#but no this post will be limited to surface-level observations

[mirururuguramu]

Things I Noticed About Mikoto’s Trial 2 Album Cover:

Here’s the album cover in its entirety for context

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1.) There are 2 prominent ahoges

As opposed to only having one in Mikoto’s default sprites

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2. The side of Mikoto’s face with a terrified expression kinda has crooked teeth

While the side of Mikoto’s face with an angry expression has a fang

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3. Mikoto’s door seems similar to the doors in subway trains

Not 100% sure though since it looks a bit different

But if that really is a door for subway trains, then it’s concerning that it’s opened like that in Mikoto’s album cover since

The doors for subway trains are supposed to open sideways

(GIF Source)

Well, I acknowledge that all doors in Trial 2 albums are opened like that, but it’s still curious that they chose this type of door for Mikoto because it’s one of those that you don’t open via manually pushing/pulling it, or is usually the case anyway

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4. The door that aligns with the half of Mikoto’s face with a terrified expression looks bloodier at 1st glance

Possibly because Mikoto’s figure conceals most of the blood on the door that’s aligned with the angry half of their expression

Almost as if telling Es to focus on the Mikoto with a terrified expression, on the severity of [mental] wounds that they caused him. All the while downplaying his own [mental] wounds, the ones that are carried by the Mikoto with an angry expression

It would play into how the angry Mikoto painted himself as the perpetrator, the terrified Mikoto only a victim in all of this (haha Cat reference yes):

"I (ore) am the one who did it! I (boku) didn't do it!"

『やったのは俺だ！　僕はやってない！ 』

(Translator)

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5. There are 3 (or 4) words on the album cover that could allude to a ‘self’

Double (1),  I(2)’m, Me(3)Me(4)

I included “Double” because one definition of it is:

a person who looks exactly the same as someone else

Which raises the possibility of there being not only 1 ‘double’ but several

(That said, it’s possible that Milgram will only focus on 2 Mikotos, which are the ones featured on this album cover)

[deartrent]

mum's emotions — taa

summary: pent-up emotions and frustrations as a first-time mom finally surface when you find yourself in the familiar arms of trent

pairing: trent alexander-arnold x fem!reader

notes: my first ever post on here. didn't really come out the way i intended, idrk if i like it, but let me know what you guys think!!

what you felt was wrong. you knew it was wrong on so many levels. you couldn't help but feel the way you did though. seeing trent take care of your baby so naturally, as if he'd experienced being a father before, sparked something inside of you that you didn't know you were capable of feeling. you couldn't tell if it was anger, disappointment or jealousy. all you could think of was how come i carried that baby for 9 months, just to be the worst mother of all time?

trent noticed your frustrations. he could tell when he'd come home from training and you'd greet him coldly or shoot daggers when he'd steal the baby from you, the cries stopping as soon as he held her in his arms, so gently. you were never the type to verbalise your feelings and trent knew not to push you to that point either, but he also knew you were slowly reaching your limit. he wished he could stay home more often to help you out, to take some of the workload off of you, but his schedule didn't allow him to.

"look she smiled," trent turned your daughter to face you, unaware that you had been observing them for the past two minutes. their smiles resembled so much, something you had prayed for way before getting pregnant.

it took everything in you to fake a smile, masking the emptiness you felt inside. trent could sense your mind was racing, your silence speaking louder than words. his heart ached seeing you in this state, reminiscing on the bubbly version of you prior to giving birth.

"she can sense your emotions you know," trent spoke after getting no reaction from you, walking over to where you stood, with your daughter against his chest, "when mum's stressed, she will be too, i read it somewhere." you felt vulnerable as trent towered over you, trying his best to read your facial expressions. you hadn't been too verbal lately, with trent having to rely on body language. he had no clue the reason you hadn't been verbal was the inability to hold in tears whenever trent would try and have a conversation about anything baby related. instead of confiding in him, you chose to distance yourself.

you didn't know how much longer you could hold everything in though, and without a single warning, you felt your eyes well up, a burning sensation confirming that your tear-filled eyes had turned bloodshot red by now. trent was caught off guard, not knowing what to do next. this was the first time you'd shown a different emotion than anger and annoyance since the baby had arrived.

trent's first instinct was to put the baby down on the playmat, before engulfing you into an embrace you didn't realise you needed until your face sunk into trent's chest, the all too familiar scent and sense of warmth, comfort and security washing over you. you sobbed into his shirt, his large hands caressing your back as he tried soothing you.

"please talk to me babe, tell me what's on your mind," trent begged and for the first time since bringing your daughter home, you thought of trent, instead of yourself. you thought about how he must've felt, being a first time parent himself and having to deal with taking care of the baby on one hand, but on the other hand having to deal with an angry, irritated girlfriend, not knowing what exactly is going on because you simply did not communicate with him. you could only imagine how scary and lonely it must have been for him.

"i just need a break," you sobbed, barely audible but you knew if anyone would understand you, it would be trent. "i don't know what i'm doing, i don't know if i'm feeding her correctly, i don't know if i'm dressing her warm enough, all she does is cry and i have no idea what she wants. i'm just a shit mother, i wasn't made for this." you took the opportunity to dump all of your frustrations.

"stop, don't say that," trent pried you off of him to create a little distance as he held your face with both hands, wiping away your tears with his thumbs, "you're doing great, i promise. she's alive, she's healthy, that means you're doing a good job." trent tried reassuring you, your breath shaky from all the sobbing. "she's crying, because she senses your emotions," you melted into trent's hands, the eyes you were so in love with fixated on yours, making your surroundings disappear, "she just wants you to be happy, we both do." guilt was the next thing you felt.

you felt guilty because you'd left trent in the dark, taking your frustrations out on him, while all he wanted to do was help, "i'm so exhausted trent, i can't remember last time i slept a full night," you continued your rant, "i miss just cuddling with you and not be interrupted," you could see the corner of trent's lips turn upwards, igniting the same warm, fuzzy feeling you'd been feeling ever since the first day you'd met; the one thing that hadn't changed since the birth of your baby. trent placed a gentle kiss on your forehead, before placing your head on his chest once more, "you know, i have a day off tomorrow, i can ask my mum to babysit and we could just stay in bed all day," trent suggested, earning a chuckle from you.

you could feel trent's heart beat against your temple and as you further sunk into his arms, you realised just how blessed you really were. you couldn't imagine having a baby with anyone other than trent, the idea of building a family with him easing your mind. he was everything you wanted and from the moment you told him you were pregnant, you knew that you and your baby were in safe hands. and that was all that mattered.

