#soma isn't soma anymore :)

[beevean]

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Illusionary Dance

[internetskiff]

I've sometimes seen this sentiment, especially among reviewers, that SOMA's WAU ""monster plot"" contributes nothing to the main game's story, and that the storyline would infact benefit from the WAU's removal. If you ask me, that couldn't be further from the truth. The WAU is at the root of everything. Frankly, it's the main reason the game's moral dilemmas are.. well, dilemmas at all. If the WAU wasn't making monsters, wasn't there to warp the life around Pathos-II as it saw fit, the game wouldn't have even started. Pathos-II would've just remained dormant forever. Simon wouldn't be there, and neither would any of the obstacles he faces on his journey to preserve humanity. The main reason the WAU isn't directly beneficial to Earth is exactly because its understanding of "life" is so skewed. Its not just bringing things back - its bringing them back incorrectly. Every single "monster" we meet builds a case both against and for the WAU's continued existence.

The Construct shows the WAU's failure to understand humanity in the physical sense, shoving a Human brain scan into a misshapen robot body and calling it a day, leaving it to babble to itself as it aimlessly wanders the halls of Upsilon.

The same could be said for Carl Semken and the other Mockingbirds, though to a lesser degree - though capable of speech, they're still very delusional and oftentimes end up going insane. Still, in some ways you see the WAU's understanding of human psychology progress with each new mockingbird - they become increasingly coherent and increasingly sane, Catherine and Robin Bass being great examples. While the Construct has lost so much of itself you can no longer tell who it used to be, the other Mockingbirds have their sense of self intact. With the WAU's unreliable nature cemented, we move on to its attempts at preserving humans physically, with Amy Azarro being the first proper example Simon gets to witness.

She's kept alive in what seems to be a perpetual state of discomfort, and judging by the structure gel slowly overtaking her I believe the WAU may be slowly converting her into one of the Fleshers. Its keeping her alive, yes, but its doing so at any cost necessary - it doesn't matter if she's in constant pain as long as she doesn't flatline. Its treatment of actual organisms is practically an inversion of its treatment of the Mockingbirds - instead of prioritizing the mental wellbeing of the subject, the WAU prioritizes their physical wellbeing with little to no care for the mental state its "patient" is in the entire time.

Fleshers live and breathe, but they seemingly aren't "all there" at all. The lights are on, but no one's home anymore. All they do is wander the ruins of the CURIE and lash out at anyone who enters their territory - the WAU has basically reduced them to animals.

Terry's been driven insane from all the structure gel infesting his insides, and though his goal was "technically" benevolent (putting everyone into a permanent dream state where the WAU could make them live the best possible versions of their lives), he achieved it through incredibly violent means, conducting what was basically an attack on Theta and causing its downfall. So far, its attempts at preserving humans physically have simply resulted in increasingly grotesque and violent monstrosities - but I would argue you see that begin to change when Simon reaches Omicron.

When you reach it, you see the aftermath of a particularly gruesome procedure WAU had carried out - everyone's blackboxes have exploded, turning their heads to mush. We find out that one of the employees, with the help of someone particularly close to the WAU, had figured out how to poison it. They have been receiving "visions" and "messages" from a comatose Johan Ross - the WAU's "AI psychologist", someone it desperately tried to restore from a comatose state by manipulating structure gel with electromagnetic fields. Either the WAU deliberately retaliated when it figured out the poisoning plot, or it had simply overdone it when restoring Johan Ross - sacrificing an entire station's worth of lives to bring someone back. Either way this shows a tremendous amount of intelligence on the WAU's part - and also paints it as either exceptionally cruel or exceptionally empathetic depending on the perspective you view it from. Either it considered Johan so important to it that it was willing to sacrifice most Omicron staff, or it was willing to violently retaliate in order to preserve itself. Either way, Omicron houses what I believe to be a sign of the WAU's steadily improving understanding of humanity - Dr. Johan Ross.

He has been restored with both his physical health and mental faculties (relatively) intact. He isn't violent, and he perfectly understands what condition he is currently in - but despite that he doesn't seem to be physically suffering. He is still driven to eliminate the WAU, but it seems to be less out of personal suffering and more out of fear in regards to the suffering its other creations may go through. I believe he's an example of a semi-perfectly restored human - both him and Simon himself. They're both cases of, as Catherine puts it, "a sound mind in a sound body". But although the signs are there, there is no outright definitive proof that the WAU's creations will only continue to get better.

And that's what makes the game's final moral dilemma so compelling to me. The whole game has been providing us with both evidence and counterevidence towards the WAU's idea of restoring humanity. Now, it's up to you to act as its jury and executioner. By killing it you either stop it from torturing the memory of humanity, or you doom humanity to extinction in all senses of the word. By keeping it alive, you either doom the remnants of humanity to an eternal torturous existence, or you give the WAU a chance at creating something new. There is no way of knowing what choice is correct - because you don't know what the WAU is thinking. You never get to. You don't know its plans, you don't know if it even has the capacity to actually learn from its mistakes, hell, you don't even know if its capable of thought - but here it is. Making things. Terrible things, but there's a chance that it'll only get better with time. Simon himself is evidence of that chance. It has already managed to make what could be classified as a "complete" person. And if you kill it, Simon's going to be the last "complete" person it managed to bring back.

[so-bitya]

Whitewashing in Anime - Agni ft. Cithis

Browns of the Same Shade

Hello again! I decided to revisit this topic again now that we have Agni's official appearance in the anime. I also wanted to go over some aspects that I did not get to include in my first post.

In the end, Agni also got lightened! His skin tone was always somewhat darker than Soma's in both the anime and manga appearances. Yana does describe his appearance as a "dark-skinned woman" in her genderbend sketches. So, for the anime to lighten him this much to such an degree is disappointing.

The skin diversity in the anime has been pretty lacking so far. Once again, A1 studios was not perfect, but they did manage to give all three Indian characters different dark skin tones, while this anime has every Indian generally the same lightened shade.

(every indian character in the anime are the same skin tone... cloverworks stand up, you can't let a-1 studios beat you like this)

Personal opinion of mine, I feel like animation studios aren't willing to play with skin color values as much anymore. I remember even seeing white characters being various shades of brown, especially under certain lighting and environments. Unlike now, when every character looks bleached the second they hit the sun.

I also wanted to review what I think of Soma's appearance. Soma's skin tone isn't any darker than it was in the teaser shot sadly, so we can't blame the lighting. I already was expecting it, but it's still a shame.

One positive feature I'll give to the anime is that Soma's nose isn't pronounced all the time. In certain scenes, his nose isn't as sharp as it would be for other characters. I believe that's just the style for the anime and its dependent on the shot.

