#I have needs and one of them is Wada being cared for and loved and these guys will do just that

[smol-creecher]

After yesterday I have come to the conclusion that Wada’s found family consists of Isono, Tsuno and Ojima. This is good. Now I just need the no killing game AU where there can be silly found family shenanigans.

[skygemspeaks]

opla episode 6 is definitely my favourite so far. here are some thoughts:

the music in this is so good! i'm the kind of person who doesn't often notice the soundtrack unless it's a song i know well (like binks' sake or we are, both of which we've heard snippets of so far), but i did really like the funky beat we got in the luffy vs arlong fight

the character work in this was well done, specifically when it comes to luffy and sanji! one really good way to have emotional impact is to establish a certain aspect of a character's personality, and then subvert it to make a point. like we all know that luffy loves to eat, but then at the beginning of the episode when nami tells him to go to the baratie and he replies that he's not hungry right now? that's really cute. but later on in the episode, when sanji is preparing food for them, and luffy doesn't even notice it, because he needs to properly care for "wada itchy monkey" (ASKDLJASDJK) for zoro, that made my heart melt. he loves his crew SO much

and i really like that sanji was there to see it! it really gives more credence to his decision to leave his father and his whole life behind to sail off with a crew he's known for like two days. he sees luffy struggling with making the tough decisions, he hears luffy say that he would eat both arms and legs to save zoro's life, and he sees potential in him as a captain. he trusts luffy with his dream

also, the relationship between zeff and sanji was subtle but very sweet. sanji says "oregano is for savages" and you kinda laugh, but then you see in the flashback that it's a callback to the very first interaction he ever had with zeff, and it takes on new meaning. you hear them calling each other "shitty old man" and "little eggplant" and at the end of the episode when zeff finally calls sanji by name, it hits you like a punch in the heart. and sanji immediately picks up on that and calls zeff by name too! their love for each other is so obvious, and i really appreciate it.

it was really cool to see nami reading the story of noland to zoro! what a fun little thing, and again, i would love it if we ever got to see the payoff for this!

the live action really benefited from having the context of worldbuilding that's established later on in the series, namely what we learn about fishmen in the sabaody arc. i like that they included those scenes of arlong interacting with the humans, and it was especially cool to see the interplay between him and the fishman that works as the maitre d' for the baratie. it's playing on this whole feeling where when you're a person of colour who takes pride in your heritage, it can feel almost like a betrayal when you see another person from your culture just throwing it all away and adapting to the culture that they live in. there's nothing wrong with either of those choices, but for the person who takes pride in their culture, it feels almost like losing to the racists who want you to "just be normal" (ie assimilate). it's a very complicated and nuanced topic, and i like how they addressed it in the show.

garp's conversation with mihawk was another point of interest for me! i've been joking about it all this time, but i really do think that he's clinging to this idea that if he just manages to apprehend luffy before he reaches the grand line, before any OTHER marines take notice of him, he can still get through to luffy. maybe he can keep his grandson safe. because he knows that luffy already has the odds stacked against him, what with his father being the leader of the revolutionary army, and he doesn't want his grandson to die. then mihawk refuses to bring luffy in, and all garp can do is laugh in despair, and tear his office apart because it feels like everyone in the world is trying to stop him from keeping his grandson safe, and he's running out of TIME as luffy gets embroiled in more and more pirate bullshit and gets closer to the grand line, and he just needs to bring his grandson back. and then koby just pops that bubble by telling garp that luffy would rather die than take orders from anyone else. he'd rather die than be a marine. and garp can't deny it anymore, so he just gives up. and who knows what koby was thinking here. maybe he's still a bit naive. he loves his friend, and he thinks. what. maybe garp will just let luffy go? ignore him because he's not a threat? he's not like OTHER pirates after all. but garp has been a marine for 50 years, and he knows that's not how any of this works. he knows that he did everything he could to stop luffy from being a pirate, and maybe he's feeling a little bitter that luffy never listened to him, maybe he thinks it's what luffy deserves. if luffy wants to be a pirate, then garp will do his fucking damnedest to treat him like a fucking pirate. and later on, you can see koby's despair, because this is not what he wanted, not at all. but what did he want then? this is what i mean when i say i don't know how they're planning on resolving his character arc. because the way things are going now, it would seem to make the most sense for him to become disillusioned with the marines as he realizes they're not what he's been glorifying and idolizing all his life, right? so what happens? maybe it IS a set-up for that kind of story arc, the way it is in the manga. maybe this, plus later during marineford when he stands up to akainu is the setup for the long game. maybe koby's going to become a revolutionary in the endgame of the manga. i think he'd get along well with sabo.

in the aftermath of the arlong fight, when sanji is helping clean up the dining area and he has that conversation with zeff, it becomes obvious that all along, zeff has been trying to push sanji away. zeff demoted him to a waiter because he knows that sanji loves cooking, and zeff wanted him to LEAVE. zeff called his cooking shitty, said it wasn't good enough to serve to guests even though sanji is his sous chef, he was trained by zeff and you know zeff would never accept anything but the best. because zeff is proud of his restaurant, he really is, but he also doesn't want sanji to waste away his life in this little restaurant in the east blue. that's not the future zeff gave up his leg for. and it hurts, but he needs to push sanji out of the nest so that he can fly

the vow that zoro makes to luffy when he wakes up is really nice! i love that zoro seems to have finally accepted that these are his people, these are his family, and he's not trying to hide it anymore. that soft, indulgent little laugh he does when usopp is recounting the fight he totally had with the fishmen is that much sweeter after he's been so aloof and stoic all season. i like seeing him finally loosen up, and it feels so much more deserved now

[coralhoneyrose]

Coral. Coral help. I NEED to know your thoughts on B!F!Robin. I am dying. IS did her so dirty by giving her the LITERAL EXACT SAME OUTFIT as M!Robin and GAVE THE LEVIN SWORD TO FELIX I am screaming. They can't let F!Robin have ONE thing to herself so thank Naga for the child banner I guess. But on the other hand...she looks so pretty! She rocks that outfit harder than M!Robin! Her special colors are so niiice! But I'm mad because something like this has literally never happened to a brave unit arrgghhh! I am conflicteddd help me make sense of my thoughts :(

(Also I stg her in-game dialogue better be JUST as sappy and romantic and Chrom-related as M!Robin's..........)

Omg Idk why tumblr didn't give me the notification for this--apologies for the late response! I do want to preface this by saying that everyone is wholly entitled to their own feelings about this unit and I don't want or intend to be dismissive of any of that! Brave units are really special and you only get one shot at them for a character, so it's natural for people to be super invested in how they're executed and have strong feelings if it's not what they were hoping to see. With that out of the way, I'm actually pretty uncomplicatedly happy with how her brave unit turned out! I am very very much a proponent of the "both Robins are the same character with the same personality" view point; because of that, I tend to like seeing them receive the same treatment and IS giving them both the same outfit was really nice in that regard. Particularly given that the original designs for Robin have the male and female avatar wearing the exact same outfit, I think keeping it the same for the brave felt really natural to me! I didn't personally feel like she was cheated or short changed, and I really like the subtle adjustments that were made to it with the bow and sleeves and cut of the shirt to tailor it slightly better to her while still keeping the concept consistent. I also just think the way Wada Sachiko does shading / coloring and the way Robin's face / hair are drawn are gorgeous. She really does look so, so pretty <3 I will say I would still love to get Grand Master F!Robin eventually though, so I'll cross my fingers they put her out as an attuned unit sometime down the line. Please IS, people (me) would pay good money for her in those golden thigh-high boots 🙏

If I have one disappointment with this unit, it's that Chrom doesn't feature in her forging bonds T-T But that being said, she does name drop him absolutely constantly and her unit title is "Exalt's Right Hand" which is delightfully shippy as well. Even their little teatime dialogue thing has Robin talking about joining hand in hand with him. ALSO her bonus battle entry voice line she got is a line from the Chrobin B support ("Now, what was so damned important?"), which I think is pretty wonderful...especially given that Brave Chrom's bonus battle entry quote is a line he says to Robin as well ("You are yourself").

As for the levin sword.....not sure what they were thinking with that one LOL. I suppose maybe in that regard they DID want to differentiate her from m!Robin by giving her a different weapon type?? And Felix is one of the swordiest sword guys ever, so I definitely understand wanting to keep him as the sword user...but what possessed them to give him the levin sword specifically I have no idea. I think I am just choosing to view it as funny more than anything kdfksdg

Okay, I just threw a lot of words at you and idk how useful they actually are for clarifying any of your own feelings LOL but! Hopefully you were able to take something helpful away from it! And I appreciate you caring to hear my thoughts in the first place <3

[moonchild-things]

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Stepping Stone

Summary: Shōyō Hinata loves volleyball! There is no doubt that all he really thinks about is volleyball. His sister, however, isn’t the same way. Sakura is ready to start her first year of high school at Karasuno with her twin brother and doesn’t really want to do anything, unlike Shōyō. Though she can’t help it when she gets dragged into the antics of the volleyball club.

Word Count: 3738

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A/n: HAPPY NEW YEAR WELCOME TO 2024! I got back from a family vacation to Aruba so my mind is still on vacation mode lol I finished a chapter tho! 

---

THE SAME OLD, SAME OLD WAS HAPPENING in the Karasuno photography club. Wada Katski and Ito Miki were arguing, not surprising. It had started with Shimada telling the club about the finishing touches for the set up and layout for the gallery that was about an hour away from starting. Then Wada had made a suggestion, one that Ito disagreed with, and then the bickering ensued. 

Sakura had already tuned the pair out as she’s gotten used to it by now. Besides she had her own internal debate to deal with right now. When she had first been given the topic for this gallery, there was an instant idea that popped into her head. Who did she really find inspiration? Who did she see as her hero? That was obviously her brother. People might think that it was cute for her to think of her twin brother as her hero and looked up(more like down) to him and his passions. Though after their fight, after her own realization, she found herself seeing that her constant need to have him a part of every aspect of her life and vice versa was not too healthy. 

It left quite a bit of a bitter taste in her mouth, if she were to be honest. She was obviously going to keep this topic for her entry into the gallery. It was too late for her to change it. Though it wasn’t like she really wanted to. Even if they had this fight, it didn't mean she didn't value him any less.

If anything, she was using this moment as a stepping stone, at least in her eyes. One of the last odes to her brother before she finally goes all in on finding who she is as a person. A dedication to him, going to the Tokyo practice camp as her one last volleyball adventure for them both also being a part of that. Perhaps she should have said that she wasn’t going to go. Just like the last training camp, she didn’t really think that there was a need for her to be there. Getting a few photos would be nice, but she didn’t have to be there the entire time.

That was something she usually wondered about. Why Ukai and Takeda let her tag along for so long. It wasn’t like she was a manager or anything. She didn’t provide all too much, in her eyes, to the team besides helping Yachi and Kiyoko with some managerial stuff. Perhaps she made some comments about the guys and how they played, but nothing more. Maybe they had her there because she was a good way to reign in her brother and Kageyama sometimes. Whatever the reason is, she didn’t really care. She got the opportunity to be with her brother, and she was grateful for that. Though she certainly wouldn’t be asking to go along after this one. Doubt she’d really be missed, she might miss getting to see Kiyoko and the others she tolerated most days, but it would have to happen. The real question was whether she would miss it herself.

Just as Sakura was going to continue over-thinking things about her and her brother, it seemed like the bickering that had been happening in the background had suddenly become nonexistent. Looming over the once arguing pair, the angelic Mori was giving them a closed-eyed smile. Quite a menacing aura surrounding her and stealing the breath from the others in the room.  

“I think that the layout would look better with Yokoyama placed here, Ito, Shimada, Wada, Hinata and myself.” She gave them all an angelic smile that had an edge to it. Despite giving them a pleasant expression, they all knew that she was daring any of them to speak up again. A silent threat that no one wanted to see her make a promise. It caused them all to shiver, even Sakura who never really gets scared by anything.

Shimada clapped her hands loudly, causing the others to jump, “well, with that settled, we should get these to the art club too. Wada take these to them, please.”

The boy pouted, “Oh, why me?” Though he did just take the papers from her without saying anything else.

“Because you annoyed me the most, now let’s go!” Wada, sulking just a little bit, but doing as he was told. As he left, Ito stuck her tongue out at him, just being as childish as possible. Shimada then spun to scold her, “Ito! Stop antagonizing him! Now you and Yokoyama make sure that the displays are all set.”

Yokoyama stood up and saluted, “yes, ma’am.” So they grabbed Ito and started to drag her away to do as they were told. All the while, the mousy second-year was complaining about Wada as they went. Though after the two start going, it’s normal for Ito to start whining about him.

So that left Shimada, Mori and Sakura in the club room. With most of the preparations more or less done, besides some odds and ends that have to be taken care of, things were going smoothly as usual. That meant that the president and vice-president could relax. So while the others were tying up those loose ends, Shimada took this as an opportunity to slide over to Sakura.

“So are you excited?” She asked the younger girl, “Last time you were obviously quite anxious about it, so you must have gotten over your nerves this time!”

Sakura pursed her lips, “That’s not entirely how it works. But I am less nervous this time.” The initial fear of showing others her work was more or less overcome last time. She had grown confident enough in herself and her photography to be in the gallery. So it certainly wasn’t like she was going to be nervous about it this time.

“Great!” Shimada smiled, nearly jumping for joy. Obviously, she was happy for her underclassmen and her getting over her nerves. The last thing that she would want is for Sakura to end up as nervous as she was last time. “You’ll definitely enjoy this one more, I think.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “maybe.” Though she knew that Shimada was right. However, she wouldn’t want to admit that Shimada was right to her face, that would just cause the older girl’s ego to grow bigger. Sakura definitely doesn't need that, in her opinion.

Shimada nodded her head, content with her underclassmen’s lack of nerves over this. “I’m gonna finish up anything and make sure the set up is the right way.” With a short pat on Sakura’s head, Shimada skipped out of the room to supervise anything that she could find to keep herself occupied.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mori’s angelic voice asked, now that it was just her and Sakura in the room. She sat down on the chair in front of Sakura with a slightly apprehensive, yet encouraging, expression on her porcelain face. “I know that your subject is probably going to be a bit… awkward to talk about.”

