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tanmono · 1 year

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GILBERT VON OBSIDIAN MAIN ROUTE....

CHAPTER TEN.

translations are not 100% accurate. expect mistakes.

minors and ageless blogs dni.

Gilbert: You have two choices: be my friend or let me be your friend.

Gilbert: I'll ask you once again, okay? I want to be friends with you.

Until now, we have been friends as we were drifting away.

I was only being threatened, regardless of my own will.

(But….)

Emma: Please be my friend.

(I don't want this kind of relationship that starts with threats in my daily life.)

Inwardly pushing down my nervousness, I hold out my hand to Prince Gilbert.

After a short silence, his cold fingertips intertwined with mine.

Gilbert:.....You have some nerve to be my friend of your own volition.

Gilbert: Of course I have no reason to refuse you. I would gladly be your friend, though—

Gilbert: I hate lying.

The way he held my hand tightly with painful force.

It was so powerful that I thought that once I was grabbed, he would never be able to let go of it again.

Gilbert: If you betrayed me after saying we’re friends, I might kill you out of grief.

(Wait, I can't have that. I am in a position not to betray Prince Gilbert no matter what I do.)

Even if we’re friends, it doesn’t change the fact about the relationship between Rhodolite and Obsidian.

Emma:.....What is this "betrayal" you speak of, Prince Gilbert?

Gilbert: Well….

Prince Gilbert doesn't seem to have any intention of bringing up the betrayal that comes from the difference in position,

There was a pause to choose the words.

Gilbert: That you will not be you.

Emma:…?

(Huh, weird….)

━━FLASHBACK━━

Gilbert: If you are in a place like the court where your greed is exposed, you will eventually be gone.

Gilbert: I, for one, would like to see that up close and personal.

Gilbert: I'm curious to see how the woman with the most beautiful heart in Rhodolite will change.

Gilbert: So, friend. The quickest way to be near you is the excuse to be friends, right?

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(I think Prince Gilbert wanted me to change.)

(I’m not sure, but--)

Here, too, Prince Gilbert is chipper.

Gilbert: Oh, and….

Gilbert: Add to the fact that you'll die in my place.

Emma:…..But—

When I tried to talk back, he held my hand so tightly that my voice escaped.

Gilbert: I’m a lot stronger than you think.

Gilbert:….Well, I may not be physically stronger as others, but I can handle a surprise attack on my own.

Gilbert: If you're my friend, you won't betray me, will you?

His red eye who usually have no emotions, are wavering slightly.

It’s a threatening word, but there’s a concern that doesn't sound like an enemy prince.

(I know he won't admit he's anxious... but it made my heart flutter.)

Emma: I understand.

Emma:…The next time something similar happens to me, I will believe in you, Prince Gilbert.

Gilbert: Then, it’s a promise.

Master Gilbert, with his back bent, kisses my cheek lightly.

I clearly felt a heat spread across my face.

(I've been asked to kiss him on the cheek before.....)

Emma: O-Oh, is this how it's done at Obsidian?

Gilbert: No way, we don't have that kind of culture, and who cares?

(......Then how come...)

Gilbert: Look, little rabbit.

Suddenly, he lifted my chin with his index finger.

(Not an air of refusal......)

(….No, don't be weird. I'm sure for Prince Gilbert — this is just a term of endearment.)

Without missing a beat, I eagerly pressed my lips against Prince Gilbert’s cheek.

Emma: Is this okay?

Gilbert: Yes, your face is so red. It's just a friendly kiss, but you made it so naughty.

Emma: I'm just not used to it!

Gilbert: Then, do you want to do it every day until you get used to it?

Emma:….Please don’t.

(Why do I feel so nervous when all I did was kissing him on the cheek?)

Gilbert: That's it. As proof I’ve gotten closer to little rabbit, you can call me Gil from now on.

Emma: I can’t.

Gilbert: Eeeh….I thought friends do call each other by nicknames.

Emma: Before we’re friends, Prince Gilbert is our guest of honor.

(I wonder if people close to him would call him Gil.)

Gilbert: Oh well.

Prince Gilbert laughs, picks me up, and walks me toward the doorway of the chapel.

The thorns in the air and the suffocating bloodlust had disappeared before I knew it.

From the next day on, Prince Gilbert continued to accompany me as he has always been.

However, we have plans this afternoon and decided to go our separate ways.

(While Prince Gilbert is away...)

As usual, I pushed the door as I entered Prince Chevalier's library.

I thought I would be here to report, but there were two figures here today.

Emma: Oh, Prince Clavis!

Clavis: Oops, did you come here to meet my brother? I didn't expect spring to come to this unfriendly man….

Emma: More than that! I have a lot of things I want to ask Prince Clavis.

━━FLASHBACK━━

Emma: Hold up, is Prince Clavis betraying Rhodolite!?

Luke: Beats me. Don't you know there are rumors that he might be an Obsidian spy?

Luke: I don't know what you're thinking, but Clavis was responsible for the assassination attempt on Chevalier the other day.

Luke: He seems to be working with some of the anti-monarchy faction and has sent a number of assassins to kill him.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

Emma: I’ll ask you directly.

Emma: Is there anything you are guilty of?

Clavis: No?

He should have known what I wanted to ask, but the answer was refreshingly immediate.

He is puffing his chest out as if to say that he really has nothing to be guilty about.

Clavis: Oh no, did you really think I’m betraying rhodolite?

Clavis: This guy won't shut up about it now, will he?

Chevalier:……..

Emma:…I guess that’s true.

(There's no way someone like Prince Chevalier didn't notice Prince Clavis's evil deeds.)

If he were a traitor in the true sense of the word, he would have received the punishment he deserves by now.

(There's no way he can claim that he’s a traitor so openly.)

Clavis: But, yeah….

Clavis: I'm willing to betray Rhodolite for my own evil deeds.

Emma:….You speak so proudly about it.

Clavis: Ah. Because I want to be a prince who can act for people, not for the country.

Emma:…..

Clavis: What is right for one person is wrong for another. Isn’t that what the world is like?

(…..It remains to be seen how lending a hand to the anti-monarchy faction ties into Prince Clavis's justice.)

It may be too early to just say, "It's a bad thing."

(As belle, maybe this is the point where I need to find out.)

Chevalier:…How absurd.

Prince Chevalier, who was sitting on his usual chair and reading a book, let out a languid breath.

Chevalier: I don't care about my foolish brother. You are here to report, are you not?

Emma: Yes, I am…

Chevalier: Tell me what happened last night.

Emma: Then….

I spun my words in detail, recalling the events that took place at Prince Clavis's evening party.

I was too shy to give a brief report on what happened in the chapel, though,

When Prince Chevalier heard all this, he creased between his eyebrows.

Chevalier: What did you get out of the party?

Emma: What did I…get?

Emma: There are people who are anti-monarchy and that Obsidian is trying to exploit that faction.....

Emma: I think I gained a correct understanding of the situation in which the Rhodolite was placed.

(Also, Prince Gilbert’s heart….)

Clavis: Hmm...why?

Emma: Why..?

Clavis: Why did the great evil of the world go out of his way to tell you such a thing?

I was taken aback by Prince Clavis’s words.

(Prince Gilbert’s actions always have meaning. But what about the last evening party?)

Clavis: I wondered if it was for the same purpose as Chevalier, to instill a sense of distrust towards me…

Chevalier: It's not connected to distrust. I think there's another purpose.

Emma:….

Emma: I feel that Prince Gilbert...was testing me somehow.

━━FLASHBACK━━

Emma: So, this is your way of doing things.

Gilbert: You sound as if you're criticizing me, but my suggestion is well intentioned, yes?

Emma:…..Is it your "good intentions" to bring war to this country?

Gilbert: To change something, sacrifices must be made.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

Emma: He knew that I would definitely oppose him, so he openly approached me about ‘business’ in front of me.

Emma:….I can't put it into words well, but—

(I think he was simply enjoying my reactions.)

Chevalier: I think you might be right on target.

Prince Chevalier gets up from his chair and puts the book he was holding back on the shelf.

Chevalier: It seems that there is a high possibility that you are used as a reason for making a decision.

Clavis: What decision?

Chevalier: I don’t know.

Clavis:…..You….

Chevalier: But there must be a reason why it should be you and not some ordinary woman.

Taking the new book, Prince Chevalier sat down again.

Emma:….I’m a normal person except for being belle.

Chevalier: Then why were you chosen as belle?

Clavis: Because it was love at first sight for Sariel, wasn't it?

Chevalier: Perhaps because she was described as the woman with the most beautiful heart in Rhodolite.

Emma: Oh…

━━FLASHBACK━━

Gilbert: I'm curious to see how the woman with the most beautiful heart in Rhodolite will change.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

Chevalier: He’s trying to make that woman with a beautiful heart for some kind of decision, not just any woman out there.

Chevalier:…That’s all I can say for now.

(The key is, "What am I trying to use as a basis for decisions".....)

(Just what in the world Prince Gilbert would want to see through me…?)

Emma: I’d like to find out about that.

Chevalier:…….

While Prince Chevalier snickered, Prince Clavis unusually held back his smile.

Clavis:…I’m feeling a bit anxious.

Chevalier: Then you should investigate the area around the anti-monarchy faction.

Clavis: Are you going to keep an eye on me?

Chevalier: You might as well be fooling around, re-examine if there is really a connection with Obsidian.

Chevalier: The eyepatch seems to have said and acted like he was about to start a business, but it wouldn't be strange if he had already done that.

(….I don't believe that.)

(......I'd like to believe that's not true.)

I was frustrated that I could do nothing but pray.

Clavis: I don't like it when you grab me by the neck, but I have no choice.

Clavis: I’ll overlook it again, do you mind if Nokto came along?

Chevalier: Yes. Just don’t do anything reckless.

Clavis: Why?

Chevalier:…..

(Why not Luke though?)

Prince Chevalier said nothing more, and Prince Clavis simply shrugged his shoulders.

Clavis: Looks like we’re done here. Emma, how about we have dinner tonight?

Emma: Sounds good. If you don't mind, by all means

(I should be all done reporting for the day, too.)

(........Oh, yeah.....)

Emma: I'm sorry. There is one last thing I wanted to ask you.

Clavis: What is it?

Emma: It may not be something I should ask casually, but...

━━FLASHBACK━━

Well-dressed man: Miss, do you think you can have a serious conversation with them?

Well-dressed man: On the bloodstained rose day, with the royal family who killed more than 1000 people who had been captured as prisoners!

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

Emma:….Is that true?

(I've always wondered.)

Clavis: Yes.

Prince Clavis affirms with a shady smile.

Clavis: We were asked to surrender in exchange for 1,000 prisoners captured by the Obsidians.

Clavis: Do you think this man over there can easily give away his country?

When Prince Clavis said “this man”, he pointed to Prince Chevalier, who continued to read the book.

Clavis: At that time, we went to the battlefield and took direct command.

Clavis: The final decision on the battlefield was given to Leon and Chevalier respectively.

Clavis: Chevalier used his own discretion to override the demands…

Clavis: As a result, the enraged Obsidian commanders killed all the prisoners.

Clavis:....Innocent people, including women and children were killed.

Emma:……

Clavis: You can understand why some people have murderous intent just by looking at Chevalier's face, can't you?

(....If it weren't for Prince Chevalier's ruthless choice, Rhodolite would no longer exist as of today.)

(Wrong choice for people, but right choice for a country... surely that's what it's all about.)

Though I said it was possible to bridge the gap through communication, not violence......

This resentment and hatred will surely never go away.

━━FLASHBACK━━

Gilbert: Royalty isn't an absolute justice, so you are deemed to be "evil" in this situation, right?

