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ladyloveandjustice · 16 days

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Hello fellow sailor moon I just found your blog and in quite intrigued and figured you might find this question interesting

So I was watching Sailor Stars episode 7, and I realised that the sailor moon in the anime has something of a no kill rule in the anime while the in manga she seems pretty OK to kill most of her foes

In the anime, she spears a lot of her villains with the exception of Queen Beryl and pharoh 90, so I was wondering, do you think the sailor moon should have a no kill rule

Personally, I'm not a fan of her killing in the manga, considering she's meant to be the representation of love, so I'm kinda glad the 90s anime gave her the no kill rule

But in your detailed opinion do you think sailor moon should have a no kill rule?

(ftr i think manga Sailor Moon would also have saved an innocent civilian she knew had been transformed into a monster against her will. She refused to kill Hotaru, after all)

The no kill rule is kind of a weird thing thing to contemplate because it's like, does killing the monsters violate her supposed no kill rule? Sure, they're technically made of evil magic or objects or whatever but they're all sentient, and in later seasons they start having distinct personalities (the doorknob one who was bad at fighting, the jump rope girl who wanted friends, ect) but she never tries to talk them out of their behavior the way she would a human foe. It's kind of a convention of the genre.

I think Sailor Moon killing most of her enemies quickly was just a convention of how the manga had to work--Naoko only had twelve chapters and she was told to design seven or more villains to cover a 45 episode season and now she has to fit them in a short space somehow... so having them one shotted is really the only way to go about it. She didn't have time do do stuff like redemption arcs for villains, while the anime did.

It's also notable that Usagi regrets this even at the end of the manga. She realizes that these dark magic abominations were not something seperate from her or the rest of humanity, but lonely beings just like herself. And she grows tired of killing, because with all her loved ones gone there's nothing left to fight for.

As for my ideal, I prefer a mix. The Usagi who offers a hand to everyone, who sincerely believes anyone can change and should be given a chance... but if they've rejected that hand, and even worse, hurt/killed her friends, she'd do what needed to be done to protect the world, with a very heavy heart. She will never, ever give up on anyone if there's even a glimmer of a chance they would change their ways, but she's not stupid enough to die instead of defend.

I do thing the end of the anime where she forgave Galaxia for killing her friends and just totally let her off the hook- without even knowing if Galaxia would bring them back--was a bit too much in the other direction, personally. I wanted to see more anger from her, and i believe she WOULD normally have been very angry (like she was in the manga) if the writers hadn't decided she must be as saint like as possible in those episodes. I'm fine with her reaching out to Galaxia and helping her but there should have also been some anger and a demand there- undo the damage you've done, bring back my friends and if you can't I WILL personally remove your powers and we will rebuild every planet you've destroyed, find every survivor, because you're going to have to work for this."

The Usagi who killed Beryl (and Kunzite!) would have demanded those things, and I don't think her into becoming someone who wouldn't do those things makes her more enlightened, it just makes her seem less like a real person.

(Usagi does save Galaxia even more inexplicably in the manga, but there it comes off as an act of desperation after seeing everyone she knows get killed, it's over, there's no hope, she can't take it anymore, she wants to at least still have one person there with her even if it's the person who killed them, because at least Galaxia understands her deep loneliness)

To be clear, it's not like I think the last episode is terrible or anything. I can roll with it, and I love the scene where Galaxia's shell cracks open and we see her true self underneath. It just felt off, because yeah, Usagi is love, but love can be angry, love can be unforgiving, when the people you love the most are hurt.

#ask nev #sailor moon

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saintsenara · 9 days

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always wondered how Snape never clocked that the diary/ring/Harry was a horcrux (other than the plot needed him to remain in the dark). Doesn’t add up that teen Regulus knew what it was and the 38 year old Dark Arts expert and professional double agent who has seen Voldy fail to die never worked it out

honestly, anon? same.

although i think we can work our way around this with a bit of canon-wrangling...

we can probably justify snape not clocking that harry's a horcrux during order of the phoenix, on account of the fact that he's presumably the only human horcrux in existence.

dumbledore says in half-blood prince that using animals as horcruxes is unusual because it's inadvisable, because the behaviour of a sentient horcrux can't be predicted or controlled [and it may, i suppose the implication is, therefore destroy itself, thus defeating the purpose of making it] - and snape is certainly taken aback by dumbledore asking him to keep an eye on nagini.

this could, however, be interpreted as snape being surprised that voldemort - who is highly-strung even by the standards of people who might encase their souls in inanimate objects - would have made an animal horcrux, even though he knows voldemort is able to control nagini through virtue of being a parselmouth.

connected to this, snape's understanding of the attack which harry witnesses on arthur weasley is that voldemort was mentally present in nagini when the attack took place:

“You seem to have visited the snake’s mind because that was where the Dark Lord was at that particular moment,” snarled Snape. “He was possessing the snake at the time and so you dreamed you were inside it too...”

voldemort is canonically known to be able to possess people - ginny weasley chief among them - and also, by his own admission in goblet of fire, to possess snakes. the assumption snape is making is that voldemort's control over nagini is one of the "standard" possessions the dark lord is capable of - and he must also assume, as mad-eye moody does and as the rest of the order accepts moody's account of, that harry's visions are the result of voldemort possessing or attempting to possess him.

indeed, there's an interesting sense in canon that many of the adult characters don't understand that harry's visions don't resemble what possession typically looks like - which is a genre convention which is in keeping with the overall narrative arc of the series as children's literature. the child-heroes need to be able to work everything out and the adults need to be, at best, politely disinterested - and this manifests itself throughout the seven-book canon in the fact that the child characters understand voldemort considerably better than any of the adult ones.

after all, the only person who points out that harry's experience isn't standard possession is also a child:

“Well, that was a bit stupid of you,” said Ginny angrily, “seeing as you don’t know anyone but me who’s been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels.” Harry remained quite still as the impact of these words hit him. Then he turned on the spot to face her. “I forgot,” he said. “Lucky you,” said Ginny coolly. “I’m sorry,” Harry said, and he meant it. “So... so do you think I’m being possessed, then?” “Well, can you remember everything you’ve been doing?” Ginny asked. “Are there big blank periods where you don’t know what you’ve been up to?” “No,” he said. “Then You-Know-Who hasn’t ever possessed you,” said Ginny simply. “When he did it to me, I couldn’t remember what I’d been doing for hours at a time. I’d find myself somewhere and not know how I got there.”

from snape's perspective, then, the idea that nagini and harry are simply being possessed by voldemort - rather than that they're sentient horcruxes [and that harry is a unique type of sentient horcrux, and that voldemort could have been stupid enough to intentionally make his child-enemy who hates him into a receptacle for his soul] - is the result of him applying the principle of occam's razor: that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.

snape does, however, acknowledge that harry and voldemort's mental connection is unusual:

“The Dark Lord is at a considerable distance and the walls and grounds of Hogwarts are guarded by many ancient spells and charms to ensure the bodily and mental safety of those who dwell within them,” said Snape. “Time and space matter in magic, Potter. Eye contact is often essential to Legilimency.” “Well then, why do I have to learn Occlumency?” Snape eyed Harry, tracing his mouth with one long, thin finger as he did so. “The usual rules do not seem to apply with you, Potter. The curse that failed to kill you seems to have forged some kind of connection between you and the Dark Lord. The evidence suggests that at times, when your mind is most relaxed and vulnerable - when you are asleep, for instance - you are sharing the Dark Lord’s thoughts and emotions. The headmaster thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark Lord.”

obviously, we know that the connection forged between harry and voldemort is that harry's a horcrux. but it's also the case that harry doesn't have the ability to see into voldemort's mind before voldemort is corporeal again. if we assume that dumbledore keeps harry's visions from the earlier parts of goblet of fire secret from snape - and there's no reason why this wouldn't be the case - then snape's understanding of the mental connection between harry and voldemort is presumably that it was caused by voldemort using harry's blood to resurrect himself.

after all, snape must know about the blood protection established by lily's death, since not only the full order [moody mentions it in deathly hallows] but the death eaters also know about it. he will also know that voldemort used harry's blood for the ritual because voldemort did this in order to show off - he's proud of the symbolism, and you can tell he was dining out on it right up until it spectacularly backfired...

the question then becomes whether snape truly deeps what dumbledore's saying when he tells him - during the half-blood prince timeline, but not revealed to us until the end of deathly hallows - that:

“On the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort’s soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself onto the only living soul left in that collapsing building. Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort’s mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die.”

snape realises, without dumbledore prompting him further, that this means harry has to die. which means, i think, that we can justifiably suggest that snape has twigged that harry needs to die because - in order for a horcrux to be destroyed - the container needs to be damaged beyond all repair...

and - let's be frank - his little argument with dumbledore after this revelation makes perfect sense if he knows that dumbledore is speaking about harry as a horcrux:

“I have spied for you and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter’s son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter - ”

snape's beef is that dumbledore secured his cooperation as a spy on the pretence that he could atone for his role in lily's death by protecting harry from voldemort, while dumbledore knew all along that this was never going to happen [snape does not, of course, know that dumbledore reckons harry will be able to return]. clearly, he would have preferred dumbledore to have just smothered harry as a baby, destroyed the horcrux, and saved them all the agony.

and so i think that it's canonically impossible that snape doesn't understand - eventually - that harry's a horcrux.

and i also think that it's canonically impossible that snape doesn't clock the others well before this.

after all, voldemort states in goblet of fire that the reason he's so pissed off by the death eaters who pretended to have renounced him after 1981 is because they knew he couldn't die:

“I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost... but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know... I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal - to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked... for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself... for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a wand... “I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist... I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited... Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me... one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body... but I waited in vain...”

[he is hamming it up so much here. the man understands camp.]

what he means by this - clearly - is that the fact that he'd made at least one horcrux was common knowledge among his minions, which provides the explanation for why regulus knew what was going on [which i've gone into more detail about here].

which makes sense - voldemort actually tells us in canon that his safeguards aren't that nobody knows he created the horcruxes [and also, if that's what he'd been going for, he'd almost certainly have killed slughorn.]

the section is too long to quote, but if you look at the bit in chapter twenty-seven of deathly hallows when he's panicking that harry and dumbledore have figured out his secrets, the thing he's afraid of isn't that they know he's made horcruxes, but that they've worked out what the objects are and where they might be hidden, something he was certain nobody other than himself would ever be able to discover.

the ring - for example - could only be located by someone who knew voldemort's full birth name, who knew that the name "marvolo" was associated with the gaunts, and who knew where the gaunts had once lived.

the locket - as voldemort understands it, since he assumes kreacher is drowned by the inferi - could only be located by someone who knew that voldemort had, as a child, been taken on an outing to the coast and had lured two children into a cave to torture them.

the diadem could only be located by someone who knew that it wasn't actually lost, knew that helena ravenclaw could be manipulated into revealing where it was, and knew how to open the room of requirement - which voldemort canonically believes is impossible for anyone other than him [even though this makes absolutely no sense to me - there's furniture everywhere, babe?].

the cup could only be located by someone who managed to bypass gringotts' famously tight security, gain access to the lestranges' vault, pick out the cup from among all the other objects stored within [which would also require them to know that a shop-boy called tom riddle stole it from a woman called hepzibah smith] and then not get crushed to death by a rising tide of molten metal.

the diary is much less closely guarded - although voldemort evidently believes that lucius malfoy can be trusted to keep it safe until he tells him otherwise. but this - as dumbledore tells us in half-blood prince - is because voldemort wants it to be used, so that the chamber of secrets can be reopened, and that he's therefore prepared to take the risk of it being destroyed because he believes that his other horcruxes are so secure that the loss of the diary won't matter. this is also, i suspect, his view of nagini - which is why him moving to protect her is taken by both dumbledore and harry as the signal that no other horcruxes remain.

snape must know, then, that voldemort has made horcruxes, because voldemort must, however obliquely, have told him so.

and he must figure out that the diary and the ring are horcruxes specifically. he's clearly the source of dumbledore's information that voldemort's fury when he discovered the diary had been destroyed was "terrible to behold".

and he must be the person who prompts phineas nigellus black to drop the info that dumbledore used the sword of gryffindor to break open the ring. harry and hermione assume this is something black lets slip without knowing its significance, but we know from the prince's tale that he visits them at snape's request in order to find out how the horcrux hunt is going.

