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randomyuu · 1 year

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A JJK GoYuu fancomic... of a fanfic (read right to left)

You know… despite me getting into JJK fandom this year, I’ve never drawn any JJK characters. (cue me drawing 9 whole-ass comic pages-)

This wonderful fic is titled (you'll whisper, serpent tongue) what you fear you have become by @voxofthevoid. This comic covers chapter 1 scenes.

Beware of the tags, as the fanfic is NSFW. Oh, and also, manga spoilers! Major character and arc spoilers! I’ve read until chapter 4 and no NSFW so far, but still, beware!

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43446157/chapters/109219954

I hope you enjoy reading this comic and the fanfic if you decide to!

Update: Chapter 6 scene fanart

More of my random thoughts and an early drawing of GoYuu below:

Have I told you I’m not used to drawing manga as well? Manga panels are pain. PAIN, I tell you. I shouldn’t have done this, but I did. I did, because every time I read the synopsis of this fic I keep picturing manga-like scenes. You should blame me for reading those AllYuu doujinshis.

It was… interesting experience. I was struggling a bit with the balloon consistency, like, do I use white boxes or just italic words for thoughts? Or maybe a balloon with a cloud-like border?

And there’s GoYuu (YuuGo? Idk honestly, don’t care lol) themselves. As I said, I literally have never drawn JJK-related content before. So when I started thinking about the panelling, I realised that I don’t really know how to draw Gojo, even more a thousand-year-old Yuuji. A whole day is spent researching Gojo, Yuuji and Sukuna’s appearances lol. Sukuna’s markings are a problem since I can’t find a full view of his markings. I know I can just finally watch the anime (yes I haven’t watched the anime, only some short clips; yes I know the animation is good, and I really want to watch it but my brain doesn’t want to) or re-read the manga, but I don’t want to ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

After going through Google images, Twitter and Reddit, I whipped up a front drawing of GoYuu as my reference:

Gojo’s is easier because he hasn’t changed from the official (I blatantly eyeballing the character sheet I found haha), but Yuuji is different. Yuuji’s hair is longer; if I recall, there’s no exact description of his clothes. I assume he’s topless due to this description: Messy pink hair, long enough to cover the creature’s nape but not to hide the segmented dark markings running down his back, shifts in the wind.

And halfway through storyboarding, I realised that I have no experience using screen tones. Whatsoever. So off I go searching for a screentone bundle I can freely download and slowly figure my way out after fully lining the page.

And we haven’t even touched perspective, background, achromatic colouring, non-human characters—man, I really bite more than I can chew lmaooo

Ah, the things you would do to satiate that drawing mood ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Also, I hope I’ll have time to draw more fanarts of JJK GoYuu fanfics because they live rent-free in my brain and I need them to get out. Maybe other pairings as well? I like quite a lot of pairings that involve Yuuji. He’s precious, and I love having it shown to me over and over through fanfics.

#Yuu's art #jjk-fic-fanart #jjk-ship #goyuu #fan comic #omg idk what to put here #attempting at manga-ing #is that even a word #jjk ship #fanart #unrelated to this but I was so tired that I didn't notice two mistakes in the title lol #fixed them though #jjk fic #五悠 #5u #gojo x yuji #gojou x yuuji #gojo x itadori #goyu

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makeste · 3 years

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BnHA Chapter 310: A Tale of Two Kacchans

Previously on BnHA: Flashback!Deku was all, “hey, you know what sounds like a good decision? Abandoning my studies at the safest place in the country so that the bad guy who wants to find me and kill me has literally nothing standing in his way of doing that.” All Might was all, “I fucking knew you were going to say some bullshit like that so whatever, but I’M COMING WITH YOU and I’m also going to invite the Hawksquad to come with us, mostly so that I can steal Jeanist’s car.” Jeanist was all, “okay fine you can borrow my car, All Might, but only if you wear jeans.” All Might was all, “okay sure” and he wore jeans and also sunglasses and a leather jacket and it was pretty rad. Anyway so now they’re out there fighting crime and hunting down the LoV and stuff, and absolutely none of it is going to end well, I’m just letting you know now. But I guess we’ll let them enjoy it while it lasts.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “happy belated Kacchan’s Birthday makeste, here’s the flashback you really wanted at long last,” and proceeds to pull the old vestige flashback out of the kitchen drawer and upend its contents all over my Friday afternoon without the slightest bit of warning. OFA III is all “WHAT’S UP I’M JUST SOME GUY, HELLO,” and okay?? Hello yourself. OFA II, on the other hand, is all, “okay yeah I have different hair and stuff, but I’m like 98% sure I’m either Bakugou or his goddamn twin, I mean look at me.” Which, yeah. I looked, and he really is though you guys. Anyway though, so he and OFA II basically just showed up in the First (who goes by Yoichi now)’s prison cell one day all “HEY THERE, WE’RE HERE TO SAVE YOU, APPARENTLY, ALTHOUGH WE SEEM REAL CONFUSED ABOUT IT TBH BUT HEY.” And so they saved him, and Yoichi was all “hey nice to meet you do you want to join my super-exclusive Saving The World Club”, and so they did, and then the chapter ended lol. I would have said yes too.

oh my sweet lord?? I didn’t realize we were getting a color page this week, but LOOK AT THIS

this could have been a fucking volume cover. I’m almost mad that it wasn’t, lol but I mean fkldjslklk just look at it??! Horikoshi out here spoiling us and making sure we’re well fed since next week the manga is on break for Golden Week. well this will certainly help to tide me over. hot damn look at those colors

so now it’s raining on some dumb building in the middle of somewhere

is this where the Hawksquad has set up camp for the night? or are we actually cutting back to the League? that’d be unexpected (but not unwelcome)

ffff nevermind dammit it’s just more random citizens under attack

feels like this is the third or fourth scene we’ve had of civilians being Under Attack since this arc started. I mean no offense, but I think we get it by this point. it’s the end times, etc. etc. we’re well aware that things have gone to shit

so apparently these two guys are facing off against a girl with a mutant quirk. and she’s telling them that she’s not a monster and she was just scared, oh shit. I believe her btw, you can see it in her face

but these assholes don’t believe her at all and they’re pointing what looks to be some type of support item gun at her

you know what’s interesting, is that this kind of random quirk discrimination is the exact kind of thing PLF and the like were swearing up and down they’d put a stop to with their glorious revolution. it’s almost like those guys were completely full of shit. huh

so yeah, fortunately for this woman someone is stepping in and intervening before she can be blasted to bits by this trigger-happy asshole for absolutely no fucking reason

looks like a hero actually stepped in and saved her?? but no that can’t be, heroes are the ones that ruin everything and make everything worse, or so I understand. lol where did all of this sarcasm come from out of nowhere dlkdsjlk I’m sorry guys I just suddenly got swept up in the hypocrisy of certain people’s philosophies out of the blue idek

anyway so it is of course Deku saving her, and now he’s trying to talk thess jerks down all diplomatically instead of just kicking their asses, which is certainly a choice

MOTHERFUCKER I’M

fucking impossible to miss the real world parallels here. shit. this woman nearly died for her crime of Walking While Having A Mutant Quirk huh. and meanwhile Deku is just letting this guy scurry away and even letting him keep that fucking bazooka of his, like, ????

fucking hell she’s crying!!

lmao this chapter is actively trying to make me mad now huh. that’s some genuine righteous anger I’m feeling on behalf of this fictional ferret lady whom I only met two minutes ago. girl you are not the one who needs to explain herself here!! you didn’t do anything wrong holy fuck. everything about this situation sucks so much

fkKJKLMMMHFGH

“I’m sorry I made you upset, please enjoy this panel of tiny!floating!Deku hefting this lady’s massive beach umbrella up for her like the fucking gentleman he is” well okay then thank you sir

and JUST LIKE THAT the tension is broken and I’m entirely incapable of taking the rest of this conversation seriously because Deku’s trying to be all calming and authoritative, but now the illusion has been broken because I know he only comes up to like her knees

