maybe yuri on ice's "see you next level" was always all the new anime that can tell queer stories so openly and beautifully now.

YOI walked so they could fly. They did make history, in more ways than one.

I'm not the biggest fan of Oda, as many here already know. That comes from the INCREDIBLE disconnect between the fandom version of him as opposed to the canon. I see often on Twitter, Reddit, Youtube, etc etc. this treatment of Oda as some great force of pure good, and furthermore this scene as a grand bit of final wisdom. So right now, let's talk about his death scene.

The anime puts it like this:

"You told me you might find a reason to live if you lived in a world of violence and bloodshed. [...] You won't find it. You must know that already. Whether you're on the side who kills people or the side that saves people, nothing beyond what you would expect will appear. Nothing in this world can fill that lonely hole you have. You will wander the darkness for eternity. [...] Be on the side that saves people. If both sides are the same to you, become a good man. Save the weak, and protect the orphans. Neither good nor evil means much to you, I know... but that'd make you at least a bit better."

And the light novel puts it like this:

"You told me if you put yourself in a world of violence and bloodshed, you might be able to find a reason to live… [...] You won't find it. [...] You should know that. Whether you're on the side that takes lives or the side that saves them, nothing beyond your own expectations will happen. Nothing in this world can fill the hole that is your loneliness. You will wander the darkness for eternity. [...] Be on the side that saves people. [...] If both sides are the same, then choose to become a good person. Save the weak, protect the orphaned. You might not see a great difference between right and wrong, but… saving others is something just a bit more wonderful."

I want to break down what bothers me in these. This portion especially.

You told me you might find a reason to live if you lived in a world of violence and bloodshed. [...] You won't find it. You must know that already. Whether you're on the side who kills people or the side that saves people, nothing beyond what you would expect will appear. Nothing in this world can fill that lonely hole you have. You will wander the darkness for eternity.

You told me if you put yourself in a world of violence and bloodshed, you might be able to find a reason to live… [...] You won't find it. [...] You should know that. Whether you're on the side that takes lives or the side that saves them, nothing beyond your own expectations will happen. Nothing in this world can fill the hole that is your loneliness. You will wander the darkness for eternity.

I think we often forget that Dazai is still a suicidal teen in Dark Era, and that he's one that's held on to the hope he'd find something for all this time. I dont disagree with the fact he must know he won't find anything in the mafia already. But Oda misunderstands a lot of fundamental parts of Dazai, which lead to this scene being devastating.

Whether you're on the side who kills people or the side that saves people, nothing beyond what you would expect will appear.

Whether you're on the side that takes lives or the side that saves them, nothing beyond your own expectations will happen.

The thing is, Dazai DOES find things he doesn't expect. He meets Chuuya and Chuuya surprises him! He meets Oda and Ango and they fascinate him!! He meets Kunikida and Ranpo and everyone else and he finds them interesting!!! He gets proven wrong, he gets surprised, he has NEVER been infallible. And he's incredibly hopeful too, as stated earlier. He held on to the hope he'd find something for the past 3 years despite how horrible of an environment the mafia was for him, and he still tried his hardest to save Oda. To tell him that not only would he never find anything here, but anywhere else he goes? It's kind of.... well, shitty.

And there's another thing about this line I have to point out, something from a couple pages earlier.

"But he's different. He's sharp-witted with a mind like a steel trap. And he's just a child—a sobbing child abandoned in the darkness of a world far emptier than the one we're seeing."

"He was too smart for his own good. That was why he was always alone. The reason why Ango and I were able to be by his side was that we understood the solitude that surrounded him, and we never stepped inside it no matter how close we stood."

Oda believes that it's Dazai's intelligence that isolates him. While this is true, it's only true to an extent. Look at Ranpo, who was also isolated because of his intelligence. He doesn't stay that way, despite not having any peers. Ranpo found his place with Fukuzawa at the agency, and there was nothing stopping Dazai from also finding his own.

Nothing in this world can fill that lonely hole you have. You will wander the darkness for eternity.

Nothing in this world can fill the hole that is your loneliness. You will wander the darkness for eternity.

And I don't know how to explain this to people, but telling an emotionally distressed teenager that he's going to be lonely forever is, erm, kind of bad? Especially when the person he thinks understands him the most is like... dying in his arms.

Oda tried to help Dazai in his final moments, I'm not trying to discredit that. He gave Dazai his advice and Dazai chose to take it, because he knew Oda was speaking from his own experiences. But Oda's words were still harmful to him, regardless of how well meaning they were.

No actually all of you need to sit your asses down bc I just watched the legacy shorts and. HOW HAVE I NEVER HEARD ANYONE SAY ANYTHING ABT THEM OTHER THAN GOLDEN HOUR AND SWEATING TO THE GOLDIES???? HOW HAS NO INE SAID A SINGLE THING ABOUT THE GOLDEN LEGEND SHORT?? OR THE ANIMATION STYLE OF GOLD RUSH???? I could have gone my whole life without watching those do you understand that. Why are we, as a fandom, not taking about these more, or like, AT ALL. we should be insane about this. We should be insane about this, right??? RIGHT??????

The ending of Gundham's trial makes me feel bittersweetly at peace with his death while also more determined to keep moving forwards. The ending of Gonta's trial makes me want to scream into a pillow for 10,000 years

I just watched s2 episode 10 in the english dub and I have to say. Nothing could have prepared me for Howard's delivery of that final scene where Xie Lian gets worked up about the truth coming out.