[on the sword of gryffindor, snape's statement - "and you won't tell me why it's so important to give potter the sword?" - has to be taken as asking why the sword is so crucial to the destruction of a horcrux that he's being forced to go to great personal risk to give it to harry in order for this overall argument to work... but i think this reading is plausible - not least because voldemort knows that harry was left the sword in dumbledore's will, since wizarding wills are examined by the ministry, and could undoubtedly find out very easily if he wanted to that the sword snape places in the lestranges' vault is a fake.]

the reason that snape doesn't participate in the horcrux hunt in any more specific way relates to the point about genre conventions and child-heroes made above.

the reason that the horcrux hunt takes the form it takes isn't because horcruxes themselves are magic so arcane and unknowable that only the trio, dumbledore, and voldemort are aware they exist. it's because harry - even more than dumbledore - is the only person who knows voldemort well enough to figure out what the horcruxes are made from and where they are.

[this is why i don't vibe with stories which assume the hunt goes quicker if snape - or sirius or anyone - helps the trio. the point is that nobody but harry could figure out that voldemort would be seething about not having a vault at gringotts, or that he would have hidden the diadem the night of his failed job interview.]

snape appears to know the adult voldemort reasonably well, but there's no evidence at all that he knows anything about his life prior to c.1970 - either from dumbledore or from voldemort himself. this means that he would be absolutely no help when it came to guessing what the horcruxes were - the diary, ring, cup, diadem, and locket all presuppose the knowledge that voldemort was once called tom riddle, after all.

which makes him useless to harry when it comes to hunting them down. by the time dumbledore dies, harry knows with near-absolute certainty what five of the horcruxes are: the diary, ring, cup, locket, and snake. he knows for a fact that two of these have been destroyed, he and dumbledore believe they've just got their hands on a third, and he knows where a fourth is [nagini, next to voldemort]. the location of the cup - and the form and location of the sixth horcrux, the diadem - is something only harry has the ability to work out. the seventh - harry himself - is information dumbledore has ordered snape to keep hidden until the appointed time.

meaning that snape clearly does know what a horcrux is - both in theory and when four [diary, ring, nagini, harry] of voldemort's own are put in front of him - but that this knowledge is sufficiently incomplete as to be irrelevant to the quest harry's engaged in which takes up the narrative's time.

#asks answered #asenora meta #severus snape #horcrux nonsense for fun and profit

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batrachised · 4 months

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I will never get over Faith's poor rooster Adam...

Almost 20 years since I first read the book and I could still cheerfully do a violence to the aunt on Faith's behalf.

LM Montgomery is so skilled at writing situations where you're gnashing your teeth at the sheer injustice of it! Poor Faith! Poor Adam! I do love the little snippet we get of Adam's perspective:

“Shoo, there,” commanded Mrs. Davis, poking her flounced, changeable-silk parasol at him. Adam shooed. He was a wise rooster and Mrs. Davis had wrung the necks of so many roosters with her own fair hands in the course of her fifty years that an air of the executioner seemed to hang around her. Adam scuttled through the hall as the minister came in.

While i'm on the subject of roosters though, I do have a story. When we were little, my family rescued a chick from a school that had done that weird "have dyed chicks for easter" thing. If you don't know what that is, I have no explanation. All I know is that apparently in some places around Easter they have dyed chicks as presents or decorations (?!), and this little chick was literally green. Since this was obviously not a great situation for the wee ball of fluff, we took it home and raised it while it was still small.

My older sister took the charge. She decided that if this rooster was going to survive, he had to be tough. So, in something straight out of the karate kid, my sister (who went on to work in animal training related things lol) put together a program. She taught him karate (yes, really) by trying to train him to kick on command, along with a series of other (non-harmful) exercises that I don't remember at this point. He'd stand on top of her head. She tried to get him to wade in his water bowl. All in all, I'd say he received an thorough education, at least as thorough as a ten year old girl can bestow.

As the rooster got older, we decided to give him to a relative who lived in the country and needed a rooster. He deserved more space, he needed to go on to live his rooster life, and this worked out well for everyone. More than well - apparently this was one of the best roosters my relative ended up ever having. You know why? He viciously protected those hens lmao. He was the king of his domain, and he made sure everyone knew it. Whenever we visited this relative, we could hear him from across the yard crowing loudly, lengthily, and repeatedly, in a bold sing song of a "COCKLE-DOODLE-DO." He lived a very content life as master of all he could see. After a rough beginning, he rose to the top in something out of every sports movie. He was the Caesar of the coop.

Unfortunately, years later I learned that he had passed. Ah, I thought to myself, even the best of us must go. I was a little taken aback to learn that he'd been killed by a younger rooster. Overthrown, you might say. Well, that's nature, I thought to myself. Cold and brutal in ways we can't understand. It's simply the circle of life, to quote the lion king. While he had an arc straight of the sopranos (he went from the streets to the throne), our rooster was finally at rest, I believed.

Not my sister. My sister maintained fiercely that--and I am in no way exaggerating--that our rooster had been murdered, and murdered in cold blood. By our relative, you might be thinking, given the context of the passage above? No--by the younger rooster. What I chalked up to nature she chalked up to premeditated intent. I'm not going to lie, I found this ridiculous. Cause of death, sure, but murder? She railed on about injustice; I thought to myself, "It's chickens."

Fast forward a decade later. I'm remember this story and laughing about it - hey, remember when you were little and thought our rooster was murdered? - only to get this response from my nearly thirty year old sister:

I then proceeded to learn some facts of the case I hadn't known before.

What I'd heard as a child: a younger rooster killed him. I presumed in a fight or squabble of some sort.

What I learned as an adult: he was surrounded by more than one younger rooster and attacked, in a straight up Ides of March moment.

My comparison to him as a character in the Sopranos - as Julius Caesar himself - was more accurate than anyone could have known. Rise up to the top, only to be defeated by (likely) his own sons, those closest to him. As my sister stated:

#yes his name was chicka chicka boom boom #thanks for the ask!!#i know this got super off topic but I was likE CHILDHOOD DRAMA AROUND ROOSTERS?? more relatable than you'd think

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entropiceye1342 · 8 months

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Spoiler free review for Netflix's live action One Piece!

WOW.

A lot of stuff to love! I absolutely ADORE this take on the adventure of the Straw Hat Pirates!

The Straw Hats are all cast perfectly, the supporting cast is spot on. Everyone NAILS their characters!

Give the man a crown!

Iñaki Godoy as Luffy is goofy and oblivious in all the right ways. He sticks the perfect landing of the emotional intelligence that was crucial to bring the deeper side of Luffy to life, and doesn't neglect the hyperactive child side either! Seeing him gleefully bounce around - both in and out of fights- was special. The CGI was pretty good! Better than I expected, really. I appreciate making Luffy a little more level-headed, it's a good choice to tone down the chaos goblin for live action 🤣

It was magnificent to see Luffy grow into a "real" pirate in this arc, and he will be the KING!

Mackenyu as Zoro is a bit "too cool" but honestly I expected it to happen, people tend to overlook the fact that 90% of the time he's just as dumb as Luffy 🤷 but MAN is he cool. He really surpassed my expectations for the fight scenes, and did not skip on the brutality! 3 Sword Style was stunningly realized and incredible fun to watch- even without drawing a single blade!

His one liners and sarcasm are on point, ESPECIALLY regarding Sanji 🤣

Emily Rudd as Nami is INCREDIBLE. Smart as a whip and wily as ever, this cat burglar lands on her feet! In and out of combat, Nami is quick on her feet and with her wit. One Piece passes the Bechdel test once again, and her story is every bit the emotional powerhouse as its manga and anime counterparts- better in some moments! 'Nuff said.

Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp is delightful, though unfortunately he doesn't get as much time to shine as the others. When he does though, it's fantastic!

He really got the little things down about the character without needing to be as over the top as his counterparts- a bullseye from the sniper!

Sanji is perfect as well, you can SEE the training Taz Skylar went through for the part, from the mouth watering food to the killer martial arts. Every bit as fun to watch as the rest of the Monster Trio! My expectations for him were already high, and he kicked them into the stratosphere.

I'm glad they toned down the flirting, they found the right balance and played it well. Sanji matches Zoro in the bickering spectacularly, an absolute must that exceeded my hopes in both of their performances.

I'm not gonna list everyone but because I love this stupid fucking clown:

Jeff Ward as Buggy is an absolute TREAT, I am a huge fan of this take on the character. The perfect storm of bumbling dipshit who wants to be taken seriously, but still pretty intimidating at times. LOVE it. His jokes are GOLD.

Speaking of! Gold Roger, the man who started it all! *mwah!* Dazzling performances from him AND the Marines.

The few nitpicks I have are minor, the childhood acting ranges from ok to abysmal, Lily Fisher as young Nami is a notable standout. Some of the "minor" characters suffer from wooden acting, but honestly that's about the worst of it.

The Fishmen look a little low budget in their early appearances, but are absolutely PERFECT when they are the ones in the spotlight. Absolutely phenomenal work from McKinley Belcher III, my biggest fear from this was Arlong being done wrong and he CRUSHED IT!

The soundtrack was rousing, it truly felt like a call to adventure! And above all the SET DESIGN 😭

They TRULY brought the world that Oda Senseii has been drawing for us all these years, to life.

And now, anime One Piece is trending on Netflix.

THE GREAT PIRATE ERA IS HERE!

Here's to hoping Netflix doesn't Netflix it 🍻

What did you think?

Especially if this is your introduction to One Piece, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!

#one piece live action #iñaki godoy #straw hat luffy #one piece #emily rudd #nami #mackenyu #roronoa zoro #jacob romero gibson #usopp #taz skylar #vinsmoke sanji #jeff ward #buggy the clown #mckinley belcher iii #arlong #one piece anime

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cyphyree · 1 year

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fugo and abbacchio?

I fricken love one of the fandom decisions to make Fugo bully Abbacchio when he first joined LMAO. They are both methodical "seniors" of the group and second-in-command to Bucciarati it seems, it would make sense that in the early days perhaps there was some sense of competition. It's also just funny that Abbacchio, a downtrodden and jaded former-law enforcer, joins the mafia to find that his colleague is.... a very angry teen. (Even funnier that Abbacchio just hit 20-ish)

Would've loved to see them on their first task together, maybe Bucciarati had to hang back or make a distraction, and these two had to buddy up for A Very Important Mission.

