#og looks like a cinnamon roll could actually kill you

[lossisyours]

She’d chosen life; she’d chosen hope. She’d chosen second chances, and now she was watching to see if he would follow.

— Nora Sakavic, The Sunshine Court

[luke-shywalker]

Why do you like Luke Skywalker? (feel free to ramble or write a lot :D)

Oohoohooo! Digging back into my 2015 brain…before Kylo Ren ruined my life…

I like Luke Skywalker because of how much he develops as a character over the course of the original trilogy. I mean!! Compare the antsy farmboy who wanted so badly to join the Imperial Academy because he was bored of his life, to the calm Jedi who stood before the Emperor and was prepared to die rather than kill his father, even to avenge his friends.

I love Luke’s story. Going from living his own life, a very small life, pursuing his own whims and focusing on all he doesn’t have, to suddenly being thrust into something much bigger than himself, realizing he’s part of something much bigger than himself, that he can make a difference in something much bigger than himself.

I love his bond with Leia and Han. I love thinking about all the meaningful relationships Luke had, with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, with his buddies on Tatooine, with the droids, with fellow Rebels, with his father for that brief amount of time.

I love that Luke chooses to love his father and see Anakin. Luke said, “No, you’re not more machine now than man. You’re a person and your name is Anakin.” Luke was the OG Anakin stan!!

Other people have posted much more thoughtfully about this but it really is easy to stereotype/oversimplify who Luke is. We meme about him being super whiny (“power converters”) or being a pure cinnamon roll hot cocoa sunshine boy. And like yea I think those are freaking hilarious extrapolations of elements of Luke’s personality but he really is complex. Luke has darkness inside of him in Empire and in Jedi (I think when he rolls up in all black in Jedi we’re supposed to be kind of like “…oh???”). He hates Vader as much as Leia does when he says “I’ll never join you.” There’s the joke about “boohoo you lost your martial arts instructor I lost a planet” but Luke has experienced a lot of legitimate loss in his life.

Luke gets way overshadowed by Han when it comes to popularity of Star Wars characters, and I get that, Han Solo is cool (even though when you actually, like, look at Han he’s such a dork and a dumbbutt and, affectionately, not cool at all). I think it’s because Han is like, the hot one, the ladies’ man, the shooty-shoot-pew-pew guy. Luke is a different kind of guy, more sensitive, in tune with what’s inside of him and the people around him (especially as he matures), and I love that about him. My husband is kinda like that actually.

I’m sure I could write even more but. Yeah that’s why I like Luke ^-^

[sadlynotthevoid]

It's funny how, between Krs!Cale and Og!Cale, one of them had the reputation of a delinquent and one of them constantly commits crimes—

—And it's not who one would think at first sight.

They're "looks like he could kill you, it's actually a cinnamon roll" and "looks like a cinnamon roll, actually could kill you".

[case-of-traxits]

How about Vincent (maybe Tseng too if that last one didn't kill you haha) for the new ask meme :D

For the Opinion Meme || Still accepting!

OOH THE PRETTIEST BOYS

Whew. Sorry this one took so long. I uh... I went hard. This got so long. It's behind a cut.

Vincent Valentine, Turk Flavor (And then Vincent, post-Chaos) (And then Tseng)

Sexuality Headcanon: Bisexual, but with a slight preference for women.

Gender Headcanon: Cis male.

A ship I have with said character: Vincent/Veld so much, thanks. I'm a sucker for partnerships in the Turks though, so this cannot possibly surprise anyone.

That said, I also absolutely love Vincent/Lucrecia. I have... so many feels about them.

The ship of my soul would probably be Veld/Vincent/Lucrecia, with Vincent as the hinge there. So good.

A BROTP I have with said character: Vincent/Veld. I mean, you don't really have too many options for back then, but I'm also super fond of several of @ladykf-writes's OCs as broships with him.

Honestly, I just shamelessly steal her OCs constantly. They're all deliciously written and they do so much to flesh out the world in those leaner eras.

A NOTP I have with said character: I have not personally seen anything I would consider a NOTP/squick for me with Turk!Vincent.

A random headcanon: Vincent's mother is a priestess at one of the Temples to Leviathan in Wutai. Grimoire met her while researching planetary flows, and while he drifted to and from Wutai during their relationship, he did eventually marry her. She chose to stay in Wutai though, offering him a home whenever he came back.

Vincent stayed with her for a lot of his childhood, but when he was about 10, Grimoire fetched him to start traveling the world. Vincent's not sure he's ever really forgiven Grimoire for removing him from the place he felt like 'home.'

General Opinion over said character: I love my precious cinnamon roll, okay. He's so wonderful. An absolute idiot sometimes. But wonderful.

BONUS! A song I associate with the character:

The child without a name grew up to be the hand To watch you, to shield you or kill on demand The choice he'd made he could not comprehend His blood a grim secret they had to command He's torn between his honor and the true love of his life He prayed for both but was denied So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind? So many years have past, who are the noble and the wise? Will all our sins be justified? The curse of his powers tormented his life Obeying the crown was a sinister price His soul was tortured by love and by pain He surely would flee but the oath made him stay

-- Hand of Sorrow, by Within Temptation. (You can thank @ladykf-writes for that one too.)

Vincent Valentine, post-Chaos

Sexuality Headcanon: I don't know that post-Chaos Vincent really has the emotional energy to actually spend on being attracted to anyone anymore. That said, I think he's probably far more likely to develop a sexual attraction after he's developed a romantic/emotional one, so I'll just stick him in the demisexual box.

Gender Headcanon: Vincent barely sees himself as human anymore, but if pressed, he'd say male still, I think. (Let's be real, he'd say he was a monster first.)

