#very interested to see how it's constructed

[farnese0]

What other sort of Kazumaji stuff have you noticed in the games? And when do you think Saejima noticed Majima’s boundless affection for Kiryu?

Hi ! ^^

So, first of all, thank you for the ask (my first one, yay !)

I think there are a lot of scenes and subtext in canon pointing to Majima's infatuation with Kiryu starting on Kiwami 1, all the way to Pirate Yakuza with his helpless desire to be close to Kiryu, do something for him.

So, in Yakuza 0, Nishitani is established as being both physically attracted to Majima and in love with his strength and with Majima as a person, because he can see the real Majima under his composed facade, and the real Majima is very similar to him : a person who loves fighting and find solace in it.

When Majima becomes the mad dog of Shimano, he crafts a big chunk of his persona around Nishitani, because he was moved by his final words, and because he was an example of a 'free' individual, something that Majima aspires to be, because up until that point, his entire persona was a farce driven by others.

I already said that I think his love language is self sacrifice/acts of service, but as there are two sides to a coin, Majima, too, shows his love in two completely different ways, and the second one is something he picked from Nishitani : using violence as a way to show romantic/sexual interest.

In Majima everywhere, he uses fighting as a way to court Kiryu, because Nishitani did the same to him, and he found it attractive.

By making Majima relate to a character like Nishitani, who is openly bisexual, in love with the protagonist of that part and uses violence as a way to flirt, the series retroactively gives a twist and add nuance to Majima's way of thinking, nicely wrapping it up with the 2 Kiwami, especially 1.

The only person he really ever seeks to fight is Kiryu; fighting him makes him happy like nothing else.

Tho, his acts of pure violence are more disingenuous than Nishitani's ones : while that was Nishitani's genuine mindset, Majima started using it just because it's what's expected from him. He built a perfect facade and can't let himself ruin it by showing signs of being 'a softy', something he is, but can't afford to be due to the constant fear of people using that side of his to abuse him like Shimano and Sagawa did.

This costant internal struggle results into his auto destructive side :

While he says that he's the only one who can kill Kiryu, he goes out of his way to protect, help, and ensure that Kiryu and his loved ones can live happily and without worries.

Majima's first dialogue to Kiryu in Kiwami 1 is about how the world is a horrible place, that can destroy you if you show too much attachment to others, then, ten years later, he gets himself stabbed nearly to death for Kiryu.

He almost dies in Kiwami 2 just to keep a promise he made to Kiryu.

He was willing to die in Pirate Yakuza while searching for the heart of the Dragon., to grant Kiryu eternal life.

Without him realizing it, his soft side is still being exploited, but this time he's, for the most part, doing it to himself : from Kiwami 1 to Yakuza 4, in regard to Kiryu, he's too scared to openly feel, and talk about what exactly it is that he feels, and uses either giving up his happiness or his actual life to show affection to Kiryu.

Even if he's sick of the Yakuza life, even if he has things going on for himself, with Majima construction and all, he comes back to the Tojo two times, tossing away a possibility of a different life just so that Kiryu can pursue his own happiness.

Majima's mantra is 'As long as you're happy it's okay', no matter what it takes, no matter what he feels about it.

Kiryu uses Majima's feelings for him in his favor, but he doesn't do it consciously; it's something Majima internalizes outside of Kiryu, because he's a traumatized person, trauma that has shaped in him an unhealthy idea about interpersonal relationships.

Due to the abuse he faced, power dynamics rules everything for him, (he wants to help Kiryu when he asks, but he doesn't want to say 'yes' right away, so he basically makes Kiryu beat him up to take the 'yes' out of him by force)

Thought, there's a subtle shift in his demeanor towards Kiryu from Yakuza 5 onward, be it Saejima's influence, or him having done a bit of growing up emotionally, but he starts to become more vocal about wanting to protect Kiryu, as well as wanting him by his side :

In Yakuza 5 Kiryu has disappeared again, and Majima, after being captured, chooses Kiryu's happiness over his and Saejima's life, the brother for whom Majima was tortured for a year, the brother for whom Majima got his eye gushed out, the man for whom he stayed in the Tojo just to grant him a place.

Yet, he still chooses to fight him to the death because Haruka is in danger. He thinks dying would be a better option than to see Kiryu being consumed by grief.

This time, he kinds of vocalizes his feelings, because, well, choosing to die to protect Kiryu's feelings as well as his daughter show there's something deeper going on.

