#it’s still hugely underrated but now that I think about it more I get why some people like arma more despite its messy story

[basu-shokikita]

About Depths of Humanity

So, I talked about The Duel some time back and I thought, why not do the same for this song too? It's actually one of my underrated faves from Doomstar Requiem.

This more of a rant than a strict analysis though, I just really enjoy thinking about the implications of this song and what it means in regard to Skwisgaar.

Let's start with Ishnifus' warning. He claims that inside lies danger, the ghosts of their pasts and their fears. He cautions them to stay alert and Dethklok brave forward, even if scared.

Inside, they encounter their old manager, old groupies and Skwisgaar's old guitar teacher, in that order. As promised by Ishnifus', they're all people from their past, coming back to haunt them.

Immediately, these people start recriminating Dethklok for not having paid them back after how much they helped them. In short, they're jealous of Dethklok's fame and money.

The band is clearly affected by the plaints, quickly forgetting what they were here to do. Except Skwisgaar, who reminds them all they have to find clues about Toki's whereabouts. It does not seem like they're listening to him, though.

Now up to here, I want to point out 2 things:

That Nathan and Pickles seem the most upset by these confrontations.

That, while Skwisgaar is disturbed, he still has their goal in mind.

About Nathan and Pickles, I think it makes sense, they are the leaders of the band, they're most conscious of its tremendous success. They also know they're extremely talented musicians, meaning, they're aware of their value. They know they're far from being these miserable pricks demanding rewards. Nathan had a nurturing family while Pickles used to be in a huge band, previously to Dethklok. They're both people that have been inherently helped by other people, which is why being confronted is actually uncomfortable.

Skwisgaar is certainly a different case. I have to say, I was pretty surprised to find out that he had a guitar teacher. Based on the flashbacks in Fatherklok, I assumed he had been self taught. Skwisgaar himself has admitted he was pretty poor in his childhood so it's hard to believe Servetta would've invested in his music education. Plus, he can't read music which I think would be hardly the case if he had gotten classes.

But anyway, I'll play along. This teacher is speaking English and he doesn't make any mistakes so I'm guessing he's american. Meaning, Skwisgaar took classes when he went to America, which was later in his life. To strengthen his game and/or learn the technical bits he might have missed before? Maybe? And if this was the case, then Skwisgaar would've felt less obligated to indulge to other people in his life, when he learned to be independent from a really young age. He doesn't feel like he owes shit to other people, because other people didn't give him shit. Thus, the Depths of Humanity effect is not that strong in him.

You could also argue that the loss of Toki is a far more terrifying prospect than these bitter acquaintances from their past but I'll elaborate on that further in this post.

Murderface? Well, Murderface has low esteem and is the less popular member in the band, so of course he can't fall victim to guilt-tripping. Because that would mean acknowledging he feels like he's in a better place than others, it would mean that he actually believes himself superior than others. But he doesn't, Murderface is convinced he's worth nothing, so this whole charade is more grating than anything. Which brings us to the next moment.

The way Murderface is coaxed by the Depths of Humanity crew, is when a seemingly fan approaches him and starts praising him, claiming he's the best one. And then, is when Murderface is hypnotized by the attention. He's already such a negative person, of course more negativity isn't going to get to him. But positivism? That's another deal.

Skwisgaar once again insists that they have to find a clue on how to find Toki but it falls on deaf ears. Nathan is grabbing his head in despair while Pickles clutches his chest in what seems to be an impending panic attack.

Now I really like the wording 'I'll look if you do, too' from Skwisgaar. It almost feels like, even in this situation, he's trying to sound cool about it. He doesn't want to be the only one caring this much about Toki, he doesn't want to be the one leading this operation. He's not a leader, he's never been a leader, even less when it comes to emotional stuff, which is the implicit purpose of this search. They care about Toki, and that's why they're looking for him. But is Skwisgaar seems to be unconsciously rejecting this fact. This attachment.

However, his bandmates aren't listening, too self-absorbed in their anguish to do so. Skwisgaar continues the search and is quick to point out at something on the wall. It's a flyer that he grabs and, immediately, seems to connect the dots about. In an unusual display of leadership, he tells Nathan to grab Murderface so they can leave. Their purpose has been fulfilled and they can finally escape this horrid place.

Okay, so this is my favorite bit, obviously. Once they're outside, Nathan and Pickles keep complaining about what they were just subjected to, and Skwisgaar stops them to show his discovery. It's the same flyer he just grabbed, and it features the place where Toki had his audition. Also known as the place where they all met Toki for the first time and Skwisgaar and him had the legendary duel.

We don't have a precise Dethklok timeline but it's been a long time since Toki joined the band. Several years, at the very least. And this building is nothing but a far away memory, from when they were a lesser band. From when they weren't the big rockstars they are now. So, it really begs to question that not only did Skwisgaar remember the place, but he did so at once, when he hadn't seen or heard of it in years.

...Unless, he had been thinking about it recently?

We know, thanks to the beautiful central section of the movie, that Toki had been thinking of his audition, of joining Dethklok, as a means to cope with the devastating reality he was faced with. We know reminiscing of his dazzling battle with Skwisgaar and the happiness he found within the band gave Toki strength to carry on. But what about Skwisgaar?

For someone who considered himself much better than other guitarists, to the point he didn't want to play with another one, to actually find an equal, someone that challenged him, it couldn't have been anything short of extraordinary for Skwisgaar.

The summit is for the very best only, yet it's quite lonely too, and Skwisgaar had been basking in that isolation his whole life. Until he played with Toki, then the idea of sharing his field no longer felt like an insult, but potential instead. He found someone that could improve his own playing, someone that could compliment his guitar, take it to even higher heights.

And so, Skwisgaar was the one to invite Toki to the band, more specifically, to tell him he wanted him in the band. While we can't factually know how the rest of the members joined Dethklok, we know for sure that Skwisgaar was the sole responsible for making Toki join, as the rest were already bidding him farewell for failing to keep up with Skwisgaar.

So, when the one person that challenged Skwisgaar's playing was taken away, it wouldn't be a stretch for Skwisgaar to look back on how it all happened. To ponder about the circumstances that lead them to the current situation. It's clear the whole band loves Toki and, unable to deal with their own sadness, drank and fucked to oblivion. This also applies to Skwisgaar, except that with him it's especially complex, given that he's the one that brought Toki to his world to begin with. Given that Toki and Skwisgaar share the same instrument. (Fun fact: you don't actually see Skwisgaar fiddling with his guitar in Doomstar Requiem, just puttings dat out theres.)

Obviously, this is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo but as any Pepe-Silvia-scene impersonator that respects themselves, I want to point out how interesting of a coincidence it is that, less than 2 songs later, Skwisgaar is saying this:

Right before they head in to rescue Toki and Abigail, Skwisgaar imparts some reflection of his. He's been wondering if maybe it wouldn't be better to go back to being a one-guitar band. Toki has been in Dethklok for a long time now, so it's interesting Skwisgaar has been thinking about this...

...Except, that's exactly what his mentality used to be like, before meeting Toki. Right when he was trying to convince Pickles that they didn't need a rhythm guitar, he spoke these words exactly. One-guitar band.

It's almost like Skwisgaar is trying to do some self-preservation by returning to his aloof roots. He made Toki join the band, now Toki's gone and in danger, and maybe this wouldn't have happened if they had stuck with Skwisgaar's original plan. Because they attempted to replace Magnus is why this came to be. The revenge Magnus promised did arrive.

I just wanna be clear. I don't think Skwisgaar believes he's the sole to responsible for this, I'm sure he knows Magnus is the main perpetrator here. But the facts remain the facts, and had they all stayed as they were, then they wouldn't be risking their lives now to save their fifth member.

Like this, it seems entirely logical that Skwisgaar would be thinking of his former reluctance, of the Duel, of everything. It's all fresh in his mind once again, because Toki's kidnapping has forced him to realize they're not actually untouchable. Their mortality is back on the table, and so are their bonds.

In short, Skwisgaar had been repressing all his emotions about Toki's disappearance, but from the Depths of Humanity onward, he can't help but show them. He can't help but admit to himself and others, that he wants Toki back. So much, that a bunch of angry and entitled people can't affect him enough to forget it. So much that it's making him remember how distant he used to be, before Toki. So much that it's making him realize how different he is now.

[getmeoutofhell]

The Djinn x reader

welcome to another fic w underrated slashers!! today we got a classic, the wishmaster from the 1900’s!! i couldn’t help myself, the djinn is just so attractive my goodness. enjoy!!

warnings: this does contain nsfw & cussing.

sfw:

someone said if jack nickelson and jim carey had a baby and now i can’t unsee it. i mean look at him: he’s charming, and he has that smirk which let’s you know he can’t be trusted. you however, knew he was the djinn. you knew because you were to one to release him in the first place. you knew the power he beheld, and wanted to use some of it. so once he finally found you, you immediately used him to your advantage.

