#tama river

[the-colors-of-tokyo]

Rush:

Comorant

Along the Tamagawa

[asiaphotostudio]

Kawasaki City, 1989 Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. 日本 神奈川県 川崎市 高津区 Photography by Michitaka Kurata

[causticcorvus]

'Rendezvous beneath the old railroad bridge'

[cerealandchoccymilk]

sobs with twitter follower (drunk) over a duck family going on a treacherous journey on tv......

[japaneseaesthetics]

Utagawa Hiroshige: Cherry Blossoms on the Banks of the Tama River

[twidara]

NANA Analysis: the bathtub theory, love and self-destruction.

TW: suicide and self-harm

⚠️SPOILERS

This isn’t a topic widely discussed due to the abrupt hiatus of NANA, but our dear Ai Yazawa loves to work with foreshadowing, and we have enough clues to consider that something really bad happened between the two timelines.

Nana is a realistic work, and we can see representations of self-destructive behaviors in many characters. When it comes to Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu (whom I'll refer to as Hachi to make things easier), we can see these behaviors manifesting with anyone they love.

Due to her abandonment trauma, when Nana feels love for someone this can bring out her worst side: possessiveness, selfishness, jealousy, and envy. Ren is Nana’s first love, and through him, she forms a special connection with music and be singer becomes her dream. However, Nana considers her dreams and her pride more important than anything else.

For Hachi, love is more idealized… she follows the ‘formula’: fall in love > date > get married > have children > happily ever after. But Hachi doesn't just idealize love, she also idealizes who she loves.

So I think that ‘love’ becomes a self-destructive emotion for both of them. When Nana feels abandoned by those she loves (Ren and Hachi < mainly this woman), she experiences mental gaps (forgets about what she done and what happen) and also hyperventilates. Nana briefly talks about her mental gaps when she remembers the memory of her mother left her behind in the snow (while wearing red heels, which Nana realizes may not be a reliable memory). Also, she and Ren have this toxic relationship with no perspective for future, which hurts them a lot.

Then… we have Hachi, who has an insatiable desire to be loved, and this becomes ‘the compass’ for all the bad decisions she’ll make throughout her journey. Groomed by an older man in high school, moves to Tokyo with many dreams and ends up getting cheated on, and meets Takumi. Well, you already know the rest. The problem with this Nana isn’t particularly in how she loves people; she can be selfish at times, but her love is genuine, she’s not the priority. Like Nana Osaki says she’s a ‘puppy’: you kick the puppy, it gets hurt, but then the puppy always comes back to you. Hachi’s problem is that she has no self-love, pride won't be a problem, she's able to see herself as the villain in any situation (even with Takumi).

The relationships between Ren and Nana, and Hachi and Takumi are toxic in different ways. We can see both Nanas struggling with the frustration of these relationships. Nana hurts her pride so she can have some control over Ren, but it doesn’t really work.

Nana: [You can't make people do what you want. Even if you cry... or shout... or cling to them.]

And even though Hachi tries to follow this 'formula', she can’t fill the emptiness inside her, living a life full of regrets.

Hachi: [It's like the jealousy of a woman who wasn't capable of being happy... Always acting on stage, alone, running in circles no matter what she did.]

Let’s get to the point: What happened in the bathtub? I’ll start with the numerous foreshadowings about self-harm and drowning in water. I've lost count of how many times Junko and Kyosuke talked about this:

Kyosuke: [That’s scary… she might even slit her wrists, who knows.]

Junko: [Girl... I was knocking so hard for so long. I was scared you’d slit your wrists with a razor blade! (I could see it all... Blood spurting out...)]

and there's more and more... let's skip

So for some reason, everyone is convinced that Hachi is going to cut her wrists because of a heartbreak, which never even crosses her mind lol, as we can see she had other plans:

Hachi: [That night... If Nana hadn’t been there for me... I would have thrown myself into the Tama river. I’m sure of that.]

The irony is… when it comes to representations of drowning or anything related to water, Nana is the focus. We have this scene in manga, and in anime opening, we see a lot of scenes of Nana drowning.

The bathtub is more symbolic between Nana and Ren; Ren was constantly using the bathtub to ‘drown in drugs’, Reira and Takumi seem aware of this. But again, the bathtub is also extremely symbolic between Nana and Hachi, we can see some intimate moments there. And of course, Ai Yazawa wants to make us freak out. When we are convinced that Nana is the one who got hurt in the bathtub, it relates back to Hachi when she talks to Miu:

Later in the ‘present’ timeline, we’ll also see Nobu worried about Hachi while se prepares a bath for him, but Hachi is someone who could be greatly affected by a possible suicide attempt from Nana. Nana also has that death pact with Ren, in last chapters, we can see that her situation it’s not good, she’s still clinging to love to live, in this case, holding on to Hachi. To be fair, Hachi is also in a terrible situation, she’s pregnant; her hormones are all over the place, and the postpartum it’s cruel.