In Yakuza 6, Majima almost cries upon reading Kiryu's letter to Daigo. He knows Kiryu isn't dead, but they need to play along with it, and when he finally meet him again in Kiryu Gaiden, he is as joyful as ever, and soon after he opens a bit : he says to Kiryu that there's no need to rush, pleading him to stay in a subtle way. That being the more vulnerable we have ever seen him be in front of Kiryu up until that point.

Then, he puts it on the table more clearly in IW, when he screams to Kiryu to not dare leave, something that he wanted to do since Yakuza 3.

It took Kiryu revealing he had half a year left to make Majima finally snap out of his self made shell.

And who's the one witnessing all of Majima's complex emotions ? Saejima (and Daigo, but let's keep the focus on Saejima for this one)

I think Saejima started realizing Majima's feelings in Yakuza 5, and was certain of them in Kiryu Gaiden (the way he looked at him when he asked Kiryu to not rush out of there speaks more than words).

All of this, culminating in Saejima himself being the one to vocalize Majima's feelings about Kiryu.

Something that points out to Majima's obsessive and autodestructive love is also his Hannya tattoo :

the Hannya is a malevolent female figure, a demon that represents a woman so consumed by love and jealousy she became a monster.

An Hannya mask is two faced : when she's looking straight at you, she looks like a demon, but when seen from below, she looks like she's sobbing.

Just like Majima, she's a dualistic figure, something, or rather, someone, who hides her pain with the facade of a monster.

Kiryu himself says he can't read Majima, and that's probably because of Majima's dualistic and conflicting nature.

He's in constant conflict with his 'fake' self and his 'real' self, so, of course, Kiryu have a hard time finding where the 'Mad Dog' begins and where 'Majima' ends.

[debilsposts]

Another dumb long-ass hc time because this time, I'm just bored, and I have like 30 followers, which means I can say whatever I want with no real consequences. Okay, so you know the principle of least interest, where whoever cares less in a relationship holds the most power? Yeah. jaytim can be a textbook example of this, except the power balance keeps shifting like a badly played game of chess. And, proven by GK video game, they actually do suck at chess at first.

Tim has mastered the art of restraint. He wants, but never too much. He cares, but never visibly. He moves through most things like it’s a game of chess – never reaching too far at first, never tipping his hand. His favorite piece is, unsurprisingly, the rook, one of the most underestimated pieces, but the most powerful toward the endgame, when the board is open, and he sees a clear path to getting what he wants.

Jason is the opposite. He feels with a reckless, all-consuming intensity. When he cares, it’s devouring. Which is why he keeps himself locked down, why he pushes and snarls and pretends he doesn’t want anything at all. Jason is a knight, wild, unpredictable, moving in patterns that don’t make sense to anyone but him. A piece that jumps over obstacles instead of maneuvering around them.

So, Tim plays his pieces carefully, deliberately. He waits for Jason to move first, waits for him to overextend, because Jason will overextend. That’s just how he is. He goes all in, always.

But Tim doesn’t capture him. Not yet. He tries to keep his own feelings safe, his defenses solid, his emotions locked behind a perfectly constructed wall of pawns. He makes it impossible for Jason to chase them. Makes him doubt. Jason is the one leaping in first, the one wanting more, the one Tim keeps at a distance just because he can.

Tim’s the one who says things like, “This doesn’t have to mean anything, right?” And Jason? Jason is the one who acts like it doesn’t matter, like it doesn’t gut him when Tim resets the board before he can even play.

And he keeps doing so, very often.

But here’s the thing – Jason is a competitive bastard. If he realizes he’s there's no way of winning this, he does the one thing Tim never accounted for.

He flips the board.

No more games. Jason just walks away.

“I'm tired of waiting for more.”

And Tim?

Tim panics.

Because Jason wasn’t supposed to do that. He was supposed to stay. He was supposed to keep jumping back. He wasn't supposed to be able to walk away and take half of Tim with him. Tim thought he had control, but now Jason is gone, and suddenly the game isn’t the same anymore.

So he finds himself searching, chasing, breaking his own rules.

He finds himself playing blind, making desperate moves, leaving his heart exposed just to bring Jason back to the board.

Tim sacrifices calculation for instinct. He abandons caution, trades logic for emotion, and steps into the open unarmed, hoping, praying, that Jason will see it for what it is.

"'s not a trap. Not a trick. Just– come back."

And maybe Jason does. Maybe he hovers at the edge of the board, watching Tim dismantle his own defenses, watching him make foolish, reckless moves that don’t suit a master tactician.

Maybe Jason lets him suffer a little. Makes him sweat. Because if Tim wants him, he should have to prove it. 

But then, chess isn’t a game of brute force, it’s a game of patience. Of control and punishment. And love? Love is neither of those things.

