Sometimes I'm like "why can't we just enjoy the dynamics for what they are", but honestly Yagami spelled backward is "I'm a gay". So...what I mean is...yeah, I can't fault them.
Gotta love living in a world where the same name in its original meaning is "night god" and then when people who speak another language see it, they can literally turn it on top of its head and find a free meme. Well actually, the shipping and memes probably came first, this was just fuel on the fire.

-Galaxian-

Finished within 3 days.
I don't think it was supposed to be binged
And then at the end I got called "half-(donkey)ed" by the personality test. Fair, ok. 

-Galaxian-

The irony of the first fight against you-know-who having her being on the same side as the Ursus soldiers was NOT lost on me.
Also I love animated cutscenes!!

'Alina, if only you were here...'

My E2 priorities are really messed up lol
Might as well make it obvious how bad it is 

For Vanguards, I like a lot of characters, but currently have Fang Alter and Ines promoted (Ines just too much of a goat not to E2). I'd like to promote Texas and Courier for how much they've helped me; and Cantabile, Puzzle, Reed, Siege. and Mitm because I like them. 
I like a lot of the other characters too, but for now haven't used them much. For instance, I'm charmed by Myrtle and Wanqing, but I don't use Flagbearers that much and don't see them as enduring that much pressure generally speaking to need extra stats. I like Chilchuck but would need to invest in his whole team to use them more. Beanstalk and Grani are cute, but I had more robust options by the time I actually could level them. I feel neutral toward Blacknight and don't have enough characters who help with Sleep meta to want to promote her at this time.
I like most of my Vanguards and have a bunch of them levelled. I needed the stats to go through story, so the lower rarity units are actually kinda neglected. And Poncirus...poor Poncirus. She's cute tho. 
None of the Vanguards are particularly high priority in terms of E2. I think the most probable case is when I come across a difficult battle where one or a few of them turn out really integral. I tend to promote Operators that way...sometimes.

For Guards, I have 7 at E2, so you can kinda see the way that's going. I'd like to E2 Lessing, Fuze, Doc, Hoederer, Siege Alter, Ch'en, Viviana, Lappland, Savage, and Tachanka when I can, most of these because they're viable in gameplay, but some of them because I just like them a lot. That's my priority list.
In terms of contributions to gameplay, I'm hoping to E2 Arene eventually too, but I don't think I've needed the increased stats so far. I just...don't have rocks.
I also love Skadi, Astesia, Cutter, Akafuyu, Matoimaru, Specter, and Leto, and I find Silverash an interesting character. Out of all these people, Skadi and Astesia have a lot of utility as "boss killing" or "Arts damage dealers", and Specter might turn out to be really useful in terms of damage-dealing and survivability. Matoimaru also has a really, really dope skin coming out eventually--the results of all the prayers of her fans lol. It's so gorgeous. I need to use her more. Cutter helped me a lot on one particular level in the past, and I think she's cute. Akafuyu is actually less likely to be promoted, 'cause even though she's useful, I have Zuo Le all maxed out. For Leto, she's pretty much my 3rd Lord Guard, so she's unlikely to see a lot of fieldtime unless I start prioritizing raising trust with her and Lappland instead of Arene (whose Trust is maxed out). 
Silverash (his unfortunate initials preventing me from being able to abbreviate his name), is a lesser priority until I know his character better. I don't really need Invisible reveals like earlier players do, since I have Iana and Totter, and although I find his skill cool, it's not the only factor that goes into why I E2 someone. Laios goes along with what I mentioned about Chilchuck, and La Pluma might be a really good asset, so they might be raised eventually. I really wanna use the Dungeon Meshi team more eventually..
Btw I have 47 Guards and 35 are levelled substantially (as in E1 and beyond), so I am probably insane.

