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tyrantisterror · 2 years ago

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As has become tradition for the release of my novels, it’s time to do a trivia thread for Wizard School Mysteries Book 2: Tournament of Death (available now at amazon.com!). That’s right, I’m going to make a long, self-indulgent post about all the nerd shit I did while writing this book, for you to gawk at in abject horror.

(Shit, did I not do one of these for No Sympathies? I should correct that, I packed so many references to classic literature in that bad boy. But that’s for another time!)

For now, let’s talk about wizards, tournaments, and the long term side effects of being a child of the 90′s anime boom. Oh, and there will be spoilers, so if you haven’t read the book yet... probably don’t read this until you do? I mean it’s a mystery story, I assume you want to go in blind.

- Wizard School Mysteries as a whole is intentionally patterned after anime and JRPGs. I’ve touched on this before when talking about the series, but when thinking about trivia for this second book it becomes pretty clear that elaborating on this point is warranted. I mean, it’s pretty obvious if you know some of the more prominent influences within that sphere - the a great deal of the series’s overall structure is ripped off from patterned off of the Persona series, for example, particularly the tarot motif (although that’s not exclusive to Persona - a LOT of anime and JRPGs use tarot motifs, from the prominent use of them in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure - which in turn heavily inspired Persona - to the subtle application of it in Fire Emblem Three Houses). You’ve got Serena Takeuchi, whose name is a big homage to Sailor Moon and whose use of a wand and glittery crystal magic should at least visually call back to the Magical Girl trope, I could go on but we should narrow our focus a bit. The two big anime/JRPG elements of this particular book are as follows: The Tournament Arc, and The Filler Episode. Got it? Ok, let’s expand on that in the next two bullet points.

- I wrote a lot in the forward about why I chose a tournament arc as the basic structure of this second book so I’m going to try to keep my thoughts on it here brief. Tournament arcs rule! Obviously they exist outside of anime, and indeed predate the existence of animation itself, but the structure of the tournament arc here is very heavily based on the ones that appeared in shows like Dragon Ball, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, which, incidentally, were part of the 90′s/early 2000′s anime boom that I grew up in. The basic setup of heroes fighting a bunch of really weird opponents one after another, each more dangerous and bizarre than the last, while simultaneously trying to unravel a villain’s crazy scheme (ok that didn’t happen in Pokemon’s but it holds true for the other two) is just really fun and compelling, and I had fun trying to capture that magic while showing off the zany powers magic grants you in my fantasy setting. The fight scenes should ideally make you feel like you just got home from school and turned on the TV to catch some weird but fun Japanese cartoon on Toonami.

- Now, Filler Episodes... again, it’s a term that extends to stuff outside of and predating anime, but I want to talk about this idea in the context of anime. A lot of anime is adapted from manga, as you probably already know, and a there have been times where the anime adaptation of a manga runs out of a material to adapt. So, while they wait for the manga to give them more of the “main” plot, they’d make episodes and even entire story lines to fill in the gap. Hence, filler episodes. Filler episodes get a bad rap because, by their nature, they can’t be too relevant to the plot - you can’t kill the big bad in a filler episode, because then you can’t adapt the material from the manga that hasn’t been written yet where the big bad is still alive. A filler episode is, by its nature, expendable.

...that is, if you think the only important part of a story is the plot.

A good writer or writing team, however, can use a filler episode to their advantage. Because as important as plot is to a story, it’s only one core element. Characters, setting, and theme are all just as important, and you can easily use a filler episode to expand on those elements in important and intriguing ways. Like, for example, I spent this weekend watching Revolutionary Girl Utena for the first time, and if you were focused solely on the main plot of Utena dueling people to protect Anthy, then you could cut, like, half of the episodes out and still have a functional story. But some of those episodes are the best episodes! While light on developing the main plot, they do so much to flesh out the characters, setting, and theme, and without those episodes the series would be so much less impactful.

And I feel a well-utilized filler episode can in fact strengthen your main plot. A story that’s focused entirely on its main conflict may neglect to stop and flesh out its characters, and that’s a problem because to care about a conflict, you kind of need to care about the characters involved. If the conflict threatens the world they live in, then you need to care about that setting too. And if you really want that conflict to resonate with your audience, you need it to have well developed themes that make it matter beyond “the hero is fighting the bad guy!”

Now, of course, my book is, well, a book, a novel, and not a TV series, so there aren’t really “episodes” in the TV sense. But there are chapters, and scenes, and subplots, and one of my goals with this series and this book in particular was to make sure there were the equivalent of filler episodes here, moments where the main plot paused just long enough for our characters to catch their breath, and for us to see who they are when they’re not dealing with some murder mystery bullshit. Maybe in one of the next volumes I’ll figure out how to do a beach episode (at the moment I’m unsure of how to get over the hurdle that, in a vaguely medieval fantasy land, most people’s equivalent of a beach trip would be skinny dipping...)

- The first WSM book was focused on introducing our core eight meddling kids, which was a pretty big task in of itself, and as such the setting took a bit of a backseat. I mean, it was still there, obviously, but it wasn’t the focus. While the characters are still very much the focus of book 2 (as they are in all my writing - I’m a character-focused storyteller), I really wanted this one to give the setting more spotlight than the first. Book 2, more so than book 1, is the proper introduction of our setting - of the nations of Midgaheim, of the staff of the AAAM, and indeed, of the nature of that school itself.

Like, in the first book we have four teachers, and as a result of all the stuff that book had to pack in, those teachers end up fitting a simplified sort of Goofus and Gallant dichotomy: Oomlowt’s our good teacher, Gernderf and Alys are different shades of awful, and Mewcosa starts out as bad but eventually makes a turn with some student help. It’s the kind of approach most school stories take to their fictional teaching staff - one good teacher and a sea of dull to actively bad ones around them.

Now, if you know me and the fact that I’ve worked quite a bit in education, you should not be surprised to learn that I dislike this kind of reductive portrayal of teachers. It really couldn’t be helped in book 1, but that was ok, because this is an eight book series, and with this second entry I wanted to complicate our teaching staff. We get Juno Panopte, who is a good teacher with a very different style and approach than Oomlowt’s (enough that it briefly throws our heroes off when they first meet her). We get Lacey Spidergrin, who only has one scene but is hopefully enough of a presence in it to establish her strange but kind personality. We get bombastic Heka Tlancheb and acerbic Prospera Bubos, both of whom clearly hold some differing views but care deeply about their students, and we get a scene of (most of) the teaching staff hanging out together away from the students to show who these people are when they’re not teaching. My aim is that by the end of this book, or barring that then at least by the end of the series, the teaching staff of the AAAM aren’t cookie cutter good and bad teacher stereotypes, but, well, people, you know? There’s not a lot of fiction where teachers get to be people.

- The wizard students descending onto a nearby town and changing it utterly is an exaggeration of my own experience in college at Western Michigan University. Kalamazoo, the city that WMU resides in, can be kind of cleanly divided into the parts that are a more or less normal city, and the parts that are a College Town Filled with College Kids. Of course, college kids being college kids, which is to say, young adults who suddenly have the ability to go wherever the hell they want and do more or less whatever the hell they want with their time, there was nothing stopping you from wandering out of the college part of town into the non-college city parts, and I always found that an interesting experience. And there were a LOT of businesses in both the college and non college parts of Kalamazoo that actively courted (or preyed on, if you want to be more cynical about it) student customers, which I again exaggerated for my own book. The name of the town in WSM, Calampen, is even a play on Kalamazoo. Kalam. Zoo. Zoo = place where you hold animals = pen. Kalam Pen. Calampen. Clever? No, not really, but it makes me smile.

- There are some nods to other stories I’ve worked on and/or have in the works in Calampen market scene. Fans of Offbeat Melody might recognize a certain golden-haired curio seller, for example, and we have more than a few mentions of the dread wizard Vormadon, who you’ll all get to meet when I finish writing Maude and Mordi (it’s high on the docket, don’t worry!)

- Serena and James splitting off together serves two purposes: first, it lets Gretchen and Margot have goofy jealousy antics, which I think is fun. Second, it makes up for a fact that Serena is the only member of the team who didn’t get a solo scene with James in book 1. Poor girl was so left out!

- James Chaucer identifying with snakes is not only an homage to my own love for the scaly beasts AND a fun metaphor for coming out, but also a bit of shade for the Terf Queen’s opus, where the magical boy hates being associated with snakes because he’s a huge loser who hufflepuffs farts or whatever.

- All of the youths have different skills to bring to their detective enterprise, and I like to think Serena’s is her Columbo-esque ability to throw people off by posing a seemingly innocent question. I watched the entire series of Columbo while writing this book, it had to bleed out somewhere.

- Let’s talk about some obscure Tarot shit! Helseng refers to the villain of the previous book as “The Apostle,” and likewise refers to the villains of this book as “The Centurion” and “The Thunderbolt.” Now, if you have a basic grasp of the major arcana, that may seem odd to you, because those aren’t among the twenty two arcana cards. Except they actually are! Sort of! See, there have been a LOT of different tarot decks over the centuries, produced in different countries with different languages in different time periods, and as a result the total number of arcana, the order of the arcana, and yes, the very names of the arcana themselves, have varied a bit. While initially I only mapped out twenty-one main characters to the major arcana of Tarot, as I researched into the history of the game I saw these variations and thought it would be interesting to try and make some of the other supporting characters fit them as well, and the first ones that came to mind were the series’ villains.

The Apostle is an alternate name for The Heirophant, which represents a patriarchal authority figure. Oomlowt Schwaa is our heirophant proper, and showcases the benign elements of that card, taking on a sort of fatherly role with James and the youths as a whole. The Summer Prince from book 1, by contrast, showcases its negative qualities, being conceited, condescending, and oppressive, with the power structure he both leads and represents making him a terrible force in the narrative as a result.

Our villains for this book at the Centurion, which is an alternate name for the Chariot, and the Thunderbolt, which is an alternate name for the Tower. We’ll talk about them a bit more later in this trivia post, but for now I ask you to think about the heroic counterparts here - Margot is a heroic Chariot, and Polybeus is a heroic Tower. God what a weird sentence that is.

- I also wanted there to be some supporting characters who are never directly involved with the plot but still had roles to play in our heroes life, because again, going off of that screed I wrote about filler episodes, the stakes can actually feel higher if you know there’s more to the hero’s life than just the core conflict. So I made some supporting cast members based on alternate arcana names as well - Columbina and Godfrey, for example, are the Juggler and the Magus respectively, which are both alternate names for the Magician. The Magician is a friend and ally to the fool and likes to get into schemes and plans, many of which are too clever by half, and that’s very much what Columbina and Godfrey are, just to a lesser degree than our main Magician, Ivan Muromets. I like to imagine that in an alternate timeline either one of them might have been the Magician to the Fool in the story. But maybe that’s too self indulgent a thought even for this trivia post.

- If the joke of Lord Dhenregirr’s name was too subtle in book one, I’m pretty sure chapter four of book two hits it with a big hammer so it’s impossible to miss. Not-coincidentally, this chapter is all about introducing red herrings - not just Lord Dhenregirr himself, but the many, MANY characters involved in the tournament, from the contestants to bystanders like Prospera Bubos and Grammy Crumblebuttons. Which is the real villain and which are the red herrings? Well, hopefully you heeded my advice and didn’t read this until after reading the book, and thus already know the answer to that question.

- Heka Tlancheb’s speech gives us as close to a unifying creation myth for Midgaheim as you will get, given that there are multiple pantheons at play here. It’s basically a nod to the idea of a prototypical monomyth, i.e. the theory that the original humans created a first mythology that evolved with them over time into the many we have today, possibly explaining several odd similarities between otherwise unrelated mythologies, like the prevalence of thunder gods, big floods, etc. The idea that there was some force of chaos that the gods had to kill, dismember, and/or overthrow is a common one, especially in European mythologies, and Heka’s assertion that magic is its breath, and wizard in turn are chaotic by nature for using it, is a nod to the similarly common belief that magic is a dangerous and somewhat sacrilegious force. The second half of her speech, meanwhile, is just an homage to the opening speech of Elden Ring.

- Heka Tlancheb herself is a joke at the expense of my own crush on Cate Blanchett, particularly when she plays gothy witch roles like Hela or Galadriel in that one scene where she makes Frodo shit his pants.

- We get to meet another member of the Claw Gang in this chapter! If you don’t remember them, they were a group of recurring background extras in book one, and if you followed closely you could see the broad strokes of their own mini-adventure running parallel to that of our Meddlesome Youths. I like the idea of stories where the adventure of the heroes is just one of many in the setting, with others clearly happening outside the book’s focus. It makes things feel more full, and I feel that making it so the world doesn’t always revolve around your heroes actually makes it more impactful when the heroes make a stand for that world - because while they may only be a part of it, they care about the whole, you know? Anyway, we’ve named two of the three Claw Gang members in the books so far, and we’ll name the final member in book 3. They may not be important to the central conflict, but they’re important to my heart.

- Oh, speaking of obscure Tarot bullshit again - there’s a card game that’s considered a parody of Tarot called Minchiate, which took the major arcana and then added a whole bunch of extra bullshit to it somewhat haphazardly, including the four elements and the Western Zodiac. So, when I set about making a cast of minor character students for WSM, I decided what the hell, let’s include the Zodiac arcana (along with all the minor arcana, i.e. the number and court cards). Shere Statchel, Andreea Vacaputere, and The Great Nyaa, who appear in this book as contestants in the tournament, are three of those Zodiac characters, being the Scorpio, Taurus, and Leo respectively. Not sure when the others will show up in the later books - they’re all part of a large pile of minor characters I draw from when I need a crowd to be filled, and there’s more than sixty of the fuckers so I can’t guarantee they’ll all have memorable roles, but at least these three got a little spotlight.

- This is Lord Dhenregirr’s only scene in this book, but I made it a juicy one to compensate. Him referring to his skeletons as “children of the dragon’s teeth” is a reference to Jason and the Argonauts - not just the myth, mind you, but specifically the Ray Harryhausen movie, which calls them “children of the hydra’s teeth” verbatim. The fact that they’re skeletons rather than flesh and blood men is another sign this is an homage to the Harryhausen take (in Midgaheim canon, you can use this spell to make either flesh and blood humans or animate skeletons, and Dhenregirr chooses to do the later purely because he’s goth and likes the idea of having skeleton henchmen).

- Structure-wise, I wanted the fight with Dhenregirr to not only be fun, but to refute some of the things other characters have claimed about magic. Earlier in this chapter Miguel Esmerejon chides Ivan for reciting magic words to cast spells, claiming that strong wizards don’t need to do that. We’re also told that most wizards couldn’t make a homunculus in the arena because it would take too much time and power to pull off. Yet here Dhenregirr both manages to pull off that very feat, and does so with a big long poetic chant no less! And while he may have some personality quirks that soften the threat he poses, the fact is that Dhenregirr is a very skilled and deadly wizard when he has his head in the game. In this chapter we get to see a glimpse of Dhenregirr’s other purpose in the narrative, beyond being a red herring joke villain: he’s the counterpoint to the dean’s philosophy of education, right down to being the one who (possibly accidentally, possibly on purpose) encourages James to try all four elements of magic where Gernderf had tried to make him stick with one. Gernderf and Dhenregirr aren’t just hated rivals, you see - they’re foils.

- This is also where Dhenregirr, like Polybeus before him, takes a radically different direction than the Henry Pansley Herbie Porber Harry Potter character he’s a loose analogue of. Harry and Voldemort begin the narrative hating each other and just increase in that hatred as the story goes along. Here, James and Dhenregirr come to an understanding of sorts, and while they’re still on opposing sides, it’s clear their relationship from here on out isn’t going to be as clear cut as hero vs. villain anymore.

- I first thought up the specifics of Lord Dhenregirr’s fight scene while listening to Man on the Internet’s Lyrics for the Chaos King song from Deltarune. Music is pretty important to my writing process, especially action scenes, and I always end up making soundtracks for my books to help with the writing and revision process. In this case the song for this scene was so helpful that I gave it a little nod, having Lord Dhenregirr paraphrase its rawest line: “You lost before you picked this fight.”

- Gyrion Clodson, the first victim (though luckily for him, not in a lethal sense) of the villain plot in this book, gets his first name from two different iconic fantasy works. The bulk of his name comes from Tyrion, the (human) dwarf character from A Song of Ice and Fire, aka Game of Thrones. Swapping out one letter of that name to make a new one is itself taken from the naming conventions of the (nonhuman) dwarves in Tolkien’s The Hobbit - you know, Gloin and Moin, Kili and Fili, Dwalin and Balin, etc. There’s no deeper meaning intended here, I just thought it was slightly amusing. I should probably note here that the equivalent of fantasy nonhuman dwarves in my setting are called gnomes specifically to avoid confusion with real life humans with dwarfism - in a similar vein, giants are uniformly called ogres so I can avoid confusing them with, like, the adjective for things that are big.

- Chapter Five’s title is “The Sundown’s Shine” for a couple of reasons. First, a good chunk of it takes place in the afternoon, and it’s a breather chapter - sundown is often when we stop working and catch our breaths. Second and more importantly though, it’s when we introduce Geoffrey Travers, who, in addition to being our Moon Arcana character, is something of an extended reference. See, Wizard School Mysteries is built in part by mixing aspects of college life with high fantasy, and so one of the questions I asked myself when planning it was “What would your average high fantasy uber wizard who’s seen the shape of the universe and has knowledge beyond comprehension be like when he was a college student?” And, perhaps because of the popularity of this movie among college kids, at least in my day, my answer ended up being: The Dude from The Big Lebowski, but in his twenties. So that was my baseline for Geoffrey Travers: he’s The Dude, as a college kid, and also a wizard. Even his name is a play on it - Geoffrey is the dude’s real name, but also, Geoff = Jeff, Travers = Bridges, Jeff Bridges is the actor who played The Dude, you see what I did there? And one of the iconic songs from The Big Lebowski is “I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In),” which contains the lyrics “I woke up this mornin' with the sundown shinin' in...” Eh? Eh? See what I did there?

- Extended Big Lebowski reference aside, Geoffrey plays a vital role of being a peer who opens our heroes’ minds to new ideas. Professors do a lot of teachin in college, don’t get me wrong, but some of the most valuable lessons I got during my college years came from the older kids I met there, who had been what I was going through just a few years prior and kindly decided to give some advice and guidance of their own accord on how to deal with, like, just life stuff in general. Which, again, goes with the idea of “what is the college equivalent of the next level wizard who has seen things you’ve never dreamt of” - it’s the older student who knows how to be a functional and independent adult who gets what they need.

