#that time Miura’s writing sucked

[wyfy-meltdown]

LORE

LORE PLASE PLEASE LORE

PLEASE LORE ON UR FAN UNITS PLEASE

BEGGING SCREAMING CRYING SHAKING PLEASE LORE

IT CAN BE THE MOST SMALLEST CRUMB EVER BUT PLS PJSK FAN UNIT LORE PLEASE

WHAT ARE THE THEMES (like idols, band, etc.??)

I NEED NAMES AND ARE ANY OF THEM HEAVILY AFFILIATED WITH PJSK OG CHARACTERS?!?!

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE

OKOKOK. PREPARE YOURSELF.

So the three fanunits are CR×SS COUNTDOWN, Syndr∞memime, and HOLOMAGORIA. C×C and S∞M were made at the same time so they have the same level of development, but HMGR was made a couple months after so it doesn't have as much work!!!

I'm always too shy to do canon character interactions so there are no og character affiliations!!! All of the characters go to an oc school called "Asakura Highschool" so I can have more freedom with the way the school works >:DD!!!

ALSO, the way SEKAI's work in this is that the SEKAI is formed from the unit leader's feelings and other people can enter and exit the SEKAI at will (so long as they "belong" in the eyes of the unit leader).

OK NOW THE UIITS AND CHARACTERS!!!

CR×SS COUNTDOWN

C×C as a whole is meant to be a band (except only one of them has any experience in the performance department), but it's mainly just a friend group most of the time. Their SEKAI is Junkyard SEKAI, which was made from the unit leader's (Towa's) desire to be free and rebel (and also his self loathing caused by years of people calling him "trash" and other variations of that)

The unit leader is Towa Miura, an aspiring rapper and rockstar! He's somewhat of a mix between Tsukasa Tenma and An Shirashi (but with none of the talent) personality wise, as he's very... He's got a bad case of "main character syndrome". He's very obsessed with becoming popular and unique and paving his own way in life, which is influenced by the bullying he's been through and his parents' nastiness (although he very much denies having any trauma or problems whatsoever and insists he's not been affected by this stuff at all). As previously mentioned, he actually really sucks and has no skill when it comes to actually being a rockstar (singing, dancing, rapping, writing lyrics, ect) but he's trying really hard and having a very fun time! His skill lies in his determination and his belief in other people; C×C getting together story is the dumbest thing I've ever written(/pos), and C×C was assembled through sheer force of will on his part. Boyfailure. Emoji: 🔥

The second person to join is Kotora Sasaya, whose only here because Towa stalked him for a week and then did a really shitty rap outside his house at 3am. Kotora is very much an introvert who doesn't really care about other people and things like success, he just kinda does his own thing. Towa recruited him because quote "he's a cool aloof guy! That's exactly what a band needs!", and he prefers to work on background things (audio mixing, mv creation, ect). He means well but he also has a really terrible way of showing people he cares and trying to help people (which has caused several problems but also works sometimes); he unfortunately learned how to make friends from Towa which means he just pissed people off until they try to kill him, which shockingly worked twice. He's very deadpan and doesn't show his emotions much but he's also a major prankster who likes to say confusing things just to catch people off guard. He's very smart but plays dumb just for funsies. Emoji: 🐅

The third member is Ayataka Daimon, who just got out of juvie and who just wants to have fun with friends! He's a very intimidating and scary looking guy despite his best efforts not to be, as he's very physically imposing and also has really bad social skills. He tends to yell all the time and also his love language is fighting (bad combo) and also he's like 6'5 (makes things worse for him). He's actually a very friendly and social person with a very big heart, but all his attempts to make friends come off as bullying (like what happened with Takane). Due to his time in juvie, he's dedicated himself to having as much fun as possible now that he's out: he's enjoying learning new skills, making friends, and decorating things (dying his hair, painting his room, ect). Emoji: 🍰

The final member to join is Takane Sunagawa (rip yellow text), who is kinda like a second unit leader (like An or Mafuyu). Takane's the only one with any experience (he's a major weeb hikikomori who spent his year in isolation learning how to sing and dance to Hatsune Miku music) in performance, so he's the one who teaches the others how to actually achieve their dream of becoming a proper band. Takane is the most troubled of the members at the start of their story (and also technically the reason that C×C was properly formed), as he went back to school after self-isolating for a year due to an incident that happened at the end of grade nine that he felt responsible for (it's major for three characters so I'm going to talk about it separately and later) and then immediately paniced upon seeing both Ayataka and Shiki (the two others involved in the incident) and tries to drop out again, prompting Towa to try and smooth things over so that Takane can come to school and join his band. He's very anxious and quite shy, but he gets better with help! Emoji: 🍋

The story of C×C is that all the members lowkey hate themselves and help eachother to get more confident and to make their own place in life. After the initial awkwardness between Takane's whole everything, Kotora hating everyone, and Ayataka and Towa lacking any skills, they become a very tightnit group of friends with the best relationship with eachother amoung the fan units! Unit emoji: ❌

Syndr∞memime

S∞M is a support group except none of these people are qualified to give support to eachother because they can't even support themselves (they try though!). The best way to describe the feeling that created the Manor SEKAI is "hatred" and boy do these kids have a lot of hatred! The unit leader (Shiki) initially has the most hatred in the group, but comes to have basically no hatred which is what made him realise that he has a lot more problems than he thought.

Shiki Kikumori is the unit leader, and the best way to describe him is "a weird guy". He enjoys coming off as "mysterious" and "unnapproachably cool" except nobody approaches him because they think he's a major weirdo and also he won't stop cryptically talking about revenge. He pretends to be secretive, except he's very much an open book and it's quite easy to tell what he's feeling and thinking (if he doesn't outright go into a monologue about it). The target of his hatred is Ayataka, because Ayataka stabbed out his eye and got him sent to boarding school around a year ago. He spends the first half of his story scheming to destroy Ayataka after finding out he's at Asakura too, only to discover the whole thing was a major misunderstanding on literally everyone's part, and then having a small emo crisis. He acts a lot smarter and cooler than he is, but he's not really fooling anyone. He's also really bad at posing and always stands like a jojo character. Emoji: 🦋/👁️

Ikuro Suzui is the second member and the most put together at the start, worst put together as time goes on. He presents himself as a "non-person" where he doesn't have any strong opinions or emotions (other than joy) and mirrors how other people think and feel (he gets better though!). He's generally very friendly and outgoing (to a somewhat unnatural extent), and always surrounds himself with other people and tries to make friends. He's very much a romantic at heart and the type of person to fall in love with anyone whose remotely nice to him. He seems quite confident but he's actually very insecure (especially when it comes to relationships), so he tries really hard to people-please. He somewhat micromanages S∞M's support group idea because he sincerely wants to make the other members happy, but Meguru especially supports him and makes sure he doesn't take on too much. Emoji: 🐳

Member three is Momoka Nomura, who is quite complicated. She's similar to Takane in the sense that she's the most troubled of the S∞M members. Momoka has a bad reputation for having an explosive temper and being very difficult to get along with, so she didn't have any friends before S∞M and struggles a lot to maintain relationships. She sincerely WANTS to have friends and to connect with others, but she tends to explode over minor things too often and self sabotage all her relationships (and self sabotage in general). Aside from her loneliness, she also has very bad depression and often has suicidal thoughts: she finds it nearly impossible to look on the bright side of things and is prone to excessive worrying. With the help of her friends in S∞M she's able to better manage her emotions and thoughts, and she's able to make friends outside of S∞M (Ayataka, Rikoto, Anzu). She enjoys costume design and sewing, so she makes lots of outfits for S∞M and her other friends. Emoji: 🌸

The final member of S∞M is Meguru Tsuchiko, student council president and top student of Asakura Highschool whose using S∞M to help let out her emotions and stress. In public she's very well-put together: a model student whose kind and helpful, excelling in her studies and in extracurriculars, and beloved and praised by teachers. However, underneath that perfect persona is a regular highschooler who just wants to express herself and relax a bit. She has a good understanding of "what's healthy and what's not", so she's the most professional when it comes to helping the other S∞M members. She's a lot more serious and downbeat than her public persona, but she tends to express her emotions more freely that way. She's a huge fan of metal music and music in general, so she was the one that suggested the group take advantage of SEKAI to let out their feelings through music. Emoji: 🎩/🪄

As what I'm pretty sure you could tell, all of S∞M's members have a lot of emotional problems. They all help eachother work through their respective issuses and to become happier with life. They're the most... Tumultuous, group relationship wise (following Ikuro3 and Shiki2/3 especially), but nonetheless they stick together and grow from eachother. Unit emoji: ♾️

HOLOMAGORIA

(No unit logo yet sadly)

HMGR as mentioned previously has the least amount of development. The theme of the unit is "fairytales", and their SEKAI is Storybook SEKAI (it would've been more fitting to call it "Wonderland SEKAI" because of the unit leader's Alice In Wonderland theme but that's already taken), which is basically a big mystical library! Much like C×C, the unit leader's goal is to become a famous music star and the group is focused on music production. Where they differ is that HMGR is more similar to Nightcord where the members post music anonymously online.

Tokino Amanai is the unit leader. She's very passionate about music and has a very idealistic view on life; she very much believes in "happy endings" and that all villains are friends you don't understand yet. That being said, she is absolutely and utterly terrified by people and the world in general, and can hardly manage to speak let alone sing. She mapped out the entire school year of days that she'd need to go in order to pass so that she can spend as little time at school as she can. Her ultimate goal is to become an idol, but her lack of confidence holds her back alot so she formed HMGR with Rikoto to gain confidence and experience. Emoji: 🐇/♣️

Rikoto Matsunari is almost a secondary unit leader, and very important to the story of HMGR. She's the leader of the Asakura cooking club, and a very kind and energetic girl who takes 0 shit from anyone. She vowes to help Tokino achieve her dream of becoming an idol at any cost, suggested the two form HMGR (so Tokino wasn't publishing music alone), and suggested anonymously posting music online under a fake name. She's somewhat of the "face" of the group, as she's the one who does most of the management and networking work. She's very dependable and well-liked amoung her fellow students and has a lot of friends. She is the lesbian of all time. Emoji: ��

Anzu Kuboniwa is the third member and also very... If she were an official character in Proseka she'd be widely hated and demonized is how I'd describe it. To rip off the bandaid, she's the main cause for Ikuro's issues. She joined HMGR because she thought it'd be a good way to get attention/to be loved, but gradually comes to genuinely enjoy making music and love the other HMGR members. She's a very confident and a strong willed person who gets into arguments often: she doesn't tolerate anyone speaking ill and isn't afraid to voice her opinions at all. She's generally very playful and somewhat mischievous. Emoji: [none yet]

Here's where things get complicated. You remember how I said earlier that HMGR isn't very developed? Yeah so the fourth member is the biggest issue when it comes to that. And by that I mean the fourth member has maybe a name, the color green, and absolutely nothing else. I've been tossing around concepts in my head but unfortunately I haven't landed on something I like, so for now, we're just going to have to skip over her :(.