Sakura thought for a moment, really trying to think about this. Yes, the subject of her photos, her hero, really was going to be awkward to talk about. Even more so if he did actually show up to the gallery. It certainly was a thought that had crossed her mind. More like it hadn’t really left her mind all too much. She cleared her throat, “I’m more than happy with who I chose as my hero. It's not like I could lie to myself about who I have viewed as my hero for basically my entire life, you know.” She drummed her fingers on the table in front of her. “My hero has always been my brother. He’s resilient and stubborn, determined and certainly never one to back down from a challenge. He’s also quite an idiot, but he has his moments.”

Mori gave her a sweet smile, “having a brother you admire is adorable, you know.” There are times that Mori wished that she had siblings. Younger or older, brother or sister, it didn’t matter to her. Though she then hears some stories about her friends and their siblings that makes her glad to not have one. Still doesn’t stop her from thinking about what it would be like.

She supposed that she could see her closest friends as siblings. Shimada was very much a sister to her, since they had joined the photography club in their first-year. The others who have come and gone in their little club held a place in her heart. She values her friends as much as she would family. Sakura certainly was a part of that sentiment too, even if they weren’t that close with each other. Mori was more than aware that Sakura liked to keep to herself, only opening up every once in a while. Shimada had really taken the younger girl under her wing, and Sakura really confided in her the most. So attempting to have a bit of a heart-to-heart with her, Mori figured that it was going to be a bit more difficult than with others. Though it was going pretty well for the time being.

Sakura blushed at her words, “Well, it’s not like he’s actually going to come to see it.”

There was a bitter undertone to her words. One that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to admit to. Either way she could still taste how sour her mood and words were. It definitely wasn’t pleasant. She did want her brother to be there for her, to support her in the same way that she has supported him. He has encouraged her and been to the first gallery, but who knew if he was going to be at this one. They hadn’t been talking to each other, at least the way that they usually have. So there was no telling if he would come to this. Sakura really hoped he did, even if she was still a bit annoyed with him.

Mori nodded her head, “Still, whether he’s there or not, you’re going to do amazing. He should be proud of you regardless.”

It wasn’t necessarily about if Sakura thought her brother was going to be proud of her or not. She is more than assured in the idea that no matter what argument or disagreement that the two could be in they would never stop supporting each other. No matter what he might say to her, or vice-versa, they would help each other achieve their goal. This misunderstanding wasn’t going to stop them from being family. They really just needed a moment. Though that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less. 

So this was that moment, a stepping-stone for both of the teens to skip their way onto a new chapter of their lives. A time where they could develop themselves in the right way as individuals. It could be hard right now, however, it certainly would have some happy outcomes at some point. 

Sakura let out a heavy sigh, “I just figured… This is a point that we can move onto a new point in our life. After this and the Tokyo camp, I think it’s best that Shōyō and I… do our own things. Actually, do our own things.”

“A good step forward.” Mori cheered her on. While she didn’t completely know how Sakura was feeling about this or her brother, she really hoped that this was a good thing for the both of them. The last thing that they would need is for something like this to just hurt them further. Mori didn’t want to see her good friend hurt or worse because of the relationship with her brother deteriorating further.

---

Tsukishima shouldn’t be here. Really he shouldn’t. Whatever had possessed him to walk towards the commotion by the art club, was completely unknown to him. He already knew what was going on there, since he had been here for the last gallery that they had. Though that time he didn’t really have a choice. The entire team had wanted to go, and Yamaguchi had asked him to come with. Of course, he went.

Perhaps that was due to his own curiosity. He had wanted to see what Sakura had done, and how he could bully her for it. Then again, his mind flashed to the last gallery when he tried to do the same thing.

 He wasn’t exactly expecting her to stand up for herself. It kind of annoyed him. He couldn’t really get too much of a good gauge on what she was about. Yes, he knew that she was protective of her brother, that she would stand up for him no matter what. However, after having her stare him down and tell him that she was confident in herself and her work definitely threw a wrench in his mind. He thought that she would be an easy target, much like her brother, and he hates that she’s quite the enigma.

So maybe it was his curiosity gnawing at him again, or some sadistic part of his mind that wanted to try and bully her again. Still there was a smarter part of his mind yelling that it really wasn’t going to work. So why the hell was he peaking at the exhibits that people were gushing about?

As usual, there weren’t all too many people at the gallery, but that didn’t mean any of the students were less than excited. Art students were explaining their work to others, enthusiastic to show off their work. Just about everyone was more than happy to explain their work and process to anyone who was willing to listen. The only one who seemed to be not as enthusiastic was Sakura. 

He watched as she talked a bit to an eccentric third-year next to her. If he remembered correctly, that was Shimada-senpai, the president of the photography club. He doesn’t know much about the older girl, never really caring to know about anyone in this club. Then again, he could care less to know about anyone else that he didn’t deem necessary. Hell, if he didn’t have to know most of his team, he knows his life would be easier.

He did his best to spy into the room and see her work. Not wanting to be seen by her and questioned why he was there, he needed to make sure that she wouldn't see him. The last thing he needs is her smug face looking up at him because he was caught.

He rolled his eyes when he saw the few shots that she was displaying. Her brother. Of course they were of him. Who else would they be about? Apparently there was something about Heroes for this gallery's theme. Not that he was really paying too much attention. Though it didn't surprise him that it was her brother that she used for her hero. Everything in her life was about him, so why would this be any different?

“Why don’t you go in?”

Tsukishima jumped a bit at the sudden voice next to him. He certainly wouldn’t admit it but it nearly gave him a heart attack. Perhaps he was too stuck in his own head to realize anyone could walk up on him. He turned to see that it was Yamaguchi.

The green-haired boy smiled at him and asked again, “Do you want to go in?”

Tsukishima grunted and turned away from his friend, “No.” He could see Yamaguchi’s expression and didn't like it all too much. It seemed like he was going to tease him about something, and it bothered him.

“I'm sure Sakura would be glad to see people she knows coming to see her work!”

Tsukishima scoffed, “I'm not here to see whatever she's done.”

Yamaguchi blinked, a tad bit confused, “so why are you standing out here like a creep?”

“I'm not being a creep!”

“So you’re just watching Sakura from afar for…?” He raised an eyebrow, proving his point that Tsukishima was being a bit creepy.

“She’s annoying,” Tsukishima clicked his tongue. 

His friend gave him a look, one that frustrated Tsukishima. Yamaguchi pursed his lips, “That isn’t an answer.”

He huffed harshly trying to say the right thing. “I don’t get how she’s able to annoy me so much. Her idiotic brother is easy to read… But I can’t understand her.” Even after being around her for a few months, he still hasn't come up with exactly how she worked. She got into 

Yamaguchi tilted his head, “So you came here to understand her?”

Had he come here because of that? Then again what was he going to understand from her by watching her from outside? “It just felt strange that she wasn’t at the practices.”

His friend’s eyes widened, “Have you been missing her?”

Tsukishima glared at him though he didn’t say anything. No. He wasn’t missing her. What was there to miss?! Though if he did go in, she would undoubtedly pester him about him showing up. Tsukishima didn’t want to have to explain himself since he wasn’t even sure why he was there. Sakura got under his skin in a way that no one else has. Tsukishima sees most people as idiots, especially the likes on his team. However, Sakura wasn’t really an idiot. He could admit that she was smart, perhaps as smart as him, though he couldn’t pinpoint why she was just… different.

“Well,” Yamaguchi said, breaking Tsukishima from his thoughts, “I’m going to go and say hi to her. If you want to keep admiring her from afar, you can.”

Tsukishima jumped at the implication, “Yamaguchi.”

“Sorry, Tsukki.” Though with the tone of voice and teasing smile on his lips, Yamaguchi didn’t seem to actually be apologizing. He seemed to be happy in this moment to tease his friend, which he rarely ever gets to do. Though he knows just how funny Tsukishima can get sometimes about Sakura. There was an inkling that Yamaguchi had a feeling as to why. Though he was going to leave it alone for the time being, since he isn’t even sure.

Tsukishima was then left to stew with his own thoughts. He watched as Yamaguchi walked up to Sakura, and the two shared some smiles as they talked about the gallery. The way that Sakura’s face brightened at the sight of her friend didn’t sit right in Tsukishima’s head, and he wasn’t sure why. 

Perhaps he was envious. Sakura had a great relationship with her brother, if not a bit too good. Was that something he wanted? Was that why his chest was tight when he thought about her smirk and narrowed eyes? Not that he should care. He gritted his teeth before marching off. Tsuikishima didn't need to worry about this. It would just annoy him further. Though it wasn't like she left his mind right away. She lingered behind in his mind and he hated that. She really was annoying him.

While on the court, Tsukishima knew that he couldn’t compare himself to Shōyō. That little ball of sunshine was the star of the court, while Tsukishima was just a stand in until Shōyō was needed again. However, when he found out about Sakura, he had thought that he could say that he was better than her. She wasn’t athletic, so he could say that he had that over her. Academic-wise, they were more or less on the same level. However, after at least figuring out that she was insecure about her photography, he felt gratification to know he could bully her for it. Maybe it was wrong of him, he only ever really did it to take his frustrations about her brother out on her. Though he didn’t care. Why would he? Though after time has passed and he’s had a moment of time without her snarky remarks in the gym… he missed it. And he couldn’t put his finger on why…

Elsewhere, also doing his best to go unnoticed, a certain decoy was hiding amongst the small crowd in the gallery. He thanked his height at this moment as he was able to keep himself from being spotted by his sister. He had wanted to come here to see what she did since she had been excited the last time they properly talked. 

Shōyō knew the theme of the gallery. How serious Sakura took these topics to heart and how important they were. He wasn't going to miss out on it, even if they weren't exactly on talking terms. He is always excited to see her happy about her work, so why would he miss out on this? Though it certainly warmed his heart, yet struck his chest with a wave of guilt, as he saw the photos that she had taken of him.

He knew that Sakura looked up to him. As she should, in his mind. He’s the big brother, so he wants to be a hero for both of his sisters. To make sure that they are safe and happy was one of his greatest goals in life. Of course, he had his personal journey to become the next Little Giant, however, his family also came first. 

Their argument was taking a toll on him. Shōyō had been reflecting on their childhood most of the time. Wrapping his head around what Sakura had said about wanting to be her own person seemed to be a bit more difficult than he thought. Their whole life, he thought that Sakura was happy. He thought that she was content with how they were never really apart. How bad of a brother is he to not have seen that?

Though after this, he was going to try. He wanted to try to completely understand what Sakura was feeling, how he could help her, and what they would do going forward. Sure, he doesn’t really see her issue all too much, but he wants to. Shōyō wants to listen to her and see where things went wrong. Maybe then she wouldn’t want to abandon him. So with the last fleeting look at his sister as she talked happily with Yamaguchi, Shōyō headed to find his bike. He had to head home to get ready for their trip for the camp. After tomorrow, he definitely was going to do what he could to make sure that Sakura really was okay.

---

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A/n: Ngl the chapter feels disjointed. I had something, then rewrote it entirely because it just felt wrong, and then I tried again but I wrote some of it a different times. So this chapter isn't that good. Has to be one of my worst lmao Either way next chapter is finally the Tokyo camp arc!! WOOO! Really my favorite arcs from the anime! I'm so excited! Let me know what you thought. Until the next chapter, my friends!

[justfor2am]

how many book emojis r there .uhh 📒📓📔📕📖📗📘📙📚 (this is for that ask game im not just randomly sending book emojis .tho tbf id do that too) (kinda random but?????? i want an axolotl emoji when will they add an axolotl emoji they r my second favorite animal (first is bunnies 🐇) and i want to show them off .where is it when will i get an axolotl emoji‼️ i can accept not having emojis for like my fav bunnies n for my other fav animals thats FINE but no axolotl? actually crime wada hell)

waough first off: axolotl emoji would be fire, but you know what emoji we really missing? chocolate cake.

ALL of the cake and cake-adjacent emojis are vanilla, where's the love for my fudge lovers???

anyways, because you've got me going on pokemon now, fuckin obligatory pokemon au.

mumscarian because i love those guys: Mumbo: Pokemon Lab Technician Electric/Steel/Dragon/Normal/Flying Magneton (heheh gear go brrrr) Electrode (heheh orb go brrrr) Dragonair (he deserves one elegant-looking pokemon. as a treat) Steelix (YA METAL GUY WHOOOO) Porygon (what a lil weirdo. i love porygon) Noctowl (obligatory low-level starting area pokemon that he got emotionally attached to and now bullies him when he's up late) Scar: Retired Gym Leader Normal/Fairy/Psychic Meowth (obligatory jellie insert) Togetic (raised it from an egg!) Clefable (happy lil fella who Double Slapped scar into next week the first time they met) Espeon (also raised it since it was an eevee!) Alakazam (abras are so fucking annoying to catch but goddamn he did it) Girafarig (ehehe spooky 2-faced pokemon) Grian: Aspiring Champion Bayleef (only one with an actual starter lmao) Pidgeot (best flying pokemon i'm right btw) Vulpix (lil fire fox.....) Misdreavus (goofy ghost pokemon? perfect for him) Starmie (pretty gem need i say more) Eevee (untapped potential!!!) i picture this as grian being the usual pokemon protag trying to beat the elite four except he gets wayyyyyy too carried away with the side quests

mumbo works in a pokemon containment facility meant to observe and rehabilitate hostile/abandoned pokemon (either via adoption or relocation to the wild) and is in charge of keeping the servers running and making sure the database is up to date, which it frequently is not. grian tries training against mumbo often, but you can only battle the same trainer so main times before memorizing his movesets and using the same battle strategy over and over again, so mumbo gives him scar's number and suggests grian train with him instead. scar's only been retired a few years so he tends to have to shoo away rookie trainers from his front porch all the time, but grian instead offers to run favors for him (entirely by accident. scar's reputation FAR precedes himself, and was known for knocking trainers flat on their ass countless times when facing his team. plus, being one of the youngest professional gym trainers in the area, it's hard to get some peace and quiet.) scar finds this hilarious and decides to give grian a stupid amount of tasks to do, ranging from grocery shopping to weeding his garden, until grian finally caves and admits why he's really here. grian fully expects to be sent away, but scar is swayed by grian's persistence and complete dedication to the, objectively speaking, pointless tasks he was given, so scar agrees to help train grian's team.

misc. notes here: mumbo is the oldest of the three at about 26, with grian being 22 and scar 25. i think it's weird that pokemon just lets children run off and be trainers so let's assume that's not common practice here mumbo has a handful of badges, mostly so that his pokemon will listen to him. nearly all of his pokemon (minus the noctowl and the porygon) were gifted to him, so they're a little unruly at times. scar raised all of his pokemon either from eggs or newly born. (if i weren't working with gen 2 he would 100% have a sylveon) grian's eevee was actually a gift from scar, given to grian as an egg that he took great care in watching over.

