Crimson Dawn After Party 💯💯

so i've been thinking about risu. "personality defines one's magic" lives in my mind rent free, and i've been trying to pin down how magic reflects the personalities of sorcerers we know. risu's curse magic is especially interesting due to its rarity and the nature of curse itself. so, what can curse tell us about risu, and what role does risu play in dorohedoro? (spoilers through the end of the manga under the cut.)

who is risu?

risu is a low-level sorcerer and a member of the cross-eyes. not much is known about his past, besides for the fact that he used to go to the zagan magic school, he was friends with aikawa, and he had an apartment where he lived alone and grew cacti. but what else do we know about him? what's he like?

i want to start this discussion based on asu's perceptions of risu in extra evil 16, since we, as the readers - and risu himself - get to be explicitly told what asu thinks of him. risu's interactions with asu and nikaido are particularly important because, unlike with the cross-eyes or en's family, risu isn't really putting on a front here. and since asu is genuinely trying to help by offering risu advice, we know this is what he really thinks - even if his devil traits are getting in the way of his delivery.

to summarize: asu characterizes risu as neurotic, high-strung, and repressed. these evaluations seem to be at least partially correct; asu is the catalyst for both moments in the manga where risu grows to better understand his magic - the first in spell 84 and the second in 122 - and he wouldn't have been able to do this if he truly didn't understand risu. and risu agrees with him!

this is interesting when contrasted with what we see of risu in one of the first flashbacks of the series.

we know that risu has a lot of doubts about the boss and the cross-eyes, but what he's saying here is really . . . idealistic? even in spite of any doubts or worries, risu says this to aikawa - and given how earnest risu is with him, i don't think this is a lie. on top of that, risu was pretty loyal to the cross-eyes and to aikawa. this is not to imply that pessimism and loyalty are inherently at odds with one another, but the way risu talks about aikawa and his own death really doesn't scream 'i see the worst in every situation'. i don't think risu's pessimism is the whole story. so, how does curse fit into all of this? why does risu have curse magic?

what is curse?

curse magic is considered rare. it's not well-understood by any characters, and especially early on, only asu and dokuga seem to have any understanding of how it works at all. curse is activated after risu is killed and remains active until the curse is 'complete.' after curse merges with risu after his revival, when someone tries to kill or harm risu, curse will activate, taking over risu's body and reflecting all attacks.

curse is angry and violent, and it is so overwhelming that risu has no control over it at all. faced with this, risu rejects the idea outright; this is all he knows. he's gotten so used to being controlled by his anger for so long that he can't comprehend any other options. he assigns everything to his anger. he's angry at everything, and he only acts because he is angry.

something that really stuck out to me is when risu says he's 'pissed off for making [him] kill.' it's unclear if he's angry at the cross-eyes or at curse, but it's really indicative that he doesn't want to be violent - he's been forced into it due to the circumstances of this world and his place in it. curse is not a representation of some inner desire to hurt or harm others; there's something else going on here.

(a brief aside, but this is the only time we're shown anything from risu's life before the cross-eyes, the magic school, and aikawa. he's younger - he looks about shin's age from his backstory ten years ago? so, let's tentatively call risu 18-ish here, placing this about 6 years ago, which should comply with canon. he's injured and alone - there's no mention of parents or any other caretakers. with how vague this information is, it's difficult to draw any definitive conclusions. one possibility is that risu was abandoned by his parents. i say this because a flashback of risu alone is paired with the the thought that others, specifically powerful sorcerers like the en family, look down on him, and there are multiple severed heads in the same shot, who are clearly not en family members or other cross-eyes. it could be that his family were powerful sorcerers who left him alone due to his 'weak' magic, and perhaps he himself killed them, which is why their heads are floating and detached. but i digress.)

asu says it best: curse is only part of risu. curse protects risu. it is not just risu's anger, but also what that anger is hiding - perhaps feelings of hopelessness, isolation, betrayal, etc. curse is a literal and physical obfuscation and reflection of risu's identity and feelings. risu needs to learn to control curse not because anger - or any of his other negative feelings - are bad. it's because he doesn't understand where they come from or why, and as a result they consume him. this is why risu's realization has him literally being freed from a physical trap, because risu is now the one in control, even if he lacks mastery. risu is angry, but that is not all he is; risu is angry, and that is okay.

so, what does risu do? why is he important?

risu actually has strong thematic ties with both caiman (the protagonist) and nikaido (the deuteragonist):

risu and curse's relationship parallels aikawa and hole's: a magic user with low/no smoke output possessed by a violent entity that is controlled by strong negative feelings and obfuscates their past.

curse foils nikaido's time magic: risu is controlled by dangerous magic that he has no control over while nikaido refuses to use time magic because she perceives it as dangerous and uncontrollable; both have realizations about their relationships with magic (with asu's help), and learn how to use their magic as part of their character arcs.

curse is a physically painful, like aikawa's headaches and nikaido's devil transformation.

risu, nikaido, and caiman all struggle with their identity: both how society perceives them and how the see themselves. all of them have complicated relationships with their magic, and they feel like they do not 'truly exist,' at least in part due to this.

also, risu is a big player early on in the story, if not arguably the most important one, especially when it comes to the mystery of derohedoro. risu's curse is the means through which caiman and nikaido can hunt sorcerers and is also the en family's first major lead in their investigation. risu is what brings caiman and the cross-eyes together. risu goes back in time with nikaido to learn the truth of caiman's past. risu is the one that kills aikawa. risu offers to restore caiman's original face at the end of the series. (i could go on!)

risu isn't rich or extremely powerful or a genius, but he feels important because he was aikawa's partner; their partnership is what gave aikawa's existence as a sorcerer legitimacy, and their bond persists through the entire series. risu may be a 'nobody' when compared to characters like en and nikaido, but he was somebody to aikawa, and that identity is consistently given the weight it deserves.

