#found this one on ep 159

[whosname]

a classic.

[yuseirra]

More about 159~

hahaha XD aw, GOSH this comic is CRAZY, I think it would be fun if I read it as books and in volumes, it's because it's incomplete, and scattered eps that things feel so tense and awkward, I'm sure. It'd have more sense of flow as a volume.

I wrote a lot of things based on my stream of consciousness this morning (because well I draw hikaai and I DO care a lot about character portrayals and analysis) and I want to share it with you all! I reread it after the heat of the moment and I find it really funny,

If you want to feel assured about Ai and Hikaru (and perhaps ONK as a whole) or like the ship hikaai, I feel this is another post that could help you. Like I said in my ch 159 review, if this ain't it, I have no idea where this is going to head and I might as well take a break off from this piece for a bit and get some air. P3R episode Aigis is coming out on the 10th (great timing!) but I think I'm on the right track. I got so many things right since I picked this up thus far :D So for now, here we go again:

This is just my intuition and a piece mostly based on gut feelings.

Ha;; This morning, I saw someone extremely worried about Kamiki and Ai and couldn’t leave them feeling uneasy... I’m not in a position to calm others down, though!! I'm the one who needs to be calmed!! give me time to brace myself!!! I get tense because I care about where the story's gonna go too!!! I analyze characters and make fan works. I HAVE to look into the source material and make sense of things in order to do that o<-< I’m really stuck with this manga, aren’t I? What a ride... Okay I know the character looks a bit out of it. But listen, even if we criticize the character, we should wait for the next chapter before doing so. Come on, what would Kamiki even LIE about in the first place? Let’s sit down and think calmly. Let’s go over the facts.

Honestly, it would have been better for Kamiki if Ai wasn’t an idol. If Ai hadn’t been an idol, Ai wouldn't have had to die for deciding to keep her very kids with him!! Ai was murdered because she was an idol who had a boyfriend and kids(it's an absurd reason but to Ryosuke, that was his reason to go through with it). If she hadn’t loved Kamiki, she wouldn’t have died. This isn’t Kamiki’s fault, of course!! To add, if Ai weren’t an idol, they might not have broken up in the first place. Even if they had broken up, Ryosuke wouldn’t have tracked Ai down and killed her!! Things would have been so much better for this character if Ai hadn’t been an idol. His situation on the matter, It's totally the opposite of Nino and Ryosuke’s!

To Kamiki, Ai was certainly one-of-a-kind and irreplacable, yeah. But from Kamiki’s perspective, Ai was never a perfect, flawless figure that he found the need to idolize. She was someone who learned acting from him, who was clumsy and scattered, who needed his guidance in the beginning. She shared the same pain, opened up to him, understood him, accepted him, and loved him. Even though she gave him a deep wound and they parted ways, even when he thought she didn’t love him anymore, she remained precious to him to the point where he was willing to give his life for her. She was the person he wanted to marry. Ryosuke and Nino would kill her for not being perfect enough, but that’s not who Kamiki is. He’s actually the biggest victim of that incident only after AI herself. If Ai had survived, he might have been able to meet their children, reunite with Ai, clear up misunderstandings, and more importantly, Ai would still be alive. That alone would have made life more bearable for Kamiki than living in a world without her. I keep saying this but I'm sure he wouldn't have leaked the address to Ryosuke on purpose. I wrote many theories about this and I came to a conclusion that it must have been a mistake on his end, after getting drunk from sadness after Ai dumped him in the phone call. What kind of mastermind could he even be regarding this case? He was 19 at the time. It's total nonsense. There is no reason for him to try and attack Ai who tells him she has their children growing smart and healthy. He's lying about it to Aqua to make him feel better about avenging him because he believed that's what him and Ai's wanted.

What kind of grand conspiracy could a character like this possibly be behind? At least when it comes to Ai’s death, I don’t think he’s responsible. Even if he grew mad, I feel like that would have taken place after it happened. So what is it that this character wants? I’ve been curious about that too-

When I heard anime S2's opening, I immediately realized!! He wants to see Ai again! Would Aqua say something like,

Aqua has Ruby, Kana, and Akane. He’s not going to live just to get closer to Ai or live solely for her love. Maybe to fulfill Ai’s wishes, but that’s different.

“Without you, I cannot live anymore

I would sacrifice anything for you

I can’t get enough of your love

What should I use to fill in what’s missing?”

If Kamiki has any goal, it’s this: He's never been seen to have a desire for Ai to be the ultimate, perfect idol. He’s not twisted that way. If he’s twisted, it’s more like, “I’ll give anything for Ai.”

Think about it. If someone you love died, what would you want most? You’d want them to live again, right? You wouldn’t go around committing serial murders saying, “No one can surpass them!” You’d just want to see them again if there was even the smallest chance. That’s the most important thing. Nino and Ryosuke are twisted. They liked Ai as an idol, not as a person. But this person has two cute kids with Ai... even though they never got to see them properly. He says he has paternal love, and I believe that because there’s no reason for him to hate the kids. He was prepared to take responsibility, after all. Wouldn’t he be happy about having kids with Ai? Wouldn’t he find them adorable, especially since they look so much like him and the one he loves? Seeing how much he still cares for Ai, he’d probably love their kids too. He refers to them as "Yours(Ai's) and mine". He’d probably want to bring Ai back for the sake of the kids, if not for himself. He even believes Ai died because of him, so that would only add to his desperation and longing. When someone dies, they can’t come back, so that possibility doesn’t usually cross the mind-

However, It seems that the songs are saying there is some kind of hope for that becoming a reality even if the chances are very slim. To think Kamiki would have wanted to preserve Ai’s image as an idol and that's what's been driving him? No way. That’s exactly what killed Ai. He’d probably be sick of that... He just wants Ai to live. That’s his motive. He’s been hanging onto that.

As for the Hikaai ship, I had been holding off on judgment until Ai’s feelings came out. I felt like I won’t know until I hear from Ai herself how she feels about him so I waited out for quite long till the entirety of the movie arc, until it got its closure-

And it really occurs to me, people don’t seem to realize how much thought and conviction it takes for Ai to feel that strongly about a person.

Ai is scared, has a sensitive soul, overthinks things, is defensive, and gets wary. She’s afraid to love and get close to people because she doesn't want to get hurt.

But Ai couldn't give up Kamiki’s child because they were what she had with him, even while she was afraid it would be a burden to him!! Do you know how much certainty, affection, and love that takes? It doesn’t seem to resonate with people as much as it does for me, it's such a deep and strong feeling. That's what really got me. She was scared, but she still wanted them because they were theirs...and she protected their children with all her heart that point onward.

This kind of love is something that you might encounter just once in your lifetime, you might never get to meet someone like that at all.

So I thought, “Good for Ai. She found someone she loved that much.” Kamiki must have been a really precious person to Ai to make her feel that way.

In my opinion, for someone to make Ai feel like that, they would have to be the kind of person who would give out their every part of their organ, even their heart to her if that's necessary, and still think it’s not enough. And when you listen to the songs, the speaker does really seems to express that kind of emotion. That's why I thought 'Oh, this is definitely Ai's lover. This is Kamiki that's saying these things.'

You have to trust Ai’s judgment. Ai is serious about love, and she found someone to give it to. He's the one person she decided on. She wanted to live her life with him, worried about him until the end, named her children after jewels because they looked like the one she loved. Had her son who takes after his dad so much have the characters "love" and "longing" in his name. That’s how much she adored him.

What does that tell you? And when you look at the backstory, it seems Kamiki thought he loved Ai even more than she loved him.

Then that must mean he must have treated her really well. So, it’s not about whether Kamiki loved Ai or not anymore. That's totally just a given!! What’s important now is what he has done since Ai's death.

In chapter 155, he said he was "going to do what he could for Ai" and left. Then Aqua showed up near him in this chapter saying, “I need to save you.”

When you listen to the songs, the narrator keeps saying they don’t mind dying. This is a character who has already said they could die for Ai. So what will they do? I think they’re planning to die “for Ai.” But is offering something for Ai or dying for her really what Ai would want? No. Ai would want Kamiki to live and be happy, and they know that, but they’re lying to themselves. That’s the lie this character tells. It’s a self-sacrificing but self-satisfying kind of thing. That's why Aqua says the lies "are for his own sake". This also explains why Ai left a message asking to help Kamiki. This character is someone who could go to extremes "for Ai", but Ai didn’t want that, which is why Aqua is trying to stop it.

If this isn’t the case, then I won’t be able to make sense of this manga... Haha, the Persona 3 DLC will be out soon, so I’ll just go play that...

This feels right to me, though. If it’s not, I don’t know what else it could be;;

Maybe Kamiki's been possessed by an evil god? But even if that’s the case, the motive he has would probably still be about "saving Ai".

On another note, Kamiki was so gentle and kind in his tone when speaking to Aqua. He spoke really softly, didn’t he?

If he had been able to raise the kids with Ai, he would have been the type to pamper and spoil them... He'd have been a sweet dad. I feel like Ai really did choose a good guy to father her kids.

The way he speaks to Aqua feels quite similar to the last lines and atmosphere of the lyrics of Mephisto.. something about it will be brought up soon, I mean Aqua's wearing that same clothes.

To Kamiki, Aqua must be his and Ai’s cute son, right? But does he know Aqua’s soul is originally that of a 30-something-year-old doctor? If he’s possessed by an evil god, maybe he is aware of these things. But if he doesn’t, it might be a bit awkward. His son is almost the same age as him inside...

Aqua is Aqua, though? But that thought still made me laugh a little. I could imagine Kamiki suddenly speaking very formally towards Aqua upon figuring out he's actually the doc who aided Ai with delivering his children safely. Kamiki seems like the type to speak with a lot of courtesy... the way he speaks has been very polite. It depends on the character, but I think that is part of how he is originally.

[paalove]

NOT ME FIC MASTERPOST

tumblr prompts: (ao3 link)

gramyok flirting while black seethes, 159 words

nuchgene friendship ep 7 coda, 336 words.

danyok angst, 490 words.

what if it wasn't todd who found white tied up? 125 words.

post-canon gramblack fluff, 462 words.

gram pov post-ep-10 twin reveal, cracky, 834 words.

black pov ep 11, 647 words.

russian mafia-connected white, 344 words.

brother-in-law postcanon sean+black, 220 words.

gramblack with pining black, 898 words.

the note is for black au, gramblack, 689 words.

gone series fusion, seanwhite+gen, 999 words.

NOT ME PROMPT MONTH - tumblr, twitter, ao3

ao3 one-offs:

walking on an edge (that's how i stay alive) - oneshot, 2225 words. au twin reveal where the whole gang sees them together. seanwhite. (original shorter tumblr version here)

now they're going to bed (and my stomach is sick) - oneshot, 2552 words. canon divergence au, cockblock black, seanwhite.

dreams i've borrowed - oneshot, 1683 words. post ep 9 fixit, seanwhite.

get that shit inside your head - oneshot, 1341 words. friends-nearly to lovers, canon divergence au, background gramblack focused on nuchgene.

(i'll be on the way) like a bat out of hell - 2/2 chapters, 4380 words. the insane four post ep 10 fixits i wrote in the four hours after the episode aired, i was DISTRAUGHT 😅. seanwhite.

don't need poltergeists for sidekicks - oneshot, 2145 words. ep 11 fixit. seanwhite

patiently burning - oneshot, 2084 words. black-centric ep 12 fixit, gen.

'cause i still am (and i still do) - oneshot, 1113 words. me shoving black into the van rescue scene because i love him. gen.

answers to questions (you didn't know to ask) - oneshot, 1005 words. eugene actually getting to have a reaction to revelations. background seanwhite, gen.

when it breaks (something you can't shake) - oneshot, 1560 words. black and gram are kidnapped, and gram is injured. gramblack.

you're in the race (to watch the roots corrode) - oneshot, 1225 words. NOT ME WEEK DAY 1 - "what was your plan b?" pre-seanwhite.

but it's much too late (when the storm decays) - oneshot, 1229 words. NOT ME WEEK DAY 2 - outsider pov. seanwhite.

it comforts me much more (fix your heart) - oneshot, 1629 words. NOT ME WEEK DAY 3 - body swap au. pre-seanwhite.

antihero (you look stressed out) - oneshot, 1010 words. NOT ME WEEK DAY 4 - "don't move." gen, black-centric.

you must build an altar where it rests - oneshot, 1027 words. NOT ME WEEK DAY 5 - "when did you notice?" danyok.

let it flood, let it flood, let it wash away - oneshot, 3643 words. NOT ME WEEK DAY 6 - fake relationship au. namogene.

take his body as a relic to be canonized - oneshot, 3137 words. NOT ME WEEK DAY 7 - time loop au. toddblack.

let's dream out loud - 2/2 chapters, 2848 words. didn't know we were dating trope, gramblack. (tumblr ch1, ch2)

you can sleep in a coffin - oneshot, 1000 words. uwma fusion, seanwhite. (original shorter tumblr version here)

rock away this feeling for me - oneshot, 2610 words. 5+1 hugs, seanwhite. (original tumblr version here)

we are the rust upon your gears - oneshot, 2941 words. mission+aftermath fic. explicit, seanwhite.

inside the warm embracing air - oneshot, 2636 words. ropes and piercings, explicit, seanwhite. (original tumblr version here)

feeling helpless to the tide (we fight this war on different sides) - 4/4 chapters, 2049 words. genderswapped ust between seanwhite, toddblack, seanblack, and toddwhite.

world above the ground - oneshot, 3116 words. white and the girls friendship fic, au twin reunion, implied future seanwhite. gen.

and my strings are digging in - oneshot, 1062 words. post-canon short with white getting hurt so sean won't go to prison. seanwhite. (original tumblr version here)

unlocked doors and windows cracked - oneshot, 1446 words. just before canon, black got some information on todd that was so dangerous todd needed to take drastic action. maybe that involved them fucking in the hot tub; here's some speculation. toddblack.

burning up together, baby - oneshot, 1115 words. postcanon gang hangouts! some seanwhite, some blackyok, mostly gen.

found a world worth dying for - oneshot, 1068 words. sean whump in which sean, over a day after some vague incident, stumbles back to the garage covered in blood. white takes care of him. seanwhite.

places inside me that i find you (leave me at the roadside) - oneshot, 25 words. 5+1 fic about sean, yok, and marks. some seanwhite, some more danyok, but mostly sean&yok.

ao3 multichapters:

fall out of the heavens/crawl up from under. 22/22 chapters, 47279 words. the blond!white fic. seanwhite and gramblacknuch

WIP - shape you like an ocean (come alive or come undone) - 16/17 chapters, 21466 words. post-van pre epilogue-y bits, blackyok. (original tumblr prompt here)

still lurk on distant foreign shores - 4/4 chapters, 6027 words. continuation of the mafia!white prompt above, seanwhite.

