#I'm reading the manga again and I got to his backstory and my heart

[giggly-squiggily]

Hi hello this is utterly spontaneous and I'm probably gonna crash after posting this but:

Gordon Agrippa everyone

That is all.

Now I shall tired-scream in the tags

[snaillock]

could I pls ask for a boyfriend's Nagi x male reader? like him having a weakness for the reader and being like a puppy with him? idk if I'm explaining myself idk how to put it in words 😭 I love blue lock and there's almost no x male reader with them so I'm excited to find this sorry 😓

nagi x male!reader

AHHH my first request!! tysm for asking i would love to make this! i also got curious and only found like three nagi x male readers (two of which were smuts that i was too uncomfortable to read☠️) but don't worry im here to save the day. this also ended up being a lot longer than expected but still really hope you enjoy!! ^^

tags: male reader, sad nagi backstory moment, me getting too carried away with build up again

you were one of the few people who didn’t look at nagi like he was some anomaly. while others in your school would steer clear and gossip about him behind his back, you were one of the only people who spoke to him and treated him like an actual person and not some freak of nature

you would try to talk to him in class but he wouldn’t talk back (since “talking is such a pain”) so you assumed you were bothering him and eventually stopped.

nagi eventually noticed you wouldn’t talk to him in class anymore and it didn’t bother him at first. but eventually he finds himself missing it and would make the rare effort of trying to initiate conversations with you.

that led to you guys talking every day during class. the more you two spoke, the more you realized how much you had in common with him. you soon asked him if he wanted to come over to hang out.

he usually rejects any hang-out offers from literally anyone. though when you asked him if he wanted to come over to your place to play video games together, he accepted because he found you to be less of a hassle to be around compared to others.

when he came over, he realized he actually really enjoys being around you and had fun spending his time playing games with you. he even took a look around your room to admire all the things you’ve collected that represent your personality and interests. this only made him more captivated by you and wanted to be much closer friends

now for the exciting part

once some time has passed and you two got closer, you soon find out he’s a shamelessly clingy person both emotionally and physically.

whenever he would see you, he randomly wraps his arms around you and latch onto you. he hates being forced to let go whenever you two have to go to class.

he gives absolutely zero fucks about being publicly affectionate with another guy in school, paying no mind to the weird stares and whispers

he constantly wants to stay over at your place and when you come over to his for the first time, he introduces you to choki (a hugeeee moment for him trust me)

nagi truly loves being with you. at first, he didn’t care about being an outcast until you showed up in his life and showed him what true friendship and love was like

soon his feelings for you as a friend develops into something much more unfamiliar before he can realize it. falling in love was definitely a new experience for nagi and falling in love with you specifically was a slow delicate process

he definitely didn’t realize for a while that he likes you in that way until he finds himself admiring you as you somehow have soft lighting all over your face and pink flowers and hearts circling your head (all in his imagination my boy is completely whipped). he then thinks, “hmm this feels like one of the shojo mangas i’ve read befo- ohhhhh!”

once the initial shock is over, he’s already bold enough to confess to you quickly after. i can imagine him suddenly telling you how he feels in the most random scenario ever.

it would be so out of nowhere. you guys could be out walking in the park. you casually sip out of your bottle when he nonchalantly says, “wanna be my boyfriend?” with his signature neutral face, making you choke and cough on your water.

he would then elaborate on how much he likes you with the plainest face ever like it was a regular tuesday conversation. the one difference is the light flush on his cheeks and you can definitely tell that he truly means all of it. so once you stopped coughing, you obviously accept his confession

if you thought he was already pretty damn clingy prior to you two becoming a couple, then be prepared for that to increase tenfold

holding hands isn’t enough for him, ideally he needs to be super glued onto you permanently for the rest of his life

you guys are definitely the couple people gag at when they see you both curled up cuddling each other in the hallway.

once again, he gives absolutely no shits. he needs to show off what an amazing boyfriend he has so he’ll never tone it down on the pda

on the very very rare occurrence that you're not with him and you happened to be talking to someone else in the hallway, he sees this and immediately gets a little possessive. so he walks up right behind you and wraps his arms around your waist, resting his head on you. you assume he's just being needy again and find it cute, completely unaware of how he's now glaring deep into that person’s soul from over your shoulder. i mean you’re his man and his man only so everyone needs to know.

he requires you to pet and run your fingers through his hair for a low minimum for uhhh 2000 times a day. you swear that he purrs every time you do it but when you try to listen out for another one, he already fell asleep on your shoulder

whenever you guys are cuddling either at his dorm or your place, he just lays his entire body weight onto you like a heated blanket while resting his head on your shoulder with your fingers carded through his hair. if you try to gently nudge him off so you can get up and use the bathroom, he audibly whines and eventually relents. he totally tries to follow you into the bathroom after that.

whenever you compliment or praise him, he looks totally unaffected but internally, he’s jumping around screaming. meanwhile, he will randomly drop the most endearing and beautiful arrangement of words at you in a completely neutral voice and just move on with his day like you didn’t just witness the most flattering thing you’ve ever heard.

loves whenever you randomly grab his chin and give him a short but very sweet kiss.

nah actually scratch that. nagi loves kisses from you anytime anywhere. fleeting cheek kisses before you both head to class. kisses on his forehead as you hold him close under the covers. drawn out victory kisses you both finally finish a difficult match together. no matter what it is, he always helplessly melts into each one.

before you appeared in nagi's life, his world was just one big dull pain he simply had to push through every day. now that he had you by his side, he finally had the motivation to get out of bed every day.

[riririnnnn]

When Bachira was first introduced, I actually didn't quite like his character much.

At a quick first glance, it's not tough to perceive him as the stereotypical quirky best friend/companion character for a protagonist—at least, that's what I judged him to be. Not hating on sunshine characters, but the first thing that came into my mind was, "So cliché." After Ego's such an intense speech, I just didn't appreciate the thought of a character being opposite to the more serious tone of the Manga; felt like pushing a character into the bandwagon of, "Idc if I'm weird, I love being me."

But now if someone were to say that they don't like Bachira, then I give them the most diabolical side-eye to have ever side-eyed in the history of side-eyeing.

I don't know how or maybe Rin was speaking with what he had experienced himself, but he grasped Bachira's character much better and before Isagi did (read left to right):

I didn't think of it much at that time, I just thought Rin was just being all high and mighty, but a small realisation did form in the back of my mind that despite the whole concept/ideal of Blue Lock and being a top notch player himself, Bachira always appeared like he was looking for someone and while others were trying make a goal by themselves in the Team Z, he was passing to Isagi—that's one of the reason I think Ego saw through too, maybe that's why Bachira was in Team Z and not higher.

Panning the focus to his childhood:

Just look at him trying to convince them to play more soccer with him.

*sigh*

He is so precious and my heart nearly broke when those kids were calling him gross and weird:

As someone with Mommy issues, you might not fully understand how much I adore Bachira's mother. Without her, Bachira would've lost himself completely. She is just amazing.

..but:

It was because of her that Bachira was able to continue believing in himself. He didn't want to lose the voice that others lost—that's one of the reasons why I think he made an imaginary friend, his monster, so that he wouldn't forget the voice.

However, amidst everything, he was just.. lonely.

He envisioned his soccer through the image of his monster. It was easier that way, at least, for him. However, he could only see that monster in those who were behind the screens—the actual pro players. That's why he wished to play just like them and to find someone who played soccer like him, understood the 'fun' part of soccer.

He was so lonely..

..and that's when Isagi came:

I'm so sorry to all Isagi x Bachira shipper, but I, sometimes, can't help but low-key despise you guys. I'm not saying all, but many of you have just reduced them to a Twink x Twink ship. I'm not against shipping, ship whoever you want as long as it's morally ethical and you aren't shoving it down my throat, but this ship does overshadows the actual beauty of their relation—their beautiful friendship.

Bachira had already started doubting himself whether he'd ever find someone or not—whether he'd be forever lonely with his soccer or not and that's when Isagi came. That's why Bachira loves Isagi so much—he was his first true friend after all.

Just to clarify again, I'm not against Isagi x Bachira ship and neither do I hate it. Please do not attack me. I'm not trying to shame anyone for shipping them.

I hope @thebluelockroyals, you now understand why I think Bachira has a sad backstory.

Loneliness is awful and the fear of never finding someone who understands you and your love for something you enjoy is heart wrenching. Some might argue that he got a wonderful mother, but sometimes, it's just not enough. Helplessness never sees your comfort—he had her, but he wished for someone who resonated in the same frequency as him.

.

.

.