The story of HMGR is (so far) Tokino working on becoming an idol and the group as a whole making music. Unit emoji: 📖

————

And so yeah! That covers it! There's still a lot of story to share and also a lot to work on, but I'm happy with what I've done so far :D!

[beesmygod]

I hope you don't mind a general question about comic making. Do you write your pages out well in advance via script, or what's the general process there? (If you don't mind my asking)

sorry i take so long to reply, but i dont mind answering these at all. i never know if my answer to questions about web comic creation are useful or not. but there's also not a lot of resources out there describing how it DOES get done. someone give me a million dollars to fund a series like urasawa's manben but for web comic artists.

i write AGS basically in the most haphazard way possible (lol) in the hope that it doesn't show too badly.

in general, i have the long arc of the comic planned out in my brain. i didn't know where i was going at first; AGS was intended to be a "monster of the week arc" type series where i just put jack and maxine into situations, but it sort of evolved past that because i needed to work on something more substantial. now i know where the characters are going, where they've been, and what i want to say. just maybe not in the specific words i want to yet. i cant decide if its arrogant and stupid to write down how the comic is supposed to end in case i die but like. im not miura.

for every "book" (the overarching storylines) of AGS, i usually write down a rough outline of what i need to happen to move the plot forward, WHY it moves the plot forward, and then shuffle that around and/or add things until im satisfied with it. the last chapter's outline would have looked like this (sorry for the image but tumblr fucking sucks at making bulleted lists):

and so on and so forth.

but most of the time i think of shit that's funnier/a better idea last minute and rather than stick with the old plan, most of the time i end up switching things up last minute. USUALLY not major plot beats, those are pretty nailed down. but the path i end up taking to that beat might be shorter or funnier or just more entertaining

[deripmaver]

WHY I AM A HATER OF THE APOSTLE CASCA THEORY!!!!!!!!!

lol ive alluded to it a couple times now and answered an ask about it but i MIGHT AS WELL write a whole post about why the apostle casca theory makes me really really mad lets fucking go

So let’s look at what we know about apostles.

Apostles are a morally neutral (though often in practice leaning towards evil) group of people who, for whatever reason, sacrificed someone (or a few people) that they loved to gain ultimate power, which is granted by the God Hand. Per the Berserk Wiki, they only have one absolute rule: Do as thou wilt.

This is a bit of a tangent, but the general tendency of apostles towards evil to me seems to go along with the overarching theme in Berserk that those with power are wont to abuse it, and to assert their power over those weaker than them. It’s not that apostles are inherently evil and especially the people who become apostles aren’t evil, but in becoming an apostle, they are more likely to act in evil ways, as is anyone who is given immense power. 

The apostles we meet range from sympathetic (Egg of the Perfect World, Rosine) to outright evil (Wylad). We know that apostles need to sacrifice someone that “defines their humanity” to be granted power by the God Hand, and often causality/the God Hand/whatever the hell will bring the person right up to the absolute brink, at their lowest, worst moment, when they offer the sacrifice as an option. While it’s ultimately the person’s choice to sacrifice (as Flora says, fate may push a person to the edge, but it is their choice to take the plunge), the God Hand will do everything they can to make the sacrifice the only real option. 

For Rosine, she sacrifices her abusive parents. For Grunbeld (the novel sucks but it’s technically canon), he sacrifices his dying friends at their behest. For Griffith, he sacrifices the Band of the Hawk when his body and mind are completely broken and he sees no other path to his dream. 

So that leads us into the Apostle Casca theory.

This would be using Guts’ behelit he’s been carrying around since the Black Swordsman arc, of course. It would be an interesting twist if the behelit was actually for Casca, because it knew Guts would lead it back to Casca, and it has been waiting for her darkest moment with her mind restored to activate. 

Up till now, there have been a few Darkest Moments for Casca: First, when Griffith was taken and she needed to take the BotH on the run. Next, the eclipse itself, where she was raped and all of her friends were murdered in front of her. There are a lot of Dark Moments that happened while she was regressed, but I think there’s absolutely going to be another Darkest Moment for her coming up as she struggles to come to terms with Griffith’s rape and the sacrifice of the BotH. Miura said he wanted to write a human reaction to trauma (see my previous meta lol) and that we shouldn’t expect things to be easy for Casca going forward, which I suppose we didn’t realize would be quite so literal with her being kidnapped and magically drugged in Falconia LOL. 

Without her support system, I can see her struggling to cope, and that could lead her on a very dark path. There’s also the fact that she had this complete loss of agency both in the assault itself and her mental regression, and I think it makes sense that the God Hand could tempt her with power that way, use the idea that this would protect her from ever being hurt again I actually have a very vivid picture in my mind of a conversation between Casca and Slan where this happens despite being a hater of this theory LOL dont @ me

So like, if I’m acknowledging that the Apostle Casca theory seems like a natural progression of where she is in canon, why do I hate it so much?

First off, who would she sacrifice? The easy answer is the Moonlight Boy, which if I may editorialize, I think people who support this theory hope she’ll sacrifice because it kills the possibility of a heteronormative nuclear family ending. I’ve never been concerned about that as an ending, though, because Miura clearly has a special distaste for the nuclear family as a source of abuse and trauma, so I don’t see a “the brand of the sacrifice hadn’t bothered them in years. All was well. Griffith Skull Knight Berserk, you are named after the two bravest men-”

Anyways.

There are a specific set of circumstances under which “good people” sacrifice their loved ones: They love them but they also kind of hate them (Rosine), they’re already dying (Grunbeld), or they think it’s necessary to achieve a loftier goal (Egg of the Perfect World, arguably Griffith lol I mean the goal was lofty to him). While anything could happen, the only one of those that I can see fitting for Casca’s sacrifice would be if the MB (or whoever really) is already dying. In her previous “Darkest Moments,” ie post-eclipse and after Griffith’s capture, Casca’s response was to turn inward, by mentally regressing bc she couldn’t cope with the trauma and by working herself ragged and refusing help from anyone until Judeau told her off and then also trying to kill herself. She yelled at Guts a ton during the GA, but during real moments of stress, she didn’t turn her anger outward onto other people. This, imo, makes it unlikely she’d sacrifice one of the biggest sources of comfort to herself currently, who also has protected her when she was unable to protect herself. It doesn’t fit with the way she’s interacted with the world so far. 

Where we are right now in the text, Apostles are a serious trigger for her PTSD. When Casca sees Guts for the first time, she immediately is tormented by visions of apostles. The second time they try to talk, she again sees demons and apostles beside him. Both times she goes absolutely catatonic with terror. And... She’s supposed to become one of them? 

Beyond these specific moments, there’s a general sense of fully associating apostles and demons with the eclipse. The second PTSD flashback in chapter 359 comes from her remembering Judeau and his death at the hands of the apostle, and in chapter 372 hearing the Falconia army referred to as the “Band of the Hawk” makes her cry even through being drugged. Casca watched all of her friends die in front of her during the eclipse before her own assault, and it’s clear that still weighs heavy on her mind, and it’s something Miura has said she needs to come to terms with. At this point in the text, I cannot imagine her opening up a rift, bringing forth apostles and demons as we’ve seen in the sacrifices so far, and watching whoever she sacrificed be eaten by demons just as all her fallen friends were. I think right now she would consider that a betrayal of the memory of her friends.

I’m also simply not sure what could bring her to a state where she’d be ok with it, even if her capture in Falconia goes on and on. Casca’s always had a serious moral compass but more importantly has never been a character who craves power, and so I think it would take far more than what’s happening to her now to abandon that and work with the creatures who assaulted her and killed her friends. 

Which I suppose brings me to my final point: You know who grants apostles power? The God Hand. Who’s a member of the God Hand? Griffith. GRIFFITH. CASCA’S RAPIST.

I can see a very specific scenario where, for whatever reason, Griffith is in conflict with the rest of the God Hand, and that’s when the other members approach Casca to use her as a weapon against him. They would manipulate her through her trauma and ask if she wants to be powerful enough to stand against him, or maybe even say this is necessary to protect MB. Now THAT would be interesting, though some of my issues with this theory remain. 

Otherwise, though, it would be the full God Hand, Griffith included, who would be granting Casca the apostle powers - and then Casca would be working with not only him but the other apostles and the demons who assaulted her. Genuinely lol, if this has been considered and accepted by people who support the Apostle Casca theory, to me it’s no different than any dudebro on r/berserklejerk talking about how Casca is a Griffith simp and is gonna cuck Guts by going back to him. Casca’s upcoming arc is going to be about facing up to the trauma Griffith caused her, and I think it would be a shockingly gross conclusion to that arc to have it be she works with the man who betrayed and raped her. 

In Conclusion the way Casca is written, and the specific way it’s been made clear apostles come to be, I find the Apostle Casca theory really insensitive. I do need to be clear, I think it’s likely that Casca might need a supernatural powerup at some point - and anything is possible. 

Berserk is full of twists and turns, and I think it could happen that Casca could become an apostle in a way that isn’t offensive, and doesn’t have her working side by side with HER RAPISTTTTT LSDKJHGLKSDJHFNLVKSJDHFLKSJ ok I’m calm. I think the need to reclaim power after assault, and the sort of false promise apostle-dom has canonically given to powerless, abused people (Egg of the Perfect World, Rosine) could make for a very tragic story arc, but it would need to be done very sensitively, and really again I think any apostle Casca story that has Griffith granting her apostle powers would be so gross. 

The way things are, currently, in canon make it a very difficult theory for me to stomach. 

