#orochi is a piece of shit

[khepiari]

When SMILE got introduced to us to as artificial DFs in Punk Hazard!

All of us: Why is it called smile?

Ten years later the entire population of the Ebisu Town and Otoko laughing at Yasuie’s execution!

All of us: THE FUCK? What did you do KAIDO? Doffy? Orochi, Ceaser! You booked a deluxe ticket to hell!

[mugiwara-lucy]

With the death of Orochi finally in the Anime/Manga, I feel like I can say something I've always wanted to say:

I feel that Orochi is a BETTER version of Wapol.

Like he's a much better written and better version of Wapol who felt too......cartoony....

[melo68]

the way is nobody is talking about his eyes is proving that ppl skipped this scene btw i didn’t skip it the first time i watched it but the second time i rewatched the ep i did skip it tbh

[corvlth]

Alright so seeing as I am finally caught up with the manga, I feel like saying a thing or two about the Baki characters, and as the resident God of war degenerate who really likes blorbos interacting, I’m sad to announce that they don’t do a lot of interacting besides praising each other’s fighting skills. Bear with me because this is probably gonna be long and unfocused as shit of half remembered plot beats. I’m more of a make lines on a canvas guy than a words one, but regardless.

Now, people usually have big brain analysis about it with references made to Buddhism and symbolism, and I’m from buttfuck, Eastern Europe so I’m not aware of subtle cultural aspects of this manga, so if anything take this as an interesting point of view of a foreigner (though I do sometimes feel like people put more meaning into it than the author intended).

Baki. I’ve read it all (except the side stories, so take all this with a grain of salt). Is it good? No. But it is the outlandish, off the walls shit that brought me back to it ‘til the end and those definitely delivered, but I feel like the character department could have used more attention, so let’s talk about that.

Firstly, Baki Hanma. Protagonist, public menace and little meow meow you root for. He started off the manga by already being the champion of the underground arena before having a flashback of him getting there, which made the first part of it feel kinda clunky but so is this ramble so I ain’t the one to talk. I feel like Baki doesn’t really bring anything particularly interesting to the table by himself, which is a shame because he definitely has the potential to. He was pushed by his mother to train so she could gain the attention of Yujiro, Baki being nothing more than a means to an end for her in the vain attempt to impress a guy who simply couldn’t bring himself to give less of a shit. We see flashbacks of him training with Yujiro too, though I can’t really make out anything out of them. I guess he was tough on the kid? Either way, his mom gets killed in front of him, and after the child arc he’s just nice. Like with exceptions he’s just a swell guy. Which is fine, but it does feel kind of unearned since he just goes from walking through the streets with his mother’s corpse talking to her while trying to delude himself for just a bit longer from the truth of what has just happened, to being a nice, kind teenager with 0 explanation as to what happened in the meantime. And there’s glimpses of Baki acting more like Yujiro but the author doesn’t really do anything with it besides remind us that he’s a Hanma and therefore really strong.

I’m just saying it would be nice to see Baki be more of a messy bitch, like go girl make bad choices, while also being terrified of turning into his father. For example, in the Baki goes to prison arc, he butts in to Jun and Oliva talking and gets thrown into the railings outside, and Jun makes note of the “Hanma blood being the most stimulating liquid known to man” and implying his nature made him act that way. It never gets brought up again or acknowledged besides a ‘this is foreshadowing that he’s really strong actually’. Thank you, we knew that. It’s just that it’d be an interesting plot point for him to fight against his nature and have to eventually accept that the monstrous part of him will always be a part of him, but he can temper himself with compassion and he can use his power for other people and then we get to have him be a nice guy.

The Kozue plot arc felt… Like nothing. They already had a crush on each other, became a couple, Kozue accepted that Baki’s gonna be a fighter, then after that was already established the Ali Jr. arc happened and it just felt like nothing. Jr. gets set up as a potential threat to Baki’s relationship and gets his ass kicked multiple times which does nothing to set him up as a real threat, no idea why Itagaki chose to include that. Also Kozue was inexplicably considering Ali as a potential love interest after knowing him for what felt like 10 minutes. And after Son of Ogre and the big battle she never showed up, not in any meaningful way anyway, as far as I remember. Which is a shame because women an endangered species in this manga.

Skimming through Son of Ogre I see that Baki was looking up to Yujiro for his opulent lifestyle, which would also yield an interesting arc of Baki leaning into his nature, unaware of the effects it has on him and unintentionally getting worse and worse to those around him and that would put him at odds with Jack who does see what he’s turning into and hates it, himself and partially his brother, but desperately wants to save him from this road he’s choosing to go down.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, we love Jack in this house. He’s the messy bitch I wanted Baki to be. He’s out for vengeance, he’s destroying himself in order to achieve it. He’d flush Yujiro’s heart medications down the toilet if he had the chance to. My only gripe with him is that I’d like to see more of his relationship with his mother. She did show up at the end of the first volume. Is she using him to get back at the ogre? Is he even aware of it? Was she cruel to him as a child due to the circumstances of his birth? If so, was that even intentional? It’d be a cool plot point to see if Jack is doing all this because he feels guilty for existing and reconciling this with his mother that- I’m just saying I’ll cry like a bitch if she shows up and holds his face and looks him in the eye and says that she’s sorry and he’s not the monster he convinced himself to be.

And the big bad, the Ogre, the strongest creature on Earth, Yujiro Hanma. I’m torn between disliking and appreciating the fact that he’s very inconsistent. On one hand it’s very jarring that he seems like a caring (albeit very intimidating) father to Baki and gives him advice and warning Tokugawa about his health, and then doing horrible things left and right to people. On the other hand, the unpredictability seems to suit his character. He’s a fun character to hate and watch and it really felt like him and Baki were the only actual characters for a good portion of the first volume. Also that scene at the hotel with him being weaker than whoever was on the other side of the door is very funny and it gets funnier the longer it never gets brought up, I hope they never do.

This is getting kinda long so, some quick ones:

Retsu could have leaned into the pride of his 4000 year old Chinese martial arts but at the same time feeling crippling anxiety that he doesn’t live up to it

Katsumi never had his circus days and his father dying in front of his eyes affect him and is also just a nice well adjusted guy, also my man’s used to have dimples remember what they took from you

Jun’s an actual looney toon and we love him in this house but it’s weird that he’s allegedly fought for independence for his country out of compassion for his people but then says to Oliva that fighting for others is a weakness in his eyes, and only remembered about them halfway through their fight. Has he done all that for personal glory before and just now had a come to Jesus moment?

Musashi was just curious about the present for a good portion of Baki dou, until suddenly deciding to regain his glory, which was kind of jarring and could have been brought up earlier.

The entire Sukune arc was an actual slog to get through I actually only half remember most of these because I put down the manga for days to weeks on time because it felt boring as shit to continue reading until Jack came in and it picked up again. I guess he gets the bitches and banishes evil spirits, so good for him, I guess?

Pickle was a character I was looking forward to see him animated because I wanted to hear the sound design they chose for his vocalizations and was disappointed on that front because it’s like the same sound that’s way too quiet, but otherwise fun character. Kinda weird that there was a plot point for people to vote on freezing him back again and that went nowhere because he’s just living in the sewers now, but he’s a fun character to have around so that’s fine.

I guess that’s kind of it for the most part? Everything that I remembered I had an opinion on anyway, sorry I’m a god of war fan and decided to make that everybody’s problem. Feel free to ask any questions if you got any?

[sanjisblackasswife]

Kiss, kill, or marry?

Vinsmoke Judge

orochi

spandam

this is so🧍🏾‍♀️

can i kill all three?