This face screams, "I ated glass":

Younger!Bachira gives me so much baby fever. God! The cuteness aggression! I'll definitely give my own child the same hairstyle as his.

[arvandus]

Hey, I wanted to ask what do you think of how hori concluded the todo fam arc and dabi’s vague ending? Do you think he’s alive or dead? Hori could’ve showed us at least a grave or a shrine. I just wanted closure :(

So, I'm going to preface this by saying that I have not actually READ the ending to BNHA, and gathered info just from the tumblr community. I checked out of the manga a while ago because it felt like Hori's heart wasn't really in it.

To be honest, compared to the ending the others got, I'm glad that his was left vague enough to be open to interpretation. After all, how many times has he been assumed dead/would die soon, only for him to give the middle finger and keep going?

I feel like Hori's feelings around the Todoroki family and Touya in particular run a little bit deeper than the others, just with looking at how much attention he put into the backstory. I really feel like it's been a combination of mixed messages, swinging back and forth between empathizing with Touya and being an Enji fanboy.

Hori's portrayal of Touya's childhood was VERY sympathetic, and Enji was shown as very monstrous in some of those panels (and in fact, the parallel was done with Shigaraki and Toga's pasts as well). Even his titling of the chapters (e.g., Wrong Way to Put Out A Fire) showed that the responsibility for Touya's downfall fell onto the parents rather than him as a child. I also liked how pathetic he showed Enji was after Touya's reveal, and when his family came to visit him in the hospital. Rei's commentary towards his sniffling was so refreshing, I was cackling and fist-bumping the air. Finally, I really loved that Natsuo never forgives Enji and straight up tells him he doesn't want him in his life.

But at the same time, Enji gets to continue on with life more or less without any repercussions, or at least that's the impression I've gotten from the snippets I've gathered on other peoples' posts and the manga screenshots I've come across. Yes he's handicapped and will never be a hero again, but at the same time, it felt like there's a lack of social/societal consquences. Hawks never stops being his fanboy, and Rei stays with him (God knows why)... I dunno. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I think it's because he never really figured out how to step away from his hero persona long enough to really prioritize his family until it was too late. Enji should have immediately been out there looking for Touya after his big reveal. As a parent, I can tell you for a FACT that if I found out my child wasn't actually dead but was in fact alive and running around out there hurting others, you bet your ASS I'm dropping everything and going after them. Also, Enji should have been the one to face off with Touya in the final conflict, not Shouto. He should have faced him, lost, and then Shouto could have stepped him to have his emotional brotherly conflict with Touya just as it happened in the manga. Enji's behavior was cowardice until the very end, and his apology to Touya at the very end fell very very flat for me.

Maybe Hori is just going for the more realistic portrayal of how complex family dynamics can be, and how forgiveness really depends on the person. I also think that Hori's idea of what counts as a good redemption arc for Enji differs from what I think a good redemption arc for him would be. So in that sense, I just have to accept that Hori has his own take on the entire Todoroki family story and that it differs from my own.

But, I digress... back to Touya. I've always had the feeling that Horikoshi has had a soft spot for Touya especially, and I think this implied ending of Touya not surviving rather than showing it explicitly like he did with the others demonstrates that. So I'd like to think that Touya somehow survives and heals.

Overall, I think the ending of BNHA has fallen a bit flat because there has been so much emphasis on the grey areas between villains and heroes, and I always felt that the students were intended to save them. And that was especially Shouto's goal with his brother. The thought of him failing in that goal and not being able to ever have soba with him feels like such a waste of his character arc as well as Touya's.

So, I'm going to take it as-is. Touya's ending is intentionally ambiguous to allow the fans on both sides of the fence to pick the ending that they want (Hori, you coward). My ending for him is that he heals (although never completely of course) and eventually gets to have soba with his brother. It's not only what Touya deserves, but it's what Shouto deserves too.

[hikennosabo]

#tristampparty day 4, episode 4: hungry!

HAPPY WOLFWOOD WEDNESDAY AND DAY 4 OF @tristampparty!! i've watched this episode at least half a dozen times so... LET'S GOOOOO

it's been pointed out a million times already but lol lmao even. i want to eat rocks.

this is more subtle if you dont know japanese but wolfwood being introduced in episode 4 is also a death flag. did they plan it this way on purpose. (4=shi=death)

also the radio dj for this episode is masaya onosaka again!

it just breaks my heart, man. god when i read volume 7 and realized that's where orange got this from. man. man.

wolfwood getting hit by the truck is funny i'm sorry.

okay i'm kind of confused actually about what the plan was here... like we know that wolfwood was sent to be vash's guide, but him getting hit by the truck was OBVIOUSLY NOT PLANNED so the group finding zazie at the fuel station wasn't planned either. like. based on what zazie says later in the episode, they were "helping" wolfwood gain vash's trust by creating an enemy for them to face together. so did zazie just do all of this on the fly? should i just assume that zazie knows everything that's going on all the time? did they see what was going on from the worm cloud above that we see at the start of the episode? even though those worms were just... microbial? so they determined which fuel station the truck was going to stop at and killed the people there and disguised themself... that must have been what happened, right?

and what's with this. there was a post i saw a while ago where op said they don't like how orange adapted this scene. because the context is changed. because zazie and wolfwood are working together so instead of this being an act of genuine kindness wolfwood is just... acting i guess. but i don't know. does wolfwood even know this is zazie at this point. maybe he's stupid idk KLJDSFKLSDFJ or is it that he can't help himself because zazie LOOKS like a child?? I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF THIS SCENE NOW.

this is clearly an act though i mean unless orange has some insane as-yet-unseen backstory for zazie, these aren't genuine tears

it's so funny how vash gives roberto the bill like this. like, "daaaad..."

so he says, with zazie at the center of the composition.

they tried to spike him up a little bit, but no matter how you look at him, i don't think he's worthy of the title of needle-noggin. this is just wolfwood subconsciously remembering what he called vash in previous timelines (<- JOKE)

i wonder about this. the only "human" who can control worms is zazie. humans, plural, though? how many human disguises has zazie taken on over the years?

wolfwood has given negative reasons for vash to trust him. this is just vash subconsciously remembering his relationship with wolfwood in previous timelines (<- JOKE)

vash's little sneeze after him and wolfwood get sneezed out of the worm is sooooo cute

they're just lying out their ass they're fully aware that vash is a plant

ehhh i've said this before but i don't like how orange adapted zazie... they're very different from their manga counterpart. they're one of the most changed characters i think. i don't like their design that much either... the half-pants... idk... i like the bug mask at least...? i like that there's some insect-like design elements but... eh...

honestly shout out to these guys. the real stars of this episode fr

interesting how roberto is the one who distrusted wolfwood the most but doesn't actually oppose wolfwood going with them...? meryl is the one most opposed...

I'VE WATCHED THIS EPISODE SO MANY TIMES AND I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT ZAZIE MEANS HERE. WHAT DO YOU MEAN KILLING FRIENDS. WOLFWOOD DOESN'T DO THAT. HE HAS NEVER DONE THAT.

what moment does he mean. talking about his gate so does he mean in episode 3? from when... right before he shot his gun at knives, maybe? there was a weird aura... i thought it was because of what knives did to vash's gun but... uhhh.... uhhhhhhhhhhhhh (steam comes out of my ears from thinking too hard)

uhhhh. this is ninelives. there's more than one of him. is this how they adapted ninelives... instead of being piloted by nine guys there are nine... of him... like... nine big guys... nine robots(?)...????

haha. yeah. and knives hates that. :')

that ends episode 4... we're really getting into it now...

[bish-plz-haha]

Bungo Stray Dogs: my thoughts

So I'm not caught up on the manga (I'm trying). But I caught up on the anime and

HOLY

SHIT

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I actually screamed at the second to last ep.

*Spoilers ahead*

I COULDNT HANDLE CHUUYA - AS A "VAMPIRE" - SHOOTING DAZAI. OH MY GOD.

But everything is okay because that's not the case. But I also watched it in Dub (bc I was trying to cruise through it because its been a hot minute since I've caught up on anime) and DAZAI SAID FUCK AND IM LIVING FOR IT! Chuuya too. I was giggling like a maniac when I heard Chuuya say "You fucked up, detective agency!" Then continue to fuck up the Hunting Dogs.

PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME IS TACHIHARA OKAY?!?!? (I swear I'm reading the manga. This weekend I'm planning on reading it all the way.)

Also, I absolutely loved seeing how the agency was formed. What got me was Yosuno and her ties to the mafia. I literally doubletake-d and screamed "WhaT??" and my family thought I was nuts. Maybe I am. Its fine.