[inukag]

I must be the only Inukag that doesn’t care about Moroha. Sure she’s cute, but shes from non canon Yashahime so, whatever. The fandom has been making better continuations and OC kids for Inukag for years. We don’t need to beg sunrise for scraps. We have the entire manga.

sorry for ranting. just my opinion.

You're definitely not the only one who doesn't really care about Moroha, I've seen many recent post-canon fanfics where Inuyasha and Kagome have kids, and they don't include her. I also know some people just dislike Yashahime too much to even take Moroha from it, and that's fine. I love Moroha a lot, but I don't think anyone should impose her on all inukag shippers just because Rumiko designed her. Some people have spent years making their own OCs and they definitely deserve as much love as Moroha gets.

I've said this before, but my ideal design for inukag babies has always been black hair + gold eyes + no dog ears, and Rumiko designed her exactly the way I imagined, so I felt vindicated. 99.99% of inukag OC kids have doggy ears and I always felt like I was the only one who didn't want that, lol. I just think it doesn't make much sense, since their children will be mostly human. Plus Moroha’s ribbon in her hair to mimic the ears is adorable! I've never really thought about personalities for inukag's kids before Moroha, but her having Kagome's friendliness and cheerfulness, while also being cocky and impulsive like her dad, is just great. Moroha is perfect to me (minus the way Sunrise writes her as comic relief) but I totally respect the fact that she's not for everyone and that some people prefer their OCs.

We do have an entire manga, but the manga doesn't have inukag being parents :') For years I said I wanted a new series where Inuyasha and Kagome have kids so I made my bed & I lie in it, lmao. It ended up being a terrible one where they aren't even in their daughter's life and the story isn't about them, but they will reunite with her one day 🥴 Mind you, just because I look forward to the inukagmor reunion doesn't mean I expect it to be good. I already know it will have at least one osuwari and one mention of Kikyo/Treekyo, and Inuyasha will definitely be emotionally distant since Sunrise just doesn't know how to write him. But I got emotionally invested in Moroha's well-being when I started watching the show and I've been hoping for their reunion since May 2020 (back when I had hope for the series) so now I just want it for closure.

Let's not pretend like it isn't nice to have an animated scene between Inuyasha, Kagome and their daughter, especially with their VAs and original music from Kaoru Wada. It's unfortunately something we'll only get from Sunrise.

[lokiondisneyplus]

Holy crap. Look at Kate Herron's shirt. When the Loki director pops up on Zoom, she's donning the most glorious image anyone will see since we laid eyes on Alligator Loki: A Teletubby wearing the Loki horns. Are the Teletubbies Loki variants? Sure, why not!

"I got it on Instagram," Herron says. "There's an amazing comic book artist and he designed it. He made it into a T-shirt for me because I saw it and was like, 'That's incredible. Can I get it for the press junket?'"

Herron, no big deal, just pulled off an MCU miracle. Entering a mammoth franchise with, notably, some of Sex Education's best episodes under her belt, the director deftly brought a plot involving multiverses and Richard E. Grant in a cape and superhero mumbo-jumbo to brilliant, beautiful life. Following Loki's tear-jerking, mind-bending finale, the series has been dubbed by critics and fan's alike as one of Marvel's best efforts—which is no small feat. Of course, we needed to ask Herron how she stuck the landing. Following the most epic finale you, me, or any Teletubby can remember, Herron talked to Esquire about the Miss Minutes jump scare, filming the finale's introduction of He Who Remains, and why she won't return for Season Two of Loki.

ESQ: How are you doing?

KH: I'm good. I think I feel very relieved that I don't have to sit on the secret of He Who Remains anymore, It was a very big secret to hold, but for an important reason, right? Because it's such a good character to be launching. So yeah, I feel good.

ESQ: Loking back at your old interviews, you have such a good poker face when you're avoiding spoilers, but you're also incredible at giving aggregator crumbs.

KH: I play a lot of board games, so you need to be quite good at strategy and poker faces so people can't always read your hand. So I think weirdly board games have prepared me more for working with Marvel than anything else.

ESQ: I have to start with the Miss Minutes jump scare. What went into the decision to make her a memeable, creepy apparition in that moment?

KH: I love horror, and my executive, Kevin Wright, knew that. Me and him were talking about Episode Six and I remember that he was like, "Oh, maybe you could do something creepy of Miss Minutes." And I immediately was like, "We have to do a jump scare!" Because I haven't got to do a good jump scare in anything yet and I really wanted to, because a lot of my friends are horror directors. I was like, "I can't let them down." So I was really excited to have a shot at doing a jump scare. And Miss Minutes, it was really fun testing it because we'd kind of bring different people into the edit, me and Emma McCleave, the editor, and we'd just play it for them, watch them, and check that they were jumping when we cut it.

ESQ: One thing that I think is getting missed in all the craziness is that we see a peak moment of the love story between Loki and Sylvie. Where does the finale leave the companionship that they found in each other?

KH: When I started the show, that was always in the DNA of it—that Loki was going to meet a version of himself and they were going to fall in love. And that's honestly what drew me into the story, because I directed Sex Education. I love stories about self-love and finding your identity and your people. Loki is such a broken character when we join him, and seeing him go on this amazing journey with all this growth and finding the good points of himself in seeing her—I think that was very beautiful. It's also paying respect to the fact that Sylvie's in a very different place to him. She hasn't had the Mobius therapy session. She even says, in Episode Five, "I don't know how to do this. I don't have friends." You really feel for her because she has been on the run and her whole life has been this mission.

It's almost funny because these characters are thousands of years old, but it's almost teenage the way they both talk about their feelings for each other. I think everyone can relate to that, right? In any new relationship, there's always that kind of awkwardness and like, "Oh God, am I too keen? The important thing was the hope—like when Sylvie and him kiss, I think it is genuine and it is coming from a place of these feelings they have for each other. Obviously she does push them through that door, but for me it was a goodbye and it was with heart. But it's kind of a goodbye in the sense of like, I care about you, but I'm going to do my mission because that's where I'm at.

ESQ: I would pay for you to direct the Sex Education episode where Otis falls through a portal into the multiverse, into the main MCU.

KH: He really looks like a Loki as well, which is so funny. I always thought that. I was like Asa does look like a Loki. It didn't come to pass or anything, but it would be interesting to do a Sex Ed-Marvel crossover. I wonder who all the different characters would be within the MCU, but it would be quite funny.

ESQ: You're right, he could pull off a teenage Loki.

KH: Yeah, like a teen or a very young ’20s, maybe. But it was just funny because I was like, "Oh yeah, he looks a bit like Tom." I wonder how they could do it. I'm sure they'll find a way to do a crossover anyway.

ESQ: Can you just take me back to filming with Jonathan Majors? And you capturing him in such a compelling, quirky, scary way—I'm sure your direction was such a big part of that.

KH: I was just so excited because Jonathan is an actor that everyone was so excited about. He's like a chameleon in everything he does and he's so talented. I just feel as a director so lucky to have worked on this because I feel like I've got to work with some of the best actors out there. And when you're with Jonathan, you know you're in the presence of just someone really magnificent. For me as a director, it's giving him the space to play and feel safe. Because we filmed it all in a week, but it was a lot to film in a week. So I think it was really about creating a space where he could have fun and find this character because he's going to be playing him for a long time.

ESQ: What went into the decision to introduce us to the good guy first?

KH: I remember in the script, he comes up the elevator and it was so casual. I was like, "Oh man, that's so fun." And then Jonathan, when he plays it, he's relaxed. And I the thing he used to talk about a lot was that this is a character who's been on his own for a long time. Because at the beginning, we introduced him in a space in the universe that feels like this very busy, loud place, but actually, when we see the Citadel, he's surrounded by the Timeline and he's very isolated. Even in his costume with [designer] Christine Wada, for the idea of his outfit, he's a character who's existed for multiple millennia. So it's like, OK, let's pull from lots of different places so you can't necessarily pin down which time or which place he might be from. Also the fact that his clothes look comfy. They were like pajamas because he's living at home. He loved the idea of the office [being] the only finished part of the citadel and that the rest of the citadel was like this Sunset Boulevard kind of dusty, dilapidated space. And just again showed that he probably just keeps himself to his office. All those elements definitely fed into Jonathan's performance in terms of balancing the extrovert, but also the introvert of someone that would be living by themselves and only talking to a cartoon clock.

ESQ: It really is incredible how you pull a nail-biting finale with this battle of wits and dialogue.

KH: It was really exciting because I feel like Episode Five was a lot of fun because we got to play into all the joy of the different versions of Loki, but also just the fact that it was our big usual Marvel third act, right? Like it was where our big spectacle was as they were fighting this big monster. But I love that our finale bookends, right? We began with a conversation and we ended with one.

ESQ: I also loved that there was no end-credits scene—I think it makes the ending that much more impactful. Was there ever an end credit scene on the table, or any kind of a stinger?

KH: I think no, because weirdly, we never went after the kind of mid-credit sequences. I think we always just were thinking just of the story and where we knew we wanted it to end. For example, Episode Four, originally Loki was deleted and then we went straight to him waking up. And it was only in the edit I was like, “I think it'd be really cool actually. We should move that scene to mid-credits because then we'll really feel like Loki has died." Because if I watched that moment and then it went to the credits, I'd be like, "What?!" And then when we were talking about the best way to talk about Season Two, we were like, "Okay, well, let's do that like a little mid-credits at the end because that is exciting to confirm it in that way." I'd say we found both of those in the edit just because we wanted to kind of do it right and have a fun nod to something that Marvel does so well.

ESQ: Is there anything you can tell about the future of the story you've told here—or even where you personally would like to go with the studio or otherwise going forward?

KH: Yeah, so I'm just on for Season One. So I'm so proud of the story we told. I mean, it was amazing getting to set up the TVA and take Loki on this whole new journey. And I mean, I think we've left so much groundwork for his character, and as people see in the comics, there's so much more to be delved into. And I just am excited honestly to just see where all the characters go. Like, who is B-15? What did she see in those memories and where did Ravonna go and where is Loki? I think for me, we've set up these questions and I look forward to seeing them being answered as a fan in the next season.

ESQ: Absolutely. Well, can we please work on the Asa Butterfield Loki?

KH: I will call him and I'll be like, "You want to do some crazy Marvel crossover?"

[kuro71]

Hands Down for Hakumyu Shitan Kazama-Hen

I’ve always a simp and followed Hakumyu since Saito-hen 2012 (their first production) so seeing the new casts it’s a bit hard for me, moreover I already attached to them especially on their early production of Kazama and Heisuke-hen

To me their production at that time were the best and no other version can beat it.

And then Reimeroku came, it gave me bitter taste seeing the new casts didn’t exceed my expectations. Shinsengumi Kitan came, Harada-hen, Hijikata-hen (2018), and then finally Shitan Kazama-hen (2019)

At first I didn’t watch it instantly, I still love the old cast, you can say I’m very adore and love the og. But after clearing up my head and watching it with an empty mind (no bias). Oh god... hands down to Shitan Kazama-hen!

I don’t think we give enough credits for this production, therefor I am going to talk about this stage because it gives me so much nostalgia, happiness, and satisfying feelings

Overall score:

Script ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ Casts ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ Production ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Songs ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ Chemistry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

I’m going to give my own reviews and opinions so there will be lots of spoilers. Disclaimer: English is not my first language, so I am very sorry if there are tons of grammatical errors

Second disclaimer: this review will be very bias by how I perceived musical (usually I accentuate more on the actors/actress acting and singing ability than the production). Also I learn a little bit about theater hopes my knowledge helps the reliability of this review.

1. Acting + Singing Ability 

Nakagauchi Masataka as Kazama Chikage

At first I thought no one can beat Suzuki Shogo as Kazama Chikage, his voice and acting already imprint on my head. Suzuki really potrays such a maniac and obsessive in early production, but in his own Kazama-hen he really give his best shot by understanding the character and gosh his singing ability totally improved! So after Suzuki being replaced by Sasaki, Suzuki still won because I think he lives for Kazama role. Yet, when Nakagauchi came, he really came to wreck my bias list. HIS SINGING?! ACTING?!!?!?! damn I think I might’ve like Nakagauchi more as Kazama than Suzuki. There are some parts in the beginning he was a little bit awkward, his sword ability is below than what I anticipated. But Nakagauchi really potrays anime and game Kazama. Stoic, reserved, cold, yet caring. But he lack the manic and obsessiveness towards Oni pride (?) unlike Suzuki. There is this part where Nakagauchi sang acapella when he fought with Hijikata and ~oh god~ it truly blows my mind away.

Motonoshi Sakiho as Yukimura Chizuru

is this really her? she looks different on stage anyways, hmmm... *cough* (okay start with compliment, start with compliment)

SO, 

Motonoshi realllllly the embodiment of Yukimura Chizuru. All this time I thought Isobe or Tanoue are the best. Well they are, but there are this spirit and perseverance in Motonoshi when she portrays Chizuru. I don’t know maybe it’s because Kazama-hen story, so Chizuru must be very stubborn or how she potrays Chizuru that’s why there is this strong willed personality in her -which I like it so much- But what I can’t stand from her are I think she is a rookie actress on stage / musical play. You can see how awkward she is when she’s LITERALLY STANDING ON THE STAGE or BEING SLASHED BY THE ENEMY, I think she’s confused what to do, don’t know where to stand etc etc. And her acting is quite stiff. But here’s where I find it interesting. Whenever she sings she can act like normal, like chizuru, she can portray Chizuru very well WHEN SHE SINGS. And I love her voice, her voice trully blend with Nakagauchi. Is she the best Chizuru? She is, when she sings. But if I have to compare her with Tomita Maho, I guess love them both but in acting skills I prefer Tomita but Motonoshi for singing.

Wada Masanari as Hijikata Toshizo

I don’t need to say anything about him actually. He’s very positive from me. Green light. Wada Masanari have a great singing ability, I knew him from Tousute and how he portrays Hasebe really remind me of Hijikata, so I’m not surprised when he got the role. I’m more surprised by how good he is when he’s on stage. I can say he’s almost equal to our beloved captain Piroshi. His singing ability is also top notch.