The just...sincerely agonized delivery of "That my words were the empty ramblings of a sad child!!" shook me to the core. The absolute self-loathing in that line, the raw emotion. The way concealing the truth was done to spare Lang Qianqiu but also at its heart was about Xie Lian's unresolved feelings of humiliation and shame, the way [redacted] did everything in his power to make Xie Lian lose faith in himself and the possibility of good prevailing in the world.

The way TGCF keeps me up at night, man...

.

god i love world of warcraft. love if it was managed by literally any other studio and written literally any other way

well the last group sure did happen

Its like. To luz, most of her friends/family have someone else in their lives that would lessen the impact if she were to, say, dramatically sacrifice herself for her friends. Perhaps in the events of the finale? This isnt true. She isnt replaceable. But luz is as close to suicidal as they can make her if they want to keep the shows rating and i can see her thinking that.

Her mom has vee now, another daughter in case her first daughter dies. Gus and willow, her best friends, are close with hunter. Maybe closer than they are with luz now, since shes been avoiding them. By the time they get back, eda will probably have gotten together with raine. King may have even befriended the collector. (though based on danas art hes probably just in a perpetual state of "mom pick me up im scared") and no matter what, eda and king will have each other like they did before luz. we dont know what luz was planning to do with her palisman when she decided to permanently stay in the human realm, but hunter is now conveniently without a palisman, so she could just let him use hers.

Hunter definitely has a family in camila but we dont really know if his relationship with vee is anything like his relationship with luz. If luz were to sacrifice herself, hed lose a sister. Or at least a trauma bestie. Or whatever found family niche he considers luz to be in. And amity? There is nothing luz could do to convince herself that amity would be fine being left behind. But luz already toyed with ending that relationship when she decided to stay in the human realm. It hurts, but i can see luz justifying to herself that whatever dramatic sacrifice shes planning is for the good of everyone and its worth breaking amitys heart.

And ofc by the power of good storytelling, good rep, and disneys s&p department theres no way luz and her friends aren't going to get a happy ending. She'll try to dramatically sacrifice herself as the climax of her character arc but her loved ones will save her. And then theyll finally get it through her head that she has value as a person, actually. And then lumity will kiss and the animation will get all smooth and the framerate will get high enough for them to do sick spells and defeat belos. And camila will adopt the collector and make him the powerful last of their kind noceda-clawthorne sibling #4. And the show will end with luz going to therapy or smth.

Well that was... unsettling...

being a girl is crazy bc ull indulge in content made by male best friends and its bittersweet bc ur enjoying it but also u know u will never get to experience a friendship like boys do

Guys help I got really into south park for no reason and now my brain doesn't wanna make aphmau content :(((((

just realized that this is my last spotify wrapped with loona as my top artist and i no longer know if i can do this besties 

i didnt choose the inferiority complex life the inferiority complex life chose me & god i wish it could fucking free me

there's just this massive ache in my chest that won't go away and I can't stop crying

The thing to me is that i dont know what to expect anymore. After round 3 everyone first conclusion was probably that ivan would die for(or bcs) Till so i was waiting for something to subvert my expectations but no they played it straight.

“Luka vs Till is no competition”” They wouldnt do romh twice” now im not so sure.

Also I see the doomed toxic yaoi but I cant with how good my boys look 😭 Till in black or jacked + fingerless gloves, mullet ,maybe little bangs, ivan in white full coat , slicked back hair. They look so good.

Ivan's hair being slicked back was the only correct answer after we saw Till's long hair down. He looks so damn good actually. I know he died but at least he served one last immaculate outfit before eating shit.

Dude. I was the exact same. Ivan dying in this way was genuinely the most predicted outcome of ROUND 6, so I thought... surely it couldn't be so easy... VIVINOS must have another card up their sleeve! Yeah! The card up their sleeve was the same card they were fucking holding in their hand already because they PLAYED IT STRAIGHT. I laughed myself silly after watching the video because it just made sense. We expected something more complicated, more devastating, more drawn out than Ivan just straight up dying this round. VIVINOS set up the possibility of a jailbreak and we ended up getting too comfortable. Just because Mizi was successfully rescued doesn't mean lightning will strike twice. Ivan dying was a massive blow, yes, but an underrated frame that holds the same amount of devastation is the shot of Hyuna and Mizi hiding, Hyuna bleeding from the side. They were there. They tried to save them and they couldn't make it. They failed. And they don't even know that they failed yet because Hyuna was shot. If they played Ivan's death straight, they certainly subverted expectations with Mizi and Hyuna's jailbreak. They weren't even a part of the main video. They didn't even make it to the stage itself. And honestly, that's realistic. Of course things end up going wrong, that's just how it is. The hope for a jailbreak made the pain twice as impactful when Ivan starts getting shot. There's a sense of hopelessness watching it. They saved Mizi before her execution, surely they can do the same now, right? Where are they? We really got too comfortable with the idea of a rebellion rescue, we failed to remember that in the end, they're only human.

Well, now we're at Till vs Luka. Can't say I'm shocked. I'm just gonna sit back and see how everything unfolds from here. I'll try not to make castles out of playing cards next time.