#only spoiler here is that there's 183 chapters

[starrycat123-blog]

have been rereading tto:u for a little while and I've realized I've made a mistake. I'd just read chapter 104 again when I saw the email notif telling me that chapter 183 was posted, and I tried to go read that, but I found that I had become so immersed at 104 that I felt baffled and lost trying to read 183. I gotta catch up quick before I fall too far behind and never reach the current updates ever again

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 18

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

New chapter, new cup, and back on my tea drinking! Today is another past year ren faire hand made cup with a Blueberry Jasmine tea.

This is present me rn - having finished this chapter- I WAS NOT PREPARED WHAT THE FUCK; what a goddamn jump scare of a read! D:

let's get ready for the notes journey so you can see me descend into a cacophony of sound:

Okay the visitor from last chapter was not Luo Binghe, and I really thought it might have been- it is in fact Liu Qingge! p159

Where is Luo Binghe though?? p159

Side note: unrelated, but a little bit related- adjacently related if you will - to the plot -> Big Same Shen Qingqiu! When I see a fan I too have to give that baby a firm crack! p159

Also real as fuck. LQQ: "what's up with you and Luo BInghe?" SQQ: I don't really know, but here we are LOL" p160

What did Liu Qingge see in the room that made him trip up/pause??? (I am sure we will find out later but still what the heck) p162

I'm crying at the strike out over here "His current attire and appearance was exactly identical to the Luo Binghe from before the Immortal Alliance Conference: the model of flawless and pure disciple of a major sect, the image of a pretty, diligent, and competent young wife, it really...really...was..." p162

Why am I so suspicious about the breakfast service Luo Binghe has for SQQ. p163

I love how the two of them in disguise in this very obvious trap of basically every powerful cultivator and sect is Luo Binghe changing his facial expression and SQQ being like "well I've been away for a while they will never recognize me" stealth check natural 1 for sure for sure p168

ewwww. anything to do with Old Palace Master. I really hate this guy, this story is so fucked. honestly poor Luo Binghe rn. pp171-172

oooo! New quest from the system: Raising Righteous Image Points! p176

more me appointed points to my 'SQQ is the damsel/love interest narrative', "In conclusion: So the female lead's role was going to be Shen Qingqiu again, huh?" p177

THANK YOU! This guy is the only one talking sense. Tianlang-jun really did nothing to start this whole war. He was only tricked and then essentially had the shit absolutely beat out of him. I dont even think the rumour he was going to wreak havoc and kill a bunch of humans was true- probably made up by butt hurt Old Palace Master. p181

ugh. Poor LBG having to hear all these people talk about his parents, their story, and how his mom hated him so much she tried to abort him. what the fuck, that's enough to mess anyone up quite badly. pp181-183

LBH: SQQ: my heart!!! pp 186-187

OFC LBH would be blamed mid Menty-B for the random demons being present. p189

Also so valid! the sects really are using the same tricks they used on Tianlang-jun. You know what, i'm really starting to stand with these demons - they have been done so dirty! p190

Hell yeah Yu Qingyuan stepping in! p191

Everyone here wants an explanation- how tf are they going to explain any of this tho LOL p195

Oh fuck, oh fuck! He hit zero points! p196

wait...alternate punishment? p197

Oh dang, he really just collapsed p197

AH! What's happening in the dream punishment. Is the punishment SQQ having to live with the original novel Luo BInghe and forever pining for him LOL? pp 198-199

Oh shit. Luo Binghe is totally figuring out that Shen Qingqiu is not his original Shizun p201

HE TORE HIS ARM OFF?! P202

MORE LIMB RIPPING P203

WHAT WHAT WHAT!!!!

THIS IS WILD.

What a horrible punishment OMG.

[ex35life]

While most everyone else reads shonen manga for the fights and adventure and badassery, I'm over here combing the panels for deep emotional developments and relational growth....

So any way Chainsaw Man right now is feeding me.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 183 spoilers.....

I had a feeling that Asa would be instrumental in turning Denji around, but I'm so pleased with what actually accomplished the goal of helping motivate our boy. She spoke from the heart and exposed her grief and guilt. She was vulnerable instead of guarded. I wonder how many of her peers actually knew about her mother? Not only that, but she showed her own growth that Denji himself had been partially responsible for. Denji's own words, after she recovered from the shock of what keeps him going, had been simmering in her mind. She rumminated over them until she understood their true implications for herself, and gave them back to Denji in order to help him carry on. 

Denji needed someone to see him and acknowledge that he was right about something after all. He also needed Pochita to remind him of the love he had felt and the good it brought into his life. He needed to put pleasure and happiness in its proper place as an anchor to keep him connected to life instead of the engine and destination of his journey. Don't cut the anchor. It still serves an important purpose.

[crowlhoard]

Undead Unluck Manga Chapter 183 Spoilers!!!

I know the main wave of discussions for this chapter has already concluded and the new anime episode is already out, but I tend to ruminate for a long time and I'm even slower on properly writing those thoughts out. But now that my thoughts are finally organized, I can put that dead horse to the ground.

Last chapter seemingly seems as an end to Rip's and Latla's character development, quite a disappointing one too (even besides the sister thing, that is just *sign*, Japan...), but I have some reasons to hope it isn't, and here's why:

In the first loop we are introduced to a variety of negators, which can generally be separated into two teams: Union and Under. Under being the antagonists of the story. As the story unfolds, we learn that Under and Union may actually work for the same goal, even if the former is doing it in a pretty twisted way. But there's two exceptions to that rule: Feng and Rip/Latla team.

Feng is pretty straightforward in his desire for strength and his willingness to sacrifice all and everything for it. Loop 101 already addressed his behavior and showed us a hint of change:

Rip and Latla, however, while being a team, aren't on an equal ground. While Latla obviously wants to save her sister too, we constantly see that it's Rip, who is consciously refusing to move on from the loss of Layla and fueling his obsession over his goal. A goal, as we learn in the unfolding of the last loop, that is quite selfish and short-sighted. Not only his current actions utterly betray his dead lover's last wish

But it also doesn't actually gain him anything but a few extra years at most with Layla before a horrifying death of the whole world and all three of them

While in the beginning such motivation could be explained by Rip being introduced to the world of negators through Under and coming to conclusion that all the people with power act purely in their own interest, that delusion repeatedly gets shuttered by his run-ins with the protagonist duo. Yet, despite every such encounter showing us a bit of humanity in Rip, every following encounter, he seems to push towards his selfish wish.

