#i have the manga to reread for all the things that were lost in the adaptation

[franeridan]

I'm so glad there's actually people who are watching opla without ever having watched anything op before but i also really hope if they'll decide to pick up the manga/anime to know how it keeps going they'll start from the beginning cause honestly they cut on some of my favorite exchanges in the whole manga, which is kinda sad

[eroguron0nsense]

The Mysterious Mysteries of Mr Sir Crocodile (Character Analysis)

(Apologies in advance for discrepancies from my usual tone and for holding off on everyone who voted for this on my last poll. Honest to God I hope y'all enjoy this in some capacity because I've been procrastinating on this meta so long it's derailed ALL my other One Piece writing and I only accomplished it through addy-fuelled mania)

This was such a fucking pain to write. I really wanted to say something about Crocodile and what makes him so fascinating that wasn't like, another fan theory or just a set of headcanons, but that's easier said than done?? We could boil it down to immaculate design, screen presence, attitude, or just the fact that he got brought back as an unlikely ally who shocked everyone by saving the protagonist, but I don't know that those factors in and of themselves make for a villain who's become such an object of fandom obsession.

Whatever it is, it's certainly not backstory or depth, because 24 years and hundreds and hundreds of chapters after his introduction, we still know nothing about Sir Crocowani's past beyond a vague confrontation with the Late Great Edward Newgate (that apparently like, ruined his dreams or something?), and some totally-not-just-a-threat-to-out-him-if-he-betrayed-the-alliance blackmail material the Queen of the Queers is holding over his sandy reptilian ass. I was born and grew into adulthood in the time it took Oda to tell the world fuck all about where he's from or his inner thoughts, or his actual honest motivations and traumas.

All we have about this character are questions. Why did he save Luffy and Ace –very conspicuously after both of their lineages were revealed to the world– against all logic and reason? Does he have ties to the revolutionaries? Is he the long-lost son of Rocks D. Xebec? Did he bounce on Comrade Dragon's Monkey D and squirt out the fucking Warrior of Liberation? I assume Oda's going to tell us more about him, but at this point, he's managed to keep a tighter lid on Sir Crocs, Inc.'s past than the fucking Secret History

You may be wondering, dear reader: what the fuck is my point? What is there, at this final stage of Long Running Pirate Manga, for me–Frankie EroGuroNonsense, OP Tumblr Community Z-lister with like, 7 mildly popular meta posts under my belt–to write about the legendary Sir Krokorok that hasn't already been said or theorized? What eagle-eyed observations did I make while rereading Alabasta and writing toxic Crobin fanfic? Am I going anywhere with this? Sorta. Yeah.

Let's start with listing things we actually know about Crockpot, in roughly chronological (??) order: –attended Gol D.'s execution way back when he was my age, along with anyone else who's anyone from his generation.

–At some point, met and was known well enough by Iva that she could effectively blackmail him

–Made it far enough on the Grand Line, somehow getting to the New World, and managed to pick up an 81,000,000 bounty (low end for a warlord, presumably scouted fairly early in his career)

–Wanted to be Pirate King until he gave up on it, not 100% explicitly confirmed but most likely due to getting his ass beat so badly by Whitebeard that he settled for picking off small fry and racketeering behind a government desk job. This makes him profoundly relatable to the rest of us depressed fucking losers who acquiesce to our own mediocrity.

–At 30, after presumably licking his wounds for a hot minute, sets up shop in Alabasta, comes up with a clever evil plan to quietly build up enough arms to conquer the world with a WMD, and then gets his years-long bioterrorist coup attempt foiled by a 17-year-old.

The rest we know: after a brief moment of glory as the unsung MVP of Impel Down/Marineford, he immediately reverts to Failguy Mode, gives all his money to a literal clown, and consequently gets roped into the neverending uncontrollable PR nightmare that is Cross Guild. It's still super vague and we know little to nothing about his past before the Alabasta Saga (for all we know he had a fling with King Cobra)

...Onto his personality and mannerisms. This shit's a lot more revealing. Superficially, he's everything: immaculate Bond villain levels of charismatic villainy, unbelievably ostentatious, dripped out like a Pimp, constantly smoking cigars, absolutely dripping with smugness and grease and disdain. Owns exotic pets and a giant casino, and spends every waking moment either grinning like a maniac when he's got the upper hand or storming around in a fucking mood when anything goes mildly wrong.

He's also pretty hardened underneath all that, obviously couldn't have lived a day on the grand line or survived Impel Down Torture otherwise. But even in Alabasta, Crockery gives off an air of being distinctly more grounded and willing to get his hands dirty than other flashy, established villains who flaunt their wealth and status. A big part of it is just his really hyper-masculine indomitable tough guy persona, but even early on he's very much micromanaging his operation, fighting people hand to hand in (as opposed to, say, Doffy, who literally puppeteers people while lounging around) and makes a point to keep almost all of his followers at a distance and rely on them as little as possible. He rants a bit about how dreams and whatnot are pointless follies, as One Piece antagonists tend to do, and repeatedly taunts Vivi about how her idealism can't save her, but with the context that he wanted to find Laughtale himself, it feels a lot like projection.

The character trait that's harped on a LOT in canon, and probably the most pertinent one to whatever demons he has, is Croconaw's profound pathological distrust for everyone around him. It's a huge part of what makes him a good early foil to the Nefertari family and the Straw Hats, whose collective strength is derived from organic human connection; Crocalor, by contrast, makes sure that up until the very last moment, he keeps most of his people so distant from him that they genuinely have no idea he's even their boss. His relationship with Robin is interesting, but he turns on her immediately when he realizes she either can't or won't give him the location of Pluton and has his dramatic stabbing/"I forgive you" lines about how he never trusted her or anyone from the start. He says the same shit to Mihawk when he suggests they join forces, even citing their mutual distrust as a kind of paradoxical justification for why they'd actually work well together.

Arguably the only exception is Daz Bones, but even that relationship is still a pretty reserved one; one of the few traits Daz exhibits is a similar avoidance of human connections to his boss and even though they've ironically formed a bond despite it, I can't imagine that they're emotionally close. I find these more explicit declarations of paranoia a lot less indicative of what's actually going on in Croconut's head than subtext, but I feel inclined to mention them just because it more or less tells us that his background/trauma has something to do either with betrayal or alternatively just being jaded and deprived to the point of self-isolation.

Krookodile's character gets a little bit more interesting when we get to see him again in Impel Down being a smug little manipulative rascal right up until he gets blackmailed by his endocrinologist, which is definitely medical malpractice but also funny as hell. I also appreciate that literally the first thing he does after getting out of his cell is change into a big coat and cravat to keep up appearances, but it's not until Marineford proper that things get really complicated. Saving Luffy and Ace is the first selfless thing we see Crobat do–while yelling at Luffy that he needs to protect what matters to him properly, no less– and he just keeps fighting for them after that, teaming up with his most hated rival crew to cover Luffy's retreat and telling the entire WG to go fuck itself multiple times over. He fights everyone on sight with no regard for his own safety, talks mad shit to Doffy, and demonstrates a genuinely compelling amount of honest to god chivalry.

For a short time, we see Crocomotive less as a really entertaining cartoon villain and more as a person with hidden, profound emotions and a confusing moral code that's seemingly incompatible with the vicious little creature we met in Alabasta. We come to understand, in a few very brief lines that give us way more questions than answers, that Cromagnon has deep-seated, emotional convictions he actively suppresses, and that whatever baggage he has is probably tied to wanting to or failing to save something of his own. His resentment of Newgate, who he really really wants to have a go at (despite theoretically no longer caring about the ambitions of his youth) is indicative of a desire to revisit the fight that probably ruined his dream and ego, but it's also tinged with a deep-seated grudging respect for a living legend.

Crock–Afire Explosion's obvious seething hatred of Doffy also gives us a few more insights into what's wrong with him. On a surface level, it makes sense that he dislikes a profoundly obnoxious, even flashier fellow warlord who achieved more or less the same goal he set out to in a shorter time, fucks with his business, and then mocks him/tries to recruit him right after his very public defeat and imprisonment. He postures a lot, especially with his lines insisting he's on a higher level and that Doffy could only ever join him as a subordinate, but he's visibly steamed in their initial encounter and clearly hasn't liked him for quite some time. I bring this up because if we stretch our interpretation a little (for the sake of my argument), Croc Holliday's distaste for someone who's (outwardly) so much like himself and embodies all of his villainous characteristics from back in Alabasta might also suggest that deep down, he doesn't actually like the things they have in common; he sees right through Doffy because he's done the same shit and he hates what he sees.