But I don’t think Ai Yazawa would repeat what’s happened with Shin’s mother, although Hachi is very close to that role now; after all, no matter what others think, ‘I’m his mother’. The situation of Shin’s mother it’s a parallel to Hachi’s pregnancy at certain points, especially since Yazawa wants to keep the mystery of the baby’s paternity.

Anyway, Nana, all we know is that she disappeared and everyone thought she was dead, with rumors like ‘She died at sea’.

Nana: [Any place was fine with me… As long as I could see the sea. I can die whenever I want… As long as I know the sea’s nearby. I came here… Looking for a place to die. So why… am I still here?]

The only doubt in my mind is that the women of the Osaki family are naturally runaways. Nana could have simply run away from the start. But she’s still the strong candidate, since she mentions that Hachi saved her life and since BOTH are named Nana, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hachi was just a misleading clue all this time. Junko and Kyosuke calls Hachi for her name (Nana), but maybe I’m just overthinking.

Is getting long, so to wrap up, I want to talk about the meaning of the name Ren (蓮), especially since we have two characters named Ren in Nana. The lotus flower in Buddhism represents the belief in samsara, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Also, is often seen as a symbol of purity because it rises and blooms beautifully above the muddy waters from which it grows. This imagery represents the idea of achieving spiritual purity despite difficult circumstances.

Nana’s Ren is dead, and given everything he represented to her, it’s entirely understandable that she feels lost. On the other hand, Hachi’s Ren has yet to be born, and it’ll likely be her greatest point of development. Although Nana seems strong enough to overcome anything, she’s not, while Hachi, who is seen as fragile, manages to persist through difficulties. It’s as if their roles initially invert: Hachi gains strength, and Nana weakens (I'm just making a comparison with the beginning of the story). Nana and Hachi continue to live with the hope that ‘Life is about getting knocked down over and over, but still getting up each time. If you keep getting up, you win’. This is something Nana learned from Ren and taught to Hachi. It’s simply beautiful how, despite everything, their love for each other is what keeps them strong, even when apart; love has become a form of healing for Nana and Hachi.

I've wanted to write about this for a while, now that I’ve read NANA 777 times, I can talk about it with more confidence hehe.

[zzeraphilm]

his hidden notebook

akaashi keiji x f!reader part two summary: akaashi keiji found that writing poetry was the best way to express his desires word count: 1,573

Akaashi found himself writing more poems in his free time, away from practice and away from Bokuto. Somehow, his muse was always Y/N. When he saw the fluttering, falling flower petals that dance in the wind, he’d think of her. When he saw the ripples of the Tama river make a kaleidoscope of rainbow shades, he’d think of her. When he saw the luscious greenery bloom from a night of rain, he’d think of her. 

Scribbles from spare scraps of paper turned to neatly written notebooks full of dancing words. He kept this side of himself far from the world around him. It was a precious solitude that allowed him to see visions of beauty that was sacred to only him. His notebook of poems was holy and for others to read it would be disastrous. 

Y/N knew of Akaashi from her friends, the only boy who could keep up with the boisterous Bokuto from the volleyball team. Whilst being in the same class, she doesn’t remember speaking to him once. She had spoken to Bokuto numerous times as he was the shining sun of their class. But Akaashi was another name on the class register for Y/N. 

Presumably, they didn’t share any interests. With Akaashi being on the volleyball team and Y/N being a part of the music club with her own band. The two would always be on two separate sides of the classroom, the school and in the world. It was until one afternoon during band practice, she peered out of the window of the music room on the second floor. She saw Akaashi look up to meet her glares from across the courtyard. Sure, the windows were wide open and anyone and everyone can hear their latest melody. But Akaashi wasn’t focusing on the music, rather he had zeroed in on Y/N.

He was entranced by her power and command with the rest of her band members. He saw the sun shine a dazzling spotlight onto her through the curtains, as if she was on stage performing to millions.

Akaashi knew of Y/N’s talent, they were his muse after all. There were many nights where he would fantasise a time between Y/N and him, where she would lull him to sleep with her soft voice, singing to only him.

Akaashi had found the perfect spot to gaze upon Y/N’s performances, a few paces to the left of the second bush on the far left corner of the courtyard. At exactly 4:35PM on a Wednesday afternoon without fail, Y/N would begin her vocal exercises before her bandmates could join her. She always left the windows open, either for fresh air or to have the whole world stand still to her voice. These Wednesday memories would fuel Akaashi’s mind full of imagery solely of her. He couldn’t wait to find any spare parchment to scribble his ideas down, he was drunk with imagination because of his muse. 

Y/N found his presence, unnerving. He didn’t smile nor showed any interest when they locked eyes on each other. But Akaashi did not move away or break contact, rather he remained still. 

“What you looking at?” She shouted, leaning out of the window.

Akaashi gave a slight smile, his lips moved to reply but he was so far that Y/N could not understand.

“Huh?" She yelled. "Dude, you’re a bit of a weirdo aren’t you?” Y/N laughed him off, shut the window and walked back to the music room, disappearing from Akaashi’s line of sight.

