#because no matter my scum villain addiction

[hey-hamlet]

BNHA AU Idea: Villainous Intern

“Ah, hello All for One, wo-”

Decades of being hunted by various heroes had trained All for One to strike first and ask questions later, even near crippled by All Might as he was. The voice hadn’t even managed to finish it’s introduction before he incinerated that corner of the doctor’s lab into pure atomic carbon. 

Silence, other than the creaking of now cooling molten metal. And then - 

“Well, I suppose thats fair, I didn’t book an apointment. I’d like to intern with you!” The blinding heat from All for One’s first attack started to die down enough that he could use his heat vision quirk - and there they stood - barely an inch to the left of the edge of the blast. A child - no, maybe a teenager. How had they gotten down here? What was the hero commision thinking, sending some baby with an invicibility quirk to what, try and strangle him to death?

He could strike again. Not many people lived a second hit from him, invinciablity quirk or not, but - he was bored. He was really, really bored, and playing nice with Tomura was just making him regret every life choice he had ever made. 

“Intern with me? Child, surely you know I’m a villain. I don’t offer internships.” The child made a kind of bouncing motion before grinning. His empathy quirk let him almost see the excitment radiating off him. Damn. 

“I also know you are, at least legally, Ichiro Akayama, head of Dumas Quirk Solutions, LLC - wonderful pun by the way, All for One - who does offer internships and whose company I am already doing work experience for so I don’t have to endure my middleschool classmates for any longer than legally required.” 

“Who are you, anyway?” All for One could literally feel the self satisfation radiating from the boy. Brat knew he had him. He was almost tempted to kill him just for that. Almost.

“Midoriya Izuku, future villain!”

Ah. He knew all of those sins would come back to haunt him one day. 

Read more under the cut: 

So! Izuku decides he wants to burn this hero society to the ground, and who better to learn from than the longest living and most succesful villain in japan - All for One! He’s tracked down a few of the man’s aliases and was willing to camp out in his office until they called him in just to try to get the kid out of the building 

He didn’t have to, because the poor overworked staff saw a smart kid who could probably do work for them so they signed him up for a work experience program instantly. Izuku, enjoying getting to skip school, was all for this. 

He is unaware All for One is his father. All for One is not unaware that this is his son. 

This is a pretty lighthearted villain AU because Izuku hates society, not its products. He mostly just feels sorry for poor, overworked All Might (and he’s a fanboy, but thats besides the point). He doesn’t kill good people or children! He does have a calendar alert set for Bakugo’s 18th birthday if he doesn’t straighten out though.

All for One is trying to convince him to do something less dangerous, like being a genetisist! Izuku thinks that current quirk genetic testing is just eugenics with extra steps. All for One,,, kind of agrees.

[kukuandkookie]

Please send help Xi Yang Yang literally has me in a chokehold and I am struggling knowing that out of most donghua, most of which are generally already pretty underrated and niche in the mainstream, this is probably one of the MOST NICHE fandoms I could ever get into because it is a kids’ show. 😭

It has a fandom in China that’s actually super active (I love getting lost in Bilibili’s AMVs and animation memes when I can afford to (as in I usually can’t/shouldn’t because I spend too long on that addicting site)), but obviously I’m not fluent enough to be super active on Chinese websites. 🥲

BUT XI YANG YANG JUST HAS GOTTEN SO ANIME AND BADASS AND HEARTFELT AND IT KILLS ME BECAUSE I’M WATCHING THESE ADORABLE LITTLE CHARACTERS I LIKED AS A CHILD BECOME AMAZING, ACTUALLY DEEP CHARACTERS IN REALLY INTRIGUING STORIES!!! It doesn’t help my addiction that the Xi Yang Yang channel on YouTube literally uploads all the episodes so I can watch them!! For free!!! It’s so accessible and thus super addicting!!!

I just found out from summary videos what happens in the latest season (the one where the goats and wolves go back to the fantasy cat kingdom except this time they discover a dog kingdom) and AHHHHHHHHH. I was literally—and yes, I do mean literally!—screaming because OH MY GOD KGJSKFHSJS THE PLOT. THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN.

God I wish there was a fandom for this. I used to yell about it on Twitter and at my Chinese friend who also liked animation (he was even nice enough to send me Xi Yang Yang merch!!) but my Twitter followers follow me for my Scum Villain (and maybe Erha) content and my friend isn’t active anymore. 😭

Obviously it’s my account so I can just post what I want but what I want to do is yell and upload too many screenshots and yell some more and sub video clips and post those too. I LITERALLY HAVE CLIPS OF XI YANG YANG THAT I SUBBED MYSELF JUST SITTING ON MY PHONE GLSJDKSHSJS.

I can’t emphasize enough how this series has grown and changed so much since I was a kid—now rather than have Tom and Jerry-esque comedy and rather stiff animation, it’s more colourful and fluid and even more meaningful—and it remains super funny. Like yes, sometimes the animation is still a bit off but overall it’s just improved so much!! The action is so shounen it’s just so much fun!

https://youtu.be/yQpdr4h2rbc

And the characters are all so likeable—like I genuinely think Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang are examples of iconic character design, and their friends are pretty good too (Xi Yang Yang can get really funky with some of the character designs—for example with the egg villains etc but overall the main characters look so so cute).

I’m so glad they reformed Hui Tai Lang in Mighty Little Defenders!! I’ve watched every season since then and they’re all really really enjoyable. Since we’re not just constantly reusing Hui Tai Lang as a villain and having him chase the sheep around, we get a lot more interesting stories: the entire Rescue Across Time season, with all its time-travelling shenanigans, remains one of my favourites, as does the aforementioned fantasy cat kingdom transmigration season (we even got the goats brainwashed into lovable jerk versions of themselves who also happen to be cats!!). The whole plot surrounding Xi Yang Yang’s parents and Bing Bing Yang is really nice too, and Hui Tai Lang is such a good dad. 😭

Also I guess it doesn’t technically matter if I spoil the latest season and reveal why I was screaming earlier today, but basically I found out they make Hui Tai Lang brainwashed by dark energy into becoming a villain. Xi Yang Yang tries to fight him and they both get affected with the dark energy, but in the end, Hui Tai Lang still sacrifices himself to save his best friend. GOD THEIR BOND IS SO CUTE. ;w;

I know this is like all gibberish to people who haven’t watched Xi Yang Yang and I’m betting 90% of you haven’t (and that even if you have, 95% of you or more haven’t watched the newer seasons (from Mighty Little Defenders onwards)). But basically besides Xi Yang Yang being devastated by Hui Tai Lang’s potential death, Gou Xing Lang, the villain from the cat fantasy kingdom season (Against the Dark Force) soMEHOW MANAGES TO SAVE HIM FROM WITHIN THE DARKNESS???? AND IT HAS ME EVEN MORE EMO BECAUSE HE HAD A SAD, PRETTY TOUCHING BACKSTORY WHERE HE LOST TOUCH WITH HIS CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND WHO BETRAYED HIM (which they referenced in the Ultimate Battle season) BUT WE ALL THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD!!!