Having gone over all that, I've come up with some key characteristics of Crocomelon that I'll use going forward:

–Extremely performative: puts an ungodly amount of energy into maintaining a carefully curated persona, and projecting a certain amount of power, masculinity, and prestige. Not necessarily an unnatural or inauthentic one, but a constructed and purposeful one nonetheless

–Deep-seated paranoia, hidden secrets; probably intertwined. Keeps personal details on tight, tight lockdown, probably afraid of being known.

–Constant projection of his own insecurities and failures onto other people, making a point to be uniquely cruel in Alabasta to an idealist who loves her people and a dreamer who wants to be the Pirate King.

Ironically, he demonstrably respects and defends two people–Luffy and Whitebeard–who theoretically embody everything he hates or scorns (ambition, goodness, love, connection, romanticism, greatness in the traditional sense) and he intensely dislikes the villain most like himself, or at least the one who shares a lot of his worst characteristics (ostentatious manipulative scheming rat bastard backed by people stronger than himself) –The Grinch's heart grew three sizes at Marineford because of like, the compelling power of brotherly love and reminders of his youth or something

SPECULATION, CONCLUSIONS??

The difficulty with writing anything definitive about Crocko's Basilisk is that he's such a mystery, which functionally lets the fanbase project literally whatever weird personality traits, potential backstories, or anything else they could possibly come up with onto him. So I want to be clear that I have absolutely no interest in theorizing about the specifics of his past or secret identity or potential baby daddy or anything along those lines; I'm only interested in what we can infer about his personality by extrapolating from canon. And the conclusion I keep coming back to, the one that I'm convinced is true on some level, is that Crocodile is living a lie and he fucking hates himself. Everything he does, from how he acts to what he claims to believe, is a desperate effort to cope with his own insecurity and failure and cover up a past version of himself he's deeply ashamed of.

Now, unfortunately, Oda did not conceive of Crocodile as a trans man but stories belong to the people and we can do what we want let's forget about that and play it straight because he's constantly performing gender as a means of compensating for a deep-seated shame and self-loathing from whatever traumas and secrets he keeps hidden. Even assuming he's a cis man, he deliberately chooses a hypermasculine persona with a Capital V Villain moniker and pimp outfit and speech pattern he's carefully curated to project masculine power–physical, political, and financial–and we know it's performance because we see him break kayfabe and get legitimately fucking angry whenever he's confronted by a person like Luffy, who's crazy and brave enough to try and do what he couldn't and risk everything for love and hope that he cannot bring himself to feel for another person, or reminders of the past he tries so desperately to bury.

The lessons he's wrongfully obtained from his past are as follows: Idealism is a weakness. Dreaming is a weakness. Connections to other people and being known are crippling liabilities (If he is, in fact, trans and closeted, that's all the more reason to be existentially disgusted by what he used to be). All the hope he brought to the Grand Line, all the excitement of trying to carry on where Roger left off, needs to be purged and buried because all he got to show for it was loss and humiliation. But he can't stop wanting more, and ironically, after he gives up on conquering the Grand Line, he ends up chasing the same fucking poneglyphs and weapons because his ambition's still there; it's just compromised and much more jaded.

Everything he does that's seemingly contradictory makes sense when you realize that Crocodile resents his failure and wants to avenge himself. He makes a big show of talking down to Luffy and Vivi's petty ideals and shit-talking Newgate and his family, but he still wants to fight Whitebeard like he did way back when and help Luffy protect what matters to him. He hates Doffy, who's honestly just a more successful schemer than he is because it's a constant reminder of what he settled for when he took that warlord post and fucking gave up. He claims to trust no one, but he keeps Daz by his side and rewards his loyalty because he can't help but trust someone who respects him so deeply and follows him to the ends of the fucking earth long after losing the material incentive to do so. He claims to look down on people who aim for the stars and fight for love and joy and freedom and yet, in his most vulnerable moments–not in the face of violence or imprisonment, but when he's emotionally compelled to defend a child and help save his brother–we see how badly he wants that for himself.

TLDR: Crockman Holic is deeply insecure in his masculinity, desperately needs psychological help, and his character/potential redemption arc in One Piece is just dealing with his midlife crisis.

[yan-lorkai]

Hii, Lorks ~

Had see that your writing for my favorie earl now, have any hcs for older sibling reader and young brother Ciel? Sorry about bad english, is not my first language

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ A/N: Been busy with uni stuff but nothing couldn't stop me from writing this now that inspiration strikes me and since we're having a new season I began to reread the manga these past few days and wow, I still love this lil dude. Look at his smiled he knows he's adorable. The Green Witch arc remains my favorite <3

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Warning: Yandere content, platonic yandere, protectiveness.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ You were a few years older than the twins, but you were very close to them as well as being a constant figure for them as they grew up. You were what they would describe as the best sibling in the world, even though you liked to make fun of them and make jokes that embarrassed them in front of people, like any good old sibling would do.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ When you had free time, you enjoyed teaching them chess and other logic games, loving the way the expressions on their faces were confusing whenever you used a different strategy. These were simple times when the whole family would get together to watch you play while everyone chatted. Times that were lost after the attack, all the joy, all the warmth, that mixed with the sad blue of the wallpaper until it turned the entire mansion into something cold.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Ciel came back, lost, deeply hurt, and you were the only person he told what happened. The whole kidnapping and the cult, and it broke your heart, your brilliant little brother was an unresponsive blank as he recounted the facts, as if he didn't want to realize the impact that that event had on him. As if he was still on autopilot and couldn't let his guard down. And things were worse now that he had lost his twin brother, who he was as attached to as you were.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ But you were there to support him every step of the way, holding his hand after a nightmare, wiping the rare tears from his eyes, listening to everything he had to say. Ciel's stubborn and prideful, he never asks for help but he has this serene smile on his face when you go out of your way to help him anyway. You knew he was strong for withstanding all the pressure, for enduring everything he went through and for having the strength necessary to overcome everything, and you reminded him of that in each of his "weak moments". It reminded him that he was loved and that you would always be by his side.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ He's still twelve, he's still a child, and you're always telling him stories to sleep and taking him out to take his mind off his trauma. Sometimes you just sit next to him and listen to him express his thoughts.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Ciel can be a little overprotective sometimes, which is funny considering you should be the overprotective one due to the age difference. He always sends Sebastian with you on your errands, to protect you from some attack or someone. And you don't complain, his intentions are good and you can understand the anxiety he feels upon knowing that those responsible for the attack are free and alive.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Being a few years older, you know a lot about balls, about every important person and how to negotiate with them. And you teach each of these things to Ciel when he decides to claim the title of Queen's Watchdog, giving advice and sharing your opinion whenever he asks you, being by his side as his left hand.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ And being his left hand means that you and Sebastian interact on a daily basis, protecting Ciel, going on missions together, collecting information and the such.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ In private, when your masks can finally fall, you call him by his real name, hug him lightly and let him know that no matter what, you'll be there for him. Always.

⠀

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Ciel actually told you everything, everything except that he made a contract with a demon. He hopes you can forgive him when the contract is completed, when he and his soul disappear from this world, without any chance of seeing you one last time in the so-called paradise.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Even after your death, Ciel might remember the loving way you sat in the chair next to his bed when he was sick and took care of him. He will remember the silly promises you made, the bad jokes you told him to make him laugh until his stomach hurt, the little adventures to steal cookies on Christmas morning. Things too precious for him.

[the-black-bulls]

I like the headcannon game, how about Luck or magna :D

seeing a headcanon you disagree with and it kinda pisses you off

y'all want me to ramble about luck alright lol, already did magna here and I don't think I've more to add, so this post is for luck, vanessa and the bulls relationship in general!