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(…. By now, Prince Gilbert's words are sinking in.)

Prince Clavis narrowed his eyes as if he was staring somewhere far away.

Clavis:….The past won't disappear no matter how we struggle.

Clavis: Then we will have to choose the best possible future.

Gilbert: Little rabbit.

Emma: Woah!?

The blood-colored eye suddenly came to view.

Leaning back, Prince Gilbert deliberately lowered his eyebrows.

Gilbert: What a reaction.

(…I was surprised.)

(There I go again, thinking about yesterday.)

As I took a breath to discard my thoughts, Prince Gilbert somehow deepened his smile.

Gilbert: I’m hurt, even though little rabbit and I had done so many things.

Emma: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Gilbert: Oh, you don't remember? That night when we embraced so passionately—

Emma: Don’t say that so casually!

Gilbert: My, it seems I have made you embarrassed somehow.

Emma:……

Gilbert: Haha.

(Prince Gilbert seems to be in a very good mood today!)

Gilbert: Anyway, what are your plans for today?

Emma: Prince Nokoto is going to a business meeting, so I am supposed to accompany him.

Gilbert: Is your leg all right now?

Emma: Yes. I saw the doctor this morning, and I'm fine to walk normally.

Gilbert: Okay. Then when are you going to finish your business meeting or whatever it's called?

Emma: I was told we were to return to the court around evening.

Gilbert: I see. Well then—

(….Ah.)

While I stopped, Prince Gilbert were standing beside me.

Ahead of me was the bureaucrat from the internal affairs group with so many books that they almost couldn't see in the front.

(I think that person is...)

━━FLASHBACK━━

Bureaucrat: Why'd you bring that woman in a place like this?

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

I remember the cold look he gave me before.

I hesitated for a moment, but then I clutched my courage and stepped forward.

Emma: Hello. Are you going to visit Prince Leon?

When I approached, the bureaucratic man rolls his eyes and then expresses his disgust.

Bureaucrat: Yes—

Emma: I'm here to help.

I reached out to support a pile of books that are tilted and about to collapse......

Bureaucrat: Don’t touch—!

His hand is shaken off, and the pile of books crumbles in its place.

The books scattered on the floor and hit his feet painfully.

Bureaucrat: Ugh….

(I should have approached him more carefully.)

Gathering up the books that scattered around my feet and rearranged them neatly.

Bureaucrat: My apologies. But…. I don’t need your help.

Emma: I understand. Please take care.

When I handed him the collected books, the man takes them awkwardly and left.

Not that anything has changed.

Yet, strangely, my chest feels clear.

(I've given up on even talking to him before because I thought it would make him uncomfortable...)

Gilbert: You’re such a pitiful little rabbit.

Prince Gilbert, who had been watching the scene unfold from a distance, was standing in front of me.

He lifted my chin with his cane as I met his red-blood eye.

Gilbert: Oh but...you seem happy.

Emma: Yes, I am self-satisfied and also feel refreshed!

(Far better than not being able to endure what one has to say.)

I felt like a crack in the uncomfortable space.

Prince Gilbert laughed softly and poked my leg at the end of his cane.

Gilbert: It's fine to approach people who hold a grudge against you, but don't hurt let them hurt you.

Gilbert: I get jealous when I see scars inflicted by someone other than me.

Gilbert: To the point where I want to kill that ‘someone’, you know...?

(…So that’s Prince Gilbert’s way of showing his concern.)

Emma: I’ll be careful.

Nodding obediently, Prince Gilbert released his cane in satisfaction.

Emma: By the way, weren't you about to say something earlier?

Gilbert: I was. I would have done terrible things to you if you hadn't reminded me.

(…Oh no.)

Gilbert: You're free in the evening, aren't you?

Gilbert: I want to go on a date with you.

Emma: Alright.

Emma:….No wait, a date?

Gilbert: Yes, a date.

Emma:……

Gilbert: You’ll accept my invitation, yes….?

▸ [ previous / next ]

#ikemen prince #ikepri #ikemen ouji #ikemen prince spoilers #ikepri jp #ikemen gilbert #gilbert von obsidian #ikepri gilbert #ikepri translations #ikemen series #cybird

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prattery · 7 months

Text

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

Thank you for the tag @queerofthedagger <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

242,705, which is absolute madness. didn't even realise i have that much to say abt merlin and arthur lol

3. What fandoms do you write for?

BBC Merlin xx

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

stone cold: the one where merlin was turned into stone. bit heavy i have to admit, no idea what i was on when i wrote it

through storm and hellfire: the one where merlin was kidnapped to force Destiny™'s hand , things went to shit, and arthur went through a Difficult Journey of Discovery (or: the wringer) where he learnt that his dad was not, in fact, a good guy....among other things

flickering embers: the one where arthur lost merlin to the veil between the worlds only for merlin to be spat back out, lose his memory, and become a druid leader

winning the battle: the one where old religion claims everything that makes merlin merlin as a price for the immense magic he used to win arthur's battle

quiet light: the one where merlin stayed mad after agravaine convinced arthur that gaius was a traitor

my takeaway from this is that people enjoy it when i make arthur suffer

5. Do you respond to comments?

i do try but i am genuinely horrible at it. it's so so nice to receive them and i read every single one but i kind of don't know how to respond to them sometimes. one day we will get there

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i did intend for the long way round ANd a line that goes all the way to have angsty endings but oops guess my hand slipped.

the number of times i intended a fic to have an angsty ending only for me to faff with it later... unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on where you stand on this) my mind would not let me rest until I added a happier ending

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

the three trials. it ended well for everybody. and not to toot my own horn or anything but i'm quite happy with it. i think i have a tendency to rush endings generally speaking, but i quite enjoyed writing the ending to this one.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not yet and tbh i'd prefer to keep it this way thank you xx

9. Do you write smut?

i do like thinking about writing it but i just can't bring myself to actually type it out before i give myself the ick. maybe one day

10. Do you write crossovers?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

i think the fact that im still in here 10 (?) years after the show ended on says something about merthur lol. once and future ship init

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

the sword and his shield. i still really like the concept i have for it and i still have the ideas for it rattling around in my head, but i just feel like it flopped. i write for myself and clear my head of plotlines and random bits of dialogue rather than external validation, but it just feels a bit like mumbling into the void

16. What are your writing strengths?

banter and describing emotions that are not my own <3

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

worldbuilding. coming up with the concept is fine, i can do that, but i find the keeping track on them challenging

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

i mean if somebody else wants to do it, go for it, fair play, but personally i will not. only because i can't be 100% sure that i wouldn't get things wrong

19. First fandom you wrote for?

fairly sure i wrote HP (drarry), just never published it. don't remember what it was about, either.

the first one i published on ao3 was marvel (stevebucky). i have not touched it since my return to fandom and tbh im not going to

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

i feel like i should say storm and hellfire because it is my child, it is the longest thing i've ever written, and i feel like it is the only thing i write that resembles an Actual Story (idk how else to put it). i surprised myself by actually finishing it. think it took about two years and i was a bit bereft after the last chapter was posted.

that being said, the fic i enjoy rereading the most (i.e. without cringing) is probably a line that goes all the way. it ticks all my own boxes and caters to all my interests lmao what can i say

not tagging anybody in particular but if you'd like to do this, feel free to say i tagged you xo

#on writing #merthur #merthur fics #baring my heart and soul x

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chibivesicle · 1 year

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Dunno why you're harping so hard on the "muh mystery" aspect. A feature literally only existent in the 98 anime, because they added a shit ton of filler to make up for so little manga material at the time. The actual source material tells us this is all Knives's fault volume ONE! We know super early on why they're stuck here and who is at fault. The actual mystery the manga and stampede are setting up is not "who did it" but "why did knives do it"

Hello hello,

Yes, I'm one of those people who isn't happy with Stampede revealing a lot of information out from the get go. I 100% admit it. I think that this is going to be an issue for a lot of viewers, especially for people who have a high fondness for Trigun.

I think this comes from a lot of different places and combines in the general feeling of 'meh I don't like this as much'. I’m surprised how quickly I saw the new series and was like ‘Noooooo!’ but didn’t even know why my immediate reaction was like this.

1.) What was available at the time you watched the anime. When I watched the anime, it was on a fansub. The DVDs were released between 2000-2001 and the box set at the end of 2001. Therefore, this was all you could go on. If you wanted the manga it wouldn't be out until 2003 via Darkhorse in North America. You could have bought the current tankobons and then found a website where there was a text based translation of the speech bubbles. This was before the common use of fan scan translations. The ability to find a manga before it gets an anime was really freakkin' hard in the 80s and 90s. It was almost the reverse - you'd see the anime and then quest for the manga and hope it got picked up by a publisher who'd then publish it over several years. They’d only gamble on a title if it already had a strong anime fanbase.

2.) The unique nature of the source material lead to an unusual but clever adaptation of that limited material. Studio Madhouse didn't have enough material for a full 26 episode run. They were brilliant to focus on a new point of view to introduce the viewer to the world. There is nothing wrong with a show that can be episodic, sure, we want stories with a plot driving them forward but episodic shows allow for more character development. The same situation happens, but characters behave differently and Trigun does this well. Having Wolfwood show up and hang out with the group from episodes 9-11 gives him more time to get to know them. The manga has Wolfwood and Vash as close friends, but before the Fifth Moon Incident they only rode on the bus together. Episodes 9-11 gives us more time for them to be dorks together and makes for enjoyable antics. 3.) The air of mystery fits in perfectly with the 'Western' genre. In the classic American Western, you frequently have a drifter who comes into town. He's a skilled gunman who never stays in one place but tries to stand up against injustice against the locals. He might be genuinely good. He may be on a redemption arc. He might be doing this for penance due his past deeds. Hell, he might just be bored. What he does have is a mysterious past.

Trigun used this concept its advantage for the slow reveal of events. It went for a stronger ‘show, don't tell’ than either the manga or Stampede. Vash looks like a goofball drifter, why isn't he? What type of pain has he been through? How has he survived? This also worked for Wolfwood who won't reveal his full mystery either and the bits here and there in 9-11 add to it. What is this traveling clergyman doing with a giant 100kg cross that he literally carries? Why would he accept carrying such a cross? Why would he lie about being able to shoot a gun when he’s excellent at it?

4.) Meryl and Milly vibed with a Western audience more. I'm appalled at how Roberto is currently treating Meryl in the anime. It is setting up a different trope that didn't exist in the original anime or manga. I think a lot of women will not like this as much, the manga didn't have romance since Yasuhiro Nightow said he couldn't write it. But it means that the anime easily passes the Bechdel test which is good for female representation and motivations. I agree with the idea that Meryl and Roberto are written to be a much more culturally Japanese dynamic. It honestly would make a lot of sense if they are trying to make this more of a domestic success than the original. We’ll give it the gritty realism of the Japanese office culture! That will resonate with people! Maybe this brings in more Japanese women who sympathize exactly with Meryl now?

I had no idea that Badlands Rumble was released in the States months before Japan. It seems Trigun is like Escaflowne. Saw great success outside of Japan but locally was a bit of a flop. 23 year old Meryl is just starting her career, but remember, women over 25 are ‘Christmas Cake’. Past their best buy date and should be married. And this is a term that exists in the present, not the past in Japan.

Other people have hypothesized that Milly was eliminated due to her rare role as a canonically large girl who could take you on. Other than the fact that she uses a non-lethal weapon, is the youngest child of 10, and the sweetest person ever. I always loved her dress shirt, tie and suspenders look but it isn’t very ‘cute’ in a moe sense.

5.) Having a fresh comparison of the anime and manga. With the Stampede hype, I watched the anime. And then binged the manga. Overall, I like the anime better. It is more character driven, the pacing is right and the twists and turns work well. The only weakness is the manga background lore is lacking but they more than compensated for it for the most part.

