#spade kingdom arc

[kcuf-ad]

[silvyavan]

Yuno Grinbellior: Fall From Class Solidarity Grace

This has been a LONG time coming when it comes to Yuno's character, all the power ups and hellacious writing involved with said character. This actually had me re-reading Black Clover just to compile this callout/thesis/whatever the hell this is.

Hypothesis: Yuno's character arc and symbolic meaning got absolutely ruined in Spade arc, on the entire series premises even, to the point where he went from class ally to class traitor. From "You don't have to have massive capital or a prestigious family to have lots of mana and worth" to "Being born to privilege literally gets you everywhere in life".

And even if its not, Yuno's character arc ends up being "always at the important events, never where it matters the most".

ARC 1: THE GRAND ELF ARC AND THE SET UP TO THE CHARACTER.

One of the pivotal moments of the early series is the Magic Knights Exam and how it ends. The choice between captains is arguably the best metaphor for how Asta and Yuno's rivalry feels scuffed and represents that, in a world where mana is everything, big mana DOES get you in high places, even if you're unaware of it.

When Yuno gets his turn to see which captains would want him, all of them raise their hands and he even has the option to choose the best ranked squad, Golden Dawn, a squad that is already built upon with SEVERAL noble houses supporting it, including the Wizard King's own support, and with a repertoire of big mana bitches. Yuno, who symbolises the 4 leaf clover and all the mana and perceived pedigree that comes from it, has the chance to go into a squad that is exclusive only to nobles.

Asta, however, is the more realistic approach of someone who starts from the bottom up and has nothing, as no squads raise their hands because they want him and the only option he DOES have is the squad that's at the bottom of the barrel/with the worst reputation.

This is important because this is aligned with the next instance we'll talk about: Star Festival.

The Star Festival literally has this shit said outright: even if you take THE worst squad out of the gutter and work to the point of disability and get borderline killed trying to protect your country, the squad full of nobles who have:

1) an environment where its much easier to gain achievements (GD being located in Kiten, near the border between Diamond and often attacked, even getting Spade spies, thus making nation relevant achievements is surprisingly easy),

2) more resources and funding due to nepotism and support from rich family members ( having many noble families who can afford tutors, training, education and even connections into getting into squads, often even allowing immediate medical care in case of emergencies), and

3) implicit connections with the higher ups in the government (William being from the same squad where Julius, current wizard king was, the ENTIRE judicial court of Clover being royalists/pro noble faction, likely having relatives in GD)

will still achieve better results for less effort. Asta still has to work harder than Yuno, just for 2nd place. Black Bulls squad can literally save villages and towns, stop foreign invasions and terrorists and they still don't get as much payback as the squad made up entirely from connections, money and massive mana prowess. Is the GD still also doing the same things as the Black Bulls? Yeah, but if you look at the point distributions, Golden Dawn gets SEVERAL per missions/events, with a Spade Kingdom officer being a whole 5 stars.

It's the most obvious metaphor and it leaves a bitter taste in one's mouth, since one of the key notions that one usually gets from the rivalry between Asta and Yuno is that its a friendly rivalry that isn't inherently favored in one direction. And this, and many OTHER instances shown later in the story are testament that that's not true.

Even though Asta and Yuno both qualify for the Royal Knights position, what happened at the actual tournament, concerning Langris, feels like a statement of Yuno throwing away any attempt of principles. Yuno was THERE when Langris went off the deep end, and this guy is his vice captain. Even agrees with Klaus that something is definitely off. But he makes no attempt to actually stop him. Luck, Magna, Noelle, Charmy and Asta all jump in to try and stop him. EVEN JULIUS comes in to try and stop him, so any statement of "he's his superior, he can't go against him" can't hold ground because Julius' judgement clearly says that hes got issues, so I doubt Langris would have grounds in trying to discipline Yuno for "insubordination".

Like, maybe it's just me, but if you see your vice captain go off the deep end and try to kill a contestant from a different squad AFTER its been announced he won, you should probably stop him for both their sakes.

Yuno doesn't, NOBODY from Golden Dawn does, what does that speak on what they view as "going too far"?

And when the match between Asta's and Langris' team ends in a draw, and in a show of solidarity, all the Knights come to Asta to support him, Yuno is... not part of the crowd. People like Klaus, Hamon and Mimosa from the Golden Dawn are. So you've got people from ALL OTHER squads, who don't even know Asta, coming in to his metaphorical support. Its almost out of place how he's not even coming over there, compared to the previous volumes where he was, in fact there.

This just keeps going on until the actual Elf incident, where it feels like Tabata finally remembers "oh yeah, Yuno and Asta are kinda supposed to be friends", and Yuno is immediately worried for Asta in comparison to the previous arcs where he's kind of aloof with him. Can the aloofness be part of the respect for him? Maybe, but this is only because we keep having places where Asta and Yuno are together in a situation. Spade Arc is not like that.

ARC 2: SPADE ARC AND THE FUCK UPS

Spade Arc, has, for the major part except for 2 instances, been an arc that keeps hammering in that Yuno is continuing the saga of acting like the first 15 years of his life mean jackshit.

Yuno is now Vice Captain, has a fanclub and seems to be acting like William is some important figure to him. And all of this feels like absolute lip service.

Vice Captain because Langris stepped down and naturally they needed someone reliable but there's plenty of other, more higher ranking and experienced brigade Knights who could have taken over the responsibilities (assuming that the position isn't just some "second strongest in the building" ranking, and has actual paperwork, responsibilities, workload, etc). So Yuno, getting the position when he's been a Knight for only 2 years, feels like a weird choice and doesn't even give a show of "mana may not be the same, but effort is". They just put any big mana bitch in charge. Even some of the GD only refer to his phenomenal magic as the show of good characteristics.

Yuno and Asta, assuming they both have the same amount of missions and effort put into this, would've had the same position if it wouldn't have been for the Court Rulings and Banishment. And that's what makes Yuno being Vice Captain rather unbelievable or just straight up condescending. Even if the Court Ruling DIDNT apply, it makes no sense for the position to be given to someone who's been in the magic Knights for about 2 years.

The fan club, again, feels like a superficial way to state that "people like Yuno". Yuno is considered handsome, yes, but a fan club usually can't survive off of being handsome alone. There's no actual show of when, how or why this club formed. It sure as hell couldn't have formed in 6 months, even if they're made up of civilians as well. I know the anime has made some supplementary episode on this, but again, the "we accept you" moment feels backhanded.

We know Charlotte has a fan club, but they're all part of her squad. We're not given any example if there's civilians in her fanclub, or if there are other fanclubs dedicated to other famous magic knights.

Even if there wasn't any animosity, for these people to take like a year to accept a new recruit? This fanclub feels more like a representation of actual Yuno fans than a statement that people like Yuno.

The solidarity between him and William. My brother in Clover, where did all of this come from. I'm pretty sure Yuno would've been more pissed about the fact that William chose Yuno because of the elf soul in him. He's not, maybe he doesn't care, but there's not... a whole lot of ANYTHING. It's another case of tell and not show, but maybe because of the timeskip, it feels a bit fake.

The worst of it is, arguably, the moment where he calls out the Captains for keeping William at arms length for the Elf incident.

I want to remind yall, All Of Yall, that the Elf incident didn't just possess the Knights of Golden Dawn, but also EVERYONE ELSE IN THE MAGIC KNIGHTS. 3 (4 if you count Kaiser) WHOLE captains got possessed, SEVERAL vice captains and many other Knights who started blowing shit up all over the kingdom. Patri "killed" Julius in front of Yami, Fuegoleon got ROBBED AND LOST AN ARM due to machinations of the Midnight Sun, Nozel almost DIED in front of his family during the incident, and Jack pretty much had to go and juggle all this shit as the only other non possessed Captain besides Yami in dealing in this.