[queenharumiura]

META + family ( in general, not specifically her family! )

*         send   META   +   a   word   ,   a   name   ,   or   phrase   and   i   will   write   a   head  canon   based   off   of   this   !!!  ||Accepting|| @dyingresolve

Also a bit on the longer side, so readmore

Hm... in general, Haru is a person who puts a lot of emphasis on ties with people. She cares a lot for others, and is prone to prioritizing others over herself.

If it came down to it, if the choice was between her and someone else dying, she'd volunteer herself. She's just that kind of person. It doesn't mean that she's brave, mind you. She'd be absolutely terrified, but above all that, she couldn't handle knowing that someone else died in her stead. The immense guilt is one thing, but she also cares much more for others, so she'd literally never forgive herself.

We know that Haru is quite the friendly bean, and she gets along with a wide variety of people. She could probably view people as important to her like family. Lambo is like a little brother to her, Kyoko and say-- Chrome would be like her sisters. Bianchi is that cool older sister to get advice from. Ryohei can be the older bro type.

The rest-- she don't see them as siblings I can tell you that much lol. Friends, for sure. If they hid less from Kyoko and her, maybe she could view some of them with like sibling bonds, but nah.

Honestly, Haru wouldn't even think twice before sacrificing herself if it came down to someone like Kyoko or Lambo. Not even a thought in her mind, she'd just move on instinct. She's very impulsive like that, sometimes.

I'd said before that if the situation was such that Haru had the choice to choose between herself or anyone in the Vongola, she'd choose to save the other person. That holds true regardless. IF it was a dangerous situation, she'd hesitate with some of the guys mostly because she has trust in them and is pretty confident they have the situation under control. She doesn't want to but in and accidentally make the situation worse.

HOWEVER, Lambo is entirely a different story. She views him as a kid brother. She won't even think. No hesitation, she will try to protect him. It's not even a question.

-

Haru's opinion on family is -- skewed. She did have a family, but she doesn't remember them, so as far as she's concerned, they're simply strangers. Then coupled with the fact that it's believed she died in the 'incident' and some other child was mistaken as her- she feels like any remaining relatives that are alive mean almost nothing to her.

They mourn the death of her parents and 'Haru Miura' so they made some other child their family. She feels disconnected to them, but admittedly she is curious about who they are. It's one of those things where you wonder about how your life could've turned out if things have changed, you know? (referenced in the one meme)

In a thread it was mentioned that she didn't feel the need to tell anyone the truth because she feels that finding out the truth that she became an assassin and she lives the days putting her life on the line for dangerous missions-- oh and she has literally no childhood memories, is that really something they want to know? Isn't it better to believe that the family had perished at the same time together? They can be together in heaven.

Then there is Bel who killed his own brother, Ravein whose parents have died because of a mistake he made so many years ago, she's just like DAMN families kinda suck and sound like a major lability.

Thus, I think I mentioned before that Haru in the Varia!au has no real opinion on romance and she has no drive to find one for herself. She's perfectly okay with being single- honestly, she prefers it.

She doesn't know what having a family is like so she only has like theoreticals to go off of. She really treasures Sentai-san, Bel, and Ravein, but she doesn't really know how to accurately describe their relationship. In truth, she does kind of view them as siblings, but she herself wouldn't know how to really put it that way.

She imagines what she feels for them is like siblings- but then she looks at Bel and is like 'mmm maybe not. I don't want to die' lol

[alinacapellabooks]

Thanks for the tag! It took a lot to get through this, but I think I covered everything well enough ^_^

When did you first start writing?

I was born in front of a laptop with a plot outline in my hand. I’m kidding, but point is, I’ve been doing it since I was a very small child.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

Not at all. It wouldn’t make sense to write romance and fantasy if I didn’t enjoy both of those genres.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

I don’t particularly want to emulate anyone except for Ai Yazawa, but only because her ability to create human characters is unmatched. She is the only writer I have ever read who is able to perfectly translate the thoughts and feelings of real people into fiction. I want to be able to do that too.

As for who I’m compared to…When I found The Tengu And The Angel on romance.io (I don’t know why it’s there, I didn’t put it on there), the site recommended that people read Alice Oseman because her books are similar to mine. Which, I’m not gonna lie, I find that to be quite the compliment.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

Living room, on the couch. I’m always most productive after I’ve cooked and eaten a proper meal. I love to cook, even though I don’t always have the spoons for it, but something about the cooking process helps the writing process.

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Read some of whichever book I’m currently reading. I live by Stephen King’s principle of, ‘If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.’

Did the place you grew up in influence the people/places you write about?

No. I take most of my inspiration from the people I’ve met, or from places I either have visited, or want to visit. My hometown has never factored into my writing.

Which of your characters would you want to be friends with in real life?

Nathaniel and Solana. I’d definitely vibe the most with them.

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them in real life?

Brooklyn Steadman, and I didn’t even have to think about an answer to this one. The fact that men like him exist in real life sickens me, and I enjoyed writing him so that I could give someone like him the punishment he deserves.

Tell me the process of coming up with your characters

My recipe for an OC goes as follows:

1 cup of personality traits

1 cup of backstory (I prefer tragic, but any kind works)

A pinch of things I personally think are cool

Do you notice any recurring themes among your characters?

I’ve spotted two so far. 1.) Being either on the aromantic or asexual spectrum (I’m a big believer in doing a job myself if I want it done right, I’m aro ace and I write characters who are on both spectrums because there needs to be more aro ace representation), and 2.) Traumatised people with mommy issues who are angry with the world and use unhealthy coping mechanisms. I’m looking at you, Kunio and Solana…

How do you picture them?

Short answer: I can’t. I have a mild form of aphantasia and I cannot picture things in my head in detail, which sucks. I often look for real-life reference images for my characters, and then use those to give to artists to create concept art of them. I found the perfect reference image for Nathaniel when I was making an aesthetic board for him, like, it was as if he’d somehow jumped off of the page and found his way into real life, and I wish I could find reference images that perfect for all of my OCs. Kunio was way harder to come up with a reference image for, and really the closest I could get was an old photo of Haruma Miura. He was the only person I could find who looked anything like what I envisioned for Kunio.

What’s your reason for writing?

I write because I want to save people from reality. Reality sucks, and fiction provides an escape from reality. Fiction is a place where people can be happy, and free from their problems. When reality has you broken, bleeding, and backed against the wall, let my works be your refuge.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

I live for detailed, in-depth reviews. If someone tells me specifically which parts of the book they liked best, I’ll know that I’ve made an impact on them. If someone tells me that a certain character or event resonated with them, or brought them comfort and hope, I’ll know that I’ll have successfully saved someone from reality.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who “gets” the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

I want to be someone who is able to save people from reality. I want people to read my books knowing that they will give them the things that reality cannot offer them.

What do you think is your greatest strength as a writer?

Characterisation. I pour as much humanity into my characters as possible, and a lot of the behavioral patterns of my characters are ones that I’ve witnessed firsthand in real life. Real people aren’t perfect—They make excuses for people who don’t deserve their forgiveness, they hurt without meaning to, and they bottle their emotions up until they explode and make a mess of everything around them, and I make sure to reflect that in my characters.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

Again, characterisation. Kunio is by far my most popular character, and for good reason. (He’s also one of my personal favorites because he’s really fun to write ^_^)

How do you feel about your own writing?

As it stands, I’m proud of my abilities as a writer, but I know that I can always do better, and I’m always looking for ways to improve my craft. If you’re satisfied with staying where you are, you’ll never go any further.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

If that were the case, I would paint my stories on a wall or carve them into stone in the hopes that some alien civilisation will discover them after I’m gone. Even with the absence of humanity, I don’t want to be forgotten, and if only one record of my existence survives, I want it to be my writing.

Are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading?

I have to admit, it’s a bit of both. I’ll only write a book if I have a story I want to tell, but at the same time, I want my books to sell well, and I will look for specific gaps in the market that I want to fill. I have never seen any mainstream publisher put out a book with a demiromantic main character—I’ve seen a few aromantic characters, but the rest of the aromantic spectrum seems to be largely ignored by mainstream publishers, which is part of what lead to my decision to make Nathaniel demiromantic.

Leaving this tag open!

Writerly Questionnaire

The very lovely @sableglass tagged me in this one. (I absolutely relate to your love of escapist romances to read alongside the beach 💖✨)

I’ll answer the best I can. Bear in mind I’m a little bit of a chaos gremlin :)

About Me

When did you first start writing?

About 12 years old. I always took a liking to Disney animated classics, which have inspired me to write and draw similar to the style.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

Actually, the two are very similar. What I love to write is what I love to read. I’ve taken more of a fancy to writing romances now as opposed to a decade ago, though :)

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

Not that I’m aware of. Everyone has taken a little bit of inspiration from different sources, whether knowingly or unknowingly, so there are probably some authors or writers that I share similarities with. I know for a FACT that a lot of my stories draw heavy inspiration from Disney, which has influenced my art and storytelling styles ✨

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

Ahhh, yes. Couch, coffee table, writing laptop, coffee. Soft throw draped across my lap as I get perpetually cold. Thankfully, it’s nice and quiet in this writing space and it allows me to let me do string-of-thought writing for hours. The only thing is sometimes I lose track of time this way, so I have to set an alarm for breaks and meals.

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Watching movies, listening in on my friends’ DnD campaigns, or reading stories from friends and mutuals :)

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

Not really. I keep my personal life and writing life pretty separate. After all, a great thing about writing fantasy is that it doesn’t HAVE to tie in to the real world, or personal life. It can be whatever I want it to be ✨

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

Recurring themes? You bet. I either write a high fantasy BL Romance, or low fantasy slice-of life RomCom. My favorite writing tropes are Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Found Families, Romantic Comedy, Magic in the Mundane, Slice of Life, Call to Action/Prophecy, and Absurdism.

Do they surprise me? Absolutely. I can have a beautiful plot all planned out, and then my characters say, “okay I see the route, but what if we take a sliiiiight detour? :)” and then soon enough I’m on a totally unique and unexplored path in my writing….and that’s exciting. An adventure all on its own ✨

My Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

I fear if I don’t say Peter here, he’s gonna kill me. In my current WIP, my favorite character is Ali because he’s a lovable goofball genie that wants the best for Noah. Overall currently (side eying) Peter because he’s a chaotic-neutral, anti-establishment, insane pirate captain that makes my life entertaining 😂

Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life?

Ali. Hands down. Dude gets along with just about everyone.

