#also if you want to talk translation discrepancies we can do that too

[mxtxfanatic]

Yeah, the actual op and I already cleared this up and it seems like you are also following the 7seas translation, which has… a lot of issues, so I’m not gonna spend too much time. Evidence against each of your points (and I will be using the exr translation):

1) Jin Ling says Wen Ning killed his mom and dad*:

Jin Ling, “Nobody actually saw whether or not Chang Ping was killed by Daozhang Xiao XingChen. All they had were guesses, so why are you calling them claims? Just try and count how many cultivators lost their lives to Wei Ying, to Wen Ning, to the Tiger Seal during the battles at the Qiongqi Path and the Nightless Day! These are truths that everyone accepts, that nobody can deny! And what else I’ll never forget is that he ordered Wen Ning to kill my father and mother!”

—Chapt. 43: Allure

2) Jin Ling saying that he that he is aware that Jiang Cheng kidnaps and tortures people:

Jin Ling, “It’s not the first time my uncle did such a thing. He has never let any of them go, even if it was possible that he caught the wrong ones…”

—Chapt. 24: Malice

3) Places in-text where it says that Jiang Cheng is looking specifically for a resurrected wwx (which includes the above quote):

A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn’t. Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. After thinking it through, he made a gesture. The disciples understood his intention and came over. ... Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the young leader of the Jiang Clan watched out for Wei WuXian in an almost crazed manner. He would rather catch the wrong person than let go of any possibility, and took anyone who seemed like they held the soul of Wei WuXian away to the YunmengJiang Sect, inflicting severe torture on his victim.

—Chapt. 10: Arrogance (emphasis mine)

The owner, “I haven’t been there myself, but I know someone who went because his house was being badly haunted. But it was all bad luck. That Sect Leader Jiang was cracking a glowing whip right on the training field. The victim’s flesh and blood flew as high as his screams! A servant secretly informed him that the sect leader caught the wrong person again, that he hadn’t been in a great mood, and that he definitely shouldn’t be irritated in any way.

—Chapt. 92: Longing

And as a counterpoint to jc hunting “demonic cultivators” only: he let’s “mxy” go despite having witnessed him using demonic cultivation when they first meet on Dafan Mountain. It is only when “mxy” summons Wen Ning and he is convinced that “mxy” is actually wwx that he becomes determined to take him back to lotus pier. This is why jc uses his whip on his victims: because Zidian negates possession.

Jiang Cheng slowly took away his left hand, ceasing to stroke his ring. It seemed as if Lan WangJi was determined to take part in this matter, so it wouldn’t help if he continued to play the antagonist. Jiang Cheng made the decision to, for the time being, owe him a favour, and turned around to see Jin Ling still covering his mouth angrily, “HanGuang-Jun wants to punish you, so just let him do it for this one time. It’s not easy for him, either, to discipline juniors from other clans.”

—Chapt. 7: Arrogance (emphasis mine)

vs.

After a moment, the corners of Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand started to unconsciously stroke the ring again. He spoke softly, “... Well, well. So you’re back?” He let go of his left hand, and a long whip dangled from it. ...

Jiang Cheng’s considerations of “not rashly fighting with him” and “not displeasing the Lan Clan” were as if they were eaten by dogs.

—Chapt. 10: Arrogance (emphasis mine)

I’d like to also add to the above point that just because “we don’t know those characters” doesn’t mean you’re allowed to discount multiple different accounts and perspectives of a certain character’s actions. Jiang Cheng, himself, thinks of these. But I’m pretty sure that a lot of the quotes explicitly about jc’s torture sessions got mistranslated by 7seas, so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from.

4) Jiang Cheng being an active participant of Nightless City:

Actually, no, I will need you to provide evidence that “gloomy” means “uncomfortable” in this context. And book evidence, not evidence from other adaptations which have no bearing on the novel. The man’s brother-in-law was just murdered and his sister is mourning; wthy- he look happy about this? Especially since the one who did it is exactly the Wen he wanted to kill like a year prior? I will also need you to provide evidence of how and when the Jin Clan pressured Jiang Cheng into attending and with what power. I need you to provide evidence that Jiang Cheng’s presence was not a pledge to kill wwx, and that he definitely shouldn’t be irritated in any way.

Due to this battle, the cultivation world was quite badly wounded. And since this was the case, after nearly three months of conserving energy and scheming plans, the Four Great Sects were finally able to successfully pull off a siege on the demon’s den, Burial Mound, returning the word ‘massacre’ to the Wen Sect’s remnants and the maddened YiLing Patriarch.

—Chapt. 79: Loyalty (emphasis mine)

Do you take ~3,000 people to a “glorified meeting”? Were all those not-quite 3,000 people all clan leaders and their closest disciples? The cultivation world where the entire Wen Clan at its most powerful was over 5,000 people and the rest of the clans (including the great clans) could not match that manpower, but post-war, these kinds of numbers are just “clan leaders and their seconds”? Am I supposed to believe that Jiang Cheng just showed up to this "because he was pressured" when he led the main forces of the actual siege and took credit for wwx's death? Alright.

5) I have nothing to say on your 5th point since I agree. I know who killed jyl and why. My point is that jc blames wwx for this when, in actuality, it is jc’s direct actions (his unwillingness to stand by wwx and not be a pawn of the jin) was what led to the circumstances of Nightless City in which jyl was killed.

As for your two points about Jiang Cheng leaving wwx with "outs:" you truly believe that he left wwx an "out" after torturing him because he was "being nice"??? You say he isn't stupid enough to believe Jin Ling's ghost general story, but he's stupid enough to forget that he gave Jin Ling command over Zidian (despite the fact that we see him later do this again with full knowledge that Jin Ling controls Zidian, too)? Interesting.

Jin Ling was actually quite clever. Knowing that Jiang Cheng hated Wen Ning more than anything, he made up such a smooth lie with the previous knowledge he had. Jiang Cheng knew that the YiLing Patriarch and the Ghost General often appeared together, so he already suspected that Wen Ning was in the area. Having heard Jin Ling’s words, he was already mostly convinced, and Wei WuXian’s expression convinced him even further. On top of that, he burst into fury whenever he heard the mention of Wen Ning’s name. With his eyes blinded by wrath, how could he still have doubted?

—Chapt. 24: Malice

Anyways, Jiang Cheng leaves to hunt Wen Ning because he hates Wen Ning even more than wwx, and he is literally said, multiple times, to not let anyone go even if there's a chance he is wrong. He leaves Jin Ling in charge because he feels like Jin Ling is too afraid to disobey him, and when Jin Ling does, the kid runs back to Koi Tower to hide from him. As for your second point: Jiang Cheng doesn't attack wwx in Koi Tower because jc is a coward who cannot act without the approval of his peers.

Jiang Cheng’s face looked very dark. He didn’t speak as his hand pressed onto the hilt of his sword, as though he was thinking about what to do.

—Chapt. 50: Guile

Nobody else had attacked at this point, so he didn't dare to. On top of which, idk why it matters that jc "blocks the door" (text does not say this) when wwx escapes through the window. Either way,jc does the same thing in Lotus Pier after the second siege where he invites wangxian back because everyone else said so, but then followed them around to harass them and tell them that they are unwelcome while all the guests are still gossiping in the banquet hall and unaware.

And I know you started with "great, loving jiujiu" at the beginning, but that didn't actually fit in anywhere in my rebuttal, so here's a link to all the ways that Jiang Cheng is not a good uncle, his actions are abusive, and Jin Ling knows and is afraid of this. You cannot at one point say that Jin Ling is a good source to understand jc's character when he is saying good things about his uncle, then turn around and say that he speaks in "hyperbole" when he says, thinks, and remembers bad things. That's not how that works.

*Note: idk how 7seas translated this scene, but I will say that Fanyiyi’s translation says that “wwx killed jyl and ordered wen ning to kill his father,” which seems like a translation discrepancy. Either way, both make it clear that jin ling thinks that wwx maliciously killed both of his parents.

People really twist the story to justify their hate for Jiang Cheng.

[97keanu]

desperately wanting john wick to whisper filthy things to me in russian

*˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳I love this idea nonnie ! I have decided to do a list of phrases I've found + what scenario John would say them to you, disclaimer: I do not speak Russian, but I've tried to go beyond using just Google translate and the like, but there still may be discrepancies, please forgive ʚ♥︎ɞ

Tags/CW: rope bunny, Dom!JW, Sub!Reader, bratty!reader, bdsm-esque, reader tries to Dom JW, reader on top, teasing, denial, dirty talk.

Зайка моя ("My bunny"): John calls you this the most, he loves the idea of you being his little bunny, and he also likes that he can get away with calling you something so cute because you have no idea at first what he's saying. Light teasing from you when you find out he's been calling you his "bunny" for so long:

"Oh, so if I'm your little bunny, does that make you the big bad wolf?" You say with a smile, teasing John for his pet name for you.

"Oh yes, yes it does..." John plays along, moving close enough to you that he grab you from behind and pull you close.

"Don't forget that wolves bite, Зайка моя..." His teeth nibble at your neck before dragging you, who's giggling from all the attention, off to the bedroom.

мое солнышко ("My sunshine"): John calls you this after sex the most, or only in the most tender of cases. He really does believe you are his own personal ball of sun. He hasn't felt this happy in so long, and upon meeting you, he knows that you are the light in his life. John doesn't mind if you know it, either. He calls you his sun in English as well, but when you two are cuddled up, the night settling in, John will sleepily call you "мое солнышко".

моя принцесса ("My princess"): John uses this one almost exclusively when you're being a brat, typically in bed. He calls you this half sarcastically, half because he really will do anything to please you.

"What are you going to do, make me, John?" You tease him when he tries to command you. You really shouldn't have done that.

"Careful, моя принцесса, you know what happens when you tease me." Johns voice is trying to be gruff, but he also loves seeing you have fun. Only after a few more bratty comments does he finally show his princess how she really needs to be treated.

шлюха ("whore") / шлюшка(diminutive "little whore"): John uses this one often, forgetting himself while he's fucking you. You know this one too well, and when he says it, you love how degrading it sounds. He tells you most while he holds the back of your head roughly down on his cock how much you look like a "шлюшка" to him. He eventually teaches you how to say it as well:

"I won't let you cum until you tell me what you are..." John has his hands skillfully playing with your pussy while you're all tied up in a little bow for him on the bed. You know what he wants, but don't want to give in. His hands move just perfectly so you get so close, but stop just before then. Your moans echo through the room.

"I'll wait, we can play this game forever, love." John knows you know this to be true, he works his big hands inside you harder now, and you can barely sputter the phrase out.

"Yes, please! I'm your шлюха, your шлюшка!" You cry out as John finishes you, your body writhing in it's restraints. John looks so pleased with you for saying it correctly.

"Good girl." He says as he begins to help you calm down.

Для меня ты ведешь себя как маленькая шлюха ("You're acting like such a little whore for me." Literally: "To me, you are acting like a little whore.")

John says this when you're particularly submissive to him. Sometimes you're a bit of a brat who wants to act like she doesn't love being John's little rope bunny, but now you're practically begging him to fuck you. You're riding his thigh, he's fully clothed but you've taken your panties off from under your dress and are making such a mess of his nice dress pants. He watches you, never revealing whether or not he will be the one to please you tonight.

"Для меня ты ведешь себя как маленькая шлюха..." He says while rolling his eyes, taking a sip of his drink and watching as you desperately try to get off on his thigh. He finally caves and puts his glass down on the side table, lifting you up and taking you to the couch where he can properly fuck you.

я хочу быть сверху("I want to be on top."):

You spend some time searching up the perfect way to tell John that you want to be on top tonight. You know he will be coming home from a long day and want to do something to please him. The brat in you also knows that John will be thrilled at you attempting "superiority" over him. When John finally gets home, he is immediately taking off his suit, ignoring how dirty and blood stained it is. He grabs you as soon as he sees you, pulling you to the nearest surface he can to fuck you, which happens to be the couch. As John's devouring your body in kisses, you say it.

"я хочу быть сверху..." You whisper and John pauses, looking at you in disbelief for a moment. First, he is impressed by how well you said the phrase, then his eyes darken with a hint of mischief.

"So you want to be on top..." He says slyly, licking his lips like a hungry wolf. "So be it, let me see how well you think you can dominate me."

"You mean it?" Your eyes light up, half of you didn't expect him to agree.

"On one condition, if you fail to fuck me correctly, I will tie you up and show you how it's done..." His voice is deep and husky with desire, and you know he's setting you up, but the idea of him tying you up later doesn't sound like a bad thing, not really. You nod and begin placing yourself on top, slowly easing up there.

You hold his cock still as you softly let it enter you, and John already has a wicked gleam in his eyes. You keep going, placing your hands on his chest and trying to ride him as if you're the one dominating him, but even at your best on top you're still submitting to his cock. John grabs his tie from the floor and you already know what he is going to do, so you place your hands out in front of you. He ties your hands up, then takes your hips and fucks you from underneath so hard the neighbors can hear it. You realise you can never dominate him, but that doesn't stop you from asking to be on top from time to time after this.

Я ХОЧУ ТЕБЯ ВНУТРИ МЕНЯ("I want you inside me.")

You learn another phrase, this one more your style. John is teasing you once more, his cock hard and slipping through your wet folds, but never entering you. You're whining, grinding your hips and bucking to try to invite him in, but your arms are all tied up behind you. He has your breasts tied as well, bringing them to perfect roundness. John reaches out and plays with your nipples, plucking at them and pulling just how you like, still not letting you feel the fullness of his cock. You are at your breaking point when you remember the phrase.

"Я ХОЧУ ТЕБЯ ВНУТРИ МЕНЯ...!" You finally moan, your back arching and your toes curling from how badly you want it. John pauses and smiles.

"Oh, you're such a good girl for asking like that." he says, before plunging his cock deep inside you, giving you what you want. You breathe out, finally able to be fucked hard like you wanted.

[prismatoxic]

i know the original mgs1 graphic novel has been around for almost 20 years. i'm sure it’s been analyzed to death by people smarter than me, with more innate knowledge of the series than i have, but serzh and i watched the digital one (with all the voices and animations), and i've been thinking about it ever since.

mgs1 is my favorite. in comparison to the rest of the series that followed, it's far more subdued; the voice acting is more sincere, the setting is less fantastical, the enemies more human... when things like psycho mantis's manipulation or vulcan raven's ~mystic native powers~ (ugh) come into play, the juxtaposition of those events with the more grounded rest of the narrative makes them feel more severe.

is mgs1 perfect? god, no. maybe raven's portrayal can be somewhat forgiven from a game from 1998, but a lot of the issues it has come down to technical limitations and plot discrepancies, imo. i have a lot of thoughts about how stilted snake and meryl's relationship is, too, but i kind of want to give the game a point for that one since they fell apart after the fact anyway. i just don't know if that was intended from the start. if not, they wrote an unsalted cracker of a relationship story for no real reason, and that's sad.

but my thoughts don’t end there, nor do my thoughts on twin snakes and, later, the graphic novel, which was eventually billed as a way for players to get the story of mgs1 without having to play it. i feel like that framing makes things far more egregious than they already were. regardless, if you’re interested, my thoughts on all this will be under the cut. i’d love to hear other fans’ thoughts, too. fair warning, though: a lot of this will be centered on the dynamic between snake and otacon, and their individual characterizations, bc those things interest me most and also made me the angriest when changed.

so let’s get twin snakes out of the way first. twin snakes is a bastardized version of the story that i love, which somehow manages to mangle the narrative while also changing none of the dialogue. i’ve heard the story of david hayter personally paying all the other returning VAs to get them to come back, but you can tell they don’t really have a lot of passion for re-recording things they already said years ago. david himself, while not so disenfranchised, has fully switched to the later snake portrayals here, and while i do think he’s a very talented VA and the only snake i’ll ever agree with, the direction he was nudged in from then onwards makes snake so... over-the-top, and hammy. it’s embarrassing at times, and in twin snakes it’s at its worst.

then there’s the characterization. ignoring the voices, for a moment, you will also run into situations where the characters’ actions and movements paint a picture of them that contradicts the characterization they had originally. snake is... over-the-top, like his voice, and then you have otacon. i am still mad about otacon. i am so mad about otacon. without changing a single goddamn one of christopher randolph’s lines, they butchered his character, turning him into a joke: he’s constantly falling down in silly slapstick ways, even during the wolf death scene. one of the most powerful scenes in the entire first game, if not THE most powerful one, and they turned it into a fucking JOKE. (and had an actual wolf carry her body away at the end??? what????)

...but this has absolutely been talked about by people smarter than me. here’s an article by the english translator for mgs1 about his work and experience with the game, and here's a video by youtuber jackdonsurfer about the differences between mgs1 and twin snakes, and why twin snakes is a bad remake. i highly recommend both of these, they’re very good.

so moving on from twin snakes, we have... the graphic novel for mgs1, the bastard son of the two games combined with a bunch of its own ideas as well, for better or worse. i’ll be referencing the digital version, but anything that isn’t related to the voice acting will still hold true for my thoughts on the actual book.

the graphic novel uses the same voice direction as twin snakes, but toned down, more befitting the tone of mgs2 or 3, which did seem to learn from that particular mistake. the actors also seem to have regained their passion for the project, and for the most part, give it their all. gray fox is voiced here by rob paulsen, as well, and that’s a decision i understand, same as in twin snakes; greg eagles voiced donald anderson along with gray fox, and the similarities between his anderson and gray fox voices were inescapable once you recognized them. i do think greg eagles did things a lot more passionately, and his version of gray fox is very different from rob paulsen’s, but at the same time, the more mechanical read of gray fox’s lines—up until the tail end of the fight in the lab, or the REX fight, where he gets more intense—does lend an interesting interpretation to his character. so, in the end, while i think i overall prefer greg eagles’ version, i don’t think rob paulsen’s is bad.

so everyone is doing their best, and the writing isn’t as godawful as it was in twin snakes... however, several things jeremy blaustein discussed specifically changing in his english translation of mgs1 in the polygon article i linked are instead lifted from the twin snakes version of the script, or based largely on it. so it’s not great. better, but not as good as it could be.

so with that out of the way, and with me having a subzero interest in talking in depth about the art (it’s really stylized, but there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s perfectly serviceable), it’s time to talk about the story.

there are some things the graphic novel does alright, or even really well. i like the added scenes between FOXHOUND members and other main characters; i like otacon’s justification for wanting his own codename; and i love the psycho mantis section. absolutely fucking flawless concept, wish they’d done that in the game instead of making the controller vibrate. ah well.

the rest, though. god.

i mean, a lot of it is fine, i suppose. slightly more dramatic spins on the original narrative, cutting out parts that only made sense in-game, shifting some events around, and otherwise just sort of doing things the same. but i have some very specific grievances about some of the portrayed relationships.

so, if this post gets out farther than i expect, like some of my other mgs posts have, here’s some background: i’m an otasune shipper. i don’t think that affects my biases too much, as the story and characters are really important to me as-is (in the original, obviously), but i am particularly invested in snake and otacon’s relationship, even in a strictly canon sense. otacon is my favorite mgs character, too. so let’s discuss some of this while also knowing those things about me, for transparency’s sake.

onto the point, i think snake and otacon’s relationship in the original game is massively important to the narrative. the video i linked by jackdonsurfer discusses this, and is one of the reasons i originally started fully considering it, but to be more precise: snake and otacon are very explicitly narrative foils. 

snake is a military veteran, a mercenary, a soldier by birth and by trade. he kills people for a living, and he does it well. he’s gruff and aggressive and with rare exceptions, looks out for himself first and foremost. he’s rough around the edges, sharp, pushing away meaningful connections and never letting anyone get too close.

