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#i am 100% down to talk about lancer characters
poisonhemloc · 3 years
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Alright, my Lancer character Ronderu Wrenchclever, callsign Tactical Malfunction (TacMal for short) (On the right, on the left is Jackie, callsign Jackal, @robezpierre‘s character)
I commissioned the art from my friend Linnea, who is SeffaiStudios on twitter and doesn’t have a tumblr, who’s pretty cool and yes her watermark has axolotls.
TacMal is from a mining spaceship in orbit around Procyon, and joined a little lancer company essentially to become the new anti-pirate head at home, and was poached from the original company by Aria, who is head of Flamebreak Chorus, where TacMal currently works. They’re mercenaries that help out in situations where the government is too slow or too far away and someone needs to be there now. Currently she and her squad, called Icebreakers*, are working on the moss covered planet of Hilonde because the neighboring Ossyric empire is trying to violently take it over. (* I firmly believe Fizz came up with the name during sesh 0. No one remembered it except for me a few sessions in.)
TacMal usually has spray paint of some kind and will repaint peoples mechs if asked (or sometimes if she thinks they need it). The thing on her right arm is technically a prosthetic third arm; it’s almost entirely used for hacking purposes cause its not strong enough to lift more than a couple pounds. She’s a bit agoraphobic cause. Space station, this outdoors with no roof thing is Not Okay.
TacMal is the general hacker of the squad; she’s piloting a dusk wing (currently LL3, two in dusk wing and one in minotaur), and has almost total focus on generating heat and status issues.
Jackal (Jackie) is the sniper of the group, piloting a pegasus. We also have Fizz (Fizz), general support character/somehow the face/recruited into Flamebreak cause Aria saw him on a report failing to break out of prison in a homemade mech suit, and C3N-T8R (Marion), former racer now piloting a Nelson.
(TacMal is also the oc I’ve thrown into Gundam, by virtue of “I don’t care, a lich blew up near a minotaur” and has decided that Celestial Being both has an awful mission statement but is the more morally right group to support so. She’s offered help in her tiny little mech but she’s mad about it.)
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eveningstar1516 · 3 years
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Rise of the Demon King ~ Chapter 8
Rise of the Demon King
Fic: Multi Chapter Paring: MC x Everyone (Mostly Lucifer) Type: Angst with a Happy Ending Total Word Count: 26,758 TW: Major Character Death, Reader gets stabbed with a sword through their chest so..., Abusive Parents, Past Child Abuse, Demon Hunters, Loss of Control Summary: You’ve done it. You’ve finally done it. You’ve managed to anger the demon king. Now you hold your head high as he hands down your sentence. AO3 Portal: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065362
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Previously:
His brothers would always know whenever he went to see her as he’d always come back with a content smile on his face. Deep down, he wished that Y/N could’ve met Cynthia. They would have made great friends as they were the only 2 people who could make him smile like this. Mammon may not have been able to save Y/N, but he swore that he would protect Cynthia, no matter the cost.
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CHAPTER 8 - The Great Pancake Debate (2261 words)
It’s been almost 6 months since you arrived in the Celestial Realm. Needless to say, you are quite certain that these last 6 months have been the craziest and stressful months of your life! When you told Simeon and Luke about you staying here, to say they were ecstatic would be an understatement. Luke jumped for joy and wouldn’t stop rambling about all the fun you were going to have. When you told them about God appointing them to help teach you about the Realm, Luke practically did a double take and it took an hour to calm him. Now you have Simeon teaching you about politics and Luke about how to use your wings and powers. On your second day there, Michael woke you up, or well came to get you as you didn’t get any sleep. Turns out, while the Devildom is constant at night, the Celestial realm is constant day and thanks to the floor to ceiling windows, there was no way for you to stop sunlight from coming in. You were introduced to the council at breakfast. Note to self, the brothers breakfasts are QUIET AND PEACEFUL compared to Archangels off duty. The first thing you saw were 2 angels passionately arguing over which pancake topping was the best, strawberries or blueberries. At some point a third angel cut in claiming chocolate chips were the best and all heaven (would you replace hell with heaven here? idk) broke loose. As for me, I just started chuckling in disbelief while making my way over to pick up a pancake of my own when the angel arguing on behalf of the strawberries saw you.
“Hey kid, what topping do you prefer, strawberries, blueberries, or chocolate chips? It’s strawberries right?”
“Actually, I prefer them plain with maple syrup. Although if Satan was the one making it, I’d go for the one with poison berries. Contrary to their name, they’re not actually poisonous and quite sweet.” All the angels present looked at me with a mix of shock and disbelief, save for Michael who just sat there eating his breakfast hoping to leave soon and get to work.
“Kid, did you say Satan?” The angel arguing on behalf of blueberries asked. “Yeah… Blond hair, teal eyes, Avatar of Wrath, Luci’s son? Ring a bell?” Turning to Michael, blueberry angel asked,
“Micheal, who are they and why are they wearing Lucifer’s old get up?” “This is Y/N. They will be staying here and taking Samael’s spot on the council until their agreement with Father ends and they return to the Devildom. Father has asked us to teach them about how our Realm operates and how to successfully fulfill Samael’s former position flawlessly, unless they want to return now and leave heaven early?” Michael turned towards you with a smirk on his face as he asked the last part.
“Very funny Mike. You and I both know I won’t do that no matter how bad you want me to.”
“What did I say about calling me that?!” Micheal’s smirk turned into something short of a snarl.
“Well, if you won’t take me seriously, neither will I. You want me to call you by your name, earn it and stop being an butt… I meant an butt… Why can’t I swear?!”
“This is the Celestial Realm Y/N. Angels don’t swear.” Michael said smugly over the rim of his cup of coffee.
“God Dang it! Argh! Fudge!. Dang it! Ya know what, forget it, my entire mood is ruined. Thanks Michael!”
“Anytime.”
Shooting Michael one last glare, I sighed and turned to the rest of the baffled angels in the room.
“Yes, what Michael said is true. Stuff happened in the Devildom which I will not get in too-”
“The demon king made Samael kill them.”
“Ok, Mike, first off, he didn’t, I ordered him too, second, I thought I said I didn’t want to talk about it. What gives you the right to tell them huh?”
“I felt like it.”
“You son of a beach.” I turned back to the rest of the angels. “Not a word about it. Anyway, due to some personal issues, I made a deal with Father to stay here on the condition that I take over Lucifer’s spot on the council until he either kicks me out or until our agreement has ended.”
“If I may, when will this agreement of yours be over?” The blueberry angel asked.
