#but the fact that they're comparable at all speaks volumes

[onesidedradiostatic]

Honestly a part of me thinks that Alastor and Vox WERE really good friends and Alastor is in denial about how important Vox had been to him. Maybe that partially factors into him playing down how much Vox irritates him. And a part of me feels like his love of attention outweighs his annoyance at Vox, even now, since Vox is ALWAYS willing to give Alastor his undivided attention.

(prev post)

ACTUALLY ACTUALLY this connects back to this rb. like about alastor's need to sever emotional attachments, "Ah, an enjoyable collective to be around. I admit one could get accustomed." to ""Great Alastor, altruist, died for his friends"? Sorry to disappoint... That is not where this ends!" pipeline.

the juxtaposition of the vees' verse and alastor's verse being back to back. they're both villain verses, but one is a secure team (maybe a bit messy toxic and unhinged but. they're tight okay) whose members have one another to rely on, the other is a solo mental breakdown about having attachments, yet they both end about the need to eventually be in control and with evil laughter.

like I've seen this mentioned before but also alastor's part in stayed gone where he says "he'd be powerless without the other vees", he's making fun of vox for relying on others but at the same time it does speak volumes about his own view on seeing attachments as "relying on others", because in THIS department, vox has the fact that he's fine and secure having allies he can trust compared to alastor seeing it as a weakness.

we have like sooooo little information right now that anything goes, but I like the idea of alastor having thought of vox as a legitimate friend at least a little. made a post on that once even.

I also kind of like comparing it to like how alastor currently is with charlie/the hotel, like he started out spending time with him for entertainment but then he saw a semblance of sentiment and had to cut that out.

but at the same time I also like alastor stepping away because he started noticing things about vox he disliked (because like I've mentioned before, his insults in stayed gone seem to be legitimate jabs at vox's character/practices).

OR we could have it so that the initial falling out happened because alastor felt the need to cut out any risk of emotional attachments (and I want to STRESS that I see both of them being at fault in this situation, regardless of alastor's motives, vox couldn't take no for an answer and got pissy), but later on after they were split, he started to see parts of vox's attitude that he disliked, how much of a sellout he'd become and he thought in his mind that this only proved him right to cut him off, and so he learnt nothing, after all he was right to cut vox off so surely his idea of attachments being a weakness is completely and utterly correct right?

anyways idk if I got a bit off track here, but about alastor being in denial, I think to some level he would be simply because of him seeing attachments as a weakness. but at the same time he's the one who called vox "old pal" (albeit condescendingly) and vox was the one who got ultra super embarrassed about "he asked me to join his team" (of course this is framed in a mocking way, similarly to "he'd be powerless without the other vees", like "can you BELIEVE he wanted me to join him and start RELYING on him like how he relies on the other vees? HA! as if." but he's also not hiding the fact that they were at least on good enough terms for vox to want to ask him that, but then again he doesn't speak of sentiment on his own side, so it could easily just not count as a point against him downplaying it). but yeah um. I do think him downplaying shit is related to him hiding weaknesses, similarly to how he's always smiling. he downplays how much vox bothers him because showing so would be a weakness. which could also go into how he let that mask slip with lucifer but this post is getting LONG and others have pointed that out before.

and the other part, about alastor's love for attention outweighing his annoyance at vox? I mean I think both can be true, I do think he enjoys the attention he gets from vox's obsession but I do also think he does legitimately hate vox.

anyways this post got LONG sorry I ended up rambling about shit. tried to address contradictions with my past posts (which can happen a bit, cause sometimes my opinions change or there's multiple possibilities of something and I can see multiple of those possibilities even if they contradict one another). this is a long post so my brain is too lazy to read it over and proofread so sorry if it ends up being a mess ✌️

[beemovieerotica]

About your tags on that class post, I was just curious to know where you'd say the line between upper middle class and upper class goes?

I guess 500k isn't all that far from upper middle class the way I see it, like.. it's rich, but not like... "rich rich" you know? Like normal person rich if that makes sense. But I realize I might just be super blind to this stuff, so I'm just looking for some perspective I guess (I realize it might also be dependent on what country you live in, most stuff is expensive where I'm from)

i think the issue is that wealth disparity is so fucking massive that, yes there's always going to be someone so obscenely rich in the room that by comparison, everyone else feels like they have nothing. that's why the family making 500k a year truly believes that they're middle class, because if the fucking CEO of Mattel rolls up to the PTA luncheon then yeah you're second-guessing your entire life.

my family was making around 150k in the san francisco bay area which was beans compared to the average income there - kids who were heirs to insane fortunes went to my high school, but you know what? we were still at the same school. we were sitting at the same table. we were all upper class by virtue of being able to afford to live in that area and attend those schools. like we could get into the weeds of "that family can afford a tesla" versus "that family can't" but the fact that it's even a point of consideration or an option speaks volumes!!

and at the end of the day, it does not matter, i still reaped the privileges of going to those schools which let me springboard into better colleges, better programs - i had family friends and school parents offering me jobs at insanely competitive biotech companies just because i was there and they liked my parents. i think what i'm getting at is it's less about some kind of strict income cut-off value, and it has so much more to do with all the privileges that come with inhabiting those spaces since birth.

but real talk 500k is absolutely upper class and nowhere near the border.

[boinin]

Blue Lock Chapter 245/NEL team rambling

foreword: I wrote this over Christmas, when suffering with a headcold. It's not that coherent, but I spent an amount of time on it? So have it as is... whatever it is.

God, they're doing Bachira Barcha so dirty.

If I'm interpreting this right, it sounds like Lavinho entered the game, but not Loki. Oof. Speaks volumes.

It took one of the most renowned footballers in the world to hold off Shidou and company so Bachira and Otoya could score.

It rankles how little development the Barcha boys are getting, compared to Manshine, Ubers or PXG. I know one team had to be the "first boss" of the NEL, but it's Bachira's team.

Bachira. Who's always shown the ability to thrive when the chips are down. Who's one of the most important characters, prior to the NEL.

Ugh. The story is entitled to focus on other characters, and overall I've enjoyed the outcome of this league. But you have to wonder how they can justify Barcha being this weak, even against a team as dominant as PXG.

Now, I did a fact-check to see if I'm just being salty (always a possibility). I looked at the teams by Blue Lock players, and specifically 1) who has a volume cover and 2) who is likely to get a volume cover between now and the manga ending.

My rationale? Volume covers are a proxy for talent/story significance, and appear to be an early bellwether for who might make it into the new U20 team lineup. Sendou fans rejoice

The results kinda support both the "me being salty" angle as well as the "Bachira is being deliberately ratio'd" one. Let me explain.

Germany are stacked next to the others, especially when they have both Kaiser and Ness as well. However: of the seven BL characters that have volume covers, four of these were revealed during the NEL arc. It makes sense, with Germany being the protagonist's team. But something to keep in mind, when we look at the others.

France has four characters that had volume covers before the NEL started. It's extremely likely Zantetsu will get one, and there's outside odds of Nanase also getting a cover. France has a potential NG11 or high-level player in Charles Chevalier. There's also Kento Cho, who had a not-insignificant role in the U20 v BL11 match. Worth noting.

I was surprised by how many high-profile characters Italy have, with five volume covers between them. This said, two characters (Niko and Sendou) only received theirs during the Ubers match arc, although I'd argue Niko would have received one earlier if it wasn't for Kaneshiro's commitment to the bit. Italy also has Don Lorenzo, possibly the most effective NG11 we've seen in action so far. IMO there's a slim chance Fukaku Gen will get a cover in future—the national team needs more than one goalie.

England have three volume cover stars: when you hear Manshine, all you can really picture is Nagi, Reo and Chigiri, right? In addition they have Wanima the elder and Niou, one of whom may sneak into the national team bench and nab a volume cover (my money's on Niou, solely because of that magnificent beard). Other than that, Manshine only has Agi, who's noted to have significant talent.

Lastly Spain, which has two volume covers to its credit and (in my view) low chances of any further ones. Maaaaybe Darai or Hayate, if we work off the current rankings (post round 3). But I can't see them beating Tokimitsu or Zantetsu for a Top 23 placement. They only have one notable Spanish player that has speaking lines (Ignacio Lara) but I wouldn't put him on, say, Agi's level.

