#which is giving me lots of feels aaaaaah

[mutantenfisch]

after barely getting 4 hours of sleep last night i now made the unwise decision to chug an energy drink and try to sketch the Jaromirska/Eskel scene that entertained me while i couldn’t sleep. I am furthermore debating how to call the ship. Jaskel could lead to confusion with Netflix Witcher’s Jaskier. Eskomirska is a bit long i think. Anyway, let’s see who wins - my caffeine fuelled desire to draw this or my eternal desire to just url up in bed and take a nap with Baldito in my arms :D

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

july 2024 savanaclaw + 4koma manga updates

There's no Episode of Octavinelle chapter this month! It should also be noted that the next chapter for the Episode of Savanaclaw won't be out until DECEMBER. With that news out of the way, let's get into this month's updates ^^ (It's a lot of me screaming)

Aaaaaah, I'll never get over how pretty this mangaka draws Leona's eyes and hair 😳 LIKE LOOK AT THAT HEAD TURN BACK SHOT, DOES HE NOT LOOK LIKE HE'S A MODEL MAKING A TURN ON THE CATWALK???? ?? ? ????? ? ?? Vil... eat your heart out 🤡 (This probably is not what I should be focusing on in a chapter full of action and high stakes qwegkuvqwoevqwdsa)

The way the other characters are reacting to Leona's UM really lets us see how powerful King's Roar is! You can see how their bodies are being pushed back by the sandstorm, how they're physically bracing themselves against it (like Riddle, Ace, and Grim) or even having their vision obscured and struggling to breathe in the new dry environment (like Deuce).

I didn't share them here, but we also see Leona blowing through many Savanaclaw mobs. The sheer magnitude of power on display is really amazing--and I can see why his UM sparks fear in others.

AYO RUGGIE YOU GO He leaps at Leona and attaches himself to his dorm leader in an attempt to try and get him to stop...

(Warning: lot of barking incoming)

HUH????? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? RUGGGIEIEKZ/???? ? ? ?? ?? ? ? v LEONAKL88onanasan???a?A/a/a///A//???????v? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?ohy mMYG FUFDSKDCKCIUNG GOAFKDk dsmdasnkdfsjlbyadosibiyoadsobadfbiyoegwofaegsouqetqfe LE*inAIBN na GRABBED HJSJUIJN IM BYT THE FFUCKINGGF F NNEDCKKKK>>>>>>????v?v?v??v?v?v?v? 😱 LOOkm at thhHOW RUgigie'es sa FACE AIj ssamS BREAKJGN???? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? GSITHE SKING IS CRACKIXNG GFAN D TURNING NTO SAND ANDN LOEONA JUST DONES'T JBI EF VE A SINGLE SHITAS RUGIGIE SI WRITHTING OVER HERB E OTL

It's not like seeing Ruggie in this state is anything new; the dialogue hints at it in the game and the light novel also has an illustration of Ruggie with his skin cracking from Leona's UM. It's just... something about seeing it depicted across multiple frames + the sheer desperation in Ruggie's face (and the close-ups, MAN, the close-ups) really amplifies the emotions.

THIS IS LITERALLY THE SASUKE CHOKE MEME, ID ON'T TKNOW WHETHER TO LAUGH OR TO CRY OR TO BE WORRIED FOR TRUGIGIE

MAYBE ALL THREE 😭😭😭

DAHLBEFQBOUFQEYVIQEFYFQEBIPFOA But also there's a part of me screeching about L*ona gripping your neck like that while glaring at you like you're garbo 🤡

Here's the part where Riddle attempts to collar Leona and fails. Again, I MUST stress how well this mangaka draws Leona's hair and eyes, they are UNMATCHED.

OKAY FIRST IT WAS HUGGING RUGGIE'S NECK, NOW YOU'RE GRIPPING HIM BY THE HAIR????? Leona's handling the perceived traitor so callously 💦 The way Ruggie is looking back up at him, too... Caught up in Leona's shadow and glaring at him with such defiance... declaring that he will never EVER give up.., contrasted with how broken and empty Leona looks before he lets go of Ruggie... telling him to just give into despair… It's a lot of complicated feelings going on right now. As the Savanaclaw light novel elucidates, Leona was afraid of his own dorm members looking to him for leadership, afraid that they would make him hopeful again--because he expects to be let down like he has all those other times he tried to prove his merits. Now everything leading up to this point has proven him right, toppled that hope he had built up because he let himself be taken in by the starry eyed students under him, Ruggie included. AND NOW LOOKING AT RUGGIE, ON THE GROUND AND IN DESPAIR, IS A REFLECTION OF LEONA'S OWN FEELINGS... BUT HE WON'T LET HIMSELF CRY OR BE WEAK LIKE THAT 💀

WOW UH This feels really different from how the same "Leona tried to sand Ruggie" scenes played out in other interpretations of TWST. Here, we more clearly see that, despite the interruption of Riddle trying to collar Leona (which made Leona drop Ruggie for a second), LEONA JUST TURNS RIGHT BACK AROUND AND FULLY COMMITS TO SANDING RUGGIE????? That's so stone cold 😭 Look at the lack of care in Leona's eyes???? They're so blank, he has entirely given up :((

What a way to end a chapter...

Now for a complete tonal shift--

This month's 4koma (there's only one "segment") stars Sebek, who is receiving praise from Crewel for having the top exam score! Ace and Sebek proceed to work on Enigmics/Magic Analysis together. They are stated to share this class together in the game, so that's a consistent bit of lore for ya! In the end, Sebek's able to pull a transportation spell by visualizing where Malleus is. He earns an apple from Crewel for being a "good boy"!! Sebek is then asked to teleport the apple to Malleus and Lilia to demonstrate his mastery of the skill, but accidentally teleports a ton of them.

That's it for this month! A little less content than usual, but still quite substantive. We're getting down to the wire; soon we'll see both Leona and Azul's OBs!!

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 80 (FINAL): Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

CCS Faaaans!!! Welcome to our last (?) monthly appointment with the analysis, commentary and list of translation differences for THE FINAL chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card!!! 🥹🥹🥹

Aaaaaah, I can't believe that after seven years and a half of serialization, we're finally here!!

I still remember the strong emotions I felt when I had seen the pages of Nakayoshi for chapter 1 in advance, back in June 2016....it seemed like a miracle, to me. Like a "mirage". And back then I still didn't know just HOW MUCH of a precious miracle this sequel would've become to me!

So it's with shaky hands and a trembling, emotional heart that I write this post to you...I hope you can excuse the length of it (maybe take a break in between?), I'll do my best to highlight the translation differences (unfortunately we definitely got some for this finale, one in particular made me quite mad) so you can spot them immediately among the sea of words and feels I will inevitably pour into my writing...

The "Beaver Moon" was big and shiny just a few days ago, and like all the full moons at the end of the month, it brought us a chapter, a very special finale for this series.

And as I usually do, I really cannot skip this silly moment that accompanied me for so many commentary posts, so here you go, my dear readers, the last Gif Of The Month!!!

I had already decided that, no matter the content of the chapter, I would've used this, because it is my intention to give my congratulations to CLAMP for reaching the end of this wonderful story and also thank them for giving me a multitude of emotions over the years. I've been happy, angry, excited, teary-eyed, frustrated, confused, hopeful, in pain, in love. I'll always be grateful to them for changing their mind and deciding to give us a sequel of this beloved series, after so many years of dreaming of it, and for making me fall in love with the new characters, none excluded!

So, off we go, under the cut for this commentary of the finale!!

The Color Page

Oh my heart 😭😭😭 I really wondered if they would go for it, if they would shoot us with feels right from the first pages and they did, they paid homage to the color page of chapter 50 of the old manga!! ❤️ We can see the same bluebirds that were featured back then, still holding in their little beaks lots of ribbons coming from the pink roses bouquet that Sakura is preciously holding... And that also made me realize that these are the same birds that were featured last month for Akiho and Kaito's color page too!!! ✨ They definitely, definitely wanted us to get the message that all of them will be truly happy from now on. ❤️I actually appreciate even more that Mokona-sensei took care in including those birds for the color page of Akiho/Kaito too.

Back in the old manga, CLAMP had given a comment for the illustration of chapter 50, saying that it was created that way to give a sense of looking forward to the future, and the absence of the Star Wand here was a precise request from Ohkawa to Mokona, because Sakura would've tried her best from now on, without necessarily relying on her magic.

Here, in chapter 80, we can somehow see the same theme but Sakura isn't proceeding "forward" towards a specific direction, it seems more like she's floating comfortably, assisted by her loyal Flight Card, embellished for the occasion (it makes it look kind of "upgraded", right?). I get a sense of Sakura feeling way more comfortable with her natural gift than she's ever been.

The blue sky, the ribbons, the bluebirds, the bouquet of pink flowers, the presence of a flying Card, Sakura's bare feet and her beautiful smile are definitely elements common to both illustrations.

Here Sakura wears a longer outfit, more elegant, which of course makes her look more grown up, as it should!

The editorial text on this last page doesn't carry words of thanks like in the color page of the final chapter of the old manga (those this time around were printed directly on the cover of Nakayoshi), but actually "My invincible spell is....'Everything is surely going to be alright' "! I think it was a very nice choice to feature the Invincible Spell in the front page of this final chapter. ✨

Between this and the absolutely divine Sakura on the cover of Nakayoshi, I can feel my heart softening and filling up with lots of hope and comfort, helping me to cope with the imminent "loss" that I'm going to experience.

BUT! It's not time to let us be caught by those mischievous feelings that want us to cry at all costs, and so we're gonna proceed for the actual chapter!!

The Books In Fujitaka's Library

The final chapter starts with Sakura chatting with Eriol and Kaho in a videocall over the phone!! The thing that immediately stands out is that Sakura is still wearing the full-winter uniform, so it's apparent right from the first panel that rather than turning back, the events are proceeding forward from where we left them, exactly as Sakura wished.

It's still winter, spring is almost here and we're almost towards the end of the 1st year of middle school for Sakura & co.