“so i get a wish huh?” “three to be exact dear.” you fake think about what to say, but you already knew. “well, you’re a handsome djinn that’s for sure.” he doesn’t say anything as he stares at you, waiting for your wish. you wanted to test his limits, knowing that only you can fulfill the prophecies. “i wish…that you won’t hurt anyone i know or love until i make my next wishes.” you hear him sigh, before he takes a deep breath. “done.”

over time, his patience wore thin, making him show his true form to you more than often. you weren’t afraid tho, which shocked him. “human, you’re not afraid of my true face?” “no.” he didn’t understand. well in general he doesn’t understand humans but still, that was weird.

out in public, when he would be in his nathaniel uniform, you guys would pretend to be a couple. the reason why is because so him being around you wouldn’t be so weird to the public eye. plus i mean, who doesn’t wanna be in a relationship with him? have you seen him?

while you guys are “dating” you notice he’s very very stubborn with stuff. he hates sharing with you or anyone. “can i have a cigarette?” “no.” *typical djinn* he does obviously treat you differently then the rest, i mean you are dating him technically. he won’t let anyone else get that close to him without offering their eternal dammed punishment.

you like to rub your hand through his human hair, he doesn’t admit it but he likes when you show affection. he’s also very judgey on things us humans do. people call him the devil all the time, but he always tells them that they have their demons mixed up. i mean he acts like the devil so you see where they’re coming from.

you also have to teach him some humans ways. just because he’s a demon like thing, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have to shower and take proper care of his human skin. you teach him how to keep himself clean when he’s in his mask. sometimes he tries to bride you by getting you flowers and such. “nice try.”

nsfw:

alright, let’s get down to business shall we? let’s start off with him in human form because he’s just hot like that. (sorry i can’t help myself) him in human form has the most sensitive body ever. i mean, you palmed him one time, and he took like 5 minutes to understand his reaction. he knew about dicks and how they work obviously, but this time it was different. “that feel good master?” “yes child.”

he likes to be called master, please call him that and he’ll be the happiest demon thing in the world. shockingly, he’s hairless, witch it did surprise you at first. his cock it not a normal size even in human form. definitely a little bigger than 7 inches. he knows how to make use with it.

for some reason, he always knows when you’re horny. he can just tell when you’re extra needy. he claims he can smell it. taste it even. (for fem reader): if you’re on your period, i think you and i both know where this is going. his tongue will slurp up all the blood from inside of you.

definitely will tease in public, anywhere and everywhere. any time too. he starts by causing a vibratinng sensation between your legs, then it slowly gets worse. you feel on edge, about to cum, then it suddenly stops. you look at nathenial and see a smirk on his face. in his true form, it’s much worse.

while in his demonic state, his cock it’s so huge in your eyes that even you were shocked how he made it fit inside you. he grunts, a lot. he always has to make sure he’s making you feel good as well, so don’t worry about that darling. very good with his hands and tongue…trust me.

does he cum inside you? duh!!! (fem reader): he always tries to get you pregnant, it’s normal at this point. you do unfortunately eventually get pregnant, umm…good luck with your demon baby.

[heart-of-ep]

• Elvis at the Houston Astrodome - 1970 •

I fell down a rabbit hole recently researching the Houston Astrodome shows of 1970 because, in general, Elvis in 1970 is a huge hyperfixation for me, so please enjoy my little info dump ~

Elvis' Las Vegas residency of January/February had just ended on February 23rd and almost immediately left for Houston, TX, on February 25th, flying on Kirk Kerkorian's private jet. There at the airport, he would have a press conference before checking in at the Astroworld Hotel.

These were his first shows outside of Vegas since 1961, and it seems like from several accounts, Elvis was pretty nervous and worried about what the turnout would be. On top of that, during rehearsals, he ran into several issues with sound and accoustics due to the size of the arena.

The first show (a matinee performance) happened on Friday, February 27th, and it was the first of two shows to happen that day. Elvis wore the green tapestry jumpsuit and was driven in on a jeep around the arena before appearing on stage. He was acommpanied by the Sweet Inspirations, the Imperials, and the rest of his TCB band that had been established in Vegas. Not present, however, was an orchestra, which is my first time ever seeing that happen during any of his concerts in 1969 - 1977.

The matinee show persisted with all the sound issues that Elvis suspected it would, and unfortunately, it only drew in a crowd of 16,708 people (with 4,000 being personal guests of Elvis and the Colonel.) This left Elvis feeling extremely upset after the show:

“He went back to the hotel… and lay down on the bed. ‘Well, that’s it. I guess I just don’t have it anymore,’ he said.” Even the usually imperturbable Colonel seemed upset. After he got up from his nap, Elvis shook his head and said, “Well, I guess I just can’t bring it in like I used to.” - Careless Love (by Peter Guralnick)

But things quickly turned around during the evening show with an attendance of 36,299 people, a record-breaking number for the rodeo. The sound was also improved, and Elvis' nerves seemed to subside, which resulted in a more powerful and well paced performance.

After six performances between February 27th - March 1st, Elvis drew in more than 200,000 people, proving that he still had the star power and the fame to pull in a general audience of fans. He would continue that momentum through the rest of 1970, and after his next Las Vegas residency in August, he would go on his first proper tour around the country in September. ✨️

•

I would absolutely love to hear these shows, but it makes sense why they weren't recorded due to the sound issues they were having. But I'm adding them to the list of concerts that I'm going to see if time travel is ever invented cause his voice in 1970 was simply beautiful and the set lists were actually perfect in my opinion!

Side note: The tapestry suits are super underrated. I love the simplicity of the jumpsuit with the little pop of color along the trim. He wore this particular suit during the February 27th shows, and I just think the green embroidery is stunning. 😍

Don't get me wrong, I adore the flashy jumpsuits from 1971 onward, but the white jumpsuits in 1969/1970 are some of my all-time favorites. ⚡️

📷: February 27th (evening performance) at the Houston Astrodome, Houston, TX.

(Also, in the fanfic I'm writing right now, I spent a few chapters revolving around this show, and yes, that is exactly how I ended up falling down said rabbit hole, and you know what? I can't even be mad about it. I love me some 1970 Elvis. 🥰)

[bibibbon]

I made a huge mistake in going to the MHA subreddit. The braindead takes on 427 have me convinced I'm stuck in a parallel universe where we're reading a completely different story:

"It's great seeing Deku play therapist with the LOV, but all it seems to have done is make things worse!" A) Izuku shouldn't be having to play therapist to begin with, considering he's a 16 year old kid. B) most of the LOV don't see anything they did as wrong, so idk what the fuck Izuku can do about that. Also, WHY AREN'T PEOPLE HELPING IZUKU WITH HIS OWN GODDAMN FEELINGS?!

Apparently Bakugou killed Kurogiri, and there's absolutely ZERO reaction to it both in and out of universe. So of fucking course Izuku is a murderer, but not their precious Bakugou 🥱.

"I feel like Hori's really underrated as a writer!" Horikoshi doesn't know Show Don't Tell, how to actually develop characters, and how to craft actual stakes in the narrative from a hole in the ground. Also, MHA is one of the most popular mangas worldwide, so you're not even using underrated right.

"I feel like Horikoshi sees our discussions and then implements them in the story!" This I can kind of agree with, considering how much y'all hate Izuku and worship Bakugou. But on the other hand, I really doubt Horikoshi thinks the MHA subreddit is as important as you think it is.

"Bakugou's totally going to ask Izuku to start their own hero agency together at the end!" Jesus fucking Christ, just say you hate Izuku. How would that be a great ending for him? He not only has to see the source of his low self esteem and borderline suicidal feelings achieving the dream he'll now never have, but you want them to WORK together?!

@nutzgunray-lvt 👋

Well a lot of the time looking into Reddit is always a mistake unless you're asking a very niche question and you get an answer from 9 years ago or something.

I feel like a lot of people whether that be in universe or in fandom forget that izuku is a 16 year old child soldier. Izuku is more than a decade younger than a lot of the villains in the leauge. He is a child who has been exploited by the system and abused. We have seen in 425 izuku try and talk to someone but simply get brushed aside and while I don't blame shoto or ochako for doing that as they probably didn't mean it and are traumatised themselves it kinda of shows how much this has effected izuku. Also this doesn't help BECAUSE HORI GAVE US NO FLIPPING INTROPSECTION ON IZUKU'S BIT AGAIN!! Also Iam not sure if it's just me but Izuku's eye bags are heavily prominent in this chapter especially when he is talking to spinner.

The fandom especially the lov stans side of it love babayifying the actions of the leauge and hyper fixating on the humane soft side they may have while completely ignoring the horrible actions they commited. I talk about this better in one of @palesweetscherryblossom asks

I still can't believe that bk may of killed kurogiri. I don't even know when that happend and I checked the wiki but it says that kurogiris status is unconfirmed so I will be waiting until the last chapter to fully acknowledge if kurogiri is dead or not. However this brings up the point that the fandoms is being quite hypocritical if they're calling izuku a murder but not bakugo. They both killed people but for some reason it's izuku thats put into public light and bashing instead of all the other characters that have killed in the series including villains.

Yeah sometimes it feels like hori is looking at discussions of his series and implementing ideas but I think that goes more for his Japanese fans than us to be honest because after all they're his target demographic. I remember when I first joined Tumblr one of my earliest posts talked about how horikoshi's writing decisions were heavily influenced by his fans which may or may not be true.

At this point IAM convinced that izuku isn't getting a proper happy ending. Every time I think it can't get worse it does. Just by your comment of them starting an agency together haunts me just like the possibility that bk may become the number one hero

[illbegottenfaith]

intro post

hi, I'm E! looking to make more friends/mutuals, especially with other writers 🫶💕

currently reading: nothing :(

currently watching: house md s6, new girl season 5 (rewatch)

currently writing: valentines day fics!