“well thanks again for saving me young man. I’ll leave you to it, I’m sure you’ve got more important things to do like protecting your Lucky Charms cereal from all those greedy children”

oh hey All Might

you wouldn’t have just let that guy with the bazooka just walk away to commit more attempted murders would you?? man

OH MY GOD DEKU IS IMMEDIATELY DITCHING HIM AGAIN

I ~CANNOT STAY HERE~ oh, well, sorry to keep you detained I know you’re busy

dfslkjlk oh my god

fucking told you Deku didn’t pack any food lol. it’s literally all notebooks in that bag you guys. he couldn’t just leave them all in his dorm room when he left, because what if someone tried to read them and came across one of the pages where he absentmindedly doodled Kacchan’s name surrounded by little tiny hearts oh gosh

AWWWWW

I needed this Horikoshi. thank you for this wholesome soul-cleansing interaction after all of that bullshit earlier

so now Deku’s climbing up this tall building to eat his lunchbox more dramatically. Tokoyami would be proud

and Banjou is saying that society right now is just like in The Good Old Days (read: bad old days) when quirk society was even more of a mess than it is now

which is exactly how AFO likes it, no doubt

so now Deku’s having a whole conversation with Banjou seemingly out loud lol, weird. and he’s basically saying that they don’t have any clues as to where TomurAFO and the League are hiding right now, and none of the Tartarus escapees they’ve found knew anything either

mmmmmfmhm, marge simpson noises

but you think you can?? you, alone, by yourself?? you think you stand a chance?? I just need you to think this all through a bit more kid

Deku it is NOT JUST YOUR RESPONSIBILITY ALONE, PLEASE REALIZE THIS ALREADY. YOU MAY BE THE CHOSEN ONE, BUT EVEN THE CHOSEN ONE NEEDS HIS FRIENDS BY HIS SIDE GODDAMMIT

and of course my pleading is all in vain, because he’s a fictional character who can’t fucking hear me, and also because I’m pretty sure there’s only one character who is going to actually be able to get him to hear reason here. I’ve been saying it, and I’ll keep saying it lol. so until then I guess I’ll just have to be patient

anyway so it appears we’re segueing into another flashback??? HORIKOSHI PLEASE GIVE ME SOME BAKUCRUMBS BEFORE THE TWO WEEK BREAK, I BEG YOU

dlKSDJLFKWJELKGHSLGKLEKJLFKHLGK

YES, THANK YOU, I KNOW WHERE THIS FUCKING IS LOL, IT’S NOT LIKE I’VE BEEN OBSESSED WITH FINDING OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE REST OF THIS SCENE OR ANYTHING LMAO. BUT ANYWAYS DON’T MIND ME, YOU WERE SAYING??

oh my god oh my god I’m not readyyyyy, but also FUCK YEAH I AM SO FUCKING READY LOL LET’S DO THIS

YOU GUYS

I’M ABOUT TO STEP IN THAT ROOM AND YEET ONE OF THOSE FUCKING CHAIRS AT YOU ALL

NOOOOO

I’M ABOUT TO GRAB BANJOU’S GOGGLES AND STRETCH THEM OUT AND SNAP THEM BACK SO THEY SMACK THE SHIT OUT OF HIS FOREHEAD!!! IT’S WHAT HE DESERVES!!! I’M ABOUT TO MOVE TO JAPAN AND GET A JOB WITH DOORDASH AND FIND OUT WHAT HORIKOSHI LIKES TO ORDER FOR LUNCH SO I CAN BE THE ONE TO DELIVER IT SO THAT WHEN HE OPENS THE DOOR I CAN FINALLY ASK HIM “HEY WHAT THE FUCK” IN PERSON

AHHH NO EVERYBODY SHHHHH STOP TALKING!!!!

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL THAT PERSON SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS IN THE BACKGROUND TO SHUT THE FUCK UP, OH WAIT, THAT’S ME

(」゜ロ゜)」 щ(゜ロ゜щ)

LOL THIS FUCKING ASSHOLE!!! LOOK AT YOU!!! YOU’RE NOT KIRISHIMA OR SHINSOU OR IIDA IN A WIG OR ANYBODY LOL. YOU’RE JUST A DUDE. BROOOOO ABOUT FUCKING TIME, WHAT’S GOOD

I CAN’T SCROLL DOWN AHHHH BUT I HAVE TO BUT IT’S TOO INTENSE AHHHHHHH

I CAN SEE THE TOP OF HIS SPIKY HEAD, IT’S FINALLY THAT TIME AHHHHHHHH OKAY I’M GONNA DO IT HERE GOES

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

IT’S HIM. IT FUCKING REALLY FUCKIGN IS HIM OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. WHY AM I SO SHOCKED LMAO I’M THE ONE WHO’S BEEN SAYING THIS THE WHOLE DAMN TIME LMAO. OH GOD. O H MY FUCKING GOD

well okay then sir. so are you an ~ancestor~ or a Kacchan from another timeline or so what’s your deal then

YOICHI WHO IS YOICHI

YOICHI ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT’S UP. LMAO WHO IS YOICHI

(ETA: I’m going to punch myself in the face lmao. he’s Yoichi. he, the First. that’s his name. name reveal at long last what what!!)

MORE IMPORTANTLY SHOULD I BE IMAGINING NOBU’S VOICE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE LMAO I AM ANYWAY BUT YEAH

(ETA: I actually think he’s going to end up being voiced by Nobuhiko whether he ends up being Kacchan or not, just because it fits right in with the general “identical in almost every way” aesthetic he’s got going on.)

TUMBLR HOW WE LIKING OUR ANGSTY ALTERNATE UNIVERSE KACCHAN?? EVERYONE HATED YOU SO MUCH BEFORE THEY EVEN MET YOU, BUT THEY FORGOT TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT YOU MIGHT BE HOT LMAO WHAT A TWIST

“some bright-eyed brat” oh come on. IT’S GOTTA BE HIM LOL

oh my god you all are probably TIRED AS FUCK of all my screaming but I’M SORRY IMMA HAVE TO DO IT ONE LAST TIME BECAUSE...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

that face. that expression!! THE FACT THAT HE’S OUT HERE OPENING DOORS WITH HIS FEET, LIKE HOLY SHIT!! JUST ADMIT THE JIG IS UP ALREADY

and so they really are the ones who busted First out of his jail cell huh

so how did they know you were in the room?? why did they come and break you out?? and how, pray tell, did they know to get you to transfer OFA to them?? hmmmMMMMMMMM

oh MY GOD

you guys. oh my god. it’s too much. every last bit of it lines up exactly with the Bakuverse theory sdkjfj I’m short-circuiting. it’s really fucking happening oh my lord

HELLO SEXY ALTERNATE UNIVERSE KACCHAN WITH HIS SEXY FUCKING SCAR, FUCK YEAH WE REALLY ARE EATING GOOD THIS CHAPTER

HELL YEAH WE’RE GOING. WE’RE GOING FULL SPEED YOU GUYS. LMAO I’M SO FUCKING HYPED RIGHT NOW I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF WEFKJLDKFFFF

SO, EVERYONE, LET’S RECAP. -- ACTUALLY NO, I STARTED TO WRITE UP A LIST, BUT I IMMEDIATELY REALIZED IT REALLY JUST NEEDS TO GO IN ITS OWN THREAD. SO I MADE IT AND POSTED IT, AND NOW I’M FINISHING UP THIS HOT MESS OF A RECAP POST. SO NOW WE’RE BACK TO THIS ONE FINAL PANEL OF DEKU EATING HIS KATSU ALL SERIOUS

YES SIR. YES SIR, WE GOING, FULL SPEED AHEAD, WHATEVER, IDK WTF IS HAPPENING BUT YES!!

lol, anyways so as I said in my other post, mysterious sexy guys with tragic pasts are what bring us together as a fandom, so whatever your thoughts are on the rest of it, let’s just rejoice in that. it’s what we deserve

#bnha 310 #midoriya izuku #ofa prime #ofa ii #bakugou katsuki #MAYBE???#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

