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makeste · 7 months

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BnHA Volume 35 - A Brief Reaction Journey

hello! so as mentioned in my last post, I’ve started catching up with the BnHA manga again FINALLY after almost two years, and have made it through a fair number of chapters so far! and since I’m not sure how long it will take me to actually post the corresponding liveblogs, I figured I’d make a couple of posts in the meantime to sort of preview my reaction journey thus far with some good old-fashioned OUT-OF-CONTEXT BULLET POINTS taken from my ramblings. originally I was going to make a single post for all 25 chapters I’ve read so far (up to 367), but I quickly realized that was waaaaay too ambitious lol. so for now it’s just this one, and I’ll put up the vol. 36 post probably tomorrow afternoon.

spoiler warning: just fyi, this post will obviously feature spoilers for chapters 342-350*, BUT it will also include some stray spoilers from chapters 362 and 403 as well, so just a heads up for that if you aren’t fully caught up!

*chapters 340 and 341 are not included because I've already posted full reaction posts for each one here and here, respectively.

Chapter 342

Endeavor being taller than Jeanist just feels so WRONG to me regardless of whether or not it is factually accurate. does this mean All Might is also taller than Jeanist?? I don’t want to live in a world where Best Jeanist has secretly been a perfectly normal sized person this entire time. someone please lie to me and tell me that he is tall

many thanks to Kacchan for inserting this small bit of levity into this scene which was otherwise well on its way to sending me into a SPIRAL OF FEELINGS, and in fact still is whenever I look at that panel of Deku with Eri and Kouta, and also that GODDAMN HUG WHERE HE AND INKO ARE BOTH CLEARLY AND PAINFULLY AWARE THAT THEY MIGHT NEVER SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN, AND IN THAT MOMENT THEY’RE JUST TRYING TO HOLD THE OTHER AS TIGHTLY AS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE, AND SHE’S PRAYING TO WHATEVER DEITY IS OUT THERE THAT HE’LL COME BACK SAFE AND WHOLE, AND HE’S PRAYING THAT HIS MOM WILL BE ALL RIGHT EVEN IF HE DOESN’T COME BACK, AND NOT ALLOWING HIMSELF TO THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH HE ALREADY MISSES HER, BECAUSE HE CAN’T THINK LIKE THAT ANY MORE, BECAUSE THIS BOY IS FULLY GROWN NOW BECAUSE HE HAD TO BE, BECAUSE HE HAD NO CHOICE, AND I’M BOTH SO PROUD AND SO FUCKING SAD ABOUT IT AND I JUST NEED A MINUTE HERE ACTUALLY, OKAY!! OR FIVE MINUTES!!

LMAO WHAT AN AUSPICIOUS AND NOT-AT-ALL OMINOUSLY FOREBODING NAME. “hmmm what should we name our new class 1-A fortress?” “hmm well I was thinking maybe Troy, after the legendary city with the famously impenetrable walls, which to the best of my knowledge were never breached, or at least that’s what I assume since I never finished reading The Iliad! :) :) :) ...wait, why are you all looking at me like that. they didn’t actually breach them, right? guys? what happened to Troy? GUYS?”

I’m actually so proud of Deku because he’s come such a long way from the days when the mere CONCEPT of even TALKING to a girl was enough to floor him lol. but also I’m legit cracking up at he way he tried to segue into random small talk in the middle of the goddamn apocalypse. gotta be smooth about it!! casual!! you can tell how casual they are because both of them are suddenly struck by the inexplicable urge to fuss with their hair!!

Horikoshi really said “FUCK YOUR SQUADS!! ...but if we had a Todosquad this is who would be in it I guess”

my god. between this and the OchaDeku conversation the villains truly do not stand a chance do they? and they don’t even know how screwed they are yet. REDEMPTION IS COMING!! IT’S KNOCKING ON THE DOOR, TRICK OR TREAT, Y’ALL READY FOR THIS

Chapter 343

so we’re opening with everyone’s favorite Guy With An Old Wad Of Chewing Gum For A Face, AFO!

did this son of a bitch kill Nao’s dad and steal his sexy lie-detector quirk??

sob AFO is all “can I have your son’s cell phone number please” and they’re all “SURE”

bonsoir little Yuuga

do. ...do you not actually know. was this meeting not prearranged. “why are you here Aoyama?” “why are you here, Deku?” truly, why are any of us here??

I’m sitting here trying to play the “guess which parts of this dialogue are real vs fake” game and coming up completely stumped on every single sentence

so Yuuga’s all “can you believe that even though the city of Musutafu is basically down to just U.A., a Dollar Tree, a couple of crumbling park benches, and one very determined Starbucks, we somehow still have functioning courts and lawyers?” I actually can’t believe that at all tbh. you’re telling me “it’s the fucking apocalypse” is still not a good enough excuse to get out of jury duty

damn, Aoyama out here with the trash talk and the ON YOUR LEFT?!

MONOMA??!?!?!?!

Chapter 344

“Eraser’s” plan, indeed. you dare say that right to Kaminari’s face

SHINSOU!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?

HEYA YOURSELF YOU HANDSOME KNAVE!! LOOK AT YOU!! fucking loving the costume my dude! pretty please tell us your hero name to go along with it. is it MindCraft. I think your hero name should be MindCraft. don’t look at me like that Shinsou we need more punny hero names in the world

“yes well you see, I couldn’t do it, so I learned how to do it.” great story Shinsou

the way he’s rubbing the back of his neck there. are we gonna get some real Monoma character development at long last. feels like it’s long overdue and I am thrilled. he’s such a great character and I feel like we’ve only barely scratched the surface of who he actually is as a person and as a hero

THE UNEXPECTED VLAD KING MENTORSHIP WITH THE ARM AROUND THE SHOULDERS?? he really needed that support. outwardly he’s always made a big show of wanting his turn in the spotlight and begrudging class A for stealing the scene at every turn. but how much of that is really just an act. some of it? most of it? maybe even close to all of it? because right now he suddenly seems so small and young here and really wishing he wasn’t in this unenviable position of being one of the many World’s Last Hopes who are all way too fucking young

did Mirko’s giant robot hand just grow into an EVEN GIANTER giant robot hand??

long beautiful flowing mermaid hair. sorry what was I saying I kind of spaced out there for a sec

YES, AFO, ALL OF THIS TO SPLIT YOU UP YOU STUPID MUSH HEAD. MAYBE IF YOU EVER ACTUALLY FINISHED A MANGA IN YOUR GODDAMN LIFE YOU’D KNOW HOW A FINAL BATTLE IS SUPPOSED TO BE CONSTRUCTED. YOU MOLDY AVOCADO

Chapter 345

“no you don’t understand, we have so many sixteen-year-olds whose coattails we’re all hanging onto. we have sixteen-year-olds who can take over people’s minds. sixteen-year-olds who can create portals to warp you halfway around the world in an instant. and let’s not forget the sixteen-year-olds who can act their damn asses off. we have the best sixteen-year-olds in the world. our sixteen-year-olds are so much better than yours you fucking losers”

Deku I swear. if I’m about to discover that the reason you weren’t there to stop Kacchan from being literally, actually, canonically murdered is because your distracted ass got yoinked into the void by some no-name villain chucklefuck, I’m gonna...

don’t listen to him Aoyama you were magnificent. you were my favorite in all of the stage plays

BUT IS PHASE TWO SUPPOSED TO INVOLVE DEKU IN ANY WAY THOUGH??? HELLO??? IS ANYONE LISTENING TO ME??? I’M FROM THE FUTURE AND THIS IS URGENT, PLEASE

“I fucked up Ochako, I fucked up so bad” omfg Deku

she doesn’t want to hurt you Deku she just wants to shower you in love. in her own special way. by stabbing you a lot

anyway have fun on this... tropical island??? I guess?? Kacchan will just have to hold down the fort in the meantime. which I’m sure will go absolutely fine

Chapter 346

“th-th-this is really bad, right?” yes Tamaki, yes it is. you’re stuck here on the Super Mega Ultra Radical Gnarly Cracked-Out Wonder Stage with Shigaraki Fucking Tomura and at least two of you are about to die and I’M NOT OKAY

so now we’re also getting this hilarious insight into the inner workings of the Mega Ultra Tremendous Stupendous Incredible Sky Coffin and it is truly, truly phenomenal

Horikoshi stop taking my sarcastic jibes and owning them completely challenge!! all the best sixteen-year-olds. all the finest greatest Hyper Ultra Sparkle Glimmer Wonder Battle Stages

this is genuinely one of the boldest lampshading efforts I have ever seen in fiction you guys

“yes, we acknowledge that this does indeed seem impossible to have pulled off, BUT have you considered that, fucking quirks though???? AND THAT THEY ARE, AS THE KIDS SAY, WILD??”

Chapter 347

lmao they’re shouting at Monoma accusingly and he’s all “I’M HAVEN’T BLINKED AT ALL YOU GUYS I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU”

don’t mind him, he’s just out here growing out his hideously malformed hands and fingers endlessly from every part of his body, normally, as one does. nothing quirk-related about it. anyone could do this if they simply exercise and maintain a balanced diet. this 100% is not a quirk y’all it’s just essential oils

SUDDEN MONOMA FEELS DELIVERED TO MY DOORSTEP???

awwww. the way he’s almost panicked, frantically wondering if he somehow fucked the quirk up and desperate for Aizawa to believe him that he’s trying his best. and Aizawa quick to reassure him. this kid is so desperate for approval. and unapologetically careening his way onto my top ten character list, welcome dear boy

so that’s that. see you in two years Deku. his last words spoken out loud to Kacchan were, and I quote, “wha --”

Aizawa is so hopelessly impossibly hot at all times and I don’t know how the universe can handle his existence. he’s even doing it without activating his quirk now. no ponytails or anything. just an eyepatch and a dream

don’t mind me, I’m just out here doing literal algebra to figure out how long it would take Deku to get back here if he traveled at the same speed as All Might did in chapter 90 (30 seconds per 5km, apparently). about 20 minutes, give or take. well shit. hopefully he’s a little faster than Kamino-era All Might was, especially since he can fly and has that Fa Jin shit too. or maybe Rody can fly him lmao. or S&S’s hot fighter pilot boyfriend

“what’d Sensei say, Deku?” “he said no, looks like I gotta uber. can I borrow your credit card, I promise I will venmo you back”

unfortunately for Deku he does not realize he’s accidentally gotten himself caught up in what will undoubtedly end up being the most erotic and bisexual of the various final battles

can’t believe Deku has like 6 love interests and out of all of them, Toga is the first one who actually asks him out. good for you girl. gotta shoot your shot

Chapter 348

FELLAS IS IT GAY TO BREAK OUT INTO TERRIFIED BEN DAY DOTS BECAUSE A GIRL EXPRESSED HER CARNAL INTEREST IN YOU????

anyway so since Deku apparently doesn’t understand how romance works either, he’s trying his best to give an actual response by recontextualizing all of this in terms of the one big thing he does understand: All Might

you’re telling me you never wanted to stab All Might to death and then turn into him?? wow I just can’t believe it

but also... okay lol. so I was thinking about this sarcastically, but was then struck by the very unironic thought that there sorta kinda is someone whom Deku does, both consciously and subconsciously, try to be like, and who he also kinda does apparently share the same heart and mind as. at least if chapter 403 is anything to go by lol. soooooooo. huh

god damn it Toga. absolutely none of what you’ve said or done here has been even the SLIGHTEST BIT reasonable. you can’t just tell someone you want to stab them and be their girlfriend. and if and when they try to let you down easy by responding with the MOST THOUGHTFUL AND GENTLE REJECTION ANYONE COULD EVER POSSIBLY MAKE UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, because they’re actually the WORLD’S NICEST MAN, you can’t just respond by doing whatever it is you’re presumably about to do, which I’m guessing is gonna be really violent and unhinged

so Ochako is all “ever since we fought last time I’ve been thinking about you a lot!” and Toga is all “are you serious, YOU broke up with ME bitch” and now she’s standing behind her with a knife

“she’s the least predictable of our opponents” YEAH NO KIDDING LOL

“everyone knows that Toga is actually Ochako’s villain, like ffs Deku you haven’t even interacted with her since the Provisional Exam arc.” Deku they’re 100% right and you’re looking more and more the fool with each passing second

well all right lol. twenty minutes to get back to Musutafu. let’s just hope he doesn’t run into any traffic on the way

Chapter 349

what the fuck is OFA Dos’s quirk exactly and are we ever gonna get to it before I literally die of old age. at this point there’s gotta be a reason why he’s not using it, right?? so what’s the deal there? does he still somehow not know how? is it too dangerous? and I really need to know why II has the Bakugou gauntlets. tell me this isn’t one of the things we’re still waiting on answers for two years down the line because I swear to god I will cry

anyway so Deku’s saying he’s doing his best but he’s still “too slow”. WELL THEN MAYBE IT’S THAT TIME?? DEKU?? WHAT DO YOU SAY

NO FUCKING WAY LOL, CAN IT REALLY BE THAT EASY??!

OH WHAT THE FUCK, FUCK YOU NOT!CCHAN LOL YOU’RE JUST HERE TO COCKBLOCK HIM?

fuck. so has he used it since then?? is he gonna use it finally now that Kacchan’s alive and well again?? oh my god I need to shut up and stop asking questions and just keep reading. fuck

wow so Dabi’s literally just burning the All Might statue while he stalls for time trying to figure out how to beat his OP little brother who was literally engineered to be better than him sob. out of all the villains he’s probably the most screwed right now isn’t he

starting to get an inkling Dabi’s not happy that he doesn’t actually get to fight Endeavor. getting some subtle hints here and there that he might actually be upset about that

apparently wanting to fight Dabi and stop him from helping to destroy the world makes Shouto a pawn. wake up Shouto. stop being such a sheep, Shouto. can’t you see that saving the world is exactly what Endeavor wants you to do???!

this is just going to be seventeen chapters of Dabi talking about nonsense while they both stand around progressively getting hotter both literally and metaphorically isn’t it

Chapter 350

OH SNAP. [SLAMS HAND ON TABLE] HERE WE GO. IT’S FINALLY THAT TIME

well, well, well. to the surprise of absolutely no one. the real one who was responsible for everything this whole time

but I just have to pause real quick before we continue. because it absolutely cannot be a coincidence that AFO just happened to be there once again. just waiting in the shadows to magically swoop in the minute disaster strikes. and so, just like with baby Tenko, this immediately makes me suspect that Touya burning himself alive was not in fact a training accident at all. which is something I did not expect, and which, just. fuck, fuck, FUCK AFO. fuck this guy.

looks like the children's ward of a hospital?? wait, what??

how the fuck is he still so adorable. when exactly did the transition take place between adorable and sexily unhinged. right now Todoroki Touya still looks to be the absolute most adorable child on the planet

I miscalculated. I was not emotionally prepared to handle this chapter right now. I should not have clicked

really love to see that Touya didn’t just cave right away. wouldn’t have felt right, ngl. just doesn’t fit in with what we know about his character

oh shit wait we’re cutting back to Dabi talking to Shouto and he says he did come back home??

fucking why. goddammit what the hell. why is this the saddest fucking thing I’ve ever read. LOVE HIM!! SOMEONE!! ANYONE!! just love him, please. literally all he has ever wanted!!

JESUS. I HATE THIS. I am so upset right now. out of all of the horrific and traumatic and terrible, awful things that have happened to BnHA characters in their flashbacks, the thing that hits me the most out of all of them is this one image of a sixteen-year-old boy standing before an altar, with his family very much alive and standing RIGHT FUCKING THERE IN THE NEXT ROOM, and yet somehow feeling more alone than he’s ever been. so alone he literally gives up all hope in this one moment. my god I feel all of it and it’s so fucking devastating I keep having to stop typing so I don’t completely break down sobbing

well damn. after a rush of 15 and 13-page chapters, which were all admittedly appreciated by me in my race to catch up to Light Fades to Rain before this coming Friday, Horikoshi finishes up the volume with one hell of a 17 page finale. once again the Tododrama delivers. this was fucking phenomenal

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha vol. 35 #way too many characters to tag so I am not gonna bother!#bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #lotta 'calm before the storm' chapters in this one #also I was kinda disappointed by the cover of this volume ngl #but at least monoma and shinsou got their little moment on the back #vol. 36 post should be up tomorrow #vol. 37 post to follow once I finish the rest of those chapters #and then I'll start posting the actual recaps again probably in a couple of weeks or so #once I finish catching up

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shera-dnd · 8 months

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Late to day 2, but I still delivered.

Ochako and her party venture beneath the city of Baldur's Gate in search of Toga's former master

Yes. This means exactly what you think it means. BALDUR'S GATE 3 AU!!!

Originally this was gonna be Durge!Toga, but that would take way too many words to do it justice. Instead she's taking Astarion's place and Ochako is vaguely taking Shadowheart's, but I don't go too deep into that

anyways enjoy the read!

@togachakoweekoffical

The underground chamber before them stretched beyond what Ochako ever deemed possible.

Seven thousand and six souls, all trapped together in one colossal structure, hidden just beneath the streets of Baldur’s Gate.

And now the seven thousandth and seventh soul approached it.

Every step they took through Cazador’s manor only seemed to dredge up more and more unpleasant memories for Toga. But she couldn’t turn back, she would be free, no matter what it might cost her. And Ochako would be with her to the very end.

Their steps echoed as the party descended into the ritual chamber. Ochako and Bakugo took the lead as they advanced into the ritual chamber, their respective paramours trailing behind.

“It’s gonna be fine,” Midoriya reassured her in a whisper, “just remember the plan.”

Reflexively she adjusted her pack, causing their spare weapons to rattle and clang.

“Right,” Ochako nodded, then repeated to herself, “stick to the plan…”

Next to her Bakugo let out one of his annoyed ‘chk’ s, obviously not happy to have to rely so much on an ‘istik’ .

Behind them Toga was eerily quiet. For once she had no jokes, no quippy lines, not even a little casual flirt to throw Ochako’s way. All she had now was silence .

She was afraid.

Ochako’s hand itched to latch onto Toga’s own, to pull her close, and whisper to her that everything would be okay.

But she was never given the chance as Cazador spoke, “could it be? Has our prodigal daughter returned?”

His voice alone was enough for Ochako to want to put her mace through his face.

“Say girl , has the real world proven too much for you yet again? Have you come here to beg to join our family once again?”

“Family? You call this a family? You abused us! Controlled us!” Toga hissed and stepped forward, breaking formation, “How dare you call any of that a family!?”

“Oh come now, girl,” Cazador dismissed with a wave of his hand, “you of all people should know that that’s what families do. Did I not rescue you from a far more pathetic fate at the hands of your parents? At least this way your life will serve some higher purpose.”

“Shut up!” Ochako shouted without even thinking, “Himiko’s life is worth more than your stupid ritual! She’s our friend, our family, and we won’t just stand here and let you throw her life away like it’s your property!”

Cazador looked at her with a mixture of surprise and disgust, like he was looking down at the mud that got stuck to the sole of his shoot.

“I don’t remember asking for the opinion of cattle ,” he spat.

She heard Toga shout, “don’t you dare talk to her like that!” as she lunged forward to drive her knife through his eye.

A single tap of his staff was all it took to stop her, suspended in mid air before being thrown flying through the chamber.

One moment Toga was next to them, and the next she was trapped by the ritual circle. The final soul needed for Cazador’s ascension.

Cazador cackled as his servants began to gather around the group of adventurers.

“Okay! New plan,” Deku announced, raising his hand and readying a triple shot of Eldritch Blasts, “Uraraka, you need to free Toga before the ritual is finished. Kacchan and I will keep them off you as best as we can.”

“Tsk’va!” Bakugo cursed, though he still drew his battleaxe, “don’t you dare call me that in public!”

Were this any less urgent of a situation, Ochako would have pointed out that everyone at camp had heard him call Izuku ‘ source of my bruises ’ as if that was the sappiest nickname githyanki culture could conjure.

As it stood, mocking the emotionally constipated gith could wait, right now she had a girl to save.

In a single Misty Step Ochako crossed the entirety of the ritual circle, stopping right at the step of the platform that held Toga.

The woman squirmed as the magical force held her suspended in mid air, her very soul being drained into the red beam of light.

Ochako’s heart tightened at the pain she saw in Himiko’s face, and she didn’t need the parasite to tell just how terrified the girl was.

Before she could take another step a werewolf slumped dead in front of her, a javelin firmly impaled through its throat.

“Pay attention, istik!” Bakugo barked, bringing her back to reality.

Right.

Can’t get distracted at a time like this.

Ochako shoved the werewolf’s corpse aside, and stepped up next to Toga.

Underneath an intricate array of magical runes held her in place. If Momo was here, she would have cleverly unraveled the spell at the seams before giving a detailed explanation of its function.

Ochako’s solution was nowhere near as elegant, but it got the job done.

She slammed her mace down, cracking the stone under it and splitting the rune in half. This seemed enough to break whatever spell was keeping Toga in place, gently dropping the woman into Ochako’s arms.

“I got you,” Ochako assured her, “I got you, Himiko.”

The only response she got was a loud hiccuping sob as Himiko clung to Ochako as tightly as she could.

“I will never let anyone hurt you, not anymore,” Ochako soothed, before reaching for her backpack and shouting, “Midoriya, now!”

Without a second of hesitation the warlock turned his entire focus on Cazador, trapping him inside a spell of Hold Person.

Bakugo, for his part, needed no order to jump to Izuku’s defense, making sure his companion would be able to keep focus on the spell.

Ochako pulled a different mace from her bag, with a bright golden head that shined like the sun.

“Remember what you said when we first got this?” Ochako spoke softly to Himiko. Their entire time at the Temple of Lathander had been a massive fiasco, but Toga’s words after they had all been revived had stuck with her somehow. “Something between a nice summer’s day -”

Himiko’s hand rose to meet Ochako’s, their fingers wrapping together over the handle of the Blood of Lathander, as she spoke.

“- and the full concentrated power of the sun.”

The mace ignited, a bright beam of sunlight burning through the darkness of the cavern. It was nothing compared to the lance that destroyed the temple, but it was more than enough to reduce a vampire to dust.

Himiko’s hand dropped, the legendary mace falling down to the ground and rolling off harmlessly.

She stumbled towards the ashes of her former master and looked down, almost in a trance.

“He’s dead,” she spoke, and whatever spell had dulled her emotions finally shattered .

With a shivering gasp, Toga kicked away his ashes with all her might.

“You’re dead!” she cried, stomping the ground where the bastard once stood again and again, “Dead! Dead! Dead!”

Her cries broke down into sobs as she fell to her knees, tears falling over what was left of the scattered ashes.

Toga hadn’t even noticed Ochako approaching her until she was pulled into her gentle arms.

“You’re safe now,” she soothed. “ I promise. ”

#togachakoweek2023 #togachako #my hero academia #toga himiko #uraraka ochako #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 au #momo is gale in this btw #yes this means she fumbled mystra

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beans-and-shet · 1 year

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TMMN Episode 8 Thoughts

I’m gonna give a full review for episode 8 here. I have a lot of thoughts. Don’t read if you don’t want spoilers.

The art was good, but after watching it a couple times and letting it sink in, overall I’d say this episode whiffed hard when comparing it to the manga. I came out of it disappointed.

There were 5 things in particular I was hoping to get from this episode (cat Ichigo + Masaya kiss, shit not hitting the fan in only one day, full Masaya transformation sequence, angry Masaya when he rescues Ichigo, good action sequences), and New kind of only delivered on one of them (the action sequences), and even that was me being generous. The action scenes were better here than in recent episodes, but that was mostly just for Quiche vs the Blue Knight. It still wasn’t anything I’d write home about, but definitely an improvement.

First of all, Quiche kidnapping Ichigo so early into the episode after what happened in the previous episode felt way too rushed and like a "not this again" moment. And it looks like they really did skip the iconic Masaya/cat Ichigo kiss scene rest in pieces. How can they not show him realizing she was the cat from that night in s1e10?? Even if they do it later (after the final boss fight concludes) it seems like it would feel out of place at that point. I really wanted to see his reaction and that scene was in my top 5 scenes from the manga. Also, given how much they wanted to cram into this episode, I am surprised they wasted the pre-opening portion of the episode on a recap from the previous episode. As it stands right now, I still think from a pacing standpoint that it was a bad idea to have the lunch date happen as late as it did. They needed at least one episode of buffer between Ichigo and Masaya’s reveals for the pacing to feel right. I would have preferred two episodes of buffer, which is why I was originally hoping the lunch date would be in episode 5. If it had happened in episode 5 or 6, they could have sprinkled a few moments in to make Masaya’s worried reaction about Ichigo being a mew mew feel more natural. And it also wouldn’t feel like such a clusterfuck of reveals happening right at the end. There was nothing major in episode 5 or 6 that chronologically needed to happen before the lunch date anyway. Also, in the manga, when he told her he didn’t want her to fight anymore, he hugged her from behind after subconsciously rescuing her from drowning (aka almost DYING) in his blue knight form and he also saw the injury on her arm. He noticed it right in the moment too, not a day or two after she actually got hurt like what happened in New. The execution of these particular events in new, like the Quiche kidnapping, was very clunky and too fast paced.

