#how have I not seen someone bring this up yet or make an amv????

[creative-hanyou-girl]

I think the fandom sleeps on "Timless" by Taylor Swift being an InuKag song.

I'm very disappointed in you guys

[starleska]

hi! im a really big fan of your fanfics (especially the wally ones) and i’m really curious to know what are songs that you associate with him?? please don’t be afraid to share!!! i really like talking and gushing over wally darling with a fellow wally simp lol

hey there anon!! 💖 aww my goodness you are so lovely, thank you!! it brings my heart so much joy that you like my writing...i can't believe the surge of wonderful feedback fired my way over this past week 🙈🙈 what a fun question!! there's a few songs i associate with Wally right now, and i'm sure more will pop up as we learn more about him;;; some are less overt, and more to do with Wally x Reader vibes - or, my terrible musical taste/hallucinating scenarios while listening to the same twenty songs 😂 fun simp challenge!! have a listen to a few of these with your eyes shut, thinking about Wally. you're guaranteed to have a good time 😉

Songs I Associate with Wally Darling:

Touch-Tone Telephone by Lemon Demon. no one could've seen this one coming 😂 no, as soon as i discovered Welcome Home i knew i'd finally found the right character to edit this song with. the conspiracy theory, cryptic vibes, slight desperation and of course retro-phone theming all work so well for Wally! 🥰

Out of My Mind by CG5. total coincidence that this banger dropped just as i learned about Welcome Home, and there's something cathartic and hypnotic about that repetitive chorus that fits with a lot of theories about Wally's struggles with Home...i had this one on repeat while writing The Nightmare Picnic 👀

An Unhealthy Obsession by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra. this one's for all the yandere!Wally fans out there - i think every person who's a fan of terrifying, obsessive characters loves this song 😉 this is the one had on repeat while writing those yandere!Wally headcanons - i actually included it to listen to whilst reading in the original post, but i ran out of space!! 🙈

INSANE by Black Gryphon & Baasik. i know, strike me down for including a song made specifically for another Tumblr Sexyman on this list!!! but come on - the static, the showmanship, the overt friendliness masking a smiling, curious sadism...don't pretend like you don't enjoy this take on Wally, i've seen the fanart 😂

LA Devotee by Panic! at the Disco. this one's jam-packed with fun occult imagery and all about fame and obsession, so it feels perfect for our children's puppet show ARG!! something about it just hits right with how the fandom perceives the darker side of Wally 😳 i'm listening to this a lot at the moment as i've got a Metalocalypse MEP part to this song in the works, but my thoughts can't help wandering to Mr. Darling;;

Super Psycho Love by Simon Curtis. lord help me, you can tell i was in the AMV-making community in the late 2000s/early 2010s 😂 this song's a staple for attentive, manipulative, obsessive characters...even if we end up being totally wrong, and Wally is a Darling in more than name, we'll always have fun with our unhealthily possessive fantasies 🥰

Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. hey, i'm a basic bitch - i love listening to sugary-sweet, fluffworthy AMV music whilst writing my x Readers 🙈💖 a lot of the folks who request Wally often bear a little bit of their souls when asking - revealing insecurities about themselves, and wanting to be reassured he'd love them anyway. this is such a pretty, nostalgic song, and i think it captures the softness with which many of us would like to be treated by him ✨

Crush by Mandy Moore. similar to the last entry, yet leaning even more into that bubblegum romance vibe...i'm simply weak for blushy crush scenarios 🥴💖 i like this one a lot for x Readers, especially an embarrassed Reader absolutely overcome with how precious they find Wally 💖

Stray Italian Greyhound by Vienna Teng. one of my favourite songs of all time, and the perfect choice if you want your heart to ache 💔 i think this is a wonderful choice when thinking about a hurt Reader...someone who has fully given up on love, only to be confronted with Wally's relentless sunshine personality and falling head over heels 🥺 this song speaks to why i think many of us are infatuated with Wally...his charm coming from that childlike outlook, his tendency to love everything and everyone. lots of us could benefit from that kind of unconditional love, i think;;

[kai-keda]

i kinda get and kinda dont get what you mean when you say dragonfru1t is most likely to be canon? like i get they have a lot of interactions but i think its more accurate to say no ships will be canon, flying bark seems to really steer away from romance in their shows (glitch techs, rotmnt, 100% wolf). the company seems to super focus on platonic bonds and found family as a whole

off topic , do you think if calabash didnt make it explict that mei and mk are only friends do you think people would say they were endgame?

(sorry for ask dumping!)

Never apologize for sending me an ask like this, I love them!

I’m assuming this is coming from these tweets I sent recently out of frustration with some “my ship isn’t the most popular one!!” whining I saw going on so I’ll add a screenshot for anyone who’s curious about the full context here:

Just to help clarify right off the bat, my main point of bringing Dragonfruit up was to say that, if I were to be one of those people who genuinely felt I needed to ship the most “analytically “cOrReCt” ship”, I would be shipping Dragonfruit and Dragonfruit alone.

Yet here I am with Spicynoodles as my OTP (despite Dragonfruit being my first ship of the series and the one that I have the most AMV’s about as well as still being a ship I enjoy because I am a multishipper)

Because I’m not held down by the bitter bs of when I was a teenager thinking I had to be “Right” in how I approached things that are meant to be for fun. Like shipping in fandom. (See also - my whole rant towards those people who were whining about how “If all you do when you take in media is look for ways to ship in it, you are objectively missing out and thus are bad and stupid”)

NOW

To answer your questions:

My main point that I didn’t have the character space for in regards to “Which is most likely to become canon” would be better worded as “If any ship was in the running of possibly being canon, it would be Red Son x Xiaojiao/Mei.“

While I am of the opinion that - similar to my hot take that the LBD host does NOT need to become a major character - this series does not have enough time to waste on dealing with the complications romance would bring to a story already focused on complicated platonic relationships, I still can’t ignore the simple fact that the only couple that has the most on-screen reasoning AND out-of-universe meta elements lined up to make them canon is Dragonfruit.

(See also - my reasoning why “What Makes It Complicated” will never have romance in it outright. The story is about complicated relationships with those you care about but fear you SHOULDN’T care about despite their best efforts via Wukong and Kumi, and adding romance to it would muddy the whole thing up in ways I have no reason to put the audience through)

I haven’t seen anything else of Flying Bark’s unfortunately (please don’t suggest Rise to me. I do not care for TMNT. It has NEVER appealed to me in any iteration. I’ve seen clips from Rise already. Animation looks other worldly. The show’s not for me.) but I am definitely willing to take your word for it that they don’t include romance in their work.

My opinion that Dragonfruit is the most likely ship to become canon comes with a giant “IF” in front for “IF there is going to be ANY ship that becomes canon”.

And for the last question:

Yes and I would hate it and that’s exactly why I am in love with how Calabash shut down my nemesis before they could even get off the ground.

“Main guy should always get with main girl!” is the source of so much shipping drama - even when people don’t realize that that’s exactly what their “But they have the most screen time together!” arguments are based on - and more for more than one ship war that I have seen for myself and I am glad to have that explicitly avoided.

If someone still ships them, that’s fair.

I still ship spicynoodles despite, as I’ve said, there’s not a whole lot of in-universe reasons to see them as “correct” analytically speaking.

I’m just relieved to have avoided “Main Guy x Main Girl just ‘cause” arguments being thrown around in fights.

[aclosetfan]

ask game number 10?

(ask game) thank you so much for asking!!!!

BUBBLE BAND ♥♥♥

YESSSS YESS haha yessss someone chose 10!!!!!! So pumped for this one. For new fandom members (lmao I’m like a damn fandom historian), battle of the band fics got really popular for half a second b/c of the punks. I outlined my own where the punks are included but with a twist. No powers au, multi chap fic.

My outline is really detailed because I know I’m going to be writing this one!! It’s just too much fun, but I’m only gonna give you the jist, I don’t want to spoil too much :))) I’ve got like six pages of notes and I’m still not done mapping it all out. It’s supposed to be goofy as well as a big s/o to everyone who watched cringy amvs on youtube in the early 2000s <3

BACKGROUND:

Brick (lead guitar), Butch (bass), and Boomer (drums) are three brothers with a shitty garage band. They think they’re hot shit. They’re not hot shit (not yet). They’re good at playing their instruments but they don’t have a big following (or any good songs). On a good night, Mojo (their adopted father) indulges them and brings the crowd to a stunning total of 1.

PLOT:

One day, Boomer gets it in his head that he doesn’t want to be a punk rocker anymore. It’s dumb, he’s bored, and obviously, he is the next Picasso, so he quits the band. Brick all but disowns him as a brother. Butch is like dude I’d be cool staying in the band and Brick goes “you don’t have a choice!” Butch is like “aight, but now that Boom’s gone, can we maybe play a song I wrote?” Brick’s like, “no!” Butch is like “aight. That’s fair it’s dumb anyway. No harm, no foul bro. How are we going to get a new drummer as good as Boomer?” Brick’s like, “we’ll find someone better!” They won’t because, to give credit where credit is due, Boomer is quite a good musician.

Butch is like well this still sucks though cause we just got all those t-shirts. Like we’re broke af and they’ve got Boomer plastered on the front of them too. We can’t just replace them. Brick’s like “we’ll find someone better and someone who looks like him nbd.”

Brick and Butch don’t know any other drummers and they certainly don’t know anyone who drums and also looks like Boomer, so they make flyers~  

“Annnd,” Brick chirped, grabbing the page from the printer, “done. There. Perfect. We just need to make like a thousand more of these and post them around the City.”

Butch yanked the flyer from his hand with a frown, his eyes jumping around it before he grimaced, “Man, I dunno.”

“What?”

“Must have blonde hair, blue eyes,” Butch looked up, “reads kinda neo-nazi-ish.”

Brick ripped the page from Butch with wide eyes, rereading the flyer. After a second he hissed, “Ah fuck. Fucking Boomer.”

“He ruins everything.” Butch solemnly agreed.

“Fascist can’t even be punk.” Brick huffed, glaring at the flyer.

Together they sat back in their chairs and regarded the flyer before turning their attention back to his cracked computer screen. After a few moments of hmm’ing and haa’ing, Brick snapped his fingers and leaned over his keyboard. He made the font big, bold, and red so it couldn’t be ignored at the bottom of the flyer:

‘CAN’T BE A FKING SKINHEAD’

“Dude,” Butch nodded, reading over his shoulder, “it’s beautiful.”

And then the boys post the flyers everywhere. Including their school, where most people ignore them regularly. Their flyers however become popular scratch paper for the art department where one Ms. Bubbles Utonium stumbles upon them. She takes it as a sign. She’s a bit of a drum hobbyist, but her dad has had enough of the racket and she needs to find a new place to play. She’s not practiced or anything, but she fits the four requirements to a “T”. She has blonde hair. She has blue eyes. She can play the drums. And she isn’t a skinhead! She thinks it’s silly they even had to clarify that. She’s not too into punk music but even she knows fascists can’t be punk! So on the day of auditions, she shows up with her drum sticks and gets in line!!

Brick and Butch are floored when Bubbles Utonium comes strutting in. They only know her because she’s a popular cheerleader at their school and shares an art class with Boomer, who only ever complains about the perky upbeat girl. Their first thought is to laugh, but when she starts playing, they’re like “oh?” She’s inexperienced, but she’s got a knack for it, and (as Butch points out) she is not a skinhead. Since she’s the best they’ve seen all day they offer her the position on the condition that she dresses like a dude when they play because of their t-shirt dilemma. She tells them that’s no problem, she likes playing dress-up, but they’ve got to work band practice around her cheer schedule. They agree.

The RowdyRuffs are a band once more.

Boomer btws is NOT AT ALL jealous. Not at ALL. Nope. (he totally is and he’s very obvious about it). In one of the early band practices that he barges in on to “check out the new drummer,” he’s ten shades of betrayed when he sees Bubbles of all people in his seat. He does not like Bubbles. Bubbles thinks Boomer is the bees-knees. He doesn’t like her because she’s good at just about everything he wants to be good at—except for drumming, which he proves then and there and is like “your new drummer sucks, later losers, you wish you still had me, by the way, dad wanted me to tell you he’s making tacos and they’ll be ready in ten.” Bubbles is not deterred by his behavior, thinks how he plays is really cool, and wants him to teach her, which he continuously refuses to do, but that doesn’t stop her from pestering him. (eventually, he does tho just a fyi; Bubbles is hard to resist)  

Jumping forward in time, Princess becomes involved as their PR manager and decided that Bubbles shouldn’t act as Boomer anymore. They need “horny old man money” and everyone’s like ooooh yeah, horny old man money, neat! So, in all her genius, Princess decides to make Bubbles “Brat.” And boom! Here’s our first powerpunk girl.

