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raincode-archives · 4 months

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Chapter 3 Character Profile Descriptions

Yuma Kokohead A Trainee Detective with amnesia. His small build is unsuitable for physical confrontation. A lack of self-confidence results in a tendency to frequently complain. However, he posses a strong sense of justice and selflessly tries to help anyone in need.

After solving the Aetheria Academy case, he took the true culprits' lives, deeming it necessary for the truth. He decided to continue trying to be the heroic detective, believing the truth could save more lives.

Desuhiko Thunderbolt A Master Detective dispatched to the Nocturnal Detective Agency by the World Detective Organization. His goal is to become famous as a mystery-solving superstar detective. He's an optimistic ladies' man whose "investigations" usually entail trying to pick up girls around the city. These attempts are rarely successful due to his goofball nature, though he doesn't mind. Uncomfortable around blood and corpses, he prefers undercover investigations to those involving murder.

After providing him the opportunity to sneak around Aetheria Academy, he began referring to Yuma as "my man."

His Forte is Disguise, the ability to change his voice, appearance, and build, visually and mentally masquerading as the targeted person. The backpack he always carries is required to use this ability.

Fubuki Clockford A Master Detective dispatched to the Nocturnal Detective Agency by the World Detective Organization. Although she's a beauty with outstanding style, her airheaded tendencies can frustrate the people she talks to.

She ran away from her pampered life as a lady of the world-famous Clockford family to seek adventure. Her Forte is Time Leap, the ability to rewind time and redo things. However, if time has been turned back once, it cannot be turned back beyond that point.

Yomi Hellsmile The director of the Amaterasu Corporation Peacekeepers. Despite having the face of a handsome young ma, he is cold-hearted and cruel, finding joy in the misfortune of others, especially from miseries he devised himself. He holds great power within Amaterasu and treats his underlings like expendable tools.

He can't stand Makoto, but doesn't seem to directly antagonize him.

Martina Electro The vice director of the Amaterasu Corporation Peacekeepers. A tall, elegant, intelligent, bespectacled woman who ruthlessly crushes the opposition and has no mercy for those who defy her. She's obedient only to Yomi.

As punishment for being outwitted by the detectives during the Aetheria Academy case, the Peacekeepers took her away to be crushed in a presser.

Makoto Kagutsuchi The enigmatic Masked Man that lives on the top floor of Kanai Tower. His tendency to speak in riddles make it difficult to ascertain his true nature, but he seems to have ulterior motives.

Makoto Kagutsuchi The always-masked CEO of Amaterasu Corporation. He lives on the top floor of Kanai Tower. While Yomi is ostensibly his employee, the two are always at each other's throats. His tendency to speak in riddles make it difficult to ascertain his true nature, but he seems to have ulterior motives.

Dominic Fulltank Second-in-command of the Amaterasu Corporation Peacekeepers Counterterrorism Squad. A big, burly man capable of tearing a person limb from limb with his bare hands. He's not overly astute, and leaves the thinking to Guillaume, though complex orders may be difficult for him to follow.

Guillaume Hall Leader of the Amaterasu Corporation Peacekeepers Counterterrorism Squad. A boisterous, fast-talking woman who tackles her work with enthusiasm and vigor. She has a gift for telling fortunes, but as they always foretell bloodshed and horror, the recipient is invariably left shaken. Not adept at fighting, she leaves the rough stuff to her partner, Dominic.

Kurumi Wendy A student at Aetheria Academy. Hungry for knowledge, she seeks out anything she wants to know with unwavering tenacity. Thanks to her cheerful demeanor and excellent communication skills, she's quick to get along with people she meets. Having a lifelong fascination with detectives, she couldn't pass up an opportunity to talk with one and shadowed Yuma.

She was about to be arrested for the theater club murder, but was released after Yuma revealed the truth.

She holds deep trust in her rescuer, Yuma.

Aiko Kurumi's friend and a member of the theater club at Aetheria Academy who died six months ago. The Peacekeepers declared she committed suicide by jumping off the roof, but she was actually murdered by Karen.

Yoshiko A member of the theater club at Aetheria Academy. A beauty whose maturity makes it difficult to think of her as a high school student. She's popular in the theater club and is on par with Waruna and Karen in terms of acting ability. Mild-mannered and quiet, she values the team more than the individual.

She was once close friends with Waruna, Kurane, and Aiko, but after Karen murdered Aiko, she plotted revenge with her two remaining friends and killed Karen onstage during a performance.

With the Mystery Labyrinth solved, her soul was reaped by Shinigami, resulting in her death.

Waruna A member of the theater club at Aetheria Academy. She puts on the flashiest and trendiest makeup, which further accents her aggressive personality. Although she intimidates everyone around her, she has no desire to overshadow anyone. She genuinely enjoys acting and being on stage, innately capable of playing any role.

She was once close friends with Yoshiko, Kurane, and Aiko, but after Karen murdered Aiko, she plotted revenge with her two remaining friends and killed Karen onstage during a performance.

With the Mystery Labyrinth solved, her soul was reaped by Shinigami, resulting in her death.

Kurane A member of the theater club at Aetheria Academy. She doesn't talk much and prefers to spend time alone. Because it's difficult for her to express her emotions, no one really knows what she's thinking. But her acting skills place her among the best in the club.

She was once close friends with Yoshiko, Waruna, and Aiko, but after Karen murdered Aiko, she plotted revenge with her two remaining friends and killed Karen onstage during a performance.

With the Mystery Labyrinth solved, her soul was reaped by Shinigami, resulting in her death.

