#the visuals in mangas are always just so fun!

[alwaysoc]

This is me every single time I go to a store

[kamfor334]

manifested my desired appearance!

hi guys! I know I haven’t posted in a while, this is just a little post about my manifestations, I manifested my desired appearance!

to be honest, when I think about this experience one thing is that this reminded me how EZ manifesting really is. When I first started to manifest my desired appearance, I thought it would be harder, and I would have to put in a lot more work. But, now looking back, this helped me realize that manifesting is simple, and instant. We are constantly manifesting naturally, and it isn’t that complicated or hard.

how it happened

It’s kinda funny how, people always say manifestation is instant (cus it is) but you genuinely to remember or realize until you see that you ACTUALLY have your results so quickly, and before you even realize. Tbh, I didn’t even really count or keep track of “how long it took”, since I find that constantly checking for results kinda deters me or messes with my mindset. I realized I had manifested my desired appearance when I was looking in the mirror today, low-key surprised me. My hair is thick, longer, my curls look the exact same as the photos from my vision board. My lashes are thicker, longer, my lips are pinker, plumper, ect, ect. I also noticed my body. I didn’t change my height (cause I didn’t want to) but, I look super cute!

After this, now I wanna manifest clear, soft smooth skin a lot more persistent, because me skin has been getting clearer and softer, but I’m not at my desired goal, however, I have seen a noticeable difference in my skin 🤭

also, people commented on it. I’ve been getting lots of comments on my body by my friends, telling me my body is tea, complementing my waist ect. And another thing I can remember is going to the convenience store with my mom, and this lady complementing my hair, and my mom pointing out my long, soft hair, and literally telling me word for word that I have4b hair 🤭

what I manifested

you don’t have to read this if you don’t want to but, I just wanna talk about what I manifested 🤭

White, straight teeth, pretty smile.

longer, thicker manga like lashes, wide, black beady doe eyes.

plump, pink, soft lips

more prominent dimples

Slimmer, oval face shape.

4b, defined healthy curls hair.

longer hair.

pear shaped body, slim, flat, soft waist, round plump bubble butt, r plump, round thighs and hips.

slim arms, collar bones, back and neck.

how did I did it!

well, for one, I said affirmations when ever I could, and whenever I had doubtful thoughts I would counteract it with a affirmation and try to take a deep breath and remind myself manifesting is easy, simple and instant, and that I literally already have, before I even fully realize.

I created a vision board. with pictures for visualization, written affirmations. I really like this form of manifestation cause you can look at it before bed, read it in your free time, visualize and affirm while you look at it.

looking in mirrors. I know a lot of people say not to look into mirrors when manifesting a physical change, but for me it helps. For some reason, looking in mirrors makes affirming a lot more fun and makes me feel more confident, like while I’m looking in the mirror I’ll say “I’m so pretty. ☺️” “I’m literally so beautiful, it’s so mesmerizing.” “I have such a cute, small waist” and is makes acknowledging my affirmations as truth lot easier, and it makes me feel so confident to admire myself. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to tho, or if it doesn’t work for you.

That’s it! I love youuuuuu

sorry this is long, I was just really excited to share my results. 😭

remember that manifesting is literally so easy and simple, we literally do it all the time without even realizing, and manifesting is instant.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

may 2024 twst manga updates~

***This includes spoilers for the Episode of Savanaclaw, Episode of Octavinelle, and the 4koma!***

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LILIA SILVER AND SEBEK LOOK SO GOOD HERE 🤡 I love how Silver and Sebek are constantly shown flanking Lilia, it really enhances the bodyguard/knight vibes! Every time Lilia appears, he always looks like he's having so much fun. Lil' guy is living it up in every panel! Especially when he appears upside down to spook Ruggie.

efbiuSIUBDBYypvfW9wpWD THIS SHOT IS SO GOOD??????? ?I'M LIVING FOR CATER MAKING SILVER AND SEBEK LOOK LIGHTLY UNCOMFORTABLE AS HE HANGS ON THEM.............. .... . . . . ....... .. .... .. . . . . .. ..

Ruggie's despair is delicious 🤤 He's thinking about all the events that led up to this point and about how that will now all go to waste. Now that I think about it and I have the visual right in front of me... That's the same thing Leona felt every time he got knocked down for his efforts. The parallels, man...

Well, fellas... Looks like it's probably Overblot Leona time next chapter. A detail I love here is that, from Leona's perspective, all the faces of his dorm members are sorta blotted out... which is interesting seeing as how it was stated that Mrs. Rosehearts' face was intentionally blotted since she is considered the source of Riddle's trauma + the light novel tells us that Leona fears seeing hope and desperation for a better future in others because it might motivate him to try again, thus prompting another failure or rejection... 😭

Palace servants: Young master Leona's magical power is so strong, it's scary!! Leona: Damn, they don't understand me! They judge me before they even get to know me. If I were the older brother, they wouldn't be saying this stuff. Also Leona: [see image above]

MALEWIFE MODE RUGGIE????? 😭 What a contrast to the Ruggie in the Episode of Savanaclaw who is really going through it…

Love the detail of Yuuta and Grim helping out with chores in the background! It shows that they’re trying to pull their weight while they stay over.

Babe, wake up... New Yuuta and Leona reaction images just dropped from the Episode of Octainvelle... (I am Yuuta whenever new TWST content drops and my non-Twstie friends are Leona whenever they're listening to me blab nonstop about the updates--)

Yuuta once again proves to be my favorite of the current Yuu iterations 🫶 He’s just so sweet and hopeful!

We actually get to see the class photo!! Although the resolution here is very grainy. I'm really hoping that we get to see a close-up after Azul's OB!! I'm dying to see what he looked like as a kid!

fbhlavfuoeqy8vevif;fa fai THIS CHAPTER REALLY MADE ME LIKE ACE?????? ??? ? ?? ? It's probably because he gives the same flawless liar (even though the acting is sooo overexaggerated) energy as Jade in book 4. There's a really fun scene where he's distracting the Atlantica Museum guards and really hamming it up. He looks so cute while he's being (fake) upset yet so enthusiastic!!

This was my favorite part!! Ace excitedly talks about how he's always been interested in merfolk since he was little (lie) and how he saved up all his money to come to this museum (also a lie)... THEN BRO HAS THE AUDACITY TO POSE LIKE THIS AND TALK ABOUT WANTING TO BE A PART OF THAT WORLD????? ?? ???? ? ?? ? ?? ARIEL WHO>?????? ?? ??? ?? ? ?I o NLY KNOW TRAPPOLA NOW

One of the 4koma this month is about Octavinelle going on a camping trip! Azul wants to study the stars for money-making ideas/inspiration.

When talking about auroras, they're reminded of the Diasomnia students and think about making an aurora-colored drink to sell to them. The Octatrio also star-gaze and talk about aliens + selling octopus to them. They discuss the idea of filling a space suit with water and fish to they can walk in space too.

The other 4koma is about Trey brushing the mouths of his mandrake (as they have no teeth but dirt). He insists that everyone should have a clean oral cavity.

You can even tell which mandrake is Trey’s because it has a bunch of toothbrushes stuck in its pot 🪥

Jamil was planning on using his own mandrake to make an ancient remedy for relieving toothache. Trey is uh… interested… and attempts to test out the healing toothpaste for himself (Jamil of course stops him).

Trey… you’re the most NORMAL one, why are you like this OTL

[skzhocomments]

The Rising Empress - Bang Chan Stray Kids Fanfic (Masterlist)

Main Masterlist

Pairing: Bang Chan (of Stray Kids) x OC (name: Aristia)

Genre: non-idol AU, Royal AU, soft enemies to lovers, angst, romance, mature

Word Count: ~64k words divided in 17 chapters

Warnings: explicit, mature, swearing, feelings of hopelessness, angst, depression, crying, domestic violence, depression, anxiety, angst, etc.

This is just a story that doesn’t describe Stray Kids members' true characters in any way. It’s just a product of my imagination and should be treated as such.

This story is also on Wattpad (click here) and AO3 (click here)

A/N: As any other writer out there, I would appreciate reblogs and your comments on this story. Please let me know if you enjoyed it, and most importantly, have fun!

