#i like that it's bringing up these important topics

[bunni-v1]

so shadow milk legendary costume is coming so can we get more content of pre-corruption smilk 😝😝😭 pretty please and thank you ♥️

🍓Again I’m gonna call him Blueberry Yogurt because typing out pre corruption is annoying as fuck. Anyway, yes you can pookie mwah mwah mwah! These are short, but I still hope u like them :)

-Blueberry Yogurt is veryyyyy different from Shadow Milk. Shadow Milk describes his past self as a “Goody two shoes wet rag with no personality,” and while he’s being dramatic I don’t think he’s far off.

-Blueberry Yogurt is contemplative, gentle, kind, and above all else caring. He loves his subjects and his friends and he aims to share his knowledge with everyone. He’s in all sense of the word harmless. A sweet cookie with nothing but good intentions.

-He’s, essentially, his position as sage. And he doesn’t mind that, but he’s never really considered that he could be anything more. It’s what he was baked for, of course.

-Booooriiingggggg, as Shadow Milk would put it. But Blueberry Yogurt was content with things, it’s only after he realized cookies turn from the truth — mixed with the understanding of the sheer amount of power he held, that his mind changed.

-You we’re part of that realization. That, maybe, he could be more than what he was. That the life he lived wasn’t all it seemed to be. He was never made to fall in love, but he did, whose to say there isn’t more for him out there?

-But before that, he was likely the perfect partner to have. He cares a lot about his partner and their well-being, and he wants to be their total equal, even if they’re weaker than him.

-He spends a lot of his spare time with you. He’s an incredibly busy cookie with too many things to do, but he will always find time to spend on you. You are a high priority in his life, and he makes sure you know that.

-He likes having you around him, even when you aren’t doing the same things. Just you being there brings him peace of mind and makes him feel content.

-You being educated is equally important to him, so he takes the time to have conversations about serious topics. He’s particularly fond of reading with you and discussing the books with a critical eye. He won’t let you be blind to the truth, and if you’re afraid of it, he’ll work with you to ensure you aren’t.

-He’ll take you around the town when he visits, and most cookies know you as “The Sage’s Lover”. He won’t admit it, but that fact makes him proud. He loves to show you off, and he loves the fact that others know you’re together.

-Oh he does this cute thing where he’ll sweep you up in his arms and dance around with you. He’ll press you tightly against his body and swirl around like you’re at a real ball.

-He is so much more open about how much he loves you. He has no reason to hide or fear his affections for you, so he just doesn’t. His love is unabashedly displayed through physical touch as Blueberry Yogurt.

-Soft and gentle kisses pressed upon you dough. He burns into your dough his love for you so that you never forgot how much you are adored.

-He pulls you close and whispers his adoration like a prayer, as if to convince you of his love for you. Like you might forget if he doesn’t remind you so tenderly.

-He treats you to beautiful dates in locations you’ve only dreamed about, each one more heartfelt and romantic than the last. They’re built specifically to wow you, and he’s phenomenal at his job.

-He also gives you gifts all the time, hand made or things he found around the kingdom, it doesn’t matter. They’re all things you’ll make good use of, he makes sure of that.

-His goal is to make you feel considered and thought of. Again, he’s very successful. Everything he does takes you into account, and you become a very important part of his day to day life.

-One thing he does that Shadow Milk keeps is his love for carrying you around. It’s not a strength thing, he isn’t showing off, he just loves carrying you around. He feels like he can really care for you like that, so he does it as much as he can.

-He’s also very protective of you. He doesn’t stop you from engaging difficult topics and finding out truths, but he does stop others from disturbing your peace. It’s the one time he’ll use his magical abilities for selfish reasons, his need to keep you safe and happy winning out his morals for once.

-This is why when he feels himself… slipping… he sends you away as soon as he can. He doesn’t want you to think of him differently, and he’ll even take extra measures to ensure he won’t find you once he’s fully gone. (It’s the most annoying thing about himself, if you ask Shadow Milk. He plans for everything far too well.)

-It does ache and pain him to be so far from you when he does it, but it’s more important to him that you are safe. Even if it means you have to be safe from him.