“I will be returning to the Devildom once Lord Diavolo has been crowned king and his father is 100% out of the picture. Now if you don’t mind me asking, could you introduce yourselves?” “Oh how rude of us, I’m sorry, I am Gabriel.” Gabriel had chestnut brown medium length hair, reaching shoulders. His eyes were a dull green. He wore a white turtleneck and had a light green shawl with golden tassels. He pointed to the strawberry angel. “This is Raphael and he’s Uriel.” He pointed to the chocolate chip angel. Raphael had long reddish-orange hair put up in a high ponytail. His eyes were a stormy gray. He wore a simple light gray half sleeve with an off the shoulder white cape and little decor. Uriel had short gray hair and golden eyes that almost seemed to sparkle. He wore something that reminded you of an off white scholar's robe with gray accents. “These are Saraqael, and Raguel.” He pointed to 2 of the quieter angels who didn’t participate in “the great pancake debate”. “We make up the Archangel council and we’re happy to have you Y/N.” Gabriel finished off with a smile. You were just barely able to make out a little “Not all of us” from Michael. You decided to ignore it, and then, like all the decisions you’ve ever made, it was the wrong one. Sitting back down you asked,
“So, quick question. What started The Great Pancake Topping debate?”
.
.
.
.
Breakfast ended 2 hours later with upset angels, and pancakes, everywhere…
In the Devildom. After they lost Y/N
Levi went straight to his room as soon as they got home. As soon as he closed and locked the door he went straight to Henry’s fishbowl, picked it up and sat in his bathtub, hugging the bowl as he cried. ‘Why do I feel like this?! I only like 2D characters and Ruri-chan, not 3D people. How do I miss them?... Why did they leave me? They were my player 2.’ “Well it makes sense, no one would want to stay with a worthless shut in of an otaku like me” he said to the empty room. Henry 2.0 glubbed a bubble in response. “You wouldn’t leave me, would you Henry?” *Glub* “No you wouldn’t… I miss them.” Levi stayed in his tub hugging Henry 2.0 until he fell asleep.
Present
It was another late night, Levi was bingeing a new anime ‘I fell in love with a 3D girl but I’m afraid she’ll leave me after finding out that I’m an otaku who rarely leaves their room’ . He was halfway through the 9th episode when he got a notification from Mononoke Island. One of his raid mates was stuck and needed some help. He paused his marathon to help his fellow mate and stayed up until the early hours of the morning switching between playing Mononoke and watching his anime. Stumbling into the dining room for breakfast the next morning, he was met with complete silence. Lucifer had left early, Belphie was asleep, Beel was too absorbed in eating, Satan in his book and Asmo on his phone to even notice him enter the room. Mammon was busy in the human world helping out sone witches. Levi sat down in his normal spot, taking whatever was left as he mentally prepared himself for the day. As soon as the bell rang, signaling the end of the day at RAD, still dressed in his uniform, Levi left as quickly as he could. There was an anime expo happening in the human realm right now and there was some ultra-rare limited edition Ruri-chan merch being sold there. He had gotten Lucifer’s permission to attend the expo so long as he was back by 11. Existing the portal and making his way to the expo, Levi thought about the last expo he attended with Y/N. They cosplayed as Erin and Levi from Attack on Titan and spent the entire day surrounded by fellow anime nerds. They had also booked a room at a nearby hotel. It was 3 days of bonding time for them. Entering the expo, Levi decided he would get something for them as decor for their headstone put in memory of them in the backyard of the House of Lamentation. Nearing the line for Ruri-chan merch, Levi noticed someone staring intensely at him. He decided to ignore them but keep a loose eye on them, just in case. He got to the front of the line and purchased 4 of the Ruri-chan collection kits. One for use, one for display, one to keep and sell in the future, and one for Y/N. He decided to wander around a little more to see if anything else would catch his eye while he was here. He spotted a Black Butler station and remembered the jokes he and Y/N would crack about Barbatos and Sebastian. He passed a Fate/Stay Night stand and remembered their conversations on which heroic class they would belong to. Levi would have been the perfect Lancer. He passed countless other stalls, each of them holding a memory he made with Y/N. Distracted by his trip down memory lane, Levi forgot all about the person stalking him. He went and purchased some dinner from one of the stalls before sitting down and pulling out his DDD and looked at some pictures of Y/N and him at their last expo. He didn’t look up from his phone until he felt someone sit opposite of him. Levi looked up to see some middle aged man just sitting there on his phone. He didn’t have any food, merch, or even look like someone interested in an anime expo. Feeling an uncomfortable aura emitting from this man, Levi got up and left. He took a quick look over his shoulder and saw that the man wasn’t following him. He left the expo and went down an alleyway to open up a portal back to the Devildom when he accidentally bumped into someone dropping his purchases.
“S-sorry”
“That’s quite alright.” The stranger extended a hand out to let him up. “Say, I’d love to know where you got your uniform from. No schools around here have uniforms like that one.”
Looking up, Levi saw the same man that was watching him with a twisted smile. Masking his fear, he mumbled an excuse about being in a rush and tried to dash around him. Before he could get 2 steps down the alley, the man grabbed him and pushed him further into the alleyway. Levi’s head struck the wall hard leaving him dazed for a moment.
“I didn’t think my intel about finding a RAD attendee at the expo would be true but whaddya know? Seems I caught myself a demon.”
Levi, now more aware of his surroundings, realized he was cornered by a demon hunter. Despite being in an alleyway, there were too many people around for him to do anything rash. Without missing a beat, the hunter pulled out an enchanted dagger aiming straight for Leviathan’s heart. Levi rolled and dogged last minute before colliding into someone’s chest. That person in question wrapped his arms around Levi’s chest and put their own dagger to his throat.
“I know you’re there! Come on out and I might spare your friend's life!” The hunter holding Levi yelled. When no one stepped out, the dagger held by Levi’s neck began pushing on his skin. Levi felt a flare of pain and against his better judgement, transformed. His tail wrapped around hunter 2’s leg and flipped him over while the first hunter charged at him, only to be blown to the ground as a powerful gust of wind knocked him over.
“Jeez Levi, you’re lucky I was here. Seriously, why didn’t ya do somethin’ earlier? Maybe then I wouldn’t have ta save yo ass.” Mammon stepped out from the darkness with a bored look on his face.
“Come on, Lucifer’s waiting for ya back home. LOOK OUT!” Levi turned around just in time to see Hunter number 2 taking a swing at his neck and managed to duck just in time. Mammon then charged over punching the hunter square in the face, knocking him out cold.
“T-thanks M-mammon.”
“No problem. Come on, let’s get ya back home before any more of them show up.”
Stepping through the portal, a question plagued Levi’s mind.
“Mammon, how did you know I was in trouble?”