I mean they could be mature about it and cooperate from the get-go. But let's be real, they're gonna cause a sh*tshow and THEN have to buddy up to get out of it.

And Bucciarati find them afterwards going like, well how'd it go? :))

and they somehow telepathically mind-sync to NEVER tell him how badly it went lmao, the facade of maturity must survive

(too bad for them tho, Bruno is Bruno and knows they're all wacky)

More serious and Fugo-centric thoughts below

---

I don't think we get to see them interact very often at all unfortunately, even in the Mirror arc. (In the anime at least, I've yet to catch up in the manga)

Something i notice right away tho is how Abbacchio distances himself from Fugo? Like Giorno made the observation that he was more concerned about Purple Haze than Fugo's whereabouts (or wellbeing) it seems, and then there's the whole "it pains me but we don't have any choice but to ditch him."

I'm sure Abbacchio cared for Fugo's safety and it's easy to get spooked by his essentially insta-kill stand, but it does make me think about Fugo's relationships with other people. The whole "dropping him when he's a liability or lost cause or danger" was the thing Fugo experienced when he was abandoned by his family. People being wary of him, distancing themselves from him. Purple Haze being a manifestation of "it is dangerous to be close to me, you will leave."

Before he joined Bucciarati, he talked about how he didn't need pity and that he was content on being on his own... until Bucciarati extended his hand and offered to embrace him all.

Fugo found family and comfort in Bucciarati's team, and they deeply cared about him for reals. Granted, we didn't get to see everyone else's reaction to Purple Haze (sad), but the way Bucciarati embraced Fugo as his first teammate, and how Narancia spoke about meeting Fugo again after their adventure.... these were the people who actively became closer to him, taking him in with open arms for who he was, including his worst. His and Abbacchio's interaction in Pompeii feels like a remnant of the abandonment Fugo suffered, and a hint of what's to come.

The one time that stands out to me of Abbacchio and Fugo being in sync is At The Docks. They both speak of the consequences of betraying the boss, how foolish it was. Fugo couldn't stop Bucciarati but he stood his ground and thought the rest of his family would stay with him. For once, going with Fugo would mean not danger, but safety.

But Abbacchio left... again. Without another word to Fugo. Even when they were both in agreement.

So did Mista. So did Narancia.

Fugo was abandoned by his blood relatives when he became a liability to their reputation. Was basically abandoned by Abbacchio because he was a lost cause in the Mirror World.

And now abandoned again and for what? Some hypothetical higher ground? A girl they just met? How could they just leave him when he was on the side of SAFETY, when he only wished for safety?

Abbacchio distances himself from Purple Haze in Pompeii because it was dangerous to go near. And now he and the others left Fugo to strive towards danger.

He was so sure most of his family would stay with him. But no matter what, whether it was safe or dangerous to be with him, they leave.

#been busy but man thanks for these asks #sorry they're late but i love replying to them #jojo thoughts #golden wind #jjba #pannacotta fugo #leone abbacchio #cw abandonment #jojo's bizzare adventure #vento aureo spoilers #golden wind spoilers #ask game #not art

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kyouka-supremacy · 2 months

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Any predictions on what is going to happen in and after this arc?

I don't think I'm very good at predictions (╥﹏╥) I really can't guess what's Dostoyevsky's deal, but if else, that makes following the current manga events all the more exciting! Again, by the looks of it we're going to find out the backstory of a character that was first introduced in 2013, so reading the last chapter was a real “whoa” moment for me. As for the guesses I can take, it really doesn't go much further than:

Whatever is going on in the last chapter between Dostoyevsky and Bram is probably going to lead to Bram's demise as it was shown in chapter 102.

I think there's likely some connection between the scars (?) on Bram's face and the way medieval Dostoyevsky displayed an analogous one in the last chapter, because they're too similar to be put there randomly.

Something I haven't seen being brought up is the possibility of Dostoyevsky being able to time travel rather than be eternal, which even though doesn't feel like the most convincing explanation, I feel like it's too soon to fully exclude either?

Jokes aside, I don't think Akutagawa has any real chance to play a role in this, because it's evidently something that's happened in the past. And though the author looves time traveling shenanigans, that feels a bit of a stretch. Although the last attire we saw Akutagawa in did resemble a medieval aesthetic, so who knows if he doesn't have some other kind of connection to the events…

But I DO feel like the change in appearance must be telling of some new alliance. Likely something from Europe. We know the author is probably going to move the focus to European authors next, they already seemed to suggest so in an interview, and if God allows it it's finally going to be time for Agatha and the Order of the Clock Tower.

I. Idk. Have been growing an underlying suspicion that the 2-hours-later sskk scene is going to be a spinoff movie to come some time in the future. It's going to feature time traveling shenanigans (see the very limited timeframe skip) and Fukuchi coming back in a new weird form and sskk getting their rematch with him I have been saying they narratively deserve. Overall it's something that won't be covered by the manga à la Dead Apple, standalone and that can be skipped past. It does make sense marketing wise because it'll be years before the manga will have released enough content for another anime season, and given that the bsd franchise is comparatively very popular right now, I highly doubt they'll let the hype slowly die– that's also why I'm waiting for the announcement of a new Wan anime season any day now. I've said before it doesn't look like we're getting the cool sskk scene in the manga soon, and that it most likely solved the purpose of a teaser for the next arc for various reasons; the last chapter seemingly skipping past it seems now to confirm that. The very high quality of the animation of that scene in the anime might be a further hint in the movie direction, to be honest. (I'm only now realizing that if that's true, it means that we are not getting that scene in Harukawa's art style, and am suddenly hating everything and not want it to become true). That said, a Stormbringer movie seems likely too, so who knows.

Back to chapter 113. The jokes about Dazai not being included in the ada family picture are hilarious, and I do personally believe Dazai is more distant to the rest of the ada than other members; that said, I doubt it has anything to do with the panel itself, and as of now I don't think it's that deep ahah. In general, I find it very hard to believe that Dazai is the one that's going to be transferred to the pm: that feels to me a quite lazy direction to take storytelling wise. We already saw what it's like to have Dazai in the pm, no need to relapse to that. That's why, regretfully, I doubt Atsushi is going to be taken in either, because we already know what pm Atsushi is like (VERY very regretfully for me. Because I'd love more Atsushi screentime and because my brain quite automatically makes a jump from “Atsushi joins the pm” to “sskk canonly live together”. Also all the “sskk are Double Black 2.0” that has been tormenting sskk shippers since the start of time, might as well make them the New Double Black for real this time.). Tanizaki sounds like a good bet to be honest: because, on top of being the only ada member with a completely unexplored backstory, we already saw him interact with the pm a lot over the course of the whole manga, which can be taken as a slow build-up for the moment he ends up joining their ranks; from the pm perspective, since he showed to be a challenge for them in more than one occasion (he even intruded the boss' chambers once), it would make sense to try and get him on their side. And Tanizaki having already volunteered to join them in chapter 65. Honestly, everything seems to point in that direction right now.

I hope the following chapters also explain why taking the sword off Bram didn't kill him as previously established because as of now the seemingly plot hole is bothering me a lot.

That's all that comes to my mind right now, excited to see what the manga will be up to next!

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd ch 113 #mine #people asks me stuff

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oblonger · 14 days

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Do you have any creative influences? I'm always so impressed by your work— your prose especially— and I need to know if there's any creators out there I need to file away in the creative influence database in my head so I can write like you

This question took all day of me searching and thinking because I can't really say I know who or what's influenced me right off the top of my head. With notable exceptions that bookend this post. Anyway, here you go!

@.teshamerkel 's PMD Seekers of Soul was my TPiaG before I found TPiaG. It helped me through a part of my life that, looking back, was a lot harder than I thought it was. While it didn't move me to the point of starting to make my own art again, I certainly did consider it. And I consider Seekers of Soul to be a must-read for any PMD fanfic enthusiasts.

Tui T. Southerland's Wings of Fire series is the first thing I can remember thinking of fanfiction for. I never did write any of it, mostly because I never felt motivated enough (and partially because it was was all just oc x canon). But even with my misgivings of the series and how bungled the overall theme of arc 2 was with how they defeated the big bad, book 6 is still one of my favorite books of all time.

All of @.saltnpepperbunny 's work is really good, and definitely had an influence!

PMD Victory Fire holds a very special place in my heart for being excellent story, incredible artwork (that I think was done in MS paint), and being one of the first pmd things I consumed besides the games. Even if its on indefinite hiatus, I still consider it to be a must-read for even people outside of the PMD sphere. I would go into more detail, but I don't want to spoil anything!

I also consider Cucumber Quest to be a must-read. I dont have much to say besides that it's genuinely amazing and that you should read it the first chance you get.

Obligatory Avatar The Last Airbender mention. It's shocking to me how the worst that show got was just a mediocre episode in the first season. (The great divide) I genuinely think the entire series should be put in museums or something because it is an enormous accomplishment in the field of storytelling in general.

Scoob And Shag goes from a silly, foul-mouthed joke comic, to... not a joke comic. I would love to gush about it, but I fear that doing so would spoil it. Check it out. Even if its just for the (frankly absurd) glow up in the artistic style and quality. I normally advise going into things as blind as possible, but I would recommend checking the TV tropes page to know what kinda stuff you're in for once you reach around episode 20~30 and then seeing if it's something you would be interested in. It's very good, but definitely not for everyone.

... I thiiiiink that's it for people and content I can point to and know that they've influenced me off the top of my head. (Aside from one massive exception at the end of this post) The rest of this is just kinda a list of content and creators I really enjoy and highly recommend checking out at some point. Even If I can't really tell just how much of an effect it's had on me.

First, videogames!

Despite how much of my time I spend playing videogames, the only few I can point to are:

Celeste

Undertale

Undertale Yellow

Deltarune

Stardew Valley

and Hades. (I recommend Hades the most)

Despite how much I love the series, I haven't actually played any PMD games. (At least, in any official sense.) I am working towards getting them though!

Next, Youtubers:

• Atastic's animations are fantastic! I don't have much to say beyond that they are really good and fun.

• Bumbles McFumbles is a rare example of a person who is equally entertaining while talking about something he likes, as he is while talking about something he doesn't like. He's got an excellent sense of comedic flow and timing. He's part of the reason why my humor is the way it is.

• Doodley is an animator that makes videos on animation principles and is also just generally entertaining while also educational.

• Eltorro64rus makes all of his absurdist, extremely smooth animations in Gmod. Which is endlessly impressive if you know that Gmod is a game first, and an animation software like, 6th. The humor is very much an acquired taste though.

• FutureCanoe has such a funny, dry sense of comedy that it almost makes you forget that he's a cooking youtuber who somehow makes all of his food look like it was poisoned before, during and after cooking.

• GildedGuy is such a cool animator that he got his stickman OC in fortnite! And all his animations are gorgeous masterpieces, that too.

• Krugston is an animator that is constantly experimenting with his style. He went from a generic storytime animator to, in my opinion, one of the most unique and creative animators on the platform.

