#saga volume 9

[ticktockheartstop]

Good morning to everyone except Brian K. Vaughan, because I just read Saga Vol. 9 and I am upset.

[pictures-of-yxl]

[brave-symphonia]

Love how Luffy just takes a nap and refuses to listen.

And from what I remember, he doesn't do anything from this point on, he's seen enough to know this town is in danger, but isn't going to force himself as Nami's savior just because he thinks he knows better.

So, it's simple. He waits for her to ask for help, and I really love that.

He could try to force his help onto Nami, but he waits for her to just drop the pretenses and actually admit she needs help, and once she does, he immediately jumps in.

[avenger-concerto]

RWBY V9 Episode 2

Weiss, Blake, and Yang: *knows they're in a bad situation and what's at stake but lighten up the mood whenever they can or take a breather when needed*

Ruby:

[onepieceanimals]

The great king of Anglemois...

[strqyr]

rwby has been acquired by viz media.

here's some interesting points from the FAQ:

What does VIZ have planned for the future of RWBY? VIZ is exploring the production of new chapters in the RWBY saga and we will make announcements as soon as we can. Has RWBY Volume 10 officially been confirmed? There’s no news yet on a new season of RWBY. Please follow the official RWBY X account and Facebook page for the latest updates! Will VIZ use former production team members in the future? Kerry Shawcross, series showrunner and co-creator, will be involved with the next phase of RWBY. Where will RWBY Volumes 1-9 be available to watch? Stay tuned for updates on where to watch! VIZ is exploring wider distribution for the series, including home video releases, additional streaming platform releases, and more.

[astralwukong]

Attention

If you only got Crunchyroll to watch RWBY and you’re about to cancel, do the following if you can/want to support the show:

- stream RWBY as much as possible until you can

- rate RWBY with 5 stars !!!!

- leave positive comments under the episodes

- before cancelling the subscription leave a like on the saga and on all episodes of rwby volume 9. if you can like older episodes that’s good too!

- when you cancel the subscription, you will be directed to a questionaire. try and stress the fact that you will renew the subscription when new RWBY is added.

that’s it, sorry for the cringy post, but i am desperate

[st-whalefall]

It’s also about Salem and Oz being the same

Deep Down, We’re Lonely Demons From Hell

Evernight vs. Beacon Tower -> they’re the fucking same

I have very specific needs (an animatic/amv of the song Scylla from epic: thunder saga that parallels Salem & Ozma as Scylla with Ruby as Odysseus that no one will ever make)

[drenosa]

This AU was spawned by @novankenn, with further additions from a few others.

After the Saga that was The Arc Horde: Expansion and before the Saga that was The Arc Horde: Date Night, there was:

The Arc Horde: A Son's Day Out

In the Kingdom of Vale, at the outskirts of it's capital city, a manor stood imperiously between the others in the district. It was grand, incredibly so, compared to it's nearest neighbours. The plot of land holding multiple buildings and distinct area's for a wide variety of uses.

Living quarters, lounging areas, recreational facilities, workshops and even a fully stocked and staffed medical ward were just part of the full range of what the Arc estate contained.

Today we find ourselves at one of the buildings holding living quarters. Here the regular pandemonium that comes with 38 children in one household was echoing through its hallways.

And it's in those hallways we seen the most peculiar sight. It is a boy. The only boy. The only non-blond brother amongst a sea of 37 very blonde sisters who can all call themselves children of one Jaune Arc.

This boy was currently running for his young life. Stuck in an objectively pretty dress and with fetching twin-tails in his brown, chin-length hair, he tried his best to ignore the sound of the pursuing party behind him.

"Aureus Gawain Autumn-Arc! Get your skirt-covered butt back here, right now!"

"We were still busy with your make-up! You're ruining the whole ensemble if you don't get back here!"

"Uncle Ren's tea leaves will not go to waste!"

The shrill voices behind him had the volume of airhorns, one the lanky 9-year old boy had no desire for to hear up close. Running through the hallways of the Arc Manor, he did his best to remember the layout of the stupidly large group of buildings he called home.