[littlestl4mb]

omg more thoughts on luigi being a taurus man pls…🙏

omg omg ok. disclaimer: i really am not the most knowledgeable about astrology and charts and all that. however i love some good old fashioned pattern recognition 😻 so here are my thoughts abt taurus men that seem like they pertain to luigi too.

first things first, they are STUBBORN. they get stuck in their own ways and do not want anyone disturbing it. because of that, they are also the most argumentative mfs i’ve ever encountered. AND they always have a damn ego. god help you if you encounter a taurus man before he has an ego death 🙏 if you bring up a differing opinion to them that they might actually agree with, they will pretend they disagree in the moment and then later circle back to it and open themselves up to it. but when it’s in the moment, they have to be right and on their own side. they’ve got too much pride. AND i need to emphasize this: you are lucky if they actually change their mind. don’t expect it. but somehow they also really love arguing?? the person they’re arguing with will hate it, but a taurus man LIVESSSS for the debate. he will keep pestering you even if you try to end the argument, like they just can’t help themselves lmfao. they’re a lil arrogant and cocky that way.

while the stubbornness can be difficult to navigate in some situations, it’s kind of endearing in other facets of their personality (imo). even though there are of course many different factors that play into a taurus man’s relationships, i find them to be very loyal men! i can see this being true for luigi. as i’ve experienced it, when a taurus man is into someone, they are all in. they want one specific person and they want them bad!!! like they become full time yearners if they can’t have the person they want. they want the one perfect match for them. nothing else. so they don’t really even bother pursuing anyone else. their heart has to be fully in it 100%, they don’t want to go half way. also, they want everything to be right or they don’t want it at all. some people might think they’re too big of romantic idealists because they are willing to wait for what they think is perfect and well… most people don’t believe in perfect partners. however, a taurus man will tell you that those people are wrong. and a taurus man knows the critics are wrong because they know so clearly when they’ve met the perfect one. and they make it clear to you too. i’m just speculating here ofc, but i wouldn’t be surprised if luigi was this way.

they try to not be super emotional, but somehow in doing that they go full circle into being the most emotional & dramatic man you know. this is because they are so vocal about how they feel, and bc of that aforementioned stubbornness. it makes for some really deep connection though in conversation and relationships. i think it’s nice personally because they don’t shy away from showing you exactly who they are. they are truthful!!! it’s a beautiful trait. and kinda rare in this day and age. and i find that to be very obvious in luigi’s character.

what else… oh yeah, a taurus man LOVES adventure. he can find it in traversing across the globe, he can find it in a walk down the street to the corner store, and he can even find it in as something simple as reading a book on an unknown topic to him (does this ring a bell for a certain someone we know??) they are whimsical as fuck!!! they can find adventure and beauty in everything. and through that, they know how to enlighten those around them too :-) they want to share adventures with others, and they want to share knowledge and learning too bc of that :-) they are just so intellectual!!! and they value it in others— they like people with a similar curiosity for the world as them.

oh! and they are typically very hard workers. they just love to use that brain of theirs in one way or another. having autonomy over their actions n life is very important to them (it’s like, their way or the highway lolll).

so yeahhhh luigi deff gives me total typical taurus man vibes <3

[vii0so]

[BSD 121] Theory/Analysis

This chapter was full of things for me to over-analyse and theorise about. As always, expect spoilers, sidetracking and theories that sound farfetched.

Topics:

The (Fake) Page

Fyodor's Fixation on Dazai

The Book and Atsushi's Hallucinations

Rampo

─────────────✧

█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

The (Fake) Page

To start, no...that's not the page.

As I mentioned in my last chapter post [BSD 120.5], this had been a plan from the start by Fyodor, for Atsushi to not question where the page is, by showing an ordinary page and letting him assume it's the page.

Plus, Atsushi was having a mental breakdown due to the situation at the time and couldn't think clearly but do you really think an actual page from the book - a godly item - would tear that easily? No way. It's known as indestructible for a reason.

Fyodor's plan was to break Atsushi mentally. That's what he wanted to see. Atsushi in despair.

Fyodor shows he has the page (tricking Atsushi), says it can bring his friends back (giving Atsushi hope), then tears it up right in front of him (Making Atsushi feel despair and hopelessness, breaking him).