I don’t generalize that I like a series based on a manga that the manga is inherently better than the anime. Golden Kamuy was an anime that would have benefited from more of the manga chapters included for the first three seasons. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood was better with the full background from the manga. Gintama messed around with content all the time deciding to move plot vs comedy. Honestly, it always just depends on which one you ultimately prefer. And I make this on a series by series basis.

6.) The power of nostalgia and a less saturated anime environment of the past. Now, you can essentially watch anime every day or read current manga for an entire year and not overlap with series other people are reading. The 80s, 90s and very early 2000s were a sparse anime/manga ecosystem. The internet wasn’t quite at your fingertips. This then resulted in a more cohesive fanbase. You all saw the same things due to limited titles to choose from. Distributors in the States leaned hard into releasing more obscure OVAs since they were cost effective. OVAs had more adult content than conventional titles so a bunch of us were exposed to some rather mature things likely before we should have. A lot of 90s anime had that gritty feeling which I don’t think was an accurate representation for it across the board in the 90s but what made it internationally. The first con I went to was full of Deedlit cosplayers. Why? You could rent Record of Lodoss War at Blockbuster and it was a well known fantasy anime with a hot elf chick. The hardcore people were the Inuyasha and Utena cosplayers since they’d not had a domestic release yet and were fansub/text only translation at the time.

With less titles to choose from, you spent more time on the limited series and really dug into them. Thus, to the western fanbase, Trigun has risen to an important point on a lot of people’s lists. Or it was the introduction to anime for a lot of people when my introduction had been series like Macross/Voltron/Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2. Were these ‘pure’ versions - nope but it was what slowly sucked me into more series.

This also means that in this supersaturated environment, there is more competition for eyeballs. Do you want to reboot a series that had modest niche success in Japan that was a blockbuster hit in the States? You have the advantage of the series being complete now; you can draw from all the source material. But it is a product of its time and the look can be easily dated to the mid-late 90s.

There are two ways you go with this. 1.) The CLAMP approach - who cares about current styles and trends, we are gonna keep our chara design pretty standard for the original and that will give us our visual advantage. 2.) Adapt it to the current look - which I think is a gamble. You lose your visual pop factor by making it look more current but it would appear how current series look so people might be willing to give it a shot not knowing the source material.

With such high saturation, you end up with so many series with characters that all look similar. I find this to make it hard to distinguish the isekai/fantasy/school set series and they just keep coming out. I’ll watch a new anime and be like, ‘It was fine.’ but it will quickly blur into the next series that was just as ‘fine’ as that last one.

In conclusion, I think all of these factors and likely more are why many fans who watched the original anime (and may have even read and enjoyed the manga as well) are so bummed out by this choice to put so many things up front. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they will have time to fit in more characters and they may instead be swapping out characters for manga specific ones that weren’t written yet and dropping other manga and anime ones. I have a gut feeling Midvalley will not appear. If he does, I will be pleasantly surprised.

I think the reason why so many people love the slow reveal is that it rewards you for your time getting to know Vash. And with other characters meeting him and wondering why he’s so weird it helps you to focus on it as well before the reveal of his origin. From a narrative perspective it worked well and I think that contributed to why so many people love the anime and are fine with it if it was the only Trigun media they knew.

#ask #answered ask #trigun #trigun anime #trigun stampede

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halorocks1214 · 8 months

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one detail that has stuck with me since the beginning of splatoon 3 was the explanation my friend gave me as to WHY mr. grizz was suddenly mr. "nice boss around the block" instead of the raging asshole (affectionate) he was in 2

apparently the translation team had decided to go for a more direct translation, and in the japanese version of the game, mr. grizz is genuinely a much nicer fellow than his american counterpart: but why was that the case? my friend told me why, but i did some research to confirm his findings

in the japanese language, there are two words that play into the country's work culture: "Seizensetsu (性善説)" and "Kenson (謙遜)"

Seizensetsu (性善説): A belief that human nature is good and people are naturally inclined toward virtue. Conversely, the negative elements of society tend to corrupt people. To prevent this from happening, people need to work relentlessly and do their best to maintain their virtue.

Kenson (謙遜): The act of demonstrating your self-sacrifice and accepting your lower status, even when you believe you should be praised highly by others for your achievements. This is something you must never voice or draw attention to. This torture-like modesty is considered a virtue, especially among the elite classes. They are the ones expected to be role models within Japanese society.

to summarize an already overly long post (sorry), the general idea is that bosses worry that if they give their workers praise, it could lead them to become complacent and to do less of a good job at their work, which is why "tougher" bosses are seen as good examples (and to an extent, "nice" bosses are seen as hiding something). another side is that their workers are so used to not getting praise that when they DO get it, they don't know how to respond and it makes everything awkward, so why not avoid it altogether?

so that's why there's such a character shift between 2!grizz and 3!grizz: in 2, the translators worked to make him more of a "bad boss" by american standards while in 3 they figured going for the one-to-one translation would be better. something something "back in my day mr. grizz would tell me to kill myself if i only brought in 100 eggs" something (no personal opinion on this one way or the other, it is what it is etc.)

i'm rambling a bit much here, but i wanted to explain my thought process about this splatfest. my friends and i genuinely picked big man because of the theme, but the second choice was always going to be frye. we all thought shiver would be the worst "leader" because they held grudges easily and tended to be rude and full of themself, just look at how they treated their shark in the story mode!

(i still love them a lot don't get me wrong but yeah, not exactly a shining example of a "good" leader)

going into splatfest though, i thought about mr. grizz. i thought about how a "makes sure to point out all your flaws" characteristic was seen as valuable and respectable in workplaces. i thought about how a few splatfests had already been swayed by the japanese playerbase (it is a japanese-based game, after all) and-

yeah, i thought it would be skewed, but i will admit i was completely shocked at just HOW skewed it ended up being

now, could i be reading too much into this? most likely yeah. this IS a kid's game, and i highly doubt a lot of kids are worried about proper workplace culture, but i got to share cool mr. grizz lore, so i consider this a good post anyway <3

#splatoon #splatfest #salmon run #shiver vs frye vs big man #now obv im not arguing that this is a GOOD environment to work in and in fact #theres been many Actually We Should Probably Stop Killing Our Employees articles to come out recently from japan #but that doesnt change the fact that. it IS how things are mostly seen over there #just wanted to make this post because i saw a few ppl say 'shiver was AWFUL in the story mode'#'anyone who played it OBVIOUSLY knows this so they HAD to have just picked shiver due to favoritism!' and well. Yes But Also No #alterna was a reason why i didnt pick shiver yes. but to some people it might have been the EXACT reason why they picked her #i can link the article i found all this information on if anyone wants it its pretty neat #my post

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sullina · 1 year

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What are your thoughts in a modern au melban ?how do you think they'd meet and would they have the same dynamics? Love your stuff so wanted to ask your thought :D

I'm happy you like my stuff and thanks for the ask^^ I hope you like what I wrote^^ Enjoy :D

So modern au MelBan... I do think they would still have pretty much the same dynamic with each other, but maybe not necessarily with the people around them.

Since alcohol, in modern times, is getting let's say "less popular", I can see Meliodas being rather and sneaky and kind of hiding how much he actually drinks from his friends and maybe family, depending on how much his family is actually in the picture.

Ban doesn't drink much, but for the one sole reason that he gets drunk super fast and just physically cannot lift his glass to his mouth after a few drinks.

Meliodas, at some point after becoming an adult, has opened the Boar Hat using money he either worked for or already had from his family or he sold something valuable, point is he had enough money to open the bar. Things weren't going well at first, but he needed employees and Hawk came in and took the job, which actually saved the bar, even if Meliodas would never ever admit it, because Hawk already had experience with running a business while Meliodas had no fucking clue on what to do beyond "buy and sell alcohol". Hawks ego was big enough as it is XD and like this, Meliodas and Hawk became somewhat friends. Elizabeth and Meliodas obv aren't together in this, but they're still close friends and cherish each other. Elizabeth also met Hawk over Meliodas and immediately fell in love with him. Not romantically, she just thinks he's super adorable and those two actually get along really well. Elizabeth occasionally also helps out at the bar when she can, since she wants her friend to succeed. (depending on whether or not this modern au still had magic and stuff, Hawk can be a pig/purgatory creature here or not, I'll leave it up to you, but I do want to say that I'm not opposed to magic in a modern au)

Enough on Meliodas though, onto Ban. Ban is a real kleptomaniac, but has miraculously never gotten a jail sentence. He did get the police called on him frequently though, because he tended to be aggressive, but only got taken in for the night, you like those cells the police put drunk people into to sober them up and let them go the next day? (a translator said it was called a "drunk tank" but I've never seen that being used, so I'm not 100% sure it's the right term ._. )

now how do they meet?

Well, Meliodas' bar was doing relatively well, but it wasn't exactly a hit either. He needed money and a lot of it. Same situation with Ban. He was flat out broke and he was living with friends who were nice enough to let him stay and crash for a while (King and Elaine, I guess would be the most logical choice here), he didn't want to be an eternal burden on them. The solution? Well, there was a fight festival coming up, and the prize money was nothing to sneeze at.

Ban being Ban was no stranger to fighting, so he had quite a lot of experience just out of necessity, giving him a pretty good chance at winning, if not first place, he could still get second or third, both of which also came with some prize money and as far as Ban was concerned, anything was better than nothing.

Meliodas on the other hand didn't seem like the fighting kind of guy, right? True. It's actually a very closely kept secret of his, but he really really like pretty much any kind of fighting sport. In his family, he was more or less forced to learn some kind of martial art bc "status" and stuff. That's one thing he didn't mind though, since he actually kind of enjoyed it, even if it was a little tedious at times. He was told that they (him and his brother(s) (depending on if Estarossa is included here or not)) had to take it up for exercise, but Meliodas suspected that their father wasn't 100% clean and wanted them to be able to defend themselves against potential kidnappers and didn't trust security guys that could be bought. Even after he left, Meliodas still kept up his training in secret, but also got into less "reputable" (?) fighting sports like, idk, wrestling I guess? And this lead to his sort of mixing a few kinds of fighting into his own style. This was definitely an advantage when someone wanted to start shit in the Boar Hat, like when they didn't want to pay for the food or something.

So Meliodas and Ban both enter and end up fighthing each other. I'd say Meliodas takes first place while Ban takes second. Diane also entered, but I'm not sure yet what place she would take, but it's definitely higher up. Might be third place even.

Ban is accompanied by King and Elaine while Meliodas came alone, since he doesn't want his friends to know that he can fight as well as he can (not necessarily because they would judge him for it, it's just that it's his secret and he'd like it to stay that way). Diane is here on her own, but is loosely acquainted with Elaine and Elizabeth (not quite friends, but not strangers either) and she loosely knows Meliodas as well, but is shy around him, because she has a slight crush on him. Not as big and obvious as in canon, but enough for her to take an interest in him. They're not close though. Merlin comes as an independent party to watch along with Gowther and Escanor. She's here for research purposes and may want Escanor to enter to test his strength, or maybe not.

So Ban and Meliodas meet in the fight festival, but because they fight in the finale, they actually "meet" before that. The festival takes several days and during those days, the participants are granted a room to stay in. It's a very popular festival, so the organizers can afford to do that. While staying, there's a bit of a problem in the kitchen one day and the food takes longer. The hungry participants are getting impatient, which is a terrible combination and Ban is getting hungry, too. Instead of just complaining about it though, he wordlessly enters the kitchen and starts helping out, which is noticed by none other than Meliodas, who, as you know, is an absolutely terrible cook. That day, the food tastes especially good, which leads to Meliodas approaching Ban and getting the info out of him that HE'S the reason for it.

