#she's not evil she just thinks that if she says no she'll be tossed aside and left alone again

[cedarw00div]

Agnezes has no morals and says yes to everything, and that's why Astarion thought he could manipulate her through sex(she ended up befriending him but letting him ascend)

[asklesbianonceler]

sending you Sellen for the asking game ✨️

Favorite thing about character:

I mean aside from being a huge baddie I love the confidence and mystique that veils her hubris. She's written so well to keep you strung along, making you expect she'll be harsh and rude but then being nothing but encouraging and "honest". Her praise and thankfulness and constantly telling you you've made her happy or proud when compared to every other NPC is so poignant and clearly worked to make people feel they had a nice relationship with her. They made her allure so clear and it's easy to tell how she was able to lead so many scholars to their death despite it all coming off as her warming up to you and respecting you.

Love that she's also like, "Ugh. Seluvis. Didn't want to hear about that guy again"

I like that she seemingly just pushes Rennala aside in the library. That's a big woman. Did she do that all by herself?

Least favorite thing:

Weird rendered, overly sexy anime drawings of her that I see on Twitter.

Headcanon:

I feel like she had all of her peers and most of her professors completely won over except for Rennala. Like I truly think all of them were eating out of her hand until the end and Rellanas ascension to headmaster is what did her in hence her extreme dislike of the Carians.

Brotp:

I like the one sided tarnished thinking they're her bro kinda thing.

Alternatively the Brotp is my int tarnished and her just both sitting there as orbs at the end. They don't speak but their crystals are charging. Every so often one of them just makes an uncomfortable little noise. It's parallel play.

Otp:

I want to see some Sellen toxic yuri. I have nothing more to say on the matter.

Notp:

Feel like I've seen her shipped with Seluvis. When it comes to Seluvis I want evil old many yaoi or nothing. He's got a doll of her in his room. Don't give him the shipping satisfaction.

Unpopular opinion:

I have to be honest I don't engage in Sellen discourse to know what's unpopular. I do not think she had good intentions for you though. I don't think she could be wifed up. Genuinely it seems like we are being shown exactly how she rose to such respect in the academy in the first place and her banishment in a lot of ways saved her and she learned nothing from it.

Quote:

"Splendid. I thank you. This pleases me. It's been far too long since I found a fellow kindred spirit. You must have a fabulous teacher."

Love that she's a little cheeky, but oh boy does she know how to get what she wants

Song:

I think a lot of Blood Ceremony songs have Sellen vibes. Morning of the Magicians is a good one, but a lot have heretical witch motifs

Pic

Is this my favorite? No but she's an NPC who stands there and I just redid this part of the quest and Idk this is just funny to me. Her arms look so ragdolled. Like it's a "toss the Muppet" pose. Mixed with the face that can't show any emotion. I know she's going through it but with the mask on its just goofy to me. Why did they leave the helmet on for this bit? In hindsight I really think they should have taken it off...

[writingforaliens]

I don't really subscribe to the "Mystra groomed Gale" fan theory (we know Larian is playing fast and loose with official Faerun timelines, but she only reappeared in 1487). Their relationship was more along the lines of a PhD candidate and their department chair is one of the top researchers in the field and their advisor, who initiates the relationship. (Or maybe he's among the top researchers, but she's the one who controls funding and grants and publishing and conferences.) He walked into that relationship flattered and thrilled and proud, only to realize after a while that Mystra is holding his metaphorical grades and thesis and future research opportunities hostage. And what is he if not his genius intellect?

Mystra's attention was flattering, but she could just as easily move on to the next hot young genius with the Weave. So he has to do the only thing he knows he is good for: be a genius with it. He wants knowledge (don't we all), she's rightfully gatekeeping it, and he knows that if he pushes, she'll toss him aside, frustrated with him. We get the impression that she only told him to stop wanting, but didn't give any reason why. Maybe Gale, in hubris, didn't listen. But no matter. Gale is convinced he's only good for his Magic, and Mystra is only with him for it, so he tries to do what any of us would do: impress her.

Why does Gale believe that he's only good for his Magic? Because society groomed him. Society viewed him as the genius wizard. Teachers only praised his abilities. He gets attention not for his other skills or personality traits, but because he's an eight year old who can cast Fireball with ease at at time when Mystra has barely started reconstituting herself. Society taught him the only thing people noticed was his skill. Look around at how many former gifted kids hit walls doing undergrad or grad school, don't understand how to take notes or how to study because it's always been innate, and burn out. Being able to read collegiate materials is no longer impressive when everyone is reading collegiate materials. A huge part of the identity of gifted kids, praised since childhood on their academic talents, gets lost when they hit this wall or realize they're no longer special. (Trust me, being teachers' pet and doing top-notch academically gives you an ego. Doubly so if your family are academics, which we have some evidence that Gale's family is at least moderately wealthy and/or connected with other mages.)

