#but if i were to recommend two arcs to read in the manga it would be the cleanup arc and the confession arc

[yumeka-sxf]

After two months, the SxF manga is finally back! There's lots of interesting Melinda content here, so let's analyze!

I would say the main thing we learned about Melinda in this chapter reinforces what's been hinted at before - not only does she truly despise Donovan, but she's actually terrified of him. Her expression on this page when she thinks of his souless eyes says it all.

Whether her fear comes from direct abuse, knowledge of what unspeakable things he's done in the past, or something else entirely, has yet to be seen. This chapter also emphasizes the fact that she can't freely do what she wants without being fearful of what he would do. Just like at the end of the bus hijacking arc where she made Damian promise not to tell Donovan that she had come to pick him up, we see in this chapter that she can't let him know about her occult hobby either.

But while it's not clear what exactly Donovan does or has done to her to make her like this, what is clear is that her fear of him is what's caused this inescapable hatred of him, which was so strong that it caused her to also develop feelings of hatred for her son because he's something that connects her to Donovan. But like we've seen before when Anya first read her mind, her dislike for Damian is fickle; one minute she wants him to disappear, but deep down she loves him. While the first incident after the hijacking made her seem more ambivalent, this chapter reveals that her "good" side is her true intent - wanting to be a worthy mother to Damian and see him happy.

But her fear of Donovan is so gripping, that just the thought of confronting him makes her paralyzed with fear. She becomes too exhausted to continue and even starts questioning why she bothers with fortune telling at all. Perhaps it's an unconscious coping method that she uses to try and find a way out of the horrible situation she's in.

Hopefully we'll learn even more about Melinda in the next chapter when she has her appointment with "Dr. Forger." But another thing I wanted to point out in this chapter is reiterating how empathetic Yor is to Melinda's condition despite not knowing what's actually bothering her. And in recommending that Melinda see Loid at work, she's actually helping with his mission! (of course only Anya realized this).

And oh my god, the "grim reaper" joke had me cackling 😂 Their expressions in the first panel were hilarious enough, but then Yor had to make sure Anya knows that she doesn't use a scythe! That's just so her.

Guess it wouldn't be a SxF chapter without one quiet, bittersweet scene, courtesy of Loid this time 😭

I also love how the boys are enamored with Yor. Even foul-mouthed Damian can't bring himself to be directly rude to her, so he just runs away 😆

I know a lot can be said about the Tarot card meanings, but this post is long enough already, so I'll leave that part up to others who are better with that type of analysis 😅 I'm just glad the SxF manga is officially back! I'm relieved Endo is better and giving my best wishes that his health continues to stay good 🤞

[waitineedaname]

rewatching the cleanup arc shortly after rereading it in the manga is really making me realize how much better paced this arc is in the manga

[bibibbon]

I don't think a lot of Aizawa stans realize or care about how all-take-and-no-give his relationships with Mic and Midnight are.

I read somewhere that Mic and Oboro were friends longer than either of them had known Aizawa, and Aizawa's over here acting like only he lost him. Mic canonically put his own grief on the back burner to be there for Aizawa, and how is he thanked? By constantly being told to shut up and being belittled.

Midnight (maybe?) gave Aizawa the teaching position at UA to help with his grief. Now, she shouldn't have done that, especially since Aizawa had made it clear that he didn't want to teach, but he could have put his foot down and not taken the position! Instead, he makes an ass of himself to everyone around him - his students in particular. In a setting where common sense exists, this would give Midnight a bad look, but you know Aizawa doesn't care about that. He doesn't even seem to care that Midnight DIED, though that's mostly due to her death being purely for shock value 🙄.

Again, in a setting where common sense exists, Mic and Midnight would have called him out on his bullshit a long time ago and probably would have asked themselves, "why are we still friends with this guy?" It's especially upsetting, since he's compared to Kakashi so much. Kakashi has plenty of his own issues, but he's way more of a genuine friend to Guy than Aizawa supposedly is to Mic and Midnight.

Hi @nutzgunray-lvt 👋

Iam not sure if it is canon that present mic and oboro have been friends for a longer time but if it is thats not a good look on aizawa.

From the little we see of the rooftop squads friendship a lot of it does consist of present mic and midnight giving to aizawa than aizawa giving to either of the two.

For example, present mic was there for Eraserhead after the first war arc and present mic was also there for eraser after the usj arc. Midnight did recommend and nudge aizawa into becoming a teacher at UA and in the vigilantes manga it was thanks to her that oboro, mic and aizawa got an internship at a hero agency.

However, this begs the question what does aizawa do for his friends?

Nothing. (Or well canon doesn't show us that he does anything. Do correct me if Iam wrong of course)

Now sure you can definitely point fingers at horikoshi and say that he simply didn't actively include present mic and midnight in his story and that they were mainly there to prop up or almost be tools for aizawa and his development and to that I do agree but it doesn't change the fact that this is the dynamic that canon seems to establish between these characters.

I suppose you're talking about this scene when aizawa interrupts present mic telling him that midnight died and also present mic expressing his grief.

Now I won't deny that this is incredibly rude on aizawas part and that if aizawa were to listen and offer support it would at least show that he does give back to his friends but I suppose horikoshi thought it would be more important to give us "dadzawa". Personally, I do believe that there could of been a balance that we could of indeed received present mic expressing his feelings and aizawa offering support while having them talk and debrief about the entire situation yet we didn't get that.

I have seen the rebuttal that aizawa only did this because he didn't want to hear that midnight died and that he was also burying his emotions but I do suppose that's up to interpretation. My main problem is that midnight's death doesn't get brought up again after this moment between this duo/trio (if they count kurogiri).

In the end even after kurogiri dies due to bakugo it all feels empty and it's not properly talked about between mic and eraser who witnessed this moment.

I think that the kurogiri/oboro reveal really could of shown us more of all the characters sides. It could of shown us then caring and supporting eachother and also seeking comfort in eachother. There were many moments where we could of seen aizawa comfort or give to his friends but we don't and I really don't think that's supposed to be intentional writing from horikoshi.

[absolutebl]

Wading back into the BL world after several months away, and I would like to politely request recommendations. I'm looking for completed BL shows that are as good as Bad Buddy, have a D/s element, are supernatural, and/or are about politics like Not Me. Any or all of these combined would be lovely. I prefer Thai, but any country is fine.

You're the best!

Hi sweetie! Welcome back.

Recently completed BL, as good as Bad Buddy (I rated that a 9/10) with D/s elements, supernatural (PNR), and/or politics.

Okay so I sorted the spreadsheet of doom by year (we are in October 2024) and then ranking, and here is what I got:

Century of Love

Thai Gaga

fated mates, PNR, historical element, grumpy/sunshine, D/s hinted at but not fully executed

This is a very pretty drama about a young man who fell in love with a nice girl 100 years ago, and when she died in his arms, he was cursed to live until he could meet her reborn self. Only this time around, she’s reborn into the body of a man. Or is she? I love it when Thailand gets all up in its own historical business and reincarnation and shizz. I like this pair (it’s not DaouOffroad’s fault I didn’t enjoy their first series.) Daou’s wushu is snazzy and we got a unique meet cute. (Erm… Remeet cute? Meet cute 2.0?)

Ultimately, this is I Feel You Linger in the Air + First Love Again, rather than (as one might expect) Until We Meet Again or The Director Who Buys Me Dinner. The leads turned in great performances, although Daou outclassed everybody else on that screen. It’s a good story and a great BL and I can’t find any major faults with it beyond a certain level of camp that is sadly endemic to lakorns. Also I’m going to give it credit as the kind of BL that one could safely recommend to lovers of melodrama and historical romance, without having to qualify it as “good for a BL.”

It was, to put it succinctly, a VERY ENJOYABLE show.

Cherry Magic (Thai remake)

Thai grey

paranormal, office romance, no D/s

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth that really worked for me. With no-fuss execution from a consummate team (at GMMTV) and an OG lead pair (proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up). Look, here’s the thing,

Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right - not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it stands strong. I, personally, like the Thai BL slightly better than the Japanese live action yaoi, but I think that’s because I just really enjoy Thai BL's style and I LOVE TayNew.

Also all the kissing was both present and better in this version. As it should be from Thailand.

Cosmetic Playlover

Japan Gaga

obsession, office, tsundere/sunshine , claiming, ownership D/s but nothing more than that

I loved this little show. It was a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss. It’s a hyung romance where everybody is extremely earnest and sweet and pretty about everything. Except our seme, who is slightly unhinged and a little obsessed in all the ways one likes best from Japan. Plus the kisses were good! I can’t ask for anything more, utterly charming unexpected gem of a show. What a great time!

Love For Love's Sake

Korea iQIYI

isekai, paranormal, high school setting, very soft, sunshine/tsundere, it's Korean so no D/s (the only one that might satisfy from them recently is bully romance Jazz for Two)

trigger suicide

Isekai-based KBL is about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness. Like many queer narratives, this show is actually about self worth, trust, and found family, and it is VERY on the nose. But I don’t expect subtlety from my BL and I enjoyed it's truly lovely redemption arc and earnest performances.