Turning the corner he spotted an open window. The collection of running sounds behind him gave him little reason to hesitate, scrambling over the windowsill and shutting it as he dropped down on the dirt beneath it.

Not even daring to breath, he listened on as his sisters stampeded past. When the noise was gone, he gave a quick glance through the window, dropping back down with a sigh of relief as he finally got a moment of peace. A moment well-suited to take stock of his own situation. Which, all-in-all, was a pretty stupid situation to be stuck in.

He, Aureus, only son of Jaune Arc, was once more "invited" for a tea party by some his sisters.

He, as always, respectfully declined said "invitation".

His sisters, as always, respectfully ignored his opposition and dragged him off by the ankles to "get dressed for the occassion".

He, as is often the case, managed to escape partway through his make-over. Leaving him him a "fetching spring dress" and twin-tails in his brown, chin-length hair.

His escape, which didn't succeed as often as he'd like, left him sitting outside a window, in the dirt of the inner courtyard of the Arc Manor.

The courtyard was actually the perfect place to be. The whole area was a massive garden with plenty of hedges, flowers, trees and most importantly, broken sightlines.

Aureus, his heart somewhat calmed, quickly made his way through the veritable maze that was the estate's central courtgarden, mentally keeping track of which direction he was travelling as he took a few extra turns to hopefully confuse any would be pursuers.

Popping back out the maze on the other side, he was greeted by the facade of another building, one that housed many of his home's lounging and recreational areas. Spotting yet another window left open thanks to whatever fortune he had left, he once again scrambled up and over the windowsill.

Dropping down on the floor with a huff Aureus finally took a real moment to enjoy an actual succesful escape from the clutches of his rabid sisters.

"Oh, well look at that, sisters. A surprise waiting below us."

Whatever warm relief the boy was feeling rapidly froze over with fear. Throwing his sight to-and-fro he desperately looked for his new tormentors, only to see no-one on either side of the long hallway.

"Aw... and he's looking everywhere but at the right place."

"Hihi, you'd think he'd know better by now."

Freezing again as the cogs in his brain tried to wrack and wrench together a coherent thought, Aureus looked up. Up near the ceiling he spotted three sets of triangular ears twitching with interest, three sets of amber and blue coloured eyes glinting with mirth, and three toothy grins smilling with delight.

Three of his sisters, the Belladonna children, lounged lazily together in the rafters, their composures as cat-like as can be.

"Hello, little brother." Said Yoru, the first Belladonna-Arc sister.

"Having some early exercise today?" Followed Raatri, the second.

"Not the best clothes for it, no?" Finished Nisha, the third.

Then again, Aureus might be wrong about the order. As much as he tried, and generally succeeded, in identifying which of his many same-faced sisters he was dealing with, the Belladonna triplets were among several who made it their life-goal to confuse anyone they could with an ongoing game of "who's who?".

With lazy stretches the three got up from their spots in the rafters, before hopping down almost 20 feet and landing with a grace and precision only a Faunus of the cat variety could perform.

Dressed in dark, baggy clothes, the three 11-year olds looked every bit the stereotype of the moody, pre-teen girls of generations past, wearing baggy trousers and baggier hoodies and with hands shoved deep in their roomy pockets.

The middle sister then traded looks with the sisters on her left and right, and with a simple arm motion the two nodded and sprinted off in opposite directions.

Thus Aureus was left with one Belladonna-Arc. Quietly, as if speaking any louder would alert his recently evaded peruers to his location, he hazarded a guess to which sister was before him.

"R-Raatri?"

"Nope." Was the curt, grinning reply.

"Yoru then?"

"Ooh, got it in two. Well done." Yoru's grin widened, just a little, as she regarded the dress wearing boy on the floor.

Said boy swallowed uncomfortably, knowing his future today was uncertain in the best case.

"What do you want?"

Yoru's grin became full and toothy as she held out two items in her arms. Aureus had failed to notice his sisters carrying anything before, so seeing a backpack in one hand and a small stack of Lien in the other was mildly surprising to say the least.

