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jasontoddiefor · 3 years

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Tyki Mikk is a Clone and I can (almost) prove it

Tyki Mikk is undoubtedly a fan favorite and yet we don’t really know a lot about him. For a character that was created with the purpose of being handsome (cf. D.Gray-Man Manga Volume 5, page 150), he carries a lot of baggage and has a rather unclear past. A theory that has haunted me since I read chapter 198 and has only grown in strength with the most recent arc is that Tyki is in fact a clone of Nea. As far fetched as this seems at start, there is quite a bit of evidence supporting this theory.

1) Tyki’s visible similarity to Nea (and Mana)

One of the first things Wisely remarks on when he meets Tyki is his similarity to “a certain man” (Chapter 187).

This similarity is picked up twice more in the manga. When Allen meets Nea for the first time (cf. chapter 198), he mistakes him for Tyki at first.

And it is brought up a third time by Nea himself in chapter 225 when he says:

To which Tyki, or rather Joyd, has this wonderful reaction:

But more on that guy specifically later. Point being right here is that three different characters, or four if you want to count Road and Wisely separately, acknowledge that Tyki resembles Nea a lot, down to the man himself. How does that saying go again? Once An Accident, Twice A Coincidence, Three Times A Pattern? This is something that repeatedly gets brought up again. And this is without going into detail on how much Tyki resembles not only Nea, but said man’s identical twin as well. Just look at that dashing long hair!

And take this from chapter 158 as well

Pretty long haired boy Mana is nothing new as of chapter 218 and 219:

Another interesting point here is that Tyki is the exact same height as the Earl in human form! They’re both 188cm tall. Nea, on the other hand, is listed at being 177cm. This could just be that Nea unfortunately ended up as the shorter twin, or, we take into consideration what Mana tells Allen/Red in chapter 238:

He remembers being seventeen, which means that he and Nea probably weren’t done growing yet when the “Earl” corrupted Mana. (It also kind of makes everything about Nea more hilarious if you realize he’s just seventeen.) Tyki, however, is 26 when we first meet him and should be around 27 now. He is an actual adult and not bound to hit another growth spurt.

But to summarize the first argument: Tyki looks uncannily similar to Nea and Mana and the manga keeps pointing it out so we can assume this resemblance is important.

2) Cloning is possible in canon

Now the second point is just here to point out that we know cloning to be possible. Funnily, Tyki’s resemblance to Nea gets pointed out just before the Alma Arc, which very much deals with the concept of reincarnation – only there we have the brains of deceased Exorcists transplanted into youthful bodies.

However, it’s not as if something like DNA hasn’t been mentioned before. Specifically, it has been called “Helix of life” by no other than maybe-former-Bookman but definitely First-Nea-host Past!Allen in chapter 221:

So let’s assume that, in the aftermath of Nea’s “death”, PastA didn’t just wait around for Nea to wake again, but tried to find a vessel for him. Messing around with this helix, and whatever other dubious science and magic this world had to offer, and created a new body to host Nea. Except he failed, and the result is Tyki.

But if that is so, shouldn’t Tyki remember anything about that? Good question. Time for some more shady weird stuff about Tyki.

3) The Missing Years

In chapter 202, while the Earl is resting, Tyki talks to Road. I don’t speak Japanese, so I can’t verify which translation is more accurate, but I’ve found these two:

Now the official German one also goes with a similar translation as the second one here, implying that Tyki has been with the Earl for ten years. In any case, the fact that this decade at all gets mentioned is quite odd because it doesn’t match up with what we know of Mana travelling with Allen. Cross calls Allen a “ten-year-old brat” (chapter 208) when he looks after him. So between Mana travelling with Allen and current canon, only 6 years have passed – what are up with the other 4 that are supposedly within this decade? We don’t have a definite age for how old Allen was when he met Mana, but I’d say around 7 or older. That’s still not enough to fill out the decade they speak about here.

Now, presuming that it does in fact refer to Tyki staying with the Earl for that time, we’re either left with assuming that the Earl acted as a separate entity as we see in 218, or that Tyki’s memories are just flat out wrong.

4) Tyki Mikk’s Canon-Typical Ignorance AKA The Baby of The Family

The more often Tyki appears, the more we see how much he actually doesn’t know about the going-ons of the war, or even himself. This goes back as far as the Ark Arc in chapter 130 with the Earl pointing out that:

So this form is apparently something that all Noah of Pleasure can take on, a sort of second stage of awakening. Still, it feels significant that Tyki separates his life so much into “black” and “white”, “Noah” and “human”, going as far as suppressing a part of his Noah. It puts him in direct opposition to Skinn, who was more or less entirely consumed by his Noah memories. Though, perhaps this is also just a narrative ploy because a character with the ability to chose is, frankly speaking, fuck off overpowered and the only reason why Tyki isn’t constantly leveling battlefields is probably that he just doesn’t know how to apply himself.

Regardless, Tyki’s ignorance also becomes visible in chapter 187 again when he wonders about his Noah name:

Nobody else reacts like he does, even though the other Noah haven’t been awake as long as he has and also should have retained the same memory damage as Joyd after Nea’s murder spree. Yet Tyki feels a little like the baby of the family, still learning and growing while everyone else is already in the know, which can’t be too far from the truth if we look at chapter 225:

Wisely and Road definitely know that something went down and kept it from Tyki for so long for reasons. So besides Allen learning the truth sometime in the future, Tyki is also heading towards some kind of realization – and honestly, what better than the fact that the man who enjoys his freedom and roam so much, was artificially created?

Road could have manipulated his subconsciousness, his memories. It’s a miracle really that the Earl hadn’t had a breakdown around Tyki already given how much he looks like Nea. And if Tyki really awoke as a Noa a decade ago, then eh would have been right the age Nea was when he died. The Earl should have reacted in one way or another.

Other small details that don’t add up is a) the claim that Tyki and Sheril are actual brothers. They have different last names, which would imply that they are perhaps rather half siblings, sharing one parent, or maybe they just aren’t related at all in the first place. The other thing is that Nea recognizing Tyki’s face immediately after confronting Mana about his changed appearance just adds even more suspicion.

5) TLDR

Tyki is either a clone or something else messy went down because there’s no way that there’s a natural Nea and Mana copy running around who also just so happens to be a Noah. No way.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk I’m never writing meta again this was a nightmare to post.

#tyki mikk #dgm #d gray man #allen walker #nea d campbell #mana d campbell #mana waker #road kamelot #dgm meta #long post

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violettelueur · 3 years

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— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE THIRTEEN || TOMORROW

↳ featuring : fushiguro megumi kugisaki nobara (mention of gojo satoru + todo aoi) from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of death/passing + EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 16 march

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 2.0k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ previous episode : to you, someday

↳ next episode : kyoto sister school exchange event - group battle 0

↳ barista’s notes : GUYS WE ARE AT THE END OF THE TRAINING/VS MAHITO ARC FINALLY!!!! AND NEXT EPISODE IS THE KYOTO EXCHANGE ARC!!!!! ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆ so before we move on to that, there is a little wholesome episode since i wanted to give you guys a little break of Y/N’s pain because you all deserve it and i also might be planning more.....OTHER THAN THAT, i hope you enjoy today’s episode and i can’t wait for you all to see the next one ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. the whole story belongs to Gege Akutami and the credits go to them and them only.

2. the spell curses used belong to Tite Kubo due to them being the ‘Kidos’ being used on the manga and anime ‘Bleach’ - but none is mentioned in this chapter.

2.5 for the ‘cursed spells’/kidos (bleach) i will link this video here and tell you the time stamp to check out what i am intending to show - remember i add a few twist here and there by adding the katana to link with Y/N’s cursed technique

no cursed spells used this episode..

3. if you are confused on anything, please don’t hesitate to message me since i know this whole thing is so confusing.

“You know...It’s better to show yourselves than rather hide from me Fushiguro, Kugisaki,” you firmly mentioned before slowly turning your head to the side, quickly noticing the tense nature of the two classmates hiding behind a tree and some bushes before they hesitantly made their way out of their hiding place causing them to reveal themselves and to discover a nonchalant look displayed on your face.

‘Like what the hell, if you’re going to hide maybe hide your cursed energy while you’re at it’

“Did you both follow me here? You guys are such drags and stalkers, you know that is really creepy right?” you questioned both of them with an assumed tone before placing the bouquet of blue hydrangeas and white roses against the tomb, covering the last name on the engraved stone in case Kugisaki was going to come closer to you.

“Ah sorry,” Kugisaki apologies before placing her hands together in a ‘please forgive me’ position while Fushiguro just looked off to the side as if he could just avoid your glance to not feel embarrassed about getting caught.

Letting out an airy laugh, you turned back to the stone in front of you leading to your small smile to instantly turn back into a straight line as you glared at the incense’s smoke that was dancing in the air while your hand hesitantly went to the side of your neck.

‘It’s just a dream...It’s just a dream…’

“Does your neck hurt again? I suggest you stop sleeping under the tree if it does,” Fushiguro commented, causing you to jolt in surprised as you didn’t realise that he was now suddenly next to you rather than a few steps away to which could be said the same for Kugisaki, who was standing on the other side of you while looking at the tombstone that all three of you were now standing in front of.

“Hey! You didn’t answer my first question, did you both follow me here?” you asked once again with a teasing tone, causing both of your classmates to look to the side away from you since they instantly knew there was no way out of this little situation...it’s no surprise since you are Gojo’s adoptive daughter.

“It was Kugisaki’s idea to follow you since you disappear from time to time,” the shikigami sorcerer outed, as he placed a hand on the back of his neck to ease his bashfulness while Kugisaki turned her head towards him, ready to yell and counter his statement.

“Fushiguro is lying, it was his idea!” Kugisaki shouted in annoyance, causing your eyes to shift back and forward between them as you were somewhat finding slight amusement on what was going on at this current moment in time.

“Ah~ is that so?” you questioned, while slowly raising your hands to smack the back of their heads without them noticing causing both of your classmates to groan in pain once they felt the violent impact, before holding the back of their heads to ease the pain that was somehow intensifying - to be honest, they deserved it for trying to stalk you.

“Who are you visiting?” Fushiguro curiously asked with a hesitant tone since he didn’t want to accidentally cross the line on your comfort zone leading you to turn to him for a second before looking at the stone with a hint of heartache forming in your eyes as well as your heart.

“My mother,” you softly answered, leading your classmates to turn to you with widened eyes before looking at the stone showcasing where your mother was resting as a feeling of sympathy began to consume their whole body.

“I really don’t need your pity guys, it’s been 6 years already, so it’s not necessary,” you mentioned before they could give their condolences to you. You didn’t need it or rather, you didn’t want to hear any of it. When your mother passed away, you were used to the fact that you were the only one grieving since it was always just you and her in your own little world, there was no one giving you their condolences then and you didn’t want them now. It was already too late for that.

“So your real mother actually passed away, is that why Gojo-sensei adopted you?” Kugisaki asked, leading you and Fushiguro to slightly tense as you both were reminded of the fact that the ‘adoption’ story was just a (somewhat) clever cover-up to conceal your true identity as well as to not raise any suspicion on your sudden enrolment to Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College.

“Yeah, he found me a year after and took me in,” you lied through your teeth, hoping that you were convincing enough to continue the lie leading your friend to nod her head, as she continued to gaze at your mother’s resting place.

“What was she like?” Fushiguro suddenly asked as he was trying to divert the conversation into a different topic leading you to open your mouth to answer before closing it again to tilted your head to the side slightly as you began to wonder all the things you could say to Fushiguro and Kugisaki to inform them about the person that brought you into the world.

“She was someone that I could only forgive if she did something wrong,” you quietly answered before mentally wondering if that was the right thing to say.

