#and heck. even a vol 2

[eliotbaum]

Because people have been interested and I’d love to know how many copies I should order — making a poll for a to Have & to Hold reprint! ⛅️🩸

[deus-ex-mona]

pretty minor thing to think about, but i find it interesting how chapter 7 is the first chapter illustration to show chizuutan as chizuru (instead of chuutan)

like, i get it’s a flashback chapter, but we hardly got to see her as chizuru in the previous few chapters thus far… maybe we’ll get to see more of her as her true self after the hiyori fight/make up? only future chapters may tell, i guess…

[imustbenuts]

nuts reading in jp 11 - wrap up for vol 2 + i can talk about TriStamp undertaker wolfwood a little!!! whooo!!!

its been hella weird to read trigun in japanese since my first read was in english. i think i dug out a few extra stuff i didnt know existed in the work during this little journey. (thank you for joining in on my rambles!)

no real translation word related stuff today. mostly culture stuff dump.

but man i was right on the money when i said vash was stressed in #10. i forget he actually falls unconscious after dominique quits the narrative. yay~

me after i finish these posts at 5am every time

and then, him.

🥺✨✨raidei the blade. ✨✨ 🥺

listen. this guy. this fucking guy is, personally, the funniest guy in the entirety of trigun. for that line above in the 98 anime, and also for some stuff he represents. ...and it's not for larping reasons. ill get into that another day, please look forward to it. (i say this knowing his backstory was rough.)

anyway its time.... for Wolfwood's 'job change'.

in the manga he introduces himself as a tradesman Priest. it doesnt make much sense to outsiders but despite people getting confused, it mostly gets hand waved off as the guy being a little eccentric. and also prideful.

we then get more information about that being a cover for him being one of the Gung Ho Guns, Chapel. he can fight, hes an assassin, his job is to somehow get at Vash while being technically employed by Knives.

this wolfwood has absolutely no struggle with himself as a Priest specifically. heck, its even giving him some confidence bc he actually knows his stuff and can get by with those priestly things alone. at least, i assume so, bc otherwise the pride thing would be very misplaced as he is revealed that he really wants out of the insane GHG business, and wants nothing to do with his coworkers, as it were.

but TriStamp Wolfwood is... different in that pride regard

this version of wolfwood introduces himself as an Undertaker. he's technically a Priest, but he clearly lacks so much pride that he chooses to be an Undertaker.

the narrative tracks since he's the guide to send Vash to hell in tristamp, but theres at least 1 more layer to this.

so, Shinto! Shinto has played a very big part in Japanese culture and history since idk the beginning of Japanese history, affecting society and culture and governance.

key thing for this post: Shinto has a concept named Kegare/Defilement, which you can think of as an accumulation of evil energy. bad energy. bad enough to attract misfortune, evil spirits, and evil evil evil bad bad bad. (ive actually written about this in video game context before if you wanna read it here)

Kegare is generated upon death, blood, menstruation, and all that. in some modern media, Kegare can also be depicted to be generated by an accumulation of negative emotions from people. but for the longest time, it was mainly Death. (oh and somewhat also women with the whole uh.... you know, menstruation, childbirth, and stillbirths etc.)

but: Kegare is NOT sin, and should not be seen as such.

old japan governance also used Caste System. so combine that with shinto, and society and here's the not fun stuff: we now have a discriminated class of people who did all of society's very necessary but deemed dirty jobs. these are the Butchers, Leatherworkers, Executioners, and Undertakers. (which is wild. a society would not be able to function without them.)

they are shunned, deemed too dirty, too tainted, too polluted to ever have a hope of having a better life. since social mobility wasnt a thing with Caste System. and coming too close to them means pollution on the self too.

the Caste System got abolished, and today the descendants are called Burakumin 部落民. they are still being discriminated against to this day. the remnants of the dirtiness with certain jobs still remain, especially with jobs that involves the dead. its also possible to know who is a descendant of one through family names, which can be used to trace family registry and sus out old residences etc.

feel free to watch the above video for a clearer explanation by a japanese man instead of just taking my word for it >_>

back to wolfwood.

studio orange making him go from Priest to Undertaker is likely rooted in a logic associated with this. that TriStamp wolfwood lacks the confidence to have a strong identity outside of GHG, whereas manga wolfwood has. that TriStamp wolfwood really does think of himself as trash and worthless even before outsiders' judgement, whereas manga wolfwood's struggle is more about an internal struggle of being lost.

manga wolfwood is also never truly free from his identity as Chapel until the very end.

but TriStamp wolfwood gets a full contract saying that hes free from Chapel (i assume!)

i think theres also additional implications but im losing braincells by the minute. the change makes so much sense and tracks so well that apart from the confidence thing, everything is more or less intact.

(worth possibly nothing also, I think TriStamp wolfwood isnt fully checking boxes of uhhh Normality in japanese context. hes dressed in a mess, hes not clean shaven, his skin is kinda dark and not fair, he speaks in non-standard japanese. but ymmv, he will be ok in kansai at least, but not fully fitting in in Capital Tokyo nor ex-Capital Kyoto.)

i also, admittedly, dont know much about the culture surrounding death and undertakers within the states or europe so i cant comment much on that aspect. im aware i must have missed something. on that front, sorry D:

anyway thats all i got for now! thanks for reading this long ass post!

[daresplaining]

Daredevil vol. 2 #48 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, Matt Hollingsworth, and Cory Petit

I've written about this scene before, but I just keep coming back to it. Matt has just been attacked by Typhoid Mary, approximately thirty seconds into his second date with Milla. With the help of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, who are bodyguarding for him at the time, Matt manages to fight Typhoid off and get Milla out of harm's way. He brings her back to his apartment, where he can treat his injuries and Milla can get some breathing space to recover. As the evening progresses, they end up in bed together.

There are so many stories— heck, so many Daredevil stories— in which a scene like this would turn sexual. And there isn't anything inherently wrong with that, and there are certainly undertones here for anyone looking for them. But instead, Milla and Matt get into something much more somber: a direct examination of what they've just been through, and what Milla wants to do about it. The bed scene begins with Milla tracing her fingers over the scars on Matt's body while he tells her which villain gave him each one. The conversation slides into the exchange above. This is not long after Karen Page's death (a fact that will pop up in more emphatic ways later in the run). Milla has just been on two disastrous dates, the latest of which put her in direct physical danger. Matt is brutally aware of the kind of target he is putting on her by allowing her to associate with him, and now he knows that Milla knows it too. In previous relationships he might not have brought it up; before Karen's death, before Elektra's, before Glori's, he might have said nothing here, eager for love and brashly confident in his ability to be the hero and keep his girlfriend safe. But no matter how much he likes Milla, and no matter how desperately he might want this relationship— because he's into her, because he needs something pleasant and consistent in his messy life, because the guy rebound dates like it's his damn job— he has the wherewithal, and the honesty, and the fear to tell her that she should take all of this danger seriously and leave. He gives her that choice.

It's easy for us as the readers, with the benefit of hindsight, to say that Milla was foolish to ignore the warnings and to pass up this opportunity to get out of the relationship before it turned ugly. But what I think hits me so hard about this scene is her conviction, and her courage to push all of that aside and offer up the hope that this time, things might be better. Milla has not known Matt for long, other than by reputation, but she has already proven that she is willing to go to great lengths to protect him. She isn't easily frightened, and she likes Matt too much to let him go this easily. Look at the framing and pacing of this moment. Matt makes his long speech about the horror Milla has just been through, and how much he likes her and how little she deserves what she will go through by being around him, and how he can't imagine why she would possibly want to stay. It's a speech full of stutters and pauses; Matt is rattled and frightened. And then there are two panels of silence, in which Milla seems to consider him, and he seems to consider her (it's almost framed as if they are looking at each other, and while obviously that's not what they're literally doing, it does create the sense that an examination is taking place). And then Milla just snuggles in closer and gives her answer: "Because I'm quite fond of you." And there's immense power in such a simple, almost casual response. She has witnessed the danger. She has thought about the danger. She wants to hang out with him anyway because she likes him.

