💖Happy Valentine’s Day!

so. this was a while back but you know in that one comic. how Gundham. has the power to summon dead animals? can he- can he summon Chuck? For Mondo? As a treat?

i’ve been sitting on this idea for a while. let them have their pets, man, they’ve been through enough.

mark titmarsh, 'rein man: a review of reigning men: fashion in menswear, 1715-2015' | dorian electra, career boy | marquis photo special: fetish dream girls (1994) | dorian electra in the career boy music video | source | joanna entwistle, the dressed body | revolte springen, wir scheißen auf karriere | source | martin weinreich, ''into the void': the hyperrealism of simulation in bret easton ellis's american psycho' | anna uddenburg, continental breakfast | secretary (2002), dir. steven shainberg | october surprise, 'screaming green'

Mello isn't well liked but if Matt grew up at Wammy's and Ohba said he was Mello's friends, does that mean Mello had at least someone, Matt, to be with him and play with him so he wasn't alone most of the time, cause generally speaking if they really are friends and Mello had called Matt and Matt accepted they had to have been friends before the phone call otherwise Matt probably would've been more reluctant to help, sorry i just need to know that Mello had someone when he was that small.

I’m sorry Nonny, but buckle up, this is going to be hella long!

I think the thing to take away isn’t that Ohba said that Matt and Mello are friends. It’s that Matt despite having anything to do with the Kira case, despite being uninterested did what he did for Mello.

You have to understand that Ohba saying it isn’t the only, or even the biggest, proof of Mello and Matt’s closeness. As a matter of fact it’s a tiny unnoticeable footnote that doesn’t require a lot of consideration because there’s a million and 1 other things that prove that Matt and Mello were close. Even if you don’t ship them. They’re closeness is pretty obvious.

I’ve talked about it so much that I feel like it’s a waste if i do it all again. But most of my points are pooled into a meta about Matt. So let me explain them again in a separate post:

In this post I talked about how Mello is alone and doesn’t seem to be well-liked and all of this weighs on his self esteem.

I also mentioned Mello’s attitude during the mafia arc being different from his attitude before and after it. This is probably because Mello feels accomplished, on top of things.

But the thing to note about his interaction with the mafia is that Mello often distrusts them [for good reason….i mean?]

This is from volume 8. We as readers at this point ddon’t know what Mello’s real motives are. Is it Kira? Is it Near? Is he really a criminal. But after realizing that he was going after Kira to prove that he was worthy of being L, in volume 9, we can conclude that here Mello was speaking in riddles. He’s talking about Kira, the second L [which at that point he thought was a different person from Kira] and Near. They’re all in his way. But this is how Rod interprets his words:

Mello doesn’t correct him. Why would he? He can’t tell the big boss man that he’s actually using them.

Another thing of note is that every conversation Mello has with Soichiro happens in front of the rest of the mafia. It should be noted Mello is playing a character in front of the mafia so he’s not free to say everything he feels. He has to play his cards right and not let the mafia suspect him.

This conversation however happened without the rest of the mafia:

and it’s only in this conversation that Mello touched upon the topic of L. All this shows that Mello wasn’t honest with his mafia buddies and also that he didn’t trust them very much.

Also note that Mello had an elaborate system of explosives at his HQ planted for the mafia.

—-

Knowing that Mello didn’t have very many friends at Wammy’s House and didn’t have friends among the mafia, Mello is pretty much established as a one man show. Until Matt shows up.

What was really interesting to me all along was the way Matt behaved around Mello and how Mello behaved around Matt.

Look at the way Mello is treated in the mafia. Look at how he treats his subordinates. He’s not just some guy in the mafia. He’s feared, perhaps more so than Rod. Rod is literally his only equal in this gang. And people all seem to be more comfortable with Rod than with Mello. They’d rather speak to him than Mello.

Look at how Mello treats them. He acts superior. He acts better than he feels about himself. It’s a classic thing. If you want people to feel like they’re beneath you, pretend that you’re above them and prove that you’re capable of living up to the threats you make. Fake it till you make it. It doesn’t matter if Mello is actually scary or not. He needs to pretend to be scary to keep his team under his control.

——

Now I’ve already talked about the dynamic of the relationship between other kids at wammy’s and Mello. [x]

We’ve talked about the dynamic of the relationship between the mafia and Mello.

If bearing all that in mind we look at Mello’s relationship dynamics with Matt. It’s totally a whole other story. It’s a complete anomaly.

Firstly, Matt was called “Mello’s friend” when the NPA and Light found out about his existence …not accomplice…..friend.

Then there’s the part where Matt calls Mello to report about Misa.

There’s a little moment where Mello thinks Matt is joking [tho he’s really not amused] but perhaps Matt jokes with Mello a lot?

