#miri meta

[darling-wendy]

they made each other fathers

This has been staring us right in the face the entire time, but it's only just registering to me that Kazuki defaulted to "Rei-papa" when he could've easily just said "Rei-niichan" or "Rei-ojisan" or "Rei-san", some other form of honorific. A four year old is aware of the concept of an uncle, he could've gone with that to begin with. It's very interesting that Kazuki instinctively reached for the one honorific that tacitly implies a relationship between him and Rei. Like, somewhere in the back of his mind he said 'Well, if I'm her pretend dad then Rei, as my partner (and it's also interesting that the first time we first see him use the term, it's the ambiguous English loan word rather than either of the two Japanese equivalents), is obviously also her pretend dad'.

And, honestly, Kazuki doing this seems to kinda low-key incept Miri into viewing Rei as her second papa lol.

She was told by her mother that she had a Papa, singular, and that she was going to meet him at the Varint Hotel. Kazuki presented himself as such, and in the specific context of rescuing her, which is something that Misaki seems to have have told her is what a Papa does.

(The expression on her face and her hand gesture and the way she says this sounds like she's repeating something a trusted adult told her rather than something she came up with herself imo)

So, case closed. But then! her papa tells her to go play with this other guy, who is apparently also her papa? He says he isn't, but the seed has been planted, and it sprouts up later.

Kazuki is berating Rei for not just telling the neighbourhood watch guy that he was her dad, and Miri takes notice. Rei once again denies being her dad, but the idea seems to have stuck for her.

Look at her hurt little face after she heard Rei outright deny being not just her father but also some other sort of family member. She's attached to Rei. She wanted to eat breakfast with him and later wants to sleep next to him. And I'm sure at least some of that is having had him introduced to her as another parent. Fortunately, it works out in the end.

(The voice Kazuki uses here kills me softly. There is genuinely no heterosexual explanation for it lmao.)

('All according to keikaku')

Don't look so smug, Kazuki. Aside from taking Miri into your shared home in the first place, you put the idea of 'Rei-papa' into her head.

So, within Rei's overall arc of changing to become a suitable parent, there's this first mini arc of him accepting identifying as her papa, and it's partially instigated by Kazuki. On Kazuki's end, he doesn't struggle with the label (despite and/or because of his past? Kazuki, you are fascinating), but he has his own unique arc around it.

Part of the reason that Kazuki is so fascinating to me is that he's very straightforward but also he masks as readily as he breathes. Rei isn't as demonstrative or expressive, but he doesn't really hide what he's thinking or how he's feeling. Rei's arc with becoming a father is pretty linear; he first denies then accepts being Miri's papa, he gets a bit involved with raising her, he learns the lesson of how he's not doing enough and needs to step up, then he gets more involved and becomes more confident, culminating in him declaring his desire to be her father in an outright permanent way and he continues growing after the main timeline wraps. His failings are mostly due to having no idea of what a parent is supposed to be like. His father wasn't his father, he was his boss. (Imagine being ~11 years old and having your father hit you in the face and tell you that he's your boss, not your father. This is immediately after he forced you to try to kill a rabid dog, arming you with nothing but a knife, and berating you for not finishing it off. Woof).

Kazuki's failings seem to come from him being too prescriptive or blindly using negative personal experiences as an anchor for what not to do. He also had a terrible childhood, but we lack specific details. He seems to have been abandoned when he was young, so young that he doesn't even remember his parents, and so lacked a real example of how a parent should behave. This undoubtedly would've come up as a stressor when Yuzuko was pregnant. I imagine that he would've gone through the beginner level stages of growth that we saw with Rei, if not exactly in the same way. We come to him at an intermediate level where he knows a lot of basics, but gets tripped up by more higher level concepts.

(Pre-school socialisation isn't about establishing dominance and young kids can have an understanding of right and wrong, Kazuki)

Over the course of the series (and especially in eps 7 and 9), we see Rei look to Kazuki for guidance, and there are also times when Kazuki asserts himself (often erroneously lol) as having the right idea of what to do in a particular situation.

Kazuki's papa arc is more about breaking down the ideas he had built in his head about what good parenting is supposed to look like and holistically feeling it out with respect to what Miri specifically--not some amorphous Child--needs. Rei kind of has the opposite problem, operating purely on vibes rather than structure lol, and that's why they balance each other so well.

Now for the reverse. By the midpoint of ep 3, Miri has been calling Kazuki 'Papa' for days now. It's just hitting me that he didn't try to gently let her down and reveal his lie after they got out of the gunfight. [Rei straight up asked her 'What about your real father?' and got a philosophical answer, so maybe that strategy wouldn't work anyway lol]. I guess he might think of it as easier to just lean into being 'Papa' until they got rid of her, but I'm gonna call it an inverse Freudian slip. Especially since it ties into the first moment I wanna highlight.