• Neytirix is an animated youtuber, but describing her videos really difficult because of just how unique they are. My best shot at it would probably be: "horror storytime animator and artist, with overarching plot between videos"

• Overly Sarcastic Productions has an entire, multi-hour long playlist of videos on different tropes. And within those is writing advice. While there are a couple of things that I remember disagreeing with, (even though I can't remember specifically what. probably just opinions on certain shows' quality) The general advise they give can be a big help. (They also do history lessons, and while I don't care for those as much, there is definitely appeal behind them)

• MajorLink doesn't have a large amount of videos, but he does have a fan animated series of The Legend Of Zelda. One with a total runtime reaching just over two hours at this point, with more on the way!

• ScottTheWoz is up there with Jerma as one of the most experimental, consistently funny, and creative e-celebs on their respective platforms. One of the few YouTubers that you would have to watch his videos in chronological order to understand all of the jokes. But even lacking context behind all of the injokes and references is fine because he writes jokes with the knowledge that someone might be watching it for the first time. 'Great Gaming Mysteries', followed by 'The Trial' would be my favorite youtube video of all time if they weren't separate.

• Wendigoon's videos are equal parts entertaining, and disturbing. They also are consistently over the 1 hour mark, so they also make for pretty good background noise material if you want to hear a guy talk for hours.

• Yahya Danboos has several videos showcasing his process of making an ambitious 3d hack-n-slash as a solo dev. It's pretty informative on the process of making a 3d game.

Next is TV shows!

This one is even shorter than videogames since the amount of time I spend searching for shows to watch, and watching youtube videos on said shows, outweighs the amount of time I spend actually watching the shows.

But I can fully recomend these shows though!

Centaurworld

Amphibia

Gravity Falls

Adventure Time

The Owl House

Next up, Webcomics!

All of the following are in no specific order. If I don't say anything, it's not because it's worse, but because saying "it's really dang good and you should check it out" for every entry can get exhausting.

All of these can be found on ComicFury.

PMD: Taken Place

Pokémon Abridgestery Dungeon

PMD: Milos From Home

PMD: On Borrowed Time

PMD: Terminus

PMD: Another Perspective

PMD: The Human Connection

PMD: Rangers Of Sky

PMD: The Rouge Team

Autumn In Sinnoh

Jet's Black Nuzlocke

Last Light

Soul Food

Endurance: In Our Blood

Laika's Comet

The-Heart-Of-A-Monster

Vagabond Sonic

All of the following I found on Webtoons, some I know arent on just webtoons, but I do know that they're all on there.

Lil' Char and Gang

Suitor Armor

Vampire Husband

City Of Blank

The Greatest Estate Developer (genuinely the funniest webtoon ive ever read)

The Last Dimension

Hand Jumper

Spontaneous World Shifting (my favorite out of all of these in the webtoons section)

Magic School Girl: Spare No Villains

Loving Reaper (my beloved)

TRIPTRACK

Spellward Bound

Marionetta

Zodiac Parade

Of Swamp and Sea

Jupiter Men

Vibe Check!

CARL

Next is the various Tumblrinas I follow. (Not tagging them because i feel like it'd be wierd.)

@.cringywhitedragon and @.ghetsis both come up with really cool idea's that are partially responsible for the things I come up with.

@.efplanning Makes some cool art and is also cooking up a really cool universe that I'm excited to see.

@.obogaboo is making PMD: Taken Place and is also just a really good artist.

@.teeterarting Author of The Rouge Team and also makes really lovely art

@.aimer-arts 's art is adorable and wonderful and beautiful and I love it.

Same goes for @.quikyu

Same goes for @.sunsnak

Same goes for @.pichiicake

Same goes for @.pikabata

Same goes for @.chufflepop

Same goes for @.honeycrud

Same goes for @.honrupi-art

Same goes for @.cryptid-creations

Same goes for @.dailyralsei

Same goes for @.bugblast

@.zeropro Is the author of Jet's Black Nuzlocke, and also makes some great art on the side!

@.fwugradiation makes some cool music I think. He hasn't posted it a while though.

@.spicymochi makes cute art that I wanna buy stickers of in the future.

@.advosart 's riolu gives me life.

And now for the grand finale! The person who's my greatest creative influence:

It's @sincerely-sofie

You asked me for my biggest creative influences, but it seems to me, from what I think is implied in that ask you sent, didn't realize that I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you. I doubt I ever would have gotten started even writing things if it weren't for the things that you make and your constant, uplifting encouragement.

While all of these other things I've outlined in this post did have an impact, and those ones at the start had more of an impact as i might not have thought of before, they all are barely quantifiable compared to just how much of an impact your own stuff has had on my creative expression. It's your stuff that got me to begin creatively expressing after all!

You say you like my Prose, but I actually think that it sounds closest to yours than anyone elses, if we assume that my own personality isnt a factor.

It's genuinely impossible to thank you enough for how much of a positive impact you've had on me.

#text post #i answered a thing #writing

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almacambiondaughterofsaleos · 13 hours

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To that whiteknight that said my opinions are crappy and that I don't know what it takes to write or animate a single episode, here's the thing. I'm an actual animator and I'm a writer. Here's the thing, animation is like math. It's only HARD when you don't understand it's systems and methods and principles, otherwise it all just becomes tedious work, so even though you might have a fun little idea in your head, actually bringing to life is not fun at all. But the results from all your hard labour is what pays off, thats the true fun of animation. The results are worth it, not the actual animating part. So animation is not hard, its tedious as fuck.

Second of all, you don't really need to even have a script to write a good story. You see Hayao Miyazaki's films? No screenplays, its all in the storyboards. Generally, you can even improvise and still get good writing, for example an author named Steven James writes clever and thrilling books without any outlines, it's all organic. Miyazaki and James's ways of writing are organic, they just hop into the story and figure it all out as they go along. Even Shu Takumi, man behind Ace Attorney doesn't have any outlines, he just hops to it. So no, scripts are necessarily needed for writing episodes, besides these guys wrote entire games, novels and movies without scripts. So it isn't really needed, so sorry if you thought a good story requires a script, I don't need to be a qualified scriptwriter to write a good story, besides, a lot of people are qualified and yet they write dogshit and destory entire franchises. I don't need to demonstrate my ability to write a good script, I should demonstrate my ability to write a good story. Helluva Boss prioritizes a toxic ship rather than well-written characters, conflicts, arcs, drama, action, etc. This toxic ship therefore destroys the characters it has build up, for whatever reason the writer chooses to keep I don't know, but they are not a good writer if they can't see the effect this worthless ship has on it's characters. And in order to protect one of its characters who was clearly in a position of power to stop this affair, they blame it on the victim then villainize them for the rest of the season. I very well know Blitz has ruined many of his former loved ones' lives, and he is clearly at fault and must be punished, but his relationship with Stolas with it ruining Stolas's whole life and family is not one of them. Stolas is responsible for the destruction of his family and his reputation, it was of his own doing. Instead of making him get what he deserves and gets character development and becomes a better person, someone we can actually sympathize with for once, the writers especially Vivienne simply choose not to. Bad writing, dare I say garbage writing.

I agree make Bird boy face consequences for his own damn actions instead of throwing the blame everywhere but him.

#helluva boss #vivziepop critical #helluva boss critical #vivziepop criticism #vivziepop #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critique #anti-vivziepop #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel critical

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drinkinggblood · 1 year

Text

wof makes me angry because i wish it would decide are these like watership down (animals with a basic hierarchy, rules, etc. but still.. Animals that do Animal things) or Animals With a Complex Society and Are Essentially People But Dragons. why is this important?? because it pisses me off and i think its dumb to have shit like "oh princesses must kill queen to become queen!!" when they can just... make... civil.. agreements... theres no reason for them to be super violent and the entire "princess v queen" fight shit isn't even an organized event?? its not like a princess offers to challenge a queen and they duel it out somewhere it's more "princess can kill a queen basically whenever wherever without punishment" like a princess can just murk a queen in private and everyone would accept it

like,,,, im kinda rambling but i need wof to decide if murder is ok because these are Animals with Basic Hierachy and Rules or is this just a bloodthirsty ass society. is murder punishable in wof? or is it not?? is shit thats immoral to us just ALLOWED in wof? why?? ???? im rambling sry. at parts this seems to be a middle-age society but at other parts it feels more like just Animals with a Hierachy/loose society than actually civilised fully functioning thing. its annoying. wof worldbuilding pisses me off in general, i hate how generic all the dragon designs are to eachother and how their adapations do not make sense, i hate the animus shit it makes me annoyed how loose it is and little sense it makes i wish itd just have.. clear rules and i reallyyyyy hate how loose the rules are of this society of dragons. makes me confused n angry. AGRAAAAAAAAAAGH ARAGHHH.

its an issue the laws and worldbuilding is THIS bad because it makes shit like that happens in arc 3 MORE THE ALL CONFUSING. also can i say how much i hate arc 3 my god i hate the sorta "two sides" bullshit that goes on with the hivewings and leafwings. hivewings essentially own silkwings as slaves.... and tried to genocide the leafs off the fucking continent. you cannot 'both sides' that.

i also hate how if you really look at it a bit more, the othermind feels more like way to excuse all the really gross shit the hivewings do as 'they are just mindcontrolled!!! they dont have control!!!" which really muddles the anti-racism parts of it for me. like.... tui you cant really write a anti-racism story that has mindcontrolling of citizens to do Bad Racist Stand-in Things then go "oh they r innocent they couldnt control!!!" it just feels so fucking off to me and is reallyy bad for a anti-racism message. people who do racist things are not mindcontrolled and dont 'have control of their actions'; it feels wrong to do that and then essentially go "oh they r innocent !!! just this ONE ruler of the country/state/whatever is racist!!! the rest dont have control" like??? am i insane??? thats not how that works and comes across as 'racists cant control their actions' to me am i insane. ????!??! it really feels like that to me. in general arc 3 is really shittly written especiallyyy and in general a lot of the anti-racist stuff in wof is really... bad... like the entire weird shit in arc 1 with the stereotyping of tribes, only to be proven right with 90% of them is really icky and feels weird. like rainwings are stereotyped to be lazy, idiotic, etc. and glory is actively like "no we are not" and then in book 3 it turns out they are 100% correct and glory is like "oh my god :/ :/ everyone's assumptions about my tribe was completely right and they all suck and are lazy" like are u kidding me. what the fuck was the point of that?? why have glory be the character defending her own tribe just to have her be proven WRONG about it. what was the POINT ?? why was it THERE???? is it that stereotyping is right sometimes?? i dont??? what was le point ! it adds nothing and its frankly dissapointing to see rainwings turn out to be exactly that negative stereotype. it wouldve been great to see they aren't that + add more worldbuilding to the rainwings and make them more interesting that "giant hippie tribe that is lazy and is fine w them dying to nightwings lol"