"i would love that," you looked up, pressing your lips to his luscious ones in a kiss you didn't know you craved.

[i-amyou]

What would you say to someone who's new to nd\av and doesn't wanna read too much to overconsume and just literally get it to the point ?

The pointers I'd share are:-

This person you believe yourself to be, is an illusion. The mind, and the body are unreal and illusory.

Experience is only ever through Awareness, and that awareness is what you are.

There is no listener of sound, just the sound. There is no one seeing, only the sight. There is no one feeling, only the felt. And this sound, sight, and what's felt is all awareness. It's all YOU. So senses are another illusion, just like your body.

There is no past and future. Only the NOW. Because Awareness always is. It never was, and never will be.

It's always THAT(awareness) experiencing THAT(Awareness). THAT(awareness) is the experience.

Everything you see around you, is just you in different forms. Call it whatever you want, consciousness, awareness, THAT, " ".

What you are, cannot be put into words. It's inexplicable.

This is something you will only believe in and understand on surface level for as long as you keep seeking, the moment when it all becomes clear and evident is when you go within and question the nature of your reality and ponder on these pointers.

This realisation is experience based, so experience it directly, by going within. KNOW yourself.

There is nothing to do. Just be. And observe everything around you, notice THAT. Notice the presence behind it all, the awareness behind this play going on, realise it's all YOU.

I think that's all I'd like to share because these are the key pointers that helped me when I was starting a month ago.

If you wanna read some more in detail:-

The character doesn't exist.

There is no thinker of the thoughts.

Everything is an illusion.

That's just the basics but trust me, that's all you need. JUST BE and GO WITHIN. Ask yourself questions, observe and notice. Do not get too indulged with the illusion, instead be aware and present as you notice yourself just being aware of it all. Rest in that awareness.

I really hope this helps, but you still feel like it's not enough you can go through @infiniteko and @mysticsreblogs @penguinpeace (for the best reblogs of the posts).

Remember to not overconsume, and that words and labels are very limiting. Take it all as pointers, pointers which point to your true nature, to " ".

[sockatoothewafflebird]

okay so i found this s1 and s2 intro comparison video and i'm going feral about it. i have a lot to say. i think the intro poses some very important theories and ideas and i'd like to post my take about it. this is about arcane btw

i made a comment about this on the video itself but there's a lot more i wanted to say. in short, the comment said:

season one's intro focuses on the surface-level ideas of the characters. each one is either decked out in their gear or holding their weapons, or whatever things make them who they are. i think it's super cool for that, but season two's focuses solely on lighting and the characters themselves.

as another post mentioned, all of the characters are in very generic clothing, with nothing but them to observe. no gear, no weapons, no items, other than viktor holding his mask (the same way he held the book last season mind you) and the medardas with the rose. they're going to be stripped bare in this season.

the lighting is made so it highlights their faces, their posture, their body language. we're not looking at characters in a show anymore. we're looking at people.

that's the big main idea of all of this, but there's a lot more to talk about, so i'll put the rest under the cut so nonone has to scroll for hours to get past this post if they don't want to read everything. and there are a heap of season two spoilers under the cut as well, just beware.

anyway, we start out the intro with vi. let's take a really close look at this because holy shit.

we start with her sitting there, in nothing but a tank top (and i think not even a bra lmao) and she brings her hand to her face and smudges her tattoo. the tattoo with her name on it. the tattoo that helped maddie nolan recognize her.

and then the pink strip of light HIGHLIGHTS IT. that's her name, that's who she is, and she smudged it. it's probably a tattoo so the smudge in the intro is lore symbolic than anything, unless you can just easily remove tattoos in the league of legends universe. but anyway, yeah, she's having an identity crisis. she doesn't know who she is anymore.

next, we have jinx. parallel to last season's intro vi and jinx are back to back. but in this season they're sitting down. while vi is sitting, contemplative, her sister stands up and shoots.

i think comparing this with s1 is very important. in s1 vi and powder are a carving, cut from the same stone. and there they are in season two, now their own people, now walking away from one another. it's a very clever way to present their dynamic in my opinion.

it's important to point out that vi sits down and the light illuminates her smudged tattoo, while when jinx stands and shoots the light highlights her eye. i'm not sure what to make of it but it's interesting.

let's move on to ekko!

so, when it switches to him, we can see him standing alone in an empty room, the light making it so he has two shadows. they move bit by bit, like the hands of a clock.

i think that's a really cool detail because, for those who don't know much about league of legends, ekko's ability in the game is time-related. what it means for his arc in s2 i'm not quite certain on, but i have a really big theory i'll talk about in another post soon.

on to the next bit, viktor! unfortunately there's a 10-image limit on mobile and i dont have a computer right now so i'll continue this in another post. also i don't want this to be pages and pages long... so stay tuned cause ive got a lot of shit to say lmao.

made a new blog tag, just search arcane intro analysis in my blog and you'll find all posts relating to arcane's intro. more to come!!!

[sh1nsoukoku]

Pls tell me all dazai autism traits in ur list

OMG I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED, yes yes yes…

I want to preface this by saying this is in no means supposed to be canon facts or a diagnosis, I just think he is a very autistic-coded character coming from my own experiences as an autistic adult!

Long post under the cut because I don’t know how to stfu!!!

We will start with my main reasoning:

As we know, Dazai and his ability are based off of the work No Longer Human. Dazai being similar to the main character Yozo. Yozo is a kind of “stand in” for the real life author Osamu Dazai as No Longer Human contains a lot of real events from the author’s life. BSD Dazai and Yozo’s main similarities are the disconnection from others and high masking. Here are two quotes from the book:

“All I feel are the assaults of apprehension and terror at the thought that I am the only one who is entirely unlike the rest. It is almost impossible for me to converse with other people. What should I talk about? How should I say it? - I don’t know.”

This is incredibly similar to the lived experiences of Autistic people. I used to feel like an alien, or just fundamentally different than others. We tend to also struggle with communicating and other social dynamics. Dazai feels isolated from others, let’s very few people close, and searches for meaning by observing other humans and life and death itself. He quotes this as his reason for joining the Mafia. He also processes emotion differently, at odds with people around him.

“I managed to maintain on the surface a smile which never deserted my lips; this was the accommodation I offered to others, a most precarious achievement performed by me only at the cost of excruciating efforts within.”

This is one of the best descriptions I have read of Autistic Masking. Dazai HIGHLY masks. Dazai is known for not showing his true thoughts/feelings/opinions often in BSD. He can code switch easily, serious in one moment and then covering it with his over the top silly/unusual/maniacal personality. In NLH this is described as “clowning.” I also think Dazai’s genius “always according to plan” thing is sometimes a mask, so he doesn’t show the fact that he’s working hard to pull strings and figure things out.