The final panel is beautiful, framing Milla's single line of dialogue. A breeze lifts the curtain on the open window. The walls of the bedroom are transparent, letting in a view of the city and the sky, as if they are lying outdoors, perhaps invoking that feeling of the sounds of New York coming into the room and shattering that illusion of spatial separation. In this moment, neither of them can know what is coming, but with her choice to stay, Milla has conjured a world in which they can both imagine that this kind of peace might be possible.

[exhausted-archivist]

So About That Thedas Calls Teaser...

I am by no surprise a map fiend and have been combing over the map shown. First off it is tilted and squashed to heck cause of the really fun stylization which seems to be pulling inspiration from historical nautical maps as it has at least two sea bound center points.

Second, we have confirmation of:

Treviso, Antiva

Rivain

Weisshaupt, Anderfels

There are elements that suggest the following:

Merdaine, Anderfels: a location that holds the giant white sculpture of Andraste titled "Our Lady of the Anderfels", this is also near Weisshaupt.

Minrathous, Tevinter: which would make sense considering everything we've seen in previous concept work and through the short stories and anthology Tevinter Nights

Arlathan Forest, Tevinter: Same reasoning as above

Kal-Sharok: This one is a bit more tenious because as I mentioned in the first point the map is squashed and tilted so exact location is hard to figure out. Couple with the fact the structure is largely hidden in the fog of war. It could very much also be Andoral's Reach as that is the other known location in that area, but that is in Orlais so I have my doubts.

The following images are organized in order of mention:

The last image shows the whole frame for Minrathous, Arlathan forest, and the mysterious southern fortress (Kal-Sharok?) I also wonder, given that the Thedas Herbology oversized mousepad shows two varieties of deep mushrooms we've only seen in a drawing in The World of Thedas Vol. 2; the bleeding russula and the blighted morel. I wonder if that further lends to the possibility that we will be venturing back into the Deep Roads.

I'm really hoping we get to see more than one place in each location outside Tevinter. Not only that, but I also hope we get to go to Antiva City, though not named it would be interesting to see the capital of Antiva as well as how the "crown" and crows are handling the fifth occupation of Treviso by what they perceive as the Qun and if the main body of the Qun is helping fight against the rebelling Antaam as we see suggested in Tevinter Night.

I do really love the map they've shared, the stylization definitely communicates a focus on certain locals and fades away the ones we don't need to even consider. The use of the fog of war also plays so well into that and the sea monster.

Unfortunately, it doesn't portray much in terms of climates/biomes. The Anderfels looks arid as it always has, but Antiva is even more un-informing than usual. The fact the map is essentially stylized cracking rock portrays little on if Antiva is an arid climate or not. Considering Treviso seems to have snow on the mountains, and pretty low on the peaks as well, I have questions considering the rough placement we've been suggested they are on the globe and the fact that Seheron and Par Vollen are tropical and Rivain has the hallmarks of the same with the crops they grow - bananas, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, rice, chickpeas, bell peppers, ect.

Very excited to get back into the world of Thedas again.

[intooned]

What are your least favorite ships for jaune, Steven, and finn

My LEAST favorite? Woof! Ok, here we go.

Jaune: WhiteKnight: Any woman Jaune ends up with will have to AT LEAST have Pyrrha as a standard. Pyrrha loved Jaune before he accomplished anything, when he was just a sweet, earnest dork who wanted to be better than he was. She met him in the mud and jumped at the opportunity to help brush him off and build him up. Pyrrha heard his aspirations and said "cool, here's the first step on the road to your dreams, take my hand so I can support you if you stumble."

Meanwhile, Weiss just so happened to glance back at the finish line as Jaune crossed it, literally as a middle aged man, and she all of a sudden has a complete change of heart about him based off of his LOOKS? And nothing else? I loved Weiss' character development as a person, but having her take interest in Jaune on a dime with zero preamble was the most shallow thing she's ever done, and that's saying a lot considering her character from vol 1-2.

He already closed ONE gaping hole in her stomach at Haven Academy, and she never so much as uttered a thank you or a nod back. No indication whatsoever of a changing perspective or reevaluation of him to suggest any interest in having him fill her other holes in the future. When he expresses that he's glad she's OK, she doesn't even respond to him being their whatsoever, just gets up and carries on. And after the fight no words were exchanged between them, no apathetic eye contact, just nothing at all.

The shmuck fell for her at first sight without even getting to know her (not that Weiss ever gave him the chance to) and she never let anybody hear the end of it. Yet she knows Jaune for years and after all that time still has zero interest and the barest of friendships? Fine, fair enough! But that all goes out the window because of his APPEARANCE alone? A few seconds isn't enough time to take into account how Jaune's character has developed for his character to have been what attracted Weiss. How astoundingly hypocritical that she just wants him for his body after giving everyone hell for assuming the same of him? And one outing to the movies, with oscar in tow, off-screen, with no suggestive interaction afterward is not sufficient enough for anyone to believe anything had changed.

A cliché is cliché for a reason; Weiss didn't want Jaune at his worst, but Pyrrha did. She didn't want him at his beginning, but (according to Oum, by the end of season 2) Ruby did. She didn't want him at his mid, but a literal harem of milfs did. But now, at his best and most vulnerable... that STILL wasn't what had her moist at first sight; his newly well-worn dilf status was the sole factor in her newfound attraction. If you ask me, Jaune deserves so much better than the frigid panties of such a fickle and shallow girl. Especially ironic now that her kingdom, status, and family name are worthless. The gall to thirst after a guy you consistently insulted, for liking you, for two whole school years!

I had really hoped that someone, ANYONE, but especially Ruby would have confronted her behavior with contempt and indignation at her lust for Jaune after her indifference and outright hostility toward him up until that point. Having the both of them as her best friends, Ruby was privy to both sides of Jaune and Weiss' "relationship" back in school. I want to see both Jaune and Weiss happy but as far as we've gotten in the plot Weiss is acting more immature now than Jaune was back at Beacon, and it sucks that the writers are definitely going to smooth over all of that for the sake of giving the ex-heiress what she wants.

Steven: Steven x Sadie: Not much to say other than I can't imagine either of them benefitting or growing from each other's presence in a relationship.

Finn: Fubblegum: Princess Bubblegum is a conniving, manipulative, lawful evil ego-maniac and Finn dodged a NUCLEAR WARHEAD moving on from his crush on her. Heck, Marceline is WAY too good for her. I don't have a single doubt Marceline would give her life for her partner, and Finn was willing to tank third degree burns for someone he liked, and would do that and more for anyone he knew, but Bubblegum? I don't think she'd suffer any major inconvenience for her lover, especially after the bloody CUNT called Marcy "Monster Trash". This may be my diehard Finnceline enjoyer talking, but of all the female characters in the show, none of them vibed on the same wavelength with Finn like Marceline did. After Jake there's no one who's been a closer friend to Finn than Marceline; I'd go so far as to say Bubblegum has been more harm than help for Finn and others in the long run.

[bookoftheironfist]

    In which all of the comics fans who spent this whole episode going “Heal her, dummy! Heal her!” are finally rewarded! What a great reveal this is. I mentioned in an earlier post that this season did not dig very deep into the Iron Fist power-set, but it did give us two key components: the punching and the healing, and since the healing is much less famous than the punching, it was hugely exciting to see it spotlighted in this climactic moment. 