Defenders...my beloved(??). I have 7 E2ed, 7 more E1ed, and the rest are kinda neglected. Why? 'Cause the people I have E2ed already have hard carried. My decisions to promote them were really, really good. In terms of who else I might E2, I have Nearl, Cuora, and Senshi. Croissant is really fun, but I don't use her that well currently. I can see myself E2ing her for her pushing skill. Asbestos, Philae, Underflow, and Aurora also have potential to be promoted because I'm somewhat familiar with their gameplay, but I keep on putting that off because I'm also not that desperate to field them more often, unfortunately. When it comes to defending, I tend to stick more to the units who I know are really trustworthy, mostly 'cause if I absolutely need Defenders on my team, that means I need enough tanking/healing on the team without wasting DP.

For Snipers, my priorities are Executor, Ambriel, Schwarz, Archetto, Greyy Alter, Totter, and Pinecone. Maybe Firewhistle? Bombs are fun. Maybe Melanite and Shirayuki too. Shirayuki was my first 4-star, though funnily enough I use Sesa more for some reason. I'll consider May as well. I like Camouflage. 
None of these guys are particularly priorities. Gameplay-wise I might need Schwarz and Archetto for bigger damage outside of Ray. Totter has just turned out the MVP for a lot of levels, so I appreciate him a lot. Ambriel is very helpful in IS. Executor...I like Executor. Everyone else I have a soft spot for, so that's there. 
Oh yeah, shoutout to Totter S1 for helping during Thorns Alter's event. I forgot to mention it. I need to get better at discerning when to use S1 for some characters.

I have no particular thought on prioritizing E2 for Casters. Nymph is the most obvious pick when it comes to her synergy with Necrosis damage as well as her S2 being hecking OP. Carnelian and Beeswax (especially Beeswax) have turned out to be very useful ranged damage soakers. If I promote them, hopefully it'll be together. I like Greyy, but don't use AOE Casters that much. Same with Tecno for now, though I like her a lot. Haze and Corroserum are fun as options, Diamante and Santalla have very interesting supportive effects, Click is a hidden MVP, Warmy is soooo cute and I need more Burn supports for her...and Marcille is someone I really need to mess around more with. 
Harmonie is still E0. I don't know what to think about her. I've found that I'm not that fond of Dublinn outside of Reed lol. 
 
Medics: Shining, Whisperain, Harold, Gavial, and Rose Salt have been very helpful for me, though I need to field Papyrus more. I don't have that many Medics raised, but they do a lot for my teams. 

Supporters are a weird class because I like them but also am not advanced enough in strategizing to incorporate them properly sometimes. Priorities are Magallan for gameplay, Proviso for the fact that she carries half of RI's finances on her shoulders, Silence Alter because I love her and Guts is OP, Bobbing because he's pretty (why not), Shamare because she's cute and her upgraded Trading Post skill is OP and I can use her to deal more damage in the future, Scene 'cause she's cute, and Grain Buds and Lucilla ig. And Windflit, my poor Windflit lol. 

For Specialists, Thorns Alter and Frost are the priorities, followed by Figurino and Swire Alter 'cause I don't know how to use them properly but think it might be cool to learn how. (DP bankruptcy moment). I also like Mr. Nothing and Jaye, and my push/pull Operators. No change here.
 
(*laughs in 2 Chip Catalyst*)

-Galaxian-

GalaxianExplosion wrote:

Finished within 3 days.
I don't think it was supposed to be binged
And then at the end I got called "half-(donkey)ed" by the personality test. Fair, ok. 

-Galaxian-

 
Tbf I binged it within 3 days as well when I read it 😭

Best development of the SS AU is making a literal fly (Saint) and then expecting them not to be annoying
I'm really dumb.

