#beginning is extremely good as well

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.

When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?

Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?

I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.

I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.

An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.

So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.

Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡

[amxthystiine]

RAHHHH IM NOT DEAD I HAVENT BURNT OUT TRUST

Canto VII is going absolutely insane rn GOD I hate THAT stage you know the one took me a day to complete it

BUT RAHHHH IM BACK!!! SELF INSERT UPON YE

I’ve been stewing on her lore a bit and have a possible scene that could play out in my mind but ye!!

[adhderall]

well as you can see besides being ugly as all fuck I'm also extremely bitter so that doesn't help at all in making me appealing. but it also comes with the territory you see, being treated as a hideous freak of nature for your whole life kind of does things to your psyche.

also going into shit in the tags as an extreeeemely jaded individual who's been on every side of the discourse and KNOWS it all VERY PERSONALLY so I know many people will find all sorts of different reasons to hate me (if they want ig) because I'm ~politically homeless~ at this point because I'm sick and tired of everything but whatever

(also fuck I ran out of space in the tags so another post maybe idk. )

[deathtodickens]

Myka: Somehow I don’t think Artie will be convinced but know that I support your pursuit for hazard pay, one hundred and ten percent…

Helena: I had very few doubts.

Myka: …even as your room sits completely sealed off with caution tape from the last explosive idea you had.

Helena: Hm. I suddenly have a couple extra doubts.

[cashmere-caveman]

My Country: The New Age, first and last episodes & Hanif Abdurraqib, For The Dogs Who Barked At Me On The Sidewalks in Connecticut (text/audio) image descriptions in alt

[avemstella]

It is sweet on occasion to play the fool.

Furina was born of a small mountain spring, the most unassuming of God King Remus of Remuria's many children. If one were to have asked anyone who knew her back then, who they would have guessed to live the longest of King Remus's progeny, she would have been the last on their list. But as Remuria fell, as all nations who dare to defy the heavens are destined, she alone remained of that damned blood line. She alone remained even as Egeria rebuilt the pieces of Fontaine from the Archon War. Furina alone remained when one of Seven Sovereigns, the Dragon of Water, was reborn into this world—and it was her who reached out and grabbed that little hand.

Neuvillette does not understand why he was born into this world—or who exactly he is. But, that strange woman who walked into his life one day has never lead him astray. So he continues to follow after her until their road ends.

Hey look I managed to get this out on time! Here's almost 25k words of Furina rampant lore speculation that probably is wrong and her found family with baby dragon Neuvillette

[textualviolence]

skinamarink was really good but i wish we would've a) kept to the atmosphere & not done stupid youtube short jumpscares like that toy telephone thing. Seeing the eyes in the dark was good but the face turning evil and scary and screaming was lame sorry.

b) kept the parents as the main horror figures & not implied a third unknown horror thats like the devil or whatever. Your parents whispering weird incoherent sentences and telling you repeatedly to go from place to place and look at things for no clear reason and appear really creepy but its unclear whether they actually mean you harm but you don't want to disobey and find out was 100% better than "the devil is here and will make your blood splatter on the carpet."

c) just had kaylee disappear with no explanation. The fast close up shot where she has no eyes and mouth was cliché & just too revelatory. Okay theres something supernatural that wants to harm the children. Now that i know that im actually less tense than i was before. If on the other hand the scene had just been "a creepy voice that may or may not be your parents called your sister upstairs where its dark and scary and strange and now she's gone and you can't find her and you're all alone", thats horrifying on a level my adult mind can't make sense of.

d) 20-30 minutes shorter sorry some of those scenes were both too long and not very good there was a lot that could have been cut without sacrificing either atmosphere or intent and would have greatly improved the experience.

[faaun]

i feel conflicted abt my relationship...need advice etc . in tags . pls i need input sm

[thatscarletflycatcher]

If Percival and Nadine was to have a contemporary ya romance name (the typical of non-fantasy, non-myth retelling, non-spec novels, I mean), it would have to be something involving a metaphor of light.