Luck:

- I think a lot of people just assume that luck hates his mom because she's an abusive person, when in reality he's showed nothing but love towards her even after he finally let her go... and honestly, I doubt he would ever hate his mother period (even if he should 🥲), and taking that nuance out of his character doesn't sit right with me

- also, "bad friend luck" is a dumb headcanon that mischaracterizes him, magna, and the black bulls in general

- I'll be honest, I was never into the "half sister charlotte" theory, but especially after it became so widespread people treated it as canon thus it lost its appeal to me and sound boring now (we could always get creative and embrace "half sister sally" theory instead 😛), but nothing wrong about supporting it though

Vanessa:

- manga spoilers alert: there's this headcanon that popped up by charlotte fans at the end of spade which basically reads: "it's her feelings and plea for yami to live that triggered rouge into bringing help for him..." which, why? vanessa was there and grey was there and they don't need to be romantically involved with yami to have strong feelings for his safety be freaking real, not to mention that rouge has always been a black bull spell; it's favored by them and triggered by them and would alter fate for their sake regardless of any outsider's tears, but also... what the hell? we're talking about the spell vanessa developed out of (family) love, the same spell that's connected to her heart, why tf should charlotte be credited in her place is bad enough but stretching so hard to twist what is pretty much a love spell from vanessa to the bulls just so your ship gets petty points is pathetic!

- so anyways, "vanessa needs to find true love" is an awful, awful headcanon (emphasis on need)

Black Bulls Relationships:

- that they only started bonding with each others after asta joined the squad and inspired them to do better, SURE... they did become better magic knights thanks to him, but their development is a long process shaped by each other's presence even if it'd take them years to admit it... this is why when each black bull hits their Development Moment, they always think back of yami, the other bulls, or both, so there's NO WAY they acted like strangers or were unhelpful to each other prior to the year asta and noelle became members

- likewise, any headcanon that implies one bull or another is disliked by the others or only barely accepted isn't headcanon, that's straight up mischaracterization, go reread the manga again

- likewise, I believe that just because the manga didn't explore every single relationship within the squad, it shouldn't lead to fans making it like each member's circle is only limited to one to two bulls, like ok luck and magna are each other's #1 person, but luck can still share ties with the other members too... he can be vanessa's little bro, and noelle's big bro, and charmy's partner in crime, and the little gremlin gauche keeps enabling, etc etc

- this post is getting long so one last thing, I think of the black bulls as a team with mutual and equal influence over each other, so unless we're referring to yami there's no "X bull is carrying the squad on their back" or "without X bull the squad will be lost" - because, honestly, it doesn't fit the bulls, they're all so flawed and bad at things they need each other to balance their cons with their pros, case in point I don't do "finral has been the vice captain before nacht" but I DO "vanessa finral gordon are a trio of senpais who've been carrying/sharing vice captain duties for years"

[paper-bag-boy]

i went to japan and watched haikyuu!! the dumpster battle at imax! they had the main pairing standees, a hq (and jjk) gift shop and i got a complimentary nekoma postcard. i also bought 39sgd worth of hq and jjk merch. now i have a mini atsumu shrine and a geto to accompany my gojo and sukuna stuff

so glad i decided to reread the manga before watching. it helped me notice the new scenes they added.

spoilers below

THE MOVIE WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I EXPECTED. it's the best out of the other hq movies in my humble opinion. and watching it in imax made it 100% times more surreal cause it felt like you were on the court.

I LOST MY MIND WHEN THEY ANIMATED THE SHOYO IN KENMA'S CAGE SCENE CAUSE THEY REALLY BROUGHT IT TO LIFE FROM THE MANGA. cried like 5 times, quietly lost my shit during the kuroo × tsukki/yams showdown, started vibrating in my seat when kenma said "this is fun" and shoyo screamed.

YOU GOT TO BE IN KENMA'S PERSPECTIVE WHEN HE PLAYS AHHHHH (and it was still his pov when the ball slipped from his sweat </3 ). my soul left my body at that part i cant believe it was better than in the manga. 5 years of waiting and reading the manga and i was not disappointed at all.

the little thing they added were: kuroo's pov of kenma meeting shoyo for the first time

[featherstorm2004]

Passing on the blade, a Fukuzawa and Akutagawa theory

In the wake of the s5 finale and me rereading the manga I've been looking at the characters more closely than I did in the past, looking for interesting dynamics, similarities, or fascinating possibilities. During this time I have begun to notice the odd similarities in both Fukuzawa and Akutagawa's stories, and after the ending of the decay of anger arc I can't help but feel they're about to intersect.

But first let me explain the similarities I have noticed in these two story arcs. One of the first things I noticed about these two is that Fukuzawa seems to be an Akutagawa who has already gone through his character arc and joined the side of the light, this is because of what we know of Fukuzawa's backstory before he met Ranpoe. He describes it as him not knowing whether he was killing for the sake of his country or for the sake of his own bloodlust, it's clear that despite himself Fukuzawa found some joy or pleasure in killing if for nothing else than to prove his skills and who dose that sound like?

Akutagawa

Of course their reasons for being down such a path are vastly different but the end results are still the same. However, the president was able to realise this and pull himself away from that dark path, and were beginning to see that same transition happen in Akutagawa due to his deal with atsushi. I believe by the s5 finale we've seen Akutagawa enter that grey transition period that we find the president in before he met Ranpoe, where he's not really sure what he wants for himself but he dose know that he doesn't want to be what he was before.

This stage of development I have deemed the "Lone samurai arc" where the characters take time away from their typical organisations or paths to contemplate themselves and the futures they want.

But of course aside form those narrative links we also have one of their strongest narrative connections at this point in this story and that is their respective connections to Fukuchi.

It's clear by the end of this arc that Fukuchi has had a profound impact on both Fukuzawa and Akutagawa's development. He was the one who kickstarted Akutagawa's rebirth by taking his life and forcing him to come to terms with many truths he had been running from on the form of sacrificing himself for Atsushi. Whereas Fukuzawa is left distraught and angry by the end of this arc being incapable of killing his best friend and being forced to go along with Fukuchi and Fyodor's plot, with Fukuchi sacrificing his life for the sake of Fukuzawa and the world.

I am very curious to see this mans future impact on both of their stories as Fukuchi appears to have been the whirlwind that knocked Akutagawa onto the right path whilst dislodging Fukuzawa from his.

There's also the fact that Fukuchi shows explicit interest in Akutagawa as a student, now whether this was genuine is up to debate but I believe it is. as I believe if the offer to train Akutagawa as his personal student is a fascinating choice for Fukuchi, it's very clear he didn't want to kill akutagawa to the point he took out Bram specifically to revive him. But the question is why? well I think it's because during their battle I think he saw a little bit of Fukuzawa in this crazy boy who challenged him and almost won.

After all the only reason Fukichi won that fight was because of the space time sword, otherwise he's have been screwed. And I can't help but wonder did Atsushi tell the others about this interest, will it get back to the president who just lost his beast friend but still has to boy he explicitly chose to spare and wished to teach.

I wonder if that will stir something in him.

This is the part where I enter theory territory but I think after this arc Fukuzawa is going to take a step back from being the president of the ada, at least for the moment. He's devastated at this point in time and probably feels responsible for all that has happened since the entirety of Fukuchi's plan hinged on him being pupated around and Fukuchi in the end got what he wanted, he succeeded. And the entirety of the ada, hell even the entire world had to suffer for that to happen so, he probably won't feel fit to lead the ada.

And this is where Akutagawa comes back into the picture, now he's just survived being killed, turned into a vampire and now the end of the world or whatever the heck happed during the two hours after Fukuchi's death. So, overall the guy has been run ragged and is probably going through a lot physiologically with having to cope with ALL of that.

Plus he's finally shed Dazai's coat and his mentor is on the other side of the world, he couldn't be further away from Dazai if he tried. And I can't help but feel that this is purposeful on Asagiri's part, without Dazai's constant influence for the first time Akutagawa has been given the space to think with a clear head and make his own choices.

And this is where I feel Akutagawa and Fukuzawa's plots will finally start to intertwine.

Now, I think we can all agree that Akutagawa's new outfit is fire but as it's been joked about it looks suspiciously like a knights armour and I can't help but wonder if there's as reason for that. We know from interviews with Asagiri that out of all the Characters in this story Akutagawa is the one who goes through the biggest change, and I can't help but wonder if one of these changes is taking Dazai off of his pedestal and excepting new influences, new mentors into his life.

And that might included Fukuzawa, devastated after his best friends death but also desperate to sooth the guilt he feels for all of Fukuchi's crimes. Maybe he'll feel a kinship with Akutagawa who is just as lost as he is and in desperate need of guidance after Fukuchi shatted his world by killing and reviving him. They might just be what they both need during this trying time.