WIP - bone-dry, bloodshot eyes - 2/? chapters, 4371 words. au where everything's already gone as wrong as possible before white even finds them. character death in backstory. seanwhiteyok.

ao3 series:

i won't cross these streets until you hold my hand: au where sean finds white on facebook by mistake while white still lives in russia, comes up to the start of the canon timeline. total words: 38778.

are we just getting more lost - oneshot, 695 words. pre-seanwhite

i'll show you mine if you show me yours first - 3/3 chapters, 4179 words. pre-seanwhite, other background ships.

the part where the needle skips - 6/6 chapters, 13602 words. developing seanwhite, other background ships.

conspiring by candlelight (shine your light on me) - 4/4 chapters, 20302 words. seanwhite, background toddblack, gramblack, and namonuch.

(garage) of wolves: au where the garage gang are a werewolf pack. total words: 48612.

innocence for days - 7/7 chapters, 7045 words.

you see me creeping up these halls - 5/5 chapters, 41567 words. seanwhite.

you stole my heart but i had it first. established relationship gramblack canon divergence au. total words: 3889.

i dug this pain into my chest - oneshot, 1347 words. established relationship, canon divergence gramblack. (tumblr post here)

you and i drove off the darkest streets - 3/3 chapters, 5040 words. black tries to figure out wtf white has been up to, sean tries to stop him. gramblack, seanwhite. (tumblr)

i will die in this place. uwma fusion fic, total words: 5713.

you can sleep in a coffin - oneshot, 1000 words. the fated couple make eye contact (and so do the non-fated couple).

sometimes you scrape and sink so low - 2/2 chapters, 2101 words. some revelations about how their past selves died, and some meetings. pre-seanwhite, pre-????black.

but honey, what're you gonna do? - 2/2 chapters, 2610 words. car rides, rain, and couples starting to fall together pre-seanwhite, pre-gramblacktodd.

bitter years since i've been seeing - 3/3 chapters, 3238 words. more revelations about their past selves - and who one of them was related to. pre-seanwhite.

[nefkyo]

I JUST FOUND AN OLD NOTE I MADE LIKE HALF A YEAR AGO

The Magnus Archives Actor AU

- The Avatars are best buddies with the makeup crew. Whenever another character is marked, they get all excited and wait for the scene to be over while chanting "ONE OF US, ONE OF US, ONE OF US"

- In S1-S2, the statements were not the scenes with the most bloopers: the ones in the tunnels were. Both crew and actors kept tripping or getting lost. Jon holds a record for most wrong turns.

- Sasha and Not!Sasha are actually siblings, maybe even twins? But they are very different, both in and out of character.

- Whenever a character dies, they get a joke funeral where everyone gives them an eulogy while still in character

- All the scenes where Tim tries to record statements are completely improvised

- Nikola Orsinov "borrowed" lotion from the makeup team to put it on Jon's face during a scene that was cut at the last second. She was not happy.

- EP 159 is just Peter Lukas playing with fog and rain machines on a sand spit, the special effects team loves him.

- The entire cast has "The Magnus Archives is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill" memorized

- Gerry Keay got eyes tattooed on his knuckles at the end of filming

- The Admiral is 100% also considered a paid actor because he's really Georgie's cat.

-Annabelle Cane's actress was the production's first pick because she owned a pet tarantula in real life.

- Melanie was blind the whole time and she was so good the viewers never noticed, but when she had to hit Jon with her cane she missed a few times because he kept dodging. Jon is a bully.

- Jared Hopworth is in charge of lunch breaks. Lots of proteins on the menu.

- Martin brings tea from home despite the crew telling him they have it.

- In EP 200 Elias was told to stay on the ground once Jon took his place, and the whole time he kept making stupid faces at the crew members. When Jon and Martin kissed he audibly awed and then flipped them off.

[marlasomething]

The Line Is Erased: Day 29 - Liaisons

Hello there! This is the first time I write a RQG fic and it’s going to be…rusty (NO IT’S NOT A PUN). Since I don’t want to be depressing AF and I FUCKING KNOW MYSELF, I am going to choose to write from outsider’s PoV, with a teeny tiny group of characters that just happen to be around on the background.

Also, after writing the first one I realised how much this podcast motivates me to keep saying “yes” to my friends’ campaigns and that is always a good choice for many reasons, so this is homage to all of us, people playing as our always very particular characters and suffering because of dices and masters!

So…that is that.

Here is my contribution for Day 29: Japan + Inventions, creations and crossing the line; prompts given by @the-line-is-erased on Tumblr.

Episode that covers at least one of the prompts relistened to do this: Ep.159 (actually; I just took a couple of details, so this chapter is kind of EASTER EGGS PARTY) Also, just some silly stuff after the overdramatic top of yesterday.

Do forgive me for any possible screw-ups (as well as for my quick tipper, non-native speaker writer).

Allons-y!

You got it, pal. Stealing is one of your things; you will have to like, literally have a superdetective or something watching you.

The sound of a dice filled for a second Saulis’ mind; followed by his own voice on an extremely frustrated tone.

“NAT ONE?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!”

It wasn’t a superdetectivewhat cost Saulis’ to get free food for everyone from the Flying Noodle Monster (poorly translated into English by Tara), but pure hubris.

He was so certain he couldn’t be caught he didn’t considered for a second that, the gnome apparently sleeping with tainted glasses right behind him might, indeed, be only apparently sleeping and detect him almost immediately.

“Well…shit.”

-----------------

The owners weren’t happy. Actually, they were so unhappy they made the totally of the party go behind their business to decide what to do with those scoundrels (that was, at least, Tara’s translation).

“We will work for you!” Nym suggested, while the rest made a face that left clear their opinion about said accord.

“We don’t need you, nor have the space for it. Unless you have something of extreme value for us…”

Saulis got a brilliant idea.

“Agnes! Your cake preserver!” sometimes, his companion was still childish (things a lack of proper childhood can do to people, WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN?!), thing that had resulted in her inventing a special device where you can accumulate as many cakes as you want…and they stayed fresh as newly backed.

“But…but…it’s for cakes, not noodles!”

“You sure?”

“Well…I mean…It is technically for all short of foods, but that wasn’t my vision.”

“So, yes?”

She shrugged, sad.

“I guess.”

He turned to the Flying Noodle Monster’s owners.

“So…we have an exclusive invention that will preserve ALL THE FOOD you haven’t sold in perfect state for the following day. Do we have a deal or shall I go on more detail?”

For an instant, the couple froze in place and a dice was heard again.

“DIRTY TWENTY, WE ARE BACK!”

-----------------

By the time they arrived at the door of a hotel to pass the night until their contact appeared the next morning (Nym still complaining about it being, as she had called them, Aphrodite fanperson), Saulis’ touchwas back at its prime, having enough money to rent the suite for the night (it was out of necessity, for the only place they could have stayed other way was what can only be called a well of filth and desperation where, apparently, the Amelia Earhart could be found).

As they entered the room, the groans of the whole middle/small-sized party could be heard from the other side of Hiroshima.

Why was everything so BIG?!

-----------------------

Extra notes for flavour: yesterday I had campaign with “OG” Saulis! And…we have kind of…er…enslaved a goblin and I forced my group to name it Grizzop (be all very proud of me pls).

The title of the story is from the song “Liaisons” from A Little Night Music; I’m sorry for repeating composer AGAIN…but…IT STILL HURTS SO VERY MUCH. I promise, tomorrow I’ll change.

As usual, likes/kudos (depending if you are reading this on Tumblr or AO3), feedback and random comments ARE SO HIGHLY APPRECIATED.

-----------------

Also, thanks to the TMA discord channel that posted this prompts! You are lovely, gracias!

Now live on AO3!

Long life and prosperity,

Marla

[bubbly-bungee-may]

ZoNa Valentine’s Week: Day 4 Why I Ship ZoNa: Part 1

So because i’ve never explained why I ship ZoNa, I’ve decided to use this Valentine’s Week as an excuse to make 3 separate posts on why I ship them. 

 They will be long posts because I am relying on the gifs I made of the anime rather than the manga (even though the manga may be more accurate, but I just started reading the manga so give me some time lol)

OKAY LET’S START.....

So just as a preface: First and foremost these two have known each other the longest. I’m not saying that in order to be a couple you need to know someone for a long time, but in ZoNa’s case I feel like it’s an important part of their relationship. 

They started out as friends then shit went down in Arlong Park (namely where Nami plays the villain for a hot second and that shakes Zoro up cause he had trusted her) but then everything was settled and they went back to being friends. 

I feel like that incident was necessary not only for the plot, but for Zoro and Nami’s relationship to develop. After everything, they now have full trust in the other and their relationship was able to evolve. 

This all leads me to my first reason as to why I ship ZoNa:

1. They are friends FIRST

Yes, I ship them as a couple, but I believe that all successful relationships begin as friends (that’s just my own personal belief). A foundation built on friendship and mutual understanding and trust is what I believe allows this ship to sail.

And despite the fact that everyone thinks Nami and Zoro are only capable of fighting and butting heads, they are actually very good friends who are capable of holding normal conversations.

Exhibit A (Ep.54) : Nami took notice of how Zoro was acting strange and commented on it. She’s aware of his presence and isn’t just writing him off. And this also shows that she cares about him.

Exhibit B (Ep. 62) : Zoro wanted Nami’s opinion on what the strange sound he heard was. Also Nami is taking the time to answer him; she could’ve just ignored him completely but she decided to pay him attention. 

Exhibit C (Ep. 154): This is a very brief moment, but Zoro and Nami have a conversation about dropping anchor and the layout of the island. And they are both on the ship alone and idk I like to think that Zoro was waiting for Nami to be done changing so that they could go on the island together.  

Exhibit D (Ep. 161): Nami wanting Zoro’s opinion as to if he saw anything. Just shows that she trusts his judgment and how she can rely on him. 

Exhibit E (Ep. 161): Short conversation, but still important. Zoro is showing concern and care for Nami by telling her to be more careful. And Nami is replying sincerely.

Exhibit F (Ep. 217): Zoro notices Nami is mad without even looking at her. If that doesn’t tell you how well he knows her by now, then idk what does. But it’s also important that Zoro is listening to her concerns and commenting on them.  

So YES, they can hold normal conversations, here is the proof! And having known each other the longest, they also know the other well.

Zoro can spot Nami’s money obsession anytime, anywhere.  (Ep.105)

And Nami knows how much Zoro loves sake, so she went out of her way to get it for him. (look at how happy he is hehe) (Ep. 255)

And this ⤵ gif (Ep. 159) is one of my newfound favorite moments and leads us into the next reason. It’s not in the manga, but maybe the animators are also ZoNa fans....??

2. They are comfortable around eachother.

Okay, but doesn’t it seem like Zoro is teasing Nami?!?! She almost ran into a tree and then Zoro is like “oooo a perfect opportunity to tease her”. Idk I just found this part super cute. Like Zoro isn’t usually one to be playful like this, but he is with Nami and ughhh it’s so cute!  

And then the multiple times that Zoro is seen sitting/sleeping next to/near Nami. It just shows that they don’t mind each other’s company and honestly (intentional or not) I think they gravitate towards each other because of how comfortable they are with each other.

Exhibit A (46): He came to sit next to her during breakfast when he could’ve sat down next to his captain. Like is this his seat? Has he claimed the spot next to Nami as his own? ..... I like to think so.

Exhibit B (48): The start of Zoro’s debt. I just love how Nami leans in and he doesn’t seem to mind it hehe.

Exhibit C (Episode of Alabasta): The circumstance here was a bit different, but I like to think that she just wanted to be close to Zoro. And idc who tf you are, but if you were in Zoro’s position you can’t just not think about or be conscious about the woman on you. Like yeah you can call yourself friends, but you gotta be at least a bit conscious of where you’re touching and what’s touching you.

Exhibit D (Ep.149) : The start of the famed drinking buddies act. Nami moved here after pouring Robin a drink so I like to think that she felt comfortable and decided to settle down next to him. So i’m guessing Zoro’s seat is next to Nami during breakfast, and Nami’s seat is next to Zoro when they’re drinking?!

Exhibit E (Ep. 193): Psssst Zoro, just scoot your hand over a smidgen 

Exhibit F (Ep. 225) : Before one of my favorite parts in the Foxy Arc (that will be shown in another part hehe). 

Exhibit G (Ep 228): The two of them were up here alone before Sanji came. I like to think that Nami was relaxing and then Zoro came up wordlessly and just plopped down and fell asleep (before Sanji interrupted) 

Exhibit H ( Ep 554): Honestly, Zoro is used to it at this point. And this just proves that Nami believes in his strength and believes that he will protect her no matter what.

Exhibit I (569): Ah yes the drinking buddies, an upgrade from Sky Island.

Exhibit J (569): Ah yes the sobering-up buddies. I made another post (here) on this, but I like to think Zoro likes being near her so he can protect her.

Now, I’d also like to make the argument that them butting heads is actually proof of how close they are. 

Nami isn’t afraid of getting close to him and giving him a piece of her mind. Remember in my previous post when Zoro does this with Nami (who is Sanji in Nami’s body). Yeah, they def don’t mind being close to each other even when it comes to arguing.

(Ep 93)

You’d think Zoro would learn that he can rarely win an argument with Nami, but nah, that ain’t Zoro. Personally, I think Zoro low key likes arguing with her. Aside from Nami the only one he really argues with is Sanji (but even then what they argue about is usually something petty).   (Ep 147)

I really like this gif because it shows that Zoro is trying to explain to Nami why they did what they did. She thinks they were “beaten”, but that isn’t necessarily correct, so he was trying to get her to see the real picture.... which she didn’t. lol (Ep 151)

But if there’s one thing I noticed about Zoro and Nami’s relationship when it comes to arguing, it’s that the other party is trying to get the other one to see from their point of view; they don’t argue just to argue.

Putting aside the fact that they were arguing about marriage (although if they ever did get married I’d think Nami would want something extravagant while Zoro would just be like “whatever just wake me up when I have to go in” ah okay my imagination is running wild.. stop stop)

Anyway, this part is important because this time it’s Nami who is trying to get Zoro to see from her point of view. Of course, she can’t do so without yelling and gnashing teeth, but the sentiment is the same-she wants Zoro to understand where she’s coming from. (Ep 764)

I mean look, friends have differing viewpoints and thoughts. Yes, they may disagree, but in the end it doesn’t really matter because people can still think differently but be close.  Ever heard the saying “opposites attract”? yeah, that’s basically ZoNa in a nutshell. They may argue and disagree, but I think that brings them even closer. 