Now that already intrigues Meliodas, but only after the festival, after they fought for first place, is he 100% sure that he wants Ban to come back with him. Now what exactly happens, I can't tell you, but they bond while fighting bc they're just Like That. And even though he lost, Ban had so much fun that he immediately tells Meliodas that they should go again, because no matter how much Ban tries to bury it with alcohol and a shitty attitude, he's still a good person and a bit of a child (in a good way) at heart. King sees it too, which is one of the reasons why he's so patient with him, even if Ban frustrates him to no end. Meliodas agrees to fight with Ban again, but only if he comes with him (to work as his cook in the bar). Ban is more than happy to take the job, because cooking is one of the things he's actually good at and enjoys. And Meliodas can even offer him a room right above the bar if he needs a place to stay! (it's one of those 'work on the ground floor and house/home above, all under one roof, like in canon).

Ban, who is not only in need of a job, but also wants to stay with this new friend he made, takes the offer. Of course he can't exactly Just Go with Meliodas from the fight festival, he's with King and Elaine there and he still has all his stuff at their place. So they get to talking and find that they actually live relatively close, maybe in the next town over or so! He doesn't take the room right away though.

('m basing this on germany, where the next town over is like 10 minutes by car btw)

Ban gets used to the work fast. His food is an absolute hit, leading to a fast increase in customers, which means more profits. Before all that though, Ban messes up a few times. Due to past experiences, he believes Meliodas might fire him, but he doesn't. He's actually very patient with him and even cares for him when he gets blackout drunk and doesn't judge him for it. It's this pure kindness and patience that makes Ban like Meliodas and develop a slight crush on him.

As for Meliodas, well the two still fight on the regular, just for fun. After one of these sparring sessions, Ban asks how Meliodas got into fighting, because he doesn't really seem like the fighting type. Meliodas is reluctant to tell the truth about his upbringing. Before he actually gets to it though, Ban, being able to tell that he's uncomfortable, stops him and tells him that it doesn't matter. Whatever his past was like, they're friends now.

Oooh, I just thought of a great reason why Meliodas keeps his fighting thing a secret, because when he just left home or even before that, people would think it was kinda creepy or weird, which kept Meliodas from making friends. He didn't mind in the fight festival, because he figured no one knew him there plus he was only there for the money anyway. Becoming friends with Ban was a lucky coincidence.

So Ban and Meliodas become closer and closer and Ban moves into the room that Meliodas keeps offering him. So they spend practically 24/7 around each other now, and they don't really think much of it (just bros being bros). Hawk doesn't live with them, since he lives very close by, like in the next building over or so. Close enough that he can be there in less than 5 minutes by foot.

While living together, Meliodas' mood improves A LOT. He's hadn't realized it, but he's actually been pretty lonely living all by himself and with Ban it's a lot less lonely and he doesn't feel like he has to hide anything from him. Meliodas also learned that Ban is an unexpectedly grabby person when drunk and will latch onto the nearest person and fall asleep. Most nights, this is Meliodas. The first time this happened, Meliodas was a bit uncomfortable, because it was unfamiliar, and tried to bring Ban to bed and to let go. It didn't work. So Meliodas had to sleep in the same bed as him for the night. Thing is, Ban also tends to mumble in his drunken sleep, and confessed to Meliodas that he has a crush on him! It was hard for Meliodas to fall asleep after that... and Ban woke up the next morning with no memory of what happened.

Meliodas is a bit of a blushy mess for a few days afterwards, because on the one hand, he kinda likes Ban back, but on the other, what if it was just drunken babbling and Ban doesn't actually like him like that? If that's the case, then coming onto Ban could ruin their friendship and that's the last thing Meliodas wants to happen.

Eventually though, with enough encouragement from their friends, Ban and Meliodas do end up confessing to each other. Without alcohol this time. Or their friends set them up, like setting up a romantic dinner to finally officially get them together.

#sullina nnt #nnt #nnt melban #melban #nnt meliodas #ban #nnt ban #nantsu no taizai #sds #seven deadly sins

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multi-lefaiye · 2 years

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i am sending in hypno and jinxy boy :D

yay!!! :D hypno my beloved <3 and ohoho i am excited for jinx as well <3 ok so cool thing i don't have my tablet right now so i will do little mspaint doodles with my touchpad. i apologize </3

so my initial idea for this was that i'd assign each character a class, breed, and alignment, and then i'd talk a bit about misc. things. however. i am very biased when it comes to the classes and breeds in biomutant and i don't want to just assign everyone the same.

so instead i'm gonna just do quick doodles and talk a little bit about how i think the characters would fit into the world <3

HYPNO:

[Image Description: An MSPaint drawing of Bat's OC Hypno as a furry creature with red fur, a short muzzle, and large ears pinned slightly back. It has a mask marking across its face, a lighter muzzle, and dot eyebrows. Hypno has a slight smile on his face, his head tilted slightly. End ID.]

Did I mainly just want to draw a little creatcher Hypno? Yeah <3 Anyway, I think a Biomutant Hypno would very much be down for chaos, very much not a member of any of the established factions and instead doing its own thing. I imagine it would have psi-powers, but it may not have the best grasp on any of them unfortunately. (Not to say that he wouldn't be able to use them, just that he doesn't know how to use them super safely yet.)

My other main thought is that Hypno would naturally have almost 100% immunity to Heat biomes (i.e. extreme heat has little to no effect on him), and he takes advantage of this to explore areas that other creatures can't easily access and find cool trinkets and resources.

Hypno also definitely has the FUNKIEST outfit it can manage. Like, Hypno finds old human scraps and incorporates them into its outfit and in general just... the vibes. I love the vibes here.

JINX:

I will admit I'm a bit less familiar with Jinx so I took a look through your Jinx tag, and this doodle isn't colored b/c I wasn't quite sure what colors to use asdfjkl; However. I did see the one outfit you posted for him that had a fun hat. So I gave him a fun hat. Love a goth cowboy <3

[Image Description: A black and white MSPaint doodle of Bat's OC Jinx as a furry creature. He has large, pointed ears pointing upright, a long muzzle, and fluffy cheeks. Jinx is also wearing a cowboy hat with holes specially designed for his ears to poke through, and he has a smirk on his face. End ID.]

In terms of how I think Jinx would fit into Biomutant! Saying right now, I adore Jinx as a character and think he'd be a VERY fun addition to this 'verse. I'm gonna keep Jinx's immortality and take advantage of the tenuous timeline in Biomutant and say that Jinx may have been alive since the original apocalypse that ended humanity and brought forth the creatures. He doesn't necessarily advertise this fact, but he's seen some shit and has been there since before the rise of the different factions.

I think Jinx, for the most part, would try to avoid the factions and their constant warring bullshit, but I do think he would be very interested in preserving the Tree of Life. I remember you mentioned Jinx being pagan and having a specific focus on gods relating to the earth (sorry if I'm misremembering there!), and I think that would translate very well into him being a steward for the Tree. However, I also think it'd be interesting to translate that aspect over by having Jinx follow gods long forgotten by the denizens of the valley.

Point is, I think Jinx would want to preserve the Tree rather than letting it die, and he would do whatever he could to stop the Worldeaters.

As a last note, aesthetically, Jinx absolutely can keep the goth cowboy thing. Just very aesthetic and good vibes all around.

#talk to the bunnykitty #bat time all the time #oc ask game #multi's artwork #i had a blast with this ASDFJKL;#biomutant is such an unhinged game but i love trying to fit characters into that universe #ty for trusting me with your blorbos <3 hope you like the fursonas i gave them

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bylightofdawn · 9 months

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WIP Sunday

Okay so I'm TECHNICALLY 30 minutes late but ya'll I think this is the first WIP Sunday I've done in three weeks so we're not going to dither over the nitty gritty details.

Jaster is meeting with Plo and Tyvokka regarding his frustrations in finding a trade negotiator and broker who is willing to stand up to the Trade Federation goons. Afterwards, their talk shifts to other topics and he royally puts his foot in his mouth because he has -100 speech sometimes. Story spoiler characters beneath the cut, you have been warned. I'm also SO FUCKING CLOSE to ending this chapter but I have a blinding migraine and I just...cannot brain any further. I guess this way ya'll don't have to deal with any cliffhangers cause this was gonna end on one. As always, this is super rough and not edited yadda yadda

“Aside from stress regarding trying to iron out a fair trade agreement for Mandalore, how are things going otherwise? Jango looked in fine health when I saw him.”

“He’s pretty much fully recovered, he’s been pestering me to let him join the patrols.”

That earned him a sharp look from Arla because apparently her brother hadn’t felt the need to inform her of that. And judging by the way her eyes narrowed angrily, she wasn’t pleased with this development.

“Have you…had any further issues with Death Watch?” Plo Koon asked carefully.

“They seem to have gone to ground. I’m not sure if they are reinforcing and preparing for an all out assault or what.” Jaster very pointedly didn’t glance in Arla’s direction. “Coruscant is a nightmare to try and track anyone.”

“Honestly, I’d much prefer to conclude our business here and fight with them just about anywhere else in the galaxy. And I’m sure the CSF feel the same way, the sooner we get off of their planet with the minimal amount of damage to the city or its citizens, the better.” Jaster admitted, rubbing at his face tiredly.

Tyvokka growled something and the crisp Coruscanti accent of the translation program echoed his sentiments. “We would prefer to avoid outright warfare in the streets as well.”

“I understand, Master Tyvokka, which is what we are trying to accomplish because I can assure you, I don’t want any collateral damage or blood on my hands either. We aren’t Death Watch where civilian lives are considered an acceptable cost for victory’s sake.”

Belatedly, he realized how thoughtless a thing to say in front of Arla and he slanted a guilty look the blonde’s way. “Sorry, habit.”

Her chin jerked up in a belligerent angle.

“Don’t apologize; you’re right. The slaughter of my family proves that. Death Watch doesn’t care about innocent bystanders or collateral damage. I should know; I was one of them. What do you think my kill count is?” She spat the last part before turning coldly on her heel and stalking out of the room.

“Jaster…”

“I know, ner kar’ta.” He’d already jumped to his feet when Plo called his name. “Excuse me, I’m sorry.”

“Of course, go focus on Arla.”

He needed no further convincing and jogged out of the room in search of Arla. He knew he was on the right track when he ran into a wounded-looking Jango.

“What the kriff did you say to her?” His son hissed at him.

“I screwed up, ad’ika. Where is she?”

“She was headed up to the roof. You might want to wear a jackpack in case she decides to push you off!” Jango called after him as he pushed by.

“You missed your calling as a comedian, Jango.” Jaster shot back over his shoulder as he reached the turbolift. Unlike Arla, it was coded to give him full access to the condo’s lift system. Jango had joked about her throwing him off of the roof but a more realistic scenario and one she thankfully had not tried so far was for her to overpower one of them, maybe knock them unconscious--or worse--and use their biometrics to try and escape.

There had been a reason all of them had been armed around her for the first few weeks though she hadn’t really made any earnest attempts to escape.

Now, he had no idea what emotional state he’d find the young woman in now that he’d so thoughtlessly triggered her trauma responses. Belatedly, he realized there was a smattering of blood in the corner of the lift which looked worryingly fresh.

Jaster was concerned Arla might have hurt herself somehow and the moment the lift door opened, he ran out of them, desperately searching around for the blonde.

“Arla!” He spotted her near the rooftop’s edge on the lounge she seemed to favor. She sat with her knees curled up to her chest and her face buried in her arms.

“Go. Away!” She snarled at him and Jaster could hear the waver in her voice.

Guilt flooded him as he cautiously approached.