~

“Yeah, and he was just like there! I swear, he’s spying on me! Everywhere I look he’s there, I’ve never even spoken to the guy, like who is he?” Sat in a circle around her desk, her friends continued to whisper the latest gossip of their weeks. Y/N had brought up her encounter with Akaashi in passing whilst she ate her lunch, but after demands from the others, she caved and spoke her suspicions.

She didn’t hate him per say, rather she was alarmed by the ‘coincidences’ of their encounters, she hadn’t realised it before but he was always within her peripheral vision. At each turn, he’d be there in passing or to the side. 

“Ah! Do you think he likes you Y/N?” The girl to the left of Y/N teased, leaning closer into the circle, since the topic of the conversation was still sat in the same classroom as them during their break. 

“Don’t go jumping to conclusions.” With a final sip of her cartoned juice, Y/N squashed the cardboard box in her fist. “For all we know, he could be a stalker.” 

Poor Akaashi could feel the stares from the group of girls from the back of the classroom. Hunched over on his desk, he crossed out the latest stanza he wrote this morning till the paper ripped.

Was he a stalker? He didn’t mean to come across this way. Maybe he should clear the air with her. 

He stood up abruptly, the crowd of students around Y/N flipped their heads around to face him, eyes bulging from their skulls. As if they had seen a ghost. Akaashi awkwardly walked up to them, he felt his stomach sink further and further towards the floor with each step. Before he could get face to face to his muse, Bokuto slammed the door wide open calling for him. Dragging him out the room before he could object. Akaashi was torn between feeling relieved for escaping a possible social suicide in front of his classmates or disappointed in his cowardice. 

Once he was far from view, the group of gossiping students collided together again and their whispers got louder and louder till some where squealing and cackling. Y/N kept looking at the now closed door, he looked so sad, she thought. His eyes didn’t seem to belong to a stalker, but there was a lingering shadow of loneliness behind his long eyelashes. 

It wasn’t until the late evening Y/N found Akaashi after leaving the gym, he was so focused on scribbling in his little pocketbook that he missed the last two steps out of the gym, causing him to tumble and the scrap pieces of paper tucked in the pages of his pocketbook flew into the sky, like confetti falling delicately across the ground. Whilst the awkward situation, Y/N rushed to help him, picking up a crumpled up sheet of paper, her eyes briefly caught a few words on the page. Before Akaashi could stop her, she had already read the entire poem. 

“Woah…this is…good.” 

Akaashi ripped the page from her hand, a slight shake in his nimble fingers. “Don’t mock me.” He continued to pick up the rest of the pages and slot them back into his pocket book, digging his fingers into the wood of the cover. 

“What’s with the hostility bro?” 

“Earlier, you spoke about me as if I wasn’t there. I’m not some stalker, I’m not a creep.” Despite the thousands of beautiful poems he has written for nearly two years now, he couldn’t think of a single word to describe how he actually felt.

“Yeah, that’s totally what a weirdo would say.” Y/N teased. “Sorry, I know you mean no harm. It is strange though, watching me from a far all the time. Would rather you come up and talk to me y’know?” There it was, another dazzling smile. Unlike the past, Akaashi can see it mere inches away from him rather than metres. 

“Honestly, Akaashi the way you write its like some of my favourite songs. Poems are basically songs anyways, they’re lyrics waiting for a melody. The rhythm and cadence of each line you wrote there, it was like you were cradling all of your emotions with every word you scribed. Some writers can’t even get their point across, let alone the emotions you pour into yours. You’re incredible.” 

Y/N slipped out a piece of paper that was poking out of his pocketbook, and began to read them aloud. 

‘We dance like daisies,  bare in the meadows we lay. A little heaven’ ‘You stand tall, bright, fair caressed by the stars above. Grace me with your smile’ 

“Akaashi, these are beautiful. I’m not mocking you this time. I could even use some of your stuff for the band! I mean it’s not 100% our style but we can work together on it!” 

“That won’t be possible. I can’t have you sing these words.”

Y/N tilted her head, eyebrows furrowed and with a slight giggled queried a soft ‘Why?’

With a deep breath, he grabbed the end of her question with an iron grip.

“Because they’re about you. All of them. I write them, whenever I see you sing, when you walk down the halls or when you daze off into space during English class. I catch images of you in my mind from moments where you’re always out of reach, where you bless others with your shining aura. Y/N, you’ve been my muse for all of my work.” 

Y/N felt the rush of blood to her cheeks, bright red, she could feel the heat radiating from her face. A slight quivering lip and darting eyes, trying not to focus on Akashi’s stare. A tiny smile creeped its way to her mouth, she couldn’t help but feel so enamoured. 