A potential for him to finally make a right choice this loop seems to appear after the culmination of Season's Arc, where it's laid plain to see that Fuuko is the one with the power to reach God and that she is absolutely the kind of person to try and save everyone, and loop is being inevitable by this point with Earth's careening towards Sun. This shows us a hopeful turn for the Rip and Latla duo - with Latla choosing to help Union search for Fuuko and, most importantly, finally separate from Rip

Yet, despite this hopeful turn, Rip once again returns to the original plan - speed the oncoming end of this loop and doom the next one, all for the desire to be Layla's personal hero for a single moment. This culminates in one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the story

Which is made progressively worse, once we learn Latla's negation next loop - Untrust. So for that plan to work, Latla either had to fully believe that Rip can't hit a moving target like Andy (which is doubtful, since she is the most aware of the extent of Rip's skill) or to truly believe that he won't be able to genuinely target her. And despite last chapter claiming that Rip loved both sisters equally, he is clearly capable of sacrificing Latla for Layla.

As heartbreaking as that moment is, it also shines light on the true nature of Rip and Latla's relationship in the loop 100 - they are enablers of the worst traits in each other: self-destructive loyalty, multiplied by infatuation in Latla and the short-sighted selfish goal pursuit in Rip.

Moving onto the next loop, we are introduced to them both once again before the tragedy of Layla's death. Latla doesn't seem to differ from her past loop counterpart. Her life is still built around helping her sister and supporting her relationship with Rip.

Rip is quite a different person, though. With quite the heroic claims

Which would be quite touching to see after this arc's end to show his growth, but here, before Layla is saved, we know those claims are pretty hollow. Unlike the rest of the cast, who sticks to their core values after losing a loved one, we know from the last loop that Rip drops this claim pretty quickly after Layla's death.

Latla does get her drop of a character development, finally standing up to Rip and demanding half the Bladerunner to stop Rip from trying to play a solo hero, in contrast to her quietly following Rip's path of self-destruction last loop

A few words about Layla - despite being alive this loop, she still doesn't have a character. Effectively, she could be replaced with a mannequin in a dress in 99% of her scenes and nothing would change.

So this arc culminates in chapter 183, where we get a brief recap of the events and Rip checking out his "happy end" box with marrying Layla. We also get slapped with a sudden question "Who will Rip chose?" after the narrative up to this point practically beating us with the demonstrations of Rip's first priority over everything (even Latla's life) always being Layla, from the start.

We are given one page in the ENTIRE manga to imply the single case of Rip picking Latla over Layla

And this chapter culminates in the weird kind of progress, or rather, regress: Rip now forcefully dragging Latla into his decisions, disregarding her own choices. Which is supposed to be taken as a positive development now? And in the end, Rip doesn't get any development to show that he is a better person than the last loop and not simply nicer because he didn't have to face hardship this loop.

A mini side rant, unrelated to the analysis - I hate this panel with. every. fiber. of. my. being. Romantizatio of first love as an only true love is one of the worst things to come out of romantic genre. Side rant over

UU isn't nuanced enough story to deal with the complex relationships and getting over infatuations, so I don't expect any developments in that direction. But Rip is supposed to be one of the author's favorites, and seeing such lackluster characterization in UU is really jarring, so I do hope this isn't an actual end to this three's characters development. I propose that at least 2 out of the following 3 options happening could somewhat salvage this mess:

1) Obligatory - Layla finally gets some characterization. Even a single page of her being the one to suggest including Latla into the ceremony, would've considerably improved last chapter.

2) Latla getting to actively disagreeing and opposing Rip, to showcase that she is capable of making her own choices, instead of being dragged around by Rip.

3) Rip facing his faults, which made him of the few true villains of last loop, perhaps through Remember, perhaps through other means.

[lloydfrontera]

What are your favourite arcs/chapters in TGED?

!! good question please sit down we're gonna be here for a while! i'll try to place them in descending order but be aware this order can and will change depending on what part is making me more emotional at the moment!

spoilers warning!

the incident with the mastodons. great character moment for lloyd and important relationship development even for him and javier! it's one of the first times we get to see javier genuinely concerned for lloyd more than usual for a knight with his master and it is amazing. lloyd makes him blush all the way to the tip of his ears and javier sulkily holds lloyd's sleeve until they're back on solid ground. the banner for my blog is actually from this arc ajskda

namaran's wall and battle with the knight of hell. again. great character moments for everyone, we get to know my girl silurian, lady ella my beloved and there's some delightful angst as javier looks everywhere for lloyd and can't find him.

winter's heart explosion (283-284) extremely important moment for javier, when he gets to hear some of lloyd's unfiltered thoughts and this solidifies his resolve to stay at his side and protect him to the point of lying to the royal family despite the fact he knows he's a fake. also we get the absolute insane moment when javier makes his and lloyd's hearts into one. no further comments.

308-310 these are just cute chapters where we get a lot of arcos&marbella&lloyd content and i just adore it so very much. lloyd finally acknowledges how much he loves and cares for his parents and resolved to protect them no matter what so he can spend the rest of his life and their side.

father's waiting(181-183). arcos waiting for lloyd to get back home after namaran, ready to scold him for putting himself in danger only to immediately forget about it the moment he sees him <3 and then there's the talk that comes before lloyd has to leave for the sultan's kingdom which is!! so cute!! and sweet and sad and just!! very good, will never forgive the webcomic for skipping it.

383-384 this is not a proper arc more like a set of scenes but. lloyd having a nightmare and finally breaking down because of how terrified he is about the restoration of fate,,, and then javier hearing him through the door and being,,, so upset that lloyd won't trust him. that he won't tell him what's worrying him. because javier wants to take on his burden so badly, he wants to protect him so much, he wants to keep lloyd safe from all that would harm him and he wishes lloyd would trust him to do that. i had a breakdown about it lol

the battle with raphael (317-320) so much happening in this arc but!! main things!! javier realizing just how much he really, really cares about lloyd. outright calling him his true master. finally putting all his doubts to rest and completely trusting lloyd even knowing he's not the real lloyd frontera. lloyd getting to see first hand how much the people in the estate care for him. standing between an angel and the jewel of truth because he won't allow raphael to destroy the thing that will let him protect his family. truly what an arc.

the final battle in hell. the only reason this arc isn't first is because we still haven't gotten the translation and i'm waiting until we do to fully enjoy the emotional devastation this arc brings me. but. javier and lloyd sacrificing their live so the other will live,,, their thoughts as always in sync and yet diametrically opposed,, the devastation they feel when they think the other died for them,,, i won't spoil too much because 1) i think everyone should get to experience that arc the way it's meant to and 2) i can't talk about it for too long or i start crying lmaooo

bone dragon battle (215-225)! god this arc. this arc destroys me in the best way possible. like we start with some good banter between javier and lloyd which is already a plus but then the attack begins and it's *chef kiss* amazing. the action is great, and it's still like,,, the least interesting thing going on. this is one of the most important moments for the relationship between lloyd and javier, it's the moment where they both realize that 'hey, i care a lot about this bastard actually, fuck i'm gonna die for him aren't i' which is,,, so good. there's this really great moment when javier gets almost killed by the bone dragon and lloyd is trying so desperately to get to him and when he comes face to face with the dragon he doesn't give a crap, he's outright like 'get the fuck out of my way so i can get to my friend'. and later we cut to javier who is drowning, about to die, and his last thought is about sorry he is he couldn't protect lloyd. how he wanted to remain at his side as they grew old. it's also in this very arc where my favorite quote of the entire novel comes from. "We'll be together forever, just like we've always been. Casually. As natural as breathing". like. c'mon.

this is like. the most basic explanation for why i love these arcs, i promise you i have talked extensively about them in the past i never shut up lol and also these are just the main ones! i have plenty more moments, scenes and entire arcs that i love a lot but not as much as i do with these!

as you can probably see. i like tged a normal amount.

but yeah!