"We're going to get some ice-cream."

And with that strangely ominous declaration, Yoru tossed him the backpack, which he found to be filled with some baggy clothes fitted for him.

"Get dressed, you're being recruited."

Aureus sighed deeply as he pulled out the pants and hoodie. No matter what happened today, at least it beats being stuck in a dress drinking poorly made tea.

(A/N: A new little adventure, focused on the (not-so-)golden(haired) child of the expansive Arc family. What hi-jinks will Aureus be drawn into? What opposition will he face alongside his feline-inclined sisters? And will the ice-cream actually be any good, if they can get any? Guess we'll find out eventually. Thanks again for @novankenn for being the foundation of this bonkers AU, it's a good bit of fun all things considered)

[pacing-er]

The Krakoa Era Reading List Cherik Version (PART 3):

5. Hellfire Gala

This one confused me a bit since I expected it to be considered its own separate collection of stories. It was actually entirely contained within Reign of X. Not to be confused with the 2022 and 2023 runs which are separate and may be ignored for now. See the Part 2 of my Krakoa reading list for my thoughts.

6. Trials of X

The start of this series was my absolute favorite. You got the Trial of Magneto which was just a great story with lots of twists and fun characterization moments for Erik. It takes off immediately after the dramatic ending of the Hellfire Gala/Reign of X storyline, and you have the option to read only the parts with Magneto via the Trial of Magneto TPB. If you read this as part of the entire Trials of X collection there will be other side plots and issues dispersed throughout, which Charles and Erik will largely not be included in. Trial of Magneto is contained in Volumes 1-2 and Volume 3 is entirely skippable.

After this we get the continuation of the Nightcrawler/Legion vs Onslaught storyline, which was super trippy and a fantastic read. There are several mentions of Onslaught and Legion being half-brothers and Onslaught refers to his creators as "fathers" lol any mention of Onslaught being Magneto and Charles's lovechild just made me super happy. Legion's characterization in the Krakoa era is super endearing and there are several scenes where we get to see his unhealthy dynamic with Charles (mostly on Charles part lmao he is a terrible father, poor David was just tryna help 😭).

A moment of appreciation for these covers, I'm obsessed with them.

As for Cherik levels, the fact that their kid(s) are a large part of this story makes it worth reading, but we don't actually see Onslaught referred to as a son by either of them. He is more of a "thing" and a problem, which is fair bc he is literally the manifestation of both of their evils. There is a scene where the possessed!Erik is viciously protecting the possessed!Charles, which I really liked even though it was brief. Then the anti-Onslaught team (including Magneto) is chasing down a possessed!Charles cornering him in a clever trap designed by Legion. Once released from Onslaughts control we get this super cute panel:

Look at him holding Charles hand 🥰🥰🥰 They then immediately get vaporized and we hardly see them again for 5 whole volumes. Spoilers aside I really loved the solution to the Onslaught problem and thought the end of this arc was very satisfying! All of this was neatly contained in Volumes 4-5 of the Trials of X TPB, but there may be a collected version of just Nightcrawler and Legion's storyline that I'm unaware of. I hope so bc I really loved it and there's just WAY too many side plots that I don't care about even a little bit in the main collection. The Onslaught saga is distributed throughout Reign of X and Trials of X and it'd be great to see the complete story without interruptions.

As I mentioned, we then don't see Charles and Erik again until Volume 10. I had expected a resurrection scene bc they did both die but I guess that's implied to happen off screen? Anyways Volumes 6-9 I think there are literally only two panels that have either of them in it so safe to say you can skip those if you are only reading for Cherik.

Their inclusion in Volumes 10-12 are sparse with them mostly having their moments in Silent Council meetings and impersonations of Charles in the Hole™. They finally reveal what goes on in the Hole™ which was super interesting and worth reading imo. Also it's great to see them get along in these volumes, they finish each other's sentences and even when they disagree they are mostly civil XD

Overall some great stuff despite the long lull in the middle 👍 See the rest of my Krakoa reviews under #krakoa era reading list

[kazonandoff]

So I have some thoughts about LN 12. There will be spoilers!

