#she want to die but saved subaru who also want to die and then 2 years later he became beako 2.0

[j2x3e]

Wrath IF Subaru and Beatrice

[sufferu]

Did you read that WHDAAA spin-off fic by Vyazov23 called Watching Arc 4 in The Theater of Despair ? Any things you liked and have problems with?

I did! I appreciated that the guy managed to actually FINISH a react fic lol: I’m realizing more and more that these things are a pain and a half to actually write. SERIOUS props to the one who actually managed to pull it off, I’m not even being sarcastic.

Though, to be entirely honest…I disagreed with the entire main premise regarding how the characters would react, lol. I actually don’t want to shit on a singular work, though — especially not one that had so much effort put into it, like goddamn the guy actually FINISHED that one — so I’m gonna go ahead and use this as a segway to talk about the most common usages of this trope that I disagree with in this fandom.

The idea that anyone would learn about Return By Death and go “Okay! This is a good thing, and Subaru is a hero!” — I feel like it goes against the themes of Re:Zero, as well as a lot of established characterization. (And also the harem subplot that often seems to go alongside that idea, lol.) And I feel like a react fic that goes over the experiences of Return By Death, furthermore, should be centered around the characters coming to terms with (or grappling with, anyway) the fact that they FUCKING KILLED HIM. Like, SOO many times. Rem and Ram, in particular, should be characterized as absolutely, irreconcilably devastated by what they did in Arc 2. In fact I actually have a lot of criticisms about how these fics tend to characterize a lot of these characters in general, especially Julius, Ferris, Wilhelm, and Rem. Rem is simple — I don’t agree with the idea that she is actually a good influence (or that the other characters would see her as such, more on that in a sec) — but for the other three…I think a lot of these fics tend to twist themselves in knots trying to make them approve of Subaru’s self-destructive behavior, despite all three of them having canon moments contradicting it.

Julius’ first appearance was him desperately trying to save Subaru from getting slaughtered and most of the subsequent scenes with him have included something about him either trying to be a good role model (that will help Subaru Not Die Horribly) or taking some step to actively keep him safe (whether that be going out of his way to teach him a hands-on lesson about self-awareness the moment they meet up again post-Whale or quietly sticking Ia on him without letting him know). Hell, it’s heavily implied that he associated Subaru with his beloved, sickly, baby brother pre-Gluttony. The knowledge that Subaru has apparently been not just getting regularly put in mortal danger, but not even getting out of it ALIVE in a lot of cases — I think he’d have a way worse reaction to that than is normally shown.

Wilhelm, too — not enough focus is given to the fact that Subaru’s situation is basically just a worse version of the one that Theresia was forced into by being the Sword Saint. Wilhelm went and dueled his wife specifically to free her from the shackles of being forced to wield a sword when all she really wanted to do was care for flowers. Hell, in canon he already has a scene where he refuses to keep training Subaru because he realizes that Subaru has no actual interest in the sword and does not want to facilitate that kind of self-destruction. Wilhelm would have a fucking seizure if he learned that his beloved not-grandson was being forced to die repeatedly in order to keep his loved ones safe. And he’d probably have a really horrible reaction to the idea that some of those loved ones were straight up RESPONSIBLE for some of those deaths. This is the man who spent 14 years hunting the White Whale, he’s second only to Otto when it comes to revenge schemes (and even then it’s debatable who comes out on top over there).

Ferris, though, gets it hands-DOWN the worst. First reason is that the fact that he would almost certainly have the absolute worst reaction to the PREMISE of Return By Death out of the entire cast (due to his strong value of life and pride as a healer) is — often completely glossed over. This is the same guy who grieved suicidal Witch Cultists, was referenced as one of the two bleeding hearts of the Witch Cult elimination squad (the other being Subaru), who (in the LN) had what sure looks like a breakdown at the idea that Subaru wanted to die during that one Arc 3 loop where he went into shock, to the point where Crusch had to step in and speak (even joke) on his behalf as he basically sat in the corner with his head in his hands, cursing Subaru for not valuing his own life. If Ferris ever finds out about RBD he’s gonna fucking kill himself. But then, on top of that, he so often gets reduced to this — purely antagonistic force that just hates Subaru for no reason, who needs to learn to respect Subaru as a hero for his sacrifices, in a way that just — not only is kinda mean spirited, but completely glosses over some of the most fascinating parts of his character.

Also — I feel like a lot of these fics have the characters reacting like Subaru is an anime character to them rather than their friend, if that makes sense. Like, some of the reactions we see end up being like…the typical fan reaction to scenes? Instead of how someone would react if that were a Real Person up there doing that shit. Rem, in particular, is cut WAAAAY too much slack in most react fics, with everyone pretty much losing their anger towards her after hearing her tragic backstory and then glossing over everything she does in Memory Snow and Arc 3 with “Hah, that’s cute.” Like — I’m sorry, I think there should be a bit of a reaction to the revelation that the person who tortured Subaru for HOURS on end spent the next month sneaking into his room to watch him while he slept, following him around constantly, and enabling all of his bad behavior (which is now very obviously just a collection of trauma responses) like the world’s most dedicated Yes man (with the singular exception being the “From Zero” speech). Also, so much of what she does to him pre-Gluttony is just — horrible? And would be seen as such by the other characters, who do not have the same sense of naïveté/love of waifus/lack of self-preservation instincts that Subaru does to prevent him from seeing Rem for the danger that she is.

And well — I don’t think there’s enough consideration given to the fact that, most of the time, these characters already know how things are going to end, since they have their own memories to use for reference. Most of the time, they already KNOW whether Subaru is gonna survive or not, and that should impact how they respond to what they see next.

[suffarustuffaru]

why otto is so pissed off at subaru (arc 8 ch 24)

hello im otto posting Again but im writing this in an attempt to understand this subject myself (and totally not as a reference for later…) and also bc some people in the fandom seemed to be confused on Why ottos so angry at the moment. but i really think the key reason why hes so mad at subaru right now comes from this: otto treasures the people he cares about far above anyone else—to the point where if he needs to make sacrifices, he absolutely will because the people he cares about (his friends in emilia camp) go First before everyone else in his mind.

like. thats ottos key reason for everything hes been doing in arc 8. all his other reasoning branches off from that—like him wanting to leave vollachia for dead and only take the people his camp cares about. otto sees the path that will keep his camp safest—ie just going into vollachia to rescue rem and subaru and then immediately getting out—and he chooses that rather than subaru and emilias more noble approach of refusing to leave vollachia and its population of 50 million people to die. otto himself is aware that his own strategy is Callous, especially after roswaal told him in chapter 24 that he agrees with ottos proposed strategy of just leaving vollachia. but otto thinks that its 1. entirely necessary and 2. he Knows that thats the optimal way to keep the emilia camp safe.

he knows that staying in vollachia and helping vincent is a massive risk to his whole camp. otto being a merchant values equivalent exchange and Hates too much cost, which is On Top of otto knowing that going out of their way to help vollachia is risking the entire emilia camp’s lives. but otto Knows subaru and emilia. and he knows that subaru and emilia are idealists at heart that will do everything they can to save Everyone, which is why despite being Extremely Unhappy about all of this, otto plays hard to get so vincent is the one who asks for their help. that way, at least the decision to help vollachia looks more like accepting the request of vollachias emperor and adding more accomplishments under their belt and Less Like just going out of their way to vollachia for no benefit at all.

otto valuing his camp above everything else is also why he creates distance between himself and julius and anastasia and emphasizes that theyre enemies. for otto, its Absolutely the emilia camp above everyone else.

then theres the whole louis situation. otto, of course, knows that subaru cares about louis Despite everything shes done.

so. essentially. i think ottos extremely pissed about subaru always going out of his way to try and be a hero because otto knows this comes at a Detriment to subaru (bc otto CARES about subaru!!! he knows subaru is WAY too selfless and forgiving and he cant agree with that!!!) and otto worries for the cost of subarus decisions, especially with the current conflict regarding louis. otto has accepted that, unlike the majority of his camp, that he has to be the Bad Guy. because in ottos mind, no one else in his camp is going to be bold enough to be the ruthless morally questionable one. he thinks its 100% necessary to play this role to minimize the costs and threats to his camp.

which is why he hasnt told anyone, despite knowing this from his dp, that louis/spica is innocent.

hes fully aware that—even though hes manipulating his own camp—louis will be more likely to be eliminated if he keeps quiet about the fact that she has Zero malice. louis being eliminated means one less threat to his camp. and otto KNOWS that subaru cares about louis and is upset at the idea of her dying (which is at least partly why otto snapped at julius in chapter 23!!), but ottos decided that killing louis comes at a far less cost than keeping her alive. because keeping her alive means dealing with the consequences of the emilia camp calling her an ally and rem and subaru recognizing her as their daughter when louis has affected So Many people. otto knows this and wants to prevent it at all costs.

otto wants her dead for these reasons. otto figures that he has to be the one walking in darkness bc he not only wants to help emilia and subaru and preserve their idealism (bc he Knows that its important to them!! its who they are at heart and he cares about them in turn bc of their kindness and goodness!!!), but otto also wants to help by being the necessary evil. because someone has to.

that, of course, wont stop otto from being pissed at subarus decisions. this also, of course, wont stop subaru from being pissed if he ever finds out otto withheld the fact that he knows louis is 100% innocent just so he can make sure that 1. the rest of emilia camp stays suspicious of louis and 2. louis gets killed. i really do think ottos questionable decisions will eventually catch up to him—because he stands in direct opposition to everything subaru stands for.

subaru wants to save everyone. he wants to have it all, even if it costs him. otto, meanwhile, chooses only who he cares about because hes not idealistic enough to believe he can have everything, and he believes that sacrifices have to be made even if its cruel. and he knows that subaru cant do that, but it still angers him because hes trying to keep subaru safe while subaru insists on trying to accomplish everything without sacrificing anyone. otto doesnt think its possible at all. but otto knows its not in subarus nature to be pragmatic.

which is why otto takes A Lot of the things subaru has been doing in arc 8 Extremely Personally. because its Very personal for otto.

[liquidstar]

arc 4/season 2 of re:zero really did have a bunch of sets of siblings with lots of focus on them. it seemed to be a bit of a recurring theme for the season. family bonds as a whole were really important, especially where the backstory was concerned, but in contrast to that, the sibling relationships seemed to be about moving each other forward. in different ways though...

like, you have frederica and garfiel. they're estranged half-siblings, but frederica still obviously cares so much about her little brother. the reason she left was because she wanted to make a place for him and the rest of the people in the sanctuary in the outside world. garfiel was stuck inside the past, fearing the outside world for what happened to their mother. but when he finally faces his trial again, it's the memory of his sister that gives him the motivation to move forward.

similarly, in emilia's second trial, it's her conversation with archi that enables her to face the present for what it is. even though trial archi seemed to be pushing her towards the world of the trial itself, that's exactly what reinforces her will. with her memory of the real archi, she calls him "big brother" for the first time, and she thanks him for always being worried about her. the sad thing is, unlike all of the other sibling duos, archi has already been dead for a long time. but even then, like we saw in the first trial, he gave his life because he wanted emilia to keep moving forward.

and in otto's backstory too... he spent most of his childhood completely unable to interact with the world around him. the constant noise was too overwhelming, to the point that he couldn't actually hear anything else. he had no way to understand or communicate his feelings. and though his parents did their best to understand him, he was still stuck in this state. it wasn't until oslo decided to teach him how to write that he was finally able to express himself. despite the fact that it was harder for otto than other kids, he finally managed his first real message to his family, "thank you for everything." and with that, he cried for the first time since was born, and was able to move forward again.

even the antagonists this arc are siblings. meili and elsa dont get as much focus into their relationship as the others (not for this arc at least), but one very obvious development is that elsa has someone she cares about. elsa "bowl hunter" granhiert, a serial killer/assassin/vampire who takes great pleasure in watching people die, and tearing out their organs, has a person she cares about. this is a humanizing trait for her, and that's on purpose. loving meili literally makes her "more" human. someone that she's also willing to give up her life for. and later on, in arc 6, we see just how much elsa's death impacted meili and how she hasn't been able to move forward since that day.

this theme is even more noticeable in the negatives too. in rem and ram's case, who have already been set up as a matching set all the way back in arc 2. they're identical twins, they've loved each other literally since they were born. ram awoke her powers as a newborn just to save her crying sister. they share a deep and powerful bond. but... what the hell happens when that goes away? because rem had her name and memories eaten, ram forgets she ever had a sister. her character digresses, her entire world is now centered on roswaal, she's more devoted to him than she was before. without her sister, ram moves backwards.

and of course, there's the sibling duo that this entire season centers around- subaru and beatrice. i've talked before about how subaru's relationship with echidna and roswaal is like a foil for his relationship with his actual parents. subaru has been raised living in the shadow of his father, but his actual dad never once forced him into it- he encourages his son to stand on his own and be his own person. roswaal is the opposite, he corners subaru in an attempt to make him a mini roswaal. subaru's mother was always watched him closely, but never made his choices for him. echidna is the opposite, where she wants to manipulate and control subaru's every action to satiate her own goals and desires.

but echidna is also beatrice's actual mother, which places beatrice in the role of subaru's sister in his fucked up found family echidna had created. but beatrice and subaru were never forced together, they chose each other. beatrice was left alone in a library for 400 years, abandoned by her mother and left to wait for a person who would never truly come (who never truly existed). she has been stuck for so long, unable to break her chains. but the action that finally does free her from this stasis is when subaru asks her to choose him. the only way for them to escape this "family" and move forward was for them to choose each other.

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS MORE BLOOD Vol.8: Sakamaki Subaru [Track 9+10]

Original title: もっと血を吸って & 銀のナイフ

Source: Diabolik Lovers More, Blood Vol. 8: Sakamaki Subaru [CD not owned by me]

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Takashi Kondou

Translator’s note: Just like all other MB CDs, this one also has more of a vague/open ending in which the MC continues to have her blood sucked by one of the boys. However, it did leave me with somewhat of a better feeling than some of the others, albeit I still fear for the MC’s life and sanity. :p I mean, she only has so much blood to go around, right? 

Track 1+2 ll Track 3+4 ll Track 5+6 ll Track 7+8 ll Track 9+10

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Track 9: Suck My Blood More

“Fuckー!”

*Rustle*

“Argh...I’ve gotten thirsty again...”

*Rustle rustle*

“Ugh...Haah...Ah...I’ve reached my limit. Come on, I’ll bite you now.”

You quiver.

“Heh. ...What? Are you trembling in anticipation? Geez, guess I have no other choice then. You’re really so ーー ...But, I guess that side of you isn’t all too...”

You raise a brow, curious to hear the rest of his sentence.

“...N-Nevermind!”

You protest.

[00:45] “Fuck off! Don’t get all cute with me now! ...I like your blood, that’s all I was gonna say. ...Shit, this pisses me off. Cut it out already!”

*Smooch*

“...Hah. ...Come on, extend your foot a lil’ further.”

*Rustle*

“Exactly. ...I can’t hold back no longer...”

Subaru bites you again.

“Mmh...Nn...”

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“ーー Hah!”

*Gulp*

[01:33] “Hah...Haah...I can feel your blood...flowin’ down my throat...Haah...”

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“Mmh...Hah...”

*Gulp gulp*

“Hah...Hah...”

*Gulp*

“Haah, haah...Oi, are you alright?”

*Rustle*

“Oi...Answer me!”

You fail to respond.

[02:11] “Guess you’ve reached your limit, huh? I’d rather not have you die on me here though. ...Don’t get the wrong idea, it’d just be a bother. Given the circumstances and all. I don’t exactly mind suckin’ all the blood from your corpse, but the blood of a dead person tastes disgustin’...Also, there’s nothin’ fun ‘bout suckin’ from someone who can’t even give any reactions. 

[02:47] But...Haah...I feel like I seriously can’t let my guard down for even one second. ...Fuck, this is annoyin’...I feel like I’ve lost all control over my own body. I’m basically a fuckin’ marionette by this point.”

You whimper a response.

“Hah...You want me to suck even more of your blood? ...Do you have any idea what you’re sayin’? You already look like you’re ‘bout to kick the bucket any second now.”

*Rustle* 

[03:27] “No matter how dumb you may be...I’m sure you know what’ll happen if I have any more blood while your body has already been pushed to its limits, right?”

You beg for it.

“Once again, don’t just say those words so casually...”

You force yourself on him. 

*Rustle rustle*

“...!? I-Idiot...!? What are you doin’...!?”

*Gulp*

[03:54] “Forcin’ your bloody wrist on me like that...Hah...Haah...Do you truly understand what kind of the state I’m currently in?”

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“Haah...Che...! Haah...”

*Rustle*

*THUD*

Track 10: Silver Knife

“...Come on, look. ...Are you stupid? Why do you try and save me? I don’t get it. ーー Ugh!”

