#… welp time to read the manga

[lovereadandwrite]

“I shall protect you, & you alone… even if…you stand as the last person on this earth”

[onceuponaladye]

Watching the new episode of Nina the Starry Bride be like:

[grimmweepers]

im a sub girl through and through but when im unwell enough about a series, i later do a rewatch in dub and levi's voice in dub is terrible for my wellbeing

[madraleen]

demon slayer swordsmith village arc ep 11. a few screaming comments, but mostly... WHY YOU HAVE TO END? WHY YOU HAVE TO END? :’(((

SO MUCH EXCITEMENT

AAAHHH AAAHHHH ZENITSUUUU AAAHHHH

MUI’S VOICE AAAHHH FROM FAR AWAY AAAAHHHH

MUI SMILE WAAHHHH

It always amazed me that Tanjiro had to make the impossible choice, Nezuko or the demon and the innocents.

Lil Nezuko kick

Jeez, I forgot Tanjiro used to look so young and innocent

Nezuko teethies

MUI SMIIIILE

NEZUKO AND MUI, HEADS, ARGH, HELP

Genya red face <3

Yushirooooo <3 <3

Don’t endddd. Don’t endddd :((((

[dawdlecentric]

Himari & Yori from Sasakoi is kinda Ryokita-coded except Ryo actually fell for Kita

[doodle-storm]

Hooray 🥳🥲🥹🥺😢😭

everyone congratulate @doodle-storm for finishing hxh!!!

[moomuzan]

G⃣   O⃣   N⃣   E⃣

ੈ INFO — you abandoned them for their own good.

༘⋆ PAIRING — pm! dazai, chuuya, akutagawa & atsushi

༉‧ TAGS — angst!

➶ ˚ A/N — welp i am devastated from finishing the manga for like the 100th time

When CHUUYA found out you were gone, he refused to accept it at first. It didn’t make sense. You wouldn’t just leave. You wouldn’t slip away without a word, without giving him some kind of explanation. He wouldn’t let you.

But then Mori confirmed it. His words were cold, indifferent, and Chuuya’s world tilted on its axis.

“She made her choice,” Mori had said, his voice so casual, as if it was nothing more than a fleeting decision. “It’s not your concern anymore.”

Not my concern?

The words hit Chuuya like a slap, sharp and stinging, and before he even thought about it, he was storming out of the room. He didn’t stop until he was standing in front of your apartment, his heart pounding in his chest. He didn’t even hesitate before he kicked the door open, the sound echoing in the empty hallway.

But when he stepped inside, all that greeted him was silence. The bed was neatly made, the closet empty, the shelves bare. It was like you had never been there at all. It was like a sick joke.

“Damn it,” Chuuya muttered, his chest tightening painfully. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, the reality of it all slamming into him like a physical blow. His mind was racing, spinning out of control, and he felt the burning ache of something tearing inside him. You were gone. You had chosen to leave him, and he couldn’t even bring himself to understand why.

For weeks after that, Chuuya buried himself in his work, his temper shortening with every passing day. He lashed out at anyone who came too close, the rage building up inside him, threatening to spill over. But none of it ever made the pain go away. Every task, every mission, every punch he threw was just a distraction, an attempt to drown out the gnawing emptiness where you used to be.

Late one night, after the world had gone quiet, and the weight of his own thoughts became unbearable, Chuuya found himself sitting alone in your apartment.

“You think leaving is going to keep me safe?” he spat into the silence, his voice raw and broken, as if it could somehow reach you. “You think I’m just going to forget you?”

“You’re such an idiot,” he muttered, his voice cracking with the weight of it. “I didn’t need you to save me, damn it. I just needed you to stay.”

DAZAI had always prided himself on seeing through people—on sensing the smallest shifts in their mood, their actions, their thoughts. But even with all his skill, even with all his ability to read between the lines, he had failed to see it coming.

One day, you were just... gone.

It was the emptiness of your absence that hit him first. The quiet where there had once been laughter, the silence where there had once been banter, the void where you had always stood beside him. He couldn’t even remember when it had started—when you had stopped looking at him the same way, when the smiles had faded, when your eyes had become a little less bright.

The letter came hours later, hidden beneath a stack of papers, as if you had tried to bury it in an attempt to keep him from finding it. The words were brief, a final plea for him to understand, but all they did was crush him further.

“Dazai, I’m sorry. I had to leave. You’re better off without me. Please don’t try to find me.”

His hands shook as he read it again, and again, as if somehow the meaning would change. But no matter how many times he read those words, the truth never wavered. You had left him. Left everything behind—left him.

"Idiot," he muttered under his breath. You had always been there. Always. How had he not seen this coming? How had he been so blind to the fact that you were slipping away, piece by piece, until there was nothing left but a letter on his desk?

He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms as if the physical pain could drown out the suffocating ache in his chest.

He spent the next few days pretending everything was fine. He smiled, he joked, he worked as if nothing had changed.

However, sitting in the dimly lit corner of his office at night, he stared at your empty chair. “You think this is for the best?” he whispered into the darkness. His voice was quiet, raw. “Do you know how wrong you are?”

ATSUSHI found your resignation letter on Kunikida’s desk, and the sight of your handwriting felt like a punch to the gut. His eyes skimmed the words, but they blurred, the meaning refusing to sink in. His pulse quickened, his breath shallow.

“She’s gone,” Kunikida’s voice cut through his panic, flat and final. “She said it was for personal reasons.”

Personal reasons? Atsushi’s mind spun, each word more incomprehensible than the last. His hand shook as he grabbed his phone, dialing your number, only for it to ring and ring until it clicked to voicemail.

“No, no, no,” he muttered, the word catching in his throat. He threw on his jacket and rushed to your apartment, his heart hammering in his chest. But when he reached your door, he found it empty.

