#millenium world arc

[darkscorpiox]

Kaiba paying his respect to Kisara

Kaiba had seen how the Blue-Eyes came to be his. It hadn’t been done with forceful means like he did with the BEWD cards in the manga and anime, but out of love, devotion, and a desire to protect (from a corrupted father figure).

Did he see at that moment their similarity in the length they would go to for their most important person, showing why said dragon is his most beautiful and most loyal servant (shimobe), and the embodiment of his pride and soul? Just for that (if not, then as the first owner of the dragon), she deserves his respect and gratitude.

I like to believe he lowered his head to express those two things to her. I also noticed his eyes blinked rapidly for a split second after that, indicating he’s struggling emotionally and / or lying. My guess is both: Kaiba may scoff at the occult and the past (lying), but we know they affect him more than he lets on (struggling emotionally). In other words, he had finally acknowledged the 3000 yearlong connection he shared with Kisara.

@kaibanerdgang @kisara-kaiba @sapphira-mydnyte @kisaraslover

[kaibasupremacy]

// episode 214

[icharchivist]

and let’s not forget how the Jasdevi song reflects so well on the Campbell twins as well!

Checking multiple translations because, as often with dgm, the translations are all over the place but

Long Long Ago/Once upon a time comes back as well, giving the impression of the time that passes.

There was one cradle: the Earl Body/Suit There was one inside the cradle: The Earl before he split The one became two/became a twin: The Earl splitting into Mana and Nea

Then only one cradle, the other, like a star lost in the fog: Mana, alone, now that Nea has “died”, was “lost” where no one could find him

Shaking in a graveyard until it disappeared/a star shining bright at the sacred place and disappear: Once again can echo the “death” of the “other twin”, disappearing because of death. Could be about Nea.  Or could be about how Mana himself also came to disappear since he’s the one associated with a crooked grave in a graveyard, and having faded away into a “star” (Allen’s pentacle)

WITH the irony that if we consider that both twins "disappeared" to be inside of Allen, Allen ends up being the "merged body", just like this song ends up merging Jasdero and Devit together.

If Nea was always supposed to be the Odd One Out, it means that “The Bond” was a Noah memory that existed before the Mana/Nea situation happened. Yet this one song the Jasdevi sing to merge together is thematically fully about Mana/Nea.

And we don’t know how Jasdevi came to be: were they two humans before the Noah gene awoke? Were they one that split into two? Were they two brothers, or were they two strangers who started to bond over their memory? 

Meanwhile we know for certain that their song fits Mana and Nea.

Food for thought!

Jasdero and Devit's bond more like whatever the hell Mana and Nea got going on tbh

Different personalities and bodies

Twins nonetheless

Both sets of twins end up as part of a single being when bonded together tho(Jasdevi and the Earl)

[wisyhana]

Devotion

Couldn't wait much longer to show you this piece so here it is!

I don’t know if you want to read my thoughts behind this piece, I hope it talks by its own, but I’ll give it a try:

The two faces of Devotion, loyalty and pride, a palace in ruin and the ruler’s life gone. I thought of this piece as a summary of the Memories World arc from Millenium World and how both devoted characters acted towards the Pharaoh. Atem’s body seems to float on its own, even if both priests are holding him, he seems weightless ascending by the little power left in him, and still he trusts them, let them hold his lifeless body as he trusted them in life. Priest Seto is the only one standing strongly, looking directly at the observer: he‘s the heir, responsibility that the Pharaoh casted upon him, there’s darkness hidden in his eyes, a past that could had blame him the decease of the ruler, but he’s still standing pridefully. Priest Mahad holds the Pharaoh dearly, eyes of sadness and concern, somehow his eyes seems to look directly at the Millenium Puzzle as a sign of awareness of its dangerous power, and yet he’s holding him desperately almost preventing the Pharaoh from leaving the mundane world. In the end a story of loyalty, pride and sacrifice.

Hope you like the final piece, I would totally love to read your thoughts since I feel this piece is not as clear as I’m trying to explain myself here. Also considering that my english is not close to be polished, I tried my best to be as clear as possible.

Adding the sketch version cos I like it a lot.

[looniecartooni]

Long, Scattered DGM theory- The Pillar of Heven in Chinese Mythology (Part 1?)

I've talked about a couple years ago how there are connections in D Gray Man with not only Christian creation myths but also (possibly) Māori and other creation myths (Tyki's name likely derives from the first man in Māori/Polynesian myth who is referred to as Tiki) (which relates to Mana being a type of spiritual energy found in many religions and Adam being the first man in Judeo-Christan beliefs).

Well- I was watching Lego Monkey Kid Season 5 where they were talking about the main character MK being "the harbinger of chaos" set to sacrifice himself into the Pillar of Heaven in order to "save everyone"/restart the thousand-year rebirth cycle. And in D Gray Man, we have the Pillar that destroyed the world and is supposedly inside the Earl, with he and the Noah claiming they are doing what they do for the sake of humanity despite actively destroying it and claiming to prepare for its destruction.

Now its been a good, long while since I read D Gray Man and my knowledge on Chinese Mythology is not great. But there are several characters that are Chinese (Bak, Komui, Lenalee, ect.) or part Chinese (Lavi I think. He also has a hammer that works a lot like the monkey king staff in the show- but that may or may not be unrelated) and China was a very important part of the story- that's where the entire Asian Branch of the Black Order is located. But what about Chinese creation mythos is applicable to D Gray Man?

Well according to this maybe not entirely reliable but interesting website (Nuwa: Goddess of Creation and the Female Emperor of Mankind (timelessmyths.com) , there are some parallels to Christan mythos.

On the seventh day of creating life, she made humans. Now according to Judo-Christan beliefs, God actually rested on the seventh day. But we also have Nuwa looking into her reflection, modelling humans after herself, and she apparently has a twin brother that may or may not have helped with the creation of life (sources vary on that one). This may be reaching- but the Millenium Earl mentions during the Alma Karma arc that Akuma are basically an extension of him which we see in multiple instances where he can actually see things through the akuma.

And Nea's well known for appearing in reflections.

Not to say Mana has not as well.

But none of this has to do with the Pillar or the Pillar of Heaven exactly. There are some other parallels to make with these creation myths, but that would be reaching and not get us where we want to go (and both are interpretable as ableist or racist in their respective mythologies that were not aware that they were being so exactly and we may not wanna discuss that here).

In D Gray Man, the Pillar has only appeared twice- once to talk to Allen in a nightmare and the second time when Road and Cross are discussing why the Noah are pretending to be a family for the Earl.

In the story of Nuwa, there are 4 pillars- each the legs of the creator god, Pangu (who according to Wikipedia was born of the cosmic egg provided by the formless primordial universe. And what's the source used in the creation of Akuma? The Akuma Egg. And what is the power Akuma and Noah use called? Dark matter. And what is dark matter supposedly a scientific term for? Something that makes up the universe that does not interact with light. Sorry- I got side tracked). Pangu was supposedly keeping the sky up after separating it from the Earth. However-

Fires raged and floods destroying the Earth not only relates to the story of Noah's ark (which the Noah are pretty much directly based off of), but also the Pillar of D Gray Man as well. Now in Monkie Kid, we see the interpretation of holes in the sky as cracks letting little bits of the universe, or rather little bits of chaos, into the world (which King Zhuanlun/the Nine Headed Demon claims all life comes from and returns to. And Nuwa says that it will consume everything if they don't complete the thousand-year rebirth cycle, it will consume all life- I will get back to that.) In D Gray Man, we see the Noahs' ark create a hole in the sky like pieces of a puzzle falling apart. It is not quite related to the pillar, but it likely was created in response to it and connects with the Noah.

(Lenalee also sees people she cares about as pieces of a puzzle, but that's a whole other theory probably. Her Innocence also has the power to turn into a pillar-like object that can protect her from the Earl's power.)

