priest in cairo

e, 26, she. black tree hugging gaylord manga maniac lazy mystic art devotee goth and recent gamer convert. faves include jojo, CLAMP, and petshop of horrors. currently reading/watching a bunch of stuff but of note is my tsubasa and petshop of horrors rereads. now you know. Love making friends :3

[sumerazukamori]

Illustrations by CLAMP's Tsubaki Nekoi

[eccococo]

what @_@

[hoerrrru]

[remnantglow]

looked a cool artist i found and instead of her actual art the first result google showed me was AI art made with her work. i hate it here!!!!!!!

[remnantglow]

well anyway. my discovery of the day is the art of Jeffrey Catherine Jones! she was a trans woman who painted a huge amount of fantasy & scifi cover art for books and magazines, among other things :)

[karafina]

watanuki illustration to start the year, which could mean nothing !

[imnosupaman]

[priestincairo]

Doumeki’s character is just an exercise in writing about love and devotion in the most lyrical unique subtle-yet-earthshaking nuanced poetic heart trending ways explode me right now.

[priestincairo]

Why is this shit so mythical. Folkloric in tone. Biblical. Lyrical. He had abandoned his umbrella and he was digging with all of his might. For you, endlessly, in the rain, framed by Hydrangeas. Hold out your ribbon, and it will join with his. Wtf

[dzhhij-deactivated20220115]

Douwata theory I guess?

Ok I’m fairly new to this fandom and haven’t seen or read everything yet, so if this is common knowledge or dead wrong then sorry. 

I noticed that pretty often when Doumeki and Watanuki have some sort of moment he takes out the egg afterwards and looks at it. 

We know that the egg contains all of Watanukis Memories about Yuuko. And if it’s broken he loses them. 

My theory is that, after losing the memories Watanuki becomes an ordinary human again or at least has no involvement with the supernatural anymore. 

So what if everytime Doumeki and Watanuki have a moment Doumeko contemplates on using the egg which then would “free” Watanuki and could possibly give them both a future. 

If that is true then he decides against it everytime for the sake of Watanuki who clearly doesn’t want to loose his memories and ties to Yuuko. 

He basically gives up his wish of a future for them both because he doesn’t want to hurt Watanuki or make him sad. 

[priestincairo]

I also wonder if Doumeki is, once again, being faced with the same dilemma as he was with the spirit-lady arc but with much higher stakes. If Watanuki keeps his memories and ties to the supernatural and stays shopkeeper, it’s implied he will cease becoming human. Even though he will have an extended lifespan, it still is a sort of death. On the other hand, if he forgets Yuko and all of the supernatural world, this granting his original wish made to Yuko, what would become of his connection to Doumeki? He wouldn’t need Doumeki’s spiritual powers anymore and might forget completely about the eye and blood that connects them as well as all of the supernatural adventures that forged their bond. He basically has to choose between Watanuki’s life (as the human he knows and loves) and his bond with Watanuki AGAIN but sighed stakes. Preserve Watanuki’s soul and possibly have their bond forgottej by him or leave things as they are and be fucked up besties but lose Watanuki to his supernatural form. For ever-selfless Doumeki, it’s harder to see which action is in accordance with his pure soul. The guy can’t get a fucking break!!

[floorpancakes]

smth kinda fucked up about watching doumeki go from whole assedly making life or death decisions for watanuki as a desperate but firm love language every other tuesday to fucking sitting in quiet anguish with a pained look on his face with his eyebrows fucking tweaking out, still able to make life or death protective decisions sometimes but being fucking paralysed with indecision most times that don't involve immediate physical actions to the point it's clearly ripping his head and heart in two even if he still retains that refusal to give up

[priestincairo]

