#gosh I love that first panel on the last page

[age-of-moonknight]

“The Moon Warrior,” Marvel 85th Anniversary Special (Vol. 1/2024), #1.

Writer and artist: Yuji Kaku; Special thanks to Ken Kunito

[ambriel-angstwitch]

Tim Drake Pride Thoughts Part 2

Link to Part 1 for those interested

I love Tim’s internal monologue and how it’s visualized on the page. The way he’s in the Robin costume even though he’s not actually and then it fades away.

Gosh his identity issues. His need to save people and self destructive tendencies. I love him.

Then Tim beats the crap out of the unsuspecting cultist and steals their stuff like a boss but it wasn’t shown we just cut to the cult after the reveal of the multiple “chaos gods”

I love that he says what would Batman do like it’s what would Jesus do. He even acronynmed it earlier. I used to have those bracelets.

Tim’s always trying to fill a role and that’s so fascinating. Robin was just a role that needed filling that he just happened to be able to do but now that there’s another person in that spot he’s trying to emulate Batman since he’s working alone and Batman’s his idol.

Oh also the fact that it was Bernard who was about to be sacrificed is interesting. Like he’s one of the most recent kidnappings so it’s interesting that they’d choose him

Also the fact that Tim is taking the Tim to judge them when his friend/crush is literally about to be sacrificed. Can’t stop being a hater I guess.

Love that Bernard is a fanboy just like Tim was.

Also Tim’s little gay panic there. He holds a boys hand and is immediately like “Is it supposed to be this warm?”

Love how Bernard immediately notices that Tim’s acting different it could be due to his Robin obsession but I also just think it’s cool how easily he understands him.

Bernard really just almost got sacrificed and pops up ready to fight. He’s probably been waiting to fight alongside Robin for a long time since he is a fanboy

Oh Timmy Batman isn’t alone and you don’t have to be either. You have the Batfam. I find it silly that this idea is coming from Mr. “Batman needs a robin” himself.

Though perhaps he doesn’t mean physically alone. Because the Batfam isn’t keen to share their problems. They tend to try to be islands. Each individually dealing with their issues and hurts rather than opening up and leaning on eachother. They’ve learned their poor emotional communication from the best.

Close enough welcome back Arthur Pendragon!

I have talked to friends and I have confirmed that I’m not the only one who thinks that first panel looks like Arthur (Come to think of it Tim looks kind of like Merlin too. Reincarnation au?)

Anyways I promise I had an actual thought regarding this interaction too. I love how Bernard is telling his crush to tell his crush that he wished they’d finished their date. Tim is just internalizing this and probably with that last word realizing what they could be.

Like I said Tim’s having realizations.

Also I just love this page layout. The different sizes and shapes to represent the chaotic-ness of a fight. Bernard being the focus of the biggest moment to visually show the lightbulb moment and Tim’s fixation of him. Both of them just being flashes of certain moments almost like we’re Tim or Bernard glancing at the other to see what their doing. Ahhh! I love it!

More Tim tech lingo! I love the focus on Tim being Techie and how that can cause him to think differently like he’s also just a computer with simple problems to fix. His realization that he’s different. That sure he didn’t realize he was Bi before but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t

I know that the whole Batfam not choosing being vigilantes is a thinly veiled metaphor for Tim’s being queer (which is kind of funny because I feel like that almost implies that the rest of the Batfam is queer or maybe it’s just the inherent queer subtext of hidden identities), but also I do think that the police has a point in them not really choosing the vigilante life I mean sure they theoretically could have not been vigilantes, but it’s just a fundamental part of who they are so even if the law tells them not to they’re not going to turn back now. I don’t think any of them at the beginning could have seen the pain and problems that they did and not tried to fix it.

Also the I want over Bernard and how the next page is going to be him.

And that’s the adorable conclusion. I love them! The way their figuring it out together! They’re both new to this. I love when couples don’t have to have it figured out. There’s no one right way to have a relationship

[redge]

Oshi no Ko Chapter 154

I need an outlet for this chapter so instead of posting a thread on Twitter (X), I'll just post my thoughts here.

Rereading this chapter while listening to this song on repeat. 💔

I despise Airi Himekawa. I don't know what horrible things has happened to her but no one, not even Hikaru Kamiki, deserved what happened to him as a child. Airi molesting this child is what started this all and I hate her.

For him to actually tell Ai "let's get married!" like that's the most normal thing going forward like "Taiki's my son I don't know what to do about it but with you, I will take responsibilty so let's get married" oh gosh just by typing this and knowing what are on the next pages is crushing me 😭

Also, Ai 😭 Would she know better? They're both so young that time but Ai left him because she wanted to take responsibility and lift the burden off Kamiki when they could have... 😭

And the way Kamiki just accepted it as it is even when he was so broken because he also believes he's undeserving of Ai or anyone's love 😭

But broken people do crazy shits and one of the craziest thing young broken Kamiki did was to tell her address to Ryosuke. But oh to read this line:

"The despair I felt when the girl I loved so much... That I was willing to sacrifice my life for... told me she couldn't love me." 💔😭

"We were just forcing our fantasies on Ai." He understood the lie she built as an idol but not the most important lie she told him I am heartbroken and I am typing this hearing the lyrics "it's torturous, tonight is gonna be the loneliest" SEND HELP 😭

The DVD oh my god 😭 Imagine how Hikaru might have felt after hearing Ai's voice for the first time in a long time, talking about him, how she understood how he was crushed by the entertainment industry, how she knows he's depending on him.

"The truth is, I really wanted to be with him forever. I wanted to carry the burden he carried and raise our children together. I wanted to live my future with him. After all, he's the first person I've ever wanted to love. Even though I don't really understand love."

"The first person I've ever wanted to love" From this line, you can't help but think, maybe when she was stabbed and said "I love you" to her children then the sigh of relief "I finally said it" maybe it was because on the first time, she wasn't able to say it properly to Kamiki, knowing in her heart that he was the first person she wanted to love. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Tears. Just tears. The Entertainment Industry-idols and artists- give happiness to their audience but at what cost?! Both of them were willing to take the risk and thinking of a future together but it's too late now because Ai is gone and whose fault? 😭😭😭

If Aqua's revenge is to crush his father mentally, make him live or die in regret, than good job Aqua because as a reader, I don't feel anything but regret reading through these panels. 😭

And then that last panel with Ruby. Makes me think that maybe she actually know who Kamiki was in chapter 146. Maybe she was not seeking answer from god, but she was trying to get an answer from her father because she knew all along that the man with umbrella was her father, because everytime she visits Ai's grave, she see's him visiting too. What a plot twist it would be if it was actually Ruby who's the first one who knew that Hikaru Kamiki was their father.

Ah. The story of Ai and Kamiki is so heartbreaking it resonates with this lyrics from The Loneliest by Maneskin:

You'll be the saddest part of me

A part of me that will never be mine

It's obvious

Tonight is gonna be the loneliest

Akakasa-sensei, I respect you and your writing. What a chapter.

[bcbdrums]

Hi, I know we have quite different oppinions on some SE related things, but thats why I wanted to ask:

I actually really liked the manga Baba Yaga arc. Is your oppinion on it positve too or do you actually think its not as good or atleast weaker than the folowing arcs?

I'm curious on people's oppinions and finding out where the difference of perspectives originate

(Also think the Baba Yaga arc had a very strong SoMa moment with the whole puppet chapter resolution and Maka giving Soul and outstretched hand is an iconic panel to me)

I don't think the manga had a single "weak" arc. The more I pick things apart, the more I'm seeing what masterful storycrafting took place in Soul Eater, which is surely part of why it has such a strong fanbase to this day.

The Baba Yaga arc was fantastic!!! I have not read the manga since January, but I'll try to bullet point some of the key things that make it great.

And I'll preface this all by saying... The manga is divided into two halves, essentially (we know that), and at the end of each half...our main characters reach milestones in their stories and their character development. So it's like...they've all been hopping across stepping stones to reach the other side of the pond, and here they all arrive. And get ready to brave the waves of the next half of the story.

Also, I'm writing this in a way that assumes the reader has read and is intimately familiar with the manga. So I'm not going into detail about things. But anyway...

MAJOR spoilers for Soul Eater manga, if that matters to anyone.

The secondary trio. We get to see ALL of the kids in this arc, and time is spent with each of them; it's not JUST the main meister trio and their weapons, but it's also the secondary trio, and we finally get to know them more deeply as characters! And good heavens is that development ever GOOD! I won't detail it so folks can read it for themselves, but my GOSH was that ever phenomenal!

Minor characters. Eruka, Free, even Giriko, and Mosquito get their moments. And they're not just there to be on the page, they serve an actual purpose. And I felt that Mosquito here became more a genuine threat, less an annoying pest (lol, mosquito). We also get the unexpected introduction of a new enemy in Noah, which was a fabulous twist.

The first major seeds of doubt are sown here with the DWMA's decision making; perhaps they are not the great and wise leaders we've been led to believe? Because going along with Medusa's plan was clearly, clearly unwise. We have this sense the whole time that the effort is doomed simply by nature of...we know the decision was unwise. And with the little hints prior, and with what ultimately comes later regarding the DWMA and their place in the world...it was a fantastic stepping stone along that piece of the plot.

Medusa. The tension of her presence, of her supposedly being their ally. The clear and obvious lie she tells to Maka to gain her cooperation. Her true motives slowly but surely unfolding, and what ultimately happens with her in the end of the arc. It was a brilliant, brilliant play, completely inline with the manipulative character we know and love/hate, and an added level of threat throughout the arc since the point is to stop Arachne. And then to have the true plan revealed in the end... Sheer brilliance.

Black Star and Tsubaki vs Mifune. Another perfect stepping stone in the plot of Black Star's character development, from who he was at the beginning to who he ends up being in the very final chapter of the manga. Tense, powerful, bittersweet... Black Star is arriving here at who he needs to be to truly complete his goal. We see the growth in his words, his actions, and it becomes so important going forward.

Maka and Soul, and the battle against Arachne. Here we get back to the purpose... How was Soul Eater the series introduced? You defeat 99 evil souls and then the soul of a witch. So, we have arrived at last. A battle against a witch. And the themes of trust that were set up in that very first chapter get to shine here with Maka and Soul's growth as a meister/weapon pair. And oh ho HO that payoff... With yet another twist following... Fantastic storytelling!

Kid's sacrifice. Unexpected, heart-pounding, and yet again... A culmination of his growth. Throughout the arc... In his wise decision-making, his battle tactics, and then ultimately his sacrifice... He is stepping out of the...youthful and surface-level obsessiveness that is ultimately part of what is going to make him a great Shinigami someday, and stepping into the beginnings of maturing into that role. No more worrying about the height of picture frames. Only protecting the world, and protecting the ones he loves. It is a powerful, powerful moment in his development.

As I said in the beginning... This is an arrival, for each character. An arrival, and then they get to take a breath before the ultimate battle. Everything about this arc was phenomenal. Each and every character given their due; the pacing; the story itself with all of its frights, twists, and payoffs, and the way it makes the reader think. Truly, truly outstanding!