Just look at his thoughts! He lost hope, fell to despair. If he doesn't fight, he'll die, and yet he sees no reason to continue.

Maybe Fyodor needs Atsushi to want to die before he kills him. Maybe as the 'bookmark', that's some sort of activation key for something to do with the book.

─────────────✧

██▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

Fyodor's Fixation on Dazai

Originally, I wasn't going to talk about this but here I am.

Fyodor decides to talk about Dazai right after mentioning the back of the page. In this he also mentions the prison, furthering my theory (Section: "The page isn't with Fyodor") that the real page is with Sigma back at the prison.

That was a bit off topic but needed mentioning, since Fyodor chooses to talk about Dazai right after mentioning the page (Yes, I'm saying it twice. Important things must be repeated).

Fyodor has no reason to mention Dazai in this way to Atsushi. If my theory that Fyodor needed Atsushi to fall into despair (...gosh, the more I say that word the more I think of Danganronpa), break him, is correct, then he has no reason to talk like this.

I would understand if Fyodor only talked about or mentioned how he beat Dazai, as Atsushi who views Dazai as all knowing would despair thinking "If Dazai couldn't beat him how can I even try?" (actually...did he already think this in one of the chapters and I forgot?) but Fyodor goes beyond that and mentions enjoying his time with Dazai.

Now, It could be just as they show; Fyodor making Atsushi believe that because of Dazai he will give Atsushi the page as stated with:

But he didn't need to do it like this.

Atsushi probably didn't even mentally register anything Fyodor said other than getting the page. So there really wasn't any reason to say all the Dazai stuff. Just mentioning giving Atsushi the page would have gotten the same reaction.

Dazai is a key figure in Atsushi's life and therefore suspecting emotional manipulation in this case (especially after finding out Atsushi - the tiger - is the book's emotional hearth - the bookmark.)

其は 「根源辺縁体」の　寵愛深き この世の楔

note: ...I spent quite a while stuck on translating this and it's not even part of Chapter 121 (it's 119) so I give up (for now).

I've left the Japanese behind in case I come back to this or in case someone else wants to tackle it (plus I spent way too long getting each kanji with my basic hiragana knowledge and BSD raws that didn't show the hiragana clearly for me to search for the kanji without guessing.)

= ✧ =

Anyway, the current translation ("emotional hearth"), would indicate that Atsushi's emotions play a big role in what happens. Therefore it's a given that Fyodor would emotionally manipulate him to activate some sort of trigger that'll help his plans.

But let's not suspect manipulation for a moment.

Why talk about Dazai?

Well, Dazai is important, "in what way?" I'm not sure, and Fyodor mentioning him right after the page shows that he is a key figure (connected to the book in some way).

Fyodor needs Dazai. Or at least...a version of him.

...I don't know what I'm saying either.

Dazai is 100% involved with the book in some way and Fyodor is aware of this fact.

Dazai is also one of the only people in Fyodor's life that understands him and can have an actual conversation with him. Fyodor has lived a long time. Once you live that long everything is predictable.

I'm sure some of the people reading this must have watched a movie or read a story at some point and thought "the ____ was obvious" wether it was the ending, villain, or something else. This happens because we have seen other media with the same things and therefore can predict what happens.

Now imagine you find a movie, book, game, etc. that isn't like anything you've seen before. It's got the same foundations and yet...you can't predict it. You can guess what will happen but you will never truly know (wow, a lot like me with BSD...I'm getting off topic).

That's how Fyodor feels. Seeing the same old cliche for 2k+ years, nothing new at all.

...Until he meets Dazai.

Dazai is the movie that's nothing like the others. A mysterious person he couldn't predict. Someone similar to himself.

So imagine you find a movie DVD that is the key to a door but also a movie that you've been looking for a long time (something new, unpredictable). You'd be interested, right? That's Fyodor's obsession with Dazai.

It's like being in a time loop and having someone remember with you. (is that even a good example? probably not...)

─────────────✧

████▒▒▒▒▒

The Book and Atsushi's Hallucinations

Honestly, at first I was like "Huh???", then I told myself, "Atsushi figured it out so we as the readers must be able to as well", and so I read it a couple more times and thought "The only thing that makes sense is that it's the book", any other possibility I came up with sounded too farfetched and might as well get turned into an au fanfic instead of a canon theory, so...It's the book.