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The Voyage So Far: Skypiea

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

the bar scene in jaya is one i didn’t really get the first time i read it- like nami, i mostly found luffy and zoro’s refusal to fight back frustrating more than anything else. i didn’t realize the connection to shanks in the prologue until someone else pointed it out awhile later, but when i did, it made me appreciate the entire sequence and luffy’s choices a lot more.

honestly, i know this is one of the pages that gets the most attention from jaya, and it absolutely deserves it. blackbeard here is effectively dropping one of the biggest main themes of the series- people’s dreams don’t end!!- and how interesting that we get that delivered by the antagonist to the protagonist, instead of the other way around? how often do you see a series do that?

and the line hits. look at the emphasis. there’s absolutely nothing on these two pages except for the three strawhats, blackbeard, and blackbeard’s line, bigger than anything else.

chapter 232, with luffy punching out bellamy in one hit is still, to this day, probably my favorite one piece chapter. it opens with the drunk pirate seeing the newspaper with luffy’s hundred million bounty and realizing just who bellamy was kicking around, and it hits on one of my favorite plot threads of one piece- the growing infamy of the strawhats and luffy in particular, and their rise in the world.

the atmosphere of the whole scene is so good, the tension in their air, the way all the bar patrons jump when luffy yells for bellamy to come out- and when the hit comes, the satisfaction is visceral.

i’ve talked about it before, but god, i LOVE the way one piece defines “romance”- the arthurian kind of romance, the adventurous kind, that romanticizes the world and its wonders- romance dawn. in an arc as thematically heavy as jaya, it makes sense that it, too, is explicitly brought up. can you think of a more romantic, impossible adventure than traveling to the sky?

nami’s confidence when faced with the task of navigating into the sky is so fantastic.

the expressions, and the art in general, in skypiea, are really so lovely. look at the variety between the strawhats when they first emerge from the white-white sea to lay eyes on angel island. look how expressive they all are!! i have such a soft place in my heart for the art in these earlier arcs, honestly.

somewhat related to the above: there are so many little moments in skypiea where the strawhats just get to have FUN, and be stupid, and get fleshed out more as characters, and honestly it’s such a delight. also, everyone’s skypiea outfits were just really really good. cowboy hat robin... i miss u every day

i really like the whole scene where robin is exploring the ruins, and these panels in particular have such a lovely sort of ethereal look to them. i love seeing robin doing archeology, i think for the same reason i love to see sanji cooking- the strawhats are all such cool and passionate people, and it’s really really nice to see them doing and talking about the things they love and excel at most.

i’m sure i’ve said it before but i LOVE how logia powers are depicted, especially when used to avoid an attack. it’s so cool. ace’s cover story runs through most of this arc, and we get some great examples of it there as well.

1. wife

2. skypiea is SUCH a good character-building arc for robin- which is good, because the next saga is almost entirely predicated on how much both the audience and the strawhats care about her. it’s here where we learn about her passion for archeology, her reverence for history, and get a much better look at the softer sides of her personality and her fast-growing admiration and affection for the strawhats.

man, enel has so many huge, terrifyingly powerful shows of force throughout this arc, but this right here, this little sequence where he appears behind raki between panels without warning and we see him reflected in her eye, communicates better than absolutely anything else just why he’s a nightmare.

“jonny you sure are posting a lot of panels of zoro being cool without any real commentary” yeah. he kicks ass in this arc

conis is a very underrated character, i think. she’s pretty easy to overlook, but she also manages to completely break the indoctrination she’s been raised into and gambles her own life to save most of the population of angel island from complete extermination. she yells that she doesn’t recognize enel as god, an instant death sentence at any other time, just to get them to listen to her.

there’s a moment, in this scene, where a boy throws a rock at her for insulting enel, and she just stands there, and lets the blood trickle down her face, and keeps making her case. honestly, i really like her.

look at this page. look how it’s framed. luffy in the foreground, taking up most of the page- enel in the background, tiny, inconsequential.

now that’s how you draw god’s natural enemy.

this is one of my favorite nami character moments in the whole manga. nami is a greedy person. she has a lot of things she wants. it’s one of her defining traits.

but when faced with someone with godlike power, offering her absolutely anything she wants if she’ll just abandon her friends and come with him- she doesn’t want anything, for that price, even with her life on the line if she declines. she knows exactly what her treasure is.

obviously this is an awesome panel, but sanji’s little smile just before enel strikes him is what really, really makes it for me. he’s about to get slammed with several thousand volts of lightning, but more importantly, nami and usopp are going to be safe.

the skypiea flashback is one of my very favorites, and also the first time one piece ever made me cry. i nearly cried just flipping through it again for this post. it’s just so fucking devastating.

noland never stopped looking, and calgara never stopped waiting, and neither of them ever lost faith in each other despite how badly they fell out at the end, and wow, that just kills me. but at the same time, it makes the way the flashback and the main story come together at the end so satisfying and cathartic.

i do think skypiea has one of the best climaxes of any arc. the way all the disparate elements and plot threads- enel, the story of noland and calgara, the war between the skypieans and shandians, cricket’s search down on jaya- come together and tie up so perfectly that the entire arc can be ended by the ringing of a single massive bell is nothing less than genius writing.

i really love the establishment of roger’s poneglyph message and all the things it implies here. it raises so many questions, most of which we’ve only now gotten answered, in wano. oda’s capacity for long-term storytelling is one of his greatest strengths, and this is probably one of my favorite examples of it. (see also, in jaya when sanji mentions offhand that he was born in north blue.)

i just really love seeing them all smiling, and i love the parallels to calgara and noland’s sendoff here. feels like a wound finally healing, after four hundred years.

and, of course, it ends with cricket, asking what crazy, romantic dream they’re going to chase down next. because this is one piece!! just because you find the end of one rainbow doesn’t mean you stop looking for the next one.

#the voyage so far #one piece #arc: skypiea #arc: jaya #not japanese #long post #opmeta

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sarahjtv · 3 years

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BNHA Chapter 306 Spoilers Quick Thoughts: Holy Shit, Deku

Ok, I’ve decided to wait until I read the ReadMHA fan translations to make a full “Spoiler Thoughts” post because it’s easier for me to look at them than look back and fourth at various Twitter accounts to get the full picture. Regarless, THIS CHAPTER OH MY GOD!!!!!!! I haven’t been this antsy for leak images since the “Dabi is Touya Todoroki” reveal. I wanted to write this last night, but I was already in bed crying and screaming my head off that I couldn’t. Now that I have most of it processed, I need to write down some quick thoughts at least to get some stuff out:

First of all, I need to address THE BALLS ON HORIKOSHI-SENSEI FOR PULLING THIS SHIT OUT ON US AND MAKING IT WORK SWEET JESUS I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING AT ALL!!!!!! THIS MAN BAITED US WITH THE 2ND AND 3RD ONE FOR ALL USERS AND MAYBE SOME THERAPY FOR OUR KIDS BUT NOPE! HE JUST PULLED THE RUG UNDER ALL OF US AND THEN MADE DEKU LEAVE UA AND GO ALL VIGILANTE ON OUR ASSES!!!!! I HATE IT HERE BUT I ALSO LOVE IT HERE I-

Second of all, the big topic that we all need to talk about: Deku leaving UA and everyone else to go off on his own.

Out of all the twist Horikoshi has pulled on us, I think this is the biggest and most unexpected one. I honestly did think that some UA students would quit trying to be Pro Heroes after the war because of how much corruption and trauma has been brought to the surface. But, Deku was one of the last people on my mind. Out of all the characters in this series, I would think Deku would stay and prove to everyone that it’s ok to keep striving towards being a hero. But, no... He still wants to be a hero, but not the way any of us expected.

Before Deku left, he wrote and left individual letter for every one of his fellow 1-A students (and hopefully his mom, All Might, Mirio, and Eri (OH, ERI ;~;)). In it, he tells them the truth about One For All and why Shigaraki and All For One are after him. Of course, all the kids are devastated. What’s interesting to me is that we didn’t get reactions from everyone, it was mainly Uraraka. This makes me wonder a few things:

1. If Deku wrote these out individually (his arms probably mostly healed at this point b/c he’s using them in the last page), I wonder if he wrote anything special for some of them. Especially the people he’s close to. Like, I need to know what he wrote to Iida, to Uraraka, to Inko, to All Might, TO SHOTO, TO BAKUGO.

