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nateriverswife · 10 months

Note

Salutations.

First off; I would like to thank you for humoring my questions, by far. Having been in the fandom (Death Note) for quite a while can be daunting at times considering how persistent everyone is on certain views that, more often than not, contradicts the canon itself, though I do not mind the originality. Some of the questions you might remember answering from me would be;

1. How unfair it is for everyone in this fandom to go full autobiography mode on Light Yagami but wrote a piss poor characterisation of other characters.

2. L would not enjoy fighting for Justice under Light's idea

There might be more, but these two are the ones that I remember writing and asking.

I rather enjoy reading your point of views. Being an avid Lawlight shipper myself (which you might found dissapointing, and for that, I apologise) I found it rather... boring that most, if not all, were very insistent that L would join Light's side if given the opportunity while writing him very, very poorly. I enjoy these two through the energy they emitted while actively going against each other. Not when they shook hands and went about it all the same like a carousel ride.

Second: What is your opinion on the whole Wammy's House organisation debacle? On A and B? The whole Successor Programme?

I don't like it. Having being nurtured the same as these children does, I absolutely resented it. Partly because of how harmful the product of the whole environment, largely because of how it reflects the morale ground Quillsh Wammy stood and what he believes in. I despise men in suits, even more so than people in orange jumpers or stripped, black and white outfit.

(Call me E.H. I would like for us to be friends. Mutuals.)

Please, E.H., I would be honoured to be mutuals, but how could you betray me like this? Mid-message? Dropping a bomb of that size on me and my blog?

Seriously, though, I would like that. I will overlook this little flaw of yours, because not everyone can be perfect, and I will accept you with open arms.

Okay. Really dropping the act this time. You don’t have to apologies for shipping them, even though I suppose it was more ironic than anything. I already have mutuals that are like you. I filtered out the various tags concerning L/Light – there are a lot of variations –, and I am fine.

I will survive if I add one more… Hopefully — but I think, in this case, it is more of a “probably”, because you do seem to share some of my views on the whole manga/anime and that means we have some common ground, even though I believe that is not that difficult.

I am really glad you like reading my long-ass posts, because I do enjoy writing it. I actually was waiting for some kind of feedback from you, because, truthfully, I wasn’t sure if your opinions were supposed to be just published without any input from me or if you actually wanted me to say something.

I was both confused (didn’t understand why you decided specifically my blog, since it’s not that well know) and delighted by them.

In any case, I am happy to see this message, especially the last part. You are the first person on here who explicitly stated the wish for my friendship. I didn’t expect that at all. I’ve been told that I seem intimidating, and I still don’t get why, so seeing that someone isn’t put off by this, it’s a nice feeling.

I will now get to your questions, and the post is going to be long, because it’s on a topic that I am actually working on and wanted to do a post of my own, but felt like, “why would people care?”, so I am glad that you do.

PREMISE

I need to do a premise before, because I feel like this is relevant to understanding my opinion.

I would love to kick myself in the face every time I happen to mention it (even though I do so to help my motivation), because it seems that I bring it up so many times and it’s making me annoyed, like, “can this bitch (me) just shut the fuck up already?”. However, it’s important in this context.

I am writing a fanfiction about the Wammy’s House, during L’s years there. And, since I am doing this, my idea of the Wammy’s House is crafted in a way that can make my story work, but I do realize this, so I will try to eliminate all my OCs’ stuff (I think I’ll mention them), even though I still believe that some roles or events I have created can be considered plausible (not canon, of course), because they help explain some things that I noticed about L while reading the manga.

Another thing is that this is a work in progress and while I have an outline for the plot, a lot of things about the Wammy’s are still not definitive. So, everything I say is not set in stone. [This question also made me realise that I made a huge error when it comes to the timeline of my fanfic, which screwed up half of the outline, but thank you.]

Other than this, Ohba left a wide-open door for any interpretation of Watari and the Wammy’s, because he didn’t think too much about them. He just wrote them in for plot purposes and never developed them properly, so anything goes, theoretically, so maybe I will be a bit more lenient on both. I don’t deny the possibility of them being pretty fucked up, because I cannot say that what I think is completely backed by canon. To each their own, but since you have experienced a similar environment, I had to preface this, because my view on it doesn’t adhere to the reality of some of these institutions, and I don’t want you to believe that I’m oblivious to the real-life problems that occur.

I think I took more liberty here, because I had few things to start from, and I’m really fond of the idea that the people (Roger and Watari too) at the Wammy’s were like a family, with its ups and downs (more downs than ups – even in my fic, so I realise that not everything is all peaches and cream). It’s just the wishful thinking of my younger self that so desperately wanted to be part of that world, and I have a hard time getting rid of it.

I must also say that most of my choices regarding the Wammy’s structure and organisation is based on “gut feeling”/intuition. More often than not, I feel if something is right or wrong, even though I can’t pinpoint exactly what’s the reason for that. I just have the impression that something must be in a certain way, and if I don’t comply to this, it just feels uncomfortable until I fix it.

WATARI & ROGER

I want to start from them to explain exactly what I think of these two, particularly their past and what led them to create the Wammy’s.

Reference to another post I wrote – headcanons about Roger – but you needn’t to read it, since I am going to repeat it here, and it talks more about their relationship than the Wammy’s.

In my mind, Watari was both a professor and an inventor. The professor job needed to provide for him before his inventions took off and gave him enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life, since it seems that he was quite rich, even before L gained something.

So, together with Roger, who was his assistant, he was in close contact with different types of students and noticed the disparity between those who can study and have the resources and those who don’t them but have the abilities to continue. Of course, they couldn’t intervene in the private business of these people. Instead, they discussed knowledge, intelligence, and the social economic situation of England (and later around the world) that didn’t allow young kids, especially orphans, to develop themselves and their abilities, since they didn’t have the means.

Not trusting the state institutions with their money, they decided to take matters into their own hands and had in mind to create an orphanage that had an internal school, so they can provide them resources and knowledge, without making them sacrifice any of those.

But then a dilemma appeared: “what if some kids can learn faster than others and we end up slowing them down?”

[learn faster than others – because “prodigy” doesn’t mean anything when it comes to orphans that don’t have resources or any help from adults.]

And from that dilemma, the Wammy’s House was born. It was a specific type of the institution they had in mind, which was meant for those who seemed more capable than others.

It’s said that Watari owns different orphanages, but they are not talked about like the Wammy’s, so it’s safe to assume the main difference is this one – what kind of kids are there and what they learn.

About Roger, I honestly think that the “he hates kids” was added to have some sort of comedic effect. However, if it was meant to be taken seriously, and I do consider it canon, there are two reasons to me:

He began to hate them, as he continued to work at the Wammy’s, because they pulled pranks on him. He’s not fierce – shown to us by how he responded to Mello grabbing him and how he stopped Mello from bothering another kid. He is quite passive and not confrontational, so I believe he was an easy target for the kids, and he grew to despise their behaviour and to be quite afraid of them in a way, because, while he tried to stop Mello, his attempt was shallow. I don’t think this is because he didn’t care, but because Mello was angry at him, and his explosive nature made him cautious.

Romantic reason: the kids, and especially L, took Watari from him Watari was too occupied with his work that he almost forgot what he and Roger had. That obviously pained Roger and he began to resent the situation and those who stole him and his attention. That would explain why their relationship grew cold, because we don’t see Roger communicate with Watari once, so it means that something happened that drove them apart, aka these kids got in between.

No matter what the reason is, Roger tries to be emotionally distant from them. I have this trope that I associate with him of the grumpy old man having to deal with a kid because of circumstances he cannot control, and he grows attached to them, wanting to protect them at best of his abilities. This is my wishful thinking, but I believe he has those moments in which he thinks, “maybe they are not that bad”, and they then do something that makes him annoyed, and he’s like, “never mind”.

Watari is emotionally not present too, not because he doesn’t want to be involved, but because he is still an inventor before becoming L’s right hand indefinitely and full-time, so he has to fulfil that role and be involved in that community to promote his stuff, to develop it, and etc. Also, the Wammy’s and the other orphanages are relatively new in my opinion, because he first established them when he’s around 40-45, so a few years before L was born, and he has to make sure they all work as he wants to, and he has to make connections so he can find these kids to bring to the Wammy’s. So, he has a lot on his plate. For this reason, if the kids need to talk to him, they have to go through Roger and get a date and an hour for when he is avaliable. Roger says that if it's urgent, they can talk to him, but they are like, "no, thanks", aka they would rather eat cold and raw food for the rest of their lives.

WAMMY’S HOUSE

Location

I have actually thought about this for a long time, and even wrote a post (after I finished this section, I noticed that I was repeating word for word what I had put here, so please, consider reading it for all the reasons).

Littleton, in the north-west part of Winchester.

I know I’m kind of going the extra mile by doing this, but I’ve always done it for every structure I had to write something about, so the Wammy’s gets a real-life location too.

The actual true reason for which I chose this location is because it’s near big fields, and I needed that for plot purposes, but even without considering that, it seems to fit what we know about L’s life there.

He played tennis – there’s a tennis court 20 minutes by foot from there. Relevant that it’s by foot, because I imagined that Watari couldn’t constantly leave the Wammy’s with L for long periods of time and multiple times a week. He had other affairs to attend to, aside from his responsibility at the Wammy’s.

A’s suicide – there’s a church where he can be buried. It can be reached by foot, so the kids could attend his funeral. I also have a morbid headcanon that B took his body from his grave. I also liked to tie the church to L hearing bells before he dies, so this closeness would make it possible for everyone inside the Wammy’s to hear them.

Big space – because the Wammy’s seems to be pretty big by the manga panels we have, and I have a specific idea of how it’s structured, both its exterior and interior, so it was necessary to have many hectares available.

Structure

I made floor plans. I started this a while ago and never actually completed it, because the site I was using was infuriating, but I found an app, and managed to copy what I had done in the other one. I forgot to change the names of the rooms, because I created this to help me visualise the setting of my fic, so ignore them for now (I will point out some names there, just to explain one thing). Don't mind that they are two different sizes, because the app didn't let me make some of the furniture smaller, so I had to enlarge the rooms, so that's why the first floor is bigger.

It’s not definitive, because I still don’t understand where I should put their stairs – or if to put them, ‘cause based on Mello and L’s egos, they already think so highly of themselves that I don’t think they need a staircase to reach the first floor.

In my fic, I didn’t explicitly state where they are supposed to be. I’m letting the readers figure that one out for me, while I just stick to say if they go down or up them. The main problem is not if they should face or not the entrance, because they have to, but where the hell are on the first floor? My gut feeling keeps making me image them next to Lex’s room, but that doesn’t make sense and would be pretty ugly on the ground floor – they would be too close to the entrance, and I hate it. So, I’m just going to ignore it, until it becomes a problem, which I doubt because I’m the one writing this, and nobody is going to police every single detail.

The two unnamed bedrooms on the ground floor are for people that work there (cooks, cleaning staff or the nurse) that can’t go home for reasons.

In my fic, one of the rooms is always vacant, because I imagine that the employees are near the Wammy’s, so they don’t need to stay there, and it is a storage closet, with all of things – costumes and decorations for all kinds.

It’s a pretty big institution. The size of the rooms might not give that away, but it’s big. It has high ceilings, and the classrooms and bedrooms are longer than wider, but they are still very spacious. When I write and imagine it, even it’s from the perspective of small children, I envision everything to be comfortable even for older kids.

I couldn’t add everything I think it has, so I’ll just list them:

A small football field on the left with two benches, so the kids can rest.

Some big trees next the corners of the garden and some bushes here and there.

A stone path from the main entrance to the gate.

A shed on the right, with all the gardening tools.

The interior might not coincide with the way it is portrayed in the manga panels, but I like to imagine that after A’s death and L’s parting, things got restructured and the internal organisation changed.

Internal organisation - from the year it was founded to 1993, so even during L’s years there

I placed L’s arrival in 1988, when he’s about to turn 9, because L is shown to us to be in relatively light clothing in the one-shot “L: The Wammy’s House”, so it can’t be after 31st October. Winchester usually has a high of 11° and a low of 4° in November, and 8° and 2° in December, so I don’t see why he would be dressed up like that.

And 1993, because he says to Light that he stayed in England for 5 years, which also means that he is not from there. I headcanon him to be born in Scotland, because it’s hilarious to think he has a Scottish accent that he hides – “Bang! if Ah was kira, yoo'd be deid.” | “Looks loch someain drapped thes ceel phain in th' crowd earlier.” and so on. It’s so funny. And also, it kind of makes sense why he wasn’t in England before and why he knows standard English. He could also be from Northern Ireland, but he gives me Scottish vibes.

1993 is also the year in which I place A’s death. I don’t follow the timeline from Another Note, because I cannot imagine A and B being younger than L. I’ll talk about this later.

ENTRY

The first requisite for the kids to be brought to the Wammy’s is to show that they are more able than other (as in “able to learn to a faster speed” or show some specific ability), and they usually are kids that were in another orphanage already. Watari has a wide social network and, to me, he’s called by the people in charge of those institutions (that could be his, like he just owns it and is contact with the ones who take care of it) when they realise a kid’s ability. For this reason, rarely there are kids who are very young, and I put that the second requisite is that they have to be at least 5 years old, because the school inside it goes only from elementary school to high school.