“She was someone that was quite selfless, even if that meant sacrificing her whole happiness to make someone else happy, that was the type of person she was,” you extended, trying to ignore the first comment you made since you were still wary of what you had just stated.

Fushiguro and Kugisaki hummed absentmindedly as they listened to your answer as they continued to peer at the stone that was in front of them like it was a painting of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

“You know, it isn’t a painting to admire, right? There’s nothing special about a grave,�� you questioned causing your classmates to break out from their daze to look at you before becoming flushed again since they didn’t realise that they were gawking. “It’s fine, I’m just teasing,” you commented before letting out another airy laugh as you processed to turn your heels and began to walk away from your mother’s resting place to the exit of the cemetery leading Fushiguro and Kugisaki to look at your direction in confusion before making their way towards you.

“Since you guys followed me all the way here, what do you want to do?” you asked, once they both caught up to you leading Kugisaki to answer immediately about the fact that you both needed to go to the bubble tea shop that you both went to the other day since she was craving it again leading to the erratic-haired sorcerer to groan slightly since he wasn’t in the mood to get anything sweet which caused you to explain that the shop also had black coffee if he wasn’t feeling the sugary drink.

“Are you the type to drink black coffee to impress a girl even though you don’t like it? That isn’t healthy Fushiguro, you shouldn’t do that to impress Gojo,” Kugisaki commented with a hint of worry since she didn’t expect the shikigami user to be the type to do what she has assumed. However, this seemed to annoy Fushiguro more as you discovered the irked mark on his forehead before answering that he always drank black coffee - to be honest, that statement made you remember the time you and Gojo had coffee together and you were disgusted about the number of sugar cubes he added into the caffeinated drink.

“I’m surprised you're not getting any orange juice,” Fushiguro mentioned, leading Kugisaki to widen her eyes in surprise since she hasn’t noticed you drinking your favourite juice for the whole day at all.

“I don’t know if you’re extremely bad stalkers or you lost me during your following session, but I have one here,” you stated in a matter-of-fact tone, as you dug into the pocket of your Jujutsu Tech uniform skirt to pull out a carton of orange juice leading your fellow sorcerers to look at the drink in shock since they didn’t remember you buying anything at all when they were following you.

“HOW?!” Kugisaki yelled out in complete surprise as she grabbed the boxed drink from your grasp while staring at it like it was a curse to be exorcised leading to the feeling of amusement to rise again since the situation was becoming funnier by the second rather than sorrowful like it was supposed to be today.

“I bought it at the vending machine just a few minutes away from this cemetery, maybe you two were arguing or something,” you commented with a small smile as you did recall hearing two people shouting at each other from a distance when you were collecting your drink from the dispenser - it was something like ‘this is really a stupid idea’ followed by ‘but we need to figure out where Gojo goes when she disappears, I want to knowwww’.

“You guys are such drag, so you better pay for my drink for me to forgive you both for stalking me,” you voiced out with a smirk planted on your face causing Fushiguro to look at you with widen eyes since he wasn’t expecting any consequences when it came to Kugisaki’s little investigation.

“Hold up, but don’t you have more money than us because you take on more missions? How much do you have Gojo?!” Kugisaki questioned as she moaned at the fact that she was going to pay you rather than spending that money on the Balenciaga jacket that she was hoping to get.

“That’s why I paid for your drink last time, so it’s your turn don’t you think?” you asked before continuing with, “think of it as a ‘thank you’ gift to me for the fact that I trained you both for the past two months,” leading both of the sorcerers besides you to quickly realise that paying for your drink might not be as bad as they expected - two months of training in exchange for paying your bubble tea, they didn’t mind that exchange at all.

“Ah alright, Kugisaki let’s go half and half,” Fushiguro stated causing the female sorcerer to nod as she gave you back your orange juice before linking your arm with hers due to the fact, she was more excited about spending the day with you for an extra day of the week rather than going back to Jujutsu Tech to do nothing.

“I just realised, the Kyoto Exchange Event is tomorrow isn’t it?” you asked before looking up to the sky as you began to recall what date it was today. However, it seemed like you were more concentrated on your feeling of relief as you noticed a few clouds moving across the sky rather than the one you could remember… you were reassured that it wasn’t just a solid blue that was above you right now.

“Yeah, and we are going to beat their asses!” Kugisaki cheered determinedly, leading you to giggle at her enthusiasm since she seemed motivated to win the whole event altogether.

“Do you think you’ll be picked for the individual battle?” Fushiguro questioned, causing you to shift your head towards him as you began to wonder if there was a possibility of you being chosen. From what you knew, Todo Aoi seemed to be the strongest sorcerer on the Kyoto side and had the highest chance of being picked for the second day of the Kyoto Exchange Event.

Although, it seemed like you didn’t have an answer to provide for the shikigami sorcerer leading you to raise your hand to quickly flick his forehead, catching him by surprise since it was one of your lighter ones. “I have no idea, you drag~” you answered, before placing your hand in your pocket.

“But one thing I do know is that we’re going to win the team's battle,” you mentioned with a courageous smile. You were confident since both Fushiguro and Kugisaki have improved so much during the past two months - much more than you had anticipated due to the short amount of time you three had to prepare for it.

Fushiguro and Kugisaki nodded boldly at your statement as it seemed like your confidence and determination had affected them as well.

Tomorrow, you all were going to win.

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ukaiknowsbest · 2 years

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GinTae in Kintama Arc - Manga vs Anime Differences 1

Hi. I'm back with another anime vs manga post. this arc is big and it has a lot of issues. i hope you get smth from here.

also if i sound mad..pls do be informed that I am frustrated by many aspects of the anime adaptation of this arc.

Anime show both Otae and Gintoki's POV which was interesting and a nice touch.

also hhhh in the anime he's doing S-M play with a man instead of a woman.

Okay this is where it starts to get wacky as fck.

In the manga panel, Otae is clearly drawn together with the yorozuya and on the opposite and equal side to Sadaharu and right above otose and co. too.

in the anime by order of appearance

shinpachi, kagura, otae and kyuubei

otose, catherine, tama, gengai, katsura

sadaharu, tsukuyo, sarutobi, hasegawa

First of all pray tell me why the holyfck did kyuubei appear with the Yorozuya first? Not only that but it looked like she was in a unit with Otae. This was where my suspicion of how the anime really loved to favor kyuuta/e started. It's just so illogical. Kyuubei's main interest in life is Otae, not the Yorozuya, even if Gintoki is a dear friend to her. There was absolutely no reason for her to appear with Shinpachi and Kagura first. It's too misleading and blatantly shippy. Kyuubei appeared first before Mdm. Otose, Tama, and Katsura just because whoever made this anime wanted to show her with Otae without regard for who are the most important to Gintoki. There's a reason why she was placed AT THE EDGE of the manga panel in the same manner as Tsukuyo and Sarutobi for fcks sake.

Next I am actually miffed that Sadaharu appeared last. Not only that but he appeared together with the Gintoki simp squad. Also putting Tsukuyo in blatant center is another proof that the anime may have favored Gintoki x Tsukuyo a little to much. They already positioned Sarutobi, Hasegawa and Katsura on the edges (as they should) so why was Tsukuyo treated differently? What is she doing there in the center anyway other than fanservice? Then again, congratulations to the Gi/nT/su and Ky/uuT/ae ppl, I can see where you are coming from now. (throws confetti)

Note that I'm basing all my assumptions on Sorachi's paneling. It's not a coincidence why Sorachi arranged his characters like that in his manga. As we see how this arc progresses, the ones in the center are the most important to Gintoki: Shinpachi, Kagura, Otae, Sadaharu, Tama. Note that by the start of the chapter we already get a clue as to how the arc was going to end and who will be the main solutions to Gintoki's problem for the arc. Moreover Otose, Gengai, Catherine also symbolize home to him. The ones on the edges: Kyuubei, Katsura, Hasegawa, Tsukuyo, Sarutobi where the comrades who figure out his identity last. Come on!

But then the anime said "fck it we do what we want, let's make kyuubei and tsukuyo look more important than they should be, xoxo."

As for this at least the manga and anime panel kinda look the same. I'm bothered by how small and insignificant Otae is though. shrugs

Overall thoughts

I'm just getting started and it doesn't look promising.

I just want to make it clear that this is not hate to kyu/uta/e or g/ints/u. However I also admit that this is a criticism of the directorial decisions of the anime. Most of this is subtle but they still take away the underlying message that Sorachi was already laying out from the start of this arc.

#gintae #tae shimura #gintae thoughts #kintama arc #spoilers #yall want some spicy hotcakes #well i do

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teawaffles · 3 years

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It Happened One Night: Chapter 1

T/N: Takes place after the Scandal in the British Empire arc (Chapters 17-23 of the manga).

Baker Street was full of people as usual. But in contrast to the hubbub, the entire street was enveloped in a vaguely unnatural, lonely atmosphere.

It looked like it was going to rain. That was what John H Watson thought as he walked down the street, gazing up at the heavily clouded sky.

“We should get back quickly, Sherlock.”

Saying that, he looked at the man beside him — Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock squinted and sniffed the air, as if trying to detect the smell of rain, and agreed with him.

“Right. And I also have some things here I don’t want to get drenched.”

Then Sherlock looked down at the items he was carrying. They each bore a large paper bag, stuffed to the brim with food and other sundry goods.

John furrowed his brows.

“Sherlock, haven’t you bought too many personal items? We’re even more broke than usual, you know,” he reminded.

But Sherlock wasn’t perturbed.

“They might be useless to you, John, but to me these are necessities of life. Please overlook this just once.”

“It’s no use, huh……”

It was better to avoid cigarettes at times like this, but John knew it was pointless to say that — hence instead of going on at length, he just gave a small sigh. Somehow, it felt like the bag in his arms had grown heavier.

As the two men walked on like this, they eventually drew near the flat where they lived. 221B Baker Street. This was the very place from which the great detective Sherlock Holmes, and his assistant, John H Watson, unravelled Britain’s mysteries.

However, they walked past their lodgings, not once slowing down. As they passed by, John glanced toward their flat.

There, remained the scars of appalling destruction. The building itself had retained its original structure, but the flat in which they’d lived had its windows all blown out; from what he could see through them, the walls and ceilings had been scorched to a miserable crisp.

They’d been unexpectedly drawn into the “Scandal of the British Empire” case, in which Sherlock had devised a bold strategy — blowing up their own apartment — in order to save Irene Adler.

They had achieved their goal, but at the cost of losing their home for the time being. As such, Sherlock and John, together with their landlady Miss Hudson, were staying in cheap accommodation a little ways from here until the apartment repairs were complete.

As they headed to their temporary lodgings, John’s shoulders drooped.

“Although all of us had agreed on it, in the end, it’s still tough to see the place you’ve gotten used to living in become like that.”

“Sorry about that. I had no other option back then.”

Sherlock kept his eyes forward as he apologised with sincerity. To that, John smiled gently.

“I don’t really mind — In any case, I’ve been put through many reckless situations like this before……. Oh—”

Right then, a drop of water splashed on his palm. Just as he registered that icy sensation, more raindrops came pouring down.

Sherlock looked at him.

“It arrived earlier than I thought.”

“Yeah, let’s run for it.”

Then, carrying their bags with both arms, the two men half-ran to their hotel.

When they arrived, they shook their heads slightly to rid the water from their hair, then walked past the front desk to their room.

After putting down their bags and opening the door, they found Miss Hudson standing in the doorway.

John tilted his head in confusion.

“Miss Hudson, what brings you here?”

As it would be improper for them to share a room with a lady, the two men chose to rent out a separate room despite the steep cost. Hence, John thought she would be in her own room now — why was she in theirs?

She smiled back awkwardly.

“Mr Mycroft’s here.”

“What?”