You know, it just hit me that part of Doumeki’s seemingly uncharacteristic indecision to use the egg might not only be because Watanuki isn’t in any imminent physical danger (on the contrary, he has an extended lifetime as shopkeeper but his humanity seems to be more threatened than his life). Doumeki can only enter the shop because he has a wish, and that wish is, presumably, so he can keep Watanuki company and continue helping him. But what we see most are so many peaceful, domestic scenes of the two drinking on the veranda under the moon, chatting, eating Watnuki’s cooking together… Doumeki almost lives there, is mentioned to take baths and sleep over. Over and over again the two are presented as a stereotypical husband and wife. Watanuki gave him a ring he tried to put on his ring finger. I think that Doumeki’s wish is not only to be of aid to Watanuki but to be his companion in a way that seems similar to a partnership “we’ll both share the burden” and using the egg might mean the end of that. With the spirit lady, Doumeki chose to save Watanuki even if it meant destroying their relationship which he obviously values dearly. And that was when they knew each other for less than a year, pre eye, pre blood, not even admitting to be friends. At this point, their relationship has been going on for a decade strong and they are the closest people to one another. Yuko once said, Doumeki is not one to make decisions lightly, but he is able to sacrifice his own desire to be close to Watanuki to save him. I feel like if there comes a point where Watanuki’s humanity/soul is at stake (“uncertainty means he’s still human”), he might take action, but it won’t be without a lot of heartache

[priestincairo]

[priestincairo]

[priestincairo]

[karafina]

we love a cunt

[karafina]

I hate them so much.

[priestincairo]

He wants him to say it so bad. The way he eggs him on again and again. He wants him to say it because it would shock him back to life. If Doumeki was forthright about how he felt, it would exorcise the ghost Watanuki has become in the shop. His honest words would be an arrow. No more limbo. Either Doumeki’s admission gets him cast out, or he stays by Watanuki’s side and the change between them, even if they act “business as usual,” would change Watanuki to the point where he perhaps couldn’t be shopkeeper anymore. He wouldn’t be waiting around out of love lost.

Because love lost isn’t really love. Love, true love, God’s love, is ever-present, enduring, mortal yet always alive. Doumeki is like a saint: he’s mortal, but embodies this everlasting, pure love, like a walking paradox. A paradox that can only be explained by love.

Watanuki is in a stasis of lovelessness. Everyone he has loved openly cannot, for one reason or another, be at his side. It reflects his status as not being of the world. Love in its purest form is present, real, and full of life. Its presence casts out that which diminishes life. I think the story of the spirit lady does so well to illustrate how those who haven’t experienced healthy, abundant love find themselves in toxic relationships (same with Himawari and Yuko: even though both them and the spirit lady did really love Watanuki, there was always a price). For the love and companionship Watanuki was getting for his time spent with the spirit lady, he was paying with his health. Doumeki’s pure love cast that toxicity out, even at the risk of losing Watanuki’s love. Indeed, Doumeki’s love is paid for by nothing. Sure, Watanuki makes him food, but he loves making food despite any surface-level gripes he may have. Doumeki’s love multiplies Watanuki’s blessings and takes nothing, as love does.

What would Watanuki be forced to make of himself if he had to face, without question, that Doumeki’s whole and holy love was directed towards him? That he himself is whole and holy? That, even though he was not born a natural birth, has no memories and is a ghost to the world, even though he is in an ageless body, even though he is seemingly alone in his strange realm, an aberration in every sense of the word, he can be loved in a way that isn’t skewed? That a widely “normal” person from the land of the living can harbor a love for him that is pure, right, good, and here to stay?

When Morissey crooned “love is natural and real, but not for those such as you and I, my love,” I’m sure Watanuki felt that. Watanuki is supposedly unnatural and unreal, and can only continue life as shopkeeper. In all of his agelessness, unreality, grandeur and power he is more like a deity than a human being. But Doumeki’s human, yet supernatural, both miraculous and mundane, and had the power to turn Watanuki into a flesh and blood man simply by loving him as one. Doumeki’s suit-wearing, university-attending worldliness marks him as a sentinel of the “real” world, the one that apparently forgot who Watanuki is, and says through him: “ I remember you. I want you. You belong here. And I love you.”