Anyways, love drawing them because they seem to always be by someone else and their hair takes up so much space that it has to be in that someone else's personal space
They also have short hair so...it's kinda impressive lol.
I could kinda imagine them cutting all their hair to be short except for a string, which they pretend is a kite...yep, that's canon. (THAT'S GONNA BE SO ANNOYING TO DRAW)

-Galaxian-

It kinda kills me how the Silver Saints are probably the more normal friend group but then you have them in combat and it's absolute chaos. I have no idea how they coordinate. They probably don't ngl. I think half of them just try their best and the other half...I don't even know. 
I can't really describe what I'm imagining but imagine normal soldiers decked out in armor and then this one dude ziplining in with landmines in their hands(?) thinking this will be helpful 
Meanwhile the weirdest looking dude probably does the most work ngl (dude soloing, the only vanguard because the others get [logically] flabbergasted over the landmine zipliner)

-Galaxian-

GalaxianExplosion wrote:

It kinda kills me how the Silver Saints are probably the more normal friend group but then you have them in combat and it's absolute chaos. I have no idea how they coordinate. They probably don't ngl. I think half of them just try their best and the other half...I don't even know. 
I can't really describe what I'm imagining but imagine normal soldiers decked out in armor and then this one dude ziplining in with landmines in their hands(?) thinking this will be helpful 
Meanwhile the weirdest looking dude probably does the most work ngl (dude soloing, the only vanguard because the others get [logically] flabbergasted over the landmine zipliner)

-Galaxian-

 
Alma provides wonderful background music for this

I like how I just named 6 Silver Saints out of 24
There ain't much hope left, I could have named 2 more people but it'd just be redundant.

-Galaxian-

Heck it, we bail (talking about Death Note very briefly)
My favorite part of the series is how Ryuk is just a funny creature. Yes, he's creepy and amoral (outside of human morality), but also he's kinda just silly lol. I think it was intentional too. 
I also adore the apparent aesthetic of 2000's anime (SS Hades Sanctuary, Claymore, Death Note), and the manga art is very good. I'm no formal critic, so that's all you're getting from me for now lol.
Like I mentioned, I don't really recommend binging the series. But at the same time, I'm not too sure if I would be able to return to the series periodically if I hadn't binged it. ...Haha?

I'll just talk about some stuff that stuck out to me.

One, I love how anti-shounen this series is. Ryuk and Light and L are fundamentally the same sort of existence, and I think that was what the author intended to convey. They are beings who are bored by the mundane life that others lead. They can't be satiated by simple things. And that makes them monsters, honestly more than Shinigami, but that which counter each other. 
Of course, I feel as if Ryuk is simpler to understand than Light and L, and I think that's also intentional, since Shinigami (I keep trying to type Shinsengumi lol) are literally stated to be simpler than humans are. Humans, meanwhile, will go to such extremes for a simple, paltry thing: Boredom. Desire for victory. Ego. Pettiness. All these are qualities that Light and L, and Near and Mello, share. 
Why I mentioned that the series is anti-shounen is because of how much it contrasts with Claymore. In Claymore, monsters and warriors alike are borne from love and hatred. In Death Note, monsters and bearers of justice alike are born from ideals and the desire for justice, but the very best come out from the inability to be satisfied. I can't help but feel as if those things are painful opposites.

Two, I feel like the series has a unique paradoxical problem when it comes to its pacing. It's both too long and just right lol. But I like it, because the length shows that no matter what Light tries, as long as he isn't immortal and truly "more than human," there will never be a point where he truly wins. I believe that even if he did kill Near and every single person involved in the present Kira investigation, there would be someone out there, chipping away at his lifespan, wanting to gain victory over Kira. 

Three, my biggest problem with the series is how many characters feel like tools. I was struck by how static Light is as a character, but I can get over that since he's technically the primary antagonist as well, and those tend to be static. Since I'm used to newer stuff, I guess I kinda wish he was more fluid and some of the qualities he had would come out slower, since that's more dramatic, but that's also part of the point.
But I really wish that other characters could be more dynamic, more fluid ig. Some of them are killed off right away. That's fine. But in particular, I really wish more would have come from Rem, since she embodies the idea that Shinigami can change. Even if they're confined in that concept as well--Shinigami who care for humans die--I wish I could have seen more from her rather than just being an obstacle for Light, and eventually a way to show how cool he is, suposedly. I would have bought more into him being a master manipulator if Rem didn't already care for Misa to that extent, since the plot was all "oh man he's more Shinigami than a Shinigami, he can even kill death gods!" but I was just there thinking, "He didn't really do anything tho." The rest of the detective team is also quite frustrating. As the plot itself points out, they ceased to be a threat when L died. So they were just there. I really wish that more aspects of them were explored other than Matsuda, whose final moment was very poignant and all, but whose character wasn't that interesting since most of the time, he just trusted and liked Light.  

