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#Honestly tho I can be such a sucker for romance manga but romance novels have me like bleh
dirkxcaliborn · 3 years
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One of the things that makes it a bit difficult for me to get back into reading is I don't really know what kind of books I like to read... Lately I've wondered if I could use my taste in other media (like anime, manga, and even fanfic) to try and pin down what I might like in books too.
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actualbird · 2 years
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WAIT I DIDN'T KNOW YOU READ THE POKEMON SPECIAL MANGA TFIYFYI
Huge agree to everything you said here!! The manga is absolutely amazing and the Hoenn arc is probably my favourite for so many reasons including the romance. Honestly the whole of how Ruby and Sapphire's relationship developed in general is great, kudos to the writers, I think it was one of the first romances I actually enjoyed.
Yellow my beloved!! Honestly they were so good in their arc, I adored the team Yellow built. It's not that novel of a concept but seeing their Pokemon that were commonly considered weak being a threat was amazing to me. I love the team building in the manga in general honestly, it always lets Pokemon considered weak just look really great. Delcatty and Mightyena holding their own against Norman's Pokemon? Amazing I love Ruby for it.
I'm sorry if you didn't want replies to the PokeSpe post fhfhk I tend to ramble a lot when people talk about Pokemon. Take care and I hope the booster shot symptoms don't hit you too hard!
🌌
OH MY GOSH?? A FELLOW POKESPE FAN AS WELL?? MILKYWAY I AM HIGH FIVING U SO MUCH RN
literally, LITERALLY, like. god. the pokemon special manga didnt have to go as hard as it did, but it did, and it was amazing. of all the pokemon medias, it's my favorite. like, the anime (+movies) i like for nostalgia factor, the games i like for the gameplay factor, but pokespe.....i like it for the reason that matters most to me when i enjoy medias, it's amazing for the STORY
HOENN IS MY ALL TIME FAVE REGION. confession, i read halfway thru the sinnoh arc too and i loved it but i stopped halfway cuz i was like. nothing for me is gonna top the hoenn arc kjbKJBJSDF
before i ramble about the hoenn arc tho, i'll talk about everything else cuz yess yESSSS YELLOW!! YELLOW MY BELOVED!!!! pls, they were so gender and im just a sucker for healer characters who also just value kindness so much, kindness not as a weakness but as a strength, also she was a cowboy, yeehaw, what is NOT TO LIKE???? i need to reread the kanto arc tho cuz i forgot so much of the details but yellow was v v important to me. in johto, my fave is yellow, followed by red, and then green and blue. i love all my children but im allowed to have favorites ok kjBKJDSF
johto was also frigging fantastic but i dont remember much but the fact that gold's defining characteristic was that he was so mom friend that he was Powerful. also that he and silver are boyfriends, i dont make the rules, it's there in the (sub)text
and also ur right, ur RIGHT. POKESPE SO GOOD CUZ ENSEMBLE CAST AND FOUND FAMILY VIBES AND TEAM BUILDING!!!!! literally everything i love in stories can be traced back to pokespe omg. EDIT: REALIZED I MISUNDERSTOOD WHAT U MEANT BY TEAM BUILDING DGHGJKDGDGK my point still stands tho
but hoenn. man. hoenn.
reasons i love hoenn, an incomplete list because the complete list would just be me quoting volumes 15 to 22 of pokesp out word for word which i do not need to do with u cuz uve read it but
IDK MAYBE I WANNA PSPSPSPPSS PPL TO READ POKESPE. CUZ SO LITTLE PPL HAVE!!! IT DRIVES ME NUTS!!
