#volume 7 hype

[bandgie]

In Pixie Dust We Trust

synopsis: You're content with being Chris's best friend for all eternity. It doesn't matter how big your heart is, you're small where it matters most. That's what you think at least.

warnings: MDNI 18+, fem!reader, microphilia (reader is 7-10in/17-25cm), pussy eating, boobie sucking, reader used as a fleshlight (non-penetrative), cum eating (m!), jerking off, little bit of jealously in the beginning, does this count as monsterfucking? idk

notes: man, I did like 3 different rough drafts on this and said fuck it. ALSO?? I guess grammarly has limited help options now? fucking assholes

3.5k words

It would be impossible for Chris to hear you cheering for him amongst the dozens of shouting people, but you scream anyway.

“Go Chris!” You cup your hands around your mouth for extra volume, “Go, go, go!”

Mythics alike cheer for their representative species. Sirens, vampryes, lycans, and many more creatures roar for a winner. Despite the overwhelming number of Mythics, humans fill up a good portion of the audience to spur on Chris. He’s the only mortal in the swim meet, one of the rare humans to be able to compete against creatures like yourself. 

Truthfully, you’re not too aware of the rules when it comes to swimming. Something about a certain amount of meters, certain strokes, and when you’re supposed to come up for air. The explanations went right over your head when Chris told them to you, but that doesn’t stop you from screaming your little lungs out. 

“Jeez,” Felix rubs his ear. “Who would’ve thought a little pixie like you could scream so loud.” 

You give him an apologetic smile. “Sorry!” You decide it’s better to find a better sitting spot. Felix’s shoulder is always your go-to seat, but you don’t want to burst his eardrums from your screams. Your wings flutter rapidly, raising you high until you plop on his blonde hair. 

At least you didn’t have to pay for a seat. Being the mere size of a hand, you can easily sit on someone instead. 

You lean to one side of Felix’s head, “This better?” He nods, making your grip on his hair so you don’t slip off. “Yeah. You can cheer for your human boyfriend all you want now.” Felix’s head lightly shakes as he laughs. A sheep shade of crimson creeps up your neck and you yank on his hair. “Shut up! He’s not my boyfriend!” 

You only feel a little bad when Felix whines. He reaches his hand to fight you with the wiggle of his fingers that you slap away while giggling. “Ouch! That hurt.” 

“Whatever,” you slap the final finger away. “You deserved it.” Felix scoffs, rolling his eyes though you can’t see. “For what? Saying the truth? I’m a nymph, baby. You can’t hide those feelings from me.”

Now it’s you who rolls their eyes. As much as you would want to argue with Felix, he’s right. You may have the best friend title when it comes to Chris, but you want Chris in a way you know you shouldn't. You want to feel him hold you, have his lips pepper kisses all over your magical body until you can’t breathe. He doesn’t know how much you yearn for him when you sit on his shoulder, your wings bashfully fluttering when he talks low just for you to hear. 

It doesn’t do any good for you to think like that. It’s better to blink those thoughts away and keep cheering, pretending you’re perfectly fine with being Chris’s tiny best friend. 

But pretending is never easy for a pixie. Having such a small body does nothing to lessen the emotions you feel. Felix is doing everything he can to keep you from flying away and sobbing your heart out. When you two went looking for Chris to congratulate him on placing in the top three, neither of you expected the many female Mythics and humans to praise him. 

“Hey! He’s just feeling excited from the race, he’s just super hyped right now.” Felix laughs nervously. “It’s no biggie. They’re just all congratulating him.”

You wish that were true or that you believed it. Instead, you’re frozen at the sight of Chris smiling from whatever they’resaying. One of them goes as far as to whisper in his ear, earning a deep blush from his wet face. Felix panics more. “She just- She said- oh damn.”

It shouldn’t bother you. If anything, you should be happy that Chris is finally getting the attention he deserves. He deserves people supporting him. Someone who can give him a happy, normal-sized relationship even if they aren’thuman. Not a pixie who is barely bigger than the size of his hand. 

You blink your tears away, ignoring the ugly lump in your throat as you dejectedly fly next to Felix’s face. “It’s fine. Let’sjust go.” Felix whips his head to you, eyes wide with sincerity. “No! Pixie, we came out here for him. We can at least say hi then leave right after.” 

There’s a twinge of hope in his eyes. Felix has been rooting for you since you told him about your unrequited love. Although you would roll your eyes at his support most of the time, it did boost some confidence in you. Now you realize it was all foolish. A stupid dream you should have kept sleeping. 

You shake your head, “I can’t face him, Lix. Not when every girl in this damn city is trying to make him their mate. It’snot like he’d notice me leaving anyway.”

“You’re leaving?” Chris’s voice makes you and Felix jump. His hair is flat against his head from the diving cap he was wearing. It drips with water, leaking down his beautiful face to his naked torso. “Do you have somewhere to be?”

It’s only for a brief moment that you’re stunned. You weren’t prepared to see him so quickly. “Y-”

“No,” Felix quickly interrupts you. “She meant when is everyone else gonna leave. It’s so stuffed in here.” Felix looks at you wide-eyed as if to say don’t say anything before looking at Chris. “But dude! Congratulations!”

Chris’s signature dimple appears on his face. He wraps an arm around the nymph’s shoulder and brings him in for a hug.“I totally thought I was gonna get last. Those sirens are fucking fast.”

The embrace doesn’t last too long, not when Chris is eager to hear you praise him.

“Yeah,” you nod. “It was really impressive. I’m so proud of you!” It’s hard for you to do your normal joyful screaming, not when the bashful look he gave the mythic girl still lingers in your mind. You try to wipe the memory from your mind to focus on the mortal winner standing before you. The half-naked mortal winner that is.

“Yeah?” Chris lightens up at your words. His shining eyes warm your heart and your jealousy suddenly feels silly. “Fuck yeah! I knew you were gonna at least place in the top 5. But top 3? That’s Olympic shit right there.”

The flush on Chris’s face says it all. He rubs the back of his neck and giggles, a small squeak emitting from the back of his throat. “I would say thaaat.”

Felix laughs at the two of you, patting Chris on the shoulder. “I saw this Korean restaurant nearby - it looks super good. Minho told me that the chefs are all human. We should go before it gets packed!” The three of you look amongst each other and nod, humming about how hungry Chris must be.

“You can save a spot for us, Felix,” Chris smiles at him. “We’ll be there soon.”

You and Chris wave Felix goodbye. You wait until he’s out of earshot before you ask Chris, “Are we gonna meet up with him later?”

Chris smiles ear to ear. “We are. I was really hoping you’d come back to my place for a surprise.” Excited is the best word to describe him right now. His eyes shine with what you think is mischievousness. You can’t help the butterflies in your stomach. You smile at him back, “Now? Dressed like that?”

“Oh shit.” Chris suddenly becomes aware of his nude attire, save for the tight speedo. “Let me change first, then we’ll to mine.”

-

The naughty look on his face wasn’t for nothing. Chris didn’t necessarily plan to have you like this; nude and whimpering, but he isn’t complaining either. His intentions were pure, really. He had set up his apartment all sweet, miniature roses that could easily fit in your palms as he asked you to be his lover. 

You thought of everything wrong at first. How strange it might look for your dainty self to be involved with a human. For him to practically live in the waters while you stay in the sky. Different, too different to work you said. You couldn’t help but think of all the other Mythics flocking to him; ones that he could benefit from and most importantly, ones that he can properly love.

Yet, all your worries were washed away in his eyes, full of love and compassion. He would love you because you’re you, no matter what size.

Now you’re thinking there won’t be enough time to meet Felix at that restaurant he’s been revving about when Chris’stongue ravages your body. Kissing him felt weird enough, your lips barely able to lock with his bottom one. But having him lick and suck on every part of your body easily took the cake. 

Chris is holding you gently in his palm, your wings tightly tucked into your back so he doesn’t accidentally get them wet. The tip of his tongue dips down into your cunt before it swipes up to your breasts. You can tell he’s trying to be romantic about it, but there’s nothing soft in the way he suckles on your tits, how his saliva drips down the curve of your mounds onto his palm.

“Shit,” you moan when Chris finds your sweet, tiny pussy again. “You’re getting me so wet.” In response, Chris pulls away. You whine at the loss of contact. Your body shivers in his hold from the lack of his hot mouth. 

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” But he doesn't look apologetic at all. Not when he’s looking at you as if he might take a bite. Not when he licks his lips at the sight of your body spread out in his palm, twitching and soaking. 