Is Mystra's relationship with ANY of her Chosen a good thing? I'd still say no, unless they both can keep it platonic and mentoring. (I had a great professor in college who did just that: mentored me. My high school physics teacher is still a friend. He was a guest at my wedding.) As soon as romance or sex enters that relationship, it's gonna be a bad time, even if the romance is one-sided on the part of the mortal. It's inherently difficult, shaky ground for a relationship, because of the power dynamics. If you piss her off enough, she can take your connection to the Weave away, and the closer you are to the situation, the more likely you are to think someone deserves punishment. And if she does punish you, it feels like not just a fall from grace but also like you are particularly a problem. There are evil mages all over, and Mystra hasn't taken their powers (the Weave is True Neutral, but still...you think every mortal mage is going to understand that if you eliminate the evil users it actually destabilizes the Weave?). She's the only god who can't really punish those that dramatically deviate from her alignment, because of what she is the god of. Think about that. Every other god can say "you are not following my rules, get out". She can only say that to her clerics and paladins (5e can kiss my ass, paladins need a patron to hear their promise), maybe to her Chosen, but certainly not to anyone who uses her power.

I love Gale, but this really puts things in a different light.

[loosesodamarble]

Nostalgic Date

Summary: Nacht takes Josele out for a special date after he catches her reminiscing. Genre: romance Word count: ~900 A/N: This isn't a fully fledged fanfiction, more like an extended scenario. But I'm still tagging it with the fanfic tag because it's lengthy enough that I feel it's alright.

..........

One day, Josele is looking at some old pictures of her and the Faust twins. She takes her time admiring pictures of Nacht from his delinquent days. The bleached hair. The revealing clothes. The attitude. Nacht was sexy as hell back then and she's still thinking about it to this day.

Nacht finds Josele looking at the pictures and gets a bit self-conscious about his old look. He liked the way he looked back then. In the present, though, Nacht admits that he styled himself that way because it felt like a reflection of who he was: troublesome, irreverent, evil. It didn’t feel right to look exactly like the pure and good Morgen. Nacht still sometimes wishes he and Morgen weren’t identical twins.

Josele reassures him that the way he was back then and the way he is now, she loves Nacht all the same. As long as he accepts who he is, she'll love him.

Some time passes. Nacht has to go away for an extended period of time for work reasons. The day when Nacht is expected back home, he doesn't arrive. Concerned, Josele contacts him via communication device. Nacht answers but he's brief with her. "I'll be gone a little longer, but when I get back, I'll take you on a date. Promise." Josele accepts the offer.

Josele is at the base when another one of the Bulls, let's say Magna, finds her and is all "Miss Josele, there's this guy at the door asking for you. He seems like trouble if you ask me."

With her interest piqued, Josele checked through the window. She sees Nacht, but looking completely different. His hair is bleached once more. He's wearing fashion more in line with his delinquent past. It even looks like he's smoking a cigarette. Though he quit cold turkey after Morgen's death, to Josele’s knowledge at least. Josele goes outside to make sure she's seeing things clearly and it really is Nacht.

When Nacht looks at Josele with a flirty little grin. "What's the matter, babe? I told you I'd be taking you out when I came back, right?"

"I... Uh..." Josele's face lights on fire and she's flustered and not sure what to make of Nacht being like this. "Y-you did..."

Nacht tosses aside the "cigarette" he had in his mouth (it was just a lollipop stick) and saunters up to Josele. "What're you waiting for, babe, put on something nice and then we can hit the town in style."

Josele gets changed into something a little nicer for the date. She's still very unsure of what's going on but she finds herself liking Nacht’s act and looks forward to the date.

Nacht keeps up the cocky, flirty delinquent persona for the whole date. He's a little more daring and cheeky than he normally would be.

His arm is either around her shoulders or around her waist. And when his hand is down lower, he dares to give her ass a tap once in a while. He calls her "babe" or "doll." His flirtations are much more forward and a bit risque, perhaps even raunchy when Nacht leans in real close to whisper directly in her ear. At some point during the date, Nacht just pulls Josele into an alleyway for a spur of the moment make out session.