Another thing that I, as a foreigner, couldn't help but doing is calculating what time should've been for Eriol and Kaho, since they live in Europe like me! 😂😂😂 Having followers and friends all over the world, it's just normal for me. Well, if this is early morning, it should be night for the Europeans, so maybe that background at the window should be black?? 😂😆 Who knows if sensei will fix it, in the tankobon?

But enough with the silly things, let's see what Sakura is discussing with these two.

The very first thing we hear is quite shocking: Sakura slept four entire days to recuperate from the insane fatigue after the last battle!!

When I've heard that, my immediate thought was going towards all kinds of realistic, very practical issues like "did they keep her hydrated, in these four days? What about the bladder? 😱" but come on, way crazier things happened in this finale and this is the last thing we should worry about 😂

Eriol sweetly says that everyone waited impatiently for Sakura to wake up (I can imagine that!! Syaoran and Akiho must have died of anxiety). In Japanese, his sentence is somehow left trailing off, it gives me the impression that he wanted her to know that she's cared for, but in a very polite manner and avoiding to make her feel guilty for it. Sakura, as the good girl she is, tries to apologize for making them worry, apologies that Eriol doesn't need, so she ends up thanking both him and Kaho for what they did for her (and we can see Kaho peeking in the videocall! I'm glad she recovered too! As usual she's wearing nice outfits, the transparent veil over the skirt is interesting!).

Kaho, with her usual "maternal" aura, says that seeing her in good shape and hearing her cheerful voice over the phone is more than enough to her, which makes Sakura happy.

Eriol then proceeds to ask a question about the books he saw flying away at full speed after Sakura removed all the spells and the graphics from the artifact (the huge book), which then transformed into said smaller books: he wants to know where they ended up to, and lo and behold, they're nowhere other than in Fujitaka's library, in the basement of Sakura's house! 😱

So we can see a flashback depicting a scene right after Sakura woke up (she's still in her PJs), and her father shows her a pile of ancient-looking books sitting on his desk and on the floor.

Yes, those are all the magical books that Akiho had read and (unknowingly) engraved on herself, which were about to crush her soul. There's really a lot of them, so I don't have a hard time believing that she was really on the verge of losing her soul forever.

As Fujitaka tries to explain himself, it seems Sakura worked so hard and in the end those books ended up landing right at their house!

And then, in a very moving scene, we see Fujitaka being just so happy because finally, after so many years (since 4th grade) of just watching over his daughter going through several hurdles and not being able to be helpful in any concrete way (because he didn't have magical powers, and even when magic was passed onto him, he didn't know how to use it), NOW he can finally be of assistance to her.

He then tells her not to worry, because he already got several "weird" books in his collection (hell we knew, the Cthulhu books were surely a surprise 😂), and that anything goes where it's supposed to go, when its due time comes. He believes these books, too, will reach their new fated destination one day, so until then, he will take care of them. ✨

By the way, you all saw it, right?? YES, it's there again. Fay's tattoo on that book! 😂CLAMP REALLY wanted us to see it, didn't they?

Is this insistence in featuring elements coming from Tsubasa a sign of something in the future...? Or are they just messing with us....?

I bet even this book one day will find its way to Celes country, to have that tattoo used in the way we all know.

Anyway, I REALLY loved this scene because it just shows CLAMP's firm intention to involve *all* the main and side characters in this collective effort to help Sakura solving Akiho and Kaito's situation (Fujitaka was indeed the one missing from the support group!).

It's just so good to know that a tiny frustration that Fujitaka expressed in this arc (how he couldn't be of help to his own daughter) was finally put to rest too, with this new task he took upon himself.

I strongly believe that Sakura, once again guided by her infallible instinct and empathy, subconsciously wished those books into her father's library, because she just knew that her father would be the perfect person to guard them and keep them safe for the time due.

The Cards

Back to the present, Eriol comments that Sakura's father is really dependable, and she can only warmly agree!

But Sakura's got questions of her own, for Eriol. She asks what happened to the transparent cards (note: even this time, Sakura keeps calling them with the japanese term 透明, "transparent", and never calls those cards クリアカード, the English term that gives name to the arc).

Eriol gives his own explanation: the transparent Cards were probably bound into the book of the guardian Sakura met (and not "befriended" like the ENG wrote), and as such, they became magical power used to activate the "forbidden magic".

About the newly created Remind and Blank Cards, Eriol guesses that the last magic that Sakura summoned thanks to those two Cards was so "violent" (the term used 凄烈 means "violent, intense, fierce") that it ended up exhausting completely the Cards' magical power.

Sakura says "so...they're gone", confirming that yes, even those two disappeared after being used.

Eriol asks about the Cards Sakura had from before, our dear Sakura Cards, and she releases them in the room to show to Eriol their current appearance: it seems like they have taken up some elements from the transparent cards, mixing up their designs! They look really cool and empowered, like this! Eriol attempts to explain this occurence as an influence of the fact that Sakura used some of them with her new Dream Staff, hence why their new appearance!

It seems like she'll be able to use all of them with that staff from now on, so this is a first hint to something that will be referenced in a stronger way in a few pages.....

Kaho gets closer to Eriol's computer and says "Don't worry, I can see they still love you all the same, Sakura-chan, there's no problem about it!" and then she spots Flight among the deck. Sakura confirms happily that it's still here and Eriol says "it's a testament to its perseverance!".

And then, Sakura wants to talk to Eriol about Akiho and Kaito too......but we're not allowed to hear it yet, because we only see Sakura nodding and "uh-uh"-ing at the phone and then Kero warns her that she's going to be late for school, so our girl hurriedly hangs up with her friends abroad.

Her dear small glutton guardian tells her to not push herself since she barely woke up yesterday, and when Sakura goes to pick the pin she wants to use today in the jewelry box (it's the pin Yukito gave her as a present in chapter 1!), she picks up the Star Key. And here, unfortunately, I have to point out the first concrete translation difference of this chapter in a scene that many were waiting for:

ENG: "This key....I wonder if it'll leave someday, too. To go to where it should be, to the side of the person it chooses to be with"

JP: "This key, too...I wonder if one day it'll go...to the side of the person it should be with"

Now, what irritates me here is that in their usual need to embellish the translation, they added an unnecessary "the person it chooses to be with", which is something they made up because there's no mention of the verb "choosing" or anything like that in Japanese, and so it makes it seem like the key will one day just go away on its own, on its own volition.

Now, this is a VERY important scene because we all know what this is foreshadowing, the transition of the Star Wand from Sakura Kinomoto to the Reborn Sakura Clone in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle through a dream, that cameo that made us scream all over the world in 2009. That scene was accompanied by a very beautiful and mature speech by Sakura Kinomoto herself, a sign that this "handover" was totally a well pondered choice of Sakura herself, not the key's.

The translation of this scene here in Clear Card tampers with the understanding of the events we got from Tsubasa and it really makes me wonder if the translator knows of this reference at all.....

Continuing on, Sakura goes downstairs and meets Touya having breakfast (and omg Kero goes to him!!! I still can't get used to these two interacting in the open), as usual Touya teases her calling her "monster", to which Sakura stiffens, but she shakes it off to thank her brother, to which he answers "no snacks for four days"!

Sakura at that point gets angry asking why, but he diverts her attention pointing out that she's gonna be late, so the girl bolts out of the door......not hearing her brother saying "that's the amount of days you haven't woken up, you silly!" (and Kero goes along with it).

Now, the ENG translation here interpreted this as a "payback", like Touya isn't going to make her snacks for 4 more days as a "payback" for making him worry like that, and initially I interpreted it like that too. But as I checked the Spanish translation, they interpreted it differently, as if Touya wasn't talking about the snacks that he won't prepare for the next 4 days, but actually the ones Sakura didn't eat during the period in which she was sleeping, and I think they're right because Touya calls Sakura "dummy, silly" so he might be referencing the fact that she misunderstood, here! Anyway, it's not a serious difference but I wanted to report it here anyway.

Sakura finds Syaoran out of her house waiting for her, and we see him all happy and embarrassed to go pick his girl up right outside her house to go to school together 🥰Syaoran got contacted yesterday from her (I don't know why in the ENG there's "last night", it's just "yesterday"), telling him that she was ok now, but of course that wasn't enough for our worrywart prince charming, so he's here this morning to escort her to school! Sakura can't avoid commenting "aw, you were worried about me!" and Syaoran honestly but embarassedly answers "that, and I wanted to see you as soon as possible". Omg these two...flirting like crazy in front of the audience even in the finale!! 😂(well of course!!). As one of my friends reminded me, this line was already said by Syaoran before, when he was revealing the whole truth about the Sakura Cards and was explaining to Sakura that he came back to Japan earlier than scheduled also because he wanted to see her sooner.

After a good dose of blushing which is always good for the health in the early morning, Sakura thanks Syaoran not only for walking her to school, but also for all the rest that he's done. She's clearly referencing the events of 4 days ago, and Syaoran answers that if he helped her even just a little, then he's happy. This vague reference to the events of 4 days ago seems lost in the ENG, as Syaoran casually answers that he's happy if he can help her sometimes (?). 少しでも means "even just a little", not "sometimes".

On the way to school, Sakura says that she already contacted everyone to say that she woke up and to thank them, but she seems to be wanting to go thanking Yukito directly at his house later, also because Nakuru and Suppi are there! As Syaoran adds, Sakura can see Tomoyo and Akiho later at school. Sakura says "...yes" with a slightly sad face because she already knows something about one of them.....

We switch to Yukito's house for the last look at our "snow bunny", still in Nakuru's company (when are they going back to England???) and wondering what kind of sweets should he offer to Sakura today, while Nakuru is hellbent on finally having Sakura call her "Nakuru-chan" today (I told you, she's like a 5 years old girl, she sees herself as a kid like Sakura 😂).

Then, turning suddenly serious, she says to Yukito: "Don't you dare doing anything else that requires a 'payment', understood?", which immediately made me realize that Nakuru remembers about Yukito's pact with the Tsukimine Shrine!! Then, they didn't just recover the memories strictly relating to Akiho!!!

Yukito, with a big smile, says "well...I can't promise you that" which understandably triggers in Nakuru a "Yukito, you're really stubborn!!" from the bottom of her heart! 😂

But there's a kitty sleeping on a cushion (or feigning to?), our dear Suppi who thinks to himself "All of you moon-aligned types are stubborn!!" and let me tell you, this arc showed us ALL the proofs of that! 😂(Yes, Kaito, we're looking at you! 😂😂😂).