Plus every knight need his sword and I can't help but feel it would be thematically approbate for Akutagawa to begin welding Fukuzawa's blade or hell even the space time sword as an alternative to Rashomon, a way for him to not solely rely on his ability. It can also represent Akutagawa taking back his power and agency by wearing the very weapons that tried to kill him as a power to protect other and himself.

It could also be seen as Fukuzawa passing on his legacy to the new generation of Double Black and finally allowing himself to rest.

But that's just a theory.

*Edit* apparently there's been Akutagawa and blade symbolism longer then I thought. (Quote from Dazai in the dark era)

[noorahqar]

A, N and V for the ask game!

A: Of the fanfic you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

Oooh. Hard question, because I absolutely love almost all of my fics. But I THINK I can narrow it down. To three. (I'm indecisive LOL)

this year it taught me (lost and ambitious) was my first longfic ever (even if it's more of a collection of short stories) and is my pride and joy. The title may suck - I have no clue why it's so long - and there's plenty of flaws, but I'm very proud of this guy. Every so often I reread it and it's always a blast - past me covered a lot of different topics, a lot of relationships, and I think it had some pretty good characterization!

Educational Quandaries and Academic Arson are the silliest things I've written but also by far my favorite of my oneshots. Writing Sky as a miserable college student and hero is my favorite thing ever. It's also quite representative of myself right now - I have exams in a few weeks I should be studying for, and yet… 

N: Any fic ideas brewing that you’d care to share?

A solid handful. These are all WIPs, actually, not ideas, but I hope you'll forgive me for considering them interchangeable!

In the TP manga, Twilight's backstory includes him accidentally vaporizing the city he lived in before Ordon. I think they turn out to be alive and well, but fanfiction where him and Legend bond over seemingly destroying entire civilizations they loved. 

HTTYD AU! Kind of. Everything's the same, and Sky essentially has a role similar to that of Hiccup in HTTYD 2 - he's an adventurer, mapping out the region around what will eventually become Hyrule. He also has Hiccup's cool-ass flying suit. I want to give Sky a cool wingsuit. That's it. (This is barely an AU, lol. I'm not an AU person for the most part. Excluding modern AUs.)

Speaking of - fanfiction where Warriors and Legend are in a car, and that car gets hit by lightning. Inspired by the same thing happening to my aunt. It didn't really do much except be frightening, surprisingly? Legend is appropriately frightened.

That's everything notable. The rest are all completed short stories and vague ideas that are more emotions than anything, lol. 

V: Are there certain comments you’ve received on your stories that have stuck with you?

As I think everyone who's responded to this comment has said, I love literally each and every comment I receive! There's definitely often some that stand out, though. Some people inform you that you've hit the mark you were aiming for with your writing, others tell you about how your writing affected them personally. The latter always makes me emotional, lol. It's also fun seeing a person comment multiple times in a row on different fics - it's like, HI!! I SEE YOU BINGING MY WORK!!! I APPRECIATE YOU!!!!

Getting comments from writers you admire is great, too. As someone who used to have a huge following on my previous Ao3 account, logically I know they're just some random people who like their blorbos. But I always end up incredibly excited anyways, haha. 

There's also no greater joy than a returning commenter. Often, I've found myself in like… a symbiotic relationship of commenting long paragraphs? It's amazing. I made one of my closest online friends this way, over a discussion about tea in my comments!!

Lord OKAY. I went too hard with these responses, I think, but I have a lot of thoughts. Thank you for asking, Rose!! :D

[hellsingmongrel]

Trimax and possible Tristamp spoilers?

I’ve been thinking about the way they incorporated Meryl into the JuLai storyline in Stampede, and I’m beginning to wonder if that was their way of getting JuLai and Meryl’s kidnapping from Trimax out in one shot.  It has similar storybeats, including her finally seeing Vash going full Eldritch Angel when he rescues her.

I’m honestly not really sure how I feel about that, if it is what they’re doing.  I mean it makes sense, in that it will be helping condense the story down so that they can fit the important storybeats into the show, but in doing so, they would be losing the really fascinating character growth we saw between the two of them in the manga.  That event was a huge deal for Meryl, it absolutely terrified her and she was scared of him for a long time.  It was a whole subplot that wasn’t verbally addressed much by the two of them, but was absolutely shown in their interactions and the way she went from terrified, feeling guilty about that terror, and finally being able to overcome it and be there for him when he needed her support the most.  It was just so.  Good.  It helped show that while the reader might see his transformations and be like “Oh man, that looks cool!” it was actually legitimately horrifying for everyone involved, even those who were closest to him.

His transformations are scary, he doesn’t like it, Meryl doesn’t like it, Wolfwood doesn’t like it.  Nobody knows how to deal with it when it happens.  It’s a whole thing, so many people, Vash included, are just terrified of that power and what he’s capable of and how inhuman he looks and sometimes acts when he’s completely lost in his own head.  It’s an important part of the message of learning to accept yourself and live with yourself regardless of your failings, and of not judging people by what they appear to be, but instead to measure their worth by their actions, instead.  Learning to love those around you, learning to forgive yourself, etc.

IDK.  I can see where they would want to take this shortcut, and I’ve loved pretty much everything else they’ve done with the show, so I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and say they’ll handle it well.  I just think we’d be losing an important element of the story if they reduced the tension that existed between them because of Meryl’s trauma to the way the events in JuLai went down in episodes 10-12.  I think it could have an even better impact in Stampede, even, if they did have that tension now, because until now, she’s only ever seen him be soft spoken, sweet, gentle, only raising a hand to harm others when he absolutely had to and absolutely never losing control or killing someone.  He’s so much softer than Vash is when we first encounter him in Trimax, so to have him go from that extremely gentle soul to someone who’s so lost, has so much power, and is pushed so far over the edge that he’s reduced to this:

And at the same time, when he shields her with his wings earlier in this event, there’s a moment when she’s linked into his mind and seeing his memories.  I feel like that’s something that’s important, too, and damn if it didn’t take me rereading through the manga to find that page to realize what had happened.  (Though tbf, a lot of the action in the series is like that; you have to interpret the visuals, it doesn’t hold your hand and narrate what’s going on, so sometimes it takes multiple, multiple rereadings to figure out what exactly you’re seeing.  It’s both good and bad, tbh.  Nightow is showing the reader a lot of respect in expecting them to not need to be told what is happening, but there are still some times when a little tiny bit of direction might have been useful.  :’D)

All of that, plus just giving the viewer their first glimpse into the fact that even when he’s not being controlled by his brother, Vash can still go full Plant mode, can absolutely lose control and become a being that is a threat to everyone around him unless he manages to regain his senses, would be a very, very important scene to lose.  So honestly, I really hope they don’t condense the story the way it seems they might have, or that they find a way of showing these important beats in another way.  Vash’s Big Badass Moment in episode 12 was fuckin’ amazing, don’t get me wrong!  I was screaming and cheering him on from my couch the entire episode!  But it’s not the full story and there’s a lot that would be lost if that was all they took from this part of the story in Trimax.

[magicalyaku]

Hey there! I'm back from writing paradise. I admit I might have gotten a little obsessed but that was just because writing is so easy and fun while everything else is always hard. u3u But I basically finished my novel so I have no excuses anymore not to get back into real life. Here's what I read in May! Pretty good month! uAu

Keeper of the Lost Cities 3: Everblaze (Shannon Messenger): The first one in the series I read instead of listening. Was a good choice because I think I missed quite a bit of the first volumes. 8D Also, it's so long. I don't think, me being me, that I would have made it though the audiobook. Don't get me wrong, I like the story. I have a tremendous respect at how it is written, keeping all the plotpoints together, presenting the puzzle pieces little by little, managing the huge cast of people. When I complain next time about a Middle Grade book being too simple and too shallow than this is the kind of book I'm comparing it to. My one problem in this volume was, how the tension never lets down. It's so wound tight all the time, everything is always on the edge of collapsing, including Sophie. It was a little exhausting for me. So I was very glad, there were at least some answers near the end.