2. WE DON’T GET TO SEE SHOTO’S AND BAKUGO’S REACTIONS TO DEKU LEAVING THEM AND I NEED TO SEE THEM NOW! I DON’T CARE HOW SAD AND ANGSTY IT WILL BE I NEED TO SEE THEM! I WANT TO SEE SHOTO BE A LITTLE BETRAYED BY THE LYING BUT ALSO COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING THAT DEKU DID THIS TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE! I NEED TO SEE BAKUGO WONDERING WHERE HIS DAMN NERD WENT AND MAYBE TRY TO FIND HIM BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY OTHER STUDENT WHO KNEW ABOUT OFA! I KNOW I’M SCREAMING BUT AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

The final panel takes place in April, about a month after the war started and ended. We weren’t given a specific timeline in when exactly Deku left UA, but it’s somewhere within that month. So, does this mean he’s been on his own for nearly a month? What has he been doing this entire time?

And that final double-page spread... Good lord almighty. It shows Deku standing on top of a building looking down at a villain attacking the city. He’s in his hero costume but it’s all ripped up and worn out (probably what remains of it after the war arc. I noticed his air gauntlets and arm bracers are gone too after looking at Deku again. He still has his iron soles for his Shoot Style though). He has his backpack on him and what looks like the rest of Gran Torino’s cape. It hasn’t been confirmed if Gran Torino is alive or dead if Deku took his cape, but I can only assume he died based on Deku’s sad face and that there’s honestly no way Torino survived his injuries I’m sorry. I’d be shocked if he were alive at this point.

And the last panel... Deku looks so tired. The light in his eyes is just gone as he says “A big villain” while looking out at the city. Bringing us back to Chapter 1 of BNHA where one of Deku’s first pieces of dialogue was “A big villain!” while watching it rampage in the middle of the city. Everything’s come full circle it seems and in the most depressing way possible. I feel so bad for Deku. He’s only 16 and even though his will to be a hero is still strong, I feel like a part of him has died honestly. That childlike hope and innocence he’s shown since the very beginning doesn’t look to be there anymore. My boy’s exhausted, Horikoshi, please give him a break. And give yourself one too.

I wonder, if Deku is still doing hero work, but isn’t at UA anymore, does this mean he’s a vigilante? I know he has his Provisional License, but does that thing even work if you’re not enrolled in the Hero Program you went to? Because if it doesn’t, then Deku has technically gone full vigilante. He looks like he’s about to put his bunny mask on in that last panel actually. His current state of his costume screams vigilante to me even. I’m really interested in seeing what Deku’s been doing and what he’s going to do now. We know he left UA to protect everyone he cares about (because OFA is like a beacon to AFO now), but how long is he going to keep this up? Is he going to run into Bakugo or anyone else in the meantime? Is he going to run into the vigilantes from the BNHA Spin-off manga (Koichi, Pop-Step, Knuckleduster) or other vigilantes? Is he ever going to see his friends and mom again? Will any of our UA kids drop out of the hero course too? I have so many questions, guys. I want to go back to high school shenanigans, but that’s clearly not happening soon.

Finally, the chapter appears to be titled “The Beginning of The End” or “Opening of Final Chapter”. Ngl, I legit thought that this meant that the series was really ending like Horikoshi talked about in his last interview. I took that with a grain of salt, but I don’t know anymore. This could mean an end to the whole “Academia” part of the story. We might get a big time-skip like Naruto, One Piece, Haikyuu, and a lot of other manga did before it. I kinda don’t want this to happen because I like seeing characters grow in chronological order and Horikoshi-sensei has been pretty good at twisting the usual tropes, but I don’t know this time guys. The chapter ends on a good spot to do a big time-skip if Horikoshi wants. But, honestly, everything’s up in the air right now. I have so many theories in my head right now about what might happen next. This is truly some peak fiction though like goddamn. I really hope this doesn’t mean that we’re reaching the final arc of the series, but if Horikoshi want it to be, then I have no choice but to respect that. I really hope it isn’t though.

Me after the insanity that was this chapter:

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howlingmoonrise · 3 years

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Thoughts on Petshop of Horrors: Wandering Ark volume 3

(crossposted from dreamwidth)

me realizing a whole-ass 25 pages of the last volume of the papa series are just sensei's travel logs:

what did i do to deserve this, honestly? sensei i love you and all but THERE WERE SO MANY OTHER THINGS TO COVER ABOUT PAPA. AND YOU DIDN'T TOUCH THEM. AT ALL.

To start with, there's only two actual chapters in the volume, keeping in line with the previous volumes. A whooping total of 103 pages out of a 128 page manga - except, a good portion of one of them is pretty much just rehashing the events of the last volume of the original manga, so it's not exactly like they're overflowing with juicy new content. Vesca and Victor fans will be pleased at a new glimpse of them both though, with emphasis on Vesca.

Oh, you wanted an explanation for the ark? For why Papa was going around supposedly through "space and time", with a reason other than "well, I wanted to draw stuff from other eras but I don't want to write a whole new manga with a D from back then"? There's none. N-O-N-E. Zilch. Zip. Nada. Niente. Nothing about his relationship with Sofu (though they do briefly meet on Victor's funeral - and wow, am I surprised Sofu deigned to show considering how much he loves humankind), nothing about D or Papa's relationship with him beyond an outsider's point of view on the events of the last manga, nothing about the D species in general or glimpses at previous Ds that were likely alive before our D came into being.

Another bad point: what the hell was up with the cover art?

The top portion of it is fine, but why does the rest of it look like whoever painted it forgot how to shade things? Look at that belt. Look at those sleeves. That's all I have to say on this subject.

On to the chapters themselves!

First chapter:

Papa D helps with The Bachelor. No, really. It's literally a Bachelor-style show, recorded for TV, with one single man and twenty ladies competing to become his wife. Trigger warning for almost-rape in this chapter.

I'll be honest, I liked the main character for this chapter. She's a go-getter, and a survivalist, and prefers stuffing her face with food instead of flirting away the night. Honestly? Mood. I really liked the butler too. I was going on a "oh, is he going to be the actual love interest?" line of thought since he looked interesting, and then went "nah, they're not focusing on him at all beyond that one (1) scene where they were dancing, guess he's just a side character after all", only for him to actually turn out to be the final love interest. That was. Hm. To say that it was majorly underdeveloped is to put it lightly, but the "prince" wasn't great either. The attempted rape felt as if it was shoved in because they were running out of pages though, since the rest of what we saw from his personality seemed a lot mellower than that.

The ?prostitutes? were an unexpected bright spot, even though they only showed up for a couple of panels, but it was nice that they gave her food (however dismissively) and tried to get the other guy to leave her alone, and that they were simply described as "beautiful" instead of anything else.

OH BUT. Papa hitting the would-be rapist over the head with an oar was great, it actually gave a bit more dimension to him since the Ds are usually so unwilling to dirty their own hands when it comes to violent business: at most they would usually let their pets do the work for them.

Which actually brings me to another question.

I've already said before that Papa is at most a side character on his own series, and that he actually barely gets involved at all apart from a few nudges here and there - but it's kind of jarring that he almost never "sells" a pet in this series. On all volumes including this one, there are only two chapters where he gives away a pet that was already with him and that didn't initially belong to someone else that he was just returning: the dogs from the Austria chapter, and the bird from Empress one (who was actually said to be given by Sofu, but I'm calling bullshit since he had long hair and this is supposedly a time-travelling ark). It's definitely a weird choice for a manga whose title is, quite literally, "Petshop of Horrors".

Also, for a FLYING ark there sure seem to be a lot of water-related incidents.