“Some witches summoned me. I overheard them talk about some hunter group getting a tip about a possible demon being at some expo. Then I realized that it was the same one you were going to, so I decided to go there myself to make sure ya weren’t followed. I’m glad I did too.”
“Th-thank you Mammon. Really.”
“Of course, what are big brothers for. Anyway, about my payment, maybe you can forget about the money I owe ya?”
Groaning, Levi started walking faster, leaving Mammon and his whining behind as he made his way back to the safety of his room.
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writer-and-artist27 · 3 years
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Chaldean Master Vy (Character Profile)
Roughly inspired by @panyum​’s enthusiasm for my most recent artwork, it’s about time I divulge more on the Mastersona/main protagonist of Passing Days, Vy. Here we go.
Name: Vy
Age: 17-18 (beginning of Part 1), 19-20 (by Lostbelt 3)
Gender: Cis-female
Orientation: Asexual/Demisexual (questioning) and Demiromantic
Closest Servants: Mash Kyrielight (Level 80), Arturia Pendragon (Level 100), Achilles (Level 100), Marie Antoinette (Level 80), Robin Hood (Level 100), Archer EMIYA (Level 80), Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (Lancer - Level 70), Medea (Level 70), Chevalier D’eon (Level 80), Sieg (Level 80), Chiron (Level 80), Scathach-Skadi (Level 90), Sitonai (Level 90), Ereshkigal (Level 90), Ruler Martha (Level 80), Katsushika Hokusai (Level 90).
Notable Facts: 
In another place, Vy would have lost her life in a car crash and reincarnated into another world as a civilian pianist, but in FGO’s timeline, she was scouted by Chaldea before she could start her second quarter in college. Chaldea had noticed her family lineage having some kind of Mystic aspects through a blood test she had taken for a yearly checkup before donating blood to a local blood drive. It resulted in them reaching out to her for an “extracurricular volunteer opportunity” that no college student could refuse. Vy would accept, albeit with her parents encouraging her, not realizing it would later lead her to becoming the main Chaldean Master in the Grand Order. 
Vy went into Chaldea thinking she’d be a medical assistant from her resume stating her interest in science and medicine, only to find herself drafted into the Rayshift training that the FGO protagonist went through in canon as a result of her impressive stamina (thanks to biking miles around their home in America with her parents when growing up), tiring herself from all the shifting to the point of nearly dozing off in one of Chaldea’s hallways if not for Mash.
The “Mystic” part of Vy’s blood that drew Chaldea’s attention was something Vy’s parents nor grandparents were actually aware of, no thanks to how all grew up in poverty in Vietnam before coming to America and later, Japan, but it is actually from one of Vy’s ancestors coming in contact with a mage from the Mage’s Association. No one really knows what exactly happened between said ancestor and that mage, but it seems to explain Vy’s uncanny luck in getting some of the bigger names in the Throne of Heroes before confronting Goetia, including Arjuna, Minamoto no Raikou, and Achilles by the dawn of Camelot. Her luck has definitely made the Crypters scratch their heads, since Vy had used a nearly Fully Ascended Scathach-Skadi to take down Kadoc before having reached Scandinavia. 
Vy adores Mash a lot, both from how earnest Mash is and her eagerness to learn about everything of the outside world past Chaldea’s blizzards. Dr. Roman at one point commented that they looked like sisters, just once, and Vy latched onto Mash as a surrogate little sister since, being conscientious of Mash’s health whenever they Rayshift together. 
Since Vy’s family took her on a lot of cross-country road trips when growing up, including visiting national parks such as Yosemite and Zion to hike and sight-see, one of Vy’s goals when going into the Grand Order is making sure Mash gets to experience all nature has to offer one day like she did, wanting to introduce her to her parents when the fighting is all over. She has jokingly asked Dr. Roman and Da Vinci for adoption papers for her parents to sign for Mash.
When starting in Singularity F, Vy was initially scared of paving the way to Humanity’s salvation, but sucked it up once Mash saved her. At that moment, one of the thoughts running through her head was, “Mash is fighting so hard, so why can’t I?!” Since then, Vy has made quite the distinct image of herself when fighting with her Servants, being a no-nonsense leader who can and will sarcastically snark at anyone, including Kiara and BB of all people, when they are opposing her. To allies, she is both understanding and empathic, usually not asking any imposing questions and issuing orders only when emergencies call for it. 
Anyone who tries to “bed” her will spark a loud and angry reaction, since Vy is not interested in any sexual relations and instead is still loyal to her family and friends that were left to the dust by Goetia and later the Foreign God. Expect some cursing too. 
Vy’s romantic orientation is why Agartha is an untouched subject amongst all the Servants when bringing in new faces, because when Dahut in Drake’s body proposed rape to her outright during the Pseudo-Singularity, Vy’s reaction was basically, “I AM ACE, YOU JERK! SEX IS NOT FOR ME, CONSENT MATTERS, SO SHUT UP AND FIGHT ALREADY! IF NOT, I WILL KILL YOU WITH A RUSTY SPOON MYSELF, GODDAMMIT!” It’s another reason why Fergus and some of the other romantically inclined Servants such as Kiyohime and Elizabeth Bathory have kept their distance since, because Vy’s rage point back then was that unsettling. Robin Hood doesn’t bring up the subject of picking up girls in front of her anymore. D’Eon and Astolfo both have tried to keep Vy away from thinking about Dahut since.
The first Servants Vy ever summoned in the Grand Order was Lancer Diarmuid, Medea, and Chevalier d’Eon. The first 4-stars she ever summoned after them was Marie Antoinette and Archer EMIYA, so because of this and a lot of other things, all five Servants still find themselves in the occasional team because Vy grew that attached to them.
Her only Grailed Servants so far are Saber Arturia Pendragon, Rider Achilles, and Archer Robin Hood, both because they were there when fighting opponents such as the Lion King, Tiamat, and the Alter Egos in SERAPH, and how she loved all three of them for their legends even before coming to Chaldea. 
When Vy first got a Holy Grail, she tried to give it to Mash as thanks for Mash protecting her for so long, but because of Mash’s status as a designer baby and Demi-Servant, she wasn’t able to take it. Instead, Mash still finds herself at the front lines team Vy has for mixed enemy battles, since Vy can’t find it in her to leave Mash behind. 
Some of the Servants who have been with Vy longer find themselves getting a nickname for Vy to call out to just them, all because Vy sees them as part of her family and wants to be good to them. Robin Hood is a prominent example, where she calls him “big Robin” as a way to boost his confidence about being a Heroic Spirit, and in turn, he calls her “little sparrow.” Marie Antoinette is sometimes called “my Queen,” and some of the more younger Servants such as Illya and Miyu are called with the “-chan” honorific or “baby sis.” Mash never got a nickname simply because to Vy, “Mash is Mash, and I love your name.” There were many “awww”s. 
