#i miss you koyomi

[vhstown]

choreographing fights in a text format is so janky like 😭 i had a bit of an mha phase and wrote one fight scene and gave up it was not it

[nadekofannumber1]

Saw someone thinking Nadeko is still pinning for Araragi at the end of Nademono, what to do?

That’s a cope if I’ve seen one lol, the point is the moving on, Nadeko doesn’t even think about Koyomi that much in a lot of successive arcs. I feel like it’s more clear in the novels that Nadeko likes Araragi less than the narrative would want you to think. Even in nademono’s novel the final confrontation with the youngest Nadeko she says to her she’ll fall for someone better hotter cooler and “not a lolicon”. (Nadeko is actively peeved by Araragi’s weirdness and copes by pretending he didn’t say or do anything in otori, it’s part of the narrative.) Even if you think Nadeko loves Araragi after the end of nademono, I think believing the character is continuing to pine for him is a cope. Nadeko moving on is the point, Nadeko accepting and taking the steps to move on is integral to how the story works.

Ofc people can have their own opinions, readings, and HCs but I just don’t think that this is true for the actual text.

If it’s a random person online doing an open dialogue you can probably assert that it seems like a miss read of the story and provide evidence.

If it’s someone just asserting their opinion by themself for themself it’s might not be worth it to interject and simply scroll.

[studentofetherium]

i like reading your monogatari analysis and i have a question i'd like help with: i keep seeing posts about tsukihi's boyfriend being fake and i'm confused. did i miss something obvious? is there a bunch of subtext that i just wasn't observant enough to pick up on? i watched all of the anime for the first time recently but i haven't read the novels, idk if there's more detail in them.

it's a theory ive seen thrown around for as long as i've been in the fandom. i'm not really sure where the specific genesis of it was (the guy i picked it up from might have picked it up from an 18+ doujin?), but there's definitely a vibe you can get from various scenes throughout the series that Tsukihi and maybe also Karen made up their boyfriends. in Tsukihi's case, since there's such heavy subtext around her relationship with Nadeko, it can come across like her making up a boyfriend in an attempt to stay closeted. it's not especially obvious, but there's definitely an arc around that point that you can find. the two biggest scenes for this thread are in Neko Black and Owari vol. 3, but while the Owari scene made it into the anime, the conversation between Koyomi and Tsukihi in Neko Black was cut down considerably, which has several small moments that you can read into

none of this is obvious if you're going through the series for the first time without the idea already in mind, so it's fine to miss it. it's just a fun angle to approach the series from

[greatwyrmgold]

I wrote a support message to AO3 about planned changes to their tag system, purging "All Media" tags in favor of making you specify what specific Spider-Man movie/cartoon/run of comics you are writing Spider-Man fanfiction about. You shouldn't copy what I wrote, but I like what I wrote enough that I wanted to share it.

I have heard that AO3 is planning to get rid of "All Media Type" tags, forcing every fanfic to specify what specific piece of media they are based on.

Why?

The authors who write fanfic about specifically (for instance) the Spider-Man from the Amazing Spider-Man movies are vastly outnumbered by authors who write about Spider-Man the character, either drawing bits and pieces from every version they've seen or read or heard, or writing about the idea of Spider-Man independent of any particular incarnation. How should those stories be tagged? Tag every piece of Spider-Man media you referenced or drew inspiration from?

The readers who read fanfic about specifically (for instance) the Monogatari manga are vastly outnumbered by readers who don't really care about the differences between light novel/manga/anime canon and just want to read more about Koyomi Araragi. Splitting Monogatari across three or more tags will make it harder for those readers to find stories they'd like, because they either have to search three separate tags or miss two-thirds of Monogatari fanfiction which didn't tag all versions.

But that's the default for anime/manga already, which I find incredibly irritating. I love crossovers—either the author needs to blend elements of two disparate settings into one (which is neat), or you get a wild fish-out-of-water story where you understand everything that's going on while the characters barely understand anything (which is fun). So with some regularity, I will attempt to specifically search for crossover fanfiction…and if I do that for manga series which have been adapted to anime, I get bombarded by pages of crossovers between Chainsaw Man (Manga) and Chainsaw Man (Anime), which are not what I'm looking for.

But hey, at least I'm not someone who dislikes crossovers and wants to filter them out. If I did that, I'd have to ignore either half or 96% of the non-crossover CSM fanfic on the site.

I've seen tons of people on Tumblr talking about how this will affect their fandoms. I think about how much I'm irritated by anime/manga being split into two separate tags—tags which are nearly identical, except that fics posted before the anime adaptation was released won't have the anime tag—and I think about how much worse that would be in the Transformers fandom, or the Marvel/DC fandoms, or any of the other fandoms which have existed for multiple decades under different authors.

I can see all these people who would be inconvenienced by splintering multimedia tags like this. But I can't imagine who would find it convenient.

Nobody writes fanfiction based on an intellectual property, or a continuity, or a specific set of images or words. They write fanfiction based on characters, or settings, or plots. They write fanfic about ideas, ideas which can transcend the paper or film or silicon wafers they originate from. Is AO3 an archive of addenda to notable films or books or games? Or is it an archive of fanworks?

[aokozaki]

Tsukimonogatari One Review:

Kaiki: There's nothing you can do to help this girl. Leave her be. Koyomi: oh fuck I can never see Nadeko again... fuck...

Anyway, as sad as I am about the lack of Preview Quiz, I've gotta say that that Tsukihi scene was fantastic, and the little bit of Karen too. These siblings have the dynamic of all time and I love watching the really chaotic energy they bring.

Speaking of changes, you can really feel the new director right away. I feel like the "scale" of things is a little different, characters feel bigger, rooms feel smaller. And there's a lot of humor around characters moving and dancin' about, whereas I fee the series before relied more on gags about very sudden snaps of movement.

Rather than Koyomi's funny little dance.

I also appreciate that Koyomi can completely distract Tsukihi from his slip of the tongue just by splashing her with water twice, and now she's thinking about that instead. I bet she wouldn't even think much about Koyomi's reflection being missing, either!

Tsukihi: Huh, that's odd. I guess the mirror's broken.

[joyce-stick]

which characters from other fiction do you think it would interest you the most to see different Monogatari Series characters meet?

Uh. I don't know. I'm not big on crossovers. Even when they have potential they tend to feel like they were produced at corporate gunpoint, with no interest from the creators of either series in actually figuring out what clicks about these characters interacting. They're occasionally done well in fanfiction, but not too often, as generally there the writer's interest is less in actually telling any kind of a good story that I would actually want to read, and more in basically smashing the characters together in the same place, like they're action figures.

Even the ones that are decent... I'm often left wondering, okay, but why. What about this isn't anything you can do with the original cast and characters and such. Like, you could have a hypothetical crossover between Monogatari and Madoka, but what would that entail? Either Kyubey is an oddity soliciting girls to sell souls that Araragi has to vanquish by learning to respect women or whatever, or Hitagi becomes a magical girl and has some kind of an existential crisis while being afraid she's never going to get to kiss her Sweet Shitboi Koyomi right. You've either functionally created a Monogatari story which happens to feature Madoka characters, or a Madoka story which happens to feature Monogatari characters.

And even if it's "good", I have to ask... Why not just pick one series and write with what's already there, or make up new characters or something? Like, I'm sure either of the premises I described would be somewhat entertaining, but they probably wouldn't reveal anything we didn't already know about the cast of either series, and probably would feel entirely perfunctory, like the plot was made up not because it's genuinely a cool idea but more to fill the blank boxes in "Madoka x Monogatari crossover. Go."

And this is why most any crossovers of any series should probably remain solely in the realm of dubiously canon easily ignorable collaboration events in gacha games.

