#kafka core lol

[joysandroses]

may be i should start tumblr posting like kafka.

28 december: woke up to no messages from him today, again. Weather is cold. Perhaps, the punishment of loneliness is the price we pay for obsession. Tea for breakfast.

[harbingersglory]

miko is SO REAL for that, two switches fighting over who gets to dom is the best dynamic. if you have time/want to i'd be curious to hear any sub headcanons you have for lisa, ei, ningguang and/or kafka!

this is so incredibly self indulgent because i see ningguang, ei and kafka in the same sentence and explode. everyone pretend i didnt accidentally pick a fav here um

ningguang i already see as a pillow princess more than anything she fits this so well. absolutely adores going slow + worship. treat this woman like royalty and lord you will not regret it. she goes all out to make the night as perfect as possible. will not let you have a hand in any of it sorry!! this is her turf. perfect atmosphere suited to your tastes (tons of candles, if you like that, or just going by moonlight is also her style). incense, taking a few minutes beforehand just to really get settled in the mood (usually by cuddling, but shes not against just taking a moment for some tea or even a game of chess).

you'll also probably need all that extra time to sort through whatever shes bought this time. when i said she goes the whole nine yards i mean it. she has money and she will use it. very expensive lingerie for herself (and you, if thats your thing.) and literally anything you could ever want. it heavily depends on what you both want out of the night but she spares no mora making it the best she can.

the non-sexual intimacy before hand (and especially after) is important to her she takes it very seriously (for the both of you). you'll probably get dragged into taking a long bath afterwards before actually going to bed. hope you arent too tired! because its gonna be a while before you actually sleep.

because this woman has stamina. technically. she's just really pent up and theres no better way to get that stress out then soft sex with her partner. shes not picky about positions really but she has a soft spot for laying on her stomach with a pillow to prop up her hips (really accentuates the pillow princess part, huh /j). if you start massaging her she's gonna wake up the entirety of liyue. she's normally quiet but lord knows she needs it and she cant keep quiet for the life of her.

genuinely just very soft and gentle. she just needs some good pampering after a long day to unwind (preferably with a glass of wine, but thats for later).

ei..is very awkward about it. she probably gets embarrassed if you bring it up but shes not. opposed per se. she's just used to domming that she has no idea what to do. genuinely a mess the first time around but she gets the hang of it quick (shes a quick learner :])

also you just really get to see a side of her you usually never do! she's usually big on topping and shes pretty calm and composed about it (usually). not cold, just..she doesn't outwardly express things often. except when shes subbing. its like a switch flipped

just dont tease her about how visibly flustered and awkward she is about it. because she is. horribly so. shes still pretty quiet but thats just ei, to be fair. its like a cute, nervous puppy. call her a good girl though and she might short circuit so badly the shogun comes out

though i also see ei as someone who prefers giving even when subbing. a dangerous combo considering her body is a puppet and, yknow, cant get tired. you will have to pry this woman off you shes lowkey insatiable when it comes to pleasing you. 100% less of a brat, though. you give her an order shes following through with it before you can blink. efficient!

kafka is similar to miko, imo. maybe yelan too?? she gives off big brat vibes when she subs. she wont use suggestion in bed unless your 100% cool with it and even then its usually when she doms but when she subs? shes a menace. bit of a masochist, to be honest. she'll push your buttons until you crack and decide to punish her but woops, thats just what she wants so she wins anyway!

she cant feel fear but she certainly enjoys a good thrill. specifically sensory deprivation. cover her eyes with a blindfold and keep her guessing. its probably her favorite part, the closest she can get to fear. especially if you add a bit of pain into it.

choking, spanking, bit of blood..this woman is smiling through it all like she's the happiest woman in the world. especially if it makes you frustrated. shes like it desperate and rough.

if thats not your speed, though, she can get that thrill in other ways. semi public sex is her jam so sandwich her against a wall in some random supply closet and make her scream. shes not quiet even in the comfort of whatever room shes booked this time and you'll have to physically shut her up if you dont want to get caught. shes still a brat at heart, though. put your fingers in her mouth and she'll bite. your gonna need the patience of a saint to dom kafka.

[aestheteanime]

how long they last during a sex ban

your boyfriend has been a little too... bold for your liking recently. after getting caught fucking in the training room, you felt it was necessary to enact some sort of punishment to make up for your embarrassment.

✶ ft: ichikawa reno, hoshina soshiro, furuhashi iharu, narumi gen

✶ cw: afab, semi-public sex, grinding, mutual masturbation, cunnilingus, pet names [baby, pretty girl, etc.], edging, orgasm denial (very very briefly)

✶ wc: 2.9k

✶ author's note: i've never written for kn8 so im not totally sure how well im gonna be able to write for these boys but i tried my best, hopefully it's okay lol

nsfw minors DNI

— ✶ ICHIKAWA RENO | 4 days

at the beginning reno thought he had this whole "sex ban" punishment in the bag. it's not like his sex drive was higher than yours-- so why, after only four days, was he begging for you like he had been deprived of your touch for eons?

"please, baby," he mumbles, face pressed into your neck as you shift uncomfortably on the couch.

you wanted to touch him so bad. wanted to indulge in him as much as he wanted to indulge in you, but you knew you had to keep a cool head. this was his punishment after all, and he had to face the consequences of his actions.

you had been mortified when kafka walked in on you two fucking against the wall, bodies sweaty and sticky-- and so so so close to orgasming. reno had been humiliated too, apologizing profusely on both of your halves and begging kafka to keep this a secret. he'd reluctantly agreed, but it was definitely still awkward between them. so then if reno was as embarrassed as you, why was he so eager to fuck you again?

reno's hand caresses your cheek, pressing a soft kiss under your ear before peppering them down your neck to your collarbone. they're soft, delicate even, almost as if he's afraid he'll hurt you if he kisses you any harder. it was infuriating. you wanted more-- needed more. "i'm sorry," he murmurs against your skin, fingers trailing to your chest before finding your tit, squeezing gently. "it won't happen again, i promise. just please touch me." his voice drawls out into a quiet whine and you can feel arousal begin to soak your panties.

his hand moves yours to palm at the erection through his pants and you nearly moan for him when your hands shift slightly to cup his balls.

shivering at the feeling of him smirking against your neck-- almost as if he knows he's won-- your head falls back to expose your entire neck to him. every passing second you feel your composure begin to slip. each touch seers hot against your skin, aching-- no, begging-- to give into him. it had only been four days. four days. a mere 96 hours and he was already on you like a dog in heat. "reno," you warn, though you're not sure how much conviction your voice displays. in fact, you're pretty sure it shakes with each breath.

"come on," he sighs, whining-- you can practically hear him pout. "it's been long enough, hasn't it?" his voice is raspy in your ear, vibrations going straight to your core. "wanna touch you. want you to touch me."

you groan in frustration, finally looking into his eyes only to see them glazed over. reno's pupils are dilated, focused solely on you and you alone.

his hand pulls your face closer to his, eyes fluttering to your lips, then your eyes, and back to your lips, silently asking for permission to close the gap.

you finally oblige.

your lips collide in a mess, spit mixing with each other's as reno moves to pull you into his lap in one swift motion. legs straddle his as your arms move to hook around his neck. your tongue slides against his, a fire lighting itself in your stomach as reno's lips move against yours, only proving to further fan the flames. there's a primal desire in the way his hands roam your body, squeezing your waist and pulling you against him, back and forth against his groin.

hands move to unbutton his pants before your lifting your body so he can pull them down, cock springing free as you notice your mouth practically drooling at the sight.

regardless of how many times you had fucked before, you somehow keep forgetting how pretty it is. the way it curves slightly to the left, veins running up the shaft, and oh the way it twitches when your hands find it.

reno nearly cries when you spread the precum along his head, jerking up into you at just your mere touch alone.

the sight is beautiful. reno's hair stuck to his forehead with sweat, head leaned back against the couch as his hands have no idea what to do with themselves. it's as if he was a bumbling, nervous virgin all over again.

that thought is quickly relinquished however, when he lets out a, "fuck, baby... missed this."