So now I’m wondering if they’ll build on the fact he’s somehow in the dark energy??? Or if they’ll just leave it at that!?

Man I haven’t even watched the season yet because the YouTube channel gets the seasons way later than China does, so I don’t know the details and from what I have seen, I might find some of it a bit odd, but they really do have the capability to make me feel feels, don’t they? Just from a summary video and I was already getting all emo over Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang’s bond, and how badass they both are when they’re a bit more villainous.

I’m also wheezing because the summary video pointed out how Hui Tai Lang lamented the fact he always gets made into the villain, and it’s kind of true… 😂

They turned him into a robot in the Ultimate Battle season—and ahhhh he looks so badass!!—and now here too he got infected with dark energy. But I’m down for dark Hui Tai Lang and dark Xi Yang Yang… Like I’m really happy they brought back the kitty versions of the goats because the whole premise there is that they’re like the goats but also opposite, so a lot of them are way meaner than the goats. And that’s always such a fun idea!!

Kitty Xi Yang Yang is brash and arrogant and only cares about power/fun while Xi Yang Yang himself is clever but caring—even when he can be a bit vain. Mei Yang Yang is sweet and a bit timid—although I love the badass older version of herself we got in Ultimate Generation—and yet kitty Mei Yang Yang is just a major bitch and I love it. Like think Flutterbitch from the first couple Discord episodes or from the Chrysalis episode lol. Fei Yang Yang is protective and strong and brash while kitty Fei Yang Yang is selfish and obsessed with cleanliness. Nuan Yang Yang is tender and caring yet kitty Nuan Yang Yang is basically a green tea bitch—she pretends to be sweet on the surface to get people to like her and listen to her but obviously inside she’s not that sweet. Instead, kitty Nuan Yang Yang is rather lazy ahaha.

Speaking of lazy though, we finally got to see kitty Lan Yang Yang, which we didn’t see in Against the Dark Force, since he was never brainwashed. Apparently kitty Lan Yang Yang is still cowardly and gluttonous but also kind of…coquettish? 😂

I’m genuinely so curious about what happens in the dog kingdom season ahhhhh!!! But so far I’m watching Ultimate Battle as it’s updated on YouTube, and I’ve enjoyed this season a lot. It reminds me of Sonic actually, and new Xi Yang Yang already kind of reminds me of Sonic (that’s actually part of why I recommend it—it’s like various really good series all combined into one, and I think fans of modern kids’ shows will also probably enjoy Xi Yang Yang!).

Having Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang chase a villain into the future and meet their friends 15 years after they disappeared is such a cool plot idea! Plus the villain himself is pretty neat—he wants to roboticize everyone to remove the weakness that is emotion—and from spoilers I know, he’s bringing a lot more intriguing things to the table later.

I’m obsessed with how mature Xi Yang Yang’s friends now are—like they still feel like themselves, but you can really tell they’ve grown up! And it feels natural, which is great.

Mei Yang Yang became a journalist to better search for Xi Yang Yang, and we get lore on her this season, which is really awesome. She’s now no longer bothered by dirtiness and she can fend for herself, which is great to watch—I love her weapon too because it’s a sword that can break into pieces to become longer, like a whip.

Fei Yang Yang is now a badass, reliable firefighter, so he no longer carries that childish brashness of his younger self, and he’s really cool in action. For example, the way he figured out Bu Lei’s plot and was later the one who used three cards, overexerting himself yet becoming super powerful and badass in order to defeat Professor T, was just so cool.

Lan Yang Yang is working as a food reviewer basically and while he’s undoubtedly still Lan Yang Yang, enjoying eating and sleeping, he’s well-respected in his community and sometimes he actually feels full because chefs search for him so much lol. He also has a cool weapon—it’s a flying platform with three sort of canons floating above it, and it kind of resembles a fidget spinner!

Nuan Yang Yang achieved her dream of becoming a singer and I like how consistent her love of music—and her being a fan of a singer who’s a duck—is to her character. I am disappointed because they made her slimmer and I feel like her being a bigger goat as a mountain goat was always a fun part of her backstory and why she looks slightly different from the other sheep. Despite that, I get making older characters look very different from their younger selves for the sake of change (eg Anko getting fat in Boruto vs being skinny in Naruto), so while I’d prefer her being her bigger size, I can live with this change.

Some of the roboticization storylines are really badass too—I already mentioned Hui Tai Lang’s, but there’s also Hong Tai Lang’s admittedly hot roboticized look (and I feel like I can call it hot because the Xi Yang Yang team did also release an artwork that showed a human version!!). I also know there’ll be more involving Xiao Hui Hui, as his abandonment issues from Hui Tai Lang’s vanishment were resolved a bit earlier in the season but I suppose they’re bringing some more drama later! Mei Yang Yang’s trauma from Xi Yang Yang’s disappearance also gets explored, and we get to learn some of her lore, which I am very *rubs hands excitedly* about. 👀

And of course I know some spoilers about Professor T that I’m just like ‼️ over. The other robots also had pretty compelling stories—Bu Lei is fun as a green tea bitch/yandere type villain and Hei Zhuan (Hei Zuan?)’s story with his sister was cute. But Otto’s whole storyline literally nearly made me cry. 😭

OH AND I CAN’T WRITE ALL THIS AND NOT TALK ABOUT THE NEWEST XI YANG YANG MOVIE, WHICH IS ABOUT BASKETBALL.

