#i have the manga to reread for all the things that were lost in the adaptation

[franeridan]

I'm so glad there's actually people who are watching opla without ever having watched anything op before but i also really hope if they'll decide to pick up the manga/anime to know how it keeps going they'll start from the beginning cause honestly they cut on some of my favorite exchanges in the whole manga, which is kinda sad

#for example arlong going do you know the difference between us and luffy answering ......the nose? #lmao no not that but seriously #luffy's whole speech about being strong because he's not alone and can rely on others for the things he's lacking in #im so sad they didn't find the space for that #also i love that they kept the luffy help me scene the same #but it has such a stronger impact in the manga when before nojiko told us nami never cries in front of others or asks for help #sad they changed the fact that the whole of coco village knew from the beginning too ;; i always loved that #zoro falling asleep in the middle of a fight trusting luffy will keep him safe was severly missed too *wipes tear* #ah and usopp pretending he was lying about the pirates to let the village keep on feeling safe !!!! #sanji's whole 'ill feed the hungry even if i know they'll try to kill me after' thing too i love that about sanji sm..... #and and and yuusaku and jhonny!!! in the la zoro explicitly says he's ever had just one friend but in the manga that's not true ;;;; #no no i love opla i understand 90% of the changes they made I'm not complaining about them being made #i have the manga to reread for all the things that were lost in the adaptation #i just hope new fans will go back those 12something volumes and get the full experience yk #..........that said some of the new content they gave me is so wonderfully appreciated i will never complain about that

[yan-lorkai]

Hii, Lorks ~

Had see that your writing for my favorie earl now, have any hcs for older sibling reader and young brother Ciel? Sorry about bad english, is not my first language

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ A/N: Been busy with uni stuff but nothing couldn't stop me from writing this now that inspiration strikes me and since we're having a new season I began to reread the manga these past few days and wow, I still love this lil dude. Look at his smiled he knows he's adorable. The Green Witch arc remains my favorite <3

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Warning: Yandere content, platonic yandere, protectiveness.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ You were a few years older than the twins, but you were very close to them as well as being a constant figure for them as they grew up. You were what they would describe as the best sibling in the world, even though you liked to make fun of them and make jokes that embarrassed them in front of people, like any good old sibling would do.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ When you had free time, you enjoyed teaching them chess and other logic games, loving the way the expressions on their faces were confusing whenever you used a different strategy. These were simple times when the whole family would get together to watch you play while everyone chatted. Times that were lost after the attack, all the joy, all the warmth, that mixed with the sad blue of the wallpaper until it turned the entire mansion into something cold.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Ciel came back, lost, deeply hurt, and you were the only person he told what happened. The whole kidnapping and the cult, and it broke your heart, your brilliant little brother was an unresponsive blank as he recounted the facts, as if he didn't want to realize the impact that that event had on him. As if he was still on autopilot and couldn't let his guard down. And things were worse now that he had lost his twin brother, who he was as attached to as you were.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ But you were there to support him every step of the way, holding his hand after a nightmare, wiping the rare tears from his eyes, listening to everything he had to say. Ciel's stubborn and prideful, he never asks for help but he has this serene smile on his face when you go out of your way to help him anyway. You knew he was strong for withstanding all the pressure, for enduring everything he went through and for having the strength necessary to overcome everything, and you reminded him of that in each of his "weak moments". It reminded him that he was loved and that you would always be by his side.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ He's still twelve, he's still a child, and you're always telling him stories to sleep and taking him out to take his mind off his trauma. Sometimes you just sit next to him and listen to him express his thoughts.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Ciel can be a little overprotective sometimes, which is funny considering you should be the overprotective one due to the age difference. He always sends Sebastian with you on your errands, to protect you from some attack or someone. And you don't complain, his intentions are good and you can understand the anxiety he feels upon knowing that those responsible for the attack are free and alive.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Being a few years older, you know a lot about balls, about every important person and how to negotiate with them. And you teach each of these things to Ciel when he decides to claim the title of Queen's Watchdog, giving advice and sharing your opinion whenever he asks you, being by his side as his left hand.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ And being his left hand means that you and Sebastian interact on a daily basis, protecting Ciel, going on missions together, collecting information and the such.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ In private, when your masks can finally fall, you call him by his real name, hug him lightly and let him know that no matter what, you'll be there for him. Always.

⠀

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Ciel actually told you everything, everything except that he made a contract with a demon. He hopes you can forgive him when the contract is completed, when he and his soul disappear from this world, without any chance of seeing you one last time in the so-called paradise.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Even after your death, Ciel might remember the loving way you sat in the chair next to his bed when he was sick and took care of him. He will remember the silly promises you made, the bad jokes you told him to make him laugh until his stomach hurt, the little adventures to steal cookies on Christmas morning. Things too precious for him.

#yandere kuroshitsuji #yandere black butler #yandere ciel phantomhive #yandere ciel #yandere ciel x reader #yandere ciel phantomhive x reader #platonic yandere #ciel x reader #ciel phantomhive x reader

[paper-bag-boy]

i went to japan and watched haikyuu!! the dumpster battle at imax! they had the main pairing standees, a hq (and jjk) gift shop and i got a complimentary nekoma postcard. i also bought 39sgd worth of hq and jjk merch. now i have a mini atsumu shrine and a geto to accompany my gojo and sukuna stuff

so glad i decided to reread the manga before watching. it helped me notice the new scenes they added.

spoilers below

THE MOVIE WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I EXPECTED. it's the best out of the other hq movies in my humble opinion. and watching it in imax made it 100% times more surreal cause it felt like you were on the court.

I LOST MY MIND WHEN THEY ANIMATED THE SHOYO IN KENMA'S CAGE SCENE CAUSE THEY REALLY BROUGHT IT TO LIFE FROM THE MANGA. cried like 5 times, quietly lost my shit during the kuroo × tsukki/yams showdown, started vibrating in my seat when kenma said "this is fun" and shoyo screamed.

YOU GOT TO BE IN KENMA'S PERSPECTIVE WHEN HE PLAYS AHHHHH (and it was still his pov when the ball slipped from his sweat </3 ). my soul left my body at that part i cant believe it was better than in the manga. 5 years of waiting and reading the manga and i was not disappointed at all.

the little thing they added were: kuroo's pov of kenma meeting shoyo for the first time

#haikyuu!! #haikyuu #hq!! #the dumpster battle #hq spoilers #haikyuu spoilers #battle of the garbage dump #hinata shoyo #kozume kenma #hq kenma

[featherstorm2004]

Passing on the blade, a Fukuzawa and Akutagawa theory

In the wake of the s5 finale and me rereading the manga I've been looking at the characters more closely than I did in the past, looking for interesting dynamics, similarities, or fascinating possibilities. During this time I have begun to notice the odd similarities in both Fukuzawa and Akutagawa's stories, and after the ending of the decay of anger arc I can't help but feel they're about to intersect.

But first let me explain the similarities I have noticed in these two story arcs. One of the first things I noticed about these two is that Fukuzawa seems to be an Akutagawa who has already gone through his character arc and joined the side of the light, this is because of what we know of Fukuzawa's backstory before he met Ranpoe. He describes it as him not knowing whether he was killing for the sake of his country or for the sake of his own bloodlust, it's clear that despite himself Fukuzawa found some joy or pleasure in killing if for nothing else than to prove his skills and who dose that sound like?

Akutagawa

Of course their reasons for being down such a path are vastly different but the end results are still the same. However, the president was able to realise this and pull himself away from that dark path, and were beginning to see that same transition happen in Akutagawa due to his deal with atsushi. I believe by the s5 finale we've seen Akutagawa enter that grey transition period that we find the president in before he met Ranpoe, where he's not really sure what he wants for himself but he dose know that he doesn't want to be what he was before.