Actually, I dunno, I guess I do kinda like the idea of crossing over Bocchi the Rock with Bang Dream. That feels like a plausible match. I've thought about trying to write that, once or twice. But even still, I can't think of any reason why. Those characters aren't designed to interact with each other and there aren't really any missing links in the cast of either that feel like they could be filled by the cast of the other. They're all pretty full and complete and have plenty to play with within what's established in their own separate canon. Arguably Bang Dream's cast is too full. They don't seem to know what the fuck to do with Morfonica.

[chaossystem64]

How reliable a narrator would you expect Ougi to be compared with Koyomi?

Considering her character was waiting for others to figure out the answers while occasionally giving hints, I think I wouldn't enjoy her as a narrator. I think the story would be told with a decent amount of missing information with the reader left to fill in the gaps, if we assume she's telling it like how she handles everything else. I think she wouldn't lie at all though and her words can be trusted.

[whentranslatorscry]

Hitagi Honeymoon

012

Urban legends. Street gossip. Rumors in the wind.

Be it ghost tales or horror stories, at their core, they are all experiences of terror. I, Araragi Koyomi, might be a bit brazen in saying so myself, but I've accumulated quite the career in experiencing each of them.

It all began long ago with a hellish spring break where I discovered a peerless beauty missing her limbs in a back alley. Since then, I'd been split in half by a cat, beaten by a monkey, coiled by a snake, fawned over by a corpse doll, and almost swallowed by darkness.

The list goes on, without end.

Yet, even when compared to those horrifying encounters, my current experience was unparalleled— on my way to the Killing Stone.

It was unbelievably dark.

It was darker than the darkness that threatened to swallow me.

As I had told Hitagi, I let Shinobu drink my blood to enhance her vampirism at the campsite, and despite bolstering my physical strength, particularly my vision, it was still so dark that I could hardly see.

It was not the broken stone’s magic.

It was simply the absence of electric light at the historic site, and by this I came to realize just how dependent humans are on the Master Inventor Edison. The old saying, “an inch ahead is total darkness,” couldn’t be more apt, as in the dim light of my smartphone, serving as a makeshift lantern, I gingerly and cautiously moved forward. Though I had planned to briefly check the place and quickly return to the campsite, my pace had slowed considerably once I arrived here.

I couldn't walk without scuffing the soles of my shoes, always dragging my feet.

Nature's starlight could have sufficed, but I didn’t have that. The moment I left the tent, Hitagi had matter-of-factly warned me:

“Since the main event of stargazing is tomorrow, try not to look up at the sky today. I'll be doing the same.”

My newlywed wife casually made such an outrageous request. I knew it was just a case of her worrying too much— the past her would have blindfolded me and taken me on a short drive. Instead, she had driven me to heart of the Killing Stone area in a rented minivan. The sky had transformed instantly and became completely overcast as soon as we disembarked in the parking lot.

Whatever happened to the divine grace of Hachikuji Daimyoujin?

“Expect anything, master. Even with my vision— and by that, I mean the undifferentiated vision of a young girl— I cannot see through this darkness.”

Shinobu, who had emerged from the shadows, spoke as she walked beside me. If we didn't hold hands, we’d have lost sight of each other.

The fact that I was almost completely blinded reminded me of the Blind Snake Stone in this park alongside the Killing Stone, which Chief Kouga had instructed me about. And as the legend goes, or not necessarily because of it, there was a strong pungent smell.

Was it the smell of rotten eggs?

As someone who hardly ever cooks, I had never smelled a rotten egg— the legend of the Blind Snake Stone, by the way, goes as follows.

One day, a man saw a blind snake struggling and decided to make a nest for it out of pampas grass. In return, the snake made plenty of hot springs well up in that area— unlike the snake I know, this snake was a good one.

Just the fact that it didn't come to kill humans made it a good snake, but what's more, it was even repaying a favor. I'd love to make a nest for such a snake.

But, having only dabbled in internet knowledge, I hadn't grasped what a yunohana (hot spring flower) really was— I thought it was a real flower. But now, I understood that it was something like a sulfur crystal.

I wasn’t like Oshino, but I recognized the importance of fieldwork— well, it would have sufficed to have been more diligent and intensively researched yunohana as a keyword. But even so, this pungent odor that hit me squarely in the nose could only have been experienced firsthand.

It wasn’t something you could simply sniff out.

I shouldn’t be saying this so close to an onsen shrine, but as a university student, I had never been one for venturing to hidden hot springs, and the unfamiliar smell was pretty unsettling. It felt as if my vision had been stolen, as well as my sense of smell.

Hmm.

Too late now, but I definitely should have come here in daytime. My sense of convenience had taken precedence, and I had found myself here alone at night— an irreparable mistake. Shinobu had warned me that anything could happen, and now it seems I'd put myself in a position where it was more likely to.

The site itself was open 24 hours a day, but there was not a soul in sight, not even a hint of an insect.

On this late-night excursion, Kanbaru had also offered, “Maybe I can be of some help, so should we go together, Araragi-senpai?”

But I felt it was better to decline. The me of today, past my prime, was no longer capable of protecting someone else while fighting. I could barely protect my own and a little girl's life.

As for Hitagi, she was holed up in her tent, determined not to look up at the sky before the real deal, and was apparently planning to devote herself to her trading business using all the latest electronic gadgets I had never seen before.

No sooner had my wife withdrawn than this weather began…

Could she be the Sun Goddess Amaterasu?

Anyhow, it seems that both of us were the type to bring work along on our honeymoon. Well, the world of investing was such that you couldn’t take your eyes off the screen even for a single day— or not even a single second. That said, I'm sure her junior— no, my friend Kanbaru, who had been in her life longer than me, would be in the middle of a belated bachelorette party right about now.

I had never had any friends to throw such a party for me, either in Japan or the US… the meaning of being single was different for us.

In high school, I used to boast that making friends would only weaken me as a human, but looking at Kanbaru, who went out for BBQs every week, I couldn’t help but think that those who could make friends were strong at a fundamental level.

The more I became a part of society, the more I felt this to be true.

I wanted to return to the days when I believed that having no friends held value, but maybe Hanekawa had already realized this that spring break… in this sense, she had become far too intense after graduation.

As is apparent from the fact that she managed to win over a guy like me, the former class president was more suited to making friends than to creating organizations.

In both a good and a bad sense.

Her intensity as a human increased.

But she’d lost her human touch.

“…Phew.”

In any case, remembering Hanekawa for a little helped me collect my thoughts. It was like my routine; whenever I felt shaken or even scared, I thought about Hanekawa.

That would instantly calm me down.

Relax; just darkness.

This wasn't some dramatic turn of events where I'd sense spiritual energy or be possessed by a supernatural creature… Though there were no people around, I was simply walking across a wooden bridge set up over a rocky area— in a hot spring resort?

It was a man-made bridge.

In other words, even without a single person around, human hands were still present— it was a normal tourist spot, after all. This place was atop a mountain that could be reached by a one-hour bus ride from the bullet train station— what would it do if I myself became the origin of a rumor?

I guess I’d better watch my step so that I don't stumble.

On the way here, I had stumbled upon countless posters that depicted cute versions of the nine-tailed fox and Tamamo-no-Mae. Much like vampires, shape-shifting foxes had already become a part of human economic activity— don’t be scared, this darkness was no different than walking with eyes closed.

Rather, I turned off the light on my smartphone and immersed myself in true darkness before resuming my steps.

“Well, you may think this to be cool of you, but ‘tis seriously dangerous. Crossing a bridge all casual-like, and then stepping off the edge is no joke— you'll be injuring yourself. There's not a single stalk of grass beneath the bridge in this rocky place, master.”

“As an investigator for the Hearsay Department, I can’t always afford to play it safe. If anything, finishing up the sightseeing without incident is the best way to dispel the rumor.”

“Aye, I see. I shall not meddle in your work matters.”

“What the hell. Aren’t you more than eager to butt in about everything else? Are you still sulking over not getting to join us for the barbecue?”

