#there was also a monkey. but that isnt relevant right now

[collgeruledzebra]

trench being the only person to say a kind word or even thank you to jesse when she's delivering mail in the first iteration of take control... :((((((((

[youkaigakkou-tl]

(sorry in advance for the long ask) i feel silly for not noticing earlier but i realized that "Sano Mikoto" follows the same "__ no mikoto" name pattern that several japanese gods have. but that also made me wonder: if the 佐 from sano's name means "help" then his whole name sounds like "the god of help/assistance". but based on how that doesn't align with his yakubyougami nature and how ebisu reacts to hearing the name in ch 53 (his reaction is a bit more clear in the jpn raws) (1/2)

佐 doesn't really mean "help" on its own, it only somewhat means that when it's part of the word 補佐 "hosa" , which means "assistant" (in an organizational structure to a chief or leader) rather than like "helping people". Most of the time 佐 is just used as a kanji to represent the sound "sa", which is somewhat frequently the case for the on-readings (similar to chinese pronunciation) of kanji.

This is particularly prevalent when it comes to ancient literature like the creation myths and stories around gods, where the stories originally only existed in verbal form, and when japan adopted the chinese writing system some 1500 years ago, they applied certain chinese characters to the sounds that existed in japanese (the 50 or so hiragana that exist now) in order to put the stories into writing.

(and then over time 50 or so kanji got simplified into hiragana for normal use but thats neither here nor there. but names got to keep their kanji, which is why creation myth gods often have stupid long names that are 1 kanji per syllable, and the kanji used dont mean much of anything by themselves)

(theres also that often the kanji chosen will have been positive words, stuff like "fast" or "wise" or "powerful", in addition to the chinese word sounding like the japanese syllable (which was the more important part). Its unclear whether all these attributes were all applicable to the god named, its just as possible people afterwards applied those attributes to them in future retellings of the stories because the kanji was in the name. sort of a chicken and egg problem. and anyway, does it really matter what the one "true" interpretation of a story is, if one exists at all? it's a very modern sensibility to demand one, when for much of history stories only existed in the air between a storyteller and a listener. im getting off track here)

this is a lot of words to say, what is significant about the 佐 in "sano", is that it's the same one as in susanoo-no-mikoto. susanoo, notable for being associated with storms and disaster, for being exiled from heaven after causing some sort of destruction, and for being a child of izanagi and izanami and born after their first child hiruko (or rather, ebisu).

the thing about the yakubyougami thing, as with every other youkai and everything about folklore, is that at the end of the day, it's a story. youkai are just a set of attributes and circumstances that are wrapped up as a story, and in turn given a name and a face. a kamaitachi is just the occurrence of "wind whipping up suddenly and dust and leaves cutting someone" wrapped up as a story of "what if an imperceptibly fast weasel with knives did it?!"

it's why there can be so many different versions of stories for the same youkai, with behaviors and appearance differing from place to place, or the same "story" being given a different "name" in different places

(relevant to the latest chapter, i sort of suspect this is why theres like 10 different monkey youkai whose lore is just "this monkey is a FREAK")

what im getting at is, this isnt really like scientific taxonomy classifications, where theres genes you can sequence or criteria you can check to see if something is the right species. (and even then, there's birds stranded on isolated islands, fish sealed in caves, microorganisms in general, etc etc) there's not like a "youkai auditor" that goes around auditing if you're Really the youkai you say you are.

nor is it like you intrinsically know what youkai you are and all the lore about it and what behaviors youre supposed to have and what powers you have etc. you're told that by your parents, and in cases where that isnt possible, you figure it out somehow. like with beniko (popped out of a house and raised by humans), they looked it up and people have come up with a name for the phenomenon, which was called "zashiki warashi". or in cases like odawara where you really do just come to life alone, i imagine you either make a name for yourself, or humans who come across you will make a name for you.

which is a lot of words to say, sano can call himself whatever the hell he wants to make his life easier and not have to explain his backstory or have classmates make guesses at his backstory, as long as his traits somewhat fit. especially since recently he's often in the same scenes as kurahashi, who is now confirmed to straight up not be who or what he says he is.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: ML Season 4 Episode 25 Risk

Obviously spoilers for a leaked episode

But I am merciful

You can watch here, THEN see the review (beware of malware)

-So the super team saves the day and King Monkey and Carapace are bros

-Chat noir asks to help (which he knows at least HALF the identities)

-But Ladybug tells him he cant

-Chat noir says he totally gets it and is a bit sad because he is just 'Another miraculous holder

-She kisses his cheek saying he is the favorite

-This moment still feels a bit bittersweet

-And Rena Furtive is still around

-Gabriel has a temper tantrum and then complains to Nathalie

-Okay so the next part is really f***ing cool

-Gabriel can basically cosmic sense all emotional states in paris, and he located someone that Wants to take risks. See.... THIS RIGHT HERE makes mega akuma seem cool. WHERE WAS THIS ALL SEASON

-the kids name is ROGGY?

-HE AKUMATIZED THE FROG TOY!!