Anyway, I felt this image was pretty on topic with Soma and Agni's situation and just anime remakes/reboots in general lately:

Brown ≠ Grey

Something I'm embarrassed I forgot in my last post is saturation! I mentioned often how darker skin tones tend to be neglected, but not only that, but the color! The vibrancy in the skin, the life!

A common feature I noticed, especially in East Asian media, is how they avoid the "brown" in dark-skinned characters, by constantly making their skin tone duller, ending up with more grey-toned skin.

I often see art advice for digital artists that they should pick desaturated colors or colors in the "grey zone" as to not overwhelm the art piece. Which is fine most of the time! But when you apply that advice for brown skin, what you get are mostly grey tones, and end up having your character look like a zombie.

Here are some colors I randomly picked. The colors on the left are those sandy, dull grey tones I was talking about. If you want to get those richer, deeper-toned browns, you need to pick colors with more saturation like the ones on the right.

Now of course, color is relative and you can't just color pick your way around without considering how it fits in with the rest of the piece. You can even end up washing out your brown character despite choosing a strong brown color. You have to consider the background, lighting, undertones, the environment, and how they'll affect your character. There may even be times desaturated colors work better, but you have to at least consider why it works "better".

Let's take a look at everyone's favorite manga artist right now, Ryoko Rui! Ryoko Rui is praised often for her diverse character roster and creature design, however I always found her darker skin tones rather... lacking, as such for the elf Cithis.

(I color picked her skin tone and it matched my light grey shades above lol)

Her skin tone is very washed out and grey. She not nearly as dark as she appears in the manga. Once again, there's that dissonance between skin tones. Now take a look at the manga's grey tones.

When you see this, what skin tone do you imagine for her? Do you imagine the greyish, washed out tones from above or do you imagine something more akin to these black fae models I found?

(credit: @jaharajayde on twitter and @glassmarigolds on pinterest)

I'll give Rui credit that her color illustrations of Cithis improved and she's gotten better giving Cithis stronger undertones. I really like how the fandom has been illustrating her too, there's been some amazing fanart of Cithis such as these (the lighting in the last one is lovely).

Just adding saturation helps so much with skin tone. I even found an fan edit of Soma that added more color back into his skin, and he looks so much better for it.

One might say, "Oh what's wrong with having grey skin tones in a fantasy story!" Well... nothing really! You can have green or purple or blue characters if you like. But when there's already a startlingly lack of brown characters in a fantasy story, it can get awfully uncomfortable seeing the story portray different fantasy "races" with obviously non white racial features... but don't want to include any black/brown skin tones.

(fantasy artists would sooner give an orc dreads than a human, forget a "noble" creature like an elf... such decisions only reveals the artists' viewpoints)

It all just comes back down to avoiding that dreaded "brown". When it comes to these "reasons", we have to question whether they aren't just more excuses to not include black and brown people in stories, which makes me come to my next point:

Essence of Brown

There's some severe misinformation I want to address about Soma. I saw a fan a while ago say that Soma has a white mother which explains why he has light skin.

Firstly, that information is false. It was a concept Yana had for Soma, but quickly decided to drop it. Soma is not half white.

In the early drafts of the series, Soma had a white mother and, thus, white skin. However, this was later omitted in final revisions.

(quoted from the official kuroshitsuji wiki as an excerpt from the character guide)

Yes, you can have mixed parents and any kind of skin tone really! But it feels... dishonest to create "reasons" why the manga's first major Indian character, joining a cast of white people in a European country, should have white skin as well. Especially considering Yana's artstyle, without Soma's skin tone and Indian wardrobe, is his physical characteristics like his face even distinguishable enough for him not to be mistaken as white?

Imagine I wrote a story set in France, and teased an appearance of an African character in story that only had white characters until now, only for him to be completely white in appearance, and identical to every other white man, except for the occasionally exotic dress and other drab stereotypes.

What would you think? That his race is only a dressing to fulfill an exotic need at times? That he's a supposed homage to another culture, but it's wrong to have him actually look like the majority of people who made said culture? Why is he even this way?

Did he have a white parent? A white upbringing? Lived in a white culture, lived a white life? Maybe he was separated from birth! From his hometown, his country, his people, anything to justify why my "brown" character is so divorced from that part of his identity, from that side of the family whose skin tone runs a little too dark.

And I think that's why Yana decided to drop the concept of giving him a white mother. Why go through all those loopholes and explanations? Why all that justification for him to have white skin?

It's just another way to avoid the "browness" again for a character, what makes them brown in the first place and related to black/brown cultures. It's what we should consider in the future when we find ourselves coming up with "reasons" why black/brown characters should be anything but themselves.

Whitewashing in Anime - Soma ft. Usopp

[lyss-butterscotch]

SOMA's ending just made me go wow,humanity is screwed and 3rd Simon is stuck on Earth.How is it still so satisfying? You willing to try it out?

It's not satisfying i hate it but i also love it. It's such a double whammy with how they presented the ending too, what a major tonal shift.

I probably should spoiler this lmao

Humanity IS screwed it's been established from the get go that everything is going to shit. All humans has been uploaded to robots and the ARC and even the last living human wanted to die. There is no salvation here.

I think it's just like what Katheryne said. 'They're in the stars, and we're here'. She knows it's not possible for everyone to be saved here, it's not possible for THEM, current Simon and Katheryne, to be saved. But even in the most bleakest moment of humanity. Even if you want to call in question if whatever's in the ARC can even be considered human anymore, some of the hundreds and thousands of years of human history still managed to survive. That a version of Simon and Katheryne survived. That is what is hopeful for her.

I think it's a strange moral dilemma, where you'd of course want to sacrifice yourself for the good of humanity. But in the case of SOMA, you are both sides, you are the sacrifice AND the saved. And if they are the same person, why can't YOU be the saved. This is why people had started to believe killing your human body would mean you 'transfer' to the one in the ARC even though its physically not possible.

It doesn't work that way, as Katheryne said.

This is also why I both hate and love the coin toss idea. It... technically isn't. Simon 2nd got copied to make Simon 3rd. Simon 2nd WILL stay as Simon 2nd. But Simon 3rd, having all the memories of Simon 2nd, will think HE is Simon 2nd when he isn't.

It's the matter of perspective too. We change perspectives to be Simon 3rd to follow his journey, so Simon 2nd became the sacrifice for the greater good. He's 'not us'. But if we stayed with the perspective of Simon 2nd, then it wouldn't be so easy to accept that we became the sacrifice because Simon 3rd is 'not us'.

Just like what Simon 3rd said when he launched Simon 4th. He's 'not us'.

