn’t surprise them when Moblit told them he wanted to get intimate with her. Contrary to what people thought, they totally approved his relationship with her.

It looked like this: Moblit and Hange are close - Basima and Moblit are close - Hange and Basima are good friends

After the passing of her best friend, Moblit and Hange gave Basima moral support. They helped her to regain self-confidence and believe in her abilities. At some point, Hange really wanted to kiss her lips, do inappropriate things with their subordinate and friend. That’s when they realised they were screwed up. 

The trio discussed over the matter: what would happen? How do they qualify their relationship? Eventually, they decided to keep the relationship secret. Friends and comrades - basically everyone within the Survey Corps - noticed that something happened between the three of them. Hange nicknamed their subordinates Habibi and Habibti. Basima kissed them both on the cheeks when nobody was around. Moblit often drew the Captain and Officer together. They quarreled, disagreed on certain topics. Sometimes, they were fed up with each other. They always made up after having an argument. In a nutshell, the triad lasted several years.

Hange and Moblit were shattered by the deaths of their fellow squad members. They lost comrades, long-time friends and a significant other.