#episode: 354

[atwwdoutofcontext]

You can possess me but don't touch my eyeball

[forensicated]

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, hope you have a wonderful time whatever you end up doing, however you end up spending it.

[pessimistpress]

Manic Minion's Dildo Squad! Episode 354 - "Coffee Crime!"

[elihermit]

Eddie Diaz x Reader

Can you do a fic based off of 911 5x13 Fear-O-Phobia where Eddie destroys his room with a baseball bat but instead of Eddie destroying it Y/n does.

my tears ricochet

pairing: Eddie Diaz x fem!reader

summary: you work in a call center, answering emergency calls and you thought that no call would break you anymore, but today you have reached your breaking point

this fic is based on season 5 episode 13 “Fear-o-Phobia”

word count: 2,2k

author’s note: this fic contains references to child abuse and self-harm, please read with caution!

You're on shift again today and you're pretty tired at the end of it. You had an hour left before the end of the day and you really couldn't wait to get home to Chris and Eddie, even though you knew Eddie would be back a little later than you.

“Long day, huh?” — you break out of your thoughts and see Josh in front of you. You had a fifteen-minute break and decided to have coffee.

“Don’t even start, it’s like this full moon curse decided to show up earlier.”

“I feel you, but guess what? You will be free soon and my night will be long.” — Josh sighed and went to pour himself a cup of coffee too.

“Lucky me, I guess.” — you got up to go to your desk and continue taking calls. “Back to service.”

You sat down at the table and gave yourself a couple more minutes to get ready for the last hour of work. This job was difficult, sometimes your emotions could take over, but you thought you had already learned to control them. And even if you thought about quitting, those thoughts went away after a minute, because you knew that you were the first person people counted on when they were in danger and you wouldn't trade it for anything.

You put on your ear piece and come back to help people.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

“Please, my dad is going to kill me.”

You hear a child's trembling voice and your heart turns over.

“Sweetie, tell me what’s going on? Are you in danger?”

“My dad gets aggressive when he drinks, he took his gun.”

“Is he threatening you with a gun? Are you in any pain?”

“He pointed it on me, but I ran to my room. Daddy hit me in the head, I feel dizzy.”

“Open the fucking door!” — you hear a drunken male voice and banging on the door. You need to be fast.

“Okay, honey, help is coming. Tell me your name and address.”

“I’m Audrey, 354 N Spring Street.”

“All units, 354 N Spring Street, the man is intoxicated, he is armed and threatens his daughter. Possible child abuse and injuries.”

You quickly notify units about this and it takes your breath away. You need to save the girl, no one will get hurt today.

“Okay, Audrey, help is on the way, I will stay on the line, until they arrive. Is there anyone else at home?”

“No, it’s just the two of us. Please hurry, he’s going to break the door!”

You feel a tear rolling down your cheek, but you quickly brush it away.

“Help will be with you in 5 minutes. In the meantime, I want you to listen to me, okay? Hide under the bed or in the closet and try to be quiet, sweetie.”

You can hear the movement on the other end of the phone. Your palms are sweating and you're breathing fast. Your whole focus is on this girl.

“Okay, I'm under the bed.”

“Good job. Help is almost there, Audrey.”

The next thing you hear is a broken door and a little girl screaming. You hear a man swearing and a loud bang. You can't control the tears.

“Audrey, are you there?”

But there is silence in response. All you can hear is Audrey's screams and pleading for dad not to hit her anymore. Your hands start shaking and you feel like you're suffocating, everything is in a blur and slow motion.

“LAPD! Raise your hands and move away from the girl by 3 meters.”

You hear the voices of the police, but it's too soon to exhale, you don't know if it was too late. You feel Josh's hand on your shoulder and only now realize how much you're crying.

“Dispatcher, this is 134, the girl is unconscious, but stable, got here on time. We’re heading to the hospital.”

It should be a moment where you exhale, because the girl is alive and she will be fine, but you can't shake the feeling that you could have done more. This is not the first call from a child in your career, but it was the first call where you heard everything in "action" and it broke you.