To recap, the teams have this many significant characters as of the time of writing:

Germany: 7 + 2 (Kainess) + 2 (Igaguri, Kiyora) = 11.

Interestingly, a number that's give high status in this manga, and one that is often associated with Isagi.

France: 4 + 1 (Chevalier) + 2 (Zantetsu, Nanase) = 7

Italy: 5 + 1 (Lorenzo) + 1 (Fukaku) = 7

England: 3 + 1 (Agi) + 2?? (Niou, Wanima) = 6?? (closer to 5 really)

Spain: 2

If we retrospectively discount any character that didn't have a volume cover before the NEL arc kicked off, and reference only high-profile BL players:

Germany: 3

France: 4

Italy: 3

England: 3

Spain: 2

In conclusion: Spain has been outgunned since day one, and the story has failed to develop any of the Spanish players beside Bachira and Otoya... despite having a over a third of the national team front bench among its ranks.

I think Bachira and in particular, Otoya, have underperformed overall, considering their elevated position prior to the NEL. However, a repeated theme in the NEL is, you're only as good as the support or players around you.

Bachira and Otoya simply don't have the calibre of supporting midfielders, wingers or defensive players in Barcha that the other teams have. They don't have an NG11 player, or a defence capable of holding off a strong offensive opponent.

To get back to my original point: no wonder Lavinho had to sub on to give his two star players a chance to shine against PXG. It's indicative of the level of talent on the French front bench.

[mimikoolover]

What I find fascinating about these anons plaguing your blog is how adamant they are in disproving that Jungkook and Jimin have anything beyond friendship, and that's fascinating to me is bc I haven't seen it to that extent with any other ship.

Like, to prove xyz ship is real, they have to disprove Jikook isn't. Or even if they're not shippers, there is still this need to prove Jimin and Jungkook aren't in a romantic relationship for some reason and somehow I've only seen this in case of two of them, and that speaks volumes to me lol

If you don't believe in something or don't like something, common sense is to just go the other way? Or if you're a true fan, why would it even matter to you if they are or aren't a thing? The fact is that Jimin and Jungkook continuously choose each other, no matter the nature of their relationship, and that's something many people are bitter over 😗

I'll simply never understand this urge to lurk Jikook spaces and Jikook blogs to spew hate, then act like the rational bunch of this fandom and have the nerve to call shippers crazy/delusional when those people are just as obsessed. The hypocrisy of it all lol

yeah see, i am 10000% sure that taekook are not dating. it's not even in the realm of possibility, to be blunt. and it has nothing to do with anything apart from the fact that taekook dating each other is as likely as hopekook dating each other aka it's not happening. i don't feel the need to tell taekookers this. the last thing i want to do is go on a taekook blog so i really don't get why these people are telling jikookers what they think ****apart from**** the fact that they do actually see that jikook are different than other ships and they don't like it.

the way taekookers attack jimin is very similar to how shippers (where both of the ship are guys dating women) attack their faves' actual girlfriends and wives and call them names, say the relationship isn't real etc...i'm not going to directly compare because jikook aren't confirmed to be dating but the way jimin is attacked is very similar and that is telling even though these haters don't realise it...

[goldsrc-hl1]

And I think the fact that sienna, the white fang civil rights leader who actually cared about the cause but was willing to use violence to achieve it gets killed off and her worldview barely gets acknowledge

Also I think crwby straight up compared the white fang to the black panther movement/organization?

Wether we want it to or not the show did initially frame the white fang subplot as violence vs non-violence

Plus ghira getting mad tgat adam killed a member of a lynch mob because “this is why they think they can” tells me ghira is on sone level focused in what humans think of Faunus,

Not helping that ghira gets put in charge again without having changed whatsoever

I hate to say it but intentionally or not, the idea that an oppressed minority need to “prove themselves” in any way to their oppressors is kinda racist, it’s at least problematic

Heck it’s a double standard “that we see in the real world as well” that Faunus can be branded like Adam or killed in mines like ilia’s parents to by humans like Jacques, yet humans as a whole don’t need to “prove” they aren’t him,

Because, quite frankly, most humans are entirely permissive of what Jacques and the SDC do

Yeah, Sienna's worldview is barely acknowledged. That's part of the failure to discuss racism and if responding to it with violence is justified or not.

Barbara Dunkleman, who is not a writer, said this

Barbara Dunkelman: So if anybody needs, like, a comparison for what the Faunus are in this world, it’s kind of like if you’re in the 1930s, or 1940s, whatever, and it’s like, the way African-American people were viewed.

Someone else (I can’t identify the voice): You mean like 50s and 60s, like Civil Rights Movement and stuff?

Barbara Dunkelman: Yeah.

Faunus are related to the American civil rights movement. They're certainly not viewed as poorly as African American people were viewed in the 50s and 60s, but they are still viewed and treated poorly and it is still based off of the American Civil Rights movement.

It's not 1:1 Black Panthers though. Sienna KINDA reminds me of them but not too much, Adam definitely doesn't.

The only time it was framed as violence vs nonviolence was in Blake's talk with Sun about why she left. As mentioned, that talk is about why she left, not what the White Fang is doing now. Even as early as Volume 1 and 2 it was clear that the White Fang wasn't fighting for equality.

Blake: The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus.

Weiss: Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!

Blake: So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!

Roman: I'm glad you asked, "Deery"! Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst. Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, killed!

So yeah, the White Fang was always an organization dedicated to just killing and hurting humans. In the past, it fought for equality, which is shown in Volume 1 through Blake's backstory, but it's never states that the White Fang currently fights for equality. The reason Blake left is that she didn't want to take part in the violence anymore (she never says they were wrong to resort to violence though, she just personally didn't want to be the one pulling the trigger), but the goal of the White Fang is no longer equality, as evidenced by Weiss and Roman.

You may say Weiss isn't well informed, which is true, but if she was wrong, why didn't Blake correct her? Roman is literally speaking at a White Fang rally when he says the line cited above, so he clearly knows what he's talking about.

Onto the next point...

Ghira wasn't upset that Adam fought back, he was upset when it got lethal. Ghira has a point, by killing humans, you're giving the humans an excuse to hate you more, regardless of how justified it was. It's something you wanna avoid at all costs. It's unfortunate, but it's the truth.

Ghira is put in charge of the White Fang again, only after he assembles an entire army to stop a terrorist attack in the making. I think it's pretty clear that he's past all the solely peaceful stuff.

The message is that the Faunus need to dispel racist ideas by proving them incorrect. I don't see how that's racist or problematic. Minorities should play a part in proving racist ideologies wrong.

Bear in mind that the Faunus aren't "proving themselves" as in repenting for past mistakes and whatnot, they're "proving themselves" as in "your racist idea that the Faunus are all murderers and terrorists is wrong." No Faunus apologizes for how the White Fang treats humanity. The whole thing is basically a big "you're blatantly wrong" to racist generalization that is extremely hard to ignore.

I don't see how it's racist to promote minorities proving racist ideologies wrong.

Humans in the show already prove that they aren't like Jacques by literally arresting him. They don't condone his exploitation. Hell, his own daughter doesn't condone it.

Most humans are, but by proving racist ideas wrong, the hope is that they will become less racist and ultimately oppose Jacques.

[itsclydebitches]

Here's a thing though, because CRWBY loves doing things off-screen. Neo and Cinder did have to travel for some time together and Cinder did speak to Neo in the Vault of the Spring Maiden. They could've exchanged information and she found out about certain things, especially with regards to Salem.