“Sulking? Nay, well—”

'Tis not entirely untrue, I suppose, Shinobu said somewhat hesitantly, her words lacking their usual sharpness— a peculiar display for a former vampire with razor-sharp fangs that could pierce through my neck in an instant.

I couldn't quite put my finger on what she was getting at, so I decided to express my gratitude before I forgot. “By the way, you were a big help.”

I did have a childhood friend with whom our relationship had remained sour for almost two decades simply due to my forgetfulness in saying thanks.

“What are you referring to?”

“We didn’t even talk about how it’d all go, but you were, how do I put this, very humble towards Hitagi. That, right there, was the mark of a six-hundred-year-old adult. I never imagined you'd support Hitagi like that, and I'm really glad that your first meeting managed to avoid a worst-case scenario-like conflict.”

The topic might have been rather personal and serious for casual conversation, but there was no need to continue delving into scary stories in such a foreboding place. This was one of the rare moments in this group trip when just the two of us could talk. So I figured we should face it head-on.

We had just barely seen a sign saying it was 240 meters to the Killing Stone, but honestly, it felt more like two kilometers. Maybe even as far as the moon.

“Hmph. Well, ‘tis only reasonable. Seeing as the lady in question is to be your partner, as a slave to you, she holds an equivalent level of power over me, as a master.”

“So you're ranking us, like a pack of dogs…”

Not the best image to go by, but then… Where would my friend and my wife's junior, Kanbaru, fit in the pecking order?

“I did have that one squabble with the monkey girl, and she did best me in the end. In a way, she may even be above you, master.”

“Above me, huh…? Looks like the relationship chart’s shaping up just as I imagined.”

A pyramid relationship chart it was.

Then, who was at the top? Gaen-san? No, maybe the nominator, Oshino?

“Specialists would be at the bottom— those lowly creatures failed to kill me even after centuries of trying.”

“I mean, there's a difference between them. Gaen-san and Oshino wanted fo coexist, didn't they? It was the vampire hunters like Dramaturgy who were really aggressive toward you.”

I was the one who had to fight them, though.

They were formidable opponents that I can't imagine ever looking down on. Even knowing that those battles have shaped who I am today, I would never wish to face them again.

Wait, huh.

“Aye, regardless of the past, there's no question that I’m at the bottom now— a powerless young lass. And this feels rather comforting.”

“Does it really?”

“Indeed— I feel much more at ease now than when I was being constantly challenged. In fact, I had almost forgotten until I talked to Death, but I became a vampire to rid myself of my charm in the first place.”

I recalled hearing that, as a matter of fact.

In an ancient European castle, or maybe in the mirror world.

I suppose becoming a vampire was precisely for the sake of forgetting that gift. Though her past before becoming a vampire seemed far more monstrous, the tale of “Princess Beauty” was magnificent.

To think that names like Lola or Acerola would be unimaginable to Shinobu now was far from a joke— her beauty brought destruction to entire nations. It was no laughing matter.

Even a careless, aesthetically-challenged man like me couldn't help but desire to eviscerate myself when facing “her.”

There was a time when Hanekawa had insinuated as much, but it seemed fitting that during her time as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, she had never used her innate vampire charm skill. Considering the secret of her birth, maybe it was for the best.

“If you had been able to use your Charm, you probably wouldn't have been chased about so much. It's funny how things don't always go as planned, huh?”

“I'd say things actually turned out quite well. Just by not bringing about the end of the world, and by living such a long, frugal life until I met you, it seems fortuitous, no?”

It may have been a long life, but it was only frugal in recent years— to say I wasn’t happy to hear her say that would be a lie. Although it's hard to believe my actions during spring break were flawless and the best— Hmm?

Something's been bothering me for a while now.

Had my thinking become dull in the darkness?

Or had it become more sharp and sensitive? Unable to reach an answer to this plaguing question, I decided to share my vexation with her.

“But Shinobu, I think calling yourself a slave or the lowest of the low won’t be well-received in these modern times. Self-deprecation as a form of humor is losing its appeal. When you speak poorly of yourself like that, you might be insulting others who’re struggling under similar circumstances, even if you don’t mean to. It's like if I were to say, 'Oh no, becoming an FBI agent is no big deal, totally normal, really.' In doing so, I’d end up dishonoring my colleagues who are keeping my back.”

“Need not keep your back, you are more likely to be shot right in the face.”

Maybe it wasn’t the best analogy.

A better one might be: if someone like me, who has no friends, constantly bemoans not having any, it might look as if not having friends is an absolute evil. Thus, inadvertently attacking everyone who has no friends— something like that.

Not like that was a great analogy either.

It's the worst thing I've ever heard.

But I don't know, I'd prefer it if I had no friends and wasn't allowed to complain about it… It’d still be better than the days when I was an asshole distancing myself from people.

“Fret not, master. No one else is like me— a vampire who has fallen into the role of a perverse lolicon’s slave.”

“Shinobu-san, being a lolicon is a no-go. An absolute no-go. It's not about the times; it's about a twenty-four-year-old being called a lolicon.”

“I believe it would have been inappropriate even for a high school student.”

“Not even gods can look like fifth-graders anymore. You never know how long you can remain a little girl.”

“Hmm. So, is your proposal to legally adopt me and thereby legalize the arrangement? What a wicked idea.”

No, that absolutely wasn’t my intention… But in the course of having many conversations with many people, things got tangled.

Fundamentally, though, the issue at hand stemmed from the realization that I couldn't permanently put Shinobu's problems on the back burner as I build a life with Hitagi.

“I feel it's better to keep me on the back burner. Certainly better than being hung out to dry. The idea of turning me into Araragi Shinobu hardly has any meaning, as it were.”

“Why? If there's even a hint of meaning to it, then there must be a point, right? Position-wise, it'd be better to raise you from the lowest level of slave. From what I've heard so far, your self-esteem is way too low.”

If I had to describe it in terms of feeling, it might be akin to a fast-footed track team member who can't get serious about competing in school marathon events and ends up walking at the back of the pack. Like getting rusty when participating in general races, I guess.

While that may have been fine if it was just between me and her, once we became a trio, we couldn’t keep saying the same… And I doubt Hitagi would want a child slave.

“I wonder if she would want an adopted daughter, or if the tsundere girl— err, the lady of the house— even desires to become a mother in the first place.”

It wasn't the kind of question a little girl would ask, but it was a sensitive topic even for an adopted child. I had never had this conversation before— let alone posed this question to Hitagi.

Hitagi's enmity with her mother ran incredibly deep, and it’s hard to say that I fully comprehended the complex feelings she harbored toward the concept of motherhood.

In any case.

Senjougahara Hitagi went to great lengths to sever her ties with her mother. She even wished for and subsequently lost almost all her body weight. It was this mysterious— this complex turn of events that led to our fateful encounter. While it may be unwise to make a sweeping judgment on this, there was a primitive, skeptical aspect to viewing it all from a future perspective. In the end, it remains uncertain whether Senjougahara Hitagi's recovery of memories of her mother was for the better or worse. This question seemed even more mysterious than the supernatural.

When I was eighteen, I remember Oshino saying something that I couldn't quite grasp nor even pretend to understand. As I approached the age that Oshino was back then, in other words, as I became an adult, I began to comprehend, if only slightly, what he was trying to convey.

Adults remain adults.

Parents remain parents.

While Senjougahara Hitagi plead to the crab, she also had another option, to plea to the crab or not— to sever her ties with her mother. This option, even if seemingly non-existent, it was there for her to take.

Much like an aberration or perhaps a god.

It was a choice she could have made.

Senjougahara Hitagi said with tears in her eyes that it was something she had to bear, something she could not forget, but looking back on it now, it was not something she had to bear at all, and if she could forget it, she would have been happier at least.

If asked whether forgetting everything, like Hanekawa, would bring happiness, I would say that's not quite right. But, it did not mean that “Senjougahara Hitagi” was the right answer either.