You open the front door to the house and walk inside on weak legs. God only knows how you got home, because everything seemed to stop and you were alone in this trap. The girl's scream is still in your ears, and burning cheeks remind you of tears that you couldn't control. All you wanted right now was to be alone.

“Hey mommy.”

You hear Chris's voice from the living room and go there. He started calling you mom not so long ago and you loved it. You accepted him as your own child and Eddie always made sure to thank you for that.

“Hey, baby. Is dad home yet?”

You wanted Eddie to be at home, he was your safe place, who always dispersed the clouds when they appeared over your head. But another part of you wanted him to still be at work because you didn't want to explain what happened.

“No, but he should be in an hour.”

“Okay. How about I make you dinner and turn on cartoons while you eat? Mommy is not feeling well and I would like to lay down for a bit. Are you going to be fine on your own?”

“Sure, I wanted to watch cartoons all day!”

Chris smiled broadly and it melted your heart. He's so cheerful and positive that sometimes you thought you needed to learn from him. You loved him with all your heart and if something had happened to him, you would have died. But one question haunted you - how can you protect him if you couldn't protect the child at work?

You put a sandwich in front of Chris and turned on his favorite cartoons. He thanked you, you kissed him on the forehead and went into the bedroom. After closing the door, you sat down on the bed and finally let out all your emotions. You were angry, sad and crushed. You were angry at yourself for not being able to do more, you were angry at this worthless father who allowed himself to treat his own daughter like that, and you were angry that now you weren't sure you could save Chris if it was necessary.

Tears were pouring from your eyes, this cutting pain in your chest, which was growing with every second and this feeling of utter helplessness drove you crazy.

You didn't know what was driving you, but the next thing you knew it was the bat in your hands and the first blow to the wall. You never thought you had that kind of strength because that punch left a hole in the wall. You scream, this scream is more like a plea and each blow gets stronger. You don't hear anything that's going on around you, you just hit the bat against the wall and scream, thinking that it will make your pain less real.

Tears are still pouring out of your eyes, you can feel the salty taste in your mouth. You throw the bat on the floor and it falls with a loud bang. Now your hands are hitting the wall and you feel your knuckles getting scratched, but you didn't care. Now the most horrifying screams are coming out of your throat.

“Hey, buddy. I’m on my way, do you want anything?”

“Dad, please hurry up! Mommy is not well.”

“What do you mean? What happened?”

Eddie's body immediately tensed up and he accelerated the car to get home faster.

“I don’t know, I keep calling her, but she won’t answer.” — Eddie heard heavy thuds and screams in the background.

“Okay, Chris, don’t worry, I’m almost here.”

Eddie ran to the house and opened the door. During those minutes while he was driving in the car, he wanted only one thing - for both of you to be okay.

He saw Chris near your shared bedroom and immediately ran up to him.

“Chris, are you okay? Where’s mom?”

“She locked herself in the bedroom. I tried to call her, but she was screaming really hard.”

“Okay, buddy. Sit in the living room, please, I’m gonna go get her, okay?”

“Okay.” — Eddie watched Chris go.

“Hey baby, it’s me. Can I come in?”

He didn't hear anything. Just the silence that didn't give him any peace of mind.

“Okay, I’m going to come in, (Y/N). Stay away from the door.”

Eddie kicked down the door and was finally able to enter the bedroom. The first thing he saw were holes in the wall. He took two steps and saw you sitting on the floor with your back leaning on the bed frame. Your legs were pressed against your chest and your head was in your lap. Eddie saw your shoulders shaking and heard you sobbing.

He immediately knelt down and cupped your face in his hands so that you could look at him.

“Hey. Hey, hey, I’m here, baby. What’s wrong? Please talk to me.” — he saw your red eyes and wet face from crying.

When you finally looked at him, you saw his frightened eyes. He was looking for an answer in your eyes and patiently waited for you to explain everything to him.

“He almost killed her, Eddie. I should have done more. I heard everything.” — the tears started to flow with renewed vigor and a sound more like a whine came out of your mouth.