I know this was a very vague summary and assumes intimate knowledge of the manga, but my gosh... Truly a fabulous arc and I want to go read it again right now.

[zahri-melitor]

New(ish) Comics: Gotham War Edition

So I’m doing this hey. Going to read a few lead ins I haven’t got to yet then dive in.

Batman #136: Tim is baby here. Bruce is…not doing well. The set up for this conflict is actually reasonably entertaining (aka ‘both Bruce and Selina have been keeping secrets that are causing problems’, the scale of which really pisses off the other). Gosh, that family scene is very much calculated to be circulated as a panel out of context, and I’m wondering if it’s real at all.

I am NOT going to advocate that Bruce needs therapy (folks. FOLKS. The therapy Bruce has had previously has got us into this mess) but I am going to point and laugh at his mental state a lot.

Knight Terrors Batman #1-2: I’m on record as disliking the whole Zur-En-Arrh mythos but at least this storyline is actually revisiting all aspects of it? We got the sensory deprivation tank back. Apparently me reading the entirety of the Black Casebook was actually worth it for something. Golly, this nightmare is so BORING. It’s literally ticking the boxes – lack of control, everyone is dead, replay of Crime Alley, etc. The Gun-Bat (gun-bat. GUN-BAT. ffs) just isn’t convincingly scary. The only interesting twist at ALL was Bruce getting to play as Joe Chill for a bit.

The Arsenal backup – seriously the lack of creativity in everyone’s nightmares SHOWS. Not being able to use the Cry isn’t a nightmare for Dinah, it’s something she understands intimately and knows how to work around. (“Nobody listens to me” is slightly better but also if you just pop your earrings back in Dinah, I am SURE Babs would be happy to go back to obsessively stalking you and being available to talk at any or all hours) Roy being beset by the events of 2010 to present and accompanying costumes is at least meta but it’s still ‘I miss Lian’ (we know, we know, you already lived through your nightmare).

Batman/Catwoman The Gotham War – Battle Lines #1: Maxie Zeus my sweetie!!! Oh wait I’m supposed to care about everything else here, but the fact it’s Tim kicking around Maxie is very satisfying. Love to see Robins against their own period rogues (one of Tim’s first proper times working with Oracle was a Maxie Zeus case).

Okay fine, whatever, Selina’s pitch for how to stop violent crime in Gotham. It’s incredibly silly, as has been widely canvassed, and ignores basic common sense questions like ‘what happens when security increases’, ‘what happens when you run out of these low risk high value targets’, ‘who is fencing all this and how is the increased black market bearing the weight of a higher flow of goods without dropping prices too far’ and ‘how is the entire room of detectives who’ve been operating in Gotham unaware of any changes in crime levels’. The whole club scene is just clearly here to start fracturing the family (yay!).

Wow I hate this version of Montoya I hate it so much, this is so jarring after just having read Gotham Central.

Anyway Selina is getting handed the idiot ball hard here, which is unfortunate, given this issue literally goes ‘here’s the clear point you’ve ignored’ as the last few pages.

Batman #137: Vandal Savage causing problems on purpose! LOVE YOU SAVAGE. (He’s so annoying. Nice to have him as a change to Ra’s) So battle lines are drawn up with Jason in Selina’s camp, Damian in Bruce’s and the rest of them currently in the centre trying to work things out. I still think everyone is being a bit helpless due to this storyline, but we’ll see how it develops.

Catwoman #57: Ehhhhhhh. Jason is weirdly excited about jacking cars here? This is trying SO HARD to position the whole conflict on a classism front and it just doesn’t work for me. “We can just solve financial inequality by Robin Hooding!” uh it doesn’t quite work that way folks. You know what also helps get people out of poverty? Education, healthcare and steady jobs that AREN’T likely to land people in the prison system. Yes also a cash injection can help but your whole training is oriented at continuing to acquire money by criming.

Dick dropping by to go ‘hey do you realise you’re being an idiot? Think about it, Selina’ was cute though.

HELLO SCANDAL PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HAVE A DECENT VERSION OF YOUR PERSONALITY. YOU ARE ALWAYS FUN.

Batman/Catwoman: the Gotham War - Red Hood #1: (the name goes on a bit hey) Can’t believe I’m reading a Red Hood tie in.

It’s pretty ridiculous, but at least Jason is aware this plan is goddamn stupid and is just exploiting it for his own ends?

Ah and there we go, people using guns when they shouldn’t, aka the whole self-defeating part of this whole scenario.

Okay. About to start Batman #138 but will pop that in a separate post with even more spoiler warnings.

[waitingforwinterwinds]

A Clash of Kings - 11 THEON I (pages 149-169)

Theon returns to his childhood home to find some things familiar but more which are not. His uncle and father prove to be not part of a safe and healthy family life, and Theon's plans come crashing down around his ears in the face of his father's own.

-

There was no safe anchorage at Pyke, but Theon Greyjoy wished to look on his father's castle from the sea, to see it as he had seen it last, ten years before, when Robert Baratheon's war galley had borne him away to be a ward of Eddard Stark. ... Obedient to his wishes, the Myraham beat her way past the point with her sails snapping ans her captain cursing the wind and his crew and the follies of highborn lordlings. Theon drew the hood of his cloak up against the spray, and looked for home.

My second thought on this is "my gosh Theon, don't endanger the crew for nostalgia" but also I get it, to see the island return the way he saw it taken, part of him, subconsciously, is probably thinking it will somehow undo what happened, give it back somehow. Like yes, he's back home, but there's still those ten years that he won't ever get back, but to see a loss in reverse might make you think it could be.

My first thought is: Oh hey, remember how Theon was taken from his family and not in a 'someone called social services way' but in a 'this child is a political hostage' kind of way.

She looked rather stupid when she smiled, if truth be told, but he had never required a woman to be clever.

Real classy Theon. (Sarcasm.)

Her mouth was as wet and sweet as her cunt, -

"Cunt" = 🥛 (This makes 2 so far in the series, if I've counted correctly. We're almost catching up to a single conversation in the show!)

The captain's daughter had not been turned over for his use, but she had come to his bed willingly enough all the same. A cup of wine, a few whispers, and there she was. ... "I can't stay here now." He laced up his breeches. "Why not?" "My father," she told him. "Once you're gone, he'll punish me, milord. He'll call me names and hit me." Theon swept his cloak off its peg and over his shoulders. "Fathers are like that," he admitted, as he pinned the folds with a silver clasp.

First of all, fathers shouldn't be 'like that,' second of all: I'm not convince 'willingly enough' means 'she chose on her own initiative.' POV bias means we don't know for sure, but it sounds like Theon got her tipsy and coerced her into it while her reasoning was impaired, and she only went back to his bed because she knew being any kind of bride or concubine for Theon was now safer for her than facing her father's wrath. Theon even comments that she's weirdly old for a virgin. Of course it is possible that she deliberately seduced him hoping for a way off her father's boat, but between the vagaries and Theon's attitude toward her, he's on thin ice at the moment.

He saw the castle first, the stronghold of the Botleys. When he was a boy it had been timber and wattle, but Robert Baratheon had razed the structure to the ground.

So I know that GRRM likely (100% certainly) meant the ancient construction material made of woven-wood panels when he says wattle, but every time someone (in any work) uses the word to describe a building, every single time, my brain pictures the tiny little yellow pompom looking flowers native to Australia. Every. Time.

The buildings are never as floraly as I picture them.

Uncle Aeron's a bit... intense. Nice of him to pick Theon up from the port though. Saves him from accidental incest groping.

... hang on, trying to remember the show's timeline, because we already had Osha, did they change Asha to Yara because they thought we'd get confused? Is that also why several Walder Freys were cut from the show?

Theon: *opens his mouth to say literally anything* Aeron: Old news, unimportant, you basic bitch, you're reverse adopted and your parents don't even love you, you're irrelevant, get gud scrub, oh wait I forgot you can't, landlubber.

Mmmm, some great vibes in this place (Sarcasm intensifies.)

This is terrible for Theon's mental health, and is only going to give him issues re: his personal and cultural identity, never mind an inferiority complex (bigger than that one he's already rocking).

"And who are you?" "Helya, who keep sthe castle for your lord father." "Sylas was steward here. They called him Sourmouth." (...) "Dead these five years, m'lord." "And what of Maester Qalen, where is he?" "He sleeps in the sea. Wendamyr keeps the ravens now." It is as if I were a stranger here, Theon thought. Nothing has changed, and yet everything is changed."

"It must be difficult, being in a strange place." "This is my home, it is the people who are strange."

His father slid his fingers under the necklace and gave it a yank so hard it was like to take Theon's head off, had the chain not snapped first. "My daughter has taken an axe for a lover," Lord Balon said. "I will not have my son bedeck himself like a whore."

...maybe Theon should have been taken away from his father in a 'someone call social services' kind of way. Wow, Balon just really wants to be in the running for Worst Father in Westeros.

Theon edged backwards, away from the sudden fury in his father's tone. "Take it then," he spat, cheek still tingling. "Call yourself King of the Iron Islands, no one will care... until the wars are over, and the victor looks about and spies an old fool perched off his shore with an iron crown on his head."

Yeah! You tell him Theon!

"- No. I hunger for a different plum... not so juicy sweet, to be sure, yet it hangs there ripe and undefended." Where? Theon might have asked, but by then he knew.

No, bad Balon. Naughty!

[katerinaaqu]

Death Note OST: Low of Solipsism starts to play! XD

Okay...when I see ACTUAL Odyssey fanart I get hyped! When I see incredible Odyssey fanart I just get super excited! Like when this showed up to my main page I was like "OH. MY. GOSH!"

The first panel showing Odysseus's old form is just great! The way he so lovingly touches his trusted bow and whispers "At Last!" has me like going UGH! Amazing! He was separated from that weapon for more than 20 years and now he is holding it again. Equivalent in the Odyssey how Odysseus gets more of his strength back; his weapon. He is getting closer and closer to the goal he has set upon himself for days and days of abuse and neglect by the suitors!

The second panel is amazing in detail how the string's loop shows and of course the fingers and hands! I will agree with the comment section below that the hands are glorious! In fact my dear friend @artsofmetamoor who is also an amazing artist shows me the process and when she creates her own masterpieces I can only stare! Seriously I can't seem to draw hands to save my own life! XD Yet alone hands with plasticity like here where he strings the bow!

The detail of the arrow leaving the bow is simply great! Like in slow motion here! And the swallow reference!!!! The swallow! Not only is the greatest possible parallel sound to a bow string but also a swallow!

A bird that always comes home after an ardous trip! This swallow has finally come home!!!

And the eyes detail and all! As opposing to the shocked faces of the suitors we can definitely imagine!

And that my favorite panel!!!! Longed haired Odysseus can just have my heart at this point!!!!

