#we are nearing the end of the 1st arc
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King&Prince 7
When Eddie returned to the castle, it was in the form of a raven. He perched himself on the outside of Steve's window. The prince was deep asleep and of course, looked completely harmless. Eddie knew not to be fooled by that though. Dustin looked downright cherubic when he slept but could still be an absolute menace. This was a prince, meaning he'd been taught in the ways of strategizing your next move and making every moment count.
It was very likely that he was just regaining energy for an escape attempt later on. Nancy's worries didn't fall on deaf ears. At the time, the reason Eddie didn't put a constant eye on him was because Dustin seemed attached to him already. Now that he was out of the cell, Dustin would probably seek him out at all hours. Which meant the prince wouldn't be able to get far before the young boy mentioned to someone that he couldn't find him.
He was dangerous. Eddie had to remind himself of that even as the prince was surrounded by softness and his face was smoothed of all tension.
The next morning, Steve was awakened by someone banging on the door. "Up and at 'em! Time for work!", Robin shouted through the door.
Steve got up, almost reaching for the doors of the wardrobe before remembering there wouldn't be anything there for him. All he had were the clothes on his back. Even the ones he'd come in with, dirty and wrecked, had been taken. Probably tossed, useless as they were.
He took a quick look at himself in the bathroom mirror. It wasn't too bad. His hair was lacking in its usual style, falling over his forehead, and there was still a bit of darkness under his eyes, but at least he didn't have that layer of filth anymore.
Steve let out a sigh when Robin pounded on the door again. He understood people's problem with him, that didn't mean he liked it.
"What, no breakfast?", Steve asked when she all but dragged him down the hall. They passed a few people who had sneers and glares to spare. At least back home people knew how to hide their disdain for him.
She put him to work in the music room again, arranging chairs with a prepared diagram. He heard someone call her name and she was out of the room, leaving him by himself. Steve wondered if they were just underestimating him or if they were that confident in their security. Steve continued to work for a few minutes before deciding to try and venture outside.
The moment he stuck a foot out the door though, a gaggle of kids were out in the hallway, waiting for him.
"See! I told you!", Dustin exclaimed.
Mike's jaw was on the floor. "They've got you doing chores?!"
"That's gotta be all he's good for", a red-headed girl he didn't recognize said.
The rest of them included Will, Lucas, and another girl he'd never seen before and they started arguing among themselves about Steve and his uses right there.
"Hey, hey!" Steve clapped his hands. "Has no one ever taught you brats any manners?"
"Do you really think so little of us?", Dustin asked.
"Forget it. I've got work to do." Anything to not be surrounded by a random group of children. But just as Steve went in to finish putting up the chairs and arranging the instruments, he was followed right away by the kids, discussing very loudly what was to become of this whole music lesson thing.
"What gives Eddie the right to tell us what to learn?", Lucas asked.
"He's literally in charge of everything else", the red haired girl, Max, said.
"And you guys had no complaints about him making sure you get educated in other things", Mike said.
"Because every young child should have a healthy dose of math, science and the arts", Dustin said.
"Guess what music counts as", Will grinned.
There was that Eddie guy again. Apparently in charge of what these kids learned. Maybe he was some sort of headmaster? Or some kind of higher up here. But Steve had never heard a title attached to their name. Not a lord, or duke, or even a mr. So just who was he to these kids. Steve's interest was almost piqued to ask but he had other things to worry about. Like filling his stomach.
His stomach growling was somehow heard over the cacophony of voices and it was heard by El. Steve had only known her for about fifteen minutes and yet she unnerved him. She laughed and smiled like any child and yet there was something lurking underneath the surface with her.
"He's hungry", she commented.
"Time for lunch then", Dustin decided.
Steve was somehow corralled by them all and he found himself taken to the castle kitchens. He was taken aback by the sights and smells. It was just like the kitchen back home, when he used to sneak down as a kid. The only difference was that instead of a numerous staff, there were much fewer people.
That and some of the pots were stirring themselves. Steve went up to one in awe.
"Magic?"
"Cooking magic", Will explained.
"Sit down, children", a voice said from deeper into the kitchen and Steve was pulled to a small table in the corner with chairs for all of them. The moment they did, a tray of warm bread floated to land in the middle and bowls of soup came flying towards them, landing without spilling a drop.
"Thanks mom!", Dustin called out.
Steve's mouth watered. He'd been eating scraps for days and none of it had been warm. He took his first bite and nearly cried. It was so good. some of the best he'd ever had. The kids were still talking, but Steve hardly paid whatever topic they were discussing any mind. He was too focused on the food. That and the fact that they didn't seem at all bothered by him.
The king's minions had attacked him and thrown him into a dungeon without any thought. The king himself hadn't shown his face until he was sure that Steve had no value as a bargaining chip. That Robin woman saw him as a pack mule and used him as such. The few adults in the kitchen would openly glare at him and Steve wondered if he should worry about poison in his food.
But Dustin and his friends...it was like they didn't care.
Robin appeared just as they finished eating to drag Steve to the library and have him move books around. Steve thought that at least he'd be free of the kids, but of course they weren't too far behind. The idea of library manners were lost to them as well, as they kept their normal volume around what must be thousands of books.
The next couple of days went very much the same, Steve being led around by Robin to reorganize the library. Sometimes it was blessedly quiet, the rest of the time, Dustin was there, asking questions about him or his kingdom which usually prompted some kind of argument amongst his friends.
Somehow, despite himself, Steve started to like them. They even got a laugh out of him once or twice. Dustin was bright, if a bit self righteous. Max was always instigating and it was clear she had fun doing it. Will had a sweet face but wasn't afraid to speak his mind. From what he gathered, they all lived here in the castle, and some of their parents were in the staff.
It was such a routine, that Steve was confused when Robin didn't come to get him one morning. He thought he should wait, but when it got close to noon, well he had to leave in search of food. He was still barefoot, but thankfully that wasn't much of a problem. What was a problem was how he was turned around and didn't know where he was going.
He heard some voices from around the corner and thought of asking for directions before remembering his place. If anyone other than the kids saw him walking around unescorted, they'd probably think he was up to something. Steve ran in the opposite direction, avoiding places he heard people talking and ended up in what looked like a sparring arena. The roof opened up to let the sun in and there was a wall of weapons. The area for sparring itself was a simple arena in the dirt and there was Lucas in the middle of it, struggling to lift a sword that was about as tall as he was.
"Uh, I can explain", Lucas said.
"No need", Steve said, mostly because he didn't want to have to explain what he was doing. "You're obviously in the middle of training." He looked to how big the sword was and how there was no teacher in sight. "A little advice, choose a weapon you can pick up."
Lucas frowned. "Why don't you show me, since you're so badass? Dustin told me you know all these techniques but so far I've just seen you carry stuff."
Steve raised a brow as he walked over and took the sword from Lucas. "Carrying stuffy counts as heavy lifting." He took a step away to get a safe distance and swung the sword with ease. "For now, you might be better with that", he used the sword to point to a rapier on the wall.
"That twig?"
"Think it's too much for you to handle?"
Lucas snorted and took it off the wall. He swung it around, not too confident in it. "Looks like it'll break if I went up against that", he gestured to the broadsword Steve had.
"It's not meant to go head to head like that", Steve said, sure that Lucas was imagining his sword slicing down right on top of Lucas' blade. "Real sword fighting is about using your skill to create an opening to land the right blow."
"Isn't most fighting like that?"
"Just shut up and show me your stance."
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Nancy was running through her to do list in her head. Spring would be coming soon and while the human inhabitants would be celebrating and holding festivals, the demo-creature population would be preparing for hibernation and there were things that needed to be arranged.
Her thoughts were interrupted by sounds coming from the sparring room. Neither she nor Jeff and called upon anyone but the room could be used by anyone trying to brush up their skills. Curious as to who was putting in extra work, she was surprised to see Lucas clashing swords with the prince. She didn't see anything else but red. She didn't see the smile on Lucas' face or how slowly Steve seemed to move.
She pulled out a dagger first, throwing it right in front of the prince's nose to get him to back off before unsheathing her own sword and getting between him and Lucas.
"Whoa! That was too close! You could've hurt him!", Steve said.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!", Nancy shouted back.
Lucas put a hand to her shoulder from behind. "Calm down, he was just-"
"Stay behind me. I knew something like this would happen." She advanced, raising her sword against Steve.
He was surprised at her ferocity when she was so small. That was when he remembered. "You were part of the ambush!"
"I should have killed you then", Nancy declared while actively trying to kill him. "Eddie was wrong, you're-"
Steve cried out when he tripped on a stray rock, cutting his foot in the process. It caused him to fall forward, which Nancy wasn't prepared for. A rush of black smoke was their saving grace, pushing Steve away and cushioning Nancy before turning into a man that held her close. Not just any man, of course. The king.
And just like most of the court, all he had for Steve was a hardened glower. Lucas had been stupefied into silence but spoke up when he saw the blood.
"Listen, it's not what it looks like! Steve was helping me train."
"And why would he do that?", Nancy demanded to know as she righted herself. "You know we're not taking on anyone new until training officially starts. You shouldn't even be in here."
"Yeah, well he was", Steve said, ignoring the pain in his foot for now as he sat up. "And he needed some pointers."
The king's eyes narrowed. "So you took it upon yourself to train him?" Then he looked to Lucas. "And that's the story you're going with?"
"It's not a story, it's the truth. We were just practicing", Lucas said.
The king stared down at the prince, thoughts running through his head. He approached and Steve held up his sword. His foot might be hurt, but he could still fight if this beast wanted a challenge. To his surprise though, the king paused, and held his hands up like he was trying to show he meant no harm.
He glanced down at Steve's foot. "Let's take care of that first. Everything else can wait."
"I don't need your help", Steve said, rising to his feet. He took a step and while he held back a hiss, he was able to move just fine. He knew he was dripping blood but his pride kept him from looking down. He let the sword drop to the floor. He'd find his way back to his room and tear a bandage from his sheet or something.
He let out a yelp when suddenly he was lifted up into the king's arms and when he blinked their faces were just a breath apart.
"I can appreciate being too proud to accept help, but I won't have you trailing blood around the castle."
Steve had no choice but to cling to him. Walking or being carried, his blood would still drain from his foot, so he could see how it mattered. The king carried him anyway sat Steve on his bed where a bandage cloth was already waiting, as well as a basin of water. He was set down on the bed and Steve expected to be left alone to dress the wound but the king surprised him yet again by kneeling and starting to wash his foot.
"You're...You're the king, aren't you?", Steve asked.
"That I am."
Steve didn't think he needed to elaborate. Kings didn't kneel. For anyone. And they especially didn't help enemy royalty with cuts and bruises. They didn't carry them to their rooms. It made no sense at all for King Edward to treat him like this, especially after what he had to endure in his cell.
"Why were you helping Lucas?", he asked.
Steve shrugged. "Kid needed help. He was trying to lift a sword as big as he was."
"Hmm. Well, considering the current state of affairs, it's been irresponsible of me to leave you unattended for so long. So you'll be getting a new guard detail, starting tomorrow."
That sounded more sensical than anything else that had happened so far, so Steve didn't even question it. Someone came by to drop of dinner, but besides that, Steve didn't see anyone until the next day when the king himself appeared at his door with a pair of well worn boots.
"Of course. You're my guard."
"No one better", the king grinned.
Part 9
Tag Team
@thesuninyaface @only-evanescent @snakeorsquid @ignoremyworld @theclichefortunecookie @goodolefashionedloverboi @just-a-tiny-void @0body0disphoria0 @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @samsoble @jamieweasley13 @y4r3luv @xtkxkrzrizir @un-knownperson @greekgeek24 @justdrugsformethanks @potato-of-the-lord @notaqueenakhaleesi @swimmingbirdrunningrock @queenie-ofthe-void @nebulainajar @lil-gremlin-things @nicememerino @robininblue
#we are nearing the end of the 1st arc#apo writes#stranger things#fanfiction#steddie#the party#nancy wheeler#lucas sinclair
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Ok I see people talking about Gorgug wanting to multi-class and the problems presented to him. And Porter very obviously is bad and does genuinely sucks for a multitude of reasons… however~
I feel that Gorgug’s issue is more of a problem that has to do with how Aguefort designed his adventuring academy’s system of education. For example let’s say I wanted to be a barbarian/artificer multi-class. Instead of needing to do 150% of a normal school curriculum and being required to start both sets of courses at the same level of skill (junior year for both), it should work like how high school electives actually work.
To elaborate:
In freshman year I take all my normal required subjects, math, English, physical Ed, etc., and I want to be a barbarian so I fill the rest of my schedule up with 1st year level barbarian oriented electives. The same happens in sophomore year. Then, near the end of sophomore year, I realize I might want to learn some artificer stuff. So next year instead of needing to be a 3rd year level artificer in order to join in I just figure out some things so that I can do my 3rd year level barbarian electives and then get in on some 1st year level artificer electives. If I need to maybe I get a 7th period class or a zero period class to cram in the required classes as well.
This obviously isn’t where they are going with this whole story arc for Gorgug but I think we are focusing too much on the Porter problem and not enough at the overall systemic issues in this insanely flawed educational process.
Anyways i just realized that i love explaining how to fix the flawed inner workings of the school system so much that it leaked fully into my love for dnd and Dimension 20.
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Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 79: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences
Welcome back to our monthly appointment, CCS fans!
This chapter comes right after this month's full moon, the Hunter Moon! (lol yes I will feature the name of the relative full moon till the end of the story).
And speaking of the end of the story, I will start this analysis and translation post from the end of the chapter, where I found the confirmation to the rumour that had been going on for hours before the official release on Comic Days:
yes, dear readers, this is not a drill, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc will end with chapter 80, after 7 years of serialization! 🎉✨
When *the last chapter* is announced, there's no turning back!
No more sudden announcements of extensions! 🥹
But at the moment of writing this post, no mentions have been given about any "epilogue" or extra chapters that might be serialized in the upcoming months leading to the big release of volume 16 on April 1st!
On the translation side, I have to sigh in relief because no major misunderstandings happened in the ENG version, just some minor inaccuracies! I was kinda scared because this chapter is pretty important and complex in itself.
And let me say that what happened in this chapter 79 definitely marks the end of the climax, so I can totally see it ending in next chapter. The chapter tackled some very important thematics regarding the presence of "evil" in this series, that I will talk about extensively in my analysis.
The announcement today made me already a bit nostalgic and sad, but I want to strive hard to accompany myself and all of you towards the end of this arc with excitement and a smile, therefore I won't let myself be prey of the sadness yet and introduce you immediately to the gif of this month, because there's a lot we need to talk about and analyze and we can't waste time!!
This is entirely dedicated to our protagonist and heroine Sakura-chan, because damn, she really slayed this chapter!!!
Under the cut to see what miracles she made happen!
The Color Page
My dear readers, after years of countless pleas on my social media, after being let down month after month, CLAMP FINALLY GRANTED ME A COLOR PAGE SOLELY DEDICATED TO KAITO AND AKIHO TOGETHER ON THE SECOND-TO-LAST CHAPTER!! Yaaaay!!