It’s a hit with the crowd that the band is slowly starting to amass. After accidentally hearing Butch goof around on his bass, Buttercup ((((Bubbles’ sister, who at the beginning of the story takes pity on Butch and Brick and volunteers to help teach her sister how to be “punk rock”. She is also forced to drive Bubbles to and from band practice (because Buttercup is being punished for failing math)))) encourages him to pitch his songwriting to the rest of the band. He refuses. Brick’s the guy who writes the songs, who’s very bad at it.

However, after another shitty song about some mystery girl Brick swears he doesn’t have a crush on, Bubbles has enough and assigns the boys some songwriting homework. Butch writes a banger and their little band gets more recognition. They’re now playing sizeable gigs, but wait! OH NO! Bubbles and Butch aren’t going to make it to the show on time. Boomer’s like, “shit Brick! The show must go on, dude, but where are you going to find two people who know how to play the exact same instruments as Butch/Bubs, know all their cues, and all the songs in the next ten minutes????” Brick looks at Buttercup (plays bass like Butch/almost at all the band practices/has a lovely voice despite what she says) and Boomer (who was Bubbles before Bubbles) and goes “huh, genius, I wonder.” Buttercup’s like “oh no, wait wait! I’ve got stage freight!” To which Brick says, “get over yourself and join my shitty fucking band!”  

And that’s how we get our Brute <3 (named by Brick). She’s a hit!

They just keep getting bigger and bigger as a band, and record labels are starting to take an interest, so after Brute debuts, everyone’s like welp, Brick needs his counterpart too. And it’s eventually Blossom, but that comes about in a roundabout way because Brick’s feelings are still hurt (she’s the girl he was crushing on, but she rejects him). Eventually, Bubs is like “listen, Brick, we need a Berserk (Butch name’s this imaginary person), and it's coming down to the wire. Blossom can do it. I know she can. It’s for the band.” So, he sucks it up and Blossom hesitantly accepts (she’s very much preppy pop to whatever Berserk is lol so it’s difficult for her at first). After a heart-to-heart with Brick, they make amends (I think I’ll leave it platonic for now tbh) and their first show altogether is a hit!

As always, there’s a happy ending :) They get their record deal lol.

I can’t write songs. I’m shit at poetry, but I was thinking about just choosing irl music and mashing them up, so the music is still “original” but people can also be like omg I remember that horrible song from my emo “phase.” I have to find a good song list first. If anyone’s still reading send me some recs. The music I like is too embarrassing.  

[itsboketto]

output - gojou x f!reader

genre: angsty 

warnings: cussing , mentions of sex , death , Utahime mentions

disclaimer: please excuse my terrible writing state, i haven’t written in awhile so I’m just getting back into writing :) also this is in no way to shit on gojou, we all love him 🏹 and yes, i’m aware i used a different anime AMV but the song & arrangement was too good to pass off. thanks for understanding!

WC: 3231

proofreaders/editors: Amanda , Aldu , Zero , & Flora | Thank you so much for fixing my dumb mistakes 👉👈 appreciate you 4 very much!

This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to stay with you forever, he was supposed to go down on one knee and wrap your finger with a diamond ring, he was supposed to have a family with you and have the happiest lifetime with you. 

He was too late

A week ago

“Y/n-channn“ Gojou whined while throwing a fit on the bed you both shared. You gave a soft hum, rubbing your eyes with your hand, the flat side of your elbow slightly brushing against his soft fluffy white hair. “I want to eat breakfasttt!” he huffed, wrapping his muscular arms around your waist and pulled you into his chest kissing you on the top your head. “If you hold me like this I won’t be able to cook for you. Make up your mind babe,” you yawned, digging your face into his warm embrace. “What if I want both?” “You don’t get both.” “I’ll get both anyways!” “No you won’t.”. That’s how your everyday went.

He’d wrapped his arms around your waist as you cooked breakfast for him, propping his chin on your shoulder and humming a familiar tune. The way he always ends up making your heart skip a beat every time he looked at you with his breath-taking eyes. How he always was your first priority and always will be. He was your one and only, and you both knew that.

Nothing really concerned you when it came to Gojou. You knew he was always out trying to save others or train his municipals so you never worried about what he was doing.

Today however, he seemed a bit off. He woke up on his own, cooked his own breakfast (and yours), didn’t even try giving you the slightest attention, and just went out to work after he finished getting dressed. The only thing you got was a quick head pat and a “Have a nice day”. You knew things were getting troublesome at work and he was working really hard to train your younger brother, Itadori-kun, but it still hurt that he was giving you the cold shoulder. You ate the sandwich he left on the kitchen counter, thinking about what could've happened that made him so stressed out . You decided to wait until he got home so you can talk it out with him.

He didn’t come back home. 

It started getting pitch black as you watched as the clouds flowed with the silent night. You already tried text him, call him, you even called your younger brother Itadori-kun but he seemed to be busy. You were worried sick, not because he wasn’t home, no, but about him acting strange this morning. The last person you called was someone whom you’ve been close to since childhood, Utahime. 

“Hello?” she answered, picking up faster than you thought

“Utahime, I know it’s quite late to be calling but I need some comforting” you sighed, hoping she’ll agree to listen

“It’s okay, tell me what’s wrong” 

You ended up staying on the call until the sun rose. You apologized to her for taking up her time and suggested to buy her a cup of coffee the next time they meet and she agreed happily. You fell asleep as soon as you hung up, exhausted from the overwhelming emotion you spilled onto your best friend.

The afternoon

The sun ray peaked through the window blinds, flushing into your living room, landing right straight onto your face. You rolled over to the side to avoid the sun light but in the process you nearly fell off the couch side. “Ah!! That scared me..” you grumbled while raising yourself up, yawning and extending your arms up to stretch out the sore bones. “What time is it?” you asked, twisting your head to check the clock; 12:09pm “SHIT I’M LATE” you cussed in a panic and zoomed to your room to get your prepacked bag and went to the kitchen to grab a slice of bread. You slipped out of your slippers and grabbed the keys hanging on the right side of the door. Assuming Gojou was back, you yelled back “Okay babe, I’m leav-” the front door unlocked. It pushed wide open revealing an image you’d like to be forgotten.

Another woman was clinging onto Gojou’s arm

Not only that, but he also reeked of alcohol as well. His face was terribly red and he couldn’t stay put. “Gojou~ I thought you said no one was going to be home” the woman hummed, looking at you with a smile. “Ah? I was sureee Y/n would beee at workkk nowww~” your boyfriend whined while using the girl as support for his heavy head. What the fuck was happening? Who is this woman? Why is he bringing her to our house? Is he serious right now? Too many questions flooded your head but there was one thing clear to you: get him away from that woman. “Um Miss, would you mind letting go of him? I can handle him from here” you gave the woman a genuine smile and stood in-between them, trying your best to drive her away. “Why should I let go when he brought me here, hm?” she didn’t try letting go, her grip tightened. “I appreciate your help, Miss. But he is seeing someone right now so it’d be best to leave” you tried to emphasize your lack of patience, not waiting for her to respond you yanked his arm away from her grip and immediately shut the door after the action. You could hear the woman cuss under her breath while dragging herself away from your unit. 

You heaped Gojou onto the living room couch and removed his mask. “Gojou, what happened?” you asked, trying to sound as calm as you could. “Y-y/n? Why are you hereeee?” he asked, adverting his gaze as if he were hiding something. “Who was that woman?” you asked again but firmly this time. “W-who are you talkinggg abouttt?”. He wasn’t in the right state to answer any questions no matter how much you push him. You let out a heavy sigh and walked towards the kettle where the already boiled water was sitting. Pouring the water into his mug, you walked back to him and handed it to him. “Get some rest, we’ll talk tomorrow.” 

Gojou left.

You woke up to a cold atmosphere. The sun was up and you’re alone on the couch. It took you a few seconds to remember what happened last time. “Gojou!” you said in an instant. You panicked, hoping he didn’t leave already. The bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, closet. He was gone. You groaned in frustration as you kneaded your fingers with your hair. Why does he keep leaving? What’s going on? Is he avoiding me? The questions just won’t stop coming and it began to impact you and your mood. You knew this wasn’t good since you had shift that night. “Fuck you Gojou...” letting out one last sigh before getting dressed.

“Itadori-kun, could you do me a favour?“

After the call with your brother, you grabbed your house keys and slipped into your sneakers. If he’s going to avoid you, then you’ll just have to go find him. Itadori sent you the address of the club he was at. You weren’t the least concerned about why he was there, all you wanted to know was what was happening. You stepped on the petal and drove to the destination.

At the club

You parked your car in the parking lot at the club. The sign read Sight Eight in bright neon lights. You were unfamiliar with the place, nonetheless the surroundings. Everyone seemed to be drunk off of whatever it is they are on, your heart paced faster the more you walked into the hell hole. It was crowded, too many people made you claustrophobic and stuffy, uncomfortable to the point you wanted to throw up. That didn’t stop you though, your mission was to find Gojou and leave immediately. 

“Hey sexy, would you mind dancing with me?” “Damn, your body looks beautiful!” “Come sit beside me, you little slut.”

You couldn’t help but to feel terribly uncomfortable, the way the men stared at you, the way you were out in the open for any of them to prance on you. It was horrible. You didn’t understand why the fuck Gojou would even come close to this place, he never mentioned liking clubs at all and he knew too well that you hated clubs.

You looked everywhere, yet you didn’t spot him anywhere. He would’ve been easily seen because of his tall figure and white hair but he was no where to be seen. You cursed multiple times under your breath, why did you even come here in the first place? To suffocate yourself? You lost thought of your motive, knowing you’d need some fresh air, you walked to the back door and stepped outside.

And there he was.

There he was, devouring another woman. Not just any woman though. He was passionately kissing your best friend, Utahime.

“W-what the fuck are you doing Gojou..”

He snapped out of his actions, whipping his head to the side to see the person he hoped he wouldn’t get caught by. He saw as you also looked at Utahime with an expression he couldn’t figure out. You were tearing apart, the two most important people in your life decided to go behind your back even after all the lies they’ve told you.

“I-it’s not what you think, Y/n!” he panicked, Utahime sparing him regretful looks. You couldn’t understand what was happening. Was this a nightmare? Are you hallucinating? No. No you weren’t, in fact this is at real as it gets and that took your a few moments to take it in.

Gojou told Utahime to leave and apologize next time as he wanted to talk to you privately. “Y/n, I can explain-” he started once again. He tried to approach you, but you flinched at his step, you took a cautious step back, terrified of him as he would somehow hurt you just by walking closer to you. “I don’t want to hear your bullshit anymore, Gojou” you said quietly and ran for it. You pushed the back doors open, heart pumping from the adrenaline. You couldn’t care less about the judging eyes and nasty remarks, all you wanted to do was to get as far away from the man you used to call your one and only. 

Your eyes burned from the tears, your sight got blurry to the point you couldn’t see properly, the sounds outside were practically silent. You looked down to your phone when it gave a notification sound. It was Gojou. Your blood boiled from the sight of his name on your phone screen that you stepped on the pedal forgetting you were on a red light.

The driver in front of you tried to stop you with the sound of his car horn. Beep beep beep! You couldn’t hear anymore. Ha! You were practically hysterical at this point. You didn’t even think twice as you slammed on the pedal, your hands moved on it’s own on the hand wheel and your head not thinking straight. You drove right into the traffic pole, almost barely missing the opposite car. The last moments you remembered were hearing an annoying ringing sound in your ear and blurry figures yelling at your motionless body.

GOJOU (song link : loop it!)

He didn’t have any particular reason for doing what he did. He was terribly exhausted from work and he needed an output to excite him before going back to the draining place. He’s already slept with many different women behind your back, always feeling disgusted towards himself before and after the many times he’s had sex with others. However, he easily loses his mind once he starts. This distraction was effective for him, which made him feel that the idea wasn’t so bad after all.