But s5 broke my heart and I'm like, over it. I need some Shin Soukoku fighting together again.

Also, can we talk about Ranpoe??? I absolutely love them, and I think they're now my third favourite ship in the series. Behind SSK and SSKK, of course. I dunno if I could see most of the ships. But, no hate to it if you do ship it because I believe we should ship what we want without judgement (FICTIONAL CHARACTERS MEN! FICTIONAL CHARACTERS!), I absolutely despise Fyozai. I just... no.

Though I do think Fyodor was a very cool character—a little boring—but interesting. Especially with his understanding of Dazai's intellect. Now I think the character with the most depth is Ranpo. Like, man's backstory - the little we know, is quite interesting. It makes me think about a lot.

Also, why is the story character based, not world based, when we know so much more about the world than we do the characters?? Like we know a little about a lot of the characters but know a lot about the world. It's insane. I love character based stories because I feel knowing the characters builds the world.

But the most we know is: Atsushi is an abused orphan; Dazai is an ex mafia member; Kenji is scary; Ranpo is an orphan too who is actually gifted with intellect instead of an ability - though it kind of is an ability; Fukuzawa is an ex assassin; Yosuno hates her ability because she was forced by Mori to keep soldiers alive during the gifted war when they just wanted to die; Kunikida is an ex maths teacher; Chuuya is a human that was experimented on so he's basically part yōkai/ayakashi (Thank you Noragami for introducing me to that delightful word—it's basically a word to describe supernatural beings/creatures and lord knows what Chuuya actually is); Tanizaki is... I don't remember anything specific about him and Naomi...; Tachihara is not a mafia member but rather a military officer sworn to get revenge on Yosuno (she didn't do anything except keep his brother alive - poor babies. She was forced to as well, which, in my opinion, makes it worse); Akutagawa is sick (I swear to god if the series ends without him...); Gin is Akutagawa's sister (HC Gin is enby); Mori was an underground doctor before he slit the previous bosses throat.

Like barely anything about a single character. Just bits and pieces for each. Those are just the main ones I remember.

Anyway~

Goodbye!

OH btdubs! I'm writing a skk au fic/one-shot based off s5 ending but also dead apple. Might post the link here. Idk yet. 🤷‍♂️

[mightyfloofy]

Talking a little on the recent mangas I've started reading this week😗✨📚(two of them are new to me, for the others, I've picked up on the manga after finishing their current anime seasons) 💚THERE MIGHT BE SPOILERS💚

1) Tomodachi Game:

So i think I've only read up to around 12 chapters or so and it's so good????

The roller-coaster of emotions it's making me have though- like i started loving Tenji with my whole heart and soul then he...disappointed me. Then he earned my trust again- a whole twist.

Yuuichi is a pretty good MC so far. Bro is a cutie.

Sawaragi pisses me off a little. Idk how to explain it though.

Yuutori my girl 💜

Shibe um... 💀💀💀 Yeah. And no i don't dislike him for what he tried to do in chapter 2 or so. I just... He's too dumb.

Also the art?????? Muah

I watched some scenes of the anime in the beginning after i read a couple of chapters and it's...disappointing. Even the animation is wonky.

But just- the art style has me in luvvvv

Manabu-kun keeps on gaslighting, gatekeeping and girlbossing every chapter.

Also, I'm praying for my boy Yuuichi's sanity. At first i was like "Sawaragi, i get hes cute but WHAT do u see in him??" and i see now. My girl has some amazing taste, at least for that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2) Mairimashita! Iruma-kun

I've only read 4 chapters but this shit has me ROLLINGGGG

It's so funny pls

The art is also pretty good too. I'm not really a fan of Slice of Life, but this one hits.

Also, pretty boi alert:

My favorite character so far is this guy though:

He's so babygirl ✨✨✨✨

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3) Demon Slayer

So I started reading it right after the events of season 3, of course.

Giyuu's backstory lowkey hit home-

He needs a hug. I won't say more.

Tanjiro is precious, as always, just like Nezukooo (a loud 'Nezuko-chan' came in my and after i typed that)

Oh yeah, Zenitsu:

Me to Shinobu, "Doctor, hes out again"

Nah because he didn't have to chomp Tanjiro's sky wide forehead like that???? 😭😭😭

So i have two volumes of Demon Slayer at home and i gotta say, the art improved and it's nice to have seen it grow. I know it's like this for most mangakas, but here i didnt see a whole art style change or whatever but something becoming finer while keeping that style very present.

The story is at its peak right now, i reached up to the point where Muzan decided to heehee himself in the no-no place for him. (idk how to say this without spoiling)

I'm luving it so far

Also, my husband:

I miss his gorgeous face LAWDDDDD HAVE MERCYYY

Though i already loved him before seeing his face.

I've finally memorised the master's name: Ubuyashiki

It's an achievement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4) Blue Lock

Ok i can't add pics anymore but I'm confident most people know what it is without having watched it.

I wanted to share some nice Rin pics but guess it'll be for another time. (yall will be missing out on my man)

So, i picked up from where the first season stops and-

I miss Kunigami. A lot. He was one of my favs 😭😪

Shidou is special (him telling Isagi he'd love to see him explode again got me praying for him fr)

The story has taken a nice turn with the U-20 team rushing things up. I love it but i want to see Sae play already so I'm being an impatient little bug.

The art is MUAH as always. I love the lines added for light shading, ill probably inspire myself off it for future drawings.

Hiori needs to be friends with Chigiri so they can talk about hair products (Hiori is like a short-haired Chigiri with cyan hair. My boy has naturally long lashes (Rin's remain better 💅)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's all, folks!

I hope to read even more in the upcoming days and hopefully I'll get to talk about them like i just did above.

Expect headcanons from each of these mangas 💜💜💜

And you can even send me recommendations 😙✨

It's midnight where I am like damn-

Bye byeeeee

[desultory-novice]

who would be more traumatized?

Marx who literally was to the verge of death <like this close 🤏>

or

Magolor who got possesed with an acient artifact? <he wasnt as close as Marx to dying tbh>

In strictly canon terms, Magolor went on to build a theme park and literally invite the Master Crown (riding Landia) to come play and Marx seems really gleeful to be Marx so I'd argue neither of them!

^_^

.............

:psst psst: ...But if we're talking Dess's very particular brand of Kirby-verse, and I assume you wouldn't be writing me if you didn't want to hear my very specific Kirby worldview...

...Okay, so, the first time I rolled this answer over in my head, my heart immediately spat out: "Marx."

Because Magolor does have his theme park! He has his ambitions. The crown manipulated him in a lot of horrible ways, but he has something outside of that, which he is slowly regaining. He also has friends - though the degree of friendship was in doubt for about 10 years. Yes, I'm certain that having your warped and twisted body, practically bursting with power too great for you to possibly wield and puppeted by a malevolent artifact while you're not even free to scream about it is an experience beyond horrible...!

But...let's look at Marx here.

Marx has no friends.

We GIVE him friends. We say he's friends with the Wave 1 group and we see no strong reasons he shouldn't be. (Even if we don't know what they have in common...) But a few of us have tried to advance the cause of Marx + Animal Friends + Gooey = good pals! We also say he's friends/found family with Gryll, a character he's never been on screen with! We say he's friends (and some of us say he's more than) with Magolor - who he also hasn't TRULY been on screen with!

The closest thing he has to a friend is Kirby. And some of that stems from the fact that a very "...distinctive..." looking gag manga made up The Most Believable Backstory for Marx in his 25 years of existence! This isn't the first time people have assumed Marx and Kirby had a complex friendship, however. (And I'm incredibly fond of reading a lot into their having something, with or without any canon backing.)

But...

...While Magolor remembered HIS wish, Marx never did - if he even had one. We won't know until further evidence is provided if Marx was manipulated into wanting control of Popstar but if he did, then he was just as much a victim as Magolor...

And if he wasn't manipulated... well, he's just empty, isn't he? And isn't that more sad, in a way? The silly clown just wanted one star. One star, all for his own. And it's a wish he'll never, ever get...

Marx is considered by some to kind of an empty character. I would say to be so "empty" is actually really tragic...

(You don't even have to get into HC territory, about Marx's lack of hands or Marx's resemblance to a Noddy or Marx sharing a few design elements with Nightmare but if you do, it gets WORSE.)

Back to canon, we have no idea how long Marx was floating through space, in a state of near/undeath, unable to move. We only ASSUME Magolor picked him up in the Starcutter. But if so... when...?

And you know how 'everything is a MF Jojo's reference?'

