#I still think using that book cover as a panel is the funniest idea

[briarrolfe]

Still thinking about the relevancy of rapture anxiety comics

#the hashtag process #my comics #unmarketable book two concept #This Present Rapture #I still think using that book cover as a panel is the funniest idea

[paulisweeabootrash]

Retrospective Review: Rewatching Azumanga Daioh as an Adult

This may seem hard to believe if you are a younger reader or one who got into anime only recently, but there was once a time when recommendations spread by word of mouth, it was absolutely commonplace for anime seasons to last longer than 13 episodes, and the vocabulary of the anime fandom wasn’t nearly as full of internet-originated in-jokes.  A time when the internet-savvy congregated on forums dedicated to specific topics instead of social networking sites, and the imageboards that generate so much of the internet meme landscape were just starting to take off among lonely nerds as an obscure haven for perverts, racists, and assholes instead of the role they have today as… uh… well... a well-known haven for perverts, racists, and assholes.  A time when there was no such term as “weeaboo trash” because that Perry Bible Fellowship comic hadn’t been published yet, let alone used for that meaning.  It wasn’t some golden age, but it was different, and today I’m taking a self-indulgent trip back to the end of that period, when I was in high school in the mid-2000s.

Azumanga Daioh (2002).

1. Why is this show important to me?

My introduction to anime consisted mostly of Pokémon and Sailor Moon, and took off with scattered episodes of several other shows that aired on WB and Cartoon Network, which were generally driven by action and combat.  I can’t remember the circumstances or even who did it, but someone who owned, or perhaps pirated, a copy of Azumanga Daioh must have shown me a few episodes at some point.

Here was a show that had been on the leading edge of the moe trend a few years earlier, and although certainly available, such things were not yet common.  Moe has, of course, taken over a large chunk of anime since, to mixed reception since it can range from innocently delightful to extraordinarily creepy.  Azumanga is close to the innocent end of the spectrum, and absolutely delightful (as, BTW, is the author’s current ongoing manga series Yotsuba&!), with a softer, cuter art style than I was accustomed to and instantly-lovable characters.

It was clearly in a different genre and had a different sensibility about how to make a show, too.  It had few repeated or filler elements, unlike any of the shows following the “monster of the week” formula.  It was broken up into several vignettes per episode — a practice that I was familiar with from the format of many Nicktoons, but while American shows with that format told multiple self-contained stories, the short segments here were typically parts of larger episode-long stories, often focusing on different parts of the same event or different anecdotes about the same character.  It showed us, the foreign audience, something about life in Japan, and at least for me was the first time I’d heard of distinctly Japanese school practices like applications for public high schools, students cleaning classrooms, or the particular kinds of seasonal festivals they have.  It lacked story arcs driven by overcoming some enemy and instead was driven by character relationships themselves and the instantly-relatable experience of school.  It was an encounter with something utterly different — and it made an excellent first impression.

Eventually, I bought a copy of the complete series of the manga it’s based on.  Azumanga Daioh was originally, well, a manga, written by Azuma Kiyohiko and originally published in the form of a 4-panel comic strip that ran in the magazine Dengeki Daioh.  See, it’s Azuma’s manga in Dengeki Daioh.  Azuma manga, Dengeki Daioh.  Azumanga Daioh.  Ha.  Clever.  Anyway, in there, I encountered largely the same characters and interactions, a mix of believable school life and quick gags, just presented in a different format.  I eventually got the DVD box set of the show, too, and I’ve rewatched a few favorite episodes several times, but this review is the first time I’ve revisited the whole series in years.

2. Who are all these people?

Rather than focusing on a small core friend group like Three Leaves, Three Colors, another much more recent adorable high school slice-of-life I greatly enjoy (and should maybe review?), Azumanga has a pretty large ensemble.  Most of them are students and the “story arc” such as it is follows them through three years, from entering to graduating from high school, over a single 26-episode season.  So rather than cover a plot synopsis, I think it would make more sense to dive into specific characters and their relationships.  The show its at its funniest and sweetest with the dynamics of certain combinations of the main characters, and there are a lot of combinations available.  Covering all of the recurring named characters approximately in the order we meet them (except a few characters who show up only in an episode or two each and another classmate named Chihiro who shows up on the periphery as a friend of Kaorin), let’s look at the relationships that stand out:

Yukari and Nyamo: Yukari Tanizaki, the English teacher who is the homeroom teacher to most of the cast, is unprofessional and insensitive from the first moment we see her, traits which are elaborated in later episodes into a sort of impulsive over-the-top-ness that clashes with the fact that she actually is a pretty good teacher.  Emphasizing her less-serious attitude, students even refer to or address her by her given name (although the subtitles exaggerate this a bit by consistently calling her “Miss Yukari” when she’s usually just addressed as “teacher”).  Minamo Kurasawa, the gym teacher, is a long-time friend of Yukari.  She and Yukari (who calls her “Nyamo”) were even classmates at the same high school they currently teach at.  In addition to being central to the gym class/sports-related episodes, she’s also Yukari’s more caring, approachable, and professional foil, which sets up interactions where Nyamo tries to be helpful and manage situations in the face of Yukari being antagonistic (and, outside of school hours, drunk) towards her and the students.  Yukari in particular prods at Nyamo’s sore spots: being single and having done embarrassing things in high school.

Tomo and Yomi: Tomo Takino is 100% genki girl.  I mean, come on, she’s the illustration for the TV Tropes article by that name.  She’s not only enthusiastic, but loud, intrusive, and pointlessly competitive to the point of being just plain mean.  She’s the kind of person who might mature into a less competent Yukari if she burnt out a bit.  Koyomi Mizuhara, on the other hand, is much more serious and self-conscious, and although she still genuinely is Tomo’s friend and goes along with some of her silliness, she barely puts up with Tomo’s teasing and flurry of bad ideas.  She is the Nyamo to Tomo’s Yukari, complete with Tomo enforcing a nickname on her, so she’s almost always called “Yomi” throughout.  Yomi is much more considerate than Tomo, too.  This often comes out in Yomi scolding Tomo’s insensitivity, but it’s also seen less directly when they are giving Chiyo (more on her below) birthday presents — Tomo offers first a joke that doesn’t go over well, then a magic wand she apparently expects Chiyo to believe will make her grow taller, which Chiyo dismisses, while Yomi offers a book which Chiyo enthusiastically accepts and says she expects to enjoy.

Osaka, Tomo, and Kagura: Ayumu Kasuga is a distractible and soft-spoken transfer student from Osaka whom Yukari, Tomo, and Yomi pester with misinformed questions and assumptions about her home city.  Tomo, naturally, saddles her with the nickname “Osaka” as if that is her entire identity.  The nickname quickly catches on, with even Yukari calling her that instead of her actual name in class.  She is accepted as a friend by the other students who still consider her eccentric and baffling, but not annoying or embarrassing like you might expect.  (In fact, the other girls react more and more to Tomo as the annoying and embarrassing one.)  During the second year of school,  she bonds with Tomo and Kagura (introduced as a star athlete from Nyamo’s homeroom during the first year, she becomes a major character in the second year) over their similar incredible forgetfulness and poor academics.  Yomi calls them “bonkura”, translated as “knuckleheads”, and the three of them adopt the name for themselves as they study together — an idea which is doomed from the outset.  The three of them together, or any two of them, play off each other wonderfully.

Chiyo and Osaka: Chiyo Mihama, a child prodigy who is only 10 years old at the beginning of the series, is so academically gifted it can upset and embarrass her classmates, but on the other hand is naive, and not just because she’s a child.  She is in fact clueless about the outside world.  She fails in the first summer break trip (ep. 5) to understand that the other characters’ families are nowhere near as rich as hers, and in the second summer break (ep. 14), even after a year and a half of being around high schoolers, she entirely fails to understand Nyamo’s off-screen explanation of “adult relationships” (kids innocently being oblivious to what sex is seems to be a common basis for jokes in Japanese media).  Chiyo being five years younger than her classmates — and on the other side of puberty from them — also makes her lag far behind them in athletics.  On the one hand, this makes her very self-conscious and afraid of being a burden on her classmates in team activities, and on the other, it sets up a running gag of Chiyo and Osaka teaming up to be by far the worst pair of athletes across the board.  Oh, and Osaka’s dream about Chiyo’s pigtails in the New Year’s episode is one of the weirdest and most authentically dreamlike dream sequences I’ve ever seen.  Although maybe that just says more about my own dreams than about the show.