Karen A member of the theater club at Aetheria Academy. She has long, beautiful hair and the elegant aura typical of a lady. She's enthusiastic about acting, possessing a stoic philosophy about it. However, because of that, she tends to be uncooperative and rarely interacts with the other students.

Six months ago, after quarreling with Aiko over the lead role, she murdered Aiko and made it seem like a suicide. Yoshiko, Waruna, and Kurane enacted revenge by poisoning and killing her on stage.

Shachi The leader of the Resistance looking to overthrow Amaterasu Corporation. His outstanding leadership skills and charisma draw people to him. He believes that ruthless measures are necessary to defeat Amaterasu.

He was found dead on the roof of the Resistance hideout. There was a gunshot wound in the side of his head.

Servan A member of the Resistance looking to overthrow Amaterasu Corporation. Though short in stature and physically weak, his mechanical expertise puts the best Amaterasu engineers to shame. He completely loses himself in tinkering though, forgetting to eat and sleep.

Icardi A member of the Resistance looking to overthrow Amaterasu Corporation. Her has the slim, muscular build of an excellent swimmer. He works as a courier for the Resistance. He doesn't seem very interested in people and, for better or worse, doesn't involve himself with others.

Iruka A member of the Resistance looking to overthrow Amaterasu Corporation. Despite her dour and gloomy exterior, she cares deeply for her comrades. Highly skilled with weapons and guns in particular, she's in charge of procuring arms for the Resistance.

Margulaw A member of the Resistance looking to overthrow Amaterasu Corporation. He is a former Amaterasu employee fronting as an antique art dealer. Having lost his family to Amaterasu's treachery, he harbors a bitter hatred for his former employer. He puts his accounting prowess to good use by managing the Resistance's funds.

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boysupe · 2 years

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DC au where everything is the same except instead of the Joker being the “””””””””””””most threatening/scary villain””””””””””””””””” it’s the cheer squad from Most Popular Girls in School

#( the writer ) - ooc #seriously Superman Batman the Flash whoever would not stand a chance against them #whatever they have planned #the cheer squad will outwit AND out fight

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real-jaune-isms · 3 years

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RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 10 Review/Remix

WHAT the ever loving FUCK was that just now RT?? You give us several great answers and scenes we really wanted to see, and then rip all that joy away in the last 3 minutes!!! I want to sue for emotional damages, but I really can’t be mad cuz it’s very masterful writing on their part. After years of shows doing redemption arcs we finally have it... the bastardization arc~

We open, perhaps to the disappointment of some, on Ironwood staring out the windows of his office at the battlefield and city in turmoil below. He’s being given a situation update on the destruction of the cellblock two episodes back, and he takes the news a little differently than might have been expected (read: worse). Jacques apparently stayed right where he was and let himself be put back into custody, while Qrow avoided much harm by being a bird and ending up in a spot where the rubble wasn’t landing directly on him. Robyn was only slightly lucky, she was under some large debris but doesn’t seem terribly hurt and is actually conscious when Atlas soldiers uncover her and say she’ll be moved to a new cell elsewhere. Qrow isn’t about to be put back in a cage though, and flies right at the soldier who finds him. Behind a conveniently placed piece of wall he turns back and, as I was somewhat praised for phrasing it in a discord chat, he tackled that man as a man. We can assume he knocks out the guy about to apprehend Robyn, and the two make a getaway. Ironwood doesn’t like this news one bit, though he focuses more on recapturing the two huntsmen he had arrested on paranoid treason charges than the actual war criminal he lost an arm catching whose dangerous work on the city of Mantle still hasn’t been undone. Not cool, dude. He yells at the soldiers who had come to report this, and they leave to try and find the jailbirds. He stares out the window again in contemplation and tries to calm down a little before turning on his earpiece to get an update on the status of some thing or another, probably the bomb, when something massive happens.

With a blinding flash and an array of gold and green, Oscar’s staff goes off with whatever he was charging up. It’s as bright and forceful as you’d expect a nuclear bomb to be, and it knocks Winter and the Ace Ops off their feet as they were heading towards Monstra lugging their own bomb. Weiss and Nora see it from Schnee Manor, and it seems to do a real number on the Grimm around Monstra and in the city. Rooster Teeth had to give a flashing lights warning at the start of the episode for those it would adversely affect, and I can totally understand why after the crazy display this gave us. When the light fades and the noise settles, Monstra has been snapped and is fading away to dust, and in that dust cloud we hear and barely see Neopolitan skipping away with the Lamp in hand. What a little punk... Winter gets back on her feet and is quick to ask her squad for their status, she doesn’t want to have lost anyone or suffered serious wounds from whatever the hell they just saw/felt. No one is hurt, though Elm’s ears seem to still be ringing. But Marrow is very distressed, realizing they still hadn’t heard back from Jaune and the others and they may have been killed in that blast. Nobody has anything to say that would appease him, so they stay silent. Vine tries to put a reassuring hand on Elm’s shoulder but she brushes him off. Guess after they got called out by Ren she wants to show even less emotion and sentimentality than before. Ironwood contacts them under the false assumption this was the result of their bomb, and requests they return to HQ for an update on the new problem he wants to deal with. Marrow naturally points out that the destruction wasn’t their doing, and Winter decides that will be news best delivered in person, so they load the bomb back on the airship and take off.

