#but also over time resulting in resentment between families as they compete for better titles better resources and greater honour

[magistralucis]

it's not like I really needed to visit you anyway ( ˶•̀ _•́ ˶) [Trazyn/Orikan snippet]

(Excerpt from the second chapter of Viridian. Set during a past sequence, the major turning point of their relationship - Trazyn invites Orikan to his home for the first time, and Orikan agrees hesitantly, not knowing what wonders await him in Solemnace. At this time he's running hot and cold towards Trazyn, about 90% tsun and 10% dere, though this will change soon. 😌

This is one of the only SFW passages I could quote from the chapter fhhghghg)

————

Orikan gazed at him warily under the veil as he approached, noting the lord was dressed more ceremonially than the usual. "What do you want?"

Trazyn beamed back at him, manifestly joyful. "I am soon to be the Overlord of Solemnace."

"Congratulations?" Trazyn had not previously spent time at Solemnace, as far as the Diviner knew, nor was Solemnace especially known among the Nihilakh. Orikan had no idea what he was going to do there, nor what kind of demesne he would shape. "About time you acted your age. Became responsible."

Whatever he was up to, it was about a decade overdue. Trazyn's two older brothers had ruled their own realms almost as soon as they'd come of age, yet the lord archivist had waited close to his thirtieth year to take up his inheritance; an act of supreme sloth, or perhaps hubris, since merely surviving to that age was a privilege denied to many necrontyr. "You'll miss my whimsy when it's gone, I'll warrant." The overlord chuckled, and Orikan gave him an incredulous look. "The man I am will not be so affected by material differences, as hard as it may be to believe. But why not see for yourself? My palace is still being built, but would you care to visit me at Solemnace when it's done?"

"I neither care nor care not!" Orikan huffed - but deep down, he was intrigued. It helped that around that time he had moved up significantly within the Sautekh court, and his anxiety had increased alongside the honour, as if he'd been forced to creep above thin ice. Suddenly going abroad for a while seemed like a fair idea, even just for a breather, for his dynasty was a vicious one and he liked to plan ahead.

But for that to happen Solemnace must be finished, and moreover, Trazyn had to be serious about wanting him there. And while he'd softened towards Trazyn, he did not fully trust him, not half as far as he could throw the overlord. For two seasons Orikan's lack of faith persisted - until one clear day in the heart of springtime, he was greeted by a messenger at the temple gates. Not a cryptek, but a Nihilakh groundskeeper, who walked with undaunted pleasure at the new grounds he'd been given to keep. In his hands he bore a small golden box, and as soon as Orikan saw it he knew the promise was kept, for engraved on top of it was none other than Trazyn's sigil.

Inside it he found two scrolls, a map of Solemnace and an invitation in the lord's own hand. The palace was finished and Trazyn's household had moved in, it said, and if Orikan could spare a decan to visit the overlord would be most honoured. The letter specified nothing else about the nature of Solemnace, which Orikan's heart tried to spin into distrust: it was never for no reason when a noble requested a cryptek's attention. Perhaps, under the guise of leisure, Trazyn wanted his advice. Wanted to sweeten Orikan up for a favour, or simply to show off his riches. Perhaps Trazyn wanted his fortunes read, or that of his people - which Orikan would not be able to do, and would rather die than to admit it and be humiliated. But then again, maybe Trazyn didn't care about those things. It hurt his pride to acknowledge it, but Orikan had little appeal as a true seer in Gheden, for the Nihilakh already had one of those. They might want to see how I measure up against the Yyth Seer, he thought, and heaved a sigh. The Nihilakh never seemed short of anything, not in wealth nor their chronomancer sects, nor the grim head of the Yyth Seer spinning prophecies unknown to outsiders.

He was exhausting himself. If existing next to Trazyn was a headache, he could not even fathom how hard being in Solemnace might be.