— ✶ HOSHINA SOSHIRO | 2 weeks

it wasn't soshiro that broke the sex ban. in fact, he could've gone longer just to prove a point. but with the way you were cuddled up next to him, leg slung over his, pelvis flush with his upper thigh as he felt the pulse of your cunt against him, he figured two weeks was plenty long.

he could tell you were pent up-- knowing that he was jacking off in the same bed, night after night, while you struggled to even reach your own release. it was a constant battle, and the humiliation of envying his right hand only seemed to intensify the torment. you needed him to get the job done, it just wasn't the same by yourself.

hearing the slick of his cock as he stroked himself every other night was pure, psychological torture-- and he knew it.

he knew listening to his rapid, heavy breathing riled you up. he knew his quiet, restrained moans and muffled whimpers soaked your panties. he knew not being able to see or feel his cock pulsing in his hand drove you crazy.

"soshiro," you mumble, your breath tickling his ear as your hand finds the curve of his neck, fingers tracing the line of his jaw before settling in his hair. "sex ban is over." your voice has a hint of embarrassment that soshiro immediately picks up on, and you brace yourself for what's coming next.

he hums, glancing down at you over his phone before setting it on the bedside table. "hmm?" he coos, eyes meeting yours as you prepare for the worst. "done already? you need me that badly, huh?" he speaks in an almost mocking tone and you have to hold back from turning over, red-faced and giving up. but you needed him, no matter how embarrassed he made you.

"don't tease," you plead, hand tracing a path down his chest until it reaches the waistband of his sweats. they hang low on his waist, hugging his hips oh-so-perfectly that you can't help but palm at his length through the fabric, wishing nothing more than for him to just let you have him.

you missed the feeling of him in your hand, jerking when you first brush your thumb over his tip, smearing the precum down his length. you missed how sensitive he gets when your mouth is wrapped around him, tongue swirling around his head, teasing his slit. you missed the unintelligible whimpers that leave his throat when you take him all, spit pooling at the base of his cock, nearly choking at the size. you missed how--

"you can't even handle your own punishment, baby," soshiro breathes, words laced with a dangerous amusement. his head falls back at the feeling of your hand against him. a shaky sigh escapes him, heat spreading to form a knot in his lower belly as he feels his cock harden. "shit," he mutters. "shit, shit, shit."

you smirk at the profanities he so rarely says, fingers inching to dip under his waistband as you trail down the sensitive skin, causing him to shudder. "you want it too," you pout, eyes fixated on the rhythm of his chest rising and falling-- the way he brushes a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm himself down. "or... maybe not?" you tease, pulling your hand away before moving to turn over, but not before soshiro's hand can grip your wrist, stalling your actions.

soshiro's skin is hot, face flushed as he relishes your touch, yearning to feel your soft, velvet walls wrapped around him. it had been too long, he thinks. too long of trying to convince himself he didn't need you, but now, with you so willing to give yourself back to him, he's changed his mind.

"i do," he whispers, although his actions speak louder when he pulls you back to him. "fuck, i want you."

your hand is placed back on his cock, and through the fabric you feel him throb, begging to be taken out. the drawstring of his sweats seemingly unties itself when soshiro pulls the material off, watching as it springs free-- tip leaking with precum. silently gazing at you with hooded eyes, he pumps himself one, two, three times.

sochiro lets out what sounds like more of a whimper than a sigh, "stop gawking and help me out here, would you?"

— ✶ FURUHASHI IHARU | 20 minutes

iharu is a simp through and through. as soon as you enacted the sex ban, he made it his life's mission to eradicate it. i mean, he couldn't just let his girl go without having his cock, right? that would just be too cruel...

"come on, baby. that's not fair, i didn't do anything wrong. it's not my fault vice-captain walked in on us. how was i supposed to know he trained that late?" iharu rambles, pressing his body against your back. his body is hot, still sweaty from the session earlier.

it had been 15 minutes since you had made it back to your dorm in total and utter embarrassment. both of you had left the the gym with red faces and blue balls.

iharu's cock had been slamming into you at an unrelenting pace, one that you weren't even sure was human. too enamored with the way your pussy squeezed him, all he could muster were lazy fingers messily rubbing circles against your clit. you could feel yourself throbbing against his girth, each thrust practically molding your walls to the shape of his cock-- memorizing each detail.

his muscles flexed as he held himself above you on the bench press, the red leather beneath you wet and shiny with sweat, sticking to your skin.

he looked like a god, hell, he felt like a god, with the way his breath fanned your neck, balls slapping against your ass. each slap echoed through the quiet gym, the filth of the sound only spurring the both of you on. "so pretty for me," he mumbles, tongue swiping up your neck before letting out a shaky sigh. "so good to me." your back arched, leaning into him as the heat in your stomach grew, breath picking up in an attempt to chase your orgasm.

and then the door creaked, causing you both to freeze in place and look for the source of the sound. there, hoshina stood, eyes wide as he swiftly turned, back facing you so that you can only imagine the look on his face. "gym is closed after midnight." he'd stated, voice loud, almost like he's trying to block out what he just saw. "go to bed." walking out and closing the door behind him you lay there, iharu's cock still twitching inside you.

"sex ban for two weeks, iharu." you turn to face him, crossing your arms to push him away, watching as he nearly trips on the end of your bed.

his mouth drops, hands gripping your shoulders in a plea. "what? why?" his hold on you isn't strong by any means, just firm, and you can tell you've struck a nerve.

you know he was still pent up from being cock-blocked earlier, but you make no motion to even spare his hard-on a glance. "what do you mean why? i told you we were going to get caught and we did!" your voice raises but you nearly instantly regret it when iharu takes a deep breath, trying to calm the ache pressing against his sweat pants.

he only gets hornier when you're mad at him.

you lower your voice this time, taking his hands off your shoulders. "you didn't listen to me."

"you liked the idea." he lowers his head to whisper in your ear. "i heard the way you were moaning, begging for me to let you finish. how much tighter your pussy squeezed me than normal at the thought of someone walking in." iharu's hands move to the small of your back, tracing his finger tips up and down your spine.

you huff, trying not to concentrate on the way his nails tickle your skin. your head dips down, attempting to calm your breathing before realizing your mistake.

your eyes meet the bulge in iharu's sweats and you nearly let out an audible gulp, thighs pressing themselves together at the sight. he wasn't the only one still pent up.

you hear a low chuckle from above as you absentmindedly move your hands to untie his drawstring.

"so much for a ban," you hear him mumble before shooting him a glare. "not that i mind though, pretty girl."

— ✶ NARUMI GEN | 2 days

there was a mutual end to the sex ban between the two of you... well, sort of. gen had broken it but it's not like you were mad about it.

your breathing was hot and heavy when your eyes open to a half-lit room. absentmindedly, you reach for the right side of the bed, feeling an empty, cold space. it was strange, usually you'd wake up to the man clingy to your side, shivering from the blasting air conditioner.

you had gotten used to his weight as he laid half of his body on you, lips pressed into the crook of your neck. he'd curl into you like a cat, and you swear some mornings you could hear him purr. his hands rested under your body, one cradled your shoulder while the other rested protectively across your waist. it's be a funny looking sight to outsiders-- japans strongest, the number one anti-kaiju combatant in all of the country, snuggled up on top of his girlfriend-- but to you, it was everything.

gen was nowhere to be found next to you, so you nearly jump when you feel a wet kiss press to your upper thigh. you're quick to lift up the covers, your aforementioned missing boyfriend squinting at the light. his hair was a tousled mess, colored ends curling to frame his face. had he been not been between your legs, you'd have thought the sight innocent and sweet.

sleep-heavy eyes meet yours, glazed over in exhaustion before he's swiping his tongue between your folds. you shiver.

it's such a dirty sight. the way he smirks into your pussy, maintaining eye contact. the way his lips find your clit and gently suck, slurping at the excess arousal dripping from your cunt.

and god the noises.

the wet slurping of his mouth savoring your juices filled the room, breath fanning hot against you. the feeling of his lips latching to your clit, tongue gliding through and dipping into your hole caused you to jerk up into him and he only smiled, chuckling at your reactions.

the humiliation burned, too embarrassed to look any longer. but his touch, the rough calluses of his hands holding your legs apart despite your desperate attempt to close them around his head, was intoxicating. "mornin' sleepyhead," he mumbles, pressing a caste kiss to your lower stomach. it was sweet compared to the sight from two seconds ago.

the pads of his fingers trace circles along your thighs, eliciting chills from your body. yet his hands are warm, especially against the cold air. with every shift of your body, a rush of air brushes against your cunt. you shiver, not saying a word but instead curling your hands through his hair and pushing his mouth back to where you needed it most. you needed the warmth-- needed him.

no further words needed to be said as gen drags his tongue ever so slowly through your folds. it's agonizing, it's not enough, it's nearly torture the way he curls his tongue and laps at your juices. so so so slowly as you twitch and buck into him, grinding against the muscle for more. he just huffs out a laugh, actions somehow slowing even further and you finally build up the courage to seek a glance at him again.

his gaze remains firmly fixed on you, meticulously observing every subtle twitch of your body in reaction to the flick of his tongue. and he notices when your breathing starts to pick up, chest rising and falling with increasing fervor as you feel yourself near your release. you close your eyes, concentrating on the heat rising in your core. it's hot and it's approaching fast, bubbling down your stomach and to your cunt.

and then he stops, a gasp leaving you at the sudden halt and your quick to scoff in frustration. sliding up the bed to rest his entire body on you, gen presses a long, wet kiss to your lips.

your eyebrows furrow at the action but relax when his head rests against your chest. "not gonna let you cum until the sex ban is gone," he mumbles into you. hands sliding under your shoulders.

you groan, hand gently slapping the back of his head as he just laughs. "it was gone the second you started eating me out."