Cutting into the city, we see Watts and Cinder viewing the destruction of their mobile HQ from a distance. Nobody is returning Cinder’s calls but they know Salem will be back so Watts suggests they come up with a plan in the meantime. But Cinder is fully confident that they can still do what they originally intended, that being having her kill Penny and take the Winter Maiden powers after Watts brings the synthezoid to her. But this was a plan made under false assumptions, because apparently she misunderstood the terminology in his message and thought he could puppeteer Penny to go wherever he demands when really he just laid a new prime directive to send her straight to the Vault as we saw two episodes back. Hearing this pisses Cinder off immensely, especially the part about Penny being set to self destruct as soon as the Vault is open since that means the next recipient of the powers will be randomized again and she’ll have lost her chance to yoink them. Watts is too busy grumpily musing to himself about Penny having free will and a spirit that doesn’t want to succumb to his leet hacks to notice Cinder growing more and more enraged, until he turns around and she pulls him in close to yell at him. But Watts is having none of that, he works for Salem not her, and his plans weren’t made to give this flaming whining goth what she wants every single time. He’s just supposed to get the Vault open for Salem, and this is how he’s doing that. This is not the kind of answer Cinder wanted to hear, and she stretches her arm out to shove Watts to the edge of the roof and leave him on the verge of falling over to his demise. He doesn’t seem terribly fazed, calling her bluff and saying her mission was to bring him back and Salem won’t be a bit pleased if he dies. But you know what Salem is not? Here right now to stop Cinder from dealing with this arrogant self righteous prick once and for all. So she fully intends to drop him and then tear up Atlas on a fiery path to the Vault where she can intercept Penny and steal the Winter powers before tearing her to pieces herself and being the triumphant follower getting everything done that Salem really needed. And Watts just... laughs. Chris Sabat must have had a great time in the VO booth for this one, because he gets to have an absolute roast session the likes of which he hasn’t delivered since Majin Vegeta tore that clown Kakarot a new one. Naturally Cinder’s plan would be to brute force her way to victory and get glory for none but herself with her every whim satisfied along the way. Because that’s always her plan. And it always fails. She tried to storm Fria’s hospital room like that and got her ass handed to her by some teenagers and a dying woman before Penny took the powers before she could. She did the same damn thing 2 Volumes ago when she tried to massacre all her enemies under one roof in an alliance with a woman she thought she could outwit, but ended up blindsided by a surprise Maiden reveal and almost died while her outnumbered forces were on the verge of surrendering without her. And did anyone warn her not to do that? YES! WATTS DID!!! WATTS IS ALWAYS RIGHT, YOU FOOL!!! Well, okay, he’s really not. But he’s more clever and meticulous so he saw the flaws her arrogance left her blind to. And then Watts really tears into her by saying she isn’t smart, she isn’t worthy, and she isn’t entitled to what she wants because she’s suffered in the past. The one thing she is is a goddamn migraine. I’m a little mad Tyrian stole the show’s first cuss 4 years back cuz I really would have liked for Watts to cap this off by calling Cinder a bitch. This roasting literally lights a fire under Cinder and she seems ready to snap and kill Watts here and now, but instead she pulls him back onto the roof and stares off blankly into space before her fire fades and she walks off to sit on the ledge of a different side of the building to really think about his harsh words and shed a single tear. It’s a little unclear if she’s just feeling sorry for herself and realizing she’s more of a failure than she wanted to admit, or if she’s just overwhelmed by Watts reminding her of her childhood trauma. Maybe she’s realizing how powerless she’s truly remained all this time after fighting so hard for her own freedom and independence, and crying at the fact that she seems unable to escape that role she hates so much. Whatever the case, it’s real rough for her but I don’t feel like shedding any of my own tears for her sake. She doesn’t seem like she’s gonna change her allegiances so I don’t feel much need to cheer for her, but maybe she’ll reevaluate her strategy and become a force to be reckoned with as a villain because of this. I wouldn’t mind that. We’ll have to wait and see.

Back in the ruins of Monstra, we see Yang Ren and Jaune are all doing alright, and Oscar seems to be as well. Jaune is using his Semblance to help Oscar heal up quicker so that’s good to see too. Yang answers a call and sees Blake anxiously hoping she’ll pick up. The biggest smile comes to her face when she does, and the two halves of the group are ecstatic to hear the other is still alive and well. Neither are quite ready to tell the full tale of what they’ve been up to, but Weiss pulls up a map of the city and lays out a safe route through the subway tunnels that will take OYRJ straight to the mansion so they can actually reunite. Oscar isn’t about to leave Emerald behind though, and we see her knelt in the chaos holding out her hands as if hoping to catch some of the dust that was once her father figure. Yang is vocally against the idea of bringing Emerald with them, but Oscar advocates for her being every bit against Salem as them so the enemy of their enemy should be their friend. Emerald actually doesn’t seem to want to keep hanging around them and says they should just part ways, but Jaune isn’t about to let her walk free without facing any kind of justice for her past crimes. Ren thinks they need to be able to see past their emotional hang ups and consider the value in having her as an ally, and Yang is quick to remind them all that Emerald is part of the reason she lost her arm. Technically that is true, Adam was working with Cinder and if Yang hadn’t been framed as a brutal criminal she would have been around the rest of the team when everything popped off so maybe that first fight would have gone differently. But I do feel like it’s a bit of a stretch. Yang keeps going about why she can’t just forgive and forget when Em had been such a snake in the grass back at Beacon, but that’s not what Oscar is asking of her. He just wants her to try and give the girl a second chance to be better. He gets a little cryptic about how they’ve already gotten help from someone they haven’t had the best track record trusting, and Ren perfectly guesses he means that Oz has reemerged in his mind. This takes the blondes by surprise, and Oscar stands up for the old soul by saying he took the brunt of the beatings and told him how to impede Salem like he did just there. Turns out we’ll be finding out the secret of Ozpin’s cane today: It’s been made into a magical repository for kinetic energy stored over dozens of past lives to be made into a sort of bomb to set off when needed. I don’t know quite enough about physics to describe how exactly that would work, but it seems to make sense that it does. But the blast that took out Monstra used up the majority of what was in there so he can’t rely on it for that kind of attack again. It seems likely that was what Ozpin used against Cinder in the Beacon Vault, but didn’t use very much of it, and again what Oscar used to bust a hole in the bottom of the pit Ironwood shot him into. Oscar finishes making his case that Oz really does want to aid them, and the others seem convinced. What’s worth noting is that all eyes had been on him during this, but Emerald made no attempt to run away or even lower her hands. Guess she might really want to stick around after all... The moment is interrupted by the not so distant sound of a crying baby, and they all run further down the tunnel to find a subway station where the people of Atlas are taking shelter on Ironwood’s orders. Emerald starts to feel the weight of her action and those she used to side with, especially when she sees kids scared and hungry like she was before Cinder found her. They continue past the station on their way to the manor, and Oscar offers some encouragement to Emerald that they need her help in this war considering what she’s capable of. Considering the feats she performed under stress back in Volume 5, I’m inclined to agree.