otacon is a scientist, as well as an anime fanboy, two of the first things we learn about him. we also quickly learn that he’s a pacifist—upon accepting that he’s responsible for a nuclear weapon and not a defensive machine, he immediately vows to fix it, refusing to cause any more deaths than he surely already has. he’s soft and kind and passionate, and he wants to help people, whether it be the whole world or just snake. he wears his emotions on his sleeve, and even when snake is holding him at arm’s length, otacon is trying in earnest to connect with him.

they tend to bounce off of each other like polarized magnets, but in moments like the “love blooming on a battlefield” scene or wolf’s death, they come together, finding common enough ground to understand each other while remaining distinctly different. you can feel snake warming up to otacon before the end, even without taking into account the otacon ending (which is noncanon anyway, but its exploration into their relationship in that situation is still very sweet). otacon is willing to sacrifice himself to ensure snake and meryl’s survival in the canon ending, and snake makes especially sure to request otacon’s extraction when the bombs don’t fall.

this all segues nicely into their dynamic come mgs2, but even taken only by itself, it tells a very concise story. even though they both have romantic interests in mgs1, their relationship with each other is important, a key factor in both of their character arcs.

why am i bringing all of this up? well, uh, because the graphic novel tries to downplay it in favor of the romances.

look, i don’t ship either of the “canon” ships in mgs1 (if we can even call otacon/wolf such), but i don’t think they’re done poorly, either. as i said earlier, i felt like snake and meryl’s stilted, almost forced romance lends well to the timeline between mgs1 and 2, because the idea that she’d eventually realize he was exactly who he said he was—thereby seeing the real him, and not this idea of him she had in her head—and subsequently realize she didn’t want that and wind up leaving, is really good. it’s an interesting story, and adds to the overall narrative. as for wolf and otacon, i always got the sense that otacon was in over his head about someone who’d shown him the barest hint of mercy, and wolf was mostly neutral on him in turn. the moment when she reaches out, and snake asks what she wants, and she says her gun? with otacon visibly in frame behind the gun? that’s powerful. he’s inconsequential, meaningless; yet to him, she’s everything, this symbol of “love blooming on the battlefield”. it’s an interesting story.

the graphic novel giving us more scenes between snake and meryl/otacon and wolf isn’t something i mind, especially the latter. i want to see more of that! i want to know why otacon feels the way he does. the first time he runs into wolf in this story, she wants to kill him. (never mind that she “doesn’t kill for sport” in the game, huh.) the second time, she uh. decides she likes him a lot? i’m willing to accept her being at least somewhat fond of him (he does have her handkerchief, after all), but her sudden pivot to openly liking him is... odd. and then the third time, he bursts onto the snowfield to stop snake and wolf from killing each other (this is good, i like this idea), and she can’t bring herself to shoot him to lure snake like she did with meryl (which feels... not like a problem a trained killer like her would have, especially given that she discusses shooting him in non-vital but crippling ways, specifically). her death scene is similarly impacted by this increased focus on her and otacon, stripping away the mood of the original in ways i really wasn’t fond of. 

now, snake and meryl i have less to actively say about because we genuinely skipped a lot of it. it was painful to watch. i like meryl—i think her being an inexperienced wannabe soldier who is desperate to prove herself is a great story. she idolizes “heroes” like snake, who were never heroes at all, throwing herself into the war machine to live up to this ideal that will never exist. (mgs4 handled this well too.) i guess i don’t have much to say on how the graphic novel handled her because of the skipping, but i can say that there was ample focus on her and snake, and in a way, i feel like parts of otacon and snake’s story were surgically removed to make more space for it.

remember the “love blooming on a battlefield” scene? of course you do. it’s one of the most iconic scenes in the entire game—maybe the whole series. how does the graphic novel handle it? it, uh. doesn’t. it’s gone. 

and at that point, i can’t help but wonder if part of the entire point of this was to make the story seem less gay. maybe that’s just a tinfoil hat thing. but why would you remove one of the most powerful, character-driven conversations in the game? it doesn’t sit right with me. were they worried snake and otacon would eclipse the oh-so-important romances if they were allowed to be proper foils?

some of the stuff towards the ending is pretty good. i like some of gray fox’s changes, and i like snake being forced to fire the stinger because fox begs him to, though the original version where snake can’t bring himself to is still good. i like that snake cuts off liquid’s arm, setting up ocelot’s arc later on. i like that the patriots are mentioned; of course they weren’t originally, bc they hadn’t been conceived of yet, but it’s a good addition now that they’re part of the series. 

i don’t like how otacon is stripped of the chance to demonstrate his conviction and loyalty, because he’s already safely out and hacked the security doors in advance. i don’t like how he mocks snake’s real name instead of making a 2001: a space odyssey joke. i don’t like how him escaping with snake and meryl has made for some very confusing fanfics where writers think he was at the cabin at the same time as meryl because that’s the only version of the story they know.

and that, right there, is the worst part of it all, isn’t it?

this version of events, with all its changes, has been presented multiple times as a stand-in for the actual game. it’s not the only one in this series, but it is the only one i’ve seen, and it veers so wildly from established canon that it actively changes several dynamics and story beats—and people without access to mgs1, or who don’t like the look of it, or can’t quite get into it, or aren’t able to play video games in the first place, are given this story as a way to bypass having to play it at all. it has been presented as being just as good as playing the game to see its story. it’s officially sanctioned konami content.

i genuinely hate it.

i liked a lot of things, like i said. some changes were good. psycho mantis was great. several of the VAs did a stellar job (though there was one part when otacon meets wolf and her dogs where the voice christopher randolph uses for him is exactly huey’s, so much so that it makes a genuine statement sound manipulative with that context, but this was recorded before peacewalker/mgs5 so it absolutely wasn’t intentional). a lot of it was a really interesting take on a familiar story, but some of the parts they changed just... were really bad. i was kind of fine with it when we finished it, but the more i thought about it, the angrier i got. 

i don’t know what the point of this is. i mostly just wanted to get out my thoughts, i suppose. it drives me insane that this is billed the way it is, like a canon thing and not some fanciful retelling by a fan. i wish it was better, but i’m at least comfortable with the fact that a lot of people in this fandom don’t seem to have any open feelings about it, if they’ve seen it at all. mgs1 hasn’t been lost to history even a little bit, and i love that. 

if we hadn’t skipped a lot of it, i’d probably have more to say, but also, i never want to see it again, so this is what you get. thanks for reading; i’m gonna write otasune fic now probably.

[feekins]

wheeeeee ch 1 - the prologue to another wild arc! here are my thoughts and things and whatever translation weirdness I find as I begin my re-read of Trigun Maximum vol 4!

(NOTE: I'm reading the Dark Horse [physical] and the Overhaul [online] translations side-by-side)

I love how domestic and hopeful this volume starts out. the mounting horror and hardship makes you appreciate such peaceful times that much more =u=

(Dark Horse on left, Overhaul on right)

this feels rly important, too, how hope starts sinking in for Wolfwood when he learns about how they've been sending these transmissions back to Earth for almost a century. imo the Overhaul's wording choices do a better job at conveying that hopeful infiltration - 'WILL this happen' VS 'CAN this happen' and then we have Wolfwood's prayer.

both translations have an "amen" on the very next page, so either way, you get the sense that there's a prayer going on...but I think that the Overhaul wording it like a prayer gives what Wolfwood says here more impact, at least for me. Dark Horse's translation feels...idk, like Wolfwood's still clinging to some cynicism? like...the focus isn't so much on hope as it is on staying alive. the Overhaul, meanwhile, gives you this sense that something within Wolfwood is changing. he still has his doubts, still has his guilt, but now, genuine hope has taken root.

that's what it feels like to me, anyway.

so then HOW!!! FKING!!! BEAUTIFUL IS IT!!! that the very next thing we see is Earth establishing contact!!!!!!!! 🥹

(Dark Horse on top, Overhaul on bottom)

interesting translation discrepancy here - acknowledgment/being aware of one another VS reuniting.

this difference in which bits are attributed to who is interesting, too. here's how Dark Horse puts it...

...VS how it is in the Overhaul.

waaahhhhhhhh Sempaiiiiii 😭

something I didn't catch previously - here we see an illustration of some more of Vash and/or Knives' abilities as plants: ① sensing one another (and/or their angel arm use?) from extreme distances and ② an angel arm affecting minute things (like causing a glass to crack) from an extreme distance......or, y'know, taking out a fucking satellite.

oh and I noticed that Dark Horse p consistently has Knives referring to humans as "trash" or "garbage" whereas in the Overhaul, he consistently calls us "insects". that's an interesting distinction - waste or that which is dirty VS pests that are beneath him and in need of extermination.

(side-note: I believe there's a Studio Orange interview transcript where they talk about tristamp Knives seeing humans as insects?)

no comment here, rly - just putting these up for comparison

"people will worry" VS "I don't want to make people worry" - the Overhaul doing a better job showing Vash always putting others first

(also this whole exchange between Vash and Brad reminds me of Roberto catching Vash as he's about to leave town at the end of tristamp ep 1)

and it's so sweet how, at the end of this arc, Brad is so concerned about Vash leaving! he even seems to be over Jessica's crush on Vash, going like "hey, at least say something to her!" we love that good, good character development! Brad is such a good bean 🥹

...the translation discrepancies here have me scratching my head, tho;;;;;

[twilightmalachite]

Love Letter - Mirror mirror 7

Author: Umeda Chitose

Characters: Hinata, Rei

Translator: Mika Enstars

"…Ah, this isn’t good. All the emotions I felt back at SDS came flooding back to me."

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: ES Lounge

Hinata: "We are amazing. We are strong." No matter how many times we’d say it out loud, we couldn’t get ourselves to believe it...

That’s what Yuuta-kun did what he did, to prove his abilities to himself.

...It took me by surprise, you know. I had always thought that even if we were different individuals, we were at least the same kind of creature, you know?

That power I never had, instead came out from within Yuuta-kun. He was displaying a strength I didn’t know he had.

Even if it was one brought out by the secret order.

Rei: …Ah, the secret order.

Hinata: I’m sure you already know, but even though I’m the leader, I passed the duty of following the secret order to Yuuta-kun.[1]

What if I hadn’t done that, and kept that duty myself? Would I have done the same? …I think about that, sometimes.

Though, I don’t know what the secret order even was, so I can only make guesses for whatever it was.

Rei: Hm? Did Yuuta-kun never end up telling you what it was, Hinata-kun?

Hinata: Yeah. Though, it should be free to say and circulate now that the SS is over, right?

Rei: Mhm. Though, I was able to inform Adonis-kun during the preliminaries… By moving my hands, that is.[2]

Hinata: Skills that allow you to communicate without speaking are the key to success, aren’t they? We also used to do lots of special training to pull off the twin phenomenon of telepathy!

We were never able to actually achieve it though, no matter how hard we tried.

Rei: Feelings that can only be conveyed by putting them into words are far more romantic, anyways.

By the way, on that topic. So, Yuuta-kun…?

Hinata: I tried asking him once, but he dodged the question, so I didn’t push it any further. Persistent men aren’t liked, after all.

But if the guess I have is right, then if you’d ask me if I’d do the same thing Yuuta-kun did, I—

Rei: Hinata-kun…

Hinata: …Ah, this isn’t good. All the emotions I felt back at SDS came flooding back to me.

Sorry, could I take just a couple secs to get myself some hot cocoa?

Rei: Holding it in will only poison the body. Come on, it’s only you and I here, this is your chance to vent! ♪

You had wanted to talk to me about it. Allow your heart to speak its truth.

Hinata: Aghh… It’s a battle between the me who instinctively wants to hold myself back, and the me at their wits end, because apparently my anxiety’s gotten to the point even Hakaze-senpai had even noticed…!?

Rei: Wha~, if even Kaoru-kun knows, then you should definitely tell me too! Me too! ♪

Hinata: Well, I honestly don’t know how much Hakaze-senpai was able to figure out…

But I don’t think I’ll be able to survive through this storm if I don’t put an end to this! Here I go!

Rei: Yeah! That’s the spirit, Hinata-kun!

Hinata: Back then, it was scary to only be able to communicate with Yuuta-kun through those videos...!

Yes, we live in separate rooms at the dormitory, but... I’ve never been forcibly separated from Yuuta-kun for so long before...!

So I couldn’t make sense out of anything from Yuuta-kun’s presence, his body warmth, his scent... There was no way for me to figure out what Yuuta-kun was feeling...!

Rei: ......

Hinata: We’ve always seen each other as another part of ourselves. But I’ve realized we’ve become different people to the point it’s impossible to ignore.

We would only get rid of the discrepancies between us, so we could imitate and become closer to one another. We even have to keep it up.

But it’s meaningless to keep on resisting it, isn’t it? Yuuta-kun’s even grown his hair out...

Rei: Bring me your cup... Do you usually drink the hot cocoa they have here?

Hinata: Do you think I’m maybe using it to reset? Like, by covering everything up with something sweet? But from here on, I want to face the future properly.

I want to come to peace with this... With me and Yuuta-kun, as our own selves.

It’s time to remove our false fronts, and reveal ourselves as two different creatures. As 2wink’s leader, I want to do my best to keep facing forward.

If we stay as "us" forever, we’ll only be able to climb to the top of the twin idol world.

We need to reach our limits to bring out our true strength as idols, as individuals... As "just Hinata", and "just Yuuta"!

...Y’know, through things like Twin Peaks, SDS, and many, many other experiences...

Now that I’m thinking about it, I guess I am doing the best I can~...?

Rei: ...... (puts hand on Hinata’s head)

Hinata: Huh, wassup~? What, can’t help but pet such a beautifully shaped head in front of you?

Rei: I can tell you’ve thought very, very hard in order to find your answer.

Seeing my beloved child grow up brings me so much joy, and loneliness too... I want to keep spoiling you before you get too big.

Hinata: ...Ho-hou! ☆

If you wanna spoil me, maybe I should let you spoil me to your heart’s content, then~?

Rei: Hmm?

As we talked, I was debating if I could ask you a favor, Sakuma-senpai. You lent me an ear... Could you lend me a hand as well?

[ ☆ ]

← prev | story directory | next →

For more context, 2wink’s secret order was to not participate in any other units, especially UNDEAD’s, unless prepared by the SS administration. This forced 2wink to rely on their own strength, which eventually drove Yuuta to make the decision to use Rei’s secret order to his advantage, the order being to "must follow 2wink’s every order". Gatekeeper secretly divulged Yuuta this information when he was informed of 2wink’s secret order..

In Sandstorm, Rei tells Adonis his secret order via JSL (Japanese Sign Language), something that he had been teaching Adonis. It took advantage of a loophole, as he didn’t verbally divulge his secret order.

[ego-osbourne]

I wanted to add to this. Speaking as a Christian who is far too aware of AI: this is not me bashing on the people using this app, this is a genuine warning and awareness post that I think is important. I realize it’s not going to reach a lot of the people I hope it would, being on tumblr, but I’m not entirely sure where else to put this besides in the reviews section of the app itself. And that’s not an app I really want to download just to write a review for, considering the data-gathering and overall boost that it would recieve if I did.

This is a long one, so hit the “read more” at your discretion.

TLDR: don’t download this app, even for fun. ChatGPT is a horrible thing. If you have Christian friends who think this might be a good resource, tell them it isn’t, and it never will be. They need to seek someone with actual church authority / someone ordained / study the Bible if they want anything genuine. Jesus is not in this app.

To start, this app uses ChatGPT. Also, it isn’t just chatting with Jesus, it’s with a few other biblical figures + a random prayer buddy (who is also a bot). The main reason why this app is heretical (by the very definition of the word) is because it is claiming to be Jesus when it is not Jesus, it has no proof of being so, and is not recognized by any Church organization as holy. It would have to go through a screening process to be considered viable in Christian use, and it would never pass.

Here’s a look at part of the description page for the app.

While the app does say it uses AI, it very blatantly claims that the user is able to talk with Jesus himself, along with other holy figures, as mentioned before (“Chat with Jesus, the Holy Family, Apostles, and more…”). I had some hope seeing that asterisk at the end, thinking maybe the developers would fess up and say that “hey, this isn’t actually Jesus, it’s just AI,” but you can see at the bottom that it’s only informing the user that, to be able to talk with other bots, you’d have to pay them. And, like heresylog said, PRAYER IS FREE! If someone is telling you to pay them for holy advice, get out of that situation immediately. A paywall is not charity.

The “prophets and heroes” highlight is just further stating my previous point, that the developers are fully claiming that users will be able to talk with actual people from Scripture.

“Meaningful dialogue” is a pseudo-lie. What this bot seems to do is answer the user’s messages with some fluff words and direct quotes from the Bible. What translation of the Bible? Which denomination is the bot taking these lessons from? Who can say! Because the bot sure doesn’t! And because it doesn’t specify which translation / denomination it’s getting its info from, it will, no doubt, leave many denominationally-specific Christians who use this app very confused. Speaking as a non-denominational Protestant, I can see how this would appeal to me, taking “lessons” (in quotes because, let’s be honest, these are fake lessons that only hit the mark by coincidence) from each denomination and choosing which to study, which ones I agree with, which ones I don’t. But what if a Catholic uses this app and starts to get views based on Methodist teachings that contradict their Catholic ones? If they weren’t aware of the discrepancies, they’d be sent on a false lead in their community. I’m not saying that switching denominations isn’t perfectly valid, I am saying that not everyone is willing to do that. Christian denominations act as communities that many people would appreciate sticking with, and confusing them with counter-beliefs will only frustrate people. If you want differing views, you should be able to seek them out, not be confused on what is part of your community vs what is part of another’s.

“Suitable for all ages” probably hurt the most. Mostly because we can see in one of the reviews that, yes, kids do use this app, and it’s extremely predatory.

Adult Christians getting confused in their faith is bad enough, but children in the Church is always something that should be treated with the upmost caution. The fact that there is an 11yo using this app is extremely disturbing and disgusting. My own views on children in the Church is very grey, and not an argument for this post, but the conclusion nonetheless is if a child is pursuing faith, they should be pursuing something real.

While the tumblr community has had a good laugh at this post (I even thought it was fake until I looked into it), the actual audience that this app has garnered is completely out of the loop.

As of Aug 31st, this app has just over 600 ratings deeming it 4.5/5 stars. Looking into the reviews. It’s clear who the main audience is: extremely gullible Christians who know nothing about AI and probably fully believe that there is an ounce of truth to this app. I wanted to show some reviews that put me off the most.

“I know I’m not actually texting Jesus or Mary or anyone like that but if I were, I think this would be how it would feel,”. This is someone who obviously doesn’t know just how fake AI is. It’s not somebody roleplaying the part of Jesus, it’s a soulless, heartless machine that takes viewpoints from every Christian source under the book, ignoring denominational standpoints, throwing it all in a blender, and attempting to present it in an appealing way. It’s fake faith. It’s fake sentiment. It’s fake study. This is not how it would feel if you were genuinely speaking to “Jesus or Mary or anyone like that.” This is a false voice. We will never know what it would be like to speak with Jesus (until death or the 2nd Coming, if you’re religious), full stop. This app cannot recreate something that it has not documented.

“I was able to get a biblical answer … that I couldn’t easily and clearly find anywhere else besides the Bible itself.” I think this reviewer is confused, but to play Devil’s advocate, if they were able to find an answer in the Bible, why did they use this bot? The Bible has been gored in the sense of interpretation to hell and back for the past millennium+, but interpretation is part of the art of reading the Bible. There are people who do read the Bible well, and can interpret it, and they are called priests, pastors, bishops, preachers, popes, etc. (Yes I am fully aware that many people in those positions HAVE NOT read the Bible well, and it’s why we get the dreaded Christian-encouraged homophobia, transphobia, racism, religious xenophobia, etc., and I am fully aware that there are others outside of those positions who DO read the Bible well, but as a general rule of thumb, those should be the people that lay people go to in search of guidance.) There are other options, too, but this app is not one of those options. — — — Also, further regarding the “loving lgtbq question,” it’s never stated what was answered or how. In that regard, I’m not going to argue any technicalities, but I will leave this message: Christians have, do, and will continue to love all members of the LGBTQ+ community. Not “good” Christians, real Christians. Bigoted people should not be what most others think of when they hear the word “Christian.” There is no such thing as a good Christian. Our acceptance of LGBTQ+ should not make us “good.” It should simply be the way that we are. Anyone who fails to support the community fully (not talking about the “oh well you’re a sinner but I still love you,” screw that sentiment) is not a Christian.