You reach a small hand up and grab the tip of his nose, earning a giggle from his pretty lips. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” you push yourself up with an elbow to nuzzle against his face. “I like it.”

“Yeah?” the tips of his ears burn redder. “I like it too.”

The two of you share a laugh before you sprawl yourself back in his hold, opening your legs so his large tongue touches you where you need him most. Chris obediently nuzzles his tongue onto your cunt, flicking it upwards. Your hips chase the feeling, arching and twisting until he has to restrain you.

“Nooo,” you gently whine when he uses his fingers to pin your hands above your head. “Wanna feel it.”

Chris smiles, directing you to flatten your feet, spread your thighs, and arch until your back is completely lifted from his palm. It’s a weird position, but you wiggle in excitement when he leans his head down. “You will, baby,” he reassures.“Just gotta listen to me for a little, okay?”

You nod, forcing yourself still when you feel the familiar muscle on your core. It’s nearly similar to when you had the freedom to move, but there’s an extra layer of pleasure from being held back. For his tongue lick up and down, reaching up high to your stomach down to your ass. Chris doesn’t have to add much pressure, not when his tongue is half the size of your entire self.

The first taste of your orgasm builds when he swipes his tongue side to side. It moves your vulva perfectly, not focusing so much on your sensitive nub. Your hands grip his fingertips and you moan. “Channie…i’mma cum.”

He hums against your body, acknowledging your impending orgasm. Chris is too busy trying to get you on his taste buds. It’s more of a hint than a flavor of your pussy. If only Chris could drown in it. To feel these small thighs wrap around his head and yank him closer until all he can sense is you. But having your boobs and pussy in his mouth nearly at the same time is a huge win for him regardless. 

Your walls clench, a clear sign that you only have mere seconds before you cum. Maybe you could ask Chris to put justthe tip of his pinky finger in. It would stretch you so much, so good. If you can’t take his cock, you’ll take the next best thing. 

“In,” you mewl. “Want it in me.” 

Chris raises an eyebrow at you, clearly confused by what you mean. He can’t put anything in you, he doesn’t even want to think about it. He shakes his head with your pussy in his mouth, back to focusing on the task at hand.

“Channie!” You nearly scream his name. “Please! I’ve been good. I’ve been so good! Just the tip of your finger and-”

He sucks hard, making your entire body move from the suction. You wail, digging the back of your head further into his palm. He sucks and licks, obviously trying to get your mind off of being filled and instead finishing on his tongue. It works because all you can think about is flooding Chris’s mouth with your juices. You think about how good it’s going to feel to have his big tongue on you, licking you up.

You dig your nails into his fingers and tense. Chris places the tip of his tongue perfectly on your clit and you finally cum. 

He holds you while you shake. Chris can feel the trembling of your body, he can taste the essence of your orgasm, and he can hear your pretty little moans as you tip over. He can’t help but giggle at how your little hips roughly rock against his tongue. Deciding to give you a different sensation, Chris puts his tongue back in his mouth and puckers his lips instead. The plushness is the best way to ride out your high, gentle and soft.

You collapse in his hands when you come down. You can only whimper when he carefully nuzzles your body against his face affectionately. Chris peppers kisses on your body, from the top of your head to the soaked place between your thighs. It helps get you refocused by grounding yourself from his touch. You return his kisses, placing your hands on either side of his cheek and feeling his mouth against yours.

It feels like he’s trying to swallow you or maybe not trying to. You can’t really tell, but you don’t really mind. All you care about is how he whimpers against your lips, making you concerned about his state. 

You pull from his lips and adjust in his hands until you’re sitting. “It hurts. Doesn't it, Channie?” You don’t need to specify what you’re talking about. Not when you can see the need in his eyes, the pout in his lips. Chris nods, almost ashamed. 

“I’m sorry, baby,” he says. “I dunno what to do about it.”

He looks so dejected, so lost. Your wings untuck from your back and flutter until you’re lifted in the air. Chris’s eyes drop to your breasts as if he wasn’t just drooling on them minutes ago. You snap your fingers until he looks into your eyes. “I know what to do. Why don’t you sit down for me and let me take care of you now.”

You can tell he’s hesitant. Not because he doesn’t want to, but because he doesn’t know how he wants to. Chris easilylistens to your instructions; how you want him stripped from the lower half, sitting on the couch with his legs sprawled open so his hard, leaky cock is pretty on display.

Chris looks nervous, you can tell by how he grabs a nearby pillow and hugs it to his chest. “Are you sure, baby? I don’twant you to hurt yourself.” 

How endearing your lover is. Willing to sacrifice his pleasure for your comfort.

You fly to his lap and rest on a meaty thigh. “You don’t gotta worry your pretty little head about nothing, Channie.” You reach out a hand to rub it against his cock. “I can handle it.”

Before he can say anything else, you quickly find your place on his shaft with your back facing him. You gasp at the warmth, the thickness of his cock between your legs. Your body is already wet from your orgasm, so it’s easy to gently slide against him. The veins from his cock seem huge this closeup and you can’t help the shiver that runs through your body when your clit goes over one. 

“You’re so big Channie,” you hum, looking back. “Almost as big as me.”

Chris giggles shyly, adjusting in his seat so he slightly slouches against the cushions. You turn back to face his tip and place your little hands on his dick to balance yourself. A whine leaves Chris’s throat when you grind against him higher. Your hands reach out to play with his tip, swirling around the sensitive flesh and having your fingers rub against his slit. 

His hips thrust up and you let out a surprised squeal.

“S-shit, sorry,” he moans. “I didn’t mean to.” Chris is being so careful not to have you slip off, but it’s nearly impossible for him to keep still. Not when he can see your entire body jerking him off, your little ass humping his cock so nicely. He especially loves the wet trail that you leave behind with every grind. 

You laugh, “It’s okay. Just means you’re feeling good.”

Since you’re just slightly bigger than his length, you decide it would be better to lay completely flat on his cock and slide yourself that way. It’s silly though, humping his dick in a way that reminds you of the nights you spent on your tiny bed touching yourself at the thought of Chris. Now, you’re able to put all that practice to good use.

With your legs wrapped around the base, you find it much easier to slide yourself. To go at a speed that has Chris moaning and fisting his hands into the sofa. Your tongue lolls from your mouth as you moan with him, effectively adding moisture that makes everything wetter.

“Baby! Baby, baby, you’re gonna make me cum just like that.” Chris pants. One of his hands shoots down below his cock, tugging his balls to help get him closer. You tilt your head to look down at the sight, whimpering at how he holds and rubs his sack.

It makes you go faster. You practically squeeze his cock with your limbs almost painfully. Chris only finds pleasure in your hold though. Without thinking, Chris wraps his other hand around his cock and you. Your wings immediately find cover behind your back so they don’t get damaged. The hand around you tightens slightly. 

“You want me to use you, hm?” Chris carefully drags you up and down his length. “Be my little cocksleeve, is that it?” You can’t even be a fleshlight to him, but you can be useful. it’s near impossible to nod with how he’s holding you, but you let out a breathy yes. Your arms are locked at your sides from his grip, legs open and limp so he has more access to use you how he wants. 

You underestimated how slippery you would get. How his precum would leak onto your hair and face. A part of you thought it would be uncomfortable being pressed up against his cock like this, but all you can feel is how warm he is. It feels good to have him use your body like this, having your clit brush against his girth. 

Chris isn’t as careful this time, not that you mind anyway. He grunts with every drag, squeezing your body tighter until you whimper. You feel his cock twitch under you and your cunt clenches in response. 

“Fuckin’ shit,” he grunts. “Wrapped around my cock so tight.” 

You whimper. There isn’t a chance that you would be able to cum again. Your cunt is roughly pressed against his dick to get any real friction, but that doesn’t stop you from feeling any pleasure. “You’re using me so good, Channie. You gonna cum on me too?”

There isn’t a need for Chris’s confirmation. Not when the hot spurt of his release spews from his cock. You can’t see how far it shoots up, how it lands up to his thighs and leaks onto his hand. The only ounce of cum you get is on the top of your hair, a sticky, warm glob of white.

Chris releases you quickly, letting you get the proper chance to breathe and rest on his pulsing cock. 

It doesn’t last long, not when two hands carefully lift you and bring you close to Chris’s face. His neck is a deep shade of red. The blood rushes to his face to give off a pink hue. Even the tips of his ears burn with the same color. As fucked out as he looks, he still has the energy to give you an endearing smile. 

Your lips twist shyly, “Why are you looking at me like that? You know I’m completely covered in your cum, right?” But Chris only leans in and uses his nose to nuzzle against your face. 