We fade away from that scene to Ironwood’s office and the camera rises up the stairs as if being held by the Ace Ops as they and Winter come through the still broken doors to give their report to the general. He’s looking at multiple holographic screens projecting from his table: one with graphics telling him the status of all the airships mechs and soldiers, one pulling up news articles and any other info they can get on Monstra presumably for the purpose of cataloguing it in case they ever need to worry about another one, the third seems to be a map of city to monitor the damage so far, and the last is all the info they have on Cinder. He congratulates the team for their work destroying the Grimm, but Winter admits it wasn’t their bomb that did the job, they still have it intact for him. This confuses Ironwood greatly, but he sees an opportunity in this twist of fate. Penny hasn’t come to the Vault like he wanted her to be programmed to do, so he assumes Watts did a shit job of reprogramming her or just intentionally screwed them over. Yet the truth is something he can’t seem to imagine, she has free will and doesn’t want to do as she’s told. Who’s the real tool now Jimmy? He informs them that Cinder broke Watts out, and he seems to consider Qrow and Robyn escaping to be an even worse consequence. Harriet seems ready to sprint out of the room and haul them back here herself, but Ironwood stays her hand... or foot in this case. With Salem temporarily halted, now is the best time they’ve got for him to have the Winter Maiden open the Vault and use the Staff to lift Atlas higher than she can reach like he wanted so badly. So he wants Winter to bring him Yang Jaune and Ren. Winter doesn’t see the purpose of that, or she does and hates to imagine it’s truly what he intends, but either way she knows she can’t do what he’s asking. He plans to make full use of the lives they hold in their hands, and he’s going to use Jaune and the others as leverage to make Penny do what he says. He acts as if he’s actually proud of himself for realizing this is an option available to him, and I think it’s his Semblance that’s partially blinding him to the moral reasons why it should not be an option worth considering. Winter is left wilting under his unaware and proud gaze, and then Harriet pipes up to tattle on her commanding officer. Winter gave the kids a chance to try and rescue their friends from inside the whale(they don’t mention that friend was Oscar so he still doesn’t know the kid survived his attempted murder), and they weren’t seen exiting before it blew up. I want to say I’m shocked and disgusted that Harriet snitched on Winter just for the brownie points of being honest and taking Winter down a peg, but I’m really not. She’s been a loyal bootlicker since this time last Volume, and this feels like payback for that whole “I outrank you so you can’t stop me from giving them a chance” thing in chapter 7. Ironwood removes the proud and probably intended to be comforting hand he had placed on Winter’s shoulder, as if ashamed to be touching her after she let him down like this. This was his last plan for his definition of success, and now it’s ruined so he can’t do anything. In a fit of rage he smashes his table like the goddamn Hulk and the Ace Ops are left to watch and wonder just how in his right mind he actually is. As he tries to catch his breath, the general gets an urgent transmission that dozens of non-military aircraft have shown up on radar. I and probably a few dozen other people watching this hoped this was an Avengers Endgame moment of tons of allies coming to the rescue of the down and out heroes. But no, its the Schnee Dust Company ships Whitley sent out. Almost forgot about that plan, whoops. Ironwood immediately recognizes this as Weiss’ handiwork for the sake of saving Mantle, because nobody would have guessed Whitley would show some humanity and make this plan himself. Winter immediately shows attentive concern hearing her sister has done this, and Harriet gives her a look as if to say “you are such a bleeding heart for these little criminals...” Ironwood makes the very one dimensional assumption that everything Ruby and the others have been doing is simply to protect Mantle, as if they didn’t have a serious conversation with May about helping Atlas as well as Mantle 3 episodes back. With that knowledge in mind, he decides he needs to make a call.

Speaking of phones, Cinder gets a cheeky text and an accompanying selfie from Neo revealing she has the Lamp and she knows Salem will tear Cinder to pieces if she doesn’t bring it back to her. So she’s proposing a trade; Cinder gets the name to activate the Lamp, and in return she has to bring Neo to Ruby for the revenge she so deeply craves. Watts can’t see Cinder’s screen so he wonders who among their comrades has survived. Unclear if Cinder is going to tell him.