#e.txt - personal posts (not fandom related)

#e's fic recs - self-explanatory

#love letters - comments on my fics

my edits (gifsets) (updated 26.01.2024)

about me

I’m a first-year college student. This account is entirely separate from my main tumblr account which is why I only occasionally stop by to upload whatever fic I’ve written recently. I joined tumblr when I was 14, in 2020, and started writing here in October of last year for a smaller fandom (that I still write for! I’ve just needed a change of scenery)

other things about me

I’m a chronic oversharer! I know it may not seem like it but I’m rlly restraining myself here ahah I am much much worse on my main account.

I am/used to be a huge swiftie

like any other college student I’m just so swamped with work but still need an outlet for creativity so I write a lot on my phone. I prefer writing on my laptop but I rarely have the time or energy for that and autocorrect is Not my friend so if you see an odd word here or there…please bear with me hahah

In high school I studied literature pretty intensely which has kind of made me very very picky about my writing and the books I read

(but I am majoring in a stem field I'm totally not bitter abt how male dominated my major is um anyway)

My favourite books include The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Heartless by Marissa Meyer (nothing too revolutionary but a riveting, well-paced book to get you out of a reading slump!) and Everyone I Know is Dying by Emily Slapper

My favourite comfort/self-indulgent authors are Cathy Cassidy (from when I was like 11, I think it’s half nostalgia but she really is an excellent underrated writer) and Meg Cabot

I think that’s about all for now! <3

[infiniteetcetera]

RAPID FIRE ACOTAR CHARACTER HOT TAKES

. [Mostly focused on side characters but thoughts about our mains too BC why not]

🔥Emerie is one of THE most underrated characters and deserved a bigger storyline in ACOSF (obviously it’s Nestas book but other side characters like Gwyn, Feysand, etc got more time that could have been hers)

🔥I don’t know why people really like Helion or want him with LOA😭 mans has let her be in an abusive relationship for DECADES & I feel like if he really loved/deserved her he would have blood dueled by now. he might make a fine father for Lucien but I don’t want to read a love story that involves a few centuries of abandonment

🔥I like genuinely wonder often if the rest of Lucien’s brothers are evil evil. Like if Eris is playing along to their abusive dad’s whims, how do we know the rest of them aren’t? They likely don’t know Eris is different so why would he know that about them? Lucien didn’t? IDK i’m just curious about more Vanserras

🔥Jurian is genuinely one of the funniest characters👀 his revival may be a little pointless but his vibes are immaculate and he’s underrated

🔥You don’t have to hate Mor for leading Azriel on (there are others reasons to not like her) but she definitely did💀aside from the fact every character including her says it we get literal scenes of it too. like she FR tells Feyre he has a huge dick and just says so many other sexual/romantic things about him that are NOT platonic, it makes sense he’s been confused AF😭

🔥Kallias and Viviane have one of the sweetest love stories in the series and I wish we saw more of them. they also just have such good vibes & if they’re gonna keep popping up for little cameos I want more deets

🔥TW SA: I won’t even argue about Tamlins wrongs against Feyre bc i’ve done so before & it isn’t worth the breath BUT it bewilders me that so many people ignore/excuse what he did to Lucien😭 aside from just the generally abusive vibes he not only ignored what Ianthe was doing to Lucien (when equally if not more depressed people like Feyre/Rhys noticed) but also made him have sex with that creepy ass predator😩 Lucien’s struggle with that is so overlooked in general but still bothers me people ignore Tamlins fault in it and that Lucien is now groveling for his friendship

🔥 While on the topic of SA, i’ve seen a lot of people in the fandom have such a gross attitude about what happened to Rhys recently. like man has plenty of flaws and has done a lot of wrong things but that’s not an excuse to make jokes about him being SA’d for DECADES especially when male SA representation is so rare and it’s dumbass jokes like the kind fans are now making that makes guys feel uncomfortable about speaking up

🔥One more on this topic, the SA Nesta experienced is also SO overlooked, even by the narrative itself. The general fact she was using sex as a form of self harm/punishment is also weirdly addressed a few times but then excused if it’s with Cassian in a way that’s so gross

🔥Feyre and Rhys having Nyx so soon was a bad decision. No matter how many people bring up the “oh they were so close to dying” “oh they don’t want to waste time” blah blah blah doesn’t change the fact that’s a TERRIBLE reason to have kids😭 like does the fact they made that decision kind of make sense given what they experienced? sure! was it at all smart or level headed or much more than a trauma response? literally no

🔥I feel like Rhys’ mom…kind of sucks? She’s spoken about more highly than any of the other ACOTAR parents but she literally forced her son to go to a child soldier camp she knew was full of misogyny, poverty, and a bunch of other barbaric practices, did nothing to help any of the other kids unless she was forced to (Rhys brought cassian home, and Az’s mom begged her to take him, she then let Rhys & Cas beat on this poor traumatized boy) and overall Rhys turned out far from perfect but actually could have been SO much worse when you think about it

🔥On the topic of bad parents KIER BEING ALIVE STILL IS SO STUPID AND MAKES NO SENSE.

[shydroid3000]

OOO for the death note ask game, turning this back on you. 4, 7, and 23, again though you can pick a current favorite moment (lolol. indecision makers 😔😔) or just gimme some general misa thoughts if you’ve got em 👀

4. who’s your favorite underrated or obscure character? Okay, I'm gonna do my best to pick one that isn't too obvious, so: Sidoh! Haha. He's a weird little loser guy of a Shinigami and I love that. When he takes the notebook and touches it to the head of the one mafia guy while saying, "tag, you're it!"... or when he gets freaked out by Mello even though he himself is a literal god of death... I just find it very delightful. He's silly and pathetic in a way that really tickles my fancy lol. (The anime is much fresher in my mind so most of what I refer to will be anime-focussed; can't remember how manga version compares to anime with him). 7. was misa just as guilty as light? Ooh, guilt in relation to Misa and Light is interesting to think about. On the one hand, I do think that they're both culpable for their actions at the end of the day. I have maybe some more grace to extend Misa in terms of her having an understandable reason to go down that path, what with her parents being murdered (and almost being murdered herself). Like, that's a level of trauma that makes you go, 'yeah, I can understand why she was all-in on killing criminals with the death note, even if I don't agree.' Light, on the other hand, had this good, stable, pretty privileged home life, in addition to him being a top student, talented, handsome, etc. He's got less of an excuse, you know? The fact that Misa's drawn to Kira's ideals out of lived trauma, whereas Light is drawn to those ideals largely out of ego is sort of a meaningful distinction. (By ego I don't just mean the belief that he's exceptional, but I mean -- the way he is so desperately driven to protect his conception of himself as a Good Person. That's a tragic and heart-rending manifestation of ego, but it's still about protecting his ego). But I also think there's 'guilt' on the level of the actions and choices you make regardless of motivations, and I'd see them as more equal on that front. Misa was an enthusiastic DN user and participant in Kira's plans/ideology. She's motivated by different things than he is, but she makes her choices knowingly. I think it would be diminishing of her agency and complexity to say that she's less responsible for her actions than Light is, if that makes sense. (Also, there are things Misa is guilty of that Light isn't, and vice versa. E.g., Misa pushes Light's boundaries in a way that can be very uncomfortable; Light uses Misa/others without real regard for them).

Now, beyond all that... the question is obviously about their culpability for their use of the DN. But it also makes me think about each of their *experiences* of guilt internally, and that might be even more interesting to me. I think that their relationship to guilt is one of the things that makes them so divergent from one another. Because... running away from guilt is such a huge part of what propels Light to go all out with the Kira thing. So much of his psyche is shaped around that black pit of guilt where whispers of "I did a bad thing. If I did a bad thing I'm not a good person" come from. He diligently tries to cover over that and barricade it off. He crafts an ideology that makes his murders righteous, and commits to making a New World(tm) where the meaning of 'good/right' is reshaped around that. He makes himself a God so that his actions are beyond judgment, or at least he is, because his murders are divine - they're acts of creation, even of love and self-sacrifice. And then Misa... well, guilt doesn't seem to be as obvious a factor for her, whether as motivation or reaction. I mean, I could imagine a reading where there's some well of underlying guilt about the death of her parents and her survival -- I think that would make sense given the circumstances. But... we never actually see that kind of Bruce Wayne -esque psychology peeking through, so that feels more like headcanon territory than direct analysis. Obviously she has deep feelings about the murder of her parents, but she has a very different relationship to guilt than Light. She usually comes across as very free from guilt. She knows what she wants and what her priorities are, and she pursues those without shame. She's impressed by Kira so she becomes the second Kira; she decides she loves Light and wants to be with him regardless of whether he even likes her, so she pursues that undeterred by his response to her. It feels like Misa is always calmly pushing forward toward what she wants, whereas Light's sprint forward towards his New World is really a running-away-from. But at the same time... what kind of underlying emptiness would make someone so completely devotional in the way Misa is, wanting to devote themselves to someone who mostly loathes them, to the point of not even seeming to be hurt by that person's disdain for them as long as they can still have that person in their life? I think there's definitely beneath-the-surface stuff with Misa, but it comes across like guilt is a colour that just doesn't exist in her world. Whereas with Light, every shadow in his world is the colour of guilt. If goodness or righteousness are the rays of the sun, Light Yagami is the moon that reflects the sunlight while trying to create a reality in which those rays are his -- are him -- a reality in which he becomes the sun. And yet he's a moon, and the dark side of it that he disavows is guilt, is 'I did a bad thing', is 'what if I'm not a good boy?' (Wow, went overboard with the metaphors there but too lazy to edit lol). 23. what was your favorite moment and why? Ah, this is hard (guess it's my fault for asking you this one first haha). I'll try to pick 1 or 2 more serious moments and 1 or 2 silly ones lol. So, serious ones:

The warehouse/Light's downfall. Specifically the laughter, if I had to pick a moment. Excellent scene in both the manga and anime, but MY GOD I will never get over the sound of his laugh in the anime. I think about it every day. (Also looove the lip-twitching as he barely contains his deranged glee leading up to his "I win"). I also really like his death in both; his fear, being reduced back down to his humanity, in the most pathetic way. But the laugh moment wins out for me; the way everything that has been pent up, repressed, held back, filtered, pruned is just... unleashed. He's finally showing his real human emotion to other people in this unrestrained way, but it's so twisted as to be monstrous.

