#good quote btw. but not in a nihilistic way! I love people. but IF there is something like a hell it's something that people doto each othe

[skibasyndrome]

when Sarte said "l'enfer, c'est les autres" he didn't know that he was gonna coin the perfect motto for when you have to do group projects at uni

[hollowsart]

So.. after learning what "strife" means and looking back at all the dialogue Cyrus has in DPPt.. you come to realize something.

Cyrus actually hates the constant forms of conflict that are always arising within the world. It causes nothing but misery and trouble. And, he is correct, most of that conflict and strife is brought about by people's emotions. So he revokes them from himself.

He wants to better the world by removing such conflict and feelings, thinking the world might finally be at peace and not at war.

He finds and gathers others who wish to change the world for the better and others who agree that the way things currently are, people can't truly be happy or at peace. This is how he made his following.

So.. he doesn't actually have a god complex (although he does get carried away on mt. coronet and the power high), he just sees himself highly with his desire to fix things and take action into his own hands with “fixing” everything.

Cyrus is.. a moral dilemma.

While he does have debatable intentions that could very well be good, he’s also displayed intentions that seem rather selfish, but I mean.. He is only human, after all. He, too, is flawed and incomplete as he says so often.

The actions he takes within the plot of the game are more the actions of his followers, but they're still by his orders. They're not really good actions but you can say they're justified means to achieving his goal which would make the actions he took to reach them not matter. So.. slightly nihilistic in that regard. Seeing his goal of recreating the world without strife as the only real meaningful action.

here’s some quote examples btw, the last one being the best one:

[cutting for length]

I will admit that there is also his strong loathing for emotions and feelings, but I do believe they’re connected with his feelings toward the actions they are ultimately responsible for. He certainly is aware of that, even with his own self.

Anyways, Cyrus is a fun and interesting character to explore and study! There is so much you can take from his character and I love everything about it.

[iwillgetridofyourangerforyou]

In OPM, we have been blessed by both ONE (the best storyteller) and Murata (the best illustrator). I'm forever grateful for that fact. For me, every single works that ONE had created are excellent and have good quality story, kinda fresh and exciting to read unlike some mainstream shounen/seinen manga which usually seems formulaic. Btw, I love your analysis posts on webcomic topics, those are so good! Please talk more about it 💖

Ooo, besting. Haha I don’t like using unqualified superlatives but I have to admit ONE and Murata are currently my favorites and I do think they are exceptional. 

As far as Murata goes, I think I was near the Sea King chapter when I became consciously aware of how much time I was spending just staring at the line-work in the individual panels. I haven’t done quite as much research into his works but he does have a bit of a range in his styles. I was curious to see what more of his work looks like and so I considered reading Eyeshield 21, but since I’m prejudiced against sports in general I haven’t started. Murata’s art for OPM is a beautiful style I will shamelessly use to inspire my art for years to come. 

As far as ONE goes I loved the Mob Psycho 100 anime and I’ll be getting through the mangas shortly. While I missed a lot of the value of One-Punch Man when I first watched it, when I found the Manga and webcomic it quickly became my top favorite manga of all time. It’s definitely not what I expected. When I started reading Makai no Ossan I couldn’t put it down. I was awake at night till 3am thinking ‘oh just one more chapter.’ 

I like that ONE addressed a lot of similar themes with different contexts because sometimes the context matters and it makes the lesson a bit more comprehensible to different people in different phases of life. I think he’s aware of certain struggles people face at different phases of life too, and he doesn’t write everyone as a teenager. When ONE give’s his characters an age it means something, and it doesn’t necessarily mean maturity or experience directly proportional to their age. I think that, for me, ONE’s story telling feels so ‘fresh and exciting’ because it's almost as if he’s going through an exploration process with you as the reader to work out certain concepts and the implications. 