A ship I have with said character: Ohhhh boy. Okay, so...

Vincent/Lucrecia. I do, I still love it. Post-OG, I think Lucrecia is too broken to actually do much, but I still love his pining for her. (And her pining for him too. Mutual pining idiots.)

Vincent/Veld. Some delicious old man yaoi at this point. And Veld has some trauma of his own to contend with, and they've both had horrible things happen to their bodies without their consent and just... It's still so good.

Vincent/Tseng. I can hear the record scratches now, but listen. I always HC Vincent as half-Wutaian, and Tseng as a former Leviathan priest, and I just. I want them to talk post-canon. I want those moments of just exchanging looks and getting it in a way that most people don't.

Vincent/Reeve. I do really like this. It can be a bit squicky, given the age difference (and that my Reeve sees Veld as a father figure), but honestly, they're so good together. Dirge was a delicious snack that I thoroughly enjoyed.

A BROTP I have with said character: Vincent+Tifa and Vincent+Yuffie are absolute favorite broships of mine for Vincent. And Vincent+Reeve.

A NOTP I have with said character: Vincent/Yuffie is really my only hard no.

A random headcanon: Vincent's fixation on Lucrecia isn't just his own love for her, it's how Chaos manifests his interest in someone that he sees as being basically his first follower since the Cetra "died off."

Lucrecia is the first mortal to be as thoroughly fixated on him as she is, and she's spent years now, crystalized in the tainted mako where Chaos is from. She feels like home to him and Vincent both, even if they're not good at quantifying it.

Vincent also really likes Marlene and Denzel both.

General Opinion over said character: I really do like Vincent. I was always a little meh on him in just the OG, but I was sold on him in Dirge. I think I was only meh on him because he was so damn popular originally. I was in my not like other girls phase at the time, after all. XD

BONUS! A song I associate with the character:

And I'd sing a song that'd be just ours But I sang 'em all to another heart And I wanna cry, I wanna learn to love But all my tears have been used up On another love, another love All my tears have been used up On another love, another love All my tears have been used up On another love, another love All my tears have been used up, up

-- Another Love, by Tom Odell

Tseng of the Turks

Sexuality Headcanon: Technically bisexual, but much like Reeve, functionally gay. His is for cultural reasons more than anything though.

(Surprise! Incoming HC)

In Wutai, same sex relations are strongly encouraged up until marriage to prevent out-of-wedlock babies. So for Tseng, as an unmarried man, he would absolutely expect and be expected to sate any urges with another man. Since moving to Midgar, he has managed to wrap his head around the realization that it doesn't necessarily work that way anymore, but he still feels horribly transgressive whenever he sleeps with a woman.

Gender Headcanon: Cis male, but he has absolutely zero give-a-fucks if someone were to misgender him. He's firmly of the opinion that Midgardians wouldn't have any clue what masculinity looks like if it bit them on the ass.

Now, getting misgendered in Wutaian when he isn't actively trying to pass for some reason? That would earn a side-eye, but more because Tseng cannot imagine it happening without it expressly being done as an insult.

A ship I have with said character: I love basically everyone with Tseng, okay. Like. So good.

Tseng/Reeve is so soft and so sweet sometimes, and they're still holding secrets and just... I love it.

Tseng/Rufus is an amazing complicated dynamic, with Tseng being his trainer/teacher and Rufus being the one to actually demand/control the romantic part of their relationship.

Tseng/Sephiroth is full of these meaningful silences (if there was ever a pair who can communicate entirely in unspoken glances, it's these two), and it's so deliciously tragic.

Tseng/Reno is also super complicated (I talk about it in my Reno answers for this meme).

Tseng/Vincent was talked about up there in post-Chaos Vincent section.

Tseng/Tifa is a wonderful favorite of mine too. I just... It's all great.

A BROTP I have with said character: Tseng and Reeve. I cannot not have them be close. If I'm not shipping them, they're absolute best friends.

A NOTP I have with said character: I wouldn't say it's a NOTP exactly, but I am not super fond of Tseng/Elena. It used to be a favorite ship of mine, but the older I get, the less I care for it, so... Yeah.

A random headcanon: Oh man. Okay, so let's just... I'll discount everything I gave you guys in the 50 Random Questions post. Let's see...

Tseng can play the Erhu and the Guzheng well enough to play for the Wutaian Imperial Court. He can also draft letters in Wutaian calligraphy. He loves poetry and likes to pick up Wutaian poetry/short story collections from vendors in Little Wutai.

Speaking of, how about that one? Sector Eight is "The Turk sector" because Tseng moved there as soon as he could get his own housing in Midgar thanks to the high population of Wutaian ex-pats there. He ended up forcibly removing several infantry patrols from Eight pretty early on, all of whom had attempted to menace or attack him without realizing he was a Turk.

After that, he realized that Shinra would still need some kind of influence in the sector, so when Veld put him in charge of assigning schedules, he made sure to add patrols of Sector Eight to the standard Turk duties.

(Hilariously, I've always had Eight as the "Turk Sector," even well before CC established it as canon.)

General Opinion over said character: I love Tseng so much. He's an ass, much like Rufus, but I adore him all the same.

BONUS! A song I associate with the character:

We're going to hell, we're going to hell We're going to hell, we're going to hell my friends So what's that something sinister inside We act so civilized Devils in tuxedos Our sordid hearts are far too hard to hide What's that 'neath the floorboards? Boom boom Boom boom Boom boom We're going to hell, we're going to hell We're going to hell, we're going to hell

-- We're Going to Hell, by Cursive

[cantillat-moved]

@psychcdelica Oh snark is fun, but she -does- also want to be a mother

As a boy he is pretty much the mom friend and the responsible adult to his older sister figure. Polite, yet lacking in social awareness at most of the time. One of the OG oblivious protagonists.