Also, the moment when L says Light is his first real friend. I know that Ohba said L is lying in that moment, but my own analytical framework doesn't prioritize authorial intention above all else. And I think there is so much complexity and richness in that moment. I don't think L is lying, but he is manipulating. And obviously even the truth within the statement is a complicated one. But I can't help but see a genuine sort of sweetness in there in that moment, amidst the mind games and adversarial context. Light and Ryuk's reactions in that moment are so excellent too. It feels like a moment where the world stops spinning, just for a microsecond. A moment where some alternate reality almost touches this one.

Silly ones (time for my sweet Matsuda to shine lol):

When L and Light are fighting during the 'date' with Misa and Matsuda calls the room to break it up, telling L some news about Misa's popularity. Then after L hangs up he's like, "Matsuda's acting stupid again." And Light is like, "well, that is his speciality." (The fact that belittling Matsuda actually does diffuse their fight LOL). And Matsuda is on the other end, his face dropping, like, "do they know we can hear them..?" haha. Just a perfect Matsuda/Light/L moment.

OBVIOUSLY the whole mattress gambit too lol

In the anime, when L reveals to the task force that he's actually all three of the world's top detectives, he says something like, "here, I'll give you this strawberry for keeping my secret." And then he holds out the strawberry he plucked from his cake and Mogi kind of vacantly takes it and puts it in his pocket LOL

Thank you for the ask!!! Sorry it took me ages to respond. It was half-done for a while but I wanted to add more thoughts to the second section and just got around to that lol.

ask game

[ryuichirou]

BLLK shipping thoughts

Anonymous asked:

Will you be making a list of your favorite Blue Lock ships and your top/bottom preferences?

Anonymous asked:

Opinions on Ryurin (Shidou x Rin) as a ship?

You know what, since we’re receiving asks about ships, I decided to briefly talk about all of our current Blue Lock ships! I could’ve missed some of them, and ignored some others that I don’t have much to say about, but here are my thoughts for now. Oh, and to see a list of our top/bottom preferences you can check out this post!

Please keep in mind that for now we’ve seen two seasons of the anime, read some manga chapters here and there + 14 chapters of Episode Nagi (Katsu’s read more than that, but). So I am not aware of some developments the characters have in the future, plus haven’t met any manga-only characters for now. I’m mentioning it because I kind of ended up yapping about canon a lot… again. So yeah, what I wrote is obviously a mix of what actually happened in canon + my fujo rambling on top of it, but honestly it’s surprising just how much of the gay shit has actually happened in this title lol

Starting with this map I did with very shaky hands….

Reo/Nagi – what a gorgeous ship; they were actually the two characters whom we were assigned to draw for the event (which prompted us watching the show in the first place), but we weren’t even sure if we’d like them as a duo. We did end up absolutely loving them… but of course, with Reo as a top and Nagi as a bottom; why does this always happen?? But I digress; these two are so delightful, the more we learn about them, the more miserable I get lol Their story has a lot of “wow they went there” moments on its own, but now that we’re nibbing on their backstory a little bit (aka reading Episode Nagi) + stumbling upon some manga spoilers, woah, this ship really is a sandwich of all kinds of gay and all kinds of angst. I think I’ve dropped my sketching plans to draw these two instead at least 3 times already, just to boost our morale lol But drama aside!! They are also very funny together, and we have a huge soft spot for the “an obnoxiously rich guy becomes obsessed with a lazy unmotivated whiny guy” dynamic… I also genuinely feel like they are very good for each other, and both of them are insanely lonely, so now that they have each other they cling to each other very desperately, but in very different ways that ends up confusing them sometimes.

Isagi/Nagi – I am so shocked that this ship is so underrated, come on, bro straight up stole the guy from his boyfriend lol Nagi got so intrigued by Isagi, his feeling can be read as a straight-up infatuation at times. It’s absolutely delicious when paired up with the previously mentioned ship because the drama is really juicy; to be honest, this chunk of episodes is one of our favourites. This awkward aura because the great break-up’d just happened, and then another thing happened that caused these two to get stuck together, barely knowing each other, but still being kind of drawn towards each other. And I love the fact that even after this “stage” was over, it’s not like they became strangers again; they are very comfortable together and understand each other very deeply. I don’t know, they just have this vibe of a ship that could easily hook up and then just as easily go do their own thing/pursue other people. Anyways, whenever they call each other “tensai” and “striker” I bite my hand. I also really love the theme of Isagi being kind of surprised by the gap moe of Nagi-the-genius who is very used to being pampered by Reo and now has to rely on Isagi to help him with all kinds of stuff…

Isagi/Rin – I’ll start with a little anecdote: before we got to watch the Rin episodes and just knew him based on his merch appearances, at some point I said that he is wife-shaped, whatever that means. Katsu watched the Rin episodes before me and found it very funny that I’d call someone with such an awful attitude wife-shaped…… Anyways, I really appreciate the fact that Isagi also looked at Rin once and instantly decided that he was indeed wife-shaped 😭 and by that I mean that Isagi instantly wanted to beat Rin in soccer. If Blue Lock was a harem game, Rin would be the ultimate endgame that is almost impossible to achieve. It’s so fun to watch Isagi trying to approach Rin in different ways, trying to learn more about him, to force himself into his yoga routine, to figure out how to have a good chemistry with him while playing, and ultimately realising that Rin is actually quite childish and maybe a stricter approach would work well with him sometimes… but only sometimes. I also love it when two characters have a bond so obvious that pretty much everyone is aware of it. Ego, Barou, Bachira, Nagi – all of them kind of already concluded that the only one who can tame or at least cooperate with the insufferable genius that is Rin (and all 200 of the vengeful spirits slumbering inside him) is Isagi. The only thing I can say to that is good luck, Isagi. Get that bread.

Isagi/Chigiri – a gorgeous ship that we would absolutely pay more attention to if ReoNagi didn’t appear at the very end of a Chigiri-centric episode, instantly monopolising our minds 😭 I am so sorry, Chigiri… IsaChi’s dynamic has all the beats that we love: Chigiri was pretty much dead inside when they first met, but then wild Isagi appeared and expressed his interest, and then he got pushy, and then he got frustrated with Chigiri not wanting his help, and then he got upset that he made Chigiri upset, and then he got pushy again… it was very cute that he just couldn’t stop thinking about Chigiri’s potential lol And that he ended up being that aggressive push that helped Chigiri to get motivated again. They have that vibe of a ship where some things almost happened, but never did, and the crush still lingers in Chigiri’s heart. But he is a very self-sufficient, mature and frankly proud boy, so he tries to keep himself in check, even though every time they interact the feelings come back. Anyways! I also really love it when Isagi takes care of Chigiri’s injured leg. I want to think that he helps Chigiri with that every time they end up in the same room.

Shidou/Sae – oh my god these two found each other, of course we would love them. They are so perfect for each other and they are so ready to make it everyone else’s problem. Imagine seeing an aggressive beast that literally had to be tased and put into a straightjacket AND a muzzle and thinking ah yes, this is the man, I want this one’s ego. I love how Sae is surprisingly great at both keeping Shidou in check and enabling him, so this dangerous animal stays aggressive and chaotic (Sae loves him this way), but just doesn’t do anything that would cause too much trouble (for himself and Sae in particular of course, who cares about others). Sae is very forgiving when it comes to Shidou’s antics AND his unapologetic horniness, their dialogues during U-20 match are out of this world. They’re over there having conversations about how many times Shidou needs to score a goal for Sae to give him his phone number and for them to become roommates… and Sae doesn’t really seem to mind??? Whatever these two have, it’s fucking working, and once again, it’s a huge issue for everyone around them lol They are too powerful of a couple.

Shidou/Rin – HI ANON WHO ASKED ABOUT THEM! I LOVE THEM AS WELL!!! Or at least, I’m very intrigued by them for now. If Shidou’s chemistry with Sae is perfect, his chemistry with Rin is SO ABYSMAL IT’S GLORIOUS. Poor Rin can’t catch a break, he got hit by this man twice!.. But to be fair, he is also unreasonably mean to Shidou sometimes. I guess Rin is unreasonably mean to everyone to a degree, but there sure is tension between these two. They are Ego’s crackship, and as he was watching them murder each other, he had a “idk what I was thinking with this one” thought 😔👍 Anyways, it seems like I just keep repeating “wowza they hate each other”, but to us it’s a good thing. It’s a very spicy ship… I want to lock them in a room and see how they survive that.