Brand New World With You

Homeroom is starting in Sakura's class and Tomoyo makes sure that Sakura will take it easy since this is her first day back at school.

The teacher comes in, and she's already got a news for everyone (and here my heart already knew what it was): Akiho Shinomoto will be transferring away in one month! (Yes! it's Shinomoto again!)

The class is shocked, as Tomoyo is, but Sakura smiles and doesn't look surprised at all...

At lunch, everyone is so sad about Akiho transferring and Chiharu expresses how much she'll miss her, but also Naoko who loses a precious advisor for her scripts and a great actress since she wanted to cast her for the next play, seeing how wonderful she was in "Alice in Clockland". Tomoyo says that the chorus club will miss her too, and Yamazaki comments that Akiho lived in Hong Kong before transferring to Japan, so he asks her if she's still going abroad, even this time around. Akiho confirms, and then remembers that she needs to go to the teacher's room. Sakura insists to accompany her even if Akiho knows the way by now (and here we have a sweet, nostalgic recall to the same scene of the first chapter Akiho appeared in, chapter 7! Even the lines are almost the same). Of course, Sakura insisted because she wants to have a private chat with her....on their way there, she says she heard from Eriol that morning that she would be transferring abroad, but she would like to ask the reason why to Akiho herself.

Akiho says that, after all that happened, that same night she talked to Eriol (she calls him "Hiiragizawa-san" ❤️) for the first time.

He told her that he would be supporting her in any choice or anything she'd want to do from now on (the "anything I would choose" is missing from the ENG translation), and support her even with Kaito's circumstances.

Akiho was told by Eriol that Kaito kept hurting himself the more he used time magic, and that he shouldn't have been in a good condition after messing even with the "forbidden magic"....but apparently, Sakura managed to work a little miracle when she used Rewind on him.

When Sakura brought Kaito back to his original appearance, the pocket watch she used was almost completely repaired and its time stopped, and thanks to that, Kaito's time is stopped too.

I had already noticed that Kaito's life seems to be strictly connected to that pocket watch, as the more damage he took on his body, the more the watch broke. Sooooo in this scene we have some important information:

1- Eriol mentions the time magic Kaito used, how he kept using it and also the effect it would have on him, so it's legit to think that even him recovered the memories of the unrewritten timeline, not only the stuff strictly concerning Akiho.

2- Kaito's life is in a halted state (reminds you of someone?) and this means that his life is not flowing like other people's: he won't age, but his physical condition won't also get worse, as Sakura infers right after. The ENG translation suggests that Kaito won't be feeling any pain at all, but that's not the case: Sakura uses the words もっと辛かったり痛かったり, "more in pain and have a rough time (than this)", so he's still going to feel not so well from time to time, but at least his condition won't get worse than this.

Akiho confirms, and explains that because of this, they're going to look for a magic that will be able to heal Kaito and, in addition to that, a magic that would be able to make his stopped time move forward again. This won't certainly take short time and it won't be easy....but Akiho smiles beautifully while saying that she's sure that there is a book that carries those spells she's looking for.

And then....with a sad smile, she says there's another reason.

And here my heart sinked because I wanted to see her so badly and I got the confirmation she wasn't with them.......😭

I'm talking about Momo, of course, and Akiho agrees with me because the other reason they'll travel around is that she wants to see her beloved Momo and even the "Alice in Clockland" book.

This indeed sounds a lot like the resolutions of the characters of Tsubasa in their own finale, but after all, we've been saying for long time that Kaito and Akiho had many situations paralleling those of the SyaoSaku in TRC.

Akiho, with the most radiant and beautiful smile she's ever had, says that she's sure she'll find so many other books she's never read, beside the ones she'll be looking for.

"Because now I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, all by my own volition. Together with Kaito-san"

Sakura points out that books are, indeed, really special and important to her.

And really, Akiho's smile on this beatiful spread was enough to heal my heart from the disappointment of knowing that Momo wasn't with them, because Akiho really looks happy to start this journey with Kaito...she feels free for the first time ever.

No more clan dictating where she should go or what she should read, at her own expense at that, but also the situation between her and her beloved Kaito found its solution, with her stating loud and clear that even if he's her most important person and he did all of that for her, she's the only one who can decide her own happiness and change her own life. Akiho is finally free from all constraints, both from evil and from love, and honestly it's so comforting to see her so confident and happy.

My True Name Is....

And talking about Kaito, we switch to the Shinomoto mansion, where we see him in bed (he's still recovering - also we see his room for the first time!) and Akiho is telling him of how her friends took the news of her transferring abroad.

She was happy to hear that they're going to miss her, I bet this was the first time that people took any interest in her, so much to get to the point of saying "I'll miss you".....which totally explains why she's glad to hear that. She finally made true friends, here in Tomoeda.

Kaito is pleased to see her happy.

Akiho says that she's going to prepare dinner (my heart got warm thinking that now it's her the one cooking for him and he doesn't protest or anything) and she's going to make the no-fry croquettes that Sakura taught her (remember??? They had dedicated a chapter to that, and they were so important because Akiho learned them precisely for Kaito).

But Kaito kind of "interrupts" her, saying the thing WE ALL were waiting for him to say:

Kaito, JP (lit.): "I'm sorry. For having thought (all that plan) on my own and decided things without your permission. Even though I know that you're someone perfectly capable of writing her own chosen future on her own blank book"

Oooooooh. The feeling of puzzle pieces going to their right place, the sense of accomplishment, the satisfaction in reading these words from him. HE FINALLY UNDERSTOOD. And it took almost k*lling himself and causing to the very person he was trying to make happy an indescribable grief, to come to this point.

What a lack of self-esteem and underlying depression can do.

But thankfully, they all managed to save things at last minute and now he's learned his lesson. So the first thing he does when he's able to, is apologizing to Akiho. But not only that.

Akiho says Kaito's name, probably wanting to answer something in return, but he interrupts her again, saying something I've been dying to hear him say (lately I expressed here and on Twitter my wish to see precisely this scene in the finale):

"That's my alias"

Akiho is shocked at hearing that, and he says, with a serious face, "Can I tell you my true name?"

At this point, I was hollering, I won't really hide it or anything.

If you're CLAMP fans, you probably know how IMPORTANT and VITAL is an information like one's true name, especially for a magician. Yuuko in Holic said that if you give someone your true name, they can take your soul.

And I'm 100% sure that even Akiho knows how important true names are in the magic world, this is something that Momo already mentioned in one of the Drama CDs but here she confirms it herself, saying hesitantly: "Are you sure I should be hearing something so important?"

With the next thing Kaito says, I was almost calling an ambulance.

Heh, I know, this is me, what can I do? Their story got me by the throat and coming to this point is such an achievement, for me. 😅

"I want you to know it"

That あなた between brackets is so powerful. "You, above all".

In that "you" there's all the things he's not saying aloud, how unique and important she is to him. How much he trusts her with the most vulnerable part of himself. How much he's willing to give his entire soul, his everything to her, but this time in the correct way, without damaging anyone.

Akiho must be noticing all of this, because Mokona doesn't allow us to see her face, only her closed hand rising up, but from her ".....okay" I'm sure here she was quite touched.

So Kaito finally proceeds to reveal this secret that everyone was wondering about ever since chapter 51:

"Cristaux. That's my true name".

Cristaux is written with the katakana クリスト (pronounced kurisuto) which has already been misunderstood by many for "Christ" 😂, but thankfully CLAMP have put in the furigana the correct spelling in romaji.

Cristaux is a french word used to indicate crystals. Yes, plural.

So our crazy magician was named after crystals at his birth.

Of course, of course. Isn't crystals the overwhelming theme of this arc, after all? CLAMP made sure to feature some in many many color illustration they've done.

Also, while talking to a friend, I realized that now we might understand a bit better why Kaito made a very pensive face, disguised as Syaoran, when Sakura pointed out in Clockland (ch. 66) that the castle of the Queen had foundations made of crystal........

As usual with CLAMP, we've had the solution to the mystery under our nose the whole time! 😂This feels like Tsubasa 2.0, for real! 😂

It is surely an inusual name, but I mean, it seems many of the names CLAMP choose for their characters aren't that common, after all.

With this reveal, Kaito decided to start anew with Akiho, this time around from a basis of honesty and trust. He's never going to put up masks with her ever again (and even though it's confirmed they still talk in keigo to one another -which is something I've always imagined-, we've seen him using his true pronoun "ore" with her in chapter 78). This is the perfect foundation for a relationship based on communication and trust. Bravo Kaito, you did your homeworks.

Akiho places a hand over her chest, as if the precious name entered her heart, and says something that made me completely melt:

"I've written it on the most important page of my book. So I can never forget it".

This line makes me particularly emotional not only because it sounds SO SWEET, on the verge of flirting, but also because it seems to me like a callback to something that was said in a sadder situation.

Back in chapter 35, when Sakura ended up trapped into Akiho's artifact, she experienced Akiho's past on her skin. The day of the magic ceremony that turned Akiho into an artifact, some people from the clan/Association said "let's engrave all the magical books we can find into this girl's body, so she can never forget them. Just like a blank book".

Back then, these horrible words were used to abuse a poor child, but that child today turned them into the power to choose for herself.

She appropriates the same "book" analogy to turn it into a way for her to choose on her own. Kaito's name is a precious information that she chooses to write on her heart so she can never forget it.

It is a way for her to cope and have a catharsis for her trauma.

I honestly keep getting such wonderful messages from the story of these two characters, and I'll never thank CLAMP enough for creating them.

Kaito smiles softly at Akiho's words.

Then we go back to Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo, the "fab 3" who are going back home together, and we get some more information: it seems Eriol called Syaoran too (man, this guy called half the world to give explanations left and right 😂) and told him that he's going to buy Akiho and Kaito's house and look after it for them.

Sakura is really glad to hear that because it means that Akiho's huge collection of books will be safe and guarded in its library.