The Scottish Boy (Alex de Campi): I went to Scotland at the beginning of May to visit my friend, so what better book to read than this. And what a book. It's the kind of story, where so much happens in the relationship of the protagonists that right after it ends you want to go back to the beginning and read all their first interactions all over again. Hng. It's great. Also Alys, my queen. When she first appeared I was so afraid she'd turn out evil. Because court intrigues and stuff. The ending of this book is all my heart desires. I don't actually like war stories, you know. But after In Memoriam and now this, they sure make good love stories. The drama of for once not knowing where it all goes? Who lives and who doesn't? Damn. I really enjoyed reading this book. The illustrations by Trungles are also verrry nice. uAub

Captive Prince (C.S. Pacat): This was a reread and I read the other two volumes in June, so my thoughts on the series will go there. :)

Wraith, Entity & Presence (Oracle of Senders 3,4 + 3.5) (Mere Joyce): It's so hard to tell my feelings for this series. There's a lot of death and murder, there's choking and burning and failed exorcism and so much danger of death and still it was just so pleasant to read, so charming and nice and laid-back. It's so weird. 8D I liked the cast of characters and the adventure and Cal's and Meander's relationship (the complete lack of gay panic and homophobic surroundings), the classical music references (even though I never looked up a single one). I wish there was a sequel with Cal and Meander as adults. I mean, I realise, it would be difficult to do in a classic novel format because the ghost cases just aren't big enough to last a whole book, but imagine it like a half-hour show oder manga series with a ghost of the week for half the chapter and their happy slice of life for the rest. Hah. Good series.

The Hanged Man & The Hourglass Throne (The Tarot Sequence 2+3) (K.D. Edwards): I didn't think about it while reading but in retrospective this series fits into what I categorise as "wild". There's so much shit happening here. Big and bold. At the end of volume 1 I was still undecided of I like it enough to buy it on paper. These doubts were washed away with the sequels. It's an investment in the beginning, getting into the world and all, but I found it totally worth it. That one big drama at the end of vol3? Yes, totally got me. Like right from the textbook. Make me care, rip me apart. Damn.

The Buried and the Bound (Rochelle Hassan): If someone asked me in a survey about what I want to read and then actually went and made it into a book, this might be the result. This contains only things I like: two suffering (gay) boys, one tough girl (not involved in any romance), which is the best constellation of characters, really. Some magic, some adventure, some drama, different storythreads that weave nicely together in the end. I enjoyed reading it a whole lot and am looking forward to the sequels!

Ander & Santi were here (Jonny Garza Villa): Now this one was difficult. I think it's a good book, I wanted to like it, but. Hear me out. For me, this is split in three parts. The first one is about the illegal immigrants. See, for as long as I remember my dad worked in a … what's it called in English … an housing complex for refugees? Not a camp, but like a dorm. And while illegals and refugees are still a step apart, they're at least somehow adjacent. I lived basically next to them half my life and never cared. When in 2015 there was a huge wave of refugees coming to my country and everyone was freaking out, I just thought "Great, that means my dad will keep his job" (because the dorm was always on the verge of closing down and it would probably been tough for my dad as one of very few black people in a kind of racist small town to find a new job.) So anyway, I thought it was a good thing to finally read an actual story about people in these situations, to learn how to care. So that part was good and insightful. The second part was about the art. I draw manga only, but I do consider myself an artist and I was around when manga became big in my country and the art schools hated it and made us suffer. I have thoughts on art. And I really enjoyed reading about Ander's art and process and thoughts. My favourite part of the book! And then there's part 3, the love story. And I think, because I connected more strongly to the other parts than usual I felt the disconnect here much more than usual! The romance in here is very intense and very physical and my aroace brain didn't compute at all. Complete detachment. Which was kind of a problem, because the romance is a huge part of the book. I really wanted to like it but it didn't work. I did like Ander as a character, though, and their family and friends. And the cover is still so damn pretty!

That's it!

[random-bi-writer]

How do Yellow's powers work?

I definitely read way too much Bnha fics if I'm making a post like this.

Basic Information before we start;

Yellow got her powers from the Viridian Forest. She's not the only one who has this.

Her powers are; Telekinesis, Mind Reading, Healing, and Level up (that uty genocide moment where in frlg, all her pokemon got level 80 from her anger alone)

Keep note that some of these can also work on Humans and not just Pokemon.

The purpose of this post is to see if her powers are really as simple as the fandom thinks or if there's more than meets the eye.

We're starting with her most known powers; Mind Reading and Healing.

Yellow can usually read a Pokemon's thoughts by hovering her hand on their head.

However, it's proven that she doesn't need her hands to read Pokemon's thoughts as proven in Chapter 45; where she can feel Pika seeing Cloyster attack, Chapter 47; where she tries to find Marowak but ends up hearing Persian and the Fire Red Leaf Green Arc; where Deoxys tries to communicate to Red and Yellow ends up hearing it.

It doesn't mean much, but maybe the amount of information she can gain from mind reading depends on the pokemon. Pika lost his memories during the Yellow arc, so Yellow can't use her powers to find Red. Maybe with Deoxys, which is a psychic type, she's able to read their thoughts more clearly. And while she can use it to track someone, it doesn't necesisarly mean that she can read their thoughts if she can't see them. And she can probably communicate through telepathy.

There's not much evidence for this though, we'll see if Kusaka ever decides to bring Yellow back.

Now for Healing. The requirements are to either hover her hand to the injury or hold it, by then the pokemon feels a lot better already.

There isn't much to go on to but the side effects for both powers are interesting because if Yellow used to much of these, she falls asleep. Usually, if you use to much of your powers; you get tired but you don't fall asleep immidietley. I know for a fact that her powers require energy, most likely her own. [This will be important later.]

This is proven with her third power; Level Up.

Her anger made her pokemon level up to 80. And while during the final battle in the Yellow arc, it may be possible that she didn't have the pokedex to stop her team from evolving, it still doesn't explain how her Gravvy evolved since he needed to be traded to do that. So Yellow has to be involved with that, and that battle was also an emotional moment.

So far, her emotions are what caused her pokemon to get strong. But there was something during her fights still made it seem like there was something else. [Will also be important later]

And to find out, let's tackle her last power; Telekinesis.

She can make things float and control it's direction. She mostly use this with her fishing rod and it's pokeball.

According to Bulbapedia, this power is limited.

But when I reread the manga, I noticed something.

Look at how Yellow uses her hands, it's like she's trying to control the direction of her Pokemon's attacks. Which might sound stupid until you remember that Lance has the same powers as her and he has a Dragonair that has a hyperbeam that can change directions.

So with a new perspective, Yellow's Telekinesis doesn't have limits, in fact; this is the only power that hasn't made her fall asleep.

Now let's keep talking about Level Up because I have a feeling that this also affects Moves and not just the Pokemon themselves.

Let's take a look during the Emerald Arc.

In order to beat Kyogre, the Dexholders need to use special moves.

The others were fine on their own but then Gold ask Yellow to use her powers to help the electric types.

Now here's the thing, she didn't level up the Pokemon here, she made the move stronger than before.

Her powers are probably a lot more complicated than that because you can see her trying to absorb something before releasing her powers.

And this puts a new perspective during her fight with Lance.

Yellow asked the Viridian Forest for help, but what might have actually happened is that when the Kanto Trio tried to help Yellow; she must have absorbed everyone's attacks and used it to power up Pika's Megavolt.

Not to mention that during this fight, the entire Kanto region started growing flowers because of Yellow, so she must have subconciously used her healing powers during this.

Because it would explain why Yellow feels so tired after the battle and went asleep. Because she used to much energy than her body could handle.

This is probably the reason why Lance is so scared of her, and considering this entire post; I don't blame him.

[zivliveblogsop]

One Piece Reread Chapter 2: They Call Him "Straw Hat Luffy"

(prev | index | next)

We open on a delightfully pink Miss Love Duck - for all the lovely details it provides, the colour manga regrettably suffers from the very Oda art-typical problem of everyone having the same (pale) skin tone.

On the topic of adaptations, once again, each of them has moved the action from the island Alvida uses as her base to aboard the Miss Love Duck itself, at sea - both Toei's anime and Netflix's show (which I'm beginning to suspect may be more of an adaptation of the anime, rather than the manga) insert another ship being pillaged by Alvida's crew. Perhaps to make things more piratey? I'm not sure. It seems like a fairly innocuous change on paper, but put a pin in this - I'll be coming back around to it later.

This chapter, notably, also gives us Koby, and foreshadows Zoro's introduction via the pirates speaking fearfully of how they hear the Marines have him locked up (word must travel fast, since we know Zoro only spent nine days in the yard).