Now for the Quiche confession scene. The first half of this scene should have been at night. At least the dark blue polluted air came in for the second half to match the scene’s vibe a bit better. I did like how New really portrayed from Ichigo’s perspective how scary and awful this was throughout the entire experience. There was no blush and "does he really love me?" after her ass just got choked. I do think choosing to have Quiche choke her after he finished crying tho is gonna make his redemption moment come off as way weirder than it did in the manga (and this is coming from someone who never thought the manga executed it very well either). But we’ll see, that’s just how I feel about it right now.

For the Blue Knight rescue oh boy, there are several things. I did think it was cool that Masaya could harness some of his power in his base form. But for the most part, this scene disappointed me. They took out most of the emotion from Masaya’s voice that should have been in his final "I said let her go!". His expression was also quite blank. I wanted to see him mad, dammit. He’s someone who is typically very calm and collected, so that moment in the manga when he yelled with that furious face was awesome and very impactful! Idk how whoever directed this episode thought it was a good idea to take that away. Their hug after she got freed from the webs restraining her wrists was cute. And I loved how Ichigo blocked Quiche’s attack. But then Masaya prevented her from fighting anymore, saying he would protect her. The manga’s portrayal of this was much better. There, Masaya told Ichigo to go help her friends against Tart so he could keep her away from the guy who tried to assault her and also question Quiche further on what he meant. New right now is making it seem like Masaya doesn’t want Ichigo to fight at all, which isn’t quite right. He is worried about her, but if he is there to help and have her back, he’s generally supportive (case in point, the Zakuro mew aqua fight from the manga).

And we know in a la mode and re-turn that while Masaya worries about Ichigo, he won’t stop her from fighting (and even encouraged her to go back to Tokyo in a la mode) so there’s that too. Lastly, NO LEGITIMATE TRANSFORMATION SCENE FOR MASAYA, WHY WORLD WHY?!!! Like I guess I have to riot now wtf. I am so bummed about that.

For the fight at cafe mew mew, it was nice to see Tart not getting that into the fight cause he didn’t really like the idea of fighting Pudding anymore. At least his change of heart will feel more natural. Also, it’s an interesting choice to keep Mint restrained at home. Will she reveal her identity to her brother or find a way to sneak away? I know she’s gonna probably be the one to stop her brother’s air purifier.

I am shocked we are already getting Deep Blue next episode. The re-turn outfit is here and I’m sad his fancy pattern isn’t on the green part of his outfit. But otherwise, he looks good. Here’s hoping we get lots of crazy facial expressions from him. New really took my guesses for how the pacing would go and flipped them on their heads. I didn’t think we’d get Deep Blue until the end of episode 10. Since they are investing so much time into the final fight, I really hope they make it worth it and give some great drama and original action scenes. ESPECIALLY SOME DETAILS tying Deep Blue to the original alien society on Earth and how exactly Masaya came to be. Also, New please give me a good shot of this panel (tho that’s probably gonna be for episode 10) holy shit:

With Deep Blue being introduced this early, it also seems like it opens up episode 12 to have more room for cute moments in its second half. I know we’re probably gonna get that cheesy wedding scene for Ichigo and Masaya so I am looking forward to that.

#tmmn spoilers #tokyo mew mew new #tokyo mew mew #if anyone wants to chat about this with their own thoughts please hmu in responses or dms I need to talk about this haha

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setsuraposting · 2 years

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I Think I Understand Seimei Now

I just finished rereading the Nura manga, and I have some thoughts about quite a few things, but here I want to talk about the main villain Abe no Seimei.

I’ve long considered Seimei to be possibly the worst-written character in the series, largely as a result of his transition from “I love my mom so very much” to “I’m casting my mom to Hell” feeling jarring, nonsensical, and unearned, with him not getting the opportunity for much more characterization afterwards, which leaves him feeling like a generic final boss whose motivations don’t even really make sense.

This seems to a pretty common sentiment, too; one of the TV Tropes pages on the series echoes a similar feeling, and in the 2nd popularity poll he ranked abysmally low, in 56th place tied with Nuregarasu, Karasu-Tengu’s wife who only showed up for one chapter (Seimei didn’t exist yet at the time of the 1st poll, and the 3rd only gave us the top ten results). So I think it’s fair to say that Seimei is not a very well-received antagonist.

And while I absolutely understand why, and still don’t think he’s a good character persay, I’ve started to understand what I think the author was trying to go for, and how it could’ve been effective if things had been more fleshed out. While talking to Hagoromo-Gitsune before the final battle, he says something along the lines of “I must stay strong, and for that you had to die”, and then it all clicked. He didn’t send her to Hell because he didn’t care anymore; it’s precisely *because* he cared so much that she couldn’t be allowed to exist anymore.

Seimei’s whole ideal is that for harmony to exist, he must absolutely rule over everything, and that means *everything*. If he ages and dies, the perfect world he creates will wither away, so he must conquer death through reincarnation and later the Gokadoin longevity technique. If there are factions not loyal to him, they can disrupt the peace, so he’ll eradicate all the humans and youkai who don’t swear allegiance and then preside over the society that remains after.

And, if his beloved mother is still with him, that means he has a glaring weakness, an exploitable flaw in his otherwise impenetrable being. Her death is what caused him to have a mental breakdown and start down the path of darkness in the first place, and more than anything he wants to prevent that from happening again, because that would make him an imperfect and vulnerable leader. Just as with conquering death and eliminating everyone not loyal to him, Seimei’s passion for his Hagoromo-Gitsune is another “weakness” or volatile element that he feels need to be purged in order to ensure his eternal rule can never be interrupted again.

This is actually quite an interesting idea (at least compared to my previous conception of the character), but unfortunately it’s barely fleshed out at all, to the point where I only realized it on my second read-through. A lot more could’ve been done with this, and maybe it was supposed to be and the final arc getting rushed by the higher-ups just prevented that. If things had been been allowed to play out the author originally intended, Seimei probably could’ve ended up feeling more than a stoic genocidal bad guy, but that just never got the chance to happen.

#nurarihyon no mago #nura rise of the yokai clan #abe no seimei

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kiljoius-writes · 1 year

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Tag - Chapter Twenty Six - BONUS

Ao3 | FFN

Previous Chapter

First Chapter

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE “TAG” FIC

Warning: Headcanons galore ahead.

None of this is required reading for the enjoyment of Tag, it is simply some enrichment, I guess you could say. Clarifies some things possibly, adds backstory for my OCs and how they fit into the Narutoverse. Things I wish I could have put in the fic but were just simply unnecessary to Hanabi and Konohamaru’s stories (who the fic is really about, ofc). As well as the outline of the original story.

Feel free to skip it in case you have specific things in mind for characters never specified in the actual fic. I know sometimes hearing the authors ideas can ruin an image of a character you’ve crafted in your head, so I won’t be offended at all.

Be warned, this is messy and not meant to be taken as "good writing." It's basically me just ranting and raving and sharing my outline. :p Thanks.

Ow. This is painful.

It took me so long to finish that damn epilogue because I just didn’t want it to be the end.

I loved writing this story so, so much. It hurts to end it, but that was its natural conclusion.

Thank you all so, so much for sticking with it and getting to this point with me. I love these two and all the other characters I wrote. I will continue to manifest KonoHana energy into the ether in the hope it will result in something canon. At the very least, we can hope our babies are treated with more respect in the manga/anime.

Regardless, this has been my favorite fic to write at this point. It was the first one I really planned out and put a lot of thought and research into. All of your comments fueled me, every single comment I got compelled me to reread the entire thing to make sure it was good enough for you all because you (we) all deserve the best.

Also, thank you for indulging in my silly little OCs. Hanabi’s background is ambiguous, and I didn’t want to force her into Konohamaru’s team, so I came up with a few OCs (Jun, Eiji, and Tora). Honestly, I ended up loving them by the end of it, and I hope you guys think they were at least okay as her team. I wanted her to be in a female-dominated environment, but with a male who was sensitive to her. They were crafted around her, but honestly, I love them as individuals now and may or may not have more in stock for them as a team in the future. Don’t get me wrong, my proudest part of this fic is the development of Hanabi and Konohamaru HANDS DOWN. But I will admit, I love my silly little OCs (even Maki and Shinjuu, if you remember them, too).

Further, everyone who commented was a godsend, more than I deserve. But everyone who simply left kudos, a bookmark, or just read it from start to finish, are important, too, and I appreciate every one of you.

Finally, if any of you have any KonoHana fics you’d like to recommend (I know lots of my readers have guest accounts) please, please put them in a comment. I’d love to read them, and I know some people reading would love to read them, too! All of the ones I love are in my bookmarks, all you have to do is filter for KonoHana and you’ll find them, and I definitely recommend every single one!

P.S. As a parting gift, in addition to fic recommendations, if you guys have any prompts or general vague ideas you’d like to see a story for these two about, I HIGHLY encourage you to put it in a comment or DM to me on tumblr or discord or whatever you use (all my contact info is in my profile!) I’d love some inspiration and writing for anyone who read my monstrous 260k fic about these idiots would be a treat. Thanks :3

OCs are a contentious subject when writing a shipfic, I know, but I didn’t want to sandwich Hanabi into an existing team that she didn’t belong to or a sensei that wouldn’t realistically be taking on a genin team at the time she would have graduated. I crafted the OCs with her future characterization in “The Last” and “Boruto” in mind.

All ages listed are from the first chapter to the last chapter (not epilogue). Hanabi’s age starts at 10 (3 years after Part I, 1 year before Part II) and ends at 27.

Tadashi (Loyal) Age: 38-55

Probably my favorite OC. I thought it was kind of strange for Hanabi not to have a male guard? So I created one.

He’s branch, but highly respected by the main family anyway. He’s older than Ko and Natsu by over a decade, but younger than Hiashi. As Hinata and Hanabi grew old enough to not really require their help (if they ever did in the first place), the three gravitated towards each other naturally.

I envision him running in the same circles for a brief time with the InoShikaCho parents, sensei to the Naruto era sensei. Tora was on his team, along with two boys who constantly annoyed her.

It was his only stint with being a sensei when Hiashi recalled him to look after his brothers wife while she was pregnant. He remained as a guard for the main family thereafter.

When Hanabi was born, he was the one who carried Hiashi’s wife to the hospital, as Hiashi was gone on a diplomatic mission. He had been close with her before she married Hiashi, and he was charged with watching over her for her pregnancy as well. She begged him to watch over Hanabi like Ko did Hinata, and asked him to work with Natsu on ensuring she doesn’t have to fall into the same role as herself. He was conflicted about this, but made the promise anyway, not knowing if he could actually keep it.

Then she killed herself a few months later, since no one had taken her post-partum depression seriously. No one was allowed to let the girls know, they were simply told she passed from “sadness.” Tadashi and Natsu took comfort in one another, and he knew in his heart he couldn’t allow that to happen to these girls.

He helped Natsu raise Hanabi since Natsu was still a teenager herself when Hanabi was born, then stuck to the shadows for the most part, ensuring their safety.

During the fourth war, he remained behind to keep an eye on Hanabi, at the order of Hiashi, but he had no problems with that (he’s a lover, not a fighter).

When Konohamaru first ‘assaulted’ Hanabi, he was apprehensive of the boy. He knew he was the third’s grandson, but also knew he was prone to trouble. He quickly took a liking to him when Hanabi integrated herself into his group of friends. If forced to admit it, he was fond of the boy. The fondness grew as they grew into adults, and he was truly pleased to hear he’d be Boruto’s sensei.

Speaking of Boruto and Himawari, he favors Himawari, but would never let anyone know that. He’s pretty sure most of the compound agrees.

Yes, Tadashi had absolutely caught them kissing before. He only ever told Natsu, and they agreed to keep it quiet until they were ready to come out about it. They both enjoyed teasing her, though.

And yes, everyone in the Hyuga compound knows Hanabi is not sneaky whatsoever. Never had been, never will be. They let her believe she was so she didn’t try to get better at being sneaky, ensuring they’d be able to keep an eye on her better this way if she thought she was getting away with stuff.

It was a running joke between him, Natsu, and Ko. Even Hiashi got in on the joke once and a while.

Was very happy to see the clan leader soften with the grandchildren. Finally felt like he just might be able to keep that promise to Hanabi’s mother.

Approached Hiashi about it one day after Hanabi had become a sensei. Hiashi told him he was well aware of their relationship, and was simply keeping it in his peripheral for now. Tadashi was the one that told him he had a very difficult choice ahead of him, because the heiress was in love.

He thought Hiashi might be readying to close all his chakra points when he said that, but the man’s face softened with a sigh. Told him they’d cross that road when it came to it.

Incredibly relieved that Konohamaru finally (wo)manned up and spoke to Hiashi the way he needed to be spoken to.

However, Tadashi is a little irritated to admit that Konohamaru was probably the reason their clan changed at all.

Oh well. At least it was changed.

It was probably a little troubling to other clans that the Hyuga now had an Uzumaki Hokage jinchuriki along with the longest running Hokage’s grandson in their family, though.

If Konohamaru tried to get Hanabi to take the Sarutobi name, though, Tadashi wouldn’t stand for that.

Let them keep one, damnit.

Tora (Tigress) Age: 29 - 46

My lovely Nara character. I truly enjoy writing Shikamaru (not really romantically, just generally) and couldn’t resist making up a Nara OC. They’re a big clan, I figure there’s Nara’s floating around in all facets of society.

As she’s not part of the main family, she was never placed with any Yamanaka or Akimichi kids, simply got stuck with two boys she, to this day, is not fond of. She was, however, fond of Tadashi, and continues to be. He was always on her side when the team got into arguments, and often put the boys in their place in favor of her. In return, she was a decent student to him. Despite wanting to nap all the time, she took her role as a genin and eventually a chunin very seriously.

Her father pressured her to promote to jonin, as her older sister was a student of a legendary sannin herself. Tsunade was a familiar face in her household growing up, often coming by to share drinks with her sister when she was in the village. Shizune was also a close friend during those times as well, she had hoped to be on her genin team. Not a fan of Kurenai, found it annoying that boys fell over themselves to get her attention. She wasn’t jealous, okay? It was just dumb. But she really never had problems with her or Asuma. Just didn’t like to be near them, especially with those disgusting googly eyes they made at each other. Plus being around the Hokage’s son was actually kind of intimidating, if she was honest. Did enjoy when Moriko would treat all the academy students to dango after class when she’d pick up Asuma.

Ran in the same circles as the sensei from OG Naruto. Found Kakashi annoying, though did sympathize with him, having lost her mother, too. Found Anko’s antics amusing if they did not involve her, but would quickly disappear if Anko tried to rope her into anything. Had Genma in her ear far too often, and Ebisu was too rambunctious for his own good. Found herself around Ebisu far too often, and she did indeed push him into that ravine. She still denies it. Almost killed Gai one time when he and Kakashi’s battle intruded on her nap out in a nice field of flowers, and Gai came slamming down, nearly crushing her. The only other student besides Shizune she was somewhat close with was Rin. Was part of the group that called Kakashi a friend killer.

In her 20s, she apologized for it once she had matured and realized how wrong she had been. She tried to take him for drinks to somewhat make up for it, but he politely declined and told her they were fine. They still never talked much after that. Her father had been friends with Sakumo, but he never really talked about it, just told her to never let others make her feel unworthy. She never really knew what he meant until she was an adult, and stuck to that as a sensei to her one and only team. She never wanted any of her kids to feel insufficient, not Eiji, not Jun, not Hanabi. All of them always had value, to her.

When Tsunade came to her to become a sensei, she instantly said absolutely not. Then she told her it was specifically Hiashi Hyuga requesting her, as a former student of Tadashi, and Tsunade had to insist. Finally, she was told it was to be sensei to that Hyuga brat. Tora asked if she could think on it, and Tsunade told her that unfortunately, no, she couldn’t, because she was to pick the kids up the very next day.

Tora met with Hiashi that night and told him that if she was gonna take on Hanabi, she couldn’t have her guard leering about, even if she liked Tadashi. The girl needed to learn independence, and that would never happen with Tadashi and Natsu fretting over her.

Encouraged Jun to become a medic, a philosophy hammered into her by aunt Tsunade. Wasn’t totally sure what to do with Eiji, just sort of let her fall into that tracking role.

Was behind the scenes, trying to pull strings so her and her little team could visit Jun when he was hospitalized. Kakashi did tell her how bad the injuries were, and when she heard, decided it was best to wait and not tell Hanabi, lest she bust down the hospital room door.

Treated Shizune to an expensive meal after Jun recovered as thanks for her help in healing him.

Spoke with Kakashi after the fateful Anbu mission that dictated Hanabi kill branch Hyuga. She went to him at Jun’s pleading to find out why Hanabi was so withdrawn, and he didn’t give her the details. Kakashi simply told Tora that Hanabi had endured something he both understood and did not. Something he knew the pain of, but could never be in her shoes about.

What Kakashi meant—was that he understood how horribly painful it was to lose others, and kill others. Especially those that should mean something to you. But he also knew he could never understand what she went through, killing her own clansmen that sought to kill her, too.

Tora never questioned what he meant, simply nodded in understanding. Because Tora knew she could never really understand, either.

As for Konohamaru and Hanabi’s romance, she knew of Konohamaru’s crush after Hanabi’s injury and his mopey demeanor. Knew of Hanabi’s crush the moment she caught them coming out of the weapons store in the Grass. Definitely the first person to catch onto either of them. Admittedly, it was cute, but she was more concerned on Hanabi focusing. Then as they grew up and continued their stupid little game, Tora was just annoyed. Love is stupid. She’d meet with Tadashi once every couple of months to speak about Hanabi’s progress and she was the one who clued Tadashi in on what seemed like an obvious crush. During the battle portion of the chunin exams, when she saw Moegi about to leap into the arena to stop Hanabi, Tora was the one who yelled at Hanabi to stop. She couldn’t gauge whether Hanabi was actually capable of killing to poor kid, and figured it was going too far anyway.

Could understand the attraction between Hanabi and Konohamaru, both spoiled little kids of high standing clans, but not Eiji and Jun. Not that she was against their little relationship, it just confused her. She felt quite bad for Jun, taking on Eiji and her whole family, but he seemed happy, at least. Their happiness was paramount, even if she’d never admit it aloud.

Shizune phoned her one day, long after she’d retired as a sensei (she never took on another team, she refused), asking to meet with her and Tsunade to discuss business (betting on this stupid relationship). Shizune wasn’t a big fan of the betting pool, but did find it funny that Tsunade was so elated to bring gambling into village gossip. Tora immediately agreed, and helped Tsunade organize the whole thing. Had her cousins keep an eye on the pair while she did as well. Caught them kissing on far too many occasions—did they really think this was sneaky? Good gods.

Surprisingly, Shino Aburame had the largest stake. He was a quiet watcher, and was constantly, unintentionally, being fed information during his weekly tea (tea as in the beverage, but also tea as in…well, the gossip 😉) sessions with Hinata. Then when they became sensei, Shino was well aware of how these things were going to play out. Konohamaru was bound to snap, and his prediction was within the month it happened and they became public.

Many were none too pleased to find out he had won the most out of the pool.

Spends her retirement with her books, shows, and whiskey. Fine with not having found love, figured there were too many brats running around anyway and she enjoyed solitude. Still has drinks with Ebisu on occasion to gossip about their idiot high-standing clan kids. Usually ends in an argument and swearing to never speak again. Can’t resist using her shadow jutsu to make his mouth stop yammering.

While most sensei let their teams go once one or more promote to chunin, Tora stuck around longer at Tadashi’s request. Once Hanabi became a jonin, she finally stepped down and let Hanabi be the team leader. She was relieved for it.

She did miss those kids, though.

Eiji (Cheerful) Yorimaru (Trust) Age: 11 - 28

My sweet Inuzuka girl. Again, I flippin love Inuzuka clan stuff, Kiba’s my favorite, Tsume’s my favorite parent, Hana has the potential to be cool as hell, the puppies? Come on. I had to give Hanabi an Inuzuka teammate, and yes, I was very intentional on giving her a primarily female team. I don’t feel like we see it enough in the Naruto series (hence why I was over the moon that Hanabi had an all girls team—lets not talk about that, tho.)

The youngest of six, her oldest sibling is a sister 12 years her senior. She’d been an aunt since she was barely 9, and often loses track of how many nieces and nephews she has. Being around so many kids made her vow to never have her own, though she did fantasize about getting married. Being the runt of her litter forced her to be loud and obnoxious in effort to ensure she got some attention.

Tsume is her aunt, and she often hangs around Hana at the clinic. Kiba took it upon himself to train her since he himself had no one to really help him with Tsume and Hana being busy with their jonin and vet duties, respectively, and all of Eiji’s older siblings were too busy for her, too. Finds Kiba to be stupid, but has to admit he’s nice enough to pay attention to her. Adores Tsume, who adores her back.

Got Yorimaru while in the academy. Had to beat girls back while she trained with him because they all wanted a piece of the adorable pup. Would give her life for the damn dog she loved him so much.

Tough exterior, soft interior, as is typical, I think, of Inuzuka. Like she said on Hinata and Naruto’s wedding day, she loves love and couldn’t wait to be married. She had a crazy amount of crushes when she was in the Academy, Jun not being one of them.

Didn’t realize she had a crush on Jun until he kissed her forehead during the chunin exams. That brought up a lot of weird feelings, good and bad. Began discretely dating shortly after the wedding, especially after spending so much one on one time together after Hanabi’s kidnapping. They weren’t keeping it a secret, Jun just wasn’t a huge fan of public affection and she was trying to respect that. He did eventually come around, and you can often find her clinging to him, jumping on him, riding on his back, and just showering him with general affection. She gave Hanabi the same treatment, too, sometimes, if she’d allow it.

Was thoroughly surprised when she heard her name called alongside the Hyuga princess, as she’d been calling her. She didn’t have any qualms with Hanabi prior, just didn’t see the point in interacting with a spoiled, cold little girl. Same for Jun, he seemed weak and meek and she preferred louder company that could match her energy. But within weeks of being teamed, she found herself loving her teammates. Tora’s personality constantly clashed with her, but they eventually took to each other, too.

She’d always been annoyed by Konohamaru. You’d think they’d get on great as similar personalities as kids, but the way his voice sounded when he cried for Naruto or declared himself the next Hokage was grating to her. He liked to hang around her when his friends were absent, even called her friend, but she never returned the gesture, which he had been oblivious to. Then of course her teammate had to be in love with the idiot. He did eventually grow on her and now she’s happy to see him. Usually.

Cried when Jun proposed. Unashamed, streaks of tears, snot, the works.

Biggest fight between her and Jun is when he proposed getting a cat. Jun didn’t like to indulge in fights, but this was one he felt was just wrong on her part. She managed to convinced him she was allergic (he didn’t believe it, but decided the fight was tired at this point). They eventually agreed he could have a cat at his office in the hospital.

Impatiently awaiting Hanabi’s wedding. It better be as good at Naruto and Hinata’s, if not better. And she would demand to attend this reception, damnit! She can smell certain combinations of pheromones that indicate pregnancy, she’s been around her sisters and brothers wives too often when they were pregnant, she’s very familiar with the scent. And yes, whenever Hanabi comes around, she’s taking a long whiff to make sure. Depending on the timing, she would either kiss Konohamaru for making her an auntie again or murder him.

Jun (Obedient) Age: 12 – 29

My complete original creation I adore. He’s a sweetie and may or may not be distantly related to Sakura. It’s something I considered, but decided not to expand on. As of now, he comes from no notable clan and has no relation to any characters from the manga/show.

Parents died when he was young. Both were jonin who kept to themselves, and were killed in action on a mission. One of the reasons couples going on missions is frowned upon. Jun never found out what came of them.

Gentle nature and medical skills from his mother, sensory ability and reasonable personality from his father, from what he could remember. No one really knew his parents, either. During a one-on-one training session, Tora did tell him she recalled his mother being sweet. Encouraged him to start training as a medic because she knew his mom was one (and of course because of Tsunade’s influence). Decided that was what his calling was the moment she brought him to Shizune.

Though they rarely got to see it, when he wasn’t with his team, he was volunteering in the hospital and studying under Shizune. She was quite fond of him, and he her. She told him once she might have become a sensei herself if she could be guaranteed good kids like him. He reveled in that praise, never really getting it anywhere else except the occasional “good job, kiddos” from Tora.

Moegi was one of the only people to keep him company in the academy if her attention wasn’t on Konohamaru or Udon. She had been his first crush. Udon and he had a respectful friendship, admiring each other’s intelligence. Liked his entire team right away. He considered himself lucky to be on the same team as the Hyuga heiress, and did have some pride in being part of her protection, especially after he healed her during the Grass mission. She often came to him for healing, whether they were on a mission together or not.