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

Any of the villains I wrote, but going off of main OCs? Gosh that’s tough….probably Tyr because he’s really angry all the time (for good reason, but too much of that is toxic)

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

Oh boy. That’s a big one. Let’s see….

Character building kinda happens simultaneously to Plot Planning; it’s a bit hard to describe, as there’s no “right order” to my world building. But usually it’s: “Okay, who is my protagonist? Who is the antagonist? What do they look like? Is the protag a hero, or villain? Is the antag a hero, or villain? What is their ‘general moral alignment?’ What are their characteristics? What are their strengths? What are their flaws? What are their goals and aspirations? Etc.” I do this for each major character. Then, secondary and supporting characters, who get a little less polish but still enough to be human (or relatable) in nature, start getting fleshed out.

Once I get the Core Plots and characters made and planned out, I start piecing the events in chronological order in the story. This becomes my “roadmap” that helps drive the narrative. Then….well, the rest just kinda falls into place. Once I have a “Plan of Events,” all that’s left is writing the story around the plan. And, as I’m writing, new ideas may come, and I get to explore that a little further during the writing phase.

tl;dr: I do the “Tree Approach.” Characters are the foundational trunk. Branches are the Core Plots. Twigs are the Conflicts. Leaves are the little details of each conflict (i.e. how characters react, where the conflict is set, what this means for each character’s aspirations, etc.)

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

Yep :)

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc.)

Like this:

My Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

Personal enjoyment, mainly. And how far I can stretch and challenge my creative mind ✨

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

Any story reactions and positive engagement is always appreciated. Just don’t be a dick and you’re good 👍

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who “gets” the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

I loathe this question. As long as people enjoy my stories, that’s what matters. I’m just one silly little guy writing stories for my own enjoyment. The fact that other people can enjoy my wild ideas as well is a blessing in of itself.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Comedy and Dialogue. And comedic timing.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

Same as above. Also have been told that I have wildly entertaining and outlandishly creative ideas portrayed in “insane, chaotic, and ballsy ways.” Coolio 🤙

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

I’m proud of it. I’ve successfully written stories that I wanted to read, and reading back through my stories is really entertaining and motivating :)

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

I’ve already been writing stories on my own for well over a decade, nearly two. It was my husband and friends who finally pushed me to go public, and I’m very glad I did :)

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

I write solely for my entertainment, and my personal opinion is that’s the best way to do it, honestly. If I write stories that I want to read, I enjoy them, I spend more effort on them because I WANT to, not to please anyone other than myself. I don’t inhibit myself or censor myself, allowing me creative freedom to write wherever my heart takes me….which has led to some WILDLY entertaining plots. Even if writing is a career to some, if you find yourself enjoying what you write, you’re gonna motivate yourself beyond your wildest imaginations ✨

Man, that was a lot! Thank you @davycoquette for starting the chain, and thank you again Sable for tagging me!

I will gently and no pressure tag the following people as well as my tag list: @nczaversnick , @lavender-gloom , @cowboybrunch , @noblebs , @words-after-midnight , @saturnine-saturneight , @marlowethelibrarian , @coffeexafterxmidnight , @astramachina , @justabigoldnerd , @pippinoftheshire , +open tag! 💛✨

✨👇Tag list for writing tidbits below. DM me if you’d like to be added 👇✨

Tag List for writing tidbits (lmk if you want + or -)

@autism-purgatory , @talesofsorrowandofruin , @sunglasses-in-the-bentley , @glasshouses-and-stones , @alinacapellabooks , @gioiaalbanoart , @fortunatetragedy , @deanwax , @dyrewrites , @honeybewrites , @drchenquill , @paeliae-occasionally , @thatuselesshuman , @kaylinalexanderbooks , @katenewmanwrites , @fantasy-things-and-such , @billybatsonmylove , @madi-konrad , @houseplantblank , @far-cry-from-finality , @froggy-pposto , @fractured-shield , @avaseofpeonies , @topazadine , @thecoolerlucky , @theaistired , @willtheweaver , @rivenantiqnerd @somethingclevermahogony , @noxxytocin , @leahnardo-da-veggie , @addicted2coke-theothercoke , @illarian-rambling , @mysticstarlightduck , @the-letterbox-archives , @theink-stainedfolk , @ominous-feychild

[brokensoulmates2000]

Getting ready to drag Miura through the mud with my next Casca essay lol because 1. He deserves it 2. My friends are sick of hearing me complain about him and 3. I reread the eclipse and I can’t forgive him for that awful scene that breaks the immersion. Seriously. You wrote your ass to get to that part of the arc and you fuck it up that bad?

[alovelyburn]

Since I think you are the smartest around. Did you ever write about Judeau trying so hard to get Casca and Guts together? I get that he was in love with her and saw mutual attraction but he was trying so hard to make them fall in love? For example Guts is quitting because of Griffith and Judeau makes the whole thing about Casca? What was Miura trying to tell us?

I’m sorry for bad English and being annoying with questions😅 /half joking

(it’s my 3rd time sending you an ask hope you don’t mind)

...I don't know what to say about the smartest thing, HAHA. So, I'll just say thanks. You flatter me. <3 Also, there's nothing to apologize for, send me as many asks as you like!

As for Judeau... ...well, here's my understanding of it.

So many of the characters are motivated by Griffith and later by Guts, but I think the thing to bear in mind when thinking about why Judeau does the things he does is that he's motivated mainly by Casca. And specifically that he wants the best for her in a way that apparently supersedes what he himself wants.

So basically he tries to make her happy.

I think the first time this comes up is post-Bonfire of Dreams when he goes out of his way to let her know that Griffith called her valuable...

...because he knows she wants to be important to Griffith, and can tell how much it hurts her to feel irrelevant and left behind.

But the thing is, he did that because at the time the only thing that could make Casca happy... was being seen and valued by Griffith. So if he can give her that, then he does.

But that doesn't make her attachment to him healthy, and it's inevitably going to make her miserable because Griffith is just never going to return her feelings... and even if he did, he couldn't act on them due to his ambitions.

Long story short, no matter how much she loves Griffith, she'll never be with him. And as long as she's single-mindedly devoted to her feelings for him, that means she'll always be alone.

And that's what Judeau doesn't want.

So when Judeau sees that there's something changing between Guts and Casca, he perceives this as an out for her: a way she could perhaps shift her affections to someone who might actually be able to give her what she needs... so she doesn't spend the rest of her life pining.

If you watch him... basically anytime after Bonfire, he's always watching her and taking note of what's going on with her really. And it reaches one of its major high points after the rescue when Judea and Guts have this very strange talk...

Where Guts expresses an interest in staying with them and Judeau's like, NO, GET OUT, LEAVE, DONT BE A WIMP, GO AWAY. Which would be super weird under most circumstances, but it isn't if you remember that he's motivated by the desire to keep Casca happy because then he's like...

GET OUT OF HERE and take Casca with you or she...

...will just end up living for Griffith again, I think is the point here. He doesn't want Guts to take off and leave Casca there to be sucked back into Griffith's gravitational pull, and this time with no means of 'escape. Because once she's pulled back in, she'll never get out as long a Griffith needs her, which would be forever.

And that's exactly what was about to happen, since the next time we see her she's telling Guts that she can't leave.

Anyway basically Judeau's in love with Casca and worried that she'll waste her life living for Griffith, which is a total dead end street, so he tries to play matchmaker to her and Guts to get her out of there.

I guess the next reasonable question would be why didn't he just tell her how he felt himself.

I think that's pretty simple, though. Judeau doesn't perceive himself as being on the same level as Griffith (as he says during the tavern scene), so when he sees that Casca is in love with Griffith he basically just stands down. It's what all the Hawks did whenever it came to competing with Griffith over something or other. So basically, he wouldn't think of himself as someone who can pull Casca's gaze away from Griffith but he sees that Guts seems to be able to do that so he leaps on the chance to try to bring her to a more satisfying place.

And in defense of his assessment, I do think he's not her type. If you go by Griffith and Guts, she seems be drawn to larger than life types more than anything else. Even if she could fall for someone who doesn't fit those criteria it's not shocking that Judeau wouldn't assume that to be the case.

Thanks for the ask, I love them. They kind of give me a chance to really dig into things I don't necessarily get into in say the rambles, or things I wouldn't necessarily think to do a separate post about. Like, you know, I don't talk about Judeau that much but that doesn't mean I don't have anything to say about him. He's an interesting guy - someone as motivated by Casca as Guts or Casca are/were by Griffith. His own relationship with Griffith seems a little less personal too - e.g. he heavily implies (...might count as just saying it outright) that the main reason he's concerned about making sure Griffith is taken care of is because he feels obligated to as a Hawk.

And I think his touch of objectivity as someone who isn't infatuated with Griffith as much as everyone else is allows him to perceive things more clearly than most... as evidenced by the way he talks about, say, Griffith manipulating Charlotte into falling in love with him.

[blood-starved-beast]

Redemption arc squad for the bingo (Acxa/Farnese/Zuko/Riven/etc)

Redemption Arc squad yes (Did not include Zethrid and Ezor cause redemption - for what? Doing hot girl shit?) To start, here's the original so people have ease of access to see.

Send me more asks if you'd like me to say more.

First, Acxa

Unsurprisingly, she's the one who gets the bingo. Excluding a few others in the fandom, people get her wrong like the amount of parentfication she gets in the fandom is frankly insane why can't fandom be normal about her (saying this, as I proceed to not be normal about her). Her arc is great, and one of the few in vld that made sense, surprisingly enough. Only reason I don't give her the best is cause Haggar/Honerva is there. Of course saying so would be hitting the wasp's nest. She definitely should've gotten more screentime, and they wasted the fact that she worked with Haggar in s8 especially. Keith knew she was with Haggar in the Kral Zera no one bothered to ask her anything??? We should've gotten a backstory flashback in act 2 in my opinion. The way she went around backstabbing people like 10 times but you know she wasn't planning this shit out is the funniest thing what is wrong with her indeed.