And Zoro is usually referred to as the “calm and cool” guy, but the fact that he easily loses his “cool” over something slight that Nami says, idk I just find that cute that she’s able to get under his skin like that. 

I love the dynamic between the two. They’re opposites who like to fight, but always have each other’s backs and couldn’t stand to see the other hurt.   

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Manga vs Anime: Episode 29 “The border”

So let’s start with Ep 5 of the 3rd series… which is the 29 Golden Kamuy animated episode.

Some data first.

This episode last 23:40 minutes and has an opening and an the ending. It covers 4 chaps and a tiny additional bit of the manga, chap 159, 160, 161, 162 & a 2 pages of chap 163 for a total of around 80 pages (I’m discounting the covers) basically covering the end of Vol 16 and the start of Vol 17.

The episode is titled ‘The border’, which is actually the title of chap 160, chap 159 being ‘The Uilta people’, chap 161 being ‘Kamuy renkayne’ chap 162 being ‘What makes a sniper’ and chap 163 being ‘Wanted poster’.

And now into the anime.

ASIRPA’S GROUP

Manga & Anime: Asirpa’s group has reached Shizuka, thanks to using dog sleds to travel faster, however Kiro admits now they’re completely broke. Shiraishi suggests trying to catch sables and sell their pelt but Asirpa says due to the rivers having already frozen it would be hard to place traps for them. Then Shiraishi and Asirpa find a big wooden box over a framework of some sort and wonder what is it.

There are just some minor differences:

- In the manga the trap to catch sable is shown, while in the anime it’s not.

My two cents: There aren’t big changes and the transposition is faithful enough. If anything I found it a bit odd to start by showing us a panting dog but maybe they wanted to delay showing us we weren’t with Sugimoto’s group anymore but with Asirpa’s group.

THE OPENING STARTS HERE

THE MUSK DEER

Manga & Anime: Kiro explains how the thing they had found is an Orok/Uilta casket as, according to their customs, they lay bodies to rest out in the open. Kiro then adds some more explanation on the minorities living in Karafuto and the Orok/Uilta. Ogata shoots at something he thinks to be an Ezo deer, which turns out to be a reindeer. Asirpa notices the reindeer has something hanging from its neck and Kiro explains her it’s a collar and how it works. They try it on Shiraishi before Shiraishi observes in the reindeer had a collar it should belong to someone. Kiro confirms it, explaining more about the reindeers and the Orok. They then see the Orok to whom the reindeer might have belonged. Kiro says Ogata will have to apologize but it’ll be fine if they’ll give them tobacco and Asirpa volunteers to go apologize with him.

There are just some minor differences:

- The anime added Ogata moving away from the group as Kiro explains things.

- In the manga we get a close up of Kiro smiling sadly when he says that culture is starting to vanish and also when he says when the gods change the way of living changes as well, with him looking rather dark. In the anime he’s shown first serious then by a distance and he seems to merely be saying a fact of life.

- In the manga we only see Shiraishi and Kiro being surprised by the shoot and, in the next panel, we see Asirpa already moving close to Ogata, asking him what he shoot. In the anime Asirpa turns before them but she won’t move closer to Ogata when asking him what he shoot.

- In the manga Ogata pulls down his hood before answering, in the anime he keeps it up.

- In the manga Ogata is shown observing Shiraishi as he runs around with the collar, his head moving to follow him. In the anime we merely see him watching in that direction but, as he turns away short after it doesn’t seem like he’s following what Shiraishi is doing but he merely ended up seeing because it happened in front of him.

My two cents: Honestly I thought the manga, by having Ogata follow Shiraishi as he walked with the collar, made the scene funnier. Also maybe it’s just me but the timing in the scene in which Ogata rubs his hair in discomfort is kind of wrong. I mean, in the manga Shiraishi, Ogata, Kiro and Asirpa’s actions are all in a single panel and it’s okay because that’s how manga works but in the anime they should have happened one after another instead they’re all into position and then they speak in turn with an animation that reminds me more of a ‘Golden Douga Gekijou’.

Mind you, I’m glad they kept the scene, it’s one of my fave, but it’s not smooth at all and while Ogata’s mechanic movement might convey he’s nervous the rest has no reason to be like that as well.

MEETING WITH THE OROK/UILTA

Manga & Anime: The group reaches the Orok/Uilta who take well the news and merely ask either for one of Ogata’s reindeer or, if he has none, to hunt with them a wild one. Kiro then tells Asirpa Wilk too ended up shooting a reindeer and had to take part to a reindeer hunt but this awoke no memories in Asirpa. Ogata invites her to take part to the reindeer hunt with him and she accept.

There are just some minor differences:

- In the manga, after Kiro translated the words of the Orok/Uilta man, there’s an image of Ogata. He’s saying nothing but there’s a dark swirling background behind him. In the anime they had Ogata exhale.

- In the manga, when Kiro said Wilk too killed a mountain reindeer, they show that Ogata’s face has darkened. In the anime they show Ogata from behind and his face seems shadowed.

- In the manga Kiro’s face is heavily shadowed and his eyes aren’t visible when Asirpa says she’ll take part to the hunt because it could help her remember about her father. In the anime his eyes are off screen but his face isn’t shadowed.

My two cents: I honestly liked how they let the Orok/Uilta man talk and then had Kiro translate. The effect was much better than what they did with the Russians and Tsukishima where we get no Russian language and Tsukishima would directly translate long sentences. I wonder if what they wanted to do with Ogata was to express he breathed in relief, and that’s how Geno interpreted the panel with the dark background. Honestly, I’m not sure and since Ogata is so poorly developed in the anime I don’t really know how others will read that scene. The anime clearly had no idea how to show the darkening of Ogata’s face. Showing him from behind seems pretty random and, at best, gives the impression he’s listening to Kiro and Asirpa’s exchange with calculating purposes when in the manga the darkening of Ogata’s face was mostly associated with him feeling pain (his face darkens when he’s shoot in Barato) or other unpleasant emotions. In the scene in which Ogata asked Asirpa to go with him the anime tried to mimic Ogata’s image from the manga… but the manga gives him a much softer expression. The shadowing at the corner of his mouth seems to hint to a smile, with his eyes slightly more closed than in the anime.

Tsuda Ken delivered the sentence in an hesitant manner, which at first felt odd but in hindsight is fitting as this is the first time we hear Ogata inviting someone to go with him. Honestly I’m curious to hear how he’ll deliver the sentence when Ogata will invite Yuusaku. As for Asirpa in the manga she hesitated a moment before answering, her cheeks slightly flushed and looking happy while in the anime there’s no real hesitation and no flushing although her expression is gentle.

The flushing in the manga wasn’t meant to point out to something romantic, Asirpa has just invested a lot of time trying to make friends with Ogata, and this was the first instance in which he tried to reciprocate, so it was obviously important for her. It’s because Asirpa invested so much in trying to make friends that his betrayal will hurt so much, that she’ll manage to refuse killing him even though she’s beyond furious, that she’ll be so shocked when she accidentally shoot him and she’ll be about to cry when she believed he would die and that hitting him haunts her still now. She didn’t feel so bad when Toni Anji or Hijikata betrayed her because she wasn’t so invested in getting friend with them. It was a terrible yet important experience for Asirpa’s growth. The anime though removes most of it so that it got lot lost.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE HUNT

Manga & Anime: The group find a herd of wild reindeer and Kiro explains more about them, adding one of them, the Nuga, is always on guard so if one were to shoot it the herd would go into confusion and won’t be able to escape so that Ogata could shoot the others. Ogata comments they’re similar to people. Kiro explains they’ll get close by hiding behind domesticated reindeers. Asirpa remembers her father explaining her this was called ororcikk ulaa which get Kiro in a good mood while Ogata is ready for a reindeer hunt.

There are just some minor differences:

- In the manga Wilk shows Asirpa with his fingers how a person would hide behind the reindeers. In the anime he merely picks up a toy reindeer and say ‘orocikk ulaa’.

- In the manga Kiro says to let’s put the reindeer disguise plan in action and then Shiraishi gets bitten. In the anime Shiraishi gets bitten first.

- In the manga Ogata comments it’s time for a reindeer hunt. In the anime this gets said much later.

- In the manga when Kiro says that in order to keep travelling they had to meet up with the Orok/Uilta he’s serious, in the anime he’s smiling brightly.

My two cents: Ogata’s expression as he says the reindeers are like humans is terrible.

The oval of his face is in the wrong shape and his smirk seems evil. Nothing like his expression in the manga. On a positive side I liked how they handled Asirpa the flashback. The camera moves closer to Asirpa and then her memories start, which makes for a good transition. Little Asirpa is beyond cute as she watches the toy reindeers (although her hair seem too long as she had shorter hair at that age as shown in the past episode). The problem is that instead than showing the scene in which Wilk showed her with his fingers how a person would hide behind the reindeers, they had him pick up a toy reindeer and say ‘orocikk ulaa’. The animation when Shiraishi gets bitten is poor and Shiraishi too is also poorly drawn.

CHAP 159 ENDS HERE.

THE HUNT

Manga & Anime: Kiro’s group moves close to the reindeers. Once they’re into position Ogata shoots down 5 reindeers, then as he tells Kiro to recharge his rifle, asks for the rifle of one of the Orok/Uilta to shoot another reindeer.

There are just some minor differences:

- In the manga Asirpa is standing on the ski behind Ogata, under his cape and holding to him in the same way Shiraishi is holding to Kiro as he holds the reins while the two Orok/Uilta have each their own ski. In the anime she’s in front of him and they both hold reins, not touching each other while one of the Orok/Uilta instead hold the other same as Shiraishi is doing.

- The anime places here the scene in which Ogata says it’s time for a reindeer hunt.

- In the manga when Ogata praises the Berdan we see Kiro handing him his now charged rifle, a hint Ogata is going to continue shooting. In the anime we don’t see Kiro handing the rifle and since the background music stops the impression is that Ogata has finished shooting.

- In the manga Shiraishi is wearing his bandana above his head, in the anime he’s wearing it around his neck.

- In the anime, as the Orok/Uilta comment about how, if Ogata remains there all the reindeers will disappear we can see in the background Ogata examining the Berdan, his back to the group.

My two cents: Really, no idea why they felt the need to move Asirpa in front of Ogata instead than clinging to him like Shiraishi is doing with Kiro (or like one of the Orok/Uilta does with the other in the anime). Her being below Ogata’s cape was cute and… well, normal! Shiraishi too is doing it, there was no need to censor the scene when the anime had no problems showing Asirpa sitting on the lap of a naked Sugimoto or they went out of the manga way and added scenes to Ep 17 so that not only Sugimoto and Asirpa would sleep inside a deer together, Sugimoto hugging her like in the manga, but they would be completely alone as they moved away from the others, a wounded Sugimoto rushing to search for her as she distanced herself to search for Shiraishi when it was completely unneeded. While yes, this made Asirpa more visible, since they showed Kiro and Shiraishi’s feet, if they had done the same with her and Ogata it would have made viewers immediately realize where Asirpa was especially considering that the manga devotes only one panel for this scene (well, actually 2 if one counts the one showing the reindeers) while the anime spends 27 seconds on it and 9 different images. When the Orok/Uilta man says which reindeer is the Nuga Kiro translates him but we don’t see Kiro, just Shiraishi and Ogata, which makes the scenes a bit odd. In both the manga and the anime Ogata shoot down more than 6 reindeers however since he seems to stop shooting after he kills the 6th reindeer it gets confusing when one sees on the ground more than 6 reindeers. Also, when he uses his own rifle they forget we need to hear the sound of him recharging each time before shooting which ends up resulting as he only needed to recharge at the end. It’s nice they showed Ogata further experimenting with the Berdan but I don’t see why he has to have his back to the group and also to the herd. As Asirpa speaks we see again an example of poor animation as the Orok/Uilta who had closed one of his eyes don’t reopen it and remains keeping one eye closed until the scene ends.

DINNERTIME

Manga & Anime: At the Orok/Uilta camp they’re eating the reindeers that were killed. Asirpa comments on how reindeer brain tastes like deer brain and offers it to Ogata who nods in agreement as Shiraishi wonders if brains are really supposed to taste different. We get some info about Orok/Uilta food and culture and Kiro gifts an Orok/Uilta woman with an Ainu needle case. Shiraishi comments everything has happened that day was planned and asked what’s Kiro’s plan. Turns out Kiro wants to ask for a favour. Since they can’t get a passport to enter in Russia they can sneak into the country by pretending to be Orok/Uilta as they’ve the tacit permission to go back and forth across the border.

There are just some minor differences:

- In the anime we see Asirpa taking a big mouthful of reindeer brain and eating it. Such scene isn’t in the manga.

- In the manga, when Shiraishi asks Kiro what he was planning we see first Shiraishi then Ogata eating then an image of a serious Kiro asking to an Orok/Uilta something. In the anime we see Shiraishi talking to a smiling Kiro who then turns to look ahead of himself then Ogata, then Kiro stops smiling and asks the Orok/Uilta something. All the Orok/Uilta are staring at him and one of them seems surprised.

- The anime added a scene showing some sleds trained by reindeers running. On them we see some people dressed as Orok/Uilta but it’s easy to figure among them there’s Asirpa, Ogata, Shiraishi and Kiro. It alternates showing them and going on with Kiro’s explanation until it reaches the point in the manga in which the guys were on sleds.

My two cents: On the positive side this part pays attention to the characters’ expressions and didn’t erase the fact Asirpa was feeding Ogata.

There are some scenes poorly drawn but they moved better than in other scenes as they don’t look as static as before and the idea of alternating Kiro’s explanation with them on the sleds is not bad as it keeps the exposition but saves time by incorporating in it the visual of what will happen afterward. You might say it might spoil what will happen a bit but, as it was easy to guess it, it’s not a big deal. Overall this was a good scene.

CROSSING THE BORDER

Manga and anime: Kiro’s group is on some sleds, trying to cross the border with the Orok/Uilta. Shiraishi asks if they’re there yet and Kiro says it’s almost time

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga we see a panoramic view then someone on ski then three guys, one of them looking through binoculars, all three of them having rifles. We then see Kiro on a sled with Shiraishi.

My two cents:

Okay the scene is so small I don’t really have much to say and the cut isn’t really a big deal, if anything it keeps the suspance more.