"well in that case--"

[kujoestars]

The Mechanism of Kafka's Transformation and How It Affects Him

(Crossposting my analysis/theory from Reddit. Also, warning: this post contains both anime and manga spoilers so beware if you are anime-only)

So, something that drove me nuts about the manga's version of the X-ray scene was the fact that there was literally no difference from a normal human chest x-ray. The anime THANK GOODNESS fixed that:

We finally know exactly how Kafka's core looks while he's in human form. It appears to be primarily occupying where the chambers would be with a good amount of myocardium (the heart muscles) suspending it while also continuing to function as a heart.

Notably for me, there's actually a translucent hemicircle up top there where it's supposed to connect to the aorta. In fact, you can see the core is translucent on its left (our right) side while more opaque to its right (our left).

Let me highlight it for reference I hope y'all appreciate the fact I had to do it with a mouse on MSPaint because Reddit won't save images to drafts and I can't drop images from tablet like on desktop:

It appears that Kafka's heart was fully converted and the tissue there is just a facsimile since it appears to be forming a pouch for the core to nestle in.

The anime's expansion of the scene the Mysterious Larva/Young Yoju fused with Kafka ended up perfectly tying in to this. Something I noticed was that Kafka was not actually transforming for most of it. Initially he was clutching at his throat where it entered:

Then just before the transformation started (when his eyes started glowing), he was clawing desperately at his chest:

For reference to anyone who's never studied anatomy, the mid-esophagus is actually resting against the heart, which is why the best form of imaging for the heart is a transesophageal echocardiogram (i.e. stick an ultrasound down the esophagus), which works like in this diagram:

In other words, the Larva's target was his heart and it was burrowing into it from that point. Which is consistent with where Kafka was clawing at in the shot I posted before and why after the change completed, his hand was resting just above that area:

Basically, the theory I have been saving specifically for after this episode is: Everything about Kafka's body is tied to the core.

Yes, that was obvious since we saw him regenerate his entire body from just the core, but what I'm saying here is that that the heart was the only thing the Larva was trying to fuse with. The rest of the body followed instantaneously once the heart became a core. Kaiju cores appear to be storing a lot of energy, so it would fit in with why even the initial change could happen so rapidly. It was a large burst of energy that had Kafka's cells all convert and restructure, and we even see steam coming both off and out of him here in the anime.

All future changes seem to be purely a matter of him controlling every cell in his body like individual muscles or even like how cuttlefish and octopi are able to change their appearance in an instant from muscle contractions and chromatophores.

In other words, the evidence has stacked to full OVERKILL that Kafka is truly a kaiju that can shapeshift into a human rather than the reverse like he and everyone else prefers to think.

Which leads me to my big pet theory right now: the reason Kafka is losing his ability to revert to human form is because he's becoming malnourished. I won't stack the image evidence since I've already done enough and the focus is on the core and Kafka's real biological nature now (I'll save that for a future post, lol), but it only stands to reason that if Kafka is physiologically a kaiju regardless of form, that means he has the metabolic needs of a kaiju.

He was only fine before because he had a lot of extra body fat as reserves and didn't use his kaiju form much. But after entering the Defense Force, he's been in multiple situations where he had to push himself while transformed and consume much more energy. If you pay attention to his body type, you'll notice he's been having quite a bit of weight loss.

Sure, he's been training a lot too and eating better, but following the fight with Isao, he's becoming abnormally thin. Maybe not enough for people to immediately think he needs a sandwich, but as of the latest chapters, I've noticed he's actually pretty lanky now even in kaiju form when previously Kaiju No. 8 was built like a bear.

You could argue it's just art evolution EXCEPT literally no one else had such a drastic change in body type or AT ALL. I'm pretty convinced this is an intentional transition from Matsumoto.

Whatever Kafka is eating as a human, it's not enough to sustain him long term and so his body is going into power save mode. And since his default is kaiju (why else would he constantly slip up his first few months if it wasn't actually his default form?), his body is losing its ability to shapeshift because it doesn't have the energy to. Malnourishment tends to manifest in a similarly piecemeal fashion irl, so I'm not surprised its first sign is just one spot on his hand.

Such a deceptively simple reason for the kaijufication is precisely why I'm very certain that is the cause. Kafka has a lot of issues with loving and taking care of himself. And this series is all about subverting tropes in favor of common sense. It's not some "inner demon" trying to take over (the Larva actually only did that once because Kafka was both in danger and refusing to fight back what it perceived as another daikaiju); Kafka just isn't taking care of himself as usual!

And there you have it, folks. Finally, a clear breakdown of what exactly the Larva did, how the transformations work, and why the kaijufication may not be as scary as everyone thinks. Or rather....not in the way they think. Someone please feed that kaiju properly!

[fuxuannie]

This is honestly my first time requesting anything so I'm kinda nervous ngl lol.

May I request some HCs with Dan Heng, Jing Yuan and/or Blade with a GN Reader who dislikes physical touches? As in, if someone hugs them and grabs their arm they recoil as fast as they can because they're uncomfortable? And will only be okay with physical affection when it's needed or if it's their partner?

Thank you for possibly considering this request, and have a good day or night :)

* pairing(s) : various hsr men (4) x gender neutral reader

* prompt : request ♡

* authors note : this request is SO me-core, as someone who's horrible with physical touch, i think im the best candidate for this /j thank you for the req and i'm honored im your first! this is really messy, im sorry T.T

DAN HENG was one of the first people to notice your discomfort with physical touch when you joined the Astral Express. March 7th tried to cling onto you, but instinctively you moved out of her way. (and admittedly almost made her stumble and fall doing so.) Profusely apologizing for that little accident, but you never really let people hold onto you.

So when you two got together, Dan Heng was pleasantly surprised with how clingy you really were. Whenever he was working in the Archives, the arms wrapping his waist and leaning on his back couldn't have been anyone else, he didn't wanna ask or point it out, just incase you would've been embarrassed or awkward about it.

Not only giving, but receiving. You used to refuse any form of physical touch but now the way he holds you in his arms is a blessing. You fit so perfectly, like you were meant for him, and he's so glad that you are. He helped you learn to love touch, and you helped him realize he loved to touch.

"I'll be there after work, I promise." You remember JING YUAN saying, and you told yourself you could survive a few hours waiting for him. So there you waited patiently, sitting alone on one of the outdoor tables by the restaurant you planned the date on.

It was almost time for him to arrive, and you were just happy you'd be seeing him soon, but you hear a throat clear behind you. You put your left arm by the back of your seat and turn around. "Hello there!" The man asked, a friendly smile on his face but something felt odd about it. A sixth sense intuition that somehow he didn't have the best intentions.

"You seem to be alone," Oh no. "I can give you a much better time." You force a laugh, flicking your wrist while doing so. "It's quite alright, he'll be arriving any minute now." And that seems to annoy the man, his kindness running thin. "Listen, he's clearly not interested-"

His hand goes up to grab your arm on the chair, but in one swift movement, you stand up and pull away. "Please. Do not touch me so casually." You say sternly, sending a glare towards the stranger. But the familiar feeling of a hand around your waist calms you down, you look at your boyfriend, who looks back at you apologetically. The man had long left, realizing who he may or may not have pissed off.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have arrived sooner." He says with a tired sigh. "It's alright, I'm glad you're here."