Like YEAH, no SHIT that they haven't forgiven him, this affected EVERYONE'S bodily autonomy, health and survival. William, bless this homosexual, is a war criminal and I'm pretty sure the Court Rulings, while politically sane, was the only reason his ass wasn't on trial. It's been 6 months, yeah, but the incident has made everyone's life in some way harder and the kingdom's stability worse. They have the right to be mad about this. Even Yuno admits it, he can't blame them for the animosity but at the same time, he's acting like them being mad about it is unwarranted.

Yuno, your autism is bad, I understand, but look back, literally less than 30 chapters ago, and ask yourself, would you be mad as fuck at your coworker if they almost killed everyone? Yes? Because as far as I'm concerned, the moment between Yami, William and Tiny Julius was a closed incident, one that did not have other captains involved. They did not see that shit, maybe they were briefed, but the emotional turmoil was absolutely necessary about this. We're not given the briefing of the captains when William would have had to come clean in front of them. Wish we did, considering how it would've made this moment much more cathartic.

But all this is not the worst offence to Yuno's character. The Prince revelation is.

The thing is, up until this arc, Yuno's behavior might be a bit off putting, but he's still technically a peasant who just so happens to have a lot of mana. The talent and mana was more so his and his alone. His talent made from effort, his mana who he just so happened to he born with. No fancy family, no fancy secret heritage. Just pure, raw autism fueled power.

The Prince revelation essentially smacks it all off of the table and just makes the excuse "of course Yuno is talented and full of mana, he's Foreign Royalty!". Hell, fucking NOZEL makes a "that explains everything" statement.. It's disheartening, cheap and just makes any effort that Yuno previously put into honing his skills feel fake. It is arguably the reason I pray that Asta never gets any secret family bloodline, because its souring the whole character arc and if Asta got that, Tabata might as well cancel the series because that would be a slap to the face for those who wanted Asta to be a winning underdog.

ARC 3: THE PEDESTAL OF BEING IMPORTANT BUT NOT INVOLVED.

This arc has lasted, maybe a bit over 30 chapters (332-369), and it has made not one good thing about Yuno.

Remember the statement I made previously? "Always in the middle of important events, but never when it really matters"? Yeah, no arc shows it as much as this one.

The start of this arc is Lucius attacking Asta's promotion celebration party, a long awaited party to celebrate Asta getting Senior Magic Knight, First Class. 3rd overall, and first in that ranking, essentially saying that Asta's next position would be Grand Magic Knight. In the same title, Fuegoleon says that Asta and Yuno SHOULD have been on the same ranking as Grand Magic Knights, but doesn't say why. Even so, they're not at a relatively similar position of ranking. Most Knights in this ranking are either captains or vice captain level.

This is, naturally, an important event. Orsi, Lily and the kids from the church are there! The captains are there! But not Yuno.

It's implied that Yuno got to Grand Magic Knight within the timeskip, and Asta only managed to get Senior Magic Knight after he was pardoned. But even so, Asta went and celebrated and congratulated it with Yuno. We don't see Yuno's reaction. Only the statement that Asta was always ahead of him. It sounds like ignorance of privilege at this point.

Yuno was out because he, the Golden members and Black Bull members, who have experience with devil activity, were away to investigate it. Unfortunate, but hopeful thinking makes you wonder if he had plans to congratulate Asta after the party, or come in late but still in time for it.

The reality of the matter is that Yuno showed up after the party, after Lucius went and fought Asta and missing quite literally everything. He even says that the attack Adrammelech planned was a feint. Was he not considering the idea that maybe if this was a feint, then something WORSE is going on somewhere else??? Even more so that he went and obliterated high ranking devils in an instant. Hell, with them all gathering in the min hall, it gives the impression that Yuno arrived to this meeting late enough for everyone to gather.

It's almost as if they're treating Yuno's reaction to the events are more important than, you know, actually participating in the events. Noelle and Nero had experience in devils too, but they didn't participate. They actually went and tried to help Asta when he was down! Even the Captains got out to try and help! And yet for Yuno, he's just reacting to it with the promise of vengeance, when nobody knows if vengeance will actually bring Asta back.

This isn't the only moment either. The magic Knights tournament, the golden dawn massacre, and this is a trend in Yuno being involved in the important and big battles, sure, but he's never in the moments that matter in terms of showing the actual presence of the character or weight to the plot. He's almost like a filler character who only shows up in major incidents at this point. Fucking SEKKE has more emotional weight to the plot at this point (I jest but what if).

The arc is, at this point, still ongoing and MAYBE the current state of Yunos character will change (I pray).

But, if I had to give my two cents, my idea of what would make Yuno's character more solid would be the contrast of Yuno who has all the gifts and Yuno who's only got his effort left.

That is to say, put Yuno in a situation where his efforts and abilities are put to the test by reducing/negating his powerups.

One version of this, is that Lucius somehow gets close enough to reach his soul, Elf Yuno takes the brunt to save Yuno, and now Yuno is down to only his Star Grimoire.

Another version, is that Adrammelech vs Yuno happens.

Yuno vs Adrammelech where Adrammelechs (supposed or proposed) Sun magic cancels out Star magic and his wind magic is entirely limited. A fight where Yuno can't rely on his massive magic to fight Adrammelech and can only use weapons made from spirit magic and wind as agility against him.

"Take away the talent and magic and what are you left with" type of fight. It would also add some zest to Adrammelech if he's fighting Yuno PURPOSEFULLY, to separate Asta and him from the fight with Lucius and make it an Asta vs Lucius Rematch while holding his own rematch with Yuno.

If its not, then having the Lucius vs Asta and Yuno might be more of a redemption scenario to Yuno missing the key moments of the party fight. Like how Yuno on his own is kinda struggling due to Lucius using numbers, Asta on his own needed to have hostages used against him. But if they both show up at the same time, then they can counter each others weaknesses.

Those are just some possibilities, and I have no idea how Tabata is gonna spin this, but fuck! Let's hope he doesn't fumble!

[spaceknifes]

:0000 YOUR OC IS SO COOL!! Can I get to know more about them??? Their name??? Magic type????!! AHHH DO YOU HAVE OTHER POSTS ABOUT THEM?!

OH THANK YOU !! and of course ! this is Ezra and they have ink manipulation magic ! i had some mutuals on twt with ocxcc and i wanted to join in (i too wanted to be cringe and free) so i made Ezra (to be with asta ofc) and i also had the idea of someone with ink magic and having the ability to put the ink on their skin so i thought it be perfect for them

heres more of their reference sheet that i might redo in future but for now this

they are apart of the eye of the midnight sun and work mostly with sally. ezra is not the biggest fan of people or anything in general but being able to do research on just about anything did peak their interest to join

i wanted to make basically a enemies to lovers with asta ahaha so ezra is not so good in the beginning (i also wanted to make a hater character with no traumatic backstory he just a hater) and because of astas influences does become a better person (more soft, tries to be nicer to people, actually smiles and a little more).

and because of their ink magic i thought theyd be perfect addition to the aqua deers because i think rill would absolutely love their magic (they dont join until after the spade arc. they weren’t too big on the magic knights but seeing how hard asta noelle and yuno work they were a little motivated to join )

a general time line of ezra: eotms -> devil banishers -> heart kingdom -> spade resistance -> aqua deers

i probably forgot some things and im still fleshing ezra out so if you have anymore questions feel free to ask away ! :))

[halloween-neko96]

Butterfly Choices 🦋

[One Piece - Different Strawhat Pirates AU]

A little flap of a butterfly created millions of changes.

In which, a slightly different Luffy in a slightly different world picked up a slightly different crew.

Story Masterlist

Romance Dawn Arc

Prologue - Romance Dawn

Entry I - III

to be continued…

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57578383/chapters/146507632

AU Exploration

SPOILER WARNING: The next part includes multiple spoilers for the recent arcs.