Instantly, Sherlock’s face morphed into one of displeasure. Without asking the details, he took up his shopping and walked into the room. Seated on a chair near the wall was his older brother Mycroft, looking out the window.

“……Damn you, Mycroft. Coming all the way to this hotel — what you do want?”

Distinctly uncomfortable dealing with his own elder brother, Sherlock spoke up first, his tone sour. But Mycroft simply turned to look at him, and responded without haste.

“That attitude again as always, Sherly. How about subverting my expectations sometimes and acting like a gentleman for once? Or rather, is it that you’re so frustrated by a case you forgot your manners?”

“Ugh……”

Mycroft looked around the cramped interior as he spoke, and the corners of Sherlock’s mouth twitched as he let out a groan. He didn’t regret blowing up their apartment itself, but hearing Mycroft’s calm, pointed comments forced him to remember his own helplessness back then.

“……Did you come all the way here just to make a fool of me?” he retorted, trying to defend himself. But Mycroft simply shrugged his shoulders in resignation, and got straight to the point.

“If you’re having trouble with accommodation, there’s a country house in the Cotswolds I can introduce you to.”

“……What’s this, all of a sudden?”

Country houses were often built by nobles and wealthy landowners as status symbols on their own land: it was ridiculous to suggest that someone would simply lend theirs out. Sherlock raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Isn’t it natural for an older brother to want to help his younger sibling in his time of need? Furthermore, although I’m sure they’d agreed to your plan, it pains me to think how Dr Watson and Miss Hudson have been caught up in it.”

“We don’t need your concern. We’ll do what we want, so just get the hell out of here.” Sherlock made a shooing motion with his hand, in a bid to chase Mycroft out, but was soon admonished by John, who’d entered the room afterward. John then calmly turned to Mycroft, seeming eager to listen.

“Do you mean that, you would be willing to lend us an apartment? Thank you very much for your offer — could you tell us more?”

Mycroft was smiling as he nodded.

“Actually, an acquaintance of mine — a noble — intends to stay in London for a week. They’re looking for someone to look after their mansion in the meantime, hence I thought it would align perfectly with your situation, Doctor.”

John nodded in understanding.

“I see. However, if that’s the case, why not ask their employees to stay behind?”

“From what I’d heard, they felt it would be a good opportunity to give their hardworking employees a vacation as well. Although if you aren’t able to accept, Doctor, they did say they would ask some of them to remain in the house……”

“In other words, if we were to take up the offer, then their employees would be able to take a break. Moreover, the three of us would be in charge of the mansion’s upkeep during our stay.”

“Not exactly,” Mycroft clarified, “They said you won’t have to concern yourselves with the maintenance and such. As long as it stays reasonably tidy, you are free to enjoy yourselves while keeping an eye on the house.”

It was a very generous offer, so generous it invited suspicion of an ulterior motive; however, since it came from Mycroft, perhaps it could be trusted. John wanted very much to accept — he couldn’t say he was entirely pleased with their current arrangement — but he knew his partner didn’t view it that simply.

As expected, Sherlock tutted in disapproval.

“This place suits us just fine: I don’t want to live in some boring mansion in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, I wouldn’t be able to take on clients when I’m away.”

Sherlock himself did harbour some guilt at making the two of them endure their present lifestyle, but following his brother’s opinion was simply anathema to him. As such, he couldn’t help but bite back in reply.

John understood that, but admonished him regardless.

“Sherlock, you shouldn’t talk to your own brother like that. Mr Mycroft was just looking out for us when he made that suggestion.”

“Pay no mind, Doctor. He’s been like this for a long time.”

Mycroft gave them a wide smile. Then, he directed a question to Miss Hudson, who had been keeping an eye on them from behind.

“We’ve heard what my little brother thinks, but how about you, Miss Hudson?”

“Eh? A-Ah~……”

Having suddenly been addressed, she responded in a faltering tone.

“Well, um…… To me, I think, it would certainly be helpful.”

In an effort to consider Sherlock’s feelings on the matter, she ended up replying in a roundabout way — but it was clear that she was in favour as well.

Mycroft turned to John.

“How about you, Doctor?”

For a moment, John was at a loss for words, but when he heard the floorboards creaking underneath his feet, he made up his mind. He looked at Sherlock as he nodded slowly.

“I think, that the country house might be more pleasant, compared to our current circumstances. Moreover, we could always receive clients via post.”

“…………”

Both of them had answered in the affirmative. Now, only Sherlock remained.

Despite the apparent obstacles being cleared, he still had his reservations. But eventually, Sherlock looked at the ceiling in resignation.

“Ah, bollocks. It would just be selfish of me to refuse at this point, now wouldn’t it? Alright. Please let us stay at that country house until the apartment is fixed.”

At that reply, Mycroft smiled in satisfaction, and Sherlock turned away to hide his frustration from those eyes.

The three of them drew up some agreements on their new living arrangements, and with that, until the flat at Baker Street was fixed, they would proceed to stay at a noble’s mansion out in the country.

Footnotes:

[1] The Cotswolds is a large hilly area to the northwest of London, further than Oxford and dotted with villages. (Wikipedia)

T/N: After the angst from the last story, I just remembered how much I love the Baker Street gang ��

#moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #yuumori #english translation #forbidden games

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stargaze-issei · 4 years

Text

"maybe i want to take you out!" (s. hitoshi x reader)

summary; shinsou hitoshi always thought you'd get along pretty well, with similar quirks, both aspiring to be a hero someday. what will it take for him to ask you out?

genre; fluff(?

word count: 1.8k

warnings: manga spoiler, joint training arc. two curse words(??

quirk; puppet master. you can control any person or object with invisible strings that come out of your body. the accuracy increases as more strings you use. usually, you only use your fingers because it's easier to control, but when needed you can use your tongue, feet, hips and legs. for it to work, whatever is your objective has to be in your sight at the moment of taking control, once that happened, the connection will break if they cross a five miles radio. when overused, your fingers (or whatever you're using) will bleed and give you instense headache.

*.✧☆ﾟ.*･｡✧*⊰⊹ฺ

in class 1-a of the hero course, everyone got along, including you. you had bonded with everyone there, including bakugou somehow, but definitely your best friend was kaminari denki. maybe because your rooms were parallel from each other and that made you spent almost everyday with him, sometimes mina would tag along, or kirishima, or sero, but always you and him. don't get me wrong, it was totally innocent, there was really nothing more than a strong friendship between both of you, despite of what your friends thought. it was normal for you to have lunch together, or go for a run before going to sleep. anyone who didn't know you would've thought you were a couple, and that's what the purple haired boy from general studies thought too.

one time, after his personal practice, aizawa sensei caught him looking at you.

"you..." he wasn't that type of master, but he also wanted to bond with his student "you should talk to her, she's really nice"

"sorry, what?" his cheeks started to blush at a weird speed.

"you were looking at y/n, right? i said you should go talk to her, her quirk is similar to yours" of course shinsou knew that, that girl was one of the eight best from the sports festival, if only she were better at close combat, she would've totally won. at least, that what he thought.

"forget it, it's nothing" it had made him uncomfortable to have that little chat with his sensei.

however, aizawa knew he lied. it was something, and for shinsou to care about anything asides from becoming a hero was... unnatural.

you, on the other hand, never repaired on him that much. you knew who he was, you knew he had potential and was awfully cute, but that was it. sometimes you would think about talking to him, i mean, your quirks were similar, he'd get some things no one else would, he'd get you, but neither of you had the courage.

until one day, on your first joint train with class b, a surprise student showed up. it was him. shinsou hitoshi, in his flesh and blood. he seemed so different. it wasn't just that cloth in his neck giving him an eraserhead type of look, a new aura of self confidence surrounded him, making you feel a little attracted to him.

the teams were sorted out, you ended up with deku, uraraka, mina and mineta. given that your team had one more than the others, it was decided that shinsou would be against you. a shiver ran down your back, it scared you to fight someone similar to you. denki's team ended up with shinsou in it.

"denki, here" you approached to him handing over a cereal bar. he took it without saying a word as shinsou came closer.

"thank you for hav–" he stopped talking when he saw your face, what were you doing there? he always saw you around kaminari, were his suspicions true? were the two of you dating?

"you've got the face of a popular guy!" denki shouted "i'll bet you're popular with the ladies, trust me! look at y/n over here, drooling all over the place" he pointed at you with a funny expression.

"oh shut it" you were trying to hide the blush in your face by looking to the ground, dammit, denki "anyways, good luck shinsou, i... i look forward to our match" you walked away, feeling butterflies in your belly even though he didn't even respond. he was just too mindblown that you knew his name, that you looked forward to anything involving him.

"hey! what about me?" denki whined, but you ignored him. he realized that the purple haired boy didn't take his eyes off of you the whole time before the match, and figure out that maybe, he had a little crush on you.

as their match began, you accompanied deku to the camera room, recovery girl was there, just in case anyone got hurt. midoriya had his notebook in hand, taking notes on everything your classmates did. from time to time, he would mumble a couple things to himself.

"shinsou really improved after the sports festival" you said, thinking out loud. you swear you tried, but it was impossible to take your eyes off of him.

"does his hair pull up too? is it a cloth thing? i always thought it was because of eraser's quirk. what if he...?" deku rambled, and you didn't notice the sassy look recover girl was giving to you.

their match ended with a win of class a, denki happily hugging shinsou. the rest of the encounters left your team, the last one, with the duty to untie, each class won two times, whoever wins now takes it all. you hurried to gather up with your team, mina yelling at you to fast your pace. deku already had a plan, which involved him as a decoy. you had to be taken to higher ground, where you could see most of the arena, as a damage control person. once they're in the place of your ambush, you'd use your mastering to get them out of combat.

the exercise started, everyone in position. uraraka helped you get as high as you could, and then went to help the others. you helped mineta move whenever he needed while keeping an eye on deku, but suddenly, everything turned into a mess. you couldn't see deku, or uraraka, or mina, only smoke and screams. you rushed over there, worrying that something bad happened to anyone.

"deku!" you yelled, a strange black substance was coming out of his body, taking control of him, almost like a black whip. in anger, it turned to monoma, who was standing in shock. without second thoughts, you launched yourself to get the blonde guy of the way, arriving a few seconds early, but not enough time to save your own body.

it was impossible for the whip to stop at that speed, so you closed your eyes and protected your face, there was nothing else you could do. but the impact never came. the moment shinsou got there, his legs took life and jumped to save you. seeing you there, waiting for your faith like a scared kitten, made his heart break. and he did it, he saved you from izuku, but didn't realize how your head smashed into the ground.

you remember seeing dark purple eyes staring at you before passing out.

*.✧☆ﾟ.*･｡✧*⊰⊹ฺ

"are you sure she'll be okay?" a male voice asked. it wasn't denki, or aizawa sensei, but he seemed worried about you. your head ached like hell, so you kept your eyes closed.

"what i answered ten times before won't change now, shinsou" you knew that was recovery girl, but what was shinsou doing there? why was he so worried about you? "call me when she wakes up, i gotta go" and like that, both of you were left alone.

he sat next to you, resting his hands on the gurney while letting a loud sigh out.

"tough day?" you teased without looking at him.

"you wouldn't believe" it took him a while to realize what had happened "you woke up! how is your head? are you okay? don't move, i'll get recover girl" shinsou jumped from his sit, somehow you managed to grab his wrist, blushing at the touch of his skin.

"wait, please" he felt his knees weaken below him because of your soft tone "can you tell me what happened?" then it was his turn to blush.

"um, i really think i should go get recovery girl" you let go of his wrist when he started to walk, with a hint of sour in your mouth.

as hitoshi left the room, kaminari appeared minutes later. his hair was messy, and still wore his hero costume, like you. after screaming, he hugged you tightly.