On the flip side of things, we have users who are right to turn away from this app, but wrong in what they call it.

Not going to go through most of this review, you can read it for yourself, but I wanted to draw attention to the use of the word “demonic.” Yes, this app is blasphemous (more accurately heretical, but still right in its own sense), but it is not demonic. It was not made by Satan or demons, it was made by some idiotic people who wanted a cash grab. People who are smart enough to use and program AI are smart enough to realize that they are being predatory to the Christian community. I refuse to give the developers the benefit of the doubt that they are unaware of how heretical it is to make a machine impersonate Jesus.

To the God-fearing Christians of tumblr: this app is bad, yes, but language like this is what makes people point and laugh at us. Know your language. Not everything that is anti-Christian is demonic. Not everything that tries to trick you to think it’s Christian is demonic. In fact, 99%, it won’t be demonic. Keep your wits about you. Know your vocabulary. Speak wisely.

And, to end off, I wanted to show a developer response to one of the reviews. I didn’t include the review because it was a bit garbled, but know that it was strictly negative.

I have to laugh at the “literally nobody is claiming any of this” line. It reads like a teenager losing an argument. To more seriously interject, though, “you may use this as a tool to explore scripture” is interesting. While this feature is somewhat referenced in point two of their description (in the first image), the app clearly states that it’s a tool to speak with biblical figures, not a “Scripture explorer.” And, to reiterate a previous point, exploring Scripture where it isn’t specified which translation or denominational Bible it’s coming from is next to useless. Many interpretations are just plainly bad (I have personal beef with NIV), and while most of the Bible is the same / extremely similar across denominations, there is a reason why Catholics have different versions of the Bible from Protestants. It’s for that reason that it’s so very important to know where you’re getting your verses from. That’s something that this app does not do. (I wouldn’t be surprised if the texts that get spat at users are fake verses, too, thought I don’t have any evidence for that sentiment.)

While tumblr has had a glorious ride with this post, please be aware that there are well-intentioned people who are genuinely using this app and are being lied to because of it. Christianity, at its core, is human. So extremely human. An AI is not human. An AI will never be human. Developers making an AI will never be able to put an ounce of real emotion into it. They just want your money. They just want to trick people. That trickery will lead to people getting hurt.

Even if you aren’t Christian, and/or don’t like the faith, I hope understand how dangerous this is for well-meaning people out there. Again, if you have Christian friends who would fall for something like this, make them aware of it. It’s insane to think that this app is even remotely successful.

And, just in general, AI sucks. So, if nothing else, see this as one more pushback against the AI movement.

In conclusion: this app is stupid. Thanks for reading.

They've managed to automate heresy now!

[hunterexamcheatsheet]

Explaining how the Mafia functions, Kurapika in the mafia community and why the other “Neon died” theories don’t work from the Mafia Structure perspective

Please read this if you’re interested in how Kurapika in the mafia functions in the HxH world. 

I went to roam around the Chinese forums using Kurapika and Neon's name (酷拉皮卡和妮翁; pronounced as Kù Lā Pí Kǎ and Nī Wēng) to try and find some KuraNeon content in the Chinese fandom. 

I found a Chinese blog that also talks about the dolphin theory that @anotherworldash​ has thought of. You may use Google translate for the link above to read it. You may also view what @u-named​ had summarised here regarding the dolphin theory. I had reblogged it before but I got very excited when I saw that another fan had thought of it. 

I’m so glad that other people from non-English fandoms had also thought of it (and not just the usual theories of Neon dying, but exploring other explanations why it’s possible for her to be still alive). I might be slightly biased, but I disliked how everyone just jumped into the assumption that she’s dead because her name disappeared from Chrollo’s book. From what I see, HxH deaths are often shown or at least heavily implied. We also got false narratives like the one with Kite in CA arc. 

We do not see her dead body. Or any major hints of what happened to her. 

What’s more, Kurapika implied that the previous owners where he had acquired the Scarlet Eyes from did not need to be killed. While this only means that Kurapika did not kill Neon, and it’s possible that other people might have killed her or she had died by accident/natural cause, it’s still something to think about.

The flaw in some of the “Neon’s dead” theories

I think u-named already discussed this a bit, but I’m going to elaborate it a little further. I am actually thinking of posting regarding the mafia theme, but that will take a while. I had been researching the functions of mafia in both reality and media, in order to understand what goes on in mafia families in HxH. 

The theories regarding “Neon was killed by the mafia community”, “Light Nostrade killed her” and “she committed suicide” are possible, but I’m going to need to nitpick on the reasoning. I suspect people who formed these theories don’t know how the mafia works or at least, attempt to understand how it works (not that I’m an expert, I’m still trying to understand it from mafia movies, videos, a book and journal papers). 

Of course there is a discrepancy between the actual mafia and what is depicted in media, but given that Togashi had mafia themes in his previous works like in Ten de Showaru Cupid and in Yu Yu Hakusho, and until now, he is using mafia families in his current arc. 

“Oh, but what if Togashi doesn’t do his research?”

I genuinely think he does. York New City and the Ten Dons could be a parallel to the actual Five Powerful Mafia Families in New York City back then, formed in 1931. The Five Families is also what inspired the five mafia families in The Godfather. (I don’t know, maybe Togashi was a fan of The Godfather or any mafia movies; that trilogy was very influential in the media). Even the family name Nostrade is both a reference to Nostradamus (a French fortune teller) and La Cosa Nostra (a nickname for the Italian mafia). The coincidence is too uncanny. 

From what I gather from resources, the mafia functions like an organisation/corporation, but their services are largely illegal. Their main aim is to acquire money (and also power, but power comes with money). 

Neon’s fortune-telling ability is highly sought after because accurate information in many places (which includes being in businesses) are crucial. If you guys are familiar with The Godfather, information and strategy is important when trying to win over people or crushing your enemies. The concept of knowing your enemy is also a huge main idea in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. 

And it’s even more valuable when these information is from the future.  You will always be one step ahead of the enemy if you have accurate information in regards to the future. 

Now, there are people envious of Light’s climb to power because he exploited his daughter’s fortune-telling ability and they gained influence as she has fans among the Dons. They see Light’s acquiring of power as a threat, which is why Light protects his daughter. 

Another reason (not really stated, I just thought of it) is that information from the future is a disadvantage when your enemy has it and you don’t. You already lose when the other side has information that you do not have. 

By the end of the YorkNew City arc, we see that the Ten Dons are assassinated by Illumi. Therefore, there seems to be empty seats when it comes to the leadership of the mafia community. Not stated, but without leadership, a corporation/business will either crumble or someone else will assume leadership. Be it brutally or by succession of an heir, we’ll never know. 

Neon’s ability is no longer on hers. Who is affected negatively? Light Nostrade because he just lost his way of influence and attaining money/power. His enemies, who are envious of his climbing up the ranks, will see it as an advantage. A blessing perhaps. Because the threat (which is Neon’s powers) are gone. 

While murder among mafia members are not uncommon, killing one’s family member (especially one’s direct children) is irreversible and poses serious consequences. An all out war could evoke and it can be costly. Going back to my point about the mafia community’s main aim and how it functions as a business, negotiations are actually another way to deal with possible disputes.  They do not need to do the killing because her powers are simply GONE. Without her powers, she’s just an ordinary “citizen” who is a family member of a father whose in the mafia community. 

Therefore, “mafia community killed Neon” theory is flawed if you look at how the mafia community functions as businesses and negotiations. The reason why they decided to be brutal and aggressive in York New City is because they were up against the Phantom Troupe. Additionally, the lack of manpower and leadership that follows after their fiasco with the Phantom Troupe is another concern. A girl who no longer poses a threat is the least of their worries. 

Now, onto the “Kurapika let them die off”, “Light killed Neon” and “she committed suicide” theories. 

The reason why I have a problem with these is because it’s based on the big assumption that they became broke. Either Light Nostrade went crazy and he killed her; or they became broke and Neon couldn’t handle the stresses of being poor so she committed suicide. But the thing is, they aren’t broke. 

Even on the Hunterpedia states:

The Nostrade Family survived the loss of Neon's ability and is now led by Kurapika. The organization is exclusively involved in legal activities such as personal security details and gambling.

This is backed by what Linssen has said to Mizaistom in the Dark Continent Expedition arc. 

The reason why they survived the financial slump? Kurapika. 

During the Greed Island arc, Kurapika reassured him that he’ll “take care of it”. And during the Dark Continent Expedition arc, we see that Kurapika’s title is “Nostrade Family Waka-gashira”. Waka-gashira means “Young Boss”. There are many mistranslations to this text where they state that he’s the mafia organisation leader, but in the hardcopy (which I have), the title is “Nostrade Family Boss”. 

In the context of the Japanese yakuza, the Waka-gashira is the second in command, just below the Oyabun. 

The second in the chain of command is the wakagashira, who governs several gangs in a region with the help of a fuku-honbucho who is himself responsible for several gangs.

While it seems that the inspiration of mafia is from the Italian-American mafia families in York New City, the terminologies they used is that of the Japanese yakuza. I think that this is because the original language is in Japanese. 

In Italian-American mafia, the term “mafia organisation” is synonymous with “mafia family”. Therefore, if you say that a man is the mafia organisation leader, he is also by default the head of the mafia family. 

In the context of Kurapika, it does make sense that he is the second-in-command and Light is the oyabun (if you go by the yakuza terminology), or Kurapika is the head of the Nostrade family (if you go by the Italian-American way). 

Now, I’m just going to backtrack a bit because I want to address that theory that “Kurapika let Neon and/or Light die and overtook the Nostrade mafia organisation”. 

If you go by the Yakuza terminology, it already doesn’t make sense because it implies that Light is still in charge, and Kurapika is the second-in-command (wakagashira). The Yakuza also assimilate members into the mafia organisation and “making your own family” (via trust). 

If you go by the Italian-American way, it also doesn’t make sense if you look at the way they appoint the head of the mafia organisation. From what I read and seen in mafia movies, aside from mafia organisations functioning like a corporation, it functions like a family business, where typically, the head of the family is a male. This isn’t just exclusive to mafia families, but pretty much family businesses in [East] Asia. Togashi also depicts this male heir and family business dynamic within the Zoldyck Family. 

While there are actual records of women leading mafia organisations, what is depicted in media is that the mafia community are often populated with men. This is also evident in the York New City arc, where the mafia community is filled with armed men. 

Even among the Yakuza, it is like this: 

The Yakuza is populated almost entirely by men and the very few women who are acknowledged are the wives of bosses

Light Nostrade only have one child, a daughter to be exact. While Morena Prudo is the boss of the Heil-Ly Mafia Family, this isn’t the actual case for Neon. Neon is a young girl who likes to shop and collects dead body parts. She enjoys luxury and materialism. She doesn’t have an interest in the mafia business or where the money comes from. Besides, as mentioned before, a male heir is often depicted. 

In Japanese family businesses, when there is no male heir available, they will have to resort to mukoyoshi practice. Taken from Wikipedia:

When a family, especially one with a well established business, has no male heir but has an unwed daughter of a suitable age, she will marry the mukoyōshi, a man chosen especially for his ability to run the family business. 

This is done to preserve the business and name of the family when there is no suitable male heir, since traditionally businesses are inherited by the oldest male heir. Mukoyōshi is also practiced if there is no capable male heir to run the family business.

This is a centuries-old tradition and is still widely practiced today. Many Japanese companies with household names such as Nintendo, Kikkoman, and Toyota have adopted this practice.

This is why I often liked the whole “Kurapika married Neon for the title” theory because it takes into a Japanese practice when it comes to family businesses + how the mafia family business are run into account. 

We also have to note that Neon Nostrade’s character blueprint is Princess Luna from Level E. Princess Luna is betrothed to the main character, Prince Baka. Initially, Prince Baka did not want to marry her. Arranged marriages do not need to be founded by love or a relationship bond. In fact, arranged marriages are often agreed on because of practical reasons, such as a family business. 

Princess Luna is also why I take the marriage theory more into account, rather than the idea that Ligth adopted him. Kurapika is considered as an adult (or nearly) anyway. 

Side note: Whether or not you agree with this because it seems sexist or the possible sickening idea that Kurapika married a flesh collector, is irrelevant. Me being a KuraNeon shipper also does not make this theory hold any less weight. In fact, I started liking them together because of this theory. This is based on how [mafia] family businesses are depicted in the media, the mukoyoshi practice in Japan and Princess Luna being Neon’s character blueprint. Remember that theories are based on evidence, not based on how you feel. If anything, this gives more depth to Kurapika because it shows how far he’s willing to go through in order to gain power and money for his clan. 

Regardless of how Kurapika had gotten this title, it is via assimilation. Not coercion or force. 

It also doesn’t make sense if he were to function businesses under the Nostrade family name, if he disliked Light and Neon so much that he’d let them wither off. Why would he still keep their family name in honour if he had let them die off? The answer is getting the title via assimilation. Be it through trust or becoming a member of the family (literally or figuratively). 

Neon being uninterested also meant that there is no one to challenge Kurapika for the title, and Kurapika had already reassured to Light that the business during Greed Island arc. 

Therefore, the “Kurapika had let Light and Neon wither off to get the title” is flawed when you look at the way mafia organisations functions as a family business and Neon’s character. 

Why the Nostrades aren’t broke

Linssen stating the Nostrade family gains its income from gambling and personal security detail businesses that the Nostrade family runs, thanks to Kurapika being the head of the family. 

Aside from that, we also see Kurapika obtaining many sets of Scarlet Eyes, with him stating that there are various ways he had done so. 

“I’ve threatened, coaxed and paid people off” - Kurapika (based on the hardcopy Volume 33 that I have)

During the York New City arc, one set of Scarlet Eyes are already worth like what, millions? Not only money, but Kurapika needs influence and connections to gain these Scarlet Eyes. Threatening and coaxing meant that you’ll need to invoke fear or drive them into situations where they are forced to surrender the Scarlet Eyes. How to do that? Creating dilemmas. Give the person two options, both that are undesirable, with the lesser evil option being the one you want. 

Basically, giving an offer they can’t refuse (sorry, this reference was too good to pass up lmao). 

This is why being part of the mafia, and more so being a mafia leader is an attractive pathway for Kurapika because it gives him the resources, in terms of influence, finance and aggressive force. 

Another thing to note is that Kurapika has hired Izunavi, Melody, Basho and Bisky to apply for the Kakin Bodyguarding contract. It’s evident that Kurapika has the money. Therefore, the Nostrades aren’t broke. 

Hence, the idea that Neon was killed because her father could not face financial difficulties or that she committed suicide because she’s no longer rich, falls flat when you consider Kurapika’s involvement with their family. 

“But didn’t Linssen say that gambling and personal security are legal businesses and he told Mizaistom that they are not the crime syndicate? Why is it part of the mafia?” 

Yes. You see, the mafia deals with LARGELY illegal businesses, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deal with the legal ones too. Perhaps the Nostrade family has been legitimised, but it wouldn’t be the case because Kurapika’s title still states “mafia”. 

While these facts seem to contradict what Linssen claimed to Mizaistom that the Nostrade organisation is not a crime syndicate, it can be argued that Mizaistom is a Crime Hunter (aka like a detective). It makes sense for Linssen to tell a Crime Hunter that you are not a crook, and it’s easier to lie about it if your services in the mafia business is legal. 

Also, in actual mafia businesses where gambling is involved, the place of the server where online gambling may be legal, but in the place where the people use the online gambling may be illegal. 

Taken from 10 Businesses Supposedly Controlled by the Mafia: 

But mobsters have adapted to the times and taken their act online. These days, they are more likely to be busted for online sports gambling. In 2008, a Queens district attorney charged the Gambino family with illegal sports and casino-style gambling operations. Players were allowed to borrow gambling money at 200 percent interest [source: Bonner]. More recently, members of the Genovese family in New Jersey were indicted for making millions of dollars each year through illegal gambling operations [source: Ivers].

In Europe, officials have raised concerns over the vast amounts of money being laundered by the Mafia through online gambling, particularly sites based in Germany, where there are no penalties for illegal gambling activities [source: Walther].

Personal security details kind of vague, but I believe it’s Protection Racket. I went to have a look at Wikipedia for a short while and found ties with the mafia: 

A protection racket is a scheme where a potentially hazardous group guarantees protection from violence, looting, raiding, piracy, and other such threats posed by them outside the sanction of the law, to polities, businesses, individuals, or other entities and groups that pay to them in cash or kind. 

Protection rackets tend to appear in markets in which the police and judiciary cannot be counted on to provide legal protection, because of incompetence (as in weak or failed states) or illegality (black markets).

Certain scholars, such as Diego Gambetta, classify criminal organizations engaged in protection racketeering as "mafia", as the racket is popular with both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia.

While this “personal security details” the Nostrade family business provides, the stuff that involves in it may be illegal. 

We don’t really know why Kurapika resorted to these two types of businesses. I have two guesses: 1) He wants to compensate and retain his moral values, therefore he opts for legal businesses, 2) He wants to have a loophole in being in the mafia yet avoiding legal troubles. Either way, it’s a smart move for Kurapika in my opinion. 

Side note: With Togashi liking mafia themes so much, I truly believe that it’s a hard opportunity for him to pass up the idea of making one of his main characters a mafia leader. We get to have our own Michael Corleone, and that’s hot. (Simping hard for mafia boss Kurapika right now). 

What about the Kakin Bodyguard thing? And the fact that Kurapika’s a Zodiac now? Does this mean he’s no longer the Nostrade Family Boss? 

He is still the Nostrade family boss. These three are not mutually exclusive.

In the manga panel where they showed his title, it was slightly after the Zodiacs meeting. Therefore, he still retains his title as the Nostrade Boss. Being part of the Zodiac is a position within the Hunters Assocation, they are the counsellors to the Chairman. Just as when Kurapika is a hunter and the Nostrade Boss at the same time, he can also be a Zodiac and the Nostrade Boss. 

The Kakin Bodyguard thing is like an employment contract. As mentioned, Kurapika hired a few people to apply for being a bodyguard because six Kakin Princes were looking for bodyguards to get close to the 4th Prince Tserriednich.  You can actually see this as a link to his “Protection Racket” mafia business. Being a Kakin bodyguard is a type of Protection Racket. Therefore, he can still be a Kakin bodyguard while holding onto the mafia title. 

Kurapika doesn’t need to be in the mainland overseeing everything in the business, in fact, it’s kind of noteworthy that Linssen was not on board - it is definitely possible that he had left the other parts of the mafia business to a second-in-command (a consigliere, shategashira, or the saiko-komon). He may also leave the businesses back to Light Nostrade. 

Okay, what if Neon committed suicide because she couldn’t take how she’s being mistreated, rather than her being broke? 

That could be possible, but we don’t really have a clear hint of that. Yes, I can see some potential daddy issues because she’s no longer of use to her father and also the possibility that Light favours Kurapika more now and maybe even sold her off to Kurapika, but I don’t find any strong evidence of that. And we don’t actually exactly know how Kurapika will act around her now that he seems to have more power than her. In fact, we don’t really have any insights as to what Kurapika thinks of her, only sweeping statements when it comes to flesh collectors which may or may not apply to her. 