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1116 - Initial Thoughts

The lore keeps coming, and more is still to come

Vegapunk has been dropping bombs while Egghead descends into fiery chaos, let's see what more he can tell us

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release too

A bento from Tsuru this time for Yamato, don't like that Ushimaru's still hovering around there, he got his shit slapped by Luffy sure but he profited from Orochi's rule

The world continues to question Vegapunk's revelations, how can such island-destroying weapons still exist? Who could live for 800 years to continue the war?

Who indeed, as we see more of Imu's room

They stand at a big portrait, she looks like Vivi but I'd bet on this being Nefetari D. Lily

Alabasta remains in mourning too, Igaram and Karoo continue to worry about Vivi being missing

Chaka and Pell attend Cobra's funeral

During this, Vegapunk reveals how he had sought a clean energy source, and that as a result he was able to create the Mother Flame

Wait, Lulusia was done by a fragment of it?? The WG stole it from Vegapunk?

The CP agents and Seraphim look in a bad way from the landing too

Edison and Stussy discuss what happened, surmising that another Gorosei is moving up to the Labophase

Edison can't help the Straw Hats anymore either, since the clouds can't reach them anymore

Stussy, to his surprise, requests that Kaku be freed - insisting that she won't let them target the crew, but doubt that's his priority

Edison apologizes for Stussy, noting that she identified the CP0 lot as her friends and was still chose Vegapunk over them

Kaku you better pull through after this, this is thrice now your life has been spared

Edison points out that her conflict is proof of her humanity, and encourages to live how she pleases

Back to Vegapunk, he explains how the Mother Flame's theft led to Lulusia

The Lulusia survivors with the Revolutionary Army have to sit and hear how their country was wiped out by an unprovoked assault

Elizabello cameo as he didn't even know that Lulusia was taken down, and asks to confirm it

The Mother Flame fragment was used to power an ancient weapon, all but hinting that the WG have Uranus as we expected

Vegapunk apologizes in the video, declaring himself an accessory to murder, while also pointing out that it has likely proven his theory

It seems many in the crowd don't hold Vegapunk accountable though

Momo however is again being very attentive, asking what that means for Pluton

Crocodile is also listening intently, given his desires for Pluton

And we pan over to Shirahoshi too, since she's also an Ancient Weapon

Vegapunk says that Joy Boy attempted to pass down the Ancient Weapons, which begets the question why? Why encourage the flooding of the world?

Sengoku is stress eating through this too

Vegapunk also points out that there are those who know about the Void Century

Akainu also seems intrigued - in his own angry way - about Vegapunk spilling the deets

As we already knew, Roger's crew know the secrets

The Navy however did not know, freaking out that pirates know

Of course, many of the public are also baffled that 'evil pirates' have been trusted with such information

York is having a freak out too, wondering how Vegapunk could've known that she stole the Mother Flame for the Gorosei

He's apparently a bad liar and actor, so she starts connecting the dots; his surprise at her betrayal, the preparation of the broadcast, the hiding of the snail

Wormy's back, and nah he's just up and eating the CP agents

York hits a brainwave though, the broadcast snail is in the Fabiostratum

The Iron Giant is guarding it!

Back at Sabaody, Vegapunk's broadcast muses why the Roger Pirates kept such information secret? Why fade into hiding?

Rayleigh meanwhile is drinking heavier than usual, accusing Vegapunk of telling the world too much

He doesn't want Vegapunk to take the thrill of knowing away

Oooof, another week break

Well what is that supposed to mean huh?

Lore-wise nothing was really dropped from Vegapunk that we didn't already know, aside that the weapon used on Lulusia was powered partially by the Mother Flame. But it still gives some questions.

Why would Rayleigh be excited about the idea of a flooded planet? Was there more to the Ancient Weapons? If the sea levels rose 200m in the Void Century was Joy Boy behind it? A Sea of Pirates perhaps?

And what's with the Lily poster Imu? You wanted to murder Vivi and yet you have a portrait of her ancestor, an ancestor they criticized to Cobra, in your special little vivarium room?

Kaku and Stussy meanwhile look like they're planning an exit, though I still don't trust Lucci to try and go for the double tap. The question now however is if Kaku will take the out? I know we all want him to but we also wanted Kizaru to turn face and...yeah look where that got us?

Not many super surprising cameos this time, I guess Elizabello II is one, a fellow Grand Fleet Member and King would have stock in learning that a nation was wiped out by the WG. And we got to see Crocodile but no dialogue. Heck we didn't even see any Straw Hats this time! The question on my mind still though is this: why was video needed? What visual does Vegapunk still need to show?

The Iron Giant at least has a purpose now, being the front line for the broadcast snail, but that puts a target on his back, as does being a Roger Pirate now, Buggy's legacy will only grow given how they'll assume that he holds ancient knowledge XD

As usual though, more questions than answers.

[conchiferrous]

im sooo smart i couldnt find the blank template but i have now but its fine . classic deviantart meme font.

[IMAGE ID: The fandom opinion meme, a template where you draw characters that correspond to the prompt, this one being themed around One Piece. The first one is for "favorite character" where Franky, Robin, and Usopp have been drawn. They're all close together with Franky in the back and Usopp doing a thumbs up. For "liked by everyone but me" is Sabo, whose burn scar is drawn more exaggerated. For "didn't like at first" is Orochi, who's head is tilted down a bit and is looking up, annoyed. For "would like to know more about" are Crocodile, Pudding, Kiwi, and Mozu. There's text above them reading "honestly I would love to know more about the franky family in general." For "least favorite character" is Orlumbus, who is annoyed and looking to the side. For "like the design, dislike the character" is Zeo, glaring at the viewer. Text next to him reads "unfunny as fuck but the most badass design in the goddamn shit." For "like the character, dislike the design" is a very small drawing of Usopp, as if he's standing far away. Text above him reads: "God I hate the donut lip thing." For "similar personality" are Pudding and Usopp. Pudding is grabbing Usopp's shoulders from behind and looking at him with her three big eyes and says "I can erase all scary memories." and Usopp responds: "Oh shit, fr?". He seems pretty okay with this ordeal. For "fav ship" The Going Merry is drawn in the foreground, with an expressive figurehead. She looks very excited and has a 1st place medal around her neck. And then in the background Franky and Robin are seen making out. For "least fav ship" are Buggy and Crocodile. Crocodile is blowing smoke on Buggy's face and Buggy keels over and hacks. For "would befriend IRL" is Kokoro, lazily looking at the viewer and holding a bottle of booze. Text beside her reads "would be chill as fuck". For "would not befriend IRL" is Sanji, who is laying tied up on railroad tracks while a train looms in the distance. Befriend is also spelled incorrectly, reading "befrined". /END ID]

explaining my self under the cut (EGGHEAD SPOILERS INCLUDED)

Favorite character: Franky, Robin and Usopp. Franky is my favorite but Robin and Usopp are the best characters. For Franky it's mostly that I like weird guys in hawaiin shirts and I also like inventor/engineer characters and he's both which is not fair to my psyche. And a lot of the shit he makes is so silly all those extra vehicles in the sunny all have to be cartoon animal themed and that's so cute. Silly guy making his silly machines, aww aww. I like Robin because she's a little weird a little offputting. Wish they went way further with that but I still enjoy that element of her character. And that she's the designated smart one but not in a killjoy way, and it's so sweet seeing her find happiness over time. I like that Usopp is the straight man or everyman type guy of the crew, and how most times the thing he chooses to do is the most "yeah i would have done that in this situation". I like that at no point he suddenly overnight becomes some brave boy and is a shounen anime badass now, but instead he's anxious about everything but pulls through regardless. He could have quit back in water 7 but he didn't !! New world scary as hell but he's still here having not given up or died !! There's something i really appreciate about having a character who isn't a badass or anything like that succeed too because its harder for him. And I lovee a good usopp fight, his fighting style is so fun and the usopp vs perona fight is one of my favorite of the whole series. I think it's fun that he was able to work around his fear of close combat by getting experimental. And of course the whole thing with how they make a point in Enies that Usopp doesn't have to be insanely capable and competant to have value and have his friends love him and i think that's nice. Everybody's valued on the crew even if their unique skills are more "niche" or whatever. :] .