It also hit him he might have some sort of feelings for Eiji after he instinctively kissed her in the chunin exams. They both avoided the topic for a long time before he forced himself to be brave after the wedding. She walked him home and he kissed her on the cheek. He found he quite liked the way her markings blended in with the blush on her face, and did it again.

Then she jumped his bones and his face was as pink as his hair.

Did the entire to-do for his proposal leading up to the Hokage inauguration. Took her to dinner, a moonlit walk, and got down on his knee in the midst of the forest. Cleaned her up as she sobbed. Took her last name, didn’t matter to him, anyway. Jun Inuzuka sounded just right. Went to his parents graves to tell them she accepted, and he finally had family, again.

Moegi was visiting her father’s grave when she overheard that shit and damnit if she didn’t cry ugly tears.

Relieved Eiji didn’t want kids. It was a tough topic to broach, but both were incredibly relieved neither wanted them. They’ll grow old without kids, surrounded by dozens of Inuzuka nieces and nephews (and they figure whenever Hanabi and Konohamaru had kids). Is very fond of the kids and has taken it upon himself to teach them medical jutsu at the very least to help with their pups should they need it.

Did eventually take Hanabi up on going in to do lessons at the academy in medical jutsu, where he ended up taking a liking to Wasabi. Reminded him of Eiji. Wasabi, as seen in Boruto, took on the mantle of medic (even though Hanabi initially thought it would be Namida) because of Jun’s influence.

Big KonoHana shipper, probably the biggest just behind Moriko. While he is more outwardly patient than Eiji, he is constantly impatiently waiting for this stupid dance to end so they can go back to just being a damn friend group. Every time Konohamaru and Hanabi had a fight, Jun fought the urge to join Eiji in berating her. Eiji did that enough for both of them. Just imagine this sweet, calm man outwardly smiling and offering comforting words, but in his head he’s cussing them both out and about to explode.

Discovered they were public when he saw Konohamaru shamelessly kissing her all over the face, similar to how Eiji might assault himself. Was a little irritated he had to find out that way, but was happy, regardless.

Finally, Jun was more than ready to move on from this.

Moriko (Forest) Age: 44 – 61 Hoshito (Courage) Age: 3 years younger than Moriko, deceased at 36

I’ve always had the idea that if Konohamaru had any alive parents in Naruto, it would be a doting mother who was much older than Asuma. I also liked the idea she’d be the daughter of the Hokage, honestly its probably just me trying to get more female characters in here. Moriko and to some extent Hoshito’s past were the hardest one for me to write, because these are characters that we know must exist in some form, but have almost zero information on except that they were highly respected, powerful Anbu.

But I liked the idea that she was a stout, round woman who was warm and kind, and her husband was the tall one (where else would Konohamaru get his height, Hiruzen and Biwako were tiny. She resented that Asuma ended up being tall, how the hell did her baby brother end up looking down on her?!), stoic but not cold like Hiashi, and fiercely loyal to his wife and Hokage.

Moriko grew up with her father being Hokage and doted on by Tsunade and Jiraiya. They often brought her treats from their travels. Not a fan of Orochimaru, even before his villainous turn. He always creeped her out and whenever he was around, she tried to play pranks on him to discourage him from coming around.

Wasn’t fond of baby Asuma, being nearly 14 when the kid was born. She was busy working towards jonin and distancing herself from the Honorable Daughter title. Babies sure seemed annoying, she was glad she made the decision not to have kids (oof, sorry Moriko. You were super wrong there). Ended up growing to like him when he could finally talk, and found he was actually kind of funny…kinda cute, she admitted. So she took on the task of walking him to and from the Academy for a few years, then would drop in by surprise to treat the class to treats. She enjoyed feeling like a celebrity to all those silly little kids.

Asuma kind of hated it, because it was always when he got Kurenai to pay attention to him, and then his big sister comes in and grabs everyone’s attention, including Kurenai’s. She was a huge wall in his plans, damnit.

Didn’t really know Hiashi and Hizashi that well, but they ran in the same circles and encountered each other quite often as important figures of the village. Found Hiashi to be her competition on more than one occasion for the top spot in class. Hoshito had been a few years younger than her, so she never knew him prior to her Anbu career. Whenever Hiashi promoted to jonin, she was demanding her father promote her, too. Hiashi was too smug when he joined her on her test mission. Then she decided she couldn’t fall behind, and joined Anbu. The look on his face was priceless and whenever she saw him, she took the opportunity to rub it in his face (even now, as an old man and woman).

As stated, never wanted to be Hokage, despised the idea. She saw how often it took her father from her, rarely seeing him. She only got to really know him when he retired and Minato was inaugurated. She told him, blatantly, that she resented that he was the Hokage and she never had a true father. He was regretful and did his best to make up for it by being a doting grandfather later, even though he had become Hokage once more. Once she had Konohamaru, she had softened her stance against her father and finally began welcoming interaction with him. Never told Konohamaru how much she resented his grandfather as a child, just ensured she wouldn’t repeat his mistakes. Konohamaru has no clue about his mothers strained relationship with his grandfather.

That’s why, when she met Hoshito in Anbu, she immediately pushed him away. Anyone who was a fanboy of her father was no friend of hers.

But he had fallen for her long before.

Hoshito, as stated, comes from no known clan. His parents died in the second war when he was a teenager, like so many others his age. He was three years younger than Moriko and always admired her in the Academy. She was fearless, never let anyone push her around, and skilled as all get out. He fell in love with her from afar at a fairly young age. The Hokage’s daughter had no clue she had an admirer all that time until he confessed it while they were on an Anbu mission.

She pushed him away immediately.

Like, no chances were given. She made it quite clear she wanted absolutely nothing to do with someone who followed her father so blindly. No matter what he said, he was just a fanboy.

And he wasn’t even remarkable in any way! Sure, he was skilled in wind style, complimenting her fire style when they had to battle together, and sure, he was strong, fast, had deep blue eyes, and—wait, no, not that.

He relentlessly pursued her anyway. He never saw her date around, she took her Anbu responsibilities seriously, and so did he. So when one night, they were forced to huddle together next to a fire in a cave in the Rain, relentless downpour, he took his chance and kissed her.

He got a punch in the gut when she confessed that had been her first kiss and he laughed in disbelief. He told her if she let him, he’d be the only one she kissed. She told him she didn’t realize he had such a way with flirting, and maybe he should have been doing that in the first place!

Oh, and he was tall. Moriko had always been a runt, so she often climbed him. Sat on his shoulders while he carried her around. He insisted, who was she to say no?

Hoshito was completely unbothered when Asuma threatened to kick his ass if he hurt his big sister. Asuma also wasn’t fond of fanboys of his dad, he and Moriko had always been on the same page about that. Even if she would pluck his cigarette from his mouth whenever she saw him and promptly stomp it out, threaten to kick his ass if he didn’t quit, damnit. How was Kurenai ever going to love an ashtray?!

Then Hoshito got her pregnant. Sheesh, what a romantic. And she was the one who told him they had to get married, now. He didn’t find anything wrong with that. She told him she’d kill him if he got her pregnant again, and he took that threat quite seriously. He knew she could kill him.

Regardless, they fell in love with Konohamaru the moment he was born, her being 33 and Hoshito being 30 (Asuma would have been 19, for reference). The name was suggested by Hiruzen, and Hoshito agreed. Moriko didn’t really mind, anyway. She did love her village, even if she had problems with her father. It was actually amazing how well it fit him.

Hoshito fell into the father role naturally, and they both retired from Anbu when she became pregnant. She insisted she’d rejoin after giving birth, but Hiruzen refused her, and she found she didn’t actually want to be away from her son, anyway. Being daughter of the Hokage came with perks, and both parents were able to be home with him. Hoshito taught him everything he knew about wind style and she with her fire style. Hoshito brought Konohamaru to Hiruzen often, which made Hiruzen very fond of the man.

Hoshito often told Konohamaru stories about his missions, his time in Anbu, stories of the wars and founding of the Leaf. Emphasized duty to village and it’s people, as well as the Hokage. Really laid it on thick what an honor it was the be grandson of the (in his opinion) most revered Hokage in history. This all shaped Konohamaru’s mindset when it came to the Hokage and becoming one. Moriko reluctantly let all that slide, even if she didn’t necessarily agree with it all.

Phew. When he died, Konohamaru was 6. Moriko greeted him as she normally did, brought him his coffee and paper, and he didn’t wake up. She was the one who had to come to the realization that he was dead.

Worst day of her life, worse than her own fathers and brothers deaths a few years later, worse than her mothers death years before. She had never felt such a horrid, searing, stabbing pain in her chest before. She immediately took Konohamaru to Asuma while she dealt with what this all would mean for her and him going forward. Asuma took over the task of telling Konohamaru that his father was dead as she laid in bed for the next three months. Asuma ended up taking care of Konohamaru during all that time, and it was Kurenai who helped him with it.

Eventually, she recovered, though was somewhat of a shell of her own person for a while. It was her father who told her that she needed to be strong, lean on him and Asuma for support, and move forward for the boys sake. At first, she was furious with him for coming to her like this. The moment her and Asuma’s mother was killed ten years prior, Hiruzen had been made Hokage again, and they had no such support from him in that department, it was just her and Asuma, navigating their mothers death with her having to be the strong one then. All while dealing with the aftermath of Kurama’s attack. But she eventually let that go, too, and simply accepted the help.

With Asuma’s support, she recovered fully. Too bad fate would then take her father from her just as their relationship was mending, and then her brother. She was the only one left, and clung to Konohamaru for dear life in those years. She knew her presence was overbearing, but she couldn’t bear to be away from him for too long. She became withdrawn from the village for a time, wondering if she was cursed to lose everyone she loved.

And then the damn kid took on a Path of Pein and it was the angriest she’d ever been in her entire life.

She laid into Ebisu. How the hell could he let him do that?! Ebisu’s life flashed before his eyes. She laid in Konohamaru’s bed with him for several nights after that, crying over him, berating him, telling him she loved him. He did apologize, but told her he’d do it again, to protect her and everyone else. She told him she knew.

Then Mirai was born and she was in Kurenai’s home whenever Konohamaru wasn’t around.

She thanked the gods she at least had these two. Thanked Asuma posthumously for getting Kurenai pregnant right before he was killed.

By the way, don’t get her started when she saw Shikamaru with a cigarette. “Is that a fucking cigarette, Nara?” Strong language wasn’t characteristic of the woman, so it held power when she used it. She was immediately knocking on his mothers door, and they proceeded to talk mad shit about the recently deceased Sarutobi. It was the only thing that could bring her comfort, to pretend like he wasn’t dead.

Konohamaru’s playful nature comes from her, and his sense of responsibility from his father and the stories he heard about him. Konohamaru remembers his father fondly, and gets teary every time he thinks of his uncle gently telling him his father had passed. He pushed his mother away for a couple of years before Asuma threatened to choke him with his scarf if he didn’t start treating her better.

It was Asuma who made him realize he had to be a man, sooner rather than later.

Moegi and Udon were often in her home when they were children. Moegi’s mother had been a friend from the Academy, who had been friends with Udon’s father, and their children naturally ended up spending time together. She adores both, and was the one to tell Moegi to keep Konohamaru and Udon in line. Eventually realized it was Udon who had to keep them in line and told him as much.

Flashing forward (because Christ, I could write so much about them), when Konohamaru came home one day to say the Hyuga heiress was in his class, she was elated.

Immediately “do you know I was in her fathers class? What a stubborn old fool. Oh, but his daughters are just so cute, don’t you think?”

“Moooom….”

“You don’t think that little firework is a cutie?”

“MOM!”

She had seen the girl around in passing at events, but never really got a chance to interact with her. But the prospect of her son being her friend was interesting, to say the least. Moriko was completely unbothered by Konohamaru’s defeat in the exams by the girl. When he was in his hospital bed, she sat with him dutifully, and when he awoke, she made sure to tell him to go thank her for the riveting match. Perhaps bring her for tea. Then, when she arrived on her doorstep, she was blown away. What an adorable little Hyuga, looking so like Hiashi but so much softer and sweeter. The moment she indulged her in her stories, she decided she liked her.

Then, watching them dance at the Hero of the Leaf’s wedding, well, she was sold. They were destined to be, and the thought highly amused her. So she sauntered up to Hiashi to make sure he knew it, too.

Hyuga were good at feigning indifference, but she saw the way he looked at them, too. He did know it.

Very excited to have Hanabi visiting her after the wedding. Konohamaru became so incredibly busy as he grew into a teenager and eventually an adult, she didn’t see him as often as she wanted to. Moriko had always craved companionship, so having Hanabi visit for tea was welcome. She was delighted she was a good conversationalist (she figured she would be) and was slowly able to pry out information from her about her little love affair with her son (unintentional on Hanabi’s part).

Had too much confidence in her dear son, thinking he would have swept her off her feet far sooner, and ended up losing a healthy amount of money to that damn betting pool.

Has many ideas for their inevitable wedding, and assured Eiji that yes, it would indeed be bigger than Naruto and Hinata’s. She’d make sure of it.

The biggest fight Konohamaru ever had with his mother was when he told her he was joining Anbu. She told him she’d kill Kakashi, then proceeded to not talk to him for the entire time he was training. When he came back, she relented and told him the path forward would be fraught with death. Told him she would personally kick his ass in the afterlife if he died on her, her heart could not take anymore. He promised he wouldn’t, and when he came to tell her he was thinking of retiring, she instantly insisted that he do so. Also insisted he talk to Hanabi about it, too. She didn’t want to see that sweet girl die.

She needed grandchildren, after all. She was getting old, damnit.

Visits Hoshito’s grave sporadically. Doesn’t have a set schedule, just takes off whenever she feels like talking to him. Has caught her son at the gravesite on multiple occasions, and it’s always nice to sit with him and both chat with the headstone.

Honestly, I could do an entire fic about these two and the ideas I have, it’s ridiculous. I can’t fit it all here or else it’ll just turn into it’s own fic lol.

Shinjuu (double suicide, aka Sakaki, evergreen tree) Age: 16 – 29 Maki (obedient, aka Sawara, cypress tree) Age: 10 – 23

Shinjuu is nearly six years older than Hanabi, while Maki is the same age as her. He was actually in her class that first day, having been taken off guard when she walked in. Then she skipped a grade. Typical main family nonsense.

Maki had actually been friends with Hanabi at one point, when they were both small. He remembered thinking she was very pretty and maybe even having a crush on her? They were babies, okay, he didn’t know any better. Then he got his curse mark, and they quit seeing each other. He had no idea why when he was young, but obviously found out why later.

Maki was always soft and kind, he never really resented Hanabi. Thought she was a foolish girl who always had too much to prove, but didn’t dislike her. Even wished maybe they could be friends again one day, though she was busy with that grandson of the Hokage.

Hanabi did remember him, and remembered asking him if he was Natsu’s son. Aside from that, she admitted she didn’t know him well.

Shinjuu was indifferent. He knew what his role was and just accepted it. Did he resent the main family? To some extent, yes, but never took it as far as Neji. He often sparred with Neji and would listen to his tirades about the injustice of it all. Was bewildered when Neji mastered main family techniques, and was secretly tutored by the boy when they were teenagers to become well-versed in some of them. Truly mourned Neji’s death and sacrifice.

Shinjuu actually admired Hanabi, found her older sister to be weak. He was one of the few let in on information when she was kidnapped. He was part of a team that surveilled around the village, along with some of Hinata’s old classmates. He’d never let her know that he was actually concerned about her, because Hanabi probably didn’t even know he existed.

Again, Hanabi knew Shinjuu to be her cousins friend, but not much more than that.

Joining Anbu was one way for branch Hyuga to live relatively removed lives. They still serve the Hyuga to some extent and can be recalled (and chosen for missions specific to Hyuga matters, such as the little rebellion in Chapter 15), but otherwise, they were primarily servants of the Leaf. It’s why Shinjuu and Maki chose the path, to be further removed from the clan.

Both him and Maki just figured the heiress knew nothing about them until they were teamed for that mission to take out branch Hyuga. They had discussed the mission privately after Hanabi had stomped away the night before they were to leave. They agreed that they would both lay down their lives for her, even though they’d never expect her to.

Shinjuu’s last thought was of his mother, and Maki’s of his girlfriend back home. They hoped they’d understand.

Here’s a list of ages of some relevant (to some extent) canon and OC characters starting in the first chapter for age difference reference. First chapter is set 3ish years after Part I, 1 year before Part II These are from databooks and informed guesses.

Tsunade – 54

Hiashi, Moriko – 44

Tadashi – 38

Ebisu - 31

Asuma, Kurenai, Shizune – 30

Kakashi, Gai, Tora - 29

Ko, Natsu - 24

Neji, Shinjuu – 16

Hinata, Naruto (really all of the rookie 9) - 15

Jun - 12

Eiji, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon – 11

Hanabi, Maki – 10

And finally, here is the original outline, originally created July 23rd, 2022 at 12:30 pm and unchanged since I began writing the first chapter, July 25th, 2022 at 6:08 pm.

Tag Outline

(10) Hanabi tells Hinata she wants to join the academy

Hinata speaks with their father

While Hanabi waits, she continues observing Konohamaru and gang.

Father tells her he decides he accepts her request and she will attend next day.

Her first day is full of people whispering about her.

Iruka is wholly impressed, tells the head of the academy they should promote her to genin

They do, she joins a team – maybe one other girl (Eiji Inuzuka, cheerful, pup is Yorimaru – trust) and a boy (Jun, Obedient)? Think of names and lets have it be a female sensei (Tora Nara, tigress)

Konohamaru takes note of her while she’s training with the boy on her team, but doesn’t approach.

(11) They are assigned a mission together, a c-rank escort for a large party from and back to earth country. They are attacked by some rogue shinobi – Konohamaru saves Hanabi due to her lack of in field experience – training with the Hyuuga always had strict rules to follow, but didn’t prepare her for ambush

Hanabi and Konohamaru purchase a matching set of kunai that they both keep.

(12) They’re both recommended for chuunin exams (possible different viewpoints for both sensei)

They have dinner with all of the other teams recommended a week before the exam

Hanabi and Konohamaru have a moment outside.

Combo of intelligence and team test:

Genjutsu is placed on them, a rough replica of a far off distant village. Each team is given a scroll with very little relevant information, essentially a mission to track down a target. They are told that if they capture the wrong person, they will not be allowed to retake the exams.

The team with the best times will move on (the first half) but won’t know until it’s over, so it may be beneficial to impede others time

But if you do too much, you may scare away your target.

They are chosen to battle (already written from Hinata’s perspective but should be rewritten from Kono’s)

Hanabi freezes when their matching kunai clash. He gives her a little smirk when he shoves to her to ground

He’s flooded with emotion at the sight of the kunai

She’s frozen, realizing he really did cherish their bond

Hanabi joins him in hospital.

(13) Hanabi attempts babysitting but fails- Konohamaru helps her and kisses her.

She accompanies Hinata while she babysits Mirai since her team is busy

She gets to inquire about Konohamaru, which Kurenai says he’s been busy with missions and training under Naruto

Hinata gets called by ANBU to the Hokage’s office

Konohamaru shows up and teases her about her inability to calm the girl, then kisses her

Hanabi accuses him of avoiding her because she’s barely seen him since they graduated to chuunin.

Konohamaru expresses regret over not being there for her when she was kidnapped, expressing how agonizing it was for him not to be able to come to her aid and he has trouble looking at her now due to shame.

Hanabi finds out Moegi is upset with her

Goes to talk to Konohamaru, meets his mom Moriko (Forest) and finds out she knows her

(14) Hanabi avoids him for a while until the wedding, where Konohamaru does his best to stick around her

You ever feel like helping with Mirai, I’m all ears, Hanabi.”

“Big brother Naruto really seems to love your big sis…interesting, huh?”

“I will destroy you.”

She kisses him, initiating the game of “tag”

(15) Boruto’s birth? He and Hanabi have the same birthday

Kono kisses her, asking if they’re still playing.

(17) Her and a few peers are recommended for jounin. The test was an A-Rank mission to successfully deliver a scroll across rebellion territory. She and Konohamaru successfully complete it.

Them, plus Udon and Moegi and two others embark (one being Jun)

They wonder why this scroll needs so many shinobi to deliver

As they try to slip through enemy territory, Hanabi and Udon scout ahead, leaving another sensory type (Jun) behind. While they’re scouting, the rest of the group is attacked.

Hanabi rescues Konohamaru and the other member (A) while Udon comes to Moegi and the other sensory type (Jun) aid.

They end up having to slaughter several people, and it’s bloody.

They are all silent for the rest of the trip. They successfully deliver the scroll to an older woman in a shack, who gave them no details, just a signed scroll indicating she had received it.

They speculate on what the scroll was and who the woman was as they make the four day return trip. They manage to pass through the enemy territory without detection this time.

Hanabi and Konohamaru have a quiet moment together by a river as Hanabi reveals that having to kill the enemy shinobi was affecting her. Konohamaru offers comfort.

When they arrive home, Hanabi offers for Konohamaru to join her while she visits Hinata, Naruto, Boruto and the newly born Himawari.

Hinata admires the two as they dote on Himawari.

Hanabi admires the fact that despite what they just experienced, he can immediately becoming a loving uncle with Himawari.

She kisses him.

(18-19) slice of life as Konohamaru and Hanabi avoid each other

Assigned a mission together

Seeing each other with other people

??????? idk, something cute maybe??? WHY ANGSTY

(20) For her 20th birthday, there is an extravagant party in the Hyuuga mansion.

Hinata and Naruto attend, with Naruto inviting Konohamaru.

Boruto complains, asking when it will be his turn to have a big party for his birthday

Hanabi assures him she wishes it was his party, but will make every effort to ensure next year will be a joint party.

Konohamaru presents her with a necklace that had an aquamarine gemstone pendant (her birthstone).

She questions how he afforded it but he brushes her off, asking to dance.

She questions him about his relationship with someone in the village, which he immediately corrects her to say they broke up.

While dancing, he asks her on a formal date.

He kisses her.

On the date, he reveals he’s formally joining ANBU, so won’t be around as much. The necklace was a sort of ‘goodbye for now.’ She’s confused and ends up leaving him in the restaurant.

ANBU are still a required service in Konoha, as despite peace, threats still lurk in the form of rebellious forces and nin who deflect

Konohamaru joins ANBU, she keeps an eye on him.

(21) Kono escorts her and other Hyuuga on one of their diplomatic journeys.

He’s disguised as ANBU, but she can see through it.

She finds him in a nearby tree, watching over her party, and kisses him.

(22) Two years later, restless and wishing she could see more of him, she requests to join ANBU.

Kakashi quickly accepts it

Konohamaru is shocked to see her and attempts to convince her to quit.

They embark are missions separately for a while, a seemingly intentional move by Kakashi.

After returning from a mission, he corners her and kisses her on the forehead. “tag.”

(23) They are assigned a two man mission escort a young boy from a nearby outskirt village, who accidentally murdered his mother when he transformed into something similar to what Jugo turns into. They’re assigned as to not trigger panic in Konoha, and they’re escorting him to the Orochimaru hideout Jugo is located at.

During their trek back, Konohamaru expresses his regret that things ended before they began between them. She tells him nothing would have began.

She kisses him on the cheek before they part ways.

(24) A few months later, she finds him mindlessly plucking at grass near the Hyuuga complex, Hanabi stumbles on him after returning from her own mission.

She asks what’s wrong, he tells her he’s quitting ANBU. She notices tears in his eyes. She softens. He reveals he had to kill one of his early academy school mates. She comforts him.

He gives her a solemn warning about being in the ANBU

True to his warning, she is sent to subdue a rogue branch Hyuuga. Kakashi and Hiashi both specifically request her to keep it quiet and within the clan only. She is joined by Shinjuu (double suicide, aka Sakaki, evergreen tree) and Maki (obedient, aka Sawara, cypress tree)

Hanabi has to face her toughest opponent yet, and after killing the branch Hyuuga, she returns with a broken spirit.

Konohamaru visits her in the hospital. He holds her as she sobs for almost an hour, and stays with her, despite not knowing what happened.

He kisses her.

A month later, she turns in her notice of retirement, citing clan obligations, though Kakashi understands the true reason.

(24) Tanabata

Meets with Konohamaru as she’s escorting Himawari, him Mirai

Pregnancy scare

Eiji protective of Hanabi

(25) Slice of life style for several scenes from 25-26

Konohamaru babysits Boruto and Himawari (10 and 8) in Hinata and Naruto’s home, Hanabi comes over without knowing

She finds he’s built them a forte, which Boruto claims is too kiddish but ends up joining them

They tease Boruto about Academy, telling him he wont need babysitting once he becomes a genin

He expresses that he is considering training to be a jounin instructor. Though it’s a lie, she expresses that she’s also considering it.

She visits his mother and gets him Ramen when she tells her he’s sick

When she witnesses the state of his home, she forces her way in to take care of him.

“You always take care of me. Let me take care of you.”

“If you’re gonna get all sick like me, you might as well c’mere.”

“I draw the line at sick sex.”