But there's also the fact that Cinder and Neo binded their time in Atlas, waiting for the perfect moment to be able to nab the relic and how to locate the Winter Maiden. I know this banks on Cinder being a competent villainess but she was in V3. Neo is perfect for information gathering, she can choose to be any one who was around Ruby in the background, watching and waiting but also seeing if there were weaknesses she could exploit to make her suffer. Neo could've learned about how close Penny and Ruby by pretending to be some nobody in the background with the aid of her semblance. Headmaster Ozpin, Lionheart and Clover didn't need to be there, no, for the beat down little red got. But man, do I wish that it was something close to Ruby that'd throw the facts at her, that they made mistakes, they were hypocrites and made things worse. Atlas and Mantle are GONE. They almost cost Argus everything with their plane stealing stunt. Salem now has 2 relics in her possession instead of neither. Just someone should've been able to deliver that to Ruby without getting shut down or pushed into submitting to WBY getting all defensive. It's aggravating that RWBY keeps getting away with things one way or another, can't have Ruby get told off by an ally, noooooo, has to be a villain so anyone can dismiss their (very) on point accusations of her character. Wow, I didn't mean to rant so much....

Never feel bad about ranting, anon! I do it plenty lol.

But yeah, full-on agree. That remains my biggest problem with this scene (well, besides the suicide aspect) and why I can't really join in so many other fans' satisfaction at someone calling out Ruby. Because she's not being called out, she's being tortured. The story has taken things that Ruby is at least partially responsible for and framed it so that she comes out looking like the unequivocal victim. Instead of someone trustworthy figuratively knocking some sense into her head (like Qrow, May, or Ren), she's literally getting knocked around by a villain whose ultimately goal is to have her die. There is no version of RWBY in which Ruby comes out of this having learned anything other than her guilt and second-guessing being ~evil~ things that must be defeated. Qrow is threatened into submission. May changes her tune off screen. Ren is ignored until he falls in line. Yang dismisses Ruby and compares her to Ironwood the moment she expresses doubt. And Ruby herself has had those feelings now equated with suicide. If the end result of her going, "Let's stop pretending we know what we're doing" at the start of the Volume is for her to kill herself over that failure, then the message is pretty clearly, "That's a bad thing to believe and Ruby need to improve her mental health by remembering that she's a True Hero who has made the good decisions and shouldn't be doubting her own righteous worth."

By taking Ruby to this extreme the MOMENT she started to question their very questionable choices, the show has written in neon lights what they think of these criticisms. I mean, we knew it already - we've known since Volume 5 - but it really is something else to say, "Ruby's horrific actions aren't something for her to grapple with and learn from, they're the catalyst for suicide and the tools of a villain." Someone else made this comparison already, but the way this is written brings to mind people who have exaggerated, undeserved reactions to someone bringing up legitimate criticism, to the point where suddenly the conversation is about comforting them and ensuring they're safe, rather than actually addressing what they've done wrong. The story has finally gone, "Hey, you did things wrong" and even beyond the fact that this has come from a villain, Ruby has such an EXTREME reaction to that accusation that you feel like an ass for insisting that she still address the problem post-meltdown. The conversation is no longer about how Ruby's arrogance has caused great harm to Remnant, it's about how these things need to be denied/buried/ret-conned/whatever because otherwise she will kill herself.

See? Plenty of ranting XD. On a more positive note, I LOVE that idea, anon. If RWBY really was "planned from the beginning" and we still had to have this encounter, it would have been cool to see a Volumes-long reveal that Neo has been stalking Ruby ever since she left Beacon. She uses her clones to bring up all her mistakes, her failures, intimate moments she'll never repeat because that friend is dead now, and alongside her grief Ruby is downright shocked at the knowledge. How do you know all this? And Neo uses her op semblance to reveal all the background characters that she - and the viewer - had no idea were really her, listening in, biding her time, gathering intel until she could finally use it all to break her.

[kariachi]

Random: While there are plenty of words in Imperial Erinaen that, as long as you speak some Erinaen language, you're probably going to be able to figure out, just due to how the language was originally developed, there's two that are damn near identical in every Erinaen language.

'Qhoq', a generic term for non-aerial predators, and 'Qgiq', a generic term for aerial predators.

This is because no matter where you're from, these words always come from the same instinctive alarm calls that have kept Erinaens for time immemorial. You might get changes in tone or emphasis, but the sound combination itself doesn't change. Even Erinaens who didn't grow up speaking Erinaen languages, while not knowing exactly what these calls mean, have been shown to experience heightened levels of stress and anxiety upon hearing them at volume when compared to other non-understood words uttered with the same tone and volume.

Alarm calls are common among Erinaens' evolutionary relatives. Among Erinaens themselves different areas vary in whether individuals have the specific job of keeping watch or whether there's a social expectation that upon seeing something you sound the alarm, but however it's done once an alarm call goes out one learns from an early age to sound it yourself, making sure that it makes its way around the colony. This is part of why Erinaens don't historically worry much about keeping other Erinaens out of their homes- alongside some very loose property laws- when an alarm call goes off it's generally expected that people are going to beeline for the nearest safe location. Whether that's a business, a bathroom, a home, doesn't really matter when you're trying not to die. In fact refusing to allow individuals to take shelter in your home when you can safely do so is one of the things most likely to get you chased out of a colony.

Any colony of a decent size has people whose entire profession involves keeping track of local predators and attempting to keep them from entering the colony proper. Common methods are setting and maintaining a border of items, scents, etc that discourage them from approaching (think an equivalent to farmers using bees to keep elephants from their crops, or stringing up prices of metal to spook birds), but may also include mobbing a predator nesting or otherwise keeping territory too close for comfort. Only rarely are predators actually killed, as it tends to be more effective to just keep a predator to the outskirts than to keep having to go out hunting predators each time one tries to fill a void. Especially when as many things hunt you as Erinaens deal with.

Still, alarm calls aren't unusual to hear in colonies- you can never guarantee things will work, or that you'll catch every predator before it finds the colony proper- and play a vital role in maintaining the health and safety of the community. Truthfully the most at risk one is of predation is on the outskirts of and outside the colony itself, and when outside during daylight hours. In all these cases it's a matter of having fewer individuals around to notice a predator before it strikes, meaning your less likely to get an alarm sounded. Adding to this, when out of the main portion of the colony one is less likely to have a safe spot to hide available, and more likely to have to rely on their quills for protection. They're handy, but not all of the Erinaen's predators are affected by them, the more specialized having long since evolved resistances. And in daylight most individuals out and about will be those who woke up to use the bathroom, making them more vulnerable as they may still be groggy.

In the end, even with all attempts at security, predation is one of the major causes of death among Erinaens, with those most commonly taken- to the surprise of nobody with a sense for ecology- being children, the ill, and the disabled, plus individuals who work outside of the colony itself. They have a real rate of predation deaths.

Predation is estimated to be the cause of up to 15% of lasting deaths among Erinaens on their homeworld. This is second only to falling, estimated to cause upwards of 23%, as far as specific causes of death go. The numbers in these cases skew heavily towards children and teens, alongside, as mentioned above, the ill and disabled. The majority of deaths otherwise can be attributed to foul play, chronic illness, and injury.

[burningnonono]

Nono's thoughts on TWST manga #1 in French

Hello everyone!!! I'm pulling out my good ol' Tumblr acc because I will write some long stuff!!

Tomorrow, the first volume of the TWST manga, Episode of Heartslabyul, is releasing in France!

However, I learnt from some friends that it is in fact already available in some libraries, so of COURSE I couldn't wait! And as I already own the American edition, that my sister brought be from her school trip to NYC a few weeks prior the Twst manga announcement in French, I'd like to compare the two editions.

I have to say I am very moved to have in my hands an official piece of Twisted Wonderland content in French. I'm so used to some silly translations between my friends and I that seeing the true stuff... Wow... I'm writing this before actually opening the manga so let's see if I'll want to fight the translators.

I don't speak Japanese at all so I can't compare with the Japanese version, sorry.

This post will of course spoil the whole volume, so don't read it if you don't want any spoilers because I love to go into details!

For 13 euros, I got the limited edition:tm: of the "Disney Twisted Wonderland ~La Maison Heartslabyul~ 1". We can already see the manga is normal sized compared to the American edition, and let's dive into the Artbook

It's 40 pages of fancy illustration, with, for each Heartslabyul member :

their fullbody dorm render

their ceremony render

their 2nd birthday fullbody

their 1st birthday illustration

their 1st birthday groovy (on a double page)

A very appreciated bonus indeed (I never zoomed on those cards that much)

Now, let's look at the manga before opening it!!!