It’s because of how she affectionately considers a majority of her Servants family that a lot of them tone down their arguments and bad qualities in her presence, simply because she’s there. An example is how during Babylonia, Vy had answered at the Underworld’s gates, “Ereshkigal is more beautiful!” to Ishtar’s face, both because she had summoned Ereshkigal long before entering Babylonia and that she had known Eresh longer. Eresh, who hadn’t Rayshifted to the Singularity at the time, could be found later hiding her red face in her hands as Da Vinci laughed out loud. Dr. Roman meanwhile had looked like he had swallowed a lemon at the time because of how blatantly Vy had put down Ishtar, and Ishtar barely reacted. Vy’s only reasoning afterwards was, “I did not appreciate being made into a makeshift cushion in our first meeting, Ishtar, thank you very little.” 
There were a lot of times during Singularities where Vy, feeling bad for Dr. Roman being a butt-monkey of jokes, brought home a souvenir or two for the good doctor to take part in some of the better moments of the Grand Order. One such souvenir was a butter cake slice from Siduri in Babylonia, because he expressed wanting to eat it one night and she carefully preserved it with Mash to give it to him before confronting “Solomon” in the Temple of Time. It’s because of this that she dearly misses him, having found him as another surrogate father when he’d call her in for daily check-ups and talks over how Mash was doing.
When the Lostbelts happened, Vy started working a lot harder to raise her Servants and the morale of the rest of Chaldea’s staff, resulting in her gaining eyebags from losing sleep over too many Golden Apples and farming quests. Most of the Servants are all at Final Ascension and Max Level at the cost of this and QP, but it’s helped in making the Crypters lose some of their momentum. 
Hope this helps in giving some nice insight and lore!
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thehivemindwrites · 4 years
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A  Series of Disconnected Thoughts, Cast into the Void in No Particular Order
1. I’ve been finding myself thinking more and more about Kill Six Billion Demons recently. Not just because it’s absolutely gorgeous artwork and Moebius-meets-prog-metal stylings are extremely my shit (KSBD is responsible for adding Gojira to my rotation of workout music, and that alone has me in its debt), but because I can really appreciate a main character who is a walking disaster coming to some kind of enlightenment through a combination of getting her ass handed to her repeatedly, making questionable decisions, and basically just deciding to struggle forwards because I don’t know, what the fuck else is there to do? It’s hardly original (see: basically any shounen about The Power of Friendship and Not Giving Up) but damn if the presentation of it in this particular case isn’t particularly delightful. Plus it gave us the image of a giant hulking demon wearing a jacket that says KILL BOSS and that’s rad.The creator of KSBD is also co-creator, as it happens, of the newly released Lancer TTRPG, which I backed on Kickstarter and will, one day, get a rad fucking hardcover copy of (but for now I’m reading through the pdf and swearing oaths that one day I will play it). Anyway, as someone who also got where he is through a series of questionable decisions and getting his ass handed to him by life in general (oh, and an enormous amount of luck), I can relate. Plus the phrase “Reach heaven through violence,” while kind of terrible on the surface, feels good to shout at yourself while you’re off for a run. 
2. Part of this whole exercise thing - a side-effect of it, if you wanna call it that - is that generally I feel better about myself like in general. I’ve mentioned that before. What it doesn’t do, of course, is magically mean that I’m now 100% good and not still dogged by a persistent sense of self-loathing that I’ve just had to accept will never really go away. Like for example: I’ve lost 35 kg since starting this whole gym thing, except you might remember the goal was 40. I still haven’t hit that goal, and frankly I’ve spent the last like three months bouncing around the same like, 3 kg zone because I’ve been traveling a lot and that basically fucks up my workout and eating routine. It’s frustrating, and it sure does let the part of me that knows deep down that I’m a fat fucker and always will be no matter what I do run wild from time to time. Which is, I’m coming to understand, just gonna always be there. This stuff doesn’t go away! Ever! 
Which doesn’t mean it’s right, even a little. You tune it out and throw yourself into battle with it over and over again. You get bloodied and broken and claw back and then you get bloodied and broken some more. Insert that gif from Princess Bride of Westly saying LIFE IS PAIN, HIGHNESS here. Thing is, there’s something about the struggle that’s nice. I am not sure how motivated I’d be to do anything if part of it wasn’t motivated by the desire to prove my dumb brain wrong about, uh, me. If I wasn’t fighting the various little demons that plague me every so often, I doubt I’d be so well-adjusted. I certainly wouldn’t be mentally healthy. None of this makes sense as I read it back, of course - it sounds like I’m saying “boy it’s nice to be miserable,” which isn’t true. Being miserable sucks shit! I don’t recommend it! But it is nice to see misery coming and punch it in the face (metaphorically speaking). Sometimes I think the thing that makes me go to the gym and work so hard (this sounds like I’m bragging, but I can assure you I’m not - “work so hard” means “not collapse and fall off the elliptical after five minutes because oh god I don’t want to be here”) is out of some desire for self-annihilation through pushing myself past my physical limits. Reach heaven through violence (see, I told you it sounded cool).
3. The world has gotten really fucking bad for a lot of people, and I don’t know that it will get better for them any time soon. In fact, given the latest talk from the ol’ UN Climate Change report, it’s gonna get even worse. I would very much prefer that were not the case! It’s motivation enough to get out and vote and shit, at least for me - and as someone who is, you know, ridiculously privileged, that’s the absolute least I can do. Which is why I try to do more, mostly involving donating money to causes that seem like they’re able to cause the sort of trouble that needs to be caused. Or just use expertise to protect the people I don’t know how to protect, because I’m a lot of things, and one of them happens to be smart enough to know that I don’t know shit. So I make sure people that do know shit have the money they need. Pretty straightforward, I think. 
The other thing I try to do, because giving money isn’t really something I think about much at all (I’m stupidly fucking fortunate to have a job that pays well, remember), is occasionally go out and actually be present at protests and the like - there are a lot of climate protests and they’re all a good time. Occasionally it’s worth overcoming one’s intense social anxiety to do so. Lord knows it’s significantly less of a risk for me to be out shouting at cops than most. 
4. She-Ra might be one of the best shows out there. There’s something nice about a show that both does and does not present a simple world. Yes, the Horde is bad. Like, objectively bad! They do a lot of looting and subjugating and are generally just deeply not chill people.On the other hand, the people who make up the Horde are still people, and I have a lot of time for a show that can manage to humanize its Big Bad Villain whilst still making it very clear they are  still, you know, not good. It’s messy, and complicated, and sad, because sometimes you have to fight people you used to be friends with! Sometimes you have to make the call that hey, we can’t be friends anymore, because I can’t support the things you’re doing anymore. I’ve made that call before - I bet everyone has, at some point (if you haven’t, I’m sure you’ll have to eventually). Fortunately for me, it’s never been that difficult of a choice, if only because the people I had to go against weren’t people I’d known for very long. 