OK, Volume 12! Pretty good. I think I liked 11 better in terms of pacing and plot but so much good stuff happened in this one. Maomao was in peak form here. This was also a Chue centric volume and she's my second favourite character after Maomao.

I think what dragged this down was some heavy info-dumping in a couple of chapters. One chapter is literally just catching Maomao (aka the reader) with everyone's motivations and schemes. I really feel like this could have done with another 100 more pages, just so things didn't seem so dense. I still couldn't follow everything! Did Hulan try and entrap Maomao or not? Wouldn't it have been obvious to Chue that Hulan was up to something when he sent Maomao to pay a visit to the Ri Prince? Could someone be kind enough to break down what happened for me in simple words? 😅

The action scenes are great in this one too. The highlights are obvious but the one scene that really stood out to me was Maomao stepping in front of Bear-Man to stop him touching Xiaohong. There was none of her usual thought process of "I'm being stupid and reckless" just am immediate no brainer move by her. So so proud of you, girl. The use of the art in these moments was excellent. I felt my heart drop here when I turned the page and saw just how big Bear Man was.

Speaking of proud, MY GOD FINALLY MAOMAO. THAT ONLY TOOK YOU 12 VOLUMES AND 4 YEARS IN-UNIVERSE. Who knew Chue's near death would be the catalyst for Maomao making a move forward with Jinshi?? I actually really loved that scene between Maomao and Chue. Maomao actually using the word "love" even though that terrifies her to think of.

The insecurity of Jinshi, though, still takes me by surprise. He thought Maomao hated him? Maomao I know you're bad at conveying feelings but you really needed to say or do something there. Maybe that L word you so don't like to use? And now that they're an official couple Maomao immediately starts flirting and teasing Jinshi and my boy has no idea what he's in for.

Lastly, the poison dart Chue gave Maomao never got used. I really thought Maomao was gonna kill someone this book but I guess it was a red herring? Also, it took me until the end of the book to realise that was Chue in disguise on the cover 😂

That's the end of the Western Province Saga! We're finally going home again! Yay! Overall I think Western Province Saga might be my favourite one? Book 4 is still my favourite book but this run of books from 9-12 was outstanding. Maomao and Jinshi really grew up in this saga, Maomao especially. She's so much more engaged with everything around her, her sense of justice has jumped way up, her emotional maturity has sky-rocketed. She really stepped out of the shadow of her adopted father here and became more her own person. An adult, really.

Thoughts where this goes from here: for starters, I feel like Maomao is going to step more into the role of Lady and away from commoner. That's where she's been heading all series but to be a legitimate marriage choice for Jinshi she'll have to step up. Which means accepting her biological dad 🫣 Mysteries and schemes, I'm less sure about but the political stage just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I think eventually Maomao will head even further west but not for the foreseeable future.

That's a lot of words, sorry everyone! But I had a lot of thoughts about this book. Please share your own, I have no one to talk about this series with 😭

[yyh4ever]

Yu Yu Hakusho POP UP STORE in Loft vol.4

~Makai Edition Battle~

AMNIBUS finally announced the details of the 4th volume of Yu Yu Hakusho POP UP STORE in Loft. Goods using new illustrations of the characters from the 3 Kings Saga, and special gifts and benefits are revealed. It's rare to have Shigure merch! The products will also be available by mail order on AMNIBUS online store.

→ Official Site: amnibus

→ Venues & Period:

Sakae Loft: February 17 to March 4, 2024

Shibuya Loft: March 16 to March 31, 2024

Umeda Loft: April 6 to April 21, 2024

→ Benefits: During the event period at each store, for every purchase of 2,000 yen of eligible products, you will receive a random illustration card (8 types) as a gift!