“Mhm. My very own pixie dust.”

[juiceboxscans]

Date drops!

Manga is still on hiatus but Volume 9 is listed as coming out February 2025. Keep an eye on Amazon or your local bookseller for more news.

New anime trailer was released today: Premiere date is Monday October 7, 2024.

Follow the official anime Twitter and anime website. Anime will be streaming on Crunchyroll and Prime Video (check in your location for availability).

OP is UNDER and OVER by Oral Cigarettes:

EP is Nani Warotonneen by Yoshino

Rounding out our cast of characters

Kirishima Miyama: Akira Ishida Yoshino Somei: Hitomi Ueda

Shouma Toriashi: Koji Yusa Azami Suo: Hiroshi Kamiya

Renji Somei: Youji Ueda Gaku Miyama: Kazuya Nakai

Tachibana-san: Ryota Takeuchi Inamori-san: Hiroshi Shimosaki

Hotei-san: Katsuyuki Konishi Tsubaki: Rina Ueda

Please make sure to support the mangaka.

We've gotten busy with life but have been checking back and the mangaka has not posted any updates so we're not aware of them coming off hiatus any time soon.

In the meantime, SUPPORT THE MANGAKA: Buy the tankobons if you can afford them, watch the anime when it airs and hype it on social media, and if you can't find the content legally in your area reach out to manga publishers in your region and book stores and ask them to stock your fave. Let them know that you want access to content. Bookstores take note when fans get excited about stuff.

Whatever you do: Please do not pay fees on scanlation sites that promise ad-free browsing.

Happy (almost fall)! 。.:☆*:･'(*⌒―⌒*)))

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I remember in Book 6 that Idia deals with Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil and Vil while his parents deal with Crowley. But what if they switched? With Idia dealing with Crowley and his parents dealing with the OB group, what do you think about that?

Idia would be a shitty interrogator—

I think really the only thing that would change is the social dynamics? I don’t think Crowley would really take an 18-year old questioning him all that seriously… I guess maybe depending on what’s discussed, Idia could then go in book 7 with more knowledge of what’s going on behind the scenes? But again, I don’t see Crowley up and revealing anything sensitive.

The OB boys would be more respectful and cooperative to adults in positions of authority. Riddle, Azul, Jamil, and Vil definitely would, and I could even see Leona following suit (given he was intelligent enough to know it would be better for him to just cave into Styx’s demands and surrender). Maybe there would be slightly awkward moments where the parents ask the OB boys about how Idia acts at school (to gauge how he’s been coping with the loss of Ortho) or if any of them are friends with their son. Unfortunately, I think seeing them in book 6 would take away from some of the hype of seeing them and being heartwarming with Ortho in book 7 (since we’d have already met them and known what their dynamic is with their sons), so there’s that 😅

Sorry if that wasn’t a super interesting answer, but we just don’t know enough about Idia’s parents nor Crowley’s motives to get a sense for how that would impact the story in major ways. (I’m assuming at that Ortho still goes rogue at some point and convinces Idia to return to Styx HQ, OB, and crack open Tartarus like a bottle of pop.)

Quick note on etiquette, I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting a lot of “what if” questions lately. I’m not sure if they’re all coming from the same person (I only suspect this because the wording of the asks are often similar/word for word and involve similar premises, such as swapping the role of two characters or introducing a single character into an event they were not originally involved in. However, if it is the case that those asks are coming from the same person, I’d like to ask that they either stop or slow down the volume of asks. I consider this an act of spamming, which is against my blog rules. Spamming hogs the inbox and takes time away from me responding to other people’s asks. Please be respectful of your fellow readers, as my inbox is a shared space.

[trigunbookclub]

Trigun Bookclub Schedule!

Hyped up for the Trigun deluxe editions that Dark Horse just announced? Or maybe you’ve just been looking for an excuse to read/reread Trigun? Well feel free to join in reading along with Tumblr! There are general guidelines and info pinned on this blog, but TL;DR: Just read along, and feel free to post your thoughts/comments/questions/memes/whatnot to the tag #TrigunBookclub! Here are the dates set for each volume:

Trigun Volume 1: June 5th - June 11th

Trigun Volume 2: June 12th - June 18th

Trigun Maximum Volume 1: June 19th - June 25th

Trigun Maximum Volume 2: June 26th - July 2nd

Trigun Maximum Volume 3: July 3rd - July 9th

Trigun Maximum Volume 4: July 10th - July 16th

Trigun Maximum Volume 5: July 17th - July 23rd

Trigun Maximum Volume 6: July 24th - July 30th

Trigun Maximum Volume 7: July 31st - August 6th

Trigun Maximum Volume 8: August 7th - August 13th

Trigun Maximum Volume 9: August 14th - August 20th

Trigun Maximum Volume 10: August 21st - August 27th

Trigun Maximum Volume 11: August 28th - September 3rd

Trigun Maximum Volume 12: September 4th - September 10th

Trigun Maximum Volume 13: September 11th - September 17th

Trigun Maximum Volume 14: September 18th - September 24th

Note that that the two volumes of Trigun are a bit longer than the rest! They’re also a bit lighter in tone as those are shonen, before Maximum picks up and the series shifts to seinen.

But here are the dates! Mark your calendars, get ready to read, and have fun with the journey! :D

[lizbetlovesbyler]

I’d say it took them around 8 months after wrapping season four to release the first volume.

If they want to reduce the wait for season 5 like they did season 4, and chose to break up the season in two, we could see volume one in august at the latest, then possibly volume two further into autumn.

Of course, if they split the season in two equal halves, we could see the first four episodes just as summer starts (pls don’t do that to me i have 12 exams to sit in june 🥲)

I can also see them choosing not to split up the season the same way they did before purely because season 5 is the last season, whilst s4 was somewhat of an intermediate season that was released over a longer period to maintain the hype for the show and keep people engaged.

Since ST is quite literally the most popular US show on netflix, i seriously doubt they are worried about keeping the hype alive as s5 is the last season, I can see them spending more time editing the whole thing and dropping it all at once.

It all depends on the amount of CGI compared to s4, the budget, the size of the post-production crew, and how much content they have to work with.

So here i’m thinking:

S5 is split into two equal halves: Vol 1 (e1-4) are released early summer, Vol 2 (e5-8) are released sometime in september or later.

S5 is split similarly to S4: Vol 1 (e1-5/6?) released in august and Vol 2 (6/7?-8) are released in september/october

S5 is not split and the entire season drops sometime in autumn 2025 (i can see them aiming for a late october/early november release to allign with the time of year the season itself is set in/link back to wills disappearance on nov 6th)

(very rare) S5 is released Weekly? Starting in october, ending in november - IMO this would have been great if the other seasons were released weekly, but since ST has always been formatted for a binger audience, so it might feel foreign to the audience and ruin the flow of the ending - i cannot see them doing this unless each episode borders on 2 1/2 hours long (i don’t even want to know how long this season is going to be but considering they’ve been shooting for a year straight it’s going to be so much longer than s4 despite having fewer episodes)

I know it doesn’t seem soon, but this will fly by! Plus this is purely based off s4, no one is more eager for this season to come out than the Duffer brothers themselves. I don’t know a lot about post-production, but i imagine they can hire twice as many people to hopefully get it out as soon as possible without taking away from the quality of the season.

Im grateful we still have time to be excited about new content and theorise about it because this is the last time we get to do it! Who knows when a show as good as ST will come along again, IF one will come along again?

The wait, however long, will be worth it!

Think about it like we’re closer to watching the final season than we are to when they started filming.

[guidaozongshi]

On Sakura and SasuSaku's apparent popularity in the eastern fandom

One of the widely regurgitated talking points in favour of the Sasuke/Sakura relationship is that it is the most popular Naruto pairing in Japan and that Sakura is a very popular character but western fans apparently fail to understand the nuances of their relationship unlike their eastern counterparts. These claims range from half-truths to complete nonsense, in this post I attempt to counter these.

Firstly, let's talk about Sakura's reception in Japan.

Kishimoto infamously said that girls would come up to him to complain about Sakura and that he really struggled to make her likeable. But you don't need his statements to arrive at the conclusion that she is not well received.

Take a look at the Naruto Character popularity polls by Shounen Jump taken during the run of the manga.

Character Poll 1 , as of Chapter 60

1. Kakashi Hatake – 22,692 votes

2. Naruto Uzumaki – 16,729 votes

3. Sasuke Uchiha – 13,674 votes

4. Iruka Umino – 7,128 votes

5. Sakura Haruno – 3,055 votes

Naruto had just started to take off , with Team 7 being the main focus, yet look at the difference in votes for the members. Iruka, a character that barely appears overtook Sakura. What's ironic is that this will be the highest position she would ever receive because her popularity gets worse.