---

Summary:

“I guarantee you nothing will happen to you. I give you my word.” “How much does your word weigh, though?” Aristia scoffs. “You vowed during our wedding to love, cherish, and protect me no matter what. So far, none of your vows were respected. You said it yourself. You were never a husband to me.” “Neither were yours. In sickness and in health, I will stand by your side. With all that I am and all that I have, I pledge my loyalty and my love to you.” Chris scoffs as well. “You didn’t give me any chance to get close to you. You’ve put up your barriers and thought of me as your enemy since day one.” She comes closer to him. “I had no idea we shared an enemy instead, Aristia. Truly. I thought you were a spy.” “You didn’t even ask me anything. You dead bolted me.” “How could I have trusted you? You are the daughter of my enemy.” Chris frowns. “I don’t know. How can I trust you now, then? You are a man who hates me for simply being born as a princess of the enemy kingdom.” “… I assume you can’t.”

---

The Kingdom of the South and the Empire of the Sun forge an alliance at the expense of Princess Aristia - the daughter of a King who didn’t want her, sent over like a sacrificial lamb to his enemy, a man who doesn’t want her either, who won’t even cast a look at her. She decides she won’t look at him either. Two can play this game. --- Non-idol AU This story takes place in an alternate universe where Bang Chan is Emperor Mature content ahead. 18+ ©storminsidemycore

Hello!

Storm here!

The Rising Empress is a story I've started writing on 17/01/2024 and finished on 28.10.2024.

I've always been an avid Manga and Manhwa reader, so I've pretty much gotten inspiration from the hundreds of things I've read, which is how this story was born.

I hope you will enjoy it, as I'm extremely proud with how it turned out. It's safe to say that for me personally, this is one of my best, if not the best work.

The main character's name (Aristia) is inspired after the Manhwa The Abandoned Empress - which is where I found this name and its meaning. Apparently, "Aristia" means "Rising Empress", which I found quite fitting for this story.

---

The story and cover are original and my property. Any similarities to other stories are purely coincidental. Aristia, the protagonist, is a made-up character.

Stray Kids members or any other famous people mentioned along this story DO NOT represent their true character in any way, they are simply mentioned in order to provide a visual representation for the readers. Their personas obviously have nothing to do with their true personalities. They're just characters I've created for this story, so please don't take this too seriously.

Mature content ahead. Lots of trigger warnings apply, so please read carefully.

---

18+

©storminsidemycore

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Chapter 1 - The Sacrificial Lamb - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 2 - The Wedding - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 3 - Mistreatment and the Loss of Self - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 4 - The Bearer of Bad News - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 5 - Dirt on the Marble Floors - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 6 - When You're on Your Own - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 7 - When the Emperor Takes Notice - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 8 - Envy and Power - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 9 - Yearning for More - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 10 - The Battlefield inside the Palace - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 11 - Setting the Plan in Motion - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 12 - Aristia's Letter - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 13 - Betraying the Emperor - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 14 - The Punishment - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 15 - A Way Out - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 16 - Slowly Building Trust - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 17 - The Rising Empress (Final Chapter) - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

---

Thank you so much for reading my story, and I'm looking forward to your thoughts!

[girls--complex]

hi, love your work a lot! it manages to blend coherence with layers of esoterica, in a fun & meaningful way. do you have any big influences with your style?

Writing this as a narrative because my whimsicall mind can't seem to organize information logickally otherwise

So

When I was a child my Dad would show me a lot of comics/cartoons in all different styles/eras and so I was internalizing comic book logic from the very beginning. He really liked American comix both capes and Indie stuff but was also into franco belgian artists and let's be clear my papa has good taste so I was readying good stuff though I couldn't remember it all too reliably... Also Comics Journal, so I was reading comics & meta about comics. So basically I have like a deep archetypal brain stem dark spring of mind that spits out raw comic information like a dream that I can't place until I rediscover them, and a lot of deep unremembered imprintations that R kinda roiling around under the surface #Stupidsoldier

N then I was a deviantart kiddo and a reading manga at barnes and noble kiddo, and then I went and got a formal art education and learned about all these artists that sort of did pseudo comics or cartoons but didnt articulate it that way-- The German xpressionists are a big example of this -- and also about overall principles of like scale and hierarchy and time and presence -- and also just that I really like drawin the human figure in particular :)

I'm really grateful that my parents especially my dad were actually really supportive/invested in me being an artist even though they had very little faith in my character or overall competence. so I was always doing art activities to make me better at drawing because that was like the one redeeming quality I had, a lot of household resources went into me having art tutoring or doing community classes, and I was really strongly encouraged to get ma BFA

So 4 influences well I like things that are very stylish but very specific in how they represent figure N physiognomy... Naoki Urosawa & Jeff Smith were fascinations 2 me along this line... Arakawa is good too... I feel like this is a strength of American and British cartoonists generally but struggling to think of names

My favorite painter is tied between two commies: Siqueiros, who was a Mexican muralist and chaotic socialist, really specific markmaking and texture, pathos drenched figuration, charged epic landscapes, and Petrov-Vodkin, Russian ikonographer who became a propagandist for the USSR, semi-social-realist, semi-ikonographic compositions in which space is wrapping around itself to organize human figures according to a mythological logic, flattish, very cartoons/comics aligned, strange treatment of color but all really effective

History painting overall is everything to me it really doesn't show in Coward but I think it shows elsewhere some of my other dramatic sensibility is a lot from 00s action movie shlock which I would always enjoy to go see when I was younger and was somehow fascinated with the environment of government buildings and prisons and secret operations happeningunder the surface of every day life erupting into wet violence of men punching each other

I love the movie THE RAID redemption !!!!

I learned a lot of the logic of pacing N building pages around Tezuka's work as well as FMA N Death Note I think were big 1s to teach me that logic. Tezuka is a really good artist to look at for how to compose a page that supports the energy of the events that are happening on it, not that that's something I personally am good at. Favorite mangaka for tone and environment and visual identity are Katsuhiro Otomo, Tustomu Nihei, Suehiro Maruo, Nishioka siblings, Hideshi Hino

A lot of my sense of timing is also from news paper strips tbh. It's just a gut thing to me at this point hehe , Character design is also a gut thing for me I draw a little thing and I can either ensoul it with psychosexual fixation or I can't

I was born in the hospital Henry Darger worked at St. Joe's he's an ancestor to me but ofc inimitable by virtue of GOD being his sole audience

As for the esoterickal dimensions I feel like it's all it's own post let's just say I lack the inclination and ability for systematic and rigorous study but I am really interesting in gathering little packets of information and arranging them into dioramas and the longer I do it the more packets I accrue

I want to make a list of artists on here that I like/admire sometime too but that's too much for me rn. I also suspect a lot of people R mad at me for arbitrary reasons just as I also am mad at a lot of people for arbitrary reasons so I dont wanna bother no one ...

Oh well so I'm intentionally reorganizing how I draw right now because I sense a shift in my trajectory again so thanks for making me reflect

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Rose Recaps 2024 - Japan [Thailand | Korea.]

Ok, the individual show's recaps will be shorter in this one, because there are too many shows I've loved. I am partial to Japan, so it shouldn't be surprising.

We've had 4 different shows that had BL's within BL's. Which is a lot. And also kind of amazing. I'll start with those and then move on to all the others.

The Last One of 2023 and the First One of 2024 - I Became the Lead in a BL Drama: Crank up Edition

I love them and I can't believe I will get more of them this year. the comedy is great and they are both so earnest and adorable.

The One With the Slope - At 25:00 in Akasaka

They rewired my brain. One of my big obsessions of the year. The show within the show was used so efficiently. And Hayama. What a phenomenal character. I love pining boys, but this was on another level. A stand out moment was when Hayama finally chose himself and left Shirasaki before going too far, and tainting the beautiful memories they had created together.

The One With the Fourth Wall - A Man Who Defies the World of BL 3

Adding the making of a bl to this one was particularly interesting. That and the triangle made this season particularly fun to watch. Also Hatano was an incredible addition to the story and the filming of the bl was both adorable and heart breaking at times. A huge thanks to @ikeoji-subs for making it possible to watch.

The One With All the Tropes - Twilight Out of Focus

What a beautiful and lovely show. Just a gift for the eyes and a really fun and adorable watch. My favourite couple was the first, but I liked things about all of them. Such interesting use of tropes.

The One About Family - Ossan's Love Returns

I should thank @twig-tea everyday for convincing me to watch this one, even though I hadn't watch the previous ones. This is such a sweet show, with endearing characters and amazing family dynamics. Haruta and Maki deliver such sweet romance moments and Kurosawa makes me laugh so hard. It wasn't perfect but it was so so good.

The One With the Cutest Puppy - Sugar Dog Life

With so many disappointments, this show stands out by executing a simple and heart warming story really well. Isumi is the most adorable lonely boy and even though I wanted to strangle Amasawa at points, it all made sense in this context. They have great chemistry and their scenes together had a warmth that felt real.