I love how he is back to his original form while holding the bow and his hair flows behind him like that! And that final eye-shot I am like!! I am so hyping! I am also in love with the way you draw his nose shape in here! You make him his own distinct character, and knowing from my friend's @artsofmetamoor talent and explanations to me when we work on our projects that is definitely hard job to do!! And this is so what I would imagine Odysseus to look like! His thick long curly hair, some features on his face that are not prince-charming material but hard so to prove the harshness of his life as well! And yet all the same handsome goddess-magnet! That would definitely be his type!

That last one "AT LAST!" I feel it! No longer about the weapon, no no no! It is about him finding himself again! His rightful place in his home and Ithaca! And you know that shit is about to go down for sure!!! Honestly the murder of the suitors was just the peaque of Odysseus in the Odyssey! We see his patience, his cunning, his planning, his violence and his compassion all in one package and finally his love for his son and wife! The whole part of the Odyssey taking place there is just a hymn to Odysseus as a character! And you definitely capture it!

Well done! Nothing else needs to be said!

Odysseus moment

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 322: IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME

Previously on BnHA: Endeavor was all, “Kirishima please take Hagakure and Aoyama and put them away somewhere out of sight until we’re finally ready for the U.A. Traitor Plot.” Shouto was all “HEY DEKU DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT MAYBE YOU WANDERING THE STREETS LOOKING LIKE A GOTH PRAYING MANTIS IS EXACTLY WHAT AFO WANTS.” Deku was all “I’M SORRY I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY CRUSHING MARTYR COMPLEX AND ACCUMULATED TRAUMA.” Mineta was all “HEY DEKU YOU SWEET THANG, IF I COULD REARRANGE THE ALPHABET I’D PUT ‘U’ AND ‘I’ TOGETHER, ANYWAYS HMU 💖”, or at least that’s what fandom apparently thought he said. Everyone was all “WELL SINCE WE’RE BACK HERE IN KAMINO WE SHOULD DO THE THING” and did the whole “launching someone into the air to save someone by dramatically grabbing their hand” thing that everybody fucking loves to do in Kamino so damn much. Iida was all “[bombards me and Deku with feels].” Deku was all, “ू(ʚ̴̶̷́ .̠ ʚ̴̶̷̥̀ ू).” I was all, “(;*△*;).” Horikoshi was all, “my work here is done.”

Today on BnHA: 

oh my god.

so I finally went back to look at what I wrote up for 321 last week, and it’s a hot fucking mess lol, and I really don’t want to deal with that right now, so we’re just gonna skip it and go back sometime in the next few days or something because I really want to read the new chapter and I have no self control. I’M SORRY IIDA

oh my god he’s breaking out the narration word bubbles oh my god. shit is about to get epic isn’t it

has there ever been a chapter that opened with these that WASN’T epic? serious question. anyways all aboard the Feels Express I guess

YEP

I saved a bunch of other crying kaomojis when I was looking for ones to use in the “previously on” summary, and right now it’s looking like that was a good fucking decision you guys. if I’m going to be an emotional wreck I might as well do it in style ʕ ಡ ﹏ ಡ ʔ

AND BY THE WAY!!

SHOULD I JUST THANK HORIKOSHI NOW AND SAVE MYSELF SOME TIME LATER. THE MAN ALWAYS FUCKING DELIVERS WHAT ELSE CAN I FUCKING SAY GODDAMN. IS IT TOO EARLY TO DECLARE THIS MY NEW FAVORITE CHAPTER? I SHOULD PROBABLY READ FURTHER THAN ONE PAGE BUT I’VE JUST GOT A FEELING

(ETA: it’s like. maybe my second favorite lol. A HUG WOULD HAVE PUT IT IN FIRST, I’M JUST SAYING.)

anyway so Ochako is releasing Iida, which is actually hilarious, because idk if you all know this but Iida can’t fucking fly you guys

like, I assume Ochako released him because she already knew that Kirishima was in place to catch him, but I really love this split-second of panic on Iida’s part where he’s all “HMM, IS OCHAKO TRYING TO KILL ME, ACTUALLY”

LOL THERE’S A THOOM AND EVERYTHING

that’s some plus fucking ultra on Ochako’s part right there. “IF THEY DIE THEY DIE” goddamn girl did you leave your chill in the same locker as Momo or what

now poor Kiri is all “DAMMIT DEKU ARE YOU PASSED OUT OR WHAT, I DIDN’T GET TO TELL YOU MY THING GODDAMMIT”

oh my gosh he is curled up so small you guys oh my fucking lord

RESIDUAL “LOST CHILD” FEELS FROM LAST WEEK COMING IN FOR A LANDING!! PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR SEATBACKS AND TRAY TABLES ARE IN THEIR UPRIGHT POSITIONS OMG ( ˚͈͈͈͈̥̆ ₍₎ ˚͈͈͈͈̥̆ )

LMAO IIDA IS TRYING TO CONFIRM THAT OCHAKO PLANNED FOR KIRISHIMA TO CATCH HIM, AND KIRISHIMA IS ALL “NOPE I’M JUST HERE BY CHANCE BRO”

Ochako is the U.A. Traitor confirmed. Hagakure I am so sorry I doubted you. Ochako get over here. so are you Toga now or what

anyway so now everyone is running over before Iida can react to this casual announcement of his attempted murder. and now Mina is taking her turn, and Horikoshi is all “HEY BTW IS MINA CRYING ON THE LIST OF THINGS THAT MAKE YOU CRY?” and of fucking course it is, you bastard. I’m not made of stone

( ɵ̥̥ ˑ̫ ɵ̥̥)

SLDKFJLSDKJ:LKWEJ

IS THIS THE PART WHERE I JUST START SCREAMING INCOHERENTLY FOR THE REST OF THE CHAPTER LOL. SURE FEELS LIKE WE ARE GETTING TO THAT TIME

OH MY GOD KACCHAN AHHHHH

I CAN’T OMG LOL I ALREADY GLANCED AT THE NEXT COUPLE OF PANELS, AND HE’S STARTING A WHOLEASS MONOLOGUE ABOUT ALL OF HIS DEKU FEELS AND OH MY GOD

“HERE YOU GO MAKESTE, A WHOLE CHAPTER OF ALL YOUR FAVORITE META TOPICS JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE THEM” THANK YOU HORIKOSHI YOU’RE A BRO (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

SLKASODIFALWKFLKJ

THEY’RE JUST DEKU AND KACCHAN. holy shit you guys. because oh my god, but it’s like when Deku was talking to the Vestiges about saving Tomura, and he turned into his little child self because his heart and intentions were so pure?? and it’s like that again, except that we’re seeing them as their child selves because that’s who they are to each other?? like, not that they actually see each other as children, but just, they can see past all of the stuff on the outside and see each other to their cores, to who they are inside, and when they look at each other they each simply see the other boy that they’ve known their whole entire life. idk?? does that make sense??? DOES ANY OF THIS EVEN MAKE SENSE I DON’T KNOW WHAT WORDS ARE ANYMORE I’M JUST SWIMMING IN FEELS OKAY. I’M TRYING HERE

they’re just boys, is what I’m trying to say, I guess. just Deku and Kacchan. all the walls are down, all the gaps are bridged, and all it is is the one boy reaching out and connecting with the other, and just,,, (꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)

OH MY GOD [GRABBING YOUR SHOULDERS AND POINTING WORDLESSLY] !!!1LK1

DO YOU ALL KNOW WHAT THIS IS YOU GUYS

HOW PERFECTLY FUCKING RAD. WELL LET ME JUST ENJOY THESE LAST FEW SECONDS BEFORE MY LIFE IS FOREVER CHANGED, I GUESS

OH

MY

GOD

CAN HE EVEN SAY THAT??? IS THAT EVEN LEGAL??? IS HE EVEN FUCKING ALLOWED TO SAY THAT. WHAT IS HAPPENING

OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!

─=≡Σ((( つ ◕o◕ )つ

GET IN HERE, EVERYONE!!

Y’ALL HE REALLY DID IT. “BAKUGOU IS SUCH AN ASSHOLE HE HASN’T EVEN APOLOGIZED” WELL GUESS FUCKING WHAT. GUESS FUCKING WHAT, YOU GUYS!! LET’S FUCKING GOOOOO ((((／￣∇￣)／＼(￣∇￣＼)))) AHHHHHHHHHH

OHHHHHHHH

HEH. I’M ALREADY DEAD, HORIKOSHI, YOU BASTARD. DO YOUR WORST. GO ON

YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON “US”, HE SAYS. ALONG WITH A BUNCH OF OTHER STUFF OMG. KACCHAN, YOU STUDIED!! YOU UNDERSTAND!! PREACH!!

OH NO!!

OH WAIT!!!!

LOL I GOT SCARED THERE FOR A SECOND BUT ANYWAY! EVERYONE GET IN HERE!!! GROUP HUG!!! OR WAIT, NO, WHAT ABOUT -- [GRABS YOUR COLLAR URGENTLY] YOU DON’T THINK -- COULD THEY POSSIBLY -- !!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

ARE YOU GONNA HUG!??!?!?!?! I AM NOT OKAY!!!!!!! !!!hgk

REACTION PANELS LOL EVERYONE ELSE IS ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS TOO WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

LOL OCHAKO

I KNOW THAT IN REALITY THIS FACE IS JUST BECAUSE SHE’S CONCERNED ABOUT DEKU’S FRAGILE STATE RN, BUT I KEEP THINKING ABOUT THE WAY SHE JUST DROPPED IIDA COLD THOUGH, AND I CAN’T HELP BUT FEAR FOR KACCHAN’S SAFETY LMAO. THAT FEELING WHEN THE CLASS PERV AND THE CLASS BULLY BOTH BEAT YOU TO THE LOVE CONFESSION. KACCHAN WATCH YOUR SIX

OKAY BUT LOOK, IT’S NOT THAT I DON’T LOVE ALL OF THE OTHER KIDS, OKAY, BUT CAN WE PLEASE!??!?! HELLO?!?!? MOMO, JUST -- COULD YOU JUST FOR A MINUTE --

NOOOOOOOOOOO

“DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, I HAVE TO SAVE SOMETHING FOR THE FINALE” HORIKOSHI YOU BETTER WATCH OUT, I’M COMING FOR YOU WITH A TWO BY FOUR!! NOT THAT I’M UNGRATEFUL!! BUT JESUS CHRIST, YOU CAN’T JUST DO THAT, AND THEN ALMOST DO THAT, AND THEN NOT!! OMG I HATE YOU

sure let’s cut to Thirteen then, yay. I mean I’m glad they’re alive lol, don’t get me wrong

(ETA: I think that might have sounded a bit sarcastic so I just want to clarify that I really am happy Thirteen is alive and on the job again lol.)

it’s just that if your name doesn’t begin with Baku or Deku I honestly am not interested for just these next five minutes okay lol. like I’m just gonna be completely honest. I am too invested lol, please, they were having a moment, JUST LET ME HAVE THIS PLEASE

OH DAMN U.A. GOT SWOLE AF

THIS SCHOOL HAS BEEN JUICING WTF. I THOUGHT YOU WERE TARTARUS LOL

I’m literally not even reading the speech bubbles though omg I’m so sorry. I really hope there is not a quiz, I promise I will come back to it later scroll scroll scroll

okay so they brought him back to U.A. and he’s all tired and out of it yes

oh goody Hagakure knows all about the security system

(ETA: is it just me or is Horikoshi really laying it on thick with the hints about these two guys lately? I’m on to you sir.)