It's a matter of perspective.

[gwaaaaar]

Black Butler racism (or just overall bigotry) is the funniest shit ever (no it isn't. It's awful) because. Black Butler somehow got better. And worse. Spoilers under the cut for Baldroys backstory btw.

Please try not to take this as an entirely anti-black butler sort of argument. I was thinking about this in passing and thought it was something worth discussing. So DON'T COME AT ME!!!

I'm gonna start off with the easiest and earliest examples of racism.

Soma and Agni-! Wow... so I'd argue in the beginning Soma was based off of, I wouldn't say harmless stereotypes, but stereotypes that weren't applied with malice. He's a prince with like. 26+ siblings so he never really had a chance for the throne.

The 26+ siblings is... an unfortunate common stereotype applied to brown people, more specifically muslim. Soma is from Bengal and depending on where, there could be a high muslim population. But Soma is hindu. Either way, it's not. Good. To portray brown people like this. Like having 20+ kids that is a bad look. Indians do have big families, I should know, but not to that extreme and it has weird implications. Also when Soma tells Mey Rin to strip because painting naked women is better... yikes

Here is the harmful part: his and Agni's worship of Ma Kali is treated as a joke. Like ohhh look at this scary demonic hindu goddess!!! Even sebastian is weirded out and he's a demon!!! LIKE WHAT THE FUCK. :/

BUT. but. This. PALES IN COMPARISON TO THE SINOPHOBIA. Holy shitttt Lau... oh my god he is like a stereotype from mf Tintin. The opium den and the Chinese girl in skimpy clothing is crazy (and the implied incest??? What is ran mao to him again??? Theyre like siblings right???)... It really fucking sucks that the way hes portrayed almost implies that Chinese people wanted the opium crisis rather than you know. Having it pushed onto them by the British . I can be upset about Soma all I want but damn... maybe indian people did get the good end of the stick.

And, it's weird right? It's weird how one minority that normally isn't treated seriously can escape with relatively minor stereotyping compared to. TO THE SHIT TON OF OPIUM. Of course there's a lot of historical things going on, but wow the sinophobia is nuts.

I do think the main problem is somewhat classism. Victims are treated brutes for retaliating. Like that one miniarc where indian immigrants were tying up British nobles that visited India because they were angry that they were used and tossed aside and can't go back home. Soma, one of the few indians treated with sympathy, is a prince. I WILL NEVER FORGIVE WHAT THEY DID TO MINA... she was rightfully upset. The caste system is a terrible thing and she wanted to escape that, and she's the bitch? She isn't gentle to Soma, but she's in the right.

Black Butler has evolved as a story significantly since the beginning and when I say it's kind of gotten better I mean, the characters have evolved so much they can no longer rely on stereotypes. We have to take Soma and Agni seriously, they are no longer just some funny foreigners. LAU DOESN'T EVEN DO OPIUM ANYMORE AFAIK... that was like 50% of his personality and she got rid of it lmao.

edit: i lied he still does opium its just that isnt his personality anymore.

And that's a good thing! They shouldn't have been portrayed in such ways in the beginning. Stereotyping is just objectively shit writing. But also yeah shitty thing to do to minorities.

I think one of the most beautiful cultural references made later on is post Agni's death, when Soma has had enough and finally snaps. The panel that says "he has gone down the path of Maa Kali" is so poetic and my roman empire . It's a good reference back to the deity they worship, but instead of her being treated as something to ridicule or be scared of, it shows how Soma's personality, and background has lead him to who he is today. I think it's beautiful! I'm happy Soma is in the story because of that.

The same can be said about the slight transphobia with Grell in the beginning. NOW I know in the beginning, there wasn't a particular word for trans women or people in general so a word referring to effeminate/gay men or crossdressers was used. This isn't about that, language changes etc etc. Its moreso how she was portrayed as like, a sicko serial killer. Like yk, negative trans stereotypes. But over time she was recognized as a woman and gets to be her own character. Which is awesome! It's good that shes been viewed more postively over time.

Now... here's where things might be getting worse.

Baldroys backstory pisses me off. The idea that native americans were like ravaging his hometown and killed his innocent family. He even says something like how he knows their land got stolen so their reaction was probably justified but he doesn't care. It just. It just feels like siding with the colonizers you know? Like perpetuating these stereotypes to give people a reason to be "afraid". I know conflict was pretty rampant back then but there's just certain things people should be careful with when portraying... and I don't think Black Butler did a good job. I was really surprised to see that it was from a recent chapter bc it honestly read like something from the older ones.

AT LEAST we finally got a black grim reaper wooo mama

[andromebaa]

Just the Two of Us Horror Inspiration MegaPost

It's nearly Halloween so I'm going to spend an embarrassing amount of time explaining every single horror reference and inspiration in Just the Two of Us that I can recall. I'll try to include links where I can for more context.

Story in General

The biggest inspirations for Just the Two of Us were Silent Hill, Black Mirror and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. I've always adored psychological horror and sci-fi horror and I think it reflects in this fic. Chapter 1

One of my favourite Silent Hill games is Silent Hill 4. The game is focused on a man who cannot leave his apartment. The concept of a house that cannot be escaped from is really fascinating to me and I think it played a big inspiration for the house in JtToU. I pretty much consider one of the game's songs, Tender Sugar, the unofficial theme of the fic. Time dilation in fiction is super interesting to me. I don't think it was necessarily a huge inspiration, but The Jaunt is a beautifully creepy short story that probably rolled around in my mind while I was writing this part. Chapter 3 Okay this isn't scary or intentional, but I legitimately cannot read the hydrazine cup scene anymore without thinking about that one scene from The Princess Bride. I can't believe I did not see that sooner and now I can't stop thinking about Kokichi screaming about how Greek philosophers are all morons. Chapter 4

Again, not intentionally a reference, but that scene in The Thing is Kokichi stuck in the chair lmao. Chapter 6