[littleholmes]

JJK || Jujutsu Kaisen Analysis

To keep things easy to find and semi-organized, my notable jjk analysis/jjk thoughts posts are below.

These are not spoiler-free. Please do not repost or post on other websites, tiktok, etc.

Reblogs are awesome and help others find these analysis posts so please feel free to reblog my posts! Also please remove my tags first, or write ‘prev tags’ if you agree with my tags when reblogging my posts

I update this regularly. I read the official Viz translations from the Shonen Jump app. Feel free to check through the tags listed below for more posts that aren't listed here!

Tags

tags: jjk analysis: x || jjk thoughts (manga & series thoughts) x  and jjk manga spoilers x || jjk meta x || shibuya arc thoughts and feels x || idk i'm rambling x -> last updated: 29 Sept 2024 - Ch 271 - final chapter all of my analysis / my analysis main post

☆ Analysis by character

Yuji

His breakdown in the middle of the Shibuya fight: x

How long was Yuji taking care of himself: x

His self-blame: x

His guilt: x

His expressions in Hiromi's domain: x

Todo having Yuji’s photo in the locket x

Ch. 247: Yuji, Higuruma, and Nanami: x

Sukuna

Ch 212: Megumi and Sukuna’s plan (he planned to do this from the start): x

Ch 214: Sukuna’s disgust with Kenjaku & Megumi’s fighting back x

Ch 238: Sukuna existing but not living without love x

Megumi (& Toji)

The similarities between Toji and Megumi: a , b

Long analysis of similarities: c , d

Panel comparison: a

Megumi in the game & his separation from Yuji: x

Megumi losing his will x

Yuta

Yuta's plan: x

Yuta in the Kurourushi (the giant cockroach) fight: x

A family trait - Panel comparison w/ Gojo: x

‘Don’t you have a lover or friends?’- Panel comparison: x

Cursed speech user Yuta - Panel comparison w/Inumaki: x

Ch 250: Yuta and Yuji, same coin, different stages of jujutsu life x

Hakari

Hakari’s domain rules x

Hakari in 183: x

Hakari’s ability as of 186 x

Hakari and Higuruma’s domains x

Satoru

Ch 211: Gojo’s comment to Ijichi x

Ch 220: All the students & what Gojo knew would happen to him x

Ch 221: Suguru being Satoru’s priority: x

Ch 226: Adult Satoru fulfilling Teen Satoru’s goals: x

Ch 230: Satoru maintaining his facade for his students: x

Gojo and Megumi: x

What Gojo's missed: x

Ch 261: Gojo and being the monster x

☆ More Analysis

Naoya’s disturbing implication in Ch. 194 x

Ch 236: JJK and Delayed grief x

Ch 239: Reincarnation and Reverse Cursed Technique + plus north/south ask response x

Ch 260: Yuji’s eye and scars and eyes as a theme x

In response to reactions I’ve seen to Ch 261 leaks (having not read it but being spoiled nonetheless): The heaviness of JJK and the grief and upset folks feel now: x

☆ Ask answers/analysis

Yuta, Gojo, and the convo flashback in 143: x

Thoughts on Utahime and Gojo, their dynamic, and short analysis of Satoru and his relationships w/ others: x

Gojo, faithfulness, romantic relationships, and why I think he’s purposefully single now: x

Gojo’s relationships & gift: x

Relationships in JJK, pt 1 & 2: x , x

Nanami and Utahime’s dynamics w/Gojo: x

Thoughts and HC: How Geto acquired certain curses & got discovered as a teen x

Headcanon: Nanami after Haibara x

☆ Culling game quick reference

Rules: x (as of 16 April/Ch. 220)

☆ Thoughts and HCs

Weekly manga chapter thoughts: jjk thoughts and jjk manga spoilers (<-newest! 29 Sept/Ch 271-final chapter)

Visuals from the now animated bathroom fight depicting what is the turning point of the Shibuya arc and the start of all the horrors: x

Small warning for anime-onlys getting into the manga x

Please take care during S2, anime-onlys: x

Domains: x

I just want to protect Yuji: x

Rika brings a smile to Yuta's exhausted face x

Rika's void convenience store x

HC-ish: JJK Characters' Potential PTSD: x

HC-ish: Todo & Choso: A Juju-stroll we could’ve had x

[mysaldate]

About chapter 183...

Manga spoilers for KnY under the cut, just need to rant for a bit.

And so the time has come for KnY to fall down the rabbit hole so many other shonen series did. And it’s a damn shame. Up until the current arc, while there were a few slip-ups, Kimetsu no Yaiba was an amazing series that had cunning and powerful villains, realistic (within limits of man-eating demons and magical fighting styles) obstacles to overcome, one that paid attention to injuries of its characters and made a great deal about showing us the limits to human power.

HOWEVER

Ever since the Infinity train arc, something has been a little... different. The Infinity train arc was what started the very very annoying trend of downplaying a villain that was accidentally made too strong rather than actually dealing with his power and coming up with clever ways to overcome them. Enmu is estabilished early on as an excellent strategist. He came up with a way to use his blood demon art so subtly not even a demon slayer hashira suspected a thing, he made human lackeys since he knew the slayers would never kill a human and he even fused with the train to be  hard to kill. All of this is excellent set-up for what could be an incredibly interesting fight. Except... it was not. Because rather than having to work out his plan, Enmu simply... made a slip of tongue? Let Tanjiro in on his plan? And completely forgot about Nezuko and didn’t notice when the other slayers woke up? A character smart enough to come up with such an amazing and smart plan? Yeah, something is off.

And let me tell you, it did NOT get better overall.

There were minor highlights. The Red-light district arc was beautifully crafted and the fight was won on a relativelly reasonable conditions (except for Uzui being totally overpowered but that’s something less irritating than what they’re doing now). The fight with Hantengu and Gyokko had several Mary-Sue moments but no downplaying on the villains’ side. The Pillar Training arc had no major fight but it was a really good way to show the growth of our characters. Even in the current arc, there were good moments. The fight with Akaza was very satisfying and enjoyable even and the conclusion to it was perfect. Sadly, everything else about this arc is not.