THAT’S WONDERFUL NEWS. GLAD THIS CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE IS SAFE IN THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE THAT WE TRUST

ffs Deku

WHAT WILL IT EVEN TAKE TO CONVINCE YOU THEN?? SWEET JESUS

-- holy shit, what??!

they know?? how did they find out??! holy shit???

I’m about to cancel the whole of Japan lmao. fucking try me dudes

-- THE PRINCIPAL!?

NEZU GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!! WHAT THE FUCK

“a ticking time bomb” tell you what, this man is just asking to be punched in the face. literally begging for it omg

(ETA: I have been advised that I misread this part; Rat Principal told everyone how safe U.A. was, but he’s not the one who ratted out Deku; that was “the rumors”, apparently. which, if I had to guess, were probably started by AFO.)

oh I see, so it’s to be Feels, Part II then

he looks so sad and tired and lonely and she goes right for the hand, god bless. though if Kacchan’s not gonna hug him, you’d think someone would at least. or is it because he still smells bad. hmm

AND THE CHAPTER’S ENDING ON HER LOL WELL OKAY THEN

I MEAN IT’S GREAT AND ALL, I LOVE OCHAKO REALLY I DO, BUT WE WERE PROMISED GREAT EXPLOSION MURDER GODS, WHAT GIVES SOB. I WAS ALL READY TO BREAK OUT INTO SONG AND EVERYTHING. SURE, HE DID THE APOLOGY, BUT WHERE IS THE FOLLOW-UP GODDAMMIT

(ETA: just to clarify the reason for my rambling here, I was really waiting for the hero name reveal and the presumed deeper meaning behind it lol. but I guess that is a conversation still to come! and we still need Deku’s response to the apology too for that matter. lots to look forward to still.)

WELL WHATEVER, SO THAT IS THE END OF THE CHAPTER! SHOUT OUT TO MY BOY RAT “LET ME JUST TELL EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD ABOUT DEKU’S SUPER SECRET IDENTITY, I GUESS THAT’S ALL RIGHT NOW, NOTHING BAD COULD POSSIBLY COME OF THIS” PRINCIPAL. listen here you little shit

anyway but if you’ll excuse me... IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME. IF I COULD FIND A WAY. I’D TAKE BACK THOSE WORDS THAT HAVE HURT YOU, AND YOU’D STAY. I DON’T KNOW WHY I DID THE THINGS I DID. I DON’T KNOW WHY I SAID THE THINGS I SAID. PRIDE’S LIKE A KNIFE, IT CAN CUT DEEP INSIDE. WORDS ARE LIKE WEAPONS, THEY WOUND SOMETIMES. BUM~ BUM~ BUM~, I DIDN’T REALLY MEAN TO HURT YOU. BUM~ BUM~ BUM~, I DIDN’T WANNA SEE YOU GO. I KNOW I MADE YOU CRY, BUT BABAY, IF I COULD TUUUUURN BACK TIIIIIIIIIIIME...

[the-heart-of-a-monster]

SCREAMINGGG. THE LATEST PAGE. THAT LAST PANEL. FIRST OFF: FEELS. THEY ARE FRIENDS. AHHHSDFJLSJDFLJSDLFKJSLDF. Second off: you drew that last panel in SUCH A COOL WAY I love the closeup on their eyes while simultaneously seeing them hug. Oh my gosh its just such a cool technique to convey those feelings. I love it so much, thank you for making it!!

aaah thank YOU!!!!!! ;____; im so askjhfkjsahfjasjk ahh

[ambriel-angstwitch]

My Commentary on Tim Drake: Robin

Because it’s my blog and I can do what I want

Starting off strong with the panel that made TimKon shippers go crazy

Ahhh! I love them calling eachother the Batfam it makes me happy

Then look at how small Bart looks

Small boy

A couple commentaries not connected to any particular panel but I adore the art style and I’m so happy Tim and Stephanie worked things out.

But I think Tim might have a type

TimKon shippers, TimBern Shippers and Platonic Tim and Steph fans somehow all got fed with this Pride Comic

People say Jason is the book nerd when Tim Spends this whole story recognizing and remembering the plots of detective novel not to mention he recognizes that he lost four books and figured which ones they are not to mention just the collection of book he treats like his most precious items. Like I acknowledge Jason and Jane Austen and love it but he should not be the only one joked about being a book nerd.

These clone escue thingys show up and Tim’s thoughts about them are so interesting.

I adore that even as he’s fighting them he’s saying praise for all of them, though he’s got the most for Dick. And the first read through I thought he didn’t compliment Jason and that made me sad.

Close up on Damian’s because you can’t really see it in the full page pic and the my baby brother just really got to me. I am very susceptible to Batfam moments

But Gosh even knowing they’re not his actual family it’s got to hurt to hear them confirm all his worst fears of never measuring up.

Well like father like son I guess. It’s not like Batman hasn’t figured out how to take down almost any hero he meets.

Little does Bernard know.

I love the TimBern in this. Their relationship is still developing, it’s clear that Bernard is comfortable in it from the start of the volume but Tim has his doubts of where they stand, of whether this is a good idea because he’s just dragging Bernard into his mess. But Bernard has his own messes and struggles and they can just be with eachother through all that

Tim. Timmy boy. That’s not a good thing. You should learn how to have some more self preservation, just because your family are all self sacrificing doesn’t mean it’s the healthy way to be.

Why is Superboy’s biggest fan what Tim finally responds to? Also why does Bernard call him that? Is Tim talking about him all the time? Also I love that Bernard calls him his boy wonder once again little does he know. (This is another scene I’ve seen TimKon fans go crazy for)

That’s the last picture on this post as I’ve hit the limit but the book was very good! I loved the villian, loved how they explored Tim. Love the Tim Bern. Tim coming to the realization that it’s ok not to know who he is yet is amazing. He’s figuring things out and that’s ok.

[my-name-is-jefferooni]

AND HERE WE HAVE “METAL SONIC SUFFERING” THE COMIC!

Oh my gosh, the backgrounds… As always, they are absolutely stunning! I can see why this took so long to get done. I adore each and every panel due to the hard work and effort put into all of them! Time was clearly taken to make them all look so splendid! So yeah please take a break you very much deserve it.

ALSO. CAN I JUST. TALK ABOUT. METAL AND AMY HERE??????? LIKE. OH MY GOSH. METAL HATES HIS LIFE HAHAHAHAAAAAA HE DOES NOT WANNA BE HERE AT ALL. Poor boy is in his struggle era and it is clear as day… Poor Amy is so clueless too she’s like “OMG UR ROBOT ASKED ME OUT ON A DATE” Even though it was her who asked him out on a date and he just took her up to see Eggman. Little did he know, she was a fan of Eggman and was actually happy to be there, so Eggman just took full advantage of all that. I just… Ugh I feel so bad for Metal cuz he is just absolutely suffering in these pages but AAAAAAA IT’S SO FUCCIN FUNNY WHYYYYYYYYYYY

The way he immediately perked up tho when Amy called him Sonic… I was confused at first but then remembered he was introduced as Metal Sonic and Amy not wanting to dehumanize her “New boyfriend,” decided to call him Sonic but then Eggman interjects and says he likes being called Metal better when that could not be farther from the truth and the evil genius CLEARLY KNOWS THIS AS HE DOESNT BAT AN EYE WHEN METAL LOOKS DOWN IN SHAME AND SADNESS AND OH MY GOSH WHY.

Don’t even get me started on the way Eggman treats him like a plaything in the next panel. He just looks down on Metal with a huge grin and says “We don’t want a repeat of last time, right??” And then follows that up with “You’re not needed.” LIKE. DAMN. DUDE AMY IS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE YOU DONT HAVE TO BE SO OBVIOUS ABOUT YOUR TERRIBLE PARENTING SKILLZ LIKE JESUS CHRIST THAT IS SO JUST BEYOND MEAN OMG

Poor Metal… Again his suffering is hilarious to see due to your style but at the same time it’s also kinda sad… I hope Metal eventually gets a happy ending or something which he probably won’t but a girl can dream…

Also I just. Love Amy and Eggman here. They’re amazing. Their dynamic is lovely. Will be rereading this whole issue many times tonight.

Issue 2 Vagabond Comic Part 4/?

Style change! And I am giving the middle finger to backgrounds.

Ko-Fi - ISSUE 1 START - PREVIOUS - ALL CHAPTERS - NEXT

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

hi I’m here to review the Clementine comic. it’s not good.

Does this even need an introduction? You know why I’ve gathered you all here today. You know the comic exists, and you probably know that it’s not great and we’re all upset about it. 

Myself included. I am not okay. At all. 

Skybound could’ve literally spit in my face and I’d come out feeling better than I did reading this comic, because this comic is an insult to the original Telltale games and Clementine as a character. 

This comic is a fancy fanfic. Glorified fanfiction. It’s not canon, and Skybound and Tillie can pretend that it is, but it’s not. Bold of them to assume we’d just accept this from people who didn’t work on the original games and never wrote for Clementine before, and based on this comic alone, any chance of us taking it seriously is gone. 

I’m gonna go through every single page, every panel, of this comic and give you my review. So I guess if you’re worried about spoilers [though at this point why would you?] then be warned, spoilers for the entire comic ahead. 

I also wanna add that I have nothing against Tillie Walden. I know a lot of dingdongs are harassing her on insta over this comic and that’s not okay. You telling her how much you hate her isn’t going to change anything. If anything, you keep being assholes to her and she’s just gonna block everything out, even things simply critiquing her work in hopes that it helps her improve. 

You’re allowed to be upset about the comic and share your feelings about it, but don’t take it out on the actual human being like that. Besides, like I’ve said before, if Tillie wasn’t gonna make the comic, Skybound would’ve found someone else to do. This was coming no matter what because Skybound wants that coin. 

That being said, I’m not going to hold back my opinions on this comic. Skybound and Tillie made this comic, they put it out there and asked for money for it, therefore I’m allowed to explain why it’s garbage as well as ponder over the questionable intent and whether or not Tillie actually has played these games. Y’know, it’s like how I have nothing against Kent, but sometimes he says things I disagree with and well, y’know how it goes. 

Alright, this is gonna be long, so let’s go--

The first few shots we get are of the school, two people sleeping, and Clementine’s empty bed. Nothing super note-worthy, we have no idea who is sleeping in the beds, it’s just there to establish that it’s early and everyone’s still asleep. 

The drawing of the school looks fine? Not super accurate, but I can give it a pass since it’s a few years later, I assume. What I can’t give a pass is how you managed to already mess up on the first page of your comic. 