The air felt thick, heavy, as if the entire world was pressing in on him. He stood there, frozen, his hand resting on the doorknob.

“Why?” he whispered to the quiet apartment, his voice cracking. His fingers brushed against the doorframe, as if searching for some sign of you, anything that could explain why you weren’t there. “Why would you leave?”

Days stretched into weeks, and every time Atsushi stepped into the Agency, the ache in his chest grew, a constant reminder that you were no longer there. He found himself walking past your desk every day, half-expecting to see you sitting there, your warm smile lighting up the room. But the chair was always empty. The silence was deafening, suffocating him in a way he couldn’t explain.

One night, with the city lights stretching out beneath him, Atsushi found himself sitting alone on the rooftop of the Agency. The wind cut through him, but it couldn’t cool the fire inside his chest. He clutched his phone in his hands, the screen glowing in the dark. His fingers hovered over the last text you had sent him, the words stinging like a wound that refused to heal: “Take care of yourself, Atsushi. You’ll be fine without me.”

His breath hitched as he whispered, his voice unsteady. “You’re wrong,” he murmured, pressing his palm to his chest, the tiger within him restless, growling with frustration. “I’m not fine. I’m not fine without you.”

When AKUTAGAWA first heard the news, he refused to believe it. He couldn’t. You were his partner, the one person who had never flinched, never hesitated to stand by him. You weren’t supposed to leave.

He stormed into Mori’s office, his eyes burning with barely contained rage. “Tell me why,” he demanded, his voice low and dangerous. “Tell me why she’s gone.”

Mori’s response was cold, indifferent, a detached dismissal. “Why does it matter? She made her decision.”

Akutagawa’s fists clenched, his body trembling with frustration. “She wouldn’t just leave. She’s not a coward.”

But as the days dragged on, the truth began to claw at him, undeniable. You weren’t coming back.

Rashomon tore through another target, and Akutagawa moved through the battlefield like a storm, each strike a blind effort to fill the aching hole inside him. But nothing—nothing—could quell the emptiness your absence had left behind. No amount of blood, no amount of violence could fill the space you had once occupied.

One night, he found himself standing outside the abandoned warehouse where you had spent so many hours training together. The memories flooded back, crashing over him like waves—your sharp wit, your quiet encouragement, the way you had always pushed him to be better, to be more than he was.

“Why?” he whispered, his voice barely a sound, swallowed by the night. “Why would you leave me?”

His fists clenched tighter, his nails biting into his palms, the pain grounding him in reality. “Did you think I couldn’t protect you? Did you think I didn’t need you?”

“I’ll find you,” he vowed quietly, the words trembling with raw emotion. “Even if it takes the rest of my life.”

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

Another show just wrapped up, but a new one takes its place next week. Takara and Mitsuya have really become the bright spots for me in this current run of shows; they make excellent bookends for the week in jql. Of the five shows airing now, four are streaming weekly on Gaga and the other is available via fansub.

Takara's Treasure

What a fantastic episode of a show that continues to get better and better. The way this story has slowly built our understanding of these characters, and their understanding of each other, is masterful and so rewarding. I really loved the direct conversation they had about Takara's post-graduation plans and what it means for them, as well as Taishin getting to the heart of things and reassuring Takara that his desire is welcome. I'm excited to get a peek at Taishin's family next week and see how they navigate whatever challenges they bring.

Cosmetic Playlover

Farewell to this very pretty show whose story did not make much of an impression on me in the end. It never found a coherent relationship arc or gave us any foundation for this romance to hang onto, and it didn't live up to the dark and sexy tone of its original promotion. But it gave us a lot of beautiful visuals!

I Hear the Sunspot

We've now spent an entire month on repetitive side plots designed to separate and cause insecurity for Kohei and Taichi, and I am over it. I understand that the show is faithfully adapting the manga, but this is the thing about adaptations: when you switch to a new medium you have to adapt the work to fit the new format. When you read a manga you can speed through side plots designed to stretch out the story, but you can't do that in a weekly airing drama. And yes, I have seen the arguments that this is primarily a coming of age story about finding yourself, but it's not doing that well, either. This job falling out of the sky for Taichi and his boss—who we are meant to read as someone with good intentions—encouraging him to drop out of school immediately to work full-time is a strange development. That it once again set off a spiral of Kohei and Taichi feeling insecure about their friendship and misunderstanding each other only makes it worse. I understand the intention: we are supposed to be getting that Taichi is embarrassed about this job because it's tied to his still ill-defined feelings for Kohei. But they haven’t unpacked his hang ups with admitting (or understanding?) that he likes Kohei back enough for that to land. We've spent so much time sitting with Taichi's broody confusion without gaining any deeper insight into its source or seeing him grow, which makes all of this just feel like stalling instead of important character work.

Mr. Mitsuya's Planned Feeding

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

*sobs* Welp, the penultimate angst has definitely arrived. They distracted me with the possibility of dog death (Frito lives! THANK GOD) before sucker punching me with Mitsuya pre-emptively rejecting Ishida before their relationship could go further. And while I often roll my eyes at this kind of noble idiocy in the penultimate chapter of a romance, I think it's well-grounded in this story. Mitsuya has been worried about whether a relationship between them is right since he learned about Ishida's feelings, and on the heels of this blow about Frito's health and his sense that he burdened Ishida with this problem, he is feeling his age and his melancholy more than ever. He sees Ishida as a bright and beautiful young person that he would only drag down, and he does not yet understand that it was meeting him that brought this out in Ishida in the first place. The way he apologized and berated himself for asking Ishida to stay then hugged himself for that whole horrible conversation said it all. This also sets us up nicely for Ishida to finally make himself clear and do a classic jbl run next week (this show is ending too soon, I'm going to miss it so much). Thanks as always to @isaksbestpillow for providing her wonderful subs so we can all enjoy this beautiful drama. You can find the ep here.