Excuse me while I celebrate this event here in my little corner, especially after having a rough month! 🎉🎉🎉
I hope my followers thought of me when they saw it? Like "finally she'll stop asking for it" (breaking news, I'll keep asking for more even after the series is over) 😂
It took them 79 chapters to do so and honestly I'm laughing because....yes, I admit it, I expected another vibe for such an important color page coming after such an important emotional scene in chapter 78, but honestly the first thing I thought when I saw it was "....they had to wait 79 chapters for this? 😧" 😂because it's very very "regular", I think it would've been ok for this to come out long ago.
LOL I'm being brutally honest here, I hope no one gets offended, especially because that pet peeve aside, OF COURSE I love this precious color page to bits, and I know under its "normalcy", its got a very important meaning to the both of them.
Akiho and Kaito are depicted together clearly during one of their travels....but the question is, is this from the past? Or the near future?
I'd daresay they look the same age they are now, so this might probably be a foreshadowing for the future...? They'll keep travelling the world? But seeing the content of the chapter, this might also be just a call-back to their memories together and everything that they experienced during those travels, tightening their bond.
Travelling the world is, after all, really their thing, their element.
I really like Kaito's expression, with his usual smile that almost turns into a smirk, he gives off a vibe of being finally free to express his emotions. He looks carefree, and that's really something for him.
Akiho, on the other hand, is always so much more expressive than him and you can literally feel the joy and excitement emanating from her delighted expression. Travelling with him makes her happy, so yes, should this be what awaits them in the finale, it's fine by me as long as they're happy (I'm rooting for the other option though, the "stay in Tomoeda with your newfound support network" route).
But as you know, I always have to analyze the color pages a bit deeper, especially when they're about these two. And since I had to keep myself distracted, I made a bit of research.
Other than the "travelling" vibe, this illustration gives off also kind of a "vintage" vibe (which is another strong element to Akiho and Kaito).
It seems Akiho is dressed in a sleeveless coat with cape and wearing a bonnet fully inspired by those worn by children in the second half of the 1800s, in the Victorian era.
(pic courtesy of Etsy)
This is a model from 1896, for example.
When I pinpointed the period, I immediately thought "uh, the Victorian era is also the period when Alice in Wonderland came out", although that was more towards the 1860s.
I found it really interesting and a nice touch for this illustration with a retro flavor (the suitcase and purse also look kinda vintage).
But another thing that immediately caught my eyes were those cute birds landing on Kaito's shoulder and Akiho's bonnet. I immediately tried to look what kind of birds they are, and it seems like they could really be eastern bluebirds, typical of North America. Searching further, I found out that in several cultures bluebirds are harbinger of happiness and symbols of hope.
I couldn't honestly have thought for a more fitting symbolism, for these two. Especially cause birds often are associated with an imagery of freedom, and this is something else that these two need, after being hunted by evil people for so long. They really do look free, in this color page.
Also, the presence of the birds in this color page immediately brought me back to the color page of chapter 62, where we can see baby Kaito in a wintery setting, sitting on a lamppost, extending his little hand to a swallow coming to him.
Swallows are a symbol of hope and bring a message of "spring is coming", and continuing from that message of hope, of "spring is coming for you too", we can finally see here in chapter 79 our Kaito with his true happiness, symbolized literally by the birds most associated with happiness.
Another thing that caught my eyes is of course the lily depicted on the cover of the book Akiho is holding, a nice callback to Akiho's mother and Kaito's torment, Lilie. She's always going to be with them ❤️
The Japanese editorial text over the picture is an excerpt of what Momo was musing to herself in chapter 39, while imagining to talk to Kaito: "You traveled with her, and spent time together with her".
I think CLAMP chose to feature this line to indicate an important thing that will be restored at the end of this chapter.
Everyone Is Doing Their Best
The chapter starts with a panel showing some light coming off Yukito's house, and we find out that even Touya fainted, exhausted by the effort to keep time stopped as much as possible. Ruby Moon is cradling his head on her lap trying to assist him and "recharge" his magical power, in hope to be able to maintain time "stopped" a bit more. In fact, if you notice, the "black covering" that symbolizes the time-stopping spell isn't completely destroyed yet, but only riddled with "holes", an indication that the spell is still somehow active, even if feebly. I imagine this might "slow down" the attacks, which are still coming but probably not at full speed like they would if the spell came undone completely.
I have to point out immediately a mild inaccuracy in the ENG version, that I want to specify in order to dispel extreme theories before they're born: no, Ruby Moon didn't give up all of her powers to Touya, the verb used here is simply 補える, "can replenish (your magic)", not "give all".
Touya doesn't lose his sense of humor even in a dire situation like this, and comments sarcastically "What are you, a battery?", a clear recall to the whole "batteries" matter that came out in the un-rewritten world. Touya isn't supposed to remember about that, and he probably doesn't, but this is just a way from CLAMP to show that even in a situation where memories have been rewritten, some things will be unconsciously said again, because they're just meant to happen.
Ruby Moon calls for assistance from her "brother" Spinel Sun (love how even in these true forms, she still calls him "Suppy"), whom rejects the appellative of "battery" but agrees to give her a hand with "recharging" Touya to keep the spell up a bit longer.
Everyone looks outside, only one thought in their minds, which is voiced clearly by a serious Tomoyo: "Sakura and everyone else are fighting with all they've got". I have to point out a typo here in the Japanese version (nothing serious, it can happen and will be surely fixed in the tankobon version): Tomoyo calls Sakura "Sakura-san".
I loved the "sparkles" around Tomoyo's eyes, as if indicating that her extraordinary intuition is "at work" and just telling her that, even if they can't see them because they're quite far away, Sakura and the others are doing whatever they can to stop these attacks. And the fact they can see the attacks, but not their friends and their condition, must be really hard to witness, for all of them.
But no worries, there's Touya nii-chan who's always ready to lighten the mood even in this challenging situation, joking that "If they don't get back before the curfew, they won't be getting their snacks tomorrow!". Here the ENG adds "squirt" to make Touya refer specifically to Sakura, but truth to be told, in the JP there's no subject, so he might be referring to everyone.
It's amazing how he's able to keep his spirit up and be sarcastic even in this situation....he really believes in his little sister so much!
I'll Make Them Forget About You
Back where our heroes are, the attacks keep coming relentlessly, countered by Syaoran, Yue and Kero in tandem.
Sakura reflects on the fact that the only transparent Cards she's got left are these two she's holding in her hands (Time and Rewind) and Flight. This statement leads me to believe that when Record transformed into that crystal that entered her, that meant that the Card completed its duty and disappeared inside of her.
But Sakura isn't worried at all, because she knows that she can create more Cards. Yessss, this development that I've been anticipating since quite some time is finally here! ✨🎉
Sakura seems to finally have a concrete plan, but before proceeding, she needs to ascertain something.
She asks directly to Kaito: "The people who are using these spells were trying to hurt you, right?".
Kaito, with a pensive face, answers affirmatively.
But it's when Sakura asks again "Were they trying to hurt Akiho too?" that his expression turns really painful, the background after him portraying well his raging emotions and, while Mokona-sensei chose to leave Akiho hidden by Kaito's black wings in the previous panels, now she finally shows how both she and Kaito are holding onto eachother, while our boy answers with a "...Yes" dripping with sorrow.
It really squeezed my heart with pain, this scene.
Because as long as Sakura was asking about him, his expression was pensive but almost as if it's something he's used to, that didn't shake him too much.
But when Sakura mentions Akiho, god, that wrecked him.
Any mention, any reminescence of what those bastards did to her and how they were chasing after her to put their filthy hands on her again wrecks him even now, and it's like Mokona with her visual skills is showing how Kaito seems to be holding Akiho a little bit tighter, while he answers Sakura's question.
I also have to point out something that I had noticed already from last chapter, but a panel tricked me into believing I was just seeing things: CLAMP here use a dark screentone for Kaito's eyes, that he never had before (actually, no other character in CCS got this effect in their eyes). This effect will be used on him for the entire chapter.
And it seems like it's the very same screentone that was used for the dragon. I think this might be an indication that the wings aren't the only reminescence of his dragon appearance!
Sakura shows once again an incredible empathy that allows her to go right to the heart of the issue without investigating much.
If Kaito rewrote an entire world, and if it's true that Akiho in the previous world didn't have all the love and familiar support she's got now, it means that she was probably in danger too. And seeing as these people are attacking them now because they freed Kaito from his "punishment", Sakura doesn't really need much to make 2+2 and understand the situation. Sakura believes in Akiho, therefore she believes in Kaito too, and knows that if he came to this point it's because they were in a desperate and dangerous situation.
Showing an incredible insight, Sakura shocks both Kaito and Akiho by asking:
Sakura, JP: "In that case, can I make those people forget about you both?"
Because our girl needs to make sure that the plan she came up with won't have any undesired consequences. But most importantly, she needs to have their consent.
She reiterates this once again, actually she will make sure to ask Kaito and Akiho's consent 3 times in total.
She says: JP, lit. "If going back to before the world was rewritten will put you through hardships once again, then, can I just make them forget?"
Kaito is even more shocked, because he finally understands Sakura's intent. A generous, selfless intent born from a loving heart.
Our girl wants to make sure that these two will be safe and sound once she fixes this situation. She can't take risks, because their happiness is all she's really caring for right now. And in his shocked expression, I can also see some kind of "omg YES, PLEASE" vibe. Because probably, having those terrible people forgetting all about them is everything he ever wished, but couldn't achieve.
And I think it's really funny how we berated Kaito so much in the past chapters for making Akiho and the others forget facts that happened before and forgetting about him, but here Sakura just takes "inspiration" from him and actually decides to use that same "trick" in the right way.
Because it's not fair that it should be them, the abused people, to forget about their most important person, in order to achieve a happy life for at least one of them.
It isn't fair and it isn't right that Kaito was driven into making all the mess that he made, pushed by desperation.
The abusers, that clan and Association of magicians, should be the ones forgetting.
But this is Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card's finale, and Sakura definitely hasn't finished with being amazing yet, she actually just started.
Her very strong power at this point allows her not only to see things that were difficult before, but also to connect the dots more easily thanks to that renowned instinct that I've always talked to you about, and that she learned to finally listen to.
As if she were seeing through him with X-rays, she confidently affirms that there's a book inside of him, a white book where you can inscribe magic on. And she also knows that that same book was inside Akiho, once. I guess this might be even coming from past memories of the unrewritten world (do you remember when, before the play started, Sakura said that she could feel something inside Akiho?).
Akiho of course is shocked to hear that, and from her expression you can almost feel the chill that went down her spine in that moment.
Sakura affirms that this book knows both Akiho and Kaito (thanks to the fact that it was inside both of them - something that I've always found painfully heartbreaking but also quite moving, for my ship), and it's got a very strong power inside of it. These will be two crucial things for Sakura's plan. In fact, our heroine is hellbent in attempting something pretty arduous: utilizing that artifact's power to create a new Card.
For impartiality, I have to point out that the ENG added (completely on their whim) a "you, her special person" that isn't there in the JP version! Of course it's all the better for me, since they repeat (finally with the right adjective) that Kaito is Akiho's special person, but it's kinda funny that they messed it up so much in the previous chapters, and now they're adding it where there isn't any mention of it!
Sakura will be using a tool that knows the both of them, therefore she is sure that her plan will succeed, because the Card will know what it will need to erase.
Sakura asks for Kaito and Akiho's agreement one last time.
After hearing how those people wanted to hurt them both and even implanted the same magical artifact inside of her, Akiho is quite resolute and doesn't have any doubt: on with the wiping off!
It doesn't matter who those people are, they've tried to harm her most important person and her too, so she doesn't really seem to give a damn about proceeding with this plan.
Kaito, on the other hand, seems to be giving a more lackluster affirmative reply, but it's not that he's uncertain: he's just still riddled with guilt for all the mess that he's done, and he's probably realizing that now Sakura will need to put herself on the line in order to fix this and protect both of them, hence his sad face.
Still surfing the confidence wave, Sakura guesses that once those people have forgotten about Akiho and Kaito, then the magic arrows will stop too, and Kaito confirms that: forgetting about the person who had the Seal of D enforced on him will be equal to "undo" both the activation of the Seal itself (when Kaito removed the book from Akiho) and also the rescission of it (what Sakura did when she freed Kaito from the cage).
This will therefore stop the arrows too, because the Seal wouldn't have been triggered in the first place.
However, Kaito warns her that, although time is still barely "stopped" (because the time-stopping spell is still weakly on), it's necessary an enormous amount of power in order to do what Sakura wants to do.
I have to point out another inaccuracy in the ENG translation in this part, which makes Kaito say "before things could get worse" and I have the feeling they misunderstood the word 辛うじて, "barely" or "narrowly", which is also written with the kanji of 辛い, "hard" or "tough". So Kaito isn't saying "before things could get worse" but actually meaning "although time is barely stopped".
Sakura doesn't seem to be scared by Kaito's warning, and activates her wand without a second thought, and immediately we can see that her task wil NOT be easy, as she can feel the strain almost right away.
Here we go with another inaccuracy of the ENG translation:
Sakura, ENG: "Great book, please show yourself! My power alone won't be enough...!"
Sakura, JP: "The book....doesn't want to come out. (it's too difficult to pull it out) with just my power..."
Basically, Sakura isn't begging the book to "show itself", she's actually actively trying to pull it out of Kaito, and she's aware that it's opposing a lot of resistance, and her power alone isn't enough to take this damn book out.
Sakura refuses to give up, because everyone else is doing their best too. Yes, everyone else.
And that's when CLAMP decided to bring us a big surprise for this finale.
A pair of hands seem to be appearing next to Sakura's, as if a spirit is hugging her from behind. We can see the famous fan that we learned to recognize so well ever since her first appearance in Movie 1.
Sakura feels immediately the same magical power of Syaoran surrounding her, and with her instinct she finally recognizes her: it's Syaoran's mother, YELAN!!!
We can see her, sweating and all, in her sacred chinese pavilion, lending her power to help in this difficult task.
What a great, welcome surprise for this finale!!
You might have heard me saying on Twitter that Clear Card is really a celebration of motherhood, with this constant presence of mothers and mother figures who try to help these kids growing up without removing their right to choose for themselves.
And since Yelan is the only mother figure who can concretely help Sakura in this moment, with her immense power, I really loved to see how this woman didn't hesitate to assist her future daugher in law.
For any SyaoSaku fan, this scene here is a huge thing.
We have seen in the anime how Yelan doted on Sakura ever since she met her in Movie 1, even before her own son realized his feelings for this girl.
Yelan and Sakura haven't met in the manga yet (and hello, CLAMP, now this is a good chance for letting that happen, after the madness is over), but the woman didn't hesitate a moment to lend her power.