and also i hate theres eugenics in wings of fire. like... why..?? why would u add that. it adds nothing and its just fuckin WEIRDDDD and it's mentioned multiple times in the series of tribes. its WEIRD AS HELL and doesn't add anything. n shut up if its "oh its cool worldbuilding thing :] yeah itsmorally wrong and weird but its just !! how this dragon society is" shut the fuckupmy god. it adds nothing to anything; youshouldnt have shit like fucking EUGENICS in your BOOK if its just... ICING ON UR CAKE. it doesnt add anything to the themes, messages, characters, etc. it's just "oh yeah [eugenics]" it's just THERE and it does NOTHING. it's not even an anti-eugenics statement everytime this shits mentioned, its always just there. it's fucking weird as hell to have that. and dont say "oh its for the anti-racism message" no its not and even if it was the anti-racist message is alreadyyyy so fuckingggg dumbed down and simplified i dont see how adding a topic such as eugenics to the mix would add anything?? this series is ULTIMATELY for 11-16. what fuckin 14 year old understands what eugenics is??? i GET theres adult readers of this series buthats still.. not. a reason to have shit like eugenics in it. the target audience for this series would not understand what fucking eugenics is and itsgross to just put it in as essentially window dressing

i also reallyyyyhate how some wof fans excuse themore problematic shit in the series w "oh its just how this dragon world runsits fine its not an issue at all :D" you do realise.... you cant rlly just excuse everything w that. like. glorybringer for example. ive SEEN people excuse the age-gap with "oh well maybe its normal in dragon society" OK??? thats not an excuse?? its fucking weird. you need to think about what the writer's intention of adding an element like that to a story; ex: the eugenics shit. why is that in there. for what purpose does it serve. you cant just excuse it with "oh its normal in dragon society" because it doesnt matter if it is, it's still WRITTEN by a PERSON and you need to think abt what the intention of adding and element like that was to the store. usually something thatsadded to the storyhas a intention by the writer to add something to it, for the message, themes, characters, etc. u cantjust excuse everything w "for worldbuilding" when most worldbuilding as an intention or reason why the author wantedit to be there. even if its a DUMB reason like say...... all the animals are enlarged for dragons to around the same height theyd be if animals are our size and dragons are our size because idk its easier?? i gues??

#wings of fire #im really fucking high #right now #wings of fire rant #salt rant #rambling #wof #wingsoffire #wof rant #salt #sorryim rambling

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beneaththetangles · 1 year

Photo

This week, Maison Ikkoku comes to an end (again); the mesmerizing A.I. story, Your Forma, receives a manga adaptation; Tomozaki-kun makes a difficult choice in the latest volume of his top-tier light novel series; and much more, including the debut reviews by our two newest reviewers, WacOtaku and Marg. Check out their reviews and the rest below!

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki (Vol. 9) • Maison Ikkoku: Collector’s Edition (Vol. 10) • Oshi no Ko (Vol. 1) • Pandora Seven (Vol. 1) • Romantic Killer (Vol. 2) • Yakuza Fiance: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii (Vol. 1) • Your Forma (Vol. 1)

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Maison Ikkoku: Collector’s Edition, Manga Vol. 10

After a hit-or-miss middle portion that sometimes felt like Rumiko Takahashi was deliberately stalling, the final act of Maison Ikkoku gives this iconic RomCom a grand-slam home run finish. Volume nine ended on a cliffhanger, with an enraged Kyoko planning to return to her parents’ home after a miscommunication convinced her that Godai had two-timed her and proposed to his longtime sort-of girlfriend Kozue, when in fact he had deliberately broken off that relationship to tie up his loose ends. Now, with the finish line almost in sight, our luckless protagonist must overcome his lady love’s tempestuous nature, her father’s disapproval, and his own insecurities over whether Kyoko truly loves him or just sees him as the best available substitute for her late husband Soichiro. (Oh, and he still needs to find a full-time job as well.) This final volume centers around a remarkable shift in the relationship dynamic between our two main characters, and not simply in a romantic way. For so long, Godai has been an immature schmuck desperately trying to prove himself to an older and more established Kyoko. But now that Godai has grown as a man and closed the maturity gap between them, he is in a place to take the lead in their relationship, putting Kyoko into a situation where she must confront her own character flaws. I won’t spoil the details of the ending, but it forgoes bombastic displays of romantic passion in favor of a sometimes messy but incredibly tender intimacy that I’ve yet to see equaled by any other mangaka. Rumiko Takahashi finished Maison Ikkoku before I was born, and Yusaku and Kyoko would be about the same age as my parents today; but I strongly suspect that for as long as there are fans of manga, this series will remain evergreen. ~ WacOtaku Maison Ikkoku: Collector’s Edition is published by VIZ Media.

Pandora Seven, Manga Vol. 1

Lia is the lone resident human on an otherwise-utopian island where food is plentiful and strawberries come in milkshake form practically straight off the plant. She’s cheery, capable, and kind—too kind for her own good, as her mother (a very, very large dragon) intones to the audience of (humanoid) vegetables, animals, and demons—er, “village ladies”—who come to keep her company during the millennial festival. Mama dragon is too preggers to move, so they bring the party to her. That turns out to be short-lived too, as suddenly a shipful of aggressive, veiled humans led by a particularly imperious young woman rock up and ruin everything. Absolutely everything. Lia flees, leaving death and destruction in her wake—much of it of her own inadvertent doing. For amid all the turmoil, Lia accidentally opened Pandora’s Box! What strange power has she stumbled into? What identity crisis will this fateful encounter with her own kind spark? Only time, and hopefully subsequent volumes, will tell—because this volume doesn’t really. Instead, reading Pandora Seven is akin to being dropped in the middle of a Gordian knot: there is a profusion of subplots, characters, relationships, tropes, and meaningful hints branching off willy-nilly, alongside masses of world-building, both visual and dialogic, but no clear through-line—thematic or otherwise. There’s no setup for a central character arc yet either. Granted, I do suspect that things will clarify in volume two, and what we’ll have is a kind of paralleling of the tales of the two human girls, protagonist and antagonist, until they realize they have more in common than not and would be better off partnering up to overthrow the various oppressive forces in their lives. But this is just a hunch, and based more on the two pages of bonus material at the end than the four chapters that precede it. Indeed, the bonus material goes a long way to salvaging this first volume, clarifying the lore and teasing vital plot and character points that are enough to pique my interest again after it had waned halfway through. What this volume needs is one final edit. Yet even so, there is a spark of something here that could be quite epic, and so I’ll give Pandora Seven and creator Yuta Kayashima one more volume to pull themselves together and start to shine with clearer purpose and direction. ~ claire

Pandora Seven is published by Yen Press. Volume one releases on January 17th.

Yakuza Fiance: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii, Manga Vol. 1

I am beyond excited to finally have this in my hands! This is one of my most anticipated releases from 2022! Yakuza Fiance is by Asuka Konishi, who also created the one-shot Haru’s Curse. Having enjoyed that manga, I couldn’t wait to read more of her work. Konishi’s storytelling and beautifully distinct art style make her stand out above the crowd. The story opens with our lovely heroine, Yoshino, storming in on her grandfather and demanding he give her an explanation about a newspaper article. She finds out that the article is about her, and that she is to be married off to Miyama, the son of a rival yakuza gang. To keep the peace between gangs, her grandfather coaxes her into meeting Miyama in Tokyo. Yoshino reluctantly agrees, and off to Tokyo she goes. When they meet, Yoshino thinks that Miyama’s just a little “too chummy.” He doesn’t act like she’d expect a yakuza boss’s son to act, just like a regular high school guy. Then late one night, unable to sleep, she happens to see him coming home with blood all over his hands and clothes. Maybe she was wrong about her first impressions of him. Little by little, she starts seeing a different side to Miyama, a scary one. Her first instinct is to go back to her grandfather in Osaka, but she decides to stick it out for one year. She fires back at Miyama and takes him by surprise—so much so that a switch is flipped inside of him, and he becomes utterly obsessed with this strong, fiery side of her. It looks like we are witnessing the birth of a strong, independent woman. Will she be able to continue holding her own against these rivals and a love-crazed Miyama? I cannot wait to find out! The next volume is set to release this month. ~ Marg

Yakuza Fiance: Raise was Tanin ga li is published by Seven Seas Entertainment.

Your Forma, Manga Vol. 1

Echika Hieda has always been head and shoulders above the rest of the Electronic Investigation Department of Interpol. Which wouldn’t be a problem, if it weren’t for the fact that Divers like her must be paired up with equally skillful Belayers, or else risk permanent brain damage—to the Belayer, that is. After frying the brain of her latest partner in less than two seconds flat, Echika is paired with her worst nightmare—an Amicus, or a type of artificial person that Echika loathes, for reasons that are only hinted at so far through tantalizingly brief peeks at her slow-burn backstory. Writer Mareho Kikuishi offers up some ingenious world-building and genre play here, making Your Forma ideal for fans of sci-fi mixed with psychological detective story a la ID: Invaded, as Echika dives into people’s minds through the Your Forma technology implanted in their brains (now you can just think your social media posts!) and Harold, the AI, pulls her out. The story sports an edginess that recalls the more unsettling side of the genre spawned by Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics,” as seen in films such as Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. It’s also a bit of a globetrotting adventure, taking the leads from Paris to St. Petersburg, to the wilds of Sapmi (Sami territory or Lapland, and an official no-go zone for tech) and its polar opposite, Silicon Valley. The two MCs make for an interesting pair, with Echika being strangely grizzled for one so young and more emotionless than any AI ever was, while Harold is as jovial as they come, with cut-glass good looks and a flirty readiness to use them—all in the line of duty, of course. This is the first of writer Kikuishi’s novels to be adapted for manga, and boy, does artist Yoshinori Kisaragi ever do a fantastic job. I would be tempted to read the novel rather than wait for the next manga installment, but the art is so vivid and expressive that I’m going to try to resist, even if it means perching on the edge of my seat for a few months. In short, Your Forma is an absolute corker! ~ claire

Your Forma is published by Yen Press.

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Light Novel Vol. 9

Fun, addictive, intriguing, and now, masterpiece? Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki reaches the heights of the romcom genre in volume nine, blowing the lid on parallel stories—Hinami’s slowly churning tale on the one hand, and on the other the romance between Tomozaki and Kikuchi, thanks to their recent decision to date and the major challenges in their new relationship. What results from Yuki Yaku’s decision to dig deep into these major storylines is heavy progression in relationships all around as Tomozaki, with the help of friends old and new, must decide how to prioritize values in his packed life. His thoughts are scattered and often puzzling, but realistic for him (and more generally to 17-year-olds). There’s also serious character growth for Tomozaki as the author dives right into the complexities of romantic relationships, jealousy, and friendships with the opposite sex. He doesn’t shy away from these issues, creating considerable depth as Tomozaki evaluates his feelings for Kikuchi and how he should treat her, as well as what he really feels for Hinami. But not only are we treated to Oregairu-level thoughtfulness, we also get tender and emotional moments—more in this volume than in the rest of the series combined. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll sometimes scratch your head—and you’ll finish volume nine feeling satisfied. This story refuses to go in circles. I can’t wait to see how all lands. One caveat, though, which I haven’t previously explored: For all the laud I’ve given Yuki Yaku, I find this author’s notes at the end of each volume strange and sometimes deplorable. He gives little insight into his wonderful work, but always focuses on the cover image, explaining in great detail why these illustrations are so sexy. I wish he’d class these notes up to match the series he’s created. ~ @animepopheart

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki is published by Yen Press. Volume nine releases on January 17th.