Rei is emotionally stunted but also very perceptive. He's read something in Kazuki's actions, tone of voice, body language, etc that indicates that Kazuki doesn't actually want to give Miri up. She's been a little torpedo that imploded two jobs back to back, she gets underfoot, she and makes lots of noise, she and breaks things...and yet. He knows Kazuki well and he saw, perhaps, what Kyu saw when Kazuki was having a moan about them in ep 7.

The rest of the episode plays out and ends with Rei, Miri, and Kazuki going home together for dinner, this time as a quasi family unit. They haven't made any declarations yet, they're just kind of feeling and fumbling their way along. They have some ups and downs as they settle into a dynamic. Then it all blows up in ep 10.

[I could write a whole screed about how ep 10 was a necessary--at least a highly valuable--story beat, but this post is already very long. Some other time, perhaps. ]

Misaki comes back for Miri thanks to Kyu, they are successfully convinced to give her up, and then their little unit falls apart. Another explosion comes in ep 11 with Misaki's death, and now Miri is officially orphaned. Rei, as per usual, asks Kazuki what they should do, and Kazuki reveals that he's in a deep, guilt-induced trough.

We see how Misaki's death is weighing heavily on his mind, and he's surely thinking that he got yet another woman killed due to his desire for a family. He processes her 'protect Miri' plea as needing to stay away from Miri--that that's what he has to do to prevent her from becoming the second child he has to bury. But Rei surprises him.

Kazuki's response is a bit cruel, though not entirely unfounded. He had to temporarily ghost Rei for him to realise all the work that goes into looking after Miri. And even though Kazuki left a fridge full of meals, Rei still ended up ordering pizza because he couldn't recognise them as such. He has a long way to go as a parent. But he wants to do it, and he beseeches Kazuki to make the jump with him.

Kazuki's talking back to himself just as much as he is to Rei. "It might not be too late. [for] Normal happiness" is what he said to Rei on the Ferris wheel. At that time he genuinely thought there was nothing else for them to do but give Miri back to Misaki. But that was when he, like the rest of them, thought that simply stepping back would be enough for Shigeki to be satisfied. It's different now. They both know that, but Kazuki is too raw with hurt and guilty to let himself be happy. It's that characteristic manner in which he gets in his own way. But Rei breaks through all that.

This is the moment. Rei, for the first time as far as I can recall, is shown to initiate physical contact with Kazuki in a way that's soft and not utilitarian. While he talks, he even gives Kazuki's hand a little squeeze. He is going way further than he ever has in expressing his emotions. Change has been a motif for both of them, and Rei says it's possible for them with such conviction--that they can make Miri happy--that Kazuki stops getting in his own way. He comes around in the most Kazuki way possible: transitioning their serious conversation about taking responsibility for Miri (and the implications of dealing with the organisation) into a comedic moment about Rei doing his share of the household chores and childcare.

And with that, they're over the finish line! There's still a lot for them to do in the final episode, but this is the climax of their respective papa arcs. Storming the Suwa compound, confronting Shigeki, and the 10 years later bit are denouement. The two of them approached fatherhood from completely different backgrounds and stances and levels of experience, but it was a journey they took together and one which was not possible without the other.

[suzukiblu]

Re FakeCrytpid!Tim’s nest, I am now imagining Tim in the most over-the-top fancy penthouse apartment, glamorous as all get out, and then you walk into the bedroom and it’s just like, echoingly empty with one those pathetic pigeon nests that is just like, three random sticks not even connected to each other and a random egg a few inches to the left. Except without the egg. Probably.

Kon takes one look at it and is like, I should learn basket weaving? To weave Robin a giant life size basket nest that he can then stuff with pillows and soft blankets and giant heart shaped diamonds? Yeah, that seems right.