BLADE doesn't exactly care nor mind, he wasn't much of a touchy person either. But he'll do the little things like locking arms or letting you hold onto him.

He will get annoyed and maybe even confront people when it comes to situations where he feels like he has to. His mere glare can send people off running, so you're greatful to have him around.

You did like it when he'd hug you or hold you. It was rare, but when he let himself rest for a few hours, you're his personal pillow for that time period.

Kafka would mess with him every once in a while, touching your arm and making you feel ever so slightly awkward and the glare Blade gives would scare any ordinary person. She loves the reaction she gets out of him, seeing you get pulled away and his hands on your waist posessively.

"CAELUS, wait-" March 7th and Dan Heng tried to stop him, but suddenly the trailblazer walks up to you and wraps his arms around your figure. The other two expected you two slap him in the face, or something to push him away, but the way you payed no notice to the way he holds onto you surprises them.

"Whaaat..??"

"Oh! Right, this is my partner. Hehe." He'd snicker, already seeing March 7th's absolutely baffled expression. "You have a PARTNER??? AND IT'S (name)?!"

You're known in the Station for being a researcher who despised being touched, most people knew how passive aggressive you'd get depending on how you were touched, and the intentions behind it. "I'm the one exception to that whole thingy they have, I'm just really special." Caelus sparkled in pride, before clearing your throat. "You're about to lose that privilege if you don't let me go and look at some papers."

Caelus apologizes, pulling away as you huff. "Thank you." And you return to your work.

"I still can't believe Caelus pulls.."

"What in the GALAXY is that supposed to mean?!"

[monamourbladie]

hi!! <3 im the anon who req the dan heng headcanons.. TYSM IT WAS AMAZING!!! OmG OMG OMG best idea ever. well not best idea ever. but imagine like blade is super distant and cold towards you as he normally is, right? but he secretly likes the reader for plot purposes. but one day, the reader is js like "oh well" and talks to someone else for a change, having fun w the other person instead of blade since blade 'doesnt' like them. would blade just stand there and watch knowing he cant rightfully do anything since it was partly his fault (and he has too much pride for himself), or would he try to get you to talk to him again?

HI ANON AHH tysm for the requests :D i’m glad you enjoyed it so much~! that’s a great idea i was so excited to write this one i tried to write it as fast as possible LOL

Secretly Loves You - Blade x F!reader

warnings: none~

You had been apart of the Stellaron Hunters for about a year now. You had grown the closest with Silver Wolf, as you both shared an intense love of games. You were picked up from their time on the Xianzhou Luofu for your healing capabilities and quickly became a core member of the crew.

Elio liked you and so did Sam, Silver Wolf adored you and Kafka respected you. But the person who you wanted to like you the most seemed to despise you.

Blade — Kafka’s golden boy (you always swore they had something for each other, but neither ever confirmed it and nobody could guess if they were together or not) Fierceness aside, he was absolute eye candy to you.

Blade was extremely closed off — it’s been like that since day one. It took him months and months to warm up to Silver Wolf (and now he treats her like an irritating little sister that he secretly adores but claims he hates), and even though it’s been almost a full year, you haven’t been able to break through to him just yet.

You didn’t exactly know why. It wasn’t like he was talkative and excitable to everyone else by any means, but he definitely showed at least some kind of enjoyment speaking with people. With you? It seemed like he absolutely hated you.

Maybe it was the fact that he hated being nursed back to health due to him wanting to die so badly. You never understood that, and were just simply doing your job to protect him.

You’ve lost count by now of how many times he complained to you about helping him was unnecessary. It irritated you, but you always smiled at him and told him you were just doing your job.

“I told you, I don’t need your help,” he grunted as you rubbed special Xianzhou healing oils on his back. You bit your lip as you continued to massage it into his skin, “Do you ever not complain?” you said teasingly as you pat his back playfully.

He only grunted in response. He hated having you see him like this. He was shirtless on the med bay table, sitting up with his chest bandage off for once. His upper chest was heavily scarred and destroyed from all the times Jingliu killed him over and over again. The first time you saw those wounds, you were determined to try and heal them so he wasn’t forced to wear as many bandages on the daily.

You were using special Xianzhou healing oils to increase the healing speed — and within a few months, you were noticing small bits of healthier skin, showing it was working.

“Complain all you want, Bladie, but it’s actually working to help you.” He glanced back at her with a glare, “I told you not to call me that, L/n.” His voice was bitter and cold as always to you.

It hurt, but eventually you grew thicker skin to it. It hurt especially because over the months you began to harbor a nasty crush on the immortal man.

Silver Wolf loved to tease you about it, and swore she would help get you two together. But little interactions like these with Blade helped cement in your mind that there was no way he saw you as anything more than an annoying healer.

What you didn’t know was that Blade actually harbored feelings for you, too.

Due to his painful past, he was very adamant about not getting close to anyone again out of fear he’d lose everyone he loves again — especially a lover.

He thought you were absolutely beautiful. He secretly loved the extra attention you were giving him, and although he wanted nothing more than eternal rest, he was thankful that you were giving him a distraction from the pain.

He just had no idea how to tell you. He had a reputation with the Hunters as being the cold and brooding one. He definitely wasn’t sure how to approach a girl he liked and say “Hey, I like you” without feeling like an absolute pathetic fool.

It stayed this way for months. Neither of you saying anything to the other that would let the other know you like each other. Until eventually, a new member on the medical team started to work for the Hunters — a man named Leon.

Leon was everything Blade was hoping he could be for you. He was handsome, he was nice, gentlemanly — he was attentive to you and could speak his heart. You and him quickly became close, and there were even some moments where Leon took care of Blade instead of you.

He absolutely was growing jealous over the man. Some nights Blade wondered if he could just kill Leon and get on with it and swoop you off of your feet, but being a romantic was not Blade’s strong suit by any means.

His final straw finally made him snap to go to Kafka for advice. After his weekly checkup with you, he got home and realized his bandages weren’t tight enough around his chest, so he had to go back to the med bay. As he walked back to the med bay he froze, seeing you kissing Leon from a distance.

He felt his anger consume him and he decided to just deal with the loose bandage and fix it himself. He stormed off as he felt the Mara flare up within him, making him angrier than he normally would’ve been.

Of course you’re moving on. Why wouldn’t you? He never made any move on you to let you know he liked you. Why would you risk waiting around when a perfect man for you was right there?

Blade found himself at Kafka’s door as he knocked. She opened it and frowned seeing Blade angry, “Bladie? What’s wrong?” she asked.

Blade pushed himself in the door and slammed it behind him, huffing in frustration, “Can I just fucking kill Leon already?”

Kafka raised as brow as she motioned for him to sit down on her couch. “You can’t kill the rookie. Why do you want to?”

Blade unbuttoned his shirt and jacket and slid it off of his arms, revealing his bandaged chest. “Can you fix these for me? Y/n’s too busy getting fucked to deal with it.”

Kafka bit her lip as she smirked. “Am i sensing jealousy from you? Over Y/n and the rookie?”

He grumbled as he shook his head, running his fingers through his tousled hair, “Would you just leave it and fix this shit for me?”

Kafka raised her hands in defense as she sat behind him, beginning to unravel the bandages. “You just want it tighter, right?”

“Yes,” he muttered, looking out at the photo of them all on her wall.

Blade, Elio, Sam, Silver Wolf, Kafka, and Y/n were in it. He felt his heart ache seeing her so happy beside Silver Wolf. She looked just as happy in the photo as she did leaning in to kiss Leon.

The image of them kissing was seared in his brain, and it made him angrier the more he thought of it.

Kafka, whose used her Spirit Whisper on Blade long enough to understand when he was angry, rest her hand on his shoulder. “Blade. Talk with me. Why are you so angry right now?” she asked, her voice gentle with him.

He was silent for a moment before realizing this might be his only shot for help. He sighed, “…It’s about Y/n. I… I like her,” he said, his gravelly voice low and soft as he spoke. Kafka was the only person he felt comfortable opening up around.

“And I’m angry that she can’t see that. She knows I have a hard time expressing myself. So why couldn’t she tell?” Kafka unintentionally let out a laugh at his commentary.

He turned around, glancing back at her confused, “You’re laughing at me? Seriously, Kafka?”