Nacht isn’t merely acting shameless and cheeky though. He’s also managing to blend the sass with more classically romantic gestures. He sneaks away for a moment only to surprise Josele from behind with a kiss on the cheek and the gift of a rose. One that was dyed black. "I got an aesthetic to stick to, babe. You understand, right?" Later, he buys Josele a crepe to eat as they walk. And when a bit of cream gets smudged on her cheek, he wipes it off for her and licks it off his thumb. "Not as sweet as you taste though." The wink when he says that makes Josele choke on the crepe.

It does feel like Nacht's old delinquent self is back, with a slightly softer edge. And the act is taking Josele’s breath away, making her blush and giggle like she’s a young girl again.

When Josele and Nacht finally return to the base, the facade finally comes to an end.

"So how was it, darling?" Nacht asks without an underlying snark. The overly confident smirk he’d had during the date is replaced by his tender smile. "I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

"I wasn't uncomfortable at all! In fact, the date was..." Josele bites her lip before continuing. "A breath of fresh air. And somehow nostalgic too."

Nacht glances off to the side at that. "We weren't together back then..."

"But it was fun to experience what it might've been like." Josele takes Nacht by the hand and pulls him in for a kiss. When they part, she speaks again, "Thank you, Nacht. It really was fun." She reaches up to touch Nacht's bleached hair. "You really do commit, huh?"

"Only for you, darling."

Josele is happy that Nacht has accepted that he can be a good man despite his past faults. But she will readily admit that seeing him be a bad boy again, just for one day, has made her fall in love with him all over again.

[ladyarrowhead]

Rena (Re)-Watches Downton Abbey: Ep 1

Rewatching Downton Abbey and deciding to just boringly write down my observations, thoughts and feels. Nothing is important and I am not re-inventing the wheel - but it is nice to write down thoughts!

The Episode

I love the Titanic Sinking as THE moment to start the show, I remember it hooked me before (does this count as a nautical pun). And I will never get tired of a good inheritance plot - though if it was good or not remains to be seen given that I only vaguely remember. I think I read an article about the legality of the entail and I want to find it again. We also find out that money has been tight in this family (?) and that initially Robert persued Cora (who is utterly gorgeous) for the money.

The arrival of Mr. Bates and the consequences in position both due to his injury as well as Lord Grantham's and his aquaintance rightfully have everyone be a bit confused - and that this starts a long series of Granthams suddenly crashing into the servant's kitchen. Still, when Obrien just kicks away his cane? Holy shit! I gasped!

30 Minutes in and my brain tells me "technically Downton Abbey is just watching people talk" and I am okay with that.

We are also starting the schocking event of the Duke arriving and being immediately given sleazeball-vibes. I thought Mr. Pamuk would arrive this season but he's not there? Whoops? Sleazeball Duke whose name I immediately forgot still bothers me just by breathing.

I think what happens when binge-watching things is stuff melts in together. Instead the biggest "reveal" in this episode is Thomas being gay ? And ofc the reveal of Dan Stevens as Matthew.

The Characters

Grantham Family slowly being introduced and taking their pace with it is usually really nice to me, though I am already dreading how long it will take Edith and Mary to have decent conversations with each other. Goodness did that frustrate me - right here we find out that Mary did not care much for her engagement emotionally and that Edith very much cared for Patrick (and man am I happy that never happenned, this would have just made them awful to each other if Edith would have had a thing with Mary's husband even if they both seem to be like it would have been fine). I am interested to see who I like more in the end, I remember in the end deciding on Edith and then the movie happenned and I have no memories of the movie.

I also remember watching this mostly for the women and Lady Violet and Lady Grantham are still having my heart.

In general I remember being endeared to everyone of the initial cast. I watched Downton Abbey specifically the first time because I wanted to focus on the servant context more and I feel the downstairs' side of the cast often has the more engaging storylines!

The moment Mr. Carson speaks I just get happy - I remember really liking him. What I do not remember is him being unable to look Mr. Bates in the eyes because of his leg - how the heck DID you make it to calm and collected butler this way? He certainly has character! I forgot Carson seeing the Granthams as "the only family I have got" .

Anna's kindness touched me a lot during the first watch, and her witnessing Bates sobbing was just so heartwarming. It's still right there but, this time knowing this is to set them up romantically, I kind long back to when I thought their relationship would be platonic - I think, ultimately, that would have made the scene stronger. But I know I've come around to them before.

It's also nice seeing O'brien and Barrow scheming evil plots during their smoking breaks.

Mary vs Edith Awfulness Scores

While considering to award points during their conversation as of Mary saying she'll happily have tossed Patrick aside and Edith would have taken him, Edith replying she would have gladly done so means they both would have gotten a point here. Given that this is episode one, I am generous and decide to forgive.