Because..... why are you implying that Clementine’s room is upstairs? First of all, seems kinda dumb to put Clem, who has only one leg and has to walk with crutches, upstairs. Also, if you’ve played TFS and paid any attention to where her room is actually located [the dorms] then you’d know there isn’t any stairs leading to their floor. It’s the side building next to the admin building, you walk through the door, go down the hall, take a left and their dorm is right there sooo..... 

Oh right, it’s probably done this way so that we can have such a suspenseful moment where Clementine is sneaking out while the others are asleep and her foot makes a creeeeeeakk that could wake everyone up, thwarting her plans of abandoning everyone quietly so she doesn’t have to deal with any consequences. 

Because yeah, Clementine is sneaking out with all of her supplies because apparently, she’s been planning an escape from this place for a while. 

And just look at how gosh darn happy she is about it. You can’t see or hear me, but know that I’m laughing. Don’t worry, I will talk about her abandoning everyone later.

But first, I have a gripe with Clementine's design in this comic. It doesn’t look like her. This art of her right here is the most accurate we get throughout all 12 pages, and it’s the best looking, too. 

Moving on, she slams the door shut while this walker changes faces and hair between panels, so that’s cool. I will say, I like the idea of the Ericson crew putting spikes on the door. That’s fun. 

Though Clementine slamming the door shut while trying to sneak out seems counter productive but it fits with the theme this comic has of inconsistency, so it works. 

Next we have Clementine going to what I believe is the fishing shack by the river, and she’s going through some things that she’s stashed away, telling us that she’s been planning this escape for a while. 

Oh good, she has a map. Well at least now she won’t get lost out there in the woods while she makes her escape... also that last panel with her profile.... why does it look so funny? Like this page of the comic doesn’t look too bad, but there is something off putting about her eye there and how she has zero expression. 

And it turns out that rustle was a walker, and Clementine is super inconvenienced by this and gives us our first piece of witty dialogue.

Yeah you dumb walker, can’t you see Clementine is busy running away from home and abandoning all of her loved ones without a single goodbye so she doesn’t have to witness the consequences of her selfish actions?? Gosh, so rude.

Just a heads up, the dialogue in this comic is stilted, emotionless, and bland. The words have no flow, no charm, and never feel like they should be coming out of Clementine’s mouth. Then again, the upcoming graphic novels this is tied to are for young adult/middle graders so I guess we have to dumb everything down so their baby brains can process it. 

.....Why does her face look like that? Also, interesting that she decided to move her ponytail to the other side of her head.... which is a thing that happens throughout this comic, her hair will randomly change sides. 

I believe it’s a metaphor for her changing and inconsistent personality. 

So yeah, Clementine is just making off with the supplies she gathered [I’m sure Ericson doesn’t need ‘em anyway] and she’s just so gosh darn annoyed at all these small inconveniences bothering her.... because it’s just too early for this. 

.....Again, why does her face look like that?

I’m sorry, like I get it, Tillie’s style is supposed to be purposely messy yet minimal but it doesn’t work. When you do a comic in a more messy style, usually it has charm and heart put into it. Effort goes into the messy look, and when things are minimal, that usually means more clean, yeah? So you put them together and just..... that is nothing resembling Clementine’s face. 

Can we just--

Look at canon Clementine’s face. Look at the way her eyebrows are shapes, how wide her eyes are with her eye lashes. The dirt on her skin, the lines-- there is so much personality in her features. It doesn’t matter if she’s wearing a neutral expression or she’s expressing anger or joy or sorrow or whatever. 

Now, is it fair to compare a model of Clem from the games to the Clem in this comic? Well, I assume that if Tillie is doing this comic, she would use references from the game to ensure that Clementine is recognizable, especially now that she’s no longer wearing her signature hat. 

So why does she look like this? Why do I look at these drawings of her face and see nothing but a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth? You might as well draw me a simple smiley face. And I get that it’s a comic, and it’s a lot of work to draw the same character over and over again and you gotta cut corners somewhere, but maybe put some effort into the close up shots of her face so that we can actually see it’s her? 

Other fan artists have made comics in their styles that shine bright with Clementine’s personality, so what happened here? 

Anyway, surprise..... it’s not a walker annoying Clementine. 

........Why does AJ look like that??? I’m sorry, I hate to do the same thing I just did but--

Just because you put Clementine’s hat on AJ that doesn’t automatically make it him. I just.... wow. This feels like there wasn’t a single reference involved, like if someone gave Tillie a basic description of AJ and she just did this. 

But appearances aside, what is AJ saying? He says that he knew it, that Clementine’s leaving and I cannot stand this dialogue. It’s unnatural. Again, I know you wanna dumb it down for all of us because I guess we dumb.... but this conversation does not feel natural. 

“I knew it. You’re leaving.” “AJ....” “I’m coming.”

Even if you changed it to, “I’m coming with you.” it would sound more natural. Hell, he doesn’t even question WHY she’s leaving, he just stands there like “I’m coming” like??? I’m sorry, have you ever heard a single word this murder baby has said? I assume you have because I assume you actually played TFS, right? Soooo.... what happened here?

.....whY DO THEIR FACES LOOK LIEK THAT KSAJDLKJAS:LKDJLKASJD:L--

So now we’re getting into it.... into the bullshit. 

Clementine tells AJ to go back to the school, and AJ says that she wasn’t even going to say goodbye..... and then more bad dialogue that sound unnatural when you try to fucking read it. 

First off.... AJ’s reaction to Clementine attempting to leave is barely anything. Again, I hate to keep questioning if you actually played TFS, but AJ would throw a fucking fit if he caught Clementine out here ALONE like this, attempting to leave. 

And then he says “Like last time? You were going to come back?” this sentence makes my brain hurt. I just.... “Like last time, right? You’re coming back?” UGH

Wow, I feel nothing. 

I’m sitting here watching these two imposters with fucked up faces who are supposed to be Clementine and AJ and I feel nothing. 

I’m not even going to comment on the faces anymore. You can see it. You know. 

So yeah... AJ tells her the #1 rule, and reminds her that she promised.

Y’know.... she promised that she would never leave him again? Remember? At the McCarroll ranch? That flashback that was in TFS? The one you would watch if you played the game? 

Why is she looking straight at me when she should be looking at AJ as she says this? Is this Clementine’s way of telling me she’s sorry for what a shitty direction this is taking? I wouldn’t know because her face isn’t doing anything. Just because you draw a couple of tears that doesn’t mean I’m feeling the emotional heartbreak you’re attempting to convey. 

I don’t have enough middle fingers for this.

Well, my hat’s off to you. Ya did it. Ya fucked up everything single part of Clementine’s character in the span of two pages, I’m almost impressed. 

First off, the baby thing is weird. Why is she calling him that? She’s never called him that, which you should know.

Second, she’s not happy and that’s why she’s leaving. Clementine isn’t happy, and AJ can’t make her happy. Ericson can’t make her happy. So she’s going to go out on the road to.... what, be unhappy by herself? 

I’m sorry, but apparently we need a few reminders here of who Clementine is, because this isn’t her. 

This is Clementine. 

Clementine fought for years to find a home, something she hasn’t had since she was an eight-year-old girl before the apocalypse. The motor-inn wasn’t a home, the cabin wasn’t home, the ski-lodge, Howe’s, Wellington, Richmond, Prescott, none of them were home. 

She struggled for years, dealing with trauma after trauma while out on the road. She went from group to group, watching people she cared about die and she was powerless to do anything about it. Whenever she let her guard down and become comfortable, it bit in her in the ass and left her heartbroken.

She was there when AJ was born. She grew close to Rebecca while she was pregnant, she let herself do that even after everything she went through with Christa. Clementine had a bond with AJ even before he was born, and after Rebecca died, she did what she could to keep him safe, despite play choice. 

She cried when she thought AJ died and when she found him in that car again. She swore to protect him, to raise him right and love him. All they had was each other. 

And when she joined the new frontier and AJ got sick, she risked everything to save him and she was devastated when they took him away from her. When she found out he was alive, she is willing to go as far as helping Lingard overdose [INJECTING HIM HERSELF IF SHE HAS TO] to figure out his location. She did shitty things to find him, she killed people at McCarroll Ranch to find him again. 

Clementine raised him and he is her family, do you understand that? She went to hell and back for him, she taught him how to protect himself, and even though she made mistakes she sacrificed everything for him. She promised him that they would have a home of their own one day, she talked about how much she wished for a world where she didn’t have to worry about fighting and killing and AJ could just be a happy kid. 

She fought for Ericson, she watched her friends die or become mutilated by someone from her past. She allowed herself to be vulnerable enough to pursue a romantic relationship with Louis or Violet because she felt safe with them, felt safe at Ericson because it’s their home now. 

And when Clementine was bit, she thought she was going to die but she still fought to make sure AJ would be safe and happy without her and it was heartbreaking. She’s dying and the only thing she cares about is AJ. Not herself, not what’s going to happen to her after she dies or turns... no, she tries to make AJ smile again, she makes sure he remembers the rules, and she tells him that she loves him. 

Then he cuts off her leg, and she survives. AJ saved her fucking life, and she got to wake up at home and live to see her family again. She got to push AJ on a tire swing, she got to eat a hot meal and laugh with her friends, she got to make plans with her lover/best friend for what’s next for Ericson, and she got to talk to AJ and tell him the truth... and she asked him if she did a good job, and he’s honest with her right back. 

Hell, she tells him to keep her hat. Her iconic hat. The one thing she has left of her father, possibly her more cherished item. She lets him keep it. 

The last time we see Clementine, she’s happy. She’s sitting on the steps by herself, staring at her family with such fondness in her eyes and a smile on her face because she finally did it. She finally found a home where she can breathe. She has a bed to sleep in, she has AJ with her, she has a boyfriend/girlfriend who loves her and who she loves back, she has friends she can rely on. 

Clementine smiles, and lets out a small laugh. 

She doesn’t have to run anymore. 

And now you have the balls to tell me that AJ and Ericson don’t make Clementine happy anymore. 

She abandons everything to go back out on the road again, and that’s proof enough for me that you don’t understand a damn thing about Clementine or her journey. 

“ I don't even know the person I'm talking about... It's like all we have in common is the same name.” 

....Anyway.

Wow, Clementine found a car and kept is stashed. How lazy and convenient for this bullshit plot. 

And this is the part where I have to tell this comic to fuck off. 

What, you think if you throw in an incredibly inaccurate flashback next to a current pair of hugging Clem and AJ that I’ll feel anything but anger? That flashback is a slap to the face. It’s snowing, but the only time we’ve seen snow is in S2 when AJ was a literal new born, so why is he that big? Is that supposed to be from ANF because that ALSO doesn’t look like that AJ, and that’s not the outfit Clementine had on... AND there was no snow. This is cheap and meaningless. 

Any fan of the series who has played through the games could tell you this. 

So.... AJ runs into the woods and then we get this garbage.

This comic is awful. It misses the point of everything TFS, and the rest of the series, stood for. There is no heart here. I feel no happiness in reading it, and I don’t detect any passion behind it. It’s a lifeless comic that retcons everything in order to throw AJ away and start fresh with a new adventure for Clementine that makes no sense because the cow isn’t profitable unless it’s milked. 