ASL Brothers (who weren't even brothers in this)

The backstories for the ASL Brothers are similar to The Ocean Where The Stars Follow You 💫 where Roger entrusted his son to Rayleigh instead of Garp.

Silver D. Ace | Gol D. Ace

A famous Bounty Hunter on Sabaody, well-known as 'Ace of Spades'. He was raised by Silver Rayleigh and Shakky. Ace was loved and knew he was loved. The boy ran wild on the Sabaody, recking havoc here and there. It was lucky for the Marines that he hadn't run into any Celestial Dragon yet because he would definitely punch one.

Sabo

The Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army, famous with the name 'Flame Emperor'. He set sail as 10 from Dawn Island and got shot down by a Celestial Dragon. Dragon and the Revolutionary Army recused him and he chose to stay with them. Sabo didn't lose his memory but there was nothing worth remembering about his life back in Goa Kingdom. He found his place in the Revolutionary Army. (The one with the Mera Mera no mi from the start was Sabo)

Monkey D. Luffy

The Captain of the famous Straw Hat Pirates. He grew up a tad more lonely but was still loved. Garp didn't drop him at Dadan so Luffy spent more time in Foosha Village, helping Makino with her bar. He eventually ventured up the mountain, met Dadan, and reached the Grey Terminal. He set sail at 17 and the boy had been a chaos gremlin since then, bringing all sorts of changes to the water of the Grand Line.

Ace & Sabo

Sabo knew quite a lot about the famous Bounty Hunter Ace of Spades. It came with the job. He found Ace's chaotic behavior funny. He also assumed that Ace was the son of Rayleigh and Shakky.

Ace only knew a thing or two about the mysterious 'Flame Emperor' of the Revolutionary Army. But the guy sounded fun in his opinion.

Ace & Luffy

Ace and Luffy knew about each other through Deuce. Ace also heard quite a lot about Luffy from Shanks. Ace thought Luffy sounded annoyingly endearing while Luffy thought Ace was a cool guy.

Sabo & Luffy

Sabo was shocked upon learning that his boss, his savior, Dragon had a son who was living on the same island as he did. He was a bit jealous of Luffy for having Dragon's unconditional love while Sabo's birth parents... When Luffy's first bounty was out, Sabo noticed his old goggles hanging around Luffy's neck. So he laughed and laughed and wished that they had met back on Dawn Island.

Luffy was there when Sabo got blown up. He picked up the top hat and the goggles. Years later, Luffy found a treasure stash with a diary of a boy named Sabo, the same name stitched on the hat.

ASL Meeting

The three of them had a brief meeting when Luffy arrived at Sabaody. Later, Ace spent a lot of time sulking while Rayleigh trained Luffy. Sabo took a liking to Luffy when they met again in Dressrosa. Sabo and Ace annoyed each other when they ran into the other on Sabaody.

Straw Hat Pirates

Except for Luffy as the Captain, the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates include members different from Canon. They are all loyal to Luffy the same.

Koby

Firstmate and Navigator of the Straw Hat, 'Treasure Hunter' Koby.

His story started similar to canon where he accidentally got himself on Alvida's pirate ship. However, after a year, he got recused by a bounty hunter who was actually Nojiko. He tried to help her buy back her village by gathering treasure. That was how he started his journey as a treasure hunter. After a while, seeking treasure and money had become a habit to him. He loved the sea and wished to travel to every corner of the world.

Koby was the first member Luffy invited. But he officially joined after the fall of Arlong Park. He fought with a staff, and he and Luffy trained against each other sometimes.

Shimotsuki Washi | Shimotsuki Kuina

Swordman of the Straw Hat, Washi of the 'White Blade'.

The swordsman who aimed to be the Greatest, carrying his promise to his childhood friend and a white sword sounds similar right? However, Washi's story carried more than that. He set sail not only to challenge Mihawk but also to find his missing childhood friend, Roronoa Zoro. Wandering on the sea for a while, he gained a reputation as a bounty hunter.

Washi was the second member Luffy invited and technically the first member to join. He used one sword style but could also use more than one sword in combat.

Washi's body turned into a female once he got drenched in seawater and turned back into a male once he got dry. It got him into conflict with Pudding as she didn't know how to treat him. This strange phenomenon is actually related to Washi's backstory involving Ivankov's Devil Fruit and the missing case of Zoro.

Kaya

Doctor of the Straw Hat, 'Praying Angel' Kaya.

The young lady who chose to study to become a doctor instead of inheriting her family business immediately accepted the invitation of a young pirate and set sail with them. She wanted to travel around the world and study every plant out there to use them for medical. She also set sail with the hope of meeting her friend, Usopp on the sea.

Kaya was the third member Luffy invited. Along with her was their first ship, Going Merry. She had accidentally eaten the Hito Hito no mi, Mythical Type, Model: Tenshi as a child but she didn't realize it until she fell into the sea and almost drowned. Her Devil Fruit allowed her to cast boosts and buffs on people via praying. She also could transform into a humanoid figure with wings and a glowing halo but she only learned it after the 2 years Timeskip.

Charlotte Pudding

Chef of the Straw Hat, 'Sweets Taster' Pudding.

A young chef who hid their heritage and dreamed of finding All Blue did ring a bell, right? She was a chef who worked at the sea restaurant, Baratie. She loved women, wouldn't hesitate to kick a man, and loved cooking overall.

Pudding was the fourth member Luffy invited who also was the last member of the East Blue gang. She fought with her legs, taking after Zeff's combat style.

Pudding used to hide her third eye but after a while, she was comfortable enough with the crew to share it. She also got frustrated with Washi due to him sometimes turning into a woman, making her confused about how to treat him.

Similar to Sanji's 'Vinsmoke' storyline, Pudding was forced to be involved in a wedding-turn-assassination where her full name was revealed.

Deuce

Novelist and Informant of the Straw Hat, 'Masked' Deuce.

A young man who abandoned his old name, and his medical studies to follow his passion for writing and become a novelist or a journalist rather. He wished to write and publish the best story ever. He was the pen pal of Luffy whom he met as a child when Luffy was traveling with the Red Hair Pirates for a bit.

Deuce was the one who immediately invited himself to Luffy's ship once they met at Whisky Peak. He was a swordsman with fierce swordsmanship. After 2 years of Timeskip, he got a new unique sword that could light itself on fire.

Before meeting up with Luffy again, Deuce was a journalist for Big News Morgan. That was how he got himself into the Grand Line. Deuce got his new name via Ace whom he met at Sabaody.

Wednesday Lily | Nefertari D. Vivi

Assasin and Strategist of the Straw Hat, 'Miss Devil' Wednesday Lily.

The Princess of Alabasta chose to continue on her journey with the Straw Hat crew after they defeated Crocodile. Luckily for her, someone in the Marines mistook her name for Lily instead of Vivi and took her codename Miss Wednesday as her last name. Vivi adapted and used it as her new name instead.

Vivi wasn't exactly a combatant, especially one-on-one. However, she was incredibly clever and usually ran a background plan while the rest of the crew fought forward. She had a pair of dangers coated in poisons that were made by her and Kaya's combined knowledge.

There was the whole thing in Enies Lobby where the CP9 tried to kidnap Vivi under the Government-slash-Imu's order. You can figure out how that went.

Rami | Trafalgar D. Water Lammy

Historian of the Straw Hat, 'Snow White' Rami.

A girl in her mid-20s with pale white skin and black hair, looking like the famous princess Snow White from an old fairy tale. She wished to undercover the truth history of the world.