Read: Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Reviews: Vol. 3 // Vol. 5 // Vol. 6 // Vol. 6.5 // Vol. 7 // Vol. 8 // Vol. 8.5

Romantic Killer, Manga Vol. 2

Due to the ever-heated controversy on Twitter surrounding the shojo series Romantic Killer, I continued this series with just as much hesitant curiosity as I did volume one. Volume two kicks off right where the previous volume ended, as we get to know and learn more about the “childhood friend,” Junta. As Anzu becomes more acquainted with him while discovering how to survive in her “awful world” of being surrounded by hot guys, she starts to think she has a pretty good handle on things. That is, until Riri’s antics lead to another hot guy taking an interest in her! I have to confess that I was most interested in reading this second volume because of Kazuki. He and Anzu have such a wonderful and refreshing friendship that I needed to know if Riri would cause more romantic “mishaps” between these two. While I won’t say whether my expectations were well met (due to not wanting to share spoilers), I will say that I was very happy with the amount of page time he received. I also enjoyed getting to know Junta on a deeper level, even if, like Anzu, I wish that the “love spell” (as she calls it) would be broken. He is such a sweet young man! I did, however, deeply dislike the new guy that Anzu meets. I didn’t care for his actions or general attitude, regardless of how hard he tried to “change” so that he could get to know Anzu better. Despite that, though, I am curious to see where things go in volume three, even if it is specifically for more romantic mishaps between Kazuki and Anzu thanks to Riri’s relentless shenanigans. ~ Laura A. Grace

Romantic Killer is published by VIZ Media.

READ: Romantic Killer Vol. 1 Review

Oshi no Ko, Manga Vol. 1

What do you get when you cross the comedic cleverness of Kaguya-sama: Love is War with the unflinching stare at the seedier side of life found in Scum’s Wish and set the whole thing among teenaged entertainers in the Japanese film and music scene? You guessed it: Oshi no Ko (which can be translated many ways, the most pertinent to this story being “the children of my favorite performer”), which is co-created by Aka Akasaka of Kaguya fame, and Mengo Yakoyari, of Scum’s Wish. The results are intriguing, producing a rich thematic tapestry that both pushes and pulls, repels and compels with its various plots and punchlines. There are many moments that, if pursued a beat (or panel) longer, could make for a really uncomfortable scene. The premise alone is what my grandma would have called “near the knuckle”: Gorou is a massive idol otaku and an OB/GYN who treats—and then on the fateful day of labor, reincarnates into the child of—his favorite idol, Ai, who is a mere sixteen years of age(!). But Akasaka and Yokoyari know precisely when to cut short a particular thread before it crosses the line, and leave it up to the reader instead to wander (or not) into unsavory thought territory. If this were all this volume was—a sort of knife’s edge dance with titillation—then I’d probably pass on it and the upcoming anime adaptation (about which there’s already a fair amount of buzz). But actually, there’s a lot more on offer here. The story swiftly and unexpectedly moves into the realm of thriller, with the fate of the male lead’s soul in the balance. There are layers upon layers to the storytelling, with a clever framing device at the start of each chapter that gives the sense that the creators have planned everything out thoroughly, taking the time to refine the details and set up a potentially mind-blowing resolution, possibly years from now. The first volume concludes with two core mysteries in play: one that Gorou is aware of, and the other that has yet to dawn on him, though we already know the answer. This is a clever technique because the genuinely unknown plot hooks the reader, while the known mystery ties us to Gorou as we anticipate that moment when he finally realizes what we know to be true. Will this second mystery have lost its affective power by the time he puts things together, or will it be the missing piece that redeems him from a self-inflicted fate as ugly as any of those in Scum’s Wish? In short, an unexpected twist and skillful restraint in the writing here have piqued my interest, and I am looking forward to the next installment. ~ claire

Oshi no Ko is published by Yen Press.

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“Reader’s Corner” is our way of embracing the wonderful world of manga, light novels, and visual novels, creative works intimately related to anime but with a magic all their own. Each week, our writers provide their thoughts on the works they’re reading—both those recently released as we keep you informed of newly published works, and those older titles that you might find as magical (or in some cases, reprehensible) as we do.

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myddle · 7 months

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"Casper & Nova" And "Cheers": The Beginning Of My Anime Villain Arc

After ruminating on it for a long time (this is the second draft of this goddamn post), I've come to understand what my issues were with the Fionna & Cake finale, and I'm ready to discuss it.

Big thanks to @bettycrockerscookbook and his post, "Fionna and Cake is a narrative about loss of agency, and I don't know if that was on purpose", it really helped me get my thoughts in order. There is some overlap between that post and mine, but my views predate reading it, although they are reworded for clarity.

Warning: Big Post, Spoilers, Opinions

I get what they were going for. I have full respect for everyone who loved the finale, and I give them all hugs and kisses.

But... it just didn't click for me. I still love the rest of the show, but I couldn't believe it's conclusion, and it left me feeling all hollow and rotten afterwards. I don't know it there's going to be a second season, but the ending felt very "happily ever after", so lets just presume not for now, and get into some things.

That Glitch Glitched Right Out Of The Plot

I probably should have seen this coming after BMO's corpse glitched in front of everyone and they didn't react, but it still sucks we didn't get an answer to this mystery, or at least some commentary on it. Heck, even back in "Winter King", Simon's tone describing the normalised Ice crown is more of dissapointment than confusion. It just feels like a waste, after all the set-up; I was excited to learn what was really going on there, or see how it would affect our protagonists.

Credit Where It's Due: The Lich/GOLB Scene Is Kinda Perfect

I don't wanna be too negative, so I must say I LOVED THIS SCENE. The Lich has been an insurmountable force of destruction for the whole series, both physically and morally, so seeing the one thing that could finally break him - his success - is fascinating to me. And then, without a word, GOLBetty dissassembles him in a horrifying display and turns him into one of those Tetris Blocks... I guess they must be GOLB's literal building blocks for crafting it's machinations. A terrifying glimpse into the Chaos God's methods.

Do We Have Time For A Choose Your Own Adventure Right Now, We Only Have Two Episodes Left

The Casper & Nova segment was super neat, and it was cool to see 1000+ Ooo again, but... I don't know. This framing device within a framing device is an awful lot of setup to do in the second to last episode. This is honestly more of a time-constraint issue though; I'd probably be more forgiving of it if I was on board with the rest of the finale.

Petrigrof Did Nothing Wrong (Except For The Things They Did That Were Wrong)

Simon and Betty's final goodbye was beautifully made. A heartfelt message of recognising and accepting the mistakes of your past. I just don't think I agree on what those mistakes are.

The concept of someone going along with everything their partner wanted, and the partner not realising because they were still happy, is an amazingly nuanced arc, but I don't think it fits Simon and Betty's relationship. Betty had agency, and wasn't afraid to disagree with Simon; just look at the way she dealt with the snakes, or how she kept Simon alive as Ice King against his wishes in hopes of curing him. And speaking of which, I don't think Betty was wrong for wanting to cure Simon - he DID NOT WANT to be Ice King - she just became too reckless and self-destructive. Summoning and merging with motherfucking GOLB was unambiguously a mistake, there were other things she could have done (I reckon Simon being vampirised by Marceline, then destroying the Crown would've worked, but that's not as good of a story).

I think a message on stopping the cycle of sacrifice would've been stronger, more coherent, but this sequence is still incredible.

Who Needs Stakes: Just Barf Up A Fuckin' Dandelion For The Class

Most of the stuff before this was nitpicks, and I wouldn't need to make this post if that was it. This is where we get into the things that I actually take issue with.

So the chain of events is Simon doesn't want the responsibility of the City of Um in his head, so GOLBetty (I think) compells the world out of him in the form of a dandelion. He gives the dandelion to Fionna, who blows on it to give it to everyone in the City, and then the world... becomes authorised? Huh? What? Like, I get the sentiment, but this feels like an asspull. And such a waste of plot, too! The idea of an entire universe being descriminated against by a celestial corporatocracy is so cool! I wanted to hear about the ideology behind that, and I wanted to see that injustice fought. But instead, they just... made it okay now, in a way that wasn't established as an option at all.

Doctor Petrikov: Multiverse Of Messed Up Implications

Most of my bigger points are really just differences of opinion: me not being happy with what the show turned out to be. But this? This is actually a plot hole.

To assist our heroes, Prismo decides to send in Jay and Little Destiny from Farmworld, Baby Finn from Baby World, and the Peppermint Tank from Vampire World. And after the dust settles, they just... stay there. Worse, the other characters from those worlds are never touched on again, despite the huge opportunity to do so in the ending montage. Are we just not supposed to care about those worlds? Is Farmworld Finn alive? What about Jay's siblings? Did Vampire World Bonnibel and Marceline kill eachother? Is the Vampire King just free to rule unopposed? WHAT ABOUT JAY'S SIBLINGS!?

Also, why didn't Prismo just teleport Scarab out of there? The tank didn't even do anything.

While I'm on the topic, check out OSP's Detail Diatribe on "The Multiverse Problem", it was very informative for my perspective here.

Alright, I Get It, Fionna Is A Bad Person For Wanting More Out Of Life

The series ends with Fionna learning to be happy in a mostly unchanged City of Um, and I just... I don't buy it. I cannot believe that Fionna is happy there after the song we opened this series on.

I'm not really feeling like my self today Hated every job I've had, what's wrong with me Every day's the same; Painfully mundane 'Cuz I'm running from my feelings and my fear of sudden change Everytime I leave my room, I wanna die Even when I'm with my friends, I'm alone inside 'Cuz nothing really matters, and I don't know what's sadder The fact I even try or that my hopes and dreams are shattered I'm not really feeling like my self today

It's probably not supposed to be one to one, but this paints a very dark picture of Fionna's psyche at the start of the series. This isn't boredom, this is a young woman being crushed by her environment.

Fionna struggled in the other universes because she didn't have her memories of Ooo, her experience of dealing with this kind of stuff. Throwing her in the multiversal deep end with none of her old life experiences didn't teach her she was wrong to want Ooo back, it just traumatised her, to the point she was arguing it was better for her universe to die than risk changing the people inside. Yes, her outlook at the beginning was childish and needed to change, but her mind overcorrected, giving her a nightmare of her desires hurting her loved ones.

And I was waiting for Fionna to realise that; that she doesn't just crave excitement, but autonomy, and heroism. That she wasn't wrong for wanting something else for herself. For being unhappy in the City of Um.

But... she doesn't. She just gives in, ready to die fighting when things looked bleak, and resigned to her fate when they recovered. Her world has functioning toilets. It's not so bad, right?

Easy to regret wanting to change your world when it's getting ripped apart in front of you.

This wasn't an either/or situation; after Scarab was dealt with, Fionna and Cake could have just pulled a Lemonhope and fucked off (Prismo would have done them the favour), but noooooo, being responsible means surrendering yourself to your own bleak existence, I guess. SPEAKING OF WHICH,

"I am myself. Like this."

When I heard Cake say this line, I was convinced that leaving the City of Um as it is would not be a happy ending. Setting aside the fact that Genderswap Ooo is technically the original version, Cake doesn't even need her memories to know that her stretchy Ooo form is her authentic self. She likes having options.

Condemning Cake to her City of Um form would be unethical, and the show knows this, because it doesn't. But what about the rest of Um's residents? Which side of the coin would they choose? They don't get that choice, because they don't even know. Gary and Marshall worry about losing their new relationship, not knowing about the potentially hundreds of years of history they've already lost. And how many more Cakes are there? Animal residents of Ooo that lost their autonomy and personhood in the shift? Lord Monochromicorn made it out alright, but I doubt Cake was the only one to suffer.