TSURUMI’S PLAN

Manga and Anime: In Otaru Tsurumi asks Nikaidou if he knows what happened in Russia in 1881. Turns out Tsurumi is talking of Emperor Alexander II was assassinated. Tsurumi explains the assassination was organized by a party of dissident called ‘People’s will’ and how although many of them were arrested and executed, some of them managed to escape and among them there was Kiro. Tsurumi has tattled out to the Russians how Kiro is about to cross the border.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- The anime adds a writing saying we’re in Otaru.

- In the manga we see Tsurumi giving his explanation and behind him Nikaidou. In the anime we first see solely Nikaidou as Tsurumi gives his explanation. Tsurumi will be shown later, sniffing a photo, something which he’ll do later in the manga.

- The anime cut the part about how ‘People’s will’ was working to try to change the values of the masses and foment a rebellion which they hoped to accomplish by killing the emperor.

- In the manga we see an image of Kiro when Tsurumi talks about him. In the anime we don’t.

- In the manga Tsurumi adds he let the Russians know how and where Kiro would cross the border. In the anime he didn’t.

My two cents: The transition to Otaru is a bit abrupt. I’m not sure why the anime preferred to first show solely Nikaidou when Tsurumi was talking. On the other side in the manga we see that Tsurumi is doing all that speech in Nikaidou’s hospital room, giving him his back but no other listener beyond Nikaidou is shown, which was a bit odd. The anime increases this feeling as Tsurumi seems to talk with the window. Of course we don’t know if the anime was instructed to paint that scene that way or it was their decision but this offers an interesting point to ponder if the idea is Tsurumi is really talking solely to Nikaidou. Did he suspect Nikaidou, who was a rebel along with Ogata, to care about what will happen to Kiro and is therefore testing his reaction? Hard to say. Anyway the transposition keeps the manga’s oddness of Tsurumi talking apparently to no one, and works well enough… though it would become troublesome if someone else was actually in that room because the anime shows Tsurumi isn’t facing someone while the manga was vague. Oh well, we’ll see. On an up side the music used here is nice and fitting. On the down side again there’s nearly no animation when the bomb exploded... actually they did something odd as if there were two superimposed images who then morphed into one...

...but in which all the people are ordinately remaining in their places because a bomb wouldn’t scare anyone, would it?

THE BORDER IS CROSSED

Manga and anime: Kiro’s group move closer to the border, they see the border marker and then passed it. As soon as they’re in Russia though, a bullet hits the head of one of the Orok/Uilta causing him to fall from the sled. His son panic and stops the reindeers, so all the group has to stop, Ogata instructing Asirpa to take cover behind the sled. Ogata figures the man was shoot because he has temporary traded his own rifle with the one of the Orok/Uilta and the one shooting at them actually wanted to target the Japanese soldier who carried the last model of Japanese rifle, him in short. From this he figures the one they’re dealing with is an experienced sniper.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga we only see the face of the Orok/Uilta trying to run to his father’s aid. In the anime, before this, they showed the reindeers stopping and then we see the Orok/Uilta calling for his father from behind.

- In the manga when Ogata says Asirpa to get behind the sled we see it from the front, the image clearly showing that Ogata covers Asirpa as she takes cover. In the anime we see it from behind, with Asirpa taking cover and Ogata hesitating on doing the same and remaining completely exposed.

- In the manga we see the exchange of the rifle when Ogata said he was lucky he exchanged rifle, then how distant Vasily was and then Ogata commenting they’re dealing with an experienced rifle, then we’re shown Vasily and the border mark saying they’re in Russia. In the anime we’re shown Ogata as he says he is lucky he exchanged rifle, then how distant Vasily is, then Vasily’s face, then the border mark, then Vasily’s full body then Ogata’s eyes as he’s saying he’s an experienced sniper.

My two cents: I’ll be blunt and say I like how they handled the scene of the crossing of the border. The music, the slow motion, the moment of almost silence and the tense situation contrasting with the sudden noise once they’re past and Shira and Kiro claiming they’re beyond the border and in Russia and then sudden shoot, the three surprised faces and the man falling. The rhythm of the scene was handled well with the slow and the fast parts working well together, making it good. I love how Asirpa sounded worried when she asked if the man was shoot and Ogata’s rushed tone as he gave orders that well tell the urgency of the situation to then switch to a calm tone when they’re behind the sled. On the other side I don’t like much how they handled the post shoot scene. To let Ogata exposed is dumb, especially since moment after they show he too actually took cover. The changing of the sequence of how the images were shown is less successful. Sure, with the marker stone Noda closes the chapter and comes as a powerful conclusion, as it’s as if he’s saying ‘THIS IS RUSSIA’ so things won’t be easy while here the episode continues… but hey, there’s an eyecatch after so it’s not like the anime has a narrative flow to maintain, they could have gone for the powerful conclusion as well, besides showing Ogata’s inexpressive eyes as he says they’re dealing with an experienced sniper drives the point a lot less than the image Noda picked and that basically opposed with the image of Vasily as they’re mirroring each other with their position, setting up the feeling for a confrontation. So where the manga presents us with a powerful cliffhanger ending the anime goes for something a lot more expositive and tame.

CHAP 160 ENDS HERE.

THE ANIME PLACES HERE AN EYECATCH

ESCAPING THE RUSSIANS

Manga and anime: Kiro’s group is stalled on the spot. The Orok/Uilta tries to reach his father and is stopped by Kiro. Meanwhile the Russians try to figure out if they found the right group. Vasily is sure they have to be as no Orok/Uilta could carry the last model of Japanese rifle but he can’t tell if the one he shoot is the one on the wanted poster. Ilya says they must not let them escape so if they resist Vasily can kill them all. Back to Kiro’s group, they’re trying to guess what happened. Ogata, by their rifles, figures they’re Russian border guards. Both Shiraishi and Ogata thinkeven if the guards were suspicious of them, they overreacted. Kiro tells Shiaraishi to get the reindeers moving which Shira does but one reindeer gets shoot. They keep on moving but a second reindeer get hit. Kiro thinks back at the Saint Peterburg incident then stands up and goes to retrieve the Orok/Uilta, exposing himself to the fire. Vasily though doesn’t shoot him despite Ilya insisting for him to do so. Ilya ends up exposing himself and getting shoot by Ogata in the end. This creates confusion in the Russian lines, allowing them to escape.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga when we’re shown the group in stand by we aren’t shown the Orok/Uilta, that’s because we’re reminded, a moment later he’s running toward his father. In the anime we see him standing there, taking cover behind a sled, calling him, then he’s shown running toward him.

- In the anime, after Ogata has realized where the Russians are, the Orok/Uilta calls for his father again. Such desperate cry isn’t in the manga.

- In the manga we immediately see the group of four Russians, the anime prefers to focus first on Vasily, then on Ilya then showing the four of them together.

- In the manga one of the Russian has dark/black hair, in the anime they all have clear hair.

- In the manga we get close up of the Russians as they speak, the anime prefers to give a close up only to Vasily when he says he doesn’t know if the man he hit was Kiro and to Ilya.

- In the manga it’s implied by the shape of the balloons that Shiraishi is talking loudly, if not shouting. In the anime he whispers.

- In the manga Shiraishi wonders if the Russians saw through their disguise but complain than shooting at them like that is too much. Ogata suggests they saw the type 38 and got suspicious so they eliminated their firepower but still they got too far. In the anime Shiraishi’s lines are completely cut and Ogata’s lines are shortened as he only says they spotted the type 38 and got suspicious but still they got too far.

- In the manga Ogata requesting Shiraishi to go get his gun and Shiraishi refusing is meant to be a somewhat funny moment, while in the anime it’s dramatic, as if Shiraishi really felt Ogata could force him on doing it.

- In the anime, after the second reindeer get shoot, they show Shiraishi remaining exposed.

- In the manga there are action lines during Ogata’s dialogue and on Kiro holding the Orok/Uilta which imply either movement or anyway a certain rushed air. No such thing is in the anime.

- In the manga Kiro is keeping the Orok/Uilta behind a sled. In the anime they’re still in the open with him struggling and calling his father.

- In the manga the flashback only shown the murder of Alexander. In the anime they expanded the flashback so that Kiro thinks to the Orok/Uilta baby, to Alexander, the cross sign and then to the incident.

- The anime shows Kiro clenching his teeth before standing up. No such thing was in the manga.

- In the manga, when Ilya is shoot, we see Vasily first and then the other turn toward him. The anime cut the part about the others turning toward Ilya.

- The anime added Ilya falling on the ground Vasily turning toward Ogata and seeing Ogata there, standing still after he had shoot Ilya, then a close up of Ogata’s face, then a close up of Vasily’s face. Note that the scene of Ogata shooting and the close up of Ogata’s face were meant to be part of a flashback in a later scene and the anime decided instead to place them here.

- In the manga when Kiro’s group resumes moving they do it remaining behind the reindeers and the sleds. In the anime they do it standing in full view on the sleds.

My two cents: Since times in a manga and in an anime are somewhat different (in a manga you can not care about the flowing of the time and indulge on a character as if time has stopped around him when it has not but it’s harder to do so in an anime) the anime decided to have the Orok/Uilta not run immediately toward his father as the manga instead implied he did. It could have worked if they had worked around his emotions showing why he at first stopped and called, then why he just took cover and called and why in the end he decided to risk being shoot to run at his aid. That’s because taking cover requires a certain calm, you take cover because you prioritize your life over everything, while rushing out blindly means prioritizing helping your father over risking your life. The guy could shift between the two priorities, for example he first hid and call out of self preservation then just decided to the hell with it, his worry for his father was too big to stay put. There’s no focus on it and no change in how he calls his father. The guy holds in his voice the same desperation you would expect in a person who prioritizes his father’s survival to his own all the time… which would fit the manga scene in which he immediately went to help him but not the anime in which he took cover. On a plus side the anime fixed some manga mistakes. First of all it places Kiro in a more covered position then is constant in how Kiro and Shiraishi are placed. Shiraishi was the one in the most advanced position, and Kiro was in between him and Ogata (in the manga there’s a panel in which their positions are switched somehow). The effect showing the trajectory of the bullet is nice.

I kind of hate how where Noda gave to one of the Russians dark hair, to show diversity among them, the anime instead gave them all clear hair. Also no need to have Shiraishi whisper since the Russians are actually far. While I don’t like the drama in how Shiraishi refused to go get the gun (when his answer meant to be more on the line of a raised middle finger) I like how Kiro inserted in the discussion, ordering Shiraishi to move the sleds. I would like to say I like how Shiraishi tries to obey and the escape until Vasily shoot the second reindeer and the anime makes the dumb mistake of leaving Shiraishi exposed. Shiraishi wouldn’t remain there in the open, either he’ll flatten behind the fallen reindeer or rush to hide behind the sled and the same problem presents itself with Kiro and the Orok/Uilta, who are in the open. Really, Vasily would have killed them all by now. To make up for it I like how they had included the baby they have seen among the Orok/Uilta in the flashback. Kiro is fighting for future generations, in his last moments he’ll think to all the children he met, so it makes sense he’ll think to that baby as well in this moment… though I’m not sure an anime viewer will connect the dots and realize THAT BABY is the baby sawn previously and why is there. The rest of the expansion of the flashback is good as well. The life of the baby is opposed to the life of Alexander, the cross sign which symbolizes the loss of their customs is opposed to the action they did to stop it, murdering Alexander. Overall this flashback is a very good idea. I like also how the anime focused on why Kiro decided to stand up and try to reach the man. It was something they should have done for the Orok/Uilta as well when he tried to save his father, even if  in the anime in this scene there’s a problem. As they had shown Kiro having to restrain the guy as he struggled madly, him letting go would have resulted in the other escaping, not remaining there (besides he’s still completely exposed in the anime… -_-). Asirpa’s voice as she calls Kiro is too unworried… though yeah, since Kiro was standing exposed anyway before maybe there’s no need to care if he further expose himself… -_- The music deliver an appropriate sense of tension, well interrupted by the shoot. On the other side they took a lifetime before making Ogata move. You don’t get the feeling things are moving in slow motion, just that Ogata remained there for 15 seconds to watch Vasily after he shoot so that Vasily will paint a nice picture of him later one. Okay, just joking but in the manga is well implied Ogata ordered to move immediately after shooting so as not to lose their advantage and while it’s true the image of Ogata is waving as though seen from Vasily’s perspective, there’s actually no reason for him to be so shocked. This scene was meant to be in a flashback later, meaning that Vasily saw Ogata as he shoot or a moment after he shoot, not here when the scene was meant to be viewed from Kiro’s group’s perspective. Also again the anime let the characters exposes during their escape. Plus I’m not really fond of how they had drawn Ogata as they escape but well, this is no big deal.

PREPARING TO ATTACK BACK

Manga & Anime: Asirpa checks the wounded Orok/Uilta, and see that the shoot luckily didn’t manage to reach the brain, it just grazed the bone. Shiraishi scolds Kiro for saving a guy he just met and Kiro says he survived due to ‘Kamuy Renkayne’, or better, “thanks to the Gods”. Ogata says it was actually thanks to him, while the man was saved thanks to his hat because everything that happens has a reason behind it, and this applies also to the ones who attacked them. Asirpa says Kiro was right in saving the guy but asks if he went this far for a reason while Ogata says he’ll ask the reason directly to the Russians as the war with Russia isn’t over yet.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga we see the wounded man’s son with tears in his eyes. In the anime we don’t.

- In the manga Shiraishi is scolding Kiro, his eyebrows frowning. In the anime he seems more puzzled, his eyebrows ‘U’ shaped.

- In the manga we see Ogata’s face as he makes his speech about why people weren’t killed. In the anime they show him from behind and only later they show his face.

- In the manga when Ogata says the war with Russia isn’t over, we see on the opposite panel Vasily. In the anime we don’t see Vasily, just Ogata walking away.

My two cents: As usual I hate the blood in GK anime. It just doesn’t feel like blood more like random paint. When Asirpa turns after Ogata spoke it seems it’s to him she’s saying it was the right thing to save the guy, although in truth we see short after she was talking to Kiro. Still it’s an interesting idea as I like the possibility she was discussing with both. Still her tone is much more calm than what would I expect of her. As for cutting Vasily from the last scene it makes sense considering the medium even though it’s a pity.

CHAP 161 ENDS HERE.