I personally found the narrative a touch disjointed with overworked filming angles and poorer than average captions, but the consistency of tone, script, and immersion is beyond the norm for BL. You will drown in this show and like it that way. The leads have fantastic chemistry and it's ultimately highly rewatchable and utterly charming, which counts for a lot.

The Sign

Thai YouTube

paranormal, soulmates, sunshine/tsundere, high heat, police procedural, every other trope, there's even some elements of D/s in there because it has...... well, everything in it

This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, PNR, fated mates, police procedural, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and slasher. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it.

Was it a crazy unhinged mess +1 roll for damage? Yes. Yes it was.

Did it manage to hold all those tangled threads together? No it did not.

Was it also a charming, sexy, engaging, non-stop piece of entertainment? Sure thing.

I think this show is basically my KinnPorsche, and frankly I’ve been chasing that dragon naga since KP aired. Is it perfect? No. But it was balls to the wall FUN. Emphasis on balls.

I rated it a 9/10 in 2024 but doesn't contain any of your other requested criteria

Sugar Dog Life

The Rebound

Unknown

Wandee Goodday

We Are

Sorry the D/s has been very light on the ground this year. I mean there has been some kinky stuff, but nothing even approaching BB in terms of quality. I mean Deep Night was about sex work and had a poly romance but was it...... good? Not really.

I rated it an 8/10 but at least it has kink

My Stand-in

Meet You At the Blossom

Jazz for Two

Deep Night

[umeji-writes]

Why the manga Mairimashita! Iruma-kun is a masterpiece, part # (idk at this point)

Spoilers for the latest M!IK chapter (332) under the cut ♡

Okay, I was loving this art-focused arc already, as someone who after... several years (hi I'm old)... decided to learn illustration for good. But unholy shit I wasn't expecting an actual storytelling lesson from Nishi-sensei!!! I'm specifically referring to these two pages:

..........do you see what Nishi did????? See, I always found the characters in M!IK to be exceptionally alive, as if they had independent lives outside the pages we can read. Basically all named characters are consistent and three-dimentional, even if they appeared for a couple of chapters at most. And there are LOTS of them, I tried to compile a spreadsheet for personal use and we are well beyond 100 at this point (I'm not done yet). This is most likely Nishi's writing method. It fits: "when it comes to terror designing characters, what's important is the foundation. When, where, from whom, and from what was that terror were that character's motivations born? Without that, art doesn't live". See all the crumbs of information Nishi left along the chapters, in text or drawings, or in the Q&As. M!IK's characters are alive, like the Bowing Palome. Clearly this is not new when it comes to storytelling in general, and to manga specifically. As an example, there's a whole chapter dedicated to character design in Hirohiko Araki's Manga in Theory and Practice, The Craft of Creating Manga (most recommended read btw), that goes over the data to collect even before drawing a character. I imagine that's among a mangaka's best practices. But that's the point, Nishi actually follows the rules of the Golden Way*, and created a work which is nearly perfect from any point of view: the four fundamentals (characters, story, setting, and themes), and even rhythm, art, comedy... I'm in awe. I know I sound like a smitten fan, and I am at this point, but seriously, this manga is qualitatively great, and it's a pity it's so underrated. *The set of rules/tips Araki compiled, which if followed would lead to a manga being successful, according to him. I guess there are other sources as well out there, like illustration schools? But this what I can tell you, as an outsider :D

[goetiae]

In the Green Witch arc, Sebastian presents a rather interesting book to Sieglinde when she requests to have something to read. The book is called The Family Physician, and it is in fact replicating a real medicinal work of the Victorian era.

The Family Physician: A Manual Of Domestic Medicine was published in London, England, by Cassell & Company in the year 1883. It is one of many books of this kind as at the time family manuals of medicine were becoming more and more popular. Of course, books were still rather expensive to print and were majorly available to the rich. As many were living in estates outside of the city centers and some traveled abroad, physicians were not always readily available. With that, more and more rich Victorians would rather have a book of medicinal remedies at home to "replace" a visit from a doctor.

The book Sebastian is showing in the arc is one of the later editions by the physicians of the London hospitals. The special edition Family Physician featured in the manga consists of four volumes and includes a diverse list of treatments for many types of illnesses.

Now, Yana does include two supposed remedies used in that book but only one of them is found on the pages: opium tincture. Laudanum was prescribed for various illnesses. As for the bacon, it is a real medical practice of the Victorian era but one recorded in The Successful Housekeeper (1888), not in this manual.

Sebastian has previously stated that he would get familiar with the medicinal treatment options of the time to assist Ciel with his health problems. We can safely assume that this handbook manual is used by him rather often to help young Lord during his various instances of sickness.

This book consists of multiple categories of illnesses that would take a long time to cover fully, but here are those that Ciel canonically either goes through or is likely to go through due to his known chronic condition (asthma):

Night Terrors

Asthma

Cold

Cough

Fever

The sort of treatment that Sebastian would put Ciel through, were he to truly follow the book, is bizarre.

Do not follow these instructions. They are highly outdated and do not follow any medical requirements. Herbs, plants, and chemicals mentioned in this post are highly toxic and should not be ingested or inhaled.

Night Terrors

Night terrors are recognized by Victorians as recurrent and relatively safe, as they are "rarely precursors of fits or epilepsy", though they may be hard to handle, especially in younger children.

In case that a Victorian child was suffering from nightmares, or night terrors as they equated the two, physicians recommended rhubarb and soda also known as Gregory's powder. Combined with a light and digestible meal, this mixture, which is currently regarded as a laxative, was to ensure that the sleep of the child is undisturbed through the night.

Asthma

During the Victorian era, asthma was not recognized as an obstructive disease of lungs, but rather as a neurological condition. Physicians of the time were seemingly very well-aware that asthma was a difficult and longterm condition even if they did not precisely understand its nature; sometimes referring to it as psychosomatic.

Within the treatments that Ciel would have realistically gotten were he, as a Victorian child, to have the kind of asthma attacks that he has had in the manga are:

I. Tobacco, which was believed to relieve paroxysms - sudden asthma attacks. The book Sebastian has provided us with says that tobacco would be especially beneficial for non-smokers who have not established tolerance to cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. Even though individuals who used this method would grow "pallid" and "damp with prespiration" after the process, their asthma attack would be "prevented". It is possible to assume that with the repeated, consistent smoking pattern Victorian asthmatics tried to balance out their breathing rhythm.

II. Lobelia inflata, also known as puke weed, is another type of tobacco recommended for asthma, though this time it is to be consumed by ingestion in a form of a tincture mixed with water. It was believed that this tobacco helped with asthma "related to indigestion". The book does state that its authors are unsure whether the plant is very effective as some patients have fallen sick after the use; which is no surprise to the modern reader as lobelia inflata has been discovered to be a toxic plant.

III. Stramonium, also known as thorn-apple, is a kind of medicine recommended by the Victorian physicians when smoking tobacco was not enough. The leaves of the plant, which is highly toxic due to multiple alkaloids within it, would be crushed and smoked. Smoking stramonium before sleep for prophylactic reasons or at the beginning of an asthma attack was generally considered an effective treatment that worked "like magic".

IV. Cigares de Joy, "anti-asthma" cigarettes created by a Frenchman, are highly regarded by the authors of the book. Like many other medicinal treatments of the Victorian era, they were, of course, bad for your health as they contained stramonium and arsenic.

V. Coffee is probably the only non-toxic method of treating asthma that Victorian doctors suggest. However, even with coffee one can't hope to have much satisfaction from the treatment: it is to be given very hot, black (pure cafe noir), without any milk, and on an empty stomach in small quantities. Bigger dosages are advised against while taking coffee with a meal is cosidered to be a cause of asthma attacks.

VI. Nitre-papers are, practically, papers with potassium nitrate. The papers were meant to be burned so the fumes fill the room. The chemical compound of nitre-papers is an irritant and causes damage to the lungs, though Victorian doctors describe multiple cases of children and adults alike "peacefully" falling asleep around ten minutes into the paper burning. The latter is probably no surprise as potassium nitrate fumes have an adverse effect on the human body, causing nausea and dizziness.

VII. Nitrite of amyl is one more nitric chemical compound that is recommended by the Victorian doctors to inhale in order to treat asthma. Now, this chemical is highly toxic in all forms and especially so in direct inhalation and ingestion; it can cause blindness, brain damage, lung scarring, and death.

VIII. Chloroform is yet another questionable way of managing asthma in the Victorian era. While the authors of the book can be given credit for mentioning that overdoing chloroform is never the aim, and even provide a story of a man who died doing so, they do still praise the method greatly. According to the manual, chloroform is to be applied in a few drops on a handkerchief one can press to the nose and inhale through. It is rather clear here that Victorians truly did see asthma as a disturbance within the nervous system and provided methods of sedating the patient.

IX. Ipecacuanha, an imported plant native to Brazil, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Colombia, is a remedy that the authors seem rather perplexed about. They do recommend it as an effective method of asthma treatment but they do not specify how it is to be applied. We are left wondering how exactly Victorians used this plant. Ipecacuanha, or ipecac as it is known within the medical field now, is highly toxic in all its forms and is especially dangerous to ingest. Brain damage and organ failure are only some side effects of ignoring safety precautions.