Edit: Nope, I will not forgive this but we're just grouping this as "pettiness points" so we are not ignoring it.

Point for Edith for revealing at dinner in front of most of the family that her sister Mary took the Duke up to the attic and into the servant's rooms.

1:2, Edith is currently in the lead.

Other Stuff

I remember by now that Lord Grantham is played by Hugh Bonneville and whenever I see him playing someone else (most recently alongside @pagegirlintraining as Mr. Rushworth in Mansfield Park), I am sad that this is now my first connection because I think he does an amazing job.

Mary Crawley waking up and looking just done is a mood.

The Main Theme is so beautiful, I will never tire of it.

Edith still wearing dark colours when meeting the Duke while Cora, Mary and Sybil are wearing tender violet tones.

Bates' actor (Brendan Coyle as I have googled) I think has amazing skills just with his face alone, I love how he can go from soft to capable to intimidating. The range of him is already there in the first episodes!

Quotes of the Episode

"No one wants to kiss a girl in black."

"If you're feeling homesick there's no shame in that. It means you've come from a happy home."

[davishater]

Manga SPOILER: I SO had the feeling Alice would be bad news and was just playing them. I'm so excited how the events will unfold. If she detests Milo for being "human" and showing emotion she must dislike winter too for treating her well in the past. The way she talked about Winter made it seem like she thinks Winter is gullible for believing her act. Winter has always seemed like the most human part of the moriarty family who only did a job bc she had to. She even gave clues to ron when she kidnapped amamiya to solve the case, despite telling Milo "she'll go all out this time" - if that is winter going all out she's clearly not doing it bc she gets pleasure out of hurting people. She also gave ron the files about the bloody trip case. I for one want to see winter join ron in taking down the moriarty family. Afterall she said she doesn't consider herself part of the family anymore.

Before this chapter, I actually thought that she faked her death (with help), then got her act together and started working even harder for revenge against Milo. It's weird how a two year old is like, "I'm bored! Guess I'll act dumb, since I'm so smart!" Like, bruh! I wonder if she has that thing where she remembers everything since birth (yes, it's an actual thing, but it's super rare)? 🤔

You're right! Oh my gosh, imagine hating people JUST because they're nice to you! 😭 Alice doesn't deserve Winter's love and care!!! Give back all the kindness she gave you!!!! Winter has seriously been all melancholy because she thought you were dead!!! 😭 I wonder how Winter feels about all this???? Does she feel played? Does she feel like a fool? Does she feel hurt? Is she angry? Sad? Happy that Alice is actually alive??? Maybe everything all at once?

ALSO! Milo is like, "Does Winter know?" WHICH IMPLIES THAT WINTER AND ALICE WERE CLOSER THAN THEY WERE WITH THE BROTHERS!!!! Also, when Alice says, "She just thinks of me as her poor little sister." It comes off making it sound like, Winter felt like she HAD to take care of Alice, but I'm not sure if that's true. I'm actually the youngest in my family, so I can't talk from an older sibling point of view, but I honestly just think Winter took care of Alice because she genuinely loved her. And yes, Winter is definitely more human than the others. I've also had the thought that Winter didn't enjoy killing people and she was just doing what she was told (that's where my oneshot of her and Eli came from). I wonder if she didn't see Ron as part of her family, because she didn't want to see another good man turned evil? 🤔

Yeah, I'm excited to see them teaming up, too! Winter would be such a great ally to have, and I've tossed aside my bias with that line. She's got the in's and out's with the Moriarty family, she knows the layout of their home, she's a criminal so she probably can get inside Alice's brain a little better than Ron (but at the same time, Alice was fake her entire life, so who knows with that), and she can disguise herself (and possibly others) in any way she needs to. Dang, Ron and Toto be pulling in an unstoppable team right now.

[stemmmm]

you do not, and i cannot stress this enough, have to hand it to aunt eva, murderer of her entire family. both sides, generational trauma, yadda yadda, she killed her whole own family. i get youre coping with your abusers but she just sucked man. i will acknowledge that these arguments are being made about witches in order to explain beatrice's deal and make people understand her but beatrice requires no excuses because she has swag. eva on the other hand is swagless. i rest my case

🥺 "uu-uu" was an incantation to make maria's mom love her more? 😭

"bullets are nothing compared to the power of the 7 sisters" the two sisters who were absolutely killed by bullets:

ange dies of 2 bullet wounds

i always have a hard time with stuff about bullies because the thing is, no amount of sympathy, no amount of reason is ever going to get through to them. so its nice when this says you have to kill them. you have to kill them.