(26) Hokage ceremony. She anxiously awaits with Konohamaru, only for him to be pulled aside by Iruka. He later confides in her that he had to take use a transformation jutsu to pretend to be Naruto because Himawari incapacitated him. Hanabi nearly sheds a tear of pride along with lots of laughter.

She gives him a little peck on the cheek and congratulates him for finally attaining his “dream”.

(27) Upon learning Konohamaru was accepted as a jounin instructor from Hinata, she puts her application in with Iruka

Naruto discusses it with Iruka, finding it funny that Hanabi always ends up where Konohamaru does.

Naruto decides to deliver the news by visiting the Hyuuga compound with the kids. He asks her if she’s excited to work alongside Konohamaru, causing her to blush and warn him.

They excitedly discuss their acceptance of becoming jounin instructors and speculate what their teams might be like.

Once they find out their teams, They exchange comments on their teams,

Konohamaru says he was expecting the InoShikaCho group but figures big brother Naruto wanted him to personally train his son.

Hanabi expresses that she’s happy that Konohamaru is Boruto’s sensei.

Hanabi warns Boruto that Konohamaru will not be going easy on them

Hinata muses on Konohamaru and Hanabi with Naruto

(27-28) Jun and Eiji wedding

Big, rowdy Inuzuka wedding

Moegi pushes Hanabi forward when Eiji throws her bouquet, forcing her to catch it. Cut scene of Hanabi locking eyes with Konohamaru.

Hanabi dances with Jun, Konohamaru with Eiji

Eiji berates Kono

Jun berates Hanabi

"stop being stupid"

“Hanabi…be happy. Please.”

Drunken Hanabi telling him to get her pregnant so they can just definitively be together

He swiftly rejects the idea. Drunken crying from Hanabi about him not wanting her, devolving into her feeling like she’ll never escape her fate.

The next day, Hanabi’s already gone. Moegi and Udon bring him breakfast.

“Figure it out,” Moegi tells him sharply as she tries to shove rice in his mouth, “you have to secure this.”

“For all of our sake,” Udon adds, grabbing him water, “if there was two people who are meant to be, it’s you two. And gods you know, I don’t believe in any of that.”

Just as Konohamaru tried to protest, Moegi closed his mouth to chew, “shut up. You have nothing to say.”

“Be a little easier,” Udon tried to interject to her irritated look, “c’mon! He’s an idiot in love.”

“Fine,” Moegi mumbled.

Konohamaru wondered how he could possibly end up in this position, with his childhood best friends shoveling food and water into his mouth to placate him as he moped over a girl.

“Eat, you idiot,” Moegi mumbled, shoveling more food into his mouth as Udon looked in amusement.

“You better not be thinking of arguing, are you?” Udon asked.

(28) Drunken scene with the debating of whether to recommend for the chuunin exams

They walk home together, eventually arriving at Konohamaru’s unit, far passed the Hyuuga compound.

He apologizes, insisting on walking her back. She insists she go inside. Konohamaru is caught off guard, blushing as he questions her. She insists and he obliges.

He offers she take the bed, and she drunkenly kisses him.

After some heavy stuff, he insists they’re too drunk to continue. She tries to say she doesn’t care, but he puts her to bed regardless and takes the couch for the night.

In the morning, he’s gone and she seeks him out at the training grounds. She apologizes for her behavior and he gives her a comforting embrace. She insists it was just a fluke moment, but he grabs her by the face and tells her he didn’t want their first time to be like that. She questions him when she asks about ‘first time’. This needs to be reworked unfortunately, smut brain took over.

“Hanabi. I’m in love with you.”

Epilogue?

Summary:

She was the firework, sparking in the shadow of his leaves. He was the brat, bathing in her sun. Somehow, she was always following after him. And he was always waiting for her.

Or: Watching Konohamaru and his team wreak havoc around town, Hanabi desperately wants to know what it’s like to be a kid. Follow Hanabi and Konohamaru from academy students to sensei, a fully fleshed out story.

I’m so, so incredibly lucky that I had such a strong base of support for this silly little pairing. Receiving any sort of feedback is always a euphoric experience (at least for me) and I was and continue to be so deeply grateful anyone took time to let me know they liked what I wrote.

Thank you, all of you. My heart is full even as it breaks. Be well, and maybe I’ll see you soon.

3 notes · View notes

retrodaft · 1 year

Text

What’s been happening and going to happen for the future

So first off just to clear the blog isn’t ending. I wanted to explain why things have been slow on the blog, lack of uploads, and posts.

Ever since September things started getting busy, I finally saved enough money to buy a iPad Air for drawing. And was excited to start to relearn to use a tablet( I used to do some digital art back in high school)

At the same time while I also had been going back to school ( adult education) to finish my certification cuz things were getting back to normal hahaha na this world still mess up but at least school was open. But then I had another problem, work.

I had been in retail for years, I like my job and my coworkers but it was becoming more stressful and demanding, with a pay rate that was low for this economy. I think we all know especially if you live in American how bad things have been getting with the growing inflation.

What also didn’t help you never leave on time ever. You’re shift done at 9:30 nope you are here intell 10 or even 11 pass. Being understaff and etc made me worried and so stressed. So I got a new job and finish school, cuz I had people on me about “it’s been years why aren’t you done yet?!” The pandemic HELLO.

By January I finished school which yayyyyyyy! And got a another job opportunity. There’s other things that had happened, trying to eat healthy, home issues, car problems, etc. I had TV to keep distracted but then I was changing my mind on what I wanted to watch.

This now goes into what will posting on the blog and thoughts on starwars.

I still like starwars love ya, but I don’t feel the same inspiration and excitement for the newest shows to come. Actually I was barely enjoying anything new from Starwars.

And please this is just my opinion, if you enjoy the sw shows that’s great. But for me everything that came out after mando season two was mediocre, ok or trash. It just wasn’t good, the story , the writing, animation or live action, the freaking editing jeez.

Maybe some of you already know but I don’t care for the bad batch, didn’t care for their introduction or much less for the show. Just didn’t like concept but still gave the first season a shot watch a couple times. Then sw fandom ..

The discourse in the fandom, some of y’all are wonderful in your art and I hope you keep pursuing it. And some of you are cursed, there were more clonest art and debating about sw shows in general, sometimes I wonder if some fans are even real or just bots. The changes to the canon or what even is the canon anymore? Jeez the arguments on canon. Or people putting all the trust into one person thinking they saved the franchise, yeah don’t count on that. Not to mention the weird raise of sexualizing of characters and real people (if you know,you know)

Over the year my attention went to other stuff, my friends got me into model kits it started first with transformers some years back but there weren’t many. But there’s plenty of gundams plus a new show with their first female lead, awesome soundtrack, and girlfriends ooh yes please.

Plus with Crunchyroll I’m able to finally watch some of the old anime’s I saw bits of as a kid. But now able watch the whole thing. Plus coming on the horizon a reimagining of a anime I haven’t seen sense freshmen year huh?!

SO there was a reimagining of Trigun if you haven’t heard please please go watch, I really want a part two please! It’s doing ok in the numbers, you can watch both the new one and the 1998 oh version on both Crunchyroll and Hulu. Watch both, there’s also a the original manga but unfortunately the publisher hasn’t reprint the manga so yeah it’s expensive to buy. BUT THERES HOPE right here on Tumblr you can read for free. But please to donate too cuz these fans are doing the work to translate.

Also NEW TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LETS GOOO, so yeah get ready cuz my art is changing again, I still would like to work on my starwars ocs still.

But there will be more Trigun fanart for sure, along with pics of my growing plant and model kit collection. Photography too, you can look at my toy photography I have done on instagram under the same name. There is gonna be cosplay work too, THANK YOU all for still being here,reading, thank you to all my followers!

It’s been a crazy last year let’s hope for a better one.

#blog stuff #blog news #star wars #Starwars #starwars the clone wars #starwars fandom #transformers #Trigun #sw #tbb #trigun stampede #artists on tumblr #vash the stampede #g witch #gundam #model kit

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connan-l · 1 year

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Steins;Gate 0 scattered thoughts

Sooo I finally managed to finish Steins;Gate 0………… (NO I STILL HADN’T FINISHED IT…… I put it on hold last summer and didn’t get the occasion to continue it until now lmao. WHICH is stupid because I really didn’t have a lot left to read lol)

Anyway, it was okay! I enjoyed it overall but man, the story is really a mess and there were some parts particularly frustrating and disappointing.

I think S;G0 is interesting in how it is basically a Frankenstein story. The writers took some bits and pieces from other stories (ie the original Epigraph light novels from which it was inspired, and the Arclight CD drama/manga most notably), then added some other stuff and sew all of this together. Which, at times it does give some interesting things, but at others it just fumble really badly.

The original S;G was pretty flawed, but at least it was clear that the narrative knew what it was doing and what the plot was about; all the plotlines and characters had a purpose and it was able to come all together at the end pretty neatly. In S;G0, there are just a lot of story bits and plotlines that simply… never goes anywhere, never get concluded in a satisfying manner, or just seems to be forgotten altogether. Which means that even if they did an interesting and cool thing with the final and true ending in tying the two principal routes, the narrative as a whole still feel very disjointed and awkward. I honestly think they should have tried to do a more linear storyline, rather than doing the double routes thing.

This VN just isn't sure what it wants to be at times, so it does throw at you some potentially cool concepts and ideas but never know how to properly handle or explore them as it should. The pacing as well was all over the place, because in the first route it has a very slow build up and meander around until it all explose at the end but it doesn’t really feel super earned, and in the second it kind of get lost here and there, then throw at you some cool stuff to keep you entertained (ie Okabe going to the future), and then go back to just meandering around (seriously, the end of Kurisu’s route felt very… anticlimatic in a lot of ways).

The most glaring thing regarding this was that plotline with the encephalitis patients and where Okabe arrive in warzone Okinawa in the timeline where the URSS still exists or something, with also that Fubuki girl who apparently has Reading Steiner, and it just…. Never leads to anything?? Like what was the point of this whole thing? It feels like a plotline they originally intended to have but then scrapped at the last minute, but for some reason they still left some of its plot bits here and there??

Also someone will have to explain to me WHAT was the point of Fubuki and Kaede’s characters as a whole. I don’t have anything against adding new characters to the cast (I mean, I absolutely ADORE Maho, and even if her character have a lot of issues I still like Kagari), but in their case they… literally served NO purpose, to the point where they actually annoyed me whenever they popped up because!! I don’t care about you two!! Who are you, what are you even doing here. You could get rid of them and lose practically nothing of the story. They pissed me off because it felt like they were taking away plot points and screentime that could’ve been spent on, oh I dunno, some actual established characters like FARIS AND LUKA??

Seriously Faris and Luka were SO sidelined in that game it’s not even funny. Imagine how much better this whole storyline with Fubuki would have been if it had been with Luka or Faris instead! Imagine one of them actually getting Reading Steiner and the narrative making something interesting with it! How cool it would have been?? But no, instead we’re stuck watching those nobodies doing nothing for the entire story. The only thing I like about them is actually seeing Mayuri hanging out with her own friends without Okabe being invovled, but y’know, we could’ve had that without this bullshit.

It’s all very frustrating and confusing because, the encephalitis thing could’ve been so interesting if dealt properly! I really love the perspective of other characters getting Reading Steiner and the Evil Scientist OrganizationTM trying to experiment on this once they learn about it; I think it ties pretty nicely with Okabe’s conclusion in the original game where he thinks that in the end, everyone probably got Reading Steiner on some level. How come this plotline didn’t get actual consequences on the overall story and true ending. Hell, maybe have the real Yuki involved in there too! Poor Yuki as well was treated so badly orz

Now, to be more positive, on the things I liked better compared to the original game: the POV switch! I know some people will argue with me that it makes sense the og game had only POV from Okabe because he’s the center of the story and it’s kind of thematically important for him and us to have a very tunnel-vision of what’s happening, which yeah I get that, but man, the story felt SO much more alive and dynamic when we’re allowed to follow the perspectives of other characters. And it also does wonders for those characters; whenever Maho, Suzuha, Kagari or Luka were allowed to have their little introspectives tidbits it added so much depth to them.

I also really like that the labmems where allowed to have more relationships with each other; in the og S;G, most of them were friends with Okabe but didn’t have any relationship with others except some rare cases like Kurisu and Mayuri or Mayuri and Luka (but even then, it’s not like we saw a lot of these friendships given everything was in Okabe’s POV). Because of this the labmems have always been a bit weird, because sometimes the story tries to push for them to be this group of kind-of outcast, weirdo friends, but… none of them are really friends exactly, they’re just friends with Okabe and because the story is so focused on him we barely see any of the other potential relationships. So here it was nice to see Luka and Faris being friends, or Suzuha and Mayuri having a peculiar relationship, or of course Maho and Moeka’s slow burn romance budding friendship. It made them feel… you know, like an actual group of friends with different, complex dynamic. And I also really liked how most of them got to know and be involved directly in the time travel shenanigan right off the bat instead of being kept in the dark; in the original, it’s really only Okabe-Kurisu-Daru-Mayuri and Suzuha for a time who knows the whole truth, Luka and Faris are always sidelined and kept out of the group which I never liked. (It’s especially wild with Faris because like… with her wealth and connections you’d think she’d be super useful in the plot?? And with the fact we knows her dad was researching time travel with Suzu Hashida AND was a friend of Kurisu’s dad?? Gah, Faris was so wasted in the original story! And unfortunately she was wasted in S;G0 as well -_-).

On that note, I also loved the endings much more than the ones from the original game. The thing with the different endings from the og S;G is that, most of them are basically ‘here’s an ending for each girls that Okabe get to more-or-less date!’ in that typical harem fashion. Meanwhile S;G0’s endings actually focused on the characters individually and actually offered different interesting alternatives to the events? Like, I was SHOOK when I saw that Maho’s ending was ENTIRELY about Maho and her complicated feelings about Kurisu and her friendship with Moeka, or when Kagari’s ending was entirely about Kagari and Mayuri, and that Okabe had almost NO role at all in either of them! Like wow, a S;G game where its female characters don’t entirely revolve around Okabe, incredible, right?

Like it’s funny saying it like this, but thinking about it in a way S;G0 actually did a better job at letting its female characters exists by themselves and having motivations and goals that doesn’t relate to male characters — things like Maho’s relationship with Kurisu, Mayuri’s relationship with Kagari, and Suzuha’s relationship with her mom was even arguably more important that the one with her dad at times (they still fumbles with it and drop the ball after a while. But still. It was nice while it lasted.) Given how nonenxistent moms were in the original S;G compared to the dads, that was a neat improvement imo (I mean, we even got a brief cameo of Okabe’s mom lol!)

All in all I think S;G0 really worked the best when it came to (some) of its characters and emotional moments; there were some raw scenes that were well executed, especially for example with Okabe and Maho’s grief over Kurisu, or with Suzuha and her complicated feelings about her parents and her situation, or hell even if I have issues with them even some Mayuri and Kagari scenes were pretty effective. (Suzuha and Maho’s breakdown scenes in Mayuri’s route, for instance, were both very well build up and handled.)

But in the end the best thing the story has to offer to me is, hand down, Maho. Even when the plot isn’t necessarily about her, she’s still the character that manages to shines the most, and she’s just… such a cool, charming, complicated person with lots of intricates relationships; and she just always made me smile whenever she was onscreen. Like, if you ask me if S;G0 is worth it, then I’d say yes 100% just because of Maho.

And to be honest, that’s kind of an impressing feat to accomplish? Because the thing is that, the writers really weren’t in an easy position I think when they decided to make Steins;Gate 0; they had to make a Steins;Gate game where Kurisu isn’t in it AND with a new heroine, and given Kurisu’s literally the most popular character of the franchise and basically the emblem of S;G as a whole it must have been a bit of a challenge. I think I’m not the only one who were feeling not super invested in a big S;G story where Kurisu is just dead in it. So they had to make it so that new heroine manage to 1. stand on her own without feeling like a Kurisu 0.2 and 2. still not make it feel like she’s ‘‘stealing’’ Kurisu’s place as the original main heroine.

And somehow it worked? Maho is similar to Kurisu on a lot of points (young brilliant scientist lady, strong character and harsh and cynical personality but still pretty kind person deep down, asocial/lonely person) but she still manage to stand on her own, have a very good and compelling arc even in the route/ending that isn’t her own, and have a very interesting dynamic with the rest of the cast, especially with both Kurisu and Okabe.

I absolutely loved her complicated relationship with both Kurisu and Okabe; here too it’s actually impressive they were able to implement her friendship with Kurisu in a way that you can buy the both of them were really close and had a deep connection, despite the fact that this is a retcon (as originally Kurisu was meant to be a lonely person without any friends in America) and that Kurisu is dead for the entirety of the story. They do such a great job at portraying Maho’s complex feelings of admiration and resentment and jealousy, all while without never negating the deep love she has for Kurisu, and, as a result, how much she’s struggling with her death (once again, her ending!! is so good!! and her last conversation with Kurisu in there is aggghh. Or how in Mayuri’s ending Amadeus says to her she thoguht Maho was the real Amadeus all along… They’re the second best ship of the series, don’t @ me (even first depending on your perspective ;p)). And in parallel the relationship she slowly builds with Okabe is also very cool and interesting on its own, with how they instantly connect with each other through their shared love of Kurisu and grief over her and manages to develop a deep friendship over it and how it balances and contrast their own character development; I said it during my playthrough but those tow as well as their complex relationship with Kurisu are the actual driving force of S;G0. She basically manages to be a foil and parallel to both Kurisu and Okabe at the same time and it’s just. Very cool.

I also really dig the inherent tragedy of their relationship, because like… obviously I’m sure Okabe and Maho will be able to become friends again in the Steins;Gate world line, but it still will never be the same thing as the deep bond they formed in Beta. In Beta, they specifically became friends throughout Kurisu’s death; that’s something only the two of them can understand and the first thing they’re able to relate to each other, so without it, their relationship will inherently be different — and they know all that, yet are still willing to sacrifice all this just to bring back Kurisu in their lives. And I love how in that sense it also sorts of parallel Kurisu’s sacrifice in the Alpha world line ; just like Okabe and Kurisu’s meeting and romance, Maho and Okabe’s friendship could have only happened in world destined to die.

Although I absolutely could have done without Maho catching feelings for Okabe… I SWEAR I know that S;G is a pseudo-harem but not every single woman needs to be in love with this guy! Stop it, writers!! (I also rambled in lenght about it on my twitter back then but I genuinely think it harms Maho’s character.)

My only grip with them is that it’s actually wild that there is no actual proper confrontation or big reveal over Okabe killing Kurisu. Like it’s something they tease and build up in the two routes, and yet it’s another one of those plotline that is just never resolved? I know the game seems to imply that Maho must have guessed what happened, but there still should’ve been a more emotional confrontation between the two of them at the end; I think it should’ve also played a role in Okabe finally deciding to ‘revive’ Hououin and work towards saving Kurisu; especially if Maho had been the one to forgive him explicitely? But no, I guess, whatever lol.

Anyway, in the end I just… love how they actually allowed Maho to be this very flawed and messy person in her own right and not just go for the route of her being another cute additional girl with yet another crush on Okabe (…even if her STILL getting a crush was annoying but well sdsdfs). What I personally find the most compelling with her is that… honestly, in all of Steins;Gate she’s probably the one character the story... really allow to have ugly and messy feelings? To actively be unlikeable at times. Other characters had that in the og story with Okabe kind of, and a tiny bit with Moeka and Kurisu, but it was never to this level and because S;G0 actually let its characters other than Okabe have POV then she feels much more fleshed out and solid than just the glimpses we get. Honestly, dare I say that even Kurisu, for as much as I love her, doesn’t get as much as a proper arc and character exploration as Maho does in S;G0 (which makes me very mad tbh lmao) There is her entire ending/route dedicated to her to showcase this of course that is very good, but that scene specifically in S;G0′s bad ending ‘Gehenna’s stigma’ is the one that stand out the most to me about this (Gehenna’s Stigma is very messy and weird, but Maho steal the entire spotlight and is amazing in it so I still really like it just for her sdsfs).

It’s not like her character writing is perfect either, because like I said earlier the route structure make it that… in the end some of her development and conclusion either feel pretty rushed (the end of Mayuri’s route) and almost completely cut (Kurisu’s route), and it’s really only in her ending that she gets to have that proper closure. It’s frustrating, because man, it’s your main heroine, you should have done a better job with this! I think Maho’s arc should have been what she goes through in Mayuri’s route + her friendship with Moeka + her ending ALL throughout the game. Also her relationship with Moeka is one of the best thing of the VN and it should have absolutely been a more important part of the story, especially given aside from Maho’s ending Moeka is treated pretty shittily.

Also, man I really hate how in the true end Maho’s codename is ‘Kurisu’? Like!! You do realizes that the biggest point of her character arc is about how she wants to step out of Kurisu’s shadow and how she needs to learn to respect and love herself and her abilities as a scientist and person? Giving her the codename ‘Kurisu’ just goes against everything about this, it just sucks!

Okabe was pretty solid in this too. It was honestly refreshing to have him just be… a normal dude for most of the VN. Because to be honest, one of the things I like the most about Okabe is that he is not actually a ‘chuunibyou.’ He pretends he is one for Mayuri’s sake, but in reality he’s very self-aware about being a very average guy, who is even actually a pretty serious, socially awkward introverted person at heart. I’m always sad that’s not something that’s much more explored than that in the original story, and even here the duality with his made up persona is very… not dvelve much into, or at least not in the way I personally wish it was. Still, here in this case he just feels particularly relatable as a mentally ill, depressed college student desperately trying to run away from reality with the end of the world looming over his head lmao. It was… actually kind of surprising they handled his struggle with PTSD/mental heath seriously and this more-or-less throughout the whole story, with actually showing how much he suffers from panic attacks (well. They still could’ve done more with it though. How come his therapy sessions never come up again after the prologue? I’m so also pretty sure the Epigraph manga actually made a big deal of him being very dependant on his meds, but it’s not every seen mcuh in the VN which is a shame.) But his actual character arc still feel a bit either too rushed at the end or not well-implemented. I don’t like that they choose to have two separate occasions where he ‘revives’ Hououin, because it felt like it lesser the impact it should have had. Personally, again, I think the narrative should have been more linear, and that his ‘revival’ should have ultimately happened after a combination of Mayuri leaving with Suzuha + time travelling into the future + confrontation with Maho about Kurisu’s death.

(The bit with him time travelling in the future is such a cool thing too but I hate how much they... rushed it. Okabe should have stayed a lot longer in the future I think, and it made him seems like an asshole that he wasn’t even williing to interact with Mayuri & co. It’s also super weird that him staying in the future for, like, an hour manages to convince him that war sucks, but in the Vega & Altair route when he’s stuck in warzone Okinawa where he stays A MONTH he’s just like... ‘idk whatever, let’s ignore this and move on’?? WHY are you so inconsistent game!! Although I do hate the way they killed off Luka in the future just to further his angst, it felt veru cheap and shitty.)

One thing I got pretty disappointed about concerning Okabe, though, was the way they didn’t touch much on some of the impact and consequences his actions in the orginal Steins;Gate had, specifically regarding time travel. By which I mean, obviously we see the consequences the events of S;G had on him, but it’s mostly focused on his trauma regarding Kurisu’s and Mayuri’s deaths. There are zero mentions of his guilt regarding what he did to Luka and Faris, for instance; which feels especially off when this time around, Faris and Luka knows about the time travel stuff. You’re really going to tell me that someone as perceptive as Faris never connects some pieces together and confront him about her father? I know that really comes from the fact that, again, Faris and Luka’s presences in the game are nonexistent, but it’s so frustrating. There IS a little bit of something when it comes to Suzuha and Moeka; I really like how initially he feels very awkward around Beta Suzu because she is so different from Alpha Suzu, and how he specifically mentions her suicide in Alpha as one of the events that marked him the most and as to why he refuses to get involved with time travelling again, but honestly in the end there’s almost no conlusion in their relationship (like, they DO try a little in Kurisu’s route, but it still feel unsatisfying?) It’s wild to me there’s no followup, for instance, on Suzuha’s breakdown in Vega & Altair where she threatens him with a gun, we just... never seem them discussing this incident at all afterwards, like it’s just forgotten, when it should’ve been a big deal? And with Moeka/Tennouji, his reaction and relationship to them is also really bare minimum stuff, when again, with them being proper allies this time there should’ve been a lot more done.

