𓈈💉🖇 🦕𓈈

"Shion—"

"Quiet."

You swallow a cry as he seizes your jaw between gloved fingers. The air bears down on you, thick with dust, a cloying weight that presses itself between your bones and renders you immobile. Shion is statue-still before you, his eyes solitary, unblinking pinpricks of light suspended in the darkness.

"You talk so much." His breath ghosts over your lips. "So many excuses. You never quit. But he wants you." He presses closer. "Mio wants you."

I hope that people know that it’s easier to tell if somethings AI than they think. AI is not flexible, it repeats phrases that it thinks are novel, certain words are overused for this reason as well.

I’d rather read something you spent a couple hours on, and not being that great, compared to something with no soul 🫤 I love so many tokyo debunker writers, and I hope they all know that I appreciate how much time they put into their fics!

Always feel free to set your ideas loose on me! Especially if it has anything to do with Jiro and Zenji, as these two are the butter to my bread.

I've seen this theory before and I think there's reason to believe it to be true..! Considering the spots in which Jiro has those massive scars.

And while I believe this theory to possibly be true, I also believe the theory that both Zenji and Jiro had a third, younger brother! I think @danieyells has mentioned it in a post of their own, but Jiro mentions in a home-screen line that he doesn't remember how or why he got into anomolous medicine, just that he did one day and kept going!

Zenji, throughout the story has hinted several times at having turned a blind eye to something and that he can't do it anymore. And it is pretty obvious that he doesn't like being confronted with certain bad news...or would prefer to ignore negative things.

I've always thought that their younger brother was sick, and maybe due to circumstances, they did not have the means it would take to keep up with doctors, or even if they did, they were getting nowhere with it....so Jiro picked up anomolous medicine to pretty much save his youngest brother's life. While Zenji, turned a blind eye to it because he really could not bear the thought of losing someone close to him, maybe even denying Jiro's work or downplaying the severity of their younger brothers condition just to cope. In turn, Jiro started to resent Zenji for his behavior because instead of helping, it was actively causing tension in their motives.

I'm not sure how old they would have been when their younger brother died either, but if they were young enough, I could imagine Jiro possibly blaming Zenji for the outcome of their brothers death because again, he was ignoring that it would happen instead of trying to change the trajectory.

I've also always wondered what kind of demon they made a pact with...? How did that all go down?! Like, did Jiro and Zenji make a pact together? Separately? Did their wish have something to do with their youngest brother and ....that's why Jiro's condition is so poor? Like did he wish to take on his brothers ailments..!? And now he lives with them while they're both dead....which is sadly tragic, but also counterproductive.

I honestly think that Zenji knows Jiro resents him and that knowing about his presence would cause some kind of mental or physical breakdown to occur. I also believe that they may have used Zenji's organs to revive Jiro! If he resented Zenji beforehand.....of course his body may reject Zenjis organs altogether and refuse to work-? Until he makes peace with his past.

Always feel free to set your ideas loose on me! Especially if it has anything to do with Jiro and Zenji, as these two are the butter to my bread.

I've seen this theory before and I think there's reason to believe it to be true..! Considering the spots in which Jiro has those massive scars.

And while I believe this theory to possibly be true, I also believe the theory that both Zenji and Jiro had a third, younger brother! I think @danieyells has mentioned it in a post of their own, but Jiro mentions in a home-screen line that he doesn't remember how or why he got into anomolous medicine, just that he did one day and kept going!

Zenji, throughout the story has hinted several times at having turned a blind eye to something and that he can't do it anymore. And it is pretty obvious that he doesn't like being confronted with certain bad news...or would prefer to ignore negative things.

I've always thought that their younger brother was sick, and maybe due to circumstances, they did not have the means it would take to keep up with doctors, or even if they did, they were getting nowhere with it....so Jiro picked up anomolous medicine to pretty much save his youngest brother's life. While Zenji, turned a blind eye to it because he really could not bear the thought of losing someone close to him, maybe even denying Jiro's work or downplaying the severity of their younger brothers condition just to cope. In turn, Jiro started to resent Zenji for his behavior because instead of helping, it was actively causing tension in their motives.

I'm not sure how old they would have been when their younger brother died either, but if they were young enough, I could imagine Jiro possibly blaming Zenji for the outcome of their brothers death because again, he was ignoring that it would happen instead of trying to change the trajectory.

I've also always wondered what kind of demon they made a pact with...? How did that all go down?! Like, did Jiro and Zenji make a pact together? Separately? Did their wish have something to do with their youngest brother and ....that's why Jiro's condition is so poor? Like did he wish to take on his brothers ailments..!? And now he lives with them while they're both dead....which is sadly tragic, but also counterproductive.