wait. the purpose of this part wasn't to examine the aftermath of everything on the island? we aren't exploring the abandoned mansion? whats the poinnttt. i guess maybe that can happen in the future since as far as we know angie of 1998 is still alive and there

okokok! calling out beato as a fake shit witch! ok!

god i hate sakutaro's sprite, i will say it every time. that thing should've stayed dead so i dont have to ever see the sprite again. that aside tho, is this gonna be one of them gold truths i heard so much about? beato's throwing out red like crazy

hm. so it seems in addition to being upset about battler *vague hand gestures* she also considers the game unwinnable which. yeah this round was stinky. anyways i guess she isn't allowed to take a piss break anymore with that house arrest anklet (shackle chained to what i choose to imagine is like. a fancy lawn chair)

bern: "don't worry guys i found battler" *tosses him on the floor like the wet towel he is*

HM! he IS kinzo's grandchild! i think he is kyrie's son!

yuh oh, in order to get battler back in the game ange just agreed to keep this game going on in perpetuity forever. well. believe in your brother i guess... OH SHE DIDNT TAKE THE DEAL, GIRL IS DEAD OK..

just like in life, beato has become a prisoner, forced to entertain people against her will. just like she has learned from life, the only release is death, so she'll just wait for it to come for her. not great! help beato! battler, see her plight! oh god she's so resigned to her fate that she's put on the mad witch's laugh! no!

"i should have continued for all eternity with battler still fooled" the dangers of showing sincerity and vulnerability even once...

nooooooo shes bringing out the gravitas again... in the end she's the dancing monkey...

"my golden witch, beatrice" you say. "my"

i know beato is losing really fuckin bad right now and she's a sore loser, so it's pretty easy to read all of this behavior as just her wanting to run away from a losing game, and maybe that's part of it too but... god, would it be this bad if it weren't for the prisoner shit?

"ive killed these 18 people over and over but ive never once been killed myself!" girl thats simply not true. you said yourself that wasnt true. maybe its pedantry on the definition of being "killed" but

thinking about the way that I'll excuse everything for beatrice but still have no respect for eva or rosa or any of the other "evil witches" even though the game is pushing so hard for me to see through their eyes and forgive them or whatever... and what i've come to realize is that the entire goal here is to assert that beatrice Didn't Do Anything. we criticize her for killing 18 people over and over again but in the same breath we argue that she didn't even touch them. she can do things as gruesomely as she wants... she didn't do that. she wants the blame, she wants to be hated for it... for some reason. but she didn't do anything, didn't kill anyone. she's not a real witch. so there's no hate i could have for her, just pity.

ahh so we're ending this with beato begging to be killed, imprisoned, and with the two other witches declaring that there will be no version of the game where beato ever wins and there can be no miracles. this only means that beato must win at all costs.............

episode 4 post, starting with my current theory

ep1 ep2 ep3

lambda so kindly revealed to us and reminded beato that she gave beato her power, beato is not a real witch. interesting, given that beato claims to be a thousand years old but we'll ignore that for now. lambda insists that beato has to keep battler in this game for as long as possible or else, because she wants to keep bern trapped for as long as possible, so we've got a new goal post popping in yet again. beato not only wants to defeat battler and make him admit she's a witch, but now she has to wear him down more slowly too and there's even more pressure on the fact that he must not ever win.

this is further complicated by ange coming in with the intent to solve the case and save the family on rokkenjima as fast as possible and not fuck around. its funny timing considering the last game was the first one where battler was actually playing in a way where he could bring himself to blame family members and therefore... actually get somewhere with it. feels a little mean to him to come around the instant he's got his shit together and be like "you suck at this. move out of the way" but he took it well and honestly, he's not in any rush like she is

because in conflict with all of this is the fact that beato and battler are absolutely both losing the plot. they've both become way more invested in the other person's emotions and wellbeing in a very visible way. battler came to her rescue despite being mad at her and beato cheerfully burst into the room to try and lift the mood when she was lied to that battler was in a bad way. (chefs kiss to that btw)

so this is all the observation, what's the theory? there is a chance that... since beato is still pushing hard for battler to affirm she's a witch, that doing that may somehow give her real power. at this point I'm pretty squarely on the magic is real side, bern and lambda are pretty firmly and obviously real witches with actual power. bern declaring ange a witch (especially after ange apparently trained herself as one) and bringing her over has all but completely confirmed that for me. however, the argument that we've been having isn't really "is magic real"... it's "is beatrice a witch", and given that her powers apparently aren't her own, it seems that she's actually not. the ritual exists as a way to give beato real powers... potentially. this may not even be true, but she does get stronger each time it's successful so there could be something to that.