Just as adults will only ever be adults.

Children will only ever be children, nothing more— it was too much to bear and too deeply etched within her.

“In reality, she couldn’t have managed a normal life with her debilitating disease of losing her weight. Maybe she couldn’t have gone to university or worked for a foreign firm. So all she could do was remember, but I wonder what decision she would make today, with the person she’s become.”

“Whether she would make the decision an adult would? Had you done this to me, at the very least, I wouldn’t be here like this.”

“I've said before that even now: I still think that was the only choice I could've made with you back then. I can't just ignore the plight of a beautiful woman missing her limbs.”

Perhaps it's even more true now that I've come of age. On top of my original, irrepressible personality, there was a sense of professional duty.

I was a servant not only in spirit but also in profession.

In the same vein, if I were to come across a high school girl struggling with her relationship with her mother, my first thought would now be to protect her. Regardless of whether or not I should step in, just as I did back in high school.

With my shoes off, if not barefoot.

“Kanbaru was once rejected by Senjougahara Hitagi… But now, as an aspiring doctor, another course of action, another development might be possible. I think even back then, Hitagi trusted doctors and nurses…”

“If that monkey girl had found me, what would've become of me?”

“With your limbs torn as they were, you would’ve been deemed an incurable patient and subjected to that 'triage' she talked about.”

It was by no means limited to Kanbaru.

What if someone other than myself had encountered the vampire on the brink of death? It was hard to imagine anyone else making the same foolish yet honest choice as me, at least not any typical adult.

“Y'know, originally, Hanekawa was the one who wanted to meet a vampire. If she had given her blood to you…”

“The world would have perished.”

As lightly as she said it, we’d borne witness to a similar outcome in a parallel world— if the fully-powered Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade and an equally powerful Hanekawa Tsubasa had formed a master-servant bond, one or two worlds wouldn’t be enough. Hundreds, if not thousands of worlds would perish. Their terrorizing “what-if” would pose a threat to the extinction of every parallel universe.

I wonder if this world, too, can remain safe forever.

“If it were Senjougahara Hitagi then? I think back in spring break, after she broke ties with Kanbaru and left Oikura’s protection, she’d have been at her sharpest…”

Still, was it my partiality to my dear wife that I thought she wouldn’t have abandoned a dying beauty?

“Perhaps, perhaps not If she were still as cold as ever, then we may have forged a strong partnership, excluding the cat girl, of course.”

However.

That would only hold true if the lady were to become a full-fledged vampire, she said, and then, Shinobu stopped in her tracks.

At first, I wondered why, but it seemed that while talking, we had arrived at the place where the Killing Stone was supposedly exhibited— nay, it couldn't be called an exhibit at all.

The stone simply sat there.

As it had for ages— eight hundred long years.

Just as the signboard of “240 meters ahead” had promised, it seemed we had finally reached our goal. One more step, and we were walking in complete darkness, taking a great leap of courage.

In my night vision mode, I was barely able to see it. There was no guide present, nor any illumination, so it was difficult to be certain.

There was at least a sign that read “Killing Stone,” but still.

“No mistake. The ominous aura oozes from this broken stone.”

“But isn't that just… the sulfur?”

According to Chief Kouga, the ill health and even death of small animals around the stone was not caused by some supernatural being, but by the sulfur being emitted.

In fact, as far as my night vision allowed me to see, I found only the desolated slabs of rock. And as Shinobu mentioned earlier, not a single stalk of grass in sight.

Although, like the legend of the Blind Snake Stone, the sulfur itself could be considered the product of an aberration. But at the end of the day, a stone is just a stone— or at least, that's what my high school experience would have had me believe. Then again, wasn’t I the one who had made an ordinary rock the protagonist of a horror tale?

“This is more than a mere pebble produced by you, master. This, here, is a genuine, certified Killing Stone. Left abandoned on this gloomy mountain, with a name you cannot help but be haunted by: Killing Stone.”

And she had a point. It may be personal bias, but the name Killing Stone had a greater impact on me than the nine-tailed fox or Tamamo-no-Mae. Because it contained the word “kill,” it even surpassed my predecessor Seishirou in its might. Come to think of it, I could almost feel the aura myself.

Could it really be that such a perfectly split stone was a natural occurrence? It almost appeared to have been cleanly cleaved by a mighty sword. But damn, the darkness made it near impossible to discern the scale of the thing.

It seemed at once both smaller and larger than I had imagined— either way, it threatened to swallow me whole.

On the other hand, no matter how perfect and idyllic the future Gaen-san may have envisioned, Nasu Town in Tochigi Prefecture lay beyond the jurisdiction of Naoetsu Police.

So, with a trembling heart, I carefully approached the historical site of the Killing Stone in the still of night. But to the locals, I was the suspicious outsider.

It might seem like I'd ventured across an ancient European castle, what with the way I'd been acting, but I just needed to backtrack a little and I'd find myself in a perfectly common residential neighborhood. It would be the worst if, instead of the stone, I were to become an urban legend.

So, I couldn't possibly commit the vandalism of climbing over a fence installed for safety and approach the Killing Stone. As a cop, I couldn't enter a restricted area without a warrant. Well, looking closely at the fence, there was a sign posted on it saying, “Please keep away for safety. Sulfur gas is present,” which also made me hesitate.

“Ah, that might be a problem. I was hoping to bring back a tale about how the Killing Stone cracked but the nine-tailed fox didn’t revive to my colleagues. But I might end up bringing back a horror story instead now.”

So far, all I've known on this detour is fear. If I were to return to the campsite as is, I would definitely end up telling those two a souvenir story of how incredibly scared I was. As it stands, the already venerable and well-established rumor would be in danger of being officially endorsed by public institutions, and it would be unimaginable if rumors were to spread that the Killing Stone was being deemed dangerous by the FBI.

I'd been told by my dear wife not to look up at the sky if I can help it, but I found myself inadvertently gazing up at the heavens. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Nasu Highlands sky was covered in even thicker clouds than when I last checked.

The moon was nowhere to be seen.

There was hardly any difference between the view when I was facing forward and when I was looking at the sky. It's fine for now, but what about tomorrow night? Was the weather different between Nasu Highlands and Oku-Nikko? They say mountain weather is fickle.

“If you absolutely insist that I adhere to the hierarchical order involving master and servant, I could break the Killing Stone into even smaller pieces and dispose of it with no trace left behind.”

“No, it wouldn't do to spread a different rumor. Who knows what kind of legend will be born if a blonde little girl is seen practicing stone-splitting at a historical site at night?”

If such a terrifying story were to become established, it’d blow away my terrifying experience tonight.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

And a ghost story for a ghost story?

“Ah, I see. If one were to experience a scarier situation, it would render the rumor of the Killing Stone invalid.”

“Right. It's like how ghost stories won't scare you if you have toothache. Thankfully, I owe my lack of cavities to you.”

“I understand now.”

Shinobu nodded with a knowing glance.

“Indeed, I recall that back in my heyday, I once tore off my leg below the knee due to unbearable pain from a broken pinky toe. I suppose it's quite similar to that.”

“Mhm… that’s also a way to deal with the pain, I guess.”

Tearing off your own limb seemed to be a unique approach reserved for regenerating vampires. Akin to a lizard shedding its tail or surgically removing an affected area in medicine, I guess. At this point, it was becoming an unsettling preface.

“Fear not. We're not discussing tearing off your leg here.”

“A little girl ripping off your leg in the middle of the night, that’d be a great ghost story. A brand new urban legend. What, are we starting a Hundred Ghost Stories right here? I bet any story told by you, the King of Aberrations, would be the embodiment of terror.”

But could even that surpass this real-life experience? I was the one who brought it up, but— was there a ghost story that could make me blurt out, “My apologies to the nine-tailed fox, but a Killing Stone’s got nothing on this,” after hearing it?