He does have some insane pattern recognition though which is also an autistic attribute!

And now for the more surface level reasons:

Repetitive Behavior/Media Consumption: Dazai reads the same book over and over again. The Ultimate Guide to Suicide is a book he’s had with him since his PM days and he tells Atsushi that he already knows everything it says because he’s read it hundreds of times. A very common autistic trait!

Restricted Diet: Dazai seems to have a limited diet consisting of alcohol and canned crab! It’s a same food/safe food he has often. His room was described to be full of discarded cans of crab and bottles. Limited diets are common in autistic people.

Stimming: Dazai stims! He is a very wiggly and stimmy person. There’s several scenes where he is seen humming and singing or making little silly noises.

Dazai and his headphones are so important to me.. he seems to wear them frequently around the office. It could be noise cancelling or auditory stimulation that he likes.

The man never sits normally on a chair which is something I think a lot of neurodivergent people can relate to.

And of course floor time! Shown by him rolling around when stressed, laying on the rooftop and a few instances in Wan! like the marshmallow scene.

Also you can’t tell me that this is not two burnt out autistics after overworking their brains…

[secretmellowblog]

I hope tumblr doesn’t die because No other social media site is as good for long, thoughtful, nuanced analyses of media. Yeah tumblr is also full of dumb shallow hot takes and shitposts, but you can make dumb shallow hot takes and shitposts anywhere —-there are no other popular social media sites that let you easily format and share long essays on the media you enjoy, and then have conversations around those long essays.

Fandom on all the other big social websites just seems so utterly …shallow. And it’s not because people on other websites aren’t thoughtful or don’t have deep things to say, but because these sites’ formats do not allow for any kind of long nuanced conversations.

Tiktok? Things have to be crammed into a super short video with an attention grabbing headline, and you can’t hyperlink sources. Instagram? Everything has to be in an image format with strict limits on length, and nothing will be shown to your followers anyway because of how Instagram’s algorithm works, and also no hyperlinks. Twitter? Strict character limits, and if you split it into threads it means someone can retweet a part of your essay completely out of context, and also very little freedom with formatting.

It frustrates me so much. If I go into the Tumblr Les Mis fandom I’ll find really compelling long essays on the original novel (including essays being written for the ongoing book club) on the story’s historical context, or the parallels between different characters and their narrative foils, or the way the politics were defanged for certain adaptations, or the way Victor Hugo’s personal life and failings affected the novel. But on tiktok I’ll get the same five shallow stale jokes from 2013 over and over, or maybe the same “DID U KNO THAT IN THE MUSICAL JAVERT AND VALJEAN SING THE SAME LEITMOTIF” style of basic Intro To Les Mis 101 For Babies media analysis (which is what Tiktok considers deep media analysis), or stale “LOL JAVERT ACTS GAY” style jokes as if we’re living in the early 2000s and calling a character gay is still a funny punchline. And it’s impossible to have any kind of deeper thoughtful discussions than “DID U KNOW <x Kool Fact>” or “lol <shallow observational joke>” on tiktok because the platform just isn’t built for building niche communities around in depth conversations. it’s built to churn out bland generic content for as wide an audience as possible, which means pointing out a small detail like an Easter egg and calling it “cool” is deep media analysis, because you cant have longer more in depth conversations without alienating people. And I hate it. Bc like, it’s not because there aren’t smart clever thoughtful people on Tiktok— there are—it’s because Tiktok isn’t built for these conversations, and anyone who wants to have them has to really fight against the things the website encourages or prioritizes!

Or like, if I go into the LOTR fandom on Tumblr, I’ll find tons of extremely long analysis and fanfic, and analysis of queer readings of the story. On Instagram people will still shriek in terror if you suggest the characters are gay, and most of the popular lotr posts are stale memes recycled from like 2007. There’s really no room for thoughtful media analysis, and even if you did create it, instagram’s algorithm would make sure no one saw your post anyway.

And everyone’s going to say “the algorithm shows you what you’ve seen before so maybe it’s your fault ~” or whatever but i do look for things I want! I do! “The algorithm” doesn’t know me or what I want or value or care about beyond this meaningless surface level.

The only thing that was worthwhile about these sites was the great visual art people were creating, but now the websites are overwhelmed with meaningless soulless machine-generated AI glurge, and it sucks. It just really, really sucks.

I’m honestly confused about why people don’t use tumblr….There’s no character limits! You have freedom with post formatting, and can insert images throughout textposts to illustrate specific points you’re making beneath the paragraphs where they’re necessary! You can add hyperlinks, linking to your sources! People can reblog your entire essay and share it, and then add on with commentary that then becomes part of a larger conversation! People can find your stuff through the tagging system! Reblogging means posts stay in circulation for years instead of being dead 30 minutes after they’re uploaded! If you want to have genuinely interesting text conversations about a piece of media, there really isn’t a better social media website for it anywhere.

To be clear, I’m definitely not saying Tumblr media analysis is *always* clever and thoughtful or etc etc. there are shitposts and nonsense here too (plenty of which I’ve created lol.) I’m saying that Tumblr gives people the tools for in-depth insightful analysis to happen. Whether people choose to do it or not is their own decision XD. But the reason lengthy in-depth conversations and book clubs are even possible here is because Tumblr is built for allowing these conversations to happen, in a way other sites simply aren’t.

It’d really suck if it died, because it’d be a huge blow to…being able to easily find long insightful in-depth media analysis written by fans. I currently don’t think there’s anything that could replace it.

[bibliophilesince2003]

Transformers One

Ok guys, I just realized something about Orion and Elita and their relationship. I've only watched the movie once and can't wait to re-watch it, but I do remember key scenes and have seen clips others have shared over the past few weeks that cover more and more scenes not included in the trailers.

Oh... I guess I better hide the rest of this post for those who don't want to be spoiled.

Most of us can agree that Elita's means of affection towards Orion are more dominant later in the movie. She crouches to get down on his level, she's encouraging when Orion is feeling down, she leaned towards the pit when Orion fell, she taps or puts a hand on his shoulder or arm to get his attention. She sticks close to him.

Orion is a bit flirtatious towards her in the beginning; it usually doesn't work or backfires. Most of the time, his actions mean more than his words, but here are three key moments I picked up on that really highlight his feelings about Elita, if it weren't already obvious...

He shoved Elita clear of danger at least two times, maybe more.