This isn’t canon, and it won’t ever be canon, and honestly? At this point, I have no faith in the graphic novel trilogy. It will take a lot to do a turn around from this, and I don’t even know if that’s possible. 

Again, to reiterate, I don’t have anything personal against Tillie Walden herself. She’s just doing her job, and from what I’ve seen of her as a person, she seems like a sweetheart. I don’t want anyone giving her shit because I think the comic isn’t good or that you agree with me. All of my anger is directed at the comic itself, her work, not specifically her.... and a little bit at Skybound, because they’re the reason this is even a thing in the first place. 

So yeah.... there ya have it. 

[hello-vampire-kitty]

Servamp chapter 104 "Gambit"

Hello everyone! I mentioned that it would take me a while to translate this chapter because it was quite long and I also had to do something for another fandom, but, it's done!

After you read the chapter, please look at the translations notes. Some I was able to write on a few pages, but there are things that required more explanation. READ CHAPTER HERE

Hello everyone! I mentioned that it would take me a while to translate this chapter because it was quite long and I also had to do something for another fandom, but, it's done!

After you read the chapter, please look at the translations notes. Some I was able to write on a few pages, but there are things that required more explanation.

Gosh, I hope that wherever Hugh is taking Tetsu, he can do something to help him ;;

So we have a continuation of the flashback when Niccolo and Ildio met. I wrote on the 3rd page about how Ildio said "employer".

The word is written 雇い主 and it's used as the furigana reading while the kanji reading is 主人 which means "master", which is used when the word "Eve" is mentioned.

-C3 members are having a meeting and Tsurugi is making paper airplanes from the documents xD

Those 2 characters that appeared in the early chapters are also there! We never got much details about them like their names or what they do at C3.

Also, for a while, I think many believed that the girl was a robot made by Iduna...

Maybe Tanaka will give more details about those characters.

Page 8 In the panel where it shows Yumi and Tsurugi, I'm not sure, so it's just my interpretation for their expressions.

Sigurd said "internal conflict", which is written like this 内輪もめ and Yumikage also said the word but, the way he said was written only in hiragana うちわもめ, and this reminded me of some other cases where for example, if there are some complex words being used and a character that might be unfamiliar with the word or they barely used it conversations, I saw that they when they spoke the word, it would be simplified in hiragana or katakana sometimes, without kanji and I'm guessing that could have been the case here. Tsurugi said that he didn't understood what he said, I think the words that Sigurd used were perhaps too pretentious, this is my assumption.

Next, I have some notes for the panel where they show the images of Iori, Touma, Tooru and Jun. You might have seen these in anime/manga, you can see that Iori and Touma have crosses and Tooru and Jun have triangles, in Japan they are for rating.

Triangle (sankaku), can mean "weak", "average" or "in progress", partially OK.

Crosses (batsu) can mean "wrong", "not good", 'unavalible" in this case it can imply that something is "dead".

ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN! Or Yetis, depending on your preference.

Page 9

I think that Sigurd might be German and that's why I wrote his names with the German spellings that I have found.

I hope that when Tanaka writes his name, it will be Sigurd and not Siegfried, I mean if they wanted to have his name written like the latter it should have been ジークフリート. Sigurd is the name of the hero from Norse mythology and that's why I use this one because of the many names Tanaka sensei used a lot of names from Norse mythology.

Another name for which we don't know how it's supposed to be spelled is the name of Sigurd's translator, Pisca.

Tanaka actually wrote on their Twitter that his name was misspelled and this will be corrected in the next volume of the manga.

In the chapter published in the magazine, his name was written ビスカ (Bisca), but it's actually ピスカ (Pisca) or it could be Piska...

I haven't the origin of this name, if someone heard it before, tell me!

His last name, I thought at first it was supposed to spell "Brownie", like the cake, but that's actually written as ブラウニー

So yeah, until Tanaka writes his name, I will use Pisca Browny.

Page 13

One thing that I can't say for sure what it means, and I don't know who was talking in the small speech bubble in the second bubble where it says 同期型 which means "synchronous type" and my assumption is that it is referring to Sigurd's ability.

Page 17

We are introduced a new character, Tsukimitsu Shirayuki, the mother of Iori, Miyako and Yumikage. Her name means "snow-white" and she was the former manager for the C3 branch in Tokyo.

Page 18

Honestly, I don't know what Tsurugi and Yumi were reffering to..

Tsurugi said the word 流れ which has a lot of meanings, but the general meaning is "flow", such as the flow of water or passage of time, and it can also mean trend.

Among its other meanings I have found "course of events", "procedure", "process", although I mostly have seen this word used with the former meanings...Thus, I thought, what could have Tsurugi been referring to with the meanings from the latter, and my assumption is that given that Sigurd said that the idea of leaving matters to the Servamps was foolish, it could be that Tsurugi and Yumi were recalling the fact that they went trough this before, as in, being against the vampires, but now they will have to rely on them and cooperate with the ones that also want to stop Tsubaki.

Page 20

Sigurd's face betrays what he said about Iori and Touma...

Page 21

I know it's not confirmed, but if Tsurugi is Gear's descendant, I hope they are actually related. Maybe there was a special case for Gear and had children and it wasn't the other cases trough which ancestors from the Kamiya family got powers.

I would love to have Tsurugi call Gear "grandpa" XD "Grandpuppy" as I called him in another post.

Page 25

Shirayuki-san called Sigurd a fool/idiot. Savage!

Hoo, boy, this chapter! I hope the notes are helpful!

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X13

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Oh my gosh! Wow! There’s so much to say about this episode. I'm so glad that Meredith woke up and appears to be on the mend. As much as I loved the beach, I am ready for Meredith to rejoin society and the land of the living and get back to doing what she does best! I'm glad that Meredith got closure and that we as fans got closure too not just with Derek but with George as well. The beach wedding scene was perfect and the dialogue throughout was great.

I laughed out loud multiple times and Meredith and Derek’s scenes were both funny and bittersweet. I particularly liked Meredith and Derek's lines about how Meredith hates weddings, but Ellis hates the Post It Note story and wishes they had a big wedding. That she would give her that big wedding if she could. I felt like she was also saying she would give Derek that big wedding if she could. I also loved their conversation about Amelia. Derek told her what she needed to hear. Sometimes losing someone close to you at a young age makes you stronger and sometimes it turns you into Amelia.

Amelia has grown so much, but she spent most of her life a mentally unstable drug and alcohol addicted mess spiralling out of control in large part because she witnessed the brutal murder of her father at the age of five. And that’s not to say that Derek wasn’t just as screwed up by what happened to their Dad. He like Amelia became a neurosurgeon always chasing the high. He stayed in a loveless marriage he hated and when Addison cheated on him with Mark he moved to Seattle where he pretended to be single and pursued a relationship with Meredith.

Even after he and Meredith got together, he lied and cheated and repeated that pattern over and over again. First with Nurse Rose and then with Renee his research fellow in D.C. Derek could be selfish, cruel, hypocritical, and jealous. While Amelia’s scars and trauma were more obvious and blatant Derek was just as affected as she was it just showed up differently. Derek makes it clear he does not want that for Zola, Bailey, and Ellis and after talking to him Meredith realizes that she doesn’t either.

I loved seeing Meredith talk about how well Amelia is doing and Derek saying, “I know!” From the moment Derek on the beach I had a feeling they were going to talk about Amelia and the kids and all of that and I’m glad they did. One of my favourite moments of the episode was when Meredith told Derek that Ellis hates the Post It Note story and wishes they had a big wedding and Derek said, "She gets that from my mother!" I loved that they showed Ellis’ drawing on the fridge when Maggie is talking to Winston on the phone.

I love that Meredith and Derek got their beach wedding like Derek talked about in Season 5 when he made Meredith a bed in front of the fireplace. She went from never wanting to get married to marrying Derek on a Post It Note, getting legally married at the court house so that they could adopt Zola, and then marrying him on the beach in her COVID dream and giving Derek and Ellis the big wedding he always wanted and the one Ellis dreams of. So beautiful. I’m glad that they got closure and that Meredith decided to go back and that she knows Derek will be waiting for her when she’s ready, when it’s her time. When she’s old and senile and smelly just like they promised.

But now is not that time. She has kids to raise. Patients to treat. Sisters, friends, and family that need her. And a certain Irish doctor who would very much like to take her for a drink once she’s feeling better. I loved that Meredith realized through talking to Derek that even though her body was tired her soul was still fighting and that she needed to go back to her life. I loved her scene with Zola when she woke up and said, "We love you so much," meaning both her and Derek. That Mommy and Daddy love her so much and that’s why Meredith came back. She gave up on an afterlife with Derek to be with her children, friends, and family in the real world. That was so beautiful.

I loved Maggie's talk with Zola. I love that she took what Catherine gave her about screaming out your feelings and used it to help Zola who has been through so much express her emotions in a healthy way. I really felt Zola's heartbreak and how much she missed her Mom and Dad. I'm glad that Maggie decided to take Zola to visit Meredith. It was risky, but it paid off. The set department did a great job with Zola’s room. When she’s sitting on her bed crying you can see the photo of Meredith and Derek holding her at her first birthday party. You can also see a sock monkey that she had at the dream house.

The slop of the roof indicates that her room is in the attic. At last we saw it Lexie was living in there and Mark was visiting her while they were sneaking around, and it was an unfinished space with wood panelling. It appears that since that time as her family expanded Meredith had the attic finished and turned into a proper bedroom for Zola. We don’t know how big the attic is so it’s possible that there are more rooms up there or that there are more rooms upstairs than what we’ve seen.

I'm glad that Derek was there for Meredith in her time of need and helped her find the will to fight even though she was exhausted. I'm interested to see what's next for Meredith. If we'll see her being discharged in the coming weeks or if they will do a time jump. Will we see her at home with the kids first or back at work? Will her and Hayes finally have that drink? If so, how soon? I want to know more! I’m excited to see Maggie tell her about her engagement to Winston and see her meet Winston properly and get to know him. I’m also excited for what I’m sure will be an emotional scene when she thanks Amelia and Link for taking care of her kids while she’s been sick.

I’m also expecting some very emotional scenes with Richard and Bailey. I’m interested to see how they will address DeLuca’s death. I’d also like to see Jackson’s reaction when he returns from his most recent quest and finds out that Meredith has woken up and is doing better. I’d also like to see someone notify Cristina, Alex, Arizona, Callie, and April that Meredith is doing better. I can’t wait to see Hayes’ reaction to finding out that Meredith is on the mend! My heart!

Now let us turn our attention to the other shenanigans that were going on at Grey Sloan Memorial this week while Meredith was busying getting closure with Derek and waking up. We saw Teddy back at work trying her best to move forward. I was glad to see that she found a therapist that works for her even though it has to be virtual due to the pandemic. I'm glad that Owen was there for her. She really needs a friend right now and as Owen said previously, he's well placed to be that person. I like that he backed her up, but also pointed out that she would be destroyed if something went wrong with Meredith. That lead to her paging Winston to scrub in with her which I think was the right call.  