“I’m sorry. I am a complete and utter ass.”

“I don’t care about your stupid apologies. Leave me alone!” Arla shouted at him.

“I can’t, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you when I said that, Arla. None of us blame you for what you did when you were in Death Watch. You were kidnapped, tortured, and brainwashed into doing what they want. They had to pump you full of drugs to keep you compliant. You are not responsible for what you did with them.”

“Maybe that’s good enough for you, but it’s not good enough for me.” When she raised her head to glare at him, Jaster could see the tears running down her cheeks and his heart ached for the girl.

“We’ve all done things we regret. You have the choice to drag that around like chains holding you to your past, or you can choose to acknowledge what you did but also that you were manipulated and abused until it was easier to comply than fight Death Watch.”

The dark-haired man carefully approached and finally knelt in front of Arla on the deck so they were more or less at eye level. “We Mandalorians…we understand that sometimes your past contains so many awful and painful memories that you long for a fresh start. If you want, when we get back to Mandalore, we can arrange for you to perform a cin vhetin.”

“That only works with non-Mandalorians.” The blonde argued somewhat weakly and this close, Jaster could see the shivers running through her frame.

“I”m the Mand’alor. I make the rules and deem an exception will be made here. Let the old you die so that you can live a healed life with a happier and more honorable future. Because you might try and convince me you’re a monster, Arla Fett, but I know better. I’ve known true monsters, and you are not one of them.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he reached out and touched her shoulder gently.

She looked at him with red-rimmed, tear-filled eyes and Jaster suddenly found himself nearly back onto his ass when she slid off of the lounge and threw herself at him with a sob. Shocked but unwilling to ignore that silent plea for comfort, he wrapped his arms around the crying woman and did his best to soothe her as she cried into his shoulder.

He had some experience of this from when Jango had been much younger and less likely to squirm in the face of any affection, so he drew upon those old tricks and smoothed his hand up and down Arla’s back soothingly and just let her cry herself out.

If she was anything like her brother, she wouldn’t spill her guts or tell him what was going on inside her brain, and trying to pry it out from her would probably send her skittering away like a skittish tooka.

#el writes #wip sunday #fanfic snippet #seeds for the future fic #jaster mereel #plo koon #tyvokka #and spoiler character

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cirilla-fiona-riannon · 1 year

Text

Ikemen Villains - Ellis Twilight

These translations are not intended as a replacement for the game. Please support Cybird by buying their stories. Expect grammatical errors. Not 100% accurate.

(Ellis' POV)

Ellis: "Sorry."

Layman: "What is it? Your ceremony is not until一Guh!?"

I used my ability and touched the head of the cult member standing in front of the door to restrain his wrists.

Kate then impatiently ran past me and pushed open the church door.

Kate: "WAIT!!"

Red-haired woman's voice: "Huh? What the!?"

Kate's voice: "I think there's a bomb in here! Get outta here now!"

I subdued the trembling cultist and couldn't help but smile as I heard the exchanges behind me.

(She's so desperate to save the happiness of someone she just met today.)

(Whoever marries Kate would be very lucky.)

Black-haired man's voice: "W-What did you say!? Bloody hell! Jane, let's get out of here right now!"

Red-haired woman's voice: "Ah! Wait!"

Kate's voice: "This building is dangerous. Please leave now!"

Eventually, Kate pushed them out, and they both tumbled into the hallway.

Red-haired woman: "Are you guys sure you don't want to run away!?"

Ellis: "Yeah, we're fine. Thanks."

Black-haired man: "Jane! Come on, hurry!"

(These people are the ones who hope for more happiness in the future.)

(I guess they can still keep their eternal happiness.)

Ellis: "I wish you all the best."

Stepping into the church, I saw a long-haired man with glasses standing in front of the altar, yelling.

(Is that the boss?)

Man in glasses: "What the hell are you doing in a sacred ceremony? Everyone! Seize these ruffians!"

Ellis: "Nope."

Ellis: "I won't let you touch my bride."

It didn't take long for me to restrain the cultists as they weren't used to this kind of situation.

Ellis: "So, you're the founder of this organization?"

Ellis: "It's part of my mission to find the truth, so let me ask you this. Why did you do all this?"

Founder: "To make love last forever."

Ellis: "Hmm. Then what's this?"

I threw a stack of papers I found last night in front of him.

Ellis: "I found it when I was searching the premises. It's a sale contract for corpses."

Ellis: "Bodies of young men and women are being sold for a hefty amount of money."

Even when presented with solid evidence, he refused to admit his fault.

Founder: "I'm not wrong. Dying is what makes love eternal."

Founder: "I'm fulfilling the wishes of those lovers for eternal love. I killed them all equally out of love."

Founder: "It's all worth it, but it costs money to maintain this activity. So those corpses are the price for my love."

Founder: "What's wrong with receiving something in return?"

I felt something black stirring inside my body.

(What's wrong, you ask?)

Ellis: "It's wrong. Very, very wrong."

Ellis: "Because if you want something in return, that's not love."

Ellis: "If you kill for love, it must be for the sake of the person you love."

(That's right. If it's not for them...)

(If not, it's just...)

The blood-stained, twilight-colored past almost overflowed like mud, so I kept my memories close.

(Kate is watching, so...)

I grabbed the founder and the cultists by their collars and dragged them away.

Kate: "W-Where are you going?"

Ellis: "I'm gonna go lock them up for a bit. I can't do the wedding with you if these people are being too noisy."

Ellis: "Wait here."

I left Kate in the chapel and brought the cultists to another room.

(Kate is afraid of hurting people. Even if those people are scum.)

(That's why I'll do it here.)

I pulled one of the black-bladed knives from the belt strapped to my thigh.

Founder: "W-What are you doing!? Stop!"

(He doesn't look very happy.)

I looked at his face contorted in fear and felt a little sorry for him.

(He's not happy, but this is my job.)

Ellis: "Your time is up."

Ellis: "Sorry."

After taking care of the cultists, I returned to Kate.

Ellis: "I've locked those people up. Now all we need to do is call in the crown, and the mission is complete."

Not wanting to cloud her smile, I hid the truth, and Kate's expression softened in relief.

(I'm glad.)

("Happy weddings" don't need fear, anxiety, or sadness.)

Ellis: "I love how you worked so hard to keep them happy."

Kate: "You were cool, too."

Ellis: "Really? I'm so happy."

Ellis: "Then, let's have our wedding."

Kate: "A-Are you sure?"

Ellis: "Yup."

She was silent for a moment, then asked me with a serious look in her eyes.

Kate: "Are you looking forward to it for my sake? Or do you want to do it, too?"

Ellis: "..........."

Her unexpected question took me by surprise, but the answer soon came tumbling out of my lips.

Ellis: "Both."

(Whether I want to or not is up to her.)

(If she wants to do it, I'll do it.)

(If she doesn't want to do it, I don't either.)

I would've thought so without any hesitation, but for some reason, my heart stirred as I gazed at her.

(If you really pledged your "eternal" love to me, I would be very happy.)

I thought about it, and then it hit me.

(No, that's not right.)

(I just want to make her happy, that's all.)

I felt like I shouldn't think about it any further, so I walked to the back of the church.

Ellis: "I'll stand over here and wait while you walk down the aisle."

She slowly walked down the aisle, her jet-black dress swaying with each step, and little by little, the distance between us grew closer.

Eventually, she looked up at me as she arrived in front of the altar, the light from the stained glass making her sparkle.

Ellis: "My bride, may I take the veil?"

Kate: "Go ahead."

I lifted her veil and saw her eyes staring at me.

Ellis: "You don't have to swear to me. Just listen to my oath."

Ellis: "If someday you're so happy that you don't care if you die already..."

(When you're so happy, you're afraid to lose it...)

Ellis: "Then I'll make you happy forever."

Kate: "What?"

I gently pulled her face close and kissed her, her eyes wide open.

(Happy wedding requires a kiss of a vow.)

This kiss was for her, or so I thought, but her words from earlier kept coming back to me.

------------Flashback------------

Kate: "Are you looking forward to it for my sake? Or do you want to do it, too?"

---------Flashback Ends---------

(............)

The memory I closed off earlier came bubbling up.

When I gently pulled my lips away, Kate's face turned slightly red.

(Fufu, so cute!)

At least the kiss now seemed to be "for her."

Ellis: "Your face is so red. Can I do more?"

Kate: "No. You can only do a kiss of vow once."

Ellis: "I see. Too bad."

Seeing her blushing cheeks warmed my heart and made me realize that I really wanted to make her happy.

(Whenever you feel unhappy, I'll protect you.)

(Someday, you'll have the best moment you ever wanted.)

(I promise to give you eternity.)

As my heart longed for the day when my vow would be fulfilled, the "something" that tingled every time I saw her was still stirring quietly in its slumber.

Part 1╏Part 2╏Premium╏Epilogue

#ikemen villains #ikemen villain #ellis twilight

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cherrynika · 1 year

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translating an article from russian tonight to make sure i really understand it. still owe my professor the longer version of my report. i'm actually done with it, it just reads badly and is full of me repeating myself.

at some universities maths phd students have to pass a translation exam, and one of my professors did his at Harvard where for his field he had to do so in two languages. this exam is apparently easy as shit because they give you two pages and ask you to translate into english. mathematics texts are never very poetic and tend to use special vocabulary, so you should just learn those.

he chose french and italian, which according to him is cheating.

italians actually established the field, but the work was very un-rigorous and everyone was just thinking about things in a squishy way giving rise to the saying that in [redacted field] italians have made many discoveries and in some cases have even proved them. ferrari dna?

i asked my friend what she would do when she got back to sydney. cry, she said. i tried to cheer her up. looking back on it, i should have told her i would too, but only on the inside.

today is the last day i have access to the office, so i went in and did some work. then i borrowed three more books. we're allowed to have them for 6 months at a time and we can borrow up to a 100 books at any one time. i've been slowly transferring the contents of the algebra and combinatorics section to my room. i must admit i am only reading 3 of them. i will bring them back middle of next week because someone else might need them.