I actually skipped the basketball season since obviously I’m not exactly into the sport, but I’ve determined since I should probably watch it still sometime because I realized later it nonetheless carries that Xi Yang Yang charm, so even if I don’t care too much for the dramatization of basketball (you know the kind; the kind that permeates all sports anime), I can nevertheless enjoy it for depicting my favourite characters. 🥺

I’ve caught a glimpse of some episodes of the basketball season and they are cute!! The one where they compete with the bunnies and actually help save them from famine despite the bunnies trying to cheat to win was really sweet, and later episodes depict that awesome bond between Hui Tai Lang and Xi Yang Yang.

So back to the movie—I brought up the basketball season because obviously the movie does adapt/reference some of it since they’re both about basketball, and I did skip the movie too for a while… But I later watched it and AHHHHHHH GLSBDKSHDKSB OF COURSE I ENJOYED IT. It’s a depiction of characters I love being themselves while on an adventure!! How could I not enjoy it!?

The animation style was really neat; seeing the sheep and wolves in a more detailed anthro style than their usually chibi/cartoony style meant we got some pleasing aesthetics—for example, I enjoyed how their eyes corresponded with their themed colours (like in the series Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang both have dark bluish-grey eyes, but in the movie Xi Yang Yang’s are very visibly blue and Hui Tai Lang’s are very visibly purple. It’s quite pretty!).

I’ve also embarrassingly enough tweeted about this before, but they did make Hui Tai Lang…unfairly hot in the movie LGBSKFHSJSH. Basically, they gave him consistently half-lidded eyes and with the more violet colour and more realistic proportions (since the characters look more anthro). My younger brother even complained about how such series indulges furries since you could tell they gave Hui Tai Lang those muscles etc on purpose lmao.

Who let this man look like this? Who!?

But yeah Hui Tai Lang and Xi Yang Yang have a conflict within the film—which of course they do; it’s a movie so we need to up the ante—but as sad as it is seeing characters we like have a falling out (and as overdramatic as some of the angst may feel), it’s nevertheless characters I cherish facing conflict. So seeing them come back together after and working hard to get the basketball championship after losing is really lovely, and I really enjoy how Xi Yang Yang lets all its characters shine.

In every season, while there may be one character who gets more focus along with Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang—for example Against the Dark Force was very much Lan Yang Yang’s season and in some ways, Ultimate Battle allowed Mei Yang Yang to shine—all the characters get arcs focused on them that correlate to the bigger overarching plot. I mean, every season is 60 episodes!! So of course we have lots of time to explore the characters and I really appreciate that.

So even in the film, we do see the other characters shine, even if it’s all tied back to the overarching plot of basketball and even if Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang take centre stage. I also really enjoyed the ending since it kept me on the toes—the rival team to Xi Yang Yang’s had a character that was going through his own arc, but I was desperately hoping the sheep would win the championship this time since they lost to the wolves in the basketball season. Plus I was crossing my fingers waiting for Hui Tai Lang to get to shine since they set up how he’s not the best player and thus feels like he’s in Xi Yang Yang’s shadow…

And fortunately the film did end up going with the best possible ending (imo)!

Spoilers ahead if you care lol:

Basically, they did let the sheep finally win the championship, which is perfect since obviously this is a sequel to the basketball season, where they started off as the underdogs yet did end up losing, even with all the growth they had. It felt like a perfect progression—especially since even though the rival team (the tigers) did have a character with his own arc and reasons why he really wanted to win, they only had to have his father finally approve of him playing basketball to give him a satisfactory conclusion. As in, he didn’t need to win the way the sheep needed to.

And thankfully, while I was getting worried throughout the final match, they did let Hui Tai Lang shine!! He got to take the winning shot after Xi Yang Yang faked being the winning shot, which is of course the perfect progression to Hui Tai Lang’s arc too. I was so happy when they did that!!

Of course, some of this conclusion is probably obvious in hindsight, but I did have a fear…mostly because the sheep almost did lose until they protested an issue and it initially looked like Xi Yang Yang was going to take the winning shot—which if he had, it would feel less satisfying, as Hui Tai Lang wouldn’t get to join him in the limelight.

I need to have more trust in the Xi Yang Yang team lol. I’ve loved almost everything they’ve done so far, and whenever I doubt them, they manage to pleasantly surprise me! And what I mean by “doubt them” is that sometimes Chinese series will have writing conventions a westerner may find odd, but even when Xi Yang Yang subverts my expectations and indulges in that “odd” Chinese sense of humour etc, I still love it to bits (and listen, I’m not saying Chinese writers are bad. Not at all! I’m just referring to the fact that as a Canadian-born-Chinese, I’ve witnessed people complain about Chinese story details because it’s not what they’re used to).

OH ALSO THE MOVIE’S OST SLAPS. I KEEP LISTENING TO THE SONGS ON LOOP GLSHFKSHDKSH.

https://youtu.be/eEmzxOGXR_A

https://youtu.be/fK0fpdOh8C0

But wow okay I rambled WAY too much lmaooooo. I just can’t help it!! When I really love things I love them to absolute pieces, and when a fandom is underrated, I tend to feel the need to actually be active and promote it so I can spread how happy it makes me. Plus I can happily juggle multiple brain rots at once, even if I have one main one that takes centre stage lol. Like right now Scum Villain and Erha are my biggest obsessions—and y’all have seen how much I can ramble about both Scum Villain and Erha lol—but of course I love all my donghua and danmei and manhua and cdramas and Chinese music. ♥️

Along with my other planned blog entries about donghua and danmei and Chinese-themed media (such as me wanting to write some thoughts on Everything Everywhere All at Once), I have every intention of writing about why you should watch Xi Yang Yang on my blog ahaha.

I just. Have so many happy feelings surrounding Xi Yang Yang right now and I want to yell about them specifically, especially since there’s barely a fandom for them in the west. All this rambling is a result of me bottling up my fangirling for weeks NGNSKDHSKSH. Plus I’m a naturally ramble-y person! But I feel even more ramble-y when a series is an underrated gem and makes me endlessly happy, the way Xi Yang Yang is and does. 🥺

[kuronekonerochan]

Hi...how are you? If you don't mind me asking what are your top 5 favorite danmei novels (until now)? And why? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....

Hi, sorry for being slow at answering!