When the fake Shuichi talks to Kaito over the wall, one of his lines was taken directly from Waiting for You, another Silent Hill 4 song. Chapter 7 The short burst of static that Kaito hears from the phone at the end of this chapter was directly inspired by the radio from Silent Hill 2. It spurts out creepy, distorted static when an enemy is nearby. Chapter 8 Okay the good stuff now. This chapter, especially the first half of the house (a distorted version of Kokichi and/or Oma's apartment), was directly inspired by the movie Skinamarink. That movie follows a young child trapped in a house with no windows or doors and a weird, malevolent force lurking over them. I really wanted the whole vibe of that section to reflect this. There was also definitely heavy inspiration from Silent Hill, particularly Lakeview Hotel in Silent Hill 2. The design of Shadow Child was inspired by the Larval Stalkers in Silent Hill 1. Chapter 10 Mani-Kun is a love letter to every single creepy mannequin in every horror game ever. Love you, you absolute freaks <3 Chapter 11 Miu's copy being stuck in P.A.L was definitely inspired by a bunch of different things, especially SOMA and this fantastic animated short To Be. Love some of that existential am I real or just a copy sort of thing. Chapter 12 The horror movie that Kaito mentions during the game of Two Truths and a Lie is Event Horizon. I honestly don't know how he could have sat through it, let alone enjoyed it. He probably had nightmares for weeks afterward. Chapter 13 Miu standing in the corner like a creepy fuck was inspired by the ending of the Blair Witch Project. Her whole transformation was greatly inspired by AM from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, particularly the whole ghost without a machine idea. Chapter 14 This whole chapter was basically created as if it was a level in Silent Hill and Kaito was the protagonist lmao, especially when he explores the hospital. It even has a boss battle! I feel like the loop and the leech spouting terrifying stuff was definitely inspired by P.T in particular though. The dirty bathroom and the fact they are chained up in it is a very very obvious Saw reference lmao not even trying to hide that. Miu mentions she could turn one of them into a soft, jelly thing - that's taken word from word from the ending of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Chapter 16

This chapter, particularly when Kokichi is still trapped in the debug room, was definitely inspired by Omori. Just the concept of a character in denial over a very bad thing which makes them blank out any awfulness in an act of self-preservation. The whole talking to another version of yourself was also inspired by the Stephen King story Gerald's Game. I love the idea of an isolated character having to converse with themself in order to stay sane or rationalise things. The creepy Judas Cradle chair from the hospital flashback was definitely Saw-inspired. Also it was an actual torture device that has been used in the past so that's fun. Chapter 19

Momota's personality and traits were heavily inspired by Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. The scene where he ties up Kokichi and the whole conversation he has with Miu in the snowy cabin are probably the best examples of this lmao.

Also a guy chasing after his partner and kids with an ax in a bloodthirsty rampage in the snow? Guess we need to tick off yet another Stephen King reference lmao. I swear that one was unintentional though. Oh yeah, their kids are named after Satoshi Kon (creator of psychological horror masterpieces like Perfect Blue and Paranoia Agent) and Koji Suzuki (author of The Ring and Dark Water).

Chapter 20

Kokichi's transformation into a leech was heavily inspired by I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Again, another reference to the soft, jelly line as well. Momota's rant about how much he hates Kaito was kind of inspired by AM's rant .

That's about it! At least, what I can recall ahaha. But yeah I love horror with all my heart and soul <3

[candyn-gutz]

ok anyway i promised u my internet idols and i am here to deliver. don't mind that there's going to be a lot of the same song... ehehe... i also haven't listened to the unit songs for the two units so like. i cannot send u any of those until i do

so !! lets just start with strpri (strawberry prince) guys i listen to! (riinu's my favorite from strpri btw)

riinu ! the red one. transmasc and i love him so much. if riinu can do it i can do it ! his liddle guy is a dogboy :). shoujorei, magical girl and chocolate, loveit

root ! the yellow guy. very soft kinda voice. love this guy. his youtube channel is mostly minecraft its funny. darling dance, bug

colon! little blue guy. also got that soft kinda voice that i enjoy. devil janai mon

satomi ! pink. has a more mature sounding voice compared to the other three. got a nice bit of power while still being kinda smooth. kinda nice tbh. shoujorei, kamipoina (godish)

nanamori ! purple. had to stop being a utaite for a bit after he kinda got doxxed or smth. like satomi has a more mature voice but still has that smoothness to it (also his voice just sounds neat) one of my faves tbh. he does solo stuff more now :) also he's the founder of strpri!! yellow, loveit, vampire (rlly shows off his power)

nanamori technically isn't active in strpri itself anymore, but he's still active as a utaite and as strpri's like. manager? kinda? so he counts. to me <3

also! lavie (root, colon, satomi, riinu)

KnightA! lets ignore that my favorite enstars unit is knights, and just move on...

vau ! red guy. leader of KnightA. i have mixed feelings on his voice but he has such a unique vocal style that i listen anyway (and im coming to enjoy his voice...). he's got a lot of interesting vocal stuff he does. gets very loud and growly sometimes its impressive. devil janai mon (he sings in a lower and a higher register to mimic deco and pino's styles, and even while singing high he can still growl and emit so much power behind that voice), loveit

soma! yellow. soft but mature voice! usually sings in his normal register but has a few times where he gets a little higher or a little deeper and growly. knightA loves their powerful voices with those growls man. ough. bug, non-breath oblige, gehenna

mahito ! blue. he doesn't do solo stuff very often but has a kinda unique voice to me... very smooth yet a bit low. you don't expect the voice that comes outta that liddle blue guy. goodbye declaration

teruto ! pink. very soft and gentle voice. i enjoy it a lot actually. he does a lot of solo stuff and has covered a lotta songs :) kyukurarin, please play-bite, magical girl and chocolate, goodbye delcaration

shiyun ! green. VERY powerful voice. loves those screams and growls. he gets growly a LOT. when not being all growly he has a very smooth voice, kinda high at times but he's also very good at singing lower ! usseewa, bug, apocalypse now, n ah ah (vocals on this one are very whispery and airy, and then he gets loud for one part towards the end :3)

yukimura ! purple. not actually part of KnightA anymore bc they wanted to go solo, but left the group on good terms! very soft voice. almost feminine sounding? good at hitting highs bc of it. very pleasing to listen to them tbh. also they're kinda controversial in japan bc they're uh ! a fucked up little guy ! read their page on the utaite wiki abt that lmao. also their gender isn't known so :3 ! tensei ringo, ifuudoudou, shoujorei, devil janai mon (w/ utu-kun)

multisongs ! unfriendly haters (shiyun + teruto), identity (vau + yukimura - their voices contrast SO much)

and !! misc guys.