"don't ever, ever, do that again! oh go i thought you were dead or something, if shinsou hadn't throw you of that thing's way..."

"shinsou saved me?" he proceeded to tell you a detailed history of what he saw in the ground gamma's cameras. how that whip was about to kill monoma, how you saved him only to be saved later by shinsou.

recover girl arrived alone, no sign of the purple haired boy, and by the afternoon, you were ready to go home. at the dorms, everyone welcomed you, izuku apologizing over and over. but the boy wasn't there either. him was all you could think about. you wanted to talk to him, thank him, something to him. why did he run away? did you said anything bad? were you annoying?.

days went by, and shinsou wasn't anywhere nearby, not even the hallways. you were told to rest and get good sleep at nights, but you laid wide awake thinking if tomorrow maybe he'd approach to you. until one day, it was enough. eraserhead gladly told you to go to the forest at six, he would be there waiting for you. and so you did, only to find him in his training clothes, obviously not expecting you.

"what are you doing here? you should be resting" he shouted, trying to hide his sweating hand behind his back with the greatest effort to not let his embarrassment out in his voice.

"well i would be, if the guy that saved me didn't ghost me" why were you being that confident? he didn't owe you anything, half of you wanted to turn around and leave, but you never listened to that half.

"it wasn't a big deal! it's cold out here, where's your jacket?"

"forget about my jacket! why didn't you come back?" shinsou felt something shiver in him, why didn't him?.

"because you didn't need me there!" even he knew that was the lamest answer ever.

"you don't know what i need! i wanted to thank you!"

"well then do it!"

"that's what i'm doing!"

"great, thanks accepted, now go and put on a fucking jacket!"

"no! you don't get it, dammit" his eyes opened wide, he was completely lost.

"what is it then!?"

"i want you to care!"

"how do you know i don't?" your face turned red.

"because... oh screw it!" you turned around, ready to leave.

"wait! what do you want me to say!?"

"i don't know! what do you want to do!?"

"maybe i want to take you out!"

"maybe you should!"

"maybe i will!"

wait, what? did he said he wanted to take you out?

"are you... are you for real?" you asked, scared of his answer. both of you walked closer to each other.

"i mean, yeah, but it's totally okay if you don't want to, i would totally understand, like, you are you and i am me, so feel free to..." you lips pressed to his stopped him from talking. they were soft, perfectly in sync with yours, a little taste of mint coming out of his mouth. "i-is that a yes?"

"pick me tomorrow at seven" and you left, both had an idiotic smile stitch to your faces.

you were going on a date with shinsou hitoshi.

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bonsai62 · 3 years

Text

Part 1: The Compatibility between Pisces and Capricorn

Hello everyone! Today, since I am hella bored and have nothing to do this fine evening, I am going to talk about the relationship between our two boys; Yuji and Megumi and how much they represent their signs so much.

Before I get started, I am not going to talk about their sex life even though it’s kinda important if you are into astrology, however, for this case I won’t because both of them are minors. But if you want to read more about their comparability then be my guess and look at the underline links. I will provide links in the discussion so you can have a better understanding on how the signs are and use manga pages for you to visually see it.

Also, excuse my English. I am very bad at it! Even though it’s my first language I still have lots of errors in my writing!

Also beware of manga spoilers too!!

Let’s get started on this very long essay!

Traits of a Pisces: Itadori Yuji

Positive: Compassionate (top), empathetic (middle), & creative (bottom)

We also have: Warm/gentle, caring, intellectual, animal lover, and romantic

Here we have the positive side of a Pisces and let me tell you it screams Yuji so damn much. Yuji is such a compassionate guy. I don’t think I have never seen a character who is very compassionate like Yuji (I have but we are talking about Yuji here lol). He can empathize with a whole lot of people and no matter what the situation is he understands. Yuji doesn’t need to have the same experience as someone because he can feel and get in their head to make him understand what their going through. Which brings me to that he has a really high empathy level when it comes to people (I can relate a lot because I have the same thing). However, having a lot of empathy isn’t all that’s cracked up to be but I’ll talk about it soon.

A Pisces is also very creative and they love hobbies. One of Yuji’s favorite hobbies is, I have a feeling is sports but that just based on what his old school thought of him + the baseball game. Plus cooking! Cooking is an amazing hobby and it lets you get creative with your hands and skills! I like to imagine that he is the best cook throughout the school and loves to share with his classmates and have them rate his cooking lol! Cooking is also a relief of stress so I can also imagine him having a bad day and just ends up being in the kitchen.

Now....

Negative: Overly emotional (top), impressionable (bottom), closed off (middle)

I messed up the order lol

We also have: melancholy, lazy, stubborn, moodiness, etc

Yuji is a very emotional person. We have seen him at his best and at his worse. He is such an emotional person that he felt bad for killing Choso’s brothers. His emotions gets the best of him when Junpei died, Megumi was hurt, seeing what Sukuna has done in Shibuya, and Nanamin/Nobara getting destroyed by Mahito. It’s an unhealthy feeling because we’ve seen Yuji get distracted with his injured friends and him kinda fucking up on his fighting. Another unhealthy trait that Yuji had is not talking about himself. We’ve seen him not talk about his feelings and I mean personal deep feelings that’s always going to be in the back of his head. Like when Megumi knows that something happened to Yuji but Yuji simple doesn’t want to talk about and closes it. He doesn’t really like talking about himself and rather hear other people/helping other people rather than face his own demons. If he’s facing his own demons, he rather be doing it on his own.

I also want to point out that many people think that he gets over people’s death hella easily. No... that is not true whatsoever. The boy has been through so much trauma that eventually you just get so tired of crying about it and you don’t have the energy anymore, you eventually start telling yourself “it is what it is” or “what can I do now?”. Noabra is a perfect example. He didn’t need to cry because he had the biggest mental breakdown when it happened. So when he asked Megumi about her status... he just had to say “alright”.

In my theories... she is definitely alive. Again, Gege is playing half of you guys. She is gonna pop out in the next couple of chapters or even the one coming up next.

Another things that I find interesting in Yuji which according to the links I put, Pisces tend to trust people easily:

Ease of being cheated: A desire to see the best things in other people makes the Two Fish very impressionable individuals. They trust others without any suspicions and often suffer from their frivolity. Any pressure of stronger people is accepted as a command for them and they easily agree with them without any doubts.

For instant, Todo and Choso. Those two mf were about to kill him but they didn’t because of what Yuji’s mind fuck did (I know Gege sensei said that isn’t a theory but still it’s mind fuck lol) He instantly call Todo his best friend like I can hear Nobara (Big sis) twitching somewhere lol. Whenever I think of Yuji and Todo’s relationship, I think of Vinny and Paula D from Jersey Shore haha!

Any who, while trusting people isn’t a bad thing, you still don’t know what their intentions are and everything. It’s a very naive thing to do.

But I felt for Yuji and Choso... Yuji didn’t have much of a choice...

I would like to know what changed Yuji’s mind into staying with Choso. I’m curious how Yuji “trusted” being with Choso after everything that went down. Yuji is a very forgiving character too (minus Mahito). But now, I think we can see that Choso has no bad intentions towards Yuji because he “might” be his brother. And their so cute too!!

On to our other boy!

Traits of a Capricorn: Megumi Fushiguro

Positive: Resourcefulness (top), discipline/patient (middle: also thank @pantherbeamish for the photos!), and reliability (bottom)

We also have: Responsibility, loyalty, diligence, team player, etc

Megumi is a very interesting character. Whenever I see him I get more interested in him. He is exactly what you would describe a Capricorn. We have seen Megumi be resourceful when it comes understanding how curse energy works thanks to him. He is very detailed when it comes to explaining and also a very patient man when Yuji, who doesn’t know jack shit about the Jujutsu world. Never, not once, does Megumi call Yuji an idiot for not knowing all these things. That’s what makes him amazing because if it were other Shonen mangas, the “rival” would’ve called Yuji an idiot. The only time Megumi ever calls Yuji an idiot is when Yuji literally does or says something stupid. To me, that is normal and not being a dick about it because we all know that if we had a friend like Yuji we would’ve stared at him like “why are you like this...”

It’s me... I’m a lot like Yuji lol

But no, he is very patient and tries to explain everything to Yuji as best as he can. I have this thing where almost everyone relies on Megumi a lot because he’s a serious guy + very responsible with his tasks. We see Maki trusting Megumi too. Like the time when Megumi was hyping Yuji up saying he can beat everyone in the Kyoto school if they didn’t use curse energy (something like that lol). Yuji also can confirm himself that Megumi is very reliable. He mentioned it while back at the prison because both sibling duo thought they were lost.

Negative: Sensitivity (top), seriousness (middle), reservation (bottom)

We also have: Unforgiving, criticism, suspicion, pickiness, etc

Just like Yuji, we have seen Megumi’s negative side a lot but it’s simply because he’s sensitive and thinks logically. Sometimes, I also feel like he thinks through his heart as well but that’s just me. That is where the sensitivity comes along. Megumi is hella sensitive he doesn’t need to show it because you can feel it.

In the article:

Sensitivity: It is better not to offend Capricorns who are very sensitive people. They can’t stand being laughed at and remain serious in public but feel badly deeply in their souls. Even a minor joke can result in resentment from their side!

In many, many occasions we have seen everyone fucking around or getting on Megumi’s nerves, especially in our recent Jujustroll where Gojo is saying a bunch of nonsense and embarrassing tf out of Megumi. His seriousness gets in the way and that’s what makes him sensitive.

On the side note: I also wanted to add something. As I was reading a few articles, some mentioned that Capricorns are... bland. Please, Capricorns!! No me ataques! I just find it interesting that someone, like Todo, who thinks Megumi is boring. Todo honestly thought he was boring since he first asked him what was his type and while Megumi gave us the best answer, Todo expected something more fun. But no, it was boring. Also, Megumi lives a simple life. Now, I’m not saying that Megumi is boring because as a matter of fact I like how simple he is. He likes to keep things neutral. Personally, on his activities he is considered “bland” and honestly, I can see why but I would still go out my way to enjoy it with him if I was his significant other lol I also feel like he has a good sense of style in fashion. I’m saying that judging from the official arts + “Lost In Paradise” because in that ED Megumi be looking like a bowl of fruits. A bowl of snacks lmao!

But, anyways! Megumi is also reserved to himself. He does not like talking about himself at all (hon hon does that sound like someone?). He doesn’t open up to a lot of people but I kinda feel like he does with Gojo but that’s just because Gojo raised him and he just knows when Megumi is feeling a certain way. Also, I bet Gojo just knows when Megumi is having a bad day too. We witnessed him just being in his own bubble in the current arc that is happened in the anime. Yuji and Nobara calls him out about him being so reserved to himself. He does eventually tells them what is going on, but it takes a lot for a Capricorn to open up and it’s totally understandable. I feel as if you want a Capricorn to open up, you have to let them give you time for them to get to know you. Give them your intentions and put in the effort to make them trust you.

Now in to the fun part!!

1. Trust:

Positive:

Articles 1: They will often understand each other well enough to respect their relationship and keep it clear of dishonesty

I’m a use this imagine again btw because this speaks their relationship clearly

I think what I truly love about their relationship and love the idea of them being an endgame is the trust that they have for one another(even though someone is gonna die). They barely knew each other for 2 months and their chemistry is off the mf charts.

The picture above isn’t just them having an eye opening moment but the fact that they trust each other to save one another.

Megumi had saved Yuji so many time

Yuji had also saved Megumi so many times

Tbh, when I was thinking about Megumi coming in to save Yuji from Yuuta and Naoya, I thought it would be the same as when Yuji saved Megumi and Maki from Hanami, but we got something better. We got to see Megumi never doubting Yuji and always making sure that he gives him as many chances as he gives. I hope that sparks a realization for Yuji because sometimes I always felt that he doesn’t really acknowledges Megumi doing a whole lotta things for Yuji. I’m still complaining about it because if he can say “thank you, best friend” to Todo or “thank you, Kugisaki, for letting me know that I am not alone” to Nobara, then he should definitely see how much Megumi gives a fuck about him.