Sakaki and Nobody (or, Multiple Kinds of Unrequited Feelings): Sakaki is considered effortlessly cool and somewhat intimidating — Kagura calls her a “silent lone wolf” — but she’s not big on that reputation.  Students openly admire her, especially for her athletic talent, and treat her with distance and respect by almost universally calling her “Miss Sakaki” (since this is apparently her family name, not given name).  She does not enjoy this treatment, but is also too private (and perhaps too insecure) to complain about or discuss it.  She is indifferent to sports despite excelling at them, and doesn’t even recognize Kagura when she proclaims herself Sakaki’s rival, presumably because the first-year sports festival just didn’t stick out in her memory the way it did in Kagura’s.  Despite calling it rivalry, however, Kagura quickly inserts herself into Sakaki’s life in a friendship that Sakaki responds to more with quiet tolerance than reciprocation.

Kaorin, meanwhile, mistakes Kagura’s one-sided friendly rivalry for a very different kind of attention, and accordingly treats her one-sidedly as a romantic rival (although she does eventually calm down about it).  Kaori (family name not mentioned), usually addressed by the more affectionate “Kaorin”, is shown at first to ambiguously admire Sakaki, but it quickly becomes clear that she is infatuated with her.  And, despite the insistence of many fanfic writers since, Sakaki never catches on to this, even with Kaorin gazing dreamily at her while dancing with her, or clinging to her arm while posing for a picture together.  I'm sure, given how over-the-top she is, that Kaorin’s unrequited feelings are supposed to be funny, but I find it sweet and sad and end up rooting for her.

Sakaki and Cute Animals: Sakaki is not unfriendly, or even very socially inept, though.  She gets along well with the main cast, especially Chiyo.  But she is aloof, not just because of shyness but because she has a secret love of all things cute, especially cats and dogs, and gets caught up in her own thoughts about cute things.  Although she loves animals, they don’t necessarily love her back.  There is a series-spanning running gag with a cat in the neighborhood whom she repeatedly tries to pet, no matter how many times it bites her for doing so.  In fact, in that very same episode where Kagura declares her rivalry, the strongest emotional reactions we see from Sakaki are horror directed at Kagura for scaring that cat away and, later, being moved to tears by a story she’s constructing in her head about another cat while Kagura is trying to talk to her.  Sakaki’s thoughts on cute animals also yield a second running gag: "Chiyo's dad".  An orange cat-like doll (evidently some kind of character or mascot in-universe?) that appears numerous times in the background early in the show appears in Sakaki’s New Year’s dream and introduces himself to her as Chiyo’s father, so Sakaki refers to the doll as “Chiyo’s dad” for the rest of the series without explanation, much to the confusion of the other characters.  While he’s an inanimate object in the background before the dream, afterwards he appears as alive and magical, sometimes in Sakaki’s imagination and sometimes intruding into the real world as short transition clips between scenes.

Kimura vs. Everyone (mostly Kaorin): Last and certainly least, let’s consider Mr. Kimura, the literature teacher.  Within a minute of the first time we the audience see him, Tomo asks him why he became a teacher and he blurts out that it’s because he likes high school girls.  Which a group of creepy boys in the class call “brave”.  Ugh.  This presages chronic inappropriateness of varying levels from Kimura — from unsolicited suggestions for cheerleading uniforms to hanging out during gym class to watch the girls swim to heaping unwanted “favors” on Kaorin, to whom he is obviously attracted.  Beyond the increasing variety of his inappropriateness, he doesn’t really develop as a character.  He is, interestingly, shown as an otherwise decent person outside of school, but this is not portrayed as excusing him.  Rather, it’s made clear that his creepiness is contextual, and his role throughout the series is consistently as a grotesque comic relief, not a sympathetic character.  Kaorin even consciously tries to improve her opinion of Kimura because his wife is so nice, leading her to believe that this means Kimura himself must have good points to deserve someone like that, only to be immediately shown otherwise.  We the audience are laughing at him, not with him, and at some points are genuinely upset at him on the girls’ behalf.  Or at least, I hope that’s how the rest of the audience takes him.

3. Yeah, but there's some kind of progression, right, even if it's not really a story arc?

Again, it's not the kind of show that has an overarching goal or conflict.  The goal, such as it is, is the characters' graduation from high school.  The topic of what they'll each do after graduating comes up several times, as you might expect, but isn't that much of a plot point.  Not all of the main characters even have clear plans laid out that we know of, but the plans we do know about match their established personalities well.  Tomo changes her mind repeatedly between several half-baked ideas.  Osaka decides at the last minute to try to become a teacher based on Chiyo straining to think of something fitting Osaka's... unique way of looking at things.  Chiyo is perhaps overconfident, planning to study abroad in America despite being only 13 when she graduates.  Sakaki anonymously showed interest in veterinary school early on, but didn't discuss it with her friends until much later, after she started showing her weakness for cuteness in front of them.

The main progression that happens is some evolution in the characters' relationships and attitudes.  There is of course the progression from strangers to friends among the main cast, but also some character development growing out of things that started as gags.  Osaka, for example, begins as the butt monkey of the class, but by the end of the first year, she is very well accepted by her classmates, and she even gets along particularly well with Tomo, who was originally shown teasing and stereotyping her the most but has now toned it down a bit.  Nyamo’s miserable singlehood, previously a running joke, leads her to open up to the idea of trying matchmaking instead of dating.  Sakaki becomes more willing to express her love of cute animals in front of the other girls, starting with Chiyo, and her running gag experiences with the hostile cat play out to a resolution when she adopts, of all things, an endangered wildcat which is the only cat that doesn’t bite her, then has a final encounter with the hostile cat where she tries to make amends.  Chiyo's academic talents were met with light irritation and mockery at first, but by the end, her new friends are grateful for her help and rise in applause when she is recognized for her grades during the graduation ceremony.  Kagura relaxes her Tomo-like tendencies more and more, and shows a degree of gratitude and sentimentality towards her new friend group that would’ve been shocking when she was first introduced.  Even Tomo, usually the show's last bastion of immaturity, shows tiny bits of improvement: self-reflection and regret during a serious conversation with Yomi over what American audiences would call "finding your passion", and later leading the applause for Chiyo.  To compare Azumanga to Three Leaves, Three Colors again, it’s true that this show doesn't go into as much depth in character relationships as that one despite running for more than twice the number of episodes, but I don’t think that’s a flaw in Azumanga so much as a combination of Azumanga’s larger main cast, gag comedy focus, and choice of a different “zoom level” on the main cast’s lives.

The show itself evolves a little bit, too.  As it goes on, more episodes have segments that flow together and they contain more references to events in previous episodes.  By the last few episodes, with graduation looming, it almost feels like it has become a conventional plot-driven show.  The shift from shorter to longer segments, shorter to longer jokes, etc., is seamless — and pretty typical of comic strips where perhaps the author hasn’t “figured out” their own characters at the beginning.  Surreal elements also get more common, like the “Chiyo’s dad” running gag and increasingly-elaborate looks into what characters are imagining.  As I recall, these changes reflect the stylistic evolution of the original manga, but... uh... my copy of the manga is with my parents at the moment so I didn’t check myself on that.

4. How is it different in retrospect?

As I said, I first saw this in high school, so I was about the age of the main cast.  Perhaps this was one of the things that made it so enjoyable.  The characters seemed relatable, and I lacked the aversion to depictions of ordinary life that some people had because I didn’t have a particularly negative high school experience despite being decidedly uncool.  (I was, in fact, neither interested in being cool nor in being self-consciously uncool, and was content with the set of people I got along with.  I was never really an angsty teenager so much as a sad one.)  My experience of the show is, if anything, even greater appreciation now.  Some of that difference comes from knowledge and some from aging.

I’ve become a bit less of a poser and/or snob about some things since then.  I’d seen a lot of obviously-atrocious dubs growing up, and they really put me off the idea that anyone actually cared about dubbing into English well.  Since then, I’ve lightened up a bit, partly because it seems like nowadays distributors do a lot less 4Kids-style butchery of shows when they’re translated and partly because I’ve realized that there is plenty of bad Japanese voice acting, too, so sometimes the English version is just plain easier on the ears.  So I’ve watched this mostly in the English dub this time around (some episodes in both to check the different versions of specific jokes) and I really enjoy it.  The voices are character-appropriate and the English lines fit the lip movements better than the original Japanese voice track while only rarely resulting in rhythms and stresses that sound unnatural in English, which really impresses me.