Liked by everyone but me: Sabo. I think I would have liked him a lot more if he wasn't introduced immediately after Ace died as Luffy's secret brother he also has (anime adaptation is way worse for this because they can't even hide that Sabo didn't die !! It's so obvious !!) I know they have a whole passing the torch thing going on and the fire fruit thing is very cute but i feel it kind of takes away from the impact of ace dying to give luffy a different fire brother yknow ? either way though, he has the personality of a slice of white bread like i really dont find him endearing at all, all i get out of him is he's kind of fun to draw i like pulling a brightheart warrior cats fan design on him. as far as i can tell most OP fandom people generally like him i never see sabo slander LOL but that's just me

Didn't like at first: Orochi. Choosing him more out of what I felt was appropriate given some characters i.e. franky are clearly supposed to start off on a bad note then be likable later. Orochi never gets redeemed or even becomes particularly silly and charming in the ways many other villains do. Him being an over the top piece of shit who was also scared of everything then had beef with Kaido just appealed to me idk lol plus all the stuff with how he's doing all this out of some kind of paranoia/trauma response and like yeah fuck sure i'll take that some kind of a reason over nothing at all. he's a little like arlong if arlong was like really really lame. i think it's funny he fake dies like twice + his actual(?) death scene is honestly pretty badass that was a good ass scene. one of my more favorite villains tbh and he pleasantly surprised me because i really assumed he was just going to be another comically evil annoying lame guy in a different coat of paint. think again it's annoying lame guy but a little better.

Would like to know more about: Crocodile, Pudding, Kiwi, and Mozu. Honestly there's like 27 characters I could put here. Crocodile stands out to me because of the implied trans thing mostly but regardless, I am curious about his relationship with Robin and his run in with Whitebeard and the thing with going out of his way to stick his neck out for Luffy in Marineford. <- that was probably just Crocodile being grateful luffy busted him out of impel down and not wanting to say it, but i like to think there's some kind of "luffy reminds crocodile of himself when he was younger" type deal because yea croc wanted to be pirate king before whitebeard shat all over him, yeah? yeah i wanna know this guy's deal. and yeah what were the circumstances of him and Iva's initial meeting? Out of everyone I chose he's probably the mostly likely to get some kind of detailed backstory and such. I assume Pudding is probably going to be very relevant eventually what with the opening of the third eye or whatever the fuck. Excited as the prospect of more Pudding, really hope we do not get another hancock situation where her entire character devolves into being really obsessed with a guy. Low expectations for this one I just hope she gets things to do that uh . don't suck lol. i really like her a lot. I think I kind of already explained Kiwi & Mozu yeah, in general more of anything on Franky Family would be nice. I know they're not important like Croc + Pudding but I hope they at least get some silly mini story shit. Filler ep where Franky reminisces on franky family . i will take antyhing.

Least favorite character: Orlumbus. don't like the columbus cameo. that's it, this one isn't deep, the fact he's a character at all is just dumb to me. i do rank him lower than villains or intentionally annoying charatcers because at least characters like Spamdam you're clearly supposed to want him dead so he's doing his job as a character.

Like the design, dislike the character: Zeo. Wasn't huge on the new fishman pirates in general. Would have to reread Fishman Island to elaborate better. Zeo's design is badass though.

Like the character, dislike the design: Usopp. Looks like a caricature

Same personality: Usopp and Pudding. Only 2 I could think of that have made me think yeah, they're just like me for real on a regular basis.

Favorite ship: Going Merry. I love that the Merry is just the silly little boat that could held together by duck tape and how comically smaller she is compared to marine ships, really bringing together this idea that the straw hats are just some scrappy weirdos who have no business being alive this long- Oh. Oh that kind of ship. Okay. Frobin is like the most . Sounds like a pairing that would actually happen, makes sense for how I understand these characters to be, etc. I'm not in the camp of believing they're end game or canonically secretly in love, you just don't have to like . Conveniently forget things about either character to force it into making some kind of sense. More importantly though, I think it's fun how they're counterparts to each other. Robin is history/nature themed, Franky is futuristic/technology themed, but both are connected through the pluton thing. They're both "keys to the ancient weapon" but instead of being destructive evil characters they're more interested in building the other up. Something like that. And it's a weird girl + silly guy dynamic and I like these kinds of "met you in the worst situation but we made it out together and are now both enjoying ourselves" relationships. If I was spamdam bringing robin and franky together for my evil scheme only for them to not only both escape but end up on the same crew and become very close I would have to quit my job out of embarrassment.

Least favorite ship:Crocodile x Buggy.I don't care for most hate love type dynamics anyways but particularly don't enjoy this one because seeing Buggy in this toxic yaoi with my boss type situation doesn't appeal to me at all. (Obviously not the worst OP pairing in the world, just as far as pairings I actually see with my eyes every now and again I don't really care for this one)

Would befriend irl: Kokoro. I just like her. I would listen to her talk for a long time about whatever the hell.

Would not befriend irl: Sanji. I mean like more than half of all OP characters are people i would not stand but I have a dunking on Sanji quota to achieve.

[night-fall-moon]

Chapter 2: Regent

previous chapter  masterlist next chapter

The sound of skin to skin contact echoed throughout the meeting room. Pale skin becomes red as blood flows to the surface of it. A mild stinging pain could be felt, the feeling of embarrassment flooded his senses, but he kept a cool front. His poker face never faltered no matter how humiliated he was.

A sense of lingering anger and authority dropped from the hand that slapped the boy. His face filled with worry as his voice spoke out,

"A squad leader can't put his squad members' lives at risk." His voice was serious.

He was dead serious, and it showed not just through his expressions, but through his violent actions. He'd never once laid a hand on them no matter the circumstance, but he felt the need to express it this time to show that he was the one in charge for once and wouldn't be put down.

"It's dangerous to show our back to the enemy. I took the possibility of Orochi pursuing and attacking us from the rear into consideration." He defended himself.

He stared at Haise the whole time and asked him, "does that warrant a slap in the face?"

"You think you're so smart. Why else do you think I called for Haise? You would've died had it not been for me telling him as soon as we left to pursue Torso." Reina yelled at the foolish boy.

His ego got too big that he almost killed himself and the rest of his team all because of his selfish desires. Haise stood still as everything unveiled itself.

"Ghoul investigators must run even if their arms and legs are torn off!!" He raised his voice, veins popped out the side of his neck. His face contorted into one of worry.

"We'll have our chance as long as we're alive. What can we do if we're dead?!"

Sighing, Reina got in between both boys and put a hand on each of their shoulders. She pushed Urie away a bit and turned to face him.

"Urie I'm relieving you from duty as Squad Leader of the Quinx Squad." She stated.

Again Urie started arguing, he made sure his voice was heard when he said, "I find this unacceptable," but both of them didn't budge, instead Haise put his foot down and in an authoritative voice jibed, "it's an order."

Gritting his teeth Urie breathed heavily leaving a heavy suspenseful silence in his wake until he sneered at both of them, "but you're both ghouls..."

His eyes widened meanwhile the rest of the squad squeaked in surprise at his bold claim. How could he disrespect their mentors?! Shirazu wasted no time in beating some sense into the boy.

"You're a piece of shit!!" He yelled as he kicked the purple haired boy.