“Hmph… Not so much a ghost story as something I'd been meaning to discuss with you during this excursion. It could very well be scarier than any ghost story for you.”

“Ooh, exciting.”

“Perhaps even I won't sleep tonight. Are you still pondering over that idea of yours, about binding me with your name instead of the aloha boy’s name that's been shackling me all this while?”

“Yeah, I remember the two of us deciding that.”

“I don't recall it being a mutual decision. It was almost entirely on you.”

A husband who rules the roost​, are you? she said. Well, I can't deny that I might have come across as a bit forceful in presenting the idea.

But so what?

Isn’t that water under the bridge?

“Water under the bridge or not, it's not inherently a terrible idea. In the past, it would have been utterly impossible for you to have sealed me away with merely your name, but now you are practically a specialist of sorts. With the support of a veteran practitioner, you could place an even stronger seal on me.”

“A stronger seal? I have no intention of doing that, but—”

I didn't want to rely on Oshino’s name forever, and if anything, as a plan of mine, I hoped to raise her sense of freedom, self-affirmation, even just a little— but would the “veteran practitioner” mentioned here be Gaen-san or Chief Kouga?

“I thought that being controlled by me might be preferable to being controlled by Oshino.”

“That seems kind-hearted of you, but it's quite the dangerous thinking, as well. You criticize slavery when it's to others, but it's fine when you're the one with control.”

I hadn't expected to be called out like that, but yes, I realized it was a self-righteous idea. I didn’t want to admit it to the vampire who creates thralls, but when I paused to think it over, I found that over her six-hundred-year semi-life, Shinobu had created only two thralls, including myself.

Maybe from the beginning, this vampire was opposed to the idea of enslavement.

“You’re correct. In my case, before I became a vampire, I had witnessed Death's own thralls. Having been shown such a forceful master-servant relationship and having it ingrained in my subconscious, I may have developed an aversion to it.”

Seishirou and I, we may have been unwillingly created as slaves— no, there was no doubt that we both were vampires born out of emergency escapes. At the very least, we weren’t slaves born out of Shinobu's free will.

“If you value humanity, you might think that instead of transferring control by binding with a name, it’d be more reasonable to liberate slaves…”

“To be honest, I'm not entirely jesting about this matter either. I have no intention of blaming your sense of ethics, and it's a fact that, thanks to you, I was able to end my life on the lam. Since my identity has changed many times before, it might be a little amusing to be bound by your name. I rather like the name Oshino Shinobu, but I have to admit, there's something about it that makes me feel that aloha boy decided it on a whim.”

While I didn’t think it was entirely arbitrary, I couldn’t deny the feeling that wordplay had played a role in the decision.

“But master, I believe it's a foul idea to make me your 'daughter.' That isn’t simply going too far, it's running amok.”

“Hm? Really? It sounded really nice to me. But I don't plan to decide this alone. As wicked as I may be, I'm not self-righteous.”

“I believe they’re similar, those two.”

“But I'll admit there's a problem with the way I’m going about it. I'll make sure to get your approval, and obtain Hitagi's consent according to the proper procedures. No surprises, no casual conversations in the car.”

To not treat her like a servant or a slave, but to take her in as a foster daughter, I think it was pretty progressive for our time… Not running amok, but running side by side.

“So, maybe there's no need to bother Chief Kouga or Gaen-san about changing your name. Oikura can handle it.”

“’Tis a tragedy for that girl to find someone like you waiting for her at the end of her search for safety— worse than being beaten by her parents.”

After completely denying the foundation of my friendship with Oikura, Shinobu shook her head and pressed further, “Perhaps I should speak more clearly so that my message gets across?”

“I am not negating your philanthropy, no. As I've said numerous times, I have been saved by it, and it has brought me joy. I am even allowed to be lazy because of it, and it has guaranteed me a comfortable retirement. I may look different to you, but no matter how my name changes, I will always be the same. Hence, this isn't my problem— it's your lady's problem.”

“Hitagi's?”

Shinobu had taken a humble approach to their first meeting, leading me to think that it had all gone off without a hitch… I guess not so much? In fact, I suddenly remembered something Hitagi had said back when she had met Hachikuji: she couldn't stand children.

She had even boasted that they should all just die— a line that, while typical of prime Senjougahara Hitagi, was still quite extreme. Not that I wish to criticize her past statements by digging them up, and I had thought she'd completely conquered that weakness at some point, but I realized there hadn't been any situations where she was around children since then.

Even as someone who values home and family, Hitagi had no connection with Hachikuji whatsoever.

“Hmm, there certainly was a palpable sense of tension between us, but I didn't feel any animosity. She didn't seem to want to kill me.”

“What do you take my wife for?”

“Well, she used to be quite the character back then.”

That’s right.

That classmate of ours was exceptionally aggressive against everyone, junior Kanbaru and peer Hanekawa alike. But compared to those times, she had morphed into a remarkably easygoing and affable person.

“There was a side of me that wanted to take advantage of her affability and just let things unfold naturally with you. But now, I think it's better to have a proper plan in place.”

“Ah, and thanks to this plan, I've come to understand that it is indeed best not to place me as your adopted child. Or even force me to be Araragi Shinobu.”

“What are you talking about? That's not what you were saying earlier. Weren't you on the Araragi side?”

“It’s not about taking sides. For you, it may be a matter of personal experience and inherent nature, something you've grown so accustomed to that you no longer reflect upon it. But, after our conversation today and after discovering her true intentions, I've found that the lady of the house is still unaware of this. And to become a family without knowing about it would be impossible— or rather, if she knew, it would be even more impossible.”

“……?”

Her true intentions?

Despite the frank prelude, her words were rather ambiguous anyway. She spoke them like they were stuck between her molars.

“Molars, you say? More like fangs, perhaps.”

“Hmm?”

“Speaking of, how was the barbecue?”

Wait, the conversation just shifted gears.

Or was this some surreal ghost story?

“Well, it was pretty good… I've never had the chance to try this style of dining, even in America, but it's a lot of fun. The campfire brings our spirits up, and it might have something to do with Kanbaru's impressive cooking skills. It was charred just right, not just the meat, but the vegetables as well.”

Though phrases like “life is half-lived without food” were cliché and leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, it struck me that maybe, I should have been doing things like this in high school or university.

I think I had been stubbornly refusing to experience the fulfillment so many others had. Maybe that stubbornness, not just barbecue, was what had been really detrimental to my life.

“Come on, did you really want to eat too? Well, there’s a theory that family starts by having meals together, so—”

Tut, tut, tut, Shinobu quickly cut me off, wagging her theatrical finger at me. Then, with a contrasting seriousness on her face, she said.

“’Tis fine for you to eat your meat and veggies; is it fine for me to eat humans, too?”

Really.

Would you share a table with someone like that?

“.…..”

My apologies to the nine-tailed fox, but— a Killing Stone’s got nothing on this.