Thoughts on the family thing down on the general thoughts section. Also, WHY IS IT AN OAR AGAIN? WHERE DID THE BUTLER FIND AN OAR, SINCE IT SEEMED LIKE IT WASN'T PAPA LENDING IT TO HIM? I can't say the penguin thing was a huge twist considering previous chapters, but it makes me wonder that so many of Papa's stories are directly about either humans or animals, but rarely the conjunction of both apart from brief exceptions.

Second chapter: Nice callback to the original PSoH on the first page: I'm extremely fond of that description of the Ds, and it's fitting for a final chapter of a PSoH series.

This chapter is a cameo for Victor (from the Sofu series which I haven't read yet but know some things about), and a full appearance for Vesca. Victor seems to have chosen the same path as Leon, though arguably he'd actually have the money for it since he's a baron. Travelling the world following rumours and sightings, in search of someone they considered to be dear to them? Sign all three of these blonds up, because it seems to be a tradition at this point. The Ds really have a type, huh? Truth be told, from what I heard of Victor I didn't think he'd be the adventure-seeking sort, so this was a bit of a surprise. He looks cute and happy piloting planes and running from rhinos so I guess that's all that matters though.

BUT WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE POOR. He looks like a huge cinnamon roll so I feel super bad for him, I bet they all resented the money he spent trying to chase Sofu D across the globe once the Great Depression hit :/

And then, bam! Sofu cameo. This is the chapter where EVERYONE gets a cameo, copy-paste of the last chapter of OG PSoH or otherwise. He's cryptic as usual, and I REALLY didn't expect him to remember Victor's name, much less show up to his funeral. Not that he even looks like he's grieving; he pretty much only speaks of Hitler and Eva Braun's kirin, to Papa's seemingly frowning disapproval (I haven't complained about the round art style on this volume's commentary yet so consider this to be it: the only reason why Papa even looks put out is because he has a Very Clear Frowny Line, because otherwise he just looks normal... and round).

And then finally, some actual Papa content! Or, er, Vesca content. Both. Let's go with both. I don't want to make myself sad thinking about how little we saw of Papa on his own series. Here we see once again mentions of extinction and of resurrecting species, and finally a throwback to why the ark is an ark: "Noah's Ark". It took me RNS' translations of OG PSoH to understand the reference back on the original, because on Tokyopop's mangled translation the ark is merely a flying boat.

It's nice to see that Vesca has a strong sense of justice similar to my dear boy Leon Orcot, since it was a bit iffy on the original manga. He's righteous (and right!) about the other Professor using Papa's research, and how Papa should have the benefits of it for himself since he was the one doing the studies. Papa, however, cares little about money or glory: even now his focus is on recovering the blind bird species from their trip to Greece (see: Shin PSoH), and here we see once again his hopeful view that one day he may be able to help them see again. Parallel to his own family much? Honestly, I feel for him.

WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE SHOOTING PAPA? At this point he's trying to reach for Leon's record - and failing, because Leon gets shot and mauled a frankly unholy amount of times during the original PSoH, so no one else can ever really compare. What really breaks my heart here is that he actually asks why. Sofu and D would both have simply taken it for granted, but Papa (seemingly, up until this point) doesn't automatically assume the worst of every human being he comes across. That pained why kills me a little bit, here, and soon after he grows cold and allows the more murderous side of that contract to go loose.

That page with Vesca going into the FBI really throws me back to the panels on the original PSoH right before/right when Leon decides to chase after D. Part of the background is blank, the other part a faint image of the city and Chinatown, with a sense of detachment associated with them. I could probably take the time to place them side by side and compare fully, but uh. I may or may not be stretching my workday bedtime a little too much to finish writing this, oops.

Also, an echo to the original PSoH with Papa's death, called back with him nearly being shot in the middle of the forehead. The actual event is brought in shortly after Vesca gets to mind-rant about the Ds and his search for a few pages, and then flashback flashforward time! A whole six pages which are just portions of OG PSoH's last chapter redrawn from another angle. It's implied that Vesca was able to board the ark like Leon did due to a similar scene with lying in the clouds and sighting the ship amidst them, though whether he was able to stay or not is a whole new story. This is where the actual story ends.

Sensei's travel logs: I'm not going to bother going into these. It was nice to see some glimpses of my son (forever a Leon stan here!) and a cameo for Taizuu also showed up a little later on if you're one of the people who liked him (personally, I would trade Taizuu in for a cornchip and a ball of lint). I'm going to make the executive choice of pretending that the D/Leon bits are what's actually happening right now after Leon caught up to D. It's lovely to see them on vacations, and Leon has mellowed out a little bit while D seems extremely comfortable and content with his favourite ex-detective's presence =v=

General thoughts: All the series so far seem to have some sort of theme, which kind of ties into the main character of it and their own arc. The original PSoH, for one, was focused a lot on family and greed and love and desire: our D, similarly, had plenty of unresolved issues surrounding his bloodline and things that he wanted but that he couldn't/was not allowed to have because of that very blood.

You'll have to forgive me if my interpretation of Shin is spotty since I only read around half of it (online scans only went up to volume 6 or so, physical versions of the Tokyopop translations were discontinued, and ruthlessnightsscans started scanlating it after I’d already read the available chapters for Shin), but from what I remember of it it seemed to bring in softer, more loving and lighthearted stories, usually tied around romance and being kept apart from things they want/love. The two non-Leon chapters that immediately spring to mind are the Romeo and Juliet Mafia AU, and the one where the lady got pregnant from her dead husband and was able to live on due to that renewed hope. D himself seems to have turned a new page: he hangs around humans on his leisure time (bless those drag queens), takes a vested interest in happy endings for others even if not for himself, and seems overall less inclined towards gruesome murder.

(You'll have to forgive me, but I actually haven't read the Sofu series at all yet so I can't analyse that one. I wasn't even aware RNS had scanlated it until recently, but then again I hold a lot of rage against that slimy bastard (Sofu, not RNS, RNS are baby) and so I'm putting it off indefinitely. Oops?)

And then there's this one. It's probably no coincidence that so many of the stories are about reproduction and birth and continuing a dying species: this is something that chases Papa all the way from his college days not even considering his childhood, which we don't actually don't know about but can make an educated guess at down to his issues with his son and the faint madness of his last years. Even his death plays into this theme, with it ultimately working as an way to keep the D line alive. It makes me think that Papa being kept from his position as a main character in his own series might actually be somewhat purposeful, though the decaying quality of the latest PSoH mangas makes me think this is not the case. I'll have to read the Sofu series to make a better judgement on this, depending on whether or not Sofu is or is not treated similarly.

Another theme: being haunted by the dead. I think this is actually present on almost every chapter of the Wandering Ark series, though we may disagree on the levels on which it was shown and how easily it is or is not divorced by my previous point. A reader that reads this series on its own will likely find Papa a very bland character and will not grasp onto the nuances of these themes and how they are connected to him, IMO. These conclusions and these hypothesis are drawn by virtue of the first manga alone; it's because of it that we're aware of how Papa himself lives for the species who are long gone, his own kind included. Most of the characters on Wandering Ark push through the suffering and the sorrow of their dead to go beyond their limits and become greater and independent, which is another parallel to Papa since he's the only one of the Ds who has an objective beyond simple (and inefficient) vengeance.

Overall, there's little else I can say that I haven't said already, either here or on my previous post for the first two volumes of the Wandering Ark series. There's a real sense of isolation and detachment on Papa's side (though he seems more benevolent than the other two Ds were), but as I said I'm not sure if it's meant to be purposeful or not, though Sensei's choice to not give him an actual companion thorough his series is also telling. The pacing was also better than in the first chapters of this series, though there was that issue with the ending of the first chapter of this volume. I also still can't say this enough, but it's really strange that Papa is such a side character on his own series??

Final thoughts: we were robbed.

At least Sensei hinted that her journey with the Ds might not be over yet, though if we get another Sofu manga I can and I will riot.

#petshop of horrors #pet shop of horrors #papa d #wandering ark #drifting ark #hyouhaku no hakobune hen #petshop of horrors hyouhaku #psoh wandering ark #psoh #howl rambles a lot

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kdtheghostwriter · 5 years

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SNK #119 - Jaeger ni Kissu

Let me get some Fs in the chat, pls.