I made a slight note in a random post last year about Marx's heart theming reminding me of Dio, but I gotta say, the JJBA villain that Marx reminds me of the most is Kars. His "death" just gives very "Eventually he stopped thinking" vibes. (I suppose there's a chance that actually factored into my "Clockwork Marx = Marx Can't Die" theory, now that I put it all together like that.)

And even though Marx is back again, one has to question what the overall effect of his experiences was on him? We don't see if Magolor has crown scars under his silly tophat. But we know Marx bleeds Fecto Green and can do other scary tricks. Does he love them?

He seems to. But just as a lot of people DO headcanon Magolor to have those scars, just as many people have HC'd that Marx can...lose control of his body horror tricks. And the results aren't pleasant.

Of course, ju~st as soon as I had settled on Marx's personal and unspoken tragedy being kinda more sad than Magolor's, well...

...I remembered The True Arena...! DAMN YOU, TRUE ARENA MAGOLOR...!! :sobbing endlessly:

Because we can't just stop at "had his body puppetted against his will while he was forced to watch" now can we?! Noooo! Because Kumazaki won't give us anything nice! (Just kidding & thank you for all the good angst food every time, Director, sir! Love it!)

Because Magolor is literally crying for help. Have you listened to "Supreme Overlord's Coronation" recently?! God... the sounds he makes... He can barely get out Kirby's name amidst his gasps. The Master Crown has rendered him blind, having Stolen His Eyes along with everything else, so that Magolor can't even visualize whether there is any hope; whether "he" has killed Kirby or Kirby is still fighting for his sake (and can he HEAR at this point or is that gone too?) but he never.stops.calling.for.him. Let me say that again:

He never stops crying out for Kirby to save him. Can you imagine being in THAT much pain?! That's hurt and fear and death all in one. But he doesn't even have the mercy of dying...?! He's carried away from us, out of reach, still a victim of the crown, his haunting cries echoing in our ears. Where has he gone? Will he ever be free or will Magolor's fate linger in our nightmares for another decade?

Of course, True Arena Magolor may just be out of the running for this whole argument because, again, as we don't know if he shall ever be free, it's hard to talk about how traumatized he is if the trauma is actually unending/still present. But if he is ever rescued alive from that fate worse than death (else he may just suffer until the Crown has finished absorbing the last bits of his soul and he ceases to be "Magolor") I would think the mental scarring from that experience is probably going to be as near to permanent damage as you can get.

So, from least traumatized to most: Game Marx < Game Magolor <<<<< Dess's Magolor < Dess's Marx <<<<<<<<<< True Arena Magolor

[h0estar]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

Hi! Yes absolutely! I am so sorry it took so long. I haven't opened Tumblr in forever. I'm not sure if I can list down 2 characters from the same media platform once but just in case I'm not, I'll just list down one. This is based on the order I remember them by since I have really shit memory and there might've been a few fave characters I missed 🥲

I'll list down what comes to mind first haha

1. Yukine (Noragami)

-I love him SO MUCH. The first time I watched Noragami back in 2016, I knew I would love this boy with all my heart. Something about troubled and misunderstood anime kids with fucked up backstories just make me want to take care of them man. He's my adopted baby period. His character development is also very beautiful.

He's a very complex character. Idk why people shit on him for acting like a child when he is quite literally a child 😭 let him be a kid man, let him be immature, I was also immature at 14 and I'm happy for him bc he's got someone understanding by his side at all times.

I wish the ending would do justice to his character fr.

2. Kagura (Gintama)

She's funny asf. Also, strong asf. I love good female rep in anime and Kagura takes the cake for me. She has no filter, she's really cool, really funny, and just a fun and enjoyable character overall. (You should watch Gintama btw, it's my favorite anime).

3. Usopp (One Piece)

People shit on him a lot and I'm sick of it. I love him because he is SO REAL. He represents ordinary human beings in the One Piece world and I admire his bravery so much. His goal isn't even something grand, he just wants to be the bravest man who crossed the sea and I love that for him. He's a coward fr but seeing him break out of his shell and take courage to face his fears make me so emotional and proud. He inspires me to face my fears too :')

4. Izaya (Durarara!!)

He was lowkey the reason why I majored in Psychology. I love this cunning man. Watching everything go into flames bc of the shit he pulls excites me so much. I love watching him work. Totally not bc of his VA.

5. Newt (The Maze Runner Series)

Okay, this person was also real as shit. The way he's depicted in the books? Perfection. He's just so kind and caring and gentle to the gladers and to people they met during the scorch trials and ugh he deserved sm better :(

the way i have a whole 'nother blog dedicated to the maze runner series and it's always just abt him 💀 i was obsessed w him man. something abt broken/complex characters who are just so kind and tragic always have my heart.

6. Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs)

After I read stormbringer, I was never the same again. He is actually super sweet and super down to earth. I love him so much because he is so genuine with his intentions? Also, the shit has been through man... Yet, he still chose to live and fight. I admire that so much from him.

he is also a very complex and tragic character. i love him sm bc of that... i'm sensing a pattern here.

7. Armin (Attack on Titan)

His smartass made me fall in love with him. My boy just wanted to see the sea man. I admire his bravery so much and he gets shit ton of hate too for not kissing Eren's ass but I love him so much for standing his ground and having faith in his best friend. He was lowkey psycho too tbh. Smart men>>

8. Yuuta (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Okay, something about timid guys who are lowkey psychotic always get me going. He's a cool character and he's sexy. Period.

9. Killua (Hunter x Hunter)

ALSO MY BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!! He deserves the world 😭 He went through so much at 12 bro and I just want to take care of him so much bc he deserves to be a kid!!!!! Big brother Killua also has my heart. He's so sweet and caring and kind and genuine and UGH I LOVE HIM.

the way he just wanted a friend 😭 i'd gladly be his friend man if i were in the hxh universe. he's too sweet 😔 and he deserves sm better!!!

10. Jo March (Little Women)

I SEE MYSELF IN HER SO MUCH. The way she just wanted everything to stay the same even when change was inevitable and the people in her life ended up growing up. I love how as I watched her grow up, the traits that she had as a kid were still there yet she was slowly opening to change. I just relate to her so much and we are so alike in so many ways.

---

That's it, I think! Those were the only characters I could think of. I am so sorry if I didn't word it correctly. I suck at writing and english isn't my first language but I hope you got a gist of why I love the characters 😭 Most of the times I don't really have a deep reason for liking a certain character, they just appeal to me and I get that gut feeling that oh I think I will obsess over this little shit for the rest of my life and it's usually always correct lmao. This was fun! Thank you!

[hesperidia]

1 21

Ask game ✩

Thanks for the ask! this was on the inbox for a while, bc i wanted to make a proper answer. sorry it got too long...

21- Something you’ve kept since childhood?:

Fairytale books!! One of my most prized possessions is a book that's like a "bestiary" for kids, with watercolor illustrations of creatures and fairies and little descriptions of each.

Two of my childhood plushies! One of them is going to be 24 years old soon. At this point that lion plushie is going to be forever with me, I'll be buried with it.

A (knockoff but still very cute) hello kitty blanket i've had since i was six <3

1- who is/are your comfort character(s)?: Okay this question goes under a read more because, it got too extensive

If you pay attention to this blog, you'll see i never shut up about Bungo Stray Dogs Ryuunosuke Akutagawa. But he isn't my comfort character (he gives me pain most of the time /hj) in fact, my comfort chara is Beast! Akutagawa:

He's the same character, but from the alternate universe presented in the bsd Beast light novel/manga adaptation. Basically, Akutagawa if he never got recruited into the mafia. I'd yap more about him but i already made a post however, i'll explain why he is here:

When i first read the main manga, i didn't care a lot about Akutagawa, it was until i read the Beast manga i started to open myself up, and there's something about him, about the fact that it doesn't matter how ugly of a person you are, how much self loathing you harbor for yourself, still there will be opportunities for you to be better, make better choices, have people who will support you in that difficult path. And, in turn, you can become that person for others (like beast Aku did with Atsushi).

I'm not going to lie, reading this manga threw me into turmoil more than once. There was a fair deal of projection as i read about Akutagawa's struggles, and his character development felt like a blow to the heart to me.

Plus, he has his fair share of silly moments, and takes his roasted tea with four sugar cubes iirc. Sweet tooth counter: 1

Also, from bsd, Ranpo Edogawa:

Okay so, I've a soft spot for characters who are childish, and look at the world from an unique perspective. Ranpo was actually the very first bsd chara i got attached to, and i liked him because he was a brat. At first he was a little shit, the worst coworker you could ask for (love it. v/ realistic) but the more you see of him, you'll notice how he can put aside his apparent selfishness and get serious.