The first time was when the cave was collapsing and Elita was throwing the poles that activated and kept the cave from collapsing as fast. On the last one, she holds it above her head and is perfectly willing to stay there. Orion dives forward and quite literally grabs her middle and they both collapse to the ground. Well, we don't see them collapse to the ground, but we can assume gravity is a factor. In the next scene, Orion and Elita are separated but relatively close to each other, especially as their banter resumes.

The second was in the midst of the battle right before D-16 and Bee were captured. At one point Elita wasn't paying attention, and Orion yelled her name and dove for her, sparing her from any damage. The pile of rocks fell on him instead.

Sure, sure. He's a leader and would likely do that for anyone. Still, it proves he cares about Elita so much he would be willing to die for her, and if that's not potential couple material I don't know what is.

When Darkwing fired Elita, Orion was extremely apologetic and tried to tell Elita he was sorry. After she walked away, those who have seen the movie are well aware of the "my finger can transform" scene. I just realized... he was getting back at Darkwing for firing Elita. He may be reckless, but he said "I'll give you a limited option" as an attack on Darkwing who said that since they were miners, they didn't have a whole lot of freedom in terms of where to go, which is why Elita ended up in Waste Management. Orion wasn't too pleased with Darkwing's treatment towards Elita, and I love that. I'm sure Orion wasn't too pleased with Darkwing's treatment of all miners, but this is one of the only times if not the only time we see him stand up against Darkwing, and I would like to think that caring for Elita had something to do with it.

Finally, another iconic scene is the train one, where Bee turns and bolts. Orion is the last one to turn and run. In fact, he looks to make sure the others are already running - D-16 and Elita - glances at the rising horizon again, and then breaks into a faster run. I guess this is more inclusive than just Orion and Elita, but I think you get my point.

Besides the physical and verbal proof, my favorite scene is when Elita surveys the surface for the first time and says "it's beautiful" and Orion immediately looks at her and smiles. He's either smiling at her awe or thinking the same of her, and either way it's just too sweet. That scene has already been pointed out by others, which is why I didn't really include it in my observations.

Optimus Prime is considered a "loner" by many, but it seems he's more vulnerable than I thought.

[yuliasolsystem]

Okay, I'm trying to write an analysis of Legato and Knives' relationship in the manga, but apparently the app has a limit on the number of pictures in one post and the online translator I use has a limit on the number of words... So I decided to just make some separate posts about my interpretation of Legato and Knives' behavior toward each other in canon.

In short, I think their relationship is more complex than just "Legato blindly worships Knives but Knives doesn't care about him". I can see a mutual attachment between them that doesn't develop into a normal relationship, romantic or not, because of Knives' refusal to compromise his principles a little bit and Legato's inability to understand his own emotions.

I think I'll just show some examples from the manga and give my opinion of what is going on there, and I want to start with this scene because it is usually brought up as an example of how Knives doesn't care about Legato. But I think it's a little more complicated than that.

In short, I think Knives is lying.

Yes, he does say that he couldn't care less about Legato's loyalty and he also says he doesn't believe in Legato's ability to stand up to Vash, but his actions during the last battle tell exactly the opposite: Knives relies entirely on Legato's loyalty and his ability to deal with Vash.

Before Legato showed up from God knows where with his Guernica, Knives was observing the battlefield both below, on the planet's surface, and above, in space

Note the tense expression on his face: he is clearly having a hard time fighting several opponents at once and trying not to miss a single blow.

But then Legato appears (saving him for the third time in the manga) and from that moment Knives' behavior changes dramatically: he leaves Vash and the inhabitants of No Man's Land to Legato and focuses on the battle with the Earthlings.

Now he's acting very self-confident and even look on his face is changed.

He relies on Legato so much that he doesn't pay attention when humans hook up cables to a fused entity. Even one of the humans comments that it was too easy (I used fan translation for this one example because it was closer to the original)

Earlier we could see that Knives was very observant; he could not have failed to notice the ship with the cable. Especially since he knew that humans were up to something and he even knew what exactly.

Therefore, even while focused on preparing to repel the upcoming attack, he could not simply ignore such a threat. So my only explanation here is complete trust in Legato and faith in his powers. For Knives this level of trust in a human (especially since several of his allies have already betrayed him) would be a sign of a very personal attachment, that's why I think Legato is something more than a mere tool for him.

But why does he treat Legato like that then? I think, the fact of this attachment is too hard for him to accept because if he does he would feel as if he is betraying his own principles.

Knives' problem with humans goes deeper than just hatred and fear. He neither hates nor fears Legato, even though Legato, probably, is the only one who could hurt Knives if he wanted to. I mean he could control Knives' body even as a teen.

So that's not the reason for him to push Legato away. What then? I can imagine, for Knives to accept a human is the same as for Vash to kill one. Just as Vash thinks that if he kills even the evilest person, he will betray Rem and start turning into a monster, Knives probably thinks that if he lets a human get too close to him, he will betray the memory of Tessla and begin to forgive humanity for everything they've done to his kind. And just as Vash hoped he wouldn't have to face the negative consequences of his pacifism, Knives hoped that Legato would follow him to the end even if he keeps pushing him away.

Judging by the look on Knives' face, he was surprised by Legato's appearance

but decided that it meas that Legato's still loyal to him and his goals to the end. But alas, by this point Legato's concept of "loyalty" is a bit... different...

..but I'll talk about that in another post, I guess...

[right-there-ride-on]

For me the key to understanding SBR was to read it as a narrative instead of a jojo part. I feel like with the rest of jojo you can almost read each part as less as a narrative and more as a series of fights with a loosely connected story. When I first read Part 7, I was reading it through the same lens I do other parts; namely, the story occurs around the fights. What I mean is that I feel with most of the previous parts, the story was a vehicle for the fights, not the other way around.

It’s easy to say SBR is a fresh start / reboot but I think I just so strongly associated it with the rest of jjba that it took forever to me feel like I actually ‘got it’. With other jojo parts I feel most everything is surface-level (I don’t mean this in the bad way, just that, like the rest of the series, it’s very ‘in your face’). But Part 7 is unique to me in that it’s a narrative where I can keep digging and finding new things.