Only in exceptional circumstances, the Wammy’s House takes on younger kids, e.g., if they are in danger and the Wammy’s is the closest place where they can stay. However, after everything is settled (a matter of a few days), they are transferred to other orphanages administrated by Watari if they are that young. They still can come back, when they are older, but it’s a lot more work to look after toddlers or pre-schoolers.

After passing the entry exam, all the kids have their own personal folders with all their existing documents – birth certificate, medical records, etc. – that will be given back to them once they leave the Wammy’s House.

While the whole letter system becomes a thing when L appears, the kids still have to choose their alias, because some of them surely have a troubled past and choosing a new name is a fresh start, as if the bad things that happened to them can’t reach them anymore inside those walls. Since making only some choose it would make them stood out, it is implemented as a general rule, and even Watari does it so it isn't seen as a bad thing.

ENTRY EXAM

To enter the Wammy’s House, there is an exam. Since every one of the kids that are sent here is with the idea that they are more able, the admission rate is 100%.

The exam covers different abilities: raging from knowledge the orphan should possess for their age to difficult stuff (this knowledge is chosen based on the national curriculum for students up to 18 years old), and it includes other scopes (e.g., musical, artistic, etc. – to understand if they have an inclination to something or if they are interested in that).

There is also a social part. Since they live into a community, it’s good to understand how to live with others. If they don’t pass this part, it doesn’t mean they get automatically excluded, but it can lower their position a bit.

There is an obvious fallacy, because if they theoretically know how to behave towards others, it doesn’t mean they employ that behaviour. In fact, most of the kids “know” how to act in a community, but they have some behavioral issues, and the higher they are in the grade system, the worse they are. I like the irony I created, so I’m keeping it in.

This exam focuses more on the thought process than the result.

THE GRADE SYSTEM

I created a system made by 6 grades + 1, which is called “Apex”.

All of them have a basic requirement in knowledge.

The first three (1 is the lowest, 3 is the highest) are more socially oriented and coincide to elementary and middle school. They mostly teach kids social skills, so they can work all together to get to a common objective, aka pass the grade. They focus on play, conversation, emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills.

When developing this, Watari thought it would be quite easy to pass it, but he was wrong. He found out that letting the kids try the test – which is, like, a presentation, a competition and a debate – every year created more hatred between them, so he had to add another year, so they could defuse these feelings and make them understand that cooperation is the best option.

The result here is not that important. The most important part is how they got there and how they all behaved towards each other, which should be inclusive. And, while the kids can maybe work better together as a class or big groups and pass the first two with ease, grade 3 is tricky. Not because the curriculum is hard, but because they need to find a person and trust that they are on the same page as them, but not everyone is eager to get to the new grade.

It never happened for someone of the age 13 to still be in the grade 3, so it was never a problem to “what if they remain there until they become 18?”, because Wammy’s existence is short at this point in time, and usually they find someone, but, in case it happens, Watari has a plan B and it’s individual classes to teach them what they should know at their age. They are still in grade 3 and they still have to do the debate with someone else, but if they pass it, depending on how much they have learnt, they can also do the exam to get to grade 5 or skip the classes about the things they already know, because the other three grades (4 is the lowest, 6 is the highest) are more individualistic. They don’t have to work with the others to pass it, so here is more important the result.

The last “grade” is not a grade, but a category. These are those who fulfilled all the requirements and are “free” to do whatever they want. It’s like they finished high school. They are not required to go to class or take some exams, unless they ask to get a degree or a master, in which case, if they need it, a professor is called to assist them and then, an external qualified examinator to test them and their knowledge. But, other than that, they are completely free.

CLASSES AND TEACHERS

Classes are semi-mandatory, and everyone is greatly encouraged to take part to all of them. Watari may even talk to those who deems more needing to be present, which are usually those in the first grades, especially if they misbehave or show anti-social behaviour.

For the first grades, there is one teacher per grade for every subject, since the syllabus is not hard. They are of course specialized in those parts. This choice was made for consistency and to create a great bond with them, since having different teachers might throw off the dynamics that exist within the class.

For the other grades, since the topics are harder, there is a different teacher for subject.

School time is a bit different from the one for the public school:

Youth Month represents the start of summer break.

Classes are resumed in September.

They have all the other breaks like Easter, Christmas and so on.

The classes are from Monday to Friday, and every student has their own timetable that may or may not coincide with those who share their same grade – it depends on what they know already, determined by a test at the end of every quarter.

ACTIVIES

Youth Month

For this, I took inspiration from youth games in Italy, which is basically an event that promotes inclusivity, sport, healthy competition, and social relations.

It’s in May, and every Sunday there is a different activity in which pairs compete. There are two different competitions based on age: 7-12; 13-17.

In 1989, I put that:

May 7: three legs run.

May 14: relay race.

May 21: treasure hunt.

May 27: cops and robbers (the last game is divided into two big groups to give a chance to gain a lot of points for those who didn’t until then).

In 1990, the only change I made is that the third game is table tennis, since it was raining outside.

Holidays

Valentine's Day, Halloween, Christmas, and New Year's Eve are the main holidays that are celebrated inside the Wammy's, because even though I believe that Watari is Christian and the orphanage has an affiliation to Christianity, I don’t think he indoctrinate the kids. That would go against the core of the Wammy’s in my opinion, because kids are supposed to think critically and accepting the existence of God without questioning it is not. They can always turn to that religion if they feel close to it, but it’s not mandatory. They don’t go to Church (imagine two old gay men having to make sure 30+ kids don’t destroy it every Sunday) nor celebrate other very Christian holidays, like Easter. They might have a feast, but it’s not publicly associated to the resurrection of Jesus.

This is a choice I made based on the fact that nobody showcases any belief in any type of supernatural entities. Mello wears a rosary, and it seems more symbolic than him actually believing and practicing the religion. I associate it to his mother, who I like to headcanon as a devoted Christian, since Eastern Europe/Balkans are very, extremely, to a worrying extent religious, to the point that people would rather go to church or call a priest home and pray instead of visiting a doctor to cure any kind of injury.

[Tangent: and the church as an institution seems like the mafia. I happened to be home in Romania when the priest and his helpers had to bless our home and they made us kneel in the dark with torches in hand. We had to kiss his ring and give him money, and it’s not like a voluntary contribution. It’s pretty much blackmailing, because if you don’t “donate”, they have the right to give your place in the graveyard to someone else, and they write it down how much you paid to see if it’s enough when you die. If it is not, your kids or relatives have to pay. It’s wild. It’s not everywhere like this, but the church is quite shady, at least in Romania, and they brainwashed people, especially older ones, to devote everything to them. It's insane.]

Halloween:

I put that a few days before Halloween one of the older kids is appointed to go around the Wammy’s and take notes of what the kids would love to eat (candies) and what they want to dress up as. Everything is done in the realm of possibilities. Watari is going to buy the costumes he can find. Usually, they are passed down from one person to another, so during L’s years, there have been enough requests to have pretty much the ones that are more common, and the only change is to make them fit the new person wearing it. Kids like also to be crafty, like for a mummy costume, they are going to use toilet paper and so on. It’s more about the candies, because he needs to buy something they will like.

In the first part of the day, Watari calls some outsiders to help him decorate the Wammy’s and carve pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns. Some kids give a hand, but the others are more preoccupied with their costumes.

The party usually starts at 17:30, after they take a group photo under the “Hallowe’en XXXX” banner over their head. They then play games and just do their things, while eating candies and other sweets. At 19, there is a feast. After that, Watari or Roger tell the kids some age-appropriate scary stories, and at 21, Littleton has fireworks, but you really have to be lucky to see them, aka it doesn’t have to rain, and it usually does.

Since trick and treat wasn’t popular in UK until the late 80s-early 90s, I put that the kids at the Wammy’s experienced it for the first time in 1992. Watari didn’t understand it at first, because he was the one to buy candies for the kids, so why would they need to go to someone else? (Poor grandpa, feeling replaced).

Christmas:

I wanted to do something different. Watari doesn’t ask the kids what they might want, but tries to surprise them, showing that he knows them, so that he can make up for all the time he isn’t present, which is a lot. He buys the gifts and places them under the tree in the main hall. After the kids open them, they take again a group photo next to the tree and the kids have all their presents in their hand, showing them to the camera. It’s very cozy and calm holiday. They have a big feast, and the kids are let playing with their new toys. They even watch some Christmas movies.

New Years’s Eve:

Watari doesn’t prepare anything special, other than a feast. There are fireworks, and that's it.

Valentine’s day:

There are two types, for those older than 14 and those younger, because I think the Wammy’s is strict when it comes to romance (mostly about PDA), which is not that serious at that age. But it’s an important part of growing up and they cannot go around fearmongering that liking someone in a romantic sense is bad. That would defeat the purpose of the first 3 grades. If you can’t like someone in that way, then you can’t even get near them, as to avoid the possibility of that feeling to develop.

Generally, everyone gets chocolates and candies, but they are also required to write a nice card to someone else. This person is chosen by extraction – done by Watari, who can pretend that is random, but it’s actually not.

In my fic, they usually write stupid things, like “you are funny”, but some of them get someone they have petty rivalry with, and so they write backhanded compliments, because they can go to Watari and complain about the card, and the sender can just lie that they meant it, that it’s all in good faith.

Those that are older than 14 can ask Watari a gift to buy to someone, but of course, it’s fucking embarrassing to go and ask him that, so they usually just gift their sweets to that person and do a hand-made card for them, if they feel like it. Only those that are braver go to ask him to buy a rose, a special card or something.

Stargazing

I added this activity for the summer break, in which they all gather in a nearby field and look at the sky on some specific days.

There is also an astronomer called by Watari that can answer their question, but the reason for this was to let the kids feel a bit freer and not confined within the gates of the Wammy’s, especially the younger ones that can’t go to the recreational ground. They can play some games there, but usually they just lay on the ground and talk with each other. There is a telescope they can use.

Recreational ground

There’s a park near the Wammy’s – 20 minutes by foot, but they usually use bicycles to get there.

Only those age 13 or up can go there. They can’t go alone, but always with someone. If someone age 11 or up wants to go, they need to be accompanied by someone age 16 or up, because those of 13-14-15 might not pay attention to them that much, even if they say, “yes, of course”.

For extra measure, Watari has the numbers of those who live near the park, that can contact him in case something happens. Those under 11 can’t go there under no circumstances. I decided this because the roads that take to the park are not safe for riding bicycles, and there is an age limit for doing that on the road.

Other than the necessary stuff for riding the bicycles, they have a tag with the number of the Wammy’s and a bag with Wammy’s insignia on it, because I did create it. It was just a vision in my mind, but I did a draft using picsart and color, so here you go. It’s not well made, since the lines of the ribbon banner are not straight. The ribbon banner I took from Google had such a bad quality that I could see each pixels (like in the first picture), so I had to draw over the border to make it more full.

The picture on the left was the first version.

The first idea was to have a W with an H behind it, like this.

But I decided to change it, also because it has all the letters of Watari.

Everything that is propriety of the Wammy’s House has this on.

SUCCESSOR PROGRAMME

Premise

First and foremost, I don’t like the idea of Watari being the one to impose it on everyone, without any regard for what they want to do, because I think he’s experienced enough with kids to know that you can't just force them to do something. They won’t. You can coerce them by using violence and threats, but none of the kids that we know of showcase any sign of being physically abused.

It’s also important to note that not everyone in the Wammy’s is competitive. Mello is the only one who wants to be at the top. Matt and Linda don’t care, and neither does Near. He is just first because he is that smart. However, this is after.

Competitiveness is more prevalent in the system I had created, because being in the Apex means not having to follow classes or have to listen to teachers. That’s the prime reason for why people want to reach it. It’s not about prestige, because I don’t think the kids, especially younger ones, have that concept wired in their brain. And usually, as a self-preservation technique, people tend to consider negative something they cannot reach/have and that opinion is automatically applied to those who can enjoy it, which makes them want to stay away from it so nobody thinks that of them, but if they had the chance to join it, they would take it in a heartbeat.

E.g., imagine someone that wants to go to a water park, but they find out that the entrance costs a lot or it’s far away. They are more likely to think, “well, it wasn’t that good to being with” or that it’s only for rich bastards or something, rather than accept that it just happens. They will even talk badly about it to others. However, if they manage to get in, they will enjoy every second of it.

So, in this case, while advancement is okay, getting to the higher position is pretty much a curse, because if you act in a certain way that is redeemed rude, then the reason is considered to be your status.

In my fic, when A and B got in to the Apex, people started to have a negative opinion of them. They have always been on their own, but since they are now reserved AND in the Apex, then it’s because they think too highly of themselves and less of others, which makes people find them some times annoying, even when they are doing nothing wrong. They might still interact with them nicely, but that doesn’t mean they like them.

Secondly, the general theme of the Death Note is that people are responsible for their own downfall in a way, so I’m going to follow that when it comes to its establishment and organisation.

L's idea

Unlike others in the fandom, I consider A and B to be older than L (4 years apart), so the successor programme was first tasted out when L was living there. Decided this because I want him to see what he caused, and for the reasons in the post I hyperlinked.