Tomoyo asks what they're going to do about Akiho's room at the Kinomoto house: in fact, if you look at the first panel of this chapter, you'll see that the additional portion that sprouted on Kinomoto house is still there: this means that Sakura gave everyone back their memories, but that magic didn't affect the discrepancies that arised from the rewriting of their world, hence why Akiho's room is still there.

Sakura talked about it with her dad and they decided they're gonna leave it untouched, as it is, so Akiho can always go back to it at any time. Did I cry at this? Yes, a little, because this is a sign that the Kinomotos will still keep considering her one of the family even if she'll be away, even if she'll have her life with Kaito, and I couldn't ask for anything better, for my sweet Akiho. It is so important for her to keep the bonds she created over time and know that now she's also got a network of people there for her. A second family where to turn to.

Sakura's having a real hard time accepting that Akiho will go away, and her smile becomes sad, before hugging Tomoyo and crying out "But I'll still miss her so much!!" 🥹poor Sakura 🥹I know, it's always so sad when someone that important to you leaves...

You'll Be Together Forever!!

One month passes by, and we can see some sakura flowers starting to bloom, this means we're at the end of March (and so we were in February before, just like I imagined). School year must be over pretty soon.

It's the big day, the day of departure for Akiho and Kaito, and Sakura+Syaoran went to see them off. Have you spotted it, on Sakura's scarf? Yes, that's the pin shaped like a teddy bear, the same Kaho gave her as a present and that she was wearing in the OG manga during the run at the bus stop to tell her feelings to Syaoran!

Akiho thanks Sakura for coming so early in the morning, and Sakura says she absolutely wanted to be there to see them off, actually she apologizes for making them delay their departure due to this meeting. Akiho is dressed with a cute outfit that is very remiscent of the one she's wearing in the color page of chapter 79.

A little separated from them to give their privacy, we see Kaito and his big suitcase, standing next to Syaoran. OMG it's so inusual to see them like that!!

Then, Kaito says "Time magic....I can teach it to you, if you ever want to use it". Syaoran is very surprised to hear that, and Kaito says that when he was still in the dragon form, he heard him apologizing to Sakura for not being able to use that magic because he hadn't learned it yet, remember?? 🥹

And Kaito just offered himself as a teacher, surely as a way to thank him for everything he's done to save him and Akiho.

But not only that: in a very sweet panel, he says he knows Syaoran won't use it in an inappropriate way, and I can totally hear that implied "as opposed to me". Oh yes I hear it loud and clear by the way this is phrased in Japanese. 😁

Then, he happily takes out his phone and asks him to exchange contact numbers, because they can be convenient for any occurrence! I feel like that was a good idea because they're surrounded by magic matters so much, it's always good to be able to count on the experience and knowledge of other magicians.

We see Syaoran being a bit perplexed at the request, but then reluctanctly (?) takes out his phone 😂oh lord his reaction is so funny....and this is also another proof that the characters remember what happened before, because Syaoran could have this reaction only for that reason 😂😂😂

While looking at them interacting so funnily, Akiho takes the chance to get closer to Sakura and whisper a very important information to her (it came!!! it came for her too!! I KNEW IT!! It's not WHAT I imagined but I've been saying forever that this would come 😂):

Akiho, JP & ENG: "My real name...is Cosmos"

What you guys can't see if you're reading the ENG version or any other language, is the duality of Akiho's true name here.

It's actually written in Japanese kanji, but the furigana that tells how to pronounce it are katakana for "Cosmos".

So it's like this:

Japanese name: 秋桜 (pronounced Akizakura, it's how Cosmos are called in Japanese)

Furigana (reading): コスモス (Cosmos)

It's not uncommon to find the Cosmos flowers being called directly with their katakana spelling, in Japanese.

All of this makes total sense for Akiho because her favorite flower is a specific type of Cosmos, the Chocolate Cosmos! They say they really smell like chocolate! So, just like Sakura, she's got the same name of her favorite flower.

But this duality of her name also allows Akiho to say what she's about to say:

Akiho, JP: "When we met for the first time, I was happy to learn I had one same character in my name as yours!"

I'm glad to see that more or less all the foreign translations did their best to explain the trick of the kanji, adding an explanation in the bubbles (they were big enough, thankfully). The ENG for example talked about "sharing a name" but Akiho here is meaning more "sharing a character" of the japanese name.

Sakura is of course really honored and happy to hear that, and thanks her for sharing such an important detail about herself.

And now, hahaha.....comes the part where I laughed SO, so much, because while to some it might sound strange for Akiho to do something like this, to me it isn't strange at all! Cause she's like that, her personality is far stronger than most think...

Our little mischievous Akiho here reveals to Sakura, still whispering, that she isn't going to share her real name with Kaito yet, because she's still a bit upset with him!! 😂😂😂

Oh lord, Akiho....oh dear....you have all the right to still be a bit upset, make him work hard to get such an important information from you!! 😂 I can't believe right now we have Kaito basically in Akiho's hands while Akiho, the one who seemed the most in love out of the two, is actually still withholding that from him! 😂😂😂 aaaaahhh trust CLAMP to always give you something interesting....this is totally in line with how I perceived her personality. 🤭I loved it!

Kaito needs to be really, really careful from now on! She's not gonna take any crap from him! 😂

And now I have to warn you because precisely as we reach the very last line Sakura will say in this arc, there is going to be another translation mistake, which I consider far worse than the other one I pointed out. I think getting it wrong precisely at the most important emotional point ruined a job that wasn't overall so bad, with this chapter (compared to others....).

Sakura, smiling, supports Akiho's idea, saying "Sounds good!", and then, utters the very last line of the arc:

ENG: "After all, we have a long future together ahead of us!"

JP: "After all, you'll be together forever from now on!"

I think you can easily guess why this translation mistake irritated me so much. I've checked the other translations and the Spanish one, the one I trust the most, agrees with me, just like the French one.

This translation is a failure for two reasons:

it failed to convey the fact that Sakura here is using almost exactly the same words she used in the OG manga at the end of volume 12, when she ran into Syaoran's arms, saying that they would be together forever from that moment on. I think iconic lines like these should be translated in the way the readers know them from the previous work, otherwise it's useless. You don't get the reference. In Japanese, back in volume 12 of the OG manga, it was "kore kara wa zutto issho da yo!" while here it is "kore kara wa zutto issho nandakara". And there is a reason for that.

this translation inexplicably made it about all of them, when Sakura was talking specifically about Akiho and Kaito instead. That "nandakara" at the end suggests that this sentence is strictly related to the one that came right before, "sounds good", as an answer to Akiho's plan to withhold her true name from Kaito for a while. Sakura here is simply saying that Akiho's idea sounds ok to her because those two will be together forever from now on, so she'll have all the time of this world to tell him eventually her true name, when she feels ready. Also, in Sakura's words, there's a deeper meaning: it's the last wish of happiness for those two, which comes from her own lived experience. At the end of volume 12 we saw Sakura uttering those same words, in her happiest moment of reunion with Syaoran...Sakura knows that happiness, the happiness of reuniting and be able to stay all the time with the person you love the most. This is the same thing she's wishing for those two right now, with these words. To be together forever and savor that same happiness she's living herself everyday. But if the translation makes it about all four of them, or even just about Sakura and Akiho, this underlying message, this last parallel between the two pairs is completely gone. Also, what's the sense in saying "we have a long future together ahead" if Kaito and Akiho are leaving?? It doesn't make sense to me. They once again managed to remove any hint of Kaito and Akiho being destined to be together for life, and bent the phrase to include everyone, just because they could. I find that quite disrespectful in my opinion.

Anyway, if you made it this far in reading the post, you now know how that line should actually be. I feel so embittered and disappointed that this happened precisely at the end...

But this time, as opposed to the OG manga, there's one more page to bring this arc to a closure: we can see the back of the new empowered Sakura Card (on the Card there's a mix of both the Star circle and the Dream circle), and the text reads:

JP, lit.: "When all the Cards are gathered, that's the beginning that comes from an end. A beginning to move on"

You have surely recognized it , this is exactly the same page that appeared at the very beginning of this arc, it's just that back then we had a Sakura Card's back, a more unsettling background, and lots of blank cards floating. Right now we have the back of the empowered Sakura Cards, a more serene background and instead of the blank cards, we have cherry blossom petals! ❤️

But most importantly, the sentence slightly changed too, communicating to all the readers that from the end of all the tribulations that our characters went through in this Clear Card Arc, they finally managed to move onto a happier life.

I think it's very beautiful how CLAMP decided to conclude this story, with a message of hope that not all endings are necessarily something bad, but they can simply hide behind them the beginning of something new and more positive.

Lord knows how much I needed to be reminded of this, in this moment of my life.

And surely this is also true for the end of this beloved series for many people around the world: after 7 years and half it's so hard to say goodbye to such a beloved story, but CLAMP want to give us one last present before saying goodbye to it for an indefinite period!

On the right side of the Japanese last page (this was not translated in the ENG one) we find the announcement that the April issue of Nakayoshi on sale on March 1st 2024 will bring us a special chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card! Precisely one month before the release of volume 16! There's no info about how long it's gonna be, but anything is strongly welcome to say goodbye in a more gradual way...I wonder what it'll be about? This can be literally anything!! I would love for them to feature a situation in the future, rather than in the past....

Beware, because I've heard that Anime News Network translated this as a "special arc" in their news and that caused a ruckus...I've already tried to warn people on Twitter that's not correct, "tokubetsuhen" is the same term they used for the special short chapters they have published till now.

And so...it ends. We've reached the end!! Omg! I still can't register it fully....🙈

I will write some short additional comments about the chapter here but you'll have to wait for another, separate post to have my impressions and commentary on the entire Clear Card Arc.

I just want to say that this finale didn't feature everything I hoped/wanted to see, but other things were definitely granted.

It's just impossible to make everyone happy so I completely understand that.

And even though I'm truly disappointed about Momo and the choice to make her leave her two kids like that, I feel overall this disappointment doesn't stain my appreciation for this finale.

The things I wanted to see and got, the general happy and relaxed atmosphere, seeing all four of them so friendly with eachother, Sakura's final blessing with those words are enough to make me feel still quite satisfied with the finale.