In no particular order:

Ok, so I liked the 3 from MXTX:

 - Grandmaster of Diabolic Cultivation/ Mo Dao Zu Shi 

This one I loved but it has a particular style that ppl might not like in that it feels jumpy, confusing and with information gaps while reading, even though eventually everything that matters does end up being explained...in other works this would probably be just lazy writing, but here it is clearly an intentional choice bc 1) she doesn’t do this in her other novels 2) this is in WWX’s pov and dude has heavy ptsd and adhd, plus he tends to pretend to take everything lightly as a coping mechanisms...all this put together and it’s easy to understand why the story has such an unreliable narrator that even the other characters constantly point it out. I ended up loving this extra layer of storytelling.

 - Heaven Official’s Blessings/ Tian Guan Ci Fu

If you’re in the mood for a saga type long ass novel with a ton of interesting side stories and side characters with a main character who is a true cinnamon bun in sweet romance with a side dish of sweet sweet aaaangst.

- Scum Villains Self Saving System

The most entertaining out of all of them. It manages to be a parody of two genres, both danmeis and wuia/jianghu harem het novels (fighter of destiny style) with OP leads, while also being its own cute and funny story with a heart to it.

From other authors:

 - Meatbun’s 2ha/ Dumb Husky and his White Cat Shizun 

What if someone took a look at the parody that is SVSSS and said...”no, you know what? This really deserves to be an epic, long ass, and I mean, topping old classics’ length novel packed with angst, filled with pain and topped with despair...and then we’re sprinkling some funfetti on top to fool y’all”...and you know what? that’s some good cake. (If you’re into cdramas SVSSS is to 2ha what The Romance of Tiger and Rose is to Goodbye My Princess).

- Priest’s Sha Po Lang:

Steampunk China plus creepy voodoo tribal ritual magic, involved in internal and external wars over petrol (with a different name) and with our leads in Iron Man suits, fighting, among other enemies hot young(er) hands on, on the field, western troop General, the Pope, that I can only visualize in my head as Jude Law. I tell you all of this nonsense just to say that instead of the ridiculous fun this should be, it ends up being a very compelling romance with lots of scheming and heavy plot and some heartbreaking scenes.

- The Golden Stage:

This is a court drama type novel with friends-to-rivals-to-lovers that is just the right length and compelling with not too many plot twists but two main characters who are really great both individually and together and this is the one out of all in the list I feel like re reading the most. It really is a solid read and I feel like I’m selling it short, bc it really is good. It is similar to Sha Po Lang and To Rule in a Turbulent World, a simpler version of those but not worse for it.

(Since you said top 5 and I’ve said 6, I regretfully cut down Heaven Official’s Blessing bc even though I love it, unlike MDZS or SVSSS, it didn’t feel like a standalone novel because some of the several storylines of the side characters that I loved were left open ended (although the main characters had a complete story arc), as if this book was supposed to be the first of a series and those characters would have their own spinoff books where I’d know where their story took them...except this really is a standalone, and so the lack of resolution bothers me).

>> Honorable Mentions:

- To Rule in a Turbulent World

This one doesn’t go in the top 5 list yet bc it’s not fully translated, last time I checked (tho it’s very near the end). As an ongoing novel, I adore it. If the ending isn’t terrible it might be in my top 3. It’s similar to the two above in plotlines but it has a quality to it that it takes care to make every character in it multidimensional. There are no good and bad characters, even the ones on the opposite side are given something that makes them relatable and human. Plus, the characters all change throughout the novel, most of all the protagonists and the novel gives itself breathing time between events where you just chill with the characters and learn about random things like agricultural practices. 

- The Wife Is First

This one is just that light fluff feel good one that is great to pick up from time to time since it’s on going. Dumb Jock husband did everything wrong in his first life, gets a re-do and from then on it’s adorable respect the spouse juice and awe of said spouse smarts. Cute. Also, there’s a baby pet tiger.

>> Others I did like, just not in the top 5:

 -Faraway Wanderers and Lord Seventh/Qi Ye by Priest:

Qi Ye is similar to To Rule in A Turbulent World/The Golden Stage/Sha Po Lang. I really liked it still, just a tiny bit less than these. Since it’s the same author as SPL and I think it was written earlier, I have to say, the writing only got better.

Faraway Wanderers is a short read, but you’re only gonna like it if you’re ok with amoral main characters (I guess that is true for many on this list but it’s more obvious in this one bc the novel and the characters are unapologetic about it).

- YuWu by Meatbun - Still reading it, but is isn’t grabbing me like 2ha did.

>> I assumed you only wanted danmeis as in period fantasy bl novels, but if we go modern, fantasy or not:

 - Silent Readings by Priest:

I love crime fiction novels (love Ding Mo’s novels) and this is that type of conspiracy, murder novel with smart criminals and smart investigators. Little romance, but still there.

 - Guardian by Priest: 

Priest is hilarious and except the last part that gets a bit heavy on the lore this is just a joy to read. Also pretty short.

- Advance Bravely:

I read it a long time ago and it’s okayish, with some cute and some weird, problematic characters. 

- Addicted/ Heroin:

Also read it (this is 2 books) ages ago...and this one is NOT cute. It starts out as a pretty normal, but kind of toxic very typical oldschool drama/manga romance right down to the step brothers’ trope....and then it keeps escalating to new levels of WTF am I reading?!! All I have to say for this one is, that while I cannot recommend it per se, nor say it’s good, the title really is fitting, bc it is addictive as f.

[orionlakehastodie]

I’ve finally pinpointed why I am so angry today. 

I am being painted a villain for not empathizing with people who believe that drug addicts should be killed then and there on the spot. 

I am being painted a villain for dehumanizing people who laugh when a president makes cock jokes.

I am being a painted a villain for saying they’re dumb and stupid without walking a mile in their shoes. 

You know what? 

FUCK. THAT. 

I may not empathize with your poor privileged ass that thinks drug addicts are the bane of this society but I empathize with the mentally ill, those with poor socioeconomic backgrounds, those with traumatic experiences that found solace in drugs, that were probably exploited by a pusher or a dealer. The vulnerable sick who needs help - because as a medical professional - no one addicted to substances wanted to be addicted. They wanted escape. And they need help not murder. 

I’m sorry if you’re so dehumanized by me when I called you a dickwad shit-turd for supporting Duterte who said shoot women in the vagina and that he will grab on hold to the Vice President’s legs. I don’t really give a flying fuck about your humanity, I care about the women who are being cat-called in the streets because some vile scum got elected into power. I care about the humanity of the Senators being wrongly accused of crimes they did not commit. I care about the humanity of more than your pansy dumb shit for brain self. 