Tagging @bengiyo to add this week's anime update.

[lia-snow]

Are u still into Lawlicht ? T.T

What a coincidence, I've been thinking about them :')

I mean, of course I'm still into Lawlicht, I just haven't read the manga in years so... I don't know anything about Servamp beyond the C3 arc, which is where I stopped reading.

I've already mentioned this before, but it's not like I stopped liking Servamp or anything. Some stuff just happened irl, and I've never been able to catch up again. It's difficult for me to watch animu or read manga in general now...

But I do miss this pair of idiots and their stupid shenanigans. And all the crap they made me draw hahah they're the funniest ship I've ever had. Welp, I might not be able to pull a fanart rush like before, but here's to old times :')

Belive it or not, I used to write down all the Lawlicht crap I wanted to draw www there's a lot of stuff that I never made. This was originally a part of the A Demon's Profession of Love series :'p

Hope you like it, anon <3

[gotta-bail-my-quails]

essay fucked me up so bad i searched for when's the last day i can change my grading from letter to pass/no pass

somehow the greater the expectations i and others give me, the worse i do

[sirensea14]

Do you have any headcanons of Kickinchicken?

i only have a few hc of him lolololololllll

Bigger bodies:

Kickin' breathes Ylang ylang gas like how Catnap does to the Red Smoke

Ylang ylang gas is colored creamy yellow. It can also make anyone within the vicinity to fall asleep. And like Catnap, he can control the dream you are having

His gas can boost confidence (bigger bodies) and his plush is ideal for timid children (toy)

Despite the cramped up spaces,Kickin's bigger bodies can fly, although low range like a real life chicken/rooster

When he roars, he can emit the caw sounds of an aggressive rooster, mixed with deep growling

Like Catnap and Dogday, he can speak. I imagine his voice to be the raspy and a little static version of a young man's voice. His voice is a little high pitched compared to Catnap's and Dogday's voices. Also, before the hour of joy, his voice box was in perfect condition (unlike CatNap's whose voice box is broken before and after the massacre) And now his voice, although has a little static, is still functional and can speak steadily. (If only he was alive in the game😞)

He lurks around the caverns area

His jumpscare would be jumping on you with his talons pointed at you, his wings wide and his caw deafening your ears. Kind of like how birds of prey hunt and pin down their food

He is the only smiling critter who can walk on two. I know Catnap can stand on two legs but he's mostly on four. So KC is the only one who walks and run on two. Tho he can also walk on 4 if he's crawling or crouching

Cartoon:

He LOVES to comb his feather crown and owns various shades

Kickin chicken may be shown in the cartoons to eat bugs occasionally, which the others will be weirded out. Pickypiggy smiles and gives him a thumbs up, attempting to support him whilst smiling awkwardly and sweating bullets. Kickin offered her to eat but she immediately shook her head 😆 he eats with pride✨

Other than that, he likes any pastry food and leafy greens, ice cream and wafers

He can sing and play the guitar. He likes to listen to pop music

After doing activities cool kids do, he likes to rest on hammocks, specifically the ones made in rattan and net

He cried watching the Titanic movie or any tragic romance in general

He's a gentleman who can cry because of movies💅

He often takes random selfies and pictures with the smiling critters. He posts it on Playin'stagram (instagram)

He likes to be a model for Craftycorn whenever she's drawing, and for bobby bearhug whenever she needs a fashion assistant

He joins in to the girls' make up sessions, sometimes dragging catnap, bubba and dogday in whenever the girls hunt for make-up models

He's optimistic and refuses to let the negative things keep him down, he can also be stubborn at times and doesnt think about the consequences (which causes him trouble)

He's the loud, supportive type of friend, shouting shit like "You can do it!!" Watch out for aggressive positivity XD (the difference between him and dogday's attitude is that dogday is a more gentler version of his positivity, but can also as get loud and supportive as kickin is) He's also the type to not read the room and sometimes shout supportive words in the wrong time (for comedic purpose lol)

He likes comics, manga, anime and animated shows

Welp, i think thats all i could say lmao

[minjoonapio]

🎐 Wind Breaker Chapter 160: Melting Snow

💭THOUGHTS [ ⚠️ SPOILERS ⚠️ ]

🧵Versions: Twitter/X 📖Where to read the manga: Kodansha | Other 📺Watch Season 1 now (S2 in 04.2025!): Crunchyroll, Netflix

Sorry for posting this late here in tumblr. Life happened. ✌🏻

Such a whirlwind in the first hours after this chapter released. I expected a TogaSaku but instead we got a HiraSako! We all freaked out. This is such a good closure…and a peek of what’s to come for all of them.

Yes we’re eating good! More wholesome loaves of bread please, Nii sensei! 🍞

It starts where we left off with our cutie patootie Choji 🥹 the cute aggression is real whenever he’s on the page. He’s enjoying himself, chowing down on good food and surrounded with good people. 💚

Aaand knew it. Of course Sakura went there to thank them. So they saw his beat up face! Sakura is just squirming from all the attention. He’s not used to it. Oh soft baby Sakura. You are loved and adored.

I’m so happy Nii sensei showed this!! I talked about in twitter how Choji is actually trying out fresh Red Bean bread that Umemiya gave him the last time they saw each other. Choji not only get to try it again…he bought more food for souvenirs!! Oh my fragile heart!!

If you read the small text, he even told the employees about how he knew about their bakery thanks to Ume-chan. asdfghjkl~ He also told them he’ll drop by again next time 😭

This chapter is really making my heart full because look at how Choji is twirling about~! He's acting more like his age.

But more than that, THIS is one of the best things that came out of the Noroshi fight. Three gang leaders, who were former enemies, now agreeing to be friends! I am hyped up with Nirei on this one. We are witnessing a historic moment! And this is giving us a peek of what will happen in the future chapters.