So how does Nuwa repair the Pillar of Heaven in Chinese Mythology? Well- there are a few different versions where a celestial turtle offers to cut its own leg, she takes five stones with her to secure it, but ultimately has to sacrifice herself in the end. But the version that seems to align most with DGM's narrative would be this:

According to Wisely (one of the Noah who has/had snake symbolism on him), all of humanity was descended from the Noah. And according to Road and Cross, the Noah are trying to stop the Pillar from rising again by pretending to be the Earl's family. The Earl supposedly will sacrifice them at some point like Abraham tried to do with Jacob in Judeo-Christian mythos, but that has only been mentioned once.

But what we do know is that the Earl had fought with or fought against the Heart of Innocence which caused the 3 days darkness and flood (if I recall correctly- I'm too tired to get more screenshots and make this longer than it already is). And in knowing that the Earl IS going to become the Pillar (and according to Apocreep- his defeat will let the Heart rise or something- it's like 2am right now), its interesting to think that either the Earl sacrificed himself like Nuwa to contain the Pillar with the use of innocence or the Pillar somehow got turned into him.

The Earl, according to what we hear from who we currently know as Past!Lavi (misinterpreted as Past!Allen) in his debut to the manga, is the consumer of life. All life stems from and returns to the Spiral of Life (which looks a lot like DNA).

(this translation is different than what I am used to. I don't quite remember the Earl consuming "souls" for say, but "life"...? I could be wrong. Either way, it fits into the context of this theory).

There are a lot more parallels including the primordial chaos Hundun possibly relating to water, but I'm going to let other people with perhaps better knowledge than me make the parallels. I just thought I'd get the ball rolling. If I got anything wrong or if you would like to add on, please do so nicely and be sure to tag me in whatever you find. I love learning about mythos and seeing/theorizing just how much thought Hoshino put into this series. And I apologize if I made any mistakes, had mistranslations, or really just had no idea what I was talking about. I feel like there is definitely something here that connects some rather confusing dots and possibly hints at the story more. Thank you for reading this far.

[bthump]

What would be like you're dream manga scene to happen in Berserk? Cause personally my favorite would be Casca leaving Guts behind and making her own life.

Yeah I would definitely love to see that. If they both survive at the end I think that could be a great ending tbh.

As for me, I have a few possibilities I'd love to see near the end. One scene is Guts realizing that Griffith still has irrational feelings for him in the middle of a climactic fight, maybe surfacing from his beast of darkness side if he's succumbed to the armour at this point, or maybe he only realizes because Griffith failed to bring himself to kill him and took a fatal blow from him instead.

Another is a reprise of Guts hanging off of a tall structure after Griffith has caught him, and dragging Griffith down with him instead of letting go this time - or Griffith letting himself fall rather than let go of Guts' hand, or both.

A parallel to the end of the Millenium Falcon arc with Griffith vs Ganishka, but with Guts in place of Ganishka, and both of them seeing the other as the only light in the world, metaphorically or maybe literally if Guts is seeing through the armour. And the two of them dying/joining together in a way that brings about a great metaphysical change to the world again, paralleling all the high fantasy paradigm shifts to Guts and Griffith's ultimately mundane but persistent love for each other.

Yk, that kind of thing lol. I know what I'm about, I guess.

Thanks for asking!

[askneftis-sam]

Character sheet for Sam, Iris and Neftis in the Memory World Arc.

My ocs are super old, and I think I've finally reached a final form for them, hence the details explained in these :3.

Got inspired by some ygo…arc V? Magazine pages for this, I’ve always wanted to make character profiles for these 2! Sam and Iris now have a bit more visual difference, Iris’ bangs are straight like Neftis’.

Some fun trivia about Neftis. When Pegasus found a tablet with what looked like a dragon (the same one from the Tablet of Lost Memories) and a phoenix linked to the Millenium Pendant and Rod, the Egyptian inscriptions described a “phoenix of Neftis” (referring to the phoenix that way bc it was Neftis’ ka). So Pegasus named the monster as such, thinking that was the monster’s name, linked to the Egyptian goddess Nephthys and not an individual. So Sam and all the Yugioh gang have always known Neftis’ name, they just had no idea xP. (Imagine Sam’s annoyance when she learned THAT was Iris’ real name in the memory world arc haha). (btw I write Neftis to refer to my Oc and Nephthys for the phoenix or the Egyptian goddess so it’s easier to differenciate, but both are pronounced the same way xD)

[danthepest]

I absolutely love the conversation between Kaiba and Atem in their final duel in Battle City.

This is the closest Kaiba has come to opening up to anyone. And Atem is disappointed in him. He has been fighting people whose sole motivation was greed, anger and hatred. After Death-T and Duelist Kingdom, Atem expected Kaiba to be better. To move on, to fight for something more than that.

Yet here he was. After everything they've been through, still motivated by anger and hatred. And Atem is well aware of the cycle by this point and he's trying to get Kaiba to understand that it's a self destructive path. There is neither peace or satisfaction waiting at the end.

And as Kaiba says, Yugi/Atem is part of his past. The past that was still controlled by his upbringing before Atem shattered his mind. For Kaiba to move on, he needs to defeat Yugi. To prove that he's better so that he can conquer the last remnant of a past he wants to forget.

A part of him wants to let go of the hate and anger that fueled most of his life, but he contradicts himself later when he says those same things give him power. Not realizing just how trapped his is by them.

Atem respects and admires Kaiba's talent, skills and determination and wants to break the cycle. He wants Kaiba to let go of the pain that drives him so that his life isn't so empty. So that he can be happy. He wants him to learn that having friends and people who care about him is not a weakness.

He may have even been getting through to Kaiba until he dropped the "power of friendship" line. Kaiba knows how much of a corny line that is and Atem saying that's what he lost to was insulting to him.

Atem realizes he's lost Kaiba with that line. He questions what their relationship even is at this point. Why can't they bury the hatchet?

Its a great example of how both have done horrible things to others and had horrible things done to them, but deal with it differently.

Kaiba would rather rage and destroy everything that hurts him. Never letting go of the wrongs done to him. Yugi and Atem? They are able to move on because they forgive. Yugi forgave Jonouchi and Honda for how they treated him. Yugi & Atem forgave the Kaiba brothers for the attempted murders and hospitalizing his grandfather, while Jonouchi still holds a grudge over it. Yugi was even willing to forgive and accept Dark Bakura when he came to help during his battle with Ryuji Otogi. He even forgave Ryuji and his dad for nearly getting him killed and separated from Atem forever.

Forgiveness is a part of healing and moving on. For Yugi, it comes naturally. Atem learned it through him. But Kaiba?

For Kaiba, forgiveness is admitting defeat. To him it's like saying that what was done to him doesn't deserve punishment. That it was acceptable. Perhaps even deserved. And worst of all, that it can be ignored.

And he lashes out at Atem, ending the conversation.

It takes his encounter with Ishizu later and Mokuba's outburst to truly make him understand the dangerous path he's going down. Ishizu's willingness to die on the island if Malik can't be saved reminded him of his own back in Duelist Kingdom and it shakes him. Its what convinces him to give this whole "trust" and "friendship" garbage a chance. (In the anime he just kinda...changes his mind about leaving. They cut out the bit with him realizing he and Ishizu weren't that different entirely and I will always be salty about that).

He still plays it off as him wanting to prove its all bunk, but by the end when the island is destroyed, he's beginning to learn the lesson Atem has been trying to teach him. And unlike the anime, he's gone for the rest of the manga. There's no Dartz or Kaiba Gran Prix. They go straight to the Millenium World arc and Kaiba is absent in it except for one of the final pages, being too late and missing the duel between Yugi and Atem.

Say what you want about Yu-Gi-Oh, but the manga has some stellar character writing.

[freewilllife]

Fu Yao - Xie Lian - First Arc: Corpse Brides (II)

I. Meeting Fu Yao and Nan Feng

In the Little Shop of Chance Encounters Xie Lian met both Nan Feng and Fu Yao.

This is the first time Xie Lian met Mu Qing after 800 years personally.

Both Feng Xin and Mu Qing chose a place as far away as possible from each other.

And Mu Qing in the form of Fu Yao must have seemed "overly distant, and "cold" that made him look "extremely displeased."

However for Xie Lian neither of them seemed to be a person, he wanted to meet...("neither of them looked pleasant.")