When watching the anime adaptation of The Untold Origins of the Detective Agency light novel (the one where they show his backstory) i could not help but hardcore emphatize with him (and also project, recurring theme with all these charas 😅)

You have a kid who lost his family, got shunned by every adult he turned to for being too smart and too sincere, who met at the right time with a person who not only didn't dismiss him, but appreciated his insights, and Ranpo got too attached because someone was actually making the effort to understand him. That person would become his family later. Again, finding a place to belong and people who would accept you, and in turn giving that kindness to others (wow it's like this is one of the core themes of the manga. the sky is blue, water feels wet).

Looking back to Yosano's backstory, and the kind words (KIND WORDS!! RANPO? KIND? yes very real and true) he gave to her. The fact he went out of his way to retrieve her butterfly brooch. It's these little moments that make me appreciate Ranpo the most. That, and the fact that he puts aside all his pride when it comes to admit he fucks up. He might look conceited, but he really isn't...

Plus, he's loud, and silly, and scattered, and has a sweet tooth. (Sweet tooth counter: 2). Likes animals. He even can't use public transport properly at 26 y/o. Just like me fr...

Next a character i don't get to talk about a lot but she was the VERY FIRST character that i said ohhhh my god. I love you. You are me. What the hell... Annette Fantine Dominic from Fire Emblem Three Houses/Three Hopes:

Annette is super important to me. She's a person who is smart, but as a result of a continuous effort (she's a very good student, hardworking and diligent). And she kind of reminds me of myself when i was on hs. This doesn't mean she resents naturally talented ppl (her support conversations with Sylvain, another chara from the game, are some of the BEST in three houses).

Still, she feels the need to overachieve and overcompensate because her father, who's a knight, left her family when she was young so he could fulfil his duty to the kingdom and completely ignores the fact he has a daughter to take care of. Annette, kind of thinks that if she doesn't strive for perfection, people around her would leave like her dad did.

And she's always cheery, and puts up a smile, and tends to not recognize her talents (ex. she likes to sing about silly stuff, and does it really well, other charas point it out and Annie does not believe them at first, she tends to hold herself down). I'd talk more about her but it's been a while since i revisited fe3h...

Other things i like about her: She's 150cm tall and her personal weapon is a big ass magical hammer made of dragon bones called "Crusher". The first time she fights/defeats/kills someone in the game she asks her professor if she did okay. Likes cooking but ends up setting everything on fire (just like me... fr....) AND also has a sweet tooth (sweet tooth counter: 3)

Recently i got very. Very into Ensemble Stars, and a big part of it is these two (i talk less than i want to about them bc i still don't have all the facts, haven't read all their stories. But the fact they became SO important to me in such little time needs to be scientifically studied):

Mika Kagehira:

Mika is like crack cocaine for my brain. I got attached to him at first because 1- He was the very second card i got in the game and it made me curious. 2- His singing voice is so angelic (i know it doesn't have anything to do with the actual character, but there's something about Mika, who is very unkempt at times, struggles to take care of himself, actually having very clean vocals while performing. just a thought).

He's childish, and a lil (if you squint) obsessive, struggles with humanity (has a whole issue about being doll-like that he's trying to leave behind now) shy but will NOT hesitate to fight people. What i like about him the most, is his empathy. He stood beside his mentor/friend/obsessive crush???? when he had a breakdown and helped him get back up... A lot of times he shows concern for other characters and is up to giving good advice (Kohaku in tale of antiques comes to mind, and Midori in the Doll House scout story too).

(BY THE WAY, said mentor also constantly helps Mika when he's struggling and their relationship becomes healthier with time.. i am starting to think... there's a pattern here in what themes i tend to get attached to)

What else. His awful (affectionate) fashion sense. The fact he scavenges and repairs broken objects and plushies. He's an emo guy who has a card where he has blood on his hands and looks ecstatic about it. The chainsaw CG. The fact that he can't express his thoughts properly sometimes and getting misunderstood gets him down (ouch that happens to me) His favorite food is candy. Sweet tooth counter: 4

Last but not least, Leo Tsukinaga:

LEO i did not expect him to make it to my favs at first but he IS my favorite ensemble stars character ever on account of how many times i've screenshotted things he said. He reminds me of Ranpo a little bit personality wise, and the fact they're both geniuses. (who have struggled badly because of it). That and, being the ultimate sillies. (I've said it before, all my favs have to be a lil cringefail)

He always expects the best of ppl and the world around him, and that's his biggest weakness, that naiveté. After reading Checkmate i got genuinely sad for him, and the stories i read where ppl kept taking advantage of him made me angry (?) I find his general whimsy and unpredictableness(?) very endearing. He once said he hated Mozart and irl Mozart was also a very whimsical unserious person. (I wonder if they got compared alot and Leo grew tired of it).

Again it doesn't seem like so at first, but he cares SO MUCH about his friends. Izumi and Madara come to mind first. And even though he's a scatterbrain and has said, multiple times, that explaining himself is hard and that's why he prefers the language of music (one everyone can understand) i still remember his lines to Kohaku in sudden death, where he thanked him for being by Madara's side. I absolutely did not expect that. And i feel i've to mention this one line from night patrollers:

which i'll include because. because... i'm a broken record atp but the reciprocal support between people... augh (this screenshot is saved as "leo i love you" on my laptop... yeah)

Something i found in common between both mika and leo and probably Annette too is that they often refer to themselves as dumb??? but they ARE NOT they are really perceptive... i am hugging them both as i write this.

I couldn't recall if Leo likes sweet things. The sweet tooth total is 4. What else, he once got hipnotized into behaving like a cat but it was almost unnoticeable because he already acts like one. broke into his artistic rival's atelier in Paris just because he liked hanging out in there (iirc), does not take criticisms to his music/art very well (understandable 100%), goes from zero to 100 in 2 seconds. Dislikes sex jokes (ace king???) i <3 him.

There's so much i want to say about all of them but i can't. I'm insanely bad with words but i don't get to talk alot about these charas (the self consciousness eats me alive) and this was the perfect opportunity<3 Anywayyyy if you look for a pattern in here you'll sure find it

Honorary mentions for: Rei Sakuma and Kohaku Oukawa (enstars), Merrill (dragon age 2), Shinobu Kocho (kny), Lyon (fire emblem sacred stones) and Eliwood (fire emblem blazing blade). I would KEEP talking about them all but i am... eepy and this got insanely long sorry anon

[lenny-rambles]

About "SpyxFamily: Short Mission 13"

Manga: "SpyxFamily"

Update: Short Mission 13

Author: Tatsuya Endo

Relevants tags ig: the dog has ptsd, again

Honestly, I was mad when I initially saw it was a Short Mission. It's gonna be a month now since the last regular chapter came out, the plot was moving, my heart skipped at beat at the last double spread, the story was thriving, I could sense a lore drop any minute now. Then we got two short missions. TWO!!! But the newest short mission took me by surprise and now I'm sad about the damn cartoon dog.

Spoilers for the SpyxFamily manga and anime, more as in, characters that appear and not exactly plot stuff, BEWARE!

IT'S A GODDAMN SHORT MISSION, WHY DID YOU SHOW AGAIN THE SAD DOG'S BACKSTORY?!!! ISTG. You know what I was expecting? I was expecting a "funny haha, future seeing dog has a boring day home alone" maybe break some stuff by accident, maybe he goes to the neighbors' for attention, cute, sweet, nothing heavy slice of life chapter. BUT NO, I WAS FOOLED.

Like, most of the Short Missions are just, not that relevant. Like, it is more of a day-to-day life than the manga normally is. As in, last short mission (the chapter before this one) was about Anya sending Lloyd, and WISE, to an early grave with a High-Fashion dress for prom. It was funny, sweet, Anya wanted to help, then Damian messed up again and she wanted revenge, you know, the usual.

Why? Who gave Tatsuya Endo the idea to give Bond MORE flashbacks?!!! Poor dog's been through a lot, the Forgers becoming his safe place is just beautiful. THE WAY HE AND ANYA RESONATE, BECAUSE THEY ARE BOTH SECRET EXPERIMENTATION SURVIVORS!!!!!! Fucking dog making me sad because a big ass Penguin plushy has stiches. Stupid dog making me emotional over fish, FUCKING FISH. I HATE FISH!!!!

SpyxFamily makes me happy and sad. I think it's a great story to show how connections, friends, family, define a person more than what we'd like to imagine. No person is an island, so seeing characters like Nightfall or Franky, doing missions or getting bits of their backstory, makes it feel more real. Having a character like Anya, being capable of reading mind but not truly understanding most of it makes you think about how children navigate the world.