I honestly think that Zenji knows Jiro resents him and that knowing about his presence would cause some kind of mental or physical breakdown to occur. I also believe that they may have used Zenji's organs to revive Jiro! If he resented Zenji beforehand.....of course his body may reject Zenjis organs altogether and refuse to work-? Until he makes peace with his past.

Yeah you were probably just confused about the chronology since it's all over the place lol. S01e05c31, and you see the staff talking about it shortly after the Clash in s01e22c04

I do agree that Jiro's resentment of Zenji probably relates to Saburo, though! I think he must have been sick--possibly with an anonalous illness--but since they were poor they couldn't get him to a hospital. So Jiro took to studying folk/traditional medicine, desperate to find something they could do for Saburo. Meanwhile Zenji tried to play everything off or ignore the seriousness of it rather than confronting it(Jiro even says he's unbothered by noise while he's reading, which I took to mean Zenji playing music or singing or reading poetry aloud, but arguably it could be related to Yuri singing too lol) maybe in an effort to be comforting if not because he's too skittish to confront negativity. While searching for a cure Jiro must've stumbled into anomalous medicine.

I assume that his affliction with Eternal Slumber Syndrome was from continuing to explore anomalous medicine. Maybe Zenji brought him to the hospital, they eventually ended up at an Institute hospital, they shipped Jiro off to Darkwick because his stigma prevented anyone from operating on him so DW would be his best bet at survival since they know so much about ghouls, and Zenji went along as a ghoul student in hopes that he could be there when he woke up--unfortunately there would have only been eeh a couple of months that they would get to be together? And Jiro didn't want anything to do with him. And then he died, so there was never a chance at reconciliation.

As for when along the way they made their pacts. . .they both would have been in distress around the same time. Pact-making isn't really deliberate, it's something that just can happen when you wish for something while stressed as far as we can tell. So I wouldn't be surprised if they both made their pacts around the same time just because idk they both felt helpless and wished. . .idk that there was something they could do. Part of me thinks Jiro must have made a wish and Zenji, seeing Jiro's wish come true, wished for an end to Saburo's suffering hoping that whatever granted Jiro's wish was still listening(he did after all say he'd never make a wish on skmething he couldn't see again. . .which sounds deliberate, unlike everyone else's so far which were coincidental.) and the demon responded with just flat out killing Saburo? And Jiro is maybe angry because Zenji used his wish carelessly--why make such a vague wish? Why not wish for him to be alive and healthy in no uncertain terms???

There's also the possibility that Jiro made a wish much earlier to protect Saburo--Zenji said, seeing Jiro acknowledging Saburo(doll) having protected him, that "you've always been there for him when he needed it most." which means that Saburo was always supporting Jiro or vice versa(since Jiro was so nonverbal when he was young I assume Saburo was the one always standing up for Jiro despite being younger.) So maybe Jiro, wanting to protect Saburo or reduce how much Saburo had to protect him, wished that anyone who hurt him would be hurt as well. And, learning that Jiro had made a wish, Zenji eventually attempted to do the same, hoping that Saburo could be saved, but maybe Saburo died or that's how he ended up sickly to begin with.

Big yikes on Zenji's part though, I really do enjoy your theory/take on the matter.

Aside from the time-line not lining up for this theory though, the idea of being revived from being cryogenically frozen is so far-fetched in my opinion, especially after already having died, it wouldn't surprise me if they did somehow find a way to do it without certain organs or by taking the organs of ....someone else, too. Is...that a crazy thought to have? I've read far more insane things in fantasy stories that I guess in my own head, its not even out of the question (aside from the time-line not allowing for something like that to be in question). Lab grown organs baby! Although that's...not even a fantasy thing. That's something they're really doing.

(Referring to this post) Hello, Anon! Below is my personal theory on what happened to Jiro in chronological order:

Always feel free to set your ideas loose on me! Especially if it has anything to do with Jiro and Zenji, as these two are the butter to my bread.

I've seen this theory before and I think there's reason to believe it to be true..! Considering the spots in which Jiro has those massive scars.

And while I believe this theory to possibly be true, I also believe the theory that both Zenji and Jiro had a third, younger brother! I think @danieyells has mentioned it in a post of their own, but Jiro mentions in a home-screen line that he doesn't remember how or why he got into anomolous medicine, just that he did one day and kept going!

Zenji, throughout the story has hinted several times at having turned a blind eye to something and that he can't do it anymore. And it is pretty obvious that he doesn't like being confronted with certain bad news...or would prefer to ignore negative things.