At last, we see Ruby throw open the front doors of Schnee Manor with Weiss and Blake flanking her, to see Yang and the others on the front steps. The sisters immediately embrace and Ruby sheds a tear of relief and joy that they’re all okay. Yang tells her she missed her too, and that seems to be that for the distrust and argument they had back in chapter 1. Ruby goes to greet the guys, and Yang gives Weiss a nice hug too. Then she sees Blake has taken a few steps away from the group and seems ashamed or embarrassed, unable to even look in their direction in Yang’s direction. Yang puts a hand to her cheek, her thumb softly stroking up and down as she turns Blake’s head to meet her gays gaze. Yang blushes and smiles, Bake returns the smile, and the two softly press their foreheads together. The intense sapphic energy of this deeply intimate moment was almost overwhelming, and many couldn’t help but adore it. I know I couldn’t stop myself from being a little giggly. Ren notices Nora isn’t there to greet them, and Weiss seems like she’s going to bring him up to her room and possibly even explain what happened along the way. Ruby takes this chance to go and greet Oscar with a hug, but stops short when she sees Emerald behind him. She seems real mad and is about to go on the attack, but Oscar steps between them and insists he can vouch for her, or maybe he’s saying he can explain? We don’t quite know because they get cut off by the sound of Ruby’s Scroll ringing. May is calling from the crater to say that the SDC freighters aren’t the only thing in the air right now, and she seems very panicked by what she sees. She yells for everyone to run into the mines for shelter, and an explosion is hear before the call is cut short. Before anyone has time to try and puzzle out what they just heard, a loud alarm tone goes off on all their Scrolls. It’s a fun detail that as a Faunus Blake covers her ears cuz the loud noise is especially bad for her. An emergency CCT broadcast is coming in for everyone in the kingdom, and Ruby magnifies her Scroll’s playing of it to be projected into the air for all of them to watch. The cargo ships are shown being shot down by military ships, and then the feed cuts to Ironwood standing ominously under a single light to deliver a downright villainous speech. He claims he has been trying his best to protect the technology and future of the kingdom from those who would do it harm, but I think it is VERY telling he never mentions protecting the people. Because that’s not what matters to him anymore. Not really. He says the only person stopping him from finishing his plans of making sure the currently crippled Salem can’t hurt them anymore is Penny. So he has an ultimatum for Penny and her friends, because he knows they will be listening right now. Either she turn herself over to him so he can have her do her “duty” and save as much of the Kingdom as possible and forget about trying to save Mantle, or he will nuke Mantle as punishment for her selfishness. The more he talks the more angry Ruby and the others get, and we are right there with them. He somehow thinks that if Mantle is destroyed then Penny will be free to only care about Atlas and its protection and will gladly work with him to do so. What a delusional bastard. And if anyone tries anything other than what he has said to do, he will use the bomb. 1 hour to decide how they will respond, and a hell of a lot riding on that choice.

There can be absolutely no question now, Ironwood will be the villain for the rest of the Volume and Salem will probably return at the end to ruin whatever hope putting him down will have raised in our heroes... And I’m kinda excited for how that’s gonna play out. Let’s see how team RWBY get out of this one~

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linkspooky · 5 years

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Your analysis on shigaraki's worldview is 😍😍😍. Who's your fav bnha character btw, and what kind of manga are you into? (i mean as in genre, but my phrasing is terrible at times so idk how to put it all in the last sentence)

My favorite manga in the whole world are the manga that run in Weekly Shonen Jump. I read almost everything that runs in the magazine from week to week. I know that’s not technically a genre, but let’s not arguen semantics.

And now because no one asked for it, my opinion on all of the manga currently running through Jump that I read.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba usually manga in shonen jump slowly get worse over time as they try to stretch their stories out, but Kimetsu no Yaiba is a story that continues to develop on itself and improve the longer it runs.

The art is phenomenal and has a good balance of when to be silly and when to be drop dead gorgeous. It’s more of an ensemble piece tied together by a big brother trying to save his little sister, and because of that almost every character Tanjirou interacts with is fun and really immediately attention grabbing.

It’s also a pretty heavy story that deals with death, grief and loss and trying to find life beyond a world that has suffering like that. I’m actually planning to make some meta of it soon, especially with the interactions between Domi and Shinobu. My only real complaint is that it’s deep but not too deep. Usually the demons are always bad and the demon slayers are always good in the end, even if sympathy is expressed for some of the demons. Once again though it does so well in the technical aspects of telling the story it wants to tell.

My Hero Academia it’s pretty obvious that I like it. The biggest draws for me are the art style and the characters, specifically the villains. Also the idea of a reverse X men world where what are basically the mutants now outnumber normal people and dominate society is a fantastic idea for world building with a lot of options.

I’ve actually followed Horikoshi’s work for a long time. His two previous works, Oumagodoki Zoo and Barrage both ran in Shonen Jump for a short time before they were cancelled which I find really unfortanate because they both had a lot of potential as well.

I love both the hero kids and the villains, though sometimes I feel like the villains are more connected to the central conflict of the story than the heroes. It would be nice to see Deku evolve a more radical philosophy then just wanting to save people right in front of him, or protecting the status quo. The heroes should ideally act in response to the villains to create a better world and resolve a problem the villains brought up, but if say the League of Villains were wiped out now another League would be created later because the central problem of the story has not been dealt with.

Dr. Stone this is a series that almost got cancelled, but was saved by a main character switch. Senku is really likable and unique as a character, kind of a mad scientist archetype who turns out to be the good guy and the hero of the story.