Oh gosh, I could talk about how SpyxFamily shares an anti-war message through its main characters, all of them victims of the war, one way or another. But it won't, 'cause this was supposed to be about the dog having what I'd call panic attacks because he accidentally broke a glass. BUT WE GET TO THE PENGUIN. In case you haven't read the manga (why are you reading this?) or simply forgot, Bond broke Mr Penguin!

It was an act of jealousy, Anya started playing with the plushie more, and he got lonely. So he destroyed it. He might be an oracle dog, but he is still a dog, I don't blame him. And he felt Bad. He made Anya cry. And he felt terrible because he just wanted Anya back and now Anya's crying and he can't undo it (dogs can't sew). In the end they made it better. I don't remember if it was Lloyd, Yoru or the neighbors, it was probably Yoru though, who fixed it. And the Penguin got cool looking stiches and "he and Bond made Peace".

That was nice, UNTIL THIS GODDAMN CHAPTER. I used to wonder if Bond also felt survivor guilt from being the only dog that managed to escape. TURNS OUT HE DOES, THE DOG HAS SURVIVOR'S GUILT FFS!!!! Poor Bond, realized that he inflicted damage to something like him (unable to defend itself, new/young, a play pretend animal and an animal no longer treated as such) and he tried to make it better. I can't change what I did but I want you to feel better, I'm sorry.

I'm overanalyzing here, it's probably Not That Deep. It's a funny haha manga about a family of dangerous people who end up loving each other by accident. But sometimes it's about Lloyd burying himself in a nameless grave by the time he was 18. It's about Yoru sacrificing her innocence for her brother only to do the same for her. It's about Anya needing validation from everyone because if the people in the lab didn't like her they'd get rid of her. It's about Bond feeling lonely and distressed because a vision he got is especially terrible and he is just a Dog.

I read the interview where Tatsuya Endo said he didn't like the characters that much. Maybe not Gege Akutami (you're going dow Gege) levels of hate, but a blunt indifference. And sometimes I find that hard to believe. Maybe he didn't want Anya to be cutesy-dumb-pink-haired little girl, or Lloyd a super-intelligent-spy-ikemen at first, or even now. But I don't think he doesn't like his story, or characters; we wouldn't have the short missions in the first place if that were the case.

All this to say, cartoon dog made me sad, and then happy, because there are better things coming for everyone in the end. Thank you for reading this far! I'd recommend SpyxFamily if you are up to something a tad dramatic, with a happy ending and endearingly funny. (Or if you have issues with your parents and want a bit of escapism, that's also fair)

[idle-brit]

10 Fandoms, 10 characters, 10 tags

Thank you @baepsrae for tagging me!! ♡( ◡‿◡ )

This is everyone's preemptive warning to skip past if you don't want to read a long and rambling post, I'm about to go wild lol. I'll also include the 5 people (not 10 oops) I'm tagging here at the top so they don't have to scroll; I'm interested to hear your answers but obviously there's no pressure to do it (･ω･)b

@koscheiy, @breitzbachbea, @runmild, @toffeeanddragons, and @yatzuaka!

1. Loki (Marvel)

My poor little meow meow. My silly rabbit. My sweet darling babygirl. Picking 9 other characters was honestly hard because there's few I truly consider a favourite like Loki. Between his 2011-2013 appearances in the MCU, the comics, and the pre-Thor high-fantasy-novel-esque fics on AO3, the ideal version of this character lives in my head rent free, and has done since 2012. I picked this gif from The Avengers because it was the moment that made me want to see the film again just for his scenes, and it remains the only film I've seen in cinemas twice. He's quite literally the reason I got Tumblr, for The Avengers fanart, and my very first post was some (bad) fanart of my own haha. While the rest of this list is in no particular order, Loki is absolutely my number one, for all time, always. I could talk about him forever.

2. Evy Carnahan (The Mummy)

I had to choose the scene I got my blog title from. While Loki might be my favourite character, The Mummy is my favourite film. I think I saw it at the exact right time of life when I was a kid in my Ancient Egypt phase, but also far younger than the recommended viewing age the film suggests lol. Ever since then I've rewatched this and the sequel (yes, sequel, singular. I said what I said) more times than I can count and further developed my interest in actual Egyptology. Evy is intelligent and an academic, kindhearted, a little bit clumsy, but uses her knowledge and quick thinking to be an absolute badass and save the day multiple times. I've always wanted to be at least half as cool as her and also marry Rick O'Connell.

3. L (Death Note)

Everyone here is lucky that I got Tumblr after the height of my weeb phase that started in 2008. Death Note was the first manga I ever read and I expected to enjoy it and move on, but as soon as I got to the Lind. L. Taylor event in volume 2 my young mind was blown and I was obsessed. One scene of L outsmarting Light kept me reading manga, got me into anime, introduced me to fanart, was the first fanart I ever drew, introduced me to fanfiction, and years later I would take Japanese classes at uni. L is an amazing example of a morally grey character, wanting justice to prevail but perhaps not for the right reasons, and no matter what it takes to get there.

4. Leon S. Kennedy (Resident Evil 4 Remake)

Okay I'll admit Leon is the first babygirl on the list who is mainly here for aesthetic reasons. I had a passing knowledge of the Resident Evil franchise but never took an interest because military-gun-shooting-series are boring as hell... Until RE4R came out last year and I saw this scene in a playthrough. Where do I sign up for him to do this to my neck. Then I learned Leon's backstory and actually appreciated his character too. He hates and distrusts the US government, he was blackmailed into service for them at 21, he's haunted by being used as their weapon, and he's the most cringe fail man who thinks he's suave when he says "Nighty night, knights" as he's killing sentient suits of armour. I need him.

5. Astarion Ancunín (Baldur's Gate 3)

Ah, a non-human in a high fantasy world, using knife skills and sharp wit to protect himself from a deeply traumatic past, but still good at heart and willing to open up to those who appreciate him for who he is, rather than living up to someone else's standards. Now where have I seen a similar character type before... When the game came out it shouldn't have been a surprise who my favourite would be lol. The whole cast does an amazing job, but the real draw of Astarion is the phenomenal work put in by Neil Newborn to really bring this character to life, and I don't think Astarion would be the same without him.

6. Kagome Higurashi (Inuyasha)

Inuyasha is one of my all time favourite anime/manga. It's got time travel, a historic setting, magic, action and adventure, and romance between a human girl and a supernatural being who's down bad. Basically all of the tropes I adore and still look for in new favourite series haha. And Kagome has been That Bitch from the start; arriving in a village that fears a half dog-demon, freeing him from his imprisonment to help her, and then ordering him to sit when he pisses her off, knowing he's wearing a magic necklace that forces him to obey. No one is doing it like her.

7. Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

Yes this is a basic bitch pick, I'm well aware. But no matter if it's the book by Jane Austen, the 1995 BBC production, or the 2005 film by Joe Wright, I love this story so much! There's just something so romantic about it that no modern romance book can capture, and that's not without my trying to find one (just follow my trail of 1 star ratings on Goodreads). Elizabeth and Mr Darcy just read as complete and real characters, and I love how much Elizabeth cares for her family, refusing Darcy's first proposal in part because he insulted them and tried to separate Jane from Mr Bingley.

8. Lin Sukai (The Drowning Empire Trilogy by Andrea Stewart)

Now we're getting into the realm of books without adaptations so I cant use gifs anymore, and I honestly couldn't find any fanart of Lin either. Which is a crime! My girl is out here being extremely intelligent and driven (and badass in some of the later scenes), using her familial magic as daughter of the Emperor to try and dismantle his tyranny despite craving his approval, and trying her best to gain allies even though she was raised within the walls of the palace and is slightly out of touch, and she doesn't have a fandom here on Tumblr? And that's only in book one of the trilogy!

9. FitzChivalry Farseer (The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb)

I haven't even finished The Realm of the Elderlings yet (16 thick ass books, nay, tomes) but I already know this is my favourite fantasy series of all time, and Robin Hobb is beyond doubt a master of her craft. One of her main talents is writing the ultimate poor little meow meow because good lord, Fitz just cannot catch a break no matter what he does or who he's trying to benefit. The pacing of these books can be quite slow but I promise it's always worth the emotionally devastating pay off. (It's also a tough call between Fitz and The Fool on who my favourite Hobb character is!)