Yamazaki Shogo as Okita Souji

Yamazaki Shogo really surprise me when he showed up and start to talk. His voice sound similar as Daisuke, and his cunning looks similar to Okita itself. He’s good, I have nothing negative thing to say about him (minus his laugh tho it sounds so forced). Aside from it his portrayal as Okita is really good. There’s a scene where Okita learned about Kondou death, it’s really heartbreaking and Yamazaki acting and singing skills really build up the emotions

Akazawa Tomoru as Saito Hajime

Who is Saito Hajime? It’s Akazawa Tomoru 👉🏼😎👉🏼 ........ get it? In all seriousness Akazawa is the epitome of Saito Hajime. I LOVEEEE Matsuda Ryo’s portrayal, but I also love Akazawa’s portrayal as a loner and loyal samurai in here. There are some part that he kinda overwhelm by others (like you won’t notice he’s there) but there are times where he really outshine others. I think he’s my second favorite Satio Hajime actor after Matsuda :)

Higuchi Yuta as Toudou Heisuke

No one can beat Ikeda Junya ask Toudou Heisuke, but that doesn’t mean Higuchi Yuta doesn’t do a great job as Heisuke. When I watch his scene, he has his own charisma that makes me wanted to protect him. On the stage he really can act like “I will protect you chizuru senpai” but there are also some moments where he went serious (but I can’t take him serious bcs he’s just too cute). Also I did not expect his duet with Chizuru before the battle with Rasetsu in ??? Castle. It gives me a nostalgia moment about Heisuke route :( 

Mizushi Atomu as Harada Sanosuke

Hands down to Mizushi Atomu who plays as Harada Sanosuke. In this stage production, Mizushi didn’t exaggerate Harada character AT ALL. Like if he want to be funny, he act funny, if he irrated by Heisuke, he just punch Heisuke in normal (?) way. ALSO DO I HAVE TO REMIND U HOW EFFORTLESSLY SEXY HE IS?! His charisma on stage didn’t overwhelm, eventho somehow I feel like his screentime and lines are more less than in 2015 production, but he manage tho. HE MANAGE TO SHINE TILL THE END <3

Kishimoto Yuuta as Nagakura Shinpachi

To be honest I don’t really pay attention anyone who play as Nagakura Shinpachi. I don’t even remember much from all actors who play as Nagakura bcs they’re all the same to me... lowkey, trying not to outshine other characters, and that’s it I guess? But from all who played as Nagakura Shinpachi, Kishimoto Yuuta have the best singing ability. 

Teruma as Sanan Keisuke

:)  Just..... Where have you been in my entire life Teruma? :) TERUMA TOTALLY STOLE THE SHOW No LIKE SERIOUSLY I don’t think no one can ever top Teruma as Sanan Keisuke. He’s scary, cunning, wicked, gray area character, and unpredictable. I know Teruma lack of Sannan’s kindness, some post said that Teruma portray it better it Souma-hen so I can not wait to see it happened. Also I DO AGREE if Sannan has his own route. Played by Teruma of course ;)

I just want to tell you guys, prepare your body and soul when Teruma do his solo. My jaw dropped really hard when I saw it. 

2. Charisma

Having charisma between two main characters, enemies, and the Shinsengumi it’s not easy. Not all stage productions can nail it. But in here, our two main characters really pull it off. I know Motonoshi is a lil bit stiff playing as Chizuru, but whenever she interact with Kazama, it felt like she know what to do (stubborn Chizuru who doesn’t want to hear what Kazama said lol) and she is like a pure and naive girl about l-o-v-e around Kazama. Yet, Kazama is like the bad boy prodigy when he’s with Chizuru. SO yeah, their dynamic is like bad boy who fall in love with a good girl. Ok. 

Also I love ^ that scene where Kazama slowly hugging Chizuru (maybe out of concern and wanted to comfort her) it shows how Kazama deeply care to his own kin. What I really like in this stage production Kazama didn’t force himself to Chizuru and their chemistry really building up till the end of the show.

But I still found it weird, where Kazama kissed Chizuru AFTER he killed Hijikata like tf

The Shinsengumi they also have strong bond to each other, the trio idiots (that’s what I called them ehe) they don’t really emphasize it that much but I can still feel how genuine they are towards each other. I love Hijikata and Kondou relationship, I really bawled my eyes out when he dies :D.. see in this stage production I dont really feel the closeness as Shinsengumi, moreover as a UNIT. The trio, Hijikata and Kondou, Souji and Okita, the Oni’s, even Sannan felt like an outcast. Maybe it’s because they fasten up the pace, we can not see more interactions in the daily lives of Shinsengumi, which it’s kinda shame.

3. Production 

-stage- 

In terms of production, yes they’re more high quality than the 2015 one. Their choreo are more various, have props (like fans) for dancing, oh and the GodDamn Sakura Tree is beautiful. But what I found it unfortunate is the atmosphere. I still remember when I watched the 2015 I get the chills from the opening, eerie vibes in Chizuru and Kodo duet song, Sannan attack Chizuru, and the sad atmosphere in the song where Hijikata got shot. But when I watched the Shitan Kazama-hen... I felt, somewhat, someway bland. 

Yes Hijikata shot scene are sad and I got teary. Harada duet with Kiranui (?) are more heart wrenching. But what I’m looking for are the eerie, creepy, painful vibes in this one. It’s because our focus are the demons so It’s normal for me to expect something unexpected or inhuman vibes from the stage production. But I didn’t get any. On the other hand, the last fight where Kazama and Hijikata fought under the sakura tree it felt very grand but sad at the same time. 

Kudos for the big sakura tree and and their acting too.. 

-songs-

The songs majority are rearranged, which I don’t find it really that disturbing, they also try to bring back Saito, Okita, Hijikata, and Heisuke iconic songs (but where is Harada song goddamnit) I think there are also new songs? But I don’t quite remember is it really a new songs or it’s just another rearranged songs. They sang Yaisa tho, that’s more than enough :D

There are also some songs that were toned down and some songs get rock versions and stuff. What totally blown me away are Heisuke sudden duet song, Sannan’s solo, and Kazama acapella. I also love Chizuru harmony and adlib, she sing very good and very light like a feather 

That is all for my review.. This is all based on my own opinions and bias so I you don’t agree to what I say in this post feel free to comment on it (without forcing onto me or anyone else) I would like to say sorry for my messy English, hope you guys understand what I’m trying to say here. Now, excuse me I want to watch Souma-hen :) ✨✨✨

[lunaathorne]

Dark skinned people are tired of seeing themselves be erased in media. Explicitly, canonically mentioned dark characters are swapped for light skinned ones. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 3 instances at the current moment. 2 of them are from Shadow and Bone Netflix while 1 is from the BBC adaptation of Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy- the latter was practically revolving around the prejudices against young women of postcolonial India, INCLUDING skin complexion. Lata, the protagonist is constantly criticized for being too dark, from light jibes to downright insults about how her children will be affected. She is compared unfavorably to her "sweet, beautiful, fair complexioned sister" Savita. And then we got the much hyped BBC adaptation, and Lata looks like this:

Uh sorry but this is not dark skinned. Yet this is the version of Lata the world will know. Simply because directors won't make a simple fucking effort.

Never in any of my posts have I said anything disparaging about Sujaya Dasgupta and Kit Young as actors or as "unattractive" people. At most I said they don't look anything like their book counterparts which many people interpreted as an insult. Well it's not. Get some comprehension abilities. Here is how Jesper is described in the book

And Zoya's skin colour is never specified but she is said to be half Suli in King of Scars. Now I know y'all will immediately jump to the conclusion that OMG JES AND ZOYA ARE BIRACIAL THEY CAN BE PALE SKINNED but literally, LITERALLY biracial people can be dark skinned too and the fact that your thinking automatically goes to pale skin by default shows a lot about how the dark skinned (biracial or otherwise) people are sidelined and treated even at the cost of their identities.

Y'all remember Hunger Games?? Katniss, Gale, Haymitch and Rue, who looked like typical inhabitants of their respective districts with OLIVE SKIN OR BROWN SKIN were all played by white actors/ light skinned woc and even Finnick Odair who was "bronze skinned" was played by uh....Sam Claflin. There was some outcry then everybody forgot. Just as everybody will forget that Lata was dark and Jesper and probably Zoya too, if we judge by the official Kevin Wada fanart.

(yes I know she was a retcon. Yes I know Kaya Scodelario, Katie McGrath and Zhenya Katava are the preferred face claims for her)

Does this mean that light skinned POC should never be cast??? NO! But they shouldn't substitute characters explicitly called dark? Because it absolutely nullifies the point of representation. I love the casting of Alina and Nadia. Jessie is a very light skinned part Taiwanese lady who TF cares she is playing ALINA STARKOV, the main lady AND her role isn't robbing a dark skinned actress of a deserved part. Unlike say, Jlaw in THG.

And listen, I'm probably being repetitive but colorism isn't a joke and brushing it away with an insensitive callous remark like "well opinions can differ, I like them anyway" and other such ridiculous statements spoken from a place of complete ignorance can be annoying and condescending. I've had at least 5 people corner me about "being hateful" about the Netflix show. Oh I'm sorry, if I, a dark WOC should be hurt and upset. And oh yeah Sujaya is a Bengali woman like me so no, I don't need to "check myself" while talking about WOC. Enough with this fucking pearl clutching. My main problem isn't with her hair or her eyes (I would have loved to, y'know, see an actual east European actor with wild curly hair or a lady with zoya's famous blue eyes but how many WOC have blue eyes? It's unrealistic for casting anyway) it's that as a Bengali myself I can see she's not nearly as dark skinned as to belong to the same ethnic strain as Inej Ghafa and it reeks suspiciously of the whole All Asians Can Be Divided into Broad Categories Trope.

Microaggressions are real. Colorism is real.

And not everything is a personal attack to you or your fave. If you can't support people who are affected by these, at least, at the very very least, don't tone police us.

[rae-is-typing]

Feeling Faint

Anonymous requested: Hi! I was wondering if you could do a fem!teen!reader x Clint ( platonic) where the reader lives in the Avengers tower and is sick and no one knows what to do and they start freaking out so Clint ends up taking care of her? I love your writing! 💖

Characters: You, Clint Barton, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, The Vision, FRIDAY

Warnings: Fainting, sickness, the Vietnam War is mentioned, language, Peter panics, homework

Disclaimer: I’ve never fainted before, so I consulted the interwebs for my information. If you see any mistakes, please let me know :)

Word count: 1.9k

Warm spring rays bathe the communal floor in warmth, negating all need for artificial light in the afternoon. The sounds of video games and banter were distant, easily blending in with the sound of Vision and Wanda cooking in the kitchen.

It was a Friday in May, thank god. Fridays meant the weekend and May meant the school year was coming to a close. However, the school year coming to a close meant finals. And finals meant studying, so much studying.

Tony had a rule for you and Peter: homework before heroism. As the only two students in the Tower, you two had to stick together. You found yourself covering for each other if one of you had snuck out for hero purposes, helping each other out with school or even delivering snacks and gum during classes

It wasn't odd to see the two of you sitting at the designated " homework table', a small round table on the communal floor near the TV and surrounding furniture and near the kitchen and dining area. There were four chairs surrounding it so someone well-versed in the subject you two were working on could come and help the two of you out and make the living hell that is High School a little easier.

Today the two of you were on your own. You had caught up on all your homework the night before. You were also dead tired because of the all-nighter you pulled to get it done. Feeling like shit after an all-nighter was normal for you, but this time it was different. You head was splitting, your nose was running faster than Quicksilver and your entire body was sore. You couldn’t eat anything either, you felt like dying after taking a small sip of coffee earlier that day.

But Peter needed your help learning about the Vietnam War, and you'd be damned if you didn't help him out because you were a little sick. Even if you felt like you couldn’t help Peter out, you weren’t going to say you were sick. Avengers are good at saving the world, not taking care of a sick teenager.

The team didn’t like to leave you and Peter alone together. The last time they left you alone on the communal floor together, all the food was eaten, the kitchen was a disaster after a failed baking experiment, and a ten hour loop of Wii music was left on while you two recreated your favorite vines. Needless to say, some trust was lost.

Clint, Sam and Tony were gathered in front of the TV playing some sort of strategy shooting game. Vision and Wanda were cooking dinner. Peter sat in front of you, reading over his text book over and over again.

"So, the Tonkin Resolution let LBJ have full control over the military?"

"Yeah," You say, leaning heavily into the palm of your hand.

"Why?"

"Because communism."

"That's really it?"

"Pretty much. America wanted the war to escalate to stop the spread of communism," Your voice was flat, and speaking was starting to hurt your throat. You take a long drink from the water bottle next to you and dab at your nose with a tissue.

Peter nods, jotting that down on the paper next to his open text book. You close your eyes, rubbing them. A dull ache had grown in the back of your head throughout the day and the ache went to a roar. You scowled to yourself. It was getting painful to keep your eyes open.

"You alright, Y/N?" Peter asked, looking at you with soft brown eyes. His face was etched with concern and worry.

You offer a small smile, hoping that would calm his nerves a little. Peter was a naturally anxious guy already, and you didn't want to set off his 'Spidey Senses' as Tony likes to call them. "I'm fine, man. Do you have any other questions?"

"Are you sure you're okay? You really don't look great."

You blinked. "I meant questions about the Vietnam War."

"You really don't look good." Peter frowned, his eyes gleamed with concern as they bore into yours.

You picked your head up off your hand and nudged his arm. "I'm a-okay Pete. Do you want me to help you study for your history exam too?" You ask, swallowing a yawn.

"Maybe you should lie down for a bit?" He says meekly. "I'm worried, Y/N. Something feels off," His eyes dart around the room and knees are bouncing rapidly under the table.

"It'll be okay, Pete. So what can you tell me about World War Two?"

Your questions do little to calm Peter's senses, but he begins to ramble about World War Two. Without warning, you feel like the world is spinning around you. You were sure that if you were standing up that you would've fallen. Your head drops to the arm you had resting on the table. Your attempts to breath through the dizzy spell were futile and you barely register the hand that rests on your shoulder before everything fades away.

_____________________________

Clint bit down on his lip, moving his fingers carefully on the controller. One last kill and he would win. He aimed his gun at Tony's character and pulled his fake trigger. Boom! Right between the eyes! Clint let out a loud whoop, celebrating his victory. Tony's shoulders slump over in disbelief. Sam laughs and slaps Clint on the shoulder. 

"How the hell did you win that?" Tony demands. "I had that in the bag." Clint was about to answer, but he was cut off by a very panicked voice. 