He continued to lecture the boy about how responsible and considerate their mentors were. How they both risked their lives for theirs. He tussled him around like a rag doll, Urie having no reaction to the treatment he was getting at the moment. Instead he looked behind him where Mutsuki was standing.

There the shy boy stood watching Shirazu manhandle Urie. Noticing that he was looking back he decided to speak up.

"Urie.. I.. I'd like you to apologize to Instructors Sasaki and Nakou."

"Shirazu let him go." Reina raised her hand in a stop motion.

Following her order he did so slowly. Looking back at his mentors he noticed that Haise was about to speak up.

"No matter what he says, my decision is final. Besides, I'm appointing Rank 3: Investigator Shirazu as Squad Leader." He pointed at the blonde.

Shirazu screeched and tried to protest. He had no idea what Sasaki was thinking, but this wasn't right. Him? Squad leader?! Those two things should never be in the same sentence. Haise reassured him that he'd teach him what it means to be a leader.

Turning to face the boy that was walking away he playfully hit him a small smile gracing his lips that didn't quite reach his ears.

"Urie. You keep disobeying me and I'll eat you! I'm a ghoul, remember?" He chuckled softly.

Having nothing else to say, the denoted boy just walked out the room. Noting Haise's weird behavior she walked behind him and patted his shoulder making him look down at her figure. She smiled weakly at him and left to follow after Urie.

She looked around everywhere and found him sitting on the couch by himself in the living room. Deciding to sneak up on him she quietly approached him and hugged him tightly against her chest. Startled at first he tried to pull her arms off of him until he heard the familiar sound of her voice reach his ears.

"Got ya." She tilted his head so he could look up at her.

Huffing he let her have her way with him. She let go and climbed over the couch to sit on the glass coffee table. Her small figure leaning back, strands of lilac hair letting loose from her messy bun.

"I'm going to make it quick since we have to wake up early tomorrow." She put it simply as she crossed her legs.

He looked her dead in the eye and motioned for her to get on with what she initially came here for.

"You need to learn to respect others, you know. If you keep up this rude attitude it won't make others like you. Now since I started living with you I've learned a few things." She started.

"You don't like sweets, so I don't know why you have that with you. Two you don't care for relationships, whether it's romantic or platonic it doesn't matter. You push those who care for you away all because of your personal goals." She sat upright and stood up walking behind the couch.

"Let me tell you from personal experience... you'd rather have friends or people you can call acquaintances than enemies. Why? Because you don't know when the last time you'll need them by your side is. If you have no one to be there for you, you'll feel lost." She leaned over it and whispered in his ear,

"I know you don't care about these mundane matters, but it'll come and bite you back in the ass. Especially if you mess with the wrong people." She breathed out and turned around to leave.

"And who would those people be?" His voice echoed throughout the vacant room.

The girl stood glued in her place.

"Since I started living with you I've learned a few things." He mocked.

She turned around and smirked.

"Yeah? Like what?" She taunted.

"You've been acting up since you moved in. Not a single time have you actually acted yourself. This little vulgar act you're putting up isn't fooling anyone. Who are you? Is the real question, Reina Nakou." His voice dripped of venom.

She smiled at his words and walked up to pat his cheek.

"I hope you know what you��re getting yourself into, darling."

wc: 1.1k previous chapter  masterlist next chapter

a/n: short chapter cause of writers block but also because I wanted to stop meshing chapters together for a bit. Next chapter will be a bit longer but shorter than the previous ones.

ps. school is gonna kick me in the ass soon so… spontaneous updates will ensue

Tag list:

[recurring-polynya]

I was thinking today about how Rukia's attacks are all in the forms of circles, and that her usual attack position starts with herself inside the circle, when it occurred to me that this is also the classic Hihiou Zabimaru position.

Interestingly, I think this is actually Hihiou Zabimaru's defensive position, but it's also their "ready position." As soon as I started thinking about this, I realized that this is actually a carryover from Zabimaru's shikai behavior-- they extend to attack, but retract to protect Renji in between attacks.

That's not actually what I wanted to talk about, though.

I've talked before about how I think that the fundamental theme of a zanpakutou and the foundation of its abilities is inherent to itself, but that the expression of those powers is strongly influenced by the shinigami and has the potential to take many forms. For example, I think the reason Rukia's shikai attacks are all focused on hitting people with ice are because she was trained by and idolized a man with a water zanpakutou, even though Sode no Shirayuki's powers are really more about thermal manipulation. I think this extends, not only to the effects of the attack, but the aesthetics of them. I mean, if you think about Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, is it really necessary that a bunch of swords rise up out of the ground? No, of course not. Are they the very essence of Byakuya-core? Yes.

To that end, I want to talk about the similarities between Hakka no Togame and So-oh Zabimaru-- not in the broad strokes, because they are very, very different zanpakutou-- but in the details. Rukia and Renji grew up together. They are best friends and battle partners and at some point become romantic partners. They get their bankai together. We already know they like making dramatic entrances together. It's no surprise that they have a similar sense of what it means to look sick as Hell.

Clad bankai. For starters, they are both bankai that are worn. I'm not sure if this is a term that's ever used in canon with regard to bankai, although it is used in reference to some Fullbring. In any case, it's a bankai that changes your outfit, as opposed to making some giant construct (like Komamura or Kurotsuchi's) or, um, special effects-based like Rose's or Tousen's, or just a better weapon, like Soi Fon's or Ikkaku's. There's no hard and fast here-- Ichigo also has a clad bankai, which is a full outfit change, like Rukia's. Renji's is somewhere between that and Kensei and Hitsugaya, who just get some shoulder accessories (and one could argue that Kensei's is more "big weapon" than "clad"). The point is, they're in the same ballpark.

Neck protection that leaves the throat exposed. I spent a bunch of time looking up historical armor to try and figure out if this is even a thing, and as far as I can tell, it is not. This says "I love a cowl neck, but I also want to be tits out." I think they both really loved those Hueco Mundo cloaks they had, except for the fact that they made it hard to talk or something and this was the result.

Shoulder guards. I'm not sure Rukia's are actually functional, but they give impression of armor. You'll sometimes see Renji's referred to as "pauldrons" or "spaulders", but these are European terms. In Japanese armor, the piece that covers the shoulder is called the sode. Yeah.

Stripes! "Don't say tiger print is lame!" Rukia says. "Renji really likes it!" Rukia says. Mm-hmm. You know who else has stripes on their neck and shoulders?

(Oh jeez oh jeez, looking at these two pictures underneath each other, Rukia's loops look exactly like Zabimaru's snaketail who stole this from whom?????) Speaking of...

Loopies!! The loopies are cool enough by themselves (if not performing any battle function at all aside from getting caught on shit), but here's the best part: Rukia's appear to be an extension of Sode no Shirayuki's ribbon. When Renji shifts into Orochi-Oh form he gets a bone ribbon.

On some level, maybe subconscious, maybe not, this man looked at the most beautiful zanpakutou in Soul Society and said "I want that for me."

Fringe. Rukia is mostly very stiff looking, but she's got these little ice crystal thingies dangling at various places. We'll have to see how this gets animated, but I hope that they blow around a little to add some kineticism and maybe make some bell-like noises. Bankai is all about making big winds and explosions and smoke clouds and you gotta have some dangle-y shit to blow around, it's compulsory.

Connections to royalty. In Rukia's it's more visual-- the ice tiara, the formal upright kimono. On Renji's side, his bankai is literally called "Two Kings", and it's two forms are "Baboon King" and "Serpent* King." ("Orochi" is used for a giant mythical serpents and dragons, including the eight-headed dragon Yamato no Orochi). I love this imagery being used for them in particular because of their origins as street kids. I hope, with all my heart, that someone makes an AMV for their bankai set to Royals by Lorde.