10. Sancia Grado (The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett)

The final one is also my most recent addition to this list, seeing as I'm only just starting book two after finishing Foundryside late last year. While that shows how much I loved Sancia after just one book of her, I also hope the rest of the trilogy delivers! So often books will state characters are masters of their craft and just expect readers to take their word for it, but Sancia gets to show off her skills multiple times on page, so you get the impression she really exists and belongs in this world rather than just being a set piece for it. Not only that, she defies the usual lone-wolf-asshole stereotype that's so common in these gritty fantasy books, and it's heartwarming to see the found family she's gathered by the end of the story compared to where she began.

So uh, thank you all for coming to my TED talk about all my blorbos, see you later!

(￣▽￣)ノ

[waiting-on-a-dream]

Penny for your thoughts?

T2 linagram prisoners let's gooooo @linagram

Akio

Okay, look, I didn't think voting him guilty for the first trial would be so bad until...the second trial happened. I'm sorryyy 😭😭😭 Its not funny anymore, he deserves a break after his injuries and everything.

Oh, but it seems his crime isn't as simple as I thought it was. 👀 Or rather, his dynamic with Arata and his victim. Can't wait to learn more! I really like the idea of Akio being friends with his victim instead of just being jealous of him from afar. Adds flavor, you know? ✨

Aimi

So... What even is going on with her crime? 😭 It seems as though her accomplice killed her classmates, and then she killed him? Her animosity towards Haku is kinda scary honestly, since she's usually so friendly. Its funny to imagine though, because he would not care. I nearly put a heart over "a beast unleashed" because of this, but Aimi hasn't actually done anything aggressive in linagram.

Still can't get over her design and aesthetic. I want her gender so bad. 💖 The popping balloons in her t2 MV were so cool, and it did remind me of Yuno. Can't wait to see her development in t3. 👀

Shun

After what he did to Kei, he's moved from "makes me uneasy" to "actively dislike" in my linagram tier list. Still can't get over the first half of his t2 MV that featured him with so many women. I really thought he had rizz. Turns out it was just an otome game. Its funny to think about that section of the MV being real, but only because they fell in love with an alter of his. His memory problems came from you, so now that you've learned that you're a system, what does this mean for him? 🤣 Guess I'll still headcanon him having DID.

Naomi

Her design is really cute and I do like her conflicted feelings towards her victim because things are rarely so straightforward. 🥲 Her calm demeanor but constant references of inner anger makes me nervous. Adding on to the fact that she's one of the prisoners that would kill again... Ma'am, please go to therapy.

Kei

Kei is that kind of character that you just fall more in love with the more you learn about him. Then again, he hasn't actually revealed a lot about his crime but his backstory instead. His relationship with Eiji will never not be * incoherent sobbing*. I eagerly await more crumbs on Mr and Mrs Sanada as well! 🤲

I didn't think his dynamic with Shun and Eiko could get any worse, but I was wrong. I WAS SO WRONG. Isn't this the man that was supposed to be the most violent prisoner? What happened to him?? Please get him out of there. Somebody save him. #freethesanadas

Eiko

I'll be honest, she's the character that I forget about the most. Which is kind of weird considering she has the most gruesome murder method in undercover, but it might be a metaphor. Her relationship with her mother is interesting, so I'm looking forward to that.

I do love her design though, especially since she looks so much like Iris, hehe. Her style is great, quite alike Yui's.

Asahi

Rin 🤝 Asahi: Getting more sympathetic as milgram continues. They're the true siblings here. 🤣

Asahi is such a menace, but his insults actually work now that he's had enough time to get a read on everybody. Its funny, I'm down for it. His demeanor towards Miki is really cute! At the end of the day, I want them to get better, which is probably impossible given the nature of milgram, but the sentiment is there. They're a little messed up, but they seem like the characters most likely to be able to live a normal, somewhat happy life if they got out of milgram.

Yurika

Still don't know who her victims are, but all will be revealed in due time. Her relationship with her manager is sad but mostly funny. 😂 I'm not sure how to feel about kinning her the most out of all your ocs like the manga hobby, the struggle of being independent hhhhh

Her ability to resort to violence so easily is kind of interesting now that I think about it, considering one of her themes in struggling with independence. You wouldn't expect her to be the violent type after reading most of what we know about her, but it works somehow.

Riku

His t1 designnn 💖💖💖 Eh, I'm not sure if I like his half and half hairstyle for t2. But the part about the white reminding him of his friend was 👌👌 I can't remember what made him choose those colours, but what if...subconsciously, he chose it because it reminded him of his friend? Just kidding! ...Unless? 👀

His complicated relationship with his friend reminds me of Kalim and Jamil in a way, haha. Have I said this before? I wonder if Riku liked his friend at some point, or at least appreciated something about him. His friend didn't seem to have been a good place either. They both should have gone to therapy together smh. 😔

Reina

Its not really that my eyes have been opened, just that she dropped the serial killer act and now I like her a lot more for it. She's also the only prisoner who's bothering to figure out what's going on milgram, so slay queen. I also love her haircut!! I had a similar one earlier this year, and I got a number of compliments so... :D We twinned.

Ahaha, so her victim is her brother... I figured, but I thought her friends were the ones mainly responsible for the murder. Was it more of an accident? Did something go out of hand? Or is Reina just blaming herself because what else can she do? 🥲

Eiji

Yeah, I understand that he is the more unforgiving guard and he did give the t1 prisoners horrible punishments, but he doesn't deserve this 😭😭😭 Why must things keep happening to him? What is wrong with him and his brother? /pos

Also, I'm still curious about his past. 👀 Kei has been dropping a lot of crumbs, but I still need Eiji to fill in the gaps, haha. What do you mean 10yo Eiji had to protect Kei? Wasn't Kei described to be violent in t1? The sanada parents toooo #freethesanadas

Miki

Her relationship with Asahi is so 💖💖 But other than that, I don't have much to say because she's a pretty cut and dry character. Not that there's anything wrong with that! There's just not a lot of mystery surrounding her anymore compared to her coworkers.

I'm also not sure about her savior complex anymore. 🤔 It doesn't appear that much, and her aggressiveness towards some of the prisoners shows that she's either angrier than she lets on or is a bit of a hypocrite imo. I dunno, let's see what she does for t3! :D

Hiyuu

He's only been here for like, 1 and a half vds but I love him already. Being more of a morally grey guard will do it for me. He's just an eepy lil boi. Can't wait to see what he'll do in t3! But his hinted punishment methods are uh 😰 His mask is really scary too.

[kkotda]

not having tumblr on my phone/ipad (yes even on my ipad from when i used to draw, sue me) is so helpful because i can be productive and not get distracted because it's pretty easy to not open the desktop vers BUT NOT OPENING THE DESKTOP VERS PUTS ME SO BEHIND SO UH

happy lantern rite!! hope you all had the best of fortune when it came to pulling for cloud retainer/xianyun and nahida!! (or ga-ming because honestly same) I ALSO HAVE A REALLY FUNNY STORY ABOUT PULLING THAT I'LL PUT LATER FOR SAKE OF LENGTH

happy valentine's day! it marks the 1 year of my greatest betrayal (my v-day event that just never got done......... i'm sorry guys i'll be much better from now on i promise)

HAPPY T-2 DAYS UNTIL HAIKYUU MOVIE?????? very excited lowkey i've been withholding from the manga that way it'll be fresh and new and exciting and then i can go back and enjoy the manga (i think i heard it's better the other way but i also simply just do not have the time to read any manga rn T-T)

uhhh what else....... oh HAPPY 2024!! lunar new year passed recently! may your year be filled with light and great fortune >:3

okay now really quickly for the story time:

was at my friend's apartment because we were having a studio ghibli marathon night (i could not survive... after move #4 i tapped out i could not do it anymore)

anyways after we were like yeah let's stop watching we went to my other friend's apt to just hang out and then it got like pretty late and they're all like huge dnd fans and so they have dice out and around but i'm jumping ahead, second friend also has playing cards in his apt and he was like doing card tricks (the throwing kind) and then when it hit like late 11pm he was like hm you should go to bed but i was like ehhhh i don't wanna so we put it up to chance, he pulled out quite a bit of cards and fanned them out and was like if it's clubs or spades you have to go home and hearts and diamonds are good and i pulled hearts (wow look at the genshin in me) so yay i didn't have to go home

THEN it hit much later (after much of throwing cards and having fun, also dw no cards or walls were harmed!) he had exactly 3 cards in his hand and i had no idea which, and it was again clubs and spades go home and he looked at it and went like :000000 and i thought it was because i was guaranteed going home and so i was like eh whatever if i have to go home i have to go home, but it turns out it was 1 club, 1 ♤, and 1 heart (i have autocorrect for the spAde, sorry guys) and !!! i pulled the heart AGAIN!! woo luck!! why can't i have this luck when it comes to genshin or hsr (or crk) </3

AND THEN he did it again to like really test my luck

and guess what? hearts again i was on a ROLL

and he was talking about like the probabilities and whatnot and i was like bro you're talking to a genshin player rn

and for simplicity's sake i only "named" 2 friends but we were a group of like 5? so another friend was like you should pull on genshin to really test your luck

my phone was on 10% (also i had to redownload genshin because i took it off my phone for mental wellbeing purposes) and so i was like what if it dies lol

anyways skip forward i pull

but now like any good anime i bring up some backstory (but mine isn't really backstory)

i pulled like the week before because i got peer (bf?) pressured by my bf to pull and like i was at ~45 pity, pulled, got "early" ended up being diluc BUT fortunately that was from the like wish part and not the primos part so i still had 90 wishes worth of primos!! pulled obviously guaranteed xianyun

okay

i didn't pull after that

return to present time

i pull it's literally 0 pity, 1 10 pull, ONE

gold.