-Shadowmoth saying Daddies made me giggle

-The akuma is adorable

-Shadowmoth INSTRUCTING his akuma to hide the akumatized object. WHERE HAS THIS GUY BEEN FOR FOUR SEASONS

-Damn Shadowmoth bringng the A Game today

-Simple man but more specific

-Adrien hasnt had breakfast with his father in months...

-And Gabriel being a dick (also Plagg is adrien's true father)

-GASP ADRIEN VENTING! Amazing. I am so proud of my son

-AND.... he was so close but then didnt.

-Plagg encouraging his rebellion

-So this what Lila has been up to.

-Adrien not having her bulls***

-Lila shut up, you arent relevant

-Gabriel just being like "NO GREEN SCREENS ACTUAL TRAVEL" Marvel would HATE HIM

-First love the fragrance... Damn it that is actually a really good name for a smell

-I can see this going poorly

-Marinette is my spirit animal

-Marinette rushing to school to see Adrien

-Lila Bulls***ing as usual. Thats pretty standard

-ADRIEN IS GONNA MISS NINO'S BIRTHDAY! THAT IS TERRIBLE!!!!

-OHHHH Risk's power just activated

-Lila's lie backfires because BALLOPHOBE! THAT ISNT EVEN THE CORRECT TERM FOR A FEAR OF BALLS

-And thus the Fencing teacher became the coolest teacher ever

-Nino may hold a bit of animosity dud hit adrien right away with that volleyball (lol)

-Alya wingwomaning like a champ

-also dodgeball can be something so intimate

-Adrien venting to Marinette. I know its Risk doing this but DAMN IT! I LOVE IT

-THAT HAND GRASP! UGH MY HEART

-Marinette telling him he needs to tell him

-Adrien I am not sure he knows he loves you.

-ADRIEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW ON THE NOSE YOU ARE IN THIS MOMENT

-Did Adrien just reference a wall between them?

-LILA YOU COCKBLOCKING C***! I WILL MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!

-I know it wasnt gonna happen because its way too early but DAMN IT I FELL FOR IT

-Lila I HATE YOU

-Chloe and LILA ARE A TEAM? WHERE WAS THIS ALL SEASON?

-Marinette is using lunch for planning

-Nino makes a fair point but clearly doesnt understand Adrien's perspective.

-Wow Alya... you would think that you would be a bit more understanding.

-Adrien was right, no one but Marinette actually gets it

-THAT KID HAS BEEN RIDING HIS BIKE FOR OVER 24 HOURS.

-Marinette is on the offensive

-Max and Kim going swimming together.

-Kim: Max you cant swim

-Max: THATS I BROUGHT MY DUCKY! this episode is now amazing

-FELIX! And now he is there

-Felix i cant read you at all but you are trying to help?

-Felix and him doing a SWITCHEROO!

-Wait... Marinette doesnt know about the swap. MARINETTE DOESNT KNOW ABOUT THE SWAP

-DAMN FELIX. YOU ARE A MOTHERF***ING boss

-IS THAT A SCOUTER? WHAT'S HIS BULLS*** LEVEL

-ITS OVER 9000

-Felix would have all this spy stuff

-He found the miraculous?!

-and the elevator

-Gabriel talking about risks

-OH S***. Felix seeing his aunt in a coffin. That will f*** your ass up

-"Entrusting you with my wifes ring... and my son." Yea Adrien is probably a sentimonster

-Felix rebelling for Adrien

-Wait... Why did he listen to Nathalie? Thats Felix.... I AM SO CONFUSED?! Does it work on both

_____________________________________________________________

-Marinette is going hyper risky by being Ladybug for her plan

-Tikki im gonna be honest. She hasnt taken any risks yet.

-Meanwhile Adrien dressed as Felix is in the park

-And Kagami OUT OF NOWHERE with a truth bomb.

-Kagami just KEEPS GETTING BETTER.

-Also her little Im sorry at the end was adorable.

-Plagg "That girl has more character than any cheese Ive ever tasted."

WELL SAID

-And Adrien realizes Felix tricked him again

-AND LADYBUG WHAT ARE YOU DOING! HONEY NO

-And the reveal that Felix and Adrien had fakes.

-And Gabriel's plan was for Adrien to be out of Paris so HE COULD PULL OFF HIS PLAN. OMG THATS BRILLIANT

-Strikeback seems kind of a lame name. But the design is kind of decent

-And Marinette is too focused on getting Adrien back!

-Also Adrien found the scouter.

_____________________________________________________________

Okay My hype level is maximum.

I am VERY invested

Now I think I only have 2 problems with it

The begining

and the lunch scene.

Chat noir does know half their identities at least. But I am guess the main reason is because Marinette/Ladybug has Rena Furtive which Chat noir doesnt know about. But I can over look that.

The second is that once again Lila has dumbed down everyone. I can believe Kim and Max think Adrien is happy. But I doubt Nino actually does. And Alya would know Marinette wasnt just jelly.

Now since this is a two parter I will not give this a rating until part 2 is out.

But know I do think this was a very good episode