All he had to do was keep it a secret from you and hope that he never gets caught, right?

That was a horrible bet. Even more, he made himself defenseless to many others. He’s been used too many times to count yet he didn’t mind it because he knew it was going to make him feel better.

That one day he drank, he didn’t intend to get drunk. Someone must’ve put a drug in his drink when he wasn’t watching. He passed out on the 3rd shot. The person whom took him to a spare room at the party most likely fucked him while he was asleep. The next morning, he knew he fucked up. Walking up to a person that isn’t you. He wanted to go back to you as soon as possible but the woman was too hard to resist as she seduced him. He ended up drinking before going back home, the woman apparently found him drinking by her door.

He knew he was indeed suspicious at that point. Trust was something very important to you yet he broke it so easily. He didn’t end there, even though he already at the questioning stage, he didn’t stop. He continued to hook up with random women, sleeping with them, and then not going home back to you.

He knew this would hurt you. He knew his actions were more than unacceptable. But his addiction was too hard to handle.

“W-what the fuck are you doing Gojou..”

That voice, that setting, and that person were all enough to make Gojou’s world go upside down. He hoped it wasn’t the person he was thinking of as he whipped his head towards the voice’s direction.

It was you.

On instinct, he tried to cover the woman he was kissing right there an then. The person you were the closest to, the person you trusted the most, the person you called a best friend was the person that was pushed behind his back in attempt to hide her from you. 

He was caught. And caught by the last person he’d like to be caught by.

He couldn’t think of any words, the only sentence that came out was  “I-it’s not what you think, Y/n!” and “Y/n I can explain-”. Really Gojou? Was that the only thing you could mutter out? That sentence obviously did no better than what she just witnessed. He tried to approach you but of course you dashed the opposite direction. He ran behind you, trying to catch up to you but you were already in your car by the time he reached the cashier counter. He exited the club and yelled your name as if it would do anything to stop you. “Y/N!”

He reached into his pocket and called you, texted you, tried anything to contact you but you didn’t answer them. He groaned in frustration, sliding his back on the glass door then sitting himself down on the ground. Look at what he’s done. What was he supposed to do now? You probably won’t even let him in the house even if he begged. It was all over now. He made the biggest mistake of his life.

He dragged himself to the street and called for a taxi home. He stared out the window, wondering what will happen now. His eyes blurred from the burning tears. Just thinking of every outcome made him realize that you were never going to forgive him.

Bringg! Bringg!

His ringtone ringed! He excitedly flipped his phone on, only to face an unknown number. His expression immediately changed, was he too hopeful? Either way, he needed to pick up that call incase it was inportant.

“Hello? Is this Mr.Satoru?“

What? “Yes, that is indeed me”

“Hello Mister, this is the JLK hospital. Miss L/n had you saved as an emergency contact, I am here to inform you that she’s in our hospital.”

What? “What do you mean in the hospital-”

“She got into a car accident, Mist-”

He hung up the phone. He couldn’t believe his ears. Y/n? In a car accident? He yelled at the driver “JLK HOSPITAL. NOW!”. He was worried enough to the point he wanted to break the land under him.

At JLK

He threw the cab whatever he had in his wallet, not caring about the amount. All he was focused on was you. He pushed the front doors open, patients looking at him as if he were a mad man. He ran straight to the reception counter, panting in every word he spoke.

“Y-y/n! W-where is s-she!?”

The receptionist, frightened, tried to calm him down as he breathed in and out deeply.

“She’s in the emergency room-“

He didn’t blink for a minute, he dashed towards the emergency arrows, running through the quiet halls, only reaching the locked door at the end of the hall. He banged the doors, praying that you were fine. 

“LET ME IN! LET ME SEE Y/N!” was what he yelled continuously.

Nurses had to hold him back from disturbing the doctors and nurses trying to save your cold and still body.

He sat on the chairs right by the doors, waiting for some kind of reassurance, some kind of comfort to tell him you were still with him.

The large metal doors open from the emergency room. He beamed up, looking for a relieved or happy expression from the doctor but there was...

Nothing.

“I’m very sorry Mr.Satoru” the doctor said, pained to even look at you straight. “She was found with a glass barely missing her right lung, she also suffered from a major head injury caused from the accident..” they said but judging by his expression they decided to stop talking.

“C-can I go s-see her?“ he stuttered

There you were. Lifelessly lying on the hospital bed, covered up with a white cold sheet. He took a few steps into the room, only then stopping mid-way. He had no right to go near you, he had no right to mourn for you, he had no right to associate with you. He knew that, but he needed to see you one last time. Approaching you, seeing how your face paler than snow and your body just as cold as ice. 

He squeezed your hand, crying his lungs out. Screaming at you to come back to him as if that would help. He prayed for a miracle, somehow thinking you would open your eyes and wrap your arms around his broad back. Your head resting on his chest and how you nuzzled into his embrace. How you had small arguments with him and letting him win because you just loved him that much.

But that wasn’t going to happen anymore.

He didn’t even get the chance to say sorry. To tell you how much you meant to him, how much he loved you, and how much he wished he had spent more time with you. He kept regretting every decision he made, hoping you could somehow hear him begging for you to come back.

It took him hours to take in the reality. The doctors told him he had 5 more minutes before they had to take you away to the morgue. He shook your hand one last time, finally accepting the news. You were gone and he couldn’t bring you back.

“I love you, Y/n..”

[sepublic]

Belos the Cabinet Man!

           MAJOR kudos to @funnyfany for introducing me to Cabinet Man by Lemon Demon, because as they said… This song is PERFECT for someone like Emperor Belos, and just in general slaps! Like, it honestly really describes my read on him? In fact, why don’t I peel and dissect the lyrics to see how they could easily apply to him;

The day they found me, I hadn’t yet been played

Inside my workshop behind my old arcade

Electric desires had unraveled all my wires

Now I’m in the box for safekeeping

           These lyrics allude to Belos’ obvious motifs of technology, as well as him having a ‘workshop’, which ties to his work on the portal! But there’s also the concept of him being rather ancient, as well as needing to be protected because he’s vulnerable in the end; Such as by metal armor, instead of a box?

The news reporters reported that I died

But all my organs were living on inside

Circuit board to brain with two lungs collecting change

One big human heart gently beeping

           The first line immediately makes me think of Perry Porter, but it also makes me think about what the ‘Unauthorized Author’ had to say, about Belos retreating into his castle, and people speculating that he had big plans while he let Kikimora and others be his public face. Again, there’s more machine-flesh imagery, as well as the obvious allusion to a giant beating heart. Two lungs collecting change can allude to Belos and his greedy hunger for power and bile.

You can’t win me, I can’t be beat

I won’t hurt you, unless you cheat

You can’t see me behind the screen

I’m half human and half machine

           We’ve got Belos boasting how invincible he is, but it can also refer to how the Coven System is a lose-lose situation, that either you go off and be alone and persecuted as an individual, OR you conform and became safe, but lose your identity in the process!

          We have Belos alluding to how he can be a merciful dude unless you really piss him off; And that line about cheating reminds me of how the Coven System seeks out only the most ‘worthy’ of people, and how this mentality has affected characters like Amity, who by consequence despise cheating!

          Or how Boscha’s bullying is mostly rude remarks… Until she feels like her attention is being ‘stolen’ by others, then she resorts to some brutal and even dangerous tactics in retaliation! To Belos, he just wants people to fit into their little spots, he’s offering them a nice little role and function in society, an actual place, he’s not a bad and malicious dude! Just a messenger… 

         Similarly, ‘cheating’ could be seen as doing magic the ‘wrong way’, because otherwise, competition to join the Emperor’s Coven and be the best is encouraged, so long as you engage with the system properly and play by its rules! You’re just not supposed to do Wild Magic, mix tracks, that sort of thing; Otherwise you WILL be persecuted by Belos!

          Then there’s the idea of Belos being hidden behind his mask, or just hidden in general (like when he spies on Luz, Willow, and Gus in his castle), and again, the biomechanical imagery! I can’t say for sure if he WAS human or not, because Belos definitely isn’t NOW, to say the least!

Thank God for business, they let me take the floor

I stood so proudly, like I was going to war

Players soon appeared and I quickly was revered

This must be what love would have felt like

           The Titan is responsible for Belos’ power (allegedly), as he claims to enforce its will. Belos’ art depicts him as standing above the rest, and him being VERY tall definitely helps… Then you have him going on a crusade against wild witches, being worshipped by many others, and POSSIBLY a connection to my speculation on him being a lonely individual who was never properly loved in the past, and is confusing this with distant worship…

          And really this just makes me think of other analyses of the Coven System as creating codependent relationships and hollow images to love VS that people actually are! Regardless, it also reminds me of Belos’ parasitic motifs, that last line, so you know!

Such dedication, they came from miles away

With eyes so piercing, they’d wait their turn to play

In perfect patient lines because I was in their minds

I could do whatever I felt like (Whatever I felt like)

           Students from Hexside literally travel miles to Belos’ castle on a field trip, and we have Eda mentioning how Lilith was so excited to meet him as children! Kids looking up to Belos, seeing him as someone to adulate, a role model even (with Lilith invoking him in her motives for the curse)… People literally dedicating their entire lives (and even those of their children) to Belos and his Coven! And of course, we have Belos having the power to do as he pleases, be it going back on his promise to Lilith, letting Luz rescue her friends because he has the portal anyway, etc.; It’s an almost nonchalant disregard of others for what matters to BELOS in the end…

I’m happy for years and years

And only eating the occasional maintenance man

Only driving a few kids to madness

Maybe they were predisposed to madness, who knows?

           Skipping over some repeat lines, we have Belos being at the top for a while, and of course, draining palismans for their bile to restore his health! Kids going mad easily describes people like Lilith, Boscha, or Amity, who base their entire self-worth on joining the Emperor’s Coven, being at the top, and/or fitting in, to the point where Lilith even curses her own sister, Boscha brutally bullies those she sees as a threat to her popularity, while people like the Blight Parents abuse and indoctrinate their kids for social status!

          But then Belos speculates that, hey… HE didn’t make them do this! His system encouraged and enabled them, sure… But in the end it was their actions, which brings to mind how while influenced, none of these characters are entirely faultless either for their actions. Not only that, but it makes me think about how some people seem predisposed and outright embracing of what Belos has to say, as if even without his Coven System they would always be this kind of awful… Such as Warden Wrath, or again, the Blight Parents!

          That last line really makes me think about how different characters coped differently with the pressure, with some remaining good people, while others enabled themselves to do terrible things. Perhaps Belos merely revealed what was already there? Because it still says a lot about other people that they chose to believe and follow in him when others made the decision notto.

I only want to have fun

But now they’re telling me my days here are done

‘Cause there’s a little tiny box they make in Japan

And pretty soon it’s gonna fit in your hand

           Belos just wants to be at the top, he’s ‘just a humble messenger for the Titan’, and maybe like Luz in Episode 2 he just wanted to be special… But he’s also clearly past his expiration date and dying, too. Not only that, but we have a rival… Someone smaller than Belos both literally and in the metaphorical, underdog sense;

          A foreigner from a different land, one who can teach others to cast magic within their hands through Glyphs! There’s Belos, an Old Soul, being made obsolete and redundant by Luz and her Glyphs, which potentially function as a work-around to his coven bindings and draining of bile! Not to mention how her ideals also make Belos’ seem rather antiquated, don’t they? Not to mention the idea of power and control being in the hands of the people, not dependent upon a singular source like Belos…

          His short-lived reign is being actively threatened by Luz’s presence, which Belos acknowledges as having changed everything… And really, it just reminds me of how characters like Boscha enjoyed being at the top as a result of Belos’ influence, only to feel threatened when others come along and ‘steal’ that glory!