As most manga, there's some part of the cover we can remove. Under it, the design is red, with a fancy checkerboard pattern. Behind the 4th cover, there's the illustration of a key.

The bookmark section has some commentaries of the writer and artist of the book, where they're at the end of the book on the American version. The bookmark also has a "start" sign drawn on it, which I think is very cute.

~ First Chapter and Table of Contents ~

The French version of the manga includes the bonus illustration part in the summary, unlike the US version.

Only the first page with all the housewarden and the title is colored in the FR ver, unlike the US ver which also has colors for the first pages with Crowley talking ominously.

I recall the name of chapters rhyming in the JP version of the game, and while not all the chapter names on the FR manga rhymes, they all sounds very very cool, with some sick alliterations.

No one fucking cares but the US and FR translations don't use the same font lol.

The French version leaves the japanese onomatopoeia and just translates it under it, unlike the US version that directly replaces them with the English equivalent. The work on words placement in the French version is cooler in my opinion. Also the FR version has a translator note to explain what the hell those kendo words are.

The US version calls Yu's move "a menkaeshimen", while the FR version translates it as "counterattacking a "men" with another "men"", which makes it more clear for the audience, as I'm here for the handsome Disney boys and not the kendo part.

Koito calls Yu "Enma." in the US version while he says "Ah, S... Senpaï..." in the FR version. He stutters more in the FR version.

He also "vouvoies" Yu. "Vous" is a second person pronoun used either for a group of person, or someone you respect, like an adult or something. It's unusual between students in France, but it makes sense for the JP student dynamics I assume?

Dark Mirror is translated as Miroir des Ténèbres (Darkness' Mirror).

After coming out of the gate, Yuken's wonder in the EN version what are those "weird guys in capes", while in the FR version, he wonders who are those "weird guys in ceremony robes". My guy why are you so specific.

Also they call the gates "doors".

Night Raven College is translated as Académie Night Raven (Night Raven Academy) in the dialogue (the logo of the school still features Night Raven College written). NRC would roughly be in France the equivalent of an Highschool, but it doesn't sounds nearly as cool as Académie. I wonder how it'll go when RSA will appears.

the Orientation is called Cérémonie d'Ouverture (Opening Ceremony).

A very little detail, since it's just a different formulation of something that has the same idea, but Kalim says this year already will be full of surprises, HAHAHA YOU HAVE NO IDEAAAS.

We all love "l'unique, le seul, et le futur grand magicien... Grimm le magnifique!" wait a sec-

Grim has been translated into Grimm.

I'M STUNNED THEY ADDED AN M TO THE KITTY UWAAAAA.

Grim says he can do a lot when he put his "paw" on the dough. Putting our hand on the dough is a common French saying to say we work on something, I think it's very cute we get some puns like that.

Remember that part about "vous" and the 2nd person pronoun ? Well while in the US version, Riddle gets angry at Yu for calling him "kid", here Riddle gets angry because Yu uses "tu" (unformal 2nd person pronoun. one you would normally use on a fellow teen if the fellow teen wasn't on an ego trip).

I don't have enough Disney knowledges to know if the Disney citations are identical to the movie ones.

Grimm the punmaster is back with another paw version of a common saying.

Off with your head is translated as Qu'on lui coupe la tête. The phrase is just as iconic in French as it's in English, so of course they translated it. I would have done the same tbh.

Grammatical moment to mention that Yu says he's now "à Twisted Wonderland". I expected him to say "au Twisted Wonderland", but I don't know much about grammar and it could be a stylistic décision that don't fit my aesthetic.

Very little detail but Riddle says Yu's enter is ruining "our rules" to Trey and Cater, and not just "the rules", like in the English version. It's an interesting take on his character, I like the dorm spirit.

I just noticed the Dark Mirror rhymes !!! In both EN and FR version.

Housewarden are called Gardien de la maison. It's the literal translation but it sounds sooo bad... Here's some translations I've seen in fanworks : - Prefect / I think that's how Housewardens are called in real life English college anyways? but yeah it ends up being the same as our Yu - Magistrate / pun on magic + you immediately understand it's a high position - "Délégué" (Class Rep) / average word you'd see about a high position student in a real HS.

In the FR version, Yu says to the Ghost Trio that he always wanted to have roommates, where he just says he's happy to meet them as their new roommate in the US ver.

"Your little "fairytale" will never be real". Ace I love your choice of words but you're such a bastard ♥.

Ace dumb nickname for Deuce is "Douce" (feminine version of sweet/soft). Makes sense.

Great Seven is translated into Sept Majestueux (Majestic Seven). Everything is better when you put some magi-sounding word in stuff! I like this translation.

Queens of Heart -> Reine de Coeur King of Beasts -> Roi des Animaux (King of Animals) Sea Witch -> Sorcière des Mers Sorcerer of the Sands -> Sorcier du Désert King of the Underworld -> Maître des Enfers (Master of Hells) Thorn Fairy -> Fée des Ronces

Magestone -> Pierre magique (Magic Stone). Well, it is what it is. I translated it as Magilithe in the translation of the game I started from my sister for some extra fancy points but I understand they can't just change everything lol. The "pierre" is sometimes substitued with any synonym of it, like Roche (rock) or Caillou (Pebble, by Ace).

Headmage -> Doyen (Dean). It do gives "fancy British school" vibes.

I'm really sorry but Crowley going "you're their guardian so here what they did" sounds so silly bc it kinda makes it sounds like Riddle is the legal guardian of his dormmates... Daddy Riddle...

I don't have much to say about the final chapter, so I'll conclude with how happy I am to have this manga! Trying to get the manga as early as possible and checking every difference in translations reminds me of my Yo-kai Watch era.

In one of the final pages of the FR version, there's a little preview of the next volume. No dates are announced for it sadly, but I'll wait patiently.

I emptied my bedroom to repaint my walls so I had to empty all my bookshelves. Now, only true quality writing is available in my room.

Riddle and Deuce are tied-in for the place of my fav Twst character, and Ace is the happy 3rd guy of my podium, so this is an amazing day for me.

Thank you so much if you read up to there!!

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond!: Shared Universe Mentions

So just yesterday, I got praise from @robovoidfrog for the inclusion of their character in IAB!, and I'm honestly chuffed to get this feedback! So through this post, I just wanted to talk about the prospect of the shared universe idea between this project, Funkinverse and the original Spider-Verse trilogy.

NOTE: None of the mentioned points are canon to either of the projects outside of IAB! unless stated otherwise.

So first off, as you saw through the aforementioned post, The X not only had a run-in with this project's Quill Society, but he also seems to be the most remotely aware of the nature of film fics based around Spider-Verse. A lot of these indeed kick off with that world's iconic hero dying and someone else having to take their mantle for them, which leads them into quite the whacky crossover situation.

In this continuity, some things are different for the Funkinverse storyline due to what goes on with the base FNF universe here. For instance:

Boyfriend died long before through the events of Mario's Madness, and a universal reboot is what gave way to Benjamin.

Though, like in canon, BF's WI and Twinsomnia incarnations are generation counterparts in the base FNF universe, they're also separate counterparts in Funkinverse (Twinsomnia's BF being Brooke's little son).

Softie/Benjamin Fairest's counterpart in Funkinverse is separate to the one who's linked to IAB!'s FNF universe.

As Benjamin had befriended several of the other BFs and GFs (those from B-Sides, D-Sides, Neo, Minus, B3 and Arrow Funk specifically), any of those that are linked to the Funkin' Society are quick to understand after Cam's hostilities that Salty's in the right for aiming to save his legal guardians from The X and quickly switch sides against Agent Blueballs' ideals for canon events.

The Sky counterpart encountered by the Funkin' Gang is a more hostile variant compared to ErrorSky, who changed her ways after enough time.

As mentioned above, The X was successfully detained and neutralised by the Quill Society post-Funkinverse, but the fact that it took FOUR of its members to detain him, compared to just two (Pana and SS!Amy) detaining Speedy in his Chaos Emerl guise, speaks volumes of how he is indeed a threat on par with The Spot and Crimtake.