my additional source for this theory is the red truth that we couldn't hear used against evatrice. perhaps she wasn't saying that witches and magic weren't real for any reason, but that evatrice's powers weren't real or her own. "you couldn't do any of that magic stuff because you don't actually have powers, I did all of that" or something. after all, in the end of their fight before battler showed up, the servants were all saying that beato was the true golden witch in a pretty confusing matter. the only thing that makes it hard for me to believe beato was so deep into it that every single thing was an act is the fact that we've been shown very clearly that she can't lie well. even if she didn't say so herself (which she has), the magnificent facial expression swapping she does makes it particularly blatant. that makes it hard to say exactly how much of the last arc was trickery vs how much she was genuinely struggling. my view of it is that she did in fact hand over her borrowed powers, not expecting it to break quite so bad, and when she got through to the end on pure dumb luck, she flipped the script to make it look like she didn't just barely scrape through.

in short... this is lambda's game. we're just playing it

now for my next question: does virgilia actually exist or what

[aj-anime-blog]

Deca-Dence - Review!

Wooooo Deca-Dence!

Deca-Dence was a summer 2020 anime, and that’s when I originally watched it! I've watched it about a dozen times since, as it landed itself right on my roster of my favorite animes, if not my favorite of all time.

Deca-Dence is an original piece, so no manga source material (whaaat!) and comes from the genius brain of Yuzuru Tachikawa, the director of other fan-favorites like Mob Psycho 100 and Death Parade (a review for Death Parade is in the making!). Original mangas are such a hit-or-miss recently, and I think that this one got the bullseye!

What's our concept?: Set in the future, the world is now plagued by monsters known as Gadolls. In an attempt to keep humans safe from them, mobile fortress Deca-Dence was constructed, where Gears, who live near the top, fight the Gadolls, and Tankers, who live at the bottom, provide support from inside Deca-Dence. Our protag, Natsume, is a Tanker who wants to fight with the Gears, but her prosthetic arm keeps her out of battle. That is until she meets Kaburagi, an older Tanker who seems to know his way around fighting and might have more to him than he lets on.

It's gonna be hard to go through this without spoilers, but I promise that I'll keep it spoiler-free until the section at the bottom!

So overall, what do I think?: 10/10! I've already said it, but Deca-Dence is one of my favorite animes of all time, and it deserves the spot! It has incredible characters, a story that keeps you hooked even through twists and turns, and a pace that manages to cram so much plot into only 12 episodes without feeling overwhelming or rushed! Deca-Dence presents ideas that, at the surface, may seem overused or old, but spins them in such a way that they're completely original. It follows through with character relationships, making them worthwhile and fulfilling.

Let's start with the story this time!: 10/10!! It's going to be really hard to explain the beauty of Deca-Dence's plot without spoiling it, but I'm doing my best! I really do recommend just giving the show a try, though, as it's really worth it! (Don't just drop it after episode 2, like a lot of people did :( That's just judging it wayyy too early!!)

Deca-Dence has a story that's thrilling and new. Everything that happens builds off of itself in a way that's natural and smooth. The elements of the story, no matter how different they may seem, play their part and work together well. The show isn't predictable either - don't go in thinking that you know what's going to become of it. Each twist feels surprising and new without feeling like they're coming out of left field.

I won't say much more in fear of ruining it, but Deca-Dence's story holds up well, and with its strong cast of characters supporting it, it becomes absolutely suburb. I think a lot of people fell into this pit of seeing only the beginning and tossing it aside, but no matter how strange the concepts in it may be, they wind together to form something really unique!

So those characters, huh?: 11/10, I love them so much! I'm a character nerd through and through, and Deca-Dence sends my little character-obsessed heart wild. The protags, Natsume and Kaburagi, are both fascinating, have incredible development, and engage in a character dynamic that is so natural and well-written that I never doubted it.

To be honest, Natsume doesn't have a personality that's anything new. She's young, determined to a fault, naive, and a complete sweetheart. She wants to fight the Gadoll and she'll do anything to achieve that dream. She's not a natural at fighting but her motivation to do so makes her believable and relatable. She's looked down upon because of her prosthetic arm and forced into a job that she doesn't like, but she never gives up on her goals. Even though she's so simple, her interactions and energy make her lovable and a wonderful protagonist.