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akane171 · 2 years

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Pfff, THAT doesn't count, I'm hard-headed 😂😂 (Plus, well, no wonders my memory is shitty🤷🏻‍♀️😅🙈)

Didn't Naruto and Sasuke technically do that with Kaguya's dimensions? Oh, and I think Dragon Ball Super had a whole Tournament in which the losers' universes get destroyed?🤔😅 And well, thanks for the warning!🙈😂

Ehw...fishy...😕 And nope, we-or well, at least *I* - am being truthful😊 (animals have to be protected, I don't care who or what I have to annihilate to protect them, but I will protect them, esp. Puppies😍)

...That's a very weird running joke, how the heck did you guys end up with that?😅 (Some friends of mine used to make a similar joke but it was mostly just to annoy our asian friend by being asses, soo🤷🏻‍♀️😅🙈)

Juuup, it's so sad, it will never be funny😭

Ahh, yes, true, he totally went all adaptive Dad-mode on those freaking teenagers 😍😂 And yuup, his development was beautiful😍😍🙈

WAit, WHAT?!? YOU'VE WRITTEN A FIC LIKE THAT?!?! OMG, HOW DID I MISS THAT REPEATEDLY WHILE BINGING THROUGH YOUR STORIES?!?!😱😱😱😱😱😭😭😭 Excuse me, I think I need to go and find out if I'm blind or just too stupid to see🤦🏻‍♀️🙈

HAHAHA, I'd totally watch a show with just those meetings in each episode🤣🤣😍

..."have a talk with her"... sooo...Angry mob and Bazookas?🤔😉😂

You know, I don't think I've ever thought about whether Bal-Seg knew something about that or not, but now I'm very curious, too, and itching to ask LW🤔😅🤦🏻‍♀️

Hmm, well, dunno what would be 100% accurate (only LW can know THAT) but I like to think Bal would be his usual semi-grumpy self and snark with/at Mon-El, but actually be quite happy cause Kara obviously makes Mon happy and want to be better (like the great king Mon should have been damnit!)🤔 Maybe be a bit suspicious of Kara cause despite Mon and Bal being idiots who can't just tell each other they care deeply for each other (...Lol, is this a pattern? Looks like Mon's relationships with people are showing a pattern😂😉) he is kinda protective of his prince?🤔 [Tbh, not going too deep into it cause I still plan on writing this whenever I finally have enough time to properly sit down and work on it, my One-Shot idea was sth like a Medusa episode AU of PiaD in which Mon gets infected and Kara somehow learns of an alien who might know sth which turns out to be Bal-Seg, going to beg for his help and him coming cause he didn't save his prince so the idiot could die like this damnit and well, Mon might or might not be thinking he's hallucinating/dreaming?😂😅]

Ohhh, I really like this idea of yours!😍 Bal-Seg and Mon actually leaving?? It sounda so angsty but uff, sounds like It'd be SOOOO good🙈 And awwwww, Bal sitting with Mon all the time 😍😍😭😭

Hmm, maybe after he helps (e.g. by somehow negotiating with the aliens?) he tries to go back to the whole no-contact thing with Kara but she finally wants to talk about it, they have one of their spectacular fights/arguments (Oh god, now I'm imagining all the kind of hurtful things they could bring up like Mon saying sth like "Why?! Why do you even care?! I'm just the selfish fratboy of the universe DAXAMITE PRINCE, right?!") and they just blow up at each other and Eliza and Bal have to go and "translate" and make Karamel see reason and truly talk to each other instead of deciding the other is better off without them or sth? Oh, and maybe they somehow end up back in a Cell like in Cadmus (kinda to make them reminiscence cause pretty sure that's when at least Mon realized he might be falling for Kara) and finally admit how they really feel?🤔 (Nevermind this, I'm just brainstorming, feel free to ignore this😅🙈)

Jup, that he definitely is and that's how we love him😍😂

It WOULD be precious😍🙈 They could have a Frenemenection?🤔 Frenebros?🤔

You too!😊

PS: Ohhhhh, nearly forgot: Have you seen the first two episodes of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series?!? Not gonna spoiler but OMG, S3!Mon is literally a mirror-version of Obi-Wan at that point in time😂🙈

XXX

...how often do you hit your head.... if you know it's oh so hard...

You know, i tried to erase the last arc from my memory, so I don't remember a shit...

So, you don't eat meat? No ham? No cold meat? No steaks? No hamburgers with puppies?

I don't remember, seriously. Our field of study was and still is very specific and weird people end there, teachers included. Our fave philosophy of life was WELTSCHMERZ.

Yay! Go go Chris fanclub!

Oh yes, I did. IN POLISH so don't get excited... But damn, it is so funny. So much funnier than in English, sigh

We will know? Hopefully XD

You know now, that if you won't write it, I will go aftr your ass too? So yeah? Cool ideas about Seg meeting Karamel, now go and write it? YES??????

I was kind of thinking about him, being the prince, going for negotiations that ended with whole night drinking and he ended super hangovered and Kara screamed at him again, because frat boy of the universe strikes again, while him just silently taking it and then giving Alex a napkin with some scribble. The more hangovered aliens come and prised the Daxamite prince strong head and how he out-drank them what ended with them singing some treaty and Kara is like,what treaty? And the point the napkin, where indeed, a nice for humans treaty is written.

And well, I think Kara and Mon El would argue a lot, him maybe helping sometimes with stuff, that Bal Seg comes more and helps them, without Mon-El but Kara is dissapointed every time when he doesn't appear, but when he does, she is snappish and annoyed, what makes him annoyed too, you know, idiots in love who can't talk to each other like normal alien beings. And well, maybe Mon-El could get interested for the first time in stuff he really likes, like engineering, and creating his legion ring? A lot of ideas, if you have something, please share :D

A Max fanclub too, huh? xD High five!

Fremenection sounds like something from Dune xD

And no, so far I didn't but I plan, of course. It's our son Obi-Wan, right?!!!

#ReFail #my fam

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blueteller · 2 years

Text

“Trash of the Count’s Family” Review Series: Chapter 8

Trash of the Count’s Family Manhwa: Chapter 8

(This is actually the second time I'm writing this chapter's review, because Tumblr glitched out on me at the last second and deleted all of my work before I could post it. I tried to replicate it but I'm sure I missed some things – so this is the shorter, less detailed version. Sorry about that.)

We start off with Cale noticing how Ron apparently has been feeding Choi Han well (suuure Cale, you don't care at all about the well-being of this protagonist, you're just using him… uhuh, I totally believe you), and how apparently Choi Han, Beacrox/Vicross – depending on translation – and Ron are all getting along (suuure Cale 🤣).

Then we get an adorable, sincere face of Choi Han who wants to repay Cale for his kindness. I honestly adore Choi Han's design, it's simple but it's just so cute.

Cale notices how the events are gradually diverting from "The Birth of a Hero" (TBOAH) story-line, and how much more they will change when he goes to the capital. He puts a page on the table and starts "interviewing" Choi Han: he asks him whether he can protect. Choi Han is surprised at the question.

Cale thinks on how he can profit from the current situation and we get the first "no-eyes" shot of this chapter – only 1/5 awkwardness rating, since I barely caught it. Cale is planning on taking the "Ancient Powers" before Choi Han and his companions from TBOAH can get them. Honestly speaking, when I first read this part, it made me think Cale really isn't a selfless person, just like his inner narrator kept insisting. However, we will soon find out that despite Cale framing it in such a selfish manner – coming in and stealing other people's good luck before they can get it – he admits to the audience that "they won't need them anyway". Turns out Ancient Powers really are supposed to be minor power-ups, which didn't serve a larger purpose in the original story-line. In retrospection, Cale really has a tendency of framing his "misdeeds" as if they're the ultimate proof that he absolutely cannot be a good person, while downplaying all of his acts of charity and selflessness as if they didn't matter. What a charming hypocrite you are, Cale…

Anyway, Cale continues the interview. Choi Han doubts himself, because of course he does – he just failed to save the entire village of people who were like family to him. Then Cale asks him if he can kill. Choi Han naturally responds yes. He did kill all the assassins, after all. Cale tells him that he can protect as well, then. Choi Han says that would be difficult. But Cale responds that "difficult doesn't mean impossible".

We are reminded about Kim Rok Soo's backstory of a difficult past as a poor orphan. It's the reason he's so happy that he got transmigrated as a rich trash/lout like OG Cale. But now Cale faces an obstacle to his desired peaceful life, so he needs Choi Han to get through it – naturally ignoring the fact that by doing so, he's helping Choi Han with his problems as well.

(...And getting involved in the very plot he didn't want to get involved with from the start – but as we've established by now, our MC's self-awareness is equal to that of a potato sometimes 😂)

Choi Han smiles as he agrees with Cale and ahhh, why is he so cute?? I wanna squish that over-century-old teenager's cheeks! 🤗

Then Cale finishes off the interview by asking Choi Han his name. He knows it by now, obviously, but he wants to hear it from Choi Han himself. I'm not 100% sure how to interpret Cale gesture here – if maybe that's some Korean culture aspect that I'm missing – but if I had to guess… I think that's his way of showing respect? Like, accepting Choi Han as a proper employee. Which is just so wholesome of Cale. He really has no idea what a nice guy he is.

When Choi Han asks "You don't know my name?", we get a long-distance image where we can still clearly see Choi Han and Cale's expression. So that's very nice. Unfortunately, we get another "no-eyes" shot from Cale in the very next panel, and it's reaaally noticeable and obvious, so I'm giving it a 4/5.

But Choi Han's happy smile as he reaches out to Cale is great. And the way the hands are drawn is fantastic, as always. So an awkward panel here and there is a small price to pay, I think.

Now that our main heroes finally introduced themselves and Cale officially hired Choi Han, Cale passes him the page we saw at the beginning. Choi Han reads two names on it: Rosalyn and Lock/Lark – once again, depends on translation.

We get some exposition on the new characters (whose eyes are covered, but since they count as "mysterious, yet-to-be-revealed characters", I'm giving it a pass): Rosalyn is a princess who survived an assassination attempt, as well as an incredible mage who would lead the strongest Magic Tower in the future. Lock/Lark is the heir and only survivor of the Blue Wolf Tribe, who can transform into a powerful beastman through "berserk transformation".

Cale get chills as he remembers how TBOAH, Beacrox/Vicross would torture those who tried to assassinate Rosalyn. That panel is surprisingly bloody, considering how earlier all violent scenes got significantly censored… I'm really impressed! It looks scary and gory, but it's amazing. Such a minor scene got so much detail, the artist is really someone special.

(Also, Cale's disturbed expression is quite hilarious, not gonna lie 😏)

With another "no-eyes" shot (let's give it a 2/5) Cale says it's a good thing Choi Han can read, and before anyone can accuse him of being patronizing – that's a valid concern, since education doesn't seem to be a requirement among peasantry in this world. Cale is actually being very clever by staying in-character as a noble – from that point of view, Choi Han's ability to read wasn't guaranteed at all.

Next, Cale pulls out a map and – wait… seriously? The map of the continent? Cale, wasn't there any smaller-scale maps?? I'm pretty sure a country map would be enough! Or is this "subtle" exposition for the audience? ...Or maybe since this map will be used more in the future, the artist just didn't bother with a country-sized map, since they would have to make up a lot of towns or something.

Either way – we get what I think is our first close look at this world's layout. Cale points at the right middle side, so this is where this country (yet unnamed at this point, I believe) is located on the continent. The castle in the middle apparently symbolizes the capital, where Cale is going. The buildings at the North-East stand for the Henituse territory, their journey's starting point. Cale plans on taking Choi Han with him part of the way, before splitting up. There is a reason for that.

We get some more exposition: in TBOAH, there was a villain Marquis/Marquess – again, depending on translation. Both are accurate nobility titles, one rank before the Duke position. That person served as an antagonist to Choi Han and the crown prince. He also raised a "crazy dragon".

Then we get more TBOAH story content: a dragon, less than 5 years old, was tortured in an attempt to tame it. However, it broke free and went berserk (or more accurately, into "mana explosion state", since the "berserk state" is solely for the Beast People), killing innocent villagers. Choi Han fought the dragon and killed it out of mercy.

Now lets get into the most interesting topic to discuss this chapter: the visual representation of the dragon's rampage.

I admit, the first time I read this I totally missed the part about the dragon being only 4. The way this sequence was shown in the Manhwa made me believe this was an adult dragon. It isn't a spoiler to say that wasn't the case since the age is right there: also, at the beginning we were told that Choi Han has been gifted "the lifespan of a dragon, making him pretty much never age". Based on that information, it's obvious that dragons are VERY long lived, so less than 5 years makes it a kid, if not an infant. In the novel we get even more information: the dragon was small, about 1 meter (about 3.3 feet) in length and described as very cute.

So here's the question: why was this dragon drawn like an adult?

When I started writing this review, I thought perhaps it was hidden for a future twist: the Manhwa-only readers would expect a huge, scary beast, and would get a surprise in the form of a small adorable baby later on – just like I did, when I read it for the first time.

I even came up with a theory how such a thing could canonically make sense – the dragon growing in size so much while going berserk. In some lore we will get much, much later, we find out that dragons go through sudden growth phases, instead of growing gradually. If the dragon broke free by cutting through some of its life force… that means it could have forcefully sped up its growth, with potentially very deadly consequences. So this change isn't necessarily a plot-hole or anything.