“No — it’s just… have you even attempted to tell her that you like her? Everything I ever see, you’re ignoring her, glaring at her when her back is turned, and badmouthing her whenever you’re alone with her and she’s patching you up. It hurts her, Bladie. I refuse to believe that you think you’ve made your feelings clear,” she replied.

Blade blinked in confusion. “But I like her. I don’t treat anyone differently than that.”

“Are you even aware of how many people think we’re dating?” Kafka asked him. “I’m sure she thinks we’re dating, too. She probably gave up and moved on with that rookie.”

“Gave up? Does she like me too?” Blade asked quickly, feeling a slight glimmer of hope. Kafka shrugged, “It’s so obvious. She definitely gave up trying since you made no effort to show you were interested.”

“Well — help me out, what am I supposed to do now? Did I fuck up already and lose her to that damn rookie?” he asked her.

Kafka sighed, sitting back against the couch. “I don’t know. I’d recommend asking her tomorrow and just pray that you have a chance still. I know you really like her.”

Blade grumbled at this and nodded, grasping at his shirt and sliding it back on over his head now that Kafka had finished bandaging him up.

“Yeah, well. I don’t know if I’m that lucky. She was kissing him and seemed to be very happy with it,” he said with a bitter tone. “Thanks.”

“If it comes to it, I can always pull strings and check with Elio-“

“No,” he said firmly, standing up to leave. “I don’t want to know the answer.”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The next day sometime after lunch, Blade headed to the cafeteria with his heart pounding. He had never felt this anxious before, not for a long, long time.

Just tell her you like her. She’s just confused, that’s all. It’ll be fine…

He saw you sitting alone at one of the cafeteria benches, obviously on your lunch break. He took in a breath and walked over, sitting across from you.

You looked up from your data pad and smiled, “Hi, Blade. Did you need me to fix your bandages already?” you asked sweetly.

He was embarrassed that he felt his cheeks burn from the kindness in your voice. “No. That won’t be necessary. Kafka fixed them last night.”

Your smile visibly fell a bit and Blade cringed at himself. “Oh, Kafka… right. Well, what did you need?”

“I’m not with Kafka,” he said quickly. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“Wrong idea?” you raised a brow, curious as to where he was going. “Wrong idea about… you and Kafka?” you muttered. He could sense a bit of irritancy on your end at the thought of them together.

“Right. We’re not. But… you and that Rookie. Leon, right? Are you?” he questioned. You seemed surprised that he asked and you let out a soft nervous laugh, “W-well, no… but. I mean, it’s complicated, I guess.” you took a sip of your drink as Blade tensed up.

“I want us to be, because the guy I like really, really doesn’t like me. So I’m just cutting my losses and trying to move on, I guess. It just so happens Leon has an interest in me. I’m just anxious to make the jump,” you confessed. There was no way he’d figure out it was him, so you felt comfortable saying it.

“Don’t,” Blade quickly said. “Don’t date Leon.” You furrowed your brows at him, “I’m sorry, why do you care? As far as I’m aware, you hate being around me. Quite frankly, I’m shocked you’re even speaking to me right now.”

Blade felt offended that you believed so strongly that he hated you. “You think I hate you? Why the hell do you think that?” he questioned.

“Because you’re always so cold and closed off towards me! You always are grumpy whenever you have to speak to me and have me work on you, you’re closed off and never speak to me unless you absolutely have to, and it honestly hurts! I don’t know why you treat me this way, but I’m tired of it.”

Blade felt like a total idiot hearing you open up like that. Kafka really was right…

“I don’t… I don’t hate you,” he said quietly, averting his eyes out of embarrassment. “I like you, Y/n. I just had no idea how to deal with it. I figured you’d just… know.”

You couldn’t help your eyes widen at his confession. “You mean to tell me this entire time I’ve been trying to get over you, you just assumed I knew you liked me?” you gawked.

“Yes?” Blade replied. It was so obvious that he was so, so bad at relationships but clearly was trying hard. You could only giggle at this, shaking your head. “Jesus, Blade, you’re really something, aren’t you?”

Blade wasn’t really so sure how to answer your comment. You started to smile, “So, since you don’t want me to go out with Leon… I’m assuming you want to take me out on a date instead, right?” you asked.

Blade felt his cheeks flush again as he nodded, “I would love to.”

You smiled and stood up, walking over to him and leaning in. “I get off of work in 4 hours. Meet me at my room at 6, okay?” you said, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

You were shocked to see the man actually blush at your action. He looked up at you with a smile and nodded, “…Okay. I’ll see you at 6.”

[sonicasura]

The only thing I'm sure of in either the M or NA paths of the Skyscraper Softie Au, is that 10 is going to regret it majorly when he attacks the 3th base like in the canon should Skully and his siblings exsist.

His not only going to have a almost 70 feet tall raging kaiju parent with 9.8 fortitude to deal with, but also Mina and Hoshina who are just as pissed as well.

Not sure how Okonogi is going to react to the attack either, though I doubt she's happy about it.

All three of Kafka's whelp are Amplifier Classes thus enhance the abilities of those they cling to. Skully empowers, Azur manipulates wind and Hinata is enhancing restoration(think healing + stat buffs). Innate abilities they know could help their respective human parent once needed.

They are all pissed but Okonogi shows her scary side in the monitoring room. Pinpointing weaknessss and very colorful brutal ways for officers to dispatch the Wyvern kaiju.(Her coworkers were so uncomfortable. Lol) It doesn't help that Hinata essentially gotten her hyped to 11 as her passive abilities removed any mental/physical fatigue Okonogi had prior to the attack.

Every officer on base made sure to avoid the very angry 70 ft kaiju also wreaking havoc against the invaders. It was easy to tell when Mina returned as Azur's connection to his mama gave her bullets a tornado coating for extra explosive damage. Skully refused to leave Hoshina as he fought 10, hissing and spitting acidic sludge at the red kaiju.

You can say the cycloptic Carnage really shouldn't have gone all gigantic cause Kafka was on him in seconds. 10 will definitely admit once stuffed inside containment as a head and core that he REALLY fucked up with the whole attack. Now he's stuck getting the stinkeye from No.8's whelp whenever they are in the room.

[bayleavesfromthevine]

Some thoughts about KN8 118 (ft. some season 2 AoT spoilers)

Okay, so we are slowly getting more information about the link between kaiju and humans. Now, we see that a human heart can, through unclear means, be turned into a kaiju core.

The chapter seems to suggest that it's the shame, regret, and will of the humans who died to kaiju that made it possible for a heart to turn into a core, but personally, I'm not really buying it lol. I still think there has to be some influence from the parasitic kaiju that made it possible. (Because if it was just a mass of human emotions that caused it, then there would be more people like Kafka who can turn into kaiju, And surely over time that phenomenon would have been discovered and documented if it was happening to multiple people. The parasitic kaiju are the outlying factors here imo, but alas, perhaps we'll be given new information soon that will disprove that.)

But still, the fact that a human heart can turn into a kaiju core at all suggests that there's some base connection between the two. I'm looking forward to learning more about this and, hopefully, learning more about the origin of kaiju.

Not to draw another AoT comparison, but wouldn't it be funny if the kaiju were humans all along lol

[woodnrust]

what were your top 5 books this year? :)

I read a lottt of good books this year but I'll try to list the ones that were the most impactful to me overall rather than by entertainment alone

1. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar - this book is going to be published sometime in January of next year I believe but I read the ARC and I really liked how it explored different themes about love and loss and moving on and not taking life for granted. I would say more but it's one of those "you just gotta read it" type things

2. Spring in Siberia by Artem Mozgovoy - this book is fiction but it's like teetering the line of being a historical nonfiction with the way that we follow the life of the main character growing up during a time when the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse and seeing this history through a child's eyes and then only getting the full story after the child has grown up and can now understand everything that's happened to them. And considering that the author himself is a queer man who grew up in all this and had to migrate elsewhere because of Russia's political climate and persecution, the book is just so raw and real.

3. Monk & Robot duology by Becky Chambers - I don't normally like sci-fi all that much but what got me to read it is that it's set in a utopian world instead of dystopian, and I'd never read something like that before so I gave it a shot and it actually made me cry lol. Most of the book is actually discussions about various topics but at its core it's a story about taking a step back and being able to appreciate even the little things in life, as well as some talk about how death isn't as scary as we make it out to be either since it's just a part of life. Idk I just feel like the book somewhat shifted something in my outlook on life.

4. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - I can't believe I first read this this year hello?? Granted it was in January so it's almost a full year ago now but woww. Anyway this book fundamentally changed me as a person and made me bawl my eyes out lmao.

5. Since this is the last one it's sooo hard to choose... okay so while there's others that I would like to mention I feel obligated to say House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski because it's the book that introduced me to "weird-lit" AND ergodic literature and I definitely want to dive into more of these kinds of books next year especially after I found out there's a publisher that's dedicated to ergodic literature and they have some pretty neat stuff out

[joysandroses]

31 December, 2024: Today, the year ends. But my love for you still continues to flourish despite the lack of your presence. No matter how much i wish to leave you behind, realistically one thing i know for sure is that the first thing that'll come to my mind tomorrow is you, your face, your voice, your smile, the whole of you. Another year where i let my love for you ruin me.

[kujoestars]

Counterpoint: We actually hear a casual version right in the first episode when Kafka was first introduced and well before the Mysterious Larva fused with him. I wish I could pull up the exact track, but I haven't been able to find it listed just yet. But I can tell you it starts at about the 4 minute mark in the first episode on Crunchyroll.

So it's incorrect that it's "Kaiju No. 8's theme". Or rather, not the way you think, LOL.

Furthermore, there's a lot of evidence in both the anime and manga pointing to Kafka and the Larva being two halves of a whole forming No. 8. It's not a case of "Kaiju No. 8 jacked Kafka's body and Kafka is on borrowed power!" No, Kafka is literally No. 8. Or specifically, he is the mind of No. 8 because the Larva was perfectly content to let him do whatever except for that ONE time their lives were in danger because Kafka was in actual danger but refusing to fight back against what the Larva perceived as another kaiju.

A common misinterpretation of what the larva was telling Kafka (that's often affected by what translation people are using) is that it's calling him a kaiju and urging him to kill everyone. But that actually makes no sense even within the context given as Kafka noted that his body was reacting to Isao like he's another kaiju. Something that happened only after Isao started using No. 2.

It's also worth noting that while Kafka does refer to his kaiju side as No. 8, the Larva itself never appeared as anything besides how it appeared prior to fusion. In fact, it is Kafka's mental avatar who starts taking on No. 8's appearance when the Larva started assimilating him mentally:

This is what tells me that No. 8 is both of them. The Larva in many ways parallels the Numbers weapons in that it does not appear to have an actual will of its own and instead functions as an extension of its host. Though, unlike with the Numbers weapons, it still has its core (that it's now sharing with Kafka) and therefore isn't basically lobotomized like they are, hence why it's still able to assert itself.

Although, given how mentally sync'ing with the Numbers causes their users to be consumed by their deepest desires, I wouldn't be surprised if the Larva was acting partially based off Kafka's desire to kill off kaiju. But that's a whole 'nother analysis.

Anyways, the tl;dr of all this is that where Kafka is the mind and will of No. 8, the Larva forms the instincts. The theme and its variations simply reflect Kafka's different states with the version for Berserk No. 8 embodying the sheer horror of that out of control rage state he's trapped in. They lyrics of the song don't make sense otherwise if they're for the Larva!

I have a separate theory that Kafka will need to eventually integrate willingly in a balanced way with the Larva to be able to function as he should, but I'll save that for another post.

It was such a fantastic move for them to bring in the kaiju no. 8 leitmotif here - it's a tune that we're usually thrilled to hear as it gets us pumped, oh so excited to see what badassery the transformed Kafka's about to pull off...

But the tone is so much darker now, because Kafka desperately didn't want to transform this time. Even worse, it's not even Kafka we're seeing anymore. In this scene, it's made it painfully clear...

This is not Hibino Kafka's theme. It has never been his theme.

This is kaiju no. 8's theme.

[arlecchno]

I AM HAVING A GREAT SUMMER BREAK THANK YOUUUU IM GONNA BE ABLE TO MEET MY INFAMOUS BESTIE NAMED ROOF SOMETIME SOON ACTUALLY‼️‼️

AND I CAN INFACT “SIGN YOU UP” BECAUSE I HAVE A PART OF THE PROLOGUE THING WRITTEN :D here is the doc !! since i dont want to kill tumblr by pasting the entire thing in this ask lol . if you have any feedback after reading it would be appreciated if youd share it ehe . for better reading context though , the “prologue” happens much before the main storyline when rin and ashe are still pretty young so dont take their prologue selves as their core personalities and stuff , they will change :3c

lmao rin would absolutely walk you through her routine and ashe would just shrug their shoulders and say he just uses what the servants give him LMAO - they both do have very good hair and skin though since theyre given the best products in their kingdoms .

also this happened when we i asked how theyd respond to your message LOL

figuratively praying for your survival rn im wishing you the best with asphodelus . i live laugh and love all your series but sPEAKING OF YOUR SERIES you writing aL HAITHAM ?!!!!???!! sign ME up bro !!!

heart eyes . stares in al haitham simp and kinnie .

do u mind if i ask what u study tho ? js curious tbh . and also , yk honkai star rail ? asking bc ive been kind of brainrotting over it lately tbh im so gay for the star rail men HELP ME SJKDNSKD [ dies in homosexual ]

i got carried away but ykw why not say another random thing . if youre an anime watcher you should totes watch houseki no kuni / land of the lustrous 😍😍😍 both the anime and manga are amazing ( read as: OH GOD THE ANGST ITS KILLING ME AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH (( esp in the manga …)) ) and i love love love the series sooooo much im OBSESSED ‼️ not forcing obvi but i cannot rec this anime / manga enough because my goodness the visuals are to die for and im a big simp for the soundtrack of the anime ( thats probably weird to say but idc )

ANYWAYS IVE PROBABLY SAID ENOUGH LMAO !! again best wishes to you for your studies and writing <3 <3 GOOD LUCK SOLDIER 🫡🫡🫡 LOL

just read the prologue AHHHHHHHH it's so good already rin and ashe are already my favourites!!!! the part where the sat on the railing and thought of one another as cold and fire..... i seriously cannot wait for what's to come like i NEED to see what they're going to be like when they're older and are ruling their kingdoms, i can already imagine the amount of angst and the flipsides of their personalities in the timeskip 🫂 them being young right now though hshdjji i want to squish their cheeks so bad

thank you man i still have yet to start the next asphodelus chapter LOL not sure if i'm still up to writing it now that i'm on the works of writing alhaitham aka my no.1 babygirl 😞💔 the writer's block on asphodelus is crazy

YOUR CHIBI IS SO CUTE THO AND YES!!!! alhaitham islove alhaitham is life am i right or am i right

i'm still in hs so i study the usual hs subjects yada yada but i also take additional electives like accounting and economics! honestly speaking i kind of regret taking economics but it's a bit too late to back out now LMAOO i also take another elective which is this math qualification but like,,, we don't talk about it man i'm failing in every damn class 😭 so yeah my schedule is PACKED packed it's a bit silly

YESSS OF COURS I KNOW HSR!!!!! when it first came out i was like really obsessed with it but now that i finished the main story i'mkimd of slumped 😞 dw tho i'll be back once 1.2 comes out because.... blade and kafka obviously hahahahhahahah lol i need them hahahhaha

my favs are dan heng, blade, gepard, serval, seele and many more!!!!!! they are all so babygirl i just need gepard and blade and my babygirl collection is complete 💯

will definitely watch that anime/read the manga whenever i'm free!! always open to recs because i've kind of been bored lately with the lack of entertainment 😭 currently jjk s2 and these 2 kdramas (king the land & see you in my 19th life) are the only ones that have kept me going GOD i need to consume more media 😔😔😔 thanks for the rec i'll check it out soon!!!!! and did you say angst 👁️👁️ oh i'm definitely tuned in

THANK YOU AGAIN AND I HOPE YOU'LL HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!!! AND ALSO good luck to you and your friend on your story 📌📌 you guys are doing really great the prologue already got me hooked haha KEEP IT UP!!! (from your no.1 rin and ashe fan 😋) SAY HI TO THEM FOR ME TOOO <333

[meki98yu]

Silent Hill, thoughts and other media.

in order to properly appreciate silent hill (the original ones) I think a person should have some knowledge on the following things

Franz Kafka’s The Trial Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo

Stephen King’s The Mist Edgar Allan Poe’s "black cat”, “the raven” and “tell-tale heart”.