For now, though, we have Koby, who arrives to the narrative in an already-interesting predicament. He's kind, clearly terrified of Alvida, and quite resigned to his fate - he immediately offers up the boat he's spent two years fashioning for Luffy's escape, having resigned himself to spending the rest of her life under her thumb. Two years is the length of time he's spent as a captive of the pirates, meaning he began plans for an escape immediately after his capture. The boat is in a finished state, clearly, if he's offering it to Luffy, which means that, for an unknown length of time, Koby had a perfectly serviceable way out that he just... didn't take. Perhaps he continued to fine-tune it, to rework it, anything to have an excuse not to take that final step.

Luffy even points this out, asking quite literally "Why don't you just escape?" His ensuing estimation of Koby's character is, as he says, quite blunt, but there's quite a bit of truth to it. If there wasn't, Koby could have called him cruel instead of frank. The way that Luffy speaks to him here, though more good-natured, mirrors the things that Alvida says to him. The tone differs, as does the intent (Luffy is simply making an observation, he has no desire to own Koby), but the similarity of the words, coupled with Koby's lack of disagreement and what we can infer about him based upon this exchange, paints quite an unfortunate picture. Koby, at least on some level, has stayed where he is because there's a part of him that agrees with how Alvida sees him. He has no self-esteem, no belief in his own ability or worth, and lingers in a terrible situation for no other reason than the fact that it's familiar.

This is why I think the adaptations make a mistake by moving the action from Alvida's island base to the Miss Love Duck. This telling exchange is centred around Koby's makeshift boat, his escape route that he's just been sitting on, and the fact is that he could only hide such a thing on an island. By removing the action to a setting where he wouldn't be able to hide an entire boat (and in Netflix's case, by reworking Luffy's friendly, but rather scathing estimation into a nicer pep talk), there's a lot of characterization that gets lost. (On a more minor note, being on a ship requires Luffy and Koby to lower their voices to escape notice, which detracts from the emotion of the following sequence.)

Koby isn't the first one to hear from Luffy that he's going to be the king of the pirates - he first declared it in Chapter 1, as the Red-Hair Pirates were packing up to leave (it specifically, in fact, immediately preceded Shanks handing over his hat). What differs here is Koby's reaction - his immediate response, "You'd have to make the whole world kneel to you!", speaks to a point of view that hinges on the idea of subjugator and subjugated, something which could reflect his last two years under Alvida, or which could, potentially, have a deeper, older root.

Oda's ability to play characters off one another in very telling ways continues in this exchange - where Chapter 1 shows us Shanks, someone Luffy is more alike than not, Chapter 2 establishes Koby as a kind of anti-Luffy in many ways. Not in the sense that Koby is necessarily antagonistic (though on the very next page, he does acknowledge that his dream of becoming a Marine would make Luffy and himself enemies), but in a way where it's very clear that Koby has a very hierarchical view of the world. He talks about the likeliness of making the world kneel to a single person, weighs things in odds, tries to take his feelings out of things, all to avoid the fact that he is motivated by fear.

Luffy turns all of this upside down when he states, simply, "I'm not afraid to die." He's not unaware of the risks, but to him, not trying would be of greater personal cost than playing it safe. For the first time, it seems like Koby seems to realise that living out the rest of his life safely will mean living the rest of his life wondering about what might have been - he twigs, in that moment, to this facet of Luffy's life philosophy, which shuns regrets above all (remember that).

The first panel on this page shows a rare moment of uncertainty from Luffy, as he states his belief that he'll succeed (hat held to his chest), before he wonders, briefly, if he's deluding himself. It's a fascinatingly rare and telling moment of introspection - this is a very young Luffy, just starting out, with no crew yet to stand behind him, having a moment of doubt. Still, he immediately proves his statement from just a few moments earlier - he puts the hat back on. If he dies trying, at least he tried.

In the same moment, Koby is rapidly seeing the appeal of Luffy's "no regrets" lifestyle, and shares his own dream - to join the Marines and fight "the bad guys". Luffy's surprise is a bit palpable here, and I think this speaks, again, to the difference in their outlooks. Luffy is, as we well know, someone who values freedom in all respects. One of the main ways this shows itself is his refusal to let anyone else define, control, or intentionally influence him, even if they want to do so out of a desire to be helpful. Koby, meanwhile, is clearly looking for an element of belonging - his offhand mention of "the bad guys" makes it clear that he wants to be one of "the good guys", he wants to be one of these helpful, protective types that Luffy finds annoying.

Not that he thinks there isn't any use to them - he doesn't shoot down Koby's dream. I think there are probably elements of differing experience at play here, as well; Luffy has hung around pirates, bandits, and other ne'er-do-wells, and has already attained a pretty nuanced view of what constitutes good vs evil that Koby (who has spent two years as the prisoner of the fairly stereotypical pirate) has clearly not had. It speaks well to Luffy's emotional intelligence (and his tendency to let people steer their own course and figure shit out on their own) that he seems to recognize this.

Despite all this bravado in their moment alone, Koby is still unable to defy Alvida until Luffy does so first. Koby's defining characteristic early on, aside from his own fear, perhaps, is his awareness of his own weakness. His desire to join the Marines is borne not simply out of a sense of justice, but of a desire to be part of something that will make him stronger.

In this sense, he and Luffy aren't that different. Luffy, too, is looking for a group to make him stronger, but he has both a desire to choose his companions, as well as faith in himself to make the right choice - he's not locked to the comforting idea of an institution the way that Koby is. Their differing world views are on display once more as Luffy throws the idea of the demon pirate hunter being a "good guy", and Koby dismissing the idea outright.

We aren't done with Koby yet, though. Next stop, Shells...

[hard-times-paramore]

Coming back to Houseki no Kuni

This anime / manga became my main fandom as we entered the Pandemic in 2020, and continued so until 2022 around when Ichikawa entered her ps5 hiatus.

After that I fell out of the series, partly because it took so long for new chapters to come out that I forgot the story, and partly because the story itself just. Was bad. It just got bad.

But, the manga finally ended now, and I decided to reread it from the start, and actually finish it and find out my own thoughts about it now that it's done.

Today I took a deep dive in my HNK fandom tag on my blog, and man, what a roller coaster. It had a bunch of meta about me being glaringly wrong about the direction the following chapters would take, as well as being in utter denial of the direction most characters took, with some in-between moments of clarity where I condemned everyone and flipped my shit and lost my patience with how badly written - at least in my opinion - the manga was getting.

I don't know if the story really became bad and shittily written as I remember thinking or if it's just because I didn't have the full picture yet - as well as not fully remembering the story I was following due to the unending hiatuses. But I will get to find out now!

Though, I've been looking up analysis and meta from blogs who followed the series until the end and a lot of them are actually unsatisfied with how some things were handled, so I can't be entirely wrong. In fact, one thing I noticed from revisiting my tag was that a lot of people who used to be fans fell out of the manga and some even deleted all their hnk content.

I'm re-entering this fandom as a clean slate now. Let's once again see where it takes me.

[longhands-the-second]

Trimax vol. 5

This is a solid 30% “what will they do with this in Stampede?”

1- “this time of year”… what are seasons like there? Are they distinct at all???

OH. YIKES. JULY. I was wondering why we were starting here.

God, I hate to think of how many people Vash has lost over the years.

For him to openly weep is heartbreaking, knowing how often he just shuts down instead.

Im fucking stoked to see what they do with midvalley in stampede, if anything.

Meryl is leaving this whole thing fundamentally changed i think. Just a hunch.

2- This is maybe a little unclear? I see the vision though.

I fucking love manga milly you go girl

GOD DAMN IT VASH he keeps getting hit and it makes me sad

Ballerina wolfwood

Am. Am i gonna start simping for wolfwood now? Is this how it happens?

3- oh. Oh boy. That sure is a title page

I’m still so mad they stole ww’s nose in stampede. It’s so pretty.

Wolfwood being protective of people. That is all. :)

OH OH OH ITS HAPPENING EVERYBODY STAY CALM STAY FUCKING CALM

This is the first time that we’ve seen this w/o Knives’ direct involvement- is this something that just happens when he’s at his wit’s end? Has it happened before? (Is it just compounding recent events???)

Bevridge Bitch is here and his vibes are as rancid as ever

How recent was July? He has most of the same scars.