As Beyond the Spider-Verse isn't out yet, we still don't know whether or not The Spot was successfully beaten.

Sunday ending up with protanopia after their encounter with The X didn't sail well with Carol, Benjamin OR Grace, hence why Benjamin calls him out on it. To think it was all because of a little disagreement about breakfast foods.

The Childhood Memories universe canonically NEVER encountered the Corruption (which is apparently a canon thing, according to Agent Blueballs), and even if it did show up, it'd never effect any of the children's shows. Yeah, get lost, Pibby kids.

In the IAB! continuity, Lexi Robin ended up defecting from the Funkin' Society after seeing just how wrong everything is, and she was rooting for the Funkin' Gang and Benjamin's crew from the sidelines.

After Cam's clash with Benjamin, Soft Pico and Neo GF (their original counterparts) sided with Benjamin in a bid to get their boyfriends back out of the Funkin' Society and back to doing the right thing in general.

Identically to Funkinverse, there's a lone repeat customer that the therapist of the bunch dislikes. For Funkinverse, it's the Boyfriend/Keith from Earth-666 (I Can't Sleep) who Softie dislikes, whereas in IAB!, CD Alt Ending Sonic's disliked repeat customer is Charlie (the Sonic from the god-awful "Sonic 2 Lost Prototype" fangame). That said, he does try to bear with the guy's emotional turmoil, though the other major therapist of the Quill Society, Sara, seems to have caught on as well.

In terms of the Gangs' members having possible canon interactions:

Miles, Salty and OMT!Tails would definitely help learn from each other on how to better protect their respective worlds, and also find solace in the fact that they were all treated as anomalies at different points.

Peter B., Brooke and CR!Sonic would be the doting dads after their first outings and talk quite a bit about their sons/daughters.

Gwen, SNS GF and OMT!Mina would be a sort of comfort group to each other, considering their rough pasts and how broken each one is deep down. Gwen, having been most successful thus far, would definitely be the beacon of light girl the other two clearly need.

Noir, Toon BF and Mini Sonic would interact quite a bit about the Rubik's Cubes that they were given as souvenirs, and their different reasons for admiring the cubes.

Spider-Ham, Mobian BF and Mr. Needlemouse are definitely the kind to goof around with their cartoon antics. That said, with the lattermost being the biggest prick, he is prone to being called out for it by the other two, though barely giving a care about it.

Peni, Aloe and EX!Alice are the tech geeks of their respective dimensions and would love sharing their robot-building (maintaining, in Aloe's case) knowledge with each other.

Hobie and the D-Sides versions of BF and Mighty would find common ground in their ideals of screwing over intended consistencies and going their own way in life.

Pavitr, Golden BF and Black Knight Amy would have a way with each other being the naïve newcomers of their respective teams, and BK!Amy, harbouring the most experience, can share some tips for her companions.

The Sonias and CR!Manik would be happy to look after Mayday and Twinsomnia BF, due to them both being toddlers. Them being children sporting superpowers makes it click more.

Margo, Boom, Nicole and Nine could bond from their computer-based knowledge, and the majority could also aim to lift Nine's spirits if he's feeling a bit down.

So that's pretty much the basic gist of things. Another few tidbits:

Of those instigating the canon events, between four candidates: - Melanie / MP (the kid pictured below), despite having tried this himself, didn't do it willingly, and was forced into it by so-called "superiors" who got the short end of the stick big time from Nitro, even after their passing made it look like they could get away with it. - Miguel and Agent Blueballs, despite their cruel methods, at least have good intentions in mind for their approach, but go about it the wrong ways that alienate those around them. - Lost Memory Sonic is the only one of these four to stoop lower than the others would've done, and actually tries DESTROYING universes to maintain the status quo.

(Art will be updated when @mcgamejolter finishes it)

Of the major protagonists between the three universes, OMT!Tails is the only one that's rarely had to use his nanomachine gear to disguise his identity with. That said, he has used it when he visited the dimension of the Hues of Metal (Dimension HoM-2023), and the suit's robotic sheen actually FOOLED the robots. At least, until LM!Sonic was driven away from their base (apparently for, as Rocket Metal put it, being a stereotypical Australian tourist).

In the above point's case, Metallix is the one to catch out OMT!Tails when they're alone, though is ultimately overpowered... from OMT!Tails mentioning that a certain web series isn't officially canon, causing Metallix to go poof from existence. Again.

Despite being a supposed "canon event", Sonic.EXEs are surprisingly quite rare to see in universes that aren't meant to have them, like with the Corruption, Darkness and Venom Symbiotes. That said, the first documented case of one showing up in a Sonic universe in the Quill Society logs is in the Sonic Robo Blast 2 dimension (Dimension SRB-1998), a universe that doesn't even have a canon appearance of the demonic entity.

After "Rivals' Madness" (my unofficial expansion/sequel to Mario's Madness/Vs. Sonic.exe (RERUN)), several of the worlds encountered are their own universes, so the characters within are not solely bound as digital slaves to Ultra M, Xenophanes OR 2011!X.

Related to the above, pretty much all the major cast of FNF ended up dealing with the mess of Ultra M and Xeno in that one adventure, most of which put up with one enemy each; Sophie from Left Behind for Tankman, Mr. L, X.nes and Requital for Pico (the lattermost he fights again later), Stranger for Skid and Pump, OMT for Mommy/Martha Mearest, Awe's Chromophobiac for Senpai, and NMI (No More Innocence) for Daddy/Daniel Dearest.

There are alternate versions of Heaven AND Hell in the IAB! multiverse that aren't solely bound by the Christian bible's depictions. For instance, there's a genuinely friendly community in my version of Hell, which an alternate version of Benjamin dubbed "Keith" discovers after his passing.

Akin to @thestrongestjewel's Eepytale, the Frisk, Chara and Asriel of the IAB! continuity have been living together for some time, albeit independently from adoptive parents like Toriel. Kris also spends some time with them as the biggest sibling of the group, akin to their role in @akanemnon's Twin Runes series.

The full list of those lives lost to the "canon event" theory are as follows:

OMT!Sonic, OMT!Vanilla and OMT!Sally (OMT!Tails)

Uncle Chuck (Crossover Realm Sonic and Extraterrestrial Encounter Sonic)

Sonic and Tails (OMT!Mina)

Caffrin (EX!Alice)

Marc Smith (Nitro; he couldn't even avert this in the Rewritten universe)

Sonic (Antho and Mobiverse Tails)

Amy (ChaosIIUniverse Sonic and Sonia)

ALL of his friends (Hog)

Silver (Lost Memory Sonic)

Tails and Amy (CD Alt Ending Sonic)

The original Boyfriend and Girlfriend (via the original FNF universe's events that led to its rewrite)

Cassandra (both from a tactic Pico pulled to end his school's terrorism early in the new timeline, and for good following the Corruption's events)

Proto Man/Blues (alongside Wily, Bass and Treble) (Mega Man/Rock; these four lost their lives to a rogue Zero build who remains shut down to this day)

For now, that's all I can really discuss. Took me some time to think about all the stuff I could mention here. Until the next post, have a great day/night!

[paetal]

unprompted @quietlyblooms asked: she’s gentle as she kisses the bruise upon ceri’s cheek bone, then the cut just over his brow. she still holds his face between her palms when she looks at him, her gaze soft yet narrowed; oh, the things she would do if she ever came across the people who hurt him. it doesn’t matter if ceri’s already handled it — chiyo hates seeing him like this. “ i hope you gave ‘em hell, ” she utters. “ they deserve it. ” ( since you’ve been in a ceri mood, i thought he deserved some tlc 💜 )

The gentleness that she gives him is something that he eats up, the soft feeling of lips against tender bruised cheek bone and then again to the cut just over his brow are gentle moments that he is still so that he can take the moment all in. His onyx eyes have some glowing amber speckles that have appeared, the wolf within is radiating the same adoration for her in that gaze of his. Her words do not carry the same gentleness that her actions does, not when they're spoken about others who gave him such injuries just because they wanted to feel big and bad. She's cute.