Kon, getting TOTALLY the wrong impression from Tim's fail!nest: ohhhhh so you're the kind of bird who wants nests made FOR them, okay, I'll learn basket-weaving! :)))

Tim: . . . w̷̨̛͎̻͈̼͈̼͈̫͖̖͍̒͐̀h̴̢̹͚̮͗̋͆̃̓̍̃́́̊̚ḁ̸̣͍̙͉̐̀̍͛͂̃̑͆̚t̵̢͍͍̥̩͑ ̴̡̹̰̻̤̝̻̎̾͐̂̒̽̃̅̈͋̍͊̕̚ą̷̳̪͚̞̦͉͉̯́͐̏͐͝r̵͖̗̦̓̃̈̌̋̀̋̕̚ḛ̴̘͔͓͓̫͈̼̝͙̌͛̄̈́͘̚ͅͅ ̴̭͉̖̓̈́̌̈́̿̄͌̀̎̒̓͆͝y̴̙̣̱̐̽̀̑͑̋̾̅̅̉͋͝ȏ̵̠̥͕̻̘̱̘̖͍͕̖̟̘͔́̄͒͛̈́͗̏͂̈́́͝͝͝͠u̴̡̜̳͎͎̟͂̔͋̂-̴̨̘̣̹͈͇̐̌̾-̶̪̭̜̪̥̍̏̀̔͌̍͐̂̀́͌͒͝?̵͖̮͓̾̔̃̔̐̿̀̔͠

Kon, already googling YouTube tutorials and dragging over the pathetic pile of sticks to himself with his TTK: do you want just sticks in it or can I use, like, cables and wires and stuff if I get them all from inside Gotham?

Tim, now kinda wanting to see how this plays out: . . . s̶̘̞̹̺̪̺̹̹̽̌ȕ̸̯̹̰̩̜͐͆̑̄̋͘͜͝͠͠͝ŗ̵̢̖̰͔̫̥̭͕͎̫̞͐̍̌̋̎͌̎̆͋͒̏̆̓͊̚͜p̷͙̫̼̮͔͓̬͕͛͌̍̈́͠ṟ̴̨̗͈̊̉͊́̒ḭ̶̯̦͔͉̜͉̣̥̊̽̀͒͌͆́̍̓̕͜͝ś̴͇̫̾̒̑̓̐́͑́̈́̃̽̿e̶̗͙̝͚̗̲͓͍̼̥̬̠̔̂̆͐̚͘̕ ̷̧͙̥̱̐̿͜m̵̨̫̫̣̣͓̘̻͓͍͇̎͜͠ͅę̶͇̪̰͊̋̆̒̾̀̓̕͘̕͝.̶̢̢̬̘̝͙͓͇̯͋͂̽̍̀̎̿͒̾̃̊͗͛̕

[iridescentscarecrow]

the yoshida inside cover is so interesting to me because so far i've found that all the part two inside covers so far lean very hard into the texture of the city to create this atmosphere of claustrophobia and obvious tension.

it's a lead in from the chapter 98 scene with asa & the class president looking up at the buildings spanning the sky, the palpable lack of nature/plant/greens or any sort of reprise from the grittiness of the city & commenting on how corrupt the city is.

which is why the way the city & the lack of it manifests in the part 2 inside covers reveals so much about each character's reaction to this. i don't think i got at the meat of this though when i initially considered it – the way greenery then sets itself against the city in various instances. i'd got an anon about plant symbolism in part 2 a while back which set me off thinking about it. unfortunately, i am in no way well versed in plant symbolism intricacies so this discussion will only pertain to the way this works re: the narrative.

and the yoshida cover [the first cover to not feature the city at all, the first cover to be set within the wildness of the forest] is so meaningful when it comes this.

ASA & YUKO: UNOBSCURED CITY

all the covers very purposefully do not show the eyes of the characters in question. fujimoto's use of this detail in panels before [the bomb devil arc, the yoshida syringe scene] can be considered to reveal the interiority/obscured thoughts of which jarr with their actions.

here in asa's case the city shadows her. her eyes are bled out of focus, almost by its corrupted grit. yuko, though is different. she's turned her back to us, her eyes can concievably visibly exist in frame but she's looking away/at the city: assigning it its values & ultimately getting swallowed up by it in her quest for justice.

asa dominates the frame & her face is featureless / yuko's figure in contrast is small & diminutive when set against CITY.

i think specifically a lot about the asayuko encounters & the potted plants in their wake. they're set in moments that are potently releases of tension [an anti claustrophobia] which stems directly from them resolving their internal contradictions.

in comparison the leadup to the "don't come to school tomorrow" scene (chapter 105) is full of tension & also plantless: there is no shade, no intersperse. they're sitting in the glaring sun, their conversation occasionally cutting away to CITY attributes: telephone wires/buildings. later, yuko lights a bonfire. fire burns away plants and the fire devil is also the presence that burns down denji's house. the same house with the potted plants nayuta & denji grow.

