too lazy to bother

organizing my thoughts

[ryokure]

I'm sure I'm very late to the party, but the epilogue just made my blood boil again. I couldn't help myself.

IMO, it's not something like a theory or whatever just because I didn't like the end (though I didn't) and don't want my favorite character to die in canon (though I don't). It's just the only possible way where the latest chapters still read like the author decided "screw it", but at least most of characters don't look like ungrateful hypocritical assholes, especially after all the additional materials about his life.

So let's start.

1) The bizarre timeline, inappropriate jokes and NPC's dialogues.

First of all, I still don't get how many days have passed since the fight with Sukuna.

December, 24 - we see the snow.

Megumi wakes up, no snow at all.

Suddenly, Akutami who had Shibuya's schedule by minutes, can't put a date on the scene.

Honestly, it would be better if Megumi slept for five months, but all signs point to just a few days.

Megumi's original body wasn't even that badly hurt.

Akutami clickbaits saving Yuta aaand the inappropriate joking around has already started.

What's with Megumi's reaction to the possibility of Yuta being badly hurt? Is it supposed to be funny, when the last time readers saw Yuta's body, he was on the verge of death?

Megumi wonders if he still feels the effect of Unlimited Void.

Are you seriously going to tell me that Megumi had waited until at least March to talk to Shoko about Tsumiki? I'm willing to believe that Gojo had her body wrapped in some seals to give Megumi a chance to say his goodbyes, but not that they had waited months after his return. So again, WTF with that grass?

But let's go back to the strangest discussion I've ever read in this manga. Basically, it's an explanation directly from the author for why Higuruma and Yuta are suddenly totally okay, even though their injuries looked really bad. But no matter how stupid this whole scene is, it's still another indication that not much time has passed. Since time is the key point for the end of big arcs, it'd be very simple to put a plate "three months later" and Akutami knows how to do it... I conclude that last chapters happened not that long ago. These chapters didn't age better, hence all my not-theory on why Gojo should be alive, otherwise Japan is doomed.

Why I think the scene is stupid? Because from the POV of the characters, this discussion is pretty useless. Why would they need to gather together (how convenient that Megumi woke up just in time) and talk about the fight like they have just played some MMO?

Maki would just yell at Yuta the moment he woke up. Geto's people have zero reasons to hang around. To include Megumi in this useless talk right after he woke up is downright cruel (one would think that no matter what, you still would feel something after killing two people who were closest to you? Well, I guess, Gojo doesn't mean anything anyway and the matter of Tsumiki death is resolved by 1 (one) pep talk from Yuji). Where are Shoko and Ijichi, by the way?

But let's say, they really felt a burning need to discuss the fight, you know, for the future encounters with the other kings of curses... What the hell with all that really inappropriate humor? I felt like I was reading a really bad fanfic, where the writer doesn't understand that people usually don't just fling at each other walls of texts and they can have different opinions about the same event. Like, no one even disagrees when Kusakabe says it's all Gojo's fault.

I'm sorry, but there was a person who explicitly asked Gojo to save Yuji in the second chapter.

This person is also kinda pessimistic, prone to negative thoughts and often puts himself down.

"In the land where dark shadows fall" (I don't know if it has official translation/title, so I just used GT) is basically 25 minutes of Gojo constantly reassuring Megumi that he can beat the curse alone. Megumi still ends the event with words "I can't become someone like you".

So why Megumi doesn't even try to say anything about how it was his fault anyway? Why Yuta doesn't show any sign of annoyance (Kusakabe might be even right, but at this point Yuta has demonstrated more care for Gojo than even Yuji)? Yuji, by the way, has lost not only his teacher, but also his brother, but okay, he's super resilient now, he already doesn't care.

You wouldn't even guess that this frame has 4 people (and one panda) who saw their teacher being cut in half in 4K and one of them even used his corpse afterwards.

Nobara woke up in the world where many people she knew are dead. Including the one, who definitely managed to snag a seat in her inner world.