It’s getting lonely, it’s getting hard to breathe

The arcade’s empty, I think it’s Christmas Eve

Someone’s broken in, now they’re painting on my skin

Breaking me and taking my quarters

Bashing in my face with a crowbar

Kicking me and pushing me over

Now they see my blood on their sneakers

           Literally the first thing we see of Belos is him having labored breathing… And again, there’s this idea that he’s being left behind as obsolete, he’s reclusive and retreated into his castle and doesn’t let others near him; He’s at the top, and it’s a lonely place! It’s the Eve of Christmas, Christmas is right around the corner, just as the Day of Unity is approaching, when;

          The next few lines invoke the image of Luz breaking into Belos’ castle/the conformatorium… And if you go by the idea that the Castle is a part of Belos, Luz and co. vandalizing the treasury as akin to vandalizing Belos’ own body! Not to mention the three stealing Belos’ relics… And of course, Luz ‘bashing in’ Belos’ face/mask with an ice spike! Only to realize that there’s clearly a LOT more body horror to Belos than she anticipated…! Realizing that Belos is linked to the very ground and earth she stands upon, and boy can he manipulate it!

           After that, the song ends with some repeat lyrics; But all-in-all, I would LOVE to see, someday, someone else (or maybe even myself) do an AMV of Emperor Belos, but with Cabinet Man by Lemon Demon! Compiled entirely of various clips that allude to the lyrics I mentioned earlier, that’d be a lot of fun and if I knew how to do video edits I could do it myself one day!

[asimawv]

I write and conceptualize story to music, so I’ve compiled a playlist of 30 Darkest Dungeon-specific songs that I listen to when writing (and subsequently re-writing) in no particular order, which I hope will help you set the vibe too. :+)

Names in bold are links for easy listening - tons of Hozier and Of Monsters and Men up ahead, five minute warning.

1. ‘Fire and the Flood’ - Vance Joy

If you listen to nothing else on this list, listen to this one - it’s the kind of song that’s made for movies about yearning. Folk influences, choruses of trumpets and vocal harmony, and instruments that are layered for a rich, resonant sound. This is the song I imagine Dismas and Reynauld horse-racing through a crowded outdoors market in the hamlet to, and the song I listened to nonstop freshman year when I first started writing The Myth of Sisyphus.

You're the fire and the flood And I'll always feel you in my blood Everything is fine When your hand is resting next to mine Next to mine You're the fire and the flood

The chorus is built around biblical allusions to the fire (the burning bush signifying first contact) and the flood (destruction of the first world), the beginning and end. Every line is similarly evocative of Darkest Dungeon in their simplicity (“I’ve been getting used to waking up with you,” etc.)

2. ‘Soldier, Poet, King’ - The Oh Hellos

By the title alone you can guess who this is for. Even the Guild quote for the Leper approaches these three things as the defining parts of his character (specifically it’s “a ruined man, a warrior, and a poet.”) This song coincidentally has an old world influence to it, with a Medieval Renaissance style from a guitar playing a lute-adjacent melody.

There will come a ruler Whose brow is laid in thorn Smeared with oil like David's boy, oh lei oh lai oh Lord Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh Lord Smeared with oil like David's boy, oh lei oh lai oh Lord

To be smeared with oil is to be anointed by a prophet and thus chosen by god himself to be king, just as David was and his boy after him (presumably Solomon). There’s something strangely wistful about the imagery, which is just how I like my songs about bygone kings.

3. ‘Exit Hymn’ - Bear Attack!

This song is about the end of the world in a version where everyone simply stands together in silence watching, rather than having the masses swarming in panic.

Lovely shapes to the world descending, Brothers and sisters. Lovely shapes to the world descending, Brothers and sisters Mute.

It defies Lovecraftian horror, which is based on the premise that “common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large” - it flies in the face of existential nihilism and the despair that it should bring us. That’s why I like this song for deaths in the end-boss fight; it also has a special place for other death-related ideas, like full-party wipes - entire teams of people vanishing into the dungeons, gone insane, holding hands while the darkness surrounds them.

It’s a bare song which has a sanctity to it, mostly just piano and rain and human voices. Just what you would hear at the end of the world.

More under the cut:

4. ‘Pursuit of Glory’ - Jhameel

This song is laid-back. It doesn’t have the Homeric intensity that some of the other songs here do - it’s a guy with a guitar and vocal harmony. By god is it a great piece of writing though (all of Jhameel’s older songs have that quality to them), and all of it is evocative of Darkest Dungeon.

So many eyes set on the path to glory Too many ties, friendship is for the lonely Can't still my heart, my tongue has tasted folly Thirsty for art, hungry for power and money

This is a song for everyone in the barracks, especially the ‘laundry list’ of people and their approaches to the pursuit of glory.

5. ‘Good Old Days’ - Macklemore (feat. Kesha)

This fucker put a Macklemore song in here. I did, yeah. It’s not even the only song with Kesha in it here (I’m sorry.) 

It’s a sentimental pop song, and I am sentimental to a fault. This is Darkest Dungeon AMV material, and I always mishear one of the lines as “we were underground, loaded mercs in that 12-passenger van” so it’s here.

We've come so far, I guess I'm proud And I ain't worried about the wrinkles around my smile I've got some scars, I've been around I've felt some pain, I've seen some things, but I'm here now Those good old days

6. ‘Past Lives‘ - Kesha

Here it is, the other Kesha song - this was introduced to me by a good friend, also in a Darkest Dungeon context. There’s just something about the lovers spanning time trope and finding each other in one life to the next that is irresistible (for the obvious reason in the context of Darkest Dungeon.) It’s a soft song, totally out of place in Kesha’s typical discography, and has a line about losing someone to the crusades, so... you know.

There's just somethin' about you I know Started centuries ago though You see your kiss is like a lost ghost Only I would know But I, I keep on falling for you Time after time Time after time

7. ‘Viva la Vida’ - Coldplay

You cannot fight this. You know that this is the song for King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, you know it is. Did you know the official name of this genre of music is “Baroque pop”? Yes, that means more songs like this exist. You will live with this information now.

Don’t fight it. Just let it wash over you.

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing Roman Cavalry choirs are singing Be my mirror, my sword and shield My missionaries in a foreign field For some reason I can't explain Once you go there was never, never an honest word And that was when I ruled the world

Mirror, sword, and shield, the three other members of his party, his missionaries in a foreign field. Thinking emoji. I typed that out so I wouldn’t have a repeat of the crab emoji incident.

8. ‘The Boxer’ - Jerry Douglas (feat. Mumford & Sons, Paul Simon)

Partly inspired by the Bible, Simon & Garfunkle’s ‘The Boxer’ is a folk rock song about poverty, loneliness, and homesickness. It’s written and sung in a style that’s strongly reminiscent of older times, and the final verse about its eponymous boxer is particularly powerful:

In the clearing stands a boxer And a fighter by his trade And he carries the reminders Of ev'ry glove that laid him down Or cut him till he cried out In his anger and his shame "I am leaving, I am leaving" But the fighter still remains

This is what I use for Dismas’ life leading into organized crime and his foolish abandonment of stable job prospects in a half-baked bid for fame, as well as being punched down over and over again but with nowhere else to go. That last part is widely applicable across the cast.

9. ‘I Will Wait’ - Mumford & Sons

I am but a simple man. I see 'folk rock' and add it to my Darkest Dungeon playlist. This song I use for Reynauld - it has that sort of “salt of the earth,” somewhat biblical humility in its choice of words and style. 

Raise my hands Paint my spirit gold And bow my head Keep my heart slow

10. ‘Little Lion Man’ - Mumford & Sons

Have we not beaten this song to death yet? Can you blame us? This is the people’s song. We reserve it for all of our favorite fuck-up characters, as primal as Saturn devouring his son. We love this song. Jesus.

Tremble for yourself, my man, You know that you have seen this all before Tremble little lion man, You'll never settle any of your scores Your grace is wasted in your face, Your boldness stands alone among the wreck Now learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck

The line about learning from your mother in particular is why I think of this song for Dismas’ introspection, but I also associate it with the Hellion.

11. ’From Eden’ - Hozier

There’s too much Hozier in my playlists. There is so much of it, and it’s all important to me, says the hoarder. There’s something about profoundly intimate folk music that I love, and god put folk, R&B, blues, and alt rock into a Vitamix for 45 seconds to make Hozier.

Honey you're familiar like my mirror years ago Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword Innocence died screaming, honey ask me I should know I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door

‘From Eden’ is, according to Hozier, about idolizing someone from a distance, written from the perspective of the devil “looking longingly at something he desires - for everything that he does not have.” I associate this song with the Grave Robber for its playfully nihilistic tone - Audrey does say something to the effect of being left for dead by high society and the affectionate bordering condescending address is on-brand.

12. ‘Cherry Wine’ - Hozier

‘Cherry Wine’ is unabashedly about domestic violence, and its sincerity is heartbreaking, the sanctification of the blood spilled in the name of keeping her.

The way she tells me I'm hers and she is mine Open hand or closed fist would be fine The blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine.

This song is strongly tied to the Vestal for me.

13. ‘Work Song’ - Hozier

A song about unconditional love - heaven and hell were just words, indeed.

When my time comes around Lay me gently in the cold dark earth No grave can hold my body down I'll crawl home to her

I think of this song for both Dismas and the Abomination - it’s a song about love transcending spiritual and even physical need, complete devotion, but something about it is also not quite right. It’s morbid and excessive, self-pitying, and almost ugly in its sincerity.

14. ‘Sunlight’ - Hozier

The strong gospel influence with the choruses, church organ, religious fervor - I think it makes a great song for traveling scenes and church/altar scenes.

I had been lost to you, sunlight Flew like a moth to you, sunlight oh sunlight Oh, your love is sunlight Oh, your love is sunlight (sunlight, sunlight) But it is sunlight

15. ‘Arsonist’s Lullabye’ - Hozier

The gospel this time is paired with electric rock instrumentation. Something about the lamentation is unapologetic and matter-of-fact in its disturbing inclinations - this is Paracelsus’ song. Arguably representative of Bounty Hunter and Flagellant as well.

Now that I think about it, it’s great for Abomination as well. Damn.

All you have is your fire And the place you need to reach Don't you ever tame your demons But always keep 'em on a leash

16. ‘We Sink’ - Of Monsters and Men

Of Monsters and Men are closer to the indie rock/pop spectrum with influences of folk, with much less biblical influence and more folklore-inspired lyrics. They make for great trailer and action songs.

We are the sleepers, we bite our tongues We set the fire and we let it burn Through the dreamers, we hear the hum They say come on, come on, let's go So come on, come on, let's go

In Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos, dreams are how the Old Ones commune with humans on the earth’s surface while they slumber in the ocean depths (Cthulhu fhtagn meaning “Cthulhu is dreaming”); I like to think of the ‘sleepers’ as the heroes being tasked to “set the fire” and the ‘dreamers’ being the Heir and Ancestor driven by some unseen force to unearth the antediluvian underground.

17. ‘I Of The Storm’ - Of Monsters and Men

Very somber song, overwhelmingly piano and snare drum and vocals. Also a great death scene song, or for introspection around the campfire, or played to reveal a major event.

If I could face them If I could make amends With all my shadows I'd bow my head And welcome them

18. ‘King and Lionheart’ - Of Monsters and Men

My favorite OMAM song - it’s clearly written about two children, kind of reminiscent of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ in its fantastical nature, and very upbeat about the end of the world.

His crown lit up the way as we moved slowly Pass the wondering eyes of the ones that were left behind Though far away, though far away, though far away We're still the same, we're still the same, we're still the same

This part is reminiscent of the Leper’s journey, but the mentions of taking over a town, howling ghosts, the end of the world, a black sea and creatures lurking below, etc. are all evocative of Darkest Dungeon.

19. ‘Little Talks’ - Of Monsters and Men

Also very upbeat for its subject matter - according to OMAM, it’s a narrative of a woman speaking with the ghost of her dead husband, or going insane and believing that she’s speaking with her dead husband.

Some days I don't know if I am wrong or right Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear 'Cause though the truth may vary This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

The call-and-respond style of the song is haunting. I like this song for expeditions and afflicted heroes.

20. ‘Wolves Without Teeth’ - Of Monsters and Men

Suitable for both Occultist and Abomination, being consumed by an unseen and otherworldly force that inhabits them - well, maybe just rarely seen, in the Abomination’s case. Special mention to OMAM’s ‘Human,’ same conceptual backing but more raw.