Prev Chapter | Next Chapter

[sinkableruby]

What are your thoughts on each Monogatari season?

ok this will end up long... (like really fucking long holy shit lol) im gonna go from first - monster season (which is the light novels), so only read up to where youve seen. mostly only vague discussion of spoilers but still. ill put the individual parts of each season too for reference, in the order i watched and try to go over them briefly since i feel like you cant talk about the whole of the seasons without touching on the parts

first (kizu, bake, nise, neko black) - the kizu movies are so good!!!!!! i like them more and more as time goes on theyre like a fine wine. captures the vibe of a sort of proto-monogatari monogatari very well. it might just b because i watched it in this order but this is honestly my recommended order to watch the series. idk maybe you lose something from not seeing how mysterious shinobu is in bake and then getting the big reveal. bake - nice and airtight. very cool and classic vibes here, very nostalgic. cool introductions to all these cool fun characters while also giving them arcs that are resolved except nadekos but yeah. and of course this one has the very unique art direction thats super cool nise - just had a post about this so go look at that if you want my thoughts. drops a big theme that keeps getting developed which is the kinda important thing u gotta be doing during a season called the "first season" lol neko black - ehhh i think this is one of the worst ones of the anime entries. its not bad. i like the op a lot overall extremely nostalgic and very high quality, especially with kizu and nise in my mind. a bit of a bump with neko black but a very strong start in general. the first season offers much room for the themes and characters to grow but also stands well on its own. so it does its job well. (also note im not gonna be talkin about like the ost too much here just bc. i love all of it so much. its exclusively good.)

second season (neko white, kabuki, otori, oni, koi, hana) - season full of bangers lets go! neko white is the wonderful resolution to the buildup of hanekawa's character we'd been getting since the first season. very good kabuki is interesting... but definitely not the strongest entry here otorimonogatari is what originally hooked me once and for all on the series, for reasons ive explained before so i wont get into that too much here. but god do i love it to death. whew its good oni could hit much harder than it does but it doesnt. rip. still not what id call bad but eh koi is fuckin awesome. kaiki and nadeko... i'd talk more at length about certain parts i like but im writing this backwards from the later seasons to the earlier ones and i talked way too much about the later ones so im trying to conserve space here. i might talk about it more later or if someone asks me abt it hana i have talked about a bit before too but i love hana hanas great. so then all in all it's like 4 bangers. a great development of the characters we know and love and one that is so well written and just done in the best ways... i loved where this season took everyone. i think the non chronological stuff can be a hit or miss for ppl but i honestly really like it, especially on rewatches. when you think about it the order never feels pointless. even tho hana is chronologically after all the other anime arcs its still not at all something i would say you should watch after zoku lmao. the season does well as a continuation and development but not a conclusion to the series, and thus spendidly fits the role of "second" season.

final season (tsuki, owari part 1, koyomi, owari ge, zoku) - there are ups and downs to this season, but the ups far, FAR outweigh the downs. owari part one... its really good. i think shinobu mail (thats what its called right?) is like kind of slow at first, and i definitely wasnt SUPER invested in it on my first watch, but i think on a rewatch after you get past the first like episode or two it really starts to pick up and shine. that is not why i like it though ougi formula to sodachi lost is incredibly fucking good all the way through, some of the strongest entries in the series by far. i might do like a ranking of each part sometimes and those are definitely going in s tier when i do (even nisioisin said his favorite anime part was ougi formula in an interview although that might just be because he loves mysteries lol). hooooghhh those three arcs,, sodachis story is revealed and developed very wonderfully and impactfully and you kinda love her right from her return to the school where she screams at araragi. and of course, of COURSE ougi is the absolute goat in these arcs, revealing the mystery in the engaging and entertaining way she tends to while also being an incredible point of intrigue herself in her whole enigmatic shtick. and of course, if you know you know, but that doesnt make it any less enjoyable on rewatches ougi is just that entertaining of a character. not to mention her showdown with hanekawa... its so entertaining to see these two battle so passive aggressively or just plain aggressively. and the way it ends up is not surprising but it IS hilarious. and then the convo with sodachi in her apartment... heartwrenching, incredible. all of its very very good. probably some of the most fun ive had watching anime, these three arcs grab you and youre just along for the ride the whole time. i'd love to talk about it more in depth some other time probably FUCK that was just owari part one too koyomi we can go through quickly though. its just like a sorta reminder of where each character started and ended up, as well as giving a few details to set up owari ge. nothing special or bad. i love the ED tho oh fuck are you gonna make me scream about owari ge... this post is already way too long fuck... uhh basically mayoi hell + hitagi rendevous are great in and of themselves and are also wonderful buildups to ougi dark and the conclusion of the series. its so fun how it sneaks up on you that yes, ougi is the main antagonist (at least from second season - final). ougi dark................. ougi dark..... ougi dark. yeah ill save this for a different post. um, one billion out of ten? i literally think about it every day thats not a joke so i dont think i can talk about it here without running out of space (do posts have word limits?? whatever its too long already anyway) overall a very tight and absolutely wonderful conclusion to the series. in my mind this is like the "actual ending" and the light novels and other stuff that comes after is like bonus epilogue stuff (not that its not canon its just that ougi dark is too solid of an ending. its TOO good do you understand)

and now time for the light novels

off season - i think in general this season is pretty strong. i was pretty invested in how it was really taking the time to give characters other than araragi the focus, at least until musubi. but even in musubi its sort of like a "where are they now?" so we get lots of details about all the characters. although i think in musubi its a little hard to read bc we also get all these new characters that we dont necessarily care about (esp since its very much like a one-off thing), but i dont mind it that much because thats not what i like it for... the cool part is seeing the characters we love and where theyve ended up and where theyre going. like the part in (i think) mitome wolf? where hanekawa and araragi have drifted super far apart... wonderfully bittersweet. and i have a separate post about this but seeing ougi free and unable to be bothered in their new life? chefs kiss wonderful love it. so i think even though musubi breaks the format of taking a break from araragi, its still good enough to not bring down off season really. and on that note i honestly wish monster season would be more like off season. i dont really want to see stinky araragi's pov anymore! i think he should take way more of a backseat and instead make more guest appearances in other people's stories, like he did at the end of hanamonogatari. not that i dont like him (its a hate love relationship) but i think honestly hes really interesting in hana where we see kanbaru's view of him instead of his view of everyone else as usual. i love so much how the monogatari series Feels Different in different people's perspectives so i want to switch it up more!! of course he is the main character so i dont think this will happen but like. i'd much rather get kanbaru's misadventures with ougi than araragi's college misadventures. and of course i cant talk about off season without talking about nademonogatari. nademonogatari is SO FUCKING GOOD holy shit... i think i speak for a lot of people when i say nadeko is by far the strongest narrator in the series due to her arc's progression and her character development-- and even before it too, cuz otorimonogatari's narration was also really unique and engaging. it helps that she's my second fav but i think nademonogatari is generally well liked? and for very good reason. which is also why...

monster season - haven't finished these season still have to read ougi fright/flight and the next installment but yeah i feel a lil disappointed in this season because again... too much araragi. get this dirty stinky man outta my face. again i love and hate the guy but cmon let's be real... his peak was in owari ge and zoku and at the end of hana. i really dont feel the need to see more of him. of course the stories themselves are interesting and i like nisioisin's writing but i just find the stuff thats not narrated by him such a breath of fresh air... i really want to see more nadeko and kanbaru narration. i hope nisioisin, if he keeps on trucking through the series, will start putting more real focus on these two. or even like. just anyone else. give us ononoki again give us sodachi again. i want to see the other characters journeys!!!! we keep getting small little nadeko chapters like with mayoi snake and yotsugi shadow and like... those were awesome i loved those! more of that but longer please nisioisin!!! i feel like raising up kanbaru or nadeko more to the status of "mains" would be honestly really refreshing and a much better, less like.... stagnating? direction to take the series in ummmmm also nisioisin isnt writing about ougi enough ://// like... hellooo? ougi pov chapter when?? itd be the most fun thing ever nisioisin???? hello??????? hes so insistent on not writing them i swear he wants to relegate them to a side character spooky appearance every once in a while and thats cool but like im starving here dude cmon... even in the book named after them they dont get a pov chapter and only appear as a side character.... wtf........................... like thats so fucked up.................................................. especially since the parts where they acc were there were rly good :( but basically araragi stinky i want to cleanse my nose palette please PLEASE nisioisin throw him in the trash for a long while longer im begging you it'd be so much more interesting if you just let him become a side character his days in the sun should be OVER

[ao3feed-matchablossom]

Of messy hand-writing and love letters

by langatism

“I’m sorry, but we can’t be friends anymore.”

“Huh?” He complained. “Out of nowhere? What for? Did I say something bad? You don’t have to marry my sister if you don’t want to!” He rushed to say.

“I’m sorry, really, I don’t understand why either.” He said, starting to close the window. “We are also leaving the house sooner. Maybe, we can try to meet in secret next time I come around. I will miss you.”