utaranuki ! tanuki guy. got a nice voice. i don't have much to say abt him skdghds. urataneko, ifuudoudou, lavie, magical girl and chocolate

utu-kun ! name literally means depression-kun. most low energy covers ever i love it. also if you run his titles thru google translate they are literally so funny. smooth voice, pleasing to listen to :3 internet overdose (this song in utu's low-energy vibe is so funny tbh), lavie, vampire (shows off his low-energy vibe so well. also the full title is "i, who is afraid of blood, covered [vampire]"), bug (blood in the image, btw),

soraru ! you know soraru. everyone know soraru. soft and smooth voice. ghost city tokyo, kamipoina, menhera janai mon (w/ mazeta)

mazeta! i didn't listen to a lot of his stuff but like he has such a unique vocal style a lot like vau. soft voice with an interesting accent but also just fucking goes ham sometimes. hibana, ego rock (w/ utu-kun. shows off his "go ham" voice where he gets growly and like. sharp. for lack of a better term), usseewa (got some Go Ham mazeta in it :3)

ivudot. i don't listen to a lot of his stuff. has a very smooth like. anime protag voice. but also can sing in a higher and kinda softer register ! nee nee nee, shoujorei

whalewood! fascinating name tbh. i haven't listened to a lot of his stuff tbh but ! soft smooth voice. does some fun vocal stuff at times mostly w/ post-processing effects. gekkou (w/ suisoh), villain, traffic jam

suisoh ! also soft !! i do not listen to a lot of suisoh's stuff though so. yanno. ph, venom

visibly exploded when i saw this in my inbox/pos

thank you so much for being so through with them!!! i love hearing the thoughts. that are being thunked oughbnn ♡♡♡ i will definetely update u as i go through them hoho

but for now i'm really eepy so gonna try to get some sleep...

[birdforce]

i love when reviewers say soma isn't scary. like sure its not scary anymore to you after playing for 10 hours and you've figured out how the ai works but let me tell you those first 2-3hrs when you meet the construct and the flesher the proxy for the first time are scary as hell

[thereader-radhika]

Ravidasan and Soman Sambavan at Tanjore, just before Ravidasan leaves for Kadambur

"What about Maduranthaka Thevan, then?" "Let him stay alive if he wants. It will be a good thing if an imbecile like him sits on the Chozha throne for some time. The Pandya Emperor has to come of age, isn't it?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Soman Sambavan meeting Maduranthakan and recognising him as Veera Pandyan's son

I was wandering around the garden . . . He approached me and said, “Prince! I've come here with the sole purpose of seeing you. Periya Pazhuvettarayar and Kandan Maran sent me to fetch you. A big army is getting ready to support your claim to the throne." I became quite suspicious of him.

I replied, ‘Why should I come out if there's a big army waiting there? Why can't they come here, defeat the Kodumbalur forces and place me on the throne?’

“Prince! That's not all there is. There's a dangerous secret connected with your birth. No one else will dare to tell you about it, but I will,’ he said.

‘In that case, come, we'll leave at once,’ I said.

To which he replied, ‘I have to give the Prime Minister a piece of news. Let me first go and tell him, while you stay hidden in the tunnel.’

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Aha! Who was that fellow in Sundara Chozha's garden who said he would tell me the secret of my birth? . . . While making an attempt to kill Sundara Chozhar, he killed that mute woman. He cannot be blamed.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The New King

When Chinna Pazhuvettarayar fell into the chasm, cries of 'Long live Amarabhujanga Nedunchezhiyan!’ rose above the noise of the falls.

Imagine Soman Sambavan sharing his exciting discovery with Ravidasan

Ravidasan: Soma, how did the mission go?

Soman : Failure, as usual. What about you?

Ravidasan: Success 😁😁

Soman : What? (Hugs Ravidasan) Yay! Yay! The sinner who took the head of Veera Pandyar is dead. Yay! Yay! Did she do it? Really?

Ravidasan: Well, I am not sure. All those fools were behaving like they haven't met a woman in their entire lives. Hiding, shouting, pleading, crying, choking each other . . . She too was screaming her lungs out. Anyway, our meen-vaal pierced his evil heart. I saw it with my own eyes.

Soman : Oho! Now listen to this. I might not have killed the usurper but I discovered our lost treasure.

Ravidasan: In Lanka?

Soman: God! No! How do I explain this? There is one more - an adult man, the heir to our throne, no, no, I mean, our Emperor. That mute woman has two children.

Ravidasan (gasping) : Explain

Soman: Ravidasare, think. What was the reason for Veera Pandyar's confusion? How did we recognise Nandini Devi? The mother and children look like they were cast in the same mould. You just have to meet him once.

Ravidasan : Did he come there in search of his sister? Why didn't you bring him with you?

Soman: There is a small problem. You see, our Emperor is . . . is . . . how do I say this? Maduranthaka Thevanrrr. Yes, Maduranthaka Thevar is Veera Pandyar's and the mute woman's son.

Ravidasan: Get lost!

Soman: I know, we have to find a new name for him. You just have to see him once. Just once. That woman . . . what did she tell us? Girly? Idiot? Idiots are those blind morons. How come they didn't realise that she looks like our Emperor in a longer wig?

Ravidasan (to himself) : Perhaps that's why they sent her away and never let him come out. (Aloud) If what you are saying is true, the mute woman won't trouble us anymore. Any woman will support her own son over her cheater ex's son.

Soman : Yeah, about that . . . She had to jump in between and spoil everything. She couldn't have survived.

Ravidasan: Good riddance. WHAT! Oh no!

Soman : Don't worry about that. I am willing to accept any punishment our Emperor decides. That will console Devi too. Don't tell her anything now. (They don't know that Madu doesn't give a damn about Mandakini's death)

Ravidasan: Hell! Even yesterday, I told Paramu that she is Veera Pandyar's consort. First things first. We need to retrieve the Emperor and convince him. Then make arrangements for your execution. The little Emperor will stay hidden untill we can be sure of his safety.

Soman: We only have to give a hint, he will come running.

[madraleen]

Black Butler - Canon Eps Rewatch Commentary (part of season 1, season 3, book of murder & book of the atlantic) (*spoilers for the manga up until now, ch.210)

season 1 -*twirls hair* hiiiii sebastiaaaaan... teeheee -YUUKI KAJI WE MEET AGAIN! finny. -oof lizzie. i miss her -i'm very used to jun fukuyama as blue exorcist yukio and bungo stray dog ango, and hearing his grell voice makes me go "?!?!" -"this person is a hard worker," "that person is a hard worker," lies, all lies, have you seen how hard sebastian is working for his meal -oh dude, i don't remember how we met soma anymore, so seeing him this serious is so odd -is soma really like that? i remember him with more oomph, more pizazz, more... MORE from the manga :(