This stage of development I have deemed the "Lone samurai arc" where the characters take time away from their typical organisations or paths to contemplate themselves and the futures they want.

But of course aside form those narrative links we also have one of their strongest narrative connections at this point in this story and that is their respective connections to Fukuchi.

It's clear by the end of this arc that Fukuchi has had a profound impact on both Fukuzawa and Akutagawa's development. He was the one who kickstarted Akutagawa's rebirth by taking his life and forcing him to come to terms with many truths he had been running from on the form of sacrificing himself for Atsushi. Whereas Fukuzawa is left distraught and angry by the end of this arc being incapable of killing his best friend and being forced to go along with Fukuchi and Fyodor's plot, with Fukuchi sacrificing his life for the sake of Fukuzawa and the world.

I am very curious to see this mans future impact on both of their stories as Fukuchi appears to have been the whirlwind that knocked Akutagawa onto the right path whilst dislodging Fukuzawa from his.

There's also the fact that Fukuchi shows explicit interest in Akutagawa as a student, now whether this was genuine is up to debate but I believe it is. as I believe if the offer to train Akutagawa as his personal student is a fascinating choice for Fukuchi, it's very clear he didn't want to kill akutagawa to the point he took out Bram specifically to revive him. But the question is why? well I think it's because during their battle I think he saw a little bit of Fukuzawa in this crazy boy who challenged him and almost won.

After all the only reason Fukichi won that fight was because of the space time sword, otherwise he's have been screwed. And I can't help but wonder did Atsushi tell the others about this interest, will it get back to the president who just lost his beast friend but still has to boy he explicitly chose to spare and wished to teach.

I wonder if that will stir something in him.

This is the part where I enter theory territory but I think after this arc Fukuzawa is going to take a step back from being the president of the ada, at least for the moment. He's devastated at this point in time and probably feels responsible for all that has happened since the entirety of Fukuchi's plan hinged on him being pupated around and Fukuchi in the end got what he wanted, he succeeded. And the entirety of the ada, hell even the entire world had to suffer for that to happen so, he probably won't feel fit to lead the ada.

And this is where Akutagawa comes back into the picture, now he's just survived being killed, turned into a vampire and now the end of the world or whatever the heck happed during the two hours after Fukuchi's death. So, overall the guy has been run ragged and is probably going through a lot physiologically with having to cope with ALL of that.

Plus he's finally shed Dazai's coat and his mentor is on the other side of the world, he couldn't be further away from Dazai if he tried. And I can't help but feel that this is purposeful on Asagiri's part, without Dazai's constant influence for the first time Akutagawa has been given the space to think with a clear head and make his own choices.

And this is where I feel Akutagawa and Fukuzawa's plots will finally start to intertwine.

Now, I think we can all agree that Akutagawa's new outfit is fire but as it's been joked about it looks suspiciously like a knights armour and I can't help but wonder if there's as reason for that. We know from interviews with Asagiri that out of all the Characters in this story Akutagawa is the one who goes through the biggest change, and I can't help but wonder if one of these changes is taking Dazai off of his pedestal and excepting new influences, new mentors into his life.

And that might included Fukuzawa, devastated after his best friends death but also desperate to sooth the guilt he feels for all of Fukuchi's crimes. Maybe he'll feel a kinship with Akutagawa who is just as lost as he is and in desperate need of guidance after Fukuchi shatted his world by killing and reviving him. They might just be what they both need during this trying time.

Plus every knight need his sword and I can't help but feel it would be thematically approbate for Akutagawa to begin welding Fukuzawa's blade or hell even the space time sword as an alternative to Rashomon, a way for him to not solely rely on his ability. It can also represent Akutagawa taking back his power and agency by wearing the very weapons that tried to kill him as a power to protect other and himself.

It could also be seen as Fukuzawa passing on his legacy to the new generation of Double Black and finally allowing himself to rest.

But that's just a theory.

*Edit* apparently there's been Akutagawa and blade symbolism longer then I thought. (Quote from Dazai in the dark era)

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd spoilers #character analysis #bsd theories #bsd meta #bsd akutagawa ryunosuke #bsd akutagawa #akutagawa ryuunosuke #bsd fukuzawa #bsd fukuchi #bsd fukuzawa yukichi #fukuzawa yukichi #bsd season 5 #bsd season 5 spoilers

[noorahqar]

A, N and V for the ask game!

A: Of the fanfic you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

Oooh. Hard question, because I absolutely love almost all of my fics. But I THINK I can narrow it down. To three. (I'm indecisive LOL)

this year it taught me (lost and ambitious) was my first longfic ever (even if it's more of a collection of short stories) and is my pride and joy. The title may suck - I have no clue why it's so long - and there's plenty of flaws, but I'm very proud of this guy. Every so often I reread it and it's always a blast - past me covered a lot of different topics, a lot of relationships, and I think it had some pretty good characterization!

Educational Quandaries and Academic Arson are the silliest things I've written but also by far my favorite of my oneshots. Writing Sky as a miserable college student and hero is my favorite thing ever. It's also quite representative of myself right now - I have exams in a few weeks I should be studying for, and yet… 

N: Any fic ideas brewing that you’d care to share?

A solid handful. These are all WIPs, actually, not ideas, but I hope you'll forgive me for considering them interchangeable!

In the TP manga, Twilight's backstory includes him accidentally vaporizing the city he lived in before Ordon. I think they turn out to be alive and well, but fanfiction where him and Legend bond over seemingly destroying entire civilizations they loved. 

HTTYD AU! Kind of. Everything's the same, and Sky essentially has a role similar to that of Hiccup in HTTYD 2 - he's an adventurer, mapping out the region around what will eventually become Hyrule. He also has Hiccup's cool-ass flying suit. I want to give Sky a cool wingsuit. That's it. (This is barely an AU, lol. I'm not an AU person for the most part. Excluding modern AUs.)

Speaking of - fanfiction where Warriors and Legend are in a car, and that car gets hit by lightning. Inspired by the same thing happening to my aunt. It didn't really do much except be frightening, surprisingly? Legend is appropriately frightened.

That's everything notable. The rest are all completed short stories and vague ideas that are more emotions than anything, lol. 

V: Are there certain comments you’ve received on your stories that have stuck with you?

As I think everyone who's responded to this comment has said, I love literally each and every comment I receive! There's definitely often some that stand out, though. Some people inform you that you've hit the mark you were aiming for with your writing, others tell you about how your writing affected them personally. The latter always makes me emotional, lol. It's also fun seeing a person comment multiple times in a row on different fics - it's like, HI!! I SEE YOU BINGING MY WORK!!! I APPRECIATE YOU!!!!

Getting comments from writers you admire is great, too. As someone who used to have a huge following on my previous Ao3 account, logically I know they're just some random people who like their blorbos. But I always end up incredibly excited anyways, haha. 

There's also no greater joy than a returning commenter. Often, I've found myself in like… a symbiotic relationship of commenting long paragraphs? It's amazing. I made one of my closest online friends this way, over a discussion about tea in my comments!!

Lord OKAY. I went too hard with these responses, I think, but I have a lot of thoughts. Thank you for asking, Rose!! :D

#qar answers #...renegade rose #am i doing this right #also i get sooo concerned when a returning reader just disappears #it is in my nature to be unreasonably worried about people i know exist LOL #linked universe #linked universe fanfic

[hellsingmongrel]

Trimax and possible Tristamp spoilers?