Jason has to learn that not every move is an attack. That loving someone doesn’t mean winning or losing. That being vulnerable doesn’t mean being captured.

Tim has to learn that keeping his distance doesn’t actually make him untouchable. That locking down every piece doesn’t stop the board from shifting beneath him.

And the only way they work, the only way they don’t collapse under the weight of their own defenses, is when they stop trying to win. When they stop holding love hostage like a piece they’re afraid to sacrifice.

Because in the end, the principle of least interest doesn’t matter. Because in the end, there’s no checkmate, no final move, no last play that leaves one of them victorious.

Because in the end, Jason never really left the board.

And Tim was always playing for keeps.

[hornworts]

Maison Martin Margiela FW89 cigarette shoulder leather jacket made from used leathers

[sunny-daysss]

Holy shit I’m listening to Dirty Girl rn and I remembered yesterday I learned that the whole bridge to Nerdy Prudes Must Die (the ‘will you pray for me’ bit) was supposed to be a seperate song that was gonna open Act 2 and it was supposed to be like a dream sequence with Grace and Max?? And honestly it would’ve been a really cool tie in between the two characters since Max also sings ‘will you pray for me’ in Dirty Girl 🤔

[longagoitwastuesday]

Every day I am haunted by the fact JJK could be amazing but it will be just idk Bleach or something

[divorceblogger]

am I crazy or did natalie and milchick show no specific sense of shared understanding or sympathy over the racial aggressions that they face at lumon

[screambirdscreaming]

At the bus stop one time there was a gaggle of preschoolers waiting to catch the bus for a field trip day, and someone walked past with a couple of friendly little dogs, to great general delight.

But after a little bit, the dogs were getting overwhelmed, and the preschoolers were gently coaxed to back off so the person with the dogs could continue on. Specifically, one of the preschool teachers said, "Sometimes, when you're small, being surrounded by big people can be a bit scary and overwhelming. Even if they are friendly."

This was recieved as great wisdom: after all, the preschoolers were also small, and understood how scary and overwhelming big people could be! And the dogs were indeed even smaller than the preschoolers, so it made sense.

What was funny and charming was that, upon absorbing and reflecting on this wisdom, they all felt the need to tell it to one another. In tones of great insight, they turned to one another and said, "Did you know? Sometimes when you are small, being surrounded by big people can be scary and overwhelming! Even if they are friendly!" Back and forth, without any particular concern that they were all saying the same thing. Have reached comprehension of an insight, it must be shared!

I must say that this behavior is less charming in tumblr users than in preschoolers. Not least because tumblr users, having gained a little analytical skill to misuse, insist on Summarizing and Generalizing and Unifying the insights they repeat, quickly turning any interesting new information into formulaic dogmatic mush.

[the-physicality]

paige shouting out tash cloud at every opportunity....love that

[scarletspider2the2ndpower]

“Kaine,” Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 3/2024), #1.

Writer: Steve Foxe; Penciler: Greg Land; Inker: Jay Leisten; Letterer: Frank D’Armata

[onewomancitadel]

speechless

(to be totally fair this is an excerpt of a Tweet from 2020 so I have to assume she may have reversed her position after actually reading the book. I also think dogpiling on the Internet is not nice and stuff etc. etc. but she did post this with her full name and picture of herself attached... no idea why... you do that shit on Tumblr).

[bitegore]

baru cormorant seems to me to be a series that suffers miserably for me having read machineries of empire first. unfortunately everything BC is doing strikes me as something MoE did better and more believably and with much a greater and more grounded eye for how systems, complex system interaction, and oppression like. work

[gaydryad]

accidentally getting a little too into my pedagogy class and starting to wonder if I should pivot and go into education (academic field)

[spaceratprodigy]

right now tho I'm really fixated on rogue trader lmao I want to work on Ceciliana ✌😔

[readymades2002]

something difficult about writing/storytelling but only in short disconnected bursts is that writing anything longform is very difficult. there isn't as much time to practice long-term character development or subtlety (implying character instead of immediately clarifying) when its not really meant to go anywhere but a notes app. its a little frustrating...i'd love to do something more longform though. i've considered maybe just doing some short writing scenes in my various original universes a lot recently mostly because i just havent had time to draw anything fancy recently </3 maybe that would be something...

[musical-chick-13]

My kingdom for a piece of mainstream media I get wholeheartedly obsessed with where I ship the Popular Ship™.

[cowboyfarooqlane]

Idk there’s something to be said about emotional illegibility in the books alongside unreliable narration but I’m not sure… but I do think it’s compelling how often they misunderstand others and themselves and even when the lack of understanding is simply presented