X. Potassium iodide is a medication recommended for ingesting directly in the amount of two tablespoons three times a day. Praised for postponing or even fully stopping asthma attacks, this medicinal treatment was highly regarded by the Victorian doctors. It is worth mentioning that potassium iodide has adverse side effects and is an allergen for many people. However, it is a recognized medical supplement that should be taken only, if ever, upon doctor's prescription.

Cold

Victorians recognized that cold was a rather complicated condition as it could either be a simple cold of a precursor to other, more serious, diseases: bronchitis, pneumonia, quinsy, consumption (tuberculosis), pleurisy, rheumatism, neuralgia, and more.

Doctors seemed to believe that the main cause of a common cold was dampness rather than anything else: a damp bed, a damp seat, a damp house or room, a damp robe, and more. Bathing for a prolonged amount of time was discouraged as it "caused colds".

The physiological nature of a cold was that it was seen as an inflammation of a mucuous membrane within the air-passages.

Victorians recommended that one who has caught a cold should stay quiet and not talk much, not eat too much food though drink plenty of water. The most jarring thing is, they recommend - within the book in Sebastian's possession - that colds are to be immediately treated with an aconite tincture. Needless to say, aconite is toxic in all forms and causes nausea and dizziness, vomiting, heart and lung problems, as well as death.

Out of safery reasons, we will abstain from providing any sort of recipes here. Aside from aconite, or when aconite was simply not enough, Victorian doctors suggest the following remedies:

Camphor

Phosphorus

Belladonna

Bryony

Nux vomica

Ipecacuanha

Bismuth

Arsenic

All of these ingredients are highly toxic and their effect on the human body greatly varies. Regardless, these should not be taken in absolutely any form.

Cough

Victorians recognize multiple varieties of a cough and state that there's no universal panacea for all of them. Still, they do recommend a few home remedies that are mixtures made of rather unusual components.

One suggests mixing a Paregoric elixir, which is a highly toxic substance containing deadly hydrogen cyanide, with oxymel, cascarilla, and chloric ether. Another proposes a method to treat dry cough: mixing morphia, hydrogen cyanide, and chloric ether together before ingestion.

Other cold treatments include:

Aconite [☠]

Alum [☠]

Asafoetida [!]

Belladonna [☠]

Chamomile oil

Chloroform [☠]

Coltsfoot [!]

Drosera

Gelsemium [!]

Ipecacuanha [☠]

Nitric acid [☠]

Sulphur [!]

Tartar emetic [☠]

☠ - toxic, deadly! - unsafe, may cause health problems for some people

Fever

The last condition that we can see Ciel canonically go through is a fever, which he seems to catch during the events of the Book of Circus arc. Now, treatment of a simple fever in Victorian times was rather unique as the doctors suggested using aconite or belladonna tincture to reduce the fever.

If it happened so that a patient's fever has not gone down after a long while, arsenic mixture is used. If nothing else helped and the fever is accompanied by shooting pain, highly toxic bryony is applied.

Thankfully, during the cases of remittent fever lasting for many days none of these mixtures were applied. Instead, the patient would be given ice to suck, cold water to drink, or some lemonade. Vomiting was to be calmed down with application of chloroform or ipecacuanha. Quinine, which has many dangerous side effects, would also be given. The most the patient would get aside from such dangerous medicine is nutritious meals and a lot of water.

Overall, it seems like using The Family Physician for treatment of many conditions that boys like Ciel would go through in real life Britain would cause more disadvantages than benefits for the patient. Over-reliance on toxic stimulants and deadly chemical substances could not possibly be good for anyone whose health was compromised.

Edits of the manga pages are made by us. Please, do not use them.

[lacerta123]

The way I look at filler is so different because of Gintama, I think. Right now I’m watching One Piece and I’m seeing people recommend skipping all the filler and that’s just so strange to me. I watched Gintama when I was still somewhat new to anime. I learned what filler was from Gintama- when the cast explained the purpose of filler in their own filler episode. So my reaction wasn’t to feel cheated that what I was watching wasn’t the canon story. I felt empathy. Yeah, the anime’s gotta give the manga time to get ahead. It helps that Gintama’s filler was so charming. It’ll be like, “The animators don’t want to animate so here’s the outside of the Odd Jobs place for five minutes while the characters do commentary.” Perfectly acceptable. Amusingly self aware. “The seasons ratings were low so now the whole cast is gonna make recommendations for how to revitalize it in self serving ways.” Brilliant. Couldn’t have asked for more. Gintama filler was always up front about what it was and why. It took advantage of the anime medium to tell jokes the original manga couldn’t tell. Those episodes were charming and eclectic, and were part of the gintama experience for me. And outside of whole filler episodes, what about anime original jokes? One episode Gintoki demands the opening should play midway through the episode because he’s worried the Shinsengumi will become the stars of the show, and he needs to remind people whose names on the title screen. Should I disregard that joke because it couldn’t have been told in the manga? It was funny, and good, and in character for Gintoki. But somebody else wrote it so I should just ignore it? For me, somebody wrote those filler episodes, with a love for the main series. And those episodes are a part of the show- they changed the experience. The Gintama I fell in love with wasn’t just Hideaki Sorachi’s work, but the work of a lot of people, trying to bring the original Gintama to life.

In one piece, there’s filler where Nami and Franky get frozen in a sub together, and Franky offers to breathe fire to get them out. Nami freaks out that he’s gonna melt the ship. It’s a good character interaction and I really enjoyed it. I’m glad I didn’t skip this filler. I think you would lose something if you skipped it. Sure, sometimes filler makes mistakes. A filler arc shows Zoro cutting steel before he’s actually able to in Alabasta. But that filler arc also had a really cool naval battle when up till that point most battles had been on islands rather than between ships. Watching that naval battle made the world feel bigger to me. Maybe I’ll disregard Zoro cutting steel, but maybe there are things I want to incorporate into my own personal one piece.

I’m also a big fan of Marvel comics. These stories really make you throw out the idea that the story you’re reading can only come from one author. Writers and artists change. Different people take turns writing for a character, and all bring different things to the table. But they all strive to write with the spirit of the character. And it’s up to me to decide what the spirit of the character is for myself. If one author adds two things, one I like and the other I don’t, then I take the first thing and disregard the second. I don’t throw the whole thing in the past. And maybe you might think filler is different, because it exists to pad time. It’s not a purely creative endeavor. But it was still made by artists. Maybe it will be bad, but maybe it will have a gem in there that only you could have found. An idea you liked. And I think, that’s enough to give filler a chance.

[f4rfields]

it is SO silly to claim near and mello are "L clones" if you actually read the second half of the manga instead of stopping because blorbo died. like you are missing out on two very interesting characters who are dynamic, despite symbolically representing parts of L.

mello's arc begins with them wanting to solve the kira case to avenge L, but more importantly to prove themself, and ends with them is about accepting that they cannot do this alone and that actually solving it is more important than the validation. L is driven by ego and a desire to have an intellectual challenge. their anger towards nearly everyone (particularly near) is intense and they are often very demanding, but they are most certainly capable of understanding, patience, and care, as seen with matt - one of the few friends mello actually has (and the anime cuts out the short snippets that do show this dynamic more). while both L and mello are ruthless and pretty unethical, mello is more physically violent and impulsive. if L was playing 5D chess, mello is throwing the board off the table.

near is much more L-like, but is far more direct in his suspicions. while L was purposefully drawing out the mental dance that he and light were doing for their own amusement, near is turning the music off. he's driven by duty and a sense of justice, not ego - he's willing to openly acknowledge the contributions of others. although he seems nonchalant, he is more honestly expressive in his emotions and thoughts, and he actually really cares about the people in his team - and mello, despite mello hating him kind of. he doesn't see kira as someone whose intellect makes them dangerous, he sees the death note as what makes kira a global threat. he's willing to play dirty like light, but he's much more benevolent in it.

i cannot really think of what the story would actually be like if L did not die, and i doubt it would be particularly satisfying. L's ego and constant need to be entertained while people are dying is part of his own downfall. he flies too close to the sun. it only makes sense that he came crashing down. if you actually get invested in near and mello and approach them as their own characters, it just makes L's demise seem inevitable.

also i intentionally say "read the manga" because half of the story gets condensed into the last 3rd of the anime and removes much of the characterization of mello and near, and how they come to understand and solve the kira case. like i get why anime-only folks don't care for them much - they didn't even get a chance to get attached to them.

also death note still holds up aside from the abysmal writing of the female characters (which i am still mad about and still think that naomi should have gotten to survive into the actual investigation). it was actually much more interesting to read as an adult than it was as a teenager, so if you haven't read it since you were like 15 or something, i recommend giving it a shot again. thank u for reading my essay.

[a-forbidden-detective]

Curious add-ons: The Continuity, et al., for the Shibuya arc: Eps 14, 15 & 16

If I were the famous Scramble Crossing of Shibuya, I might scream first from a huge number of people crossing my streets and lastly, the mangaka’s choice of using it as a crime scene. It is also a coincidence that Junya Enoki’s characters have become part of it. First as Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen then on RKDD as Toto Isshiki. No wonder Youhei Azakami and Enojun talked about Shibuya in their recent after-show talk.