I’ve been thinking about the way they incorporated Meryl into the JuLai storyline in Stampede, and I’m beginning to wonder if that was their way of getting JuLai and Meryl’s kidnapping from Trimax out in one shot.  It has similar storybeats, including her finally seeing Vash going full Eldritch Angel when he rescues her.

I’m honestly not really sure how I feel about that, if it is what they’re doing.  I mean it makes sense, in that it will be helping condense the story down so that they can fit the important storybeats into the show, but in doing so, they would be losing the really fascinating character growth we saw between the two of them in the manga.  That event was a huge deal for Meryl, it absolutely terrified her and she was scared of him for a long time.  It was a whole subplot that wasn’t verbally addressed much by the two of them, but was absolutely shown in their interactions and the way she went from terrified, feeling guilty about that terror, and finally being able to overcome it and be there for him when he needed her support the most.  It was just so.  Good.  It helped show that while the reader might see his transformations and be like “Oh man, that looks cool!” it was actually legitimately horrifying for everyone involved, even those who were closest to him.

His transformations are scary, he doesn’t like it, Meryl doesn’t like it, Wolfwood doesn’t like it.  Nobody knows how to deal with it when it happens.  It’s a whole thing, so many people, Vash included, are just terrified of that power and what he’s capable of and how inhuman he looks and sometimes acts when he’s completely lost in his own head.  It’s an important part of the message of learning to accept yourself and live with yourself regardless of your failings, and of not judging people by what they appear to be, but instead to measure their worth by their actions, instead.  Learning to love those around you, learning to forgive yourself, etc.

IDK.  I can see where they would want to take this shortcut, and I’ve loved pretty much everything else they’ve done with the show, so I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and say they’ll handle it well.  I just think we’d be losing an important element of the story if they reduced the tension that existed between them because of Meryl’s trauma to the way the events in JuLai went down in episodes 10-12.  I think it could have an even better impact in Stampede, even, if they did have that tension now, because until now, she’s only ever seen him be soft spoken, sweet, gentle, only raising a hand to harm others when he absolutely had to and absolutely never losing control or killing someone.  He’s so much softer than Vash is when we first encounter him in Trimax, so to have him go from that extremely gentle soul to someone who’s so lost, has so much power, and is pushed so far over the edge that he’s reduced to this:

And at the same time, when he shields her with his wings earlier in this event, there’s a moment when she’s linked into his mind and seeing his memories.  I feel like that’s something that’s important, too, and damn if it didn’t take me rereading through the manga to find that page to realize what had happened.  (Though tbf, a lot of the action in the series is like that; you have to interpret the visuals, it doesn’t hold your hand and narrate what’s going on, so sometimes it takes multiple, multiple rereadings to figure out what exactly you’re seeing.  It’s both good and bad, tbh.  Nightow is showing the reader a lot of respect in expecting them to not need to be told what is happening, but there are still some times when a little tiny bit of direction might have been useful.  :’D)

All of that, plus just giving the viewer their first glimpse into the fact that even when he’s not being controlled by his brother, Vash can still go full Plant mode, can absolutely lose control and become a being that is a threat to everyone around him unless he manages to regain his senses, would be a very, very important scene to lose.  So honestly, I really hope they don’t condense the story the way it seems they might have, or that they find a way of showing these important beats in another way.  Vash’s Big Badass Moment in episode 12 was fuckin’ amazing, don’t get me wrong!  I was screaming and cheering him on from my couch the entire episode!  But it’s not the full story and there’s a lot that would be lost if that was all they took from this part of the story in Trimax.

#Trigun #Trigun Stampede #Trigun Maximum #Vash the Stampede #Meryl Stryfe #Tristamp #Trimax

[magicalyaku]

Hey there! I'm back from writing paradise. I admit I might have gotten a little obsessed but that was just because writing is so easy and fun while everything else is always hard. u3u But I basically finished my novel so I have no excuses anymore not to get back into real life. Here's what I read in May! Pretty good month! uAu

Keeper of the Lost Cities 3: Everblaze (Shannon Messenger): The first one in the series I read instead of listening. Was a good choice because I think I missed quite a bit of the first volumes. 8D Also, it's so long. I don't think, me being me, that I would have made it though the audiobook. Don't get me wrong, I like the story. I have a tremendous respect at how it is written, keeping all the plotpoints together, presenting the puzzle pieces little by little, managing the huge cast of people. When I complain next time about a Middle Grade book being too simple and too shallow than this is the kind of book I'm comparing it to. My one problem in this volume was, how the tension never lets down. It's so wound tight all the time, everything is always on the edge of collapsing, including Sophie. It was a little exhausting for me. So I was very glad, there were at least some answers near the end.

The Scottish Boy (Alex de Campi): I went to Scotland at the beginning of May to visit my friend, so what better book to read than this. And what a book. It's the kind of story, where so much happens in the relationship of the protagonists that right after it ends you want to go back to the beginning and read all their first interactions all over again. Hng. It's great. Also Alys, my queen. When she first appeared I was so afraid she'd turn out evil. Because court intrigues and stuff. The ending of this book is all my heart desires. I don't actually like war stories, you know. But after In Memoriam and now this, they sure make good love stories. The drama of for once not knowing where it all goes? Who lives and who doesn't? Damn. I really enjoyed reading this book. The illustrations by Trungles are also verrry nice. uAub

Captive Prince (C.S. Pacat): This was a reread and I read the other two volumes in June, so my thoughts on the series will go there. :)

Wraith, Entity & Presence (Oracle of Senders 3,4 + 3.5) (Mere Joyce): It's so hard to tell my feelings for this series. There's a lot of death and murder, there's choking and burning and failed exorcism and so much danger of death and still it was just so pleasant to read, so charming and nice and laid-back. It's so weird. 8D I liked the cast of characters and the adventure and Cal's and Meander's relationship (the complete lack of gay panic and homophobic surroundings), the classical music references (even though I never looked up a single one). I wish there was a sequel with Cal and Meander as adults. I mean, I realise, it would be difficult to do in a classic novel format because the ghost cases just aren't big enough to last a whole book, but imagine it like a half-hour show oder manga series with a ghost of the week for half the chapter and their happy slice of life for the rest. Hah. Good series.

The Hanged Man & The Hourglass Throne (The Tarot Sequence 2+3) (K.D. Edwards): I didn't think about it while reading but in retrospective this series fits into what I categorise as "wild". There's so much shit happening here. Big and bold. At the end of volume 1 I was still undecided of I like it enough to buy it on paper. These doubts were washed away with the sequels. It's an investment in the beginning, getting into the world and all, but I found it totally worth it. That one big drama at the end of vol3? Yes, totally got me. Like right from the textbook. Make me care, rip me apart. Damn.

The Buried and the Bound (Rochelle Hassan): If someone asked me in a survey about what I want to read and then actually went and made it into a book, this might be the result. This contains only things I like: two suffering (gay) boys, one tough girl (not involved in any romance), which is the best constellation of characters, really. Some magic, some adventure, some drama, different storythreads that weave nicely together in the end. I enjoyed reading it a whole lot and am looking forward to the sequels!

