#he gets killed by a dog too.

[kodokugumon]

I think clangen is so interesting bc I'm not really into sim games but this one warrior cat one really has a hold on me bc of the situations it rolls and how the other values work. So it's like you come up w/ own little situations in ur clan. Which means I'm now invested in random generated wisteriaclan

[homkamiro]

just wanted to let you know that i've thought about your masc scout/fem sniper art. it is genderous to me, thank you

Ahhh thank you so much anon!!!🥺I really like them too, they give me a nice change in scenery and a very funny dynamic to play with

[kiddokori]

the beauty of no home is that, as a reader, eunyung is soo funny and silly and entertaining to watch that you end up rooting for him a lot and really enjoying when hes around. but as a human being you see him leave his trash out in shared spaces for so long it attracts bugs and go holy shit what the hell. this guy sucks fuck this guy. which i think is exactly what knowing him in real life would be like

[kissingagrumpygiant]

solas and morrigan can be so personal. to me

[patrice-bergerons]

I'm just emotional about Lieutenant McGraw, the son of a carpenter's mate, who must have possessed the same cunning, the same ability to play men to his own ends we see from Flint to have risen in the ranks in the Navy, who has seen hardship and sees the world as a practical, hard place; Lietuenant McGraw with this darkness inside of him, being attracted to Thomas's light. Putting himself in the line of fire for Thomas when he himself harboured significant doubt about his plan to issue pirates with pardons.

People can say what they like about you, but you are a good man. More people should say that—and someone should be willing to defend it.

Getting to know Thomas—it must have felt like flying on a dreary winter's day, when the plane finally rises above the last of the grey clouds and you are met with sunshine and it is so brilliant it is almost blinding. Getting to know Thomas must have perhaps felt like there was some salvation for him in that light too. A place where he could do better—be better. A home.

[themintman]

that one "do you think we're friends in every universe" Dan and Tray post I made AGES ago but space dogified.. rubs my hands together like a cartoon villain

The drawing 👇��� based on this one painting my friend sent me AGES ago to draw for a different au (mermal 🎉🐟) but uh. IT GOT TURNED INTO A TDM THING-

also the original post I made

[fumifooms]

Makima, devils and self-fulfillment

Dumping some Makima and CSM thoughts after a part 1 binge bc I think about her forever and ever. I’m sure I’m forgetting some devil lore, feel free to correct what i get wrong/what’s been confirmed. On the table of contents there’s why & how Makima got fixated on Chainsaw, her revealing liking for the country mouse and discussion of her nature & emotions & desires. Was the scorpion doomed to be a scorpion?

The most of this post was thought of during a conversation with @saccharineomens and I don’t think it makes sense to jump into the spiral it sent me on without first laying down the interesting groundwork theorizing she did:

"Thinking about how makima herself wants to be deified. I wonder whether she recognizes the difference between Love As Worship and the love that Aki, Power, and Denji had. She says she wants to help humanity by having Chainsawman eat the “bad” devils, but why does she want to help humans? Because she was ordered to by the Prime Minister? No, her drive seems much more personal than that, it seems like she teamed up with the PM for contractual reasons. (In the most recent chapters we see governmental members wanting certain devils to be eaten, too. What was Makima’s relationship with them? She’s too independent to just follow THEIR orders, she’s Control.)

So is she wanting to better humanity for the accolades, or out of the goodness of her heart? She sees the big picture. She sees any small sacrifice as worth it for the end result, and she’s ruthless. Perhaps she thinks that a more sedate human race would be easier to control? But Makima doesn’t loathe humanity. She never acts like she sees all humans as lesser. She loves humanity’s creations, like good food and movies. She just wants Good Things all the time

She says she prefers the country mouse BUT adds a story where she helps exterminate country mice like vermin. She likes the simplicity yet rejects the idea of being simple. Makima the complex individual you are"

~

The story itself seems to prefr the country mouse. Well- it strikes a balance, shows that a risk to live good & fully can be very worth it, but still that stability over ambition is preferable, proning having a simple happy life over fame, a simple job instead of a dangerous one, etc etc. And I do find Makima’s answer on this so so interesting, she prefers the country mouse, but this preference isn’t out of affection or sympathy but because of how relaxing it feels to exterminate them when they cause problems.

Order satisfies her. Her order satisfies her. She likes the action of rooting out disorder. Maybe this is the devil part, like how Power especially wants blood and drinking it, I feel there’s an itch to every devil, and for Makima it’s a very rigid world view/morality/standards & making things follow her rules and submit to her order.