Rami joined the Straw Hat along with her partner, Cain after Luffy defeated Enel on the Sky Island, Skypedia. She had eaten the Logia Devil Fruit, the Kumo Kumo no mi, allowing her to turn into a cloud. Due to living on Skypedia for quite a time, her cloud can mimic Sky Island's cloudland and white sea.

Rami's true name was Trafalgar D. Water Lammy, younger sister of Law. She was saved by Cain who spent 10 years treating her Amber Lead while she stayed asleep for those 10 years. The leftover side effect of her sickness was her pale white skin. Her black hair was just dyed, a call back to her older brother.

Cain | Punk-07

Scientist of the Straw Hat, 'Apple Biter' Cain.

A young-looking boy with a mind that was way older than he looked. He had white hair, golden star eyes, and dark skin. He was a scientist who would never stop pursuing science. However, his most important goal was to keep Rami alive and save.

Cain joined the Straw Hat, following Rami. At the start, he wasn't really that loyal to Luffy but over time, he grew to attach and appreciated them. He seemed to have a huge amount of knowledge that one shouldn't have. He had a lot of inventions and could create new things on hand. His favorite weapons were apple bombs with multiple effects.

Cain was actually a Vegapunk's Clone from another timeline where Lammy survived instead of Law and was the user of the Ope Ope no mi. The Lammy from that timeline saved Cain who was created by Lilith after Egghead's Incident. She also performed the Perpetual Youth Surgery on him. Cain in the old timeline eventually managed to time travel and arrived at this timeline. He saved Rami as a way to thank her and eventually grew very attached to her.

Uta

Musician of the Straw Hat, 'Singing Puppeteer' Uta.

The adopted daughter of Red-Haired Shanks who used to be a musician of Red Hair Pirates. She dreamed of becoming a famous singer. When the Red Hair Pirates left Dawn Island, she promised to join Luffy's crew one day once they met again.

Three years before Luffy set sail, Uta got turned into a toy by Sugar, leaving her stuck at Dressrosa while no one remembered her. After Sugar was defeated, Uta also got free. She officially joined the Straw Hat after they defeated Doflamingo.

Uta was the user of the Uta Uta no mi.

Marco

Watcher and Assistant Doctor of the Straw Hat, Marco 'The Phoenix'.

The former 1st Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. He was in a position similar to Yamato in canon where Luffy promised him a place on his ship if he ever felt like being a pirate again.

Marco eventually joined the Straw Hat.

Fate of Original Straw Hat Pirates

What are the canon members of the Straw Hat Pirates up to?

Roronoa Zoro

Zoro was the missing childhood friend whom Washi/Kuina set sail to find. They also had a promise to become the Greatest Swordsmen in the world. So where was Zoro?

The story went back to the night when the Revolutionary Army docked at the Shimotsuki Village. Kuina upon witnessing Ivankov's power, begged them to change her into a boy. Meanwhile, Zoro had a conversation with Kuma which led to Kuma sending Zoro away. The destination was Mihawk's castle.

Zoro had a habit of wandering around so after the first few days, no one in the dojo noticed his absence while Kuina had her mind full of adjusting to her new male body. When someone finally noticed, the Revolutionary Army already left so there was no one telling them about where Zoro was. They all assumed he went missing.

Zoro arrived at Mihawk's castle where he was found by another resident of it, the Ghost Princess, Perona. But Zoro's arrival wasn't without a cost. He lost his memory except for his name. Perona patched him up while waiting for Mihawk to go back home.

When Mihawk finally got back, he reluctantly accepted the boy due to Perona's persistent begging and Zoro's own condition. At least, Zoro was interested in swords, unlike Perona. In the end, Mihawk's tiny family grew a little bit.

(Listen, I loved the Goth Family.)

Mihawk was like a teacher and a father figure to Zoro while Perona was his annoying older sister.

Until one day, Perona went missing so Zoro went to look for her. It was Kuma that sent Perona to Gekko Moria's ship. Perona met the Straw Hat when they were there. Zoro also was there and he almost met them, met Washi. But Kuma arrived and sent both of them back to Mihawk's place. He also left Zoro with a few confusing words.

Nami

Nami's fate is currently undecided. When we finally get to know more about her origin, I will adapt more.

Whatever the fate of Nami right now, she wasn't the adopted daughter of Bellemere nor the adopted sister of Nojiko. She wasn't on the battlefield that day.

In the meantime, just imaging Nami living on Weatheria.

Usopp

Usopp was a childhood friend of Kaya whom she hoped to meet again one day. So where was he?

Let's go back to the beginning of the story. Like in canon, Usopp's mother, Banchina fell ill. Due to Kaya's devil fruit power, her illness got postponed for a bit. Long enough for them to get a better doctor to help her. Banchina got better. But the near-death experience made her quite scared so she did something. She sent a letter to Yasopp and this led to the Red Hair Pirates arriving at Syrup Island to pick up Banchina and Usopp. They had been on the ship of the Red Hair Pirates since then.

When they spent time on the Red Hair Pirates, Usopp and Uta became something like friends. Usopp was there in Dressross as he planned to meet Kaya when the Straw Hat came to wreck Doflamingo's plan. He was the one who jumped Sugar with Kaya and freed her victims including Uta. Usopp got to reunite with Kaya and then got to reunite with Uta. He also got to meet Luffy whom he got to hear from the Red Hair Pirates.

Vinsmoke Sanji

Since Pudding took Sanji's role, did that mean Sanji was still in Germa? The answer was no! Where was the fun in it!?

Here is what happened instead. Sanji ate the Memo Memo no mi. Sanji erased the memory of him from everyone in Germa. Sanji ran away. Sanji met Law and Corazon. Sanji went with them. Sanji found out about Vergo. Sanji erased Vergo's memory about Corazon being a marine. One thing led to another and they managed to escape Doflamingo's grip! They met Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi. Sadly, they had to part away now. Bepo went with Law and Corazon while Sanji stayed with Penguin and Shachi.

Sanji read about All Blue, finding it fascinating so he wanted to find it. Shachi and Penguin just rolled with it so they sorta became a crew. They couldn't decide who was the captain. They somehow got a submarine and more members. They… became a restaurant on the sea. They accidentally attacked a petty marine captain so now they were pirates. They still were a restaurant.

Sanji and the All Blue(?) Pirates finally traveled into the Grand Line.

Sanji and the crew met the Straw Hat on Sabaody where Sanji had a fun time cooking for Luffy. They were friends now.

At one point during the Straw Hat's 2 years separation, Sanji was captured back by his family due to him messing up and releasing all the memories he stole. And then came the storyline where Sanji and Pudding got set up for marriage by their birth family whom both of them absolutely wanted nothing to do with. Sanji and Pudding quickly got along like a house on fire. Then Luffy came and wrecked the wedding and Big Mom's Tea Party. Shachi and Penguin came along too after they met the Straw Hat again during Dressrosa.

Tony Tony Chopper

The earlier part of Chopper's backstory remained the same until a person stepped foot on Drum Island, the Marine Captain Trafalgar Law.

Anyway, long story short, Wapol was no longer king, and Chopper followed Law. We will get into more of this in Law's part.

Nico Robin

Robin, Robin, Robin! Oh, what was Miss All-Sunday up to?

Following the same storyline in Alabasta, Robin at the end was saved by Luffy. She collapsed afterward, unlike in canon, and was found by the Revolutionary Army.

So we had Robin the ‘Light of the Revolution’.

Like Sabo, she eventually found a place in the Revolutionary Army and became good friends with Koala, Sabo, and Hack.

Robin was there during the aftermath of Enies Lobby. She thanked Luffy for saving her while he asked her if she was happy now. Robin said yes and they smiled at each other. She also apologized to Vivi.

She was also there during Dressrosa.

Franky

Not gonna lie, Franky's part was a tough one to come up with. So I went with the Revolutionary Army's member Franky instead.