ASA & KIGA: SHADOWED [] & FEATURELESS SELF

the movement of shade here is genuinely so impactful when considered alongside asa & kiga's covers. for kiga the classroom itself is dim. outside, the sky's light peels back the room's darkness and renders kiga within it.

kiga's setting within the classroom is i think extremely important. during the sisters' public safety breach, kiga makes asa & her keep their school uniforms on. she's never appeared outside it, in fact. she's so settled within this particular role that for her the grittiness of the city is instead manifested by the classroom. more on this later but:

what strikes me is the featurelessness to both of them. they're both horsemen & their faces are bled of indicators – the ringed eyes & the scars that portray their status. you are left with their hollow schoolgirl bodies. it's a very specific flavour of contextualisation, one that offsets the decontextualisation that is [removing families|ripping off uniform/clothes|turning the hybrids into weapons]. asa's power functions through context, through a thing's history, through the guilt of its weaponisation. kiga's appearances always occur at moments where asa is struggling with context (the fight with yuko & her mother's uniform, the aquarium date, her feeling things for the CSM).

KIGA & MIRI: OBSCURED CITY

> the grittiness of the city is instead manifested by the classroom for kiga.

but the miri cover is not that. its shielding (through the potted plants) works against the CITY so much to that the tension to it is almost invisible. the potted plants here are in a way indicative of miri's self illusion of agency and it's something i have a lot of fun comparing to miri's actual cover, with the lucky clovers & that grin on his face as he holds onto the beautiful butterfly of a sword that he materially is.

the nature of the CITY in these two covers is also something to be commented on: for kiga, as i said – the city is miniscule (the sky dominates). miri's presence in his frame is more visible yet simultaneously the city threatens all the background & the angle both emphasises his smallness & enlarges him.

i do find it interesting how miri's eyes are specifically cut out frame. they're visible: he has his own interiority occuring outside this narrative, his own story of himself, but it is inconsequential to the pawn that he is. yuko's eyes while also obscured by framing are within frame. her motivations are essential to the narrative she operates within.

MIRI & YOSHIDA: THE PLANTS

while the [potted] plants grant a reprise from the claustrophobia for miri, the forestry punctuates yoshida's inside cover's tension.

i've already talked about yoshida as a framer for part 2 in an earlier thread of mine (chapter 156, if i'm not wrong) but bringing this into light next to how yoshida excludes himself from the city is interesting. this exclusion is what brings him claustrophobic tension, this abnormality. he is not participating in the city.

i think a lot that surrounds yoshida's character right now is speculation but balancing this with the syringe/head pat scene & the theater scene does bring out a picture of very potent pain (self enacted) when it comes to his own circumstance. the plants around him are wild, undomesticated & unlabelled (his existence as the framer) – in sharp contrast to the potted things grown within cities as hope.

KIGA & YOSHIDA: STANCES

kiga & yoshida's postures mirror each other. they're both faced down, towards the ground, arms held limply at their side. they're both stagesetters: yoshida framing for us the narrative with his two choices, parasocial relationships dialogue / kiga pouring her hunger into the world of part 2 & directing asa's weaponisation.

they're both in areas that are NOT city & CITY is not what inspires their respective tensions. kiga is working within the classroom, education – feeding into people what hunger is and what it means and teaching them what to want. yoshida dons the school uniform to adopt his role before reverting to the public safety suit!

their conversation too, set into perspective for us the overarching plot of part two.

Afterword:

there's so much to tease out from these covers and specifically the urban and urban lifeforms presented to us in part two. there definitely can be analogies drawn to part one's city mouse/country mouse metaphor (*) but i also think that the way autonomy is written at this stage of the story makes this particular play of tension a far more nuanced iteration of (*) and it's one i'm particularly interested in seeing explored in future covers.

thank you for reading!

[wonder-and-wildflowers]

Unpopular opinion but I actually like that Kazuki and Rei aren't romantically/sexually involved with eachother.

I know a lot of other people would rather it be a bl, but personally I'm genuinely super happy with them being familial and platonic.

Why? Because its still queer. They just aren't gay. This is clearly a queer platonic relationship 🫶🏾💕

[ambafaerie]

CSM 139 Thoughts

tw//mentions of csa

It is absolutely heartwarming to see that Sugo appreciates Denji for freeing him and is the first person to approach him with the intention of being his friend with no ulterior motives.

But even this sweet moment is tainted by the fact the Chainsaw Man Church is using Sugo without his knowledge to get closer to Denji. And that Denji refuse to accept his offer of friendship and protection until Sugo mentioned women will be at the functions the Church will be hosting.

Denji and Sugo are young boys who were abused and manipulated by older figures of authority. They are free on the surface but in reality they still continue to be taken advantage of but don’t know it and in Denji’s case, are emotionally stunted to properly recognize that they were sexually assaulted.