Next, Zuko

Zuko, I don't have much opinions about as he was written very good and I'm pretty much satisfied with how the writers went about him. I'd say he gets top spot in Atla for best writing cause Aang's near perfect arc was messed up with the dumb thing to have his avatar state reopened by some random rock. Especially when the world building established that it was an emotional-psychological-spiritual thing. In that sense, Zuko was consistently the best. Zuko's most popular pairings suck and I almost forgot to put this cause my atla fandom experience was literally ten years ago but then I remembered zukk@. Zut@ra I never liked which is rich coming from me who likes friggin Rivelia but my excuse is that my fandom experience was shaped by exposure to that friggin ship war from way back then and that spoiled a lot for me. Katara deserves better and she's not a fixer, at least, not for Zuko she would. Fandom woobification besides that, annoys me especially when he can get all toxic masculinity sometimes (this was a thing established at the Beach ep). His arc is one that I'm always referencing so you could say I'm pretty obsessed with it. If you'd ask me about him 8 years ago I feel like I'd say more but I'm long overdue for an atla rewatch so I'd have to refresh.

Now Farnese

Farnese has one of the more interesting arcs in media I've seen recently. She's a bitch with little freudian excuse and does a lot of horrific things to boot. And YET her redemption arc is so so good Miura was a master at his craft Rest in Peace. I think she'd benefit more from screentime but this is just me wanting a good Berserk adaption post golden age. Her best character work is when she works with Casca and Schierke imho.

Finally, Riven

Riven I love a lot but she hasn't reached Meow-Meow stage to get the bingo (for League, that award I think, would go to Irelia). Her fandom reception is weird though, but that depends on who you look to. The cismale fans are really gross with her, and the friggin battle bunny skin is atrocious. The original that is. Which was a fan-inspired skin by the way. That and her popularity among this cohort really messed with her characterization, even in the writers room cause I'd feel like she should be Butch, but cause of it has since seen a more femme-mization in her splashart and other media. As with most non-arcane characters she needs more lore. I'd like to see a Zelda styled game for example, where she tries to atone for her war crimes in Ionia by helping people etc. Besides that I could see her working with Rell, Irelia, others. Sentinels of Light did her so dirty worse than Irelia for sure (maybe not as bad as Pyke or Rengar, but still). There were so many ways to handle that but they did her and Irelia's arc in the most superficial way that I'm dog-bites-cage-rail.jpg all about how it could've been done better. Btw, her popular ships suck cause they are with Yasuo, who I don't really like, and *shudders* Zac. Rivelia is next on the list after that but I do like that, but I have ~ issues ~ with how it was handled but also most fandom content for it is not my cup of tea at all (WHERE IS THE SPICE???).

Thanks for the ask Cat!

For everyone else, here is the original post.

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 313 Short Thoughts & Berserk

So, for anyone following me for my My Hero Academia analysis stuff, unfortunately, I don't think I’ll get one out this week.  The chapter was amazing, don’t get me wrong, but I just didn’t have time to really write anything big about it.  Blame the BNHA: The Strongest Hero mobile game that released this week.  Gatcha games really suck me in.  Bakugo was my first random pull amazingly, but I haven’t gotten my fave Shoto yet.  I want my man to come home 😭.  Anyway, I will point out a few things from this chapter:

Thank god All Might is alive!  I didn’t expect him to die, but I’m still afraid of that possibility someday.  That one panel of him declaring himself to those thugs was amazing and I can see why it gave people Stain vibes.  Where is that guy anyway?  Also, I want All Might to sign Izuku’s adoption papers already.  He really is Izuku’s father at this point.  

All Might warned the Top 3 (Endeavor, Best Jeanist, and Hawks) about Lady Nagant, so I expect them to pop up sometime soon.  Especially Hawks.  That’ll be an interesting reunion with his Senpai.

Lady Nagant is still beautiful and badass and I love this Queen 👑

Deku got shot in the stomach (or side?) and he’s fucking pissed!  This kid’s nuts for being so reckless right now, but it looks like he’ll do anything to get info on AFO and Shigaraki.  This arc is really doing things to Deku.  I got a bad feeling that his recklessness will bit him in the ass real soon.

I think En (the 6th Holder) is rising up the ranks of being one of my favorite OFA predecessors.  I like his design, his personality, and how he mentors Deku.  The faces he made this week are amazing!  This man is just done with Deku’s shit he wants to go back to Shoyo Hinata and play volleyball again 😂  Also, he said “Hey, Hey, Hey!” in the fan translations and I can’t unhear Bokuto from Haikyuu!! whenever someone says that DAMN YOU OWL🦉

Lady Nagant’s Quirk can make her a sniper scope out of what looks like muscle or tissue because of course it freaking can.

Finally, I’m still confused on what the 3rd Holder’s Quirk is:  Fa Jin.  I think everyone is.  Apparently research says that it’s a form of Chinese martial arts that unleashes kinetic energy.  That’s why Deku was doing all those squats with his legs before he jumped to grab Lady Nagant.  I’m thinking it’s like how Black Panther’s costume stored kinetic energy and unleashed it whenever he did a punch to the ground.  Or something like that.  Horikoshi really needs to explain this one next week.

So yeah, awesome chapter this week with some action, badass All Might, and big reckless brain energy from Deku.  

And finally (and this will be a long spiel), I really need to address the sudden death of Berserk’s mangaka, Kentaro Miura (age 54), that was announced to the public recently.  He died back in May 6th due to an Acute Aortic Dissection.  I’ll admit to never reading Berserk or watching the anime adaption.  I know about it, but I never got around to actually getting myself into the series.  I heard amazing things about it, but I also heard that is has every content warning under the sun (abuse, sexual assault, rape, torture, murder, etc.).  It’s like if manga had a rating, Berserk would be rated-R full stop.  Still, I would like to get around to reading it one day.  Even so, I have seen some panels from the manga and it is literally God-Tier art.  It’s so rare to see an artist put in so much work into their pieces.  Every little detail is drawn masterfully.  If you looked at his panels far away, you’d swear that it was a photo.  If you looked up closely, you could see every single line Miura drew.  Honestly, his work deserves its own museum.  His story and work were so influential to the pop culture we know.  There would be no Souls series without Berserk.  There wouldn’t be Cloud Strife.  Any buff character with a gigantic-ass sword was inspired by Berserk in some way shape or form.  Other mangaka both loved and were inspired by Berserk like our own Kohei Horikoshi.  Miura-san was a true legend in his own right and he will be deeply missed.

I’m no doctor and I’m honestly not sure what really caused Miura-san’s untimely death, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the stress of mangakas’ absolutely brutal schedule was one of the causes.  In case you don’t know, mangakas pretty much literally put their lives into their works.  Their schedule is roughly like the one seen below.  Sleep and free-time are basically non-existent for them. The same goes for a lot of animators out there with Studio Mappa (despite their amazing animation) being one of the biggest causes of factory-like work in the industry lately.  I wish Miura’s death didn’t bring get this topic trending, but I do hope that both the manga and anime industry finally see what this work does to their artist and gives them a much more breathable schedule.  Shonen Jump+, Jump’s exclusive online manga is actually doing fairly well with their mangaka in terms of schedule.  Series like Spy X Family and Kaiju No. 8 have their mangakas release their chapters every 1-2 weeks.  They even let their mangaka take breaks if they need to with beautiful pieces of artwork as consolation.  God knows I had to wait a full month for a Spy X Family chapter to come out.  Regardless, I truly do hope this is a wake-up-call for the manga and anime industries.  I hope things get better for all the mangaka and animators.  They deserve all the praise, rest, and ease they can get.  Respect and love your mangaka and animators, my friends.  RIP, Kentaro Miura.

[lorddeathofmurdermountain]

Y'all. I post silly shit, overreacting shit, and sometimes I like to think I post something good. I wanna introduce y'all to something that's helping me a lot now. Well, not that I'm any worse off than any other chronically online person, but that's not the point. There's this unassuming Webtoon story... And it's captivated my heart. It has so much personality, character and soul, I don't think I've felt like this since... Like, 2011.

This...

Is Watermelon. It fucking sucks.

No wait, hear me out.

Remember how I said it's unassuming? It's because it has this nice name, nice art at the cover, and it all looks so nice and happy... Yet this series had brought me to the verge of tears so many times, I lost count. This is one of the most raw, unfiltered experiences, I've ever read. I'm gonna drop another bomb on you guys. I wanna compare this to Berserk.

I know, I know, nowhere near the same, both fans and people new to it would agree... But hear me out. Y'know what skele man said about Guts? What he called him? "Struggler". I think... Since the work of the late Kentaro Miura, up til today, I've never read anything that was as raw and oppressing yet oddly inspiring and heart warming as these two works. Heh. What a wombo combo. Berserk... And Watermelon.

I'm not gonna delve into the plot, so no spoilers here, but if I've ever really felt like any other character deserved to be called Struggler, besides Guts, than it was the protagonist of Watermelon. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure many more also deserve the title. But this one just resonated real deep with me. I think it reminded me of a lot of things I forgot, and values I've since dismissed. It brought me back to when I was a kid, it showed me my struggles and then it showed me things a hundred times worse. I know a lot of people will dismiss this, not even look at it, or read the story and think it's nothing special.

But even so. I really wanna bring this to people's attention. I feel like it's worth downloading Webtoon, even if you dislike this style or even the idea of webtoons, just for this story. Hell, I thought I wouldn't like it. I gave it a chance, but figured I'd read five chapters tops.

I've finished the full 144 publicly available episodes in one day. And I plan to reread all of it. I feel like the first time I read Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings. I feel like, for the first time in ages, like there's so much wonder and beauty in the world, and it makes me want to cherish what I have more, and to never ever forget that. It reminds me of simpler, purer things in life. Like the unconditional love of family. Like the warmth of a big, group hug with all your close ones. I like to wax poetry and sound smart, but I think this is the first time I've really said something when writing all fancy like, even if my verse is as unoriginal as it gets. Fucks sake, I'm tearing up right now. But I feel this warm feeling in me, however fleeting, and just thinking about this makes me smile. I. I don't smile. Not when I'm alone with myself. I may smirk or cackle or even laugh at someone. But I haven't felt this content and just... Happy, in a long while.

The series is equally as disturbing as it is uplifting, and sure it could be seen as angsty and generic, but it's struck a deep chord with me, and it never felt like the author is going overboard, or doing this just because, or whatever. I'm not gonna pretend like I know the author, but Rorita (author-sama, that is) makes me think that author-sama is putting some real emotions and feelings in this work. It doesn't feel empty, it doesn't feel bland. It doesn't feel like one of those generic power fantasies where the hero rises to the challenge and prevails because, DUH, they're the hero! I've been out of touch with my inner literary appreciator for a while, but I can more sense than genuinely point out a message in this whole thing, a message that's surely near and dear to the author's heart.