-> Well of course...both Feng Xin and Mu Qing were displeased that the other seemed to have the same idea..

The Name Nan Feng is self-explanatory : It conists of one part of Feng Xin´s title and one part of his real name and Fu Yao : (扶摇, Fú Yáo – to take flight (one who is ambitious)

II. Xie Lians question: Are you willing to follow me?

Xie Lian even thought that they looked like they wanted to get his hea, since he assumed that Ling Wen had tricked them. Xie Lian thanked them and thought to himself that they had quite the attitude...as if they were pretty important figures in the Heavenly realm.

For Xie Lian it was quite horrifying that his former retainers sent help to him, since they thought that he has caused the damage to them deliberately.

Both Feng Xin and Mu Qing pretended as if their generals didn´t know, that they were coming.

Xie Lian then tried to make absolutely sure, if they knew whom they were going to help...

III. An allusion to a previous encounter

While Nan Feng gave a neutral reply, Fu Yao mocked him clearly.

-> Telling that to a person that was well-known for being the greatest laughingstock of the three realms...

However that is a clear reference to their past ...He said them himself bitterly, when he parted ways the first time with Xie Lian.

"Everyone has their own views; no one was born destined to be the rightheous path of the mortal realm, the centre of the world."

Now he told Xie Lian:

"You´re the justice of the Mortal Realm; the centre of the world."

And that was accompanied with an eye-roll.

Xie Lian´s Pov: Of course he could only take it that this person would mock him, even if he might have forgotten these words that were said nearly a millenium ago.

Mu Qing´s Pov: He was clearly interested in Xie Lian. It also appeared that he loved it that Xie Lian had now to accept his help and had no other offer (except Feng Xin...horrible guy, who had to come no matter what...). It was great for him, I guess, to see that the power had suddenly switched.

Another proof that Xie Lian kept himself well informed regarding his former two retainers...

Xie Lian´s pov: Xie Lian tried to make absolutely sure that he did not force the two people...For once he might be a person that learnt that it was not worth it, to keep people who were unwilling (His two retainers).

IV. Mu Qing making a point not to accept anything from Xie Lian

Another insult: He was not only not taking the tea, he was even cleaning his fingers as if he had touched something dirty.

V. Indirect criticism by Mu Qing

This question here also came across as another form of criticism, however Xie Lian even complimented him when answering his question.

Xie Lian´s pov: I guess he tried to live with this unfriendly attitude of Fu Yao and his advice was not wrong.

VI. Mu Qing is rolling his eyes to his heart´s content

After all Xie Lian was relieved...both of them seemed to work earnestly on this case...and seemed to have sufficient knowledge.

Both Nan Feng and Fu Yao seemed to be amused, when Xie Lian tried to go into the wilderness. Shortly after he realized that he could now use a temple of the two martial gods for the night.

When Xie Lian tried to thank the god of soil with his actions for the information, Fu Yao is rolling his eyes very hard, so that even Xie Lian had to comment it.

Mu Qing´s pov: I guess he hated that Xie Lian had to be especially kind and patience isn´t one of his strengths.

VII. New information: Everything of Mu Qing must be beautiful

This is unbelievable funny that Xie Lian is even aware of something like this...Mu Qing as a former servant now wishes that everything is noble, graceful and beautiful.

Fu Yao was also calling a believer of Feng Xin ugly.. Mu Qing would have thought the same...and Nan Feng had clearly a problem with women in itself...

VII. Pretense of a lack of compassion:

Fu Yao also seemed to be unconcerned that the girl might be embarassed with the tear in her skirt. Yet when Xie Lian gave her his outer robe, he was just as relieved as the other two.

VIII Turning point: Concern of Mu Qing - Xie Lian`s presentation of his "wounds"

This was not a question stated mockingly...Mu Qing really wanted to know the answer.

Xie Lian had to admit that he fell unluckily. He told them "blankly".

And then Fu Yao grumbled something...He was upset

Xie Lian´s pov: Xie Lian was very embarrased/ashamed to have to speak about his bad luck. Xie Lian interpreted Fu Yao´s reaction as further criticism regarding his person and did not want to know it...This is a habit he used in the past with Mu Qing as well...Xie Lian distanced himself here from Fu Yao.

Mu Qing´s pov: It is hard to say...but I would suspect that he was clearly concerned as Fu Yao has stated his criticism of Xie Lian very clearly and openly...but here...He does not say outright what upset him...He was most likely not happy that Xie Lian had such bad luck to hurt himself so horribly.

Cursed shackle

Both Nan Feng and Fu Yao have a strong reaction to Xie Lian having the "cursed shackle".

Xie Lian was metaphorically and literally undressing and presenting his two former retainers his wounds, shame and bad luck (And most likely he did not know yet that those two were his former subordinates).

Neither of them...not even Mu Qing tried to hurt him here...They are disturbed. Neither of them acted malicious.

Further concern of Mu Qing

Isn´t it funny that the one person who pretended to not be disturbed by something indecent, now seemed to have an issue with it as long as it concerned Xie Lian?

You can take this as concern or criticism...but let´s see it like this.

Xie Lian´s shame is so clear and out in the open that Mu Qing would have just needed to talk about this cursed shackle to shame Xie Lian completely...But he did not...He did not even want to mention it!

So I read this comment here as hidden concern as well.

IX. On the topic of Tremendous Masculinity

Mu Qing was enjoying himself here like a child, embarrassing Feng Xin at the same time. He was forgetting himself here clearly...

Spouting poetry in front of Feng Xin and Xie Lian, insulting the former and amusing Xie Lian as well.

Of course in order to get back to him Feng Xin threw at him a command "go sweep the floor" as Mu Qing is oversensitive regarding this issue.

It is interesting that Xie Lian cannot understand (or does refuse to understand), why Mu Qing who was a former servant would consider this fact embarrasing...when he knows that among the gods there are lots of generals and princes...

X. Mu Qing felt embarrased and took the next jab at Xie Lian

The situation being Xie Lian´s servant seemed to be the thing Mu Qing felt the greatest shame for...

That is the reason, why he shot Xie Lian a look before he attacked Feng Xin and Xie Lian as well.

He is embarrased, oversensitive.

Whatever he saw...Obviously he took it as Xie Lian making fun of him, so he also became aggressive one more time.

Even though the person in question - Xie Lian - did not appear to have wished to make fun of him at all. Another instant of clear miscommunication.

Xie Lian´s pov:

Xie Lian had another experience of a loss of power and control...He could not stop them before they seriously fought each other.

And the most funny thing...They were arguing about him

Mu Qing´s pov:

The same like Feng Xin. There seemed to be a lot of anger and hurt feelings between them..

But just as much...Mu Qing admitted that there were "injustices against him (Xie Lian)"...So there was also a massive guilt that played here a serious role that made both aggressive towards each other

Hilarious...their master sent both away, because he hated himself, but both beat each other up about who was worse? After 800 years...

This is one of his standard insults he will throw at Feng Xin. Implying...wasn´t he the most loyal bodyguard...why did he leave the master?...

XI. Concern as reason for a truce

This will be later also come into play...

They both work greatly together as long it was Xie Lian who was in danger...here he wanted to eat dirty food.

Xie Lian took the chance and separated both...reminding them that they generals wouldn´t approve of their behaviour...

XII. An instance of Mu Qing appearing pretty cold

XIII. Another instance of Mu Qing having to know everything better

XIII. Xie Lian praised both "Juniour Heavenly Officials" in front of Ling Wen - Mu Qing pretends to be in heaven

Mu Qing heard it as well and tried to distract them by appearing in the communication array.

Another instant of Xie Lian being annoyed with Mu Qing...showing clearly that Xie Lian was still upset with him...due to their past...or due to his earlier behaviour...is unfortunately unclear.

XIV. Another instant of Mu Qing appearing cold

Both propose Xie Lian as bride to be...

Another instant of unexpected worry for Xie Lian

XV. Xie Lian was enjoying himself a little

"No. It´s just...I suddenly realized that this wedding procession is missing something very important." "Missing what?" Nan Feng asked. "We´ve prepared all that we need." Xie Lian smiled. "Two accompanying maids." "..." The two outside exchanged a look, then they both shuddered violently, seeming to have imagined something. Fu Yao replied," Just pretend that the family´s poor, and there´s no money to buy maids, and deal with it." "All right," Xie Lian said.