[tloaak]

today we lost the great Efeso Collins, during a charity event to raise funds for clean drinking water for children in the pacific. here is his incredible parliamentary maiden speech from just last week (transcript below). i encourage you to listen, and if you can, donate to childfund's water fund here

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Mai i ngā hau o Ōtāhuhu-nui-a-Rangi, o Maungarei, o Motukaroa; mai i ngā awa o Hikuwaru, o Tāmaki e rere ki te Waitematā, kei te Mānukanuka-o-Hoturoa, ko Kaiwhare, ko Taramainuku kua tau, kua tau ki ngā whenua o Ngāti Toa Rangatira, o Taranaki Whānui ki Te Ūpoko o Te Ika. Tēnā anō tatou.

[From the winds of Ōtāhuhu, of Mount Wellington, of Hamlin's Hill; from the rivers of Hikuwaru, of Tāmaki flowing to the Waitematā, to the Mānukau Harbour; Kaiwhare and Taramainuku have arrived, have arrived to the lands of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, of Taranaki Whānui in the Wellington region. Greetings to us all.]

E fakatālofa atu ki te māmālu o koutou na tamāna ma na mātua, vena foki na uho ma tuafāfine kua mafai ke fakatahi i te po nei. Vikia te Atua ko tātou kua mafai ke fakatahi venei. Mālo ma fakafetai.

Fai mai ina ua teʻi ae Iakopo i le mea sa moe ai, ona ia fai ane lea, e moni lava e i ai Ieova i le mea nei. E moni lava e i ai Ieova i le mea nei. Faafetai le Atua aua e le faaitiitia lou viiga. Ua ifo i ati malie tuʻumoega o le taeao le sa tafa i vanu tafaoga o manu sisina, ae sa faalepa le au pea, sa fili ma le manoa le fetu taʻimatagi, ae sei faalaolao le puli matagi aua ua nofoia vao tutuʻi i le malumalu ma nuʻu malumau o le maota.

Ou te le fagota la i le sao aua ua uma ona fili le utu ma uu le vao fofou. Fai mai le matematega nai tumua, ua pei o se iʻa e moemauga o le atuolo, o foliga matagofie ia ma le maualuga, maualuga lava o lenei aso aisea, ae a lea ua malutaueʻe le tiʻa sa maluʻia, ua tapu lalaga foʻi le vaʻa o le Tuimanʻua mamana ua atoa laʻau i fogaʻa.

Faafetai le Atua le Tama, le Alo ma le Agaga Sa, aua sa tu i Fagalilo tapaau o le alataua, ae sa matemate foʻi aiga sa Tagaloa pe tua ma ni a lenei aso. Ae faafetai i le Atua, aua ua tepa i ula, tagaʻi i ula, foʻi atu lou viiga e faavavau. Faafetai i le tapuaʻiga a oʻu matua ma oʻu aiga, faafetai tele i matua o si oʻu toʻalua ma ona aiga, i le latou lagolago aemaise talosaga molia. Faafetai i uo ma e masani, aemaise o le paʻia o le aufaigaluega totofi a le Atua, i soʻo se fata faitaulaga—Faafetai tatalo. Ae faapitoaugafa saʻu faafetai i si oʻu toalua Finevasa Fia aemaise si aʻu fanau pele Tapuiela ma Asalemo faafetai tatalo, malo le onosaʻi. Ae tapuaʻi maia ma le manuia.

Mr Speaker, it is an indescribable feeling to stand up and address this House. As a son of Samoan immigrants who made the mighty Ōtara 274—Southside hard—their home, I am well aware of the giants whose shoulders I stand on and the masters whose feet I learnt at. The courage, foresight, entrepreneurial spirit, and hope of our ancestors who journeyed thousands of years ago through the vast waters of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa brings me here today.

My parents arrived in New Zealand in the early 1960s, told that this was the land of milk and honey. Dad started off as a taxi driver with South Auckland Taxis, and mum on the factory floor at New Zealand Forest Products in Penrose. We lived in a four-bedroom State house on Preston Road in Ōtara, and I attended local schools: East Tāmaki Primary, Ferguson Intermediate, and the great Tangaroa College. We're forever grateful for the State house that was our home for around 20 years, and the quality public education we received from our local State schools.

I did try my hand for a short period at a decile 10 school outside of Ōtara, but that experiment lasted only two weeks. It was during the time in the late 1980s, when families from poorer areas were being discouraged from going to local schools because they weren't considered up to scratch. I'm glad we changed course and decided to high school it in Ōtara, where the motto of our school was "Waiho i te tokā tu Moana"—"Steadfast like a rock in the sea".

Later, at university, I went on to write my Master's dissertation on brown flight, critiquing the Picot reforms that have wreaked havoc on our public schooling system. That period was also a challenging time for my family because we were being told by our teachers to stop speaking Samoan at home and only to speak English. My parents didn't want us to fail at school, so we were allowed to speak English at home and over time we stopped speaking Samoan altogether. In the end, I lost my language. I struggled, I was embarrassed, and I felt incomplete. Even speaking to you in Samoan this evening gives me major tremors.