    In the comics, pre-Immortal Iron Fist Danny was, relatively speaking, an untrained Iron Fist-- which is to say that he didn’t know about a lot of the things that the chi of Shou-Lao could do. This wasn’t really his fault, as his predecessor, Orson Randall (who we will get to next episode!) took with him the source of that knowledge, the Book of the Iron Fist, when he ran away from K’un-Lun. Both 616 and MCU Danny are forced to learn a lot of the business of being the Iron Fist through lived experience, trial-and-error, and sometimes just by accident. 

The circumstances in which Danny discovers his healing powers in the comics are different than in the MCU, but equally desperate: he gets caught in a collapsing building and finds himself trapped in the rubble, dying from his injuries. On the edge of unconsciousness and hallucinating, he receives some vital information from the image of his uncle, Nu-An, the Yu-Ti of K’un-Lun: 

Nu-An: “Save yourself, young dragon!” Danny: “H-how?!” Nu-An: “The power lies within you, as it always has, nephew. The legacy of Shao-Lao can heal as well as kill... The Iron Fist is not a weapon--it is a force of will...and used properly, it can accomplish...miracles.” Iron Fist vol. 1 #4 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Janice Cohen, Frank Chiaramonte, and John Costanza

    Danny’s first healing experience is extremely painful and exhausting, but it works. He survives. Over time, he grows more comfortable with using the dragon chi in this way, and after his power-up in Immortal Iron Fist he is able to do so casually, whenever he needs to, for both himself and others.  

Lei Kung: “Daniel?” Danny: “Hunh...I healed without even thinking of it. And I don’t feel drained at all.” Immortal Iron Fist #8 by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Matt Hollingsworth

Danny: “Your doctors did most of the hard work weeks ago... All I’m doing...is focusing your chi a bit...” Dakota: “...Whoa...” Danny: “...To speed up your natural healing process.” Daredevil vol. 2 #111 by Ed Brubaker, Clay Mann, Matt Hollingsworth, Stefano Gaudiano, and Chris Eliopoulos

    MCU Danny is at much the same state of training as pre-Immortal Iron Fist 616 Danny, and I love that his effort at healing Colleen is clearly painful for both of them, reflecting that early power level and lack of experience. And the fact that Danny just passes the heck out afterward and is unconscious for the rest of the episode means a lot to me.  

    (There is a great issue of Heroes for Hire volume 1 in which a desperate, pre-Immortal power-level Danny heals Luke from life-threatening injuries and nearly kills himself in the process. Obviously, this is not on the same level as that, but it has a similar flavor.)  

    While this is all very exciting for geeky reasons, it is also a major plot point. After being teased as Colleen’s mysterious sensei earlier in the season, here Bakuto swoops in to save the day...much to the annoyance of Madame Gao, who is pissed that he’s muscling in on her Iron Fist manipulation efforts. And not only does Bakuto help, he knows about the Iron Fist-- including details that even Danny doesn’t know. That is hugely significant, a mystery that leads us directly into the next episode...

[I’ve been going through and providing in-depth commentary on Iron Fist season 1. Look here for all of the posts so far!]

[saffronapplemanga]

Recent Read Manga Recommendation Round Up (plus anime!) - Part 3

Manga/anime I’ve been enjoying recently! Links to part 1 and part 2.

Twitter link to this post here.

~Links to my other manga posts~ My personal favs/ones I super enjoyed will have a ✨ on them :)

PLEASE LOOK UP ANY TRIGGER WARNINGS!

CRIME, ACTION, DRAMA

✨GANGSTA. by Kohske

(8 volumes + chapters released past vol.8, hiatus)

Available in English

Please check out my dedicated post I linked for this series. I worked super hard on it!

If you take one recommendation from this list, let it be GANGSTA. I’m begging… This series is going in my all-time favs. I have a whole “Why You Should Check GANGSTA. Out” section in my dedicated post, so definitely take a look at that! But in short: Do you enjoy great character writing? A diverse, adult cast featuring different races and disability rep (deaf MC)? A gritty setting? A FOUND FAMILY OF DORKS?

I'm obsessed and I'm making it my mission to take as many of you down with me as possible...

TIME TRAVEL, SUPERNATURAL

Link Click directed by Li Haoling

(24 Episodes - Season 2 Coming Soon)

Link Click is a donghua from Studio LAN and streamed on Bilibili — the Chinese streaming service that I do some subs for, if you're unfamiliar with them — as well as Funimation. I enjoyed the art, animation, and atmosphere. The premise is that two guys working at a print shop time travel through photos to help their clients. And who doesn't love a trio of kids with a big-hearted jokester, the quiet, mature one, and a feisty girl who reins them in? I think this is my first donghua and I enjoyed it!

Plus, the opening and ending themes are pretty slick ->

Season 1 Opening Theme - Adding it to the playlist.

MECH, POLITICAL, SCHOOL

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury by Yatate Hajime

(12 Episodes + Prologue - Season 2 currently airing)

Let me tell you about me and Gundam.

I used to work at a translation company in Tokyo where I translated some Gundam figure commercials/interviews (which are currently privated on Youtube, unfortunately) amongst other things. I'm telling you guys, every time I walked into the office and saw an email from Bandai/TAMASHII NATIONS with a new Gundam translation request in my inbox, I would cry a lot little inside. I had never watched anything Gundam and didn't know what the heck was going on in the stuff I had to translate. There was this one interview with a figure designer where I was like, "Oh, you have to be a Gundam fan to understand what the heck he's talking about..." I remember me, another translator, and our editor staring at our screens exasperated. We managed, though. Big shoutout to the Gundam Wiki — not that I understood anything from it LOL.

If you told me back then that I would enjoy a Gundam thing, I would've laughed — but here I am, enjoying a Gundam thing. I'm not into mechs, even though I think robots/robot-adjacent stuff + space are cool. Still, I could never get into mechs for some reason. So if you're like me, try The Witch from Mercury. Our MCs are these two girls who end up engaged to each other in a rather hilarious way imo, with a colorful cast of supporting characters. The political themes I hear Gundam is known for really hooked me, and I LOVE how the kids handle a situation they end up in. I won't say more so as not to spoil it, but I think this is a great entry point for Gundam newbies!

Season 1 Opening Theme - Am I turning into a Gundam fan? Wild. Who would've thought the day would come? What if I start getting into Gunpla? A slippery slope, really.

SLICE OF LIFE, SCHOOL

✨Skip and Loafer by Takamatsu Misaki

(10 volumes, ongoing) + Season 1 Anime

Available in English

I remember seeing volume one of this series at the bookstore I frequented in Ikebukuro Station when it had just come out. Sooooo many times, I almost picked it up over the years. But I always passed because I was swamped with work, school, and current reads.

Now, I have a little more time on my hands, and the new anime adaptation has so much love put into it! A great coming-of-age story following young Mitsumi as she moves to the big city for school. This series is so wholesome, it's cavity-inducing.

This opening is the most delightful thing~

SLICE OF LIFE

Hotel Metsäpeuraan e Youkoso by Fukuta Seira

(5 volumes, ongoing)

JP only

In the mountains of Finland is a hotel run by two men. One day they see a young man outside in a snowstorm, and bring him inside. The men can tell that teenager Jun seems to have a heavy past and offer him a job and place to stay at the hotel.

Super cute, wholesome, and has great found family vibes!

SLICE OF LIFE, FOOD

Samenai Machi no Kisaten by Hasha

(2 volumes, complete)

JP only

A chill read with a touch of melancholy. At the end of each chapter is a recipe! The art is very cute and pleasing.

DYSTOPIAN, SCI-FI

✨Fool Night by Yasuda Kasumi

(8 volumes, ongoing)

JP only

In the future, the sky is blacked out, not allowing any sun through. To survive, technology has been developed to turn people into plants. The real horror is late stage capitalism though. I'm in love with the art and atmosphere of this series. I can't wait to read more!