Ander & Santi were here (Jonny Garza Villa): Now this one was difficult. I think it's a good book, I wanted to like it, but. Hear me out. For me, this is split in three parts. The first one is about the illegal immigrants. See, for as long as I remember my dad worked in a … what's it called in English … an housing complex for refugees? Not a camp, but like a dorm. And while illegals and refugees are still a step apart, they're at least somehow adjacent. I lived basically next to them half my life and never cared. When in 2015 there was a huge wave of refugees coming to my country and everyone was freaking out, I just thought "Great, that means my dad will keep his job" (because the dorm was always on the verge of closing down and it would probably been tough for my dad as one of very few black people in a kind of racist small town to find a new job.) So anyway, I thought it was a good thing to finally read an actual story about people in these situations, to learn how to care. So that part was good and insightful. The second part was about the art. I draw manga only, but I do consider myself an artist and I was around when manga became big in my country and the art schools hated it and made us suffer. I have thoughts on art. And I really enjoyed reading about Ander's art and process and thoughts. My favourite part of the book! And then there's part 3, the love story. And I think, because I connected more strongly to the other parts than usual I felt the disconnect here much more than usual! The romance in here is very intense and very physical and my aroace brain didn't compute at all. Complete detachment. Which was kind of a problem, because the romance is a huge part of the book. I really wanted to like it but it didn't work. I did like Ander as a character, though, and their family and friends. And the cover is still so damn pretty!

That's it!

#yaku reads #may wrap up #books #queer books #lgbtq books #queer lit #bookblr #oracle of senders #the scottish boy #the buried and the bound #the tarot sequence #keeper of the lost cities #ander and santi were here

[longhands-the-second]

Trimax vol. 5

This is a solid 30% “what will they do with this in Stampede?”

1- “this time of year”… what are seasons like there? Are they distinct at all???

OH. YIKES. JULY. I was wondering why we were starting here.

God, I hate to think of how many people Vash has lost over the years.

For him to openly weep is heartbreaking, knowing how often he just shuts down instead.

Im fucking stoked to see what they do with midvalley in stampede, if anything.

Meryl is leaving this whole thing fundamentally changed i think. Just a hunch.

2- This is maybe a little unclear? I see the vision though.

I fucking love manga milly you go girl

GOD DAMN IT VASH he keeps getting hit and it makes me sad

Ballerina wolfwood

Am. Am i gonna start simping for wolfwood now? Is this how it happens?

3- oh. Oh boy. That sure is a title page

I’m still so mad they stole ww’s nose in stampede. It’s so pretty.

Wolfwood being protective of people. That is all. :)

OH OH OH ITS HAPPENING EVERYBODY STAY CALM STAY FUCKING CALM

This is the first time that we’ve seen this w/o Knives’ direct involvement- is this something that just happens when he’s at his wit’s end? Has it happened before? (Is it just compounding recent events???)

Bevridge Bitch is here and his vibes are as rancid as ever

How recent was July? He has most of the same scars.

Man they really just took the sleeve off of his coat. Worst thing that happens here, surely (<- coping)

Nvm the sleeve magically reappeared.

Girl seriously though what the *Fuck*

Could he just not do it before? Is this knives doing it *for* him???

“Seeds”?

Oh no. Oh this is even worse than last time. Ick.

Somehow this is more explicitly uh. Y’know.

EW EW EW EW

Dude phrase that literally any other fucking wayyyyyy I’m screaming crying throwing myself out of the window

Vash didn’t answer. I think this is the only iteration that wouldn’t. Then again that might be entirely circumstantial.

DAMN.

4- I took a week long break after the last chapter. I WAS ahead but uh. Stuff and things. So i may have some rereading to do.

SO WAIT HOLD ON DOES TOUCHING THE FEATHERS LET YOU SEE HIS MEMORIES AND SHIT?

I wonder if wolfwood’s gotten his sight back? Is that gonna be recurring or was it just a brief thing?

God this is so fucked up. Poor Meryl is probably losing it

Midvalley continues to fascinate me. What he’s saying makes sense but like. Damn.

Oh fucking god damn it get this guy out of here i don’t want him

What the hell am i even looking at right now

LEGATO YOU BASTARD

5- i hate to say it but i was kind of rooting for midvalley? I wanted to see more of him at least. Fuckin brutal way to go.

Oh is this why zazie is like. Extra androgynous in stampede? Fully support this actually.

I don’t think any character gets under my skin the way legato does. Knives is a close second, but there’s just something about the type of cruelty he exhibits. It’s not quick or to the point. He lets that shit simmer on purpose. It’s not about power anymore, it’s about maximum suffering. For himself, too. It’s gross.

MERYL!!!!

Legato sticks his leggy out real far. Fr though those are spindly as all hell

I’m not sure how much of the angel arm use is Vash making a conscious decision? Guess we’ll find out later. (EDIT: or not damn. He’s so quiet about it.)

Ah. Elendira. Will i love you or hate you?

6- i swear i can feel the panic coming off of the page here

I wonder how much more shit happened with knives that we just haven’t seen yet. How much of it does Vash remember?

Is this happening in his head right now? Is that why his arm is extra fucked up?

I find myself wondering at this moment if the original japanese was more or less derogatory about elendira and tbh i’m just gonna stop thinking about it now.

I can already tell im gonna be obsessed with her dynamic with knives though. They both seem so over it in a way that i can only describe as “the only two queer people working at the McDonald’s.” This is in no way related to any personal experiences i may have had, pinky promise. (Me and that manager were like. Work besties.)

She’s so fucked up i love her already.

UGH UGH UGH BE NICE TO HIM DAMN IT.

EXPLAIN YOURSELF TO THEM MAN. (He’s not obligated to but holy shit do you know how much that had to fuck Meryl up?)

Yeah, i see where the japanese Rem headcanon comes from. The vibes are there.

End notes (semi related to the actual content):

- I am DYING to know how they’ll deal with the Earth ships. Can’t just start that plot thread and just destroy them. I mean, it could happen, but like. Why?

- Forever yelling about biblically accurate Vash. I’ll draw him at some point given the time and energy. I REALLY want to know how/if they’ll handle it in stampede- we sort of got it, sort of didn’t? I’d love to see that pushed further.

- I WILL FINALLY POST ANOTHER GOD DAMN COLORING THIS WEEK. It took me a full month so it’s from an earlier volume but i’m very excited to share! It *should* be done by Friday (questionable way to celebrate given the content) ((maybe I’ll post vash in the babygirl pose as a treat)).

- I got my silly little wwvd bracelet and wore it with my Vash cosplay this last weekend. It genuinely makes me smile every time i see it lol. Real mood booster through con crunch, too. (Also, shoutout to the vash cosplayers at akaicon who definitely won’t see this lol. I almost asked them if they were in on the bookclub based on conversations we had but I chickened out.)

#trigunbookclub

[haysprite]

// DBD Chapter 27 Spoilers

Alrightyyy, I have some gripes with The Skull Merchant's lore that I wanna talk about real quick. I'll also be referring to her as Adriana, since that's a lot less of a pain to type out than... Y'know, Skull Merchant

I'm gonna be straight up and just say that I flat out do not like it. I'm super sad about that, because I was looking forward to what led to Adriana becoming The Skull Merchant. There were SOOOO many fun directions they coulda taken it, but god, it just feels like they fumbled the ball here? While the concept of a corrupt business woman is cool, I just don't think it fits her and her aesthetic. It just feels a bit all over the place, tbh, especially when in comparison to a good chunk of the original Killers. I got lost very easily, had to reread a lot, and overall just felt super messy.

Like, okay, Adriana stalking the dude that took her place as the top student? Okay okay, I see where we're goin with this- Oh, and it leads to nothing. Not a damn thing.

Why the fuck did her father leave after she returned home with all that money? Why didn't she have him post his own manga on the damn site she made, allowing him to feel like he's earning his own money? THEY COULDA HAD A FAMLIY BUSINESS HERE? HELLO?