Also, this feels so much more open than the OG manga. A lot more open. There are tons of elements one could grasp to in case they wanted to make a spin-off, or feature some of these plot threads as a cameo in another work. Akiho and Kaito's situation in particular, with their travels around the world, seems to be screaming "you'll see us again soon". I don't know if I'm just delusional but I've seen so many people saying the same.

And I have to say that despite my first choice was for Akiho and Kaito to stay in Tomoeda, they gave me enough good reasons to justify them departing again. I did, in fact, predict that an eventual resume of their travels could be plot related (if they had to continue escaping the Squids' radar or if they had to find a way to fix Kaito's situation).

Plus, Akiho seems so happy and free. How can I rebel against that, when they depict her so happy of her choice?

Also, nice of Eriol to step up and help those two. He's the other poweful and experienced magician who can put at their service all of his knowledge.

And then, Kaito's character development. Even here, I felt like I would've wanted him to say more, but then I remembered that Ohkawa in a Space long time ago had already said "I would want the readers, once it's over, to re-read this trying to understand 'why this character acted in this way?' " and it was clear that she was referring to Kaito. So, not exposing in detail Kaito's heart and the motivations that brought him to this point is totally intentional. She wants us to get there on our own. After all, she gave us another huge hint in this chapter, by making him reveal his true name to Akiho. I can only be grateful for that, especially for how he worded it.

Cristaux and Cosmos...while I'm really happy they have the same initials, I'm still trying to get used to those new names! 😂even though I know they'll keep using their aliases so it's not a big problem, we'll keep calling them Kaito and Akiho!

(And yes, I'm a bit disappointed that Akiho's true name isn't Alice! 😂)

It was nice to see SyaoSaku blushing and flirting in this finale, especially now that Touya gave his blessing to Syaoran, he can go pick her up for school when he wants!! 😂 I'm sure we'll get more SyaoSaku fluff in the special chapter, as this finale was mostly used to wrap up other stuff.

As I said, I adored the few panels of interaction between the two Moon Boys, Akiho's mischievous prank to Kaito....yes, I still have lots to be grateful for, in this finale.

I think this post just won the record for the longest one, so let me just take this space really quick before wrapping up to thank all of you who have read my posts, shared them, supported me, chatted with me about the story, and overall contributed with interesting discussions in this little personal corner. I would've never imagined, not even in my wildest dreams, that the existence and content of this blog one day would've reached even CLAMP, and this will stay as one of my biggest gratifications, especially cause they seemed to appreciate the effort. I just wish their story was treated better by some official translations.

I tried to do whatever I could to spread warnings about heavy translation mistakes, in addition to my interpretation of the story as I was reading it and analyzing it, since I've seen it helped many people understanding the story better and coming to terms with frustrations they had about it.

Clear Card Arc is undoubtedly more complex and requires a lot more of attention than the OG manga.

But I'm positive that re-reading everything in one go might help A LOT in that regard, maybe keeping my translation posts beside you....so I urge everyone to re-read the story when you have time, because it's worth it. Really.

That said, I'm not going anywhere for the foreseeable future: of course I'll comment the special chapter, but I also have in store the "Clear Card Trivia" series of posts, a post with the timeline of the events and a master post about my own review of the entire Clear Card Arc. And then, there's the season 2 of the anime too! You can bet I'll be here to comment on it every week!!

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you again for your patience, for reading me till now, and I also want to thank once again CLAMP-sensei for the wonderful sequel they brought to us in these past 7 years. ありがとうございます 🙏

See you soon!!

[nevermore-grimes]

Hi bestie! I think you've mentioned using Notion to document your paracosm and I was wondering you went about it?? like your organization n stuff. Sometimes I think about using Notion for smaller paracosms or AU stuff but I never really know how to like. format it or organize it lol

Bestie? Did you just call me bestie? (Love ya, bestie! Aaaaaah!) 🥺💕

And then you follow that up with asking me about my paracosm dashboard? Can I kiss you (/p)???

I would be more than honored to give you a lil tour~

Here she is in all her glory! ...Well, the homepage, at least.

I can't take allllll the credit since I've started this by using someone else's template (I forgot who it was and I couldn't find them again, I'm sorryyy!), but I've added a lot of my own stuff since then.

Anyways, it mainly revolves around The Ember Blade Chronicles, since that's my main paracosm, but I don't feel like it wouldn't be that hard to rework it for someone who has more than one paracosm.

On the homepage, I just have some links, my Spotify Playlists (which I've managed to link to my para profiles and my AUs), and my organizational sidebar (Yayyy!).

I won't go crazy with explanations and bore you to death, so here's a quick explanation of each part:

Para Gallery - A gallery of my paras' profiles

World Elements & Explanations - Here's where I explain concepts exclusive to my paracosm (Macbeth, Nevermore's bloodlust, etc.)

Snippets - Where I write out scenes from my paracosm

Story Events - My paracosm's timeline

Paracosm-Related AUs - A list of my paracosm's AUs

Party Talk & Incorrect Quotes - Random silly quotes from my paracosm

Trashed Concepts - Things that used to be part of my paracosm, but I took them out

The Ember Blade Archives - Where I'm transcribing my paracosm notebooks

I honestly wanna rework my Snippets and Story Events sections, but, yeah! I don't know how helpful this actually is, so if you need me to explain anything better, I'll try! Or I can even drop the template (but I think I want the chance to rework some of my sections first-).

So, I hope this helped somewhat!

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Legacy of Mandalore"

A Mandalorian family reunion!

Live reaction version from 2017.

I do find it hilarious that the kids are in the front seats, driving and co-piloting, while the adults are hanging out in the back.

Ezra's little, "Wait a minute." moment lol.

Nice to hear this bit of spoken Mando'a.

Chopper banging on the outside of the Phantom II with his manipulators lol.

Remember what I said last rewatch about how the two of them develop into co-protagonists? Part of that seems to be that they start spending more time in the cockpit together. :)

~Under cloud, beneath the stars... over snoooooooow one winter's morn.~

*ahem* Pardon me there, visiting Krownest always puts those lyrics in my head.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The snow clumps being shaken off the tops of the trees as they're passing.

"Don't worry, I'll play nice."

Ah yes, one of the parts of the episode that almost seems like it's playing Ezra off as Sabine's "problem boyfriend" that she's bringing home to meet mom and dad. <3

So it was definitely the Supercommando armor that set Ezra off.

I do not know what it is but Disney has been pulling some really weird shit regarding age order of siblings lately, Tristan does not look like he's the younger sibling at all.

Also Isabella and Luisa should be totally switched around, c'mon.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: How their feet actually sink into the snow with realistic weight and powder compression.

Love the design of the Wren stronghold. Very Modern Architecture.

I love him. <3

Takes Sabine promising that the lightsabers will be safe before Ezra decides to give his up. (And yet later in the climax he doesn't even hesitate to throw it to her, aaaaaah!)

Don't mind me, just appreciating the design of this place.

Ursa sounds an awful lot like Fenn "I made a deal with the Empire to survive" Rau here. I doubt the parallels aren't deliberate.

So I guess the takeaway lesson is don't make deals with the evil empire because it will always screw you over.

*whispers* If no supposed to ship why have Ezra being adorkable towards Sabine's brother just like Kanan was adorkable at Hera's father?

Really can't get over the scenery in this episode it's so soft and pretty.

Ursa was so ready to be impressed that her babygirl kicked Maul's ass and so disappointed when that wasn't the case lol.

Does seem like Sabine had a difficult childhood even before the whole Dutchess fiasco. Maybe that was why she decided to go to the Imperial Academy in the first place? Who knows.

My genre-savvy called a lot of the beats this episode, which made it just a smidge predictable for me the first time around.

Not gonna lie, Rau sneaking through the complex is actually kind of hilarious.

I'll bet Alrich painted that for her. :)

Ngl, the dialogue in this scene is just a bit weirdly written, I dunno what it is but it bugs me.

Ezra's so proud that Sabine kicked Gar Saxon's ass lol.

Underappreciated Papa Wolf Kanan moment: Shielding Ezra from the guardsman's blasters.

You know I don't wonder why Sabine latched onto the Ghost crew as her new family, high-ranking Mandalorian clans seem overly obsessed with prestige.

Tristan is a blabbermouth lol, still can't get over that.

Oh man this expression. She must feel like she's relieving her family's disowning all over again.

*chanting* Don't make deals with the devil, don't make deals with the devil.

Saxon is a master at finding loopholes isn't he?

I don't think this brief fakeout from Tristan was necessary, I think he should have just immediately turned guns on Saxon from the beginning.

Nice to hear Sabine's theme in the score tho.

LOLOL IT STILL CRACKS ME UP HOW FENN RAU JUST BURSTS THROUGH THE GLASS WINDOW ALL, "SURPRISE, BITCHES!"

<333333

This moment made the episode for me.

Zero hesitation, complete trust and faith. He loves her so much omg.

Oooooh a nice rendition of the Force Theme here!

(Told y'all it became a running gag.)

Problem boyfriend so worried. <3

Sabine's theme is in french horns now, it sounds like. This iteration of the theme is less mournful and more action-oriented, with flute trills and timpani percussion.

The cracking ice is mostly symbolic I think. I did worry at the time of airing if someone was going to wind up falling in.

Sabine using basic lightsaber positions like Kanan and Ezra taught her. <3

...Was it implied that Sabine hacked off Saxon's arm there or...? Camera angle makes it difficult to discern.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Saxon winds up in a position like Dooku's or the Grand Inquisitor's in the Season One finale, lightsaber blades held crossed at their throats.

But Sabine, having been heavily influenced by the Jedi in her life, chooses mercy over revenge. The moment is even punctuated by a snippet of the Force Theme. Aaaaaaaah I love it, I love that Sabine has let Kanan's influence soak into her so much, has become so much more Jedi than Mandalorian and been made better for it.

Oh, his arm's intact, okay then.

I have... Thoughts™ about the entire Mandalorian mindset of needing chaos to become strong and refusing outside help to fight its battles and how the whole Proud Warrior Race thing so often works against them rather than for them but I'll leave them unsaid for now.

<33333

This status quo change was honestly completely unexpected, and frankly, the episode is eons better for it.