You respond. 

“...You don’t mind if you die? Don’t say such things so easily! It’d be easy for me to revive you as one of us, but is that truly what you want!?”

You frown. 

“...’We’re at the point of no return’, you say? Fuck! You don’t even know how I feel! ...If that’s your intention, then I have a plan of my own.”

*Cling*

[00:46] “You can tell what this is, right? ...It’s a silver knife. You can deliver a fatal blow to a Vampire with one of these. I’ll give this to you.”

*Cling*

You nearly drop it.

“Che...You don’t even have the strength left to hold a knife!? Make sure to grip it tightly.”

You seem confused.

[01:12] “What you should do with this? Why don’t you try and use that nearly-empty brain of yours to its maximum potential to come up with an answer? ーー Ugh!”

Subaru guides your hands so you’d stab him in the chest.

*STAB*

*Rustle rustle*

“Guh...Ugh...Haah, haah...Hahaha...Don’t give me that...dumb expression...Take a look...You...pierced my chest with the knife...Ugh...Hahー!”

You panic.

“I’m bleedin’ more than I expected...”

*Rustle rustle*

[02:14] “If this wound...becomes the end of me...and I die...You’ll finally be free again, right...? You’ll no longer...need to worry ‘bout savin’ me...Heh. At this rate...I’ll just end suckin’ you completely dry after all, soーー Ugh...Cough, cough...”

*Rustle*

“...Ah? What are you doin’...?”

You get upset with him.

“...’Idiot’? ...Who’s the idiot here!? Argh...Hah...”

You tear up.

[03:05] “Hah...Just remember that this is all your fault...I had no other choice but to resort to this...’cause you kept on spoutin’ utter bullshit...Hah...Seems like those guys set us up perfectly...and I’m not capable of stoppin’ myself either...Hehe...I doubt those guys expected me to pull this kinda move though. Hah...Serves them right! Hahaha...I won’t let things go their way...Actually, what have you been doin’ this whole time?”

You beg him to suck your blood so he can heal. 

[04:09] “Hah...? You want me to suck your blood? Fuck off! Do you have any idea why I even did this!? Ugh...Hah...However...I got stabbed right through the heart...so why am I not dead yet...? Hah...This body is really annoyin’...Hah...Also...I’ve gotten thirsty again...’cause you keep on clingin’ to me like this...”

*Rustle*

“Haah...Do you want me to suck your blood that badly? ...God! ...Fine! Whatever...I’ll make you feel good...until I take my final breath...I doubt it’ll take very long...”

*Rustle rustle*

“Now come here...”

You scoot closer.

[05:24] “Exactly. Show me your neck. ...I’ll yearn for you like never before...I’ll die...while holding you tightly in my arms...”

*Rustle rustle*

“Ugh...Your nape looks delicious...Heh...The scent of your blood...really is somethin’ else...Hahn...”

Subaru bites you.

*Sluuuurp*

*Gulp gulp gulp*

[06:13] “Ah...Heh...Hehe...When I drink your blood like this, all of a sudden, the stab wound from earlier seems like just a scratch...I even feel as if it’s healin’ my injury...”

*Gulp gulp*

*Sluuuuurp*

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“Hah...Phew...Does it feel good?”

You nod.

[06:55] “I feel amazing too. ...Right now, I almost believe that a Vampire such as myself could ascend to Heaven...”

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“Ah...Hahn...”

*Sluuuurp*

[07:27] “I guess that’s fine too...I’ll go there...Together with you...No matter where...I’m sure I wouldn’t be allowed to love nor hold (1) you...If I’m not willin’ to make that sacrifice at the very least? Hehe...Right?”

You smile.

“Come on...Let’s go. As far as we can go...So I’ll...love you as well. Come here.”

ーー THE END ーー 

Translation notes

(1) だく or ‘daku’ can mean both ‘to embrace/to hold’ as well as ‘to have sex with’ so...Take it as you like. 

[placebogirl7]

Why Jodie is so hated in DC fandom? - Analysis of an underestimated character and clarification about wrong assumptions

Preliminary remark: this post is just a personal opinion. No intention to start wars of any kind, I respect everyone’s opionion so I want my opinion to be respected too. If you don’t share it, it’s totally ok as it’s totally ok if I don’t share yours.

During these last 5 years I’ve been back into DC fandom, I notice all around the web many people spreading hate towards Jodie (not only here on Tumblr but everywhere, especially in forums and social media pages). It’s ok to not like a character, but you need valid reasons to hate it. If you hate it for bullshit, then it’s only hate based on nothing. And this is what I see everytime I read a bad comment about Jodie’s character. This is really annoying for a fan, to be honest. Now I want to point out some of the most popular reason why Jodie is hated and analyze them (maybe I have already explained my point of view about them in some other posts in the last years, but I will clarify them again).

1) “Jodie has become useless, she’s no more interesting and mysterious as she was at the beginning” You (Jodie haters) really notice this change only in Jodie’s character? Because I can mention at least other 10 characters who, at their first appearance, were described as mysterious and cool and whatever else, but now are “lying on the shelf” for Gosho’s choise. Jodie has been introduced in a mysterious way becase she was suspected to be Vermouth, so Gosho created the suspance around her character and made her act in a shifty way to make the readers believe that she could be one of the BO members. Once it has been revealed that she wasn’t bad, there were no more need to make her act in a shifty way. Many other character who were suspected to be Bo members but in the end were not have shared the same fate. But it’s Gosho’s decision, not Jodie’s fault. It’s not something related to her way of being, it’s a choise of the author.  She has become usless? Ok, let’s face the reality: who is useful among the characters? A very few. Let’s take all the FBI Team: Gosho has painted them as a bunch of idiots that without Akai can’t do nothing. To make Akai “shine” he has denigrated Jodie, James and Camel. Camel doesn’t do nothing of his own, he always wait for Akai’s orders; James is supposed to be the chief but actually he does what Akai says; Jodie seems to make mistakes everytime she did something, even if she’s doing it in the right way. But again, it’s not their fault because we have seen them doing even very good things and being brilliant, so they have potential: it’s Gosho who decided to treat them like dumbs so Akai can be like a God who will save all of us. Don’t get me wrong, I love Akai, but I hate what Gosho is doing to put him in the spotligh. Again, it’s Gosho’s fault, not the characters who suddenly became usless and not interesting. The hate should be towards Gosho, not Jodie.

2) “After Akai’s death Jodie has become so annoying, she’s weak and she’s always crying” Ok...question for you Jodie haters: if you suddenly lose someone you love, what will be your reaction? Will you laugh as you were watching a sitcom, will you organize a big party with your friends or will you start throwing confetti in the air? Because if you do one if these 3 things, then...congratulations, you have won the highest award for the most cool /stone-harted/ heartless person in this world! You have no rivals, not even Shuichi Akai who is now jealous of you!  Seriously...if the man you love so much dies suddenly, it’s LEGITIMATE to cry, to be desperate, to lose yourself. It’s like losing a part of you. But despite feeling lost, Jodie has been the only one among the FBI who never believed to Akai’s death since the beginning and she fought long and hard to find out the truth behind his death. Since when on the TV they show the incident at Rahia Pass and they say a man was dead burned in his car, she immediately thought that it wasn’t Shuichi and that he had surely used a trick to escape. Guess what? She was right! Do you still think she’s stupid?  Jodie isn’t weak, she just faced an emotional breakdown due to the loss of a person she loved. This is being human, not being weak. Jodie isn’t always crying, she cried when everything and everyone around her was making her believe that Shuichi was really dead. At a certain point she stopped crying, when she saw hope, a hint that Shu was still alive. She isn’t a crybaby, she just needed hope. 

3) “Since Akai’s death, Jodie hasn’t done anything interesting or exciting, she has become boring” If you didn’t notice by yourself, then I will reveal you the biggest secret of all: after Akai’s death, or better to say after the end of Scarlet Arc when Jodie and Camel discovered about Shuichi being alive and hiding behind Subaru’s identity...FBI hasn’t appeared anymore in the manga for ages, since the last files which came our recently! How are they (included Jodie) supposed to do something exciting or interesting if they don’t even appear? Gosho put them in the closet with the naphthalene and he concentrated his attention on other characters (first of all Amuro, which in my opinion deserves more hate than Jodie because of his behaviour but somehow is adored as a God in the fandom).Then one day he get up and he had the big flash of genius: “FBI still exist in my story, so better take them out of the closet and make them do something”. But in the end, as always, only Akai did something relevant. Camel has been a puppet in the hand of Akai and Jodie made a mistake. So, again, it’s not Jodie who have changed and become a worst character, it’s how Gosho is painting her and the other FBI agents which makes them appear less interesting or capable at the eyes of the readers.

4) “Jodie has become stupid” About this I made a “funny” post long time ago, so I will put the link below. I think it’s enough to explain all:

https://placebogirl7.tumblr.com/post/156414088650/jodie-has-become-more-and-more-stupid  

I will also add something that surely will unleash the wrath of somebody and maybe they will start complain, but I honestly don’t care because it’s nothing against someone in particular but just something I noticed. This is absolutely not an attempt to start a ship war nor a free criticism end in itself, because I reaspect everyone ship and opinion even if I don’t agree with that. The fact is that I noticed that often (not always of course, but often) these criticism about Jodie are moved by ShuKemi fans, and considering what I said above it seems that their hate for Jodie is just because Jodie was Akai’s girlfriend before Akemi and she has the possibility (if Gosho wants) to be his girlfriend again the future, not really because they analyzed Jodie’s character before spreading shit about it.  So I would like to point out to these ShuKemi fans who idolize Akemi’s character so much and tell shits about Jodie that Akemi sentenced herself to death with her own hands after making the worst and wrong choise she could have ever done in her life. I’ve seen many times Akemi being called “a hero” but chosing to death without obtaining nothing in return isn’t being a hero, it’s just being stupid in my opinion. Being a hero is another thing. You’re an hero if you sacrifice yourself with the goal to obtain something that worth your sacrifice, but if you sacrifice yourself knowing that you won’t obtain nothing apart from your death...well, that’s not being a hero at all. And before someone will say “You talk like this because you’re a ShuJodie fan”, please be aware that Akemi’s death has been shown before Jodie appearance and before knowing that Jodie had a relationship with Shu before he started dating Akemi, so I would have no reason to say these things just because of such trivial matters. The reason why I’ve never been touched by Akemi’s death since the beginning is because I think she has consciously chosen to die since the beginning of her “masterplan”. C’mon, how can you really think to make a deal with criminals? There’s a reason if they are criminals... She really thought that Gin would have kept his promise? If the answer is yes, then I’m sorry to say that but she’s stupid twice. So before saying that Jodie is the stupid one, at least analyze the things deeply and objectively. 

Now I know that this will make someone mad but I’m sorry, it’s what I think. And not because I see Akemi as a “threat” for Jodie’s relationship with Shuichi, as I always said I don’t need to spread shit on some character to covince myself and the other that my couple is better, I really don’t need this. I love my couple and stop, the rest doesn’t matter. If I don’t like a character, there’s always a deeper motivation behind, which has nothing to do with OTPs and trivial matters like that. But before saying I don’t like a character and draw up charges on it, I always analyze the character. I’m sorry that nobody do it with Jodie. 

Please also note that I used Akemi as example of character being idolized for no real reason because, as I said, I noticed that who talk shits about Jodie are often ShuKemi fans, but there are also other characters of course who are idolized when they actually have nothing to be idolized for. Another example is Amuro, I recently made a post about what I think of him.  Now if you don’t like what I think and what I said you are free to unfollow me, I’m sorry but I really needed to make this post because it has become more and more annoying to see nonsense unkindness things about Jodie.

Peace, love and Jodie Starling ♥

[marshmallowdonutsprinkles]

would you be willing to give a quick intro to the animes youve been watching/blogging lately?

I suck at that, but I'll do my best 😂

1. The Promised Neverland, Season 2 - Emma, Ray and the other children escape the Grace Field orphanage and aim to find William Minerva. Before they can set out, they are attacked by monsters and demons, only to be saved by 2 mysterious people. Who are they, and why would they risk saving Emma and co.?

2. Re:Zero, Season 2 Cour 2 - Pain. After several gruesome, futile deaths, Subaru learns he can rely on friends for help. This time, he'll save Emilia and the girls at the mansion before it's too late.

3. Project Scard - ????? Honestly I'm not sure rn? Surface level is Pretty Boys the Series but it's more than just fanservice for people who love 2D men. MC is saved by the Hero of the town, only to die shortly after giving the MC his powers and telling him to protect everything in his stead. MC works together with the Hero's allies to do so.

*If you watched K project, then Project Scard is by the same animation studio. The anime after K have been straight misses imo, with pretty animation and dry af plot (*cough*Hand Shakers and W'z*cough*). but it seems interesting compared to the last 2 anime from GoxHands, so I'll see what happens here.

4. I'm a Spider, So What? - MC is a highschool student who gets killed in an explosion along with her classmates and teacher. She is reincarnated into a spider (while her class is reincarnated as human beings/elves etc.) and she is determined to survive by learning how to live as a spider.

*I think out of all my years of watching anime, this is like my 2nd-3rd isekai (I just don't like the genre) my best friend recommended it to me, and I'm glad he did cuz it's hilarious. The MC is voiced by Aoi Yuuki(?) Who voices tatsumaki from OPM and Tanya from Youjo Senki. She makes it really enjoyable with her expressive voice acting.

5. Skate Leading Stars - If you've been on my blog for a bit, this was one of the first anime I've been blogging about this year. Skate Leading Stars features a 16(assuming, since he's a first year in high school and in Japan that's around 15-16 y/o) year old boy named Maeshima Kensei who quit figure skating after losing to his rival when was, like, 10. He finds out his rival is also quiting figure skating, but is moving to a similar sport - Skate Leading. (Basically, Skate Leading is Figure Skating, so imagine Sychronized Swimming, but on the ice). Coincidentally (or probably not) he runs into a guy who pushes him back into skating for his own personal vendetta, and also for the chance for Maeshima to face his rival one the ice again. After joining his high school's Skate Leading team, he works with them to go to Nationals and compete with his rival's Skate Leading Team. There are 2 episodes out now, so you can watch them to get a better feel for it compared to all the other anime with 1 ep out.

*before you ask, no this is not like Yuri on Ice.

6. Sk8 the Infinity - Not entirely sure rn, but MC is Reki Kyan who enjoys Skating (not ice skating, the skateboard. Tony Hawk things). By chance he runs into the transfer student Langa Hasegawa, who came from Canada (🇨🇦 intensifies) outside of class. By chance, Langa is hired by Reki's boss, and his first job is to deliver a skateboard to a customer at the (currently) most famous rink in Okinawa. There Langa experiences the sport of Skating and thus start Reki and Langa's adventures as idiots skaters.

*honestly I like this anime the most this season. It's an anime original, so no manga. The animation is smooth, the main characters are expressive and enjoyable, and the one of antagonists are voiced by Dio. The plot seems light hearted so far (if you ignore the burning skateboards and misogynistic insults from one of the antagonists) so if you don't want anything too depressing, this is a great sports anime to dive into.

7. 2.43 Seiin Volley Ball Club - Explanatory in the name: it's a volleyball sports anime. Based on the first episode there's a more mature vibe to it compared to the other sports anime out rn as, for example, it mentions a teammate attempting suicide because of one of the MCs. If you want to compare its vibes to another sports anime, I think you'll like this one if you enjoyed Run With the Wind, or better yet Stars Align. I think Dive!! and Tsurune were on the serious end of sports anime, too, but not like Stars Align. The manga for this series is 4 chapters long, and it's supposed to be about MC and his childhood friend aiming for Nationals with their volleyball team, iirc.

8. Attack on Titan Final Season - Idrk know how to explain it so far, just know that it's crazy and confusing for me even though I read the manga. Eren goes to another country during a 4 year timeskip all in the name of seeking revenge and starting a war. Mood

 9. World Trigger Season 2 - Season 1 was like, 5-7 years ago lmao. From the top of my head, I think season 2 will cover rank wars to determine what teams are eligible for expedition to other worlds. Mikumo is determined to get on the expedition squad with his team.

10. Jujutsu Kaisen, Season 1 Cour 2 - Honestly I skipped like 6 episodes because I was preparing for Christmas/job so I don’t remember where the anime is at right now. I think it’s the Tokyo Jujutsu School vs. Kyoto Jujutsu School..with other things (I don’t reread manga, so I forgot what happened this entire arc)

That's it! Hope this helped anon

Edit: Totally forgot until it popped up, but I’m watching Kemono Jihen! It’s about a boy who’s half human/half beast and his bullied by his cousin and aunt because of his biracial nature. He’s taken in by someone who is a tanuki, and they start the adventure to find his parents/origins

[cypher-of-the-night]

Biography: Asher

“Fufufu~ Now then... Shall we dance~?”