Character Poll 2 , as of Chapter 107

1. Naruto Uzumaki – 2,788 votes

2. Kakashi Hatake – 2,635 votes

.

14. Sakura Haruno – 359 votes

14th Position! Despite the fact she is from a trio of characters that are the most focused on. Not only the other Konoha rookies rank above her but even Gambunta ( the frog ) overtakes her.

In Character poll 3 , 4 ( chapter 199 ), 5 ( chapter 245 ), 6 ( chapter 292 ) and 7 ( chapter 531 ) her ranking becomes 9 , 10 , 8 , 12 and 12 respectively , while the other Team 7 members never leave Top 4. Characters with less panels and appearances repeatedly overtake her.

It is not an exaggeration to say that she was widely disliked as a main character. She has been repeatedly bashed, on Japanese online forums as well as by the author. ( more on this later )

All this of course doesn't mean that she doesn't have a fanbase, oh she has! a very loyal one and a particular kind at that . Women who love Sakura tend to be fans of Shoujo/Josei , something you can notice if you have come across SasuSaku artworks.

When Naruto ended , the majority of their comments were congratulating Sakura on her long one sided crush being finally reciprocated and how happy they were for her. Sasuke fans couldn't care less about the relationship as her character has hardly any effect on his story ( that is, until Gaiden came along and angered many people)

There is a noticeable difference in how JP artists portray their relationship in comparison to their western counterpart. The former portrays it as a 'puppy love' like between an idol and a fan. The appeal of the relationship comes from Sasuke, who is the classical male ideal and Sakura who is deeply ' loyal' to him , who then gets rewarded for it. It is one of the reasons why it only shot up in popularity post-ending.

On the other hand, the latter seems to believe that Sakura is Sasuke's equal, that she challenges and influences Sasuke, despite the fact that she becomes a doormat in front of him and according to Sakura's own words she couldn't come close to Sasuke's heart.

I have discussed why some Japanese fans like Sasuke/Sakura as it may appeal to their taste but these fans don't make much of the fanbase.

Case in point, one of the most hyped SasuSaku material i.e Sasuke Retsuden only managed to sell about 17k copies for the weeks it charted, in Comparison Naruto J Novels 1-7 sold about 470K when it was in circulation back in 2008.

Even the manga adaptation piggybacking on the anime couldn't even sell 40K copies for the first volume.

There was a time when Sasuke's name alone would be enough for a manga to sell out but the truth is that not only the majority of Naruto fans have moved on since 2015, even the loyal fans aren't interested in this content.

After Gaiden came out, Both Sakura and her relationship received harsh criticism, the 2channel threads kept bashing her and Kishimoto of the poor handling of the relationship.

Some of the snippets

"..with the release of Gaiden, the author just had worsened what was already bad. I guess he lost his willpower to write.”

“I was expecting before Sasuke and Sakura’s feelings would be shown in Gaiden but was edited out...because back time I thought I saw some spoilers that Sasuke and Sakura had gotten closer.

But now there’s no way there was some edit, no, this whole thing is a fucking lie.”

"A natural progress of loving, to slowly get accustomed and come to love someone, yeah I can’t imagine this with Sasu/Saku. Such extremely weird couple, how are they supposed to get used with each other over time? This is the vibe I get.

This relationship feels weird in my head, maybe I’m asking for too much to find a reason behind this.

But Kishimoto’s Sasu/Saku bonds is completely empty, I guess it’s funny that there’s nothing to add in it.”

"Sakura’s feelings is over the top terrible. She’s able to be happy with this..”

The thread is VERY long but you get the gist of it.

Fun fact : In 2015 Sasuke/Sakura was 6th most voted couple that should Break-Up by Japnese readers

Accusing others of not understanding their relationship because they apparently don't get their supposedly "culturally contextual relationship" is quite stupid and laughable because it's also hated by many Japanese people. It's only popular with a specific set of audience.

Which brings me to the other argument.

"Sasuke/Sakura is the most popular Naruto couple in Japan"

While this might be true today, it has not always been the case. Sasuke/Sakura shot in popularity post-Naruto ending while the most popular pairing throughout the run of the series (Sasuke/Naruto) declined. ( If anybody has the pixiv stats from 2012/13 , please feel free to add)

Take a look at this Naruto couple ranking list in Japan from 2012 ( the rankings are based on Google Japan results if I am not wrong)

サスナル (SasuNaru) —- 166,000 res.

ナルサス (NaruSasu) —- 78,400 res.

サスナルサス ( SasuNaruSasu) —- 244,400 res.

サスサク (SasuSaku) —- 54,700 res.

There's quite a large gap.

Even in 2016, 2 years after Naruto ended and many Sasuke/Naruto artists deleted their artworks or moved on from the fandom , it still rivaled SasuSaku in popularity on pixiv

SasuNaruSasu サスナルサス 9.502 works

SasuSaku サスサク 8.150 works

I will make a separate post for the Chinese Naruto fandom but they are very brutal against the Sasuke/Sakura relationship.

For other East Asian countries, I wrote about how SasuNaruSasu is the largest pairing in China with no close second . I am unfortunately not familiar with the Korean fandom.

This is the general sentiment there :

Sasuke married Sakura to atone for his sins

🤍 10 K

[vcodenv]

⋆·˚ Larry Johnson Dating Hcs ༘ *

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

gn reader

warnings : none

word count : 251

・❥・ You’re at his apartment 24/7, you might as well just move in.

・❥・Will want to paint with you, if you don’t know how, he’ll deem himself as your art teacher. He’ll come up behind you and put his hand on yours while you paint to lead you, in reality he really just wants to fluster you.

・❥・Ghost hunting with him and Sal. He’s 100% dragging you along.

・❥・Giving you random gifts that remind him of you. “Hey, I found this rock on the ground. Made me think of you.”

・❥・Play-fighting. Sometimes he’ll let you win out of pity. But when you actually manage to beat him he’ll say something like, “I was just going easy on you.”

・❥・Handholding is a must, it doesn’t matter where you are.

・❥・He’d probably get the both of you detention on accident.

He would whisper to you in class while the teacher is talking, causing the teacher to glare at both of you, giving you the “I’ll wait.” look. When they turn back around to the board he immediately starts whispering again, cue you giving him a side eye that speaks volumes. But to no avail, the teacher turns around again. “You two can speak all you want in detention.”

・❥・Will be your #1 hype-man. Aced a test? Hell yeah! Bought a new outfit? You look absolutely stunning!

・❥・You know that thing where people share headphones? He would 100% want to do that with you. (Example attached.)

Extra note : Larry reminds me of Patrick from TPOBAW.

[akiraarabella]

This is me appreciating RWBY, I'll be jumping from one point to another so dont worry if im not making any sense. its not you!

All of these past volumes for me doesn't feel rushed (it maybe because I've finished it in 2 days so thats on me) but i feel when i think about volume 10 and the story so far is that yknow when you start writing a book just because of that one scene you made up in your head. So now you need to build up the characters and the events for that scene to make sense. I feel like in nine volumes we got a good setup for "that scene" thats gonna happen In volume 10 or maybe even 11 who knows. Do you get what i mean? No? GREAT! SEEMS LIKE WE'RE OFF TO A GOOD START!

Can i also just say that Jaun's VA killed it in the 7th episode of Volume 9. Both arguments that Ruby and Jaun makes.. I can't help myself but watch the 7-8-9-10th episodes of volume 9 again and again. This whole volume was directed on character development mainly for Ruby since the other characters already had their arcs before this volume except for her and Jaun. (Jaun kinda did as well but never got the closure he needed which was acceptance and he learned that in the volume 9)

And i gotta be honest even from the start Neo was the most intriguing "villain" For me. Maybe because of her design choice or her semblance but something about her made me really like her. And I'm glad they went the way they did for her story too.

I'm saying it again. If Neo doesn't come for our rescue with the jabberwockies im gonna throw some hands.

AND the way they used the Blacksmith in the tree and the story is just UGHH BRILLIANT!!!