"M-Mr. Stark?" Tony set his controller on the coffee table in front of the three of them. Clint turned to see a very shaky, very concerned Peter. His eyes were a little wet as he wrung his hands.

"What's wrong, kid?" 

"Y/N needs help, something's wrong with her. She passed out." Sam’s head shot up.

“What?” Tony hissed, worry growing in his eyes

"I do- I don't know, sir, she was asking me a question then she just slumped over like that." Peter sounded close to tears.  

Springing up from the table, Tony ran to the homework table. You were slumped over on the table, your head resting on an arm with your other arm hanging limply at your side. Wada had two fingers pressed to your neck, red smoke hanging in the air. 

"Peter, what the hell happened?" Tony demanded. 

“We- we were working on homework and she just fell over.”

"Did she say anything about feeling sick?" Clint cut in, voice calm. He had seen abundantly worse. They all had. But this was you, one of their youngest members, their child. 

Peter shook his head, looking at your limp body then at Tony. "Is she going to be okay?" 

Clint could easily see that Peter was beginning to panic. His hands were shaking and he was close to tears. Tony put an arm around him and led him out of the room. Sam was now leaning over you as well, checking for any visible injuries. Vision was saying something about fainting spells. 

"Back up, guys. Give her some space." Clint says, pushing his way to the table. Your skin lacked its normal color it was cold and clammy when he brushed some hair back from your face. 

"If she's not injured, move her to the couch," Clint says. Wanda steps back, as does Clint. Sam out an arm around your shoulders and them shimmied his other arm under your legs. He picked you up easily and moved to lay you flat on the long sofa. 

"FRIDAY? Is she okay?" Clint asked.

"Her blood sugar is low and she has a cold." 

"That explains the fainting." Clint says. "Can someone grab some hard candy and a glass of fruit juice?"

Wanda swiftly went into the kitchen, emerging in a minute later holding a few hard caramels in her one hand a glass of apple juice in the other. She passes them to Clint, and he sets them on the end table by your feet. 

“FRIDAY, is Banner free?”

“Dr. Banner is taking a nap. Should I wake him up?”

“No,” Clint cringed, remembering the last time Bruce was woken up before he was ready. That turned into a code green a little too fast. “We have to wait for her to wake up.”

_____________________________

Your eyes flutter open. Your head pounded, and the ceiling was spinning. When did you lay down? Why were you lying down? What happened? 

“Mornin’ sunshine," Clint says softly from his seat on a chair by the side of the couch. 

"Clint?" You ask, sitting up, rubbing your eyes. "What happened?" 

"You passed out, hon. Don't try to sit up," He says, making his way over to you and gently pushing you back down. 

"What?" 

"Yeah, you scared the shit out of Parker." 

"Is he okay?" You ask worriedly. 

"Yeah, Stark's with him," He grabs something from the table beside him. He turned back to you holding some candy and a glass of what looked like juice.

"Here, drink some of this. Its apple juice," He gives you a glass with gold liquid inside of it. You take your time sitting up, ultimately propping yourself up with the armrest. You sip at the cold juice while Clint continues to speak.

"We’ll have Banner check you when he wakes up from his nap. Something tells me Strange doesn't want to see us for a while."

"How were we supposed to know that Asgardian monsters were going to dye New York pink?" Clint chuckles. 

"I dunno kid, but his cape wasn't too happy about it," He stands up from his spot on the chair. "Hungry?" 

"No, no-" 

"Too bad. Chicken soup with noodles or rice?" 

"Noodles," Your disposition falls flat easily, you were too tired to stand up and not having an obligation felt nice.

"Atta kid. Noodles will always be better than rice.” Clint smiles before moving into the kitchen. You set your now empty glass on the floor and lie down on the couch. You closed your eyes, wishing to escape the beating drum in your head.

You arm was being shaken lightly. “Y/N, wake up, kid. Soups on.”

“Hmm?” You rub your eyes with the back of your hands.

“You fell asleep. The soup is ready. Can you stand without fainting?” Clint was standing above you wearing a purple apron with white bows and arrows on it.

“You’re wearing an apron,” You comment, giggling a little bit. 

“You’re definitely out of it,” He smiles. “C’mon. Sit up slowly,” He put an arm around your shoulders, leading you to sit up slowly. 

“Where’s everyone else?”

“They left. We didn’t want you to get overwhelmed,” Clint answers, helping you stand. He wrapped his arm around your mid-back, guiding you towards the dining area.

He sat you down in front of a bowl of soup while he washed the dishes. You ate the soup slowly, waiting for your stomach to act up. You got through half the bowl before you had to stop eating. 

“How you feelin’, kid?” Clint asked when you pushed the bowl away from you and laid your head on the table. 

“Tired,” You respond. 

“You wanna sleep on the couch here or go to your room?” You shrug your shoulders.

“The table isn’t comfortable, kid. Let’s go to the couch.”

You stand up, letting Clint guide you back to the couch. 

“Get some rest, kid. You need it.”

“Thanks, Clint.” 

The last thing you feel is a blanket being draped over you and a soft kiss on the head.

[countdown-to-destruction]

Inuyasha Sequel: a rant

Put this up this earlier on a post I re-blogged, tried to edit a part or two where I didn’t like the way I had phrased it, and ended up messing up the whole format I wrote this in. Luckily I wrote this as a draft earlier anyways! So I did a some fixing and now I’m just copy-pasting it again and making it a text post instead. This will be very long and a little nit-picky but I wanted to make a post ever since I heard about the upcoming sequel to Inuyasha, Hanyō no Yashahime. I did put a TLDR at the end for those who don’t want to read everything. Not sure how many people in the fandom still follow me and will see this, as it's been a long time since I was actually active in the fandom, but it's hands-down both my favorite manga and anime of all time and I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately so I had to post something. Before reading this be sure to read all of the translated character bios for Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha so that this makes sense.

When I first heard that Inuyasha would be getting a sequel I was excited! But after reading up on it, to be completely honest I'm not feeling this sequel anymore. I know it’s an unpopular opinion but hear me out. Firstly, it seems like Rumiko is mostly involved in the character design aspect and the writing is up to Katsuyuki Sumisawa. The music will be produced by Kaoru Wada which is great! And from what I’ve seen and read online a number of others who worked on the original series will reunite so hopefully the story will go well. However, knowing Rumiko isn't personally writing and not knowing how much input she has or will give makes me unsure about watching. The original Inuyasha anime followed and was based off of the events in the manga, and there was no manga prior to this for it to be based on. Depending on what happens this could be an alright sequel or a total miss. Unfortunately sequels in general are known to be disappointing in some way. 

Secondly, if I hear anything about Rin being the mother of Sesshomaru's twin daughters I'm out. This part will be a SUPER long and in depth explanation on why I think this way, feel free to skip if you're not interested. Please don't come for me on this, I'm here to explain my thoughts and feelings on the sequel and the theories around it so far, not start an argument. I'm more than aware that there's plenty of controversy out there on this pairing and personally I do not support it. I never saw their relationship as more than a friendship, or something akin to child and guardian as Sesshomaru and Jaken are basically Rin's caretakers up until she goes to live in the village with Kaede. He definitely cares for her deeply but I can't see it in a romantic way, being that Sesshomaru isn't even a character focused on romance to begin with. He learns compassion through Rin's second death but that doesn't mean he loves her romantically. As a reminder his main goal is to seek power and be powerful, and it's stated that he needed to learn compassion and grief in order to mature. It's what helped him learn to wield the Tenseiga at its full potential. In addition, she was really young when they first met and still was when she went to live with Kaede. The idea of Sesshomaru (an adult) having romantic feelings for a kid under ten years old (around eleven at the end of the series, and still a literal child in all ways) and waiting for her to age with the intention of marrying her sits totally wrong with me. Age wise I realize that Inuyasha is decades older than Kagome and that his father was much older than his mother, Izayoi, as well. The difference here is that Kagome was a teen when she met Inuyasha (who not just physically, but more importantly mentally was also a teen) and clearly Izayoi was old enough to conceive Inuyasha and give birth. As far as the audio dramas (more specifically "Asatte") go they're generally considered as an outtake reel and are essentially parodies, or a form of satire. Some will debate on this but realistically there’s plenty of reasons this is true, and those who take the time to properly check them out understand that. For me I've always had a headcanon that at some point in her teen years Rin would inevitably develop a one-sided crush on Sesshomaru and that he would ultimately set boundaries and reject her, seeing her as more of a close companion than a love interest and wanting her to live with someone she can grow old with. He gave her the choice to follow him and it's most likely that she would, but I think that once she began aging he would want her to have somewhere to settle, given that he enjoys roaming and seeking out other powerful beings to battle. It's strange to me that they decided to give Sesshomaru hanyō/half-demon children in general but based on the artwork we've seen it's fair to guess that they might have made Sesshomaru and Rin a pairing in this sequel.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I want to clarify that if you ship them together I'm not writing this here because I want to hate on your ship for no reason, or in order to create an argument on if the pairing makes sense, these are my thoughts and opinions on the matter and I’m voicing them because it’s what I believe. I already know that somebody won’t like this and will take it personally. People usually say that once Rin is an adult the pairing is acceptable but I disagree. I find it quite creepy that someone would think it would be alright for an adult to wait around for a kid to grow up with the intention to marry and/or sleep with them. Watching from a distance is the same exact thing, after making an impression on the child... let’s not normalize this. In this situation it would be grooming. We all have our own opinions when it comes to our ships and fandoms and I try to respect that but I can’t get behind this one.

Next we have the apparent lack of parental figures for the heroines. Where are the original Inuyasha characters at? Moroha's character bio says she barely knows her parents (Inuyasha and Kagome, our former main protagonists) and has been alone since she was young! It makes me think either something has happened to them or some kind of bizarre event separated them. And sorry, not related, but why does she transform by PUTTING LIPSTICK ON?? That part threw me for a loop.

When it comes to Setsuna and Towa their parents are absent too. I find it difficult to believe that Sesshomaru wouldn't keep track of his children given how he treats Rin and reacts to her going missing in any capacity. Especially if he happened to be fond of whoever their mother is. One daughter works as a taijiya/demon slayer for Kohaku and the other mysteriously transports to Kagome's era and is raised by Sota (I thought we had finished with the time jumps when the well closed but apparently not. When the Bone Eater's Well closed after Kagome's return it gave a sense of finality and closure to the story, and showed that Kagome had chosen where she was most happy and felt she belonged. I think that bringing the theme of time travel back into the sequel makes it feel repetitive, like something right out of a predictable fanfic. Props to Sota for taking in and raising a child who showed up out of nowhere though).

Another thing that came to mind when I read these character bios was why Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter and Sesshomaru's daughters are the exact same age. Of course there's nothing wrong with that. It only struck me as odd because suddenly everyone is having kids at the same time. And so far there's no mention of other characters like Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Jaken, Kaede, or Miroku or Sango's three children or where they are. One might expect that a story focused on the children of some of the original Inuyasha's main characters would feature appearances from those who had important roles in the previous series and their children. Which brings me around to wondering what made twin daughters a trend? Two sets of twin girls is a unique choice (Sango and Miroku's twin daughters. For such a small group of parental characters, what are the odds of two sets of twin girls? Where is the creativity and again why the repetition?).

Lastly, Sesshomaru's daughters lack some of the common yōkai/demon characteristics we see on Inuyasha and other characters. Their ears are human, and they have no markings or otherwise (that I noticed) with the exception of Setsuna's mokomoko/fur which is similar to Sesshomaru's. So perhaps they take more after their human mother? Given that Inuyasha seemed to inherit strong genes from his father it's interesting that they did not. Their ages also interest me as they appear to age the same way as humans do. Yōkai/demons are known to have a longer lifespan than humans and appear to slow down or almost stop aging at some point. Perhaps this confirms that the slowdown in aging occurs once they reach the equivalent of a human teen? 

Overall Inuyasha was a fantastic manga and great anime on its own, and I never got the feeling that it needed a sequel. As a stand-alone it was everything it needed to be. I thoroughly enjoyed both formats of the original, though I do have a tendency to disregard certain parts of the anime. I always preferred the manga more when the anime dragged out certain scenes (Shichinintai/Band of Seven arc for example) or straight-up excluded, changed, and added others. Taking that into consideration the sequel might end up being the same for me in that way, but rather than one scene that plays out for too long or an excluded, altered, or unnecessary added scene, if it’s not any good I’ll simply disregard it altogether. When the anime comes out I certainly plan to try watching it out of loyalty to the fandom, and due to the fact that it's "technically" canon (without Rumiko being the writer I don't necessarily consider it canon, much like how some folks do or do not consider the movies canon) but I get the feeling that I'll wind up giving up on it in disappointment.

TLDR; Overall I'm left questioning if the sequel is worth watching (for me) given what I've read and heard so far, but nonetheless I will give it an optimistic try! I'm currently wondering how much we'll see of the original Inuyasha characters, if we get to find out what happened to them, if the number one pairing I'm not fond of will make an appearance (and cause me to drop the whole thing), and questioning parts of the character backstories and designs (why is there a repetitive and recurring theme of time travel and does it end up hindering or ruining the story, why do the protagonists all lack parents, and why do the hanyō/half-demon characters lack common yōkai/demon traits and does it make them more human than demon?).

[goldenkamuyhunting]

The fanon wiki lists Tsukishima's first appearance to be chapter 13, with Capt. Wada. The anime also shows this as well. The man resembles Tsukishima, but is it really him? In the manga version I'm reading (I'm reading it online so the volume versions might be different), he just looks like a generic soldier. The first truly recognizable Tsukishima can be found in chapter 70, so shouldn't that be his first appearance? (I'm sorry it's hard to understand, I have no idea what I'm talking about.)

It’s a good question.

So let’s clear up some things. The online version uses the volume scans for the first 10 volumes, in short up to chap 100.

They then moved to a scanned version of the magazine version up till chap 152.

From chap 153 onward (if I’m not wrong) they used the digital version of the magazine version.

So scanlations come from the magazine version from chap 101, but quality increases from chap 153 due to them using the digital version of it.

So basically yes, for chap 13 you were reading the volume version.

Now... when do Tsukishima truly appear for the first time?

In chap 70 which is the first time in which we hear someone (Tsurumi in our case) say the name ‘Tsukishima’?

We know for a fact Tsukishima was around earlier than that.

A Japanese fan managed to ask if soldiers that were looking like Tsukishima were his relatives and Noda replied they’re all Tsukishima... even though his name was never mentioned back then.