“Shh, mi amor. I’m here.” — Eddie wrapped you in his arms and you cried into his shoulder. He stroked your hair soothingly and said sweet nothings in your ear. “Let it out, baby. I’m right here.”

He hated seeing you like this. He knew that his job was difficult and that he was risking his life, but he knew that your job is 100 times more difficult emotionally because you hear every pain, fear and suffering of other people when you get a call.

“We’re right out here, Chris, don’t worry.”

You are now in the kitchen and Eddie has left Chris's room. You were sitting at the table and looking at your hands. Your knuckles are red and swollen from the blows and your head has so many regrets. You scared Chris.

“Is he okay?” — you asked in a whisper and didn't want to think about hurting Chris. That's your biggest fear.

“He’s still scared. Makes two of us.”

Eddie sat down across from you and you looked up. You were so upset for what you had done and it was eating you up.

“I’m so sorry. The last thing I wanted was for Chris to be scared of me.”

“Hey.” — Eddie took your hand. “He’s not scared of you, he was scared for you.”

“Did he call you?”

“He did. I got here as fast as I could.”

You chuckled. This scenario is ironically similar. A call from a child who asks to be saved from a parent. Only his call was to save you. And it hit you with an epiphany. You wanted so badly to never put Chris in danger that you unwittingly reproduced it into reality.

“I got a call today.” — you finally started explaining. “It was a little girl and she asked for help, because her dad was abusing her. A-and…” — your voice faltered, but you continued. “Then he beat her up and I heard her screaming.”

“Oh, mi amor. I’m so sorry.” — Eddie squeezed your hand, but you got up and walked over to him. He immediately realized that you wanted to sit on his lap and gave you this opportunity.

“I still can’t shake the feeling that I should have done more. And now I doubt that I can protect Chris. I can’t even do it at work.”

“Look at me, (Y/N).” — he put his hand on your face and looked into your eyes. “Do you know why Chris started calling you Mom? Because he feels safe with you. You make him feel loved and protected. And that's all we can both ask for. You are enough.”

He kissed your cheek and continued.

“I’m sorry you had that call and you had to hear all of that. But you did everything and even more, I’m sure of it. You saved that little girl. Who knows what would have happened if help had arrived 2 minutes later. But YOU did everything in time.”

And you realized that your job does not consist of personally being at the scene of accidents. Your job is to make sure that help arrives at the right time and you did a damn good job.

You smiled and felt relieved. You didn't look at this situation from Eddie's point of view and that's what got you. You wrapped your arms around Eddie's neck and buried your fingers in his hair.

He pressed you closer and kissed you on the shoulder. Every bad thought disappeared when he was around. And his arms always caught you when you started to fall to the bottom.

You heard the notification sound on your phone and pulled it out of your pocket. It was a message from Josh:

“Audrey is alive and stable. They say it was perfect timing.”

“Always on time, huh?” — Eddie saw the message and smiled at you.

“I like to be punctual.”

He pressed his lips to yours and kissed you gently. He's always here to rescue you, and you're always here to answer quickly.

[tiov1]

Obito and Rin's relationship

I just read a text from a user talking about ObiRin and honestly, I was impressed that there were 6 shares and almost 80 likes on the comment. I wonder: do people even remember what Obito and Rin's relationship was like? Because from people's feedback, I can see that they clearly don't. The comment said that Obito and Rin were not best friends and that Obito's feelings for her were "platonic", and that her behavior towards him was "no big deal". So, I ask you: what does that mean to you? Romantic or platonic love?

So I'm left wondering: Are people really looking at this relationship and not coming to the obvious conclusion that Rin Nohara loved Obito Uchiha romantically and that her feelings for Kakashi were purely platonic due to his prodigy abilities in the same way that Karin and Ino had for Sasuke? This is surreal to me.

Have you ever stopped to think about the parallels between ObiRin and NaruHina or do you prefer to confirm more information on Wikipedia, where anyone can edit and write whatever they want?