Azakami: A lot of things happen in Shibuya.

Enojun: It seems that there are quite a few places where bad spirits gather around open objects. It's something like feng shui or anything like that.

Azakami: Shibuya is a relatively power spot, but from what I've heard, Shibuya is a bit lower compared to other cities (like Shinjuku).

The two rambled on the cities around Tokyo that contain more bad spirits and were relieved that only fictional stories happen around Shibuya. Enojun: “It only happens in fiction.” (I recommend listening to it bc of the duo’s goofiness. At the end of the radio show Enojun received his early birthday cake and greetings from Azakami-kun and the Kadokawa staff as it’d be his birthday last October 19th.)

I didn’t do the usual analysis per episode as it didn’t feel like it called for it. The animators stayed true with the manga most of the time.

The arc covered from Chapters 22 to 27 of the manga. Now that we have an idea how they divided them into into episodes, it highlighted the importance of Winter Moriarty in the upcoming episodes, who Enojun complimented as a "cute and amazing character."

So far the anime crew added a continuity intro for Ron on the 14th episode to refresh our memories highlighting the last scenes of the 13th ep from the first season. After Toto and Spitz have left Ron alone, he began to recollect what happened. We, the audience, in turn, had a good look at Ron’s apartment. Those vials in one of the shelves, could they be some fragrance oil??? Samples of blood? Then there are gemstones like the huge amethyst and the ammonite fossil that caught my eye. They have given us a glimpse of Ron’s own version of “cabinet of curiosities.” Like a true descendant of Sherlock Holmes, collecting things, which may or may not be useful in his profession-vocation, has also become a trait.

Retitling this as “Shibuya Apocalypse Serial Murder Case” instead of “The Case of Shibuya Revelation Serial Murder,” AA’s use of the Bible verse with the numbers 96 was well thought out just like the first time I read it. All those 96 references (the periodic table element iridium, Bach’s Miracle symphony) came into play.

It was almost one to one rendition except for scenes like the manga panel for Chapter 22 where they showed Toto’s “tired of all your shit” face.

Anime crew added Toto’s reaction to Ron’s blatant lying and Amamiya falling for it.

I don’t know how many times the anime crew has given us so many shots of Ron’s Sinatra blue eyes that tend to be so hypnotic. I would say, his scar too as anime Toto’s reaction to it comes stronger than in the manga. The way he bumbles when Ron has caught him looking at it is so cute.

What’s up with Deltard Hotel though? Or was it a typo error from Crunchyroll ?

Winter flipping their hair !!!! (The anime crew knows the fans’ Winter thirst! )

In order not to establish Winter’s “gender identity” this early on the anime crew successfully used words to mar it. Instead of designating Winter as a “male” like what AA did at first in the manga, Wataru Watari utilised the gender not specific/-neutral wording “agent” in describing Winter. Making a good spin on Spitz’s assumption that “Winter” could probably be a code name.

And once again the anime crew has added these scenes, before saying farewell to the Shibuya arc onto the next, we find Ron on his chair contemplating again of the events that happened in the last few days. Finally, struggling, trying to put the puzzles in their corresponding places before making his final conclusion of what Winter, the “agent,” meant for his own case. Parallelism it is. We started with this arc finding Ron on his chair ruminating, Episode 14, in order of importance: Ron’s chair/a bird’s eye view of the living room, his neck scar, his blue eyes.

And the scenes at the end of Episode 16.

[duhragonball]

JoJolion ch.1

What the--? Part 8? 🪨🍊🍋🍟📱🫧🇯🇵⚕️🏥⚓🪴🤬🦭

So I got into Jojo's Bizarre Adventure in the fall of 2016. I was looking for new anime recommendations, and that one came up, and I eventually got hooked on it. I had a little trouble getting into it at first, so I started posting at least one screencap from each episode to mark my progress. This eventually morphed into a full-on liveblog as I found it harder to keep track of the plot. In 2017, the anime adaptation only went up to Part 4, so I switched over to the manga scanlations. Then I got to Part 8, JoJolion, which was still in-progress.

It was through JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that I hammered out the liveblogging style I use today. So I've never been entirely satisfied with my coverage from 2017. The scanlations of Part 5 were really crappy back then, and so I went back and did it again a year later. I'd occasionally check in with JoJolion to cover the new chapters that had come out, but the story seemed to have no end in sight.

Around that time, @onegamer2envythemall asked me if I'd ever go back and do JoJolion once it was finished and colorized, but that seemed pointless to me at the time. Part 8 felt like it was endless and it was difficult to keep up with the plot when it was being dispensed one chapter per month. I enjoyed the first 66 chapters well enough, because I had the convenience of being able to read them all in a few weeks' time. As it turned out, there were another 44 chapters to go, and when it finally wrapped up in 2021 I wasn't in much of a mood to revisit it.

(This is also why I haven't bothered reading Part 9, JoJoLands. I'm sure it's good, but it's only 14 chapters into the story, and that's barely a prologue by the standards of modern JJBA. It might take Araki a decade to finish Part 9, and I don't think I want to read it until it's done.)

Buuuuuut, I never liked leaving loose ends. I always wanted to finish the liveblog of Part 8, but I also felt like it would be more rewarding to just start over. And that's been an urge in the back of my mind for a while now, and I decided to take care of that now, in May 2024. So if any of you were hoping for this, your wish has been granted.

We'll start off with just chapter 1, since I want to go over some background stuff too while the manga introduces itself. C'mon, let's go.

If you're new to all this, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a long-running manga series by Hirohiko Araki. Unlike most popular shonen titles, JJBA doesn't stick to a single protagonist. The first storyline ended with the death of the main character, Jonathan Joestar. Then things continued fifty years later with his grandson, Joseph Joestar. Part 3 featured an older Joseph teaming up with his own grandson, Jotaro Kujo. And so on.

The JoJo Parts generally work pretty well as standalone stories, although there is a shared continuity among them. Part 4 doesn't require you to have read Parts 1-3, but there are characters and lore from those arcs that show up in Part 4. Still, everything is explained pretty well so that new readers can follow along.

Beginning with Part 7, Araki did a sort of "reboot", jumping back to Jonathan Joestar's era but with a different story. In Part 7, "Johnny Joestar is basically an alternate version of Part 1 Jonathan. Instead of getting a degree in archaeology at Hugh Hudson Academy, he grew up in Kentucky and became a successful jockey.

Part 8 is a direct sequel to Part 7, although there's about 120 years between them, so there's not a lot that ties them together. Here's the quick and dirty version of Part 7: Johnny Joestar participates in the "Steel Ball Run", a transcontinental race from San Diego to New York City. But the race is a cover for the main villain to recover the "Saint Corpse", a supernatural relic capable of altering the fortunes of whoever possesses it. During the race, Johnny acquires two unusual powers. His Stand is a manifestation of his own phsyche, while "Spin" is a powerful technique he learns while racing alongside his mentor and friend, Gyro Zeppeli. Johnny loses the race, but he does manage to keep the Saint Corpse out of the wrong hands, with help from Lucy Steele, the wife of the race's organizer. Also, a very minor character named Norisuke Higashikata managed to get second place, and Part 7 ends with Johnny joining him on a boat ride to Europe.

I think that brings us up to speed, so let's get on with this thing.

Not much happens in Chapter 1, except for the two main characters meeting each other for the first time. We start with Yasuho Hirose, a 19 year old college student, living in Morioh, Japan.

The first time I read JoJolion, I didn't understand this introduction to Yasuho's character, but now it seems really obvious. She debuts in the first panel, trying to make a decision. She's already hiding from a boy named Joshuu Higashikata, whom she kissed once, and now he thinks they're lovers. Yasuho is creeped out by Joshuu, and rightfully so, but she isn't sure if it's worth actively hiding just to avoid him.

And this is what Yasuho's all about. She's very thorough about analyzing her options, but she's also rather indecisive. That's not to say she can't make decisions, but she takes a little too long to make them. In this case, she's already hiding, but she's still trying to figure out if that's the right call.

Then she notices a man half-buried in the ground nearby. As she considers this, she reflects on recent events in Morioh. On March 11, 2011, an earthquake hit Japan. This was a real-world event that Araki worked into the fictional events of JoJolion. The fictional town of Morioh was spared the worst of the Tohoku earthquake, and the tsunami that followed it, but the quake did somehow cause a series of "protuberances" to rise up out of the ground.

I've never completely understood what these are supposed to be. The local schoolchildren in Morioh called this the "Wall Eyes", probably in reference to the round holes in the sides, which sort of look like creepy eyes on a giant face. In practical terms it just makes things difficult for the city, as roads and other infrastructure are cut where the Wall Eyes cross. Essentially, the Wall Eyes formed a ridge between the main city of Morioh and the outlying properties along the Pacific coastline.