You hover like a hummingbird Haunt me in my sleep You're sailing from another world Sinking in my sea, oh You're feeding on my energy I'm letting go of it He wants it

21. ‘Desierto’ (Original Motion Picture Score) - Woodkid

This is a full album, because all of it is dark orchestral cinema music described as ‘unsettling,’ with the sole exception of ‘Land of All,’ which has vocals to it. I reserve this album for writing fight scenes and for particularly unsettling events because it’s tense and wordless. I read Junji Ito to this soundtrack too, it’s insanely high-strung and discordant.

22. ‘Iron’ - Woodkid

‘Iron’ qualifies as Baroque pop - you might recognize this as the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations song. The large-scale, cinematic style of it and thematic lyrics make it great for writing about dramatic encounters or brigands.

This deadly burst of snow is burning my hands I'm frozen to the bones, I am A million miles from home, I'm walking away I can't recall your eyes, your face

23. ‘Never Let You Down’ - Woodkid (feat. LYKKE LI)

Another somber song, orchestral with some industrial noise in the mix - another great introspection song, or one for a scene with some hard decisions to be made.

Will you come along cause I'm about to leave this town In my eyes, a waterfall, all I can hear, a siren call Could you be waiting by the shore, oh I could drown without you Will you be holding out the line when I fall?

24. ‘Run Boy Run’ - Woodkid

Church bells, fast percussion, strong orchestral presence. For chase scenes, obviously, but great for fast-paced sneaking scenes as well. Also has a strong quasi-Medieval fantasy setting style to it.

Tomorrow is another day And you won't have to hide away You'll be a man, boy! But for now it's time to run, it's time to run!

25. ‘I Love You’ - Woodkid

Don’t let the scream effects and aggressive percussion at the beginning deter you (it kind of took me by surprise the first few times too) - it soon fades into more of the church bells and melodic string accompaniment.

Oh yeah, unrequited love song? It’s free (mental) real estate, baby.

Is there anything I could do Just to get some attention from you? In the waves, I've lost every trace of you Where are you?

26. ‘Vagabonds’ - Grizfolk

A rare departure from folk! Grizfolk is alt rock/indie pop. Stylistically it doesn’t match the feeling of Darkest Dungeon, but lyrically it’s almost 1:1 to arrival in the hamlet and the subsequent expeditions. Good song for writing about recruits bonding.

Oh this careless ground, guessing this is home now Oh in no man's land, at least we're still standing And we're all just fighting, some of us will not return And there's no redemption in trying to find your way out

27. ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ - Lorde

Great trailer fuel, if you’ve seen the AC: Unity E3 trailer with this song - I listen to an extended version when writing fights in the Guild, especially one where two heroes are beefing. It’s got a primal kind of thing going on. I also associate this song with the Arbalest - lyrically, it fits her backstory like a glove.

Welcome to your life There's no turning back Even while we sleep We will find you

Acting on your best behavior Turn your back on mother nature

28. ‘Torches’ - X Ambassadors

More alt rock/indie pop - kind of a rallying song for dark expeditions, hopeful but still somber in nature - some gospel elements. X Ambassadors’ more popular ‘Renegades’ is also a fun tavern song.

Come on, carry your flame Carry it higher Leave it in the darkness Carry your torches

29. ‘Passing Afternoon’ - Iron & Wine

This is a song I use for reconciliation or domestic scenes - Dismas with Junia in the garden, for example. It’s soft and kind of meandering, and features vintage piano - you know, the piano you heard in the basement of your church turned community center as a child.

There are times that walk from you like some passing afternoon Summer warmed the open window of her honeymoon And she chose a yard to burn but the ground remembers her Wooden spoons, her children stir her Bougainvillea blooms

30. ‘Some Nights’ - Fun.

You know this song, your mom knows this song, everyone knows this song from like, middle school. Thought it’d be fun to end this list on an uplifting and very popular song. This is the song that a Disney adaptation of Darkest Dungeon would use in the Training Montage™ - from the point of view of Reynauld. It hits all of the points - being their commander rather than their equal, his stern and antisocial zealotry with no true ideology behind it, the ghost of his wife.

Verse 2, starting with “Well, that is it, guys, that is all / Five minutes in and I'm bored again” is where I see it transitioning to Dismas.

Well, some nights, I wish that this all would end 'Cause I could use some friends for a change And some nights, I'm scared you'll forget me again Some nights, I always win (I always win) But I still wake up, I still see your ghost Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh What do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights, I don't know

_____

Well that’s all from me! Feel free to leave your own recommendations in the replies, and I’d love to know what you think about my personal picks. :+)

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’

Hey, it’s Ranma Rewatch, I’m on episode 7, and I don’t want to waste too much time with the preamble. I am super excited for this episode, my boi is here, I really hope it holds up, see you after I watch it again!

That wasn’t exactly how I remembered it, but not in a bad way. The episode starts with a short scene that has become pretty freaking iconic, and has been sampled in dozens, if not hundreds, of AMV’s: A man cloaked from head to toe, walking through a desert, his eyes barely visible under goggles. It is a really cool shot that catches the eye right away.

We cut from that to that same person approaching a small village, deciding to throw off his concealing clothes to reveal his typical yellow and green outfit, with a bandanna around his head and an umbrella on his back, which he takes out to slow down his descent when he jumps off a cliff. This village happens to be being attacked by a huge wild boar, wrecking everything in its way, but this fellow is able to stop the animal with little effort and send it flying. When the grateful villagers approach, he only has one question for them: where is Furinkan High School?

At first they don’t understand the question, until they look at what he has for a map and realize it’s of Tokyo. The problem is, this young man is on Shikoku, a completely different island in the archipelago. They point him in the right general direction, and he reveals before the scene ends that he is specifically trying to find Ranma Saotome.

Speaking of the show’s titular character, we get a small scene of him in his cursed form being blackmailed by Nabiki into wearing women’s clothes because all of his stuff is in the wash. After that, we get another scene of the mysterious umbrella-wielding stranger asking someone for directions to Furinkan High School, but this time he’s in Hokkaido. Once again a completely different island, only this time on the opposite end. Fun fact: Hokkaido was the inspiration for Sinnoh in Pokemon!

We get another small cut-away to Ranma in various outfits, then another of our new character somehow ending up back in that village he was in earlier. The point is being made clear to us: he is terrible at getting where he wants to go, but is also so inhumanly strong and resilient that he has no trouble surviving in the wilderness in the process.

What seems to be the next day, he finally gets to where he’s going, just as school is letting out for the day. Ranma is being chased by Akane for something, though we don’t know exactly what. (Of course, we know their dynamic well enough by now to know it’s almost certainly something Ranma did to annoy her.) The newcomer slams into the ground where Ranma is landing at the same time, leaving a crater in the cement from the force of his landing, all while screaming how Ranma has to die.

The problem is, Ranma has no clue who this guy is, which pisses him off to know end. Even after he brings up that his vendetta has something to do with Ranma never showing up for a duel, Ranma still struggles (and fails) to remember this guys name, but luckily he gives it to Ranma anyway: Ryoga Hibiki. They went to Junior High together, and they’d agreed upon a duel, but it never happened because Ranma wasn’t there when Ryoga arrived.

Now, Ranma protests that he waited in the agreed upon empty lot for three days before taking off for China with his dad, which is honestly more time than most people would have waited. As we already know though, Ryoga can’t seem to get anywhere quickly, so he got there on the fourth day. Oh, and the lot was right behind his house.

The crowd of students who only moments before considered him with awe over his fantastic martial arts abilities are now looking at him like a buffoon, and Ryoga is ready to get his revenge on Ranma already. But Ranma puts a pause on that, runs out, and comes back with a bunch of different kinds of bread. Why? Because bread was the reason for their duel in the first place. Their school was only for boys, and getting food at lunch was a nightmare. Ranma ended up snatching the last piece of bread just before Ryoga could get it time and time again, and all the bread he brought was one of each type he’d taken years before.

But Ryoga doesn’t care about that, making it clear that the bread isn’t something he cares about anymore, that Ranma has put him through hell, even if Ranma has no clue what he’s talking about. But before they can get a proper fight going, Ranma runs away, losing Ryoga enough that when he starts busting up the school looking for him, he ends up going the wrong way and out of the area entirely, leaving Ranma and Akane to wonder where he went. We do get to see where before the episode ends: once again back in that village that had the boar problem, where he gets a meal before running out into the evening to find Ranma once more.

Like I said before, this episode wasn’t entirely how I remembered it. Namely, there was a lot more humor than I remembered. For the most part, that’s not a bad thing, there was actually some really good comedy, and I don’t feel like it trampled over the more serious parts of the episode.

If it isn’t clear, I am going to say right now that I did still love this episode. The animation was really on-point, some of the visuals of Ranma darting around people or the brief combat he gets with Ryoga just looks beautiful. Also, even though we don’t get a fight between the two just yet, it’s already solidly communicated, through Ryoga easily beating the boar, barreling through steel barriers, and hitting the ground so hard it destroys concrete, that he is strong as hell.

As much as I love the opening desert shot, I actually think my favorite part of the episode is some of the conversation between Ranma, Akane, and Ryoga. Ranma straining his brain to remember who Ryoga is killed me. It was weirdly relatable too, I’m sure many of us have run into someone who obviously knows us, while we can’t even remember how we know them, let alone their name. The fact Ranma actually specifically bought one of each bread he’d taken from Ryoga before was kind of cute, more than I expected of the usually flippant martial artist.

There’s also an exchange I’ve seen on Tumblr a few times in screencaps and gifs, and there’s a reason people love to share it. When Ryoga says he’s going to destroy Ranma’s happiness, there’s this shot of him freaking out, only to turn to Akane and blankly ask if he is happy, to which Akane doesn’t understand why he’s asking her. They take such a trope-y line from a character seeking revenge and turn it around into a really good joke.

There was also a really interesting thing I noted in terms of translation. After hearing about the string of times Ranma stole bread from Ryoga, Akane makes an analogy to why it mattered so much, but it’s different from dub to sub. In the English Dub, she says the straws broke the camel’s back, a common phrase that seems to fit the situation. But in the English Sub, she says (loosely remembering) “enough dust can make a mountain”, and I think that actually fits much better. After all, we soon learned that the bread isn’t really why Ryoga is angry, but once you do know everything that happened that led to Ryoga’s rage, that analogy fits perfect: it isn’t so much one specific event, as a collection of small events that collected into an enormous vendetta.

All my compliments aside, I did have some issues with the episode. Some of the comedy didn’t really work for me, and that was most true with the early scenes of the Tendo girls trying to dress Ranma in Akane’s clothes. Some parts did make me chuckle, but on the whole the mini-plot made me uncomfortable. Primarily because, as I’ve said before, I feel like the best way to look at Ranma’s cursed form is as a trans man. Even though his body has changed, his gender hasn’t, he’s still a man. The scene has Ranma protesting again and again that he is a man, even as they try to dress him as a woman. The idea of some cisgender folks trying to force a trans man into women’s clothes just...isn’t very funny to me. It’s kind of terrible, at least from a more queer perspective. That complaint done, let’s do the character spotlight.

Oh come on, who else did you think I was going to do? If it isn’t clear yet, Ryoga Hibiki is my favorite character in the series, and he has been since I was a teenager. Who knows if that will remain true this entire watch-through, but so far I’m not liking him any less. I’ll get into why, but first let’s talk about his voice actors.

The voice actor I’m more familiar with, his English one, is Michael Donovan. Like most of the actors for this dub, he’s someone who worked with the Ocean Group for a lot of series around this time period. That said, if you’re a fan of the Fate franchise, he has done some voices in Ufotable’s recent anime adaptations, playing Risei Kotomine and Zouken Matou. In Japanese, his voice actor is one Kōichi Yamadera, and he continued the pattern of voice actors who are well-known in Japan for dubbing English works. He’s most well-known for dubbing over Jim Carrey in a lot of movies, but he’s done a ton of others as well. In anime, some of his notable roles include Spike Spiegel, Beerus in all the recent Dragon Ball movies and anime, and Gentle Criminal in My Hero Academia. Seriously, diving into this guy’s list of roles is like swimming in an ocean of great roles.