THE RUSSIAN SIDE

Manga & Anime: As the Russians are checking Ilya’s wound Vasily is instead focused on the fugitives, trying to follow them, claiming the emperor’s murderer will get away. The guards are tempted to follow him as this would mean a promotion. Vasily says Ilya wasn’t shoot in the head because Ogata planned to slow them down. Ilya tell them to go after them, so the guards and Vasily do it. The guards find an object Kiro left behind, pick it up and cause it to explode. Asirpa and Shiraishi hear the explosion and Kiro explains how the mechanism works. As the guard who survived screams in pain Vasily thinks it was the regicide who prepared the bomb and guesses correctly it was Kiro but admit he didn’t shoot him because he couldn’t stand his attitude as HE is the one who decides who dies. Ogata points out no matter how loud the guard screams, Vasily could hear it through the whole night.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- The anime adds Ilya throwing up blood.

- In the manga we have a flashback of Ogata shooting. This is the scene the anime placed previously when Ilya was shoot.

- The anime adds Vasily moving his head is what could be a nod when Ilya tells them to go after Kiro’s group.

- In the manga it’s unclear if the dialogue is made by the narrative or by Vasily as the boxes are usually used for the narrative and it seems it’s the narrative speaking but soon it turns out we’re hearing Vasily’s thoughts… though it can be a matter of translations. In the anime it’s clear we’re hearing Vasily’s thoughts.

- In the manga is said Vasily and Ilya were comrade during the Russo-Japanese war. This is cut in the anime.

- In the manga we are explained the reason the terrains on which a sled is meant to move or how if Vasily were to be in place of Ogata he would shoot the guards from the slope. In the anime this is cut.

- In the manga the tracks of the sled and the reindeers are well visible. The same can’t be said for the anime.

- In the manga the explosion is rather  gruesome, implying one of the guard had his head and arm ripped away from his body. In the anime it isn’t.

- In the manga we’re shown the guards are in a sad state. One really had his head blown away, the other seems to have had part of it blow away but he’s still alive. In the anime the bodies are whole.

- The manga adds a flashback about Kiro’s role during the Russo-Japanese war.

My two cents: I’ve already talked at length of how I didn’t like how they removed the flashback that was here to place it previously. Overall the Russians seemed more worried for Ilya in the manga than in the anime and, most scenes are redrawn in a different manner from the manga. When Vasily thinks ‘take the bait’ and watch his two companions they remain still, as if they were deliberately playing the role of bait while the manga implies they were moving.

For the rest it’s not bad, I liked the way they handled presenting Vasily’s thoughts and Ogata’s. I also liked how they managed to mantain the heavy shading on Ogata’s eyes.

What’s a pity is how we’ve lost the Kiro flashback and his contribute to the Russo-Japanese war. I don’t mind the loss of gruesome scenes, although I think they should portray better the soldiers’ injuries to deliver how grave they are, otherwise by their looks we can think one is unconscious and the other is just mildly injured.

KIRO’S GROUP MEETS ILYA

Manga & Anime:Kiro’s group reaches Ilya, who, looking at Kiro, keeps repeating a word ‘Yulbars’. Then he shows them a wanted poster with Kiro’s face on it, saying to Kiro how Russia hadn’t forgotten about him.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- The anime shows an Ilya who’s looking down, saying Yulbars, before he looks up and sees Kiro.

- In the manga we see Ilya pulling out the wanted poster. In the anime we don’t

My two cents: Overall apart from the oddness of Ilya repeating Kiro’s name looking down, so it wasn’t like he was saying it because he saw Kiro, and then looking up and seeing Kiro and not being surprised it can work as a transposition. Maybe the wanted poster is in too good conditions but it’s not a big deal.

CHAP 155 ENDS HERE.

VASILY’S DISCOVERY

Manga & Anime: Vasily spot’s someone completely covered by a white cape holding a rifle and thinks he had found Ogata.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga, when Vasily find Ogata we see the image of Ogata from the binoculars, in the anime we don’t.

My two cents: The tiny change doesn’t affect much the transposition, what’s interesting though is that the anime decided not to end the scene (and the episode) here but to add two more pages of the manga before ending the episode. Oh, and since this was the ending of the chapter in the manga Vasily looked a tad more scarier due to the shadows on his face.

CHAP 162 ENDS HERE.

VASILY’S INVESTIGATION

Manga & Anime: Vasily keeps on observing his target, thinking if he fires one shoot he’ll give his location away so he has to fire when he’s sure to kill or it’ll be Ogata’s turn to try and kill him. As he stares at his target though, he notices it doesn’t move at all.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- The anime adds a scene in which Vasily puts away the binoculars.

My two cents: Credits when it’s due, this part is well done. They took care to put the focus around Vasily who’s monologuing, better depicted how the sun was falling down and even used nice colours for the sunset.

I especially love how they had the light being reflected on Ogata’s rifle as they closed on him while still taking care to make impossible to see Ogata.

While ending the episode as chap 162 ended would have left the viewer with tension about Ogata’s fate, ending here left tension about Ogata’s fate but also about Vasily’s because the situation is clearly suspicious so it works even better and makes for a powerful ending.

TO SUM IT ALL

Well, the animation wasn’t so bad this time, although it has some scenes which need a redrawing or has a ‘too still’ animation (but this could be fixed in the dvd version), there were some logic errors but also some good choices, terms of trasposition, adaptation and addition. I genuinely disliked the whole Asirpa matter and how she didn’t hold to Ogata as the others are doing as the extremely slow evolving of their relation is important for both Ogata and Asirpa’s character development, or how they didn’t show Ogata covering her but had him stand there still and expose himself for no reason. Actually I hated all the instances in which the characters remained exposed. There was no relevant censoring about that bit on Kiro’s past which is a real pity. All in all it’s not an awesome transposition of the manga but it’s a decent one and it seems as if the anime is gradually improving in quality so I hope it’ll improve further in the next episodes. I only wish they would give more care to character relations that aren’t Asirpa and Sugimoto's relation as in those 5 episodes they’ve already undermined Asirpa and Wilk’s relation, Asirpa and Shiraishi’s relation and Asirpa and Ogata’s relation, often in favour of her relation with Sugimoto.

[the-magnus-archives-wiki]

I did one of them lists of primary fear for each episode, idk if it exactly matches what the wiki says since it’s mostly from memory but it was fun to go over and see how much you remember just from episode titles

and customary disclaimer that they cant really be separated, etc, etc, but i went for what felt like the primary influence

Ep. 1: Angler Fish - Stranger

Ep. 2: Do Not Open – Buried, secondary Stranger

Ep. 3: Across the Street – Stranger, secondary Web

Ep. 4: Pageturner – Vast

Ep. 5: Thrown Away - Flesh

Ep. 6: Squirm - Corruption

Ep. 7: The Piper - Slaughter

Ep. 8: Burned Out – Desolation, secondary Web, tertiary Spiral

Ep. 9: A Fathers Love – Dark, Hunt

Ep. 10: Vampire Killer - Hunt

Ep. 11: Dreamer - End

Ep. 12: First Aid – Desolation, secondary Eye

Ep. 13: Alone - Lonely

Ep. 14: Piecemeal - End

Ep. 15: Lost Johns' Cave - Buried

Ep. 16: Arachnophobia - Web

Ep. 17: The Boneturner's Tale - Flesh

Ep. 18: The Man Upstairs - Flesh

Ep. 19: Confession – Mixed, Web, Flesh, possible Spiral, Eye

Ep. 20: Desecrated Host - Mixed, Web, Flesh, possible Spiral, Eye

Ep. 21: Freefall - Vast

Ep. 22: Colony - Corruption

Ep. 23: Schwartzwald - Eye

Ep. 24: Strange Music - Stranger

Ep. 25: Growing Dark - Dark

Ep. 26: A Distortion – Spiral, secondary Corruption

Ep. 27: A Sturdy Lock - Spiral

Ep. 28: Skintight - Stranger

Ep. 29: Cheating Death - End

Ep. 30: Killing Floor - Flesh

Ep. 31: First Hunt - Hunt

Ep. 32: Hive - Corruption

Ep. 33: Boatswain's Call - Lonely

Ep. 34: Anatomy Class - Stranger

Ep. 35: Old Passages – Mixed, tangentially all of them

Ep. 36: Taken Ill - Corruption

Ep. 37: Burnt Offering - Desolation

Ep. 38: Lost and Found - Spiral

Ep. 39: Infestation – Corruption, secondary Stranger

Ep. 40: Human Remains – Corruption, Eye, Stranger

Ep. 41: Too Deep - Leitner

Ep. 42: Grifter's Bone - Slaughter

Ep. 43: Section 31 – Desolation, End

Ep. 44: Tightrope - Stranger

Ep. 45: Blood Bag - Corruption

Ep. 46: Literary Heights – Spiral, Vast

Ep. 47: The New Door - Spiral

Ep. 48: Lost in the Crowd - Lonely

Ep. 49: The Butchers Window - Flesh

Ep. 50: Foundations - Buried

Ep. 51: High Pressure - Vast

Ep. 52: Exceptional Risk - Dark

Ep. 53: Crusader - Eye

Ep. 54: Still Life - Stranger

Ep. 55: Pest Control - Corruption

Ep. 56: Children of the Night - Hunt

Ep. 57: Personal Space - Lonely

Ep. 58: Trail Rations - Flesh

Ep. 59: Recluse – Web, secondary Desolation

Ep. 60: Observer Effect - Eye

Ep. 61: Hard Shoulder – Buried, Hunt, secondary Stranger

Ep. 62: First Edition - End

Ep. 63: The End of the Tunnel - Dark

Ep. 64: Burial Rites - End

Ep. 65: Binary - End

Ep. 66: Held in Customs - Buried

Ep. 67: Burning Desire - Desolation

Ep. 68: The Tale of a Field Hospital - Corruption

Ep. 69: Thought for the Day - Web

Ep. 70: Book of the Dead - End

Ep. 71: Underground - Buried

Ep. 72: Takeaway - Flesh

Ep. 73: Police Lights - Dark

Ep. 74: Fatigue - Spiral

Ep. 75: A Long Way Down - Vast

Ep. 76: The Smell of Blood - Slaughter

Ep. 77: The Kind Mother - Stranger

Ep. 78: Distant Cousin - Stranger

Ep. 79: Hide and Seek – Stranger, Spiral

Ep. 80: The Librarian – Leitner, Pipe

Ep. 81: A Guest For Mr. Spider - Web

Ep. 82: The Eyewitnesses – Eye, Slaughter

Ep. 83: Drawing A Blank - Stranger

Ep. 84: Possessive - Corruption

Ep. 85: Upon the Stair - Spiral

Ep. 86: Tucked In - Dark

Ep. 87: The Uncanny Valley – Stranger, secondary Desolation

Ep. 88: Dig - Buried

Ep. 89: Twice as Bright - Desolation

Ep. 90: Body Builder - Flesh

Ep. 91: The Coming Storm – Vast, Spiral

Ep. 92: Nothing Beside Remains – Lonely, Eye

Ep. 93: Contaminant - Corruption

Ep. 94: Dead Woman Walking - End

Ep. 95: Absent Without Leave – Slaughter, possible End

Ep. 96: Return to Sender - Stranger

Ep. 97: We All Ignore the Pit - Buried

Ep. 98: Lights Out - Dark

Ep. 99: Dust to Dust - Buried

Ep. 100: I Guess You Had To Be There – Desolation, Dark, Spiral, Web, Lonely

Ep. 101: Another Twist – Stranger, Spiral

Ep. 102: Nesting Instinct - Corruption

Ep. 103: Cruelty Free - Flesh

Ep. 104: Sneak Preview - Stranger

Ep. 105: Total War - Slaughter

Ep. 106: A Matter Of Perspective -Vast

Ep. 107: Third Degree – Desolation, Hunt

Ep. 108: Monologue - Lonely

Ep. 109: Nightfall – Dark, Hunt

Ep. 110: Creature Feature - Web

Ep. 111: Family Business – End, Gerry

Ep. 112: Thrill of the Chase - Hunt

Ep. 113: Breathing Room - End

Ep. 114: Cracked Foundation - Web

Ep. 115: Taking Stock - Flesh

Ep. 116: The Show Must Go On – Stranger, secondary Slaughter

Ep. 117: Testament - Eye

Ep. 118: The Masquerade - Stranger

Ep. 119: Stranger and Stranger- and Stranger

Ep. 120: Eye Contact - Eye

Ep. 121: Far Away - End

Ep. 122: Zombie - Stranger

Ep. 123: Web Development - Web

Ep. 124: Left Hanging - Vast

Ep. 125: Civilian Casualties - Slaughter

Ep. 126: Sculptor's Tool - Spiral

Ep. 127: Remains to be Seen - Eye

Ep. 128: Heavy Goods – Stranger

Ep. 129: Submerged - Buried

Ep. 130: Meat - Flesh

Ep. 131: Flesh – Flesh, secondary Spiral

Ep. 132: Entombed - Buried

Ep. 133: Dead Horse - Hunt

Ep. 134: Time of Revelation – Extinction

Ep. 135: Dark Matter - Dark

Ep. 136: The Puppeteer - Web

Ep. 137: Nemesis - Slaughter

Ep. 138: The Architecture of Fear - Eye

Ep. 139: Chosen - Desolation

Ep. 140: The Movement of the Heavens - Dark

Ep. 141: Doomed Voyage – Spiral, Vast, maybe others

Ep. 142: Scrutiny - Eye

Ep. 143: Heart of Darkness - Dark

Ep. 144: Decrypted – Extinction

Ep. 145: Infectious Doubts – Desolation, Eye

Ep. 146: Threshold - Spiral

Ep. 147: Weaver - Web

Ep. 148: Extended Surveillance - Eye

Ep. 149: Concrete Jungle - Extinction

Ep. 150: Cul-De-Sac - Lonely

Ep. 151: Big Picture – Simon Fairchild

Ep. 152: A Gravedigger's Envy - Buried

Ep. 153: Love Bombing - Corruption

Ep. 154: Bloody Mary – Eye, End

Ep. 155: Cost of Living - End

Ep. 156: Reflection - Extinction

Ep. 157: Rotten Core - Corruption

Ep. 158: Panopticon – Stranger, Hunt, Lonely

Ep. 159: The Last – Lonely, Eye(s)

Ep. 160: The Eye Opens - Eye

[lemoncakepanda]

Top 50 NaLu Anime Moments {Pt 3}

I am so sorry it took me so long to write this! This week has been a roller-coaster to me, especially since Tuesday. I got so busy, and every time I would log into tumblr, I would only look at my dashboard and have absolutely no energy left to write. Without any further delay, let me show you guys the rest of my top 50, and today we’re covering moments 30 through 21.

Part 2 can be found here.

