#not a guy I liked on my first readthrough but he has STUCK with me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gerbiloftriumph · 24 days

Text

Floating Castle Liveblog (first read)

The King's Quest series has been graced with a very silly and very wonderful trilogy of adapted novels, and of them all, the first is my favorite. I have read it more times than I should, and liveblogged my musings on Goodreads in real time, er, multiple times.

Below is my first readthrough. Follow along with my initial, baffled, but ultimately delighted, self. Obviously, spoilers for an objectively terrible but subjectively amazing video game novelization from the 90s.

(and if you want to read the Floating Castle yourself, well, [I'm sure there are avenues online] but you didn't hear that from me)

May 7, 2018 –

page 0

Let it be officially known: I am terrifically excited to read this, and a little nervous, too. Please be good. Please be good. But please don't be SO good that I want to break my wallet trying to get a copy of See No Weevil. [side gerbil note: at the time, one of the only copies of See No Weevil, the third book in the series, available for purchase online was selling for $8k. No, that's not a joke.]

page 6

I miiiight be wrong, but wasn't Merlin's Mirror blank for all the years Alexander was missing, too? I have a feeling I read that somewhere...eh. I should read the actual game manuals sometime.

page 9

It's a touch on the fluffy side. A whole paragraph is dedicated to Alexander getting out of bed. But, let's be clear, that fluff worked really well a few pages ago with the storm, so. Plus, it's from the 90s, so. For some reason fantasy from then seems to be fluffy

page 10

You out of shape magician boy, you. Then again, 4 deep flights of castle steps (probs rough flagstone, rather uneven) is probably hard to climb, so. Fair.

page 14

Graham is such a good king. Like. Really really good.

page 26

Come on, magician prince. You can think of somethiiiing.

page 18

Sir Brian of House Blessed, I presume.

page 40

A: Oh, you stuck Graham's soul in a crystal? Very Ocarina of Time of you. What year did this come out? B: ...why is this actually kind of a good book? Like, from an honest fantasy novel perspective, not just a King's Quest adaptation perspective, it's actually not that bad. Slightly dated with its fluffy descriptions, but I've read plenty of worse fantasy before.

page 47

I didn't expect to enjoy a magician turning into a tree as much as I am, and I love Alexander being all good and diplomatic and not swearing anyone out for Cyril's complete uselessness.

page 49

I wonder how old Alexander is. I don't think it's said. How far past Manannan are we? Has KQ5 happened yet? These are not crucial questions, and yet. I'm curious. Do we know about Crispin? He's probably fractionally more useful than Morowyn. But only fractionally, cos he's still mostly useless.

page 54

Alex (paraphrased): So. All I have to do is sneak into Telgrin's evil doom castle, figure out where he hid a crystal of undetermined size with King Graham's soul in it, steal it (it had better not be car sized), sneak out without getting caught, and get home before his empty body dies, and you can put the soul back in? Cyril (quote): Oh, yes. Almost certainly. Probably. I think. Sounds like a PLAN, guys. Let's go!

page 54

Addendum to the above REALLY AWESOME PLAN. Do it before Telgrin tortures Graham's soul into hideous unrecognizability. Y'know. No pressure or anything.

page 58

I like Cyril. Road trip with the boys!

page 65

What sort of spooky ringwraith nonsense....

page 74

That’s....that’s just lembas bread. Literally just lembas.

page 81

Okay, there’s a thing I don’t like. Little episodic things periodically happen but so clumsily. I think it’s to give Alexander “items” to solve later puzzles, like the games. Direct quotes here: “Good apple,” Cyril said. “Very good.” “Sweet.” “Mmm.” And that’s the end of the exchange. Like. I get it, apples will probably be important later but. That dialogue is less than riveting

May 8, 2018:

page 87

"He’s going to try to ride a kelpie. I’ve never been so excited about a plot development in all my life!

page 108

I very much enjoyed that bit with the ogre, and now we’re hiding in barrels to sneak in. This book is like, nothing but all the best possible Fantasy Highlights.

page 123

Also, I’m fond of this exchange: “You are an evil man.” “So it has been said.” Telgrin shrugged. “Personally I’ve always found that such abstractions do not apply well to the real world. They make matters that are by their very nature complex seem rather too simple, don’t you think?” “Evil,” Alexander repeated."

page 133

Ewwww what is that thing. That’s a horrible beastie.

page 139

Where was he? Yes. Who was this beside him? Yes. Alexander those are not answers to your questions.

page 146

“All I’d have to do is wait until Telgrin is out of the room, step through the mirror, reclaim my father’s soul, and return through the mirror.” Alexander *liked* this plan."

page 162

It's absolutely just The Best Parts of Any Fantasy shoved together in one frantic ball of fury, with maybe three pages at most devoted to each new Fantasy Segment. I'm so into it. It's not a challenge to read by any stretch--I'd say it's middle grade fiction level--but, like, yo. It's crazy fun so who cares. (darn it, book, you broke my theory about where Telgrin had stuffed Graham. Boo. I was enjoying my guess.)

page 163

If my baby boy has broken his arm punching this ringwraith there will be hell to pay from me. I will protect this scarf-wearing lad at all costs. I say, when he's probably my age and knows at least a little magic and how to use a sword and has no problem crawling around dungeons and enemy castles.

page 165

Alexander is SUCH a pile of snark. Yeah, this is going well, he thinks. Now we have *four* knights chasing us.

page 168

“Cyril, I really don’t think—“ “*Enough.* there’s no time for discussion. Prepare yourself.” “No, Cyril, I— Aieeeeeeee!” Boys please

page 170

Are you KIDDING. It took us ages to get INTO the castle. And now we’re stuck outside again. P sure Telgrin is going to raise security after that debacle and kerfuffle you just caused.

page 175

Cuss the ever loving frick out of that tree root. You’ve earned a little less-than-princely reaction after this hell day.

page 181

Graham’s been soul-less for about a week at this point if I’ve added up right. He can wait a bit more, probably.

page 183

THIS IS NOT A HELPFUL SOLUTION TO THE MANY PROBLEMS AT HAND.

page 185

“Did you speak, Sir Frog?” “That’s Prince Frog to you.” Alex, please reign back the sass a little bit. You’re not helping matters.

page 194

We’ve found a princess, convinced her to smooch, he turns human again, and the first thing she says is “but....you’re *beautiful.*” Agreed, yo.

page 204

He’s been walking around with a hat this whole time? I hope it has a feather in it.

page 219

My baby Grahaaaaaam. Sorry about the week of agonizing torture. We came quick as we could. That whole scene with you and Telgrin was so cool and you’re so brilliant and I love your stupid regal face. Also. This exchange; “What happened?” “I’m not exactly sure. All I know is that Telgrin came uncomfortably close to killing me.” Y’know, no big deal.

page 223

"It opened its eyes, blinked, and said, “Hmph. What’s happening? Where am I?” “It’s all right, dear,” the first head said. “Go back to sleep. I am just going to kill this man here.” “Oh, that’s all right, then.”

page 228

I’m amazed Telgrin hasn’t raised hell and panic after losing Graham and his staff. Like. This isn’t a good event for our villain but we everyone seems remarkably calm.

page 231

“Is *everyone* in Daventry this obstinate?” Yes. You messed with the wrong royal family, tbh.

page 234

I love this. I love this book. In ways I cannot express because truly it is not a good book and yet. And YET. The setting is phenomenal, the cast both old and new entertaining, the language occasionally dips beyond melodramatic into actually decently lyrical, the action is relentless, and EVERYONE IS SASSY. Be it Alexander, Graham, this new princess, Telgrin. Everyone.

page 243

“I don’t suppose that you’ll tell me what you were up to.” “I don’t suppose.“ The sass is too strong. It’s blinding. I don’t want this book to end.

page 248

“You know, Alexander, I am not normally given to strong emotions. I do not often make declaration of animosity, for these do not agree with my usually thoughtful and scholarly nature. I must, however, tell you that I hate you.” The sass.

page 249

“The wonderful thing is, I have the power to make it all come true. All of it – the pain, the disfigurement, the death. I tell you, sometimes it’s a truly marvelous thing to be me.” Stars above I’m dying this is so good

page 250

This book is amazing. I am dying.

page 252

No, seriously. I am actually laughing out loud at this point. I love this. “She shall marry me unwillingly, or not at all!“

page 255

“Oh, I see the way of it. It’s blame-everything-on-Telgrin time, is it?” It hurts. My joy hurts too much. I’m crying with joy.

page 260

Cool guys don’t look at explosions.

page 269

This castle even has murder holes. Like. This is actually a good solid piece of fantasy, with accurate castles.

page 273

“I could attempt to fly you down.” All in all, Alexander thought he would rather just jump."

page 293

Graham is such a flirt.

page 297

No there’s no more page to turn!!!!!! Nooooooo I want moreeeee. .....aahHahdhsbdjdhdbuebfjxi.

May 8, 2018 – Finished Reading

five stars out of five stars

#the other liveblogs for the exact same novel will be coming--that's less a cheerful promise and more like an intimidating stare #please understand how heavily i fall in love with telgrin's bad emo villain game in future readings #this is but a taste of how fiercely he grabs my attention #yes i'm mostly doing this because goodreads is fed up with my liveblogging and is overwriting my status updates and i find that offensive #king's quest #kings quest #alexander (king's quest)#rosella (king's quest)#king's quest novels

12 notes · View notes

stranger-who-writes-fiction · 3 years

Text

♫ Surfing on a soundwave, Swinging through the stars, Take a left at your intestine, Take your second right past mars!

On the Magic School smelly space bus! ♫

SPOILERS for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #2!

This is a comic where, the longer I sit with a particular issue, the more I’m like, ‘yeah. Yeah. YEAH.’

It’s dense in a way that invites the reader to go through it multiple times, and rewards additional readthroughs.

Also, it helps that the art is FREAKING AMAZING.

Seriously. Evely and Lopes should draw and color everything, forever, always.

(I will honestly be shocked if they don’t get an Eisner nom for this book.)

Anyways, all of this to say: Another issue that I enjoyed. It has one of the most genuinely sweet Supergirl moments I’ve seen in the comics in a good long while.

So, if you’re looking for a quick thumbs up/thumbs down rating, thumbs up!

If you’d like some SPECIFICS, though...

THE STORY

King is an evil genius because we don’t pick up where we left off--rather, we start in the midst of the Space Bus journey.

There is technically a Big Action Scene, but I was honestly surprised by how...casually? the story progressed.

Essentially: Kara and Ruthye are forced to travel by bus because 1.) Krem stole Kara’s rocket and 2.) this corner of the universe doesn’t have the right stars, so Kara’s still recovering from being under a red sun for an extended period of time.

The bus makes occasional stops; they encounter a space dragon; Kara takes some Red Kryptonite and saves the day; they eventually arrive on a planet with a yellow sun.

And again, all of this occurs with a kind of...breezy ease that I was not expecting at all.

I assumed that the space dragon fight would make up the final moments of the issue, after having built up the problem to a point where Kara needed to intervene.

But, noooope. The space dragon happens somewhere in the middle, which helps sell the central idea that this is simply Kara’s life. She’s been there, done that. She’s a badass who takes it all in stride.

But! Important to note! Ruthye still marvels at the sight of Kara taking out the space dragon, as well she should, because:

OH MY GOD. THE aRT.

There’s only so many times I can say, ‘it’s phenomenal, it’s gorgeous, it’s stunning’ before sounding like a broken record.

But it is. It truly is. This is the prettiest monthly book on the stands right now.

(Realizing I’ve been spelling Ruthye wrong this entire time, maybe? IDK. Apologies if I have.)

It’s in the final moments of the book that we learn what transpired after Krem shot Kara and Krypto and fled: Kara managed to get Krypto and Ruthye to a healer, and then passed out for a week.

Ruthye and Kara recovered, buuuuut...

Krypto is still very near death because the arrow was poisoned.

The healer can’t treat him until he has a sample of the poison.

Which Krem has.

(See where this is going?)

So! Kara regains her powers! Ruthye has a super on her side! KRYPTO’S LIFE HANGS IN THE BALANCE!

Gimme. Issue. 3. STAT.

THE CHARACTERS

Very much enjoyed Ruthye in this issue!

There’s a really tricky balancing act you gotta pull off when writing child characters; you don’t want to just write them as tiny adults, but you also don’t want to be obnoxious or cloying in trying to write ‘true-to-age.’

King gives himself a bit of a cheat, by setting her up as a rock farmer from a...what would you call it. An old-fashioned planet? And thus the kind of character who had to ‘grow up fast’ and behaves more maturely than your typical pre-teen might.

BUT! IMPORTANTLY! This is tempered by placing Ruthye in situations where her (understandable) ignorance is challenged/put to the test. Like, yes, she is mature, and well-spoken, and utterly tenacious, but she’s also out of her depth, and still in need of help and guidance.

(Which is how we get to The Best Scene which I’ll get to in just a sec.)

TL;DR - this issue has really sold me on Ruthye as our POV character and I am officially Invested in the relationship between her and Kara.

Speaking of...

It’s KARA-CTERIZATION TIME!

So, okay. There’s some ‘eh’ stuff in this one, but, BUT!

We got the goods again.

And by ‘goods’ I mean this:

Whatever other nitpicks I have (and I do! Have one! Which I’ll get to!) THIS. This right here! This is Supergirl. This is Kara.

And what a beautiful line to introduce this moment:

“And it began--as most things begin when you’re dealing with Supergirl--with a moment of kindness.”

It’s the same gentle concern we saw in the previous issue, where Kara knelt down to address Ruthye eye-to-eye.

Here, Kara’s facial expression, and the way she takes Ruthye’s hands and shows her what to do...

It’s just. SO SWEET.

Ahhhhh it’s so good. :D

So good! In fact! That the above scene offsets my one complaint, which is that Kara came off as harsh, IMO, when addressing the bus passengers, looking for Red K.

Other good stuff from this particular portion of the book: we get Kryptonese (maybe? I think?) And a mention of Kara’s mother being strict about certain things, which is in keeping with the 2000s series version of Alura.

Ruthye also asks if Kara ever tried to avenge the death of her family/culture and she says no; Ruthye says that she heard a lifetime of regret in Kara’s response, which I suppose could be read one of two ways:

1.) That she regrets her choice not to avenge them, or 2.) that she regrets not having the option to avenge them, as there was no one person to punch, no single action that could rectify the destruction of the entire planet.

I personally prefer the second reading.

Which I suppose contradicts the recent-ish “Killers of Krypton” arc, but who knows what is and isn’t canon anymore, honestly. XD

As for the rest of the issue! I found myself thinking of a Grant Morrison interview, actually.

Morrison apparently met a Superman cosplayer at a con and that’s when the character clicked for them: “[The superman cosplayer] was so in the character, but what really got me was the way he was sitting. It was this absolutely relaxed pose with one knee up and the arm bent over, and that’s what broke Superman for me. Suddenly I realized that Superman wouldn’t be a poser, he wouldn’t be a Muscle Beach steroid guy; he’d actually be completely relaxed because nothing could hurt him. He could be so open and friendly to everyone because no one can punch him or hurt him. He can’t get a cold, or be damaged by anything you’re carrying or wearing. For me that was the power of that, whether you want to frame it as magical or not, it actually informed the stories I wanted to write. I felt I understood him in a way I hadn’t until that moment.”

That’s always stuck with me, the idea that Clark would be the most at-ease, chill guy you'd ever talk to.

And THAT, I think, is what we’re seeing here with Kara. That at-ease-ness.

But in a way that is distinct from Clark! In the above quote, it’s clear that Morrison thinks it’s Clark’s powers that are the reason he can be so relaxed and at ease.

But Kara is de-powered here. So why is she so chill?

Because Kara is an alien.

Kara’s in her element, here. She’s used to space travel, she knows the ins-and-outs, she’s not shocked by any of the weird stuff they encounter on their journey.

Love it. LOVE. IT.

I am SO GLAD that King decided to go with Kara being the wizened mentor, as opposed to the naïve kid learning to be tough. It’s a much more interesting angle, IMO.

Also NO MENTION OF RIVALRY BETWEEN KARA AND CLARK. WOO. LET’S KEEP THIS ROLLIN’.

Alright, last, but certainly not least:

THE GOOD BOY! KRYPTO!

When I tell you I stress-read this entire comic first thing in the morning...XD

And I am STILL stressed. And a little sad that Krypto doesn’t get to go on another space adventure but! This is MIGHTY PREFERABLE to what I *thought* was going to happen, which is that Krypto would die from his injuries, and Kara would likewise be out for revenge.

Fortunately, that is not the case!

So like, the stakes?!?! Suddenly sky high. Find that dirtbag Krem and GET THAT POISON BACK TO THE HEALER!!

ART and MISC. STUFF THAT I LOVE

I generally don’t like to post entire pages of a comic, or panels without context, but the...reach? of this blog is extremely limited so. I think we’ll be okay. XD

So, alright! Some moments that I particularly enjoyed!

One of the panels that Mat Lopes shared early on!

I want this lettered version on a mug.

(Also she looks very ’Grace Kelly-ish’ here.)

Love Kara’s facial expression and her line about space travel being more fun when you can fly.

From the same portion of the book--such a neat detail that Kara keeps her cash in her sleeve!

Another set of panels that I think Tom King shared a few months back.

Love Kara’s little smirk, and the, “I’m wearing a big yellow S on my chest, and a very fashionable red skirt.”

It IS fashionable. WE SUPPORT THE SKIRT, IN THIS HOUSE.

Also the slrrrrrrp. XD

It’s good.

Okay, 1.) VERY COOL SCI-FI DESIGN and 2.) that line is great. “Can you feel it, Ruthye? We’re getting closer. The stars are changing.”

Mmmm, them good cosmic Kara vibes.

Kara’s attitude about the Red K here is fun, like, ‘WELP, sometimes you turn into a monster, sometimes you don’t!’ but again, the line is what gets me.

“Did my hair move?”

“I do not believe so.”

Honestly? I could post the whole comic here. Evely’s vision of ‘public transit, but space’ is just so immediately...not ‘real’, necessarily, because there’s such a fantastical element to it all, but it is fully realized. I think I used the phrase ‘lived-in’ and that’s it--this world feels like it has always existed; every grimy nook and cranny, every rando space bus traveler.

And Mat Lopes’ colors!

There are like, five distinct color palettes at work in this issue, and Lopes handles them all masterfully.

I think my favorite is the...I’ll call it ‘ethereal space aquarium’ lighting in the bus as they view the space dragon.

The glow and the shadows and the blues and pinks...

GGGGGGGGAAAHHHHHHHHHH so goooooooood

So, yeah. :D

I am very much enjoying this weird, wild ride with small, precocious Ruthye and wizened, crusty Kara. XD There’s some stuff that I don’t *love* but my goodness, it could be a lot worse!

Let us end on the beautiful title page:

#long post #supergirl: woman of tomorrow #supergirl: woman of tomorrow spoilers #dc comics #kara zor el #comic thoughts #comic opinions

4 notes · View notes

touchmycoat · 3 years

Note

Well I finished 判官 (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

This is a wild ride. I like the theme in general, the cage and the puppet are a really cool idea. And the writing, the poignant slow pace with a shit ton of nature metaphor? The mundane daily life sandwiched between badass action and angsty narrative? The revelation of what Xie Wen did for Wen Shi and Wen Shi counters it with what happened to his soul? Hell damn, I screenshot like a maniac and sent them to my friend like "hey see this delicious hell? jump with me!" My favorite moment is definitely the "紅塵 Kiss" because it knocked me off my feet and robbed all my sense and sensibility. Very close behind are "wind and pine tree, the moon lightens for three thousand miles, the sky doesn't grant him the day to come home" (Xie Wen), "when there's no place to go they want to come home" (the disciples) and "don't look back" ༼ つ ಥ_ಥ ༽つ

I actually finished 铜钱龛世 also by 木苏里 beforehand so I kind of expected all the characters may somehow link together. I love the relationship between the old man and the boy so much. Since Cage 1 it hooked me into the story and it just keeps getting better as the plot processes. He said they have 缘 and the bluebird metaphor? Chef Kiss!

Not a fan of the antagonist here not just because he's sure a dick but I'm often not into the final boss. The things the main cast went through just... not worth it. It only took one event from the past to go differently and they don't have to end up with all that shit. But I guess it serves the theme of 缘 and Karma, fate just happens and goes out of hand no matter how hard you try.

Oh and the other clans. I usually see corrupted 正派 but they are good guys and what they do at the end to both the Zhang siblings and Xie Wen is really sweet.

And now I get myself into 全球高考 (currently the fourth exam) and man this is another wild ride (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

CONGRATULATIONSSSSSS AAAAHHH I’M SO HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

I’ve never read Mu Su Li’s other works, so this was my first time encountering her treatment of these kinds of themes! Like, human desire can manifest in terrifying ways but when you break through to the heart of it, it’s 1) a cage that traps/hurts/scares both the owner and people around them, and 2) it’s a very comprehensible feeling that nobody is above having.