I can really imagine how along these two will get, in the future. ❤️
Sakura thanks her aloud, while her eyes show that she's really really tired. Yelan's assistance is finally effective in summoning the artifact book out of Kaito, and we see again those countless book pages that we saw both when Akiho used to go "berserk", and also in the most heartbreaking scene of chapter 70.
Kaito, still holding onto a worried Akiho, seems to suffer physically from this removal, and I can't understand if it's because removing something magical from inside is naturally painful (we've been shown something like that before, Syaoran crouching to the ground in pain while the Sakura Cards were being removed from inside of him) OR if the removal of the artifact also triggered his poor health conditions in which we left him, before he disappeared in chapter 70.
Sakura tries with all she's got and finally manages to turn the artifact into its "true form": a book filled with countless of spells written in strange magic runes.
You have spotted it, right? ☝️ I haven't seen many fandom reactions yet, but I guess this "cameo" made more than one person scream: it's Fay D. Fluorite's tattoo, yes! This page of the "book" is probably describing the procedure to cast that tattoo (which was also a kind of "seal", if I remember correctly). So that spells exists in this CCS world too! 😅
The magic Sakura is weaving starts "working" on the book, literally removing the spells from its pages and turning them back to their original form of magical books (remember that the Squids used to say that they would inscribe "magic books" and their power onto Akiho?).
Then, solemnly, we hear probably for the last time ever the magical incantation that accompanied us in the beginning of the story, used by Sakura to secure the strange manifestations of power into a transparent Card:
ENG: "Force without master, heed the call of my Staff of Dreams and become my power! SECURE!"
The countless of books and all this tremendous amount of power get secured into the birth of a new Card: BLANK!!!
Blank got the human appearance of Akiho, but also the protective wings of Kaito. The girl is holding a book (of course, how perfect for her) which is the representation of the artifact that was inside both Kaito and Akiho.
This card is really so meaningful for someone like me who loves Akiho and Kaito. It's representing them united in their suffering (the artifact) but also in the hope for a better future (Akiho is smiling and the Card will be used to grant them safety, away from their abusers).
I've always imagined that one of the last Cards Sakura might have produced would have Akiho and Kaito's elements, and here it is.
Also, how AWESOME is that Sakura managed to dispose of that damn artifact and succeeded to use it for Kaito and Akiho's sake, and turned it against the monsters who created it???
HOW.
AWESOME.
IS.
THAT!!!!
Producing the very first consciously created transparent Card sucked almost all of Sakura's power and strength, and she's close to fainting, under the terrified eyes of Akiho, who lets go of Kaito for a moment in a gesture of going towards her "sister".
But Sakura isn't done yet, no.
She can't give up yet because her job isn't done.
And I Will Make Them Remember About You
Sakura wants for Akiho and the people who care about her (the ENG decided to translate this with "the people SHE holds dear") to remember who Akiho really is.
She wants basically to "undo" what the rewriting of the world caused on the people who know Akiho, making them believe that she was born into the Kinomoto family and that she was Sakura and Touya's sister.
After pondering for a while and discussing with my friends over at my Discord server, I decided I'm not gonna go out on a limb and assume things from this decision, because I definitely NEED to read the next chapter to see how much Sakura intends people to remember, with this move. It's really not clear at all, as of now.
Anyway, other translation inaccuracy incoming!
Sakura, ENG: "I'm going to make another new card for that...and I might not have the power to do it alone"
Sakura, JP: "It might probably be really difficult to create one more new card with my power, right now..."
As you can see, the nuance is different, because Sakura in the JP addresses how it's almost impossible for her to create another new card in the situation she is in right now, exhausted and all.
That's why, very cleverly, she's going to do something different. (My gosh how proud I am of this girl!!)
Saying "But these two Cards will surely help me", Sakura skillfully manages to merge Time and Rewind to create a new Card, not from scratch (which requires more power) but using what she's already got: and that's how the REMIND Card is born!!!
The name of the Card originated by just replacing the "W" of Rewind with the "M" of Time. Ingenious, isn't it???
And as the two Cards merge, they give us lots of flashbacks, like the "effect" used here resembles a lot the one that used to happen when Sakura was changing the Clow Cards into the Sakura Cards back in the old arcs, or how the merging of two Cards seems to also be a callback to how the "card without name" and the "Nothing" merged to create HOPE in the very last minutes of Movie 2!
What a nostalgic trip down the memories lane!
And the appearance of this Card is even more touching, because it features Syaoran (with his current age) holding Nadeshiko's pendant watch. I found that so sweet, especially coupled with Yelan's assistance to Sakura in this chapter. Yelan associated with Sakura, and Syaoran associated with Nadeshiko. How sweet.
And when you think that even Lilie, Akiho's mother, was associated with Kaito, you really can realize that this is some kind of "theme" that CLAMP seemed to be wanting to portray in this story.
I Can't Be On Everyone's Side
And now, the scene that I think is worth the whole chapter, but probably the whole Clear Card Arc in its entirety. As usual, with important scenes, I'll use the literal translation from Japanese:
Sakura, JP: "It might not be right that there'll be people who will forget things (after this), but....I can't be everyone's friend/ally/can't be on everyone's side. So I won't go back...but actually, along with the people important to me... I WANT TO GO ON"
Wow.
Let that sink in.
Sakura, of Cardcaptor Sakura, just came to the realization and spelled out clearly that she cannot be on everyone's side. That she cannot be "everyone's friend", like in a cheesy fairytale.
And I really, really, want to thank CLAMP-sensei for this scene and this line because for a period, long time ago, I was worried that this story would go down the "let's be friends" or "let's show sympathy to them" route.
But as the chapters continued and the things CLAMP told us about the Association and the Squids were more and more cruel, and they made me more and more sick, I started to realize that there was simply no way CLAMP could've had Sakura try to justify or compromise with them. Because when cruelty is real, there's no compromise to be made.
This scene also shows how Sakura realizes for the first time ever that in her world, contrary to what we all believed previously, evil exists.
It might not touch her or her "entourage" directly (and she's really blessed for that), but it exists out there and it's hurting people, people who can also become really important to her.
And she decides to not stand idly by, blessed as she is with the luck of not experiencing that evilness, but actually using whatever it is in her power to bring those suffering people to safety.
Sakura cannot fight those people on equal terms.
She's just 13, and although her power is very strong, she's still inexperienced. Moreover, she cannot really bring herself to deny her current nature and use violence on other human beings.
That's not Sakura.
I want you guys to reflect on this because I know that one of the favorite things expected for this finale was to have a direct magical confrontation with the true villains of this arc, defeating them and restablishing the peace. And I am sincere when I say that I would've wished for the same too, because you know how much I love Kaito and Akiho, and how much I was disgusted to read about what they did to them. I've spread my "burn the squids" gifs all over the fandom.
I wanted someone to vindicate them.
But not here. Not in this manga.
I realized that after the initial satisfaction, I would've probably felt like the series would've been "defiled".
And that's exactly what happens when you answer to violence with more violence.
Sakura just could not go hunting those bastards down and defeat them in a magical battle.
Because, powerful and corrupted in their greed as they are, the only way to "fix" this situation would've been to exterminate them.
I just could not picture this story to cross that boundary, no matter how much the bar had already been raised well over what we initially thought.
So, if someone out there is disappointed by this outcome, I'm sorry for you, but it was just not meant to be and I'm actually really glad that this series kept true to its fundamental values.
Of course it would, CLAMP really do care about this series and they know very well how far to push the plot, and when to actually stop.
So what is the role of Akiho's clan and the Magic Association in this story, especially considering that we never saw their faces at all?
Talking with lots of fans in these years, especially Japanese, I've come to the conclusion that they are not in this story to fill the "villain that needs to be deafeated" role, but actually they're a representation of abusive families that smother and suffocate their children with expectations, completely disregarding those children's natural inclinations, and abuse them when they do not meet such expectations, but also the society as a whole, that looks at you only basing on how it can take advantage of you.
Which is exactly what happened to Akiho and Kaito, driving them to very dark places.
The absence of faces for those characters makes it possible for the readers to see the Squids and the Association as the representation of whatever environment they relate the most to.
It can be family, society, school, workplace etc...
It also helps us focusing on their actions, rather than their faces, and not attribute any prejudice to them (because of religion, race, skin color, or whatever other attribute they could have).
Seeing as the story treats them more like a concept, than an actual entity, it's basically impossible for Sakura to defeat them (and their great power is an indication of that impossibility).
Just like in real life, darkness will always exist, along with light.
Good and evil will always be side by side. It's bigger than any of us.
Then, what can we do, in a situation like this?
What Sakura is choosing to do, here, is not to confront directly with violence these people who are way out of her league, and not even to sit back and look, but actually finding a way to make them forget about her friends and keeping her friends safe, granting them the possibility of living a happy life, finally away from the darkness of the past, healing the wounds on their souls together with the people they love and who love them back.
Because even if you've been abused in the past, you can still hope for a happy life.
The focus here is all on helping the abused people.
And Sakura, in order to do that, is okay with coming to terms with the fact that she can't be on everyone's side, and she needs to choose. In the end, the thing that really matters the most is to GO ON with your most important people. Not going back to what is lost, but going forward.
And I know that this is such a CLAMP theme, and I'm glad that they reiterated it in this arc. When I say that Clear Card brought Sakura so much more closer to what's usual for CLAMP, I mean this.
The panel with Sakura raising her staff and shouting she wants to go on is absolutely beautiful, with those wings growing so big and unleashing Sakura's power in a storm of cherry blossom petals.
Sakura is exhausted, she finally reached her limit by using her ultimate magic. As she faints, her eyes just make it in time to catch a glimpse of her prince, the love of her life grabbing tightly his girlfriend's hand, to not let her fall, while the watch of Remind and the book of Blank do their job in the background.
And I really loved this spread too, because even if it's not a conventional romantic scene made of physical display of love, this in my opinion is even more powerful.
Many were reminded of Tsubasa, but I was also reminded of the long time those two spent unable to touch one another, and this scene here seems like a catharsis for that hardship they went through.
Syaoran will always catch Sakura everytime she falls, he will always be there to grab her hand, no matter if he can really touch her or not.
Cause his love is stronger than any kind of impediment.
He will always be by her side, no matter what.
When she's exhausted by her heroine's duties, she knows that she can always count on him to support her.
And speaking of "always be by her side", I just can't avoid mentioning how Akiho and Kaito stayed "glued" to eachother for the entire duration of this chapter, protecting and supporting one another.
Kaito, in particular, kept holding Akiho even as Sakura's magic was hurting him like hell, because it was extracting the book from him.
Even in excruciating pain, he did not let go of Akiho, intent in protecting her and keeping her safe in his hold.
Akiho let go of him just for a moment when she was scared out of her mind for Sakura, but went back to him when she saw that her "sister" was hellbent in completing her task no matter what.
Kaito, as the good "moon boy" he is, is someone who shows his feelings through his actions rather than words, just like Syaoran. And his constant grip on Akiho in this chapter, such an opposite act compared to how he used to stop his hand everytime it started reaching out to her, told me all that I needed to know about him: she's his most important person, and he will never let go of her, ever again.
Sakura wakes up in her bed.
The scene is a direct parallel with an almost identical scene in chapter 3, as you can see here:
Kero is next to her and is relieved to see her awake, so he goes to shout in the hallway, directed to Touya, that Sakura is finally awake.
Sakura seems a bit surprised to see Kero talking so nonchalantly with her brother, and he tells her that he chatted with him back at Yukito's house, together with Suppy, so I guess now he finds it "natural" to talk to her brother too! 😂 I'm kinda glad to know that, I like this "change of relationship", compared to the old series (and it was also kinda long overdue).
Sakura opens the palm of her hands and she finds the Dream Key, still intact and all. She also asks about Remind and Blank, and Kero confirms to her that she was able to use them successfully!
Sakura is absolutely delighted to hear that, and says "We were able to go on!"
And thaaaaaaat's how the second-to-last chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card ends!
Solving a lot of the pending situations, but still leaving some secondary questions that will surely find a (more or less) detailed explanation in the final, next chapter.
And well, we also have to prepare to not have ALL the answers to ALL the questions we might have.
This is usual for CLAMP, and especially in their Spaces they never made it a secret that they love for their fans to wreck their brains over theories and imagining the characters' future after a series is over.
They love for the fans to give their interpretations to things, they encourage that a lot (also because it creates more long-lasting engagement with their series).
Alas, I expect they'll leave something in particular to everyone's interpretation, but we'll see. 😅
Overall, I really loved this chapter and it was really emotional for me.
I think it's fitting for a "climax". Sakura was ABSOLUTELY running the show and after this I dare anyone to say that she isn't the main character of her story.
She pushed her limits, and even questioned her own morality in doing so. What a wonderful thing.
She reminded me so much of Sakura-hime when she shooted all those monsters in order to take the precious egg, back in the Acid Tokyo arc of Tsubasa. She knew she was doing something bad, but her wish to do everything needed in order to "have him back" was stronger than anything else. And she made her own choice.
Here, Sakura, on a smaller scale, made her own choice too.
Now, I hope in the last chapter we'll be granted the possibility to delve a bit more into Kaito and his thoughts, I need to see his character development, I need to see that he learned something from this.
That he -at least- started to interrogate himself over the nature of his feelings for Akiho. I know it's reasonable to think that with him, things will take looooong time, but as least show me the signs.
Because I need to know that Akiho will be truly happy with him (I know she will!), and she can only be if he's learned to be honest with himself. And learned what Lilie meant with the last conversation we saw between them.
Also, WHERE'S MOMO, I NEED TO SEE MOMO BEFORE THIS ENDS!!
Okay, this is probably the longest post I ever did but I think as the second-to-last chapter it deserved to have some big thematics explored in depth, because they're very important.
I'm still pondering if I should divide the post of the final chapter in two because, in addition to even more pages, I expect there'll be soooooooooo much to talk about (cross your fingers with me that there won't be any translation mistake).
I also hope there'll be room for an epilogue or a couple of extra chapters, to help us coping with the separation in a more gradual way, cause after 7 years it's quite hard. I was curious to see the end, of course, but also not entirely ready to let this wonderful story go.
I really, really enjoyed it and I say this from the bottom of my heart.
I don't care what everyone else thinks, I can only be grateful to CLAMP for Clear Card Arc. 🙏
Chapter 80, along with all the tears that will come with it, is expected to be uploaded on November 29th on CLAMP's Youtube channel.
Yes, it's less than a month away!
I also expect some news about the anime (BLESS THE ANIME!! Something to cling onto when the manga is over 😭).
Well, see you at the end of November (please come to hold my hand cause I cannot do this alone, lol) !!!
#cardcaptor sakura#card captor sakura#ccsakura#clear card arc#ccs spoilers#sakura card captor#chapter 79#sakura kinomoto#akiho shinomoto#yuna d. kaito#syaoran li#translation differences
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Keirr character discussion / breakdown
• The egotistical prick • The Aira hater • The deciever
- Quick author note: I’m going to be doing something slightly different, where I basically read the scenes that involved Keirr and leave a tag afterwords of pages I am going over. This will at least give you opportunity to read along with me and understand my breakdowns a little better.