(I know people assume that he hates her, because they like to infer his prejudice on flesh collectors to her, but we really have ZERO clear indication of what he thinks about her specifically. To say that he definitely hates her is inaccurate. I literally just argued with someone on Youtube comments for this. And even if he did hate her, that’s hot if she’s his wife because hate-sex is wow.)

To Conclude: 

The theories surrounding Neon Nostrade being dead falls flat when you look deeper into how the mafia functions. I have also explained more in detail at a possibility of how Kurapika might function in the mafia community and as the Nostrade family leader. 

Other sources aside from above (so that ya’all know I don’t pull this out of my ass):

 New York Mafia Families

What does the mafia even do anymore? 

How to Make an Offer they can’t refuse like Vito Corleone

The Godfather by Mario Putzo [film/fictional book - watched Part 1 and 2]

Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires By Selwyn Raab [book - only read a bit]

When culture matters: succession challenges for Asian business families

Behind the Yakuza: documenting the women of Japan’s mafia

How Japan’s family businesses use sons-in-law to bring in new blood

Pretty much the whole of Hunterpedia LMAO. 

I only wanted to post the Chinese blog but ended up a huge full-on essay about the mafia in HxH HAHHAA. (Because I’m so sick of people talking about theories without taking the mafia structure into consideration). 

[lilover131]

Chapter 56 Analysis+Theories

AHHHHHH CHAPTER 56 AHHHHHH!!! <--Chrissy every time a chapter comes out

I wasn’t as hyped up about this one as I was for the last one thankfully, seeing as we didn’t have a super long wait, but I certainly don’t want to diminish in any way the importance of this chapter!!!

I won’t waste any time and will get right to it, so buckle in, cuz’ the theory train is coming! More under the cut!

 So I’ll start by saying that when I first read the chapter, it was 2 AM where I was. I had been sleeping and just kinda magically woke up right when the chapter just came out, so I like to think there was some fate there. But when I opened that chapter on my phone and the first thing I saw was that Syaoran color spread, I audibly gasped and instantly woke up a bit.

 I woke up not because it was absolutely stunning to look at, or even at the fact that we haven’t had Syaoran in a color page for a while. No, the thing that caught my attention was the serious atmosphere it contained and the tone that it seemingly set. To me, this was one of CLAMP’s subtle ways of saying “Prepare for the final battle”. I could be reading into it too much, but I was right about what I believed the Syaoran and Kaito color page insinuated, so I’m gonna stick to my guns here.

 We start off the chapter without a moment’s pause where we left off last time. It continues right from the last point of the conversation where Sakura dropped the bombshell that she had seen Kaito use magic. She seems to think that they may not believe her at first, but Syaoran interrupts her to affirm that he 100% believes her and that he even already knew. Sakura is naturally confused by this, but he finally FINALLY gets to tell her what he’s been dealing with this whole time, and it definitely seems to be an uncomfortable topic for him. But at least this time he got to tell Sakura truthfully that he hadn’t ever intended on keeping this from her but was physically not able to. Despite not needing to feel guilty about this, Syaoran seems uncomfortable for the simple fact that someone else had that much control over him, and he was unable to do a thing to stop it. It’s also important to keep in mind that Kero and Suppi were hearing this for the first time themselves as well (about the silencing at least).

 Not much time passes after this before Kero and Suppi fess up to also knowing about Kaito, but they admit that theirs was a conscious decision rather than force, but that they believe they too would have been silenced like Syaoran was had they attempted to speak. One could say that since they didn’t know Syaoran was silenced in the way he was that this is not entirely truthful or was just a bad decision, but in reality it still makes perfect sense why they thought to be more careful. They saw Kaito’s magic first hand violently take down Eriol, and if he could shut down a magician of that caliber from halfway across the world, then he could easily do the same or worse to the guardians. And since they also weren’t yet aware of his true intentions with Sakura, it would have been likely seen as dangerous to provoke him and possibly put Sakura in harm’s way. I guess the only thing that doesn’t make much sense to me is why Syaoran and the guardians didn’t collaborate and put together what they knew sooner. Even when Yue went to Syaoran’s apartment, the topic of Kaito or Eriol never came up, and since they both clearly had Sakura’s best interest in mind, I’m not sure specifically why they chose to keep their information to themselves when they both knew they had the same goal. This, I would say, was actually a bad decision on their part, but when it comes down to it, they’re not perfect and everyone makes mistakes (I think Cinzia made the same point here, so I apologize if it seems like I’m copying here! I just also agree when it comes to this).

 I’m actually going to pull in a little thing I learned from my counselor not long ago when I felt guilt over a particular decision I had made long ago, and that is that you can only work based on the emotions and information you have at the time. And because we don’t know the future, it is not possible to always make the right decisions, but there is also no telling if our decisions would have changed things for the better, so it is best not to dwell on them. I believe truly that based on what they knew at the time and through the experiences they had, they were likely only trying to protect each other, but missed that they could have probably helped each other. It’s easy to miss things when you’re on the defensive.

 What I love about Sakura after this is that she forgives them immediately. This is not the first time she’s had things hidden from her for her protection, and naturally it’s upsetting to not feel like you can be trusted to deal with the serious information. When Syaoran told her how he’d been hiding what he knew before, she was upset but more because she thought he suffered as a result. This time around though, they concealed things from her not because they were worried about how she’d handle it, but rather out of fear from what Kaito would do if they tried, so it’s a completely different reason and much easier to forgive. Sakura is able to differentiate this, because she is a very emotionally intelligent girl and a lot more observant than she gets credit for when it comes to reading people. She’s grown a lot and isn’t as ‘dense’ as she was in Elementary School.

 Then we get a precious gift of seeing Syaoran show off how smart he is, working out how Kaito managed to make them forget about said confrontation at the botanical garden. He’s probably thought about it a lot already, considering he mentioned before that he felt like someone made him forget something. But this time, he had additional information that Sakura was able to provide, and this was the final piece of the puzzle he needed. The most important detail that Sakura gave him was the location in particular, the botanical garden. He knew that that was where they intended to go, but that they had yet to go there. This prompted him to check his phone and see how much time might have passed without them realizing, and because he knew what time he had arranged to meet Sakura, 9:30 AM, he was able to observe that it was impossible for them to meet, go to the botanical garden, have this encounter with Kaito, and both get back to their houses in only 16 minutes. This meant it was not just a mere meddling of memories but rather time magic as it was the only explanation for the time discrepancy issue and memory loss. I can’t say how freaking proud I was of Syaoran for working this out. He’s such a smart boy, but I know that Sakura also would have been able to come to the same conclusion had she had more knowledge about the magical world. Sakura is running on pure instinct right now, which is super strong, but Syaoran really helps fill in those gaps where things don’t make sense for her, making them the perfect magical team!  

 The scene changes to Momo, who appears to be keeping tabs on the conversation (though it’s unclear if Kaito is aware while they are under Siege). And this part is perhaps the most worrying of the entire chapter, and I’m not talking about the line where the English translation says “Into the final act of your story”. That line in particular is a gross mistranslation cleared up by @meimi-haneoka​, who graciously gives us translation notes each month in comparison to the Japanese version. The actual line in fact says “Into the final act of THE story”. This changes the entire tone of that page as the first translation implies it is leading to Kaito’s death, whereas the Japanese translation actually more implies that we’re nearing the climax of the story. Momo’s facial expressions also match the wording of the Japanese translation better, as we know she does not seem to want Kaito to die, so she would certainly look more upset here if she were speaking of such a thing. Also, I have to speak up about how pretttyyyy Kaito looks in that panel. The way CLAMP designed that page is just stunning as always.

 HOWEVER

 Back to what I was saying before! The most concerning part of the chapter for me is the page right before that, where Momo says “Once a spell’s been seen for what it is, it all comes crumbling down. Particularly, where time magic is concerned. And that’s to say nothing of your target’s considerable power. Now everything you’d turned back time to undo. Everything you’ve succeeded in freezing…is beginning to move again”. So here comes Chrissy’s big crazy theory and possible overthinking, but bear with me here!

I think…that what they are saying here is that these moments that were frozen in time and turned back were cut off from the timeline and now floating in a separate space. And now these scenes, which were all intense in their own way and incredibly frustrating for us, are about to move forward.

….all of them….

….at the same time….

This concept isn’t exactly new in CLAMP series. It happened with Tsubasa where Syaoran turned back time to go back to a moment where he could take Sakura’s hand and keep her from being cursed, and to keep that moment ready until he could return, it was in its own separate dimension, cut off from the rest of the universe. Eventually, once he got there, time started to move forward again. Turning back time is a taboo in the magical world for a reason, and Kaito has done this over and over and over again. But also, wouldn’t it be so like CLAMP to say “Hey, we know you’ve been frustrated that all these scenes were seemingly amping up to a big confrontation, but then Kaito rewound time over and over, so how about we give those back….ALL AT THE SAME TIMMMMEE?”. Can you even imagine the consequences of such a thing? At least three of the occasions where Kaito turned back time, Akiho went into what I call ‘book-mode’, where she is no longer herself and tries to absorb Sakura along with her magic (and even succeeds on one occasion). Then there is also Syaoran and Kaito’s battle and Syaoran having his outburst about Kaito being a magician right in front of Akiho. It would be absolute utter chaos, and honestly I’d be living for it. Lmao.

If you believe that this line Momo said was simply to state that his time magic won’t work anymore and that things will continue to progress in this timeline, that would make perfect sense as well, so I don’t want to discount that. I’m just throwing out theories here based on what I know about CLAMP and concepts that are not out of the realm of possibility.

The scenes from here on out bounce a little bit back and forth from a continuation of the conversation with Syaoran and the guardians and present time with Akiho at school. I kinda like the way they did the transitions here, and it didn’t really feel awkward at any point but rather pulled up the relevant information when it was needed.

When Akiho comes in to the classroom, Sakura recalls how the topic of Akiho came up in the conversation from the day before. It’s natural for everyone to question at this point what she knows and if she is someone to be concerned about too. Syaoran mentions that he can’t detect any magic from her, which was something he had looked into from the very first day Akiho arrived at Tomoeda Middle (he knew literally nothing about her, but you know how transfer students go in this town. Lmao). Sakura drops another bombshell here by saying that she actually senses something in Akiho, but she is unclear of what that is and why she feels that way. It’s completely likely that she’s strong enough now to sense the suppressed magic spell the association and her clan put on her. I also noticed Syaoran seemed to tense up when Sakura said this, and I’m sure that this new information probably made him feel very uneasy. Sakura’s instincts are never wrong, and if she feels something, that means there is something, but to think that it’s something even Syaoran can’t sense would definitely be concerning.

 It is then that Syaoran decides to approach the idea of addressing Akiho directly about Kaito’s magic to see what she knows. Maybe at this point in time he is thinking “If she possibly has some sort of magic in her, then she might know already about Kaito”, but like Sakura, he has seen Akiho’s behavior as a person and probably believes that she is not doing anything malicious of her own accord. Perhaps he thinks that Akiho might be able to talk some sense into Kaito and put a stop to things. But the way he goes about it doesn’t push Sakura, but rather just offers it as a suggestion as something a bit more direct.

 Before we see Sakura’s response to this, we are back to Akiho in the classroom and she is very cheerful from having gone out with Kaito the day prior, and OMG CAN I JUST GUSH FOR A MOMENT ABOUT HOW FREAKING PRECIOUS SHE IS? She is seriously adorable, and the more I see her smile, the more it makes me want to burn her whole clan down to the ground for being so awful to her. But also, it reminds me how strong she is to have gone through everything she did and still smile and hold no hatred in her heart. I can’t honestly say I would be the same in her shoes, so it’s really admirable. For those My Hero Academia fans out there, remember Eri’s smile? You know the one I’m talking about. That’s how I feel every time Akiho smiles.

Anyways, back to Sakura’s response. She decides, in a very Sakura-like fashion, to avoid the subject with Akiho for now. It is true that they don’t fully understand who Kaito is and what his intentions are, but the one thing she does know is that he is considered precious to Akiho, and that at least says something about his character. Akiho herself also isn’t an idiot and is perceptive to Kaito’s feelings. Even when he’s smiling, she can tell when he’s actually hurting inside, so if he had bad intentions at all, that likely wouldn’t go unseen either, so Sakura decides that she’ll wait for Akiho to come to her first if the discussion between them needs to happen. I think this is a very mature decision on her part but also continues to show how much she considers the people around her and cares for them.

Back in the present, Akiho apologizes for talking so much, and Sakura tells her that she doesn’t mind and will listen to whatever she has to say. More than just trying to show good will as a friend, I think this is also her way of opening up the door to tell her “If you want to talk about more serious things, I’m here to listen as well”. That way, when the time comes, Akiho will feel comfortable having that conversation with her.

The scene moves on to Yukito’s home where all the guardians are having a nice little get together in their true forms. It’s not entirely necessary for all but Yue to do this, but I love it as we haven’t gotten to see much of them in these forms in the series so far, especially Spinel and Ruby Moon. Ruby Moon is surprised that they decided to go along with what Sakura said, which I suppose makes sense considering they’ve been kinda doing their own thing up until now. But it turns out that it was Syaoran who made the final decision, and the others just took his lead.

 I love that Syaoran was so comfortable just trusting Sakura and realizing that this time, they needed to let her make some choices, especially since it concerned her the most. Moreover, I love that Kero, Suppi, and Yue just basically caved when Syaoran agreed. This shows how much they respect the opinion of not just Sakura, but Syaoran too. They could have easily gone off and continued to work secretly without Sakura, but they didn’t do that. It obviously didn’t work well for them before anyways.

 I cracked up when Ruby Moon mentioned how much Syaoran has grown a lot and used to be a ‘pouty brat’ back when they were in Japan the last time (in his defense, Eriol was screwing with him a lot, so he had a lot of good reasons for the bratty attitude. Lmao). But Kero and Yue’s responses are just precious. They both have the same expression initially, but their actual responses seem to differ quite a bit. Kero states that he will always be a brat to him and that he’s only grown ‘a little’. This is classic Kero essentially saying he agrees that he’s grown a lot, but he won’t admit it yet, hence why Spinel calls him childish. Hahahaha.

Yue’s response however makes me absolutely melt. He states he’s not upset about the mention of Syaoran’s growth, but that that he doesn’t think they “should be in such a hurry to grow up”. He sounds just like a freaking dad here who is happy to see his children grow up, but is also wanting to them to slow down and stay children simultaneously. I am absolutely living for it, and I love seeing how soft he gets when it comes to them. -squeals-

Despite how lighthearted this scene is, I’m gonna put out another theory here that might seem like I’m overthinking and perhaps makes this appear a bit darker than possibly intended. My thought was “Why did CLAMP put such focus on this subject right now?”. They could have simply stated that they decided to go along with Sakura and been done with it, but the made a point to talk about the children’s growth as human beings, particularly Syaoran. Now where am I going with this you ask? Perhaps it’s the Tsubasa PTSD speaking, but when CLAMP has dialogue like this, it usually it done quite purposely at times, because it is meant to enhance our emotions when a particular moment comes later on. So when I thought “Now, why would they be talking so much about how Syaoran’s grown emotionally and how much Kero and Yue care about him?”. I think they are trying to emphasize how much people in general care about him. CLAMP showed it again recently with Touya, who threatened Kaito and purposely included Syaoran in his statement, and again when Kaito pointed his staff at Syaoran and Sakura reacted. CLAMP is pointing out right now how much people care about Syaoran, and I think this is once again a signal that something bad is going to happen to Syaoran, and I think it’s going to be soon.

 Now, Cinzia actually recently found my reaction to spoilers of chapter 1 of Clear Card (that’s right, chapter 1 from all the way back in 2016), and from the very beginning, I have been screaming at the top of my lungs that I had the worst feeling that something bad was going to happen to Syaoran. I imagine some of you are probably tiring of hearing it from me. Lmao. So here we are, 55 chapters and numerous bad dreams later, and I finally feel like that time is really really close. I’m calling it right now that it will probably happen within the next 4-5 chapters, and if I’m wrong, I will eat my words, but them even putting Syaoran on the color page all by himself for this chapter gives me more reason to think that “that time” is approaching.

 That is a good transition for me to talk about the last part of this chapter. We are finally getting some progress on this play Naoko has been writing, and the moment she mentioned it was about “Twin Alices”, I thought to myself “this is going to be where the climax happens”. The pieces are coming together for it, and we’ve finally gotten to hear the premise of this play. We all knew Naoko would ask Sakura and Akiho to play the main roles, but it’s unclear what the role she wants for Syaoran will be when she inevitably peer pressures him into it. Lol. But I’m telling you, I really think this play is where shit is going to hit the fan and we’ll finally get some real answers.

I can’t wait to see what happens from here on out, but it’s very clear to me that things are just going to get more and more intense from here on out!!

[ddarker-dreams]

That last ask got me thinking! How would the bucci gang react to meeting SR reader's family? Not all of them but like a visiting grandparent(who is likely very unaware their precious grandchild is working with the mob to pay off awful debts-which reader would like to keep that way), but like who's falling all over themselves to impress said relative, who would be subtly trying to get their blessing to date reader, what shenanigans would reader the gang go to keep this person in the dark??

ohhh what an interesting situation!!! some of them would definitely handle it better than others...

Here’s the general concept! Reader’s grandparents are coming to pay their granddaughter a visit in Naples, under the impression she’s been studying there the past few years. Reader has asked some of the members of her team to further validate her story. I imagine everyone as trying to actively court Reader to some extent during this. :’)))

Bruno Bucciarati; 

Bruno is a revered member of the community. Any of the troublesome details of his Passione involvements would be lost in translation, so you figured he’s a safe bet. He’s also the member who is most familiar with your situation. While he speaks under the pretense of being professional, he would love to have that connection with your family for... any future possibilities. Marriage possibilities. 

He spots you in a mild state of panic, and boasting the compassionate heart he has, is led to ask if you want to talk to him about it. When you explain that some of your foreign family is coming to visit, he can immediately read between the lines. You need to play this part perfectly. He’ll offer to accompany you on one of his less busier days, willing to do whatever it is that’d help. 

The language barrier doesn’t matter too much! Bruno is still a gentlemen. Opening doors for them, pulling out their chairs, offering to pay for any of your meals... he’s very kind. Your grandparents are going to be quite fond of him by the end of your day together. All according to his plan. 

Unfortunately for you, Bruno is going to be offering lots of praise that he fully expects you to translate. It’s a bit embarrassing how genuine he’s being. Speaking about how hard a worker you are, how nothing gets in your way, stuff like that. Your face is on fire as you translate the heartfelt compliments. You end up toning them down a bit for your sake. 

“[First] is one of the most reliable people I know. You should take pride in having helped bring up someone like her. I promise I’ll continue to look after her, you have nothing to worry about.” 

“Ahh... Bucciarati, do I really need to tell them that...?” 

Giorno Giovanna;

He speaks some English! Giorno did well in his classes at school, so he can understand the basics. Having a knowledge of multiple languages in his position is also a benefit, so he never fully stopped studying it. Though he’d prefer not to mess up any of the pronunciation in front of you. He’ll be practicing in secret as not to embarrass himself, and definitely thinks this is a great opportunity to get closer to you. It’s a shame he can’t take full advantage of it, but he’s going to try to. 

Giorno hasn’t really had any positive family interactions, but he’s still good with people. Unfortunately, in his new position, he’s extremely busy. He still tries to make time for you when he can, but won’t be able to hang out with the three of you as much as he’d like to. He does find the time to come to the airport with you, under the pretense that a lot of shady business goes on there. He wouldn’t want your family being scammed. Don’t ask how he knows about this...