30. “I’ll be lonely, you idiot!” (Ep 265).

This moment still makes me so emotional. Like... i’ve said this before on my previous top 25 moments, so there’s nothing much to add, but I love this moment because it shows how much Lucy began to rely on Natsu. How much she needed his presence around her, despite always kicking him out and scolding him. And then to lose all that? Just like that? To be filled with such a huge sense of security, the certainty that someone will always be there for you, and to have that ensurance taken away from you? That must’ve hurt. That must’ve broken her heart and it’s no wonder she’s so upset with Natsu when he comes back (again, I get why Natsu had to leave and I’ve already given my thoughts on it, but I also get Lucy’s side) and must’ve stung extra harder bc she’d just lost Aquarius, something she also never thought would happen. But yeah, this is why I like this scene, despite it being sad. It was great character development for Lucy, showed the development in NaLu, and it also pushed the ship forward by giving if conflict and separation, which only resulted in bringing them closer in the future. Also, I also like how Natsu only left a note to Lucy and no one else. She really is his most precious person, along with Happy.

29. “Let’s save the tears for when we win.” (Ep 159).

As a big sucker for moments where Natsu comforts Lucy, this one’s gotta be in the list. Despite being in a team of 5, despite her whole guild being there, only one person came to pick up Lucy and lift up her spirits and that was Natsu. It could’ve been anyone, really. Erza or Gray. But Mashima thought (and I agree) Natsu would make the most sense, because of how deep the NaLu relationship runs, to showcase how they’d grown even stronger since Tenrou Island, and it worked! Natsu, who’d once called Lucy useless to her face, coming up to her and telling her she was amazing, even though she lost? Lucy, who was always so annoyed with Natsu and his fighting, looking up to him with tears in her says saying “i’m all fired up”? That’s the kinda development we strive for.

28. “You’re Lucy of Fairy Tail, aren’t you?” (Ep 23).

I swear, this ship makes me want to scream. And here we come back to a time when Natsu and Lucy were still growing as a team, and still didn’t know each other that well, but already had so much faith on one another. This, I feel, is the first time (after, you know, the tower jump) where it showed that they actually cared and understood each other, mostly Natsu, in this case. Everyone else told Lucy not to cry, not to blame herself because of what her father did, meanwhile, Natsu merely reminded her of who she was. Where she belonged to. And like Lucy said later in the arc, she believed her mother would want her to follow her heart and do what she wanted, and this was probably the first time someone other than Layla showed Lucy that her choice was hers to make, and hers only. Like i’ve said before, what Natsu said, what he did for her here, helped shape Lucy into the person she is today, as well as it’s what also helped Lucy to start relying more on Natsu emotionally, whereas she relied mostly on him physically, to protect her.

27. “Lucy!” (Ep 303).

This moment... is much lower on my list here, whereas it was so high on the first one, but that’s mostly because my opinion has changed, as well as new moments have arrived that I loved much more, and some other moments too I now realize I took for granted, and took a high spot in my list. But nevertheless, it’s still a very special moment. And despite my problems with the animation, I have to admit that I like the desperation in Natsu’s eyes as he holds onto Lucy for dear life, after almost losing her (big sigh bc we know what happens a few eps later); and he even forgets about the other people around them: Mest, Brandish, even Happy! I like how she came first here to him, how he didn’t even hesitate before grabbing her. Now, how he came from that position to groping her boobs with all his might later, I can’t even explain, just... you know... Mashima.

26. Natsu and Lucy versus Jacob. (Ep 299).

Listen, this... this is one of the funniest fights I’ve ever watched on anime. While I like the pacing better on the manga, I really liked the execution of it in the anime, and hearing Natsu and Lucy’s “dirty talk” was one of my dreams coming to life, lmao. Natsu and Lucy once again showing how great they are at teamwork, and why they work so damn well together, how their thoughts align and how their trust on each other plays a huge deal on their victory. Plus, hello, it’s this moment which gives Mavis the inspiration to defeat Zeref, so it’s an extra big moment, i’d say, despite being severely underrated. Still on topic, I liked how when Lucy was undressed in front of him, Natsu was like “how is this supposed to be hell?” and say what you want, but just because he didn’t blush didn’t mean he wasn’t enjoying that view.

25. “Thank you for protecting our future.” (Ep 187).

Not really a NaLu NaLu moment, but still a very sweet NaLu moment. In case you don’t know (and for that reason, you should not be reading this list), the one in the picture is Future Lucy, and what makes this moment so special is that, even though that’s not present Lucy, it’s still his Lucy. He trusts her word completely and understand she effort she’s made, and all the horrors she’s been through, and he kneels down to the ground, craddles her head and presses his forehead to her, to express how grateful he is for what she’s done, and to show that he appreciates her, even if she’s not from his time. And this must’ve meant so much to this Lucy, because she lost her Natsu; she watched him die (the anime even does a little flashback), and she is back at the warmth and the softness only one person could give her, and she thought she’d never have that again. And then there he was, right in front of her, still the same man she’d always known. Still believing in her. Also, a small bonus: present Lucy is watching all this with a sweet smile and a soft blush on her cheeks.

24. “Don’t worry me like that.” (Ep 310).

And now we’re back to me wanting to scream because of these, bc hey... look at this! How come these two f*ckers started a goddamn a relationship and not even realize it? Like, it’s not even possibly platonic at this point in the story! There’s no friendship that can explain this, especially when it’s purposely being parallel with Gruvia, a canon romantic ship, and especially because we know what led up to this moment. And then you have Lucy holding onto Natsu, so relieved that she found him and squeezing him closer to her, despite not knowing what happened to him or what he’d just done, and Natsu whispering her name, listening to her voice once again when he thought he’d never listen to it again, having her so close to him when he thought he’d lost her... and you want me to not ship that? You want to tell me that’s platonic? I can’t even. I literally can’t even. That’s all I have to say about this.

23. “I want a piggyback ride.” Drunk Lucy round 1. (OVA 4).

While I love Lucy jumping on Natsu and wiggling her body onto his during the christmas ova, I have to admit this moment here has a special place in my heart, which makes it higher on the list. Maybe it’s because it was the first time we saw Lucy drunk, and was still a time when we started to really get NaLu moments, and Lucy’s feelings were still 50/50 to us, and then you get this, and Drunk Lucy is all f*cking over Natsu; she has hearts around her when she’s happy because she saw two Natsus, she makes him omelet (how? idk) and wants to feed it to him, is upset when she thinks he rejects it, wants him to make her purr... this alone should tell you a lot, is all touchy-feely with him, and basks in how warm he is, with her eyes closed. And Natsu, my boy... you coulda just run. You didn’t have to stay there and you didn’t have to obey her, lol. I bet he was freaked out because Lucy had never given him this much attention before, so he didn’t know how to deal with it. Always nice to see some Lucy > Natsu action, so let us all thank Mashima for the existence of Drunk Lucy, who makes this more possible than regular Lucy bc she lives in denial, lol.

22. “Beautiful”. (Ep 73).

A classic moment, and one that is immensely loved within the NaLu fandom, and rightfully so! Not only is this the most beautiful tree i’ve seen in anime, but also gave so much more depth to Natsu and Lucy’s relationship, despite being a simple omake. I’ve mentioned this before, but after Phantom Lord arc, there was very little development on NaLu, and most of their scenes together were reapeats of things we’d seen before: them reuniting after the team is separated, working together to solve it, reuniting again, trusting each other, yada yada. Very nice, but still, mostly just friendship and nothing that really stood out. This moment here, where Natsu uproots a tree for Lucy just because she was sick and couldn’t come to see it, then putting it into a boat so it could float all the way over to the front of her house... can be seen as a platonic gesture, and probably was made with that intention on Natsu’s part, but the thing is, these kinda things only happen with them. Yes, Mashima could have given this moment for someone else like Erza or Mirajane, or even Wendy, who was new to the series and probably didn’t even know about this: so why didn’t he? The answer is quite easy, and y’all know it. Development. Growth. Natsu was upset Lucy couldn’t come and join them, didn’t even crack a smile during the whole festival, but he wanted Lucy to be able to, even if he didn’t get to see it. He wanted to make her happy. That’s very special of him, and I think there was already a little of romance there, he just didn’t know what it was, so he just followed his feelings and went for it. Okay, enough gushing and analysing, time to end this list.

21. “What do I look like to you?” round 1. (Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry).

Please, don’t kill me for not having this on top 10, I wanted to put it there, because HELLO, LOOK AT THIS PICTURE, I NEED 911, I- HOW CAN THEY STAND SO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER! MY BOYFRIEND SAW ME GIFFING THIS AND ASKED “IS HE TRYING TO KISS HER” AND I JUST FREAKED OUT, SOMEBODY SEDATE ME! Mashima, what were you trying to do with this? Were you trying to kill us? Like, why does Natsu want to know what he looks like to Lucy? And why he’s gotta stand so close to her that their noses are brushing, just to ask her this? AHSIAHSJJAOSJAAKA, I KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT I STILL NEED ANSWERS! Okay, I was able to calm down a little. I really truly love this moment (love dragon cry in general), and I love how Wendy interrupted them and knew immediately she’d walked into something intimate, the poor thing, lmao, I wish that was me. But really, this is just Natsu taking any excuses he can to stand super close to Lucy even when it doesn’t make sense, because we all know he’s just got it real bad for her.

Will try to post part 4 tomorrow, but no promises. My baby niece is staying over and she takes up all of my free time, lol.

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

159 of 2022

01. Quick! Think of something pink, what is it?

Could it be a glitter gel pen? They come in variety of colours, pink included :D

02. How many siblings do you have?

One younger sister.

03. Favorite beverage on a hot summer day?

Beer, no kidding.

04. How long was your longest romantic relationship?

4 years and counting, we are married. Not sure if it’s entirely romantic, though. We really love each other and that’s all.

05. Last place you traveled for vacation?

We’ve been to France.

06. Your at your local coffe shop; what are you ordering?

If I wanted to go to the coffee shop, I’d go to the Netherlands... sorry for that :P Dutch coffee shops are not what Americans know as a ‘coffee shop’. Given that, I’d probably have weed as an order. Really.

07. With a 45 minute drive; I’m at the beach, how about you?

I need 15 minutes drive. We have Zeebrugge as a part of our city, so I live really close to the North Sea.

08. Ever order a lobster for yourself at a restaurant?

No, I don’t like the taste of lobster. Strange for a Belgian :P

09. Favorite snack at the movie theater?

I don’t go to movies. I’d rather go to the bar and drink with my friends, or stay home and read a book.

10. Childhood memory:

Rather an unpleasant and confusing teenager memory, I was at the training, having fun with my teammates, and all of a sudden I found myself sitting on the bench, two teammates next to me, asking if I’m okay and looking very concerned. Apparently this day I had a seizure during the training. It was very confusing. The memory of it haunts me until today. I was 14 or 15 at that time, I don’t remember well.

11. How many marshmallows do you think you can fit in your mouth at once?

Honestly, I’ve never tried. I don’t like marshmallows, too sweet for me.

12. Last meal you prepared?

I have a very short memory, I can’t recall what I ate yesterday. But today I’m going to cook a soup, that’s for sure.

13. Do you think the number 13 is unlucky?

No, I don’t think so. Some people tend to be very superstitious, but I’m not one of them.

14. Would you like a “do-over” if possible?

I think I would like it. But it also depend on what it is.

15. How many cousins do you have?

Seven first cousins, I think.

16. Name a girl band:

Vanilla Ninja. I quite like them, they play rock music.

17. Last concert you went too?

Shuriken II, the local band and they played for free. Usually I avoid concerts because flashing lights bother me, but it was open air during the day, so.

18. Last item you bought that was over $100?

Single item? I think it was that pair of blue Beats EP headphones I’m using right now. They’re amazing, the sound quality and everything. They costed me 170€, so at the current conversion/exchange rate, it’s almost 170$, too. Euros used to be stronger than American dollars, though.

19. Look to the left, what do you see?

The couch, the coffee table, the TV, the window and one of my cats.

20. Favorite cologne/perfume scent:

Recently I’ve been using Black Suede by AVON, I love it.

21. Britney Spears deserves her freedom?

Sure she does. She’s a human being, after all. Even if she makes mistakes, it’s her mistakes. At least she’s happy for a moment.

22. Have you had Apple Jacks cereal?

I’ve never heard.

23. Do you believe in ghosts?

Honestly, I don’t really care if they exist or not.

24. How many pillows do you have on your bed?

Three for me and one for my husband. He doesn’t need more than one, while I like being nested.

25. Name one fear:

Failure.

26. Have you ever been to New York City?

No, I’ve never been to the US at all. But if I was about to visit, New York City is the first on my list.

27. Would you audition for a reality tv show if the opportunity presented itself?

Nope. I don’t want the whole world to know my name and face.

28. Most famous person from your town/state?

That singer Gotye. He was born in Bruges.

29. Ideal birthday dessert?

Ice cream.

30. Do you know what reiki is?

Japanese alternative medicine? I guess so, but I’ve never been really interested.

[created by: @itakesurveys]

[soggylizard424]

I posted 3,320 times in 2021

137 posts created (4%)

3183 posts reblogged (96%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 23.2 posts.

I added 196 tags in 2021

#grian - 28 posts

#trafficblr - 25 posts

#i speak for some reason - 24 posts

#technoblade - 22 posts

#last life smp - 21 posts

#bladeblr - 17 posts

#llsmp - 17 posts

#my art - 16 posts

#myct - 14 posts

#dream smp - 12 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#that particular post where i was screeching about the thing about grian was at the end of martyn’s ep where there is just a whole bunch of

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

The prison break was just one road trip. Techno’s driving. He is picking up Dream and Ranboo from practice. Ranboo didn't know Dream had practice that day. Hence the “shuddUP Ranboo!” Connor is just some kid they found on the side of the road. Techno picks him up. It's not the first racoon he's adopted.

146 notes • Posted 2021-11-30 23:06:00 GMT

#4

BESTIES IM SHAKING THIS IS ABOUT GRIAN??? WATCHER GRIAN CONFIRMED?? ARE TH VOICES WATCHERS? Idsjjakakafjsajs

I cannot

159 notes • Posted 2021-11-16 22:15:49 GMT

#3

*knocks lightly on the door and enters* hey mistborn fandom? Honey are you okay? *wraps cardigan around waist and folds arms* you havent been out much recently. I know you’re going through a lot right now with Fortnite Kelsier and all, but I just think you should see the sun for a bit sweetie.