As an adult he is suave AF, hides his mom friend side with sarcasm and cynicism, the embodiment of that cinnamon roll meme that says "looks like could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll".

Both would die for you. And cook for you. And clean your entire house, fix your plumbing , check if your electronics are working properly and make you tea before you even wake up.

[teen-heart-throb-mr-hyde]

i feel like people forget the line “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” is about macbeth of all people

[rayshippouuchiha]

The YYH crew are one of the OG Cinnamon Roll meme groups.

Kuwabara and Yusuke: looks like he could kill you is actually a cinnamon roll

Yukina and Botan: is a cinnamon roll that looks like a cinnamon roll

Hiei: looks like he could kill you, will actually kill you

Kurama looks like a cinnamon roll, but could kill you

(Yoko Kurama is a Sinnamon roll)

Genkai is a black cup of coffee with sugar (almost bitter but with a sweet after taste, and she is a necessity)

Yusuke also pulls double duty as a "Looks like he could kill you, will beat you half to death instead"

[aeftrglow]

Atom Tenma | Tetsuwan Atom

1952 Manga | 2003 Series | Pluto (2004)

★ - This bad boy can fit so much fucking love and affection

★ - Literally Three whole ounces of Whoopass

★ - Looks like a cinnamon roll, is a cinnamon roll but could still actually kill you

★ - T R A U M A B E A N

★ - Self Esteem at critically low levels

★ - Canonically a Civil Rights leader (for robots)

★ - Has a profoundly bittersweet presence about him

★ - He knows what you did but it's okay he's already forgiven you

★ - Might actually have been the dead kid he was built to replace the science still isn't out on that one

★ - the OG og Shonen protagonist

★ - Classic Nuclear Space Age star child (tfw you have a whole aesthetic named after you #goals)

This is a permanent plotting call! By liking/reblogging this, you are giving me permission to slide into your dms to plot, discuss starters, or just have me ramble about our muses in general~ I so have many thoughts about him it's insane

[cryptidmistoffelees]

ʍʏ ƈʀʊֆɦɛֆ, ʀǟռӄɛɖ

10: (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Jalonzo ♥ .

Excellent bonelessness and wiggles. A little too cute for perfection, but bonus points for sultry pouting and promiscuity. 1/7 black hearts. 🖤♡♡♡♡♡♡

9. ╭(′▽`)╯OG ᗷᖇOᗩᗪᗯᗩY TᑌGGEᖇ ᗩᑎᗪ ᗷOᗰᗷᗩ╭(′▽`)╯

Package deal. Delightfully weird and fluffy. Long bisexual agenda, mostly involving hips and butts, except Tugger can’t read the agenda so she has to keep reminding him. A bit too wrapped up in each other. Bonus points for being too cool for much makeup. 2/7 🖤🖤♡♡♡♡♡

8. 𝕋𝕖𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕓𝕦𝕣𝕘 ℂ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕒.

Looks like she could kill you. Would actually kill you. Sparkly. Smells like the sound of cocoa. Loses points for being too good to enjoy being a cockroach. 2/7 🖤🖤♡♡♡♡♡

7: 💀ȶɦɛ ʋɛʀʏ ʄɨʀֆȶ ʍǟƈǟʋɨȶʏ💀

No menace. Smells like peanuts. Is actually Mungojerrie, so kudos for that. Cute legwarmers and jumper. 2/7 🖤🖤♡♡♡♡♡

6. t𝓱𝐢ş 爪Ａ𝓭 𝔩Ａ𝓭

You. I want to meet you. If you’re out there, swipe right. Call me. 3/7 🖤🖤🖤♡♡♡♡

5. 👊𝔭𝒶ℝเ𝕤 𝓉𝓤ĞĞ𝐄ℝ👊

May be a himbo but he’s my himbo. Also I can look down on him. Super kissable 4/7 🖤🖤🖤🖤♡♡♡

4. 🕺🏻👑𝕰𝖑𝖛𝖎𝖘 𝕿𝖚𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗👑🕺🏻

Excellent bobble tail. Voice tastes like smokey rain: dark orange with dashes of purple. Want to chase the tassles on his leg warmers. Deliciously weird. Stains easily, difficult to keep clean. 5/7 🖤🖤🖤🖤♡♡♡

3. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮. 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙜����𝙚. 𝙉𝙤𝙣-𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖. 𝙈𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥.

the textures. the friend-shaped fluffy authority and weirdness. the horror. 😺𝓅𝓊𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇𝓇😺 unfortuantely all good boys but they make it work 5/7 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤♡♡

2. (Ɔ ˘⌣˘)♥Ｗａｒｓａｗ Ｂｉｌｌ Ｂａｉｌｅｙ ａｎｄ Ｔｕｍｂｌｅｂｒｕｔｕｓ♥(˘⌣˘ C)

Look like they could kill you. Are utter cinnamon rolls. Look at them. Look at those deliciously weird hairdos and blotches. Adorable. V. sassy until you show them the grin of a thousand galaxies with nothingness behind it, then BB just gets horny and Tumble gets flustered. Very forgetful. Taste like chicken. 6/7 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤♡

Before we get to number 1, my greatest crush, an honorary mention to

ʍʏֆɛʟʄ

I am big enough to admit that I often turn myself on with my sheer weirdness and failures to obey the laws of physics and logic.

And of course, at number 1....

ʝօɦռռʏʟօռʐօ, ʍʏ ɮɛʟօʋɛɖ 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

[priya-san]

And now for the shitpost headcanons that no one asked for!

Which Eurovision 2021 performance did the Devil May Cry characters enjoy the most? Please enjoy this super indulgent, niche content that I've thought too much about.