Now, before I get into why, here's a random fact about myself:

I usually avoid reading other people's theories so that I can have fun theorising (having a mental breakdown/j) on my own without my theories being influenced by others.

That being said, I saw a post of someone being confused about the ending of the chapter and I was curious to see if anybody else thought it was the book like me in the post's comments.

To my surprise, a lot of people thought it was the tiger instead.

So let's start with: "Why is it not the tiger?"

This line is all the proof we need: "You're the tiger aren't you?"

It wouldn't be my style if I didn't try over analysing the raws...so I did!

I tried translating the original Japanese myself and basically got the same result with minor differences, so the [Nine of Cups] translation (shown on the left) is as accurate as it gets.

Since I didn't find anything particularly interesting while translating, here's some random Japanese that appears in the panel:

Anyway, yeah, there's no reason in my mind why it would be the tiger. There's just no way. There's no reason for it to be.

Why would the tiger say this? Why would the tiger not appear as itself? Why would Atsushi be so surprised if it was?

Also, Atsushi is the bookmark, the emotional hearth of the book, why wouldn't the book speak to him?

There's just no way it's the tiger.

Now, that we have that out of the way, let's continue:

The floor during Atsushi's "hallucinations" is usually just the ground/floor itself or a blank space (usually totally black or white).

But this time, the entire white area turns colour (from white to black), enabling us to see that there had been lines there all along.

The lines are most likely a reference to the japanese writing paper:

Genkouyoushi [ 原稿用紙 ] - manuscript paper

There have been references made before. Here are some examples:

A & C : Official Art ✧ B : Volume 18 cover ✧ D : TDIPUD LN Cover

Even though this time the distinct space between square rows isn't present and makes this look more like average grid paper I personally still believe it's a reference to genkouyoushi.

Since Atsushi is the emotional hearth, his emotions matter...a lot.

So let me give you a situation before the next part:

The lights suddenly go out in a factory, signifying that there's no power (electricity).

This factory relies heavily on electricity to function and therefore for emergencies has a backup power generator.

Once the power went out, the backup power generator kicked in, meaning nothing stopped for too long and work continued.

Now imagine:

Atsushi is the electricity in this case.

The Dazai "hallucinations" are the backup power generator.

And the factory is the book / the story we read (BSD)

When Atsushi loses all hope, without any chance at all of recovering, that will be the end of the book as well (Or at least it'll trigger something to do with the book).

Since that can't happen if the world is to continue, there is a fail-safe measure (the backup power generator) that activates when Atsushi feels particularly low (really low) or is in need of guidance away from self-destruction.

So, the book speaks in the image of Dazai - who Atsushi holds in high regard (though I'm fairly sure there's more to the book choosing "Dazai" than this) - as a way to "return the electricity to the factory".

─────────────✧

██████▒▒▒

Rampo

Why is Rampo not mentioned here?

Seriously, what plan are Dazai and Rampo scheming against Fyodor?

He must be safe and working in the background...right?

─────────────✧

██████████ Completed!

I know I said I'd post this "soon"

...and suddenly "soon" turned into almost a month.

85% was written within a week of the chapter's release. But my brain didn't let me think after I tried deciphering Japanese (Kanji and general translation) for this (the translation part I gave up on) and suddenly I couldn't type anymore. I tried coming back to it but I still couldn't type much so I left it for a while.

Suddenly I realised I still hadn't finished it and the new chapter was releasing in a few hours! So I said to myself "leave it incomplete like the last time, or speed write a whole bunch of stuff and just post it".

...I typed faster than I thought I could.

So here it is, actually completed (a round of applause for me! :D)

I hope what I wrote makes sense, some parts may be off-topic(?) as I was in a rush and can't re-read what I wrote right now.

See you all in a few hours when I read the new chapter (or tomorrow if I choose to sleep after reading the chapter instead of immediately starting to type my theory/analysis post like I usually do)

─────────────✧

TLDR:

No, the "page" torn is not the real page. It was only used as an act to make Atsushi lose hope.