She looks totally the same, no subtle hints that she even cares. I guess, Akutami just doesn't know how to show it. It's his first manga, guys.

...

It also bothers me that Maki and Nobara don't interact at all. Maki looks like she came through hell and high water, she has no cursed energy and she has changed (the last time Nobara saw her, was before Maki had lost Mai and killed a lot of people, including her own parents and hunting the remaining Zen'in). I would really like the epilogue with them instead of lection on motherhood. By the way, Saori who?

The more I list what I've really hated about the last chapters, the more I think about a crazy idea that would be more suitable for a fanfic... That with his death, Gojo took the hearts from most of the sorcerers (at least Mai took only Maki's). Before they were able to grieve for a at least some selected people and without Gojo they've lost even that. Basically, it feels like Yuji can drop dead (again) and no one will really care, since the current generation doesn't remember about people once they're dead. It'd be actually a very interesting take with a very interesting potential (principal Gakuganji, I think we need to bring Gojo-san back before we have a lot of powerful curse users on our hands). Love is the most twisted curse and all that.

Or maybe it is supposed to be some kind of tone-deaf commentary on today's youth?.. Honestly, I don't think Akutami thoughts run that deep. I think he just didn't bother, that's why the characters in the last chapters suddenly act like identical NPCs. 

So it's very hard for me to take these chapters seriously and why my next complaint will be about how OOC they are.

[ryokure]

JJK's epilogue doesn't make any sense

Honestly, I'm so pissed off. The last manga chapters didn't make any sense from any point of view. Not as a coherent story, not as a realistic story, and it's the first time I saw an author make his own creatures OOC.

At this point, I'm like 100% Gojo is alive, otherwise the main characters with their attitude look worse and worse with every game event. Maybe later I'll try and list all the inconsistences that pissed me off the first time.

[ryokure]

Atsushi’s berserk button

[ryokure]

Hmm...

[ryokure]

Parenting in Ao no Exorcist

Rewatching Ao no Exorcist, I started to think that there may be a possibility that by using “a good father misunderstood by his ungrateful son” trope the authors are just working through their lack of father love by rationalising it. The son in question is mainly brought up by mother, father is either isn’t there or not really interested in connecting with his son. But it isn’t because he doesn’t care! It’s because he has a shitton of important jobs and the son just isn’t able to see how the father loves him (how the fuck can he?). But the father will totally show up at the critical moment to save his son or to give some inspiring advice. Meaning that yes, he loved his kid... he just sucked at showing it.

I mean, Fujimoto sucks at being a father. Yukio lived in constant fear for/of Rin for years, Rin got more support from his “uncles“ and Yukio than from him. Shura needed a full-course therapy and he just spouted some philosophical bullshit, shoved Yukio at her and left. But he killed himself to save Rin, acting like a father “should“ and that one action, while being totally heroic and whatever, totally makes him a father of the year... Well, I don’t think so.

Suguro’s father didn’t manage to fuck his kid so thoroughly, but he definitely tried. It’s not a kid’s responsibilty to validate their parents. And, wow, what an awesome way to show off your abilities - by groping your kid’s teacher! Not like the guy has a wife he supposedly madly in love with.

BTW, Izumo’s mom sucked too. Again, a kid shouldn’t have to be a parent to their own parents. Shima’s treatment definitely added to his personality. Shiemi’s mom is better than the others, but not by much, really. Pity that it’s not being treated the right way. One dramatic action doesn’t excuse the years of bullshit. And media using that trope of the absent father - or less often the mother - just nail down the idea that the uncaring parent actually cares! So fucking much! It just you - as in the kid - are too dumb to read their thoughts. When you’ll have demons or mafia after you, the parent in question will definitely show up and save you! No matter how shitty your father treats you now, you just have to believe in his love. He totally feels it, he just fucking sucks at showing it... Yeah, sure.

BTW, I wonder why people writing shit about Yukio don't notice one simple fact - for more than half of his life he knew that his brother is Satan's son, whose flames barely sealed by a sword. Like, even at 7-yo he would be smart enough to understand what a can of worms that is.