202 notes • Posted 2021-06-28 02:02:14 GMT

#2

233 notes • Posted 2021-04-20 01:54:49 GMT

#1

Martin: have care how you speak. Grian may be beyond reason but he is of the Southlands. And he is my brother.

Scott: he killed 6 people in 20 minutes.

Martin: he's adopted.

641 notes • Posted 2021-11-04 02:09:02 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

Hey losers guess what its spotify wrapped but gay

[berserker-official]

Then allow me to be the one who does it. -ahem- Answer all 200 questions, please.

YOU

200: My crush’s name is: I don’t have one right now?

199: I was born in: A hospital in Colorado

198: I am really: Really tired

197: My cellphone company is: Cricket

196: My eye color is: Blue

195: My shoe size is: I think 12?

194: My ring size is: I have no fucking idea

193: My height is: 6′2

192: I am allergic to: Nothing that I know of

191: My 1st car was: I share a Jeep with the family

190: My 1st job was: A pizza man at Little Caesars in Texas

189: Last book you read: All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

188: My bed is: Small.

187: My pet: She a good girl and like 6 different breeds

186: My best friend: I have too many

185: My favorite shampoo is: Whatever’s cheap

184: Xbox or ps3: Both but I’m a sony man at heart

183: Piggy banks are: Neat

182: In my pockets: I don’t have pockets right now

181: On my calendar: Nothing special today but I have the Danganronpa V3 release date on it in a couple of weeks

180: Marriage is: Neat

179: Spongebob can: go steppin on the beach

178: My mom: is neat but I’m mad at her right now

177: The last three songs I bought were?

Silence by Marshmello & Khalid, OTONA HIT PARADE and Emotional Literacy by Bradio

176: Last YouTube video watched: Oney Plays D. Premonition WITH FRIENDS - EP 6 - Minesweeper175: How many cousins do you have? I honestly don’t know. My parents don’t really keep in touch with immediate family. My mom is an only child and my dad doesn’t talk to her sister.174: Do you have any siblings? I have a little brother who’s a fucking loser going for an astrophysics degree.

173: Are your parents divorced? Nope

172: Are you taller than your mom? By two feet.

171: Do you play an instrument? I used to play percussion in middle school

170: What did you do yesterday? A bunch of stencil work[ I Believe In ] (I’ve already answered these but here u go)169: Love at first sight: Not really168: Luck: Heart of the Cards167: Fate: No166: Yourself: Nope165: Aliens: Yeah164: Heaven: Not really163: Hell: Not really162: God: Not really161: Horoscopes: No but I look at them randomly160: Soul mates: Yeah159: Ghosts: No but not yet158: Gay Marriage: HELL YEAH157: War: No it bad156: Orbs: I BELIEVE IN THE ORBS155: Magic: No but not yet[ This or That ] (I’ve answered some of these already but here u go)154: Hugs or Kisses: Hugs153: Drunk or High: Neither152: Phone or Online: Online151: Red heads or Black haired: Black hair but I don’t really care?150: Blondes or Brunettes: Blonde cuz I’m ready to have fun149: Hot or cold: Cold148: Summer or winter: Winter147: Autumn or Spring: Autumn146: Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate145: Night or Day: Night144: Oranges or Apples: Apples143: Curly or Straight hair: Straight hair142: McDonalds or Burger King: Doesn’t matter141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: Milk chocolate140: Mac or PC: PC139: Flip flops or high heals: I hate showing off my feet and I actually wore high heels once so HIGH HEELS138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: I’m sweet and poor so that one137: Coke or Pepsi: Neither one I actually don’t like carbonated drinks136: Hillary or Obama: Thanks obama135: Burried or cremated: Cremated it’s better for the earth134: Singing or Dancing: Singing even I fuckin suck133: Coach or Chanel: I have no idea132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: Neither?131: Small town or Big city: Big City130: Wal-Mart or Target: Target129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Ben Stiller128: Manicure or Pedicure: Whichever is the hand one127: East Coast or West Coast: I’m in the middle so doesn’t matter126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Christmas cuz my birthday is in the summer so I’m dying of heat.125: Chocolate or Flowers: Chocolate124: Disney or Six Flags: Neither cuz going outside sucks123: Yankees or Red Sox: Cubs cuz they finally won the world series[ Here’s What I Think About ]122: War: It bad121: George Bush: He did Nine Eleven120: Gay Marriage: It’s great why the fuck do people think it’s bad119: The presidential election: In general I used to not care but NOW GO FUCKING VOTE118: Abortion: I think it’s important117: MySpace: I never had a myspace but bring back the grunge emo shit116: Reality TV: It’s obviously fake so115: Parents: Parents are good without them I would not be here (But if they’re abusive fuck them)114: Back stabbers: Drop them faster than you can say bye bitch113: Ebay: I’ve only used it once and it was good so I say sure112: Facebook: Needs to chill the fuck out111: Work: Work is good you get money and gain retail horror stories110: My Neighbors: One of them is a drunk so meh but The Best Neighbor is a guy that used to build his own motorcycles but has heart problems so he had to sell them but he’s a chill guy and I love him109: Gas Prices: TOO DAMN HIGH108: Designer Clothes: Too rich for my blood107: College: A good choice for your future but it’s not for everybody106: Sports: The only sport I care about is MLG Gaming105: My family: They cool but highly problematic104: The future: I’m at a big turning point right now so[ Last time I ]103: Hugged someone: Last Saturday?102: Last time you ate: A couple hours ago101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: Last week I think I hung out with a friend and we watched Willow100: Cried in front of someone: Months probably99: Went to a movie theater: I went to see Spider-Man Homecoming when it came out but next month I’m going to see Jigsaw with @warlord-official so that’s fun98: Took a vacation: I don’t know? When I got out of school for summer vacation?97: Swam in a pool: 2011?96: Changed a diaper: I actually never changed a diaper95: Got my nails done: Never94: Went to a wedding: Two years ago93: Broke a bone: Never92: Got a peircing: Sophmore year I got my lip pierced so...2008?91: Broke the law: I think I ran a red light once so a couple years ago?90: Texted: A day?[ MISC ]89: Who makes you laugh the most: Me cuz I do the dumbest shit88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: My dog87: The last movie I saw: I was watching the Rugrats Movie on Netflix a little while ago86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: Danganronpa V3 and then Jigsaw in October and the Ixalan MTG set at the end of the month.85: The thing im not looking forward to: The next time I have to go to jury duty84: People call me: by my name83: The most difficult thing to do is: Be an adult82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: Never81: My zodiac sign is: Leo80: The first person i talked to today was: My dad79: First time you had a crush: Probably in elementary school? She was partially deaf and my teacher told me to help her out for the year and we got pretty close78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: My friends cuz I gotta let my baggage out77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: I don’t remember cuz all my friends think the same way76: Right now I am talking to: No one75: What are you going to do when you grow up: I wanna do photography maybe teaching74: I have/will get a job: When I graduate73: Tomorrow: I gotta get up early for school72: Today: I did a bunch of school readings71: Next Summer: I’m gonna die from heat again70: Next Weekend: Hopefully I can hang with friends69: I have these pets: A good dog68: The worst sound in the world: When a racist opens their mouth67: The person that makes me cry the most is: Roman from the FH team cuz he’s NOT FUCKING NERFING CENT66: People that make you happy: All my friends65: Last time I cried: Just now boi we goin in hard64: My friends are: Good boys and girls63: My computer is: I have an 5 year old ASUS laptop that I should try to upgrade cuz it runs Overwatch poorly62: My School: MSU Denver61: My Car: I share a Jeep with the family60: I lose all respect for people who: Treat my friends like they’re subhuman59: The movie I cried at was: Death Note cuz it was fucking awful58: Your hair color is: Dirty blonde57: TV shows you watch: The only stuff on now that I’m watching is Rick and Morty and AHS: Cult56: Favorite web site: Tumblr even though this hellsite is full of sin55: Your dream vacation: Japan?54: The worst pain I was ever in was: My wisdom teeth were pretty obnoxious53: How do you like your steak cooked: Rare52: My room is: Very messy and small51: My favorite celebrity is: Gal Gadot50: Where would you like to be: Anywhere not stressed out49: Do you want children: Only if I have an S/O that wants kids48: Ever been in love: Yeh47: Who’s your best friend: I have too many to count but @warlord-official is one of them46: More guy friends or girl friends: I think it’s a tie?45: One thing that makes you feel great is: when my friends are happy or I eat a good burger44: One person that you wish you could see right now: My friend that’s in Japan I miss her43: Do you have a 5 year plan: Nope42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: Nope41: Have you pre-named your children: I did when I was dating someone and thought we were pretty serious but then I found out she was cheating on me so not anymore40: Last person I got mad at: My mom39: I would like to move to: Japan or somewhere that is cool all the time like Washington maybe38: I wish I was a professional: Photographer[ My Favorites ]37: Candy: Pay Day36: Vehicle: Reasonably priced car is one of the new Jeeps. Super expensive car would be an Aston Martin or Maserati35: President: Obama34: State visited: Georgia was nice33: Cellphone provider: Cricket cuz it’s the only one I’ve had32: Athlete: John Elway31: Actor: Chris Evans30: Actress: Gal Gadot29: Singer: Kesha28: Band: Bradio or Starset27: Clothing store: DXL cuz it’s the only store that sells clothes for Big Boys26: Grocery store: Safeway25: TV show: Hannibal or Future Diary. Rick and Morty is always good24: Movie: Saw, Pacific Rim, Back to the Future, or Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift23: Website: Tumle dot hell22: Animal: Dog?21: Theme park: NONE OF EM20: Holiday: Halloween19: Sport to watch: idk18: Sport to play: I used to do tennis so that one17: Magazine: Shonen Jump or Game Informer16: Book: The Disaster Artist15: Day of the week: Friday14: Beach: I’ve never been to a beach13: Concert attended: Either PVRIS or A Perfect Circle with @warlord-official12: Thing to cook: It’s like a mix of pizza and spaghetti11: Food: A nice burger10: Restaurant: I like Smashburger9: Radio station: I don’t remember the one that plays rock music here but that one8: Yankee candle scent: Something about rain?7: Perfume: There was a vanilla one that I thought smelled nice a long time ago6: Flower: idk?5: Color: a deep blue4: Talk show host: Ellen DeGeneres?3: Comedian: Bo Burnham2: Dog breed: Mutt1: Did you answer all these truthfully? I hope so   

[localbizlift]

Facebook shares climb despite Q3 user growth and revenue

After last quarter’s bloodbath earnings report that cut 20 percent from Facebook’s share price, the social network stumbled in Q3 2018, reaching 2.27 billion monthly users, up 37 million users or 1.79 percent — only slightly better than Q1’s slowest-ever growth rate of just 1.54 percent, and compared to an 2.29 billion Wall Street estimate. It added 24 million daily active users hit 1.49 billion, up 1.36 percent compared to Q1’s 1.44 percent, missing the 1.51 billion estimate.

But the real growth story depends on its core US/Canada and Europe markets where Facebook saw zero growth and lost 1 million monthly users respectively last quarter. In Q3, Facebook added 1 million monthly users to reach 242 million in the US/Canada region, but held flat at 185 million dailies there. It lost 1 million users in Europe in both dailies and monthlies. Those markets make up over 70 percent of its revenue, which is why the slow growth and shrinkage is scaring Wall Street.

Revenue Slows Alongside Western User Growth

As for Facebook’s business, the company earned $13.73 in revenue, compared to Refinitiv’s consensus estimate of $13.78 billion, and saw $1.76 EPS compared to an estimate of $1.47, making for a mixed report. Revenue was up 33 percent year-over-year, but that’s much slower than the 49 percent YOY gain it had a year ago, and the 59 percent it had in Q3 2016.

Facebook blamed foreign exchange headwings for $159 million in Q3, which was the difference between its miss and a beat on revenue. Mobile accounted for 92 percent of Facebook’s ad revenue, up from 91 percent last quarter, so when you think of the social network, be sure you’re not thinking of a desktop website.

Long-term, Facebook can’t exchange growth in its core markets for expansion in Asia-Pacific and the developing world. Facebook average revenue per user worldwide is $6.09, but the regional differences are stark. It rakes in $27.61 per users in the US and Canada, and $8.82 in Europe, but just $2.67 in Asia-Pacific and $1.82 in the Rest Of World region. In fact, ARPU dropped 4 percent in the Rest Of World, indicating users there may be spending fewer minutes per day browsing the News Feed and seeing ads.

A Wild Earnings Call

Facebook’s share price closed at $146.22 before earnings were released, still massively down from its $217 peak for before it announced user growth troubles and slowing revenue growth in Q2’s earnings report. Facebook shares climbed 2 percent upon the announcement of earnings, in part thanks to Facebook pulling in $5.14 billion in profit and it adding 1 million users in the North American region after going flat last quarter, but oscillated wildly throughout the earnings call.

There, Zuckerberg stressed that sharing is shifting towards private chat where users send 100 billion messages on Facebook’s apps per day, and Stories where people share 1 billion slideshows per day. He cited Apple’s iMessage and YouTube, but not Snapchat, as Facebook’s big competitors going forward. Those comments drove shares down 5 percent, reversing early gains. But later, he noted that Facebook believes it’s found the right formula for showing people more meaningful passive video, so Facebook will lift some restrictions on how many lucrative video ads it showed. That pushed Facebook’s share back to 3 percent up in after-hours trading.

Facebook hoped to show that its business can keep growing even as amidst a wide range of troubles. It did note that “more than 2.6 billion people now use Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger each month” compared to 2.5 billion last quarter. It also revealed another new stat: “more than 2 billion people use at least one of our Family of services every day on average.” The goal of both of these stats is to distract from Facebook’s own slow growth by reminding people that some of those users who leave are going to its other properties.

But still, the company’s revenues and profits have been overshadowed by the non-stop parade of scandals ranging from election interference to its biggest security breach ever. Next quarter we’ll see if the breach scared users away or if Facebook logging them out for safety led some to never log back in.

Let’s remember that the company should be lauded for investing so much to beat back fake news and election interference, and cutting back on viral videos and clickbait that juice engagement but are terrible for user well-being and society. It doubled its security and content moderation staff from 10,000 to 20,000 this year. They now make up over half the company, as headcount grew 45 percent year-over-year to 33,606. Twitter’s shares soared on last week’s profitable Q3 earnings report, but it’s made no such measureable commitment to fight harassment and misinformation. Facebook is still constantly screwing up when it comes to privacy and security, but at least its putting its ample money where its mouth is.

