#character study (?)

[angstandhappiness]

INTERESTING

@awkwardandeccentric In the comics, it’s hinted that Wirt is being parentified. There’s a new messed up dynamic where, holding back tears, he says Greg is always treated like his responsibility and if Greg does anything wrong (because he’s a little boy, of course he’ll do things wrong) Wirt is punished. Like he’s Greg’s guardian when it should be the parent’s job. That further poisons their relationship because instead of Wirt choosing to spend time with Greg, Greg is foisted on him

@crematedequally I definitely picked that up. I was very much like Wirt when it came to my sister- got in trouble for her mistakes because I “had to be responsible”. I sensed that wirt’s resentment of Greg might be projection of resentment towards his parents and that’s why he tries to distance himself from Greg- because then he won’t have to realize who he’s really upset with. Greg is the one who happens to be there, and he’s only there because his mom remarried and had a kid and he’s parenting that kid for them. If I had been a teen rather than an adult when my mom remarried, my stepbros and I might not have gotten along at all. So much of why we do is because we’re all old enough to do our own thing, and Greg isn’t.

i dont think enough otgw fans talk about the exploration of complex family dynamics that the show manages to weave through pretty much every episode. like the relationship between wirt and greg seems so innocuous in the beginning, just normal aloofness due to the age gap, but as the episodes go on it becomes clear that wirt full on resents greg and actively dismisses him as “his stepdad’s kid,” while greg openly admires/loves wirt and doesnt understand why he wont spend time with him. theres so many little moments that make the lack of reciprocity in their relationship obvious, and it literally takes almost DYING for wirt to understand that he needs to treat his brother better. like holy fuck man ill be shocked if the person who wrote their backstory doesnt have a step/half-sibling cause WOW they got it right

[viviandarkbloombartylusversion]

The way I see people say that Silco was just blatantly manipulating Jinx the whole time, but actually he genuinely believed a majority of the things he told her (he was heavily projecting as he saw himself in her as he went through something similar with Vander) when he tells Jinx everyone leaves or betrays us, its just us (or smth like that), he genuinely believes it, he's not just trying to keep Jinx close, he feels it's true after what happened with Vander & Vi and is projecting that onto Jinx, when he tells Jinx to let Powder die its because he also left his old self die, hes definitely not like the young Silco we see in flashbacks, after Vander tried to kill him he clearly changed and put who he was behind him for something new, for something stronger, he's far from perfect (obviously) and wasn't the healthiest option for Jinx but he really wasn't this master manipulator some make him out to be (when it came to Jinx)

[shsl-analyzer-guy]

In-Depth Analysis On All The DR Characters Because What, Are You Gonna Try And Stop Me? Who Are You, My Mom? Yeah, I Didn't Think So- Part 6: Hifumi Yamada

Finally, the 'analyses progressively getting longer' curse is broken! As excited as I am to do this next write-up, there's absolutely no chance Hifumi's analysis will hit anywhere near the length of Junko's. I estimate this'll fall closer into the length of Sayaka's if anything, but I'd love to be proven wrong and find more to his character than I anticipate.

I really do love making these. Each and every one so far has opened my eyes to new facets of these characters, and sharing my conclusions with you all and hearing your own thoughts brings me an indescribable amount of happiness. Truly, there is nothing like the hubris papers :D

As always, this analysis uses only official materials, primarily English localizations of the source material, and while I do my best to maintain objectivity, it is at its core an interpretation! If you aren't interested, keep scrolling, and if you don't like it, also keep scrolling

Part 1- Character Design

Hifumi sports a fairly typical looking and clean school uniform, neatly tucked in and collar folded. He wears with it an orange backpack that matches his tie in shade, and his tie and shoes have arrow imagery as well. His tie in particular has an double-headed arrow that points up and down over his torso. This is likely meant to reference his self-given nickname, The Beginning and the End, a biblical reference.

He keeps his hair slicked neatly into a small ahoge at the center of his head, wears round glasses, and has a cat lip and double chin. He's notably the only plus sized character in THH, and was given the title of SHSL Doujin Artist, or Ultimate Fanfic Creator. He's also noticeably very clean and neat, contrasting the otaku stereotype of being messy and disorganized.

Part 2- The Otaku Caricature: A Brief Summary

'Otakus' as they're commonly known are people that define themselves by their interest in stereotypically nerdy things to an almost obsessive degree. These people are often thought to be very good at subjects like math and science, and adore manga and/or anime. And when it comes to male otakus, they're often characterized as lonely perverts who can only find comfort and companionship in works of fiction because they're too pathetic and gross for any real person to like them, and/or because they're too obsessed with their beloved worlds of fiction to bother with making human connections. There's a lot more history behind how the otaku perception has shaped over time, but this is the basic gist of what you need to know if you're unfamiliar with otakus as a concept.

Hifumi in particular is meant to represent otaku culture as it appears in Japan, as many characters in THH are designed around subcultures themselves (Mondo with bosozoku, Chihiro with otokonoko, Junko with gyaru, etc.) and like these characters, he's designed to deconstruct what this culture represents and how people within this subculture are perceived. This is an idea that's present for most of the THH cast, but is especially noteworthy with Hifumi, because his story is one of the most immediately affected by his role within his subculture, to the point where his perception as a character is inextricably linked to public perception of this subculture.

Part 3- Character Introduction

Hifumi's first lines aren't directly known as his, but are swiftly revealed to be his once you connect the voice actor to the character. Notably, his first remark is to question the class size.

"So counting him, that makes fifteen. Seems like a good cut-off point, but I wonder if this is everyone..." -Hifumi Yamada, Prologue

When actually speaking directly to him, he introduces himself proudly, giving you his nickname- "The Alpha and the Omega", or The 'Beginning and the End' in its source language- and immediately bragging about his SHSL title and how many fancomics he's sold, even at his own school. Said works are self-described to be "about embracing our basest urges," something that immediately turns Makoto off the idea of even so much as looking at it.

Quite obviously, the implication here is smut, nudity, sex appeal, etc. "Basest urges" when referred to in the context of humans in fiction are commonly referring to sex, and coming from an otaku character, the stigma of horny, creepy anime lover is almost immediately set in place for our POV character by said comment, combined with the mention that his peers weren't all so excited to see his work in a school setting.

"Some of them didn't get it, of course, saying I'd 'tainted' the event. How stupid can you be!?" -Hifumi Yamada, Prologue

So our first given impression of him is that of a creepy otaku that draws and sells fanart of his waifus. Said impression relies on the player's prior exposure to otaku characters and their stereotypes, as well as a generalized amount of fatphobia(the fatphobia as a whole will be properly broken down at the end; stick with me until then bc it will be addressed properly) that lends itself into painting this early picture and setting up the building blocks for easy misperceptions of his future actions. Because while, yes, he does draw and sell fanart of his waifus, he's not the one-note pervert this initial impression would lead you to believe.

Part 4- Early-Game Events

Hifumi almost immediately takes a backseat in the first chapter, falling to the wayside in class discussions and only chiming in for the occasional joke. In fact, he speaks up twice in the class' breakdown of the first floor- once for a fat joke, and once for a vore joke. Neither of these are during the time where his 'investigation group' are reporting their findings.