I have a kind of specific yet not definitive idea of how L’s life before the Wammy’s was. I won’t write all down because I don’t think it’s that important. The only part that is, is the fact that he managed to stop a terroristic attack to get Watari’s attention, because “go big or go home”, and he was the one who decided to establish the successor programme.

Establishment

When he arrived at the Wammy’s, he wanted immediately to get down to business, and asked Watari to talk to the smartest people there: A and B, together.

L introduced the idea for “when I’m away”, as in “when I am taking a break” – because I imagine him to ramble about his career to Watari in the days they stayed together before going back to the Wammy’s and on the 8-10 hours long trip, and Watari pointed out to him that he needed to have time to play/free time, and L said that he was right, that he’d put someone in his place for that time, he’d teach them what he knew, because he was very good at it, he was basically justice itself for how many things he knew – but A and B took that as in “when he dies”.

It was in that moment that L took everything more seriously. They talked for hours. A and B asked him lots of questions about that project, the possibility of that to happen, and how to make sure that it can last for a long time.

And while the conversation started as more of an abstract idea, after L showed them what he managed to do, they were both impressed and eager to learn to be able to do the same. They too had an interest in solving riddles, and… C’mon, it’s cool to be a detective, especially one that was supposed to be the greatest.

They discussed the technicalities and decided not to limit themselves only to two members, so that’s how the successor programme was actually created. It was also A and B to decide their own names, because they said that, since he’s called L, they too should have they own letters, and, while talking, they said, “I would be an alternative” and “if you are that, then I’ll be your backup”, so that’s how they got them.

Basically, it started with L, but A and B became co-owners of this programme in a way, and L didn’t mind it, because they were older than him, seemed wiser, and he looked up to them in a way.

For the others, the letters were chosen in two different ways: the first five smartest people there would be the first letters of the alphabet, while the others would have their own letter based on their real name, because five people were enough.

And I say, “smartest people”, but A and B advised L to look for other qualities other than that, because you can have someone that is extremely intelligent, but if they are extremely reckless too, then that detective persona is doomed to fail.

All three of them talked to kids in grades 4-5-6 and the Apex (in my fic, there are other two people here) about this project, but they weren’t obliged to accept. They let L speak, who explained what they were planning to do, showed them what he did, and gave them the choice to accept or not. If they didn’t accept, they would ask them to not divulge the information they discussed. In my fic, no one actually says no, because they think it’s awesome.

In case they accepted, he granted them a wish, something that he would fulfil, so that, if they wouldn’t get chosen, at least they wouldn’t think they wasted time. It’s a quality I noticed in L, while reading the manga. I explained it in my long post about the characters: he compensates his actions, which I think it’s something he picked up as he started to be interested in solving cases (before he arrived at the Wammy’s), because he saw what criminals had to do after they got caught doing something bad, and wasting people’s time is bad.

So, everyone had a choice and L, initially, worked mostly with the first five people in the successor programme, but not immediately.

In my fic, there is the MC that tries to destroy him and his project, but even without her, it makes sense that he would take time, years even, to make sure this project can operate without any vulnerabilities. He’s far-sighted and took things more seriously, thanks to A and B’s inputs, so he wanted to create a solid foundation for this detective persona and the project.

However, he didn’t spend all his time thinking about that, because he is also a child, so he experienced a bit of his childhood: he participated in Wammy’s activities, played with the other kids, spent his time picking and giving up interests, etc. He even had tennis practices and tournaments, so it’s not like he just solved cases. He still did – smaller ones – but not all the goddamn time. He was also into stocks, and he had to pay attention to that too.

To me, he started when he was 12-13 to solve them periodically, but not publicly, just to have some credibility in the eyes of England’s law enforcement, that could then recommend him to other national law enforcement, slowly building up his empire.

There wasn’t this urgency or this pressure to be like him. It was like a long-period plan that still had to show its fruits. L wouldn’t even tell all the members everything he solved – just the first five, because he would give them the case files to practice their skills.

ALTERNATIVE / A

So, he was older than L and participated to the establishment of the successor programme.

For the first years, he didn’t actually think too much about it, but as he was slowly approaching being 18, he started to have doubts about his abilities, because, as said before, L gave him case files to solve and he wasn’t able to get any of them entirely right. He still didn’t want to admit defeat and be a disappointment in the other eyes’, so he tried times and times again. This had an impact on his mental health, of course.

L noticed this change in attitude and told him that he can switch places with B. He had no problem with it, but A, instead of admitting that he wasn’t fit for the position, preferred to argue with him, damaging their relation.

The situation was really heavy for him, and since telling the truth was worse than anything else, his first attempt to leave it was by running away from the Wammy’s. That didn’t go well, because B, with a group of people there, managed to find him. A invented some kind of excuse, that he was being followed and didn’t want to bring them to the orphanage. B didn’t buy it, and they too started to argue.

So, in that case, telling the truth was worse than death and he couldn’t bear the idea of being a complete failure, and killed himself.

That’s how I see how things went, more or less. And L was blamed for it. The successor programme was interrupted, and some of them decided not to participate anymore, even though they could always return, once and if it would be resumed.

L left the Wammy’s the same year, before turning 14, which is important, because B kills a 13-years old girl by bashing her head, and that what I think he wanted to do to L (in my fic, it’s him and the MC, but whatever) at that time, but couldn’t.

In my fic, A’s name at the Wammy’s is Natal, because it means birth/birthday. And B’s name is Elioenai, which means “towards him are my eyes”. Now, this can have different interpretations: the “eyes” could mean the Shinigami eyes and “him” could be Natal, or L. I am not sure how much I consider him having the Shinigami eyes to be canon. It’s an interesting concept, but I don’t understand how that would be possible, like what led to that and what else does it mean for B? Is he part Shinigami? Or his mother had wild sex with a Shinigami, that then got some type of punishment by the King, because it’s against the rules?

I don’t know, so I don’t count them as canon, to be honest. Cool, but I don’t get it.

For me, Beyond Birthday means also “After Natal”.

BEYOND BIRTHDAY / B

I don’t believe he went completely insane after A’s death. In my mind, he was always kind of shady, ruthless, based on survival instinct and self-preservation. He had an attachment to A, but he had no problem to consider him also a tool that he could use and then discard, if he needed to. He loved him, but he always prioritized himself, at the end of the day.

I associate to them the betrayal trope - Was It All a Lie?

If things went differently and A became L, that would not last long, because B would kill him so that he could succeed him, and nobody would question it, because they wouldn’t know what truly happened.

A’s death screwed up his plan and blamed L for it. He wanted to take his place, but he first needed his detective persona to be well established. He let L do the hard work to create it. A mostly gave some inputs to help him, while B supervised it, to make sure that everything was going according to his plan.

Since A was chosen as first successor, he couldn’t convince him to switch places, because he didn’t want him and L to have the impression that he really wanted that.

He honestly believed that L would be the first one to crack, because he was younger, but when A died and the project stalled for an indefinite period of time, he couldn’t take it. He planned his life to go in a certain way, but now L wouldn’t work as L anymore for an indefinite time, making no progress, and the project was a big question mark, without any information on when or if it would be resumed? That made him see red.

If he couldn’t become L, then nobody deserved it, and he decided to impersonate L and ruin his career. If he had managed to kill himself in Another Note, while Misora still believed him to be L, then that would’ve had irreparable damages to L’s credibility (Misora would tell Raye, who would tell to the FBI, and etc.), and L would’ve needed a lot of time to get that trust back.

That’s one of my interpretations of the LABB case, because I can’t really explain why B decided to that. We take for granted that the Another Note is canon, given also the praise by Ohba, but… It’s not. I have a hard time to consider things about L published after the manga conclusion canon, because they usually follow the fandom’s reaction. I consider the two one shots about Near canon, because Near has never had the same kind of fanbase L did and does, so it’s easy to not be influenced by what other people think.

In Another Note’s case, it’s also written by someone else and, even though it might be weird to say it, it’s a fanfiction in my eyes, that Ohba considers canon because he is lazy, and couldn’t come up with any type of case L solved. He said that himself.

I pick and choose, basically. I could also throw Another Note out the window, with A and B, and pretend they don’t even exist, and I wouldn’t be “wrong” in doing so, but I like them, even though some parts of the novel leave me confused, because it contradicts the canon.

AFTER A'S DEATH

I haven’t thought about this too much. I have just a general idea of the fact that the orphanage got restructured in some way, but don’t know what exactly changed. It’s just my gut feeling telling me that, as well as saying that the grade system got replaced by a simple graduation list, who ranked the kids based on points they gathered during the year by doing tests, and etc. Can’t go in-depth, because there is nothing here that I actually explored. It isn’t important in my fic, so I haven’t paid too much attention to that. I might start to think about it in the future, but I still want to submit my answer.

It gets tricky when it comes to who decided that Mello and Near are meant to be his successors. It makes sense that it would be something imposed to them, but they seem to want it. Near takes on the title of his successor and even tells Light that he is that, meaning that he does not despise it. Mello clearly wants to be the best, and the best in his eyes is L, and I think this is due to the fact that L, during their time, is an established figure in the world and they want to be like him. He came from the Wammy’s, which tells them that they can reach that level of grandiosity.

In the 2013 “It’s not about justice" one-shot, it said that some of the kids lose respect for L and keep their distance, so it is not mandatory for everyone to be part of the successor programme. Maybe even here, it’s mainly for the best in the institution, so that position was offered to Near, Mello and Matt (third in line).

Mello accepted for obvious reasons. Near because he likes to solve puzzles. Matt because, “yeah, why not”, but never believed that he would ever end up actually taking on that role, because Mello was in front of him.

Here, they are not given letters in an alphabetical order, so there isn’t a first or a second for L’s position (it exists only inside the Wammy’s), and it ties well with what I said before about A and B. A felt like he needed to become L and couldn’t back down or ask for help because he was "A", but now, who feels fit will take on L’s role and can also work with the other, without feeling like they need to do things alone.

I doubt L would make the same mistake twice and impose such job on only one person. Besides, I don’t think L believed to die that young, so while they taught them some important skills to be a detective, the idea was that they will become L later in life – in their 40/50s. Unfortunately, L died young and so even the successors were young.

Maybe it’s just naivety on my part, and the interpretation of the majority in this fandom of the Wammy’s House, Watari and the Successor Programme is more accurate than mine.

Of course, characters’ individual experience of the Wammy’s can be absolutely horrendous and they are not fond of the institution, but I don’t think Wammy’s House was born or became as something meant to create copies of L, especially because Near and Mello’s, as well as Matt and Linda’s, personalities and thought processes aren’t a carbon copy of his. They are their own people, in some way.

That’s all I had to say. I think I wrote enough to get a grasp of my idea of everything, even though there are some parts that I did not disclose or aren’t definitive. So, keep that in mind – I might as well wake up one day and decide to consider Wammy’s a factory of Ls, that resembles the common depiction of Hell in cartoons, but I highly doubt it.

Hope you like it. Let me know. And thank you for the ask, as always.

I kept thinking who you might be, based on when you sent the asks and my notifications around that time – maybe to find a correlation (e.g., you read something I wrote and thought of talking about that) – and I identified some accounts. Some of them are mutuals, that I can now exclude. The other non-mutuals that ship L/Light but have views that are different from yours. So, when I said that maybe I know who you might be, I think I was wrong, so I am quite curious to find out the truth.

Take care, E.H.

#as always - hopefully my english is good lmao #thx again #death note #death note meta #l lawliet #beyond birthday #wammy's house #quillish wammy #watari #roger ruvie #mihael keehl #alternative #mail jeevas #nate river #dn.inbox #dn.general

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formulaorange · 4 months

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Fall 2023 Anime Review

The 24 episodes series this season are popping off. Honestly one of the better seasons for anime that we've had in a few years.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (1/2) - 16/28 Episodes This show almost feels like a fever dream. There's a fuzziness to the animation style that also gives it a ghibli vibe. Definitely one of the more memorable and important fantasy series out there. It has something about it that gives it more of a deeper meaning than other series and definitely feels like each episode is it's own piece of a puzzle. 10/10 - Masterpiece

The Apothecary Diaries (1/2) - 12/24 Episodes I wasn't sure what to expect from this series but I thoroughly enjoy it so far. I ended up going ahead and reading the manga because I wanted more content. Just a fun medical mystery type show with some goofy scenes and bits of almost romance? Looking forward to more episodes in the future. 8.5/10 - Very Good +

Shangri La Frontier (1/2) - 12/25 Episodes I genuinely enjoy this series. It does have a bit of an SAO vibe initially but it moves past that real quick. I think it's one of the more enjoyable series for people who actually enjoy and appreciate video games. Overall, the game itself just looks like a lot of fun and you can tell the mc is enjoying it too. 8/10 - Very Good

Shy - 12 Episodes I don't know why people aren't into this series. I think it would definitely have done better had it come out during the peak of hero shows but it still hits. I think it's a really well done story and the animations are also satisfying. Reminds me a little of Justice League or Young Justice. Honestly a fun watch. 8/10 - Very Good

SpyxFamily - Season 2 - 12 Episodes This show never disappoints. Each episodes is just as entertaining as the first season and I don't feel like a single episode has been wasted so far. I'm still very much looking forward to future content. 8.5/10 - Very Good+ Dr. Stone - Season 3 - 11 Episodes For some reason I always seem to put off watching this series but as soon as I get into it, it's so worth it. Definitely still holding up to the pilot season and I'm just as stoked for future seasons. Solid consistency. 8/10 - Very Good The Eminence In Shadow - Season 2 - 12 Episodes This had such a banger first season. Definitely just a fun show for me that I try not to look into too much when watching. Has straight forward fun protagonist and the story hasn't flopped so far. 7.5/10 - Good+ Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions - 13 Episodes The first few episodes come off as a cheesy Sherlock spoof but it definitely takes off on the later cases. It becomes less overall about the cases but the combo of the two and the different situations they end up in. By the end of the season I felt like the cases they worked were fun and interesting and I liked the character building. 7/10 - Good My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-rank Adventurer I gave this 3 episodes. Honestly I think ending it at episode 3 was fine.. The story feels weak but it's a nice short story if you watch the first 3 episodes and don't care the whole demon lord plot. 5/10 - Average The Rising of Shield Hero - Season 3 - 12 Episodes I got through about 4 episodes and really enjoyed it and then it just went downhill. It turned into some kind of monster raising anime with a side of shield hero. I initially dropped it but decided to come back and finish it because i'm still attached to the overaching story for some reason. I found the last 3 episodes were decent and did add to the overall story but I still had such a rough time in the first 3/4. 4.5/10 - Less than Average Goblin Slayer - Season 2 - 12 Episodes I was so disappointed by this show. I honestly can't remember how the first season ended but I don't feel like it needed this season. Felt much more like the standard harem isekai with very little interesting aspects to the story. Not to mention the whole elf incest story line they threw in there. Definitely won't be coming back for a 3rd season. Had a really hard time getting through this one. 3.5/10 - Bad/Very Bad

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small-screen-superman · 5 months

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Superman: An Outsider Among the Justice League? (Inspired by Superman vs. Meshi)

This post is also on my independent blog, Small Screen Superman - go there for an even better experience!