season 3 -heh, ep1 doing The Most to give us a who's-who -it's... it's the circus troupe... :") -miyano mamoru, miyano mamoru -SNAAAAAAAAAKEEEEEE -doll. -was i conditioned from the beginning to like dazai's voice acting? because i remember liking joker the first time i watched s3. i remember he stood out. was it a predestined path -YES! YES THAT'S SOMA, YES! YES!! -i have a problem and his name is miyano mamoru. HE'S SO ENTERTAINING -yes yes, this is the ridiculousness and playfulness i expect from black butler's sillier moments, thank you! -doll... if i catch you, doll... -WAAAAIT, first there's ciel on vincent's left and then there's ciel on vincent's right, IT WAS THERE ALL ALONGGGG -THERE ARE LITERALLY TWO CHILDREN, HOW DID I NOT NOTICE BEFORE THE REVEAL. the way despicable kelvin's eyes track the two children, the way it SEEMS like ciel's just doing circles around his father and has mood swings, that is insane omg -i love the phantomhive staff. and how ironic, isn't it, that they stay and protect ciel for the same reason the circus troupe stays with and protects their father -this is one of my favorite arcs, if not the favorite. i actually feel bad for the antagonists. they're criminals, but they're more complex than that. they have reason, conviction, a backstory, relationships. they're the villains, but they weren't bad people, only desperate. like, seeing beast's face when she's about to be blown up, seeing joker cry, it actually breaks my heart. also my heart breaks for ciel and his ptsd. and the fact that he chooses to let the children burn, it's so character-defining. i really do love this arc. a painful arc. -seeing ciel laughing at the workhouse, sebastian should be like "my meal is turning gourmet" -yeah, gimme a minute. i need a minute after this, i'm sad.

book of murder -you know what i love? yes, first and foremost sebastian and ciel are demon and prey. but that aside, as they are now, in their roles of master and butler, they're such a team. such comrades. -ciel about to give the performance of his lifetime over "dead" sebastian. and it's a damn good performance, i never tire of it. it hurts. and the staff's reactions are genuine anyway, and they're lovely -ciel to snake is like, "if you stay in the mansion, that's the fastest way to meet joker and the others again," and it's like, yes, yes it is, but not in the way you think -.-

book of the atlantic -dear lizzie. "sure, a man with snakes works for my fiance, no biggie." doesn't bat an eyelash. i miss lizzie. -oh man, seeing ciel protecting lizzie and lizzie trusting him knowing what comes next in the manga makes me tear up a little -i love lizzie. she makes me tear up, her story is so. -how ironic was it that it wasn't even our ciel that told lizzie strong women are scary? -i love this arc too -yes, yes, this, let's not forget that ciel and sebastian are funny together, and sebastian loves teasing ciel, and ciel loves to give sebastian a hard time. -undertaker, if villain why so pretty! -tsk, i love ciel and sebastian. -alright. i'm all ready for the new season :)

[the-crow-binary]

🔥 for ships ? Both as in specific ships or shipping in general

Welllll :3

Talking about ships in general, i'm all for shipping whoever you want (in terms of fictional characters, that is). The way i see shipping, it's not so different from engaging in certain activities with other consensual adults/people of the same age as you, wether it being sexual or not. It can be a safe way to experiment whatever you want, when it's not just straight up fun/interesting. (you go girl, ship that abusive relationship ! write about it ! make it worse why don't ya <3 as long as you know it's an abusive relationship and don't condone it irl, ofc <3) People just need to stop forgetting the line beetween fiction and reality everytime something they don't like happens (I'm not into quite a few things but i also don't care if others are. liking something in fiction doesn't mean you like it irl. i mean i'm an afab loving women who simps for fictional men lmao, there's many things people are into when it's fictional but not irl, like, psychopath characters. i just don't see why suddenly what you like in fiction automatically means it's what you like irl when it comes to more "sensitive" subjects)

NOW ONTO SPECIFIC SHIPS (everything from this point forward is Castlevania only because i'm obsessed):

Mathias x Leon: LEON TOPS. MATHIAS BOTTOM. TIRED OF MATHIAS TOPPING. PRETTY BLOND BOY HAS A MANHOOD TOO LET HIM USE IT ON HIS BESTIE !! (not to mention i think Leon is physically stronger than Mathias, wich is kinky, and also, smoll top toll bottom <3 well the height difference isn't that big but still)

Walter x Joachim: Same as Mathias/Leon. LET JOACHIM TOP !!! Let Walter manipulate him by making him feel in control even though he's just a pawn in his mischievious hands <3

Alucard x Maria: Is it even a popular ship ? Idk. But i don't like it. I don't feel the chemistry, Maria going after him seems too forced, it's like a cheap DracuLisa knockoff and THEY didn't get ONE SCENE together lmao (though Richter was cute for encouraging her to go even though he must've been in SHAMBLES after the traumatic events he just went through)

Dracula x anyone: i am once again advocating for letting Dracula switch once in a while. Lisa definitely pegged him

Soma x Mina: Big meh for me. Especially because i prefer to imagine Mina as being Sarah's reincarnation rather than Lisa/Elisabetha even if it's probably not the idea intended lol (Mathias x Sarah ? That sure is an awkward crack!ship) But also, none of them really impress me... eh.

Idk what over ship to talk about... but in terms of ships i have that are unpopular, well...

Dracula x Mathias (i have two reasons to ship it: one because it's hot. two because it can make for a nice story about self-love and the bitter acceptation of your fate <3)

Dracula x his Castle (I AM ONCE AGAIN STATING THAT DRACULA WILL NOT STUCK HIS PP INTO THE WALLS. THIS IS A STORY OF ABSTRACT LOVE)

Isaac x Trevor (?? is it even unpopular idk. It shouldn't be. I mean have y'all seen THE STABBING SCENE ?? And have you seen it in JAPANESE ??? WITH THE ASMR KING ISAAC ??)

Isaac x Grant (it started as a joke but i'm not so sure anymore)

Mathias x Walter (They did not get to interact in the game and it should count as a CRIME. I WANT TO SEE THE SCENE WHERE MATHIAS SEDUCES WALTER WITH HIS WORDS AND PROBABLY OTHER THINGS AS WELL. I WANT TO SEE THE TWO MANIPULATIVE BASTARDS TRYING TO GET INTO EACH OTHER'S HEADS AND PANTS. THEY !!! GAH)

Will I dare include a ship with Benedict ? Yes i will. BB x Isaac they're just so good for each other

Anyway. It's all that comes to mind for now <3

[beevean]

I know TvTropes is edited by different people, but I would dearly love to understand their general logic.

You find this in the YMMV page of Lament of Innocence:

Mathias is not afforded much grace for acting out of desperate grief, to the point that apparently some thought he didn't even deserve a second chance in the form of Soma.

Now, I would argue that LoI doesn't even expect you to cry over Mathias. It's very obvious that he has become a despicable person, using his friend as a pawn, causing the death of said friend's fiancée and not shedding a compassionate tear over her, and even believing he would be joined in immortality. But yes, I agree, Mathias is pitiable only to an extent: "wife died" is not exactly a compelling argument for rejecting humanity to the degree that he did.