Any book on yokai.

This will seem like a joke, but the old testament. Also apocrypha like the book of enoch, and the only book of the new testament I’d include is the book of revelation.

David Lynch’s Filmography, but Twin Peaks is of special relevance. I think Inland Empire is also important in spite of being made several years after the original Silent Hill games solely because of how tonally and atmospherically fitting it is.

NGE + EoE

Adrian Lyne‘s “Jacob’s Ladder”

Religious horror movies like The Exorcist, or really most horror movies with a lack of gore or physically dangerous creatures that threaten the basic survival instincts (think zombie or slaher movies and so on, those are more resident evil-core. The monsters in Silent Hill work for entirely different reasons)

Throbbing Gristle "Second Annual Report”

Jarboe’s “Thirteen Masks” and “Sacrificial Cake”

Nine Inch Nails’s “The Downward Spiral“

Portishead’s “Dummy” and other trip hop classics like “Mezzanine”

Pj Harvey’s “Rid of Me”.

At the very least rudimentary knowledge of BDSM, as weird as it may sound.

I think it’s also important to know some of the thoughts of Freud on sexuality and Jung on the unconscious mind, even if it’s mostly scientifically debunked and borderline mysticism. These things are interesting and bizarrely functional for creative pursuits.

And finally, I think it’s necessary to have some knowledge of dreams. Reading dream diaries or MAKING a dream diary and reading one’s own dreams is important to have a proper grasp on these games.

---

I don’t feel hopeful for the future of SH because I’m pretty confident that none of the people working on the oncoming games have ever interacted with any of these media.

Silent Hill Downpour had fucking KORN working on the Ost. Might as well have called Slipknot. So tonally stupid it’s almost insulting (ALMOST?!?! It IS insulting). As snotty as I know that I will sound, I think that creating these games requires some sense of taste and artistic appreciation as well as some basic knowledge, and I’m 100% confident that none of the folks working on the SH2 remake right now have any of these things.

---

This post seems like a joke, but I’m dead serious. I think that most people don’t appreciate these games and perceive them only as survival horrors with a cool aesthetic, and that’s that.

---

Another thing that annoys me about the way Silent Hill has been handled after the departure of team silent is the protagonists.

The original 4 games have these protagonists:

A meek writer and father

An emotionally repressed socially awkward office clerk

An edgy teen

A man of unknown occupation, but theorized to be a photographer or a neet(lol)

See how these guys are harmless as fuck? they dont ooze coolness or danger, they’re normal and vulnerable. Compare this to the protagonists of the other games

origins: a TRUCK DRIVER WHO SAVED A GIRL FROM A FIRE (WOAH! SO COOL!)

homecoming: It doesn’t matter that he’s not actually a vet because his gameplay makes him play like one(AND THAT’S SO COOL AND BADASS! WOAH!), it feels like a resident evil.

downpour: OH MY GOD! A DANGEROUS CONVINCT! HE CAN FIGHT AND IS SO COOL! WOAH!

---

Silent Hills was rightly canned. It was only a compilation of typical horror tropes and celebrity wankery ( OH MY GOD IS THAT THE WALKING  DEAD GUY?!?!? OH MY GOD OH MY GOD ITS HECKIN DARYL DIXON! OH MY GOD THE RADIO SAID “Behind you” JUST LIKE IN EVERY OTHER HORROR GAME, THAT’S GREAT! THAT’S WHAT SILENT HILL NEEDED, TO BE MORE LIKE EVERY OTHER HORROR GAME, WOAH, SO COOL!).

---

People complaining about the original dubbing should search “twin peaks scene”, watch ANY scene, take note of the way the characters speak and then proceed to shut up for the entire rest of their lives.

---

AND WHY THE HELL DID THEY GET FUCKING KORNNN OF ALL THINGS, FUCKING TRENT REZNOR WOULD’VE MADE MORE SENSE AND WOULD’VE LIKELY BEEN MUCH CHEAPER, HE’S NEVER BEEN THAT BIG OF A NAME, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Today is Bungou Stray Dogs’ 10th anniversary.

It’s hard to put into words just how much this series means to me. I don’t have any elaborate, deep story to tell as to why; there is no one character I heavily relate to more than the others, and there wasn’t a particularly hard time in my life it got me through or anything. But BSD is at the core of my most nostalgic memories with fandom, with online friends I made years ago -- many, many happy memories I have of watching the anime in 2016 (which was my introduction to the series), gushing about it, laughing about it, crying about it, discussing it for hours on end, and writing about it. There are many other manga and anime that I love dearly, some even almost as much as it, but none of them have ever been able to reach or surpass BSD for me, even if some of them I would probably call technically better written overall. Its unique style, unique beauty, aesthetic, such bizarre wackiness it has while at the same time carrying so much heart, and its nuanced, raw, and poignant handling of such delicate and realistic subject matter simply make it unlike anything else I have ever seen -- BSD is so unabashedly itself, and you will never find anything else like it. It was written as a love letter to stories by an author who deeply appreciates and was inspired by literature himself, and as someone who is enamored with fiction as well, I can feel every ounce of love and care that Kafka Asagiri puts into his story and these characters, and I adore nearly each and every one of them.

Since the first two seasons of the anime aired and since I first got into it, BSD has had over 100 manga chapters, multiple light novels, multiple stage adaptations, two movies, multiple spinoff series, a mobile game, and the story has gone in directions I never could have imagined years ago, and I’m still here following it all, even after six years. Even as I dip into other obsessions and my BSD fixation temporarily fades, I always, always come back, because it feels like home to me -- hell, I love it so much that I even made an entire visual novel out of Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, my comfort arc(? lol), out of all the projects I could come up with. It truly is so special to me, in ways I can’t even describe, and I’m constantly rediscovering new things about the series and the characters, and bonding with friends closer over it. It may not be perfect (but nothing is), but I’m still on this wild ride, and I have absolutely no intention of getting off until we reach the finish line, no matter how long that takes. In the meantime, I’m so excited to see how the franchise will grow even more, and I dearly hope that more people will discover it, because despite the fairly sizeable fandom, BSD is still terribly underrated, and deserves to be so much more appreciated, for the masterpiece that it truly is.

Here’s to ten more years. Here’s to the Stray Dogs~ 🥃🥂💖

[zapsoda]

honestly didnt even consider that the line between private/personal communication cause it seems so obvious to me in my mind eheheh. like. its about intended audience. a published work or speech is meant to be understood by large swathes of people.

a fisherman talking to his friend is just talking to his friend. it doesnt matter how he speaks or even if he gets his message across, unless the friend particularly wants to learn, in which case they are capable of, and have the opportunity to, ask further questions. even in a small group of people, they can get to know him as a person, and understand any quirks or nuances in the way he communicates. a crowd of strangers will not have that opportunity.

with a "larger audience," like a crowd of strangers or readers from across the world, that direct ability to clarify oneself after the fact becomes much more difficult (if not impossible), which is why getting it right the first time suddenly becomes important.

some posts can be intended to reach a large audience, in which case, (assuming the message itself is of high importance - not rlly talking about simplistic jokes or shitposts) paying attention to clear wording is important.

on the other hand, a lot of people post for themselves, they use (for example) tumblr as a diary, or to communicate only with friends, and thus might not worry about how others will interpret their words.

this, of course, has nothing to do with whether or not a text is classified as literature. literature is just textual art. i may have made a mistake in my word choice previously to give the opposite impression ahaha. like kafkas diaries. they werent meant for anyone else to see afaik, so his meaning in many places can be widely disputed, but they are still influential pieces of literature regardless. it doesnt matter that kafka wasnt clear with his meaning because, even though it has been read by others, it wasnt meant for them, it was meant for himself.

to be honest i dont understand the significance of what is or isnt a "term," just generally speaking ahah. it just seems like a word to me and if people understand what is meant by it the exact nuances are inconsequential. i get the point of the example, of course, i just found that interesting.

regarding the specific quote (im paraphrasing because tumblr wont let me copy text 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔) "you could go all in and say, fuck the rules, as long as its understandable, it is proper english" and like, yeah sure, i guess, but the way i see it, rules and consistency are inherently what make a text understandable. which is basically sort of like what you said in the last paragraph kind of. a little bit.