Anyway, that’s part of it - you gotta just cut people out sometimes. There’s more to it though, because the other thing the show believes is that everyone - even the real shitty people - can change. It doesn’t mean everything’s forgiven, and it doesn’t erase all the bad shit, but they can still change. It’s worth changing, even if it isn’t a cure-all. 
So yeah, I like She-Ra a lot. It’s also just well-written, and funny, and it’s a real good time to see a bunch of diverse characters running around having adventures and being fuckin’ rad. Plus, they’ve shown an incredible willingness to completely change the stakes from season to season - the end of season four in particular is  the equivalent of detonating all the things you thought were important. It pulls a bait and switch so ruthless that I might have applauded if I wasn’t so self-conscious about making noise that my neighbors might hear. The combination of season 3 and 4 was a masterclass on raising the stakes and then explaining that actually, you were playing for stakes even higher than you could’ve thought possible. Oh, and the people you thought you could trust were just using you, and hey, what if we got rid of the thing that you’ve more or less defined yourself by for the entire show? Good luck in season five, motherfucker! I’m a fan, is what I’m saying.
6. Work on Vanquisher 2103 continues apace. I mentioned this before, but we’re doing a once-a-month schedule while the holidays and work beat my ass into the ground, and as it turns out I really enjoy taking a full month to write a chapter. It’s a comically slow pace, but it’s working for me and hopefully the fact that the chapters have tended to be a little longer (and allowed me to expand on ideas a little more, and do a little more research here and there) makes it worth the longer wait. I’d like this thing to be good! There’s a part of my brain, again, that will always insist that nobody reads this and it’s bad and I’m fucking up, constantly - that point, at least, is probably accurate. I am writing characters who in theory have life experiences that are very much Not Mine, which involves a lot of reading things from people who would know better than I do. It’s nerve-wracking, and the only thing I am bone-deep certain of is that I’ll fuck up and hopefully y’all will forgive me for fucking up when that happens. I’ll keep reading and refining and eventually maybe it’ll be okay. Hopefully, anyway.
7. I went to Ireland and guys, Ireland is bullshit. I am offended by its gorgeous cliff-sides and open grasslands and heart-rending beauty. The immense friendliness of the people I met and the fact that you can’t sit in a pub without hearing some dude play a jaunty reel on a tin whistle or accordion or something is a personal insult. I was Arthur Dent angrily demanding to know why this bloody fish is so good the whole time.
I cultivated an immense drinking habit while there. I was also approached by a random German tourist who somehow clocked that I could speak German and we shouted about socialism for an hour auf Deutsch. I met some woman from Louisiana and we ended up having drinks a couple nights in a row to talk about traveling in general and Germany in particular, because her ex-husband is German. There were some Swedish retirees who were both very pleased by their country’s social safety net and also depressingly sour about the fact that refugees got cheap dental care - we might have had some harsh words exchanged before more drinks helped smooth over our frank discussion of differing viewpoints. I had to explain American health care to some people from the UK who were surprisingly gung-ho about the idea of privatized medicine until they talked to me (one of them talked about how the UK used to be an Empire and could be again in such a way that made me want to throw things. We did not talk for very long because I couldn’t fuckin’ handle it). These were strangers that I willingly engaged, because I was having an adventure, and I guarantee none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been going to the gym and committed to the idea of proving the voice in my head that tells me I’m an awkward mess that nobody would ever want to talk to in their life wrong (also, let’s be honest, if I hadn’t had several pints of cider at the time). 
By the end of the trip if I heard one more pub singer’s version of Whisky in the Jar though, that I was gonna produce my pistol and fucking shoot myself in the head.
Go to Ireland if you can. If you live there, fuck you how dare you live somewhere that rad.
8. I didn’t have an eighth thing but I’m committed to this “each thing is numbered” bit which means that even the end of this thing has to follow the trope. This is the end of the post where I say “okay bye I’ll be back the next time I get the urge to throw a bunch of highly unpolished ideas out.” 
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I drew this drawing of Fem-Kris today, to be my new Tumblr Avatar and in a few days and or maybe like next month I will post this over at Deviantart, still taking some me time to just read, playing video games and excreta….
and even if this is suppose to be a Fem-Kris, I think I want to have this version of Kris be like how I feel…being half non-binary & half binary who so happens to still go by she/her pronouns….like being Female/Agender, maybe I could call myself Fem-Agender for short??
and well the name Kris is technically a unisex name, the name Chara isn’t though and it is 100% a female name but if any Chara from any AU were born male but was named Chara, I like to think of headcanon one of reasons why a Male Chara (even if in my headcanon I believe they are biologically female but could see themselves as Fem-Agender) hates humanity…
I mean I can understand if that version of Chara was mad at humans,  that is my headcanon for the Chara’s that were born biologically male and could either still see themselves as such or see themselves as Agender or maybe like Male-Agender?  
and the reason why I chose Patience Soul to be placed in my Kris Avatar for tumblr is because it is my headcanon and theory about Deltarune….I believe that Kris’s true soul is patience and the reason why they appear blue in dark world is because their soul is reflecting out and the same can be said for Susie, I believe Susie’s Soul Trait is Perseverance and I guess if any purple fur or skin or scale or ghost monster were a different shade of purple they would become either a dark or light purple if they entered the dark world but still have to do with their perseverance shining through much like Kris, it doesn’t matter if your monster or human, I believe when either of those two races enters the dark world the trait they have will shine through with the new clothes change…
and even if some might not agree with this next headcanon theory
I believe that Ralsei is a liar, and I know that I’m not the only one who notice it and after watching Deltarune Doki Doki Forever on youtube, (it is really good) I can see that I really am not the only one who might see that Ralsei is hiding something and is a liar I mean why would he have the Delta-Rune at their place? even on the big door! suspicious….but thanks to that cute crossover, I now want to ship Kris x Berdly……….a part of me hopes that Ralsei is just being used and was tricked by the Knight but another part of me thinks that Ralsei knows very well what they are doing and is deliberately tricking Kris and Susie, and in a way Lancer later on….so I have two headcanon theories about Ralsei, that one they know what they are doing and they ain’t as sweet as they appear to be and the other is that they are sweet but just naive and they are being tricked by the knight…..I still don’t see the “Monster Kid” in Deltarune being like a counterpart of the one from Undertale, I can’t help but see the one in Kris’s class as being Monster Kid’s (well the one from Deltarune) Older sibling named Monster Teen, well I think Monster Kid & Monster Teen would be their nicknames…
I think the real Monster Kid is in Toriel’s class, since she teaches the much younger and smaller kids that I guess might be of both monster and human, even if we haven’t seen other humans in that Deltaville Town but it doesn’t mean they aren’t there maybe….