Superman vs. Meshi is an official Superman manga that I greatly enjoy – not just because it’s cute, funny and well-drawn, but also because its depiction of Superman is actually really interesting. Like most of my favored depictions of him, he’s very humanized and very personable. It makes sense to focus on this side of him in this manga considering the book has a very human, small-scale focus: each chapter is a short story about Superman going to lunch in Japan, with lots of descriptions of the food he’s eating. There’s nothing too exciting going on – in fact, it’s implied that Superman has apparently done such a good job in this universe that the whole world is fairly peaceful. But the manga is far from boring, at least to this Super fan. I really enjoy getting to know this version of Superman, and it’s also surprisingly fun to read the detailed descriptions of Japanese food – they always sound quite delicious and bring back good memories of any times I’ve had similar food.

But more to the point, let’s talk about a specific trait of this Superman that is somewhat rare among Superman depictions. In Chapter 3, he meets with the Justice League and does some introspection about his relationship with them. I’ll go ahead and share the relevant pages.

There’s a lot to talk about in these three short pages, but the main thrust of it is that Superman doesn’t feel like he really belongs in the Justice League. That’s not what people expect from Superman. Superman is supposed to be the friendly and confident guy that everyone gets along with and looks up to, especially his fellow superheroes. He’s one of the first characters, if not the first, anyone thinks of when they think about the Justice League. So naturally, it makes sense that he would fit in with them perfectly – in fact, he should define what it means to be a Justice League member. Right? Well, not necessarily, in my opinion.

Now, let me be clear: I don’t think there’s such a thing as the “right” or “true” or “correct” version of Superman, since he’s a fictional character who has been portrayed in a wide variety of different ways. But an aspect of him that has showed up in many forms over the years is the idea of him being a bit of a self-contradiction in terms of his connection with others. He has many friends and allies, yet somehow has a sense of loneliness to him too. He’s different from others – an alien from a now nonexistent planet and either the last of his kind or one of only a handful of surviving Kryptonians. And the mere fact of being a superhero who has to keep a secret identity disconnects him from the majority of people.

Now, it does seem natural that therefore, perhaps Superman might be able to connect with other superheroes more easily than other people because they know what it’s like to be a superhero. But there are reasons this might not be the case, which makes me think this is a reasonable direction for the character. I’m going to be talking in generalities and across continuities looking for reasons why this can mesh with traits generally given to Superman.

Superman’s Origin

Most superheroes, including those in the Justice League, started as normal humans, and became superheroes because of an unexpected event. You could maybe interpret this as applying to Superman in terms of Krypton’s explosion being the unexpected event that “gave him powers” by leading to him being sent to a planet with a yellow sun, but I think this is a bit of a stretch.

As far as Clark’s life goes, there are many times he’s not depicted as having all his powers from the get-go and instead needing to grow in order to get them. This still feels pretty different from starting as a normal human and getting your powers from something external. In a way, Superman is fundamentally different from the majority of Earth’s population in a way that most superheroes are not, due to not being human and never having been human.

And yet, on a psychological and personal level, it’s perhaps more accurate to say Superman is human…but he might not be perceived as such by people who see him as Superman rather than Clark Kent. This leads me to perhaps a more important divide between Superman and his fellow heroes.

How Superman is Perceived and Revered

Superman is almost always perceived as a really big deal even among superheroes. Is he THE first, most honorable, most successful, most popular, most powerful superhero in every universe? Not necessarily, but his perception is something like that. And I think those expectations might have the potential to make things more difficult for Superman. People probably assume that they can’t relate to Superman before they even try to get to know him. Even accomplished, powerful superheroes don’t necessarily see him as a peer, but as someone above them.

What’s also awkward is that Superman doesn’t see himself this way – he’s generally confident, but humble. And he lives much of his life not reveling in his fame or power, but as a mild-mannered reporter. I see this a lot in those Superman vs. Meshi panels, and it warms my heart. But Superman knows it’s important to inspire others, including his fellow heroes, so while he’d want people to know that he doesn’t see himself as high above them, he might feel reluctant to shatter his myth altogether.

Seeing this awkwardness be overcome, possibly requiring character development from both Superman and the League members, could be a very satisfying story.

This might explain why Superman tends to have closer friendships with his fellow members of the “Trinity”, Batman and Wonder Woman. Since those two are also rather “legendary”, they aren’t as awed by Superman.

Superman is More Used to Working Alone (Well, Sometimes)

OK, this point is a bit dubious because Superman does work with other people and other heroes even outside the Justice League, but he’s at least closer to working alone than many other Justice League members (in most depictions). He may have “Super-Family Members”, but they’re somewhat independent from him – he doesn’t have long-term, “true” sidekicks. So maybe working with a lot of other superheroes doesn’t come naturally to him to the point it might be a bit awkward.

The big problem with this is…the Legion of Super-Heroes. If Superman was part of a superhero team when he was young, before even meeting the Justice League, than naturally it should be more normal to him, right? Of course, the Superman being part of the Legion as a teen is something that keeps coming into and leaving comics continuity, and it rarely makes its way out of the comics, so this isn’t even applicable to many versions of Superman.

Back to Superman vs. Meshi Real Quick

Before I conclude this article, I’m going to circle back to the manga that inspired it. It’s interesting how little relevance most of this article actually has to Superman vs. Meshi in particular. Unlike this article, Superman vs. Meshi didn’t seek to justify why Superman doesn’t fit in with the Justice League with detailed reasons based on the general traits of how he’s portrayed. It just did it rather casually, treating Superman as basically a normal guy. And I like that.

Still, I think it was worthwhile looking at some reasons why I don’t think this depiction of the Man of Steel is at odds with his character in general. I hope I can find more stories which depict Superman’s relationship with the Justice League in an interesting way. If you know of any, please feel free to let me know!

#superman #superman vs meshi #justice league #dc comics #comic reviews #comics #my writing #clark kent

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piro-piroooooo · 1 month

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90s Sailor Moon Re-watch Thoughts by Piro

I was around 13 or 14 when I first watched Sailor Moon. I stumbled upon the first episode on YouTube and ended up watching the whole series, ignorant of the massive impact this manga/anime had on fiction and popular culture.

Most episodes of the Latino American dub were available on YouTube. Sure, the quality was terrible, and the videos were surrounded by copyright frames (Is that the right term?) but my standards were low back then. I cried at the end of every season.

I decided to re-watch the whole thing last November and just finished. I now proceed to share some of my thoughts now that I'm a more grounded maho-shoujo enjoyer. This time I watched it in Japanese.

Thoughts about each season under the cut!

Sailor Moon Classic:

-Absolute masterpiece. Perfect. I loved the finale. As a child, I wasn't able to properly comprehend why Usagi longed so much to go back to her previous life. She had the power to revive all of her friends. She could have kept their memories. But she didn't because in her eyes the greatest gift she could give them was a normal life.

-Usagi is one of my favorite fictional heroes, maybe my favorite one, for a simple reason: She is weak and selfish. Sailor Moon always needs someone to strike the enemy before she uses her all-mighty magical spell to solve everything. But she isn't useless. She is the hope that keeps everyone else fighting.

-Sailor Moon doesn't actually care about ideals like justice (clearly stated in the manga finale). Her sole motivation is the love she has for her friends and the world, a selfish desire to enjoy a happy life with her loved ones. She's just a girl in the world, let her go home and have a yummy treat.

-The shitennou are a lot more interesting in the anime. In the manga, they serve as romantic interests for each senshi. That s a little bit too easy and heteronormative for me. Having two of them be gay for each other and giving Nephrite an actual character arc is a lot more fun to watch!

-I used to be very neutral about Mamoru. Now I enjoy him a lot. His character is really fun. As far as I understand, he gets into a cosmical fight to find some gem and try to have back his memories from before a car accident. He finds out that he is the reincarnation of ancient royalty and has an equally ancient demigod girlfriend. And he still doesn't recover the memories he was searching for in the first place. That's fun.

Sailor Moon R:

-The Tree arc is good. It also helps fill the season. The Dead Moon arc would have been too long without the tree arc.

-Chibiusa is fine. I disliked her as a child. Not anymore. I love how much we can see Usagi's growth in this season. Sure, she and Chibiusa are a little bit mean to each other sometimes and have petty fights, but you can see they care. Usagi goes as far as trying to trick Rubeus to protect Chibiusa. No one has to force Usagi to transform and fight.

-The Ayakashi sisters are really good. I think their struggles kind of represent being undervalued by an organization/company you have given your whole life.

-Not exactly about the season itself, but the Sailor Moon R movie is one of my favorite anime movies ever. Great animation, great design, great homoeroticism.

Sailor Moon S:

-I've read that having this season as your favorite is seen as pretentious to some people. But sorry, it's just an excellent season. That episode, where Haruka and Michiru are about to find they are the talisman holders. Woah. So aesthetically pleasing. Those shots, those angles, that timing, and edition. Great episode.

-This season delivers one of my favorite Minako episodes. The bad guys finally target her, and she runs off clutching her pure heart in her hands laughing like a maniac. I love her (She later does something similar on SuperS). It inspired me to donate blood, but I couldn't do it because the nurses said my veins were too thin.

-Again, great relationship between Usagi and Chibiusa. I love the friendship between Hotaru and Chibiusa too. I don't care about shipping, but in my heart, she has two hands. Third-season Chibisusa is my favorite Chibiusa.

Sailor Moon SuperS:

-The season I disliked the most as a child, the season I like the least now too. They made the girls so fucking dumb. Usagi's only character trait is being jealous of girls around Mamoru all the time. The inners' personalities are erased over wanting to have a boyfriend. Usagi and Chibiusa fight over the stupidest things.

-This is by far my favorite arc in the manga. I love the lore and how each character has a chance under the spotlight. Extremely sad they wrote out Mamoru's role.

-I'm very indifferent about Helios and his relationship with Chibiusa. I don't dislike them but every time I find myself liking them I realize it's because I'm seeing the Usagi and Mamoru on them.

-Why are the antagonists so creepy? like, they don't even NEED to seduce their targets to see their dreams, so the whole tactic comes off as creepy. Sadly, they had to include Fish Eye in this dynamic. I like her.

-One thing I do like about SuperS is the visuals. I love the opening and the little guys doing their silly performances at the circus. Very good.

Sailor Moon Stars:

-The opening song makes me so emotional. Every time I listen to it, I feel like I'm surrounded by my allies preparing for a deadly fight against a big enemy. The enemy is formidable, but the fire inside our hearts is stronger.

-Big fan of the second Nehelenia Arc. I love seeing the senshis all fighting together, using their unique skills and strengths instead of being defeated immediately and leaving Usagi to do the rest. I also like how they tie the return of Nehelenia with upcoming events.

-It will never be not funny to me that Kunihiko Ikuhara didn't get to direct the season where Mamoru does die.

-I do enjoy how Stars feels a little bit more serious and mature with the absence of Mamoru and the girls being in high school. The Three Lights' music is perfect to build that melancholic atmosphere that characterizes this season for me. But I believe it would have been nice to have Chibiusa a little bit more, it's not her character's fault that the previous season felt so childish.

-Something I did dislike was how the inner senshi were neglected a little bit because most screen time was dedicated to the Three Lights. I like them don't get me wrong. But the opening bit where you see the inner senshis holding hands, while throwing themselves into the void, makes me think I would have preferred to have them on the final fight. They barely did anything on the final fight.