I don’t know how he does it but it almost feels like the character’s he writes live outside of him as the author with a will of their own that he gives life to for us. Sometimes it seems that he doesn’t even have a message he’s trying to communicate to the audience but so often a ‘moral’ or an ‘idea’ emerges from the pages even in the face of scenarios that seem to make that message implausible. An example I have for that at the moment is the battle between the spirit of Keiji Mogami, who killed himself after becoming angry and bitter at the horrible tragedies of life and Shigeo. When Keiji tried to show Shigeo why he’s so angry with the world, why rage and despair is the only logical conclusion, Shigeo peered into that rage and despair -possibly almost getting lost in it himself for a moment- only to come out stronger than before with the conviction that gratitude and hope is the path for him. 

I think HOPE is really one of the big things for me with ONE. I can be a pretty pessimistic person at times and I don’t resonate well with stories that pretend that everything is going to be alright. Stories that preach hope without addressing the pain and horror of living feel naive. I also don’t like to read horror stories and nihilistic stories all the time because it just puts me in a pretty dark place. I often find myself feeling hopeless and the cold emptiness of despair seems like a relief from some of the grief I’ve experienced. So when I have a good source of hope in my life I cling to it like a life preserver. I don’t really use storytelling as an escape from reality but as an extension of reality, to help make sense of it and to make it bearable. I think hope is one of those things that shines the brightest when the image is in full contrast and not muted by a softer light. Like Sam’s quote from Lord of the Rings: 

Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered, full of darkness and danger they were. Sometimes you didn’t want to know the end, because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when there’s so much bad that had happened? But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That mean something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances to turn back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something. 

Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam? 

Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for. 

Thank you! I am glad you like the writing I’ve done about the webcomic. I would like to do some more and knowing you’re interested in reading more does give me some additional motivation to get writing. :)

[breezy-cheezy]

Ok. Ok...I finally finished Nier: Automata. I like to go looking for fanart too, but it’s...difficult for this fandom because....mainly it’s alot of er....very revealing drawings of 2B. I get it, but I get very tired of that stuff real quick...I like the wholesome stuff, cute fluff, the like, so if anyone knows where I can find that/good nier: automata fanart/gif blogs, I’d love to hear! 

But yeah more thoughts since the last part of the game just cranks everything up to an 11 and tbh I’m really emotional (MAJOR SPOILERS BTW. It’s an...older game now but I still feel like I should warn...)

- Ok I thought the beginning of route D/C was cool if surprisingly difficult?? Playing as 2B running around in full armor and I seem to be more fragile actually?? Hrm.

- I did NOT expect 2B to be killed so soon. Like. Wat. I knew it was coming but not THEN. And A2 taking mercy on her and finishing her off (when we found out she’s witnessed comrades suffering this same virus before it makes even more sense) was actually...that made a big impact on me. I liked A2 right off the batt. I love that her arc is to learn to care again. Not just about androids, but the world, and how beautiful it is...just...after all her trauma and such I just think her story arc is lovely. 

- I do question how she ran around in clothing scraps for years but I mean. You do you sweetie. 

- 2B’s soft “Nines...” as she notices him watching her die I DIE, I missed her so muuuuch...

- Devola and Popola are apparently characters from a previous Nier game and gosh dang I love these disaster twins. They deserve so much better...thank you for looking out for 9S you two ;~;

- I realize 9S actually has alot of Moms and I think it’s hilarious (Devola and Popola, Anemone, 2B, A2, O210, HIS OWN POD ) but also really cute!

- Watching sweet 9S slowly but surely descend into madness and rage just...pained me. I mean I feel that is how you do that kind of character development, it...worked, but oh my GOSH that boy was a mess by the end ;;A;; screaming, crying, killing...his voice actor is super good. I had to remind myself this angry boy is same voice of sweet little Mob X’’’D But just all his “nothing matters anymore, I’ll kill you all” lines sounded so painful and angry and insane all at once and just A+++ choice of voice actor yall. Having to kill O210 was just...noooo isn’t he suffering enough?? Isn’t she???? BWEH

- I realize alot of the side quests about revenge were foreshadowing this character arc and this also pains me.