Sabine's theme is in a triumphant key now, as she watches the Phantom II leave.

:((((

So! This episode is not nearly as good as the previous one, and it's bit predictable, as I said. It's not bad, though, and it's obviously a necessary one for Sabine's growth and character arc, and the overall Mandalorian arc. I was weirdly a little bored this time? Aside from the cute Sabezra bits and the fact that they were bold enough to change up the status quo by having Sabine stay on Krownest, I really feel like this could have been so much stronger as an episode.

Maybe if we axed one of the fillers and made this a two-parter? Idk.

The episode is still decently entertaining enough and has lots of lovely quality Sabine content for those in fandom whose primary investment is her. She gets to really shine here, and show off how far she's come as a character. Which is great.

I think at the time there was a genuine worry that Sabine was being written out of the show. I know I needed a little bit of time to process the thought of her being absent the next couple episodes. But again, they made a narrative choice and stuck with it and I admire that. So I really can't hate this episode. :)

Of course next time we're at my favorite episode of the season and the whole inspiration for an accidentally giant-ass AU that I wrote. See y'all then!

[birinboom]

Hello dearest darling Em! I am here to ask about HoshiEm, because I think it's adorable and I would like to know more <3

You are taking a trip together - where are you going? What activities are you doing together? What are you most excited about on your trip? Which of you hates packing the most?

Also if you feel like it, tell me a little about your man, because I don't know him 🎤

🤍🫂

Aaaaaah, my darling Roxy-Rose, thank you so so much for sending me this!!! 😭💖💖💖

We’re going on a trip!

He and I met in Tokyo, but Hoshina is actually from the Kansai region (Osaka/Kyoto/Nara/etc). So we’re taking a trip back to his home. We’re mostly planning on sightseeing, which is something I enjoy a lot, and he enjoys finding new places to show me. We can easily spend a whole day just wandering around one of the older parts of Kyoto and taking in the sights. I’m really looking forward to seeing new things and eating new food, and feeding some tame deer, and also just getting to spend some uninterrupted time with him, he’s always so busy.

Which of us hates packing the most?

That’s probably me 😅 I always panic a little bit thinking I’ve forgotten something so I spend a lot of time making lists and double and triple checking everything, and I end up packing way too much. I don’t know why but I’m unable to pack light, even if I put genuine effort into it. Hoshina, on the other hand, can fit everything he needs into a small duffle bag and I hate him a little bit for it. 

Tell me a little about him

So, funny story. My husband and I watched Kn8 together. At one point he came into my office while I had a piece of fanart of Hoshina on my screen, and said ‘oh is that who you like now? Isn’t he kind of an asshole?’

And he’s right. Hoshina is kind of an asshole and I still love him.

I’m gonna put my ramblings under a cut ‘cause there will be spoilers. And I don't know how to be brief. Cue that drawing of me wordlessly crying while pointing to a picture of him.

Kaiju no. 8 takes place in a world where kaiju (ie. monsters) regularly attack humanity. They vary vastly in both size and the way they attack. Some are human-sized, or smaller, some are about the size of a minivan, and some tower over the tallest skyscrapers (this part is important for later) 

Enter the Japan Anti-Kaiju Defense Force. Hoshina is the vice-captain of the 3rd division, which is centered in West Tokyo. He comes from a long line of swordsmen and kaiju slayers, but while he’s excellent with swords and very capable of dealing with smaller and mid-sized kaiju, guns are needed for the biggest ones. And he’s shit at using guns. 

Because of this, pretty much everybody in his life has been telling him that he should just give up. He’s not gonna make it, he’s just gonna cause trouble and get himself killed. The only one who believed in him is his now-captain, Mina. She’s the opposite of Hoshina, she’s excellent with guns but terrible with bladed weapons. And she believed that the two of them could compliment each other’s fighting styles enough to give him a genuine chance.

So this is where the asshole part comes into play. Because now Hoshina has the rank of vice-captain, he’s to a certain extent in charge of dealing with new recruits, and he WILL haze them. There’s one omake ending of the manga -which sadly never made it into the anime- where he’s overseeing a new recruit doing pushups as a punishment, he’s counting out loud, and then he starts counting backwards.

He’s an asshole in that whenever there’s a conflict that doesn’t directly involve him, he bursts out laughing. He will also quite readily tease people. But he takes his role as vice-captain very seriously. He’s ready to risk his life to keep people safe. He’ll go up against kaiju too big for him to handle if he has to, if nothing else then to buy time until someone better suited to fight them arrives.

It’s also shown that once he likes someone, he’ll go a long way to help them. It’s implied that he’s the one training the most promising of the new recruits (Kikoru) in using her axe, and he decides on his own to train the main character, Kafka, in hand to hand combat. 

(‘Course that last one only happens after Hoshina threatened Kafka with what turned out to be a very realistic rubber knife because he apparently holds grudges like a mofo)

I love him. I love his Kansai-accent. I love the way his voice goes nasal when he’s complaining about something. I love how he nearly always has his eyes closed. I love the shiver down my spine when he opens his eyes (shit’s most likely about to get serious!) I love his oversized canines. I love his stupid bowl-cut. I love the way he’s one of the few male characters (if not the only one) to use ‘boku’ about himself (and I have thoughts on WHY he does that!)

I love that he’s a bit of an asshole. I want him to tease me.

[witchwhaat]

hello, here to share my opinions on troye's new album (sorry if it gets too long) 😌 as i said im absolutely OBSESSED with this album. like i always enjoyed his music, but to show this level of iconography????? CMON????? there is one problem i have with the album tho: every time i try to listen to it from start to finish, i get delayed by the fucking masterpiece that is "one of your girls" :/ every time this song comes on, i have to listen to it at least 5 times. wtf troye???? i would say it's my fave on the album, but that's an understatement. that's the best song of the whole year for me. god. isnt this giving daft punk like hello????? THE MV ALSO?????? 🤯 okay moving on to the other songs sjsjdhdhf u know that i loved all the singles, and they sound even better in the context of the album!! there is not a song i dont enjoy in this album, i couldnt even make a ranking because they are all so good. overall, THE BEATS in this album got me floating in space and shaking my ass at the same time. THE LYRICS???? i reallllly love the lyrics too i feel like they elevate the experience a lot which is so cool. the songs i find myself replaying the most (other than the obviously stated one above jsjdhf): in my room, honey, got me started (this one is a grower tbh). also i really feel like the songs are really cohesive and work so well together. i feel like every song will have their turn of being my fave in the upcoming months, because i intent to keep this on rotation ABSOLUTELY. this will be a contemporary pop classic and now troye is one of the main pop girls, sorry i dont make the rules... anyway, what are your thoughts? 😌

hello my beloved, finally answering to this ask!😭 sorry for keeping you waiting for so long aaaaaah

okay, first of all, i love your thoughts and i couldn't agree more about everything you said! <3 i keep coming back to this album, idk what troye put in it but it's SO addicting aaah! oh i absolutely understand the obsession with "one of your girls" bc GOD, it's amazing. chef's kiss on every level, the lyrics are perfect, the production is 10/10, the mv!!! (and yeeees, the daft punk vibes!!) are you kidding me?!! imo, the mv perfectly shows the transition between this album and troye's previous albums, he's confident, he's serving and he knows what he wants! and that's actually something i love about the whole album, it's very touching to see him being even more mature with his music and SO confident and it feels so freeing! genuinely, i'm so happy and grateful that i grew up with his music, it was veery important to me in my teenage years and it makes me so happy to see him grow as an artist (and person) waaah🥹 and i think that's also why i love this album so much, bc it's another step! ANYWAY yeeees, that's something i love so much about troye's music - how lyrics elevate the sound and vice versa. and oh yeah, the sounds and beats got me ascending aslkfkdsjfkjsah like come oooon!! and yeees the album is cohesive but i also like that every song has it's own story bc that's another thing i really like about troye's music haha which is narration! and with this album, i really like that there are themes that connect everything together, but that it's also all pretty "loose" and bc of that the songs are both good on their own but also work very well together! what can i say, troye gets it and he's The pop girl! fr, i was so excited about this album and had high expectations and he did not dissapoint! i love every single, although yeah, i also wasn't convinced about "got me started" at the beginning but it's a really good sample and i enjoy it A Lot now. it's soo hard to choose a fave, but i love rush (i could write a whole essay on rush AND i'm OBSESSED with the mv), still got it, can't go back and what's the time where you are? (perfect "me and this song against the world and life horrors aka going to work/uni" song) the most i think. troye saved this year with that album and he saved me during winter semester lol i'm so devastated that he's not coming to poland on his tour WHY troye WHYYY😭 (like what do you mean you won't come to poland but there's 5! FIVE germany dates come oooon)

[cryptidsncurios]

@cursedfortune sent: belated/early munday question: horror stories you're ride or die for? it can be from any media.

Eyyy, guess what, it’s munday now, so thanks for the question friend! To start, my blanket statement concerning my faves is that I absolutely love any story that explores the unknowable, the unexplainable, and the extraordinarily eldritch. Cosmic and monstrous horror is MY. JAM. I’m into the gore, the body horror, the things that are just TOO. BIG. for our brains to comprehend so they just.. yknow… explode. Bonus points that I am a notorious terato and appealing monster designs are just……. hhhh

So in terms of specifics: it’s sad that Lovecraft was such an asshole, bc honestly some of his stories serve as the cornerstone for a lot of my inspo, primarily his works like Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, Beyond the Wall of Sleep, Dagon, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and etceteraaa. Thankfully, his ideas have since been better adapted for people who AREN’T raging bigots like himself, which is why I HAVE to give a big shoutout to Lovecraft Country, of which I’ve only read the book but I hear the show is awesome too.

And nooooow let me kinda do this by categories with some of the highlights off the top of my head:

Movies:

The Thing (or anything John Carpenter tbh)

Hellraiser (plus the book Hellbound Heart, and just Clive Barker in general)

The Ritual

The Void (the ultimate love letter to practical effects horror, would recommend 10/10)

Color Out of Space (also the short story, plus I gotta credit Nic Cage, his performance was actually fantastique)

Shows:

EVERY. SEASON. OF. CHANNEL. ZERO. No lie, it's AMAZING. (And it's not like American Horror Story that's like.... icky to me, ngl. Some parts of that are cool, but then others are.... yuck. iykyk

Uuuuh tbh haven't watched too many shows, but I do have every intention to watch The Last of Us (as well as play it)

Books:

Tomie (and like, ALL of Junji It's stuff... so can we get some love for Junji Ito heeere!!)