ROMANCE

Gakusou by Tsurimaki Nodoka

(oneshot)

JP only

This is a super short one-chapter oneshot. Cute little read with lovely art! By the same author as 聖血の海獣/Seiketsu no Kemono, a 3-volume manga I've been meaning to read.

LGBTQ, DRAMA, COMEDY

To Strip The Flesh by Tooda Oto

(oneshot/anthology)

Available in English

An anthology that has some funny stories, and some that made me feel too seen...

DYSTOPIAN, SCI-FI, CRIME, ACTION, POLITICAL

✨PSYCHO-PASS by Urobuchi Gen

Check anilist for all content because the seasons, movies, manga, light novels, and watch order are a little all over the place.

The Psycho-Pass: Inspector Shinya Kogami manga is available in English from publisher Dark Horse.

Set in the future, Japan has implemented a surveillance state that measures people's psyche and flags anyone with the potential to do crime, even if they have not done anything or will never have done anything.

I watched season one back when it first came out in 2012. Since then, I would see ads for new content at the train stations in Japan and thought I’d catch up. There’s a new movie, PSYCHO-PASS PROVIDENCE, releasing May 12, 2023.

I've been having a lot of dumb, edgy fun with this series and its on-the-nose political themes. It's kinda camp-y? I do wish it spent more time on character moments, though.

I love me a trio (which seems to be a theme in this round-up lol) and this series has a good trio! Akane is such a great character, and Shinya and MY BOY GINOZA NOBUCHIKA!!! have been thoroughly entertaining me.

I love him. I wanna bully him and stuff him into a locker...

[completeoveranalysis]

Hi Nick, anon from 2 days ago who asked about the Google drive here - tysm, the link worked! Also, I saw your tags and just wanted to say no thank YOU! I became a fan of Tsubasa when I was pretty young (I watched the anime around 4th grade and read the manga around middle school) So while I absolutely loved it, a lot of the nuances and details were lost on me (heck I probably read the first 14 vol out of order lol, since I had to go with whatever was available at the library) So when I randomly stumbled across your blog I was absolutely overjoyed!!! This manga and the characters have such a special place in my heart and reading it again through your blog made me love it even more! So thanks!

Absolutely my pleasure, anon! I'm very glad the link worked and and gives you some more reading options.

I'm always completely blown away when people say that this has helped them enjoy Tsubasa even more than they already did, which is basically the highest compliment possible. I appreciate it greatly <3

[hikennosabo]

trimax vol 10 random thoughts (ch 1-4)

usually my method for writing these posts is to read the volume in full, then read it again while writing out my thoughts. sometimes i have to read a volume more than just twice. i don't want to read this one again... mom come pick me up i'm scared

also it's finally gotten to the point that i have to split this post up into multiple parts... lol

why is nightow recycling chapter titles. or is this a translation thing? we already had chapters titled 'wolfwood' (vol2ch4) and 'death omen' (vol6ch4)... heck, the first 'wolfwood'-titled chapter is DIRECTLY REFERENCED in this very volume... anyway.

chapter 1:

this chapter cover FUCKS... it's just the punishers because this is all razlo is... a weapon. to chapel, anyway.

the bullet holes in ww's back... they've healed by now i think, but still, it's so visceral...

i don't know what to say about wolfwood's faith in vash that hasn't already been said. just. fuck, man.

can chapel die please please please please please youre nothing

razlo getting in between chapel and wolfwood is... interesting. even if he just wants to prolong ww's suffering... i don't know. it's not like razlo cares about wolfwood, but, hmmm, i don't know. just something i wanted to point out i guess.

...remind me to count how many vials wolfwood drinks when i rewatch stampede.

razlo's expressions while chapel is talking about how ww needs to die NOW while shooting him and stabbing him with the gun... hmmm... he's thinking...

chapter 2:

i like seeing razlo being pensive.

the way chapel has his talons in razlo... razlo is so loyal to him because he literally shot himself to beg for razlo's life, but this line of thinking tells me there's also lowkey fear there. the level of obsessiveness for which he injured himself so badly is the same one that makes him want to hurt wolfwood so much and razlo knows it. this is how far chapel is willing to go...

razlo... :( all he ever wanted was to be needed. and chapel fully took advantage of that.

ww is trembling here. is this him trying to physically resist chapel pushing his head back or is he trembling out of fear...

chapel is the evilest motherfucker in this whole fucking manga. seriously, fuck this guy.

melanie's words to wolfwood... despite it being a scolding, they're clearly coming from a place of love, not fear or anger. i think other people have already said everything that i could say about this. so instead i'm going to talk about razlo some more, since nightow made it a point to show us that he's listening to this.

i wonder what he's thinking... this chapter opened with him thinking about what happens to those who "betray" chapel... and he's observing this interaction, of a mother, a guardian, not reacting with anger, but with love, to seeing what's become of wolfwood. such a far cry from chapel's unbridled rage. melanie took care of razlo, too, technically. so i wonder if this is another... i don't know how to put it... another way that razlo's belief in chapel is being chipped away at.

and wolfwood thinks of vash, and once again, vash appears. like he's answering his prayer again.

i said this last volume, but i love seeing vash use his feathers to protect. and use his powers willingly. of course i worry about him when he does it, but it's just such a powerful character moment every time. because it's for wolfwood.

chapter 3:

wolfwood reaffirms his feelings about vash - absolute faith, someone he believes in and considers a friend - but doesn't understand why vash would come for him. i'm feeling some type of way. it's mutual, you fucking idiot!!!

razlo's smile is cute...

he's just excited to fight who he deems a worthy opponent... i wish the situation wasn't so dire...

^ how it feels to read trigun maximum (eating glass)

also, i need to share that when i watched stampede for the first time, this is what i said, copypasted directly from the group chat:

"as if the giant cross he carries isnt enough of a death flag on its own, the glass vials he's drinking are like. major flying high death flags."

i was thinking along the lines of "a character taking mysterious medicine is a death flag," but little did i know that the vials would literally be his cause of death. i was closer to the truth than i thought.

someone in the tag said something about ww going "catholic beast mode" and truly this is it. chapel was REALLY sent flying... fuck you fuck you fuck you you deserved that. i do feel a bit bad for razlo though.

a LOT of people have already questioned/referenced the theory that vash can literally hear ww's thoughts, but honestly i think this one is just a case of vash knowing ww so well that he understands what ww wants without doing that.

GOOD!!!!!

i actually do, truly, feel bad for razlo though. chapel was the closest thing he has to a father. thing is, chapel was just as abusive and controlling as livio's parents were. not in the exact same way, obviously, but abusive all the same. razlo has just... not been in a good situation. like, ever. he doesn't know anything else. he didn't see chapel's abuse for what it was.

*head in hands* VASHWOOD.......

they're so fucking stupid. they understand each other so well and yet so little. they can fight back-to-back seamlessly but fall so short when it comes to words. i'm going to cry.

chapter 4:

vashwood banter is back, but oh look, more dread. i've talked before about chapters that use familiar setups/scenarios but have an air of dread over them. 'colorless expression' was one. 'bastards and the blues' was another. i think this scene also falls into that.

what if i microwaved myself.

no!!! no silly expression!!! not when my heart is so full of dread!!!!

vash thinking about his feelings for wolfwood. i can't even articulate anything. i just want to cry.

"i wanted to see tomorrow with him." I WANTED. TO. SEE. TOMORROW. WITH!!! HIM!!!! i feel like shinji on the chair.

he can feel wolfwood's body dying. what if i ate rocks.

the way he clings so hard. he doesn't want to let wolfwood go, literally and figuratively.

the embrace. the hesitation. what if i ate glass.

the apology...... ww knows he's dying and he knows that vash knows. in yet another "i know he knows i know" situation. their whole fucking relationship.

i can't read this chapter without crying, fuck.

even razlo is like, "i want to fight both of you!" but even if vash joined wolfwood against razlo now, it would be too late...

i have nothing coherent to say. this post has become a record of my vashwood-induced mental breakdown, sorry. and we're only halfway through the volume...