"'But even with all that, there are 15 of us. How long can the food last?' 'Y-You can just eat sesame s-seeds or something...' 'Huh? What am I, a parakeet?'" -Hifumi Yamada & Toko Fukawa, ch 1

Later, if you choose to speak to him in the dorm hallway before going to the gym with Sayaka, he seems to be very interested in the relationship she and Makoto are developing. This noticeably makes Makoto uncomfortable, but the reason why he finds their relationship interesting is much less creepy than Makoto's unspoken assumption.

"'Mr. Naegi, Miss Maizono...! Wh-Where are the two of you off to!? A man and woman... growing closer...' 'H-Hey! What are you trying to say!?' .... 'There's really no other way to express it but to say... How very poetic!' '...'" -Hifumi Yamada & Makoto Naegi, ch 1

He sees their developing relationship as something poetic, something that has meaning to it. Speaking to him again clarifies that.

"And when he swears his love to her, there's a reason he swears that love! That's the feeling I'm getting!"

This is the first time we see Hifumi's intentions and beliefs to be more pure than his peers initially believe, and this misperception quickly becomes a theme. We see this again in the investigation, where Leon immediately assumes the worst of him for volunteering for trash duty.

"'Hey fatty! Why'd you want the cleaning gig, anyway!?' I-I just decided to volunteer for something I knew no one else would wanna do. What's the big deal!?' 'Liar! I know why you did it...'" -Leon Kuwata & Hifumi Yamada, ch 1

And, when he insists upon his innocence, it's not taken at all seriously. Instead, Byakuya suggests a new rule- for Sakura to go with any man that takes out the trash.

"'If you're as innocent as you claim, what's the harm in it?' 'Kh-! That's not how it's supposed to-!'" -Byakuya Togami & Hifumi Yamada, ch 1

This is, on a surface level, the boys calling Hifumi's bluff and proving that he 'really is' a pervert because he's upset about being accompanied. However, that's not the only reason why Hifumi could possibly be upset at this. Sakura is visibly the strongest, and therefore most threatening, member of their class. Hifumi's greatest strength is in his ability to hold a pen without cramping for a while. When trapped in a killing game, would you be hunky dory with your classmates deciding for you that you have to be alone with the most immediate threat in a killing game, all because they assume you're a pervert?

Essentially, Hifumi's role in the early chapters is wholly that of a comic relief character. He has geeky one-liners in response to serious moments, using nerd humor in an attempt to cope with the dire circumstances they've found themselves in. There are a few different examples of this.

But, simultaneously, he's one of the more empathetic characters in the early chapters. For example, in the opening of chapter 1, he's the only character to show actual concern for Mondo's safety when he threatens not to follow the regulations, in his own way.

He's also one of the ones to reassure Chihiro after the class trial when she blames herself for Leon's death, alongside Makoto and Hina.

It's also worth noting that he offers to help Hina get Toko back to her room after she faints upon seeing Chihiro's body, regardless of his own previously stated dislike of her. Regardless of his personal feelings, he offers a helping hand, even if it's ultimately ignored.

"You c-could've made some for the r-rest of us, you know...' 'I emphatically decline! You're not my type at all!'" -Toko Fukawa & Hifumi Yamada, ch 1 "'I don't mind taking her, but... could someone help me?' 'If you need help, I don't mind-' 'Taka, could you help me?'" -Aoi Asahina & Toko Fukawa, ch 1

While on an overall, he doesn't do very much in the early game, we do get to see the two main points of his character start to come into focus: his nerdiness, and his empathy. We also get to see which half his peers pick up on, and which half they really, really don't.

Part 5- Relationships

Hifumi is a character whose story is defined by his relationships. Mainly which characters give him the time of day, which don't, and how that leads him to his eventual demise.

5.1- Leon Kuwata & Aoi Asahina

Due to both of them having a similar function for Hifumi, and having a small amount of crossover, I'm lumping Leon and Hina together. When it comes to Hifumi, both Leon and Hina are noticeably the two to visibly dislike Hifumi and assume the worst in him. This is a sort of demonstration of the group's general perception of him, as Leon is relatively active when it comes to the group conclusions in the first chapter, and Hina is consistently a voice of optimism in group discussion. For example, twice in the first chapter, Leon talks down to Hifumi, assuming the worst in him and calling him 'fatty' as an insult.

Hina, on the other hand, noticeably goes around Hifumi in conversation, brushing off his words more than once or straight up ignoring him, like when he tried to offer help to her dropping off Toko. Suffice to say, neither of them like him very much, though it's presented a bit differently. No one ever speaks in Hifumi's defense or agrees with him in group discussion, and seldom will you find Hifumi speaking one on one to anyone other than Celeste(when she's bossing him around, of course).

Leon dies relatively quick, so there's not any resolution on his end, but for Hina, she absolutely learns something from Hifumi's death, as Hifumi was someone she basically wrote off in life. So many people had already died, and when she was the one responsible for protecting Hifumi in the nurse's office, she failed him for her own sake. Her ignoring him is a point of guilt, and it leads her to be the only one to properly mourn him when everyone else is more focused on the mechanics of the murder itself. His death acts as a moment of growth for her, and hardens her to anyone who doesn't give the lonely a hand, the way she didn't to him.

5.2- Toko Fukawa

Hifumi doesn't like Toko. He sees her as a pretentious hypocrite, and says about as much when the two of them are in the library together.

"'They have all these books here, and not ONE copy of ANY of my works!' 'W-Well, yeah... Why would they have c-comics in a library? Plus, most 'fanfic' is j-just porn drawn by a bunch of a-amateurs...' 'You just don't get it. Not. At. All.'" -Hifumi Yamada & Toko Fukawa, ch 2

"'Comic b-books? Young adult? That stuff's a w-waste of time...' 'I've seen what you write, Miss Fukawa. Talented as you are, your stuff isn't any more 'worthwhile.'' 'My stories are filled with trues love and pure feelings! Don't compare them to that garbage of yours!'" -Toko Fukawa & Hifumi Yamada, ch 2

Toko is a novelist, while Hifumi specializes in fan comics. While they're both language artists, they write in very different ways, so it's expected that they wouldn't get along very well. That said, they do have a fair amount of chemistry, being equally petty and willing to criticize each others' works without hesitation. Interestingly, Toko seems to feed off of this banter, and is visibly disappointed when Hifumi later says he has no interest in her.

Despite having a verbal slapfight, their conversation in the library is unironically the closest either of these characters get to forming an actual friendship with anyone in the THH cast in-game.

5.3- Celestia Ludenberg (CW: SA Mention)

Celeste approaches Hifumi with one goal: to gain a servant. When trapped in a killing game and desperate to escape, one will use whatever resources available, and Hifumi immediately struck her as an easy target. This wasn't unfounded, as he almost immediately agreed to making her milk tea, allowing his own attraction to her to persuade him.

"'Hifumi, would you make me some tea?' '...Huh?' 'Milk tea, if you please.' 'Wh...why me?' 'Your roundish figure reminds me of the owner of the coffee shop I used to frequent.' 'That's your reason...?'" -Celestia Ludenberg, Hifumi Yamada, & Makoto Naegi, ch 2

Her approaching him is framed as both confusing and frivolous. Hifumi can't believe it, and neither can Makoto, our POV character. But regardless, Hifumi immediately falls in line, doing what Celeste asks to the best of his ability, specifically because he's attracted to her.

"Hmhm... It's all about the law of causality, basic instinct, act and react!" -Hifumi Yamada, ch 2

He does what Celeste asks because he's attracted to her, and thinks hse will, in turn, fuck him. She won't, but he doesn't need to know that. Other adaptations expand on his attraction to her, with the stageplay having him say that her Gothic lolita style akins her to horror characters in his mind, and that he wants to draw her.