- The game the gargoyles, mudmen, and scarecrow are playing isn’t D&D. It’s Pathfinder, first edition, invented by the great wizard Pie-zo. I included this scene both as a gag and to show that the homunculi of the AAAM aren’t mindless automatons, but rather sapient beings that most wizards treat like mindless automatons because they don’t understand the full scope of what they’ve done in making them. It’s not a big plot point in this book, but it will be later!

- We get a glimpse of Gretchen’s life outside the youths here, namely her rivalry with a fellow nerd, Joan Tatou. Joan is a bit of an in-joke, as she’s an amalgamation of some ideas that I initially wrote down in my series outline only to reject. As I said before, Margot’s name was originally going to be Joan, both as a reference to Joan of Arc and because of my own fondness for the name, but I changed it when I realized people might see it as a reference to the Terf Queen. I also initially planned for the character who would become Gretchen to be Frankish and for the one who would become Margot to be either Ruslovakian or Germanorean, but it seemed a bit too stereotypical for the bookish girl to be from the fantasy equivalent of France and the big buff girl to be from a land of hard consonants - I like the idea of big, intimidating Margot having a soft voice with gentle inflections, while bookish Gretchen has all these fierce harsh consonants when she speaks. So Joan is proto-Gretchen with proto-Margot’s name, which might be why she and Gretchen don’t get on so much - Gretchen stole her part!

- The book Gretchen and Joan fell out over, the Nosfero Ex Mortis, is a combination of some of the less-well-known alternate names for the malevolent grimmoire in The Evil Dead series, which you probably know best as the Necronomicon, in part because that’s what it’s called in the third film, Army of Darkness. Army of Darkness, of course, was the Evil Dead movie that takes place in the middle ages, and involves (among other things) a kingdom led by Henry the Red, and a big fight against Kandarian demons. So in other words, Joan and Gretchen’s feud is over whether or not the events of Army of Darkness are canon in Midgaheim. Listen, I had an Army of Darkness poster in my dorm room and Bruce Campbell was one of the big reasons I chose to attend WMU and make short horror films with my friends during summer vacation in college, I had to pay the Evil Dead series homage in my book series about college.

- The Sanguine Dormitory is the perpetually trashed party dorm, because if you know anything about the four humors, that’s very much what you’d expect from a place with a lot of people who have sanguine temperaments.

- Ok, another stupid joke for you. So, in tv shows and movies that take place in colleges, it’s common for the dorm rooms to be, like, LUDICROUSLY huge, which anyone who’s attended a college knows is fucking ridiculous because real life dorm rooms never get much bigger than a walk-in closet. There’s a reason for this: shooting scenes in a room the size of a walk in closet is a pain in the ass, and if you’re setting your entire story in a college, you kinda need to have those little quiet drama scenes in a location that, you know, isn’t comically cramped and shitty. So in WSM, our heroes start off with realistic cramped shitty dorm rooms, but then, through the power of physics defying magic that makes dreams come true, manage to get a spacious cool dorm room like those that appear in 90% of media set in a college. Because that’s the only way you’d ever get a dorm room that big.

- Chivalric ballads are the equivalent of trashy romance novels and soap operas in WSM - and, also, their equivalent in the real middle ages. The ones Margot lists in chapter 6 are all made up by me, but the different versions of her favorite ballad (and her staunch favoritism of one version over the other based on how the characters were interpreted) is loosely inspired by the way Arthuriana is composed of different authors who clearly have WILDLY different takes on certain characters and deeply despise the takes that came before theirs.

- Margot’s opponent in this chapter, Sarkani Charmil, has a few references mixed into her. Her first name is derived from a dragon in Slavic mythology, Sarkany, which, combined with her status as the heir to a tyrannical monarchy that rules a kingdom called Kastelvania (or, if you prefer, Castlevania) makes her a loose homage to, who else, Vlad “Tepes” Dracula, with her distinctive red armor drawing on the iconic red armor worn by Count Dracula in the beautiful-yet-terribly-written Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula movie. Her last name, Charmil, is a double reference, with Char being the red-clad charismatic antagonist from the original Gundam, while Carmil is a shortened version of Carmilla, the most famous female vampire in literature. Sarkani Charmil, child of dragons, heir to a warlord’s kingdom, possible vampire? Only time and the remaining six books will tell.

- Hey, guess what time it is? It’s Harry Potter rebuttal time! Ok, so, Harry Potter had a tournament arc of sorts too, namely the fourth book, Goblet of Fire. And the structure of the Harry Potter series is that everything has to revolve around, well, Harry Potter. So obviously Harry has to win the tournament, because otherwise this story wouldn’t revolve around him, right? That’s not necessarily a flaw - I mean, there’s tradeoffs here, namely how the tension of “will Harry win?” that the book tries to build falls flat if you think about the structure of things for more than five seconds, but in return for that you have the narrative satisfaction provided by things being focused.

But there’s no reason that tradeoff can’t work the other way, right? Till this chapter in the book, I’ve tried to set you up to think we’re following that same pattern. James Chaucer is our lead character, our first boy, our protagonist. Obviously he’s going to make it to the final round. Obviously he can’t lose his fight, especially not in the second round. He’s the main guy!

Then he does, because this isn’t Harry Potter. This is not a story that revolves around one character. This is the story of the Meddlesome Youths, and while James may be their leader, he’s not the only one that matters, and that means he can lose. And if he, the main guy, can lose, then doesn’t that mean any of our heroes could lose? Yes, we lose some of the focus that the more famous wizard school story has, and with it I risk losing the narrative satisfaction that simpler, more straight-forward structure provides - but the tradeoff is that we have a bit more uncertainty, and uncertainty can make for a very fun mystery.

- Speaking of Goblet of Fire, remember how Cedric Diggory was a big bland nonentity of a character whose death was more or less an afterthought once that book was over. A plot device more than a character, really. Gabriev Zelgad is my attempt to... well, not do that. Again, don’t mistake this for a criticism. Murder mysteries don’t need to flesh out their victims to be effective. A murder mystery victim’s primary job is to establish and/or raise the stakes of the conflict while also providing both clues and questions for the detective figure to notice. If they manage that without having a personality to speak of, the mystery is still functional, and you can compensate with different elements of your story.

But, that said, there is a benefit to giving at least one of your murder mystery victims some sympathy. I mean, fairly obviously, right? The emotional impact of murder and the threat it presents is going to feel far more stark if we actually give a shit about the people who die. You want an emotionally invested audience, and making us care about the victim is a way to get it.

It just also means that you have to juggle elements of your victim character that don’t have to do with their plot-specific role. They have to have dimensions that don’t serve their bare minimum narrative role. You need to be willing to, you know, take a narrative diversion, which is risky. Some people hate “filler,” after all. But I wanted to take that risk. I wanted Gabriev’s death to hurt, and I didn’t want him to be an afterthought. For Polybeus at least, his death has weight, and it’s going to keep having weight well after he’s gone.

- Gabriev’s chivalric code is paraphrased from the chivalric code in Dragonheart. “It was a good [story]! Had a dragon in it.” Dragonheart was one of the first fantasy movies I ever saw and one of the things that cemented my love of this genre, and also that code is fucking badass.

- Gabriev comforting Polybeus by showing him a different form of heroism by way of the medieval concept of chivalry is loosely based on my own experience of reading medieval chivalric ballads and finding them to be very different than the modern masculine heroes I grew up with, and specifically different in ways that resonated with me. For all the violence of medieval tales, chivalric heroes spend a great deal of time crying, pining after pretty women, and talking about their feelings with their friends in great and vulnerable detail, which is a far cry from the stoic murder men society told me to view as Peak Masculinity when I was a kid. This isn’t to say there’s nothing of value in those modern day masculine heroes, or for that matter in the Greco-Roman mythic heroes that are standing in for them in Polybeus’s story, but just that learning there are different forms of heroism and masculinity is, well, freeing.

- I wasn’t sure initially when we were going to properly meet the Justice Arcana, Maxeral the head gargoyle. I had loose plans for him to step into the narrative proper in either book 3 or 4, but in the process of writing this one I realized there was a natural place for him to slip in. Maxeral’s tricky because he’s designed to fill that “friend on the force” role you often get in detective stories, because that role is both narratively useful and a fun character dynamic to explore. But I also wanted him to be, like, firmly not a cop, because I know my audience and I know myself, and we both think ACAB. So I tried to make Maxeral an anti-cop in as many ways as possible, in that the limits to his authority are literally written into his brain, and the fact that he cannot view himself as above the people he protects, but rather as beneath them. He, like all homunculi at the AAAM, is a servant, and while that might be an injustice in itself (we’ll explore it in a later book, don’t worry), the fact remains that Maxeral is incapable of lording his power over his charges. He calls you sir, not the other way around, and as a protector he understands his role is that of a servant, not a master. Maxeral also thinks the boundaries between him and his charges are just, and values people who work outside the scope of his power if they do so for good reasons. So yeah, not a cop, hopefully.

- You might have noticed that Maxeral is unique among the gargoyles we’ve seen beyond his size and rank. He’s far more serious, for one (in fact his dynamic with his underlings is patterned on the stoic and stuffy version of Ultra Magnus from the comic Transformers: More than Meets the Eye), a bit better at his job, and lives in very spartan quarters. While you could claim the bare nature of his room is a result of him being a homunculi that was designed to have no interests beyond the purpose he was written with, remember how we saw gargoyles playing D&D earlier. Is there more to homunculi than even Maxeral is aware of? Probably not a question you considered since it’s not relevant to this particular book, but remember this is an eight book series...

- Ivan’s conversation with Polybeus builds on/responds to the one Gabriev had with Polybeus earlier, albeit unintentionally on Ivan’s part. If Gabriev vocalized my own revelation at reading about chivalric heroes, then Ivan likewise illustrates what I learned about modern heroes when I looked at them with older eyes. As a kid, the hero narratives sold to me seemed pretty unappealing - superheroes like Batman and Superman were fit, conventionally attractive jocks who beat up ugly out of shape guys who liked snakes and dressing in dark clothes. There was more of my bullies in the heroes sold to me, and more of me in the villains they tormented. But when I grew up and revisited those stories, and the comics they were based on for that matter, I realized there was more to them than the initial shallow impression I got as a kid. As tormented by the normative masculine heroic ideal as I was as a kid, an adult me could see nuances and interpretations where I could fit. It wasn’t necessarily the fault of the heroes of my time, but with the way those heroes had been sold to me, if that makes sense.

And I think the Greco-Roman mythic heroes are a good stand-in for that. Shallow, simplified modern versions of their myths will reduce them to Good Heroes Who Slay Ugly Monsters, and that can feel alienating if you relate to the monsters more. But if you explore their roots and see all the different versions of them, you can see they are complex, nuanced, and more than just a simple ideal. Just because the stories now make them stoic manly men doesn’t mean that’s all they’ve ever been, or all they could be. They can cry, they can love, they can feel, they can be human. It just depends on how you want to look at them, and what version of them you want to see. And sometimes the thing you need to appreciate a story you’ve heard a million times before is to see it through the eyes of someone else who’s fresh to it - sometimes a Polybeus needs an Ivan.

- As I said, I’m a character-focused storyteller. The first thing I tried to hash out in outlining this series, before even figuring out how many books it would be, was what the personal arcs of our eight main kids would be. I wanted them each to have a hook of their own outside the main conflict and we’d examine and resolve them throughout the eight books. Some haven’t been fully exposed yet (either because I’m rethinking them or have decided they can just wait a bit), while others are already pretty prominent.

Margot’s was the first I figured out, and her duel with Alys here was the first scene I outlined in detail for this series. So to say I REALLY wanted to get to this chapter is an understatement. There are several other big moments I planned for this series that I’m excited to get to, and we got to one of them before this (James Chaucer tricking the Summer Prince into buying his dead name), but man, I am happy to have this moment out there for your perusal.

- When figuring out how the eight Meddlesome Youths differed as spellcasters, I thought about them partly in JRPG terms, and partly in anime archetypes. When it came to Margot, the muscle of the group, I felt there was one style that fit better than most: she fights like a DBZ villain, to the point where her ultimate attack is basically Freeza’s Death Ball. In final fantasy terms, she’s the Black Mage, i.e. the character who is almost exclusively limited to offensive magic, though after this battle she’s on the path to diversifying her magic portfolio.

- There’s a moment in this book and in the previous where the idea of teachers being taught by their students is brought up in a pithy way, but I’d like to note that this is actually a true phenomenon. One of the best ways to learn something - that is, to reinforce your knowledge of it and deepen your understanding of it - is to teach it to someone else, and an interaction with students can illuminate things for teachers just as much as it can for their pupils. Education is by its nature a communication process (the education philosopher John Dewey has whole books that explain this better than I could), and communication is by it’s nature a two-way street. So while these moments function as little jokes - “the teachers need to be taught” - I also feel there’s a truth to it, and a lesson to learn, I guess. Education’s a lot more complicated than fiction often makes it seem.

- Yes, our wizards kids hit the bar, like college kids are wont to do. I tried to make them responsible about it without getting into after-school PSA territory, because I want this story to feel authentic (as much as a fantasy story filled with dragons and magic can) while not glamorizing dangerous behavior to any theoretical young people who might read this. Did I succeed? Who can say.

- Hey, another stupid joke! So the story of Achilles and Patroclus is very clearly one of two men romantically loving each other, but over the centuries writers have tried to patch that out because of, well, homophobia, with many versions saying their affection was because they were cousins. You know what other story that happened to? Sailor Moon, albeit with two girls who loved each other rather than two guys. So in Midgaheim’s version of history, the real historical figures of Achilles and Patroclus had their romance covered up in one version of their tale by a writer named Forr Kydd. Four Kids, as you may know, dubbed various anime, and while they didn’t dub Sailor Moon, they were notorious for bowdlerizing the anime they dubbed to make it more child-friendly, and also to remove references to Japanese culture that Americans might not understand. Hence we have Forr Kydd, the translator who tried to de-gay the story of Achilles and Patroclus.

- Charlotte expects to get drunk off caffeine because spiders in real life are intoxicated by it, spining really shitty webs when under the influence. Poor girl had no reason to suspect her human body would react so differently.

- I tried to work in a MLM romance into ATOM volume 2, but it quickly became clear to me there wasn’t room for it with all the other stuff going on in my story. So I decided that the first canon consummated romance of WSM would be MLM to compensate. Rodrigo and Ivan’s romance is the first one to be hinted at in book 1, and they’re the first couple to get together as of book 2.

- While most of the ballads listed in this book are made up by me, Tam Lin is real, being one of the famous Childe Ballads, and a personal favorite of mine thanks to the awesome version of it the Fairport Convention did.

- Geoffrey Travers teaches James Chaucer about using magic for passive buffs, a thing I have to constantly remind myself to do when playing RPGs (left to my own devices, I just spam attacks).

- Chungo Maximo’s knack for turning into animals homages a number of ogre folk tales, but primarily Puss in Boots.

- If Margot is a black mage, then Serena is a blue mage - a less well known Final Fantasy class, which draws its power by absorbing magic from others and reflecting it back at them. I mean, she’s not just that, she can attack on her own just fine, but I thought it’d be a fun way to customize her battle set, and play off the idea of crystals being able to magically story energy and channel it back to the user.

- Ivan’s fears about his sillylusions not being worthy in the eyes of a teacher who’s taught him a lot about realism echoes some of my own academic anxieties, as I had many great teachers who taught me about serious non-genre fiction texts, and were very supportive and encouraging of me as I analyzed them without knowing that what I really wanted to use their lessons for was to get better at writing silly stories about fire-breathing dinosaurs and magical wizards. Like Ivan, I accidentally had this side of me exposed to one of my respected mentors when I submitted a short story I had written to the campus’s english studies congress (not even of my own volition, I was encouraged to do so by a pretty older girl on campus I liked), got it in, and then found one of my professors in the audience. He loved it, though, and asked me a lot of questions, and a couple years later, when I got an award from the English department for my five years of work, he presented it and talked not only about my achievements in class, but about how I had also written fiction on the side of it all. It was a scary but ultimately gratifying experience. Ivan’s fears about his sillylusions lacking value because of their non-realistic nature also mirrors anxieties I had about my art back then - I strived for realism for a while, but ultimately found stylization worked better for me, even if it meant my art would never be taken as seriously as stuff that’s, you know, more detailed or whatever.

- Clowns being a variety of half-demon sprang about from me wanting clowns to be a gothic horror monster on par with vampires or werewolves in my setting, and since we’ve got at least one clown-themed demon in this universe anyway, it seemed like a natural choice.

- Of course Gernderf ponders orbs. He’s a wizard.

- Godfrey and Columbina filling the dean’s office with ballons is inspired by a similar prank my friends pulled on our RA during my freshman year of college. We liked our RA, though, she was cool, and she took the prank in good humor.

- The fun thing about creating and publishing your own fiction is that you don’t have people above you who can slap your hands and tell you “No that’s stupid” when you want to do something silly like make a war with mimes a canon part of your in-universe lore. A bad part of creating and publishing your own fiction is that there’s no one who can stop you from doing something stupid like making a war with mimes a canon part of your in-universe lore.

- Though he doesn’t know it, Eruz Tobael is a nephilim, i.e. a half-angel. His appearance and spell of choice give you a hint to what kind of angel his mother was. I like the idea that angels and demons are an outside-of-context problem in this setting - all these pagan wizards are running around with their pantheons of gods and wildernesses of magic monsters, and every now and then a Biblical beastie pops up to throw everything they know on its head. We’ll get more of that in the next book.

- Aldonza Dulcinea was originally going to be one of our major arcana characters! Originally Charlotte would have been the Hanged Man in her place, but in the planning stages one of my friends suggested I should do a parody of Voldemort to match the Dumbledore parody I made with Gernderf, and the more I thought about the idea the more I felt he had to be a major character, and, if that was the case, he’d have to be the Hanged Man. Because who’s a better rival to The Judgement than the card that faced it and inexplicably survived? That left Charlotte in need of an arcana, so Aldonza got the boot and Charlotte got the Star. To make up for it, I establish Aldonza as the hero of her own story here - albeit one we’ll only ever see glimpses of. Her name comes from the love interest of Don Quixote - Dulcinea is what Don Quixote calls her, while Aldonza is her actual name.

- Having Polybeus meet Gabriev’s mom to discuss his death SEVERAL chapters after it happened was another attempt on my part to avert the Cedric Diggory situation here. He might not have had a big role, but it’s going to leave a mark - and now Polybeus has a helmet to forever remind him of the man he only knew for one of the most important moments in his life.

- So, our two villains! Richard Rainsford, the Centurion, is named for King Richard III (specifically Shakespeare’s take on the nasty fucker) and Sanger Rainsford, the protagonist of The Most Dangerous Game. Richard III (as written by Shakespeare) is a tormented and haunted man who has chosen to become a villain because of his daddy issues and anxieties about never living up to what his family expects of him, and excels at putting on a kind and friendly persona while plotting to stab people in the back. Sanger Rainsford, meanwhile, is a great hunter who prides himself on bringing down dangerous prey who unexpectedly finds himself getting a taste of his own medicine. In short, Richard is well named. The Centurion is an alternate name for the Chariot, a card that represents moving forward and victory, among other things. Richard shows how the desire to constantly win and excel can be poisonous.