I wish I've read something like this much, much sooner. It's a really, really beautiful work of art. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. It's extraordinary. I'd go as far as to say that I absolutely, undoubtedly... Honestly, seriously...

Really fucking love this goddamn story. It makes me wanna spam heart emojis till the end of days.

[vittneshou]

Entry088

Hi, it’s me again! Have you heard about the new released iPhone model? I will get mine soon ♥ But today’s topic isn’t about Apple products. Instead, I want to share with you that I’ve changed (again) the title of my favourite writing *sweat*

The reason I made this decision is that today, while random googling [Resonant Cries], the result of my search ended up including crying babies which is suck, thousands of times! It ruins the speciality of my writing hence the desperate decision. I did some researches about the suitable title and found that ‘Oscillated’ matches the characters. You see… both Hasegawa and Daichi decided to go out for selfish reasons. Well, since no one will actually visit this blog, I’ll share spoilers *laugh* Hasegawa loves Daichi but he doesn’t want to break up with Maki because she’s one of the reasons his popularity rose. Meanwhile, Daichi dates Hasegawa so he could get away from Miura-san’s game but deep down, he still loves him.

I wish this would be the last time I change the title! I’ve changed on Webtoon too but the changes on the search section will take time to get the effect. Once it’s done, I’ll let you know again.

Okay, until then!

[recentanimenews]

Reading Ahead in "The Ancient Magus' Bride" OVAs

Reading Ahead in The Ancient Magus' Bride OVAs

By ZeroReq011

  Did you know that The Ancient Magus’ Bride anime has OVAs (a three part series known as The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star)? If you want more content with Chise without reading ahead in the manga, I recommend them wholeheartedly. They’re fantastic. They center around Chise’s childhood. They’re a love letter to reading… and an affirmation of life.

  ***

I know a lot of people who were socially awkward growing up. In fact, one of those people was me. I was socially awkward growing up. I didn’t know many people my age outside of elementary school. Inside of elementary school, the friends that I did have were few. The friends I had were the kinds of people that got along with everybody, regardless of what I liked or did. I wasn’t sporty or daring enough to fit in with the rest of the boys, and I wasn’t into the interests or hobbies that most of the girls seemed to care for. I felt isolated, lonely from my peers. I sought ways to distract myself from that alienating discomfort. One method cropped up that felt like a sure-fire success at least half of the time: books, reading.

In no way am I trying to claim that my childhood was anywhere as bad as Chise’s. I can make parallels though.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Those Awaiting a Star is a 3-part OVA series that acts as prequel to the events of the main story. That said, the actual prequel part takes place in a flashback well into the main show by the protagonist, Chise Hattori. It features a new character (plus some extra context) that isn’t introduced to viewers until several episodes in the main anime later. These incidental spoilers aside, The Ancient Magus’ Bride OVAs are absolutely worth a watch for: (1) anyone impatient waiting for the show’s next episode or (2) curious enough to learn more about the characters -- all without reading ahead in the manga. They’re, in fact, anime-original. They center around Chise’s childhood -- a childhood alluded to in quick-and-brief snapshots in the main story, and illustrated in full graphic reels during the OVAs. It’s great, it’s tragic, and it’s ultimately uplifting.

Please watch the OVAs before reading ahead. There are spoilers.

While a sleigh beggy little kid, Chise is harassed by magical, malicious beings invisible to others. She reacts to them like how any normal kid would: in abject terror. No one else can see what she’s reacting to though. Accordingly, every foster family she flitted through takes that terror to the invisible as terror to them. They scorn her for her inability to open up to them, or otherwise find her too troublesome to manage. Those kinds of chronic experiences of child abuse throughout your formative years aren’t recipes for a healthy self-esteem or social life. It’s all the worse when it seemingly appears to happen because of something about you that you can’t control. In these specific episodes of being bullied and abandoned, she stumbles into a magical library stewarded by a kindly host. The Magician of the Forest, Riichi Miura, assures her that the monsters won’t come after her inside and offers her access to the library’s many books.

Initially, as a sanctuary from the monsters, and finally, as a refuge from her other troubles, she gets sucked in, reading voraciously.

When Chise reads these books, she gets sucked into the worlds they illustrate with words. In one way, The Ancient Magus’ Bride OVAs are a love letter to reading. Combined with a bit of imagination, the texts we encounter through reading can transport us to somewhere fantastical, somewhere fun, somewhere.. else. Reading allow us to travel to those places different -- places that aren’t the real, immediate, and painful ones we are intimate with. Chise intimates as much when Riichi comments on the visible progress she’s made reading the library’s contents. The worlds of these books allow her to forget her own miserable one. But there’s a danger in losing yourself to this escapism. Reality tends to strike hard despite your best efforts to avoid it.

The events that unfold for the library and its magician are like a bittersweet fairy tale. Having grown fond of Chise, Riichi considers inviting her to stay with him, forever. He ultimately rejects it, believing Chise has much more to live for, literally. Fate intervenes, in concurrence with Riichi’s determination and regardless of Chise’s intentions. The monsters outside find an opening and flood into the library. Riichi attempts to protect Chise from being attacked. The library is ransacked into ruin, and Riichi suffers a fatal wound. His corporeal form fades away like fairy dust. Chise’s safe spaces are taken away from her. She believes that she’ll never be without misery.

Such a bitter conclusion to this tale might suggest a bitter end to Chise specifically, and a bitter fate broadly for the socially awkward. Chise as a child had a hard time expressing herself coherently to others, and only ever truly opened up in any articulate way when she was able to finally let her guard down and trust someone -- a luxury that she’ll never get to enjoy until many years later. And yet in those many years since, Chise recalls this sad memory with a sweet smile, in the company of loved ones. Chise’s example suggests that the socially awkward aren’t hopeless. With her though, she had to meet people half-way. In the main story, when she’s offered another opportunity to connect with others, she works hard to make to make sure those bonds are maintained.

Like passivity into proactivity, stumbles into steps, and fate into destiny, she’s turned the books to hide away in, into books that she’s inspired by to become a better person. The Ancient Magus’ Bride OVAs are both a love letter to reading, and an affirmation of life.

  The Ancient Magus' Bride Series and OVAs are available now on Crunchyroll!

* * *

A social scientist and history buff who dabbles in creative writing and anime analysis every now and again. If you’d like to get in touch with him or are interested in reading more of his works, ZeroReq011 has a Twitter you can follow and runs a Blog called Therefore It Is.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[foreverfamilyforevervongola]

Vongola Facebook: Hacked Edition

Rating: K+ Summary: To pass time while travelling on public transit, Gokudera checks his Facebook and discovers a hacker is ruthlessly invading the accounts of his family. The number of possible culprits? Pretty much everyone on his Friends list.

Eyes closed and headphones inserted firmly in his ears, Gokudera laid his head against the bus window. Though the vehicle jerked roughly, he didn’t care enough to lift his head from his resting place. The music blaring from his phone was enough to distract him until he reached the restaurant where he was supposed to be meeting Haru.

Or at least, that’s what he expected. As the bus paused at a set of stoplights his music abruptly stopped in the middle of the chorus. Frowning, he reluctantly sat up straight and tried to check his phone, only to find that it had died.

“Damn,” he grumbled. He had been sure it had a decent charge when he left. Now what was he supposed to do for the next hour? Make small talk with the people around him?

Yeah, right.

Snorting softly, he ripped the headphones out and stuffed them in his pocket along with his phone. Not wanting to sit in silence for an hour, he reached for his laptop bag and removed his computer. He balanced the slim red device in his lap and powered it up. When everything had loaded, he inserted a special WiFi stick that Giannini had created and clicked on the Internet icon on his desktop.

Facebook. The great time waster.

The News Feed page loaded, but he didn’t start scrolling immediately. He clicked on the status bar and started typing. When he finished, he clicked the Post button.

Hayato Gokudera Woman, why did you have to pick a restaurant that’s a good hour away from home? I’m stuck on a bus with weird people and it’s all your fault—Haru Miura.

It wasn’t long before the girl responded. A notification popped up thirty seconds after he published his post, giving him little time to creep through the status updates of his family.

Haru Miura I’m out shopping and I thought we should eat somewhere that’s between the both of us.

Hayato Gokudera Are you telling me that you also have to travel over an hour?

Haru Miura …no…

Hayato Gokudera Then it’s not meeting halfway. So since I have a longer travel time, you can’t get on me if I happen to be late.

Haru Miura I won’t! Geez. And by the way, it’s rude to call the other people on the bus with you weird. You should have just taken your car.

Hayato Gokudera: In rush hour downtown traffic? I don’t think so.

He scrolled down and started exploring his News Feed. He hadn’t been on for a few days and now seemed like the perfect time to catch up. There was a particular status that made him pause and he read through it and the following conversation thoroughly.

Lambo Bovino Failed my math test yesterday and I don’t care! Whatcha gonna do about it?

Hitman Reborn Oh, I can think of a few things…

Bianchi Gokudera Getting cocky now, aren’t we?

Lambo Bovino NO I DIDN’T WRITE THAT I SWEAR!

Futa de la Stella No, I didn’t think so. You’re not that impulsive.

Hitman Reborn Idiot cow, bring all schoolwork down for immediate inspection.

Lambo Bovino Hai!

Gokudera arched an eyebrow in bewilderment. The status had been posted less than a day ago, and taking brief glances at the statuses posted above the Lightning Guardian’s, they seemed to follow a similar thread.

Interesting. Can’t believe this flew past my radar. Though I do remember ahoshi bellyaching about something yesterday.

Lambo Bovino All right, who got into my account? Confess or I’ll sic I Pin on you.

I Pin Whoa, don’t drag me into this.

Bluebell Azaria Well, if you’re trying to compile a list of all the people who might mess with you, you’re going to need a three-hundred-page notebook in order to fit them all in.

Nosaru Tsukino Nah, more like a five-hundred-page notebook.

Lambo Bovino I’m putting you two at the top of said list.

Bluebell Azaria What about I-Pin?

Lambo Bovino I know for sure it wasn’t her. If she wanted to mess with me, she’s got other ways of going about it.

I Pin True that!

Gokudera smirked. Bluebell and Nosaru had a point—there were far too many people who would enjoy messing with Lambo by hacking his Facebook page. In fact, he was a bit disappointed he hadn’t thought of it first.