So, regarding Kurisu/Amadeus… See, I actually really liked the idea of Amadeus. I think it’s a pretty neat way to use and showcase Kurisu’s research and neuroscience skills --- and yes it was also a way to have ‘Kurisu’ still be in the game even though she’s technically dead, but I think it worked really well in the sense that it ended up making her some sort of ‘ghost’. In general, for the most part I quite liked some of the ways they handled Kurisu’s presence, the way that even if she’s dead almost everything still revolve around her and her ghost haunt every single actions that is taken in the story, not just by Okabe and Maho, but by all the characters. Characters who are dead but still end up haunting the narrative is actually one of my favorite trope in fiction, and that’s why I really enjoyed that aspect of S;G0 because there is something very cool that they do in the way the different people remember and portray Kurisu after her death. So, Amadeus really works for this, in being there to haunt Okabe (and Maho) every step of the way and never letting him escape what happened, no matter how much he wants to (which is then made double so by Kagari’s presence). But it is a little frustrating that in the end… they didn’t do as much as they could have with her? There’s this storyline they hint at about Amadeus developping ‘normal’ human feelings (and specifically romantic feelings for Okabe) and the way she’s Kurisu but also not Kurisu, but they never really do much with this at all? I also dislike how little weight the story give her being deleted in BOTH routes when it should be a much bigger deal, especially emotionally for the characters (again, the only time where it worked for me where in Maho’s ending, which is truly the superior end of them all). So, yeah, Amadeus was a cool concept, but as most cool concept in S;G0 it ended up falling kind of flat at the end.

(On Kurisu, though, I was surprised her parents had no role at all in this. I would’ve expected her father, and hell her mother too, to have a bigger presence. Especially with the way moms appeared to have a much bigger role in S;G0 contrary to the og story, i would have really worked well thematically.)

And, on that sense, although I really liked the way the story make a point to presents Okabe angsting over Kurisu’s death in almost every scene and the whole OkaKuri tragedy (that one moment where they meet again in Alpha…. Yeah it worked for me lol), I felt disappointed that she… didn’t seem to play much of a role at all in the final part of the game. Like yeah obviously in the end Okabe still does all this for her, but that’s why I thought she should’ve been… idk. More integrated in the the final. It felt off, like she was almost sidelined.

And then, there was…. Mayuriiiii…. SIGH. So Mayuri’s the character who disappointed me the most. S;G0 is so damn weird about her, because on the one hand, it is INFINITELY better than what she had in the original game. Like them actually giving her some agency and an actual storyline that doesn’t involve Okabe? GOOD! Because let’s be honest, Mayuri in the original game doesn’t really… does anything besides dying and being Okabe’s motivation for most of the game. And yeah slapping him at the very end too I guess. So S;G0 was definitely a step further from that, and I also think that them deciding to make her a mother was such a great choice; you can argue maybe giving one of your most traditionally feminine female characters whose story only revolved around the male protagonist before now a story that now mostly revolve around her being a mother is not super great, but I think it works specifically because Mayuri’s biggest problem is that she’s always SO infantilized, not only Okabe but the narrative as a whole; so her getting a kid was a really good way to have her actually grow up and some great interesting character development. And she Does get it, for the most part — the last part of her ending where she decides to actually get invovled in all the time travel bullshit and went with Suzuha is one of my favorite things! But then, as I’ve rambled in those threads at large last year, they still… never do more than that with her. Even her big moment at the end of her route come off as not as impactful as it should be, because they don’t build it up at all throughout the route! (Especially since we get NO POV from her, even when the game actually does POV switch! Which is just WILD)

Her perspective on being a mother and her relationship with Kagari is dealt with a little bit in Kagari’s ending, but it’s very… superficial, it never goes into details about what it must be like to suddenly have a grown up traumatized daughter thrown at you when you’re barely an adult yourself, which sucks when that’s the most interesting part of those types of storylines (they do the same with Daru and Suzuha, to be fair, but yeah, it sucks here too lol.) They never let her get angry, never let her move on properly from her codependant relationship with Okabe, hell they STILL barely let her know about hte Big Plot Stuff happenings, EVEN when it concernes HER OWN DAUGHTER. It’s bonkers to me that she never actually get to know what truly happened to Kagari or that she plays no part into getting her back when she’s kidnapped by the Evil Scientists OrganizationsTM.

Mayuri should’ve just been A LOT more involved in the plot as a whole, not just at the very end of her route, and I’m endlessly frustrated that they consitently refuse to let her grow from her Innocent Ditzy Childhood Friend/Little Sister archetype whom Okabe is obssessed to protect, even when S;G0 gave them the perfect occasion to do so!! Her ending was good, but there should’ve been a more proper buildup throughout the narrtive, with moments including her POV; there should’ve been a narrative about her remembering her deaths from Alpha and actually deal with that trauma, there should’ve been an instance where she remembers KURISU too, have her interact with Amadeus and Maho and deal with her complicated feelings regarding her sacrifice, and it should’ve deeply impacted her finale decision to time travel and help save her (seriously, why was Kurisu and Mayuri’s friendship was so undermined??); and ultimately, I’ll always maintain that she and Okabe should’ve had a falling out of sorts at some point and gotten a Divorce Arc, and it doesn’t make sense that there’s no big clash between them other than the fact that the writers refuses to let Mayuri act like a normal, real young woman her age rather than a fantasy. Like… I’ve seen people who apparently complained about her big love confession at the end (although mostly from anime-only viewers, because in the VN Mayuri having feelings for Okabe is pretty explicit) but I’m going to be honest, it’s the least of Mayuri’s problems as a character. I don’t like her being in love with Okabe either as I much prefer their platonic, siblings-like relationship (and to be fair yeah, there are some parts they handled this in S;G0 that I think was shitty, like Mayuri having this speech where she says that in the end she’s the one who loves Okabe more than Kurisu?? Like okay??? Way to randomly do the misogynist trope of pitting your two main heroines against each other), but if they’d given us a proper arc with her where she’s treated like a real person I wouldn’t have given a rat’s ass about this. You people really have weird priorities.

(And on a personal level? I actually like the perspective of Mayuri feeling jealous of Kurisu and Okabe’s bond and feeling left behind (especially in S;G0 when it’s about a dead girl she knows nothing about and who, from her point of view, had nothing to do with Okabe up until now), if only because it’s the ONLY instance where Mayuri is allowed to have ugly feelings and, y’know, feel a bit like a multi-layered normal teenage girl; but it should definitely be handled with nuance and never undermine her love for Kurisu either, which... tbh I don’t trust the S;G to be able to write this lmao.)

And honestly, I also didn’t like the fact that Okabe end up going to ‘save’ her and Suzuha at the end, because it feel like it undermines the ONE heroic moment of agency that they gave Mayuri, to still makes it all about goddamn Okabe in the end. Mayuri and Suzuha DIDN’T need to be saved, because regardless of what they do they’ll get to Steins;Gate afterwards either way so? Did we really need to STILL relegate Mayuri to a damsel in distress status AFTER her big moment?? CAN’T MAYURI HAVE ANYTHING IN THIS GODDAMN SERIES

Related to this, Kagari was… god, she’s such a mess of a character lmao. Okay, so, the thing is that for some reason I can’t really explain I’m actually kind of fond of her. Maybe blame it on Megumi Han’s voice acting that manages to makes her super endearing, but yeah I do actually like her and I genuinely think there could’ve been… so much they could’ve done with her. She’s just a pile of wasted potential. Her story with Mayuri was very touching, and one of my favorite part of the game actually, but they could’ve done MORE. Because in the end, she only really feel… either very bland or annoying. And it’s like, I’ve seen some people who called her… ‘cringy’? Which is a bit of a weird term because, what does that even mean concretely, but it kind of bugs me a little bit because I don’t think there’s something inherently wrong with the way she’s portrayed. She’s a war orphan who was then forcefully separated from her mother and family and was tortured and groomed most of her life, to the point that even as a 22 years old she still has the mind of a child. She’s heavily traumatized. To me her behaviour about being so clingy to Mayuri and throwing tantrums about not wanting to change world lines makes sense, because Mayuri is quite literally her whole world and there’s nothing else that matters to her. Like… it’s wild to me how dismissed her concern that she wouldn’t get to be with her mother again if they go to the S;G world line is, because she’s right? Suzuha seems to have at least some guarantee she’ll still be born (and even then, it’s weird that it’s not something really questionned either), but Kagari has no such thing. Her very existence and only happiness was threatened. So calling her ‘cringy’ annoys me because she’s literally a mentally ill child with such heavy baggages, like what else would you expect from her?

However, I do agree that her writing and characterization is way too over-the-top and super clumsy at times, which makes the character feel very off (…and, also, there’s this fucking stupid twist with Yuki BUT it is one of the worst twists I’ve ever seen in any fiction so let’s just pretend it doesn’t exist lmao). The thing with Kagari, is that I’m very invested in the idea of what she could’ve been; of her being this traumatized girl who has this idealized version of her mother as this perfect, kind person, but who still felt horribly hurt by her when she had to abandon her, and then when she goes to the past she actually has to reconcile those two things all while actually meeting her mom’s younger self and realizing she is her own, flawed person as well. At the same time, I think I did like the arc they tried to give her in her ending of her deciding she couldn’t just cling to Mayuri forever and actually take the active decision to time travel with Suzuha (even if honestly it doens’t make much sense… like what would Kagari do once she gets to the past??), but it didn’t really feel… well build up or earned. I also dislike that the abuse and grooming she went through is like, heavily brushed aside; and her relationship with Okabe was… interesting but also really messed up, and it’s never properly addressed. Because like, Okabe heavily project Kurisu on her, at times even struggle to see Kagari as her own person, but this and the whole plotline where she gets Kurisu’s memories implemented in her just… never really leads to anything…

And honestly, same thing with her having Kurisu’s appearance, like what was up with that? I DID thought it was interesting, and I was so sure they were going to reveal something about how she was a baby created with Kurisu’s DNA for X reason or something, but no?? Apparently she just looks like Kurisu for no reason. Like man. Why. It’s just… I think the idea of her being both Mayuri and Kurisu’s daughter in SOME way was a pretty cool concept, and it especially would’ve been nice to explore this with Okabe’s projection of Kurisu on her and the memories implant where you could’ve had an arc with Kagari ultimately asserting herself as her own person.

And also… I kept thinking that honestly, I think that she could’ve been a very cool final antagonist in a way. Because again, I do believe Kagari’s motive to not go to Steins;Gate are very emotionally resonnant and valid, because from her point of view that’d mean losing her mother and her entire life altogether. This plus with her being abused and groomed by Leskinen, it would make sense she would try to stop the group from saving Kurisu (which would be darkly ironic if Kurisu had been her kind-of bio mother), and actually give her some agency in that story where she’s not just a victim who, in the end, doesn’t really do much of anything in the storyline. And you know, I kept thinking that, I hate what they did with Moeka and her relationship with Kagari in the Vega & Altair route, but I genuinely think that Kagari and Moeka’s relationship could have been very interesting because of how similar they are (both are heavily traumatized and orphaned young women who are desperate for love/parental approval and get used/manipulated into doing terrible things because of this). Imagine if we had a proper redemption arc for Moeka that would have paralleled Kagari’s descent into villainy, and how in the end Moeka could have fought to save her because she knows what it’s like to be in her place?? And how they could’ve done something with Moeka and Mayuri’s relationship through this as well??? (Yes I’m just writing fix-it fanfics at this point but!! Idk it would’ve been cool.) Kagari’s ending in the true end also feel… kind of off but whatever.

Also it’s a detail, but man, I think it’s really ridiculous they gave her some Upa as Mayuri’s memento instead of Mayuri’s grandma’s watch. Like what the hell, the watch would make a lot more sense thematically and emotionally than some random Upa. …Actually, it made me realize that Mayuri never ever bring up her watch at any point in S;G0 which, honestly, is super fucking weird. Did the writers just forget about it???

But anyway. Suzuha is also a character that I really like, and I specifically really love Beta Suzu, and during the first part of the game they actually… do some pretty interesting things with her. At least in Mayuri’s route. For the first part of this route, I love the way they characterize her as being this traumatized, no-nonsense young woman who is struggling between her responsability towards her missions and just spending time with her family that she never gets to have while growing up. I think they do a good job at portraying her complicated feelings towards her parents, and especially towards her mom, and the way at first she keeps exhausting herself until she has a breakdown and threaten Okabe on the roof. That’s one of the rare arc that was actually build up and earned properly in the whole story. However… well, the thing is that after her breakdown they really drop the ball hard with her? There’s no actual proper conclusion to her arc, not with her mother, not with Okabe (they have a little something in Kurisu’s route but not by much), not with trauma. They seemed to put forth an arc where she learns how to be, like, a normal girl her age again in the present era,bu they just… never deliver in the end. I was also surprisingly invested in her relationship with Kagari; the responsability she felt towards her as a big sister and how she failed her and is struggling about the perspective of having to fight her (and the guilt she felt towards Mayuri because of this too!), but here too it’s just… never lead to anything, except for a little bit in Kagari’s ending, but barely so.

And then in Kurisu’s route she doesn’t even get an arc at all. No like seriously, she’s only there to occasionally be a badass and say stuff sometimes, but that’s it. Like?? That’s so disappointing. I’m very sad they didn’t do anything, with, like the resentment and anger she’s implied to have towards her parents and Okabe at times. I swear, Beta Suzuha has so many interesting aspects but in the end they all feel glossed over. (And also, unlike Okabe they do a pretty poor job at handling her trauma… Like guys she was a literal child soldier, you’re not going to tell me she doesn’t have a minimum of PTSD.)

Special kudos too to that one Kagari/Suzuha fight scene where she’s completely naked, and she doesn’t have any scars or muscles or anything. Like okay, man. I think S;G0 in general had a lot of inappropriate fanservice that actually deviated from the story too; like obviously the original game had these too, but they didn’t feel as overwhelming as those and they didn’t pop up in serious moments at least. Seriously, why was S;G0 so horny with no reason sometimes, wtf.

I do really appreciate that they actually took the time to develop her relationship with Daru this time. Daru is also a character that is greatly improved in SG0 because this time around he actually feel… well, you know, like a character, instead of a plot device. He’s still not Good and I hate that they won’t let got of his gross jokes but at least he feel more like a person than just a walking stereotype who’s here to facilitate the plot (that scene in Mayuri’s route where he punches Okabe?? That was very cool. And there’s even one scene where he comforts Okabe after he’s had a panic attack which is… surprisingly sweet?? Like, wow, some genuine feelings between thos bros that let you know they do actually like each other, amazing.) I love how somehow the writers suddenly woke up and where like ‘Hey what if we Tried to write this guy as an Actual Character who's allowed to show varying emotions instead of as a joke?’ But anyway, yeah, it was nice and it really reflected in his relationship with Suzuha; which, again, had its issues but at least it was a lot better than what they did in the original game. Here I could buy at least that he genuinely come to care for Suzuha even while being a bit awkward with having this grown traumatized daughter thrown at him out of nowhere, and even despite some bullshit moments they still had a few nice scenes

Yuki’s character on the other hand was just… fucking bullshit lmao, like god. You know, initially I was pretty excited to learn that Suzuha’s mom would be introduced and play a major role in that story, because I always disliked the way she was completely non-existent in the og story, just as a joke “lol Daru will end up marrying a hot wife.” (Seriously, Suzuha herself barely talk about her when she’s the person who RAISED HER?? ALL ALONE? She should be a lot more importnat to her than her dad!) But in the end... well, there was one of the stupid twist I’ve ever seen in a story with the whole ‘well she was actually Kagari all along!’ in the Vega & Alair route and it’s just!! WHAT was this twist! It’s so ridiculous and in the end serves absolutely zero purpose I’m just… why! Why what the point of showing us those scenes of Daru & Suzuha bonding with Yuki if it was to undermine all of this for that….. And then in Kurisu’s route idk. She’s just there I guess. Being almost as useless as Kaede and Fubuki. Man, would it have really killed the writers to give her some personality and an actual arc and role in the overall story??? Even just a SMALL one? PLEASE? Even her romance with Daru was subpar and like I said her relationship with Suzuha lead to nowhere, so EVEN at just being A Wife and A Mom she fails at it!! (And again, that sucks because imo, her relationship with Suzuha could have been very interesting and nice, and HELL even her romance with Daru could’ve been cute (as long as they portray him as an awkward smitten nerd and not a gross perv)). I hate you, S;G writers. I hate you.

The rest of the characters though were just… kind of there. I’ve already rambled about how useless Fubuki and Kaede were, and how Faris and Luka really SHOULD’VE had their screentime as well as a bigger rôle; but honestly I could say the same with say, the Tennoujis. They also had no purpose in this story, just popping up to reminds you they still exist I guess. Moeka was lucky enough to get a pretty nice short development in Maho’s ending, but it WAS very short and ONLY in Maho’s ending ; the rest of the story she’s either pretty sidelined or treated pretty shittily (like seriously… the way they handle her character in Vega & Altair makes me want to punch someone. She deserves better than this!!) It sucks because her friendship with Maho and the development she gets in her ending is the best thing that happened to her character! I don’t understand why we couldn’t have gotten something like this throughout the entire game? Have her (and Tennouji too!) get a proper, actually ‘redemption,’ this time around (even if they don’t remember what they did wrong) ; let Moeka have a more solid character arc where she learns how to value herself properly thanks to Maho and have her actually interact witn Tennouji so that they resolve their issues too? Idk. I DID like they were allies to Okabe this time, but like… they could’ve done so much more with them it’s disappointing.

And then there were the bad guys, which…. Ugh, okay, not gonna lie but Leskinen and Reyes were very weak antagonists. See, one thing I actually really like in the original S;G is that there is not really a ‘proper’ villain. Moeka and Tennouji all play the part of antagonist throughout the story, but in the end they’re mostly like, victims of circumstances (well, there’s Kurisu’s dad too but he’s something else entirely). The ‘true’ big bad are either : SERN, which for the entirety of its story is just some formless entity that we never concretely ‘meet’ or really understand what it’s about, or it’s just… ‘fate’ or the ‘universe’ itself, as the the thing keep killing Mayuri over again (or Kurisu at the end). And I think that’s one of the coolest aspects of S;G that works very well as its overall theme of coming-of-age story for Okabe. So it was pretty disappointing that they decided to have a pretty classic ‘bad guy’ in Leskinen. Like he and Reyes feel very flat and corny, the story never tries to give them any depth and deeper goals beyond being Evil Mad Scientists,’ and yeah it makes sense as they’re mirroring Okabe what with them being Actual Mad Scientists and all but they still… could’ve had more? There are some instances with Leski & Okabe and Maho & Leski where I thought they had the opportunity to make them interesting, what with him feeling a bit like a father figure for them at times — and the story was very centred around parenthood — but they just never do it, so their ‘betrayal’ are incredibly predictable, and end up feeling ridiculous when Okabe seems so hurt over it too, so in the end they mostly made me cringe. (They could’ve very compelling stuff with Leskinen’s relationship with Kurisu compared to his relationship with Kagari, but noooope... Like I said, it would’ve been SO much more interesting to get Kagari as the final antagonist but ohhh well!)

Anyway, yeah, that’s pretty much it. So I complained a lot, but I do think S;G0 was an interesting ride in the end. I’m glad I got to finally play it because I’ve been wanting to try it since, like… 2015 lol. I feel like there’s some very mitiged receptions on it; I’ve seen some who says it’s better than the og game, and others that it’s worse. Personally I’m somewhere in the middle, but in general I dont think both stories are comparable, they feel more… complementing?

There’s a lot I liked about it, sometimes more than in the og VN (again, stories that dealt with messy grief are always my jam), but also I’m just very disappointed about cause so many cool concepts that could’ve been so much better. I’ve also seen some complaints that the time travel stuff was less well-written than in the original, like with things like Mayuri and Kagari’s song being a bootstrap paradox, but... I dunno, I think there are problems that can be easily found in the original story too. Like, yes, I do think the worldbuilding and time travel science is generally well put togeter in the original story, but at the same time it was never mean to be very grounded or realistic, so those type of details don’t bother me. Same with the ridiculous bigger plot points and all, where it’s like... obviously the whole thing about World War III and the two secret organizations and all are kind of silly, but that’s a type of silliness and over-the-top-ness that’s expected from S;G and that works within its universe. I’ve sait it before I think, but to me Steins;Gate have always been more of a coming-of-age story for Okabe than a time travel stotry, really, and that’s how it works the best.

Now an odd criticism from me maybe but I... didn’t like huke’s art in this? Like, it is a lot more... polished and ‘standardized’ than the art in the first game, and as a result didn’t feel much like S;G. I don’t know, I’m aware some people don’t like it, but to me huke’s arstyle is definitely one of the most charming and defining aspect of the VN (and why the Elite version sucks ass, just like the anime’s artstyle), so I didn’t like seeing it being made more... ‘normal anime,’ I guess. I was pretty disappointed with the music as well too? Like most of the tracks were either the same than the original game, or utterly forgettable...

But yeah! The only thing I really take from it is Maho (she’s now officially my second fave S;G character <3) and everything related to her; her ending is just the best, as well as Maho/Kurisu and Maho/Moeka, truly the best parts of the story, the Okakuri angst, and a liiiittle bit what they tried to do with Mayuri and Kagari. A little. The rest is kind of *shrugs* to me.

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victorcrystalgem · 3 years

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Look I’m trying to be optimistic about the tpn anime but at this rate it feels like they’re gonna have to do a fmab treatment with all the changes they’re making! I’m not saying it’s gonna be bad, but whay could be worth sacrificing everything they threw away with the changes they made?

#this bitch doesnt even have the excuse 2003 fma had cause they did it on purpose too #and at least 2003 fma is good! I think #I’ve never actually seen it yet nvhjjjdkkskw #don’t give me shit about that please I wanted to know what the original intent of the author was before jumping into derivative works #yes i know brotherhood came second but the original fma anime doesn’t stick to the source material so doesn’t that make it derivative work #I wanted to read the manga ngl but I can’t read while I’m doing other stuff so watching the anime was a better option #also... intro... nice...#I do wanna watch the original anime some day tho! I just gotta finish watching the legend of morra first jbjgjkbjfuis #tho honestly I wish people would stop comparing the two fma anime #I know it’s inevitable to draw comparisons because they share the same source material #but why do you need to make it about which one is better? by the end of it they’re just fundamentally not even about the same thing!#I think. again I’ve only seen one half of it so idk #wait I was talking about tpn wasn’t i #jfjjfjfhjfjjejghfjdjsja sorry #tpn #shitpost

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fullmetalgirl98 · 2 years

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♥️♣️Pandora hearts vs Alice in Wonderland♦️♠️

An analysis (more or less serious, I think...I hope so, at least) of what has served as inspiration🗝

Just a few days ago I finished reading "Alice's adventures in Wonderland + Through the looking glass", a book that (I admit my extreme ignorance) despite my 23 years of age I had never read (in my defense, however, I can say of having seen the film aired in 1999 several times ... the fault of the Italian TV programming of the time).

A month ago I also finished my rereading of Pandora Hearts (by Jun Mochizuki), a manga that continues to hold the primacy in my heart and that I was able to appreciate even more, after 4 years from the first reading. So I thought that, this time, I necessarily had to approach the manga in a "more mature", critical and objective way, and I wanted at all costs to understand how the book and its characters provided the inspiration for MochiJun to create the wonder (twisted, but still wonder) that came out. And I must say that I’m delighted both to have decided to undertake this adventure and to have completed it. It was a kind of treasure hunt, accompanied by screams of joy and amazement every time I spotted some reference here and there lol.

So I decided to create a list that contains all the references that I’ve identified during the reading. Some things are simple associations that I’ve found but for which I don’t have an actual confirmation, others have actually been confirmed thanks to the help of the wiki, still others gave me the wiki itself because frankly they had escaped me.

⚠️*PLEASE BE CAREFUL*⚠️

As it should be for the purpose for which this analysis of mine was conceived, it’s literally full of plot spoilers, so please continue with caution, in case you have not yet read Pandora Hearts and you’re willing to do.

Small warning: some names I used (such as Kevin's surname or Zai) may differ from the official English version...this is due to the fact that I read the manga in my native language, so I adopted the Italian translation of them.

Soooo…let’s start!💪

• Alice: useless saying that her name was taken from Alice

• In “Alice’s adventures in Wonderland”, Alice claims she doesn't remember things. Alice, in PH, has lost her memory, so I think this too can be considered as a reference.

• I think the White Rabbit provided the inspiration for Oz in his original plush bunny form and for the B-rabbit itself. The pocket watch that the Rabbit constantly checks fearing of arriving late for the appointment with the Duchess can probably be seen as a reference to Oz's music box, since he also always keeps the carillon in his pocket.

• The rabbit hole / the fall into the hole leading to his lair may have provided the inspiration for the moment when Oz, at the beginning of the manga, hearing the sound of the carillon follows it (just like Alice follows the White Rabbit), only to fall down once the floor collapsed, finding himself in front of Lacie's grave.

• Alice, in the book, has a black cat, Dinah, just like Alice in Pandora had Cheshire, who is also black.

• Kitty and Snowdrop, Dinah's two kittens, provided the name for Ada's kittens.

• Alice from the book loved to pretend to be 2 different people. I thought that this may have provided the cue for the two Alices, the white (Alyss) and the black (Alice). I don't know how correct this idea of mine can be, though.