Oh, Sakura. You care so much for your new home and took one big step that not only helped your found family but caused a great thing to happen.

The way it dawned on Sakura. And the way Tsubaki is looking at his precious kouhai proudly. 🥲

And the wholesomeness continues~ Tsubaki was hyping Choji up; he talked about what Mizuki and Momose said. They were praising Choji’s strength, and I find their reactions adorable & hilarious. They're like “oh hell nah im not gonna fight him”

Then Choji shoots an arrow of "Hehe I'm doing this for my friend Ume-chan!" right to our hearts! Arghh I wanna squeeze his baby face!! (≧∀≦)

And then here's Togame holding his “That’s my buddy Sakura!” face again (*´∇｀*)

Sakura trying to divert the unwanted attention away from him again after by asking about their other gang members.

The way I laughed when Suo emphasized “HE” meaning Numa and Togame (and Nirei) just knows. Poor guy. 😅

Oh dear oh dear. We didn’t expect this chapter to become a HiraSako chapter!! And it is giving too much “c’mon! Do it! Go talk to your ex” vibe (and y'all know this is not the first time this happened)

Togame and Choji always pushing the agenda. How supportive.

I love how level-headed Kaji is when it comes to this.

And I’m glad he’s not a character who would be jealous over it. The three know each other well enough and Kaji never sees it as a competition to be the best kouhai or what not. He wouldn’t reach out to Sako back then if he did.

Gahh how adorable! Hiragi’s shook of how polite Sako is towards him. Then having a mini internal crisis.

Sako sees that and finds it hilarious. The embarrassing yet joyous tune carefully breaks the ice between them.

Sako's face in that last panel just makes me think he finds his past self ridiculous now.

Despite how their fight felt so long ago, I'm so glad we’re seeing this talk. Sako wanted so badly for Hiragi to be the one telling him he needs him but never got it. He could’ve just followed him anyway but I guess he thought Hiragi’s words meant he doesn’t need him.

He wanted to prove how wrong Hiragi was by joining Shishitoren and become strong enough to beat him one day. Welp. Since their fight, Sako must’ve wanted to hit himself for being such an idiot.

i feel like Inugami was kinda inspired by what happened in the Shishitoren fight that he was able to face his senpai. And Sako got to see the “what ifs” if he did the same thing back then to Hiragi. If he just denies what Hiragi told him and said "It doesn't matter. I will continue to follow you"

No wonder Inugami’s been sticking with Sako since then. The fact he knows his senpais's past tells how close they are.

I really wondered what went down with Shishitoren after their fight with Bofurin. As expected, there were scuffles within the group here & there. Surely, some left. Choji & Togame have to be strong enough to face such hurdles after what they’ve done. But look at them now.

Because they cared so much for their group and have each other to help through those trying times that they were able to reform Shishitoren the way it is now. What a domino effect.

Sako became inspired himself to face his own mistakes as well. And it led to this.

That “Aaaah finally” panel…I really felt that. Relief to finally apologize after holding unto bad feelings for so long. Relief to finally mend their friendship. I freakin' teared up. This manga argh!

And of course they were interrupted! Ah, I wanted to hear what Hiragi has to say to Sako, but I think we get the idea, judging by those soft eyes gazing at his kouhai.

Looking at the panel wit both Sako's Shishitoren friends and Hiragi's Bofurin kouhais, it's another glimpse of what we will see more in the future. A unity and camaraderie of different gangs.

Thank you for reading! 💚

Next chapter will release on Kodansha this coming Tuesday 🎐

🧵Versions: Twitter/X 📖Where to read the manga: Kodansha | Other 📺Watch Season 1 now (S2 in 04.2025!): Crunchyroll, Netflix

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 58 Welp Posting

Hello kind void. Short (for me) yap this time... it's mostly just pain this chapter, after all. So much pain.

Very rough TL of the editor's notes:

First page: 漆羽の命滅契約は一体…? [Uruha no meimetsu keiyaku ha ittai...?!, What in the world happened to Uruha's lifelong contract...!?] Last page: 信念のもと漆羽を殺めた座村を前に… [Shinen no moto Uruha wo ayameta Samura wo maeni..., Standing in front of Samura, who killed Uruha due to his conviction...] Google Translate or DeepL can probably do better than me on this one, so go ahead and copy/paste that text into one of those instead for a better idea. Just note that 漆羽 (Uruha) usually gets auto-translated to "Urushiba" and 座村 (Samura) to "Zamura".

*----------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Pregame Mini Meta Rant: If I hear a SINGLE complaint about how many panels were reused this chapter Imma get heated. Yeah, there's been a lot of copy-crop-paste stuff going on in the past two weeks. This chapter alone re-used Hakuri's exhausted seal pose four times. But the major scenes still hit hard as fuck and the new art is holding up. Let the author do what it takes to avoid burnout and health issues just as his series is getting the major promotion treatment, okay? Dude's had to do a lot of extra work recently with the cover and colour pages in addition to the usual volume redraws and accompanying filler sketches/doodles.

These chapters were probably being written and drawn about the same time as the extra materials. It's not like the author starts drawing on Monday and sends the chapter out by Friday so it can be published Sunday- they're finished weeks in advance before they're released. I recommend checking out a short manga called The Right Way to Make JUMP! by Takeshi Sakurai if the practical details of getting manga out to thousands of readers in both print & digital simultaneously every week seem interesting!

*----------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Uruha vs. Samura

I interrupt this ramble before it even begins to do a little celebratory dance. I got most of what I yapped about last chapter right for once! Yay! ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪ I won't have to recap the Samura motivation/mindset yap with the new information! (This will probably never happen again.)

Anyway...

Let's start with this because fuck it was so cool and sad.