-The Sailor Moon finale is very dear to me. I deeply appreciate the message of the manga of not waiting for a 'peaceful time' or a 'happy ending' to enjoy life with your loved ones. Conflict will always arise again, and life is a constant fight you can only win by accepting the eternal struggle of existing. I think the manga version conveys this message better, but the anime is a worthy adaptation with its own merits.

I will be rewatching Crystal soon after I get some rest from Sailor Moon and watch something else for a little while. I haven't watched the Cosmos movies. I'm looking forward to doing so. I will also be watching the live-action for the first time soon. I will post my thoughts about those too.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Remember english is not my native language and I might have made grammar and spelling mistakes on this post! I'm open to suggestions regarding that ^^

#textpost #sailor moon #piro long textpost

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elegyofthemoon · 8 months

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6, 9, 14 for the female character ask game!

ZORUA MY CRYFEST PAL LOL thanks for the ask :>

female character asks

6. A female character who got done dirty by the narrative?

So tbh, I actually barely remember how DR3 actually went, but my gut tells me Chiaki got done super super dirty in DR3 (but DR3 was quite a mess as an anime iirc)

I guess now that I think of it maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought, but the DR3 Despair Side was very heavily fanservicey that I had a hard time stomaching it, so when it came time for Chiaki's death scene, it came off more as torture porn than anything. And they did just torture this girl for a whole episode before she dies and that was just AWFUL to sit and watch

The only reason why I say it wasn't as bad as I thought is more because I think like. narratively speaking, Chiaki does wind up being a little NPC within the recovery game that the rest of her class gets put in after they become the Ultimate Despair, and I like that in a way she continues to live on with them as "someone that they all treasured".

...OH Okay so I think I remembered what happened. So the villain of the entire game series decides to use Chiaki and torture her live on camera and that footage was used to drop everyone in her class into despair which led them to become the Ultimate Despair, but idk. It's Dangan Ronpa. It's never going to be super pretty or light and it's pretty 😬as a series, but it certainly was hard to stomach that's for certain --

9. A female character you started out disliking but came around to?

hm... Ada Vessalius

THIS WAS ALSO NOT HER FAULT BTW I think when I was first reading Pandora Hearts, I was maybe like??? 12 ?? I thought she was such a crybaby without really understanding her feelings, but I think later down the line, when I came back and actually paid attention and read the manga, I actually really love Ada!! She's such a sweetheart and she has such funny moments (this sweet girl being into black magic after the disappearance of her older brother for 10 years).

She doesn't come to mind very much but alsdjfh I do love her character a lot haha

14. An interesting familial relationship with female characters? (Mother and daughter, sisters, etc.)

Before I start. Don't read this if you're at all interested in playing the game "Her Story"

...How about twin sisters who commit a murder together?

I don't have a photo for this but Hannah and Eve from the game "Her Story"! Their story is also the type that kinda haunts my brain from time to time, but they were separated at birth because the midwife lied that one of them died and stole Eve away. But the two wind up discovering each other and fucking around with the fact that they look similar.

But their story gets filled with jealousy because they had a rule that they both must be equal to one another, so when one person steps out of line, the other becomes angry and they were just terrible to each other.

It becomes the main source of conflict later when Hannah gets married to both of their childhood sweetheart Simon (because they would switch out during the date with the sweetheart >_>), and well. Simon had cheated with Eve and Eve got pregnant, so Hannah knew (somehow I forgot why. I think it was that she had suspicion for a while because Simon and Eve were seeing each other a few times after Simon and Hannah had a big fight), and well. Murder happens.

But the twins wind up helping each other to clear up the murder or be each other's alibi and just 😬How far an obligation of a sibling would go? Or that you're saving someone who makes up half your identity? Selfish? Selfless? idk It's a fun story and honestly I'm not doing this justice. This story is just better experienced firsthand

#answered #zorua adorable #ok im tired now im gonna go run off and watch ghost files :)

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pussymagnetmadara · 2 years

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Sasuke + Sakura, please no.

Honestly, we are in 2022, Naruto the manga is not from yesterday, you clearly have time to read it again and again, how can people still tell me that SS makes sense in the entire work? Even though very often we recognize you pro SS, basically you accept this ship because your princess Sakura deserves Sasuke for everything she was forced to go through because of him... don't you realize that even that is incredibly toxic? So if you make someone "suffer" who has never asked for your opinion or involvement in their stories, and you suffer indirectly, then they owe you an eternal gratitude? No, I'm sorry, but no. Sasuke never owed Sakura anything from the beginning. Sakura's so-called feelings of love for Sasuke do not justify her involvement in Sasuke's life and ending up married to her and fathering her child. If we got this in final canon it's because of your incessant complaining to Kishimoto who never did your OTP justice. This ship is lame and flat as ever. Free to you to still send it but think before you insult other ships on Naruto as delusional people, because it is you that we should laugh at the most. You guys don't appreciate the background of the story, you just came for the so called love story that Sasuke owed to Sakura, for you nothing else matters, don't forget that Naruto is not a shōjo.

I've heard so much about it and to see you trying to defend your ship is so laughable because the manga serves you only one panel in the whole work and still... yes I'm talking about this particular scene..

and still nothing is provable in there. I remind you that Naruto and Sasuke had many visual exchanges much more intense than this one and the pro SNS hardly talk about it and I'm not a pro SNS at all for several reasons. Last time someone came to me claiming that he had written a story that traced and explained the love story of SasuSaku, but seriously, do you really believe that this is fan fiction, that you are writing in self-insert mode that does justice to your ship and that we will all wake up and finally believe it? No one else is doing this kind of thing but you. The canon material is so flat on your side that you have to insist on telling us about Sasuke Restuden, which I repeat here, is not canon. It's a fanfiction written by Jun Esaka, who said it herself on her twitter that Kishimoto remains the only official author of Naruto, he just drew the cover of your pro SS bible. This great joke cost me a choke with my morning coffee. Stop coming to us to harass and insult us because we don't understand your famous OTP which in your eyes makes sense because in the reality of the rest of the world, it doesn't.

But in the category that makes me most hysterical is the pro SS/SNS/Sakura who come to Sasuke to tear him down to make a fool of him, but why do you do that? If you don't like Sasuke, fine, free to you, but don't send your favorite character with another one you hate, it becomes ridiculous.

Here is a small list of canon elements that would have made more sense than SasuSaku:

SNS: I don’t like them as an OTP but they could have make sense.

Sasuke and Naruto call each other "the only one" friend or significant other? as you wish, Kishimoto remains vague about this.

Karin Uzumaki: I do like them but I’m proud Karin has matured enough to move on.

Sasuke referred to her as the most powerful kunoichi he knew.

He developed a new sharingan power to save her from the immortal black flames of Amaterasu.

My own mother gave me a revelation that immediately reminded me of a scene from SS. The famous scene where Sasuke justifies his so-called relationship with Sakura. Indeed, the only link between Sasuke and Sakura today remains their daughter Sarada.

I explain myself here, my own parents, having never been a really harmonious couple, far from there and since their divorce proceedings, my mother said to me and I quote "For me, he remains only the father of my children, and that's all, it's the only thing that links us".

Exactly what Sasuke said about Sakura to Sarada because yes indeed, nothing binds them, nothing makes sense in their story except their daughter. Sasuke could have delivered more information, or could have told something else about their story and told Sarada that he married Sakura because he loves her and she is the fruit of their love but no, he remained very concise because there is nothing to say about them.

#anti sasusaku #anti pro sakura #anti sakura fandom

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walkingcorpse03 · 2 years

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top 5 romance anime ☆

I adore romance anime and this list changes a lot, but these are my favorite romance anime’s as of right now.

1. Fruits Basket - 3 Seasons

Does Fruits Basket leave me in tears and shambles every time I watch it without fail? Yes. Is it my favorite romance anime of all time? YES. I could write an entire 10-page essay on why this is my favorite anime of all time, but this is a tumblr post so I’ll keep it short. The characters in this anime are all so lovable and the relationship between the characters is paced just as it needs to be. It played with my heartstrings in all the right ways and I love it so much. This anime does character development really well and has an amazing plot, so if you haven't already watched it, this is me literally begging you to do so because it is so good.

2. Snow White With The Red Hair - 2 Seasons

Talk about a comfort anime...I’ve watched this countless times because it just never fails to make me feel better. It’s so well written and the animation is beautiful. It has a special place in my heart. The characters are so lovable and this whole show has this whimsical feel to it. It’s number 2 for a reason, plot? 10/10, characters? 10/10, romance that doesn’t sexualize it’s characters and actually has substance and genuine connection between characters? 10/10 yes.

3. Maid Sama! - 1 Season (a tragedy)

I LOVE THIS STUPID ANIME. If you’re looking fora corny rom-com this is the one for you. I actually adore the cast, especially the main character. Misaki is my idol I love her. This show differs from the rest romance and plot wise, but it’s so entertaining and I wanted more after the finale. The manga is also a recommendation of mine! It’s light--hearted and silly, but still made me emotional. I was rooting for them so hard and its just an anime that I can fully indulge in, cringey romance and all.

4. Kamisama Kiss - 2 Seasons

2 words, Tsundere. Fox. This is an anime I’ve liked for a while and whenever I go back to watch it I fall in love all over again. It’s also light-hearted in nature, kind of like Maid Sama, but the story line is completely different from the others. I love a lot of the characters, if you cant tell character design is very important to me, and it makes the show a lot more fun to watch. I go to romance anime when I’m so so a lot of these are “feel-good anime” for me and this one is AMAZING if you just want a tiny escape. If you like a sort of slow-burn “enemies” to lovers sort of thing then I totally recommend!!

5. Sasaki to Miyano - 1 Season

Now, this is one I’ve just recently watched and I am already so invested. I’m not a big manga reader, but I did buy the manga so I could see the whole story so far and I love it. The emotions are presented in such a relatable way and it really makes you wanna root for the characters. The animation is so pretty and you just wanna reach through the screen and give all the characters a hug! It handles an LGBT relationship really well and it deserves all the love!

__________________________________________________

Honorable Mentions ☆

☆ My Little Monster - 1 Season

My loves, my life, my everything. I LOVE this cast of characters. The story is so cute and the animation and overall feel of the anime is just gorgeous. I couldn’t stop watching and I actually adore this anime. Young love, and new experiences is what this anime is all about and I would recommend it to anyone. If you want something cute, but emotional then this is a perfect anime. I like relationships that are focused on change and trying to understand each other and I think this anime does it perfectly.

☆ Devils Line - 1 Season (another tragedy)

Now this one has a special place in my heart, but it’s not officially on the list because it was cut way to short to do the story the justice it deserved, BUT that being said, it is still an amazing anime. I was HOOKED. Like couldn't turn away from my screen hooked, and Anzai is one of my favorite characters of all time. It’s also heavily fantasy-dark and science fiction-esc. If you like vampires you’ll like this. Edward Cullen has nothing on Anzai <3

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inhonoredglory · 3 years

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Run Away from Me: A Levi Meta

The core of this meta is to show that, IMHO, Levi’s violence against Historia in Chapter 56 is his emotional fallout from the torture of Sannes, as well as his own guilt at the person he had become. Coming from having only watched the anime, I personally found this placement in the manga of the Historia scene right after both the torture sequence and the Reeves Company alliance as incredibly meaningful, especially for Levi’s character and his emotional journey.

Levi is an immensely compassionate person, someone who wants to aspire to the “unimaginably altruistic” life of Erwin Smith (Isayama, SNK Encyclopedia). So how would this torture he had to inflict affect him? Because imagine for a second: This is the man who was the only one to truly react with horror and sadness at the knowledge that they’d been killing human beings all this time when they fought Titans. This is the man who went out of his way to ally with the Reeves Company in order to answer the Trost townspeople’s woes:

In Chapter 53, Levi is confronted with blatantly disrespectful Trost merchants who think the Survey Corps haven’t done enough to save their town. It’s the everyday things that burden these people—taxes, thieves, putting food on the table. Levi doesn’t once shoot back at them for their criticism. Instead, he listens. And then he spots a woman at the side of a merchant’s stall. She’s holding a baby and her eyes burn into Levi’s. She holds his attention while above him, the merchants continue their tirade. I think Levi’s thinking of his mother here: like this woman, she was a single parent raising a child in a city that is not unlike Trost now, a town abandoned and forgotten by society, poor and struggling. That child reminds Levi of himself, and this time, Levi can do something about it.

This is why Levi goes out of his way to ally with the Reeves Company. Levi and Dimo share a long, deep conversation, demonstrating that Levi’s alliance with them is more personal than merely the company’s strategic value. Dimo Reeves called Levi an “awkward yet kind man.” He goes on the say that Levi will “protect us and the barely-alive District of Trost, even though he doesn’t really have to.” This is Levi answering that townsperson’s accusation that “you in the Survey Corps aren’t working hard enough.” Levi entrusts to the Reeves Company the responsibility to bring the town out of poverty in the new world the SC will create. That’s his compassion, that’s his care, that’s his humility. That’s how he values the lives of people, not just by defeating Titans, but valuing their livelihoods. “A man like that must have come from absolutely nothing,” concludes Dimo.

This is the same Levi we find torturing Sannes.