- Another note: I am always using the Tumblr mobile app, so I apologize if my documents look rather funky on the computer version. I am trying to spruce them up and make them look at least somewhat good lol.
- Final note: I will be going over “Asmundr” Keirr, only a little bit though, mainly for his background. Other than that, I am focusing on “Home” Keirr. Now let’s get into it!
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What I will be going over:
- What we know of Keirr’s history
- How he suddenly went from sweet and family oriented. Then turned into an egotistical jerk off, who stopped prioritizing family.
- A little on his personality
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- Early History
In Keirrs early history, we know that he was born around the middle of Kiques 1st comic, Asmundr. And let me tell you, this fool has changed designs like.. 5 different times.
Ahem, anyway. Keirr is shown as the more “mature” one, compared to Rhov. In Asmundr, it is shown that he is a “decent” hunter, while him and his brother work on deer hides. He is even more reasonably suspicious than Rhov, when Jahla enters the scene and tackles Rhovanion.
When the war between Ranulfr and the Asmundr pack hit, Keirr was pretty useful and followed instructions well. Near the end of the war, you could tell he was tired of having to kill the Shield wolves, but he continued to kill. And really, that about sums up Keirrs story in Asmundr. Obviously, the first comic wasn’t about the offspring, like Home is. So I can’t really follow up with much, in “Asmundr” Keirr.
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- Read along breakdown:
Now, we’ll be going over “Home” Keirr.
Two years had passed since “Asmundr”, so I feel the rest of this information does not qualify for Keirrs early history section.
Too begin.. Keirr and his family are dropped off on Aedra, they are not given a time limit of how long this lasts. All they know is, father will return at some point. Until then, they all make do and continue with their lives.
Keirr is still shown to be the more mature / family oriented guy. As everyone else decides to explore Aedra and see what they can find, Keirr decides to stay back with the Asmundr pack. Keirr at least retains his personality, for now, from Asmundr.( Page 8. Can also be seen on page 104. )
Then came the time when Zilas died, Keirr was the one to discover him first. Of course, he took it pretty hard considering that he grew up with Zilas and saw him as a brother. Of course, a lot of those crucial bonding moments us readers need are shown “off-screen”. It was never truly shown how close Keirr and Zilas were. ( Page 127 - 128 )
Fast forward to the time he discovered Aira, this is when things get juicy. For a while, Keirr was not Kiques priority and he did not make a real, solid appearance for a few chapters, up until page 138. This is when Kique decides Keirr needs a fucked up “Home” style arc next.
Keirr is seen carrying a torch, probably out mourning his loss I’d imagine.. Otherwise, idk why tf he is out late, or seen / helping anyone bury Zilas? This was the time when night beasts were a thing. Anyway! He is caught off guard by a voice, who comes from Aira, hiding. Keirr still retains his suspicious behavior, like in Asmundr and asks her to come closer, for the fire he is carrying. To his surprise, he is greeted with a badly wounded dog. Reasonably, he asks Aira if she was attacked by a feline, probably trying to see if she is the reason Zilas is dead. Quickly, his suspicions are cleared and he offers her help. ( Page 138 - 139 )
Suddenly, in video game reloading fashion, Keirr spawns at camp with Rhov and Jahla. Where the hell did Aira go? Anyway, I like that Keirr called out Rhov and Jahla for trying to throw blame around on anyone they could, for Zilas’s death. And then looking down at them, like a disappointed father. Thankfully, he is still retaining his personality at this point. I have to say though, it is interesting that Keirr decides to care for Aira alone and not bring her back to the Asmundr pack. Knowing his suspicious behavior, this might have been the better option for him. ( Page 140 - 141 )
We are then shown Keirr and Aira at her den. Keirr is definitely shown as more able bodied than Aira and attempts to help her up, when he realizes she can’t make it up on her own. His so far suspicious behavior remains intact, when he realizes her den has an odd amount of space for one dog; especially one of her size. He even tries to wiggle in some questions for her, but to no avail. He leaves Aira with supplies and is even kind enough to give her a knife and hide a hare nearby for her. ( Page 151 - 152 )
A few hours had passed, seemingly it looks like Aira tracked Keirr down and sat down with him. Keirr then opens up a little bit about Zilas and his family. The odd part for me is that, he is shown to be a family oriented guy, you’d imagine he’d want to mourn with his family? But I suppose he would rather want to mourn alone, for some odd reason. Kique tends to do a lot of important things “off-screen.” Anyway, instead of going back to his family, he chooses to mourn with a stranger. Which to me is slightly out of character of him. ( Page 160 - 161 )
A day or so later passes and suddenly Keirr is an expert in physical therapy. This scene from him looks promising, until he joins up with Whispervale. More on that later. Keirr helps Aira jump over a log and help regain her mobility. Then he decides it’s time to go back to his family, in the middle of such a primary moment? Aira then runs up and kisses him to stop him from leaving. Then he subtly gloats at her about how he is her “only chance of survival”, I mean what a nice thing to say lol. I feel this is when Keirr starts acting out of character, but it isn’t super noticeable yet. I’m also not quite sure why he said she couldn’t join the pack, Kainan would have saw no problem with it? Then he contradicts himself by saying he’ll continue taking care of her, but can’t leave his family to care for a stranger, all in the same breath? What? lol. ( Page 197 - 199 )
Keirr then finally discovers that the Asmundr pack is no longer there. Also, it’s kind of funny how it foreshadows the reindeer being dead in the fourth panel, but magically they’re still alive when Ronja gives them to the Deer humpers. Not only this, but it’s way too soon for the Reindeer to leave behind bones? Or why didn’t Keirr notice them while he visited the territory? Another plot hole lol. ( Page 226 )
Then Keirr suddenly decides he wants to go back to Aira, even after being a subtle dick to her. He notices that she is no longer in the vicinity and begins looking for her instead. Contradicting himself again, because he just told her he wouldn’t leave his family for a stranger. So why does he choose to go after Aira instead and not start looking for his family? Hm. ( Page 235 )
At least Keirr was nice enough to go searching for her.. But he comes across her re-possessing herself with the monster she was previously. Aira explains that she can’t survive without it. Keirr added salt to that wound by saying previously, he was her only chance of survival and then dipping out on her. Reasonably though, Keirr stops her from completing the ritual. Once he is able to pull her away from the spirit, he comforts her and makes sure to tell her that he is here for her. Boy what a damn 180 that happens in the future! Keirr then discovers Aira’s background and what she use to be, they share a tender moment together and then apologize for their previous actions. ( Probably the one and only time you’ll see that in this comic. ) Then Keirr suddenly decides she can join the pack, because it was always an option, Keirr was just being a dick. And with that, Keirr invites her to look for his family with him. Aira is able to offer some advice, as she has previously traveled the entire island in her beast form. ( Page 267 - 276 )
Here comes the total 180 of Keirr, when Aira shows him the way to Whispervale. Suddenly Keirr spouts out “We should ask them to join their pack!” Wtf?? Even Aira asks him why, just ask them if they have seen his family. Then for some reason Keirr wants to use Whispervale for their resources before continuing, but in the same breath wants to join their Tribe? None of what he just said to Aira made sense to me. Obviously Aira is uncomfortable, but Keirr doesn’t give a shit lol. Once Whispervale approaches them, Keirr asks if they can join their Tribe. Keirr then attempts to gain sympathy from Fraujar, but rightfully he gets none. Fraujar makes a statement to Keirr that the health of his tribe is everything to him, and he needs more from them than what they have shown Fraujar. Fraujar then assigns Felidae to get them acquainted with everything. Not sure what Keirr or Kique are thinking in this moment, as this is a total 180 from Keirr and his plans.( Page 311 - 314 )
Time passes for the pair and of course Aira asks Keirr when they are leaving Whispervale. Seems she’s the one that adopted Keirrs old personality, cause she’s the only one eager enough to go find them. Of course Keirr shuts her down with a bullshit excuse. “We need stability!” Not sure why he suddenly is against his own idea of searching for his family and staying with Whispervale. I mean what else did he expect trying to find them? Aira is obviously uncomfortable joining a Tribe she did not want, but again, Keirr doesn’t care. Finally their right of passage comes and Aira is the first one to participate. Aira is once again expressing she is UNCOMFORTABLE, before her trial begins. Keirr tries to reassure her, but beyond face value, Aira is stuck there because of his dumbass, unwilling at that. Of course Aira doesn’t do very well in her trial, Fraujar then says her character can be improved, but her structure is… Not up to parr. Then Keirr is all like “Oh she just needs to be trained!” Homie, did you not listen to anything Aira has said previously? She was BORN like this, she can’t just magically work out and get better. That’s not how disabilities work, idiot. ( And would you imagine it, Kique is actually an ableist and no wonder Airas character was handled like this! Go on! Read Stazz / Zirvasitys documents on her relationship with the kind hearted author! ) ( Page 326 - 331 )
Tch, anyway. Aira is obviously disappointed, she told Keirr and even expressed to Keirr that she did not want to join this tribe. I would imagine being in her shoes, she feels unheard, but tried to please Keirr anyway, only to fail. Then of course came Keirrs time and suddenly we’re shown a flashback between Keirr and his father. Of course, this was never shown in Asmundr, or Home. Suddenly Kainan and Keirr found time to actually give a shit about reindeer behavior. ANYWAY. Keirr is oddly confident in larping, how did the confident, son of Kainan, shield wolf killer end up in this situation lmfao. Of course, to nobodies surprise, Keirr nails the trial, he still loses the fight against Raun and everyone is buddy - buddy. ( Page 332 - 336 )
The next scene that follows, we have Raun shouting out at Keirr, saying he looks good and can pass as a guard if he keeps it up. Tbh, this seemed friendly at first, but watching the way Raun interacts with Keirr in the future, makes me feel like Raun is the neighborhood creep lol. Aira then comes out of the hut, her scars completely healed. Keirr is at least somewhat more supportive in this page, but future Keirr is nothing but a prick. ( Page 345 )
Fast forward to chapter 10, we finally see Keirr again, because all of chapter nine was about dumbass Rogio. Ahem. We actually see some progress from Keirr, at least keeping his word to himself. But the odd part is, he brought Raun and not Aira? First of all, Keirr hardly knows Raun and Aira understood the whole situation a lot better than Raun. Soooo.. Odd choice in bringing Raun. ( Would like to add really quick, I know Fraujar assigned Raun to follow Keirr, but why tf would Aira not come either? ) Raun is more dead weight anyway, because he’s being a giant wussy about being in that area anyway. Not even allowing Keirr to scope out the area, completely. And Keirr is just laughing about it, like cmon man, I would imagine you would want to potentially comb through the area, not cater to some giant wuss like Raun. ( Page 458 - 460 )
And to nobodies surprise, the next scene that involves Keirr is a flirty Raun. He tries to encourage Keirr to let loose and have some fun, which would have been cool if it had stayed as a friendship kind of thing. But yet again, Kique force feeds us another MxM ship. At one point, if Kique had kept up with the Rhovanion x Rogio arc that he was hinting at, at some point. All of his main male characters would have been gay. Which is obviously unrealistic, not impossible! But unrealistic. Honestly, I take Raun as a fucking creep. You hardly know anything about Keirr and yet, here he is trying to make flirty gestures and tell Keirr he’s avoiding him. As a woman, to my fellow women, any time a man points out that you’ve been avoiding him, a very creepy vibe showers over us. ( Page 478 - 479 )
Then to nobodies surprise again, Keirr is suddenly able to pin Raun, even though Raun was seen to be a lot stronger than Keirr in his trial. Aaaaand of course, Keirr reciprocates Rauns flirting by responding to him in a sexual manner, “I’m the lead sarv now.” However, in the future Keirr becomes more of an asshole at Raun from this point. ( Page 480 )
Ah now this scene just pisses me off and makes me want to throw Keirr off a cliff. Aira is seen laying around, presumably missing Keirr, I’m sure. Or, just wondering where he went. When she catches sight of him returning, she is understandably excited to see him. The one guy that helped her out with everything, in her worst times. The one guy that made her stop from becoming a beast again.. Shits on her entirely. Eyup, you heard it right. Apparently, getting people totally dependent on you and then being a giant asshole, is something Kique favors doing. Aira of course asks Keirr where he went, Keirr is suddenly acting like the biggest ass to Aira. Which tbh, he has no right doing. HE is the REASON she is there, in the first place. She has EXPRESSED to him NUMEROUS times she is uncomfortable with the tribe, but yet, he took her cries for help and rolled them up and tossed them like newspaper. What a god damn jerk Keirr is. And of course, Aira is understandably upset. Keirr basically told her to fuck off and go make her own friends. Even tho a few chapters ago, he was seen cuddling and holding her, telling her he was there for her. FUCK you Keirr. ( Page 481 - 482 )
In the next scene, Keirr then wants to play a pity party for himself, sitting in the rain, all sad looking. Like he didn’t cause this whole situation for himself. Nothing told this jackass to join Whispervale and stop searching for his family, he did it all himself! So really, why tf is he sitting there acting all depressed? Get off your ass and go look for them! Nobody told you that you couldn’t? Honestly, he’s lucky that Aira still gives a damn about him, even after he treated her like utter dog shit. Then, while Keirr is acting like a baby, Zilas makes an appearance and Keirrs dumbass thinks it’s a grand idea to talk to the ghoul. It’s kind of interesting to me how Zilas is still mostly recognizable.. You would think by now he’d peel his skin off, you know, like what Fjordor said that ghouls do. Zilas has been dead for quite a while. Aira then witnesses all of this and comes to his aid, banishing the ghoul. Keirr then suddenly gets all butt hurt about it and snarls at Aira. Okay, I get it, you’re mourning dude, but I would have figured you’d have some logic / sense to know that Zilas.. IS NOT ZILAS! Keirr even asked the ghoul what he could do, like the damn thing can talk back to him. Honestly, Aira should have just let the ghoul tear Keirr up to shreds and save us all the drama lmfao. And one last thing, when Keirr says he saw that ghoul before, but didn’t recognize it. GIRL WHERE? ( Page 515 - 517 )
Suddenly, Keirr is the master of establishing the differences in the ghouls sounds and can still hear Zilas. Also, when Aira mentions that she lived with the Meteor Tribe, really that opened up way too many questions about her that I’d like to ask. But anyway. Aira gives some speech to Keirr about how MT basically fucked around and found out with the spirits. Then a conversation falls into place about burning Zilas’s body on MT land, which ew, his body im sure would be pretty rotted away by now. But this also brings me to another question, what are the ghouls made of? Are they a manifestation of the soul? They quite obviously can’t be their former bodies, because if that were the case, they wouldn’t even find Zilas’s body, as he would have risen and been a ghoul. Another fat question for this comic and I’m not even sure if this was talked about? ( I’ll be honest with you, I forget if this part was talked about. ) ( Page 518 - 519 )
And here we go with the sexual tension between these two idiots, Keirr and Raun. Raun is a full on creep already, but really Keirr is the big asshole here. Previously, Raun asked him out, as he mentioned before the trip, to Felidae and Aira. So instead of.. Idk, not leading Raun on, what does Keirr do? Hugs him and shares a tender moment with him. Oh trust me guys, it gets fucking worse from this point. And I will continue to say that Raun is a creep, but even he doesn’t deserve to be led on. I also don’t remember Raun asking Keirr out, but I’ll just assume that was yet another important off screen moment. This is also yet another rushed, no chemistry ship crammed down our throats by Kique. ( Page 526 )