Like Rin could actually kill someone in one of his fits, could get turned evil and then kill someone, could get discovered by exorcists and get killed, could get kidnapped by demons and turned, etc... Not to mention how bad Rin fit in society - no friends, no important people aside from family at all. Short temper + supernatural power + inability to lie or take injustice silently = bad combination all around. Or someone precious to Rin could be used to control him. Or Fujimoto could just get killed at one of the easy missions out of sheer bad luck. Or Yukio could get killed himself. Or they both get killed and Rin is left all alone in a world he doesn't fit in, without his main pillars of support. And wouldn't that turn him evil, BTW.

So their father gets killed anyway and Rin manifests his powers and then prances around, flashing his flame left and right when it can a) get them both killed or expiremented on b) tarnish the good name of their beloved asshole father. Like I can get why Rin doesn't understand it and why no one tells him how much pressure was/is on Yukio - those who care don't understand, those who can/could - don't care and Yukio is too proud (and loves his father too much) to even admit it to himself... But fuck, it was painful to watch him trying to soldier on through it all, plus additional weight of his apparent abilities.

It's a wonder that Yukio doesn't have grey hairs yet. And of course he would also feel anger at Rin for being so unconcerned about that all. Technically it does look like Rin doesn't care about neither his life nor about the feelings/lives of his friends and brother - the movie is just one example of that.

 All in all Yukio’s implosion was inevitable.

[ryokure]

True love))))

[ryokure]

Your BnHA metas are so insightful, you've caught a lot of things I missed and also put to words things that I've been thinking about but couldn't express properly. Deku and Kacchan's relationship is so interesting, so well planned and written.... Thank you for sharing!! Will you be covering ch~117 stuff?

Thanks for the kind words (* ^ ω ^) Well, their clash made very clear what I’ve written about (and what could be missed because of their personalities and how it was framed - bullying is understandably a sore point for many people), so I just grinned reading every new chapter and didn’t think much about metas.

For now I’m kinda too immersed in the old fandoms, so probably not right away, but I’ll see if I can say something more about them.

[deanwinchesters]

dean + being done with literally everyone

[ryokure]

Source: facebook.com/mommyneedsvodka

[ryokure]

Rewatching Slayers. The main series and Lina in particular are actually 1,000,000 more awesome then when I watched it for the first time - it was my second anime, so... Now I’m watching it like “Wow! That’s actually a really good anime! Great characters, wonderful music, good humor, no fanservice! Why didn’t I (re)watch it sooner?“

I love Lina’s voice. Of course Slayers’s cast is full of great VAs, but still Megumi Hayashibara stands out. I really can’t understand people who prefer the dub.

I also love Zel, the quiet supporter and the regular answerman and how often anime brings up his similarity with Lina. And how often he’s the only one to escape punishment from the girls because he’s the only one who doesn’t act like a sleazebag.

And LOL, but Gourry is obviously some kind of superhuman for taking so much damage without magical shield or Zel-like body. I just love how they’re calmly talking about bombs in Try while he’s kinda... burning.

I do hate canon pairings though and how much of useless “romance” there is. From the second season it actually starts to get annoying, given that of them all only Lina and Zel make a believable het couple. It’s like Lina couldn’t just use Giga Slave when Gourry’s fucking soul was about to be crushed and he’s her trusted nakama, she needed to have fucking cringeworthy ”romantic” moments to justify saving him. Really??? So what, if Fibrizzo started from Zel after all, Lina would just let his soul die because for those two there wasn’t a shitton of “hints” on romantic love before? Which is hidden so fucking deep, there are episodes and episodes with virtual strangers brainwashing Lina with “You love him in romantic sense, you’re just too stupid to notice”. Not like she’d bet a world to save her friend from a certain death, huh?

Honestly, it’d much better to leave the main four out of “canon romance“ altogether. Fans would ship whoever they want anyway and I wouldn’t need to skip some scenes. Amelia having crush on Zel is funny and understandable right until the moment anime start shoving their total canonicity at my face. From my POV even Gourry/Lina is (a little) more believable than that - at least they both share the same wanderlust.