All this to say that it took me several re-reads to feel like I actually caught on to some of the subtext and other things going on. For example, while there’s blatant references to religion throughout SBR, I hadn’t realized how ingrained it was in the story proper until I went back and did the religious analysis of the text, which in turn better informed my understanding of the characters. So much flies over your head the first time you read it. For another example, it took a lot of time and revisiting the text for me to even begin understanding the True Man’s World, and I hadn’t even thought to seriously consider the cultural context of SBR’s setting until someone else pointed out how Ringo’s ideas would have tied in with Jeffersonian rhetoric about American Individualism. Maybe that was my problem: I wasn’t taking SBR on its own terms, and frankly I think I might have dismissed a lot of what Araki was trying to say with this piece by considering as Part 7 instead of Steel Ball Run.

Parts 1-6 are very enjoyable for what they are, but to be quite honest I don’t think they had a larger message besides fate and possibly abuse of power. They had themes, obviously - family and legacy as an overarching one; love comes to mind for Part 1, friendship for Part 2, the journey / friendship for Part 3, etc - but I don’t think Araki had something he was trying to say with them. He wrote Parts 1-6 because he had ideas he wanted to express, and most of those were action-oriented stand battles. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just an observation. The story functioned around the stand battles.

In contrast, with SBR I feel the fights are part of the story, and help inform the greater whole. Lucy’s whole character, as a non-combatant who does important things to keep the plot moving, reflects this change in approach. Sugar Mountain is dedicated to highlighting Gyro and Johnny’s evolving relationship. Compare Bohemian Rhapsody with Diego & Hot Pants vs Valentine. As a narrative SBR demands consideration of values and reflection on what we hold important. It encourages you to think deeply and pull it apart to see what it’s trying to say.

Again, this isn’t to dismiss any of the other Parts, and in no way is this an attack on them. Furthermore, SBR is longer and was afforded a monthly publishing timescale; perhaps there’s an argument for Araki simply having more time to do things. However, I also think the comment from Araki about feeling as though he’d hit his creative limit with Part 6 is reflective on his mindset at the time of writing Stone Ocean. Steel Ball Run was his chance to start fresh as a more experienced writer with a message he wanted to share.

This post is mostly just a reflection for how I want to approach other works in the future.

[imthepunchlord]

You know what would be a cool though tense Monster Hunter game? It being a more research game instead of hunter. Essentially PLA for MH, where it's more stealth, survival, and some elements of horror game. With you going out to study and learn monster behavior, with people having very little knowledge and they're actually terrifying, and you're going out with minimal to no combat skills.

All you can really do is try being a ninja researcher, sneaking around, making use of the items you have, and throwing them out to discourage or distract monsters. And if you're successful, you'll get to see new animations, terf wars, more MH lore, the world, and ecology; and a lot of tense moments as these are huge, deadly creatures that can easily overpower you.

And maybe as you level up, you could either go more hunter and adopt some protective tactics, or maybe you wind up befriending a monster and they'll guard you or let you ride them for a quick escape.

Not sure if it'll ever come to be, but I love speculative Monster Hunter ecology, and potentially getting some of it confirmed and having a game circle around it would just be awesome, and getting more of the world and how beautiful and scary nature is, and I think it'd be a really cool but also terrifying game.

To add to it, they can bring back underwater sections to study underwater fauna, which so far, is the least covered of the monster biomes, and I would love coming back to underwater just to see more as they only scratched the surface of what exists and some of the most diverse life is underwater. Also, these monsters can move much faster than you and you'll be more limited in what you can do. Delightfully terrifying.

And ultimate top tier post game content/challenge mode could be trying to observe, sneak around, and study Elder Dragons. Can you just imagine trying to study Fatalis' ecology? The most mystical of all Elder Dragons and it's only known purpose for living is just ending all of humanity. It'd be hard to study, but I would love to see what Fatalis does when they're just vibing.

This is a speculative Monster Hunter game I'd love to play, and I'd be so scared and tense, but it'd be soooo cool just having something that delves more into research than fighting and be more stealth oriented.

[amber-jinx]

With all the chaos going on with you, I’m sending you all my love and support ❤️ I apologize for not being around as much due to personal issues outside of social media, but I think I’m back for now!

Question: what do you think made Rachel intrigued with Chloe and observe her so much? And how long do you think she was watching Chloe before they started talking?

Aw thank you so much! Please don't apologise for that, everyone should have the freedom of choosing where they spend their time :) Sending back love & support as well, hopefully things turn out well at your end 💛

Also once again, hella great questions!!

The 1st question reminds me of this Rachel pov fic that I've been translating, it says:

"At first it was mere curiosity.

Most people put on their good side with purpose, but Chloe does just the opposite; She disguises herself with a bad side, opposing and mocking everything; She puts on a pissed-off expression, as if a smile would make her face rot, when actually she’s purer and kinder than anyone else, plus her personality is more interesting than I had imagined."

I think initially Rachel kinda believed Chloe to be what people speak of her. As principal Well's assistant, perhaps she also knew Chloe's on a scholarship, and that she's failing her subjects and on Well's list of high-risk students. She must've wondered,

"Why would someone on the prestigious Blackwell scholarship be so.. bad ? What happened to her?" (how come she's such a lone wolf now, people said she didn't use to be like this)

We also know Rachel secretly has a side that wants to pursue things that are off-limit/wild/dangerous, and Chloe being the one that stood out to her in this way, quickly became her subject of interest, so she kept and eye out for Chloe from a distance.

"Hey, I notice things! I can't help it." -- it's automatic at that point of her noticing Chloe

Later on, Rachel, by whatever means (like seeing the photo of Bongo the cat in Chloe's locker", started to realise that the notorious Chloe Price might not be who she really is at all. And so with a natural tendency to want to understand & read people, she's intrigued to find out more.

Ofc let's not forget, Chloe's hella good looking to Rachel. Lmao Rachel you stared at those legs a tad too long buddy.

While there's no telling how long exactly she's watched Chloe, there are some clues.

"Really? I see you acting like you're tough all the time in school." -- to Chloe, who claimed to not be an actor.

"That doesn't sound like Chloe Price" (park) - at that point in time (frustrated & on impulse) she's still wanting to think of Chloe as this bad girl to do rebellious/prohibited things with, even though she knows that's just on the surface (but she didn't care at that point)

Rachel's still a "newcomer" to Blackwell, despite being on the school photo. Perhaps she moved to Arcadia like a year ago or less, and had spent a school term along with Chloe already, given her established popularity & recognition from the school itself.

So I don't know, maybe she's been watching Chloe within the time range of two/three weeks to a month and a half?

And as we know, later she saw Chloe also at the Firewalk show, & realised they have similar interests & music taste!

Ah, a picture with crush! Look at how happy Rachel looks in that selfie 😸 & it's not here but notice how when Chloe first bumped into Rachel the latter was like, lemme take a good look at you Chloe Price, then stared at her face for 2 seconds.