The whole politics shenanigans with ironwood in the previous volumes were really made this feel a bit too real especially Nora standing up to Ironwoods plan was just chefs kiss. IM A BIASED NORA FAN COME AT ME I DARE YOU

AND ALSO WHEN I SAY I SCREAMED HEARING CHRISTINA VEE'S VOICE IN THE SHOW I MEAN I SCREAMED ALRIGHT!!!! that was a jumpscare moment for me

Another also PIETRO MY MAN BEING VOICED BY LEE HIMSELF?! (i know VAs name is not lee im talking abt the twd game lee dont get it wrong) I KNEW I HEARD THAT VOICE FROM SOMEWHERE!

Glad Emerald is on our side now. Can't wait to see how much of a time jump we had between volume 9 and 10 AND for more ✨TRAUMA✨ let's get it fam! Keep up the hype!

[misstrashchan]

2, 3, 7, 20, 27, 28, 29, for the rwby ask game? If you don't mind!

2. Rank the soundtracks

From favourite to least:

V1

Not a single track I don't love. Forever iconic, each and every one.

V5

Ignite is my favorite Yang song, as is Path to Isolation for Weiss. Smile is such a tragic song of showing Ilia's parents telling her to cope by smiling, by hiding, to the present where it's twisted into an angry mantra and she's still hiding who she is in a different way. The Triumph feels like such a comeback song with how high energy it is, all our girls heading back to each other, jumping back into the fray. All that Matters is PEAK bumbleby pining angst song. All Things Must Die is glorious, and tbh I think even This Time is pretty underrated as a song for Blake/the White Fang.

V7

I find myself relistening to this one a lot. Trust Love is my favorite OP (and yes that is in part the refrences to the Little Prince I can draw). I also like Touch the Sky and Brand New Day as these kind of recovery songs for all the characters that had been at their lowest or feeling lost finding their hope and confidence, happy in themselves. Let's get Real is a song that DID get me into Renora a little, it's a bop. Was over the moon to have an Oscar song in Fear that encapsulated the theme of the volume and complimented Ozpin's fear speech. Hero makes my brain go AAAAHHHH at how it captures the hubris of Ironwood. Such a great tragic downfall song for his character. Until the End is a great listen and such a lovely surprise to have a Ruby song after so long. War is a certified banger and a great song for the RWBY vs Ace Ops fight.

V9

In fairness I don't think I've listened to this one enough, but the more I do it definitely grows on me. Inside feels like the most unique OP, Checkmate is catchy as hell, Trapdoor makes me INSANE as a Ruby spiralling song. Pleasantly surprised to have a Jaune song in Quiet that's very moving. Worthy is beautiful as a Bumbleby confession/kiss song, truly magical. As a whole I feel the songs lean into being more gentle and introspective as to the usual hardcore rock ballads we know RWBY for, even Checkmate with it's jazziness feels fresh and new. I haven't actually listened to the Edge or Guide my Way enough to have an opinion on them, but I remember liking them, Guide my Way is a nice continuation and evolution of the Red like Roses song trilogy.

V3

When it Falls is SO HARDCORE. Bleeding edge and tragedy for the death and destruction to come. I'm the One is fantastic at laying out Emerald and Mercury's trauma's and subsequently coping mechanisms. Neon is one I like to listen to a lot, it's so fun and upbeat. Divide is brutal and chilling as the song to introduce us to our main villain after seeing her for the first time in all her dark glory at the end of V3. Not Fall in Love with You is... eh. It's my Turn is a good Weiss song, but it's not one if my favorites.

V6

I really like Rising as an OP, it feels the most... magical? fantastical? idk. I like the vibes. Indomitable is what I feel like singing all the time in wake of the recent RWBY news! We really are indomitable! Nevermore as a true triumph over Blake and Yang's trauma at Adam's hands, while acknowledging the tragedy of Adam's own situation. And Big Metal Shoe is a certified banger, love all the fairytale references crammed in there. Miracle is... fine. One Thing is a great song for Neo's return and revenge quest, but I never bought into the Neo hype so I'm kinda mid on it too.

V2. SACRIFICE I LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER PLEASE REPRISE IN THE SHOW LATER WITH CINDER PRETTY PLEASE. Now it's Time to Say Goodbye is an incredible banger of an OP, but it felt a little misleading considering it's a song all about losing innocence and leaving behind childhood, which feels more appropriate for V3 and the FoB than V2. Shine, Dream Come True and Boop are all fun and cute but I'm not hugely into Arkos or Renora so I'm kinda neutral on them. I'm also kind of mid on Time to Die as a song.

V8. Honestly this is just the soundtrack I find myself listening to or remembering the least, even though I really like Friend as the perfect Penny song that had me tearing up, and Truth, while short was a great bittersweet song for Cinder. And it was nice to get a Nora song too. The opening for this volume never really grew on me like all the others did (aside from the "some ROSES WILL NEVER BLOOM, SOME HEROES CHOOSE THE WRONG SIDE"). I also just associate this soundtrack with fandom arguing a lot about what song applied to who and it felt exhausting.

3. Favorite Ruby ship?

ROSEGARDEN ALL THE WAY BABY!

7. Favorite lines I already answered for @hoepunkausta

20. What are you looking forward to seeing in Vacuo?

*vibrating at a frequency unknown to man* idk I think a reunion hug between Ruby and Oscar would be neat maybe. Like @aspoonofsugar has pointed out all the set up at the end of the extended epilogue points to these two having a second alchemical wedding and so their relationship having a certain amount of focus/development in Vacuo seems apparent. After so long of not seeing them onscreen together I'm excited for any interactions honestly. I miss my kids.

Wanting to see WBY all trying to support Ruby more and her actively trying but still struggling to open about how she's feeling. More of what see saw with Ruby/Yang in the Boba episode. I'd especially like Ruby and Weiss to have a heart to heart.

Very curious about what Theodore is gonna be like and whoever the hell the Summer maiden. With the Dorothy allusions and those who've lost their homes trying to make one in Vacuo, I'm expecting an exploration of "there's no place like home" to be leant into.

RAVEN. TELL US WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT MISSION WITH YOU AND SUMMER. RUBY AND YANG DESERVE TO KNOW. For real though I'm hoping we see what lead Raven to rejoin the fray too, and how she'll interact with Yang and Qrow and even Ruby, what tension might be there. Delicious family drama....

Speaking of delicious family drama, the Schnees! all reunited! I want Winter and Whitley to tackle hug Weiss to the ground! Also the Schnees appear to be being confronted with all the harm their family and company has done in a kingdom like Vacuo, so I'm curious to see how Weiss handles that. Also Winter is clearly Not Doing Good, so something I'd really like is if Weiss (as her sister) and Ruby (as a friend of Penny and someone she also offered the maiden powers too) and maybe Jaune (who was there with Penny in her final moments) offer comfort to her and they all grieve together.

Emerald. Honestly suprised we didn't get much of a sense of how she was doing in the extended epilogue, not even briefly like Mercury. But I'm super excited for what her arc holds. Seeing her integrate with the group, if Ren, Nora and Oscar are already on friendly terms with her but RWBY are all still a bit wary of her because they've spent less time together. Seeing more of her friendship with Oscar develop (gimme that Little Prince/Fox allusion with their friendship in taming each other pretty please) and like. Mercury. Emerald KNEW Mercury and Tyrian were being sent to Vacuo, she saw him off in the ship, but Ren seems suprised to see him and Tyrian on the cameras in the epilogue. Did Emerald... not tell them? Even though that's incredibly important information that could help her new allies? Because... she wanted to protect Mercury? Because she still feels conflicted? It's incredibly juicy and I can't wait to see how Emerald and Mercury's relationship comes into conflict during the Vacuo arc. Gimme that Emercury angst pretty please.

Vacuo in general. By virtue of the books I think they have the most interesting world building, the food, the culture, the different words for weather phenomenon, the fauna, the nomadic tribes, the history of being a once incredibly beautiful oasis full of everything they needed, then exploited time and again and left with nothing and yet still surviving and carving a home and life for themselves. The world building of Vacuo is one that is inevitably tied to the story because of their fraught history leading to tensions between them and all the refugees from Atlas, Mantle and Vale seeking their aid and shelter in their kingdom, not to mention the Crown seeking to restore the monarchy, it'd be easy for them to be divided and conquered by Salem, and so our heroes have to find a way to overcome that and bring everyone together. So just getting to see the kingdom animated and learn more about its history and culture would be cool. I also like desert punk aesthetic, so I'm hoping whatever new outfits our girls get will have a little of that. (part of me hopes for maybe some Trigun inspiration... we've had Gurren Laggan inspiration in Yang's outfits before!)

I would also say I'm looking forward to seeing my darling cringefail wife Cinder but I don't know if she'll be in Vacuo or with Salem in Vale wrecking shit.