~

Full name: Asher 

Hiragana:  あしぇる

Meaning: Asher - "Fortunate, blessed, happy one"

Nickname(s):

Old Friend (by Karlheinz)

My Beloved (by Ying-Yue)

Master Ash (by Andrew)

Papa (by Naoki)

Age: 20 (Physically)

Birthday: December 20th

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Ethnicity: Demon

Status: Alive (Deceased in Lost Eden)

Race: First Blood

Gender: Male

Height: 180 cm (5’11")

Weight: 68 kg (150 Ib)

Hair color: Blue

Eye color: Golden

Blood Type: O

Occupation: Protector of Naoki Enjo

Relatives: 

Ying-Yue Jiang (lover, deceased)

Naoki Enjo (hostess, adoptive daughter)

Yuuichi Kuroi (adoptive son)

Place: Naoki’s body

Favorite Food: Pineapples

Hobbies: Teasing

Seiyuu: As Himself: Subaru Kimura (Ichiro Yamada from Hypnosis Mic) (Talking / Singing)

As Naoki: Asami Tano ( Saki Nikaido from Zombieland Saga ) (Talking / Singing)

English Voice: As Himself: Austin Tindle (Kaneki Ken from Tokyo Ghoul) (Talking, 1/2) /

As Naoki: Amber Lee Connors (Android 18 from Dragonball Z Abridged) (Talking, 1/2)

Significant Other/Keeper: Ying-Yue Jiang (Deceased, Formerly)

~

Personality:

Due to being alive for more than several several millenniums, Asher is rather a cocky and egotistical trickster. While he always takes order from his hostess, it does not stop Asher from being playfully devious and rebellious. He gets easily bored and often takes up challenges he finds fun. Mischievous and a bit immature, The first blood’s arrogance has always been a coping mechanism to mask the pain of betrayal from Karlheinz whom he once respected as a father-figure. Being a Do-S, Asher has said to have always thirst for chaos and destruction in battle and would sometimes go to the human world to witness it. He would even get himself involved just to shed blood for fun on every eclipses when he is at his strongest; Because of this, he is often viewed as the true monster he is for his blood thirst and sadism. This trait still exist even within the body of Naoki as he would laugh maniacally over the idea of a heated war happening in the Demon world, and be heavily upset about is unable to join in the fray.

However, while the sadism is still there, Asher admitted to have toned down his lust to torture and to kill over the years, only spiking up as it was when given the thought of going against Karlheinz. This is due to the several thousand year influence of his beloved lover and hostess. While he does not acknowledge growing soft, Asher shows hold a soft spot for Enjo Naoki, his new hostess, and began to see her as a daughter-figure due to her uncanny resemblance to his past beloved and having to watch her grow up as her protector. He shows to be overly-protective of Naoki as he has saved her in situations where she was almost killed by even Subaru, who Asher would be capable of killing had it not been for Naoki’s influence chaining him down with taking action to do so. It is revealed that Asher’s overprotectiveness of Naoki is resulted from his beloved’s last wish to keep her safe from harm; Thus, protecting Naoki as the last order from his beloved gave him a reason to live without his love by his side and to cope from the immense loss.

While he is very laid-back and playful, Asher holds resentment towards Karlheinz, the man he himself once admired many years ago. This hatred lived on for a millennium and even lived on even when in the body of Naoki. While Naoki idolized him, Asher agrees with Subaru’s hatred of Karlheinz and finds it justifying. His resentment for him is one of the times when Asher does become serious and prompt Naoki to not try and challenge him on that fact as even that scares her.

Asher is also known for being rather promiscuous, as in-between the Haunted Dark Bridal saga and the MORE BLOOD saga, He is known to flirt with men and women in Naoki’s body; While he claim to joke when he says he states he doesn’t mind sleeping around using Naoki’s body, it is possible that Asher was not joking and was actually serious but only claimed to be joking to prevent Naoki to feel wary of him and forbid him from resurfacing again.

~

Strengths: Cunning, sometimes obedient, fast-learner, observant, highly intelligent, experienced, fatherly when it counts, athletic, fun-loving, persepctive, open-minded, high stamina, analytical, protective, goal-oriented, assertive, adventurous, playful, a realist, perseverant, spontaneous, versatile, serious when needed, decisive, charming, considerate (exclusively to Ying-Yue and sometimes Naoki), and expressive.

Flaws: Extremely sadistic, persistent, cocky, egotistical, rude, perverted, disrespectful (to an extend), devious, rebellious (to an extent), sometimes immature, arrogant, easily bored, thirsts for destruction and bloodshed from conflict, mischievous, impulsive, exasperating at times, selfish, reckless, deceitful, glutton for all the wrong things, and manipulative.

Skills: Teasing, a master of setting traps, playing the piano, dancing, rapping (due to Naoki’s influence), is able to speak different languages (Such as German, English, Japanese, and (due to Ying-Yue’s influence) Chinese), his intelligence, possesses a medium-high level of magic, high stamina, the ability to turn into animals of the four sub-clans (a wolf, snake, bat, and eagle), highly enhanced abilities such as strength and speed, can summon and control familiars, has regenerative abilities, reading people and their emotions, hunting, singing (only does it for Naoki and Ying-Yue), has archery skills, a high-tolerance for alcohol, negotiation skills, quick thinker, surprisingly a strategist when it counts, and swordsmanship.

~

History:

Many millenniums ago, Asher was a First-Blood that was taken under the care of Karlheinz, the Vampire King, after Asher’s parents were killed from the Endzeit illness. He developed a strong friendship with his butler, Andrew, a turned-vampire adopted by Karlheinz. He grew up admiring the Vampire King for his vast knowledge and potential as a ruler. He even wished he could’ve been Karlheinz’s real son, and is often overjoyed when treated as if he was his son. His hobby was to tease a young Richter, even giving him the nickname “Little Ricky”/“Rick-tan”. He was also well-acquainted with Carla Tsukinami, the first prince of Giesbach, as they would see each other often in the kings’ respective castles.

One night, he decided to explore the human world to cause mischief and witness wars and chaos to get over his boredom in the castle. There, he goes to China after receiving word from one of his familiars that two clans are at a heated war with each other. As it was the night of the Eclipse, he decided to take part in it using magic to disguise his appearance as one of the enemy clan members; However, as he was about to join, Asher gets cornered by clan members that believes him to be their enemy. While he was able to slaughter them, the first-blood faints from using too much of his own energy. Waking up, Asher finds himself in a different area of the forest bandaged up. Sensing a human presence, He meets a young girl by the name of “Jiang Ying-Yue”, who found him unconscious near the battlefield with the corpses of the men he killed and bandaged his wounds for him. Sensing she is lowering her guard, Asher initially thought about drinking her blood to quench his thirst before he goes back to the Demon World; However, before he could, Asher notices something off about the girl as her chest pains and started to have difficulties to breathe. When she was calm, He demanded answers from the girl, especially why she would save a stranger such as himself. But before she could answer, the Chinese girl noticed it was time for her to return and promised to meet him again the next night before bidding farewell. After she left, Asher decides to transform into an bat to follow the mysterious girl. He comes to find out that Ying-Yue was the daughter of a member from one of the clans in war, the same clan that he killed other members of, and has been taking care of him in secret the entire time despite of that. While he initially thought about leaving to go back to the Demon World as he has already regenerated, Asher decides not to leave yet. He became curious about the unknown girl who didn’t seem to hesitate helping someone that clearly killed clan members from her own clan, that could likely be a foe that could kill her, and concludes that she did not do it out of the goodness of her heart; Rather, she chose to heal him with an ulterior motive. Because of this, he decided to wait upon her return, and thought about killing her by drinking her blood dry once she gives him answers, reasoning to himself that he would’ve been fine without her help due to being a first-blood and can only die from decapitation.

The next night, Ying-Yue returns with fruits she has taken from the clan for Asher to eat, this includes slices of Pineapples. While he was wary of the human girl, he tries it only to savor the taste. While Ying-Yue was happy he liked it, Asher goes straight to the point and asked her why she helped him, despite knowing he was the one that killed members of her clan.

And the answer was simple to Ying-Yue: She wanted him to kill her next.

Taken aback as he has never been asked by someone (let alone a human) to kill them before, Asher asks why. Ying-Yue reveals that she was actually born with a weak-heart, and brought him to a safe area as she realized he wasn’t from either clans. Despite her condition, She explains that the only value she ever had was by being chosen to be married away by her father to the son of the clan leader; Due to this, she never knew what it was like to be free to make choices for herself or to live her life to the fullest, often used as a pawn for power. With her weak heart, she wished she could live healthier, but understands it would not change how things were. Thus, when she saw that someone from a third-party came to join in the war for the sake of killing, Ying-Yue knew she found the right person that would do the job. A stranger with no strings attached that was capable of taking lives with no remorse. Now understanding why, Asher takes everything into consideration. If he kills her, he will highly likely cause an uproar that will start an all-out war between clans that could cause so much devastation and bloodshed to both sides. A war that could potentially continue for many years to come. As much as he enjoyed the thought, The First-Blood decided to accept the request and drink Ying-Yue’s blood, who was taken aback from this action but started to give in despite the pain. As he drinks her blood, Asher starts to become fond of her blood and stops before he could really succeed in killing her. When questioned why he chose to stop as Ying-Yue was prepared to give into death, Asher took a moment to recollect his thoughts as of why. While he didn’t understand himself, he only knew he wanted to drink more of Ying-Yue’s blood, yet not so much where she could really die. Noticing that it was becoming late, Ying-Yue was about to leave until she nearly faints from having the blood drunk. While reluctant, Asher decides to help her by transforming into a wolf to help her to the site of the clan and healing the bite mark before leaving back to the hidden area.

The meetings at night start to become frequent. Whenever Ying-Yue was in danger by rival clan members, Asher would protect her by either transforming into a Wolf or a snake, or by using a familiar to kill them. In the daytime, He would transform as an eagle to watch over her while he transform into a bat to watch over her at night. They started to form a bond that turned into friendship, where Asher confesses being a First-Blood and talks to her about the Demon world, which helped her understand when he drank her blood for the first time; Meanwhile, Ying-Yue talks about the clan and about the good and bad humans that also resides in the human world, which makes Asher begin to understand about the fascination Karlheinz has for humans in the first place. Asher has even transforms into a Wolf for Ying-Yue and takes her on his back to places she has never gotten the chance to go to. Eventually, as they began to show each other sights they’ve never seen before, they start to form a romance as they began to fall in love; He falls in love with her solidifying fearlessness, as she falls in love with his mischievous rebelliousness.

But after realizing he has already taken too much time away from the Demon world, Asher eventually has to bid farewell to his beloved, who kisses him and makes him promise to return for her. While he was hesitant to come back, He decides he will start to become true to her and swore to keep the promise.

However, everything changed when the Millennial war started to take place. After overhearing about a war coming to place, Asher was initially excited to see bloodshed and wanted to join in ‘the fun’. But once he heard about it being against the clans and about how Karlheinz does not plan to help save all of the First-Bloods from the disease that killed his parents, Asher felt betrayed that his idol would rather use this opportunity for his own personal plans.

Upon finding out that he and Burai, the Demon Lord, would seal the Antenate Castle with the rest of the remaining first-bloods, Asher realizes that he is no longer safe as he concluded that Karlheinz will use the trust Asher had for him to join the rest of the first-bloods and possibly die from Endzeit. Before that happens, Andrew chooses to assist his master in escaping that fate, as he has overheard the instructions Karlheinz gave Menae, the sister of the Founder king’s wife, on how to slip through the barrier that surrounds the castle. Asher decides to make that attempt to escape with Andrew before he could be caught by Karlheinz to be joined among the other First-Blood’s. While they barely escaped, Asher returns to China with Andrew, where he finds Ying-Yue whose heart begins to fail. Not wanting to be part from his beloved in this way, Asher decided to give his heart to her to save her, and orders Andrew to perform the transplant. While Ying-Yue does not know how it can be possible, Andrew only makes her unconscious to have one more moment with his master about how this woman has changed him, only for Asher to respond that if anyone was changing, it was going to be her. With that said, Andrew places Asher to sleep after a farewell to perform the procedure. Once the procedure was a success, Andrew decapitates Asher’s head to fake his own death with no chances of his body surviving.

After that, Ying-Yue and Asher became one in her body, having to become more healthy from the first-blood’s heart. But this does not change Ying-Yue’s fate to marry the son of the clan leader and become a subservient wife of the clan’s leader, bearing a son in the process. During these times, Asher would sometimes take over for her to help release the stress, and start to understand the hardships of a woman during these ancient times. Once he was given word by Andrew about Karlheinz’s plan called the “Adam and Eve” project and about how only the aunt of Carla, Mene, was the only First-Blood that was left alive outside the of the castle, Asher remembers that the Vampire King has wanted to take advantage of his dying race. When he was told that Menae was sent to Burai after she escaped the barrier and is bearing a daughter despite also being infected by Endzeit, Asher realizes that the reason Karlheinz didn’t save the first-blood race, was so that he could create a new race using a woman with first-blood blood for his own plans regarding Endzeit.

Finding out that Karlheinz might’ve sent a familiar to search for him after his escape, Asher tells Ying-Yue that she is no longer safe. The reason for this is because, despite faking his own death, it is still possible for someone like Karlheinz to see that his heart could still live on within her body, and might plan to use her for that plan. When asked if he was sure, Asher explains that the only reason he can be sure about it was because he has been under the Vampire King’s care, surrounded by his researches and Asher knew better than anyone about Karlheinz’s fascination with the human race; Even Andrew himself attest to it. He knows that even if the heart originally belonged to a male first-blood, Ying-Yue was still a female human that could still be a victim to Karlheinz and his experiments. And if she doesn’t comply, Karlheinz will either force her to comply or take the heart for himself to place in another female’s body.

While Asher initially suggested running away into hiding, Ying-Yue, not wanting to leave her baby behind or take any risks of being found, suggests to burn down the village. While she understands this to be cruel to the other villagers, Ying-Yue believes that it is the only way to save herself and her child, and even begs Andrew to turn her into a vampire to lessen her value as a human. If she simply ran away into hiding, then the Vampire King will still find her regardless; Thus, she suggests burning the village down is the only option in order to fake her own death to prevent being found, and allow herself to go into hiding with her son, even takes advantage of being a vampire to protect her son and herself. She would rather take that risk for her freedom than to be forced to a fate against her will again, and wants her son to be given the freedom to choose for himself instead of being forced to go through life with high expectations for the sake of the clan. No matter the cost may be, as a lot of things were taken from her.

Understanding her reasons, and seeing that Ying-Yue has embraced his destructive traits as expected, Asher (with Andrew’s help) arranged the destruction of the village and their escape before Karlheinz’s familiars could travel to look for them. When the day came, the village burned as planned. Despite the death of her husband and other clan members, Ying-Yue successfully managed to escape with her son by the time Karlheinz’s familiars arrived to search for them; This earned Ying-Yue the nickname of Adam’s first wife: Lilith. However, once she managed to escape, Andrew, under hers and Asher’s orders, turns her into a vampire; Unfortunately, He could not afford to stay with them, in fear that his association with them would lead to them being discovered alive; Ying-Yue tried to get him to stay, but Asher stops her and bids his friend farewell, making him promise that they will meet again soon so he may repay him for everything he has done to help his new family. And thus, they parted ways and it was the last time they saw one another.

After that, Ying-Yue starts to adjust her new life as a vampire while experiencing the freedom she dreamed of with her new family, as Asher experiences compassion and love from taking care of the human baby whom he viewed as his own son. Noticing that the son was developing differently from normal humans due to Asher’s blood, Ying-Yue has begun living her life as a Vampire watching as her descendants grow and decided to take the opportunity to save their family secret behind their enhanced abilities by establishing a new clan filled with vampire hunters, which became well-known for their professionalism in their work. Despite having to be stay into hiding for protection, Ying-Yue was very happy with the freedom to live her life as her own, to cherish living a long life after fearing her life would be cut short, and to be free to love Asher, even if they must share her body.

However, the happy days came to an end when one of the descendants was captured by a Vampire and their family secret was leaked to the world. While the original plan was to place Asher’s heart in a male vessel to protect him and to keep it from Karlheinz’s reach, Ying-Yue finds out there was an female infant, an orphan born with the same weak heart she once had as a human. Not wanting the child to die, Ying-Yue decided to pass on Asher’s heart to the child. While Asher tried to convince her otherwise as history might repeat, he gave in after hearing Ying-Yue’s solidified resolve of wanting to save the baby. Her last wish was for him to protect the baby with his life, to give him reason not to give up and to keep moving forward, a reason to keep living without her; The same way he protected her during her times of distress. Seeing what she was trying to do, he decides to honor her last request. They both proclaim their love one last time before they part, transferring Asher’s heart from his beloved to the baby.