ANYWAY, REASONS I LOVE HOENN (AND WHY U, READER OF THIS RESPONSE WHO IS NOT MILKYWAY MAY LOVE IT TOO)
the romance. this is predictable for me ok, i just love a good love story and ruby/sapphire is the only canon romantic ship that happens and for good fucking reason. because their relationship development and story knocked it outta the goddamn ballpark
queer allegory so blatant to anybody who is not cishet like. god. i dont even have to explain this, it's obvious to anybody who has read it JKJBSKDFJKS
true for all the pokespe arcs: subversion of tropes. like u said, pokemon that r seen as weak get their moment to shine, and people with characteristics and traits that are seen as weak are shown that those traits are actually strengths and make them special and who they are. //SOBS!!
true for all the pokespe arcs as well: fantastic balance of action, comedy shenanigans, and angst. //chef's kiss
srsly these kids had Trauma. theres The Incident but also norman (ruby's dad) like uh. why the HELL were you SO VIOLENT IN THAT ONE SCENE??? when i read this at 11yrs old i was like "oh that makes sense, norman is angry cuz ruby ran away!!! it's tough love!!" but now that im 22 yrs old im like "HEY, NORMAN? U HIT UR KID. THAT IS PHYSICAL ABUSE TO A CHILD." like im glad norman does better later and that they reconcile but also what the fuck
BUT what i wanna talk about most is ruby and sapphire's character. it's frigging incredible to me, the both of them. how one traumatic Incident that happened when they were kids changed the entire course of both their personalities because that event instilled core fears into them.
ruby who was at first into battling but after The Incident saw that battling (that pain) made his best friend look at him with horror in her eyes. sapphire who as at first a meek prim proper girl but after The Incident saw that this made her helpless and powerless to save her best friend who got so frigging hurt. both of them fixating on that. ruby fixating on how pain made him "ugly", sapphire fixating on how meekness made her "powerless"
and thus them going forward in a different trajectory. ruby finding his footing in beauty, aesthetics, and performance, and being a snotty bitch (affectionate) at ppl into battling. sapphire finding her footing in becoming a battle master to hone her strength and also literally grow up in the wilderness, she was the BLUEPRINT for the feral girl archetype but actually done well. they reunite, do not recognize each other, clash so much because the other embodies something they dislike (cuz in the past that something fucked them up so much) and then coming to accept all parts of both each other and themselves
and then they fall in love
foils to one another, finding parts of themself in the other, learning to be vulnerable and trust once more
//SOBS CRIES WAILSSSSS!!!!!
EDIT: i love that ruby makes a huge personality trait of his just bitch (affectionate). hes such a bitchy piece of shit with a heart of gold, sapphire got her work cut out for her slowly falling in love with him kjbkJBKK
anyway you should go read the pokemon special manga if u havent, dear reader of this response who hasnt read it yet
heres where u can read it all
hoenn arc is volumes 15 to 22 (skip "The Mt. Silver Training Chapter" between 15 and 16)
but fair warning, beginning of hoenn arc starts and islinked to the ending of johto arc so itll be a BIT CONFUSING FOR THE FIRST 20 PAGES OF VOL15 but it's fine, you can handle it, i believe in u.
and yknow, if u do wanna get the full context, why not just read everything before hoenn as well? because KANTO AND JOHTO ARE REALLY FRIGGING GOOD TOO.
//breathes heavily. okay. okay im done rambling. i just came home from getting my booster shot and typed this all in a frenzied daze. i need a nap and also breakfastKJBKSJFD
THANK U FOR THIS ASK, MILKYWAY!! i....really wanna reread hoenn now and will probably liveblog the process
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Ha ha, I love the idea for Shunsui's birthday! So, a more serious question: Do you think, Shunsui is such a womanizer/ chasing after skirts, because he got his heart broken once and since then isn't seeking any serious relationship anymore? And if I'm allowed a 2nd question: Do you think, "The rose-coloured path" could be (semi-)autobiographical? Have fun!
Ahhhh, thank you! It kinda suits him, right? I like to thinkhe’d be proud of me. (Maybe.)