... but then what about this, TvTropes? From the YMMV page of NFCV?

(you'd think Mathias would also get the moniker of Jerkass Woobie. nope)

One, NFCV didn't come up with the idea of Dracula lashing out due to the grief of Lisa's death. It comes from SoTN. NFCV only put more emphasis on it. Stop giving the show undeserved credit.

Two, really? Really. N!Dracula is really that sympathetic, that most of the voices he gets are all about how much of a poow bapyboy he is? What the hell do you mean, "he makes a good case against humanity"???? This piece of shit wanted to exterminate humankind and vampirekind (because he was aware that they'd all starve to death, he just refused to give a fuck) because one village didn't rise up against a bishop! When he yells "there are no innocents, not anymore", do you take him seriously?????

He does get a Moral Even Horizon voice, but it feels half-hearted, to say the least:

If you think it's hard not to sympathize with him and that being brought back as a treat rectifies it, then by definition it's not a Moral Event Horizon, because the very definition of the trope is that it's an act that makes a character completely and utterly unforgivable, on par with Griffith sacrificing the Band of the Hawk and raping Casca, to make a famous example.

(funnily enough they do the same with Lenore under the same trope, saying that apparently she understood that she crossed the line and tried to make amends. There's not, however, mention of Isaac killing innocent people and defiling their corpses for his selfish purposes. Inch-resting.)

I really, really am made uncomfortable by the serious apologism N!Dracula gets, and only because he cries a little more than his game counterpart. "He makes a good case against humanity", huh? Do you have any idea how many genocides started from motivations that were seen as reasonable? How many dictators tried, and are trying, to kill many for the perceived sins of few? Yes, I am fully aware that N!Dracula is a fictional villain, and he benefits from a cool design, suave voice, and multiple Pet The Dog Moments, I'm not really saying that his fans condone real crimes... but just like Lenore fans who justify her abuse and rape with real life rape apologism arguments such as "Hector consented at first" or "she wanted his own good", the rhetoric used here is honestly appalling.

But yes, on a pettier note, I'm also salty that game Dracula isn't afforded the same sympathy, even though he too is bereaved by grief. He just doesn't express it in a pitiable enough way. It's easier to go all 🥺 at a depressed man moping in a chair, isn't it? Ignore how said depressed man has hired two misanthropes to Forge demons to routinely send to slaughter innocent humans! It's off-screen, after all :) you don't need to see it :)

But you know who gets called Unintentionally Unsympathetic in the show?

And here I say what I said about Mathias: there is nothing "unintentional" about this, the show has zero pity for the peasants who were slaughtered. Much like you, person who roots for Dracula, the writing too painted them as stupid because believing the CHURCH BAD, and therefore, like all stupid people, deserving of gruesome punishment. Peasants are low-class and religious, and as such deserve death. "Cool" murderers like Dracula and Isaac, who are so intelligent and above the petty masses, instead deserve everything on a silver platter.

I really despise this show and the messages it sends. And the general anti-game bias, of course.

[deathfavor]

Anonymous said: Kuroko, if you couldn't serve under Tatsuomi anymore but had to choose another grand general to work under, who would you prefer? What would your rankings look like?

" One of the other grand generals? " Her lips press together in a slight frown of thought. There's many implication to her not being able to serve under him for some reason. She can think of a dozen right off the bat. But it isn't abnormal on occasion for one party to have to join another. Who would she prefer? That wasn't a question she'd ever contemplated.

" That is quite the question. " She doesn't have many direct interactions to pull from in regards to how she might work alongside them. " Perhaps Tsubasa Tokugawa? " Kuroko considers it for a moment. " I would be interested in learning how she approaches her role and how her band functions. I can respect her approach to matters, and while she is often firm in her standings, she is not immovable and can change her opinion or stance as new information comes into play. " So then, where did she go from there?

" Naotora Takeda next. I am familiar with working alongside him after all and he has been of vital help in the past. I appreciate his willingness to go along with my plans and work with me despite not being a member of his band. I think it would overall be fine between us. Third would be...Shishikado Hojo. His knowledge is unparalleled when it comes to Oni and it would be a valuable experience. That said...I am not particularly inclined to those customs. " Or a living castle. That and his sleeping would probably annoy her. " Last would be Soma Date. Not out of any dislike or disrespect. " It's a quick note that she adds as soon as the name has left her lips. " Merely that I feel like I would not be as useful to the Date as I would be to other groups, and I dislike the thought of simply being present and playing no role. It feels like freeloading. " It leaves an appalling taste in her mouth. " Perhaps if he said otherwise, I might adjust my ranking, but as a whole, the Dates are already extremely well trained and organized. " And while Kuroko was known for her strategies, they seemed to be flourish completely fine on their own.

[somatheking]

King of Hearts: background

Name: Soma Kawamura 

Nickname: King (that’s what he makes people call him during his game)

Faceclaim: Lee Do Hyun

Soma’s story is brief, because there was nothing notable about his childhood or adolescence; a normal kid, with the right amount of friends and the sufficient love from his parents, who lived nor the happiest nor the saddest life. He attended private school, and went on to study medicine at a private university. He wasn’t following in the footsteps of his parents, a lawyer and a math professor, rather, medicine had been his vocation ever since he was small, and though he had other hobbies, there was no other thing he wanted to dedicate his life to. He wanted to be a doctor, and was well on his way to do so, eventually graduating and choosing the path of an ER doctor.

However, during his second residency year, tragedy struck, and due to a misdiagnosis, a small girl died under his care. This was all over the news and social media, and people were outraged. His fellow colleagues tried to defend him, but the case gained a lot of traction and in the blink of an eye, words were twisted, misdiagnosis went on to become malpractice, and Soma was condemned to six months of jail time. 

This infuriated him to no end. He didn’t care about the six months of jail, he cared that it would be extremely difficult for him to be able to work as a doctor when he had ‘jail for malpractice’ written on his curriculum. Other doctors had attempted to explain how difficult medicine is, how unspecific it is in many cases, and how even after doing every test available under the sun, many times the diagnosis would still be unclear. But people didn’t care, they just wanted an execution, and that had been Soma. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair, nothing had been achieved by sending him to jail, and his life had been ruined. 

So when he arrived to the borderlands and he was presented the choice to leave or to stay and become a citizen, his answer was quite clear. He became the King of Hearts, and devised a game that would show others how ambiguous medicine is, how unspecific, how making a decision wasn’t as easy as it seemed. The only people who were spared from this were the only people who had attempted to help him: other sanitary professionals. Thus, adopting the name of a type of evaluation done in medical school, his game, the Objective Structured Clinical Examination, was born. 