Miguel is the Thunderbolt, an alternate name for the Tower. The Tower has a LOT of negative connotations, representing chaos, destruction, and sudden & violent change that disrupts all around it, which is very much what Miguel has achieved by setting the sabotage plot in motion.

- Polybeus claiming that “This time, the disaster will be theirs!” is a little nod to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, where, after several different moments where the Phantom screwed things up for the opera, including creating a lethal accident, the heroes finally decided to set a trap for him in turn. The way Raoul says the line is deliciously hammy, at least on the original London cast’s soundtrack, so it felt like a fun line to give Polybeus.

- Serena’s second costume transformation and powerup is a reference to a pretty common trope in Magical girl anime. Often such powerups come from the hero realizing how much they’re loved and/or how much their friends love them, which is kinda true here to, albeit in a more mundane way, where it’s Margot’s friendly act of sharing her magic that gives Serena her well-needed boost. I like the idea of the heroes winning because they’re friends while the villains lose because they’re squabbling selfish assholes.

- As of this book, Margot has said two of the four one-liners her friends offered her in book one. I don’t know if she’ll ever say “magic, shmagic” or “abra-ca-fuck you.” Probably not that last one, since I’m trying to avoid using direct profanity as much as possible with this series, but who knows. (abra-ca-fuck you is, of course, a reference to The Adventure Zone).

- Richard declaring he is the wizard slayer is an homage of sorts to Admiral Zhao in ATLA, who similarly shouted “I AM ZHOU THE MOONSLAYER!” in the height of his villainous hubris, shortly before being taken down a peg.

- If you’re horrified at Gernderf sucking our two villains into an amulet, good, run with that feeling as we go into the next six books please.

And that’s it for this trivia round! I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading all my self indulgent waffle!

#Wizard School Mysteries #Tournament of Death

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seoafin · 3 years ago

Note

Hello!!

I'm back again, also I'm sorry if I ended up clogging up your notifications because I think I just went through your entire 'gojo satoru x reader' tag cuz I'm just so in love with your writing! 💗💗

That one post about Gojou interrupting all your dates, and being completely obnoxious about it was soo funny, pls he's so ridiculous, but also its cute that he panics over just the notion of any man taking reader away from him, its always so funny (and kinda sad asghsiag) to me because Gojou overall is a very intelligent man, but then when it comes to emotions and feelings, he like loses all his brain cells LOL, and can be very round about and avoidant too (at least imo!)

Also that post about Gojou taking reader's v-card was sooo ADALKANGBFD your characterization was so on point because he would be all jokey and lighthearted about it but in the actual moment, he'd be sooo focused on reader's pleasure and also their comfort, and just being all praises and sweet words that are also so filthy that your brain just goes numb, I think just the knowledge of knowing that he is the first one (and hopefully the only one lol) that get's to be the one to see reader unravel and become undone like this just itches a certain itch in his heart, I'm so sure that after this he would become even more touchy and insatiable for reader's touch and attention, and affection, he'd be more possessive too, he makes me so *sighs dreamily* 🥺

Ahh also that wet shirt drabble(?) was soo good, and also soo like shoujo-esque (if I may makeup a word lol), but it fits him so well, joking about finding your bra boring, while every nerve in his brain just fuses and his heart is like five seconds away from combusting, and then giving you his jacket (not just to save you from embarrassment, but also cuz no one else can see you like that, and it also makes him so flustered), he's so ASKHSDUIFBHFD

And the breeding kink posts!!!! I'm screaming, pls I love Gojou and breeding kink so much, its so just *screams* (especially during that time of the month my brain is just like *gojou and breeding kink* 24/7 its borderline embarrassing LMAO) I think it just fits him so well, he's so possessive and obsessive, and lovesick, and touch starved (and love starved imo he's a very lonely and sad guy 😭) that there is no way that he doesn't want to have like an army of children with the reader, and I just know he would treat getting the reader pregnant like some life and death mission, he'd be so determined about the whole thing, just round after round until your inside are filled with his cum, and making sure that you don't waste any of his precious cum, he definitely has an app to follow reader's ovulation periods and such, he's so insane and lovesick fr 💗

Also! I thought I'd share some dad gojou fanart that I made the other day 🥺 (altho! no pressure to like or anything, I just though I'd share!) https://ame-791.tumblr.com/post/681386471584858112/ame-791-love-how-generally-most-of-us-believe

Oh! I just saw that tag about Gojou making a pun about fishermen and curse users in the HI arc, and I would love to hear more about it! I never saw it in the translation! (pls I wish the manga was better translated so non-Japanese speakers could better understand the wonderful work that is JJK 😭)

Anyways, sorry this ask got so freakishly long, I just wanted to drop by and tell you that I really appreciate all your Gojou stuff, and I hope that you continue to bless us with your amazing writing!! 🥺💗💗

hiii friend!!!! yes!!! i definitely think gojo short circuits when he gets flustered but manages to play it off bc rip!mc is just oblivious and doesn't really get it. i think gojo's a very introspective character but when it comes actually outwardly expressing his feelings things get lost (and that's being generous he was probably a tsundere in hs and i STAND by that 😭)

gojo would be extra touchy and clingy and kinda unbearable but i think people like him that way lmfao

also im so glad u brought up it being shoujo-esque because I DID intentionally make things shoujo-esque bc the potential is wayyy too underrated i think there should be more shoujo moments. they're highschoolers when else can i make things excruciatingly shoujo-esque!!!

as for the pun it's when gojo's talking geto into staying a little longer (so riko can play) and talks about how there are less 'fishy' (roughly translated??) curse users in okinawa than tokyo. and he makes a pun by combining the word 海人 (uminchu = fisherman) and curse user 呪詛師 (jujoshi) into 呪詛人 (jusonchu) which is basically gojo making a joke abt fisherman and curse users lmao but i guess that wouldn't really make sense translated but they could've just used 'fishy' which is the most straight forward translation you'll get (BUT THEY DIDN'T!!)

#also uminchu is the okinawan word which makes sense considering i didn't recognize it at first and had to look it up #yes yes shoujo will always have a special place in my heart no matter how bad it can be im sorry #'he's so insane and lovesick' THOSE ARE THE VIBES #he doesn't even need the app.....#PLEASE NEVER APOLOGIE FOR SENDING LONG MESSAGES IM GOING CRAZY FERAL OVER EVERYTHING U SAID FR #gojo's breeding kink > gojo #that probably doesn't make sense but it does. to me.#UR DRAWING IS SO CUTE IM GOING TO PUNCH A WALL #gojo doesn't have rights but when he does it goes to dad gojo....wow IM SO SOFT #thank U for sharing ur art it's gorgeous he would be so whipped for his children. insanity.#ame-791 #.fb

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gltwrites · 4 years ago

Text

the day isym said: i'm gonna fuck shit y'all up

So this is how it ends. I guess I won't be able to let this go sooner, or not ever.

Following the lives of these incredible characters since 2014 had been an astonishing journey for me. And now, we reached the end of one of the most-loved mangas, Attack on Titan/Shingeki No Kyojin—probably the only masterpiece that will touch my heart like this in this lifetime.

What an awful timing it was that chapter 139 arrived at the time I was supposed to be celebrating with my mutuals on exoltwt lol. While, overall, I rate AoT as 11 out of 10, I can't eschew that the culmination has left me qualms and questions unresolved.

Let's start with Armin thanking Eren for his sacrifices for Paradis—which equates to thanking him for committing a global genocide (bro, wtf???). This did not sit right with me, but I'm taking into account that Armin could see there was no easy way out, and that he believes achieving peace requires sacrifices, notwithstanding his altruistic nature and efforts to not completely throw away his humanity.

And I'm also considering the fact that, with the reality Paradis had, bringing off peace without lives being taken was a wishful thinking.

His idealistic worldview clashed with Eren's, and he wasn't able to present a solid resolution 'til the windup. And yet, Armin was still willing to talk things out with his best friend so they could come up with a better plan, without further casualties.

Up until the very end, he wanted PEACE.

I think, this is what makes Armin admirable, contrary to what other readers paint him out to be—weak and useless. He's one of the strongest and skilled characters in AoT imo. He didn't need to be a Titan or an Ackerman. He's innately whip-smart and a natural tactician, making himself a consequential character despite his lacking combat skills.

Weighing up Armin's burdens and the mental load he carries, it hurts to be in his shoes, especially since he's the commander. He's torn between his friend's life and the rest of the world. He took the responsibility of the Rumbling aftermath to shoulder Mikasa's burden and let her live in peace.

And in the end, conflict dragged on, and he ended up with a large obligation to the people.

There were little appearances of Historia, which I initially found a bit absurd since she's among the important characters in the whole series. She didn't say anything, and her pregnancy was for what again? I was disappointed. Her bearing a child held no importance and was a random subplot.

Conversely, amid a slew of readers demanding her clarification on knowing Eren's plans from the get-go, her explanation on the matter would be unnecessary. It seemed to me she has done her part on how the story would play out. And if there was an epilogue or a succeeding set of panels, Historia might've made her comeback since her role as the queen is expected to hugely partake in peace propositions.

And over and above these, the final chapter seemed...rushed? I feel like some panels need to be fleshed out more, such as the whole of Founder Ymir's feelings towards that bitchass abuser Karl Fritz. I was appalled that the root of the sufferings that prolonged for two millennia was because of her martyrdom and servitude to the king and the royal family, which she described as love.

But in reality, without having to chew this over, Ymir didn't really know what true love is. She was a slave since birth, her family was massacred by Karl Fritz, and was impregnated thrice by this murderer who never gave a shit about her. She lived a wretched life, manipulated and abused, and died after jumping in front of the spear to protect the king.

Brought by fear of losing the power of the titan, he made her daughters eat Ymir's flesh and told then to bear many children. Sick fuck.

Then Ymir discovered Mikasa, who she deemed a mirror of her own. The difference, however, is that Mikasa's love for Eren isn't one-sided. And so her greatest desire to be freed from an abusive relationship was accomplished after discovering what real love is through EreMika.

Speaking of Eren, I can understand why plenty of readers condemned him. The guy, who masked himself as a peak tsundere, cold, temperamental bastard, exterminated almost the entire global population, and when asked by Armin his reason, he said he didn't know why, so from here we can assume he neither had a goal behind that warped undertaking nor did it for the greater good.

But Armin is smart, and Eren's silence was a tacit answer. The predicament seemed unsolvable, and wiping 80% of humanity is his last resort to hold off the rest of the world from attacking Paradis.

Taking also into account that he didn't mean to have his mother killed by Dina after rerouting her from Bertholdt. If he didn't, Bertholdt wouldn't end up as the Colossal Titan and Armin wouldn't have eaten him and died along the way.

Bear in mind that Eren believed Armin would save the world, but if he kicked the bucket—and had Eren, who was obviously enslaved by his destiny, altered anything in his memories—would unravel another reality unknown to Eren that could pose a bigger risk.

And the fact that he let the familiar fate dictate him meant opening a door to another door of possibilities of achieving world peace, with Armin taking the lead.

By making himself the bad guy in his story to make his friends be the heroes, the ending suggests that harmony would work out in the end.

In 139, Armin, Reiner, Pieck, Annie, Jean, and Connie were planning to make peace negotiations. And through this, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Levi finally bidding farewell to his comrades bawled my eyes out—this is probably the saddest shit ever AoT has ever done to me, next to Erwin's death. Levi is the last one existing among his original comrades, and it sent a pang to my heart when he did his final salute, wearing a faint smile while wrapped in bandages.

It was not indicated what he'd been doing post-Rumbling. The end of Titans' curse also put an end to the Ackerman bloodline's "awakened power" and above-average human strength, so he's probably a military consultant or mentor, given his amazing contribution as humanity's strongest warrior.

It was also shown he remained in the capital and is with now-grown Falco and Gabi, who both have shown their potential for a military career.

Meanwhile, unlike Levi, Mikasa chose to retire and live in her hometown. While others remark her ending as tragic (I'm guilty of this tbh), her former comrades were on their way to see her and visit Eren's grave next to the tree from their childhood, making her not entirely lonely. I wished she and Armin were in the same multiple frames of the latter panels of the final chapter as they both grieve losing Eren. But given Armin's new and bigger responsibilities for humanity, it's impossible.

EreMika may not be endgame, and I may be bound to perpetual frustration of them never getting the chance to wear their hearts on their sleeves, I am satisfied with the ending—imperfect but fitting. It's actually funny that my feelings got the best of me upon reading the last chapter, and cursed at the story for not ending in absolute peace and bliss, forgetting that AoT had always been a poignant, anxiety-induced, existentialist story, and hinted at a bittersweet finale from the start.

#Hajime Isayama #Attack on Titan #Shingeki No Kyojin #AoT 139 #attack on titan #snk #SnK 139 #AoT ending #SnK ending #Eren #Armin #Mikasa #Eren Jeager #Eren Yeager #Armin Arlert #Mikasa Ackerman #Levi Ackerman #Levi

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feirceangel · 4 years ago

Text

Imagine | Fan Encounter (Rohan Kishibe)

Warning: socially anxious reader.

Word Count: 1585

"You're so lucky," you sigh as you sip your drink.

Koichi and Yokako invited you to grab drinks with them at the cafe. You're almost surprised that Yukako wanted you to join, but she understands that you and Koichi grew up together and that you're just friends.

Koichi looks up at you, "Lucky?"

"Yeah. You met the Rohan Kishibe! The greatest manga artist in the world!" You say adamantly. "And you didn't even invite me."

He had told you all about his exciting run-in with the artist, even explaining his Stand. Being a fellow Stand user, you were beyond excited to find out that you share a commonality with the author. Although, you were still jealous that Koichi had gotten to meet him.

"If you want, I could introduce you, but I have a feeling you'll meet him eventually. Stand users tend to run into each other," Koichi offers, Yokako giving him a bite of her cupcake.

You watch them with a smile. At first, their relationship was frightening, but now it's adorable. They really love each other.

If you had been Okuyasu, you would have started crying at their cuteness. Of course, you have much more restraint than him. Even so, you can't help but wish for a relationship like theirs. It doesn't even have to be like theirs, you'd be happy for a relationship at all.

Naturally, your general standoffishness manner in front of strangers doesn't help your case. You become a nervous wreck when you have to communicate with strangers, so it's hard to meet new people or make new friends.

You became friends with Okuyasu because of Josuke, who you know from school, just like with Koichi.

Anyways, the point is that suffering from social anxiety sucks.

That's why you know you can't meet Rohan Kishibe, because you know you'd make a fool of yourself.

"I could never meet him, Koichi, you know that," you exhale and stir your drink idly.

He knows about your social issues, and does his best to support you. He's tried to teach you on how to hold a conversation and how to relax around people, and it has done some good, but you're still scared to meet someone as important as Mr. Kishibe.

You almost had a panic attack meeting Mr. Jotaro Kujo for the first time. No one had warned you that he would be joining the group. A bit of warning probably would have been enough to prevent an attack from occurring.

That man is frightening.

"You've gotten better, Y/n," Yokako insists with a smile. "You just need courage."

"Easy for you to say, you're the most courageous girl I know."

Koichi chimes, "It's true! And I know you're overcoming your anxiety. It's just taking some time, and that's okay."

You smile at your friends, "Thanks, guys. You're really great friends."

"So, do you want to meet him?" Koichi presses.

You really do want to meet him, if only to tell him how much his work has inspired and comforted you over and again.

But it wouldn't be smart.

He's too important, too amazing.

Shaking your head, you stand, drink finished. "N-no, that's okay, Koichi. Thank you. See you both tomorrow."

"Bye Y/n," Yokako says, Koichi echoing her. They watch you walk away with slumped shoulders.

Exchanging glances, they sit in silence for a bit before Josuke and his best friend join them.

"Oi, Koichi!" Okuyasu greets with a grin, "What's happening?"

"Oh, hey guys. We were just hanging with Y/n."

"Where is she?" Josuke looks around, spotting you in the distance. "Why's she leaving?"

Koichi shrugs, "She wants to meet Rohan but she's scared she'll embarrass herself."

Josuke scrunches his face in distaste, "Rohan? Why would she want to meet him?"

"Yeah, he's a jerk," Okuyasu adds.

"She loves his work," Koichi explains, "She's read all his books."

"Why's she scared to meet him? He's not so special," Okuyasu grumbles.

Koichi sighs and Yokako speaks up, "You know how she gets around strangers."

The two best friends share a knowing look, "Oh."

"Maybe if she just ran into him accidentally she wouldn't be so stressed?"

"Not a good idea. Remember how she reacted to running into Jotaro?"

"Good point."

The group runs over various scenarios, trying to find a way to make her meet her favourite author.

You smile softly to yourself as you walk to meet up with Koichi. It's been a week since your last hangout, so he invited you to go on a walk with him and Yokako.

As you approach, you realize that Josuke and Okuyasu are also present. You don't mind, after all, the more the merrier.

"Hey," you wave.

They all welcome you and start talking.

"I brought the book you wanted to borrow," you tell Koichi. "It's my favourite, you know. I hope you like it as much as I do."

"Thanks! Uh, do you mind holding it till we part ways?" He asks, pointedly looking at his hand which is entwined with Yokako's.

You smile and nod.

He thanks you again and rejoins the main conversation which happens to be about school. You follow the discussion, adding in when asked a question.

"Oh, look! There's Rohan," Koichi points out as you walk.

Startled, you glance up from the pavement to find the Rohan Kishibe walking towards your group. Frozen, you stop in your tracks.

Styled green hair, a headband, and his sketch pad slung across his shoulder, Rohan looks as amazing and sophisticated as you expected.

Koichi waves, successfully gaining his attention.

"Hello, Koichi," the manga artist doesn't smile but he seems friendly. Until he looks at Josuke, whom he glowers at.

"Hi, Rohan-sensei!" Koichi chirps with a grin.

You seem to shrink, trying to hide behind Okuyasu to no avail. Rohan's sharp teal eyes find your e/c ones and you find yourself frozen again.

His gaze flickers to the book clutched in your hands. It just so happens to be one of his earlier works.

"Who's this?" He questions.

"Rohan, this is my good friend Y/n," Koichi smiles brightly.

His eyes light up in recognition, "Y/n L/n?"

You gulp nervously, "Y-yes."

"I've read about you," Rohan walks past Josuke to stand directly in front of you.

Eyes wide, you feel your body temperature rising, "Y-you have?"