27. Favorite voice performance?

AARON DISMUKE AS OSCAR HANDS DOWN. Him being the VA for Oscar meant I was destined to like him, I usually do with characters he voices. The fact he has to also voice Oscar when controlled by Ozpin, and sometimes Oscar pretending to be Ozpin, and completely nails the subtle differences in all of them is phenomenal. And as the merge progresses he's literally having to mix and merge their voices together too!!! It's crazy!!! The awkward and shy intonation becoming a more sincere and quiet confident voice as Oscar develops, and gaining Oz's mannerisms in speech with a deeper and more serious tone. That is some crazy talent this man has.

Always impressed with how well Linsay Jones and Miles Luna hold up in earlier volumes, they've consistently been the best voice performances from start to present. Also Cherami Leigh as Ilia is absolutely fantastic, it's rare I've heard her get to flex her emotional range like that in her voice work for such a complex character.

28. Fairytale character you'd want to see RWBYfied?

With how character songs are a big thing in the show and semblances that can hypnotize and mind control exist, and instruments sometimes being weapons (gestures to Flynt), I'd love an allusion to The Pied Piper or the Lorelai Siren as a villain of some kind. Bonus if you had a Little Mermaid/Lorelai Siren allusion for that victim/monster/hero duality RWBY likes to play with.

Not technically a traditional fairytale but also very much one, the Last Unicorn, one of my alltime favorite books would be beyond amazing to be alluded to, even a tiny bit. Amalthea the unicorn being the last of her kind, the rest hunted down by a wicked beast at the order of a tyrant. She is associated with silver, the moon, hope and purity constantly. A story that is both a love letter and deconstruction of fairytales, an exploration of the nature of humanity and mortality. Tell me that wouldn't be perfect as an allusion to a Silver Eyed Warrior (also thought to be a myth) trying to find out what happened to the rest of her kind.

29. Favorite opening to sing along too?

TRUST LOOOOOVVVVVEEEE AND OPEN UP YOUR EYESEESSSSS TRUST LOOOOVVVVVEEEE THE TRUTH IS THERE BUT SOMETIMES IN DISGUISE

[girltalkcollectives]

‘Women Supporting Women’ Shouldn’t Be a Trend

Let’s talk about this whole “women supporting women” movement that’s plastered all over social media. Don’t get me wrong — I absolutely love seeing women lift each other up. But can we address the elephant in the room? Why is this a “movement” in the first place? Why did we need to make basic human decency into a hashtag?

Think about it: When was the last time you saw #MenSupportingMen trending? Or why isn’t there a viral movement about humans being decent to other humans? The fact that we had to turn women supporting each other into a trendy social media campaign speaks volumes about where we are as a society.

It’s giving very much “bare minimum, but make it aesthetic.”

Here’s what bothers me: We’re celebrating women supporting women like it’s some revolutionary act of kindness, when in reality, it should be as normal as breathing. We’re out here acting like it’s groundbreaking when a woman compliments another woman without ulterior motives or celebrates another woman’s success without feeling threatened.

Let that sink in.

We’ve literally had to create a whole movement just to normalize something that should have been in the default setting. It’s like having a trend called #PeopleBreathingOxygen or #HumansEatingFood. Like… why do we need to make this a thing?

And here’s another layer to unpack: Why is this responsibility primarily placed on women? Why are we the only ones expected to be carrying this torch of supportiveness? Last time I checked, being supportive, kind, and uplifting wasn’t a gendered trait.

The internet is flooded with:

“Girls supporting girls!”

“Women empowering women!”

“Sisters before misters!”

But where’s the energy for:

“Everyone supporting everyone!”

“Humans being decent to humans!”

“Basic respect for all!”

Don’t these sound ridiculous when you spell them out like this? They should, because they’re pointing out things that should’ve been obvious from the start.

The fact that “women supporting women” has become a marketable trend tells us two things:

Society has such low expectations of women’s relationships with each other that we had to brand basic decency

We’re still not addressing the bigger issue of why support and upliftment aren’t universal values

Here’s what really gets me: Brands are now capitalizing on this movement. They’re selling us “girl power” and “women supporting women” merchandise like they didn’t spend decades profiting off of putting women against each other. The same media that thrived on “who wore it better” segments is now preaching about female solidarity. The irony is not lost on me.

And let’s talk about how this movement, while well-intentioned, sometimes feels like it’s putting even more pressure on women. Now, not only do we have to succeed in a system that wasn’t built for us, but we also have to be everyone else’s cheerleader 24/7. When did support become another item on women’s already endless to-do list?

Don’t misunderstand me — I’m all for women supporting women. I’ll shout about my friends’ achievements from the rooftops. I’ll hype up strangers in bathroom lines. I’ll celebrate every woman’s win like it’s my own.

But I’m also tired of acting like this should be remarkable.

I’m tired of it being a “woman’s responsibility.”

I’m tired of it being a trend instead of a norm.

What I want to see is:

Support being genderless

Celebration becoming universal

Kindness becoming standard

Upliftment becoming natural

Because honestly? The real trend should be everyone supporting everyone. Period.

The next time you see #WomenSupportingWomen, ask yourself: Why isn’t this just called being a decent human being? Why did we have to gender basic respect? Why did kindness need a marketing campaign?

Maybe instead of making women’s support for each other a trending topic, we should focus on making it so normal that it doesn’t need a hashtag. Maybe we should expand this energy to include everyone, regardless of gender. Maybe we should make basic human decency the standard, not the exception.

Because at the end of the day, supporting others shouldn’t be a trend.

It shouldn’t be a gender-specific responsibility.

It shouldn’t be remarkable at all.

It should just be how we exist in the world.

[silviakundera]

Lust Love in the Desert, ep 7 liveblogging

Yunpei Lord calls FL in for a threesome but because the writers are WEAK ofc she doesn't bang him but makes an excuse

Because noooooo she must only sleep with the male lead or they're not allowed to end up together

Cowards!

However, definitely a bold move to just chill with the Special Scroll a few steps away from the fucking couple like they're not even there

As the fucking was clearly more of a powerplay, lure of power compels Yunpei Lord to pause the panting. He strolls over to pop quiz FL on her reading and tries to get glimpse behind her mask.

He thinks he's sooooo fucking special and smart that he both wants to be Too Jaded™ and presuming all his concubines are liars and ALSO he's weak for beautiful women calling him the 'sun'

"I'll wait until you open your heart to me." HOW CONVENIENT.

ML trying to get drunk over his crush threesomeing without him

Back to the wild spring break adventures of Princess 2. There's a fire. People menaced with knives. A nice roasted chicken. What more does a bandit want in life?

2FL is thrilled to be informed they're here to kill people.

I assume it's revenge against the group who helped our main couple bust up The Dead Zone.

He collects the remnants to rebuild his gang. All in a day's work.

This spoiled princess is drunkenly ranting and climbing in his lap and tbh @dangermousie has her dead to rights as that kind of cosetted & privileged young daughter running wild with an implicit belief that the world will open its doors for her. As unhinged as she can be, her character makes sense and is internally consistent.

Bandit leader has totally gone a bit soft for her and I actually thinks it's a kindness when he tries to ditch her this time (leaving her with MONEY). It's in his face when he looks at her. Acting!

"I don't care about money!" Yeah, not something a person raised in poverty would say lol

Yunpei Lord and FL are testing each other (though only FL realizes it's mutual). She thinks he's got juuuust the right amount of ego, ruthless ambition, and smarts to start uniting the desert (or at least enough to fuck up the North Lord for revenge).

Like our mysterious ML, he's intrigued by her brilliance and steel spine. But sadly for him, she's too clever to authentically fall for a dude this sleazy and pretentious.

lolololol ML doesn't even try to hide how hyped he is about FL not consummating her marriage

But then we get a lil flashback of mom being alive and mentoring FL and boyyyyyyy I just do not see how this works out for you.

hmmm so there are 5 parts of the Special Scroll, not 3. FL's family had 2 volumes, Herb and Architecture. With ALL ITS POWERS COMBINED, it can reveal a great secret

where does the twin fruit tree grow? Only the Desert Scroll knows.

wow mom was a real font of knowledge. It would be really too bad if someone shot her...

oh hi ML

he takes a break from stalking around the palace tunnels and tucks a blanket on his crush while she's dozing

I'll give the Yunpei Lord this: he's actually plotting w his faux-enunch to target the FL for her brains instead of as a bedmate

[meatball-headache]

So, Caves of Qud is not nearly as complicated as was rumored. It's certainly complicated, but the same argument could be made of anything. Is Warframe complicated? No, you just keep pressing the melee button hold down the melee button and do the next node on the star chart. Now, here's a movie-length video explaining damage types...