The One With the Glass - Takara no Vidro

I will never get tired of someone falling for a crush because they were kind. It's something that Japan does a lot and I will always root for those characters. Taishin was such a beautiful character to watch grow and learn about his own feelings. And I adore Takara. His fear that his love for Taishin would bring out his possessiveness, and much like glass, if he held on too tight he might crush it, was heartbreaking to watch.

The One With the Succulents - Love Is a Poison

I just spoke a bit about it in my monthly breakdown so I'll just say one more thing about it. The visual effects in this show were used incredibly well, as were Shiba's insane dream sequences. The dropped green ink, the shine in the succulents and the heart eyes on Haruto. Perfection. Oh and the sound effects of the succulents. Freaking adorable.

The One With the Two Lonely Boys - Perfect propose

These two were looking for connection and a place to rest and found it in each other. It was short and gentle and sweet and managed to say a lot even though we only had them for 6 episodes.

The Other Magical Adaptation - Cherry Magic Anime

I would watch this story over and over again. And to have this one airing at the same time as the thailand adaptation was a joy. I feel the characters in this one are closest to the ones in the manga, they feel less perfect for lack of a better world. I want to rewatch this one soon.

The One With the Food and the Dog - Mr. Mitsuya's Planned Feeding

One of my new comfort watches. It's adorable in a very realistic way. The acting feels effortless, everybody feels comfortable in their roles, and all the supporting characters have purpose and play a part in the main romance. The best BL dog ever and all the food looked amazing and kept bringing me back to Kinou Nani Tabeta, which is not surprising since it shares a director with it. Thank you to @isaksbestpillow for allowing us to watch.

The One With the Amazing Women - She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat

I spoke about this one several times. I watched both seasons this year, my full review is here. I love all of them, although Kasuga holds a special place in my heart.

That's it for the breakdown by country. I still have one more post I wanna make with a couple of other bl's that I couldn't fit in these posts. Let's see if I find the time and the spoons for it. 💜

[forgedsplendor]

Gojo Satoru: or, how the eyes are the windows into the soul.

everyone and their mothers have talked about the kfc breakup scene to hell and back, we've gotten a dozen and more think pieces about the episode on twitter and tumblr and wherever else, but I really needed to add my two cents because it's been on my mind ever since I watched the episode.

something fun I've noticed about mappa's adaption of jjk is the way they animate gojo's technique—specifically in relation to his eyes.

in season one, gojo's eyes were always animated very... otherworldly.

they're always glowing and sparkling in this weird, uncanny way, which is kind of the point: gojo is the six eyes, after all, and considering the anime's animated and colored medium compared to the original manga's black and white, paneled format, it's a good way to adapt and demonstrate gojo's powers in the way the manga cannot. it also serves to visually separate gojo from the rest of the characters; as the strongest, he is different from the rest.

however, when season two's teasers were first released, there's a particularly interesting detail...

... his actually normal looking eyes.

and, yeah! that makes sense. as much as gojo and geto's high school selves love to tout around the title of "the strongest", it's undeniable that compared to his twenty-eight year old self, this gojo is much weaker, incapable of holding up his technique indefinitely, and incapable of using red, hollow purple, his domain expansion, and reverse curse technique: all of which his adult self are using passively.

so, i had personally figured that these were the eyes of an unawakened gojo. that once he mastered reverse curse technique, his eyes would start to glow like his adult self. however... that was not the case! as we can see...

... they still glow! but only when he was using his technique. once he puts it down...

... the glowing fades as well.

especially in these last few screenshots, mappa establishes the difference between "invulnerable" ( untouchable, literally, with his infinity technique up ) gojo and "vulnerable" ( infinity down, so things can now touch him ) gojo, both literally and mentally. ( let's put a pin in that. ) after geto's reassurance gojo physically lets down his defences of his technique, and thinks that that they're safe... leading to toji taking advantage of that naïveté, and the rest is history.

it's important to note both, as it puts his adult self into a new context: we know that after coming back from the dead, gojo's mastery of reverse curse technique allows him to use his infinity indefinitely without frying his brain.

it's funny, because this parallels his way of coping, as we see here:

curse technique reversal: red. the opposite to blue's attract, it instead repels.

after going through the traumatic events of hidden inventory, gojo... feels nothing. he pushes away these feelings, numbing himself to them instead.

he activates his infinity...

... and becomes untouchable. or, in other words...

... invulnerable. ( physically and emotionally. )

at the beginning of episode five, we don't get very many close shots of gojo's eyes, but he is in the middle of demonstrating his new grasp of infinity; in contrast to geto's spiral, the main focus of the episode and premature death as a whole, we get shots of gojo's back, his gaze obstructed by his spectacles, his face obscured entirely...

... or simply just far away.

to be fair, this all is in geto's point of view, and is used specifically to higlight the canyon that's opened up between the two, but the visual language is the same. gojo is untouchable.

well. up until...

though it's hard to see the state of his eyes with his spectacles in the way. but this is very quickly remedied just a few minutes later.

... his eyes are not glowing.

infinity is not activiated. his technique is down. gojo satoru is vulnerable. literally, in the sense that his technique is not in use, because he is dealing with a friend and not an enemy user, and mentally, because he is angry and upset and horrified and in shock in a way he was not with amanai's death.

as we know, gojo is not one to react emotionally. when kuroi was kidnapped, he did not worry: simply thought of another solution. when toji ambushed them, he did not panic: simply asked geto to complete the mission as he stayed behind to fight him off.

however, with geto's defection...

he yells, makes himself bleed.

when amanai died, he'd said he felt nothing. he'd floated in the air, weightless, marveling at the beauty of the world above and around him.

with geto's defection...

while nakamura's voice acting and the incredible animated character acting was more than enough to get his anguish across, using the tells of gojo's technique as well was the icing on the cake.

the eyes are the windows to the soul, after all, and in this moment, intentionally or not, his were blown wide open as his world crumpled apart.

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 66

We find out later this chapter that Thistle has memory issues. The Living Pictures in his house are probably there to help him remember everything important to him.

So the Island Lord was convinced to seal the dungeon after everything that happened. Ideally, the Canaries would be as uninvolved as possible, but Kabru and Mithrun falling down the pit made Pattadol decide to call reinforcements.

Since that hole is barely within the first floor and the first floor technically isn't part of the Golden Kingdom, Thistle probably doesn't have the power to fix the hole.

This elf is stunning.

Is this a Dark Elf? I love how Kui is using whites to show all the details on her. But she's still able to use black outlining to define her features as well. Who say's you can't draw black people in manga or anime? Anyone who genuinely believes that has a skill issue.

The ebony elf is a guard while the long-haired elf and the elf with the scar are criminals. I'd assume they are the criminals assigned to the ebony elf.

There are so many fun things going on in this panel.

Some of my favorite details:

Two elves are curious about Tade while another is scared

Hien is actually fairly tall and stands over several people in this shot

Namari is trying to pull Mr Tansu off the ebony elf while Kiki tries to diffuse the situation

Shuro does not like that he's been dragged into this situation

While Rin and Shuro were talking, Tade picked up and threw some of the elves and then got kicked in the head. Hien and that scarred elf kept staring each other down the whole time.

Good job Mr Tansu. You just killed the ebony elf, Shuro, and Rin. Also, I think Hien is still staring down that one elf even while her master falls to his death.

I'm so glad that all these plot threads are happening at the same time. It's hard to keep track of time in this series since there's no real day/night cycle.

That door doesn't match anything I've seen before (I think). I'm gonna guess it's the door up.

Fleki uses several different types of bird familiars and can even use several at once. She must be really good at multitasking.

Kabru's wrists have writing on them that looks similar to the spell that Izutsumi had.

The seal on Izutsumi summoned a hag from a star parking that doesn't seem to exist on Kabru. Marcille said Izutsumi's spell was a repurposed gnome spell. Maybe it was repurposed to bind a summoning spell to Izutsumi whereas the normal spell is used for general restraint. Kabru keeps his hands close to each other, so it's just magic handcuffs.

Pattadol also has that lip-biting nervous tic.

Scylla from Greek myth had a lower body of a sea serpent called a cetus. Dunmeshi instead gave it a wolf body.

Wouldn't it be funny if the Canaries encountered Giga Hepta-Head Marcille and Giga Double-Headed Flame-Ice Senshi earlier and that's why they show up in the visual about Laios's wish?

If the demon will eventually try to drive the dungeon lord above-ground, does that mean the Winged Lion wants to replace Thistle because Thistle stubbornly refuses to leave the dungeon? And this would also increase why Marcille would be an ideal dungeon lord since her wish necessitates expanding beyond the dungeon.