That baby was born with the name “Jiang Xiu-Lan”, who would eventually go by a new name: “Enjo Naoki”.

While pained to leave his beloved after thousands of years being together, Asher pushes those emotions aside and end up falling asleep until he woke up within Naoki’s dreams when she was 5. This would be their first real meeting. He is awoken from Naoki’s crying and comforts her, enraged when he finds out she was suffering a fate similar to his beloved’s where she is used as a pawn and restricted from having freedom. He comes to realize she has been adopted by a selfish man that does not allow Naoki to act her age. Because of this, Asher takes it upon himself to become a father-figure to her and play with her in her dreams, where she would refer to him as “Papa” as she is permitted to call whom she believes to be her father “Father”. These blissful dreams came to an end as Naoki started to get older, as Naoki would start to remember it as having an imaginary friend, turning the dreams to bittersweet. Asher is placed to sleep again until she awakens him; However, as he has began to see Naoki’s sanity slip due to the abusive environment she grows up in, Asher decides to take it upon himself to chain himself up from within Naoki to keep her at bay, making her unwittingly and emotionally dependent on his presence. For when the time comes for her to break those chains that bind her once and for all when she needs him the most, He will free and be there to protect her.

Which does upon when Naoki starts to live in the Sakamaki mansion and meet the daughter of Burai and Mēne, Cordelia (in Komori Yui’s body), and an adult Richter. In which, Asher greets after years of slumber.

~

Trivia:

• It is heavily implied that Asher was one of the main reasons why Richter developed an inferiority complex towards Karlheinz, as he has taunted him about being a brat that will never being able to surpass the Vampire King nor Asher himself, even after he has resided to Naoki’s body ever since Richter was young.

• Asher admits, after many millenniums later, he reached a conclusion with his sexuality being pansexual; This is due to experimenting about himself while residing within Ying-Yue’s body, where even found himself comfortable in a female body despite identifying himself as male.

He even admits that, had he have experimented and known about his sexuality sooner, and if it had not been for his love for and influences from Ying-Yue, Asher would’ve taken advantage of her body to flirt with others and have fun without her consent; Although, this May or may not mean the same in Naoki’s case as Asher has made clear.

• It is revealed that after the MORE BLOOD saga, once Naoki and Subaru do become a couple, Asher began to sleep with Subaru using Naoki’s body and admits to enjoy it as Subaru is, what Asher calls, “A beast in the sheets”.

• Asher was the first, in the MORE BLOOD saga, to suspect that Yuuichi Kuroi was another surviving member of the Jiang Clan, mainly due to his scent.

• In the DARK FATE saga, it is revealed that Asher did know Christa and has known her when she was a child, to a point when Naoki finally does meet her, Christa only saw her as Asher due to having his heart; This prompt Asher to take over and comfort Christa, assuring her that he’s not dead as rumored and that he’s really there with her.

• In the Brute Ending in the DARK FATE saga, Asher decides to properly take over Naoki’s body as a vessel, killing her from the inside, in order to follow through Carla’s offer to save the First-Blood race from going extinct once Karlheinz is killed; As a result of such, Asher reigns as the new Vampire ruler, turning Naoki’s body to a turned-Vampire and awakening the full-potential of his powers, while claiming Subaru as his pet, breaking him down and manipulating him by pretending to be Naoki to keep him at bay.

• While Asher appears at the near end of the Haunted Dark Bridal saga, He plays a very prominent, important role in Naoki’s story as her anchor; As he may be crazy, Asher himself is heavily secretive and knows a lot of answers to the questions the Sakamaki’s have.

• While roaming around in Naoki’s body once he has been reawaken, It is implied that Asher is technology-challenged and just as outdated with Modern times as Carla; This is to be expected due to being only conscious in Naoki’s dreams growing up, and has not gained control over her body to roam in the surface until the near end of the Haunted Dark Bridal saga.

• He has to be taught by Naoki over time between the Haunted Dark Bridal saga and the MORE BLOOD saga to learn how to figure it out.

• While Asher can still die, he reveals killing him from within Naoki’s body will cause her will experience imbalance from within psychologically, causing a severe loss of identity/an unstable sense of self as he was the one to keep Naoki has not gone mentally insane from her childhood; Making his existence within her is essential to keep her at bay as she has been unwittingly dependent of him emotionally. This becomes heavily apparent in Naoki’s brutal ending in the Haunted Dark Bridal Saga.

However, in the DARK FATE saga, Asher states that it is possible for Naoki to not suffer such a dangerous aspect when he dies; However, the only way to not suffer it is for Naoki to accept and embrace Asher’s own destructive traits as her own, in a similar way Ying-Yue did when she carried his heart. This way requires a lot of time and effort, which is also why it wouldn’t have been possible to do in the Haunted Dark Bridal saga when he first appeared.

• While it is only implied and hasn’t been decided yet, It is possible that Asher will come back again in the DARK FATE saga after his death.

• While he no longer resides in Naoki after the DARK FATE saga, Some of his personality traits were adopted and embraced by Naoki, along with memories of his past shown in dreams, which makes even Carla question if Asher really did disappear from within her.

~

Height Chart:

Credits: Sprites made by @crezzstar-commissions, Chibi made by minoux-draws, Character sheet image provided by Yuiannii on DeviantArt (color edited by me)

[kurosaki]

10 Characters Tag

Tagged by: @dialovers-translations Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! 💜

Rules: make a new post, name 10 of your favorite characters from 10 different fandoms that you like, and then tag 10 people.

1. Ruki Mukami — Diabolik Lovers

I will say this now, I love Ruki, Subaru, Shu, Carla and Yuma equally. I genuinely cannot chose between them because I love them so dearly and bring me so much comfort during a lot of stressful situations. I decided Ruki since we both share a similar tragic backstory of being abandoned by their parents and I feel he would understand me the most. I'm also attached to Ruki because of our shared passion for literature. I also really love the way Ruki presents and carries himself, he's so... regal? elegant? The Mukami brothers have such an emphasis on found family and strong bond, I'm a sucker for that as well especially for all the advice Ruki gives his brothers not only in his own, but all his brothers' routes.

2. Shin — Amnesia

Admittedly when I first played Amnesia, I picked Shin because I'm a sucker for goths. After playing his route I fell absolutely in love, I actually cried multiple times during his route. The only other time that happens is when I play DL. *sobs* I didn't expect Shin to have such real struggles and such love for the player (despite him being so grumpy, but honestly it's adorable). I cannot stress how well written his character is. I love him so much, it's late at night and I shouldn't get emotional over otome games, but Shin just gets me.

3. Mitsuri Kanroji — Kimetsu no Yaiba

MITSURI IS MY BI GIRLFRIEND I ADORE HER SO MUCH. Thank you KNY for allowing my love to have a boyfriend AND girlfriend who love her so very much. (Shoutout Shinobu and Obanai) Mitsuri's design is what immediately drew me to her. She is so bright and warm and personally I think braids are the absolute cutest (ESPECIALLY WITH DUAL TONED HAIR)

4. Ishtar — Fate/GO

There are a lot of FGO ladies (and Merlin) that I adore, but Ishtar will always be my favorite. I first got introduced to her through FGO's summer event years ago and I absolutely adored the chaotic energy she had in the story. After that I decided I would continue playing FGO and I've been stuck here ever since :•) The FGO Babylonia anime also portrayed her so well, I loved seeing how animated and vibrant she is!

5. Ares — Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Mutuals know I am a big FE4/5 elitist, I'm sorry for my hubris, but Ares Hezul Nordion Fire Emblem, please sir... your hand in marriage. I absolutely loved this man in my FE4 play throughs. He is a killing machine, when he got into FEH I was so happy, his new art? Stunning. I hate the app and what it did to the Jugdral series, but the Nordion Family art is superb. I loved his story in FE4 and the growth and healing he goes through after meeting Seliph, the narrative genuinely touched my heart. I want to put the entire FE4/5 cast on this list.

6. Asbel — Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

I. Love. My. Son. So. Much. Just like Ares, Asbel is an absolute killing machine. He genuinely saved my life in FE5 so many times, even after many sleepless nights and strategizing. I genuinely feel like I owe my B ranking in Thracia to Asbel. His love for Leif makes me want to cry, I'll never forget “We swore to each other that we would live and die together, Lord Leif ... Let's reclaim Thracia. I'm willing to go through anything for that cause!”

7. Lillie — Pokemon Sun/Moon

Lillie is the best daughter I swear! I adore her and the entire Sun/Moon anime and cast! Although Hoenn is my favorite because of nostalgia, Alola is a close second and I will genuinely say it was the best anipoke. It featured so much growth, not only for Ash, but for Lillie and the rest of the Alola gang as well. I relate to Lillie's relationship with her mother as well, you have no idea how happy it made me seeing the “I hate you mother!” scene animated. I'm Lillie's mom now. That's final.

8. Pripara — Sophie Hojo

If I had to recommend an anime to anyone, it would be Pripara. It's the most silliest idol anime I've ever watched and definitely directed to children, but I love how inspirational it is to kids. It's the kind of show I wish was there for me as a child, but I'm so happy younger kids get to have these positive messages and life lessons. Sophie is very dear to me, she showcases that self growth can be taken at a steady pace and there's absolutely no rush to growing and being able to learn how to take care of yourself.

9. Rem — Re:Zero

It has honestly been years since I've read Re:Zero and couldn't tell you anything besides the basic plot, but I absolutely adore Rem. I was drawn to both Rem and Ram based on their designs, but the more I watched the show, the more I got attached to Rem. Her smile is such a blessing, every time I see it, just an immediate dose of serotonin.

10. Cloud Strife — Final Fantasy VII

This guy... this guy right here... I just think he's really neat! Admittedly, all my FFVII lore information comes from my girlfriend. I want to play FFVIIR once I'm able to visit my little brothers and borrow their PlayStation (they got the PlayStation, I got the Switch) SO HOPEFULLY I GET TO MEET HIM SOON! I've heard a lot about him from friends and mutuals I just got attached. He's pretty cool :)

Tagging: I physically cannot tag other people because of anxiety, but if you want an excuse to talk about your favorite characters please feel free to say I tagged you :3

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Re:Zero season 2 baby! Really appreciated the director’s cut in retrospect since I’m sure I’d be lost as fuck had it not been for that happening. This first episode opens up with the last 5 minutes of DX, which is fair, not everyone watched that and it’s pretty important that they get to know what happened, also it’s not like 5 minutes of a 24 minute episode is content we’ve seen before, nah this episode’s like 28 minutes or something so all’s fair.

Anyway, yeah, the episode. It’s Re:Zero, there’s more suffering, Subaru’s checkpoint is past the point where he could save Rem which is exactly what I was hoping for, though the specifics of what happened to Rem are a little different than I expected. Honestly I was completely okay with her just fucking perma-dying, but instead she’s had her name and memories stolen by Gluttony, rendering her basically just a sleeping husk for possibly forever. And now that I think about it, that’s probably a better outcome? Keeps Rem in the narrative and gives Subaru a new goal to work towards, namely saving her. I think it would’ve been interesting for his character to have truly let her die, because then we have to see Subaru cope with a situation that he really has no hope of saving, but honestly I’m not against this.

Another cool thing that it does is allow Crusch more time in the spotlight, since she fought against Gluttony alongside Rem and had her forearm sliced clean off plus her memories eaten, so now one of the most powerful and important figures in the show’s political climate is just a girl who needs to learn who she was from others, as well as make decisions on behalf of a self she doesn’t really know. So that’s pretty interesting, and even ends up giving Felis some neat moments this episode.

Back to the Rem and Subaru thing though, Subaru’s suicide this episode was pretty awesome, our boy Yuusuke Kobayashi gave a solid vocal performance for his crying later on, and most of all is that I think this season’s setting up for a less obnoxious Subaru. Which makes sense cause obviously he’s developed as a person and what not, but some conversations between him and Emilia here certainly make it seem like he’ll be more willing to rely on her and let her help him, and his vow to save Rem here also just, feels more sincere than some of his earlier promises. He’s just coming across as a bit more calm and mature in a way that makes me think he’ll be able to go through with his word, and that’s pretty exciting.

And then to go back to Gluttony, and also Greed because hey 2 people attacked Rem and Crusch’s camp, when they appeared I wasn’t really feeling it. Because it’s sorta just a “hey these 2 characters with designs I don’t like that sorta act like Betelguese just show up because yeah dude!” and I don’t want to say it felt forced but, as I watched them it just felt like it was happening for the sake of it. But honestly when I think about it more I guess it’s okay? Betelguese, AKA Sloth, obviously had a lot of buildup and presence in the narrative as the first of Sins we’d be fighting, but I suppose repeating that process for every other Sin might get a little tedious, so knocking these two’s intros out with a bit less gravity is reasonable. And then they already mentioned something about the White Whale being a Gluttony of sorts so it’s fair for these 2 to show up after it dies. And of course, they just get the narrative going in a way that does actually work with the universe. So, maybe they are cool. We’ll see.

So overall a nice first episode, it’s kind of a slow burner with more talking than anything, but it’s season 2 and they even just aired a director’s cut, we don’t need reintroduced to everything or a big flashy first episode. This more subdued and emotional one plays off of Re:Zero’s strengths so let’s just fuckin go, yo. Certainly looking forward to seeing more.

[anshiva]

Diabolik Lovers BLOODY BOUQUET Vol.12 Subaru Translation

It took me so long, but now it’s done. Next will be Ruki’s Zero CD. You can listen it here.