Qud is certainly detailed in that it has a huge world with lots of parts. Everywhere I go I find a statue mentioning some "dynamically-generated" lore clueing me in to the location of a hidden ruin or lost artifact, and my quest log is stuffed with them. Everything has statuses for when it's wet, bleeding, bloody; there are puddles of blood generated wherever something bleeding walks, or gets killed, and there are puddles of "dilute salt" whenever I terrify a creature—I think they run away pissing themselves. All these puddles have a volume as well, it's not just "a puddle of blood," it's "a puddle of 7 drams of blood."

It's certainly an extremely hard game. That part lives up to the hype. I made my first character a Pilgrim. They died in about fifteen minutes. I made my second character the same build because I liked it and I wanted to try it some more, and I named them "the Second Pilgrim." They died in about ten minutes. Seeing the writing on the wall, I made my next character in Roleplay mode—so it checkpoints you at towns and you can reload if you die. They're named "the Final Pilgrim." They have died... so many times, mostly at the Malil Coinsquare, depicted above. ...mostly from adventures starting at the Malil Coinsquare, but then I have a spacetime rift mishap and get randomly teleported 30 layers deep below the lake and meet a bunch of impossible-level albino apes who are fighting some robotic mine-layers, but they declare a truce to gang up on me. And then a rogue esper from the outer mind sends their mind-clone to hunt me down.

...see, that sounds complicated, but it's not that bad. It's just flavor. Random encounters happen in many games, this one's just happen have to have this heightened exoticness about it. The game's writing overall is very—well, some of it is the mad-libbed dynamic history, but the stuff that's not, item descriptions and main NPCs, it's very... look, here's some examples:

So the game has this hyperbolic, eerie atmosphere to everything. It's extremely enchanting and captivating. Even though these ruins are essentially randomized, I want to explore and find things because I know it's going to be a challenge to get there, I know I'm going to be challenged when I get there, and I might find a painted flaming iron dagger which is engraved with a scene from Sultan Resheph's past, which the Coiled Lambs will want to know about, and they'll teach me how to make their traditional meal—broken microchips and bandits' feet—if I tell them about it.

I did do the tutorial, after I attempted it myself. It didn't teach me anything I didn't already know, just the basics on opening menus, equipping items, moving around, that sort of thing. Again—nothing complicated here. Something like Wurm, as an extreme example, makes everything from walking to looking in your pocket a challenge with half a dozen spreadsheets and hotkeys on half the keyboard. In Qud, I'm playing totally with the mouse (except I have to press Esc to close the ability menu; other menus close if you right-click) and even then, mostly it's just right-click to get a menu of options.

See, I watched Sseth's video, and he likes to harp on the hypercomplexity and insanity of every game he reviews. "Become an Esper and mutate the power to give your enemies a fatal brain aneurysm from across the map!" Yes, or play FFXIV and become a Blue Mage, freeze your enemies solid, and explode their frozen bodies with a cermet drill! The buttons are the same, it's all flavor. You get these ASCII-art, text-heavy games like this, Dwarf Fortress, Rogue and whatnot, and since you don't have to visually depict everything, you can just have a bunch of @ signs on the screen and make them different shade of red, and then say whatever you want—it makes it seem absurdly complex and intricate. But it boils down to "press A to deal 3d6 damage."

Now, I'm not trying to disparage the game. As usual, I'm talking to myself, thinking out loud, dissuading myself from my original impression that it was complicated as hell. Heck, gacha games are more complicated than this, simply because they have so many menus and daily sign-ins to tick off. But, again, there are a lot of moving parts—and I don't have nearly all of them. I can put a forcefield around an enemy so I can walk up to them and blast them with my shotgun at point blank—and still miss, because I have no agility. I can jump into someone's mind and command them to kill themself—I don't get any exp for that, though, sadly. I can persuade someone to ally themselves with me, and then "accidentally" explode them when I cast Disintegrate to burrow through the cave walls because I "accidentally" teleported myself into a tiny pocket deep underground somewhere. And, yes, I can give enemies an aneurysm from across the map—unless they don't have a brain. You'd be surprised how many hostile plants there are!

This is a wonderful game with the promise of a grand—if somewhat randomized—adventure. And, I can say "somewhat" because there is some kind of MSQ to the game, and there's some level of fixedness: the world map is always the same, the locations of major... locations, is always the same. There's some kind of key thread to it all that I'd like to discover. Meanwhile, locations of minor sites and the contents of dungeons are random, but it's seeded, so if you're on Roleplay mode so you can reload your save, it's going to be the same each time. I don't know if the Malil Coinsquare is in everyone else's game, if it's in the same location, if it has the same contents, if they have that goddamned centipede nest that swarms the map before you can get to it...

And! The music is lovely, too. It's very atmospheric, ambient, and some parts have this primal, tribal kind of vibe to it—which is fitting when I'm in a marsh surrounded by a tribe of salt-encrusted turtles who seem to be at war with dragonflies. And it flows from one song to another without interrupting, it just blends gently and half the time I don't even notice when it changed. I've put a lot of hours into this game in my first week, and honestly a lot of that time is just having it on in the background while I'm working, just because the music is so chill. Usually chill.

Eventually I'll get to the Deathlands where a chrome pyramid surrounded by a forcefield will shoot 100 missiles at me every turn, but, hey, that's a problem for later.

...if I can survive these spacetime shenanigans, that is...

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Do you think it is possible to adapt the events of Twisted Wonderland for manga someday?

As much as I’d personally love for the event stories to be adapted into a full-blown manga, I really don’t think it’s feasible outside of maybe one-off specials (similar to the anthology comic) or references (like how the Episode of Heartslabyul features Master Chef Riddle as he’s making an apology tart). There are many reasons for this (these also apply for why I don’t think vignettes would be fully adapted into “full” manga):

Firstly, event stories are purposefully limited time in the game; this is to induce FOMO (fear of missing out) and creates a psychological incentive to get in on the hype while the associated story and banners are available. This time exclusivity does not “translate” well into manga, which can be consumed at a far steadier pace.

To add to the last point, TWST is constantly coming out with new events, and at a rate far faster than the main story releases, even if each event is typically short in length. This means a hypothetical event manga may never be able to “keep up” with the new content (assuming the manga’s pace is 1 new chapter per month), unlike the main story which gets far larger gaps of time between major updates. If TWST were to start an event manga at this point, they already have 20ish events and counting to adapt compared to 7 books of the main story (and that’s not even counting minor ones like Master Chef/Culinary Crucibles) 💦

When you really think about it… not a lot actually happens in some events, which wouldn’t make them that exciting to read??? This is most noticeable in hometown events where the bulk of what happens is the characters going around and eating the local foods. Once we have that trivia the first time (via the game), it loses some of its impact in another format.

The stakes are not high enough (most of the time) to warrant dedicating entire volumes to a single event and resolving its conflict. (The main exceptions to this would be the Halloween events.)

There could be some confusion associated with timelines and/or could spoil the main story for som people. For example, events like Fairy Gala: What If have some ties to the ending of book 6.

Lastly… what would we do about the Yuus? The manga adaptation introduces a new Yuu for every main story episode; is there supposed to be a new Yuu for each event…? Do we bring back the manga!Yuus and distribute them among the events? But then what’s really the point when Yuu’s role is greatly diminished in the majority of events??? (Again, this is most notable whenever they visit a new area; Yuu just randomly pops up to each group of students and says/does nothing of note before walking away again. They typically also do not contribute to the resolution, whereas you can at least say Yuu is somewhat involved in the main story.)

As I said at the beginning of this post, I think the events being relegated to short anthology chapters and/or cameos in the main manga, as these formats would resolve many of the issues I identified for a “full” event manga. The anthology chapters thus far do not feature Yuu and instead focus on the boys, and the chapters are short enough that it can cover multiple events in the span of one volume. The cameos would also allow for event outfits to appear without the focus shifting so much into events where not a lot may happen story-wise. Those are my thoughts! 💭

[thrandilf]

do you have a guide as to the extra materials for The Dragon Prince? i keep seeing stuff about comics or books but idk where to start

Not on hand but I can make one here! :D

There are two, soon to be three, canon graphic novels.

Through the Moon takes place between seasons 3 and 4, like a little season 3.5 It isn't Necessary to read it before watching S4 but the story is cool and the extra information is neat. It feels like we might get more info regarding what happened to Rayla while she was gone later in the show

Bloodmoon Huntress takes place when Rayla is a child around when her parents leave. Lots of Runaan and Ethari, also introduces Kim'dael who will be in S5. Again, not Required reading but a fun extra story.