I hope we get more details about Utaya before this series ends. I want to know if the dungeon was a natural or artificial one, and if there might have been a dungeon lord and what their wish was. Also, I want to know about that part about the dead turning into monsters.

Mithrun has only one desire so he's easy to manipulate. It's easy to imagine him willingly eating, sleeping, and conserving his mana if you tell him it will let him beat the demon. I'd like to see Kabru tell Mithrun that he needs to poop if he wants to beat the demon.

It's always funny to cut back to the Touden party in a chapter with other groups in it. So many serious things are happening, and then we cut to what they're doing and they're running around trying to make curry.

Izutsumi always seems so excited to help out with the cooking. Remember how she perked up in chapter 36 when she thought Maizuru was going to task her with helping to cook something only to get mad when that didn't happen?

She was pretty focused and inquisitive while the party was making curry. Maybe she likes making things and performing simple, repetitive tasks that have clear end goals, and cooking happens to hit on that.

Where did they get that giant plate from?

That's a really cool use of Changelings. If Marcille's tonic works, then it would be possible to be immune to the spores and you could use them to transform different foodstocks. If safe utility methods are researched, they could greatly expand a restaurant's menu. Or maybe adventurers could use a changeling apparatus to vary their travelers rations.

Of course Laios's mental image of the Golden Country people include a minotaur and the minotaur has far more detail to it.

In Laios's defense, I would have done even worse at remembering Kabru's name if I was in his place. At least he has an accurate recollection about his face.

The scene on the first floor has escalated. Hien and that elf are now fighting each other, Kiki and Kaka are trying to drag the Tansu's away, and Benichidori is checking her makeup.

How did they get in this situation?

When the Winged Lion said it was going to restrain Thistle's power, I didn't know it meant by literally trying to restrain him and Falin.

Chilchuck looks like he's only pretending to celebrate. Meanwhile, Marcille is grabbing and lifting Izutsumi's hand in the air.

It's the raspberry thing all over again. The Red Dragon wants to show how much he cares about Thistle but Falin's personality is influencing how he expresses it.

The only time I can say Chimera Falin definitely spoke was at the end of chapter 36. There was that one moment in chapter 37 where she spoke to Laios, but I'm not sure if that was real or imagined. During the raid fight, she spoke incantations and managed to do one even after Kabru slit her throat.

I think her inability to speak is not because of Kabru slitting her throat. Instead, I think she was given some additional physical modifications after the fight and she lost her voice during them.

A lot of Thistle's memories with Delgal are them sharing food together. The Winged Lion took something from him that's made him who he is now, and I think it took Thistle's desire to share. And without that, Thistle's wish to protect his kingdom and its people was twisted into a desire to keep everyone and everything and see them as possessions.

And if his desire to share is gone, then Thistle cannot fathom the joy of sharing food and feeding people you care about. So maybe he took away the peoples' ability to enjoy food because feeding them became a hassle.

back

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

Day 49

Hey look it’s the Niche Polycule! Give em a round of applause everyone.

I wanted to draw Karaoke art cause that’s a quintessential trope for yuri manga, however I decided to take the opportunity to throw in my ship that I wanted more art of, because it literally has two musicians (Sorry Mukuro, I gave you a type).

There’s not a lot interesting in this one beyond the fact that I fuckin loved drawing Mikan in this. 

Uhhhh, fuck it here’s a fun fact. Ever wonder what the file names for these pictures are?

Junkan Feelings (Insert Number here) The reason for the name is unknown, as I came up with it for the first three pics, which as mentioned was probably around a year or two ago. Interesting right? Oh shit wait. Okay so I probably should have done this on an earlier day to give more time, however. Spoilers for tomorrow I guess, it’s a visual directly based on the ending of my first ever Junkan Fic, “No Regrets”

So if you don’t want vague spoilers for how that fic ends, go give it a read. Unlike the Vampire AU it’s just a oneshot, 4000 words granted, but still a oneshot. 

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

[starlostlix]

Yuumori Light novel review!

So today I finally read all the Yuumori light novel stories (thanks to @teawaffles translations! I highly recommend reading their translation blogs) and I wanted to talk about them a bit separately because I feel like I haven't seen much talk of them. So I'll summarise the premise of each one and talk about what I like about them and what they can mean for the characters and the wider story! Spoilers ahead!

Volume 1 - Stories 1 - 4

1) The Lord of Crime's Caper

- Summary - When Moran is accused of cheating in a card game at a pub, William and Fred tag along to expose the accuser for cheating as well.

- Opinions - this one is a really fun story where William gets a night out and a bit of time 'off' from being the Lord of Crime to just have a bit of fun... and by fun he means showing people how to do card tricks. Moran content is always great, the card game itself is entertaining and the way the cheater (a guy called Johnson) gets caught out is really fun. The bond between Moran and William is also interesting in this story! And Fred is there too and he does a disguise ploy and I love that for him. Not a ton to say about this one, but it's good fun!

2) Louis and the Aquaria

- Summary - in order to catch out a nobleman interested in rare animals, Louis is tasked to look after various rare fish in the Moriarty house - which he accidentally gets perhaps too attached to.

- Opinions - this one genuinely nearly made me cry. First of all, Louis cares so much about these fish and it's really sweet. Moran getting confused by the species names is funny (because I would be too), and everyone naming the fish after each other is fun and interesting. But the best part is Louis' attachment to the fish named after William as it falls ill, as it is not only genuinely heartwrenching but also acts as foreshadowing for much of Louis' role in the Final Problem (doing whatever he can to try and save William since he cares for him so much). When he was caring for fish William so much that he put his own health on the line I was almost crying (and I don't usually cry at books). Brilliant story, probably my favourite in this volume. Also the translators at teawaffles adding visual guides to the fish is brilliant!

3) Albert's drinking contest

- Summary - after the creation of MI6, Albert challenges Moran to a celebratory drinking contest for some fun. Fred and Louis also join whilst William watches.

- Opinions - perhaps the funniest story out of all of them. Seeing these characters get drunk is really fun and it's nice to see them so casual with each other. I'm convinced the amount Moran and Albert (especially Albert...) drink is not humanly possible (or at least not possible without getting alcohol poisoning) but when has that stopped this manga series. Albert having 51(!!!) glasses of wine yet not being drunk is genuine insanity. Quite a short one so not much else to say here!

4) The Adventures of John

- Summary - a young girl asks Sherlock to help find her missing dog but he refuses, so John decides to help instead. After some suspicious (and expensive) searching, He and Sherlock end up walking into a huge mystery to solve.

- Opinions - John is such a sweetheart and a kind soul in this story (and most of the time really) and I'm so happy to see more of him! Also I feel like this is one of 3 times Wiggins and the Irregulars are actually plot relevant and I kind of wish we knew more about them... nonetheless this story is quite fun. I like that they uncover this ring of thieves but make it clear that besides the ringleaders, most are forced into this through abuse and find a way to protect them rather than arrest everyone. Also the way it links to the first story (the mention of a bar cheating scandal, the Moriarty carriage passing by at the end, etc.) is really good I love that. Again the translators at Teawaffles went all out with maps and pictures of the places they visit which I also love!

Volume 2 - stories 5 - 8

5) Forbidden games

- Summary - Sherlock and William are in Durham investigating a club for a noble's missing son and end up walking into a dangerous game of russian roulette.

- Opinions - This is probably what most people talk about but SherLiam's bond and interactions in this story are so important - both intriguing and a testament to their connection despite their limited meetings. The way Sherlock begins to wonder if William could be the Lord of Crime and seems happy of such a worthy opponent feels kind of gay I love that for them. But there's also such a deep level of trust already and that's fascinating. I fear the story is somewhat predictable but it's kind of meant to be (the mention of the 3 assassins paradox at the start ties directly into the ending, as does mentions of russian roulette with fake bullets (that I rightly assume would be switched for real ones in their game)) as the foreshadowing is heavy. It also in some elements foreshadows their face off with Milverton in The Two Criminals in the nature of the scene which is really cool. The antagonist Alan playing rigged games for the thrill of winning after a life of losing is actually a really interesting backstory for him but also it's satisfying when he's defeated. Some elements of this story with the russian roulette remind me of Squid Game s2 (which I watched for the first time recently, i'm thinking of the scene with the Recruiter specifically). Really good story.

6) There's no business like show business

- Summary - Bond helps a group of theatre actors from the slums with a play based on children's stories, only for their performance to be cancelled by the prejudiced theatre owners. So he helps them find an alternative way for the show to go on.