• The White Rabbit with the fan and gloves that runs so as not to be late for the appointment with the Duchess reminded me of the dynamic that exists between Barma and Sheryl (who is in fact a Duchess), especially considering the element of the fan and gloves, characteristic of Barma ... not to mention his blatant submission to Sheryl ahaha

• When I read the part about the Mouse met in the Pool of Tears, I thought at first glance that it may have provided the inspiration for the House of Nightray (in general) and for the delineation of Gilbert's characteristic fear of cats [see the Mouse quote “Our family always hated cats: nasty, low, vulgar things! Don't let me hear the name again!"]. This intuition was actually confirmed by the wiki (I confess that I felt quite satisfied by it, I felt a bit like a little Sherlock, in several cases, during my analysis lol)

• Regarding Abyss, I’ve developed a number of theories on what may have inspired this place, but I have not had the actual confirmation of all of them, so many of these remain my conjecture. First of all, I believe that the Pool of Tears may have inspired the question of the floor covered with water and the consequent "trap" that Alice, in Pandora, finds herself forced into, while the animals and creatures on the shore could represent the chains.

• Another reference to Abyss that I’ve identified, but of which I have not had actual confirmation, is that in the March Hare’s tale, the 3 sisters (and therefore Lacie) lived in a well. In the well, as a rule, there is water and it’s dark, exactly as in the current Abyss and we know well that the Baskervilles can go out and enter it freely (Carroll, in this juncture, used the verb "to draw", which can also be intended as "to extract", in this case). The only thing I'm sure of is that Abyss is an allegory of nonsense and of Wonderland itself.

• In the dialogue with the Caterpillar, the latter asks Alice "Who are you?", Which, due to the way it was asked and the implicit meaning of the question, reminded me a little of the question that Break asked to Oz (“Where are you?”).

• I intended the figure of the Duchess with the baby as a source of inspiration for Sheryl and Sharon.

• Obviously, needless to say, the Cheshire Cat provided inspiration for my beloved Cheshire puppy

• The March Hare and the Mad Hatter, an inseparable pair, provided the basis for Reim and Break and I love how Mochi-sensei has kept their friendship relationship even in the manga!

• Always considering the base provided by the Mad Hatter, Break too, like him, eats a plate in front of the protagonist of the story and starts a new life assuming a pseudonym (Hatta, in the case of the Mad Hatter, Xerxes in the case of Kevin Regnard).

• It goes without saying that the tea party (or appointments over a cup of tea, in general) is also present in PH (albeit with different meanings).

• The Dodo is obviously related to the Barma chain

• The Dormouse provided the inspiration for Vincent

• The names Cherlotte (Lottie) and Lacie are taken from the story told by the March Hare. Charlotte refers to Alice Liddle (the little girl who inspired Carroll to create Alice's character)'s younger sister, while Lacie is Alice's anagram, and I find it beautiful how the latter has been exploited by Mochi-sensei for the bond of kinship between the two!

• Another thing that seemed to me to have provided insights that I have not had confirmation of was part of the process: I think it may have provided the inspiration for the moment the Baskervilles throw Oz into Abyss during the coming of age ceremony, issuing, in fact, its "verdict".

• Lily owes her name to the daughter of the White Queen. Furthermore, the fact that she was a pawn in Carroll's work is underlined by Vincent's use of a white pawn during the chess match against Dug to throw it at Lily's head (lol).

• The White Knight was used in the creation of Albus, Kevin Regnard's chain, as well as inspiring Kevin himself. Break, in fact, in his previous life was a knight in the service of the Sinclairs. In addition, both Break and the Knight are de facto elderly characters and worry about not being able to be alongside Sharon the former, and Alice the latter.

• The Queen of Hearts inspired the character and the personality of Miranda Barma and the myth of the Headhunter, while Arthur Barma's character is probably based on that of the King of Hearts.

• Jack was probably inspired by the Knave of Hearts from Alice's first book, due to his extremely false and dishonest character. If you then think about the fact that the knave can also be called "Jack", this suggests that Mochi-sensei's choice for his name was targeted. Considering also the kind of relationship between Jack, Miranda (Queen of Hearts) and Arthur Barma (King of Hearts), this strengthened the bond of the "hearts" their characters were on.

• When Jack first appears to Oz, he hides behind the curtain placed at the entrance to an arched door. Alice, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, also has to go through a curtained door to access Wonderland.

• It seems that the Cheshire cat is the only character in the whole book that Alice enjoys being / talking with. This reminded me that even for Alice, in the manga, Cheshire was a very precious friend and the only one she could consider as such (before meeting that little p*ece of si*t of Jack).

• The Hedgehog was used to create a chain

• The Griffin inspired the chain of Zai (and therefore of the Vessaliuses), as well as the careless attitude for the feelings of others is highly attributable to that of this character.

• The Owl was used for Sheryl's (and therefore Rainsworth's) chain

• Jabberwock and Bandersnatch are mythical / fantastic creatures named in the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" featured in "Through the looking glass". They were used for Glen / Oswald and Lily’s chains.

• Tove, Fang's chain, is also named in Jabberwocky. I like how almost all the Baskerville chains are taken from the names of the creatures present in this poem, almost to underline their connection with Glen! **

• Chess in general (and thus the whole chess game on which the second book is based) recurs frequently in Pandora.

• When I read the part about the White Queen, I thought that she may have provided the inspiration for the Will of Abyss, but I haven’t found any evidence of this. Since then, at the end of the book, Alice becomes queen, I thought this might make sense, considering the power held by the Will in Abyss.

• Ada was a friend of Alice, in the book. Her name was used for Ada Vessalius

• Considering Tweedledum and Tweedledee, I found it really curious and witty how the former (which in fact is the one who always gets pissed off) was used for Dledum / Noise, while the latter was used for Dledee / Echo.

• The black raven of Through the Looking Glass was obviously used for Raven / Gilbert, in fact exactly as the raven interrupts the two Tweedle brothers, who fear him, in the same way Gilbert hates Noise for having used him to harm Oz. In addition, the crow is also mentioned by the Mad Hatter.

• Leon and Equus, the chains of Lottie and Sharon, are clearly based on the characters of the Lion and the Unicorn featured in Through the Looking Glass, fighting each other for the crown. I found this extremely witty because not only does the Lion have the crown, but in fact Lotty and Sharon clash in the manga.

• I think the reference to the mirror (talking about “Through the Looking Glass”) is when Break, Gil, Oz and Alice find themselves in Cheshire's lair and Break is, in fact, pulled behind the mirror by Kevin.

• In PH, Break is at one point imprisoned and chained, exactly like the Mad Hatter in the second book.

• I find it funny how Humpty Dumpty has a bad temper, just like Elliot haha. Also I couldn't help but notice (and I'm not actually sure if this thought has practical confirmation) how Humpty Dumpty, falling, in theory should split ... and then die (in terms of eggs, of course, we mean in the sense of "make an omelette") ... I repeat, I don't know how much this makes sense, but if Mochi-sensei really thought about using this subtlety for Elliot's death then take my heart, because I don't need it anymore.

• "The hole" could be understood as "the rabbit hole", therefore on the one hand the access to Abyss and on the other the access to the subsoil / Wonderland.

• At one point in the manga, Oz falls asleep dreaming of an idyllic world with all his friends, which in fact does not exist. All of Alice's adventures are actually a dream.

• Could the juries possibly be a representation of the trial that occurs in the Caucus Race?

• I meant the act of titling the 3 novels "Caucus Race" as putting together a series of random and meaningless stories (which they in fact are hahaha)

• Happy unbirthday… this hurts very, very badly. Thank you, dear Mochi-san. Always on the piece. Clear reference to the tea party in which Alice participates together with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, translated in the manga as the possibility of using any day (and therefore that of the tea party) to celebrate the birthday of Oz, who in fact does not know his date of birth.

• Tenniel, the designer of the arts in Carroll's two books, injured his right eye, from which he lost his sight, while practicing fencing with his father. I see it extremely unlikely, but if Mochi-sensei had gone deep enough to know this information, perhaps it could have been an input to Kevin Regnard and the loss of his eye (even if it’s the left eye, in his case).

• The name of the school Ada, Elliot and Leo attended, the Lutwidge, is taken by Carroll's middle real name (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). Moreover, in the second story of the third volume of the novel, Dodgson is used as the name of a street.

The following one is a list of things I've noticed or discovered with the help of the wiki!

• The Unnamed Lizard Chain that appeared in Retrace LXXXI: CHILDREN was inspired by the character of Bill the Lizard

• The Mad Baby chain was based off of The Piglet, who had originally appeared as The Duchess' baby.

• Oswald and Lacie's positions among the Baskerville Clan were based off of the Red King and Queen.

• Demios' appearance, and one of the Intention of the Abyss' Dolls, were inspired through their appearance by The Goat.

• Isla Yura represents the Walrus from the poem recited by the Tweedle brothers in Through the Looking Glass. Furthermore, the reference to Yura as a Poisonous Snake, could perhaps refer to the snake for which Alice was mistaken by the Pigeon in Alice's adventures in Wonderland..

• The orphans of the house of Fiana are an allegory of oysters, induced by the Walrus (represented by Isla Yura) and the Carpenter (represented by both the duichess Nightray and the Elder Cult members) to follow them until they have met their end.

• Oscar's passion for photography is a reference to how good Carroll was in this field.

• Humpty Dumpty told Alice that he'd received a knitted scarf for his Unbirthday once, which is mirrored through Break's own action of giving Alice a knitted scarf to protect her in Cheshire's Dimension.

• The contrast between Alice and the Intention of the Abyss (red/white) is similar to the contrast between the Red Queen and White Queen.

• Xerxes / Kevin also represent Carroll himself, as he too uses an alter ego.

• One of the Chains that attacked Alice and Break while they were in Cheshire's dimension was inspired by the Frog Footman.

• The Cook that served The Duchess served as the inspiration for one of the Chains that attacked Alice and Break while they were in Cheshire's dimension. The Chain that stalked Noise and Ada through Sablier and gravely wounded Zai appears to have also been inspired by the character of The Cook.

• Marie acted as Ritus' housekeeper. The White Rabbit also had a housekeeper, who was named Mary-Anne.

• During the Chain invasion in Sablier, a Pandora member summons their Chain to battle the invading Chains, this Chain bearing significant resemblance to the Mock Turtle.

• The Unnamed Bird Chain that was summoned by one of the Baskervilles after Break, Sharon and Sheryl were given free use of their Chains by Reim as part of Rufus' grand scheme drew inspiration from the Jub Jub Bird mentioned in "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There "and" The Hunting of the Snark".

• The weaker species of Chains, Cards were an obvious reference to of the servants of the Queen of Hearts.

• Old Father William is a character mentioned in a poem of Through the Looking Glass, capable of doing great deeds, despite being old… just like Break.

• The Snap-Dragon-Fly, The Rocking-Horse-Fly and Fawn provided the inspiration to a series of chains that appear in the anime.

• Some Legal Contractors such as Break cannot physically age, a nod to the March Hare's tea-party, where the Hatter is convinced that the time is eternally 6:00.

• The four grand Dukedoms are based on the four different suites of cards: the hearts, the spades, the clubs and the diamonds.

Finally, I add some little things that I thought about while reading but which are not strictly related to the comparison with "Alice's adventures in Wonderland".

• “Pandora” refers to the myth of Pandora's box (and so far, the wiki confirms). But I read a message even more profound in this, because one thing came to my mind: in the myth, hope is the last to remain at the bottom of the vase and in chapter 100, Oz states "possibility and hope are the last to die ” (or “there’s still a chance!”, based on the translation you read the story with)… YAAAAHH, I scream at that woman's genius.

• I think (quite obviously, though) that the name of Oz was taken from the Wizard of Oz.

• Regarding the name of the Baskervilles I haven’t found certain references, but I think it may have been inspired by Conan Doyle's “The Hound of the Baskervilles”

• Sablier, as well as meaning "Hourglass" in French, is also the title of a fictional novel written by Garth Nix, in 1995.

• The surname of Shion Liddell, from Mochi-sensei's first manga, "Crimson Shell", is likely to be derived from the surname of Alice Liddell, the girl for whom Carroll wrote "Alice's adventures in Wonderland".

With this I think I’ve said it all! If you think of anything else that I have not mentioned or you can confirm those points on which I have not found feedback, feel free to add / let me know your thoughts!

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makeste · 3 years

Text

BnHA 323: “I Don’t Know How to Explain to You That You Should Care About Other People”

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was all, “Izuku, I’m sorry.” Bakugou Stans were all, “[sobs for a week straight and tearfully awards him the Nobel Prize for character development].” Deku was all, “[faints in Kacchan’s arms].” Iida was all, “[trying to decide if Ochako genuinely tried to kill him a few minutes ago].” Horikoshi was all, “NO TIME FOR HUGS WE MUST GET BACK TO UA.” The civilians holed up at U.A. were all, “WE TOOK A VOTE AND DECIDED THAT WE’RE ALL GOING TO BE JERKS ABOUT THIS AND MAKE A BIG FUSS ABOUT YOU LETTING DEKU BACK INTO THE SCHOOL.” Deku was all “[stands there looking like he expected nothing less and breaking my heart more and more with each passing moment].” Ochako was all, “that does it, looks like I’m gonna have to do something about this... next chapter, that is.”

Today on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal is all “I just want you all to know that I spent nine million dollars turning U.A. into a giant Battleship-style grid that can burrow underground and zoom around in a giant subway maze because Horikoshi lacks a grounded understanding of both civil engineering and economics.” Back in the present day, Jeanist is all, “EVERYONE TAKE HEED, MY COMRADES AND I HAVE DEEMED IT EXPEDIENT TO CONVEY THIS AUSPICIOUS YOUTH BACK TO THIS STRONGHOLD. WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE MAY DEPEND UPON YOUR GOODWILL AND ACQUIESCENCE TO THESE TERMS.” The civilians were all, “NO.” Ochako was all, “EMPATHY, MOTHERFUCKERS, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!” The civilians were all, “oh shit.” Anyway so Ochako is a giant badass, but I’m a little worried that she’s going to get struck by lightning. Please come down from there.

so before we start this chapter, I would just like to apologize for having not posted the ch 321 recap yet, and would like to reassure everyone, and especially Iida who is staring at me with Sad Wobbly Guilt Trip Eyes, that I will get to that as soon as I can

OMG FLASHBACK??

yes please Horikoshi please show us more of class 1-A and their Deku intervention strategy jam sessions

oh dear

Iida you are too pure and good for this cruel world. [sprays the U.A. civilians with a water bottle] NO. BAD CIVILIANS! NO OSTRACIZING SCARED AND EXHAUSTED CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE

EXCUSE ME RAT PRINCIPAL WHAT’S WITH THESE MIXED MESSAGES

???

RAT PRINCIPAL: he’s free to return to us at any time!!

ALSO RAT PRINCIPAL: but it’s too risky for him to return to us

?? ??????? ?????????????????????

so now he’s going on about how strong the U.A. Barrier is, and how it’s comparable to the defensive capabilities of Tartarus. this would have sounded a lot more impressive before chapter 297 lol

OH!!!! HELLO, WHAT’S THIS!!!

A TIMELY CALLBACK TO A CERTAIN MYSTERIOUS EVENT WHICH HASN’T BEEN REFERENCED SINCE USJ? [U.A. TRAITOR MUSIC INTENSIFIES]

so now Rat Principal says he upgraded U.A.’s security systems with his own “modifications”, whatever the fuck that means. I mean look, I’ve been saying for a long time now that U.A. is the best place for everyone to hole up, don’t get me wrong. but that was mostly on account of there not being any other practical alternatives. but you’re making it sound like you figured out a way to actually make it Decay-proof or some wild shit like that

-- hold up, DID YOU ADD A FORCE FIELD. DID YOU TRICK THIS SCHOOL OUT WAKANDA-STYLE YOU CRAZY MARSUPIAL. HOLY SHIT. because that would actually be perfect

LMAO

WHAT KIND OF GALAXY BRAIN BULLSHIT. “NAH THERE’S NO NEED FOR A FORCE FIELD, LET’S JUST PUT WHEELS ON IT”

oh okay so the whole campus is basically capable of burrowing itself underground. that’s insane lol I wonder how they pulled that off. probably got poor Cementoss working overtime

blah blah blah so basically the entire campus is split into a grid and each section of the grid is capable of its own independent movement. lol this is just the Merone Base from KHR. you thought no one would notice this casual plagiarism ten years after the fact, but YOU UNDERESTIMATED YOUR AUDIENCE, HORIKOSHI

“joke’s on you imma just lampshade it” WELL ALL RIGHT THEN

“look at me I’m so fucking self-aware” fucking swear to god. I can’t believe this man is my favorite mangaka of all time smdh

“excuse me, I wasn’t finished describing all the rest of this bullshit yet,” Rat Principal breaks in impatiently. “we also added a steel wall all around the underground of the campus that’s 3000 steel plates thick. that’s fifteen fucking meters of solid fucking steel just fyi. and if anyone fucks around with any part of it the defense system will activate immediately! and also all of the plates are independently motorized, whatever the fuck that means!! in conclusion you’re gonna need a fucking tower crane to suspend all of your disbelief by the time I’m through with this paragraph”

“also Shiketsu is almost as reinforced as U.A. but not quite because we still had to make sure we were better.” but of course. and apparently the two schools are connected via a secret tunnel as Hagakure mentioned earlier

LSDKFJLSDKJFLK

“WAIT WHAT” LMAO YOU HEARD HIM, NOW INASA CAN VISIT YOU BOTH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THE WEIRD DREAM HE HAD. GOD BLESS YOU HORIKOSHI

(ETA: moment of appreciation for Shouto and Katsuki having the same thought at the same time and making Knowing Eye Contact and saying the exact same thing out loud in perfect unison like the best friends they are. what a blessed day.)

so Tokoyami is all “but wait if you engineered all this shit all the way back during the Band arc how did you even know that Tomura’s quirk awakening would become a thing, Horikoshi -- uh, I mean, Principal Nezu”

and Rat Principal is all “lol idk”

“basically I just woke up one morning and was all ‘say, you know what this school really needs? a fifteen-meter-thick underground steel wall, and the ability to break up into little pieces that individually zoom around wherever the fuck they want.’ jesus christ. lol if money and common sense were apparently no obstacle why didn’t you just teleport U.A. to the fucking moon or something. maybe I should shut up before I given him any ideas

dsfaelkjldkjgl

you heard it here first, folks, all of this cost a grand total of nine million U.S. dollars. well technically it cost “more than” nine million dollars. never has that distinction been more important lmao. are we sure this barrier was really made of steel and not cardboard? who the hell sold it to them, Ea-Nasir??

this is my favorite manga series of all time. yes I am ashamed

“in conclusion please do your best to reach Deku-kun” SO WHAT WAS ALL THAT NONSENSE ABOUT IT BEING TOO RISKY THEN. anyway thank you for this super informative and edifying flashback, Horikoshi. I will cherish it always. I don’t even want to read another translation of this absurdity lmao, there’s something special about it just the way it is. pretty sure Horikoshi just had a cracked out fever dream one night and transferred it to the pages of the manga verbatim

anyway so back to the unruly mob

not their finest moment. please excuse me while I cover poor Deku’s ears and give him a good shoosh pap

oh wow the parents are out here too

is Mitsuki trying to hold Inko back?? that’s the last thing this fandom needs right now is more Mitsuki discourse fffwlkjs. and even Jiroudad, scientifically proven to be the best dad in all of BnHA, is just standing there silently looking vaguely unhappy. way to rise to the moment you guys

MONOMA

so this settles it for me that Aizawa is not at UA. I know a lot of people have been wondering about his whereabouts, and if I had to wager a guess it would be that something happened with Shirakumo/Kurogiri. I can’t think of anything else -- even the loss of an eye and a limb -- that would keep him from his kids at a time like this

anyway but this is excellent Monoma content right here though. I love that he apparently adopted Eri after a single interaction with her. also WHERE IS SHINSOU DAMMIT. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW

and Kouta’s there too looking like he wants to run over to Deku but Ragdoll won’t let him :/

it’s gotta be pretty upsetting for him to see his hero like this and not having anyone stand up for him. [taps megaphone] IS THIS THING ON. OKAY YEAH IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING. AHEM. PAGING URARAKA OCHAKO. GONNA NEED YOU TO GET OVER HERE ALREADY AND MAKE THAT BIG DRAMATIC SPEECH WHICH YOU ARE CLEARLY DYING TO MAKE. IF YOU DON’T DO IT SOON I’M GONNA HAVE TO STEP IN, AND YOU REALLY DON’T WANT ME TO DO THAT SINCE MY SPEECH WILL NOT BE VERY GOOD OR INSPIRING, AND WILL PROBABLY JUST CONSIST OF “HELLO, YOU ARE ALL STUPID, PLEASE SHUT UP AND GO AWAY”

so now Mic is telling them to calm down. at least someone’s speaking up here, geez

OH MY GOD

MY MAN JEANIST OUT HERE DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST: MAKING EVERYONE FEEL GUILTY AND JUDGED

OH MY GOD HE IS GIVING SUCH A LONG AND BORING SPEECH LMAO IS YOUR STRATEGY TO PUT THEM ALL TO SLEEP OR WHAT

truly in awe of this man’s ability to take messages which could easily be conveyed in ELI5-speak, and stubbornly convert them into incomprehensible language the likes of which you need a graduate degree in order to understand

“hey guys, so originally our plan was to use Deku as bait for the villains, but that didn’t really work and also we realized it was kinda dumb and was probably gonna get him killed, so we brought him back here instead.” was that really so hard, Jeanist. also are we all really just gonna sit back here and watch Jeanist take full credit for Bakugou’s plan just like that lmao

(ETA:

WHERE DID ENDEAVOR GO AND WHO IS THIS DIABOLICAL MASTER OF DISGUISE. lol I genuinely didn’t notice this because I was too busy digging through thesauruses trying to rewrite Jeanist’s speech; many thanks to @class1akids for pointing it out and making my day immeasurably better. take it easy there Dick Tracy.)

“anyway so please stop being dicks and let him fucking rest so he can save all your ungrateful asses” what an impassioned and inspiring plea. time to see if the masses will listen to reason

narrator: they did not listen to reason

oh my god finally Ochako is doing something. YEAH OCHAKO WOOOO SHOW THEM HOW IT’S DONE

hmm

this entire chapter is truly and utterly nonsensical to me lol

(ETA: on my second readthrough I’m fucking dying at how she stole the megaphone right out of Mic’s hand lmao. and how Kacchan is all “fuck yeah nothing I appreciate more than some quality fucking larceny.”)

oh I see she was jumping on top of the main building so as to scream down at them all more impressively

“ANYWAY DEKU IS PRETTY COOL ACTUALLY, YOU GUYS ARE JUST MEAN” couldn’t have said it better myself Ochako

lol uh

gotta say I did not have “Ochako reveals the secret of OFA to the entire U.A. Citizen Clown Parade” on my bingo card for this week. it’s a bold strategy cotton let’s see if it pays off

SDLFKJSL

“NO, SERIOUSLY, HAVE YOU LOOKED AT HIM YOU GUYS. YOU THINK HE LIKES RUNNING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A RUSTED OIL DRUM?? HE DID THAT FOR YOU YOU UNGRATEFUL SLOBS”

so she is basically explaining the entire Deku Angst arc to them and explaining what a good and selfless protagonist Deku is, YES, PREACH

OMG IT’S THE GIGANTIC FOX LADY

not to insinuate anything, but what exactly were you doing standing out here with the hysterical mob, Gigantic Fox Lady? you’re better than that

-- KACCHAN SIGHTING!!

sdlkfjl. thanks for weighing in with that helpful and important observation. where have you been for the last five minutes. were you asleep. was it Jeanist’s speech

never mind, now he’s yelling at the civilians so I instantly forgive him

THE FUTURE NUMBER ONE HERO, EVERYONE. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. HE’LL BE HERE ALL WEEK

“anyway so I’m just going to end the chapter here” lmao seventeen pages truly do go by so fast. at least he didn’t try to force in a cliffhanger at the end this time. dare I say, growth

so I guess the civilians are either gonna have a Kamino and/or Fukuoka-esque moment where they remember how to be decent people and apologize to this poor young man, or else they’ll remain unpersuaded, and so Kacchan will have to knock a few of their heads around until they become more inclined to be reasonable. either option is fine by me lol

#bnha 323 #uraraka ochako #rat principal #class 1-a #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

344 notes · View notes

cas-rivaille · 3 years

Note

HELLO, DEAR!

Undertaker here! How are you today?

I was thinking the other day and I remembered an idea of mine I requested some time ago to another blog and I wanted to see your point of view as well, if you're comfortable with it ofc! I'll change it a bit because I have more ideas about it than before.

What if, hear me out, Obey me!MC was Sukuna's vessel??

I was thinking about a Female!MC but if you want you can keep them gender neutral (I don't mind!). So let's get into it, shall we?