In Chapter 55, the torture of Sannes happens because of the horrors Hange saw inflicted on Minister Nick. It is Hange’s passion for avenging Nick that drives the torture sequence, their anger at the tortures that had happened under the MP’s First Squad that motivates the payback inflicted by Hange and Levi. Levi’s violence is done, not out of his own desire, but primarily Hange’s. This is not to say that Levi was guiltless or without responsibility for Sannes’s torture; on the contrary, his actions weigh heavily on him, as will be discussed. But it’s interesting to note that out of all the tortures they did, breaking Sannes’ nose was the only retribution all Levi’s own (in reaction to Sannes’ justification of a series of horrific things the MPs had committed).

I also find it relevant that after everything they had done to Sannes, Levi was still visibly shocked at Hange’s overreaction to Sannes’ hesitation to answer their first real question. Because in Levi’s mind, everything they had done up to that point wasn’t torture—in one sense. It was instead a like-for-like payback for the horrors Sannes had inflicted on Nick. Note that it was Levi who had to pull Hange out of the emotional distraction of Nick’s death in Chapter 52, the same emotional distraction that drives Hange to overzealous violence here.

There’s an interesting parallel in what happens next with what Levi had gone through with Annie earlier. Levi threatened Annie with torture of her real body and said he enjoyed intimidating her as she was bound and trapped. Sannes confessed that for him, he enjoyed violence and tormenting the helpless—so why should he complain if these torturers, Hange and Levi, are the same as him? It’s a subtle parallel, but it’s a relevant theme in SNK that everyone, on all sides, are devils and monsters. Or as Sannes says later, “The world will always have people like us.” People who are violent, people who are lunatics, people who condemn themselves and get their hands dirty for the sake of some higher “good.” Sannes’ accusation isn’t lost on Levi, because this is the same Levi who looked at a struggling mother in a forsaken city and did something about it.

Justified violence is still violence. So what if Annie deserved to have her limbs cut off, time and time again, without relief of death? So what if Sannes deserves to have his fingernails torn off, one by one, without even a question put to him? They had, after all, inflicted death and untold horrors on innocent people. But does justice look like this? Does the name of justice absolve your hands from actions this ugly?

Morality is complicated. And Levi is the first to tell you that he doesn’t know how to slice it. “I’m not telling you what’s right or wrong. I certainly don’t know what is” (Chapter 59).

So now in Chapter 56, we come to the scene with Historia, right on the heels of that torture. The first red flag for me went up when Levi realizes he has “forgotten” to tell his squad about Historia’s true bloodline. It’s not that he didn’t intend to tell them, it’s not that he was not supposed to tell them. (Unlike, say, the entire Female Titan arc.) He forgot, and he’s clearly embarrassed when they confront him. Why? Because he’s not supposed to lose focus like that. But he did, because that information came from Sannes, and after that horrendous experience, Levi, like Hange before him, was emotionally distracted. That’s the only reason I can figure for Isayama focusing on Levi’s oversight like this, and showing Levi in such an obviously emotionally awkward place.

Hange isn’t here to translate for Levi, like she did when Levi berated Eren for being unable to harden during the experiments in Chapter 53. Levi takes the scenic, colorful route when explaining his feelings. To Eren, he admitted that his criticism wasn’t about blaming Eren for being unable to harden, stating that “going over our shortcomings and bitching about our situation is an important ritual.”

In this light, we can read Levi’s words and actions with Historia as a complicated picture of his psychological landscape. Notice how just prior to this scene, we saw Hange act out the aftermath of the torture by kicking the table. Levi too reacts, taking it out on Historia.

Imagine where Levi is right now. He’s taken on the role of Sannes in this new world—the executioner, the ultimate killer, Humanity’s Strongest. “Your hands are already dirty. You can’t go back to the way you were,” Levi tells Armin later, but it’s also what he believes about himself. All that idealism that brought him into the Survey Corps—a life bigger than being a thug in the underworld. Did all that idealism bring him here, to do this? He has to make it worth it, he has to make it count for something. It’s what he does every day when his soldiers die under him—he’s been there to make their deaths worthwhile. But who’s there to make the deaths and terrors he’s dealt out worthwhile for him?

Levi’s expression in the last panel is angry, yes, but also wracked with pain.

So when Historia says she’s unfit for the role of Queen, when she says she can’t be Queen because she’s not good enough, Levi snaps. “Then run,” he said, grabbing her. “Run away from us as fast as you can. Because we’re going to do anything and everything to make you do what we want.” Levi’s eyes are downcast, not looking at her, because what he’s saying is more about him than it is about her.

Because he knows he’s dark enough to follow those orders to do the worst things to a human being to make the entire world a better place. He knows it’s in his bones to commit these atrocities. He is afraid of what he found he’s capable of. He’s already come to terms with killing humans as Titans. He’s come to terms with torturing humans as humans. He knows he can and will do horrible, unforgivable things. That’s his strength, that’s what makes him valuable, useful, important. He’s not like other people—“I’m abnormal… probably because I’ve seen far too many abnormal things.” But he’s ready to condemn himself, to make his hands dirty for the sake of others. He’s decided he has to go full through with the darkness he’s committed, because how else can he justify what he’s done? “I’m fine playing the role of the lunatic who kills people like that. I have to be ready to rearrange some faces. Because I choose the hell of humans killing each other over the hell of being eaten. At least that way… all of humanity doesn’t have to be damned.” His are the hands that will be stained with blood, his is the conscience that will be stained, his is the soul that will sink to hell—all so that others’ innocence can be spared.

The 104th look at him like he’s gone mad, abusing a young, helpless girl like that. But they haven’t seen what he had to do. They haven’t seen how bloody his hands have gotten. His violence here is a desperate reaction to get someone to save him. He’s always been able to avenge the deaths of his soldiers. But this time, he is the one in need of redemption. He could not justify his violence completely, he could only plea for her to make them unnecessary in the future. By becoming Queen, it means he won’t have to keep torturing, keep killing, keep shedding human blood. Her becoming Queen means a peaceful transition of power. Her becoming Queen means he won’t have to pave the path to a new government with more blood and more guilt, at least, not more than he has to. He’s enslaved to doing what his strength allows him to do. He’s begging her to not let people ask that of him.

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demonslayedher · 3 years

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Buriko-Senpai! This is such a wonderful blog to read, and I love your art so much! It's so nice to see other traditional artists out there! What's your thoughts on the demon slayer marks and their affects after Muzan's defeat? Do you think they're a purely physical effect, or a supernatural curse like Ubuyashiki's? It seems like in the latter case it would be lifted? In Tanjiro's status report, he mentions wanting everyone to be happy "when he's gone", and hints of preparation for the future...

Thank you for the kind words on my art! (≧◡≦) Glad to know people like the style, I like the feel of trad art both for the final product and how the pen feels in my hand, haha~. I love all the additional possibilities in digital art, but will leave that to the people who are good at it. Glad you find my blog a good read too, because we’ve got another lengthy read ahead.

As for the mark and whether it works in a purely physical sense or a curse sense, I'm ok thinking of it in either way, depending on its purposes in post-canon fanwork (but of course, you can do whatever you want in fanwork totally inventing the mark or completely ignoring it too). As Gotouge never states exactly what becomes of Tanjiro, Giyuu, and Sanemi, I don’t feel we can declare it working one way or another. We'll consider it from both angles, but in general, I think canon evidence leans toward an avoidable physical impact. Even that, however, leaves room for interpretation on strict "25" might be or not.

If we approach the curse direction first, the worldbuilding surrounding the Ubuyashiki curse gives a lot of framework for the mark being a curse. The second fanbook even gives us more circumstance and age-related perimeters that seem very arbitrary, like how only one male will survive each generation and how the daughters will also die young by sudden illness or accident if they don’t marry out. As the curse is tied to Muzan’s/demons existence, it is completely lifted once Muzan is eradicated, but Kiriya still anticipates dying in his 20’s and does not feel relieved that it’s gone until he’s in his 30’s. This would put Giyuu and Sanemi in their 50’s if they’re still around, and with their own curses effectively gone, they’d probably have spent the past couple decades insisting to Kiriya that he can relax.

If the rebound of the mark is a supernatural curse, there are a couple other things that make sense about this to me, in the light of cosmic justice at play in this universe. First, it’s a general rule in a lot of philosophies and other works of fiction that to gain something powerful, you must pay the price and sacrifice something. Second, the Ubuyashiki family is cursed to carry the sins of one of its members until they can stop that demon member. While Demon Slayers may not necessarily be carrying the sins of demons, we see demon marks at play in this series first, though its effects are not clear until we see how Nezuko is stronger when her vines appear. A Demon Slayer also gaining extra strength like this is, perhaps, taboo.

As for the mark being a purely physical effect, I think the emphasis on physical effects of the mark (especially how in Chapter 129 Muichiro analyzes its effects on body temperature and the heart), and how throughout the manga it is continually stressed that the Demon Slayers are mere humans even if Breath helps them push the natural limits of human ability, lend to a more physical interpretation that in order to push so far past normal limits, it has to borrow against the natural human lifespan. This is how the characters in-universe also interpret its effects. If we look more into what Muichiro says:

Muichiro: The anger was too strong for me to have any handle on my emotions. I believe that in that moment, my heartrate exceeded 200 beats, and my body felt as hot as though it was burning. My temperature would had measured at least 39 degrees or more. Shinobu: !? Could you move like that? That would be life-threatening. Muichiro: Right. That’s why I think it’s a matter of falling into one category or another. Whether you die or survive that moment is what determines whether a mark will appear or not. Amane: A heartrate of over 200, and why a temperature of 39 degrees? Muichiro: That’s because when I was received treatment at Kocho-san’s place I was running a fever. When my temperature was taken, the thermometer read 39 degrees. At the time I would have been said to have a mark appear, my body was just as feverish.

(For reference, according to searching with the same terms used in the original text, your top heartrate is 220 minus your age, making Muichiro's 206 beats per minute. The average for someone in their 20's is 120~140, somewhat hard exercise would put it at 150, and hard exercise puts it at 170, according to the Borg scale. Normal body temperature in Celsius is 37 degrees; while 39 C = 102.2 F.)

If we look back at when Tanjiro is first facing off against Daki, he considers how he gets more power out of Hinokami Kagura than from Water Breathing because it suits his body better, but he is not yet physically capable of the switch between them. As he psyches himself out in Chapter 77, we see that he has physically been trying to prepare himself for this, and he’s shouting at himself to set his heart ablaze. Clearly, Tanjiro is leaning into that advice from Rengoku-san, and if he’s on his way to getting the mark, he’s been taking that advice somewhat literally.

In Chapter 78, as he purposely raises his own temperature to fight the side effects of switching to Hinokami Kagura, we get a flashback that Kiyo-chan was very worried that Tanjiro was running a temperature of 38 degrees (100.4 F) for three days, but Tanjiro begged her not to tell Shinobu yet because he felt fine in that sustained feverish state, and was able to put more power into Hinokami Kagura that way. (This may also be part of why the mark seems to have a different effect on Sun Breath users, as their body draws from this power in a more sustained way.)

We can probably think of most of the other Breath Users who attained the mark as having gotten it in a similar way to Muichiro. In a fit of high emotion and desperate battle, their body pulled from its natural reserves, and similar to a human and/or demon being exposed to lots of Muzan’s cells all at once and either dying or quickly adapting, they attained a mark and relied on that temporary extra burst of strength. While it either happens or doesn’t happen for the others (Muichiro plainly states he was unaware of a mark’s appearance) based on being the flow of tense battle, Himejima seemed to have gained enough ability that he could choose when he wanted to tap into that power. When we’re first left not knowing what else Amane told the Pillars, Himejima openly wonders what would happen in his case (seeing as he is over the age of 25). In the third light novel, we get a brief scene of Himejima pulling Muichiro aside after that meeting to ask if he’s alright with this, since he’s just found out that he has no chance already of living a long life. Muichiro is fine and wonders about Himejima, who is also fine with this. They both are willing to do whatever it takes to fight Upper Moons and know their survival has never been assured. Himejima goes on to say similar things to Kokushibo in Chapters 169 and 170, when we the readers are finally told about the limited life expectancy. The two of them both sort of expect Himejima to drop dead that night because of his limited stores to draw from. Himejima would had preferred to not raise his temperature so much until facing Muzan (seeing as he knows he’ll be racing against time), but knows he has no choice but to start while facing Kokushibo. Kokushibo is somewhat impressed with his control of getting a mark and his preparation to die, and he finds it a waste of Himejima’s ability and likewise is like, “why not preserve your flesh as a demon” because, as we find out in Kokushibo’s flashbacks in Chapter 178, this was part of what motivated him to accept Muzan’s blood. He couldn’t handle the frustration of his polished techniques being wiped out by a short life span, especially since it would mean he was soon out of time to match or best Yoriichi. If we go back to that conversation between Himejima and Kokushibo, Kokushibo loses his cool (hahaha, that feels like a bit of a pun here) the moment Himejima is like, “there was one exception to the rule though, wasn’t there?” I suspect that Yoriichi was the exception partly due to Sun Breathing being a more perfected, sustained form of pushing the limits of human capability, and Yoriichi being born naturally perfect at it, so his body didn’t need to scramble looking for extras sources of power like hastily (or slowly) borrowing against his lifespan. What’s very interesting about Kokushibo is that he also regularly sustained his mark, so perhaps it’s possible he could had lived past 25? Here's what really key: We also don’t know about these early marked users. Did they regularly sustain their marks, or did they only show up regularly when they battled demons, repeatedly borrowing against their future lifespan? Or was it a one-off thing for each of them, like it was for Giyuu and Sanemi? It’s possible that even if Giyuu and Sanemi are doomed to shorter lives, since they both only had the marks for relatively short periods of time on a single night, they might well exceed 25 years. The fact that Gotouge gave them descendants (as opposed to only implied reincarnations), and because they are both characters generally written as dense in the ways of love and close personal relationships, that sort of implies they needed some time before leaving behind offspring, and I hear a lot of voices in the fandom displeased with the idea of them leaving children behind when they know they won't be around to raise them. Since we don't know any canon details on this, let's cut the boys some slack and say they took a chance on being happy. After all, all their time in the Corp already teaches them tomorrow is never assured.