- Opinions - I love this story so much! I love seeing more Bond especially in him coaching these kids in theatre skills and supporting their show. The constantly moving show or 'guerrilla theatre' was honestly genius and so cool, and using the whole of London as a stage in fhis way kind of resembles how William also uses London as a stage for the performance of his crimes. The end of the play where Bond steps in to be Alice's sister and Maya (the lead and main girl in this story - I also love her) uses the lines as a way of expressing her desire to dream big like she did as a kid is so sweet. The connection with Maya being from the same orphanage that William and Louis were from is also amazing I love it. Probably my favourite story in this volume tied with the previous!

7) The eternal children

- Summary - a flashback of how Jack Renfield became the combat teacher for the Moriarty brothers, challenging them to a potentially deadly duel.

- Opinions - the mention of an entrance test made me go "entrance exam... BSD reference?"... but genuinely this story is really interesting but it shows how strategic the MoriBros are even in their youth. Seeing a young Jack was kind of confusing tbh. The ploys the MoriBros used were great though - both the maid ploy and especially the teacup ploy were really smart and the brothers work together so well with each having their own strengths. Quite a short one so not much else to say really.

8) It happened one night

- Summary - Whilst staying in a Cotswolds house of Mycroft's noble friend, Sherlock and John get roped into a wedding party, and eventually wrapped up in an art theft case!

- Opinions - A really interesting mystery story for Sherlock and John, especially with them trying to figure out the mystery. I somehow managed to predict the art thief right (it being the painter Rheos who was in fact a serial art thief running from the law), but it was still quite interesting! Also the Holmes brothers content was brilliant even if short, I love seeing brotherly Sherly and Mycroft!

Volume 3 - Stories 9-11

9) The girl who sees rainbows

- Summary - whilst out looking for presents William makes a new friend, but also gets wrapped up in a hostage situation led by a dangerously evil man.

- Opinions - Helena's dynamic with William is so brilliant he's genuinely so sweet and kind with kids (same with him giving the young boy a piggyback ride.. my heart..). The Synesthesia representation was also really cool! I don't see it talked about very much. Also the villain being called Jake Voorhees as a reference to Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees is genuinely insane and the naming trend of the antagonists in the vol 3 stories is perhaps the funniest thing to come out of these novels. It's nice to see Patterson a bit more too and his connections to William!

10) The Conspiratorial Bullet

- Summary - the Moriarty group set up a large game of paintball with various nobles, including Helena and her father, in order to prevent a murderous plot and uncover a criminal in the midst.

- Opinions - I love the huge game of paintball and the group being split into different teams, with play and strategy by Bond, Louis, Moran, Fred and Albert being really fascinating! I love getting to see Helena and William again they were so father and daughter coded when he took a paintball for her it's so sweet (the book even said that itself!). The ending was really interesting too and the antagonist was really interesting too (especially finding out he caused the previous story and Helena's father's disappearance), and his name is Andy Krueger... like Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street... the naming trend continues. Really good story especially the paintball game I love the paintball game (and seeing Von Herder more was really great!).

11) The Fugitives in the fire

- Summary - Sherlock investigates some of the escaped criminals from the department store crime, and ends up stumbling upon a locked room mystery with 3 bandaged suspects! But in this case he is forced to work with Inspector Gregson instead of his best friend John...

- Opinions - I'm so happy we finally got a locked room mystery for Sherlock! Him being forced to work with Gregson is so funny though because he was fed up of him at the start fr but they coming to respect each other at the end was really nice. Also despite the lack of John in the chapter there's quite a few cute John and Sherlock moments (especially with him pretending John was with him, thinking of his possible responses and also at the end where he praises him!!!). I may have been able to predict the criminal (mostly because he had the name Mike Myers, a reference to Michael Myers from Halloween.. the naming trend continues again) and to some element the method (but I probably figured that out when Sherlock did actually sooo) which was also really interesting. This story also shines in its ending... finding out that one of the suspects is in fact Helena's father who is still alive, her recognising his colour with her synesthesia, her reunion with him... it's also so sweet and the fact William did all of this for her warms my heart and it's honestly the perfect place to end these novels.

Most fun - Albert's Drinking Contest, Forbidden Games (Sherliam content), The Conspiratorial Bullet (specifically the Mori group paintball game)

Most emotional - Louis and the Aquaria, There's no business like show business (Maya's character especially), The Girl who sees Rainbows, The Fugitives in the fire (ending).

Overall Favourites - Louis and the Aquaria, Forbidden Games, There's no business like show business, The girl who sees rainbows, The conspiratorial bullet.

[sugarpasteltmnt]

You write unhinged Leo so well, and I really like how you write him. I was wondering if you had tips on unhinged characters 😂, or do you just get inspro from existing characters 👀

aksdakjsdh thank you so much ;w;

And honestly???? I’m not totally sure how to give tips— but I love, love, love unhinged characters in media, so I’ll use them as examples

(long rant below lol)

I’ve always been a big fan of silly, ‘crazy’ characters in animated movies and cartoons. I grew up on Batman the Animated Series and the original Teen Titans, which were full of silly, fun tragic characters.

Don’t get me wrong, i love a good edge-lord— but as a tot i thought the colorful, theatrical, insane bad guys were more fun to watch than the big scary serious ones (ESPECIALLY if they had a good villain song. A+ good shit)

(From left to right: Ratigan from Great Mouse Detective, Joker from Batman the Animated Series, Mumbo Jumbo from Teen Titans, Martin from Secret of Nimh 2, Bill Cypher from Gravity Falls, and Spinel from the Steven Universe movie)

And not just bad guys!! There are a ton of unhinged good/neutral characters that i absolutely adore.

(From left to right: King Bumi from ATLA, Clara from Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun, and, of course, our silly 2018 turtle boys)

((There are many more characters in both categories, but I’ll slide these examples in here for now))

My personal brand of “Unhinged” or “Crazy” characters definitely leans on comedy. That’s what i enjoy seeing and reading! I personally like it because it can help keep a story fresh and interesting. There’s an element of surprise and unpredictability with what a character might do, and i love that!!

I also really enjoy a touch of feral behavior in my unhinged characters. The lack of clarity and the danger that imposes can be a very fun tool to use, no matter the character’s moral compass. (I’m feral for feral behavior lol)

And impulses. Whether a character has a few screws loose or is generally a goober, they like to act on impulses. This often goes hand-in-hand with comedy, and that’s something I enjoy!! We get a lot of moments like that in Rise, and that was one of my favorite parts of that TMNT iteration.

But as far as writing goes, it’s been tricky for me. All of the characters I grew up or love have been visual— trying to find a good balance for reading has been a puzzle I’ve been figuring out as I go.

I read a lot manga (lol nerd) and comics, and I love how thoughts/dialog are depicted. Especially the really dramatic or impactful moments. (I’d add examples but I’m already at the Tumblr image limit LAME)

As strange as it sounds, I try to capture that “impactful visual” style in my writing. If I had ANY advice on writing unhinged characters, pay attention to pacing—

Short. Fast. A calculating thought. Perhaps a run on sentence that lacks punctuation to represent the rushing and disorganized thought process. A question? An answer with little thought. Is this moment amusing; describe how. Is it upsetting; describe how. Are the thoughts starting to scatter? M aybe s o…

Big moment statement.

Action or plan of next big move. Flow should never seem too uniform. Even in normal writing. Don’t be afraid of accentuating— but don’t overdo it. Remember, unhinged characters are impulsive. Have fun with that.

Just as a quick and dirty summary— when it comes to unhinged characters, I like to use comedy, feral behavior, and acting on impulses. I also like to keep it as visually appealing as possible for characters to give the eyes a little treat after reading walls of text. I like to use fun text formatting to help with the fun too (But don’t overdo it! Don’t make it feel like a chore to read) (<- says the girl who goes into way too much details sometimes lmao whoops)

But ultimately— have FUN!!! Unhinged characters are fun, so make sure you have fun writing/drawing/creating them!!

[mahou-furbies]

It is time for

This time the event will be hosted by the green Cure Ocs, who got a little attention this year.

Mahou anime of the year:

(Wonderful Precure!, Heartcatch Precure!, Precure movies (All Stars F, Mahou Tsukai series movie), Märchen Mädchen, Sasaki & Peeps, MahoAko, MahoAku, MahoNare, Acro Trip, Magilumiere, Samurai Flamenco)

Manga:

(Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card, Shugo Chara Dream Joker, Magical Girl Dandelion, Mermaid Melody Aqua, Champignon Witch, Pretty Guardian Stress, Who Said Blues had to be Cool)

Other:

(Magical Girl Raising Project Aces, W.i.t.c.h. reboot vol2, Mermaid Melody Encore)

While 2023 was an extremely Precure year this was the opposite and I only barely managed to finish one of the backlog seasons. I'm hoping to get back on track next year and finish the remaining two, and then we're off to new adventures when that opens up slots for a different kid show mahou franchise. It'll be exciting to see which one it ends up being, I guess Doremi has a chance since I already started the first season, but that was also on a whim so anything else can also happen.