[hotpinkstaples]

continuing my adventures of looking up old dc comics fandom drama, i honestly commend the writing team for making jay sooooo ambiguous in his nature and intentions towards superman in the first couple of issues that like half the fandom thought he was a villain, including the homophobes. no doubt bruce’s lil “you cannae trust the gamorran” fueled that speculation as well. HOWEVER, i think it also stands to be said that by the time SOKE vol two wrapped up, it was pretty clear that jon was NOT dickmatized, and actually did recognize that he was basically being recruited for an insurgency group, and was FINE with it. like the whole build up the first volume was that jon DIDN’T like that a superman’s morals had to “be a certain way,” and sure, superman won’t club a seal to death to feed a pregnant polar bear, but he’ll sure as heck give the polar bear the resources to do so herself.

sure he won’t strangle bendix himself, but he’s not gonna let crimes against humanity and posthumanity go unpunished. jon knew saving a boatful of refugees was gonna have SOMEBODY call him a traitorous alien terrorist, and to no one’s surprise, lex and bendix did just that. jay tryna seduce him into doing more probably came to no one’s surprise bc jon could actually DO things to further their cause. not to say jay wasn’t slick, cuz he most certainly was, but by the time we was wrappin up SOKE vol 2, jon’s pretty clear that even IF jay tried to seduce him to use his power against bendix, it’s only because jon LET him. you dont fall asleep on a man’s couch and put your full trust in him and NOT desire him some typa way. this wasn’t even a pull. jon straight up trusted that man to look after him in his most vulnerable state AND THEY HADN’T EVEN KISSED!!

and you also don’t spend your teenage years in a hell earth being routinely manipulated and abused and NOT know when someone’s playing the long game. despite jay’s game (and this is speculating he even HAS a game), jon i believe genuinely loves him, and i think the same is true for jay. jon had no reason to go out of his way the way he did after the initial heroics. he CHOSE to continue helping. similarly, jay coulda cut his losses after bendix almost murked them at the kent farm, but continued to keep his shit going bc even a death warrant is ok if he can manage to expose bendix long enough to save his people. unstoppable superman meeting and falling in love with an immovable revolutionary? if dc wasn’t so homophobic, we would already have three animated series and a movie by now. this is straight up a fantasy horror romance, and i support it!

[lazlolullaby]

Starmora is still canon, stop sinking your own ship

I'm not sure why people are mad or sad about the way Gunn "ended" the Starmora relationship? It's not over, it just went through a natural resting point after all of the stuff that happened in the plot???

Because even if the characters don't share a screen anymore, that doesn't mean it's over. That doesn't mean that love can't happen twice. Gunn has laid the groundwork - you can see it if you're looking at the characters.

Gamora has always been subtle. but she commits. She puts her whole traumatized heart into something if she believes that it's the right thing. She was raised by Freaking Thanos - she was (kinda) fine with him killing half the population but when Ronan wanted All of Xandar killed she Bolted. Betrayed Ronan and by proxy Thanos and Nebula.

After Endgame, she knows how to reach the Guardians if she wanted to. Heck, she's been talking with Nebula who respects that enough to only bring her on a mission that could kill a Guardian and end their found family.

About 75% of Gamora's lines are her denying that she's the same person. She's clearly pissed as hell that Peter is trying to "bring her back" when it's clear to her that she's fine without the Guardians.

At the end of the movie, if she wanted to be on the same team as Peter, she would have stayed on Knowhere. If she never wanted to see Peter again, she wouldn't have said anything.

By saying "I bet we were fun" its a signal to both Peter AND the audience that she is fine to stay in contact. That she acknowledges that her love with Peter could happen again.

As for Peter...

Peter loves HARD. He's never been subtle about it. He's never been subtle about feelings; happy, sad, angry, romantic - he boosts them up and uses them as a distraction, makes others think he's not sharp as an arrow.

He values Gamora's choices. We see him flirting at Knowhere, she pulls a knife on him and he doesn't directly flirt again for a while. You see that in Vol 2 when he's patient about her having feelings. He SHOT HER in Infinity War because she told him to. She's dead but she knows - she knows that's love.

We know he respects her choices in all situations...except in Vol 3. He's more childish and clingy especially compared to the other Guardians - they don't try as hard as Peter does to get her back. I feel like this is justified; he's already heavily traumatized from Infinity War and as acknowledged in the movie(!) Peter is dependent on Gamora in a way that the other Guardians aren't.

And with Vol 3, he's lost that part of him. He just wants "his Gamora" back. And it's cringy and sad and messed up.

You can parallel it to Thanos, who just saw "his little one", a daughter he trained to be a weapon and didn't acknowledge as a person. You can parallel it to the High Evolutionary, who wants his creations "perfect" and only sees Rocket as a failure that needs to be utterly destroyed.

(yeah it's a theme, its kickass writing, it's *chefs kiss* thank you mr. Gunn for tying this all up with a big fancy bow)

Peter is stronger than both of them. Able to move past what he thinks he needs and see Gamora as she is now instead of as he wants her to be.

"Like you wouldn't believe." He finally has something in his past that is complicated but at the end of the day, he can smile about it. An ending he can be at peace with.

Both of them know that they are not the same people that met on Xandar outside the pawn broker's shop. Fighting over their ticket out from under Yondu and Thanos.

But they know they could be good to each other again. It's just going to take some time apart.

[daresplaining]

Can we just talk about the fact that in the year of 2023 (andnnow 2024), Matt is drawn with a reddish brown short stick that has a curved handle in the new Ahmed run? And i do mean Matt, not Daredevil. How the hell does one screw this up so bad when googling what a white cane looks like takes couple seconds?

We sure can! What the heck is this?

Daredevil vol. 8 #2, lines/inks by Aaron Kuder and colors by Jesus Aburtov

I'm annoyed, but I'm also baffled. This is like if a writer asked for a drawing of a car and the artist drew a Model T. Even without doing that two-second Google search, surely most people nowadays at least have a general sense of what a white cane looks like, don't they? I can't even begin to comprehend how this kind of mistake is still being made, especially(!) after Paolo Rivera did such a beautiful job of redesigning Matt's cane/grapple/billy club combo back in 2011 to make sure it looked accurate and correct.

[pancake-breakfast]

Finishing up Trigun volume twoooooo

Archive

Trigun Volume 1: Covers + 1-3, 3 Detailed Thoughts, 4, 4 DT, 5-6, 5-6 + DT, 6 DT, 7-8, 9-10

Trigun Volume 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 1 Supplemental Research, 2-4, 5-6

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for Trigun Vol. 2, Chapters 7-8 below.

Chapter 7: Demon's Eye

Look at this sassy pose. This man is not straight.

I just wanna note that, even without Monev or E.G. AND counting Legato as one of the Gung-Ho Guns, this spread does NOT bring their number up to 12. Or even 11.

Midvalley sure is smiley....

Dude. Legato's messing with people's brains in a whole different way now, apparently. I mean, he sticks out in a crowd, so it's particularly weird that they don't remember him. Come to think of it, how did that little street girl notice him if others didn't? Did he just... let her to make his point?

LOL, WW offering to give Legato a message for Vash....

They've only known each other for a bit, and already they're standing back to back.

Bye, Mr. Bondage Cross! I'm sure you, someone who featured on the cover of the volume, will not show up in any sort of meaningful way again in this entire series.

Vash seems suspicious.

Does... he smell Legato? I want to think he can smell Legato. I'm sure he's smelling, like, the big pile of rotting corpses... but it's funnier if he can smell Legato.

No one wants to talk about the terrifying man in a white coat.