XVI. Mu Qing dislike for Feng Xin´s demonstration of loyalty

His slap almost broke the entire sedan completely. (...) The way Nan feng spoke actually reminded him of how Feng Xin used to be, when he was mad. Nan Feng was about so say more when suddenly, the wailing of military officers came from the distance. Fu Yao said icily, "If there´s anything to say, say it after fighting this wave off first!" Without any other choice, Nan Feng had to rush over to rescue the people.

Mu Qing was greatly upset here.

It is not just impatience, with "icily" there is a step up from the "coolness" his voice is typically described.

So it could be that he was greatly upset, that Feng Xin showed so great concern/loyalty to Xie Lian?

By the way...one moment where it was Mu Qing who had to remind Feng Xin that there were a couple of people they needed to rescue...

Is it some kind of jealousy of some bond between Xie Lian and Feng Xin?

XVII. Xie Lian was the boss here

"Good," Xie Lian said. "Fu Yao, follow this path immediately and search the surrounding area. Make sure the ghost groom hasn´t escaped." Fu Yao turned and left when he heard the instructions.

It also described one habit of Xie Lian...He will keep Nan Feng/Feng Xin by his side and send Fu Yao/Mu Qing away.

XVIII. Mu Qing has a more apathetic impression of people

Sometimes it appeared as if Mu Qing was just tired of the wickedness of the people

Fu Yao waved dismissively and said apathecially, "Let them be, those unruly people." He sounded extremely disgusted, not wanting to care anymore.

XIX. Silverbutterflies provoke a flight reaction in Mu Qing

"Silver butterflies," Xie Lian said. Earlier, when Nan Feng and Fu Yao saw the forest of hanging corpses, they remained considerably composed. But the instant those two words left Xie Lian´s mouth, he could clearly see the drop in their faces. Fu Yao exlaimed in disbelief, " What did you say? Silver butterflies? What kind of silver butterflies?" Xie Lian realized that he had probably said something significant and explained," They´re like silver, yet also like crystal. They don´t seem to be living creatures. But they look quite pretty." He saw Nan Feng and Fu Yao exchange looks with expressions so grim their faces were almost green. After a while, Fu Yao said darkly," Leave. Right now." "We haven´t settled the case of the ghost groom yet, how can I leave?" Xie Lian said. "Settle?" Fu Yao said. He turned back and sneered. "Seems like you have really tarried too long in the Human Realm. This ghost groom is merely a wrath. Even the Green Ghost of this hanging-corpses forest is merely a "near-supreme, as pesky as he might be." After another pause, he suddenly said in a stern voice, "Do you know who the master of those silver butterflies is?" Xie Lian replied honestly," I don´t." "...Even if you don´t, there isn´t time for me to explain now," Fu Yao said stiffly. "In short, he isn´t someone you can handle. You´d better hurry back to the Heavenly Realm and ask for reinforcements." "Then you head back first," Xie Lian. "You--" "The master of those silver butterflies never showed any hint of malice," Xie Lian said." If he does harbor malice, if he really is as terrifying as you claim, then no one within the perimeter of Mount Yujun would be abel to excape his clutches. All the more reason someone has to stand guard here right now. So why don´t you go back first and help me seek reinforcements?" He could tell Fu Yao didn´t want to remain here and deal with so many troublesome matters. If that was the case, then Xie Lian wouldn´t force the issue. Fu Yao was a straightforward person, so he really did leave on his own with a toss of his sleeves.

The mere notice of Hua Cheng provoked in Mu Qing a flight response. Since Xie Lian did not understand this reaction and worried for the people, he refused to go.

Even though Xie Lian expressed it so that he left Fu Yao/Mu Qing some face ("So why don´t you go back first and help me seek reinforcements?"), he clearly did not exprect for this person to come back. Yet he did not wish to force him to stay with him and let him go.

XX. Fu Yao returned

Well...Nan Feng/Feng Xin did not leave Fu Yao some face, when he returned...Xie Lian had to conciliate their dispute.

It is interesting that when Feng Xin brought up Fu Yao´s general...

Actually, based on Xie Lian´s understanding of Mu Qing, Xie Lian was pretty sure that the wouldn´t come even if he had the time. But under the present circumstances, there wasn´t time to dwell on that.

Xie Lian remarked bitterly in his thoughts that Mu Qing would not come, even if he had the time for it. (So it appeared that Xie Lian did not know yet...that Fu Yao is Mu Qing)

-> So it seemed that Xie Lian felt still hurt by the betrayal of Mu Qing. He has not forgiven him yet.

Xie Lian later remarked that Fu Yao had some influence in the Palace of Xuan Zhen, as he was able to call capable people from there.

XXI. Human Face Disease

The other two are greatly affected by Xie Lian´s reveal.

"It´s not a matter of ugliness," Xie Lian replied. "He...has the Human Face Disease." Hearing those three words, both Nan Feng and Fu Yao froze. They finally understood, why Xie Lian was so shocked.

XXII. Gentle feelings on both sides at the end of the first journey

Fu Yao lifted the hem of his robe and sat down next to him. Alas, he could no longer keep it in and rolled his eyes. "How much longer are you gonna wear that thing?" It felt incredibly endearing, somehow, to see his eyes roll. Xie Lian finally took off the wedding dress, wiped away his makeup, and then realized dejectedly (...)

Fu Yao sat down next to Xie Lian (The distance between them has diminished!) , rolling his eyes and reminding him that he still wore the wedding dress.

That is a long way from the guy, who had wiped his fingers, when Xie Lian "saw him the first time".

And Xie Lian?

Was this the moment he seriously suspected it? Especially since he strangely considered Fu Yaos eye roll "incredibly endearing"...

A typical reaction of Mu Qing´s, when he had been annoyed...

Well...this person came back after all, after leaving...even while being really scared...that was most likely one point..But if he suspected it here, Xie Lian must have felt "incredibly" happy...

Xie Lian and Mu Qing´s loneliness (partly my commentary)

More or less from the start , the reader is aware that Xie Lian is lonely, disconnected from the rest of the gods...and human beings, even though he cares from the start about every living being...There is some wall between him and the rest of them.

Even though he was kind, he did have no friends at the beginning. The gods did not take him seriously and human beings would have died far earlier than him. His memory is hazy - not uncommon for trauma survivors and Xie Lian better did not want to remember certain events.

And Mu Qing? His comment pretty much shows us how he perceived the other Heavenly Officials of the Upper Court...

Fu Yao concluded, "In the Upper Court, there aren´t that many who are trustworthy and worth meeting." Xie Lian thought it funny that Fu Yao sounded like he was speaking from experience and cautioning a newcomer. He wondered if Fu Yao only spoke because he had been bullied in the Heavenly Realm himself, and the experience had affected him deeply. But then again, even though Xie Lian had ascended three times, he never stuck around for long. So when it came to understanding the gods, he might actually know less than these two juniour officials.

Mu Qing did not trust another Heavenly Official in the Upper Court and he is "cautioning" Xie Lian here...this was meant as a well-meaning advice...but it showed how much fear of other human beings determined his life as a god.

Xie Lian was finally able to show sympathy to Fu Yao(Mu Qing) ("he had been bullied in the Heavenly Realm himself and the experience had affected him deeply"), even though he was pretty tired.

It was pretty likely that Mu Qing experienced the same bullying than he had in the Royal Temple...as a former servant among generals, nobility and princes...

Conclusions

Mu Qing did not become Fu Yao purely without some bad intent and surely he did not intent to become friendly with Xie Lian (indirectly criticizing him, mocking his reputation)

The turning point was Xie Lian presenting both of them his deep wounds (lesser the obvious wounds and the cursed shackle) that moved both (Feng Xin and Mu Qing)

Even though there were many unresolved issues presented, all three enjoyed their shared time together - The journey ends on a high for all three people!

Mu Qing is partly able to overcome his deep fear of Hua Cheng: He came back after all.