He gets along well with all the citizens, but has a special relationship with Keiichi Kuzuryuu, whom he admires for his firm set of ideals and looks up to much like he would an older brother. Along him and Mira, he stayed at the Beach for the first stage of the games, where he worked as a doctor and met many of its residents. The one who caught his eye the most was Hatter, who impressed him with his leadership skills, and felt sympathy for him for also having lost his job due to an unfortunate incident.

For his game, Soma sought out five other doctors and convinced them to stay with him and participate as his team in the King of Hearts. Despite what it may seem, Soma cares for all of them deeply and would lay down his life for any of them if it was necessary; whenever he forms a bond with someone it's almost an unbreakable one.

ooc: Soma's case is... iffy at least. He swears his case was simply a misdiagnosis who got blown out of proportion and he got charged with malpractice unjustly, but who's to say that's what actually happened and he isn't refusing to take accountability? He did indirectly cause the death of a small child, yet all he seems worried about is that he's not going to be able to work anymore?

Soma lost all sense of direction after the incident, and he hoped in the borderlands, he'd be able to find it again. He's childish and laid-back, and switches from helping others from the kindness of his heart, to viciously causing them to suffer in games as vengeance for what he had to go through. It's not clear what his morals are, or if he's too far gone to find them anymore.

As his journey in the borderlands progresses and he keeps designing games meant to scar, traumatise and kill, there's a nagging question at the back of his mind: does someone like him even deserve to be a doctor in the first place?

[doomxdriven]

What is 'love' to someone who's lived for more than a thousand years, and who will likely go on to live for many more? What is 'romance'? What is any vaguely intimate relationship? What is any act of 'intimacy' period? Jin would tell you that to him, such things are fun, heart-warming at times, but ultimately fleeting.

Believe me when I say Jin's been there, done that. Over the course of his long life Jin's had a multitude of romantic relationships or intimate encounters, and gotten into any number of heart-felt or wild situations, but in the end nothing has ever lasted for him. When you're an immortal, you might have a somewhat skewed idea of what 'lasting' is, and with Jin sure, he's had relationships that have gone on for numbers of years but ultimately, he's found that nothing truly endures in the end, not when it comes to him.

The closest Jin ever got to experiencing what he thinks was true love was with fellow Bount Yoshino Soma, the only partner he ever married and consequently, the partner who was with him the longest– the two of them spent a little more than three-hundred years with each other, but in the end, fate and Jin’s lust for power and revenge drove them apart, and ever since, it’s been almost the same story, just far shorter and with different faces.

That said, Jin doesn't close himself off to people emotionally or physically, he's had more one night stands than you can imagine and while he doesn't put a lot of faith in things like love or romance anymore, he'll still toy with the ideas, and pursue such things with people if he see's there's a connection to be made. Time has shown Jin, however, that even in the best of circumstances, love, romance, that crap isn't going to last, people will grow apart or die or betray you and that's all there is too it-- in the end he's accepted that it's always going to be him, just him by himself, one way or the other.

[daisies-and-one-lullaby]

Fingers crossed that it'll actually be the shopping trip chapter in that episode 🤞🤞 I'm a huge intermission chapter fan, couldn't resist hopping on this post :3

Seeing this chapter on screen would be a HUGE first for all the kuro anime adaptations imo. There isn't a single intermission chapter that's animated. Not one and it's awful. It's probably difficult to include one in a season (and even more so in the runtime of a movie), since putting it in the first ep could break the flow of the anime, and putting it last is 'unnecassary' effort when they don't even know if the next arc will ever get animated... maybe this could mean there's hope for an emerald witch season?

Even if there's no deep meaning behind a studio finally adapting an intermission chapter, it does wonders for the characters. Some of them (like this one) are great moments for us to see how they act during "downtime" when they aren't in the middle of an arc and there's no attack on the manor/they aren't working in the panels we see them in. The anime adaptations already tend to leave out some small moments that aren't essential and it usually results in less fluffy animated Agni Soma and Lizzy moments. And we missed sooo many of these in the anime already. Aaaall those low-stakes sweet moments and gag.

- After the Red Butler arc, there's the hunting chapter. We missed Francis' introduction, the first look at what her character is like, Ciel acting selfless/having no regard for his life when it comes to Lizzy, Sebastian knocking Ciel's "i-cant-lose" attitude down a peg (makes it funnier when Ciel says he would enjoy seeing Sebastian lose in the curry arc), and it's actually important-ish to the Campania arc that Ciel already gains Francis' respect here.

- After the Indian Butler arc, we have lots of Agni-Sebastian gag moments, when Agni tries to turn himself in to the visiting police, which would incriminate the Phantomhive household in the process. We see Agni share some kind moments with the servants, a sweet interaction with Bard, some hints about Finny's past, and how Mey-Rin treasures the glasses she received from her young master.

- After the Circus arc, we (again) miss some Phantomhive servants moments, then I think it's Nina' first(?) appearance. Lots of gag centered around preventing Lizzy from seeing the mark on Ciel's back, her first meeting with Soma and Agni. Ciel completely spaced out for most of this chapter, this isn't even irrelevant to the main story, since this is right after the circus arc ... and some fluff when he falls asleep with his three guests there.

- No whole intermission chapter between the Murder arc and the Campania arc, but Snake's introduction to the household is completely left out, his nervousness (and some Snake moments in the Campania movie too), small Ciel-Lizzy interaction, and Ciel looking out the window at iirc Finny and Snake running outside which is a bit similar to his childhood flashbacks and he's thinking of reviving the dead in that scene.

- After the Campania arc. THE EASTER CHAPTER. Soo many panels with all those recurring characters and we miss all of them in the anime. That chapter is one of my personal favorites (mostly cuz I think if Grey won he finally coulda dueled Lizzy). The origin of the chicken, more Nina, more Edward, more Phantomhive fam, more double Charles. And ofc big weighty Lizzy stuff and more sweet Soma and Agni moments, not deeming those important enough and leaving them out is just par for the course with the anime. Those two were sooo relieved right after Ciel pulled that nasty prank, they care for his health so much. Lizzy Soma and Agni are such sources of pure sunshine in some of the older chapters that it's going to feel a lot less jarring in the anime when they aren't that anymore.

All that to say that it's big if we finally get an animated intermission chapter! Fingers crossed for clown Seb next week :))

(might edit this later with some manga pics from pc)

Damn the new episode was great. I can’t believe the arc is over!!

I love how they did the part where Seb realizes he has to protect Ciel or UT may snatch him

And seeing Bard (even just for a moment) was nice…!

I’m pretty sure the last episode will be the shopping trip!!!

It means we may see Agni again!

and Bard, ofc!