Dante

Look we all thought Dante’s favourite would have been Italy, but he was actually gunning for Serbia! This man stans powerful women and Loco Loco by Hurricane showed just that. He thought their performance was a banger, and constantly gets their song stuck in his head.

Vergil

Ugh, why would you even ask him that question? Obviously he didn’t care to watch the show, but stupid Dante had to go and make him. He would never admit it, but he’s pretty pleased that Italy won with Zitti e buoni by Måneskin. They had the best style, obviously.

Nero

This little emo was so fucking hyped when he first heard Dark Side by Blind Channel. Finland absolutely killed it and Nero was totally headbanging along during the final.

Lady

Lady stans a stylish queen, and no one rose to her standards like Kateryna Pavlenko. Shum by Go_A was a masterpiece from start to finish and while Lady was disappointed Ukraine didn’t win, she was so happy they made it to top 5.

Trish

From one powerful woman to another, Trish thought Russia completely dominated their final performance. Russian Woman by Manizha went on to her workout playlist immediately.

V

V could not go past the absolute poetry that is Tout l'Univers by Gjon’s Tears. The intensity of Switzerland’s performance almost brought him to tears. It just beat out Norway’s performance, although TIX’s song was just a little too real for him.

Nico

Azerbaijan’s performance just spoke to Nico. Mata Hari by Efendi was strong, playful and sassy just like her. She also loved just how much fire was in the performance.

Kyrie

This cinnamon roll had to love the most wholesome performance in the entire contest. Iceland’s song and story were her favourite by far. 10 Years by Daði og Gagnamagnið gave her all the feels and she’s mentally adopted the entire band.

[transrevolutions]

the most underrated part of the brick is when jean valjean is leaving the bishop’s place after he gives him the candlesticks and he sees a kid drop some money and he goes over to take it but then has an identity crisis and tries to chase down the kid to give it back but he can’t find the kid and he feels really bad and just sits down on the street and cries.

jean valjean is the og ‘looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll’.

[howlingmoonrise]

Thoughts on Petshop of Horrors: Wandering Ark volume 3

(crossposted from dreamwidth)

me realizing a whole-ass 25 pages of the last volume of the papa series are just sensei's travel logs:

what did i do to deserve this, honestly? sensei i love you and all but THERE WERE SO MANY OTHER THINGS TO COVER ABOUT PAPA. AND YOU DIDN'T TOUCH THEM. AT ALL.

To start with, there's only two actual chapters in the volume, keeping in line with the previous volumes. A whooping total of 103 pages out of a 128 page manga - except, a good portion of one of them is pretty much just rehashing the events of the last volume of the original manga, so it's not exactly like they're overflowing with juicy new content. Vesca and Victor fans will be pleased at a new glimpse of them both though, with emphasis on Vesca. 

Oh, you wanted an explanation for the ark? For why Papa was going around supposedly through "space and time", with a reason other than "well, I wanted to draw stuff from other eras but I don't want to write a whole new manga with a D from back then"? There's none. N-O-N-E. Zilch. Zip. Nada. Niente. Nothing about his relationship with Sofu (though they do briefly meet on Victor's funeral - and wow, am I surprised Sofu deigned to show considering how much he loves humankind), nothing about D or Papa's relationship with him beyond an outsider's point of view on the events of the last manga, nothing about the D species in general or glimpses at previous Ds that were likely alive before our D came into being.

Another bad point: what the hell was up with the cover art? 

The top portion of it is fine, but why does the rest of it look like whoever painted it forgot how to shade things? Look at that belt. Look at those sleeves. That's all I have to say on this subject.

On to the chapters themselves!

--

First chapter:

Papa D helps with The Bachelor. No, really. It's literally a Bachelor-style show, recorded for TV, with one single man and twenty ladies competing to become his wife. Trigger warning for almost-rape in this chapter.

I'll be honest, I liked the main character for this chapter. She's a go-getter, and a survivalist, and prefers stuffing her face with food instead of flirting away the night. Honestly? Mood. I really liked the butler too. I was going on a "oh, is he going to be the actual love interest?" line of thought since he looked interesting, and then went "nah, they're not focusing on him at all beyond that one (1) scene where they were dancing, guess he's just a side character after all", only for him to actually turn out to be the final love interest. That was. Hm. To say that it was majorly underdeveloped is to put it lightly, but the "prince" wasn't great either. The attempted rape felt as if it was shoved in because they were running out of pages though, since the rest of what we saw from his personality seemed a lot mellower than that.  

The ?prostitutes? were an unexpected bright spot, even though they only showed up for a couple of panels, but it was nice that they gave her food (however dismissively) and tried to get the other guy to leave her alone, and that they were simply described as "beautiful" instead of anything else.

OH BUT. Papa hitting the would-be rapist over the head with an oar was great, it actually gave a bit more dimension to him since the Ds are usually so unwilling to dirty their own hands when it comes to violent business: at most they would usually let their pets do the work for them.

Which actually brings me to another question.

I've already said before that Papa is at most a side character on his own series, and that he actually barely gets involved at all apart from a few nudges here and there - but it's kind of jarring that he almost never "sells" a pet in this series. On all volumes including this one, there are only two chapters where he gives away a pet that was already with him and that didn't initially belong to someone else that he was just returning: the dogs from the Austria chapter, and the bird from Empress one (who was actually said to be given by Sofu, but I'm calling bullshit since he had long hair and this is supposedly a time-travelling ark). It's definitely a weird choice for a manga whose title is, quite literally, "Petshop of Horrors".

Also, for a FLYING ark there sure seem to be a lot of water-related incidents.