He grins at her, busted lip does not agree with such an action but he cares not for she has this way of bringing out his smiles and lopsided dimpled grins. His hands rise to cup her hands that hold his face, keeping them there so that he can also take in the warmth that they bring. Her hands are so small compared to his, he always seems to notice that ( he thinks it's cute is all ). ❝ I dished out what they dished out at me . . . and then some for good measure. Got 'em to leave me alone. ❞ But not before they managed to get some damage in. Ceri was a good fighter in a fair fight but he was usually caught off guard or had to fight multiple wolves at once, though the fact that he lived to tell each tale did speak volumes of the fighter he was overall.

❝ I ever told ya that you're really cute when you're all mad at some shitbags ? 'Cause you really are. ❞

[grazer-razor]

i was thinking, and have come to a conclusion.

FNAF isn't as great as you think. i just woke up, so i'll keep things relatively quick and simplified.

if i recall correctly, scott cawthon entered a phase where he was making smaller games(i checked geeks under grace's interview with him, and didn't hear it, so i must've heard this somewhere else). even if i didn't hear that correctly, FNAF falls in this category, because it's literally just "survive all 5 nights at increasing difficulty" with a few spooky easter eggs. compare this to things like TDH and chipper sons and lumber, which were bigger than FNAF. scott only showed part of his gamedev power and that was the only time he went viral.

but wait there's more.

all that this small game has going for it is basically the horror aspect(and maybe the easter eggs like foxy's pirate song and those crying faces on the wall, which are still pretty small considering how small FNAF 1 is as a game). for a while, i thought that the spookiness itself was fine-ish(because it's possible to provide a thrilling "man VS. wild" experience without adding traumatic themes or imagery. think hiding from the SA-X in metroid fusion, which has a similar atmosphere to FNAF), but recently, god showed to me that FNAF was really not a good game. when i asked him to explain in a way that i could identify, he told me this piece of literal art...

"five nights at freddy's is a crappy game. horror and jumpscares are this game's fame. horror and jumpscares are this game's name. five nights at freddy's is a crappy game." - Yeshua Hamashiac himself (i actually asked god to explain in a way that i could identify a second time, and he said he already did. so i think this was him)

the worst part is that this is the perfect trap for becoming assimilated into the world. while looking at geeks under grace's interview, i saw this-

that last part is full of wisdom. not just making bad games, but PLAYING them is a sign you need to get your heart right with god. i have multiple friends in church who play games like call of duty, bayonetta, and metal gear rising, and while i don't know a lot about COD(it could just be action movie shooter with blood splashes in it), i know enough about bayonetta and MGR to know that they're really not great of games(plot of MGR involves a cyborg ninja being led to believe that he's a killer and ends up ripping a senator's heart out, bayonetta is literally a naked witch communing with demons, yadda yadda). i say this because scott saying this SHOWS that he has some grasp of the truth!

yet, scott ended up making stories like into the flesh and breaking wheel. and even if he co-partnered with writers, the fact that he still let these stories into FNAF canon speaks volumes about what's going on RN.

speaking of that poem/rap/whatever from god, i also asked him about the desolate hope. and he said that it was "an awesome game with beautiful graphics", and that i was "being too hard on scott".

this leads us to the most important part. while scott slipped up a bit making FNAF, he is still a talented man with jesus's love in his heart. even if he's made stuff like the 5th paradox(which we will not talk about aside from linking to a post regarding it), he still has a good enough head on his shoulders to know that you can't just make or play bad video games without having a heart issue.

he has a good enough head on his shoulders to stick firm to his beliefs when pressured by the FNAF fandom(AFTER the majority of FNAF's works were published, mind you!), and explain that he was a christian who was pro-life, republican, ETC.

so what if scott isn't perfect? WHO EVEN IS PERFECT, IN THE FIRST PLACE?

grazer, out!

[giuliadrawsstuff]

Hi! I love your art 💖 I was wondering what is your opinion about yesterday’s episode. Did you like it? :)

Awww hi! Thank you 💜💜

I loved it!!

I really don't get all the complains I'm seeing here and on Twitter.

Mappa did an astounding job portraying Hange's last moments, staying true to the manga and at the same time making it better and more cinematographic.

The frames are the same as the manga, it appears quicker because animation is always like that, you can't stay on it as long as you want like with a manga panel.

Plus the pace was already quick, they're running out of time, Hange has to buy them some last precious moments to fix the plane and flee. They can't dwell on the single frames too much. It's all part of the narrative.

"Dedicate your heart" is a Levihan scene ofc but it's first and foremost an Hange scene. It's their moment to shine, the big hero departure, the ultimate sacrifice to let the others leave and live.

That's also why I appreciated Mappa making their fight longer, we get to see Hange at their best, first humour (even in their last moments), then determination, then awe at the beauty of Titans and science, then badass fighting like we've never seen before culminating in the afterlife welcome from the other Vets.

I don't think they could have done it better.

As for Levihan itself, I saw complains about Levi not showing emotions or the "dedicate your heart" scene not being the love scene it should be.

Now, we can compare it with the Aruani moment. That has been changed, the wrist grab has become hand grab, they blush and they're embarrassed, they're teenagers.

Levihan are adults, Veterans trained for a long time to hide their emotions and feelings leaving space for duty and freedom.

You don't need a kiss or a hug to show they're in love (but I'll do it and add it anyway in my drawings 😂)

As much as I would have died to see it myself, we all know it wasn't going to happen. They don't have room for big manifestations of love. AOT is not like that.

And honestly, at least to me, Levihan is in the little things, little everyday gestures and moments that build and strengthen their relationship, the fact that Levi never said those words to anyone else, adding the use of the left hand (the hand of the heart not the hand of duty), speaks volumes about how he feels in my opinion.

Hange's surprise and smile are equally meaningful.

Same goes for Levi's tears. He doesn't need to cry to show his emotions. He's constipated and we know it, but you can see his pain in his posture, in how he's cradling his hands on his lap, in his lack of expressiveness, in the empty stare, in the determination he has to fight once more and not make Hange's sacrifice in vain.

It's not by chance that everyone is screaming and crying when Hange dies, huge tears rolling down their cheeks, faces disfigured while Levi's the only one who stays quiet and silent, almost spacing out. And I think this is very in character (no matter how much I make him cry in my stuff 😂).

It's not easy to adapt from comic to animation and I think Mappa really did their best keeping the line of the manga while improving it and making it better at the same time.

That being said I only have one last thing to say, LEVIHAN CANON 😌

Thank you for the ask and sorry for the pep talk 😂

[bohemian-nights]

People have no guts to talk about this but i do. There's a reason why Ryan chose Emma to play Rhaenyra and it's not the acting cause honestly despite the insane worshipping, they're not that great, Olivia is 1000 times better, more expressive and capable to have chemistry with each member of the cast, even with Matt and Alicent barely interacts with Daemon in the Show. Emma do but lack of chemistry especially with him and this is a downgrade for the Daemyra. The shippers try so hard on claiming them hot couple, but actually they look pretty awkward. Matt had insane chemistry and sexual tension with Milly, with Emma not at all, also Emma is nothing like the Rhaenyra of the book. Milly suited the role much better compared to book and yet there's a purpose behind all this. The reason why they chose Emma is cause they made up that weird dynamic with Alicent and Rhaenyra, and Emma give masculine vibes, especially when they're with Olivia, no matter the wig lol so it suit that dynamic. No wonder Emma spoke about electric sensuality with Olivia in ep 8 lmao, and some people ship them lol they do cause writers wanted to push audience on doing that and Emma is the main reason, cause Emma being non binary carries their queer baiting strategy. Here, i said it. Im not against no gender people or anything, but i wanted to speak the truth.

Anon you’ve broken a cardinal sin per Missy Anne stans everywhere because she’s so ultra feminine(even though shes murdering people left and right) and Emma and Matt have explosive chemistry, but you aren’t exactly wrong.

The only thing I have to add is that Emma was cast first(before Milly who I think people overhype but that’s irrelevant) and I also heard that Olivia auditioned for the part of Miss Maegor. The fact that they chose Emma speaks volumes when it comes to Dumbnyra(for the slow Dumbnyra stans, your ship was never supposed to be the ship of the show let alone a epic romance😚).