The idea of her flipping companies is cool n all, and then wanting to take over em through killing... Cause like, let's be real, this shit could happen irl, probably has/does idfk. But I genuinely don't really understand how one thing led to another into her ACTUALLY killing people? I get greed overtaking her, but ehghgh it just felt super forced :(

What *I* personally wish they had done, would to have had Adriana start to obsess over the character of The Skull Merchant, hanging on to every story her father ever wrote about her. Adriana could begin to idolize her, seeing her as the hero of her stories, and soon would want to BECOME her. She would begin studying day and night how to work technology, spending hours upon hours learning and building drones, with the goal of becoming her idol.

After a while, her father could stop producing Sonhadores Sombrios, having moved past the idea and wanting to start anew with his work. This infuriated Adriana, who just wanted to hear more and more of The Skull Merchant's story, and was persistent that he continued. He continuously denied her, which drove Adriana further and further into madness as she wanted to continue the story herself. She would make sure that The Skull Merchant lived on, with or without her father's help.

Slowly but surely, Adriana started to find victims to gut, just like her hero. Poor, weak souls that would be lost on their paths. Her drones would aid her in her work, scouting out prey. Quick, and silent, she'd hunt at night, careful to spot any witnesses around before making her move. No one could figure out how these people died, though they soon realized a pattern in how they died: two slash marks straight through their chests.

This is where it could continue like normal: Her drone would be taken down by Thalita's kite, leaving her clueless about whether or not there were any witnesses around. Thalita and Renato would run into her, they'd run away, and then cut to them entering the realm.

It's nowhere near a perfect idea, but I feel like it would flow more easily? I dunno, its just what I immediately thought of after reading her backstory. I feel like she has a lot of potential, but so far, I'm just not digging her story unlike Thalita's and Renato's. Also, once again, I apologize if this is a bit all over, I just had to get my ideas out or else I woulda forgotten em lmaoo

#i am willing to see where her future tomes could take her tho #id love to see further development #but so far she just feels like a jeff bezos wannabe #also her design feels a bit lackluster to me #might redesign her if i feel like it idfk #shes hot af tho dont get me wrong #dead by daylight #dbd #dbd the skull merchant #the skull merchant #skull merchant #dbd killer #dbd chapter 27 #which is super unfortunate

[gofancyninjaworld]

Idk if its been discussed before, but I also noticed on a repeating pattern in manga opm that would honestly explain the drastic difference in the webcomic. It highly relied on the right person saying the right thing in the right moment.

Like for example: CE and Zombieman. Thanks to Saitama's interference, Zombieman was able to give the emotional push in the form of gratitude and support for CE, something he really needed as kid. As a result, in comparison to his wc counterpart, he's less jaded by the adults around him, and may have found an actual pillar of support

Another is Genos and Saitama: the fact that Genos was able to ask Saitama that and Saitama has gained enough experience w troubled people that he knows how to reassure Genos. As a result, we see actual life and emotion in the eues of manga Genos, in direct contrast to his wc counterpart.

And last would be Tatsumaki and Blast. I reread their interaction in the webcomic, and I realized perhaps the slight changes to how Blast treated her shaped manga Tatsumaki as not the abusive and psychotic symbol in Fubuki's life like WC Tatsumaki is but into a deeply troubled but genuinely loved heroine and sister. For one, Blast actually lets her out of her confinement. The other, is the additional line on top of his advice and Tatsumaki's personal motto, is the manga original "Protect your family"

Idk, I just thought it was neat

I was thinking 'how does this excellent observation not have a ton of notes? Then I realised it was in my ask pile...oops.

This has been renting space in my mind since I read it. Yes, if story development is driven by people being able to say the right things at the right times, then the better developed people are, the better they'll be able to furnish that support. I think Child Emperor being able to find that the adults can be reliable and step up, even as he's becoming increasingly aware of how foolish and human they are, was an excellent change. Neither writing everybody off as worthless nor blindly trusting in everyone are helpful, so seeing Child Emperor challenge himself and see people in a more nuanced manner is good.

If I have to focus on one thing, your point about Blast and Tatsumaki made me go have a closer look at the webcomic and manga versions.

Blast's interaction with Tatsumaki was short and pretty harsh.

And this is what Tatsumaki was left with. The world's a hard place, so you have to be hard too, harder than anyone.

She seems to have walked off in her prison outfit.

The manga Blast also challenges Tatsumaki, but you're right, there's more to what he says. After telling her that it's not nice to lie, he continues by asking her what she hoped to accomplish by hiding her powers.

However, when Tatsumaki confesses to feeling like she has nothing to live for as she feels entirely unwanted and unneeded, Blast gives her a reason to use her powers, by reminding her about her sister.

Even the context in which he couches his famous advice is different. It's not a simple call to self-efficacy; it's an observation that powerful people can't sit around looking to others to help them. By their very nature, their problems run bigger than others'.

I trust the irony of Tatsumaki recalling Blast's advice at the point at which she's being protected is not lost on anyone. In fact, it's a double irony: the reason she cannot protect herself is that she's protecting millions of others from a monster that's looking to escape and eat them. However, the reason she's able to discard her self-protection to do so is because she can rely on another person to protect her. Ironies and nuances all the way through...

You're right; those few additional words probably made a huge difference to how Tatsumaki turned out in the manga. They were penetrating, but they weren't uncompromisingly harsh and worked to give her hope. The world is a hard place, that's why you have to look out for the soft.

Speaking of the ongoing involvements of characters, while it's clear from Tatsumaki's memories of Blast as a young man that she's not seen him for a long time, it's also been clear that Blast continues to take an interest in how Tatsumaki's getting along.

For me, stuff like this is worth the price of admission. Plot points are plot points, but it's the web of interactions and conflicts between characters that drive this story.

#OPM #meta #asks #Blast #Tatsumaki #Child Emperor #from webcomic to manga #yes with characters doing more they can also do more for each other #and catalyse more growth #I'd not sat down to look critically at how Blast and Tatsumaki's meeting went differently in the webcomic and manga #and the small changes do mean that Blast's message comes across differently #It's still up to Tatsumaki how she interprets her experiences but I think having a bit of kindness and hope extended her way has helped her

[corfisers]

Same anon here and please, pop off about ryuuzaki, anytime. Especially paralleled to Doumeki. I was rereading vol 5 and 6 (let me tell you that I needed that bc I'm so dumb that this is the first time that I noticed that the yakuza who was caught having sex with Y and expelled HAS A SCAR IN THE SAME CHEEK AS D. I lost my mind,,,,) and in the official translation of my country there a difference that made me connect by contrast R and D.

In the eng trl that you can find online, when Y and R talk in the police car after R was rescued (and arrested), R first thinks "if you were a women, I would have protected you" and this is the same in my copy of the manga BUT a few pages later in my version R thinks "if I died, I wouldn't want him to know" and "if he protects me, I can't take care of him" VS "you'll find out over my dead body!" and "I can't believe he is the one protecting me!" in the eng vers.

The meaning may be somewhat the same but DAMN, the feeling behind it is radically heavier in my version.

I like better my country's version just because at the beginning of vol 6 when doumeki realises that he has been left behind and finds the two cleaners, the same words came up. D says "take me to the boss because I am the only one who can protect me, you wouldn't be able to" and the cleaner scoffs at him "you are the one who is been protected" -and that is the same in the online eng translation. That's something good to chew on, at least for me.