Thoughts on the family thing down on the general thoughts section. Also, WHY IS IT AN OAR AGAIN? WHERE DID THE BUTLER FIND AN OAR, SINCE IT SEEMED LIKE IT WASN'T PAPA LENDING IT TO HIM? I can't say the penguin thing was a huge twist considering previous chapters, but it makes me wonder that so many of Papa's stories are directly about either humans or animals, but rarely the conjunction of both apart from brief exceptions. 

--

Second chapter: Nice callback to the original PSoH on the first page: I'm extremely fond of that description of the Ds, and it's fitting for a final chapter of a PSoH series. 

This chapter is a cameo for Victor (from the Sofu series which I haven't read yet but know some things about), and a full appearance for Vesca. Victor seems to have chosen the same path as Leon, though arguably he'd actually have the money for it since he's a baron. Travelling the world following rumours and sightings, in search of someone they considered to be dear to them? Sign all three of these blonds up, because it seems to be a tradition at this point. The Ds really have a type, huh? Truth be told, from what I heard of Victor I didn't think he'd be the adventure-seeking sort, so this was a bit of a surprise. He looks cute and happy piloting planes and running from rhinos so I guess that's all that matters though.

BUT WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE POOR. He looks like a huge cinnamon roll so I feel super bad for him, I bet they all resented the money he spent trying to chase Sofu D across the globe once the Great Depression hit :/  

And then, bam! Sofu cameo. This is the chapter where EVERYONE gets a cameo, copy-paste of the last chapter of OG PSoH or otherwise. He's cryptic as usual, and I REALLY didn't expect him to remember Victor's name, much less show up to his funeral. Not that he even looks like he's grieving; he pretty much only speaks of Hitler and Eva Braun's kirin, to Papa's seemingly frowning disapproval (I haven't complained about the round art style on this volume's commentary yet so consider this to be it: the only reason why Papa even looks put out is because he has a Very Clear Frowny Line, because otherwise he just looks normal... and round). 

And then finally, some actual Papa content! Or, er, Vesca content. Both. Let's go with both. I don't want to make myself sad thinking about how little we saw of Papa on his own series. Here we see once again mentions of extinction and of resurrecting species, and finally a throwback to why the ark is an ark: "Noah's Ark". It took me RNS' translations of OG PSoH to understand the reference back on the original, because on Tokyopop's mangled translation the ark is merely a flying boat. 

It's nice to see that Vesca has a strong sense of justice similar to my dear boy Leon Orcot, since it was a bit iffy on the original manga. He's righteous (and right!) about the other Professor using Papa's research, and how Papa should have the benefits of it for himself since he was the one doing the studies. Papa, however, cares little about money or glory: even now his focus is on recovering the blind bird species from their trip to Greece (see: Shin PSoH), and here we see once again his hopeful view that one day he may be able to help them see again. Parallel to his own family much? Honestly, I feel for him.

WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE SHOOTING PAPA? At this point he's trying to reach for Leon's record - and failing, because Leon gets shot and mauled a frankly unholy amount of times during the original PSoH, so no one else can ever really compare. What really breaks my heart here is that he actually asks why. Sofu and D would both have simply taken it for granted, but Papa (seemingly, up until this point) doesn't automatically assume the worst of every human being he comes across. That pained why kills me a little bit, here, and soon after he grows cold and allows the more murderous side of that contract to go loose.

That page with Vesca going into the FBI really throws me back to the panels on the original PSoH right before/right when Leon decides to chase after D. Part of the background is blank, the other part a faint image of the city and Chinatown, with a sense of detachment associated with them. I could probably take the time to place them side by side and compare fully, but uh. I may or may not be stretching my workday bedtime a little too much to finish writing this, oops.

Also, an echo to the original PSoH with Papa's death, called back with him nearly being shot in the middle of the forehead. The actual event is brought in shortly after Vesca gets to mind-rant about the Ds and his search for a few pages, and then flashback flashforward time! A whole six pages which are just portions of OG PSoH's last chapter redrawn from another angle. It's implied that Vesca was able to board the ark like Leon did due to a similar scene with lying in the clouds and sighting the ship amidst them, though whether he was able to stay or not is a whole new story. This is where the actual story ends.

--

Sensei's travel logs: I'm not going to bother going into these. It was nice to see some glimpses of my son (forever a Leon stan here!) and a cameo for Taizuu also showed up a little later on if you're one of the people who liked him (personally, I would trade Taizuu in for a cornchip and a ball of lint). I'm going to make the executive choice of pretending that the D/Leon bits are what's actually happening right now after Leon caught up to D. It's lovely to see them on vacations, and Leon has mellowed out a little bit while D seems extremely comfortable and content with his favourite ex-detective's presence =v=

--

General thoughts: All the series so far seem to have some sort of theme, which kind of ties into the main character of it and their own arc. The original PSoH, for one, was focused a lot on family and greed and love and desire: our D, similarly, had plenty of unresolved issues surrounding his bloodline and things that he wanted but that he couldn't/was not allowed to have because of that very blood.

You'll have to forgive me if my interpretation of Shin is spotty since I only read around half of it (online scans only went up to volume 6 or so, physical versions of the Tokyopop translations were discontinued, and ruthlessnightsscans started scanlating it after I’d already read the available chapters for Shin), but from what I remember of it it seemed to bring in softer, more loving and lighthearted stories, usually tied around romance and being kept apart from things they want/love. The two non-Leon chapters that immediately spring to mind are the Romeo and Juliet Mafia AU, and the one where the lady got pregnant from her dead husband and was able to live on due to that renewed hope. D himself seems to have turned a new page: he hangs around humans on his leisure time (bless those drag queens), takes a vested interest in happy endings for others even if not for himself, and seems overall less inclined towards gruesome murder.