Xie Lian has a hunch, that these two are his former subordinates

[linkspooky]

Yu-Gi-Oh Hot Take #12

I will defend Season 4 of Yu-Gi-Oh! as filler. I'm saying this as someone who vastly prefers the manga, and thinks the anime version is lesser to the manga because Death-T is never mentioned.

My one critique of the manga is that Yami has amazing development, starting out as basically a serial killer -> duelist kingdom -> the beginning of Battle City where after Yami and Yugi become so attached to one another he makes the decision to search for his lost memories even if it means saying goodbye.

However, after that his development kind of stops. I like the loss against Raphael they throw into Season 4, because it's a callback to Yami almost murdering Kaiba because he wanted to win a duel. Yugi and Yami seperating once and Yami nearly having a mental breakdown about it then learning to cope before they reunite is good. It's a good buildup to the millenium world arc.

Noah's entire season however, is unforgivable.

[darkscorpiox]

This fancomic gives Kisara a reason for not leaving Priest Seto when she had had the chance to do so in the manga (beside the fact that Takahashi couldn’t work more on their development)

Down there is a rough translation of the text (along with a few personal touches). Please tell me if I’ve made mistakes.

Anyway, enjoy 😊

Page 1  This has happened many times. (こんなことならいくらでもありました)

Page 2 Villager 1: It’s a calamity! This girl has brought a calamity to the village! (災いだ！この娘が村に災いを呼んだのだ！)

Villager 2: You and your cursed appearance! If you hadn’t been here…! (オマエのその呪われた姿！オマエさえいなければ…！)

Page 3 I thought I had been picked up and taken somewhere, but no, that’s not it. The village had disappeared. (どこかに拾てられたのだと思ったのだけど そうじゃなくて 村が無くなっていたの)

Page 4 I don’t know why did such a thing happen, but I’m sure it’s my fault. Everything…Everything… (どうしてこんな事になったのかはわからないけど きっと 私が悪いのだと思う 全部 全部)

Page 5 For the first time… (⸻はじめて)

Page 6 …I saw light in this world. (世界に光が見えました)

Priest Seto: Listen! Get away from this castle as fast as possible! Go, quick! (いいか！早くこの城から離れろ！早く行け！)

Page 7  My… (私の)

Page 8 My light is over there, right? (私の光はあそこにあるでしょう？)

Page 9 After meeting you… (私あなたと出会って)

Page 10 …for the first time, I thought I was glad to be born. (はじめてうまれてきてもよかったのかもっておもえたの)

@kaibacorpdork @kisara-kaiba @sapphira-mydnyte @kisaraslover

[kaibasupremacy]

Set is saved // episode 205

[communist-ojou-sama]

as someone who only knows blue archive from art and toki's wiki page (after being lured in by her eyes and hair vents), i genuinely am very curious about your thoughts on himari-toki-rio!

Oh thank u thank u! As a disclaimer I don't actually olay the game :p I've just watched videos of all the main story arcs, but theres a whole lot that I like about the deeply strange relationship those three have going on.

So for a bit of story summary, in chapter 2 of the main story Rio is the main antagonist, kidnapping the girl around which the story revolves because while she doesn't know it, the girl in question is a biomechanical superweapon and the princess of the nameless priests who want to bring an end to the world as we know it, and she wants to destroy this girl before she can realize that destiny.

In order to do so she has apparently built an entirely new city under the existing city in which the story takes place, enlisting entirely robot labor without the knowledge of the General Student Council of the city, with Toki, her personal maid, as her sole confidant. But Rio's secretiveness and overconfidence backfire. When she attempts to put Aris, the princess in question in a machine she built to destroy her, the second personality within Aris is able to hack into the control system and seize control of the entire mechanical city, threatening to turn it into a staging ground for the very invasion Rio was aiming to prevent. But before that happens, Rio uses her automated security systems to slow the protagonists down, and Toki goes out all on her own to fight the entire main cast, in a bespoke mech that Rio designed and had constructed for her, and fights against the protagonists to the bitter end to buy time for Rio. (Sorry this is all necessary context)

So Himari, on the other hand, is on the protagonist side, she's the only person at Millenium academy who's acknowledged as Rio's intellectual equal, but she's got the exact opposite personality to Rio's cold, calculating, conservative approach. She's totally confident that the threat inside of Aris can be neutralized and fights to save her, and it's her hacking skills that allow the main cast to defeat the nameless priests when they hijack the city.

In the aftermath of this event, Rio disappears into hiding, not even telling Toki where she's going or taking Toki with her, and so with nowhere else to go Toki begins working under Himari instead.

Himari and Rio are long-standing rivals who disagree about everything but have grudging respect for one another's intellect and talent, which is fun on its own, but going by minor appsreances from Rio (via surveillance drone, shes still in hiding) imply that she's genuinely very sorry about what she's done, and theres a scene much later where Himari rips into Rio for abandoning Toki after all the girl has done for her.

ALL OF THAT SAID

Whats really making me ill is a prospective day when Rio finally returns, how will Toki react? And how will Himari react to that reaction? Will Toki immediately accept Rio's apology and return right away to Rio's right hand? And if she does how would Himari feel? Would she beg her not to go? Would she plead to her to remember how shed been betrayed, to no avail?

Or the contrary? What if Toki's so hurt that she's not willing to associate with Rio right away? Due to some things I don't wanna get into Himari's attitude toward Rio has softened, and I'm not unconvinced Himari doesn't have feelings for Rio herself, is that why she got so angry on Toki's behalf, because she felt abandoned too? The more I think about it the sicker I get

[alovelyburn]

Rambles about the Millenium Falcon Arc Part 5

...long time no see. 

I actually did start writing this a month ago, but it took a bit to get my brain back in the right place after so long away. BUT I’M BACK hi.

Rambles about the Millenium Falcon Arc Part 5

Even though I do think Isidro is meant to evoke Guts he’s obviously not a 1-to-1 comparison, like he’s much more of a chaos imp than Guts ever was. Also he’s scrawny – I do wonder if he should focus more on ranged combat given how good he is with missile attacks. This doesn’t matter at all, but I’m warming up, lmao.

One of the things Miura talked about when he discussed the reason for the reaction for whatever such and such a character was this idea of designing characters to bring out different shades of Guts in order to make him a more multidimensional character. I think this is something he really excelled at – it’s interesting to see his more mentorly side coming out, not to mention the difference between the way Guts treats Isidro and, say, the way Gambino treated him does highlight Guts’ generally better... nature. 

And that’s interesting because I’ve talked a lot before about how post-Eclipse (and pre-meeting Griffith) Guts had taken on a lot of Gambino’s traits and attitudes... which is arguably not the best way to navigate the world. But that’s a side of him that comes out mostly when he’s alone and frustrated – when he’s a kid on the road, for example, or after the Eclipse but before meeting Puck. Which is to say, it’s a self-defense mechanism for when he feels lost or angry and lonely without a lot of outlet. When he has people around he chills out considerably, which makes his attempts at being a lone wolf feel a little self-destructive. 

I just love how Guts is completely disinterested unless there’s some kind of fight involved. More than that, though, as a pretty straightforward person I suppose he doesn’t have a lot of interest in interacting with people who are wearing a civil mask and carrying ulterior motives.

As for Serpico, it must be odd watching her change so quickly and so completely. This is the beginning of a longer subplot with him watching being weirded out by it and I guess kind of jealous and kind of saddened that Guts and their companions were able to change Farnese in ways he was unable to and thus make her a much healthier and less troubled person.

Okay so as a sidenote, I do really get tired of this. I understand that Casca and Farnese are the most helpless in the group, but the thing where they are constantly the ones targeted for danger is a little meh. You could argue that in the case of trolls it makes sense – given what we later learn about their actions and breeding habits – but it’s still repetitive because they end up being swept up and pulled into troll haven or whatever together again in the future, so like maybe a different plot point? Like the trolls’ presence could have been announced with a battle scene and then Casca and Farnese could have been separated from the group later without eliciting a kind of “oh this again?” type of response, I’m just saying. 

Anyway, you know the deal, me and fight scenes are like, eh.