Question number 5 (30 March 2018)

Q: I’m curious to see a soldier that looks like Sergeant Tsukishima in book 4 chapter 31

& book 5 chapter 46.

Is he a brother of the sergeant?

A: They’re all Tsukishima. [Translation from Golden Kamuy Central]

Sadly he didn’t ask about the guy in chap 13 but the fact that those guys are all Tsukishima though, confirms that Tsukishima was around prior to chap 70 but the character design for Tsukishima wasn’t established right from the start.

The beard changes shape, the clothes vary.

This lead fans to assume that since Tsukishima was around PRIOR to his official apparition, Tsukishima was meant to be the identity of the following soldiers:

- The guy murdering Wada in chap 13 (same eyes, beard, similar nose although a bit more marked than Tsukishima)

- The soldier with Tsurumi in chap 34 (same face but missing beard)

- and this guy who also appear in chap 46 (same face and same clothes Tsukishima wears in chap 46 but beard missing)

It’s also worth to say that as Noda draws characters in very different ways the fact that those characters are instead VERY SIMILAR seems to support the idea they were meant to be all the same character.

The anime seems to side with fans as it confirmed all the above speculations using Tsukishima instead than a random stock soldier.

Ep 3 (chap 13 scene)

Ep 8 chap 34 scene

Ep 10 chap 46 scene

Tsukishima’s voice seems the one to be used in Ep 2 to tell Tsurumi Ogata has regained consciousness (chap 7 in the manga) but, same as in the manga, we don’t see the speaker.

If the anime confirmed the fan speculation in accordance with Noda or on his own it’s up to speculation as we’ve no idea. What we know is that they had stock soldiers they could have used instead of Tsukishima who, in the first series, didn’t really need to be used as the anime had no idea there would be a second series for quite a while as this is tied with the success of the first series.

Anyway, how common it is for a character design not to be established right from the start?

Common enough although the changes can be small or relevant...

...though I dug into this more in another ask, in which I also analyzed Tsukishima’s character design changes.

Character design changes are sometimes fixed soon, Tsurumi’s design was immediately corrected for the volume version so that in the following chapters he appeared with the right design, Henmi and Usami’s design were fixed the chapter after the one he appeared, but sometimes not to sooon.

Ogata’s character design was changed at his second apparition but there was no way to fix it on the volume version and Noda didn’t even try to do it with the flashbacks showing Ogata in vol 1, Vasily’s character design was fixed only when the chapters were transposed in the volume version in short months after he appeared on the magazine.

It changes from case to case.

But yes, you might argue, who says we should accept, as the anime did, that the guy who drew Wada out and shoot him is Tsukishima? Can’t he be a stock character?

As long as Noda doesn’t confirm it, everything it’s possible and, even if he confirms it, actually everything remains possible, after all Noda even retconned the time in whcih Wilk was jailed and wrote out of the story one of the fake skins so let’s keep in mind this is his story, retcons are an uncomfortable but valid way to fix things in a story and he’s human and can forget details.

Honestly, unless Noda has a better plot in mind for him, I believe it would be detrimental to Tsukishima if that guy were to be a stock character.

Tsukishima is basically Tsurumi’s right-hand man and, since Kikuta is in Noboribetsu and Koito in Abashiri, the higher in rank. It makes sense to send him to Captain Wada, to draw him there, and it makes sense Tsukishima, the higher in rank after Tsurumi, would do that work so as to set an example for the other soldiers.

We know Tsurumi made clear to Tsukishima he would have to do dirty things and Tsukishima agreed.

We know he did dirty things, like taking part to the massacre of all the guards in Abashiri. We know he chased Tanigaki, planning to kill him and, while I like to think he wouldn’t have sunk killing Inkarmat, her unborn baby and Huci, he might have been forced to do it if things were to take the wrong turn. He threatened to kill Koito, he was aware the three Russians would be killed so as they could be considered the culprits of the kidnapping he took part in and he even commented on how they let Ogata kill Hanazawa, clearly aware that the guy would be killed and which consequences this would have for the 7th.

And let’s not forget that Tsukishima knows that Tsurumi wants to go at war with Japan for the ownership of Hokkaido because there’s no way the emperor will let him take Hokkaido without fight.

So it’s not like killing Wada, which for Tsukishima was likely just another pet of the central governement, to protect Tsurumi, is this big of a thing in terms of actions.

However it’s meaningful for us, for the story and for the character that Tsukishima is.

We’ve this guy, this guy who does, as his first thing, something terrible like killing a superior officer, this guy who’s generally around Tsurumi... but we don’t think much of him beyond that he should just be a minion among other minions so we shouldn’t feel concerned about him.

In whatever work no one cares about the soldiers of the ‘bad guy’, they’re just minions whose duty is to do evil and be killed off by the hero... but this applies, in a way also to the soldiers in an enemy army.

Sugimoto himself will say he persuaded himself the Russians were just ‘bad guys without a soul’. We don’t bother thinking at what each soldier in a army felt, which sort of person he was, if he sided with his commander or was forced to take part to that war. They’re all just ‘enemy soldiers’ without a real identity and representing minions as just ‘enemies’ without a real identity is, undoubtedly a narrative expedient but also something that mimicks how humans see the enemy armies.

Only in this story, in Tsukishima’s case, it turns out that minion that killed Wada is not just a minion we shouldn’t care about and could easily forget.

He has a name, he’s a person, a likable person, with feelings, a guy who loves long baths and who feels bad when Edogai dies. A guy who believes Tsurumi’s victory will bring benefits for everyone, a guy who’s capable. And the more the story goes the more this random minion is fleshed out more and more.

In a way Tsukishima stands in for all the minions in Tsurumi’s army.

While the other characters are quickly introduced, we get a name, we get some characteristics, they immediately rise out of the ranks of minions to become characters, Tsukishima doesn’t do it that fast.

It’s impossible for Noda to introduce us to all the 100 minions Tsurumi has, but, Tsukishima’s story in a way reminds us that they are all like him in truth, people with a name, people with feelings who could have a deep backstory behind themselves, who might have noble goals.

Many of us will feel really sad if the minion that Tsukishima is will die.

Plus, showing Tsukishima around, doing tasks and being effectively Tsurumi’s right hand man is a good idea in itself so as to establish Tsukishima as an existing character in the universe and not something Noda pulled out of his hat only at chap 70. Tsukishima existed, did things, was around, Noda showed him around, we were the ones who hadn’t given him the right importance in the beginning.

So yes, not only I believe the one killing Wada is meant to be Tsukishima but I also think it’s a great idea plotwise, one of which the character that’s Tsukishima benefits.

However, unless you consider the anime an official source, so far we’re still without an official confirmation. It might come in the future, it’s possible that Wada was another piece of the Ogata’s rebel group plot or that Wada was actually tied to Kikuta in some form or that Kikuta will just investigate on his fate.

Or maybe Noda will never tell us.

So ultimately it’s up to you decide for yourself.

If you ask me that guy is Tsukishima... but that’s just me.

I hope this will help. Thank you for your ask!

[sambart93]

2019.06.18 Touken Ranbu: Jiden Hibi no Ha yo Chiruramu [Review]

Hey guys!! I am sure this one was highly anticipated but I am seriously in a slumb when it comes to writing these things now so this is going to be super simple! I hope you don’t mind!

Official Website here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

CAST and CHARACTERS

Aramaki Yoshihiko as Yamanbagiri Kunihiro Wada Masanari as Heshigiri Hasebe Kento as Tsurumaru Kuninaga Maeyama Takahisa as Uguisumaru Kato Sho as Ookanehira  Kawakami Shota as Daihannya Nagamitsu Tanimizu Riki as Nansen Ichimonji Isono Dai as Oodenta Mitsuyo Iiyama Yuuta as Sohayatsurumaru Kizu Tsubasa as Hakata Toushiro Oosaki Natsuki as Maeda Toushiro Shitara Ginga as Gokotai Yokoyama Masafumi as Yamabushi Kunihiro Takeshi Naoki as Doudanuki Kobayashi Ryo as Tarou Tachi Kosaka Ryoutaru as Jirou Tachi Umetsu Mizuki as Yamanbagiri Chougi Aoki Jin as Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki

Location Cast Change: Naya Takeru as Sayo Samonji (for Tokyo First Round) Kitagawa Naoya as Honebami Toushiro (for Osaka Round) Shiina Taizou as Fudou Yukimitsu (for Hyogo Round) Wada Takuma as Kasen Kanesada (Tokyo Gaisen Round)

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: I did enjoy myself. There is a lot of comedy in this one. It’s at least 50 - 60% comedy so everyone is laughing from start to finish. It’s about 80% scripted comedy and 20% improve comedy. It was very entertaining and very enjoyable. We all laughed the entire time. So if you just want to enjoy, laugh, have a good time, you are going to LOVE this stage! It’s just one long Hanamaru (the anime) episode to be honest. My favourite parts of the whole stage were definitely Manba and co’s dynamics and relationship. I really, really loved Sayo and Manba’s relationship and body language and small gestures towards each other throughout the play which really shows how close they’ve gotten. It’s really sad that Sayo is only there for the first Tokyo run because the little things he did for and towards Manba just melted my heart. Also, I really, really loved Manba and Doudanuki’s dynamic in this show too! I absolutely adored how Douda treated Manba this time around. However, personally, that’s not what I want from Touken Ranbu. I want pain, I want fighting, I want history, I want conflict. That does not happen in this stage. So this is not what I wanted. I started to get really bored and I got over the jokes after about 45 minutes into the show (the show is 145 minutes long). They repeat the same group/set of jokes about 10 times, so obviously I got bored of them. I feel like this plot could’ve been done in about 30 minutes. The fact they take the entire 145 minutes for this one simple plot line (it’s a really simple story), it really gets boring in some spots. The lack of fighting (which is less than 10 minutes long for the entirety of the play), the lack of history, the lack of conflict (even between the Touken Danshi!) really got to me and this just wasn’t what I wanted. Like I said, I did enjoy myself and I did laugh throughout and I did have a good time. But when Touken has set this ‘dark, despair, historical, fighting’ theme for so long, you can’t expect us to not expect that this time around, AND when we don’t get it, you can’t expect me not to be bored and disappointed. Which is what I am. Disappointed. Again. Rating: 5/10 (if you enjoy comedy and lighthearted stuff then this’d be about 8/10)

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SPOILER REVIEW

Story: The story takes place after the events of the game (see details here). So we follow Chougi joining the gang at the Honmaru, but a lot of the gang are against Chougi and Manbachan (Yamanbagiri Kunihiro) meeting because Chougi is the ‘true’ Yamanbagiri sword. So they try to delay and play tricks so they can’t meet. And we follow those shenanigans.

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I am going to break this down into three groups: ☆ The Good, × The Bad and △ the Neutral/General/Both-Good-and-Bad Comments! So get ready! I’ll do Good first!

☆ It’s difficult to describe, but I loved Sayo and Manba relationship in this one. There was a lot of body language and actions that showed just how much Sayo cared for Manba. There were many moments when he would sit next to Manba and look at him worried, checked if he was okay. When Chougi was trying to verbally attack Manba, Sayo was right by his side, ready to kick Chougi’s ass. Just the small things Sayo did for Manba throughout this play were just so pure and so adorable to watch. It’s such a shame that he’s only there for the Tokyo Shows because I would love see this development between these two’s relationship.

☆ Another relationship I loved in this one was Doudanuki and Manba. If you remember back in Mitsu/JyoDen, Doudan and Manba were always butting heads, but in this one, Doudan wouldn’t leave Manba’s side. He tried SO hard to protect Manba from Chougi, and he tried to hard to keep Chougi away from Manba throughout the entire play, which just shows how much he care for Manba! It was adorable!!

☆ Dounauki on his own is just so great in this stage series! I love Naoki’s performance of him every time!!

☆ At the end of the play, Manba finally got sent off to be Kiwame’d!! So in the next stage we’ll be getting Kiwame ManbaChan!! I cannot wait!

☆ Being able to see Aoki Jin’s acrobatics again was so good! He’s still got it!

☆ Riki as Nansei was adorable! He was really good at showing the catish characteristics he has! And his cat speech was adorable too!

☆ The Manba VS 6 Touken Danshi fight scene was very impressive on MakiChan’s part and it fit completely. Both MakiChan and ManbaChan could’ve wooped all their asses after all the years of training they’ve both technically done in sword fighting.

△ This is a mix of good and bad but, we cannot deny just how amazing MakiChan is at this point when to comes to sword fighting. His movements and his choreography is so good and such a high level by this point! But this is also a bad thing because... it makes it super obvious just how beginner everyone else (especially Chougi’s actor) is at sword fighting when he’s against them. I could painfully see the difference in their choreography levels, especially when MakiChan had fighting scenes against Chougi, and when he was fighting against 6 of the swords at the same time. Their movements and choreography just looks so mediocre and so clumsy and just don’t flow naturally at all next to him. 

△ There were mentions of Ookurikara, Yagen and Jiji throughout the play, so definitely hints they’ll come back in future plays(?). I am excited for Ookuri and Yagen but we all know how I feel about Jiji -_____-

△ Ginga as Gokotai was.... fine. He definitely got the voice and intimidated body language right but... boy’s pretty tall... would’ve been better to find a shorter person?

△ There were no ensemble this time at all.

△ There are no set changes at all. It all takes place at the Honmaru. The set is really big actually! I like how they used all parts of the set, even the upper levels!

△ The umbrellas this time have no names on them! It’s all projection mapped (their names) onto white umbrellas instead this time around.

△ Why are they performing an Autumn/Winter themed play in the middle of summer? The play constantly talks about how Autumn is coming to an end, so why did they perform this in Summer?! That’s hella stupid.

△ I really did enjoy a lot of the comedy parts and I did enjoy my time BUT this isn’t what I wanted from TouStage; this isn’t what I expect from TouStage.

△ What was the point of Maeda playing the narrator in this? And why was it split into chapters throughout the play?

× Because it’s just a comedy that is heavily scripted and nothing major really happens, I see no rewatchability value unfortunately. Once was enough.

× The Opening is very long. It’s a ten minute VIDEO of them fighting and finding Chougi. Why they made it a video instead of actually on stage, I don’t understand. Why it was such a long video? I also don’t understand.

× I strongly feel like they expanded and stretched what could’ve been a 45 minute story into 145 minutes. There was no need for this Chougi vs Manba conflict to go on for the entirety of the the stage. It got very repetitive, and it dragged quite a bit. 