He nods, "Through Koichi's memories."

"Wow," you breathe out. Somehow you're not as panicked as you thought you'd be when meeting him. But then you think of what he learned about you by using his Stand.

You turn to Koichi for help, but find him missing. Concerned, you look around to find your friends already a block away. They're just gonna leave you here?!

"I know you're... uncomfortable with meeting new people, but trust me. I'm not gonna bite," he offers, a neutral expression adorning his flawless face. "I too am often irritated by social interactions."

"Really?"

He starts walking, and you hesitate to follow until he looks back at you expectantly.

"Do you want an autograph?" He asks idly.

You stare at the book in your hands and it all clicks into place. Koichi set this all up, didn't he?

"I-if it's not a bother," you mumble, holding it out to him like an offering.

He is quick to apply his signature to the front page as you watch with awe and giddiness. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices your ecstatic expression.

Having read about you from Koichi's perspective, he knows you're good-natured, caring towards your friends, and overall a good person, not unlike Koichi. Since he respects the smaller silver haired boy, he agreed to meet his friend.

Koichi even let him refresh his memory on your personality by telling him more details about you.

This triggered Rohan's curiosity. He found himself wanting to unravel your secrets, your passions. Perhaps you'd also make an excellent inspiration for a manga character.

Now that he's met you, he can't help but smile the tiniest bit. He recognizes the adoration in your eyes, basking in it.

"I-I wanted to say, um, that I really love your work," you state, voice wavering under his stare.

"Thank you. I am glad my work has found a place in your heart."

Face heating up, you walk beside the mangaka, overjoyed at meeting your favourite celebrity. Rohan glances at you again, "Would you like to see my studio?"

You inhale with excitement. You never dreamed that he would actually invite you to see his workplace!

"Uh, if it's not a problem, that would be amazing," you say, trying to reel back your nervousness.

Glancing past Rohan, you see Koichi giving you a thumbs up with a wide grin. You smile back, grateful to your friend.

Rohan leads the way to his place and gives you a tour and overview of his working process. You drink in his every word, hoping to memorize this experience.

After the tour, it's time to go.

You beam up at the green haired man, "Thank you so much, Mr. Kishibe!"

"Call me Rohan," he says flippantly. "You're welcome to come back anytime."

"R-really?"

He nods, "Of course. Goodnight."

You wave back at him as you walk away. He watches you, a small smile gracing his soft lips.

Surprisingly, he actually enjoyed the time spent with you. It helped that you stroked his already large ego, but he also found your shyness endearing.

He can't wait to meet you again.

#reader insert #jojo’s bizarre adventure #x reader #Rohan #Kishibe #female reader #jjba #jojo’s bizzare adventure x reader

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yaboylevi · 4 years ago

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The Zeke problem seems to be a meta problem from Yams. It seems to me Isayama doesn't know how to solve the Zeke being killed (cheap) fanservice AND make Falco fly at the same time without even eating the Beast Titan. Its like Isayama is struggling with what to do with Zeke, and you cannot give ethic lessons in your manga whole trying to figure out a way to kill Zeke. I believe Zeke will join Levi, but his delayed presence in the manga looks more like Isayama scared to actually develop Levi

Sorry for the long post, I am mostly rambling. I agree that it is a meta problem on Isayama’s part.

He is especially having troubles with his characters in this final arc, I feel. Aside from the fact that he admitted he doesn’t know what actions the characters will take, which is...uh, weird, because it means he doesn’t have a clear vision for each character arcs, or isn’t especially thinking about their overall meaning, in my opinion, and it shows... Well, aside from that, I feel like Isayama has been struggling with showing a natural development for all his characters, as of late.

Particularly, the ending of the characters who have already received one has been all over the place, or not properly set up most of the times. I’m talking about the most recent deaths of Magath, Hange and Shadis, which felt more like ISYM didn’t have a use for these characters in future chapters, so he just conjured some rushed message up, quickly wrapped them in it, and got rid of them. In particular, I got this feeling with Magath, but mostly with Hange - the author didn’t know how to keep Hange in the story, so he offed them to benefit the vision he had for another one (Armin).

The same happened with Porco, who seemed to “be” a character mostly because someone had to inherit the Jaw long enough for them to pass it, at one point, to Falco, but I’ll give Isayama that at least Porco wasn’t a part of the story since the beginning as Hange was, and his death felt very fitting for his character.

Isayama has always had problems with endings, though, and I mean with ending a character’s life: just think back on Mike, whom, he admitted, he killed off too soon; Ymir, one of the most interesting characters in my opinion, who got offed off-screen for the simple reason that she knew too much at a moment where ISYM didn’t want to reveal certain cards. Bertolt’s death (or rather, the aftermath) was also treated poorly.

The remaining cast has also been suffering from a lack of steady, organic character development:

Mikasa was written in a way that won’t allow her development until she confronts Eren, so she’s been mostly on stand-by for a whole arc.

Armin, similarly, isn’t changing at all, is constantly faced with chances to grow and overcome certain setbacks, but it’s obvious this will happen only when he will face Eren head-on. His deathwish (ch.126?) was never developed and was sprung on us for dramatic effect - contrary to Reiner’s, which felt organic and had good built-up.

But Reiner’s arc in itself is all over the place too, in my opinion, though it’s marginally better than others.

Half of Connie’s plot line (avenging his family by killing Zeke) has been canceled out of the story because I suppose it would be too bothersome for Isayama to write, and the remaining half was resolved in one chapter, in a cheap and cheasy way that felt like snuffing out a candle after seeing it burn for a while. “Dark!Connie” was a super interesting concept, a natural development since Clash of the Titan arc, his indignation and pain finally reaching a peak gave a breath of fresh air to such a background character. Such a shame.

Levi has been stuck on the same few lines and opinions for the whole arc, being offered some chances of self-reflection, but getting nothing, no change out of it (though this is a constant in his character arcs and it feels very awkward). A big chunk of who he was was also reduced to the barest of bones.

Historia... well... her few appearances barely had any agency, and the parts where she was allowed to speak were an incoherent mess that still needs explaining. Many feel she was reduced to a plot device, which is very poor writing if most of the fanbase feel this way about such a great character.

Hange, again, was presented with a VERY interesting dilemma, and it was solved (more like, a resolution was avoided) by offing them.

Sasha was used for thematical moments, and killed for it.

Gabi IS a thematical character, so her presence was rather compelling after all, though at times her character arc was so on the nose it felt awkward.

Annie...I’m unsure. She was kept out of the story until the last moment only to have a very interesting crisis, culmination of her many struggles, from when the series had solid characters, only to muddle it with uncalled-for romance, that wasn’t even particularly impactful on any of the characters involved. I used to think romance in this manga had purpose and enriched the characters, taking yumihisu as the only example, but I was wrong, and it’s just some cheap little drama.

Eren...his development has been so obscure and his behavior so out of left field and confusing, that the fandom - and Isayama - have said it’s the new mystery of the story.

All this to say that Character consistency and plausibility have been suffering for the whole arc. Zeke’s writing, in retrospect, has been consistent. ISYM has set up some interesting themes, dilemmas and ideas with him, as well as a natural progression and built up to a solution to them, but he’s stalling in their resolution, or rather, actualization.

Maybe it’s because there are too many characters, maybe it’s because he needs to get to the point Zeke can be relevant again, but compared to other characters’ treatment, I find the stalling re:Zeke way more believable, as it started the moment his existence was overcome by Eren’s in Paths. Other characters, who should play an active role, are simply moved from one point to the next with barely any real “content” to them and their psychology.

tl;dr: Isayama set them up to follow a certain direction, but he’s struggling with its delivery, because he had to stall it in order to make it happen at the right moment - which coincides with the end. But this makes them appear static and weak presences in the story, and the plot a chore that has to be painstakingly unraveled. Characters and plot aren’t working as a single unit.

Going back quickly to the issue between Zeke and Levi, I haven’t had the impression Levi will get what he wants in regards to Zeke since Zeke escaped the very first time in Shiganshina. So I am not sure if it’s been my wishful thinking all along, or what, but I have always thought the fandom is drunk and should go home about this particular topic XD I don’t think ISYM is setting up Levi to kill Zeke, at least not in the way that the fandom (and Levi) wishes. Hints that it cannot happen have always been stronger than the opposite, to me.

But I will say that everyone’s behavior towards Zeke is written very weirdly - I mean, they allied and could find it in themselves to mostly forgive Reiner and Annie (AND PIECK! why does nobody acknowledge what Pieck did?!) even though 20 chapters ago they brought an all out attack from Marley to Paradis, and yet, even if they know what Zeke went through, they cannot spare a single humanizing thought about him. Maybe it’s because of his plan, but I cannot imagine is worse than Marley and Reiner calling for Paradis extintion or Eren for the world’s. So I cannot tell if it’s a meta issue (Isayama’s messy writing) or if he’s purposely potraying them to be hypocrites, or if it’s just a very awkward transition that needs to happen between “using Zeke as a scapegoat” and “acknowledging that it’s Eren that needs to be stopped directly, no easy escape route on this”.

#snk spoilers #shingeki asks #zeke jaeger #zeke asks #snk meta #Anonymous

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ikeservant · 5 years ago

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Hello hope you are doing well!!! Can I ask for hc for Kenshin, Ieyasu, and Hideyoshi (or anyone else you want) discovering that MC is a hardcore otaku who thirsts over anime/otome boys😂😂? Maybe Sasuke gotta help explain to the warlords what even anime/otome is XD Thank you all the time I love your stuff!!!

Ahh thank you so much!I love this prompt lol! I’m dummy weak thinking about a bunch of 1500s warlords finding out in the future that people write headcanons/fanfics/fanart of them dream about fictional dudes. I’m people 😂. Also put what genre/type of anime they’d be into if they were able to be introduced to anime and manga.

Kenshin: Probably thought that Sasuke and MC were siblings because of her using similar weird words and fangirling during the weirdest times. Sasuke would explain to him how from their time that stories and tales were widespread and had vivid illustrations that people would gather around and develop a fanbase. Would be very confused to see keychains and anime merch from MC’s bag from the future. When he asked why there were decorations of 2D men, MC excitedly explained how they were all “best boys” and tell their stories and tales, meanwhile Kenshin was glaring daggers at these fictional men that pose a threat. “Kenshin your yandere side is showing. You are the bestest boy and you’re the only one I want to wifey up.” He’ll have to ask Sasuke what half of that sentence meant, but he was pleased that he was the 3D man that she chose. If MC could bring back some manga/anime for Kenshin, he’d be in love with any war/gore and action based ones. Not necessarily for characters but how cool the action and fight scenes are and wants to try them out with Sasuke (run Sasuke).

Ieyasu: Was very confused when they first met and MC was very eager and pushy to get to know him better. “Why are you following me, you weakling?” “I know you’re a tsundere. You’re hard on the outside but gooey on the inside. I’ve played so many routes with tsunderes that I shall uncover you in no time. Just like the simulations!” *cue Ieyasu thinking MC is absolutely insane and going the complete opposite direction*. Eventually MC grew on him and he did end up softening up and falling in love (JUST LIKE THE SIMULATIONS! SCORE FOR MC). Would find a lot of the terminology MC uses weird but still made him want to learn what it meant. Did not know what “I ship it” meant when MC chuckled that when he started complaining about Mitsunari, but rest assured will gag when he finds out. Startles MC when they’re laying in bed and he says “I.. ship us.” awkwardly trying to use her weeb terminology, earning a kiss for this cute tsundere 😉. If MC could bring back some manga/anime, he’d be very intrigued with complex characters and plots that have both dark and light elements and have an overall empowering message. Relates to characters that have a tragic backstory but endure and grow stronger and roots for them in the end. (Might imagine MC as the love interest but don’t tell MC that)

Hideyoshi: Now the first thing coming out of MC’s mouth when he decided to trust her and smile at MC while offering to be friends and help carry the vase she was carrying was “A-am I witnessing gap moe in real life?” with a look of utter awe. This confused the heck out of him, “M-my name’s Hideyoshi. Who’s Gap-Moe?” Eventually would get used to the random terminology, although very confused. When he saw the anime themed keychains and wallet in MC’s purse and asked about it, he should’ve prepared tea because that was a looong lecture that he understood nothing of but found it adorable how excited MC was talking about it. “Wait so what are fangirls?” “You know those girls in town that rush to you and gush over you? Those are fangirls. My fangirl group just goes after fictional guys.”, making him confused even more while also lowkey wishing MC was his fangirl and wondering if he is a fanboy for MC (spoiler alert: he IS. And he’s a fanboy for Nobunga). Made him realize how much MC made his kokoro go doki doki (this is the most otaku trash phrase I’ve ever said). If MC could bring manga/anime, he’d love anime where good trumps evil and heroes defeat villains because he loves imagining defeating injustice and having a happy ending for Japan while defeating the cruel enemies and rivals around Nobunga. Also loves emotional/heart wrenching love story manga and anime that make you cry and get hit hard in the feels with the characters b/c he’s such a romantic with a big heart. Would hug the hell out of MC after finishing of any of those types of series while saying that he will always love her‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

Bonuses b/c I thought they’d be fun:

Shingen: Literally finds anything about MC fascinating, and the fact that they’re passionate about fictional stories and are so emotionally touched by them made him love that MC had a big heart, even for fictional characters. Gets a lil jealous when MC starts fawning over specific fictional dudes. When MC and Shingen are a couple and she starts talking about one of her fictional baes he’d probably literally sweep her off her feet and say something cheesy like “But can he do this” and swoop in for dat kiss. Would probably find his own meaning in the terminology and use it. “This is my waifu, my goddess, I am her biggest fanboy.” is how he’d probably introduce MC as (swoon). If MC could bring manga/anime, he’d be a hardcore sucker for romance anime and would reenact many of the romantic scenes, even the confession scenes. “Shingen we’re married. This is the 45th time you’ve confessed to me.” “But not like from this anime (´•ω•̥`). Would also like detective/mystery series bc he likes unraveling mysteries and plays behind the scenes.

Yukimura: “Not another Sasuke-speaker.” Would be hanging out with MC and Sasuke and listening to the weird terminologies. Would also probably make fun of MC at first for her fantasizing about fictional men and having merch of them saying “Is that cuz you can’t get a real life man?” (cue the heated arguing). Would eventually be intrigued by some of the story plots MC tells him and would eventually fall for her nerdiness and everything. Would ask Sasuke for help on coming up how to confess to MC like in the anime and otome games she talks about (A for effort, my boy). Would be a blushy puddle but puff his chest out if MC fangirled over him. If MC could bring anime and manga, he’d freaking LOVE superhero anime bc he just wants to save everyone and do whats right and he just looks like the type of dude that loves superheroes and superpowers and gets pumped when the hero defeats the bad guy.

Mitsuhide: Would be curious about these strange, foreign words MC says, even though its just fangirl lingo from 500 years in the future. Would probably tease MC if they had any keychains or small merch of anime characters. “Why have a pocket-sized man to love if there’s a full sized one right here.” 😉. Would find it very creative that there’s so many diverse stories and characters. Loves when MC gets excited talking about story plots, gets a lil jealous and tries steering the topic away from thirsting over the dudes. Would probably confess his feelings by saying “Is there a real life story about a kitsune falling for a foolish mouse and they become lovers for eternity?” “Not that I know of.” “Want to make that story happen?”. Would love speaking modern slang and otaku terms with MC because its like their own little love language and it also pisses Hideyoshi off since he doesn’t understand wtf they’re saying. If MC brought manga/anime, would love psychological based horror, seeing how characters react to scary situations and what’s the mental breaking point to madness, or plots with mind games and outwitting opponents bc he’s all about that big brain and likes seeing characters creatively outsmart enemies. Likes characters that are morally gray/antihero that do good but do so in unorthodox ways bc he relates to them (and is secretly smug if MC says they need more love bc it feels like she’s saying that about him too). Likes stories w/ bittersweet endings because he likes seeing the beauty in things while acknowledging the harshness and cruelty of life as well.

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen #ikesen headcanon #ikesen hc

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formerlyrunephoenix6769 · 5 years ago

Text

It would seem that the RWBY FNDM is currently gripped in a merchandise controversy, namely the tshirt below.

The discourse surrounding the T shirt has once again brought up the nature of Blake and Adam’s relationship.

Some are supportive of Roosterteeth’s decision to pull the merchandise, and others not so much. And it would seem that those who are not in agreement with the company’s decision fall into a number of camps.

I'm of the opinion that those people who are calling others 'snowflakes' or 'over sensitive' haven't been in an abusive relationship/situation and therefore don't understand why some people are so upset and disappointed with the RWBY Manga Women T Shirt design in the first place.

I don't think I have ever seen an abusive relationship portrayed seriously in this medium and an abusive relationship portrayed so well, in general.

CRWBY have made it unequivocally known that Blake and Adam's relationship is/was abusive, via out right verbal cues, and abusive rhetoric and behaviours recognisable for those unfortunate people who have been in abusive situations and hopefully eye opening for those who haven’t.

If this wasn't the case, why would so many people be coming forward and sharing their own stories and how much the Blake and Adam situation felt too real?

People who are going on about "it didn't happen on screen, so it didn't happen," are ignoring the visual and verbal cues that have been peppered throughout the series from the very beginning, starting in the Black trailer.

In a strange way, this lack of perception on the part of members of the audience who refuse to see that Blake and Adam's relationship is abusive is sórt of a meta commentary on Abusive relationships and how they are perceived general.

I'll get back to that point, but first, How Abusive RL can come about,

Often an Abuser will be charming, a pillar of the community, an angel in the streets and a devil behind closed doors. They present themselves as one thing, when, deep down, they are another.

They isolate their victim, with emotional and mental manipulation, guilt tripping,

"I Don't Know What I'd Do Without You?"

"Your Friends Don't Like Me, It's Me or Them!"

All through this stage they will be tender, loving caring, touching the victim in reassurance, reinforcing their falsehoods in an action known as handling and grooming.

"Your Parents Are Snobs, They Just Don't Want Us To Be Together!"

"They Don't Understand Us or How Special We Are"

Lying, gaslighting, and isolation from others who care, wear down the victim’s self worth and options until they are absolutely reliant on the abuser for everything, emotional, mental and physical well being. At this point the victim is charmed and stripped of their autonomy.

Not long after this arguments will become more frequent and explosive, nasty comments directed at the victim, attacking their insecurities and the victim will have no idea what they have done wrong but they will believe it is their fault as at this point they don't know if they are coming or going.

Gas Lighting and Guilt Trip groundwork complete.

"You Don't Support Me!"

"You're just like your parents"

The victim will trip over themselves to reassure the abuser that is not the case, going so far as to be physically intimate, handling etc, as the abuser "sulks" or withholds affection... Making the victim work for it.

Then this is usually when the physical abuse starts..