I love how every character in this manga holds fast to their convictions, man. But I didn't expect Samura to be so cold about killing his former apprentice y'know?! Not even a hint of remorse from this guy. Between this and the subdued greeting Uruha gave him, the lack of warmth in their dialogue together... I wonder if they had a positive relationship. Uruha certainly respected Samura's skills but the contrast between how he thinks about Kunishige and the man who presumably taught him everything he knows about fighting is striking, isn't it? He was pretty unemotional about having to duel his master to the death despite being such an emotive guy. Yet now we'll probably never know... (sigh).

Here's something I missed on my first read: Samura didn't use Tobimune to face Uruha; he was just the quicker draw with a regular katana.

His sword is closer to being sheathed, while Uruha's sword is still farther out.

In case anyone still wants to believe that Uruha is alive or can come back somehow after this... more power to you. The Sojo copers can probably give you some tips if you need them. But there is one small smidgen of comfort to be had, if one wants to interpret it as such.

Not using Tobimune can be read as respecting Uruha's determination and facing him on equal footing. I know he unnecessarily double-tapped Uruha when he was laying on the ground- he didn't need to slash the guy again with Tobimune to make the kill. I get it, the Enchanted Blades are tools of death. Just let me have this. I need it.

Uruha deserved better. He deserve to live, dammit. I didn't get nearly enough of him. But what a way to go. Standing up for what you believe, your dead (boy)friend's last words telling you to live no matter what running through your head. Fighting for your life to honor his wish even though it's a completely lost cause... fuck what a tragic character. He was such a passionate guy despite the losses he suffered. Uruha, man... I really wanted to spend more time with him, but I guess all we'll get of him are flashbacks about him from other people or during scenes recounting what happened in the war.

The worst part of saying goodbye is that it felt like we had so much more to see and learn about him. His story's incomplete but it's over all the same. That's what hurts most when authors kill these characters- the sense of real loss because of all the loose ends. Anything we learn about him will be retroactive for context. No more growth, no more silly faces... damn you Samura...! Fuck this author makes good villains in a short span of time.

Whatever incident was covered up 18 years ago has to be incredibly awful to drive Samura to become an avenger for the truth. I'm talking "establishing a whole fucking international court system to process it for over a decade" levels of bad. Which it may well be, if this flashback from Sojo's PoV in chapter 8 remains unchanged when we revisit it for context:

Hello, probable war crimes.

Yeah I'm banking on that mystery kid being Magatsumi's current wielder. Whether he was a child soldier or picked up the sword by accident somehow, this might be the clue to The Incident that turned Samura against his allies. The point about how anyone can use the Enchanted Blades is made repeatedly during and after the Sojo arc- why not a child? Covering up a massacre like that would be in a lot of people's interests.

Unfounded spitball theories aside, now that Hakuri and Chihiro are both clued in that some real bad shit went down, we can expect to learn more about it. Hopefully sooner rather than later because I'll definitely be judging the shit outta Samura based on how awful it is. I'm very interested in his moral dilemma but I've got unreasonably high standards as to what kind of event could drive someone to do something so awful (in fiction, at least). IRL people are messy, but fiction demands justification. And the way this incident is being hyped up makes me believe it's different from the other horrors of war sinking in and slowly driving someone to resent everything they did for the cause. Whatever the Bearers and the Kamunabi covered up is going to cast them all -Kunishige included- in an extremely unflattering light.

Burnout

He just looks so cute being carried like that even though he's so exhausted and roughed up…

... Yeah. Poor Hakuri.

I won't take up as much space here as I want to yapping about him because most of it's just retreads of things I've been saying for weeks already. But man. Man.

This guy awoke to his powers, killed his dad and brothers, put an end to his family's cruelty, saved a bunch of lives at great risk to himself, passed out, and woke up to try and do this crazy mission with Chihiro all in just over 24 hours. He's so fried he fell asleep while being carried piggy-back and can't even move any more! But he's still kicking himself for not summoning Kumeyuri for Uruha when he had enough adrenaline to sort of stand up on his own. Never mind the brain haemorrhage- he's got lives to save. Ms. Makizumi's words about pushing himself too hard being dangerous just go in one ear and out the other. These people want him to care about himself for the mission and because he deserves it but he just refuses to take it to heart...

Then the person he promised to protect is killed in front of him right after he made it his life's mission to prevent exactly this sort of scenario.

Fuck.

Can't even turn this into a ship moment I'm so bent out of shape. Someone strip me of my fudanshi creds.

It looks like Hakuri did summon Chihiro in a panic after all- he couldn't even call out to Uruha so reaching for Chihiro instead was his first instinct. He just wasn't fast enough because his body and mind are on the brink of totally shutting down. If he's truly unable to use sorcery again after finally gaining his own strength at long last... oh, that will hurt so bad. I'm not ready for how hard Hakuri's going to be on himself when he eventually wakes up despite doing his very best.

Hakuri's gonna be out of commission for sure after this event.

I'm close to 100% positive he'll temporarily lose his powers now. If it comes to be, then Kagurabachi will have passed my bullshit "don't say they'll die if the consequences don't match up to the risk" test. Being paralyzed and powerless for a while is good enough to convince me that death really was a possible outcome. See, it's really that easy. Totally not unfair and arbitrary.

Regardless, there's a lot of suffering ahead for Chihiro and Hakuri. Not only did all of this shit go down the day right after the Rakuzaichi, but there's still whatever the blood test will reveal hanging out there... the political and practical price of this failure with the Kamunabi... processing the guilt of not being able to save a life... coming to terms with how much they don't know... so much has happened to them in a short 24-ish hours, huh? And neither of them have anything good to look forward to in the short-term.

I gotta wonder what Hakuri will do this arc if he's literally unable to move for a while. His PoV gave us the info that there was a specific incident that was covered up, but that doesn't mean he'll be involved in that plot line. But let's save that stress for another time- gotta see how badly he fucked himself up and how things shake out between Chihiro and Samura first.