Franky's backstory remained the same, sorry Tom. Then Enies Lobby happened and now Franky was wanted too.

Here was where things diverged. Franky met Koala and Robin who currently just joined the Revolutionary Army. They talked and Franky thought that being a Revolutionary didn't sound too bad. So Franky decided to join too!

The new ship for the Straw Hat, the Thousand Sunny was still made by Franky but Cain also involved a lot in the process.

Franky was also there during Dressrosa.

Brook

Where was Brook during all of this? He was going on a tour around the world of course! The man can't leave his fans disappointed.

You see, Brook's shadow didn't get stolen by Moria. Kuma showed at one point and sent him away to the Twin Capes where he got reunited with Laboon. Brook was just a very famous pop star right now. He visited Laboon and Crocus regularly. He was there when the Straw Hat cross the mountain to enter the Grand Line, giving them quite a scare.

Jinbe

To know what Jinbe was doing, we must go back to an important event, the Summit War. The thing is that the War didn't happen at all because joke on you Ace wasn't a pirate.

Here was what happened instead. Ace wasn't captured but Marco was. Jinbe did a 10/10 move to get in the Impel Down like Luffy and Hancock. Jinbe flipped everything once they were on floor 6 and ran away with Marco. Ivankov and the Revolutionary Army just tagged along to get out too. Jinbe was no longer a Warlord but oh well.

So now Jinbe was still the Captain of the Sun Pirates. He allied himself with Luffy after the boy saved the Fishmen Island during the Hody's mess.

Other Expansion

Let's see some other characters and what they were up to.

Yamato

Yamato's story was mostly the same but she didn't get to meet Ace.

Trafalgar D. Water Law

Law's story remained the same up until he and Corazon met Sanji. Due to Sanji, Corazon was alive. After they parted away with Sanji, Penguin, and Shachi, Law with Corazon and Bepo moved away. Sengoku got the wind of them and they got in the marine. Law was not very happy about this at first. Then he started to exploit the resources the Marine gave him.

Law eventually became a Vice Admiral. He didn't plan to become an Admiral, sharing the same idea as Garp.

Bepo and Chopper were with Law.

Law didn't really get along with Smoker.

During Punk Hazard, Law met Luffy and the Straw Hat, seeing the chance to use Luffy for his goal, he proposed an alliance. And Luffy in a leap of insanity, agreed.

After Dressrosa, Law kept his promise as they came after Kaido.

In the meantime, Rami spent a lot of effort to avoid Law.

After Wano, Law also found himself on Egghead with the Marines. Cain and Rami's story was revealed. Long story short, right now, Law was chasing the Straw Hat while Rami ran away from talking to him.

Uncut Scenes

Shimotsuki Washi versus Shimotsuki Ryuuma’s corpse with Zoro's shadow.

Washi landed at Mihawk's castle and found out about Zoro.

Kaya's first time fell aboard, Washi jumped after to fish her out. They found out that Kaya was a Devil Fruit user and that Washi turned into a woman when drenched in seawater.

Washi's first time touched seastone, it had the same effect as seawater.

Robin thanked Luffy for saving her.

Sanji enjoyed preparing a feast for the Straw Hat.

Sanji and Pudding bonded over having shitty birth families.

Ace successfully bought Rayleigh for the first time.

Deuce got his new name from Ace.

Washi upon meeting Tashigi, “A doppelganger!?”. Tashigi upon meeting Washi, “A gender bend doppelganger!?!”.

to be continued…

[funky-sea-cryptid]

yuno grinberryall and gifted kid burnout and also the unprince that he is

i am not about to pretend that this is a coherent analysis of yuno. i am not a literary analysis guy. all of the thoughts exist in my head and come out jumbled and wrong but this is an attempt i suppose xoxo

so a lot of people take issue with the star magic/spade royalty yuno reveal, and i can absolutely see why! it's antithetical to the themes of the series - class struggles, and effort over magic power, to give yuno two magic attributes, a fairy, and captainship because he magics good. but yuno's not the protagonist of black clover, asta is. yuno's arc (as invisible as it is fucks sake) is going to confront different issues than asta's, because yuno has vastly different circumstances.

yuno's struggle is gifted kid burnout. his character is that he is incredible, magic comes easy to him, and the pain that comes with it. the way he is held up to incredible standards and the fear that you might not succeed, that you'll let everyone down. something that really exemplifies this struggle is the grimoire tower scene - because holy shit, i loved that scene, it was so raw, so important, and so pivotal, at least to me.

there is an INCREDIBLE amount of pressure on this man. he's been the hope of the village from page goddamn one, hope of the kingdom since the star festival, and the more he rises to the occasion, the goal of the strongest continues to escape him.

he acts so nonchalant but most of the golden dawn shunned him from day one! klaus (love you king but he was being a dick), hamon, alecdora GODDAMN sandler, langris vaude when i catch you. in fact, the only members who accept him right away is mimosa (the queen) and william, whos motives are questionable but he's ALSO A PEASANT.

yuno has had to work for every single bit of status in his life, to the point of getting into an actual literal fight with alecdora and langris, having to "prove himself" to klaus - the point isnt that magic will get yuno anywhere, it's that people will always see him as a kid who got lucky from the boonies, because he's a fucking orphan from the boonies.

and also an illegal immigrant from spade. yeah we're talking about the spade prince reveal now. um.

im not gonna say that i didnt like the spade prince reveal, because i liked it, i thought the battle with zenon was cool, and i think star magic is absolutely FASCINATING, but also how did the elf soul get in there. how. HOW.

but i digress. the spade prince reveal did kind of come out of fucking nowhere, but it does actually give us insight into yuno's mindset -> which actually aligns more with the series' morals as a whole! yuno doesn't deny he's from spade, but doesn't accept that he's the prince, and even when confronted by ciel, he says that he's got other things to do.

WHEN GIVEN A POSITION THAT HE DOESNT HAVE TO WORK FOR, YUNO, OUR KING, DOESNT ACCEPT IT. BECAUSE THERE IS ANOTHER GOAL, SOMETHING HE IS ACTIVELY WORKING TOWARDS. yuno does not give a FUCK about spade. he is a clover kingdom comrade first and yuno grinberryall second.

yuno becomes the captain of the golden dawn on merit, merit that william recognized, and not because he's just unga bunga big magic, william specifically says "you've surpassed me"

this is respect for him, a respect william has always had bc he's a king.

i believe yuno's character arc would be fucked if he was king of spade because it's not something he had to work for. that would be antithetical to his struggle of finally achieving the respect he SHOULD HAVE DESERVED FROM THE BEGINNING, because everyone in spade already respects him.

classism has also hurt yuno, even though he's royalty. even when he was a powerful wind magic user and nothing else, people thought he was nothing. little homie is just as much a victim of it, even though now people would knowtow to him.

in conclusion uhh i like yuno and i hope he stays in clover or els im deleting this entire post out of shame

[rakubalka]

After the Spade arc, how is everyone fairing?

Is there anything specific we should know abt the Zogratis siblings in thus Au or are they the same?

After the Spade arc a lot of people are fairing the same as canon but there are some difrences

/Also everyone yes everyone gets the promotion equal to their efforts . And if someone tries to downplay the efforts of Asta they are getting quite literally half the magic knight squads on their ass and his very vengeful siblings . And the whole of the Black Bulls ./

For example Yuno gets started on his training to be the future monarch of Spade . Because you can't just ignore such a big thing when writing . It also has the result of him trying to learn how to run a group of people which is why he and Mimosa got put directly under Klause who got the vice-captain position . Captain Charlotte is also trying to beat how to deal with politics into his brain , it's a slow process.