So, how do they do? Well, so far I’d say I like both of them a lot, but they do play Ryoga differently. At his core, Ryoga is actually kind of a perfect microcosm of the tone of the series itself. Ranma 1/2 is simultaneously a shonen battle anime, a romantic harem series, and a wacky comedy. Ryoga is someone who takes himself very, very seriously. His desire for vengeance against Ranma isn’t a joke, and neither is his ability as a martial artist. But he’s also a doofus who ends up crossing the length of Japan several times because he can’t follow directions properly and the reasons (so far) for his hatred of Ranma are completely laughable.

I wouldn’t say that Michael Donovan’s performance lacks seriousness, in fact when he wants Ryoga to sound menacing I think he does it well, but on the whole he leans more heavily towards the comedic parts of the character. Meanwhile, Yamadera’s Ryoga hasn’t really sounded silly once to me. He plays the character dead straight, and let’s the comedy come through in the contrast between that demeanor and the circumstances around him. We’ll have to see as we go, but I actually might be preferring the Japanese performance so far, a rarity for me.

Okay, so, why do I love Ryoga so much? There are SO many reasons, many of which I won’t go into just yet because I’ll save them for when they appear in-series. But there is still a lot shown in this episode that I feel I can discuss. To start with, I adore his design. I don’t mean the cloak and goggles, though those are absolutely awesome, I’m referring to his standard mode of dress. The yellow and green as a color scheme, with accents of black to top it off, is something really unique. I don’t know enough about art to really articulate why, but I just love every touch of his design. My favorite small touch has to be the yellow strands wrapping around his lower legs, clashing with his otherwise dark green lower half. I have no clue what they’re supposed to be for, but they just add something, almost making him look more rooted to the spot of wherever he’s standing, more solid.

That is a good word to use for Ryoga in general. Even though we haven’t gotten to see him in a proper fight just yet, we’ve seen quite a lot of evidence of his main attributes. In Dungeons & Dragons terms, Ryoga is making out his Strength and Constitution. He hits like a truck and he can be hit by a truck without slowing down. I love that because it contrasts so perfectly with Ranma’s strength: his speed and precision. I adore it when rival characters actually have qualities that make the fights between them more interesting from the contrast, and Ryoga fits the bill there quite well. He’s also a good foil in terms of personality: Ranma is easy going, likes screwing with people, and is quite quick-witted; Ryoga has a hot temper and a long memory for grudges, hates it when people trick him, and tends to let his emotions do the thinking for him.

I will say it feels like his character has some classic Early Installment Weirdness, as he uses his umbrella quite a bit in this episode. If I remember correctly, after his introductory arc, he doesn’t use his umbrella much at all for the rest of the show, preferring to rely on his fists. It definitely feels like they hadn’t quite nailed the character completely yet, if that makes any sense.

Ryoga is also doing that thing where he’s seeking revenge and really angry, but refuses to talk about why, drawing out the mystery as long as possible. While that trope can become annoying, I don’t really mind it in this case. This isn’t a situation like Godot from Ace Attorney, where Ryoga is purposefully hiding it for some grand plan or something, or to teach a lesson. Ryoga doesn’t go into specifics because A) he thinks Ranma should already know; B) Ryoga is very mad; and C) he doesn’t want anyone else to know his secret. I’m not saying it isn’t stupid that he doesn’t tell Ranma why he’s mad, but I am saying that it’s in-character.

Are you surprised that I adore this episode? You shouldn’t be, I’ve been gushing about it this whole time. Even with the parts I found more rough to watch, this is still my favorite episode of the series thus far, putting the rankings at:

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

The big question is: will the next episode of this four episode Ryoga arc be even better? We’ll find out next time with Episode 8: “School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga”. See you then!

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #373

“warm me up in a nova’s glow  /  and drop me down to the dream below”

Have you ever kissed someone that you thought you’d never kiss? Welp, never thought I'd kiss a girl for most of my life. When was the last time you ate take-out and what was it that you ate? Mom bought us breakfast at Bojangle's the morning after my sleep study. I got a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. Do you enjoy when guys hit on/flirt with you or does it normally make you uncomfortable or annoyed? When was the last time more than one guy was flirting with you at a time? It makes me uncomfortable, especially if it's very obvious and pushy. Like some respectful flirting is fine and can be flattering if I'm single, but you better respect my boundaries and not act like a dog. I don't think two guys have both been openly interested in me since Juan and Jason in high school. Can you name five things you enjoy looking at pictures of? Animals, flowers, waterfalls, expressions of love between people, and boudoir. Would you rather have an eternal winter or an eternal summer? Both sound pretty sucky, but an eternal summer sounds worse. Do you know much about the Greek gods? Not anymore. I did in high school, as mythology was an elective I took. Are there a lot of stray cats and dogs near where you live? Not in this neighborhood. How would you cope with living in isolation away from society? How long do you think you could cope before you went mad? Oh god, I couldn't cope. I'd lose my shit so fast. Have you ever found any hidden treasure? No. Would you ever want to hibernate through the winter? No, I enjoy winter. Which holiday do you prefer, Halloween or Christmas? I like the Halloween vibe more, but I enjoy Christmas more as a holiday. Do you prefer hot or cold drinks overall? Cold. What’s the smallest thing you’ve ended a relationship over? I don't believe I've broken up with anyone over something small. Have you or a member of your family been diagnosed with COVID yet? My older sister got it. It was hell. What’s the dominant color in the room you’re in at the moment? An off-white. Do you know who your mom’s favorite singer is? James Hetfield of Metallica. Easy. What room in your house is the messiest? The spare room. Have you ever used a “puppy face” to get your way? Ha, yeeeaaah... If you could change any law that exists in your current country, what would it be and why? Here comes free healthcare. For obvious reasons. What were the last toppings you had on a pizza? Pepperoni. Would you rather spend an hour walking a dog or riding a horse? Riding a horse. Do you freak out when you need to visit the doctor or the dentist? Nah. Do you prefer The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit movies, if you like any of them? I haven't watched either. Which Harry Potter film was your favourite? What about your least favourite? I haven't watched those, either. What do you think about nose piercings? I like them. Nostril studs especially are really cute imo. How many floors does your house have? One. What’s your favorite flavor of Kool-Aid? I don't really like Kool-Aid anymore. Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Yeah, a cyst. Do you enjoy sappy love songs? Unabashedly. Do you wear a one-piece or a two-piece when you go swimming? One-piece. What would be your biggest pet peeve in a relationship? Not communicating your feelings straight-up. Be straightforward and honest with what you're going through with your partner, for the love of God. Have you ever had a teacher hit on you? Have you ever hit on a teacher? No to both. Do you tend to eat more on Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas? Christmas, because of chocolate stocking stuffers and boxes from Dad, haha. Do you know what an "AMV" is? Yeah, I used to make them. Do you think you have a sad life? In some ways, yeah. What’s one award show you have to watch every year? None. Who do you like more: the Batman or the Joker? The Joker, particularly Heath Ledger's. Do you like Rammstein? Love 'em. What is your favorite small dog breed? Aesthetically, I think pugs, but I've said before and I'll say it a thousand more times: I don't support breeding them. What was the first comic book you ever had an obsession over? I've never been obsessed with a comic book. Do you like kids pop-up books? Those were my absolute favorite kind AS a kid. What is your mother's mother's maiden name? Ummm I'm pretty sure Collins. Have you ever pet a monkey? No. What’s your favorite Owl City song… besides "Fireflies?" I actually really like "Hot Air Balloon." What’s your fave Miley Cyrus song? I don't know many, but I do know "The Climb" is absolutely gorgeous. Fave Rascal Flatts song? Probably "My Wish." But I also really like "Why" and "What Hurts the Most." Fave Justin Bieber song? None. Miley Cyrus, Demi Lavato, or Selena Gomez? Jesus, you really like bands that I don't, haha. I don't know any Demi or Selena songs, so idk. Fave Eminem song? Oh man, I do like a lot of Eminem. I know it's so cliche, but I genuinely adore "Love The Way You Lie." It gives me goosebumps. Do you think you could survive a month of solitary confinement? NO. Absolutely not. I would lose my motherfucking mind. What is something that you find utterly boring? Sports, save for dance, are incredibly blah to me. What noise/sound can put you to sleep? Gentle, steady rain tapping on the window. When you are upset, do you tend to shut others out? YYYYYYYYYYYEP. When was the last time you felt abandoned by someone? bleh Does the sight of blood gross you out? No. Do you like red roses, or do you prefer another color? I love red ones, but I really, really like the ones with a pink-peach gradient. Have you ever gone through a red light? I think I MIGHT have accidentally because I was zoned out, but I don't THINK so. Do you fail to stop for stop signs, sometimes? I can't recall if I ever have. What is one of your major turn-offs? Misogyny. The moment you act like you exceed my worth just because you have a dick, byyyyyeeee~ During which year of your life were you the most unhappy? 2016 was hell on Earth for me. Have you ever seen a blue jay in person? I have. Do you like leaves better in the summer/spring, or in the fall? I'd like to meet someone that actually chooses anything besides fall, lol. Do you like the appearance of green eyes? YES! Do you typically like green-colored candies? Yessss. It's not rare for them to be my favorite flavor of whatever the thing is. Who is the most energetic and happy person you know of? My nephew, omg. Have you ever encountered a black widow? I actually have seen at least one to my memory. They're native here. Has an animal ever peed on you? Yes. Do you prefer green or purple/red grapes? I enjoy both, but I prefer green IF they're actually firm. What color is your birthstone? Purple. Why did you leave your house last? To go to the TMS office. I have to go there every day (but the weekends) for two months for treatment now. Is anything on your body sore? Well, inevitably my upper right arm, where my tattoo is. It looks so fucking beautiful redone though, it's all worth it. :') Have you ever eaten a cookie cake before? If so, was it good? Hell yeah man, cookie cakes are great. Do you lose interest in someone easily? I'm quite the opposite. Who was the last person you flirted with? Sara. Do you still talk to the person you fell the hardest for? No. Who’s the last person that slept over your house? My sister and her husband. Have you ever regretted kissing someone? Yes. Are you currently sad about anything? I mean, I always am about something. How would you feel if your last ex fell in love with someone else? I would be super happy for her. Who was the last person who left your life and hurt you? Colleen. Do you know anyone who died of breast cancer? I might know of somebody, but all I know personally are survivors. Do you miss any of your old friends? Well of course. Have you ever been used before? I don't know. Ever taken a picture kissing someone? Yes. What’s the last thing you and your sibling laughed about? I Don't know. I haven't seen either in some time. What’s the last thing you took a picture of? A meme to send Sara, haha. Do you listen to classical music? No. Do you tell your parents who you like? Why or why not? I mean, I don't just randomly bring it up because just being like "hey I like this person _____ now" seems weird. Now if I was asked or mentioning it is somehow relevant, then I will. Who’s the most annoying person in your neighborhood? The damn dog next door who never shuts up. Name one of your psycho exes? None. I was the "psycho ex," and it's embarrassing as shit. Do you make your own clothes and/or add designs to them on your own? No. Do you ever feel guilty eating meat? It's not something I always actively think about, but subconsciously, I absolutely always do. Especially knowing my family doesn't buy from "ethical" markets, but instead big ones. "Ethical" in quotations because there is no moral way to slaughter an animal for food, but at least there are smaller farmers who can give their livestock a better, cleaner, happier life. What are you listening to at the moment? I'm semi-watching Gab play Bioshock. I'd never seen the game before, so just kinda vicariously checking it out. Seems all right. Does anything hurt right now? My tattoo is definitely in the sore phase. It'll start scabbing soon. I literally can't stop looking at it, I love it so much. How many years have you lived at the house you’re living in right now? Around 1 1/2. Have you ever lived in a different country that the one you’re living in? No. Which of your parents will you see next? I live with my mom and rarely see my dad, so. Do you like Chinese food? Only pork fried rice and egg rolls, really. What sort of music were you brought up on? When all of us kids were very little, Mom would usually play her rock channels on the radio, sometimes a (clean) CD. She also would ensure to play kids' cassettes sometimes, too, like Raffy or whoever it was. Once Ashley reached a certain age, she would always ask for a pop channel to be put on, so most of my childhood was that and some country music, too.

[blapisblogs]

Oh, I’ve been waiting for this one since the very beginning. I know, I know, I already see you judging me from your screen and saying to yourself “Seriously Blapis, you keep saying that, what the hell makes you look forward to this one”? I can’t tell you what happens just yet, but I know about what happens in this based on clips I’ve seen in AMVs alone. I know at least part of what’s coming. I need to know how weirdly ridiculous this gets exactly for myself.