THAT SAID (I am very verbose, I am sorry), tysm for your in depth response at my last ask, it was a super good read and after thinking about it, I agree to your points. Especially because kou Yoneda is a master of silent storytelling, I'm always in awe of her use of silent panels. Her pure visual storytelling is where the worst sucker punches come from. Sometimes more subtle than others, you are right about that, but still very very much a storytelling choice.

hi anon, i'm glad you enjoyed my reply to your last ask, and thank you for giving me more food for thought! i do want to talk about ryuzaki at some point, both in general and specifically the parallels between him and doumeki. i'd need to reread some parts to refresh my memory and take a closer look at him first tho. ryuzaki's one of the characters who i wasn't paying super close attention to initially, but he grew on me over time, in a weird way. like moss

putting some stuff regarding translation and other things under read more (for my poor followers' dashboard experiences sake)

i looked at the original text for the part you're talking about, and i want to say that the translation you have in your version is closer to the original. it's something like "if i died, i wouldn't want him to know [about the stupid thoughts i had back then]" in reference to ryuzaki wanting to protect yashiro if he was a woman. no idea how to put the other sentence nicely in english (the one about how ryuzaki can't take care of yashiro if he's the one being protected), but again, your version seems to be more accurate, and it nicely parallels the part with doumeki. also worth noting that ryuzaki isn't exactly throwing "!" in his internal monologue here at the end of the sentences, and in the drama cd for that part he sounds pretty calm and i guess just… sad. i've noticed some punctuation changes in the translation before and they shift the tone slightly, guess it's one of those cases. wish i had junemanga's translation on hand, but i can't buy it because my country sucks (might ask a friend to buy me the digital version at some point, but idk if it's worth it since there's a lot of mistranslations in it based on what i've seen)

all that being said, my japanese isn't exactly great, neither is my english if we're being honest, so while i can point out and check some things here and there i am definitely not an expert when it comes to translation and i'm only like 70% confident in what i'm saying. just wanted to talk about this because you made me curious and i never bothered to compare the texts for this part before. and i still really appreciate all the work actual translators put in, even if there are some inconsistencies or differences here and there

moving on from the translation stuff - if you get involved with yashiro in some way i guess you're destined to get a cut on the cheek, because nanahara got one recently as well. we only see yashiro slapping the band-aid over it, so idk how the actual cut looks and there might be nothing much to it, but it's still a neat little detail

don't have much to say regarding the visual story telling, i agree with you, it's great, some of the best pages have no words on them, i'm obsessed with yoneda kou's art and she's been a huge inspiration for me since i got into saezuru. love her work so so so much

but yeah, uh, thank you again for the ask, both the previous and this one, i love having an excuse to blabber about saezuru or go look at specific scenes/chapters! going to think real hard about ryuzaki and try to organize my thoughts about him and write up something in the future

#don't be sorry for being verbose anon! clearly you're not the only one #also if anyone wants to come and smash me over the head with a rock over the translation stuff you're allowed to do so #asks #saezuru tag

[shinidamachu]

Hi! I love following your meta and detailed analyses and I swear you had one somewhere about the actual chapters/instances that had InuKik in the manga as compared to the anime but I can't find it :( Did I imagine it? (Why I'm asking is I'm writing one of my fics IWFA and I had someone ask me why I write InuKik the way I do and I was about to say cuz in the manga they give off the impression of being distant like that. Then I second guessed myself and wanted to reread the parts... anyway I blab.

Hi! Thank you so much! This means a lot because I do love writing meta. Unfortunatelly, I don't think I made the post you're looking for.

I'm still in the process of reading the manga and even though I use a panel here and there to make my points across, I refrain from going into deep, side by side comparisons because I feel like smarter people than me have already done it to exhaustion. And with a level of coherence I can only dream to achieve.

One of these people is definitely @inukag so maybe you'll have more luck asking her? If Cynthia didn't wrote it, she's still your best shot at figuring out who did.

And for whatever is worth, I think your interpretation of manga Inukik is actually pretty spot on. In fact, I'd go even further and say that anime Inukik was almost just as distant. The difference is that at least Sunrise tried to give them some substance, which in my opinion didn't work at all, since it butchered their characterization (Inuyasha's especially) by omitting very important scenes and adding meaningless fillers that in my opinion only made more obvious how superficial their relationship really was.

To me, love is something you build and trust is the foundation in which you're building on. To trust — and consequently to truly love — takes time. On top of that, a strong relationship requires efffort, honesty and fully acceptance from both parts, none of which I believe Takahashi or Sunrise showed us.

Boat dates under the sunset and passionate kisses are just bells and whistles. Yes, it looks great on screen, but it doesn't necessarily equal to real love. Infatuation, sure. But love? It's easy to make you characters go on boat dates under the sunset. It's easy to make them kiss passionately. It's even easier for the writers, for the audience and for characters themselves to confuse it for love.

What's hard is to actually take the time to create, develop, test and expand a romantic connection. To show how deep it runs instead of just telling. To make it unfold and progress and grow stronger before our eyes. To make it dynamic rather than stagnant. Inuyasha and Kikyo didn't have that at all, be it in the manga, be it in the anime.

Their relationship was based on mutual loneliness, on seeing each other through rose colered glasses and of the fundamentally wrong idealization of the life they thought they'd have together.

That being said, here's my unsolicited advice: if you're anything like me, I can totally understand why you'd feel the need to try and defend your point of view, especially if the person asked you to explain it in good faith.

However, even if your interpretation of the Inukik relationship was way off — which, again, I don't believe it is — remember that you don't owe anyone an explanation for your writing choices, but you do owe it to yourself to write what feels right. It's your story to tell and you can tell it any way you see fit.

I know our takes on this matter aren't particularly popular within the fandom, but they are just as valid. I lost count of how many Inukag fanfics I've read where Inukik was written to be a much bigger thing than I personally believe it originally was, but even though I disagree with that interpretation, I'm also not entitled to an explanation other than... that's the author's vision. And that's okay.

The important thing was that people had fun and were proud of what they wrote. As they should, because it takes courage to post your stories online. And if I'm bothered by an specific story to the point of not being able to enjoy it, that's my problem and I should probably search for something closer to my own interests to read.

Anyway... I can't wait to read If We Fall Anyway. It has been on my to read list for a while now and I'm sure I'll love it.

#Sidmailing #Thank you for your patience #I know it took me ages to reply #But I was so focused on Inukag Week #And I knew this was gonna end up being an elaborated response LMAO

[letsrilakkusu-blog]

An ode to Given

A few days ago the internet collectively freaked out - myself included - when it was announced that the next chapter of Given would be the final chapter, ending its 10-year run. I'm honestly still in shock and while I'm trying to stay optimistic that maybe the big announcement that's coming with the final chapter will involve some kind of sequel, a second season of the anime seems more likely. It's difficult coming to terms with the fact that I may have to say goodbye to a series that I love so much, and with an ending that I most likely will not find satisfying. Regardless, Given has taken up a huge space in my heart for the past two years and I just wanted to write about how I found it, my experience with it, and what it means to me.

I've enjoyed manga and anime ever since I was in middle school, but toward the end of college I got too busy to keep up. Fast forward to years later in 2020, I was stuck at home during the pandemic and decided to dive back in. After rewatching a BL anime that I really liked in high school, Given came up as a suggested series. A quick Google search told me that it was a great romance story between boys in a band, cool.

The first episode starts with Mafuyu's melancholy monologue about the dream he keeps on having and I see right off the bat that I've signed up for a bit more than a cute love story with music. Then the opening song Kizuato hits and I'm totally captivated. It's probably one of my favorite opening sequences and truly captures the feel of the series with its hard-hitting instrumentals, Cenmilli's emotional vocals, and the moody art.