There's a saying in Samoan: "E le tu fa'amauga se tagata"—no one stands alone, no one succeeds alone—and, for me, no one suffers alone. Over the past years, with the support of my family and friends, I've taken to trying to converse again in Samoan, reading more texts in Samoan, praying in Samoan, and sending our youngest to a local Samoan early childhood centre. Our beautiful language, Gagana Samoa, has returned to our home and is helping to overcome the inadequacy that had taken root in my soul.

As I speak this evening, I'm mindful of the many young people who are navigating these at times treacherous and unsettled waters in life, filled with so much potential, energy, and hope, yet too often misunderstood. In my time as a youth worker in South Auckland, I've spoken with hundreds of young people with massive dreams for the future. We need youth workers, we need social workers, and we need mentors to walk alongside our young people, and, yes, we want our youth to be responsible and caring and considerate. So it's our job in this House to resource the people and organisations who will model the behaviour to them that we expect, but who also won't give up on them and won't come with a saviour mentality.

Many of our societal challenges are driven by poverty. We can achieve greater social cohesion and lift our sense of belonging by addressing poverty. I've been honoured to run youth mentoring programmes for nearly 25 years—that's about how old I am—and to this day I mentor young people. When we undertook and published research on youth gangs some years ago, the youth we spoke to had the solutions and just needed the means to make it happen. Too many of our young people are filling our prisons, and it is wasted human potential. Give them the tools, the resources, and the means to make a meaningful contribution to the world, and they will. I was at a conference recently about the threats to democracy and an attendee spoke about their work in developing nations and used the familiar retort, "You can't eat democracy." And I couldn't agree more. This House, this centre of democracy, needs to do more to engage our people, all of our people, so that they can see this House is not just relevant but an essential part of their lives.

The greatest challenge facing our generation is climate change. The Pacific Islands nations are among the most vulnerable to climate change in the world. The world's continued reliance on fossil fuels, loss of coral reefs, rising sea levels, and increasing severe weather patterns means that our extended whānau in the Pacific are in immediate danger. We, as a collective, must do all we can to do as we say out south "flip the script". Truth is, those who've done the least to create this predicament are being the hardest hit. Our challenges, whether ecological, geopolitical, or cultural, are diverse, but we're bonded by the inextricable ties we have to our lands and our oceans. We've inherited philosophies, knowledge systems, and profound ecological wisdom that holds the answers and drives our collective resilience—from West Papua to Hawai'i. Our fight for a climate resilient, nuclear-free and independent Pacific remains as strong as ever. We are not drowning; we are fighting.

I haven't come to Parliament to learn—learning happens as a matter of course through reflection. I've come to this House to help. Helping is a deliberate act. I'm here to help this Government govern for all of New Zealand, and I'm here to open the door, enabling our communities to connect better with this House. During the election campaign, I spoke to people frustrated about their lot in life, scared for their and their children's futures, and feeling their dreams were slipping away. The people I spoke to expect the Government to do more and move faster. And I know that there are some in this House who believe Government is not the answer to these challenges and that less Government is better. But here's the thing: the Government cannot be a bystander to people suffering confusion and disenfranchisement. New Zealand must close the divide between those who have and those who have not, because the reality for my community is that those who have more money often wield more power, more health, more housing, more justice, more access, more canopy cover, more lobbyists with swipe cards, and more time. And the opposite is true for those who have fewer resources.

It's hard to be poor, it's expensive to be poor, and moreover, public discourse is making it socially unacceptable to be poor. Whether it's bashing on beneficiaries, dragging our feet towards a living wage, throwing shade on school breakfast programmes, or restricting people's ability to collectively bargain for fairer working conditions, we must do better to lift aspirations and the lived realities of all our people. To that end, I want to say to this House with complete surety that the neoliberal experiment of the 1980s has failed. The economics of creating unemployment to manage inflation is farcical when domestic inflation in New Zealand has been driven by big corporates making excessive profits. It's time to draw a line in the sand, and alongside my colleagues here in Te Pāti Kākāriki, we've come as the pallbearers of neoliberalism, to bury these shallow, insufferable ideas once and for all. And this, sir, is our act of love.

Paolo Freire, in his seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, said love is an act of courage, not fear; love is a commitment to others. No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is a commitment to their cause, the cause of liberation. The most recent election campaign left many in our Māori communities bruised and targeted for the perceived privileges supposedly bestowed upon them. Shared governance is a rich concept about how we include those who've been excluded for far too long in the work of this House and the democratic institutions that are fundamental to our collective wellbeing. We are Tangata Tiriti and we have nothing to fear. As a New Zealand-born Samoan living in South Auckland, I've experienced, written about, and spoken about racism in this country. I've also been on a well-publicised journey in understanding the needs and views of our rainbow communities, and I have a long way to go. And my message to whānau who often experience the sharp end of discrimination—disabled, ethnic, rainbow, brown, seniors, and neurodiverse—is thank you for trusting us with the responsibility of facilitating a new discussion on how we move forward together and make possible what was once deemed impossible.

