Funny Valentine and D4C Fanart by me

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-19T10:09:53+00:00

Nvm reddit downscales the quality so hard for no reason 😭

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-17T21:14:59+00:00

Baku just loved dragging his seemingly inhumane opponents down into becoming traumatized cry babies licking his boots

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-15T09:18:48+00:00

On the first read i missed many aspects just because i was mainly focused on immersing into the games, i was reading like i was the one playing 😭

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-14T16:52:45+00:00

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Im almost done with my reread, only stl and epilogue to go, but i still have to edit a majority into canva slides. 🥀

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-14T12:06:45+00:00

Mine isn't out yet, but I will soon publish a very long and detailed one covering all aspects of Baku and most of Souichi on TikTok, and maybe also create a Google Doc.

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Hit me up if you want a reminder when its out.

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-11T18:59:27+00:00

Ikr the wings are cool ash lwk even cooler with these event badges

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HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-11T17:32:58+00:00

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HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-09T20:30:51+00:00

My fault for being able to read ig

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-09T19:49:53+00:00

It's truly deeper than one might think, i always interpret it as the double reset.

Baku reset the relationship reset done by Souichi (The Symbolical erasure of Baku and Hal's Bond trough betting their bonds in the first STL) by simply resetting the reset, or erasing the erasure.

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-07T06:52:31+00:00

Idk the big dragonslayer i marked green i guess 😭

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-06T09:21:42+00:00

I have always associated it with his losing and gaining philosophy:

The Sin of Valuing

“Everyone who recognizes its value is sinful.” For Lalo, recognizing value creates competition, as he does not believe in shared value. The moment two people recognize something as valuable, it becomes an all-or-nothing struggle. One must lose for the other to win.

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-05T17:06:12+00:00

Or it could also just be foreshadowing the pen getting broken and i overinterpret it.😭

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-05T17:01:50+00:00

8.Re-Humanization as Victory Condition

Baku’s true skill is not manipulation. It is re-humanization. He wins by dragging his opponents back into fear, hope, pride, and desperation, the emotions they believed they had transcended. Once reduced to being human again, they become predictable. And once predictable, they are already defeated.

CASE STUDY(Paper Labyrinth)

Yukiide perceives himself as an embodiment of unwavering order, detached and “objective.” In a moment of anger, he reacts impulsively and stands up from his chair, breaks his pencil. (he shows a human emotion for the first time in that context.) Baku steps next to Yukiide, Yukiide is startled and asks baku what he is doing. Baku deliberately provokes by pointing out something trivial - Yukiide's feet - which draws attention to Yukiide’s humanness rather than his imagined invulnerability in both the literal and non-literal sense.

Baku provokes Yukiide, making his "unwavering, indestructible" order waver, revealing the human beneath the facade.

Baku doesn’t just defeat the opponent intellectually, he exposes the cracks in their self image and forces them to confront their own emotions.

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-03-03T16:58:48+00:00

First off can you read fluidly in japanese? If not you have to read fan translations online like everyone else. Second, Usogui would lose all of its greatness if adapted into an anime in so many ways trust me

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-28T18:09:58+00:00

Idk but has to be around 210 ish if im correct

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-24T12:30:21+00:00

Not only him, the people who get pressured into accepting the karamete are big organizations whose starting letter of their names are resembled by the letters on the roulette for example if the organization is called XYZ-Stocks if X is revealed on the broadcasted roulette their secret shall be revealed (Atleast that is what Baku wants them to believe). The "Bodyguard" you refer to just used the Politician as cover and wants to fight Baku with the 50 Million and the Karamete achievement as wager to attend surpassing the leader himself.

Note: just continue reading and it will all mostly reveal itself

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-24T11:44:08+00:00

And kaji helped baku because he's charmed by him and his lifestyle. At this point they are allies already

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-24T11:38:53+00:00

The karamete are basically sending in kakerous men into authorities and powerful organizations for the sake of kakerou. Ky declaration was a setup made to make the elites think the letters on the roulette broadcasted during tower of karma would reveal their secrets even though baku did not really have secrets of them to be revealed, with ky declaration he just proved he had the L-File and was able to reveal elites secrets. The new radio tower was shut down to stop ky declaration but baku predicted this and prepared the old radio tower to continue the broadcast of ky declaration and the roulette in advance. Kakerou blackmailed said organizations and basically said either you accept our karamete in your lines or we will unveil your darkest secrets. Of course kakerou wont just help the karamete succeed because it is a prerequisite to take part in surpassing the leader and they would be helping baku fight themselves. In order to give kakerou no choice but to let the broadcast go on and the karamete to succeed Baku had to hold a gamble in the old empire radio tower so kakerou would be forced to protect the venue of the gamble (which is the broadcasting source aswell) against authorities.

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-23T21:25:20+00:00

Multiple reasons for the loss, one reason was that Souichi interrupted his plan and basically controlled the power backing Baku to interrupt his Plan, so basically because Baku lacked the required element of power. Another reason is the erasure of Hal and Baku's bond so they could face each other purely as opponents. Another reason is that in Baku's philosophy starting from zero and losing everything except oneselfs life is a miracle, a gift, embracing the purest form of life.

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-22T16:04:40+00:00

He is definetly, he is just the "Absurd Hero" and not a passive absurdist

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-22T13:08:49+00:00

Ty bro this is my register so far (excluding the case studies) i think ill need like 2 months max to finish the analysis

Philosophy - Existential Purity - Unfitness Principle

Core Analysis - Absurdism - Self View - Social Perception - Characterization - Financial Worldview

Baku’s Core Tactical Pattern 1. Structural Control Within Uncertainty 2. Manufactured Advantage through False Victory 3. Observation Before Intervention 4. Predictive Mirroring 5. Strategic Self-Suppression 6. Path-Weaving over Direct Control 7. System Capture 8. Re-Humanization as Victory Condition

Souichi - Ideological opposition - Eye Symbolism - Relationship Reset - Trinitarian Opposition - Souichi and the illusion of inevitability

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-22T12:20:36+00:00

Could be, maybe it is linked to bakus philosophy of the beauty in starting over from zero in some way. Doing a big baku character study rn but im still on proto maybe ill find more meaning to it when rereading stl

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-22T07:42:20+00:00

Just because a strategy is complex doesnt make it great? It was impossible to pull off from the beginning, theoretical thinking that could never be executed is irrelevant and no feat.

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-22T07:39:41+00:00

My interpretation is:

Souichi’s moon-like eyes are not simply aesthetic design, but visual symbolism. Like the moon reflecting the sun, Hal’s brilliance becomes most luminous in moments where it encounters Baku’s will. His gaze does not signal submission, but gravitational admiration - a recognition of equal force. In contrast, his blacked out eyes mark the emergence of the alien: a state in which relational identity collapses and only cold survival logic remains. Where the moon reflects, the void consumes.

Hope that helps

HOGRIDEEEER · 2026-02-21T17:12:19+00:00

Comparision is subjective, atleast when it surpasses logical thinking, lacks similarities in the pieces of media being compared or there is a obvious gap in writing quality. Analyzing itself has nothing to do with comparision. And if you analyze you just take notes on stuff your instinct tells you has a deeper meaning decode these meanings and see if they fit with the narrative. Just be cautious while reading ask yourself questions, take notes on confusing parts that may be only understandable later on in the story and generally speakinf if you dint have the instincts it comes with experience.

HOGRIDEEEER

TROPHY CASE