Side note while we’re on the Sanemi topic, he attains his mark right after Himejima brings his own forth (because Himejima is a badass who can just be like, “ok, now”). While he comments to Himejima what a good idea it was to do Pillar Training so he could attain that powerful state, it’s also possible that being in the presence of someone who already had one was part of what triggered Sanemi’s body to access that state as well. The nature of the mark’s spread from person to person is another tick in the “supernatural curse” box if people like that interpretation more.

Let’s take a look back at Tanjiro, though.

Tanjiro, our special Hinokami Kagura boy, was already a special case for his own knowledge of Sun Breathing (however imperfect), and his own sustained mark (though as Genya notes in Chapter 134, it tends to transform slowly, and as Tanjiro remarks in response to Shinjuro’s comments in Chapter 81, his mark was not something he was born with like the original Sun Breath user was, it was but a childhood injury which took on a different shape when he was injured at the Final Selection). While Amane cites him as the one who started the trickle of marks appearing again, we know in the Pleasure Quarter arc than Tanjiro was been unknowingly training himself to make the mark appear, like the Pillars later tried to do in training.

Tanjiro also, however, has the very unique experience of undergoing repeated cruel and unusual suffering in battle against Muzan, basically dying, turning into a demon with more of Muzan’s cells than any other demon in history, and turning human again with man-made medicine all in the span of about two hours.

We can’t really compare Tanjiro’s case to Giyuu’s and Sanemi’s very easily. Besides the slightly different nature of his mark (which Muzan says will still kill him anyway if he becomes human again, but whether he says that based on a cosmic rule or historical precident, we don't know), we simply don’t know all the details of how Tanjiro's flesh has been affected by everything that happened to him in that two hour period. It seems safe to say that becoming a demon is what saved his life since it rebuilt his flesh and supercharged life back into him, but since he wasn’t a demon long enough to have fully integrated those new cells, the entirely reconstructed parts of him (his left arm and right eye) are essentially lifeless. However, there may still be some amount of reclaiming that his body did during his demon minutes, for the whole right side of his face should be paralyzed (yet he can still use it expressively), and there was probably internal damage throughout his entire body and other various injuries (like stabbing himself) which were repaired enough for him to survive. Had he been a demon longer (long enough that his body with Muzan’s memories likely would had broken down the medicine Kanao gave him), my guess is that he would had fully integrated these body parts, like how Nezuko gets to keep her legs despite all the times they were blown or chopped off.

But we also know that Tanjiro had to take a few months to recover (his visitors looked like they waited the whole three months before getting permission to see him), and that his condition allows him to live and work, but he generally is in a weakened state. Again, rather than only having borrowed (on multiple occasions) against his own lifespan, we don't know the extent of the damage and repair he's undergone.

While he’s got 25 as a historical benchmark to anticipate, and as you mention, he does seem to fully anticipate that early demise, his case is so unique that it could go in any direction. Tanjiro might live longer than 25, as this would give him time to pass on Hinokami Kagura to at least his eldest son, but like Tanjuro, he’d probably have a pretty weak constitution for the rest of his dwindling life. But also worth noting, the phrase is that they die by at least age 25. That means some of the Warring States era swordsmen probably died before that age. (｡•́︿•��｡) I don't feel this is likely for Tanjiro, Giyuu, and Sanemi, but it is worth noting as a possibility.

#kny fandom theories and meta #kamado tanjirou #kamado tanjiro #tomioka giyuu #tomioka giyu #shinazugawa sanemi #himejima gyomei #himejima gyoumei #tokitou muichirou #tokito muichiro #tsugikuni yoriichi #kokushibo #kokushibou #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer

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thevoidable · 4 years

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Connecting the dots on Mr Compress’s backstory (slight manga spoilers ahead)

So I was recently talking to a friend about the possibilty of when Compress’s backstory might be revealed, and I ended up having a massive brainwave in the midst of it in regards to just what said story might actually be.

Over the course of bnha, Mr Compress has proven himself to be one of the few characters that we know jack all about, even going so far as to give Dabi a run for his money in the mystery department. But what separates Compress from Dabi is that we're given a tremendous amount of screentime and hints alluding to who Dabi really is, many of which include very personal ties and connections to some big-name characters.

But Compress?

Let's give a run-down of everything important we know about him so far in canon:

- He was an entertainer back in the day

- He doesn't like being on the front lines

- His real name is Atsuhiro Sako

And...that's pretty much it. Not a whole lot to go on.

So, given all that, what exactly is his reason for being in the League? He is the only one in the whole group whose motivation we still don't know - hell, even with Dabi we know that he at least despises false heroes.

On the surface, Compress has always seemed like someone just coming along for the ride, similarly to Spinner, but with even less reason to do so, and this lack of character motivation is largely the reason why Compress isn't among the most popular villains. Horikoshi unfortunately hasn't given him anything thus far to make him compelling enough (not saying that people don’t like him though, I know that he has plenty of stans).

Until One's Justice 2, of all things, decided to do it for him, and drop THIS bomb on all of us.

Like, H U H????!!!!!??!?!

This information has just come out of nowhere with nothing to base it on - or has it?

Up until now, the idea of Compress being a big underworld ruler just came across as silly to me - he's an entertainer, and no one seems to bat an eye at him. Why does no one look at him and go, "Omg it's that one criminal boss!!"

And then it hit me.

During chapter 125 when Overhaul is introduced to the League, Mr Compress is the one who explains who the Yakuza are and exactly how they began crumbling at the feet of hero society.

From the way he speaks it's like he's talking from experience, and all of a sudden, everything begins to make sense.

What's important to remember is that the foundation of the core League was built upon the premise of bringing down hero society, and each of the members have a reason to want to see it happen.

Shigaraki wants to destroy the society that failed to save him; Dabi wants to bring an end to false heroism and heroic idolization, allowing heroes to be held accountable for their own villainous actions; Toga wants a world where heroes don't make it hell to live in; Twice wanted a society where people like him won't be outcasted; and Spinner's original goal was to follow Stain's ideology (though now obviously his goals have shifted towards placing his loyalty in Shigaraki's goal).

And now, we can glean that Compress, once an underworld ruler, likely using magics as his shtick and cover-up to get away with his crimes, was forced into hiding by All Might's age of heroes, and now seeks to dismantle hero society for making his kind a dying breed.

It would also perfectly align with why Compress doesn't like to fight heroes and is constantly thinking about retreat, because he's used to playing carefully so that he doesn't get caught (anyone who plays OJ2′s arcade routes will know that wanting to retreat takes up like 90% of his dialogue). He's used to being the boss with henchmen on the front lines so he isn't at risk. He's used to underworld criminal activity, he knows that big-time villainy isn't his ballgame, but he has no other choice, because the League is his one chance to bring heroes down and allow the crime he's used to committing to return.

It also explains why he's so much more sane than the rest of the League - he doesn't come from somewhere broken that caused him mass-amounts of trauma (not saying that nothing bad has happened to him but still), and his description (particularly in the anime) of the Yakuza and other criminal organisations being forced into petty crime, the lowest of the low, also explains his distaste for the League's previous poor living conditions and the need to steal.

Compress's backstory has been glaring us in the face this whole time, and we just didn't see it until we had to be spoon fed by a fighting game. And in all honesty, it's given me a newfound appreciation for him.

How long it’ll be before all of this is proven right or wrong, I have no idea, but here’s hoping we’ll get the full insight soon (maybe even through Hawks, since he was able to find info on all the members save for Dabi and Shigaraki).

#bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #mr compress #dabi #shigaraki #toga #spinner #twice #lov #league of villains #mha spoilers #bnha spoilers #mha manga spoilers #bnha manga spoilers

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anime-and-manga-rants · 3 years

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Why Jujutsu Kaisen’s First Episode is So Good

Today, I want to take a look at JJK’s first episode and how its structure makes it one of the best anime first episodes I’ve ever seen.

At first, I wanted to make this another installment of my The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly series, but I don’t think the way those analyses are organized would do this episode justice. I’m going to tackle this analysis in a more linear way than that series. I’ll still be giving JJK’s first episode a grade at the end, though. It’s still a first episode, after all. And it’s too fun not to.

So, without further ado, let’s get into it.

...

The episode doesn’t start off on a bad note:

The first character we actually see (Gojo) doesn’t appear again until the second episode, which is a little strange, but it’s nothing necessarily bad. Normally, it’d be best to first introduce us to Itadori. But it’s part of this opening scene’s intrigue, in a way.

Having Gojo be introduced first only to immediately disappear raises some questions throughout the rest of the episode. Obviously, he’s got to be important to the story to be shown first. So where the hell did he go? This, combined with the fact that Itadori’s set to be executed while clearly oblivious as to why makes for an opening scene full of questions. ‘Who are they?’ for one, of course. But more than that: ‘Why does this teacher at Jujutsu Tech want to execute a boy who seemingly has no idea what he did to get there?’ And: ‘What’s Jujutsu Tech?’

Despite this scene lacking a gripping opening line — the opening line is Gojo saying “good morning” — it still keeps us interested enough to keep watching. It raises too many questions we want answered to not do so.

The tension in this opening scene is palpable, and that’s what makes it good. Stories are all about tension.

...

Moving on... the inciting incident occurs at the end of the episode; therefore, everything before then is setup.

Before getting too deep into any breakdown of the setup in this episode, I’d like to mention that setup and backstory are often seen as one in the first episode of any show. But this isn’t so— at least, they shouldn’t be. Setup is necessary in a first episode, but backstory isn’t.

Setup is introducing us to a protagonist’s ordinary world so that we can get a sense of the difference between what they’re used to and what they’re about to face. Backstory is essentially anything that comes before the story, and it’s often what we find in lengthy info-dumps that interrupt the flow of a story. Backstory is needed sometimes, but it’s far better slipped into a story in moderation, not dumped onto a reader at the very beginning. A literary agent would take one look at a heap of backstory in the first chapter of a novel and toss it in the reject pile. If it can be done respectfully in a first episode, then I’m on board. But usually it’s not needed right up front.

Which is why it’s so refreshing to see that JJK’s first episode has not a trace of backstory anywhere. Overall, this episode is really strong, and I think the lack of backstory plays a role in that.

Furthermore, the setup in this episode is tremendously well done.

You see, before the inciting incident, we must first be introduced to our protagonist’s ordinary world. ('Inciting incident’ is the name for the event that sets the protagonist on the story’s main journey.) But their ordinary world is going to be more boring than the new world they’re going to find themselves in for the majority of the story. Therefore, we need some tension to make the setup before the inciting incident more interesting. Because if it’s too boring (or too long), chances are the audience is going to give up before the story gets anywhere.

There’s plenty of tension in this episode, and it’s almost all thanks to Fushiguro and his quest:

Every once in a while, Itadori’s POV is interrupted in the best way possible by Fushiguro on his search for Sukuna’s finger. This is where the true tension of the episode builds. While Fushiguro’s scenes focus on building the tension of the ‘curse problem’ that culminates at the end of the episode, Itadori’s scenes focus on introducing us to our protagonist. The constant trouble that we’re reminded of every time Fushiguro is on screen plus the promise of Itadori somehow being involved (it’s a story, after all—he has to be involved somehow) makes for an engaging first episode.

And we can’t forget how Itadori is plenty interesting enough to keep the audience engaged without all that promise of trouble to come. Not to say that promise is bad! But we get a great sense of who Itadori is in this episode, and he’s awfully likable and fun. We can tell he’s going to be a complex character worth following.

...

Before I start on the next section, I can’t neglect to mention how there’s no trace of forced dialogue anywhere in this episode! Not even in the setup, where it’s most common. There’s no sign of anyone mentioning anything that they know good and well just because the audience doesn’t know it. And nothing is lost because of it!

We still manage to learn that Itadori’s got some superhuman strength (which would be strange if it appeared out of nowhere later in the episode, when he fights those curses with Fushiguro). We still manage to learn that he’s in the occult club. And that he isn’t afraid of ghosts despite his upperclassmen being terrified of them, and he tags along with them when they go to haunted places for moral support. (Which is a form of specificity— it’s something that truly makes a complex and lovable character. And you bet I laughed when that image popped up of his upperclassmen cowering behind him as he strolled so nonchalantly. How could I not like Itadori’s character?)

This is how a first episode should be done. This is showing (rather than telling) at its finest.

...