Track 1. A contented mundanity *footsteps* Subaru: She’s late. Well, she said changing the dress could take awhile. It can’t be helped. But I can’t calm down anyway. I would never dress this stiff costume again. *takes out the white rose* Today I have to give it to her. *you knock the door* Subaru: Wh... *hides the white rose* If there is a key then I’m here. *you come in* You’ve finally come. Damn, how much time do you plan on changing... Ah... Em... Well... Are you done with the preparations? Geez, I got tired of waiting! Left me waiting in this stiff costume. Subaru: Wh... What’s wrong? Huh? Oh, I’m just impressed. You don’t usually dress like this, right? This is a bit strange to see you in dress you don’t wear everyday. But, you know, it suits you. Honestly, I want to call off the wedding right away. Because, I don’t want others see you in this dress. But I can't stop that, right? Subaru: Yeah, that's right! We need to go to ceremony and show everyone that you belong to me. *someone knocks* It's that time already? It can't be helped, let’s go. Hey, give me a hand. *comes out* Subaru: I gently put a rose, that I secretly brought with me, in her hand. While I watched her embarrassed smile, I remembered the days before I get here. Remembered that day when I promised not to lose her anymore, and when I almost lose her. *door opens* Subaru: There you are. If you gonna stand outside right after the bath, you’ll freeze. Subaru: You can watch the sky from your room. Eh... Damn, I wonder what are you thinking about? It can’t be helped. *hugs* If I do like this, will you feel a little better? Subaru: Shut up! It would be a pain in the ass, if you catch a cold. So listen obediently what I say. But why are you watching the sky? Subaru: Huh? You were thinking about others? Tch! They’re living like they want, right? Subaru: No buts! Darn, you like your previous life so much? Subaru: N-no... I mean, don’t talk about other guys in front of me. Think only about me. Don’t look away! *kisses, you push him* What? Aren't you glad that I’m your partner? Come on, say it. Subaru: Tch... You’re mine. I won't forgive the resistance. *kisses* Subaru: Huh? I’m different from usual? Why you say that all of a sudden? Subaru: So you mean kisses aren't enough? He-he, you want my fangs so much?  Subaru: Hm, you never know. *hugs* Listen, are you... happy now? Subaru: Suddenly or not, is not what matters now. Answer quickly. Why you so warm? Subaru: Huh? Wha... Why you do say such embarrassing thing? You want me to crush you? So, that's what it is to be with beloved? You're kidding me. Subaru: Shut up! Don’t pull me! Shit... Enough! Go back inside. *opens the door* And forget everything I told you, understand? Track 2. The visit of the black curse *footsteps* Subaru: M? What are you doing here? Subaru: The book? Ah, you were trying to reach it? He-he. You’ll never get it like this. Subaru: What? That just a fact, right? I mean, if you can’t reach it, you can bring a chair or something like that. *you take a chair* Eh... Tch... Looks shaky. Subaru: Don’t worry, you say? *you take the book, books start to fall, then you fall* Hey! *catch you* Hey, are you okay? Darn, if I wasn't here, it would be a tragedy right now. Subaru: Nh... By the way, how long will you lay on me? Stand up already! Subaru: Hm? You don’t have to apologize. Subaru: Hm? What’s wrong with you? You skinned your knee. Show me. *you show* Such wound will heal, if I lick it. *licks* Huh? Subaru: He-he, there is nothing to be ashamed of. I just treat your wound. Subaru: Don’t move, stay still. *licks* Ah... Enough, I guess. Now, don’t touch it and it’ll heal soon. Subaru: He-he, you was so embarrassed just a minute ago, and now you thank me. But thank me not by words... *pushes* but deeds. Subaru: You don’t get it, until you’re told, right? I’m saying, give me your blood. Licking is not enough for me. Give me more. *tears the clothes* Heh, if you don’t want it, then resist. He-he. Subaru: Huh? What’s wrong? You very obedient today. Usually you tell me to stop. So you do what I say after all? Subaru: Nothing. Enough, I’ve changed my mind. *gets up* Subaru: I told you I won’t drink your blood! Go read your books.  Subaru: I said it’s nothing! That's none of your business. Damn it... *goes away* Subaru: What the hell? Shit! *hit the wall* Why is she...  Subaru: She said that would be happy to live with loved one. Even I think I’m a happy when spend time with her. But I don’t know is she really think that way. She always answers what I want to hear, so sometimes it bothers me. That she has other things on her mind, while telling me what I want to hear. I felt like misgivings, that suddenly crossed my mind, started to growing day by day. Subaru: Heh... What should I do? Ah, shit! It's not like me! *hits the wall* I don’t get it! Subaru: Oh? White roses? When did they bloom? *picked flower* If I bring it, she might be happy. *walks away* *you open the door, grab a bouquet, walk* Subaru: Oh! You... Why are you here? Ah... No... Well... About recent... Huh? Hey, what is it you're holding? Subaru: The bouquet of black roses? What the hell? Subaru: Someone rang the doorbell? Ah... So, it was lying here? And, who they're from? Subaru: You don’t know? There must be a card, right? *grabs the card* Tch! What is this card? There's nothing on it. Where this from? Who sent this? Subaru: M? No, I didn’t see anyone. Huh? It has nothing to do with what I was doing! I didn’t want to see you face, so I went outside. What's wrong with it? Subaru: Eh... Well... Tch... First of all, get rid of this bouquet right now. The flowers from unknown person looks too suspicious. Also, black roses! It’s disgusting. Subaru: How it could be a waste something that didn't exist from the beginning? Come on, throw it away. Subaru: Didn’t you hear me!? Okay, give me that, I’ll throw it. *you resist* I said, give me that! *you fall* Subaru: Ah... That’s your fault that you spaced out. Subaru: Heh... I’m not rude at all. You stay here. *you pricked the finger* Subaru: What’s wrong? You pricked your finger on a thorn? Tch! That’s because you didn’t want to give it. First, I’ll get rid of this bouquet. And you go treat you wound. Subaru: Huh? The blood is dripping on the card. What? The letters appears... “The thorn of black rose put a permanent curse on you. Your blood will slowly go bad and become a poison that cause pain to immortals. And no one could stop this. There's only one way to survive. Your blood must drink only your beloved one. If you won’t keep that rule, the curse will kill you instantly.” Subaru: Nh... So, now you... No, that’s bullshit. What the hell's a “permanent curse”? I don’t know who is it, but someone makes fun of us. Obviously, that is a lie! *takes the bouquet and walks away* *doors opens* Subaru: Tch! *burn the flowers* Shit! The black rose petals scattered on the floor, bloodstained card and one rose, plucked by me... I burned all together in fireplace and it quietly turned to ashes. While I was watching the rose I was supposed to give her and cursed, disgusting black rose were burning, I clenched my fists. Her awfully pale face, when she was watching me after I pushed her, crossed my mind. Track 3. An every torment *footsteps* Subaru: Damn... I was asleep, but didn't sleep well. I feel weird. She hasn't woken up yet? Well, I don't care. Ha! It can’t be! *walks away* *knocks on the door* Subaru: Hey! Did you wake up? *knocks on the door* Are you hear me? *knocks harder* I'm coming in. *opens the door, runs up to you* Hey! What happened? Why are you lying on the floor? Subaru: Huh? “The body’s on fire”? Maybe this is yesterday's curse? Subaru: Tch! When I drink your blood, I will found out this in any way. Subaru: Shut up! Since you need me, then silently give me your blood! In any case, this cannot be a curse. *bites and drinks* Subaru: Cough! Cough, cough! Ah... Damn... It's getting hot... Ah... Kh! Is that really... the curse of the black rose? So, that was true? Tch! Annoying... *bites and drinks* Subaru: I'll drink it to the last drop. *tears clothes, bites and drinks* Subaru: Cough... Cough... Cough... Cough... Don’t resist, stay still. *bites and drinks* Damn ... Subaru: Shut up! I don't care what happens to me. In fact, it's my fault this happened. If I didn’t doubt the curse, I would notice it much earlier. Heck! Subaru: If what is written in that card is true, then you ... *bites and drinks* Cough... Cough... Ah ... Ah ... Ah ... Then you also suffer. So I’ll drink... Kh... The blood poured again. And don’t stop. *drinks* Subaru: Now... here. *bites and drinks* Does it hurt so much? You have tearful eyes. *drinks* No matter how is it painful for you, I can't stop. *bites and drinks* Subaru: Ah... Ha... It seems... my body is on fire. Nh... And it doesn't look like the curse is gonna disappear. Kh! Shit... At this rate... we will both die. Nh, but... what to do! *hits the wall* Damn! *hits the wall* *you knock on the door* Subaru: Ah?! Tch! It’s her... *opens the door* Hey, why you came? I said... go sleep at your place. You can’t even stand on your feet. Subaru: I said you may not worry about me. You should worry only about yourself! I'm fine. Subaru: You’re mouthy. Come in, it's better than leaving you alone. *you come in* Subaru: How are you feeling? Does it hurt? This is all because of me. Subaru: Why aren't you blaming me? Isn't that all my fault? So, why don't you blame me?! You are suffering, but I can’t do anything! I can only... *pins you down* drink your blood. *bites and drinks* Subaru: You're always like that. You always, always accepting me. It’s killing me. *drinks blood* Cough... Cough... Cough... Subaru: Don't apologize. That not what I want to hear. Subaru: Huh? Why am I annoyed? It is obvious! Because, I don’t understand anything. I... don't understand how to help you. I will do everything to save you... But... I don’t know how. I don’t want to watch you suffer anymore. *drinks blood* Subaru: Cough... Cough... Cough... Don't fight back. I don’t give a damn what will happen to me. *drinks blood* Subaru: Damn... I keep drinking, but the blood is still flows. It has no end. Then I will drink your blood dry. *drinks* Subaru: Did I fall asleep? Huh? Where did she go? Shit! I told her not mill around. I have to go looking for her. Ha... Ah... Ah... Track 4. The last request *rustling grass* Subaru: She's not in the house. If you think about it... there’s only... one place left... The lake. *fell* Ah... ah... Damn... I took a couple of steps... and I'm already lying on the ground. I’m not the only one who suffer... she’s worse... I have no time... to rest... I have to hurry... *walks away* Subaru: *came running* Hey! I thought... you disappeared ... What are you... doing here? You didn’t come... to admire the landscape, right?... Did you ... cry? Subaru: Don't lie to me. I see traces of tears on your face. What... were you going to do here? Subaru: If you’re silent, I don’t understand. Speak! Subaru: I told you! I don’t understand, if you keep silent. Say it clearly. Subaru: You were going to... die? Subaru: Kh! You are... stupid! I said... I don’t want to see how you suffer! *hugs* But... I can only... share your suffering. Subaru: Listen... What do you want? Tell me. I want... you say directly about your feelings. Subaru: Want to be with me? You... This is really your true desire? What... I didn’t need to doubt from the very beginning. Subaru: You... once said... That you will be happy to be with your beloved one. Do you still think so? Subaru: I see. I think so too. I just need to be near you. Why I haven’t noticed such a simple thing earlier? You shouldn’t care where to be with your loved one. Subaru: Even if this didn't happen... *takes out a knife* do you know what it is? Subaru: Yes, that's right. This is my silver knife. Now, with his help, I will put an end to everything. Subaru: That's what I mean. I will kill with this knife. Subaru: Yes, this knife is very precious to me. But... that's why... I think I can kill you only with it. I should have thought of that earlier. If you die, you can free yourself from this suffering. Subaru: Hmm... Don't make such a worried face. After I kill you... I will immediately follow you. Subaru: It's funny to imagine what will happen after vampire die. I... no longer believe that even when I kill us, we will be together. But... even after death, I want to be with you. And what about you? Subaru: I see. *hugs tightly* Anyway, this is the end. I will say everything I wanted to say... before it's too late. You... said that all this crap with the curse of the bouquet... isn’t my fault. Yes, that was you who took that bouquet... but... the sender sent it to torture me. Ha... That's exactly what happened. Besides, this is my fault... that you pricked yourself on a thorn. Because, I pushed you back then... I'm the one to blame... It's all because of me... What came over me then? I didn’t understand your feelings... and didn’t know what to do. Subaru: Yes, exactly. You... always... answered what I wanted to hear. That is why... I always doubted... do you really think so... I thought... that I, without knowing it... made you be with me. Subaru: Now I know... this is your true desire. Since you chose me... accept me in spite of all the pain... I must be blunt. Subaru: I chose you... of my own free will... so, from now on... no matter what happens... I will always be there... Even in another world. *kisses* Subaru: What is it? Subaru: It’s late to be embarrassed. But not now. Be silent. *kisses* Subaru: Heh, are you serious? The day when you ask me to drink blood has come? Although... yes, this will be the last request. Subaru: Don't cry, I'm with you... There’s nothing to worry about. But you asked me properly. In last time... I will fulfill your request. So that all torment and sorrow disappear. I will hurt you... So, don’t forget... the pain from my fangs. *bell, heartbeat* Subaru: M? What... was that sound? Is it really... a thorn? *burned out* Subaru: Huh?! Already gone? Huh? Is that... Hey, give your neck! *licks, bites and drinks* I don’t feel... pain? *bites and drinks* Subaru: Ah... it is! But this is impossible. I was suffering just now, and everything has ended so simply? This is definitely not the end. Hey, how are you feeling? Subaru: I see. But don't relax yet. M? Don’t make such a face, I am right by your side. Whatever happens, everything will be fine. Subaru: But... why did the thorn suddenly disappear? I didn’t do anything. Subaru: Huh? The card? I burned it a long time ago. But, yeah, there was very much in it. Like, there is only one way to survive. Only a loved one can drink blood or something like that. A loved one... So, that means... That’s true? Subaru: I... I'm not red! Don’t say nonsense! Heck! Just recently you cried, and now you’re so bold. By the way, do you understand? If the card says the truth, then now you can’t accept anyone's fangs, except mine. Subaru: I-if you understand, then okay. *knife rings* He-he, this knife... I never got a chance to use it. But now we don’t need it. Because, from now on we will always live together. Forever. Subaru: M? What? Why are you blushing? Subaru: Huh? Proposal? WHAT?! What are you saying? Don’t say nonsense like that all of a sudden! In general, this is understandable without words! You will belong to me the whole life. In short, yes! Subaru: How annoying. Explaining to you every little thing... Damn... I will say only once. Marry... me. Subaru: What? What did you say? To invite whom? Subaru: To the wedding?! WHAT?! Are you idiot?! I won’t embarrass myself! Subaru: Not that I don’t want to... Don’t ask me... Subaru: Since we have the opportunity, you say... Ah... Tch! Fine, I’ll do it! Damn... Women love such stuff... What a pain! Eh... but... this is very handy. Subaru: This is a great opportunity... to show others that you belong to me. But before that... *hugs* first you need to learn that you are mine. Subaru: Don’t be shy. Because of the curse, I couldn’t do this, but now I will give you even more pleasure. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you anymore. Leave everything to me. *kisses* At least until the sun rises. *kisses* Track 5. Dedicated to the white rose Subaru: Since then I didn’t feel the effect of the curse, that tortured me, anymore. Looks like the curse is broken for real. I feel empty, but I’m relieved that everything back to normal. When I was suffering from the curse, many times I thought this is the end. I guess, she thought the same thing. But now came the major turning point for us. *door opens* Subaru: Heh... I’ve tired more than I expected. Subaru: How can you call it “okay”! These assholes... Even on someone else’s marriage ceremony they mess around all as they want. How annoying! I said them to go home. On top of that, they’re trying to take you away. I shouldn't have called them. Subaru: No, they rather came to tease me than to congratulate. Heh... That’s piss me off. And don’t laugh with them like a fool! Do you really understand who you belong to? Subaru: If you understand, then fine. By the way, you shouldn't even care about other guys! Heh... I was going to give you something after ceremony’s end.  Subaru: Wait a little. *take the bouquet* Here, I give it to you. Don’t worry, they’re not cursed. Back then, when you took that bouquet, I was planning to give it to you. These white roses were raised in the garden, and I thought you’ll like them. I couldn’t give it to you back then, so I’ll give it now. Will you accept it?   Subaru: Wh... H-hey! You hated it so much that you cry?  Subaru: If you happy, then you should say it right away. I was nervous. Subaru: Huh? Put it on you? Now? But ceremony already is over. Subaru: Tch... Fine. Where you want it? Give me flowers. Subaru: Like this? Hey, don’t move! If it tickles, then bear with it! Done! I guess that should be good. Come on, look in the mirror. Well? It’s okay? Subaru: Huh? You don’t need to thank me for that. *hugs you* It suits you. *kisses* Listen, whatever happens I’ll protect you. So, never leave me. Got it? Subaru: Yeah, good answer. I love you. And always will. *kisses*

[selenecrown]

Fandom Tag! It's been a while since I have been tagged, huh?

Hey guys! I got tagged! Yay! I was tagged by @thehuggamugcafe ! Thank you so much!

Rules: Pick 3 (I'm going to do 4 because I feel like it) random fandoms you are in, and answers some questions about them! Then tag some people you want to get to know better!

The fandoms picked were:

- Persona 5. (Huh. Cool.)

- Hyperdimension Neptunia (I know you guys have many questions about this.)

- Durarara!! (I wasn't expecting this. Okay, I can roll with it!)

- Diabolik Lovers (Interesting! Okay, I'm cool with it.)

Question 1: Favorite Character?

- P5 - Ren/Akira, as you can tell for my blog being surrounded by him. But, the other Phantom Thieves of Hearts have a place in my heart too. They may as well have stolen it.

- HDN - Vert! She's my favorite CPU. I also like Nepgear and Uni as well as Rom and Ram. In other words, the CPU Candiates, but the Oracles are cool in my opinion, too!

- DR!!! - Mikado, Anri, Kida, The Orihara Family, Celty, Shinra, Shizuo. Basically most of the main cast. Durarara!!! was a very good anime in my opinon.

- DL - Yui, The Mukami Brothers, Subaru and Shu. All for very different reasons, but the Mukami brothers are still a favorite family of mine to this day (even though It's not in my tag system that I need to finish up!).

Question 2: Any Expected Favorite Characters?

- P5 - For one, Mishima and Shiho were a big one, also if I am being honest most of the Akira/Ren's Confidants. Namely the Phantom Thieves.

- HDN - Uni and Ram. I thought their personalities would make them somewhat unlikable in my opinion. But Nope! I got used to it after a while.

- DR!!! - Izaya, Shinra, and Shizuo. At first, I thought I wouldn't like any of them because of how the series portrays them as adults with problems who sometimes will lend a hand if asked, but later on with much backstory later I was able to appreciate them as characters.

- DL - Honestly? Kou and Yuma. I also thought that I might not like them too much since Kou is two faced and Yuma has a temper. But, it kinda just didn't bother me after some time.

Question 3: Most Relatable Character to You?

- P5 - Ann, mainly because in real life I do some modeling for a family friend that I'm not too dedicated to, I am indecisive at times but still really good at talking and negotiating with people, I am a huge sucker for sweets, I have had and/or still have friends with issues on sensitive topics and I have had many people I know move away, and most of all, I too have had bad people in my life I didn't push away that really dragged me down until I realized my situation.

- HDN - Neptune! Because I too want to be lazy and not be responsible and everyone seems to underestimate me and my abilities until I get off my lazy butt and be productive. Also, when the time comes, I can be responsible and take charge and I am a good person if you get past my lazy self. I just don't do it often enough for people to respect me.

- DR!!! - Kida. Kida is filled with many problems in his life and even though he is probably depressed and probably has PTSD (from what I get from some situations or that's what I think in some scenes through out the series), he still cares very deeply for his friends and just wants them to be okay. He doesn't care too much for himself, he cares for his friends so much he would die just to save them from themselves. Kida, while I can't relate to being in a gang or having PTSD, I can relate to him because of his depression and his loyalty to his friends that I have, too.