I don't think that their friendship was platonic, precisely because of the romantic reaction that Obito and Rin had and that was concretized in their reunion scene… making a direct connection with the kiss attempt made by Rin when she was still alive.

Platonic love is a type of love that involves feeling affection, admiration or even passion for someone, but without wanting to have a romantic or physical relationship with that person. In this sense, I can say that this was the case with Kakashi and Rin, since they literally had nothing special.

She felt admiration for Kakashi because of his abilities and fame as a genius, but she never tried to kiss Kakashi once and even when Kakashi died, she wasn't there for him, but for Obito she was.

Pink (meaning): pink means romance (as a primary meaning)

After her rejection, we never saw Rin try anything romantic with Kakashi or even form a solid relationship with him. In fact, their relationship went backwards instead of forwards to something more “meaningful”. They literally became just “teammates” and didn't have the same level of intimacy as she had with Obito.

Obito and Rin's relationship:

Kakashi and Rin's relationship:

So when someone tells me that their feelings (Obito and Rin) weren't romantic, even if they didn't show it verbally, you could clearly see that they liked each other beyond friendship, and not something platonic.

Notice the clear change in Rin Nohara's personality/decision and feelings in these 2 scenes:

I'm not a “romance genius”, but there are things that are too obvious not to be interpreted as romance. Besides, Kakashi has shown us countless times that what he felt for Rin was pure companionship in various situations. Even after her death, Kakashi saw her as a hallucination and saw her in other girls, but even though he had the opportunity to “date” girls similar to Rin, he never tried anything and never addressed any girl similar to Rin romantically, but rather, totally in a sense of companionship.

Even though they resembled Rin, Kakashi never even tried anything with any of them and thought of her only as a friend, literally. He himself only used the word “friend” to refer to Rin. As, for example, in episode 354, where Kakashi says: “I couldn't protect my friend.”

Or even when Sasuke said to Kakashi: “What if I had killed the person you love the most?!”

And Kakashi's response? “Those people have already… been killed.”

Kakashi has literally never, at any time in his life, seen Rin in a romantic light. Not before and not after… but Rin? I'm sorry, but it was very clear that she saw Obito romantically, she just didn't admit it to herself.

So when someone says that Rin and Obito weren't best friends and that she didn't see Obito as a potential boyfriend or even like him romantically, I'm like:

Obito and Rin were not only best friends since forever, but they also loved each other. It's so obvious that they would have ended up together romantically, that it really amazes me how there are people who actually have doubts about them in that sense. Obito & Rin is literally synonymous with romance and genuine love for each other. There are people who compare Obito and Rin with Kakashi and Guy, saying that their friendship was "similar", but for the love of the gods!!! Honestly, that has nothing to do with it. The friendship between both pairs was VERY different. In Kakashi and Guy you see friendship and rivalry, but in Obito and Rin you see love and romance.

So I'm sorry, but anyone who compares Kakashi and Guy's relationship with Obito and Rin's is simply clueless. By the way, did Guy ever try to kiss Kakashi? Not that I can recall. Neither Kakashi nor Guy are gay. Besides, it was very clear that Rin's feelings for Kakashi literally disappeared when Kakashi confessed that he abandoned her at the end of the Gaiden saga (she only liked him for his abilities, and only had love and intimacy with Obito).

And then:

She could try to disguise it, but I've never seen Rin support Kakashi the way she supported Obito.

“Rin never loved Obito romantically. She only had eyes for Kakashi! Obito never had a chance with her. He was a failure and Kakashi was a prodigy!” Let's see what Rin thinks about that.

Rin, after waiting 20 years to be reunited with only (Obito Uchiha), left Kakashi, her “love” behind forever.

It doesn't take much to realize the obvious difference.

[frogfacezombieboy]

I think it's pathetic that Milswancas are now resorting to sending each other anonymous asks claiming they switched side. It's even sadder that they're being so obvious about it and didn't even bother to do the research.

Like, I understand that some of us might have Byler doubt. I even understand that due to traumatic experience from queerbaiting, some of us don't think Byler will happen.

What gave them away is a Byler suddenly becoming a Milswanca shipper.