Chihiro vs. Samura

(Ch. 50) A long-awaited reunion.

What will go down next week? I'm sure as hell not gonna try to guess. Could be anything from casual conversation to an actual skirmish. At least one thing will definitely not happen though.

Neither Chihiro nor Samura are dying here. Chihiro cannot die until the last fight in the series is finished, so that's out (boo joyless nerd take no fun booooooo). Samura's simply too strong to go down to an exhausted Chihiro and we still have to learn the history behind his motives. So he's gonna stick around for a bit longer to cause trouble. Wouldn't be surprised if he's the arc boss! Hiruhiko's got his own training arc ahead of him and all (and some arms to reattach), so he'll be more of a recurring villain than someone to defeat as a character growth moment for now. It's looking like Samura vs. Chihiro for the foreseeable future IMO.

If I can reveal a selfish hope, I want Samura facepalming Chihiro and feeling the scar to be the means of getting insight on how he feels about Chihiro's situation. Samura's probably the one who tipped off the Hishaku about Kunishige's location thanks to accidentally finding out when Momma Shiba took Chihiro to the local festival. Oh boy, if Chihiro learns that Samura was the one that sold him and his dad out... that would be some incredibly potent angst. His hero, a monster? Say it ain't so. Would have told you sooner if I could, Chihiro.

Hm, Kunishige and the Bearers who were entrusted with his vision...

(Chapter 1)

(Chapter 9)

(Chapter 58)

I feel confident in thinking that Samura is basically Bad End Chihiro now. He's been tormented by guilt for nearly two decades and has decided to do everything himself. He'll kill his former comrades and the Hishaku or go down swinging- and kill himself if he actually succeeds. He's on a doomed mission to scorch the earth and take out as much evil as he can. All scum go to hell! Including the guy who's so mired in grief that he does a lot of murder to cope. Those scars of his don't look like tear tracks in some shots for nothin'. (Wait, wasn't I talking about Chihiro for a bit there?)

Chihiro's well on his way to following Samura's path already... he's not the type to kill his comrades, but he's definitely got the "guilty sinning avenger" thing going on strong. So if Samura is Chihiro's "Bad End", what will he force Chihiro to realize? Every major foe reflects a part of Chihiro back at himself and forces him to answer difficult questions, after all. Sojo- forced him to accept that there are multiple ways to interpret and use his dad's legacy

Kyora- forced him to look at his own devotion to his dad's legacy and admit he doesn't know as much as he needs to

Hiruhiko (round 1)- forced him to admit that he thinks of himself as a monster for the lengths he's willing to go to

As for Samura, I think it'll be along the lines of "is it necessary or justifiable to sin and/or commit oneself hell for the sake of a cause?". Maybe "can I be redeemed at all?" (or if redemption is even necessary in the first place). Legitimately can't wait to see what goes down between them next week to get more clues! God I love this manga so much. I haven't been so consistently engaged week to week like this in ages.

...One last thought. This is probably looking too far ahead as an angst merchant and I was rightly rebuked for mentioning it. I should know better than to share the worthless depressing bullshit that goes on in my head. But these posts are supposed to just be some yaps into an ambivalent abyss so... sorry, kind internet void, but you get some of my depresso espresso.

"The least I can do is refrain from causing harm to others and take you Hishaku bastards to hell with me." - Chihiro (ch. 53)

With all the deliberate parallels drawn between Samura->Chihiro and Uruha->Hakuri, I wouldn't be surprised if our favourite protagonist/deuteragonist pair has the same exchange later down the line. Definitely not under similar circumstances! I can imagine scenarios where Chihiro is trying to kill Hakuri but they're so far removed from canon that they make absolutely zero sense.

But there could well be a time where Chihiro decides to leave because he really does need to bear this burden alone and Hakuri tries to call him out on the ridiculousness of that mindset. I think it would be a happier result for Chihiro and Hakuri compared to Samura and Uruha if only because Chihiro isn't as far gone as the blind traitor rat is. But yeah I'm just sticking that in my back pocket to see if it manifests in the future.

Time to write some hurt/comfort and hope canon eases up on the pain soon. It's either that or setting up a bingo sheet with all the angst scenarios I've got written down in my drafts and notes... I choose the one that I can create my own happy ending for. Until next time, dear void.

[magicalgirlypop]

the women of death note deserve better

so i just finished death note. i have Thoughts about the show. some good, some bad. its not the type of show i'd usually watch but there was something in it that kept me watching. but there was one aspect of the show that bothered me to no end, one that made me consider dropping the show more than once. and that's its treatment of its female characters.

now i know shonen isn't exactly known for writing women well. this isn't to say ALL shonen is like that, but the more popular ones definitely have this problem. the women are either sidelined, reduced to love interests, or aren't allowed to reach their full potential, and this can really be seen in the women of death note. for a show that prides itself on having complex, layered characters with depths that keep people talking two decades later, it sure does drop the ball when it comes to writing women. so here i'm gonna go through all the women of death note and how they were done dirty. keep in mind this is all referring to the anime, i haven't read the manga.

naomi misora

starting off with the one that pissed me off the most. naomi had me intrigued from the moment she first appeared on screen. she was a former fbi agent who left her job because her asshole fiance convinced her it was too dangerous, and then blew off her suggestions (which ultimately lead to his death which. el oh fucking el). she was able to piece together that kira could control how his victims die. she could add a lot to the story given that she previously worked with L. she could've been a part of the task force and would help them piece together clues that would pin down kira. does she do all that? LOL NOPE. the writers decided she was too powerful and killed her off within two episodes of her introduction. now i know this is death note and a lot of characters die. but naomi's death pissed me off the most. here was a woman who had so much potential and could solve the case within two episodes and she's killed off. oh but at least she stars in a spinoff novel half the fandom won't read! isn't that just GREAT? look how much we love women guys!