Later, when Celeste plans her murder plot, Hifumi is the one she goes to, knowing he's more likely to bend to what she asks. But even though he's attracted to her, he's still at his core a decent guy. And she's not the girl at the forefront of his mind anymore, so she has to get more creative. So, in order to convince him that killing all their classmates is worth it, she comes up with a new web of lies, using both his connection with a certain AI and his own chivalry against him.

"'[Taka] came to my room last night unannounced, and then... It's hard for me to even say... He... abused me...' 'What!?' 'And he... he took pictures. He said if I did not do as he asked, he would show them to everyone... So I... I had no choice...' 'Th-that's a crime! An absolute crime!'" -Celestia Ludenberg & Hifumi Yamada, ch 3

Hifumi takes this seriously, believing what Celeste says for two reasons: because she has photographic evidence of Alter Ego in Taka's room, and because he has no reason not to trust her. She's one of the few members of the class who's spoken to him unprompted. On top of that, sexual assault is an incredibly serious accusation, and Hifumi treats it as such*.

"I'm about to say something I've never said before in my life... I'm going to kill him! I'm going to f...f...f-fucking kill him!" -Hifumi Yamada, ch 3

(*It's also worth noting that Hifumi believing Celeste doesn't make him 'stupid'. That's a sentiment I've seen very often thrown around when talking about this chapter, with the main point being 'how could he believe that the Ultimate Moral Compass would rape someone?' But not only is that sentiment at the mercy of a mistranslated SHSL title, it also implies that Celeste should've had more proof for her rape to be believable. You should always take victims seriously, and Hifumi knew that. The point of Celeste's lie isn't that Hifumi is dumb; the point is that Celeste is scum for lying about something so serious. Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.)

Hifumi becomes a victim of Celeste's schemes because his empathy, which went unnoticed by everyone else, was weaponized against him. In this sense, both he and Taka fall to the lack of understanding their peers had for them, all to Celeste's whims, as Celeste was very involved with and friendly with the class but lied constantly. Hifumi wasn't the pervert people assumed him to be, and his chivalry became his downfall.

5.4- Chihiro Fujisaki & Alter Ego

While Hifumi's relationship with Chihiro was minor, it was still there, if only in the background. They bounce off of each other's thinking in the first trial, Hifumi comforts Chihiro after the first trial, and they stand together when summoned to the gym by Monokuma. It's subtle, but there, and Chihiro isn't uncomfortable with him, either. It's important enough of a detail that it carries over to adaptations, too.

He also refuses to touch Chihiro's dead body, not wanting to violate her after death. This is again another instance of Hifumi's base morals and empathy, but could hypothetically speak to a friendship as well. He mourns her death and thought highly of her.

It's also worth noting that both Chihiro and Hifumi are the two characters in this game to show some hints of remembering their history, or at least having the feeling that something isn't quite right.

"Hey, it could just be my imagination, but... have we met before?" -Chihiro Fujisaki, prologue

"...Huh? Ahh... that's right... I remember now... Hope's Peak... .... I remember... everything... Before... I'd met you... all... I'd met... you all..." -Hifumi Yamada, ch 3

This associates the two characters together, though not to a major degree. So when Alter Ego is found, this connection combined with Hifumi's love of 2D makes it completely unsurprising that he's immediately interested in them.

"'Somehow I feel kinda... sorry for her...' ..... 'It is a simple computer program. It does not *have* feelings.' 'Are you sure about that...?'" -Hifumi Yamada & Celestia Ludenberg, ch 3

This very quickly devolves into him being sexually attracted to Alter Ego. Of that there's no question. He routinely breaks class rules specifically to interact with them on multiple occasions.

"He snuck into the dressing room in the middle of the night and accessed Alter Ego without permission. And when I caught him last night... he was hugging the laptop and breathing strangely." -Kyoko Kirigiri, ch 3

"'And that guy was seriously head over heels for a mannequin. He had a wedding and everything! And your eyes just now... I saw the same look in HIS eyes!' 'Shut up! She's not a mannequin! She's an ANGEL! .... What we have can't be described by your petty 'words'!'" -Yasuhiro Hagakure & Hifumi Yamada, ch 3

He all but admits to it, too, enjoying when they say 'Master' and the drooling sprite appearing when talking to or about them a significant amount. But despite that, he insists it's beyond just sexual attraction, and feels genuine affection for them as a person as well. Because of that, he's the first in their class to verbalize that he sees Alter Ego not as a program, but a person, a sentiment that's later shared by the rest of the class(save Celeste).

Hifumi doesn't judge Alter Ego as a program first. He loves 2D and fiction, so he's immediately more open to accepting Alter Ego right off the bat. And it's that openness that allows him to be the first one to acknowledge that despite their existence being a "2D" one, that they're still alive and matter.

5.5- Kiyondo Ishida

Hifumi never really knew Taka. They'd met, obviously, but the two of them weren't friends, or even acquaintances. When it comes to the story of THH, their paths intersect for the first time after Taka is reborn as Kiyondo, and it's not under friendly terms. Both Hifumi and Kiyondo have developed a codependency on Alter Ego, and find themselves pitted against each other because of it.

There's also a distinct difference in the way the two of them treat and view Alter Ego that sets them apart. Whereas Hifumi sees Alter Ego as their own conscious entity, one that admittedly caters to his preferences, Kiyondo's attachment to Alter Ego is to see them as the tool that reincarnated Mondo and rejoined the two of them, and is therefore Mondo's lifeline. The reason they view Alter Ego differently is because they represent the same thing for both men- the one person who connects with them.

Taka was perpetually lonely and had no friends until Mondo, while Hifumi never wanted anything more than for his favorite characters to love him the way he loved them. Alter Ego unintentionally fills that void for both of them, so they both develop a possessive codependency to them and are forced to be at odds with each other because of it, and leads both of them to their deaths.

Part 6- Hifumi Yamada: Comic Book Hero

"If murder is evidence of abnormality, then all of history's greatest heroes must have been abnormal." -Monokuma theater, ch 3

Like the characters he admired in his favorite works of fiction, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, Hifumi determined the start and end of chapter 3. Chapter 3's plot and how it unfolds is a bit ridiculous, which is fitting for putting a comic relief character like Hifumi in the hotseat. It's in this chapter that we learn more about hifumi's interests directly, and that sets the tone for the more comical and outlandish plot we get in chapter 3.

Celeste's murder plan relies heavily on Hifumi's antics, with her entrusting him to make the costume and act the fool in her play, before killing him with his own weapon of choice. In this sense, he acts as a hidden vigilante, defending her honor and saving the princess (Alter Ego) using the Robo Justice mask.

Hifumi's supposed role makes much more sense when you take it as a comic book storyline. He, the hero, is brought to the edge of death by a villain that claims itself to be justice, only to just hold on against all odds (as heroes do) and escape the clutches of evil, murdering rapists and bringing the masked villains to justice. These kinds of stories are what Hifumi eats up, but he fails to see the true role he falls into- the poor manipulated fool, henchman to the vile villainness that tosses him aside when he's no longer useful.

Part 7- Hifumi's Memory

"If I've got one thing going for me, it's my memory!" -Hifumi Yamada, ch 1

Hifumi having a good head on his shoulders is immediately plot relevant. His memory is impeccable, and this makes a lot of sense for someone revered for their place in fandom. Being able to remember the source material you're making art of can be really useful.