We had quite a few contests this year, starting with the favourite Precure (won by Cure La Mer), and there was the Miss Meguca contest about their outfits, with select few major characters from MagiReco (won by Madoka). And that was followed by Miss Meguca contest for casual outfits (won by Konomi) and Halloween outfits (won by Darkness Mitama). And then there was the Christmas outfits, which is still ongoing because I didn't quite have a good moment to put up the final round... Sorry about that, it'll be way out of season once it concludes but that's how it sometimes goes.

I also planned a Magireco swimsuit contest for summer, but since the game shut down at that time I thought it would have been kind of mean since I predict the air around it to be kind of negative. But I'll probably do that next summer.

Magireco shutting down was a shame since even if I didn't play, it had been a good source for new mahou designs. Though new stuff had really slowed down so it wasn't exactly a surprise.

We also had a little Halloween event with my mahou OCs, and looking for video game food items for it was a lot of fun.

Then it's time for the awards!

Best henshin design goes to the main character's Snow White transformation from Märchen Mädchen! Truly an S-tier design that has a lot of good elements but still isn't overdesigned. Let's point out the asymmetry, pale colour palette and white hair, slight gradient, winged shoes and flower colour accents. The miniskirt + long train makes foor a great combo too, it's still recognisable as a magical girl but also looks super cool.

Honourable mention to Berry Blossom from Acro Trip for the simple but super cute strawberry outfit.

Best team design goes to Heartcatch Precure! They're simple and recognisable and also include the season's flower theme.

I also want to give a shoutout to Wonderful Precure because for the first time in like a decade the Cure outfits have a recognisable visual theme going on.

Best powerup design goes to Wonderful Precure Diamond Ribbon style! I like that they're more uniform (probably too uniform since only the skirt part is different but whatever) and I'm a big fan of the way the skirt colours make a gradient.

Also not a powerup but I don't think it's something that needs its own category, but a special mention to the evil clones from the W.i.t.c.h. reboot, I'm always ready for slightly altered designs of the main characters.

Best civilian design goes to Tsubomi, specifically because of her glasses! I just can't get over what a great design element they are, and she even wore them far more often than I expected. I thought she'd completely swap them for contact lenses for marketability but no, they regularly showed up through the season!

Best school uniform goes to Mahonare! It's cute and looks refreshingly different from usual and thus fitting for a magical school. Plus look at the cute little hat! And girls can opt for poofy shorts too!

Honourable mention for the warm brown palette of the Wonderful Precure uniform, plus also giving the shorts option for girls.

Best hair goes to Yuki's civilian hair from Wonderful Precure! For being simple and elegant. I also like her Cure hair except for the "sideburns" whose length feels a bit awkward.

A honourable mention to the little stars in Byakuya's hair in MahoAku.

Best magical item goes to Byakuya's staff from MahoAku! It's simple and doesn't look like a plastic toy.

Hibana's staff (also from MahoAku) isn't bad either.

Best henshin scene goes to Byakuya from MahoAku! It's well animated and and the glowing stars are beautiful.

A shout out to Heartcatch for giving Tsubomi and Erika unique animation for their dual transformation instead of just splicing scenes from their individual henshins together.

Best fan creation goes to Mermaid Melody Encore! It has the benefit for being an extremely favourable comparison to the canon sequel, but it has a lot going for it outside that too, with an interesting premise, likable characters and appealing art.

Best relationship goes to... do I have to give this to SatoIro? I'm not a shipper and I couldn't care less about Iroha, but the confession and date episodes were really good.

Alternatively, Luna and Lis from from Champignon Witch have a really interesting tragic and complicated relationship.

Best mascot goes to Daifuku from Wonderful Precure! Has a quiet but powerful presence, indomitable, doesn't have a shrill voice, never does anything annoying, has an appealing colour scheme and perpetually looks kind of grumpy. This is peak mascot performance.

And since she photobombed the picture, let's also say that Niko has a really funny personality. And I guess a shout out to Wonderful Precure in general for doing something different with the mascots this year.

Best supporting character goes to Shade from Magical Girl Dandelion! I regret to tell I like his tumblr sexyman design and he has a super interesting and fresh dynamic with the main girl.

Best visual goes to the MahoAku title cards! There's somehow a lovely retro vibe to them.

In the general visual category I considered both Mahonare and Mahoaku. Mahonare has a more unique look, but since anime is supposed to be moving pictures I do have to dock some points due to the fact that the animation is clearly struggling. Meanwhile Mahoaku's lovely pastel style is less distinct but also looks consistently good even in moving form.

Best audio goes to All for One Forever from Precure movie F. This song slaps and makes the fight scene it accompanies incredibly epic.

"Conflict between light and darkness" from the Heartcatch OST is also a beautiful piece of music and "Fight for the future" gets you pumped up for a big fight.

The Innovation award is given to a magical girl work that I think does something fresh for the genre. This year it goes to Magical Girl Dandelion for its extremely fresh premise that still doesn't feel too tropey.

The Golden Mana award is the prize given to one thing I didn’t like.

This year it goes to the entirety of Mermaid Melody Aqua. I know I already awarded it to Lucia's design specifically a few years ago and in general I'm trying to avoid repeats, but frankly it would be disingenious to act like Aqua didn't deserve it this year since it turned out to be one of my least favourite manga ever. There's the awful heroine and irritating or irrelevant side cast, the awkward art, the weird fanservice, the lacking storytelling… the list goes on.

Dishonourable mention to the stupid side cast of Mahoaku.

Best character goes to Cure Blossom! The rare shy main Cure, great character arc, lovely design (the glasses!) and in general super sympathetic and likeable. I hope she won't remain the only of her kind among the franchise!

Best work goes to Champignon Witch! Much deliberation went on among the one-person council of Mahou Furbies if it should be eligible for any of the awards since it's clearly not a magical girl series, but then again neither is Petite Princess Yucie and I rewarded it last year. So let it be known that from now on anything I deem mahou enough to warrant a review post on this blog is also qualified for awards.

But anyway, Champignon Witch has a lovely fairytale setting, unique story, likable characters, magical art, melancholic mood and S-tier outfits. I'm really looking forward to the anime next year!

If you think only actual magical girl works should qualify, then you can think that Magical Girl Dandelion is the winner; so far there aren't a lot of chapters out of it yet so even on that grounds it might be a bit too early for it, but for what there is to judge I've liked everything about it. Heartcatch Precure is also a good contender, but it does have the typical kid show tropes holding it back so it's harder for a Precure season to win when there's actual competition aimed at an older audience.

Plans for 2025:

I also intend to get back to MagiPro, finally reading Aces was really fun but then I hit the Episodes filler books and the progress halted.

The new Madoka Exedra game is also coming out, though I'm not particularly excited. I have no intention of playing it (gacha eww), and also since it's 3D I'm under the impression that adding new characters requires more effort, which would probably mean less new or obscure characters and more focus on the old favourites.

Art-wise I want to create the missing green Cures for the three newest seasons at least, and also finally do something more with the DPPC. Though that's what I say every year...

[taki118]

Yakuza Fiance ep 5 Manga Comparison

After the overstuffed ep 4 ep 5 is a breath of fresh air still some context missed but not as badly, as always the differences are below, and I'm using fantranslations cause I'm lazy.

So thankfully they did keep the conversation I said the dropped last time. Re-ordering things is still dumb to me (I think the Renji talk would have been a better cold open) but at least its here. Though again there are some differences

For one they took out Yoshino noticing all the missed calls/messages from Kirishima which is a funny thing. The anime does make up for by actually having Yoshinos head move around the room as Kirishima points out weak points which is a nice gag that takes advantage of the medium (wish they would continue that)

(Not relevant but I think the box of sauces they show at the end of the scene is reference to an extra the manga had about Tokyo not having a bunch of sauces that Osaka has)

For once the anime adds in a scene that isn't ominous starring, giving us Yoshino looking at test results to flow into her fears about the actual exams, which is nice.

So its not a change here but due to pervious change the dialogue in the anime makes less sense. So as I said in ep 4 when Yoshino is talking to Kirishima about her dad he lets her in on the fact he's looked into her family so when Yoshino asks him here how much he knows about Tsubaki it makes sense. Because the anime dropped this bit the anime view has to assume that like Yoshino assumes he did this.