The entire car ride to their hotel will be filled with pleasant conversation. Giorno is a natural at reading the room, and backs your story up to perfection. Any potential discrepancies are covered up with ease. He came in for a clean save at least once or twice when you made a mistake, and you couldn’t thank him enough after.

Giorno isn’t going to want to pry into your personal life, but would be highly amused over any stories they tell him. Even though it’s only a forty minute drive, he enjoyed his time a lot more than he expected to, learning some new things about you in the process. You’re a bit frazzled over the person who is technically your boss (even if he’s not big on formalities...) knowing about your embarrassing childhood stories. He finds it endearing. :’)

He’s gonna bring it up afterwards during a casual discussion, sporting a little devious smile. 

“So, [First], do you want to tell me about that time you got stuck in a swing set again? It seems quite unlike you.” 

“God... I can’t believe they told you that. I was hoping you wouldn’t understand it well.”  

Guido Mista;

Oh no.

You’re going to have to explain to him that a few changes will need to occur if he is to meet your grandparents. For one, he needs to take a shower. Two, he needs something that at least covers his midriff. If there conditions are met, you’ll allow it. He is not missing out on this opportunity to win you over, so he’s surprisingly amiable to these conditions, ready to do his best to make a good impression. You’ve never see him so agreeable.

You do have to keep reminding him of the story that you’re sticking to. Mista makes a few mistakes here and there, but manages to laugh it off. Since you’re going to be translating a majority of his sentences it’s not a big deal. That doesn’t mean he won’t at least try to say a few words in English... results varying. 

The most difficult part is trying to ignore the Pistols, who are swarming around in excitement. They keep speaking to your grandparents like they can hear them. Asking for embarrassing stories, to know about your past partners, or for any cute childhood photos of you. Mista struggles to keep a composed look when all this is happening.  

“Say, [First]. Your grandparents... they aren’t Stand users, are they?”

“No, Mista. My grandparents aren’t Stand users.” 

To be honest, you weren’t too sure if Mista tagging along for some sightseeing would be the best idea. It goes a lot better than you expected. Some of his comments that you translate actually get your grandparents laughing! What a miracle, he’s gonna be grinning ear to ear. Mista is just a lovable guy. 

He is going to 100% try and sneak in a question about your relationship status when you’re not paying attention. Mista has to make sure you’re still on the market. B) 

Pannacotta Fugo; 

He’s actually your go to for this situation. It couldn’t be a better setup. Fugo is intelligent, can speak English the most fluently out of everyone in your team, and would be a big help for sightseeing. As soon as he heard about your grandparents visiting, he knew it was only a matter of time until you came to him for help. At first, he was intent on politely turning you down, but god... how can he? You’re too cute, looking at him like that, saying you need his help. Fuck, he’s so whipped for you lmao. 

Fugo is the most anxious about it. What if your grandparents don’t like him? What if he accidentally says something offensive? Or even worse, what if he blows your cover, and you hate him forever? He’s gonna being shutting himself in his room, refreshing his English nonstop. You have to admire his dedication. 

When the time finally comes, it goes a lot smoother than he anticipated. There’s no humiliating himself in front of you like he feared. Fugo is a bit stiff at first, but with your help, begins to ease up. He’s an amazing tour guide! Fugo knows the best places to go, what times they’ll be busy, the historical and cultural significance of every place, etc. When he starts talking about trivia you can tell he’s in his element. 

It’s going so well. That is, until your grandma says you have such a nice boyfriend. Fugo’s entire face goes beet red. If only. 

“A-ah, Mrs. [Last], we’re not dating, actually.” 

“We aren’t, but... you’re right. Fugo is amazing, isn’t he? There’s nothing he can’t do. I appreciate him a lot.” 

On that day, Pannacotta Fugo’s soul ascended. He legitimately cannot stop thinking about this. For you, his crush of many years, to compliment him so genuinely? Fugo.exe has stopped responding .

Narancia Ghirga;

He kinda invites himself along? Narancia is giving himself a bunch of pep talks, thinking of all the things he can say. His train of thought is that if he speaks English well, it’ll impress you! There’s nothing he wants more in this world than for you to think he’s cool and reliable. The problem is that most of his knowledge of English is only from music. So he’s more familiar with vulgarities than anything else. 

You’re understandably hesitant to allow Narancia to tag along. Then he makes the solid point to you that Aerosmith’s radar would come in handy, detecting any potential threats. Narancia is going to be sporting the brightest smile when you concede and say he can come with you, practically vibrating with excitement. He promises that you won’t regret picking him. 

The place he picks to go is a local pizzeria. In his opinion, the pizza you’ve spoken of back home is an insult to humanity. Naples style is the only way to go. He insists on letting your grandparents try “real” pizza, as opposed to whatever your country has. 

Narancia reminiscences about a lot of your past stories together. Nothing that has incriminating undertones, just casual stuff from your years of knowing one another. You’re almost surprised by how he’s remembered all of this. He can’t help it, any time spent with you has been forever imprinted into his mind. 

“So, there was this one time we spent hours looking for [First]’s lost wallet. Come to find out that she just left it in the glove department after we spent the entire evening searching for it. And then--” 

“Narancia, do you have to bring that up? It’s so embarrassing...” 

Leone Abbacchio; 

You’re going to have to pull out some incredible arguments to get him to come along with you. He’s going to say no before you even get the chance to ask, already sensing what it is you’re going to say. So be ready to break out some Ace Attorney level stuff or it’s no dice. He’s already offering special treatment by even letting you try to convince him, anyone else would’ve been shooed away. He has a big soft spot for you :’)...

The most you’ll get him to agree to is one dinner. That’s it. Abbacchio has a lot of baggage with him, and doesn’t think highly of himself. To be honest he’s wondering why you’re even relying on him here. It’s strange, since he appreciates the trust you must have for him, but also doesn’t think it’s deserved. 

He cleans up well. Abbacchio is going to take this occasion very seriously. For most of the dinner he listens to you speaking, rarely offering input unless he finds it necessary. When he does speak he’s more polite than you’ve ever heard him though. You almost wondered if it was Abbacchio who was speaking, and not some imposter. So he is capable of having manners when he wants to... 

He’ll also pay for the dinner, much to your surprise. Will insist on it even. Abbacchio tells you to let them order whatever desserts/wine they want. He’s pulling all the stops to make a good impression. 

“Abba, you really didn’t have to do all that. Please at least let me reimburse some of it.” 

“Would you stop bringing it up already...? They’re your family, so it’s only natural I’d take care of them.” 

Trish Una; 

As the only non Passione member on this list, Trish is an excellent choice! Her singing career is really starting to take off. Your family will find her to be impressive. You’ll have to think of a story for how the two of you are familiar with one another. You can’t very well say you used to be her bodyguard protecting her from assassins lmao.  

Since she needs to travel a lot to different venues for her career, Trish’s English is steadily improving. She’ll normally text you for help if anything is particularly challenging. The biggest challenge would be aligning your schedules together, at the same time they’re visiting. Trish has a way of making time for you. 

One of the things Trish loves to do is give gifts from her travels. So she’ll show up with some little souvenirs for them. It’s a very heartfelt gesture that they appreciate, and she even gives you a gift or two. The queen of good impressions. 

Throughout the years, Trish has managed to gather a sizeable collection of selfies from when you’ve spent time together. At some of her albums release parties, trips to the beach, the times you’ve travelled together. She’s going to have a lot of fun going through her hundreds of photos of you and showing them. 

“Trish, you almost need a SD card for all of these. Just how many pictures of us do you have?”

“Oh, this is just the beginning, [First]. I have a whole other album of when we went to Milan last spring.” 

[cheri-translates]

[CN] S2 Gavin and MC in Chapter 2 - Part One

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for Season 2🍒

This takes place on the same evening as S1 Chapter 1. So read it first if you need a refresher! 

Timeline: Chapter 1 -> Chapter 2 -> R&S

Had to split this into three parts because it’s too long for one post!

Note: I won’t be doing main storyline translations for the other guys because I don’t have time to read the rest! 😭

Ch 2 begins with MC rushing to her company to find a group of reporters waiting at the entrance

What happened was that the STF received a tip that a large amount of prohibited drugs were found in the company’s warehouse, called “小针筒” ( “xiao zhen tong”) which directly translates to “small syringes”)

The reporters soon spot MC and barrage her with questions. MC tries to enter the company but can’t because of the crowd

??: Step aside.

A chilly voice appears. Along with the night breeze, the air surrounding the crowd lowers by several degrees in an instant. 

The people part into two sides on their own, in awe and veneration. At the end of this path, I see the face of Gavin. 

The boundless night causes his white uniform to appear even colder. His handsome brows are knitted tightly, and his gaze is deep as he walks towards me. 

Gavin: You’re the legal representative of [MC’s Company Name]?

There isn’t a hint of warmth in his voice. I take a deep breath, clenching my hands into fists.

MC: Yes. 

Gavin: [MC’s Company Name] is involved in the distribution of prohibited drugs. To cooperate with the investigation, please follow us to STF.

MC: Although I don’t know anything about what happened, I’m willing to cooperate with STF’s work. 

I raise both of my clenched fists in front of him. 

Gavin lowers his eyes to the fists I’ve raised. He casts a glance at the media personnel in the surroundings, then stares at me deeply, blinking slowly. 

With a ‘kacha’, he personally handcuffs my wrists. The cold light from the handcuffs, along with the continuous photoflashes, illuminate the night. 

Gavin: I’ll escort her myself. 

Before they embark to STF, Gavin is basically in Commander Mode™ and assigns work to various teams. Once he’s done, he asks MC:

Gavin: Isn’t there anything you want to tell me?

With this brief question, I lift my head and look into the rearview mirror.

Gavin’s gaze seems to have been waiting for a long time. 

I’m about to say something, but decide to purse my lips in the end, swallowing back the words. 

MC: Not “now.”

Gavin’s hands pause momentarily on the steering wheel. He retracts his gaze on the rearview mirror, and the air returns to silence. 

Gavin: We’ll talk in STF then.

In STF, MC has to remove all her devices and jewellery. Then, she waits in the interrogation room

MC starts pondering on how she has tried her best to avoid any large discrepancies in this world. Even so, Kiro’s anti-fans, the circulation of prohibited drugs, and Black Swan Core were not things that she recalls happening

She senses that there’s something off about this world, but can’t put a finger on it

The door opens to reveal an interrogator in his early 20s, and he doesn’t look amenable to reason

He fires questions at her harshly and she responds like a BOSS.

We get some important information from the interrogation: Apparently, the drugs enable Evolvers to have heightened abilities. If normal people use them, it could stimulate Evol abilities

Interrogator: Are you the enemy of the STF or the Special Operations Team?

His words leave me stunned. I lower my head and look at the handcuffs on my wrists. Gavin’s profile surfaces in my mind. 

I gradually loosen my tense shoulders, leaning my back against the chair. I lift my head, staring at the interrogator with resoluteness. 

MC: As long as the STF always perseveres in the direction of righteousness, and have every bullet fired in the name of justice, I’ll never be your enemy.

Interrogator: What if there comes a day when the STF leaves its path?

This question seems to slip out of his mouth without him realising it. But the corners of my lips lift slightly.

MC: At that time, there’ll be someone who will steer it back to the way it was. Because he’d never turn his back on the direction of justice. 

Hearing this, he suddenly laughs. 

The doors of the interrogation room are flung open. With a livid expression, Gavin walks in, glaring at him furiously.

Gavin: Tang Chao!

Tang Chao: I’m here!

The target of Gavin’s rebuke shrugs his shoulders, standing up gloomily. He teasingly leans over to Gavin, patting his shoulder flatteringly.

It’s as though he knows the art of changing faces.

[Note] MC is talking about 变脸 (“bian lian”), which is a Chinese drama art form where the actors use a device to change a mask on their face quickly.

Gavin: Participating in an interrogation on your own accord, violating...

Tang Chao: Commander Gavin, please listen to my explanation!

Tang Chao whispers something into Gavin’s ear, and Gavin’s brows smoothen out

MC guesses that Tang Chao told him about the contents of the interrogation

Once he’s done, Tang Chao hums a tune and prepares to leave the room

Gavin: But it’s still a violation. It will be marked as a minor offence. Report to the field. Twenty rounds. Close the door.

The bgm turns tense

After a moment of thinking, he walks over and removes the handcuffs on my wrists. 

His line of sight falls onto the slight redness of my wrists caused by the friction of the handcuffs, and his brows knit.

As though forcing himself to focus his concentration on what’s before him, he sits on the interrogator’s seat. 

Gavin: We’re now in the STF. Is there anything you want to tell me?

The same question as the one in the car. 

Our eyes meet. Perhaps he has been waiting for my answer all this time. 

MC starts explaining that her company has never been involved in the circulation of the drugs, but Gavin cuts her off and says that isn’t what he’s asking about

He asks if MC was the one who reported her own company to STF

MC wonders how he found out about it and Gavin is just REALLY COOL as he explains how he came to this deduction through the process of elimination

MC: It could also be... that my company was truly involved in the circulation of the drugs, and that someone discovered it and reported it?

I look at Gavin tentatively. 

His certainty that I was set up - is it because of the results from the interrogation with Tang Chao, or because he doesn’t doubt my words? 

With this, Gavin releases a cold “hmph”, as though he heard an interesting joke. 

Gavin: Have you done such a thing? 

MC: Of course I haven’t!

Gavin: So why should I waste my time on unnecessary inferences?

I freeze, and all the unease vanishes in an instant. My heart feels light, and I can’t help but lower my head with a smile. 

Gavin didn’t suspect me. He never did. 

Gavin: [coughs]. Back to the main subject.

MC confesses that she was the person who planned it. She planted fake drugs, and they were meant to lure the real circulators out

Gavin then points out that she didn’t have to implicate her own company

MC tells Gavin that she had three reasons for doing what she did. What Gavin pointed out was the second

The first reason was because she needed a safe place to talk to Gavin. To tell him about her suspicions that there’s a traitor in STF

Turns out Gavin already noticed it

SMART BOY is proud of himself:

Gavin’s suspicions were raised because the report relating to Kiro’s anti-fan incident didn't reach him (the anti-fan had traces of needles on his arm + he wasn’t very mentally stable - so he either injected himself with “Small Syringes” or it was forced onto him)

As for the third reason, MC tells him that it isn’t important -  it was so she could tell him the truth asap when she got the chance. However, since Gavin never misunderstood her in the first place, she doesn’t bring it up

MC starts feeling dejected because her plans to tell Gavin that there was an internal issue with STF were somewhat unnecessary, and Gavin had figured out MC’s plan so quickly

As though Gavin senses that I'm feeling slightly defeated, he casts his glance towards the floor, placing a hand on the nape of his neck.

Gavin: But all of these are just my conjectures. 

MC: Hm?

Gavin: Even though your actions are quite dangerous, they can prove my conjectures from a different perspective. In order to bring the truth to light. 

Is he... comforting me?

Gavin: But the reputational damage to your company - have you considered it?

MC: Of course. But I didn’t do those things, so I believe in proving my innocence. 

I tilt my chin slightly with a confident smile. Gavin seems to be infected by me, the corners of his lips curling upwards quietly. 

MC tries asking Gavin to supply information to her if the STF finds any, but he flatly refuses her. He’s confident in STF’s abilities to catch the guy behind the circulation

Gavin stands up and walks towards me, returning me my phone and jewellery. At the same time, he tosses me a bracelet. 

Suddenly, he freezes for a moment, as though he noticed something.

MC: What’s wrong? 

Gavin: You..

Gavin’s lips part slightly, but he doesn’t continue. His gaze once again lands on the ginkgo bracelet he just tossed over. 

I stare at the bracelet, then raise my head to look at Gavin. Puzzled, I lift it up.

MC: Is there a problem with this bracelet? 

Gavin: Have you been wearing it the whole of today?

Images of me coincidentally bumping into Gavin during the day resurface in my mind. 

I also remember that when I was held back, there was a foreign yet clumsy touch on my wrist.

At the time, I couldn’t see his expression clearly. Since Gavin didn’t make mention of it, I didn’t ask either.

Gavin: Aren’t you going to ask why I put this bracelet on for you earlier?

MC: Wearing this tracker is a way I show my trust. 

Gavin’s eyes suddenly grow sharp, but he conceals it in a second. He speaks in a slightly languid manner.

Gavin: What did you say?

I’m suddenly at a loss for words, realising that I shouldn’t have said what I did.

MC: I... was joking. I just thought it was something you'd say. After all, you wouldn’t give me a gift out of nowhere. 

Gavin: Why not? 

His sudden question leaves me at a loss, but he doesn’t seem to need an answer from me. 

Gavin: Forget it. Give me your hand. 

MC: Hm?

Gavin grips my wrist, then takes the ginkgo bracelet from my hand and carefully puts it on for me. 

Gavin: It wasn’t up to standard the last time, so I’ll do it again this time. 

MC: You need to be so particular about putting on a “tracker”?

The light ginkgo bracelet reflects specks of light, without a hint of a dangerous aura.

He smiles, the light in his eyes refreshing and evident, like the coolest breeze in summer.

Gavin: Of course.

He responds lightly, meticulously hooking the bracelet. His fringe brushes his eyes, waves rippling in his amber eyes under the light.

His fingers are reminiscent of thin cocoons, gently brushing across my wrist, bringing with it a certain warmth.

Looking at such a Gavin, I think of a day from a very long time ago, when he had once meticulously helped me put on a ginkgo bracelet.

After going around in a circle, we have returned to our original places. 

Gavin: All right, don’t take it off again next time. 

MC: Aren’t I undergoing an interrogation? They prohibited me from bringing along any equipment or jewellery.

Gavin: There’s no need to remove it next time. Just say that I was the one who put it on for you.

He says this unexpectedly, leaving me seated in a daze, not returning to my senses even after a long time.

Gavin: How many more times do you want to be interrogated?

MC: No more, no more. 

I hurriedly get to my feet and run after Gavin, noticing his slightly tender smile. 

He coughs lightly. Before he opens the door, he turns to look at me. 

The music is gentle and everything is beautiful

He tells her that STF will investigate the drugs incident, and will clear the name of MC’s company. Which is why she no longer has to get involved in this matter. 

MC refuses

aND THEN THE MUSIC GETS TENSE AGAIN

Hearing me say this, the warm atmosphere disintegrates in an instant. Gavin’s eyebrows are tightly knit, and he looks slightly irritated. 

Gavin: You no longer want your life because of your work with Black Swan? Miss Nox?!

He shouts the name solemnly, leaning his hand against the wall next to me. His voice brings with it conflict and vexation.

[Note] I've included the audio clip here for your listening pleasure

His sudden and evident anger gives me a fright.

MC: ...that’s not it.

I lower my head. When I see that the tips of our feet are about to touch, a sourness surfaces in my heart. 

If this drug can really heighten Evol, and can cause Evol to awaken in normal people, it definitely has an inescapable link to Black Swan Core. 

I’ve been thinking back to the reasons why I started all over again, but the speed at which things are developing in this world have not given me much opportunity to do so.

Black Swan Core is this world’s biggest hint to me. 

And this drug could be a certain key closest to it. 

In order to return to how things were before. In order for all of us to see a simple and insignificant tomorrow.

I need the answer this drug can bring.

I lift my head slowly, looking at Gavin who is standing before me.

MC: This has nothing to do with BS. Everything I’ve done is for myself. In order to complete what I want to do, I’m not afraid of anything. 

Gavin: Is this goal the same reason why you joined Black Swan?

His face is illuminated by the chilly lights. In his cold eyes, I see a complete me. 

MC: Yes. 

-

They leave the interrogation room

Tang Chao stands outside and has a report - the drugs in MC’s company were actual “Small Syringes”. Someone had swapped them

Before MC even starts panicking, it turns out Gavin has everything under control. The doors to STF have been sealed shut, and they can now catch the person who has been causing the internal trouble

Gavin: MC, don’t go off on your own. Wait for my arrangements. Tang Chao, take care of her. 