(You'll have to forgive me, but I actually haven't read the Sofu series at all yet so I can't analyse that one. I wasn't even aware RNS had scanlated it until recently, but then again I hold a lot of rage against that slimy bastard (Sofu, not RNS, RNS are baby) and so I'm putting it off indefinitely. Oops?)

And then there's this one. It's probably no coincidence that so many of the stories are about reproduction and birth and continuing a dying species: this is something that chases Papa all the way from his college days not even considering his childhood, which we don't actually don't know about but can make an educated guess at down to his issues with his son and the faint madness of his last years. Even his death plays into this theme, with it ultimately working as an way to keep the D line alive. It makes me think that Papa being kept from his position as a main character in his own series might actually be somewhat purposeful, though the decaying quality of the latest PSoH mangas makes me think this is not the case. I'll have to read the Sofu series to make a better judgement on this, depending on whether or not Sofu is or is not treated similarly. 

Another theme: being haunted by the dead. I think this is actually present on almost every chapter of the Wandering Ark series, though we may disagree on the levels on which it was shown and how easily it is or is not divorced by my previous point. A reader that reads this series on its own will likely find Papa a very bland character and will not grasp onto the nuances of these themes and how they are connected to him, IMO. These conclusions and these hypothesis are drawn by virtue of the first manga alone; it's because of it that we're aware of how Papa himself lives for the species who are long gone, his own kind included. Most of the characters on Wandering Ark push through the suffering and the sorrow of their dead to go beyond their limits and become greater and independent, which is another parallel to Papa since he's the only one of the Ds who has an objective beyond simple (and inefficient) vengeance.

Overall, there's little else I can say that I haven't said already, either here or on my previous post for the first two volumes of the Wandering Ark series. There's a real sense of isolation and detachment on Papa's side (though he seems more benevolent than the other two Ds were), but as I said I'm not sure if it's meant to be purposeful or not, though Sensei's choice to not give him an actual companion thorough his series is also telling. The pacing was also better than in the first chapters of this series, though there was that issue with the ending of the first chapter of this volume. I also still can't say this enough, but it's really strange that Papa is such a side character on his own series??

Final thoughts: we were robbed.

At least Sensei hinted that her journey with the Ds might not be over yet, though if we get another Sofu manga I can and I will riot.

[hello-there]

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[silver-wield]

Hi! Sorry for bothering you. Don't know if you already did this one (so many analysis) but what did you thought about Sephiroth killing Barret scene? Everyone just go running to Barret and Cloud just froze.

No bother! Sorry for the wait, I had a few things on my plate to clear lol

Ok, spoiler warning for ppl who haven’t played – do I still need to do this? Eh ok, (I tag FF7R spoilers as final fantasy 7 remake spoilers) and it’s gonna be short-ish.

Also, this is one person’s interpretation of the scene, so if you disagree that’s cool and we’ll agree to disagree.

You’re also gonna have to excuse the janky quality on some of the screens, I’m grabbing them from Youtube and it’s frustrating af trying to get the exact moment I want.

Other analyses if anyone’s interested.

Shinra HQ vision scene (Cloti/plot analysis) 

Chapter 3 (Cloti reblog) 

Tifa character analysis 

Aerith Resolution (plot analysis/theory – I should probably update this since I’ve had other ideas since then) 

Train graveyard (not really an analysis, but I got some sweet screenshots of Cloti) 

Clotiscrew tunnel analysis 

Cloti reunion analysis 

The Promise Analysis 

Andrea’s approval (Cloti ask response) 

Leslie analysis (not mine, but a good read) 

Cloti action touching 

Aerti friendship analysis 

Cloti body language chapter 3 

Cloti healthy disagreement 

Cloti post heliboss battle (chapter 15) 

Clerith playground scene 

Cloti body language plate fall 

Cloud and Barret friendship 

Resolution scene analysis (A) 

Barret character analysis (chapter 13) 

Cloud character analysis (Honey Bee Inn) 

Now, strap in and enjoy the ride.

Recap time!

Okay, so our intrepid heroes have found Aerith, but then Cloud has a ptsd induced attack and passes out. After some exposition courtesy or Red and Aerith, we're back on mission to reach the roof and the Avalanche helicopter waiting for us – thanks to Wedge the cinnamon roll.

Once we reach the President's office we can hear shouting and make our way outside to find Shinra dangling from 70f up. Poor bby. Lemme help you up.

Anyway, Barret stops Tifa going to help (you’re too kind sometimes, T), grabs Shinra and after some massive restraint on his part, tosses him back onto solid ground. He pursues Shinra through the office and then in classic moron moment finds Shinra has a gun pointed at him. I'm not sure why the others didn't go too, but for whatever reason, they're in the doorway while Shinra is making his selfish bastard speech and Barret forgets he's got a literal machine gun for an arm.

Seconds before pulling the trigger, Sephiroth materialises out of thin air – and Cloud's Sephy sense didn't even go off this time – and he stabs Shinra, killing him in an echo of his OG death.

You get a shot of surprised Cloud and Tifa, then Barret lunges for Sephiroth while whispers appear through the doorway.

Ooh damn I'm good! 2nd go and I stop on this shot. First one was blurry.

Ok, this is obviously the moment where Sephiroth runs Barret all the way through. Remember, his sword is like 8ft long or some ridonculous shit like that. It's massive. He has zero need to get close to someone when he stabs them. He didn't do this with Shinra, he was like 3 feet away and still there was plenty of sword sticking out the guy's chest (anyone wonder if Seph is compensating for something? Lol).

Ok, so the point I'm getting at by showing Sephiroth this close to Barret is that this is a personal attack. This isn't something he's done just to kill someone. He's stuck that massive sword all the way through Barret's chest until he's within touching distance of him. This is an attack on Cloud. This is his way of showing Cloud that the vision from the VR scene could absolutely be true. He can make it true.