However, the more I thought about it… I realized what was likely the true reason.

The reason I'm content with this representation of the scene, is that aside from being very well-drawn and dramatic... I didn't want to see a baby get murdered on screen. But what if the artist's reason was the same? It is a form of censorship, in a way – just like drawing less blood in a village massacre.

...Or maybe it's because it's all Cale's imagination and he just thinks dragons are scary 😅 Who knows!

Back to the chapter – Cale knows he can't avoid the village where that event took place, since it's on his way to the capital. He plans on either having Choi Han take care of the dragon again, or releasing it before it can go crazy. I think we all know where this is going… 😏

Cale tells Choi Han to bring Rosalyn and Lock/Lark to the capital as repayment. Choi Han asks if his job is to protect them. Cale tells him to "do whatever he wants", which is especially sweet since it's 100% sincere sentiment from Cale that will repeat a lot in the future. Cale believes in the freedom of choice for his allies; so even though he manipulates people and lies sometimes, he never forces them to act against their will or judgment. He's sending Choi Han to meet Rosalyn and Lock/Lark like he did in TBOAH, but he doesn't force him to form a relationship with them – they don't need his protection, they're powerful and capable people in their own right. (And Cale's unconditional belief in their abilities will cause a lot of beautiful misunderstandings in the future… 😂)

Cale also tells Choi Han to come to the capital uninjured – because he needs him healthy for the plan, of course! It's not like he cares for his well-being or anything… 🤣

Once Choi Han confirms that he can protect himself, Cale finally dismisses him (with a beautifully-drawn hand btw) and tells him to keep their discussion a secret. Choi Han says "I know" and leaves.

After a lovely transition of a starry night with a full moon above the Henituse mansion… we see Cale speaking with the Count, requesting money (because of course he is, lol). Deruth agrees without hesitation, showing once more he is a very generous father. We get 3 "no-eyes" shots one after another: Deruth, Cale & Ron, and separately I'd give them 1, 3 & 2, maybe... but together like that… mm… I'm giving those the first 5/5 awkwardness rating. That was just too many in too little space, you can't just not notice it.

We see Cale chilling in bed with his money check, with Ron serving him lemon tea, "made especially for him, for a good night's sleep". Allow me to remind you that Cale shares taste with OG Cale and dislikes sour things and likes sweet things instead. Also, Ron absolutely knows about that. He's just being a jerk on purpose 😂

Before he leaves, Ron also tells Cale to "remember that he is always right beside him", and I'm not sure he intends it to sound like a threat… but Cale sure hears it that way, judging from his expression! The relationship between this two really is comedy gold.

Now Cale is really set on sending off that sly assassin and his son with Choi Han in the future. Good thing they're all getting along well... Riiiight, Cale?? 🤣

And thats the chapter! Despite those "no-eyes" shots, there were so many beautiful panels with amazing expressions and detailed imagery, I really enjoyed it. Not to mention the humor. And my favorite dragon finally showing up! I really love this story.

Feel free to leave comments!

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#tcf #trash of the count's family #lcf #lout of the count’s family #tcf manhwa #review #manhwa review #tcf manhwa review series #tcf manhwa chapter 8

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n1kolaiz · 3 years

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The Six Realms

Okay, so I was pretty close to giving up on writing analyses but I'm back LMFAO plus I see we're close to 100 followers and I just want to thank you guys for being so very supportive <3

Alright, I'm not sure if anyone's ever written about this, but if an analysis like this exists, please do let me know because I'm kind of curious as to what other people think about this, too!

Remember that time Fukuchi spoke about bringing "about the five signs of an angel's death"?

I read a little bit more about it, and as a minor content warning: this analysis will focus on a few religious aspects (Buddhism + Hinduism). So if I get any of the facts wrong, firstly: I do not mean any disrespect to either religion, and secondly: please do correct me if I interpret anything in the wrong way.

Spoilers for BSD chapter 90 onwards + BEAST!AU under the cut!

So I'll start by talking about the Decay of Angels. As we all know, the members include Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Sigma, and Bram Stoker, and their leader, Fukuchi Ochi. After Fyodor's arrest, the Decay of Angels came into light with Nikolai murdering four government officials in a week. These murders symbolise the Buddhist cycle of existence, or otherwise known as samsara: the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

"We are the Decay of Angels—hiding here as terrorists, a 'murder association', five people who will announce the demise of the celestial world."

Nikolai Gogol, chapter 57

Samsara is described to be a concept beyond human understanding. According to Hinduism, samsara is the physical world where every being has its soul trapped into a physical vessel. The Hindus believe that everything has a soul, and due to a soul's attachment to desire, it is forced into a deathless cycle of being born, dying, and reincarnating into a different body. In Buddhism, the ultimate way to break free from this cycle is by obtaining nirvana.

Nirvana is a Sanskrit word for the goal of the Buddhist path: enlightenment or awakening. In Pali, the language of some of the earliest Buddhist texts, the word is nibbana; in both languages it means "extinction" (like a lamp or flame) or "cessation." It refers to the extinction of greed, ill will, and delusion in the mind, the three poisons that perpetuate suffering. Nirvana is what the Buddha achieved on the night of his enlightenment: he became completely free from the three poisons. Everything he taught for the rest of his life was aimed at helping others to arrive at that same freedom.

- TRICYCLE'S definition of nirvana

As Fukuchi mentions in the panel above, there are six different realms of existence. These realms represent every possible state of existence, but one cannot live in a specific realm forever. Depending on whether or not one's past actions were morally good or bad, an individual is born into one of these realms. Basically, the controlling factor of which realm a person is born into is dependent on their respective karma. The realms are separated into two categories: the hellish ones and the heavenly ones.

The Deva Realm: where beings are rewarded for the good deeds they have done. This realm is void of anything unpleasant. It is basically paradise— empty of unfulfilled desires, any form of suffering, and fears of every kind. Religious individuals, however, do not seek to be born into this realm since its attitude is more or less carefree.

The Asura Realm: where demigods are admitted. Asuras are driven by greed and envy, and may come in conflict with human beings since they are quite similar. They are powerful beings, but quarrel with each other quite a bit, making this realm quite undesirable to be reborn into.

The Animal Realm: where beings are given the form of an animal (you probably guessed that lol). Individuals here don't actually have good karma to take pride in, but rather, they are born into this realm to work off their bad karma (by being slaughtered, hunted, or forced to work, etc). Being born into this realm forces one to atone for their past sins by living out their life as an animal.

The Hell Realm: where one is punished for their evil actions. The most merciless of realms, where one pays for their transgressions through pure suffering, methods of which include: dismemberment, starvation, and psychological/physical torture. However, once a person's term is fulfilled in this realm, they are presumably promised to be reborn into a higher state.

The Preta Realm: similar to the hell realm, in which beings pay for their past sins (specifically: greed and stinginess) by having to survive through hunger and thirst. This realm is also known as the 'ghost realm,' because some pretas are psychologically tortured by being forced to live in places their past selves have lived in. They are invisible to human beings living at that time, which pushes them to face the depths of despair and loneliness. Your typical horror movie, really.

The Human Realm: the only realm where one's actions determine their future. The status (social ranking, physical wellbeing, and so on) of a human being in this realm is determined by their past actions, but due to the fact that a person has their own conscience to differentiate good morals from bad, the actions they commit in this realm have the power to determine which realm they are sent to next.

Okay, so now that I've got that out of the way, let's shift our focus to the Book. Very little is known about the Book, but the basic fundamentals of how it works is that whatever is written in the book will come into existence only if its contents follow the rules of karma. In addition to that, only a few sentences can be written into a single page of the Book, and it must follow the current narrative of the story.

If I'm not wrong, the first time the Book was mentioned was by Fitzgerald, who wanted it to resurrect his deceased daughter in hopes of restoring his wife's mental health. The next time the Book is brought up is when Fyodor's intentions to possess it are divulged; his goal was to decimate the global population of ability-users. And now, the current arc has the Book as its central focus, with a single page in Fukuchi's possession.

[ BEAST!AU spoilers ]

The Book acts as the central point of multiverses, with each character's lives differing from universe to universe.

Dazai committing suicide in this alternate universe stands in sharp contrast with how he decided to start up a new life in the main universe.

Oda staying alive to act as a mentor to Akutagawa in the ADA differs from how Oda uses his death to prompt Dazai to "be on the side that saves people."

And of course, the way Atsushi and Akutagawa have their positions switched in the two universes depicts how different their lives would be if they were given the chance to be mentored by different people— these are just a few examples of how the Book houses an endless amount of possibilities.

[ end of BEAST!AU spoilers ]

Hypothetically speaking, this kind of reminds me of the differing realms I mentioned before, where suffering is promised in some realms, and better things are granted in the rest, depending on one's karma, or the deeds they've done in their past lives. In this scenario, perhaps one's past life can be understood as one's current life in a different universe. That's just a personal opinion though. Take it as you will.

side note: Keep in mind that the person who is more or less impervious to the Book's effect is Dazai, with his nullification ability. I wouldn't want to propose any theories in this aspect (I don't believe I'm fully fact-checked ;_;), but I could use Dazai as a raw example of how your choices affect your future. If Dazai had decided to stay in the Port Mafia after Oda's death, or if he even decided to go through with his suicidal fixations, life would've been different for him in the root universe (obviously, ryley) I mean, you could basically understand that from how he ended up in the BEAST au, but imagine if he really did slip up in his decision-making in any of the universes.

Many analysts have proposed that he went MIA (early in his life) from the main universe for a while to figure out how the BEAST universe worked, whilst having the Book to his advantage. Perhaps his actions were guided? I'm not saying he's all-knowing, but he's sure as hell smart. I'm not sure if Kafka was trying to highlight the concept of karma when it comes to Dazai, but if he is, then I suppose you could say that Dazai is pretty much unaffected by the rules of karma, existing as the centerpiece of all the multiverses. No Longer Human is the namesake of his ability, but the book talks about disqualification from societal norms and generally, the world. I was talking about it with a friend, and they reminded me that Yozo (the main protagonist) was pretty strong in his views against society. Like he didn't speak out of total defeat, he spoke out of defense. If there was anything Dazai actually lost to, it was his guilt— "Living itself is a source of sin."

Then again, that's my personal interpretation since everyone has their unique perspective of his writings. In terms of the actual adaptation, you could translate the word 'disqualification' to 'insusceptibilty' when if it came to the Book's effects on Dazai? This side note is becoming really long lmao anyways I'll link a few theories which afflicted me with brainrot down below.

Another thing before I wrap up, the name 'Decay of Angels' stemmed from Yukio Mishima's book entitled 'The Decay of An Angel.' This is the final novel to the author's tetralogy: 'The Sea of Fertility.' The main protagonist, Honda, meets a person he believes to be a reincarnation of his friend, Kiyoaki, who takes the form of a young teenage boy named Tōru. The last novel of this series enhances Mishima's dominant themes of the series as a whole:

the decay of courtly tradition in Japan

the essence and value of Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics

Mishima’s apocalyptic vision of the modern era

Again, this could be referred to what Fukuchi goes on to say:

Some people view the concept of samsara optimistically, justifying it by saying that perhaps each individual is given a second (third, fourth, fifth, who knows) chance to refine their actions in order to be birthed into a better realm, with their karma being the independent variable.

On the other hand, other people, specifically the Hindus, view the cycle of existence as some sort of plague. To them, the flow of life and being forced to endure the suffering of mere existence in any form was somewhat frowned down upon. Some Hindus viewed samsara as a trap. Besides, having one's soul being limited to a physical body for the rest of eternity was not very appealing, especially since where they ended up at depended on the karmic value their past actions surmounted.