Some facts about MC before the Devildom:

- They've already eaten all Sukuna's fingers

-But they are able to keep him calm inside themselves because over the year they've been together, MC decided to approach him more (Ya know if you have to die with/for someone, at least know them better)

-Sukuna took a liking to the MC, even though he would never admit it. (I mean- They always visit him in his domain to talk to him, read together, play cards (yes. You heard me. The king of curses loves Poker and UNO) or chess, they always ask him where would he like to go eat something, offer him some of their food to let him try new things, ect. Sometimes, but only SOMETIMES, they let him take control (not fully but they both can talk from the same mouth and he has control over one side, while MC has control over the other one))

- Having said that, Sukuna's still a stinky sassy bastard King. He's still rude, acts like he doesn't care about them and always finds a way to let them down when they're too happy. If they're sad though, he doesn't hurt them more. Sometimes MC even asks him advice whenever they're in doubt and after his bulling he actually gives pretty good advice (if you consider extreme violence a good advice that is)

Anyway, MC was going to get executed when suddenly they fell into Devildom. Their file didn't mention Sukuna at all and MC noticed that because when they arrived covered in talismans and chains the demons were confused about it. So, they kept the King a secret until lesson 16.

After Belphegor's crushing hug, while MC (the one from the original timeline) is in Mammon's arm, before Barbatos Thanoses the other timeline, Sukuna heals them and takes fully control of their body (the tattoos, the fangs, the long black claws, the other pairs of eyes and arms appear).

Now, HOW would the brothers, Diavolo and Barbatos react?

If it is too much or I did something wrong, feel free to ignore this! It's okay! Love you and have a good day!

OH MY GOD ?? THIS IS FANTASTIC THANK YOU OMG !

(i think i'm gonna do it hc style for the individual characters feelings but also some dialogue n stuff and each hc thing for each character is written as like in the game like they all like MC except belphie for obvious reasons)

tags: swearing, lesson uhhh smth spoilers ?? i think like 16 ?? (lmk if i need to tag anything else)

also hi ‘taker🥺🥺 i’m good today,, had a bit of a rough morning but i got to see my partner so i feel better !! how are you ? :D

and without further ado..

MC who is Sukuna's Vessel

- hold up

- hold the fuck up

- it was confusing enough when there were two MCs and one of them was near death in mammon's arms

- but now the injured MC gets healed and comes back to life ? but has another set of arms and eyes and is covered in strange tattoos ?

- then the other MC disappears ?

- when the demon MC starts talking, their voice is different and what-

"What the fuck did you to do MC?" Sukuna hastily spits out, checking the body for any other injuries. MC's voice is back and talking out of the same mouth.

"Sukuna, stand down," MC says.

"But he almost killed you ! Without me we wouldn't be standing here right now !" Sukuna argues back.

"I'm aware of that, but we have to be civil about this and talk to them," MC responds sternly.

"Then I want to be present for it. I'm not letting anything happen to you- I mean me. Yes me because I die if you die and I'm too godly to die," Sukuna rambles out before retracting the other set of arms but leaving the tattoos. He opens one of the eyes and forms a mouth on MC's right cheek to watch and participate in the conversation.

All the brothers and Divolo looked stunned at the scene that just happened.

"Questions ?" MC jokingly asks.

Lucifer -

- what ?

- questions ? is MC joking ?

- who the fuck is talking out of MCs body and what jurisdiction does he have

- isnt MC supposed to be human ??

- what does this mean for their relationship ?

- why did MC keep it from him ?

- he looks at dia and barbatos with the most confused face

- looks back at MC equally confused

- def hurts his pride that he didn't know

"Explain"

Lucifer's confusion turns to anger because that's the only way he knows how to cope/react to this.

Sukuna starts talking.

"Show a little more respect. I'm a king after all."

"Don't be an ass," MC shoots back. MC looks at Lucifer a little embarrassed.

"Uh, so this is Sukuna. He's the king of curses ? We kind of share a body because... uhh... it's a very long story but i mean the gist of it is I ate his thousand year old fingers ? There was 20 of them because he had two sets of arms like you saw before- it was very gross- but i had to because of the energy they posses ? When you brought me here and I was covered in seals and chains, was when I was about to be executed because I have all of Sukuna in me. So,, he can do stuff like heal my body and give me cool powers ? I don't really know what else to say." MC rambles using awkward hand motions and finishes by scratching the back of their head.

"Way to make me sound like a total fucking loser," Sukuna glares at MC.

"For the love of god stop talking-" MC shoots back.

Mammon

- huh ? someone has been sharing a body with his MC the whole time ?

- were they present the whole time ?

- did they see him acting like an idiot in love ?

- was sukuna there during e v e r y conversation he's ever had w them

- never felt more insecure and betrayed tbh

- why wouldn't you tell him ? he was your first

</3

- wants you all to himself

- doesn't want to share you with some four armed idiot

"So he's just, there all the time ?" Mammon asks.

"Not really? He has a headspace and he usually just chills in there but he can watch what's going on if he wants to." MC responds.

"That makes me sound lazy," Sukuna complains.

"Well if you don't like how I describe you then maybe you can talk about yourself. You're very good at it," MC smirks.

"Fine. I can do whatever I want. We can trade who has control over MC's body. I have a large supply of cursed energy and will beat the shit out of the next person who touches MC," Sukuna glares at Belphie.

"Yeah beat them in poker maybe. But not mariokart. You suck at video games in the headspace," MC laughs.

Leviathan

- was that how MC was so good at video games ?

- because they spent hours on end with this guy in their head playing video games ?

- why didn't MC come to him to play games ?

- why is MC okay with sharing a body with Sukuna ?

- why can he be the one to share a body with MC ?

- why was MC playing video games with literally anyone else ?

"So let me get this straight, you are his fingers and now you share a body ? How does that even work ? That sounds like something out of the manga 'My best friend ate some ancient object and now shares a body with an immortal warrior'" Levi questions MC.

"Okay so, Sukuna lived a really long time ago. When he died, the only thing that survived were his fingers. They each hold an incredible amount of cursed energy and it's only his fingers so from there you can imagine how powerful he was with the rest of his body," MC explains.

"Okay but that doesn't tell me why you ate the fingers ?" Levi raises an eyebrow.

"Oh. So I went to a high school for Jujutsu sorcerers, which are people who can manipulate cursed energy, and once I ate the first one to save my friend from dying, my choices were to die now or eat all of Sukuna and then be executed because he would die with me," MC says as if them dying was nothing.

Satan

- why has he never heard about Sukuna in any of the books he's read ?

- he historically doesn't exist in anything the devildom has book-wise

- so who is he ?

- needs to find out everything he can about him

- is there a way to separate MC and Sukuna ?

- his blood is boiling at the thought of MC sharing a body with someone

"So you've basically had super human powers this entire time and elected to not tell us ?" Satan glares at MC.

"Well, when you put it like that it sounds bad. I just didn't want you all to meet Sukuna because he has a lot of anger issues and is quite an asshole and I was trying to avoid this entire conversation that is happening," MC sighs.

"Rude," Sukuna says.

"Anger issues. You think we couldn't deal with this ? Are you serious right now ?" Satan asks.

MC shrugs their shoulders nervously.

"How much do you actually know about what sharing a body with him does to you ?" Satan asks while looking at the small mouth and glaring.

"I mean, I get these marks because he had them when he was alive. He was also so powerful to the point he had four arms and another set of eyes, like you saw before. I get those when he takes over mostly, but I can kee him restrained. But the eye thing is why I've always had slits under my eyes because the eyes are the most common thing to show up. The arms don't really. But it's entirely painless so don't worry," MC somewhat calmly explains.

Asmodeus

- those marks make MC look so good wtf-

- not the time

- so this Sukuna person lived a thousand years ago ?

- what was this about jujutsu sorcery ?

- what even is that ?

- asmos not the brightest on the block but from the looks on his brothers faces none of them know what the fuck MC is talking about either.

- they've explained a little bit of it b there's still some missing info

- what is sharing a body really like

- how much of MCs body can change to be like Sukunas ?

"So how much of your body can he control ? What can he heal ? Could he bring you back from the dead ?" Asmo curiously asks.

"He can't control much because it's my body and I have a lot of raw power by myself. I don't know if he can bring us back from the dead. I don't think so though or else the Jujutsu school wouldn't have tried to execute me. He used to be able to bring us back when I hadn't eaten all of his fingers, but now I don't think he can," MC explains.

"So why do you let him live in your body if he can't do much for you ?" Asmo questions.

"Well one, I don't think there's a way to get him out-"

"I'm still here you know," Sukuna interrupts.

"You've made that clear," MC says before continuing, "And two he can do stuff for me. It's like a symbiotic relationship. I give him a host and he protects me."

Beelzebub

- protects MC ?

- that's his job

- why is someone else protecting MC ?

- overall confusion

- even tho MC has gone over it multiple times, he doesn't get how or why Sukuna is in MC's body

- maybe it's the shock

. was this why MC could challenge him to armwrestling and almost win ?

"So how long has he been in you ?" Beel asks.

"About a year," MC responds.

"Can he make you live longer aside from healing you ?" Beel asks hopefully.

"I'm sorry, I don't think so..." MC says while looking at the ground. They cross their arms. They look small, as if they aren't small enough compared to him already.

"So, what does this mean ? Now that your secret is out... are you going to stay in the devildom with us ? Or do you have to leave ?"

" If I leave I'll surely be executed when I go back to the human world. If I stay I don't know what will happen to me, but it's not up to me. It's up to you guys if you want me to stay. I understand if you want me to go, I was harboring a big secret and it's probably unnerving to know that you're never truly alone with me, but Sukuna actually cares about my boundaries even though he acts like he doesn't. There are some pluses and there are some drawbacks but ultimately you have to decide." MC responds, looking from brother to brother then at Dia and Barbatos

Belphie

- MC ? dead if you back to the human world ? doesn't bother him

- he doesn't care

- he hasn't known MC long enough to care

- diavolo may have told everyone that MC was a descendant of human Lilith and he told everyone the events that actually happened, but why should he have any attachment to MC

- MC isnt Lilith, and MC sure as hell doesn't like him after the events that happened today

- from what he's heard, MC dying would be good for the human world

"I say send MC back. What happens to them isnt our problem any more," Belphie says while under his magical restraints Diavolo put on him.

"Of course you would say that," Satan glares at him.

"Shut up Belphie !!" Mammon and Levi yell.

"You don't have any right to an opinion in this matter." Lucifer states.

"Belphie that's mean," Asmo says.

Beel frowns.

"I vote they stay. I like MC regardless, and if all I have to do is adjust to Sukuna then I'll do it," Beel says while looking Belphie dead in the eye.

There's a beat of silence.

"Me too," Mammon says.

"Hey ! I was going to say that !" Levi protests.

"Oooh~ Count me in !" Asmo says with a smile.

"I also think they should stay," Satan says and looks at MC.

"My personal preference is also that they stay, but Lord Diavolo it's up to you," Lucifer says and looks at Dia.

Diavolo

- he knew there was something off, but couldnt place his finger on it

- he also constantly got a powerful vibe from MC and this explains it

- he was very fond of MC and enjoyed their presence

- he knew what he was going to do

"Barbatos, what do you think ?" Dia asks him.

"The decision is up to you m'lord," Barbatos responds.

"Well Id also like the input of my trusty all knowing butler," Diavolo laughs.

"Then, I see no reason to send them back to the human world. They can live out their lives here and safe from the school that wants to execute them. It also wouldn't be an issue to get anyone from the human world here if MC so desired," Barbatos replied.

"Then it's settled ! Welcome to the devildom for the rest of your life MC!!" Diavolo smiled and welcomed MC with open arms.

MC smiled and accepted the hug.

Barbatos

- he didn't know all along, but he know when the timelines crossed and he had to erase the other

- MC was very near and dear to his heart though and he wasnt about to let them be killed

- just wants to keep MC safe

I HOPE I DID A GOOD JOB AND THANK YOU FOR THE REQUEST REMEMBER TO FRINK SOME WATER ILY TAKER <3

- mars :)

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dirtyoatmeall · 3 years

Text

Saying I love you (Various x reader)

A/N: here are some cute little drabbles of some of the boys saying I love you. It was originally gonna be I love you for the first time but I started imaging domestic softness and couldn't help myself. If there's anyone else you want to see let me know!

Pairings: Bokuto, Kuroo, Tendo, Osamu, Sakusa, Tsukishima, Ukai, Iwaizumi x reader (separate) established relationships, gn!reader

Warnings: None :)

Bokuto

You were walking home together after practice like every day, swinging your joined hands as you chattered about the day while Bokuto listened intently, giving feedback when needed. You were telling him a stupid joke and when you looked at him, lips lifting into a smirk, and before he could stop himself, he blurted out,

“I love you.”

He stopped as soon as the words tumbled from his lips, he had no idea what overcame him, this isn’t how he wanted to tell you, what if you thought it was too soon? What if you didn’t want to say it back?

Your eyes had widened momentarily, playful smirk melting into a loving smile. You squeezed his hand, returning his attention to you. You stepped closer, placing a quick kiss on his cheek before tugging him along again.

“I love you too Kou.”

Tendo

It was your weekly date night, electing to stay in and escape the cold. You were lying in bed, on your back while Tendo was in between your legs, head resting on your stomach, reading the new Shonen Jump as you ran your hands through his hair absentmindedly, scrolling through TikTok on your phone. The two of you were silent, occasionally you’d show him a funny video, or he’d tell you his theories on the manga he was reading.

You sat up and scooched back slightly, resting more against the headboard and Tendo slid down to rest between your thighs. He looked up at you and you smiled, groaning softly as you stretched your arms above you.

“I’m in love with you.”

Your eyes opened and you looked down mid-yawn at the red head, surprised. He wiggled his eyebrows in response, and you laughed, letting your arms drop, weaving your fingers back into his hair and tugging lightly as you leaned down to kiss him softly, pulling back slightly, goofy grin replacing your surprise.

“I’m in love with you too dork.”

Kuroo

Graduation ceremony had just finished. You were both still in your cap and gown, taking pictures with your families. He watched you fondly as you talked with his mom and sister, making him take a picture of the three of you, bright grins evident. He pulled you to the side after, kissing you gently, he was so happy you got along with his family, hopefully they’d be your family soon enough.

“I love you (Y/N).”

You smiled wide, eyes becoming a little glossy, and you hugged him tight, exhaling shakily. You pulled back just enough to look up at him, expression full of adoration, mirroring his.

“I love you too Tetsuro.”

You laughed when you heard coos from behind you, your families no doubt already taking pictures of the intimate moment.

Osamu

You finished closing the restaurant after a busy Saturday, Osamu was leaning against the counter, watching you as you took inventory, planning on placing a supply order tomorrow. He watched as you scanned the rows, chewing your bottom lip in concentration. Your brow furrowed, pencil tapping your chin as you contemplated something. When you decided on an answer you nodded once to yourself, small smile playing on your lips.

You turned to continue onto the next section, glancing at him for a movement before looking at him fully when you catch him staring. You rose an eyebrow, one hand on your hip. “What’cha thinkin’ ‘bout ‘Samu?”

He hummed before pushing away from the counter, waltzing toward you. “Oh nothin’, just thinkin’ ‘bout how much I love ya.” You hummed in response, watching bemused as he approached, snaking his arms around your waist, pulling you closer. “Yeah? Enough to finish inventory?” He seemed to think for a moment, “Hmm, I don’ know ‘bout that…” You laughed and playfully shoved him, though it did little to move him. You lightly tapped the clipboard on his head,

“Well lucky for you, I love you enough.”

He pinched your bottom, chuckling when you yelped, moving to wrap his arms around you again, this time pulling your back to his chest as he read over your shoulder.

Sakusa

You were making dinner when he came home from practice, sizzling of the pan audible from the doorway. He called out a greeting, you turned down the music before you popped your head out of the kitchen. “Hey babe! It’ll be a little bit before I’m done, why don’t you go ahead and shower? Dinner should be done by the time you’re out.” Kiyoomi smiled and nodded, heading towards your shared bedroom.

He stood in the doorway to the kitchen, hair still slightly damp, as he watched you cook. You were in your own little world, humming along to the music, hips swaying slightly as you stirred the contents of the pot in front of you. You caught sight of him when you turned to grab seasoning, jumping slightly in surprise before smiling,

“Gosh you scared me Kiyo! One sec, lemme me wash my hands.” You moved the pot off the heat, moving to the sink to wash up as Kiyoomi walked towards you. You finished drying your hands by the time he reached you, his hands finding their place on your hips. You mumbled a greeting again before reaching up to kiss him softly, fingertips resting on the side of his jaw for balance. He pulled back and kissed your forehead before smiling softly.

“I love you.”

You smiled brightly, “I love you too! C’mon lets dish up, I’m pretty sure I didn’t burn the meat this time.” Kiyoomi snorted, grabbing plates down for the two of you.

Tsukishima

The sunlight filtering in through the blinds slowly stirred you awake. You groaned, rubbing your face before stretching, yawn escaping your lips. You glanced at the clock on your nightstand, stiffening when you saw the time.

“ ‘ts Sunday, go back t’ sleep.” Kei yawned next to you, tugging you back into his chest, nuzzling into your hair. You relaxed, turning in his hold, rolling your eyes at his groan of protest. Droopy eyes and a pout greeted you when you turned to face him, you smiled and kissed his pout, snuggling into his chest. He huffed and resumed his position, arms tightening around your waist as your legs tangled together. He mumbled into your hair,

“ ‘m love you” you laughed softly, rubbing his back, Kei was always more needy in the morning. “I love you too baby.” He pinched your hip, and you laughed louder when he rolled the two of you to face to the other way, now facing away from the window. He grumbled and pulled the covers up more,

“If you really love me, you’ll stop bein' loud and g' back t’ sleep.” You muffled your giggle in his chest, kissing his shoulder in apology before shifting slightly to get more comfortable, letting his heartbeat lull you back to sleep.

Ukai

You settled into the chair behind the counter, sipping your coffee as you flipped through a magazine. You heard cursing and loud footsteps stumbling down the stairs leading to your apartment and you smiled into your mug. Your eyes flickered up to your husband, taking in his disheveled appearance and pout before turning back to your magazine. You raised your head when you heard him come up behind you.

Longs fingers pinched your cheek before grasping your chin to tilt your head back. You smirked at the grumpy frown on his face as he leaned down to kiss you in greeting. He pulled away grumbling. “Damned woman, lucky I love you, always letting me sleep late.” You hummed in agreement and held up his lighter, which he swiped before kissing your forehead, tugging a lock of your hair and stealing a swig of your coffee before he left.

“Love you!” You called after him, laughing loudly as he flipped you off as he walked out of the store.

Iwaizumi

You waved when the screen loaded, your boyfriend’s sleepy form on the other side of the screen, on the other side of the world. “Hey baby, it’s pretty late, you going to bed?” Iwaizumi nodded, rubbing his eyes. “Wanted t’ talk though.” You smiled softly. Even though there was a 16 hour time difference between the two of you, Iwaizumi never failed to skype you at least once a day, talking about your days or planning for when he’d come home next. Usually you’d talk when he woke up, which was right before you went to bed, but he had an early practice and wanted to move it later.

He was in bed already, and he listened as you talked about your day, humming every so often in response. Though after a few minutes of nothing from the other end, you looked up from your book and smiled warmly. Light from his bedside lamp illuminated his sleeping face, and you could hear the quiet snores escaping his lips. He must’ve been pretty tired. You said his name gently a few times, a little louder to try and wake him. He blinked blearily, furrowing his eyebrows. “Hey, you should go to bed.” He made a noise of protest, shaking his head slightly. “ ‘m awake, keep telling me ‘bout your day.”

You rolled your eyes playfully at his stubbornness. “Haiji, you literally were asleep a few minutes ago. As much as I’d love to watch you sleep, I bet your phone isn’t plugged in, and you should turn off your lamp.” He grumbled but complied, the phone shaking slightly as he fumbled to plug it in, before unplugging the lamp.

“Ok, ‘m gonna go t’ bed. I miss you baby. I’ll call in the mornin’. Love you.” You blinked away the tears forming in your eyes and nodded. “Alright, I’ll talk to you in a few hours, sleep well, I miss you too, love you so much Haji.” You ended the call, taking a deep breath, exhaling shakily. It was hard, living thousands of miles from your boyfriend, but it was worth it, he was worth any distance. You set an alarm for later tonight, grabbing an energy drink from the fridge to return to your studies.

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centrally-unplanned · 3 years

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The Liminal 90's of River's Edge

River’s Edge, a 1993 josei manga by Kyoko Okazaki, is something I picked up primarily due to hearing through the ‘net-vine of its influence on FLCL. Which is clearly there – adrift teens smoking on a bridge?

A smog-belching factory defining the grim normality of the town they live in, whose purpose is commented on to be unknown to the characters?

FLCL is a hodgepodge of cultural symbols and River’s Edge certainly part of the, uh, hodge. The parallels end there though – River’s Edge is *peak* josei in that it is utterly engulfed in the edgy drama of its high school protagonists. There is no way around the fact that this just isn’t a very good story, when it has plotlines such as boyfriend of Haruna, the main character:

1: cheating on her with her close friend,

2: which they do while doing hard drugs together,

3: resulting her getting knocked up,

4: which her hikikomori sister finds out via reading her diary (the 90’s!)

5: prompting them to get into a *knife fight*, the wounds of which abort the baby

And that is the most tame of these plotlines, trust me. By the time the gay character’s fake-but-she-doesn’t-know-it girlfriend *immolates herself* for attention you are willing to flee to the nearest monastic order to just chill out for life. This manga is 14 chapters y’all, you can finish it in under an hour, there is not enough character screen time to justify this level of drama. Its a classic early-adolescent fiction problem; your first time hearing about sex and death is so cool! So *real*! But once the novelty wears off there are no characters underneath, the shock is a magician’s misdirect so you don’t notice the hollowness behind the curtain.

We also forget how much the digital revolution has changed art in fast-paced, low-cost genres like manga by allowing consistency and polish; Okazaki is an accomplished, well known mangaka and some of these panels are so messy and detail-less:

Which isn’t a criticism per se as this was what the genre looked like at the time, and much of the art is great, but it's just to say overall this isn't a visuals-first affair. It relies on writing that just doesn’t deliver.

------

At least most of the time, because in its overwhelmingly maudlin current are ripples of some really good moments. My standout is when the narrator voice goes poetic, setting up a repeated motif:

Even as it is a bit cheesy this motif still spoke to me, the “flat battlefield”, the power of that phrase the story imbued into it. A fight with no contours to its course, no metrics to measure victory by? You don’t need to experience a knife-fight abortion to get that struggle, my daily mundane life is that (obliquely, through a certain lens at a certain time when the mood is just right/wrong). That is the universal feeling of ennui and social displacement these kinds of stories aim to have empathy for, and that the rest of this story failed to achieve. And credit where it is due – main girl Haruna, who narrates this and through whose eyes most of this story happens, doesn’t really have much drama at all in comparison to her peers. While they do insane shit she just watches and helps where she can from the sidelines, defined by her listlessness as opposed to everyone else’s tragedy. The flat battlefield is exactly the kind of pain someone like Haruna would feel – this arc works.

From the social critic lens, what I think is more notable about this story is what it does not contain. Its universal aspirations are betrayed by how utterly of its time it is. River’s Edge falls into the edgy-punk sphere, but original punk was defined by its targets - The Man, The Establishment, the polluted cityscapes and imprisoned activists, Thatcher’s & Reagan’s right wing triumphalism, original punk knew what it stood against. In the post cold-war, mass-culture era of the 90’s, however, the appeal of those causes faded – how could things so distant and so temporal be the cause of such deep personal ills? It's often said that Japan predicts America’s cultural movements ten years out, but in this case it was right on time – 1993’s River’s Edge flows neatly alongside the 90’s American counterculture void.

But we no longer live in those liminal 90’s, that void between the intensity of the 60’s+ social revolution and today – we now have causes, but they are, ahem, as personal as they are political. Sad edgy teens are no longer sad or edgy – they instead fall somewhere on the Depressed/Oppressed axis, their condition diagnosed. Alienation is now a mental health issue (with treatments, certainly always effective yep yep, criminally underfunded and denied to those who need them), gay teens struggle for acceptance as a political cause. Even if the problems are inwardly focused, the solution can be translocated outward – change media, change language, change executive leadership, only then can the struggle be resolved. It’s the grand cycle of history – the teen edginess is activist again, even if the targets are wildly different.

River’s Edge never mentions the word ‘depression’. No one mentions therapy, or acceptance, or really any solution to their various problems - the problems are experienced internally but exist externally, a world broken only by a vague sense of ‘modernity’, if anything at all. The language in which this state of mind is discussed is now antiquated, a sort of radical acceptance of hopelessness as the natural state of man. Its aspirations to universalism have already been left in the dust of the changing times, an ill-fitting, out-of-fashion way of thinking even as Depression Fics dominates its former niche.

Which is why this otherwise-silly story still spoke to me, as I still resonate with that way of thinking more than anything else in vogue. I keep being told something is out there, but all I ever see is an endless horizon - and I am glad to once again share the view.

------

Anyway, happy 30th anniversary to Smells Like Teen Spirit!