The introduction of magic definitely changed the tone of Berserk. Miura did mention that he made it difficult to manage and slow to start up for balance reasons, and I do think the balance has been largely maintained but it obviously did change the scale of the series and the battles – same with the Berserker armor, for example. This isn’t actually a problem for me in theory but I think the one thing I wish he had done is... I guess better foreshadow the existence of all these things, right? 

Like I don’t expect him to have witches in the BSM arc for example – he hadn’t even thought of it yet, he didn’t even know what the main conflict of the story would be until volume 3. But it would have been cool to have more of a buildup leading into Flora and Schierke’s introduction. 

Anyway it doesn’t bother me that much, it’s more like the existence of the Hawk prophecies – a missed opportunity that was probably missed just because he hadn’t thought of it yet.

I wonder if Ivalera is going to like, make more of an impact on me during this readthrough. Because honestly, this is volume 24 right? She’s been with them for almost 20 volumes, and I never remember that she exists.

Ah, Schierke. It’s almost fitting that the kind of lighter/less grim tone came in with her because the anime vibes kind of did, too – green hair and all that. I should clarify that I don’t actually mind the lighter tone or the magic or anything, I just think it’s interesting how quickly Berserk went from like grim gritty low fantasy that borders on horror to like epic fantasy adventures. This arc is kind of a transitional point since the trolls are very old Berserk, but obviously the introduction of Schierke and Ivalera really bridge into new Berserk.

Okay this is a little bit of a tangent, but it’s something I was just thinking about today. 

So Casca is, for me, uhh... so many a series has a character in it that’s like a major part of the story but you just can’t warm to them and kinda wish they weren’t there because they feel kind of like baggage. That’s how I feel about Post-Eclipse Casca. Like during the Golden Age she served a narrative purpose right, she’s a foil for Guts and then his love interest and then one of his greatest losses. Cool. 

Post-Eclipse though I’m just not sure. Don’t get me wrong, I know she’s involved in the story, like half the story is about getting her to Elfhelm. But – and im not sure whether I can articulate this properly but I’m trying – I feel like even though the story revolves around her, she is nonetheless an extra appendage to the plot. She’s a MacGuffin. Her existence causes people to run around trying to do things but she herself is not involved in those things or even really important to them and there’s no purpose she serves in the story that couldn’t be served by something else without much of a change to the core of the plot. 

Guts could get to Conviction any way – he could just go there because of the revelation from Griffith, he could get dragged there by Farnese and then escape, he could just be led there by fate – there’s nothing inherent to the Conviction arc that requires him to be chasing Casca. You could say her biggest contribution to the plot post-Eclipse is as a Griffith-obsession-meter, like if he doesn’t care about her, then he’s in full Griffith-fixation mode, and if he’s focused on protecting her, his Griffith obsession is waning. 

I don’t know. There is a large part of the fanbase (most of it in the English speaker quarter, in fact) that perceives her as the third protagonist and really puts a narrative weight on her but I honestly think it’s mostly headcanon and cope, lmao. She’s a MacGuffin. 

Anyway the reason this section kinda set me off on it is because Casca gets kidnapped or spirited off to Trollhaven twice in this one arc, and she was sexually assaulted twice since Conviction, and she was sexually assaulted and pushed around and used as a MacGuffin for most of Conviction and while this is somewhat true of Farnese as well at this point (the troll thing anyway)... Farnese then becomes a much more formidable person under her own power whereas Casca languishes, gets her memory back, has multiple unconsciousness-inducing flashbacks and then gets kidnapped. 

Hmm, I guess the gist of this rant is just “Casca is a character Miura randomly decided to hook up with Guts for drama and then kept around so that Guts would stay mad, and it shows.” 

And of course it helps that Casca ends up spending more time with Farnese than Guts so that relationship isn’t’ really emphasized very much outside of a “what is she to you? Oooohh I think I know....” comment every like 8 real world years. 

Anyway if she turns out to be crucial in a way that is unique to her later, I’ll be relieved but for now I’m eh.

/rant mode off

So one of the things I really enjoy about Berserk is this feeling that Griffith’s presence, or even the promise of his arrival, inherently changes the world. Before the Eclipse, apostles became more active, and after it they were obviously more present than they had bene before. And after Griffith’s reincarnation, the barrier between the physical and the astral planes start to blur a bit, bringing the monsters out and strengthening the magical gifts of people like Sonia. His presence is such that he changes the world simply by being there... in various ways. Obviously things like bringing the trolls into the world aren’t great, lmao.

And, of course, Guts understands what’s going on even if no one else does yet.

Establishment shot! I’m sort of fascinated by Flora’s mansion if only because it doesn’t actually exist in the physical world.

Now that I’ve gone into that whole rant about Casca, I will take a moment to say it’d be cool if there turned out to be a reason she randomly went digging in the golem – an instinct through her connection to the Moonkid/Griffith, maybe, or just an instinct in general. It’s not something I expect to come up, to be clear – she’s probably just being a curious child since she’s mentally a toddler. But you know, wishful thinking.

This image really sent me off on a death spiral into one of my more obscure theories, which I’m not going to talk about because I hate being wrong about things I’m not ready to be wrong about. But anyway I did look a bit into the meaning of the pentagram which told me... first of all that the use of the pentagram seems to precede any of the meanings we know to ascribe to it, which make sense. But also, that the points of the pentagram represent either the wounds of Christ, the senses, or five elements.

This sent me into a rabbit hole of reading up on elements as understood in different cultures. What I found interesting was like, it seems most places (most) have the same four elements we still talk about today at least to some degree (like it might be wind instead of air, but you know), but there’s sometimes a fifth thing – spirit or heart, for example, in the case of neoplatonic elements, or void/emptiness for Japanese philosophy. 

And then I thought about the way Miura liked to combine the philosophies and religious tenants from different cultures instead of trying to fully replicate a specific perspective in his work. Rather the cosmology of Berserk is a little bit of everything, you know? Which made me think... considering the fifth element in Berserk’s world to be Spirit or Emptiness works very well with the way Berserk is set up but it also tends to imply that there’s a fifth elemental lord, unless the joke is that the element is emptiness so the spot for the lord is empty. I’ll probably yada yada more about this when I get to Schierke’s spell in the village because she does say something interesting that I think bears commentary. 

But the way Miura repeatedly put the pentagram in a prominent position  - even having a whole panel that was nothing but the pentagram, strikes me as interesting and significant.

But one of the things is this: I believe that all religions in Berserk are faces for the same underlying powers – IoE and the Godhand (and perhaps some other servants who fulfill different functions but we don’t know about that). It explains why the old Godhand look like ancient gods, and it explains why Flora triggers Guts’ brand, which is supposed to react to demonic power. Because in the end, she’s still drawing from the same well but in a different way.

Guts being polite as usual, lmao.

It’s interesting that Flora seems to know she’s going to die soon. I know that you could interpret it as her knowing that she is just getting too old and weak, but considering she tells Schierke that they’ll meet again, which refers to the Casca’s Mindscape sequence 30+ volumes later, I assume she has some kind of plug into the future, albeit in a limited way. Skull Knight seems to be similar.

After this Guts says, “It’ll protect against that” with the image of his beast self raping/killing Casca. Which makes me think this scene fuels people’s assertion that he was possessed when he did that, which he wasn’t. But I do think the possessions prior kind of kicked him in that direction and he was unable to extricate himself from it until he was made violently aware of his own dark side and how dangerous it was. 

Okay so now we’re going to talk worldbuilding, its my favorite thing.

Bringing this back.

 Okay so, I’m just going to break this down into a form I can better reference, rofl.

The Astral plane is, as Griffith would say, where they become one – the afterlife, and also the home of supernatural forces and beings. When someone senses/believes in something that is technically part of the astral world hard enough the thing becomes visible in the physical world, which is why elves have become recognized in the physical world. Later we’ll find out that the astral world’s... stuff used to be a much greater part of the physical world but started disappearing from the physical realm as people drifted from the perspectives that allowed them to be perceived, which continues right up until Griffith brings them back together. 

Then the Realm of Idea (the graphic misnames it) is... it kind of reminds me of the concept of the Root in the Fate franchise (and also several actual world religions nevermind that though). The origin of all existence, the blueprint of reality. 