I think Owen did the right thing by rejecting her kiss but choosing to stay with her and let her cry and breakdown. She needs the support right now and while I’m not usually an Owen fan I think he did a good job supporting her this episode. I also really felt for him when he lost a patient he thought they were going to be able to discharge and struggled to tell the family. As he says to Teddy, they did this all the time during the way, but this is different. They are losing patients on a level that they’ve never experienced before, and they can’t even take a moment to catch their breath because they have more patients to treat and pronounce.

My heart breaks for the real life doctors and nurses who are dealing with stuff on a daily basis. It’s so hard. On a lighter note, I really loved Amelia and Link's patient storyline this week. It was funny and interesting, and it was great to see Amelia back in the OR. While it was wrong of Amelia to steal Link’s patient and I think she did overstep I understand why she was so eager to get back into the OR and she was right about what was wrong with the guy.

I understood Link’s anger and frustration, but I also appreciated that he understood Amelia and was there to support her and build her up. I like that he brought in Tom and had him on standby, but also showed complete confidence in Amelia. His line about how Amelia always likes to raise the stakes was hilarious and accurate. Another scene I loved was when Amelia and Link were leaving the hospital and Link thought she was using sexual innuendo and then she clarified that she needed to get home because her boobs felt like they were going to burst, and she needed to either pump or breastfeed. That one cracked me up!

We also saw some amazing acting by Caterina Scorsone when upon arriving home and finding Link’s parents looking after Bailey and Ellis, they rushed to the hospital thinking something was wrong with Meredith. Amelia was riding high from the surgery that day and when she thought Meredith had gotten worse, she panicked only to realize that Meredith’s condition hadn’t changed. Her sobbing and desperation as she said over and over again that she really needed Meredith to live were gut wrenching. Caterina did an amazing job.

I also really liked Bailey and Levi’s patient storyline. The peanut butter brittle woman who took up roller skating was the best! She was funny and helped Bailey see that you need to rest and also follow your joy. The scenes where the woman gave Levi the brittle and then he was smelling it made me laugh! As a result of treating that patient Bailey decided to reverse her earlier decision and let Jo switch specialities. While I’m not on board with that storyline I'm glad that Bailey decided to support Jo in following her joy. Making someone stay in a role they don't like will only make them resent you and make everyone involved unhappy.

That being said, I hate this career switching storyline. It’s so dumb. I've realized with this episode that my opinion on this storyline isn't ever going to change. If they use it as a segue for Jo adopting Luna that could be interesting, but watching Jo leave general surgery behind and re-specialize in OBGYN so she can stand on the sidelines while all the other characters do ground breaking work and cool procedures just seems dumb to me. I am not invested in this storyline at all.

Levi and Jo have great comedic timing which was on full display in this episode. Jackson was MIA this episode because he went roaring off on another one of his quests leaving the person he’s dating in the lurch and telling them about it after the fact. He took a leave of absence from work and then left Maggie a voicemail back in Season 15 telling her he needed some time to think and then went camping in the woods to look at trees which lead to him talking to April and texting a woman he met on this trip behind Maggie’s back. He then left her in the fog on a dark road in an area with bears at the end of Season 15.

Now he’s left Jo to go on an unknown quest that’s 11 hours away. When did Jackson become the guy that just vanishes at random to go do whatever the heck he wants? I was surprised that Nico asked Levi to move in with him at the end of the episode. That was not at all the answer that Levi was expecting so I understand why he ran off and said he promised Jo he'd do a movie night with her. Levi wanted to move in with Nico last season and Nico didn't want that, but instead of just saying that outright he dodged the topic and was a real jerk about it. That resulted in them breaking up and Levi moving in with Jo.

They only got back together because of the pandemic and in the intervening time Levi has grown as a person and no longer wants that kind of a relationship with Nico. When he told him that him leaving his bathroom bag at his place didn't mean he was going to move in with him he was being sincere. He just didn't want to have to keep carting his toothbrush back and forth all the time. In response Nico realized he's always running away from what scares him and pushing people away when they get too close and he wants to fix that, so he asked Levi to move in with him.

Therein lies their problem. They're never on the same page. When Levi wanted to move forward and take that next step Nico didn't want to. Now that Nico wants to move forward and take the next step Levi is no longer interested. What a dilemma. I also noticed that Jo and Levi had very similar outfits at the beginning of this episode. You know you’re becoming good friends with someone when you start unconsciously matching outfits.

Onto the next episode’s promo! We see Jackson driving in the rain, showing up on someone’s doorstep talking to himself about how his appearance might seem impulsive, but he has thought it through. The door opens to reveal April who is holding Harriet in between clips of his and April’s relationship. I have a few theories about this. First off, I think they are faking us out. If there was trouble in paradise and things weren’t going well with April and Matthew, they wouldn’t have had Jackson make a comment in the first half of the season about how Matthew is spending more time with Harriet then he and April are because they are taking more COVID shifts.

April is a deeply religious Christian woman whose faith is really important to her. She was vehemently opposed to getting a divorce even though her relationship with Jackson was clearly over because of her faith. Marriage is not something she takes lightly so I have a hard time seeing her divorce Matthew out of the blue because Jackson shows back up and is in crisis when her and Matthew have been together for the past three seasons and have been married for two.

Also, they are raising two children together and co-parenting one of those kids with Jackson. A lot of court services were shut down in the first few months of the pandemic for safety reasons which made it difficult to get a divorce and this episode takes place in June of 2020. So even if April and Matthew split up they couldn’t legally get a divorce very easily at this time and if April and Jackson got back together they would still have to interact with Matthew on a regular basis because they are co-parenting kids together and there’s no way that April would walk away from Ruby.

The only way I could see April and Jackson getting back together is if Matthew has died or fallen ill somehow. Otherwise I just don’t see it. I think they’re faking us out. I think the clips in the promo are there to entice japril fans and play into that because logistically I don’t see how a storyline in which April and Matthew suddenly divorce and April and Jackson get back together in one episode is possible.

Until next time!

[erik-the-creator-mainblog]

This is quite possibly now my favorite comic of all time! HOLY SHIT THE PROGRESSION!!!! YOU CAPTURE THE EMOTION OF THE AUDIO PERFECTLY!!!! AND THE WAY YOU GO FROM GREY SCALE TO RED, THEN RED AND BLUE! AND THE SPACE LOOK! AND SHERLOCK GETTING FURTHER AWAY!!!!

Okay, I'm putting the rest under a "read more" because I go on for A While

AAAAAAAAAAA DUDE IT ROCKS!!!!

Okay, now for more coherent thoughts. First of all, your use of the panels is flawless. It perfectly creates the pacing, the emphasis. It's so seamless that I hardly noticed it, if that makes sense. My eyes glided across the pages (in a good way!) because each panel did exactly what it needed to do. It kept the pace of how long I looked at a thing really well, I love the little super close up panels. Those add little pauses, to take in the moment. Even when you can only see a little of the face, the emotion still comes through. Like the close up on John at the bottom of page one, or the one of Sherlock in the top of page three.

AND THE COLORS! I love love LOVE how you introduce the idea of the colors on the second page. With squares that are colored red, coloring Sherlock underneath. In the page where he feels so detached from the world and to himself! That is genius! Establishing the color coding in the same panel where he talks about that, so it hits harder when you use it when really diving into thing a few pages later!!!!

And page three! So cool how you now have the world still in Grey scale, BUT NOW ITS SHERLOCK'S SPEECH BUBBLES THAT ARE RED! BUT JOHN'S ARE STILL GREY! So freaking cool!

Oh my gosh, and I'm only just now noticing that on the fourth page where we're looking down at sherlock, and John's back is turned away from us, the background has become black. Like the environment is falling away.

OMG AND WHEN JOHN REACHES FOR SHERLOCK'S HAND! AND HIS HAND IS SLIGHTLY RED, AND JOHN'S IS BECOMING BLUE. WHILE HIS SPEECH BUBBLE TURNS BLUE!! AND WHEN THEY CONNECT THE COLORS BECOME VIBRANT!!!

AND THE NEXT PAGE HAS THEM HOLDING HANDS, BUT YOU CAN SEE ALL OF THEM!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAA

And I am absolutely losing my shit about this next part. Ooooooh man strap in my dude. I am about to go nuts.

So the flashback!!! I love how you can tell so much without even showing the principal! Like, how on earth did you pull that off so perfectly?! That is so incredible! The door and the light it casts is so simple, and that's why it works. You imply it with such simple shapes. So cool!

Sherlock let go of John's hand! 🥺 and the door is between them! And the way! That he sits on the ground! With his back to John! When he talks about how the principal came into his room and cried! AND THE STRING FROM HIS SPEECH BUBBLE GOES AROUND HIM LIKE THAT! MAKING HIM FEEL EVEN MORE ISOLATED!!!! 🥺😭😭😭

And the fact that in that one single panel, we get to see the young Sherlock of back then, half illuminated by the light of the door opening. Still in bed, but sat up. Somehow, that makes him look so much more vulnerable. The one wide eye. Holy crap. It's incredible how much you express even with so little as a half of a face.

Oh my gosh! And when John says that he was just a kid, and that swirling nebula of space and stars and dark matter is creeping up his arm.

And that in the next one, it almost looks like it's trying to pull him back. Away from how he's holding John's hand and shoulder!!! And the fact that the pose reminds me of slow dancing 🥺 AND THE SPEECH BUBBLES! Once again, the line connecting two is swirled around Sherlock, and the first one is the spiky kind for exclamations! And the way the last one is also spiky, but now the background is dark and the words are red! Which makes, "I ruined one man's life, and now I must ruin another," HIT SO MUCH HARDER!

And the colors for that page! Sherlock is illuminated in red, John in blue, but the red is so bright that it is overshadowing John.

And in the next page, it's purposefully segmented via the panels. The swirling colors overtake the background.

Every detail and design choice is deliberate and I can feel the care put into every single one. And the punch of the final panel of that page being Grey scale again after all that color. Holy crap. AND THE FACT THAT NOW THEIR OUTLINES ARE RED AND BLUE!!!! OMG!!!! I even looked back again the first page to make sure, and yep! That's new! I love how John ended up laying down next to Sherlock

And I love how in the next page, you cut off their faces from sight with the speech bubbles at the top, so the focus is on their arms and hands. It's such a cool choice. Sherlock sort of clutching at his chest as he talks about the scar, and how John is holding one of his arms. Noticeably, it's his left hand holding his right arm, so its going towards Sherlock, rather than away.

And the way they both hold one end of the page is great! And Sherlock turns towards John to ask about his dad.

AND THE FINAL PAGE! OMG THE FINAL PAGE

Once again, the background is dark and full of stars. They're still in bed, but now they're both turned towards each other! "The Gloria Scott," they both say. But the speech bubbles are colored outline in color text! Inverse of what you've done for most of the comic! So once again, it hits even harder!!!!