Just from the sort of vocabulary one picks up by being weeaboo trash, I occasionally notice differences in meaning between the dialogue and subtitles when watching the sub version.  And I even picked up on an interesting translation choice for a joke I hadn’t noticed before.  When Yomi tells Osaka that Chiyo is a child prodigy in ep. 2, Osaka responds comparing Chiyo to a boy she knew growing up, resulting in her expressing a different misunderstanding in each version about how the boy was described by adults.  In the English dub, Osaka says something about him “smarting off”, the joke being she thinks that means he’s smart.  In the English subtitles, she says he was “precocious”, to which Yomi says she doesn’t think that meant he was smart by calling him that.  This time around, I finally caught that the Japanese dialogue there clearly uses the phrase “otoko no ko”, insinuating that the boy is a crossdresser and/or gay.  Even though I don’t understand the full Japanese joke, the implication is clearer than it was in English (because I, um, also didn’t think of the double entendre on the word “precocious” until now), as is the degree of the misunderstanding.

I appreciate now how many scenes are psychologically-savvy.  Just in the episode in which the main cast of students move up to their second year of high school, we see two scenes that just click with me as “yes, people do this, and I don’t know why we don’t seem to notice it!”.  I mentioned above Kagura wanting to compete more because of the sports festival while Sakaki thinks nothing of it at all, which hinges on the simple difference in the sports festival having been a memorable event in Kagura’s life but not Sakaki’s.  That episode also features a scene in which Tomo eggs on her classmates to eat their lunches early because it’s a thing that (according to her) second-years do, which sets up Mr. Kimura to arrive the room for literature class, see everyone eating, and therefore assume he must be the one who has the time wrong and go back to the faculty lounge for his own lunch.  This tendency to defer to others in decisions in our own lives, not through peer pressure per se but through assuming that something done commonly or confidently must be correct, is just something I don’t see portrayed or acknowledged much in Japanese or American media.  And I love it.  For those two scenes alone, this is one of my favorite episodes in the whole series.

As far as the characters, I still find the students charming and relatable, and I’m willing to bet that everyone knows someone like most of them in real life.  They fit Japanese character archetypes to a certain extent, but are also developed enough especially in their interactions with each other that they come off as realistic to me.  So they hold up well.  But mainly, I find I have much more appreciation for the teacher characters as an adult.  I can think of times when I’ve been the Yukari in a situation, whether that means being overbearing and inconsiderate when I think I’m being funny or whether it means or digging through a messy desk swearing that I know exactly where something is before creating a landslide.  And I can think of times when I’ve been the Nyamo accidentally antagonizing the Yukari by trying to be helpful.  I even appreciate Kimura, not because I think he’s relatable or a good guy, but because he’s distressingly realistic.  His creepiness comes at the same time as genuine competence and, as far as we are aware, a normal and functional home life.  It is widely-acknowledged yet never stopped by the administration, even though it ranges from unprofessional obnoxiousness to genuinely alarming sexual harassment.  Kimura is unfortunately plausible and all-around frustratingly topical.

Revisiting these characters, I’ve also realized something about myself.  When I first watched this show (and read the manga), I got a serious crush on Osaka.  She would go solidly in the “endearingly pathetic” column if I were to evaluate her that way, and she also reminded me at the time of a few different confidently strange and spacy people I went to high school with.  And then, getting older, I realized…  She’s endlessly distractible by trivial things.  She asks weird hypotheticals and follows odd tangents to other topics.  She often misunderstands people.  She’s hopelessly unathletic and clumsy.  Oh no.  I'm the Osaka of my circle of friends.  So, uh, that’s a thing that happened, and I have no idea what to make of it.

Azumanga is relaxed, wholesome, and hilarious, and its characters and major events are believable even when highly stylized for comedic effect.  When it's not in hyper-simple comedy mode, the art can be downright beautiful.  It’s clearly an artifact of its time given, for example, the lack of cell phones (even basic ones) and persistence of film cameras, but that kind of aging happens to any show.  The situations are still relatable despite not being topical, which makes me think — or at least hope — that this can last well into the future as something new audiences find worth watching.

—–

W/A/S Scores: 8 / 3? / 3

Weeb: There are lots of little things that will seem odd if you go in believing that Japanese school schedules and activities are the same as American ones, but anime is so saturated with high school comedies nowadays that it is much less weeb now than it was then to expect that background knowledge.  Many non-school things like flower-gazing or the fact that seasonal fairs in Japan have different activities and expected clothing than in American ones will seem distinctly foreign but understandable to a naive audience, while a few episodes might need some looking up to “get” because they expect audience familiarity with things still obscure to most Western audiences, like lucky dreams in the New Year’s episode or the yōkai in the second culture festival episode.  Mostly, familiarity with the conventions of other anime or of Japanese culture will enhance enjoyment but aren’t strictly required to enjoy it.  The art style sometimes shifts for specific gags to a particular style of minimal-movement chibi characters on very simple backgrounds which is more at home in the 4-panel comic world in which Azumanga originated (and in pre-moe-era comedy anime, or at least the few I've seen) than in other manga formats or newer anime, creating an additional small hurdle even for those with different Japanese media exposure.

The show runs into more of a barrier with hard-to-translate jokes than anything else, leaving the viewer the choice between replacement jokes with similar general ideas in the dub vs. the occasional feeling that there should be a joke but you’re not quite getting it in the sub.  One particular joke that they made no attempt to adapt ended up being utter nonsense in both the sub and dub unless you get that "Mr. Yukichi" refers to 19th Century Westernization advocate Fukuzawa Yukichi, who is on the ¥10,000 bill, and I gave the show an entire extra point on the Weeb scale just because I had to look that up.

Ass: Unless you’re Mr. Kimura, probably no “ass” score at all as far as sexualizing the characters, but there is the occasional sexual joke or implication.  Even the obligatory beach episodes aren’t fanservicey in the way or to the degree that a contemporary moe high school show often is.  Probably the single most sexual-looking thing is characters holding their skirts down in the intro, which is tame by comparison to anything released in the last decade.  Kimura, however, does make the show unsuitable for audiences… well… younger than the show’s main cast, probably.

Shit (writing): I have very little problem with the bulk of the content.  I think the show works and the characters are relatable and delightful.  But I do have some gripes about translation, mostly in the dub.  Although I still maintain the dub is unusually good in acting and synchronization, they do take more liberties than I’d like with changing jokes, and the dub and sub both lose some subtlety in how characters address each other, as mentioned before.

On top of that, there are some odd localization choices in the dub.  For example, the way Yukari, their English teacher in the original Japanese, is not portrayed as teaching a foreign language at all in the dub, while still making a big deal of her foreign language skills outside of class, or how characters repeatedly say “taiyaki pastry” in the dub instead of just establishing once for the English-speaking audience that taiyaki is the name of a specific style of pastry and using the name “taiyaki” from then on.  Also, I know this is very small and specific, but I noticed a place in ep. 17 where they inserted a strained pun in the dub where there was intentional awkward silence in the sub, so that’s just… weird.

Shit (other): The animation is often sparse, and although this is usually fine, it does sometimes come off as cheap.  The biggest problem visually is that the DVDs I’m watching have noticeable and pretty frequent combing, which I was able to reduce but not eliminate by fiddling with video player settings.  On the other hand, kudos to the director for hitting a sweet spot on shots that are lingered on or actions that are repeated for “too long” (e.g., Nyamo demonstrating chopstick use, or any of the scenes of Chiyo and Osaka failing at sports, or Osaka trying to wake up Yukari) because they end up hilarious when they could have been tedious.

Oh, and I love the soundtrack.  Some people may also find the frequent use of recorders annoying, but those people are (1) wrong and (2) not writing this blog.  The soundtrack is appropriately lighthearted and/or relaxing.  The opening theme “Soramimi Cake” is catchy and accompanied by an opening credits sequence that decently shows who the main characters are.  But “Raspberry Heaven”, the ending theme… ah… the sequence accompanying it is a beautiful dream and the music is movingly bittersweet for reasons I lack the music theory background to articulate.  Like, this is a really weird example, but it conveys my feelings: have you seen Soylent Green?  You know the scene where Sol is listening to a medley of classical music while he’s being euthanized?  If the last thing I ever heard were “Raspberry Heaven”, I would die totally content.