× Also the second storyline about Gokotai? It felt very unnecessary and very much a throw away. It wasn’t needed for the point it was used for. It was used to reintroduce and set-up Jiji into the series and how they all miss him and want him back. But we really didn’t need Gokotai for it. In fact...

× ...50% of this cast is entirely unneeded and unnecessary! I have no idea why half of them were there! When they were all gathered on stage, I could easily look at them and pick out who could’ve been straight up removed. 

If you had to ask me who actually brought something to the story, I would say: Manba, Chougi, Sayo, Doudanuki, and Nansei. Kento was good for the comedy parts. So literally everyone else you could’ve cut out.

× It bothers me that once again, Suemitsu is just stealing from another idea. The Gokotai storyline is basically from Hanamaru, and of course the Chougi backstory is taken straight from the Game Event (which is not the point that bothers me). He seriously cannot make up his own ideas. He hasn’t written a good stage since TRUMP seriously (K Stage doesn’t count because it’s just a carbon copy of the anime). And WHY is he even back?! Hiden was supposed to be his last one! Everyone said! So WHY is he back? Give other writers a chance!

× It really infuriated me how they waited and expected the audience to applause at certain times. One or two times where it’s expected is FINE but the fact they pause and wait SO many times for the audience to clap was just cringey and ewwy. I understand that some jokes are positioned so the audience claps, but when it’s the amount that it is in this play? No thank you. Just makes the actors look cheap and egotistical.

× The soundtrack is completely forgettable this time around! I cannot remember one single tune that stuck to me. I’m a huge Soundtrack lover so the fact nothing caught my ears and nothing caught my attention nor stayed with me is just.... bad.

× This play seriously made me hate Chougi! I like Chougi in the game but in this? He’s just a pompous, ignorant prick. I walked out absolutely HATING him! How dare he treat Manba and the rest of them like that! Motherf-ker.

× Personally, I found no moving, no emotional, no sad moment in the play this time. That’s bad and boring writing in my opinion.

× I’ve said this many times already but, they repeat the same 4 or 5 jokes about 10 times within the first 75 minutes of the play. That is total overkill. It got old fast, I quickly got bored (the 45 minute point was when it was starting to grate on me).

× There is all of ONE fight scene the entire play, and (I timed it) it takes up less than 15 minutes of the entire play.  And it was glaringly obvious to see the skill level difference between MakiChan and everyone else (in all honesty).

× Another personal thing for me, but I find Kato Sho completely exhausting. He’s so damn loud and so over the top as Ookanehira. He just exhausts me. He’s great as himself but as Ookane? Just no thank you.

× Chougi and Manba don’t meet until the 75 minute part. Which is excessively late. You could’ve had them meet up about 30 minutes in. It really was stretched out too far.

× The theatre itself was freezing as FACK! Absolutely freezing in there!

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And that’s all! In conclusion, it could’ve been much better and wasn’t what I wanted. But I feel like I say this EVERY TIME. Maybe I really should just stop. Why do I even say I like TouStage when it’s evident I’m disappointed like... every time! *sigh*

[relatablemormonmoments]

Saturday Morning and Afternoon Session Talks

(Note, I listen to Conference rather than watch it, names are probably butchered.)

Ulysses S. Suarez

We need the help of a faithful and inspired teacher, but we also need to teach

Teach your sons and their sons in the ways of the Lord

We need to raise our families in the Lord

Emerse yourself in Scriptures

How do we put principles in the gospel into the actions of our lives?

Actions speak louder than words

Most of our critical spiritual decisions relate to family. (story of a single divorced mother rearing her children)

Mother should guide her children

God wants us back in his presence

Pros: Encourages closeness within our families and with the lord, Encourages us to consider our actions of faith

Cons: The Family A Proclamation to the World, Seemingly excludes those with a poor connection to their families or who converted without their families or whose families have fallen away

Becky Craven

"Happiness, $15" -> cheap trinkets and souvenirs

We as a church are blessed to know how to find true happiness

Car stuck on train tracks-> conductor pulls on emergency break + whistle -> people are able to escape but car is destroyed -> woman watching claims that conductor didn't even try to stop, didn't try to swerve out of the way.

Keep our wheels on the track no matter what obstacles are in our path

Casualness can lead us from the path

World is laiden with distractions, decieving even the elect

We may drown if we aren't careful.

Actions in the "grey" (the "howevers, buts, and althoughs") = "That council does not apply to me"

"If ye love me, keep my commandments"

Doesn't mean being formal or stuffy, but being appropiate

Be more engaged & careful & modest

For the Strength of the Youth applies to each of us (no matter our age, position, or gender)

We need to seek the guidance of the holy ghost

How can we mark ourselves in the Image of Christ?

The world calls us a "peculiar people" which is a large compliment.

We need to widen the distance between ourselves and our worldly influence

Gift of repentance

When you are worthy to recieve personal revelation, you will be blessed and happy

Pros: Gospel is guide to happiness, Doesn't claim that the only way to happiness is through temple marriage, Discusses what leads us from true happiness

Cons: The analogy to a train is nice but doesn't make sense with the rest of her story and implies that there is only one path to happiness, insinuates that temple marriage is part of the path to true happiness, doesn't offer any solutions to avoiding distraction.

Brook P. Hales

God blesses us according to our desires and to his infite wisdom

Scriptures teach us

Lord carefully leads us even if we can't see the results

Lord prepares ways to overcome obstacles before they can occur (Lost Plates and Nephi)

How can God answer us? ->1. Son recieved coat too small, gave it away to another missionary who had been praying for one because he could not afford it (through other people) 2. Joseph (and his coat od many colors) 's brothers sold him rather than killing him, leading to blessings for Egypt and eventual redemption of their family (through.. better circumstances?) 3. Son not hired for dream job, but would have missed a life changing opportunity had he been hired. (Through denying us our wants for eternal perspective)

Patricia Parkinson -> Began going blind at 7 years old, had to go away to boarding school (very home sick) -> Went fully blind at 15, returned home and went to regular highschool-> Eventually gained success at university and in life -> Had a procedure, but came out saying "I'm going to be blind for the rest of my life, I know it, you know it, God knows it." -> Nephew tells her to ask Heavenly Father because Heavenly father grants all of our wishes -> She explains that HF doesn't give us everything when we want it. -> Hales remarks that she's always positive and happy in public but struggles with herself, her disability, and God in private -> she sees that God's hand is in everything

If we keep our commandments, we are blessed by God, even if its not how we expect or want to be blessed.

Pros: Nice approach on how we can struggle with our faith when God doesn't answer us how we want, Good examples of how God does answer us and why he may answer us like that

Cons: Some Ableism in his story about Patricia, simply claims that God will bless us for following commandments

UCHTDORF!!!!!!

Airplanes take 3 hours between Rome and Jerusalem in the present (would take 40 days to travel that distance in Jesus' time)

Even though the church faces persecution, we continue to grow

Put growth into perspective ( A very small flock indeed)

GERMAN SHEPHERD

In some places, the church is shrinking

We must share the good news of the gospel!

How can we fill that great commision in our daily lives?

Share the gospel with friends and acquaintances

Some go out and declare it boldly, others are more hesitant and hide behind the pew when daily missionary work is mentioned, why?

Lord doesn't require expert efforts, but he does require a willing heart and mind

We can draw close to Heavenly Father, Fill our Hearts wirh love for others, and read our scriptures

By doing this we will become better, happier, more authentic

Pros: It's Uchtdorf, Airplanes mentioned, Even small efforts matter

Cons: Airplanes mentioned only once, Encourages a lot of proselytizing in day to day life, Many members are leaving church or going inactive, Really short talk :(

W. Christopher Weidell

His (nonmember) brother (Mike) had Pancreatic cancer, could see the temple from his hospital bed.

Mike became friends with the priesthood leaders, kept askin hc about the church

Mike joined the church and gained strength

Had no pulse when on day gaining Melchezidek priesthood, has pulse as soon as Weidell enters room, he lives to gain the priesthood, but dies 5 hours later.

It takes remarkable efforts to minister

Don't give up on a "Not Interested"-hearts change

Desire tonhelp others achieve deeper conversion

Serving others

Want others to reach divine potential

Sensitive to trials and struggles

We are encouraged to follow the guidings of the Holy Spirit

Trust the Lord

Focus on what's important

It's never too late, you'll never wander too far from the path

Never too soon to extend an invitation

There is always hope

Pros: Heartwarming story about brother, hope if you are inactive and want to come back, hope if yiy have friends or family who have left the church for various reasons

Cons: Influences those really aggressive ministerers to keep going at it, which can weaken someones already weak bond with the church, ITS REALLY SAD, I CRIED OK?

Henry B. Eyring

United as one is the feeling we want in our homes

Families

No contention due to love for God (4th Nephi)

Symptoms of Spiritual Decline TM - How can we protect and increase feelings of love to combat them

Underlying cause=Satan

Reverse spiritual decline in family and in home

Remember the savior as you remember thine sins

Praying as a family brings you closer together

Family who prays together is together, even when far apart

Offer the gospel to your enemies

Examples of Parents

Worry about Celestial Kingdom and the Family Arrangements will be more wonderful than you can imagine

Pros: Talks about strengthening family bonds, NOT ABOUT THE PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD!!!, strengthen love for God=strengthen family, FOUND FAMILIES? NON NUCLEAR/TRADITIONAL FAMILIES? ?!?!, All you need is love, Love is all you need

Cons: May encourage abusive/extremist parents to shove gospel down childrens throats to "strengthen family" therefore pushing children away

M. Russel Ballard

Can't control what impacts our life, we can control how it impacts our happiness

Do the best we can each day

Heavenly Father loves you

Love God, Love Neighbors

Find peace and happiness in your life

We minister because we love others

Preform Temple ordinances

Keep it simple

Pros: Don't worry be happy, If you follow the commandments you will find happiness, Keep it simple (KonMarie LDS edition)

Cons: The whole we can control how it impacts our happiness doesn't include neurodivergent people, especially those with depression.

Mathias Held

Found a church (ours) where he felt at home

Personal growth, education, humanitarian efforts, self-reliance

Wanted to know everything about the church before joining

Mosiah 1:18

Confident that Heavenly Father would guide him

Through the power of the Holy Ghost we may know all things

Pros: Short and sweet, lists what attracts people to the church

Cons: May make some people in process of conversion feel left out or like they aren't on track/moving fast enough

Neil Anderson

God has given us a way to learn essential truths

See truths of God through the Eye of Faith

Spirit sons and daughters (AND CHILDREN, ELDER ANDERSON! AND CHILDREN!) lived with and worshipped god

We all knew God's plan for us

Prophets see ahead, not only the dangers, but the privileges and blessings

Faith, patience, and diligence

We are all part of a larger family

God will shine his approval on you

Pros: Its about the Plan of Salvation, Eye of Faith, We are all part of a larger family and should strive to help each other, I like the notion that the prophets are also seeing Good things because the world has been very much the bad place as of late..

Cons: I'm pretty sure this is the one where he mentions his LGBTQIA friend who was all like "we need to abandon the ways of the world and thus I be celibate" so... Slight homophobia maybe? I don't know I didn't write it down but a lot of people are bothered by this

Takashi Wada

Overcome darts of the Adversart

True feasting is an experience of joy and thanksgiving

Feasting on scriptures should build our relationship with God

Hearts filled with Gratitude

1. words of Christ increase spiritual capacity for revelation

2. when we struggle with our identity and self esteem, turn to the scriptures

3. live lives of others through the scriptures

A little boy handed Wada's mother a hymn book even though she coukd have easily accessed it herself, an innocent act of kindness he learned through the church and his parents

Hearts burn within us when we read the scriptures

Ye shall have eternity

Pro: This man??? so Sweet??? Hi I love him?, Very innocent stories, very funny.

Con: There is none. Perfect talk.

David P. Homer

"I'm sorry I didn't bear my testimony today, I love you"

1. Critical moments, multiple voices with competing directions, 2. Vital that we listen to the right one

We often focus on what's convenient

Popular =/= best

Mountain climbers' death zone= Spiritual too much time in bad places

Korihor

Impressions given by the Holy Ghost

Seek God's voice

Be doers of the word, not just hearers

Answers can be slow to come

Heavenly Father makes it possible to hear and follow his commandments.

Pro: His opening quote is really cute, Wow this is a call out talk

Con: You may feel called out if you don't follow commandments

Jeffery R. Holland

Adam and Eve closed door to immortality

Help comes from the Lamp of God

Offer broken heart and contrite spirit

Reduce clamor in our buildings

Be mindful of broken hearts and sad spirits around us

No shortage of suffering in the world

Lift load from those who are burdened

Bring tears to the Lord's Sacrificial Altar

Pros: calls people to acknowledge those who are hurt around us, calls people to stop using church for socialization

Cons: What is a Lamp of God?, How can we focus on broken hearts and contrite spirits without hurting them?

[jojotier]

can i get uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh mister tsukishima😌

Oh you mean a fucking husband? The best character in gk? Coolest lil gremlin dude? I love h im

Favorite thing: This may be praising Noda’s writing more than the character himself, but I found Tsukishima’s slow fade into the foreground absolutely fascinating. Because for a long time, I didn’t really take note of him- he seemed to just be a nondescript npc in his first appearance, appearing only to shoot Wada dead. But as the chapters went on and it became more and more apparent that Tsukishima was essential to Tsurumi, and as his personality slowly took center stage, I was smitten. I adore how loyal he is, how selfless he can be, and how much he cares, underneath that seemingly prickly and cold exterior!!