And maybe this is why she’s attached to humans too, why she felt it was worth it to stick with the government- because devils are chaotic by nature (it’s a whole plot point that hell is essentially a free-for-all battleground for example), meanwhile humans are the species that universally rule Earth with systems they invented and instilled. They made then enforced rules, complex and intricate webs of them. She feels alienated amongst devils but she understands the humans’ need for an orderly organised society, and now she wants to be part of it. Control and conquest require social dynamics after all, requires civilizations or groups. War is chaotic while peace is, well, peaceful— Makima resents her sisters for being death, famine and war, things that throw the world in such chaos. She wants a world of perfect order, no matter how much collateral damage there will be if the end result is control.

This is even more interesting if you consider that yes, Makima is untouchable of her own design, she deifies herself with her omnipresent amount of control and the sway over others that she seeks and encourages— There is this urge to dehumanize her for it, that yes, she is the devil of control and that means she was never going to be any different, have any more feeling be any less uncanny. And I love part 2 so much for this, because it shows us the war devil and the famine devil and we see how frankly uncharismatic with poor self-discipline they are, Nayuta too, and it helps us realize just how much Makima’s success was self-made.

She admires Chainsaw Devil, the Hero of Hell, because he had his own code and his own rules and he made Hell, the chaos pit, submit to them unfailingly. Wherever he goes he decides what he does and what happens to the people he encounters but does so consistently, he has his mechanism and his rules that he always obeys, and he fulfills them every time. It’s still a mystery the why of Chainsaw Devil’s behavior back then and how it works exactly, maybe Pochita left hell because he was tired of these rules he lived by like chains, but still, he was a servant to his code. Makima would have been glad being killed and eaten by Chainsaw Devil because it’d have been becoming part of his design, his conquest, his domination, she’d have been part of that —his— order. Through her death she would be shaping his world and be part of a conqueror’s making history. Like how she appreciates the country mice that die for the sake of order. Like how sacrifices must be made to herself, like listing the name of every person whose life was lost to the Gun Devil— All for the ~greater good~, for her vision for the world. Conquest always thinks its reasons are justified.

And she does mention with the country mice thing that she goes out to a friend’s farm every year! She has a human friend?? That she visits yearly and she genuinely likes it?? Ultimately she lives a busy city life because of her goal and drive and her urge & satisfaction with overseeing shaping the world herself, but part of her, like so many characters including Angel and Aki and Reze, wishes she could live a slow peaceful country life. Moviegoing and dogs and mice in a farm- Wouldn’t it be so much simpler if Makima could find fulfillment and happiness in being a farmer, in keeping control of her own farm, getting satisfaction from exterminating vermin and expertly getting everything right, the right crops grown at the right time on the right soil? Here, too, in a way it’s trying to have full control of an ecosystem, but her goals would be easier to achieve and better, without ceaseless sacrifice or much pressure. But Makima wants grandiosity and her goal does matter to her on a fundamental and moral level, she does think she knows what’s best for the world, and with the power to change it why wouldn’t she strive to? Visiting the farm is just a break, just something she does in fall to help out and just in time to see the vermin extermination. It calms her, then it’s back to actual work.

In capitalism, even the one at the very top of the ladder is ultimately alienated from others and often unsatisfied by their lifestyle, always wanting more and more power because surely that’s the extra edge they must be missing to be content— like how Makima thinks she wants to dominate Chainsaw Devil instead of being his equal. And she says it herself too, she likes humans the way humans like dogs…….. And she keeps so many dogs :( Makima prefers the country mice because they’re calming to root out, maybe because she usually mainly deals with city mice. It’s very easy to equate humans to the mice in this allegory because it’s pretty direct and she’s already likened humans to lesser animals compared to her. She’s self-isolating by design for her design but she still craves relationships and contentment, and the dogs are the embodiment or her want for bonds and occasional simplicity because there is no possible ulterior motive, no way they tie back into her wider plan. They’re her personal life— something that feels so alien when speaking about Makima. Personality and individuality and likes and preferences and friends they visit every year. She likes how easily she can train a dog and how they become putty in her hands, at her beck and call, how much they love her and how much she enjoys their love. How simple and straightforward and easy it is. She keeps them because she likes being loved by them and loving them, and she’s gotten and raised so many. A conqueror always wants more and more and more, is never satisfied.