Rachel: time to make a move to find how who she really is.

I find it cute that it's also kinda the same for Chloe, who realised that Rachel's more than the surface-level "pop girl with good grades".

So yeah, I sort of rushed through this post a lil bit in the midst of finals/crunch time, but I hope it still answers your question! Til next time, xo.

[kivaember]

new ac6 au idea help me

okay so i've been playing pacific drive since it came out, and it gave me SUCH brainworms for a post-apocalyptic AU of AC6. In BULLET POINT FORM:

when the Fires happened (the first one), it occured just as a coral collapse started to initiate

this basically fucked up rubicon and its now the bermuda triangle of space

anyone who lands on it don't come back and no sensors or satellites can penetrate the thick crimson cloud that covers the entire planet (looks like jupiter from the outside now, with storms and the like)

still, corpos gonna corpo. so after a few decades when nothing changes, they send a few reconnaisance groups to the planet

some manage to report back before vanishing, and the reports are: laws of physics have been screwed up, nothing makes sense, and everything's trying to kill them

Corpos sent their ac squads bc if its dangerous bring guns

They vanish, and after sending a few more they throw up their hands and are like, planet's haunted. fuck it. no coral ever now

ENTER WALTER

who's been closely observing this whole thing for a while

paranoid this effect will spread to other systems, as ambient coral levels are rising in the vaccuum of space around the planet

sends 621 to the planet's surface with strict orders for him to find 'watchpoint alpha' which should have a functioning comms array that can send through heavy coral interference

621 crashlands on the surface and man, what the hell is this scp shit

anyways, there're still ppl living on rubicon, but they've adapted to the fact that they're stuck in a reality-warped nightmare and roll with the weirdness

they have acs, but they're such precious resources that they're only deployed whenever they're gonna do a big expedition for a resource haul when identifying a safe passage opening up to some intact ruins or old foundries

most of the time they're trundling around the planet's surface on old MRAPs or jeeps, harvesting resources where they can

the redguns and vespers who were sent before have kind of like. settled down there - those that survived, anyways. bc they can't leave, but they can't survive without working together either. so there's like an uneasy alliance between the native rubiconians, the redguns and the vespers. as well as various independents that landed and learned to survive

AYRE OF COURSE IS IN THIS

so sentient coral do exist, and they tend to possess random objects

ayre in this case has possessed a car :| 621's gonna drive it

anyway 621 and ayre come across rusty, who's a scavenger for his rubiconian outpost - and the pilot of STEEL HAZE - and tl;dr rusty takes 621 back to the warrens

621 saying he has a mission to reach watchpoint alpha, bc then he and walter can "fix" rubicon

(621 is unaware of the "burn all the coral" plan. walter only told him they're fixing this mess)

rusty's interested, but says reaching the watchpoint is dependent on the conditions. he may have to wait a while

THEN POST-APOCALYPTIC ROAD TRIP AND FALLING IN LOVE while ayre plays wingman

anyway i had to get that idea out of my mind and writen down. ac combat is super rare and is only done when redguns and vespers scrap over a big haul of resources, and even then they try not to damage each ther too much, bc if their acs get too damaged, that's it. it's not being fixed with their limited resources.

rusty who's never been a spy. born on rubicon when it was already messed up and thinks this is normal. oh hey so the landscape is constantly shifting and transforming a mile long field of grass into an acidic bog that'll chew through metal in seconds? haha yeah that happens. it is what it is. oh those manniquins you see on the road sometime? yeah they multiply when you're not looking and try to creep up on you. they explode. yeah that's normal. it really is!

god rusty would actually be incredibly weird in this. even 621 would be side eyeing him...

[mahoromouse]

Bucchigiri?! Name Meanings Part 1

Making this post cuz I love researching stuff about names and languages and I feel the names chosen for the characters in "Bucchigiri?!" have a lot of meaning behind them. Please understand that my knowledge on Japanese is very limited, these are just surface level observations. Going to start with Arajin, Senya, Matakara, and Mahoro with this post, but I'm hoping to talk about the other characters eventually.

Tomoshibi Arajin / 灯荒仁

灯 (read most basically as "hi", meaning "light") relates to the word 灯火 ("tomoshibi") meaning "lamp" or "ignitor".

Beyond the transliteration of "Aladdin" to "Arajin", there are some things to note. 荒 ("ara") can mean several things:

1. wasteland; uncultivated land; desert

2. uncultivated; barren; desolate

3. unreasonable; absurd

仁 ("jin") relates to the Confucian concept of "ren", meaning "co-humanity" or "humaneness" in Chinese. It refers to the virtue of a person when reaching for higher ideals or being altruistic. Thus, as a whole, "Arajin" can be read along the lines of "Deserted Humanity" or "Uncultivated Virtue"

Senya / 千夜 and Ichiya / 一夜

千 ("sen", also read as "chi") means "one thousand" while 夜 ("yoru" or "ya") means "night." "Ichiya" has a similar structure but with 一 ("ichi") meaning "one". Together they are the "One Thousand and One Nights", playing off the Japanese name of the story (千夜一夜物語).

Asamine Matakara / 浅観音真宝

"Matakara" (真宝) was actually the first name here I realized had a relevant Japanese meaning. 真 ("ma", also read as "shin") is often used in names like "Makoto" or "Mahito" to mean "real" or "true". 宝 ("takara") is a common word denoting "treasure" or something precious. Thus, one can read the name as "True Treasure".

ADDITION: Director Hiroko Utsumi states in an interview that the name "Matakara" is also a play on the Japanese word "mahou" (魔法) which means "magic". This is because the character for "takara" (宝) can also be read as "hou".

"Asamine" can be divided into two parts, 浅 and 観音. 観音 ("mine") is actually the name of an important goddess-like figure in Chinese Buddhism, "Guanyin" (called "Kannon" in Japanese). She is associated with compassion and mercy with her full name meaning "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World". This seems to fit Matakara's image in the series so far, but the first part of his last name questions this. 浅 ("asa") can mean "shallow", "superficial", "frivolous", "wretched", or "shameful". I might go over the implications of each of these potential meanings in another post, but for now I'm just predicting that something about Matakara (or his brother Mitsukuni) might not be as it seems.

Jin Mahoro / 神まほろ

神 ("jin") can also be read as "kami" or "god". まほろ ("mahoro") is spelled with hiragana rather than kanji, reflecting how the ancient word "mahoroba" (まほろば) is written in modern Japanese. The term "mahoroba" refers to a far-off, perhaps illusory, land of peace and bliss. It's an ironic name given the idealized image of Mahoro versus how she really is.

