#whamss that tag's gently killing me

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Agree with the majority of people that the Ayshe-Norman conflict needed to be expanded upon because it is such a letdown to tease the moral quandary of one of your protagonists who's been pulled back from the brink and objectively committed grievous wrongs reckoning with what he's wrought, only to put a pin it and vaguely nod to it later on as not being entirely settled (because how could it be in such a short amount of time). To be fair, things had already simmered down by the time they meet in the capital, and I like to at least partially contribute that to her interactions with Don and Gilda, but Norman has yet to be shown initiating any act of restitution. It helps that Shirai acknowledges this was an unsatisfactory conclusion to the conflict and meant to further elaborate upon it, but for now we're left in limbo.

#going with ayshe bc i think she deserves it and tbh it would just be more interesting to detail whatever happened there w her??? #like some internal monologue or some follow up even if just a bit #sorry idk how to put it into words (via @trainerbea)

What you said makes sense! You even went further by centering it around Ayshe's perspective after the only follow-up we receive is this panel from chapter 181:

And you can make inferences from it—them being in such close physical proximity while she allows him to hold one of her new puppies, beings she considers part of her family—but still, nothing compared to a more fleshed-out chapter or light novel story. We're never privy to the full spectrum of emotions she regards him or the other Lambda kids with, which is kind of important, given how she's the entire other side of that conflict.

Whether it was a regular 19- to 21-page chapter or a 35-40-bonus-length one, I could see Shirai keeping it primarily in her perspective or alternating between the two, but after what we received for the resolution up until now it couldn't be primarily from Norman's; it would feel too unbalanced.

#I'm still waiting for the Ayshe oneshot Shirai did promise us so... #but! I really don't want to see Ray addressing his relationship with Isabella #why? because it's more fun to think about it yourself #and see different interpretations of various writers and artists #everything else would be great too #I'd also love to see more of Isabella's time in the Headquarters as trainee #and how she changed over the years (because she changed) #not to forget - how James did assemble his supporters #that would be great too #but first I need more Ayshe stuff (via @officersnickers)

After all our chats you know how much of a sucker I am for Ray and the rest of the Grace Field children having an open discussion about the woman who raised them and everything she put them through, so I would 100% be down for that if it had enough room to breathe. If the focus is centered around Ray, I don't feel it would be impossible even within the confines of a regular-length chapter. However, outside of it being directly addressed in a dialogue with other characters (most likely with interspersed flashbacks), I feel like the best framing would be musings over the course of years.

But as noted in other tags, I should have opened the choice up to all the Grace Field kids sorting this out; this was me getting hung up on how messy the last interaction Ray has with her is (on top of, you know, all the prolonged trauma) when the last time Norman saw her she was handing him over to Peter and his nerves looked absolutely fried.

#ray addressing his relationship with isabella is so low on my priority list honestly bc i doubt it would be done in a way that satisfies me #i’m biased but i just don’t think shirai has the guts or willpower to address that implied abuse with any kind of nuance #the strained relationship between mother and son #nothing that can ever truly be mended #i want ray to loath her and i don’t think shirai can really hit that #jointly though i wouldn’t want a chapter like that that solely focuses on ray (isabella was norman and emma’s mom too!) (via @whamss)

We do have the December 2020 exhibition interview where Shirai state she's a (morally) poor person for being taken in by the belief that her actions as a Mom are entirely noble.

I do agree though that the chances of Ray coming out of that hypothetical chapter fully loathing her would be nonexistent with the way her death is framed.

#By this point WSJ should give them the special 35-40 page chapters because 20 pages would not be enough for any plot line above #Of course I would choose the Ayshe-Norman conflict first #But I remember there being an option for fans to choose whether they want to see how Mujika and the demons are post-canon #I've been so curious about that every time I remember it (via @thathilomgirl)

Ooo Mujika post-canon going-ons would be good, too. My initial thoughts are with how bizarrely and conveniently smoothly we see the transfer of power to her thanks to Leuvis' grand display that any immediate conflict afterward would feel awkward and contrived, but as a vehicle for delving into more of the demon world's culture and history and/or there potentially being a significant timeskip by demon lifespan standards to see the long-term effects of her reign, it could be neat.

And yes in an ideal world we'd be getting way more than a single chapter to feel the full impact of any of these scenarios without large chunks lost to timeskips of a few months or years. (I've always got the prayer circle going for a Shaman King situation playing out with more chapters being added in a perfect edition rerelease.)

*The kids integrating into the human world and the potential struggles they face post-finding Emma.

**Ray addressing his relationship with Isabella, either by himself or with other characters.

Interested if people will specify a difference between what they think is most needed and what potentially requires an entire arc to properly address versus what they think can reasonably be addressed in a single chapter, and if the standard chapter length of 19-21 pages versus the 35- to 40-page length of Isabella's and Krone's respective bonus chapters factors in at all.