by the way I really want to change the light blue color of my background but I kind of forgot how to do it, I mean I tried searching in the Edit Appearance but so far No Go….I really want to change the color of the background on my side…if anyone can help with that by telling me what the name of it is and where it is that would be great……I would really appreciate it.
another headcanon I have that I think it is everyone else’s too that came to the same conclusion….I think Asgore is a Double Trait, and now that I think about it I think Sans (when fighting him in Geno-Run) he might be a double trait too because of how his eyes go from yellow and cyan/light blue.
plus after figuring it out I don’t think it is fair to place full blame on Asgore (or even Underswap-Toriel or any swap version) for what happen to the human children….after all it is partly Toriel (and any swap version from any AU) fault, I mean she just let’s Frisk walk out and not even trying to keep them after the fight or did the same with the other human children, and if any of  the past human children sneaked out then when she notices she should of I don’t know ran out of the dang Ruins to get them…..it doesn’t matter if your human or monster, you do NOT let a monster/human child out to dangers like what Frisk and the other human children had to go through….but even if Toriel has yet to admit it in the game that she is fully partly at fault, at least she does do something in the end (well the true ending anyway) and well I think if her children like either Frisk or Chara or Asriel, she would notice right away if any of them were going through a type of depression well I guess in most versions of Toriel in Fanon she would of notice too late…..but anyway I can’t help but think Kris is going through a type of depression even if they are being controlled by the Red Soul that no one they are taking the adventure with doesn’t put two and two together and see that it ain’t theirs and only Fans seem to pick this up….
I know everyone who is a fan of the new game
(which is NOT a prequel or sequel of Undertale, as Toby Fox said it is it’s own timeline  and AU)
have notice how Kris’s side of the room is and how their big bro’s side of the room is…..and I think….well I believe Kris has been hurting themselves,
and it might be possible that they got blamed by Asriel
(which I want to call them Doug and I believe their middle name is Douglas) 
but it might be possible over time he felt guilty and tried to form a bond with Kris but the damage had already been done, you can’t just make a damage like that go away so easy, I might have theories about why Kris seems so depressed (and I believe they are) but we wont fully know what is the cause until we see it in a future chapter of Deltarune, but I think it could be because of how they are bullied, how Asriel (Doug) use to bully them, and how their parents split up and how Toriel can’t see that Kris is in pain.
I can’t help but see Kris as a kindred spirit, well them and Chara 
 I mean Chara gets misunderstood and I feel sorry for them being made the scapegoat, plus truth be told….if there weren’t good people in this world and I didn’t have friends that I speak with online….I might of ended up hating humanity too, I do have a love for chocolate too but maybe Chara loves it more than me lol….
I still think Sans might be a twin, and his twin might be a girl who dresses like him I even did drawings of Sans and his twin wearing the same clothes but his twin is wearing black tights which could help to tell them apart….and FYI, Chara in the game (even if I had only seen it on video and never got that far) NEVER said to kill anyone and they even pointed out that we shouldn’t, but that misunderstanding of that wouldn’t of gave birth to the evil versions of Chara and the ones who are a tragic villain or anti-villain.
  and I really hope some fans agree with my theory about Kris’s true soul trait being patience.
anyway I didn’t mean for this to be so long and well I will post this drawing up either in a few days or next month over at Deviantart, plus I still want to see this drawing I did of Kris as Fem-Agender…
the term Fem-Agender would be the same for someone who was biologically born male
but feel they are and aren’t at the same time, which is someone who sees themselves as both half binary & half non-binary
I mean Gems from Steven Universe (but not Steven) are genderless but they all go by she/her (well for swap versions of them that look male go by he/him) 
plus now that I think about it I think Steven would fit as someone who could see himself as Male-Agender, some of his fusions either with Connie or Amethyst go by them/they pronouns, but I think his canon fusion with Pearl could maybe go by both them/they & him/he because of reasons…..who knew they would make such a fusion of Steven/Pearl so Awesome and Flamboyant
okay now I’m talking too much and making this even longer….anyway I’m reading fan fics right now, and again I would really appreciate the help with changing my background on here from a blue color to a different color…I think before I go back reading I think I will go play some Mass Effect, I think at the rate I’m going I think I’m becoming a Paragade, for some odd reason it makes me think of Tsundere….I really want to keep replying Mass Effect 1 enough so I wont have to choose between Jack and Miranda, I don’t want to do that if the options to keep both are closed…it is seriously the worse for me, it be like if there was a AU of Undertale/Mass Effect and I had to choose between Nice-Cream Guy & Muffet and if I choose to side over one over there other when the options to tell them both off or try to nicely reason to both of them is closed, ya know one of them will die just like Jack and Miranda, I want to try to build up both my renegade and paragon and now I know after watching a walkthrough on how to save both the geth and quarian and not pick one over the other, I can be more prepared so long as I save a certain character who will side with me in stopping the quarian attack on the geth, and make sure to turn Legion down first before deciding to help stop the quarian attack and do it in a neutral way, I do not want to mess things up again…I don’t like both outcomes for when I choose one over the other cause well it ain’t good, I still see the geth as victims of what the quarians did, but at least some quarians can see that they were wrong and were being dirty shisnos….
anyway I think after I beat Mass Effect 1 again with the same avatar, I might try to play through it again with the same avatar before I head to play Mass Effect 2 and 3, still have not beat Mass Effect 3 sadly….and besides playing Mass Effect, I want to play a few other of my video games too and then go back to reading.
anyway I’m just gonna go play video games now, and later go back to reading and I hope someone can help me with my little background problem…..so see ya later and stay safe everyone.                                   
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stacks-reviews · 7 years
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New Releases 8/8/17
Happy New Release Day! This week we have a lot going on in books and a few movie/tv releases. 
In Books --The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by  by F.C. Yee  “The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes sixteen-year old Genie Lo’s every waking thought. But when her sleepy Bay Area town comes under siege from hell-spawn straight out of Chinese folklore, her priorities are suddenly and forcefully rearranged. Her only guide to the demonic chaos breaking out around her is Quentin Sun, a beguiling, maddening new transfer student from overseas. Quentin assures Genie she is strong enough to fight these monsters, for she unknowingly harbors an inner power than can level the very gates of Heaven. Genie will have to dig deep within herself to summon the otherworldly strength that Quentin keeps talking about. But as she does, she finds the secret of her true nature is entwined with his, in a way she could never have imagined.”