- DL - Um, this is a hard one for me. Let's go with Kou. Not because I am two-faced, but because I do feel like sometimes I am two-faced. I act very differently to each person I know and it can feel like I'm not being as honest as I could be with one person as I am with another. Sometimes I have to fake a smile because of what exactly I am hiding from them. Most of the time I hide jealously, insecurities, and my true feelings about how I think about them. My kind nature won't let me tell them how I feel until I have gotten over it and have let go of those feelings. And sometimes, I lie and can't admit I have problems because I don't want others involved because of what might happen. In essence, I can't admit my true feelings unless it goes through a filter. And it is a filter that I can't really change, until I have gotten comfortable with a person enough to let my filter break. 

I maybe over emphasizing a very common thing like depression or how most people feel sometimes relationships are, but it's something about myself I want to acknowledge and learn to deal with. 

Question 4: Characters You Would Slap If Given The Chance?

- P5 - All the Villians minus Akechi. Seriously, FUDGE them. They are cruel people who really don't need to be in society. Also, Mika from Ann's Confidant. Fudge her. I dislike with a passion.

- HDN - This is a hard one. Um, well, I guess I will go with Noire. She is a tsundere, but she doesn't treat her sister too well compared to others like Neptune and Blanc. I personally like Noire, but at times it seems like Noire isn't really being fair to her sister. Which for me, is kinda sad. Other than that, I would probably slap most of the bad guys in the series minus Arfoire because she is funny most of the time. But, I would slap her too.

- DR!!! - Izaya is a big one, since he is the villain of the series, but at times I did want to slap Shinra, and the Raira Trio because literally most of how much in the whole series could have been prevented if they sat down, beat the crap out of Izaya, and talked their problems out.

- DL - Kino is a big one. But I would slap most of the boys because they aren't the best of people to Yui. Also most of the adults in the series, too.

Question 5: List Your Three Favorite Characters, Go!

- P5 - Akira/Ren, Ann, and Futuba.

- HDN - Vert, Nepgear, and Uni.

- DR!!! - Mikado, Anri and Kida.

- DL - Yui, Subaru and Ruki.

Question 6: Any Characters That Grew on You?

- P5 - Most of the confidants did that to me, and so did most if the Phantom Thieves. But if you are asking for one particular person, Goro Akechi. Through my first run hrough of the game, I didn't like him. I had this feeling he wasn't a hero but not a compete villain either. To find, I was right. But the backstory didn't really get to me until the second playthrough. Then, pretty much after the TV station I liked him a little more. Then, he kept growing on me until he had grown on me enough I liked as much as any other Phantom Thief. Goro still holds a place in my heart next to all the other Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

- HDN - Noire. At first, I saw she was kinda a butt to everyone. That is, until I took a step back and realized she was a Tsundere and was the leader of a country. Of course she was uptight and sometimes had a stick up her butt. She kinda had sometimes to get things done. After that, I respected her more as a character and a CPU.

- DR!!! - Simon was a big one. Shinra was one too. And the Van Gang! I love those guys. Saki is in second place, holy crap you guys remember that if you are going to start this series. But the biggest one to me was Shizuo. I thought he just was not really a good person, but then I realized Izaya was kinda a jerk, and got the backstory behind the two's relationship and was like, hey, Izaya's an asshole. No wonder Shizuo wanted to beat the living shit out of him. And the backstory of Shizuo's past also got me, and now he's a favorite of mine.

- DL - Yui. At first, I didn't like her because of how she was presented at first. And the fandom didn't help that, either. But, when I actually went back and looked at Yui's actions, I realized I probably would have done those same things too. And not long after, a lot of Yui Appreciation Posts came out that ponited out a lot of things about her I didn't know. So, I like her a lot more now!

Question 7: Three OTPs, Go!

- P5 - AkiraxLove and Appreciation from the seriesxRyuji, GoroxFreedom and Love, and AnnxCrepes.

- HDN - Vert + a sister of her own, Unix More Love from Her Sister, and PlutiaxSleep.

- DR!!! - The Raira TrioxLove and Support from One Another, IzayaxAny Trashcan, and The Van GangxMore Love and Support from the Fandom.

- DL - YuixBeing a Badass, AzusaxEating more food, and YumaxHis Garden.

[Sorry guys I have no ships, but I do have these crack ships I support a lot.]

Tags: Well, I can't think of anybody right now. But hey, if you want to do it, go ahead! This was pretty fun for me.

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 13. Random thoughts.

Alright, finally got access to this book and can read it. What happened last time?

She was the one who had slain the six Witches now gathered once again in this place. She was the worst of calamities, and one who had nearly destroyed the world.

—This shadow was the Witch of Jealousy.

OH RIGHT THAT!

Also, just some forewarning, I have not yet seen season 2...in part due to my own ignorance. See, when I started reading through the LNs, I was going to wait until season 2 was up to 25 episodes like the first season before I watched it. I never bothered to look and see that season 2 was going to be split in two halves, with the second coming out soon. So I figure after I'm done with the two most recent LNs, then I'll watch the season, wherever it's at currently.

“Also, get it right. We’re not mad at Tella. But we are mad at the Witch. And y’see, Typhon likes Tella, so...”

“Tella... You mean Satella? That’s...the name of the Witch of Jealousy, ain’t it...?”

“...To put it in simple terms, the world remembered Satella as the Witch of Jealousy. However, what was not recorded in history was that Satella had a type of personality disorder.”

...

“—Something like a split personality? That would mean Satella and the Witch of Jealousy are...”

“Perhaps it would be clearer to say that she absorbed a Factor that was incompatible with her, causing a mental abnormality that ultimately created the Witch personality within Satella...not that I personally have any inclination to distinguish between the two.”

Well, that's certainly an interesting bit of info. It would explain why Satella's ways of showing her love tend to be so horrific.

“If I didn’t do anything, what would have changed? Wouldn’t we just end up with horrible futures? If not me, then who?! Who else could’ve gotten this far?!”

Obviously the context is quite different but Subaru's sounding a lot like Light when he was finally caught at the end of Death Note (uh...spoilers):

"Somebody has to do this and when I first got that notebook all those years ago I knew I had to do it. No, I was the only one that could. I understood that killing people was a crime. There was no other way the world had to be fixed. A purpose given to me. Only I could do it. Who else could have done it and come this far! Would they have kept going?!"

I suppose you could make the argument both are just trying to self-justify their actions and play the martyr.

“—I...love you. Because you...gave me light. Because you took my hand, and you taught me about the world outside. Because...when I trembled on lonely nights, you never stopped holding my hand. Because when I felt lonely, you kissed me and said that I wasn’t alone. You gave me so many things... That’s why I love you. Because you...you gave me everything.”

I'm suspecting either time-travel shenanigans or reincarnation shenanigans. I'd like to think it isn't just a case of mistaken identity and Satella dragged Subaru into all this because she genuinely believes he's someone he's not, but I suppose even that could be made to work with a good enough story. I don't really have any real preference on what I think it should be, other than I'd like to know how Al fits into all this. It only occurred to me recently that he didn't know who Rem was upon meeting her and only knew about Ram and that might have had something to do with her getting erased from memory later on, like he came from earlier in the future and didn't realize until he's suddenly faced with the sister of someone he'd only known to be an only child.

What did she say to him just then? After a momentary, silent pause, Jealousy spoke to Subaru.

“—Don’t cry. Don’t hurt yourself. Don’t suffer. Don’t...make such a sad face.”

...

“What happened in the second Trial...? What did you see...?”

Jeez, this is such a good series for someone's mental health and wellbeing (ironically). Subaru was shown all those timelines the aftermath of when he died, and in almost all of them he saw that there was someone who mourned him. He focused so much only on that he'd made them sad and clearly not enough on the fact they were sad because he was gone. His life had value to others beyond just being a coin he could use for RBD. He thinks he has no value outside of the results he produces with RBD but one of my favorite sections of the story is still his final loop during the mansion arc. RBD allowed him to figure out there was going to be a curse killing everyone but he accomplished so much during that loop beyond that. He and the others discovered the shaman. They saved the kids. He survived his mauling and he and Ram went to save Rem. His big heroic moment of standing up to the shaman was one where he could not allow himself to die, otherwise Rem and Ram would never be able to get away, so he fought and was determined to live. Most importantly, he saved Rem by breaking through the complex she'd been holding onto for so much of her life while fully admitting he knew f**k all about what caused it for her. He managed to help her simply because that's something he could do. RBD has given him info and additional insight but it's still Subaru himself who's managed to do so much good and touch so many without needing to suffer and die to do it. Hell, he has even fixed things he thought couldn't be undone. His relationship with Emilia seemed over after their parting in Arc 3 and RBD wouldn't take him back to before he messed everything up. He managed to earn his way back to her side and it wasn't by killing the White Whale or Petelgeuse. He has people who love and care about him and it was Subaru Natsuki, not Return by Death, that made them feel such ways.

“I...don’t know who you are. I don’t know why you told me you love me...and I don’t know the meaning of...you telling me that I saved you.”

“—Ah.”

“But it’s still a fact that you saved me by giving me Return by Death. It’s also true that I’ve relied on it to get me this far.”

“ ”

“To me, Return by Death is...one choice, I suppose?”

“ ”

“And you’re telling me...not to depend on it, but to love myself...right?”

“ ”

“I’m not saying it’s as cut and dry as that. —But there’s no mistaking that you gave me Return by Death because you don’t want me to die.”

That was why...

“Just like you said, I’m going to...try loving myself, just a little more. I’ll take better care of myself. I don’t know what’ll happen because of it, but that’s fine.”

“...It’s all right?”

“Yeah...compared with death, it ain’t nothin’.”

I'M NOT EVEN PAST THE FIRST CHAPTER YET! THIS IS SO F**KING GOOD!!!

“And someday—you will come to kill me, yes?”

Well, f**k.

“—I will save you. You’ll see.”

Attaboy, Subaru.

He recalled how at the Witch’s Tea Party, he had confessed his true desire of not wanting to die. He confessed, too, his greed: His desire to be with the people precious to him was just as strong as his desire to protect them.

And how he yearned to know if the people important to him thought he was something precious to them.

“Who’d have thought you’d be the first one to tell me? —Thanks, Patlash.”

Rem: "Are you freakin' serious?"

Jokes aside, I get what this part meant and I loved it. Again, this is so good for someone's mental health because of course Subaru would have some lingering worries about whether those he loves do actually love him too. He was literally suicidal over it and developing a complex, something that's not easy to get over completely, so he really needed that reassurance.

Also, Subaru's words to Otto remind me a little of something he'd said to Rem about how much Ram cares about her. RBD gives him a variety of perspectives and it's really sweet sometimes what he takes away from those past lives. He knows despite Otto's words that he wouldn't leave him and run (except for the very first time with the White Whale) and he knows how devastated Ram would be over Rem's death (when she can remember her).

“—But of course, for it is I who contracted the assassins to attack the manor.”

—He had just confessed that the mastermind of the incident, the one pulling the strings of the tragedy at the mansion, was none other than Roswaal himself.

When I had first started watching Isekai Quartet, and thus was introduced to the Re:Zero cast, I only knew the basic plot description of the series and thus has made a prediction to myself that Roswaal, this weird magic clown dude, was the one behind Subaru's RBD and the threats he faced in his series. Never did I expect to eventually discover I was half right. Obviously it's been shown that he's been manipulative, from setting things up for Subaru to be allowed into the Royal Selection to this arc's last loop where he admitted he made the villagers afraid of Emilia and drove her into a corner. But this is definitely another level. Subaru even speculates Roswaal was behind his and Emilia's very first meeting, and with the Book of Knowledge guiding him that's certainly not hard to believe.

It's a great scene between the two and weirdly the scariest it gets is when Roswaal is assuring Subaru he doesn't hate him, having been genuinely thrown off by the suggestion . He genuinely believes in these horrors and insanities he's putting into motion.

“Wh-whaddaya mean you can’t...this is just something other people forced onto you!”

“Even so, I’m the one who decided to do it. I have my own goal, and I have to work hard to achieve it...that’s why I’m here right now. I don’t want to make excuses.”

Throughout the LNs I have really enjoyed the parallels the story draws between Subaru and Emilia. The exact details are different but Subaru's words apply to himself even if he doesn't realize it, just as Emilia's resolve is little different from his own.

I somewhat get where Subaru is coming from for why he doesn't ask others for help. After his experience with the White Whale and Witch Cult and being able to get no one to help during the first couple of loops, it's understandable why he'd focus so much on needing proof or being able to make a better case for himself, thus why he only asked Echidna and Roswaal for help, as they know about RBD and thus would know his words are true. But what Otto is headbutting into him is the same thing Rem had showed him when he asked her to run away with him, or that Julius and Ferris showed when he claimed Petelgeuse could hop bodies after death. Proof and a case are good for when dealing with people who hardly know him but he DOES have friends who trust him and that he's already proved himself to. Even if he can't explain how he knows what's to come, they trust him enough to believe he's not crazy or trying to lead them to harm. Flip things around, how much proof would Subaru demand out of Emilia, Otto, or any others he's close to before he'd lend them a hand if they asked?

“What about you, Roswaal? You’re not gonna sulk about your schedule going a little out of whack, now are you? Do you have the guts to push yourself a little for the sake of your successor?”

“...What a roundabout and deeeeply interesting turn of phrase. For the sake of my successor, you say?”

Ram: "Beg pardon?"

Seriously, what has to be going through Ram's head hearing talk like that? Roswaal's successor? Out of context there's the implication someday Subaru will be picking up wherever Roswaal leaves off, presumably inheriting a few things from him, and thus Ram will be taking orders from Subaru.

Back on topic, while it's hard to call Roswaal an outright villain, I do love a good protagonist/antagonist showdown and that bet declaration was freakin' palpable. If Subaru fails to save Sanctuary and the mansion, he'll do whatever Roswaal says, in any life or loop. If Subaru manages to save both, Roswaal throws aside the book whose future predictions he's trying to make come true and fully aid Emilia in becoming king. It's a real clash of wills, with Roswaal even being a good sport about it and giving a three day warning. That they're both doing it with smiles and seemingly no intention from either of them to cheat or not be good to their word makes it feel a lot more tense and exciting.

As I get older I notice I tend to have less and less patience for, what I call, "edgelord nonsense" and more and more appreciation for stories that understand the difference between just having mature elements and actually being mature. All the death, suffering, and horrors Subaru goes through makes the series dark but it's how the story uses such things for character exploration and growth that makes Re:Zero mature. Like his relationship with Julius, Subaru doesn't need to like Roswaal or forgive him for what he's done, similarly with Echidna and Garfiel, but he can put his feelings aside to work towards what's actually important. A couple volumes ago I praised the LN for acknowledging how the biggest gift to Subaru and weight off of him was simply being able to tell Echidna about everything that'd happened to him, something he'd never been able to do with anyone else. Now, we have the best thing Subaru can do for Emilia being for him to just ask her about what the tomb's challenge of her past is putting her through. No need for making deals with devils and witches like Roswaal and Echidna. Just be someone she can lean on and let her get stuff off her chest.

“So the memories you see in the tomb are from before you were frozen...and the forest was frozen when...?”

“Apparently, it was about a hundred years ago.”

“I see, a hundred yea...eh, a hundred years?”

...Is Emilia the Avatar?

“I...kept growing physically while I was inside the ice. That’s why, right after I woke up, it was like being in another person’s body, enough to make me trip and slip up all over the place...”

No, she's Lion-O!

—Emilia was a hundred and fourteen years old, eighteen years old going by outward appearance, and mentally, fourteen years of age.

The mental age somewhat concerns me. I suppose she has commented sometimes on viewing Subaru somewhat younger than he is, such as 12 instead of 17, but that definitely makes the idea of being in a romantic relationship with her somewhat shaky.

“I made a promise with Roswaal.”

His breath caught. That one phrase, promise with Roswaal, sent a shudder through him.

What kind of promise had Emilia, tormented by loneliness in the forest, made with the devil that was Roswaal?

“He made me hold the crest he had...after he made sure the Dragon Jewel was glowing, he spoke about the royal selection, but, I didn’t understand a single thing about the Kingdom of Lugunica.”

Of course she didn’t. There was no way a girl who had lived in the forest since infancy would know about the outside world. So just how had Roswaal lured Emilia out of the forest? That was—

“To me, who understood nothing, Roswaal said this. —If you are able to gain the throne, surely your wish to melt the forest’s ice shall be granted.”

“ ”

Subaru imagined his seething blood blotting his entire vision red.

Roswaal had used Emilia’s pure, innocent wish to lead her out of the forest. That Emilia held the qualifications to join the royal selection was probably written in the book of knowledge.

Not because he held any hopes for Emilia, but merely so that he might add the strongest card fated to appear under Emilia—a card named Subaru Natsuki—to his own deck.