BUT YEAH ALSO THE WAY SHE MANIFESTED THAT WITH XIE WEN/WEN SHI, “LOOK AT ALL THE TERRIFYING SHIT THESE TWO WOULD DO JUST TO KEEP ONE MORE IOTA OF PAIN FROM FALLING ON THEIR BELOVED.” YEAH I SERIOUSLY JUMPED OFF OF SOMETHING VERY HIGH WHEN WE LEARNED WHAT HAPPENED TO WEN SHI’S SOUL.

i’m all about nature metaphors my friend TTTT Mu Su Li writes them so fucking well, and you’re 10000% on point with the poignant slow pace. The image that has stuck to me and continues sucking out my life’s blood to this day is Wen Shi, as a child and as a 1000+-year-old immortal, only wants to keep following Xie Wen. Wen Shi being the quiet baby snowman with his eyes fixed to the back of Xie Wen’s head????? I???? Kill me now?????

> "wind and pine tree, the moon lightens for three thousand miles, the sky doesn't grant him the day to come home" fuck. me.

> "when there's no place to go they want to come home" (the disciples) I’D BE ANGRY ABOUT THE OTHER TWO DISCIPLES IF I WEREN’T SURE AT LEAST ONE OF THE EXTRAS WILL BE ABOUT THEM aaaaahhh like, what the fuck. The lost-and-found family is so goddamn compelling TTTTTT Bu Ning.... baby.... babyboi..... you deserve the world.... or like a matcha latte i bet he’d love those....

> DON’T. LOOK. BACK. eXCUSE ME. EXCUSE MEEEEE. XIE WEN???? AND THEN MOTHERFUCSKLJDNFAKSDJNFLAKJSNDLFJNALSDJFLSD WHAT WEN SHI DID I’M!!!! I’M!!!!!!!! I’M SO ANGRY BUT I’M ALSO SO!!!!!! HAPPY!!!! I HATE THEM THEY!!!! I LOVE!!!!! I LOVE!!!!!!!

yeah re: the antagonist, on my first readthrough i def had a moment when i was like, “oh. this guy? this motive? ...is this working for me?” But I totally decided yes ‘cause that scene was more about how badass Xie Wen and Wen Shi were LMFAO. What happened to Xie Wen and the disciples definitely feels hella not worth it!! I also remember thinking “jesus fucking christ that’s so terrible?? are they just gonna gloss over this??” re: Bu Ning but. Ack. I honestly don’t know if I’d enjoy the novel better if it were longer, and tied up every emotional loose end. THIS IS WHY WE NEED A FANDOM THO, to give us a resolution on these disciples feelings ;;;;

mmmm 緣 and karma as themes!!! I totally agree. There’s something really powerful too about the way Xie Wen kept up his calm/peace/resignation throughout the ending because he really is very much riding on that wave of 緣&fate. aND IT LEADS HIM BACK TO WEN SHI HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

oooh!! i have not heard of 銅錢龕世!! Do you recommend~? My friend was telling me how much she enjoyed Pan Guan ‘cause she thought Mu Su Li’s other works were too long and suffered for it skdfjnksdjnfsd but I know nothing. And i’m thinking of starting 全球高考 too!!!!!! eyes emoji eyes emoji eyes emoji

#pan guan #panguan #mu su li #判官 #木蘇里 #taiwan publishes her novels so when panguan comes out i'm gonna buy it and devour it TTTTTT #long post #tieukhannh #asks

8 notes · View notes

herotheshiro · 3 years

Text

so i reread all of behind the desks today lol bc i was thinking abt it last night as i was going to sleep, and also fully read through the epilogue chapters which i don’t think i had done before. which means i read through all of the plot points all at once this time around. i think my thoughts for this readthrough might end up being the length of a regular post so i’m just writing up a new post instead of reblogging my old review of this manhwa. obviously spoilers for the story below the cut

again i like this manhwa mainly bc of 2 things:

i like the juxtaposition of young’s obviously manipulative language with taesung’s innocent language that also sounds suspiciously the same. obviously you know taesung has positive intentions and isn’t a controlling freak like young but it’s such an interesting way to depict the aftermath of an abusive relationship and the difference in intentions despite the same words even though in retrospect that probably wasn’t what the author was trying to do. unless... ?

sunny seo as a character!! on the surface he definitely seems to fall under the standard BL uke tropes of being clumsy and looking pretty and stuck in a love triangle as the shared obj of affection but from the very beginning you already know he’s not a pushover but he just seems like that bc he doesn’t really have or express strong opinions. a lot of BLs tend to have the shared obj of affection be like oh nooo i can’t pick bw the 2 of them... but i mean from the start sunny doesn’t want to be w young and his fear of backlash and change is what motivates his secret-keeping from taesung... also throughout the story they imply that he’s a good match for taesung who canonly likes action stuff by being someone who actually likes high-energy activities/vibes. tl;dr sunny is generally a good character who also has a lot of foreshadowing done for him to reveal aspects of his personality that contribute to the story

anyway onto my thoughts that i had during this specific readthrough

jaeyoon. anyone who read my prev review for this manhwa knows that i had beef w how they used him during the conclusion to young and sunny’s relationship. i now realize that maybe they DID actually give him a face reveal during his wedding when young and sunny split off to chat with a friend each and the friend who spoke to sunny was actually jaeyoon himself... BUT YOU GOTTA FUCKING SAY THAT!! i suspected they were the same guy bc of the hair color and them always hiding jaeyoon’s face until that “random” moment where they give this character who looks like him a face but like i was never sure... no offense to the author or anything but i think you have to put in-text that it’s jaeyoon and not assume readers will know based on your art that it’s him... there are too many side characters who show up so it’s not like we’ve ONLY seen taesung/sunny/young so far so now this 4th person who shows up has to be jaeyoon... i mean maybe other readers ID-ed it as him w no issue esp since he shows up being like ‘dude...’ when that other friend is like ‘well jaeyoon was in rehab and stuff’ but i personally think it should’ve been mentioned in-text esp since that face reveal wasn’t nearly dramatic enough to 100% capture readers’ attentions.

otherwise i think the fact that jaeyoon and taesung are similar is a great plot point. jaeyoon was clearly the only friend in that group who saw young and sunny’s relationship accurately so i’m glad sunny had at least one GOOD friend then. jaeyoon is implied to be someone who takes care of others similar to taesung (even if it’s only sunny he dotes over the most) too. other than young’s general possessiveness of sunny, them being similar also explains why young saw jaeyoon as such a threat. but yeah unfortunately i still don’t think it was handled as well as it could have been.

young’s explanation for his behavior towards sunny... i hesitate to say it was the standard “villain redemption” but tbf i think it was a good explanation for his actions even if it felt a little too clean of a conclusion (young letting go of sunny so easily and also apparently realizing and accepting how damaging he was to him). i say it’s partially redeeming bc it shows that young was kind of trapped in such a specific and damaging way of thinking abt life that it affected how he treated sunny but it’s also not really redeeming him bc like. be normal man lol you don’t have to be like that to others.

separate but related note but young’s mindgaming of taesung... when he was like oh everything abt sunny seo you like is bc of me... like DAMN that’s evil and good (writing-wise). although the thing is that young and sunny also haven’t interacted apparently for 5 years so i mean you do have to realize that by the time taesung reunites w him, sunny has developed enough of an individual personality so it’s not ALL young’s shit.

in my last review i said i felt like i wanted more of young and sunny’s history... tbh i think they gave us enough actually. all we really need to know is that they’ve known each other for a very long time and that young manipulated sunny enough during an impressionable time (young age, college. ppl know how college can be lol) that sunny felt that young was the only one for him. i was actually surprised jaeyoon’s story/details came up so quick in the story (i think it showed up in the 1st half of the manhwa) but i think it was a good point bc the story had to move on to the middle/2nd half of sunny and taesung trying to get their relationship to work. past me was also apparently looking for this scene in the bar apparently where young explains his “reasons” to taesung lol

not really much to say this time abt the hosung x young endgame. still don’t think they should’ve done it or had hosung have unrequited feelings but whatever i guess. tbh i didn’t really realize/connect until this time around that hosung actually was in freelancing art/publishing which was why taesung had him look at sunny’s work lol... i think last time that part in the epilogue hadn’t been translated yet so i just didn’t have the room to make the connection maybs

the epilogue ending... so i actually never read the epilogue ending or at least its eng translation, and i was like hell yea at the full circle shit w sunny being like ‘oh the cherry blossom petals are falling just like when i first met taesung in the infirmary’ but then the ch kept going w taesung and sunny on the beach... idk i think ending it literally at sunny being like ‘w you i feel alive’ was such an abrupt ending... like maybe if they added another panel of them smiling at each other it could’ve been fine but if the author was running low on time i honestly think they could’ve ended it at the scene of sunny accepting his contest award

also when sunny was like ‘yeah lol all my classmates at the children’s book program also get sick all the time’.... i was like bruh this author is prob speaking from actual experience lmao

the other thing abt the ending that was a little random was the quick aside abt taesung’s mom being against their relationship... i mean it was a reference to the mom wanting taesung to get married in the main story but then they dropped it and then suddenly brought it back up again... randomly adding that taesung had a sister who was his contact w their mom... like i get it, it wraps up the loose end of his mom but wow i was uh ok random ch abt potential family conflicts. also where are sunny’s parents lol but that would’ve been too much to get into too regardless of homophobia or not lol

overall it’s still a pretty solid manhwa. stuff proceeds at a good pace and the conflicts/misunderstandings make sense. i said before it’s kinda like a love triangle but it’s really not which works w me bc i don’t like love triangles that much (they stress me out lol); it’s also good bc young is clearly toxic for sunny and it’s good that sunny knows that rather than sunny being like “oh i know he’s bad but also... hmm maybe i can overlook it”. the manhwa’s not perfect -- i still get the sense the writing could be better even if i can’t really enunciate why -- but enough details are tied together that there’s nothing major i have to extrapolate bw (like i can overlook the jooyeon mishap even though it legit threw me off the 1st time i read through). also yes i know the manhwa is based off of a game w characters essentially already established but my understanding is that the author/artist essentially had to write up a lot of the actual story themselves even if they had a general plotline provided to follow

also the final author’s note abt the author personally preferring fucked up stories... when i started rereading i was like wait isn’t this the same artist for that one manhwa where the characters look like the k!lling st@lking? mains and even if i didn’t remember i would’ve realized w that author’s note lol. i think fortunately for them that sunny isn’t an entirely “pure” character so they had enough room to make him a little more twisted.

#reading #reread

1 note · View note

roc-thoughtblog · 3 years

Text

Sense and Sensibility Readthrough Part 7

Chapter 10, Pages 39-45

Previously, Marianne and Margaret went for a run up a hill, got rained on, and ran all the way back down. A romance novel male love interest picks up a fallen Marianne, takes her home, and acts very mysterious-romance-novel-male-love-interest-like.

Marianne is obviously infatuated.

I end up thinking too much about the unfathomable nature of skin-tones today, though I think I also managed to struggle a bit more than usual concentrating. Definitely ran quite overtime.

Readthrough below.

Chapter 10 Willoughby visits, and is charmed.

Miss Dashwood had a delicate complexion, regular features, and a remarkably pretty figure. Marianne was still handsomer.

Oof. Wait, hang on; we're getting description. This is the most description of Marianne's appearance! Incoming:

Posture's not as good as her sister, but she is taller. Skin is of very brown overtone but a very visible "uncommonly brilliant" undertone. How brown is very brown? Are undertones a thing or did I just make up something I think I overheard once? I'm about to go on a tangent into what undertones & overtones are aren't I. BRB. Also she has very dark eyes that are quite full of life.

My understanding of skin tones mostly comes from being a poor artist and getting messed up trying to figure out how they work because they DON'T STAY THE SAME OVER ANY PATCH OF SKIN OR CONSISTENT AT ANY ANGLE. And SPLOTHCY. SPLOTCHY EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME. So I get a vague sense of what Jane Austen is trying to get at. From what it sounds like, Marianne is pretty generally brown on the surface but also fairly rosy in all those fleshy parts that do the most weird multidimesional optical illusioning that skin-tones tend to do? She probably turns very red when she's blushy, is the implication anyway, that I could have just said on the outset but then I went and buried my head in seasons and carotene and foundation.

Maybe I'll use Marianne as the subject of a skin-tone study. I suck at skin-tones and this is the most I've ever thought about it in years.

Anyway, she's embarrassed at first but they quickly hit it off; this is all still a no-dialogue cutscene so Austen's really skipping over any occasion for Willoughby to talk. Well, from the sounds of it they'll be chatting for hours... mutually charmed, all the same tastes, etc. Ah, haha, she does bulldoze over their differences a bit. Willoughby doesn't put up a resistance; either he's too charmed or, as a 25 year old, he doesn't want to debate an enthusiastic teenager. Well, at least he's not 35.

Dialogue resumes as soon as he leaves. I should keep a note of which important characters have been conspicuously reserved by the narrative; Willoughby and Edward both been. Poor Margaret is just unimportant.

Elinor thinks Marianne's going to fast. Run out of things to talk about soon. Marianne gets snippy and returns fire;

"But I see what you mean. [...] I have erred against every commonplace notion of decorum; I have been open and sincere where I ought to have been reserved, spiritless, dull and deceitful - had I talked only of the weather and the roads, and had I spoken only once in ten minutes, this reproach would have been spared."

She's getting her back for the attraction-to-fever line. I sort of agree with Elinor, I get the feeling Willoughby isn't y'know. As passionate as Marianne is, so much as just humouring her. But either way he's charmed so. He keeps coming back day after to day, to "check in" on Marianne's recovery.

Oh! But he does participate in her activities though. That is encouraging. And he reads emotively haha. Mama Dashwood loves him, but naturally Elinor finds his general, hmm, incautious demeanor to be disapprovable. Marianne has seen in Willoughby the saviour that justified her impossible standards! I call that she's probably more than a little infatuated and Willoughby's gonna turn out to be less than everything she thought he was, or that she wanted.

Infatuation is wild isn't it.

Mama Dashwood's already hearing wedding bells, as she would. Elinor's starting to see that Colonel Brandon really does have small interest in Marianne (after everyone else stopped caring because he's not interesting). He gets Elinor's pity and compassion for generally being a guy whose disposition implies like he's had a bit of a downer past, and also for generally being compared against Willoughby. Also because Marianne will never stop being mean about his age. Though I wonder how much of his improvement in Elinor's eyes is precisely by nature of Willoughby having arrived to be worth disapproving.

Oh Willoughby finally talks, and the first things he says involves going off on poor Brandon;

"Brandon is just the kind of man," said Willoughby one day, when they were talking of him together, "whom everybody speaks well of, and nobody cares about; whom all are delighted to see, and nobody remembers to talk to."

Aww. My image of Brandon has really changed. Before it was like some kind of caricature of a retired military man, making him look very much on the 50-60 end of 35 years, with a brush moustache. But after all that, man. Now I just see a tired older millenial. You know, the particular kind of tired millenial who are just stuck in a perpetual state of scraping by slowly while anticipating middle age behind the next big hill, while still getting berated by the older gens for being millenials, and getting memed on by the Gen Z for being old.

Did I just call Marianne a zoomer?

Well, meming on older people is just an age/maturity thing, not a generational thing. Happens every time. Even 200 years ago, in a book.

A... Anyway...

Elinor justifiably defends Brandon from Willoughby's more exagerrated character attacks. Then he keeps talking, so she just sticks to calling him and Marianne out instead for being prejudiced and-

"In defense of your protégé you can even be saucy."

HOLY SHIT. I mean the more I hear out of Willoughby's mouth the more of a jackass he seems. No wonder Austen kept his mouth shut for a bit. This whole thing just escalates into an argument that ends in a disagreement. Elinor thinks Willoughby as holding an unjustifiably contemptuous attitude towards an inoffensive and unfortunate person; Willoughby's annoyed that Elinor's pressing him on the matter as he simply views his own observations of Brandon's social deficiencies as factual, and probably to his eyes therefore not contemptuous in nature.

And Marianne is just being actually the pettiest and meanest one here because she's Marianne and Willoughby is enabling her.

"You shall find me as stubborn as you can be artful. I have three unanswerable reasons for disliking Colonel Brandon; he threatened me with rain when I wanted it to be fine; he has found fault with the hanging of my curricle, and I cannot persuade him to buy my brown mare. [...] And in return for an acknowledgement, [...] you cannot deny me the privilege of disliking him as much as ever."

Willoughby's whole closing argument is some great character stuff. He said earlier that he didn't dislike Brandon; I like that it's a bit up in the air whether or not he genuinely had no issue with the man, and was just being very distastefully insensitive, or whether he was actually heartily prejudiced against Brandon for those three petty reasons and wasn't being up-front with himself or anyone else until Elinor called him out. I'm leaning towards the latter, personally.

Either way, he is petty enough now to really double down on disliking Brandon in this moment; for no other reason than as to spite Elinor for managing to convince him not to.

Yeah I don't think I like Willoughby very much. Literally, one of those guys who seems nice until they open their mouth, wow.

As a side note, for the spitefulness of the dialogue, the narrator's been very sparing of the less pleasant aspects of Marianne and Willoughby's characters. Imagine if they were minor characters like Sir and Lady Middleton! Would definitely have just torn straight into the two of them on top of just letting them talk.

#what the hell 1400 words?#maybe i'm getting carried away #Sense and Sensibility #Jane Austen #i want it on record in the tags that i will defend Brandon from Willoughby #novels #readthrough

9 notes · View notes

makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 247: Todoroki Angst

Previously on BnHA: Ujiko started some kind of procedure on Tomura to make him even more powerful, because that’s what we were all asking for at the end of the last arc, isn’t it? “Horikoshi can you go ahead and make the homicidal nihilist even stronger please and thank you.” Well not to worry, because he’s got our backs! Meanwhile Hawks poked around the villain HQ trying to find out more details about That End Of The World Thing That’s Happening In 4 Months, and came up with squat. But he did successfully pass on his secret message to Endeavor about how “THE CHILDREN ARE OUR ONLY HOPE,” so Endeavor shrugged and was like “fine, HEY CHILDREN, LET’S GO FIGHT CRIME.” Anyways, so I was thinking, do you suppose they all just figured out they’re actually in a shounen manga? Because that would explain a lot.

Today on BnHA: Endeavor gathers the kids together and is all “so tell me about yourselves.” Deku is all “I have two quirks shut up it’s not weird” and says he wants to get better at harnessing his power so that he can use it without it being destructive. Kacchan is all “I’m already strong but I want to become better as a person” and I appreciate how the other characters are able to hold themselves back from exclaiming, “THIS KID’S REDEMPTION ARC... IT’S TOO POWERFUL...!” because I sure the fuck would have if I was there. And then Shouto is all “hey dad, friendly reminder that I’m here because I want to get stronger to reach my own goals, but you’re still a shitty dad and I hate your guts.” Endeavor, to his credit, reacts very appropriately to all three kids (including a resigned “got it” to Shouto, which was in fact the only appropriate response, so props to him for that), and dives right on in to mentoring the shit out of them. He then delivers a challenge -- defeat at least one villain without him beating them to the punch. So that should be fun, and I mean that with complete sincerity. Bring it!