The fact Fumiko is present during their entire conversation continually interrupting Sugo while sitting on the back of the minor she sexually assaulted embodies the situation Sugo and Denji are trapped in.

[silversoulstardust]

i keep ranting about this in my tags but unless you follow me, you wouldn't be able to see it so here i am making a separate post about it.

there's been a divided response to lily's new buddy daddies art where suwa shigeki showed up with a backpack gift for miri, and most of them are along the lines of “guys he was the one who wanted to kill miri before” or “he was the reason miri’s mom is dead!” or “rei became disabled because of him” and therefore he shouldn’t be forgiven and shouldn’t be allowed within 100 yards of miri and her fathers

really? in a story that preaches about change over and over again, it’s hard to believe that hardy old man can change?

it’s a bit hypocritical of us to believe that rei, kazuki and misaki could change but not rei’s father. I just wanted to remind you guys that in the finale he had a functioning gun in his hand as rei turned to walk away from the organization and he was pretty much capable of shooting rei dead at the time. BUT HE DIDN’T. he didn’t, and rei could walk away to go back to his family. 

he too, changed by the end of the show.

so lily’s art is not really too far fetched from the narrative.

[misograce]

Someone fucking pinch me????

[darling-wendy]

episode 10 had to happen

(i.e. Kazuki and Rei had to lose Miri so they could properly choose her)

In my last meta post I said this: [I could write a whole screed about how ep 10 was a necessary--at least a highly valuable--story beat, but this post is already very long. Some other time, perhaps. ]

It's time!

Misaki coming back for Miri in episode 10 is a plot point that I've seen get a lot of dislike—and even hate—from fans of the series. Emotionally, I get it. The sweet, chaotic order of the family we'd come to know and love ends up abruptly upended and all for a character that was already disliked. But I've always maintained that it was necessary, for multiple reasons. The obvious one is the in-universe rationale: the organisation—Suwa Shigeki specifically—has taken note of Miri and the fact that she's apparently been adopted by Rei.

(One thing that took me a couple watches to realise was that Shigeki had to have pre-arranged for someone to go tail Kazuki and Miri at the supermarket before he messaged for Rei to return. After Ogino splits off from Rei near the end of episode 8, we see him go to Yadogiri and give Kyu the above photo. That was from earlier in the episode.)

This is an active, looming threat to her life. In order to get ahead of it, Kyu contacts Misaki so she can take Miri away. The fact that Shigeki was already interested enough to have a dossier created is precisely why it doesn't work—it's too paltry an offering for such a ruthless and single-minded individual. We already saw him have the romantic partner of one of his men, Kaji Satoru, be brutally killed as collateral damage. But something had to be attempted and it wasn't a terrible idea.

The other reason is displayed at the very end of episode 11. Narratively, for the Kurusuwa family to be real, they have to choose each other and fight to keep each other.

In episode 1, the three of them cross paths of the first time in the form of Miri running into the special lift and getting herself right in the middle of their hit, making it chaotic and messy and nearly getting killed in the process. Kazuki uses her as an excuse to get out of the building before the police arrive, and he takes her back tot heir place because there's no other choice for them in the moment. At home, they find out that their mark was her bio dad.

In episode 2, they find out that Miri's mother sent her away because she doesn't want to raise her anymore. They try to get info out of Miri about her mother so they can send her back, but she's too little to be of help. They then resort to "slyly" asking Kyu (drawing his suspicions in the process lol). While they're there, they end up accepting a job that they ultimately end up taking Miri along with. It's a terrible decision and a whole shit show. The job implodes, Miri and Kazuki are almost killed, Kyu is pissed at them. But they get the info they need about Misaki's whereabouts.

In episode 3, they set out to send Miri back to her mother they way they have been scheming to do since she stumbled into their path. Despite their previous stance on Miri, Rei surprisingly (?) shows reluctance to send her back and Kazuki clearly isn't ecstatic to be doing it either. But it's the "right" thing to do, so off they go. While Rei is embracing the idea of being a parental figure to Miri for the first time, Misaki is— quite predictably—rejecting Miri when Kazuki shows up. So, Miri is effectively abandoned and orphaned by her two legal parents, leaving her in the care of the two guys who killed her father. And, like a lot of things, Rei and Kazuki don't really talk about it.

"For three?" Rei asks.

"For three," Kazuki confirms.

"Got it."

And that's it. This child falls into their laps, they make a single failed attempt to give her to a relative, and then for the next six episodes, we watch them try to shape themselves into becoming her parents. It's easy to get sucked into the story and forget (or at least not actively think about) the fact that they didn't deliberately adopt this child (or birth her, the way Kazuki's mind has gone the extra mile to implant lol) and that they ostensibly didn't want her at the start. Then episode 10 happens and the reality check comes.