The American civil rights activist James Baldwin said, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." We commit to working across this House as a nation and with each other irrespective of our post code, income bracket, skin colour, or level of qualification attained. But, in order for that work, we must come with humility, the desire to listen, and dare I say it, maybe speaking last. If I was to inspire anyone by getting to this House and my work over the next three years, I hope that it's the square pegs, the misfits, the forgotten, the unloved, the invisible—it's the dreamers who want more, expect more, are impatient for change, and have this uncanny ability to stretch us further.

[gallusrostromegalus]

For the brain jigglies:

What's your favourite mythological character or reference in aeiwam? (I always fondly remember the Yuki onna story, really showed off the scope of the world to me for the first time)

The sound of me attempting to remember my cast:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0

I don't think I've put many specific mythological characters in besides playing up Zaraki's nature as an Odinnic Figure, but there are heaps of mythological creatures capering about:

Tama Nikuya is a Puca

There are MORE THAN A FEW Japanese mythical critters lurking in the Gotei-13: kitsune, Tanuki, Tsukumogami, etc

A lot of Yhwach's imagery is derived from "Der Elkoning" and the Highly Suspicious Fair Folk of old.

New as of last month's draft works: there are unicorns and they're all little demons from hell <3

Much of Unohana's imagery is derived from various Riparian Genus Loci : the spirits of great rivers.

She Who Rules The Sky By The Mandate Of Heaven is THE Firebird from the various birds of fire legends that inspired Igor Stravinsky.

While not a mythical being per SE, many of the cracks and holes in Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's backstory are spackled in with a hefty dollop of Wizard Howell Jenkins.

Doing a lot of research into the Nahuatl theology of Oxaca, Mexico for Chad's character arc.

Also El Chupacabra is there, but everyone acknowledges he was born in 1995.

[boobookittenartblog]

Moon on the Tama River by Okada Koichi

[the-colors-of-tokyo]

Sunset on the Tamagawa

Tokyo, Japan

[theneptuneflytrap]

So...I found this picture online and it took me down the craziest Transformers rabbit hole that I now need to share with y'all. This isn't Jazz this is Kawasaki Prime who was modeled after Jazz. He's from an event called Cybertron Satellite which involved giving towns and cities throughout Japan a "Town Commander": Autobots assigned to defend that town/city. Kawasaki Prime was assigned to protect the city of Kawasaki, known as the "City of Music". Additionally, he was given the ability to control water with his "Bridge Spear". This is likely due to Kawasaki's closeness to the Tama River.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1131 - Initial Thoughts

It wasn't enough to have a 2 week break, the scans also had to come out late XD

But finally, One Piece is back, and Luffy stands before another self-proclaimed Sun God. We can see some writings on the wall but Oda does like a good swerve, so let's see what he has for us

Spoilers for the chapter below, support the Official Release too

Yamato's cover is him on Komachiyo and Tama on Speed running after the katana thief, nothing too big really - and honestly Speed is really fast so this thief shouldn't outrun them

We pick up right where we left off with Luffy reacting with joy that they're in Elbaf

Hahaha Luffy's quickfire questions and observations quickly annoy Loki who's trying to honey his words

Loki yells and it causes the trees to shake and rumble, animals also seem to growl so it wasn't haki

Loki seems to truly believe himself to be the Sun God 'from all the legends', but telling Luffy not to speak unless he commands it isn't a good start

Also Loki has a 'special bounty' of 2.6bn, so above Yonko Commander (And Dorry and Brogy) but not quite on Yonko, wonder why it's special? Maybe it's not imposed by the WG? Maybe it's a Giant's bounty

When he asks Luffy what he thinks of his predicament Luffy just goes 'looks like you got caught' XD blunt as ever

Huh, Loki's only been imprisoned for 6 years? Last chapter they said 'a few years back' he was sentenced to crucifixion? Maybe a mistranslation? Six is more than a few

His chains are Sea Prism but he says he's the pride of Elbaf's strength

And the big tree is as many theorized Treasure Tree Adam, the same wood the Sunny is made out of!

Loki has a proposal for Luffy - who he called Loppy before being corrected - he wants Luffy to release him and in exchange he'll wipe out any pirate crew he wants

Seems pretty confident that he can solo a pirate crew, that or he just really wants to get out

He showed the carrot but here's the stick; he can't force Luffy to agree, but he has some leverage

The snowy lands here is known as the 'Realm of the Dead' (likely a reference to how Loki is Hel's father in Norse Myth) and is the lowest layer of Elbaf: a place for prisoners and executions

You know that kinda gives me the same vibes as Impel Down's level 4

Things have lived on this layer for thousands of years, so they also call it the 'First World' - which could mean we're blending Hel and Niflheim - the realm of primordial ice and cold, which does sometimes get mixed with Helheim

In Norse Myth (Prose Edda mainly) Niflheim and Muspelheim were the first realms of Ginnungagap (the void), fire and ice mixed to make steam which became Hel - but the Norse for fog or mist is 'Nifel' thus the confusion. The icy rivers of Niflheim melted by Muspelheim's fires also unleashed a yeasty venom that birthed Ymir, the ancestor of the Jotnar

Luffy is cornered by giant beasts, with a cute polar bear, and some humans, all of whom are in service of Loki. The beasts at least befriended him while he was a kid

There is the hilarity of Luffy not taking this serious because like, Loki has no fucking idea who he's talking to XD

Like, you threaten him with a bunch of giant animals? The feral forest child who trained with giant animals for 2 years?