First time, it is an accident, Second time

"I'm Sorry. I Didn't Mean It"

"This Is Your Own Fault!, For Making Me Angry!"

"You Made Me Do This! If You Had Just Done As You Were Told!"

The abuser will blame the victim for all their problems and things that the victim can not possibly control. The abuse will escalate whether that be emotional, mental or physical abuse.

It takes so much strength for a victim to leave, and no amount of demands to leave from friends will make them.

This is in no way the victims fault. Victims are brainwashed at this point, programmed and also absolutely terrified.

They have been perfectly conditioned to the abuser. Isolated from friends and family, sometimes they have no financial independence whatsoever and in some cases children are involved and the abuser will also threaten their wellbeing. Some abusers may even threaten suicide if a victim ever thinks about leaving.

This fear isn't something that just goes away or disappears. Leaving an abuser is a difficult and hard decision, depending on the circumstances, might not even be an option at the time, but when they finally do leave, with courage and bravery, it is usually by running, in a moment when their abuser is unable to follow, (some cases it's planned in advance, in others is a bolt as soon as an opportunity presents itself. It can result in changing appearance, identities, hiding in a sanctuary of sorts, and always with the fear that the abuser might find them.)

Is this sounding familiar?

Back to the 'meta commentary', unfortunately we as a society have a nasty habit of blaming the victim.

Remember how I said Abusers are often charming and are pillars of the community?

"Oh, but Person A is such a good person and does such great things, there's no way they could be abusive!"

"They are a Police officer, surely they would never do that. She must be blowing it out of proportion and making stuff up."

"His wife is 5ft nothing. I'm pretty sure he can defend himself against her. Unless he's a total pussy."

"Oh, B, I'm sure it is not all that bad!"

The thing is about abusers, they don't do this stuff in public for all to see, (unless they get really cavalier and comfortable in their control of the victim) .

Their power and control works best when they keep their victim off kilter and have all around them not believing them, so to keep the victim second guessing their own sanity and questioning the nature of the relationship.

Women are beaten to death, stabbed, shot, etc by abusive partners every day, and it is an unfortunate truth that after the fact people make comments such as,

“I can’t believe he killed her. He always seemed so nice!”

By then it's too late! And maybe people ought to have listened?

This is exactly what the part of the fandom are doing by calling others "snowflakes" or "overly sensitive". They are belittling those members of the fandom who are telling you (often from their own experiences,) that this is an abusive relationship!

That they recognise all the ques that the audience has been given. And reducing it to merely a lovers quarrel belittles those who have or are experiencing the same things.

"I don't see this relationship as abusive."

Let's have a look at this shall we?

In Adam’s short, he brings up Blake’s parents, calling them cowards, alluding to Blake that she is also a coward. This is something we find out that Blake actually said to her parents back when she was 12/13 (a very vulnerable age). Adam is playing on her insecurities. He also guilt trips her and then reinforces it.

Adam: I don't know. I'm out there fighting for us, and when you fight, people get hurt. What, do you want me to just abandon our cause? Like your parents?

Blake: (worried) No! I'm not saying that! I... I don't know.

Adam: I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought them up. I just get scared when it feels like you don't believe in me anymore.

Later in vol 2 we see Blake running herself ragged, racked with guilt about what the WF are doing, she also admits to her team,

and she did,

Often the FNDM has been torn about the exact meaning of Blake’s comment in Mountain Glen and that all boils down to how you perceive the exact nature of their relationship. However, a reminder that abuse can come from many places, family members, spouses, partners, girlfriends, boyfriends and even close friends, abuse takes many forms. At this juncture there is no exact definition as to nature of Blake and Adam’s relationship.

Yet we move on to vol 3.

This action in of itself does not leave the Abuse question up for debate. He not only stabs her but then proceeds to threaten everything that Blake holds dear. And as we know he lops off Yang’s arm. (for the sake of argument we shall ignore the under currant of Blake and Yang’s developing relationship at this moment as there is no onscreen indication that Adam is aware of exactly what Yang means to Blake, other than Yang’s reaction and Blake’s terrified look when he says, “Starting with her!”)

(Often abusers will threaten those nearest and dearest to the victim in a bid to maintain control and keep the victim fearful)

In Vol4 and Vol 5 we begin to see the slow unraveling of the morally grey freedom fighter persona when Adam becomes obsessed with Blake and her family, to the detriment of his mission and the overall WF objective, calling for their assassination with an ulterior motive of retrieving Blake.

Again, this control is abusive rhetoric 101. And often abusers are on the surface charming, collected and well put together in public, only for that facacde to slip when feeling that their control is waning.

Adam becomes almost unhinged to the point that it is commented on by the Albain brothers. That he has lost sight and has other priorities.

At the end of vol 5 , Blake finally stands up to him, and his peers begin to see him for what he truly is, a coward who was not wholly there for the faunus cause as he not only tries to kill everyone there out of spite, but then flees. Abandoning his fellow WF members.

And that brings us to Volume 6 where the abuse narrative is further cemented.

Not only does he stalk her across a continent, which for many abuse survivors is all too real, he tactically picks his opportunity by waiting until Blake is in a vulnerable position, away from her teammates.

Again, this is a tactic often used by abusers when they track down their victims. It is a very real fear of many survivors.

Blake is terrified out of her wits. And Adam reems off yets another comments from the Abusers Handbook 101. He tries to shift the blame for his problems onto her.

Adam is wholly responsible for his own actions, he is a grown ass adult.

The fight between the pair is incredibly violent. Adam is out for blood and Blake is fighting for her life. Throughout the fight he continues to taunt, shift blame and play on Blake’s insecurities. Using every tactic of the previous grooming as ‘handling’ and ‘sweet nothings’ will no longer work. This is once again pulling on the groundwork of gas lighting and guilt tripping, trying to get into her head which is a tactic often used by abusers.

Adam: I wouldn't have to be doing this if you just behaved!

Suddenly, Adam grabs his sword and flings away Blake's cleaver, before knocking her in the side of her head with the hilt of Wilt. Blake gets knocked back several feet.

Adam: But you're selfish!

Adam knocks Blake back again.

Adam: You're a coward!

It is when Yang arrives that the situation shifts and the audience are given confirmation of the nature of what exactly Yang and Blake’s relationship is becoming and so cements and subtly confirms the nature of Adam and Blake’s relationship in the past, or at least how Adam views it.

Adam gives it to us himself, when he flies into a jealous rage when he sees the way the two girls look at each other,

Adam: Hit me already!

Yang dodges.

Adam: What does she even see in you?!!

This comment in of itself, and the taunts leading up to this, is not the reaction of a butthurt buddy but implies that something more is going on and tells the audience that Adam sees Yang as a rival for Blake’s affections, therefore cementing the nature of their relationships, completing the arc that began all the way back in volume 3.

"But, he was never meant to be like that, It was BAD WRITING!"

If anyone who isn't Miles or Kerry or a member of CRWBY claims they have personal knowledge of Monty’s wishes or intentions for the RWBY narrative as a whole or individual character arcs, can politely bugger off or provide solid evidence.

But app Adam isn't abusive, even though there is plenty of onscreen evidence to suggest otherwise?

If you still are not willing to accept it, then I don’t know what to tell you other than we obviously are not watching the same show and a small reminder that

Abusers are never what they seem, the public never see it and the victim finds out far too late. This was alluded to in Blake's trailer when she left him, and Yang points this out in Vol 6.

Adam: You know, she made a promise to me once. That she'd always be at my side. Heh, and look how well she's kept it.

Yang: Did she make that promise to you? Or to the person you were pretending to be?

"But they are fictional characters!"

Yes, but life imitates art and the medium is the message!

And in this day and age representation in media is a thing, Gerald!

And CRWBY could not have made the abuse narrative any more obvious!

#rwby #bumbleby #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #adam taurus #trigger warnings #talk of abuse #rwby analysis

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somegirlsnerdywords2 · 4 years ago

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Anime i’ve Watched

That begin with a A (Part 2)!

Yep this is how i’m going to bring over all the anime and manga i’ve watched and posted about on the old blog. It’s not so detailed but it will have to do. Anything new I watch or read from this point on will have their own posts.

Angel Beats!:

Genres: action, comedy, drama, school, supernatural

Synopsis: Otonashi awakens only to learn he is dead. A rifle-toting girl named Yuri explains that they are in the afterlife, and Otonashi realizes the only thing he can remember about himself is his name. Yuri tells him that she leads the Shinda Sekai Sensen (Afterlife Battlefront) and wages war against a girl named Tenshi. Unable to believe Yuri's claims that Tenshi is evil, Otonashi attempts to speak with her, but the encounter doesn't go as he intended. Otonashi decides to join the SSS and battle Tenshi, but he finds himself oddly drawn to her. While trying to regain his memories and understand Tenshi, he gradually unravels the mysteries of the afterlife. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 10/10

Finished airing in 2010 with a total of 13 episodes.

My Thoughts: A masterpiece and a classic. Now that I think about this one probably deserves a rewatch! Tragic and beautiful with one hell of an opening theme. This one really takes you for journey in 13 short episodes and it’s not one that you’ll soon forget.

Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai! (Please Take my Brother Away):

Genres: comedy, school, slice of life

Synopsis: Shi Miao simply cannot stand her lazy, stupid, and unreliable elder brother Shi Fen, who is one year above her at the same high school. Though the two siblings can only depend on each other, Shi Miao's violent tendencies combined with Shi Fen's knack for causing trouble cause them to fight constantly. And so, Shi Miao can only hope that someone might take her brother away—even though, when push comes to shove, Shi Fen always tries to do what he believes is best for his cute younger sister. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2017 with a total of 12, 3 minute episodes.

My Thoughts: Three minute episodes of pure comedic bliss. A short and light anime that’s perfect if you’re looking for a bit of a pick me up series but don’t have a ton of time. Highly recommend.

Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai! 2 (Please Take My Brother Away 2):

Genres: comedy, school, slice of life

Synopsis: As always, Shi Miao is tired of her brother's ridiculous antics, and Shi Fen can only hope to escape the clutches of his violent sister. With their friends and classmates in tow, the two continue their dysfunctional relationship as reluctant but devoted siblings. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2018 with a total of 24, 3 minute episodes.

My Thoughts: The hilarity continues, this time with a 24 episode run! A must watch for fans of the first season.

Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist):

Genres: action, demons, fantasy, shounen, supernatural

Synopsis: Humans and demons are two sides of the same coin, as are Assiah and Gehenna, their respective worlds. The only way to travel between the realms is by the means of possession, like in ghost stories. However, Satan, the ruler of Gehenna, cannot find a suitable host to possess and therefore, remains imprisoned in his world. In a desperate attempt to conquer Assiah, he sends his son instead, intending for him to eventually grow into a vessel capable of possession by the demon king. Ao no Exorcist follows Rin Okumura who appears to be an ordinary, somewhat troublesome teenager—that is until one day he is ambushed by demons. His world turns upside down when he discovers that he is in fact the very son of Satan and that his demon father wishes for him to return so they can conquer Assiah together. Not wanting to join the king of Gehenna, Rin decides to begin training to become an exorcist so that he can fight to defend Assiah alongside his brother Yukio. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 7/10

Finished airing in 2011 with a total of 25 episodes.

My Thoughts: Great look in terms of art/ animation/ character design. Great setting and premise but overall the series fell a bit short, in large part (my opinion only) because of the anime original ending. An ending that WAS ignored when they released a second season years later. I’d recommend this series for the simple fact that watching it would enable you to watch the second season which was much, much better! Pretty good opening theme though.

Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen (Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga):

Genres: action, demons, supernatural, fantasy, shounen

Synopsis: The ExWire of True Cross Academy are beset with shock and fear in the aftermath of discovering that one of their own classmates, Rin Okumura, is the son of Satan. But for the moment, they have more pressing concerns than that of Rin's parentage: the left eye of the Impure King, a powerful demon, has been stolen from the academy's Deep Keep. After an attempt is made to steal the right eye in Kyoto as well, Rin and the other ExWires are sent to investigate the mystery behind the Impure King and the ultimate goal of the thief. While this mission has them cooperating for the time being, Rin has never felt more distant from his fellow exorcists. In his attempt to reconcile with them, he undergoes specialized training to control his dark power. However, when the right eye is stolen not long after their arrival, the unthinkable threat of a traitor amongst them leaves them in need of all the power they can get. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2017 with a total of 12 episodes.

My Thoughts: Took years and a less than stellar anime original ending in the first season to get here but finally a second season came! Great art, music and story. An odd case where the second season is far better than the first and truly makes up for its predecessors missteps. If you decide to give this series a try be aware that what you’re really coming for is this gem of a second season and not the first!

Aoharu x Kikanjuu:

Genres: action, comedy, sports, shounen

Synopsis: Hotaru Tachibana has a strong sense of justice and just cannot help confronting those who choose to perform malicious acts. Furthermore, Hotaru is actually a girl who likes to disguise herself as a boy. After hearing rumors that her best friend was tricked by the popular host of a local club, Hotaru seeks to punish the evildoer. Upon arriving at the club, however, she is challenged to a so-called "survival game" by the host Masamune Matsuoka, where the first person hit by the bullet of a toy gun will lose. After a destructive fight which results in Hotaru's loss, Masamune forces the young "boy" to join his survival game team named Toy Gun Gun, in order to repay the cost of the damages that "he" has caused inside the club. Although she is initially unhappy with this turn of events, Hotaru quickly begins to enjoy what survival games have to offer and is determined to pay off her debt, much to the dismay of Tooru Yukimura, the other member of Toy Gun Gun. As time goes on, Hotaru begins to develop a close friendship with the rest of the team and hopes to take part in realizing their dream of winning the Top Combat Game (TCG), a tournament to decide the best survival game team in Japan. Although Hotaru tries her best, there are just two little problems: she is absolutely terrible at the game, and Toy Gun Gun doesn't allow female members on their team! [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2015 with a total of 12 episodes.

My Thoughts: I freaking loved this anime when it came out... though I doubt i’d be quite as generous with the score now. Good chance I was distracted by the cute glasses wearing male character which would have heavily impacted my score. A strong female lead masquerading as a male, attractive male leads (both with glasses and not) and some killer theme music. Even if I wouldn’t rate it quite as highly now i’d still argue that it was a pretty decent anime. No where near perfect but a bit of fun.

#anime #angel beats!#ani ni tsukeru kusuri wa nai!#please take my brother away #ao no exorcist #blue exorcist #aoharu x kikanjuu

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ladyloveandjustice · 5 years ago

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Summer 2019 Anime Quick Takes: Astra Lost in Space and Fruits Basket

Astra Lost in Space

This little sci-fi doesn’t exactly rocket into greatness, but it’s a sweet, entertaining show. Set in the future, it follows a group of schoolkids who find themselves stranded in space. As they struggle to find their way back home, they find out they’re connected by many mysteries and begin to unravel a conspiracy.

The space kids are are all fairly likeable dorks who have enjoyable relationships with each other. The main character Kanata is a pretty standard shonen lead, but he’s a likeable variation- his straightfoward dumb goofiness is charming and his devotion to his friendfamily is often adorable. However, the insistence on him always being the big action hero made for a less effective story and came at the expense of a stronger ensemble. There’s a lot of fuss made about how everyone in the team is important and contributes, and they do all get moments to shine, but at the end of the day it’s always about how great Kanata is. During the climax, there’s some big revelations that majorly concern to the female lead of the series, Aries. Since she was the person most impacted, her response and her feelings should have taken center stage. This was a revelation designed to cause HER turmoil and uncertainty, after all. She has the most interesting potential emotional journey here and seeing her struggle and then assert herself thanks to the support of her friends would really sell the found family theme of the show. But nope, the show can’t let anyone but Kanata get the big climactic moments and speeches, so he responds FOR Aries before she even has a chance to struggle, which is obviously way less powerful. Aries and the rest of the vibrant cast are mostly reduced to standing in the background and occasionally gasping while Kanata gets to do everything, which is a waste.

While it could have been more well-balanced. I do appreciate the show’s cute found family aspect and how the story goes out of its way to say if the people who raised you are shitty, throw them in the trash. The kids journeys are all about finding true acceptance, love and support in each other after being denied it in their own homes, and that rules.

The show is respectful of the characters for the most part- there’s some tame fanservice (like the obligatory few minutes where the girls compare breast sizes while in swimsuits, ugh), but the girls are capable members of the team, get some development and aren’t treated like garbage, so the series hops over that low bar at least. (Though it’s kinda whatever that the guys and girls roles/ambitions just happen to coincide with traditional gender expectations a lot of the time, especially at the end. Not horrible, but it can niggle.)

It’s notable, since it’s a rarity in both anime and media in general, that there’s an intersex character in this series. The show seemed to at least be trying to be sympathetic and supportive toward said character (moreso than a lot of stories), but it’s not really my lane to evaluate whether they tried hard enough or how well they did with the representation. There are potential positives, and potential issues as well, and I’d be interested to hear an intersex person’s take on it.

I WILL say that this character is easily my favorite member of the cast (btw they do identify as a specific gender and discuss that in detail, I’m just being vague to minimize spoilers). They have a lovable personality and fun relationships with some of the other characters. The way they’re confident and comfortable with who they were but also loved to make silly jokes about it and troll their friends was relatable and endearing to me as a person with a marginalized identity who sometimes does the same.

So yeah, the series has some cute characters, sweet moments and a decent enough plot. It definitely doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to sci-fi and shonen tropes and some of the twists it throws at you kind of fall apart logically if you think about them for more than ten seconds, but you just want to turn your brain off and enjoy a silly but heartfelt story about a teen space fam, this is a fine choice.

Fruits Basket (episodes 13-25)

Fruits Basket Season 1 continues! It continues in the same vein as earlier episodes, only with characters growing, backstories being revealed and dramatic developments- all of which are good stuff. My faves Arisa and Hana get their backstory episodes early, and of course I adore them. Love my cool, troubled girls and love their friendship with Tohru. There’s still the stuff that might put people off the first half- 90′s anime-esque gender tropes etc, slaptick abuse played for laughs.

The anime did at least tone down the problems with Ritsu’s parts in the manga, removing most of the mean comments regarding crossdressing, which is good. It probably could have done even more in that area but I’ll take what I can get.

While the adaptation did a good there, it also did a bad with a very jarring moment where a character gets launched into the air (YEET) during an important moment in the seasons final episodes. If you watched, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The exaggerated violence is really jarring during what’s supposed to be a more grounded, dramatic moment. It feel almost comical and more at home in a slapstick scene. On top of that, it’s damaging to both the characters involved, making one a lot more dangerously violent and life-threatening than they’re supposed to be, and the other more questionable in that they shrug it off so easily. The more grounded violent moment in the manga was much more fitting and better executed all around (especially when it comes to use of space and emotional framing), so I have no idea WHY they changed it.