Asta also got started on the training necessary for running the kingdom when he does take the position . Why does Asta get the position you might ask ? Because he is strong enough to be in the running , can be trained to run the kingdom and most importantly actually wants the position for a difference of literally everyone other than Yuno who is no longer in the running . His eventual raing will also be remembered in history not only because of being the wizard king with no mana but also for being one of if not the youngest wizard kings in history as people normally get the job only after they have gotten in their 30's at minimum .

Julius going missing and the judge dude's death is also a very big and important plot point on more than a few smaller arc's which will act as somewhat of filler because that is quite literally years wasted if we just time skip . So we will be using the time as essentially training and character development arc's for everyone even and if Asta isn't with them at the time of the arc's . And every arc and mission they complete will have consequences be it good or bad .

Noelle also gets started on her training as future captain of the Black Bulls as it is a position she actually wants . To be her squad captain means to be their spear and more importantly shield and she wants to be that to protect her family . She also started getting the hang on even more weapons and even more different elemental mana so she is stronger than ever . She might have also been adopted officially or not by Captain Jack .

Charlotte also finally does confesses to Yami not like in canon with him not remembering . Well he does not remember , but after he does come into consciousness she does confesse her felling for him with her curse no longer there so she can hear his own answer of his own feelings . Because she is an properly adjusted human and adult person and Yami not returning her feelings is something she is going to respect . While not immediately recuperate the two do go to a few dates and decide they are going to start to date . They also come to the conclusion they are both poly and just talk like healthy people as to what their boundaries are with each other . As a result while dating each other Charlotte also starts to date Meroleona and Yami starts to date Vangance . And they both started dating Vanessa .

Finral is becoming more and more overpowered by the day .

Zora and Magna diving even deeper into rune magic and being terrifying for it .

Fuegoleon trying and failing to make the fire spirit accept other people as rulers of Diamond .

Overall there are differences from canon but everyone is overall happy .

The Zogratis siblings are the same as in canon maybe a little more fleshed out but overall the same . They are still dead father Spade .

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

The link to the work 

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Fuegoleon Vermillion/Original Female Character(s), Nozel Silva/Original Female Character(s) Characters: Fuegoleon Vermillion, Nozel Silva, Solara Equinox, Helena Drazel, Augustus Kira Clover XIII, Maxim Drazel, Luciana Drazel Additional Tags: Dancing, a lot of OCs - Freeform, OC interaction - Freeform, some slightly suggestive flirting, otherwise pretty safe, contains references to manga events until the end of Spade Arc, Auggie is... himself and we roast him a bit, Nozel and Fuego quarrel a bit

 Summary:

The battle in Spade has been resolved, and now the people are free to celebrate the future ahead, thinking that the shadows can be left in the past. Nobles and royals have a ball, as there are other celebrations in the kingdom.

 Lola and I wrote this together, and she did lineart for all art there are, yours truly coloured the Fuelara piece

@kalolasfantasyworld​

[lyranova]

The winner of this poll will go head to head with the final arc in another poll 🥰!

[awakefor48hours]

Anime friendly text post meme

Part 62/???

[First]/[Prev]/[Next]

Before going into this, quick note to anyone who may be confused. The movie, Sword of the Wizard King, is a noncanon storyline to Black Clover. It takes place before the Spade Kingdom invasion arc and has nothing to do with the current arc.

Also, if you're wondering about the anime, the anime is coming back and has been observed to come back next year. (Found on WordPress)

Also, one last time, nothing about the Sword of the Wizard King posts until the 23rd.

Now it's meme time, it's meme time

@buddythatsrough

[the-black-bulls]

Hiya Cyro! For the salty ask game; may I ask for 17, 20, and 23 please 🥰?

Salty Ask List

Hiyo Liyra! always one of the first people to send me asks 😆🤝🏻

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

hoo-boy, many things come in mind, if I have more free time and passion I'd have just rewrote the series after the end of the elf arc, some examples:

instead of julius remaining a wk, I'd have made him step down and lose all his political power with someone else declared the next wk after him because, IMO, julius is the reason why clover kingdom is incapable from changing.

instead of having asta go out of his way to prove his innocent to a bunch of shitty people for a crime he never committed so that he remain on their good side... I'd have made him kicked out from the magic knights, fully exiled, and labelled as an outlaw with the bulls which led to their journey across the continet, AND THEN, asta will return to the kingdom protecting it on his own terms because the asta I love should be a free soul like lumiere, not a system slave like julius.

I also have some examples for the manga, like how I'd have made the spade kingdom arc focus only on megicula & dark triad, and how I'd have included a follow up underworld arc that focus on lucifero & the other devils, and how I'd have made the black bulls reach asta in hino to cheer him up out of his depression and explore yami's land.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Luminero! this ship has some of the most wholesome and emotional momemts and I've never seen toxicity from their shippres 💖

23. Unpopular character you love? (first answer)

easy answer is Gauche but let's talk about someone different this time, like the Dark Triad? I'm not sure if they're unpopular but while I'm a huge fan of the elves they're nowhere near as intimidating and intriguing and investable (to me) as those three bastards who show up one day and dogwalk the good guys like it's just another teusday and that was the hypest I've ever been with the series, plus they are siblings, are family, and I think that's cool? I wish tabata did more to them instead of putting them aside to clear the stage for their devils and brother tho.

I should make it clear, however, that the only dark triad that stirs any strong emotions from me on his/her own is dante. I love-hate dante. he's entertaining and full of personailty but he's also a bitchy wet rat who should be beaten down to kiss the ground more <3

[corals-corner]

Gimme your thoughts on how you think Spade King's gonna turn out by the end of Deltarune! For example:

Will Spade King have a redemption arc? Why or why not?

How will Spade King's relationships with other characters change? Will they get better or worse? Examples can include Lancer, Queen, Susie, etc.

Do you think any knowledge of Spade King's life before Deltarune will be given? If so, how much, and what?

What role do you think Spade King will have by the end of the game? Will he be a/the king again, a regular citizen, or something else?

What about personality/behavior? Will Spade King change in this regard? If he will, how would he change?

Those are just hypotheticals ofc lol, you can think of more questions if you want :)!

Wooo okay :DDD

1. Yes and no. I think a redemption arc will be started, but we won't see much of it. Since deltarune (likely) takes place over the course of at most 7 days, I feel like a week is too little time to really give him the development he deserves. I do really hope we see him slowly and subtlety begin to change though

2. Overall, I think it can get better over time with everyone. Once he learns about the roaring and how it affects darkners, I think it could help him change his view. Of course, if he listens to what's being told. I do want his relationship with Lancer to improve greatly and I really wanna see their father-son relationship. And I really wanna see his and Queen's relationship develop because I want to know more about them,how their relationship even was, and their past

3. I think the most we'll explicitly see will be either how he met the Knight, or some time right before the lightners left. I don't think we'll be given much story about him or even his childhood as much as i'd love to see it. He'll, we might not even see anything other than just memories told to us but not shown because he's such a disliked and minor sidecharacte, atleast at the moment. I do hope he gets a bigger role at the end and he either stands up to the Knight or we see him directly fighting with them as a sorta final boss battle thing

4. Something I think would fit is him working for Ralsei as a sort of advisor. Since he has experience ruling a kingdom, I think he could help Ralsei out a lot in ruling Castle Town. Of course only if they do talk it out at one point and if King no longer wants to kill him. I don't think the other darkners would want to see him as their king again, or that the lightners would give him the opportunity. But one of my personal thoughts that's probably unrealistic but makes me happy to think about is that he'd have a bakery or a kitchen bc I hc that he likes to cook and bake.

5. I want to imagine he'll stay the same for the most part. He'll still be grumpy and prideful and keep his high sense of justice. I do however think that he'll be calmer and more open to listening to others opinions. Doesn't mean he'll agree with them, but he won't be dismissive or aggressive towards the person. I feel like his personality he has rn is a key part of him so changing it would make him feel like he's a different character

Also, good to see you active again :D

[silvyavan]

Black Clover Movie thoughts and review:

The movie is a good treat to anime onlys and adds a bit of zest to the story line the manga is currently going with.