If Watanuki was faced with this love that asserts his belonging, what would he then do? For, as shopkeeper, he is barred from the world, belongs only in the shop and in dreams, while before he was punished for his being in the world by being chased down by monsters. But Doumeki’s love has the power to exorcise that aspect of him. His love contains miracles. That’s why Watanuki gives him the ring with the suggestion that he may be one of the targets Doumeki will shoot: it represents the love between them, and Watanuki’s desire to be transformed by Doumeki’s love. Stubborn as he is, he’s ready to receive the blow. He wants to receive, even if the impact is somewhat violent, like a shell cracking blissfully and painfully, an egg thrown to the floor.

[vimbry-moved]

you ever see a character design so silly it kinda loops back round to being excellent again

[vimbry-moved]

[dandeliondelivery]

First base is violence second base is convoluted codependence third base is applying pressure to the vulnerable parts of their body to keep their entrails from spilling out

[2001hz]

RG Veda, Swords (1991) Artworks Illustrated By: CLAMP

[colleensmangarecs-deactivated20]

Reposting my Thread on "Shoujo Elements" to Tumblr

Most often when the average non-shoujo fan says something "borrows from shoujo" they think it means a series drew pretty boys or made romance a main focus. However this isn't the case. When a manga "uses shoujo elements" it has nothing to do with tropes, genres, or bishonens. 

I'll preface this thread with, as always saying, I'm not an expert. I just am repeating articles, papers, and research I've read from other people who have clearly been studying shoujo much more in depth and longer than me. If I get something wrong just tell me. 

When an author gets inspired by shoujo it's usually for the dramatic and deeply personal nature that the demographic offers. Shoujo likes exploring interpersonal relationships and looking in depth at why a character thinks or acts the way they do. Digging into the psyche.

The emotional nature of shoujo manga came from shoujo shosestsu (novels for young girls) that were at first meant to make girls into "good wives and wise mothers" but women authors of these novels were able to also use them as a pushback against gender norms too.

Shoujo shosetsu's had the very dreamy style of writing that is very popular in shoujo throughout the decades. Instead of just saying an emotion, you describe that emotion in depth without naming it. In the case of manga, you draw that emotion.

Now when it comes to shoujo art style, this often gets attributed to jojoga (lyrical paintings). Many would say that Macoto Takahashi is a big reason for the sparkly eyes and flowery imagery we see in shoujo for years now. He was inspired by Junichi Nakahara's work though.

These two both worked in shoujo magazines in the 30's to 40's and Takahashi even went on to create a shoujo manga in the late 50's.

The style of shoujo art developed from there. This is where we not see the detailed, sparkly eyes, the soft bubbly shapes that convey feelings, flowers in the backgrounds, expressionist flowy lines, etc etc

Another aspect of shoujo art style is the paneling which was extremely unique in the early days of manga. Prior to the "boom" of shoujo in the 60's, the series were primarily created by men with a handful of women around too. These manga were the typical comic structural flow.

However as women started to become more involved in making shoujo manga and eventually dominating the creation of these series, the paneling began to follow a more dreamy structure to fit the storytelling of the novels they most likely grew up with.

This is where we see paneling in shoujo become more like puzzle pieces being put together. The flow of time is different in the manga since it isn't just conveying sequences but emotions at the same time. The way your eye is drawn through the page is usually in squiggles or S's.

The reason why a lot of people probably think "shoujo art sucks" is because they're very unused to how shoujo manga is structured. If you are confused by the flow of the page, it's because you're used to a different type of storytelling (shonen). 

Anyway, these are things that are actually shoujo elements. Just because a series has a pretty boy in it or has romance/slice of life doesn't mean it borrowed from shoujo. I also don't think basing a character design on a shoujo character means it "took inspo from shoujo" either. 

When I think of "shoujo elements" I think of inter personal relationships, conveying emotions in a poetic way, ethereal imagery of some sort, paneling that flows through the page or makes time feel slow, and also much softer, wispy line work and shading.

Also important to note that using these things outside of shoujo doesn't automatically make something shoujo. 

Sources pulled from early blog post of Rachel Thorn

Blog posts from Dan Mazur

Essay about panel configuration in shoujo

International Perspectives on Shoujo

[enchantedbook]

'The Blue Bird', Swedish fairytale illustrated by John Bauer, 1911