Man they really just took the sleeve off of his coat. Worst thing that happens here, surely (<- coping)

Nvm the sleeve magically reappeared.

Girl seriously though what the *Fuck*

Could he just not do it before? Is this knives doing it *for* him???

“Seeds”?

Oh no. Oh this is even worse than last time. Ick.

Somehow this is more explicitly uh. Y’know.

EW EW EW EW

Dude phrase that literally any other fucking wayyyyyy I’m screaming crying throwing myself out of the window

Vash didn’t answer. I think this is the only iteration that wouldn’t. Then again that might be entirely circumstantial.

DAMN.

4- I took a week long break after the last chapter. I WAS ahead but uh. Stuff and things. So i may have some rereading to do.

SO WAIT HOLD ON DOES TOUCHING THE FEATHERS LET YOU SEE HIS MEMORIES AND SHIT?

I wonder if wolfwood’s gotten his sight back? Is that gonna be recurring or was it just a brief thing?

God this is so fucked up. Poor Meryl is probably losing it

Midvalley continues to fascinate me. What he’s saying makes sense but like. Damn.

Oh fucking god damn it get this guy out of here i don’t want him

What the hell am i even looking at right now

LEGATO YOU BASTARD

5- i hate to say it but i was kind of rooting for midvalley? I wanted to see more of him at least. Fuckin brutal way to go.

Oh is this why zazie is like. Extra androgynous in stampede? Fully support this actually.

I don’t think any character gets under my skin the way legato does. Knives is a close second, but there’s just something about the type of cruelty he exhibits. It’s not quick or to the point. He lets that shit simmer on purpose. It’s not about power anymore, it’s about maximum suffering. For himself, too. It’s gross.

MERYL!!!!

Legato sticks his leggy out real far. Fr though those are spindly as all hell

I’m not sure how much of the angel arm use is Vash making a conscious decision? Guess we’ll find out later. (EDIT: or not damn. He’s so quiet about it.)

Ah. Elendira. Will i love you or hate you?

6- i swear i can feel the panic coming off of the page here

I wonder how much more shit happened with knives that we just haven’t seen yet. How much of it does Vash remember?

Is this happening in his head right now? Is that why his arm is extra fucked up?

I find myself wondering at this moment if the original japanese was more or less derogatory about elendira and tbh i’m just gonna stop thinking about it now.

I can already tell im gonna be obsessed with her dynamic with knives though. They both seem so over it in a way that i can only describe as “the only two queer people working at the McDonald’s.” This is in no way related to any personal experiences i may have had, pinky promise. (Me and that manager were like. Work besties.)

She’s so fucked up i love her already.

UGH UGH UGH BE NICE TO HIM DAMN IT.

EXPLAIN YOURSELF TO THEM MAN. (He’s not obligated to but holy shit do you know how much that had to fuck Meryl up?)

Yeah, i see where the japanese Rem headcanon comes from. The vibes are there.

End notes (semi related to the actual content):

- I am DYING to know how they’ll deal with the Earth ships. Can’t just start that plot thread and just destroy them. I mean, it could happen, but like. Why?

- Forever yelling about biblically accurate Vash. I’ll draw him at some point given the time and energy. I REALLY want to know how/if they’ll handle it in stampede- we sort of got it, sort of didn’t? I’d love to see that pushed further.

- I WILL FINALLY POST ANOTHER GOD DAMN COLORING THIS WEEK. It took me a full month so it’s from an earlier volume but i’m very excited to share! It *should* be done by Friday (questionable way to celebrate given the content) ((maybe I’ll post vash in the babygirl pose as a treat)).

- I got my silly little wwvd bracelet and wore it with my Vash cosplay this last weekend. It genuinely makes me smile every time i see it lol. Real mood booster through con crunch, too. (Also, shoutout to the vash cosplayers at akaicon who definitely won’t see this lol. I almost asked them if they were in on the bookclub based on conversations we had but I chickened out.)

[haysprite]

// DBD Chapter 27 Spoilers

Alrightyyy, I have some gripes with The Skull Merchant's lore that I wanna talk about real quick. I'll also be referring to her as Adriana, since that's a lot less of a pain to type out than... Y'know, Skull Merchant

I'm gonna be straight up and just say that I flat out do not like it. I'm super sad about that, because I was looking forward to what led to Adriana becoming The Skull Merchant. There were SOOOO many fun directions they coulda taken it, but god, it just feels like they fumbled the ball here? While the concept of a corrupt business woman is cool, I just don't think it fits her and her aesthetic. It just feels a bit all over the place, tbh, especially when in comparison to a good chunk of the original Killers. I got lost very easily, had to reread a lot, and overall just felt super messy.

Like, okay, Adriana stalking the dude that took her place as the top student? Okay okay, I see where we're goin with this- Oh, and it leads to nothing. Not a damn thing.

Why the fuck did her father leave after she returned home with all that money? Why didn't she have him post his own manga on the damn site she made, allowing him to feel like he's earning his own money? THEY COULDA HAD A FAMLIY BUSINESS HERE? HELLO?

The idea of her flipping companies is cool n all, and then wanting to take over em through killing... Cause like, let's be real, this shit could happen irl, probably has/does idfk. But I genuinely don't really understand how one thing led to another into her ACTUALLY killing people? I get greed overtaking her, but ehghgh it just felt super forced :(

What *I* personally wish they had done, would to have had Adriana start to obsess over the character of The Skull Merchant, hanging on to every story her father ever wrote about her. Adriana could begin to idolize her, seeing her as the hero of her stories, and soon would want to BECOME her. She would begin studying day and night how to work technology, spending hours upon hours learning and building drones, with the goal of becoming her idol.

After a while, her father could stop producing Sonhadores Sombrios, having moved past the idea and wanting to start anew with his work. This infuriated Adriana, who just wanted to hear more and more of The Skull Merchant's story, and was persistent that he continued. He continuously denied her, which drove Adriana further and further into madness as she wanted to continue the story herself. She would make sure that The Skull Merchant lived on, with or without her father's help.

Slowly but surely, Adriana started to find victims to gut, just like her hero. Poor, weak souls that would be lost on their paths. Her drones would aid her in her work, scouting out prey. Quick, and silent, she'd hunt at night, careful to spot any witnesses around before making her move. No one could figure out how these people died, though they soon realized a pattern in how they died: two slash marks straight through their chests.

This is where it could continue like normal: Her drone would be taken down by Thalita's kite, leaving her clueless about whether or not there were any witnesses around. Thalita and Renato would run into her, they'd run away, and then cut to them entering the realm.

It's nowhere near a perfect idea, but I feel like it would flow more easily? I dunno, its just what I immediately thought of after reading her backstory. I feel like she has a lot of potential, but so far, I'm just not digging her story unlike Thalita's and Renato's. Also, once again, I apologize if this is a bit all over, I just had to get my ideas out or else I woulda forgotten em lmaoo

[corfisers]

Same anon here and please, pop off about ryuuzaki, anytime. Especially paralleled to Doumeki. I was rereading vol 5 and 6 (let me tell you that I needed that bc I'm so dumb that this is the first time that I noticed that the yakuza who was caught having sex with Y and expelled HAS A SCAR IN THE SAME CHEEK AS D. I lost my mind,,,,) and in the official translation of my country there a difference that made me connect by contrast R and D.

In the eng trl that you can find online, when Y and R talk in the police car after R was rescued (and arrested), R first thinks "if you were a women, I would have protected you" and this is the same in my copy of the manga BUT a few pages later in my version R thinks "if I died, I wouldn't want him to know" and "if he protects me, I can't take care of him" VS "you'll find out over my dead body!" and "I can't believe he is the one protecting me!" in the eng vers.

The meaning may be somewhat the same but DAMN, the feeling behind it is radically heavier in my version.

I like better my country's version just because at the beginning of vol 6 when doumeki realises that he has been left behind and finds the two cleaners, the same words came up. D says "take me to the boss because I am the only one who can protect me, you wouldn't be able to" and the cleaner scoffs at him "you are the one who is been protected" -and that is the same in the online eng translation. That's something good to chew on, at least for me.