I was drawn to this one because of the cover. It shows a girl doing a superhero landing (thank you Deadpool). It sounds like it could be pretty good.I actually got an arc of this book last week at work. I’m not sure when I’ll get to read it.
--The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones “When Dee Moreno makes a deal with a demon - her heart in exchange for an escape from a disastrous home life - she finds the trade may have been more than she bargained for. And becoming “heartless” is only the beginning. What lies ahead is a nightmare far bigger, far more monstrous than anything she could have ever imagined. With reality turned on its head, Dee has only a group of other deal-making teens to keep her grounded, including the charming but secretive James Lancer. And as something grows between them amid an otherworldly ordeal, Dee begins to wonder: Can she give someone her heart when it’s no longer her’s to give?”
Based on some arc reviews I saw on Goodreads, it sounds like Dee and the others can get their hearts back by working for the demon they sold their hearts to. Although, it also sounded like some demons might take other body parts. Not really sure yet. It does bring up some questions. By selling your heart, are you selling your actual heart or is it more based on your feelings? If it’s feelings then how could she start to fall for someone? Unless you are able to break the deal yourself somehow. I also wonder what caused the other characters to sell their hearts.
--Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Part 1 by Michael Dante DiMartino, illustrated by Irene Koh “Relishing their newfound feelings for each other, Korra and Asami leave the Spirit World...but find nothing in Republic City but political hijinks and human vs. spirit conflict! A pompous developer plans to turn the new spirit portal into an amusement park, potentially severing an already tumultuous connection with the spirits. What’s more, the triads have realigned and are in a brutal all-out brawl a the city’s borders - where hundreds of evacuees have relocated! In order to get through it all, Korra and Asami vow to look out for each other - but first they’ve got to get better at being a team and a couple!”
This comic has been driving me crazy for a while now. I thought it was supposed to come out several months ago. But when I would check on it at work, it didn’t show up in our systems at all. Then when it did finally appear and I double-checked it with a few other sites, each site had a different release date. So I think this is the right date. But I am not 100% positive. Regardless, I am excited to dive back into the Avatar world. To see how Korra and Asami’s relationship is doing as well as what everyone else has been up to.
--Nirvana Volume 1 by Jina and Sayuki (ZOWLS), illustrated by Sayuki “Humanitarian-extraordinaire Yachiyo Hitose gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to volunteer overseas - but things go awry when her plane goes down and she dies! When she wakes up, it’s not in heaven, but in a whole other world known as Gulgraf - the citizens of which think she’s their goddess reincarnate! Goddess or not, Gulgraf is beset by ravenous creatures known as the Blau and Yachiyo simply can’t turn her back on her new home.”
First heard about this series a few weeks ago. I really don’t know much about other than it being another travel to another world series. It sounds pretty good though and I like the art style on the cover.
--Paper Girls Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang “Erin, Mac and Tiffany finally reunite with their long-lost friend KJ in an unexpected new era, where the girls must uncover the secret origins of time travel...or risk never returning home to 1988.”
It’s been a while since I read the second so I can’t remember exactly what is going on at the beginning of this one. I would look it up but that would require moving at least five boxes of varying sizes to get to my comic book boxes. I remember there being a battle with a prehistoric creature and jumping into another portal to a new time at the end but to where I am not sure.
--Reborn Book 1 by Mark Millar with contributors Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion “Where do you go when you die? Not heaven or hell; somewhere else. Somewhere you have to fight to survive. Somewhere the people from the past are waiting for you - the good and the bad.”
Pretty excited for this one. It sounds like a good mix of action and soul crushing reunions. I kept hearing about it on a few blogs so I’m excited to finally be able to take a look at it. I love the art style on the cover. 
--Shimmer and Burn by Mary Taranta “Faris grew up struggling to survive in the slums of Brindaigel while caring for her sister, Cadence. But when Cadence is caught trying to flee the kingdom and is sold into slavery, Faris reluctantly agrees to a lucrative scheme to buy her back, inadvertently binding herself to the power-hungry Princess Bryn, who wants to steal her father’s throne. Now Faris must smuggle stolen magic into neighboring Avinea to incite its prince to alliance - magic that addicts in a war-torn country can sense in her blood and can steal with a touch. She and Bryn turn to a handsome traveling magician, North, who offers protection from Avinea’s many dangers, but he cannot save Faris from Bryn’s cruelty as she leverage Cadence’s freedom to force Faris to do anything -or kill anyone - she asks. Yet Faris is as fierce as Bryn, and even as she finds herself falling for North, she develops schemes of her own. With the fate of kingdoms at stake, Faris, Bryn, and North maneuver through a dangerous game of magical and political machinations, where lives can be destroyed - or saved - with only a touch.”
Really drawn to this title for the idea that magic can be stolen by a simple touch. There has to be more to it than that, though, or else how would anyone touch anyone? But I might be taking that too literally. We don’t yet know how wide spread magical power is in this world. Is the magic Faris is smuggling in her own or was it someone else’s? I also like to see how the idea of how something as simple as a touch could have huge consequences down the line. Good or bad.
In Movies/TV Series --Gurren Lagann 10th Anniversary Complete Box Set (blu-ray) If by some chance you have never heard of this series:
“This is the story of a man who has yet to realize what destiny holds in store for him... In the distant future, mankind has lived restlessly underground for hundred of years, subject to earthquakes and cave-ins. Living in one such village are two young men: one named Simon who is shy and naive, and the other named Kamina who believes in the existence of a “surface” world above their heads. The destiny of these two starts moving drastically when the ceiling of their village falls in, and a gigantic “Gunmen” and a beautiful girl named Yoko, wielding a superconductive rifle, come from the surface. Together, Kamina, Simon and Yoko ride the mega “Lagann” that Simon digs out of the ground, and fly up to the surface!”
Do I ever regret not watching this series the first time it was on television. I did manage to see it when it appeared on Toonami when it was revived, though. At first glance I didn’t think it it looked like anything overly special (that’s what I get for no trying more than two or three episodes). Giant mechas, suggestive jokes, and fan service. Which it is but it also has a great story line, character development, and an amazing soundtrack. It is a pricey set. Retail price is $189.98 though at the time of typing this, it is $149.98 on Rightstuf. It includes all 27 episodes and two movies.
--Kung fu Yoga “Two professors team up to locate a lost treasure and embark on an adventure that takes them from a Tibetan ice cave to Dubai to a mountain temple in India.”