THIS IS EXPERT CRAFTSMANSHIP!!!!!!! The use of color and formatting is amazing. Perfect pacing, you communicate everything you need to. So much nuance you added to the audio with the addition of visuals. You elevated the emotion! It's truly beautiful. A work of art. I am so honored that I get to bare witness to this. Holy crap it's amazing. I've done a little research into making comics. I know a little of the basic concepts, so seeing you nail every detail was mind-blowing. Even the speech bubbles help guide the eye to the next part. It's a smooth read. Incredible work. You should be so proud of yourself. You did amazing

THE GLORIA SCOTT - part 2, and a follow up to my comic for the first half of this scene! thanks sm to @crashingmeteorz for allowing me to source validation for my whimsical cosmic approach to this moment <3

[amaya-chwan]

Takeaways from Therapy Game: Restart Chapter 11

Oh gosh, hello everyone! Thank you for being so patient with this chapter’s takeaways! I was really busy at work since I took on a new position, and then I was so engrossed in reading a super long novel (read: TGCF and that amazingness that is HuaLian) that it just took up a lot of my time the past couple of weeks! 😭❤️💛

I hope you are all well! This chapter was actually a nice little break from the drama themes we’d been used to reading, so let’s get to it!

Our takeaways for this chapter include:

Late night date at the communal bathhouse!! ✅😏😍

Honestly, Shizuma and Minato’s communication with each other is really goals! Such a healthy relationship! 🥰

Minato has really grown more and more over the course of TGR so far, I am living for it! Proud of you, bb! 😭❤️💛 

Almost NFSW scene 🔞 at the bathhouse has got me CACKLING! 🤣 Ngl, I love the tender moments they have before the NSFW begins, and this, my dear readers, is a lot of tender, wholesome, loving moments!

Ngl, Shizuma with slicked back hair is divine! 😍

GOOD GAWD THEIR REACTION when ^*^ 🤣

The ending of this chapter just 👀

I SWEAR, EVERY DANG TIME, THESE DORKS ARE TOO ADORABLE FOR THEIR OWN GOOD! 🤣😍🥰❤️💛

And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! For a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter--and if you want to know what the ^*^ is--please continue after the cut! As always, I promise there are a few surprises in this summary!  😉✨

The cover page for this chapter has Minato crouching down with an umbrella in hand, with the caption: You came to see me. Just that act alone, warms me up from the heart (outwards).

The opening panel brings us to a public bathhouse, where some elderly gentlemen are blushingly staring at Minato who is currently rinsing himself off before he heads to the communal bath and says “This feels great...”

The gentlemen make commentary in the background, saying “It’s rare to see the youth here~”, “Does that youth have white* hair? (*in this case, probably platinum blond)”, “It’s bleached, BLEACHED!”, “My grandchild bleaches their hair too!”

Shizuma can obviously hear them, and he awkwardly thinks to himself that he and MInato are being stared at. Shizuma then thinks that Minato doesn’t really have an impression of what being at a public bathhouse is like since he is really carefree while rinsing. Minato takes a peek at Shizuma, and Shizuma smirks back. Minato grabs the back of this neck in an almost “I’m feeling a little awkward/shy” fashion.

Flashback: We return on the scene from last chapter (so probably timeline-wise, less than an hour or two beforehand), where Minato and Shizuma are together under the umbrella in the rain. Minato sneezes and is starting to feel the coldness in the air. Shizuma worriedly asks if he is okay and suggests taking Minato home first. Looking slightly dejected, Minato asks if they’re really going home now, to which Shizuma responds by saying “Of course we are. Your clothes are drenched. If you stay like this any longer, you really will catch a cold.”

Minato has a lightbulb moment and suggests going to the public bathhouse. The condition of entry for the bath house is that those who have a tattoo might be asked to present some form of ID and that the bathhouse owners have the right to refuse entry. Minato asks the elderly reception lady if she needs to see his ID, showing her his snake tattoo on his ankle. She laughs, saying that there’s nothing to worry about if his tattoo is just that “earthworm” (she doesn’t see it as a snake). She’s more concerned that he is drenched and tells him to take his wet clothes off and use the dryer, and to warm himself up in the bath by submerging his whole body up to his shoulders! Shizuma looks on lovingly on the side.

Back to the present time. Minato sits down next to Shizuma in the bath, getting used to the temperature of the water and starts to relax. Shizuma looks over and seems to think Minato won’t catch that cold anymore. He recalls what Minato said to him and how he wasn’t able to hear it due to the rain, and wonders what Minato could be hiding from him. Minato picks up on Shizuma’s staring and proceeds to tell him that he’d also feel uncomfortable with being constantly stared at by Shizuma. Shizuma then apologises to him, thinking that they haven’t been able to look at each other face-on since arriving at the bathhouse. He deduces that it’s because he failed to make it for their house tour appointment, so of course Minato should be angry.

Minato, without knowing what’s going on in Shizuma’s mind, blurts aloud that his body has grown stiff from sitting around all day and didn’t know whether to go home or not due to Shizuma’s lack of messages. Looking upset, Shizuma tells Minato that there was an emergency situation that occured right before he was leaving, and while he was able to help with the situation, he could not make the time to message Minato. He apologises again since Minato was looking forward to it.

Minato says it’s fine already, that Shizuma has been doing nothing but apologise lately. Shizuma agrees, saying that that’s all he’s being doing lately and he’s no good as a boyfriend. Minato, crouching over the side of the bath railing, says to Shizuma that that’s not what he wanted him to say, and that Shizuma hasn’t done anything wrong at all.

Flashback again: Minato is hastily walking towards Shizuma’s car, angry that Shizuma hasn’t messaged him at all and that since that dream he had at the cafe, he hasn’t been able to stop worrying about him. When he sees Shizuma’s car, he realises he must still be at the hospital and thinks he might be doing random odd-jobs again, or worse, he might be getting all friendly with the nurses. And if so, Minato won’t speak to him for a couple of days.

Minato then notices the two women walking out of the clinic in tears so he hides behind the car. While they talk about Hana-chan and how professional and personable Shizuma is as a resident vet, Minato eavesdrops and blames them for Shizuma staying back late. But the more he listens to the women being thankful everything went okay and Shizuma assuaged their fears, he is reminded how great of a vet Shizuma is.

Back to the present. Minato tells Shizuma he saw the two women and understands why he missed the appointment. He once told Shizuma to be a great vet (re: see side story in TG) while he himself realised he wasn’t ready for what that meant for Shizuma’s personal life. Minato then tells Shizuma that he’s helping all these people without him (Minato) knowing about it, that he’s falling in love with Shizuma all over again even though he’s been stood up on a date, and that he is (jokingly, I assume) annoyed by this feeling. Blushing, Minato looks over at a stunned Shizuma.

Having said all that, Minato pats Shizuma on the head, telling him he’s done well! Shizuma is still silent and stunned, and Minato gets a little flustered with the lack of response, almost as if Shizuma was coaxing those words from Minato. Shizuma says that while he’s happy that the puppies are okay and he was able to reassure the owners, Minato’s words just then made him feel the happiest all day, and flashes a really darling smile! Shizuma thanks him.

The elderly gentlemen begin to walk out, noticing Shizuma is grinning from ear to ear. They make small talk, and the gentlemen tell Shizuma to warm up!

Minato is also taken aback with the happiness overflowing from Shizuma’s expression. Shizuma notices Minato in a little bit of a daze and comes up close to him. When asked if he is having a hot flash, Minato pushes Shizuma away, saying he’s too close. Seeing the lack of people, Shizuma says they’re the only ones in the baths right now. Blushing again, Minato asks Shizuma if he’d like to be rewarded for working hard, to which Shizuma happily responds with “I wanna do it!” Minato agrees, reminding Shizuma to mind his manners since it’s a communal bath.

Things get a bit steamy between Shizuma and Minato, with Minato thinking he’s seen more of the adorable side of Shizuma today. They exchange words of arousal while Shizuma kisses and touches Minato all over.

Minato then teases Shizuma by calling him a “bad” vet. Just as they get more and more into it, one more guy comes out of the bath next to them, rinses his body and leaves, just like that. Both stunned at the thought that someone was there, they laugh! (^*^ moment)

Shizuma and Minato are now walking along the street, looking at the star-filled night sky. Shizuma says he was really looking forward to the house tour, but Minato says it’s okay since their house tour date became a bathhouse date. Being all pouty and cute, Minato asks Shizuma: “Well, either one of these dates would’ve been fine as long as we’re together, right?”

Shizuma grabs his heart, asking what’s up with Minato for him to be so adorable today. Minato says he’s assumed the role of an adorable person so that they can have a heated and passionate round of lovemaking when they get home, which Shizuma finds quite sly.

Shizuma once again asks Minato about what he said in the car park, reminding him that he doesn’t have to talk about it if he doesn’t want to. Minato says it’s nothing for Shizuma to worry about, that he’s not enduring it out of pride or anything. Remembering Shizuma’s joyful face when he told him those words of encouragement, Minato says: “(Inner monologue) Putting my feelings into words, those nightmares that I’ve grown tired of, and my anxieties, (aloud) with just your stupidly adorable smiling face, you blow away all the unpleasantness and dislikes I have. So Shizuma-kun, smile.” Shizuma shoots him a smile and understands what he’s saying, and Minato responds with “Hn, good boy.”

Still walking to Shizuma’s car, Minato reminds Shizuma not to show his adorable smiling face to anyone else. Shizuma awkwardly smiles and says he doesn’t, wondering where Minato got this idea from. They continue to talk about the bathhouse and how nice it was that the receptionist let Minato use the dryer. Shizuma then remembers he left his boxers to dry in the staff room at the hospital!

He stops by the hospital with Minato, who has no idea why he’s had to go back to the hospital right now. He assures Minato that it isn’t anything big, but is actually freaking out on the inside, afraid another staff member might see it (and yes, Onodera did see it in a previous panel). He leaves Minato in the car and runs over to collect his boxers. Minato smirks while seeing Shizuma knocking on the door to gain entry, but is slightly taken aback when he sees that the person who opens the door is Shizuma’s director, a woman.

And that’s it for this chapter! Everything was going so smoothly in this chapter, with all the tender moments, then BAM! Hinohara-sensei just had to end the chapter like that! Stay strong, Minato! It isn’t what you might think it is! 😭

Also, I shall check for typos and grammar tomorrow since Tumblr has failed me more than half a dozen times and I lost my post each time. RIP to me and my sleeping pattern haha! 😭

Again, THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! 💜 📢  As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢

The next chapter will be in the next issue of Dear+ that will be coming out on the 13th of February (later this week)! Hopefully I’ll be back to regular scheduling and post at a reasonable time (and fix my editing skills LMFAO)! Thank you again for being so patient! Ngl, I am still drowning in all my TGCF feels, so I highly recommend this novel. It’s a long read, but well worth it! ❤️ HuaLian 4 life, period.

So yeah, I’ll see you guys again for our next set of takeaways! 😍

As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