And subrealms: 

Physical Realm – where people usually are. 

Interstice – a shallow level of the Astral Plane that mostly just looks like the physical realm. This is where Guts and Casca are because of the brand. Also where things like ghosts come from when they haven’t realized or accepted their deaths and headed back to the Vortex. 

Nexus – a deeper part of the Astral and the space opened by the Behelit/location of the Sacrifice ceremonies. This is interesting to me because Miura once said that in order to injure an astral body, the person trying to injure them has to be in the astral plane as well. Which brings to mind the arguments over whether the Godhand can actually be hurt – people say they must be mortal to some degree because they protect their bodies – e.g Void deflects Skull Knight’s blow and the only time Femto ever defends himself vs Guts is during the BSM arc when the Slug Count uses the behelit to bring the Godhand out.  But it makes sense that they defend themselves during Eclipses or Sacrifice ceremonies because during those moments, the entire area is sucked into the Nexus, which means they can be injured in ways they cant be if they’re just walking around on the physical world. Thus, for example, the impossibility of injuring Griffith in the physical world. 

The Vortex – A deeper level of the Astral Plane where the megapowers are, e.g. the Godhand, the Element Kings etc. The sea god from the pirate arc, like that. 

The Abyss – where the Idea of Evil hangs out.

This page is often cited as proof that there is a heaven and hell, but Flora really is just engaging in conjecture. That said, it does seem like there are places that are more or less pleasant within the astral plane, at least on lower levels like the Interstice, so I suppose its possible that they exist in the Vortex as well. This is one of the areas where I’m the most conflicted because there’s a pretty strong indication that post-death humans lose their sense of self and join the sea of souls where no one has any individuality or identity, but there’s also this comment about karma and such. Plus we do know that some humans do not just melt into the  vortex because Flora herself instead became a Daimon although we don’t find that out for a long time. 

Right now, I’m sort of operating with the idea that post-death a person retains a sense of self for a certain period of time, during which their experience is dictated by their karma, before they eventually break apart and join the sea. But that’s just a fan wank it’s really an unknown at this time.

This comment is interesting because it brings to mind Schierke’s later comment that the four elemental kings are the same beings that are named in scripture as the four cardinal angels of God. As I said earlier, all religions are one religion.

What did I say the other day? Even witches refer to Griffith as an angel. This kind of burns my bum because people focus on the demon thing very strongly and tend to either ignore the other side of them or suggest that they’re not really angels but are pretending to be – I think Guts even suggests that at one point. But Guts is biased and Flora would know better than he does.

Not for nothing but Guts is being stupid here. Not too surprising, but like what is he going to do, summon them and launch himself at them? They’d crush him like a bug without moving. Come on, man. 

But in all seriousness, Guts’ absolute faith in his ability to find a way to win is one of my favorite things about him, but it’s also what leads to him having a mental breakdown when he cant hit Griffith later. I don’t think he’s ever considered the possibility that there’s something he can’t fight his way through. 

This also confirms, btw, that Guts hasn’t given up on revenge just put it on hold until he can get Casca to Elfhelm. Otherwise why would he still be trying to figure out how to get at the Godhand? It’s also the best indication that he isn’t only angry at Griffith but at the entire group of them. I assume it’s not dissimilar to the way Skull Knight runs straight at Void if he’s there, but he wont turn down an opportunity to throw a blow at any of them.

So, one of the things that fuels speculation that Casca might be destined to use that Behelit is that... when it comes out, and they’re talking about it, she seems to be drawn to it for no real reason, right, like she just comes walking toward them making interested noises and Farnese has to pull her away. 

The obvious counter would be that she comes out because Flora is about to talk about her and Guts’ mission to protect her, but she didn’t really need to be there for that – people talk about Casca and Guts’ relationship or his intentions with regards to her without her being there all the time. 

It’s interesting. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but given Miura’s ways it wouldn’t surprise me if it did.

He didn’t listen when Godot told him this before, no way he’s listening now. 

But really she doesn’t seem to be trying to tell him to give it up, which doesn’t surprise me – she’s a friend of Skull Knight’s, so I’m sure she understands how pointless arguing with someone in this situation can be.

“The fate associated with it rests in the hands of its master who sent it.” I assume that’s IoE but it does highlight the fact that Slan seemed to be able to affect its reaction/availability to Guts.

When I try to figure out who the behelit might belong to, though, I admit I have a kind of difficult time imagining who it could be aside from Casca or Guts. If it’s Guts, then I would expect it’s there for him to ultimately resist, thus finally breaking the chains of fate that he’s been fighting but accidentally getting further caught in for years. If it’s Casca, on the other hand, I think that ends badly for her. There’s a small chance that such an option could appear for her to give her the chance to turn it down as well, but I’m not sure I believe that she has it in her. 

I also can’t think of anyone else that the behelit would really fit in a way that advances the story/moves toward the fulfillment of the narrative promise, really. So I still think the best bet is Casca, though that doesn’t guarantee it obviously. If it’s Guts, on the other hand... well, I guess he’s craving his power right now, isn’t he? I mean in current chapters.

I feel you, Guts.

But no, I gather she means that they’re the servants of the Idea of Evil (unnamed but still), and that they’re mysteries because humans can’t go to where they are, even in astral form, thus they remain mysterious.

Okay translation rant. I wanted to make sure that “If he is the Hawk of Darkness, then he is dreadful” was actually accurate, which it is KIND OF? 

What Schierke is saying is 

あの者が黙示録に記された五番目の御使いが受肉した姿。。。闇の鷹なのだとしたら者恐るべきことです。

That person is the [incarnated form] of the fifth angel written down in the [Book of Revelation]. If (he’s) the Hawk of Darkness he is.... [dreadful] 

So a couple of things. I’m showing dictionary definitions because it’s good to show receipts, lmao. 

-The word translated as incarnation is specifically the incarnation of Christ.

-The word used for revelation is specifically the Book of Revelation, though it also means Apocalypse – Utena fans may remember it:

-Finally, the phrase translated here as “dreadful”,

So it does mean dreadful but also fearsome, formidable, like a dangerous or difficult adversary. 

So okay one thing I notice about Miura is that he liked to use ambiguous phrasing – the phrase translated as “you’re the only one who made me forget my dream” for example, also means “you’re the only one who let me forget my dream.” Similarly, the word translated as “evil” in a lot of places in Berserk also means “magic” or a supernatural force of some kind, and sometimes it makes more sense that they’d mean magic but the translation still says evil. 

I’ll be honest, I think he did it on purpose. Because for example a sentence that means both “let me forget” and “made me forget” reflects the conflict within Griffith himself about Guts’ impact on him and how it affected his goals, which were both burdensome and meant to be his most important thing. So in the discussion of which way it was intended to be read, my main thought is “both.” 

How this relates to this sentence is just this: It’s translated as dreadful which isn’t inaccurate but in the context of the discussion Schierke and Flora are having, Schierke isn’t talking about how awful and deplorable the fifth angel is, she’s talking about how Guts has to be crazy to go against him because he’s absurdly powerful. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think her statement is meant to evoke how terrifying he is, either. But even so, and this isn’t the translator’s fault because English doesn’t work the same way Japanese does, but... I can’t help thinking that just saying “dreadful” makes it sound like she’s just saying “he’s awful and deplorable” rather than that he’s a frightening opponent or person. And that doesn’t make sense because Schierke was previously shown to be sort of unsure about whether he would be the savior or (something) else. 

It’s also interesting that he doesn’t name some random prophecy but rather the biblical Book of Revelation. And that he didn’t have Schierke refer to Griffith with a normal “incarnation” or “bodied form” or whatever – because there are words for that – but rather as specifically the incarnation of Christ. It does make it very clear (VERY clear) that Griffith here is envisioned as the Berserk equivalent of a Christ-figure as predicted by the Berserk equivalent of the Bible. The fact that he’s served by, you know, apostles should also be a clue about this, but I know people like to suggest he’s an antichrist instead, but I mean... 