He reminds me a lot of Yoichi from the writers previous work, Eyeshield 21. In that they’re both laughing mad eccentrics who seem like they have little scruples for how they use and treat other people, and yet are surrounded by friends and act as the leaders of their team. They also both have a tendency for strategy over brute strength and like to outwit their opponents.

The only thing I can say about Dr. Stone is that while the characters are a fun little group of oddballs, they rarely get any deeper than that. The most interesting thing is still figuring out the central mystery of the world and what happened to turn everybody to stone, which is why having Senku as a main character was a really smart move on the series part.

Yozakura Family This is a new series that I actually really like and hope beats canellation at the two week mark. It’s kind of your basic romantic comedy characters get married in the first chapter promise, but also there’s some really strong character writing with the older brother. He’s one of the few examples of the obsessive and overprotective brother type that was portrayed as actually abusive and damaging for seeing his younger sister that way.

The premise also reminds me a lot of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, just suddenly getting sucked into the underworld of spies and crimminals when you’re an unlucky loser with no social skills. If the character writing is as strong as it is for the brother I can definitely see a lot of improvement and staying power.

The Promised Neverland the smartest written series in Shonen Jump write now with the best ideas. The Promised Neverland is all about theme, theme, theme, theme, which is why someone like me who devours stories for their nutritious value and content loves it.

While there are only about three major characters with arcs that matter to the plot, Norman, Ray, and Emma they are some of the deepest characters in shonen jump currently and the complexity of their relationship and the way they all foil each other is superb.

It’s a story about children trying to escape a neverland where they can never grow up, and live in a world that never wanted them alive. Not only is it just about them though, it’s also about adults who are still inside the system and gave up at one point or another and decided to just live in the evil world rather than change it. It’s a deep story but it’s also undeniably shonen jump, the central theme is about not giving up even in a world that is determined to deny your existence.

Act Age If you’ve read Chihayafuru this manga has a lot in common with that, because both of them are about very singleminded girls with complex emotions that they themselves don’t understand, finding themselves completely enveloped in a niche hobby to the point of obsession.

Act-Age is a story that’s primarily about storytelling and the nature of stories themselves, with each arc focusing on an adaptation of either a movie made up for the sake of the story or a pre-written play ie, Journey to the West, Night on the Galactic Railroad. However, it’s also bout the nature of stories, as understood by the perspectie of an actor.

There are only a few major characters but they all get intensely developed in their arcs. My absolute favorite relationship is that of the main character, quiet on the surface but with deep emotions that she uses for her acting talent with her rival an actress that’s much more like a pop star or idol. Rather than having deep talent she instead uses her ability to read people to appeal to them. She is cheerful and lively on the surface, but empty inside. The way they envy each other and learn to grow from each other because each of them has what the other one desires.

Jujutsu Kaisen reminds me of really early bleach that was just Ichigo and his teenage friends fighting Hollows. This is one of the manga I definitely reccomend, because it’s one of the lesser known manga in jump currently. The art style has this scratchy look about it which really adds well to the horror aspect of the series. It’s a demon fighting anime with some of the best demon designs, more attention is put on making them look grotesque and scary then in series like KNY where the demons for the most part are pretty good looking still.

The main trio is very solid, a reckless idiot who swallowed a cursed finger in the first chapter and is continually dealing with the consequences of that, the shadowy, quiet type cool headed one who almost never talks about his past or his true feelings on the matter, and between them the cheerful girl whose a tad on the merciless side.

Not only are the characters good, but it’s one of the few series where the fights and lore are super interesting. Rather than dealing with demons directly Kimetsu no Yaiba style we deal with curses, which are generated from the human subconscious.

For exmaple one of the villains Mahito is the embodiment of the fear humans have for other humans, that is the anxieties of life, and the fear and suppressed feelings that go hand in hand with humanity. Because that he’s much like a child curse quickly learning and progressing with a human intelligence.

The fights, the powers of characters, they’re all used to further develop a really interesting world of curses and the people who live dealing with them that it feels like we’re only scratching the surface of right now and desperately makes you want to figure out the system they have in place for this entire world.

Yui Kamio Lets Loose - I find it to be a really sweet romantic comedy about a stuck up boy obsessed with appearances and what other people think of him falling in love with two sides of a girl, the uncontrollable Yui that beat him up and constantly gets into fights and trouble, and the perfect demure girl who can only ever be helpless and kind and needs to be protected. It has a feel of a lot of classic 80s high school romantic comedies. The only real problem is that it needs to acquire a plot fast, because it’s at risk for cancellation which makes it hard for me to get invested in a series that might end soon.

Double Taisei - One of those shonen manga that had a really interesting beginning chapter, but then failed to do anything with it. I think it would work well as a character piece between two personalities who act like brothers in the same body, but the characters aren’t strong enough quite yet to work that way. I do like the character design…

Tokyo Shinobi Squad - It looked like a ripoff at first but the main character is actually fairly different from Naruto, and the manga itself is uniquely its own thing. I just hope it learns to utilize it’s cyberpunk setting better, because ninjas fighting in a cyberpunk dystopia is a very tropey premise and the story needs to utilize those tropes in order to work. I do like the fact that the main character starts out pretty powerful so it’s not a typical shonen formula about a main character slowly learning to gain power, instead it’s him taking in and being responsible for a kid.

Manga I don’t read - One piece, Yuuna of the Haunted Hotsprings, Chainsawman, Samurai 8 the tale of Hachimaru, Beast Children, Miitama Security Busters.