But Orikan was no coward. He mulled over it for one day then responded yes. Whatever awaited him might be bad or good, but rejecting a good-faith invitation would definitely not help his standing with the overlord. Besides, Trazyn had made his efforts hard to ignore: the letter itself was beautiful, handwritten on peach-tinted parchment and gilded at the edges. (Trazyn only happened to be the finest scribe among the Eastern dynasties, after all, and perhaps among all necrontyr.) If Orikan was to refuse the intrigue he'd have to write back, and he really did not want to do that, good penmanship had not been a priority at the temple and his handwriting was genuinely very terrible and he did not wish to be mocked. And so, with great reluctance, Orikan gathered together his finest attires and left the following week for Solemnace.

It turned out to be the best decision he'd ever made for himself.

[mellifluousoctopus]

I decided to make a character analysis post about my observations of the tv show and what i know about the comics. I’ve bolded my main points.

abuse TW, canon incest mentioned

On Diego

Diego is often mischaracterized as gruff, insensitive, resentful of all his family, abrasive and rude. Especially towards Vanya. But in reality he’s big softie, although a less emotional one than Luther. Diego hides his feelings and   vents them in other ways.  No matter how visibly present they are, his has a disdain for his emotions. Maybe because they are so present. He feels very strongly. (anger and love being a very easily seen example) Reginald is cold and calculating and emotion is a blindness on the battle field as well as a liability to be manipulated by Reginald and by others. Diego hates his emotions not only to appear competent in his fathers eyes but to also hide from Reginald’s wrath. No doubt that boxing and vigilantism are whats keeping him from going insane.  

He will try to deny it but his father’s teachings have big bearing of who he is now. The duty of the strong to protect the weak, vigilantism, striving to to hone and train your powers and body so that you are useful a better hero. These are ideals that Diego has taken from his upbringing and we see him live by even so much as to abandon all reason and try to save a doomed man at the price of the timeline. This devotion to the teachings of his father despite Diego’s resent of him, is an ironic circle of his father’s manipulation that birth his hero complex. 

He does everything that Reginald instilled in them with the same subconscious motive. He is in confliction with his own emotions and his own motivation. Diego’s strive to be something in his fathers eyes as compared to Luther, who was seemingly given extra attention and praise. As Vanya wrote in her book, they were all starved for attention, but Diego was in such close proximity to Luther, that the extra weight attention that Luther had was in stark contrast to Reginald’s neglect. This explains both his obsession with the numbering system and his connection with Grace. In an attempt to be noticed by his father and to prove himself upon comparison to Number One. Diego pushed himself harder and harder towards more and and more impossible standards of what he thought would achieve his father’s love. But Reginald has no love and Diego broke. He began to resent Reginald and what he believed was a rank system. Before the dinner we find that Diego still believes that number is associated with rank. He appoints them as Team Zero, because the number one/number two bullshit would divide them in the face of Reginald. There is no proof that any of the others believed in the rank system.( Luther obvious believes that he is the leader, but in no way does he use his false authority as a palanquin over the other others.) 

Grace supplemented Diego the attention that he lacked from his father. To all the children she was fair, gentle, calm, and understanding. She was a guiding hand and beacon of love in a cold and isolating household. To Diego she was salvation. A chance at be given love and support that he so obviously was missing. Grace probably spent more time with Diego. Both from the boy’s own choosing and from the duties given to her by Reginald, A cold, commandeering, traditionalist. Diego’s stuttered was stamped out of him out of him by all means. While corrections and punishment would come at anytime, Diego’s real speech therapy most likely given out by Grace, who is the only governess the children the remember and is seen reciting tips to him when he struggled. This extra attention validated Diego and strengthened his connection with Grace. This connection opened his eyes a bit faster to Reginald’s narcissism. Grace is Diego’s mother, she is the only thing in his life that provides unconditional love. He has seen her beyond Reginald’s programming. Seen her think and feel. Shes a person him. A person that Reginald mistreats as severely as he does the children. He treats her like an object despite her humanity and she is oblivious to Reginald’s abuse of her and the others. It makes him hate Reginald even more. Grace’s treatment is confirmation of Reginald’s. He wants to save her, but until he can he will hate Reginald for her.