Kaburagi follows the washed-out warrior trope, as he's an older man assigned to clean-up duty who keeps to himself and never shows too much emotion. While this type of character can sometimes get annoying, the show gives Kaburagi enough time to show his real feelings and explain how he got to his position. This proper development keeps him down-to-Earth and shows him as even more flawed than Natsume. Kaburagi's motivation, which I can't explain for spoiler reasons, is entirely believable and explains perfectly why he decides to put up with Natsume, even though she's his polar opposite.

The relationship between the two characters is balanced and beautiful. It's given the proper time to grow, mature, and ends up being extremely worthwhile. Natsume relies on Kaburagi, as he sees the potential in her and continues to support her in ways no one else ever has, and Kaburagi understands that Natsume is everything that he's trying to rebel against. Their relationship is emotional, runs deep, and leaves you wishing that there was more of them to watch, even after the show has ended.

The villain! The villain. I cannot talk all that much about the villain at the risk of spoiling. He is evil. I really really hated him, and that is a very good thing because it means that he's well-written. His motivation makes sense, his actions make you want to strangle him, his design was really really good! He's not the most interesting thing in the show, as his character is really only there to move the story along, but not every villain needs to be incredibly deep for a show to be good.

Lastly, our supporting characters! While none of them are as wonderful as Natsume or Kaburagi, they're still interesting and hold their own. They play important parts in the show and all of their interactions with the main two feel natural. Their conflicts make sense, their resolutions feel well-earned, and their personalities are all unique! For a 12-episode anime, there's a larger cast of supporting characters than you would think, and nearly all of them are memorable and loveable.

Time to shut up about characters, what about the art?: 9/10, ooooh yes the art! Deca-Dence is gorgeous! It's animated by studio Nut (bwahahhaha), who haven't done that much else in the anime world. Still, for a relatively new studio, it's absolutely amazing! The characters all have unique looks that make them stand out and the fight scenes are to die for. They lose a point on the CG, since it's a little bit less than amazing, but again, for a new studio, it's definitely not the worst I've seen!! (Admittedly, I also don't like CG much at all, so I'm always harsh towards it when it's used).

Deca-Dence switches between two styles that vastly contradict each other, one which is a colorful, happy-go-lucky style, and one that's the more typical anime style. I'll speak more about them in the spoilers section, but they do a wonderful job at maintaining the tone of the show, as to not let it get too dark, and forming a clear divide between the events of the two parts.

Oh goshhh the Gadolls look so cool. I'm so obsessed with cool monsters in anime and woah they look awesome!! They're original, with cool designs that I haven't seen elsewhere. The show could've so easily slapped in some pretty typical-looking dragons or wolves or whatever, but they instead spent time on these epic creatures, and it's so worth it! It makes the setting that much more unique and allows it to stand out from other animes.

Surely there's a flaw in this anime? The pacing, maybe?: 9/10. Yeah, I would argue that the pacing is Deca-Dence's weakest point. Not that the pacing is particularly bad compared to other shows! I still think that, for a 12-episode anime, it does a wonderful job of fitting in a large amount of plot into only about 5 hours! But, at some points, parts felt rushed or confusing, as the show would zoom into them. I never felt like I was truly lost, though. Even if I did wish that there was a break from the action, I never found myself really thinking that the show was leaving me behind in the dust. It's not the kind of show that you can turn on and leave running while you multitask, though. Blink for too long and you might miss something important, which can ruin some of the hard-hitting twists that the anime works so hard to build up.

OK! Time for spoilers! I beg you, go watch the anime before you read past this, because it's totally worth it!!

Woahh episode 2 am I right?? I thought that I clicked into the wrong anime when I began it, it took such a wild turn, and so soon in the anime too. This is what I really mean when I talk about a show not being what it appears to be! Again, I really encourage you to watch it for yourself, but if you're that stubborn on reading this through before you turn it on:

Deca-Dence is not about the heart-wrenching battles between Gears and their desperate attempts to keep humanity alive, because Gears are just avatars for cyborgs! You see, there's a civilization of cyborg people who are living above the Earth, who log in to fight in mobile fortress Deca-Dence as a game. So the Gadolls are genetically grown as prey for the Gears and the entire story surrounding Deca-Dence's battles are scripted. Crazy right!? The best part: the Tankers aren't in on this at all. You heard me: Natsume and her human friends have no idea that Deca-Dence is staged.

From here, Deca-Dence has two distinct parts: we'll call them "Natsume's half" and "Kaburagi's half". Natsume's half refers to the mobile fortress, the Tankers who live unaware of the cyborgs, and the art style that premiered in the first episode. Kaburagi's half is the Solid Quake organization, the Gears who are avatars of the cyborgs, and the goofy, stylized art style with big lines and bright colors.