The premise here, again, is outrageously good. Being trapped in the Infinity Fortress with Muzan and all his Upper Moons is a beautiful concept that could’ve made for SO. DAMN. MUCH. of interesting fights, character-building moments and terrifyingly epic power show-downs. And instead, it just rings hollow.

The main issue with this arc is how awfully downplayed Muzan and most of his demons were. The author suddenly decided to ignore a lot of what has been estabilished about Muzan, Nakime and their abilities in particular. Of course, Douma, Kaigaku and Kokushibou also got downplayed horribly but really, what pissed me off the most was Muzan and Nakime suddenly losing or forgetting about their abilities.

Look, I love KnY and I love the good side – or parts of it anyway. Tanjiro is a near perfect character, the first protagonist ever to actually pull me in and get me to cheer for him. Nezuko is, after Makai ouji’s Sitri, first character meant to be cute and actually striking me as such. I even came to like Inosuke to a certain extent. Yushiro and Tamayo were one of my favourites the moment they first walked on screen. The hashiras are a little wacky and I still think some of them are just completely unneccesary or wasted potential and I still find Zenitsu horribly cringy and annoying but if there ever was a series where I wanted the protagonist to achieve their goal, it’s this one. And that’s another reason why I’m so dissatisfied with what I’m getting.

And chapter 183 is exceptionally bad for such a huge multitude of reasons.

First of all, there’s Yushiro making up a plan against Nakime. Nakime, as we’ve been shown multiple times, knows of everything that happens in the Infinity Fortress. She can transfer people she doesn’t even see and she can send multiple people to various locations at once. Yet, Yushiro was somehow able to come up with a plan, share it with Mitsuri and actually go through with it, all without her noticing. At all. Because she suddenly turned blind for that one spot of the Fortress or something. And even if Yushiro used his illussionary ability, he still had to share the plan with Mitsuri. So there should be no way she wasn’t aware.

That’s another thing as well. As far as we are aware, it was Nakime’s job to keep the slayers separated. Again, she knows of everything happening in there. She knew about the other Upper Moons getting to a disadvantage. She knew about them being close to dying. And yet, she did nothing to get them away or to move the slayers out of their presence, she couldn’t move her hand and play a note on her biwa and just send them all anywhere else? Anyone else feeling cheated yet? Well buckle up because it gets even worse.

Because now we get to Muzan. And, yeah, remember the Demon Moons meetings? Remember that he can just snatch anyone’s head off, both lethally and non-lethally? Yeah, good thing you do because he doesn’t! Does this affect only demons? He still could’ve killed Yushiro ON THE SPOT. Does it only affect demons created by him? Still cool, he could’ve snatched Nakime’s head off without killing her and take Yushiro’s seal off her eye. But no, instead he’s not gonna do anything of that. He’s gonna mind-fight Yushiro inside her head and then he’s gonna kill her. And not even immediatelly kill like he killed Mukago or Kamanue or Rokuro, no, he will let her die slowly so Yushiro can keep using her power.

Remember when he pumped his blood into people by shoving a finger or a hand through their head? Well, good thing you do, because, yes you guessed it, HE DOESN’T. He scratched Tanjiro’s eye out and he that’s it. This is the demon who’s supposedly the most powerful demon EVER. And the most damage he’s done so far is scratch Tanjiro’s eye.

Remember when he could grab anyone from anywhere in the Fortress like he did with Wakuraba? Well, he doesn’t remember that either. He doesn’t NEED Nakime to access any place in the Fortress. He can get in and out as he pleases without needing her biwa AT ALL. He has more control over the place than Nakime herself. But guess what, we’re going to ignore all of that because if we actually stuck with the abilities estabilished for him, our heroes might need to think before they act and come up with clever plans and maybe there might even be some ACTUAL loss!

You know, not just a supporting character-type of loss! You know, like a loss of a character we really, whole-heartedly care about! A character we were given enough time to come to like and enjoy and support! A character we saw grow and get developed! How horrible!

Let it be known now that while the Infinity Fortress arc blessed me with countless (actually there’s somewhere below 500, I counted) pictures of my sweetheart Douma and gave me the TamaYushi angst I longed for, I still find it to be the worst arc KnY has had so far.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe all of this is a part of Muzan’s masterplan. Maybe he’s actually far more cunning and terrifying that we thought and we’re yet to see his true potential. But I seriously doubt that.

If anything like this is revealed, if we get to see any sort of reasoning for why nobody seems to have a brain anymore, I will gladly take this rant back and apologize but I kind of don’t feel like that will happen. This whole arc feels incredibly rushed and like the author just wants to be done with this series. It’s no longer the gem it was when it started and you can’t feel the love poured into every frame like it used to be. It’s just meeting the similar end as DGM.

How ironic that when I saw the first episode, my first initial thought was “Oh, this is just DGM for the new generation!” Now it seems KnY will meet the same fate, downplaying its villains, disregarding the rules it estabilished in its own universe, boring its creator and disappointing the more demanding parts of its audience.

To put it as simply as possible, there is no way the Demon Slayer Corps should be getting off this easily and there is no way Muzan and all his demons would be this stupid if they have already survived for long long centuries. Muzan doesn’t need Nakime and he doesn’t need his twelve demon Moons, he did just fine before he got them. So him suddenly forgetting about his powers and options is especially disheartening and irritating. At this point, we can only hope the creator realizes this and makes SOME effort to fix these mistakes otherwise, well, there goes another great series, ruined and corrupted by nothing but the bad writing and the author not knowing how to (or not bothering to, pick your favourite) make smart plans without disregarding their own characters’ abilities and parts of what makes them what they are. Muzan was written as an extremely powerful enemy, a cunning master of all things evil, a nightmare in human (or demon) form, something ancient and terrifying and able to spawn centuries of troubles for everyone around without ever – except for the one time – losing the upper hand. And that one time, he was STILL able to make it out alive and well.

Well, this was one extremely long rant and if you’ve read this far, kudos and a cookie to you. I may be expecting too much of a shonen series but am I really? Is it too much to ask for keeping some damn consistency at least in your characters if you can’t even be bothered to research for your timeline properly? The more I look into the Infinity Fortress arc, the more sudden plotholes and mistakes I find and the sadder it all gets. It’s like the author no longer has the strength to keep up the high quality series they started and if that’s actually the case, maybe a hiatus would be a better option than forcing themselves to continue and possibly ruin their entire franchise with a rushed and plothole-filled event.