But in his final moments, Hifumi's strong memory comes back to him, Celeste's attack both killling him and dislodging the memories Junko had buried. This serves as both a clue to the immediate trial for his and Taka's murder, and becomes a clue towards the truth of the entire killing game.

"Who... killed me...? That's right... I remember... their name... Y...Yasu...hi...ro...." -Hifumi Yamada, ch 3

While this reveals Celeste's real name, it doesn't explain how Hifumi would've known that, and it's a question that's never directly answered until the final trial- they were friends for 2 years, and had learned her real name in that timeframe beforehand. This, alongside the first photo of the class' past and Kyoko questioning her body having changed, is where the setup for the class' missing their school lives really takes off. It's a nice detail to include for Hifumi, and has its impact on the player when you realize that Celeste, who seemed to hate Hifumi, had once willingly shared such sensitive information with him, a trust that became his final words, and it calls into question just how different everyone's relationships were with each other before the game began.

Part 8- Fatphobia In Danganronpa (& Creator's Bias)

By now, I'm certain a fair chunk of people have rolled their eyes, refreshed the page, moved on with their lives, etc. because of this post's insistence that Hifumi isn't perverted. And that's mainly because of the content of his FTEs, in which he tells us in no uncertain terms how much he wants to embarrass and mature the teen girl character he loves most. And yes, that is pretty sexual of him, and he makes a few different out-of-place sex jokes throughout his time in the game, most of which were glossed over. Well, my main reason for doing this is that I think these moments and assertions exist not in tandem with Hifumi's character and story, but in contradiction of them.

I'll elaborate. Hifumi is a fictional character. As such, when written, the character choices and dialogue are subject to authorial intent. This is base information when analyzing a character that every fictional character in all of media history is subject to. But the question with Hifumi is, how much of Hifumi's intended arc and story is negatively affected by the creator's own biases? When it comes to Hifumi, my conclusion is, a fair bit.

Hifumi's intended impact is shared with most of the cast- the subversion of expectations. Sayaka wasn't the deuteragonist. Chihiro wasn't a (cis) girl. Junko wasn't dead. Et cetera. In the case of Hifumi, this subversion is undoubtedly, and without question, that he is not a pervert. He's set up to be assumed as a pervert, only for the rug to be pulled out when Celeste reveals that he agreed to help her because he believed he was saving a sexual assault victim. He's beyond disgusted by the mere notion; he respects her, and becomes a mourned victim because of it. There's no reason for the game to call attention to this in the post-trial if this wasn't the point. So why, then, do they include all these sexual jokes, all directed at the female cast members and told exclusively by Hifumi? Why is he the one to immediately agree to spy on the girls in the bathhouse without hesitation, and mourns it if you don't unlock the cutscene? Is it all part of the 'gotcha'? Was it even necessary for the 'gotcha'? Well, no, to both questions. Hifumi has this subversion, yes, but he's also comic relief, and these moments and jokes are given to him as a result, despite the immediate and obvious contradiction.

But why? Surely these jokes could've gone to another character, or even been spread across the cast. It didn't have to be Hifumi, but the author made it so that it was, and when looking seriously at what his character was meant to accomplish, you also have to look at it critically and acknowledge why. There's one very real and apparent reason that Hifumi would be the one given these moments above everyone else, and it's the same reason the game makes multiple passes at his figure, assigns him a comic role over others in the first place, and ultimately gets lumped in with the actual perverts of Danganronpa when people criticize the fanservice and horny pervert characters of the series. He's fat, plain and simple.

Fatphobia is unfortunately evident within Hifumi's character, and most of the rest of the series as well. For one thing, in a cast of nearly 100 characters, only three are fat, and of those three, he's the only one to make it past the first chapter. Similarly to the dark-skinned characters in this series, body diversity is not a priority in Danganronpa. On top of that, all 3 of these plus-sized characters are somewhat associated with food. It's more obvious with the other two, as the Ultimate Imposter has several gags and lines about how much food he eats and how important calories are to him, and Teruteru is the Ultimate Cook, but Hifumi's official art also has him pictured with greasy snacks like potato chips while working, and in his FTEs he tells you about his Diet Coke addiction. Individually, there's nothing wrong with any of these; they make sense for the characters, but when it's all of your plus-sized characters, and you barely have any, that's a pattern.

In the case of Hifumi, though, the much more noticeable aspect of fatphobia present is his hornier brand. Other characters are noticeably uncomfortable around him at multiple instances, but by the end of the first chapter, his being a pervert is accepted fact, and people stop reacting to it.

The above sprite in particular is used very often when Hifumi is speaking, and there are several instances in which the way the player may interpret his dialogue is directly affected by the use of this particular sprite. He's visibly sweaty and drooling as he talks, and it's often paired with the Junk Food track to emphasize that what he's saying is ridiculous. An example that immediately comes to mind is if you speak to him with Sayaka before going to the gym. The Junk Food 10 track cuts in when you click on him, and immediately ends and goes back to the previous track once you're done speaking to him. The game also makes a few passes at his weight, to the point where him being too heavy to lift unironically becomes a truth bullet in the chapter 3 investigation and trial. It's technically a good point to make, since he did fly up 2 flights of stairs in the span of a few minutes, but the way in which they emphasize his weight when collecting the bullet is... rude, to say the least.

"Hifumi's big, cold body is laying on the floor... His... *really* big body. I mean, how on Earth was the killer able to move someone so big?" -Makoto Naegi, ch 3

As I stated previously, despite Hifumi having a minor arc and purpose, he is very much a comic relief character. The presentation of his character is very much a reflection of this. And there's nothing wrong with having comic relief characters. By himself, Hifumi's not being a pervert being paired with an immature sense of humor isn't the worst thing in the world, and for the most part, the contradiction here could be meta-explained as him being overexposed to Internet humor and having his foot in his mouth on occasion as a result. But that doesn't change the fact that doing it with who, at the time of his creation, is your only fat character isn't a great choice to make, and is worth calling out and criticizing for that very reason. Admittedly, this is lessened a good bit when you remember that Toko, a much thinner character, is way worse about being perverted, and plenty of way more perverted characters that are both thinner and less sympathetic as characters are introduced later. (If anything, Hifumi being negatively affected by fatphobia is worse in the fandom than it is in the actual source material, but the source did set it up for that to happen, so again, it's still worth calling out in a full character analysis.)

Part 9- Value of a Geek (Why We Care)

So now we know who Hifumi is. The perceived Hifumi, the empathetic Hifumi, and the contradictory Hifumi. So many Hifumis, and only one character. Can we condense this into a solid conclusion?

Hifumi is an otaku. Hifumi is a creator. Hifumi is horny. Hifumi beats rapists over the head with a giant fucking hammer. Hifumi Yamada is many things, a contradiction of a character. He can't keep his inside thoughts inside, but that extends to his art, too. He's a teenage boy who built a career off his pent-up frustration, and who hasn't lost sight of where the line is. He's a man of passion, in more ways than one, and he's a kinder and more chivalrous man than he's given credit for.

Hifumi Yamada may just be the character from THH you're most likely to come across in the real world. He's not some hyper-competent secret genius who made the conscious choice to dedicate his life to something. He was just a bit of a geek that really liked his favorite show, and built a community from it. He fell into his passion, and that's something I think any creator of any kind can relate to. Hifumi never cared what people thought of him, not really. He just strived to do what made him happy. Maybe we should all be more like Hifumi. Enjoy the things you love, and share that. There is a community out there that will love it; you just have to find them.