I wasn't here during S1 so I couldn't be certain what we had seen then, but

In S2, we got to see that Mike had a "Will voice", how he treated Will differently from his other two best friends, how he called El every night for 353 nights but dropped her completely on night 354 and 355 (she came back on night 356 so I didn't count that), the "Crazy together" scene, the "Best thing I've ever done" scene

In S3, we got to see how unhealthy Milswanca was (to the point that 5 different characters also thought so), how they didn't have a single thing in common, how Mike immediately backtracked after he hurt Will ("I'm not trying to be a jerk") and even ran after him in the rain to apologize but couldn't apologize to El for lying to her until 5 episodes later, the open-eye kiss vs the "Not possible" scene

In S4, we got to see even more of that unhealthy relationship, how this time El was also lying to Mike, how he couldn't even write those 3 words to her, how when he finally said it El was filled with enough anger to break out of Henry's hold, while having so many Byler scenes I can't even include them all in this part (but the most special scene was the final scene of S4 with the 3 endgame couples and El standing alone)

Now, before S5, we got a plethora of BTS pictures indicating Mike was spending a lot more time with Will while El was nowhere in sight, churchgate, the original four news, the Miwi casting

So if any of those supposedly "used to be Byler but switched side" people could point out when and why they suddenly thought Milswanca was better, they could try to convince me.

[clockworkt]

This is a mini rant/hill I will forever die on, with supporting evidence! In recent years I've been seeing more and more Sasuke-doesn't-like-animals talk and I feel like people have forgotten the sheer number of animals Sasuke interacts with in the series. Like yes you could argue he got the summons contract with the snakes only because he absorbed Orochimaru (whether he would have gotten the contract on his own without getting it from Orochimaru is debatable), and you could argue he got the contract with hawks for utilitarian purposes only (they are a very practical summons and Sasuke is very pragmatic from childhood after the massacre). But I feel like everyone's forgotten his relationship with the ninja cats? Like I've seen no mention of them in so long and a lot of people who associates him with cats seem to only do it based on personality but like??? Bro literally deals with ninja cats in the manga (I don't recall if the scene where he does is animated, I own the volume but I have no idea what episode that would be).

And I didn't screenshot the panel where he mentions it (this is in chapter 354 for reference) but it's a munitions storage area for th Uchiha clan. Again, this is a practical association he has with animals (cats in this case) but like compared to other characters in the series one of the only other people with affinities/associations with so many different animals is Juugo. Naruto has frogs and foxes, but from my memory he does have specific established relationships with any other species. Kakashi has his dogs and you could argue wolves with his father, and Kiba also has dogs, Sakura and Tsunade have slugs and you could also kind of argue pigs for Tsunade because of Shizune, Jiraya has frogs, and Sai I wouldn't really consider his ink drawings as animals. Shino has beetles (as far as I remember it's one species of beetle?), Kabuto has Orochimaru's snakes, Itachi has crowd (and arguably the same association with cats as Sasuke but we don't really see him interact with them much, at least in the main series. I know there have been like side story gaiden released but I haven't read/watched them all oop). Who else has his range of species????

Sasuke is an animal lover and I rest my case, bro is a walking pet sanctuary waiting to happen his ass would absolutely occasionally walk around with a snake in his shirt while he's traveling and shit and I will hear nothing else!

(and I, an avid animal lover who has owned cats, dogs, fish, and frogs and very much wants pet snakes in the future have no reason to be biased towards him being an animal lover whatsoever)

[lookismstuff]

UPDATED: The Forms of Lookism as Portrayed in Lookism Manhwa/Webtoon

A list of the forms of lookism as portrayed in the webtoon from the beginning to this day (Episodes 1-508). I made this list as a companion to this post and this post. This list is cross-referenced against the arcs, so this might not always fit with the specific episodes that I mentioned.