Revolution sadly is much less funny than the main series, but at least it doesn’t make fucking everything about romance. Though the art gets really sloppy and there aren’t many harismatic new characters. I’d also like if they toned down the appreciation of Amelia’s breasts, she’s still a fucking kid.

Also they’re using tragic and heroic music too much, like it’s the one thing to hear it when the characters are in obvious pinch, it’s the other while watching Star Wars’s bad parody. The scenes/music sometimes change too abruptly, no sense of timing.

Evolution-r was a little better thought-out, but watching it now I got three things, I didn’t pay mich attention before:

1) Ozel is a fucking useless and boring character I don’t care about at all.

2) In a way Zel’s body is a constant reminder of how he was betrayed by a person he knew all his life and trusted completely.

3) Rezo’s constant focus on Lina makes me fucking angry and I actually closed the player on his full reappearance. Like he pays more attention to the boring stupid doll than to the person he betrayed so thorougly! And now he fucking sees some light in Lina! First, it’s fucking unbelievable, second - it’s fucking boring because it’s the same formula of “another powrful monster sees how awesome Lina Inverse is” and it’s getting stale. How about to see the light in the eyes of the guy who sacrificed his body and all of his relationships to save his country? Or I dunno, the guy who was able to work with a person he rightfully wants to strangle with his bare hands to save virtual strangers? Slayers don’t need to be 100% about Lina to prove her awesomeness, it’s not a harem shounen.

It’s wasteful from the story’s POV as well. The time spent on Ozel’s boring and repetitive story, Xellos’s random appearances and unneeded focus on Lina could be much better used on the full episode about Pokota and Zel struggling with the aftermatch of Rezo’s words. Those two got over despair a little too fast for my taste. It was also disappointing that Rezo and Zel’s blood relation didn’t play a role in unsealing/reviving at all.

Overall, R/evolution is a wonderful chance to see and hear the favorite characters in action with better animation (because Premium sucks and there aren’t remasters for TV, I have a guess why), there are good jokes, characters, stories and music, but it’s definetely not on the level of the main three seasons. In short, it feels like OVA, not like its own story, even though there was potential in the first episodes. It’s a pity that potential was wasted, but at least not 100% wasted.

[ryokure]

Rewatching YYH. Togashi surely knows how to attract an audience.

[ryokure]

I’m kinda amazed by how right I was about so many things ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆

But, um... wow. I’ve read yaoi less intense than the latest chapters.

Now, if only I could predict how it’ll end. Given how Deku affects Kacchan, it really could go either way. I’m on the side of “the happy good end“, at least for now. Unless someone will intervene... and I’m pretty sure in Toga’s abilities to fuck people up.

[bluestockingt-deactivated202501]

Hearing The Call to Adventure when you’re over 40.

There’s a seriously delightful conversation in one of the LARP fb groups about adventuring over 40. Many of us aren’t 20 anymore, and it seems silly to have our characters not be our own age (or close to it). But they’re still starting characters (as it’s a new campaign), which implies they chose this path recently.

That thread is mostly joking around, but I kind of love the idea of hearing The Call when you’re not a teenager, and starting your in-game adventuring life later as some kind of mid-life crisis, religious epiphany, empty nest reaction, etc. Which got me to some ficlets, and here’s the result.

—

“Well, your mother always wanted to be an adventurer - she was a hell of an archer when we were your age - but we got pregnant, and your grandmother needed some help, so we put that life off for a while. But now that you’re off at university, it seems like a good time to pick up the bow again, and go fight evil.“ 

—

“There was just something missing, y'know? I mean, I liked being a toymaker, but one day I realized - I really wanted to put on some plate mail, and go fight demons. So here I am, livin’ the dream.“ 

— 

“Sometimes, relationships don’t work out. She got the business, I get to start the life of adventure I’ve always wanted. Did you know I minored in alchemy? It’s good to get back into it again.”