Afterword

Final analysis of the year!!! Happy birthday, Hifumi!!!! 🥳

It's technically already 2025 and January 1st. However, it's still December 31st somewhere, so I'm considering this a victory lol. Damn, 6 analyses in a little over 6 months. That's like, 1 analysis a month. Pretty crazy

I worry this may be a tad rushed, but I've looked it over and I'm confident it holds up, even if I probably could've gone into more detail in some places or another.

Anywho, expect a larger gap between this analysis and the next, because next in line is Toko Fukawa, which means we have to go beyond THH once more. Catch ya later!

[illegalvampire]

doodles of my favorite guy :)

[anika-ann]

"Look I know how much Barnes means to you-"

"Clearly not, otherwise you wouldn't have wasted your breath."

Basically every captain America movie has a part where a character (Peggy/Fury/Sam/Natasha/Tony) says to Steve "look I know how much Barnes means to you but..." and Steve never really pays attention to the part after "but"

[bobabisch]

Me: no istg I can make any situation angry/dark

You: no you can't, liar 🙄

Me: The reason Zoro always gets lost isn't just comedic relief, it's actually also due to the fact that after Kuina died Zoro started seeing her face and mannerisms in every person who would walk past. He started hearing her voice in the crowds he walked through to get to the dojo everyday. One day, he couldn't take it anymore, so instead of bearing through it, our young Zoro began to tune the world out. He no longer looked where he was going. He tuned peoples voices out so that the noises of the world turned into nothing but a buzz of white noise. Zoro began to focus only on the drone of his thoughts and the steady thud of his feet against the ground; too scared that one day he'd look up and see the face of his dead friend in the passers by once more.

You: ... 😨

PS sorry for the long wait @0snailbob0 but alas you have a response 😋

[insanefiercecorpse]

for the people who like godly-written fanfics and jiang cheng and character studies, HERE is a good dose of fix (but no fix-it)

just, dont look for porn, there's none.

Me and the Devil (walking side by side) (3070 words) by Blacknwhitewings Chapters: 1/9 Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin & Jin Ling | Jin Rulan Characters: Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Jin Ling | Jin Rulan, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Huan | Lan Xichen, Original Characters Additional Tags: most of the cast makes an appearance, Angst, Suicidal Thoughts, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin Character Study, Canon-Typical Violence, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin-centric, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin Needs Therapy, Suicide Attempt, Depression, BAMF Original Characters, A twenty-years long mental breakdown, Jiang Cheng is living with the ghosts of christmas past and they are pissed Series: Part 1 of So while you think you're alone, you cast two shadows down the road Summary: Jiang Cheng tore himself from the bed and grabbed the flute that laid discarded near him, on the mattress. It was cold. Silent. The cause of every wound, every ache, every death that clung to his heels and pressed on his shoulders, in such a small, light form. He stumbled on his feet. Hurled the dizi across the room and screamed as it bounced against the far wall.

[unidentified-carrot-dna]

its been a second, but i wrote a little something for arcane. its taken over my life help

[zephyr-ro-emenki]

mfw I find out they're meant to be chanting "Odysseus" (pronounced Oh-Dee-Sei-Us) instead of "Old King, Save Us" and my entire post is invalidated.

The chilling part about "Odysseus" is that the operatic Vocals in the background are Chanting "Old King, Save/Spare Us" and that's important because their old King Would have done that.

Except Odysseus isn't their old King anymore.

Their Old King was who Odysseus was at the beginning of Epic. The one who had Polites at his side, his men at his back, Eurylochus as a loyal friend and Brother, and Athena as his Best Friend Mentor. He was a king who knew when to strike but was, like Polites, greeting the world with open arms. And the people of Ithica remember their old King, see their old King in his son, Telemachus, and mourn his loss from their kingdom to his ventures in the war with Troy.

But now, he's back, and he's killing all the people who were openly chanting about killing his son and Raping his wife, both things that he would be justified for killing them for. And all these Suitors can think of is, he is still their Old King, so once he has killed our leader rallying us to action, he will be amicable to Open Arms talks to deescalate the situation.

Except, he's not the old King. The old King died with Polities. He was still alive as a hollow version of himself, but his heart of "Open Arms" died with Polities. But there were still remnants of him, Asking Aeolus for wind to get home, pleading with Poseidon for Mercy, and pleading to Circe for Aid to evade Poseidon. But it was the Underworld that put the nail in the coffin for their old King. Seeing all his dead men in the river Styx, finding out his Mom had passed while he was at war, and hearing the prophecy from Tyresias that "He" will not be the one to make it home to Ithica, to his Wife and Son, but that a Haunting man with a trail of bodies will stand before his wife.

And that's when their Old King Dies, and their New King is being forged in his Remnants. When he declares he will become the monster, adopt the very mindset of his Enemy Poseidon, and use Ruthlessness to get home.

But there's still a trace bit of their old King left, the parts that love his family, and the part that trust his men. And then the part that trusts his men kept getting attacked and chipped away at by his sole desire to get Home, and the betrayals that befell him after becoming a monster.

Finding out that Eurylochus was the first one to betray him, the one that directly lead to 515 of his men being killed because he didn't trust Odysseus's word and directly disobeyed his orders to not open the wind bag. I imagine that before he found that out, he intended to try and bargain with Scylla, to kill as little of his men as possible, if not be able to talk her out of killing anyone at all. But immediately after finding that out, he tells Eurylochus to lite up 6 torches. Because now he's been betrayed, and he will just pay the Toll to pass through.

And then immediately after, Eurylochus tries to lead a Mutiny against him, and he ends up stabbed through the back by the rest of his crew, tied to the mast, and has to watch as Eurylochus literally pisses off every god in the area by killing the Sun Gods Divine Cattle and having Zeus sicked on them.

And now Odysseus two remaining halves of the old king have to choose. His family back home, or the crew who has betrayed him twice and chiseled away at his remaining trust and loyalty to them ever since Polyphemus? He now has to kill off more of the old king. And he does.

And then, he has to deal with Calypso.

I'm not touching on Calypso, because if I do I'll be here for a lot longer, but she breaks him mentally and forcefully breaks his physical purity to his wife by SAing him. And then once he leaves, he mentally snaps and stabs Poseidon.

So, all that is left of their old King is a Monster who wears the few tattered scraps of their old kings clothes, who clings desperately to the final piece of his old form, his family. And they have the audacity of asking him for mercy after openly threatening to harm it? To destroy it? To defile it as he has been for the past 20 years?!?!?!

No. He's had enough.

And his family (Penelope, Telemachus, and Athena) are the only one's to recognize that Odysseus is still their old King, just beaten, bruised, abused, abandoned, and betrayed. But he's still the same person, and they will fall in love with him again.

[cowchickenbeefpork]

okay but can we talk about how ???? Lucius is with Edward? Like this man is a freak I can’t hold it in anymore. How did one episode make a man get revealed as a fucking freak in a way.

Ed has both gassed up a entire group of cops which made them fear about a poison threat he made up, held Lucius’s coworker hostage dangling over a flight of stairs, admitted to having something to do with their missing mayor via omission (not responding at all when Lucius asked him about it) broke into Lucius’s car and pointed a gun at him once Lucius got in ALL IN THE SAME DAY AND HE DOESN'T FREAK OUT ONCE???? He doesn’t freak out at all with Edward. Never once does he freak out. He stays level headed, empathetic and genuinely caring about Edward’s mental state while talking to him???? The way he’s so level headed here feels like he has a fucking screw loose in his cranium. Literally how.