Content Warning: Kimura.

—–

Stray observations:

- I think Kaorin may have been the first unambiguously gay character I saw in any anime.  Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura would’ve beaten Azumanga to the punch with representation, but I grew up on the butchered-for-pearl-clutching-audiences versions of those shows.

- Kimura has, incidentally, produced one piece of lasting weeb culture.  While trying to save his illustration for a proposed magical girl cheerleading outfit, he drops a picture of a woman.  Tomo picks it up and wonders out loud who it is.  Kimura responds, in heavily-accented English, “my waifu”.  So… yup.  We have him to thank for the whole waifu/hasubando phenomenon.  Or, well, the terminology, since attraction to fictional characters is probably a phenomenon as old as fiction itself.

- More of a fun fact than a stray observation, Kuricorder Orchestra, who collaborated with Oranges & Lemons on the Azumanga soundtrack, recorded two Yotsuba-inspired concept albums, which are also adorable.  They’re hard to come by in official copies, but I can’t help but notice that nobody seems to be stopping anyone from uploading them to YouTube...

- The background music in the cheerleading scene in ep. 6 is the “Grandpa Polka”, a.k.a. “The Clarinet Polka”, which fans of various other weird geeky media may recognize as the melody for the Candy Mountain song in “Charlie the Unicorn” and/or as the song between “Love Shack” and “Pump Up the Jam” in Weird Al’s medley “Polka Your Eyes Out”.

- My junior high, oddly, did have sports festivals somewhat like those depicted in anime, but I don’t hear much about other American schools doing similar things.

#weeaboo trash #retrospective review #anime review #azumanga daioh #this post is way too long

[nauticalparamour]

Strangers on a Train Tom x Hermione Rated M-ish. Warning: Character Death

Well, here is my contribution for @dulce-de-leche-go‘s Spooky Scary DulceWeen. If you’d like to read last year’s, you can click here.

Huge thank you to @hollowg1rl for alpha reading! Tagging some people who liked the sneak peek or I think just might be interested, but feel free to ignore if it’s not your cup of tea: @weestarmeggie17@sindhooora @perf-patricia @colubrina @katsitting @feelingsinvitae @ash-castle @nerysdax @kreeblimsabs @madziayeon @kakashizzle @evcrythings @tomriddlesnonexistentheart @holysheepfan @svalle099 @snipandsnail @calebski @jheeley @jasperandgemma @meowmerson @kristeristerin @littleredsiren3101 @browneyesandhair @bluecurls8 @bonafake @for-witchcraft-and-wizardry @geekmom13 @imsonick @itisariddle @katemaplebranch @littlemulattokitten @mechengmama @primruesabcd @queenvulca @sableunstable @synoir @thriftycrimson @worthfull1 @xxdustnight88 @ashenrenee

Stomping down the long hallway of the Hogwarts Express, Hermione Granger could feel her irritation only rising higher. She had hoped that walking away from Ron for a while might help her clear her head and keep her from hexing him. She wasn’t entirely sure how, but after only two hours of being in his presence again after a Weasley-free summer, Ronald had already made her flee for a bit of solitude.

Looking into the glass panels of the doors, she knew that she would be beyond lucky to find an empty compartment this late in the train journey, but she was willing to do basically anything at this point to put some space between her and her friend.

To her dismay, she was nearing the very end of the train, and had only one carriage left to find sanctuary. Pushing through the doors to the very last car, she paused for a moment, noticing that the overhead lights seemed to be flickering in time with the steady turn of the locomotive’s wheels. It was a bit eerie, to say the least, but she pressed on, hoping that she would turn up something. Unfortunately, this part of the train was just as full as the rest of it.

That was, until, she came to the very last compartment on the left. Looking inside, she saw just one occupant, a boy that she didn’t recognize. Biting her lower lip, Hermione waffled for a moment, before moving to open the door. Sticking her head in, she gave him a cautious look. “Erm, sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if I could join you for a while? All the others are full,” she lied, knowing that there was a perfectly good compartment further up the train holding her trunk that she could rejoin at any time.

The boy – or young man, really – looked up from the book that he was reading, and gave her a charming smile. “Of course, come in,” he said with a sweep of his hand to the empty bench opposite him.

Hermione cautiously returned the smile. “Cheers. I won’t disturb your reading, I promise,” she thanked him before taking her own seat and staring out the window. Watching the scenery rush by did little to distract her though, and before long she was sighing and grumbling, imagining all the ways that she could hurt Ron Weasley if she wanted.

After she sighed for what must have been the 100th time, the young man coughed, catching her attention, and she found him staring at her with intense blue eyes, a smirk on his face. “Sorry, but is everything alright? You seem quite upset.”

He seemed so sincere that she almost opened up without hesitation. But then, she really looked at him and Hermione realized that she actually had no idea who he was at all. He seemed that he might be about her age, but he hadn’t changed into his uniform yet, and his nondescript grey robes didn’t help to place him. Confusion on her face, she sat up a bit straighter. “I – I’m sorry, I don’t believe that we’ve actually met yet. I’m Hermione Granger,” she introduced, hoping that her shiny prefect’s badge would be it’s own introduction.

“I’m Tom,” he replied, still smiling, but not elaborating further. With his jet black hair, slightly tousled, he was really quite handsome. She was positive that she would have recognized him if she’d seen him before.

“What year are you, Tom?” she asked, hoping that she wasn’t coming across as rude.

“I’m a seventh year,” he said, eyeing up her Gryffindor tie. “Though, I am in Slytherin, so I doubt that we’ve had a reason to cross paths in the past,” he told her smoothly.

Hermione nibbled her lower lip, thinking that his explanation did seem to make sense. Perhaps he had just gone through an impressive growth spurt over the summer? Was he a late bloomer, the same as she had been? It felt a little bit uncomfortable to be sitting with him, knowing so little about him. “Hm, I suppose that’s true,” she conceded, eventually.

Pushing her hair out of her face, she decided that maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible if she opened up to this mysterious Slytherin about her issues. It would be good to get them off of her chest and he’d been decent so far. “I am a bit upset if I’m honest. My good friend Ron is the other Gryffindor prefect in our year, and he’s already slacking off. More or less told me that I could do all of the work for the pair of us, and then skived off our meeting so he could chat to Lavender Brown.” Hermione crossed her hands over her chest, really feeling quite annoyed still that he hadn’t even bothered to show up. “Sometimes he makes me so mad, I could just…ugh…kill him!”

Tom chuckled at her seeming to understand where she was coming from. “I completely know what you mean,” he said, his white teeth glinting perfectly behind an equally perfect smile. Merlin, he was so handsome. “I have had similar experiences.”

Hermione thought that was a bit of a weird thing to say, but she contented herself with looking back out the window, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of his eyes on her. It was making her hair stand on end, and when her eyes finally darted back to his face, he was staring at her with a wide grin.

She was shocked when he suddenly stood up, stretching his long legs, before moving to sit in the seat next to her. “You know, Hermione, I had the funniest idea just right now,” he said, his voice having dropped an octave, making her shiver. She was uncomfortable having him sitting so close to her body, feeling his heat seep into her skin, being unused to this kind of male attention. “You and I both have someone that makes us mad enough that we could kill them,” he whispered conspiratorially, his nose scrunched up as if he were telling her a delightful joke. “But of course we couldn’t actually do it…we’d be the first suspects.”

“I didn’t actually mean that I wanted-”

Tom cut her off. “But there is a way around that, isn’t there? I could kill your Ronald, and you could kill someone for me. Both of our problems would be solved, and neither one of us would be traced back to the crime,” his voice was seductive and gravely, his hot breath trailing over her neck while he played with the ends of her hair.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, turning so that she could look at him. “Who do you want killed anyway?” she questioned, not entirely sure how to deflect from the topic at hand. Of course, he couldn’t be serious about killing someone, could he?

“Dumbledore,” he said, viciously, his eyes flashing dangerously.