Frankenstein

Camp Damascus

And I'm working on reading Shadows Over Baker Street now, which is like, if Sherlock Holmes was in the world of HP Lovecraft and so far it's WICKED SICK and Neil Gaiman writes the opening short story A Study in Emerald and I love that man, he is a fantastic human being)

Also since I'm on the subject of Gaiman, Coraline gets a mention

The Turn of the Screw (read in college and the first paragraph is a doozy but the ending HIT ME)

Video Games:

Silent Hill (any time it's foggy I'm like "i..it look..looks liiike....... o_o u know what... O-O )

The Evil Within (both games---they have their problems, but the haunting atmosphere is A+++ (well, in-between all the... horrific dying... pffff))

And like……. whatever it is that’s going on in Kojima’s silly little mind

Also I would like to give a shout out to the comedy/horror genre, like the Evil Dead series (Bruce Campbell, pls slide into my DMs), Dude Bro Party Massacre III (I'm not sure this counts as horror??? but OH lord my brain is still trying to wrap around this insane mess and I need people to watch it), and Tucker and Dale vs Evil.

So yeah, is a messy list tbh and there’s a ton more, but these ARE my ride or die picks and I'm sorry that this got so long but I have FEELINGS for horror aaaaaah

[greypetrel]

Fic writer asks: 46, 53, 54?

Hello! Here you go:

Tis the prompt list

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

I would define it as "Descriptive and wordy", LOL.

Other than that, character driven. What I like best in consuming fiction and thus what I like to write are characters. How would they react to a certain situation, what would they do or say. I am driven by them.

DIalogue-driven, it's a professional deformation from writing mainly comics for so much time, and there Dialogue is the only part that really matters (all the rest is technical and doesn't need good style, as long as your eventual collaborator knows what you mean). Dialogue comes more naturally to me in prose ahahahahahahah.

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

I am more a reader than a writer. Again, I'm mainly a comic writer, I got back to prose after years of minding to the wrong people, and I still haven't really learnt to barge through a little inspiration period the way I do with drawing or graphic design (it happens. Working with it you kinda learn to go on anyway, if there's no mental health issues... You gotta deal with the deadlines).

Reading fic, tho? Never lets you down, I like re-reading the ones I liked as well, when they fit the mood!

Also I love reading fic and seeing how there are as many interpretations of the same characters as many fic authors there are out there. It's just… I love to see it, the feeling that two people would not read the very same story in the very same way it's really magical, and the real beauty of studying literature.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Honestly? Having a worldbuilding already done and dusted ahahahahahahah.

Joking, I love worldbuilding, but I tend to gravitate towards historical fantasy and that requires A LOT of research. I love it, I learnt so many things researching for my comics! But still... There's something light about writing stuff in a world that already exists and that you don't have to make up as you go that AAAAAAH. It's much more relaxing.

Other than that, it's the community. Through highs and lows, but participating in a group where everyone has their own ideas of a certain character or of a certain episode... It just spurs me on to write and give my own two cents. Which is present when you write originals but... Less so.

Also: prose writing is WAY QUICKER than comics and that's something I appreciate a lot and I appreciated a lot this last year. It's been SO busy for me and writing was the thing I could manage the most. I have fully original content that you can read, but my original stories all came into comic form, LOL.

[sebsxphia]

I think Finn's confidence wasn't always what it is in the film. I can imagine him being quite nervous when he started college. So I was thinking of Finn feeling insecure at first about not thinking of baseball as something he'll do forever. This would probably happen during his first year at college, maybe a bit later, when he realises that he may be good at it, but he doesn't have the drive to commit just to baseball so much to pursue it as a future career, and frankly, he has other interests too, but he'd be so worried to say anything to his baseball friends at first.

And that's where you come in, his childhood best friend and now partner. You sit by the lake together, on a chill date. You fell into a comfortable silence, but you can tell that there is something bothering him by the way he is stuck in his head, staring at the water without focusing on anything.

You lean forward to get a better glimps at his face and run your hand down his arm, slipping your hand in his, giving a gentle squeeze "What's going on in that pretty little head of yours, Walt?"

He is hesitant to confess, but he can never keep anything from you (which resulted in many conversations the others would think is TMI). You just kiss him sweetly when he's done explaining, and reassure him there is nothing wrong with wanting to do other things too, and it doesn't mean he is any less enthusiastic about his team, or that he is any less deserving to be on the team.

*

Also, oh my goodness!!! So, so, so well done for finishing your coursework!!! My lovely, that is awesome, I am so proud of you and hope you are proud of yourself too!!! You're amazing!!! Lots of love to you!!!

-💚

aaaaaah firstly! my love! thank you so so much for your incredibly kind words 🥹 they mean so much to me! it definitely feels like a big achievement to me. i haven’t done anything like this in years!

secondly, oh i absolutely love this thought and idea, and i absolutely agree and can see the reasoning to finn not being as confident as he puts on in the film. it’s the same with jake ya know? there’s confidence there, but i think there’s something a lot deeper as to why. finn is the life of the party and always keeping people entertained with his quick tongue, but maybe that’s just to hide or push away any of his own doubts towards the team 🥺 it breaks my heart to think about, but i know i’d always support him!

thank you so much for this incredible idea my beloved anon and i’m sending you lots of love! mwah! 💌🥰

[thebestofoneshots]

Hello Lilly, i hope you’re having a wonderful day/ night darling.

About the message you have gotten from Anon regarding GC losing its original direction i have to say that, That’s not quite true actually. I truly love to see vixen’s other side, like her in an environment that is out of Hogwarts setting and away from the boys and her other friends or the quidditch field and to be completely honest I would have in fact as a reader loved to see more of her and her mother’s wholesome side of the relationship or her struggles with her father’s thirst for power in name of ‘fixing’ things and how that in fact had ruined their family, how she’d stand up to all of his bullshit decisions and perhaps come up with clever ways (as being sly is a trait of hers) to perhaps smoothen the way of the whole thing but then again looking at it realistically she is just a teen, just a young girl what could she have done? She wasn’t at all prepared and the whole night was full of plot twists which had me and I’m sure many of your other readers at the edge of our seats literally. (Which anything that happened was necessary for her character development). However i think perhaps if you focused a tiny bit more on the struggles of all three of them regarding their interactions together and giving more screen time? (😭 i don’t know what else to call it) to their development of feelings for one another and perhaps more fluff and intimate (emotionally bonding) and heartfelt moments between sirius and vixen to represent their pure love for each other or their inner thoughts about one another, then your already immaculate fic would be just absolutely fucking perfect.

Lots of love darling hope this helps. 🫶🏻✨

Ps: sorry for any errors as English is not my first language.

Aaaaaah, darling, there are absolutly no issues with your English! Thank you so, SO much for reaching out. Friday had me really down with the message, and then I had a rather hectic day. NSITOGS was meant to be posted like 6 hours before it was actually posted and I just couldn't because I was driving errands all day (it was meant to be my free day).

Anyway, sorry for the rant, but yeah, I had a pretty bad day and your messages lifted my spirits so much! I finally have time now to be able to address them, but I want to thank every single person that reached out, be it by commenting on the post, by DM or by asks, you guys are brilliant, thank you for reading me. I literally could not ask for a better, more supportive community.

And let me tell you, there will definitely be some cute fluffy moments soon <3

[introdemodev]

Howdy!

Anyways...to celebrate the demo turning one year old, I wanted to celebrate by posting more behind-the-scene works and such! :-) The plan is to post every day, but I might space some posts out by a day or two - I don’t want to seem like I’m spamming. Either way, I’m going to be active for the next two weeks.

And if you guys have anything you want to see, just let me know and I’ll add it to the queue.

With that out the way, let’s start off with talking about........her. The text box.

The first thing I tested for Introdemo was sprites, the next thing was the textbox and font size. The textbox was something I wanted to figure out right away. If I had to make changes to it later down the line, that meant I might have to possibly rewrite and reformat lines of dialogue. If you notice, the textbox almost always contains 1-2 lines of dialogue.

My original idea for the text box was to have it be literal speech bubbles. Introdemo is a prequel to an old webcomic of mine so I wanted Introdemo to read like a ‘comic’ too (btw don’t look at fridge and bear for any clues!!! it’s getting a soft reboot later down the line!! it’s technically canon but also not canon...it exists in canon limbo).

I also looked at The World Ends With You for inspiration as well.

However, I didn’t understand/know how to code something like that at the time, so I scrapped the idea. This idea still lives on in the game though. Introdemo feels like a bunch of different things, and that’s cool. Aaaaaah look out!! A style shift is approaching!!!!

So, I started to think of other games that I liked that might’ve used as a speech bubble as a textbox or had a speech bubble-like textbox, if that makes any sense. One of the first games that came to mind was Animal Crossing. I’m a fan of that Franchise™ and I’ve been playing it ever since the Gamecube version (best version btw). I’m going to be completely honest, I was heavily inspired by it, especially the speech bubble used in New Horizon, and a bit of New Leaf (NL, because of its use of patterns and the lower opacity).

But mainly, the inspo was New Horizons. I like how sleek it is and it’s nice on the eyes. It’s very simple. Best part is, it doesn’t take too much of the screen either - this was also important because Introdemo has *a lot* of art in it. I didn’t want to cover up the artwork.

So, what I’m saying is, I ripped off the textbox I was heavily inspired by it!

There is another variation of the textbox used in the game, and that is the thought box. It’s a rectangle, an uneven one. Since the game takes place primarily in Fennel’s POV, it’s mainly used by him to narrate, think, vent, and give commentary.

The inspiration for this was manga. In manga, squares/rectangles are sometimes used for inner monologue and narration (well, they're used in western comics too, but you get my point....I was thinking about manga when I made this decision).

After figuring out how I wanted the textbox to look, it was very easy to figure out how I wanted the game’s GUI to look overall. I like to think everything works together aesthetically.