On a slightly related note, you know what would be the one thing that would make me drop my jaw to the floor? A plottwist of unseen scale. Something on par with literally everything since the Infinity Train arc being STILL just a dream. Something on par with “Muzan” as he is now being actually the new Upper Five while the real Muzan stands back and enjoys the show. Something on par with this “Muzan” being just an illussion or a projection of something, or someone, who’s been in the Fortress this whole time while the real Muzan heads over to Urokodaki’s place to devour Nezuko. Or something even crazier. If you have any ideas, damn hit me with them, I want to hear all you have to say and feed this little flame of hope that this series is not yet entirely lost!

[breaniebree]

In Chapter 183, you gave a tiny glimpse of the war when Harry meets his family and friends after the AH removal in Godric’s Hollow. Lily informs him that there are two ways the war might end,one where to save”the girl”,he sacrifices the world and Voldemort wins;in the other, he loses to Harry but there was no mention about the girl in the second option. Am I right to assume that”the girl”is Ginny?And does that mean you have heartbreaking plans for her like you did for Sirius? Any reassurance pl?

I believe the passage in chapter 183 that you are referring to is this:

James smiled at him and kissed his forehead again.  “We love you, Harry, and nothing would make us happier than for you to stay here with your Mum and I, with your Nan and your Pop, to get the chance to be parents to you finally — to get to know you, and to tell you all those things that we never got the chance to.  If that’s what you want to do, we will support you.  But we don’t want you here with us yet.”

Harry’s brow rose in confusion as Lily gripped his hands.

“We’ve seen the two paths that your life will take, Harry.  Neither of them will be easy, but in both of them you will find love and in one of them, you defeat Voldemort.”

“Only in one?”

Lily nodded, her green eyes so like his shining widely from her young face.  “There is one option where he wins; where you let him win to save her and the world suffers for it.  But there is another option where you defeat him and the world is saved.”

“Who is the girl?”

James grinned and tugged him closer.  “We’re not here to tell you your future, Harry.  We don’t know it.  We don’t know what path you will decide to take.  We’re only here to tell you to fight for it.  Life is about choices: Some of them easy, some of them hard.  But every one of them sets you on your path.  Walk that path, Harry.  Live the life that you were meant for, the life that you want to live.”

Harry stared at them.  “But… if I choose… I won’t get to stay here with you anymore?”

Lily kissed his cheek.  “No, my darling.  But we will always be right here,” she said, placing her fingers over his heart.  “We will always be watching over you and loving you with every breath you take.  You are and always have been our entire world.  We love you so much, my baby, my Harry James.”

The thing is, that WOULD be considered a pretty big spoiler would it not? ;)  I will tell you this, where I do plan on there being more character death, some different from the books and some the same, I think I can promise that in the end, Harry and Ginny will be happy.

[the-mundivagant]

Masterpost of Lise’s MCU fics on Tumblr [part 1]

Last updated August 10, 2020 (post 7 of p.114)

I had to split this post in two since it exceeded Tumblr’s link limit by a long way. [quick link to part 2]

General info

Links are taken from Lise's fic tag, #a wild fic appeared (chrono).

All the tags I link to are /chrono versions (posts listed in chronological order).

I included the page each fic is on so this post can be used as a directory of sorts to a web archive I made of the tag, but it’s not needed/optimal as long as the actual Tumblr is up and running.

As of August 2020, I’m still planning to keep this more or less updated...but I have absolutely no idea how often that’ll be. (It used to be approximately monthly in 2018. The most recent two updates were a year apart.)

Spoilers for the MCU (including Endgame) are unmarked.

Many thanks to Lise for answering my ridiculous number of questions, being very helpful and encouraging in general and also, of course, writing these incredible fics in the first place. :D

For reference, here’s a post listing some of the frequently-appearing prompts (”amuse me,” “break me,” etc.). The “first sentence” prompt meme is described here.

Main categories: Verses, Relationships, Other, and Tumblr Verses

Format: [page] [word count] title / “prompt” (notes)

VERSES

Gehenna

(Fics crossposted to AO3 are in Predation)

[p.19] [306] “zip me” (nsfw)

[p.28] [642] “nurse me”

[p.28] [268] “break me” (nsfw)

[p.32] [1756] love me like the devil loves (nsfw)

[p.36] [183] “then there’s tongue”

[p.51] [869] “call me” (Tony & Loki, before the beginning of Privation?)

[p.53] [229] “dysfunctional Loki/Natasha”

[p.61] [121] “before the beginning” (pre Privation)

[p.67] [721] untitled (a morning after one of their sessions)

[p.71] [807] “things you didn’t say at all”

[p.98] [577] untitled (Natasha PoV of Purification) (nsfw)

Life In Reverse

[p.35] [561] "Coulson PoV of Loki’s arrival on Earth"

[p.37] [173] "Life in Reverse!Loki meets canon!Loki" (AU)

[p.60] [2008] "Natasha PoV of Loki’s capture by Doom and subsequent rescue"

[p.61] [1223] "Jane PoV of her diner conversation with Loki"

[p.62] [1332] "Natasha PoV of finding Loki after his meeting with Thanos"

[p.62] [1496] "Tony PoV of meeting with Loki after rescuing him from Doom"

[p.63] [1767] "Darcy PoV of Jane coming home after the diner conversation"

[p.74] [787] "Dr. Fisher PoV of her first meeting with Loki"

[p.85] [1332] "Jane PoV of going to see Loki while he’s being held by SHIELD"

[p.86] [645] "Natasha PoV of first meeting Loki"

[p.86] [605] "Natasha and Clint talking about Loki"

[p.87] [541] "Clint PoV after Loki’s rendezvous with Thanos"

[p.103] [1315] “Steve PoV on breaking Loki out of prison”

Now Three

[p.55] [325] untitled (planning for Sarah to bring a snack to class on movie day)

[p.56] [365] untitled ("uncle Thor being cute and loving")

[p.57] [385] “exhausted parents kiss”

[p.64] [1455] untitled ("talking to Sarah about being born a Jotun")

[p.71] [828] untitled ("Sarah’s first day of school")

Remember This Cold

(Fics crossposted to AO3 are in Every Little Earthquake, it’s what you make, and see you on the other side of the war)

(I also have a separate post here in which I attempted to collect all fics in this verse and list them in their in-universe chronological order; you can search for [T] to find all Tumblr-only fics)

[p.15] [290] “paint me” (takes place during Disarm)

[p.23] [1053] “telepathy”

[p.29] [238] “Loki vs. crab”

[p.39] [385] “yahoo me” (Tony & Loki, Steve’s birthday)

[p.40] [394] “paint me” (takes place during The sun no longer shines (on your side))

[p.46] [152] “enamor me” (Loki PoV of The sun no longer shines (on your side))

[p.47] [239] “secret meeting” (Steve & Natasha)

[p.48] [1921] untitled (AU) (Loki is controlled by the scepter/Thanos)