Hermione couldn’t help herself. She burst our laughing at the absurdity of it all. “Hahaha, yes, Tom. You kill Ron for me, and I will kill Dumbledore for you.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes, standing up. “You know, Tom, you’ve cheered me right up. I am sure I can return to my friends now that I’ve had a laugh.”

He just smirked at her while she stood up, leaving the carriage, and Tom, behind her.

After her unusual meeting, Hermione didn’t see Tom again. She’d nearly convinced herself that she’d daydreamed the handsome seventh year Slytherin, a figment of her imagination to burn off some homicidal thoughts.

That was, of course, until Ronald Weasley wound up dead in the Great Hall.

It was well into October when it happened. She had waited in the Gryffindor common room for Harry and Ron, wanting to walk down to breakfast with them. Harry had come down confused, telling her that Ron’s bed was made, and he wasn’t anywhere to be found in the boy’s dorm.

“Well, maybe he got so hungry, he decided to go down early,” Hermione had quipped, knowing about their friend’s legendary appetite.

They’d walked down to the Great Hall together, chatting about their upcoming potions essay that Professor Slughorn had assigned. Harry was generally much more excited about potions now that he had his textbook, margins filled to the brim with notes and changes. It irritated Hermione to no end, partly because she thought it was cheating, and partly because he was doing better than her at the subject.

In retrospect, they should have known something was up when they entered the Great Hall. All of the other tables were empty, and everyone was crowded around the Gryffindor table. Upon seeing Harry and Hermione approaching, student parted, whispering, giving them access to the scene in front of them.

Hermione gasped when she saw it, her face transformed by the horror. Ron was laid out on the table, his face a horrifying shape of purple. His bright blue eyes were wide with horror, snot and dried tears covering his face. There was some shape lodged in his throat and a red apple had been forced between his lips. There was no hiding what had happened – he’d choked to death, but someone had done this to him.

Unable to look at it a moment longer, she felt tears spring to her eyes, and pressed her face into Harry’s shoulder. His arms wrapped around her provided her little comfort. She could still hear Lavender, Ron’s girlfriend, wailing. Before long, the Professors were shuffling everyone aside, telling them to return to their common rooms. In the jostling, Hermione was separated from Harry.

Immediately, she could feel dread settle in her stomach. She’d been positive that the mysterious Slytherin from the train had been joking…he hadn’t really intended that they kill people for one another, had he? An icy hand clenched itself around her heart when she realized she’d sarcastically agreed to the plan. Merlin, just what had she gotten herself into?

Scanning the crowd, she easily caught sight of him, leaning against one of the far walls, completely by himself. He was smirking at her, having just taken a bite of bright red apple, the same shade as the one in Ron’s mouth. Hermione stomped over him, feeling more and more nauseous with each step. When she got to his side, he was fully grinning at her. “Admiring my handiwork?” he quipped, clearly enjoying himself and the chaos that was unfolding before them.

“No! I can’t believe you killed my friend!” Hermione said, shoving her hand against his rather solid chest.

He gave her a patronizing little frown. “Oh, but Hermione, we had a deal. I kill your problem, and you kill mine, remember?” Before she could blink, his hand was pressing her hair away from her face, his fingers cupping her jaw lovingly….except for the thumb that was digging into her throat, just nearly cutting off her airway. Her eyes searched the room, hoping that anyone would see what was happening to her, but they were all still caught up in tumult of discovering Ron’s body. His face was transformed to something handsome to something much more sinister. “Now, I’ve held up my end of the bargain, Hermione,” he whispered into her ear.

Again, she looked around for anyone to help her, and she caught Ginny’s watery, shocked eyes. She tried to convey that she needed assistance, but to her dismay, Ginny was pulled into a hug by Luna Lovegood.

Another squeeze of her neck had Hermione’s attention snapped back to Tom’s face. “Now it’s time for you to do your part. Don’t disappoint me,” he demanded.

“I’m not going to kill Dumbledore,” she insisted weakly, bringing her hand up to his wrist, hoping to pry it off, but not getting very far with his iron grip.

“You will,” he said confidently. “You’ve seen what a convincing scene I’ve created here. Don’t you think that I could frame you just as easily?” His voice raised up a pitch, mocking some giddy school girl. “Of course Granger just snapped. Everyone knows how jealous she was that Weasley was dating Lavender Brown.” Another smile slipped on his face, as though he was  positive he was going to get his way. Suddenly, her earlier joke about him being too hungry to wait for food tasted like ash in her mouth. “And if that’s not enough incentive, I’ll kill you next if you don’t.”

Pressing her further into the wall, Tom eventually released her from his hold, before walking out of the Great Hall. Hermione rubbed at her neck and wondered if she might have bruises. Knowing she didn’t have time to think on it, she paced over to where her friends were standing, Ginny now wrapped up in Harry’s arms.

“Ginny!” Hermione called, her eyes wild. “Did you recognize that boy I was just talking to? I think he might have had something to do with Ron’s…murder?” She questioned eagerly, before trailing off, hating the way that she’d just stomped all over social norms. Ginny was shocked, grieving, and here she’d just blurted out that Ron was murdered.

The redhead looked horrified, and then concerned. “Hermione, maybe you ought to go lie down…or talk to Madame Pomfrey,” Ginny sniffled. “I didn’t see you talking with anyone.”

The school was unequipped to handle a student death, especially one that was covered so publicly. Harry had stayed with Ginny until the Weasley’s could arrive, and the Professors had fluttered around them, trying to field their grief. Hermione had slipped through the cracks, having been told by the Head Girl to go to Madame Pomfrey for a calming draught and maybe a dreamless sleep potion.

She didn’t go.

Hermione had lied awake in her bed, unable to keep with the memory of Ron’s face still in her mind. Tom’s threats were heavy on her mind, and she was spinning different possible outcomes, many not looking too good for her. She’d thought about telling Harry for about thirty seconds before dismissing that idea out of hand.

In the darkness of her dorm room, one answer sprang to mind. Unfortunately, it meant reaching out to just about the last person that she wanted to: Professor Dumbledore. She just had to hope that he would listen to her and realize that she didn’t promise to kill him. Maybe he would have more information about just who Tom was, too.

Slippers on her feet, she crept down from Gryffindor tower through the halls of Hogwarts. The castle become increasingly terrifying the later it got at night. She navigated her way, avoiding Professors and ghosts alike, down moving staircases until she got to the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore’s office.

“Bertie Botts? Licorice wands? Pepper Imps?” Hermione tried offering up every wizarding confection that she could think of, but to no avail. Biting her lower lip, she knew it was imperative that she speak with Dumbledore as quickly as possible, but she was getting nowhere this way. Of course, it was against the rules to break into a professor’s office, but she needed to speak with him. Raising her wand, she shut her eyes tight. “Confundus.”

Her eyes opened back up at hearing the sound of the stone scraping against the wall, unable to believe that it had actually worked. Still, she eagerly raced up the stairs into the darkness of the Headmaster’s office, finding it empty. Another spell had the room bathed in the unnatural light from the tip of her wand.

Cursing another time, Hermione realized that Dumbledore wasn’t here, and she didn’t actually have any idea of where he slept so that she could wake him up. She had to let him know that his life was in danger, and worse that she knew exactly who was behind Ron’s murder. She wondered if he would understand how she’d gotten involved in the first place, or if he would understand that she’d all thought it was a big joke.

Before she was able to plan her next steps, the floo was flaring bright green and eerie. Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace, brushing his robes of any imaginary ash, before he was startled by Hermione’s presence. “Miss Granger, what are you doing here?” He asked.

She was unable to see his eyes, as the light of her wand was reflecting off of his half moon spectacles. “Professor, I am sorry for barging in here in the middle of the night, but I had something I had to tell you,” she bit her lower lip, hoping that she had made the correct assumption about the Headmaster. “Your life is in grave danger.”

A cool sensation slid down her spine like ice water. She could sense his presence before he even spoke. There was no second guessing who it was that had pressed their body against her’s, his hand coming around her wand arm, covering her hand. His breath tickled against her ear when he spoke. “I am so proud of you, Hermione. I didn’t think that you’d actually do it.”

“I’m not here to kill him, Tom!” She hissed, wondering how he’d gotten up to the office in the first place. “I’m here to stop you.”