He’s both isn’t he? I mean I know I’ve talked about this enough but it does make sense that in a world where God is the Idea of Evil, the Christ-equivalent would be a more complicated figure as well. 

I just think it’s interesting like... Miura uses a lot of Catholic concepts and imagery in Berserk, but they don’t always mean the same thing as they do in the real-world religion. People often try to read Berserk with I guess real world Christianity in mind, and I get it because of the very obvious parallels, but I do think it’s a bit of a trap.

The thing I wonder a lot – although I guess it’s more like I think about it a lot than that I wonder about it – is the relationship between Skull Knight and Flora. Later I’ll ponder on it in greater depth but it’s interesting to me that even after seeing what happened to Gaiseric she still has this belief that fate can be countered. It’s very different than, say, Skull Knight who kind of lets slip during the death of Elfhelm that fate often cannot be overcome, but that people fight anyway because it’s just the nature of humanity to fight fate (and lose). 

Flora’s view echoes Guts’ though, from the Conviction arc when he said he doesn’t believe in causality because he and Casca were meant to die but didn’t. On the other hand... is that really true? Like, Zodd said death would come for him – a death he cannot escape. But Skull Knight was the one who implied to him (right after he left the Hawks) that he could survive it. And if you think about it, given that the demon child/moonkid became Griffith’s vessel there’s a good argument that Casca was always meant to survive, too. 

So. I know a lot of people take Flora’s word as gospel, but a lot of characters say things that contradict so they can’t all be right. Though I do think there’s a decent argument that she’s the least biased and her view possibly reflects the attitude that Miura himself brought to the table since he did say he wanted there to be hope in the story, as well.

This has nothing to do with anything but the sylph thing kind of freaks me out. I don’t think I could wear clothing that’s coated in little “living” things, eep.

And honestly, wtf is wrong with Puck? HOW DOES HE NOT KNOW THIS, HE’S FROM ELFHELM.

I have such conflicted feelings about how Farnese and Casca just got some silver shirts (and a silver knife). Because the thing is, I understand that Casca uh probably can’t trusted with a weapon right now, and that Farnese isn’t a fighter at all. But I still feel like some kind of, say, elementally empowered weapon would be helpful for Farnese at least, considering how often these two get kidnapped or spirited away or trapped in dangerous situations.

I wonder what the axe did.

This lead in to the thing where his sword is kind of magical from fighting magical things is pretty interesting to me because... for years the theory was that his sword could hurt Griffith because of that. And it seemed like a decent theory but of course is proven completely wrong on every level. Misdirection! That is, unless the “he cut a hair off of Griffith’s head” theory turns out to be true but that seems increasingly unlikely since it hasn’t come up at all.

By having the brand, Guts and Casca are basically just walking around in the afterlife all the time – at least the edges of it, so I guess they ended up in tune with the dead even though they themselves didn’t literally die. It seems the Apostles also kind of walk that line, which makes sense given their connection to “hell” or whatever. It’s kind of wild to think about the house they’re hanging around in not technically existing in a physical sense.

I mean in fairness he only left her behind once, it was just a really long time. 

Anyway, this just reminds me of the time I got that Ask from someone kind of ranting about how Guts has to be with Casca because she’s the only reason he’s still human, which was kind of stupid. Don’t get me wrong, I recognize that protecting her is a strong motivating factor for him, but obviously he was already fighting to remain human for the entire series and I also think... the path he has chosen as a defender and as someone who no longer throws his connections away is as much a part of his continued humanity as Casca herself, specifically – that’s why the Beast always tells him to ditch the whole crew not just Casca. 

Also, as I recall, Flora had some knowledge that she was going to be killed soon which... I imagine made it somewhat relieving for her to not have to explain why Casca couldn’t stay there. Also... 

It lends this bit a poignancy.

Okay so... I often wonder about the specifics of Flora and Skull Knight’s relationship... and to be more specific whether her role in his life was similar to Schierke’s role in Guts’ life. Was she his spiritual anchor before he got eaten by the darkness? If so then you could say she failed, which Schierke is also in danger of doing in current canon since Guts is losing his shit. 

There are so many things that make me sad about Miura’s passing. There’s the obvious human element in itself, but there’s also things like how he talked about doing an arc of the Skull Knight’s history, and how on the DVD for the memorial edition ova, a note came up saying things he says may no longer be applicable. I mean for obvious reasons. But does that mean we’ll never know the deal? I hope not. I want to know what Flora did that got her exiled from Elfhelm and what Skull Knight’s goal really is... I mean this is whiny because everyone has the same concerns and thoughts, but you know, just thinking.

And there it is – bringing to question whether Guts is actually acting in free will or not. Because what I get from this is that Flora asks him why he’s trying to get Guts to do certain things or go certain places, and whether it’s because he feels sympathetic or for some selfish reason, and Skull Knight is basically like, even if I didn’t personally lead him around, he may well be led by causality anyway. 

It reminds me of the guidebook noting that Skull Knight seemed to be trying to lead Guts in a certain direction.

I think Skull Knight is ultimately meant to be a cautionary tale for Guts, like... this is what he becomes if he doesn’t let go of his anger and choose his connections and humanity instead... which is not what Gaiseric did back in the day. This does kind of make me wonder to what degree I just talk myself around thinking Guts primarily relies on Casca for humanity though, because one major difference between them seems to be that Casca didn’t die but Skull Knight’s wife or whoever that was did. 

Although I guess that’s odd too because Dannan seems to be his ex in some way that isn’t wholly literal.

And this is a really interesting bit for me, because it’s Flora continuing/finishing her comment earlier about God giving them fate – the fate called encounters. So when she tells Schierke God gives us fate and we humans choose it, you can suppose that she isn’t so much talking about Schierke being destined to do such and such but rather she’s talking about Schierke having the option to accept the opportunity to know and involve herself in this story or not. 

Also, a final little thought-break – the way the witches here talk about God is interesting to me because it does seem like they buy into the “religion” of the world in a way you wouldn’t necessarily expect, right, like Flora directly references fate being sent by God. They also refer to the God Hand as angels, and later Schierke will explain that the element kings are basically biblical archangels by another name. 

And that goes back to all religions are one religion – the same elements with different names and viewed through different prisms but nonetheless the same beings. I kind of think of the different religions within Berserk’s world as... looking at something from one angle vs another angle. Like if you stand in front of something it looks one way and you can only see the front and part of the sides, whereas if you stand to the side you see its side and only part of its front and back, etc. Point being, it’s still the same thing, it’s just that different perspectives or belief systems “see” and name different parts of it. 

That thought leads me down some interesting rabbit holes with Berserk though. 

Anyway, next up, trolls.

[wisyhana]

YGO themes/characters/arcs/elements/etc. I couldn't care less but I'm still open to talk about them, (as in I don't hate them, but I don't mind ignoring them either):

-Magic.

-Monsters archetypes and backstory.

-The Whole Millenium World Arc. (with exception of TKB)

-Yami Bakura/Zorc.

Which I think is very funny considering most of them are essential for the whole story, and I acknowledge it, but I just get tired trying to think further.

Especially with AE content because there's always history or mythology in between of any discussion and I truly try to only stick to what the manga showed, because that's what I only care.

[pkmnspacehistory]

Millenium Armada

Arc damn its been a while (why do I keep finding myself in this situation?)

Anyway, last on the list is the Millenium Armada, which I expected to have been the favored option in the poll considering it has the coolest name, but I don't know.

So we all remember the Millenium Comet, last showed up in May-June of '04, not to return for another 1,000 years, hence the name.

All superstition and whatnot surrounding the comet aside, the space programs of the world saw an unprecedented scientific opportunity. Every region with launch capability sent at least one probe, most sending multiple. I won't list them all, but theres an urban legend that says that space near the comet was so crowded, the cameras from one probe could make out numerous other probes nearby. Whether this is true or not has been the subject of debate, but I think its nice to imagine that the probes had company. You don't see that that often.

All in all, some samples were sampled, of both the surface, coma, tail, whatnot. Pretty foundational to humanity's knowledge of comets, but that's outside my wheelhouse.

Sorry for the delay! The Ceres and Mars preparations are really putting a strain on the schedule here.