Yes, Fyodor is obsessed with Dazai in the way that we find an unpredictable movie without cliches refreshing.

Fyodor's manipulating Atsushi emotionally as a way to activate something to do with the book.

The Dazai "hallucinations" are the "book" and are a fail-safe measure (think more closely to: backup power generator) so that Atsushi - whose emotions affect the world - does not fall completely to despair (which is what Fyodor wants)

Rampo is not mentioned in the people who still need saving/are still alive but he's most likely planning in the background.

[starvinginbelair]

as a criminology student, i would honestly love to read an comics arc about the role of the police in vigilantism because i just think it's under-discussed for such a nuanced and complex topic.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I've been doing a lot of reflection as of late, especially after this past class.

This past class was about the Torah and Tanakh in general, and the way the rabbi talked about the commandments (specifically the ten commandments) has made me really reflect on how I interpret them, specifically the fifth commandment, or honoring your mother and father.

This is a commandment I have wrestled with for a long time - in fact, it brought me away from g-d at multiple times. I was severely abused when I was incredibly young by my mother, and I used to feel insulted at the implication that I were to honor her while she got to live a better life. It was hypocritical, in my eyes.

But this rabbi surmised that this particular commandment was because parenthood is an act of creation, something that is like the g-d from which we come from. My realization is this: I don't think we're necessarily meant to take even these commandments literally.

I this particular commandment is more of a call to honor creation - creation is a gift, and like any gift, many people simply will not like it and will discard it. The person who abused me created me, but she did not honor creation. She didn't honor me, but I can still honor it.

I have started to honor creation much more. I'm too young, too unstable, not mature enough to be a father (though I fantasize about it), but I create all the time. I create relationships, I create with my hands through crochet. I create memories, I create my world. And I can honor who I am and where I came from that made me who I am. I've been learning one of the mother tongues of my family (Italian, since part of my family originates there) and it was judaism that inspired me to do this.

I don't think g-d wants me to honor my abuser. I think He wants me to remember the Holy action of creation. When I am a father, that act of creation will be Holy, and indeed, I am already joyful about the thought.

I have seen many people struggle with this particular commandment, but I think this perspective helps me personally. I don't think I ever have to forgive my abusers (plural), and I don't think I am commanded to simply because they happened to be family. I am commanded to recognize the holy, to elevate the mundane. In doing so, I will remember g-d. Through creation, I honor g-d and everything he has done for us, for me, and for our collective people.

[aparticularbandit]

Responding to this post as a separate post because I want to respond to something that I think is beyond the scope/intention of the original post (and honestly the scope/intention of the response in the linked post) but that, like.

I want to respond to it because it's been churning in my head.

Specifically the idea of the Protestant Work Ethic and trying to earn your way into heaven.

Because that's the very antithesis of what the Gospel is.

Over and over, it is made very clear that you cannot earn your way into heaven. (Titus 3:5 and Ephesians 2:8-9 are the ones that come immediately to mind, but there are more than that. (I also like - Romans 4 and the entire discussion about it being faith and not works and especially Romans 4:4-8.)) Literally one of the entire points is that you are stuck in your sin and you cannot get out and no matter what you do, you cannot earn your way in, but God loves you and chose you and wants you, so He paid your debt Himself (Jesus) and is giving you His righteousness - His perfection - because He was the only one who could earn His way in.

God is for you, not against you.

Are there things you should be doing? Yes. (Ephesians 2:10 talks about that, too.) But, like. It's not to earn your way in. It's out of love and gratefulness to the One who got you out of your horrible predicament? And then on top of that, made you a co-heir with Him?

Because it's...He paid for you to get in and then also you got adopted as a child of God? And someone described it once as good works after that being like when a child makes a drawing for their dad and their dad hangs it on the fridge? It's not to earn anything; it's because you love Him, too?

So, like - I want to know where the Protestant Work Ethic went wrong. Why so many people think it's about earning their way when it isn't that at all.

It's a gift. It was always a gift.