Anyways, stopping there for now. I was kinda rushing, so I have a much better big picture of the story than all the small details, like what could have been deduced by anyone other than L at one point in time. 

Nothing more encouraging than writing for the SS AU and then doing 6 multis and getting 3 Hakureis in a row coupled with God Cloth Shun and Hades
@Hades - Can you not see that this is a bonding moment? What is wrong with you? 
Btw for context that is 3 EX Saints, 1 SS Saint, and 1 S Saint in 60 rolls. Rate-up actually working. Bonkers.
Anyways, Hakurei is showing me more concern and compassion than my own grandfather ever has, so thank you Hakurei. Plus now he's reunited with Yuzuriha and Shion ig. I was always hoping he existed somewhere in ND, but this is fine too. 
Slightly concerned for my luck, but I think I should be fine as long as I don't take it for granted :') anyways Hakurei out to stop me from angsting folks ig.
Gonna introduce him to Manigoldo and Sistema.

-Galaxian-

I also think it's super cute that Sistema is so capable and stuff but Adam is probably the actual more mature one
I mean, both of them feel mature, but I'd say Adam's maturity is more genuine and longstanding. Dude will have a crisis in the face of extreme odds or circumstances but genuinely shape himself up and try his hardest to solve the problem, meanwhile Sistema is the sort of person who's emotionally chill but whose solution to problems is throwing a knife (or two. Or multiple. He is really good at throwing knives) and seeing how the problem reacts
Unfortunately, Sistema's luck is higher, so the knife-throwing tends to solve their problems faster, and Adam is left wondering if he's an overthinker (lol)

-Galaxian-

I think it's hilarious how Sistema herself is just kinda like "Athena is against weapons? But knives are just common kitchen cutlery, no?" and I imagine Dion having a stroke (this is the umpteenth time this discussion topic has come up)

Also the other Silver Saints' reactions to this sort of mindset is just
Joaquin: "Haha, well, that's just the way Sistema is!" (not helpful at all)
Alma (maybe): "Well, there isn't really any problem with that. Knives are used much more often in the kitchen than in warfare." (way too chill about this)
Eugenio: "Lady Athena is against weapons?" (I don't even know what to comment)
Kiaan: "Maybe there's a ratio measuring how often knives are used in war..." (missing the point)
Hiykaela: "Well, um, I suppose he knows how to handle them safely, so maybe he's right...?" (has too much hope in their common sense)
Adam: "What?" (I love him)
Uang: "Well, kids will be kids!" (they are always like this.)
Solaris (maybe): "Hahaha! That's funny! Oh wait, what did you just say?" (ditto)
Asa (honorary Silver Saint for how often he has to deal with their shenanigans at this point): (*sigh*) "Why do I even try?"

-Galaxian-

I'm finding that Joaquin's personality is pretty much just "Oh well, that's the way it is!"
Not sure how to feel about this.
Also he's turning out to be a big hassle to design.
I kinda imagine that outside of wearing his armor, he's just some dude in a trenchcoat. Not in a detective way, just...a dude in a trench coat. 
I mean, I have no problem with that, I just. Y'know. 

Eugen is hard to understand for me both in terms of appearance and personality. Hopefully it becomes clearer as the people around them are solidified
I hope I don't make it too clear how mean I am to them (in my defense they are very annoying and are probably too stupid to comprehend gender...I can imagine them doing hella stupid things on the internet, so it's a good thing that they're too dumb to find out what internet is)

-Galaxian-

The problem is that if I could somehow cohesively tie thoughts like these together into writing it'd be a lot more fun to read
Anyways, gonna go finish angsting some folks, toodles.

-Galaxian-