Just by the way Itadori is depicted in this episode, through his dialogue and his actions, we can tell he’s going to be a complex character. (The best kind of character!) Not only through his dialogue and actions, though. His promise of complexity is ensured the moment the story-worthy problem is introduced.

(There are two kinds of ‘problems’ in stories: the story-worthy problem and the surface-level problems. The surface-level problems are the ones that are easy to spot— for example, defeating Loki in the The Avengers. There are dozens, even hundreds, of surface-level problems in a story. After all, to defeat Loki, didn’t they have to recruit each Avenger, stop Loki in Stuttgart, and take down the Chitauri army during the climax? And those are only three. But there’s usually only one (or a few if there’s a large cast of important characters) story-worthy problem. These are the problems that are associated with a character arc. Take The Avengers again— didn’t Tony Stark demonstrate how he learned to make sacrifices for others when he redirected the missile into the wormhole at the end? Tony’s story-worthy problem was being too selfish.)

The idea of Itadori’s story-worthy problem is introduced in this episode’s setup:

It’s when his grandfather tells him to help others and not to waste his life.

Now, while Itadori interprets this in his own way — I’ll discuss why this is great later — the beginning is there. His acceptance of his grandfather’s advice (with his own twist) is going to be his story-worthy problem. The episode wants you to know it, too. After all, Itadori references his grandfather’s words during his and Fushiguro’s fight with the biggest curse:

(I’m using the manga to keep everything succinct.)

He’s clearly accepted his grandfather’s advice, though he’s taken more to the idea of giving people proper deaths. Of course, this still manifests in him wanting to help people, as not helping them would very likely lead to their untimely demises. Like how he helps Fushiguro in this scene.

The development of his character will be based on this desire to fulfill his grandfather’s dying wishes and how his views of that desire change as he faces more and more surface-level problems. This is what makes it a story-worthy problem.

Every good story needs both a story-worthy problem and many surface-level problems, because a story with just the latter wouldn’t be much of a story at all. We want to see characters change, whether it’s for the better or for the worse. Your story’s surface-level problems would have to be pretty interesting to keep an audience interested for the entire duration if there’s no story-worthy problem to be seen. Even then, your audience isn’t going to leave your work with much satisfaction. The story-worthy problem is what gives meaning to your specific characters being a part of your story. Why not just any old gaggle of characters? The story-worthy problem also what holds the structure of a story together.

The inciting incident is the best place to introduce the initial surface-level problem and hint towards the story-worthy problem. Itadori saying he’s got his own curse to deal with is about as big of a hint as we could get. It’s fantastic! It’s no good when the story-worthy problem is too difficult to even pinpoint.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to determine what event is the true inciting incident of a story. But the true inciting incident will always be wherever the story is kickstarted plus wherever the story-worthy problem is hinted at. Therefore, the inciting incident of JJK occurs when Itadori helps Fushiguro take down the curse and eats Sukuna’s finger to do so. (Usually it’s not quite so obvious what the story-worthy problem is, but it certainly works in this case!) After all, the story-worthy problem is clearly there, and as soon as he eats Sukuna’s finger, he’s secured himself a spot in a world he’s never been a part of before. If he hadn’t eaten the finger, he could’ve gone back to his normal life after the curse was defeated.

Therefore, JJK succeeds in giving us an inciting incident that accomplishes exactly what it needs to do in a way that deserves nothing but praise.

...

Earlier, I mentioned that I needed to discuss why Itadori interpreting his grandfather’s words in his own way is important. Well, it all has to do with agency.

Protagonists need agency. In other words, they need to decide things for themselves. They need to be active. Passive protagonists who are simply dragged around by the plot and do anything necessary to keep the plot going are the worst kinds of protagonists. They’re the protagonists we get bored of at best, hate at worst. I mean, they can’t do anything for themselves. Who wants to follow a doormat through a story?

Itadori is certainly following his grandfather’s advice, but he gave it a meaning that suited him more. He isn’t really following his grandfather’s words blindly. Another example: when he eats Sukuna’s finger. Fushiguro didn’t tell him to do that. Fushiguro only mentioned that the curse wanted to eat it to gain power. It was completely Itadori’s decision.

Therefore, right off the bat, our protagonist is making decisions for himself, even while being thrown (unwillingly) into an entirely foreign world.

...

I can’t end this analysis without first mentioning how well everything in this episode fits together.

I mean, come on... Itadori’s in the occult club, which is how he knew where Sukuna’s finger went, and because his upperclassmen are in the occult club, they wanted to investigate a cursed object. It was mandatory to join a club, and the occult club finishes before five, which is how Itadori could visit his grandfather and hear his grandfather’s advice (which would become the story-worthy problem).

And what about the occult club’s presentation of their research project to the student council president? They theorize that there’s a dead body buried in the rugby field, and that’s why the rugby players kept falling ill and had to be hospitalized...

Then, later, when Fushiguro walks to the rugby field, he spots a curse and asks himself, “Is there a dead body buried here or something?”

This episode is fantastic!

...

Well, I believe that’s about all I wanted to cover in this post. Everything else is a bit too minor to include, and I don’t want to make this too long. So, let’s hurry up and get to the grade for this episode.

I’m giving it an A+. It absolutely deserves it. I can’t think of another anime’s first episode that I would even consider rating this high. (Even giving Dr. Stone’s first episode an A- was a bit generous, honestly.)

Good for Jujutsu Kaisen!

...

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk anime #jjk analysis #fushiguro megumi #itadori yuuji #gojo satoru #jujutsu megumi #jujutsu gojo #jujutsu itadori #manga analysis #anime analysis

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

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The Voyage So Far: Paramount War (Part Two)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

ace’s execution is, in a way, the exception that proves the rule when it comes to one piece’s themes of blood and family. ace is set up to die for the crimes of a father he never knew and never wanted, and he does die here, but in the end he dies for the family he did choose, in the form of luffy, rather than the one he didn’t.

god do i wish we knew more about ms portgas d. rouge. with ace’s storyline pretty much wrapped it looks unlikely that we’re going to be learning more about her than what we got, which in my opinion is an absolute tragedy, because what little we do know about her is amazing and she’s an absolute badass. oda give us more female ds please.

whitebeard’s power is so cool. it might be one of the visually coolest devil fruits we’ve ever seen, in my opinion. he he causes earthquakes and tsunamis while far past his prime; he pulls the sky apart with his bare hands. this whole arc is world-shaking, and whitebeard’s power is perfectly appropriate for it.

doflamingo’s speech on justice and rightness is one of the most well-remembered quotes from this whole saga, and rightly so. i’ve always found it fascinating, myself, because he’s right. he dead-on hits how the one piece world works- the world government and the marines rule the world not because of any inherent actual goodness or justice or right, but because they won a war a very long time ago.

in a way, this reminds me of blackbeard’s line of “people’s dreams never die” from jaya. i like how oda isn’t afraid of letting his villains be right about the themes of the story, sometimes even having better awareness of them than the protagonists.

man, if i had to pick a single favorite spread out of the whole manga, it might be luffy’s marineford entrance. it’s so epic, and so completely unexpected for everyone else there. absolutely nobody was expecting strawhat luffy to drop out of the sky with a posse including two former warlords. it just makes me grin!! so much!!

it also gets followed up by a solid two pages of just people’s reactions, from smoker’s “what the HELL is he doing with CROCODILE” to moria’s immediate incoherent rage, and i just love that the world and cast of one piece is so well-established and built up that we know exactly how all of those people know luffy and why they react the way they do.

going back to what i mentioned in the last post about marineford being luffy’s conflict of interest arc, i’d say it’s also the only time where he isn’t the future king first and foremost. in this arc, before anything else, he’s a little brother.

there are a lot of what-if moments in marineford. moments where you kind of have to ask “what if this specific thing hadn’t happened, had gone differently?” would things have turned out differently? squard’s betrayal is one of them. does this change the outcome? would whitebeard have been able to survive if not for this injury? there’s no way to know. marineford is a lot of little tragedies, and they just pile up and up.

marineford has just so many incredibly striking spreads. all of the momentous moments (and there’s a lot of them, in this arc) are done full justice. this is such an image heavy post just because marineford is such an incredibly visually strong arc.

conqueror’s haki is so cool and i love the way it’s set up and built up throughout this saga, with luffy’s constant inadvertent uses of it, from duval’s bull to marigold and sandersonia to the wolves in impel down, all leading up to this moment.

i’ve heard people complain about conqueror’s as kind of a deus ex machina, but i honestly love it, it’s very cool and honestly i think it just seems to fit luffy as a power. if there was ever gonna be a character who turned willpower into a weapon, it would be monkey d. luffy.

i’m gonna take this chance to talk about garp, because this sequence of panels is heavily implied to be garp’s thoughts just before luffy punches him down, and it hurts. garp is a flawed person who makes some bad choices, and there’s no arguing that, but i think it’s very obvious he really, really cares about his grandsons, even if he never could understand them as people and that they never would have been happy as marines. and that’s just tragic, really.

the moment ace gets freed and the brief span of time where he and luffy can fight together feel so triumphant, and i think it’s one of the reasons the final tragedy of marineford hits so hard and feels so cruel, because luffy succeeds, here. he saves ace. he gives absolutely everything he had and makes it, and saves ace. the ultimate failure isn’t his. there was nothing more he could have done.

the first time i was reading one piece, i hit this page (which is also the last in the volume) and had to put the book away, take the bus downtown, wander around for a few hours, and buy myself some candy and some new books before i started feeling okay again.

the thing about ace’s death, i think, is that it’s a tragedy, but it also feels so completely essential to the story going forwards and luffy’s character growth specifically that it’s really, really hard to imagine one piece without it. there are a lot of (really excellent!) fix-fics out there for marineford, and although those are often really good and their authors super talented, i think it’s really hard for them to ever hit the same way canon does with regards to this.

i always think of this scene specifically in contrast to zoro and mihawk’s fight, back on baratie. zoro and mihawk are both people who believe in honor in battle, true victory or death, and that’s reflected in their fight, in zoro’s refusal to turn and run even in the face of imminent death, and mihawk’s respect for that resolve. whitebeard, too, is an honorable man. he refuses to turn to run, even when facing certain death.

the blackbeard pirates, however, are not.

i do enjoy how, just like roger’s, ace’s execution backfires tremendously on the marines. this was entirely a predictable outcome, too! this exact thing happened twenty years ago! the marines don’t learn. they don’t change. they’re so assured of their own rightness and power that they make stupid mistakes like holding a massive public execution after the last one blew up in their faces.

(this is why they need coby so badly, for the record, and why it’s important that he still decides to become a marine after witnessing their corruption firsthand in shells town. the marines are long overdue for a reformation, one that orients them towards real justice.)

i really, really enjoy crocodile in this saga. mostly because he hasn’t been redeemed at all, he’s still pretty much the exact same kinda awful person he was in alabasta, he’s just on luffy’s side this time, and it lets us see him in a better light, when he gets angry at whitebeard for nearly dying or when he helps luffy and jinbe escape to keep the marines from getting their way. few of one piece’s characters are truly so one-dimensional as they can seem, and i really appreciate that.

i really really love all the interactions between luffy, ace and sabo as kids. they’re so fun and bounce off of each other so well. even though we only see them together for a brief time, they really feel like siblings. (which of course only makes later events hurt so much more.

i’ve always been a little fascinated by the fact that it takes us this long to get luffy’s full backstory. it’s almost a fakeout, because we get part of his backstory in the very first chapter, and we’re kind of led to believe that’s all there is. it’s not until ace’s introduction nearly two hundred chapters in that we’re given any indication there’s more.

but at the same time, it makes sense. marineford is luffy’s focus arc, as arlong park to nami or thriller bark to brook. he hasn’t had a focal arc that’s really about him before this, while all his other crewmates have. it makes sense that this would be when he finally gets his flashback.

i think it’s cool that dragon and the revolutionaries show up at the grey terminal fire, because it’s one of the only looks we’ve gotten so far into what their actual regular operations are like. and, of course, they’re saving people. i really like this about the revolutionaries, that helping people in trouble is basically their modus operandi, when pretty much everyone else in one piece’s world mostly does saving on an incidental basis if at all.

i think a lot about how the last line of sabo’s letter to ace is also both of their last words to the strawhats.

death in one piece always feels much realer and more impactful to me than in most other series, and i think this is part of the reason why: in one piece, we are always shown the mourning. nami at bellemere’s grave, carrot grieving pedro, ace and whitebeard’s funeral.

there are fewer deaths, comparatively, than most other series, but they’re given so much room to echo. we’re still feeling the impacts of ace’s life and death in the most recent chapters of wano. it ties into the theme of inherited will and all the way back to hiriluk’s final speech, of men not being dead so long as they’re remembered.

the picture of luffy at marineford always kind of strikes me. he looks so young and so solemn, and yet much more himself than he did when we last saw him losing his mind on amazon lily. i really like it.

sometimes i just think about the sheer depth of trust and love the strawhats must have in each other to separate for two years, far longer than they were ever together, to solely dedicate themselves to improving for the sake of crew and captain. none of them even hesitate, and none of them ever doubt that the crew will be reformed at the end of it.

after all, luffy keeps his promises.

#the voyage so far #one piece #opmeta #not japanese #arc: marineford #arc: post marineford #long post

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