Mind you Ed is a man who his first interaction with was ED ADMITTING HE HAD A MISSING COP IN HIS HOME VIA A RIDDLE. HIS SECOND INTERACTION WITH THIS MAN IS HIM MAKING HIM ANSWER FUCKING RIDDLES IN ARKHAM OR ELSE HE WILL KILL THEM BOTH WITH POISON. I KNOW HE WAS BLUFFING ABOUT THE POISON HERE AGAIN BUT GENUINELY HOW IS HE ALWAYS LEVEL HEADED WITH THIS MAN. FREAK BEHAVIOR!!!!

Also him acting like this strengthens the fact the only riddle he got right was reflection. He understands at least some part of Ed. Even though that part is small and fuzzy in his understanding, it’s still something. It’s still something that he can empathize with. Something that is worth trying to understand more of even despite their brief encounters. God do I love his weird push over ways with Ed it’s so fucking fun I wish they interacted more. This is horrific for me

[shitpostingsapphic]

"Caitlyn never verbally apologized" no, she did so much more than that.

She betrayed Ambessa. She let Jinx go. She led the battle against Ambessa in the finale. She lost an eye and nearly died. She gave up her seat on the council to Sevika so that Zaun could be represented.

Does it fix everything? No. Systems of oppression aren't fixed with a handful of well intentioned actions.

But Caitlyn DID feel remorse and DID make attempts to reverse her wrongdoings.

Did you want Caitlyn to change, or did you just want her to be punished?

[severepink]

Observing Adam

Where I go way too deep into something that probably isn't that deep. It's long, it's long as hell.

Okay, so you'd think with how Adam talks he's just a typical misogynist, right?

This man worships pussy. So much so, he's named a whole ass angel, one of his best, Vagina. You'd say that he objectifies them and thinks of them as being lesser, but I don't think that's the whole story. In fact, I think he might be the original simp.

All of these exorcists so far have been women. All of them. He refers to them as ladies or bitches interchangeably, he sees them as being completely capable of absolutely decimating leagues of some of the most vile beings who have ever existed, and they have, to the point it was only after thousands of years that there's been a risk to this hierarchy.

He's a self-centered, egotistical, loud-mouthed, arrogant asshole, no doubt about it, but I'm beginning to suspect something now.

If Adam and Lilith were created from the same dust, if they were created as equals, I am more than willing to bet... Lilith is also a self-centered, egotistical, arrogant asshole. But, she's likely far more intelligent, composed, and duplicitous.

Lilith was allowed to refuse Adam and leave of her own free will and garnered her own independence. A new wife was created for Adam, she was replaced. My guess, is she thought Adam wouldn't be able to live without her, to come back and find herself replaced entirely, she was enraged.

I believe both Adam and Lilith were both incredibly dominant individuals who fought over ideas, thoughts, and ultimately in the bedroom as well, if we take into account the creationist stories.

I'm willing to bet she likely manipulated Lucifer into twisting humanity against its original concept. What if Lucifer's intention truly was to just spark something within Eve, like independence and thought and creation, but it was Lilith's poison within the fruit that tainted her, then subsequently Adam, with sin.

Lilith thrived in hell, while Lucifer's dreams of creation were dashed. She didn't suffer as he did, instead the power of her voice grew with hell. Her voice grew so powerful that heaven found it to be a threat, her actions instigated the beginning of exterminations.

Charlie said that when she was a little girl, she didn't know Lucifer at all. I don't think this was because of Lucifer, he's seen here, picking her up, inviting her to share in his thoughts and dreams, showing her something wonderful. Something she could see within herself.

Charlie says that it's this moment that sparked her will to fight for her dreams. Which is strange, because at the very beginning of the story, Charlie says it was her mother's dream that was passed down to her.

Lilith took Charlie away. In this scene, Lucifer wasn't done showing Charlie his thoughts and dreams, he's still yearning to show his daughter these things at this point.

Lucifer loves his daughter. He loves Charlie so, so, so much. So why wasn't he allowed to build a relationship with his daughter for the longest time? He was waiting for the opportunity to get to know her, but with how much he adores her why didn't he do it sooner? He didn't comment on 'It took you a while-' he just said he missed her smile. They don't want to be pulled apart, again.

Now, we know Vivziepop has said that Lucifer and Lilith love each other, but Lilith 'wears the pants' in the relationship. We see all of the pictures all over the walls of a supposedly happy family. I don't think the relationship was as loving as originally portrayed and Lilith is a woman who desires control above all else. She likely tried to mitigate what influence Lucifer had over their daughter when she thought his angelic thoughts and behaviors became more than what she approved of.

Lets take it back to Adam and Lute for a moment. Again, Adam is a loud mouthed idiot, he's a jerk. The moment he realizes there are demons in heaven, he's ready to go on the attack. It's only because of Lute that he didn't end up doing something absolutely idiotic.

I gotta say, Lute and Adam's relationship is an absolutely fascinating one. He's a disrespectful dick head in how he talks, but how he acts is a different story. He allows Lute to man-handle him. He does listen to her, even if he's a whiny bitch about it.

Look at him, this is the face of a man listening, a dumb one, but a dude listening all the same. He doesn't manhandle her back, he doesn't even pull away until she lets go of his collar. Of all the shit he complained about, between being grabbed and being told what to do, his biggest complaint is that she's telling him to shush.

We know that Adam is the one who suggested the exterminations to begin with, so Sera says, and this was because of the power that Lilith was amassing. To him, Lilith is a threat. Even when he was willing to move on, to go to another wife when Lilith didn't want him or want to submit to him (fair babe, he's a bit of an idiot), she came back with an angel and proceeded to manipulate his new wife Eve. This is the supposed progenitor of man-kind, the original dick (hilariously enough), the reason civilization even exists at all. He and Eve had to fight for their lives after being tempted with the fruit. They had immortality, they had no ideas of shame, they were supposedly 'innocent' creatures before Lilith and Lucifer came along. He and Eve had to fight tooth and nail to survive after being cast from Eden. I think it shows in how willing and ready he is to take lead and do what he believes needs to be done, now out of a need for entertainment rather than a need to defend or protect. But, he still stopped to listen to Lute's advice. In the mythological story of Adam and Eve, Adam is the one who has to tell Eve that god said don't eat the fruit. Eve never heard god speak to her, so she was vulnerable to the snake's manipulations. She will now die because she ate it, and because she did not want Adam to take another wife, convinced him to eat it unknowingly. Funnily enough, Adam tried to explain to god that 'she lied to me and gave me the fruit' and in this actual mythology, Adam was punished for listening to his wife. Even without mentioning Lilith in the original mythology, Eve didn't want Adam to take another wife, so when we consider it within the context of Hazbin Hotel, it may be likely that's how it went down. Eve knew of Lilith, knew that she could be replaced, and decided that she would take Adam with her.