There's some other aspects that not necessarily inherent to their bankai. Rukia's ice crown is somewhat similar to Renji's bandana/sunglasses, in the sense that it's a head accessory. Rukia's bankai also includes tekkou (which she wears normally, but I assume these are bankai tekkou?) and Renji has his wrist wraps. Rukia's little ice flower on her chest reminded me a little of the baboon skull Renji had on Hihiou Zabimaru, in terms of, it's just...like...decoration? Their #brand? Finally, the cover on the sheath of Rukia's sword (which she also has in shikai) looks a little the extended hilt-guard Renji has going on. (For that matter, does Rukia have to wield Sode no Shirayuki two-handed in bankai? I feel like Kubo drew it that way because he couldn't figure out how to fit the hilt up her sleeve.

[lotus-tower]

the orochi revisited: the takagin edit

the digital version of yaoizine vol.2 has been out for a while, so i thought i'd finally post my essay on here! some of the jokes don't work as well without the context of the zine's cover but lol. hope you enjoy anyway. a very brief overview of the takagin relationship in relation to my first essay's framework

The following paper is a commentary on and tribute to My Orochi Stood Up: A Draconic Response to "eat shit and die” (1948), in celebration of its 75th anniversary. Though much has changed in the anal-ytic landscape since Orochi was first published, much is still the same. As the pioneer of ouroboros theory, a now interdisciplinary framework that has made many valuable contributions to the study of literature both anally inclined and not, My Orochi Stood Up is a foundational work that has remained relevant and resonant across years and disciplines. However, in this text I will be focusing on Orochi’s roots first and foremost as a piece of Gintamaology.

To begin, we must acknowledge that it is impossible to discuss My Orochi Stood Up without also accounting for the work it was written in response to, T. S. Hirt’s eat shit and die (1938), or the original unnamed poem where most of its ideas first took shape (1944). Unfortunately, providing a commentary of the former would be beyond the scope of this paper. Readers interested in anality are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with this watershed text in Gintama escatology, as it lays the groundwork for everything that follows. As for the poem, it is referenced at length in My Orochi Stood Up, but I have decided to omit mention of it–among many other things–owing to this journal’s physical constraints. While I regret the necessity of this, there is simply too much to say on the subject of “the pole and the hole” in Gintama–particularly the pole, which Gintama explores with endless fascination. The sword, the pillar, the Terminal, the gravestone, the tree–with its fondness for substitution as well as its love of dirty things, Gintama’s collection of treasured motifs has no shortage of things that stand erect. 

Both pole and hole are equally important to the cycle of self-fertilization first described by My Orochi Stood Up almost a century ago. Yet Orochi was, understandably, primarily preoccupied with explaining its ouroboros thesis, leaving it with limited room to discuss in-story logistics beyond the conceptual framework and Gintama’s broad thematics. As you may have guessed, this paper will attempt to do so–and for this purpose it would be more efficient to start from the bottom up, so to speak. So this essay is dedicated instead to the hole, that gaping void named as Gintama’s ultimate antagonist. Let us now revisit the holeistic framework of the serpent swallowing its tail while examining one of Gintama’s most fraught relationships: Gintoki and Takasugi. 

______________________________________________________________

First, it cannot be overstated how much Gintama relies on duality and parallel structures. The Gintama cast and narrative is constructed like a hall of mirrors, parallels upon parallels upon parallels organized on each side of a central divide. This intersecting line, as shown in Figure 1.1, is what creates the reflection in the first place, allowing characters to be mirrors (or, in the prized language of fandom, foils). One could consider it the glass of the mirror, or the organizing force of the narrative itself. The creation of this dividing line provides structure to the characters, the world, and its temporality–but it is also an act of violence. See Fig 1.1.

Fig. 1.1: ⭩🢥⮀🢛❑⮅⮡🢜

On a diegetic level, bad things happen to the characters because life is difficult, and mostly similar bad things happen to everyone because the series rests upon the Joui war and its related conflicts the way a world rests on the back of a turtle. But perhaps more relevantly, Gintama’s central conceit is that one’s ultimate enemy is always oneself, so naturally all enemies can eventually be conflated. It is an efficient tautological loop. 

What separates the characters on each side of the dividing line, then, is not the degree of suffering they undergo but their response to that violence. My Orochi Stood Up terms these unfortunate souls who end up on the wrong side of the divide “hole-sided.” Their lack is caused not by their injury, but by their own response to it, by their failure, for a time, to live up to their own humanity. This is the position occupied by the antagonists (and, intermittently and continuously, yet somehow always away from the reader’s eyes, our protagonist Gintoki), those who have failed to fill the lack in their souls like responsible adults. 

That which Gintama prescribes to fill these naturally and unnaturally occurring holes in humans is dirt: the debris accrued from a lifetime of living, brushing shoulders with other people, becoming stained by them, becoming dirty and worn as you mature, subjecting yourself to the deeply humiliating and humbling experience of being alive. Of course, as both eat shit and die and My Orochi Stood Up illuminate, in Gintama “dirt” is also a synonym and euphemism for “shit.” We are thus not talking about just any dirt-filled hole, but specifically about the anus. The vulgarity of Gintama’s framing of bonds–as shitting onto and into each other–and its use of shit as a humanizing trait is highly characteristic of both the series’s general sense of humour and the ways in which it mixes gags and serious delivery of narrative to create a densely layered non-linear experience in which absurdity and tragedy are forcibly, jarringly concomitant. 

As T. S. Hirt wrote in 1948, “the anus—the dirty human things—is the home for the phallus—the ideals we hold, the source of our power.” Indeed, were Gintama not so irreverent about its most valued symbol, the sword, due to its fondness for wordplay and for low-hanging fruit, perhaps the nationalistic bent of the series would be more questionable. But as My Orochi Stood Up argued, Gintama’s emphasis on wordplay and its fearless decision to call itself the equivalent of “Ligma” are integral to a thematic understanding of the series, and are key to the ouroboros thesis in particular.

But perhaps the singularly most important example is the -tama in Gintama, with its plethora of potential meanings, each of them just silly and dirty enough that you have to take it seriously. Beyond the obvious joke on kintama (balls) and the “silver soul” direct meaning, we’ve seen that tama is also easily conflated with atama (head), and even with tamago (egg). This is clearly demonstrated with the series’ fixation on beheading leading to the salvation of the soul and the bodyswap arc hinging on the pun between soul and egg. [...] The fact that the characters end up turning into giant turds, likening the soul-egg-balls to an asshole, only drives the point in further. (My Orochi Stood Up, 1948)

To return to the unfortunate hole-sided, these are the characters who lack dirt, who could not withstand the mortifying ordeal of being alive. The natural assumption to make here would be that Gintama then juxtaposes opposing forces, setting “desiring-pairs” of head and hole, sword and scabbard in conflict with each other. Indeed, Gintoki is stabbed again and again, with all kinds of blades–but the villains do not want to stab him as much as they want him to stab them, with his much more meaningful sword. Yet those who are hole-sided do not seek to be filled.

[...] But this is a different process than emptying yourself, which is what the antagonists are doing. All Gintama villains are hole-sided, desperately trying to destroy themselves while pretending, as hard as they can, that they don’t know that you can’t destroy a hole–only make it bigger. (My Orochi Stood Up, 1948)

Takasugi desires Gintoki, not because he believes Gintoki can make him whole again, but rather because he knows he cannot ever be whole again, and that is because of his love for Gintoki. Moreover, the series’ consistent use of language such as “broken” versus “unbroken” swords implies that those who cannot be filled are also those who cannot fill others. Just as the serpent cannot swallow its tail without filling its own mouth, its mouth cannot be filled without having a tail to swallow. As My Orochi Stands Up makes clear, the process of self-creation and other-creation are effectively one and the same in Gintama.