[hxhhasmysoul]

I need Gojou fans to stop.

I need you to stay away from my comfort fandom and my beloved children from my comfort media.

Idk whose idea it was to have kid Gojou voiced by Killua's va. If it was Mappa, well it tracks, when left to their own devices they make JJK worse. If it was Gege then despite their Togashi worship they don't understand Killua as a character.

Gojou is nothing like Killua.

Yesterday someone compared Gojou to Leorio and in the notes to my outraged post someone replied that Leorio is what Gojou would've wanted to be. And that's an interesting observation.

Killua is what Gojou fans delude themselves Gojou could be.

_______

Why Gojou never was and never could be Killua?

Gojou was created to be the strongest and is worshiped by yjr secret society that produced him. His birth tipped the balance of his world. Before Sukuna reappeared no one could challenge Gojou into a fight. Gojou finds himself invincible and invulnerable. He's extremely arrogant. He completely buys into the paradigm and the cult of the strongest, he never tries to challenge his own worldview. He just gets appalled when Getou actually puts the "we are stronger why don't we kill these people" into action.

Has practically no emotional intelligence and whines about being lonely while actively pushing people away. When his friend started to spiral Gojou wasn't there to for him.

Gojou's powers come naturally and instinctually to him, he does practice but there's little sacrifice connected to it. The hardships the prompt him to further develop both stem from his arrogance in him underestimating his enemies.

Gojou is irresponsible and doesn't plan because he's arrogant enough to believe that he can wing any fight. He also fights alone, because he doesn't think he needs the help of others. This arrogance leads to many deaths, starting with Riko's.

_______

Killua is one of several kids born to give their parents the highest chance of creating a perfect heir. He gets chosen to this position he does not desire because his potential is assessed to be the highest. Then he gets violently tortured and brainwashed into that position. He knows he's strong but he never considers himself the strongest. He was trained to fear, and he was proven by his abusers that they are stronger than him.

He is shown to have been always capable of building emotional connections with others like with Alluka, Nanika or the attempt he makes with Canary but these are cut short and forbidden by his family. His arrogance is surface level and he has a lot of respect for the ones around him. Once he's on his own he build strong emotional bonds with the people around him. He has extremely high emotional intelligence and he is capable of being vulnerable around others. Even though initially his emotions, memories and ability to self-determine are limited by Illumi's powers.

When he's best friend spirals into darkness, Killua is right there with him, ride or die. Literally declaring his love through the concept of a lovers suicide... Yet he still tries to protect and support Gon. He goes back to challenge his abusers just to save Gon's life.

Killua's powers and abilities stem from his suffering. He was programmed to kill even though violence is not what he desires. And he's actively fighting against his programming.

Killua is more of a support fighter than a tank, though he has an enhancer slant to his transmuter nen. He fights very well in a team, he is clearly at his best when collaborating with others. He's a great planner and strategist. He's capable of very robust and in-depth analysis of a situation and of people and their motivations.

______

Killua isn't flawless. But even his arrogance or bias against older women are not that straightforward, because they are not consistent patterns, they are actually pretty well anchored in the situations he's in and/or the emotional development stage he's in. You can peel Killua's character like an onion, it will be equally layered and tears inducing as doing it with the real vegetable.

Gojou you can crack like a coconut. The hard shell of arrogant bs, irresponsibility, god complex and exploitative sense of humour will be annoying, but once cracked it will be hollow inside and just the fake deepness of "i'm too strong to connect with others" will spill out. A lazy sentiment he has while at the same time doing his utmost to get on everyone's nerves.

[foundationsofdecay]

Oh huh. Well, what's interesting is looking at the depth chart in merch and promo material, the entire second half of tpwbyt is labelled with depths that are squarely in the Hadopelagic/Hadal zone, which is for depths found I believe exclusively in oceanic trenches (>6000m), and even then less than 50 locations worldwide have been officially noted to go that deep. The final song is at depths only recorded in Challenger Deep, part of the Mariana Trench, which is actually in the Pacific Ocean and not the Atlantic but w/e, we'll ignore that for the sake of artistic liberty.

Anyways, a fun fact that's kind of interesting to mull over and I think actually meaningful, even if on an easter egg level, is that Missing Limbs, at 10924m, is simultaneously believed to be the deepest point reached by any manned deep sea vessel (The Limiting Factor, crewed by Victor Vescovo in 2019) as well as what several studies had concluded (at the point during which the album was likely written) to be the deepest observable point of Challenger Deep in its entirety. Depth accuracy is so hard to determine because of the conditions and topography of the location that the estimated numbers you find in different articles on the same subject will fluctuate by a few meters in either direction, but that number is what comes up the most frequently in the summaries and conclusions. Technically that also makes it a song at the Benthic level, which is cool and gives me song crossover ideas but that's a different post.

A large percentage of sediment's composition at that depth is the skeletal remains of plankton and similar organisms. The atmospheric pressure at that depth is roughly 600x the standard atmospheric pressure. The water constantly hovers at just above freezing temperatures. Taking Missing Limbs and putting that song in the context of the absolutely brutal conditions of that environment, the picture of Vessel having sunk all the way down to the absolute lowest point on the planet's surface in general, is really evocative and also, ow my heart! Equally brutal and heartbreaking imagery.

That zone's associated songs beginning with Alkaline is also interesting but I'm not going to look too heavily into that. I'm actually really curious about the other depth measurements now, though. I'd imagine this particular song is the one most likely to have an actual meaning compared to the others, but it's a fun exercise and a good excuse to read more about the deep sea. The choice to begin with Atlantic already near the bottom of the Mesopelagic zone especially is ??? but I haven't given that a look yet.

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 3: Tokyo Babylon

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces)| Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)| Part 10 (Rayearth)

The CLAMP 90s series. Perhaps their greatest work ever. Tokyo Babylon ran from 1990 to 1993, concurrent with RG Veda, the CLAMP School, Shirahime, Chun-hyang, AND X. It makes you wonder how X and Tokyo Babylon shaped each other (but more on that later). Tokyo Babylon (and X) is also set in the same universe as the CLAMP School reflecting CLAMP’s early interest in crossovers. Planned out as 7 volumes, it consists of 11 big stories and 3 annexes. I read the omnibus versions which contain lots of coloured art, but the original print run is a beauty in 80s and early 90s graphic design.