Isagi/Niko – how could we ignore a ship that has a scene in which character A stares at character B while he’s on his knees, defeated and almost crying, and then character A thinks “woah that feels good”. Defeating Niko felt so good that Isagi’s post-nut clarity somehow just made him even hornier and made him reconsider his entire existence as a soccer player… And to Niko this was a very important moment as well, but for different reasons lol I feel like he also has a lingering crush, but he is also very conflicted about it. Also, Niko is a shy boy but also a bit of a dark horse (=a little freak inside), so I like to think about what kind of thoughts he has about what happened between him and Isagi back then. Also, he’s the only one of Isagi’s bottoms who is shorter than he is! Also also, see what I mean when I say that Isagi has a harem? He just invites himself into these boys’ lives, bruteforces his way in their minds, changes them and dips to get the next bitch while also continuing to live in the previous boys’ heads rent-free. No one is safe……

Zantetsu/Niko – damn that one additional time. A dark horse type nerdy boy and a beefy idiot, and surprisingly, they seem to be a very good symbiosis. There is just something so delightful in this combo of Zantetsu who isn’t smart but receptive to others’ advice as long as it makes him look cool + Niko who looks harmless but actually quite cunning and careful with the ways he interacts with others. Somehow it feels like it could lead to some very nice mutual “I’m using you for sex” situation, with both of them enjoying it more than they’ve expected. It’s like they have an unexpectedly good chemistry. I desperately want more of them.

Zantetsu/Nagi – not gonna lie I’m becoming more obsessed with these two as a ship each passing day. I love the little bonding moment they shared in Episode Nagi, and that that conversation made Zantetsu really respect and like Nagi. All it took was for Nagi to actually treat him like a human being and listen to his story… and call him cool, of course!! I love that Nagi also shared his feelings with Zantetsu, and I feel like this is the first time he explained his and Reo’s situation to anyone huh. Anyways, their bond is special, Zantetsu is an absolute chad for saying that he likes Nagi and would only listen to Reo, whom he hates, if Nagi, whom he likes, asks him to do it. In terms of actually shippy shipping, I can see them hooking up surprisingly easily, just because they felt like it. Is there a crush? Maybe from Zantetsu’s side. Would they enjoy having sex? Abso-fucking-lutely. And since Nagi’s team took in Zantetsu after losing Isagi to Rin, you better believe they fucked again the moment they reunited lol

Yukimiya/Nagi – their interaction during Additional Time segments are golden, Yukimiya is such a shady bitch, gossiping with Nagi about everyone, discussing which animals do everyone resemble, and then immediately going “you know let’s stop this conversation” like bitch, you started it! Twice! Anyways, their dynamic is also very fun, with Yukimiya being a gentlemanly nice guy (to his credit, he seems to be less shady than Trey Clover lol) and Nagi… just enjoying being around someone chill for a change? They’re like two introverts enjoying their weird little convos, but still keeping their distance. I also feel like Nagi feels that there is stuff that worries Yukimiya more than Yukimiya thinks. I also absolutely adore how Nagi calls him “Yukki”, it’s adorable.

Isagi/Jinpachi – are you really surprised? Isagi is such a teacher’s pet, it’s like Blue Lock was specifically designed to grow Isagi into an absolute beast lol We love to joke that whenever Jinpachi is ranting about something, Isagi is the only one who actually listens and understands everything, plus keeps thinking and reflecting on it afterwards. Ego Jinpachi out there creating the perfect top for himself, and Isagi is getting all the good grades, surviving and persevering. I also loved that Isagi got to actually yell at Jinpachi at least once lol He respects him deeply, he understands his ideas and develops rapidly, but he would still bite his ass when he’s all worked-up and angry. It’s difficult to explain this dynamic, but it makes so much sense in our heads lol

Isagi/Bachira – this ship punched us in our faces when we were watching Blue Lock for the first time, and I sketched them a couple of times thinking that I better do something fast before more characters come in and monopolise my attention. And it was a good call lol It’s a very good ship that is clearly written like a ship, and I still enjoy their dynamic, but after seeing more characters and seeing more of these two as well, I’d say that they aren’t a ship we’re super into. It’s almost like with Renga?? Like the story is good, but it’s not clicking as much as other ships, I guess. I still wanted to mention them though!

[sorenversh]

Engage's story is kinda neat

I made this account some time ago, and I thought to myself... Why not post something? Since I feel controversial, I feel like I should say that Fire Emblem Engage's story is vastly underrated. It's definitely much better than what the fandom portrays it like. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think Engage's story is the best in the entire series. Sacred Stones, for example, is a story that I enjoy much more. With all that being said, let's begin. Spoilers ahead, of course.

Engage's story is a pretty simple one at surface level. Protagonist must defeat bad guy. Another story following the Hero's Journey structure. However, saying that THAT'S all that Engage has going for is plainly wrong. Many stories, most that have a villain actually, could be summarized in that same way. And because of that, people ignore that we need to go deeper on the story, not just stay in such a surface level take.

Let's take a look at Alear as a protagonist. When I first played the game I didn't expect to like them as much, but here I am. Alear is a take on a lord that we haven't seen before. They start as a coward that is terrified of the corrupted, who really lacks any kind of leadership skills. Most lords we've seen either are kinda strong since the beginning or have some sort of special skill (Chrom is strong and has the falchion, Micaiah has her future seeing powers), and if they don't, they compensate it by having great intelligence and courage (Eliwood discovers a whole assassin group being related to his father and he still wants to find him)

When we look at Alear... We see nothing of that. At the beginning. They pretty much kinda depend on Emblem Marth. After Lumera's death, and specially after the 6 first emblems are taken away, some growth is seen in them. Sure, they still may get scared, but they show more determination than ever. Far more courage than when the game started.

When Veyle is revealed to be their younger sister, and knowing that Eveyle (Evil Veyle, basically) is literally taking control of her, shows just how much determination they have. From the scary wet cat that wants to run away just because of a few corrupted, to dying to protect their little sister. Literally. Alear dies just so they can ensure Veyle survives.

And because of that determination and inner strength, they decide to let Veyle revive them as a corrupted. The same thing that scares them to death. And all of that so they can make sure that their friends are alright and to make sure someone can defeat Sombron. And with such display of inner strength, the 12 emblems get to transform Alear into an emblem. Alear finishes the game with all the skills that they lacked in the very beginning.

The only thing that is not properly explained is the memory loss and the irrational fear of corrupted. Or... Is it? Keeping in mind the dialogue that Past Alear has on chapter 24, we know that some Alear siblings died BECAUSE of the corrupted. Even while being under the orders of Sombron, they despised them. Alear has PTSD because of the corrupted, and yes PTSD CAN result on memory loss while still retaining that fear of them, making Alear an extremely human character.

And while being probably some of the most realistic and human characters that all of Fire Emblem has, they still get ignored because "haha Colgate Chan goes brrr".

After talking about the main protagonist, I want to talk about the story. I can't remember the amount of times that I've seen people call this story bad. It's understandable if you don't like it, but calling it *objectively* bad is totally different.

In reality, Engage's story is simple. Not bad, but simple. A story can be complex but be bad (Callout to Sonic '06 for being both unnecesarily complicated but being reaaaally messy). It doesn't have a huge political drama. It doesn't a generational tale. It's a simple hero's journey. But that does not make it bad, does it?

Let's think it from another perspective. Don't just think about what happens. Think HOW it happens. Who do you meet on your journey? What tragedies did you stop and which ones you couldn't? What makes you want to keep going? If you think about that kind of thing when you think of a story, you'll like it much more.

And maybe I should add that having some cringe moments doesn't make the story bad. Yeah, Clanne and Framme being fangirling over Alear waking up is cringe. But you know what? They literally have an Alear fanclub. They are teenagers. THEY ARE CRINGE. They just saw the one they fangirl for wake up after a 1000 year long nap, of course they'd react like that!

As a reader, do you genuinely believe that every character should be calm and collected and reacting to anything the way you personally would? Or would you rather let the character's personality express the way they'd react instead, even if you wouldn't do the same?

Another thing that is more than talked about is the so called Avatar worship. But I've seen people say that there would be insane amounts of Avatar worship before the game even came out, so I'm sure that people just tagged it and refuse to actually understand anything at all.

Alear is a divine dragon. A god. But in reality their a really normal person. Out of all the characters that worship them in any kind of way, Alear THEMSELVES tells them that there really is no need to. Yes, this so called Avatar worship is an important thing because Alear explicitly dislikes it. I could also talk about how the games without an avatar also have lots of protagonist worship, but that's a story for another day.

Now, let's take a look at Lumera. Engage's "mom that dies early". Keeping in mind that she dies on chapter two, you'd never expect for her to be actually that important. Before you say anything... Yes. The death cutscene is too long. I agree with that.

Lumera is Alear's adoptive mother. We don't know much about their actual mother though. They met 1000 years ago, in the middle of the war against Sombron. Alear is a broken person in the past. The first one that ever showed them some kind of love or compassion is Lumera herself. Maybe at first she didn't plan to adopt Alear, but she turned into the maternal figure that they really needed.