All Gintama antagonists are in parallel with each other and in mirror with their counterparts, who in turn contain echoes of our protagonist, Gintoki. In this way, the entire story can be folded in on itself, side over side, into the shape of Gintoki, the microcosm, like a piece of carefully designed origami. One of the most popular endings of the anime, ending 25, “Glorious Days,” demonstrates one half of this as Gintoki stands unmoving and unchanged as the anime’s large roster of antagonists replace each other before him in quick succession, different times and places flashing past without emphasis. “Nothing has changed,” Gintama constantly claims, while simultaneously showing us how the world has entered a different era, a different century, a different genre, in the span of ten years.

In the ending, Takasugi and Gintoki haunt each other’s footsteps. Takasugi’s feet in Gintoki’s reflection in the water lag one step behind, unable to keep up with him but unable to stop chasing after him, while Gintoki’s ghost is not even visible in Takasugi’s reflection; instead, Gintoki’s presence is indicated by Takasugi’s own reflection stopping and looking back.

Gintoki and Takasugi are the most important pair of mirror selves in Gintama, and inarguably the most yaoistic. Rather than homoeroticism, however, what they have could perhaps be termed a sort of homothematicism. Whereas Gintoki has filled himself with dirt and debris from the series’ overflowing, enormous cast, learning and re-learning how to be human, Takasugi is caught in an incandescent storm of rage and grief, a serpent futilely trying to swallowing itself in the literal sense. But he can never succeed, because he has nothing to fill his belly with other than himself; there is nothing he values in the self he is trying to destroy; thus, he can never satisfy his desire to hurt himself.

Takasugi’s immortality is of the same kind as Utsuro’s, which is to say, hole-sided. It is not that they cannot be killed, only that they cannot die. Takasugi therefore turns to the same drastic final resort as Utsuro: destroying the world in order to destroy themselves. Again we can observe Gintoki’s role as the microcosm in comparison to Shouyou and Utsuro’s exaggerated, macrocosmic style. My Orochi Stood Up details how Utsuro as well as the eponymous Orochi’s identities blur into that of their respective planets, likening them to world snakes. Tied to the Earth itself, Utsuro’s existence cannot end independently of it; his only recourse is to destroy Earth, and perhaps take the entire universe with it.

To Takasugi, however, the world is synonymous with Gintoki. 

Takasugi’s doomed love for Gintoki affords him an interesting position in the narrative, where his conflation between Gintoki’s sword and the pillar of the world aligns with the story’s folded structure centered around Gintoki. Takasugi is Gintoki’s shadow, Gintoki’s “other self”, as Gintama terms it, but weak, diminished, unable to carry the burden of living or live up to Shouyou’s teachings. Gintama’s villains–and its weaklings–are those who will recklessly hurt others in order to harm themselves; its heroes are those who will fight themselves in order to become better versions of themselves. Conveniently, in this cast the villains are the heroes are the villains–and so in defeating the villains, the heroes overcome their own shadows, while the villains knowingly throw themselves into this process out of desperate hope that this will finally end their miserable roles in this story.

Takasugi, then, tries to destroy Gintoki because it is the only way he can destroy himself. On one level, part of him possesses the same general meta-awareness that all Gintama characters have about their allotted roles, and knows that if they were to clash, Gintoki would be the one to successfully devour him. But for the most part, Takasugi’s motivations are painfully earnest and straightforward: harming Gintoki simply hurts more than harming himself can ever hope to accomplish, and if Gintoki were to die, so too would Takasugi’s world crumble to nothing. 

What is interesting is Gintoki’s response to these violent advances. Gintoki, of course, understands full well what kind of story he is in at all times. “Too bad,” he tells Takasugi, scraping himself back up from the ground. “I won’t fall. Until you stop, I’ll keep standing back up.” Here Gintoki himself is positioned as one of those things that stand erect. The Gintoki in Takasugi’s memory that is invoked is “a figure that stands before Takasugi”–or, put another way, Gintoki understands his duty in their relationship as that to keep standing, for as long as Takasugi needs something erect to throw himself against.

Thus, when Takasugi says that the world will not end as long as Gintoki’s sword remains unbroken, while Gintoki says that the only way to stop Takasugi is to stop his breathing, Gintoki becomes the immovable object and Takasugi the (un)stoppable force. However, in a fascinating inversion of the usual connotations, here the object is presented as something the force has chased after all its life, something unattainable and unreachable and yet no less immovable. Meanwhile, the force traps itself in a circular, looping motion, its unstoppable momentum doing nothing to help it escape its labyrinth. But in their battle, Takasugi and Gintoki do manage to reach each other; not because of Takasugi’s desperate violence, but because Gintoki’s interiority is as vast as the story they are in, and he is able to take Takasugi into himself. 

My Orochi Stood Up’s ouroboros thesis is famously anchored in western alchemical and philosophical concepts. It frames Gintama’s mission of human-becoming as the enacting of the Great Work, viewing Gintama’s parallelism through the lens of the individuation process. On the ouroboros as a symbol of two becoming one, it quotes Carl Jung:

In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the prima materia of the art was man himself. The Ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. This 'feedback' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilizes himself, and gives birth to himself. He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and he, therefore, constitutes the secret of the prima materia which ... unquestionably stems from man's unconscious. (The Collected Works of Carl Jung, Volume 14: Mysterium Coniunctionis, 1977)

Gintoki’s assimilation of his shadow, of his other self, is best represented by the moment where he finally visibly attains “a human’s sword” at the end of the series. Takasugi’s reflection in Gintoki’s blade bequeaths upon him the honour of being the face of Gintoki’s “human’s sword.” This is a similar use of the reflection as in Ending 25. What is made clear by comparing these two moments is the same obvious truth that Gintama has impressed upon its readers all along: Gintoki is capable of containing Takasugi within him, but Takasugi is not capable of the reverse.

Or, more accurately, Takasugi is chiefly defined by the fact that he carries Gintoki’s ghost within him–and was driven insane by it. Gintoki was able to quietly shoulder the knowledge that his actions caused Takasugi’s descent into madness, but Takasugi was never able to inure himself to the sight of Gintoki’s tears. Takasugi is hole-sided primarily because he hollowed himself out in a vain attempt to scrape the image out. But dirt, as My Orochi Stood Up states, is what remains. 

Takasugi’s crushed left eye has ever been his most obvious hole. Indeed, confronting Gintoki again made him aware that the image of Gintoki’s face that he had been carrying around in his eye like a grain of sand was in fact a speck of “dirt.” And of course, Takasugi was never empty: though the Kiheitai are sparse characters, they serve quite clearly to illustrate that Takasugi had never stopped being surrounded by people who trusted and depended on him, people who could participate in Gintama’s dirty gags and absurd comedy in the ways he could not, and people who, on multiple occasions, physically emulated Takasugi in order to inject his likeness into the series’ gags even when he was not present. People who, in short, supplied him with dirt.

The linkages between the gross and vulgar nature of Gintama’s preferred jokes and the double entendre in the meaning of “dirt” are an intrinsic part of both Gintama’s vision of life and the ouroboros framework. As T. S. Hirt explained, “the persistence of those dirty things marks the permanence of one’s relationships. something clean would never stick so.” Gintama posits that living is mortifying, humiliating, and while not shameful, certainly full of shame and debasement. To be a character that clings to dignity–or to whom dignity clings to–in Gintama is to accept an unfavourable life expectancy. Takasugi, while participating in a few gags, was never thoroughly embarrassed by them. His friends’ actions thus helped to tether him to the world of the living, even at his most ghostly. 