So, what the hell? Shiganshina am I right? What’s the deal with that crazy place, huh?

You would think this fandom, more than all the others, would be used to getting the slider when they expect a fastball. (That’s right! I know baseball stuff!) Even I have to admit, though, Isa got me with this one. It’s all pretty thrilling to me as a reader. I’ll explain why later but first, some housekeeping. Remember when I said this a few months ago? That Eren’s expression was less relieved and more shocked leaning toward concerned? Welp.

Arm extended; mouth agape. The universal signs of “No, not that you asshole!” It’s also masterful paneling to have Colt’s cry of “Wait!” superimposed onto the Attack Titan, which we know can’t speak. Eren was mortified by the idea of his hometown being overrun with Titans yet again. That was hardly surprising. What did surprise me was Zeke’s look of shock as the Grice brothers revealed themselves. He still screamed, of course, as should have been expected. But that moment of hesitation…hmm. I guess he really did like Colt. It’s not out of the question. He just liked his plan more.

And since we’re on the topic, I’d like some words about this panel right here.

Dammit all, this one hit more than any of the others for me. See, Zeke, it’s not just you who understands the joys and the sorrows and the burdens of being an older brother. I do myself. Falco realized what was about to happen and tried to save his brother’s life by pushing him away. Colt refused and held him tighter.

Don’t worry, Falco! Your big brother will always be with you!

Fuck me, how am I supposed to keep my chill after a scene like that? Sure enough, Colt was scorched as his brother transformed into a mindless, lumbering monster which transitions me nicely into something else I said in the aftermath of #117. Someone did indeed have to die. I only guessed wrong who.

Reiner is going to survive this manga whether he wants to or not. More importantly, what a champion Porco is. Knew he was cooked, so he put all his energy into healing his body. Then he left the cockpit to distract Falco’s Titan and save two people. The fact that he did this right after seeing the memory of his brother confessing to Reiner that he lied is no accident. He wasn’t just proving to Reiner he was better; he was getting one back at his big brother. It’s equal parts heroic and tragic which is par for the course of this series. He died in almost the exact same way Marcel did all those years ago – saving Reiner’s dumbass from being nommed up. I’ll miss you Porco, but at least you’ll live on in the memories of the little one.

Speaking of little ones: maybe we should start calling her “Deadeye” Gabi Braun. This was such an inspired choice. Not just because of who pulled the trigger in the end (and partly because of whose gun she used), which got the intended reaction, but also because of who she hit. I thought for sure she would have taken aim for Zeke. It would have made sense. A wounded, stationary target is a lot easier to mark than one sprinting at full speed. (That’s what MGS3 taught me at least.) She’s a soldier, though, and the main reason she hijacked the blimp in Liberio was to kill The Usurper. It’s unclear to me if Magath’s mission here is strictly Dead or Alive or if they were trying to capture him but either way her mission, for now, appears to be accomplished. I say “appears to be” because it’s time for my favorite monthly mini-game:

WHY, SWAY, WHY??

There’s a lot we don’t know yet about Titan powers, Eldian biology and the transference from one vessel to another. If Marley’s goal specifically was to recapture the Founder instead of simply stopping Eren from using it, this is what Zeke would call a miscalculation. We know that Titan Powers get transferred Avatar-style to a rando newborn Eldian when a Shifter dies before succession. I actually believe there’s a lot of story left to go. But! There isn’t enough left to now try and track down, out of all the Eldians still in the world, which one holds this terrifying power. (That would make a great AU, though.) Not to mention, we don’t know what happens in the case of a Shifter holding more than one power. Do all three Titans go to one child? Do they get split up back into three by the P A T H S? We don’t know. All of this is reason to expect some chicanery in the next few months or so. Besides any of that we are no closer to knowing what Eren’s true intentions are in regards to why he wants to use the Founder. Isayama Hajime is absolutely the kind of author to blast his main character into oblivion before the story has concluded. He is not the kind of author to leave a stone unturned. We found out about the Shifters and we found out about the basement. Whatever knowledge was revealed to him will not be kept secret, even if it isn’t by his own hand.

Sidebar: decapitation is weird, even in messy circumstances like this one. The electric signals in the brain often keep firing for minutes after the head has been removed. This is how beheaded snakes continue to hiss and bite after the fact. My troll prediction would be Eren’s head landing in Zeke’s hand like so many baseballs in his lifetime; the Coordinate is activated and Shiganshina proceeds to have a bad time.

I don’t know, folks. I couldn’t help but think of one very important rule as I read the closing pages.

youtube

Always Double Tap, dude. Gabi just had to go for the swag. See, if she had popped Eren’s head like a bloody firework I would have said, “Welp, you had a good run, kid.” But nope. You went and left the most powerful being in existence an outside outside chance of survival, and if he does, even for a few seconds more, everybody is screwed.

No segue, I just love these two teaming up. It makes sense that Mikasa and Armin have gotten closer as Eren has gotten more distant. I think seeing how that dynamic evolves as the story builds to its conclusion will be very important. For now, on the surface level, they just really care for each other.

The last time I got a feeling like this, I was a young lad watching Samurai Jack in the early 00s. I would watch every week without fail on the Cartoon Network, engrossed for the entire runtime. And then, oh, the long and nagging wait. I can admit that having most stuff On Demand is impossibly handy for this particular moment in history, but goddamn do I remember having to wait a whole ass week for my favorite show to come back. Fans of Shingeki no Kyojin don’t realize how good they have it.

Replicating that feeling is almost impossible, not just because of how product is released now. Every story has been told before, in some way. Sometime in the last Millenia or so, our slimy lizard brains have come to expect certain beats and structure from stories. It makes the stories good, but also predictable. I can tell you as a writer, it’s so very difficult to find a way to surprise people in a genuine and engaging way.

This is going to sound more cold and callous than intended but, it does involve manipulating an audience to achieve your desired outcome. You want to lead them to the place you want to go and let them think it was their plan all along. This is the Art of Storytelling: I know what you want better than you do. This involves knowing your audience, and I think it’s safe to say after his “I want to hurt people with this,” comment that no writer on the planet right now knows his audience better than Isayama.

Fans of SNK should be happy. I’ve said this before: it isn’t the best book out right now (that’s still OPM, read that shit) but it is the most unpredictable. That doesn’t always make a story good, but in this case, it’s the greatest factor. Feel free to speculate and discuss. That’s what fandom is for. Just give up now on trying to work out what comes next. Only one person knows that. Isa has had this story plotted out for years with diversions here and there. We won’t know until it all ends. Enjoy this ride now. I can promise you we will never see anything like this manga ever again.

Stray Thoughts

- Still no Kyomi. Still no Tiny Queen. I know the main character just got his head yeeted but let’s get some deets now, pls.

- I was so looking forward to the memes and am happy to report that I wasn’t let down. Well done, friends.

- The 104th Squad continues to persist, as does Yelena. We’ll earmark this for later.

- The fact that both the Jaeger Brothers got shot before Floch Forster is high dark comedy.

- In a battle this chaotic, things like skill and experience are often nullified. It makes perfect sense that Eren would be caught off-guard by a soldier he didn’t even know was there, child though she may be. Right place, wrong time. These Things Happen.

- Armin taking out the Cart’s turret gun was a slick little callback to when he bought time for Eren to take down Bertolt.

- I’m interested in Armin’s game plan here. Marley’s infantry is about to be overrun by Titans, so what else does he aim to do? And how will Yelena interfere?

- Nile said he wouldn’t see his family again. We all knew he was right but man, the look on his face when his number was called. That’s tough. Shout-outs to Pixis, getting one last sip in. You a real one.