Before getting into the episode proper, two things I’m going to point out. First, as the season four finale suggested, the fifth season brings in the Justice League, so they end up getting involved in this season. And second, for the last season, Batgirl is not in it nearly as much (and will not be in the last two episodes I’m liveblogging), and as someone who liked her a lot I’m kinda sad. Not helping is the fact that this is Penguin’s second-to-last episode, meaning I’m going to have to enjoy this while it lasts, which I fully intend to.

[zak-kondo]

Can't do it anymore. Have to say something. I don't care if I am a small channel. It's been an uncomfortable topic in anime circles for a while now. The fall of Ygg Studio, or Digibro, as she was in another lifetime. Something is wrong. I am concerned. This fall from fame, and disturbing turn into more drugs and incompetent and disappointing content has been painful for me to see. I first found Digibro around 2019. I had never seen someone talk about anime the way Digibro did. I felt inspired enough to try and do this myself, because I felt I had something to say too. Questioning, and going against public opinion with honesty and valid points, and as degenerate and controversial as it all was, there was passion, Digibro had fangs as a anime analysis content creator. All that has been lost with Ygg studio, and the now existing Beatrice the Golden Witch.

People are angry at this individual, because many of them care. They have seen the drop in quality in content and in her as a person, it almost brings a tear to my eye seeing what she was become. She has to know what her audience wants, but doesn't give it to them, or rarely does. Has she realized yet that it is not working? That something is not right? Why not make a separate channel to talk about whatever she wants? Look at the consequences, what has happened. With this video, I am exiting out of her content. I can't do it anymore. I tried to still keep up with her content, but I can't watch her continue to spiral downward. She can take her so called big announcement, which she is also late on, by the way, and take it elsewhere. I don't care anymore about her channel.

Just look at the descent. Her subscribers continue to fall, and went under 309,000 thousand recently. Today, I saw that it fell under 308,000. Her patreon continues to decline, dropping 50 dollars recently. Does she not see it? Does she not care? Is she doing this on purpose because she wants a hate following? Or have the drugs done her in enough?

Some may say, "Why are you being dramatic." Check out her recent comment sections. Check out her recent comment sections. Now, I don't go along with all the offensive comments. However, the criticism is there, there is a lot, and it is valid. Beatrice won't always answer them, as her annoying guard dog Riley will take it up upon himself to make a fool out of himself trying to defend all this. Even some of the people who have been supporting her are starting to slowly complain, and rightfully so.

The 1 vlog a day from last month felt like the last test for me to see if Beatrice still had it. I was disappointed again and again, and stopped keeping up with it for a while. The daily vlogs were not on time, they were constantly late and being uploaded at random times. The anime reviews were many times not even her, but other people talking, some who don't even know what they are talking about. The low production values throughout were frustrating to see because she has done content with good production values in the past. The decline continued. My disappointment continued.

The final video from yesterday with the 420+ anime recommendations is another low point. Why start it by yelling into the mic? She called it "extremely edited," but I disagree. I picked up editing on my own 3 months ago, and taught myself how to do it. I don't even watch AMVs or am influenced by them. Why couldn't she do that too? She's been doing this much longer than I have. Putting thumbnails for every anime can be repetitive, but it's the bare minimum to at least look acceptable and to show what you are talking about. It's low effort. There's no way to go around it. she could complain that it's 420+ anime, but to pick up a great project like that brings along all the hardships you must put work into it to show that you care and want to put effort into it. All she had to do was use random footage of the anime. That's easy compared to when you need specific footage to flow with what you are talking about. Instead, it's mostly her talking into a camera for hours.

I'm frustrated. Me talking about anime Youtubers in videos in the earlier days was because I felt inspired when she had done it as Digibro. It's important to hold anime content creators accountable, and to criticize them, document them. I still plan to talk about anime youtubers one last time eventually. At least there are other people doing this, fortunately, who are much better than me at it. Still, I never thought I'd talk about one specific anime content creator like this, and more surprisingly is the fact that it ended up being her.

Thank you for watching.

[animentality]

reaction to ryan higa's "theybies" video? (just really curious, cus i like the way you express your opinions :> )

nigahiga???

Jesus Christ that brings me back to middle school when YouTube wasn’t monetized yet, there were no ads, and the only YouTube videos i’d really seen were ATLA amvs and “how to be ninja.”

YouTube cringe was innocent people filming themselves doing silly things.

Honestly i don’t follow nigahiga and don’t know what he’s up to nowadays with his channel.

But because you’ve made me curious, I went to check out the video.

And I watched most of it, had to skip through some of his dumb baby skits, and ultimately figured out…

Eh.

Guy’s got an opinion on the theybie movement, which i’d never heard of before.

I think that…well my own opinion is that you don’t have to raise your kids to be gender neutral for them to feel safe coming out to you?

Like trans gender kids are trans, regardless of how accepting their parents are. If they choose to not come out because their parents are assholes who wouldn’t accept it, then it’s not like they were turned cisgender through sheer force.

And the idea of theybies is odd because I think they’ve done studied on gender identity and sexual and biological differences and…while culture has a lot to do with it, there are definitely cases where children just do identify with the gender they’re born as.

It’s not some oppressive societal thing.

I think there’s a tendency on this site to conflate society with always being some negative thing, but honestly a lot of the time, societal constructs are just the easiest, most common human practices.

Male, female, makes the baby, continues the survival of the species.

We’ve been doing that shit for as long as the species has been classified as human.

But this new trend, I mean, I dont think it’s harmful and I sort of think nigahiga is wrong on that.

But I do think he’s got a point about bullying. And I think that you have the potential to ruin a kid’s early years by making them look like they were raised by strange parents.

But that’s always the case until social attitudes change.

And my own personal opinion is that hey, some people LIKE the gender identity they’re born with because it aligns with the interests that develop as they grow.

That’s normal and it’s fine.

The theybies thing is odd to me only because a little baby and a toddler…I mean if you love them, they will know.

You just need to let them know you love them, and that whatever they choose to identify as, whatever goals they have, whatever they grow up to be, you will support them?

You don’t have to worry from the get go that your child may be “different” from other kids and start a movement dedicated to letting others know how progressive your thinking is.

I honestly think that a good parent is someone who teaches you the majority opinion of society but also teaches you to think for yourselves.

You have to learn the gender binary.

We live in a society that still lives by the gender binary like a code of ethics.

You may want to change it, but I think the majority of people will always be straight and cis.

And that’s ok, these aren’t inherently bad things, we’ve just also got a toxic culture of violently not accepting anything other than that.

So the real goal of these parents is…it’s almost like a personal project of their own, and not in the interest of the kid?

Because if you really care about the kid, and not just proving how woke you are, then you’d let them know listen.

You were born a boy. This is what boys generally like to do. Not all boys do. And not all boys born as boys stay boys.

But this is what other boys look like.

It’s a mistake to try and shape someone’s view of the world from the get go by distancing them from the majority viewpoint?

Homosexual, nonbinary, lesbian, transgender, agender, all these things are important identities that may be identities they are strongly attracted to.

And do talk to them about it.

But fundamentally shaping their entire world view to see it your way…almost feels like a cult.

Or a bad social experiment.

It feels wrong to me, and I like going with my gut on a lot of these things.

I disagree with Ryan on it being “harmful” in the LONG run, but in the short term, yeah, I feel bad for kids with weaker constitutions.

I mean a strong ass nonbinary kid who doesn’t care about the opinions of other kids and is proud to be gender neutral? You go, kid.

But you’re doing kids a disservice if you’re not teaching them that they live in a society.

And there are repercussions for not preparing them properly.

And also? It may never even be an issue.

Cisgender straight kids are born every day.

Instead of teaching them that they are “they” from the very beginning, just teach them not to be dicks to people who choose not to dress or act the way their biological sex dictates they act.

I think that raising a kid who’s not an asshole doesn’t take a theybie movement.

[rangergirl3]

In case people are wondering what getting flashbacks is like, for me it's usually like this:

I'll just be walking along, doing my everyday thing, and then bam I'll get a flash of a memory that's highly unpleasant (but usually managable)

And I'm just like:

If I'm able to, I then think of comedic gifs to use to make me laugh and defuse the range of preticable, yet still not-so-fun emotions that come from said flashback.

Depending on what the situation is, the memory can vary in intensity, so there's a range of reactions.

If I'm drinking coffee or having a snack, something that can spring to mind is how my mom told me I was greedy, or pigging out, or telling me that I was 'only happy when I eating', etc. She used more graphic language a couple of times, but hey, no one needs to hear that, so I'll just say it was crass, disturbing, and hurtful. But then, my mother clearly had/has unresolved issues of her own,  which I cannot fix.

So, to counteract those memories, I do this:

And giggle at the 'Ain't non' o' my business' memes' I've seen and try to get on with my day.

Other memories are...worse. Some days I have to find a quiet place, so I can try and just gather my thoughts. Other days I just repeat 'It's fine, I'm fine, I'm good, everything is okay, I lived through it, I can get through this,' or even just 'These are normal, healthy reactions, I'm not actually in danger, it's just echoes, I'm okay, the people I love are okay, it's all part of the process, it sucks, it feels awful, but it's just a feeling, I'm ooookay, just relax, just breathe, it's oooookay'

And there are some days where I just watch my favorite amvs on repeat or listen to the same songs over and over because it helps me feel less panicked or overwhelmed by the dark memories.

Top five favorite 'kick ass and take names' songs I listen to at least three times a day:

'Champion' by Fall Out Boys (I call it up on youtube and watch a really awesome amv someone made for Shiro to that song)

'Unbreakable' by Fireflight (lots of great amvs to that one)

'Limitless' by Adventure Club (it's on my Amazon Prime music list)

'Throne' by Bring Me the Horizon

'Hope of Morning' by Icon For Hire

[vakariansmonocle]

To my friends

Tl;dr: im a big gay and i love all my friends so much and they have and do help me daily. I am richer for having known you.

This is an extremely long post to my friends tho. It’s pretty heavy at the beginning & end, discussing some more existential things and loss of loved ones. & how i’ve been dealing ( poorly ) with that. But, this is extremely important to me and I would tell them all these things privately, but I want this sort of immortalized on the internet, so everyone knows and can refer to this if they ever doubt themselves, or the love i have for them. if you wanna skip the heavier shit, just look for the divider & the big ol ‘so.’ <3

  The past few weeks have been something of a blur ngl. Its been emotionally taxing and its sorted of sucked. But within the last week, i sort started thinking heavily about my friendships and how much they matter. In the past month i have seen multiple posts from people who recently lost their friends and loved ones. I have seen lives taken at a young age and friendships that’ll be cherished as long as those left behind remember. Multiple times within the last month the explicit message of “Tell the people you love how much they matter to you because you don’t know when you won’t be able to again” has come around. Its a message i know well. I’ve seen my fair share of death; Countless family members passing on from old age. Other students i wanted to see grow. Friends i never got to talk to again. But that last ones always gets me the most.  

  So the past month, I have been dealing with this weight of watching people lose their loved ones left and right and always, always, taken too soon. And i watched how heavily it hung on the shoulders of those left behind. The ever present weight of a void where once there was the bright light of a person whom you loved. And it sort of tugged on my own weight in my chest. It hit that nerve that reminded me of those I’ve lost. And it, in the simplest of terms, scared me. 

Because the truth is, we don’t know when we’ll go. Or when those we love will leave us. We don’t know if one day they’ll have the courage to leave us behind, or whether they’ll leave us naturally. We don’t know who we’ll lose or when. But god i hope its never too soon. I hope to every single god and goddess and being of power that you all get to live long and joyous lives that, with or without me, are the best adventures you have. Preferably with me though, really. Being boring without each other, lets be honest.

So

 its been a month of me wanting to desperately say how much i love you all. Its been me debating if i should liam O'Brien it and make a heartfelt but weird as heck one shot for us to run just so i can tell you all you mean so very much to me, and that i am, and always will be, richer for knowing you. Though that’s still on the table really. But for now I’m writing this. To my friends. To all my friends that i have lost. To all my friends that i will make; I love you.