Bullying and labelling based on appearance (face, body shape, weight, skin color, perceived social status) (Eps 1-14, 46-50, 58-62, 139-148, 199-213, 83-90, 91-95, 153-157, 163-171, 264-265, 370-371, 452-453, 460-462, 481-492, 498, 507-508, 501)

Concealment of and discrimination against disability (Eps 255-257, 250-251, 258-263, 300-301, 399-410, 460-461, 481-498, 500-501)

Appearance-based exclusion in the labor market (Eps 96-109, 330-346, 360-369, 372-393)

Commodification of beauty in the entertainment and media industry (Eps 21-27, 28-33, 71-72, 96-109, 287-299, 360-369, 443-447, 474)

Stigma on scars and tattoos (Eps 17-18, 51-57, 178-179, 266-284, 411-429, 360-369)

Misuse of beauty in crimes (Eps 41-45, 75-80, 174-177, 214-218, 287-299, 330-346, 354-359, 430-431, 448-453, 479)

Stigma on parental or familial resemblance in children (Eps 302-318, 432-441, 466-467)

Body alterations and its various physical health, mental health, and legal consequences (Eps 320-324, 394-398, 443, 460, 466, 470-474)

Ageism, including prejudice against senior citizens and teenagers (Eps 186-187, 399-403, 443-447, 452, 453-454, 489, 491)

[socalledsomethingorother]

approximate schedule for anime releases for cour one and what will happen in each episode. dates are approx. and events are based on what i think makes a satisfying ending to an episode.‼️manga spoilers

5/4 - 1. star vs. “tomura” [329, 330, 331]

5/11 - 2. end star vs. “tomura”; star’s sacrifice [332, 333, 334]

5/18 - 3. traitor reveal [335, 336, 337]

5/25 - 4. “the story of how we all became heroes: part 1, 2, and 3” [338, 339, 340]

6/1 - 5. toga’s house, LOV planning, izuku thanks ochako [341, 342]

6/8 - 6. war start: shinso’s plan, divide and conquer strategy, himiko grabs izuku [343, 344, 345]

6/15 - 7. UA heroes vs. “tomura” start, himiko’s confession, izuku starts his return to UA [346, 347, 348]

6/22 - 8. ochako and tsuyu vs. himiko start, touya vs. shoto start, touya’s past [349, 350, 351]

6/29 - 9. shoto’s progress, touya vs. shoto (part 1) end, koda and shoji vs. spinner and heteromorph army start, endeavor and hawks vs. AFO start [352, 353, 354]

7/6 - 10. AFO fight continues, kyoka and tokoyami join the fight, endeavor loses an arm, AFO starts his rewind strat [355, 356, 357]

7/13 - 11. back to UA heroes vs. “tomura”, katsuki’s speech, howitzer impact: cluster, “tomura” humiliates katsuki, UA’s big three, katsuki’s plan [358, 359, 360]

7/20 - 12. “tomura’s” instability. tamaki’s plasma cannon. katsuki’s last stand. all might’s vestige. katsuki’s death [361, 362]

- end cour. 1 -

[otori0]

Second chances: A Kijima Matako + Kiheitai Analysis

This will be messy and include spoilers.

Kijima Matako, just like all Gintama characters, isn’t reduced to a single aspect to her character. What makes Gintama women special to me is that they aren’t just shonen women that are used when convenient or left to the side: they all break some kind of stereotype and have life of their own. They all have a soul. (If interested in this topic, there’s this analysis on Gintama women that really stood out to me)

When it comes to Matako, I don’t think this is different, even though her screen time is limited as she’s a side character. Despite her being introduced as a girl who loves Takasugi and shows extreme loyalty to her, this isn’t all there is to her. Not only is she a great fighter and indispensable to the Kiheitai, but her backstory in Silver Soul also shows us more sides of her. In particular, I’ll be discussing episodes 354 and Matako’s last scene in Gintama The Final, as they are the scenes that made me want to write this. Please don’t proceed if you haven’t finished the series. You’ve been warned!

We learn in episode 354 that Matako’s parents both died because of war, trying to protect the country. Because of this, she seeks revenge and asks Takasugi to join him in his goal of destroying the country.