I believe that Adam does and did rely on the women in his life to help him with direction. I think Adam knows he can be an idiot and is willing to listen, even if he doesn't agree with what he's hearing. He did listen to Charlie in the beginning, he just didn't believe in her, like everyone else and he, out of anyone there, probably had the most reason not to. Cain and Abel were his and Eve's sons, his own child became the first murderer. Out of jealousy, the same kind of jealousy that no doubt has caused Lilith to act how she did. Adam isn't going to have empathy for sinners. His family, his legacy, were filled with the original sinners. He probably had to kill his son Cain in hell during the first exterminations. What do you think he would have had to feel, if it came to be a fact that sinners could be redeemed? That maybe his son, could've been redeemed? Or any of his progeny for that matter? How did it feel when his sons, his progeny, weren't given the same mercy as the Hellborn that Lucifer managed to keep protected through some deal with the angels or god? Not to mention that Charlie could've been his daughter. Charlie is the product of the people who completely and totally destroyed the paradise he'd been born into. She's the daughter who is protected and immune from the slaughter while all of his sons and daughters are judged and killed. I believe, even though he was a dickish prankster to Charlie, he was surprisingly patient and even somewhat amicable, willing to even ask her how her weekend was like he was just trying to get to know her.

Adam could just see all of the angels under his employ as being disposable. He doesn't have to name them, or think about them in any individual fashion. But, he knows Vaggie, recognized her instantly. Thought she was badass. Lute's the one who saw her, tore her wings off, and walked away. I'm surprised they even let her live, because this just goes against everything they're doing. They're an army and they saw one of their own showing empathy to the enemy.

Look at this dumb ass. He's being a shit-head, a dick, a bastard. But, he admires Vaggie's ability to pull Charlie, congratulates her, this dude isn't even judging her for being a lesbian. I don't think it's because he objectifies women, this dude loves women, he just does. He respects fellow vagina lovers. I don't think he respects liars in the slightest though. He's being underhanded, he's trying to be manipulative (he's not very good at it). I think he's brutally open and honest about everything and that's probably one of the reasons he's such a bastard anyways, because sometimes you just need to shut-up and he's not good at that.

I don't think he respects Sera for that either, he's more than willing to let others know what the hell he's doing, but under Sera's lead, he can't be open about it. I don't think it's his jam to act this way, it's why he sucks so bad at it and I think that's why Lilith is so antithetical to him. I also think that's why he's possibly even being manipulated.

It's kind of crazy that Adam is the only one who tries to come up with what allows someone to get into heaven. So here's his list: 1. Act Selfless: Maybe at one point he was! He had to have been, to be one of the progenitors of mankind, he would have had to work, sacrifice, and give to his wife and children for them all to survive. Eve would have had to do the same, no doubt. He may not seem selfless, due to his raunchy behavior, but he's served heaven since he's been there. He's served humanity in some kind of facet. 2. Don't Steal: Considering the only other humans are his spawn, he likely had to try and get them to not steal from one another for them all to have an equal opportunity of survival. He and Eve likely both knew they would need to work together to survive.

3. Stick it to the man: This, however, is interesting. Who is 'The Man' he speaks of? God? The only other people over him or were equal to him were women. He speaks like a rocker, and I think in this case he's using the term 'The Man' in a gender neutral way. I think he allowed some amount of Authority to Lilith when they were supposed to be seen as equals, it comes so naturally to him as a character when it comes to the other women he's been interacting with. I think she is the 'man' that he's been sticking it to- Pun somewhat intended. ((This third one may also simply be a tongue in cheek reference to when Alex Brightman played Dewey in School of Rock on Broadway! Thank you to the user who brought this to my attention!))

Adam is a bit of a hypocrite, isn't he? He likes to fuck, he's made that abundantly clear. Full of lust you could say. It was his original purpose after all, and he is judging Angel Dust for something he probably would've done himself at one point or has considered doing (maybe not the having sex with men part). Angel Dust does all of these things, Adam doesn't even deny it. He even looks nervous. He's angry, but doesn't deny that Angel has done those things. He doesn't explain it away or try to lie or move the goal posts, he's just asking what is an actually very valid question.

Why isn't Angel Dust there if he can do things equal to what Adam himself hasn't done? Serenity continues that line of thought. It isn't until Charlie is realizing no one knows what it takes to get into heaven.

Adam is more than willing to let Lute take the lead here, he's willing to give her the stage to clap back, he's giving her back-up antics. By all means, they could be pushing and fighting one another, there could easily be body language expressing something other than their general comfort around one another. They aren't fighting for a spotlight like you'd expect Adam to try and do considering his egotistical attitude.

Adam fucking sucks at keeping his mouth shut and he sucks at lying. He nearly blew the secret out of the bag once, this time, Sera is the only one who tries to stop him and to be honest? Lute looks a bit too thrilled at it. He knows he fucked up, but he doesn't think it's a big deal that anyone would know. For fucks sake, they've already condemned souls, his progeny, to suffer. What's the big deal if he kills them?

I have to re-iterate what's happening here. Charlie is proud she caused this chaos, that she caused these angels to fight amongst themselves, even if in this case it's a good thing. But, this is like history repeating itself to Adam, the reflection of his ex-wife, entering his domain, causing strife among his people, being happy about it.

And the venom he expresses when it comes to the 'liar' portion, god Alex Brightman destroyed when he got to this portion specifically. There is some vehement disgust in his tone when he says liar.

Adam isn't a good person now. But, I think he used to be a good person. By all means, Adam himself could've been the first murderer when his wife made her mistake. He, at one point in time, had to have been good enough to foster civilization itself with Eve. Both good and bad. Adam's original purpose was to be fruitful and multiply. Ordained by god (or maybe just angels) himself, divine power directed and created him to fuck. He didn't chase his ex-wife down, he was given a new one, Lilith was allowed to leave. When he left things alone, when he tried to move on, his ex-wife and a scorned angel destroyed the paradise he was in with Eve. He had to struggle and toil, he had to feel shame in his own body. He had to find out his first born son was the first murderer. His second son killed. We don't know if this is going to be canon in the story, a lot has changed, and if Adam is the first soul who reached heaven, then what did happen to Abel? Was Abel considered a sinner? Or did Cain kill Abel after Adam had passed? Either way, he had to witness his children kill, he had to watch his descendants behave in a range from saints and monsters. He's seen genocides, he's seen famine, war. Adam is desensitized to the plights of his descendants. Maybe he even saw it as a duty to cleanse the universe of their existence at one point, because they were his responsibility.

At the end of this episode, he is properly scolded by Sera and does seem ashamed of himself. He isn't huffy, he is reminded that he should be ashamed of acting that way.

I love Lute's enthusiasm, she's absolutely brutal when talking about Vaggie and with how she handled Vaggie. I think it's funny that Lute is so brutal she's even made Adam uncomfortable. It's cute that he's made uncomfortable by the excitement and all he does is tell Lute, the premier hype woman over here, to chill. She's so proud of herself too, look at her.

He fully expects these exorcist bad bitches to go in there and fuck shit up. But, you know it's hilarious that he's throwing horns? This dude, this angel. First human soul in heaven, loving rock n' roll, the devil's music, and throwing motherfucking horns. It's poetic really. I think we can probably assume where things are going.

Now, this is the first point we've seen Adam being a real piece of shit to Lute. I don't think Adam likes it when people think he's too dumb to notice something, especially something so damn obvious. This is such a drastic moment of vitriolic, uncontrolled anger directed towards Lute. Adam knows he isn't the brightest tool in the shed. He likely knows he's obtuse and misses shit. It's why he sucks at lying, he knows he's not smart. That is why I think he's afforded women opportunities to direct him without fighting back against their advice and their choices. I'm sure Lilith made it obvious how dumb she thinks Adam is. I'm wondering if this might be where their ground breaking fight might've come from. Who's to say he didn't allow Lilith to take the lead, or listen to her like he's done with Lute here and now? Perhaps to an even greater point? He listened to Eve and ate from the fruit of knowledge and he was punished for it. Being seen as so dumb he can't formulate a simple fact is a sore spot for him.