Other than that though, the final episodes of the season are pretty effective. The series remains emotional and entertaining overall, so I look forward to more of that with season 2. My memories about the rest of the story are still very fuzzy, so I’m glad to be rediscovering it.

#fruits basket #fruits basket 2019 #astra lost in space #kanata no astra #anime overview #summer 2019 anime #reviews

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ichika27 · 5 years ago

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Winter 2020: Episode 1

I decided to check out some anime that came out for this season. I’m still not sure if I’ll be watching their entire series so I’m not gonna do the post reacts like I do with ‘Mairimashita! Iruma-kun’ so either I’ll do this kind of thing every week after seeing the episodes of each or would just post an individual overall reaction about each series after they finish or if I ever decide to drop them. I’ll be trying that ‘3 episode’ rule thing everyone does to make it easier for me.

First of all, Madoka Magica: Magia Record.

A ‘Madoka Magica’ spin-off based on the mobile game with brand new characters but the original cast would show up later on, too. The first episode is fun and interesting already with the mystery surrounding the main character’s wish she’d forgotten about and the girl appearing in everyone’s dreams. The feel of the first episode is kind of different from how I felt while watching the original series and not in a bad way. I think I would follow the entire series just because I loved ‘Madoka Magica’.

Next is Bofuri: I Don’t Wanna Get Hurt So I’ll Max Out My Defense.

About a girl named Kaede who isn’t really a gamer but was convinced by a friend to play her first VRMMO. Since she doesn’t like pain, she decided her first weapon would be a shield and that she’d put all of her starting stat points (and every point she’d earn from there on) into increasing her defenses. It proved to be a good idea when she gets achievements that make her stronger. It’s another ‘MC is OP’ but this isn’t isekai and the main character is female which is nice. Not sure if this will have a harem since male versions of this type of stories end up that way.

That said, despite the things I feel about how OP characters in stories like these are created, at least there’s a reason for how it happens to Kaede with many of the achievements being reachable by any player if they’ve played long enough and have good weapons and experience and it’s just Kaede’s defense is strong enough to help her reach those faster.

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard

Nice guy Seiji saves a guy named Richard one night and find out the latter is a jeweler. He asks Richard to appraise his grandma’s ring and this unravels the mystery behind it and Seiji’s grandma. Richard ends up hiring Seiji to work for him and his Jewelry Store.

I like the characters, the art style is good, and there’s hints of bromance that makes me wanna ship the main characters BUT I tried out this show because of the ‘Case Files’ part of the title. To me, if a detective/mystery show isn’t as fun or as good as ‘Detective Conan’ then I’d probably get bored of it and drop it. I can’t really say much about the first episode so I’ll see the next one to find out if this is worth watching to the end.

Socerous Stabber Orphen (2020)

I didn’t see this coming but an anime I watched when I was younger got a remake. The story was enjoyable so I had planned to check this out since I saw the trailer. It’s about a mage named Orphen whose trying to get his friend Azalie to turn back from being a dragon after she got herself cursed. The art is kinda similar to current anime which makes me miss the old art style (he looked better in the old one but everyone else feel like they got cuter). I also really, really miss the OP of the old one ‘Ai, Just on my Love’ as it felt like it fits the magic/badass feeling of the story.

Anyways, the first episode is way different from the old one (sorry if I’m doing comparisons) but here, Orphen meets his companions differently and Majic isn’t even his apprentice yet. The way he meets Claiomh is also different that it didn’t start out with a misunderstanding although this time. This also shows us Orphen’s backstory from the start unlike in the original series where it’s kind of like a spoiler. This first episode isn’t as interesting as the older one but hopefully, it gets there later on.

Toilet Bound Hanako-kun

Kept seeing this guy when playing mudae on Discord and I thought he looked cute and the title of the manga he came from is interesting and looked it up only to find out it’s getting an anime lol. I was planning on seeing this one, too and the first episode was cute and fun to watch! It certainly feels the same way it felt when I watched Iruma-kun. I’m also intrigued by ‘Seven Mystery’ stuff as it’s been a small plot/arc in some stories but this one is gonna have it as it’s actual story.

In this, a girl named Nene hears about the school’s 7th mystery and sought it out as it’s rumored to grant wishes. She meets the ghost ‘Hanako’ who, after several events gets bound to her to help her out of a curse in exchange for her being his helper. It’s really cute and I already ship them XD

Hatena Illusion

Kana comes from a family of famous magicians and secretly, of thieves. She’s very excited to see her childhood friend Makoto again as the latter would be living with them only for her excitement to be shattered once she realizes she has been mistaken all these years as Makoto isn’t a girl but a boy. Makoto on the other hand is happy to see Kana again whom he nicknamed ‘Hatena’ (but is surprised that she now dislikes him) and will also be an apprentice to Kana’s father which is something he’s always wanted.

This is like, romance with a magical girl transformation in it and all that. I think the art is cute and it seems like fun but Kana is uh... kinda annoying? I mean, she’s the one who misunderstood everything and it’s not like Makoto lied to her but she proceeds to insult him, nearly had him kicked out of the house when he had just arrived (she was thankfully persuaded not to), and is just mean to him and in the end wanted to steal something from him that was from her mom saying ‘She wants to help her mother’ and stuff when she’s just being petty. I’ll give this 3 episodes and if I still don’t feel it, I’ll drop this.

Lastly, A Destructive God Sits Next to Me.

Koyuki just wants a peaceful life but unfortunately for him, he’s classmates with chuunibyou Hanadori who wouldn’t stop bothering him as Hanadori thinks that Koyuki is also ‘reincarnated’ like he is. Determined to not let Hanadori’s antics ruin his life and his education, Koyuki strives to ignore the weirdness happening around him but he still ends up reacting and usually getting mad at the chuunibyou.

I wanted to watch this when I heard of it months ago - cute guys that look like I can ship them and the story seemed fun. Also, I needed something after the ending of ‘Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy’ (still waiting for that ova...) and this seems perfect. Although this reminds me more of ‘Tonari no Seki-kun’ with the whole ‘MC tries to concentrate on studying but can’t ignore their classmate with the strange hobbies’.

The first episode is really funny for me so that’s good. It’s also got that secondhand embarrassment cringe comedy but surprisingly, it’s for the main character and not the chuunibyou (I feel so sorry for Koyuki). Unlike in Chuubyou, the other characters in this show either thinks Hanadori is annoying or weird. To be honest, as much as I’d like not to feel this way, Hanadori is kind of annoying. Hopefully either he gets better or he just ends up growing on me before episode 3 finishes or I may drop this. I mean, no matter how funny it is, annoying characters still kinda get to me.

Like I said, I have a lot on my plate now compared to the mere 3 last season and I’m still watching Iruma-kun as it’s still ongoing. Will I watch these all until the end or will I be dropping some? We’ll find out...

#anime #winter 2020 #magia record #bofuri #case files of jeweler richard #jibaku shounen hanako kun #hatena illusion #sorcerous stabber orphen #a destructive god sits next to me #sana_post

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snkpolls · 6 years ago

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SnK S3E13 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 539 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 534 Responses

WIT kicked off the arc fantastically according to the viewers! This episode got overall positive reviews, with 95% of respondents giving it a 4 or 5 rating.

An ideal opening episode in my opinion!

Incredible start for possible the best season yet ♥

Awesome opening episode to set the stage for the arc to come. Pacing was just right, imo.

HYPE MY SOLDIERS

I think it was a great ep and did pretty well with the chapters it adapted. The dialogue was there and so were the scenes, the ending hyped what is coming so much so I'm already in love!

Lack of creavity when it come to the OP and ED visuals, but the ep overall was good.

The soundtrack slaps, voice acting is on point, and the animation proves to be very promising. Overall, it's a great episode to start off the second cour!

Awesome episode with awesome soundtrack.

One of the best episodes of the whole series, which was surprising.

RATE THE OP 533 Responses

Overall respondents liked the new Linked Horizon opening, which was a great summary of the current arc, but overall it fell flat as a song that most would be willing to label as their favorite.

OP depicts the upcoming battle well!

Great adaptation, just wish the opening was a little more original

It is the worst OP of all. The song is disappointing; it sounds like typical, boring song from random shonen series.

The opening definitely had some parts to it that felt recycled from previous openings, but I guess it's just Linked Horizon's way of linking them all together.

SPACE OPERATION RAINBOW!!!

To me it looks like they ran out of time to make an OP so they slapped a green filter on what they had done already.

RATE THE ED 530 Responses

The 104th-centered still-frame ED has some mixed reviews with most of the fandom sitting somewhere in the middle between loving and hating it. Respondents overall are leaning more toward the positive, however.

ED is perfect with the time skip just over the horizon

WE GOT A FEW NEW SAWANO TRACKS. HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THEM? 530 Responses

Well over half the fandom are already pumped for new music from the series’ composer Sawano Hiroyuki! A whopping 76% already feel that he’s killing it. 22% need more time to decide how they feel. A small sliver of respondents don’t really care for the OST. Who hurt you?

ost perfect as usual

It was good but at this point everything sounds like it's been reused a bunch of times. Hopefully we get some new great tracks later on..

Hyeh

The bassline in the new rendition of "Attack on Titan" (or however Sawano spells it) is amazing. I cannot wait for the S3 soundtrack to be released.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 532 Responses

The scene with the Beast Titan appearing with his army of titans took 30% of the vote, with Levi attacking Reiner as a close second with 22% of the vote. 10% overall liked the entire episode, and 7% favorited the cliffhanger staredown. We can all agree the battle to come has us all hyped!

I repeated the scene where Reiner appears until the end of the episode tons of times already

Did they really had to skip Levi's frustrated expression after he failed to kill Reiner? It was my favorite moment…

Levi attacking Reiner and everything after that has become one of my favorite scenes in the series. Damn!

Nice Erwin Screentime, nice Levi nyooming behind Eren

Best girl makes her appearance

the last three minutes of the episode where the warriors show up was fucking amazing

ON SCALE OF ARMIN TO ERWIN, HOW GOOD ARE YOU AT GIVING ORDERS? 526 Responses

The majority of respondents relate to Armin’s timid nature a bit more when it comes to overall confidence in giving orders. Just a small 6.3% of you guys feel you have the charismatic swag that Erwin brings to the table.

I loved Armin giving orders politely.

How was Armin overcoming social anxiety a billion times cooler then eren flying over a 60m wall, becoming a titan and basically saving humanity.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO GO HORSEBACK SURFING? 528 Responses

This was in no way a serious question. But at an almost even split, 35.8% of voters would totally try their hand at horseback surfing, while 35.2% would never risk their life doing such a dangerous activity!

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ANIMATION QUALITY IN PART TWO SO FAR? 529 Responses

Overall respondents are pleased with the animation in the first episode of the RtS arc, with 54% stating that it’s the best animation they’ve seen from the series yet. 42% feel it could be better, but is also not the worst. A small percentage don’t find the animation all that impressive.

I can’t believe how clean all of the animation is looking. SUPER impressed with the difference in art-style compared to season 1 as well.

The animation is on the highest level.

i miss the thick lines the show used to have

i really love the colour palette of this season and the op especially.

IMO the color tones on this episode could've been handled better, it was too gloomy on some scenes :(

The animation & art style was almost as good as season 2’s (which is one of my favorite pieces of animation of all time) but still lacked in some areas.

Looks like they went all out with budget on this season and I'm loving it

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CG COLOSSAL TITAN IN THE OPENING? 532 Responses

57% of respondents aren’t too upset about the GCI Colossal Titan in the opening and say they don’t mind either way. 35% aren’t happy at all with the decision to make the Colossal CGI, while a few actually find the effect super cool.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO FINALLY SEE THIS ARC ANIMATED? 533 Responses

The overwhelming majority are extremely excited to see this arc animated after all these years. With its high levels of action and drama, it’s no surprise to us to see that the fandom is looking forward to getting this arc in an animated form!

IVE WAITED MORE THAN 2 YEARS FOR THIS IM NEVER BEEN SO FUCKING HYPED IN MY WHOLE LIFE

I've waited so many years that I'm satisfied and ready to pass now that my favorite arc is being animated

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ADAPTATION OF RTS SO FAR? 532 Responses

67% of respondents are feeling very satisfied with the way the arc is unraveling in the anime, finding that it’s a very close adaptation of the original source material. 23% feel that it’s still too early to judge the adaptation properly, and a few less feel that the adaptation so far is somewhere between good and bad.

Fantastic adaptation.

Good pacing jumping right into the action, while staying faithful to the manga.

Overall very good, but could be a TAD better

I think the adaptation so far has been great, but I need to see how the action is handled before I say for sure whether it's well adapted or not.

It was ok.

It was very well-adapted! All the important details were there and nothing important seemed to be missing, which was something I was sad about in the last arc. It seems like everything I want will get covered.

How do we come back from there without breaking my heart?

PART 2 IS SLATED FOR 10 EPISODES. DO YOU THINK THIS WILL BE ENOUGH TO ADAPT THE ARC WELL? 531 Responses

Voters are confident that WIT knows what they’re doing by shortening the amount of episodes that will air for this action-heavy arc, with only ¼ of respondents feeling that they haven’t given themselves enough screen time to cover every last detail. 10% don’t want to say either way.

i was disappointed in knowing it was a 10 episode arc, but seeing the quality and taking into account that this is an action-heavy arc, i'm bouncing off of the walls to see what wit has underneath their sleeve. hopefully they don't ruin the best arc

one advantage of the short season is that they cant draw out the serum bowl for too long. God, that was a painful wait when the manga was dropping those chapters.

Really well done, the pacing in particular was great. After seeing it I was convinced 10 episodes was perfect for this arc. A 6-4 split is perfect.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE VERY SPOILERY OPENING? 532 Responses

61% of respondents agree that the opening, while spoilery, is a great summary and teaser of what is to come for those who only watch the anime. Without context, they can’t know what every last symbolic image in the opening means, after all! 23% of voters expressed distaste at how much WIT is spoiling the viewers, however. 9% aren’t even concerned about it.

The whole opening was just one big “fuck you” to people who don’t read the manga.

it only becomes obvious b/c manga readers keep pointing stuff out. Yes, the intros have always hinted at things but it goes so fast that I don’t think every person will know exactly what something means if they’re anime only.

The Opening is good representation of this phase of the story ending.

I don't get why people are making a big deal over the "spoilers" in the opening when they're not even anime-onlies themselves in the first place.

Man, it only seems spoilery for those of us who know what's coming. Anime onlies don't understand the context of the images, so they can't recognise them as spoilers unless it's directly identified as such! We gotta stop judging this stuff from the perspective of someone who already knows what's coming.

It's definitely not holding back on the indications that'll happen in the arc

HOW DID THE NEW ED MAKE YOU FEEL? 527 Responses

61% of manga readers felt nostalgic seeing the images of the 104th during their trainee days coupled with a somber song. 20% felt sad about the ending, and 15% were just disappointed with the entire thing.

Lazy ending.

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE RED EYES ON THE TITANS? 533 Responses

Just over half of the fandom feel that the red-eyed pure titans was a cool aesthetic to add to show that they are under some form of control by a shifter. 33% feel it’s a cool addition, but not really necessary. 11% don’t care.

I was on board with the red eyes until the cart titan also had them. No longer made any sense.

I don't get why Pieck's eyes are red when she's not a mindless being controlled by Zeke…

Like the red eyes but why does Pieck have them too.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 530 Responses

Perhaps unsurprisingly, over half of the fandom is most hyped to see the Eren vs. Reiner showdown in Shiganshina. Although not far behind, 28% of respondents are excited about Erwin’s badass unhooding moment as he challenges Reiner.

THUNDER SPEARS FOR NEXT CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Even though I totally know what will happen, the episode is written and directed in a way I still get goosebumps and forget I actually know what will happen. And the music, oh god. That's amazing. These two together have a really good effect.

I need the next one RIGHT NOW.

AAAAAHH!!!!

It was an introduction episode, so imo, it's just there to put the basis for the rest of the season. There was a good balance between the "emotionally charged" scenes and the more quiet ones, all this accompanied with an increasing tension in the background.

I wish theyd reanimated the scene of armin talking to eren about the opening instead of just reusing the animation from season 1.

that Zeke smile is like : hey there, i am here to euthanize you all. Love it !

I'm buying tickets into denial islaaand, bye, bye!

Airpipes. AIRPIPES. p.s. cracking soundtrack

Reiner has been enjoying himself some Marley protein, he extra swole now.

Armin was the MVP

PIECK!!!

I don't like the fact that WiT decided to spoil a lot. Some anime onlies already have guessed that Armin is going to be burned and then will become the next CT. So the serumbowl won't be as emotional and exciting for them anymore. I don't understand why WiT decided to do such thing. Don't they want anime-onlies to enjoy the show?

Exactly as expected you'll find a strange titan next to the beasty

I love Mikasa’s improved design and hope they show more of her working in a team like the manga. Focusing on the mission ect without pandering

RIP nameless soldier killed by Reiner.

Very happy to get a glimpse at best girl Pieck

Really no questions about our exactly right girl in this poll ? I am dissapointed :/

Watching this episode is bringing back all the suspense and awe I felt when I read this part in the manga. What a treat to be able to relive it!

They did a great job at keeping the tension and the "well shit everything's about to go wrong" from chapters 73 and 74, and managed to make the explosion at the end worth it, despite the fact I still think Reiner's continued survival throughout the arc is stupid and wish the anime had changed it so it'd be more believable, but here we are.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 514 Responses

Thank you to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days!

#snk poll #snk polls #snk spoilers #snk s3 #poll results

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fallen029 · 7 years ago

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Lisanna Overview

I’ve been wanting to do this sorta thing for a long time, but I was never really too sure if anyone was interested in it or not. Now though, that my writing has kind of dried up a bit, I think it might give me some ideas for some fics or, maybe, at least entertain someone who still follows me and gives a shit. I have few Fairy Tail related things to offer up at this point.

When I first started writing for Fairy Tail, it was with the intention of my focus to be on Mirajane and Laxus. I was still (extremely) behind in the anime, hadn’t read any of the manga yet, but had seen some fan art of Mirajane and Laxus together and assumed that at some point, the anime would lead to this. At that point, I wasn’t even to Edolas yet and wasn’t too sure, honestly, how to approach writing Lisanna who I only knew would come back to life after browsing art lead me to a few spoilers. So I knew that she was coming back, at some point, but didn’t really know anything about her beyond the flashbacks that we got of her as a child with Natsu. That’s why, if you were to read my first few Fairy Tail fics, I think her reactions towards Mirajane are rather curt and usually similar to how Elfman interacts with her.