to elaborate, even if it seems like someone is disregarding all "rules" of english (idk. dril for example) by nature of their words having a meaning that can be understood, i think that inherently they must be following some set of rules. thats what language is to me i feel like. a set of guidelines for communication, which can and will be bent or evolved when needed, but maintain a core structure so that it can be widely understood. like whst you said! :Dhope that makes sense lol.

this is why i think some rules take priority over others. in most cases, capitalization can be removed without altering the meaning of a text negatively, sometimes even improving it (example: SANS SERIF FONTS, IN WHICH CAPITAL "i" AND LOWERCASE "L" ARE ENTIRELY INDISTINGUISHABLE) (of course, there are exceptions to this, there is a reason why people began to capitalize words ^_^)

its the same way with spelling, many spelling mistakes can maintain the intended meaning of the text, and even add meaning as opposed to taking it away, while some spelling mistakes are severe enough to make the text completely illegible.

the rules i value most, personally, are word choice and order because they can drastically change the meaning of a text, in a way i notice frequently online or in fiction. a classic example is the perceived difference between a "cabin in the woods" and a "cottage in the forest," or even with a more juvenile example, the difference between a "butt dial" and a "booty call."

these are really basic examples, i cant think of a more complex or applicable one off the top of my head. just imagine all those strongly worded tumblr posts that are trying to make a good point or spread a good message, but are so hateful and vitriolic in their words, that they even alienate those who agree with them. that would be an example of a situation where correcting wording would serve the purpose of the text and clarify its meaning from "gahh i hate this thing and all of you" to "we, collectively, should try to improve this thing." if that. makes sense. aha

i think what im most passionate about is like writing/rhetoric/argument. and linguistics, of course, are an intrinsic part of that :33. if not doing it myself, then analyzing it. my fave thing in the world i loved ap lang (the words ap lang might mean nothing to you idk if collegeboard chills with the french lol) (advanced placement language and composition - a college credit course about utilizing analyzing rhetoric in writing, for reference)

to clarify my opinion on "proper" english, idfc how people write in their personal lives/to friends or family/etc, but in professional/published works- or anything that is meant to be understood by a wider audience i think the clarity provided by adhering to certain grammatical rules and structure is veeerrry important eheheh. for the sake of ease of communication!

i try to be pretty careful about my word choice and order allll the time for that reason, even if i drop a lot of proper spelling/capitalization/punctuation for casual dialogue.

nonetheless, i think when people act intentionally obtuse just to shame people for speaking casually/colloquially/with slang/whatever thats stupid and evil etc. hate when people do that. i might not understand a lot of it, but it has the right to exist yk! it is just as worthy of respect ^_^

anyways i think this topic is very interesting as well its something i enjoy talking about :33

once again i dare ask, where does the professional/private begins and stops? thats a big debate we had in termonology class (terminology , the science of terms aka specialised & professional words). some terminologists argue that terms are only employed in the field by top-notch experts to top-notch experts and nothing else qualifies as a term. other terminologists argue that funk that: "spoonful" is a term because it belongs to the professional sector of cooking, disregarding how common/unspecialised it may be (they dont actually disregard it but yknow). also some guy who goes fishing as a hobby every week and starts talking about the components of his rod to his friends: not an expert (meaning doesn't work as a fisherman)! but using specialised words! should they count as terms or common words? should that be considered professional discussion cuz the terms or private discussion cuz he's talking to a friend? anyways it's just to say that the gap between professional and private discussions may not be so clear

on a same note, what is a wider audience? we're on the internet literally everyone could read that post, making it, by its nature, designed for a wide audience. should every tumblr post thus should have proper english? likewise, works that were only notes and scribbles, like Les Pensées by Pascal that were published post-mortem... it was not meant for a wider audience in that state and is not always using proper French. due to this, are thus Les Pensées not a piece of literature anymore? (kinda teasing w this paragraph hehe but you see the issue i'm poking)

like you said the most important task of a language is not to be proper. it is to be spoken but also to be effective. to enable communication. we could also go all in and dare say, funk the rules as long as a message or piece or literature is understandable, it is proper english!! arguably, every broken rule of proper english creates a new variation of english that could be its own proper variation english (like UK english, US english, NZ english, etc, coexist together as proper englishes)

also youre soso true about the shaming stuff. dawg that pisses me OFF. that's why fuck the Académie Française i wish i could dismember that bullshit of an institution. they are the ones "making the rules" of French but NONE OF THOSE FUCKERS ARE LINGUISTS AND ALSO ARE ALL 109 YEARS OLD HOW CAN THEY im cool im cool [insert the hades calming down gif]. anyways. language belongs to the people so whatever they do with it it's fine as long as they have fun and are themselves <3

on a final note i'm heavily arguing against you here but i think you're overall right nonetheless :p rigor may not always be needed in a language but languages need a strong basis and grammatical rules to exist and actually make the communication efficient!! i perfectly see your points and they are very legit

[ruakichan]

Having a lot of fun with Alchemy Stars; been a long time since I really enjoyed a gacha game, even during the honeymoon phase.  Anyhoo, I finally, finally pulled a wood healer with the 10 roll they gave on the final log-in reward so now I can settle into my core teams and focus on building them before finishing up Chapter 6:

Water team! Found this to be a very nice combination while doing Secret Territory—Corax is pretty strong!  He ended up replacing Blanc on my team, who I only slot in if I need a second Converter (replacing Vice or Hydrad, depending if I need Detonators or Snipers more). I also have a Connolly, but I’m not sure if she’s better than Vice when I tested in Secret Territory... Vice can snipe all over the board, even if it’s a weaker attack, but it’s great for wiping out the last bit of HP from mobs running away.

Water feels like the sausage element...

As an aside, I love the Secret Territory mode; it’s a great way to test out characters before investing in them due to the mechanics of the mode, and to try out team synergies.

My wood team is largely unbuilt, as I was hampered by the lack of healer until recently. I still don’t really have a solid damage dealer; Sylva’s okay, but he lacks some oomph? Not sure; I think I need to play with them more now that I have a healer.  Just overall they feel a bit lacking, so they’re a bit lower on the scale in priority despite the higher rarity lineup.  It looks like you need to utilize enhanced tiles to up their damage output, given that so many of them have this gimmick built into their kit.

My thunder waifu team! They’re not great at converting (Nemesis needs full breakthrough before she can do conversion at turn 1) but they have a lot of skills that hit far and wide, so they manage all right. And if I get a lot of good yellow tiles lined up, they hit hard too.  They’re pretty fun—or frustrating—to use, depending on the board, so they’re as volatile as their element. w  Mia was a great addition though, so I’m glad she answered my flares, as the slot she now occupies I wasn’t satisfied with who was in there previous (Kafka and Rabbie).

Another aside, but I thought Vivian had a really plain design when I first saw her in story (especially compared to like... everyone else), but after I pulled her... her art is really elegant? Her eyes are very striking and delicate compared to others.  And she’s an iai type so her animations in battle (especially her chain attack) are just really impressive; they convey a lot of graceful power.

Last but definitely not least, my burn baby, burn team.  Leona gets freely swapped out with Tiny One, depending if I need more mobility through a second Converter than what Faust provides. Fire is full of too many sexy characters haha. I want to keep using Leona cause she’s 100% made for me, but sometimes I don’t need more damage, I need more utility... and I’m not removing Istvan from my team... 

Anyhoo, they hit hard when they can chain, especially against the huge bosses cause they all have massive, multi-hitting AOEs. Absolutely shreds HP. I used a combination of water+fire to 3* the final boss for chapter 5; Faust and Leona’s damage output is wild even at low chain values.

I have raised Brock for farming, but haven’t found a point to use him yet? He’s good with auto since the auto AI isn’t very well-programmed, but I found it faster to manual stages in most cases.

Final aside, but the True Order’s interactions with the Navigator are just hilarious.  Faust especially feels like the Kool-aid man just bursting onto your Colossus going ‘HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD WORD?’ and having experienced things like this so often IRL, it just makes me laugh cause it’s so true to form.

I still hope Charon pops up someday for husbando reasons (NO IDEA WHERE i’D PUT HIM IN A FIRE TEAM IF HE DID THOUGH LOL MAYBE BOOT OUT VICTORIA?), but overall I’m pretty satisfied with my teams other than grabbing a better damage dealer for wood until they release some hot character that piques my thirst.