At this moment, Matako is using her parents’ deaths to give herself a purpose. It seems like she’s lost, even though there is certainly disdain and hate for the country inside her, it’s definitely not a decision a person her age would be making in normal circumstances. In the words of Francis Bacon, “A man that studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal, and do well.” (This also equates to Takasugi saying that the hardest part comes after war, when you’re reduced to just a man and forced to live that way, and Takasugi knows this better than anyone. Seeking revenge and keeping the wounds fresh is a way to run away from this. It also gives a mindless purpose so they don’t have to actually think about what comes after)

Just like Takasugi, losing something gave her a meaning and a goal. This should make them similar, but Takasugi knows it’s not the case, because his revenge isn’t simple revenge— it’s revenge against himself. Matako might not find what she's seeking if she goes with him, and she might just be throwing her life away. Going with Takasugi is the same thing as killing herself, her soul and her goals.

There’s a poetic sadness in the fact that Takasugi eventually died not in the way he’d thought he’d go. He was unable to kill Gintoki, which was the ultimate form of self-harm for him, and he lived an immortal but weakened life for a moment before he died against Gintoki himself. One could say that Takasugi did kill himself as well since he assisted Gintoki in killing Utsuro, but it’s still a death that’s very different from what one would imagine, especially in relation to this scene and Takasugi’s goals.

In the end, however, Gintoki fulfilled his promise and protected Takasugi's soul this way. This is the antagonic nature of Gintoki and Takasugi's characters and how Takasugi's goal was always doomed to fail.

Going back to Matako, because Takasugi gave Matako a second chance, this actually gives her even more motivation to follow his steps. He provided her a motivation aside from revenge.

A lot of Matako's loyalty to the Kiheitai comes from her devotion to Takasugi, but there's also the knowledge she has that the Kiheitai is more noble than it might seem. It saves nobodies, it has the power to protect— she has known Takasugi's kindness from the moment she met him, because he saved her even though they were nearly strangers.

However, ultimately Matako loses Takasugi as well. I've seen some people feel sympathy for her as she has 'lost everything' (at first her parents, then bansai & takasugi), but is this truly the case? I believe The Final proves otherwise.

The end of the movie, through Takasugi, makes the Kiheitai appear more human and follows the parent-child pattern that Gintama has used again and again to show vulnerability and human soul.

There's a lot of debate on what the baby Takasugi actually is, but from my point of view, if it's purposefully left ambiguous it should be ambiguous. That's part of the point of it. It could be reincarnation, it could be a different person, it could be Takasugi's second chance— we will never know, and that's okay.

Still, the topic of second chances is presented thorough the series and this movie is no exception. It's not a coincidence that Matako is the one to do this for Takasugi, to find him.

In this scene, there's a Sakamoto monologue in which he says that ''it's not a miracle for a teacher to save his students, it's just what they do''. I'm not confident in comparing what Takasugi did for Matako to what Shoyo did for his students because obviously it's not the same, but there is a meaning in this shot being shown during this monologue, because the cicle of second chances Matako and Takasugi (especially in regards of baby!Takasugi, since it's the most fantasy-esque aspect of this) is not 'a miracle', but something that had to happen.

Going back to the topic of revenge, Francis Bacon, who has already been mentioned here, made an experiment that actually proved that the people who had the chance of acting on their revenge had a harder time moving on from things and suffered more, because it prolongs that experience (more on this here). In this way, Gintoki who moved on the best he could from the past is a happier person than Takasugi. In the same way, I believe that Takasugi giving the Kiheitai a new goal to fight for in Soul Silver arc did this for Matako (although she wasn’t as deep into revenge as other characters, and it had already become something secondary for her). Especially when taking into consideration that Takasugi knew he’d die, or at the very least that his goals weren't leading him to anywhere good, it’s not unthinkable to believe that he was trying to give the Kiheitai something else for when he was gone. In a sense, Takasugi gave them what he learned from Gintoki but was too far gone to apply to himself. (Just like he gave the Kiheitai a place to belong) It's very much like Takasugi to take in all the pain to himself but never impose his own mentality into others.