As time went on, however, as I found myself deeper in love with the Strauss siblings, Lisanna kind of became my favorite. She’s definitely above Elfman, at least, but I go back and forth on her and Mirajane at times. But one of the things I dislike about Lisanna isn’t really a characteristic of her alone, but rather the way that, canonically, we’re kind of given her back for no fucking reason.

You’d think that having your dead childhood friend come back to life would be a big fucking deal. But for some reason, it’s undercut in a lot of ways. I know we’re supposed to consider things unraveling in the background without our knowledge as, obviously, Lucy is more or less our narrator, but man, I fucking hate the lack of development with Lisanna as a character. All of her big moments, after being brought back to life, are mostly just supporting roles to her siblings and, as far as Natsu and Happy go, very little interaction at all. I’ve always felt early on like Fairy Tail’s biggest emphasis was always on friendship and the bonds created from that (this dies slowly, I feel, in the later arcs) and Natsu getting his best friend back, for some reason, isn’t really highlighted well at all.

Now, that’s not really a knock on anything in particular, considering in my personal view, a lot of character growth or regression is stunted in Fairy Tail. It’s less of the person changing overtime and more a singular moment sparking in their head, wow, I should be a different person now. With Lisanna, it’s less that and more, I was gone, now I’m back, so I’ll just fade into the background slowly because I’m the least important Strauss.

That’s kind of what fueled my entire view of her character, when I write her. I think it’s mentioned a few times when she’s the point of view for the story, but a lot of times I take it for granted that people have this same view as me. And I’ve gotten a few, not many, people bitch at me for my characterization for Lisanna. For me personally, however, it’s hard to see her not this way.

You die. Everyone’s sad. They move on. You come back. They’re happy. Everyone moves on again except this time you’re there, and home, and watch yourself become less important to other people. Your siblings have changed, from what you remember, and even if they hadn’t, you’ve just spent two years with their exact copies who are different as well. That’s a pretty big mind fuck. Then you take your best friend, who was clearly upset by your death, but also a bit of an aloof guy, who’s now feels like, you know, everything’s righted again. Only now he has other friends and bonds that he’s formed and, I’m sure they hang out sometimes, but Natsu mostly seemed content with the idea that Lisanna was alive and safe and fine and that was pretty much it. Her and Happy’s interactions seem rather stunted as well.

This leads to the easy jump for me into Lisanna being a bit resentful over the whole thing. She’s not angry with Natsu or her siblings or the guildhall. That would be stupid. No one’s rightfully ignoring her. But everything’s changed since she died and we never really get to see her truly come to terms with this. She doesn’t really fit in anywhere either. Other than with her siblings, one of which is now mostly just a barmaid and the other who probably smothers her a bit. That’s how I’d see it, for Elfman, if the sister that you blamed yourself for killing came back to life, I’d just imagine a lot of smothering going on.

When you insert that into the setup I have for Elfman/Evergreen and Mirajane/Laxus, you’re kind of left with this shitty situation for Lisanna. I think I highlight it best in Firsts, but I touch on it in a lot of one-shots as well. I can’t think off the top of my head an overview of her that I’ve done without one of those relationships being a factor. I’m actually working on one, right now, but in it rather than being depressive and kind of angsty, which in turn I always have lead into her relationship with Bickslow, she ends up with Natsu because she’s happier and more upbeat about things because she’s in a good place with her siblings and her current goings on in the guildhall. When that’s not in place because Mirajane’s busy with Laxus and Elfman’s tied up with Evergreen, Lisanna turns to the other person who would be affected by this, which would be, in my stories, Bickslow.

She’s normally alone, at the guild or somewhere, and he’s alone and they’re both pissy at their respective friends (in this, Bickslow has usually been left by Freed as well) and it just leads to something. I’ve had someone actually argue with me that Lisanna and Bickslow would never have anything in common in the anime/manga and, for that, they’re probably right, because Lisanna is a horribly underwritten character. As is Bickslow.

This isn’t a slight towards the writing, honestly, it’s more of an intentional setup, I think, on my part. When I chose the Strauss siblings and Thunder Legion (plus Laxus since some of yall throw a hissy fit if I don’t state that, yes, I understand he is not a part of, you know, the group that fucking worships him) to all be together, I dunno if I really understood that I was picking some of the least focused upon (singularly) characters, but as time went on, I understood that and rolled with that.

There is very little interactions that we see Lisanna have that you can gauge her every response to a situation. With Natsu or Erza, you can pretty much do this and it’s much easier to fall into their correct characteristics. With a lesser character like Lisanna or Bickslow, this falls apart because what you see of them is kind of only enough fill half a character sheet. They’re half characters because they’re backup to other characters. Lisanna exists to provide a teenage conflict for Natsu and a catalyst for Mirajane and Elfman. Bickslow, and honestly the Thunder Legion as a whole, main function was originally to give Laxus plot development. That doesn’t mean that they can’t be expanded upon later, like I feel Freed was to a certain extent (but still grossly under the radar given all we could have learned from him), but overall, I personally don’t feel they were.

Which actually has served me for the better, as it gave me a chance to layout Lisanna how I wanted. After Edolas, she has no more singular personal struggles outside of, you know, the ones everyone is facing at the hall, which means you can build off that whatever you want. With Lisanna, I chose for her new conflict to almost always be this almost self-hatred over the idea that, while everyone else’s lives go on, hers feels stunted and cheated and out of place, honestly, back in Earthland. On a human level, this just feels right to me.

That being said, I think the presence of what she was when she was younger is always bubbling under the surface in my Lisanna. While her and Bickslow like to brood in the darkness together, they play off one another as well. Lisanna’s kind of the cute, innocent little sibling of the Strauss family and she spends a lot of this time with Bickslow trying to shred this persona, but failing. She longs to be darker and misunderstood, like she views Bickslow as, and to me, I kind of paint her as having that lost teenage dissonance that we all have. Lisanna missed out on truly having a disconnect with her siblings or friends because, without her influence, they were taken from her. She’s reliving that with Bickslow, of all people, because I paint him as also cultivating a misunderstood and failed darkness though, without getting too into his past right now, comes from a missed childhood. This kind of clashes at times and I think they have the most comical of interactions, but also the most dramatic. When I have Mirajane and Laxus fall out, it’s normally done in an adult, concise matter where the tears and anger turn into that ignore it until the hurt disappears. Elfman and Evergreen, by contrast, blow up at one another and get all their anger out in that moment and usually wind up back together before anything major happens.

Lisanna and Bickslow kind of bounce off one another. Because at their heart, they’re both children, almost, dressing up like adults and trying this whole adult relationship thing and failing miserably, but together and that’s important. They’re both sad and have a shared past, really, and try to use that to paint their character to one another, but the reality is that they’re both just sorta silly and are only pulling the cloak over each other’s eyes.

This also comes out in my Lisanna when she’s around Laxus a lot. He didn’t have siblings growing up and I think it sorta mystifies him, the way Mirajane interacts with her own and he tries to mimic this in his new found (or at least acknowledged) love of the Thunder Legion and though it usually fails miserably, he’s trying. This is the same with him and Lisanna as, for some reason, he finds himself kind of drawn to her. He admits, in some stories I write, to himself that one of the driving factors of his intentions of taking the guild from his grandfather comes from the fact that Lisanna died under his shitty rules. Being around Lisanna because of Mirajane leads to him feeling brotherly to her and Lisanna uses this to her advantage in ways she can’t with her actual older siblings. Mainly because Elfman is broke and Mirajane is privy to her manipulation, a lot of Lisanna kind of funds her lack of good work ethic (which Bickslow picks up from her) and ability through Laxus. He doesn’t like to see her upset and is frequently fearful of her life with Bickslow being in shambles so his extra jewels are thrown at her. This originally stemmed from him doing so to keep her away from Mirajane, but eventually he does it regardless.

I kind of make Lisanna come off as a mooch, in someways, if not someone that manipulates her siblings joy over having her back. I dunno if anyone ever picks up on that, but as time goes on, I have her doing that more and more. I guess it come from my own personal experience from having younger siblings where, if they need something, you get them it. Even if it’s overpriced, they’re grown, and they really don’t need it. This would be brought out more in Mirajane being that she stepped into a motherly role towards her younger brother and sister. Laxus gripes about it at times, Mirajane flat out tells Lisanna to pull more shifts at the hall sometimes, but other than that, no one else really calls her out on it.

But she also uses Laxus for more than just his jewels. I write the two of them as having, in some ways, a better relationship with one another than they even have with their significant others. This doesn’t really come from any one thing I’ve written or something in the series, but rather just a causal build I’ve noted in my writing over time. It was highlighted best in Three Wishes, but appears in other moments too. Laxus, basically, is stuck between liking Mirajane, disliking Elfman, and then there’s just Lisanna in the center who, early on, he could do without, but they became friends in a more natural passed way. We seem them, anyways, interacting favorably in Tenrou when Laxus learns of her return and maybe it comes from that, but I think it’s more of the tough guy, tiny guy kind of buddy buddy friendship. It’s beneficial for Lisanna and Laxus to be friends from his standpoint and hers, but it somewhere along the way, they truly become friends. I think they probably have the best, most real relationship out of all the other interactions I give her.

She also kind of plays mother to Bickslow’s dolls without her every really being a mother in my work. I think my most popular Bickslow/Lisanna one-shot was the one where she tells him she’s pregnant, Helmets and Spilled Soup from the Remember Me series, but I never really do much with that. Her baby kind of just exists and gets no real build, like the other children, mainly because I don’t particularly know how to write her that way. Bickslow either. Instead, I like filtering their maternal and paternal instincts into his dolls.

Lisanna treats them in special ways, when the fic focus on that, and has their names memories as well as their personalities. She usually finds them and weird and creepy at first and maybe just as magical expression from Bickslow, but over time they grow on her. This was never fully addressed, but I did have a fic I didn’t finish that kind of focused on the parallels between them and Happy. Because, for all intents and purposes, Natsu and Lisanna were kind of playing house with Happy when he was born and then she’s gone, right? She was sort of his mother, in a lot of ways people never want to address, but that’s definitely the vibe that runs undercurrent with them.

Also for Remember Me, I wrote Blue with Envy, where Natsu now has a real child that he showers with attention and Happy struggles to understand the jealousy he feels over this. Lisanna kind of helps him through that and I think that relationship is my second favorite Happy one, next to Lucy. I see Lucy almost as his step-mother in ways where he kind of rejects her, a lot, but ultimately needs needs her, where as with Lisanna, Happy’s more loving and open and kind of can tell her anything. I always wanted to write one where he expresses his discontent to her over Bickslow’s babies relation to her, but I dunno, I always felt like no one else really got this in the same way I do? I’ve noticed a lot of people feel like you can either love Lisanna as a character or love Lucy as one so I always try to skate on the edge of that, but overall I think they’re such different people that there’s no reason for this distinction. To me, Lisanna’s main interaction when coming back, outside of her siblings, should have been with Happy and Natsu, and while we’re not shown it, I have to imagine a lot of alone time between the three happened. Kind of like when a best friend moves away for a bit and comes back so you just fill those first few weeks doing all that you can together, sharing what had been occurring over the past however long. This, actually, has to be almost certain canonically.

Her relationship with Natsu kind of depends on the situation, but it’s almost always good with them on a personal level. I don’t always necessarily paint Lisanna as still being in love with him, but I always kind of show that, you know, feeling of when your childhood crush is officially no longer viable type of angst. Even when I show this happening, Lisanna’s typically just kind of reflective on it. Like I said before, when it’s a more upbeat Lisanna, they windup together. But when it’s an already down Lisanna at play, that don’t. I guess it could be debated whether this is cause and affect either way, but I see it more as separate, if that makes sense?

There is one one-shot I have where Lisanna ends up with no one in particular. It’s actually my favorite for the whole tone and mood of it, but Timing covers this as it’s sort of b-plot. Laxus and Mirajane are definitely the main focus, but running concurrent to that is Lisanna’s acceptance over how much time she’s kind of spent, hoping that something sparks between her and Natsu and decides to be a bit of a catalyst towards something coming of it by running off with Mirajane, when she goes to pursue her singing career instead of, you know, wasting away as the Fairy Tail barmaid. This lead sto a totally different Lisanna that I ever write and is actually the best one, in my opinion, where she’s happy and kind of doing stuff that Laxus, again as a sort of pseudo big brother figure, doesn’t like much, but can’t do much to stop.

Like I mentioned before, a lot of her relationship with Bickslow is bred in that high school type teenager rebellion most people have. When this isn’t around to happen, that is funneled into more of a college type experimental phase. Lisanna’s, even in the canon, is kind of bottled up in Fairy Tail. She’s mostly known as the youngest Strauss sibling, the one who died, or maybe even just Natsu’s friend, which she kind of resents. To combat this, she turns to Bickslow because he’s literally the only other thing there that isn’t necessarily conform. When she’s always from Fairy Tail, however, without any interference from Bickslow, she spreads her wings a little bit and sleeps around some and mostly takes Mirajane’s sabbatical as a chance to find herself some. That’s probably my favorite version of her that I’ve written, but hard to recreate without completely alienating other elements of a story.

From what we’re shown, Lisanna can never be the most important Strauss. She won’t be the strongest, the most spoken, or anything of notoriety. In her guildhall. Once you subtract that guildhall though, she doesn’t exist as just a Strauss anymore and more of a person. We see Timing through Laxus’ eyes, so of course he rejects it, but overall that’s probably the happiest I’ve ever written Lisanna. It’s the small town kid breaking away from all the kind of restrictions that get put on them and already decided fates to find, you know, how great life is outside of all that. She goes a bit overboard, like most do when they suddenly have no restrictions, but I think overtime, had Timing been a full series, she’d have become more balanced and probably wouldn't have returned to Magnolia full time at any point.

To me, Lisanna probably has the blankest pallet that can be shown as so much more than she is, as far as Fairy Tail goes. We have this person who’s escaped death and been given a second chance, but most people kind of want her to just stay stationary with it. Whatever direction she gets shot towards, whether it’s a darker one with Bickslow, happier with Natsu and Happy, or just out adventuring on her own, there’s so many tiny character details there that are missed without examination.

I dunno if anyone got anything out of this, but I’m probably gonna do one on all my depictions of the Strauss siblings and Thunder Legion (plus Laxus because you have to separate him in this awkward way because some people lose their shit if you don’t). I started with Lisanna, but I’ll probably jump over to Evergreen next. Hers probably won’t be this long, as she’s not as focused or highlighted in my stuff, but there’s some deeper shit going on there too. And again, this was just me, kind of laying out my personal depictions of how I write something. It doesn’t reflect anything canon-wise or what I think others should be writing someone as. At best, this was something to show others how I view what I’ve written of Lisanna. At worst, it was a way to kill time.

#Lisanna #Lisanna Strauss #Fairy Tail #Overview?#Sorta

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thejollyshiner · 7 years ago

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Meme Anime Ask Pt. 2 of 4

@stacys--mum asked me to answer 12, 16, and 30.

Due to my past experience of learning to answer these I will answer them in this order

Pt.1 - 12. Anime that should get more attention from others?

Pt.2 - 16. 10 animes you have watched to recommend? (alphabetically/1-5)

Pt.3 - 16. 10 animes you have watched to recommend? (alphabetically/6-10)

Pt.4 - 30. One anime conclusion you would change?

Also a quick mention to anyone of what not to do when writing an extensive post since this is now my fifth attempt.

1. Always stick with one network or wi-fi when completing these, otherwise when you connect to a new wi-fi theres a good chance of losing everything you wrote.

2. Don’t ever write on a train even if they promise some sort of wi-fi especially on a moving train. Since your computer is just going to run pretty slow to the point of your computer thinking you had decided to send the answer on private, instead of choosing your gif.

3. Always be cautious where you are leaning your body on the overly sensitive touchpad especially when your unaware of it, while enjoying someones company.

4. Don’t ever try to attempt to make a long post and expect your laptop to still run fast. I learned this the hard way being half way done with this ask only for my computer to stay frozen for over two hours. only to give up hope that my computer can work while still answering this ask, so I decided to restart my laptop and loose everything.

Knowing these are all of the things I’ve learned I encourage everyone to not be me lol.

So, fifth times the charm...I guess.

16. 10 animes you have watched to recommend (alphabetically/ 1-5)

These answers will just focus on plot, background, and genres.

1.Barakamon

Plot: Seishuu Handa is an up-and-coming calligrapher: young, handsome, talented, and unfortunately, a narcissist to boot. When a veteran labels his award-winning piece as "unoriginal," Seishuu quickly loses his cool with severe repercussions. As punishment, and also in order to aid him in self-reflection, Seishuu's father exiles him to the Goto Islands, far from the comfortable Tokyo lifestyle the temperamental artist is used to. Now thrown into a rural setting, Seishuu must attempt to find new inspiration and develop his own unique art style—that is, if boisterous children (headed by the frisky Naru Kotoishi), fujoshi middle schoolers, and energetic old men stop barging into his house! The newest addition to the intimate and quirky Goto community only wants to get some work done, but the islands are far from the peaceful countryside he signed up for. Thanks to his wacky neighbors who are entirely incapable of minding their own business, the arrogant calligrapher learns so much more than he ever hoped to.

Background: The anime originally premiered in summer 2014 with 12 episodes, which adapted chapters from the first five volumes. The manga itself is still ongoing, with twelve compiled volumes so far.

Genres: Comedy and Slice of Life

2. Chihayafuru

Plot: Chihaya Ayase, a strong-willed and tomboyish girl, grows up under the shadow of her older sister. With no dreams of her own, she is contented with her share in life till she meets Arata Wataya. The quiet transfer student in her elementary class introduces her to competitive karuta, a physically and mentally demanding card game inspired by the classic Japanese anthology of Hundred Poets. Captivated by Arata's passion for the game and inspired by the possibility of becoming the best in Japan, Chihaya quickly falls in love with the world of karuta. Along with the prodigy Arata and her haughty but hard-working friend Taichi Mashima, she joins the local Shiranami Society. The trio spends their idyllic childhood days playing together, until circumstances split them up. Now in high school, Chihaya has grown into a karuta freak. She aims to establish the Municipal Mizusawa High Competitive Karuta Club, setting her sights on the national championship at Omi Jingu. Reunited with the now indifferent Taichi, Chihaya's dream of establishing a karuta team is only one step away from becoming true: she must bring together members with a passion for the game that matches her own.

Background: Chihayafuru is the anime adaptation of the manga with the same name written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu and serialised in the magazine Be Love. The anime had two live action film adaptations, both released in 2016. The manga won the second Manga Taishou award, and the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the shoujo category. Chihayafuru has become so popular that it boosted interest in competitive karuta. The manga has sold over 4.5 million copies and has been praised for combining elements of sports and literature. The anime premiered in fall 2011 with 25 episodes.