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.)

oooooh shit we’re starting right on a continuation of the Fuyumi panel from last week. TODOROKI DRAMA ARC INCOMING. THIS IS IT BOYS. THE BIG ONE

omg omg omg

friendly reminder that chapter 242, in which this internship was first announced, came out on September 6. that is six whole weeks that we’ve been waiting for this internship to actually get started for real. I WAS PROMISED CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND UNUSUAL INTERACTIONS AND UNLIKELY BONDS BEING FORMED. and I have been patient, because In Horikoshi We Trust, but is it finally that time now? I just need them to stop hinting at it and finally get to it before I lose my mind okay

so Endeavor is asking Baku and Deku for their character profiles

Deku: “I used to break bones on demand, now I shoot wind from my fists along with the occasional Venom Symbiote”

Bakugou: “I blow shit up and I also have your character development arc, but fast-tracked so that it kicked in before I could fully become a massive prick like you”

meanwhile Shouto just sits there pouting because as we know from the Babysitter’s Club arc (and also from the Sports Festival arc, during which he dragged Deku into a hallway and was all “time to tell you about my tragic past” completely unprompted), he actually has his own character profile on standby ready to go at a moment’s notice, but everyone just keeps it benched all the time. poor Shouto

(ETA: he will not be silenced!!)

so Endeavor is phrasing this in the weirdest way possible, asking them to state “their current ‘assignments’” lol what. at least the second part of this is clearer, with him asking what they want to gain from this internship

okay so Deku says he wants to control his power so that he can “move at max performance.” yes that’s a very good goal for you, World’s Last Hope

lmaoooo

“weren’t you the kid who broke every bone in his arms several times in succession while attempting to KO my youngest child.” way to make an impression Deku

so Deku patiently explains that, yes, but we’re WELL BEYOND the whole bone-breaking stage now and currently at the “trying to master my new SECRET POWER which is still under wraps” stage. get with the times, Endeavor

hahaha here we go. this is so painfully awkward

“yeah so I kind of have a second quirk now. you know. as one does. please ignore how the only other known person to ever have multiple quirks just so happens to be the greatest villain of all time who is currently incarcerated in Tartarus following his last stand during which the number one hero lost all his power. that’s not relevant. anyways so yeah, two quirks, it’s totally normal and not a big deal at all”

what the actual fuck is he going to do once quirks # 3, 4, 5, etc. come along? this is such a disaster it’s not even funny. and by the way, this whole time I’ve been ignoring the elephant in the room that is Katsuki’s face while Deku nearly spills the beans about his so-called secret. but let’s all just acknowledge that it’s amazing and it belongs in a museum

thankfully Endeavor has had more than enough of exercising his brain today after all of that codebreaking, and isn’t even bothering to ask any questions. instead he’s just like, “show me.” probably the right call; easier to just see wth he’s going on about rather than keep listening to this strange and incredibly suspicious explanation

here we go guys time for some BLOOP

that’s because you’re still scared of it! boy if you’re not going to listen to Katsuki then I hope Endeavor can knock some sense into you at least!

you know, Endeav may be scowling so hard his face is gonna get stuck that way, but so far he’s not half bad at this mentoring/coaching thing

really appreciate how he jumps straight into asking pertinent questions about what Deku wants to do with this new quirk, rather than being all “how the fuck do you go from breaking all of your bones to THAT”

so now Deku’s explaining how it works and says he’s been applying the same principles that he uses with Air Force

LMAOOOOO

this right here is the most accurate introduction to Deku that Endeavor could ever have possibly received. THAT’S IT, THAT’S THE CHARACTER

and it also neatly sums up his whole problem with Blackwhip as well, which is just that he’s way overthinking it. no fucking wonder he can’t do anything with it yet! he’s trying to run NASA-level calculations in his head in real time while using it, like wtf. just let loose boi

also can we stop and appreciate how both Bakugou and Shouto are just fucking done. like, Bakugou is one thing, but just look at Todoroki fucking Shouto, Deku’s #1 fan and admirer, being all “wtf I hate Deku now”

LMAO AGAIN

Burnin’ is quickly rising through my favorite character ranks. meanwhile Shouto has gleaned, quite correctly, that those were in fact words coming from Deku’s mouth. what kind of words is a mystery, but at least it’s something

omfg Endeavor can speak Deku

(ETA: one of the things I’m noticing on a reread is how Endeavor is approximately twice the size of the kids. and it’s not like they’re small or anything. but they look like toddlers next to him. he’s only 6′4″ how is he towering over them to this degree.)

I feel like Endeavor’s intelligence levels fluctuate from week to week. or even from panel to panel. enigma

so blah blah blah he’s thinking to himself “his raw power rivals All Might’s” and then -- ! LOOK AT THIS SHIT

SOFT ENDEAVOR ADOPTING DEKU WTAF. holy shit. if anyone says they saw this coming, I’m calling you out as a fucking liar. BUT I’M HERE FOR IT OMG

AND NOW THIS ONE’S TURN!

(ETA: Kacchan is 5′7″. pretty sure Endeavor is actually 8 feet tall.)

lmao Deku’s face. trying to work out what this means and whether it’s good or bad

meanwhile, after the multiple pages of extensive rambling from Deku, Endeavor is about to get an introduction from Bakugou which will likely just consist of “I WANT TO BECOME THE NUMBER ONE” with absolutely no introspection whatsoever. basically the polar opposite of Deku. gotta love it

HERE WE GO

ooh, unexpected! though still brusque. but to be fair, he’s gifted when it comes to saying a lot in few words

(ETA: out of the three, Kacchan definitely took up the least amount of time with his introspection. not bad for a kid who used to think the entire fucking world revolved around him. growth!)

now he’s bitching at Burnin’ for not having anything better to do than stand around heckling them lmao

SHE’S HERE TO PROVIDE COMMENTARY KATSUKI SHHH. in other news, today I learned that Burnin’ is actually me. huh

OH MY GOD KATSUKI IS METAING -- !! [ELBOWS MY WAY INTO THE FRONT ROW] EVERYONE FUCKING SHUT YOUR MOUTHS AND LISTEN!!!!

OH MY GOD

y’all Katsuki really just fessed up and admitted to needing to work on his growth as a person rather than his physical ability. along with a NEW ADORABLE CHILDHOOD FLASHBACK, EXCUSE ME WHILE I ORDER PRINTS OF THIS TO PUT IN MY WALLET

AND HERE WE GO NOW, THE WHOLE “I WANT TO SURPASS THE NUMBER ONE” PART. BUT IT WAS SO MUCH DEEPER THAN I EXPECTED, KATSUKI YOU CONTINUE TO MAKE ME PROUD! LOOK HOW DETERMINED HE IS TO BE A BETTER PERSON

PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, IF YOU’RE NOT ROOTING FOR BAKUGOU KATSUKI THEN WHY ARE YOU EVEN READING THIS MANGA HONESTLY

OMG ENDEAVOR

“this kid...” REMINDS YOU OF SOMEONE, DOESN’T HE! OH MY GOD I NEED TO SIT AND CALM DOWN AND DRINK SOME WATER

anyway so do you love him. YOU BETTER SAY YES!!

LMAO SHOUTO COULDN’T HOLD IT IN ANY LONGER

LET’S HEAR IT THEN, FIVE PEEPEE MAN!!

Endeavor is whipping back around on him all “I THOUGHT YOU CAME HERE TO MASTER YOUR NEW TECHNIQUE” with this look of borderline panic on his face that implies to me that it’s one thing to take on two new kids with no familiar baggage, and quite another to have to deal with his own son’s personal angst which is directly related to his own worst personal shortcomings and sins! but that’s just too bad, Endeavor! also, fuck you!

OH MY GOD TODOROKI SHOUTO HAS THE SOFTEST SADDEST EXPRESSION AND THIS SPEECH IS GOING TO MAKE ME CRY WHAT THE HELL

even Kacchan has gone soft. meanwhile, is somebody cutting onions in here or

(ETA: also, Kacchan really has been promoted to best friend status, hasn’t he? or co-best friend at least. Shouto really does value their time training together, huh. “spending time with these guys.” anyways so this officially is the TodoBakuDeku arc, sorry everyone I don’t make the rules.

also! I really love how Shouto’s character development has been all about him finally figuring out what it is that he wants. one way or the other, Endeavor has been the focus of his life since childhood. everything he did was centered around him, even when it was centered around defying him. it was still always him, and never Shouto. because he’d been raised as his father’s tool, he struggled with feeling like anything he achieved was just giving his father exactly what he wanted. so he never really had the freedom to strive toward his own goals until Deku finally broke him free of that mindset. it wasn’t until he was surrounded by others who shared the same dream he’d once had that he was able to move past the toxic part of that resentment. not to say that it wasn’t justified, because it was! and is, still. but all the same, it was hurting him at least as much as it ever hurt Endeavor, if not much more so.

so I really like the message his arc sends here, which is that forgiveness is not so much for the benefit of the one who hurt you as it is for yourself. and that’s obviously not the right word for it, by the way -- “forgiveness” -- but it’s just a placeholder for lack of a better one. because obviously as we can see, he hasn’t forgiven him, but what he has done is put that part of his past behind him. for his own sake, for his own peace, which he deserves. anyways guys Shouto is so fucking strong and I love him so damn much. shit.)

“y’all didn’t think I was gonna put the Terrible Trio together with Endeavor and not follow through on it with piles and piles of Todoroki angst,” Horikoshi says, casually filing his nails with one eyebrow raised. “c’mon”

here it comes y’all

ain’t no force on this earth more dramatic than a Todoroki. did he somehow get a wind blowing in from somewhere. aren’t they indoors

loool Endeavor getting DRAGGED LIKE AN UNTIED SHOELACE in front of these kids he just met two seconds ago, oof. “don’t forget dad, just because I’ve mellowed out a bit and accepted that I need to learn how to use my fire side doesn’t mean I don’t still hate your guts because BOY DO I.” oh damn

so your kid is justifiably pissed at you for your decade and a half of abuse, not to mention annoyed that you’re just putting it all behind you now and acting like it never happened. but it’s not like it’d make things any better if he just went back to acting like a jerk with these new kids! so here we all are, with no easy answers for this situation. what’s a 45-year-old man trying to make up for his past sins to do

(ETA: boy I just took a stroll around the ol’ fandom and a lot of people have really strong feelings about this huh. the most common sentiment seems to be “YAASSSS SHOUTO”, which I can 100% get behind. but it seems like a lot of people are also angry that Shouto is in this situation to begin with. specifically, we have the usual faction of people who are upset that Endeavor is getting any kind of redemption arc at all, and would prefer if he remained eminently hatable and shunned and detested for the rest of his days.

and look, I get it. humans are hardwired to want things to be fair. we want karma. kindness should beget kindness, and cruelty should net you the same treatment in return. reap what you sow. and while some crimes occasionally fall into a grey area, it hardly gets more black and white than Endeavor’s case. not only is there the child and spousal abuse, there’s also the incredibly dubious consent issues that arise in the case of an arranged marriage. like, there’s really no question that what he’s done is bad. so to see behavior like that “rewarded” by his becoming the number one hero, and to see people actually admiring him, and to watch him taking steps to turn his life around even as his wife and children struggle to gather the shattered pieces of their own lives -- yeah, that’s gonna trigger something in a lot of people. because it’s not fair. he hurt good people who didn’t deserve it, and all of this makes it seem like he’s getting away with it.

but here’s the thing -- there are different types of penance. there’s punishment, but there is also atonement. and Endeavor is getting his just desserts in some ways -- by being forever denied the chance to reach the goal that he worked his whole life toward, and by finally developing a conscience, the better to fully experience the remorse of knowing the pain he brought about to his family. but what’s arguably more important than that is that he also has the opportunity to try and atone for some of the terrible things he’s done, by doing good in the world now. he is a hero. his job is to help people. every day he is making the world a little better by doing that. and that, to me, is such a fascinating idea: a terrible person doing good things. and it’s something that feels almost counterintuitive, and that’s part of why a lot of people have so much trouble accepting it, I think. but it’s a fact of life, isn’t it? if good people can do bad things, then it stands to reason that the reverse is true as well.

and I’ll just come right out and say it -- for me, if it comes down to a choice of having someone be punished, or having them be forced to do good things to atone, I’m gonna go with the latter just about every time. because while it may not feel quite as viscerally satisfying, it’s the option that produces the greatest net benefit for the world. without Endeavor, the world would have one less person out there battling evil. and as I suspect we’re going to continue to see in this arc, there are other, subtler ways that he can still do good as well.

so yeah. it’s a tricky thing. but to be honest, the ability to explore this type of complexity is one of the things I respect the most about Horikoshi’s storytelling. he’s not taking the easy way out here. he’s not giving us easy answers one way or the other. no matter what kind of resolution we get to this character arc, it’s not going to be something that will satisfy everyone. but that’s just how it is. anyways, apologies for the rant.)

hmmm Endeavor

yeah you really read that one wrong. anyway I guess it’s your turn to make a speech now

...

classic Endeavor

(ETA: actually truth be told, that was quite eloquent, and pretty much the only thing he could have said in response to all that. it’s not like he can even begin to justify all of his actions, and pretty much anything else that came out of his mouth would have come off like an attempt to dismiss his son’s feelings, or him trying to weasel out of taking responsibility. there is pretty much nothing else he can say here except for “I understand. that’s valid, and I fucked up.” which this is pretty much acknowledging. anyways this whole chapter is basically the sequel/continuation to 192 and I’m loving it omg.)

so he says he’ll watch over the three of them as a hero, and lead them in hero stuff

oh, I wasn’t going to post this panel, but now Endeavor’s saying “those are the three fundamental skills sought after from a hero” so I guess I should, huh

ooh he says that generally heroes will choose to specialize in either rescue or battle, but his policy is to kick ass at all three. well that’s one similarity between him and All Might, at least. if you’re not here to both win and rescue then what are you even doing with your life am I right

damn there really is a reason why this guy is the number one huh

okay, like. not to knock like 99% of the other heroes out there, but is anyone else sitting there thinking “wow, finally someone competent” or is it just me. like, I really do get a sense of “he’s got it all under control” from him which is lacking with pretty much all of the other heroes. no wonder society is on the verge of being in shambles. what we really need is for all heroes to be this capable, and not just All Might or Endeavor or whoever happens to be the current number one

okay, Endeavor is really out here being a genuinely good mentor, I’m speechless

holy shit

-- WHAT, NO! ARE WE ALREADY DONE?? WHY

okay but I do love that, though. it’s a perfect goal for them. difficult, but not impossible at the rate they’re growing. and it also just so happens to be something that they need to be able to do if they really are going to be the shoulders that society is resting all of its hopes upon. and last but not least, it’s something that all three of them will be able to set their minds too gladly. kick this old man’s ass, kids

anyways. ladies and gentlepeople this chapter was only thirteen pages. shortest chapter we’ve had in a minute. but at least it was densely packed! even if Shouto took up like half of it with his Daddy Issues Speech. that’s okay Shouto we always welcome your daddy angst

all in all I am satisfied. character development, and finally a clear goal for the arc. though part of me would also love it if they manage to achieve this in like the very next chapter. you never know with these wunderkinds lol

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha 247 #endeavor #todoroki shouto #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha meta #makeste reads bnha #well here I am back from six flags at 1:30 a.m. and ready to rant about bnha in the middle of the night #I guess technically speaking it's not *that* late #in tumblr time anyway #anyway my bad sorry guys!

129 notes · View notes

scarlettlawyer · 5 years

Text

Part 8 of my reaction/commentary to the Phantoms & Mirages fanfic series by @renegadewangs

(Chasing Phantoms): Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

(Haunted Specters): Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

(Vanquishing Mirages): Part 7

Vanquishing Mirages, Chapter 11

“Phwwh- that’s kind of hypocritical, you know. You aren��t following your own advice either! Can’t you at least pretend to be a nice guy?” “… Like this?” He allowed a smile of his own to dawn on his face. The most genuine smile he could produce, because he knew exactly which muscles to use for it. It put an odd pressure on the corners of his mouth, on his cheeks, on his eyebrows. His features weren’t used to showing emotion and struggled against it.

Okay anyway, wow… The Phantom and Mirage flashback scenes are affecting me way more than I think they did the first time around? I’m actually getting so upset. They’re making me so sad, which they DIDN’T on 1st readthrough. Because Mirage really cares and the phantom just – arrrgh. I just want Mirage to be happy. I just want her to be happy.

I think because the first time around I’d read the phantom’s lines flatly, seeing and expecting nothing, as is the reality – with the full knowledge that him saying things like “how are you feeling?” contain no real substance. And then when Mirage would jump to interpret them positively it would just make me adore Mirage and go “aww cute!”

But this time around I’m somehow a damn fool stupidly falling for the same trap? I’m suddenly eager to read SOMETHING into what the phantom says only to be nastily swatted away, not remembering the exact contents of their conversations. So when he said “how are you feeling” this time I was like AWWW HE’S ASKING THAT MEANS SOMETHING RIGHT?! (And expecting it to be not commented on, as a nice subtle little narrative touch that he cares MAYBE A LITTLE? JUST A LITTLE? CAN WE HAVE THAT but no, we can’t.) Only to read on and find Mirage asking after just that. And getting SHOT DOWN. Ouch. I WILL SIT HERE AND FEEL A LIL SAD AND STUPID NOW. For once, Past Me had things more correct than Current Me.

“I think… maybe I’ll volunteer for a mission in America too. If the superiors will let me go.”

I think this line even caught ME on the first time around. (And moreso on this time around because I just HAPPENED to be in a sentimental state when reading it). IT’S THE ELLIPSIS. THAT DAMN ELLIPSIS. If it weren’t for that I would have read it as flatly as intended I just. HNNNNGH.

“Right, right. Then… Maybe I’ll see you later, Teach.” “Good luck, Calisto.”

Couldn’t find a picture of a crying cat to properly suit my emotions. You are spared from crying cat for now.

Then again… Perhaps she had no idea what she was doing. Perhaps desperation was driving her to reckless behavior and she could no longer apply proper logic. How shameful.

This man still sees fit to sit up on his little high horse…

He allowed the other Interpol agents to grab him and lead him from the room. At the moment, there was nothing he could do to stop Mirage. Her eyes were on him, after all. They followed him until he moved through the doorway and rounded the corner.

AAAAA

Only got eyes for you, phantom.

But bro for him to know this he was looking at her too. He has more reason to be looking at her of course. But this is just an extended few moments of them staring at each other sdkndsknldslk ~They locked eyes with each other from across the courtroom…~

Imagining this is just…!

“Whoever said anything like that? Just because I pin a murder on a guy and get him the death sentence doesn’t mean I want to kill him.”

xDDDD

I’m HOLLERING at how great this is. How WILD it sounds. You better believe I took this part of the sentence and sent it to one of my friends without context on first readthrough, it’s just too good not to

“Agent Shi-Long Lang holds the keys to my handcuffs, isn’t that right?”

[…]

“Uh… Yeah, he does. If you need more freedom to use your hands, I could go ask him to unlock them for minute.” “There’s no need. I can make do with this.”

When I read this I was SUSPICIOUS. I was like. No. He asked for a reason. He wouldn’t just dismiss it like that would he. It’s BECAUSE Lang has them that he brushes it off. He wanted to see if he could get them off Bobby without fuss. I WAS RIGHT.

A few more clicks and turns of the watch’s dials, then the Phantom halted his actions. “Bobby Fulbright, for what it’s worth coming from my mouth, I apologize.”

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH

I APOLOGISE

!!!

Him apologising in and of itself is kinda huge though.

Bobby didn’t understand what the Phantom would need to apologize for. Not until a small needle popped out of the watch’s face. He didn’t have time to move out of the way. There wasn’t even any room to dodge in such a confined space. The watch was thrust towards him and the needle pierced two layers of fabric to touch his shoulder. He wasn’t sure what happened next- what exactly it’d done. An electric jolt, maybe. Something strong enough to knock a person out cold instantly, because the next thing he knew, a pair of hands was shaking him back into awareness.

THIS WAS S O FUNNY TO ME BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE

THERE’S THIS BIG BUILDUP – THERE’S BEEN THIS HUGE BUILDUP RIGHT? OVER THE COURSE OF THE WHOLE LAST FIC PLUS THIS ONE SO FAR

And when the phantom is like “I need you to trust me” it feels like a poignant moment! Bobby takes the plunge! He makes that hugely important decision to place his TRUST in the phantom!

AND THEN IS IMMEDIATELY BETRAYED

And I just love it. It’s kinda hilarious. It INSTANTLY blows up in Bobby’s face.

Character development or no, huge buildup or no, the phantom is still the phantom ;D I just can’t get over this it’s such a huge moment like – if this was a TV show or whatever it would be played as a bait and switch to the best of the medium’s abilities. The music would swell. The camera would focus intimately on the phantom’s face and then Bobby’s face in turn. Bobby’s slight expression change – his expression softening - as he makes that decision to trust. To trust. And then in the blink of an eye it’s just – betrayal. AHAHAHA

Bobby’s eyes widened in shock. He whirled around to get a better look at the car. The door to the back seats was open and it was empty. The Phantom was gone. The Phantom was gone and Bobby was the one who’d given him what he’d needed to escape…!

THIS WAS ALSO SUPER HILARIOUS TO ME BECAUSE??? THE PHANTOM ESCAPING. AGAIN. I can’t believe… honest to goodness it almost felt like a running gag at this point with the sheer amount of times it had happened. As if this series is just a bunch of “the phantom escapes captivity in a series of increasingly creative and convoluted ways” ahahaha. I WAS LAUGHING

You have his initial breakout in Chasing Phantoms. You have his hospital escape, you have his escape from the human trafficking cell… and now this. It just felt like a hilarious amount of escapes and I was loving every minute of it. Like, I couldn’t even remember how many there were I just knew there’d been a LOT. Enough for me to joke to myself about it being a running gag.

Vanquishing Mirages, Chapter 12

“Now you’re just putting words in my mouth. Shame on you!~”

Was so interesting to see the actual inclusion of a tilde to demonstrate the playfulness of her tone! AND. I’m just gonna. File this away. For Later Review Post reasons. 👀

It was a shame that Bobby Fulbright hadn’t been trusted with the keys for them. It was a shame, but considering how naïve the man had been, it’d save Interpol at least some face.

OUCH!

“[…] You think Shi-Long Lang will just send you on your way as if you were a friend departing on a vacation?”

This has gotta be like my third read of this chapter and I’m only now noting it to myself but huh! That’s, I guess, surprisingly creative phrasing for him as opposed to complete flatness and directness.

She looked hesitant for a moment, then closed the distance between them. Raised her free hand to his own shackled wrists, her fingers stroking down to the skin of his lower arms. Peered up at him with innocent, pleading eyes. Just behind her, he could see Simon Blackquill’s gaze darken at the gesture. He drew away from her touch, as he’d always done.

AAAAA

Okay.

So.

Here’s what I thought was going to happen around this point when the phantom said “leave it to me” and he and Mirage started plotting: I thought that, somehow, Blackquill was going to escape/get rescued (not by the phantom) – I obviously didn’t think Simon was going to be killed. Something – some outside force was going to intervene and stop that from happening.