So here is a bit they dropped during the conversation after meeting Tsubaki that I feel like is a waste

Yoshino more explains what she means when she says Tsuabki is such a Kyoto girl, noting they went all the way to Ise once and just had food from a Kyoto restaurant chain. Its funny and sad to see it go but overall ok to drop.

This isn't like a dialogue change but a shot change kinda I havent mentioned it much but a lot of the shot choices the anime makes are odd but this one is a bit of a loss. When Yoshino looks at the sandals in the anime she just does a height comparision with Kirishima and its cute but

But its not as cute as Yoshino tugging Kirishima by the arm to look with her. Also it cuts that Tsubaki is starring at Kirishima who's obviously enjoying the attention.

The conversation Tsubaki has with Kirishima about his behavior towards Yoshino (which FYI is really important and I could talk more on) is pretty accurate a few reorderings but this was dropped and i just think its a shame

Its good insight, and an added visual to help bring everything across.

Anyway the lead into Tsuabki and Kirishimas "date" is much the same the big drop is this bit with Yoshino

It again shows that she is a lot smarter than she gives herself credit for, knowing what they'll talk about.

So the ferris wheel scene is pretty accurate but they left out a rather important bit where Kirishima is explaining his theory about Yoshino having never lost a kidney.

They don't show HOW Kirishima knew the scar wasn't quite right for kidney removal, in the anime the assumption is that he looked it up in the manga they note that he had a specialist take a look this specialist being one of his friends with benefits. This is important because this lets you in one WHY Kirishima is primarily with these women (and they are all women) all of them have something he needs, connections, information or skills that he does not have access to normally. He's not just sleeping around for the fun of it even Ayano the girl we see in ep 3, she's a model with boyfriend who has connections. This is subtle set up to pay offs down the line as Kirishimas actions are better explained. Its a rather important loss and really eye opening on re reads as things begin to click.

and this leads into another thing where technically its the same but subtleties are missed. The anime just has Tsubaki note this is an odd convo on a ferris wheel and questioning why Kirishima is so fixated on Yoshino, before Kirishima talks about the train ticket.

The manga however first has Kirishima state he wished he could be on the ferris wheel with Yoshino, which adds context to why Tsubaki asks her question. Then Kirishima hesitates, he thinks for a moment before bringing it up because he knows this information will get to Yoshino and he's weighing his options. It adds weight to what he says letting the reader know that this is indeed important. Also it removes a line where Kirishima explains he wasn't given any extra funds so he had to scrape it together another hint for later.

So the rest of the ep is pretty accurate, nothing I can really take too much note of, not as much as other episodes but what was dropped is pretty disappointing in many ways.

[erithel]

Hello...Do you mind if I ask your top 5 (or top 10) favorite moments from any media that you love (books, anime/manga, tv series, movies, games, etc)? Thanks if you want to answer. Sorry if I ask too much....

That's such a fun question!

And definitely one that's difficult to answer... But let me see what I can come up with.

*These are not in order of favorite, just in the order I thought of them.*

1- Agni Kai ("Avatar the Last Airbender") This one is just a literal masterpiece. The visuals, the action, the music, the lack of dialogue, the show of character in their fighting... Literally mesmerizing.

2- Eri smiling ("My Hero Academia") She is the sweetest little girl and watching her smile as the darkness washes away from her after everything she was put through...it makes me cry.

3- Nadiya winning "The Great British Baking Show" I love Nadiya, and it was such an emotional moment to see her talk about how she would never doubt herself again, you could see how hard she was on herself and how much she didn't believe she could do something like this - and it was just so encouraging to see all her hard work pay off.

4- Kars for Kids ("The Good Place") We had to pause the episode to let me finish laughing because this caught me so off guard. Especially because it feels like an inside joke, almost. Like either you don't know what they're talking about with that song, or you are like YES THAT IS THE THEME SONG OF HELL.

5- I Want it That Way ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine") It's just brilliant. It's so funny, and no matter how many times I watch it, it always makes me laugh.

6- Rooftop scene between Daredevil and Punisher ("Daredevil") This scene always stood out to me because it didn't resolve with either character caving into the other's beliefs. I was so used to scenes always having a resolution, so this one was captivating because it was some of the best and most realistic dialogue I remember watching at the time.

7- Poison ("Hazbin Hotel") All I will say is that this was so hard to watch, and that was the point. Whoever worked on this did such an amazing job in conveying the situation from a place of understanding and not just for shock value.

8- Bad Wolf Rose ("Doctor Who") This moment always stuck with me because it showed what humans were capable of. And the fact that all her lines were spoken in a very soft, gentle tone made it all the more powerful.

9- Dracarys ("Game of Thrones") This moment I liked because it was just sheer comeuppance and satisfaction. I also was working retail at the time, and this had such "I AM the manager" vibes lol.

10- Riza Hawkeye shooting ("Full Metal Alchemist") She's such a good character, and she was usually so stoic and in control of any situation - until she thought the man she (at least in my mind) loved was dead, and she just absolutely lost it.

There are some shows/movies where I liked too many moments that it's safer to say I just like the thing as a whole, and no one moment stuck out too much. And I left books off the list so I could add a gif/video to this post.

I know that the minute I post this, I will think of many more moments, but I'm trying not to overthink this or I'll be here forever lol

I generally like moments of big emotion. Or at least moments that make me feel things - good or bad.

Thanks for this question! It was fun to think about. :)

[maleyanderecafe]

Akahane Academy (Visual Novel)

Created by: Scratchitone

Genre: Comedy

Akahane Academy is a parody and it knows it. All of the male characters the player meets in the beginning are yanderes, and all with long chins that will stab you through the chest. There are three different yanderes, all of which are kind of unique in their own way. The intended play is to go from top to bottom when it comes to routes, so I'll try to follow that order when writing this review.

The player heads to Akahane academy to meet up with their club leader, Yukina-san, the neko girl, who seems to be rivals with the main character. She tells the player that she's left a surprise for them in the classroom, to which they walk in and find three different guys, Hiro, the blonde cheerful one, Misaki the black more mysterious one and Yuusei the more aloof one. From there, the player can interact with them and get their route.

Starting with Hiro, the player stalks to him about some of the manga that they like, and finds out that he's in the cooking club. He shows the player around the home economics room, and lets the player have a taste of cherrypie that he just baked. However, upon taking the pie out, the player smells a strong iron smell, and sees that the pie has a human face stretched out on it. Hiro reveals that he killed all of the player's friends and turned them into pies so that no one else could have them.

If the player goes with Masaki, he starts to brood on about how nobody understands him (complete with an emo wolf in the background), until the player tries to resonate with him. Shocked by this development, he falls in love for the first time and ends up telling them that they will be together forever and ever.

Finally, if the player goes with Yuusei, he will continue to stare at her, sort of breaking waiting for them to notice him until Yuki-san enters the room. She states that this entire thing was revenge for winning the science fair, where she worked really hard on her project and the player won by... making something they don't even understand. As revenge, she ends up making the three boys to ruin their life. She ends up leaving and the player is now stuck with the three yandere boys.

As I've said, very much a parody, since they call everyone weeby names and have dumb things go on but it's great and I like it. Definitely the most "serious" route is Hiro's route since we actually do get to see him basically cook all of the player's friends (which explains why we see such few people in the school anyways and the fact that the Home Eco's room is mysteriously covered in blood. It's probably the most scary route in the entire game and it's a shock because it's likely the first one that you play. The other two are a lot more lax, with Masaki's being probably the most tame (and funniest one) since it plays on the trope of an overly emo/brooding male lead, and the image of him sitting under a tree with a wolf to symbolize his brooding side is actually hilarious. He falls in love and becomes rather protective afterwards but there isn't really too much after that. Masaki's has even less than that but there are little flashes of him smiling as he talks to the player and his figure becomes more creepy as it goes on. It gets interjected by Yuki-san revealing her whole plot of making three yandere guys to ruin the player's life (though I'll be honest so far the only one who actually did anything was Hiro after cooking all of those weird blood pies). Still, it really does lean into the weeby OWO UWU type of writing and it is pretty fun to play since nothing is really taken that seriously. Also man, those chins are so sharp I could probably cut cheese with them.

Anyways, short game, pretty fun. Lots of dumb moments. I enjoyed it! If you like more parody games/ comedic type of yandere games, try this one out- it's short and it likes to make fun of itself which I can always appreciate.