“Me too.” He murmured. He regretted not visiting during the past few days. “I wanted to play with you more.”

“Hey, Reki, can I ask something?” To that, the boy nodded. “Promise not to forget me, please?”

Or where Reki finds himself working for the prince, his long-forgotten childhood friend, and His Highness teaches him how to write and read...

Words: 9462, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Kyan Reki, Hasegawa Langa, Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe, Chinen Miya, Kyan Reki's Family

Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Childhood Friends, Friends to Lovers, Prince Hasegawa Langa, Autistic Hasegawa Langa, Kyan Reki Needs a Hug, Soft Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki, Gender Non-Comforming Kyan Reki, Bisexual Kyan Reki, Gay Hasegawa Langa, Minor Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Insecure Kyan Reki, there's no tag for this..., but reki is langa's assistant :3, Pining, Mutual Pining, Forbidden Love, if you squint !, Good Sibling Kyan Koyomi, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, Poverty, Good Friend Chinen Miya, But also, Chinen Miya Being a Little Shit, autistic author, Not Beta Read, we die like langa's dad

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/46290400

[ao3feed-renga]

Of messy hand-writing and love letters

Of messy hand-writing and love letters

by langatism

“I’m sorry, but we can’t be friends anymore.”

“Huh?” He complained. “Out of nowhere? What for? Did I say something bad? You don’t have to marry my sister if you don’t want to!” He rushed to say.

“I’m sorry, really, I don’t understand why either.” He said, starting to close the window. “We are also leaving the house sooner. Maybe, we can try to meet in secret next time I come around. I will miss you.”

“Me too.” He murmured. He regretted not visiting during the past few days. “I wanted to play with you more.”

“Hey, Reki, can I ask something?” To that, the boy nodded. “Promise not to forget me, please?”

Or where Reki finds himself working for the prince, his long-forgotten childhood friend, and His Highness teaches him how to write and read...

Words: 9462, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Kyan Reki, Hasegawa Langa, Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe, Chinen Miya, Kyan Reki's Family

Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Childhood Friends, Friends to Lovers, Prince Hasegawa Langa, Autistic Hasegawa Langa, Kyan Reki Needs a Hug, Soft Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki, Gender Non-Comforming Kyan Reki, Bisexual Kyan Reki, Gay Hasegawa Langa, Minor Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Insecure Kyan Reki, there's no tag for this..., but reki is langa's assistant :3, Pining, Mutual Pining, Forbidden Love, if you squint !, Good Sibling Kyan Koyomi, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, Poverty, Good Friend Chinen Miya, But also, Chinen Miya Being a Little Shit, autistic author, Not Beta Read, we die like langa's dad

From https://ift.tt/BJpSGQo https://archiveofourown.org/works/46290400

[snittyandboring]

Gridman Universe Full Spoiler Review

Studio Trigger animation is flashy and striking consistently, and sometimes they're able to say really interesting things as a result! With that in mind, Gridman Universe does ask an interesting question:

What if Cocomelon was for giving straight people j/o ideas?

Apparently this is the only question weebs want to be asked, so it's peak.

PROS

Of the kaiju fights, 3.2/4 are very good. Large swaths of the Noirdogma fight suck balls, but once Alexis shows up they're actually okay. Unfortunately, that fight transitions fully to being the Mad Origin fight once he shows up.

Universe Fighter, Grid Hyper Fixer Beam, and Full Powered Gridknight are very good forms.

Soundillus, which I refuse to call Sounderous but will probably cave to eventually, is fine.

Yuta's reach for Gridman is actually really well constructed. I'll take a soft L. This part is good. I can actually make a really coherent argument that this is the best evidence we have that this Tsutsujidai is a Gridman Universe Tsutsujidai rather than Akane's.

If you buy into my insane read of the work there's actually really good grounding for basically all of it. You have to dig a LITTLE to justify what's up with Gaurex but everything else is fine.

The confession is so utterly chemistryless that it's actually possible to walk away with the conclusion that Yuta is gay and has picked someone unattainable and now doesn't know what to do with himself after getting a yes. He unironically looks like he's handling a no he thinks he's getting better than a yes. I'm putting this in pros because it makes me hate the movie less.

CONS

First and foremost: the pacing. This movie feels like a compilation movie. This movie REALLY feels like a compilation movie; somehow, in the half of the movie that is mostly slice of life, it feels like it's missing large chunks of its slice of life. It EVENTUALLY calls this out as part of the diegesis, but that's not actually satisfying as a movie experience. "It's bad because an evil alien is making it bad" does not make it not bad.

I don't feel the same naturalism of depicted human life in this film at all. There are very few of the contemplative shots that made the SSSS works SSSS-tier; the only one I'd say really even comes close is the stuff leading up to and surrounding the swingset bit, and even that is sort of ... I personally felt the scene was a little janky for both Yuta and Rikka even if not analyzed through the lens of trying to convince us this is a (re)meet-cute.

There's a really dumb recurring bit where Yuta flashes back to hearing what I presume are the former D Girls talking about Rikka having a boyfriend who's a university student. This plays like six times and it's annoying not for heterosexuality reasons but for "enormously patronizing to the viewer" reasons.

I could not tell you a trait expressed by a single member of the Dynazenon human team in more than one scene except, perhaps, "Koyomi is pathetic," "Yomogi misses Gauma," and "Yume is extremely straight." Yuta, who wasn't actually a character in SSSS.GRIDMAN, is semi-consistent and his most consistent topnote is that he is a pathetic wet cat. He is often LITERALLY a pathetic wet cat, in fact. Utsumi is missing the emotional core of the way his character changes in eps 11-12 of SSSS.GRIDMAN. Rikka does not have a personality other than "slightly brassy sometimes" and "really, really, really scared of losing people," except the only person placed at meaningful risk for more than 15 minutes is Yuta. Anti is basically not in this movie despite there being two of him. He does not express, like, traits. Akane exists to basically fully be a Deus ex Machina. The only character I'd describe as fully consistent across all depictions is Gauma.

The level of self-mythologizing going on in this movie is off the charts. Almost everything, from the main swerve of the movie to the smallest set dressing pieces, is a Denkou Choujin callback. The calls to other Tsuburaya or Trigger works are essentially gone.

An absolutely enormous amount is sacrificed on the altar of the twist; Dynazenon is a much worse text now unless your brain is very, very big, which mine is. Most people aren't going to apply that level of analysis so I have to count it as a con because the public understanding of Dynazenon is going to be much, much worse.

Powered Knight Zenon doesn't actually fight despite being one of the better designs in the piece.

It's not just het; it's really all-in on the idea that: 1) Yuta is special, 2) somehow YOMOGI is special despite having done basically nothing except have feelings about Gaurex up to the point in the movie at which he is special, and 3) Yuta wanting to fuck a girl is what makes him special. I would actually rate his desire to confess to Rikka ahead of his sense of self-sacrifice as far as "trait the movie rewards and considers heroic" goes.

I cannot think of a single thing in the first 50 minutes I think is actually, like, unambiguously good, other than the kaiju fight. The slice of life is compilation movie level breakneck.

The confession is so utterly chemistryless that it's actually possible to walk away with the conclusion that Yuta is gay and has picked someone unattainable and now doesn't know what to do with himself. I'm putting this in cons as well as pros because it has made it abundantly clear that cishet weeb men are a different species.

Ostensibly-still-dead Tonkawa = 0/10. Undermines TV. I could go into this in great detail, but I won't.

Ako and Marusan are never in the same shot. 0/10

If I'm being INCREDIBLY fair to the movie, allowing it EVERYTHING it wants with partial credit for applied knowledge, AND treating it as essentially not in dialogue with the SSSS works, it's probably a 6. In terms of, like, being a Gridman work, 3/10 and all the points are for fights.

[nadekofannumber1]

Kizu comp was good!