You know how Neon Genesis Evangelion has the same movies sent out with essentially the same plot but with a twist? This is what Black Clover Sword Of The Wizard King is going with.

Plot

The plot is a bit of a combination of what Lucius and Patri had going on. Lucius because this is literally some Exodus shit and Patri because it's limited entirety to the clover kingdom. This arc is a mix of Elf Arc and Spade Arc, whether you like or hate it.

It definitely gives the impression of a doomsday movie, where everything is falling apart and the characters somehow gotta survive it. The difference is that this is Black Clover, which means everything is going to be going as fast as humanly possible and survival alone does not get you a passing grade.

In a way, the plot and lore make this a bridge type of movie that connects Elf Arc with Spade Arc. I previously mentioned that Zenon is essentially Dark Timeline Yuno, and with this in mind, Conrad is Dark Timeline Asta. Lots of references back to Lemiel and the duties of Wizard kings to protect the people.

The plot does feel a bit copy pasted but because Conrad STAYED the big bad right up until the end, it gives a bit of a difference.

Conrad betraying the Clover Kingdom and THEN resurrecting the dead Wizard Kings who share his ideals is like pregaming the Lucius arc we have in the arc Currently, and likely will end up being as more fuel to the later parts of the manga arc.

I say this because in this thread, there's an active explanation on Black Clovers story line. The story was always planned to have 3 acts, Elf Arc from 1st to 222nd chapter is the first one, Spade Arc and this movie are second, and the current arc is the last one. This means there's no guarantee that the arc is gonna end with Lucius, but Lucius is a means to an end.

I say this because the story line of the movie fits in with a possible theme the third act is gonna focus on - Why have the Wizard King if all of them end up betraying the country anyway? Conrad and his doomsday plot fits on the same category as Lucius', so he ends up being a second example used against the position of Wizard king. It doesn't introduce anything new, so much as it propagates the already given themes.

Animation

The animation is absolutely killer. If nothing else, watch it for the animation. Every frame feels like it's given proper love and attention, from start to end. This is Black Clovers Neon Genesis Evangelion. Does it repeat the same tune over again? Yes, but it's got a twist to it and the animation is paired with it perfectly.

The JumpFesta that had the official release and exposition of the movie didn't hide that this movie was all about the fights and it was NOT lying. Very choreographed, lots of combination magics and stellar form.

Lore

Ngl, I was hoping for more lore on Wizard Kings and we did get it, but at the same time there was a bit of it all over the place. Nero has a job alongside Sally and Millie, which is out of left field and hilarious. It makes sense she's in a position of looking after Lemiels legacy after he's gone for real, with the development and preservation of magic tools.

We get some history of the wizard Kings and how even if you're the top dog, you still get backstabbers and prejudice. Some new stuff was introduced, like the Clover Olympics (Triumph), Imperial Sword being like an archive of all the wizard Kings and the mana veins, but it also doesn't go into depth on the history, origins or proper definitions. It's giving the audience pieces to work with but at the same time, this has been Tabata's way of work and we're kinda tired of guessing and getting crumbs to follow rather than a map.

What it DOES give the impression of picking up is that the role of the Wizard King is full of people wanting to hurt you and sacrifice. Lemiel sacrificed his life to protect the kingdom, Princia was ostracised for her insane strength and maybe sexism, Edward was trying to run churches for orphans to help them and ended up having all of that destroyed, Jester personally has seen the hellish oppression the nobles and royals dish out, Conrad had lost his ENTIRE squad and wife and ended up becoming a villain and Julius essentially lost his autonomy and freedom.

Being the Wizard King is both power and bondage and Asta's gonna have to implement some HELLA mad changes if he doesn't wanna end up the same way.

Characters

The movie is focused on repeating themes to hammer them down more, so some characters end up sorta placing in there as props or soldiers. Noelle had a good beginning run but ended up losing her magic, which made me a bit disappointed but her getting her luster back at the end and carrying the Edward fight was slay. The talk between her and Edward was giving grandfather vibes, and from Edwards flashbacks, one could almost assume that Edward is related to the Silvas somehow. The beginning of the movie had Asta and Noelle tagteaming in fights, so the movie seems to fill in the cracks of development we didn't get in the first timeskip.

If this movie has nothing, at least it has Mereos Lesbian Fighting Wedding. The current manga arc shows that Mereo is more than a fighting maniac and this movie hammers that point in. She cares about her squad, her brothers, Yami and even Asta. She fights as a way to connect to the people around her. This fucken movie loves Mereoleona more than anyone and they make it obvious.

Princia is like Dark Timeline Mereo, but instead of trying to kill each other like Zenon and Yuno or trying to get the other to switch sides like Asta and Conrad, Mereo and Princia are actively making out with their fists. The entire fight is Yaoi For Lesbians and its absolutely perfect for pride month.

Sekke, as per Tabata's Plan of The Gods as the best male runner up for Best Girl, is there. Unlike previous shows of his character in the anime and how he's currently inspired by Asta in the manga, Sekke acts as the civilian voice of reason in the movie. Sekke is a small-town boy who joined the magic Knights and is, once again, faced with a continental threat that threatens the kingdom. Naturally, the safest and SANEST way to go about this, especially for people who don't have the tools to stop it, is to run away. Evacuate and run to heart, because frankly they have better chances of doing that AND making it out alive than fighting Conrad.

Asta even actively acknowledged that that point IS the safest thing to do, for those who are aware they can't do it. It's a nice little touch up because most cowardly characters are looked down in shounen, but it's nice for it to eventually be shown as a reasonable response, even if Sekke is cowering the whole time cause what else is he supposed to do.

Yami in this movie was like the typical Yami we see, and it's nice to see how in this he always prioritises the people he cares about. Refusing Julius' orders to protect him, sending Noelle, Asta and Finral to run to the labs, even making an opening for the rest of the Knights to escape and telling Yuno to go and take care if Asta. This man is a team player and it shows.

Villains

Conrad, Conrad, Conrad. The mid-life crisis baby girl. The Miguel O'Hara of Black Clover.

When I say that this man is Dark Timeline Asta, I mean it. This man is EVEN AWARE OF IT. He sees himself in Asta and rather than hating that naive part of him, is projecting onto Asta and wants to reward him. Genuinely the first antagonist who Asta respects to a degree and vice versa. The man asks on 3 different occasions how he wants Asta to join and holds back on actively killing him until the very end.

This man became everything Asta wanted to be and ended up losing his squad, his wife and his love for the kingdom and decided to go full Lucius. Even then, he's still mentally ill enough to see the parallels and wanting Asta to become his successor. It's a way of self care through projection. He's so mentally ill. I know they had to kill him for continuity stability, which in BC is held up by glue and popsicle sticks, but if this man had lived to see Lucius pull his shit, he would've been the first to run around looking for Asta and ragging Lucius for killing him.

Princia and Edward share a but of a foil. Princia was feared and avoided to the point where she repressed all her emotions behind fighting, whereas Edward lost his entire support network and was traumatised by it. All the wizard Kings are traumatised. It begins to feel like a rite of passage.

Jester is a wild card. He talks about oppression and how uts affects people like he's seen it first hand, but he's the only dude who never gets a flashback. He's mysterious as fuck. You can't pinpoint this man's priorities.

In-Conclusion:

The movie is a fixer-upper in some cases, depending on the audience and expectations. JumpFesta made it obvious that the selling points were the fights, but the lore and little to no character interactions made it a bit lackluster. If added to canon, it feeds the anime only fans and manga fans may have an additional bullet to shoot in terms of "the final arc is gonna be about disbanding the wizard king title".