Even if Lumera is the divine dragon, the one that finishes off Sombron in the past is Alear. All of that so they can finally be happy with Lumera... Not knowing that Sombron would make sure that they couldn't make that dream come true.

Once Alear wakes up, Lumera makes sure to try to make them happy. Treat them like their child. Only wanting happiness from them. But again, just a few days after their first encounter, Lumera sadly dies, her dream of being with her child stripped away from her again. And Alear, even though they don't remember her, still cries, for what she means to them is enough to pass through their PTSD caused memory loss subconsciously.

Lumera dying this early has a lot of meaning. First of all, she's the main reason of why Alear begins their adventure... Even if her death means that Alear must do it even if their clearly not ready for it. Second of all, she haunts the narrative. The queen of Firene and Solm, past Alear, all of them have Lumera involved in some sort of way, and the way she's present in our army is through the Libération, the weapon that belonged to her, and once Alear transforms into an emblem, through Alear's birthday gift that she gifted to her.

And once she returns, corrupted by Sombron, we don't see the madness that the corrupted usually have. We see the madness of Lumera herself, who has been stripped from everyone she loves time and time again. At first because she had to see them all die. And back in chapter 3, because she died herself. For a character with minimal screentime, she surely can be really tragic.

Not everything is tragic though. Her last moments have her regaining her sanity before leaving the world for good. Now she sees what Alear has become. Stonger. Brave. Determined. And what she wanted the most. She sees her child finally growing up to become a more than fine adult.

Now, one important thing. If you want to criticise the story... At least make sure you experience all of it. I've seen way more people saying that they started to skip the cutscenes to then claim it is bad than more people saying that they experienced it all and that is bad. If you refuse to engage with the story, do you really expect to like it? Give everything a chance, it's that simple.

[ecargmura]

Babanbabanban Vampire Episode 12 Review + Final Thoughts - Bloody Love Comedy

You’re just gonna end it like that? Show off a new character and then it’s over? But hey, at least the ending was substantial in that Nagayoshi is now a part of the shenanigans and he’s a lot more peaceful now.

It’s so funny to see the Tatsuno family mistake Nagayoshi as a child and doesn’t believe he’s Ranmaru’s older brother because of it. They all think he’s a rebellious, edgy teenager with a nice sense of style. Nagayoshi keeps telling them he’s a vampire and has lived for a long time but they think he’s just some Ranmaru copy. They just assume he’s Ranmaru’s wayward nephew and allow him to live in the nearby apartment. It was funny to see how Rihito’s father changed from being skeptical of Nagayoshi to welcoming him because he’s a huge softie towards children. Rihito’s dad is underrated; he may be comic relief with his obliviousness, but he’s a good man at heart.

Nagayoshi seems to be content with the new life he’s starting as he has a crush on Kaoru and even goes to night school. He’s surprisingly cute in that he also ships Sakaran and knows it’s the best ship in the story. He tries to appeal to Kaoru by giving her a stuffed toy at the end of the episode.

Sakamoto and Ranmaru’s conversation about possible vampires the former would meet in the future does raise some flags for a potential second season. There’s the progenitor vampire who’s voiced by Takehito Koyasu and they don’t elaborate anything further with him because this is the final episode. Give me a second season, dammit!

The summer festival was a nice way to end the anime. It’s still funny to see that Ranmaru purposely separated Rihito and Aoi when Aoi’s having the best time of her life as well as Kaoru who’s alone with Rihito and has a crush on him. The way the anime concludes with continuous misunderstanding is typical. It’s still nice to see all of them interact though! It’s nice that Rihito and Ranmaru get the last minutes to themselves. Let me know your thoughts on the finale!

Final Thoughts

To be honest, I enjoyed Babanbabanban Vampire a lot more than I’d expect. It’s super quirky, but there’s some charm to its weirdness. Like I mentioned in my review of the previous episode, it is BL, but not the conventional type. It’s listed in Chil-Chil’s catalogue; if you don’t know what Chil-Chil is, it’s a Japanese catalogue website dedicated to BL. It’s a huge site, so if  something is listed as BL there, then it’s definitely BL regardiess of the magazine it’s published in. Despite that, it’s also the most un-BL BL I’ve seen so far as it’s more focused on misunderstandings that’s being formed and not just the relationship between Ranmaru and Rihito.

Though, there is flack that this anime gets for being a ‘grooming’ story. Regarding the issues in Korean entertainment lately, it could be a sensitive topic. First off, I don’t condone grooming in real life, so don’t make baseless assumptions about me when you don’t know me. This story is a little complicated in that Ranmaru is around 450 years old, so any interactions with him and a human would be weird. But what can Ranmaru do? He’s in love—he’s able to feel it despite his immortality—and he’s just relishing in that emotion. Sure, he desires for Rihito’s virgin blood, but I see it as a reason he stays with Rihito; for all we know, he might not even suck his blood when Rihito turns eighteen… Never does he try to control or manipulate Rihito—which are common things groomers do to their victims. He usually lets him do what he wants.

The characters are all pretty funny though. Ranmaru is the protagonist of the story, but he’s also the villain in a way. They’re all a weirdo in one way or another and they’re in love with someone. I think the only one who’s a part of this web and not in love is Franken which is also a small gripe because why isn’t anyone in love with him or why isn’t he in love with someone? My favorite is Sakamoto who’s probably the biggest weirdo of the humans.

The voice cast is stellar. It’s mostly an all-star cast and the male voice actors do have experience with BL with the lead Namikawa having the least amount of experience due to him not being a regular participant unlike the other major male characters in the story. The female voice cast is mainly a mix of rookies and a rising star. I honestly think Kaoru’s voice actress Akira Sekine did the best job in the whole cast as she’s not as recognizable as her other roles, showing off her range.

The music and animation were good. The action sequences were well-animated and the music suits the environment. It’s crazy how the anime that everyone overlooks due to the weirdness has a lot of good action sequences that rival big animation studios. If you’re curious who is the studio, it’s Gaina. It’s relatively unknown, but some of the animes they’ve produced are Forest of Piano and The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting. Hopefully, they’ll get more projects because Babanbabanban Vampire was good!

But yeah, this might be a hard anime to recommend due to the weirdness, but I guarantee it’s a good watch if you stick with it. I just wish that people were less prejudiced when it comes to anime because people judge a lot without giving some shows a shot, like this one. If you decide to try it out, just don’t take the plot seriously—that’s my biggest advice. Anyways, if you did watch this anime, let me know your overall thoughts!

[saddesthorseintheplanet]

Now that I'm thinking about it, Takemaru and the bear hat student might be the most underrated Hundred Line characters at the moment. I can understand why people don't talk about the bear hat boy. A lot of people do not like this character mostly due to his appearance. I initially thought of that too but I've grown to like him a bit. But I'm surprised about Takemaru. He has appeared in most promotional materials so far and he's one of the few characters that we know the names and personalities of.

In his introduction, despite his appearance he's a very selfless character with a huge sense of justice and seemed to really like getting his powers because he wanted to be a hero as a kid and I found that really sweet. He was still worrying about the residents of the Tokyo Housing Complex there too and also said he wants to get out of the academy to save more people. Though, I worry about the thing he says in the beginning where he said he has uncontrollable anger and advised Takumi not to go near him when that happens. At least he's honest and knows about it.

When you read the discussions about the game regardless of language. Most of the students are talked about in some capacity, the more thoroughly discussed ones are the Tsukumo siblings, blue hat boy, Darumi, Karua and Takumi. But you seldom, or never hear people talk about Takemaru and the bear hat boy.

To be fair, with a large cast, there's bound to be a few characters who won't be discussed as much as the rest. Which I think is such a shame especially when Takemaru is, in my opinion, quite an interesting character from what little we know about him and the cast so far. It's also funny that he subverted everyone's expectations of him when the TGS program aired. I hope this issue changes once the game or more content comes out. And I hope people can put aside their dislike for the bear hat's design to talk about him properly once we know more about him.

Tldr: Please talk about Takemaru and the bear hat boy more. They're currently the least talked about of the cast and are weirdly underrated.

(Sorry for the yapfest that I brought in, The Hundred Line community 😞)

[heyhellohihowareyou]

Why “Ball Game Tournament Time” is underrated as hell

BASEBALL EPISODE! BASEBALL EPISODE! Any anime that has a baseball episode in it is bound to get Hailey hooked!

And this one is about her Sugi boy! She’s all for him getting more screentime!

Out of context picture

I’m pretty sure that this was the episode that started the “Jiriki Hongan Revolution” intro (Correct me if I’m wrong) and since it’s tied as my fav AC intro, this episode gets points for starting it!

Baseball fanatic Koro is best Koro!

Anyways, did I mention I love baseball episodes because I love baseball episodes

Found a cute side character with freckles. Appreciate her NOW!

Two very good boys right here!

Kimura gets to do something! We must savor this moment while we still can!

Awww a cute Mimura!

I live for a badass Sugi boy (Even though this one is in Shindo’s head 😅)

Also, start the count for how many times Shindo looks like he’s about the piss himself

Ain’t this such a great episode! 3-E is succeeding and showing the main campus kids what’s what! Boy I sure hope no one ruins-

Bitch. Can you please stay out of my feel good sports episodes and not traumatize people at all? You’re bringing down the vibes man 😕

Well the girlies are back at least! Kind of wish we got to see them play though.