I don’t want to walk a mile in your privileged ass shoes. No matter what trials and tribulations you face that does not give you an excuse to be an asshole and defend something that oppresses the humanity of others. 

The danger of empathy is when it is asking you to tolerate the destruction of other people’s rights. You say that empathy is not endorsement? HA! Do you think this is a time where we can afford to give an inch to people who think that basic human rights are a privilege of a few. Go fuck off and be a snowflake. 

I’ll keep being a villain, burning and rampaging my own self, because if the price of exterminating evil is to be a villain, hated by the world? I would gladly burn and rage and make myself a villain, to protect those who cannot protect themselves. 

[supergirl-imagines]

Lena Luthor/you fic part 13

Things got bad that night.  Around midnight, you came down from the pills left in your system and the shaking started.  You had laid next to Lena as long as you could, shaking and trying to keep your teeth from chattering, but then the nausea hit.  A substantial amount of pain accompanied your trip to the bathroom and your knees collided with the linoleum floor in front of the toilet.

Lena woke up as soon as you lurched out of bed and blinked the sleep out of her eyes.  The sound of you retching into the toilet shot her into alertness almost immediately and she stumbled into the bathroom just in time to see you gag so forcefully that you were hit with a coughing fit.

“Hey,” Lena murmured as she dropped down beside you.  “It’s okay.  You’re alright.”

“J-just go back to bed.”

“Shhh, no.  It’s alright,” Lena replied quietly.  Her hand ran up and down your back in light patterns and you struggled to catch your breath.  After nearly a minute, another wave of nausea hit you and you vomited again.  Lena could practically feel her heart breaking as you lurched under her touch.

“You have work, please just leave.  I can handle this.”

“Y/N, don’t push me away.  It’s alright.”

Lena stroked your back once more and then got to her feet.  You spat out the remaining bile into  the toilet bowl while Lena grabbed a paper cup full of water from the sink.  Grateful for the relief, you rinsed your mouth out while.  Lena, not wanting you to spend the rest of the night on the bathroom floor, grabbed the trashcan from under the sink and carried it over to your side of the bed.  

“Come here,” Lena spoke as she wrapped her arms around you and helped you into a standing position.  “There you go.”

“Lena, I can move out.  I don’t want you to deal with this.”

“Stop.  I want you here.  We’re going to get through this, and everything else that happened, together.”

You didn’t reply as Lena helped you towards her bed and back under the blankets.  Another series of tremors hit you and Lena quickly slid in next to you and pulled you against her.  She was warm and comforting and as much as your instincts told you to pull away, you let her hold you.  

“Y/N, I love you.  What you told me tonight doesn’t change anything about that.”

“I love you too.  I’m sorry.”

————————————————————————————

You didn’t sleep much at all that night.  The constant stream of chills and guilt kept you awake until almost four, and Lena waking up for work roused you around 6:30.  While you managed to lay still long enough for her to leave, the second she did you ended up back on the bathroom floor.  

After heaving up the remnants of your stomach, you drug yourself up, brushed your teeth, and collapsed back in bed.  

God, did you regret telling Lena.  If you hadn’t, you would be fine right now.  Your healing bruises and broken bones wouldn’t be flaring up at the smallest movement and you wouldn’t feel like you had just contracted every virus available on a preschool floor.

After a few hours of restless sleep, you drug yourself out of bed again and out into the main area of the apartment.  Much to your surprise and dismay, Kara Danvers was sprawled across the couch in the living room.

“Didn’t realize I was getting a babysitter,” you grunted.  Your crutches clicked against the hardwood floor as you begrudgingly hopped over to the couch.

“Well, from the sounds of it, you need one.”

“Wow, okay.”

You spun back around, unwilling to listen to this.  You were on edge, irritated, and still felt like you had contracted a mild case of food poisoning.  The last thing you needed was a lecture from a superhero.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m getting dressed and I’m leaving.”

“Cool.  Where are we going?”

Your jaw locked in annoyance at the sound of Kara’s footsteps trailing you and you slammed the door to Lena’s bedroom.  Every so often, a series of chills ran its way through your body and you did your best to ignore them as you unstrapped your boot, threw on jeans and a long sleeved shirt, and then put it back on.  When you emerged from the bedroom, Kara was standing right in the doorway, arms crossed.

“So, where are we going?”

“Does it matter?”

“Well, kind of.  If I knew, I could just fly us there.”

“I don’t need your help, thanks,” you grunted as you made your way towards the front of the apartment.  

“Fine, we’ll walk.  It’s a nice day.”

“Glad you approve.”

“So, are you going to talk to me about any of this?”

“Nope.”

You quickened your pace in order to get ahead of the alien and spent a very awkward tense elevator ride scowling in Kara’s direction.  It was the first time out of the building in a while, and the sun nearly blinded you when you stepped out onto the street.  It only intensified your headache.

“Y/N, I think it was really big of you to tell Lena about what you were doing.  I just don’t understand why you would start-“

“Yeah, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Well, neither does Lena.  So the least you could do is try to help us to.” “It isn’t any of you business why I do what I do.  And if you were really as super as you think you are, you’d be able to figure it out.  It’s not that hard.”

“Are you still in pain?”

You scoffed, ignoring the burning strain in your arms from moving so fast, and glanced over in Kara’s direction.  

“Why wouldn’t you just take your prescription like normal, then?”

“Kara, how long have you ever been in pain for?  Like, five minutes when a super villain gets the upper hand?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“I’ve been roughed up before,” you continued as the two of you came to stop at a crosswalk.  “But, not like that.  And, if I let it bother me as much…as much as it should, it’s going to affect Lena.  I’ve seen addicts and I’ve seen how well it can be hidden.”

“You can’t hide something forever, though.”

“I didn’t need ‘forever’, I needed Lena to stop looking at me like I was about to break.”

“Don’t you think this will worry her more?”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t a mistake!” you snapped defensively.  The light changed and the two of you stepped out onto the street.  Kara’s gaze softened when she realized how genuinely upset you seemed with yourself.

“You can fix it, though.  Just make sure that Lena sees you’re trying to keep it together.”

“That’s all she sees anymore.  Things aren’t…they aren’t working like they did before everything came out.  I know Lena cares and she loves me, but it’s like she’s afraid to now.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s just…so careful.  Like she’s walking on eggshells around me.  I don’t know how to make things more, uh, comfortable.”

“Do you tell her any of this?”

“No, it’ll just make her feel bad.  Lena blames everything on herself.”

“I’ve noticed,” Kara sighed.  Her forehead crinkled when you stopped hobbling in front of a bar.  “This seems like a bad idea.”

“So, you are my babysitter…”

“Fine,” the blonde relented and opened the door for you. It was a tad more ritzy than your normal venue, but it was the first one you had seen and you’d be lying if you tried to say the short journey hadn’t left you winded.  

The bar was entirely empty, and you chose the stool at the farthest end of the bar.  Due to the lack of patrons, you were served a rum and Coke within a minute.  You downed half of the beverage quickly; having become rather parched from the walk over.  

“Still no luck finding Lillian?” you asked after setting the drink down onto the paper coaster.  Kara sighed.

“Not yet.”

“What happens to her when you do?”

You took another drink after seeing the older woman’s face flash through your mind.  The image made your stomach twist.

“She goes somewhere more secure than a state prison, that’s for sure.”

“Wouldn’t it just be safer at this point to take her out?”

“You mean kill her?” Kara frowned.

“Yep.”

“We can’t just kill someone because they’ve done horrible things—“

“I get why you can’t do that with your, uh, justice bullshit.  But, I could.”

“Y/N, you don’t mean that.”

“Trust me, I do.”

Your grip tightened on your glass and you glanced sideways at your companion.

“I know what it feels like…to want that.  I had people to stop me when I couldn’t stop myself,” Kara admitted.

“I don’t care about doing ‘what’s right’ or whatever the hell Superman would do, Kara.  I care about keeping Lena safe and Lillian isn’t going to stop until she destroys her.”

“Y/N, the DEO has cells that contain aliens three times—“ Kara clasped a hand over her mouth upon realizing that, once again, she had said to much.  You turned towards her with your eyebrows raised.

“The DEO?”

“Shhh!” Kara gripped your arm and glanced unnecessarily around the bar.  “It’s the Department of Extranormal Operations.”

“So…alien stuff?”

“Yes, and since Lillian Luthor ran an organization targeting extraterrestrials, we can justify taking over her containment.”

“Why the hell didn’t you do that in the first place?”

Your voice had risen in volume, earning you a judgmental look from the bartender, and instead of apologizing you drained the rest of your drink and tapped your glass on the wooden surface in front of you.  The man’s gaze hardened, but he moved to refill your drink anyway.

“Federal prison facilities are generally secure.  There was no way we could have seen any of this coming.”

“Hmm,” you grunted and watched your beverage being made.  If this ‘DEO’ had just taken the lead in the first place, you and Lena might be fine right now.  You wouldn’t have been beaten to within an inch of your life and Lillian wouldn’t still pose a looming threat.  It didn’t seem fair.

———————————————————————————————

“We have eyes on the target, ma’am.  She’s accompanied by Kara Danvers approximately four blocks from your daughter’s apartment.  Do we have permission to move in.”

“No,” Lillian barked the reply into the phone quickly and spun around in her chair.  Her cold gaze scanned the rows of pictures documenting the movements of both Lena and any visitors to her apartment.  It caused her a great deal of personal pain to keep from sending every force available in order to end the disgusting coalition between Lena and the scum she surrounded herself with.

“Keep your eyes on them.  Note the target’s physical condition; we can’t operate under any complications.”

“Yes ma’am.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          ————————————————————————————————

“Oh God,” Kara’s eyes widened as she looked down at her watch.  “Lena’s going to be home any second.  We need to get going.”

“Already?” you slurred in surprise.  You had lost track of how many times your glass had been refilled, but it had been enough to quell the anxiety in your chest and the way your good leg had been shaking up and down since you had thought about Lillian.  “If you say so.  Hey!”

Your call got the attention of the bartender and you tossed your wallet on the bar.  Your hands fumbled through your cash and you eventually settled on leaving a crisp $100.  

“Keep the change, pal,” you nodded and slapped the bill down.  Kara watched, uncertain as to how well you’d be able to balance, as you put your crutches under your arms and balanced.

“Thank you,” Kara said politely.  “Have a nice night.”

The two of you exited the establishment without too much trouble, but once you got out onto the street, Kara pulled you into a side alley beside the bar.  

“What the hell are you doin’—“

“I’m not watching you break your other leg trying to hop home.  Come here,” Kara ordered and then opened her arms expectantly.

“What?”

“Perks of being friends with an alien; free rides.  Hurry up now; before someone sees.”

“We aren’t friends,” you scoffed, a little uncomfortable and embarrassed at the term, but allowed Kara to lift you up anyways.  With your crutches in one hand and your other one gripping onto her somewhat nervously, you braced yourself for liftoff.

“Call it what you want, but I’m saying that we’re friends,” Kara shrugged and leapt upwards at an alarming speed.  The two of you ascended upwards and you felt your stomach lurch as though you were on a rollercoaster.

“Holy shit,” you breathed out.  Kara couldn’t help but grin a little bit at the expression on your face and reminded herself to take it ‘slow’ on the way back to Lena’s.  

—————————————————————————————————

“Lena!”

The panicking Luthor heiress whirled around at the sound of your voice, only to see you stumble in from her balcony with windblown hair and Kara supporting you from the side.  

“We got drinks,” you explained as nonchalantly as you could.  You had definitely drank more than you should have, but in a way you were grateful that you went out.  Sitting and talking with Kara for a few hours had brought your focus back to taking care of what was in front of you at this point, and that was Lena.

“Have a good night,” Kara waved and disappeared back off of the balcony in a split-second.  You swayed a bit getting back onto your crutches, but stayed upright enough to crutch over to Lena.

“Have you been drinking?”

“A little.  Are you mad?”

“I’m not mad, I just…” Lena crossed her arms and did her best to gauge your mood.  “Are you just drinking to replace the pills?” “Lena, I don’t have a problem with alcohol,” you groaned.  You should have known that this would be a thing.  Spending a day outside the apartment had helped you clear your head and you had nearly forgotten about the previous night.  “Can we seriously just have a normal night?  Hmm?  Doesn’t that sound good?  Just not talking about…about all of this shit?”

You let your crutches fall to the floor and draped your arms around Lena’s neck.  Her hands came to rest on your hips and you smiled up at her when your eyes met.

“Okay,” she agreed.  

Threw in a little bit of fluff at the end!  But don’t worry, lots of problems coming soon!