By this point, they want to keep Miri and they initially argue with Misaki about her motives and her timing. But there really is nothing else to be done except capitulate and give Miri up. They have to let her go. It hurts, but it also gives weight and meaning to when they ultimately resolve to be a family for good. The second time around, it involves actually getting out of hitman work, which was something they hadn't felt moved to do when Miri simply ended up with them the first time.

I know another part of the reason some people don't like this plot point is the pacing, that they get her back one episode after giving her up, but that's never bothered me 🤷🏽‍♀️ Shigeki was always going to escalate the situation into triple homicide and I personally think that a whole episode of 'Miri hangs out with Misaki, oblivious to her change in living arrangements, while Rei and Kazuki sulk and pine' would be dragging the separation out for the sake of it. Their depression and misery and regression, down to Rei finally giving up and deciding to head back to Shigeki, is more than enough for me.

I'm aware that some people also don't like it because it bring Misaki back just to kill her off in the next episode and, controversially (??) I'm fine with that too. Not in a vindictive 'I hate Misaki' kind of way, just purely in a 'it raises the stakes and also permanently ties up a loose end' kind of way.

[agentrouka-blog]

If Mirri tricks Daenerys into accepting a dark trade based on blood magic, where she sends drogo into a brain dead state <b>which involves sacrificing Dany's unborn baby</b>, and she <b>doesn't inform dany of the correct price, Mirri purposely causes dany to think that the horse is the sacrifice</b> so that <b>Dany's child dies</b>, <b>Drogo may as well be doomed for the things he caused, but an unborn child is punished for his father's sins</b> what is dany supposed to do if it is wrong to burn Mirri?

If it is wrong for Dany to burn Mirri, what way can she bring justice for Rhaego, or is it simply fine for Dany to do anything at all, if there isn't any revenge needed for Rhaego's death, is Miri truly justified in killed an unborn child?

(A formal, polite and detailed answer with logical points and a little constructive criticism is most preferred)

No.

Read the books.

I am not your friendly little meta dispenser and I am not going to be your "formal, polite and detailed" little monkey if your question already reveals you haven't read the books with any level of attention, haven't tried to actually understand what you're asking me to explain, and your condescending tone implies you think you already know better anyways.

If you're actually interested and want to invest some energy of your own, there's plenty of material in my "mirri maz duur" tag.

Otherwise, goodbye, and maybe learn some "polite" for the next time you approach someone. I'm sure it's universally "preferred".

[rebicha]

Hey everyone! After a looooong time thinking about it, I’ve started a new side blog dedicated to fanfics, fandom meta, and everything in between. I want to engage with other fans and share some of my own stories. I'm waiting for my invitation to start posting on AO3 as well 🤓

📚 What to Expect: this is a space to dive deeper into my love of fandom storytelling.

Fanfic updates (starting with my new Slow Horses-inspired fic because that 5th season can't come fast enough)

Art, mood boards, and playlists inspired by my stories

Meta posts and headcanons about my favorite fandoms

🎨 Here’s a sneak peek of my upcoming fanfic poster for The Long Game

What’s the fanfic about?

Espionage, corruption, and conspiracies in the world of MI5, action, all of that.

A slow-burn, friends-to-lovers journey between River Cartwright and an original character. I looooooooooooove friends to lovers, and also platonic dynamics.

If you're a fan of Slow Horses, feel free to follow @miri--writes and also please share your own stories to read, cause I need them!

Thanks for reading!

[gheeheehee]

Love reading your posts!

Buddy Daddies - Another Miri & Rei Parallel:

In this parallel, Rei and Miri are obviously paralleling each other, but Kyutaro and Shigeki (Rei’s father) are paralleling, and then becoming foils, to each other.

In Episode 5 we learn that Kyutaro was originally planning on having Miri sent back to her mother, and we see him challenge Miri on the “family” that she has with Kazuki and Rei.

He asks her: “Isn’t your family worried about you staying with people you don’t know?” Miri says she’s fine and goes on to say:

“Kazu-kun and Rei-kun will be with me forever!” Kyutaro questions her use of “forever” and Miri continues with:

“Yeah. Kazu-kun’s food is super delicious. Rei-kun’s super good at video games. And it’s toasty warm when we all sleep together!”

Sound familiar? In Episode 12, when Shigeki and Rei “talk” one final time about him inheriting the Organization, which would require Rei to leave his family behind, Shigeki doesn’t ask him about his family, but reinforces what he expects out of Rei instead. 

“Discard sentimentality.”

“Inherit the organization.”