Devils and agency

Like Power the blood devil wanting blood and having a fixation on drinking it like with Denji’s, or how it was shocking that the violence devil was pretty tame and nice and how he himself theorized it was because he was a fiend and possessing a human body… There’s something to be said about nature vs nurture with the devils. The way they reincarnate and always embody their fear makes it seem categorically like nature, that they always always end up fulfilling the role they were named after and born to fill… Outside influence they’re helpless but to conform with. Like the humans accepting their spot in the social ladder and the shittiness of their living conditions and job under capitalism. Makima craved being equals with someone despite being the control/conquest devil, Angel Devil despite claiming to be a devil who likes to see humans dying was haunted by their deaths and wanted to avoid ones like Aki’s. The Ghost Devil being ironically haunted by Himeno, seemingly helping Aki in her memory out of… Lasting affection? Or maybe it was less about being haunted itself and more about it recognizing how Himeno haunted Aki, and acknowledging that, with the memento, paying her respect to the ghost of her. It’s Angel Devil’s devil nature that makes him like human suffering, so then is it his angel nature too to still care about their deaths? Is there truth to this or is that just personality, just our confirmation bias haunting every part of their identity like it might in their own view of themselves too? We do know different reincarnations of devils do have different personalities after all.

Yoru, war devil, is the most interesting one when talking about the nature vs nurture debate with devils. There is how through her we see the perhaps the most the consequences of a devil stopping being feared— we see a horseman for a concept as universal and horrifying as war be reduced to some bird who needs a contract with a human to have any power even just on the situation when meeting Asa. And through the story we get to know her better, and it becomes clear that her goal is fueled in good part by simply wanting to be remembered and respected through fear. Liked, validated, seen a powerful. But what is more isolating than war? Or control? We also see Nayuta accepting others’ house rules. If part 1 shows perhaps the futility of running away from the truth, with Denji’s memory, with escapist coping mechanisms, with passivity and denial under a corrupt system and with abusive relationships- running away from your own feelings and from the reality of things and from all that you are, more complex than simply human or devil or both or neither— part 2 builds upon the theme of cult of personalities, the chainsaw church, etc. The apocalypse is coming, but this celebrity superhero might save us all, or doom us all uh, dunno. The hero of hell reliving the cycle of pressure from responsibilities and expectations, maybe the part will end with Denji running away like Pochita did~

But yes, on the reverse, I think Famine is a very interesting example of how a devil’s namesake may be more innate than coerced by circumstances. One would think that a famine devil would only like inflicting famine upon others, not being famished itself, but Famine has a bottomless stomach that can never, ever be satisfied, sated. I struggle to find a psychological explanation for this, except that maybe instead of her being hungry it’s her feeling empty when she’s not eating, tasting and having that high sensory experience that releases serotonin in humans, sort of like drugs? But I do take this as a step towards the compulsion theory overall, feels like a reach in the consistency otherwise. And compulsion does not mean it’s something that they like nor that it’s something that they fight against, pretty neutral, just a nature that nudges you towards one path. Maybe it’s even just their go-to for entertainment. Maybe it’s the only thing that makes them feel right and whole. But still the debate remains, what is it, a compulsion or an urge or an itch or an active desire or a conscious chosen want? Does it change anything in practice?

And because of all of this earlier, devils being self-fulfilling prophecies with their role is not in unsignificant part nurture, because doing their atrocities is how they stay remembered— feared, powerful, known— hell and devils are a very isolating place and breed after all, and we do see devils can want companionship. Existentially, it’s their purpose and how they justify their place in the world, in the terrifyingly vast and unknowable cosmos.

We still know so little of what makes Chainsaw Devil so special, why his carnage is so self-controlled. Despite a chainsaw maybe being possibly one of the most "nature" thing you can be— a tool to cut things, a human tool that can be helpful for many things, something to be wielding by another at their judgement on what they decide, but mainly something to cut, a tool suited for carnage, to hurt and to destroy. A blade with a toothed chain, spinning around and around and around endlessly on the same road at the same pace. Such a…. Innately circular concept. And yet the Chainsaw Devil is his own, not driven by an urge or by chaos but his very own brand of order, his own unique assigned purpose, a "if you call i’ll come running to help" policy equalizing everyone. He chooses to withhold his destruction and interference otherwise, and then he chooses to be used. If it’s a choice, of course.

Maybe this is what inspired Makima so much, that Chainsaw Devil could decide what to make of himself despite expectations or innate role. Because even Hell he decided & managed to subjugate under his will and whim, with a precise vision and process. When Chainsaw Devil acts like Denji or is defeated, Makima clicks her tongue and loses her admiration and respect. Makima admired and liked Chainsaw Devil, but only as long as he matched her great image of him in her mind, as long as he followed he rules for what she thinks he should be like. She admired him for his unrivaled self-made success, but once he stepped out of that to truly embody self-fulfillment and agency, disappearing from hell to live on his own road at the beat of his own drum… Well. Surely that was a mistake she has to correct. However their second battle ends, the better conqueror will have prevailed and she’s happy about that, all in the spirit of domination and subjugation.