The twist and the diverging sides of the story set this show up as not your typical sci-fi anime, but as something a little deeper. The stakes are the same, as humanity is in just as much peril as it was before - it becomes abundantly clear that the Gears and cyborgs don't care about them - but the name of the game completely changes as you realize that our so-called "heroes" aren't really all that heroic, and there's a lot more going on.

Kaburagi is, of course, one of these cyborgs, cursed to live among the Tankers because of a mistake he made while playing as a Gear. Now, he's in charge of eliminating "bugs", or mistakes that the system finds. He's upset with his life, frustrated at what he's doing, and contemplating suicide. But when Natsume walks into his life, a little girl that the system considers legally dead, Kaburagi sees a chance to rebel, even the slightest, against the system. He's supposed to kill Natsume, but instead, he takes her under his wing, determined to protect what he's been instructed to eliminate. This development gives their relationship a deeper meaning, even if Natsume doesn't know it.

Deca-Dence does a wonderful job at showing the watchers both sides of the story but keeping Natsume's side in the dark. Even though we see scenes from Kaburagi's side, Natsume knows nothing about them. When Kaburagi leaves after Hugin kills his avatar, Nastume doesn't know where he's gone and has no reason to believe that he hasn't run away. There's no way she could guess that Kaburagi's new form - his weird orange Gear avatar - is the mentor that she once knew. And when Kaburagi, back in his original form, is killed in front of her, she really believes that he is dead. When Natsume finds out about the truth of the Gadolls - that the world she knows is fake - her horror is palpable and realistic, because there's no way she could've known any better.

Kaburagi's world has a goofy style to it, with the cyborgs looking cartoonish rather than realistic. While it might initially seem off-putting, I think that it ends up balancing the tone of the story much better. Consider the hellscape that is the reform facility that Kaburagi visits. Imagine how dark it would've been if it was not in a silly style! By keeping the style cuter rather than realistic, the show doesn't dip too far into dark and gritty, and I really liked it!

It also set up this harsh divide between Kabruagi's half, where things are easygoing, done for pleasure and fun, and not nearly as harsh as Natsume's world (Look at the name of the series! Decadence literally means living in excessive luxury!). Even when the cyborgs are in their Gear forms, which are drawn in Natsume's style, they're still a lot more colorful and vivid, showing that their lives aren't as harsh as that of the Tankers. The art styles reflect the differences between the two halves and give them both distinct tones and personalities!

& finally, let's take an in-depth look at one scene!: I had a really hard time picking what I thought summed up the series in a single scene. In the end, I think that Natsume and Kaburagi's discussion at the end of episode 7 was the best. Here, we see a culmination of a lot of the character development going on. Kaburagi, in this scene, is in a Gears avatar that Natsume doesn't recognize, meeting her for the first time since his normal avatar was killed. Natsume's been working with the Tankers to protect them from Gadolls that infiltrated the fortress, and she's motivated them all to rise up and fix the hole in the fortress themselves.

Kaburagi has encouraged Natsume to be a stronger person, even though she had to be independent and not rely on him any longer. His pessimistic view on the world - that they'll never defeat the Gadolls - has rubbed off on her, but it's only made her more determined to be stronger to stand up to them. In this scene, we see her breaking down as she considers that Kaburagi might be right, and that she'll never kill them all, but that she needs to continue fighting.

Though Kaburagi previously doubted Natsume and her endless determination, he now feels filled with the same motivation. Natsume has convinced him, time and time again, that he can't give up, and so he decides that he's willing to do anything to make sure that she never loses that hope. He wants her dreams to come true, and he knows that she can't accomplish them alone.

This perfectly shows the effects that they have on one another. Natsume is now stronger than she's ever been: independent, able to take down Gadolls on her own, and determined enough to patch up the hole that no one else thought could be fixed. Kaburagi, in stark contrast to his suicidal thoughts from episode two, is now completely devoted to make the world a safe place for Natsume. Their relationship has shaped one another into being the best versions of themselves, and this isn't even the end! They still complete their growth in the last few episodes, but I've rambled about them enough.

We're done!: That's my review of Deca-Dence! I really believe that it's one of the masterpiece animes in recent years, and I wish it got more attention. I'm sure that there's plenty of anime out there like this one - forgotten diamonds in the rough - that I'd love to dig up and fawn over. Tell me if you know any! Or, if you disagree with my review, tell me where you think I'm wrong!