But I also thought that Mirage and the phantom were successfully going to escape together, even if not everything was going to go exactly to plan for them, they would escape nonetheless. I was like oh wow… oh wow… they’re gonna be able to get away (somehow)…!

And that, then the next fic (pfff reading through blind here, I didn’t know how long this fic was or how close/far I was to the end!) was going to be about the search: tracking down Mirage & the phantom, who would now be stuck cooperating, however temporarily. (I think maybe? On some level my mind knew there was a “Tracking Ghosts” fic ahead and had just skipped over “Lifting Spirits” as a title entirely and/or blurred the two together. IT’S WORTH NOTING that for the vast majority of reading through this series, I didn’t know how long it was and/or how many instalments it actually had. Going into it, I knew it was long and that there was a fair bit of separate fics, then “kinda” forgot along the way. During Haunted Specters I figured it was a trilogy. And then during this fic I thought there was only four. I was just reading through chapter by chapter after all – not taking full note of the overall picture.)

So, that’s where my mind went in those moments of reading: Mirage & the phantom escape, next fic is centred on a) our main cast’s desperate search for them and then apprehending them, (yknow the usual) and b) getting to see some awesome Mirage and phantom interactions in the process during their POV segments. AND c) the phantom still on the run and trying to function, but being forced to come to terms with his small character development that he’s managed to make up to this point. Also his trying to keep on functioning with the debilitating knowledge of his identity actually revealed now and how he copes with that too.

Of course this largely glosses over things like the phantom’s severe headaches and the fact that he wants to be put out of his misery and escape them… But these were once again temporary thoughts that flashed through my mind when in the process of reading this chapter.

And with those theories I came up with on the spot in mind,

For a… For a wild bit of time here as well, I kinda thought the series would lean right into an uh, Phantom/Mirage direction… I mean… C’mooon… It’s called Phantoms & Mirages… Partnered right there in the series title…! That alone kind of made me feel like it may be an obvious choice if you HAD to pick a… hah… pairing to go with. ‘Cause the title. I mean I wasn’t expecting anything to truly come of it perhaps, but in terms of taking that direction, what I mean is purely in terms of subtext and shiptease that would stay underneath the surface. That would be clear as day to the audience, but would remain in an unrealised realm canonically. Or at least, become MORE prominent than it already was through their flashbacks and such… heh. (Also to be clear, I’m saying “because of the title” because I figure the series “Phantoms & Mirages” was named in retrospect after the fact, meaning… if it became the most prominent ship teased… it figures that would be the name of the series? XD)

That’s at least what I thought at the time! Not necessarily the direction I wanted for the series or would personally go with. I didn’t necessarily ship it either, but if the narrative wanted to give it a shot, I was still willing to read it and see where it would go. Well I was way more invested in Mirage on this second readthrough, so, weirdly enough, I found myself just outright shipping it EVEN WITH the full knowledge that it was 100% not gonna happen, neeeeever gonna happen. If anything, the full knowledge that it wasn’t gonna happen is what made myself don shipping goggles anyway ahahaha.

So I’m sitting here reading, momentarily thinking that Mirage and the phantom were gonna be running off together, and that things were leaning spyshipping…

Before the narrative went LOL nope

And then just went full phantomquill.

And then there was Simon Blackquill himself. Despite all the cruelty and the persistent investigations into the Phantom’s supposed true self, the notion of killing Simon Blackquill…- the notion of Simon Blackquill’s life ending… It hurt. It hurt his chest and it hurt his head. He whirled around, the barrel of the gun pointing at Mirage’s chest instead. She recoiled instantly, shock spreading across her features.

My brain, in like ten seconds flat:

And by “phantomquill”, look, I don’t mean romance or anything explicitly shippy or whatnot. You can put any spin you want on the duo – familial or WHAT have you. Phantomquill need not require actual “romance” in my eyes. It merely warrants the two characters having their lives intertwined and some kind of connection, having some kind of pull between them, whatever form that connection or pull takes. The both of them having SOME kind of influence over the other beyond mere hatred. The hatred and everything is there, but there’s ! A tiny little bit of something else too, whatever that something else might be. That’s one of the huge draws of phantomquill. This whole setup and the ensuing scene(s) are peak phantomquill to me – if it doesn’t constitute phantomquill. Then I don’t know what does.*

*(JUST GONNA LEAVE A LITTLE. ASTERISK HERE. DON’T MIND ME. I MAAAAY (see: will) BE RETURNING TO THIS IN FUTURE WITH A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENT DEFINITION OF PHANTOMQUILL, SO UH – DEFINITION SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN FUTURE REVIEW POSTS…! But for now, for now, this is the definition I’m working with in this particular review post. The definition I was working with.)

“No!” She was beginning to look frantic, now. Pained and dismayed. “I’m on your side! I killed Lex Luster for you! That old son of a bitch- I punished him for you!”

I was kind of really of mixed feelings over Mirage on 1st readthrough around here cause like. Her saying this + her behaviour following did soften me up a little but at the same time. I WAS STILL KIND OF MAD AT HER BECAUSE LIKE? WAS this all just a game to her? Some kind of game to her? She’s the one who claims to have some kind of “investment” here in his best interests, right? But like. Does she really not realise just how much the revelation of the phantom’s identity felt like the very end of the line for him? He wanted to die. He had given up. He stopped eating and he – he was willing to die. He would have rather DIED. But Mirage, you ensured he was kept alive. You prolonged his suffering. You did that to him, YOU forced him to cross what he perceived to be an uncrossable line. That just feels super cruel! She made him suffer so much and now she’s claiming things like “I did it for you”! I was torn between, as I said, being softened a bit but also still being like WHAT THE HELL MAN?

The fact that she thinks they can just run off together is like – how much had something like that been part of her plans prior to this point? Did she have full knowledge that he was refusing to eat, watched the way he broke down (on more than one occasion), his intense suffering over the impending identity revelation and the aftermath, ALL of that, and seriously, SERIOUSLY think they could patch things up after so brutally crossing the line with him?! That he would even be in any state to, considering how it impacted him? How he had to be put on life support? Arrrgh, Mirage what are you doin girl! She planned to break him out or whatever, she says? Still planned to “look out for him” after all of that? Look out for what? As far as he was concerned it was all over. Did she not see that?

These were my primary thoughts but, there’s always some vagueness when it comes to interpretation, I suppose. The extent to which she might be spinning things because she is being held at gunpoint. The extent she might have either a) not realised the seriousness of the identity issue and therefore viewed the situation(s) way too lightly OR b) she may have been absolutely aware of how serious it was and using it to full advantage… he was utterly breaking, BREAKING and she knew that and went with it anyway. Because at least she was exerting power over him or something. Or maybe both. Or maybe despite knowing how serious it was she figured he could bounce back. He would disagree and yet, he still has the ability to conduct himself mostly normal which can in a sense be defined as “bouncing back”.

Also, also. There are some other things about this entire scene that can be interpreted in slightly different ways. How much of the phantom’s actions are fully premeditated throughout the whole scene vs on the fly. Let’s see… One wonders with what intent he entered to speak with Mirage with. Was he always planning on helping to free Blackquill? I doubt it, but that was the pretense with which he had Bobby free him. Did he ever plan on actually cooperating with Mirage? Or had he been planning on betraying her from the start? Perhaps he ultimately planned to shoot both of them. To wipe out two of his enemies, two birds one stone, and it’s simply that his subconscious would not allow that. Well there are a couple of lines we can examine for this.

“You’re right.” He gave a light nod of the head. “If you hope to fix the unsteady situation you’ve created, you will stand back and allow me to take over.”

So is this all just part of a ploy aimed at getting her to hand over the gun? Or is he actually considering cooperation to escape with her at this point?

Despite seemingly considering the matter, there was still an air of suspicion to it. She didn’t quite trust him just yet. He couldn’t blame her for that. He could only make it so she did trust him. He needed her to trust him.

Does this imply that he means to betray her from the start? That he needs her to trust him even though such trust would be misplaced?

Then she stepped aside, leaving him face-to-face with her hostage. He slid the gun around his palm until his index finger found the trigger. …Finally.

I definitely read this as him fully planning on shooting Blackquill, right here, right now. There is a chance it might be “finally got the gun” but nah. Nah. He wants to kill that man, on a conscious level. Doesn’t he?

For a split second, he considered validating that very same suspicion. He considered taking advantage of a possibility that’d likely never present itself again. To put a bullet through that skull and end Blackquill’s miserable life once and for all.

This might… Imply that he wasn’t actually planning on shooting Blackquill originally, but upon getting control of the gun like this, the thought then does cross his mind to actually go through with it. I don’t think this is the correct reading, but it’s fun to point out nonetheless!

So when he whirls around to face Mirage… What’s going on? Is he sticking with his original plan to turn against her? Or is he actually turning against her purely in the moment? Did he plan to shoot Blackquill and then Mirage, and skips to Mirage in this moment because he found shooting Blackquill to be too difficult for him…?

IF the phantom had been 100% planning on shooting Blackquill from the start, or, regardless of whether he originally planned to or not, if he had actually gone through with it in that moment wherein he considers it?

That casts a whole new shade of light onto him apologising to Bobby earlier on – of his betrayal of Bobby in escaping. That would be unbelievably huge and unbelievably devastating. Simon Blackquill would have died as a consequence of Bobby trusting the phantom – a trust that resulted in the phantom’s escape. The phantom’s “for what it’s worth, I apologise” would mean absolutely nothing. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. A completely worthless apology, because Bobby would have lost Simon. Betrayal in the highest degree. It means that Bobby would have trusted the phantom, and then the phantom would have gone right ahead and just shot Simon in response anyway. Was probably actually PLANNING to do just that.

For the record, my reading of the scene is, he didn’t have any intention of freeing Blackquill, and that most of his actions during this scene ARE spur-of-the-moment

She was the closest thing to a friend he’d ever had. His hand began to shake. Another headache was building- one that was much stronger than before. “Do not shoot,” Simon Blackquill’s voice reiterated through the pain. He was faltering. He was faced with two of his greatest threats, the both of them defenseless, but he couldn’t bring himself to harm either of them.

He was more broken than he’d assumed up until now. …He must’ve been broken.

THIS KILLS ME. THIS ABSOLUTELY KILLS ME. THIS IS GENUINELY HEARTBREAKING – HIS OWN THOUGHT PROCESS IS GENUINELY HEARTBREAKING BECAUSE HE JUST FAILED TO KILL TWO PEOPLE AND HE THINKS THAT ACTUALLY MAKES HIM BROKEN. He truly believes that. I cannot get over how sad that is, that their lives have been spared and he thinks that is a bad thing – a sign that he is DAMAGED, somehow.

He saw Mirage move and his first instinct was to prevent her from reaching the weapon, but she wasn’t going for it. She darted straight for the door. He couldn’t stop her.

I feel so sad because she’s just. Running. Getting the hell away from him. Because he just tried to kill her.

All in all, though. This chapter – and the next one – are god tier. They are just god tier.

Vanquishing Mirages, Chapter 13

Just thought I’d let you know, it’s around this point that I sent my friend this message:

Ahahaha. I just couldn’t DEAL with how great it was! Really! Like, it was causing actual overload, hence the “stop! Stop!” xDDD. Like, “It’s okay! It’s okay! This has already proven to be awesome beyond words! You don’t need to do any better than this, I promise! I may not be able to take much more greatness!”

Were it not for the Phantom speeding out the door without a second thought, Simon would’ve considered offering to break the chain tying the man’s handcuffs together. Then again, perhaps leaving them like this was for the best.

IT CERTAINLY IS FOR THE BEST SIMON. Doing that would noooot have ended well. We’d certainly have no Lifting Spirits, that’s for sure D: It would be Bye Bye Phantom!

Vaguely, he wondered just what sort of a physical state the man was in right now. He hadn’t properly eaten in two weeks, surviving only because Interpol had forced him to, and whether his shoulder had fully healed or not was another matter entirely. In a way, the Phantom hadn’t been well since February, because whatever chance at a complete recovery was cut short in one way or another. It was a miracle he was capable of running at all.

Man I loved this being noted cause it really goes to show just HOW… I don’t even know the right word… (persistent? Difficult to defeat?) that the phantom is. This guy can really just keep on going despite EVERYTHING ahaha. Legend.

There was only him and imminent danger, and then, all of the sudden, there was fluent cursing from nearby. The section of the walkway that the Phantom was lying on had tilted towards the street as well.

“fluent cursing”…

His shackled hands were raised over his head but were unable to reach anything to hold onto. He was slipping towards the abyss that lay below Simon. Slipping towards that same death that Simon was fearing for himself.

I felt so in the moment reading this. I could well and truly imagine the level of danger – the panic. I could barely look away from reading because this was just. Whoa. Life or death stuff going on right here.

He wouldn’t let the Phantom fall. Not again.

BRILLIANT TO LINK IT BACK. TIE IT IN PERFECTLY WITH THE GUILT THAT SIMON FELT. BRILLIANT. THIS ENTIRE SCENE IS SO GOOD. SO GOOD. I WAS HANGING ONTO EVERY. WORD.

There’s not even anything I can add or say about this whole scene, this whole dynamic of Simon holding on and the phantom protesting. It’s perfect.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Peak Phantomquill. When I think about phantomquill. Scenes like this one are exactly what I think about. It’s the pinnacle. You don’t get better than this. You just don’t.*

*Terms and conditions apply.

And then the “Fool Bright”… is the killing blow. It just kills me. With how GOOD IT IS GOSH THE EXECUTION OF THIS WHOLE SCENE IS AMAZING.

Through the dim of his mind- of what little emotion had seeped through- a desperate little voice had cried out for help. It hadn’t cried out in exact words, rather in feelings. His subconsciousness, perhaps. ‘I’m here,’ it had said. ‘I’m right here. Find me.’

You know what this made me think of?

‘Please come back,’ the voice had insisted. ‘Don’t leave me like everyone else has. I’m right here. I’m in pain and I’m right here.’

FEELS

Vanquishing Mirages, Chapter 14

“Fulbright! Don’t just…-!” –stand there with your mouth open as if you were attempting to catch insects? That wasn’t quite the right command to give. Too many words. “Help!”

Omgg

“What’s foolish about it? Rehabilitation is the best kind of justice! Criminals atoning for their misdeeds by helping others… It’s a much better fate for them than execution, don’t you think?”

So at this, I kind of just narrowed my eyes again once more and went “no, no, don’t you dare, story. Don’t you dare. He needs to die, remember? SO MAKE SURE HE DOES…”

BUT AT THE SAME TIME… This whole flashback segment with Simon and “Bobby” was nothing short of sheer brilliance. I couldn’t help but be impressed by it… If there was ANY way to introduce this rehabilitation concept into the story, to just throw it out there – this was it. So I was still in defensive mode, absolutely, and I was still fighting against it, but… The writing of the flashback scene is just so good that I kind of crossed my arms reluctantly and went, “WELL… I… I SUPPOSE I’M LISTENING? JUST A LITTLE?” How could I not grant the story at least a small little platform upon which it could make its case… For me to at least crack one eye open in attention… Even though, for all intents and purposes, I still absolutely wanted and believed it was necessary for the man we call the phantom –– to die. To be executed.

Anyway… also, the scene of Bobby and Simon holding onto each other, and the phantom… is so wonderful. I hope they stayed like that for minutes.

They sat there until the Phantom stirred in his hold. The movement managed to kickstart a semblance of Simon’s awareness and his hands released the spy’s shoulders. Even so, the Phantom didn’t push away from Simon’s chest. For a good fifteen seconds, he didn’t even speak. And then the words finally came. “Prosecutor Blackquill…”

Oh wow… OH WOW.

He became even more aware of just how closely the Phantom was pressing up against his chest and felt his brow furrow in dismay. Bobby said nothing.

Okay all I’m gonna say is… this is kinda… really funny in the sense that… Bobby’s perception of this situation and Simon’s perception of this situation are uh, VERY different.

“Wait! I’m not ready! I’m not ready to die! Wait! Let GO of me! ”

Oh goodness… Oh goodness… He’s not… He’s not ready to die anymore either… Which also changes things.

Vanquishing Mirages, Chapter 15

Ted Tonate and LaSoote go so well together – FIT well together, now that you mention the whole dismantling-designing thing. And I loooved their interactions when disassembling the bomb.

Vanquishing Mirages, Chapter 16

Bobby hesitated for a moment, not quite meeting Simon’s gaze. “… There’s more.” “More?” “I asked Athena and… She said that birth defects count as extenuating circumstances.”

Me: HMMMMM NARRATIVE. NARRATIVE. I THOUGHT WE TALKED ABOUT THIS…

Simon didn’t like where this was going. Not one bit. With that, his feelings on the matter didn’t seem quite so trivial anymore. “Fulbright. Whatever line of thinking you’re attempting to follow, I suggest you abandon it.”

IT’S SO WILD TO ME HOW CONSISTENTLY ALIGNED I AM WITH SIMON’S POV FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF THIS WHOLE SERIES. Like. I barely need to say anything because Simon’s POV this chapter already has it all written out for me.

This whole line of thinking was so optimistic that Simon was sure it couldn’t be done.

The entirety of Lifting Spirits – (even the title is optimistic sounding!) – is just. The entire thing feels so optimistic and idealistic and – and it’s a thing that actually happens and it’s all so lovely and waaaah. We’ll get there. But yes, I, too, was sure it couldn’t be done. idealism & optimism way too off the charts.

Vanquishing Mirages, Chapter 17

To see whether a man who prided himself in having ‘no emotions’ would step down from his pedestal and become like every other mortal.

I LOVE THIS SENTENCE – THE WORDING OF IT – so so much you don’t even know. Like this is one of those sentences – one of many throughout this series from your writing – that was just left ringing in my mind well after I’d finished the chapter.

If Simon had thought the Phantom looked bad during the last trial day, it was nothing compared to this moment. Dark lines were set under his eyes, which were scrunched shut in some sort of lasting cringe. Simon was sure it was the regained memories that were to blame.

>:D hehehe…

It was Fulbright who ultimately broke the silence with a half-hearted attempt at a cheery disposition. “Hey. How are you feeling?” “Leave.” The Phantom didn’t bother to raise his head or even open his eyes. He uttered a single word and it was that.

When I sent my friend this snippet, she had such a perfect response to it that there’s nothing better I could possibly come up with, and with her permission I’m posting it here:

Oh my god… I’d totally forgotten about the phantom just taking it upon himself to roast them all in turn in this scene… It’s soooo good. This whole dynamic, of people – of characters being invested in someone who does NOT want it, who actively REJECTS it – just the whole image of anyone wanting to help the phantom and his SEVERE rejection of it is SO much fun.

“No one should have to ask. We were…” Bobby trailed off, unsure how to finish that sentence. “Worried?” The Phantom asked in a tone of voice that seemed almost spiteful.

Sdkjbdakjadkj BLESS THIS FIC.

I just, love the scene. It’s very good. I know I’m just a broken record of saying “I love this” at this point, have been for a while, but it’s because it’s TRUE.

… The person sitting before them could be someone. “Who he will be from now on is a dead man,” Simon began, once again earning him a mean scowl from Athena.

OMG I ACTUALLY LAUGHED AT THIS ON THIS READTHROUGH

Anticipation seemed to rise as the Phantom rocked himself back and forth in a calm pace. His face was still hidden behind his hands, fingers ruffling his uneven locks so forcefully that they might as well become entangled in a mess of frizzed blond. When at last he spoke, it was so quiet they could barely hear him. “Do you really believe it? That someone like me could still become human?”

THIS IS…….. DARE I SAY IT……… C-CUTE……

I’m calling him cute and you can’t stop me

They couldn’t predict what sort of effect removing the bone sliver would have. Even if the doctor was sure the procedure was safe, brain surgery was a tricky thing. It could just as well leave the Phantom paralyzed. Or perhaps the system responsible for emotions was damaged beyond repair after all this time.

Ohh I’m glad this is taken note of here, because I felt like the surgery was being portrayed as a little too easily straightforward a little closer to the fact in the narrative!

The Phantom drew one more ragged breath before responding. “Then… I will try.”

AAAAAAAAAA :D

Also just also. Wow. Can’t imagine how it went when Palaeno went in to visit him afterwards. xD

Here’s… the thing? During Haunted Specters, things like Bobby’s behaviour towards the phantom was odd and FUNNY. Fun to think about. And the dynamic certainly is still pretty amusing, but… There was some kind of tipping point along the way. A tipping point that was passed way prior to this point. It’s… kinda less of a joke now… Bobby’s caring behaviour is well and grounded in the story, in the setting… The “liminal space” left behind, discarded long ago. And Athena by his side with the same mindset…!

So, continuing on, we

[glances at the next chapter]

AAAAAAAND THAT’S ALL WE HAVE TIME FOR TODAY FOLKS.

S-see you… next time…!

#long post

5 notes · View notes

bostonboy · 4 years

Photo

Freeze Your Brain | In Conversation with Cooper Anderson

Sit down with our Westerburg High ‘cool guy’ and find out all the gossip from inside Heathers: The Musical, now running at The Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles.

_____________________________

Firstly, I have to ask, what’s your favourite number in the musical?

Without a question, I gotta choose Seventeen. It’s a phenomenal number. I get to stand on stage and watch Brie crush it. I just chime in every now and then with a few lines but she owns that song. [Oh yeah, she’s incredible as Veronica Sawyer] Right? It- It’s just so good. I’m a sucker for good harmonies and my job is easy, I’ve just got to keep up with Brie during that scene--- Honestly, I have the most fun on that song because there’s plenty of big belt notes which I love to hit. I just love the energy this scene creates. Veronica has such hope for this poor guy and is just like “dude come on, let’s just go be teenagers,” but yeah, JD isn’t that easy to deal with.

What was your audition process like?

Uh, well, heh. This has been sort of in the works for a long while. I took some time off earlier this year and well- uh. I got a call from my agent who was so excited that I barely caught the beginning of her sentence. She was just like “Cooper, you have to take this role, it’s incredible.” I should probably point out she’s a huge fan of the musical anyway. [So you took the role for your agent?] Ha, well, somewhat? I mean I’d been debating what to do once I returned to Hollywood. I’ve dabbled here, there and everywhere and when she said that I sort of just stopped and was considering it like .... yeah, yeah y’know what? I really f-in miss theatre. It’s such a rush. So I did a few sort of readthroughs with our amazing director to see if we had anything to work with here. [Turns out you did] Hah! Fortunately for me, yeah. So we were sat there with this amazing show, my dumb ass and a great director. I had some friends in theatre who I could recommend for other roles but we were stuck on Veronica. I’ve always been a huge believer of just putting open calls out and seeing what oppourtunities you can give to people. [Were you at the auditions?] Yeah, yeah I wasn’t there for the first ring of initial casting. I actually had a meeting that morning in the building across the street, our director text me and was saying how well it was going, so I just dropped by. Spent six hours there reading lines with all these amazingly talented women and there was just something about Brie, so we got our Veronica.

Now the musical centres around high school, what were your high school years like? Where did you attend? Were you the jock or the cool kid?

Hell no. Man you’re opening old wounds, haha. I grew up in Newton near to Boston. I went to Fenway High School. I wasn’t tall enough for football so I definitely wasn’t a jock. I did play soccer when I was in kindergarten but I wasn’t really into sports. I was the guy that was either in band or in the music rooms or drama department. I was already becoming established in the industry at that age, which was really weird. My Mom kept me in a public high school and I was told I had to manage both my career and school life. I was more the drama and music nerd, that’s where my love was in school.

Did you have a nickname in High School?

Yeah, Little Man. I was really short as a kid and had a loud mouth. Some of the seniors dubbed this little asshole with that name when he was trying to square up to them. Thankfully they just accepted me as a source of humour rather than throwing my ass in a locker. Which I saw plenty of growing up.

How has it been playing JD? How would you describe him?

Absolutely fucking insane. He’s so much fun to play. I go full psychopath in Meant to be Yours. Listen to Jamie Muscato- who by the way is incredible on the cast album, then think how much fun I get to have with that number. [Oh I know, you looked like you were having a blast] You saw it? That makes me so unbelieveably happy. It’s just a lot of screaming and gasping for breath, by the end I’m clawing for breath on the floor. I think it’s such a beautiful representation of the chaos in this poor kid’s mind. Dont get me wrong, he’s an absolute maniac but also he’s just been dealt such a bad hand in life. He lost his Mom, he’s got no friends, he’s been to like ten high schools, his father is good for nothing. Then the love of his life just walked out on him. He’s having a pure mental breakdown in this scene and the composers Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy really nailed that. [You have a lot of fun with all the energy of that song] Yeah he goes quick, slow, I also love how the beat runs and I can just play with it. Our conductor is a legend, he let’s me run that scene at my own pace.

How has backstage life been at The Dolby Theatre?

Nothing but smiles and good vibes. I won’t have it any other way. The cast know the drill by now, I call by every person before show time, I’m always one of the earliest on the call sheet. It’s jsut good to go by all the dressing rooms, see my friends. I love calling in a makeup, they- heh. Fun fact, I’m incredibly ticklish so even though I have the least amount of make up in the entire cast, I’m a nightmare to put in the chair. Another fun fact, they have to airbrush my tattoos so when my coat rides up my wrists, it doesn’t show them. I’m used to that, I played Elder Price who has short-sleeved shirts. I just can’t cope so I have a set time, they get me done in twenty minutes then practically throw me out of there as fast as they can. Wardrobe are great too. I just go in and complain that I’m too hot in that coat all the time. I request if JD can have a summer vaction look as we are in Los Angeles. That request hasn’t been fulfilled quite yet. It’s just fun, everyone get along. Most of the time I’m in my room on the PlayStation or I’m doing my best to irritate Brie.

You have ten seconds to plug whatever you want.

Only ten? Wow, okay. No pressure. Please check out two charities I hold really dear to my heart. St Jude’s Children’s Hospital and Mind. They’re both incredible charities that do amazing things. There’s more information on my website if you forget those names between now and then- look I’m well aware this is over ten seconds- can you guys link them below or something? You can? Awesome. Yeah. That’s all I got then. Thank you for having me.

----- Catch Cooper Anderson playing JD in Heathers: The Musical -----

#[interview]

0 notes

spockandawe · 7 years

Text

So you’ve heard Spock is the actual literal devil

Have you heard that I’m a terrible person? A plagiarist? Have you been told that I’m only into transformers at all because I wanted to make this one random guy unhappy? If you’ve been told that, you’ve probably also been told that a year and a half later, I’m still making fanworks just to upset him. You might have even heard that shhhh, don’t disagree with Spock on anything, or they’ll hunt you down and harass you.

Right, okay. This is one hell of a saga that I will attempt to tell in as compressed a form as possible. It’s a lot. Years ago, back in HS, there was this one guy who policed the hell out of one of the character tags. I’m going to call him C. He’d pressure people not to make the content they were making, decry the hateful people reading with a malicious eye who thought the character would ever do anything bad (the character was a creep). And because being obnoxious wasn’t bad enough, if you didn’t cave to his demands, he just might do things like start whisper campaigns about how you support rape, casually out you as a survivor, cute little things like that.

This is not a story about that guy.

This is a story about C’s one-time attack dog, eventual boyfriend, and current ex. We’ll go ahead and call him R. I’ve tried real hard to avoid namedropping on my blog before, but could people find him from this? Probably. Have I stopped caring? Absolutely.

TL;DR, unsubstantiated accusations of serial harassment are a little questionable when they’re coming from someone with a years-long, extensively documented history of serial harassment and a personal grudge against me.

Cut for length.

Edit 7/2/2017: R has posted that he regrets making these posts about me, and admits that he said things that were out of line. And he’s stated that he’s going to try to do better in the future. I genuinely, truly appreciate that. I’m leaving this post up because there have been lies about me floating around for a while and I reserve the right to defend myself, but I really do appreciate that.

Oh balls, none of this makes sense without backstory (I’m so sorry)

If you think I suck or my work sucks, that’s fine! You do you, go enjoy the things that make you happy.

If you think I’m the devil because this one guy told you about my evil, evil past and all my terrible misdeeds, without anything at all to back up his words? You can ask me. I don’t bite, and oh lordy do I have receipts.

To be clear, R is totally allowed to hate me! I don't care. I don't care if he hates my writing, I don't care if he hates me as a person. But now he's escalated to spreading lies about me, and people are believing him, and I’m not enough of a doormat to let that just stand.

And I’m going to cheat a little. Here’s a memo with the cliffs notes version (not the original memo, I made a copy with C’s urls cropped out since he hasn’t attacked anyone in a long while). Warning, digging any distance into this turns up violent fantasies, violent sexual fantasies, creepy interactions with a minor, and lots more, it’s all really, really unpleasant. Evidence is thoroughly documented, please tread with care.

You would not believe how truncated that is compared to the reality.

Now, the worst of this came via C. Who has calmed down a lot these days, and I’m really happy that’s the case. Good for him. I hope his life continues in a direction where he doesn’t find it necessary to do this stuff.

Lucky for me, R was standing by to pick up the slack.

It doesn’t show up as much in the memo, which is mostly C-focused, but R was standing by C this whole time, defending his right to spread around private information about someone’s abuse history, sending nasty messages on the other guy’s behalf, and much,much more. it’s long, it’s awful, it’s unpleasant. R personally hurt people in some significant ways that I don’t want to link directly, for their sake. He expressed deep remorse a few times, but it never stuck.

Here’s my personal favorite quote from R. He’s speaking to the CSA survivor that C casually outed (with information given to him in confidence), and who they’d been running a long, long whisper campaign against, and who was understandably a bit upset over the whole thing:

oh go wank to your own tears [name]

#and get your sympathizers to help #nasty fucking people #maybe if you cry enough youll be able to go into second grade in the fall #ooc

Said, again, to a CSA survivor they outed and harassed. That person is such a sweetheart, and this screencap still infuriates me.

The first time I saw C pick a fight he had lots of friends. Shockingly, as he did things like loudly fantasize about how he wants to mutilate people and rant about how autistic people should die, those friends mostly drifted away. I know one person had a friend even help them stage a faux relationship-ending fight, so they could be sure they’d be able to completely cut and run from C. R stuck with him, though. Eventually they even started dating.

‘Spock followed R into transformers to harass him and stalks his favorite characters just to harass him more’

Then, transformers. Here, let me show you the first post (by R) that ever brought MTMTE to my attention. I spent years being aggressively uninterested in transformers, but this caught my eye

and honestly, ppl (adults too!!!) shipping someone who has the mentality of a child and is quite glaringly lacking a world of experiences and general understanding of things outside of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, with an adult, is just. very alarming and gross to me.

and honestly, the fact that there is a large portion of people who want him to become romantically (and sexually!!!) involved with either one of two fucking adults in canon, and hell, esp those defending it with ‘hes an adult too tho!!’ is really gross.

you can pretend all you want that hes ‘an adult’ because his body is, but theres no way jro didnt intent to code him as a child. stop fetishizing children lmao,

#pedophilia -/-/- #cygate -/-/- #if someone comes at me screaming ‘rule 38′ im gonna shove them in a locker

I didn’t know transformers, but I was pretty sure this was some straight-up bullshit.

(but don’t worry, he ships it now! no hypocrisy here, no sir)

It’s “really gross” to ship this adult with other adults. Mm. Given the reasonableness of the claims these guys have made in the past, and given their extensive history of harassing people over those claims, I hopped to the wiki to check it out. I read a bit about the comic and the plot, and all of it sounded so fascinating that I just had to give the comic a try.

Reader, I married it.

I shotgunned MTMTE 1-47 in two days, started doing fanworks right out of the gate, and I’ve never looked back. A lot of my art was cygate, because come on, the comic wants you to ship it so bad, my first readthrough ended with issue 47, and that was the first ship I’d ever read about for the series, even before I dove in.

Now, both these characters punch me right in the heart, in some painfully personal ways. Tailgate’s the more relevant one here, but I don’t even know if I could do justice to the emotions both of them give me.

I’m still not a fan of how R’s lies about me have edged me into needing to say this in public, but okay. I’m developmentally delayed. It’s been a rough ride. And Tailgate hits me in some of those spots so hard it just takes my breath away. I’ve got a lot of baggage over not being a real adult, and not in the funny oh-no-how-do-taxes-work way, more like an extended months-long meltdown my first year of college because I can tell that my friends are years ahead of me and I don’t know how to even start catching up, and just existing, as myself, is humiliating.

All of my relationship milestones have come painfully, painfully late. The whole thing is still one awful emotional bruise. I hate it, and I hate how easy it is to convince myself that yeah, of course you don’t actually deserve to be treated as an adult and you never will. Just look at you. So then it is unbelievably important to me that I can see someone someone who is like me, being treated as a legitimate adult, and being able to have an adult relationship.

Hearing that shipping someone like me is essentially pedophilia is the opposite of that.

But he ships it now, so everything is fine :)

Yeah, you know what? Another fucking receipt.

uGHGH im so tired of all the rabid cy// /gat// //e fans like even cy’s giving em a look like ‘leave my fucking child alone’

#i just #im hoping jro has some taste tho and doesnt make an adult date a child #and if not im hoping the outcome blows over soon bc im so tired of seeing people defend pedophilia #pedophilia -/-/-

Parental.

This continued even after JRO explicitly confirmed Tailgate was an adult.

Bonus ableism: shipping Whirl (another character who hits me way too hard) isn’t okay either. Even though there isn’t the excuse of ‘but he only lived three years--’ No, at that point, you’re saying that an adult who fails to adult correctly does not count, and isn’t allowed to have romantic relationships. It makes my skin crawl, and it is an issue which is very personally and directly important to me.

So some of my cygate was porn from the start (it’s what I write. it’s what I draw.), and some of the porn was made because I was upset over discourse that says someone like me needs to be treated as a child. I played with cywhirlgate too, because omg how could I not, and some of that was porn as well. It was ages ago, so I don’t remember the details for every little thing I made. But when I saw someone saying that Cyclonus and Tailgate had a parental relationship, I’m sure that helped nudge me in that direction. Maybe R thinks I should have channeled my emotions by starting a whisper campaign to exclude him from fandom spaces. But I think my way of working through bad emotions might have been a little healthier than that.

So when R accuses me of making cygate content to spite him? Half true. Just true enough to be real fucking dishonest. R spent a nice long time insisting that cygate was pedophilia. I channeled my outrage over that ableism into fan creations.

I didn’t attack him. I talked about him some – on a private forum, with people who’d already been aware of him and had been watching him and C hurt people for years, plural. I haven’t told people on tumblr any real details about him until now. And R still is happy to talk about how it was his toxic ex’s right to post torture/rape/murder porn vent fic about actual people.

Tell me, how exactly am I in the wrong?

Bonus pettiness: I posted some cywhirlgate porn. The next day, R vaguely whined about robot pedophilia and turned around and wrote some obviously-a-response cywhirlgate. Where it was super platonic and the text explicitly said it was super platonic and it even had platonic thigh nuzzling. With two “children” involved. Of course I turned around and wrote more fic of my own, because jesus h christ that made my skin crawl. You want to play this game? I guarantee I can write faster than you, let’s do this. (he did not follow through on that)

I’d also like to say that forgetting inconvenient little details like this is a thing with R. Hard to call me terrible for writing spitefic when you write it yourself.

A history of Spock’s personal involvement

Let’s backtrack a tiny bit. You may notice I am up to my elbows in this nonsense for no clear reason.

I was friends with some of the people C was taking shots at, and I was unfortunate enough to believe his original smear campaign about that one artist (I’m still ashamed about that). I cared about a number of people C was trying to hurt. I think one or two fanworks of mine upset him, but he already had loads of targets. I kept tabs on him and R, because anxiety is the gift that just keeps giving.

Eventually, C fantasized about wanting to put my former datemate’s hand through a meat grinder (ey wrote a fic that portrayed his fave in a negative light). And R defended his right to do that.

The person he posted about is still feeling the effects of that incident. I’m still feeling the effects of that. And it wasn’t even directed at me, just someone I care deeply about.

R has recently posted that ‘oh my goodness, C sure was awful, remember when he posted this thing about a meat grinder and how unreasonable it was?’ Thanks buddy, glad you noticed, now just go ahead and keep on blaming me for the aftereffects of what your boyfriend did, and what you defended.

After that, it was months before I could properly look away from either of their blogs.

C posted extensively about trying to track down the street address of his ~enemies~ (including the one whose genitals he fantasized about mutilating). He posted about how autistics should die. He had skype chats about wanting to do amateur brain surgery on people. All while posting very often about finding real addresses.

Yeah, it’s more than a year later, and every so often I get a stab of anxiety and have to head off to double check on what these two are up to.

I will repeat that C has been pretty chill lately. He’s got a career he’s aiming for. Good for him, go find success, please don’t slip back into being an internet bully. It’s sad and upsetting to see R echoing some of the early patterns of his ex, and it’s so strange to see me labeled as his own personal enemy.

‘Spock will totally come harass you too’ and/or various accusations of ableism

So there are some things I did in the mix in this history that I regret. Occasionally, I went out and flipped through the blogs of C and R’s friends, seeing if maybe they’d had said something in their notes, did they have any vagueblogs C liked, did they post about— It got unreasonable. I admit that. Anxiety was at the root of it, but it absolutely got unreasonable. And also it is a massive time sink, and I can’t remember the last time I bothered with it. I enjoy life much more when anxiety and paranoia issues don’t have their claws in me. This hasn’t been an issue in a very long time.

I came down hard on some of the kinfeels and system stuff too, which I do walk back a bit. C’s approach was… hahaha. It was something. And he was my intro to the kin and system paradigms. I saw R talking about C’s approach being unreasonable too, pretty recently. So that was an unfortunate bit of poison in how I processed the next people I met who did that sort of thing. I don’t do kin stuff, but I get it. And DID may not strictly apply to all systems, by the formal diagnostic criteria, but I’ve learned there are plenty of other dissociative disorders out there. And I met people who were multiples and who did kin things that weren’t these two guys. Which helped a LOT.

But the big one, hmmm. C wrote a fic. The idea was interesting, but the execution frustrated me. Everyone but the main lead felt so… flat. Everyone was constantly cruel to the main, for no reason. I saw a way to riff on the original text while staying true to its shape, and writing my bad emotions out is also a major, major thing I do to cope. Now, my big thing is that I should have asked before I remixed. I’d been thinking in terms of, y’know, transformative fanworks. Even with authors like Anne McCaffrey and Anne Rice, who fought against fandom, people have still felt that it should be allowed, even against their wishes. So I wrote the remix. I gave full credit on ao3 in the ‘inspired by’ box, linked to the original with positive words, the whole shebang.

The guy was still furious, and… that’s fair. I thought I’d written a thing on self-sabotage that was pretty sympathetic and compelling, and the self-sabotage actually drew a lot on my own personal history. But I gave the main flaws he strongly disagreed with, and I didn’t ask for permission. I get why he was/is angry over it.

I’ve been a fixture on their shitlists ever since :P

It’s remarkable, even while R posts now about ‘oh my god, remember how C wrote the creepiest things?’, I’m still the one who’s the the actual worst, for being skeeved out by the creepy things and finding a constructive way to deal with it. R’s controlling ex gets full freedom when it comes to vent fic, even when it’s about wallowing in torturing, raping, and murdering an avatar for a real person (the original one they harassed!), or punching someone in the face until they agree to be your friend (another artist these guys targeted). But R’s position seems to be that only C is allowed to vent (even if it’s genital mutilation fantasies), and I’m definitely not.

Oh, and R has now expanded this remix into me totally having a consistent pattern of stealing ideas and plagiarism and so many remixes that are obviously done as revenge on anyone who pisses me off. So that’s nice.

So R hates your writing. Is that seriously why this post exists?

Ha, no. Let’s look at the concrete things R is saying. Here, let me post a little sampling of evidence.

These aren’t just things he’s shouting into the void, people have responded saying wow, I never knew that! These are lies that people are believing about me. And then yesterday, June 30, 2017, he warned a friend not to disagree with my meta, or I’d come harass them. A friend I’m aggressively leaving out of this, just as I’m leaving out other responses, because these people don’t deserve to be dragged into R’s bullshit.

Let’s have bullet points. Some of these are the silly spock-is-bad-at-writing complaints. Those are here because this whole mess is pretty fucking depressing and the ridiculous claims make me laugh, but these are all things he says.

Spock is evil – You know what, he’s not calling people pedophiles, which is a step up. I’ll take it.

Spock is a plagiarist – I remixed one fic with full credit, said only good things about the original, and linked to it in extra places so that people would have extra opportunities to click through and check it out. I arguably remixed inappropriately, but that’s not the same thing. Words have definitions. If I’m a plagiarist, so is everyone who’s ever written a fanfic.

Spock is something something mean when people disagree – I don’t even know, man. I’m actually shockingly conflict-averse. Is this because I make walls of text and explain why I hold opinions at great length? I enjoy talking about a thing I love. I’m autistic, I’m hyperverbal, and this is my special interest, so is it that I talk a lot? That’s the best I can do. I’ve talked about things I disagree with on a private forum, in which case mister pot has had a lot of fun in public on twitter, not only talking shit, but also spreading outright untruths. Maybe he wants to rethink this one.

Spock will come harass you if you disagree – You need to back the heck down, pal.

Spock’s meta/fic/characterization is bad and they should feel bad – Hahaha, fite me. He won’t, because I can articulately defend myself at significant length, and his criticisms seem to stop at ‘spock sucks’, but hey.

Spock used ableist language about Whirl - I... what? This one confuses me and makes me laugh so it stays here. Also, holy double standards, batman.

Spock is only into transformers to harass R – I checked out transformers because I was pretty sure R was being disgustingly ableist (he was). I stayed in transformers because I adore it. I had to adore it a lot to make me willing to share fandom space with these two. My god, I have better things to do with my life than spend all my time on something that bores me just to annoy one asshole on the other side of the internet. I’d ask if he thinks I spent dozens of painstaking hours cross-stitching Starscream just to bother him, but….. yep, pretty sure he does.

Spock goes after all of R’s favorite characters to upset him – R latches on to just about every interesting and/or sympathetic character that shows up. When he was dating C, they covered most of the cast between them. I don’t care who R likes best because I don’t agree with his opinions. I tend to stay away from his opinions because I don’t like reading things that bother me. This is asnine. I’m only allowed to like the characters R despises, I guess.

Spock makes fanworks for things R likes just to make him see them – Oh my god, I don’t caaaaaare. I write about things that interest me, unless I’m venting. Say, venting about the way R and his ex have deliberately hurt a shockingly high number of people I care about. ‘Spock made rodistar because I liked it--’ I made it because I wrote a thing about their parallels, and shipping was the obvious next step. R isn’t that important to me. Promise.

This is just exhausting, man. The anxiety bugs had been dying down, and it had been ages since I checked out this guy’s anything. C, who drove the whole initial blowup that led to this, has been quiet and chill on tumblr. But R has learned from his ex’s old example and has been having fun spreading lies about me.

In conclusion

Some fun history.

R was 18 when he told a CSA survivor upset about being outed and harassed to wank using their tears for lube.

He was older than that when he defended C’s right to post about wanting to mutilate someone’s genitals (for the crime of saying C’s logic didn’t make sense).

He was older than that when he complained about that person’s spouse being ‘vicious’ for reacting badly to C’s genital mutilation fantasy.

He was older than that when he nodded along as C called autistic people retards and said they should die.

He was older than that when he talked about being happy that someone he disliked was triggered, and nodded along when C fantasized about that person drinking bleach.

And he was older than that when he defended C, his twenty-something boyfriend, against the thirteen-year-old that C had been having incredibly inappropriate conversations with, despite skype log proof and everything.

And despite all this, I’m still the bad guy, because I didn’t think what they were doing was okay. I’m the bad guy for being upset by C's actions, even though... R is now upset by C’s actions. The ways I responded to C were inexcusable. My only motivation is to hurt people. Every thing I did that ever upset them still means I’m terrible, even though R is saying this while he’s busy posting about how awful C is. And this all means that he needs to warn his friends not to catch my attention, or I’ll come harass them.

So, I’m tired.

I’m very tired.

I’m glad he’s trying to grow past that history. Good. Maybe he can do that without making up a story about how I’m unrepentant villain who lives for villainy and who only takes joy in causing him pain. I’m sure it helps him, because it’s a story that brushes aside the shit he did that he regrets, and makes his past less painful to think about. But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with him telling lies about me.

I don’t know why I’m the one boogeyman he has left (I kid, it’s because I’m in transformers, and because he thinks I’m popular. he harps on it a lot, and it’s weird for everyone). I mean, whatever. I’ve aggressively avoided publishing drama details on here for a very long time. But there are two blog tags, miscellaneous other untagged blog content, three forum threads, and hundreds of pages of skype logs with hard evidence of this bullshit.

I’m pretty sure that if he tries to defend himself, one, he’ll place some blame on his ex. That’s fair. C was pretty darn controlling and demanding. But R is still absolutely responsible for his own actions, and is especially responsible for the harm he personally caused. He’ll talk about how it’s bullshit to pull up all these receipts from so very long ago. In that case, his receipts for me (whatever he even has) are equally old, so aren’t they null and void? No, because Spock is the devil. And it’s not so much bullshit if he’s clearly learned nothing, and has gone back to spreading outright falsehoods about people.

To be clear, a lot of the lies he told about me were told a while back. Weeks to a few months to a year. I was letting it sit, because I’d really, really hoped this was over. Yesterday, June 30, 2017, he warned a friend not to publicly disagree with my meta or I’d come and harass them.

It’s been three years since I first saw him doing this. I’ve watched him hurt a lot of people, and I’ve watched him admit, multiple times, that he has hurt people. I thought he’d learned to stop following these toxic patterns. Apparently he has not.

Edit 7/2/2017: To repeat the edit up above, R has said he regrets posting these things about me, and that he's going to try to avoid slipping into this in the future. I very much appreciate that.

#drama tag #abusaa tag #tw: all #i can't list them all it's too many #just tread with care

117 notes · View notes

makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 244: Have You Read This Book

Previously on BnHA: Deku visited his mom on New Year’s Eve and was all “here’s a new letter from my ever-expanding fanclub of adorable preschoolers whom I saved from trauma” and Inko was all, “I’M SO PROUD OF YOU IZUKU I FEEL LIKE I DON’T HAVE TO PROTECT YOU ANYMORE” because she doesn’t watch the news at all or keep track of ominous plot developments I guess. The next morning, a.k.a. New Year’s Fucking Day, while other kids their age visited shrines or sat at home watching TV, Izuku, Shouto, and Katsuki were bussed off to go be child soldiers at Endeavor’s hero agency. Katsuki was all “HEY ENDEAVOR YOU’RE KIND OF A DICK,” and Endeavor was all “SHOUTO IS THIS VULGAR AND PUGNACIOUS YOUTH REALLY YOUR FRIEND” and Shouto was all “TOO LATE DAD, YOU SAID!!” and Endeavor hmmphed and booked it out of there and the kids all followed him and there was this old dude with a beard floating around screaming about END TIMES!! and Hawks was there and, what?? Seriously does anyone actually know what’s going on?

Today on BnHA: Endeavor chases down the old man (who may in fact be an actual prophet, though? Horikoshi what games are you playing) and sets him on fire and tackles him and it’s all very violent. Hawks then appears out of nowhere and breaks up BakuDeku’s tag team effort all “SAVE IT FOR THE MOVIE YOU TWO!” and is then all “hi Shouto” and “hi, you must be Midoriya, Tokoyami told me all about you, I wanted to work with you too, BUT -- [stares off angstily into the distance].” Then, because I forgot that Hawks never shuts up, he’s all, “Hey Endeavor have you ever heard of this book, ‘Paranormal Liberation Front’? Don’t let the really dumb-sounding title put you off, it’s actually a rousing tale full of hidden clues about all the bullshit I’m actually up to. I highlighted the relevant portions if you can’t be assed to read it, well anyways, Hail Hydra.” “Well that was a strange conversation,” Endeavor thinks to himself as he stares uncomprehendingly into the void. Sob someone please help them why are they so bad at this oh god.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity immediately afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.)

so thanks to that little stunt Horikoshi pulled two weeks ago, our chances of finding out Bakugou’s hero name any time within the next dozen chapters are slimmer than ever. probably he’ll reveal it at the end of the arc instead. it’s like he doesn’t even care about the databook. whatever I’ll have plenty of time to sulk more about it after I get to readin’

anyway the title of the new chapter is “Recommendation”, so... actually that does sound fairly promising, though? am I just eternally doomed to get my hopes up? is this referring to Shouto pestering his dad to take on his two best friends as fellow interns? what’s going on here

anyway so we’re opening with this

I love that it’s the two supposed goody-two-shoes kids who are actually being vocal about blatantly disregarding Endeavor’s orders. Shouto is just not having it to begin with, whereas Deku at least is trying to rationalize his own reckless behavior. Katsuki meanwhile is too focused on doing this fancy kick move to switch his suitcase from his left hand to his right to bother talking right now. reminds me of him playing with the soccer ball as a youngling

also the fact that his case is number 17 and Deku’s is number 18. have I talked about this before? I think I have but it was with some other numbered thing. anyways love the symbolism of him trying to stay one step ahead of him and Deku always being right on his heels. or maybe I’m reading too much into it but anyways rivals, yay

damn Endeavor is really determined to get ahead of them though

uh oh Horikoshi how much action did you pack into this chapter. starting to run out of time to finish all your panels again huh. you had a whole extra week! how fucking insane is this arc going to be holy shit

anyways Endeavor way to leave your brand new interns behind minutes after meeting them for the first time smdh. this is exactly how it went down with Hawks and Tokoyami

okay so like, I know a flash fire is an actual thing, but for a second I started wondering if in this kind of context (with him speeding off), it might also be a reference to the DC hero. then I remembered that the name of Endeavor’s technique is different in Japanese and the pun probably doesn’t translate. ah well

anyways dude is fast. but I wouldn’t count the kids out yet, they’re all pretty fast too!

so now we’re back downtown with Old Man Doom And Gloom, and oddly enough it seems that this isn’t actually an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence?

fucking quirk society. you guys are just so desensitized to the most bizarre fucking things. but I guess we in the 21st century are hardly ones to talk ourselves sigh

anyway now he’s being a bit more extra than usual and they’re starting to worry

?? the fuck is that? that sure as hell isn’t Hawks or Endeavor lmao. IF IT’S SLIDIN’ GO I SWEAR TO GOD

or wait, is it still the old man talking? should I actually be paying attention to his ramblings, my bad

is that a fucking Spirit Bomb

(ETA: in truth this is the most badass attack name that has ever existed or will ever exist and I should give it its proper due actually.)

so now I guess he’s hurtling it at them??

...hold up one sec

“revelations from the universe, I have received. flee, flee good citizens. the Dark Lord’s lips curl into a wicked crescent” -- holy shit, this all tracks?? IS THIS DOOMSDAY CRACKPOT MOTHERFUCKER ACTUALLY RIGHT ON THE FUCKING MONEY HOLY SHIT. ARE YOU A WITCH GOOD SIR. DID YOU WRITE A BOOK OF HIGHLY ACCURATE AND DEVASTATINGLY WITTY PROPHECIES BY ANY CHANCE

“the end is nigh! the wicked stars are conspiring against us! we must stop them! the earth is on the verge of being engulfed by darkness! flee, my fellow citizens! I am the one who shall destroy this source of darkness! be revealed! servants of the dark lord, come forth!”

okay listen. if he’s aiming this fucking thing at Hawks, though, after a speech like that? fuck it, I’m a believer. I’m sorry old man, I wrote you off without a second thought and here you are being the only one who’s actually like “HELLO!!!? PEOPLE!!!? THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS!!?! THEY HAVE AN ARMY!!? AND NOUMUS!??! FUUUUUUUUCK”

and I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but those are some legit-ass universe revelations. fucking even talks about the “Dark Lord” specifically only describing his lips. because he doesn’t have anything else to describe nowadays, face-wise. shit that is spooky

anyway so that sure was unexpected. let’s see what shenanigans Master Roshi here is gonna get himself into next

did my boy just get fucking flashfired. jesus Endeavor show some fucking mercy

...

someone want to explain to this man the concept of a proportionate response? anyone? ...

fucking Todorokis I swear to god. if they weren’t all so good at being amazing superheroes, they could easily fall back on a career of being dramatic bitches for hire instead

anyways when did Endeavor change his clothes. this dude was wearing a turtleneck and slacks thirty seconds ago. did he literally just burn them off. how. what. fucking plot holes left and right

lol imagine if like on the next page the interns finally catch up and they’re like holding his fucking jacket and looking peeved

-- holy fucking shit, Endeavor

not cool, dude!! what the fuck. this isn’t a fucking Noumu for fuck’s sake THAT IS A HUMAN PERSON

(ETA: I guess he ended up being okay, but shit, for a moment it looked like we were going full blown Raiders of the Lost Ark over here. anyways the moral of this story is that Endeavor is terrifying, fuck.)

so now of course Nostradamus is trying to get the fuck out of there, because if he sticks around Endeavor apparently has no qualms about burning him alive. fuck me Endeavor, I’m still rooting for your redemption arc my dude, but tbh if Dabi happens to pop up out of nowhere here looking for some revenge I’m not gonna say no to it right now. quit burning people alive!!

so now 12/21/2012 is zooming down an alley and Endeavor is zooming after him and telling some extra with a sword to stay and lead the evacuation

oh??

Endeavor have you flown yourself right into a trap?

oh my god what the fuck is this

it’s like Dabi VS the Liberation Army all over again. fucking check all these motherfuckers who apparently want to get themselves deep fried. this one guy really thinks he’s going to clock the Number One with a piece of fucking PVC pipe

LMAOOOOO

LOOKS LIKE WE GOT OURSELVES A RUCKUS, BOYS! you better believe I have the Powerpuff Girls theme song playing in my head right now

-- !!!

HAWKS!! I WAS STARTING TO WONDER IF YOU REALLY WERE THERE TOO OR IF THE PANELS IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER WERE DELIBERATELY MISLEADING

LOOOOOOL

pour one out for these poor sobs who somehow got themselves caught up in an accidental pincer attack between the dynamic fucking duo and fucking Angry Bird here. where the fuck is Shouto btw. or is he the one that got stuck carrying Endeavor’s jacket

loool look at Hawks out here making friends

SURPRISE BITCH

oh my god though you guys look at this??

HELLO SURPRISE NEW FAVORITE SERIES OF PANELS, CAN I JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO LOVE ON YOU A BIT HERE, BECAUSE

1. Bakugou and Deku IN PERFECT SYNC, not even thinking about it. just effortless. that was an amazing tag team thing you guys had going on before SOMEONE stepped in and ruined it all omg. do you want me to talk to Hawks for you. I’ve been meaning to discuss some other things with him anyway so it’s not like it’d be going out of my way. can you believe this fucking pigeon blocked my number. WHERE IS JEANIST YOU BASTARD

anyways 2. “I thought Endeavor might have been in a tough spot” that’s a funny way of saying “I was lonely and missed my angry arson dad”! and fucking look at this ridiculous bantering between them. “did it look like I was in a tough spot?” I FUCKING CAN’T YOU GUYS PLEASE STOP

and 3. Shouto just watching. is he impressed by his dad? or just trying to figure out whether Hawks is his dad’s adopted son or boyfriend. I’m pretty sure it’s the former, Shouto, but I don’t blame you for being confused, Hawks just has that kind of energy with everyone

oh my god

somebody arrest this man. I can’t fucking deal with your cheeky fucking face Hawks

is Skeptic getting all of this?? are they sitting there with bowls of popcorn back at the League of Pliff HQ trying to figure out whether Endeavor and Hawks are dating

...and shit, I just realized the League officially knows now that the disaster trio is interning with the number one. so that’s fucking great. not that it would have been a secret for long, but still, things are officially starting to get real. in hindsight, after the Kamino arc we had a nice long stretch of chapters in which Deku, Kacchan, and Shouto were not in immediate danger from the main fucking villains, so that was nice while it lasted I guess. those days will soon be behind us

ahhhklkljkl

fucking shit Hawks could you be any more ominous. oh my god this arc really is going to kill me

so now we’re cutting away to somewhere. Pliff?

-- oh, nope, still in the same place, we just fast-forwarded to the part where the police came to haul all the bad guys away

and now the manga is being all clever and foreshadowing-y and would you look at this

BUT IS HE TALKING ABOUT ENDEAVOR, OR HAWKS omg. or hell, he could even be talking about Deku. or AFO even though he’s not actually there. point is, you know he’s not actually wrong. but what is he actually trying to tell us ahhhhhh Servant of the Stars please reveal your secrets

(ETA: in all seriousness you guys, I’m fully down for counting this as a prophecy. it’s already canon that future-seeing quirks are a thing, so. the only problem is that this is some Game of Thrones-level ambiguity as far as who he’s actually talking about. it seriously could be anyone. anyways at least we’ve got some shiny new theory material to play around with here so that’s nice.)

LMAO

HAWKS YOU BASTARD, JUST LIKE THAT I’VE FORGIVEN YOU FOR THE FUCKING JEANOCIDE

how does every single person Deku meets not greet him this way?? I sure as hell would. “well if it isn’t the kid who just. fuckin blew up his own hands on live television, multiple times. salutations”

anyways where’s Katsuki, the boy whose previous hero mentor you murdered in cold blood but he doesn’t actually know that yet. when are we gonna start in on that?

Hawks says he’s heard about Deku from Tokoyami. and he even says he would have liked to work with Deku too, wow. that’s high praise

ffffff here it comes, THAT GOOD HAWKS ANGST. WE WERE WAITING FOR THIS BUT IT’S STILL BRUTAL GAH

is this entire arc just going to consist of Hawks saying cryptic things with double meanings known only to him and then glancing sideways at the camera all broodingly omg

AH, THERE HE IS

Katsuki’s natural instinct to dislike 100% of newcomers on sight might work out to his advantage here. Hawks’s maxed-out Charisma stats VS Katsuki’s middling Perception stats which nonetheless have a tendency to land high whenever he performs an ability check! I might need to back off from this metaphor though before it becomes really obvious that I don’t actually play D&D

lol

omg Endeavor can’t a guy just drop in on his grumpy pal out of the blue to make sure he’s doing okay without having some sort of ulterior motive? why are you so sure that Hawks showing up means that plot must be happening. because you’re not wrong, is the thing. but he’s probably just being standoffish for show

holy shit and now Hawks is just pulling out the Liberation Army’s book just like that?? IS HE ALLOWED TO DO THAT

(ETA: “let’s see, what’s a subtle way I can try and clue Endeavor in on the fact that I’ve become an undercover agent in the Paranormal Villain League of Liberation Front Armies. ... ...shit I’m not good at this.”)

and since when was this book called “Paranormal Liberation Front”?? did they change the title to match the new name?

and what’s Hawks’s game here, though? is he going to play it as though he’s secretly investigating Pliff? you know, like he actually is doing? is this some kind of hiding in plain sight thing or what

guys. is Hawks just... actually really bad at being a secret agent. omg

so he’s all “DESTRO’S IDEALS ARE EVERYTHING WE COULD ASK FOR” and lol what. fucking look at Endeavor’s face though

this motherfucker could use a boost of his own wisdom stats, fff

(ETA: swear to god he’s two seconds away from a Katsuki-style “hah?!”)

oh my god

fucking fuck me. he better have highlighted a really obvious section of that book, because otherwise I’m not gonna hold out hope for this message getting across at all. at least we know what that “recommendation” title was referring to now I guess

(ETA: Endeavor: [reading the highlighted section backwards] “‘‘it’s fun to smoke marijuana’!? what in the --”)

loooool

the fate of the world now rests upon Endeavor’s abilities to See Underneath The Underneath and somehow decipher that when Hawks says, “ENDEAVOR I CHASED YOU DOWN IN ORDER TO GIVE YOU A COPY OF THIS BOOK THE VILLAINS WROTE, I THINK IT’S REALLY KEEN AND YOU SHOULD CHECK IT OUT”, what he’s really saying is, “ENDEAVOR I NEED YOU TO INVESTIGATE THIS SUSPICIOUS ‘LIBERATION FRONT’ THAT’S BEEN COINCIDENTALLY GATHERING A LOT OF ATTENTION SINCE THAT SHADY INCIDENT IN DEIKA CITY WHERE ‘TWENTY GUYS' BASICALLY DESTROYED AN ENTIRE TOWN. IF YOU’RE TOO DENSE TO PICK UP ON ANY OF THAT, I HIGHLIGHTED THE RELEVANT PORTION OF THE BOOK SO HOPEFULLY EVEN AN OBLIVIOUS DUMBBELL LIKE YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT.” jesus christ

at least Endeavor now has some nerdy interns who fucking love to read. hell, Deku has probably already read the book. please help this dumb jock to understand his bird son’s coded message, Deku-Wan Kenobi, you’re our only hope

and that’s the end of the chapter! except that I heard there was a new poster for Heroes Rising that was released as well! how come it wasn’t included here now I have to go hunt it down

son of a bitch is this really the best quality that’s available? damn

well all right. not really much going on here that’s a big revelation or anything, aside from the surprise inclusion of Hawks in the upper right hand corner. did we know he was going to be in this? and like, even if the anime does make it as far as his debut in season 4, will it have reached that point by the time the movie premieres in December? glad I caught up beforehand if they’re gonna start spoiling things like this

so that’s all she wrote for this week! databook is due out next week so that should be fun! we’re finally going to get Hawks’s real name from what I understand. so I can start yelling at him using his full name like a disappointed mom. I have a feeling that’s going to come in handy a lot during this arc. go to your room young man

(ETA: and just watch it be the Japanese equivalent of “Judas McMurder” or some shit. smh. y’all. we stan a shady bitch.)

118 notes · View notes

makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 204: Chintetsu

Previously on BnHA: Shouto left Endeavor on read. Team TodoIidaShoujiRo attacked Team TetsuHonePonySen head-on, hitting them with a wave of ice and freezing them all in place. But it turns out Honenuki’s quicksand quirk is actually a “softening” quirk which can soften anything he touches. He used that to melt the ice to allow his teammates to escape. It also turns out that he had pre-treated some of the surrounding area with his quirk, and Ojiro and Iida came crashing down from their hiding spots shortly after as the softened ground gave way beneath them. Sen attacked Ojiro with his drill quirk while Pony took on Shouji. Meanwhile Tetsu went for Shouto, realizing a direct attack was his best bet. And Honenuki trapped Iida under a layer of the softened ice, but then made the mistake of rehardening it, intending to keep him stuck in place. Instead, Iida blasted free with his Recipro, revealing that he’s built up his endurance to the special move. So now we’ll see if he can take Honenuki down.

Today on BnHA: We get a wholesome Iida flashback to when Tensei explained how to upgrade his Recipro by -- wait, what? Mutilating his own fucking leg?! Holy shit. That’s not wholesome at all. What the fuck. But anyway, it worked I guess because back in the present day Iida is zipping along at speeds faster than Gran fucking Torino, and he’s able to maintain this speed for up to ten whole minutes. The only downside is that he can’t fully control himself because he’s so goddamn fast and so he keeps skidding around. Anyway, so Honenuki is like “nope” and gets the fuck out of there. Meanwhile Sen continues to whoop Ojiro’s ass, but then Iida shows up to save him so yay. Elsewhere the Tetsuroki fight has heated up, quite literally, as Todoroki activates his left side to create a wall of fire, and Tetsutetsu proceeds to walk right through it and attack Shouto as a red hot steel man. Shouto thinks back to his dad’s training and decides that the solution to this is clearly to make shit even hotter, so he starts up with that, and the chapter ends.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 223, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

ohhh my god

IIDA FAM FLASHBACKS!??!

AHHHHH

EXCUSE ME IS THIS THE FUCKING FUTURE OR NOT?? CAN WE GET IIDA TENSEI A FUCKING HOVERCHAIR HERE PEOPLE? IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK. IF ONLY HORIKOSHI WAS AT ALL FAMILIAR WITH MARVEL COMICS -- OH, WAIT

but seriously though. also he’s supposed to be rich too isn’t he? c’mon

also! Iidamom looks exactly like I expected her to. welcome to our canon full of other awesome moms, Iidamom! a few more moms and I’ll be ready to do a top ten moms post. spoiler alert, the winner is not who you’d expect (unless you’re expecting Aizawa, because then you’re absolutely right)

anyways so I got SUPER distracted just now but apparently Tensei is talking about “tuning up” Iida’s engine!

wow can they do that?? fucking quirks, though. wild

oh my fucking god

just yank that fucking muffler right the fuck out. and a new one will grow in!! fucking QUIRKS, though. WILD

dsfalkhsd

just yank that fucking muffler right the fuck out without anesthesia. what are you, a pussy!?

gee thanks Horikoshi for this graphic image of Iida biting down on something while he uses his bare hands to yank what are essentially bones -- or organs, or whatever! the point is they’re part of him! -- right out of his fucking body. might wanna add some vodka to that OJ tonight Iida

OH SHIT, THAT PAYOFF THOUGH

IN TEN MINUTES YOU COULD TAKE OVER THE FUCKING WORLD, IIDA!

okay maybe I got a little overexcited. but damn though!

so he’s DRRNing over to Honenuki and

oh my god

loool at the thought of Iida zooming around wildly for the next ten minutes while he tries to figure out how to stop this thing, and meanwhile Honenuki can’t land a hit on him though

GET HIM IIDA!!

oh fuck

can he breathe under there? you know, depending on how long they still have until time runs out, he could just hide for the next ten minutes and then emerge and drag the paralyzed Iida to Rat Principal Jail

(ETA: actually that was a stupid thought. obviously Iida doesn’t have to keep Recipro activated the whole time if there’s no need to.)

but no, he’s swimming back to Tetsu and the others for now

meanwhile Iida’s still up top and trying to figure out what he’s up to

maybe you should do the same

holy shit we’re cutting back to the kids outside and Deku says Iida’s even faster than Gran Torino

“by a long shot.” that’s fucking fast. and I love it

by the way, with the way Mina was pointing, I thought, “oh, maybe Ojiro’s finally getting the upper hand!”

but no

Horikoshi why do you hate poor Ojiro

it’s probably the pain of this guy kicking you in the chest with his rotating fucking foot

so he’s trying to figure out what to do because he can’t really attack, and he keeps getting hurt whenever he tries to guard

oh hey there

trying to decide if I’m disappointed that Ojiro will never get to do anything cool, or ecstatic that Iida fucking Tenya just pulled off a badass save of this caliber

leaning more toward ecstatic, honestly. sorry Ojiro

oh, Iida

nice use of the word “forthwith”, Iida

(ETA: and nice use of the word “slammer”!!)

and now he’s telling Ojiro to go help Todoroki and that he’ll be right back

well I guess class 1-A will need some sidekicks too

meanwhile we’re sticking with Iida, which means I’m going to keep right on posting all of his panels, because his dialogue honestly deserves a fucking pulitzer prize

never, Sen!

Sen’s trying to reason his way out of this and telling Iida that he shouldn’t let Honenuki get away because he’s more of a threat

and he’s also grumping about Iida interrupting his and Ojiro’s fight. “you shouldn’t interrupt a one-on-one fistfight like that”

um, says who? fuck that. we’re trying to win here, we can make friends after

Iida says if he allows his will to be bent here, it will be bent in the real world as well

basically he’s treating this seriously. well, good

meanwhile! we’re cutting back to two minutes prior!

I guess Tetsu’s best option is to somehow knock him out. but the problem is that Shouto’s reflexes are too good and he can create an ice barrier in an instant

I think Tetsu’s steel would allow him to withstand Shouto’s fire long enough to punch him on his left side, though, so that would be my personal strategy if it were me

heh

A+ attack name. Shouto I’m sorry, I love you, but if I’m being honest I’m rooting for this guy here

heh

so you think he should try the fire instead? I’m not so sure that’s the best play in this case though. at least with the ice he has better control and he can hold him at bay. I just don’t think the fire would be that effective against Tetsu, but I’m sure we’ll find out shortly

because Tetsu’s bragging about how easily he can break through Shouto’s ice defense

ah here we go

for some reason Bakugou actually wanted to go up against this. still don’t quite understand it. my baby boy got a death wish

lol Pony’s running off. honestly a miracle she wasn’t incinerated just now

Shouto’s yelling at Shouji to go after her and Shouji’s all “got it”

yeah I’m thinking my initial assessment was right and this was indeed a mistake

fucking great. now you’ve got a molten steel man after your ass, Shouto

LOL

holy fucking shit. just in case anyone isn’t aware, “chinchin” means “penis” usually. so yeah

and I fucking love that here he’s using it to mean “hot”, but it could also be a throwback to the whole “five peepee man” thing, which he doesn’t actually know about but I do, and so to me this is the funniest thing ever okay

I have no further comment

oh fuck

no but as you can plainly see he is no stranger to burns, so please try not to maim him too badly...!?

lol Vlad has started narrating again. no doubt elated that his team is somehow eking out a win in what initially appeared to be the most one-sided matchup we were going to see today

uh oh but now it looks like Tetsu may have accidentally triggered the quirk development that Endeavor was trying to trigger but couldn’t because Shouto won’t return his damn texts

before I continue to the next and presumably final page of this chapter, I’m just gonna take a moment here to appreciate the irony of Endeavor accidentally conditioning Shouto to never listen to him ever, even on the occasions where it turns out he’s right. he spent years trying to get Shouto to use his flame side, but failed utterly, and then in the span of one fight Deku did what Endeavor had spent Shouto’s whole life trying to get him to do

and now it’s happening again here, where we see that Endeavor was once again trying to teach him something, but Shouto just ignored him until a random kid from the class next door just happened to say something similar. and then it clicked

like, it’s a major burn on Endeavor (no pun intended), but it’s also really unfortunate for Shouto, because his dad has been such a prick until recently that he’s missed out on absorbing the few worthwhile things he actually had to teach him. lot of lost time to make up for here, on both sides

anyways, let’s watch as Shouto slowly processes all this

well I assume (a) because of the “surpassing my limits” thing, and (b) because he’s been texting you nonstop and it was probably on your mind even though you were stubbornly trying to pretend it wasn’t

lol what kind of cliffhanger is this??

he’s not even doing anything! come on Shouto what are you doing to us. this isn’t fair

also, what happened to your hand? why is it all smooth. I assume because of some fire bullshit you’re about to do, but that’s still just weird looking

oh and on the last page there’s a long translator note explaining what I mentioned before about “chinchin” meaning penis. sometimes on select occasions I’m down with Horikoshi perpetually having the mind of a 12-year-old. if he wants to make this a recurring thing I won’t complain, lol

#bnha #boku no hero academia #iida tenya #honenuki juuzou #kaibara sen #ojiro mashirao #todoroki shouto #tetsutetsu tetsutetsu #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #listen though #if tensei doesn't have a goddamn hoverchair by the next time we see him then I am going to start making some calls #and writing some emails #there is no excuse #don't tell me we don't have the technology when a high schooler is out here building jetpacks just for fun #we have sassy robots and holograms but no hoverchairs??#give me a break

62 notes · View notes

makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 157: Giant Zelda Boss

Previously on BnHA: The badass lady squad kicked some villain ass (even if it did take them a while). Toga showed up disguised as Deku and directed the heroes to where Nighteye and co. were fighting Overhaul underground. They crashed onto the scene as Toga, Twice, and Compress watched from the street above. Twice and Toga told Compress to go kidnap Eri, and he was all “:/ but it’s dangerous” but in the end they bullied him into going down there. Overhaul tried to escape with Eri and Deku leaped after them. We learned that Eri was the granddaughter of the Precepts’ boss, and her mom abandoned her, so the boss put her in Overhaul’s care. Apparently she had an unknown quirk that had somehow killed her biological father. Overhaul experimented and found out her quirk had something to do with “rewinding.” Then the rest of it we already knew -- Overhaul continued to hurt her and she had to suffer through it and eventually she was conditioned to blame herself and to believe that she was “cursed.” But now with everyone trying to rescue her, her quirk is apparently “awakening” with her desire to somehow save them all. omg.

Today on BnHA: Deku grabs Eri and says he’s not gonna let go! Overhaul, who has reverted back to his normal form, is all GIVE HER BACK, and creates some stabby rock tentacle claws to try and get at them. Deku instinctively uses 100% OFA to escape to the surface, and then panics afterwards, thinking that he’s broken his legs. But surprisingly, they’re fine. Meanwhile, Overhaul fuses himself with another unconscious minion and heads after them. Nighteye tells Ryuukyuu and the others that he saw the future and that Overhaul is going to pursue Eri and kill Deku, and that even if they go after him they won’t win. Back on the street level, Deku realizes that all of his injuries have been healed, but then he promptly crumples over in pain. Overhaul, having transformed into some sort of multi-limbed giant rock dragon man, explains that Eri’s quirk gives her the ability to “rewind” humans, and that she can’t control it. But Deku decides this is the perfect opportunity to activate OFA Full Cowl at 100% and just have Eri heal him as he goes. He’s gonna BREAK BONES LIKE NO ONE HAS EVER BROKEN BONES BEFORE.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 187 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

oh! I like this!!

“the determination to be saved” YESSSS ERI YESSSSS

also, going back to the previous panel for a second, what is going on??

what happened to Overhaul and Nemo? they unfused?? did she rewind time and undo all his bullshit?

anyway Deku has her now and he says this time he’s not letting go of her! YAY

AHHHHH

FUCK. SOMEONE SWAT IT WITH A NEWSPAPER

also Horikoshi’s love of drawing hands has officially gone too far. that is SO FUCKING DISTURBING. and also AWESOME, GODDAMMIT

like, look at how his fingers are separating the panels in the bottom right corner. fuck this artistic bullshit

also why is Deku worried about his ability to move? it’s not like Overhaul is any better off. he’s disintegrating the platform he was standing on so he can literally fall at them. you’re both falling. just dodge him. it’s not like he’s any more mobile than you are, and he doesn’t have 20% OFA or 8% or whatever the fuck you’re using right now

anyway he’s hugging Eri determinedly and glaring at Overhaul and again thinking that he won’t let her go no matter what

oh cool are we flashing back to one of the best lines in this arc? I’m down with that

nice to see Deku getting back to his roots

nice to see Horikoshi getting back to his roots, actually. pacing has picked up again, art style is back in full swing, and Deku is thinking determined thoughts about heroically saving others? this is the manga I fell in love with

...maybe I spoke too soon

wait, what? did he just make a giant claw cliff only to grab himself?

okay but what the fuck is happening, though?

wha

that’s what I... you know what, never mind

OH MY GOD

DID YOU BREAK YOUR FUCKING LEGS DEKU YOU FUCK

ARE THEY!?

I can’t tell?? they don’t look anything like they did the last time he used 100%, but the one time it happened with his legs, it looked pretty different from when he breaks his arms. with his arms his sleeves usually rip right off and he’s all noodley and floppy. but with his legs, his pants always seem to stay intact to preserve his modesty. which is very thoughtful of you, OFA

anyway, down in the basement, Ryuukyuu and the others are saying they felt some sort of shockwave, so it’s indeed seeming like he broke his vow to never use OFA at full strength until he mastered it

I forgive him though. do you guys. I fully forgive him. as long as it actually worked oh please god let it have worked

hmm?

SHE WHAT. WHAT’S HER QUIRK GODDAMMIT

he’s screaming at Eri (even though she’s not there) that he needs her “in order to realize Pops’s ambition”

well too bad

Ryuukyuu looks very concerned, and I didn’t understand why, but then I remembered that even though Deku and Eri got to safety, the rest of them are all still stuck down there with him lol

it honestly didn’t even occur to me to be concerned. I don’t know why. I just assume they can handle themselves

NIGHTEYE WHY ARE YOU TALKING

I mean, we already knew that though

omg

...well shit

but I mean. did he really see that? because if so, that’s officially the first vision he’s had that we 100% know is not going to come true. so I guess they’re not infallible after all

and of course Ochako is FREAKING OUT now

oh no but she’s falling down now for some reason

(ETA: I guess she’s still fatigued from all the vitality-absorbing attacks earlier)

Nighteye says that he saw it

Ryuukyuu’s turning in disbelief asking him if he thinks they’d just go along with what he’s saying after hearing that

but he says that in their current condition they can’t win

EXACTLY

Nighteye is all “...”

and he’s giving Tsuyu directions to where Mirio is

and he’s asking Ochako and Ryuukyuu to help him to the surface omg

ARE YOU GOING TO SACRIFICE YOURSELF

meanwhile back on the surface, Deku is landing!

and HIS LEGS AREN’T BROKEN OMG

IT’S ERI’S QUIRK

he’s asking her about it!

oh shit and now something’s happening

“RRIP” is not a good fx for one’s body to be making, generally speaking. though jury is still out on “ZZGGGG”

oh shit

look Overhaul, I’m going to allow you to make one last stand for just long enough that you can explain how this quirk works. and then you can fucking die

he says she doesn’t know how to stop it

siiiiiiiiiigh

you really went and made yourself into a giant Zelda boss. and made yourself into its fucking tongue

anyway he’s continuing to explain, and it seems it is indeed a time-rewinding quirk

actually that quirk sounds amazing. once she’s able to control it she’s going to be a BEAST. offensively and defensively this is a winner. I can’t believe she had to put up with so many assholes telling her she’s cursed. cursed with being fucking awesome, maybe

(ETA: question, the way Overhaul phrases this makes it sound like she can rewind literally anything. do we know if there is a limit? is it limited to just living things, or organic materials? or is it literally anything, because if yes, holy shit though?)

Overhaul’s telling Deku to return Eri to him. hahahahaha. full of jokes now, are ya

“there’s no way to stop her other than her disassembly” um, nah. pretty sure she’s capable of stopping herself if they can get her to calm down. which could probably easily be accomplished if you would just kindly step off and go fuck yourself

anyway, Deku’s strapping Eri to his back. oh damn

he gets it now. the instant his leg broke, she reverted it before he could even feel the pain

he says it’s a kind, gentle quirk

oh my god Deku yes. say it louder for her to hear!

oh baby girl it’s okay

oh fucking shit, of course Deku immediately thinks of how to appropriate this quirk for his own reckless needs

DEKU YOU SELF-DESTRUCTIVE LITTLE LUNATIC

(ETA: “CONSTANTLY ACCUMULATING INJURIES AT AN EVEN GREATER SPEED...!” jesus christ he is so fucking excited to have found this new and revolutionary way to wreck his body more efficiently than ever!!)

HIS HAIR SPIKED UP LIKE ALL MIGHT’S OMG!!??

DID THE SHAPE OF HIS FUCKING FACE CHANGE?? IT LOOKS MORE ANGULAR AND LIKE HIS BABY FAT IS SOMEHOW GONE ALL OF A SUDDEN?

I WISH I COULD SEE HIS MUSCLES, ARE THEY ALL BIG

(ETA: normal! so we’re still not sure how All Might does it, but that’s okay)

THIS KID IS ACTUALLY INSANE. “WILL YOU LEND ME YOUR POWER” FUCKING MAYBE ASK THAT BEFORE YOU GO AND DO THIS

NIGHTEYE REALLY PREDICTED HIM DYING EVEN AT ALL MIGHT LEVELS OF STRENGTH? JUST HOW BADLY IS HE SOMEHOW GOING TO MANAGE TO FUCK THIS UP

OH MY GOD LET’S KEEP READING AND FIND OUT

BONUS:

okay first off we have an “afterword” by Horikoshi announcing that this arc will finally come to an end in the next volume, and thanking everyone who’s sent him fan letters, and apologizing that he doesn’t have time to respond to them

he also talks about how tired he is and how energy drinks aren’t as effective anymore

I’m pretty worried about him burning out now tbh. Jump always works their best mangaka to the bone, and it’s a problem

other than that, there’s just the back of the volume 17 cover, which has Eri clutching her beloved Lemilliocape and more or less looking like she’s come straight out of some sort of apocalyptic AU

how did her clothes and bandages get so raggedy omg. Overhaul is just the worst caretaker in the history of time

#bnha #boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #overhaul (bnha)#eri (bnha)#sir nighteye #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #so in the bnha universe whoever makes pants needs a raise for sure #deku's pants can survive anything apparently #whereas his sleeves rip apart if he so much as sneezes #y'all remember his polo shirt from the forest lodge arc #'what shirt' you ask #yeah exactly #it lasted for like half a chapter #so what we have learned from this is that deku has the same tailor as bruce banner

51 notes · View notes

makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 158: Deku VS Overhaul ~Conclusion~

Previously on BNHA: Eri escaped Overhaul and leaped into Deku’s waiting arms. Before Overhaul could grab them, Deku instinctively activated 100% OFA in his legs and leaped to safety on the surface. Back in the Pit of Despair, Nighteye told the others he’d seen Deku’s death in a vision, and he believes they can’t do anything to stop it. Up on the street level, Deku marveled at how all of his wounds were suddenly healed up. But then he collapsed in pain feeling like his body was being “pulled apart from the inside.” Overhaul reappeared, having merged himself with a new minion, and explained that Eri’s quirk gives her the power to “rewind” humans, reverting them back to a previous state. Depending on how she uses it, she can even rewind them back to nothingness. He made it out to be some cursed thing, but Deku was all “8D” and realized he was carrying a full-HP-restored-and-all-status-ailments-cured healer who was currently using her quirk uncontrollably, unable to turn it off. So he literally fucking strapped her to his back with Mirio’s cape, and activated 100% One for All Full Cowl.

Today on BnHA: We say goodbye to volume 17 and usher in the new era of volume 18. Overhaul monologues a bunch about quirks and mutations and disease and blah blah blah. He says brats like Deku can’t appreciate Eri’s value and the power of her quirk. Meanwhile Togawice watch from a safe distance, and Ochako floats Nighteye up to get him some medical help. Overhaul has more flashbacks about how the Comatose Boss (back before he was comatose) told him to stop selling quirk drugs and not to stray from the right path. Of course, as we all know, he didn’t listen, wanting to restore the yakuza to their former glory by starting a drug war and supplying both sides. It’s arguably implied here that Overhaul may be the one who put the Comatose Boss in his coma, but Horikoshi is very vague about it. At any rate, back in the present day Overhaul continues to rant at Deku, but Deku has fucking All Might power now, and he just. Beats the everloving shit out of him. Like, it takes about four pages. Holy shit. And just like that, this battle is finally over.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 187 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

WE’RE DONE WITH THE PREVIOUS VOLUME OH MY GOD. WE’RE ON TO A NEW VOLUME. A NEW VOLUME WHICH WILL FINALLY INCLUDE A NEW FUCKING ARC AT LONG LAST. SOMEBODY HOLD ME

IF KACCHAN ISN’T ON THE CHARACTER PAGE, I WILL FUCKING FLY TO JAPAN AND FIND OUT WHERE HORIKOSHI IS KEEPING MY BOY HOSTAGE AND SAVE HIM MYSELF

HERE WE GOOOO

ooooohhhhh

(ETA: I recall reading in an interview somewhere that Horikoshi usually colors the volume covers in Photoshop, but for this one he felt like doing something different and so he colored it by hand and very much enjoyed it. it looks good!)

somehow I wasn’t picturing this weird mutant Overhaul creature to be red. somehow it makes him look even more like a Zelda boss

100% OFA Deku looks so cool! and his OFA lightning has turned yellow just like All Might’s oh gosh

“a bright future” OH GOD YES PLEASE

THIS TITLE PAGE IS GIVING ME ALL THE FEELS??

NIGHTEYE YOU REALLY ARE GOING TO FUCKING DIE AREN’T YOU. FUCK

MIRIOOOOOO

FUCK THIS STUPID PAGE AND ITS “BACK IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS BEFORE ALL THE HORRIBLE THINGS HAPPENED” VIBE

(ETA: I HATE IT EVEN MORE NOW!! looking back on it now is giving me the headcanon that Mirio is actually sitting on the bench alone, sometime after this arc, and that’s actually Nighteye’s spirit sitting there, watching over him. I have no idea why my subconscious would choose to come up with a background story for this page that makes me want to cry even more.)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LEAPS OUT OF MY CHAIR AND POUNDS MY FIST ONTO MY DESK IN TRIUMPH]

(AND I REALLY DID YOU GUYS, AND THEN I THUMPED MY FIST ON MY DESK SEVERAL MORE TIMES FOR GOOD MEASURE!!!)

BAKUGOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

AND SHOUTO! AND INASA OH MY GOD, WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE. ARE WE FINALLY GOING TO SEE THEIR SPECIAL TRAINING??

(ETA: I love this volume)

AND SEIJI. MR. MEATBALL. SO YOU’RE STILL AROUND. YOU DIDN’T MAKE IT PAST THE FIRST ROUND, SO I’M VERY SURPRISED THEY APPARENTLY ALLOWED YOU TO TAKE THE SPECIAL TRAINING COURSE. BUT I GUESS WE’LL FIND OUT ALL ABOUT THAT

(ETA: Seiji sure has a lot of spare time on his hands huh)

WELL GUESS WHAT, OVERHAUL, THIS ONE PAGE HAS GIVEN ME THE POWER NEEDED TO DEFEAT YOU AND YOUR STUPID ARC ONCE AND FOR ALL. LET’S DO THIS. FOR KACCHAN AND SHOUTO. THE FORGOTTEN CHARACTERS

wow this opening panel is talking about the possible origin of quirks as a fucking virus spread by rats. like if the fucking bubonic plague gave you superpowers

oh no

I did not ask for an Overhaul flashback and I don’t care about him. go ahead and flesh him out if you must, but no amount of backstory can satisfactorily explain why he’s such a fucking creep

Tongue!Overhaul says that neither Deku nor Eri understand the value of Eri’s power

idk man, Deku’s already making some damn good use of it barely two seconds after discovering that it exists

so he’s explaining that her quirk can be used to rewind the mutation that brought quirks about

how come the version Tamaki got shot with only did this temporarily, though? does this mean the effect is eventually going to wear off on Deku and he’ll collapse with every last one of his bones shattered and probably die immediately omg

also would it then be possible to undo what happened to Mirio? or does the quirk not work on itself? goddammit

and in theory this could potentially even be used for creepy necromancy purposes. ohhhh man

(ETA: and also I’m telling you, the more I think about it, the more I’m becoming convinced that this is the quirk which will eventually bring All for One back to power. eventually someone is going to make the mistake of letting AFO come into contact with Overhaul over in Tartarus, and once that happens, things are going to go downhill fast.)

ironically, this actually seems like the most narrow-minded view of Eri’s quirk possible. most people would look at Eri’s quirk and immediately identify it as a healing quirk. the fact that he turned it into a destructive quirk tells you all you need to know about the kind of person he is right there

also, those buildings he’s casually smashing just so happen to have people in them omg

why would they not have evacuated by this point. there was a fight going on between a dragon and a giant villain for a full 20 minutes. for that matter, you’d think that local heroes would have eventually stepped in at some point. that’s plenty of time for backup to have arrived, and it should have been abundantly clear by that point that they needed it. so much about this doesn’t make any damn sense smh

(ETA: I think later on they confirm that there were only a handful of civilian injuries, though, and they were only light scratches and stuff. but all that means is that they got lucky goddammit.)

wowwwww Overhaul. wow

I’ll take “most ironic things villains have ever said” for $500, Alex

LOL

AND SO OVERHAUL WAS KICKED INTO SPACE, NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN. NOTHING OF VALUE LOST, ETC

Deku’s thinking to himself that Eri’s power is getting stronger and that she doesn’t know how to stop it. “just like the first time I used One for All”

he’s thinking that she basically has her foot stuck on the gas pedal

OH HEY YOU GUYS

is he “Deku” now? no more Izuku-kun or -chan or whatever?

as for Mr. Compress, he got squished by Ryuukyuu and melted

Ochako’s floating up to the surface with Nighteye in tow. and they were smart enough to avoid removing the spike in his stomach so he doesn’t instantly bleed out

does Nighteye even still have his left arm omg

now we’re flashing back again to the old boss chewing out Overhaul for getting into a fight with some dude and laying him out in critical condition

the boss thinks Overhaul is going behind his back and undertaking some secret venture in the drug business

he says he told Overhaul not to get involved with those drugs. I think that was the flashback we saw some chapters earlier

and he’s again telling him “you must not stray from my path”

why am I starting to get the feeling that the boss never actually got “sick” and that was Overhaul’s doing as well...?

oh my god is he talking to Kurono here

I feel like this is the only person who could plausibly be shipped with him. it doesn’t hurt that at this point he’s literally the last Precept standing

Overhaul’s determined to restore the family back to its former glory

oh here we go. finally the complete master plan

so first they flood the streets with some of the “incomplete products” they have on hand that can temporarily erase quirks

and once people have gotten a taste of that they’ll all be clamoring to purchase the completed product from them at sky-high prices

!!!!!!

SO YOU’RE TELLING ME MIRIO’S QUIRK CAN BE RESTORED OH MY GOD. THERE IS HOPE!

did they actually start to work on that particular serum yet?

anyways, because the boss isn’t A COMPLETE MONSTER, he’s immediately telling him no

you know, this is one of those instances where the time-honored mob tradition of doing away with a troublesome family member before they get even more troublesome would not have gone amiss. just sayin’. in hindsight he probably wishes he had

instead he just told him “if you’re going to disobey our way of thinking then you should just leave”

Overhaul says all he wants to do is repay the boss for taking him in

then why don’t you start by, I don’t know, FUCKING LISTENING TO HIM oh my god

but instead he went behind his back, continued torturing the innocent little girl, and proceeded with his plan

(ETA: okay, so! after much discussion, I have come to agree with the people saying that this scene...

...which I initially took to be Overhaul relenting, followed by the transition from the flashback back to the present, is in fact actually Overhaul making the decision to take his boss out of commission. the fade to black and the startled look on the boss’s face are intended to show that Something Bad is about to happen. and the next panel after that is just Overhaul thinking about how he owes a great debt to the boss, and that if they proceed with his plan, they can restore the family. “look forward to it, Pop.” so yeah, that does make sense.

what still annoys me though is that they don’t explicitly confirm it, even though it’s arguably the key moment in terms of Overhaul’s development into a villain. the series has no problem showing Eri’s torture in way more detail than anyone ever needed or asked for, and yet this key scene merely gets hinted at. it’s basically the thing all of these flashbacks are leading up to, and then they just... don’t show it.

there is one possible reason I can think of for this, which is that this scene is from Overhaul’s perspective, and because he wants to continue thinking of himself as the loyal son who’s doing this all for the sake of his father figure, it makes sense that he would censor his own recollection of the incident in order to further convince himself that it was all for the best. but while that explains the vagueness, there are still tons of other ways Horikoshi as the author could have confirmed it for us. for instance he could have showed it from Kurono’s perspective instead. or hell, just confirm it with a simple line of dialogue if you have to. but narratively, I think the decision to leave it inconclusive hurts the story by robbing us of the coolest, most dramatic and defining moment of Overhaul’s past.

so idk, I’m still not the biggest fan of this scene. for me, it comes tantalizingly close to being the kind of super dark twist I was hoping for, but then fails to stick the landing. so I’m hoping the anime can improve on this a little bit.)

so now we’re back in the present, and there are a few panels of Overhaul screaming that everyone else is missing the bigger picture, and he’s trying to destroy this world (the word “world” being in quotation marks, so I assume he means society, not the actual world), and that the “fake heroes” who are fixated on their tiny notions of justice need to stay out of his way

boy this is getting tiresome. it’s like someone combined Stain and Overhaul and created... Worse Overhaul

but he really doesn’t stand a chance against a 100% Deku, I think

well, we just had three huge pages of Deku beating the shit out of Overhaul. what do you guys think. climax? are we done at last?

oh my god you guys

;________; WE DID IT

(ETA: this is the quickest Final Battle a 40+ chapter arc has ever had. I’m not complaining, mind. good god am I not complaining)

so Deku punched Nighteye’s vision in the face?? apparently?

I mean, there didn’t even seem to be any point where he was even remotely in danger of dying. so either there’s something coming up, or Nighteye really screwed up on that one

either way it’s not like I mind? holy shit. we’re done? we’re really done?? ARE WE MOVING ON FROM THIS ARC

oh my god you guys. hey google play “We Are the Champions”

hang in there Kacchan and Shouto. we’re coming, lads

no bonus, this volume is pretty skimpy on the omake content honestly. but hey guys, tomorrow our favorite villain with too many hands makes his own long-awaited reappearance! google, when you’re done with this song, get ready to play some AC/DC next. we’re about to embark on the Highway to Hell, baby.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #overhaul (bnha)#midoriya izuku #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #okay you guys #just letting you know right now my manga-reading progress is about to take another hit for the next few days #because I just got a subbed copy of bnha two heroes #so I'm gonna be watching that #and I'll be liveblogging it as well so it's gonna take a while #but oh my god I'm so excited

40 notes · View notes

makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 156: Deku Potter and the Cursed Child

Previously on BnHA: Chronostasis was revealed to be holding Aizawa prisoner on some lower level of the Neverending Basement. He has sexy clock hair which he’s used to basically paralyze Aizawa for the next hour. Deku fought Overhaul for a little bit at 20% OFA and it basically did nothing. Meanwhile Mirio tried to drag Eri away to safety, but ended up collapsing due to blood loss. He told Eri to go and hide, but she wasn’t able to take the guilt of thinking she’s responsible for all this death and carnage, and she went back and told Overhaul she’d go with him if he stopped hurting everyone and fixed them all back up. Overhaul said some more bullshit things which got Deku all fired up again, and our little green hero stumbled to his feet and shouted that he’d save Eri no matter what. And then THANK FUCK, Ryuukyuu and my badass ladies Tsuyu, Ochako, and Hadou came busting in out of nowhere. I really need this girl power squad to turn the tide here because tbh, I’ve had just about enough of this.

Today on BnHA: We flash back to see how the badass lady squad battled Katsukame, the giant vitality-stealing bad guy who kept sucking energy from everyone and converting it into his own power. Just as they were finally wrapping things up, “Deku” appeared and told them that their assistance was needed in the Neverending Basement. “Deku” of course turned out to be Toga, but that doesn’t really matter since in the end she helped the heroes out. Back in the present, Deku asks Ochako to help Nighteye while he goes after Overhaul and Eri. Overhaul tries to escape through the new hole in the ceiling, and Deku leaps after him. Meanwhile we learn through more flashbacks that Eri is actually the granddaughter of the Comatose Boss, and that she was abandoned by her mother (the boss’s daughter) after her quirk manifested and she somehow vanished her father. Overhaul was assigned to look after her and eventually learned that her quirk is able to rewind time. Back in the present (again), Eri’s quirk begins to awaken, and she leaps toward Deku’s arms.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 185 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

everyone, I have an announcement. today, 1/13/19, is an auspicious day. today I am finally going to finish this arc after four long years. or maybe it’s only been a couple months. I lost track of time somewhere in the darkness. but anyways. I’m gonna do it. the binge starts... now

oooh!

come to think, we never did learn her actual quirk. obviously it’s something to do with destroying other people’s quirks, because that’s what they were weaponizing her DNA for. but what exactly is it that she does?

so we’re backtracking to “a short time ago”, and Ryuukyuu and her squad have successfully taken down the villain from all the way back in chapter 138

you see how they did that with no casualties? that’s cuz they’re competent. and also because they didn’t split up like fools, although for the most part that was out of the others’ control. (but them leaving Tamaki was still stupid af)

so they’re hurrying to go help the others

but something is happening??

oh shit the guy wasn’t fully knocked out

he’s using his quirk to sap their energy

aaaaand he’s getting bigger and breaking free of his bonds

he’s all amped up on quirkroids just like Irinaka was. fuck

so they were stuck dealing with him for another 20 minutes! during which time two whole months passed in the labyrinth of uninteresting chapters. ugh

it looks to me like the ladies ended up having to babysit the cops

Ryuukyuu’s shouting at Hadou and OH MY GOD WE’RE FINALLY GETTING THE DETAILS OF HER QUIRKKKKK

she should have kicked ass at the sports festival. I still don’t know why she never placed. maybe she just got disqualified for asking her opponent too many inappropriate personal questions

-- hey now what is this

I’m preeeeeeetty sure it’s not!

which means it’s Toga oh my god

so what is she up to?

it looks for all the world like she’s actually pointing them in the right direction so they can come bail the others out before they lose to Overhaul. total betrayal of the Precepts. yes please. I fucking love it omg

also, just to remind everyone, Horikoshi is terrible at math because if this really is Toga she should have only had enough blood to turn into Deku for like three seconds. I wonder if she’ll be in a rush to get back out of there before her cover is blown

(ETA: shoutout to @temperatezone who Did The Math and calculated that Toga probably has around 35 seconds’ worth of Deku blood, so this scene is indeed plausible, if just barely! and we’ll just have to wait and see if she actually used up all the blood she has with this stunt, or if we’ll be seeing not!Deku make any future appearances.)

fuck yes the girls are wrapping this up now! with coordinated team action!

good LORD he got big

and they’re smashing through the ground and winding up in Overhaul’s spiky rock room as we saw earlier!

could you guys also smash just one more level down and save Aizawa too, please and thanks

also Deku is there -- the real Deku -- and Ochako is like

THEN WHO WAS DEKU

hee

-- oh my god fucking gross, Toga

“plus chaos”?? is that their new thing?

do you guys secretly want to go to U.A. too. “we’re forming our own team. it’s called the... uh... revengers”

also is this the first time we’ve seen Compress with his missing arm? I forget if he was in the flashback chapter from before. and I’m not gonna go back and check right now because I have more important things to do, namely BINGGGGE

(ETA: kinda glad I didn’t check, because the Robot Arm came as such a pleasant surprise in chapter 160)

look at this elaborate plan they concocted

was Compress being held hostage?? how much of this arc did I drift through in a boredom-induced haze omg

(ETA: okay so this was never actually clarified, but based on the information we have, it would seem that Tomura was planning on having his minions kidnap Eri when the opportunity arose, and that’s why Twice made a copy of Mr. Compress to save for a rainy day. Compress then used his quirk on himself?, and then simply sat around in one of their pockets waiting for the plan to go into effect.

but this all means that Toga and Twice were both somehow able to lie even under the influence of Nemoto’s quirk in chapter 149, though. so that’s weird. unless they somehow came up with this plan all on their own, in which case it technically wouldn’t have been Tomura’s plan, and so Nemoto’s wording of that particular question would have allowed them to say no. but that seems like a reach. then again, this all does, pretty much. so...)

and also, so we’re back to Twice making more than two copies of things, I presume? or did they do all this with only two sets of them

(ETA: @r5h helped me with this one back in 149; even though Twice can only make two copies of things, each of his clones has the same quirk, and so each of them can make two more copies, etc. etc. although this would mean Twice broke his self-imposed rule of not copying himself. but hey it was for a good cause)

anyway. so Twice is telling Compress that Eri is the core of the Precepts’ operation and that she’s just a little kid

omg. they want Compress to snatch her. like he did with Katsuki omg

listen guys. I’m somehow mostly on your side here. even when you abducted Kacchan, it led to my two favorite parts of the series, so yeah. but if you abduct any more children, particularly this one who has been through enough trauma for a lifetime, you’re going to lose some points again

although why do I feel like even Tomura would end up being way kinder to Eri than Overhaul ever was. I feel like they wouldn’t really hurt her, but they’d probably end up brainwashing and manipulating her much in the same way that AFO did to Tomura. that’s the more classy villain thing to do

(ETA: they’d give her lots of ginger ale)

wtf. apparently Compress is a copy? I’m so fucking confused. can anyone help me puzzle this out seeing as the anime won’t air this for another year. I’m tempted to go find the reddit discussion thread of this chapter and see if they got it sorted

(ETA: bah, the reddit discussion was just a bunch of speculation on what Eri’s quirk actually was and whether she was going to become Orihime 2.0. reddit needs to calm the fuck down sometimes lol)

anyway, so Compress is dropping in on everyone now and bitching about how mean Toga and Twice are to him

Deku’s shouting at Ochako to take care of Nighteye

float him out to safety, I guess? the dude’s already a goner Deku

and he’s running toward Eri

but

Overhaul you BITCH, DID YOU HURT MY SWEET GIRL

DEKU HOW CAN WE MAKE IT SO THIS FUCKER NEVER AGAIN SEES THE LIGHT OF DAY

son of a bitch

I said how can we make it so he does not see the light of day, Deku!!

are you just standing there while he escapes on this jutting rock elevator like Scar singing “Be Prepared” in The Lion King

YES. DUH

oh for fuck’s sake he’s leaping after him and screaming “I won’t let you!”

right now you don’t have a very good track record for living up to those words, Deku

Overhaul’s all “give it up already”

once again, they’re not the ones dragging it out, you ass

and now, weirdly, he’s being interrupted by a giant rock wearing Mirio’s cape?

I dub thee “Lemillirock”

I’m sorry, are we really supposed to believe that a giant fucking rock wearing a billowing cape just somehow got “blown up” twenty feet in the air toward you all on its own?

and what, are they just stopping to admire it now?

Eri’s reaching out to grab the cape

the narration says she wasn’t even conscious of the fact that she was doing it

and she’s remembering Mirio’s whole “a hero’s cape is for safely bundling up scared little girls all snug and secure like warm lil burritos” speech

is her quirk happening?!

what’s going on omg

Overhaul seems shocked by something

FLASHBACK

ahhhhh so she’s the old boss’s granddaughter. that makes much more sense

the boss’s daughter apparently cut her ties with the family after a marriage dispute, and had a kid

and then...

well that’s nice

um WHAT

UM. WHAT

jesus christ. apparently Eri mutated a quirk that had nothing to do with the quirks on either side of her family lineage

don’t mind me just making a note of this for future theorizing. please, continue

so apparently her quirk just straight up makes things disappear. just disappears ‘em

so the boss told Overhaul to look after her, and to also investigate just what her quirk was

so he did some experiments with rats and stuff

WHAT

WAIT WHAT

omg

wait so is this like that thing in Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator that de-aged people, and if you took too much you’d actually be de-aged into negative years??

does this mean that with more training she could master control of it and turn it into a time travel quirk??

(ETA: future number one hero here. for sure. unstoppable. Deku this is your successor. actually you’d better watch out because you and Katsuki will have like 10 years at the top at most before she graduates and arrives fresh on the hero scene to boot y’all from that podium.

fucking imagine. she can heal anyone. stop bad guys by removing their quirks and/or turning them into cute babies. alter the landscape during fights. turn a few chickens into fucking dinosaurs. and that’s just scratching the surface.

is she overpowered? fucking yes lmao. do I care? yeah that’s gonna be a no from me dawg. besides, like her equally overpowered Lemillibrother before her, she probably won’t gain full control of her abilities until she’s all grown up, so it’s all good.)

and apparently he started doing fucked up shit to her right away because she immediately tried to escape starting on that day

Eriiii ;_;

I need Eri to be adopted by a loving family and pampered and showered with love and affection every day for the rest of her life and they take her to Disney World and she meets the princesses and they all tell her how brave she is for never giving up, and now she finally has her happily ever after

do you remember how these fuckers were actually trying to bribe her with toys. as if that would make everything okay. sorry you’re being held captive and never shown the slightest affection and you’re being constantly tortured and you’re so scared and tired all the time because no matter what you know you’ll never be safe and you’ve even been conditioned to think all of it is your own fault. but here’s some toys. [leaves and comes back to find them unopened] WHY DIDN’T YOU PLAY WITH THEM. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT DIDN’T MAGICALLY MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER

the narration is talking about how Mirio’s actions “shook her heart to the core”, and that she couldn’t bear to see people getting hurt trying to save her

and we’re back in real time and she’s saying “stop please, I don’t want you to die”

OH MY GOD

like, so wait. WHERE DID OVERHAUL GO

HER POWERS ARE AWAKENING. so they hadn’t before?? WHAT IS HER POWER OMG

but you know what. I can just CLICK TO THE NEXT CHAPTER AND FIND OUT. because like, that was the plan anyway :D

the last two omakes are just (1) Horikoshi announcing that the guy who draws Vigilantes drew him something to congratulate him on the new volume, and (2) the picture that said guy drew. which is Toga and Twice, but it’s not really anything special, aside from the fact that there’s a little caption saying “you know, I could ship this!” which, yeah buddy. I feel ya

#bnha #boku no hero academia #hadou nejire #uraraka ochako #toga himiko #midoriya izuku #overhaul (bnha)#eri (bnha)#bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #here's a question for you #could eri's quirk be used to heal afo's potato face and restore him to full strength #it's probably a really good thing he's currently in tartarus with no news access #I really don't want to think about the kind of damage he could have done if he'd gotten his hands on her quirk #but part of me wonders if horikoshi isn't perhaps saving this plot twist for a rainy day #I guess we'll see eventually

46 notes · View notes