So finally we get to the part where they eventually burn Zilas’s body, Aira asks Keirr if he wants to say something and of course! Nothing. It’s almost like any time someone dies in this comic, proper funerals don’t exist. Granted, Keirr just said “I love you, brother.” But when given the opportunity before hand, he was like eh, I don’t have shit to say lmao. ( Page 528 )
Fast forward to a year, I mean 3 months later ( in Keirrs arc ). Of course, in another off screen moment, supposedly Keirr and the others returned to Whispervale and told Fraujar what happened. In my opinion, I feel like some punishment should have been bestowed upon them, or at least show Fraujar being upset with them for doing this behind his back. It would have shown more character from Fraujar and also shown Keirr getting his ass chewed out, by bringing all this unnecessary drama and bullshit into Whispervale. Keirr is also being another nosy ass, listening in on his Jarls discussion. Within the midst of this, Ferah makes her appearance. Keirr miraculously still remembers her and asks what the hell happened. I almost forgot that Keirr and Ferah met previously, because they literally didn’t say anything to each other lol. ( Page 566 - 567 )
Oh boy, here comes the cringiest scene that involves Keirr. Keirr steps away for a moment, after watching Ferah, once Felidae walks in. Ferah wakes up and of course is spooked, cause she doesn’t know wtf is going on. Somehow they both remember each others names, though I don’t remember them ever sharing their names to each other previously. Anyway, Keirr asks Ferah questions about Roamer and Ferah tells him that Ronja and Roamer are at MT. Of course, Keirr gets excited and quite frankly I’m surprised he didn’t smell them before, because Keirr was literally in their territory a few months back, but whatever! Ferah then tells Keirr they’ve both been strong and bla bla. Keirr of course tries to take off, being this annoying problem child as usual. If I were Fraujar I would be so annoyed with Keirr lmfao. Of course you can’t just take off like that, from your tribe, which YOU wanted to join. Raun stops Keirr from running off and what follows after is a recipe for fucking disaster lol. Keirr ends up kissing Raun, further leading the king of creeps on. Keirr KNOWS that Raun likes him, so apparently kissing him out of emotional excitement is a totally normal thing to do. Especially when you know that person has a CRUSH on you and yet you don’t reciprocate it! No, no, it’s totally okay to lead on someone who has feelings for you! ( Page 572 - 576 )
Damn near 100 pages later and we finally see Keirr again. Course, nothing has changed with him. Raun and Keirr are seen in a hut together, Raun is basically asking Keirr what they are, because I mean.. They touched tongues, lmfao. But that was because of Keirr throwing himself at Raun, so really I don’t blame Raun for asking. Now in Keirrs defense, I don’t know why tf Raun is grabbing Keirr like that, when asking him a question, so I mean Keirrs response is a little valid, when he yells at Raun. But the blame still lies with Keirr, because this whole time he has led Raun on, but at the same time Raun has been a giant freaking creep bag as well. They are then interrupted when Keirr walks out and runs into Fraujar, standing there, needing to talk to Keirr. ( Page 640 - 641 )
A few pages later, we see a non emotional reunion between Keirr, Ronja and Roamer. I mean god, all of their expressions are so god damn bland. Y’all haven’t seen each other in months, but let’s just 1,000 yard stare at each other, BEAUTIFUL. ( Page 645 - 646 )
Fast waaaay forwards, to more important scenes involving Keirr. After Rhov and Keirr’s reunion, we are graced with a scene where Rhov and Feaf are telling Keirr that MT might get attacked… This fucking idiot. So instead of putting this whole thing on top priority, Keirr just brushes it off and is like.. I’Ll TeLl FrAuJaR iN tHe MoRnInG. Dumbass, how do you know if they are attacking MT? Feaf literally said they might come to Whispervale? How does Keirr know they aren’t literally waiting in ambush, that very moment? HE DOESNT. So instead of putting his family top priority, like he probably should’ve, he decides to talk about his relationship status. What a great fucking family member / tribe member he is. On top of this, “figuring himself out.” I think you know where you stand, buddy. This whole scene though, Keirr was an idiot. He doesn’t even show the slightest BIT of concern for his family / MT. Let’s act depressed af, because he didn’t know where everyone was, but as soon as he finds them and they could potentially be in danger, ah, let’s wait to warn others till morning! ( Page 788 - 791 )
Finally Keirr and Whispervale show up, but yall are too damn late already. ( Page 808 )
And that about sums up my read along breakdown!
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- Personality Breakdown
So looking over Keirrs personality traits really gives me some mixed feelings. To be honest, I can’t say that he is independent. Not anymore at least, he was the one that decided he wanted to join Whispervale, he even went against his own independent idea of searching for his family. So for me, he is neither logical, independent OR family - oriented.
A few of these other positive personality traits really haven’t been tested thru the fire, so I can’t really say what he is or isn’t. Mainly because Kique does not focus much on Keirr, like he does with the jackasses of MT and former MT members.
To put it all in perspective though, Keirr was a pretty solid character in Asmundr and in the beginning of Home. Unfortunately, he too fell victim of Kiques weird kinks / fans and became a whole contradiction to himself and his own personality traits.
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And that is the end ladies and gentlemen! Hope you enjoy :)
- Zombiee
#kique nordin#kique7#asmundr#bad dog comics#asmundrcomic#asmundrhome#comic review#comic#homeasmundr#homecomic#keirr#Aira#rain#Whispervale#kique n
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this spread is very interesting. a clear nod for elbaf and maybe we can find some clues for future arc.
thanks to @kathitah for this colored spread.
we are now nearing the end of the egghead arc in the manga. brogy and dory already appeared to lead them to elbaf the last island before raftel. and probably the last road ponegliff will be there. also, the much awaited reunion of jaguar d saul and nico robin.
i know oda most of the time put clues on his cover spreads and chapters for future arcs and maybe this spread will tell us something.
notice that zoro's face is serious but it looks somber/sad. among the boys in this spread, he is the only one who is not looking happy here. his head down like he is contemplating with a frown.
I've been thinking for a while now that oda is saving zoro to have a major conflict with their captain/luffy.
their fight during whiskey peak when luffy thought zoro killed everyone without a reason (not knowing it was a setup, and the people were BW agents) was not a major clash between them. it was done for comedic purposes and there was no emotional conflict involved.
we are already done with usopp and sanji. they got their very emotional and major clash with luffy.
1st Usopp duel during water 7/enies lobby arc: the heartbreaking decision for going merry. usopp fight with luffy. usopp left the crew.
2nd Sanji duel during the zou/whole cake island arc: sanji left the crew due to his family's background and big mom threat. sanji's fight with luffy and luffy not fighting him back. still believing sanji would return to them.
the key factor why these 2 duels were so heartbreaking is due to the emotional conflict that the characters were going through.
zoro is seen as the most loyal to luffy. never betrayed him and will follow luffy to the end. and if luffy orders zoro to kill anyone, he will do it without a doubt. he is the vice captain, second in command not even once he questions luffy's action.
in one episode post-enies lobby when luffy is happy to know usopp wants to rejoin the crew, we saw a glimpse of zoro "angered" towards luffy almost confrontational. he acted as a serious vice captain/second-in-command and reminds everyone they are pirates they have a code to follow.
luffy should act as a captain and let usopp admit his mistake and say sorry before letting him back to the crew. zoro even threatens to leave the team if they accept usopp easily as if nothing happened.
just putting my tinfoil hat on.
so many things going on now in op due to gorosei, the void century reveal etc... but i have a feeling that there'll be a plot in the future that will put zoro and luffy's bond to the test. a serious conflict between them. they will get their major emotional fight. a duel like with sanji and usopp.
i dont think zoro will betray luffy but my theory is that there will be a plot that zoro will not agree to luffy's decision/action that will lead to a duel. im debating if their conflict will have zoro temporarily leave the crew just like what happened to usopp and sanji. of course that conflict will be resolved after many chapters and zoro will return to the crew.
i thought wano will be a perfect setup for zoro and luffy to have a major clash (cos you know land of samurai, zoro's lineage etc) but wano has too many moving pieces and storyline to cover so my speculation that during elbaf arc zoro and luffy will have a duel.
elbaf is very fitting if you think about it the land of the giants. land of warriors. oda is a writer and he plotted things ahead of time so luffy versus zoro on elbaf is not a far fetch theory.
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
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Applications are Closed!
Holy cow, we finally made it - and what a grand venture this has been! So many new faces, so many new friends, so many questions and answers! I've learned so much about the people that have come here, even before anyone hops onboard the server!
I'm so thankful for the kindness, grace, curiosity, interest and patience you have all granted me. I have wanted to make this roleplay since I was very much a child too young to be on the internet, and to see that it might actually be something - even significant, at that? - it blows my mind without hesitation.
And just the same, I am thankful for everyone that faced the bravery of coming off anon and talking to me in asks and replies! I'm so glad to have some familiar faces in my feed so early - and I'm sure others have come to recognize and respect you too!
Now, with the soft gushy stuff over, I have 3 gifts to present to you!
i. Application Replies!
Some were multiple choice, so I gathered those together to put in review:
The arcs question made me & fiancee smile, because it stayed pretty consistent, with the most people having read TPB and the fewest having read ASC. On the contrary, I was not expecting so many people to have been rping in the kitty scene for over 10 years! I was also surprised at how many inexperienced people we got - and how filled out the middle was! I'm entertained by the near perfect split on wanting staff roles, & how few people chose Leader on the rank question.
Most importantly, I want to point out the question regarding being placed on a list for future loners and kittens. 98.4% is roughly 59 people, dude! We're going to have a robust list of people waiting for such openings, so I won't have to worry about inadequate responses just yet - much to my relief!
ii. A sneak-peak at our server setup!
I won't be giving out any more than this!
III. A Summitclan Playlist!
To get ourselves in the Summitclan spirit, I put together a little playlist! I'll be making a much longer one at a later date - but this works great for writing up a post or brainstorming characters!
The songs are ordered to flow nicely into one another, but they sound great shuffled too!
In conclusion...
🎄🕎🕯🕊 HAPPY HOLIDAYS🌹🌽✡️🎁
Get on your best jammies, snuggle up into something warm and put on your favorite music... spend time with the people you love & the things you love to do. Remember all this past year has brought to you, and know the good you've put into the world will return twicefold to you. Be it snowing, sleeting, raining or sunny where you are - be it arctic or balmy - you are here, alive and loved very deeply. You are someone to be celebrated, and you make people proud each and every day to be your friend.
Admin Jingo may be a bit absent due to family shenanigans, but feel free to send asks or reply to posts!
I love you all very much! As a reminder before I go...
Make sure your main Discord is accepting Friend Requests and DMs by December 29th (Friday).
If you get a friend request from someone named "Jingo-tastic", that's me!
Once the link has been sent to you, you'll have 1 week to heed it. If 3 days pass without a reply, I'll send a bump msg to your secondary!
You will be given access to the Summitclan Lore on January 1st, 2024 at midnight EST.
Roleplaying begins on January 8th.
Character creation/editing ends on January 15th.
Now that the grand opening has closed, the only way to join SCC is by way of newborn kittens or loners coming in from outside.
And one more time:
Thank you! ☃️
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20 questions for fic writers
Sures, I'll bite @the-bar-sinister!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
49 on my TheTentacleCommander main
2 on SerpentineAndWet
1 on SoftTentacledJazz (which I will get back to!)
and 1 on Waymaiden Jelecia (shelved for now)
so in total: 53
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
471,114 in total spanning all accounts the huge bulk being under TTC.
3. What fandoms do you write for?
Resident Evil. I'm very much a ride or die writer when it comes to fandom longevity lol
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Electronic Brawling (the Nem/Reader fic I wrote over a weekend, 322)
Tentacles Are -Not- Toys (Until They Are) (the Nem/Jill I wrote over a weekend, 288)
To Teach a (b)oy (the femdom Jill/Nem fic I wrote cause I wanted to just be as kinky as possible about it, 138)
Need. Excite. Take. (a morning warm up I did for a Tyrantfucker chat, 130)
Teaching the Devil (my 'serious' drabble that turned into a longfic/1st part of a myth arc around Nem/Jill and all the whatifs that could happen, 105)
*yes, I'm aware the smut is what sells lol*
5. Do you respond to comments?
Yes! I love receiving them and answer, especially in depth ones.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Ah, ha haha this one's tough. My main ship (Nemesis/Jill) is in my hands intentionally angsty so many do end on that note. If I had to chose it'd be a tie between
After The Fall - Where Nemesis *really* struggles between caring for her and wanting to hurt the absolute fuck out of her.
Necromancy - It's hard surreal/dreamy on purpose (also a fic staple of mine) that ends with Nemesis having done all he has to make Jill 'happy' is so deeply unhappy with himself in the end - but still continues to perpetuate the lotus eater world he's crafted for them.
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Where the wild things... - a really hard surreal dream fic of where Nemmy's head was at halfway through the 3rd arc. He has such an idealized, near childlike hope which is big for a generally angry and resentful creature. He clearly wants the world with Jill, where the chase benefits them both but a lot of the edges - like her own traumas - are shaved off. It's telling his dream was inspired by a children's book about dealing with anger, fear and finding/seeking comfort. But it's happy in the sense he gets that comfort he wanted so badly throughout his creation, and that when he awakens, it's with him now determined to reunite with her and their offspring.
(con't after the cut)
8. Do you get hate on fics?
Not really? When I was on ff.net I got snippy comments (I was a young babby then) but looking back it was just what we'd call today fanpol wanking to wank. These days I assume ppl are aware what I'm about so if I were to garner hate, I'd just laugh and write Nemmy fucking Jill even harder in unfortunate places. I can always go darker, kids.
9. Do you write smut?
*stares at the camera deeply* Yesss? All the smut? They tend to range from soft heartwarming lovemaking, to conflicted should we be doing this, to rapey horrors, just weird monstery shit and then the kink. Just kinky shit all over the place. Very character study leaning.
10. Do you write crossovers?
Nah. I already have a lot in my head just handling one franchise!
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not to my knowledge but with the way I write it's gunna be a pretty fun time in pulling off imitating my voice as I sound high on my own fumes about a decidedly rare pair no one seems to wanna admit liking rofl That and all the formatting hell
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Yea! In Russian.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Nah, I'm too much of a prima donna to share billing /jk I just don't like collabing unless it's for an rp but I'm also never say never about such things!