yeah all this time later and i'm still pissed off about how they did her. naomi bby you deserve so much better.

misa amane

OH BOY GET READY FOR A BIG ONE. so misa was actually the reason i wanted to watch death note because she's fucking gorgeous. i didn't have many expectations about how she'd be written considering this is a popular shonen, but even then i was disappointed. misa is the main female character of death note. she's presented as the second kira who has shinigami eyes, which gives her the power to see a person's name and lifespan by looking at their face. she was saved by a shinigami who was in love with her and got his notebook, and her current shinigami rem (more on her next) also has feelings for her. she worships kira because he killed her parents' murderer. she finds out light is kira because her shinigami eyes don't allow her to see the lifespan of a death note owner and as such asks him to make her his girlfriend.

misa misa misa. my gorgeous goth girl. you deserved to be written so much better. a second kira who has shinigami eyes? she could've been so cool. but the writers made 90% of her personality revolve around light and treated her as this dumb, impulsive girl who worships the ground light walks on. and light doesn't even treat her that well. he just uses her and takes his frustrations out on her. oh, and don't get me started on this bullshit

look, i get that misa is a killer and had to be restrained. but WAS THIS FETISHY CRAP NECESSARY?? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE FUCKING CROTCH STRAP?? when light was imprisoned he wasn't tied up like THIS. this is just another case of shonen authors being fucking weirdos with their female characters.

and in the end she kills herself because light dies. instead of letting her heal and live her life the author decides "welp, the man we based 90% of misa's character on is dead, time to kill her off too". just absolute bullshit. she deserved so SO much better.

rem

rem, my gorgeous butch shinigami. she became my favourite character when she was introduced. i was actually surprised by how direct they were about her feelings for misa. i'd seen bits and pieces of remisa before and i thought it'd be one of those ships the writers dance around but they explicitly had her say she has feelings for misa. i was so surprised and happy at that. but of course, this is a popular shonen so i shouldn't have had high expectations. my problem with how they treated rem comes in her death. she dies after killing watari and L to extend misa's lifespan. if a shinigami extends a human's lifespan they die. now, i'm not gonna say her death is an example of bury your gays because gelus, the male shinigami who saved misa before, met the same fate. however, i will say its very Interesting that the only canonically lesbian character who explicitly declares her feelings for another woman dies BECAUSE of those feelings. and then she isn't even acknowledged by misa which is so weird considering how much rem helped her. there's no scene of misa even mentioning rem or mourning her death. she dies without anyone knowing. i do enjoy the doomed yuri aspect of remisa but i really do wish they'd have misa at least acknowledge rem's death.

wedy

wedy, aka merrie kenwood, is a spy who joins the task force in the yotsuba arc. she's an expert at getting through security and is crucial in helping pin down higuchi as kira as she's the one who installs the bugs in yotsuba's meeting room and higuchi's cars. another cool female character with a lot of potential. you know what that means. TIME TO KILL HER OFF! wedy doesn't get much screentime and then dies within eight episodes of her introduction. which is slightly better than naomi. but still. i won't say this is also a case of misogynistic writing as aiber also dies. however, there is a pattern of having a female character with potential, not giving her enough spotlight, and killing her off shortly after her debut.

sayu yagami

sayu, my poor bbygirl sayu. she's introduced as light's bubbly little sister. in the timeskip she goes to college. her most significant role is getting kidnapped so her father could give up the death note to mello's men, making her the classic damsel in distress. and the poor girl is so traumatized that she's in a catatonic state and has to be wheelchair bound and taken care of by her mother. oh, and there's also that weird comment matsuda makes about her which... really dude? sayu isn't AS badly done as she doesn't play much of a role beyond her kidnapping. but still, she also deserves so much better.

kiyomi takada

i didn't think i'd be as pissed off about how they did a female character as i did about naomi and misa but BOY they proved me wrong. takada was light's girlfriend in college but she doesn't play a major role until the timeskip where she becomes kira's spokesperson. like misa, she worships kira. she's happy when she finds out light is kira and would do anything for him. so another woman who worships the ground light walks on. how original. she's supposed to be smart but they never demonstrate it. and need i mention that rivalry between her and misa? making two women catty to each other over a man who isn't even all that, how very typical. but what pissed me off the most was her kidnapping. that scene where mello asks her to take off all her clothes, and then she's left with nothing but a blanket? so fucking weird, i don't care if she's kira's spokesperson. this show has a history of treating its women weirdly and i'm not gonna believe this was anything but the author being weird once again. because what even was the point of that? and then she's killed by light to destroy all evidence. i'm saying this a lot at this point but takada also deserves better. she deserved to live up to her potential.

halle linder

out of everyone, halle is treated the best and that's not saying much. she's a double agent serving as takada's bodyguard and a spy for the spk. she's also the only woman besides sayu and sachiko who survived till the end and wasn't killed off. which i just realised. out of all the women in this show, only THREE survive till the end. isn't that something? i think my only issue with halle is the lack of spotlight. which is a theme with these women.

i thought of adding sachiko but she isn't much of a character. but there you have it. i'm not sure how bad it is in other popular shonen. but death note is full of women who had potential but the author squandered it for the sole reason that they're women. and its so jarring because people can write essays on light, L, near, mello, etc. even MATSUDA had more care put into him than any of these women. which is a damn shame. these women deserve to be in a show that actually cared about them, where they can actually live up to their potential.

i don't dislike death note. it definitely has its strong points. but the treatment of its women is something i take issue with, very strongly. if the author wasn't a weirdo and a nasty misogynist i feel like these women would've been the complex characters they deserved to be.

[dyaz-stories]

Welp, since you gave the go sign, when and how did you start shipping Kagome and Gojo? And what inspired you to make your story?