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 2/16/20

Black Clover, Vol. 19 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – The nature of these volumes is they tend to be between 9-11 chapters no matter what, and while some thought is always given for an appropriate “cliffhanger” (and there’s a good one here), it does sometimes mean that the emotional beat can happen earlier than the author might like. That’s definitely the case here—this book is front-loaded as hell, with the absolute highlight being Noelle reuniting with her family, kicking ass, and her older brother apologizing for the constant abuse he hurled at her. It’s really fantastic. The rest of the book can’t help but feel like an anticlimax, though there is a nice bit at the end where Asta and company make a chaotic entrance to join in the fight. Which isn’t over yet, so next time? – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 13 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – This manga has too many cast members in it we have to remember, especially given that it only comes out now about once every six months or so. We see Iura dealing with his younger sister, who is having exam worries, and it’s meant to contrast to his “the guy nobody likes” persona at school, but I can’t really retain enough about what he was like for it to really impact. One good thing about this volume is that Hori is relatively behaved, so there’s a lot less of the “wacky” consent issues we saw in prior volumes. When she acts relatively normal, she and Miyamura remind you why we loved this manga in the first place. That said, it really does not appear to be headed towards any specific conclusion. How long will it go on? – Sean Gaffney

Levius/est, Vol. 1 | By Haruhisa Nakata | Viz Media – I probably should have read the Levius omnibus before picking up Levius/est. As far as I can tell, the first volume is mostly a recap of the original series told at an astonishingly breakneck speed. (Levius ended prematurely when Ikki ceased publication; Nakahata essentially had to restart the series in a new magazine, Ultra Jump.) It’s admittedly impressive how much ground Nakata manages to cover in such a short span, but I’m hoping that Levius/est finds a more sustainable and enjoyable pace soon. I want to see the mixed martial arts matches between cyborgs that will either save or destroy the world. I want a chance to actually get to know the characters beyond a surface-level lightning overview of their tragic backstories. I want the worldbuilding to not need to rely on heavy-handed exposition. Right now, Levius/est‘s greatest strength is Nakata’s stylish artwork, but something more would be welcomed. – Ash Brown

Magus of the Library, Vol. 2 | By Mitsu Izumi | Kodansha Comics – Having enjoyed the first volume of Magus of the Library, I was looking forward to the second, even if the series is not always the most subtle of works narratively speaking. But I can’t help but love the underlying message of libraries (reading in generally, really) as a method of gaining knowledge, expanding one’s horizons, and developing empathy for others. At the same time, the work acknowledges the potential harm the written word can cause depending on its use. As a librarian, I can especially appreciate Izumi incorporating real-world social, economic, and political concerns surrounding libraries (fairly accurately, actually, although with simplification) into the fantasy setting of Magus of the Library. Other related areas the second volume of the series specifically addresses include bookselling and bookbinding. The volume also serves as something like a travelogue and introduces new characters destined, I’m sure, to become Theo’s cohorts in training at the Central Library. – Ash Brown

Murcielago, Vol. 13 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – OK, the master swordsman arc did not finish off quite as fast as I’d hoped, but that’s fine, as it gives us a chance to see Kuroko in action some more (and still really struggling, which is cool), as well as Himiko’s dynamic entrance in her car, always a treat. After that’s resolved, we start a sequel arc, as Goldmarie’s body is not lying mouldering in the grave as it should be, but has gone missing. And now there’s a bunch of murders happening in and around the sewers, which gives the artist another chance to lovingly depict a lot of corpses and gore. Murcielago is never going to be children’s entertainment, but it’s a lot of fun provided ultraviolent lesbians are your bag. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 23 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – So Izuku has multiple powers now. That said, he’s still having trouble learni8ng about them at all, so has to finish the fight quirkless. Honestly, Uraraka is the MVP of this battle, and there’s some nice ship tease with her and Izuku as my reward. After that, we switch over to the dark side of the cast—it even gets pointed out, with one chapter being called “My Villain Academia,” and a heavier focus on the League of Villains, who are falling on hard times at the moment. Things are not helped by a new, more corporate set of villains trying to get their foot in the door, and the volume ends with a confrontation. This has become one of the biggest Jump series, and it’s well deserved. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 23 | By Kohei Horikoshi | VIZ Media – There is so much going on in this volume. As the battle training with class B comes to a close, Midoriya learns that he will eventually inherit six additional quirks from past wielders of One for All and Shinso gets to use his power to save someone and earns admission into the hero course. Mina gets a couple of badass panels while Uraraka gets several (as well as a rare smile from Aizawa). I love how much Aizawa has taken Shinso under his wing as well as a glimpse and a reference to someone he and Mic knew when they were students, a boy called Shirakumo. We also meet the Meta Liberation Army, who are determined to take down the League of Villains. Todoroki and Bakugo get their provisional hero licenses and we learn a little of Shigaraki’s backstory. Phew! I love this series so much. – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia: Smash!!, Vol. 3 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – Again, I like how this gag series is handled. It’s character-based exaggeration, but it also follows the main storyline for the most part, so it can use multiple modes of humor. It’s also not above pointing out its own flaws—when Momo is lacking confidence, Eraserhead tells her to spend a week living with Uraraka, and the latter is quick to point out that “my poverty being of service to you” is offensive. Of course, the series is also not above mocking her love of rich person’s food over and over again, so. We even get a good look at the league of villains here, and they’re just as goofy. This is still a lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 7 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics – Somehow I missed reviewing the sixth volume of this series, and it’s a shame, as the seventh book is fantastic, possibly the highlight of the series in general. After spending about half of it leading up to the exams, and reminding us what’s at stake, we see the girls taking them one by one, each flashing back to their own issues and challenges—the biggest of which may be Yotsuba’s, as she reveals she’s the one who failed the makeup exam at their old school, and the others left with her in solidarity. The results are brought off perfectly, but Nino is saved for last, and she’s the one who gets the best part, right at the end. Still one of the best romantic comedy manga we’ve seen in some time. – Sean Gaffney

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 2 | By Kousuke Oono | Viz Media – There’s not really much here in plot or characterization beyond the surface. But when the surface is this, you absolutely don’t care. Househusband is all about style, and in that the book succeeds dramatically. I liked that it featured his wife a bit more in the various chapters, and you can see why he loves her. Everyone keeps mistaking him for doing horrible yakuza deals, even when he’s pushing spices for birthday parties. That said, you really can’t blame them given he’s also pushing his yakuza thoughts into his everyday life, such as the yoga poses, which was absolutely hilarious. We also meet his wife’s family, and their desperate attempts at bonding, which they do after a fashion. This is a whole lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 22 | By Mizuho Kusanagi | VIZ Media – This volume begins with the aftermath of the adventure in Sei, with Lady Riri dealing with the gratitude of her people, which she doesn’t feel she’s earned; Hak reflecting on adolescent memories of Su-Won, whose ability to see the world impartially means he has no special attachment to anyone; and the Four Dragons working to get back a hairpin for Yona that Su-Won gave her. Then we’re off to another adventure in a foreign land. One of the princesses of Xing is sure they’re Kohka’s next target for expansion and proposes war while her younger sister proposes preemptive surrender in order to save lives. Would-be assassins raid the latter’s compound, where there are a couple of badass fighters and lots of kitties. It’s very much a transitional volume, but still quite good. I’m always bummed whenever I run out of Yona to read. = Michelle Smith

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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nytreecx · 5 years

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Marinette is not a Bad Designer

Alright… I’ve seen one-too many bitter posts by fans of Miraculous Ladybug disappointed by Marinette’s deep-down costume choice to not put my thoughts on the matter forward.

When considering a design in textiles, we are taught to critically observe it through two lenses: functional and aesthetic. Simply put: how it serves its purpose and its overall appearance (usually how visually appealing it is). Despite often clashing and getting in the way of one-another, they sometimes are easier to see as concepts that blend into one another. In water colour, if you paint red and blue next to each other, they are going mix to create purple. (I blather when I explain these concepts, so if you wish to get to the analysis of Marinette and Adrien’s designs skip ahead to ***)

As an example for this outlook, I’ll use a cushion on a lounge. Its functions are to provide lumbar support; help maintain good posture; filling the gaps of a comfortable sitting space the lounge may have missed; to last continuous uses; and to complement and accentuate the design of the lounge. This means function will control the shape, size, density, and – to a degree – the fabric choices such as category and type (e.g. woven and cotton respectively) of the cushion, and provide a starting point for the aesthetics via the lounge’s aesthetics. The cushion’s aesthetic purposes on a plain lounge are to create interesting and appealing focal points; on a patterned lounge, they provide plain yet grounding points to bring focus and calm to an otherwise busy design. Aesthetics therefore controls the shape, fabric type and pattern (e.g. cotton or plush, and floral respectively), and notions such as piping and buttons. I have most likely missed a plethora of points, but I am aware I am usually long winded and am an amateur.