Commoner Belphegor Once upon a time, there was a prince who fell from grace with his family. As such, he was forced to flee his kingdom out of shame, and is now living amongst the normal people with an air of grudging acceptance.

Levi Akagi He’s finally snapped. I knew his mind wouldn’t hold under all that psychotic energy.

Fran Hamasaki I am glad you have finally come to terms with your pitiful existence. That’s the first step in self-healing.

Commoner Belphegor I’ll kill you. You better run, because after I figure out how to fix my effing name, you’re so dead.

Fran Hamasaki It wasn’t me.

Illusionist Mammon I can vouch for that. Considering the timestamp of the status, it wasn’t Fran. The brat was training with me.

Commoner Belphegor Fine. Froggy, I’m coming after you to vent my frustrations. Whoever hacked my account, I’ll kill you.

Gokudera let out a bark of laughter so loud it startled the people sitting in front of him. Whoever this hacker is, he or she sure has guts, he thought. He looked at the post above Belphegor’s, and he had to smack a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud again.

Ken Joshima is now in a relationship with Chikusa Kakimoto

Ken Joshima EXCUSE ME BUT NO NOT IN THIS LIFETIME.

Mukuro Rokudo Now, Ken, you don’t have to hide it anymore. We all know the truth.

Chikusa Kakimoto Please stop.

Ken Joshima NO GET OFF MY PAGE KAKIPI YOU’RE MAKING IT WORSE.

Chikusa Kakimoto No, I think you are. Turn off the Caps Lock.

Ken Joshima I’LL KILL WHOEVER DID THIS.

“This is gold,” said Gokudera with a snicker, flicking his eyes to the next post.

Mukuro Rokudo There’s a My Little Pony marathon on right now. Do not bother me for the next five hours.

Kyoya Hibari Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.

Ken Joshima HA!

Mukuro Rokudo Okay, first of all, shut up Kyoya. Second of all, shut up Ken. Third of all, this Facebook hacker better watch their back.

Shamal Morihiro People of Facebook, I have an announcement to make. I am now going to be celibate. Thank you and goodbye.

Burying his face in his hands, Gokudera laughed silently, so hard that his shoulders shook. To anyone that might look over, it would appear that he was crying. Imagining his woman-crazed mentor becoming celibate was the most hysterical and ludicrous thing he had ever heard of.

When he finally managed to compose himself, he scrolled through the comments.

Tsunayoshi Sawada The day that happens is the day Reborn doesn’t shoot me.

Hitman Reborn Which of course is never.

Bianchi Gokudera I thought it was too good to be true.

Shamal Morihiro So the hacker was amusing before. Now? Now I want to send my Trident mosquitoes after him.

Tsunayoshi Sawada It could be a girl.

Shamal Morihiro Well obviously if it’s a girl I’ll forgive her wholeheartedly and with a kiss.

Unable to keep from throwing his two cents in, Gokudera added a comment, and it was about a minute later when Shamal responded.

Hayato Gokudera I don’t know who this Facebook hacker is, but this is my favourite work of theirs by far.

Shamal Morihiro Shut up, Hayato.  

Smirking, Gokudera scrolled towards the top of his News Feed.

Tsunayoshi Sawada All right, time to see if we can flush this hacker out.

Hitman Reborn So you don’t sleep with a stuffed bear and suck your thumb?

Tsunayoshi Sawada No, Reborn. Just as Takeshi isn’t quitting baseball and Ryohei isn’t moving to Las Vegas to take up professional boxing.

Spanner Thornton Before the accusations start flying, I am saying right now that it’s not me.

Shoichi Irie Ditto.

Giannini Ganzo It was not me either, Juudaime!

Scientist Verde I have better things to do than play silly games with you idiotic creatures.

Tsunayoshi Sawada I believe that. If you wanted to prank us, it would be by a much more inventive means.

Prince Belphegor It’s the Frog. I know it.

Fran Hamasaki For the last time, it wasn’t me.

Lambo Bovino If we’re casting votes, I vote for Nosaru as the culprit.

Nosaru Tsukino It was probably you. You made it look like you were the first target to throw everyone off the trail.

I Pin He’s not that smart.

As the stream of comments continued, speculating on who the hacker was, the bus finally rolled up to his stop. Gokudera quickly stood up and grabbed his bag with one hand, holding his laptop securely with the other. He made his way down the aisle, stepped off the bus and onto the sidewalk. He squinted against the sunlight, finding Haru waiting for him outside the restaurant.

The brunette’s expression brightened when she spotted him. “Hey, Hayato! How was the bus ride?”

Gokudera grinned. “Very entertaining, actually.”

[farnesca]

How do you think Farnese and Casca's relationship would develop after Casca is healed based on the current point in the manga? I wonder if Casca would keep her memories of her current state? I'd love to hear your thoughts ^o^

Oh boy, what a good question!  I, personally, will be Fucking Pissed if Casca doesn’t remember her experiences post-Eclipse and pre-healing.  That would just be way too much of an easy out.  The Eclipse was obviously the Pinnacle Of Trauma or whatever, but Casca’s been through so, so much since then.  I’m working on the assumption that she does remember given the number of phallic monsters compared to the number of times men have tried assaulting her post-Eclipse.  That and tiny Casca - imagery from these dream chapters has made it pretty apparent that tiny Casca represents Casca’s heart, and tiny Casca’s been there the whole time.  She’s just been quiiite weak.  There’s also the chapter where Casca kills a couple men even in her regressed state pretty early on, which showed that Casca is Still In There, Somewhere.  Of course this could just be my “wishful” (praying for some decent writing) thinking, but, hey.  Fingers crossed.  I’m hopeful.

This is going to be long, so here’s a cut.  This kind of ended up being a Casca post-healing character development answer more than anything, but there’s plenty of Farnesca conceptualizing in it.  ;D

I’d really like to see a rough transition.  Not that I want more Casca suffering time, it’s probably going to kill me, but for the sake of some spicy realism.  Sure, they can go in there and piece Casca back together again after all this trauma, but they can’t just Erase the fact that she’s still been through it?  She should still have to come to cope with it all.  Her experiences are what’s being shown to Build Her Character.  Her experiences are currently literally shaping and changing her.  The Eclipse is going to be one hell of a puzzle piece to adjust herself to.  If that final piece is successfully obtained (which @Miura It Best Be), I want Casca to wake up really solemn and downcast.  She doesn’t talk to anyone for a long while, and if she does, it’s short questions in a quiet, rough voice.  She only asks Schierke, at first.  She almost brushes Farnese off, which Farnese is like, a bit hurt by.  She keeps trying to help Casca with things, just on instinct, but every time she finds a sharp pair of eyes that should be so familiar but suddenly they’re not, locked with hers.  She quickly remembers the new situation and leaves Casca to whatever she’s doing.  She gets SO sad about it.  Caring for Casca is the one thing that’s forced her along to become stronger, and it had become a second nature, and now it was ripped out from under her.  She feels kinda lost.

I imagine Casca to be eating soup dinner with Schierke + Farnese + perhaps some fae folk when the boys roll in.  Casca’s eyes lock on Guts.  Guts’ one locks on her.  There’s a beat.

“Casca,” and Guts takes a step forward.  “Cas-”

Casca absolutely beams him with her soup bowl. 

Scheirke ends up in a little tizzy and tells him maybe he should keep his distance for a while yet, she’s still got a lot of settling to do- cue emo Guts time.  He understands, tho, sadly.  They eat dinner from opposite sides of the I’m assuming fire.  

It’s incredibly quiet and tense.  The fae folk, sensing the Mood, have kind of given them their space.  Guts is always looking at Casca, Casca’s on her defensive looking at Guts the entire time, Farnese keeps looking between them, like, “huh.  Unexpected and interesting”.  After Casca’s eaten, Schierke offers that she could have a bath, and they could try to find her some better clothes for her in the meantime.  “That would be nice,” Casca says, still all quiet, but Guts can hear it over the fire and basically internally nuts because holy shit he hasn’t heard her talk in FOREVER.  Schierke gets up and Casca goes to follow, but she pauses.  

“Farnese, would you help me with my hair?”

and that’s when Farnese falls in love.

Thanks for reading my one-off fanfic blurb I hope u enjoyed

No but like, imagine her surprise?  The expression on her face?  Her flustered “s-sure, of course!” It’d be so cute.  Farnese has been dealing with a free-spirit runaround version of Casca for quite a long time now, and it’s going to be Really weird for her to interact with her on a person-to-person level and basis.  It’s so awkward for the both of them- “We’ve both seen each other naked a ton of times, but only just now is it actually a reality we have to deal with” type shit.  “We’re best friends but also know very little about each other actually as people actually, only small weird habits.” It’s hilarious but oh so painful.  Farnese helps Casca wash her hair.  Casca instructs Farnese on how she’d like it cut - very short, “like it used to be.”  Like Farnese has never seen it before.  Bonding moment.

Casca has many soft moments with Farnese after her healing (Farnese helps Casca get acclimated again, Farnese fills Casca in on some things to help her better understand all the shit they’ve been thru, they tell each other about their lives, Farnese petitions Serpico to help Casca in her training b/c she wants to get back in shape, in the long-term Casca teaches Farnese about the sword and takes her turn protecting Farnese which is beautiful and gay) but hard ones with Guts.

I want Casca to be SO mad at Guts.  She does have a moment where she has a heart-to-heart with him, but it’s short.  She Understands. She’s Thankful.  She’s also Fucking Pissed, and she needs space to sort that out.  She needs space to sort a LOT out.  When she’s ready to come back and regard Guts as a friend and kick ass, it’ll be with a smile and a readied sword.

Please @Miura, I need Casca to recognize how women have been the ones to take good care of her in her time of need.  Erica, Luca and her girls (Nina kind of sucked but whatever), and Farnese have been her Best caretakers in her regressed state - treated her like a person, greatly concerned with her wellbeing and protecting her, didn’t tie her up and drag her around when she was difficult, etc.  Before her regression the only girl we saw her actually interact with was Charlotte, crybaby gf of the dude she loved for years that never loved her.  The only other scene was with all the adoring girls at that little parade thing and Casca was so cute and flustered.  Suddenly when Casca comes to she’s smacked in the face with how all these women she didn’t even KNOW cared for her the best of anyone.  She realizes how she’s just been a pawn and a plaything for all these men she’s crossed paths with.  Casca realizes this and has an inner lesbian revolution, thanks.  