[animehouse-moe]

Crazy Lucky JP Anime Art Book Haul

So, this is what all I got in the haul, not too many books you might think yeah? Well, the issue isn't so much the quantity as it is the quality. But first, let's introduce the gang, top to bottom, left to right.

Starting in the top left is the Line Art Collection for Violet Evergarden, followed by the Setting Book for The Saga of Tanya The Evil's anime, and then there's the Dorohedoro Animation Art Book. Beneath that is the full Neon Genesis Storyboard Collection, the real breadwinner here.

Note: At the end of the post there will be a price breakdown on the crazy deal I got on this haul.

Anyways, the books themselves! We'll start with Violet Evergarden

It's a rather slim art book, but considering the price I got it for I don't really mind. All the drawings they included in it are really quite stunning as well. I'd say that if you can find it for around $30 CAD (or whatever it is in other currency) and under, it's worth it.

The Saga of Tanya The Evil

I really love this one because beneath the dust jacket/cover, they have some environment art that's really quite pretty.

Of course, the contents themselves are super cool as well, a nice helping of character designs and environment art that show the level of detail and care the staff put behind everything, even things as simple as rifles or stationary artillery.

Dorohedoro

So compared to the manga art, the anime in and of itself isn't exactly something outstanding or anything, but I think this art book really speaks to the passion of some of the staff behind it, even if it was 3D. All the character work was done in 2D, and the environment art included in the copy is just stunning. It's certainly an easy way to find new appreciation in the anime if you were perhaps a little too critical of it when it first aired.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Storyboard Collection

This one felt like nothing short of a miracle, really. Dirt cheap, nobody else bidding on it, and what you might venture to call pristine condition when you consider it comes from the end of the 90s. I was up at 3 in the morning to secure the auction and it was 100% worth it. Really incredible set to own that hasn't really set in.

A look at the spines of the protective clear cases, and the actual cover of the first volume. Really great condition and everything is looking super nice. There's a few signs of yellowing on the pages themselves, but hardly anything to even think about considering the age and extent.

And a very brief peek into the storyboards themselves. One of the most fascinating things I find with storyboards is the fact that they are so different between series. They could be super detailed or they could be stick figures nearly, as long as they get the point across anything goes. Regardless, it's such an impressive thing to take a look at, and realize just how many drawings and pages there are with it. For reference, each volume is around 600 pages, and has 5 frames of storyboard per page. The number you get from that is absolutely dizzying.

But yeah, probably one of the best hauls I've had so far considering how much just fell into place. Really rare and super interesting stuff that I don't think many can attest to having in their collection, and I did so while hardly breaking the bank for what you might get them for otherwise. Just so excited to have these in my collection now.

Price Breakdown

So, I got all these items for dirt cheap compared to what you can find them for on eBay. The Line Art book? Typically 60 and all the way up to 100CAD. Tanya The Evil Setting book? If you can find them, especially undamaged, they're in the range of 100CAD as well (plus shipping usually). The same with the Dorohedoro animation art book, anywhere from 100 to even 200CAD. The real icing on the cake is the NGE Storyboards though. The full collection, including their protective clear cases will run you about 270CAD before shipping.

So, this whole order, according to eBay, should have been in the range of 500CAD before shipping, which is eye-poppingly expensive. But, proxy services can be infinitely cheaper. For reference, my breakdown (with receipts) is as follows:

Violet Evergarden Line Art - ¥2,400 Yen / $26.16 CAD Tanya The Evil Setting Book - ¥3,300 Yen / $35.97 CAD Dorohedoro Animation Art Book - ¥4,580 Yen / $49.93 CAD NGE Storyboard Collection - ¥11,000 Yen / $119.90 CAD Domestic Shipping Fee (NGE Auction) - ¥873 Yen / $8.94 CAD Additional Packaging free - ¥1,500 Yen / $15.35 CAD Intl. Shipping fee (50% off from coupon) - ¥3,711 Yen / $37.98 CAD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total Cost - ¥27,364 Yen / $280.07 CAD

Effectively, a savings of in the range of 200-250CAD, getting close to half the price that you could get the items for on eBay, and around the average price of the NGE Storyboard set on eBay. It's just sort of crazy to think about.

[grieverled-moved]

;; ‘ floral reminders ’ for Zack

He was always so careful in making sure his hobby stayed a secret. While nothing embarrassing, at least compared to most peoples idea of one, he still preferred to keep it tightly hidden & locked away from prying eyes. It was, in the end, something meant to be private. Something just for himself, as rare a thing as that was.

But of course he'd underestimated Shinra's Puppy. The man's nickname is huffed internally like a curse, though it's more tired over truly angry as he catches the way those eyes linger on the leather casing of his book. They flit across it's surface, the poor thing making a loud smack as Squall moves to slam it shut, instantly hiding it back along the inner pocket of his suit. A frown is already fresh on his features, irritated, embarrassed - if the furrow notching his brows & the way his jaw sets is anything to go by. The only thing that lacks is the normal sharpness of his glare, tempered out by the way his ears burn a bright scarlet as he silently grouses.

He clears his throat, fixing Zack with a pointed look that all but says 'you saw nothing' like it's a set statement over a suggestion. He expects him to make fun of him, of his hobby, chalk it all up to him drawing & slacking off on the job as a means to get a one up on him for all the times he'd been so harsh with him.

But he shouldn't have expected that when time & time again since he'd met the man, Zack had been nothing short of a living, breathing surprise. He wouldn't get too ahead of things, still treat the bubbly First with the same healthy level of distant caution as he did others, but he did keep in mind that even when he was being . . . harsh. Rude - the man had never lashed back out, had always remained peaceful, friendly. Ever genuine despite whatever ice was thrown his way.

Its that thought combined with the way the other stays silent, hands held up in a placating gesture that speaks volumes to the brunet over whatever else he could have spoken in that moment. Zack's eyes are wide, brows drawn skywards as that interest spotted from before seemingly lingers in place. Squall studies him for a few more stray beats, eyes thinning to a glacial glare, before they melt, a scoffed sound given before he shakes his head.

Darkened bangs sway before his shielded gaze as he retrieves his book with gloved fingers, lips pressing together as he hesitantly flicks it open to the page he'd been working on cataloguing before the other'd startled him.

It's an unfinished flower sketch, eyes glancing over the rim of his booklet to the flowers themselves up ahead, before flitting back over to Fair with a lightly arched brow & a jerk of his chin to signal him in closer. He sighs, but it's nothing new. It takes a bit of mental prep, an internal push, but he weathers through it to hold his book over for the other man to see. With a hum, voice quiet, he continues his idle sketching, curving out the rounded 'mouse-ear' shape of the scattered plants leaves.

"Myosotis." The Turk starts, glancing back over with diamond sights to check if the other was listening. Sure enough . . . he was. ( ' Huh . . . ' ) Continuing on, he lets his pencil glide, finishing up the drawing as he lists off a few facts on the plant itself with the barest twitching curl of his lips.

"Or 'forget-me-not's'. These are usually pretty hard to find around the closer you are to Midgar, cities especially . . . so . . . I wanted to sketch out what I could while we were here in the area. Don't know your level of knowledge on stuff like this, but . . . these here? They're a very sweet flower. Packed with hidden sentimental meaning."

He's vaguely aware that this is possibly the most he's spoken to Zack since they'd met, at least all in one go, but once the floodgate's have been opened, it's hard to turn it off, the flickers of genuine fondness slipping free as he explains himself & his reasoning for drawing them out to the dark-haired SOLDIER.

"They can be a symbol of true undying love, respect. Of fidelity & faithfulness on top of strength. If you give them to someone, it means you truly love them, or a symbol of remembrance during partings that they're always kept in your thoughts." With a snort, a duck of his head as he finishes off the sketch, he pockets the items, moving to shift from where he stands, turning to better face the other. Rare, but a bit of cheekiness bleeds through, a show of silent thanks for taking his cherished interest seriously enough to not poke fun, to pay attention when he prattled off his odd facts on the small blue flowers.