Is this a thing that can actually happen in real-world earthquakes? I could buy it, since I know sinkholes are thing, and this just seems like the opposite of that. The bigger issue is that I don't understand why the Wall Eyes matter to this story. It's one of the things that I kind of lost track of on my first reading, and I'm trying to keep tabs on it this time around.

For now, the Wall Eyes are only relevant because Yasuho is near one of them when she discovers this guy half-buried at the base of one of them. So now she's faced with another dilemma: Should she help him or not? She hesitates, worrying that he might have a contagious disease, or that he might assault her. Then she notices the bite-shaped wound between his neck and left shoulder, and she calls for help.

The phone call itself is kind of telling, as Yasuho tried to phone the police but somehow dialed the fire department instead. It doesn't matter to her, but it does foreshadow some developments later on. Also, as Yasuho explains the situation to the fire department, she says her name, which is the first time the guy hears it. She might have been reluctant to identify herself in front of him, but the die is cast. She wanted to call for help, but she can't do it anonymously.

Yasuho might have been satisfied with this course of action, helping the man without physically interacting with him, but then he starts to sink into the shallow water pooled around him. So she has to grab him to keep him from being pulled into some hole beneath the Wall Eye. Even as she commits to it, she wonders if she's doing the right thing, but she still hauls him out of danger.

Then, only after the immediate danger is resolved, does Joshuu happen to come by. For a while there, Yasuho had considered calling him over to help, but he was gone, and now he's here. He sees Yasuho lying beside a nude stranger and goes batshit. He thinks he and Yasuho are a couple, and he's so overcome with jealous rage that he picks up a big rock and threatens to kill the stranger and then himself.

Let's make this clear up front: Joshuu sucks. He's the worst. Not just because he's a creep, or because of his stupid looking haircut and clip-on bowtie. No, he also sucks because he's incapable of rational thought. One minute he's weighing fish sausages to see if the manufacturer has swindled him, and the next minute he's trying to kill everything with a rock. He's like the Incredible Hulk with Bruce Banner's body. No, even the Hulk isn't this much of an idiot. I'm sorry, Hulk. I shouldn't have said that.

In case you might be thinking Joshuu actually has genuine feelings towards Yasuho, let me assure you that he does not. When she tries to explain what's happening here, he just shoves her aside so he can focus on the truly important business of random violence.

But the naked man defeats him with ease. Not so much for his own sake, but because he saw Joshuu shove Yasuho away. A mysterious bubble floats up from his body and when it his Joshuu, he suddenly goes blind, and can't line up a good strike with his rock. Our nude hero then punches Joshuu in the gut, causing him to vomit.

The authorities soon arrive to get the naked man to a hospital, and as Yasuho watches them leave, she wonders about his bubble power, and how he ended up in the ground. But mostly, she wonders about his gentials, which she saw while she was saving him. He has four testicles, and Yasuho doesn't know how that can be, or whether she should report this to anyone....

[piduai]

😍 she learned to settle! #truelove

also "not many people with whom she felt so safe" about the guy who gets her involved in all kinds of bullshit when he's not busy choking her. lmfao

ok i'm being facetious. he did push for the implementation of a new job title that would allow her to practice medicine despite being a girl. the narrative makes this guy stumble a couple of times when it's desperate to remind everyone that he's half alpha male on his mother's side, but since this is ultimately a cringe ass fantasy fulfillment romance, he needs to have her best interests at heart if he wants to keep his dreamy guy status. whatever

tbh the story goes through a handful of metamorphoses and by the time the last full volume is out, it's unrecognizable. it starts off as court drama slash light mystery, maomao is a rare female sherlock holmes stuck in a fictionalized chinese emperor's harem as a servant girl. lovely premise. usually long-winded stories tend to get better as they go with the best arc being around the middle or the third quarter. this one, though, has had its prime within the first quarter, and becomes increasingly mid after that. because it betrays that premise that made it nice actually.

second quarter is maomao being stuck with the purple guy as he courts her. the narrative completely abandons the lovely rear palace, the mystery solving and the complicated family dynamics of different whomsties in lieu of that guy desperately trying to make her his concubine, while she's none the wiser and does pretty much nothing on her own. boring! a very prolonged and embarrassing flop era.

third quarter gets a bit better, the guy is put on a high shelf and maomao starts her medical training. no sherlocking but she's dissecting bodies, which is nice. nothing much happens, she's just chill for a while as she passes time pursuing a new interest. it was a nice segment actually.

then fourth quarter she sets on a voyage for reasons unknown, because surely this diversion will be of no importance later. i think. i can't say i liked the western capital arc 2: 2 western 2 capital. rather than maomao it was more about chue. i liked chue. i think i'd grow much more fond of her if she ever made it into the anime but tbh i don't really see it happening, it's one 12 episodes cour per one volume, and since this industry simply does not make titles that aren't one or two cour at most, i don't really think volume 12 will ever see the light of day. adventure, sure. they had locust plagues and then new family drama nobody gives a fuck about because it's not interesting. eh, whatever.

to be honest i'm not particularly invested. if the anime is a solid 8.5 in my book, the light novels are maybe a 5.5. passing, but not good, hardly decent. if they were good, i'd be either invested or feel attachment, but it's neither. i love maomao, she's a wonderful character, thoroughly unique, very charming, but the romance aspect severely weighs her down and makes the story worse than it could have been. in all honesty i didn't want to watch the anime initially because the guy on the poster gave me the impression that it will turn out to be exactly what i'm talking about, but then i read the synopsis and it said that he's a eunuch. i was like ok cool maybe they'll just be besties or something. i mean, he IS her watson. but you know... it could use some work.

would i call this series overall GOOD? nuanced question. the anime is good, everything else isn't. would i recommend it to someone in good faith? the anime yes, the light novels definitely not. do i LIKE this series, everything considered? not really. i like maomao. i like lakan and fengxian. i like a handful of other characters. i don't really care about the story overall, i found its execution boring, and i don't care how it develops further because it's predictable and not exciting.

i think the fault with it is that, conceptually, it's a shoujo at heart, despite the manga being published in a seinen magazine, and it has the shoujo vibe and fanbase, neither of which are to my taste. it's not a bad series though.

all in all i think i will read the rest of the volumes as they come out, given that i don't forget that they exist. but i don't really care about this story overall. this is what happens when something is character driven with a loose plot, in the end it's not very strong. i don't think that the hole gk left in my heart could ever be filled by anything else. i don't think i will ever earnestly love again.

[muqingapologist]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

this is such a hard question because i’ve gone through so many phases of obsessing over pieces of media in my life, and sometimes it’s really hard for me to parse which characters are lasting favorites and which are just part of that phase. but i’ll try! keep in mind, lots of sentimentality ahead…

and this is in no particular order.

1. wei wuxian (the untamed)

ok so this kind of goes along with a previous post i made discussing my feelings of the mdzs book vs. the untamed. when i first watched the untamed at the recommendation of a friend, it was so unlike anything i’d ever seen before. and wei wuxian was so unlike any protagonist i’d ever encountered before. his determination to do what’s right no matter what others do, but also not being above experiencing doubt and uncertainty about his decisions, really touched me. also of course his carefree attitude toward life is something i repeatedly try and fail to achieve myself. it might also have to do with xiao zhan’s acting choices, but he really touched me as a character. it’s hard for me to say if the wwx of the book did the same organically because i read it over a long period of time after watching the show, so im just going to count the untamed version.

2. shizuku tsukishima (whisper of the heart)

this one is probably pretty niche but allow me to give my most heartfelt recommendation of whisper of the heart, my favorite ghibli movie and one of my favorite films of all time. shizuku is the protagonist of the film. she’s a young girl, probably about 14, and so far, her life has been defined by satisfying her imagination by always reading fiction, immersing herself in stories. inspired by the love interest of the film seiji, she decides she wants to try to be a writer. the film is kind of like a slice of life over a few months of this time, and we see shizuku struggle with perfectionism and wanting to follow her dreams and inability to take criticism, etc. i rarely cry over movies but i cried at this one because i had just never felt so seen by a character. everyone please watch whisper of the heart!🙏

3. prince zuko (avatar: the last airbender)

i think 50% of the reason he’s on here is sentimentality since avatar was a show i watched so much throughout my childhood and of course again more recently with its resurgence in popularity, but also what can i say? his character arc is unmatched. i won’t rehash the details. i will say uncle iroh would probably be here instead if we knew any more about his past because he’s off-screen journey is just so fascinating to me.

4. percy jackson (percy jackson & the 12 olympians)

PURE sentimentality but ya know….also im only considering this character how he exists in the original series. he kind of lost me in heroes of olympus. but yeah percy jackson was the first character that really impacted me back when i was 9, and i think i still carry that impact to this day. i also think the original series still holds up reading it as an adult.

5. kim wexler (better call saul)

kim nation!!! reveal yourselves!! i watched better call saul a little over a year ago and damn, it’s so rare to find such interesting, well-developed, flawed within reason female characters in a tv drama like this. her intelligence and her tendency to get carried away with jimmy don’t contradict each other but work together. her emotional journey….UGH!! kim x post-prison jimmy, who else hopes?