—

“Your Aunt Maribel and I had always talked about doing this, when we were girls, but it just never seemed like the right time. But now that Uncle Haro has passed…Mari just wants to get out there and do it. I can’t let her go alone, can I? Someone has to watch her flank on the line, and remind her to keep her shield up.“

—

“What can I say? Sometimes you fall in love with a mage. When you do, you grab your hammer and you go where he goes. Someone has to keep cute Dukes from flirting with him. Back off, gentry! He’s all mine.” “Kevin, you’re being ridiculous. I’m not going to fall in love with some Duke.” “Whatever. I’m not taking any chances. It took me this long to find you, and I’m not letting you go without me.”

—

“I’m your Dad. If you’re going to go and fight evil, I’m going with you, ‘cause I support your choices.”

—

“Er…Mom’s heading off to check out some evil gate she heard about. Someone needs to go with her, ok? I squired for her last time, but I just can’t right now. It’s your turn. Make sure she does her exercises, ok? Her back is going to be horrid if she doesn’t.“ “Fine. I’ll handle the evil gate with Mom. But the next time she heads into the swamps to fight some lizard thing, you’re doing it. I freaking hate swamps.”

—

“His husband left him for an elf. He’s got some anger issues that he’s working through, ok? Better that he work through it on some bad guys.”

—

“What was that?” “Undead again.” “Oh, for the love of..look. They’re a freaking plague, and it’s getting worse. If we don’t want to keep dealing with this, we’re just going to have to go to the source.” “But….the carrots…!” “Hang the damned carrots. I’ll hire that nice boy down the street to take care of our field while we’re gone. Clean yourself up and grab your holy symbol. We’re not putting up with this for one more week.”

—

“Well, I always wanted to see the world. I got a small inheritance recently, and thought, why the heck not? No time like the present, right?”

—

“If that Sorcerer thinks he can just waltz in here and take over this town, he’s got another think coming!” “Doris, calm down. We’ll write to the King, and…” “I WILL NOT CALM DOWN. Sally, I swear, you drive me nuts sometimes.” “I’m just saying - there’s diplomatic solutions to this.” “The hell with diplomatic solutions! I WILL END HIM. ” “Fiiiiiine. Do it your way. End him with fire.” “Thank you!” *smooches* “Love you. Back when I’m back. He has NO IDEA who is coming for him.”

—

“What can I say? Adventuring pays the bills. I have a family to support, and turnip farming doesn’t make money like it used to.”

—

“Hey Phineas - for guys’ night, I have a thought. Rather than just going down to the pub like we usually do…I found a gate. No idea where it leads. Let’s go check it out. Could be fun, right?” “A gate?” “Yeah!” “This is a terrible idea. I’m in.”

—

“Um….well, this is awkward. You know that Goddess who spoke to me last spring?” “Oh yeah! Your whole conversion thing. Nice to see you found faith. It’s been good for you, I think.” “Well, she has something she wants me to take care of.” “What, like…a message delivered or something?” “Noooooooo?” “Seriously? You’re a florist. What does she want you to do?” “Well, now when I sing, things blow up. That’s good, right?” “This can’t end well.”

—

“We left for THREE WEEKS, and Barbarians razed our village. I swear, do I have to do everything myself? I JUST RE-DID THE ROOF, YOU JERKS.”

—

“He doesn’t think our family is good enough for him? I’ll show him who is good enough for him! My little girl is going to live in a castle, even if I have to conquer it myself!” “I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way.” “We’ll see what he has to say when I walk into Summertide with a demon’s head on a spike! Who’s good enough now, you two-bit merchant?!?”

—

“Your Aunt recently found out that Throgg the Destroyer is that brat she couldn’t stand at the Academy. She’s not taking it well, so we’re going to be off on a trip for a while…”

—

“So….funny story. You know that favor I owe the Countess? From like 20 years ago? She finally called it in. She remembered that I’m really good with Ancient Runes, and apparently there’s something she needs checked out.”