14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?
*stares even harder at the camera* I...I'm the longest running one trick pony about having a parasitized Tyrant try to not murder with prejudice the most well trained person on the RE cast I make no secret about this :3
Also let me note my other most liked ships I have written on: Weskertine, Creva, and the Ada and Carlos tour. Valenfield ig (I do truly like em but they aren't as exciting to write for in comparison but I indeed do write them sometimes). Note these are for canons, I have loads more favs but they are ocs.
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
I have like 15+ wips in my drafts. I don't wanna pick one cause it's just painful to look at them begging to be finished. The ones on my account I have every intent to finish. Mostly because they are related to the AU and it wouldn't make sense if I didn't finish them.
16. What are your writing strengths?
The sex lol (and being weird with it). I've been told my imagery and word play in general is stellar.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
I feel my dialogue could be better and it's where I struggle (unless it's my muses Nem, Jill, Trent and Zeus as they are the ones I've written for the most in fic/rps) so I always try to improve on that always.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
Don't wanna. I tried, hated not knowing if the language was correct (looking at you, Carlos) so just did ye old << >> to imply he's not speaking English.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Resident Evil. I am nothing if not persistent. (like my first fic was like in 2005-6? I think?)
20. Favorite fic you’ve written?
Again another tie but it's a 3 way *eyebrow wiggle*!
A Slumber Recalled, A Devil Held - this was my 'can I do something soft but pained at the same time' fic. It's a revisit of the time they finally after 20+ chapters did the do, and it's from her pov instead. A lot of re contextualizing and 'wow both of these people have baggage and are doing this not out of love but to feel heard and it *hurts*'. Proved to myself that I can write something hard hitting without a single cry of physical pain.
St. Valentine - where what was to be a simple Valentine's Day fic became a fun sacrilegious love poem from a very not at all obsessive Tyrant and then had an added chapter of the reverse side of Jill sounding mentally not all there almost fragmented in her feelings towards what this was between them. So much enjoyable word play was had.
Necromancy - discussed above but has my brand of word play, leaning on the fourth wall/formatting/surreal and increasing uncomfortable.
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All my writer mutes, have at! @damadisangue @naerwenia @coiled-dragon @s-dei @lmshady @azulas-daddy-kink @depraveddove @unchartedperils @sweet7simple @goth-automaton @dekujin @katophoenix
(If I missed one of ya or you do write also join in :D)
#thetentaclecommander writhes and speaks#thetentaclecommander eats reblog bait#also mind the tags on my stuff some of them are spicy#and some of them are violently *spicy*
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Ultra's Ramblings- Pokemon Legends: Necrozma
As of me writing this, we’re only one week away from the recently-announced Pokemon Presents presentation, along with the Nintendo DIrect Partner Showcase airing tomorrow. Given how the Switch is basically nearing the end of its lifespan, part of me has a sneaky suspicion that the next console could be revealed at this Partner Showcase. The reason why any of this has anything to do with Pokemon is because after the way Scarlet and Violet ended with its last wave of DLC, there might be anymore big main series games planned for the Switch… or any major 1st party titles at this point. After 7 years of chugging along, it kinda feels like the Switch’s run is almost over.
Now that we’re possibly seeing the end of the Switch, it might be possible that the next Pokemon game being cooked up by Gamefreak could be the first one for whatever this new console could be. Now, it should be absolutely stated that I feel like TPC and Gamefreak should really slow down on their development. People have already been through this. This is the largest media franchise in the world that we’re talking about, they’re already making loads of money, and they really shouldn’t rush these damn things out without taking some more time in the oven.
If there’s only one (and I do mean one) idea that, despite how both parties have been guilty of rushing the Pokemon games out, I want the Pokemon Company and Gamefreak to make and give more time towards… it’s this
Given how Pokemon Legends: Arceus was one of the more beloved titles in the franchise’s recent memory, it’d make sense for fans to ask for another game like it to evolve on the concepts presented in Hisui. Plus, we haven’t seen either the Ultra Beasts or Ultra Space in a while, so it’d be a great way to bring those two aspects of the greater Pokemon multiverse back.
Now, a Legends game set within Ultra Space isn’t the most common idea for a sequel game, since people have also asked for games set within ancient Johto or Unova, along with how a setting this futuristic and alien wouldn’t fit with the whole gimmick of the last game (I.E. going back into the ancient past to a time where people aren;t used to catching and being around Pokemon). However, using the Ultra games from Gen 7 allows some insight that could help as a work around.
The various dimensions of the Ultra Beasts seen so far are hostile, untamed, and largely unexplored beyond the areas that the player can go in USUM. That sounds just like how the different areas of Hisui were in Arceus
The Ultra Recon Squad have stated that the idea of using Pokeballs is new to them, similar to how the people of Hisui were only starting out with them as well.
With all of that said, I’ve been thinking of ideas and mechanics that this game could not only take from Arceus, but also some improvements from it as well. I’m not sure if a future Legends game could do some of the new ideas presented here (Hell, that extends to future mainline Pokemon games in general), but the thought is nice.
Parts of the Ultra Recon Squad being split into two separate teams (Similar to the Diamond and Pearl Clans from Arceus)
Have the player be an actual character with a story arc and a personality, instead of being a blank slate (Maybe someone like Lillie or some sort of descendent of hers joining the Ultra Recon Squad?). And that could be extended to the story being written better and more involved
Give quite a few UBs their own Ultra Burst forms, just like with Ultra Necrozma. Alongside that, have them be boss battles in the same manner as the Nobles from Arceus, along with the Totem Pokemon from Sun and Moon (And those were already ‘Mons filled with energy from the Ultra Wormholes, so why not?)
Either have the starters be Ultra Variants of already-existing Pokemon, or have them be Poipole and Naganedel (along with two new starter lines to round out the trio)
Have the Pokedex be a mix of Ultra Beasts (The 11 that we already know, alongside a whole bunch of new ones), Ultra Variants of existing Pokemon (Probably “UVs”?), and some regular Pokemon that could be found within the Ultra Wormholes (USUM already made that canon. And maybe a good chunk of returning Pokemon could be Ultra Variants)
Have a level-scaling system present. Any of the area could adjust to the level of a player’s team, from literally just getting their starter, all the way to having a late-game team of fully-evolved ‘Mons
Bring back abilities, along with expanding on them for the Ultra Beasts so they don’t just have Beast Boost as their only ability
Probably make the Z-Crystals like the Plates from Arceus, not only having them play out their original purpose of letting the player do Z-Moves, but also play a much more important role, gameplay-wise. Also have the Z-Moves act faster and more like the Agile and Strong Style moves from Arceus
Have Ultra Wormholes act in the same way as the Time-Space Distortions from Arceus, bringing in Pokemon from other parts of the game that aren’t normally found in the area that the wormhole popped up in
Bring in the Pokemon Storage System from SwSh and SV, mainly to avoid the grind of going to the Pasture from Arceus multiple times
The player is allowed to do anything in any order. Again, level-scaling is a huge element of that
Voice acting… maybe? Seriously, how has that not been added at this point?
Will any of this ever happen? Probably not, but it feels nice to explain my thoughts on the matter. As much as I wish Gamefreak allowed more development time on game-making, I’ve always had a soft spot for Gen 7, especially with the concept of the Ultra Beasts. As unlikely as this entire idea is, it’s the one idea for a Pokemon game that I wish will happen someday. Maybe we’ll see it be announced next week? Until then, I guess.
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Chapter 19 has been released! It came out later than usual, but it did make it. Inside, we see Danny getting stitched up and getting some much-needed advice from his dad.
Wednesday will be a double feature! I'll be posting chapter 20 for Passion and my Valentine's Core Exchange fanfic! Well, the first chapter of it, anyway! So, even though Passion is ending soon, you can look forward to updates for the new fic to tide you over until the 1st of June, when I'll be doing regular Bittersweet Future updates for Arc Three.
There's still time to get on the Passion train before it ends! Need some convincing? Have a sample of the story below:
The sting of the open air on his wounds kept him grounded. Every time he wanted to slip away from the present moment of anxiety and worry, retreat to some place where the last hour hadn’t happened, he’d breathe. The muscles between his collarbone and lower ribs stretched and flexed with every inhaled breath, skin pulled farther apart and then squeezed together by the pumping of his lungs. He’d laid down on top of his bed, over a towel, and waited. The cuts were too deep, the area too broad, for him to stitch himself. Jazz was coming. His sister was downstairs, pretending to study, helping maintain the sense of normalcy needed to convince their parents he was uninjured. His blood cooled a sticky combination of bright red and green, webs of ectoplasm stretching along the surface of the wounds, trying to pull them closed. It worked much better than his human blood’s clotting factor, flexible enough to move with his breathing, but tight enough to continually pull the frayed edges of his torn flesh closer with each passing second. It would make stitching easier. It always did.
Still, if he tried to raise his arms—twist to stitch himself—he’d just tear and re-open everything. So, he waited. He listened to the slugging of the water through the house’s pipes, the pattering of the branches against his window, felt the slimy sensation of blood leaking down his ribs, and waited. He was laying too flat for vertigo to harm him, even as he started spinning slowly while laying completely still, but if Jazz could hurry the fuck up, that’d be great. He hissed as he flexed a little to raise his head and look at the time. It’d only been another minute; it just felt like an eternity.
“ Sorry Danny,” the door closed with a quiet tap, “I had to wait for them to go back into the lab.”
“ No worries, not like I could go anywhere.” He heard her hissed intake of breath, could imagine the horrified looking expression to accompany it. “It smells like a butcher shop in here, and I look like an incompletely done up rack of ribs, but all of that is just dramatic window dressing. I’ll be fine.”
“ Where’s the first aid kit?”
“ By my desk, it was a bitch and a half getting it from under the bathroom sink. We should hide it someplace that requires less bending and reaching.” He waved his hand vaguely in the direction of his desk chair, where he’d placed the plastic box, and focused on his breathing. The room was spinning more, and the feeling of hanging near the ceiling was kicking in.
#Danny Phantom#Danny Phantom Fanfiction#Passion and Plasmatic Plague#PaPP#Balshumet's Baragouin#Chapter Nineteen
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Silver Talks AniManga (06/08/23)
"huh why is zom ep4 here wasn't that last week's?" yeah but it got delayed to monday.
"oh ok. what about ep5 of it then?" it got delayed for a week, unfortunately they seem to be having production issues 😔
also FINALLY after months of waiting they added gokurakugai on M+ so got to read that
green - new series/new to me
Anime
Pokemon Horizons Ep16
the conclusion of this mini arc and the final member of the starter owner trio AND dot's first battle. it was a nice episode, looked better than the average one, tho not as much as I expected it would from what mega said but my fault for getting my hopes too high. dot finally told riko she's gurumin too (since riko is a damn fool) so it's good that's out of the way now too. ALSO they revealed some more villains, including 2 girls and both their designs and voices are great so looking forward to when it's their turn to hound the protags
Atelier Ryza Ep6
yooooooooo she said the thing
anyway it's crazy for me to think that we're already halfway through the season, time's fucked up
this episode marked the building of the hideout and the first little act of the story so we should be getting some more adventuring and such for the rest of this, dunno if they'll cover the whole game but we'll see, doubt they'd do a S2 but could be wrong
Zom 100 Ep4
well on ep 1 I said I the show looked great but I was worried about the studio being able to keep it up since they're new, and then ep 4 got delayed a day and now ep 5 got delayed to next week so that's... worrying, hopefully doesn't become a constant thing. tho despite the delay ep 4 still looked as good, but we'll see how it is for ep 5.
as for the ep itself it was nice, nothing really impressive other than the explosion near the start, I'm just waiting for the foreign girl to show up up and them all to get together and start traveling.
also also, saw some spoilers for the newest chap of the manga and it's very HUH, hope that the next chap shows it didn't really happen, or something happened after the cut cause otherwise it'd be very weird and make it hard to keep motivated to keep watching
Manga
Gokurakugai Ch1 - 10
I've been waiting for this got get added to M+ since damn march 1st!!! it got picked up for viz so I was like "oh should be on m+ soon enough" but apparently not smh. coulda've read it on viz but that'd require some work arounds and I was lazy + thinking it wouldn't take that long.
but ANYWAY this series. yet another exorcist series in the ever growing sea of them, tho that's not the reason why I decided to start reading it. it's cause the designs slap and the art's extremely good, but what pushed me over the edge was this incredible qt.
anyway it's good tho, wasn't expecting much but was plesantly surprised. started off just being a monster of the week thing introducing the charas and world but it just ended the first lil arc and it was good. seems like next up will be a training arc (?), tho waiting til next month for the next chap is gonna be rough.
Blooming Love Ch10
I said p early on that for a romance series this was moving p fast but I didn't expect them to be at this stage already. since there's not really other plot points to follow and whatnot idk what they could do next, so maybe it could end soon, but we'll see
Kill Blue Ch16
what the hell???? is it getting axed?? it's very weird for this to be happening out of nowhere like this when a big part of the plot was to find a way to revert his age again. guess we'll have to wait for the next chap to really have an idea but no jump next week so gonna be a hard wait
Spy x Family Ch86
it was quite the long arc (2nd longest after the ship?) but now it's over. it was good overall, had been a while since some twilight action, a lot of neat stuff happened but it doesn't feel like it moved the main plot forward, we'll see how the aftermath for it goes tho
Tenmaku Cinema Ch17
tenmaku has been good, as usual, just a shame that it's on the way to getting axed, they're already almost done with filming so just like 3-5 more chaps should be enough to finish? it's a shame readers didn't like it more, I think it's really good (helped a lot by it being a veteran duo) but oh well, I'll enjoy it while it lasts
Blue Box Ch112
very good chap, not only has it been a while since hina was around but she came back "recovered" from being rejected only to find out about them dating and going back to hurting all over again, this needed to happen sooner or later but I'm glad it was sooner. totally expecting her to date kyo tho but it's prob gonna be a bit til that (tho I could also see ayame dating him since the author has been teasing that for a bit)
My Hero Academia Ch396
you know a chap was good when you get to the end thinking it was too short and wanting more, had been looking forward to this fight, wondering how the hell he was even gonna do it but this is really cool. hype for the rest of it, also predicting that he's gonna take AFO down with him cause there's no way he'll live past this lol
Akane-banashi Ch73
I can't believe how right my prediction from months ago was... I jinxed my poor akane (tho I said hikaru would get 96 and akane 93 but close enough). great chap tho, the last few pages hit really hard too. hang in there akane I believe in you
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HxH Theory
Hi! And here we are again! With a new HxH theory ( 2 theories pratically into one ), that obivously is only A TOUGHT OF MINE AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TOGASHI SENSEI WILL DO FOR THE NEXT CHAPTERS. Said that....