The game has a pulpy-inspired comic look ...

and the menus have a pulpy-inspired magazine/tabloid look.

The menus aren’t exactly set in stone, unlike the textbox, so I do have plans to touch it up on future. It’s fine, but it’s not ‘there’ yet, in my opinion. The accessibility and about menus definitely needs more work and care put into it.

And that’s it for now! There’s not much to say about the GUI at the moment but I’ll go over my inspirations for it at another time. I’ll also go more in-depth about it in the digital art book, which will be available for purchase when the full game comes out (full game will be available for free, ofc :-) )

Thanks for reading!!

[plantwithoutplot]

Hi :3

💌 & 💫

💌 share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

AAAAAAH okay I am excited for a lot of things that have yet to happen in Speak Up, Boys! so picking just one is gonna be hard...

I would say that one of the things I am excited about that I've spent a lot of time on while I jotted down notes for that week is... ✨ The Found Family ✨

Yes, I know, you're gonna say But Aslinn! One Piece is already all about Found Families! and you would be right ― STILL, HEAR ME OUT :)

With this WIP, I get to have characters spend time together instead of just meeting quickly and moving on! While I focus on the ASL Brothers, I plan on having them bond with new people and encourage each other to heal and grow stronger, in ways they aren't used to! They are going to get the time they need (and didn't get in canon) to face their trauma and accept that, yes, even after you lied, failed, or lost, you still deserve people who will love you unconditionally 🫶

(Bonus: some friendships really weren't planned so far, but life's like that sometimea and gives you new favorites)

💫what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

FIRST OF ALL: I love all comments.

If you ever left a comment on my fic, be it a long text or just a lil heart, know that I love you and that you're one of the reasons for which I won't give up on writing.

I do, however, favor long comments.

It means that you liked the chapter enough to take the time and WRITE ALL THAT??? 🥹 (and don't I know how long it can take)

Some people write long comments by quoting & commenting their fav parts/sentences, which I LOOOOVE!! (not only because I get to KNOW which parts, precisely, you liked + it makes me nostalgic of my first fics, +10 years ago on another website, as we used to comment like this on each other's fanfictions at the time)

Some of you write long comments with theories about the fic. Like. w a o w ???? You not only took the time to write but also to analyze what you've read?? In order to try and guess what is most likely to happen????? Guys I admire you so much 🫡🫡

I'm also very weak to those long comments that are a mix of it all, with quote, theories, and paragraphs about how it made you feel/what makes you enjoy the story so far.

All in all, please know that evey time I get stuck on a chapter (like today ahah), I got and reread all of your comments. They bring me joy and motivation and help me keep going, even on days where I hate my writing or start believing that my silly little fic may not be worth it.

Thank you for your comments, I will do my best so that you keep wanting to comment too ❤

[arcplaysgames]

last updat e for today and it's gonna be ramming speed

Teddie is having an existential crisis, which I am actually invested in because he's Sam Riegel and he's currently in my top three characters right now. Teddie is cool and his ears and tail twitch every few seconds and he's not a jerk so i am always happy to see him.

Anyway, he points the party to Yukiko.

castle!

Chie rushes in to save Yukiko, even tho she doesn't have her cool glasses yet so presumably she can't see shit. Lets go save her.

GONNA ADMIT: THE COMBAT IN THIS GAME IS SMOOTH AS BUTTER. It's really fluid and fun. I love the new splash screen for All Out Attacks.

also look at this neat fish

jewelry fish! love it

Chie is alone in a room just droppin' eaves on Yukiko's thoughts and they are all doozies, lemme tell you.

Yukiko hates herself, hates her own name, hates being destined to take over the inn, and feels like Chie is her only source of strength. Chie apparently said red looks good on Yukiko and now the entire castle is red. Which is pretty.... it's a lot, yep. Yukiko's very very fixated on Chie's opinion on her and thinks of her as a protector.

aaaaaah co-dependent friendships! Chie's shadow self is hot for how controlling and powerful Yukiko makes her.

SHE SAID THE THING, WHOO, LET'S ROLL

Wow. Oh wow this is a lot.

So... Yosuke's Shadow was this wind up jack in the box toy slapped onto the head of a lurking frog, I suppose symbolizing the happy face he puts on covering up his ugly unhappiness.

CHIE'S IS... a masked dominatrix with a painted on smile sitting on a tower of quivering, teetering Chies, all tied to the bananadomme by golden chains. A powerful commanding presence that is balanced on her own fragile self-esteem.

Admittedly the long hair it throwing me. It's got knives in it.... a cloak of femininity that she feels is too sharp to touch, something that she wears because it doesn't feel a 'part' of her?

IDK.

Chie accepts her bananadomme self and gets her persona!

Then she immediately staggers so its time to get the fuck out of here. Yukiko is safe until the fog returns in the real world, because then her shadow will kill her. So we got time.

Teddie gives Chie her TV glasses and is taking part of the group planning and….

yeah that's a wrap on tonight i'm going to bed

characters i like so far:

teddy

nanako

this slot open to any applicants!!!!

[mywingsareonwheels]

Excellent thing: gaining access to the Audible audio adaptation of A Christmas Carol because they’ve given me yet another free trial and that’s included with membership.

Even better thing: THAT CAST. I mean. Derek Jacobi as Dickens, Kenneth Cranham as Scrooge, my beloved Roger Allam as Jacob Marley, MIRIAM FRICKING MARGOLYES as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Brendan Coyle and Tim McInnerny and Jamie Glover and Jenna Coleman and Joshua James and Emily Bruni and and and and.

Entirely predictable thing that is making me facepalm at myself: look. In my defense, I listened to it using my headphones. And then Roger as Jacob had these... angry/frustrated/caring/distressed growls. So really it isn’t my fault IN THE LEAST that I found that inappropriately sexy and now have even more Jacob Marley feelings than usual. ;-)

(Which really was already a lot. Jacob’s past hoping for himself and he gets that second chance for Scrooge (and we never know what he had to do to get it but it can’t have been easy) and it’s so incredibly selfless especially coming from someone who was not selfless at all in life and I just have to hope that knowing that he’s succeeded in making something better despite everything gives him comfort and aaaaaah.)

Also entirely predictable: Jamie Glover is one of the best voice actors I know of anyway (not nearly enough people know his work) and then he’s Bob Cratchit and you get to That Bit and I may just have sobbed through the whole thing. I always cry at that bit, to be fair, but not like that. Aaaaah.

Assuming I still have access to the thing after I cancel my membership (because I do prefer not to give Amazon money when I can help it), I’ll listen to it again at Christmas. <3 Extremely well-done, very good adaptation all round. The script is very good and is very interesting in its choice of which bits to adapt (always fascinating what people go for); the acting is absolutely the best I’ve seen or heard in any adaptation of the story. In particular I think Kenneth Cranham is even better than either Patrick Stewart or Michael Caine as Scrooge and I do not say that lightly as they were both amazing.

[impossiblebird]

It seems I simply cannot help but drop my thoughts in your inbox… 💌

a non-exhaustive list of things newt struggles to understand:

- televisions

- television remotes

- video games (but once he gets the hang of it, he becomes addicted to animal crossing)

- fridges

- subsequently, freezers

- “unicorn-flavour”

- the internet

- planes (he and thomas fly to london for the holidays so he can see how it changed. even after that, he still doesn’t understand planes.)

- instagram

- microwaves (he usually just stares at the microwave during its whole run)

- washing machines (he usually just sits in front of it and watches it go round and round)

- don’t get him started on dishwashers

- credit cards

- hand dryers in public restrooms

- traffic lights

- barbecue sauce

- frappuccinos

- why people do nothing about global warming

- electric toothbrushes

- rollercoasters (NEVER AGAIN TOMMY I NEARLY DIED UP THERE!!)

- highways

- piercings (though he secretly thinks about getting one)

- the amount of things you can do with a smartphone

- roundabouts

- why pluto isn’t considered a planet anymore (he was VERY upset)

a non-exhaustive list of things newt loves about the future

- dark academia (thomas should have never taught him how to make mood boards on pinterest)

- shows and movie that depict the 19th century inaccurately

- roller skates

- the wholesome grins some people give him on the bus when thomas and him hold hands

- holding thomas’s hand

- cat cafés (what a concept!)

- supermarkets

- the automatic doors at the supermarket

- getting to listen to all the music he wants whenever he wants (his spotify wrapped is terrifying)

- pride parades (and kissing thomas in public)

- that whole “things that would send a victorian child into a coma” meme on social media, because most of those things definitely have tried

- podcasts

- public transportation

- historical documentaries that help him catch up on the century he missed (he’s pretty glad he hasn’t lived through it, though)

- toasters

- sour candies

- cat videos (and he sends all of them to thomas)

- hallmark christmas movies

- pop corn

- modern fanfiction of literary classics

- the fact that tuberculosis isn’t a common threat anymore

- thomas’s friends (though only sonya and minho know the truth about him, the others think he is sonya’s cousin from the english countryside)

- thomas (somehow he falls a little more in love each day)

- the moment he realised thomas wasn’t joking and they can actually legally get married (he cried a lot and said yes)

aaaaaah more pluto thoughts?! for me?! 🥺 my dear santa you have really gone the extra mile and i honestly don’t think i could love you more than i do right now <3

all of these things are AMAZING and i’m completely obsessed with how much thought you’ve given to them.

however my favourites are:

‘fridges / subsequently, freezers’ i can just imagine him opening and closing the doors to make the light come on like i know we ALL did as kids akdbdkdbdk

newt just sitting and staring at multiple kitchen appliances as they do their thing 😭😭😭

‘why pluto isn’t considered a planet anymore’ I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT just vaguely when i was reading 🥺 i bet he’s devastated, but at least it’s classified as a dwarf planet?

NEWT AND PINTEREST BOARDS

the fact that he’s just over the moon to be able to be freely in love with thomas and MARRY HIM dammit oh my GOD this is making me even softer than i already was 😭

i hope you know, dear santa, that i will be all over your dm’s as soon as the reveals are up and i know for sure who you are (which i have a feeling about). this fic has Changed Me in all the best ways possible 💛