I expect a “thank for being by my side and never doubting me” for Megumi.

Articles 2: Pisces, who prefers to hand off important decision-making to dominant Capricorn, feeds into the goat’s need to be in control. On the flip side, Capricorn trusts Pisces to attend to its emotional needs—something that can be very difficult to allow at first.

This is interesting because a lot of the time Megumi is always making the plans and the choices. I feel like Yuji tends to rely on Megumi a lot because Yuji respects the way Megumi thinks (I’m not saying he doesn’t do that with anyone either).

Another thing is that:

“Capricorn trust Pisces to attend to its emotional needs-something that can be very difficult to allow at first”

I want to use Yuji asking Yuuta to kill him if Sukuna comes out especially for Megumi’s sake as an example of “emotional needs” because we see that Yuji does not want to be anywhere near Megumi because of Sukuna. In Yuji’s emotional state, he would rather have Yuuta kill him than Megumi. A lot of people also have this head canon that the reason why he asked Yuuta to kill him instead of Megumi is because Megumi already has a lot on his plate or something. I forgot the theory lol

But... I have a feeling that Megumi is gonna end up killing Yuji at the end because it should be him...

But yes,

Let’s see where things end with the current event that is happening now.

But unfortunately, I have to stop right here because Tumblr only allows 10 images in one post. Tragic!

I do hope you guys enjoy and please comment if I’m missing anything with them! Let’s hope I won’t take long with part 2 because I’m hella busy at times! Overall, tell me what you guys think!

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen manga #jjk anime #jjk #jjk manga #itadori yuji #fushiguro megumi #anime #manga #soulmates #I love them #our babies #please I’m just rambling and I make no sense #itafushi #fushiita

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aylinnworld · 3 years

Note

Which one is the most well-written character of yona of the dawn in ur opinion?

Dear anon,

It is not a question I can reply to now. Initially I started reading this manga, because I saw potential in how Soo-won was handled, meaning he was not portrayed as a tyrant who eats babies on breakfast. Initially I also liked Yona better. She had to learn more before she was able to do something like with the sword. She learnt a bit from Hak and used it in the Water Tribe arc, but it was not like she was already a sword master back then.

So initially it was potential, especially for Soo-won and what it meant for Yona*, and the fact the first arcs were ok.

* I think it looked like a promise for a much more interesting conflict in which Soo-won was presented as a good ruler and Yona had to admit her father did a poor job rather than having a more cliched story about an evil tyrant taking away the throne from the rightful heir.

Right now, I am not sure where the story is going. Is Yona supposed to be the next ruler or is she supposed to clean up the mess started by Hiryuu’s decision to become a human? To be honest, I am not sure Kusanagi herself knows an answer to this question, even though she should know to make a good story. The reason it seems to me that she does not know is the fact that the story seems all over the place. It switches between political intrigues that would rather favour the interpretation that Yona is to become the next ruler and the Hiryuu stuff like crimson illness that would point to the second interpretation. If she is going to make a coherent story, Kusanagi should know or decide quickly. Depending on what is the end game, I think the Yona’s character will be either poorly done, as she has never received enough development to make her a good ruler, or she may have an ok characterization if the point of her journey was to end what Hiryuu’s decision to become a human has started.

Soo-won is the character for which I started reading, but I cannot say I am happy with the magical illness and Yonhi being an awful mother stuff, especially since I have high level of suspicion that if the end game is to make Yona the ruler then the magical illness is a way to conveniently get rid of Soo-won so that Yona can keep her hands clean.

As a result, I cannot say who has the best character development. It is still up in the air.

Also, there are problems I have with Kusanagi’s approach to characters. She tends to have troubles with making characters behave in a way that makes sense from their point of view, especially if they are not the good guys on Yona’s side like Yonhi deciding to ask the murderer of her husband to stop the cycle of hatred instead of talking with her own son. It seems like Kusanagi has problems switching point of views and this makes certain events make no sense and lack emotional intensity. In comparison when Kusanagi does handle it well like the first chapters of betrayal or the moment when almost everyone thinks that Soo-won and Yona are engaged, it is from Yona’s point of view, but with characters like Yonhi she made no sense at all. Yonhi behaviour would be like having Yona write a letter to Soo-won to stop the cycle of revenge and Yona telling Soo-won that her child is going to kill him if he doesn’t do well as the King. I wonder how many fans would think that Yona did the right thing? I assume most would think Yona got batshit crazy and made an unimaginably dumb move.

This may look like it mostly affects the group that is not on the side of Yona, but you cannot have intensive, emotional moments like the ones with betrayal or engagement when antagonists behave in a totally unreasonable way.

In conclusion, I cannot say who is the best written character without knowing how the story ends as the ending will heavily impact my decision.

I can only tell you right now that Yonhi’s characterization turned out to be absolutely terribly written. I consider her to be the worst written character and Gobi to be the second worst written character.

P.S. if you are asking in the light of the recent Hak and Soo-won discussion and who is more developed than I can tell you I always felt that Soo-won has more potential, as Soo-won can be developed in both meanings of character development while in Hak’s case a more detailed knowledge about his past is not as necessary for the plot. It can be omitted.

#akatsuki no yona #yona of the dawn #Yona #Su-Won #Soo-won

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duhragonball · 3 years

Text

Hellsing Liveblog, Chapters 20-24

By garn, it’s been a while. This ‘ere’s the “Age of Empire” arc, followed by two one-offs, “Call to Power” and “Ultima Online”.

Last time, Hellsing sent Alucard, Seras, and Pip Bernadotte to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to find out more about Millennium. But Millennium was expecting them, and sent Tubalcain Alahambra to attack Alucard almost as soon as he arrived.

Recall that the only reason Hellsing knew to check Brazil was because of a tip offered up by their Catholic counterpart, Vatican Section XIII, the Iscariot Organization. Iscariot knew about Millennium because they had discovered that the Vatican had helped them move men and materials out of Nazi Germany and into South America. Which brings us to this chapter, which is a flashback showing how Iscariot found out in the first place.

The date on this chapter really helps me understand all of this, because when I watched this scene in the anime, I thought it was taking place in the present. But no, this is set back in July, barely a week after Seras became a vampire. Note that Bishop Maxwell already knows a great deal about this by this point. He’s not talking to this guy to learn more, he’s confronting him about the crimes he’s already discovered.

This rando bishop he’s talking to was one of the guys who helped Millennium during World War II. He claims to have been deceived, but Maxwell knows the truth: that he and the others helped Millennium because they knew they were secretly researching vampires, and wanted in on some sweet, sweet vampirism.

This is a recurring theme in Hellsing, where Millennium gets a lot of help from various patsies by promising to make them immortal. Dandyman got all those SWAT team guys to help him by promising immortality to their superiors, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Dandyman himself was just a rube that joined Millennium thinking it was a path to greater power, when in fact they only sought to use him as a test of Alucard’s abilities. And so it was with the treasonous bishops in the 1940s. They helped Millennium move to South America, but their research in Europe was destroyed by Hellsing during the war. And the above page shows us our first look at young Walter, before he retired to the life of a butler.

And now we see Heinkel Wolfe, the star of “Cross Fire”, Kouta Hirano’s three-issue manga about gun-toting assassin nuns. “Cross Fire” was featured as backups in the first three collected volumes of Hellsing, which works out nicely, so we can recognize Heinkel as she debuts in this story. She executes this bishop for his unspeakable crimes against the church.

And really, it is a pretty horrific thing that this guy did. I mean, I thought about it the other day, how this guy’s pretty high up there in the ranks of the Catholic church. He doesn’t just go to Mass on Sundays, he’s devoted his whole life to the faith, and then he just turns his back on it as soon as there’s a hint of a chance that he could become an immortal vampire. And then it falls through, so he spends the next several decades just sort of hoping no one will find out what he did. It’s a pretty dark thing, though it’s easy to overlook in a whole series of dark moments.

Back in Brazil, the news media and authorities still can’t make any sense of the Alucard/Dandyman battle. Alucard and his pals escaped in a news chopper and Al must have hyp-mo-tized the pilot to cover their tracks.

Meanwhile, the mysterious guys who were watching the Dandyman from afar, well they head back to their secret lair. The Major is the guy in the glasses, and the Captain is the guy in the big coat. There’s also the Doctor, who sort of defies description, but we’ll deal with him later. It was the Major who ran the vampire research project back in the 1940s, and the Doctor who conducts all the research. The Doctor had been pretty confident about all the powers he gave to the Dandyman, and was dismayed to see Alucard defeat him but the Major doesn’t mind at all, because he’s got plenty more vampires to throw at this particular problem.

They board a blimp, the Graf Zeppelin III, bound for Jaburo, Brazil. I looked up the Graf Zeppelin to understand the reference, and it turns out the first two were aircraft carriers, not blimps. These were planned during the 1930′s as Nazi Germany began to re-arm for World War II, but by the time the war actually started, Hilter had lost interest in the project, and the German Navy focused instead on U-boats. Both Graf Zeppelins were left uncompleted, so maybe this blimp is named after them as a reference to abandoned Nazi projects that could be revived somehow. As for Jaburo, I looked that up and only found references to the Gundam franchise, so I’m pretty sure this is just a fictional town.

Meanwhile, Alucard and his team check into a motel, and he calls home to report that he successfully absorbed Dandyman’s memories when he killed him and drank his blood. He now knows everything Dandyman knew about Millennium. Integra orders him to return to London immediately, as the Queen of England herself wants to know what’s going on here. Al wants to know if Tegs enjoyed all the violence he caused in Rio, but she’s like “stfu.”

Up to now, Seras and Pip had been scouting around, trying to find some way to get out of the country, but there’s no planes and no ships available. They were, at least, able to bring back some McDonald’s. Wait... MacDooolnald’s. See? Giorno drives his vampire dad to MacDooolnald’s, but Seras goes out and gets it and brings it back for Alucard, because theirs is a much healthier relationship.

But Al wants to steal a plane. Pip and Seras don’t take this well, but now I finally see why Al is suggesting this. He was ordered to return home at once, so this seems like the only way.

Then Alexander Anderson shows up and starts punching the shit out of Al, because why not?

Everybody draws their badass weapons to escalate the fight, including Seras, who picks up her giant cannon, but Anderson just thinks it’s funny, and it snaps him out of his fightin’ mood long enough to explain why he’s here.

Seems the Vatican wants to get Alucard back to London as well, so they sent Anderson to tell them about a private plane they arranged just for this purpose.

Meanwhile, in Jaburo, the Major reports back to his “superiors”, but he refuses to explain what he was doing in Rio. The Major claims he’s under special orders from Hitler, and these orders supersede all other command structures. Basically, all these colonels and generals have little choice but to sit back and watch Millennium operate without them. The Major gives them only a thin veneer of respect, and barely at that.

Enter Zorin Bltz, a lieutenant in Millennium, who explains it neatly for the reader. The Major set up all this Millennium stuff after the war, only for these other officers to show up on their doorstep later, probably seeking refuge in the postwar world. They know there’s vampire stuff going on here, and they want to be vampires too, but the Major isn’t interested in that. I guess he figures if he turns them into vampires, they would try to pull rank on him.

But the old timers are also extremely curious about the Major’s goal. He’s used the research to create a thousand vampire soldiers, but what for? The Major explains that he’s out to “savor the joy of war.”