[oddberryshortcake]

Hi Oddberry! I saw that you saw my ask on Cozi's page and the confusion I had along with it 💀

Now that I think about it I actually do remember Cozi mentioning your Megara OC/yuy was yours and just forgot! 😭 My apologies 😅

Buuuuuuut…now that I know who the owner is, may I ask for some lore on your oc and what her relationship is like with the other NRC cast?

It’s no problem at all! Cozy and I have been collaborating together for years so there is a lot of overlap. She’s the designer of Katerina, but she helped some with characterization too, just as I pitch in sometimes with Tia and the boys!

I’m sorry I don’t have any fun visuals to accommodate this and it’s just words BUT hopefully it’ll be an interesting read. 

It will be under read more so I don’t bother everyone, OKAY LETS GO!

Grim-  Starts off as a sort of Meg with Pain + Panic type of dynamic where they make little digs at each other and argue in petty ways. Obviously they both genuinely care about each other and are protective in their own ways. That's her lil guy, and she is HIS hench-human who he must protect at all costs.

Ace + Deuce- Best friends #1 and #2, at first they both treat her like she can't do anything herself because she 1. doesn't have magic 2. is a girl (who is still taller than them but still.) Her intellect, though often coming off as sarcastic in her advice, and her fencing abilities prove that she isn't some helpless magicless girl make their friendship feel more equal. They're basically her little brothers now. They still walk on either side of her around school just so the other students don't get any funny ideas.

Riddle- She and Riddle have similar moms (I changed up her upbringing after reading Go The Distance by Jen Calonita) Kat's mom isn't as abusive as Riddle's, but incredibly overbearing and imposing because she wants her daughter to live a successful life. This is a theme with her and the other over blotters, but she empathizes with him and the two of them get along well. I think the moment between Yuka and Riddle in Book 2 manga where Riddle fixes Yuka's outfit for her feels very them too.

Cater and Trey- Basic cordial relationship, no complaints there besides annoyance at their previous complacency in Riddle's overbearing rules

Leona- She's a strong and respectable woman. He's already ready to help her out in a pinch. He's reliable and smart. They get along well.

Jack- Another bestie. I think the two would have a good time doing exercises together. She doesn't join him for a run every day but he's good motivation to not rot in her bed on weekends.

Ruggie- She loves his hustle. Eat the rich, lil dude.

Azul- What a slime ball. She takes everything he says with a grain of salt. HOWEVER, she has been bullied in the past (not as bad as he was, but was intentionally excluded and isolated from her peers) that vulnerability is hard to show, of course he does everything he can to cover it up. If she makes a deal with him, she's sure to read the fine print and always makes good on her word so she can get out. It'd be no good if she was in debt twice.

Floyd- Called her a catfish, offending her right off the bat. However, he's tons of fun to hang out with when he's in the right move. He demanded she teach him to fence as soon as he found out she could do it. Now he calls her 'catfish' with a lot more affection. The nickname isn't so bad now.

Jade- She can't tell what he's thinking unlike his twin and Jade's teasing doesn't always sit right with her, but he knows how to behave himself. But she is gonna be looking at im like 🤨 occasionally

Kalim- OH KALIM!!! Kalim, she wants to preserve your happiness. I feel like Kat would get along really well with the light trio as a homage to Meg working for the villain but falling in love with a genuinely kind well-meaning hero. Kat definitely blends in well with typical NRC students with a healthy amount of skepticism towards the intentions of others and being admittedly pretty cut-throat when upset. She sees how Kalim made mistakes, but knows his intentions weren't bad, and she still feels a bit guilty for snapping at him so badly at Book 4 out of frustration. She doesn't want Kalim to lose the optimism he has for the world, in fact, she wishes she had that kind of joy herself. They get along pretty well...Perhaps, TOO well.

Jamil- They're literally like two peas in a pod, like a girl version of him. I imagine Kat and Jamil rant about stuff together while braiding each other's hair and whispering sarcastic remarks to each other. She has empathy for him and wants him and Kalim to turn out okay, but she doesn't impose, it's not like she understands the full extent of what they're going through but she's there to lend a helping hand, or nod and go "exactlyyy" when Jamil vents to her.

Vil- He'd want to take her under his wing. She's pretty, has modeled in the past in her original world, is literally supermodel height and is full of potential. She views him as overbearing at first and then becomes appreciative of his strength and care for his dorm mates. Sure, he gets on her for not making the best decisions with what she does with her day, but it's not so bad to get free skin and hair care stuff.

Rook- She found him off-putting at first but then grew to appreciate the fact that he finds beauty in everything...She wishes she could view the world like that. Damn light trio, making her guarded heart melt like that. His earnestness is a trait she's come to respect and surprisingly, his appreciation for her almost goes up to the same levels as Neige and Vil 😳 h-hello?? Oh he's so sad he didn't get to see the work she did in her original world...

Epel- BESTIEEEE! They're so tall queen and short king. Kat is forever grateful of everything he did for her in Book 5, from letting her squeeze the life outta him from her fear of heights when they rode a broom together to literally saving her life with his spell. They totally had mini sleepovers when she stayed in Pomefiore during Ramshackle renovations.

Idia- Oh man, the Hades/Meg dynamic right here. Her phone died and she lost all of her old game consoles and manga collection when she came to Twisted Wonderland, he saw this as an opportunity to convert someone irl into his nerd interests. He uses it as blackmail to get her to do stuff for him like run errands and junk. It's really just a stupid excuse to become more isolated and to keep her around, Kat resents him as she feels she's being used. After Book 6, he drops the act and frees her from her 'debt,' now they just hang out and play games like normal friends. He comes up with cringey nicknames to call her and Muscle Red has assumed she was his girlfriend during a gaming session between the three of them. Idia is currently planning how he, Ortho and Kat can group cosplay now that he has the confidence to do it in public with his gamer-girl friend (I cringe as I write this)

Ortho- Basically #3 bestie next to Ace and Deuce. They relationship started tied to Idia, Kat assuming that Ortho was just some robot servant Idia made, which Ortho corrected her on. She felt personally responsible for Ortho going rogue during Book 6, with her being dismissive of his role as Idia's younger brother haunting her as she never got to properly apologize. As a homage to Meg ending up in Tartarus, I had Kat personally go in there to get Grim, Idia, and Ortho as they fell. She's the one who manages to grab Ortho's memory chip before Vil drags all of them out (Kat wasn't physically changed by Tartarus since she doesn't exactly belong in that world but uh, maybe you'll find out more lol). She believes that Ortho is dead for a while and feels immense guilt over it and definitely didn't cry in her Pomefiore bed at night when they got back (she did.) So when Ortho comes BACK and also BECOMES A STUDENT she had never been so proud and happy. If she catches ANYONE trying to bully Ortho, she will fight (not that he needs it, he has a laser) and appreciates Ortho's general helpfulness. She has played video games in his new dorm room many times.

Malleus- She thinks he's odd, but in a cool and mysterious way. The two of them enjoy talking and wandering around at night. She's invited him inside Ramshackle and when he agrees a few times, she shows him some modern human stuff and they bond over the fact that they're BOTH new to twisted wonderland tech (I imagine it's close to normal tech but different in a way that there would be a learning curve). She definitely thinks he can get carried away with his magic but doesn't treat him with fear. Her stance on him is pretty identical to that of Silver and Sebek's in Book 7, she needs to stop him but also wants to save him.

Sebek- A bestie that took a while to come around. The two get into arguments, with Kat usually taking Silver's side in most small conflicts, both cause she likes Silver and also likes to spite Sebek, but Sebek comes to respect her and her ability to fight for herself. Kat sees who Sebek really is and accepts him. The two still bicker, but it's ride or die by Book 7. If there's one thing they both always agree on, it's that Silver needs to stop hating himself.

Silver- These two...I have an affection for their dynamic because I believe Silver is the closest to a twst Hercules that we have so far. Sweet, a lil air-headed, strong with a kind heart. Kat would feel similarly toward him that Meg goes toward Herc, she wants to keep him safe and she can't detect any of the typical NRCness from him. He's just genuinely a good person and it makes her soft. The two of them both train together, mostly with batons for sword fighting. Kat finds him strange and enchanting and Silver views Kat as a strong person with a talent for swordsmanship. They are each other's rock for Book 7 and I sure hope nothing bad happens to them.

Lilia- He's so weird, but charming. She already figured that he's Muscle Red from context clues but she hasn't said a word to Idia about it because it's funnier that he still doesn't know. He gives her candy for talking to his 'precious boys' and generally spoils her. Kat's father wasn't in her life but Lilia...Y'know, maybe he's what having a dad feels like.