Thanks so much for sending an ask!!!  I think I’ve gone on long enough.  I have ideas for the whole, “her wish may be different than yours” forewarning bullshit that I almost broke into, but I think that’s for a different time in a different place.

Reminder to anyone that made it this far that my inbox is always open~

[astrifers]

Greek God Asks

Gods: Life

Zeus: What’s your name or nickname?

I am mostly called kouhai by friends or pehstal from people who know me or followed me from my previous blog

Hera: Where are you from?

Singapore. 

Athena: How old are you?

21

Hephaestus: When is your birthday?

November 8th.

Aphrodite: What’s your relationship status?

Single and not looking

Poseidon: What are your pronouns?

She/her

Dionysus: Are you an extrovert or an introvert?

I am an introvert but I have my extrovert moments. 

Demeter: Do you have any pets?

None

Apollo: What kind of music are you into?

If I like it from the first listen, then it does not matter what genre it is. So I can listen to a range of things and not have a particular fave. 

Artemis: What do you first notice about new people?

The way they talk. 

Hades: What’s a big fear of yours?

Not being good enough.

Ares: What’s a big pet peeve of yours?

Being kept waiting. 

Hestia: Where do you consider home?

My room.

Creatures: Lasts

Pegasus: Last movie you watched?

The last movie that I watched and actually finished watching was Control Tower. If not, the last movie that I watched would be Forget Me Not. 

Mermaid: Last tv show you finished?

Everyone’s Getting Married. 

Centaur: Last book you read?

Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of the World.

Siren: Last song you listened to?

Daichi Miura’s Only You.

Gorgon: Last thing you ate?

Fried chicken with rice. 

Cyclops: Last time you cried?

A few days ago. 

Minotaur: Last time you were truly happy?

I feel like I feel happiness in small doses each day but if I were to say an exact, big moment I felt happy was when my friend and I were watching a concert together online and being fangirls.

Sphynx: Last text you sent?

“I am really so annoyed with my dad” 

Chimera: Last call you made?

To my brother, asking where he is. 

Griffin: Last thing you did before going to sleep last night?

Talking about my bias in a group chat. 

Nymph: Last dream you remember?

I don’t remember the exact events but I remember being abandoned by my family and feeling upset by the things my mother were saying.

Satyr: Last time you couldn’t stop laughing?

When @tsunrene showed me the live performance of NEWS’s Emma.

Heroes: Experiences

Heracles: Have you ever had a dream come true?

Attending a concert. 

Theseus: What is your worst regret?

Failing to be a good daughter, sister and friend. 

Perseus: Have you ever been arrested?

No.

Cadmus: Have you ever had your heart broken?

Plenty.

Achilles: Have you ever had to be hospitalized?

No.

Actaeon: Tell about a memory you wish to forget.

The time where a lecturer basically said my writing sucks and wonders if I even know how to write. 

Bellerophon: Have you ever passed out?

No.

Agamemnon: What is an achievement you’re proud of?

I have none.

Oedipus: Have you ever been in love?

No.

Jason: Have you ever travelled abroad? Where?

The furthest I have travelled is Malaysia. 

Atlanta: Have you ever stood up for someone else?

I cannot remember but I like to hope that I have. 

Hippolytus: Tell an experience you will never forget.

Getting into a minor car accident with my family. We were all okay but there was something about that moment that never left my mind since it happened. 

Magical Items: Favourites 

Trident: Who are your favourite people?

I have too many to list but I know the people who are reading this are some of my favourites.

Lightning Bolt: What are your top three favourite movies? 

I do not have any favourite movies so instead, I will say the three movies I have enjoyed watching the most. The Beauty Inside, If All The Cats Disappeared From The World and Biri Gyaru. 

Sun Chariot: What is your favourite mythological creature?

Faeries. 

Lyre: What are your top three favourite songs?

EXILE’s I Wish For You, EXO’s What If, Junggigo’s Across the Universe

Caduceus: What is your favourite colour?

Periwinkle blue. 

Aegis: What is your favourite book or series?

No favourites as well so Night Film by Marisha Pessl because that book has stuck with me since I finished reading it. 

Scythe: What is your favourite tv show?

None.

Bident: What is your favorite way to spend free time?

Writing, making gifs and listening to music. 

Harpe: What are your top 3 favorite places?

The couch, bedroom and kitchen.

Cornucopia: What is your favorite place to eat?

It is a takeout place but I enjoy getting their sushi rolls from there. 

Winged Sandals: What is your favorite thing to do when you hangout with your friends?

Eat and chat. 

Golden Fleece: What is your favorite animal?

Cats.

Places: Goals and Wishes

Olympus: Describe your dream job.

It’s nothing special. I just want a job where I can feel happy or at least, content doing day in and day out. 

Tartarus: What’s a short term goal you hope to achieve?

Getting a job.

Underworld: Describe your dream vacation.

Being at home is already my dream vacation.

Styx: How would you like your life to look like in 10 years?

With me doing good, feeling good and being good. 

Athuna: If you could live anywhere in the world for the rest of your life, where would it be?

I cannot imagine anywhere else I could live in. 

Sparta: Do you have a bucket list? If so, what’s on it?

No bucket list. 

Elysium: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

No superpower because that is too much power and responsibility to place on me when I already have a lot on my plate. 

Ogygia: Describe your dream husband/wife/life partner?

I don’t wish to be in a relationship but if I did, I would like to be with someone who we can learn and grow together while also being able to live our individual lives without any worries about the other being upset. 

Troja: What is the craziest thing you wanna do before you die?

It’s not crazy but I am interested to know what snow looks like in person. 

The Labyrinth: Have you ever died and came back to life as a vampire?

No.

Delphi: Are you currently doing anything to pursue your dreams?

Effort is being placed. 

[odilekuronuma]

What makes Kentaro Miura such a great writer

So while I was rewatching Berserk the Abridged series yesterday, I got to reminisce about the earlier parts of Berserk, and how imo Miura managed to not fall in the many traps that other authors like Ohtaka have fell into.

Berserk is rightfully considered to be one of the best manga ever created, so one can wonder what makes Miura’s writing so great, especially for people who are considering getting into Berserk.

It’s a combination of factors that makes his writing so good imo. I’ll try to explain some of them.

1-Miura’s ability to use tropes in a non cliche way :  Miura is by no means the most original author around, and many aspects of his manga are outright inspired by other works, and Miura has stated influences such as Devilman or Guin saga. There’s also plenty of tropes in Berserk, even shounen like tropes, but where other authors fail to deal with them in a non cliche way, he manages to not fall too much in those traps. For example, you can say that the MC has plot armor, given how Guts has been saved plenty of times from certain death. In fact during a certain event (not gonna spoil too much here) he is saved in a deus ex machina manner by a cosmic being of some sort (that happens to be a skeleton). But where other authors are tempted to try to save their character at all costs, and keep him intact, Miura doesn’t hesitate to mutilate his MC, and even uses what should be considered a weakness to make his character stronger. Missing an arm?no problem. Here’s a cannon that you can attach to your arm and use it to blow large demons in the face.Sure it is supposed to be part of his design, and make him closer to Götz von Berlichingen whose Guts character is loosely based on, but that doesn’t take away from Miura’s more original way to deal with such a trope. When other authors would try to come up with an asspull in order to make a missing limb grow back out of thin air (looking at you Ohtaka).

In fact every one of Guts’ upgrades comes at a great price, the next major upgrade he gets literally sucks out his life force, so he’s gradually dying in a sense. And even before that, each one of his big fights resulted in him being in bed for a long time, and even arrow wounds would affect him.

And more importantly, It stresses out how human he is, when many authors, especially shounen ones, make their characters into almost living gods in a way. Guts’ powers are really insignificant, he’s just a human with his own limits, and he only has a few weapons to rely on, and needless to say that compared to the other characters and beings he’s often facing, he’s  at a great disadvantage. Each fight, especially after a certain point, resulted in him suffering heavy injuries, and not just physical ones, even astral ones.

2-Miura’s characters feel very realistic: that is prolly the greatest strength of Miura’s writing, his characters feel very realistic, and rightfully so since he got inspired of people he knew, his friends, to write his characters. It’s a bit frightening to learn that someone like Griffith has been inspired, even just slightly by a real living person. And more than that, I think Miura puts a lot of himself into his characters, mainly Guts, but that is just my speculation. The interaction of the characters especially in the Golden age, is one of the most appealing (if not the most appealing) aspect of the manga. The war itself is just a motif to get you to follow this band of mercenaries called the Band of the Hawk, and as such you really do care more about the characters, and less so about the war or the fighting. Because they feel so damn realistic. Even characters that you won’t necessary like, like Corkus, end up having such an importance, and give a different point of view which only enriches the writing. So much that at the end you really do end up caring about the characters you didn’t necessarily like at first.

3-Miura is a master at the emotional writing: Not many authors have managed to make you feel so many emotions, even conflicting ones, about a certain event or character. It almost feels like blackmail at times, you get so invested in something, only for it to be taken away from you.He has mastered the art of making you sympathize with his characters, and you feel so invested in them that you’re absolutely crushed when something bad happens to them, which brings me to my next point.

4-He takes risks,huge ones: Not many authors are willing to kill off some of their primary, or even secondary characters. Because it is a huge gamble, once you lose those characters it creates a gap that needs to be filled, and in the case it cannot be filled, then it must serve a purpose. I can think of only a handful of times an author killed off a character for good, and more often than not it is supposed to serve as a catalyst for future events. And while we certainly miss those characters, it is undeniable that the story wouldn’t be the same without such a loss. So in that regard Miura has succeeded in killing those characters, while not making it appear totally gratuitous.

5-The foreshadowing: One of the most fun things to do when reading Berserk is looking for all the subtle hints that Miura throws at us. With Miura it is never a sure and definite answer, he doesn’t spell it out for you like many authors do, not just shounen ones, but seinen ones too. He leaves a lot of stuff open to speculation, and it takes years to see an answer given, if that happens. As such rereading Berserk offers an even better experience, and isn’t a chore. You definitely pick up more on certain elements upon rereading it.

There’s prolly more to it than just these, but these imo are the most pertaining reasons as to why Miura’s writing is so awesome.

Now if only he wrote more often....