Imo Makima’s biggest tool, similarly capitalism’s most helpful effect for its own purposes, is complacency. Resignation and passivity helps uphold the system and go along the flow of the will of the people in power. Aki and Reze go along with orders even when knowing their job is trash, etc. In Angel Devil especially we see him go along with the flow uncaring about anyhing, and we discover it was in part due to Makima taking away memories that motivated him. If every devil decides this is just how things are and how things should be that’s what they’ll continue to be and do mindlessly, not pursuing a better life like Chainsaw Devil and Denj and not seeking to change the world like Makima. I think even Makima veils herself to a lot of things, she doesn’t like to think deeply about some things, like her desire for connection, or how making bad movies disappear is strenuous and unsustainable and requiring sacrifices at best— how her judgement is as subjective as anyone else. How liking the country mouse and her friend back at the farm and her dogs could be not devoid of sentimality. Wanting bad movies erased is her one biggest show of selfishness, of pettiness and individuality, it’s about her tastes, simple as. About how she can have tastes, and cry seeing a scene of people hug, and want things that aren’t logical, her ideology and mind twisted into a pretzel to avoid acknowledging that she doesn’t live and breathe purely for the mission she’s made a single-minded robot out of herself to accomplish. Nayuta is assertive and selfish and loud, Makima is manipulative and strategically both for her goals and for coping hollow.

Everything in her plans and goals she says is for the greater good, necessary evil, manufactured happiness the way she’ll have decided for people— and that’s the thing isn’t it, like with War, it’s the crack that shows it was all truly about herself after all. Her self-made deification still had the flaw that a self made it. Makima is not omniscient, and it’s not Chainsaw Devil the not-so-fellow-kindred-soul conqueror who gets the best of her, but a city mouse, a dog, someone she would have never thought to respect, Denji.

[kyouka-supremacy]

what do you think drew dazai to ango in the dark era + do you have any thoughts on his feelings about him now?

I like to think of the Buraiha trio as this group of people that have absolutely nothing in common between each other, yet immediately click for some unknown reason. Maybe it's precisely the curiosity of knowing someone who's nothing like you, the yearning of getting to know them more and more which makes it so that you would never tire out of spending time with them. I think that's what Dazai used to feel towards Ango. I feel like Buraiha as a whole was a well balanced trio of people that enjoyed each other's presence; a so perfectly balanced combination where every member is equally fundamental to the group's standing, that losing even one person would immediately mean irreparably breaking the bond between all of them and would cause an equal great grief for everyone- which is what happened.

Dazai cared about his little safe place in Dark Era sooooooo much. And like, how could it have been any different. Here you have this young man who's been deeply lonely¹ his whole life, who infinitely struggles to connect with other people and who struggles to find a reason to live, finally having found a space where he can hang out with people he considers friends, who don't quite understand him but who still care about him and who he cares about back. Someone he can feel a little more light around. It was literally the first time this man found relief in his life, as well as likely the first time he ever experienced genuine happiness in his 18 years of life.

Of course Dazai despised Ango when he ruined that, when he chose his loyalty to the government over their friendship. Of course Dazai felt betrayed and can't forgive Ango for that. I do believe Dazai still loves Ango - because what the three of them shared at Buraiha was deep and unconditional -, but I don't think he can ever forgive him, and I don't think Dazai can ever be in good terms with Ango again. Though, their latest interactions in the manga quite contradict this, since Dazai didn't really manifest any hard feeling when cooperating with Ango, so who knows! ╮(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)╭

It's kind of sweetly tragic how devoted Ango is to Dazai. He's willing to do anything, to be denigrated and hated to no end for Dazai, because he knows nothing will make up for what he's done, but he still feels like he's forever indebted towards Dazai for the loss he caused him. It's so contradictory, how Ango was willing to betray Dazai for the sake of the government, but is now going to betray the same government out of the guilt he feels towards Dazai; but it's also contradictory in the way humans are, you know?

¹ Before Buraiha, Dazai had Mori, and Chuuya. And although I think in different ways both lessened Dazai's loneliness, for different reasons and circumstances they weren't all around positive relationships like Buraiha was for him.

[nyssasatelier]

So i finally got my hands on translations of both the Odysee and Iliad!!!

And despite originally caring more about the story of the Odysee i decided to read the iliad first and I'm so incredibly glad i did!

About 20 pages in and two different women are separately kidnapped and taken hostage, Agamemnon and Achilles are at each others throats, the gods are getting involved, Zeus is threatening to beat up his wife and Apollo is spreading the plaque.