I think Shunsui chases ladies for a few different reasons.For one thing, I read Shunsui as a fairly sexual person. He’s constantly stressed,and secretly Sad™, and he doesn’t particularly like violence, so sex is agood way for a guy like him to blow off steam. I also headcanon Shunsui to bevery, very, very bisexual – and,honestly, calling it a headcanon might even be pushing things a little. Thereare cues all over the place, if you look for them – his character designaggressively incorporates trademark aspects of the conventionally masculine (he’svery tall, he has stubble and visible chest hair, etc.) and the conventionallyfeminine (his choice to wear thekimono and the hair pins rather than commemorate them some other way, hisrandom-ass aqua sash, his interest in – uh, fashion…? – which is a conclusion Idraw based on the presence of his hat, his long hair, etc.). And then, of course,there’s the fact that he wields two swords – there’s a euphemisim in there, bythe way – and there are other tiny, subtle moments in the manga, if you lookfor them. (His fight with Starrk strikes me as particularly coded – there’s amoment where he switches his grip in the midst of his verbal flirtationsnegotiations, for example. Which makes me wonder, actually, whether any of thatshows up in the Lille fight – I mean, probablynot, because the focus of that fight is very much elsewhere, but it’s theonly other time in canon where we get to see Shunsui engage in a seriousshowdown with a male-presenting opponent. I mean – except for his and Juu-chan’sfight with Yama-jii at the end of the Soul Society arc, but like – ugh. I hopeto the gods that Shunsui isn’t somehowcoming onto Old Man Yama there. Ugh. Ughhhhhh.)
…aaaaanyway. I digress. I take it for granted that Shunsuiis interested in men, and women, and everyone in between. Shunsui likes sex,and he’s never felt the need to discriminate, gender-wise. My guess is that hefinds chasing guys less interesting than chasing girls – girls tend to screamand squeal and get grossed out, and that’s more entertaining than coming onto amaybe-not-quite-out-of-the-closet Fourth Seat or whatever who might just blushand get all genuinely embarrassed. Shunsui lives for drama and big gestures,and he really does try to find fun where he can – as difficult as that might befor him. Chasing girls provides him with that fun, and on the rare occasionswhen he’s actually successful, it provides him with sex, too. Win-win for goodol’ Shun, amirite?
To answer your question more directly, though, I think it’spossible that Shun has experienced heartbreak, yes. It’s difficult for me to delveinto specifics there, because ShunUki is my hardcore, ride-or-die OTP, and it’sclear to me that Shunsui and Ukitake are still on excellent terms in canon,whether or not they do, in fact, have a romantic and/or sexual relationship.That said – I suspect that a guy like Shunsui has a hard time settling down andfinding satisfaction anywhere. He’s a big flirt, and he’s restless. Also, helikes games. Skirt-chasing checks a lot of boxes for a guy like that – and thefact that there’s no commitment required probably makes him feel a littlebetter about the whole endeavor, too.
And of course you’reallowed a second question, my friend! You’re allowed as many questions as youwant!
The short answer is: uh, yeah. Yes, I think that is extremely likely.
For those who don’t know, The Rose-Colored Path is a ridiculously unpopular romance novelthat Shunsui has published (in installments?? I assume?? Is this confirmedanywhere??) in the SeireiteiCommunication. (Which – side note – I highkey love that Shunsui tries to write the Great Soul Society RomanceNovel and fails miserably, whereas Ukitake occasionally bangs out chapters of akids’ adventure story when he can, and it alwayssoars to the top of the charts. Like. These two. Are so complementary. Andit makes my heart so happy.) (Also I’m a sucker for dumb pieces of trivia aboutmy faves.)
We don’t actually have many details about what The Rose-Colored Path contains, but, uh –y’know when you filter the tags on AO3 because you’re desperate for literallyanything about a ship you like (note: this especially applies if it’s a rarepairLOLOLOLOLOL I’m not at ALL kidding tho), and you feel a little frisky and eventuallydecide to read only the “E” rated fics, and you open like 42375734 tabs andperuse everything and hope for the gods-damned best, only to find phrases like “quiveringdigit” and “love tunnel” and very poor pronoun distribution if the ship inquestion is yaoi/yuri?
All this to say – to me, TheRose-Colored Path is a like a fic that has the worst hits-to-kudos ratioever. Shunsui might well be drawing on his personal experiences here, but myguess is that it isn’t the content that turns his readership off – it’s theexecution. Because let’s be real, Shunsui thinks he’s hot shit in bed. And ifhe’s hot shit in bed, then surely, surely,he can write a killer romance novel. Right? Right…?
Evidently not. Sorry, Shunsui. But hey, at least you tried…?
Ask me about myShunsui headcanons!
I’m not drunk yet but I will be soon~
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