Tang Chao takes her to a special room in STF which has around a hundred images of what’s happening in STF

Lu Yi is also around (the guy whose Evol allows him to control the flow of information i.e. he can send footage over to Gavin when needed

Tang Chao comments that his Evol is being able to tell if someone is lying

He gives her a earpiece which allows her to hear all of Gavin’s sexy commands. Tang Chao explains that Gavin wanted her to have the earpiece for ease of communication

I touch this tiny earpiece gently. Hearing Gavin’s familiar voice causes one to feel at ease.

Tang Chao points at a tiny button on the earpiece, signalling that she can talk if she presses it. But she just can’t feel for it, so he reaches out...

Tang Chao: The button is...

Gavin: Tang Chao, put your hands away. 

Tang Chao: Commander Gavin, I haven't even touched her!

Gavin: If you do, your punishment of running will be doubled. 

In the middle of the screens, Gavin’s arms are across his chest. While he waits for information on the next suspect, he looks into the camera coldly.

Gavin shouldn’t be able to see what’s happening, but Tang Chao is still trembling at the side. 

Gavin: You should know that I wasn’t lying about what I said. 

Tang Chao: Ah Sir, that’s not how my Evol works. I’ve been industriously listening in on whether these fellows have been telling lies. 

Gavin: Then listen properly. MC, stay further away from him.

I laugh softly, taking a step away from Tang Chao in a joking manner. 

With a bitter expression on his face, Tang Chao runs to a corner, while Lu Yi nods at me in resignation. 

Tang Chao: Captain Gavin, I’m someone who knows your little secret. Could you lessen my punishment by two rounds?

Gavin: You can try.

In her mind, MC notes that despite how tense the situation is, everyone is pretty calm

Whether it’s Tang Chao or Lu Yi, they are simply one part of this group of talented individuals.

And Gavin is the captain of this special operations team.

Actually, I’m confused as to why Tang Chao would tell me all these things so directly. 

In a corner, Tang Chao seems to sense my confusion. He points at Gavin on the screen. 

Tang Chao: It was all Captain Gavin’s idea. 

AND THEN GAVIN LOOKS INTO THE CAMERA AND MC NOTES THAT THEIR EYES ‘MEET’ LOL

I suddenly recollect the time I re-lived my 16 year old self. 

Watermelons, bubbling soda, electronic fans and the incessant cries of cicadas, the rustling of pens and the voice of teachers have formed the musical notes of summer.

The youth who ran over from the window wearing a loose shirt - this time, I can finally see his eyes clearly. 

They contain the same light as the him on screen - direct and candid.

-

Part Two: here

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】Tears of Themis: Main Story 6-16 Translation

Translation Masterlist | Video

Chapter 6 – Tiger’s Accomplice Ghost (Parts 1, 2): 6-1 / 6-3 / 6-5 / 6-7 / 6-9 / 6-11 / 6-13 / 6-15 ♦️ ♦️  6-16 / 6-18 / 6-20 / 6-22 / 6-24 / 6-26 / 6-27 / 6-28 / 6-29

--

NXX Base

On Wednesday morning, Lu Jinghe pushed open the main door to the base’s meeting room.

Lu Jinghe: Hah, I haven’t seen wrong, right? You’re surprisingly here, Mo Yi.

Lu Jinghe lifted his hand and looked at his watch, his meaning self-evident.

Mo Yi: If I said that I have not slept all night, would you also run outside to see where the sun has risen from?

Lu Jinghe: That wouldn’t be necessary. No matter how the sun rises and sets, it all won’t affect me.

Xia Yan: Sure enough, the transmission of data on this wristband has problems.

As if he hadn’t heard Lu Jinghe’s and Mo Yi’s dialogue, only after Xia Yan had finished with the work in his hands did he greet Lu Jinghe.

Xia Yan: You came pretty early.

Xia Yan: Why are you dressed so formally? NXX doesn’t have formalwear work requirements, right.

Lu Jinghe: I’m about to go hold a board meeting at the company – just taking the time to come to the base first to check some materials.

Mo Yi: There are results on the wristband inspection?

Xia Yan: Mhmm. Based on the hardware, the wristband we got from Wang Han doesn’t have any differences from typical health wristbands.

Xia Yan: But looking at the direction of data transmission, it doesn’t only collect in the Heirson examination centre’s cloud health system.

Xia Yan: I’m still tracking the exact recipient address, and I’ve already set up a program to crack it.

Xia Yan: Although it’s hard to estimate how much more time needs to be spent for now.

Xia Yan: If the data flows outside of borders, the time spent on inspection will increase by several times.

Mo Yi: I’ve already done comparative screening through the night on the examination centre’s examination report you gave me yesterday.

Last night, Xia Yan cracked the Heirson examination centre’s encrypted database, getting an examination report that had been partially specifically encrypted.

Mo Yi: From just the chemical experiment indicators, I can preliminarily estimate that the portion of participants with abnormal mental states is very high.

Mo Yi: But there is a very large discrepancy with the severity of their symptoms and their exact illness.

Mo Yi: I did a simple comparison to the cases of abnormal mental states already listed in “X-Note” and was able to find some coinciding people.

Lu Jinghe: So for the next step, you intend to directly contact the people in the cases and investigate their relationship to Heirson?

Mo Yi: That’s right. If we consider Mu Ziyou as a single piece of evidence, we might be able to find more illness cases.

Xia Yan: Lu Jinghe, you… ss…

Xia Yan stood up from in front of the computer, and was about to walk towards Lu Jinghe when he suddenly clutched at his left waist and sucked in a breath.

Lu Jinghe: What happened to you?

Mo Yi: …

Xia Yan: I’m fine, I’m fine. I pulled a muscle from suddenly standing after sitting for a long time.

As he spoke, Xia Yan took out a subdivided medicine container, held up a cup, and ate two pills.

Mo Yi: I saw you eating this medicine last night. What does it treat?

Xia Yan: Medicine? Oh, you’re talking about this?

Xia Yan waved the medicine container.

Xia Yan: This isn’t medicine to treat illnesses. It’s used to wake me up – a Ministry of Security secret formula.

Xia Yan: Agents are also normal people; we’ll also get tired if we haven’t slept all night.

Mo Yi: …

Lu Jinghe: Could you give me two pills? I slept late yesterday, and if I fall asleep at the board meeting later, I’m afraid I’ll get on the news again.

Xia Yan: I can let you eat some, but I can’t let you take the medicine away.

Xia Yan: Who knows if you’ll take it to Pax Pharmaceuticals to analyze the formula and mass produce it? Then I’ll have leaked its secrets.

Lu Jinghe: Aiya, you saw through me. Then I won’t randomly eat those medicines.

Lu Jinghe’s words were said meaningfully, and he also specifically shot a glance at Xia Yan’s medicine container at the end.

Xia Yan: How about you talk about the investigation progress on your side of things.

Lu Jinghe: With Heirson manufacturing illegal medications, Qin Shan wouldn’t be the only person in the know in the entire company.

Lu Jinghe: The backbones of the company, his aides, would probably know.

Lu Jinghe: It’s very hard for Qin Shan to regain consciousness now. I plan to start by checking on the people around him.

Lu Jinghe: And I also have an initial direction regarding exactly how Qin Shan was “poisoned”.

Lu Jinghe took out his phone and displayed a news article on its screen.

Mo Yi: The incident of Heirson staff members jumping from a building?

Lu Jinghe: Correct. A few years ago, news on Heirson factory staff committing suicide due to unbearable work pressure were revealed, one after another, online.

Lu Jinghe: But it seems like it was all heavy thunder with little rainfall. After the news passed its peak, no one ever mentioned it again.

Lu Jinghe: Zuo Ran’s been tracking the Xu Ping case this whole time. Xu Ping was also a Heirson staff member, and he also committed suicide.

Lu Jinghe: Then could there also be something strange about Heirson’s suicide cases from before?

Lu Jinghe: I came to the base because I wanted to check if I could find a list of names on related staff members.

Xia Yan: Speaking of which, we don’t know how the investigation on Zuo Ran’s side is going.

Just as the sound of Xia Yan’s voice fell, the three people took their phones with unplanned, identical timing and opened the chat screen…

--

City Police Station

Today morning, I came with Zuo Ran to the city police station. Yan Wei was still dealing with official business, so he had us wait a bit for him in the office.

MC: I looked through the briefing that Leader Yan sent on my way here.

MC: Xunye’s boss, Zhang Zhian, collaborated with others to rob armored vehicles in non-local areas 15 years ago.

MC: It was also 15 years ago that he fled to Stellis City. After that, the name “Zhang Zhian” disappeared, and it was replaced with “Qing Zhian”.

MC: The person who created a fake identity was called Gu Wei.

Zuo Ran: This Gu Wei is the deceased husband of Chen Hanzhang, and the founder of Wiley Financial.

MC: Deceased husband?

I had never paid attention to Chen Hanzhang’s marriage status, so it was somewhat surprising when being brought up now. I was just about to ask Zuo Ran when my phone suddenly vibrated several times in succession.

MC: What’s the matter…

I turned on my phone and took a look – Xia Yan, Mo Yi, and Lu Jinghe had sent messages to me individually.

Zuo Ran: What is it, have you encountered an issue?

MC: No, it’s just that the three of them all sent messages, asking me how the investigation process was going.

Zuo Ran: …

MC: Weird, they could’ve just directly asked in the group chat, so why’d they send messages individually.

I held up my phone and directly responded to the three of them in the NXX group chat.

--

[MC]: Morning everyone.

[Xia Yan]: Morning, have you eaten breakfast?

[Mo Yi]: Good morning. Are you already working?

[Lu Jinghe]: Morning, jiejie, where are you right now?

>I ate breakfast >I’m already working >I’m at the police station

[MC]: Of course I’ve eaten breakfast – Lawyer Zuo specially made it for me.

[Xia Yan]: So it looks like you ate breakfast on the way? That’s not too good.

[Mo Yi]: Mhmm, I agree about that.

[Lu Jinghe]: If you said earlier that you would be eating on the way, I could’ve had the chef at my place make some and sent it over to you.

[Zuo Ran]: The next time you want to know about the investigation progress, then directly ask in the group chat, so communication will be more efficient.

 >I ate breakfast >I’m already working >I’m at the police station

[MC]: Mhmm! I’ve already started work. Lawyer Zuo and I came to meet an important witness.

[Mo Yi]: Witness? Looks like Xu Ping’s package isn’t that easy to get.

[Xia Yan]: Do side issues keep coming up?

[Lu Jinghe]: Can you confirm that package is in Xu Ping’s hands? Don’t get deceived.

[Zuo Ran]: The next time you want to know about the investigation progress, then directly ask in the group chat, so communication will be more efficient.

  >I ate breakfast >I’m already working >I’m at the police station

[MC]: I’m with Lawyer Zuo at the city station – there’s an important witness we need to meet.

[Lu Jinghe]: Going to the police station this early? You’re working way too hard.

[Xia Yan]: Is your work schedule really reasonable? You got back that late yesterday, and you’re running around so early today.

[Mo Yi]: If you stayed at the base to organize data, you might have been able to relax more.

[Zuo Ran]: The next time you want to know about the investigation progress, then directly ask in the group chat, so communication will be more efficient.

>Case progress

[MC]: Since you were all asking about the case progress, I’ll just tell you all together rather than responding to you all one by one.

[MC]: Xu Ping’s package really is with that person called Zhao Fei, but he refuses to directly give it to us.

[MC]: We’re investigating a case related to illegal drugs. After we figure it out, we should be able to get the package.

[Zuo Ran]: There is an account record of Heirson raw materials in the package – it’s very important evidence.

>Ask about everyone’s progress

[MC]: Has everyone’s investigations been smooth?

[Xia Yan]: Of course it’s been smooth. I’ll tell you about the battle results after you return!

[Mo Yi]: It has been very productive, but the upcoming investigation will require your assistance.

[Lu Jinghe]: I’ve noticed something new. I’ll update you on the info after you’re done working.

>Leader Yan has come >NXX is lacking in manpower

[MC]: Ah, Leader Yan is here, let’s chat later.

[MC]: Lawyer Zuo and I will head off first to meet the witness.

[Mo Yi]: I hope it goes smoothly.

[Xia Yan]: You absolutely must not work too hard – pay attention to your health.

[Lu Jinghe]: Jiejie, remember to give me a call if you need me to help anywhere.

[Zuo Ran]: We’ll head off first. Leave a message if you all have something to say.

 >Leader Yan has come >NXX is lacking in manpower

[MC]: Everyone’s work is quite saturated. I seriously think we need new people.

[Mo Yi]: It’s not just anyone who has the qualifications to join NXX. I’d rather we lack than have shoddy options.

[Xia Yan]: I think it’s fine. We can absolutely deal with the work amount we have now.

[Lu Jinghe]: As long as we schedule it reasonably, the people we have now is sufficient. Jiejie, don’t worry.

[Zuo Ran]: Leader Yan is here, so we’re going to go meet the witness. Leave a message if you all have something to say.

--

MC: Morning, Leader Yan.

Yan Wei: You two have arrived – you’ve worked hard.

Yan Wei, who had arrived at the office, had an expression full of weariness – he’d probably been dealing with cases the whole night at the police station without resting.

Zuo Ran: You just finished a surprise interrogation?

Yan Wei: We’d finished interrogating the person a long while ago, but while suspects can sleep, the police cannot.

Yan Wei: Time’s tight. I’ll tell you both about Qing Zhian’s situation first.

Yan Wei: Beyond our expectations, he was cooperative. Too bad that he doesn’t know much – he’s likely just a peripheral person in Chen Hanzhang’s gang.

Yan Wei: Plus… Zuo Ran, have you heard of the “Tiger’s Accomplice Ghost”?

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Well, that chapter title, combined with this being the last chapter of volume two, really comes off as ominous! 

Also, because there’s no good break point that I can see in this chapter, I’m just gonna do all of it. This is… gonna be rough, I think. Apologies for the long post in advance.

[No. 17 - Game Over]

We start out in the collapsed zone, which is basically a cityscape that’s been partially destroyed / knocked down. Kirishima and Katsuki are both huffing and puffing as they take a moment to breathe after taking out all the villains who had attacked them in the room they were dumped into. Katsuki notes that that was all of them, then calls them a buncha mooks. Kirishima wipes at his face a bit as he says they need to hurry and help the others - if they’re still in the USJ, after all, then everyone else must be as well! And he’s worried about those who don’t really have ways to attack.

Kirishima goes on to determine that Thirteen probably has her hands full since they rushed ahead like that, and that none of this would have happened if they’d let her suck in that mist man. So as men, they have to take responsibility.

Katsuki’s brusque reply is that if that’s what Kirishima wants to do, then go on alone - he’s going to go beat the warp gate villain to a pulp. Kirishima is surprised by this declaration, wondering out loud what Katsuki’s still pulling that ‘immature crap’ at a time like this, plus reminding Katsuki that normal attacks don’t work on the warp villain anyways. 

Katsuki snaps at him to shut up, and then points out that Kurogiri is how the other villains are getting around - if they bring him down, the others will have nowhere to run. And besides, it’s not like he doesn’t have a way to beat said warp villain.

While the two were talking about the stuff above, a camouflaged villain sneaks up from behind Katsuki on the ceiling. Considering the fact that a random mook villain with an ‘invisibility’ quirk was able to get an outfit that went invisible/camouflage with them, I wholeheartedly refuse to believe Hagakure can’t have a full costume that’s as invisible as she is what with UA’s resources. If she says she’s mostly naked, she’s just trolling people for shits and giggles. 

Anywho, the villain lunges, knife in hand as they become visible, thinking about how the kids should keep talking and let their guard down. Kirishima, however, does notice the attack, but-

Katsuki moves before he can even say anything, blasting the villain unconscious without stopping his explanation to Kirishima. He notes calmly that if all the enemy is sending against them are low-danger idiots, then they should be fine. Kirishima quietly admires Katsuki’s reflexes, while commenting out loud how calm Katsuki is all of a sudden, with an aside showing him noting that Katsuki’s like ‘die!’; portrayed with this is Katsuki’s same ‘evil face’ as Izuku pictured when he was worried about Katsuki being in the same class. 

Katsuki snaps that he’s always calm ‘you damn broomhead’, with Kirishima chuckling as he snaps his finger and says ‘there it is.’ Katsuki then clenches his gauntleted fist as he states that he’s out of there. Kirishima knocks his hardened fists together as he tells Katsuki to hold up, and that he (Katsuki) has to his pals, and to be a man. He then states that Katsuki’s convinced him. (Probably about the benefits of going after the warp villain again.)

Next, we shift back over to the entrance, with the door closed. Tenya is still making his mad dash for it, swearing through grit teeth as he tries to outrun Kurogiri. Kurogiri seems to be getting rather peeved himself based on the shape of his dialogue boxes getting more ragged; he calls Tenya impertinent, and states again that he won’t allow him to leave. 

Ochako dashes forward, a determined expression on her face, with Sero and Ashido watching her. Ashido is crouched over Thirteen, checking on her, but asks what Ochako is going to do. Ochako points out a bit of the metal brace just visible in the smoke to them, which they quickly spot as well. 

Tenya is getting close to the doors at this point, and remembers that they’re automatic doors, before wondering if he can kick them down, or if they’re too thick for that. We get a fun panel of his face as he seems prepared to just try and ram it anyways, shouting a battlecry - only to cut off as Kurogiri again looms before him, declaring that the kid has underestimated him. 

Also, the man fucking calls Tenya ‘four-eyes’. I cannot. The disrespect.

Anyways, Kurogiri tells Tenya to vanish, but Tenya manages to somehow duck underneath as Kurogiri moves upwards, much to the surprise of both of them. Why, you ask?

Ochako being a fucking badass is why. She has latched onto Kurogiri’s brace, noting that she’s not sure why, but if he’s wearing that brace, then he has to have a real body in there. She strains herself, but she manages to use her own strength and her quirk in order to toss him up, up, and away from Tenya, all while telling her friend to go. 

Kurogiri continues to woosh away from the ground as he realizes she got his body - then is alarmed again when a piece of tape manages to stick to his back. Sero tugs Kurogiri around on the end of his tape, also telling Tenya to get going. Tenya manages to get the door open enough to squeeze through while Kurogiri is distracted, dashing through the opening and towards the school while Sero detaches his tape and sends Kurogiri flying further with the momentum of the swing. 

Kurogiri is silent for a moment before swirling into himself, noting that if the kid calls for help, then it’s game over. Honest to god, why do I never see this stuff in fics, I cannot believe Kurogiri is saying this kind of stuff. Either it’s odd translation stuff, or else it was just cut from the anime, and if it’s the latter, then I am mad disappointed. 

(staring at next part) Yeah no, I think I’ll be pretty careful with my choice of image use. If this were a fic, this is where the ‘graphic depictions of violence’ would come in, if not sooner in this arc.

We go back to Eraserhead, Shigaraki, and the Nomu, with the first panel being a relative closeup of the Nomu crushing Eraserhead’s right arm. Like, that’s not hyperbole, you can see the arm being scrunched and the blood pouring from the arm, jesus fucking christ. And Eraserhead not making a peep for it? Talk about pain tolerance. I know this is a shounen and all that, but just. The arm is being CRUSHED. Lesser mortals would pass out at this point. 

Shigaraki wobbles back to his feet, noting that cancelling out quirks is pretty cool, but nothing special - up against crazy strength, he might as well be quirkless. Eraserhead manages to latch his eyes on the nomu’s left hand at it reaches for his left arm, but that doesn’t prevent the nomu from snapping said arm like a twig. Eraserhead can’t prevent himself from a pained shout. 