Of course, the situation isn't black and white. Some residents of Um, like Female Fern (should've been called Flora, but whatev), the Lemoncarbs and maybe Human Ice Queen (I like to call her Ice Creem) might be better off in the City of Um than Genderswap Ooo, presuming their stories resolved the same as their Ooo Prime counterparts (Considering only one Lemongrab was alive during "Come Along With Me", when the shift happened, but Um has two Lemoncarbs, I'm not convinced on that).

But ultimately, this lack of knowledge denies the people of Um the agency to choose what world they want to live in, and what form is their authentic self. Which makes Fionna's gesture of giving the world's fate to them ring pretty hollow. And as someone who is fighting very hard in hopes of living as my authentic self, this ending kinda hurts.

Disclaimer and Conclusion (unrelated pic, I just love this shot)

I'm not mad at the team behind Fionna and Cake for this ending. I definitely don't blame them for my problems with it, I don't think these dissonances were intended (unless they are gunning for a second season to resolve some of them, in which case globspeed) I respect their creative vision, and everyone who took home the good message they intended wasn't wrong to do so. From what I've seen, most people did, but some, like me, did find this ending unsatisfying.

Thing is, I'm still thankful. I loved the first eight episodes of this show, and my reaction to this finale has stirred within me the desire to make my own fan ending, as a creative excercise of sorts. Certainly fitting for a series about an in-universe fan-fic. I lost my creative drive some years ago, and I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get it back. I'm not sure how I'll go about making this fan ending, but if i manage it, I'll be sure to keep y'all posted.

So... thank you, Fionna & Cake. You got me to care about your story, and that's half the battle.

#adventure time #fionna and cake #casper and nova #cheers

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vongola-renaissance · 10 months

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Genuinely thinking about how in khr the girls were confined to the kitchen in the Future arc.

It is partially an ass move from Amano towards the female cast of the manga. Women helping by being in the kitchen and all of that, knowing that they'd have to take place in any battle to come in that world anyway (from the readers perspective).

But also? I think that with a little change on the intention and execution, it'd hadn't been that bad. I need to read again those manga chapters, but by memory I do remember that Kyoko and Haru were very worried and anxious, that the kids were scared. And it fits Tsuna desire for his friends to stay away from the mafia life, the idea of taking the kids and the girls far away from the battle. It's naive, since I-Pin and Lambo are fighting all the time, since Kyoka and Haru should learn to defend themselves and fight for their lives, but it fits the narrative.

Tsuna's aware that I-Pin and Lambo can defend themselves, but he doesn't want them to. Tsuna wants them to be kids and act like kids, the same way he never wished for Haru or Kyoko to see that side of his life, the one full of violence and death.

Another good part of the whole mess was that part where the girls bonded with Chrome. I find it amazing. Chrome is a guardian like the rest and she deserves that sense of normalcy, the whole taste of domesticity.

I think Tsuna should had realized in that arc that that too was a type of violence, one that came with the role and the sins he inherited. To accept the mafia role is to ask Haru and Kyoko to either walk away or learn the mafia ways but it is their choice in the end. It must be. Tsuna can try to protect them all he wants, but he can't push them aside the same way his dad with his mom. That's not the man he wants to be —there the conflict of tyl!Tsuna choosing the mafia lifestyle.

If there is a new anime adaptation in the making, I wish instead of creating crazy fillers or adapting only the anime, they'd create additional material to develop the girls, give them more agency, even adapt certain things from the manga that didn't make it to the original anime.

#khr #katekyo hitman reborn #khr!#KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN!

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linklethehistorian · 1 year

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Linkle, I must know, what are your thoughts on Mori as a character? His actions and motivations?? Id love to hear your opinion, btw that last chapter of cherish was great!! I loved it so much!!!

Ahhh hello there, anon, thank you so much! 🥺😭💕💖🥰 It’s such an honor to get a message like this from someone who is reading the fic. 💕🥺💖🥰💕🥺💖🥰 I’m so glad you liked Chapter 12; it definitely has one of my own personal favorite scenes, tbh (but I won’t take up your time talking about that right now lol). Having a fan base for Cherish is truly lovely; I’m so blessed by each and every one of you. 🥺💖

As for your question, I’m always happy to share!

Before I say anything at all on my opinion, though, I’m first going to make it clear that I am completely setting aside that one…particular matter that has been discussed to death by the fandom for the moment, because I fear far too many people tend to forget that it is entirely possible to make any remotely positive commentary on a fictional character without that actually somehow meaning you condone his alleged…preferences. For the people in the back that need to hear this out loud to be set at ease: I in absolutely no way do.

Now with that out of the way for a bit, let’s talk about the rest of Mori. I’ll throw it under the cut, though, both for length and for potential spoilers of multiple light novels (Dark Era, Fifteen, Storm Bringer, etc.) and obviously the manga up to his last appearance in current arc. Oh and obviously the typical Mori-related trigger subjects. Yeah.

Honestly, on a general note, these days I think Mori as a character is super cool; I’m not sure where precisely I’d rate him on the list of characters because I honestly like nearly every character in BSD and think they’re pretty awesomely written, but on a general scale of 1 to 10, he’s a very solid 8 or 9 for me.

My first introduction to him was…admittedly not at all the best possible representation of him.

When I first joined the fandom, I began my journey through the series by watching the anime adaption of Dark Era, at the behest of a dear friend who said I would be best off doing so before I watched the rest of the show (of which there were only two seasons at the time) and then reading the manga, in order to get the best and most meaningful experience; it is not something I remotely regret, and in honesty, I would probably wholeheartedly recommend any new people to do the same, if they intended to start with the anime. Regardless, though, this decision did have the impact of making me immediately strongly dislike Mori as a person from the very start, given what he did to the orphans, Oda, and Dazai by extension.

Really, I wouldn’t say that I came to see him in any particular shades of grey motivation-wise until I watched the episode titled Double Black, in which there was the first reference of what would have become of the Port Mafia and Yokohama as a whole had he not usurped the throne to the organization so many years ago.

After that, I began to look at him with a bit more understanding and curiosity, horrible and ruthless though his nature may still mostly have been. Fifteen (specifically the light novel, NOT the anime) — which it should be said, I think is the best existing canon representation of Mori in terms of giving us a good look at his thoughts and motivations — only amplified that outlook and interest for me, and I think it alone is largely to thank for why I enjoy him as a character as much as I do in current time.

Although he’s definitely not someone I’d feel particularly comfortable writing an entire story solely around — as I don’t believe I’m expert nor absurdly passionate enough to do so compared to some genuine Mori fans that I know are out there out there — I nevertheless really, really do enjoy writing him, especially in Cherish (which is only the second time I’ve written him, if I’m honest — at least, in anything I’d consider publishing, anyway).

There’s just so much potential in him plot and personality-wise; he is incredibly flexible of a person in terms of his thoughts, mannerisms, motivations, and actions, which makes it super fun to explore and play around with when telling a story. I’d say he easily has one of the most fun personalities among the BSD ensemble, purely because of utterly unpredictable it can be; on one hand, he has moments where (at least outwardly) is capable of being extremely friendly, outgoing, generous and unassuming, and yet on the other, he is very much always inwardly observant of all that is going on around him and capable of quickly switching to being cold, calculating, and openly cruel at the drop of a hat. But even then, usually, his cruelty doesn’t come in the form of physical violence; it’s often emotional manipulation, intimidation, taking your fears and weaknesses and using them against you to get him whatever he feels he needs in the present moment. Sometimes, it isn’t even outwardly visible that the switch of gears happened; he knows how to poison you in the sweetest and most unassuming yet effective way possible — whether that poison is literal or metaphorical. He’s definitely the kind of person who could sing you to sing to sleep every night and kiss your cheek every morning even as he’s secretly plotting your demise. lol

That being said, I think a lot of the fandom, in their hatred for him as a person, tends to mischaracterize him a lot, rather than looking at it objectively. I’ve seen a lot of fics and general fandom takes that portray him as a sadistic person who is cruel simply for the sake of being cruel and does terrible things to others purely for the enjoyment factor, but that is 100% not who Mori is; canonically, Mori does what he does mostly, if not entirely, out of what he feels is necessity as the leader of the organization. Now, I’m not saying there may not be parts of him that enjoy certain things he does — it’s certainly more than possible, and even highly probable — but his actions as godfather are driven by achieving what he feels is the optimal solution, not by personal pleasure and amusement; as a matter of fact, in Fifteen, he even made it clear when speaking to Chuuya that he fully acknowledges a lot of what he does is morally reprehensible — he just feels that it is his duty to commit these atrocities for the ‘greater good’ of the organization, and that the end therefore justifies the means.

The thing is, there is a character in BSD who is exactly the way this portion of the fandom characterizes Mori, and he was even a member of the Port Mafia, so if people really wanted to canonically explore this dynamic of a character who wholly gets off on tormenting people, causing suffering and probing others’ heads rather than doing it as just a business practice, they absolutely could still do it and be true to canon by writing about said other character; it’s just that it’s not a convenient truth that a lot of the fandom wants or likes to face — because that would mean acknowledging that it was everyone’s beloved Dazai and not the oh-so-despised Mori who used to think in such a sick and twisted way during his days in the criminal underworld.

Granted, some people do write both characters very well and very accurately, and I applaud them, but I do find it frustrating when the fandom reduces either Mori to this purely evil, sadistic villain who is bad just for the sake of being bad, because he is so much more interesting as he truly is in canon.

It’s this dichotomy where his dedication to the overall well-being of his people and company is admirable and even understandable, yet at the same time his individual actions when you look at them from a moral perspective are pretty much all morally reprehensible in some way, shape, or form — if not in every way. The same is true of his time in the army; as a general concept, his desire to protect Japan during the Great War was on the whole admirable and understandable, we know that he was well-meaning about it, but at the same time, no matter how desperate the situation was, what he did to Yosano and his entire army was absolutely disgusting and unacceptable — especially because it came so easily to him to do it and he made no apologies for it nor expressed any guilt over the suffering he caused later on.

Do I think Mori is, on the whole, a good person? Absolutely not. Do I think that he sometimes has the best of intentions in mind with his schemes? In the grander scheme of things, yes; it’s just that he mostly doesn’t care who or how many he has to hurt to achieve that so long as it’s slightly less than his net gain from doing it, which in turn cancels out things enough to prevent him from ever being labeled as being or acting as a “good person” at any moment.

I think the best, most objective description of him is to say that he’s pragmatic and ruthless.

…And then obviously there’s the part that everyone in the fandom discusses to death — about the main universe version of him being into little girls. Not a whole lot to say about that; it’s gross, it’s wrong, it’s unforgivable, it’s morally reprehensible, and it’s chilling and disturbing and it definitely completely disqualifies him from being labeled a good person even if he had been able to earn that title from something he did somewhere along the way.