Let me pause here to talk about werewolves. Millennium also has at least two of those: the Captain, and Chief Warrant Officer Schrödinger. As he returned to Jaburo, the Major asked Schrödinger about “the other werewolves”, and he said they would be along shortly, but we never actually see those guys. Unless Zorin Blitz and Rip van Winkle are supposed to be werewolves, but I’m pretty sure they’re not.

On the plane ride back to England, Alucard has a dream, reliving his defeat at the hands of Abraham van Helsing a century earlier.

In London, everyone’s waiting for him to show up, including representatives from the Vatican. Heinkel wonders if maybe Anderson flubbed his mission to give Alucard the plane, but Maxwell explains that they had to send Anderson to Brazil, because he knows Anderson is loyal to a fault. If they sent just any old operative, there’d be too great a risk of that guy defecing to Millennium for a taste of that sweet vampire power.

Then Alucard finally shows and pays his respects to the Queen of England. Let’s face it, this is Elizabeth II, I don’t care how the art hides her in silhouette. This story depicts her as being such an old woman after all this time, but it’s 2021 and she’s still alive today. Alucard praises he beauty. I get the impression he finds human aging to be something precious in his eyes.

Alucard explains what we’ve already been over: That Millennium is the new name for the culmination of that Nazi vampire research project in the 1940s. Alucard and Walter put an end to the project in 1944, but the Major somehow escaped and kept going.

Then Schrödinger appears in the room, to the shock of everyone. He claims that he is “everywhere”, a talent which allows him to show up anywhere in spite of security. He claims to be an envoy from Millennium, and sets up a Zoom call with the Major.

Basically, the Major declares war on Hellsing and Great Britain, and on Alucard specifically, by name. He has no goal, which is basically another way of saying that he wants to fight war for its own sake. There’s no strategic objective to any of this. The Major finally has his army of vampire soldiers, and now he wants to take them out into the field and see what they can do.

Oh, also he has his “superior” officers brutally executed on the video feed, which seems kind of dumb, since neither Hellsing nor Iscariot knew about any of those guys. Ties things up nicely for the reader, I guess.

Alucard is overjoyed at the prospect of destroying the Major all over again, and Integra orders him to kill Schrödinger while Seras shoots the Major’s iPad. Then QE2 orders Integra and Alucard to destroy Millennium, like they hadn’t already been workin on that.

And yeah, there we are.

#2021hellsingliveblog #hellsing #alucard #seras victoria #sir integra hellsing #alexander anderson #pip bernadotte #the major #the captain #enrico maxwell #heinkel wolfe #zorin blitz #dammit i'm not gonna tag every single character you figure out who i missed

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gentrychild · 4 years

Note

What are your genuine thoughts about Nighteye and what did you hope from his character aside from dying (if you had expectations?)

I didn’t expect anything from him because I read the manga in time to stop in the remedial training arc, I think. In any case, I read the Overhaul arc in one go and didn’t have the time to theorize from week to week.

Okay, I am absolutely not impressed by Nighteye’s action so if you’re not interested in reading salt, stop right there.

Nighteye harmed a lot of people by being short-sighed and egocentric.

I am not holding against him the fact he quit and stopped being All Might’s sidekick. It was his right and he was already traumatized by his vision. I understand that the stress of seeing All Might running towards his death would have been too much to handle.

However, Nighteye fundamentally misunderstood some things: All Might doesn’t owe him anything. He doesn’t have a mission to guarantee the continuity of the Symbol of Peace. He doesn’t even have the obligation to keep being the Symbol of Peace.

Him trying to interfere in the successor process wasn’t dumb and misguided, but him thinking his opinion about All Might’s choice matters is insulting and disturbing.

Sir Nighteye: “You can’t just pick a quirkless middle schooler!”

All Might: “...”

In the end, he never saw All Might as Yagi Toshinori, and only saw him as the Symbol of Peace. This might have comforted All Might in his choice not to reveal One for All to anyone else, because, there are a lot of people like him who would want to influence the OFA choice. Cough... Hero Commission... Cough.

As far as Mirio is concerned, I have no doubt that Nighteye loves him. He trained him, gave him a chance, and I am very happy that Mirio never learned about what Nighteye intended because that would have stain their relationship.

I have this sneaking suspicions that Mirio was selected because he physically looks like All Might and has the same sunny presence. To assure the continuity.

That’s just a very awkward place to be put in, both for Toshinori and Mirio.

And that confirms my impression that Nighteye didn’t see Yagi Toshinori behind All Might.

But what pissed me off beyond measures is his treatment of Midoriya.

Nighteye basically threw a fit about Mirio not being given One for All, a quirk he has no rights on, and vented his frustrations on a teenager. He didn’t only insulted All Might’s choice, he made sure to destroy what little self-worth Izuku had.

He hired Izuku to make him give up One for All. This is so messed up. He hired a child, someone he had a duty to take care of, to make him feel miserable and guilt him into abandoning All Might’s gift.

Izuku’s self-worth is worse than ever after the Overhaul arc, and somehow, it’s not because of Chisaki but because of Nighteye. I will let that sink in.

Another thing that left me flabbergasted about this whole debacle is the fact that All for One was around at the time. Revealed to be alive. Kamino happened.

And yet, Nighteye, aware that all OFA holders died because of that one guy, aware of how much All Might had lost because of him and because of the need to uphold the Symbol of Peace, still pushed Mirio to have One for All, aka a giant target on his back.

And that’s the thing. Nighteye just kept making misguided decision because he fundamentally misunderstood things, be it his quirk, Izuku’s worth, All Might’s choice, and so on.

#sir nighteye #bnha

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cienie-isengardu · 4 years

Text

The development of Law’s relationship with Zoro - Part 4: Dressrosa, The Breaking Point (Aftermath)

<<Part I: Before Meeting>> <<Part II: Sabaody Archipelago, The First Meeting>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard, The Alliance (A)>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard, The Alliance (B)>> <<Part IV: Dressrosa, The Breaking Point (The Plan Failed)__ (Saving Law)__(Protecting Law)__ (Birdcage, Pica and Doflamingo)__ (Aftermath)>>

Even though admiral Issho alongside with his men officially apologized to King Riku and the citizens, the king made sure the “outlaws” were hidden from marines. Straw Hats, Law, Bellamy and Kyros ended sheltered in Kyros’s home where he once lived with Scarlet and little Rebecca. First time in a long time, the allied pirates were together again. In the night, Sabo visited the house, but beside Zoro, Franky and Robin, everyone was sleeping. The four had a talk about Sabo’s past and the best time to leave Dressrosa before marines will attack them.

Law’s sleep position was much more relaxed and open than the one from the beginning of Dressrosa arc (chapter 794). Maybe it was just the result of total exhaustion and injuries or maybe Law, after so long of stressing and worrying, finally could relax knowing that A) Doflamingo was in marine custody thus no longer a threat and B) he was safe around Straw Hats.

The available room was small but Law could choose any spot to sleep. Instead, he was shown lying close to drinking Zoro (by frame layout alone, again in between Roronoa and sleeping on bed Luffy, this time without any danger around). Zoro most likely planned to stay awake through the whole night for security measures (he has this habit of sleeping just 3 hours per night after all) and taught by experience, Law didn’t have any reason to doubt that if attacked, the swordsman would protect him, the same as he did during battle.

Law didn’t even bother to pretend he was cautious or wary, he simply slept, trusting allies to take care of their safety.

With Zoro, Franky and Robin being the only one awake, there is a high probability they talked about the latest events. How their fights went, what they learned, what to focus on, what to watch out for in the future with angered Kaido as the next goal on alliance’s list. It’s hard to tell for sure if Robin told others about Law’s choice to stay behind and whether in victory or death, share Luffy’s fate. On one hand, it was a choice made under strong emotions, trauma and even the feel of responsibility for Straw Hat’s wellbeing. A choice made because of very personal matters. On second hand, exactly because it happened under such pressure it was the most sincere side of Law Robin had a chance to see for herself. She and Zoro are the least trusting members of the crew and that night was the best moment to discuss in detail what happened and in the process dispel any remaining doubts about Law as their ally. Both saw his determination and fighting spirit, knew he saved their crew members and kept Luffy out of harm's way despite his own injuries and finally, both had some understanding of Law’s hidden goal in Doffy’s destruction. They may not know the whole truth, just the nature of it, but that was enough because Trafalgar did not betray them. And well, he had the suicide feel about himself what could raise some concerns about him too.

I personally think such talk could happen that night, when memories of battle were still fresh in their mind and everyone out cold beside the three of them. The exchange of information could be another reason for the change in Zoro’s behaviour.

For the three days, the Straw Hat-Heart alliance was left in peace by marines. Once again Law was exposed to Luffy’s antics but this time Zoro acted in a more open way, even showing his more usual irritation at other people’s odd behaviour, including his own captain:

Interestingly, there is a visible shift in the arrangement of characters positions - during battle it was usually Zoro-Luffy-Law and the dynamic changed mainly in face of danger. Now with upcoming frames somehow Law was put more often in the middle between the other Supernovas. Even though Trafalgar still kept some tangible distance from others, judging by their (not so strictly stoic anymore) behaviour, it seems like he and Zoro were now more comfortable around each other.

Then the navy finally made its move against pirates. Unlike Usopp, Zoro and Law didn’t show any distress. Bartolomeo and other fighters prepared themselves for such an occasion by securing for Luffy’s group a safe escape route. Instead of running away with his friends, Luffy decided to visit Rebecca - now a princess - and confront her about her family matters.

Zoro reminded Luffy they don’t have time, so he better get it done quick while the rest will wait in eastern port...

and then again, run in the wrong direction.

At this point, Law may have a good suspicion about Zoro’s no sense of orientation (chapter 797). And who knows, maybe he ran alongside Zoro (on picture below, behind Kinemon and Robin), to make sure the infamous Pirate Hunter did not wander unexpectedly somewhere else… that, or both planned to linger behind and secure the group retreat.

The fellow fighters came to their aid, keeping marines far away from Straw Hats. At the same time, Law disappeared without a word, to find and confront recently arrived on the island Sengoku (unless he did mention his intention to Zoro, while they ran side by side??). Frankly, the manga did not provide the reaction of Zoro nor any other member of Straw Hat crew to Law’s disappearance, so it’s impossible to say if they were worried about him or simply trusted in his strength to return on his own on time.

Meeting with Sengoku was one of the most important breaking points for Law. As it turned out, the former fleet admiral treated Donquixote Rosinante - Law’s savior - as a son. And for thirteen years did not understand why his beloved son didn’t follow the order to stay away from Minion Island.

“One day… a soldier I knew died. He was someone I cared about, someone who meant something to me. I took him in as a boy… and treated him like a son… He was as honest and upright a person as I ever knew… and a valuable, trustworthy subordinate. But there was one time, just once in his life, that he lied to me. I had been betrayed… but there must have been a reason for it. Four things disappeared in the chaos of that fateful day. The Barrels Pirates, the life of my subordinate, the Ope-Ope fruit… and a boy with White Lead disease who was with the Donquixote Family at the time.”

Law admitted he was the boy and confirmed that Rosinante left his post and died because of him. Admitted also he didn’t know if the way he lived was what Cora wanted.

First time in 13 years, Law was assured that there wasn’t any hidden goal in Cora’s decision to save him. The man saw a dying, hurt child with the spark of his brother’s madness and decided Law was worth loving and dying for. It was unconditional love, without any “if” or “but”. The “D.” name and the usefulness of Ope Ope no Mi did not matter. Even stopping Doflamingo meant then little. The only thing Rosinante wanted was to save Law and make him finally free. Sengoku literally told Law to not “attach a reason to the love you’ve received”.