It's... noteworthy that Vash has only described Legato by his clothes and not by his clearly strange-colored hair. He did the same when describing Legato to WW on the bus.

Yup, there's the blood he was smelling. These long shots with Vash in the foreground and devastation in the background....

Sudden lady!

Hello, Dominique! Glad you could join us! Now, if you'd please take a seat over there....

Nice of her to provide some context for the blood. I doubt Vash will be super-pleased, but it's still better than the alternative.

Yyyyyup. Vash is still Vash.

Dude. Vash. Rude.

Oh, she does have the same kind of coin as Monev.

Vash is gonna have a hard time of it here.... Story of Trigun....

Oof, no one wants to go on a full-out pilgrimage every time they go to church. Too many stairs.

Heh! That window looks like....

CROSS TO THE GUT

WW is correct. They are being quite rude with this welcome here.

LOL, Vash pussy shot.

"That wasn't humanly possible." Well, then, we need to consider other options, don't we?

Ok, I flipped back through the panels just to be sure, but... like, how in the HECK were we supposed to tell she's teleporting when she opens her mechanical eye??

Even if they miss, having a gun go off that close to your face seems unsafe....

I appreciate the level of detail that leaves the snaps he's missing off.

When your opponent is acting so weird you're momentarily caught off-guard and forget you're supposed to be killing him.

I forgot until just now that Vash is still running around sans one (1) arm.

Chapter 8: Fifth Moon

CW: Sexual abuse/assault reference/imagery

Shit, I recognize that title and I don't like it.

I figured they were leftover slavers because of their freaking leg poofs.

Heh. "Late Arrivals." I WONDER WHAT HE MEANS BY THAT.

Oh, good. They cleared it up pretty quick.

They keep calling the thing on Legato's right shoulder a torture device, but the only use I can think of for it is stabbing himself in the face when he moves wrong.

Stampede seems to have forgone the name "Chapel" for perhaps a more apt name. I wonder if "it "Chapel" will show up in Season 2?

Dude. Dominique. Overreaction.

Wait, did Vash just pass out?

No. No. Doctor bad. No doctor. Please send back. Surround the place with apples as a warding circle.

Who's this tall lady??

WW already having a crisis of conscience? Good good.

That's the real struggle, isn't it, Wolfy. VERY interested to see how Stampede handles this.

And I thought normal pregnancy was gross. Plants are on a whole other level.

Scary Vash is scary.

I'm sorry, I'm laughing so hard at Legato crying over Knives' rebirth. I know I shouldn't. This man's obsession just amuses the hell out of me sometimes.

Long-haired Knives! Long-haired Knives!

NM, Legato. I apologize for laughing. Long-haired Knives really is that beautiful.

If only the stomach stretch retreated that fast. Or... dissolved into a bunch of feathers shojo style. I'd take that, too. And I haven't even been pregnant.

We have no real idea where Vash is relative to Knives (aside from "in the same city"), and Vash is still screaming at him.

First glimpse of Vash's slutty windowed top.

Vash isn't wrong. AND he deserves to be slapped. Meryl is also right. Neither of them are listening. This happens a lot when everyone is shouting.

LOL, she hurt her hand on Vash's hard head.

Heheheheheh, Meryl has a cruuuuuuush....

It's interesting how, for once, as Vash goes forward with full intention of embracing his status as the Humanoid Typhoon, he's not wearing his iconic coat.

Iconic Vash back shot. I don't know why, in all the times I've seen it posted, I never thought to look at the color of his hair. I always assumed this shot was from Maximum. Even though I'm sure I read this volume back in the day. I just remember NOTHING from it.

Legato sure looks happy to see him. And heyyyyyy, someone in the background there has a big-ass cross....

Legato's getting a hell of a head-pat here....

ROFL, no one appreciates how much work it is to be a yandere. Knives shows up and he's like, "Screw you, Entire Con-Based Questline. And you, the quest-giver, in particular."

Ugh, I love love love this.

Knives really gets incredulous about Vash trying to shoot him. Also, My man needs to find himself some pants.

Legato looks kind of like a crushed spider here. He looks like he's still conscious, too, so I'm sure that's fun for him.

Of all the versions of Trigun, this version definitely has WW being the MOST clueless about the nature of Vash and Knives. Not in a "that's beyond me and I don't wanna know" way. In a "WTF did I get myself into, I don't think this is what I signed up for" sort of way.

Ugh, this interchange. It says SO MUCH about their relationship....

In the story up to this point, Knives has been built up to be this terrible, terrifying bad guy. But now that he's here, his primary concern seems to be Vash's well-being. Aside from his incredulous face when shouting at Vash for pointing a gun at him (again), his expression throughout this whole scene while he's focusing on Vash has been so soft.

Oop, all softness gone.

Something something body horror. Could you imagine having your whole being shift against your will at the touch of another person? If so, I'm sorry, 'cause the only things I can think of that do that are... trauma.

I do want to note that, should this come up in Stampede, they've set it up much better there. The very first time Knives and Vash have an encounter there, Knives touches him, and... it's not this bad, but it absolutely has an effect that Vash seems helpless to resist.

Something something rape imagery.

Heh, they're trying to save Legato.

All these folks were gathered here to supposedly help and protect Knives, and Knives is about to repeat the July incident even though everyone else around them would likely die.

Dude. Knives. You clearly don't give a shit how it feels to Vash. Ash Lynx had a whole speech about this kind of behavior in Banana Fish, and let me tell you, it did NOT conclude with people who behave like this harboring anything resembling love for their victims.

Dude. Vash, no!

Yes, he would.

Oh, babygirl Vash.... That's not the case.... Rem would tell you the same if you told her that.

WW looks... concerned.

Yeah, now they all have a constant reminder of what Vash the Stampede is. All they have to do is look up.

I really wonder how this will go down in Stampede given that they wrapped the aftermath, in particular, into the initial arc. Having Vash disappear for an additional two years seems unlikely.

Heh. The coat. Good luck, Coat.

Author Bonus Chapter: Welcome to the Future

It's funny to think of someone saying Nightow has no inner fire when one has a feel for the themes of Trigun. Just because someone isn't in your face about it doesn't mean they don't burn.

Tea heals so many woes....

Isn't this the story of any creative....

Dude, that's not a fortune. That's just life. In the internet age, you don't even have to leave your house to meet interesting people. May it indeed be fun.

[aashi-heartfilia]

BnHA Thoughts: 8th Popularity Poll (Top 25)

Bakugo: The undefeated No#01 since last 7 years!! No#01 Hero or not, he'll always be the no#01 character of the series!

Deku: How the heck is there such a huge gap?!! Almost 6000 votes!! Damn. And here I thought he might be no#01 this time because of his rouge arc going on.

Shouto: Why is the vote gap so surprising? Usually Deku and Shouto have similar vote counts.

Endeavour: Not surprised. His fight against AFO was really something.

Iida: Vol 33 hype stays strong.

Kaminari: *surprised Pikachu face* he was always popular but him being no#06 despite the expensive voting, wow.

What's surprising is that Jirou is on 19th spot! She is the cool, musical girl of the show. She got her own concert arc and big moments against AFO and yet Pikachu manages to outrank her.

Aizawa: Always a fan favourite.

Hawks: Deserving. Literally the binding force for heroes. MVP!

Kirishima: Why are you here? He hasn't done anything since last 100+ chapters and yet managed outrank Ochako.

Ochako: Who was a major character in the Deku Retrieval arc, got some great character development and now fighting against one of the deadliest villains is ranked below Iida, Kirishima and even Kaminari.

It's so concerning that literally one female character made it to top 10 and yet she is also literally at spot #10.

All top 9, male. And why shouldn't they be? They're compelling characters with great backstories, character arcs, battles and screentime devoted to them. But when it comes to writting female character, even the author takes a backseat.

What a shame.