—

“I thought you said this adventuring thing was just a hobby, Brianna. Something we did on the weekends.” “Well, but…y'know…I really like it. I think I could be good at it. I’m getting better with the spear, you know?” “I don’t even know you anymore!” “Can’t you just be supportive?” “Well, but where does it end? First hobgoblins, now orcs…what’s next?” “I heard about this cursed tomb…” “Absolutely not. I draw the line at tombs. NO TOMBS.”

—

“I told you not to date that vampire. Didn’t I tell you? I told you!” “Let me live, Sergio.” “Let me unlive, you mean.” “Ok, that’s just rude.”

—

“Oh, sure - one good healing spell, and you think you can conquer the world.” “I can! I have the knees of a teenager again!”

—

“Grandpa, you’re embarrassing me.” “What, I can’t visit my grandson while he’s adventuring?” “Well, I love having you here, and everyone knows you’re a good healer, but…” “I’ll be fine. I like it here. I think I’ll stay.”

—

“C'mon, let’s do it. We’ve always wanted to.” “But…we don’t know what we’re doing.” “We do! We’ve each read The Book, what….15 times? I know you basically have it committed to memory.” “I don’t think ‘To Catch a Rogue Lord’ was really meant as an instruction manual.” “C'mon…how hard can it be? You’ve seen the adventurers who come through here.” “Excellent point. I’ll get my herbs.”

—

“Honey? There’s a kid at the door. He says you’re the Chosen One.” “Arrrrgh. We talked about this! Come back later!” “He says the stars are aligned?” “Not doing it! Tell him to go away.” “Oh, and the seal broke. The seal broke, Stephen. It sounds important.” “But…” “I’ll pack you a lunch.”

“Call Sharon. She and her stupid birthmark are coming with me.” “I thought you said that translation of the prophecy was incorrect? Something about a miss-translation of verb.” “…well, at least if we fail, I won’t have to listen to Karl talking at Guild Meetings about how he was right.”

[dreadpiratekhan]

these are perfect and everything is perfect and nothing hurts

[jordanlhawk-deactivated20260503]

I love everything about these.

[workfornow]

Love these! They’re hilarious, but here’s the real reason:

While the OP’s description casts the choice to Adventure Past the First Blush of Youth as a decision precipitated by something Big, and possibly something Big and Not So Good: “starting your in-game adventuring life later as some kind of mid-life crisis, religious epiphany, empty nest reaction, etc.,” but most of the ficlets describe a decision point that’s much more just the Next Dubiously Logical Step, or That Thing That Happened. Like our mundane real life adventures - sometimes inaugurated by much preparation and a Big Bang, sometimes something we just kind of slide into without realizing, or embark upon in an impulsive rush.

My experience is that most of the supposed Turning Points in Life don’t break the day-to-day flow so much as gradually redirect it over a long course of time, punctuated by events that one is supposed to attach significance too, but which feel more like a slightly better or worse (and usually busier) day

[ryokure]

Author rec for Durarara

I’ve finished reading the last story by Nocturnal and I think the amount of hits and kudos really doesn’t match the awesomeness of that author. I didn’t even think that it’d be possible to write amnesiac Izaya trying to become a better person without him going horribly OOC... So I’ve decided to try and advertise them a little.

Some excerpts from the works I especially love (but there’s so much more ＼(≧▽≦)／):

"So, have you or not? Killed someone, that is."

Izaya made a full tour of the new premises. The wind was always stronger in high places and he enjoyed it immensely.

"Remember that girl that jumped off the Sunshine last week? I gave her a little push. Every now and then I get bored. Tokyo is so overcrowded that I am doing the city a service."

He waved his hand around as he spoke, carefree and without breaking eye contact, his smile as easy going as his entire attitude. Shizuo lighted a cigarette and smoked. A fraction of silence and smoke.

"You're lying."

Izaya held on to his by now fraying smile.

"Your psychic powers again? How irrational."

"Not half as much as pushing people off skyscrapers. Which you didn't do anyway."

Izaya stretched to unwind a growing tension and at the same time casting the image that he was entirely at ease. Nonchalance was the key.