As I’ve said before Luther, Diego, and Allison were the golden trio, the jocks, the children which Reginald placed most of his attention as they were the first 3 and therefore the three most manipulable. Like Luther, Diego’s emotions and his powers (which require Reginald’s shaping to be a more than average threat) earned him the title of second useful. 

Diego was the third wheel among the 3. When he first began training Diego was most likely like Luther. Eager to learn, eager to help, however he was most likely motivated by fitting his father’s expectation. Later on trying to exceed his fathers expectations in order to compete with Luther. Luther was his rubric, but as it become more and more frustrating to become equal to him in his father’s eyes as well as more and more apparent that Grace was tool rather than a person Diego began to hate Reginald. Luther refused to see their father’s cruelty and Diego began questioning authority as result of this blindness. He saw Allison in a similar light. At this point she was self absorbed denier according to Diego and both Luther and Allison’s relationship (they were not subtle) reduced them to moon-eyed freaks. further fueling Diego’s self isolation and defiance.

Saving Klaus is saving people. To Diego, Klaus is a civilian that should not be. They are a victim much like Grace and their(Diego and Klaus’) siblings are to Reginald, but they have the ability to do more. Klaus is representive of Diego’s frustration with the inabilty to respond to the academy’s greater purpose.

Diego shed tears on his missing brother, but there were few good memories behind it. Five is a self assured asshole, he’s pretentious and spends little time with the siblings (except maybe with Vanya). He’s also able get to dads attention with little effort which Diego wants. His powers allow him shortcuts too. Diego was bound to be jealous and feel slighted. Diego does not instigate competition with Five because Five does not bathe in the attention nor acknowledge it. Diego also thinks the attention is less of something he compete with as such attention comes from the meeting of minds.

Ben was a great friend. They had quiet and limited friendship, though  as there was a rift between their motivations. As much as both hated how they were used by Reginald, Diego focused on Reginald and his experiments rather than the powers and crime fighting (which was where Ben directed his ire) but they had great times.As we know Ben and Diego played at least one prank on Allison as children however it is implied that this was a common occurrence. These pranks could have been a form of rebellion or simple play by them that didn’t involve their powers or Reginald. I’ve chosen to believe that Ben was actually a large part of these pranks creating them and doing a lot of heavy work with them, and that Diego was the enabler, willing to help, and coming up with wackier and wackier ideas. Luther, Allison, and Five were the likely targets because they were the ones that refused to have fun on their own time, or chose to eat out of Reginald’s palm.

A lot of people think that Diego hates Vanya, for some reason. He doesn’t. He loves her. She’s his (little) sister. She sweet and timid. And she’s an innocent and a bystander to the teams greater responsibility to the innocent. When Hazel and Cha-Cha broke in, Diego is mad at Vanya for being there. Not because she’s there but because she is unable to protect herself. She has no training and she is at very very dangerous site. She is still his (little) sister and he still is obsessed with protecting the innocent. The reason people think he hates her is he feels betrayed by her.  He is short and sharp, but that’s his defense. It keeps her away and keeps him from showing any other emotions. To him, she first banked on their trauma. Not only is this grossly upsetting and violating. Having all your scars presented in a public sphere is wrong especially without your consent, especially when you refuse to be vulnerable. The book is also dramatic from Diego’s point of view. Diego shuts down any extra emotion that isn’t rage. In his mind Vanya should have dealt with it and kept dirty laundry unaired or at least have been direct in her grievances, especially since she had nothing to complain about. He (and the others) believed that Vanya had it the easiest. She has no training, she was not put in the ways of violence, he believes she was never subjected to experiment. She is ordinary. She has no greater responsibility. She should be fine. His distrust is granted and validated in the second season. Born of further betrayal and fear. Vanya has gone against Diego’s raison d‘etre, she has also wiped out entirety of earth and after years of underestimating her. Shock and distrust, (but not despise) are bound to arise.

[recentanimenews]

Black Clover May Be THE Best Shonen Anime Adaptation

With Black Clover continuing from Fall into Winter, now seems like an opportune time to discuss just how amazingly good it’s been so far. Pierrot has a high bar set for themselves after decades of producing the anime series for some of the most iconic shonen titles of all time. Despite simultaneously releasing both Boruto and Black Clover, they’ve outdone themselves with both anime this past season using careful story pacing and moderating their animation resources for some truly standout action sequences.