Apparently, english “I love you” does not carry the whole meaning of the original phrase “Aishiteruze (愛してるぜ)”. Rosinante’s declaration was along the “I can’t live without you” level of loving someone (x). Now, after so many years of hiding from Donquixote Pirates, planning and scheming and living just to kill Cora’s murderer, Law finally understood the depths of Rosinante’s love. The breaking point is that: Law at last knows (accepts) he was unconditionally loved and now, is free from Doflamingo for good. He can allow himself to finally live without doubts and regrets the way he wants, without a sense of failing some unknown to him expectations. And I think, to some degree, it is the reason why Law’s secretive / introverted behavior changed into a more open, relaxed act around Zoro and Straw Hats. Because he finally could relax, be comfortable with himself.

Due to danger from admiral Issho, Law couldn’t spend more time with Sengoku and had to run to the rendezvous point. Surprising, no Straw Hats waited for him (in the sense, weren’t shown in the frame). Even more surprising is the lack of Zoro between former colosseum fighters in the frontline of the fight. Anyway, Luffy showed up soon after Law but instead of dodging the blind admiral, attacked him. Because to be Pirate King he must face everyone: Warlords, Admirals and Emperors and beat them down.

Zoro in general agreed with Luffy’s reasoning (chapter 799) but did not exactly understand the way Luffy fought against Issho, telling his blind opponent what kind of attack he was going to use. The admiral himself was very surprised by that too, but ultimately accepted and even respected Luffy’s weirdness. In the end, Issho managed to send Luffy flying - what happened to be a favorable circumstance for allied fighters. They catched Luffy and despite Straw Hat’s protest, dragged him to safety. Zoro was happy about that too, but for a different reason - he wanted to take Luffy’s place to fight with a powerful enemy. Bartolomeo thankfully managed to stop the battle-lusting warrior.

Law’s reaction to that event wasn’t shown but once again he had a chance to see Zoro’s insanity when it came to fighting a strong enemy. Zoro and Luffy in that regard were very similar to each other.

Straw Hats-Heart alliance finally got on ship, the Yanta Maria and with the help of people of Dressrosa (who under the pretext of chasing the pirates away, were actually protecting them from the admiral's deadly attack), the alliance sailed away safely.

Zoro and Law's reaction to Yanta Maria was visibly distinctive from pleasant shock of others (open jaws). Zoro smiled, Law, judging by the frown, looked unimpressive. Both their reactions were more quiet and toned down.

On the ship, Bartolomeo and fellow fighters asked Luffy to drink with them “cups of Father and Sons”, to officially accept them as his underlings.

Luffy of course refused, because he A) didn’t like alcohol and B) didn’t want to be captain of such a big fleet. Zoro warned his allies they wasted time trying to change Straw Hat’s mind (and to just give the sake to him). Yet the fighters were ready to force Luffy into accepting the drink. Further Luffy’s explanation only confused everyone (beside Straw Hats) even more. Including Law.

And then Law’s attention immediately turned to Zoro, who, taking advantage of the opportunity, started drinking sake from Luffy’s cup to Usopp’s displeasure.

Finally, Luffy managed to explain his reasoning:

“If I ever think we’re in trouble… I’ll shout for your help. Then you can come save us! I don’t have to be a boss or a great pirate, right?! If you’re in trouble, call for us!! We’ll come and help you!!! I won’t forget about how we fought Mingo together!!

And the Seven Leaders admired and accepted Straw Hat’s decision. But since Luffy was all about freedom, they simply followed his example. Whether Luffy liked it or not, they decided on their own to make him their boss.

Law thus witnessed the founding of the Great Fleet of Straw Hats. And yet, somehow it looked like he was more interested in Zoro’s drinking sake behind Luffy’s back.

When party started, everyone celebrated their great victory (chapter 800):

Luffy, like always, was in the centre of everything. Law, though smiling, kept his distance from Zoro and other partying people. But soon after that Law’s personal space was invaded by Zoro.

The anime expanded this little moment, first showing Zoro approaching Law sitting alone, asking to join the rest. And then, ignoring any protests, just threw his arm around the other man’s neck. Law’s face spoke how much he minded such treatment and had no dignity about that:

During parties, Zoro always spent his time sharing alcohol with people who fought side by side with him (Paulie, Water 7/Enies Lobby) or actually were his opponents (Braham, Skypiea). Zoro didn’t have a habit of forcing people to drink with him or asking (introverted) person who clearly wanted to be alone to join the bigger group. He himself rarely joined larger groups and usually just sat somewhere far from the noise with a few people around. So, Zoro most likely understood Law's isolation since he used to do so himself. Here though he was the one invading Law’s personal space and not giving a damn if the man was happy about it or not. On second thought, if Law didn’t want to join the others, it made sense for Zoro to join him. In a sense, it could be Zoro’s way to break the ice between them. What is even more interesting, considering the palpate distance he kept from Law at the beginning of the story. The second important detail - Law could easily get out of that situation by using Ope Ope no Mi powers. A simple switch of the places and he would be free for good. Yet Law remained, despite how awkward and/or outside of his comfort zone it was.

We may only wonder what made Zoro act in such an uncommon way. Was that respect for Law forged in the heat of battle? Did it bother him that Law after everything was done, still isolated himself? Did it look like Law felt discomfort to be around people he barely knew or interacted with and who all pledged loyalty only to Straw Hats, thus Zoro decided to keep him company?

Zoro initiating physical contact in itself is an uncommon occurrence. Because as much as Straw Hats pirates can - and will - invade Zoro’s personal space, Roronoa is not exactly the type of person open to such contact. Once again, the shift between the beginning (visible distancing) and ending (invading Law’s personal space) of the Dressrosa arc is tangible. Somehow between one and the other, breaking point in Law and Zoro’s relationship happened and changed for good their dynamic. What was seen day(?) after the party (chapter 801):

Law and Zoro sat close to each other, the previous distance gone. Zoro was reading newspapers, indifferent to his surroundings - instead of facing and observing the Heart captain, like he used to do at the beginning. Both men looked like they were comfortable around each other, even despite - or maybe, because of - the shared (forced?) drink. The change in Zoro’s behaviour is diametrical.

Like was said at the beginning, Dressrosa Arc is one big breaking point. It changed the status quo of pirate alliance and Luffy’s position, from rookie pirate to leader of a powerful fleet. It will lead to the complete dissolution of the Shichibukai system and for good push the main hero into collision with Emperors. For Law alone, Dressrosa was like opening old, still not healed wounds but also so needed a moment of catharsis. He was ready to die there, but was saved time after time by allies. In a sense, it was the final test of how strong the alliance was before facing angry Kaido.

Law changed a lot through the course of action. Or maybe not really changed, but like allowed himself to show hidden emotions and trauma. The cold-blooded, scheming pirate who planned to use Straw Hats crew (and spare his own) turned out to be a man willing to sacrifice himself to finish what his savior started but couldn’t do himself. Who came to believe in Straw Hats, as the ones who made miracles happen. Not only Luffy, but the crew as a whole.

The same as Zoro finally saw Law in hopeless, awkward, sometimes outright humiliating situations (anime extension), Law’s impression of Roronoa cracked too. No sense of direction, insanity to laugh at the dangerous enemy and enjoying the thrill of fight, the fondness of alcohol -- all of this created anew image. This time more flawed but at the same time, more real, human. Despite the flaws and awkwardness of previous situations, both proved to be strong-willed, cool-headed warriors one may rely on in difficult times. Zoro stretched out his hand to him, broke the ice, abandoned the distrust that distanced them for a long time. It seems like Law was finally fully accepted by Roronoa and all unsaid things between them settled down for good.

At the same time, the arc showed their similarities. Both were the quiet ones, the type of people who kept distance from others. The ones with pragmatic thinking in contrast to Luffy’s chaotic madness. Zoro for sure was a helpful presence during running from enemies and meeting a weird fighter after another, especially since he did try to keep his captain in check. That it didn’t work for a long time is a different matter.

Anyway, looking at the beginning and end of Dressrosa arc, there is a visible change in how Zoro and Law acted around each other. How the neutrality changed into something more comfortable.

Here comes things worth examining a bit more.

↪ The Seven Leaders pledged loyalty only to Straw Hat Pirates. As long as alliance between Luffy and Law will work, this is not a big issue and to take down all Emperors, every additional help was good. But if ever those two pirate crews will fall apart, Luffy literally just gained a powerful fleet, thus has advantage over rival captain.

↪ Straw Hats & Heart captain worked together to take down Doflamingo. Luffy of course was the one that finished the enemy, but overall, Luffy’s victory was a result of teamwork between pirates, colosseum fighters, marines and common people. As much as Trafalgar Law was well known as the Shichibukai, Luffy and Zoro were in fact the ones that made the biggest impression on people (colosseum fight, defeating Doffy & destroying Pica) and actually interacted during battle with other fighters. Frankly, both showed their charismatic nature that made people believe in and follow them. Luffy became the hope of the whole country. Zoro was the spark that united people to stop the birdcage and brought Luffy the needed time to recover. Law is powerful and has a reputation and knows how to deal with different people to get what he wants, but he is not really good at interhuman relationships in general. Luffy gains friends on the left and right. Zoro, despite being asocial, rude and introverted person, has the impressive air about himself that often makes him look like the coolest person who is not afraid to challenge everything and everyone; for whom impossible does not exist (destruction of Pica, stopping birdcage). Law… kinda lacks in that department.

↪ Because of the made impression on other fighters, there is a big chance Law may have heard some retelling of the events during the party. Luffy and Zoro aren’t men who brag about their exploits, but Bartolomeo and his companions had a lot to share about battle. With so much alcohol and so many strong individuals that were very impressed by Straw Hats deeds, it seems logical that tales of battle would sooner than later be told. Especially by devoted fans like Bartolomeo. Zoro’s daring plan to defeat Pica and stop Birdcage could be recalled by those fighters who saw it themselves, filling Law with missing fragments of the battle.

↪ Frankly, shonen mangas have this one upside down that the final boss must be defeated by the main hero. Which means that characters who actually could do something useful (damaging) to the enemy are pushed to the sideline. Like Robin, who can snap a person's neck from far away thanks to Hana Hana no Mi. Or Zoro, who could join the other Supernovas in their fight against Doffy (either before Law’s threatening injury or after, instead of stopping the birdcage). Or dwarf princess could heal Luffy for a few minutes to finish Mingo once and for good. It’s not exactly a complaint, because it's the standard formula of One Piece story, but because of such, Law and Zoro were pushed into the background, for Luffy to shine. For most of the arc, Luffy was the main figure in the dynamic of Supernova Trio. They did not interact much in words, but the layout of frames - the character position and background activities - created the feeling of the slowly forming bond between Zoro and Law. Now, after Doffy’s defeat, there is a shift next to whom Trafalgar sticks (Zoro) and Luffy is unnecessary for them to interact on their own.

↪ Law didn’t care how high was the newest reward for his head. In contrast, Zoro was pleased to learn his own increased a lot. Even asked for alcohol to celebrate. What could turn into another moment of Zoro dragging Law into drinking.

↪ The last detail (though I’m afraid it may vary from one translation to another) is the way Law addressed his allies. Luffy usually was the Straw Hat-ya. The girls were titled as Nami-ya and Nico-ya. Usopp as Nose-ya, Sanji as Black Leg-ya, Chopper as Tony-ya. Unless I missed it, I don’t think Law addressed Zoro directly to use either his name or made up nickname. They really didn’t talk much throughout the course of the story. There is a chance it happened after freeing Dressrosa - either during the three days when everyone waited for Luffy to wake up or during the party, once alcohol was shared. Zoro, depending on translation, called him either Law or Traffy (or similar form of the nickname).

With the chapter 802, the Dressrosa arc can be considered closed. Now, the Straw Hats-Heart pirate alliance sail to meet their missing crewmembers and to prepare for the fight with angry Kaido. How truly comfortable Law and Zoro became around each other will show the next place: Zou.