I feel like the added scenes helped convey thematic intent well, and it was fun to see more seishiro since I believe I read somewhere that one of nisio’s regrets about kizu is not putting him enough in there. You definitely can’t say that it’s possible to miss the fact Koyomi is suicidal (which was a narrative understanding bump I feel like many failed to see with initial kizu). The cutdown on the silly aspects for the sake of side novel content was so good, it helped emphasize the parallel narrative of Koyomi and Shinobu, “we are killing ourselves for eachother.” I really liked it but I’ll say more when it’s done stewing.

I think the funniest thing to actively think out is the prefis for the gag of oshino meme smokes but doesn’t light it because “it would be easier for the animators to draw” (nisio’s words not mine, this is a running gag in early monogatari joking about an anime adaptation, this is present in og kizu novel) but the constant taking out of cigarettes he’s not smoking and tossing them is funny. (Some in theatre antics were funny also but that’s just bc the people generally watching kizu comp are the people who already watched/pirated/streamed, kizu

I feel like for those who watched this movie it’s gonna be really positive effect wise for acerola bon appatite part 2, perhaps to them it may become peak fiction (new watch order where you watch kizu 3 films in the beginning but the movie comp in the middle of waza’s first original arc

As nadekofannumber1 I can connect this to Nadeko but won’t today for the sake of brevity.

As a parallels fan I can connect the narrative to Ougi and hachikuji. (It’s a Venn diagram)

Anyway,

A true “killing myself” boy meets “killing myself girl” meats “super killing myself” girl story for the ages.

[studentofetherium]

What is something in Monogatari you think most English viewers misunderstand without cultural context?

some people take Suruga's interest in BL as a sign that she's more straight than she lets on (and maybe is actually into Koyomi), but in reality it's a nod to how a lot of fujoshi are lesbians. this came about because for a long time, yuri was rather lackluster in the sense that it would usually end with someone dead or married off to a man. change came to the genre gradually and now yuri is great, but for the longest time, if a lesbian wanted to read romance manga, her three options were something with a lackluster ending, something hetersexual, or something with boys

there's probably a lot of other cultural details that i just miss out on because i'm not Japanese and am limited in what i know, but that detail is one that always stands out because i think it grounds Suruga's character a lot to place her in the subculture she would belong to, especially keeping in mind that the series takes place in a rural setting, which means that she might not have a lot of other queer people to talk to

[fzzr]

Monogatari Read-Along Re-Watch — Karen Bee

Previously.

Novel

Ah, the Yandere Hitagi scene. This is the most involved cold open so far, and well done. Hitagi continues to be the character who most leans in to tropes. This is not a bad thing by any means, rather it's a lens NISIOISIN can hold up to her and highlight her personality in her deviations from the tropes. In the stereotypical yandere trope, the yandere isolates their beloved from others in order to make them fully dependent on the yandere physically and emotionally. Often this is framed as "protecting" the target from danger, usually in the form of competing love interests. Hitagi plays the scene as though she intends to do the same with Koyomi, but she takes the efforts to keep him dependent on her to such high levels that it is clear that she is teasing (in her usual extreme way) rather than brainwashing him into loving her. We will later find out that her actions are an impulse reaction to hearing Koyomi has encountered Kaiki, whom she considers the most dangerous person for him to interact with. In this sense, she is indeed doing this for his protection, closing the circle of the comparison to the yandere archetype by making it clear that her feelings come from her fear and love rather than some sort of twisted self interest.

Kaiki himself is an important recurring character, through you wouldn't know it from this arc. One of the big questions of Karen Bee (and Nise in general) is the value of a phony. Kaiki presents himself as a non-believer in oddities, even as he is aware of changes to the spirital situation in the area and distinguishes real from fake in a way that could only come from study. In this sense he is a phony phony, using real knowledge while denying its truth to himself and the world. Kaiki is shameless in his fakery, fully self-aware of his despicable actions and insincerity in all his interactions. He presents himself as completely remorseless about the harm caused by his schemes. Even this is a façade to some extent, as we get tiny hints of consideration for others in his checking to make sure Karen has enough money to go home when he robs her and his telling Hitagi that the man who tried to rape her is dead and thus not worth dwelling on as a target of some possible future revenge. There are layers of lies here too. Why would he know that, if he claims not to care about those he swindles? If he's making it up, why would he lie in order to help someone?

Karen, our nominal focus character, confuses me. She's brash and passionate, and even Koyomi has to acknowledge their similarity in acting selflessly. There's no question whether she has the big personality needed to stand among the other characters. The thing is, I still don't feel like I get her. What are her dreams, her fears, her aspirations, her doubts? She wants Justice with capital letters, and projects what that means onto the world. I also have more trouble understanding her relationships than I do any other character. I guess it's in character for her to have unsubtle points of view on people — Yes Justice good, No Justice bad until made into Yes Justice — but I definitely feel like I'm missing things. After the fight with Koyomi he tells her not to develop a crush on him, and she says "too late". That's a somewhat ambiguous answer right now, but I'll be coming back to that after the upcoming Toothbrush Scene.

Structurally, this arc is primarily a sequel to Nadeko Snake, following up on the major loose end of the source of the curses and reminding us that Nadeko didn't really resolve her hopeless crush on Koyomi in that arc. It also introduces Kaiki and the name "Gaen" (linking Suruga into the wider plot as result). Looking forward, yuri aficionado Suruga picks up on things to do with Hitagi and Tsubasa's relationship that will come up soon.

Anime

When I first watched Monogatari as it was airing, Karen Bee was my least favorite arc. As of my previous watch through (not having read the novels yet) it was third least favorite. (I already said what I don't like about Kizumonogatari, and I'll talk about Koyomimonogatari when I get there.) After this watch, that hasn't really changed. I think it just comes down to pacing. It gives each plot point the time it deserves, but the result is the longest arc in the television series in terms of screen minutes.

Still, saying something one of my least favorite Monogatari arcs is like saying one of my least favorite cookies. Like the rest of Monogatari, Karen Bee in the anime is especially held up by how the animation supports what's there. The conversations are generally visually engaging, and make great use of symbolic details to varying degrees of subtlety to communicate things unspoken.

The music is also great as always, with some new tracks added where appropriate. This was the first time I caught the Renai Circulation quote in Yuuwaku, which plays during the visit to Nadeko's house. There's yet another minor key Staple Stable variant during the conversation with Hitagi in episode 6, as well as a more direct reference in Hitagi's new OP. (OK from now on I'm going to stop pointing out when the show uses the theme-song-as-lietmotif trick to set the appropriate mood while calling upon the associations with the character unless it's an especially notable case.)

Conclusion

I wish I liked Karen Bee more. The themes aren't poorly communicated at all — if anything they're beaten through your head. There are lots of strong individual conversations and such, but damn does it somehow feel like it drags.

Really it comes down to I don't think I understand this arc fully — surely the length would be worth it if I did. What was Karen's actual problem? Did she solve it, and if so, how? Was this actually a Koyomi and Hitagi arc and I just missed it? Feel free to explain it to me, because I would really like to understand. For now I'll look back at Nisemonogatari as a whole after Tsukihi Phoenix and see if things are more clear.

[aokozaki]

I'm guessing you finished, but how are we feeling about Kizumonogatari so far? You might be getting swamped in these, and my apologies if so.

You're the only one who asked a question along those lines, don't worry.

I love the way it focuses on very obviously digitally rendered spaces. When you're a Vampire who gets stuck indoors all day, the artificial light, the glow of it permeating concrete, is a really good core visual to focus on.

Because when we're outside at night, at least in this one, we get quite a lot of orange light. Warmer bulbs and even fire. It divides day and night so cleanly, aesthetically speaking.

Anyway, I know Koyomi does get to be human again, but man the way they're talking about it makes me feel like we're not getting the full story. Oshino and Miss Heart-under-blade are hiding some specifics, methinks.