That dark neo-noir radio drama starring David Morrissey (it IS really dark. The lengths I'll go to just hear the interpretative power of his voice. Anyways), called Don't Hold Back the Light keeps coming to mind again and again. The imagery of dawn and sunrise keeps coming to me, in part through the songs I feel fit the story in partial ways (Keane's Bend and Break, Rick Astley's Rise Up, James Blunt's Bonfire Heart, even the melody of Lionel Ritchie's Stuck on You), but also because it feels thematically pertinent.

Both find themselves in night, not only in the despair, and tiredness, and hurt and brokenness, but on the idea that they had their day in the Sun, as life is metaphorically a day, and that it is over, and yet they linger. BUT where they are at the beginning, the idea of a new day sounds scary. And exhausting. There's a sliver of hope deep, deep down, like a candle on a window in a faraway house in the middle of nowhere. But for the most part, they'd like to hold it back if they could. And yet that feels wrong to them.

[flintbian]

I may get crucified for saying this but y'all I'm genuinely not sure what you were expecting. The show was bad from the beginning. All it had to offer was shallow diversity points. There was no compelling narrative to fulfill from the get go.

[enigmatic-bumble]

When you finish reading a novel and it's like

[wavetapper]

interesting vid

[thebleedingeffect]

In my heart of hearts I truly do just want to write a self insert that interacts with the main story that's it really

[flowersandbess]

Thinking of writing a fic between Tom and Greg to raise awareness of what’s happening with Reddit and their absolutely absurd treatment of third party apps

[sanstropfremir]

so maybe i'm really dumb, but you mentioned once on your blog that the kwangya concept is really straightforward - so what actually is it?

it's literally just the universe that all the sm groups' "worlds" exist in. that's it. it's just a bunch of conceptual connective tissue that makes it easier for them to tie all the groups together for things like smtown and to further the company branding. the new sm building is called kwangya, the sm fanclub got a relaunch as kwangyaclub, etc etc. it's a thing all the groups live inside, literally. i think it's a bit harder for people to grasp who didn't watch the smtown 2022 new years live, bc that's where they really 'launched' the concept, and prior to that no one really gave a good explanation. honestly i hate that sm is so fucking annoying about archiving stuff bc i wish there was a record of smcu express @ kwangya (the new years concert livestream) bc 1) it was actually a pretty fun concert and 2) it did a fantastic job of visually explaining how kwangya 'works'. the concert director did a ton of working making the visual scaffolding that connects every stage and i so badly want to point you to the actual concert to see what it looked like, but all those vcrs and transitions are pretty much gone. and it loses a bit of the elegance when you type out "so there's an intergalactic space train that travels to different planets and every group stage that the train stops at is a different 'station'". they had a bunch of different alternate sets but the main performance stage was a huge warehouse that had a bit of set dressing to look like a train station, including a ticker that showed what station you had 'arrived' at, and they filmed a couple of vcrs where different idols would 'hand off' stages to each other. most notably was minho doing a literal briecase handoff between thank u yunho and fever changmin using his dematerializing pixel sports car a la the heartbreak mv. you can see a tiny bit of this in this screenrecord of the fever stage, and the only other connective tissue-y evidence i can find is this very poorly cropped recording of key and taeyeon's hate that performance where each of them are filmed on their group traincars from the concept photos and then 'meet' on a station platform. sm has been using the train motif for ages (sm stations, literally), and they used it again for the live smtowns that they did over the summer too. personally i think if you were to do a huge company brand like this this is precisely the way to do it, because it allows for those crossovers but also allows for groups to not 'be involved' in it conceptually/literally on an individual basis, since those 'worlds' can still feasibly exist within kwangya even though they don't explicitly say so.

[hyperiridescence]

Dima PAFL is like if Mob MP100 had no morals (affectionate)