The humans below are explained to avoid being eaten by dressing up in foul smelling clothes and being like 'living corpses' but the minions do kinda get their feelings hurt by this

They do scout out Luffy though, hoping he has anything good on him, before apologizing for fainting after Shanks appeared on the island

Mentioning Shanks perks Luffy up though, who has already befriended the giant animals to Loki and the minions' shock

Excited, Luffy asks about Shanks, but Loki sees an opportunity

Annnnnd chose wrong, he calls Shanks a coward and Luffy immediately goes Gear Fourth

The Kong Gun misses - Loki has been blindfolded this whole time, either he can still see a bit or he has his own impressive Observation Haki - hitting the tree instead

Loki's quick to backpedal on 'it's just a joke bro' and to try and throw a sense of honour in the mix by the fact that he's chained up

Luffy however ain't about that, you piss him off he'll be pissed off, Loki meanwhile already seeks to kill him once he's free in a thought bubble

Luffy asks why Shanks was here, but Loki plays coy, the gears are turning again

Back at the castle bridge, the bridge is shaking causing Nami and Usopp to panic

Usopp spots someone behind them running on the bridge

It's Rodo, still smoking from the lightning attack so the crew deduce he's the same guy

They're being chased by Gerd and Goldberg (and Piper the Owl) as Goldberg carries the Sunny

Zoro expects this to be unfriendly, but before he can draw his sword Usopp attempts pragmatism: they may be allies

For now the group agrees to get to the end of the bridge, so they're on solid ground and because a village may be nearby

Somewhere else in the Realm of the Dead, Hajrudin appears! He's been on the hunt and caught a Moose with Stansen

He specifically came down here to hunt for good meat, in order to have good food waiting for the Straw Hats' arrival

Stansen asks how they'll carry it, the translation is iffy since it even has a t/n, but it seems that it snowing prevents them from having an apparatus

There's also a quick recap of Hajrudin's loyalty to Luffy via Dressrosa, with Leo also there

The two giants instead just decide to carry the Moose, while singing a song about their crew - whose layout is also shown to be just those 5 members

Back on the Longboat, Brook has given Robin a haircut

Brook hasn't cut women's hair so he was nervous, also skull joke

Lilith enjoyed the skull joke because it's a scientific impossibility, Bonney, Jinbe and Franky like the hair too

OG HAIRSTYLE ROBIN MY BELOVED

Awwww and she wanted it that way because that's how Saul would remember it!

Franky of course is keeping it very emotionally together for her

Even Oimo and Kashii mention how it's the same style as how they remember in Enies Lobby

The longboat is also right by Elbaf, from this perspective you can see that the greenery we've seen when Shanks was there is more like an elevation, so this Land of the Dead may be the bottom of a cliffside

But we have a cliffhanger, Saul has fallen and can't get up!

Oda don't you fucking dare cause Robin heartbreak after she's gotten so excited about seeing someone from her past she thought was dead! It's not allowed! Forbidden I say! Don't do it!

Other than that, this was a chapter that seemed more dedicated to giving us more on the personality of Loki. He's definitely a little bit devious, but he's both completely unaware of how strong Luffy is and probably overestimates how tricksy he need to be with manipulating his freedom. Definitely has a grand opinion of himself, and over 2 billion berries as a bounty is nothing to scoff at even if it is lower than Luffy's. I do like though how Oda has knotted things up with releasing Loki, there was an obvious easy route but Loki spends more time shooting himself in the foot which makes it less and less likely that Luffy will simply free him. If anything, one Eustass Kid may be more compelled to free Loki than Luffy is - wouldn't put it past the giants fishing him out and throwing him into this Land of the Dead.

Usopp's observation may also work out with the rest of the crew buddying up with Goldberg and Gerd, maybe bullying Rodo a little more, or they'll just end up in the village and befriend some new characters. If the Land of the Dead has humans that betray Elbaf in some way there may be humans still living in Elbaf itself, I do continue to be intrigued as to how Oda will blend more Norse Myth into the story. If we get a character named Snorri you best believe I'm gonna talk about it.

With the Longboat docking into Elbaf too the crew will likely reunite sooner rather than later, there is still a wealth to explore and discover though, but seriously let Robin be happy!

[yama-bato]

[Bushū tamagawa]

Print shows a man poling a boat across the Tama River and a man leading a packhorse along the shore, with view of Mount Fuji in the distance.

Katsushika, Hokusai, 1760-1849, artist

Created / Published [between 1890 and 1940]

[immortalgirlfriend]

"That night, if Nana hadn't been there for me... I would have thrown myself into the Tama River. I'm sure of that."