That being said — and I know this is probably going to be controversial to a lot of the fandom, so let me say upfront that I’m not saying that that isn’t 100% a valid and understandable reading of who he is and the way he feels based on all the evidence throughout the series, nor am I trying to convince anyone otherwise — purely because it is fiction and therefore all made up to begin with, at least for my own personal comfort, I typically choose in my own personal readings to just look at him as someone with a particular weakness for little girls because he’s fatherly — although I make no effort to claim that to be the objective truth, nor does such interpretation affect or influence any of my writings in any way; it’s simply the way I prefer to engage with BSD on my own personal time — outside of my writings.

As a matter of fact, in my one fic, Bittersweet Belief, he was intentionally written with the intention of being portrayed as a groomer, and in Cherish, his ‘tastes’ will be portrayed no less nor more suspicious than how they are in canon, and therefore it will never be fully, directly addressed, but may be interpreted however you wish.

I do not need people coming to me providing evidence of why they believe there is no way to look at it differently, as again, I am not arguing that it is objectively untrue in any way that Mori is written to be a pedo in BSD, and when in public spaces among other people talking about it I don’t even try to say otherwise, much less convince anyone of it. I understand fandom etiquette and I am not trying to erase anything about him from others’ perceptions in order to make him more “likable”. I am just engaging with BSD, whenever I am personally reading it and watching it, in the way that is more comfortable for me. Nothing more, nothing less.

Anyway, yeah, Mori’s a super fun character to write and observe in the BSD world! I think there’s a lot of depth to him and he’s very well-written — probably among my top past antagonists purely for the super interesting personality and the purely pragmatic outlook to life and business.

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true--north · 8 months

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I've been asked about my 💎unpopular💎 opinions about Frozen:

❄ I love F2 ending in all its aspects, I love the sisters separated, Elsa out, I love them being the Spirit and the Queen.

❄ F2 is better than F1 because it's more poetical, magical, epical and satisfying; but at the same time both films are so connected and parallelized and sincere to each other that it's a truly one consistent story.

❄ I don't think that Elsa was a better queen than Anna will be. I think that she had a hard time adjusting herself to the royal job. Because she symbolically had had to find and wear the crown she thew away in the catharsis of Let It Go again.

❄ When I heard "Are you the one who knows deep down that I'm not where I'm meant to be" everything had just clicked so naturally and I fell in love with Elsa. I know that many don't like this line/subplot and praise her as queen of Arendelle but I relate to that, I saw her soul and understood why she wanted to leave.

❄ Elsa as a magical shaman priestess(Noaidi), her bond with Ahtohallan, her freedom in the Forest is something that is so important to me.

❄ F1 Anna did nothing wrong.

❄ F2 Anna was holding Elsa back in F2. She was "cutting her wings"(I understand why, of course). Despite Anna's own words of "When will you see yourself the way I see you?" Anna didn't see the whole Elsa, that reckless magical deep side of her that was awakened by Ahtohallan's voice and the touch of the Forest. The side that wanted to break free. That's why the accepting Anna in "Her love could hold up the world" scene is so important. She understood.

❄ I don't see Kristoff's arc in F2 as a failure. Still I wish Lee and Buck were able to save his "I don't want to change myself for the royal life" lines. Because now we have Elsa and Kristoff who wanted Change, and Anna and Olaf who didn't; and probably it would be fancier to have only Elsa(since it's her Journey") who seeks Change being her leading role, and the rest dealing and coping with It.

❄ I like the trolls. Their lore is cool and they are funny. Grand Pabbie was good.

❄ I like Agduna as a couple and as parents despite their mistakes. They are sympathetic. Iduna is a tragic heroine.

❄ Sometimes I think that Hans wasn't that handsome. Something in the way his appearance was animated in the second half of the film looks unpleasant.

❄ I don't think that Honeymaren was that important.

❄ I may ship Elsa with some, even with that Wolfgang if he's young in the podcast, but I think that she is going to remain aroace in canon.

❄ I think that Hans's arc could have been much more interesting and deep without the twist, but I didn't feel betrayed by the shock of it.

❄ Some part of the isolation and separation's pain and trouble was caused by Elsa herself. Some traits of her psyche kept her in that reclusive, full of fear and self-hatred state of mind more than could and should have been for any other person.

❄ I feel sorry that Lee is gone and have doubts about the new director.

❄ Concept arts outfits are better than the actual versions.

❄ I don't quite like that F2 outfits lost their 19th century spirit. Anna doesn't even wear stocking anymore(just like Elsa).

❄ Anna doesn't need to be like Elsa, to do what Elsa does to be cool and worthy, she doesn't need to be with Elsa all the time.

❄ I have trouble understating the concept of Anna as the Fifth Spirit in its full magical spiritual sense. But at the same time I can sense what they were trying to say.

❄ I love when the sisters are arguing, when they have a conflict, when their opinions and worldviews clash. Because they are so different and it's compelling and interesting.

❄ I think that Elsa can (or at least must theoretically) rule the nature elements, in the literal sense.

❄ I feel sorry that Runeard was simplified in the Polar Nights.

❄ I prefer Elsa's Harvest Festival and Spirit dresses over Ice Dress.

❄ And, SHOCK! I don't like the way Elsa's braid was drawn. It wasn't a lush and carefree natural braid from concept arts. The braid is too thick and these frozen unnatural large strands... I felt happy when Elsa let her hair fall down in F2. She needs more wild and untamed hair.

#asks #frozen meta

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lynnedwardswrites · 1 year

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Finally started watching the Vox Machina animated series because I was once a Critter, but gave up about 7 episodes in because I just can't handle how simplifying the story into a TV series this way makes it obvious the kind of problematic themes and tropes the story relies on.

I could go on and on about misogyny and supremacy in general but I'll spare you, because I think most people are literate enough about those kinds of issues they can figure that stuff out themselves with a close inspection.

What I *do* want to talk about is how Vox Machina handles religion, because the Pike's-broken-amulet arc was so not-self-aware about real religious issues that it felt like Christian/fundamentalist propaganda (the kind that's often used to support homophobia, for example) and that is super weird for the Critical Role people.

(Fair warning: I only made it to episode 7, so I did not see Pike's return, only how her narrative was set up. I confirmed my suspicions by reading a summary, though, and I did see the original D&D.)

Ok so summary details in brackets, thoughts below:

Pike's magic god-speaking amulet breaks, so she goes to the temple of The Everlight to try to fix it and the already christianity-flavored religious figures are like "Don't worry child, we accept everyone as they are."

Good, great, everything is correct so far, and I mean everything. I don't know a church out there (except perhaps the most violent of homophobic ones) that won't say "we/Jesus accepts everyone as they are." The Mormons (my childhood group) say this, offering a hand of fellowship to absolutely everyone. The thing is that you can *say* you accept people "as they are" as much as you want, but that doesn't mean you actually do. Let's continue, to see what "accepting people as they are" looks like for the Everlight:

Pike says "ok, I think I'm cursed cuz I can't actually perform miracles or talk to god" and then they're like "oh no, honey, it's not a curse. It's because There's Something Wrong With You. You're Broken, that's why god doesn't talk to you."

The rest is implied, but it is confirmed by the story: "But don't worry, because we have the answers. We know what's broken about you or we have the right way for you to figure it out. Follow us and we'll teach you everything you need to know."

So I get that this is D&D and Pike has the literal ability to channel a "divine" being's power, and sure, maybe that literal being has rules about how you have to behave because he's a very controlling MFer. For D&D that's fine, that's whatever. In the real world, the existence of this divine being is under some pretty intense scrutiny right now. And yet, the conversation bracketed above is something that literally happens in the real world.

You go to church and tell your pastor "I just don't know if I believe this stuff is true, I didn't have the powerful experiences you promised I would" and the answer is "well, there must be something wrong with you, then, you must not be pure enough."

You say "I was promised good things if I followed this god's commandments, but nothing has changed in my life. In fact, things are getting worse" and the answer is "well there must be something wrong with you then, you didn't have enough faith."

You say, "I tried to pray the gay away and it didn't work. I'm having a hard time feeling like God and this community love me the way I am" and the answer is "that's just the devil talking. Of course we love you. Keep trying to pray the gay away ("keep trying to become straight," for the normies) because that's the only way you'll be able to feel the love God already has for you."

Hopefully you've picked up the pattern already, but that's the thing about religion and its assumption of being fully, divinely correct all the time. They can make any claims they want ("you'll be happier here!"), even about their own nature and morality ("we accept everyone as they are!") but if something is wrong, something doesn't line up, the answer is *always* "well there must be something wrong with YOU then, because we know we're right."

You can use religion in this way to support any oppressive system or ideology. "We love you, but you're broken and that's why life is hard for you. No, don't question the system. Don't question the gender binary. Don't question capitalism. Don't question us. It's you. You're the broken one."

That's one problem with real-world religions. They often can't keep their promises (or they just push the promises into an afterlife so you have no evidence they're false). Vox Machina plays into and legitimizes the same story. Pike couldn't get the promised reward of her religion because she hadn't molded herself to fit her church's ideals well enough, but once she did, I mean, yeah, superpowers, wow. You could have superpowers too, if you just gave 10% of your income to this megachurch and crushed your naturally fun loving, questioning, joke-making self into a demure puritan loyalist. That's how it works!

"But this is D&D! We're going to assume the promises are all true!" Alright fine. Say you are in the camp of believing the Christian god is just as real to us as the Everlight is to Pike (or if you're in the camp of allowing that some people feel that way and you want to be respectful). Say you believe or allow that maybe religion's promises are true, and asking people to suppress their nature to meet a higher ideal is Good and Reasonable. The problem with Vox Machina's portrayal, the part where all of this becomes problem-atic, is that Pike's narrative stops with "she shoehorned herself into a religious mold and then she was happy" when there are millions and millions of people with lived experiences telling us that that's not how it works.

Because even if the promise of religion happens to pan out for you (you start acting more "straight," say, hiding your gayness, and as a result get more love acceptance being treated with basic dignity from the church members around you), that doesn't mean you wind up so happy to be straight-er. Rather, you end up with deeeeep deep shame about the normal-ass human parts of yourself that religion taught you were wrong. Maybe it's not being gay, maybe it's getting angry sometimes. Maybe it's relationships with friends or family that were "getting in the way" of your spiritual journey (like it was for Pike). You cut all that stuff out to be "worthy" and you end up depressed, anxious, shame-riddled (and heading back to religion to solve a new round of issues; a vicious cycle).

But VM doesn't show that for Pike. They stop at "religious dedication will solve all your problems" and it's fuckin weird to see Critical Role of all people telling that story, and ignoring the stories of people they claim to care about who are going "Um! No actually?" It's weird that they hold up a controlling, god-like authority figure who will let children die rather than heal them because his instrument "doesn't have a friend-religion balance that favors god-worshipping highly enough" as the Good and Great Everlight. It's weird to see Critical Role taking the stance that tolerance means telling the stories that abusers pick for themselves, instead of tolerance making sure that everyone is actually being treated with dignity. It's weird how many otherwise open-minded people are just completely uneducated about the harmful effects of religion when religion is tied so closely to homophobia, racism, misogyny and supremacy of all kinds in this country. It's weird!

#once again i get that this is supposed to be a fun campy retelling of a story a bunch of white kids came up with while playing dnd #its not supposed to be that deep #but i do think its good to be aware of where the narratives living in our subconscious come from and who they benefit #even as we enjoy them for what they are #vox machina #critical role #critter #exmo #post mormon #ex fundie #exmormon

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