  To  Neah ( @therifaerie ) a constant source of good. Who has made me laugh, unknowingly, in some of my worst of times. Whom i have only known a short time, but have loved every moment of it. Who i am constantly proud of, and whose parents i would gladly fight in a dennys parking lot any day. Trust me when i say this: you’re gonna be great. You’re art is wonderful and it honestly makes me wanna draw every time i see it, and i can’t wait to see how it looks years from now. You’re gonna do great, and be great, honey. So don’t give up on that, alright? It can only get better, I promise. You deserve so much good, and you’re always a light in our lives, i love you.

 To Lucas ( @scriptuurient ) who has somehow become my other half in most things i do & just in general, really. Who means so much to me, its honestly overwhelming most days. Who i want to live with and see the world with, so we can avoid bad vibe places and count the stars together and talk about rocks when we’re tired or always.  i never thought you would stick to my lame nonsense self, because you met me in a pretty shitty place in the last year, but you’ve proven to me every day you are a light and a hand to hold when things get bad. Who i owe so many laughs to, and so much of my ability to hope to. I am so happy i know you, and I am so excited how far you go, whether it’s on earth or looking up at the sky and knowing you’re up there, literally in space on mars. You’re gonna do wonderful. Never forget to believe in yourself, or at the least, we all believe in you. I love you so much and i am so very proud of you, every day.

  To Dom ( @queerquarian ), my little brother. My best friend. The hand that has clasped my wrist to drag me back so many a time I’ve lost count. The one who has given me love and shown me kindness when i needed most. The one who i think of always as my friend, but more importantly, my family. Who has given me so much, given the world so much, and remains so bright and ever burning light to many even when they themselves are fighting off their own darkness. A constant in my life that I am so happy for, because you always bring this level of comfort i can’t explain. you are my little brother, through and through, and maybe its that love & trust i have for you that makes it so easy and comfortable to talk with you about everything and anything. I unno what it is, but god, it’s great. I’m so excited for you to grow and learn everything you want. I’m so happy i’ve gotten to see you come so far, but it’s not over yet, yea? I love you so much.

  To Michaela ( @myopicmickey​ ), the one who i fucked up with and yet still loves me, even if its just as a friend now. Who has gone through their own journey, and doesn’t know how proud i am of them every day. Who doesn’t know how grateful i am that they let me back in. Who is absolutely one of the only people allowed to punch me directly in the face because im an asshole. The one that’s been there for me multiple times, and the one who knows me probably the best. But the one i wish the most gets to see me grow and live, & that i get to see grow. In a different life, we worked out better. But I don’t regret anything with you, except fucking up of course. I hope there’s forgiveness in your heart for me, hon. You deserve better than me, deserve the world and so much more than I could ever hope to explain.  To the one i love greatly,  who is forever and always my best friend.   

And, To Rachel ( @inuyasha-amv ) the cornerstone of my day to day. Who i CONSTANTLY give shit because what else are friends for than to fuck with each other. Who has been there for me so many times when i needed someone most. Who has shown me so much kindness and love that its hard to comprehend how she does it. One of the few people who have heard me crack and crumble and fall to pieces and stayed by my side through the worst of it. The one who i owe the most to. Because without rachel, i wouldn’t know three of my best friends and i wouldn’t have more budding friendships I’m grateful for. And who i am so excited to watch grow up and finish school so she can make a difference in the world, one day at a time. The one who is constantly giving, and teaching us all to be kind ( and in general random things. ) You’re going to be great, and you know that’s what I believe. & I am so grateful to have you in my life. Just remember, I  hate you, you’re the absolute worst you dingus. Nah, i care about you a lot and don’t you ever forget it ya fucker.

  So. To my friends, my family. Who have given me so much hope and love and laughter and joy. Even if i haven’t known two of you very long, it has felt like ages. I love you all so much. And i am so proud of each and every one of you. I know for a fact i wouldn’t be here without each of you because no matter how little you think you help, you all are the foundation of why i keep going why i hold on so dearly. Because of you, i am alive and living. Maybe its not some peoples definition of living, but it is for me. You all have given me bits of hope and love and kindness that have undeniably helped with healing wounds, old and new. You all are the hands i hold, mentally of course, when i need to grab on. Every i love you and every bit of kindness you have shown me is a very loud, and very bright, double bird fuck you to the depressive thoughts that ever make me doubt it. Because i know that without this wonderful and loving family i have with you all, life would be boring, and really, not worth it. Maybe it would be just to meet another family. But i doubt i would have gotten that far or enjoy that other one nearly as much. Because you all made me realize my own worth, and gave me the support system I needed to feel like it’s worth seeing through.

  To my friends. My misfit family, found in some of my hardest years. The loves of my life. Never forget or doubt that i love you more than you can possibly ever imagine. Never forget that i am proud of you for how far you’ve all made it. Nor how excited i am to fill in chapters of my life with you all in them, how excited i am to watch your stories grow. Never forget that you all are important and mean the world to me, even in the darkest of times, i love you and i care about you. I will always be there for you, & i’ll never stray too far. Because you are never alone, for i am always with you.

[fairy-hoe-tail]

Fairy tail was a mystery to me in the beginning, I didn’t quite like it in the beginning because I hate ecchi animes and well this was an ecchi anime, (still do lmao) but I found myself laughing and crying with the characters. I first found Fairy Tail in grade 5 when I was looking at amv’s and stumbled upon this nalu one. I didn’t even know that this amv was Fairy Tail, because I was partially new to the anime fandom, I assumed it was Naruto. Literally. But then I found it wasn’t and decided to go ahead and watch it. When I first started the show as I mentioned I didn’t like it. But the characters, the back stories, the plot and the comedy wrapped me up more than ever and this one show stood out to me more than any other shows I had watched before I instantly fell in love with Lucy’s character, she was strong and wasn’t afraid to wear what she wanted. I didn’t mind that she wasn’t as strong as the others, because hell, she was amazingly independent, smart and yet still one of the most relatable characters in the show especially because she herself knew that she wasn’t as strong but she didn’t let that get to her. She quickly became my favorite character. Then Natsu came in and I fell in love with his looks his strength and determination. He didn’t show off his strength like most shounen characters I had seen do. He became a character that again and again proved just how much he was willing to do for his friends. Enter in Gray, who quickly became also one of my favourites as he had sins that revolved around his past. I like that Mashima made his character relatable in terms of his ability and his past. Erza was also one of my favourites as she was maybe a bit overpowered but unlike where I see in other shounen where they refuse to make a strong woman, Fairy Tail came past those barriers and made this character who proved that even with her being strong she still had that feminine side to herself. Now I love all the characters but I can’t go in to all of them or else this would take forever. But some others include, Happy, Juvia, Levy, and Gajeel. 

The reason I am saying all this is because Fairy Tail is ending (obviously) and I really will miss it. It was one hell of a ride from start to finish. We went through so much all together. We went through ship wars, the break in between the anime and a lot of the “someone died and came back the next chapter” (Which I didn’t mind tbh cause Fairy Tail isn’t a tradegy shounen) and the nakama stuff which is the main reason I watched it. We went through Simon’s death, Igneel’s death and whole bunch of others. We laughed at the running gag between team Natsu and became defensive towards fairy tail hate. For the last chapter, I would really wish if people would put aside their differences, whether you ship, the big four, crack ships, het ships, homo ships, whether you imagine one character as a demi or another as an asexual, and enjoy this last time we’ll see these beautiful characters. I was everyone to admire how far we’ve come and stay strong about us staying in the fandom even after the end.This is the end of the journey for Fairy Tail but not for the fandom. I might sound a litte sappy right now but Fairy Tail has been a huge part of me growing up, I would never have made it without Fairy Tail. 

Last but not least, please never forget who made this possible, the person who dedicated himself to creating this beautiful journey. The person who made us laugh, made us cry, made us mad (sometimes xD) and more importantly the person who was with us the entire way of the journey no matter how late in to the fandom you came in. Never forget Hiro Mashima, just before the final chapter I wanted to thank Mashima for bringing Fairy Tail in to our lives and created this (^) a collab of every single Fairy Tail drawing/manga colouring I’ve done in to one big thank you. 

Thanks for the Journey Fairies and hopefully we’ll meet again!

P.S If you’ve read this entire post, thank you so much for doing that! If you didn’t that’s ok as well, but please read this part! 

I want people to spread this post around as a way to tell everyone that tomorrow when the final chapter does come out, we post a picture of us doing the Fairy Tail sign with the symbol drawn on our hand! Please spread this around!

[todokori-kun]

UGH.

Basically what I was trying to say:

That pic reminds me of most of the weird twincest things I’ve ever seen

Give us the Uta/Itori child. While you’re at it, bring Tatara back and give us a Tatara/Eto child. The fandom would explode

What do you mean Undertaker wasn’t always hot

(seriously tho idk why but I always thought UT was meant to be attractive in his own way. Something about his design…)

I can’t wait to see those two interact…btw, am I the only one who feels confused about what’s going to happen in Kuro now? Because I feel like the death of one or both of the twins and them getting some ‘closure’ about everything that’s happened is going to be a big part of the ending, but since Real Ciel is here now, will this arc be the last? Or will their big 'confrontation’ be pushed into another arc, Real Ciel either running away in this arc or Our Ciel being chased out of his own home (doubt that’s going to happen because of Sebastian, but who knows what tricks Real Ciel has up his sleeve).

Guess we agree in the end ^^ and don’t worry, you didn’t come off that way! :) It’s all good~

I honestly think using stuff like rape and trauma for drama in backstories is really offensive and hurtful to people who have gone through things like that in real life.

AWWW TYSM <3333 I basically did a huge OC info-dump over the last few days and you’ve been so nice about it ;-; *hugs*

Well, the Smiling Titan is very creepy…and the Female Titan can be pretty terrifying. But yeah, for the most part I feel like titan designs are a mix between horrifying and grotesquely amusing. They’re hilarious, really XD

(Of course if I saw one in real life I’d be too busy screaming in fear to laugh, but hey. I’m protected by the fourth wall, might as well make fun of them)

I’m glad you enjoyed it! Which songs/lyrics made you cry the most? :) (Ultraviolence made me die a little on the inside)

Welp,,,, Twincest always freaked me out.

Oh wow, a Tatara/Eto child would certainly be interesting! Like, damn. Just how powerful would that child be? While we’re at it, Noro/Eto kid.

I mean, it’s a general rule in anime that hair covering eyes= hot person, but I didn’t know UT would be that hot...  The Book of Atlantic was an eye-opener (huehuehue) for me. Too bad I haven’t gotten the chance to watch the movie yet.

I’m very excited to see how the series will progress now... I mean, having 2 Ciels will surely make it more interesting. And what dies Real Ciel have to say about everything? Is he upset with Our Ciel (it seems like the answer it yes, judging from the panels we got). Does Real Ciel have his own demon? What about Soma? He knows who the attacker(s) are and it’s most likely Real Ciel, but he doesn’t know about his existence, meaning he blames Our Ciel. AND LIZZY?? WHAT ABOUT LIZZY??? I still want her to marry Our Ciel, even though  she was engaged to Real Ciel before.  I can’t wait to see all this get answered ^^ I just hope this arc isn’t the last

Yep, that’s a relief ^^

In my opinion, you do not add trauma to the backstory if it doesn’t directly serve to developing the character (without making them a revenge-driven machine) and even if you do, you have to be very careful about what you add. As far as I’m concerned, rape shouldn’t be added in any case. Most people don’t know enough about the consequences and, therefore, by writing it you’re potentially erasing what people go through in real life after it happens to them. Aaaand I just did another huge dump about OCs. Goddamnit.

No worries, I really like your OCs ^^

I mean, if I saw a titan irl, I’d run away screaming like every other sane person, but behind the screen they are quite funny. Especially when they run. I loose my shit if titans start running.

All of them :)))

I recently realised I actually heard Wait For It even before listening to Ham, in an AMV for ATLA!  How did I realise that? Someone I follow reblogged a post about ATLA and I was like ‘Hey, I haven’t been in touch with this fandom for a long time.’ Inner me replied ‘Browse the tag until 2am’. So i did. And found it.

Also, this is the last time you’ll hear from me for 2 weeks ^^;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; I’m going to a summer camp tomorrow and since mobile phones aren’t allowed there, I’ll be away till the 8th... So, uh, I’ll message you when I get back?