Another thing is everyone in the mafia is cautious around Mello. Matt isn’t. Matt tells Mello exactly what he feels.

Another thing to note is Matt whining about work. Think any of the mafia guys would get away with talking to Mello like that?

Moreover Mello says “it’s the same here” when Matt says “it’s boring.” Mello could mean…there is no movement and hence it’s boring. But Mello is admitting to his work being boring too. Can anyone imagine Mello the workaholic with his mind only on Kira and Near admitting it’s boring? I conclude that Mello is more honest and straight forward with Matt.

He let’s Matt whine, doesn’t get mad at Matt for whining.

Also notice how easily Mello let’s Matt get away with making mistakes. He doesn’t even look angry.

And we have another “are you serious?!” moment, this time with Matt thinking that Mello is joking.

——

Like I said there’s a very big difference between how Mello treats anyone and how Mello treats Matt. Moreover, notice that Matt is the only one Mello trusted with his plans, didn’t seem to threaten him to do his bidding, and even gave him wiggle room, LOTS of wiggle room.

I’m not going to shove my ship down your throat, but it’s at least clear that Mello and Matt were on good terms and had a lot of trust between them. And you’re absolutely right, there is no way Matt would’ve put himself in that kind of danger if there was no trust between them.

This level of trust, cannot have just happened over night. I think therefore we can conclude Mello had Matt even when he was at Wammy’s….

According to the DN wiki Matt was at Wammy’s in his early teens to his late teens. I dunno if that’s a trustworthy source but if it is, that gives them about 2 to 3 years to have developed this kind of trust. Even if Mello didn’t always have Matt, after Matt came around we can be sure that Mello’s [social] life might’ve gone through some kind of dramatic change.

Still, as a kid, not as a teenager, Mello probably relied entirely on himself. But that’s only if the DNwiki can be believed. If not, then we can be sure Mello had Matt on his side for most of his life. Either way Mello had Matt on his side.

——

So y’see “Ohba says” is really the smallest most insignificant part of the argument. There’s canonical proof that Mello and Matt were close. So there. I hope that gives you some peace.

Steve Tomasin of the U.S. and Rodrigo Isgro of Argentina swap shorts after their Rugby Sevens match at the Paris 2024 Olympics in Saint-Denis, France, July 27, 2024

18thC Dog Collars

hello? is anybody there?

✴ unlikely (or very likely) duo ✴

Gaara is truly the Character of All Time

-Introduced as main antagonist in a tournament arc, the terrifying bloodthirsty ninja from a strange desert village who kills without remorse and has survived every mission without getting a scratch on him

-He's 12

-Character design 10/10 he has bright fucking brick red hair, literal raccoon eyes, a face tattoo that says "Love" and carries that weird ass gourd; between the fun elements and the interesting tie-ins to Tanuki Lore, I have never seen a more charming design in my life tbqh

-Immediately more emo and chuuni than Noted Emo Heartthrob Sasuke Uchiha by virtue of reciting weird poetry after killing a guy in cold blood

-We get his tragic backstory and by fucking GOD is it sad. I cry just thinking about it. Literally everything about it is just horrible and devastating.

-Talk No Jutsu at end of the tournament arc, Gaara realizes that he should, in fact, go to therapy and immediately decides to turn his life around

-The first thing he decides to do is apologize to his siblings <3

-Shows up a handful of arcs later with a cool new outfit and becomes friends with the kid he literally tried to murder and nearly permanently crippled in one of the best fights of the entire series

-Liam O Brian's English dub of Gaara is Stellar ya know what. The raspiness of the original appearance morphing into the Deepest Voice That Any Kid Has Ever Had Ever was a genuinely hilarious choice

-Has the only good filler arcs in the old show; he's such a good character that the entire show molds itself and rises to meet him

-Post timeskip he is Desert Ninja President at the ripe old age of 15 and is extremely good at it because he's the weirdest little nerd with no social skills (on account of his tragic backstory) and diligently applies himself to doing paperwork and going to meetings

-Has a fanclub in the village mostly of girls his own age that he never seems to talk to?? Or realize have crushes on him?? Oblivious king we love him.

-Dies in one of the most genuinely moving scenes. Comes back like 20 episodes of fighting later because where would we be without him honestly?

-Becomes Super General Ninja President of the Grand Army of whatever where he accomplishes such feats as forgiving his asshole father and emotionally healing from his childhood trauma, stopping a meteor, and nearly dying a second time.

-Collects cacti as a hobby

-Has the only good sequel series arc where it's revealed that in addition to continuing to serve as Desert Ninja President, he's decided to adopt a couple of orphan ninja kids so that he can break the cycle of parental neglect and stupidity that created his tragic backstory in the first place.

some 'tales from memory

some of my favorite cards from the death note tarot set i made. which you can get here, by the way