6. xie lian (tgcf/heaven official’s blessing)

so this one is new and i’m not completely sure the deep impression will last yet, but i’ll explain. when i first read tgcf about two years ago, i kind of skimmed because it was so long, and the feelings i had toward xie lian were…not super favorable. i was kind of bored by him and….i saw him as a lesser wei wuxian. AND I WAS WRONG!!! because i reread tgcf finally a couple of months ago, no skimming, really thinking about what i was reading and now i love him. his journey from optimistic prince who had never before suffered to carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders to nearly collapsing under that weight but despite all odds, pulling through and once again finding that optimism, or at least hope. it touched me so much this time around!!! also i don’t know why i thought he was boring first time around. this guy is funny as hell! anyway, lots of lessons to apply to my own life and whatnot.

7. ninth doctor (doctor who)

guys….hear me out. notice im not saying “the doctor” because i think most of doctor who is just nonsense. but that one season with the ninth doctor (and okay i like the tenth doctor’s seasons well enough, or i did really love them. less so these days…). so much potential. so when i say he’s one of my favorite characters ever, i accept that it’s mostly the version of the doctor that lives in my head and isn’t subject to the bad writing decisions made later in the show. it’s a lot of sentimentality, but i am really fascinated by this traumatized alien guy who just lost his entire people, finding himself devolving into more violent, unforgiving tendencies, but meeting rose, jack, whoever else along the way is able to remind him of not who he was but who he could be. of course doctor who is forever ongoing though so character development can only go too far lol.

8. nozue (old-fashioned cupcake)

this is also brand new so not sure if lasting because i only just read and watched ofc, but man. this guy’s journey from being defeatist about getting older and turning 40, being afraid of trying anything new, to allowing himself to experience new things, one of those things being falling in love! his whole concept of using regret as fuel for happiness, transmitting that idea to togawa who transmits it back to nozue later!! ahhh!! so like my love for this character might actually just be love for the entire story but i can’t not mention it every five seconds rn so….

9. isabel archer (portrait of a lady)

so this is the protagonist of henry james’s portrait of a lady, which i finally finished reading last month. and gosh! well the book itself was amazing, but i was especially touched by isabel’s character, mainly because she just felt so realistic. her motivations, her goals, her shift, her sorrows, they all feel earned, creating an incredibly vivid character that i think most people can find something in there to relate to, especially other women who have always been told they are clever and imaginative and yet find themselves struggling internally to live up to those expectations.

10. natasha rostova (war and peace)

it’s been years since i read war and peace in my university freshman seminar, so it’s hard for me to speak on the details of why exactly this character is here. but also it’s no surprise because this is a character that continues to be the star of russian literature. what i can say, she’s another bright, carefree character (clearly symbolizing aspects of russian culture but even beyond that) who it’s impossible not to feel deeply connected to. she goes through some pretty life-altering stuff in war and peace (everyone listen to the musical called natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812 for those details!!) and as the reader, you just really feel for her. idk man she still stands out in my mind, but also this is also much thanks to the musical i just mentioned above.

i kind of came up with these on the spot so like…who knows how accurate this is, but i like to talk about the things i like so sue me. thank you for the question though!!

[morimakesfanart]

Hey I was always wondering what made Magi to be one of your favourite anime’s and how did Sinbad become your comfort character so much so that you made a fic about it?

Love Sindria’s Prophet

I went into a bit of this here where I talked about my favorite arcs in the franchise.

Here's the full version:

How Magi came into my life UwU: Me and Lyly started watching Magi independently around the same time. Our mom had just died and I was having a ton of issues with theft in the Miraculous fandom, so we were both looking for something new. A friend recommended Magi to me saying that Morgiana had a similar name to me and acted like me. (She's very autistic with PTSD coded.) I found out about halfway through season 1 that Lyly was also watching it because they messaged me "Sorry about the purple guy." They took one look at Sinbad and knew I'd fall for him. I'd even say they were more into Magi than me at the start though since they had already been hyper fixating on different translations of 1000 Arabian Nights for several months.

We watched it separately, and together. We spent a ton of time analyzing the characters, world, and story. It's rare to see an anime centered on the middle east, and the magic systems worked with physics instead of against it so there was a lot to explore. We agreed that Sinbad and Ja'far's dynamic was a lot like ours; it was like looking at the two of us if we had managed to break out of the abusive situation we were stuck in much sooner. Our free time became us talking about what we might be like in that world, and what our adventures would be like. Then Lyly found The Adventures manga and it just gave us more to talk about and explore. Sadly, the differences between the Adventures manga and anime were to great for Lyly and it broke their hyperfixation on the franchise. They still like it, but their engagement ended there; they haven't finished either manga, but they do let me talk about it at nauseum.

Why Sinbad became my main comfort character: I know I mentioned in an ask before that Yunan is technically closer to my type than Sinbad, but Sinbad is the pattern I keep repeating -especially when it comes to anime crushes. I really like the Prince & Gentle types, but they have to have Main Character Competence TM. Gorgeous, confident, kickass, and kind when it matters. For some reason that means I keep ending up attracted to characters that are revealed to be flirts. I swear I thought Sinbad was just a competent moron teacher type when I fell for him. Even though he was a bit egotistical he was also very compassionate for the people around him, and -at least in the Balbadd arc- seemed willing to help the next generation instead of forcing his ways onto them. (He was impressed Alibaba's solutions even though they were different than his, and respected Alibaba for making them.)

Even after finding out that Sin was a womanizer, I saw that he was attentive to those he is using, and when he is done with them it's obvious, so his targets get a clean break. My Ex was a coward that refused to end things himself even when he was done with me. So while I was going through the breakup, I hyperfixated on Sinbad harder because he treats his partners better than I was. Even if I fell for Sinbad's manipulation, I knew that he'd treat me right while he needed me, and when he would be done with me he'd send me off and stop talking to me. I wouldn't be dragged around by my nose for months when I was going through one of the hardest times of my life. Sinbad is never shown flirting with someone in a bad mental place, anyone like that he would help heal (which could just be more manipulation, but he'd still be helping them get back on their feet).

And then I read Adventures. Sinbad's childhood put him through severe parentification like me. And in the the Slave Arc Sinbad went through more similar abuse to what I grew up in. There was no going back for me. I related to Sinbad so much at the start because how he responds to stressors is the same as me, so seeing him also have a past similar to mine made me feel seen in a way I hadn't felt before. It also explained why Sinbad seemed so trauma informed from the beginning.

Here's an exert from my current draft of Ch38 that explains how I felt:

When I had originally read this arc, it carved Sinbad into my heart. It made me think, 'This person would understand me.'

(Mori is working on Fate scrolls in the scene. Honestly, I'm happy I finally have a place to put this scene. I originally wrote it nearly a year ago.)

The biggest difference between me and Sinbad was that I grew out of my illusions of grandeur through middle and high school. It went hand and hand with realizing that what I was going through was abuse. I only had one person to protect, not a whole country's worth. Who knows, maybe if I was under that much pressure I would have slipped back into it like how Sinbad did after Zepar's dungeon arc. I know I some times get close when things get bad. The confidence it brings can be both addicting and reassuring when you need to be able to make quick or life changing decisions.

But yeah... I hope that answered your question in enough detail :3

Thank you for liking Sindria's Prophet so much! I'm finally working on the art for Ch37. It will probably only have maybe 3 art pieces, but 2 of them will be comics so I think that's okay.

[linklethehistorian]

Linkle, I must know, what are your thoughts on Mori as a character? His actions and motivations?? Id love to hear your opinion, btw that last chapter of cherish was great!! I loved it so much!!!

Ahhh hello there, anon, thank you so much! 🥺😭💕💖🥰 It’s such an honor to get a message like this from someone who is reading the fic. 💕🥺💖🥰💕🥺💖🥰 I’m so glad you liked Chapter 12; it definitely has one of my own personal favorite scenes, tbh (but I won’t take up your time talking about that right now lol). Having a fan base for Cherish is truly lovely; I’m so blessed by each and every one of you. 🥺💖

As for your question, I’m always happy to share!

Before I say anything at all on my opinion, though, I’m first going to make it clear that I am completely setting aside that one…particular matter that has been discussed to death by the fandom for the moment, because I fear far too many people tend to forget that it is entirely possible to make any remotely positive commentary on a fictional character without that actually somehow meaning you condone his alleged…preferences. For the people in the back that need to hear this out loud to be set at ease: I in absolutely no way do.

Now with that out of the way for a bit, let’s talk about the rest of Mori. I’ll throw it under the cut, though, both for length and for potential spoilers of multiple light novels (Dark Era, Fifteen, Storm Bringer, etc.) and obviously the manga up to his last appearance in current arc. Oh and obviously the typical Mori-related trigger subjects. Yeah.

Honestly, on a general note, these days I think Mori as a character is super cool; I’m not sure where precisely I’d rate him on the list of characters because I honestly like nearly every character in BSD and think they’re pretty awesomely written, but on a general scale of 1 to 10, he’s a very solid 8 or 9 for me.

My first introduction to him was…admittedly not at all the best possible representation of him.