[tollsoftheclockwerkbelle]

sega please do not save maria please do not save maria PLEASE do not save mariaaaaaaa sega PLEASE

[ratatatastic]

"what are you thinking about?" that time in march when forsblad picked each other for the which teammate would you want to cohost a podcast w question

and ekky was too shy to look at the camera when he professed his love for forsy for the millionth time and that being the reason for his choice meanwhile forsy had absolutely no qualms staring into that thing and going we can talk about fishing :D

[wildstar25]

What physical part(s) of Arsay does her partners find the most attractive! Is it the same for all partners or does it differ between them?

(also optional bonus ask of what part(s) of/about Arsay generally do they love the most, physical or not!)

Meanwhile, if you were to ask the same of Arsay:

[worthyheir]

I'm just gonna repost instead of editing the old post and reblogging it but The sword Jace carries around is actually one of Laenor's that he took after Laenor died. Thank you.

[lakegriffy]

i find myself guilty of this, i admit, but i think its pretty strange how people always feel the need to demean or put down other forms of media just to raise their own favourite up. like two things can be great for two different reasons. your band or show is not "cooler" than the other one just because they cover darker material. two things can exist at once. you dont have to dick measure your favourite things with other peoples favourite things

[rouge-the-bat]

sometimes i see posts thatre like, talking about something important and should be talked about, but then it has an addition thats like "oh this has SO FEW notes, NOBODY cares about this topic, everyone wants to IGNORE this IMPORTANT thing" and then i check the difference between the original post time of that addition and its like. 2 hours. and it currently has tens of thousands of notes. like bro you barely even gave it any time to cook before complainin no ones eatin...

[todayisafridaynight]

so magical that yakuza 1 and shadow the hedgehog came out the same year........ 2005 the best year for sega honestly.....

[three-blogs-in-a-trenchcoat]

thinking about the time when in high school (around the time the paris terrorist attacks happened) our english teacher said "raise your hand if you wouldn't be comfortable sitting down next to someone visibly muslim on the bus" and the majority raised their hands and he like. didn't feel the need to discuss that further

[nox-in-a-box]

Eid Mubarak! Have a wonderful day.

[thrilling-oneway]

idk why but sekai fans who exclusvley like the male characters is a red flag, statistically speaking at least one of your top 4 characters would be not them

i'm not entirely sure what prompted this ask but yeah i agree with you anon. having them as your top 4 is certainly a decision that reads a certain way. like i get there's some people who probably totally innocently are boys oshis but on the other hand it can be outright misogyny, especially if you only like the boys.

it's weird how despite this being a mixed gender game, specifically for the purpose of inclusivity, that people still very much try to box the characters? how to put this... i think some people, mainly on twitter, have a hard time viewing the characters as equals. like there was a whole thing on twitter about a month ago where people were going "if your fave character is one of the boys then you're not a real prsk fan" or something along those lines, and it's like. i get that male characters are generally more popular because of misogyny (not calling the individual who likes a male character a misogynist but women in fiction have been treated terribly compared to men for millenia and the misogyny here lies within patriarchal standards still embedded in the media industry) and i get that it's frustrating for women in particular and especially since there are only 4 boys in project sekai. but the thing is the characters' genders aren't important. i said a while ago that outside of mizuki whose arc is tied to their gender identity, it's rarely brought up. the whole reason there are both girls and boys in the game is for a wider appeal because vocaloid is for everyone. none of the characters are treated differently because of their gender in the story. the men aren't considered any more important than the girls, they are treated on an equal level.

boom

in addition to that, out of universe, the writers very clearly treat the characters as equals. all of them have the same levels of effort and quality put into their stories and character arcs, how people view those arcs is up to them. no character is objectively better than another.

here's the thing. if people don't like the presence of female characters then y'know, maybe they should take a step back, think about why that is, and also not play project sekai. if people don't like the presence of male characters, there's not any issue there, but also don't play project sekai, there's plenty of similar all-female games out there that they'll probably enjoy more than one with men in it.

funny how the game can treat the characters equally regardless of gender and doesn't even view gender as something that defines the characters yet the fandom constantly brings it up as a way to divide the characters be it because they're trying to make a point about being progressive or because they're a misogynist

anyway that's my two cents. vocaloid is for everyone, opinions are subjective, and the patriarchy should burn and take all misogynists with it. gender shouldn't define how people are treated and project sekai seems to agree.