That's a hell of a bomb to drop. It also makes me curious (especially if it's something that was mentioned and I've forgotten about) if Roswaal's acquisition of Rem and Ram was somewhat similar. That the book directed him to take them in either because of how they'd someday tie in to Subaru or something else he wanted.

But jeez, yeah. More of Roswaal being a manipulative monster. While Emilia obviously was too innocent or ignorant to know what was really going on, I'd have to assume Puck would have been at least somewhat suspicious, if not outright seeing through what Roswaal was up to. So was he in on the plan too, perhaps with his own agenda attached? Or maybe he was unable to stop Emilia? Like her mind was too made up for him to keep her from accepting the deal or Roswaal came at a time he knew Puck would be asleep in his crystal to recharge and thus wouldn't be able to interfere.

Of course she had failed. The past was something you regretted, but could not change. There was no way to win against regret.

Stuff like this really does make the past trial Subaru faced even better. Yeah, he regretted his past and couldn't change what'd happened. But he could still move forward from that point of regret. Accept the past and still try to be the person he wants to be; Rem's hero, Emilia's knight, and his parents' son.

Something I've noticed for me as I've been reading these light novel series is my varying interest in the action scenes. Obviously action tends to be more captivating in anime because it's animated. You're getting to see it as opposed to it being explained to you what's happening. Rising of the Shield Hero is a series I quite like but some of its action scenes can feel a little dull in the LNs because there's so much happening and it can be very power-level based. Looks great in animation but somewhat lacking while reading, which is why my favorite fights involved the characters countering each other or bringing back tactics or information they'd learned prior to give them an edge.

All the other LN series I've been reading don't tend to have the same problem. With Overlord, all the main characters are supposed to be completely overpowered, so the point of a fight isn't to see if they can win but rather how insurmountable a wall the Nazarick forces are for the new worlders and the effect such beings have on the world. In Konosuba, the fights are much more comedic, keeping them entertaining even when not action-packed. In Goblin Slayer everyone has very consistent power levels and the battles are more about tactics, prep, and planning, which is more interesting to read about than just a clash of swords. And here in Re:Zero, we have characters like Subaru and Otto where it's made quite clear they have absolutely NO CHANCE of beating most enemies in an actual fight, so their action scenes are less a clash of powers and more about how these people with nothing manage to squeak out a win against such impossible odds through wit, trickery, tactics, and experience from the hardships they've been through. Garfiel could easily kill Otto, that much has been made very clear throughout the various loops. Otto managing to hold Garfiel off, stall him, and even pickpocket him in spite of that is far more interesting to read about than a straight-up fight would be between Garfiel and someone more his equal.

And speaking of Otto, that's a hell of a backstory. I enjoy peace and quiet, so growing up with that much constant noise would be maddening. And then years later some dude getting the idea in his head for some reason that his girlfriend had cheated on him with Otto and then Otto getting beaten up by the man and then nearly killed by assassins sent by the girlfriend AFTER he discovered the truth that she'd actually been with seven other men, none of whom had been Otto. No wonder he's friends with Subaru. They most suffer through intense misfortune, some of which caused by their own social cluelessness.

The blessing had made Otto temporarily distance himself from his family’s love, created a chasm between him and many friends, and had landed him in predicaments others could not comprehend. He bore the suffering of not being able to convey to others words known only to him. He had become resigned to this, which eventually coalesced into despair he felt toward himself.

—This was the same anguish Subaru had harbored before revealing his troubles to Otto.

I suppose that is another thing for Subaru to realize and why he had such trouble asking a friend for help without proof of his claims. People aren't static beings. Otto's existence doesn't just begin and end at "timid merchant" any more than Subaru's does "Boy who loves Emilia". People have their own histories and troubles they've had to deal with. Otto's own, the life he'd had before he'd even even met Subaru, allowed him to near perfectly sympathize with what Subaru was going through. Like with Rem's past making her feel the need to compare herself to her sister and make up for her guilt to the point she nearly has a breakdown, people around Subaru have existences outside of him and those existences can have them more than understand the problems he faces when he brings them to their door.

“Hah! To be honest, Ram cannot understand why he expects so much of Barusu, either. Barusu is weak, useless, and his talent is insufficient even for pouring a single cup of tea. My opinion is the same as yours, Garf.”

“That is going too far......though, on second thought, perhaps not...”

“But when he is most needed, Barusu is a man with oddly good timing.”

Ignoring Otto’s nervous attempt of support, Ram maintained a casual tone as she made that firm declaration.

Her words made Otto widen his eyes, and Garfiel grimace.

“It’s timing. A man who’s there when you need him. That is Barusu.”

Even though, in normal times, he was a useless man with seemingly no redeeming features whatsoever, the human being named Subaru Natsuki was a man who was mysteriously at exactly the time and place you wanted him.

There was nothing attractive about him, and he was without a single shred of charm as a member of the opposite sex. Ram didn’t understand what part of him was any good; indeed, she found him irritating. —When was it that...? At the moment, it didn’t matter.

I'm being reminded of when one of Genie's suggested compliments for Aladdin to give Jasmine is that she's punctual. Also, I'm guessing the memory Ram's having trouble with regarding Subaru was when they faced off against the shaman and other dogs because that event heavily involved Rem.

It occurs to me that, since it's taking place inside her tomb, Subaru and Emilia's shouting match has got to be one hell of a show for Echidna. I'm just imagining her silently munching down on popcorn as she's captivated by the whole thing (though I suppose those little tea cakes would probably be more accurate, huh?).

I've made it no secret that I ship Subaru with Rem more than I do Emilia. Obviously, as I figure Emilia is the main love interest, I do try not to have a bias against that pairing. Stuff like this funny enough does help me like the two of them together a little more. A shouting match, of all things, but I think the big part of why it works is because it's honest. Part of what held the two back as a pairing for me was because they felt a little impersonal towards each other. Like there was this wall of formality between them; neither getting too close to the other as to not upset or lose the other. Heck, Subaru references something like that earlier in the book regarding why he didn't asked Emilia about her past or the trial before, because he didn't want to see the scars. Here though? They're yelling and airing all their honest feelings, positive and negative alike, and Subaru basically saying "Yeah, everything that's been happening does make you look sad and pathetic and weak and so much else but it doesn't matter because I love you, you idiot! And stuff like that isn't going to make me stop loving you!" It's funny how much different it is from Rem's confession to him but it fits his character more to do it like this, and more importantly it's not him just copying Rem because it's what worked for her to help pick him up out of his lowest moment. It's Subaru genuinely learning from and understanding what Rem did for him and thus why he's able to get through to Emilia. If I'm going to want two people to be together romantically, I shouldn't feel like those two are having to hide parts of themselves or walk on glass around the other. Their shouting match is Subaru and Emilia showing their truest selves to each other and being as honest as possible and I like that. It's a massive step forward in their relationship.

Hang in there. Do it. You may not know how or why, but if you stand and run, you’ll get somewhere.

—The inside of his chest was hot.

“Isn’t that right, Garfiel...?!”

He called out the name of the small-looking man before him, eyes swaying weakly.

—The inside of his belly burned.

“Isn’t that right, Emilia...?!”

He called out the name of the girl watching them from behind, the one who was sandwiched between weakness and the threshold of something yet unknown.

—Something from the back of Subaru’s eyes flooded out.

“Hey—isn’t that so, Rem?!!”

He called out the name of the one who’d made him lift his face, open his mouth, open his eyes wide, and stand tall.

The one who had taught him that even when your feet were stopped in surrender, that didn’t mean it was over.

Subaru Natsuki desperately wished for the power she had given him then to somehow reach all the others.

I am such a filthy f**king shipper. I have the biggest smile across my face right now.

Having closed his eyes to so many things and averted his eyes from the future, he could not face Subaru; hence, he had not noticed.

—That where he leaped, invisible hands were waiting.

“This new move sure gives off a bad impression.”

That's probably not good. On the positive side, maybe this means Subaru will eventually be able to "fly" around like Petelgeuse could, all curled up in a ball.

Ram giving a lap pillow is not something I expected in this, or any, lifetime.

I'll be honest, start of this arc, I wasn't expecting much from Garfiel, but I really like what the story's done with him. Beyond just Subaru bringing him down to his level so that they could have a "fair" fight (nice little victory against the non-present Roswaal regarding how the strength Subaru borrows from others helped him beat an impossible obstacle (again)), but his issues regarding his mother and Sanctuary are genuinely compelling. The audience goes from thinking he simply hates his mother for abandoning him to his despairing confession that the trial showed him she died nearly as soon as she left. There's him reverting to beast form because his conscious mind can't bring himself to kill. There's his whole inability or unwillingness to move forward. And then there's his great lines where he finally admits he wants to be wanted. I'm really feeling for the guy.

Also, for whatever reason I really enjoy the dynamic of someone serving proudly under someone they know they're way stronger than, because they respect them that much. I look forward to seeing what happens with "General" Subaru.

“Well, I went inside, okay? So I was in the back there, too...”

“Ahh, so you were.”

“That’s why I saw. The, uh, product of all the general’s hard work.”

Huh?

“N-nooooo...! I forgooot! I mean, I mean... I didn’t expect you’d actually go into the tomb yourself...s-so, if you went in, you...aaaahhh!”

Covering his face with both hands, Subaru squirmed as he fell on the spot.

Shame. Shame strong enough to want to die. Few were the souls who could live with so much shame. That moment, he detested Garfiel, perhaps hating him more than when they’d come to deadly blows.

Uh...

As he rested, exposed to lukewarm gazes, Subaru prayed for Emilia’s good fortune, simultaneously praying that she would not notice the “graffiti” he had left behind.

Now that someone else had seen them, those little love letters had become quite a farce.

UHHHH-!

The pictures were the adorable Pucks that Subaru had drawn many times before. The drawings of Puck had various expressions on them, and surrounding these were writings in I-script, as if they were written by little children.

“Hang in there, you can do it.” “Puck and I are both cheering you on.” “Once this is done, let’s go on a date.” “I’m counting on you, Emilia.” “I love you. That’s why I believe in you.”

“Idiot...idiot, idiot, idiot... Subaru, you...dunderhead.”

Oh, thank god. My mind went to a WAY different place when they started talking about graffiti and shame and "love letters" and I am so happy I was wrong.

“—My name is Emilia...just Emilia. The Freezing Witch who hails from the Great Elior Forest.”

Emilia could tell that naming herself rubbed the Witch the wrong way.

Privately satisfied with that reaction, Emilia jabbed a finger toward the Witch, seemingly shooting right through her into the sky.

“Another Witch’s malice will not affect me. —I am a troublesome woman like that.”

Oooooooh, Emilia is pissed at Echidna for hogging all the fans during season 2 and she's not gonna put up with it anymore. Seriously, this series knows how to end on good cliffhangers, which ironically was my initial fear that kept me from starting the LNs for a time. I was worried the last available book would end with an equivalent to Subaru's third death in Arc 3 and I wouldn't be able to move forward for months until the next book came out.

Thankfully, my procrastination has awarded me with vol. 14. See you there.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/kg20wg/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_13/

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: What You Need To Know Before Re:ZERO Season 2, Part 2!

  Spoilers ahead for Re:ZERO Season 2

  As any fan knows, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- is a show with a sprawling, complex world. Its characters often have much more going on than they seem, and its mysteries usually come with more questions than answers. The second season aired its first half earlier this year, but so much happened it's totally understandable if you don't remember all the details. That's why we put together this quick refresher so you're ready to hop into Part 2 like the show never went away!

  Rem, Crusch, and the Sin Archbishops

  The first season culminated in Subaru and his friends defeating Petelgeuse, who possessed the Witch Factor of Sloth, which is now inherited by Subaru. This turned out to have immediate consequences, as his friends Lye and Regulus dropped by in the first episode of Season 2 to check out who killed him. In the process, Lye used his powers to "devour" Rem and Crusch, eliminating Rem from the memories of everyone except Subaru, as well as leaving Crusch without her own memories. This set off the events of the current arc, as Subaru naturally wants to help fix their situations and Beatrice tells him to head off to a place called the Sanctuary for the answers he seeks.

  How exactly Subaru is meant to cure whatever is causing Rem's disappearance from everyone's memories is still unknown, but it is likely to do with Echidna and the other Witches or the revelation that Garfiel is the Apostle of Greed.

    Sanctuary

When Emilia and Subaru arrive at Sanctuary, they are met by the maid Fredrica's brother Garfiel, who takes them to their home of Irlam Village where Ram and Roswaal are also staying. It turns out Sanctuary — which Roswaal calls the "Witch's Graveyard" — is a place Roswaal is responsible for overseeing. It is also surrounded by a barrier that prevents those with mixed blood from leaving once they enter, meaning the residents of the village, as well as Emilia, are stuck there. When they find Roswaal, he is bedridden from injuries apparently received by attempting a trial that, if completed, would take down the barrier.

  Later in the season, we find out the truth about Sanctuary — about 400 years ago, when the witch Echidna was alive, she used it as an area to experiment with methods of immortality, using clones of Ryuzu Meyer as her guinea pigs. This also gives us a hint about how Return by Death truly works, as Subaru makes a connection between how the Ryuzu clones' souls transfer to new bodies is similar to his own experience with reviving. Echidna's experiment eventually failed and she died, but Ryuzu and her clones are still around, with both Subaru and Garfiel able to control them as a result of going through the trials.

    The Trial

  Garfiel claims that anyone who doesn't have half-blood and attempts the trial will end up like Roswaal, so driven by a desire to prove herself, Emilia steps up to the task. Unfortunately, she fails a few times over the course of the season, while Subaru manages to get through two of the three sections. Upon repeated loops, it becomes increasingly clear that despite Subaru's success, it may be necessary for Emilia to be the one to clear the trials, not just for her image in the village and Royal Selection but her own self-confidence as well. Throughout the season Garfiel is actively antagonistic toward Subaru for wanting to attempt the trial, which we eventually learn probably stems from his own experience trying to clear it himself.

  How Subaru can help Emilia clear the trials, or if she even can, is still unknown.

  Roswaal's Intentions

  Largely an enigma in Season 1, we've learned quite a bit about Roswaal in Season 2, mostly how sadistic he can be when it comes to achieving his goals. It turns out he was fully aware that Emilia would be hunted by the Witch Cult, putting not only her life in danger but already ending the lives of many others, all so she could end the rumors about her connection to the Witch of Envy and increase her chances in the Royal Selection. He is also the cause of the snow that falls upon the Sanctuary before the Great Rabbit appears in each loop. We also see him unceremoniously kill Garfiel and Ram in one loop, ultimately sacrificing himself and revealing he knows about Subaru's Return By Death and will stop at nothing for even one timeline to work out in his favor.

  To what end Roswaal is willing to commit such cruelty, we are still not privy.

    Beatrice's Situation

  Another mysterious character, Beatrice has spent most of the show in her hidden library within Roswaal's mansion. Season 2 has given us more to chew on with a few revelations. When she learns of Petelgeuse's death, she grows visibly upset, much to our and Subaru's surprise. This is seemingly tied to her attachment to the book she is always holding, which turns out to be one of two true tomes of power beyond what the Witch Cult uses, the other being in Roswaal's possession. She is driven entirely by her oath to her "mother," and her actions are entirely dictated by what is written in her Tome, which seems to explain her reluctance to assist Subaru in more direct ways. Roswaal gives Subaru a special phrase  "I am that person" — which is somehow related to Beatrice's contract and can compel her to help him.

  Eventually, we learn Beatrice's contract is likely to be with Echidna herself, that Beatrice's book hasn't actually had anything to tell her for a long time, and that Beatrice's true desire is to end her 400-year contract by any means necessary. Subaru believes he can assist by simply overwriting her current contract with a new one, but Beatrice is convinced the only options are for the person Echnidna promised would appear to finally show up or for Beatrice herself to simply die.

  As of the end of the season's first half, we still don't know if there is a simple way to ease Beatrice's suffering. However, Echidna does tell Subaru she never had a specific person in mind when forming Beatrice's contract, so it seems likely that Roswaal's key phrase "I am that person" would cause Subaru to take up that role. Only time will tell.

    The Great Rabbit

  One of the three strongest Mabeasts, the Great Rabbit is an existential threat to the village and ends Subaru's life twice in the span of this season so far. Taking the form of a seemingly endless mob of tiny rabbits, they cause carnage on a huge scale with their endless appetites. Luckily, Subaru learned from their creator — the Witch of Gluttony Daphne — that they can be defeated by eliminating all of them at once and that a good lure would be a singular massive source of magic, so we can hopefully look forward to Subaru using this information to defeat them.

    Elsa's Attack on Roswaal's Mansion

  A few times, Subaru attempts to head back to Roswaal's mansion to talk to the maids and Beatrice and potentially orchestrate a more concrete plan for the village, only to have everyone involved be brutally murdered by Elsa the Bowel Hunter, a returning villain from the very first arc. Initially a mystery, we eventually do find out that the mansion attack was actually orchestrated by Roswaal himself in another attempt to force Subaru into action, choosing between Emilia and his friends at the mansion. Subaru's plan from here is unknown, but I think we can rest assured he won't fall into Roswaal's plans and will do whatever he can to save both parties.