[zyndaya-blog]

&&. MASTERLIST: OTP TAGS // THE NEIGHBOURHOOD LYRICS

i have no explanation for this other than i wanted to procrastinate studying for a test!!! so under cut there are 159 otp tags that u can use for ur cute 1x1s or indies or any ships at all!!! i got all of these from lyrics of one of my fave bands of all time, the nbhd separated by album/ep!! enjoy and pls like/reblog if u find this useful :)

I’M SORRY - EP (2012)

otp: you fooled me from the start

otp: leaving tonight

otp: i’ll be gone in the morning

otp: baby came home

otp: told me to stay away

otp: you knew the game and played it

I LOVE YOU. - LP (2013)

otp: don’t tell them anything

otp: think i found love

otp: use the sleeves of my sweater

otp: let’s have an adventure

otp: touch my neck and i’ll touch yours

otp: you in those little high waisted shorts

otp: one love, two mouths

otp: no shirt, no blouse

otp: let me hold both your hands in the holes of my sweater

otp: nobody said it'd be easy

otp: fell in love today

otp: just can't wait for love to destroy us

otp: the only flaw, you are flawless

otp: my mind is tangled between your little flaws

otp: maybe it’s you and it wasn’t me

otp: what do you want from me?

otp: maybe we'll fight 'til it move us along

otp: back in 1991, when the story first begun

otp: let it struggle just a little more

otp: i’m afraid somebody else might take my place

otp: you’re too mean, i don’t like you

otp: fuck you anyway

otp: you make me wanna scream at the top of my lungs

otp: it hurts but i won’t fight you

otp: you suck anyway

otp: you make me wanna die

otp: if you leave me then i’ll be afraid of everything

otp: if you're gone, then i need you

otp: if you're gone, then how is any of this real?

otp: want you to touch me there

otp: make me feel like i am breathing

THE LOVE COLLECTION - EP (2013)

otp: don't wanna be alone

otp: lied to be someone else for you

otp: she brought me down

otp: you say that you love me but you act like you don’t

otp: you used to adore me

otp: don’t take this the wrong way

otp: you put me in harm’s way

otp: when we had our first kiss it was your favorite thing

otp: you weren't lying when you said it would sting

otp: imagine our children, how fucked would they be?

otp: mommy's a psycho, daddy lives in a dream

otp: i told you i'm sorry

otp: couldn't thank you enough

otp: thought that i loved you but we weren't in love

otp: you were my dream

otp: you liked to think we would push through the bad

otp: ignoring the problems just to hold what we had

HONEST - SINGLE (2014)

otp: test my patience

otp: if i made it too hard for you maybe you should've changed it

otp: i'd say i was wrong just to make it fill all the spaces

otp: if i gave you control would you say that we could've saved it?

otp: i hope you find a way to be yourself someday

otp: pray for the best for you

otp: wish you could be honest with me

otp: why’d you stick around? 

otp: why’d you stay with me?

otp: why’d you fake it?

#000000 & #FFFFFF - MIXTAPE (2014)

otp: you are the only one

otp: he is your plan, but i am your lie

otp: so baby girl who you choosing?

otp: hear your voice bring chills to my spine

otp: lose my mind until you’re mine

otp: you were crazy, but I miss you

otp: hoping for paradise

otp: obsessed with the thought of me breaking your heart

otp: keep thinking ‘bout you and i

otp: need you to be someone for me in my life 

otp: can't let you go but you cheated on me

otp: think about you kissing him baby

otp: my love never seems to come out right

otp: she's not my girl

otp: can't even believe what you did to me

otp: you fooled me twice

otp: did it make you feel bad when you cheated on your man last night

otp: feel like you're worth it

otp: your blue eyes and those red lips

otp: fuck what your mother say, let's run away

otp: we’re made to love

otp: you're a waste of my time

otp: fallen for her more than once

otp: just hoping you would call my phone

otp: someday we will reunite

otp: promise that i'll make a baby with you

otp: you need to get off my mind

otp: tried to love you baby

otp: tried to satisfy you honey

otp: i'm the one for you

otp: you're a fool for me

otp: fool for you

otp: i want to destroy you

otp: i'm thinking we should ride to a place that we don't know

otp: last thing we should do is go slow

otp: i'll fucking digest you one kiss at a time

otp: you wish i was yours and i hope that you're mine

otp: met a stranger yesterday

WIPED OUT! - LP (2015)

otp: hoping that you'll keep your heart open

otp: if you don't ask, i won't tell

otp: it all hurts just the same

otp: don’t wanna fight

otp: i know i'll fall in love with you baby

otp: hope you won't ever lie to me

otp: when i’m with you breathing

otp: don’t let me go

otp: don’t wanna be alone

otp: make you need me

otp: don't wanna let you down

otp: if i told you that i loved you

otp: if i told you that i hated you would you go away?

otp: been relying on you

otp: been calling you friend

otp: hope i don’t burn you

otp: meet you in the middle

otp: you make me feel little

otp: need you here with me

otp: take you like a drug

otp: i taste you on my tongue

otp: tell me something i will forget

otp: it's crazy what you do for a friend

otp: go ahead and cry little girl

otp: if you were my little girl

otp: i would run away and hide with you

otp: tried to write your name in the rain

otp: keep on trying to let you go

otp: dying to let you know

otp: i gave her everything that i had

otp: her socks were at the end of my bed

otp: got our names tattooed on each other

otp: you can put it all on me

otp: i loved you from minute one

otp: handcuffed and i thought of you

otp: made love and i thought of you

otp: don't think you should be worried for me

otp: don't tell me about the rules and break them

otp: met her at church but she could be satan

otp: you and i are two oceans apart

otp: we're on earth to break each others hearts

otp: you’re the flame i use when it gets dark

otp: you've got enough pain for both of us

otp: you and i are few and far between

otp: don't know if we should be alone together

otp: still got a crush, that's obvious

otp: if nobody's around what's stopping us?

otp: don’t ever mind sharing oxygen

otp: just wanna get lost in your lungs

otp: love to watch her dance

otp: don't think that we should be around each other

otp: when you're in the room you get my eyes

otp: i can make you laugh until you cry

otp: you know you got all my attention

otp: she was my baby girl

otp: don’t mind being patient

otp: she's my soulmate

[marymosley]

How Can Printout Copy and Photocopy paper are differentiated from each other

The questioned document can be any typewriting, handwriting, signature, symbol, mark whose authenticity is in doubt. The questioned documents can be of various types like – Printed photocopies, ink, pencil, etc. We will talk here about two major types of questions document which is difficult to differentiate with each other, i.e. photocopied documents and printed out documents. There occur some difficulties to distinguish between these two because it seems the same when we see it, there are some minor differences which are nearly impossible to detect with the human eye. Therefore, forgeries cases are increasing day by day, but question document examiners can detect these differences by various technologies like optical scanning (for counting microdots), through microscopes, IR, etc. easily.

Photocopy document:-

Chestor A. Carlson invents photocopying. Now a day’s photocopy document is used everywhere because it is a fast, inexpensive way to reproduce a copy of some original document. A photocopy can be black and white, and it can be coloured. The system used for photocopy is indirect electrostatic, also known as Plain-Paper system for black and white photocopy and electrostatic and inkjet technologies for coloured photocopy. These technologies used in the old days. In present techniques used are Photostat, thermo graphics, digital imaging systems. [1]

Analysis:-

Coloured or black and white(monochrome) photocopy documents can be examined or analyzed in document examination laboratories by various instruments like EDD(electrostatic detection devices), measuring tools, microscopes, IR imaging systems.[2]

Printout documents:-

The printing process is complicated in which to printing substrate ink applied to transfer the information using Image-Carrying Media, for example:- a printing plate. Various types of printers used in the present; these are inkjet printers, laser printers, LED printers, Dot-matrix printers, thermal printers, etc. Each printer has its characteristics. [3] Japanese company Epson invented the first-ever electronic printer that was EP-101 which released in 1968.

 Analysis:-

Forensic analysis can do of printed documents for checking if there some alteration with the original document or not. Forensic experts examine the documents quickly by various techniques. Firstly they focus on source identification and their aim to identify the brand and the model of the device by which the document printed as of the unique property of each machine to identify all these.

Method for detecting photocopied and printed documents:-

Printout and photocopying technologies have improved in recent years. It is the reason why counterfeiting is increasing day by day.

The difference between these two documents can identify by detecting randomly spaced microdots which provided in the process of photocopying and printing. In this method, one can count the number of microdots present in a randomly chosen area. The accomplishment of counting microdots can do by an optical scanner which provides two-dimensional matrix. In two dimensional matrix, each position or cell leads to a physical position which in further has two values which tell that whether ink or toner was found or detected in that place which is analyzed by an optical scanner. Therefore, printed or photocopied both documents scanned under high resolution and low resolution, so that a representation (if toner or ink present at various location on paper or not).

The printed document analyzed at a low resolution which used to mark the high-resolution matrix area. Unmarked areas that left of high-resolution matrix are then analyzed to check discrete microdots that distributed uniformly in those areas. If microdots present on the surface of paper or document it indicates that the document was photocopies or we could say, it is not original.

Figure 1: Document image extracts of an inkjet-printed, laser printed and photocopied document scanned with a resolution of 2400dpi.

Toners can be different from the photocopied documents and printed documents which can be detected by various techniques like reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy.

Printed documents show sharped edge characters and smooth contrast while the photocopied document shows blur contrast and smooth edge character while analyzed.

Large grey level alterations denote DCT frequency analysis (Discrete Cosine Transformation):- In small image areas, high frequencies and large areas of an almost constant grey level are for low frequencies. DCT used for the classification of paper. It did by calculating the DCT coefficient mean and standard deviations as statistical features. [4]

Technologies for detection:-

1.     Optical scanning

2.     IR Radiation

3.     Scanning Electron Microscopes

4.     Electrostatic Detection Device

5.     Stereomicroscope

Applications: –

1.     They are mostly used in forensic science to solve the forgery cases.

2.     Defects can identify.

3.     This type of analysis helps in further solving the cases.

References:-

[1] Color Copier Guide, Guide 159, 2003, www.betterbuys.com

[2] Shiver, F.C. and Nelson, L.K., Non-destructive differentiation of full-color photocopies, J.Forensic Sci., 36, 145, and 1991

[3]   H. Kipphan, Handbook of Print Media, Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, 2001.

[4]   Christian Schulze, Marco Schreyer, Armin Stahl, and Thomas M. Breuel. DCT Coefficient Analysis for Printing Technique and Document Copy Detection. In Advances in Digital Forensics V (to appear). Springer, Boston, 2009.

[5] Scientific Examination of examination of Questioned Documents Edited by Jan Seaman Kelly, Brain S. Lindblom; published in 2006.

[6] Gibson, G., Xerox Corporation, personal communication, 2004.

AUTHOR:

Shabnam Kakran

Intern at  Dept. Forensic Sci & Criminal Investigation (June 2020)

Legal Desire Media and Insights

She has done graduation in life sciences from DU. Currently, she is pursuing my Masters in Forensic Science from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana. she has attended several webinars and forensic meetings from organizations like Legal Desire. Also done a one-week certificate workshop in cyber forensics from organisation Infinivis global.

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[dragnews]

Tax cut windfall seen lifting U.S. companies

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. companies could plow more of the money saved from sweeping tax cuts into business investment later this year, perhaps even surpassing a jump in first-quarter capital expenditure that was the highest in almost seven years, strategists and analysts said.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson – RC1161F49D30

Higher spending on technology, equipment and facilities could ease worries that S&P 500 companies have reached a peak in the profit growth investors are counting on to extend the nine-year bull market in equities.

The increased spending in the first quarter follows significant cuts in corporate taxes approved late last year by the Republican-led Congress. Companies have also been returning the tax cut windfall to shareholders via share buybacks and increased dividends at amounts never seen before, highlighted by Apple’s $23.5 billion repurchase in the first quarter.

With data in from 94 percent of S&P 500 companies, first-quarter capital expenditures total $159 billion, up more than 21 percent from a year ago and on track to be the highest year-over-year growth since the third quarter of 2011, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices data.

“These numbers are high, and I would expect higher numbers in capex this year. It takes a little bit longer for companies to plan and to execute” capital expenditure decisions, said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones.

That has the potential to underpin revenue gains well into next year, strategists said. Moreover, additional spending could extend the growth cycle for earnings if it results in increased sales and operating efficiencies.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December was also touted as a way to create more jobs, drive U.S. economic growth and level the playing field with companies based outside the United States. It slashed the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent and charges multinationals a one-time tax on profits held overseas.

HIGHER EPS GROWTH

Stocks have been volatile in recent months because of rising interest rates and investor worry that strong earnings expectations have already been priced into the market.

“Provided there’s no major changes in the macro world and geopolitical area, capex should drive higher (earnings per share) growth,” said Omar Aguilar, senior vice president and chief investment officer for equities and multi-asset strategies at Charles Schwab Investment Management.

The tax overhaul already has resulted in a sharp jump in S&P 500 earnings forecasts for the year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Some investors have worried that the first quarter’s estimated 26.1 percent increase may represent the highest growth for S&P 500 earnings while the economy is still expanding.

Profit growth for 2018 is forecast at 21.7 percent, while 2019 growth is seen at 9.4 percent. Revenue growth for the first quarter is estimated at 8.2 percent versus a year ago, and sales growth for 2019 is expected to come down as well.

“Clearly companies are flush with cash and are buying back shares,” said Terry Sandven, senior equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis. “But the next driver will be capex, and we will get a better read on that over the next couple of quarters.”

Much of the spending is coming from the technology space.

Among the biggest early spenders, Google parent Alphabet recorded $7.3 billion in capital spending for the first quarter, up from $2.5 billion a year ago, and the highest amount for the company since at least 2004, based on data from S&P Dow Jones.

Apple’s capex increased to $4.2 billion from $3 billion a year ago, while Amazon.com’s jumped to $3.1 billion from $2.1 billion, the data found.

The tech sector accounted for 44 percent of the increase in first-quarter capex spending by S&P 500 companies, with energy at 16.6 percent and the consumer discretionary sector at 15.1 percent, according to Credit Suisse data.

Energy led capex in previous years, said Patrick Palfrey, vice president and equity strategist at Credit Suisse Securities in New York.

To be sure, corporate spending on capital improvements was rising even before changes to the tax law were approved, so not all of the first-quarter jump can be tied to those benefits.

“Capex follows profit growth,” said Keith Parker, UBS U.S. equity strategist, so “conditions were ripe anyway for a rebound in corporate spending.”

Still, he said, the tax overhaul “is an additional reason for it to take off and for longer.”

Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Alden Bentley and Bill Berkrot

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