Genres: Game, Slice of Life, Sports, Drama, Josei

3. Cowboy Bebop

Plot: In the year 2071, humanity has colonized several of the planets and moons of the solar system leaving the now uninhabitable surface of planet Earth behind. The Inter Solar System Police attempts to keep peace in the galaxy, aided in part by outlaw bounty hunters, referred to as "Cowboys." The ragtag team aboard the spaceship Bebop are two such individuals. Mellow and carefree Spike Spiegel is balanced by his boisterous, pragmatic partner Jet Black as the pair makes a living chasing bounties and collecting rewards. Thrown off course by the addition of new members that they meet in their travels—Ein, a genetically engineered, highly intelligent Welsh Corgi; femme fatale Faye Valentine, an enigmatic trickster with memory loss; and the strange computer whiz kid Edward Wong—the crew embarks on thrilling adventures that unravel each member's dark and mysterious past little by little.

Background: When Cowboy Bebop first aired in spring of 1998 on TV Tokyo, only episodes 2, 3, 7-15, and 18 were broadcast, it was concluded with a recap special known as Yose Atsume Blues. This was due to anime censorship having increased following the big controversies over Evangelion, as a result most of the series was pulled from the air due to violent content. Satellite channel WOWOW picked up the series in the fall of that year and aired it in its entirety uncensored. Cowboy Bebop was not a ratings hit in Japan, but sold over 19,000 DVD units in the initial release run, and 81,000 overall. Protagonist Spike Spiegel won Best Male Character, and Megumi Hayashibara won Best Voice Actor for her role as Faye Valentine in the 1999 and 2000 Anime Grand Prix, respectively. Cowboy Bebop's biggest influence has been in the United States, where it premiered on Adult Swim in 2001 with many reruns since. The show's heavy Western influence struck a chord with American viewers, where it became a "gateway drug" to anime aimed at adult audiences.

Another signature trait of Cowboy Bebop is its music: Yoko Kanno composed a soundtrack made up of almost entirely of jazz music. Some of her work on this show even defies categorization. She and her band, The Seatbelts, improvised some tracks to finished footage at the moment of recording. Bebop's soundtrack exists not as a mere afterthought, but as the backbone to nearly everything else about the series; numerous scenes with no dialogue entirely and rely on music to carry the experience.

As the tagline suggests, Bebop frequently evokes both western and film noir, hough the single biggest influence on the look and feel of the series comes from 80s and early 90s heroic bloodshed action movies directed by Johnny Woo. Lupin III also serves as a visible influence, as the main trio comes off like a futuristic version of Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko. Underneath the sci-fi and action flick surface lies an overall plot line influenced mainly by the most Japanese of all Japanese cinema, the Yakuza picture — a relatively unknown genre in the West.

Cowboy bebop originally aired spring 1998 with 26 episodes.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, Space

4. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Plot: "In order for something to be obtained, something of equal value must be lost." Alchemy is bound by this Law of Equivalent Exchange—something the young brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric only realize after attempting human transmutation: the one forbidden act of alchemy. They pay a terrible price for their transgression—Edward loses his left leg, Alphonse his physical body. It is only by the desperate sacrifice of Edward's right arm that he is able to affix Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor. Devastated and alone, it is the hope that they would both eventually return to their original bodies that gives Edward the inspiration to obtain metal limbs called "automail" and become a state alchemist, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Three years of searching later, the brothers seek the Philosopher's Stone, a mythical relic that allows an alchemist to overcome the Law of Equivalent Exchange. Even with military allies Colonel Roy Mustang, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, and Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes on their side, the brothers find themselves caught up in a nationwide conspiracy that leads them not only to the true nature of the elusive Philosopher's Stone, but their country's murky history as well. In between finding a serial killer and racing against time, Edward and Alphonse must ask themselves if what they are doing will make them human again... or take away their humanity.

Background: In 2003, the manga was very loosely adapted into an anime series. While it followed the story at first, it quickly spun off into another direction, and ended up with an entirely different conclusion altogether. This was pretty much inevitable, since the manga was released in a monthly magazine; the weekly anime would have tons of filler to make sure it didn't overrun the story.

In 2009 — as the manga was nearing its end — a new anime series (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) was announced; it followed the manga's story much more faithfully (with nearly no filler) while skimming through material already covered in the 2003 series (so it could get to where the 2003 series went off-track). When it was released in the US, nearly the entire original cast of the 2003 series' dub reprised their parts, to boot. For anyone who wants to watch an accurate animated adaptation of the original manga, this is the series to watch.

The anime originally aired spring 2009 with 64 episodes.

Genre: Action, Military, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Magic, Fantasy, Shounen

5. Kekkai Sensen

Plot: Supersonic monkeys, vampires, talking fishmen, and all sorts of different supernatural monsters living alongside humans—this has been part of daily life in Hellsalem's Lot, formerly known as New York City, for some time now. When a gateway between Earth and the Beyond opened three years ago, New Yorkers and creatures from the other dimension alike were trapped in an impenetrable bubble and were forced to live together. Libra is a secret organization composed of eccentrics and superhumans, tasked with keeping order in the city and making sure that chaos doesn't spread to the rest of the world. Pursuing photography as a hobby, Leonardo Watch is living a normal life with his parents and sister. But when he obtains the "All-seeing Eyes of the Gods" at the expense of his sister's eyesight, he goes to Hellsalem's Lot in order to help her by finding answers about the mysterious powers he received. He soon runs into Libra, and when Leo unexpectedly joins their ranks, he gets more than what he bargained for. Kekkai Sensen follows Leo's misadventures in the strangest place on Earth with his equally strange comrades—as the ordinary boy unwittingly sees his life take a turn for the extraordinary.

Background: Originally this started out as a one-shot story called Barrier War (Kekkai Senso) released in 2008, the story taking place in a contemporary city with an emphasis on vampire hunting. Created by Yasuhiro Nightow, the creator of Trigun and Gungrave. An anime adaption by Studio BONES debuted in spring 2015 with 12 episodes.

After a long delay, its finale finally aired in October 2015. The anime was hugely popular in Japan, leading to the announcement of a second season set to air in 2017 and titled Kekkai Sensen & BEYOND a.k.a Blood Blockade Battlefront and Beyond.

Genres: Action, Super Power, Supernatural, Vampire, Fantasy, Shounen

Thanks for reading Part 2 hope it was an informative read be on the look out for parts 3 and 4 soon to come.

#anime ask #ask #answer #anime #meme ask #meme anime ask #barakamon #chihayafuru #cowboy bebop #fullmetal alchemist #yoko kanno #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #kekkai sensen

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recentanimenews · 7 years ago

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The Crucial Friendships of Cardcaptor Sakura

Cardcaptor Sakura, created by the acclaimed CLAMP, is a story about a girl named Sakura and her quest to become the Master of the Clow Cards, magical cards whose power she can call on to do amazing feats of magic. If you aren't familiar with the series, read this article about the story up until the Clear Card Arc before you go any further! The series is famous for its relationships, focusing especially on friendships and how they can support you through various trials in life. Honestly, it's not a theme that's unique to anime in general, but Cardcaptor Sakura really takes it to the next level, creating complex relationships between characters that are crucial to Sakura's ability to catch the Clow Cards and, later on, transform them into Sakura Cards.

Without her friends, Sakura wouldn't ever be dressed to the nines, she would probably be lost AND confused more than she already is, and wouldn't have any healthy competition to fuel her drive to become a great magician. Ultimately, though, her friends push her through emotional growth as a person, and support her physical growth as she becomes a stronger user of magic. Without them, we wouldn't have the series we know and love and Sakura would never have been able to accomplish all that she did in the first two arcs that follow her journey to become the Master of the Clow Cards.

SPOILER WARNING: All that follows contains spoilers for the Cardcaptor Sakura manga and anime. If you don't want to spoil yourself this way, go read the manga or watch the anime (which you can see right here on Crunchyroll)!

The following information will primarily cover the events of the manga, with small asides to remark on differences in the anime. The two are different, though not overwhelmingly so. If you're interested in reading or seeing the source material before the new series begins, the manga is light, easy reading, and the anime has more of everything – more filler, more cards, and some off-script additions.

Tomoyo Daidouji

Tomoyo Daidouji is Sakura's best friend and also second cousin on Sakura's mother's side. They met for the first time in third grade, when Sakura gave her an eraser to use in class. Since then, the two became fast friends. Tomoyo is sweet, kind, caring, and mature for her age (remember, this story begins when they are both in fourth grade). Her mother is the head of a toy company and Tomoyo is frequently accompanied by a team of female bodyguards to protect her wellbeing. Her hobbies include music and fashion- she is a talented musician and singer (which sometimes puts her in peril), as well as a great seamstress. The latter skill comes in great use, as she singlehandedly provides Sakura with her battle costumes (all of which tend to be absolutely adorable AND sometimes themed to the battle at hand. I mean, come on, Tomoyo developed a rubber outfit for Sakura when Sakura was battling the Thunder card so that she wouldn't get electrocuted).

Because her mom has access to new technologies, Tomoyo has lots of opportunity to try out new and developing tech, which comes in handy when she helps Sakura out with her adventures to capture the Clow Cards. She often acts in the supporting role during Sakura's battles with the Cards, providing her with communication technology, like headsets, so that they can talk to one another during the fights, as well as recording Sakura's battles on a camcorder. A few times this has put her in peril- she was targeted by rogue Clow Cards, which inspired Sakura to work even harder to protect her.

But her role is often more than just sidekick. Despite her own and very real love for Sakura, she encourages Sakura's own crush on Yukito, and later Syaoran. She is remarkably selfless and seems to genuinely care about Sakura's health and happiness, often putting Sakura's feelings before her own. However, she is never depicted as being upset about the fact that Sakura doesn't show any regard for her in a way that isn't just as a friend. As long as Sakura is happy, Tomoyo is happy, and that's enough for Tomoyo.

In a lot of ways, Tomoyo is the perfect sidekick, but also the very best friend- selflessly loving Sakura without feelings of resentment. Sakura depends on her for emotional as well as physical support. Tomoyo helps her to stay safe during battles, but also lends a non-judgemental ear to Sakura when Sakura needs to talk about her feelings. It is unquestionable that without Tomoyo, Sakura would not have been able to accomplish all she was able to do.

Syaoran Li

Syaoran Li is Sakura's Cardcaptor rival-turned-romantic interest. He comes from the Li Clan in China, and is a distant descendent of Clow Reed, the originator of the Clow Cards and the greatest magician of his time. As such, when he and Sakura first meet, they are fierce rivals. He is portrayed as being very independent (I mean, he moved to Japan to live BY HIMSELF in the FOURTH GRADE) and aloof, looking down on Sakura and her attempts to catch the Clow Cards. When he first meets Sakura, he is socially awkward, cold, and mean. At this point in their relationship, he serves as the antagonist, causing Sakura to doubt herself and, by extension, dig more deeply into her own powers, leading to her eventual success in capturing the Cards.

It isn't until she is declared the Master of the Clow Cards that Syaoran lightens up and begins to befriend her. He is a talented magician himself and was trained to be a comptenent user of magic in China. So, when Sakura is tasked with changing the Clow Cards to the Sakura Cards, he serves to help her in battle by using his own magic to help her overcome challenges and tests of her power. As he works more closely with her and Tomoyo, he begins to develop feelings for her, which only serve to develop his devotion to helping Sakura further her own magical abilities and grow as a character. Several times, especially in the second arc, Syaoran puts his life at risk for Sakura, and gets hurt in some of the battles while trying to help her. His willingness to help, even at the risk to himself, motivated Sakura a great deal and pushed her into seeking victory so that his sacrifice for her wouldn't be for nothing.

Towards the end of the second arc, he has completely warmed up to Sakura to the point that he confesses his feelings to Tomoyo and seeks her advice in sharing his feelings with Sakura. He tries multiple times to confess his feelings for her and doesn't succeed until after she has completed her task of transforming the Clow Cards to the Sakura Cards, again, with his help in the final battle. His confession and admission that he will be moving back to China confuses and frustrates Sakura, as she can't understand why she's so upset about his leaving. After a short period, his own confession forces her to realize her own feelings for him, in many ways paralleling her final battle against Eriol. Just as she as able to come into her own as a magician, Syaoran's confession pushes her into realizing her real feelings, and she is able to grow as a character and confess her own feelings for him right before he departs.

Their relationship, first as rivals, then as friends, then finally as romantic partners was one of the longer developing relationships, but all the much more important for the time it took. These two fought together, worked together, and won together, uniting them in many ways and teaching them both the values of loving and caring for another.

The Guardians of the Clow - Cerberus and Yue

Clow Reed, creator of the Book of Clow and the Clow Cards, also created two magical beings whose duty it is to protect and look after the Book of Clow and the Master who controls them. Cerberus, or Kero-chan, is aligned with the Sun, and is tasked with choosing the new Clow Master. Yue, aligned with the Moon, is tasked with judging Kero-chan's candidate to determine if they're worthy to take on the position. Kero-chan, whose full form is a massive winged lion, is funny, outgoing, and adores sweets and video games. During most of the series, he looks like a little lion stuffed animal with wings. Yue is much more reserved in character, and much more loyal to his previous master- he is overall very unwilling to accept a new Master of the Clow Cards. Similar to Kero-chan, Yue has two forms- his full magic form, in which he looks like an angelic man, complete with wings and long flowing silver hair. His temporary, or secondary form, is that of a boy named Yukito, who also happens to be Sakura's brother's best friend (more on that later).

Kero-chan is very eager to elect a new Clow Card Master, and therefore is very accepting of Sakura. After all, he is the one who chooses her to recapture the Cards and starts her off on this journey. To Sakura, he takes on the role of mentor and friend. He teaches her how to use the magic of the Cards and gives her advice on capturing them, but at the same time supports her in her decisions and lets her take the lead on sealing the cards. He, Tomoyo, and Sakura all work together to get the cards back under control, and his support really helps Sakura to use her best judgement and try new ideas when it comes to capturing the cards and later unravelling the mysteries of the town's troubles in the second arc.

Yue, on the other hand, is not accepting of Sakura, even after she becomes the Master of the Clow. It is his job to judge the candidate of their worthiness to essentially become his and Kero-chan's new master and he takes the job seriously. He doesn't reveal himself to Sakura until the end of the first arc and it becomes clear very quickly that he holds Clow Reed in very high esteem. He both doesn't want a new master and doesn't think Sakura is capable of taking on the responsibility. Winning him over becomes Sakura's first big emotional challenge as a character. Up until meeting Yue, she worked on her magical ability and developed her skill, but to win him over she had to demonstrate all she'd learned emotionally from her friends and the other Cards to convince him she'd be a good Master. She is eventually able to placate him by confessing she'd rather be his friend than his master, allowing him to accept her as someone similar to, but not a replacement for, Clow Reed.

Without these two as Sakura's guiding points, she would not have been able to capture the Clow Cards or, later, transform them to Sakura Cards. They bring essential wisdom about the nature of Clow Reed's magic and his magical creations, and help her understand her own powers. In them she finds friends, mentors, and teachers. Through them she also learns how to get along with others, and how to learn from mistakes and try again.

Tōya and Yukito

Tōya, Sakura's brother, and Yukito, Tōya's best friend, play minor roles in Sakura's many friendships, but important ones. Tōya, of course, is a bit self-explanatory. He's in high school at the start of the story, works many different jobs, and picks on his little sister mercilessly. His main relationship with his sister is a supportive one- he looks out for her, and is initially suspicious of Syaoran and Syaoran's developing feelings for Sakura. He has some idea she's involved in events a bit out of the norm for an elementry school kid and has some very slight magical ability as well, which allows him to see ghosts (or so he says).

Yukito, Tōya's best friend, is also the temporary form of Yue, Sakura's guardian. Weird, huh? Though Yukito is Yue's alternate form, Yukito is very much his own person (funny, charming, outgoing) with his own feelings. He is also Sakura's biggest crush throughout the series. At the start of the story, she is head-over-heels for him and spends a lot of her time trying to bump into him and chat with him. Syaoran also incidentally develops a crush on Yukito, but his crush is explained as his subconscious attraction to Yue's magic.

Some of Sakura's crush starts to wane when she realizes Yukito is Yue's alternate form, but due to her lingering feelings, she initially misses a lot of clues about Syaoran's own feelings for her as they begin to change throughout the Sakura Card arc. Thus, without Yukito around, we can feasibly say that Syaoran and Sakura would have confessed a lot earlier and we could have avoided the drama altogether. But, hey, that's the fun stuff, right?

Her crush on Yukito was important in Sakura's later realization of her own love for Syaoran. Her crush on Yukito taught her what it was to have feelings for another and this, coupled with time spent with Syaoran, was what ultimately brought them together. Furthermore, her crush on Yukito is what allowed her to win Yue over with love and companionship instead of with force. Initially, when Yue challened her to the Final Judgement, she refused to fight because she didn't want to hurt Yue and, by extension Yukito, with her magic. This forced her to find a non-violent resolution to the Judgement, which ultimately worked in winning Yue over and in reinforcing her own sweet and pure-hearted morals.

Relationships in the Clear Card Arc...

While we can't say for sure what exactly will happen in this arc, what will be really interesting to pay attention to are the new characters and relationships that have been introduced, as well as how old ones continue to develop. Many fans are eagerly awaiting canon Sakura and Syaoran relationship development, for obvious reasons, so it will be intereting to see how they are able to balance their love for one another with Sakura's developing magical ability. Will Syaoran still be able to support her without jealousy as she further transform's Clow's magic to something totally unique to Sakura?

Tomoyo will be another character to watch as well. She has selflessly loved Sakura and pushed Sakura towards her own love interests rather than trying to force her feelings on her best friend. Given Sakura's past reliance on Tomoyo's unflagging support, her relationship with Tomoyo will be crucial in the face of whatever new challenges await!

Finally, the new relationships will be pivotal. Relationships with other characters, and how Sakura chooses to treat those people have defined the plot of each arc in many very influential ways. The new characters we meet in this new arc will undoubtadly be important, and the conflicts they bring with them will no doubt define the character development Sakura will go through.

Look forward to the new seaon of Cardcaptor Sakura to watch for these relationships, and please comment below with your own interpretation of how you think each relationship might change as the characters go through new experiences in middle school!

I hope you enjoyed this post! Check in next week for another recipe. To check out more anime food recipes, visit my blog. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below! I recently got a Twitter, so you can follow me at @yumpenguinsnack if you would like, and DEFINITELY feel free to send me food requests! My Tumblr is yumpenguinsnacks.tumblr.com. Find me on Youtube for more video tutorials! Enjoy the food, and if you decide to recreate this dish, show me pics! :D

In case you missed it, check out our last dish: Wing Gyoza from "Food Wars!" What other famous anime dishes would you like to see Emily make on COOKING WITH ANIME?

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