As for Barret, well he's just been stabbed, so he looks like he wants to go for pizza lol

Tifa automatically reacts and wants to run to Barret and save him. She's lost way too many people over the last day and can't lose anyone else. This is expected of her being the first one to react.

Interestingly, the next one to move is Red. The bromance is real. That's one fast friendship there and I love these two as friends. Barret and Red can snark at each other for a whole game and I'll be happy. 

This is a great moment though because it shows that Red's already formed strong bonds with everyone, enough that he'll go to their aid without stopping to think. For an animal character which is hard to read, you can see very easily the pain, fear and panic in his eye.

If you're a meta!Aerith theoriser like me then this is actually too much emotion on her face for someone who barely knows Barret. She looks like she just lost someone very important to her. They met like an hour ago. I love the amount of emotion on her face here, she clearly cares about Barret a lot. That's an “please God oh no” look if ever I saw one. Makes me wanna tear up and no lie.

And Cloud. Who doesn't move because he's literally frozen in place with a wide eyed look of horror on his face. He's seen Sephiroth stab people before. Back in Nebelheim reactor and then in the VR where he had to watch him stab Tifa (ok not really, but the mental trauma is still the same). He's shutting down. SOLDIER!Cloud.exe has stopped working. Have you tried turning him off and on again?

Cloud's terrified of Sephiroth anyway – he literally whimpers during one ptsd attack – so to see him stab Barret? His friend? And he didn’t even see it coming? It's probably sent his entire mind to a point where he can't function. This is the stuff that breaks him.

Aside: How did Sephiroth pull that whole long ass sword out of Barret without moving away? Does he have slenderman arms on the sly?

This is interesting. Sephiroth looks at Cloud, who's still shell-shocked, but then it's like you can see him rebooting. That absolute fury and hatred he has for Sephiroth overrides most of his shock – or tries. You can see the SOLDIER part of him trying to assert control over his fear, but then it wavers and the shock and fear – likely from real!Cloud – take hold again, making his eyes wide and him look as helpless as he feels.

Sephiroth's goal is to always make Cloud feel helpless, out of control, useless to everyone. That way he can control Cloud and make him do whatever he wants. He's a master manipulator and Cloud with all his issues struggles to fight against that mental barrage. It’s something that never goes away for him. This is his lifetime struggle and it’s a metaphor for those who live with mental health issues. There’s no one final battle and it’s all rosy. It’s never ending and some days you win, some days it’s Sephiroth. The point is to fight.

So, then the whisper leaps into Barret to save him and Sephiroth turns into a piece of Jenova. Now we've got some action happening, Cloud shakes off his weakness and goes back into SOLDIER mode.

Conclusion

Cloud can't deal with emotions. Of any kind. He's emotionally stunted, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have emotions. It's the opposite. He feels things far too deeply and intensely and hasn't learned how to process them effectively in a way that doesn't damage himself. This is stuff you learn as you mature from a teenager to an adult. This is stuff Cloud's been denied by being a lab rat for 4 years. His body may be an adult, but part of him is still 16. He needs to experience life to help him mature and catch that emotional development up to the rest of him. (which is my way of saying he won't be like a 16yr old forever).

Cloud's real and genuine affection for his friend over-rid any kind of control he had over himself and made it impossible for him to move when he saw Barret stabbed. He's also lost too many people, which is partly why he has that SOLDIER persona protecting him. Sephiroth's taunting look made it clear this was to get at Cloud. It had very little to do with Barret. Cloud's anger broke through his shock, but that weakness reasserted itself quickly afterwards, keeping him from acting until Jenova Dreamweaver appeared and he finally had something for SOLDIER!Cloud to take care of.

[chibi-encubierta]

Trials of Mana, Session 5: "Too much forest and I actually like Charlotte... a lot a bit"

Wait... They are recommending NOW to switch classes? When you could do it at lvl 18?  I did that so long ago... Or are they suggesting getting to third class?? I'm on lvl 31 so I need more training AND the items to unlock them aaand the seed to get the items :/ ===============   Anyway, time to call Vuscav and head to Moonlight Forest

Japanese voice Kevin sounds like he is begging the ruler of the seas, please, pretty please, such a cinnamon roll.

===============   Serious talk with Faerie and stereotypes about the Beastmen

And that only the followers of Gauser are the ones that gives the beastmen a bad reputation... Now that I think about it... Up to this point in OG and remake, he has never ever mentioned he is half-beastman or the prince, I mean the party knows he turns into a werewolf at night, but still everyone is saying just how vicious and evil and terrible are the beastmen... Kevin just remains silent and now that he is alone with the Faerie and she brought that up he says a little bit. I always had the headcanon he says it and the team kinda accepts it in a “not all beastmen” style but still I though they will add a little more here, I mean we know if we get him in the party but not as main, but if Kevin is the main... Not a single mention of his linage.

=============== Obligatory detour to Karl's grave I always take if Kevin is the main... Also I don't want to go to the tower yet... ===============

No, I don't wanna fight Ludgar yet...

=============== (uugghh I forgot to take screenshots of this part, Deathjester saying that Kevin is just “stupid” and naive and paralized him and then tells him how “delicious” his soul must be because he is a beautiful cinnamon roll to good for this world, too pure) I want to kill deathjes... Goremand so hard!!