Dabi: The highest ranked villain and yet so low. Didn't make top 10.

Shigaraki: 2nd highest villain and 12th postion. Has been stagnant since AFO took over his body, so his place below Dabi is okay.

Mirio: pleasantly surprised. Guess UA coffin really gave him a boost.

Sero: Another surprise. He hasn't done anything big. Why are you here?

Rody: well... You're not even cannon...

Tamaki: UA coffin boost is real.

Present Mic: Shirakumo hype has died now?

Shinsou: got that cool costume upgrade but hasn't done anything yet.

Jirou: How are you so low?

All Might: The All Mighty No#01 hero at no#20. This is not a good sign. His popularity is steadily decreasing.

Toga: Our bloodthirsty Harley Quinn didn't made it to top#20? Guess Villains are really a bad omen in Japan. But she was such a big force, constantly talked about. Well, what do you know.

Monoma: Good role in final battle. Okayish ranking.

Momo: HOW THE HELL IS MOMO OUT OF TOP 20?!!! And that too below Monoma? The Class A vice-president, who single handedly defeated gigantimachia?! Not single handedly but still. How the hell is she soooo low?!!!

Iida literally did nothing that significant since Joint Training Arc and yet he always manages to make it top 5 and yet Momo who is an actual deserving candidate didn't even make it top 20? Guess misogyny is really high here.

Nejire: The only UA BIG 3 who didn't make it top#20. Why is it that Mirio and Tamaki got great backstories while all she gets is a half-baked page about how great Mirio and Tamaki were that they decided to befriend her. Seriously?

Mirko: Guess big thigs and badass fight scenes aren't enough to land you in top 20, huh?

Additionally, Tsuyu is 29 and Mina is 33. AFO is #39, Ayoyama #41 and Hagakure #43. Despite getting the big focus with Traitor reveal and Face reveal, Hagakure and Ayoyama are so low. Horikoshi #52 didn't make it to top 50.

Overall Impression:

It wasn't that bad. Remember when we had Shindou ranked #09 and literally no female characters in the top 10. That was the worst poll. Though it's still mildly concerning how there are just 2 girls in the top 20, Ochako and Jirou and no villains in top 10. Momo is really low and Nagant and Midnight aren't even in the picture. Bakugo remains the undisputed star of the show and with that we have reached our conclusion.

It was a really tough competition this year.

~Thanks for reading

[starfirexuchiha]

Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) Album Book Volume 4 - English Translation

Did you know that there were 4 story books made for Fire Emblem Ciphers?

Volume 1 is about Ike and FE9 / FE10

Volume 2 is about Male Corrin and Fates

Volume 3 is about Female Corrin and Fates

and Volume 4 is about Roy and FE6 / FE7

Thank you so much ZoraTwilight for scanning the Volume 4 book for me! I was able to translate the story within it! (I was supposed to translate this years ago but I was buried in college homework/exams at the time and forgot I'm sorry💦)

My translation isn't perfect but I tried my best to make the English sentences not sound weird. Some phrases in Japanese cannot be easily translated to English. So here goes!

Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)

Album Book Vol. 04

Shadows taking over, Light of Hope

-----A sinister shadow is about to overtake this continent…

The sandstorm is whirling like crazy. As if it’s something that refuses to be approached. As if it’s never going away.

“Hey… do you know about this rumor?”  The guy in front of a caravan said. While wrapping his turban with the scarf is covering his mouth, the man walking next to him spoke out: 

“I’m tired… talk about that gossip to someone else will ya?”

“Hey don’t say that, there are many legends about this Nabata desert.” 

The listener gave him a dull look, but the speaker continued to run his mouth. The speaker’s face is also tired, but he at least wanted to distract himself from the unbearable desert heat as well as the drifting dust in the sandstorm. 

“First of all… there are valuable treasures buried everywhere in this great desert.” 

“Yeah…”

“And I heard about a story where there’s a secret village hidden somewhere around here. It’s a village where the descendants of dragons live.”

“I see, I see…”

“And there’s a large temple brimming with cold water underground or something…”

“…..”

The story is hard to believe. There shouldn’t be hard ground in the sand as far as the eye can see. These two are traveling merchants. They do business while carrying loads of items. Walking in the desert is a normal thing for them. In this great desert, they usually shouldn’t be traveling through the dangerous sandstorm. But this time, they chose this route because there are buried packages from Bern soldiers that contain large amounts of money here. However… if the contents inside the packages hold just food and soldier equipment, then what the heck do they do now? No, they do not need to know about such things. In fact, it’s more risky to raise such a question. 

“There’s one more thing…”

The rumor-loving man still continued to tell the story. Even though the story sounds fake, what other pleasant things are there to talk about? 

“I also heard that a ghost of a beautiful woman tends to show up around here too.” 

Just as he said that, the ghost suddenly began to appear. Right before the merchant’s eyes, the sand whirling in the storm grew stronger. It’s so harsh that the sand begins to stick onto the merchants’ carts.

And then the men saw her. Amidst the raging sandstorm stood a shadow of a woman standing in the dunes. She is as beautiful as the rumors say, the figure of the divine woman appears to be more fascinating than frightening…

“Is that…. THE GHOST YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT JUST NOW?!”

“GRAAHHHHHHH!”

The frightening sound echoed. At first it seemed that the sound of the wind became stronger but that’s not it. A bigger shadow was looming just behind that woman. The strange looking monster figure closely resembled the ones seen in fairy tale picture books for young children.

“It’s… It’s a DRAGON!!!”

As they cried out, the caravan group ran away at once, leaving their horses and goods behind. 

There’s an area in the desert where one can hear the sound of gentle water flowing and leaves rustling from the trees. The sunlight filtering through the trees created small patches of light in a small area. One could hardly believe that it is the same area as the desert a while ago…

“Hey! Big sister Sophia!”

In the desert resides a village around one oasis. It is commonly known as Nabata Village, a Utopia where humans and dragons live together. Among the powerful territories in Elibe, such an isolated land like this one exists. 

“Huh? Say it in a little more detail please~”

Fae inflates her cheeks with a face of tantrum. Sophia laughs again, sounding a little worried. Since birth, Fae is not allowed to leave the village. It’s because her power is too strong and that there is a risk that she will be used under the wrong hands of unknown people. Therefore, she should not be allowed to talk about her interest regarding the outside world. Sophia knew that. 

“I really…. don’t have anything to say”

She was watching a caravan passing by. One cannot reach this village unless they know the restricted route to get there. Apparently it doesn’t seem that someone had found the way, but Sophia had a bad feeling about this. Sophia, who inherits the blood of the dragon, doesn’t have tremendous power like Fae does, but instead has magical powers that no ordinary person can possess.  Foreseeing the future is one of them. She felt it. She foresaw that an unknown shadow is going to cover all of Elibe. Something bad is going to happen… so she hugged Fae close and frowned. 

 “Big Sister…. what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Fae looked worried. Her innocent face expresses unhappiness knowing that she continues to be confined in this oasis. But Sophia has been wishing for Fae to be released from this eternal prison. Someday, to her heart’s content, she wants to play with her while she is free and happy. However, that desire is far away as if she can sense that it is hidden behind the dark clouds in the sky… 

The sounds of a horse’s hooves echo in the courtyard under the clear sky. As the horse is walking, a young man with gold shining hair and blue eyes is seen with a bit of dirt on his body, showing a bitter smile on his face.

“Checkmate” 

Said a female knight riding a horse. The young blonde man who had fallen on the ground, raised his defeated face and returned an invigorating smile. 