While I'd never read this before, it's famous enough (two OVAs, a drama CD, and a live action movie), that I went in knowing some of the big spoilers, but not details. So while my reading was coloured by the knowledge of its tragic end, it still felt revelatory to me. It is the first CLAMP work where I think they had gotten their storytelling pinned down enough to consciously think of how to write a story that ties together on a thematic level, in every stage, and it's phenomenal. Heavy spoilers.

Synopsis: Onmyoji and thirteenth head of the Sumeragi clan, Subaru Sumeragi is called upon to solve occult mysteries in post-bubble Tokyo. It's a time of glittering lights, a rotten economy, and city populated by lonely people desperate for an answer to their problems as the millennium draws near. Joined by his fashionable twin sister Hokuto and the kindly but strangely sinister vetenarian Seishiro Sakurazuka - who is in love with him - the overly sacrificing and empathetic Subaru must solve these problems and learn how to live - but Tokyo is not a kind place, especially to those with gentle natures.

The Story: On its surface, Tokyo Babylon begins as a "case-of-the-week" style story, where Subaru has to solve an occult case and learns something. Its a deceptively simple premise that allowed for CLAMP to explore pressing social issues of their time (which still feel resonant due to the sensitive way they explored them), while also building upon Subaru's character development through this, and the suspense of Seishiro's true nature. We observe Subaru grow through his failures and learn more about the limitations of his empathy. No case feels pointless in how it develops Subaru as a person, and his relationship to Seishiro. The dread we feel about Seishiro's connection to Subaru grows that we almost believe we might just get out of this. It's just excellently plotted out.

The comedy is well-timed and CLAMP know when to pull back from it to allow the emotional aspect to come through. Every case is incredibly gripping and I even cried reading "Old". I have seen some suggest it would have been more effective to have a massive twist rather than seed Seishiro's psychopathy throughout, but I actually think this works on a thematic level, and finding out Seishiro is a murderer, the bet, and Hokuto's death, still hit like a gut punch. It's a brilliant usage of seeding information without the full context until the end. I have no complaints here. It's a poignant story of Tokyo in the early 1990s and its destructiveness, while never losing its humanity.

The Themes: Do you know why the cherry blossoms are red. Tokyo Babylon is a story about well, Tokyo. It's about how modern city living that pursues only personal gain and conformity leads to human loneliness, and loneliness is a trap that destroys us all. We can never know someone else's pain, which leads to loneliness - but to recognize that is also freeing because it means we cannot judge and be judged for it. Having empathy is good, but too much and for the wrong people and not for yourself, can only lead to death. Subaru forms his self-identity through others, in contrast to his self-actualized twin, remaining aloof and detached from his own self - this is why Seishiro's betrayal breaks him, because Subaru doesn't know how to live as his own person. It is also what causes his loved ones so much harm in how little he loves himself in comparison to others.

Its a fascinating interplay between community and individuality, the reality of modern life of trying to be someone while also needing to generalize, without ever really settling on either side. Hokuto is right that they're not the same person, but Subaru is also right that they are deeply connected, as all people must be. Where it does come down hard is that humans are not the villains but Tokyo is, in what it represents - greed, selfishness, cruelty, and apathy. "Things like this happen in Tokyo everyday". It is intensely tragic and yet, strangely, incredibly life-affirming. Despite everything Subaru suffers, people are not born and made evil and everyone should be taken for who they are, not a faceless mass. Including ourselves.

The Characters: Like the plot, everything in the characters is tied into the story of Tokyo. Seishiro is Tokyo: the slick, cool-cut well to do man in a suit with no empathy and a taste for violence. He's Subaru's mirror - charming AND connected to people, and yet not. Nobody is special in Seishiro's eyes, nobody deserves to be treated as anything but an object. And then we have Subaru, poor sweet Subaru who is so empathetic and yet so detached from the world and himself because he's so focused on only his job, on not being an individual. He is what Tokyo wants him to be, filled with self-loathing and frankly suicidal impulses that he shouldn’t be alive if others are not.

It's so tragic to watch Subaru finally grow into a person, but to do so to the one person who will hurt him. Subaru wants to to love Tokyo so badly, that it kills his sister, the one person he SHOULD have been pouring his love into, the person who could love him back and expect nothing in return, the person who would allow him love while not dissolving himself in it. And Hokuto is just a showstopper, funny, kind, witty and cool. She's Subaru's northstar, the empathy and humanity where he cannot, almost co-dependent. I love characters that reflect one another and the themes.

The Art: The visual storytelling and panelling are fantastic. Tokyo Babylon offers a sparser and more distinctly black and white look than RG Veda, with a stronger emphasis on emotional paneling that breaks into beautiful spreads. It creates an almost wood-block, timeless appeal (despite the fashion) that is neither too busy nor too simplified. Anything to do with the Bet and especially the finale is incredible. Subaru surrounded by cherry blossoms? Haunting. The fashion is impeccable, I love the bold design choices in the covers and spreads. The character designs in and of themselves are quite simple (and I don't love the seme-uke look of Seishiro and Subaru), but the personality-costuming is so well done and tell stories themselves. And the use of Hokuto and Subaru being identical to conceal the twist? Masterful character design. My only complaint is some of the scanned photo backgrounds are jarring against the lovely drawn art.

Questionable Elements: Subaru is 16 and Seishiro is 25. That being said, I do think from their interviews and the actual text, we aren't meant to ship them, and it's not unrealistic to be a teen and fall for an older person only for it to majorly fuck you up because they abuse their greater knowledge to harm you (which hey, might be a theme!). Some of the way issues are handled is dated, but not too badly. Again, I’m not going to comment on whether this is queer representation or not, since I don’t think that has ever been CLAMP’s intention. Despite the stereotypical seme and uke stuff, the relationship feels real and tangible (which is why the payoff works). My real gripe is Hokuto getting fridged, though it's handled better than expected (still. let's stop killing women to make men sad).

Overall: A beautiful tragedy and an ode to human alienation, identity, and empathy. I went into this expecting to like it, and ended it never the same. It is genuinely a fantastic, fully complete thematic work from them that speaks as a reflection of the time it was written, and yet remains resonant. I know some people find it edgy, but I actually don't think edge is its intention, it's dark and it's tragic but never misanthropic. Yes, Subaru enters the adult world broken, but his refusal to become like Seishiro and to continue to count himself amongst humanity despite everything, reaffirms that life and people have value (notwithstanding his behaviour in X).

You can see so much of their ideas crystallize here that they’ll repeat across X, Xxxholic, etc. We're all just lonely people and we hurt each other in our loneliness, and it's important to recognize that in ourselves and take care of ourselves for it. We have value as individuals AND through others. Read it!