We might just be in a golden era for shonen right now, with each of the major titles to see releases in the past two years have shown us an improvement in production. Bones’ scheduled breaks in the production of My Hero Academia are a welcome change if it means ensuring the same quality and providing time for the manga to stay ahead of the anime.

As an adaptation, however, Black Clover is truly a standout. Regular, small additions to the story interspersed into the main plot that result in an anime that builds upon the characters and themes set out by Yuki Tabata in the manga. Whether as a creative decision, a way to avoid filler, or a little bit of both, Pierrot has struck gold with these extra subplots and character moments that make Black Clover one of the most impressive adaptations I’ve ever seen.

The first major piece of original content is the anime-original episode devoted to Asta and Yuno’s pilgrimage from their hometown of Hage to the capital city to take the exam to become Wizard Knights. The rivalry between the two is the centerpiece of the series and probably one of its more attractive features with the wholehearted friendship between Asta and Yuno, not masked behind grudging respect or posturing. This anime-original episode really brought this to the forefront in their interactions, showing two individuals who have spent their lives together getting on each other's nerves, competing over every little thing, and ultimately loving and supporting one another.

As much as the story of Black Clover focuses on the rivalry between Asta and Yuno, Asta is unquestionably the main character and the manga spends the majority of the time following along with him and his fellow Black Bulls. After joining the Golden Dawn in their exams, that’s essentially the last we see of Yuno in the manga until he reappears for this latest arc with both of their squads exploring the dungeon. During the Black Bulls downtime in the anime, however, we're treated to another original subplot featuring Yuno's time with his own squad during a mission in which they're tasked with guarding the noble he defeated during the exams, Salim, back to his home city.

Things obviously get more complicated than that, with the noble's secret intent to get revenge on Yuno for humiliating him, but the subplot covers a massive amount of ground when it comes to worldbuilding. Through Yuno’s interactions with his squadmates and ward, we’re given a better perspective on how nobility looks down on the peasant class. Asta’s interactions with the Black Bulls, a squad built entirely of rejects, does little to paint this picture of discrimination while Yuno’s relationship with the Golden Dawn shows the uphill battle both of them face in their quest to become Wizard King. It also establishes the events that lead to a mutual respect between Yuno and his squadmates, all while spending more time developing the second half of this central rivalry in the series.

There’s also a ton of tiny scenes or expansions on existing scenes in the anime that have built up the supporting cast around Asta and Yuno. Our understanding of Noelle has definitely benefited from this treatment. Her troubled relationship with her family due to her inability to control her magic is introduced in the anime before she even appears in the manga in the added scene in which her brother prohibits her from participating in the Wizard Knight exam to avoid public embarrassment. We also catch a brief extra scene of her spying on Asta's warm greeting to the Black Bulls, her reaction heavily implying she didn't receive the same treatment and setting up some of the resentment she shows her squadmates after her formal introduction.

Even smaller interactions between characters, like a ton of extra lines to establish Gordon as a creepy but surprisingly heartfelt member of the Black Bulls, showing how Asta has given Sister Lily a knee jerk violent response to romantic advances, an earlier introduction of Klaus’s embarrassment over his glasses, or turning a throwaway line from the manga about a lost bet into a funny gag for Magna and Yami that transformed into a heartfelt backstory for the younger delinquent, make the world feel lived in and provide fuel for future growth and gags that fill in each scene.

Pierrot has blown me away with their work on Black Clover. Filler has always had a rough place in the anime fandom, so finding ways to pad out the story with character pieces that contribute to the existing narrative is the best of both worlds. Even fans of the manga who don’t normally tune-in can find reasons to check Black Clover out with what essentially comes out to bonus content. I can safely say I’ve enjoyed the anime more than the manga. As far as adaptations go, I have to hand it to a series that goes the extra mile by not just highlighting the strengths of its source material, but expanding upon them to create and an even stronger story.

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Peter Fobian is Features and Reviews Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

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