→ Goods:

Trading Can Badge (8 types)

Single item: 440 yen (blind) / BOX: 3,520 yen

Size: (approx.) Diameter 56mm

*Box Purchase Benefits (included in the box)

Venue: Hiei Square Can Badge

Mail Order: Mukuro Square Can Badge

Trading Bromide (8 types)

Single item: 275 yen (blind) / BOX: 2,200 yen

*Box Purchase Benefits (included in the box)

Venue: Yusuke Bromide

Mail Order: Raizen Bromide

Trading Acrylic Stand (8 types)

Single item: 880 yen (blind) / BOX: 7,040 yen

*Box Purchase Benefits (included in the box)

Venue: Youko Kurama Acrylic Stand

Mail Order: Yomi Acrylic Stand

Trading Acrylic Card (8 types)

Single item: 715 yen (blind) / BOX: 5,720 yen

*Box Purchase Benefits (included in the box)

Venue: Kurama Acrylic Card

Mail Order: Shigure Acrylic Card

BIG Acrylic Stand (8 types)

Price: 1,980 yen each (Yusuke Urameshi, Hiei, Kurama, Youko Kurama, Raizen, Mukuro, Yomi)

Price: 2,310 yen (Shigure)

Extra-large Acrylic Stand (8 types)

Price: 3,520 yen each (Yusuke Urameshi, Hiei, Mukuro)

Price: 4,378 yen each (Kurama, Youko Kurama, Raizen, Shigure, Yomi)

A3 Matte Processing Poster

Price: 880 yen each

Acrylic Keychain (8 types)

Price: 990 yen each

Desk Mat (4 types)

Price: 3,850 yen each

Chara Fine Graph (9 types)

Price: 14,300 yen each

Canvas Board (10 types)

Price: 5,500 yen each

Trading Acrylic Card ~Tactical Fashion (8 types)

This POP UP is also releasing a new good using illustrations from the POP UP STORE in Loft vol.3 - Tactical Fashion. One Kuwabara merch at least!

Single item: 715 yen (blind) / BOX: 5,720 yen

*BOX Purchase Benefits

Venue: Itsuki Acrylic Card

Mail Order: Kuwabara Acrylic Card

[pictures-of-yxl]

[brave-symphonia]

If I'm remembering correctly, it's been stated this took Nami 8 years of robbing pirates to earn this much money, and it's been said to be an amount of money that seems almost impossible to raise over her life.

So, 100 million berries is seen as an obscene amount of money, and it got me thinking of the Sabaody auction.

Like, they have twice this amount by then, twice what's seen as impossible to raise.

And they still get helplessly outbid so easily, the amount of money the Celestial Dragons have, that they can just waste on something so horrible and something they willingly will cast aside after just a few days, it's horrible to see.

Like, the Celestial Dragons are clearly meant to represent billionaires, and I feel like this really shows it when you compare that.

Once again, five times what is seen as a massive amount of money for someone to conceivably raise, that's seen as money they can just throw away on something the Dragons see as something to just be thrown away.

Couple that with the fact that this thing they'll throw away is a living being, the Celestial Dragons are honestly just horrible all around, I would be surprised if I met someone who sided with them.

I know this is far ahead of Arlong Park, but I worried I wouldn't really come back to it later on, so I had to get it out now.

[literary-illuminati]

Fourth Quarter of 2024 Book Reviews

(First, Second, Third)

October

49 – The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Anna Older 50 – The Gold Eaters by Ronald Wright 51 – Monstress Volume 8: Inferno by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda 52 – The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey 53 – Binti by Nnedi Okarafor 54 – The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman 55 – The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez 56 – Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

November

57 – Monstress, Volume 9: The Possessed by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda 58 – Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson 59 – Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher 60 – Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar 61 – Those Across The River by Christopher Buehlman 62 – Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo 63 – Saga, Book 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples 64 – How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

December

65 – Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson 66 – A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel 67 – I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones 68 – Saga, Book 2 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples 69 – Please Undo This Hurt by Seth Dickinson 70 – Absolution by Jeff Vandermeer 71 – The City and the City by China Mieville 72 – Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky 73 – Saga, Book 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples 74 – The Glory of the Empire: A Novel, A History by Jean d’Ormesson

[onepieceanimals]

A little rabbit that has absolutely nothing to do with the song <3