The series pace is on the slower side but there was enough drama and intrigue to keep pulling me in, and it's full of comedic gold. And then... episode 9, A Winter Story. It shook me to my core, everything about it was absolutely amazing. Ue's talk with Mafuyu before the show where he admits that even he doesn't know what he is doing or how to express himself, all he knows is that he loves Mafuyu's sound. The song itself, interspersed with flashbacks of Mafuyu and Yuki's relationship and Mafuyu's monologue (his "I'm lonely" is truly devastating, major props to Yano Shogo). THE KISS. A genuine surprise, so quick and so gentle from inexperienced Ue. I had to watch the episode twice because it left me in complete awe and I needed to experience it again. Then episodes 10-11 were the perfect wind-down with a lot of cute and legendary moments, aka Ue experiencing increasing levels of gay panic. The series became an instant favorite and I rewatched it immediately. I can't find the words to properly express what it did to me but it just made me feel so many things, things I don't think I've felt for a long time. I couldn't shake it.

After that, I was still hungry for more Given so I read the manga, which is a totally different and wonderful experience. The art is beautiful, and the way Kizu-sensei portrays emotions through the characters' facial expressions is unparalleled. Soon after that, the movie came to Crunchyroll, and I've been keeping up with the series in every form since. I read the chapters as they come out bi-monthly. I watched the drama adaptation (not great but not the worst I've seen). I watched the OVA many times (my favorite, all the precious RitsuMafu moments I was missing from the movie). I splurged on a second-hand DVD set of the stage play (really well done). I even watched the anime dub (tolerable), and I hate dubs. Rereading and rewatching the series are routine. Safe to say, it's consumed me for two years and the flame has not died down one bit.

Lots of fans joke about referring to Given as our comfort series when it actually hits on a lot of heavy topics and has eviscerated our emotions on more than one occasion. But it truly is my comfort place. Just as I had finished watching the anime for the first time, I lost a very close friend to illness. This friend was a fellow anime/manga enthusiast and was probably the one who introduced me to the world of BL. Although she didn't watch Given, I like to think that it could have been something we would have enjoyed together if we had the time. And although the circumstances are different, I could relate to Mafuyu prematurely losing an important person in his life. Because the story is equal parts pain and healing, Given kind of provided me with a space where I could dump all of the emotions I was experiencing, whether they were happy or sad. It taught me about loss, grief, and above all, the way music and love can heal the wounds that these things have left behind.

I also have to speak separately about the music of Given, it's just so well done, with so much care and attention to detail. You can tell that Cenmilli worked closely with Kizu-sensei or really dived into the source material when working on the music. Every song created for the series relates very clearly to an event or element of the story. I could write praises upon praises for all of them, but some of my favorites include:

Fuyu no Hanashi, for obvious reasons. Yano Shogo's raw vocals are haunting and the guitar riffs are insanely cool. The way the lyrics change from Mafuyu being stuck and unable to say goodbye in the first chorus, to finally moving forward despite that in the last chorus, show that he's getting the closure he needed.

Kizuato - The lyrics perfectly express the series' tagline "can't say goodbye, I'm still drifting with your echoes." And the pre-chorus is so, so good.

Hetakuso - A simple but insanely sweet song that is definitely Mafuyu's response to Ue's admission that he is bad at expressing himself. I squealed when I saw the lyrics mention "covered by the heat of summer" and "not being afraid of the next winter" in reference to the two of them.

Bokura dake no Shudaika - As I read the lyrics, I can't tell if the song is referencing Akihiko and Ugetsu's relationship or Akihiko and Haruki's (maybe it's both), but I actually like that ambiguity. I also love how it beautifully incorporates the violin as a salute to Aki and Ugetsu.

Uragawa no Sonzai - I know Mafuyu is singing the song but I like to think of it from Ue's perspective. He is aware that there is a side to Mafuyu that he doesn't know, his past, a time when he cried, a person he cried over. But he embraces this "existence on the other side" as a precious part of the person he loves and vows that he will fill up for what the other is lacking, and vice versa. I'm crying.

Now that the series is coming to an end, I don't know what I'll do with myself. If it's truly ending for good, I do have my complaints, but I'll save that for another time. No matter what though, Given is solidified as one of my top anime/manga series of all time, and I'm sure I'll keep revisiting it over the years even after it's finished. It's given me so much - joy (RitsuMafu soft moments are my serotonin), sorrow (Strawberry Swing, anyone?), laughs (too many to count), and some of my favorite music - and for that, I'm incredibly thankful.

#given #given manga #given anime #kizu natsuki

[the-nysh]

Now, could you tell us what has been your favorite OPM manga saga so far, and which has been your least favorite, and whys for both?

That would be the run of chapters from ch80-92 or so (within vols16-19), from the iconic shed scene vs the A/B heroes, the Elder Centipede fight involving everyone, up til Garou vs Orochi (with bonus Garou vs Darkshine later.) As explained in full here! :D For being my favorite parts to go back and reread anytime, as 'peak opm' to me - for how it greatly fleshed out Garou's character for the better, for all the unforgettable fun fandom memories, and for how it marked Murata's peak productivity/interactivity on stream too. I don't think the hype back then can be matched! (not even the s1 days felt this way, but I’m looking forward to the rest adapted in s3!) However, recently I also enjoy surface Garou blitzing all the cadres and 'following his heart' - because that was also him at his best peak (hero) form, before he even knew it~

Least favorite under the cut.

The complete 180 tonal whiplash that happened after the ch164 redraw. (I was yes fine with everything before this, same with japanese readers.) The first time opm has EVER made me feel physically ill/nauseous in a bad way for the negative message it brought (you will be punished, harmed, and mindraped by cosmic forces beyond your control or understanding, and lose yourself for showing emotional growth and naturally wanting to reach out to a loved one, no matter if you refuse; your choice/agency don't matter) AND the first time I've ever felt contempt, distrust, and dislike for the mc Saitama's careless handling of the situation (bc at first I was touched and proud of him for reaching out in empathy for sensing Garou's suicidal behavior, until the redraw completely changed that and broke that trust) because as someone who's already lost a family member to mental illness like that, seeing Saitama redrawn to carelessly slap him away - someone who needs help! to only become a victim caught in true evil's grasp instead felt like part of my soul died; I cannot begin to describe how offensive that change was, nor trust anyone who tries to defend/justify it as a 'good thing.' Absolutely NOT.

Lowest (bleakest, cynical, horrifically off-putting) part of opm by far - both against all the previously established positive themes and by fridging two of the most beloved characters (Garou AND Genos) for shock and spectacle. (Alternatively: to force angst/loss on Saitama at their expense; not cool.) Not something I'd ever 'enjoy' to read or relive again (unless it receives more editing to be less messily all over the place.) And it was borderline droppable, save for the only solace being the faith I had in Garou to finally be the hero of his arc - and he DID deliver on that (as I hoped/knew he would~ even if it was annoying how fandom only praised and rejoiced for Saitama/saigenos afterwards, when it was thru Garou's resolve and cooperation that the world - and Genos, were saved at all - don't dismiss his real self's genuine efforts and heroic sacrifice like canon Genos! so that really put me off too) even if the trope 'redemption thru death/sacrifice' is a generally disliked one (same with time travel undos) for how it tragically wastes the character - but on the flip side at least now current timeline Garou has a second chance. He's not left unhealthily alone anymore and can properly reconcile with Bang (flipping the message from before that oh yes he does need Bang's support after all!) as the chance they never got to have in the wc. And while the conclusion was left incomplete/unresolved, at least Garou's arc can continue as a more actively reoccurring character.