Even so, particular types of Buddhists don't seek nirvana, but instead, like the Hindus, they make an effort to be good people of society, building up their good deeds to increase the likelihood of being reborn into one of the better realms.

As mentioned before, the Deva Realm was the home of angels, the most carefree, gratified beings to exist. Fukuchi describes these angels as the people who don't get their hands dirty, the people who act as the puppeteers of society: politicians.

In terms of parallels, angels were the most fortunate and powerful, but they didn't have anyone ruling over them. A lack of supervision would lead to the abuse of power, which is what I believe Fukuchi was referring to. Deeming himself the Decay of Angels, he sought to prove himself as the 'sign of death that falls on the nation's greed.'

A few fun facts (okay, not really) about Yukio Mishima: he committed seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) on the day he held a speech to voice out his unpopular political beliefs to the public. Mishima deeply treasured traditions and opposed the modern mindset the nation was advancing forward to adapt eventually. In his last book, The Decay of an Angel, he spoke about the five signs which complete the death of an angel:

Here are the five greater signs: the once-immaculate robes are soiled, the flowers in the flowery crown fade and fall, sweat pours from the armpits, a fetid stench envelops the body, the angel is no longer happy in its proper place.

The Decay of an Angel, p.53

The reviews about this series I've read so far describe Mishima's works to be quite complex; his writings demanded a lot of time to deconstruct and understand. They were highly symbolic, and he was pretty obsessed with death and the 'spiritual barrenness of the modern world.' I think you could attach a few strings from here to the mindsets of the DOA members. Of course, this parallel is completely abstract, but I'll go on rambling anyway:

He should have armed them with the foreknowledge that would keep them from flinging themselves after their destinies, take away their wings, keep them from soaring, make them march in step with the crowd. The world does not approve of flying. Wings are dangerous weapons. They invite self-destruction before they can be used. If he had brought Isao to terms with the fools, then he could have pretended that he knew nothing of wings.

The Decay of an Angel, p.113

I suppose you could resonate Nikolai with that excerpt. As much as Fukuchi takes the lead in this whole murder association, I'd like to believe that each member of the DOA plays an equally interesting part in whatever movement they're trying to execute. Fyodor feels it is his god-sent purpose to cleanse the world of its sins, his motto being, "Let the hand of God guide you." Sigma doesn't know where he belongs, since his origination comes from a page in the Book, and is fueled by the desperation to find a reason to live. Bram holds one of the most powerful abilities which is counted to be one of the "Top Ten Calamities to Destroy the World."

What I mean to say is that the DOA members are incredibly powerful, and they're not your ordinary antagonists (or I'm just biased). It's not just overthrowing authorities, mass genocide, and world domination— you could say that each individual is trying to utilize their purposes to their fullest expenditures, and the way they're trying to assert their plan into action is a little more passive-aggressive (framing the Agency, having a convo with a suicidal dude in jail, etc). They're the gray area between evil and good. As they framed the good guys for their own crimes, they're trying to conquer the bad guys for exploiting the innocent as they please.

This post would definitely age well if all hell breaks loose in the current arc (as if it didn't) and Kafka doesn't give us a happy ending.

That's all I have to say for now I guess! Thank you for reading, and once again, if anyone else something they wanna share, feel free to do so <3

sources (tryna follow Q's example ^_^) :

the six realms

samsara

the decay of angels

beast!au

the book

the sea of fertility

yukio mishima

theory: dazai’s emotional/mental state in beast!au

q’s theory: dazai being the protector of the book

theory: beast!dazai and the book

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redxblueihateloveyou · 3 years

Note

When I saw the movie I can swear there was no "I wish I hadn't met you" or "I did it, I cut him off" in the scene, HOWEVER, I have to admit the translation that was used (at least here in my country) left a lot to be desired. I'm not an expert on Japanese, but the subtitles were pretty mediocre, so I didn't want to think too much about what was actually said during that whole scene until I can find someone who gives a better translation. At least the general message got through, I think. And if even with that level of translation my heart broke, I don't even want to imagine what will happen when I have access to a better translation/interpretation of that powerful dialogue.

yeah, there wasn't. we skanned through japanese dialog several times and I'm sure we got everything correctly, I know it's a tricky language, but there's nothing that even resembles that, so maybe it was like someone's summary of "you keep coming into my life..." talk, I guess. But it was not about him wishing he'd never met him. It was about the fact that Rin doesn't get what "shared future" means, not like "I regret the first time you stepped into my life" way.

but true, I really do want HD version with good subs, just to enjoy it 100 times more (I mean, masochistically xD)

spanish subs are very free (haha) in the translation at some moments, true, but it's not like they're the opposite of the actual meaning or anything, it's more of like tiny things, that don't change much at the end. some summaries tho are pretty off for real. like it didn't do much harm, bc scene was better than I imagined from those, but I'm just gonna be more careful in april about spoiler then, gonna read only stuff from ppl I trust then or better wait for someone's illegal vid from the theater xD.

I'm also keep thinking that somehow like no matter how mad Haru gets (even to "losing control over what he's saying"), there's probably a zero chance he would ever say this. Like if he was choosing between life full of pain, but getting to know Rin and not knowing Rin at all, he'd still pick the first option. He was always like "I know you're out there, so I can be at least okay."

#answered #anonymous #free! the final stroke #rinharu #harurin #rin matsuoka #nanase haruka

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danwhobrowses · 2 years

Text

One Piece Chapter 1035 - Initial Thoughts

And we're back at it again

Following a Sanji session of power-ups and smacking Queen around we hit 1035. It's odd to think that 35 chapters ago we were at the start of the year, COVID has still been rough on the manga so we are lucky to still have this many chapters.

Before I jump in though - since it went missed the last time when I put it under the Keep Reading - PLEASE can people keep their spoilers hidden, I've only got blurred images of people posting raw scans here it is not hard to keep it under a Keep Reading y'know

Anyways, let's get to the next chapter

Spoilers for Chapter 1035, Support the Official Release also!

We're starting a cover story now it seems! 'Escape Whole Cake Island', so hopefully this'll explain what Germa are doing now, and that Baeju is safe, though I wouldn't mind seeing how Jimbei also escaped in this as well

But as the title notes, we're gonna get Zoro vs King...just after we see Sanji finish off Queen

Like kicked him so hard he left the floating island, guess Queen didn't have anything left after all, unless he causes trouble for the Flower Capital down below

And he saved the lil mousie, now he will get the benefit of the doubt

Of course Oda makes sure you know he made Chuji a mouse because it reminded Sanji of the rats he fed as a kid

But thematically it's perfect, because Sanji saving Chuji proves that he still has his kind soul

But he's out for the count now, passing out when asking about Osome

Probably for the better in the short run, all them oiran nursing him? He will die twice over

But now we move back to Zoro, and he's actually doing damage now

Interesting, so the fire on his back is like his immunity shield, but he can't move as well with it on. Not bad, though I kinda preferred my idea that Zoro would have to cut through the flame

And now we get to the face reveal, and yeah he's pretty sexy, he says in the most heterosexual way he can XD

He is like Wyper a little if he doubled in size and had white, nordic hair, but this does fuel the thoughts that Lunarian were another Moon people race like the Shandians

100 mil on information? That's...kinda cheap in hindsight, Luffy was worth that back in Jaya

Of course the insinuation that the grunts would sell out King's identity causes them to be incinerated

Dude is definitely much more striking - and a little like Alucard with the frilly V - without the mask, shame to hide such a design for so long

Zoro though is being that loveable bastard though, goading King by calling his actions a temper tantrum before asking if he wants to talk about his race

Pretty face aside, the lighter shade when he turns into a Pteradon does feel a bit off, though that's likely because we got used to the all black look, as long as he doesn't do the stretchy head attack

After a brief flurry both Zoro and King admit that they're hitting their limit

As Zoro prepares an Oni Giri - now using a 'Lord of the Underworld' prefix which'll probably be translated as Enma or something - King is the one that says Kaido will be pirate king, I point this out because he looks sincere when he says it

And the flashback is why, Kaido freed King - his real name 'Arber' - when he was young and experimented on by the government (so it's possible that other Lunarians are out there, just in the Government's clutches), and King was his first recruit

Knowing this means that however way Big Mom 'saved' Kaido, it also ended up getting him captured by the WG during or after God Valley. You can also see the handcuffs have been there since then

You know, i'm actually feeling kinda bad for Kaido. I can see a lot of Luffy in his younger self, he seems more happy and driven, he believes in himself that he can make a change. Perhaps piracy has left him jaded and bitter, since now he only wants to destroy everything and die, but before he did seem like a kid with a dream - perhaps a more vicious dream given his time with Rocks but still, you can understand King's loyalty to Kaido since it feels earned

King flames on when Zoro fires the Purgatory Oni Giri, nullifying its damage

And that's some attack, a flaming dragon that burns into Zoro - like Magma he says, probably in structure more than damage since I think he's dodging it

He's been good with his reflexes though, still managing to block King's attack while in the air

King tries to trap Zoro's swords by making his blade toothed again, but Zoro's not standing for it. I think he used Conqueror's Haki just then to force distance between them

King quickly dashes away, making Zoro realise that he's changed strategy, but King's speed means Zoro gets a boot right to the face

But Zoro doesn't waste an opening, and uses the impact to get a nice and vertical slice on King, that's gotta smart in all affected places...

But now King is trading blocks and blows with Zoro, acknowledging that Zoro figured out his powers, Zoro is getting cut (or his body is breaking because the medicine's running out, hard to tell which) but he's also noting how King is on the defensive

Yeah King you made Zoro feral now, there's no coming back from this

And you had to make it boil over by claiming yourself superior to Zoro, always a bad move, as is dipping into the well twice, because King's using his magma dragon attack again...

...And Zoro is ready for it, cutting through the whole damn thing and reaching a shocked King

The important part for me though isn't the Monet-ing of his dragon, but the fact that Zoro cut King's wing in the process. Given how we're starting to call Zoro and Sanji the 'Wings of the Pirate King', it's pretty effective to see Zoro clip the wings of Kaido's right hand man

So I was technically right about Sanji and Zoro winning in the same chapter, we just waited till the start of this one to confirm that Sanji won. Maybe Oda just didn't have room last chapter, who knows?

But this chapter was still great, we got to emphasise the best qualities of Zoro and Sanji in it, while also pushing them to the limit. For Zoro, this is probably the closest he's gonna get to his equivalent to Luffy's Katakuri fight - if King is done that is, I wanna say he isn't but I said that about Queen too. We do have to worry about Zoro's landing though, since they were in the air during this final blow.

The only proper criticism I can give is that we didn't get enough time with unmasked King, we could've probably stretched his fight a chapter or two longer where Zoro could realise that the fire was key to beating him, but that's a small fanservicey criticism. Given his awesome design I hope we do see more of King, but it's unlikely he'll fight alongside the Straw Hats like Katakuri could, I guess if the WG is the enemy it's possible, I mean they are coming to Wano so maybe Zoro won't feel good about leaving him to be experimented on again, who knows?

But that's two big fights down, but I doubt Zoro and Sanji will be able to contribute any more after, Sanji is KO'd and in a pleasure hall full of grateful women while Zoro is a paste of shattered bones, drained Haki and open wounds. I can see us wrapping up some more fights before finishing it off with Luffy, but there are still a lot of fights.

Raizo vs Fukurokuju, Big Mom vs Kid and Law, the Kazenbo stuff, Usopp going to get Kiku and Kin'emon, Hiyori and Orochi, Drake and Apoo vs CP0, Robin and Brook's escape from CP0, wherever Denjiro is, the hope that Carrot could still do something, Momo pulling Onigashima away from the Flower Capital, lots of stuff still to cover.

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