He was tossing aside Rei’s “family” and the sentimentalities that came with it, similar in a way to how Kyutaro wasn’t viewing the bond that Miri had with Rei and Kazuki as either lasting or familial. 

In response to his father, we see Rei say this:

“The taste of cheap Hamburg steak.”

“The warmth that comes from sleeping three to a bed.”

“There were so many things out there that I could hold dear.” - Said while an image of the three of them playing video games shows up on screen. And also states that:

“Miri, Kazuki, and I share a bond stronger than blood.” This is, in a way, the same sentiment that Miri expressed to Kyutaro by saying that they would be together forever. That was her way of understanding and explaining that they were, already, a family. That she was already home with her family. Meanwhile, the above is Rei’s way of expressing this same sentiment to his father;

Rei also mentions some things that Miri doesn’t. Those are mostly events that happened after Episode 5, so she couldn’t have expressed them to Kyutaro at that time. But I bet she would have had she and Kyutaro had that same speech in Episode 12 instead.

Both Miri and Rei are shown validating their family to another. Shigeki remains stuck in his ways and unchanging, not willing to actually listen to Rei in the slightest. Only acknowledging Rei’s choice when Rei shot through his arm, damaged Shigeki’s weapon, and essentially made himself useless to the Organization and his “boss.” Kyutaro, however, actually listens to Miri and opens his mind and heart to her and their situation. He accepts them and over the course of the series we see him become less indifferent and more willing to go out of his way to protect and help them.

He eventually becomes a part of their family too. I once thought that he fit more of an uncle role in the family dynamic, but now I’m thinking that he is actually much more like a grandpapa, lol. (I’m only half joking her, tbh. Also, I find it so funny that Miri used a Tea sticker for Kyutaro, and I have no idea why, lol).

Also, if you have anything else you want to add to this, please feel free! :D

[possiblylando]

Chainsaw Man Chapter 139 'Early' Analysis

Finally we're back into the fun chapters.

So this is a bit of interesting confirmation as to what happened at the end of Part 1. As a recap Pochita separated from Denji and become the Black Chainsaw man.

This confirms that the Hybrids that fought Pochita all retained the memories of the events. It also makes the weird Makima self insert fanfiction even more weird. Based on what Miri (Sword Man) says about regaining his freedom after Makima's death, they all seemed to be completely aware of their actions but unable to fight against them.

He MADE them say this shit. They are all aware of this having happened. THEY WERE AWARE WHILE THEY WERE FORCED TO PLAY THIS SHIT OUT! Fucking Nightmare scenario. Glad Denji ate her.

We get a name of Sword Man, Miri Sugo. We also get some more of his personality. I'm sure there will be speculation as to his sexuality because he's a character in chainsaw man.

What I do wanna touch on is this. I've seen a few interpretations of this line. It's a weirder one because it's clearly referencing the fact Miri's design is a reused version of Denji's beta versions.

But it could also mean they find Denji attractive. BUT it could also be a meta reference to the fact they're both hybrids, So they have similar "Auras" or something like that. I actually didn't remember who the student council president was so I had to look it up, And it's fucking Iseumi.

and honestly, I can kind of see how a combination of him and Denji would make Miri. Miri took Iseumi's eyes and hair color while he took the hair and head shape from Denji. Sorta interesting.

This whole scene strikes me as weird from a fandom perspective. Either people use it to say, "Miri is gay" or "Miri hates women". When in reality it doesn't seem to be either (for now). He literally stated moments ago that he didn't want to be bothered by anyone and these three girls come up and start bugging him with questions and requests he doesn't want to deal with. Most people would be annoyed as hell if this scenario happened to them. Denji obviously doesn't get this and is just mad that he's getting female attention.

I'm going to assume that this is still Denji hustling and this SEX OFFENDER paid him. I REALLY hope that he didn't just let her do this for free. We get full confirmation that the Weapon Hybrids are alive. We don't have confirmation as to which, Just that some of them are. I assume this probably means all the hybrids that fought against Pochita are alive.

oh I HATEEEEEEE how she gets along with Denji.

This woman needs to get the fuck off this MINOR

As much as I despise this woman, She has a point. Fami and some unknown figure have been puppeteering the Church (how realistic) for at least the past few days. It's likely been going on since the church was founded since we see Fami with the devil hunter club.

We get a look at Denji's full speed. This means Denji was able to perception blitz Miri to appear in front of him without him noticing. This means that Denji was able to move at approximately Mach 32. All of this is real look none of this up Denji solos demon slayer or whatever fuckin power scaling bullshit.