Least Favorite: I hate that he doesn’t seem to understand that he needs to take care of himself, too. Like yes, it’s a giant part of his personality, that he refuses to focus on himself, but at this point it’s gotten to the point of dehumanization and self-destruction. He only sees himself as a tool, and Tsurumi only sees him as a tool, and I’m :c

Favorite Line: The line in the chapter with O-Gin’s baby- “A child like that, born of monsters… will inevitably become a monster.” This is my personal favorite just because this was the turning point where I began to take notice of Tsukishima, realizing that he had something deeper to his character… And Noda didn’t disappoint in his backstory

brOTP: Shiraishi and Tsukishima. Listen. I know they haven’t interacted in canon. I know upon their first meeting that Tsukishima can and will probably deck Shiraishi, and it will likely be justified. But listen. These two? They’re the perfect compliments to each other. Shiraishi’s the flight to Tsukishima’s fight. The extrovert to his introvert. But both just want to survive. Both have no long term goals. And honestly, both work best when they have a long term goal to work towards (protect Asirpa, help Tsurumi’s cause, etc) and Tsukishima would likely feel useless without one such goal (more on that later). And let’s face it, once Tsukishima sees Shiraishi’s escape abilities, his respect levels will go through the roof

If we’re going with pure fanon though, Igogusa and Tsukishima are true lesbian-gay solidarity and I love writing them as asshole found family sibs/best friends/thick as thieves/take your pick

OTP: No contest here- I love TsukiKoi, and not just because I personally just so happen to relate to Koito as a military brat with no volume control, a gifted kid complex and a love of sword. The chemistry between these two are fantastic, and I’m a sucker for some good Tall/Small and Bombastic/Reserved pairing. The pairing of Tsukishima’s loyalty with Koito’s unwavering devotion, and Tsukishima’s caring fussing hidden as chastisement/Koito’s secret encouragement and protection masquerading as superficial ulterior motives just has me clutches heart

nOTP:   TsuruTsuki. I mean, just with everything Tsurumi did to Tsukishima in canon, especially with the Igogusa debacle and ESPECIALLY with not thinking to use other soldiers as interpretters to work with him instead of truly setting Tsukishima free by giving him some money and clothes and faking the dude’s death. It doesn’t sit right with me. Like TsuruTsuki isn’t the Most Egregious Tsurumi ship out there (and it’s leagues more tolerable than TsuruKoi or TsuruKaidou) but it burns me up inside, how much I hate Tsurumi’s treatment of his men

Random headcanon: Even outside of lessons Igogusa might have given him, Tsukishima is almost entirely self taught. During the Meiji era, while public school was a thing, fees needed to be paid to attend, and no one wanted to shill out money for the murderer’s kid, so he laborously poured over books Igogusa smuggled him. The hardest part was actually learning how to read- for a long time, he thought he was stupid for not grasping it, and probably the most vivid image I have in mind is Tsukishima at about 9 or 10, someplace alone, surrounded by scribbled on papers, some crumpled away from him, writing looking like it should have come from a kid half his age. 

Unpopular Opinion: I legitimately believe that if Tsukishima were to defect and join Sugimoto’s group, there’d be a period where he was about as useful as Shiraishi. (And I mean, as “useless” as Shiraishi is, he’s still very useful with his skillset- he just lounges). I’m not even kidding or being jokey. For 10 years, the dude has had to watch over a nest of absolute nutjobs, carry out many orders he must have thought were insane, and likely didn’t have time for himself. And now suddenly, he has way Too Much Time for himself. 

Sugimoto’s group don’t need to be watched- they’re not gonna burn anything down if they’re left alone. At most, he might have to spur Shiraishi to do something, but even then Shiraishi will Probably do the thing you tell him to after you tell him enough times. Outside of insider knowledge he has of Tsurumi and the fake skins, after they get out of Russian-speaking territory, he wouldn’t be all that useful in day-to-day traveling. Basically, I see him one existential crisis away from taking Shiraishi up on an offer to go get absolutely shitface drunk

Song I Associate with him: Bohemian Rhapsody. I mean, it’s got everything- just killed a man, possible deal with the devil, that angry part at the end that suddenly picks up with “So you think you can stomp me and spit in my eye?/ So you think you can love me and leave me to die?” All I hear is Tsukishima 

Favorite Image: This is hard because I love him, but look

This one has everything!!! muscle…. punch….. emotion…………… d ra ma

[toonstarterz]

BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #147

In today’s chapter, Watamote goes back to its roots as we find Tomoko hankering for some alone time. But you’d be wrong if you think it’s going to be that simple. Because underneath all the nostalgia moments lies what may just be the most crucial development that Tomoko has ever undertaken, and it’s the type of growth that could’ve only been realized by taking a quick trip down memory lane.

Chapter 147: Because I’m Not Popular, I’ll Wander Around Alone

Oh hey, it’s that one male teacher who’s made periodic appearances throughout the series. Thank you for being there during Tomoko’s character establishing moment.

So Wada is pretty good at English, huh? So not only do they both like manga, but Tomoko and Wada are also knowledgeable in the same subject. How nice.

Better break out the pitchforks.

A common social “rule” in Japan is the emphasis on being able to read the room and reciprocating that atmosphere, or at the very least, not rock the boat. Tomoko has never really supported or condemned that notion, though unlike Yuri, is more likely to go with the flow. As someone who lives in a culture that discourages group mentality, it’s nice to see a character like Tomoko benefit from it. 

Cliques? What high school cliques? All I see is a group of distinctly unique girls organically enjoying each other’s company. 

This first-person POV shot looks straight out of a harem manga, only more authentic and devoid of cattiness.

Let it be known that in this moment, Tomoko actually does break the mood. For the first time in as long as I can remember, Tomoko finds herself in a social situation with little risk, but actively breaks away from it in favor of alone time. 

With that, the seed of Tomoko’s greatest epiphany has sprouted.

Not in the mood to binge through twenty volumes this time, huh?

Boy does this take me back...

Compared to Tomoko’s first solo trip to Not-McDonald’s, it’s amazing to see the way she’s changed alongside the ways she hasn’t. Her anxiety is 95% gone, with the remaining 5% accounting for general uncertainty, hence the very brief stuttering. Embrace that 5% Tomoko–that’s all you.

Introvert Problems #051: Activities that are individual in nature double as recharging opportunities, but can come off as unfriendly if openly pursued.

Okay honestly, this is the type of growth I’ve been low-key hoping for since the very start of the series. Tomoko has finally realized that a desire to be alone is not something she needed to fix, but to accept. For the longest time, she didn’t realize a large part of her alone time was because she craved it. It brought her comfort, even if she didn’t want to believe it. And it took having a considerable amount of friends (whose companionship was definitely necessary) for her to understand that she didn’t want to get rid of being alone.

She wanted to get rid of being lonely.

Professional slacking. Otherwise known as, putting in the bare minimum effort to avoid future hardships.

Nom.

I’m sure there are various theories for both perspectives, but I think the main takeaway is that food tastes the best when you’re in your comfort zone. Whether that includes company for not is based on your personal preference.

Indeed, it is. This is none other than the class representative of Tomoko’s second year, Girl-With-Awesome-Hair. Naturally, taking up two whole panels is a clear sign that this isn’t the last we’ll see of her.

Ah, yes, the classic “normies suck” self-fulfilling prophecy–other people are jerks, and that’s why I’m alone. Tomoko was guilty of having this perspective, but she didn’t really recognize it until the first cafeteria chapter with Nemo. That was the point she realized that all those “popular” people are genuinely nice people. It was jarring at first, but once Tomoko got used to people being nice to her, she stopped perceiving that kindness as some kind of exception, and just took it as normal behavior. While alluding to the possibility of getting shit-talked behind her back is more of her realism at work, it thankfully doesn’t fall too deep into self-destructive cynicism.

Could it be that Tomoko’s recent friendships are subconsciously making her pursue more public activities even on her loner vacation? You better believe it.  

Tomoko’s become quite financially savvy lately, don’t ‘cha think? It certainly beats spending $150 on a whim for a Vocaloid.

I cannot think of any other nickname that suits her better.

For a girl with the single most stylized face in the series, her entrance in this chapter sure makes an impact with the way she strikes such an alluring pose. Of course, that’s the joke, ain’t it? 

It would seem that we’re getting a “doesn’t-care-what-anybody-else-thinks”-type of character for her. Well, she’s a competitive gamer as we soon learn, so not giving a shit about her social status is kind of a prerequisite.

I honestly did a double-take at this, as it’s the first time Tomoko has addressed Yoshida in her mind by her real name instead of “the delinquent”. We’re just a hair’s length away from reaching official “friend” status with these two.

Aw, that’s adorable. Tomoko actually sort of cares about Yoshida’s financial wellbeing. I’ve also noticed a bit of a trend with Tomoko in that she gets “terrified” of her friends breaking her expectations of them, even if they’re not doing anything that terrifying. In Yoshida’s case, I think that’s partly because Tomoko has a bit of a superiority complex that would get broken if Yoshida was a better person than she likes to believe.

Tomoko’s nicknaming game is on point today.

It was hinted before that Futaki may be popular with the boys what with being a “gamer girl” and all. While it’s still a little too early to confirm or deny that, the fact that most of the onlookers here are guys has to count for something.

I remember when fans gave her the name “Potential-san”. Given where this chapter is headed, I think that name fits even more with Futaki’s blooming characterization.

It’s amazing how much of their personalities you can see in this single panel. Yoshida is all easygoing, grasping her drink from the top all aloof-like. Reina is the toughest, taking a quietly aggressive stance with her elbows on the table like a boss. And Anna is the most inviting, smiling with a crêpe in her hand to signify her (relative) sweetness.

I find it fascinating that Anna can say some pretty rude things that borderline on mean, but it never really comes off as malicious (or is it just me?). She gives off that vibe of someone who mercilessly teases people in a way that’s “all in good fun”, and I hope to see more of that side to her.

First off, Tomoko being a full table’s length away from the scary delinquents is gold.

Second and not to beat a dead horse, Anna’s a cool chick. 

I think I’m gonna need to call upon the Council of WataMote Fans with Too Much Time On Our Hands for this. Why exactly is that name so unusual?

Of course, Anna wouldn’t be part of the delinquent squad if she didn’t shit-talk every now and then. But as I said before, she has this style of going about it that feels more like brash innocence than deliberate antagonism. Maybe it’s the heroin eyes...

Other than that, she does imply that she’s the smartest of her group, though whether that perception is actually reflective of herself isn’t certain yet.   

More of Tomoko’s superiority complex at work here. All she really knows about Futaki is that she plays games, and is assumedly a slacker. That fact that she still managed to outscore her must’ve been quite the blow to Tomoko’s insecurity. The only thing “worse” is if even Yoshida managed to rank higher than her.

I love dialogue gags like this, though usually the characters’ inner words are in parenthesizes in-between their actual spoken words. If Tomoko actually lowered her voice at the word “lower”, that’d be humorously sad. 

It got “worse”.

Because a superiority complex actually requires a deep-seated sense of inferiority, Tomoko must be hella blown back right now. Grades were one of the only things she could feasibly claim dominance over, but now that she’s about to be usurped by the supposedly dumb delinquents, she only has her otaku interests to fall back on, which...isn’t always something to brag about.

Also, I especially like how Tomoko has started to compare delinquents to the yakuza. You know both would beat the tar out of her if they heard her compare them to the other. 

You know, it makes perfect sense that Tomoko would be a top scorer in Japanese, English, and History. Since she’s such an avid reader (even if it is only manga and light novels), all that extra literature has most certainly been indirect study material, even if the actual course material isn’t nearly as lewd.

Additionally, slackerism loves company.

Yeah, if it wasn’t already abundantly clear than Reina is the delinquent among delinquents...

...she is.

Rekt to infinity.

But you know, this is actually an ingenious way to develop a gag character like Futaki. Her apparent gaming skills have always been played like a joke, but by having it be her long-term goal, it restructures that “quirk” of hers into a fleshed out personality. It doesn’t invalidate anything we’ve already seen from Futaki, and it neatly sets up a direction for her character to take.

I imagine Tomoko must feel pretty betrayed right now. She herself entertained the idea of being a gamer, but discarded that dream likely because it wouldn’t be a “proper” job. Now that she sees this girl she hardly knows who apparently has the luxury of making that dream a reality, Tomoko’s envy levels just skyrocketed. Sure, Futaki has no loyalty to Tomoko, so that sense of betrayal has no basis, but like how Akari felt about “angelic” Komiyama in chapter 108...

“...this just isn’t fair!”

I’m getting a Crazy Rich Asians vibe from this girl.

So Reina’s the competitive type, huh? I can dig it. It generally fits with the whole “eyes-must-not-be-seen” aesthetic, but it also explains why she and Yoshida have that “vitriolic best buds” relationship going on. I’d imagine that Reina’s the type to bet high stakes if she can get away with it...

Just ice cream? Eh, no big loss. Unless it’s chocolate chip mint, then it’s a very big loss.

I wouldn’t exactly have these rankings as indicators of their skill level, since mahjong does involves a bit of luck and certainly reading your opponents. While it’s surprising that Futaki ended up in last place, I think it does help to nerf her power level somewhat. Shiro from No Game No Life she is not.

Careful, Futaki. That’s no excuse when you’re looking to be a professional gamer.

I must say, having Futaki unofficially join the delinquent crew is the last thing I would’ve expected, but it’s a delightful surprise nonetheless. They have some pretty good chemistry what them all being slackers/gamers. Plus, Futaki’s strange, but odd cuteness adds a dynamic that the delinquents were lacking until now.

Delinquents may be delinquents, but they always know how to have a good time.

Ho ho! So Nemo has officially been indoctrinated into their group? That poor, poor girl.

Council! I require your guidance! Is Haruna the last name for Anna? Or did Tomoko just get her name wrong! I must solve this conundrum at all costs!

If you try to tell me that Yoshida isn’t absolutely gorgeous in this shot, then you’re a big, fat liar. 

Looking back on this chapter, Yoshida didn’t actually have many notable lines until this moment. But this single bit of dialogue greatly makes up for it. This is the very first time that Yoshida has personally offered to hang out with Tomoko without any sort of coercion or reluctance. It’s the most damning evidence we now have that says Yoshida now openly views Tomoko as her friend. As a long-time reader, I couldn’t feel any more proud. 

In comic book terms, we call this The Negative Space of Melancholy.

And really, wasn’t that the “goal” of this series all along? Making friends wasn’t the real endgame. If it were, it very well could’ve betrayed what makes the series so special, hence why Tomoko’s growth was so agonizingly slow. Tomoko is, was, and always will be a loner. It was just a matter of time before she could make the most out of that status. 

It wouldn’t be a chapter about Tomoko’s growth if she didn’t wax lyrical about her current situation.

Even if self-satisfaction about being a loner is the “goal” of this series, reality is hardly so linear. As this chapter shows, Tomoko finds herself inexplicably drawn to social situations even when trying to avoid them. Not intentionally, but out of a natural, subconscious attraction to them. Tomoko’s life is a series of circular ebbs and flows. She’ll gain something at the cost of losing something else, only to regain a variation of what was lost once what was gained becomes stagnant. Such is it the path to making connections. While the hoops in Tomoko’s development appear drastic close-up, her life is a slow, naturalistic mountain climb when viewed from on top.