Loool I'm glad to answer that, it's a very funny story to me actually.

Because when I started shipping them, I wasn't even in the JJK fandom. Like I hadn't read the manga and I hadn't seen the anime. I had one friend who was involved in the fandom and who'd talk to me about it, and I think I'd started seeing edits on TikTok. So I knew about Gojo's Vibe™ and I had a pretty clear, if not really defined, idea for the kind of person he was.

And yeah I was just lying in bed scrolling when I started to think about how Kagome is kinda THE character for crossovers and suddenly I had to get up and start pacing because I had the Vision of Kagome/Gojo and I was like oh wow oh wow oh wow. So as you do I looked them up on Tumblr and Ao3 and was delighted to find some stuff, and decided This Is My Ship Now.

(this is one of my favorite posts for the ship it's absolutely excellent)

So it was love at first sight for me, basically. I think there was something about the idea that Kagome could get through all of Gojo's barriers, literally and figuratively, that really spoke to me. Also, the fact that they're so similar in their roles and yet so different? Chef's kiss. Match made in heaven.

As for what inspired me for the alchemy, it's kinda convoluted. It wasn't the fic I'd planned on writing, and I actually had ideas for two other fics, one of which I'd started working on. I can talk about it in more detail elsewhere if you're interested or want a quick rundown, but the problem I ran into was that they required heavy plotting, and I was in the middle of a time-consuming internship without having read JJK at that point, so I couldn't devote my time and energy to that.

I still wanted to write though, so a low-effort, low-plot fic would have been fine. I came up with the idea for the alchemy in a roundabout way though. Shibuya is the focal point of the manga for me, so it came up a lot when I was thinking about fics.

But when I came up with the starting point for the alchemy, I was thinking about writing a Nanami/Kagome one-shot. Basically they're together without knowing of each other's powers, until Shibuya happens and Kagome, worried for her boyfriend, ventures in. Obviously, she saves him (either from Mahito or by busting everyone out of Dagon's domain expansion).

The problem was that after that, she'd, again, obviously, go on to unseal Gojo. And then we ran into an issue, which was that I realized that the moment she met Gojo, it'd be over for her and Nanami.

Now that is just in my mind and everyone is free to feel and write about them however they want lol. But for me, I realized that the instant, mutual fascination between Gojo and Kagome would be so strong and so intense that they would just gravitate towards each other. Kagome wouldn't necessarily realize what was happening right away, but Nanami would. It would just have been sad, and not what I wanted to write.

(I could come up with another Nanami/Kagome story where that wouldn't be an issue mayyyybe but in those circumstances, there just wasn't a way out for them I'm afraid)

(actually it is angst I could get behind, but at that point I didn't want to write it) (no actual cheating involved, but Kagome would fall in love with Gojo while still with Nanami, and he wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it from happening despite knowing it's happening and seeing it unfold) (he'd think he should leave her but wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it and eventually she'd be the one to go) (I think Gojo would never make the first move in those circumstances)

Buuuut the idea of Kagome coming in the Jujutsu world via Shibuya did stick with me. It started out as just a one-shot, ending where chapter one ends basically, and then I got attached, which I should have seen coming tbh, and now here we are lol.

[chuckeroo777]

Dungeon Meshi Volume 8 Part 2

Ok, let's see. Now that we're past the season finale, I should whip something up. Give me a sec.

Perfect.

To think on my first read-through I thought Kabru was a wishy-washy weirdo. He's still a weirdo, but his goals are very understandable, and very important.

Please stop being so cute Cithis. You are easily the canary I trust the least, and that is really saying something.

God. I really dislike the canaries, but Mithrun is too goddamn cute.

Welp. Kabru's argument was pretty much impeccable. Even knowing everything he doesn't, I agree that that is the best plan of action. In just a few pages, they managed to make me hate this guy more than the lion.

How the hell does that work? If you dig a room into the side of a dungeon, doesn't that just make the dungeon bigger?

Ignoring the horrible horrible implications, what the heck do you idiots think is going to happen? If the canaries never return or report back, you're going to have an armada on your ass before you can blink.

Does it make me a bad person to be a little disappointed they weren't actually killed?

So, is it possible for natural dungeons like the one Falin found to grow into a full blown dungeon? Or do these maturity levels only apply to dungeons where the ancients sealed away demons back in the day?

Oh noooo. Whatever will we do. Also, I find it really funny how pushed the walking mushrooms are as a cute mascot of the show, when only two appear in all of season 1, one of which wasn't even in the manga. And then they show up in the second half like twenty times.

It's been far too long since we got to murderlize something.

What sort of limits are there to teleportation magic? Seems like something like that would take a ton of mana. Then again, maybe I'm just stuck in the mindset of the fantasy world I've been tinkering with now and then. In that world, teleportation is pretty much the most mana-intensive sort of magic.

Mithrun dgaf.

These are wonderful. Also, more farcille fuel, and aroace Laios fuel.

Why is this frame of thistle so cute?

Mithrun, please. I have like, five feats dedicated to persuasion. You have like, a +0 bonus.

Oh my god. These idiots haven't even told Namari about the Faligon yet. She is so baffled.

Heartbreaking: The worst people you know are really freaking competent.

On the one hand, the town is saved, and it's for the greater good. On the other hand, all the people I specifically care about will suffer.

Some have called Kabru selfish, or self-serving, but here he literally sacrifices himself to try and save his friends/acquaintances. Maybe that's why he seemed so wishy-washy to me. He's struggling between the greater good, and the ones he really cares about.

Aaaand right back to silly.

Oh yeah? Well if it was an ointment, why did it smell so yummy? Do you think Senshi would eat chapstick?

And with that, we finish the floor 1 trilogy. We'll do the bicorn and monster tales in a final part!