When I first joined the fandom, I began my journey through the series by watching the anime adaption of Dark Era, at the behest of a dear friend who said I would be best off doing so before I watched the rest of the show (of which there were only two seasons at the time) and then reading the manga, in order to get the best and most meaningful experience; it is not something I remotely regret, and in honesty, I would probably wholeheartedly recommend any new people to do the same, if they intended to start with the anime. Regardless, though, this decision did have the impact of making me immediately strongly dislike Mori as a person from the very start, given what he did to the orphans, Oda, and Dazai by extension.

Really, I wouldn’t say that I came to see him in any particular shades of grey motivation-wise until I watched the episode titled Double Black, in which there was the first reference of what would have become of the Port Mafia and Yokohama as a whole had he not usurped the throne to the organization so many years ago.

After that, I began to look at him with a bit more understanding and curiosity, horrible and ruthless though his nature may still mostly have been. Fifteen (specifically the light novel, NOT the anime) — which it should be said, I think is the best existing canon representation of Mori in terms of giving us a good look at his thoughts and motivations — only amplified that outlook and interest for me, and I think it alone is largely to thank for why I enjoy him as a character as much as I do in current time.

Although he’s definitely not someone I’d feel particularly comfortable writing an entire story solely around — as I don’t believe I’m expert nor absurdly passionate enough to do so compared to some genuine Mori fans that I know are out there out there — I nevertheless really, really do enjoy writing him, especially in Cherish (which is only the second time I’ve written him, if I’m honest — at least, in anything I’d consider publishing, anyway).

There’s just so much potential in him plot and personality-wise; he is incredibly flexible of a person in terms of his thoughts, mannerisms, motivations, and actions, which makes it super fun to explore and play around with when telling a story. I’d say he easily has one of the most fun personalities among the BSD ensemble, purely because of utterly unpredictable it can be; on one hand, he has moments where (at least outwardly) is capable of being extremely friendly, outgoing, generous and unassuming, and yet on the other, he is very much always inwardly observant of all that is going on around him and capable of quickly switching to being cold, calculating, and openly cruel at the drop of a hat. But even then, usually, his cruelty doesn’t come in the form of physical violence; it’s often emotional manipulation, intimidation, taking your fears and weaknesses and using them against you to get him whatever he feels he needs in the present moment. Sometimes, it isn’t even outwardly visible that the switch of gears happened; he knows how to poison you in the sweetest and most unassuming yet effective way possible — whether that poison is literal or metaphorical. He’s definitely the kind of person who could sing you to sing to sleep every night and kiss your cheek every morning even as he’s secretly plotting your demise. lol

That being said, I think a lot of the fandom, in their hatred for him as a person, tends to mischaracterize him a lot, rather than looking at it objectively. I’ve seen a lot of fics and general fandom takes that portray him as a sadistic person who is cruel simply for the sake of being cruel and does terrible things to others purely for the enjoyment factor, but that is 100% not who Mori is; canonically, Mori does what he does mostly, if not entirely, out of what he feels is necessity as the leader of the organization. Now, I’m not saying there may not be parts of him that enjoy certain things he does — it’s certainly more than possible, and even highly probable — but his actions as godfather are driven by achieving what he feels is the optimal solution, not by personal pleasure and amusement; as a matter of fact, in Fifteen, he even made it clear when speaking to Chuuya that he fully acknowledges a lot of what he does is morally reprehensible — he just feels that it is his duty to commit these atrocities for the ‘greater good’ of the organization, and that the end therefore justifies the means.

The thing is, there is a character in BSD who is exactly the way this portion of the fandom characterizes Mori, and he was even a member of the Port Mafia, so if people really wanted to canonically explore this dynamic of a character who wholly gets off on tormenting people, causing suffering and probing others’ heads rather than doing it as just a business practice, they absolutely could still do it and be true to canon by writing about said other character; it’s just that it’s not a convenient truth that a lot of the fandom wants or likes to face — because that would mean acknowledging that it was everyone’s beloved Dazai and not the oh-so-despised Mori who used to think in such a sick and twisted way during his days in the criminal underworld.

Granted, some people do write both characters very well and very accurately, and I applaud them, but I do find it frustrating when the fandom reduces either Mori to this purely evil, sadistic villain who is bad just for the sake of being bad, because he is so much more interesting as he truly is in canon.

It’s this dichotomy where his dedication to the overall well-being of his people and company is admirable and even understandable, yet at the same time his individual actions when you look at them from a moral perspective are pretty much all morally reprehensible in some way, shape, or form — if not in every way. The same is true of his time in the army; as a general concept, his desire to protect Japan during the Great War was on the whole admirable and understandable, we know that he was well-meaning about it, but at the same time, no matter how desperate the situation was, what he did to Yosano and his entire army was absolutely disgusting and unacceptable — especially because it came so easily to him to do it and he made no apologies for it nor expressed any guilt over the suffering he caused later on.

Do I think Mori is, on the whole, a good person? Absolutely not. Do I think that he sometimes has the best of intentions in mind with his schemes? In the grander scheme of things, yes; it’s just that he mostly doesn’t care who or how many he has to hurt to achieve that so long as it’s slightly less than his net gain from doing it, which in turn cancels out things enough to prevent him from ever being labeled as being or acting as a “good person” at any moment.

I think the best, most objective description of him is to say that he’s pragmatic and ruthless.

…And then obviously there’s the part that everyone in the fandom discusses to death — about the main universe version of him being into little girls. Not a whole lot to say about that; it’s gross, it’s wrong, it’s unforgivable, it’s morally reprehensible, and it’s chilling and disturbing and it definitely completely disqualifies him from being labeled a good person even if he had been able to earn that title from something he did somewhere along the way.

That being said — and I know this is probably going to be controversial to a lot of the fandom, so let me say upfront that I’m not saying that that isn’t 100% a valid and understandable reading of who he is and the way he feels based on all the evidence throughout the series, nor am I trying to convince anyone otherwise — purely because it is fiction and therefore all made up to begin with, at least for my own personal comfort, I typically choose in my own personal readings to just look at him as someone with a particular weakness for little girls because he’s fatherly — although I make no effort to claim that to be the objective truth, nor does such interpretation affect or influence any of my writings in any way; it’s simply the way I prefer to engage with BSD on my own personal time — outside of my writings.

As a matter of fact, in my one fic, Bittersweet Belief, he was intentionally written with the intention of being portrayed as a groomer, and in Cherish, his ‘tastes’ will be portrayed no less nor more suspicious than how they are in canon, and therefore it will never be fully, directly addressed, but may be interpreted however you wish.

I do not need people coming to me providing evidence of why they believe there is no way to look at it differently, as again, I am not arguing that it is objectively untrue in any way that Mori is written to be a pedo in BSD, and when in public spaces among other people talking about it I don’t even try to say otherwise, much less convince anyone of it. I understand fandom etiquette and I am not trying to erase anything about him from others’ perceptions in order to make him more “likable”. I am just engaging with BSD, whenever I am personally reading it and watching it, in the way that is more comfortable for me. Nothing more, nothing less.

Anyway, yeah, Mori’s a super fun character to write and observe in the BSD world! I think there’s a lot of depth to him and he’s very well-written — probably among my top past antagonists purely for the super interesting personality and the purely pragmatic outlook to life and business.

[sugaredcosmos]

I got into One Piece at the start of this year

and overall I really like it. At the moment I'm in the 800's range of chapters so I'm on Whole Cake Island and I wanted to share my thoughts on it since so much is happening now with the franchise between the manga seemingly headed towards an endgame right now, and the live action's success and confirmation of a season 2. The first thing I'd like to say is that I think I can overall recommend reading/watching it. However, I do have a few problems with the series that I think people should be aware of when getting into it. For one thing it does have many of the issues that plague the shonen genre.

In particular, it has a few issues in its portrayal of female characters at times. However, I will also say that those female characters, while often drawn in very limited body types and facial structures, have easily as quality and engaging stories as the boys in the show. All of them have their own unique, interesting, and emotional backstories that are consistently on par with the men's. However, at the same time, they are also undeniably more prone to sexualization and are often on the sidelines in a lot of the fights, the ladder of which is especially apparent after the timeskip as of where I am now. So, overall I think the depiction of women can be hit or miss but I will also say that it's still a lot better than some of the other big works in the shonen genre, namely Naruto and MHA.

Another quirk I've noticed about the series is that most if not all of its characters definitely suffer from flanderization as time goes on and lose a lot of nuance that they had in earlier chapters. I think there are standouts among the cast of this but it's pretty universal. To give an example, I'll use the relationship between Luffy and Chopper. In chopper's introduction story there's a bit where luffy thinks that reindeer meat would be pretty yummy. Somewhat on brand for Luffy but it still feels a bit out of character. Later on in that same arc Luffy is shown fighting for chopper and defends him for his ideals (see episode 88 of the anime for referene). Later on, however, there are numerous "emergency food" jokes made by luffy that genuinely bother me with how much it feels out of character for him. Like I know that "having all of the food" is on of the reasons that Luffy is a pirate but I would also think that his friends are a lot more important to him than that. Especially with the influence that Shanks had on him when he was younger (spill a drink on my and I can forgive that but mess with my friends and you're fucked etc etc).