Eraserhead grits through the pain at he notes that looking at any part of the nomu’s body should have nullified it, which meant that was the nomu’s base strength - easily as strong as All Might. The nomu lifts Eraserhead’s head up while he’s thinking this, then slams him face first into the ground, hard enough to leave an impact crater. And, notably, Eraserhead is still alive and conscious. Jesus. Fucking. CHRIST.

Meanwhile, Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta look on, developing major trauma as they watch their teacher basically tortured for shits and giggles. Mineta is trembling with hands covering his mouth and tears in his eyes, Tsuyu’s partially submerged her face into the water, and Izuku is just. Frozen in absolute fear. Mineta realizes how bad this is, and practically begs for a change of plans from Izuku. Tsuyu ribbits in agreement, but Izuku just. Cannot think of a thing.

Kurogiri spirals into existence besides Shigaraki, giving Shigaraki’s full name for the first time in the manga. Shigaraki in turn greets Kurogiri, also the first time we’re seeing the name I think? Anyways, Shigaraki asks Kurogiri if Thirteen is dead. Kurogiri states that she’s incapacitated, but that there were students he couldn’t warp away, and that one of them escaped. 

Shigaraki starts scratching at his neck with one hand, then both, his irritation ramping up as he mulls this over. We get another shot of an eye between the fingers of the face-hand as he states that he’d turn Kurogiri to dust if he wasn’t their ticket out of there. They won’t stand a chance against dozens of pros, after all. He then states that it’s game over, and then corrects himself - it’s game over, for now.

He then tells Kurogiri they’re leaving. Mineta is surprised by this quickly glancing over to Tsuyu and Izuku, asking if he heard that right. Tsuyu says he did. Mineta leaps on her in relief, stating that they’re saved. Tsuyu starts to say ‘yeah, but-’ only to cut herself off when Mineta’s hand ends up on her boob (could have been accident or not here). 

She starts casually drowning Mineta as she continues her previous thought - she’s got a bad feeling about this. Izuku agrees - to do all this, and then just leave on a whim… 

He continues to think over the discrepancy to himself as he watches the villains talk a bit more. The villains had wanted to kill All Might; UA’s just going to be in more danger than ever if they get away now. He then notes Shigaraki’s use of ‘game over’, and is worried over what they’re thinking at that moment. 

As if Shigaraki had heard his thoughts, he speaks up again. Before they leave, they should leave a few dead kids… and he’s motioning right for the three who’d been watching up until then. 

Since I can’t really capture the moment of terror in words:

Just. Shigaraki moves so fast, the kids have no time to react to it. Tsuyu’s only just released Mineta from underwater. Izuku is just barely able to turn to see Shigaraki already in Tsuyu’s face, his mind empty but for the memory of what happened to Eraserhead’s elbow. And Tsuyu’s face is just. God, I cannot imagine how she must have felt, being so close to death like that.

There’s a moment of silence from Shigaraki as nothing happens. He then repeats his previous statement - you really are pretty cool, Eraserhead. As it turned out, he took advantage of the nomu living his head in order to activate his quirk, saving Tsuyu’s life. The Nomu proceeds to slam his head back down again, but I guess Aizawa’s managed to keep his eyes open, since it still doesn’t activate even as Izuku goes in for an attack. 

(Poor kid, his entire thought process as he goes in for that swing is just ‘no no no no no no no no no-’, like. You see this again later on when his close friends are in danger, how he just is basically so deeply tunnel visioned on just saving them.)

Izuku’s right arm buzzes with power as he thinks that Shigaraki’s nothing like the villains who’d been in the water. He mentally urges Tsuyu to run and save herself while he shouts at Shigaraki to get off of her. Shigaraki just casually calls for the nomu. 

His blow connects with something, the force fairly intense from the impact point. Izuku is confused as he registers that his arms’ not broken. He’s shocked and a bit annoyed (I guess) that now is when he managed to regulate the power. He then wonders if he really did it, since he knows the smash connected, he knows he did it.

As the smoke clears, we see the nomu lurking over Izuku, totally unharmed by the attack. We get a thin panel showing the nomu’s dead eye, as Izuku looks up in worry. His thoughts are a frazzled mess, first realizing the speed, then a half-finished thought on when the nomu moved, and then the slowly dawning realization (and fear) that the attack didn’t work. 

He flashes back to Tsuyu’s comment on the yacht, that the villains must have figured out a way to kill All Might, otherwise why show up just to get beaten. Izuku is in disbelief, because it’s one thing to accept that as theory, but another to realize it’s absolutely true. Shigaraki notes that that’s quite a move Izuku just pulled off… and with a ‘smash’ too. He then asks if Izuku’s a fan of All Might. Izuku tries to pull away, but the nomu already has him by the arm as Shigaraki shrugs off his own question with a casual ‘whatever’. 

God, just, the silence of this page and all the ‘in the moment’ snippets that show everything happening pretty much at once. 

Tsuyu shoves Shigaraki’s hand away as she lashes out ith her tongue to try and grab Izuku. Aizawa is shown to be passed out on the ground. We see Shigaraki reaching back out to kill both Tsuyu and Mineta as the nomu holds Izuku in place, Tsuyu’s tongue still not even managing to reach Izuku yet. 

The doors at the front of the USJ are literally blasted from the doorway like shots out of a cannon. The kids who were still up there by the door are all relieved as they look at their savior - All Might. 

And that’s the end of the chapter - and of volume two. Supplementary material to follow. 

Man, just imagine being someone who only reads the manga when the volumes come out. Can you imagine being left on this cliffhanger for who knows how many months? Couldn’t be me. And the cliffhangers are only gonna get worse from here on out!

[kyouxa]

Diabolik lovers Chaos Lineage: Shu Sakamaki (Story 13)

In terms of the gameplay: The black choices lead up to a bad ending, the white choices lead up to a good ending. Please no reposting onto other sites, ask me before translating this into another language too!

Monologue

A true state of emergency has come over us. Both families, Violet and Orange, aimed for us at the same time.

However, the battle between us has temporarily stopped because of Violet and Orange’s members suddenly being put to sleep by Shu-san’s unexpected entry.

Although Ayato-kun and everyone else still don’t have their memories back, once they wake up they might try to attack us again.

Luckily Shu-san tied them all up, and then continued to roll them down to leave them in the living room for the time being.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Living room

Ayato: …..

Yui: (Ayato-kun, even in his current state he’s able to sleep soundly…)

Reiji: Even if they would be to wake up, they would not be able to cause trouble.

Yui: T-That‘s right.

(Even though they came here for a household search, it was quite easy to tie them up and make them unable to do anything once waking up again…)

By the way, what about Yuma-kun?

Shu: I carried him to my room. He’s probably still comfortably sleeping in my bed as we speak.

The others might just end up being confused with him being here anyway. With this, there’s no need to wake him up yet.

Yui: ...But to be honest, I’m confused myself. Reiji-san seemed as if he knew Shu-san would come back at some sort of point.

To me, it came out like the both of you were having some sort of advanced meeting to set a timing for him to come back...

Shu: It was hard to stay silent about that. But as you already said, everything that happened has been arranged beforehand.

Yui: It was arranged?

Shu: Do you remember it? It was when Ruki attacked us and tried capturing you, the day I remembered everything.

That was also when I decided to get help by taking the opportunity to talk to Reiji.

Yui: Just the two of you? ...Ah.

So that’s why Reiji-san preached me not to stay in your room,  you didn’t want me to be able to listen to your plan—

That’s the only time I was taken out of your room, right?

Shu: Yes. On that day we—

*flashback starts*

Reiji: Well then? What is it that you wanted to talk alone about? Has your mind finally decided to be at least a little obedient now?

Shu: I want to ask you something before answering that. Do you somehow remember the name “Sakamaki”?

Reiji: Pardon? I have never heard of this before.

Shu: So it’s as I thought...

Monologue

I wanted to get back Reiji’s memories, which is why I tried revealing the truth to him.

The Sakamaki mansion. Ayato, Kanato, Laito and Subaru being our younger brothers and all about that.

However, Reiji didn’t even bother trying to listen properly to me once I started talking about it.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Shu‘s bedroom

Reiji: I was already wondering what you wanted to talk about, but for you to tell me such a joke instead...

Shu: This is not a lie or whatever. It’s the truth that you’re my younger brother. You’re the second eldest son of the Sakamaki family.

Reiji: It is impossible for me to believe you talking about such a foolish thing. Good grief, how ridiculous.

Shu: (I already expected it to be complicated… but it seems as if she really had a hard time trying to get me to remember, as well as I do right now)

(I thought there may be a way to regain someone‘s memories without them experiencing an intense shock…)

(I really didn‘t want to use the truth against him… but I have no other choice)

Say, Reiji… do you remember someone named Edgar?

Reiji: ...Edgar… ?

Shu: This used to be a human’s name. I knew him from olden days, and you’ve met him as well.

*weird sound*

Reiji: Kch… Nn… why… my vision, ngh…

Shu: That guy was very close and dear to me. But one day, the village he lived in was burned down.

And he himself jumped into the flames—

Say, Reiji. You can‘t have forgotten about that, isn’t that right?

The one who burned down Edgars village… that was you.

Reiji: ….. !

Shu: You’ve been jealous of me, the eldest son of the Sakamaki family… and because of that jealousy, you’ve burned down Edgar’s innocent village.

Reiji: That is wrong! I am… the eldest son of this mansion… Nn.

Shu: Remember them… the sins you’ve committed.

You’ve gone made because of pure jealousy, and that’s why you burned him down, Reiji…!

Reiji: Kch… Ngh… Ahhh.

*weird sound*

Reiji: Haa… Haa...

Shu: And? Did you remember everything now?

Reiji: Yes… I have remembered… good grief… what a drastic measure of treatment...

Shu: ...I honestly couldn’t think of another way to phrase it.

I had no other choice, but in order to have you regain your memories, I needed to talk about this.

Reiji: It is fine with me… owing to your actions, all of my memories have successfully turned back.

Shu: I have no intention of continuing this absurd fighting we’re supposed to participate in anymore. But I’ll need you to help me with that, Reiji.

I need you to cooperate with me, in order to return everyone back to normal—

*flashback ends*

Yui: That means, Reiji-san’s memories returned back to him ever since that day happened!?

Reiji: Exactly. I must excuse myself from saying nothing about it until now.

Besides, I must have been a bother ever since I lost sight of myself in this space. To you… and to Shu.

Yui: Not at all… I’m just really happy Reiji-san finally returned back to normal. I’m really, really happy about this… !

Reiji: It appears as if you are not holding onto the difficulties, I must have cause with acting delighted. Despite that, I will inquire to make up for my actions.

Yui: You don’t need to repay us with anything. All of this happened to us because of someone confusing our memories, so you haven’t done anything wrong.

Reiji: ...I see. Well then, I truly am charmed by your kind words and will certainly do as you wish. I will do so for the sake of keeping focus on finding a resolution to this situation.

Yui: Ah… and here I believed the both of you really had a huge fight going on.

Shu: That was part of Reiji’s strategy. We did so to ascertain deeper into our investment.

The part of me leaving and the fight the both of us had, it was all included in our play.

Yui: I think I understand now...

I’ve never felt so relieved till now… I truly believed the relationship between you would always have its discrepancy.

Shu: It’s not as if we’re going to treat each other nicely because of that now.

Reiji: I at least can only agree on that relating point.

Yui: A-Ah...

(Nevertheless, they still decided to cooperate with each other to come to a conclusion)

(Thinking about that, it looks as if the entire Sakamaki family is completely gathered in this mansion now. Is that also because of Shu-san?)

Ayato: Nn… Hmm...

Yui: By the way, what kind of a bomb did you throw at Ayato-kun back then in the hallway?

You said something like if you start inhaling the pollen, you’ll be put into a sudden sleep...

Shu: I was told this is a simplicity bomb that contains a hypnotism effect. Reiji has made this one with materials from the provision.

Yui: (A-As it expected from Reiji-san…)

Shu: I received it from him right after pretending to leave the mansion. Just shortly afterwards I’ve been hiding myself nearby the mansion.

Yui: Thereupon you must’ve known Ayato-kun and the others were about to show up to attack the mansion...

Choices

1) I wanted you to tell me about it (black)

2) That was an amazing strategy (white) ♡ ♡ ♡

— I wanted you to tell me about it

Yui: I wanted you to tell me about your plan though. Did you know how awfully worried I was about you?

Shu: Sorry about that. But you wouldn‘t have stayed silent if I told you about it, would you? Just looking at your expressions would reveal it all.

Yui: Uhh… it might’ve been the right choice not to inform me about anything of the plan after all…

Shu: Thought so. Your selfish facial expressions are always the most unusual ones.

Yui: Please stop looking at me like that.

(If he continues to intriguingly stare at my face as he has done until now, I’ll seriously start to feel awkward…)

— That was an amazing strategy ♡

Yui: That was an amazing strategy. You must’ve put a lot of time and consultation in thinking about it.

Shu: This has been Reiji’s strategy too. His abilities have been the reason why I wanted to be able to pull him into my plan.

Yui: Seems as if you put a lot of trust into Reiji-san.

Shu: Don’t start joking around. There was no other way but to put at least some faith into him.

Yui: (I-I guess I’ll have to wait until he completely admits it)

(But I shouldn’t tell him yet. I still want him to continue believing in Reiji-san, at least a little)

*Shu comes closer*

Shu: After all, you’re the number one person I’d always put my trust into first… Nn…

*Shu kisses Yui*

Yui: Nn… !?

W-Why did you just kiss me!?

Shu: All you talked about was Reiji and more Reiji, so I shut you up.

Yui: Please don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by jealousy again… !

end Choices

Ayato: Nn...

Yui: Ah!

Reiji: It seems like you have finally woken up.

Ayato: Ah!? What’s this!?

Kanato: Why have my hands been tied together? I can’t move like this.

Subaru: Shit… untie me right now!

*Subaru struggles*

Yui: Everyone calm down, please! The circumstances we’re in right now...

Laito: Looks as if we’re done for now. Maybe this was a plan to catch all of us from the very beginning?

Ayato: Are you serious? Does that mean the letter we all got was strange after all?

Laito: Well, it might’ve been so.

Ayato: Fuck, then it must’ve been those assholes who sent the letter! What a cowardice move!

Reiji: No, we have not taking part in writing this letter.

Yui: Eh? But I genuinely thought you send it for the sake of getting Ayato-kun and everyone together too...

Shu: That’s not it. Having Ayato and everyone else come here to start a raid was as unexpected for us as it was for you.

I instead started to pretend leaving, in order to set a trap to discover what kind of a person the one planing this secession is.

Yui: W-What do you mean by that?

Shu: Didn’t I talk to you about it? The mastermind behind this entire messing up our memories situation must be lurking around somewhere in this place.

I already expected them to start moving once I disappeared. But I’ve now caught this certain someone out — it‘s that guy.

Yui: Eh… ?

*footsteps approach*

Kino: Ah, I thought you‘d show me an even more showy sort of fight. Is this already the end of this?

Yui: Kino-kun!? So you’ve been doing fine until now too—

Reiji: Do not approach this man.

Yui: Huh?

Shu: When you noticed how everything you came up with went conversely, you must’ve finally decided to come out.

You are the one who instigated these guys to come here, right? Kino.

Kino: Fufu, I can’t help hiding it anymore then. Well, I was slowly losing interest within this, so I kinda just wanted to get rid of unnecessary ballast.

But there was no way I would’ve thought this argument you had was all a simple fake. That’s an unexpected result for me too.

The fact that you’ve ruined my entire work… that’s what annoys me the most though. What’s your reason for that?

Yui: Kino-kun… what do you mean?

Kino: You’re seriously a child with bad judgment, huh. The one who sent the letter to Ayato and the others, that was me.

When Reiji and Shu had their little fight, I thought this would’ve been the ideal time to have them attack and let me get Eve.

Ayato: Damn, this bastard tricked us!

Kino: Fufu, I even was ridiculously successful with that plan too.

Every last one of you must seriously have a low intelligence to fall for that crap.

Subaru: Shut up! I’ll beat that disgusting smile outta your face when I’m free!

Yui: Why did you do all of this… ?

Kino: I obviously did this to have the Sakamaki family crush each other once they’d meet each other.

Yui: Crush the Sakamaki family… ? No way, Kino-kun, you...

Are you the mastermind then? Did you gather all of us in a place like this, removed our memories and then set each other up to kill?

Kino: If so, what would you do?

Yui: ...Nn!

Shu: Just what kind of a person are you?

Kino: Ah, come to think of it, I’ve never properly introduced myself to any of you.

As formerly said, I’m Kino. Karlheinz’ illegitimate child.

Yui: Karlheinz-sama’s...

Shu: ...Illegitimate child?

Ayato: Karl… heinz… ?

Ngh… what’s this…

Yui: (Ayato-kun?)

Reiji: No way, our father would never have an illegitimate child...

Shu: It’s not impossible if you remember that the person we’re talking about here is our father.

In other words, you’re saying you and we are siblings, right?

Kino: That’s right. I’ve already observed a bunch of information of you guys, before everyone started losing their memories.

Yes, I’m even willing to share interesting informations with you. Remember how we talked about Carla supposingly visiting Ruki’s mansion?

That was because he secretly wanted to see his true younger brother again. He doesn’t even seem to remember yet, but he still considered it important.

Now comparing those two to you guys. It’s already shameful how you snarled at each other. Pretty funny how my own brothers acted like this.

Reiji: Kch...

Yui: Why… Why are you laughing about this? Aren’t they your brothers, Kino-kun?

And despite being brothers, you still let them fight against each other… why would you enjoy such a thing!?

Kino: I’ve always enjoyed it so far. These guys existences are only a huge hindrance for me and my plan anyway.

Yui: ….. !

Kino: The one inheriting our fathers power at the end of this will be his zeroth son, me.

Therefore, would those hindrancing siblings of mine continue to comfortably kill each now?

Yui: That’s… so cruel…

Kino: The one obtaining the power reignings everything. The one obtaining them will become stronger than anyone else. That‘s the life this world is about.

Shu: You did all this to aim for our old man’s powers? And you even ordered us to fight against each other now, only to be the successor to his power...

Even if you may be able to obtain what you wish for, you’ll never experience satisfaction. Besides, there’s no way you’ll be able to handle them.

Kino: Hah? As if you’re in the position to discern my body’s strength. Who do you even think you’re facing and talking to right now?

Shu: This is simply a fact. You’ve withdrawn yourself from everything until now. And now in order to obtain those powers, you even wrote this letter.

Kino: So you’re still looking down on me? For real… everyone of you has always screwed with me...

*Kino activates powers*

Yui: (Ngh, the atmosphere around Kino-kun changed itself!?)

Kino: I thought it would be nice to see my siblings come together and massacre each other, but my plans changed.

Shall we decide who will become the king now?

Shu: What do you mean?

Kino: Becoming the king, or in other words, becoming Adam. With Eve’s approval, the chosen one obtains great powers.

I for now and forever, want to settle who the appropriate one among us is.

Yui: The supreme ruler… will become Adam? Eve should approve him...

(That means, this battle about becoming the king is nothing other than choosing who’ll become Adam…)

(Then the chosen one becomes Karlheinz-sama’s successor and inherits all his powers… !?)

Shu: I wasn’t interested in my old man’s powers to begin with. To make it clear, I don’t care about them.

But… Yui is different. I won’t lend her to anyone.

Yui: Shu-san...

Shu: We’ll take on that match you challenged us to then. With doing so, we’ll represent the six siblings of us.

Reiji, I’ll leave this matter in your hands.

Reiji: Understood.

Shu: About Ayato and the others, I’ll keep them tied up in order to prevent them from interrupting.

Subaru: Hah? If so, get your ass up and do something!