From the trailer it looks to be a fun kung fu mixed with Bollywood movie. It hosts car chases, fights, and at least one dance scene. I had never heard of the movie title till roughly a week ago but today was the first time I looked up the trailer so I was surprised to see Jackie Chan stars in it. I would like to see it just to see him dance in one of the numbers.
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recentanimenews · 7 years
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Bookshelf Briefs 2/27/17
Anne Happy, Vol. 4 | By Cotoji | Yen Press – I am beginning to wonder if the goal of this class filled with luckless idiots is not so much to improve their bad luck as to simply get them to find joy in little things anyway, as this fourth volume mostly involves a school trip that ends up in a giant keep away gave of tag, with the losers sleeping outside and foraging for food. Take a wild guess which team ends up losing. There’s also Karaoke (Anne breaks the equipment by merely attempting to use is) and woodcarving (Anne is quite good, but it shatters fairly easily). In order to appreciate these sad sacks, one must turn the brain off, but if you do, it can be cute and adorable, and a culture festival sounds fun. Recommended if you like moe stuff. – Sean Gaffney
Fate/Zero, Vol. 4 | By Gen Urobuchi, Type-Moon, and Shinjiro | Dark Horse – One of the biggest reasons to read Fate/Zero is too see the contrast in heroes between Shirou, the naive, hardheaded yet lovable hero of Fate/Stay Night, and Kirutsugu, the cool, pragmatic, “greater good” protagonist of Fate/Zero. And while Saber falls pretty hard for Shirou, it’s pretty clear that Kirutsugu fills her with rage and disgust, which is very well drawn here by Shinjiro. I also enjoyed seeing Irisviel’s attempts at being his balance, which I suspect are doomed to failure, and was weirded out by Sola-Ui, possibly as she looks like Bazett and has a crush on Lancer like Bazett. Oh yes, and we have more lovingly detailed child murder. Fate/Zero is classic Gen Urobuchi, which is to say death and pain, but so well-written. – Sean Gaffney
Haikyu!!, Vol. 8 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – In general, most sports manga that revolve around “it’s our chance to win the big tournament” invariably involve losing in the first tournament they try to win, because otherwise the manga would be quite short. And so it is for Haikyu!!, as despite various stratagem, and almost having a shot, our heroes still go down to defeat. But they can learn from it and let that frustration fill them with the desire to improve. And the graduating teammates may stick around a little longer after all, if they get permission, because yes, college is important, but this is volleyball. All that and we get cool poses, facial grimaces galore, and so much sweat you could float down it in a boat. Haikyu!! is powerful and fun to read. – Sean Gaffney
Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 23 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – I’ve always enjoyed Kamisama Kiss, but I was never particularly excited about it. That has officially changed with this volume. Suzuki-sensei manages to strike the perfect balance between action, plot resolution, and feelings. Instead of the focus being on Tomoe and Nanami’s relationship, it’s on the friendship Tomoe and Akura-Oh once shared and how both of them were able to change through coming to love and understand humans. It’s quite lovely, actually. Creepy Yatori, who still looks like a villain out of Basara, is still in play, though, so our heroes are not entirely out of the woods yet. Having a high-quality ending like this really bolsters my opinion of the series as a whole. – Michelle Smith
Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear, Vol. 3 | By Masume Yoshimoto | One Peace Books – Kuma Miko is becoming a lot less weird and a lot more moe. Unfortunately, this has the effect of also making it far less interesting, as the story beats it’s hitting are ones that we’ve seen done better elsewhere (albeit with fewer talking bears). It also means we pay more attention to the interpersonal relationships, which can be somewhat creepy (Yoshio towards Machi, which is thankfully called out by Hibiki) or disturbingly co-dependent (Machi and the bear). We do get an occasionally funny gag (“they’ll throw rocks at me!” seems like country naivete till it gets a callback. I’m beginning to be reminded of another series set way out in the country, Non Non Biyori, and am asking: is there a point to this? – Sean Gaffney
Kuroko’s Basketball, Vols. 7-8 | By Tadatoshi Fujimaki | Viz Media – The crushing defeat from last volume still weighs on both Kuroko and Kagami, and Kuroko in particular is finding it hard to move past and get to the next level. Luckily there are ways to fix that, such as INTENSE TRAINING. We get sand basketball, which is as rough as it sounds, and poor Kagami running and running and running and then running some more. And then we get to watch more of the winner’s in the tournament, as the battle between Aomine and Kise, which is incredibly badass, and also helps to show that yes, Kuroko and Kagami DO have a ways to go. Luckily, we’ve a number of volumes to go as well. Having this and Haikyu!! coming out at the same time means we’re hitting similar beats, but they’re both good. – Sean Gaffney
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 22 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – The heroes of Magi are filled with shiny shonen idealism, and they run up hard against the cynicism of the real world in this volume. Even Sinbad, who’s been presented till now as at least a reasonable ally, is starting to show signs that he may be, if not just as bad, certainly just as problematic. Alibaba is not yet strong enough to refuse offers that he can’t refuse. To the rescue comes Aladdin, who gives everyone a giant flashback to show what happened in the universe he’s from, a parallel one where humanity is fighting evil Mr. Potato Heads, and we also get Solomon and Sheba, because I was wondering when they would show up in this manga clearly influenced by Biblical as well as Arabian Nights myth. Magi is terrific; you should know this by now. – Sean Gaffney
Maid-sama!, Vols. 13-14 | By Hiro Fujiwara | VIZ Media – Y’know, Maid-sama! is certainly not a great manga, but damned if it isn’t immensely satisfying when things finally happen! I suppose that’s owing to the fact that Misaki is a stubborn tsundere, which can be frustrating, but I cannot deny that her confession of love and Usui’s reciprocation, followed by their becoming an official couple and eventually revealing their status to the school is all the sweeter because it took so long. There’s plenty of other stuff in this volume, including a school trip with appearances by random supporting characters and more boring drama about Usui’s family background, but even the plot wherein he transfers schools for his final year is redeemed when Misaki is 100% not cowed by some rich girl claiming Usui is her fiancé. The endgame is afoot! – Michelle Smith
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vol. 6 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Yen Press – I suppose it might seem like an insult to say that this volume of Nozaki-kun is pretty much the same as the others, but I actually mean it as a compliment. Tsubaki continues to spin out amusing scenarios for her characters with no dip in quality. In this volume, Nozaki is doing a lot of research into horror themes, in anticipation of having to incorporate some into his manga, but there are other silly gags like Wakamatsu being transformed into a confident guy via an eye patch, doing summer homework at Nozaki’s house, and finding a suitable girl to pretend to be Mikoshiba’s girlfriend in order to persuade a persistent admirer to back off. Each new volume of this series is like the best kind of brain balm and I’m grateful for it! – Michelle Smith
By: Michelle Smith
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