The anime also has its own set of issues. The early one piece anime I think got the vibe of the story phenomenally well. The animation and art style is incredibly faithful to the manga and consistently gives of so much charm and vibrance that I think is lost later on, especially with things like the first opening, the soundtrack, and the eyecatches with the wanted posters accompanied by character's musical motif/theme. Where the problem comes in is when these really sweet and charming elements start going away upon the end of Skypeia/G8 and the start of the series' run in a 16:9 aspect ratio. The artstyle has a noticeable change, and the pacing begins to suffer a bit more than it had previously. You can look up what episodes cover what chapters in the manga and early on it was usually a ratio of like 2-3 chapters per episode, sometimes more, and around enies lobby it goes down to 1-2 chapters maybe 3 sometimes, and post timeskip it's one chapter per episode and sometimes 2 or 3 which is why I switched to basically exclusively reading the manga after awhile of bouncing back and forth between reading and watching.

The final issue I really have with One Piece is that the manga's content has a few weak parts. The 3 main ones that I found were Long Ring Long Land (specifically the davy back game), Thriller Bark, and Fishman Island. Two of these actually have something in common, Long Ring Long Land and Thriller Bark both have really really good parts at the end of them. My main thing with Long Ring Long Land is that the Davy Back Game feels like it was made under editor pressure to have a tournament arc. Because it just kinda pops up and never comes back again with very little if any character development or change in the status quo. However, after the davy back game has concluded we get a loooooot of new stuff, worldbuilding, a character introduction, and foreshadowing. Similarly, Thriller Bark is another arc that I wasn't a super big fan of until the very end with the musical number and subsequent conflict involving a fair amount of spoilers which I wont go into now, but just know that my main issue with thriller bark is that I think it should've been a shorter island more in line with something like Whiskey Peak, Drum Island, or Amazon Lily as a bigger part of the Sabaody Archipelago/Impel Down/Marineford Saga. Finally there's Fishman Island. I wont say much since it's post timeskip content and very spoilery, but I think it's a very thematically rich saga that suffers from too many new and underdeveloped characters, and a loooooot of pacing problems not to mention a lot of annoying character quirks and out of character actions of both the straw hats and a lot of the villains and local characters. Luffy in this arc is just really mean to another character for very little reason and it feels VERY out of character to me, and a lot of Sanji's really annoying character traits from an otherwise likeable character come out swinging here. But other than that and a slow start in the manga (which the live actions kind of fixes if you watch that first) One Piece is GOOD. Like, really good.

It's a show that, despite being the kind of premier shonen manga for the past like 25 years breaks from a lot of the genre's tropes. A lot of action manga, including the newer ones like JJK and Demon Slayer all seem to portray the characters in a place within a kind of societal system where they find a place to belong. One thing that One Piece does that I love is that it places its characters in direct opposition to that system. As pirates, the Straw Hats are outlaws being hunted by a system that's consistently portrayed as unfair and unjust. Oftentimes what they do when they visit an island is take down some illegitimate ruler that's been forcibly put in place by forces outside of the people's control. That's not something that happens in normal shonen. In fact, it's usually the other way around. Typically a shonen series villain is someone within or outside of the current system that's trying to change it. Shigariaki in MHA, Suguru Geto in JJK, the Phantom Troupe and Chimera Ants in HxH; all of these villains are bad people in the same position as the Straw Hats in One Piece. It's incredible how much nuance goes into the series villain's place in the worldbuilding. There are heroes and villains on both sides of the story's central conflict of Pirates vs the World Government. Usually the world government is portrayed as oppressive, unjust, and serves to keep the cruelly wealthy Celestial Dragons in power. However, we also see certain agents of this system that are good apples or neutral forces just trying to do good in a bad system such as Captain Smoker, Koby, Aokiji, and Garp. On the reverse side we also have a rogues gallery of pirate antagonists who usually end up being shorter term villains but sometimes evolve into overarching threats such as Blackbeard, Buggy, and a few of the Seven Warlords and Four Emporers. Ultimately the series main conflict is one of Freedom vs Control as well as who deserves to be in power and a leader's right to rule. Overall, I recommend you take the journey through One Piece. It's funny because it really is a journey. If you tell a One Piece fan that you watch or read it the first question they'll usually ask is where you are in it and it feels like that's a mark of progress in an adventure and i think that's really special. Just like the characters in the show, you're embarking on a journey. If I were to give any advice to new readers/viewers it would be to savor the moment you're in. One Piece is a piece of fiction and art that is truly about the journey instead of the destination. Don't worry about "being caught up" take it at your own pace and enjoy the moment you find yourself in and realize just how far you've come and how far you have left to go. Btw, in case anyone asks, my favorite character is Sabo and my favorite Straw Hat is Chopper

[laugtherhyena]

[Csm oc] Cherry

Back at it again with another lore rundown, this time for my boy Cherry! It's shorter than the girl's one but took a while to post because this man was quite challenging to edit in manga style. Before reading i recommend reading through this post, if you haven't already, since there i go into detail on how his powers work

Katana man arc

-Cherry is seen fighting zombies alongside the other fiends and devils of the 4th division. He's telling jokes to the zombies, a hoard of them charges towards him but before he even gets to the punchline their bodies crumble into piles of rotting flesh on the floor. Cherry laughs at his own joke while asking the zombies if they get it, he kicks one of their heads away which lands on Angel's shoe.

Bomb girl arc

-Makima assigns Cherry and Beam as Denji's temporary partners, as Power needs to get her blood drained. while Beam jumps to hug him Cherry stands behind Makima adjusting his tie, he wants to make a good first impression. It's only after Denji knocks Beam on the floor that Cherry approaches him, extending his hand towards his hero.

-When Beam goes to hug Denji again, Cherry does the same, nodding his head at Beam's words that Master chainsaw's orders are absolute.

-As Denji walks on the street the next day followed by the two. When it starts raining Cherry runs around after Denji as he looks for cover before leaning against him and using his arms to try sheltering Denji from the rain, Denji hits his chest with his elbow and yells at Cherry to back off.

-He then calls Cherry and Beam assholes and tells them to stop running around and be quiet otherwise they won't be able to walk around these streets anymore, Cherry nods and proceeds to hide in an alley while Beam goes underground using his powers.

-Later when Reze transforms and launches herself towards Beam and Denji, Cherry intercepts her by charging towards her and punching Reze square in the face while shouting her name, Reze gets knocked back to where she was before. Cherry goes to deal with her while Beam and Denji escape from the area.

-Cherry tries to keep a distance and avoid Reze's attacks while continuing to talk to her. He talks about school and how he doesn't see a point in attending one as a devil, he asks Reze if she likes school, what subjects she thinks are the hardest, what she would like to have for school lunch and how he wouldn't settle for anything less than torikatsu.

-While Reze does get affected by Cherry's power, shown by her weakened powers, reduced speed and skin becoming wrinkled, she simply triggers a full body explosion near him which not only reverts her body to its original state but also launches Cherry all the way down the hill.

-Three private hunters spot Cherry laying on the street, they approach him only for Reze to jump in, landing on Cherry's abdomen making the devil contort in pain.

-The trio reports the situation on a walkie talkie before Reze triggers another explosion which kills all the hunters and leaves Cherry far too injured and exhausted to follow her. He crawls towards the burnt remains of the hunters and feeds off their corpses to slowly regain a bit of strength.

International assassins arc

-Cherry, Beam and Prince were with Makima dealing with some of Santa's dolls in a building, she orders the boys to go help Denji and the two proceed to head to the department store to do so.

-When they arrive at the scene Beam pushes Long away from Denji and Cherry starts attacking her while the two begin making their way out of the building.

-Cherry throws kicks and punches at Long while asking her if she's been enjoying the trip to japan, Pingtsi frees herself from Power's grasp and uses her ability to analyze Cherry, She joins the fight telling Long that they need to cover up their ears as Cherry's powers only work if you can hear him clearly.

-Seeing as the girls have their ears covered, Cherry starts speaking louder while attacking more viciously. He asks them what places have they visited on the trip so far, if they've been to any good restaurants, if the hotel they're staying at is a good one, saying that the best hotels out there are the ones with room service.

-Cherry gets his arms removed by the Darkness devil, unlike the others, He expresses no reaction to that.

-Their fight is interrupted by Santa sending everyone in the building to hell via her contract with the Hell devil. Upon their arrival, Cherry stands up effortlessly and looks towards the horizon, standing completely still as his glowing eyes slowly disappear within the darkness of his skull. The look of someone who knows the end of this cycle draws near.

-Cherry and Beam give Denji their blood, he then positions himself behind Denji and pushes him to be in a sitting position as Beam pulls on his chainsaw cord. The Darkness devil sees this and slices both of them into pieces. Cherry's severed head lands near Beam's, their foreheads gently touching.

Gun devil arc

-Aki says that Cherry is dead as he lists the fates of the people who were involved in the last mission to Denji.

Control devil arc

-Cherry's body is seen in the corridor alongside all the other deceased fiends and devils from public safety, kneeling between Beam and Seraphim.