“You win…. Mage General”

The name of the female knight is Cecilia. She is the Mage General from Etruria’s 3 generals. The young man she defeated is Klein. Against this skilled bow user, Cecilia thought that it had been the first time in a long time that she had such a tough sparring match. The young man skillfully dodged her wind magic, and has great precision when he shoots his arrows many times. If Cecilia didn’t change the trajectory of her Aircaliber magic, she might have lost that match. Klein is a noble of the Reglay family and is currently engaged in military service in the Western Isles. He was with Cecilia when returning to Etruria for a report and decided to have a sparring match with her on the premises of a villa. And now…

“You and your younger sister have a considerable amount of skill. Perhaps the next Mage General of Etruria will be Clarine I wonder?”

“Haha… please don’t tell my sister that.” 

It all began in a dinner party when Klein’s younger sister Clarine started asking Cecilia to become their mage instructor.  The people of the dinner party were surprised at such an unfamiliar offer but Cecilia accepted it. The place was small but Cecilia was able to teach her a few magic tricks. 

-----It was wonderful! But… given that Clarine’s brother uses a bow, General Cecilia cannot teach him. Clarine insisted she do it, but Cecilia will not. However, Klein did mention when greeting Cecilia, that a sparring match would be a great opportunity. 

“Now then… if you’ll excuse me…”

Klein is about to leave while brushing off the dust on him.

“Klein, can you spare me a moment?”

“Huh? Um… of course…”

Cecilia was worried about the state of Klein’s mind during their match. She understands that Klein is an innocent young man during that match, so she also wanted to hear his story a little more. 

“Is General Arcard doing well?” 

“Yes. The General is trying day and night to suppress the rebellious group in the West Isles. I am trying hard to suppress the rebels too but…”

Klein stopped talking after saying that, and took his gaze away from Cecilia with an expression that looks as if he is thinking about the distant lands in the west. He hesitated to say anything because he was hesitant to reveal anything like a complaint about his military service or his superiors. He was afraid to say that there was something disturbing about this expedition. For Cecilia, just knowing about it is enough.

“I see, I understand” 

-----Let’s meet again. Future Archer General. As Cecilia said this, she smiled as she watched Klein leave.

The Western Isles is an expedition that is far away from the capital. General Arcard is currently ruling that place. I heard he was suppressing the rebel soldiers but… there are rumors that he is in some way in contact with the higher-ups, and I heard some not-so-good stories out of that.

I hope that they are not planning something by taking advantage of how difficult it is to see in the fog… and speaking of rumors, I heard that recently there has been an influx of smuggling illegal goods and mysterious cargo within Etruria. There are various nefarious schemes being planned without my knowledge. Should I briefly consult with the other war commanders in advance to confront those who pose a threat to the country?

Cecilia was pondering about this while looking at the sky, which was beginning to cloud over, when suddenly a messenger soldier came rushing in. 

“What happened?”

“A report! T-The Bern army has crossed the border and is marching into Lycia!” 

“What?!”

The Kingdom of Bern is a large nation located on the eastern side of the continent of Elibe, and although it clashed with Etruria in the past, in recent years, their relationship maintained stability. Bern’s relationship with Lycia shouldn’t be bad either. I also heard that Zephiel, who became the king at a young age, is a man of great character and is a spitting image of a king. Why on earth is he…

However for Cecilia, a general of Etruria, that is not the first thing she should think about. Although it’s not her country’s problem, they have a better relationship with Lycia than with Bern. First, she must immediately consider what countermeasures that her army should take. In some cases, she could send reinforcements over to Lycia. And so…

She ran. Roy… Lilina… She remembered the faces of her beloved disciples whom she taught how to fight, back when she was stationed in Lycia. Also Klein and Clarine of Etruria… She is feeling uneasy that promising young people in this continent are getting dragged into a war by a great unseeable force…

When I awoke, I found myself in a small room surrounded by humidity, darkness, and rocks----- It was a prison.

In his hazy consciousness, Hector, the Marquis of Ostia remembered why he was in this place.

It was a complete surprise for Lycia that the neighboring country of Bern, which they had maintained friendship up until now, is suddenly attacking them.

However, the initial confusion was short-lived, for an alliance of lords immediately gathered with their troops at Araphen, with Hector as their leader. They formed an allied army with all of their soldiers, and prepared to confront the Bern Kingdom’s army. Although they are outnumbered, the army alliance is known for their strong unity, and their spirit of not losing against a big army kept their morale high. 

Well, that’s how it should be, until Bern showed up leading an army of resurrected dragons…

Looking at it, Hector’s beloved heavy armor that had been with him for many years was cracked and brutally destroyed in many places. Also, the wounds he sustained when he faced a dragon on the front lines, covered his whole body.

Since my youth, I have been through many battles and fought alongside with many friends… But my body that I once considered to be very strong, is reaching its limit.

-----This life too, is also… 

Amidst the painful defeat, and the humiliation of being imprisoned in the dungeon of an ally’s castle, Hector sensed that his death was drawing near.

“Lilina…”

Hector couldn’t help but say his daughter’s name. His daughter got her good looks from her mother, and she also gained a lot of trust from her retainers. Plus, she has recently shown her talent as a mage. Since she’s his daughter, she’ll be strong enough to survive. He’s not worried about the future. However, not being able to witness her growth would be painful and unbearable. The heart of a fierce warrior who is at the brink of death, is filled with regret. Also there was another thing that he regretted.

----- If one of us is ever in danger, we will protect each other with our lives.

Those are the words that he swore to his best friend Eliwood during his younger days. Eliwood is also a Lycian lord, and the head of his family in Pherae. He is his closest friend like no other. As promised, they had saved each other in difficult situations many times. Eliwood is not just someone that he has a cooperative relationship with. He is a precious friend with a solid bond…

But recently, Eliwood has been suffering from illness, and is often laying in bed. Hector wanted to go to his sickbed and see his face. He wanted to cheer him up and throw away his illness.  However, it seems like his promise can no longer be fulfilled. 

No, but putting it that way would mean that Eliwood is also breaking his promise by not being able to save me from this current situation. We are in the same boat huh…

F… Farewell… my best friend…

Hector smiled weakly and quietly tried to close his eyes.

At that moment, he heard a noise from above. Several people were rushing down to this dungeon. Then, Hector saw a young man running towards him right before his eyes.

“Lord Hector! Are you okay?” 

That voice sounded a lot like the voice of a man whom Hector knew. The voice of the only man he could stand shoulder to shoulder with, the only man he can rely on in this life dedicated to battle…

(TN: Roy's voice sounds like Eliwood's)

“Roy…?”

Hector noticed it right away. Fiery red hair, eyes full of justice. The boy who looks a lot like Eliwood turns out to be Roy, the son of his best friend.

“Yes. I came to help!“

Behind Roy, there is chivalry that follows him. Reliable young warriors are gathered together. This reminded me of my past self with Eliwood and the others. The promise couldn’t be fulfilled, but instead will be inherited. I can… I can entrust everything to him, regarding Lilina’s safety, countering the threat of Bern, and Lycia’s future. 

Hector remembered a prophecy he heard from Archsage Athos during his younger days.

(TN: FE7 reference)

-----“An evil star will rise in Bern and all of Elibe will be consumed in war. But do not be afraid. Lycia will once again bring hope.”

At the end of his life, he found hope. It was like a passionate, bright, blazing hope-----

In the desert in the far west, in a hidden village where humans and dragons live together, the priestess Sophia looked up at the night sky. Fae, who was lying on her lap, perhaps tired from playing, looked up at her curiously. 

“Big sister Sophia, what are you looking at?”

Sophia saw it. She saw that within the dark shadows that began to cover Elibe, there is a small light that twinkles brightly like a star. She sensed that under this distant sky, the light is growing larger and larger, and is clothed in fire.

Sophia only stroked Fae’s hair in silence. She feels the breath of brightness that is budding in the distance, and it will not be defeated by the harsh fate that lies ahead.

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That's the end of the translation! ����

I really want to translate Volume 1 (Ike's story) too but I do not have the book nor do I have scans of the pages. 😭