“Who are you talking to Miss Granger?” Dumbledore asked, his normally calm tone betrayed by a slight waver in his voice.

“Don’t you recognize him, Professor?” she questioned, hoping that he’d still be able to see the other boy, even in the darkness of the room. “He’s a Slytherin called Tom.” Belatedly, Hermione realized that she’d never gotten his last name…

“Miss Granger, Hermione…” Dumbledore continued, concern evident on his ghostly features. “There is no one else there, except you and me. Now, why don’t you put down your wand.”

Tears sprang to her eyes, and she shut her eyes closed tightly. How could Dumbledore say that there was no one else there? She could feel the hard wall of muscle behind her, she could feel the heat of Tom’s body seeping into her skin, she could feel his grip on her hand, pointing her wand at her Headmaster. Shaking her head back and forth, she tried to clear out her thoughts. “No!” she said firmly.

“Come on, Hermione, let’s do it together,” Tom whispered, and she could practically feel his smirk, even if she couldn’t see it. “You know the words, you know the wand movement. It would be so simple, and you’d just be holding up our end of the bargain.” She could feel him moving her arm, a quick zigzag pattern, refusing the let up.

“Avada Kedavra!”

The spell echoed in her head, along with Tom’s laughter, long after Dumbledore had fallen in a heap to the floor. She wasn’t sure if it was her or Tom who had said the words in the end, but she dropped her wand the same, feeling as though it had scalded her. What had she done? How had this happened? She’d only wanted to help Professor Dumbledore and in the end, she’d….

Her heart was pounding against her chest, a wild rhythm that she couldn’t see to gain control of. “What did you do?” She questioned, turning around and facing the young man who was supposed to be just another Hogwarts student. At this point, she knew that there was more than meets the eye.

“What did I do?” Tom laughed again, giving her a cheeky smirk. “Well, my dear, sweet Hermione, let me tell you. I’d been living at Hogwarts – a sad, hollow, remnant of a spirit – ever since Harry Potter tried to destroy my diary, biding my time. I’d gained some strength from Ginny Weasley’s soul, but never enough to become corporeal again.”

Hermione stared at him in absolute horror, the wheels in her mind turning rapidly while she pieced together what he was saying. “But that means…you can’t be…”

“Tom Riddle,” he pronounced with a self-satisfied smile. “Or as you might know me, Lord Voldemort.”

She pushed back from him, trying to get out of her grasp, only to nearly trip backwards over Dumbledore’s robes. Tom caught her, pulling her to rest against his chest, his fingers tangled in her hair, and his nose pressed to the crown of her head. It would have been a reassuring and welcoming gesture had it come from anyone but him. “Please let me go,” she begged, trying to get free, but to no avail.

“Your spirit called to me on the Express. You were so angry, and my spirit fed on that, allowing me to appear for you,” he whispered, and she could practically feel his proudness radiating into her. “And now that Dumbledore is dead, well, I’ve absorbed his energy, and I’m fully corporeal again. A second chance at life, and it’s all thanks to you.”

“No, no, no!” Hermione begged, knowing deep down that what he said was true, but not wanting to face the facts. She was ashamed that it was her anger at her friends that had allowed him to get a foothold in her mind. She never would have killed if it hadn’t been for him.

“Yes, Hermione,” Tom said indulgently, as if she were a misbehaving child. “Now the question is, what are you going to do? No one else has seen me, except for you, and everyone will think you’ve gone mad and killed Dumbledore. It was your wand, after all, that cast the fatal spell.”

As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew that what he was saying was true. There was no way that she could explain the situation without ending up in Azkaban, as she didn’t think the Ministry would believe that she was possessed by the spirit of Tom Riddle. All they would see was someone who’d snapped and killed her best friend, and then her Headmaster. They would probably even use it as some kind of propaganda against muggleborns. She couldn’t allow that to happen. “I don’t know what to do,” she admitted quietly.

“Come with me, Hermione. I will take care of you, and all will be well,” he offered in that sweet, crooning voice of his, the rumble of his words in his chest making her eyes droop as her adrenaline waned.

Helpless and without her wand, Hermione nodded, defeated. She allowed Tom to shuffle her to the fireplace, listlessly watching as he took a pinch of floo powder. “Riddle Manor,” he called out confidently, pulling Hermione into the Avada Kedavra green flames.

#spookyscarydulceween #strangers on a train #tomione #tom x hermione #halloween fic #oneshot #dulceween #dulceween2017 #spookyscarydulceween2017 #fanfic #fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #nauticalparamour

[angeltxmlinson]

FAQ for James and Oliver panels

I watch their con videos a LOT and I’ve noticed that the same questions come up time and time again so I thought I’d make a guide for the questions they get asked all the time along with a few tips for asking them a question. These aren’t always going to be their answers, obviously they can change but this is the pattern I noticed in what they answer. Also, I am paraphrasing on some of these, as it’s just general and not a transcript I don’t take it word for word.

FAQ (answers not word for word)

What’s their personal patronus?

James- Hedgehog (because it’s cute)

Oliver- Sloth (because I’m quite a chilled person)

Favourite prank they pulled?

They can’t tell you some because the people they pulled them on still don’t know about it but typically they go with this one

If they could play any other characters from Harry Potter, who?

James- Dobby

Oliver- Peeves

Funniest/favourite/awkward fan moment/interaction?

This answer actually changes quite a bit to be honest but if you’re looking for them to single out a person or ever make fun of someone in a harsh way then no, they never do. Any questions about fans are always met with respect.

Favourite person to work with on set?

They usually say, all of the kids were so much fun because they’re all just best friends but out of the adults, Julie Walters (Molly).

Favourite Weasley Wizard Wheezes product?

For both it’s the skiving snackbox but one usually takes that first (typically James)

James- Skiving snackbox (because it was their first product)

Oliver- Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher or as he likes to call it, the pimple cream (because it would be so useful and also it would make me a lot of money)

Favourite book?

James- Prisoner Of Azkaban

Oliver- Half Blood Prince (I think? I’m not sure don’t kill me)

Character from the book they wish were in the movies?

Both- Peeves

Saddest memory from set?

The scene where they’re watching over Voldemort’s army attacking because it was their last day and the bulldozer was just outside of set waiting to tear it all down.

What happened when they filmed Fred’s death scene?

James- I just fell asleep and they all left me there to go for lunch

Oliver- I got told by the director to think of a sad moment so I’d cry and also ignore everyone before the scene so I’d stay in character. I also got the hairstylist blowing Eucalyptus in my eyes to make me cry. But no, we did not hug and say I love you.

Did they ever switch roles on set and have to reshoot things?

Common rumour, they switched seats once in a rehearsal in the main hall but other than that, no.

How did playing Fred and George impact on their personalities?

James- I was quite a shy, moody child and having to act like the class clown made me more outgoing so I thought I’d try it in real life and now I’m a lot happier. Doing panels would have scared me as a child but now I’m a lot more confident.

Oliver- It made me like playing pranks a lot more.

Favourite scene to film?

The age line scene in the Goblet Of Fire

How did James find out about Fred’s death?

James- I was on a train in Japan when I read it and it was almost like a close friend had died, it hit me really hard. Then the ticket man came around and asked for my ticket and I was like ‘hold on mate, I just died’. Not only did it shock me, it shocked me how much it shocked me.

How did they decide who played Fred and who played George?

Not much thought was put into it. At the readthrough they asked and the woman they asked walked around the table to where JK Rowling and Christopher Columbus were and the decision was made there.

Extras

What not to do

Don’t ask them about their personal lives (who they’re dating, kids ect) as they are very private people and definitely do not like to talk about that.

Do not call them ‘the twins’ or ask any typical twin related questions (what’s it like to be a twin? Do you feel it if your twin is in pain?), as much as they tolerate it from fans, they really don’t like it. They were raised as separate people and they are separate people.

Please don’t ask who was Fred and who was George (James played Fred, Oliver played George) or who is James and who is Oliver. If you’re not sure, there are plenty of guides on how to tell them apart, here’s my favourite but there are plenty of others.

Try not to ask them for anything (video message, to say hi to a friend) because it gets dull for the audience and awkward for them. Maybe try at autographs if possible.

If you want an original question

Ask something that is related to sport (they play and watch golf, cricket and football. They watch rugby too).

Check out their IMDB (Here’s James’ and Oliver’s) and ask about other role’s they’ve done.