#River's Edge #essay #I don't read too much manga but I do aspire to change that #this probably ranks an 8 on the 'insufferable writing' scale but I had fun with it regardless #90's nihilism

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chidoroki · 3 years

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Isabella - 73584

I had a serious debate with myself over whether or not I wanted to sit down and spend my weekend writing another one of these praise posts. I was content with just doing one for each of the Fullscore Trio kids and ending it there.. but apparently I love this woman too much to just ignore her on her birthday. So here were are on September 9th with a list of all her best and my personal favorite moments as to why I believe she’s such a great character, antagonist and mother (yeah you heard me right). Considering she only shows up in the beginning and very end of the story, this post ended up longer than I originally anticipated, which just goes to show how many thoughts I really have about this woman. (for real, this rivals Ray’s post in terms of points but there’s far more words)

Since she also has some backstory and certain events differ between manga and anime (thanks to the second season), I’ll try to go in chronological order between both timelines instead of chapter by chapter, which might be a bit confusing as we’ll jump around the story a lot but just to bear with me as I try to makes sense of it all.

(spoilers for the entirety of The Promised Neverland & ch181.7, so if you haven’t read/completed the manga yet, consider this your first warning, because I’m literally going from start to finish with this one last time. I promise.)

- I’m not sure how well she compares to Emma when it comes to athleticism, but Isabella seemed to have no trouble climbing up and down trees when she was younger.

- Not only that, but she managed to scale the wall by herself using a method that requires a fairly impressive jump. It’s also implied that this is how she climbs the wall again so many years later when chasing the soon-to-be escapees, which helps prove that even at an older age, she hasn’t lost her touch.

- Was chosen to undergo training to become a Mom, which required high test scores and the current mother’s recommendation. She accepted the offer in order to keep living and survive as human the demons couldn’t eat.

- Based on Sienna’s comment, is it fair to say Isabella is on par with the full score trio? I mean, the woman is basically flawless.

- She was practically untouchable during her time at headquarters while training too apparently. Mom positions are scarce so the environment where these ladies fight (physically/mentally/emotionally) to even snag that job is highly competitive, and yet Isabella never let anyone deter her from her goal of becoming a Mom, which probably led to the “Iron Lady” nickname she received now that I think about it.

- She was the youngest ever to be granted the Mom position at..what, 19? 20? Somewhere around there, but impressive nonetheless considering they’re forced to have a child, build up a strong, emotionless exterior and endure so much fear. (but my goodness, the woman doesn’t age at all. she looks just as good when the story actually starts as she did her when she was a bit younger)

- It became common knowledge among the Sisters that she was also very successful in the way she raised her children.

- Her success greatly benefited the farm, as she offered up countless high quality goods, which sounds terrible, I know, but believe me when I say she gave her best effort for her children. Even though she held the Mom position, the amount of power she actually had in this system was pretty minimal, especially with how much she valued her own life. She couldn’t afford to make any mistakes or risky changes, so she settled with doing the most with what she was capable of. She provided her children with a normal lifestyle, not only to keep up the orphanage facade, but knowing that their lives would all be cut shorter than they anticipate. She gave them love in hopes that no one would ever have to feel the dread she felt after Leslie’s death and/or finding out the truth. She tried to delay that horrific fate by encouraging them to learn all they can (like teaching the trio about strategy and chess) so they could achieve higher tests scores and (unknowingly to them) add a couple more months or years onto their lives. Yes it was her job to raise these children to such high standards but she excelled at it for their sake too.

- And I know y’all will just throw Ray in my face like, “oh but he was her actual child and she treated him horribly/different.” Okay but deep down I don’t think she actually wanted to? When they both realized they were truly mother and son, Isabella couldn’t just dote on him and start treating him as such. I’m sure Ray wasn’t too fond of Isabella at this point in his life either, knowing that she sent several of his siblings away to get killed. They probably would’ve gotten along just fine in a perfect world, but since they were both aware of the hell they’re trapped living in, they emotionally distanced themselves and formed a business-like relationship as a result of Ray’s deal, which benefited them both in different ways. For Ray, it was more practical, with the obvious notion of living as long as possible along with obtaining various rewards and knowledge of the outside world. For Isabella, it helped emotionally by simply just ignoring their true relation. I believe if she clung to that realization, it would break the orphanage illusion and eventually wear down her “Iron Lady” exterior that she relies so heavily on.

- Like can you imagine how much you would have to harden your heart in order to quite literally walk children to their death every couple months for years on end and just move on like it’s completely normal? Now imagine how earth shattering it must be to think about doing the same to your actual child. All those years spent perfecting a fake smile and emotionless exterior like she was trained to have and her son shatters it in an instant. She becomes completely terrified about how he’s actually alive and in front of her right now and there’s nothing she can do to truly save him.. and yet she still recovers so damn quickly I can’t even comprehend it! But there’s still some sadness in those eyes. You can’t tell me otherwise. That one moment of weakness speaks volumes to me.

- So now with her general backstory FINALLY out of the way, we can finally start with ch01/ep01 and how her laugh is sweet and innocent. I say that because (all hidden emotions and motives aside) that’s exactly how she’s supposed to sound in this moment, not only to us but to the children as well.

- She of course checks Emma’s tracker a moment later but other than that I still think it’s a pretty genuine moment between the two.

- As previously stated, her ability to raise high quality children is unmatched, which is clear as day thanks to the fullscore trio.

- Despite their crazy level of intelligence, the trio has yet to win a simple game of chess against Isabella, even when teamed up.

- She treasures everything about the kids.

- She really cares about them, even when it’s time to send them off with a smile, which we know is thanks to her strong facade.

- But mother dearest isn’t really fine. She doesn’t like walking kids to their death, especially so young. But she can’t let them (or even herself) know that. She can’t show weakness, so she hums Leslie’s song, which is a tool she’s used for years in order to give herself strength.

- Don’t worry, I disliked her this moment happened too, just as the story intended. And here’s where her fantastic antagonist role begins for all the world to see.

- A true champ at jump scares.

- Acts completely calm the night after a couple of kids found out the secret of the farm.

- She uses the tracker in plain sight, sending whomever went to the gate last night a threatening but silent message.

- Correct Norman, that’s the “Iron Lady” for ya. Also the name of ch03 for us. Well, “The Iron Woman” but same difference.

- She switches from calculating and manipulative breeder to sweet and pleasant mother so quickly and effortlessly it’s incredible. Isabella even checked Emma’s pulse in this scene to see if she was acting normal.

- At this point she still had no idea who went to the gate (Ray didn’t tip her off yet, at least I don’t think so) but her guess couldn’t have been more precise. The level of fear she drives into both Emma and Norman was great too, but then again her presence is enough in any scene to give us chills.

- Notices her watchdog isn’t at his usual post and starts to get suspicious.

- Not only of him, Emma and Norman, but Don and Gilda as well, thus giving the five extra chores to finish in an attempt to slow down any escape planning, such as cleaning vacant rooms, organizing the pantry and inspecting spare linen.

- While the trio believes Isabella was being too soft and patient in finding her targets, she effectively catches them off guard by bringing in Krone for assistance. The trio soon realize they were actually preparing the sister’s new room and those mundane chores were just an excuse to buy time.

- Look at her, all smug. Checkmate indeed. (and totally not important, but her eyes are such pretty shades of purple)

- The sass and her no nonsense attitude.

- Immediately puts Krone in her place the moment she even thinks about shipping out the targets. Of course holding off on shipping the targets would benefit the farm, as it would produce higher quality merchandise as time passes, but plant 3 is run by Isabella and she’ll be damned if an assistant thinks they could waltz right in and decide her children’s fate.

- She check’s Emma tracker again despite her claim of knowing exactly who the targets might be. You can never be too careful.

- Her precious children managed to win a game of tag against Krone, which is still impressive considering the kind of training the sister has gone through, so kudos to her teachings.

- Knows right away that Krone was trying to take advantage, which allows Krone to realize that the opening she had to learn more about the children was all planned by Isabella herself. Her intimidating nature is enough to scare adults too.

- Reveals that Krone was mostly summoned in order to keep Ray in check after his failure.

- Despite the trust issue, Isabella still keeps up her end of the deal by requesting the items Ray asked for, thanks to the odd perks she had under Grandma Sarah which allowed her to order goods that weren’t on the supply list.

- This hug between her and Phil is just too cute not to mention.

- I imagine she makes this comment because she knows exactly how long a rope must be based off her own almost-escape.

- It’s just something about how this scene is framed alongside this dialogue that makes me think “oh, like mother, like son.”

- I blame her very thoughtful planning for my first big freak out when I watched season 1 blind, like ma’am that’s my favorite boy, please don’t.

- She conspires with Grandma Sarah in order to get rid of Krone for good, which renders the evidence sister just found out about the children’s escape completely useless. Sarah believes there might be some truth to it, but ultimately ignores it and puts her faith in Isabella’s ability of controlling the children & the situation.

- She then cuts Ray off and ends their six-year long deal, opting to control the situation herself from now on. Also, how she wanted to keep him around until the very end is kinda bittersweet. Does she mean as merchandise? Or because she wanted him to live as long as possible? Ah such a tricky little comment.

- She also tosses him across the room like a rag doll.

- Thank god for this panel existing and actually being adapted into the anime so I could hear it because I had absolutely no memory of her laughing in this moment.

- “She says it so nonchalantly,” Norman said once upon a time, and it’s still so frightening.

- As insane as her ideals seem given the circumstances, nothing she says here is really a lie.

- She has the strength to quite literally break a leg and that cracking noise still haunts me to this day.

- It wasn’t even a spur of the moment thing either. Isabella came fully prepared with bandages to fix up any injury she was willing to inflict and that thought alone is terrifying.

- Not only that, but she broke it so cleanly that Emma’s leg does indeed heal perfectly in the exact time frame she estimates. This entire moment is so unfairly impressive, like ma’am how dare you do this to Emma of all people.. like why couldn’t you at least use that kind of force to snap Peter’s neck instead or something?

- To make matters worse, she then reveals Norman’s shipment date. And it’s the following day, which sends the kids into a very understandable panic.

- Needless to say, November 2nd, 2045 was a very successful day in the life of Isabella. Woman was putting everyone in checkmate in ep08 and my anger on full blast.

- This sly smile she sends Ray’s way after announcing Norman’s shipment to the younger kids is so cruel.. it’s perfect.

- I can only imagine she asked about Ray’s whereabouts because she knew the boys were close friends and she hoped they would at least say goodbye to one another, but that’s just me.

- Puts an end to Norman’s parting words in such a simple and chilling matter.

- The way she just openly threatens Emma with others just out of earshot.

- Norman out here asking the real questions. If anything, I say she’s more “content” rather than happy. I don’t think she’s ever really thought about her own happiness, at least not often enough, hence the slight pause. This entire time she’s been focusing on how to make her children’s lives perfect, but for herself she just wants to survive in this hellish world they’re all living in.

- I’m honestly still not sure who’s final decision it is to send people to Lambda, either Isabella, Peter or someone else (honestly never bothered to check), but whether or not Isabella had any say in the matter, I’m sure she’s at least a little glad that Norman gets to live a bit longer? Perhaps that’s a stretch, but I’m putting the idea here anyway.

- I say this because I believe that’s part of the reason why she offered Emma a Mom recommendation, not only because our girl’s high test scores, but in hopes that she could live a longer life.

- Although she really stresses in an intimidation fashion how pointless Emma’s efforts are now that Norman’s “dead,” the cliff remains a major hazard and her leg is still bandaged up, Isabella still tries so hard to convince her to give up, like Ray has, in order for Emma to end her own suffering. It was the first instance during my blind watch-through were I started to get the hint that Isabella might actually care about her kids, and of course I know now it’s because she didn’t want Emma to experience the same pain she did after Leslie’s death.

- With Emma and Ray both broken, things went by rather smoothly for Isabella those last two months, though she continued to keep a close eye on them.

- Her humming is so soothing. And why it took me this long to bring up “Isabella’s Lullaby” is beyond me, but oh my god, that song and any other soundtrack that uses its melody is absolute perfection.

- Had enough sense to not let her guard down the final night, even though her efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, but the idea counts.

- Though her caretaker side is focused on more during the fire, some motherly instincts do kick in as she instructs Gilda to get the babies from her room and lead everyone outside to safety. She was also concerned for Emma’s well being, hoping all the smoke didn’t get to her when the girl vanished. (i know you can argue “she’s only worried because they’re merchandise” which is fair but c’mon, i swear she’s not completely heartless)

- Took a hot minute (ahha) but Isabella eventually realized that the kids were actually escaping solely based on what they were wearing on their feet. I’m sure Emma’s discarded left ear was a big tip off too but to come to that conclusion by noticing the shoes they had on during all that chaos is surprising.

- She looks completely insane here but I always thought this shot of her was nicely animated with all the fire (or embers? sparks? whatever they are) flying around. The laugh she does before this is also a nice bonus. Oh, and she somehow managed to secure a radio from the room Don had locked.

- Figured the fifteen kids would head towards the bridge and called in headquarters to block it off.

- But when the children didn’t appear at the bridge, she just happened to know exactly where else they might try to cross the cliff.

- In the anime’s case, Isabella climbed the wall and ran there quick enough to engage in a stare down with Emma before she finally slid down.

- The moment I knew I was doomed.

- After the 15 kids successfully escaped, Isabella admits defeat, for she couldn’t really see how much her children have grown to outsmart her.

- This iconic quote, which conveys so much truth and sincerity. There were multiple occasions where she had to distance and restrain herself due to the system that controlled her, but the love she was able to show the children was genuine. If she wasn’t held back by the strict rules enforced by Mom position, I don’t doubt she would’ve treated Ray better or became far more emotional whenever a child had to leave for good or seriously injured, instead of donning a fake smile and being closed off.

- She realizes with this unspeakable loss in merchandise, the reputation she worked so hard to build up is meaningless now and that the farm no longer has any use for such an incompetent caretaker. She figures she’s as good as dead anyway now, so she wastes no time in actually helping the escapees by reclaiming the ropes to hide their exact method and route of escape, if only to grant the kids some extra time before the pursuers really locate them.

- She doesn’t act bitter as a result of her loss, instead choosing to wish the escapees luck with the future they grasped for themselves and care for the children that were left behind.

- She’s just so pretty y’all. Thank you anime.

- She was named “Best Antagonist” (and rightfully so!) back during the 2020 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, winning over Askeladd (Vinland Saga), Overhaul, (My Hero Academia), Garoua (One Punch Man,) & others.

(Post-season 1 spoilers ahead, even though the anime is completely finished at this point, but will be touching upon her special chapter more as well.)

- Completely owns up to her mistakes that caused the farm a massive loss in profitable goods and is ready to received whatever punishment necessary, which she expects to be death.

- Only.. she’s not being killed, she’s actually being promoted to Grandma. Though Isabella was directly responsible for the children’s escape, the blame ultimately falls on Sarah who couldn’t correctly control Isabella, thus leading the old lady to be shipped out in place of the goods Isabella lost.

- Peter also notes that the farm found more worth in Isabella than Sarah, so her past merits also played a part in sparing her life, as having a woman like Isabella in charge would surely produce the level of quality the farm needs.

- Isabella eventually accepts the promotion, though she can’t help but feel hesitant and shocked about the whole deal. This woman was ready to embrace death and finally be free from this cruel world, but now she has to witness not only more kids being shipped off, but moms and sisters in training as well (yay old chapter reviews coming in clutch).

- She could have very well just refused Peter’s offer, but we all know how much Isabella originally wanted to survive, so she doesn’t just accept because this man dangled a sense of freedom in her face, she also agreed so she could have the opportunity to help her children in any way her newfound power would allow her.

- Of course, her transition to Grandma happens a bit differently in the second season, but I will give some bittersweet thanks to the anime once more for the obvious but curse them for also having this entire scene dark as hell. Let me see her beauty darn it! I can only fix the lighting so much until it looks overexposed and bad again.

Anyways, Sarah is still alive at this point and taunts Isabella with the escapee’s lives just to see how she would react, which gave her a small sense of hope. Then some demons pay a visit later on and also ask if she would want to see the children one last time, but Isabella tells them that not only would she be too ashamed to face them but that they would manage to survive Grandma’s capture plan, which involved several men blowing up their shelter. It’s now clear to the demons that these children are special, and while Isabella agrees, it’s not for the same reason the demons think so. The demons believe the kids are special because of how they were raised to such a high quality. Isabella calls them special simply because they’re her children, just as any mother would.

- In the anime, it’s the demons who offer Isabella the Grandma deal if Sarah’s current plan were to fail (which it does) and she takes it and the freedom from Grace Field House without question. Do I still believe she had similar intentions to help out the children like she did in manga at this point? Of course.

- Not even a full month into her new job did she start preparing to help Emma & the others by considering who from the current Sisters she wanted to recruit to personally assist her destroy the farm entirely.

- A month later and Isabella had already decreased the number of shipments that took place at Grace Field, which obviously helps raise the quality of the children by default, but it also means less death and gives those kids a chance to live longer.

- She completely anticipated that Matilda, Jessica, Sienna & Scarlet were conspiring against her and caught them quite easily, as they were among the top scorers.

- Each had a fair chance at becoming Moms but with those positions limited, it was obvious to figure out they were trying to force Isabella’s seat open by creating some suspicious activity to place on her almost perfect record. Unfortunately for the girls, our new Grandma is too smart for her own good and I love it.

- The four women are apprehensive to join her insane plan to go against the farm, but Isabella assures them there’s no freedom if they follow the system’s rules and betray her. The harsh reality they’re all living in will continue unless they stop competing with one another and combine forces to defeat the true enemy.

- To persuade them further, Isabella mentions the children they all gave birth to are still alive, bringing out an array of emotions from the women that they each thought they had buried deep down.

- THIS! Just all of this is wonderful and shows just how much Isabella learned from her children who once defeated her.

- To fully gain the women’s trust, she gives them Ray’s farewell note that he originally left in order to bait Krone, as proof she won’t double-cross them at any point.

- I love the fact that she kept the note close to her because it acts just like all the other various toys and items she saved in her secret room back at plant 3. The original owners were all precious to her so she kept a piece of them behind to remember them in a place only she knew about. As I said before when mentioning her “I wish I could have just loved them normally” quote, all the love she had for her children had to be suppressed when she was under the system’s control, but that doesn’t mean she never cared. Because she did, and if I haven’t made at least that clear by now then I’m failing.

- Can her intentions and love for her children be any more clear? (possibly, i’m not done with this darn post yet. how you guys holding up? i’m going a little insane at this point.)

- Anyways! Second season didn’t make the rest of the story easy so apologies for any timeline mishaps as I switch between both anime and manga events from here on out.. like how in manga Isabella is informed of the escapee’s return to Grace Field via Peter, while the in the anime it’s her who helps lures them back with a fake transmission via the radio they stole.

- Just before Emma & the others do return to Grace Field on November 13, Isabella finally reaches out to the farm’s many other Sisters to recruit them. She waited until the right moment to inform them of her crazy takeover plan so Peter wouldn’t become suspicious from all of headquarters acting/thinking differently (you know, like how Emma kept the jailbreak plan under wraps until the night of). These ladies also feel a bit wary and even think of Isabella’s offer as a joke, but with some real, heartfelt encouragement, she manages to win over every single woman to her side.

- The moment when it was first revealed to us that she was not only still alive but was also promoted to Grandma is still so powerful.

- She snaps Nat’s finger back into place after Peter broke it. (and considering emma’s group infiltrates the farm right after this, i’m pretty sure that ch170 with rallying the sisters took place before this..i think?)

- Gave me a minor heart attack.

- *CLAPS FRANTICALLY!!!* The moment she truly won me over. 

- While her betrayal against Peter in the manga is fantastic and quite possibly one of my favorite moments, the anime did give us a little something too. It shows Peter spewing utter nonsense to Emma about how she’s destined to fail, only for best girl to bite back with such a fantastic quote, and then Isabella drops the act and switches sides. While I agree Emma’s comeback is “wonderful,” it’s the English dub that completely wins me over in this scene by having Isabella comment “Now that’s my girl” instead, like bro.. hearing that makes me so happy.

- For real dude, you have several highly skilled women pointing guns at you, I think her betrayal is crystal clear.

- This is like the perfect example of how she had to conceal her feelings while bound by the system. She just misses these kids so much y’all but she can’t let her true emotions show yet.

- Having her call Peter a boy is beyond hilarious to me. Also, how she disagrees with him on so many levels is excellent, like how he believes in experimenting on kids and having the right to call yourself their parent just because you created them, while Isabella believes in raising and loving children normally and that you earn that parent title by actually being part of their lives. To be fair they both inflicted pain on kids (Nat’s finger/Emma’s leg) but Peter’s action was a mistake in itself. Isabella got frustrated back when Krone even threatened to ship out the kids who discovered the secret, so you can bet she’s probably pissed off at this boy for harming one of her kids on purpose.

- The best mother-daughter moment ever! It’s such a shame it never got truly animated since the second season decided not to give the children guns, but we get to see a small smile from Isabella after Emma decided to still call her “mom.”

- The anime never gave Peter the chance to run away, like he (somehow) managed to do in manga, so we had the chance to see someone actually shoot at him. Well, in his general direction at least. Isabella lands a perfect shot not even a full second after he pulls out that disc. Accuracy on point.

- Said this once or twice in the past in manga so I’m glad the anime brought it back.

- Remains cautious and keeps her gun raised at Peter when Emma approaches him and rightfully so considering he still had his knife hidden at this point.

- Refuses Emma’s offer to join the kids in the human world at first because she knows that her (& the sister’s) actions shouldn’t be forgiven so easily, but with some rather blunt sympathy from Ray and encouragement from her other children, she finally gives in.

- This entire post summed up in one image.

- She apologizes even though distancing herself from her kids and preparing them for death were just required of her role as a caretaker. She wouldn’t have done any of that in a normal world. (do i sound like a broken record yet? probably)

- The emotion you hear in her voice during this entire dub scene hits my heart in all the right places.

- She still thinks of Leslie after all this time and I think that’s real cute.

- Her protective nature is on full display when she protects Emma from this bastard of a demon. A truly surprising and heartbreaking moment, considering this is the woman who’s survival used to be her top and only priority in the past, but now doesn’t hesitate to give her life in order to save her kid (and by extension that small girl emma saved. also, major heart attack for me).

- Despite being critically injured, this woman still possess enough strength to hold back a demon twice her size. She doesn’t even pay any mind to its nonsense. Like the demon, people often think this is when redemption arc starts but I believe it started way back in ch37 when Isabella retrieved and hid the ropes the kids used to escape. Ever since she admitted defeat on the wall that night, she threw caution to the wind and began cheating the system in hopes to one day assist the kids achieve a brighter future. Despite all the work she’s done behind the scenes, Isabella believes there’s still so much more she can do to atone, so even though she’s already received the children’s forgiveness, she continues to assist them by jumping in and saving them directly from demons for once in her life.

- Ma’am it’s sweet you’re so concerned with their safety, but we should be asking you that question ya know? (but then again emma was the same way after she woke up from her coma).

- Knows that just apologizing and saving Emma isn’t enough to suddenly forgive all her actions and wants to do so much more for the children as a result. Even though I already acknowledged all her subtle and hidden moments, I wish we got to see her care for them more openly.

- I simply can not read through ch177 and not get emotional. No matter how hard I try, I always feel tears start to form in my eyes. Oh my god, how cruel that death can be this beautiful. It’s so unfair.

- *uses old chapter review because I’m too upset right now* “She apologizes for everything. For not treating him right and loving him as a mother normally would her own son. For making him despise his life so much and enduring so much pain that he thought the only escape was suicide.”

- “She leaves him with one last wish to protect everyone, and that completely breaks me because you know exactly how much they both care for their family. Not only would they literally die for their family, but they would live for them too if someone asked. Truly like mother, like son.” (aaaaaahhhhh)

- Her, umm.. ghost (along with Conny’s & Yuugo’s) help Ray reunite with Emma in 2049.

- All my tears aside, the anime did something right by actually keeping her ALIVE!

- Have you ever seen something so GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL in all your life?? This image is so powerful it literally tossed aside any salty feelings I had that night with how the second season ended. Seeing her like this grants me so much happiness y’all, it’s truly unbelievable. I still can’t get over it and hopefully I never will.

Okay, now I’m done, thank god. Sorry this is like ridiculously long, especially since she’s absent for sooo many chapters. Also find it so hilarious how drastic my opinion of her changed from the beginning to now, from “bitch” to “oh my god I love her so much.” I know people will always have opposing opinions whether she’s actually a good mother or not and that’s totally fine. Wasn’t trying to convince y’all of that either because yes, some of her actions are real unforgivable, but she was suffering under the farm system too and just followed through with what she was trained to do in order to survive, but while other Sisters fought to climb ranks and help themselves survive, Isabella ultimately wanted the best for her children. The more power she gained, the more risks she took and once the system crashed so did her facade.

An absolute queen.

#the promised neverland #mother isabella #tpn isabella #tpn manga #tpn anime #chidoroki used chatter

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