All in all, I'd give this 7.5/10. Very solid for what it promised, but super good parts either overshadow or make the bad ones stand out more. A bit flashy, but for a movie of a genre where said movies actively implement new abilities which never show up in Canon, Sword of the Wizard King sticks to what is already known and reiterates the valuable themes.

[kcuf-ad]

Smile if you were the MVP of the Spade Arc and is currently carrying the entire Clover Kingdom on your own.

[sukehiroselei]

BLACK CLOVER SPOILERS

Been a while since I've fully written out my thoughts on the recent BC chapters. (I think May was the last time I did?) Anywho, these are my opinions—and I stress, MY OPINIONS!—on the recent chapters. I have to admit that my feelings about them are mixed, and I'll get into why. (Probably gonna get cancelled over this but yolo I guess loool)

First, I'd like to address the difference between Tumblr & Twitter discourse regarding Black Clover. From my personal experience, I find that Twitter discourse is more focused on the fights & power-ranking system—which, of course, is absolutely essential to the genre. Power-ups are a tangible way of measuring character growth, after all.

On the other hand, Tumblr discourse is more focused on the relationships between the characters & the overarching narrative of the work. Now, I'm not saying that one is better than the other, because all of these elements are important. I had to talk about the distinction because my criticisms of the recent chapters might be better explained with this context in mind.

As someone who enjoys BC specifically because of the relationships between the characters and the world-building, I've found that the story post-Elf arc has been really... flat. I know Twitter folks will say that BC's pacing has always been quick, but I've been missing some moments where the characters just have room to breathe, you know? Like when Spade Raid ended, we had half a chapter of fun before immediately jumping into the next arc, and I feel like it would have been nice to get a little more exposition on how Spade changed character dynamics. Like, they could have given us a little Greyche moment so their current state in the manga would hit that much harder. Or more bonding time between Nacht and the Bulls, so we appreciate their determination to find Asta together a little more? Does this make any sense? Lmao

Adding to that, I think the quick pacing is detrimental to BC's strengths. A lot of people like the story because there are so many characters with very interesting backstories and motivations, but the nature of the storytelling doesn't leave a lot of room to explore the depths of these characters. Tbh, the Black Bulls' stories are just as important to tell as Asta's journey to becoming WK. Side characters enrich the world, so I'm not a huge fan of glossing over what could have been really impactful moments for characters other than Asta/Yuno/Yami to shine.

For example, someone brought up a great point that the BB fight against Damnatio was symbolic of the uprooting of Clover's caste system. You have this group of outcasts, some who were personally victimized by the corruption of the kingdom as represented by Damnatio, fighting to save the people who shunned them. It would have been nice to get flashbacks of the way that the kingdom has affronted them: Zora grappling with his dad's death and what it meant to be a Magic Knight, Gauche's history of being a convict and being separated from his only family, etc.

I'm glad that we at least had that moment with Nero, and we got to see how Asta specifically changed the trajectory of her life; how she sees Lumiere's vision of the world in Asta's ideal vision when he becomes WK. But I wish they had done the same for the other Bulls or even non-Bulls too, especially since Lucius mentioned that this whole timeline was affected by Asta. That's why I'm sort of disappointed that Asta came back right away to end things. I feel like it would have been more significant if Damnatio had been heavily injured and Asta were to deal the last blow than an unharmed Damnatio and Asta landing a fatal blow only once.

I'm still holding out hope that we'll get more of the Bulls in this arc, though there are currently a lot of loose ends and Asta's already back in the picture. I hope we get followups on Noelle/Acier, YamiChar/Morgen, and Mereo/Morris before Asta ends the battle, but idk what I'm talking about as usual 🤷🏻‍♀️

[koneko-pi]

HELP. Feels a little out of place doing her profile first but I've been reworking her a lot and am finally getting satisfied with her UuU so here is Leolai, a character who's been in the works for a while. It's kind of funny how a next gen oc is getting the first profile. I very much have enjoyed her as a character and who she is, as I think it creates potential for some nice drama and conflict for specific reasons.

Some of this may be subject to change in the future.

Leolai Alette

A homunculus created by a fairy named Gepetta and taken in by Briar Rose after her defeat during the spade kingdom arc.

Aggressive

Distant

Quiet

Awkward

Leolai's was created by a fairy named Gepetta, whos magic involved making hyper realistic dolls of other people after she was able to study their Grimoire. However this fairy had an unhealthy obsession with going beyond just dolls and wanted to make something REAL and ALIVE. So with her magic, experimentation and a sample of potent mana (Fuegoleon's arm in this case) she finally managed to make Leolai, but Gepetta was slain during the spade kingdom arc by Briar Rose shortly after her creation. Leolai, as an infant, was later discovered and adopted by Brair. Her presence sparked many fights between Briar and other individuals; Fuegoleon especially, who insisted on taking the girl in himself. But Briar would fight him on it due to the fairy blood in her body and nature of her "birth", wanting to keep an eye on her herself. This would spark a rather intense feud between the Vermillion's and the Silva's once Mereoleona got involved. It would be settled eventually as Leolai got older.

Leolai would be confused as she was the spitting image of Fuegoleon (because she's basically his altered clone) yet she lived within the Silva family being raised alongside Avalina, Nymphadora and Mikhail. While the two families settled on letting her move between the two houses so she could see Fuegoleon, she ultimately lived with the Silva's so Briar could oversee her growth. As she wasn't sure what would happen to her as she got older.

Growing up Leolai would be lonely, choosing not to interact with her adoptive siblings because they were moms "real children" while she saw herself as some kind of fake. And she couldn't understand why she was being shared between the two families.

She eventually does learn of her origins and her aggression only skyrockets as she becomes tormented by emotions and confusion. Feeling lost. Briar will keep her close and act as motherly as she can, as Leolai's magic is the spitting image of her younger sister, Cinderella.

It is later determined by Briar that Leolai is the new Cinderella fairy, her Mana stones manifesting on her chest as she gets older.

Trivia

Leolai really likes sharks

While she is difficult at times, she really wants friends

'Alette' is Briar's family name.

Like Briar, Leolai is a black hole for sugary treats. (it's a fairy thing)

Because of how she was "born" Leolai does not have a grimoire. This is also a sign of her fairy magic

Leolai's name is a combination of Vermillion tradition and Briar's sentiment. Leo- a commonly used in man family vermillion names. And Lorelai- the name of Briar's aunt, who she loved deeply. Nozel came up with it when Briar and Mereoleona were bickering on what her name should be.

She thinks Fuegoleon's egg trick is the coolest thing in the world.

She looks like Fuegoleon's little clone because no other DNA was used in her creation.

[funky-sea-cryptid]

hi lovely <3

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a fuck-up in characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc… 

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one? 

hello sunshine!!!! <3

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a fuck-up in characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc… 

hmm i mean. you know how i feel abt how the heart kingdom arc initially had finral's gag be like "wow i dont even look at other women now" (popping blood vessels in his face) which i just. he's capable of not being fucking weird about women tabata has WRITTEN HIM to be normal around other women like what is this ???? fix yourself you stupid bird. thankfully that shit has kind of been dropped since the spade arc, and he's back to relative normalcy with the introduction of ichika.

i'm not gonna claim i fixed this. because i havent - we've had this discussion bc finral hasnt usually been in frequent contact with women outside of the bulls in our works (and vanica, but not even the world's most desperate lesbian is willing to touch that god bless) but ideally he'd act like he would before-during the elf arc (if at first you dont succeed on scoring a date? give up she said no) he's just kind of rizzless and being a flirt is kind of what he does. but if he's in a committed relationship it's just for fun it is not serious (and also vanessa gets to comfort him if he gets turned down (again) so benefits include)

:>

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one? 

IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, THOUGH, elves pre-massacre forever >:3 i love them