I've always thought that their younger brother was sick, and maybe due to circumstances, they did not have the means it would take to keep up with doctors, or even if they did, they were getting nowhere with it....so Jiro picked up anomolous medicine to pretty much save his youngest brother's life. While Zenji, turned a blind eye to it because he really could not bear the thought of losing someone close to him, maybe even denying Jiro's work or downplaying the severity of their younger brothers condition just to cope. In turn, Jiro started to resent Zenji for his behavior because instead of helping, it was actively causing tension in their motives.

I'm not sure how old they would have been when their younger brother died either, but if they were young enough, I could imagine Jiro possibly blaming Zenji for the outcome of their brothers death because again, he was ignoring that it would happen instead of trying to change the trajectory.

I've also always wondered what kind of demon they made a pact with...? How did that all go down?! Like, did Jiro and Zenji make a pact together? Separately? Did their wish have something to do with their youngest brother and ....that's why Jiro's condition is so poor? Like did he wish to take on his brothers ailments..!? And now he lives with them while they're both dead....which is sadly tragic, but also counterproductive.

I honestly think that Zenji knows Jiro resents him and that knowing about his presence would cause some kind of mental or physical breakdown to occur. I also believe that they may have used Zenji's organs to revive Jiro! If he resented Zenji beforehand.....of course his body may reject Zenjis organs altogether and refuse to work-? Until he makes peace with his past.

Like... are we even playing the same game? We literally have the perspective of a god as the player and some people still miss the subtext.

Personally, I don't even like Leo or Jin but that's because of their personalities and how they react to certain situations. As characters, I think they're really interesting. Leo especially has so much deep lore going on that we haven't even gotten to explore yet.

It's also funny when people say Leo would totally be the type of influencer to use generative AI. His entire story revolves around hating the rich and systematically scamming predatory old rich men. He despises Darkwick's hierarchy and probably only enrolled to dig up dirt on the institution. He hates being associated with the elite, so why would he support a product created by billionaire corporations that exploit people and resources? Tell me you skipped the story without telling me you skipped the story. 

As for Jin, I think he's another deep lore character whose execution suffers because ZZG hasn't done the best job of conveying his concept yet. That's disappointing but I also think a lot of the hate comes from how popular he is, how much ZZG pushes him, and the fact that he's from an elite bloodline. People judge him before trying to understand his character as a whole.

And I can understand disliking Jin. But then some people decide they hate Frostheim, so they automatically hate Luca and Kaito too. (I love Yuri and my baby used to be a Frostheim also, not everybody is the same that's what I'm trying to say but many people are not ready for that conversation.)

...Why?

Those two have barely any information available. We know very little about Luca and even Kaito still has plenty left unexplored.

Hyde and Elias. We know practically nothing about either of them.

Hyde barely has enough information for anyone to know what's actually going on with him or the Institute, yet people are already determined to make him the villain.

Elias has technically been around for a long time, but we've barely gotten to know him, and people have already written entire villain arcs for him in their heads.

And hating Ed while liking Taiga is also kind of funny because they operate on very similar concepts and methods. I love Taiga but let's not pretend everything he does is okay. The man literally pointed a gun at MC. I'd put that on the same level as Jin throwing the ashtray. MC could've gotten hurt regardless of how "careful" the ghouls think they were being.

At that point, just write fanfiction instead of treating your headcanons like canon. I was genuinely confused when I first joined this fandom because of how much people villainized these characters when we barely have any information about them.

Maybe it's the influence of short form content, but it feels like people don't want to read between the lines anymore. They want everything spoon-fed to them.

People always say they love layered and morally complicated characters.

But some of them can't even handle Jin, Shion, Leo, Taiga or Ed, and those characters aren't even that difficult to understand. ZZG just hasn't revealed everything yet because their backstories would probably spoil the main plot.

Hi everyone, I know this is a bit different from my usual content, but with all the discourse that’s been happening lately about character likes/dislikes and mischaracterization… I kind of wanted to ramble for a bit and then share what I personally like about each character (both story-wise and writing-wise.) I feel like the beauty of Joseimuke games like Tokyo Debunker is that there’s someone for everyone. Like there’s that character you can have a big fat crush on, someone you can thirst for, someone you can relate to. A character that just comforts you or irks you (affectionately…or not). And I think it’s really cool that the fandom reflects that.  I’ve seen characters I never expected to have fans have some of the most loyal supporters on this platform. And honestly? I love that. I think it just shows how different all of us are and how we connect with stories in our own ways.  Personally, I don’t have an all-time favorite or an oshi, but I genuinely like all the ghouls. It may be because I write of all of them so often, but I can see the appeal for every one of them. Even the bratty ones. The quirky ones. The red flags. They all have become somewhat…precious? ANYWAYS, enough of this rambling. Let’s go to character rambles now!!!!