They also hinted that they have their own original show idea called Twin Cities (read here for more on that) so possibly ask how that’s going or if they can talk about it?

(Also maybe ask about Oliver's site JOP World just because I'm curious as to what happened to it!)

Overall, just be kind and respectful and if you really want to ask a question others have asked a lot, then do. Remember that they are just people and they don’t have to respond to anything or do anything just because you’re a fan. Having met them myself, I can say they are incredibly kind and humble and appreciate the full support they get. So, go forth and have the time of your life!

Also if you have anything to add, please do! I know I haven’t covered every question or gone word for word!

(My main source is all the panels on YouTube but this one has a LOT of these questions.)

#james phelps #oliver phelps #convention #faq #panel #panel questions #comic con #photo op #autograph #fred weasley #george weasley #harry potter #cast #twin cities #actors #phelps twins #weasley twins #i hate using those tags #help

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Greetings, sorry for the sudden ask, ummm.... Can you summarize tamago no hi volume 3 please~~? I've read the translation for vol 3 chap 1&2 but I can't seem to find anything beyond that and I'm dying to know what happens after Weiss proposing to platin for them to disappear from the rests for a week.

Okay. I don’t know if you have access to any pictures or not, so I’ll just repost the summary of the whole book I wrote a few years ago. I was at one point working on the spinoff of this title Gravitation (and summarizing bits of this to at least get the story out there; this isn’t my title), but I got hit with the worst luck in the world and developed a lot of medical issues and had to put translating on hold. But I can at least give you an idea of what’s going on with this story. :D

(I apologize in advance if I’m not romanizing the names the same way as you are used to, or if this summary is a little different that what you’ve read.)

Tamago 3 starts right at the end of Tamago 2. In vol 2, after the mermaids, there’s a chapter about Jade. That little baby he picked up (back in the first volume I think) is still following him around and calling him mama. After a big monster fight, Weiss asks Jade to make a contract with her. But something happens, and his egg like, explodes. Or says he’s dead.

Volume 3 opens with them scrambling to get Jade back to the egg source. They teleport using Platin’s power and get there, but Platin collapses from the strain (this is important for later). Jade’s egg is either healed or replaced, thanks to the little baby, and there’s a little ‘good-bye’ moment. :( He comes back out of the egg tank looking like an older man. He makes his promise with Weiss, and is turned out to be a silver wolf (that looks EXACTLY like Koma from Yami ni Toge, tee hee). Platin is worn out, and keeps out of the next monster fight, but wakes up and says “Where is Jade? Who’s this old guy?” and there are some laughs. This is where the 4koma I put on tumblr is from. (When I find the post, I’ll link it here.)

The last 2/3 of the book are a storyline called Privacy. Remember how when Or met Weiss, he thought she was his dead mentor? Well we get to see a little more of that story. The group is having a battle, when Platin seems more worn out than usual. Or is helping him when a monster attacks, but Weiss steps in the way triggering a flashback of Hori, Or’s mentor. We see that Or was basically a suicidal hellion, but Hori made friends with him and ended up giving his life to save Or. Meanwhile, Platin storms off.

Weiss finds Platin in a hot spring, and because she’s a nut ball, rips off her clothes and joins him. She gets freaked out when she sees blood in the water, and runs over to Platin thinking he’s injured. In one of the funniest panels in the book, Weiss feels Platin all over and discovers that he “doesn’t have one”. (You know, down there. XD ) Just as Jade shows up thinking he’s going to catch a peek at Weiss bathing, Platin transports himself and Weiss away to his secret place, the lake where he was born.

Platin tries to swim away and hide, but Weiss demands an explanation (you know, about the lack of certain parts and bloody water). He says no and buzz off, she says she’ll just go tell everyone that Platin is really a woman. Platin explains that’s not the case, but he admits he gets a period and had to get away from where the others were because they would be able to smell the blood. (Remember kiddies, Japan is not afraid of making period jokes on TV or in comics.)

After Jade can’t find Weiss, he goes back and tells the others. He shows them a bloody piece of Platin’s clothing, and of course Or freaks out thinking they were attacked. Or guesses that Platin used his power to teleport them away to safety in Platin’s homeland, and the crew decide to go after them. Or has to ride on Atrum’s back, though, because he never made a promise with Weiss and couldn’t transform (there’s something about promising Hori here, and how they all question why Or lives if Hori died).

There’s a flashback to how Or and Platin met at Platin’s home lake. Platin is drawn without a mask, and looks like a prettier Rakamu (from Doku no Aji). Or notices his purple eyes, and passes out from an injury, noting that his first words to Platin were “beautiful”. Platin explains to Weiss that he is NOT female, but instead an XXY male. There are no women in the dragon species, only XY and XXY. XXY can get pregnant, but there aren’t very many of them (something like one every 20 years). Platin knows that he’s going to be attacked by the XY dragons, and right on cue one does.

The XYs name is Mercury, and he and Platin seem to know each other, like maybe they fought before. Mercury insists that he will take Platin’s first child, but Platin adamantly refuses and they fight. At first, Mercury thinks Platin is refusing because he likes Weiss, but then Or and the others show up. Or wants to know what’s going on, with that creepy Naono smile that says “tell me or you’ll get it”. Mercury starts taunting, realizing that Platin likes Or. Or tells Platin that Platin belongs to him, while at the same time Mercury says “you are my woman”.

Or gets wide-eyed, and says “woman?” right before Mercury knocks Or’s skull open. It sets Platin off into a rage, and Platin agrees to battle Mercury in a few days (for some reason Mercury is perfectly fine with waiting). Meanwhile, Weiss and the others retreat to take care of Or. Once he’s back awake, Weiss explains the whole deal. Or seems depressed, and goes to talk to Platin in Platin’s lake. Platin initially refuses to come out, until Or orders him. Or wants to know why he kept all this a secret, and Platin says it has noting to do with him because they can’t be mates. Or agrees that it’s probably not possible, but the whole time his mind is lamenting how he can’t be with Platin anymore. He notes that their last words were that they can’t be together.

Or then goes into a slump, staring out the window like he’s lost. Jade wonders why they’re just sitting around when Platin could be getting killed, to which Or answers that it’s not any of their business because they’re not dragons and this is what Platin wanted. Weiss flips out, questioning Or if it’s fine for Mercury to rape Platin, and that Or is seriously thick headed if he could go all these years without realizing how Platin felt. Or snaps and says he can’t give Platin a child so he has no right to be by his side. Weiss and Jade squabble over Gaito having babies, and Weiss starts flipping on Jade for forgetting about Rouge, her son (see volume 1). Atrum steps in and reminds her that it’s Gaito -men- who can’t have babies. Or remarks that it doesn’t matter anyway, because Platin is a dragon. Jade makes a comment about how Platin can’t do it anyway because he has no parts (I love the new Jade).

Weiss reminds Or that having babies shouldn’t matter because the two love each other, and Or remembers how he made Platin cover his eyes so that he’d be safe while they travel (I guess purple eyes are rare and can cause trouble). Or admits that Platin is his everything, and the group transport off to save him.

When they get there, they find Platin half dead and about to lose, because Platin absolutely refuses to mate with Mercury. Mercury starts taunting Or (before realizing he is there) and how Platin is weak for holding onto someone who just left him. Mercury says that Or has no right to interfere in the dragons’ affairs, when Or speaks up and tells him he’s right. But he does have a right to interfere in Platin’s affairs, and changes into a golden bird. Turns out he was able to make a promise with Weiss because she got Hori’s egg (I think, it’s a little vague). After a battle, Mercury admits defeat and leaves. Platin is shocked, but grateful. Weiss then reminds him that he is loved.

Two weeks later, Weiss is looking for Platin and finds him being spoon fed by Or. Or is very lovey-dovey now, and Platin is a little embarrassed. Weiss wants to talk to Platin in private, but Or says no, telling her that there are no more secrets between the two. So Weiss blurts out that Platin is pregnant. She goes into a long winded talk about how Platin was still female when Or saved him, and that Gaito sperm are some kind of super sperm that can conceive with other Gaito and dragon people (and there’s an actual drawing of sperm and eggs, more crazy Naono humor). Needless to say the boys are all stunned, except Or who just goes over to Platin and takes off his blindfold. Platin admits it’s true because he didn’t revert back to male right away, and Or just hugs him in what has got to be the cutest panel ever. He then says that above all else, he’s thankful for Platin being alive.