Holes do not need to be completely empty to be deemed holes. Such a proposition would be absurd. Holes are identifiable even when filled partway with soil–even, perhaps, when brilled to the brim. No one is truly empty. My Orochi Stood Up makes clear early on that “head vs hole” is not a false dichotomy, but a misleading one: 

You can reduce everything in Gintama to essentially two things. Shouyou and Utsuro. Gintoki and Takasugi. Humans and monsters. [...] Those who take in and those who are taken in. Those who keep struggling and those who don’t. And then you can also always reduce these two things to one thing: Shouyou/Utsuro are, after all, the same being [...]. You can’t pick yourself back up if you never lost in the first place. We know that Gintoki has managed to become “a splendid human” by the end of the series–so what was he before that? Was he really a monster? At what exact point in the series did he become human? Was it while he was on-screen, while we were looking, but without us noticing? Was it off-screen, while we were flipping the page, or in the space between the panels? The answer, of course, is that he was learning to be human every day of his life [...]. And so “which one is the head and which one is the hole?” is the wrong question. Even if you assigned one to each half and managed not to be wrong, since they’re collapsible into one anyway, they’ll always be both. (My Orochi Stood Up, 1948)

To be hole-sided is not to be the hole. It is to be stagnant, to be trapped in a state of needing to be filled without being able to carry out the process of self-constitution with the dirt that is received. In the end, Gintoki, the “reluctant hole” as T. S. Hirt iconically termed, is the one who takes Takasugi into himself. My Orochi Stood Up quotes philosopher Bernard Stiegler: “The I is essentially a process, not a state, and this process is an in-dividuation [...]. It is the tendency to become one, that is, to become indivisible.” This is, I argue, the climax of their homothematic relationship. Not coincidentally, it is also the climax of Gintoki’s personal quest to become human, the individuation that Jung and Stiegler speak of. 

My Orochi Stood Up capitalizes on the ouroboros’ nature as a symbol of fertility to liken dirt not only to shit but to seed, and the hole to the womb where the tama (egg/soul) is fertilized. It is an intentionally paradoxical and anachronistic framework, where one must have an unbroken sword to be able to be fertilized by the dirt of others, yet it is only through that fertilization that one’s sword can be forged. This is simply another iteration of the classic chicken-or-egg dilemma, as befits the motif of the ouroboros. But for the characters of Gintama, this paradox reflects their continuous responsibility: the task of becoming human is a Sisyphean one that will span their lifetimes and beyond.

In other words, as Takasugi was folded into Gintoki, he found that he was already there; that his lack was filled by Gintoki because he was filling Gintoki; and that being a ghost did not preclude anyone from being human.

I have spoken at length about holes and serpents up until this point without mentioning the eponymous dragon, Utsuro. This is partially because this essay was focused on Takasugi and Gintoki’s relationship, and partially because practically all insights regarding Utsuro are contained within the framework of the ouroboros thesis itself. As the world snake, his body and bones were used to construct the theory we have been discussing, his lack identical in essence to the other hole-sided. It is worth noting, however, that for Gintoki, Utsuro represented the unreachable object. Gintoki’s deepest anxiety was over his blade not reaching Utsuro, because he had been told that he could only reach him with a human’s sword. In the end, as we have seen, he does indeed manage to reach him, with Takasugi’s soul in his hands. 

Takasugi, too, manages to reach Gintoki in the end. Cradled in Gintoki’s arms, he is brave enough–and selfish enough–to ask for a fleeting smile. My Orochi Stood Up argues that the moment Gintoki’s tragedy was revealed to us through Takasugi’s eye was the one that broke Gintama’s own narrative cyclicity. This was, of course, the original bit of dirt flung into Takasugi’s hole that he could not cope with, that halted his process of individuation. As previously mentioned, the ten years that separate the end of the Joui war from the present day span an entire age. At the very end, this eternity spent wandering, too, ruptures, and Takasugi finally finds his way out of the labyrinth, only to look back and see a clear and straight path through the trees.

______________________________________________________________

This essay has been a brief exploration of Takasugi and Gintoki’s relationship in the context of My Orochi Stood Up’s innovative ouroboros framework. In the seventy-five years since it was first published, it has been transformed in diverse and exciting ways. However, I thought it only fitting that for this major anniversary, the focus be brought back to the Gintama characters that first inspired it. Rather than the iconic dragon, Shouyou/Utsuro, this piece has chosen to focus instead on his two most intertwined disciples. While not necessarily treading any new ground, I hope to have presented an interesting snapshot of this relationship known for being simultaneously transparent and opaque.

As we have seen, this relationship is one made possible by the intense parallel structure it embodies. Just as Takasugi serves as Gintoki’s shadow, their journey and the cannibalistic nature of their duality echo the conflict represented by their teacher, and in many respects parallel the shape of the narrative itself. In this way, the position they occupy in relation to these other draconic structures–micro- or macrocosm–is perhaps a reversible one. 

In short, though Gintama “cannot resist the phallus,” as T. S. Hirt said, it is also singularly concerned with holes: how they are filled, what results from them, what constitutes them. The only question it does not ask is what creates them. It is instead implicit that human beings naturally possess holes, that they are a natural part of the anatomy of both our bodies and souls. And thus, it is natural both to fill them and to fail to fill them; the fertile infinity of the ouroboros guarantees that should one fail, there will always be tomorrow.

[khepiari]

We can hate Orochi as much as we want! But dude really planned the long game and succeeded in executing it!

Everyone is dumb-dumb in Wano! Especially people in position of power!

I blame it on—as result of inbreeding for generations and refraining to mingle with outside world!

[kohakurin8]

Dissecting Kimetsu no Yaiba

~ Zenitsu & Susano-O ~

💜🐇

So, I began watching Kimetsu no Yaiba because I adore yokai and mythology. It's so immensely fun for me to try identifying what yokai are being referenced in the series, since it takes place during the time period of Japan before they were classified as distinct species, instead simply being collectively labeled as "Oni".

However, while the obvious mythological parallels in the series lie within the titular Oni and their significance, I recently came to the realization that this has blinded us from the mythological references made by the human characters as well.

And it all starts with Zenitsu Agatsuma

I was recently researching the Japanese kami of storms, Susano-O, for a character when I came to this creative epiphany, if you will. Let's start by summarizing the absolute rollercoaster that is this kami epitome of an annoying little brother who grows up to be real hot shit.

Most accounts agree that after Izanagi visited Izanami in Yomi, he bathed himself and from it created several children. Amaterasu was born when he washed his right eye, Tsukuyomi from his left eye, and awkward ol' middle-child Susano-O was born when Izanagi washed his nose.

Cause ya know, that's a great way to start out life. The Nose Child.

But more upsetting than that to newly "born" Susano-O was actually the absence of his mother, Izanami. He cried and cried and threw big fits and tantrums because he missed his mother so much, something his siblings I guess couldn't really relate to. And, true to form, Susano-O continued to act out as he got older, oftentimes quarreling with perfect-child Amaterasu. Without going into too much detail, let's just say one of these fateful quarrels led to Susano-O throwing one of his Tantrums ™ and getting kicked out of Takamagahara -- a.k.a. Heaven for Gods

So while he was meandering around the mortal realm, he met a grieving old couple who requested his assistance. Turns out they've been terrorized by a monstrous 8-headed serpent called Yamata-no-Orochi who's eaten one of their 8 daughters every year. So instead of just...moving away like normal people, they ask for Susano-O's help in saving their final daughter. Susano-O, being a nice guy and all, promised he'd save her in exchange for her hand in marriage. They agreed and to protect the girl he turned her into a comb and placed her on his hair.

