Okay, analysis of Akira's grief after 2/2 has been done to death, but I can never get enough of it. So here.
How does Akira handle his grief after Akechi dies? For real, this time.
On that last trip to the Metaverse, is he stealing every glance at Akechi that he's given, peering at the other and praying to a god that won't listen for him to survive? While in jail, does he occupy himself with scenarios in which he sees Akechi again? Does he write happy and sad endings on his end in equal measure, but ensures Akechi's freedom regardless?
When he gets out, does he notice everyone skirt around the topic? Does he pick up on the fact that they avoid sitting in one specific seat by the counter? Does it irritate him that they won't dare speak the name of the boy who used to sit there? If so, does he bring it up? Or does he keep quietly grieving, slowly regaining his appetite just to lose it all over again once something reminds him of the life he gave up?
Does he choke on a certain coffee blend? Does it get so bad that the smell nearly makes him sob? If, and when, he comes back to Leblanc, does he place out a cup of coffee on the counter every February, perfectly made and left to cool for a ghost who will never again step through the door?
Do crows become hard to look at? Does he flinch when someone asks for a game of chess, or billiards? Does he hold on to that one leather glove, hanging on for dear life on the worst of nights? Does it anchor him? Does it tear him apart? Is he ashamed to admit that both can be true?
Does he ever stop grieving?
And then, if the ghost returns. If one day, a boy with rosewood eyes and soft, coffee brown hair wanders through that door, takes his seat, and orders his usual.
How does Akira react? Does he scoff and demand answers? Does he cry, poorly muffling sobs as he tries not to get tears in the coffee? Does he yell and fight and ask the boy why and how and when and what and every question under the sun? Does he shut down entirely, walls crumbling as he turns into a wailing mess?
Or does he stare at the other for a moment. Wait for him to look up. Smile. And go to make his - friend, lover, rival, reflection - a cup of coffee.
And when Akechi thanks him softly, takes a sip, and slowly feels the tension seep out of his body, does Akira finally stop grieving?
the concept for this has been rattling around in my head for the better part of 3 years, glad to finally actually put it on paper, so to speak.
based on lyrics from "Beneath the Mask"
In Two Years, He will be the same age as when they started to scrutinize Biden's age being not competent enough anymore to hold the house. Hold that over his head.
I wish I could animate better cause I'd turn the villain attack comic into an animation, I feel like that would be the ideal medium for it, but I will try my best to bring it to life in comic format
Activism is not cold-calling, and this is critically important to understand.
I'm seeing a lot of posts on here about 'building bridges' and 'finding community,' and then (extremely valid) response posts saying "BUT HOW??" And I'm going to explain something that can be very counter-intuitive: there is strategy involved in community.
As a longtime volunteer labour organizer, I’ve taken and taught many trainings on the strategy of talking. Something that surprises a lot of people is the very first thing you do in a union campaign. You sit down with your organizing committee, take out pen and paper, and literally map it out. You draw a physical map of the workplace: where are the entrances, exits, break rooms, supervisor offices. Essentially, ‘where is it safe to have a union conversation.’ Then you draw another physical chart of your coworkers. You sort out who is union-friendly, openly hostile to unions, or somewhere in the middle, and then you plan out very deliberately and carefully who talks to whom and in what order.
Consider: If Vocally Leftist Jane walks up to Conservative David and says "hey what do you think about unions," David is going to shut down immediately. He's not inclined to listen to Jane. But if Jane talks to Moderate Jason and brings him into the fold, then Jason is a far more effective strategic choice to talk to David, and David may actually hear him out without an instant reaction.
IMPORTANT CAVEAT: If Conservative David turns out to be Alt-Right David, and could be dangerous to follow organizers, we write him off. We are not trying to reach Alt-Right David. We are trying to reach Conservative David, who may actually be persuaded to find solidarity with other employees as fellow workers. Jason is a safe scout to find out which one he is. It does no one any good if Leftist Jane (or even Moderate Jane who is a visible minority) talks to Alt-Right David and puts herself on his radar. Not only has she done nothing to convince Alt-Right David to join a union - she's probably actively turned him against the idea - but now she's also in danger and the entire campaign is at risk. NOBODY WANTS THIS. Jane was NOT a hero for doing this. The organizing committee was foolish and enacted a terrible strategy to everyone's detriment.
Where you can make a difference is with people who will listen to you. You having a conversation with your well-meaning but clueless Centrist Democrat Auntie, and maybe gently helping her understand some things the media has been glossing over, is way more strategically useful than you marching up to MAGA Neighbour You've Met Once and trying to "build community" or "understand" them. They don't care. They're impervious, dangerous, and cruel. But maybe your beloved auntie will think about what you said, and then talk to her friend Anna who IDs as "fiscally conservative" but didn't vote because she can't bring herself to get on board with Trump. Then perhaps Anna talks to her brother Nic who has MAGA leanings but isn't all the way there yet. Proto-MAGA Nic would not have listened to you, nor would he have listened to Centrist Democrat Auntie, but he might absorb some of what his sister is saying.
This is not a cop-out or an echo chamber. This is you spending your time and energy strategically and safely. You are not a useful activist to anyone if you’re dead. Anyone who is telling you to hurl yourself directly at MAGA assholes like cannon fodder has no understanding of the strategy behind community building, and you should feel comfortable writing them off.
Last point: If you are tired, emotionally devastated, and/or in danger: take a break. This post is for people who would feel better jumping into action, not for people who are too overwhelmed to even think about it right now. You are worth so much even if you’re not actively Doing Activism, and your rest is worth more than “a break period so you can recharge and Do More Activism.” We all deserve the individual dignity of being worthy of comfort, rest & safety just on the basis of being human, outside of whatever we're doing for others' benefit. To deny ourselves that dignity is to devalue ourselves, and that’s the absolute last thing any of us should be doing right now.
Inspired by LAVA’s last stream 👀 Robbie Daymond truly channeled his inner Goro Akechi
This is probably the fastest I’ve ever painted anything lol
hey cis people! now more than ever gender-nonconforming behavior is an act of resistance! and it's one anyone can engage in!
This is a comic based on an actual event from my childhood that's been seared into my memory ever since.
27 They/Them I have no idea what I'm doing. But do any of us really? Prints: https://www.redbubble.com/people/Kei-Emji/shop?asc=u
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