The book ends with some humor, with Weiss calling the two “mamatomo”, kind of translates into mama buddies, and Platin revealing that the baby will take 3 years to be born. They leave to return to Weiss’ hometown, this time making Jade carry all Platin’s luggage. When Jade complains, one of them says “What? Elderly abuse?”. Atrum comments that Weiss smells good, and she blushes and yells that it’s only the soap.

So the two oneshots “Tamago No…” and “Tamago no Hanashi” probably make a lot more sense now. I kind of like how nowhere in the book is it mentioned that the two slept together, just BAM! pregnant. Reminds me of a Disney movie, except with men. XD

#naono bohra #tamago no hi #tamago no hi 3 #summary #long post

[spynotebook]

Just watched Doctor Who: Extremis, the latest episode of Doctor Who, aired a couple of hours ago on BBC 1, to air in a few hours on BBC America … lots of things to think about and talk about. Spoilers of course, what were you thinking?

1. A Long Time Ago – But Not In A Galaxy Far, Far Away

This is how the Doctor swore an oath. Who he swore an oath over. What’s in the vault. And how Nardole got involved in it all. The story arc of the show gets its beginning told, and it’s nature explained. No waiting till the end, here we go – oh and be aware that we’re starting another arc as well. This series of Docto Who is not so much structured as knitted…

And no, no Star Wars reference. But we do get Star Trek.

2. How To Kill A Time Lord

In an earlier episode, Missy put herself at the mercy of UNIT with gunmen aimed at both her hearts and two on her brain stem. Looks like she wasn’t as helpless as we thought, it is now revealed that Time Lords have three brain stems as well as two hearts. Add it to the list.

This is the Doctor after he left River Song on Derrillium. The River who then goes on to meet her death in Silence In The Library – only to be resurrected in a virtual world as an electronic memory of herself. Funny that.

3. Finally, A Reason For The Sonic Sunglasses

It’s common for blind people to wear sunglasses, not so much for them but for the sensibilities of others. And to stop those sensibilities getting in the way. Here the Doctor wears his often criticised sonic sunglasses, sign of a mid-regeneration crisis, not only a signifier for his blindness and an attempt to hide that from the world, but also as a device to help cover his condition, giving him a readout of the world around him. And those in front of him. Even if it stubbornly only goes so far. There’s none so blind as those who cannot get a proper readout on their sonic sunglasses.

4. Pope, Minus A Thousand Years

The actual Pope Benedict IX had one hell of a history. For a start, he was Pope on three occasions between October 1032 and July 1048. Aged approximately 20 at his first election, he was one of the youngest popes in history. The only man to have been Pope on more than one occasion and the only man ever to have actually sold the papacy. He was briefly forced out of Rome in 1036, but returned with the help of Emperor Conrad II, who had expelled the bishops of Piacenza and Cremona from their sees. Bishop Benno of Piacenza accused Benedict of “many vile adulteries and murders”. In September 1044, opposition to Benedict IX’s “sodomitic lifestyle” (lovely) forced him out of the city again and elected John, Bishop of Sabina, as Pope Sylvester III. Benedict IX’s forces returned in April 1045 and expelled his rival, who returned to his previous bishopric. Doubting his own ability to maintain his position, and wishing to marry, Benedict decided to abdicate, and consulted his godfather, the pious priest John Gratian, about the possibility of resigning. He offered to give up the papacy into the hands of his godfather if he would reimburse him for his election expenses. Gratian paid him the money and was recognized as pope in his stead as Gregory VI. Benedict IX soon regretted his resignation and returned to Rome, taking the city and remaining on the throne until July 1046 – although Gregory VI continued to be recognized as the true pope. At the time, Pope Sylvester III also reasserted his claim.

In the world of Doctor Who, it appears that Benedict was a woman. And the Doctor spent a night with her… “I knew she was trouble.”

Jean de Mailly’s chronicle, written around 1250, contains the first mention of an unnamed female pope, and it inspired several more accounts over the next several years. The most popular and influential version is that interpolated into Martin of Opava’s Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum, later in the 13th century. Martin introduced details that the female pope’s birth name was John Anglicus of Mainz, that she reigned in the 9th century, and that she entered the church to follow her lover. The legend was universally accepted as true until the 16th century, when a widespread debate among Catholic and Protestant writers called the story into question; various writers noted the implausibly long gap between Joan’s supposed lifetime and her first appearance in texts. Pope Joan is now widely accepted to be fictional, though the legend remains influential in art, literature, drama, and film. But the idea that Pope Benedict was female would fit Jean de Maiily’s original writings.

Also, is it planned that she will be played by Angelina Jolie at some point?

5. The Pope And The Lesbians

Doctor Who can do many things. Crash history into history, world against world, culture against culture. This may be the first time such a show has had the Pope walk in on a first lesbian date right in the middle of talking about possible guilt. Ridiculous, wonderful, very very silly and utterly brilliant.

As for Penny? There was a Penny, you know. A planned companion by Russell T Davies who eventually was written out and replaced by the returning Donna Noble. But those who read The Writer’s Tale still occasionally wonder…

In a story about discovering that you are nothing, absolutely nothing, it’s good to have a giggle.

6. The Truth Makes For A Lack Of Faith

We have devout translators who commit suicide on learning the truth. Not that there is no God, not that there is no Heaven, but that there is no… anything, The ultimate in nihilist revelations. But… I’m not sure I buy it. The simultaneous and exact random number simulations fights against that there are all individual characters being created and recreated. Who would come up with their own random numbers based on stuff happening in their lives. Just as the characters are doing and thinking different things, so they would come up with different numbers, even if created artificially.

7. Lost In Translation

Why does the Doctor need a translation from Italian? Why does Bill when the TARDIS is meant to do that, such as The Fires Of Pompeii? Or could this be a sign regarding flaws in the fake reality that everyone is experiencing? It would be a useful get out clause… maybe they couldn;t quite get the TARDIS right.

Talking of which, Monty Python’s Flying Circus had the funniest joke in the world that killed anyone who read it, which scientists attempted to weaponise to fight the Germans in World War II, though it was rather dangerous to the translators. Is this a rather different take on that episode?

Though this is a game. Say has anyone been watching the Fourth Doctor episode The Android Invasion? The one in which the Doctor lands on a fake village on a fake Earth, created as a place to gameplan a real invasion?

But no, just as Bleeding Cool has seen a Douglas Adams reference in every episode this season, could this be to the pocket universe utilised by Zarniwoop in order that Zaphod Beeblebrox might survive the Total Perspective Vortex? Too much of a stretch?

8. Quite The Spectacle

Nardole without the glasses becomes someone else. Both in the hood, and then standing up to Bill, he’s not quite the doormat he’s been portrayed as. And allows Matt Lucas to throw in a few of his list of characters and voices along the way.

9. Borrow From The Future

What future could this version of The Doctor steal? Does it have a future to steal from? Or is this a sign that the story of this version of the Doctor exists beyond a sent e-mail? And what price will he have to pay for these moments of sight? Time to bring in Matt Feazell. Or, if I could fins that strip reprinted in Understanding Comics at this exact moment, I would…

So instead, let’s look at all the names who work at CERN. Doctor Who actors and staffers all…

10. Just Another Dead President

Slipping in between the panels of the comic book pages, Doctor Who likes to kill Prime Ministers and Presidents. Could they have taken a little more relish with this one?

Still, I’m not too happy about the idea of suicide as an escape from a reality you don’t want to face up to. There will be letters.

11. And Now The Big One

Are these aliens the Mondosian Cybermen yet to come? We know they are coming. The original Cyberman spoke by opening their mouths, for electronica style voice to pour out, without seemingly using tongues or lips, just like these creatures. These walking mummies, would look like they could do with a little cybernetic enhancement. Are these their earlier, withered forms? And will their invasion involve cybernetics?

Next week’s episode involving them does also involve a pyramid. I don’t suppose that could be a… tomb of the Cybermen?

Next week… Doctor Who gets later. Starting at 7.45pm on BBC 1. Tonight’s episode will air on BBC America at 9pm ET.

  Eleven Thoughts About Doctor Who: Extremis – The Game Of The Rose

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