I don't remember this scene from the OG, but I like it! And then Charlotte jumps in and get slapped hard, that had to hurt! Goremand I hate you! Only I can treat the satan spawn like that! I cannot wait to get to the forest of Illusion and kick your bony sorry ass.  And now he talk about Heath and his fate with Belgar, father of the year that makes Gauser looks like he does actually good/excellent parenting While Kevin is paralized by Goreman and wants to eat his soul >:(  (I really don’t remember this scene form the OG... Guess I will have to replay it :D)

Thanks for the save Ludgar...  but I still don't want to fight you :(

Ludgar beast form is so cool in 3D!!!

this part always get me a little sad :( I mean, these 2 would have been great siblings but no. =============== (The emotion in the japanese voices! I just love how much sadness you can feel from Kevin and Ludgar. Riesz has a lovely voice acting and the other characters too, even  with Charlotte’s desperation asking where is his beloved Heath). ===============

From cool beast form to the cute baby form. Good bye forever baby Ludgar! (I already spoiled myself by accident that we see him training with Kevin as some kind of master-disciple //siblings in the Credit roll and it is so cute!!!) I'm really happy we could finally see that they ended like brothers (pretty sure that was not in the OG) will make a screencap later on.

Even Charlotte here is dropping her "I'm a mischievous devil" face and is actually worried for the baby. ===============

Yup, he is the real enemy... But don't forget his master: Belg... The Masked Mage. And finally Charlotte is being nice and  stopping acting like a spoiled little child and realizing she is involved in something bigger, saying how much she also hates Goremand and that she believes that with Kevin, they can beat that real Satan spawn. A+ character development you had there Charlotte.

===============

Just took this screencap because Riesz looks like she is still angry by the fact she just heard from that other dying beastman that Kevin is a prince and not just a random beastfolk, and now he calls the king his father... What kind of best friend keeps that as a secret? she needs to talk with him about it later because this Goremand is a more pressing matter; And Charlotte is looking at him like she just realized he is a Cinnamon roll. lol ===============

Big cinnamon roll having a big anime moment here, the voice acting in Japanese is on point ===============  Time to get the last spirit! To the Lampwood Forest!

Charlotte: Follow them, the yellow red flowers

Another Charlotte moment you go girl! :) (I wonder why they decided to make Charlotte talk like that in the English subtitles/dub... in Japanese she doesn't talk like that, just high pitched :/). ===============

Still a better love story than Twilight  That’s actually something I didn’t remember from OG, only that they passed away for some reason, tragic indeed. =============== I can’t believe I ran out of money!!! No new weapons for the party :(

=============== 

Ohh Kevin gave Charlotte his condolence... Precious cinnamon roll. I’m really feeling a change in attitude from Charlotte since the Moonchart Tower. =============== 

Let’s just make a close up of this:

Happy half-puppy and half-devil :D so pure! ===============

Wait... What... What just happened???!!? The entire party died from ONE ATTACK of the Grapplavine !?? Whaaat? my first game over in this game :D =============== Next Time: It is time for revenge Kevin...Revenge on a plant !!! >:(

[isa-ghost]

*skitters in* tell me more about the cau egos please and thank you

CAU Jackie-

Needs hugs

Is so,, so,, SO full of anxiety secretly

Also full of guilt

Closet bi, openly ace

Style somewhere between jock and Tired College Kid

Chaotic Good™, but self-conscious about it

Too damn hard on himself

You thought Chase was depressed? Oh honey.

ADHD, depression, anxiety, prob some phobias,,, He’s heckin broken :(

Soft. So, SO soft. He’ll break your bones with his love.

Too much energy. TOO MUCH.

Loud boyman

Scary temper when he loses it

*Sees child* *Vibrates*

Bouncy, he cannot sit still

Obviously a total nerd sucked deep into fandom culture

Older brother of everyone

Doesnt know his own strength pls excuse him

Gets flustered easily

(Already made a post about CAU Marvin)

CAU Henrik-

Sad and stressed

*Aggressively ignores own trauma*

He always thinkin

Could wear 8 sweaters and still be cold

Needs a 3 day nap

Cannot function without caffeine

Heteromantic demisexual, but lowkey has no idea what that means

Actually very soft but hides it

A ball of anxiety and fear

Dad friend

Has a writing hobby

Has lots of scars

One eye is permanently black, thanks Anti

Constantly has dark circles around his eyes

*does the anime glasses thing*

His house is The House, everyone’s always over for some reason

Has a soothing voice

Collects pens and coffee cups

Constantly forgets he has scrubs on when wearing them

Bookworm

(staring right at item) “where is [item]”

CAU Chase has a lot on him in the OG “lore” post, so I’m gonna kinda skip him. Not to mention I did some headcanons on him last night too.

CAU Jameson-

Looks like a cinnamon roll, could kill you

Gentle bean,, until he angery

Always doing smth with his hands

Fidgety, not sure why

Does Not Like Silence

Good dancer

Very very smart, scarily so

Affectionate babby

Has a hard time saying no

Wants to help everyone

Ironically loses track of time or knows the time down to the second. No in between.

Steals Marvin’s sweets a lot

Really likes pinstriped stuff and steampunk aesthetic

Looks like he owns an airship. Totally wants one.

Does research on random stuff for fun

Goes feral for electroswing

Very talented musically and artistically

Super duper ticklish

Always looks sleepy

Has a habit of daydreaming

[queerduvet]

ranking the sanas

sana og - looks like she could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll

amira (druck) - feel robbed of those three episodes but amira and mohammed are still my faves

amira (espana) - cris’s jonas <3 would never say anything homophobic

esra - her energy is sooo good and she’s a fashion icon why can’t i dress that well

zoya - she genuinely would throw hands for u (give her a season plz)

yasmina - where is she?? she has the best sana energy i’m missing her this season (ps give her a surname?)

imane - meh sorry

imaan - it’s a shame she left but we got esra so 🤷‍♀️

sana (italia) - cast 👏 muslim 👏 actors 👏 for 👏 muslim 👏 roles