Kayano: “It’s just that the other team had huge jiggly boobs! It made me so made that I couldn’t concentrate!” Kaede sweetie you are not beating the allegations 🩷💜💙

Nothing to say except I like Maehara’s bewildered face

GAKUHOU STOP FUCKING MANIPULATING TEENAGERS FOR FUCK SAKE

I hate the man but those eyes though

Irina: “Aha! I think I get it! So you hit a ball with a stick!” Never change Irina. Never change.

Oh my god EVERYONE SHUT UP RIGHT NOW AND LOOK AT MY BOY!!!

Did I mention that I adore Sugino. Well, I ADORE SUGINO!!!

I swear to god Gakuhou doesn’t have life WHY ARE YOU HERE!?

Also, anyone else felt bad for Shindy this episode? Sure he was sort of a cocky bastard for the first part but man is he put through hell here.

Karmster using his bitch powers to good use (Yes, Karmster is his new name now)

Also this should be a meme template

I saw the glowing red eyes and my first thought was “Baki?”

Nothing to say except that I find Isogai’s little sigh cute

Bewildered Shindy

Gakuhou: “Crack a skull if need be.” Why aren’t you in jail yet?

We love Karmster’s little bitch face

Karmster: “Swing like you’re trying to kill us.” My guy is in distress

Nagisa: “That’s got him pretty shaken up.” Pretty Shaken- MY GUY IS TRAUMATIZED!

Again, poor Shindy. Like seriously get this boy some help.

I’ve caught two bright smiles in one screenshot!

Sugino: “Didn’t mean for things to get so crazy.” Shindy needs to go to therapy

Juuuust Karmster

Hadn’t mention before but I love listening to Sugi’s dubbed voice. For someone who shares a voice actor with the loud mouth that is Katsuki Bakugo his voice is nice to listen to

Sugino: “It was about being proud of my new friends. I wanted to show them off.” Sugino I fucking love you.

Welp that’s it. That was a good ass episode that we as a fandom should talk about more! It’s season 1’s version of leader time to me. In fact it’s part of my top ten favorite episodes of the series (I really need to make a list) I don’t say it that much but Sugino as a character brings me so much serotonin so watching this episode was a joy for me! Combined with the fact that I love baseball this episode was an absolute delight.

I keep forgetting how bad I feel for Shindy boy here. Like, he was just slightly cocky and he ended up getting manipulated left and right. Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up having nightmares about the 3-E students sniping him in his sleep or something.

Anyways, like I said. This is a good episode and we should really discuss it more. We should discuss Sugino more. DISCUSS THE BOY! <—— Barely discusses the boy in question

[floatingcatacombs]

Teekyuu and Hubris

12 Days of Aniblogging 2024, Day 7

Chronic illness begets a certain amount of magical thinking. Having to deal with your own body attacking itself at random intervals leads many down the path of desperation and conspiracy. That’s is why it’s important to instead channel that energy into little rituals that don’t provide any physical aid but do help establish a sense of control. In my own struggles with sickness, I’ve gained exactly one such ritual related to anime. For whatever reason, my consolation prize for particularly bad health days is shotgunning an entire season of Teekyuu.

This may sound like a huge endeavor, but these are two-minute episodes we’re dealing with, and that's counting the opening. Teekyuu is a moe gag anime about girls in a tennis club who only rarely actually play tennis. Everything plays out at a staggeringly fast speed, like it’s cramming four minutes of jokes into half that time. This works heavily in its favor! Even if only half of the jokes ever hit at best, the whole thing plays out so fast that the failures don’t really stick around in your psyche, but the hits can really add up. Fuck it, I’ll just post an episode, it'll fit within Tumblr's file size limit.

So, what did you think? Actually, don't answer that, just imagine twelve of those back-to-back. That’s the kind of shit that I’m on during the days where my gut has decided in advance to kill me. It is absolutely the kind of show that boils your brain, but sometimes you need your mind simmered for sanity’s sake. And for that, it is my ideal show. If watching Lucky Star is like basking in CGDCT moe, then Teekyuu is like getting slapped with it, repeatedly.

I could honestly end the writeup here, but Teekyuu actually has a surprisingly serious production history surrounding it, which I would be remiss to leave out. Also, I really like the idea of making you spend so much time with this essay learning arcane industry drama that you could have just watched a good chunk of a Teekyuu season. Now then....

MAPPA is a big studio! They took on adapting Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen and the later parts of Attack on Titan and a million other high-profile anime, and are renowned for their fights and animation quality. Of course, they’re also notorious for paying terribly, taking on way too many projects, and absolutely grinding their workers into dust. They’re a company of extremes, but in a way that makes them extremely emblematic of where the anime industry is at right now.

It wasn’t always this way, though. MAPPA started out in the early 2010s with some lower-profile but mostly well-received projects, such as Kids on the Slope, Ushio & Tora, and an original titled Punch Line which one of my friends from high school insists is peak. And during this early period, they were also churning out season after season of Teekyuu. Shin Itagaki is something of a D-tier auteur when it comes to Teekyuu, acting as the director, character designer, key animator, in-betweener, and sound director for almost every episode. Itagaki’s actually got a pretty cool resume – he helped out on Princess Mononoke’s animation, contributed to a few Gainax shows, and wore quite a lot of hats on the underrated stupid comedy brawling anime Ben-To. But Teekyuu is his real brainchild, and it seems to have garnered enough of a following to justify continued releases (of course, the production costs must have also been pretty low).

Anyways, in 2015 Itagaki quits MAPPA and founds his own studio called Millepensee, with him as chief director and his wife handling the business operations.  With this newfound and total creative control, he goes on to make…four more seasons of Teekyuu, as well as two spinoffs. The dude knows what he wants. But that’s his pet project. His wife has greater ambitions, and is steadily growing the studio in order to try and take on a larger project. They manage to get Berserk.

It still baffles me that someone looked at Itagaki’s resume and saw his seven nearly-consecutive seasons of high school girls getting up to rapid-fire antics and decided that he was the one for this job. I guess he had enough cred from his past projects like Hajime no Ippo and Ghibli contracting that they decided he could take a turn at adapting probably the greatest fantasy manga of all time.

It wasn't just going to be his studio, thankfully. This was organized to be a co-production with the 3DCG studio GEMBA, who up until then had only contributed background VFX to various shows, and had never handled an adaptation on their own. So Itagaki's job as director and key animator in pre-production was to handle storyboards and guide the artstyle of the adaptation, making sure it mapped well to the 3D models and animation techniques the studio was using.

When Berserk 2016 was announced, a lot of people were worried that Itagaki’s recent near-exclusive work on moe anime would pose a problem with the Berserk artstyle, but it turned out to be the other way around. He wanted to stay extremely faithful to the original artwork with techniques that the 3D software of the era simply couldn't render in real time, such as cross-hatching that Berserk is known for. Instead Millepensee had to add 2D textures and effects over the completed renders, taking on the laborious and messy task of fixing it in post. That’s why the texturing looks so janky and inconsistently applied in the final project, a lot of it had to be done by hand against a strict deadline!

The information in this section is mostly taken from a very good ANN writeup.

In between seasons of this Berserk adaptation, and right afterwards, Itagaki released Teekyuu 8 and 9. I guess this was his way of letting off steam.  

You’d think that this experience would deter them from CG productions, but in 2020 Millepensee purchased a 3D animation studio, and most of their productions are now in a hybrid 2D+3D animation style with Itagaki directing. Granted, they're all low-rent isekai adaptations, but at least they're still getting work after Berserk.

The saddest part about this failed Berserk adaptation is that it could have gone way better had they just tried a few years later! Hybrid 2D + 3D pipelines started getting really good in the late 2010s, with Studio Orange and his old bosses at MAPPA both mastering the craft on shows like Dorohedoro and Land of the Lustrous. Nowadays it’s absolutely everywhere, and you hardly see anyone complaining, especially when it’s used for a striking artstyle or to adapt something that would be near-impossible to do right with traditional animation. It's probably the only way you could animate the later parts of Berserk sanely, but nobody wants to try again after the 2016 attempt went so poorly (and also Miura's fucking dead). Also sad is how MAPPA really came into prominence just as Itagaki was leaving, with hits like Yuri on Ice and Kakegurui and Zombieland Saga coming out year after year. Though I don’t know if he would have been assigned to any of those had he stayed, and he probably gets a much bigger paycheck now even though he's working on stuff ten percent as popular.

We have drifted far, far, away from Teekyuu, so I’ll just loop back by saying that Teekyuu changes a person. It is kind of evil on some fundamental level. And yet, it is occasionally load-bearing on my psyche, like pushing a reset button somewhere in my synapses. I’ve still got a few late seasons stashed away for when I need them. With the last one coming out in 2017, I think it’s safe to say that there’s no more Teekyuu on the horizon, but what we’ve got is plenty. Its total runtime is almost as long as a standard 12-episode season, even! Someone should just bite the bullet and make a hell-on-earth video upload or torrent that stitches them all together. It might have to be me.