Looks like the next few chapters will be built around the church. It also likely means we'll be seeing Reze soon. If Asa is also there, I hope this doesn't turn into some wack love triangle shit. I REALLY hope Reze isn't like "You were trying to date other girls while you thought I was dead??". I have faith Fujimoto will handle it well but it has an un-ignorable chance to becoming fucking awful.

[ambafaerie]

tw// csa mention

Forgive me for repeating this but the images of Fumiko sitting on Denji, the boy she sexually assaulted, forcing herself into a conversation that Sugo, another boy who was exploited like Denji by her organization, wanted to be private is a subtle yet cold reminder of the boys living situation.

Denji and Sugo can go around living like normal people but aren’t truly free. They remain under the thumb of abusers who will use them for their own ends. And the worst part is they don’t know it.

[iridescentscarecrow]

Hi Crow, I'm confused what does The Instrument mean in your quiz cause my tiny brain can't handle all the hard words, please explain 🤧

[first image: result. second image: excerpt from my intersection explanation]

the title: he's a sword, an instrument, a tool.

words: he is wrapping himself with his illusion of free will to function. teeth: something which marks skin, the people using him. this ties into the impermanence of body which references his hybridhood (unhistoried regenerative bodies which do not carry with them their experiences, the teeth, only their present.)

if you want more about miri specifically here's a link to my inside cover meta. um i'm not sure how else to explain, but i hope this helped even a little. it's a lot of yapping and pertains more to the character than the quiz taker lol [why it isn't a personality assignment]. thank you for the ask!

[oopsalldadsderby]

Round 1 is complete! Here’s the Round 2 lineup!

The polls for round 2 will start going up tomorrow—we’ll do side AB first, and then CD the next day.

Plain text matchups under the cut:

Group A

Kanan & Ezra (SW Rebels) vs. Lin & Asami, Mako, Bolin, Korra (LoK)

Balsa Yonsa & Chagun (MGotS) vs. Aizawa & class 1A (MHA)

Tommy “Big Man” & Gus (Sweet Tooth) vs. Finn & Leif (FE)

Artemy & Sticky and Murky (Pathologic) vs. Joel & Ellie (TLoU)

Group B

Pyrrha & Nona (TLT) vs. Miss Honey & Matilda (Matilda)

Scar & Mei Chang (FMA) vs. Eda Clawthorne & King and Luz (TOH)

Logan & Kitty and Jubilee (Wolverine) vs. Donquixote “Rosinante” Corazon & Law (OP)

Simon & Marceline (AT) vs. Din & Grogu (The Mandalorian)

Group C

Welt Yang & March 7th and the Trailblazer (Honkai Star Rail) vs. Ingo & Irida and protagonist (PLA)

Meta Knight & Kirby (Kirby) vs. Phoenix Wright & Trucy (AA)

Stan Pines & Dipper and Mabel (GF) vs. Date & Mizuki (AI:TSF)

Cabalena and Jowd & Lynne (Ghost Trick) vs. Kiryu & Haruka (+others) (Yakuza)

Group D

Guts & Schierke (Berserk) vs. Father Garcia & John (FAITH)

Sam and Max & The Geek (Sam and Max) vs. Rei and Kazuki & Miri (BD)

Jacob Holland & Maisie (The Sea Beast) vs. Reigen & Mob (MP100)

Loid and Yor & Anya (Spy x Family) vs. Batman & Robins (Batman)

[nameless-brand]

Aftermath's pretty bad for Gotham and Wayne Enterprises. For Gotham, it's lost its main tourist attraction and commercial hub in one shot - not to mention all the deaths.

Wayne Enterprises is barely running at this point. Though there are redundancy systems in place to help keep important things going, that Tower was their hub. It'll probably take them a while to stabilize but they are faring better than any other company in this situation; guess for all his airhead ways, he really does know how to run a company and prepare for anything.

The attack on the Tower was a coordinated effort between different parties. More than a dozen meta-humans and several groups of soldiers had taken the building before finally blowing the foundation.

Wayne's three sons don't look too well after their expected interviews - seems like they haven't been sleeping well. Given that their father had been kidnapped with no news about whether he's okay or not, it's not hard to see why. Kinda sad because they're normally such a lively bunch on social media.

Tried asking Miri to help scry for Wayne since we're at the very least business partners on the vertical farming project. She refused - per her words, he's too important, and she refuses to have her karma entangled with his. I guess that's reassuring if a bit ominous? People with a lot of karma are hard to kill, right - at least what I've learned from Miri? She refused to elaborate.

Finally, the attackers left behind a single video message, sent from the top of the tower before they blew it :

"Those of you born blessed deserve what you're about to get. "

Ominous, no?