- A2′s banter with 2B’s pod was beautiful and I couldn’t get enough of it, especially his not so subtle jabs at her inability to comprehend things/calling her stupid basically X’’’’’’’’’D 

- Also A2 interacting with the machines at Pascal’s village gave me life and light in these dark times. The kids call her big sis!!! She helps build them a slide!!! My heart!! ;;7;; 

- Also just...everything that happened to that village...ugh. Why. WHY.

Me: Things are sad now but hey at least we still have Pascal’s happy peace village!

Game: *for some reason, half of the machines in the village get infected by the network and start eating each other, everything’s in flames, there seem to be no survivors*

Me: Aaaaaaaa at least...Pascal lives? With the children?? They’re safe, right? 

Game: *Yeah but now an army of infected machines are coming your way and you have to fight them off with a previously pacifist robot Pascal*

Me: Ok...ok did that. It was pretty cool. But knowing this game the kids are going to be dead upon return huh...the machines went around and got to them...*trying to prepare*

Game: *they indeed died, but it was actually suicide because they were overcome by fear, which fear is a concept Pascal taught them, and now he hates himself and wants you to kill him too or erase his memories*

Me: ...............frick. *just walks away*

- I COULDN’T DO IT I just walked away I feel like that’s the most chance for hope DX what the heck Yoko Taro do you LIKE suffering?? 

- Just everything up to the ending was super cool and pretty dang epic. I was confused on lore points, but hoo boy the full revelation on project YorHa is just awful and I can’t blame 9S for going totally ballistic after finding out...

- Red girl. Super creepy. Jackass’s report on her after completing the game?? Hilarious.

- Might I say, Jackass is a hilarious, great side character, and she was totally immune to all the tragedy and just wanted to teach others how to make bombs X’’’’’D Her name alone had me busting out laughing, what a gal

- I like Ending C better than D...but the bit about the ark was interestinggg...I love confirmation that Adam is taking care of his little brother in the datascape at least ;;v;; Eve deserves it...

- A2′s “I’m coming, everyone” as she falls to her death WEEEEEHHHHHHH

- Ok but the game makers put so much heart into this game. Ending E???? Was really hard to get. But it was so COOL. It took the whole nihilistic “nothing matters anymore” theme and turns it right on it’s head, as it puts you in this little mini game against the credits of the game...a FIGHT for a better ending. And I finally stopped being dumb and turned on the network and it got BETTER??? Quotes from other players encouraging me and uplifting...apparently the actual 2B and 9S voice actors data are in there too and they helped out and iasiuwruyguyerge the fourth wall is so broken but dang I love it...getting help from past players was amazing.....

- ALSO THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD IS SUCH A GOOD SONGGGGG and that it uses ALL versions/languages of the song all in once scene PLUS a chorus in the back if you accept help from others...chills. Like. I was trying so hard not to cry it was AMAZING, I love music and it was GRAND 

- The E ending was very open ended but also super hopeful and I love the pods for helping us and I hope these children can live on and be happy now...I will draw that fanart for sure. 

- Needless to say I hate sad endings, I hate that people think they’re cool and progressive because for me they’re just depressing. I literally leave media feeling empty and near depressed after those. So the fact this game GIVES you the option to press on and try to bring some light and happiness back just really, really touched my heart...I really appreciate how it was done.

Also I didn’t sacrifice my save data because I’m terrible I’m sorry my brother’s file is still on here he would KILL ME

So I’m super grateful to my friend Ana for introducing this masterpiece to me. What a GOOD GAME. A little wierd, a little quirky, very sad, but a good message at the end...I loved this journey. Super unique to anything else I’ve played. Now I’ll have alot more free time back since I finally finished this off too X’’’’D but hey, I’m happy with it!!

I also wanna go lore diving but I am very...emotionally exhausted and should do that Later >v>;;;;;