#anime-freakchow #weekly shonen jump #shonen manga #my hero academia #dr. stone #jujutsu kaisen #act-age #the promised neverland #act age #black clover #we never learn #kimetsu no yaiba #spooky speaks #askspookies

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omgnsfwisnsfw-blog · 5 years

Text

NSFW #16: Volsung’s Folly

The hour was early. A thick patch of mist surrounded Mountain Springs Lake and the trees bordering the banks, giving the place an almost mystical feel. At the end of the wooden dock, a boat bobbed- while done in the fashion of a Viking longboat, it was neither adorned nor intricately carved. The more peculiar part was the boat’s contents- a pair of large, curious raised shapes covered in a royal purple and forest green banner, two pairs of wrestling boots protruding from beneath it. There was no sound but the soft splashing of water at the lakeshore, the nearly imperceptible creak of the thick rope holding the boat in place… and softly, but growing louder, the marching cadence of feet on soil. Twelve souls came first, in two rows of six apiece, faces streaked in viridian and ochre, clad from head to toe in furs and mail and steel, the men wearing great horned helms and wielding greataxes, the women in winged headgear bearing round shields and short swords. The two at the front of each procession carried torches, which they planted on poles on either side of the dock’s end, flanking the docked boat. That done, they stood at the edges of the wooden platform, facing each other in pairs. A moment passed. In synchrony, the wild-looking warriors turned their heads to the path whence they came. The head of their company approached, first preceded by their bannermen- two masculine figures, one burly and one slight. Their outside hands carried flags- a blazing orange phoenix on a field of green- and between them, a wooden chest with trim and lock of bronze. This was carried to the end of the dock and sat down, the bannermen taking their places at the end of the line of warriors. Only then did the leaders of this procession make their way to the end, the axemen and shieldmaidens letting out a fierce but respectful cheer. Their armor was leather and studded with iron, furs wrapped around their shoulders and capes in their respective colors billowing behind. Belts of gold, the symbols of their position, were fastened about their waists, and runed bronze circlets rested on their heads, one adorned with an emerald and the other with a fiery topaz. The smaller of them carried a greatsword about two thirds her size, the larger a massive shield with the same stylized phoenix on a green field that appeared on the bannermen’s flags. There was a seventeenth member of the company- a lithe but strong armed looking fellow in light leather armor, carrying a quiver of arrows and a longbow, but he hung back for the time being, sharp eyes observing the proceedings. Nobody smiled or joked- after all, this was a solemn occasion. Mike McGuire spoke first. “Y’know, we’ve been doing a lot of reading. Well, my partner here always does a lot of reading, but I digress. We’ve been reading up on some Norse lore- y’know, fuckin’ Viking stuff. It’s good reads, really engaging. Everybody’s always gettin’ tanked on mead or gettin’ in fights, which frankly is my kinda reading material. But I had no idea it’d be as educational as it was, especially when it comes to the guys our opponents were named after.” John Bishop Church came in next. “Völsung Death Squad. What a powerful name. It carries a heavy meaning. But what did it mean to them?” He gestured vaguely towards the longboat. “A name to instill fear into their victims. Or maybe just a name to plaster across t-shirts.” The two share a look. John continued. “Masterson. Lovecraft. When Mike and I saw their names opposite ours - we got excited.” “Yeah. I mean, anybody who ran with our friend and legit fucking badass Sarah Roberts was bound to be good for a nice, challenging fight.” John stepped forward. The soles of his boots creaked on the wooden planks of the dock. “People think of a legendary Norse clan and their minds race to their courageous exploits. And maybe one could derive that from the Völsunga Saga. That story was wrought with tragedy. And it all could have been avoided. Like these two, they didn’t listen.” Another step towards the chest. “Völsung was greedy and agreed to wed off his daughter Signy to the king of Gothland, Siggeir. And against his daughter’s warnings of treachery and betrayal, they wed. And despite them nearly coming to blows over Odin’s trickery involving a magic sword, Völsung went head first in battle - and died. And all of his many sons? They were eaten alive one by one at the mercy of a she-wolf. Except one. Sigmund. He lasted a little while longer. Got some revenge even. Until he thought he could kill Odin. Then he died, too. After all of that blustering. After all of those adventures. Even with the aid of their magics, the Völsung clan died when they could have lived.” “Sound and fury signifying fuckin’ nothing. Kind of a shaggy dog story in the end, and I ain’t talking about that wolf. And all over a treasure that Völsung and his clan just couldn’t leave alone.” Mike strode at her partner’s side, her steps long to match her larger partner’s pace. The flanking warriors nodded at their passing as they approached the end of the dock, the chest, and the boat bobbing in the lake. She paused, looking directly into the camera, cocking an eyebrow. “Y’know, considering the Völsung clan’s, er… proclivities, I sure’s fuck hope those two weren’t related.” John cast her a sidelong glance. “They weren’t.” “Good, cuz that woulda been weird. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah. It was all so goddamn unnecessary. One could argue that Odin was being a giant troll and knew exactly how things were going to play out, but still. Völsung and his family could’ve easily defied their sad fuckin’ fate just by saying that a fancy sword wasn’t worth it, no matter who stuck it in a tree.” “A sad fate, indeed. Like these poor fellows. Let’s pretend that these fallen warriors in front of us are indeed ancestors of this long forgotten clan. We had such high hopes for them. They made sweeping proclamations. Competition. Our eyes lit up with exhilaration as we witnessed the arrival of two men who could be our greatest challenge to date.” John sighed. “But what we saw instead was their untimely demise. Falling to the allure of a fruit-filled conspiracy. There was false hope when we saw them dismantle The Syndicate. But whohasn’t? They weren’t who we were hoping for.” “Not at all. How in the name of Fenris’ giant goddamn teeth were we supposed to expect a challenge from a pair of so-called warriors who couldn’t even crush a couple of looney-tunes melonheads? I mean it’s not like they didn’t put up a decent fight, but we’ve had enough of ‘decent’ fights. We weren’t sold on ‘decent’. We came for something we could talk about in Valhalla. Something that we could be proud we took part in, win or lose. How the fuck could we be proud of losing to the sloppy seconds of the motherfucking Melon Club?” Mike rested her forehead on the end of her giant sword, sighing in obvious disappointment. “With that said, we are willing to look past that. We are going to give them a proper send-off. Worthy of their status. Honoring their memory. Celebrating their accomplishments.” Church went towards the chest. He retrieved a keyring from his belt and held up one bronzed key. A sun ray peeked through the mist and caught on the key. He knelt and unlocked the chest, flipping the lid backwards. He rummaged through the contents and picked out two familiar looking championships. New England Championship Wrestling Tag Team Champions. Replicas or not, they were convincing. He hefted one to Mike and then got to his feet. “These right here represent just what they were capable of. Champions in their own right. Four hundred forty five days. Legends say they never lost them. And then one day, a man tempted them with greater fortunes. And they forfeited these. They traded their greatest achievement for a chance to step foot in the best tag team division in the world. Their avarice blinded them to the reality that this silver tongued man had failed long ago and only sought to attach his name to theirs. Like an albatross, he hung around their necks and dragged them down to the depths of his mediocrity.” Mike nodded. “They didn’t need him. Never did. Sarah didn’t and she’s doing fantastic for herself. She beats the fuck out of who needs beaten the fuck out of and doesn’t need any little weasel telling her how, what, where, or fuckin’ when. They shoulda followed her example. Pity.” She tisked, shaking her head and looking at the belt in her hands before dropping it into the boat atop the banner, Bishop following suit. “Just in case any of you’re confused out there, Faithful, the Death Squad ain’t fuckin’ dead. This is all symbolic and shit.” “And this upcoming match? Believe us, we’re looking forward to it. Maybe not as much as before. But still. We’re aware of the ramifications of this match. We would rather have something more up for grabs. But, that’s a conversation for Monday. Lovecraft and Masterson. They’re bigger than us. Stronger than us. More time put in than us as a unit. They came into this company and looked past us. Tore down the very teams that outwitted them and said that these...” He tapped the front plate of his Tag Team championship. “...were theirs.” “And some could be pithy and say ‘didn’t you guys do the same thing?’ No. When we said it, the belts were in the mitts of one guy who I’m pretty sure has to double check to make sure he puts his underwear on the right way. When we came here, the division was in sorry fuckin’ shape, and I don’t wanna say we fixed it ourselves, but we pretty much fixed it ourselves. We earned the right to lay claim to these. We earned the right to fight and win and defend them. This division, these titles... despite some fuckin’ smirking degenerate’s claims, they mean the goddamn world to us. You don’t get to barge in outta nowhere with your snakey little puppeteer and claim what belongs to us without so much as a by your leave from the fuckin’ kings.” The warriors tamped the ends of their greataxes against the wooden planks, the shieldmaidens smacking their swords against their shields, letting out the same barking cry they did when NSFW first appeared at the dock. “Honor us and we would have honored you. Just think about it. NSFW versus nearly six hundred pounds of monstrous power. Not a militant group of proud boys. Not a dubious pairing that was never meant to last. Not mindless mercenaries. Not just for fun. And no worshipping of the lesser gods. No. A real legitimate tag team. Challengers to our championships. That’s what we want to see in the Völsung Death Squad.” “That’s right. We want a good hard fight. Something that we, you, and everybody who sees it won’t ever fuckin’ forget. Because that’s what we’re about. ‘NSFW vs. The Tag Division’ wasn’t just a cute title on an award. That’s what we do. We take on any and all comers, friend or foe, who want to try and take the throne. Over and over, people come for these crowns, and over and over, we still reign supreme.” John unsheathed a dagger from his belt and slashed at the rope binding the boat to the moor. Mike planted her boot into the hull and kicked the boat further into the lake. The mist by this time had began to clear. Sunlight shimmered upon the water on this cold day. “Mike, these two have been gifted a great opportunity. And right now, we are going to absolve them of their past shortcomings. In moments, their legacy, tainted by a pretender, will be burned away and they may start anew.” “People can say what they will. This division is one of the crown jewels of this company. We’re Not Second Fiddle Warriors, we’re as worthy fucking champions as anyone. And we expect you to be just as worthy contenders. Learn from your goddamn namesakes and earn your place in Valhalla.” Turning her head back behind them, Mike nods briefly before looking back towards the longboat. It floated out a ways away, and as it did, the archer made his way out, the gathering of warriors, shieldmaidens, and bannermen stomping their weapons and letting out the rhythmic, barking chant, anticipating what was to come. Stepping back, NSFW gave him plenty of room as he lit an arrow in one of the torches, nocked it, and let it fly. The arrow landed perfectly on the drifting boat, setting it ablaze, the morning sun and the rising fire staining the shimmering water a vivid display of oranges and yellows. Letting out one last cheer, the gathered throng of warriors and their kings watched the burning vessel sail across the lake.

#archive

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