    Echidna, the Witches of Sin, and Satella

  This is where things get a little wild and hard to predict. All of the drama surrounding the barrier, the town, and the trials is relatively grounded, but Subaru also spends a lot of time with Echidna (the Witch of Greed) and her cohorts. While he and the audience are mostly concerned about the attack from the Sin Archbishops that left Rem in such a vulnerable state, Echidna makes it clear there is a much higher level plot going on at the same time to the point that Rem is deemed unnecessary for her ultimate plans for Subaru. The exact details of what that plot is are less clear, and despite meeting the various Witches briefly, it seems unlikely we'll get many definitive answers any time soon, but it is likely to do with her search for immortality and Subaru's Return by Death. Meanwhile, Satella spends some time in the second season attacking the village and berating Subaru for not loving himself enough, but much like the Witches, there are no clear answers on how to deal with her.

    And that, more or less, is a quick rundown of the various plot point and mysteries Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-'s second season has set up for us in just its first half. It's a lot to keep track of, and it isn't obvious how every piece is connected, but with Re:ZERO's level of forethought and world-building we can be sure each piece will be an important part of the larger puzzle.

  What were your favorite parts of Season 2's first half, and what mysteries are you looking forward to being resolved in the future? Let us know in the comments below!

      David Lynn can be found obsessing over Fate/Grand Order on Twitter @navycherub.  

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll. Features! 

By: David Lynn

[furederiko]

Countdown Counter: 6. Miracles and sacrifice. The spirit of Christmas brings the Kyuranger together in its 43rd episode. The very last episode for the year...

- From the get go, signs that this is going to be a special episode are already there. How? There's no opening sequence, which means longer runtime for the actual story. And instead of a Kyuranger, VA Subaru Kimura returns as the narrator recapping the previous episode. Also, the story picks up directly at the gate of Jark Matter's base, with 9 Kyurangers forcing their way inside. That exciting top-notch hand to hand action promises something bigger later on! Gotta love that brief black silhouette splash screen... - Elsewhere, Tsurugi gets the answers he is seeking as Don Armage activates the Planetium Bomb. The Jark Matter Supreme Leader is the pure definition of a complete nutjob. Trying to conquer the entire universe, just to blow and erase it up all at once? Psycho antagonist alert!!! His trump card is the assumption that his immortality will be his advantage to survive it. But isn't that illogical? I mean what happens when everything become void? He is aiming to become a God and recreate his own universe, which sounds genuinely preposterous. - Turns out, there's a bigger upper hand to that goal as he reveals his 'true' self to Tsurugi. Okay, it's being kept as a secret for now, but BLACK CROW-like wings? Are you thinking what I am thinking? This backs up the theory that the real Don Armage is none other than Kuervo. That would explain why Tsurugi becomes so dumbfounded after seeing it, right? But Kuervo should have been dead, so how or when did he obtain immortality? As I said on the recap-view for episode 42, he must have stolen it from someone who seemingly had sacrificed his. Yep, from Tsurugi himself! If this theory is correct, then it lines up to why Tsurugi keeps getting visions of his former comrade, as well as that strange chest pain to which I assume related to his immortality. But enough speculation for now, let's continue with the episode... - If you think Raptor and Commander Xiao are being sidelined, then you are a bit mistaken. They do get some time to shine! They are busy holding out the fort, preventing reinforcements from messing around with the plan. Raptor is the 'getaway guy', so she monitors the entire operation from Battle Orion Ship. That's how she's able to alert everyone that the Planetium Bomb is set to explode in just 15 minutes. There's no time to waste. - Masked-Aslan shows up as predicted. Since his sole mission is to eliminate Leo Red, he couldn't care less as Scorpius Orange leads a team to head off and plant the Black Hole Generator. It's up to the RGBs (Red-Green-Blues LOL) team to try and get Aslan back to his good side. Lupus Blue (who almost gets a second fatal hit) uses the Gemini power to increase man-power, UrsaMinor SkyBlue grows giant with the Ursa Major power, while Leo Red uses his Shining power up. But none of it is able to make a dent on Masked-Aslan. - The only way to save Aslan is through miracle now. And daang... seeing the Leo Kyu Globe rescues Lucky from the brink of death gives me the chills. It's the energy that represents the entire Leo System, meaning both Lucky and Aslan. So it makes sense that it wants what's best for the father and son. Thanks to this miracle, Aslan is freed from the Mask and regains his good conscience. A sweet reunion! Aaaawww... I'm getting misty eyed. - Of course, clueless Mecha-Madako (poor thing doesn't aware of her boss' real goal) just has to enter and ruins the moment. Aslan's mask returns to its true form, which is Don Armage himself! Oh wow, first Hoshi Minato's puppet, now this? Is he a leech or parasyte or something? Then again, that WOULD explain him leeching Tsurugi's power. - Time for a 10-members transformation scene. With a gorgeous constellation-themed roll call too! This is the part that is too bad for Raptor and Xiao, because they don't get one (the sole minor quip I had for this episode *sigh*). Still, the action sequence that follows makes up for that. For a bad guy that refuses to die, Mecha-Madako gets to go down in a special way. She gets to participate in probably the coolest and most thrilling fight choreography the show has done so far. And be the first one to be eliminated by Kyutamajin's glorious Orion Big Bang Cannon attack. Indeed, we've seen the other mechas perform the ultimate finisher before, so this is the first time Kyutamajin takes over their places. - Then this is where things take an unexpected melancholic turn. Before fleeing the scene, Don Armage damages the Black Hole Generator, forcing the device to be activated manually. That means someone has to stay behind and sacrifice themself to save the universe. Lucky offers himself to do the job, but Aslan refuses and takes that duty away from him. "Saving his son... is a father's duty.", he states. Aslan couldn't do anything for Lucky when he was a child, so this is his chance to make up for that. Aaaawwww... T_T. To which pretty much many audience begin to break down and cry... - Aslan's sacrifice saves the universe, and more importantly carves a path for his son's future. A surprisingly fitting metaphor for the month's holiday season, don't you think? It's a heartbreaking but powerful moment. A poignant victory for the team marked by a solemn goodbye. Hold on, is this the first time an actual Kyu Globe is lost in the battle too? - What comes next is an epilogue or some sort. Xiao and Hammy deliver some words of encouragement for grieving Lucky, while the others (thanks to Kotarou's idea) whip up a wonderful surprise. A CHRISTMAS PARTY!!! Doesn't quite make sense in timeline, but this episode DID air on Christmas Eve so there's your festive reason. LOL. Goodness grace, a Christmas tree decorated with all those colorful Kyu Globes looks amazing! And those hand-made (courtesy of Stinger) plushies? Santa-Caesar!! Aaaawww... XD. Santa-Xiao then shows up with a special little present, the Red-Green colored Christmas Kyu Globe. Don't ask how he's able to even have one, or how Tsurugi ends up dressed as a fowl (the only one who is out of place! Holy moly... LOL). All that matters is that it's a celebration, and it warrants the appropriate holiday cheer! NOTE: ...plus a special one-time only Xmas ending sequence! Everyone is in their Xmas costumes, with Caesar tagging along with his cute growls. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" truly knows how to throw a pleasant surprise. Am I right? What a fantastic way to end the year... :D

Overall: Goodness grace! The show delivered its best offering on its final episode of 2017. Seriously! I don't know if I'm being swayed by the holiday festive and all, but for me personally this was definitely the best episode so far. An exhilirating wrap up episode for 2017 that simply hit all the right spots. It had exciting action sequences that were on par with "Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger"'s memorable Christmas episode. Great emotional moments that pulled off the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" finale (as well as "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" explosive climax), with both Lucky and Aslan's actors helping sell a truly poignant fleeting reunion between father and son. Unsurprisingly a general theme in Hollywood this year, in case you're wondering. This episode made me laugh, cry, and put me on the edge on my seat. A thrilling roller-coaster ride. It's also a tight and complete episode per se, in a big screen production style. A strong kick-ass opening, great moments every now and then both big and personal, and delightful heartfelt closing. An all around satisfying episode, and undoubtedly a high point for the series that will be hard to beat. Calling this as a series finale would be fitting (previous seasons would have treated it as such), but we know that it's not. There are still a few episodes left for us to explore. Will they deliver the same height? Here's hoping... Next week (year LOL): Power ups abound... Mr. Pega returns... The true face of Don Armage! This does NOT really feel like our annual New Year's Clip Show, eh? PS: Once again, this was the final episode of the year. The show will be having its customary New Year break on Sunday, December 31st. Thus episode 44 will air on January 7th. That's next year, of course! LOL.

Episode 43 Score: 9,3 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: December 29th, 2017 - Version 3.10. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

[occasionalthoughtsofunimpor-blog]

Camp.

That one, simple, monosyllabic word, means so much to me.  It contains so many memories, so many people, and so many important moments of my life, it is hard to conceive how just one word could evoke so many thoughts and emotions.

This week, as we take the docks out of the chilly waters here at Camp Lakeview in Seymour, Indiana, it will mark 10 years since I first embarked on this journey known as camp.  I could never have imagined where the winding road would lead!

It was 10 years ago that I boarded a plane in Cleveland, OH, headed to the distant Sawthooth Mountains of Idaho, to discover what being a camp counselor was all about...I had never been to Idaho before.  Heck, I had never been to a camp before!

My story begins as I feel most great tales of adventure, calamity, and triumph often do, with that most primordial of masculine quests: impressing a girl.  Fall semester of my freshman year of college, while searching half-heartedly and fruitlessly for a summer job, I learned that the cute girl who lived down the hall in my grungy dorm, had plans to work at a camp over those months of freedom.  I had never been to camp before, let alone considered working at one!  But all of a sudden, it seemed like the only logical conclusion to my aimless search for employment was sleeping in a cabin with 12 other smelly human beings.  

Now here we must pause to gaze in awe at my infinite brilliance and cunningness.  I knew it would be too obvious, too mundane, not impressive enough, to work at any old camp, let alone the same camp that the cute girl was working at.  No, indeed not!  It only made sense to go spend the summer in some far-flung, mysterious wilderness...as far away from home, and her, as possible!  So on a Tuesday morning, having received a tip from my childhood Pastor (unaware of my motives, and who himself worked at a camp while a student) about an organization of many different Lutheran camps, I logged onto the interwebs, loaded a map listing all the various locations on it, and pinpointed the dot furthest away from rural Ohio.  

Camp Perkins, Idaho.

I took 30 minutes of spare time between classes to flip through the application and send it on its way to the camp.  The wheels were set in motion.  This unsuspecting maiden would be swept off her feet by my bold, daring, trek across the country into the great unknown!

If you haven’t already guessed, my start in camp ministry did not have the best of intentions.  Truthfully, even though I grew up in a faithful, Christian family; attended church and youth group every week through high school; my faith had taken a backseat in my newfound, liberated, college lifestyle .  Sure, I would try to read my Bible a couple times a week, maybe go to church a few times a semester, and for the most part hold to the moral principles I had learned to live by from my upbringing.  From the outside, you might even say I was being a model Christian.  But on the inside, in the heart that I know, there was simply very little room for an active, living, faith and relationship with the Lord.  Indeed, only 30 minutes after I finished my phone interview for a position at the camp, I was headed to a keg party with some friends.

As I prepared to venture to Idaho, the responsibilities leading Bible studies, and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, were the furthest things from my mind.  There were more pressing matters at hand!  Which hiking boots should I get to conquer those mighty peaks?!  Would 5 pairs of wool socks be enough??  Is this knife big enough to kill a grizzly?!

It was a warm, sunny day when I landed in Boise.  I debarked the plane in my favorite lime green basketball shorts, an ultra trendy t-shirt, and some nike flip flops.  After retrieving my 50 lb. duffel bag, bursting at the seams with everything I would need for the next 11 weeks, I crossed the Potomac river like General Washington (translation: walked outside), to meet my ride up to camp.  I sat down on my duffel bag at the arrival pick up lane and waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  In my continuing infinite brilliance, in the age before smart phones, I had neglected to write down a phone number to contact either Camp Perkins or my ride.  

After 1 hour, I began to worry I had given the camp incorrect flight information.

After 2 hours, I started calculating how long I could survive on the $45 in my wallet.  

After 3 hours, waves of anxiety started crashing down with the humiliating thought of having to recount the tale of my embarrassment and failure to the cute girl down the hall...

After 4 hours, the seas parted, and a chariot of fire (ok, a Subaru Outback) from heaven came roaring into the airport terminal and out popped a young man with a Camp Perkins t-shirt.  Salvation at last!

As we began the 3 hour journey from Boise to camp, myself and my driver, (Whose name was Chris, but at camp they called him Bash.  I liked that!) fantasized  of what adventures would await us this summer.  I also marveled at the scenery outside the car window.  If you have never been to Idaho, it is the most under-appreciated state in the entire country!  I’ve traveled to Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Arizona, Utah, California, and still, there is not sight more beautiful to me than the wild, untouched, mountains of Idaho.  However, as we ventured further away from the airport, I begin to notice a worrying sign along the road.  You see, we were still over an hour SOUTH of camp, and yet there was already a solid covering of this white, shiny stuff on the ground.  SNOW?!?!  It’s mid-May!!  It was 75 degrees in Boise!  In my extensive preparations, I had somehow overlooked this tiny detail...bring pants to camp.  I nervously brushed off this small oversight and carried on as if it was no big deal.

We arrived at camp in the waning sunset to the sounds of loud singing coming from somewhere off in the distance.  As we hauled our heavy bags across the property to our cabin, we gradually drew nearer to the source of the boisterous chanting, until we came to the top of hill where we could see a group of 40 some people singing and dancing wildly around a fire below.  What had I gotten myself into?!  These people were crazy!!  These people were something I was not!  They were loud, joyful, and couldn’t care less what anyone else around them thought!  They had a passion and desire to serve the Lord and live out the gospel written on their heart!  

These people were something I was not...these people were something I only conveniently pretended to be...

I was not the best counselor that summer.  In fact, I don’t think I was even a good counselor! Certainly, not when I compared myself to those around me.  I had never supervised kids before, I had never led a devotion before, I had never tried to console a homesick child crying in his bed.  There were so many things I had never done before, never even thought about before!  And all of a sudden, my life was no longer about serving myself, or doing what I wanted to do.  My life was about caring for these little  creatures (for some reason, I always seemed to get the youngest campers....), making sure they were having fun, making friends, staying alive, and learning about a faith that I wasn’t even sure I had.

And, through it all, the goods times and bad, the triumphs and failures, I was surrounded, supported, challenged, and loved by an amazing group of people.  My fellow summer staff.  I could tell you stories about the time I wore a gator skin suit and pretended to be a daredevil, or the camper who wore the same red sweatpants and sweatshirt for an entire week, or the boy who shot an arrow through his hand...the tales are endless!  But while those stories are entertaining (at least to me) and exciting, what was infinitely more exciting was the story of God’s working in my heart.

That summer, the Lord led me on a journey to discover Him.  I learned how the faith of a child can be the most amazing, beautiful thing you have ever seen.  I discovered that God does not only exist in church on Sunday mornings, but in the most competitive game of knockout you’ve ever seen, around the warm glow of a campfire, and even in taking camper Johnny to go pee at 3 freaking-in-the-morning.  I saw that God is merciful, patient, and abounding in love to the n-th degree.  I found a God who was working in me and through me, in spite of my less-than-Godly motivations.  

Camp.  

I believe in camp ministry because I am a product of camp ministry.  It is a place apart, where for a period of time, whether a summer, a week, or even a day, we can encounter the Lord in the rawness of His majestic creation.  It is a place where the concerns and anxieties of daily life seem to melt away; where cell phones go to die;  where sinners can go to find life.

10 years ago I first set foot on that hallowed ground that is Camp Perkins.  I have seen  countless victims thrown into freezing cold lakes.  I have been eliminated from more games of dodgeball and knockout, by seemingly innocent children, than I care to share.  I have met thousands of amazing people, each with their own unique story.  I have witnessed the Lord’s Spirit at work in innumerable lives, none more so than my own.  10 years later I am still at camp because I believe it is a place that changes and saves lives. It did for me.

I could never have imagined the journey the Lord would lead me on over these past 10 years, but I could never be more grateful.  I am beyond blessed.  As we head into this “offseason”, I can’t but to be excited for the even more amazing things the Lord Jesus Christ is going to do!

And as for that cute girl down the hill, well it’s a funny thing...I returned to school the next fall only to learn that she had transferred to another college!  Apparently she was not impressed.  

I guess my going to camp was all for naught after all!