Adam is incredibly powerful. It took a bit out of him to exercise that power, probably because he's out of practice just like Lucifer said. At one point, he probably wasn't so sloppy and weak willed. He's gotten lazy. Sloth like.

I think it got real personal here. How viscerally and personally he attacked Charlie. No one but Charlie truly thought sinners could be redeemed, or that they were even worth it. Not even one of the original sinners. Maybe he never considered the possibility, maybe what happened really did make him see the world as black and white to cope with that happened to him, his wife, his children. Charlie's desire to fight this idea would destroy the foundation for all of his coping through the years. He stopped seeing them as family, even though he's grandiose about his founding role in humanity. Does that itch the guilt that may lurk under the surface?

I don't think Adam thought much of Charlie at all. I don't think he had any intention of coming to kill her in the beginning, despite seeing her, despite who her parents were. But, I think with the constant push, with how eager she was to disrupt the pre-conceived idea of order, it reminded Adam and reflected her parents so much, he was eager to kill her for revenge against them. I think this electrical interference on the mask is a direct reflection of sin. Namely, wrath, in this moment.

Now, this. THIS. Is something that made me want to write this whole fucking essay. Is Lucifer implying that he not only gave Eve the Fruit from the tree of knowledge, but FUCKED HER TOO? Homies, I'm sorry but holy shit. That is some hydrating tea. I'd be pretty pissed too, fucked over twice by women who were supposed to be literal soul mates, who you were made for, who were made for you?

I knew he would have a goatee, I could almost hear it. I gotta say, I'm a sucker for how he looks. I think he's hot. He is a bastard, but so are a lot of the hot dudes in this show. It's just a theme.

This exact series of lines prompted so many of the thoughts that I had about Adam and why he thinks or acts the way he does. At one point, Adam did have to work himself to the bone and learn to survive from scratch alongside Eve. He isn't entirely without cause to not think that he deserves some respect or recognition from his descendants.

But, that doesn't give him the right to act like god himself. It's... well... Blasphemous. Isn't it? One of the worst sins is to think yourself to be worthy of worship, as if you're a god.

This is the moment that gave me empathy for them both. You could probably see the kind of loving person Adam could have been at one point with how he looks at Lute, even as he's laying there, dying. He's not crying like a bitch, just looking at Lute softly. Lute screaming for him, screaming his name. They cared for each other deeply.

And this... and this.... and this. WHAT DEAL DID YOU MAKE, LILITH? Did you make it with Sera? Did you make it with Adam? Did you make it with Lute? Did you really just want a little 'vacay' away from the hell you helped create? Left her husband, depressed and lonely. Left her daughter without any care or guidance. Maybe Alastor was sent in her place, perhaps? Seven years since he was seen after all, but why wouldn't he show up sooner if Lilith did care? Did she make a deal with Lute and Adam? Did she let Adam smash it so she could stay in heaven? Did Lute let her stay in exchange for getting Adam out of a position of power? Or was it maybe Sera who commissioned Lilith with a deal? Either way, I'm in full belief that it wasn't Adam's idea to move the extermination day up. I think he's a patsy, a scapegoat. I think Lute may have been manipulated, potentially, into manipulating Adam into this position. Was it even really Adam who came up with the idea to do the exterminations? Or was he the one who simply decided to fight originally because he was told heaven was at risk due to Lilith's rising power? The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions. I think it could be any number of these. Either way, Lute certainly does think she had authority over Lilith. Is it Lute just having hubris? Or is Lilith truly bound, just like Alastor, Husk, and Angel Dust?

Of course, now that we know a soul can be redeemed... and we certainly know that angels can fall. I don't think this will be the last we see of Adam.

[themaidenofwords]

Have I mentioned how gut wrenching the slow progression from "Jonathan Sims-- Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London" to "Jonathan Sims-- The Archivist" is?

These are Jon's introductions of himself. He had already had people simply calling him "The Archivist" way back in season one, but he never introduced himself that way. He declared his title of Archivist as what he saw it to be-- a job title and nothing more.

And then we reached season three and there was a gap where we had "Jonathan Sims, former Archivist" and the words were still spoken as one would a job title but with a certain sense of grief that was incongruous with the professional veneer.

And finally, the reveal of what the Archives were and what being The Archivist truly meant happened, and Jon stopped pretending-- even to himself-- that it was just a job. No, he was Jonathan Sims-- The Archivist-- and it was spoken with the gravitas and responsibility of a king's title. It was now part of who he was.

And then, season five, and it's no longer "Jonathan Sims--". It is merely "The Archivist". Because Jon believes his humanity to have died along with the world he was tricked into dooming. His person-hood is secondary-- and can perhaps be considered more of a job title now in a similar way to how Jon referred to being The Archivist in season one. In season five, Jon believes his entire being to have been consumed by the Watcher. The Archives and his job as the Archivist can no longer be seen as a job, or even as a part of who he is, because it is ALL he is. There is no part remaining of Jonathan Sims, because he is The Archivist first and foremost. He doesn't believe his own humanity great enough to be mentioned.

He is, of course, wrong. But it wouldn't be a tragedy if he didn't realize that until it was too late.

[lime-bucket]

Im saying this not as an opinion but as a matter of fact that hades should have never been the default villain in modern greek myths retellings,becuz dionysus had been always a better fit by leagues & i feel like writers/artists both overlook & underestimate him.Like the fucker wasnt just a silly drunk god,his whole domain tethered on the thin line between ecstasy and madness,embodying both chaos & pleasure. All of these qualities historically had made him simultaneously adored & feared within & outside of his fanatical cult,& circling back to the madness part,idk if yk this but dionysus have this lil tale in wich he caused his followers to go drunk w/ frenzy at a party they literally ripped apart the son of hypnos, i repeat hes so powerful he made a buncha humans kill A GOD! & he didnt face any repercussions fr that!!!

Now ik im skipping on other infos but all of this sounds to me that dionysus is perfect fr the charming & sinister mastermind trope

[clowns0up-felix]

I LOVVVEEEE doing background studies for botw/totk (even though I hate drawing backgrounds, make it make sense??),,, and the last pic with link being teleported was insanely fun to draw!!! All of these are screenshot redraws btw,,, I might draw more

Im screaming I have so many small Zelda hcs but I can’t think of ways to put them all into interesting comics and drawing without getting overstimulated,,, I might do one very long post for them in the future? Idk

Speedpaint for the last piece :D

[charlie-novakk]

chapter 2 is up! and in it, we have:

a tired and flustered John

a feminist Sherlock

a confused Rosie who's under the impression her parents are married

also starring: Mycroft (who's on a diet) and Holmes' parents celebrating their anniversary

hullo!

so, i'm translating another one of my old fics. in this one, John's a doctor and Sherlock is (mostly) a stay-at-home parent. i would be honoured if you checked it out! <3

John's POV.

summary:

The future awaiting John and Sherlock turns out not quite as Mary Watson had foretold, because raising a growing child in a cramped flat while pursuing a job that’s both unstable and high-risk is difficult indeed.

They still live together – but both must make compromises.