That's one way to handle a damsel in distress I guess.

Then he had the couple prepare a huge tub of sake, let the Orochi get so drunk it passed out, then carved it up into little pieces, discovering a sword in it's tail. Because that's totally normal. But, hey, in the end Susano-O got a pretty little wife and regained the love and approval of his family so... win-win?

Now at this point you might be wondering "How exactly does this apply to Zenitsu?"

Or maybe you're thinking "Rin, are you sane? Should I be getting you help?"

In either case just hear me out here. Susano-O is described as being wild and emotional, as well as very destructive and short-tempered. Zenitsu also displays these traits -- his reactions are overdramatic, he tends to be very emotional, and he's very quick to anger in certain circumstances.

There's also the fact that they both have lightning powers, but that's a given. As a side note, they also both have messy and odd hairstyles.

Zenitsu is always afraid of something and always animated. His emotions spike erratically and tbh...he whines a lot.

But that's fine because remember when i said Susano-O threw fits over missing his mom? Well, this is probably where the comparison of the two is most relevant -- though it's made to sound more like Susano-O is a bratty child, but if you read between the lines, it's more accurate to say that he was just... lonely. Susano-O whined for his mother because he felt left behind, alone, and scared.

If we look back to the Spider arc on Mount Natagumo we see Zenitsu feeling the exact same way, and even admitting that he feels abandoned and alone quite frequently. It's a mutual feeling the two have.

There's also the matter of Nezuko and Zenitsu's valiant determination to protect her. It's incredibly reminiscent of Susano-O's determination to protect his future wife.

So the more I research it, the more I've concluded that Zenitsu is definitely supposed to be a reference to Susano-O.

Feel free to share your opinions on the matter with me!

[supermarine-silvally]

do feel free to also rank your most hated characters if you like, it's always interested to see someone elses take on certain characters

Here's a few bastards I hate, before I go to bed:

Akainu. For donut-related reasons. (He's an interesting character, though, so this is mostly a personal vendetta on my behalf).

Absalom. Fucking disgusting predator. HATE him. Should be on a watch list of some kind.

Dr. Hogback. Creepy and gross. #Justice for Victoria Cindry.

Vinsmoke Judge. Awful, awful bastard.

Literally everyone on Blackbeard's crew but Lafitte in particular gives me the creeps

Orochi. Blegh.

MARSHALL D. FUCKING TEACH that slimy traitorous cowardly piece of shit

I'm sure there's like a ton more but those are the ones I can think of atm lol

[zackfairy]

Wano Spoilers and a lot of swearing.

My One Piece hot take is that I hate the people of Wano other Tama, Toko, Momo, Oden, Yamato, and Yasu. They are horrible, narrow-minded people that refuse any type of change. And it's not all of them (e.g. Oden) that are like that so that means it's possible for them to accept new ideas but they just refuse.

They murdered an entire clan because of one guy (and maybe that old lady with the clone fruit at the time) and they tried to kill children because they looked different. And not just kill them out of fear or anything. They just thought those things (Nekomamushi and Inurashi) were unnatural because they look different. And they didn't even give them a quick death??? They tried to burn them alive????

The real monsters are the narrow minded people of Wano that refused to accept any new ideas whatsoever.

I don't give a shit that they were isolated as a country for so long. They have no excuse for being horrible people and harming innocent children who were literally crying and begging to be released. Look at Oden. He changed his thinking. He never had time to do so for the rest of Wano before dying though qq.

They never hurt anyone or did anything what the hell? The people of Wano really didn't learn anything from Oden for real. And they stopped believing in him as soon as he wasn't the convenient person they thought he was.

Fuck off Wano.

And even Hiyori is questionable. Even though she suffered because if Orochi, it's because he had to watch his innocent parents die in front of him then get mindfucked by that old lady that he turned out this way. Then instead of learning from past mistakes, Wano, lead by Hiyori, decides to just hate on Orochi more?? There's no acknowledgement of what they did first. They just play as victims from the start as if they've never done anything wrong.

NOT THAT OROCHI WAS JUSTIFIED IN ANYTHING HE DID TO HURT PEOPLE!!!

He's fucked up too, but I'm saying, instead of realising that he's that fucked up from what they did to him, they decided to just hate him and pretend the Kurozumi massacre never happened.

At this rate, they'll end up fucking themselves over with their narrow-minded thinking and actions again. Unless Momo can set them to rights. Momo is our only hope for real.

[bunny-owonderland]

this is how bad my brain is dont know if you call it OCD or just dumb brain syndrome

but i started collecting things since i can remember,

i collected miniture figures from 5-8 y/o

then i moved to miniture cars (the really small ones) not hot wheels but even smaller from 9-10 y/o

Pokemon cards 10-12 y/o

12-15 y/o video games for Gamecube and Dreamcast

Sexual experiences :P ,concert DvDs, shoes, clothes 16-21 ish

21- 23 ish i got into Mugen so i collected characters for it..

but heres where my brain fucks EVERYTHING up once i "lose" a piece of my collection the ENTIRE thing is ruined for me.

this is the problem i have with MUGEN I lost the harddrive with the game i was making and it completely turned me off to it..

because i can't find this one specific Kula edit that I made a boss for a frost orochi stage.

sometimes i go online and crawl for hrs trying to track it down with no success

its lost media at this point ... because i went HARD to find really obscure characters for my shit.

most of these passions were killed by this disease

[yamatossideboob]

One Piece 1115 spoilers uh idk I'm very late with this lol

This weeks belated thoughts:

YEAH MAKING LUNCHBOXES!! Yamato's so cute here, I hope he gets an extra big lunch

Orochi had this denden mushi in his bedside cabinet to tune into those naughty phone lines

eat up Tama get big and strong so you can be a Strawhat

I was expecting some wild shit last Sunday but I was NOT expecting Demalo Black & co back at it again!!! Tbh between jail and the bottom of the ocean, I reckon these lads did better than Kid haaaaaaaa

(Woman who's just seen Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga) getting a lot of Mad Max vibes from this...

(by which I mean the whole post-world shattering war deal. I just ate a lot of pizza and am stupid rn)

"A provisional army" was... was Joyboy assassinated by the 'Ra

I've seen people make some wild speculations about just what Joyboy *was* - giant, mink, etc. Tbqh it just reads as a jacket flap to me :T it'd be fun to be wrong though!

god, when we learn just what Zunesha's deal is it's going to be some SICK shit

CARROT!!!!!! Hi Carrot!!!!!!!

fuckng

FOXY THE SILVER FOX????????????????

boss bold AND bearded??????????? CHAPTER

I need the Davy Back fight to be relevant in the final saga, pls Jesus and God and our Lady and all the rest

I hope Stussy makes it out of here, she's too cool to die so soon after being properly introduced

Nami vs Zoro fight of the century

Franky coming in clutch for de kids, good job Roboman

ok fuck Nusjuro but. this is a jawdropping feat. the power scalers are going to be so annoying about this

hi Koshiro

Okay, legitimately? This is the kind of revelations I'm hoping we're getting for another chapter or two. This is fucking colossal...

"If the world were still the same as it was in the past, then the act of erasing 100 years of history would be unthinkable and impossible." AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! GOOD SHIT!!! THIS ACCOUNTS FOR SO MUCH!!!!

KUREHA!!!!!!! THE CAMEOS THIS CHAPTER ARE UNREAL LADS

Miss Golden Week!!!!!

I fucking love Vivi shushing Big News Morgans she should do it every chapter

jfc I cannot recall a more blood-curdling end page to a chapter. Thank goodness there's another one next week, we need more information asapppppppppppp

Cya Sunday nakama! 💪✖️