"I could provide evidence to prove it but I see no need to do it. Since you know through magic. Can't argue with such a reliable epistemology."

"You're this snarky with all your employers or just on those who call you on your bullshit?"

“Knowledge” - Shizuo/Izaya

"You do not compete for affection, success, fame. And you take it another notch by virtually nullifying yourself." "What is that supposed to mean?"

Izaya swung around and leaned on the telescope.

"You are intelligent, street smart, dependable. But you've made yourself insignificant. If we were all fictional characters living in a fiction Tokyo how much fanfiction do you suppose would feature you as a main character? As opposed to me, Shizu-chan, Shinra, Celty, Mikado, Kida, Tom, Aoba, etc, etc."

"So I'm boring."

Kadota was beginning to feel attacked. Izaya's lucid unwinding of Kadota's personality carried a particular sting.

"You're fascinating all around but you make sure you avoid the spotlight. I've told you before it is your strong point but it is also a weakness. It's your defense mechanism."

"Now that's precious coming from you!"

"I know about defense mechanisms from personal experience."

Only now did Kadota realize just how much Izaya was disclosing about himself.

"I thought you didn't need to defend against anything."

"You know better. If anything defense is one of my absolute priorities."

"So it's okay if you have defense mechanisms but I can't?"

"I am aware of mine. Are you?"

”Barriers“ - Kadota/Izaya

Izaya was in a reminiscing mood, complete with dreamy eyes.

"I met the beautiful Namie on a rainy afternoon. She was wearing a black knee high skirt, a white blouse, high heels shoes and a deep green raincoat. I already knew about her, of course. After all I am Orihara Izaya, informant extraordinaire. I am in the know and have connections all over Tokyo so I have in-depth knowledge on all important players. One can say that I am-"

"Orihara-san, this isn't about you now."

"You can add 'egocentric' to the list."

"I just have a healthy self-esteem."

"Back to how you two met, please."

"I booked a meeting with Namie at the company she was struggling to run at the time. But of course she turned it down. So I waited for her in front of the building and late in the night she finally walked out. She stood under the streetlights to open her umbrella, I offered her mine instead. Our eyes locked and I knew that we belonged together."

"You're leaving out the part about how you stalked me before that. Don't think I don't know how you parked in the building opposite and spied on me with your binnacles."

“Therapy is Good for You“ - Izaya/Namie

Izaya laughed flippantly. "Oh my, maybe we are connected at some elemental level and it's fate. How romantic of you, Shizuo." "You forgot the '-chan' just now." Izaya leaned forward on the counter and dangled the glass, his voice slow and low in its purest threatening tone. "Get me another one, Shizu-chan." Shizuo was unperturbed and obeyed even down to another pretty paper parasol. It annoyed Izaya most unreasonably. "Fate, huh. There's something to that. If by fate you mean meeting someone and knowing, just knowing without a doubt, that this person will change your life forever. That's how it was for me all those years ago." "You make it sound like you fell in love with me at first sight." "I hated you at first sight. Because I knew I'd never be the same after you entered my life, I knew you'd mess it up." Izaya's silence was that of concentration. "For the sake of clarity, are you saying that we do have a connection of sorts?" "That's about it, yeah. And you know it. Or you used to.".

“Who I am now“ - Shiki/Izaya, Shizuo/Izaya

[ryokure]

I love Lydia

Well, I love everyone in TW, but Lydia is my Queen (♡-_-♡)

[ryokure]

I can’t believe I was right about Rize and Furuta. (⊙_⊙) Wow. Could it be that she didn’t search for him because she thought he was already dead? Just to better mirror the main pairing...

So maybe I’m right about Kaneki being Hide’s humanity as well. Given the amount of sane people raised by Washuu so far...

Also isn’t it amazing how many times Kaneki aсtually accepted help from Hide in the past, without feeling too much guilt. With his personality, I’d say it’s kind of a miracle.

[ryokure]

Whenever I think I’m too far in Tekketsu symbolism, I remember this: