Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.
When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?
Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?
I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.
I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.
An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.
So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.
Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡
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call it what you want, chapter 5
chapter 5/5
2.7k
rated m (sandwiches; don't like, don't read!)
Callum and Rayal spend their first night on the road navigating the weirdness of their...whatever-they-are.
Excerpt:
It’s daybreak when she and Callum wake, and for the tenth day in a row…Rayla isn’t sure what they are.
But…it’s okay now, she thinks, lovesick like she’s been since dawn, looking at him lying there beside her—so very handsome, so uninhibitedly happy.
She may not know what they are—not a thing like they’d been before, not the couple the innkeeper had teased last night, probably not even lovers for long now that it’s morning—but it’s more than just trust that he still holds for her, more than just keeping her comfortable and at home there at the castle, more than just wanting her safe and happy and here.
Whatever they are…Callum loves her.
She knows that much at least, from the familiarly-fond haze in his stare, the slight, sideways smile he’s had since sunrise, the comforting weight of his bare chest against her back, the echo of his hands and lips and body on hers last night, showing her so…
He loves her—still.
…even if he can’t quite say it again just yet.
Continue reading on AO3
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and you caused it (a fic scrapbook)
a collection of written scenes, outlining, notes and art as a sequel to my fic cause most of us are bitter over someone.
In which Niki has a terrible secret, Puffy just wants to move on, Tommy sneaks into casino parties and Wilbur learns to deal with anger being justified.
Or - the one thing they don’t warn you of, when dropping nuclear warheads on old friends, is fallout.
31.2k words of angst, hurt/comfort, niki struggling through a self-imposed redemption arc, wilbur and niki fighting through the worst argument they've had possibly ever, techno and niki having their worst argument ever, tommy acting as the server's cassandra, and pandora's box being opened. niki-centric, with a heavy dash of rainduo - although techno, tommy and puffy also have their moments in the spotlight.
oh, and a happy ending. eventually.
chapter 1 - is bitter there?
wilbur does his very best to be a good friend. niki continues to have issues with making apologies. a casino opening party is attended, and a few well-kept secrets find their way into the light.
chapter 2 - at least i have nothing
arguments are had. roommates are invited to crash on an attempted murderer’s metaphorical couch. more emotionally intense conversations are had over l'manberg’s skeleton corpse, and niki is once again alone.
chapter 3 - sugar, milk and molasses
a prisoner goes free, niki and tommy try (and miserably fail) to get along, and some breaking and entering is committed. just out of curiosity, y'know.
chapter 4 - everyone there is, all together now
three important conversations are had, and niki comes home.
chapter 5 - but i'm forever missing him
resolutions are made on phil’s verandah, wilbur finally understands how horrible it would be to die in a ravine underground, and once-old friends are made new again. niki, again, finds herself baking a cake.
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Also, here's Sam and Frodo in Mordor:
Frodo is working up his courage to go on/wrestling with the temptation of the Ring, and Sam is wishing he could be more help/wrestling with the barrier of the Ring that he can't save Frodo from.
(The thing in the middle is the spine of my planner, since I drew one of them on each of the outer covers. Very convenient to symbolize said barrier!)
Fun book-canon detail: Frodo has a cleft in his chin (see Gandalf's amusing description as recounted by Mr. Butterbur in chapter 10).
Less fun book-canon detail: Sam's knees are scraped up, which Tolkien mentioned during the dash to cut Frodo off at the boat, then apparently forgot about, to my chagrin and concern.
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📚 QUEERBOOK 2024 is hereee! We made a book by and for LGBTQ+ youth! 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
Last year, we asked LGBTQ+ youth: what's your idea of a "queer utopia?"
Not gonna lie - with more than 150 bills introduced in 35 states in 2023 that aimed to restrict student access to inclusive and diverse books and other library materials, the theme felt pretty radical.
And you DELIVERED. With the help of our Youth Voices (amazing queer youth activists from across the country), we compiled your amazing submissions of poetry, short essays and letters, visual art, photography, and more into Queerbook 2024. Like a yearbook, it captures what queer youth are feeling, going through, and hoping for - right here, right now across the U.S.
It's also no accident that it's the perfect small-ish size to stash in your locker or backpack so you can crack it open any time you're looking for some queer connection. :3
Read some more about the book and grab your own limited-run copy of Queerbook 2024 now here.
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