#opm #garou #anonymous #replies #i've mentioned my favorite 'saga' before #but hopefully i'm firmly clear on the changes i did NOT vibe with at all

[booksandwords]

Fangirl, Vol. 1: The Manga  Adapted by Sam Maggs. Illustrated by Gabi Nam. Based on the novel by Rainbow Rowell.

Series: Fangirl Manga, Vol. 1 Read time: 1 Day Rating: 4/5 Stars

The Quote: I always get lost in the library, no matter how many times I go. In fact, I think I get lost there more, the more that I go. Like it's getting to know me, and revealing new passages. — Levi (look my librarian ass loves this line)

Full disclosure I still haven't read Fangirl so I'm coming into this a bit differently from most. Basically, I always intended to read it but never got around to it. I now intend on reading it before volume two is released in June (? I think), before writing this review I put it on hold at my local library. But from what I can see at this point it is well suited to a visual adaptation. This appears to be a clever adaptation. Sam Maggs has ensured that it flows properly. Particularly when combined with Gabi Nam's illustrations which are all clearly distinct. Wren and Cather have the perfect facial structure similarities that were needed. It feels like it depends on how Cath is feeling as to how they look. Both Cath's fandom self and Simon and Baz are shown regularly. Nam's take on Simon and Baz is fantastic and slightly varied. What I can clearly see from this is why people wanted Simon Snow's story so badly Rainbow sells their story well.

Cath and Wren are the ideal for the demonstration of growing apart and finding identity as twins. I quite like Reagan. I really like that Cath is Reagan's mealtime bitching buddy, I like that it is clearly leading to a friendship. Also, the best friendships to me can be shown through what you see in the random people around you. Personality traits. Nick and Levi have this interesting counterbalance thing going on. And well Dad is trying his best, he is a great representation of a parent. That's all I'm going to write in the review for now. I'll probably reread it at a later date and might be able to comment better.

#fangirl #fangirl the manga #sam maggs #rainbow rowell #gabi nam #manga #book review #ktreviews #booklr #read 2022

[icharchivist]

1, Hi!! I used to come by years ago, I absolutely loved, and still do!, your blog, its a fantastic place, so many interesting stuff, it really is like an archive for me haha I don't have much to add, only some shower thoughts if you don't mind me. I never had the chance to dump them on anyone o(-(

omg, hi there!!!!

first of all, thank you for the sweet message! i'm glad you used to like this blog so long ago and still do now 🥺 i haven't really talked much about dgm those past few years so i'm really touched that you think so despite it all, and more than that i'm just really glad that you can still go back to the archives of this blog and have fun!! i'm really glad to have you here!!

Answering the rest of the asks under the cut <3

ooh you mean this page?

it's really too ambiguous so i guess it's mostly that there's nothing really to theorize per se, especially since in the next page Allen remembers a bit of Nea, so i would assume the "?" we all had turned into "oh it's probably one of the Campbell twins".

But mhmm i'm rereading the bit and yeah, considering Nea introduces himself in his memory on the next page it could be probably someone whom Allen knew before that time.

And as a "PastA was a Bookman apprentice" truther, i do feel like his clothes there are reminiscent of what young!Lavi used to wear as well.

Honestly i could perhaps see Bookman Senior being the one holding him like that. Like.... I feel like we can interpret everything we want about that but i feel like Bookman Senior particularly reminding Lavi to not form attachment and even being a bit cold toward him at times could be direct reactions from the reasons he lost his previous apprentice. What if he was too soft with his previous apprentice, what if it made the apprentice care too much about the people making history so much so it got him involved? As such, i could imagine it be Bookman Sr genuinely being emotional with PastA, the type of affection that doomed him, and that now Bookman Sr is less willing to give out.

Or, like you said, it could be anyone else. A parent, a friend, anything. I could imagine it being a family member of some kind though, considering how much this arc is specially about Allen getting adopted by Mana and how much Nea still haunts him. In a sense Nea is the thing that keeps getting in between Allen and his family, so to have this flashback interrupted by Nea could be an extension of that, of the family he turned his back on when Nea entered his life.

i didn't think about it much but i could see it. or. well. I can fit my theories into this single panel so LMAO.

I don't think you're wrong, especially seeing the Alma arc. Tbh i'm still thinking and haunted by this arc specifically because well, I was there Gandalf ect, i was there when dgm was at the height of its popularity in 2008/2009, i remembered how many shounen fans were really into the saga and would be widely homophobic to the notion of any of those characters being possibly gay, and i remember very, very clearly the moment the plot point of Alma being Kanda's love interest dropped, unambiguously, and how much of an uproar it was. I remember people jumping ship THERE, before the manga even went on hiatus.

And i swear i remember Hoshino mentioning that her health really started to become worse when she had to fight her editors for what she wanted, and that the Alma arc was one of those. She had to set it up in such a way that her editors couldn't take it away from her, by having Kanda set up on finding Alma early in the story, building up the Alma arc, and only then later in the arc going ":) well Alma is the love Kanda is looking for. And i can't take it back without ruining this entire arc. so what do we do."

and it DID cost to the series at this point, it WAS something that got a lot of pushbacks.

Nowadays i feel like Hoshino is probably more free to do whatever she wants, esp since there's been more casually gay rep in shounen ever since, but at the time, i remember it causing a huge stir in the fanbase.

And hell i remember at the time the people who were translating the manga after it got out of hiatus in 2015 or so was a huge popular manga website where a lot of casual shounen readers were tuning in, and i still remember seeing hundreds of homophobic takes in the comments at the time, especially regarding Kanda. A lot of casual shounen fans have completely wrote of the series because Hoshino "let her BL lenses stain the series" and that therefore for them they can only read the newer dynamics with that lenses, especially when Kanda is involved.

(and it doesn't help Kanda was like. THE symbol of masculinity for the guys i met in the shounen fandoms at the time. The fact he was the one who got this plotline got them PISSED because they were projecting this idea on Kanda and i could still see it in the mid 10s.)

I think Hoshino is well happy writing Shounen, but she doesn't mind also talking about any sort of love into it, she did mention she wanted to show what her definition of love (in all of its form, not just romantic) was in her story, so i think it's an extension of that. But Hoshino did pretty much fight for Kanda to have his relationship with Alma. I'm honestly inclined to believe Alma had to die as a compromise to the fact she basically set up a lovestory her editors could not possibly cut.

But her editors causing her problems have been at the root of any clunky dgm plotpoints anyway. The Destroyer of Time's prophecy came from her editors. Allen was a transwoman in the first draft and was changed to a cisguy because her editors argued "no one would care if a female MC was to cry, so we need Allen to be a boy for it to count". her editors told her to cut down appearances of the Earl while Hoshino always wanted to have him as a main character (which is likely why now that she has more freedom thanks to her new deal, we've been getting full arcs focusing on him). Her editors pushed her to change Lenalee away from the character she wanted her to be. So long and so forth.

Honestly i still look back at the Alma arc in awe because it truly was Hoshino putting her foot down and making sure her editors would not be able to change her vision this time and i still admire it.

but man sometimes i mourn for the story DGM could have been if the editors haven't constantly been restraining her. Obviously, there's always moment an editor helps out in pacing a story or helping some focus, but with dgm you can sense on some point how some elements just. didn't really help out Hoshino's vision and it's so sad.

Nowadays it seems her editors are giving her more freedom, and it's about time. It's just so damn sad that it came when her health has become too fragile because of the constant strain that has been on her in part because of her old editors.

I for one am looking forward to see where it's going and i will be patient, but yeah. Can't wait to see how that goes either.

It's nice to hear those thoughts though so if you feel like rambling more, the inbox is opened!

Take care and thank you for the sweet message <3

#ichafantalks dgm #ichareply #anonymous