[salt-and-vinegar-reviews]

Night Twink

Just when I thought my will to live had hit an all time low somehow the world finds a new way to disappoint me.

It hurts me to even type the name “Night Twink”. Almost as much as it hurts me to read the description:

“While the powerful heroes take on the biggest threats, someone keeps the streets safe from the scum. It just so happens he's also a young gay twink. “

God. Fucking. Damn. It.  

I feel slightly offended that I even have to explain why this is one of the biggest steaming piles of shit I’ve ever had the misfortune of coming across on the internet, but it seems to have actually made it on the front page of tapastic, so I guess I have to.

Night Twink is an abomination of a comic right out of the gate. If the name wasn’t a tip off, it’s basically offensive gay stereotyping the “superhero comic”, starring an underage teenage “hero”. The comic opens with a description of how our teenage protagonist who apparently has had a good amount of gay sex at this point decided to become a hero to protect people like him. He saves another walking stereotype who then forcibly kisses him. Because, you know, having forced sexual contact with someone is a reward and all gay people are the horn for all other gay people at all times.

The comic goes on to exemplify as many gay stereotypes as possible, and hinges on a bizarre and ridiculous strawman villain who wants to destroy all the gays. It’s legitimately amazing to me how someone can want to make a comic so focused on gay rights and still be so offensive to the community at the same time. This is the gay equivalent of writing an anti-racism piece using nothing but the literal black faced caricatures of minstrel shows as your main cast. Every interaction is a scene right out of a shitty gay porno, every gay character is either super twinky and flamboyant, or a “bear”. It’s. Fucking. HORRENDOUS.

A hero standing up for gay people when nobody else will would be neat if written well. But this comic is legitimately one of the most insidiously creepy things I’ve read in a good long while.

The main character is drawn adult enough that I’m not going to accuse the author of writing child porn intentionally, but the fact remains the main character is underage, the comic repeatedly harps on that fact, and there’s a massive, unnecessary focus on his sex life, and his need to fuck and make-out with anything that moves. It’s insanely creepy, and made only more-so by the obsession with him being a “twink”, him fucking anything that moves, and the emphasis on how he really only exists as a sex object that sometimes punches people.

The “story”, as I said earlier, centers around this overblown gay-hating villain, and the main characters sexual adventures. Not much more to it really without me having to go into an insane amount of inane detail over a bunch of character interactions that don’t ultimately matter, hold any differences, or hold any relevance to anything. The plot moving forward relies heavily on everyone being violently stupid, oversexed, or having near omnipotent knowledge of shit they shouldn’t reasonably know.

The characters aren’t characters so much as unlikable stereotypes, strawmen, and walking plot devices. Most of them are terrible people, and it’s hard to feel sympathy for anyone when we’ve established most of the people being targeted are pieces of shit when they have any characteristics beyong “gay guy”. Like, yeah, bashing gays is bad, no fucking shit, but you can’t expect people to sympathize too heavily with drug addicts, cheaters, pedophiles, and generally unlikable assholes, especially when their only “sympathetic” trait is being a shitty gay stereotype.

Even beyond the disgusting premise, writing, execution, etc, the comic itself is just badly done. There are a good number of obvious typos. The text is placed in such a way figuring out what order anything’s mean to be read in is pretty much impossible some pages, and it’s honestly mildly offensive to the eyes. It’s mostly poorly formatted text on a black background with some pictures scattered haphazardly around. The formatting leads to a lot of bizarre breaks in scenes that make no sense outside of a limited print issue, and is incredibly distracting. It’s heavy-handed to the point I’m almost tempted to say it’s a satirical piece done by someone who’s actually incredibly homophobic, but I grew up surrounded by enough misguided “allies” to say this is probably just a case of someone being genuinely extremely ignorant, though that doesn’t excuse any of this shit. 

And the art. The art is hideous. It’s an anatomical nightmare. If I asked an alien to draw a human based off nothing but caricatures and the work of Rob Liefield this is what would come out. It’s bloby, and disproportional, and lazy.

(Ripped from the most recent upload per my policy on only using the most recent art in critiques. This is one of the least egregiously hideous panels, I’m fucking serious)

Along with looking like aborted salami people, 99% of the other characters look like the same blond guy. I legitimately had a hard time understanding what was happening at points because half the characters look fucking identical. The poses are made to be as unnecessarily sexual as possible, at all times, no matter the context. I guess you could try to claim it’s a mockery of how women are portrayed in comics, but looking at the authors other work I seriously fucking doubt it. (also two wrongs don’t make a right, especially when the “male fetishization” is just gay fetishization, which we already have an ungodly amount of)

This is especially egregious when we’re literally dealing with someone locked up in some creepy rape den torture chamber.

(This guy is literally a prisoner in a sex dungeon of some villains house, established as being a teenager, and no the fact that his “boyfriend” forcibly locked him in there doesn’t make it better, it’s still abusive and exploitative, DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW FUCKING GROSS THIS IS)

Overall this is one of the biggest steaming piles of shit on the internet and I regret that it exists, much less in my memory, and the memory of my computer browser. It should be wiped from the face of the Earth, and the author should feel fucking ashamed.

-Mod Dio

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 8/14/17

The not-so-brief edition!

Akuma no Riddle, Vol. 5 | By Yun Kouga and Sunao Minakata | Seven Seas – How much you enjoy this final volume of Akuma no Riddle may depend on how much you enjoy stories having a happy ending even if they have to pull the logic out of their asses somewhat. The anime finished long before this, but the beats are essentially the same, as is the result. That said, the manga is definitely making things a bit more “yuri,” and since that is the main audience for this series, I imagine fans will appreciate that if nothing else. Also, we have some really hot women in suits on the cover, and that’s worth the price of the book in and of itself. In the end, this is the lesser of the two “assassination classroom” titles, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it—I had a lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 17 | By Yusei Matsui | Viz Media – The first two-thirds of this is fantastic, as we see the class square off against each other to decide whether they will try to continue to kill Koro-sensei, or work on saving him. While lots of people get to show off their previously unseen chops, we’re all here for Nagisa and Karma, and we are not disappointed. There’s some backstory that mostly amounts to “we were good friends but grew apart,” but they also represent two very different kinds of assassins. As you may have guessed, Nagisa wins the day. The last third of the manga is a bit ridiculous, or as ridiculous as you can get in this essentially ridiculous series, but I’m prepared to shrug my shoulders and hum “Pigs in Space” while we power through it. Top-flight shonen. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 19 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | VIZ Media – Central continues its “mop-up” campaign against Totsuki’s various research societies, and the volume begins with the last one of the day, during which Ryo Kurokiba manages to provide the only win out of 33 challenges for our heroes. That battle is interesting, as always, though there seems to be a bit more fanservice than usual, but what’s really fascinating is the cliffhanger ending. After unwittingly helping in a Central-style lesson by serving as sous chef for Eishi Tsukasa (current first seat of the Council of Ten), Soma ends up impressing him so much that Eishi invites him to join Central. Of course that doesn’t go well, and the volume concludes with the challenge: if Yukihira loses, he has to join Central as Eishi’s right-hand man, but if he wins, he gets first seat. Either way, it’s quite a big deal! – Michelle Smith