[p.50] [501] “join me” (Natasha & Loki, post only when you hit the ground)

[p.52] [228] “basorexia” (takes place before The sun no longer shines (on your side))

[p.56] [406] untitled ("Loki answers the door naked") (takes place between with an untrained voice and reflected in someone like me) (nsfw)

[p.56] [274] untitled ("Vali stalking Clint")

[p.58] [668] “jealous kiss”

[p.59] [3097] Unmade (AU) (Clint/Loki)

[p.60] [851] untitled (follow-up to The Tenth Floor)

[p.60] [821] untitled ("Steve has a nightmare about Hydra brainwashing Loki") (post Collapse the Light Into Earth)

[p.61] [1428] untitled (follow-up to “better together”) (nsfw)

[p.66] [522] "one falling asleep with their head in the other’s lap”

[p.69] [876] “things you said that made me feel like shit” (takes place between with an untrained voice and reflected in someone like me)

[p.69] [420] "things you said with no space between us”

[p.69] [506] “things you said when we were the happiest we ever were”

[p.70] [516] “things you said after it was over” (Loki & Bucky, post Collapse the Light Into Earth)

[p.71] [691] “patching up a wound”

[p.72] [1651] untitled (AU) (Thanos using Loki’s body as a way of “sightseeing”)

[p.72] [1342] untitled (AU) (follow-up to [p.72] [1651])

[p.74] [364] untitled (Steve PoV of (hang on) when the water is rising)

[p.79] [1063] untitled (nsfw)

[p.82] [1122] soldier on (post Collapse the Light Into Earth)

[p.88] [887] untitled (Bruce visits Loki)

[p.90] [1013] I’ll throw away my faith, just to keep you safe (Steve PoV, end of don’t care if heaven won’t take me back)

[p.92] [1554] how you gaze upon my bones (AU) (Doom succeeds in cloning Loki during The Vivisection Mambo)

[p.102] [1327] the world held fast (Sif PoV during This is My Kingdom Come)

Offshoots of the main timeline

[p.31] [1538] untitled (Frigga shows up on Earth)

[p.57] [2463] old friends

[p.62] [1633] untitled (Loki hurts himself doing magic in a fight assisting the Avengers)

[p.68] [1111] untitled (Steve PoV of [p.57] [2463] old friends)

[p.72] [689] untitled ("I thought you were going to die")

[p.93] [626] untitled (Loki & Wanda, "What do you think you’re doing?")

[p.96] [2239] Strange Magic

#the everything is awful au / like the restless sea (verse on AO3 here)

[p.101] [1877] and the deep river ran on

Sam and Loki are Roommates

(Fics crossposted to AO3 are in people wonder why we’re still together)

[p.8] [48] untitled (Thor comes to visit)

[p.9] [103] untitled (Thor & Dean have a conversation)

[p.10] [222] untitled (Sam & Loki clean up while hungover)

[p.11] [344] untitled (sick!Sam)

[p.14] [147] “drink me”

[p.14] [404] “call me”

[p.15] [284] “value me”

[p.16] [409] “yahoo me”

[p.16] [257] “tell me” (may not be canonical)

[p.16] [341] “invite me”

[p.16] [334] “zip me”

[p.17] [455] “paint me”

[p.22] [303] “accidental baby acquisition” (AU)

[p.27] [546] “mourn me” (AU)

[p.28] [509] untitled (sick!Loki)

[p.30] [533] untitled (Steve giving Loki a present)

[p.36] [160] untitled ("Loki believes Steve doesn’t like him back")

[p.44] [673] untitled (Loki PoV of Sam Winchester Is Not Your Therapist)

[p.49] [239] untitled (Loki and Sam acquire a dog)

[p.50] [977] “enamor me” ("Steve trying to woo Loki")

[p.59] [681] “'war’s end' kiss”

[p.73] [1360] Trouble Who’s A Friend of Mine

[p.74] [1871] “I just told you I liked you but now I’m shy and say ‘nevermind, forget it’” (Steve & Loki)

[p.80] [1556] Tides to Pull You Under

[p.81] [841] untitled ("Steve’s attitude to Loki’s gentleman-ness")

[p.84] [1809] untitled (Steve PoV of Into This Unknown Country)

we’re not friends, we’re strangers with memories

[p.30] [457] “I’m sick”

[p.30] [216] “before the beginning”

[p.44] [489] “kiss with a fist”

[p.50] [532] “quiet me”

[p.54] [863] “dysfunctional Clint/Loki” (AU) (nsfw)

[p.62] [696] untitled (Loki PoV, between chapters 7 and 8)

[p.66] [3747] the mistake was mine

[p.70] [588] “things you said that I wasn’t meant to hear”

RELATIONSHIPS

Note: In AO3 terms, the relationships below should be listed as & or / since whether the relationship is platonic or not depends on the fic. I just went with & to make things simpler.

Clint & Loki

[p.4] [131] Pavlov’s Bell

[p.6] [119] untitled ("Clint wasn’t brainwashed")

[p.8] [172] “historical AU”

[p.12] [133] “Arda AU”

[p.14] [255] “kill me”

[p.17] [204] “offer me”

[p.22] [497] untitled (drunk!Loki)

[p.28] [712] “unbind me”

[p.31] [245] untitled (Loki PoV of The Walking Wounded)

[p.38] [163] “cooperation” (possibly from Strange Bedfellows)

[p.39] [183] “haunt me” (same verse as It Gazes Also?)

[p.40] [290] “get me” (possibly from Strange Bedfellows)

[p.43] [94] untitled ("successful helicarrier rescue")

[p.43] [217] untitled (Clint dreams about the Chitauri post Avengers)

[p.45] [380] “mourn me”

[p.45] [313] “remember me”

[p.50] [404] “unbind me”

[p.51] [663] “quiet me”

[p.53] [232] "dysfunctional Loki/Clint”

[p.57] [527] untitled ("Clint with a mistletoe arrow")

[p.58] [536] “kiss on the forehead”

[p.58] [833] “'I almost lost you' kiss”

[p.60] [2476] Clint Barton’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day

[p.61] [1190] Let All Mortal Flesh (nsfw)

[p.61] [2770] A Temple to Be Destroyed (possible part of a follow-up to Monstrosity / Abyss) (nsfw)

[p.62] [373] “before the beginning” (pre Monstrosity)

[p.65] [461] “hallucination induced by lack of sleep”

[p.69] [285] “things you didn’t say at all”

[p.80] [1337] lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate

[p.83] [1739] untitled (Loki appears and heals a mortally-wounded Clint)

[p.85] [1386] In Another Life (Clint PoV of Ghosts That We Knew)

[p.94] [742] “Hands off!” (during Avengers)

[p.94] [839] “Duck, you idiot!” (post TDW)

[p.97] [781] untitled (Clint feels Loki’s - near? - death in Infinity War via lingering-mental-connection)

[p.110] [76] First sentence prompt: “He/she/they shouldn’t have been so delighted.”