Puzzle House is coming out August 1st and is about Claudia and Soren as children, and we also get a look at younger Viren and other people. Harrow's father, King Atticus is still king in this one so interesting Katolis lore, SUPER hyped for when we get to read all of this one. The Scholastic link has a 15 pages preview if you wanna take a peek.

There are novelizations for Dragon Prince Season 1 and Season 2, they add a bit of introspection and small extra details. Viren in particular gets more of his internal thought processes laid out and for me it just Confirmed a lot of things. Season 3's novelization is coming out April 2nd, 2024. I'm sure all 7 seasons will eventually have novelizations.

Tales of Xadia is the ttrpg book and it's gorgeous and is probably the most lore heavy supplemental material as far as world building goes. The system also looks fun! The website has a character builder too for OC making. As a writer, it's been a great help as far as seeing some aspects of the world laid out. The system looks fun and there are videos of some of the cortex(?) team playing ToX official tales/campaigns but I haven't watched them yet. The campaigns are also available to look at online too.

I think that ToX is getting an expansion at some point since the base game doesn't touch much on Ocean or Star magic, I imagine due to spoilers for the seasons we're coming up on.

There's also a tabletop game called Battlecharged which I haven't personally played and I don't think it Adds lore but I've heard it's fun.

Also, it will likely be a long time before we see it, but there's a video game in the works as well that's in alpha testing right now called Project Arcanum. Wonderstorm is pretty busy!

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

The Free Stuff:

Reflections are official short stories hosted on TDP's website and all of them are excellent and provide little extra scenes. Some of them are quite impactful, and the ones in this second batch are promising an absolutely wild S5. The first batch was released pre S4 and the second batch is being released now pre S5 as we count down to the new season. They aren't Required reading since the most key information from them will be in the show (going by the S4 ones) but I highly HIGHLY rec reading them all. Banger after banger. As of posting this there may be one more coming.

There's also little 4 panel comics called Everyday Xadia that have been also released during countdown mode and they're just fun/cute. Volume One and Volume 2 (still coming out). Sometimes when people say comics they might mean these, or the graphic novels lol.

Thank you for the ask, I'm always happy to share the TDP love and I hope this was helpful to you and anyone else who'd like a ref!

[quibbs126]

So apparently my college library also has (I presume) all of Transformers Animated, G1, and Prime. As well as most of the movies, including the 86 one

I mean I guess I already have access to all of them via my pirating site, but I can now watch them legally, if I rent out a DVD player and get myself a TV (or just watch it on my computer). Which admittedly is more work than just pulling it up on my iPad. But I guess if I get a TV later on, I can go watch it. Or I can bring one home with me for a break, since you can rent DVDs for 7 days at a time

But yeah, I can watch these all legally and for free if I wanted to

Also follow-up on Volume 1 of MTMTE, it isn’t in a different building, it’s with the other ones, it’s just that it was missing because someone had checked it out. Apparently it was pretty recently, so I have to assume it was someone else who got on the Transformers hype after TFOne. But also because of that, it means it isn’t due back until February. But considering that all the other ones are still there, I imagine this person is gonna be checking them out one at a time, and returning them after finishing, so it probably won’t be that long until I can get my hands on it

[chatterkat]

Saw you in a dream

Are you who you seem?

Was it always in the cards for me to be aimless?

No direction

Nothing pulling me down from the sky

It seems like I always get too high

Ruby in a bit of shock from the vision she got from her mother, questions who she really was. She lied, she wasn’t perfect. Ruby’s been idealizing her mother her whole life , and been trying to be just like her, but Ruby has also struggled with what that means for a long time as well. She thought she needed to be like her mom, but how she doesn’t know what to think.

Oh, the air is cold

I don't know how to breathe

I'm begging, can you

Guide my way out

Of this place?

Ruby wants answers, but she isn’t going to get them from the person she most wants them from.

Red like roses fills my dreams

Calling back to the previous red like roses, we know that this refers to Ruby’s nightmares of her mother’s bloody demise. However it’s also again just representing the nightmare that is Ruby’s struggle with her own identity.

Open wide

You were born to hypnotize them all

They said their prayers

(Can you, can you)

Can you hear me up there?

Now this is interesting! It sounds like a response from Summer. Much like how she responses in Red like Roses II. In that song it’s unclear whether it’s a Summer from elsewhere feeling those regrets (I think there is surely a good chance she had become like the hound) or if it was an imagined response by Ruby. It was almost ghostly, like the dead trying to answer the living but unable to actually communicate with each other.

It’s possible it is Ruby still in this lyric since the can you hear me up there part, might make sense from Ruby having fallen down though the world talking back up towards Remnant. However the other lyrics in this section don’t make sense as much sense then. I think it could easily be Summer again speaking from wherever she is dead or alive? Perhaps she is part of the tree and that is what she means by up there.

Open wide might be a reference to Sky is Falling(as it may be a song for the hound) as the opposite of what the song there says which is to “close your eyes my friend” (and the hound is a SEW so…)

Anyway the usage of the word hypnotize is interesting. It’s not just their silver eyes that hypnotize, it’s their whole self. They may hypnotize their enemies(“they said their prayers”), but also If it’s indeed Summer talking about Ruby, then she has certainly hypnotized the world with her message given what we see in Vacuo. Ruby has that spark that charisma that gets people to follow her. It works too if it were a Ruby to Summer lyric in the sense it could represent Ruby’s idealization of Summer, but again it makes more sense IMO to be from Summer to Ruby.

Alternatively it’s Ruby talking about herself trying to hype herself up. She could be saying “can you hear me up there” as a threat to the cat or to Salem, that’s she’s gonna get them, but it seems too early in the song for that confident conclusion about herself

What survives

After all the dust is gone?

Were you there 'til the end?

(The end)

Were you at least called a friend?

These seem to directly call back to the volume 7 song Until the End which seems to be about Ruby(either from her POV or Summer’s) declaring she would be there until the end. It seems to refer to Ruby giving up briefly this volume with the tea. Would she be called a friend by others after giving up?

Or it could be Ruby questioning if her mom was there until the end, if she was a good person a friend in the end?

Otherside,

Did you mean to make me half or whole?

Will I ever be

(complete?)

When will I become all of me?

This is obviously back to Ruby’s perspective, as she questions whether she can ever truly be herself or always in her mother’s shadow. Ruby questions “otherside” and I’m unclear if that mean the otherside where her mother is or if otherside refers to the Ever After. Where the Ever After has both broken her and pushed her to become something new.

Guide my way out

Of this place

I can't define

Would it even be enough

To change my mind?

Your memory everlasting

At war with my foolish pride

What is left?

I know it's you and I

When I look inside

I'll be who you were

And I'll be even more

Ruby looks into herself and now realizes her idolization of her mother doesn’t gel with reality and her “foolish pride” of trying to live up to a standard that more illusion than reality. Interestingly she realizes she still carries this will or memory of her mother, but she no longer wants to be just like her, but rather both her and something greater…herself. She chooses herself.

A moment of quiet is all it takes

To reclaim a life and a promise made

I am the reflection of who prevails

I'm what inspired the fairytale

The emblem symbolizes the promise made, which Ruby never said what it was when she traded it away, but I have the feeling she thought it was a promise to come back, but in reality it was “I love you, just the way you are” Ruby reclaims the promise, hearing that echoed again from her mom is what let her finally be able to to choose herself. So Ruby also reclaims the emblem when she returns from the tree. I also think it symbolizes that part where she is who her mom was but more. Summer surrenders the emblem, and Ruby is truly defining it as hers now.

A moment of quiet is all it takes

To reclaim a life and a promise made

I am the reflection of who prevails

I'm what inspired the fairytale

(I'm what inspired the fairytale)

I think what is meant by this like is that Ruby is now being the one that would inspire a fairytale, she is being who she wants to be finally, and defining her own story her own fairytale instead of just living through others(her Moms, Alex’s)

Guide my way out

(I'll be free)

Of this place

(I'll escape it, I will guide my way out)

Guide my way out

Of this place

In the end Ruby will guide herself out, with this new understanding of herself and her mother. Her mother still helped guide her in the end with her promise and her truth that broke Ruby’s image of her, but now Ruby is breaking away from that and doing it her way.

If you got his far thanks for reading my analysis. Let me know what you think! I’ll be doing a rewatch soon if the series and hopefully more song analysis so stay tuned!