THAT SAID (I am very verbose, I am sorry), tysm for your in depth response at my last ask, it was a super good read and after thinking about it, I agree to your points. Especially because kou Yoneda is a master of silent storytelling, I'm always in awe of her use of silent panels. Her pure visual storytelling is where the worst sucker punches come from. Sometimes more subtle than others, you are right about that, but still very very much a storytelling choice.

hi anon, i'm glad you enjoyed my reply to your last ask, and thank you for giving me more food for thought! i do want to talk about ryuzaki at some point, both in general and specifically the parallels between him and doumeki. i'd need to reread some parts to refresh my memory and take a closer look at him first tho. ryuzaki's one of the characters who i wasn't paying super close attention to initially, but he grew on me over time, in a weird way. like moss

putting some stuff regarding translation and other things under read more (for my poor followers' dashboard experiences sake)

i looked at the original text for the part you're talking about, and i want to say that the translation you have in your version is closer to the original. it's something like "if i died, i wouldn't want him to know [about the stupid thoughts i had back then]" in reference to ryuzaki wanting to protect yashiro if he was a woman. no idea how to put the other sentence nicely in english (the one about how ryuzaki can't take care of yashiro if he's the one being protected), but again, your version seems to be more accurate, and it nicely parallels the part with doumeki. also worth noting that ryuzaki isn't exactly throwing "!" in his internal monologue here at the end of the sentences, and in the drama cd for that part he sounds pretty calm and i guess just… sad. i've noticed some punctuation changes in the translation before and they shift the tone slightly, guess it's one of those cases. wish i had junemanga's translation on hand, but i can't buy it because my country sucks (might ask a friend to buy me the digital version at some point, but idk if it's worth it since there's a lot of mistranslations in it based on what i've seen)

all that being said, my japanese isn't exactly great, neither is my english if we're being honest, so while i can point out and check some things here and there i am definitely not an expert when it comes to translation and i'm only like 70% confident in what i'm saying. just wanted to talk about this because you made me curious and i never bothered to compare the texts for this part before. and i still really appreciate all the work actual translators put in, even if there are some inconsistencies or differences here and there

moving on from the translation stuff - if you get involved with yashiro in some way i guess you're destined to get a cut on the cheek, because nanahara got one recently as well. we only see yashiro slapping the band-aid over it, so idk how the actual cut looks and there might be nothing much to it, but it's still a neat little detail

don't have much to say regarding the visual story telling, i agree with you, it's great, some of the best pages have no words on them, i'm obsessed with yoneda kou's art and she's been a huge inspiration for me since i got into saezuru. love her work so so so much

but yeah, uh, thank you again for the ask, both the previous and this one, i love having an excuse to blabber about saezuru or go look at specific scenes/chapters! going to think real hard about ryuzaki and try to organize my thoughts about him and write up something in the future

[letsrilakkusu-blog]

An ode to Given

A few days ago the internet collectively freaked out - myself included - when it was announced that the next chapter of Given would be the final chapter, ending its 10-year run. I'm honestly still in shock and while I'm trying to stay optimistic that maybe the big announcement that's coming with the final chapter will involve some kind of sequel, a second season of the anime seems more likely. It's difficult coming to terms with the fact that I may have to say goodbye to a series that I love so much, and with an ending that I most likely will not find satisfying. Regardless, Given has taken up a huge space in my heart for the past two years and I just wanted to write about how I found it, my experience with it, and what it means to me.

I've enjoyed manga and anime ever since I was in middle school, but toward the end of college I got too busy to keep up. Fast forward to years later in 2020, I was stuck at home during the pandemic and decided to dive back in. After rewatching a BL anime that I really liked in high school, Given came up as a suggested series. A quick Google search told me that it was a great romance story between boys in a band, cool.

The first episode starts with Mafuyu's melancholy monologue about the dream he keeps on having and I see right off the bat that I've signed up for a bit more than a cute love story with music. Then the opening song Kizuato hits and I'm totally captivated. It's probably one of my favorite opening sequences and truly captures the feel of the series with its hard-hitting instrumentals, Cenmilli's emotional vocals, and the moody art.

The series pace is on the slower side but there was enough drama and intrigue to keep pulling me in, and it's full of comedic gold. And then... episode 9, A Winter Story. It shook me to my core, everything about it was absolutely amazing. Ue's talk with Mafuyu before the show where he admits that even he doesn't know what he is doing or how to express himself, all he knows is that he loves Mafuyu's sound. The song itself, interspersed with flashbacks of Mafuyu and Yuki's relationship and Mafuyu's monologue (his "I'm lonely" is truly devastating, major props to Yano Shogo). THE KISS. A genuine surprise, so quick and so gentle from inexperienced Ue. I had to watch the episode twice because it left me in complete awe and I needed to experience it again. Then episodes 10-11 were the perfect wind-down with a lot of cute and legendary moments, aka Ue experiencing increasing levels of gay panic. The series became an instant favorite and I rewatched it immediately. I can't find the words to properly express what it did to me but it just made me feel so many things, things I don't think I've felt for a long time. I couldn't shake it.

After that, I was still hungry for more Given so I read the manga, which is a totally different and wonderful experience. The art is beautiful, and the way Kizu-sensei portrays emotions through the characters' facial expressions is unparalleled. Soon after that, the movie came to Crunchyroll, and I've been keeping up with the series in every form since. I read the chapters as they come out bi-monthly. I watched the drama adaptation (not great but not the worst I've seen). I watched the OVA many times (my favorite, all the precious RitsuMafu moments I was missing from the movie). I splurged on a second-hand DVD set of the stage play (really well done). I even watched the anime dub (tolerable), and I hate dubs. Rereading and rewatching the series are routine. Safe to say, it's consumed me for two years and the flame has not died down one bit.

Lots of fans joke about referring to Given as our comfort series when it actually hits on a lot of heavy topics and has eviscerated our emotions on more than one occasion. But it truly is my comfort place. Just as I had finished watching the anime for the first time, I lost a very close friend to illness. This friend was a fellow anime/manga enthusiast and was probably the one who introduced me to the world of BL. Although she didn't watch Given, I like to think that it could have been something we would have enjoyed together if we had the time. And although the circumstances are different, I could relate to Mafuyu prematurely losing an important person in his life. Because the story is equal parts pain and healing, Given kind of provided me with a space where I could dump all of the emotions I was experiencing, whether they were happy or sad. It taught me about loss, grief, and above all, the way music and love can heal the wounds that these things have left behind.

I also have to speak separately about the music of Given, it's just so well done, with so much care and attention to detail. You can tell that Cenmilli worked closely with Kizu-sensei or really dived into the source material when working on the music. Every song created for the series relates very clearly to an event or element of the story. I could write praises upon praises for all of them, but some of my favorites include:

Fuyu no Hanashi, for obvious reasons. Yano Shogo's raw vocals are haunting and the guitar riffs are insanely cool. The way the lyrics change from Mafuyu being stuck and unable to say goodbye in the first chorus, to finally moving forward despite that in the last chorus, show that he's getting the closure he needed.

Kizuato - The lyrics perfectly express the series' tagline "can't say goodbye, I'm still drifting with your echoes." And the pre-chorus is so, so good.

Hetakuso - A simple but insanely sweet song that is definitely Mafuyu's response to Ue's admission that he is bad at expressing himself. I squealed when I saw the lyrics mention "covered by the heat of summer" and "not being afraid of the next winter" in reference to the two of them.

Bokura dake no Shudaika - As I read the lyrics, I can't tell if the song is referencing Akihiko and Ugetsu's relationship or Akihiko and Haruki's (maybe it's both), but I actually like that ambiguity. I also love how it beautifully incorporates the violin as a salute to Aki and Ugetsu.

Uragawa no Sonzai - I know Mafuyu is singing the song but I like to think of it from Ue's perspective. He is aware that there is a side to Mafuyu that he doesn't know, his past, a time when he cried, a person he cried over. But he embraces this "existence on the other side" as a precious part of the person he loves and vows that he will fill up for what the other is lacking, and vice versa. I'm crying.

Now that the series is coming to an end, I don't know what I'll do with myself. If it's truly ending for good, I do have my complaints, but I'll save that for another time. No matter what though, Given is solidified as one of my top anime/manga series of all time, and I'm sure I'll keep revisiting it over the years even after it's finished. It's given me so much - joy (RitsuMafu soft moments are my serotonin), sorrow (Strawberry Swing, anyone?), laughs (too many to count), and some of my favorite music - and for that, I'm incredibly thankful.