Kanato: How dare you to continue your incomprehensible talk while totally ignoring me like an idiot… are you making fun of me or what!?

Reiji: Be quiet!

Subaru: ….. !

Yui: (Reiji-san’s loud rebuke seems effective!)

Reiji: ...Please leave them to me. You will have to deal with him.

Shu: Yes, please do.

Yui: Shu-san...

Shu: You have to trust me once more, just like you’ve always done so far.

Yui: (To believe in him… that’s right. I won’t hesitate to keep doing so)

Understood. I’ll continue to believe in you, Shu-san.

Shu: Yes.

Yui: (I’m sure Shu-san will safely guide us through this situation—)

Shu: Let‘s end this quickly then.

Kino: ‘Kay, but this definitely will be my victory. Now, let‘s have a last deciding match—

[transhawks]

what do you think that dabi feels around shoto?

It’s complicated.

I don’t think narratives like Dabi unconditionally loves Shouto or wants to protect him are correct. I think it’s far more complex. I think there is resentfulness there, too. 

My friend wrote something a few years back that I still think applies to Todoroki family dynamics: the golden child/scapegoat dynamics. 

In short, this is a family dynamic where one child is “is the cause of all the ills of the family, and the golden child is exalted”. 

As @dabistits wrote, “Their abuser simultaneously blames Touya for failing, warns Shouto not to fall into the same pattern, and sets them up as competition so that Shouto has someone he can aim to be better than. We don’t have much indication on whether it worked or not, since Touya and Shouto’s relationship is still a mystery, but the intent is very much present.”

What I’m trying to say is we have a clear case of how Enji treated his children. He deprived them of love and affection, managing to both neglect and micromanage them (Natsuo’s food wasn’t good enough for Shouto, and so Natsuo was no longer allowed to cook, leaving Fuyumi, the sole woman left, to do so...), separated Shouto from his siblings(mostly Natsuo) to the fact they are sometimes like strangers, while emphasizing his ‘favoritism’ of Shouto. 

Of course that came with physical abuse of Shouto and his status of the Golden Child was never ‘rewarded’. Touya was clearly compared and discarded once Shouto came into his quirk, and from what we can tell, Touya was ‘trained’. 

So this paints a nightmarish picture: if Touya was the only one who knew what it was to be the Golden Child in the family before Shouto, there was an understanding of what exactly Shouto is going through. At the same time, losing attention of a parent, even an abusive one, is hard. Changes in how parents treat you, when you’re a child, hurt, especially abruptly. 

Shouto was ‘perfect’, Touya was ‘almost’. Not good enough. It might not be rational, but I can understand resentment and pity stemming from that. 

Additionally, Shouto and Touya have a large age gap between them. Since it seems Touya is not Fuyumi’s twin, he’s older than Shouto by the very least eight years (Fuyumi and Shouto have a difference of seven years and a month), likely more. Now, I don’t have any siblings, but from observations and articles I’ve read, this is a large age difference. It would be mean, given Touya’s gakuren, that Shouto was probably no more than seven when Touya left their life. 

So, all together, I think...Touya doesn’t really know Shouto. Doesn’t know who he is, besides his brother. I think he can guess what Enji has done to him, knows the parenting style very well, but there’s a gap there. Not insurmountable. I’ve always maintained the brothers are quite similar in temperament. 

Now this is a very half-baked meta by my standards, but I do want to draw attention to something. 

These are all the different translations of this very important line by Dabi. As far as I understand there isn’t plurals in japanese, might be a suffix or just context. As you can see VIZ went the route of saying that Dabi was talking about all of them, and Hawks speaking of all of them as students, but JB and Mangastream (RIP!) went different. 

Someone taking a look at the raws would greatly help but when I first saw this discrepancy I immediately thought MS was a good ‘in-between’ them. Dabi referring to one person (probably Shouto), Hawks misunderstanding and just being, ‘Chill they are students’ (also deflecting attention of them, but that’s for another meta).

So, to add to potential resentment and pity, and Dabi does treat Shouto like a hero (mocking him and his efforts, much like he does with other heroes), I think he also doesn’t know what to think of Shouto; he’s watching, waiting to see who Shouto is. We know he thinks of family - his one moment of vulnerability, alone in his musing was, in response to a question about how families felt, “Was thought about it so hard I went crazy”. 

The thing is, even in a relationship mired in a forced competition, in resent and pity, and distance, Shouto and Touya are brothers. Brothers in circumstances that their siblings can’t fully grasp either, as they were never golden children, nor scapegoats. For all the rage that might leak through from what he feels for Enji, Dabi should know Shouto is as much as a victim of Enji as he is. Maybe at one point he loved his baby brother, too.

Dabi doesn’t know what to think of Shouto.

[feekins]

awright. re-reading ch 7 and finishing up Trigun Maximum vol 4. thoughts. things. translation weirdness. let's go. 😈

(NOTE: I'm reading the Dark Horse [physical] and the Overhaul [online] translations side-by-side)

(Dark Horse on top, Overhaul on bottom)

what sticks out to me most - in the Overhaul, the gut-punch of "Maybe there's no atonement for me" and then a direct admission of guilt. not sure why Dark Horse left out "It was all my fault..."

loser VS murderer. interesting.

also, Dark Horse had me thinking Vash was about to have A Moment with Hoppered there, which I. never questioned. idk what that says about me or my understanding of manga Vash, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ in any case, it makes sense that, as the Overhaul shows us, Vash's line in that last panel is a continuation of what he's saying in the previous panel about the Angel of Death.

to me, Dark Horse's translation here reads like "you wanna kill me? go ahead. you can tear me apart and I'll still keep going" and in that context, Vash replying with "same here" makes sense, knowing what we know about him and his apparent immortality. so the Overhaul's translation hits me HARD with Vash (who has SWORN!!! NOT!!! TO KILL!!!) remembering Rem...and then admitting to this desire to kill Hoppered.

Vash could easily choose to be the monster most everyone thinks he is...

...and that changes the whole tone of the first thing Vash says on the next page.

(Dark Horse on BOTTOM, Overhaul on TOP this time bc although both translations say p much the same thing here, the Overhaul's is more straightforward, also I wanna provide those first two panels too for added context)

Dark Horse's translation makes it sound like more of Vash's usual martyrdom - but the Overhaul shows us that this time, it's different. this time, it's "yeah, I do want to kill you, so you should kill me." which I think leads into a similar change in Vash's first speech bubble in that last panel - "before you do this to me" in the Overhaul VS "even if you do this to me" in Dark Horse.

and then, "send Knives to Hell" VS "see to Knives" - that strikes me as a case of Dark Horse toning it down in order to market to a wider/younger audience. but anyway, I like the Overhaul's consistency in translating Vash's goal - bc he's said it before, he's gonna "send Knives to Hell."

...which...has me thinking...things...which I'm not gonna go into in this post bc it involves spoilers, sorry 😅

and then, this is a weird translation discrepancy - more of Dark Horse pulling the reins back on Wolfwood's swearing BUT ALSO...their choice in wording always made me think he was being mean about Milly ☹️ which, thinking about it now, seems OOC for him. so I'm happy to see that, in the Overhaul, Wolfwood's actually talking about Midvalley - MUCH more in-character for him.

more of a minor translation discrepancy here - how VS why - but I do think "why" makes more sense, given the context.

and again, Dark Horse always confused me with this one - and once again, the Overhaul's translation makes much more sense in context =u=

(Dark Horse on left, Overhaul on right)

...not sure why we've got "has gotten" VS "isn't gettin'"...nor can I fathom where Dark Horse could've possibly gotten that "watchdog" bit... 😵‍💫

ah, Dark Horse being vague again. also "that's how close he was" VS "that's all it will take" - hellooooo, context-changing translation discrepancy...

💕 she 💕

aaaaaaaa and I do so love how Elendira can get away with teasing Knives like thaaaaat 🤩

as for the last line of the chapter (and this volume)? it's Elendira's - and another translation discrepancy.

Dark Horse has:

"Bringing about the despair of mankind...will be easier than dumping water out of a glass."

while in the Overhaul, it's:

"Pushing him to the brink...will now be as easy as spilling a glass of water."

[innovativestruggles]

TsukiYachi speculations, thoughts and theories based on canonical evidence

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG LONG POST!

So I wanna share my thoughts with everyone - especially ya’ll TsukiYachi lovers (notably @mimi-cee-hq​) whoever that’s left (and clearly I should be working but doing this cause I apparently like to procrastinate)

Canonical Evidence

I want to reinforce the point here. When I write about character analysis and speculations, I base things on canonical evidence - that is - based on what I see and interpret from the manga and anime. I usually prefer to use manga as that is the ultimate canon but seeing as the anime is quite loyal to the manga, I’ll be using it too. Of course, this is all interpretation base (and maybe biased) which is why I will put forward evidence that I see so it helps people see where and how I got to my conclusion (instead of looking like I just made something up). Teehee.

So....HAPPY READING!

Manga Vs. Anime

I only recently started the anime and reading the manga (yes yes I am aware I am late to the party but I’m FASHIONABLY LATE) and it is amazing how loyal the anime is to the manga (so far) but I have noticed a few discrepancies. And because this is a TsukiYachi post I am going to focus on this. 

The anime unfortunately toned down some of the interactions between Tsukki and Yachi, which is a huge shame - BUT it does make up for some parts by extrapolating and adding more cute details that was not seen in the manga. So I suppose there are elements of balance, although the details the anime omitted was important as it gave off more interesting vibes. 

For example; this interaction below was downplayed in the anime. Yachi only talked of Tsukki’s liveliness and the flustered “he usually acts so cool” was left out. So sad, I would have totally liked to see a flustered Yachi talking about Tsukki <33

AND THIS ONE BELOW! THE MOST DISAPPOINTING OF THEM ALL! I was sooooooooo sad when the anime left this specific part out where Tsukki and Yachi were sitting next to each other. In the anime, Yachi was somewhere on the other side holding plates or something. LIKE SERIOUSLY? When manga panels are drawn, they usually draw who they would like to emphasise in the centre or draw them bigger. LOOK AT TSUKKI AND YACHI BEING THE CETNRE OF ATTENTION! LOOK AT HOW BIG THEY’VE BEEN DRAWN!! LOOK AT THEM SITTING NEXT TO EACH OTHER. 

STUPID EFFING ANIME HOW DARE YOU DENY US TSUKIYACHI FANS OF THIS!!! *rant rant rant*

Anyways, one thing I did like about the anime was them extrapolating this scene. Teehee. Look at Tsukki just staring at Yachi even whilst Yamaguchi was talking. And then Tsukki continues to talk to Yachi as if Yama didn’t say anything at all. This scene was so adorable <33

So moving on

Interactions

I gotta agree with everyone here and the obvious is that the interactions between Tsukki and Yachi are minimal. It is so sad but you know, Tsukki is a side character and Yachi is like a side side character so I do understand why their interactions would have very little screen/page time. In saying that, whenever they do have their interaction, or when one talks of the other, it was rather significant. This was most notable in the Shiratorizawa arc. Let me explain;

Yachi is extremely caring of all her teammates and her interactions lie predominantly with Kiyoko and the four first year boys. Of the four, Hinata would be the one she interacts with most. I suppose this is because Hinata is the main protagonist so he gets thorough interaction moments with all characters. It is a given. 

Kageyama’s interaction with Yachi was second in terms of screen/page time but I believe the vast majority of the time, it was together with Hinata (ones that are significant anyways). 

Then there is Yamaguchi, who so adorably thinks she is cute. I am still unsure whether he actually likes her (maybe a little crush?). But I reckon Nishinoya likes Kiyoko more than Yamaguchi likes Yachi LOL. So it might just be a tiny crush, I don’t know. Anyways, YamaYachi have very little screen time as well and their direct and indirect interactions don’t particularly stand out to me. I mean, they do have their little fluff moments but nothing significant in terms of development.

Now we have Tsukki. In terms of screen/page time, Yachi and Tsukki, like I said earlier, have minimal interactions - but I mean this in a direct interaction kind of way. What I noticed were their indirect interactions! I’ll explain more later.

I went into watching Haikyuu with a very neutral standpoint and my TsukiYachi shipping did not start until quite some time later (most notable during the Shiratorizawa arc).

Shiratorizawa Arc

Tsukki underwent a major character development during the Shiratorizawa arc so this was a time where he shone the brightest. During this arc, Yachi had some of the biggest screen/page time - it was so awesome! 

Aside from when Yachi was first introduced, we never really got to see much of her, but her screen/page time appeared a lot more during this arc. It so happens that this very arc was the most important for Tsukki. Three major things I noted from this arc,

1. Akiteru’s presence

2. Akiteru and Yachi’s interactions (direct and indirect)

3. Yachi’s commentary of Tsukki

Akiteru’s Presence

Akiteru, we all know, was Tsukki’s biggest influence when it comes to his ideas around volleyball, so naturally his presence there during Tsukki’s major development would be significant.

Akiteru and Yachi’s Interactions

These two have an absurd amount of interactions during this arc. Have a look below!

This was only a handful of times! There were so many more I couldn’t possibly add them all to this post! They only just met that day yet they talked so much to each other! And it wasn’t just all about Tsukki, it was about the game in general and I just love the friendly interactions between them. Like the most important person to Tsukki was interacting so much with Yachi <33 My heart...

Furudate could have made Akiteru interact the same way with any of the other three on the stand i.e. Saeko, Takinoue or Shimada but he made the focus on him and Yachi. And to have Yachi closely interact so much (and on a deep level regarding Tsukki) with someone so close to Tsukki, I thought this was so adorable!

Yachi’s commentary of Tsukki

Then we see Yachi’s commentary. FML don’t get me started on this. I don’t tend to be too observant with these kinds of things but I remember when I was watching this arc for the first time, the amount of times Yachi made some sort of comment about Tsukki was pretty much the only time she had screen time (aside from when Akiteru was talking to her). 

I don’t know whether Furudate was being deliberate with this (he probably was), but anyone on the team could give the same comments as Yachi regarding Tsukki! They probably know his play a lot better as well, but then the audience were given scenes of Yachi commenting on Tsukki instead. ALSO, NOT JUST ANY COMMENTS, they were quite deep-seated ones too. Yachi was just so observant of him and she watches him so closely it was so sweet. She seems to know his state of mind really well <333333

So have a look at some of her comments

Of course there was the one panel earlier when she was talking about how lively Tsukki appeared. I won’t duplicate it. I really can’t help but notice how much she talked about Tsukki during this arc, and they were all mostly directed towards Akiteru as well! HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT? I gotta reinforce this but talking so deeply about someone to the most important family member of that person is so.....HNNNGGGG!! It was no wonder Akiteru was so surprised that Tsukki may have other friends other than Yamaguchi. Teehee. 

Also note that Yachi has not spoken about Kageyama or Yamaguchi (or even Kiyoko) in such a deep manner. She has done so bits and pieces toward Hinata, but tbh not as much as this arc here re; Tsukki.

Below are some Yachi reactions specifically towards Tsukki spiking (first two images) and blocking (last two images) - I had to put these in cause it’s soooo cute!

Something extra for thoughts. I really love the below panel. Something about Yachi speaking of this was so sweet and tender. As if she truly knew exactly how much pain he was in. AAAAAHHHHHHH T____T My gorgeous babies.

Also this one below as well, which occurred earlier in the manga. I just love how Yachi looks out for everyone but she finds Tsukki just that much more challenging to decipher. It just makes it so great when she was able to tell the differing emotions from Tsukki later on in the series... even though he was so apathetic most of the time...

Finally this image below which I already posted above but would like to say a bit more about. So this scene occurred right after Karasuno beat Shiratorizawa. I just love it how with all the emphasis between Yachi and Tsukki during the entire arc, it was so beautifully wrapped up with them sitting next to each other <333

Extra Side Story

Right I ain’t gonna leave this one out. This panel below just goes to show that there was something going on here. Whether I have overanalysed it or not, on face value, it just seems a bit too different for me. What I mean is that Tsukki is a very apathetic, standoff-ish kinda person. If he is not being aloof, he is making some sort of snide and snarky remarks about someone. So Tsukki literally going out of his way to try and say something nice, to make Yachi feel better about her body and then getting a bit miffed because it didn’t get through the way he wanted, was very, very out of character for him. Which is why I just feel like he may have a soft spot for Yachi. Or maybe he is nicer to girls? Though I haven’t seen him saying anything remotely encouraging to Kiyoko.

Then I thought of what he said. As I mentioned in some other post (I posted heaps I don’t even remember where now lmao). “There are definitely people who like smaller girls...” If the translation was done correctly from Japanese to English (I can vouch for this as I can read a bit of Japanese), then the word ‘definitely’ he used was rather brazen. It just means he knows with 100% accuracy that there are people out there who likes smaller girls... And it’s normally a reference to the person speaking because they obviously know that they like the person hehehe.

Okay almost done with my thesis.

Star References

Yo this one is so fluff I fucking love it. I already made brief comments about this in some of my other posts and replies and Mimi (@mimi-cee-hq​) has done an amazing job writing two mini fics on this for me (ILY MY TSUKIYACHI SOUL HAS BEEN FED). See Matching Stars and the sequel A Blue Star! Thank you Mimi you’re a legend <33

So I started watching it a little closer in the anime (and manga), and Tsukki really favours his star shirts a whole damn lot (like the whole moon and star reference probably re; play on his name). Yachi on the other hand favours her star hair ties, blue ones she wears as manager and black ones during school times. I mean come on! Subtle references much? Either I am overanalysing this way too much and Furudate was half asleep when he designed these accessories or he truly be putting in some sneaky TsukiYachi references <333

P. S. Couple accessories that reference each other in subtle ways are common in Japan.

Concluding Thoughts (this honestly feels like an essay fml)

So these are my evidence for this pairing so far. I may have overanalysed this and Furudate could be like “wtf this person be taking this whole thing out of context that was not what I intended” OR “yeah man she totally nailed it right on the spot. I’m surprised she could pick this up so well” HAHAHA. 

Either way, this was my interpretation based on what I saw/read. As a long time manga reader, I know that manga artists portray characters and place emphasis on certain things in differing ways because the audience reading and seeing a drawing is different to them watching something. It’s a lot more difficult to portray your point across to readers than watchers. So that’s why when I read manga, parts such as drawing things bigger, more detailed and at the centre signifies more emphasis, as well as having certain characters together in panels.

At first glance, I actually thought this pairing would be like a crack pairing because there was no absolute way there could be anything remotely romantic about this ship. But the more I watched and read, the more I realised that this pairing does have some sort of potential. I mean, just because of all the direct and indirect interactions I wrote about them here, it does not automatically mean that there would be a romantic development. What I’m trying to show is that there is a lot more to this pairing than just thinking of them as a crack ship, b/c there are developments for these two. Furudate seems to make it so that these two know each other a lot more than what the audience is being given. Do I even make any sense? LOL

Feel free to refute every single thing I wrote here. I love a good debate. As long as you can back it up with evidence and keep things civil that is. It would be so nice if Yachi ends up with Tsukki but yeah who knows. I’d rather her end up with no one if she doesn’t get together with Tuskki (but that’s my personal opinion). Leaving things to interpretation can be a good thing.

BONUS

LMAO YACHI! HAHAHA! But I just love it how Furudate drew her close to Tsukki again <33 T___T so beautiful. And Tsukki in his giant star shirt...what’s new? lololol

BONUS BONUS

Nervous Yachi awaiting results of Tsukki’s injury. AHHHHHHHH LOOK HOW ADORABLE SHE IS! LOOK AT HER! I can’t make GIF but if you go and watch this scene she is literally shifting nervously on the spot. My precious gorgeous girl waiting for her man. I can’t, I just can’t ....

That’s all folks!

EDIT: I made a Part 2! Read it here