After Takasugi died, it wouldn't be strange for the rest of the Kiheitai to grow apart from each other, to abandon that role and go on living normal lives, pursuing new goals. However, because of this new goal Takasugi has given them through the act of dying, Henpeita and Matako can redeem themselves, 'atone for their sins' as Henpeita words it. In a sense, had Takasugi survived, this might have been impossible.

Because Takasugi gave Matako a second chance and new reasons to fight, Matako could develop and grow into a person who in return gave Takasugi a second chance, enveloping him (physically) and I assume taking care of that baby in the future. Matako’s kindness is reflective of Takasugi’s own. In this way, although she believes herself to have been unable to save Takasugi during his life and bring back his smile, Matako also took an important part in preserving his soul.

At the end of Takasugi's road he found Gintoki, who had given him a part of his soul, and at the end of Matako's road she found Takasugi, who had given her a part of his (shown in their last scenes respectively). This becomes Matako's soul, turning her into a compassionate person who cares about Takasugi from the bottom of her heart, which gives her a chance to take action and abandon the revenge she initially sought.

Feel free to add anything to this, I have finished Gintama pretty recently so I'm sure there's people who have a better grasp and wording than myself. I might also edit this someday.

I hope this was an interesting read!

EDIT: In a sense, Bansai being the one to die first (not counting Nizou since he didn't have the same attachment to Takasugi and the others as the rest of the Kiheitai), in a sense, is a way to show that he has already found a purpose back then, while the other two still need a new purpose, which Takasugi gives them in SS. Bansai already knew Takasugi's soul and decided to die for him. The rest, however, had to live on to atone and carry that soul.

[coriolisunset]

i know everyone's sad about this episode but here's me calling the big reveal with perfect accuracy 354 days in advance

[forensicated]

Smiffina Episodes - Episode 354

Neither are in this episode but it's just to give a little closure for TFG aftermath.

Adam and Ian have a meeting where Adam tells him appears that the death of The Fake Gabriel is suicide. Ian asks if anyone knew that TFG wasn't TRG before the day before. Adam doesn't answer but luckily Ian continues without seeming to realise, telling him he can't believe that it went on 2 years without being found out. Adam tells him he's just going to release to the press that an officer died on duty and it's being investigated. Ian tells him to keep the lid on - tight.

Sheelagh is lost, realising the last year of her life has pretty much been a lie. Amber wonders if Sheelagh - or June - knew any of the truth. Steve wonders why he ended it with Dan suggesting it was likely because he was about to be found out. Steve isn't convinced, wondering if there was more to The Snipers death after all. Adam hears them and asks them to keep it all as quiet as possible and within the station.

[hows-itgoagain]

just watched gintama ep 354. aka the first episode of the second part of silver soul. aka the first episode with the last opening. and can i just say that watching it made me cry. not the episode. the opening. made me cry. what the FUCK gintama ☹️ (i love this show so much)

[20001541]

episode 8 bnha anime spoilers and speculations about when we'll get naked afo

it was confirmed this weeks episode will end here, which is the end of chapter 352.

so if we're going at the rate we are now, afo will start rewinding in two weeks. here's how I'm imagining it to play out...

episode 9: 353, 354, 355 - May 29

episode 10: 356, 357, 358 - July 6 (afo starts rewinding in 357)

episode 11: 359, 360, 361, 362 - July 13

episode 12: 363, 364 365, 366 - July 20 (premiere of naked afo)

HOWEVER we're approaching that time where the anime might split into the second cour which means it'll go on break. bakugo dies in 362 which would be the perfect time to do that, then again maybe they'll want to show him having his heart being repaired before break so people won't drop it with him being a popular character and all 😂

one thing to keep in mind is that while season 6 went on break after episode 13, we're working with less episodes as the first four that counted towards this season were recap episodes. so there's 21 in total we have for the season as a whole which means the split might happen sooner.

anyways this is just what how I think it could go. I'm hoping it doesn't go on break until after episode 12 because then that'll mean naked afo premieres right on my birthday 🤧