I am artblocked so I did this lil poster thing

since i only ever send rick rolls to ppl i figured id just post one for all my followers for april fools day this year to save myself the effort

happy april fools y’all

Soo um the Outlast Protagonists are pretty neat

Wonder what it’d be like if they met up and escaped together >:3

I think we skipped over this a little too quickly

HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY !!!!! FT: Paul Blart antagonist/ref and jerbear!??

presenting: sasha and hunter being Blonde Emo Teens™ for one minute gay

Saw this on Twitter thought I post it here but HE IS A PRECIOUS BABY WHOS HURTING RIGHT NOW AND JUST NEEDS SOME LOVE OKAY!!

"Hunter isn't trying hard enough to be redeemed"

"He betrayed Amity 2 times"

"Hunter still needs help but not from Amity".

Hmm...I DISAGREE!!

So about Hunter "Not trying hard enough", he actually did try,2 times to be exact, and guess what happened those 2 times...

And not only that but the fact that he opened up to Luz in "Hunting Palismen"

Only for her to share his identity to the world! And not only that, she called him a "bad but sad boi" and now Eda's teasing him! (Not to mention he's a coven head so if someone knew they'll-)(What happens if rumors got out of Hunter using wild magic? Belos don’t kil-)

Imagine trusting someone, and then realizing they wanna be your friend, and you now have a friend! And then that friend goes out to share ALL YOUR SECRETS TO ALL OF HER 10 CLOSEST FRIENDS! (That was not what Luz was trying to do but that's likely to be what Hunter was thinking) Won't you, have some trust issues after that?

I've already explained the manipulation scene, but I'll say it here anyway.

"Come back with results or else...you can figure out the rest" -Hunter (Eclipse lake)

"Come back with results or else...we're done" -Amity (Eclipse lake)

That red arrow CLEARLY means turn back

Those 2 charts mean results cuz you put results on a chart

And the bat and the sad cat means Luz (aka, the bat) leaving Amity (aka, the cat)

And who would think of just spinning it around right? Hunter doesn't know "Human culture". He was most likely projecting himself onto Amity without knowing it.

And finally...

Why didn't he accept Amity's offer?

First thing, he did accept it (or want to) but then he saw the key, and ooohohoho, all those thoughts just went straight away. Why?

Option A (for Amity), is just a chance game (This is Hunter's perspective btw) he could choose it just for the CHANCE of maybe finding someone that would actually care for him. Since Amity said, quote:

"But there are people out there that won't make you feel worthless, you just...have to let yourself met them."

(So Hunter needs to wait until he can find someone like that?)

Or...

Option B (for Belos), get the key, there's a 100% chance he will be happy. Belos cares for him. And if he just gives Belos the key then and there, there won't be any waiting needed! Belos is right there and he loves him!

And option A (Amity) has some flaws too, The Owl Lady absolutely hates him, and (as shown in the earlier scenes) ignores him even when he tried to help her! Luz hates him now for trying to steal the Paslismen, and she just called him a "Bad but sad boy". They even teased him about his lack of magic! And he only met them for like an hour. Plus, all the good interactions with them are only like- three minutes or at MOST 15 minutes (cuz of interruptions like Kikimora and the key).

Meanwhile...

Belos on the other hand loves him! He's important to Belos, and unlike the others, Belos would never say anything about him being "Powerless". Even though he IS still hungry for eye drops and Hunter does have some...But Belos adopted him, and he's been living his whole life with Belos. Why would he chose The owl gang after Belos has cared him for all his life and they- just insult him and say some words of encouragement? And he doesn't even know why Belos is dangerous (and is planning to harvest his teeth to the Titian! (joke)).

And it is hard (saying from personal experience), Very hard, to cut off an abusive person- it's just not that that easy as, POW, done. And even more so in Hunter's case since he's a "Powerless witch" and could never survive on his own/without a home. (Have you seen how DANGEROUS this place is? The fairies can eat your skin! Hunter "no magik boi" won't stand a chance!).

And he also acted out of instinct, (aka Golden guard side) and he wasn't thinking properly since he just had a mental breakdown and was using the things that he's known before (aka teleportation, the hand...not to mention he was using a different staff but was so desperate he somehow knew how to use it-), I mean seriously- Hunter you could have just levitated it away!

Conclusion:

Someone needs to give him some good interactions (for a few hours at least) and teach him about how bad Belos is. And Eda needs to stop bullying Hunter, because (According to Newton's law) you can only push at something as much as it can resist your push, so in the end, you'll have this barely supported Hunter that just moves out of the way when the actually good interactions come. (And most of the owl crew probably doesn't even know that Belos is manipulating Hunter and thinks that Hunter is the guy that's being bad)

So if these kinds of bad interactions continue, Hunter may never be redeemed...(Unless if Rascal comes in but...there's Belos(Honestly that bird is the only thing that's keeping him happy and is the only good relationship he ever had!))(Not to mention, Belos is also the only other good relationship he had) because if he thinks that "friends" are only meant to hurt him and make him sad...he won't want any friends. And if these continue, we'll lose Hunter, and all we'll have left is a brainwashed and Belosy Golden guard...

And I'm scared that that's what gonna happen since most of the owl crew probably doesn't even know that Belos is manipulating Hunter and thinks that Hunter is the guy that's being bad...and Hunter's gonna think that they're bad ones, until it's too late...

Can I get a round of reblogs? Cuz I spent like, 3 days on this...