"I know there's some different folk-lore tales on them, but . . . have to brush up on those more. Feels like a flower that you'd honestly be fond of. "

Maybe it didn't quite fit him . . . but it was close enough. Especially with their close knit tie to the theme of devotion, the sentimental value behind it mirroring Zack's own honest heart to an extent. Crossing his arms over his chest, he hums.

"I could be wrong though . . ."

Flowers for One Another [ ; ] Send in “Floral Reminders” to hear what kind of flower my muse associates with yours.                       ➤ @myristicisms

[vvatchword]

Failure on Every Level: A Texas Story

Shouting Lady got on the bus today and we nearly had a full fucking fight. There was a security guard on the bus and idk what they taught this man but the very first thing he did was rare up and throw out a hand as the Shouter mounted the bus stairs. Guys that is called escalation. I know he meant well but I was like yikes is this your job? You suck.

Shouter was perhaps late fifties, big sunglasses, clearly homeless because she had a rolling suitcase and all her bags balanced on top of it. The homeless often have reusable bags donated by or acquired from a big local grocery store. I'm guessing that the local aid groups use them to donate supplies. You can pick them out of crowds.

What is with mental illness and the n-word? What the fuck is it? The world is full of slurs and all they have is that one. Okay, and fatass. They've got that one down. I never say or do anything to these folks but they tend to pick me out. They ain't wrong, this ass is fat. Again, doesn't bother me. It's the truth and they're stuck living one of the most miserable lives I can imagine. They can call me whatever they want. Won't change the fact I'm on top of the world, comparatively speaking, and if they can get an ounce of pleasure out of it, I'm actually glad to provide the service.

But again. The n-word. My friends. Why. I think because it's the most vile taboo word outside of, perhaps, "cunt." It always makes you cringe and sucks all the comfort out of the room. And there are always, always black folks on the bus when they employ it. Sometimes the slur-user is spitting full racist screeds and you turn to look at them and they are black themselves. And you're like wait. Wait what is going on. This is cursed

My supposition is that it's a way to stop being invisible. It's so awful that everyone becomes aware of it and the speaker becomes the most visible person on the bus. The other riders can't ignore it. It may also be a way of blowing off steam or attempting to wrest some kind of power back--claiming you're better than so-and-so because you're white and that's all you have left. Maybe several elements at once. I mean nobody gets on the bus screaming poetry, you know.

I take that back. There's one homeless guy who freestyle raps every time he gets on the bus. Annoying as fuck but preferable. Once I complimented him on his skills, but he flinched and stared at me like I was going to smack him. Poor guy, seriously. I haven't seen him since the winter. I hope he's okay.

anyway today's shouter was very white. She was screaming furiously into a phone. I'm not sure she was even talking to anyone. She was screaming about dying in the heat, and the implication was that someone had kicked her out. I vaguely remembered her from somewhere, which is a bad sign.

"MA'AM DON'T GET ON THIS BUS ANGRY PLEASE," shouted security guard. This always works, as does "calm down" and "have you tried yoga?"

"HAWRAnGANGaA" or something from the Shouting Lady. She was always talking, always in a stream of consciousness sort of way, with every word shouted and the same non-stop rhythm and volume and mood, like an unstoppable river current, so it was kinda hard to tell what she was saying. She never shut her mouth unless someone was talking to her, and the only reason other people talked to her was because they were telling her to shut up. At one point six unrelated people were yelling at once.

"Ah good," i thought. "Hell."

Security guard yelled about how he was a security guard and had been in the military. Big cringe moment friends. If you are, you are, you know? If you have to bring out your credentials your insecurity is showing. Also he's already twice her size and ten years younger, if she's not respectful now she's not going to start, ok

"I don't care if you were in the military!" Shouting Lady shouts.

for the record, he was trying to win by cowing this lady and this lady thrived on anxiety. Here's how you deescalate, for the record:

You smile. You speak softly. You hold eye contact. You ask their name. You use their name often while speaking to them. What has their day been like? What's wrong? Oh that's too bad. What do you think the solution is? Oh, I agree. Lots of nodding, smiling, gentleness. You make the conversation all about them, all open-ended questions. Their voice may not go down, but it can refocus them, make their tones more pleasant, and they don't have the urge to attack strangers. Half of the problem is that they feel like nobody sees them and nobody cares.

You don't go all full Tough Guy and threaten to pile-drive them like Security Guard literally did.

Everyone settles down somewhat while Shouting Lady shouts her interpretation of what had just happened ("i was attacked by that guy for no reason! You are going to lose your job!!!"). Bus driver asks her to calm down. Shouting Lady shouts about her civil rights and how bus driver is just supposed to drive.

Without warning, Shouting Lady gets up and lifts her phone and marches up the aisle to take a picture of Security Guard. Security Guard launches off like a furious doberman screaming "GET THAT CAMERA OUT OF MY FACE I WILL RIP IT OUT OF YOUR HAND" and Shouting Lady staggers backwards, clearly terrified. Won't lie, it was kinda gratifying to watch her nearly piss herself. A wise motherfucker ain't fucking with Security Guard. He exuded Do Not Mess with Me or You Have the Right to Stay Silent FOREVER. The guy was short, but stacked, and you had the sensation that he could flip that old lady and smash her flat like a coke can. I noticed she didn't use the n-word on him. She had that much sense, i guess.

Security Guard and Shouting Lady go back and forth a bit. I'm sorry, who taught this man shit? Fire them. Then fire him. As far as I'm concerned he was just making things worse. Made me think about shitty police work. Fight everybody, threaten them, if they don't stop, make them stop by force. Diplomacy? Wtf is that lol. Imma big man grrrr big cock grrr strong grrrrrrr

It also bothered me--i was listening to other passengers--how people attributed her behavior not to mental illness, but to her specifically. Like they couldn't see the reason for why she was acting like that. Do you not see the way she's speaking, do you not hear the way she strings words together, do you not realize that this isn't normal? So why are you trying to use reason on what is clearly emotional? The computer is borked, do not appeal to the computer. Find the root and dig it out. It's emotional and social need. And medicine and therapy. That too.

And then one of the other passengers, an older man in a page-boy cap--might've been the same one from two days ago--rose up and shouted, "Lady if you don't stop I'm going to call down Jesus into this bus right now. I'm going to rebuke that spirit in you. There is something wicked in you"

Me: (thinking) it's called mental illness and a shitty social safety net but go off I guess

Page-Boy Cap starts loudly praying and suddenly Security Guard stalks down there and slaps a hand on his shoulder, then bends his head in prayer. For those of you who don't understand, there's a belief in evangelical churches in the power of healing with the laying on of hands and "where two of you are, there I shall be also". Implication is that you can have miraculous powers if there are two of you or more. Long story short, little public exorcism right there on the bus.

Texas, my friends. Texas

Shouting Lady looks concerned for the second time. I almost never see shouting people of her ilk look concerned. I guess being told you're demon possessed is kinda startling no matter who you are. Also, she probably considered herself Christian too, i realized after some thought. Not uncommon for religion to be the subject of some shouting people. Everyone is trying to impose order on an unreasonable world and that's the crux of faith in general.

Bus driver finally slowed down and she's like, does anyone want to get on the bus behind me

Everyone gets up at once. I think that's when Shouting Lady realized nobody was on her side. She got off the bus in a huff and marched off toward a store to make everybody there sad.

Security Guard got off at the capitol stop.

Oh my god. You know what this means? He's probably one of the guards at the capitol building. That building is absolutely covered with guards fully kitted out in bullet-proof armor and automatic combat rifles. It's actually terrifying to walk in there. There is no reason to have a full platoon stationed there unless you are the most insecure and/or hypermasculine piece of shit imaginable. And guess what Texas' political top dogs are? All peacocking and grandstanding. We neeeeeeed 300 guys in bullet-proof armor and combat rifles here in order to show how very in control we are. We need to protect ourselves from (checks back of hand) high-school trans athletes!!!!

We're in their hands my fellow Texans. We're in these giant children's hands and I hate them