#one piece #roronoa zoro #trafalgar law #The development of Law’s relationship with Zoro #zoro & law #monkey d. luffy #straw hat grand fleet #my analyze #finally the dressrosa is done #dressrosa arc #man this arc was painful to write down #so many things happenings #on one hand so little zoro & law moments #on another the effects and differences between zoro & law and luffy gave a lot to think about

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catsvrsdogscatswin · 3 years

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Higurashi Gou Liveblog: Episode 23

The thumbnail is of Satoko, I see. Kinda interesting how there's only been three thumbnails with her even in it, this included.

Oh okay we're doing the Sonozaki arc. WE'RE FINALLY GETTING THAT ANSWERED, RIGHT?!

"You look bored" AND WHAT A HORRIFIC CALLBACK TO RIKA LOOPING THAT IS. Also, how is Keiichi simultaneously the most and the least observant of the entire cast.

Yeah this is paralleling Massacre and I hate that. Satoko is literally taking Rika's spot and I'm not sure I want Keiichi to give her a pep talk.

Okay but why is Satoko so blatantly showing off? Is she trying to trigger Rika's suspicions?

Featherine is praising Satoko and I'm just now noticing how that might be feeding Satoko's desperation for someone to love her/her abandonment complex. Like, when was the last time an adult looked Satoko in the eye and told her that she, personally, did a good job at something?

Why is Featherine not giving Satoko her name?

"Eua"? Is that a reference to Featherine's whole thing with her nickname being an expy for Hanyuu's "auauau" distress noise?

We're addressing the fact that non-loopers remember things!?

So basically the more you loop the higher the chance is that you'll remember past shit, even if you're not the one controlling the time loops.

Ah man we're talking about the uncle rather than Satoshi.

My heart is healed by seeing this piece of shit beaten to a pulp.

Oh and that's why we saw prescription drugs earlier in the Curse Killing arc because he's, like, fucking unraveling.

Oh this is not going to end well, is it? He's gonna do something horrible to that poor kid and her dad.

WHAT IS GOING ON?

Oh my god if they try to redeem Teppei or make him sympathetic in any way I am DONE with this stupid show.

FUCK EVERYTHING. FUCK THIS SHOW. FUCK THIS SHIT. WHAT THE FUCK.

Mere words cannot begin to describe my state of incomprehension and hatred right now.

Wait a second there's more than three of the shitty wannabe punks. What the fuck that's not allowed.

Okay everyone who said Gou was doing a good job in regards to respecting the premise of the original series owes me 20 bucks and a handwritten apology. There's literally no way you can turn an irredeemable asshole like Teppei into anything even approaching a good character. There’s no reason why you should.

You know Teppei's so good at beating up children and blackmailing people for a living I would've thought he'd be better in a fight.

You know it'd be real funny if Teppei becoming somewhat decent was Satoko's first sign that she's done something horribly wrong.

Dreaming of his shitty ends and that motivating him to be better is a logical thought process, but Satoko's uncle is literally designed as a character to be someone you hate. He used Satoko as a punching bag and inflicted most of her most damning psychological wounds. You can't just hand-wave that within the context of this series!

Satoko why are you bantering with someone who almost killed you multiple times.

It's nice that the abusive asshole doesn't ask to be forgiven, I guess.

YEAH THANK YOU FOR REMINDING US WHAT HE ACTUALLY USED TO BE LIKE.

Okay, yeah, this is absolute bullshit. I can understand why its important to show how looping can change someone by making them vaguely remember all the shitty ways their lives can go, essentially realizing the future consequences of their actions, and I can get the abuser trying to reconcile with their victim. I can get Higurashi Gou making these decisions in a vacuum, but this is not a fucking vacuum, this is a continuation of an earlier series where we saw this guy drive Satoko to whimpering terror time and time again. She screamed, threw up, and went into a frenzy because she thought he was coming for her. He leaves her black and blue -they animated bruises, a swelled eye in the manga, cuts, all of it. He wore her down psychologically into nothing but a quivering drone terrified of putting a finger wrong. And then Gou is like “Actually, he’s fine now.” and its just, no. No, you can’t do that. You cannot make a character like that sympathetic or redeemable, because you have spent a good two or three hours (spanning both series) showing us why he’s not. You don’t get to spit on the first Higurashi like that.

#Higurashi Gou #Higurashi no Naku Koro ni #Higurashi When They Cry #spoilers #liveblog

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dereksmcgrath · 3 years

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This series started with Izuku, whose “legs just started moving” because someone “looked like [they] needed saving” before he realized what he was doing. Thanks to Ochaco, this chapter brings us back to people whose legs started moving because Izuku looked like he needed saving.

“A Young Woman’s Declaration,” My Hero Academia Chapter 324

By Koehi Horikoshi, translation by Caleb Cook, lettering by John Hunt

Available from Viz

Spoiler warning for World Heroes’ Mission.

I don’t like how many of my posts lately have included the disclaimer “I don’t give Ochaco Uraraka enough credit.” It gets to a point that I’m protesting too much and exposing some dislike for the character–which is not true, I do like the character–or it’s me struggling to put into words what I like about the character.

She has been a pivotal part to all of My Hero Academia, and I don’t just mean how this chapter reminds us that she was the first new student Izuku met and that she helped him before he fell on his face during qualifying exams. No, what I mean is that, without Ochaco, a lot of where we are in this plot, for good or bad, would not have happened. While other characters have stood out due to some quirk–a personality detail, an eye-catching design, or a literal Quirk–Ochaco’s importance gets overshadowed because, without her, we would not have arrived at some parts of this story.

I need to re-read previous blog posts to appreciate what she provides to My Hero Academia, and part of that challenge is that there is the considerable gap in my reviews following the Sports Festival Arc. So, I haven’t written here about how impressive her character progression has been. We saw her thought process after losing to Bakugo, as she chose to work under Gunhead to increase her combat training, a skill set we have seen applied in ways that advanced the plot–not necessarily in ways that ultimately helped her, seeing as her ability to disable Toga is what gave her the opportunity to imitate her in the License Exam Arc, which then got her access to Izuku’s blood to imitate him in the Shie Hassekai Arc, and what led to Toga finally unlocking the Quirks of others, starting with Ochaco’s, in the Meta Liberation Army Arc.

Look at all of that: it’s because of Ochaco’s presence that all of that happened in one arc.

I’m ambivalent whether there is going to be some satisfying payoff to Ochaco and Toga’s story, as this chapter has the very brief reference to their connection that I don’t think works as well here in a comic book format–one brief panel showing her memory of Toga smiling despite tearing up, that is continuing the awkwardly construction symbolism of smiles in this series (All Might telling people to smile, Shigaraki’s terrifying re-deployment of such smiles for different ends)–but that I hope will play better with timing and an extended pause for Ochaco whenever this story is adapted for the anime.

But what I’m pointing out is how Ochaco has been relevant to moving the plot along. I don’t think the series at any point has really given her a satisfying character development arc since the Sports Festival, largely because that arc wrapped up her development–she wanted to be a hero to support her family, she realizes she needs to be a hero to protect others, she wants to protect Izuku because he’ll protect others, protecting others means that a lot of other people will be saved and not just her family. This chapter tries to approach all of that again by showing us her memories of her parents cheering on a Pro Hero, something we saw recently in the anime when Ochaco and Shinso saved Izuku from the newly emerged Blackwhip Quirk.

But it feels like the plotline of Ochaco’s rise in heroic work has been dangling for so long, and to return to it to, as I have complained before, build her story as one supporting our main protagonist Izuku, still feels like there is a lot left unfinished to really give Ochaco more to do. There is still time to see how this all pans out, as the story is not finished, and I have to suspend judgment until we see whether Izuku can stop All For One and redeem Shigaraki, and whether Ochaco can help Toga after all that the latter went through in a society that suppressed her desires to the point that she lashed out in awful ways. I just hope, after a disappointing beach episode and, honestly, very little for her to do in the three films, that we do see a new plot emerge for Ochaco. At least we’re not stooping to the same “Ochaco has a crush on Izuku” gags, and, yeah, I’m still whining about those.

I had written last time how I had hoped for speeches by Eri, Kota, and the giant bystander to echo Ochaco’s speech. This approach by Horikoshi and company works a lot better. We’ll see Eri again soon, I bet, given her and Monoma’s presence in the previous chapter and Aizawa’s brief cameo in this one. But the flashback to Kota picking out red shoes like Izuku’s, the giant bystander’s brief remarks from the sidelines that the angry crowd could hear, followed by both silently approaching the devastated Izuku on the ground–all of that worked, using images over words to do what comics should.

Speaking of Izuku, I appreciated how raw this chapter was in showing how much pain he is in, mentally and emotionally, not just physically. The crowd seeing how damaged he is physically does invite comparisons to the unmasking elevated train scene in Spider-Man 2 as everyone sees how young he is. And I love that the first bystander that talked to Izuku way back in Chapter 1 is here again, grimly looking at what has happened to this boy he made one passing encouraging comment to. Despite my suspicions still about Nezu–is his expression one of concern at new heroes getting in the way of his plans, or honest appreciation to see Ochaco rise to the occasion and how devastated Izuku has been through all of this–it is a heartwarming ending to this chapter that has been needed. Things are obviously going to get grim again, based on how Hawks, Todoroki, and Endeavor were looking, especially with the League still out there, but this reprieve is as needed as the one Izuku needs to recuperate.

Speaking of Chapter 1, we return to Izuku’s narration that this is the story about how he became the world’s greatest hero. I do think there is a cheat to now reveal that this is the story about how they all became the world’s greatest hero, but I can overlook that trick given what I have said about this franchise, and what it has made obvious for so long: there is no one individual who can save the day, that work depends on collaborative effort. As I said before, All Might’s failure was that he did not work with others, not only in terms of trying to be the Symbol of Peace alone, not only for staying out of contact with Nana’s family, Gran Torino, and Nighteye, but also because he did not use all the Quirks that One for All could have provided to him. Izuku has learned that lesson so fast over one year, that the only way any of us are getting out of national, global, or societal problems is by working together.

Trying to reach agreement with people who disagree with you is hard; it’s even harder when, in Izuku’s world, people are ready to sacrifice Pro Heroes to whoever is ready to kill them, and in our world we have allowed rightwing terrorists to work in our representative government so that anything–guns, theocrats, poverty, COVID–can kill us.

But if there is any optimistic thought I have about what Izuku says, and it may be another cheat by the story, it’s just exactly who “we” is when he says “the story of how we all became the greatest heroes.” The previous images showed the people who saved Izuku: Ochaco, Bakugo, Iida, Tsuyu, Todoroki, Eijiro, and other classmates. But that’s not who appears on the two-page spread when Izuku says “we”: it’s him, Kota, and the giant bystander. I’m not expecting Kota to become a Pro Hero by the end of the manga’s overall story; I don’t expect the unnamed giant to stop being a bystander. But their presence with Izuku shows that the heroes here are not the Pro Heroes but people within a society fixing the problem in front of them.

I’m struggling to put this into words that doesn’t devolve into Captain Hammer singing “Everyone’s a Hero in Their Own Way,” as that song already exposes the emptiness of such platitudes. But like trying to talk about Ochaco, I’m struggling to talk about how this ending just works, as it gives hope that My Hero Academia changes the definition of “hero” from a Pro Hero to someone who runs without realizing it to help someone in need. It’s why it’s kind of weird that this chapter is named after Ochaco, whereas I think this and the last chapter needed to reverse their titles: the last chapter’s title, “That Single Step,” seems more evocative of how this chapter ends, with someone taking steps to run up to Izuku.

#my hero academia #manga review #izuku midoriya #ochaco uraraka #mha spoilers

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