Meanwhile Odysseus is somehow on a peaceful road trip and has a sleep over with the boys after a fun karaoke night.

[luvnakaharas]

when the category is dazai risking his life to protect those he cares about

[fvrtvne]

the kirkwall crew on their way to ask meredith the stupidest fucking question they possibly can before giving her more grey hairs and gaining 9 additional felony charges

[thegreatyin]

to elaborate on this concept (and continue my apparent trend of putting sketchy artwork under the cut):

big fucked up ouppy :)

[springlock-suits]

Au where Mike fucking died in that hallway and they made him possess the empty dog animatronic

[cconfusedkat]

Part 6 of re-designs—that fucking worm that i hate. Oh brother. The worm. That thing

Leshums 🪱🪱🪱🪱 if you look real carefully i am ripping his branches off his head /affectionate

This is my angry little (6'6) chihuahua he bites and does not play nice

Ok but loll that aside hcs 🫶🫶🫶 i wanted to give him an easier casual outfit instead of the dress he had....... he cares about his sister that much that his little hypothetical scarf is there just in case her bandages come loose!!!! Forgot to add that but yes he is caring i swear

Overall if it wasnt obvious enough this is my favorite design EVER to do whenever i draw him but i RARELY DRAW HIM TO BEGIN WITH..... i made it much more fun for me to draw now so im most likely gonna draw leshy even more!! His stupid cloak makes him look like a sad dog

[cocktailjjrs]

I'm scared for Chuuya...

Here's my morbid thought of the day....

I'm scared Chuuya isn't going to make it till the end of the series.

Before you jump at me, hear me out

He's the strongest Ability user in Yokohama, right?

But till now we've only seen him actually fight a few unnatural guys

Rimbaud - a French spy

Verlaine & Guivre - Artificial human and his singularity

His own clone (made of bones)

Shibusawa (during Dragon head)

Dazai

Lovecraft - someone who could turn into a monster without it being an ability

A freaking Ability Dragon (dead apple)

Like, do you see... All these people, none of them being something a normal ability user could win with...

Logically speaking, if there was ever a threat to Yokohama, he is supposed to be at the forefront of all the fights that come and deal with them without any problem.

But the problem arises with a small fact, he is not the MC!

He's been kept out of all the major fights without reason, we all make fun of it too.

But here on, things are going to get messy. Since the last couple of chapter we saw we need all hands on deck, every single one... So, he is going to be involved in fights... But if he will survive them or not is a complete different question...

Narrative wise, once Shin soukoku get's established, we won't exactly be needing Soukoku... even for biggest of threats

Dazai is instrumental to the plot too, we need someone to pull the strings... even if Dazai want's to die, death doesn't seem interested in him

Everyone ADA also has unique abilities, they will be fine.... (finger-crossed to bring back kunikida, kenji, tanizaki...)

Other's might just survive for the virtue of not being a prominent figure...

But out everyone, Chuuya is in the perfect spot -

A Strong ability user leads an attack in the final battle Bringing down enemy forces either by facing them head on or destroying them from inside out Get killed in process Let other's do the rest of the job

Plus put in the angle of succeeders stepping up to surpass their predecessors... put in revenge in mix too...

Because let's face it, even if Asagiri doesn't kill unless it's kids, he can make exception in the final battle where once dead you stay dead!

And with the current trend...

Yeah, I'm actually scared...

[clowndensation]

there’s a question to be asked i think about to what extent “getting out” can be conflated with “being saved” in this show, and what freedom actually means to any of these characters.

like you can argue that shiv saved ken by voting against him on gojo, but what if your intent behind saving someone is to inflict a worse punishment than if you’d just left them trapped? can a child weaned on poison survive on milk, or are you just sentencing them to a death by inches, starved of the only thing they know? and if you save someone specifically because you know that being saved is the worst thing that can happen to them, is that kindness or cruelty? at what point does a good thing become a malicious act?

and you can say that roman is finally free, but what exactly is he free from? the company? his father? does unlocking a cage mean saving a dog, or are you allowing him out on the street knowing there’s a kill shelter nearby? if the driving anxiety behind roman is that he’s an idiot and a failure—that he’ll never amount to anything, and trying will only lead to pain—and he’s finally cut loose once all of those anxieties have crystallized into cold hard fact in his mind, what has he actually escaped from? if the cage is in your mind, is it even possible for somebody else to unlock it?

the fundamental truth of a tragedy is that even being saved can be a death sentence, if the characters are incapable of escaping the thing doing them the most harm (themselves and their childhoods)