In/Spectre, Vol. 5 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – This is based off of a novel, and I’d be very interested to see what it was originally like. The manga does a very good job of managing to keep things interesting given that this is nothing but talk, talk talk the entire way through. The way this is done is by dramatizing the events that Kotoko is theorizing about as if they are happening (which leads to one of the few moments of humor in the book when Kotoko sets up Saki as the prime suspect) interspersed with Kuro fighting Steel Lady Nanase in the background, which is a well-choreographed if somewhat tedious fight—by its very nature it’s going to last the whole book. The next volume is the final one—will our trio pull it off? – Sean Gaffney

Kaze Hikaru, Vol. 25 | By Taeko Watanabe | VIZ Media – Every year, I am so happy when a new volume of Kaze Hikaru comes out and every year I get so annoyed with its main character. It’s to the point now where the series would genuinely be improved by her sudden demise. But yet, I do so love the deep feelings of love and loyalty between Hijikata, Okita, and Kondo, and those are enough to overlook Sei’s foolishness. She’s once again getting all bent-out-of-shape over bushi discipline which, again, she should’ve known to expect when she joined the troop. But she just can’t help making an undignified scene trying to spare an accountant guy his fate when money goes missing. At least in the end, she sees that Hijikata is not actually cruel, the accountant shouldn’t have been a bushi either, and the real culprit was a creep. If only it’d stick and she’d mature some. Oh well. I’ll still be eager next year, I’m sure. – Michelle Smith

Maid-sama!, Vols. 17-18 | By Hiro Fujiwara | Viz Media – As is appropriate for a two-volume omnibus, this is definitely divided into two halves. The first one shows us Misaki coming to Usui’s rescue, and it’s as ridiculous as you might have expected, complete with her trying to jump off a great height because she knows he would easily do it. (She sustains light injuries herself.) The second half shows us that after all this time the true antagonist is still Misaki herself, and her need to be respected warring with the fact that she works in a maid cafe. Once she gets over this and is able to tell everyone how proud she is to do that, there’s nowhere else for the series to go, so it ends with a wedding, albeit ten years in the future. Far more variable than expected, but overall I enjoyed it. – Sean Gaffney

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Vol. 4 | By coolkyousinnjya | Seven Seas – And this is where my enjoyment of the lead character and vague yuri is completely overshadowed by my dislike of stupid fanservice and annoying villains needing to be redeemed. Ilulu proved to be even more annoying than her introduction at the end of the last volume suggested, and I also groaned and slapped my head at the ‘let’s give Kobayashi a penis’ chapter. At times the series can still be intriguing, such as the chapter showing us how Kobayashi met Tohru on that drunken night, or the occasional depth Kobayashi receives. But it’s just not worth trawling through endless pages of ridiculous breasts and screaming lolis to get to it. Sorry, but this is the end for me. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 9 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Over the past few months, it’s become clear that we have a new contender to take over the “Big Three” position now that both Naruto and Bleach have ended, and that contender is My Hero Academia, which has gotten staggeringly popular. And with good reason, as reading this volume shows us the author at the top of his game, with several villains infiltrating our heroes’ training camp and attempting to abscond with Bakugo. Things get very rough for a while, mostly as, being heroes, the kids need permission to fight back with all their strength. But once they do, great things happen, particularly with Midoriya, who remains the star of this ensemble. If you haven’t read this series yet, please start now. – Sean Gaffney

Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 22 | By Naoshi Komi | Viz Media – As expected, Marika is written out, though in the end she’s not killed off OR married off—she’s sent to Pittsburgh, the only place that can cure the unnamed Love Story Disease she seems to have. But not before we get a thrilling rescue attempt with lots of wild fighting and far more helicopters than you’d really expect. Meanwhile, in terms of the only two girls who matter (sorry, Tsumugi), Onodera is still not QUITE ready to confess, but is trying to warm Raku up to it. I doubt that will go well. And Chitoge and Raku have another disaster of a date where she keeps completely misreading what he wants, which isn’t helped by his not really knowing. We’ve got three more volumes after this, so SOMEONE needs to get a clue soon. – Sean Gaffney

Scum’s Wish, Vol. 4 | By Mengo Yokoyari | Yen Press – We’re just about midway through this series, and I’m starting to wonder if it’s going to turn dark and tragic. Hanabi is travelling down a spiral that I’m not sure she’s able to control, and Minagawa is not helping there at all. Probably the most intriguing moment in the manga comes when Minagawa is bored out of her gourd on a date with Kanai… till he accidentally calls her Hana-chan, and it’s as if all of a sudden it matters to her. One thing that the author excels at is showing us the tempestuous fire of desire and sexual heat without ever, ever having it connect into anything resembling love. It’s so sordid, and again, I wonder how long things can go without someone snapping and a murder or suicide occurring. Addicting. – Sean Gaffney

UQ Holder, Vol. 11 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – There’s a lot of stuff happening in this book. Yukihime rejects Touta as she still loves Negi, we find out Negi was possessed by the big bad from Negima! and has been suffering the last 20 years, Fate and Eva are trying to save and kill him respectively, both thinking they carry out his true wishes, and finally far more of the Negima! cast are still around than we’d previously thought—indeed, Zazie’s even turned into a shipper. But no, at the end of the day this is the volume that tells us that Karin was actually Judas Iscariot, her immortality a result of betraying Christ, who Touta, seeing Karin suffering because of that, offers to punch in the face the next time he sees Him. I… don’t know where to begin. What the what? – Sean Gaffney

By: Michelle Smith