[dailycass-cain]

so this is my first time reading Batgirl (TYSM for the guide!) and I'm pretty new to comics in general. I've made it to #41 so far, and I can't help but notice the huge decline in writing from #38 onwards with the change of writers. Maybe it's just exacerbated by how good the previous issues were; but it really feels like Cass drastically went from a rare female character that is actually written with the same respect and depth as the male characters to being turned into a "girl superhero" with boy troubles who gets forced into bikinis and love triangles. Since you seem to know a lot about what was going on behind the scenes at the time, did something happen? I know there's misogynistic/racist men in the industry who hated Cass so I was wondering if that was already brewing back then during her 2000s run

I think when it came post-Puckett era, Dylan Horrocks was faced with a choice: ape off Puckett or try something different with the character.

I'll be honest, the early Horrocks' stuff you're in hasn't aged well. The ideas are interesting, of exploring sexuality and Cass realizing she can "see" what men think of her, and I think the utter realization of Babs making a mistake is good. It's just the overall execution is more of a miss.

The thing is, #41 gives us an excellent in-character reason for her choices. It's just this is all balanced with Bruce being pretty awful to Cass during this period (because this is all in a lead-up to Horrocks "big" story for #50).

Horrocks run can best be summed as: starts "meh" has interesting ideas, but fails to fully execute them well. There are some standoff amazing moments in the comics (I think the Doll Man issue is quite underrated).

Though, you're right. This is the era when Dan DiDio began to rise to power within the DC Comics Company, and it shows during this particular run.

So during this "run" we had A LOT of things happen outside the comic.

#1 Batman: Hush going on, and that story is particularly infamous for neglecting Cass due to story writer Jeph Loeb's distaste cause she wasn't Barbara Gordon (artist Jim Lee, who now currently runs DC too had this idea but since 2020 has softened this stance and realizes the mistake made).

Add this with DiDio's bias toward the Bronze Age "iconic" characters (Barry, Hal, and Babs) you have this growing problem.

#2 Cass DID get to be involved in another comic. The Justice League: Elite maxi-series. Though she didn't show up in THE Batman story, Cass was showing up in two other series at this time. One, well is in my "infamous" Cass reading guide (Batman: City of Light), and JL: Elite.

The later series did a nice job with the "twist" that Cass was on the team and as an agent of Batman spying on them. It is an actually interesting and good story.

#3 This is the era the "editorial edicts" started to come in. So a rather infamous thing during DiDio's reign was editorial edicts that would force changes in comics (leading to some outrageous OOC moments). This happened TWICE in Horrocks' Batgirl run.

At a certain point, Horrocks is told via top brass that he's losing Babs as a supporting cast member and has to write her off the comic. So he has to write a Babs/Cass go their separate ways due to well you'll see.

The other is in regards to Stephanie Brown who'll be back in the comic past #50 (she left the series in #38). What Horrocks didn't know until a Bat summit around this time (where all the Batman book creatives discussed where to take the books in the coming months) is that Stephanie's days were numbered.

She was coming back (and as Robin), but they were killing off the character. Horrocks and Nightwing writer Devin Grayson HATED the idea and objected to it.

Sadly, they were outvoted and well whatever else occurred in those meetings (or after) resulted in Horrocks quitting the Batgirl series and DC Comics itself by #57 (this is why Horrocks' run on the book just ends abruptly with no real end). Horrocks is still currently just enjoying the life of writing and doing Indie comics.

Interestingly, whatever Horrocks said or did it's interesting to note his is the only run never collected fully by DC Comics. Sadly, the only Batgirl issues that were EVER put in a trade were the stuff that made him walk (Batman: War Games, the event that killed Stephanie Brown). That was until the mid-2010s when DC released a HC Batgirl Anniversary trade that also included stories of Bette Kane, Steph, and Cass as Batgirl. #45 (aka Cass wearing Babs' Batgirl costume) is in the trade collection.

Ironically, this bad management editorial would also eventually affect Kelley Puckett (who returns to DC with Supergirl Vol. 5 #23-29, 31-32) around 2008 to 2009 but then ALSO decided to leave DC and comics altogether.

Not those two, but also the writer who'd replaced Horrocks, Andersen Gabrych (who was one of the minds behind War Games). However, I honestly do love Gabrych's run on Batgirl more than Horrocks. It's just the edicts and the rushing toward the end of his run kind of sours it.

I hope all this information is helpful.

[ciaheyhimm]

Introduction to the Reichblr community! (Remake)

A year later...

Buonasera, Buongiorno or Buon pomeriggio (depending on the time of the day you're reading this post)!

It's nice to meet you all. My name is Beatrice, but I would prefer to be called Trixie or Tracy. I'm a 18 year old student whom has great expectations for the future as I would like to become a historian or a history teacher.

⬇️ Here are some informations about me ⬇️

[🤍] Yes, I'm Italian. I come from a very small town in the North of Italy.

[🖤] I'm a High School Student: I study languages and currently I know 4 of them which are Italian, English, Spanish and German. However, in the future, I would like to learn others as well.

[🤍] History is my cup of tea: it all started when I was a child thanks to my grandfather's books and my grandmother's stories. I began with a hyperfixation over the Ancient Roman period before I started getting curious over the WWII one during Middle School. I made my very first presentation to the class about some historical figures and then I graduated from Middle School by discussing about the Totalitarian Systems.

[🖤] Growing up, I bought books, many books (I love reading and it's one of my hobbies alongside drawing and writing). My studies were all focused on the Third Reich and it still is. I love learning about new intriguing facts, discussing about certain topics with my friends and make my own ideas. Despite my interest for Germany around that period, I don't agree with any of the ideologies of that time.

[🤍] The historical figures of the Third Reich whom I most give my attention to are: Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Himmler, but not only! I know it's a big common thing to see around here, but I'm really studying these two figures with particular interest because I need it to complete a book that I'm currently writing.

[🖤] Around late 2023 I began learning about the history of my country as well during WWII because I barely knew anything about it. In some ways, it's too much underrated and probably picked on without a clear motive. That's why I'm also here: I want to spread information about Fascist Italy and its most important figures.

[🤍] My favourite historical figures of Fascist Italy are: Italo Balbo, Galeazzo Ciano, Dino Grandi. These three are the complete opposites to one another but so interesting because their interactions are amazing, as they almost come out from a drama fiction (not kidding).

[🖤] I'm a roleplayer and this helped me a lot with the intention of writing a book as I feel much more confidence to gather my ideas and create something unique not only for me, but also for you.

[🤍] I'm a huge soccer/football fan: my favourite team is Juventus (idk, I thought it was a funny thing to add).

♤♤♤♤

I think that was all for now, if I have something more to add I'll make sure to modify this post.

My DMs are always open if you want to get to know me a little bit more. Otherwise, send me a friend request on Discord: vlahovicciana

If you have a question to ask me, make sure to send them anonymously or simply comment this post! 🤍🖤

Also, he's my Roleplay Ad in case you're interested:

[mrs-monaghan]

Sorry to say this but I don't understand why you jkkrs are so happy after reading about jikook from the book. I mean yes it was sweet that they talked about their trip to Japan or jk talked about how jimin came to find him when he was drinking alone and stressed but again..it's not anything which makes sure that they were a couple. In fact... after filming jk went somewhere to drink alone without telling jimin because he was feeling stressed..it only shows how they were never a couple. And jimin came for him to find him and comfort him...was again proved that how emotionally stable jimin always was as a person for every member in the group. He was always there somewhere comforting the members..jk was no exception. And you can find these types of emotional stories from every member about him jimin being there for them. But the fact that jk went alone...his own way after doing his work in the company... clearly shows that they were and still are.. great friends but nothing more.

Okay anon. I will gladly explain this to you in the most simplest of terms. Okay? So listen. Are you listening? On this post I said the following:

To a none shipper Jikook are good friends who went to Tokyo and walked down a dark alley. 2 friends who comfort each other when sad. To someone logical this is sweet and not that big of a deal. This is not information that should be stressing people out. Surely.

So yeah, the new moments are not ground breaking, they're just cementing what we already know. That Jikook is real. Those moments are about GCFT and that, dear anon, shows exactly how Jikook are a couple. Whats in the book is cute and just reminds us how close they are and how beautiful their rlship is.

Which brings me to your question as to why we are celebrating something that's not that deep. Well, here is why. Do you see this video?

That moment is exactly what OP describes it as

Like... its not a big deal. Jikook are just goofing about.. its not that serious and yet we celebrate it, why? You wanna hear sum'n crazy? This is not even an underrated Jikook moment. It's quite popular. But why?

Because we already know that Jikook is real. We don't need proof, we don't need evidence and we definitely do not need confirmation. We know already that they are a couple. From mountains of evidence you are ignoring and choosing only to look at what's in the book. But that's the thing anon, unlike you we don't forget whats happened since 2015 to date.

We already know Jikook is real. If someone came to me and asked me why I think they're real I won't show them what's on the book, I won't show them this video of them touching each other's necks. These are just a bonus! These just accompany the huge moments.

To summarize; We already know Jikook are a couple. So now we just sit back and enjoy the little tidbits we get here and there. And we coo and smile and laugh and just love them even more. That, is why we are celebrating the moments in the book.

We already knew the Tokyo trip was special but the fact that they can't move on from it, it means something. The fact that GCFT exists, it means something.

Anyway guys. Let's get GCFT to 40M. It was 30M before the book dropped and its now at 33M 🤭🤭🤭 this means its been watched 3 million times already and it hasn't even been 24 hours. And people really think we are a small ship? He he heee... we have fucking numbers bro!