[tabletopgayventures]

My current list of Tabletop Roleplaying Games.

13th Age

1879

A Grim Hack

Aberrant 

Absolute Power

Abyss

Accursed 

After The War

Anima Beyond Fantasy

Animal Adventures:  The Faraway Sea

Apocalypse World

Arkham Horror The Roleplaying Game Starter Set

Ars Magica 4th Edition

Arzium

Avatar Legends Starter Set

Babes in the Wood

Badger + Coyote and their Daring Adventures 2E

BattleTech:  A Time of War

Beacon Tabletop RPG

Beam Saber

Blades in the Dark

Bulldogs

Bunkers & Badasses

Cairn

Call of Cthulhu

Candela Obscura

Cantrip

Cats of Cathulhu

Chaos 6010

Champions Now

Collateral Damage

Contagion 2e

Cortex Prime Game Handbook

Cosmic Patrol

Cowboy Bebop Roleplaying Game

Coyote and Crow

Cthulhu Awakens

Cthulhutech

Cypher System 

Daisy Chainsaw

Deathmatch Island

Defiant Role Playing Game

Denial & Yearning

Dialect

Dinocar

Dinosaur Princesses

Discworld RPG

Dragon Age Roleplaying Game

Dragonbane

Dread

Dream Machines

Dresden Files Accelerated RPG

Dungeon Crawl Classics

Dungeons and Dragons 3.5

Dungeons and Dragons 5e

Durance

Dwelling

Epitaph

Epoch

Essence 20

Fabula Ultima

Fantasy Age

Fate Core System

Fever Nights Role-Playing Game

Flabbergasted

Fragged Empire

Fratboys Vs

Girl By Moonlight

Glitter Hearts

Goblin Quest

Goblin Slayer TRPG

Gods of Metal:  Ragnarock

Hannukkah Goblins

Have Axe, Will Travel

Hellfrost

Here, There, Be Monsters!

Hero Kids Fantasy RPG

Heroes Against the Darkness

Hopes and Dreams

Hounds 

I’m the Badguy?!?

In Nomine

In the Ashes

Inevitable A Doomed Arthurian Western

Ink

Interns In The Dark

Into the Dungeon

Jiangshi:  Blood in the Banquet Hall

Jordenheim

Katana-Ra

Kids on Bikes 2nd Edition

Killshot an Assassin’s Journal

Konosuba TRPG

Leverage The Quickstart Job

Lilliputian Adventure on the Open Seas

Little Fears Nightmare Edition

Lost Roads

Marvel Multiverse RPG

Mermaid Adventures

Micro rpg book

Modern Age

Monster of the Week

Moonlight On Roseville Beach

Mork Borg

Motel Spooky Nine

Musketeers vs. Cthulhu

Mutant Year Zero

My Mother’s Kitchen

Necrobiotic

Never Going Home

Night Shift:  Veterans of the Supernatural Wars

Night Wolves

Numenera

Odyssey Black Tales

OneDice Pirates & Dragons

One More Quest

Ork! The RPG

Our Woodland Gods

Outcast Silver Raiders 

Outgunned

Over the Edge

Overlight

Pasion De Las Pasiones

Pathfinder 1st Edition

Pathfinder 2nd Edition

Pathfinder Savage Worlds

Perils & Princesses

Pirate Borg

Power Rangers RPG

Prism

Psychic Trash Detectives

Punk’s Been Dead Since ‘79

Queerz!

Raccoon Sky Pirates

Raven

Rebels of the Outlaw Wastes

Reign

Rhapsody of Blood

Rivers of London

Ryuu Tama natural fantasy role play

Samurai Goths of the Apocalypse

Scum and Villainy

Shadowrun 5e

Shadows Of The Past

Shield Maidens

Shiver

Someone in this Tavern is a fucking mimic!

Spell The RPG

Squeeze

Star Trek Adventures Captain’s Log 

Star Trek Adventures The Roleplaying Game

Star Trek Adventures Second Edition

Star Wars 

Starfinder 1st Edition

Starfinder 2nd Edition

Stoneburner

Syma

Tangled

Temples and Tombs

The Bleackness

The Dark West

The Dread of Night

The Play’s the Thing

The Quiet Year

The Revenant Society

The Void

The Watch

Thirsty Sword Lesbians

This Discord has Ghosts in It

This house is Fucking Haunted

Thousand Year Old Vampire

Tomorrow City

Troika!

Unisystem

Urban Decay

Utopia

Vaesen

Vagabond

Valiant Universe

Variations On Your Body

Venture and Dungeon

Waffles For Esther

Wanderhome

Warcraft The Roleplaying Game

Werewolf the Apocalypse

What Lurks Above

What Lurks Beneath

What Lurks Beyond

World Ending Game

Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast

Xianta Cyber Wuxia

Xoe Microplayer

Zweihander

I'll update this list as I get more. Feel free to send me ideas and also reblog this!