[continued in part 2]

[shiroganeryo]

This post is quite old (dated from January 2020), but it appeared in my dashboard and I felt compelled to add to it! I hope this is fine.

Your point is really good, OP, but there's something else to this specific scene, a connection we only see at a later time. I believe it goes way deeper than this, and I want to tell you why I think so.

Spoilers for D.Gray-Man's Chapters 238 and 239 under the cut!

To be able to better look into where this scene from Chapter 183 (The 183th Night: Wash Your Face and You'll Be All Right) ties into, we'll need to look at the Japanese version of it. Here it is:

The translation OP posted is perfect and very literal, but you'll understand why looking into the exact Japanese wording is important. I'll try to explain as simply as possible for non-japanese speakers. Allen's speech is romanized as:

"Sokka Waratte katarerunda Sonna hi ga itsuka kuru tte Shinjite ireba..."

Let's break this down. "Sokka" is another way to write "sou ka" (an expression meaning "is that so?", "I see", usually rhetorical); "waratte katarerunda" is "I can talk (about this) with a smile". "Sonna hi ga itsuka kuru tte" means "This day will come, one day" and then, "shinjite ireba", "if I keep believing".

Now why this is important? Because Allen uses the particle "tte" (って) after "sonna hi ga itsuka kuru", which is used to point out something that has been said previously - think of it as quotation marks -, something that he has said before, or that someone else told him. When used after a sentence, it indicates that the sentence preceding it is the thing that has been "said". It can mean a lot of other things, but I'll explain why I think this specific meaning is important in this context.

Let's take a jump to Chapter 238 (The 238th Night: Saying Goodbye to A.W - Red and Mana 2). I'll be showing Kougeki Scan's amazing translation for this. Take a look at these pages:

Did you notice?

And how does Mana word this in the original Japanese?

"Kimi ni mo kitto sonna hi ga kuru".

And let's look at Allen's way of phrasing it again...

"Sonna hi ga itsuka kuru tte".

This. This is the day Allen was referring to, back in Chapter 183. The day Mana said that would eventually come for him, the day he finally understands Mana's words, the day he finds his "calling", his purpose in life.

It was him remembering - "quoting" - the words Mana had told him way back when.

And if the wording wasn't enough to be used as a basis, we see Allen remembering Mana's words again in Chapter 239 (The 239th Night: Saying Goodbye to A.W - Red and Mana 3):

Allen's memory might not be the best sometimes, but he acutely remembers the things that impacted him and shaped him as a person. For him to remember Mana's words so clearly, it would be an understatement to say he holds them close to his heart.

Back then, we wouldn't be able to notice since we lacked information, but seeing all of this now, I really believe these parallels tie in together.

OP still might as well be right, because we are unable to know for sure if Allen doesn't consider his "calling" to be one day reuniting with Mana in death; but all of this leads me to think he still hasn't found it...

Or is just beginning to realize what it is.

Hoshino, you're such a genius. These connections that are hinted at early on but that we only come to realize a lot later, are part of what makes D.Gray-Man as great as it is. She thinks of everything.

Unrelated note: In the original Chapter 183's page shown here, Allen says he barely notices Link's presence because he has become like the "air". When talking in colloquialism, when you say someone is/turned "kuuki" (空気), you mean they don't stand out at all, that they have no presence. Kuuki means air, atmosphere, but in this specific context, it's an idiomatic expression. I personally love how the translation OP showed translated it as if it's like Link is a piece of furniture, though. It's just so damn hilarious. XD

,,I can think about him with a smile...as long as I keep believing...that someday...that day will come..."

ähmm, allen stop pls

So, I am re-reading/re-watching dgm and honestly that page made me die inside. (Chapter 183)

I don't know if everyone already knows that but I think, considering the context of this page/chapter and that Allen believes Mana is dead, that he actually meant something along the lines of:

...that day will come...when I can see Mana again

So yeah, it's obvious what that means *cries*

(Allen can think about Mana with a smile as long as he knows that he can see him again when he dies)

Here take a sad cat reaction:

[natsubeatsrock]

Eleven Chapters That Should Have Stopped You from Wishing for Nalu to be Canon, Including the One Chapter that Stopped Me (Special Two Extra Chapters to Get My Point Across Edition)

Finally, I change up the unfunny light novel title joke with an even less funny fanfic title joke. Fun fact: this was just supposed to be nine chapters, including the bonus chapters.

There were a lot of people upset that Nalu wasn’t confirmed canon. I even saw people who don’t ship Nalu saying that they feel bad for the Nalu fandom being led along by Mashima. Someone even made a post about when Lucy may have fallen in love with Natsu. (Yes I looked for it. Are you proud of me?)

I wasn’t one of those people. In fact, I’m one of the few people I know that expected Nalu not to happen, even from the anti crowd. That might sound shocking to a lot of people, even if you’ve been following me for a while. So I figured now is as good a time as ever to make a post I’ve wanted to do for a while, as a rebuttal to the aforementioned post. 

Here are the things I talked about in the title.

Keep in mind, I’m talking about just the manga. The bonuses are special chapters.The other post dealt with both and moments from the anime. As a side note, that’s an understandably tricky thing that shouldn’t be done/encouraged if you’re going to do analysis period unless it’s to compare the handling of the two. 

#1. Chapter 4 - The Celestial Spirit of Canis Minor

Yes. That early. The instant we saw Natsu and Happy breaking into Lucy’s apartment and trick her into a partnership for a deal we should have stopped liking the possibility of this as a romantic couple. The fact that people going into Lucy’s house uninvited would end up being a running joke, involving multiple characters of varying degrees of importance, is disturbing. The fact that it, more often than not, involves two characters that would involve the fandom’s biggest ship makes it worse.

#2. Chapter 183 - Monster Academy

I’ve made it known that Edolas is the arc where I chose Nali over Nalu. However, that’s not my reason for giving up on Nalu. My reason is Natsu’s plan to use Lucy to seduce their enemies failing. In his complaints about the plan, he figured that someone would find Lucy attractive enough to stop. Now, aside from being a dig at Lucy’s sex appeal (or lack thereof), this could have been used as a springboard for Natsu’s feelings about Lucy. All it would have taken was an explanation that he went with this plan because he finds Lucy attractive and thinks that other people would. Here, it comes off like he doesn’t care about Lucy’s appeal but figured that someone else probably will. It doesn’t help that this happens not too long after not caring about seeing two Lucy’s in undress, aside from it being two Lucy’s. Spoilers: it doesn’t get any better.