GOLD.

Y'ALL DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE SCREAM I SCRUMPT IN MY HEAD (it was 1am i couldn't actually scream)

AND GUESS WHAT

IT WAS XIANYUN

my luck that day was insane

anyways that was the story time i ended up going home after that because i was nearing the point where i would despise myself in the morning (8am class </3)

[novelmonger]

I just finished Trigun Stampede, and it's left me feeling so disappointed, because it could have been...so much more.

To be fair, I have to acknowledge that the storyline is distinctly different from both the first anime and the manga, and while it retains certain similarities to both storylines, it's kind of its own story--and not a bad story, either; it was engaging and interesting in its own right. I especially liked how it handled Vash and Knives's history, what it did with Wolfwood's backstory, and how it wrapped things up at the end.

But the point is that my disappointment with Trigun Stampede has nothing to do with which anime is a closer adaptation of the manga. (I'm due a reread of that anyway; there are a lot of details of the Trigun Maximum portion that I don't remember very well.) When I compare the two animes, I just...enjoy the first one so much more.

It's all very subjective, of course, but here are some of my thoughts:

Where's my girl Milly? :( Why'd they take her out? Did they really think Roberto was a good substitute for silly Milly, the giant girl with the huge gun and the innocent voice, who comes across as an airhead but is actually really sharp? I'm sorry, I'd much rather have her in the party than a jaded, world-weary alcoholic who honestly feels like a less-interesting Wolfwood most of the time. Also, having Milly around meant that Meryl could take the role of the straight man most of the time, whereas the Roberto-Meryl duo is like...two straight men. Just doesn't have the same spark as Meryl and Milly :/

Vash is so much less goofy in this one, he's practically a different person. I mean, yes, his heart is the same, and in a lot of ways the goofiness is a mask and something Vash uses to keep himself from despair (better to laugh than to cry and all that). But it's still a huge part of his personality, and a huge part of what I love so much about Trigun in the first place. I love how the first anime will switch back and forth between being utterly hilarious and dead serious. Trigun Stampede, on the other hand, is almost entirely serious. As a result, the serious moments don't have the same impact as they would have if they came at the tail end of a string of ridiculous hijinks. I probably wouldn't think of that if I hadn't seen the first anime and knew how the story would feel with that kind of tone, but there you are.

There's so much less time to get to know the characters. You can really tell that Trigun Stampede's primary target audience is people who are already fans of the story, because they don't let the story breathe in the beginning. I really got the sense that we're supposed to already know who these people are and why we love them, rather than getting introduced to lovable characters for the first time. I have to wonder whether I would care about any of them if I didn't have tons of episodes where I'd gotten used to them and their quirks and had the time to really learn what they're all about.

WHERE IS BRILLIANT DYNAMITES NEON?! HOW CAN YOU BRING IN THE BAD LADS GANG WITHOUT THEIR FABULOUS LEADER?!?!?

Okay, I'm going to say it: I hate the animation. Sometimes it looked really good (particularly everything with the plants), but other times--especially when it came to character animation, particularly facial animation--it was so...sluggish? It was like the mouth movements couldn't keep up with the voicework, and every movement a character would make would take twice as long as it should, like they were moving through water or something. I'm certainly not against CG animation in anime, but I've seen it done so much better than this. I didn't know such a stylized art style could veer into the uncanny valley, but that was the feeling I got over and over again while watching this anime. It was so distracting that sometimes I found myself staring at their faces without reading the subtitles, and had to back up.

Oh, that reminds me: I'm sure there's a whole host of reasons behind them changing Vash's voice actor, but...I'm sorry, Masaya Onosaka is Vash the Stampede to me. He did such a good job with both the serious and the goofy sides of the character. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka did a great job; I have no complaints with his performance. But...he's just not Masaya Onosaka. It's probably a good thing that this iteration of Vash wasn't as ridiculous and all over the place, because I'm not convinced Yoshitsugu Matsuoka could have pulled it off.

The new character designs were okay for the most part. Not my favorite, but generally not a problem (though I'm not a fan of Meryl's outfit; it makes her look like a kid somehow). The only real problem I have is that Vash's floppier, softer hairstyle makes Wolfwood's nickname "needle noggin" just...not work very well. It was clear why he would give him such a nickname when Vash's hair was sticking straight up like a shock of wheat, but this way? Doesn't look like needles at all. His hair isn't noticeably spikier than anyone else's.

There weren't really any surprises or suspense in the story, because everything was shown in a fairly straightforward way. Not necessarily a problem, I suppose, and it makes sense that they have to cut to the chase more quickly when they've only got 12 episodes to work with. But I missed the way the first anime would just drop hints, show a little bit of a flashback, then move on for another episode or two. Particularly when it came to the nature of what, exactly, Vash is. They basically tell you right away in the first episode what's going on, rather than letting you wonder and slowly piece it together over time. I don't like that.

All in all, Trigun Stampede just doesn't hold a candle to the first anime. Now I'm off to rewatch that one, and then probably reread the manga.

[kimdokjas]

Hi Gaby! I hope you're having a good day so far!

In response to your question on the last ask: yes, donghua/manwha absolutely count!

In the interest of not revealing myself by listing a more niche favorite, I'll say that we share JJK as a favorite! I also love VNC and Shiguang Dailiren🙏We share a lot of ships and favorite characters too, bless😂. 86 is on my list, but I haven't quite gotten around to watching it.

Which leads into my next question...

What do you look for in an animanga before starting it? What is something that immediately hooks you on an animanga? Do you try to read or watch first, or does it matter to you?

That was more like three questions, sorry😂😭

I hope you had a good weekend!

-- Love, Your ASS💖

hello dear!! i had a great day today, thank you! i was finally able to get catch up on some sleep! what about you? hope you're also having a lovely day / night! 💕

ahh thanks for letting me know about donghua / manhwa! i never know whether to include them bc very few of my mutuals are into those so i always feel like we're on our own little corner of fandom 😂

omg i'm so happy to hear we share a lot of favorites!!! we r vibing rn 🤝 i'm literally shaking sitting here waiting for shiguang dailiren s2 and jjk and vnc both have a very special place in my heart! what are your favorite characters from those? oh and i would def recommend watching 86!! it's one of those anime where the plot, animation, and music all come together you know?

ooh great questions!! this is so difficult to articulate though ahh ok i'll try to take them one at a time

What do you look for in an animanga before starting it?

i think it's different each time! sometimes i'm drawn by the premise, or an interesting character design, or even the animation / art style! it doesn't have to be all of these at once, but i think in general i'm more drawn to action / fantasy / supernatural genres with really fleshed out characters!

What is something that immediately hooks you on an animanga?

interesting character dynamics for sure! not necessarily ship stuff although that's always a bonus lol. i'm a sucker for the found family trope or even just well-developed friendships! it just gets to me you know? 🥺💕

also when you can just TELL that the narrative is hinting at a really profound backstory and it slowly gets to unravel is SO good! my brain always tends to latch on to at least one pathetic wet cat of a man and that kind of fuels me through consuming content 😂😭 oh and i absolutely LOVE seeing deranged female characters as well 🥰

Do you try to read or watch first, or does it matter to you?

in general i always try to read first but i'm a bit more flexible when it comes to anime! when i come across a really good one sometimes i'll pause watching so i can go and read the manga first. although full disclosure i haven't read that much manga bc i always have trouble with the websites i use to read them and i'm lowkey scared they'll give my laptop a virus 😭 but i've been meaning to read more manga for sure! do you happen to have any recs??

omg sorry this got so long sdlfksdfj but what about you dear?? what's something that hooks you when you start an animanga? thanks again and i hope you have a lovely start of the week ahead!! 💕💕