Is possible that Gon and Fugetsu could be Brother and Sister, or even Twins ? The physical appareance is a subtle 1st hint
And many noted also many similiarities between personality and whatever that can really make think. If this can be true, then it would give a good plot twist and also a new route for the character, as probably someone can make hint over the fact that she's not like at all at her family and something like that. So... it will end up like what happend to Gon. Obivously is not the Depart to take an Exam and then travel all over the world to find your biological family, sure no. But... Sometime ago here on Tumblr i've found a post where someone did a meta about HxH and a sort of Moebius Ring, where everything is begenning all over again but also at the same time a sort of parallel between the past arcs and the ones that will come. So, if there's going a new path in HxH, that can also be a sort of parallel to Gon's, maybe that will be her's. Also we know that Fugetsu is not totally a naive Child: she's Analytical, has a nen beast that let's her to go anywhere she wants, useful for Exploring like she did ALREADY in this arc, and has resolution by protect her beloved ones, like we saw in ch.400. So a news like " you don't belong there. Not with them" or something like that, who'll in this case inadvertidly will assume Kite's role ( he was the one that we should thank due that thanks to him Gon choose to search ging and do the hunter exam ), Will Provoke a new course of events, that will also mirror the beginning of HxH itself. Obivously she'll want to know more about it, and at the right time, she will start by her own, even tought is obivous that she can't do it all alone. So maybe she will probably ask to a Hunter to hunt down somebody of her biological family or somebody or something near to it. And everything will come naturally. And obivously i think that if this is really going to happen, then ( ok, Togashi sensei will ever do it in everycase anyway ) Gon and Killua will surely come back, Maybe for Leorio and Kurapika as the Catalyst for the reunion that maybe will even include Alluka And Maybe Mito-san ( even tought that's only a tought of mine that she'll maybe tries to stop Gon and maybe in a way or another she'll end up going with them, so thus far also provoking a sudden reunion with Ging ). If this will ever happen, then everything will come by itself. And maybe at the end she will found out that the one she was searching we're with her all along and, knowing how Ging is, maybe we will end up with a cute Twins/brother and sister reunion at the end, with a take like Gon choosing to be for his newfound twin/sister the always there for you figure that he hoped Ging would ever be. But That's ONLY A TOUGHT OF MINE AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TOGASHI SENSEI WILL DO FOR THE NEXT CHAPTERS.
#anime#japan#manga#hunter x hunter#hxh#hxh 2011#hxh gon#hxh killua#hxh kurapika#hxh leorio#hxh alluka#fugetsu hui guo rou#hxh ging#hxh chrollo#hxh hisoka#yoshihiro togashi#shonen jump
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I still remember when I first got into the Dream SMP.
It was the beginning of 2021, February 16th to be exact. I had seen it trending on Twitter and had seen clips from it on TikTok for months, but that day I was bored and not doing anything and I saw another clip on TikTok and thought “fuck it, imma check this out.” I made a post on my other blog about watching it and I tried to navigate how to do so but eventually I started with Wilbur’s Dream SMP playlist that he has on YouTube, starting with “I Started a Revolution on the Dream SMP” and from there I was hooked.
I’ve been watching YouTube and indulging in media for years—since middle school in 2008–but have never come across something like this (the closest thing I have that rivals this for me is Supernatural). It was so entertaining and the storyline was interesting, and the banter? Fuck dude, the banter is the best part! It was so fun getting to watch these people who barely knew each other at the time squabble and get into weird little situations only applicable to a Minecraft server.
I started binging content from then on out like a motherfucker and eventually caught up at the beginning of March. That being said, I only had a few vods left to watch when I caught my first ever Dream SMP lore stream live, which was from TommyInnit on March 1st of 2021. I’m sure you all remember it. Tommy was stuck in prison with Dream and one thing led to another and you know, the kid's last canon life was lost. Again, that was the first Dream SMP lore stream I ever caught live and I was so thrilled and exhilarated and had so much adrenaline from catching a lore stream live and from it ending like that?!?! which also had me devastated as well (from a storyline perspective ofc). I knew if it were to continue we’d be seeing Tommy again but by this point, Tommy had become my favorite member and me getting near caught up only to watch his character die was a lot lmao. I was totally caught up by his revival on his March 8th (2021) stream though and was super hyped to catch another one of his lore streams live.
Either way, he came back and we got more story--even got Wilbur back--and it was all so amazing. The prison arc will forever hold such a special place in my heart for being the first actual lore arc I watched streamed live. But Tommy.
TommyInnit.
My favorite member of the Dream SMP was Wilbur at first. He was my introduction by random, mainly because he had a playlist of shortened videos set and ready to go that I just went with for ease of access, and I still love him to death and have had like a huge internet crush on him since that first dsmp video of his that I watched (if you can’t tell by my unchanging blog theme lmao) but Tommy.
That boy is my favorite streamer. My favorite dsmp member. One of my favorite content creators.
Watching the majority of the Dream SMP lore from his vods and streams and thus through his perspective, it would’ve been crazy for him not to be my favorite. I love his story as well as his storytelling and the way he acts. And his humor is immaculate--right up my alley. There's just so much about him that I love. If it wasn’t for him and who he is and how enjoyable he makes his content to watch I don’t know if I would’ve stuck around for as long as I have. I love Wilbur and Dream the most next but they weren’t as present then so I would’ve had like nothing to cling onto, but I had Tommy. Even when his streams became sparse he was still streaming and being the most lovable, entertaining person ever. Not that my other faves aren’t, Tommy is just… different. He’s just Tommy. He’s my favorite and I don’t feel bad saying it.
Watching the end of his Dream SMP send-off stream was bittersweet (I say end because I pulled a fucking George and slept through most of it, but from what I've gathered even he was there so I just messed up lmao). It’s nice to have a definite ending and not have to go through “soon” anymore and be left hanging and wondering if anything else will ever come, but of course, I miss it. I miss the anticipation of waiting for a stream and consuming more information and lore and trying to connect the pieces. Still, I’m glad we got an actual end for the server and that we were also given a chance to say goodbye to it. This server, this community, its content creators and its fans, all of it means so fucking much to me. It’s been a wild fucking ride and I’m so glad I was here to experience it.
I’m not leaving anytime soon; I’ll still be following the dsmp creators and making my own dsmp related content--mainly posting here, making TikTok's, and writing fics and such--but I just wanted to give thanks to the server that’s basically ruled my life for the past two plus years and give a big thank you to those who run it, played it, and the community who was a part of it right alongside me. I love you all so fucking much.
Goodbye, Dream SMP. It’s been a helluva fucking ride.
o7
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Is Sarada the reincarnation of Obito?
And hello again!
As some of you should recognize, that Sarada is one of my favorite characters of the new gen and it's really sad, what the writers are doing to her in the actual arc.
But if they 're planing something , which I assume, then she will become an incredibly character .
Next to the older gen: I mentioned once, that one of my beloved characters is Obito.
( He's the first one, second one is Naruto. Sorry Naruto! 😘)
I enjoyed his very dark side, his sad past and at last his incredible redemption.
So I think, that the writers are inspired of Obito's character design and rewrite him, but this time everything will end in a good way for this character to reach its target and to get its beloved lifetime partner.
Here are the points, which I see as a hint.
1. They have the same dream.
Okay, this one is easy. Both want or wanted to become the next Hokage in their generation.
2. Both have in their childhood the same characters designs.
Sarada and Obito were / are as children very kind beings.
Sarada, as an example protected little children against Kawaki, when they were in the village together for the first time.
Obito came often too late and it would explained in one case.
He came too late, because he wanted to help an old lady to escort across the street.
Also it exists two speaches, which shows, that they stand/stood up for weaker ones and friends.
Like these images are showing us:
In Sarada's case, she speaks about Kagura. In Obito's case, he spoke about Rin.
Both are also very emotional and sensitive beeings in their childhood.
Obito told sometimes, that he had something in his eyes after he cried .
3. Both are explained as weak Uchiha's in their childhood
Both wear / wore glasses. For characters with one of the mightiest Dojutsu's in their world, this is a big negativ point.
Obito was considered untalented and that he developed his first Tomoe very late in his childhood. He had to take eyedrops.
Sarada has issues with her chakra controll and looses her consciousness after overusing it.
4. Both have the same signs in their eyes in one scene or opening:
I explained these sign in my "Sarada's development part 2".
I explain now the signs in their eyes and it might be a foreshadowing for Sarada's development and really mighty boost for her power.
We know all Uchiha's are Yin chakra control users, but Obito got also the control of the Yang chakra nature, which is very rare in the Naruto verse. I assume, that it happened, because Madara healed him with Hashirama cells.
Only Naruto, Obito, Madara and the Otsuki's can / could do that.
Why do i speak of Yin and Yang chakra control?
It's the sign in their eyes.
The crescent moon is the sign for Yin.
The circle is the sun and the sign for Yang.
These signs were shown in the Kaguya sealing fights. One side was the Yin side shown as a crescent moon, the other one was the Yang side, shown as the sun.
5. Something, that might happen with Sarada in the near future:
It exists a scene, what could happen with Sarada in the end of the Code arc.
It shows , how she will be attack by Delta in opening 7.
It's the same side, which was also the injured body side of Obito. I also believe, that she might get healed with Hashirama cells, like it happened with Obito and developing a Rinnegan.
And with the newest leaks of the actual episode, we get another hint, that I could be right with my assumption:
Do you see the little scretch on her right side? I don't think, that it is a coinsedence.
Poor girl.
So for the next episode, i doubt, that Sarada will develop her 3rd Tomoe. It is shown in the opening 10, that she might skip her 3rd Tomoe into the MS like Obito did.
6. One thing, which she hasn't in common with Obito:
She isn't in love with someone, who has rejected her until now like it happened with Obito.
He had such a tragic backstory. 😢
So these are some points, which I have found out.
Please, share your opinions with me. I like to read them.
I will update my theory from time to time.
Editing after some month's:
I'm surprised. That my thoughts, that Sarada has Ootsutsuki blood has in herself by her lineage, are right. I had written this in one of my theories.
And the probability are definitiv possible. It would explain, why Sarada is safe against Aida's abbility.
Now to my new objection: I said in this theory, that Sarada is a Obito like character and I got a new clue for it:
Remember how Kakashi lost his eye?
He lost it by a cut after an attack by an opponent.
I wouldn't wonder if Sarada also lost an eye or more she will injured heavyly like it happened to Obito.
This would be a similaritiy again that the relationship between Boruto and Sarada is a silbing ship. Like Kakashi and Obito and one of them will turn to the dark side. And I wouldn't wonder, if this person is Boruto.
So I will update my theories from time.
Stay safe and see ya!
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cracking up at half the sasakoi people on twitter doing yuri math to see if we’ll get the akishiho arc animated and the other half seething over the prospect of shiho showing up at all
i really really doubt this’ll get a 2nd season like every other yuri anime adaptation (would absolutely love to be proven wrong) but jeez if we don’t get to as much akishiho as possible thats evil lmao
i did a reread this weekend and caught up on the last few chapters i hadnt read yet and 1st ep was basically the first 3 chapters so… if they keep the same pace we should get up to or near chapter 36? which would be a really strange spot to end on unless youve got more planned or somewhere else they kinda stretch out the eps? i would hope they include the bonus chapters too
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Our Land Travel Route, roughly 8 degrees south of the equator
(click on the picture to see a larger image)
Family & Friends,
Salam Pembuka (Greetings)
Eight of us are going on a trip to the archipelago nation of Indonesia. We will spend time on the islands of Java, the most populous Indonesian island, and Bali. Our land voyage begins in Yogyakarta, the cultural capital of Java, and ends in Sanur, Bali, a relaxed, quaint seaside town surrounded by many artsy villages renowned as centers for traditional arts & crafts, and folklore performing arts.
Our trip includes hiking/trekking in forests, rice paddles, and around some majestic waterfalls nestled in the rainforests; climbing some active-volcano mountains (Indonesia is situated in the “Ring of Fire” arc, a 25,000-mile-long Pacific-Ocean-basin tetanic fault zone spanning four continents); visiting some 8th to 14th century cultural, religious, and historical heritage sites of this ethnically-diverse nation; and attending several folklore, cultural/religious performing-art shows.
We will also perform an obligatory ritual, expected of any tourists, of parting with our dollars to procure enough trinkets (oops, I mean mementos) to stuff to capacity our expandable suitcases.
And, of course, we will repeatedly commit one of the seven cardinal sins by willfully indulging with gusto in the exquisite gastronomy of the locals, notwithstanding the need to repent later on.
We invite you to tag along with us as a virtual member of our traveling group by following our blog, which we will update regularly. You will, along with us, get to immerse in the country’s history & culture; admire the country’s natural beauty; see what we are seeing; salivate over what we are eating; and meet the people we are meeting, all on a near-real-time basis.
Salam Hormat (Best Regards)
Suzanne & Mehdi
July 2022
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Some Interesting Information About Indonesian
Indonesia, a 17,508-island archipelago nation (of which only about 6,000-plus are inhabited, some only seasonally), is a multi-ethnic (700-plus ethnic groups), multi-religion, multi-language, Muslim-majority nation patched up during the 300-plus-year of Dutch colonial rule ending in the mid-1900s.
Indonesia was initially colonized by the Portuguese in the early 1500s, and subsequently by the Dutch. Prior to becoming a de jure Dutch colony in 1796, Indonesia was a de facto colony since the 1600s, because the Dutch East Indies Company had established itself as the dominating, neocolonial economic and political power on Java.
The British too had colonized Indonesia beginning in 1814 during the 10-year interruption of the Dutch rule. During the Napoleonic war and France’s occupation of Netherlands, the British conveniently found another colony for their taking. And when Napoleon fell from power, the British traded Indonesia with the Dutch for a Dutch colony in West Africa. Apparently, the parties colonialized had no say in this transaction.
Approximately 10% of the world’s known languages are spoken in Indonesia. Most Indonesians are perilingual, typically able to speak Bahasa Indonesian, the national language which is a standardized form of Malay; one or two ethnic languages; and, in cities, at least one western language, typically English.
Muslims account for about 87% of Indonesia’s 280 million population (Christians 10%, Hindus 2% and Buddhists less than 1%). Bali, the island with a population of about 4 million, is predominately (84%) Hindu. Indonesia, the fourth-ranked populous country, has the largest Muslim population in the world.
Early in history, religion in Indonesia was a blend of animism and ancestor worship. Some of those religions’ practices are incorporated in the latter-day religions which have their roots in India. Hinduism and Buddhism arrived in Indonesia around the 1st century. In the late 13th century, Islam started to make inroads, largely peacefully. By around the 16th century, Islam became the predominate religion in Java.
Both Hinduism and Buddhism were closely linked to the kingdoms of two ruling families of Java, Indonesia: The Sanjaya dynasty to Hinduism and the Sailendra dynasty to Buddhism. The two dynasties initially coexisted peacefully for several centuries, with intermarriages amongst the plethora of their progenies fortifying the ties. In that period the kingdoms saw a flourishing of classical Javanese art and architecture. Much of that is reflected in that era’s music, performing arts, and architecture of the temples.