#3. Chapter 200 - He Who Snuffs Out Life

I considered adding the moment in the Nirvana arc where Virgo implies that Natsu and Lucy are a couple to this list. That moment barely meant anything in the long run aside from being a joke brought up a few times later. However, I figured that moment makes one of the first moments of Tenrou worse for Nalu. When Lucy is seeing how peaceful Natsu is when he’s sleeping, the joke is that he ends up still being capable of causing pain and destruction. However, this could have easily been handled in a way that helps Nalu. Instead of getting punched out the guild, she remembers Virgo’s comment and leaves the guild because she’s too embarrassed to stay in. 

#4. Chapter 331 - Natsu’s Plan

I don’t think I should have added much of an explanation for this chapter’s inclusion beyond the fact that this chapter was when Natsu groped Lucy and got mad at her for it. However, I do feel that it’s worth mentioning that this and the arc before are considered to be the height of Nalu’s development by a large portion of the fandom. I’ve even said that if Nalu was going to happen, it would have made sense to ride that wave of “development” into Sun Village and start making it clear that they like each other. This is the kind of moment that causes people to want to root against a ship happening. It’s disturbing to think that so many people think of this as a positive development for the ship.

#5. Chapter 355 - Song of the Fairies

Considering what I just said about Sun Village arc, I don’t think that it should come as such a shock that I bring it up as a part of the list. However, the main point I have an issue with is that in this chapter, we get outright confirmation that Natsu isn’t interested in Lucy. Now, I’m not of the belief that the only thing, or even the primary thing, that matters in a romantic relationship. However, lines that flat out say that the appeal of naked Lucy is wasted on Natsu (and Gray, but this is about Nalu) kind of make the idea of them having any enjoyment from groping Lucy, a la the previous moment, seem ridiculous. And this doesn’t help the near equally ridiculous claim that Natsu is somehow “Lucy-sexual”.

#6. Chapter 379 - Tartaros Arc, Part 3: Underworld King.

A while back I got an ask from someone marveling at the fact that fans went from shipping Haru and Elie in Rave Master to Natsu and Lucy. To be fair, there are a few moments that I’ve seen in canon as parallels to the two. While comparing the meaning behind those parallels would be interesting, (another rant for another day) there was this one moment in Rave that was similar to this chapter. Without spoiling too much, Haru realizes that Elie is the reason he fights. In this chapter, Natsu, Lucy and Happy have to search for the thing that they want the most. I have no issue with Natsu’s wish to see Lucy. However, if Lucy is supposed to be in love with Natsu, her desire should have been more directly linked to being with Natsu than to be with her friends and spirits. Especially considering that many Rave fans say that she’s the real parallel to Haru, instead of Natsu.

#7. Chapter 416 - Tartaros Arc, Final Part

Wow. A post citing Natsu leaving Lucy as a reason not to ship Nalu? How original of me. Jokes aside, this was the moment that killed Nalu for me, personally. Look, I totally understand why Natsu decided to leave. However, if Mashima wanted to show the strength of Nalu’s bond, the thing he should have had trouble with was telling Lucy that he had to leave and train, even if it meant telling her he could only do it on his own. Doing it through a letter was a terrible thing for him to do and I’m still pissed off that there was no apology for it. But it’s not like it could get worse, right?

#8. Chapter 424 - Avatar

Oh, not only could it get worse. It actually did. Because not only does the issue of Natsu not apologizing just barely come up. Not only is a reason people still excuse him leaving as romantic delegitimized. Natsu derides Gray for putting Juvia in a similar situation he put Lucy in. Looking back, this is when it should sink in that Mashima wasn’t going to make Natsu the bad guy over this situation. This was going to remain a serious and unresolved issue for the rest of the series.

#9. Chapter 478 - Stealth

As you might expect, I don’t think Alvarez Empire wasn’t a good arc for a lot of people both in and out of the series. But according to some people, this was a good arc for Nalu. This was the arc that I started doing chapter reactions and I’m shocked that sentiment exists.I found the fact that Natsu is unimpressed by an undressed Lucy to be hilarious. Almost as hilarious as the fact that people still liked Nalu after seeing that happen. The thing that kills it for me is that the difference in reaction between Natsu and Loke is like night and day. The fact that someone even cited this as proof that Natsu is a “normal” human being and not asexual makes me want to trade my inability to read Gruvia posts for a similar ability with Nalu. (Of course, then I probably wouldn’t make this post, so…)

#10. Chapter 491 - Fairy Tail ZERØ

I remember when this chapter came out and people were happy that Lucy had become used to being sexually assaulted by Natsu. Even if Lucy being jaded about her current state is the correct interpretation of that moment, consider how embarrassing that statement is for the prospect of Nalu. There is so much sexual harassment involved in the ship, that one character can be reasonably jaded over the prospect of it happening again. At the same time, it’s been established multiple times that Natsu doesn’t find Lucy physically interesting. What is the reason for this happening? More importantly, why are fans happy over this happening?

#11. Chapter 545 - Friends You Can’t Do Without

Yeah, the last chance to quit liking Nalu was at the very end of the series. And I don’t just mean because of the way the series ended. The best thing going for Nalu could be that they’re going to go on the Century Quest and will have time to work on their issues. Frankly speaking, this chapter has many of the issues I’ve had with Nalu up to this point. The entire guild rains on Lucy’s celebration with their crazy antics. When she asks them to calm down,  Natsu dismissed the criticism almost entirely. When Natsu (and Happy) end up at Lucy’s house, they show little to no change in behavior from the time that they first met Lucy. And when Lucy pours her heart out to Natsu, he doesn’t acknowledge it as relevant to the time. I understand that he’s more focused on the present, but the way that manifests itself tells me that if their child was canon, which it isn’t, it would take a good amount of time before happens.

And the bonus moments.

Bonus #1. Special Mission: Beware of Guys Who Show a Keen Interest!

This is one of my favorite chapters and its anime counterpart is one of my favorite episodes. Of course, I was going to add it here. I find it hilarious that Mashima made an entire chapter devoted to the possibility that Natsu likes Lucy being a joke. Even more when you consider that Lucy comes to the conclusion that she’s crazy for fantasizing about a relationship between them. But despite that, this got people interested in the prospect of Nalu. Mashima even admitted that he didn’t plan to have them get together, but people thought otherwise.

Bonus #2. Fairy Tail Stone Age

Look, I get the desire to see interactions between your ships as a reason to celebrate. But this is the absolute worst thing to celebrate if you want to show that Nalu actually is a good idea to happen. Fandom fights over whether or not the events are actually in character for the characters involved in this chapter. However, even if they aren’t. Nothing about the chapter ought to make Nalu shippers feel good about the prospect of canon Nalu. Especially when, of all things, Zervis has the best male-female relationship in the chapter.

There are a few I know I didn’t add but were there any specific chapters you were expecting to see?