Some of the Hindu and Buddhist religious monuments from that era are amongst the largest in the world of the respective religions. It was common in that and earlier eras in SE Asia (and also other parts of Asia) for the rulers to build dynastic monuments, some religious, as was also common for the rulers’ subjects to adopt their rulers’ religion. The rulers’ desire to build the religious monuments was also driven by their belief that that would wipe out their sins and ease their passage to the “other world” on a preferential basis, a form of “Indulgence” common in some other religions as well.
Many of those cultural sites were rediscovered and restored years after being buried under volcanic ash and overgrown with forest, or partially destroyed by earthquakes. Some of that restoration work is still ongoing.
The history of the arrival and spread of Islam in Indonesia is not well known. One theory postulates that it arrived from the Middle East before the 9th century. Another, more plausible theory, credits the initial arrival and spread of Islam to the increasing trade links and contacts in the 12th or 13th century with Muslim merchants and preachers from neighborhood countries – India, China and Central Asia.
The Islamization process in Indonesia was largely based on the premise that Islam should be propagated by respecting local cultures, not eradicating them. Hence, rather than obliterate the preexisting cultures, influences from the Hindu-Buddhist era and the non-Islamic elements of norms and arts were flexibly adopted by creatively reframing them as consistent with Islamic traditions, an effective proselytizing technique commonly employed by many religions. Even the mosques constructed in that era incorporated indigenous influences. They lack the familiar Islamic domes and have tall timber-tiered roofs similar to the pagodas of Balinese Hindu temples, which too are influenced by indigenous architecture and culture.
It was not until the early 17th century that Islam caught on under the reign of Agung, the Sultan of the Kingdom in Central Java. Agung, a skilled soldier, expanded and consolidated his kingdom to its greatest territorial and military power.
Agung’s legacy lies in the administrative, tax-code and judicial reforms he instituted in his ever-increasing large territory. He is revered in Indonesia for his unification of Java, modernizing reforms, and chutzpah as a resistance fighter against the Dutch, for which, post-independence, he was declared a National Hero of Indonesia. Even the Dutch grudgingly admired him by calling him “Agung the Great.”
During World War II, the Dutch were driven out of Indonesia by the Japanese. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Sukarno proclaimed independence for Indonesia. Sukarno, who had spent over a decade in detention for his struggles against the Dutch for independence, was freed by the Japanese occupying forces.
Post-Independence, the country was ruled for the first 52 years by two dictators: first by Sukarno, a benign dictator, followed by Suharto, a brutal military General, who wrested power from Sukarno in 1967. Indonesians dissenting against the regimes paid a heavy price, many with their lives.
Sukarno, resenting the unfairness of the privilege system of the colonial era, took on a decidedly socialist bent with authoritarian tendencies, and cozied up with China and the Soviet Union, as was the fad with many latter-day, newly-independent countries. He considered his authoritarian rule to be “guided democracy” as he did not think Indonesians were ready for a western-style democracy.
Suharto, an avowedly anti-Communist, was more brutal and utterly corrupt. His anti-communist bona fides during that “red scare” era, earned him economic and diplomatic support of the West (something to do with the “enemy of my enemy…”). He ruled with an iron fist for the stated purpose of maintaining stability over a diverse nation, and plundered the country, accumulating an estimated net worth of $38 billion. Under his regime the military slaughtered at least half a million alleged leftists and detained around a million.
Sukarno, the far-sighted charismatic leader known for his oratory, the son of a Javanese Muslim father and Balinese Hindu mother, is credited for successfully resisting the formation of a post-independence Islamic State, arguing that if that happened, peaceful coexistence would cease and that islands dominated by other religions would secede from Indonesia, a cobbled-up country that was never cohesive to start with. He is revered for the sacrifices he made for seeking the country’s independence and for keeping the nation cohesive. And Suharto is credited for leading Indonesia through rapid industrialization, economic growth, and improved levels of educational attainment under his “New Order” administration.
It was not until after the 1999 resignation of Suharto, defeated by mounting popular unrest and a collapsed economy he was unable to revive, that the first free election since 1955 was held. That track record of free political activities and elections has continued for 6 consecutive elections, the most recent in 2019 in which Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, was elected President for a second five-year term.
The “Economist Intelligence Unit” groups 165 countries in 4 categories, ranging from full democracies to authoritarian regimes, with two tiers in each category. Indonesia is ranked in the second tier of “flawed democracies” category, a respectable standing. The U.S. also is ranked in the flawed democracies category, but is in the first tier; Canada is ranked in the first tier of full democracies, the top tier of the top category, one of only eight elite countries listed in that category.
(Another prestigious organization, “The Center for Systematic Peace,” on its Polity Index, recently downgraded the U.S. to a flawed (partial) democracy, reflecting the lingering, damaging impact of the Trump era and the January 6 insurrection on our democratic institutions. The CIA, (which by law is prohibited from domestic activities) has found this Organization’s data to be most helpful in predicting instability and violence in foreign nations.)
Indonesia, the third largest democracy in the world, with a secular (not sharia) constitution, today is a poster child of a Muslim-majority country with a relatively peaceful co-existence of multi-ethnic, multi-religion, multi-language societies.
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FEATURE: The Real-Life History Behind the Entertainment District in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Editor’s Note: This article contains discussion of adult topics that may not be suitable for all ages.
While the subtitle in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba’s latest arc may say “Entertainment District,” the Japanese name “Yukaku” is more straightforward in its meaning: a red-light district. Demon Slayer shows the flashiness of Yoshiwara, an area once teeming with life and pleasure, but the series is only a glimpse into what the area truly was.
Before airing, concerns from Japanese parents and the press arose worried about the content of the Entertainment District Arc — so much to the point that Yuriko Nakamura, the Head of Programming at Fuji TV, stated in September 2021, "the content [of the arc] will be broadcast without any changes," even putting the popular broadcast in the latest TV slot available to primetime series.
Still, there is a real history to explore of the people and place even today. So let's learn more about the backstory of the Entertainment District, a whole character unto itself.
The History of the Yukaku
Yoshiwara was Japan’s biggest red-light district space located in Edo (later renamed Tokyo) before the Anti-Prostitution Law passed in 1956 stamped out legal sex work. Founded in 1617 near where the Nihonbashi district currently stands, the location moved in 1657 after a fire decimated the area and the Shogunate demanded the district be relocated to the then-rural outskirts of Asakusa, where it stayed until 1958.
While the area today is mostly just the usual urban Tokyo sprawl, remnants of the old area still exist today in both a physical and spiritual way.
Yoshiwara’s main street of Nakanocho in 1775 as seen in Toyoharu Utagawa
“Perspective picture of famous places of Japan: Nakanocho in Shin-Yoshiwara” print.
(Image via Ota Memorial Museum of Art)
Yoshiwara wasn’t the only pleasure district to be set up during the early 1600s by the Tokugawa shogunate: Shimabara in Kyoto and Shinmachi in Osaka were modeled after the one in Edo, all officially sanctioned by the government. These districts were created to keep the adult entertainment within its walls. This was less to move the areas away from public view, but more to contain all the businesses into one space, making it easier to collect tax revenue and keep the businesses under the thumb of the shogunate. Other forms of entertainment such as kabuki also underwent the same measures.
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All three yukaku were surrounded by high walls and moats, giving them a dreamlike feel once entered, thus dubbed “The Floating World.” Much like clubs in modern times, crossing over the bridge and entering into the entertainment space would have felt like walking into a more extravagant world. The lights of the establishments lit up the night sky, with parades through the main streets most nights featuring the top oiran.
We see a lot of the same in the establishing shots of Yoshiwara in the Entertainment District Arc, though the lights are a bit more modern in Demon Slayer compared to when the district was first established centuries earlier.
Yoshiwara in the Edo period before the advent of electricity as featured in
“View of Shin-Yoshiwara in the Eastern Capital” by Hiroshige II.
(Image via Ota Memorial Museum of Art)
Japanese society during the Edo period had a very strict social hierarchy, which was noted to have spilled over to the society (“Social position of visitors to Yoshiwara” by Madoka Takagi, Seijo University) of the yukaku, with some denied service due to lack of money or proper etiquette. But, given the want of some to stay anonymous during their time in the area, status and titles were removed from the equation.
Yoshiwara was thought of as a night town, but in actuality, the only gate into the district closed at 10 PM, with the more appropriate entertainment ending at midnight and “adult” entertainment continuing until 2 AM. Customers had to leave Yoshiwara in the morning by 6 AM, as they weren’t technically allowed in the district during the day, yet the rule was rarely enforced.
The Oiran of Yoshiwara
While the yukaku seemed like fun and games, it was a brutal life for those living inside. By 1898, an estimated 10,000 women were working as courtesans within Yoshiwara (“The Nightless City: or the History of the Yoshiwara Yukwaku“ by J. E. De Becker, page 363); Many of them were slaves, sold off to houses to pay off the debts of family members. These girls usually weren’t able to pay off their debts, with many dying from disease. Due to the close quarters, lack of sewage systems and the basis of the work, the overall health of the district was teeming with disease such as syphilis.
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Some made it out, having their debts paid by a suitor and moving out of the district to live with them. Only a select few made it to the top and became an oiran.
Woodcut print of an oiran, created between 1818-1830
(Image via the Library of Congress)
Oiran were the most popular, beautiful and exclusive workers in a yukaku — basically the influencers of the Edo Era. These women brought in the most money for the houses they belonged to. An oiran had climbed the courtesan ranks, usually as an apprentice of a previous generation oiran from a young age. In a guidebook of Yoshiwara from 1792, there were only six registered oiran in the whole district of thousands of women.
Unlike the lower-ranked courtesans, oiran didn’t have to advertise themselves in the windows of their houses and were allowed to pick and choose their customers. These customers had to go through a rigid three-step (and very expensive) process to even get to meet the oiran and even then they may be declined.
Their styles would influence the girls that worked in the other houses and were only seen with a group of people — usually younger girls who were being trained up or weren’t considered pretty enough to become an oiran — employed by the oiran directly to keep up appearances.
Daki, the Upper Rank Six demon
Daki, one of the two demons of the arc, is an oiran (under the name Warabihime) and, before she was turned into a demon, was born and raised in Yoshiwara itself. After she was transformed into a demon, Daki would then join various houses and go under different names as she ate other humans in the district.
How Yoshiwara Was in Demon Slayer Times
Demon Slayer already visited Asakusa in the Unwavering Resolve Arc, treating viewers to what the very-popular area looked like during the Taisho Era. Even though Asakusa suffered heavy damage during World War II, the area was rebuilt into what we know today using the blueprints and images that survived.
This was not the case for Yoshiwara, which now only exists in ukiyo-e prints from the Edo Era and the black-and-white photos that survived the bombing of Tokyo. Unlike the rest of Japan in the Taisho Era, which was modernizing during the Meiji period, Yoshiwara did its best to stay as traditional as possible.
The main street of Nakanocho as seen in Demon Slayer
Demon Slayer visits Yoshiwara during a very interesting time. The area has clearly modernized to an extent, with electricity and era-appropriate fences around the main gate rather than the traditional walls that can still be seen around castles across Japan, but this is before the Showa Era of Japan, which transitioned the area from traditional Japanese to modern Tokyo.
(via Ota Memorial Museum of Art)
Yoshiwara in 2022
Yoshiwara doesn’t exist in the same form that it did pre-1958, though the area where it once stood is still just a 20-minute walk from Asakusa and continues the spirit of the old district, housing many adult establishments.
The main street of Nakanocho-dori in 2022 (photo: Daryl Harding)
The area is now known as Senzoku 4-chome, and from the outside looks like any other suburban area of Tokyo. In fact, Senzoku 3-chome is actually pretty out of the way to go — mimicking the trek from central Edo to the area back in its heyday — with the closest train station being a ten-minute walk.
From the inside of where Yoshiwara stood, soaplands line the streets of the aptly named Edomachi Dori, mixed in with apartments, restaurants and convenience stores. Though the area doesn’t look too dissimilar to the northwest side of Ikebukuro station, it pales in comparison to Kabukicho, Tokyo’s current “pleasure district.”
Tokyo’s Taito Ward with Tokyo SkyTree in the background (photo: Daryl Harding)
Most of Yoshiwara has been lost to time at this stage, with only Kyoto’s Shimabara remaining mostly faithful to its original design, largely from being spared from World War II bombings. Only a few relics of the past remain, such as the Yoshiwara Shrine which continues to serve the community and the street layout remaining true to the old Edo Era layout.
Yoshiwara Shrine is the remnants of a few smaller shrines from the area rolled into one once the district started developing in the Meiji era. Enshrined here is the goddess Benzaiten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods who is the goddess of the arts, prosperity and abundance, and protects women and artists — making for a good god to watch over the Yoshiwara women. Before the 1956 Anti-Prostitution Law passed, Yoshiwara women were usually seen praying at this shrine daily.
Yoshiwara shrine (photo: Daryl Harding)
In the below image, one of the biggest remaining elements of Yoshiwara in modern-day Senzoku 4-chome is the layout, where the streets are very similar to their Edo Era counterparts. The wider streets used to accommodate the vast number of people walking the Yoshiwara paths converted well into roads for cars. This is good for the surprising amount of taxis that can be found driving up and down the relatively quiet street.
Yoshiwara map (left), Senzoku 4-chome map (right). Note the green areas of the
left picture represent rice fields while the blue was the moat that surrounded the area.
(Left image via Ota Memorial Museum of Art, the right image via Google Maps, edited by Daryl Harding)
The main strip is lined with traditional-looking red street lamps that signify the area was once somewhere important, even if that element is gone. While a lot of the buildings were destroyed in the 1923 Kanto Earthquake, and then again in World War II air raids, some older locations were restored and are currently used as restaurants and galleries.
A restored building in Tokyo’s Taito Ward (photo: Daryl Harding)
I wasn’t sure what to expect going to where Yoshiwara was located, but what did surprise me was the relative normalcy of the district. When walking through significant locations in Kyoto, such as the paved roads of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka, or even down Nakamise Dori of Asakusa, you can feel the history that strolled those same paths.
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The former site of Yoshiwara, despite having 400 years of history, was just a normal, if not a tiny bit seedier, suburb of Tokyo, an area in which many gathered now lost to the passage of time and progress.
Further reading:
“What is Yukaku” (Japanese) - https://intojapanwaraku.com/culture/179000/
“How did the prostitutes of Yoshiwara spend their days during the Edo period?” (Japanese) -
Part 1: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/watanabedaimon/20211228-00274026
Part 2: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/watanabedaimon/20211229-00274107
“We will guide you through the Yoshiwara yukaku” (Japanese) - https://otakinen-museum.note.jp/n/naadbf3f2b985
“What became of Yoshiwara, Japan’s old red-light district?” (English) - https://japantoday.com/category/features/travel/what-became-of-yoshiwara-tokyo%E2%80%99s-old-red-light-district
“The Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarters: A Cradle for Japan’s Edo Culture” (English) - https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00885/
Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.
By: Daryl Harding
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