Of course, some designs need to heavily lean to one side of planning. A wall-hanging is a piece of art using textiles mediums; therefore it will have dependence on aesthetics planning to be successful. Its function is simply to look good. A tent taken on a camping trip, however, is going to be all purpose. It wants to keep you safe from the elements, and not take up too much room in your car or weight in your backpack. If the tent is made from chiffon, with bolts of cloth dedicated to frills and decorative drapes, it will be bulky; be even more difficult to stuff into its bag than your sleeping-bag; tear easily on the first bit of nature it comes in contact with; and metaphorically take on the properties of fairy-floss when it rains, not only drenching you, but keeping you wet and trapped as the delicate and light fabric becomes heavy and collapses on top of you and whatever unfortunate soul tried to foolishly take refuge in it. One may even say its aesthetic purpose it to look durable. The only acceptation I can think of is a camouflage design, where a specific pattern and frills that mimic leaves are necessary.

***

Through this, I have hopefully illustrated that the relationship between function and aesthetics is one of give and take. Adrien does not give a damn about this. His father may be a famous designer, and whether or not he has shared a few tips of the trade, this boy grew up on manga. He is going to hit this super-hero costume with as much magic-girl that his kawaii desu ne heart possesses. He’s got cuffs; a long-ass tail that has its own pose in the transformation sequence; paw prints on the boots; unnecessary seams and piping; morphed pupils (that may be an automatic change to give him night-vision); and a big bell that rings, for crying out loud. The only functions I can see are steel-caps, pockets, removability of the tail, and claws. Even then I suspect these were mainly chosen for the aesthetics. Even his seams are what you would call aesthetic seams. It’s a suit made from magic. You don’t need seams.

Marinette, on the other hand, is focused on the function of this being a superhero costume. She knows she will be going into battle. Taking leaf out of Edna Mode’s book and then the whole library, she forgoes the iconic billowing cape and anything else that would hinder or even put her in danger her while fighting. Seams, zipper tags, cuffs, tails, and bells can be exploited by getting grabbed by a villain or accidentally caught on an edge or pointy debris while dodging or escaping. She only has an allusion to antenna as ribbons rather long poles sticking out of her head will basically become handles for whomever she is fighting. The only fault I can see is keeping her pigtails (*SPOILER* which we know she can change from the leak of Kitty Noir *SPOILER OVER*). Even then they may serve to create some kind of barrier from the back for her miraculous. She doesn’t need such things as steel caps because her magical fabric is already all the armour she needs.

I’ve had fun creating alternative costumes for Marinette. With function in mind, and wanting to reference the beetle, I added plate armour to the front to mimic the underside of the ladybird; angled spikes on the arms and legs like many beetles have to catch blades and cause damage; white spots like on their head on a black helmet that conceals her identity better; and the red and black shell only as a detachable shield on the back. Apart from being a design more appropriate for an AU, I forgot one important thing that all these features I wanted as tributes to the source material took away. Marinette knew that a superhero needs to be recognisable. Hence, this is the goal of the aesthetics.

The simplicity of the fabric’s pattern is to be iconic. What’s the most salient part of a ladybird? The black spots on their red shell. What pattern has she chosen? Exactly that. She is supposed to be a hero of the people. Someone every citizen can recognise as she swings by so fast she’s a blur. Parisians are going to be attacked so often that the red with black polka-dots needs to inspire feelings of safety, so that when they see her they don’t instantly think she’s akuma they need to seek shelter from. When she rescues terrified and flustered citizens, or toddlers crying for their mother, she needs to be recognised immediately; to create a focus point for the panicked mind; and to inspire peace and a sense that it will all be okay now that she’s here. A plain pattern in bold colours is the easiest way to do this. Adrien has even done this with the almost unanimously black outfit and silhouette alluding to a cat with the ears and tail. Her simplicity is necessary BOTH functionally and aesthetically.

*SPOILER*

In the event they swap kwamiis, they retain their design philosophies, and yet are influenced by someone they love and care about’s take on it. They need to hold onto the established iconic design the other has come up with, yet express they are someone else with their own unique take on it. Adrien keeps the iconic spots as the main feature, but adds panels of black to accentuate the pattern; give a nod to the actual ratio of black to spots on the ladybird; suggest armour; and to add depth and accentuate muscle anatomy. Marinette turns the bells and whistles into lines on the fabric to remove the danger of them while honouring them. Her plat imitates a tail instead of a more-easily-grappled belt and the collar tells of her Chinese heritage. In the event of the mouse fiasco, she needs to alter her design philosophy from hero to “omg please don’t find out I’m Ladybug”. Her colours are the usual palette she wears to inspire Marinette thoughts for Chat; her hair resembles mouse ears and are definitely and defiantly not Ladybug’s piggy tails; and her stripes and spikes, and tail create the farce that she is an inexperienced hero by forgoing the ungrabblable and to be easily recognised as the animal of their miraculous holder attitude Ladybug adopts.

*SPOILER OVER*

Being a designer isn’t just “Ima add frills for days cuz that shit’s tight”; knowing that busy patterns next to each other clash; making things look visually appealing or stunning; or even knowing what’s hot this season. It’s about making something for and around a purpose. And through this, Marinette can indeed retain her title of “good designer”. Thank you for reading my one thousand and five-hundred word essay. I hope this has enlightened some confused and vexed fans.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #ladybug #marinette #adrien #chat noir #love this child please #ml spoilers #ml leaks

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thefandomsurfer · 5 years

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My top 20 favorite Tokyo Ghoul characters

I usually only do top 10s but like...I love so many characters in Tokyo Ghoul it was really hard for me to do?? So I did more. Also DO NOT GET offended. Even my honorable mentions are very...very dear to me. (Also the places are just how mush I, myself, enjoyed the character not how great the character is or that your opinion isnt valid. And I skipped most of the Suzuya squad because they would probably dominate my top six or something and that wouldnt be fair haha )

Honerable mentions:

Hide:

Itori:

Arima:

Matsumae

Kimi

Nishiki:

Shirazu ginishi

THE ENTIRE SUZUYA SQUAD (Nakarai, Mikage, Mizurou, Hanbee.)

Now onto my list!

20. Shuu Tsukiyama

I really didnt like him much at first. He made me uncomfortable and really annoyed. I mean, yeah, certain times I thought he was pretty funny but he made me more and more unnerved the longer I saw him. But then when I saw his nicer side and especially during seeing his loyalty and love for his family he started to grow on me. And now hes on this list!

19. Rize Kamishiro

Rize always was interesting to me. I wondered how she got to where she was, why she was so important in the ghoul world and just how she got to be so strong. Not to mention her characters personality made me very compiled to her. Then I got her backstory and understood her more. I liked her even more and began to respect her character.

18. Renj Yomo

I always liked his ‘silent protector’ vibe even before finding out his backstory. I thought he was loyal and smart. And then it was revealed that he was the uncle to some very improtant characters and it made me love him even more. His backstory contributed to his gruffness and protective nature and not to mention his kagune is freaking AWESOME.

17. Ayato Kirishima

Hes grown into someone I really enjoy. I...really didnt like him. He hurt Touka and acted like an ass the whole time. Then I saw a softer side when it came to Hinami. He was so concerned and cared about her so much that it touched me a lot. And he was a little more calm and controlled compared to what he had been in the first series as well. He developed into someone who not only cared for his love interest but his family and those important to both of them as well.

16. Amon Koutarou

Amon, poor poor Amon. This guy has went through a whole lot during his time in the series. And hes accepted a lot as well. I always liked Amon even before everything like changed him. He seemed like a really cool guy who truly did what he thought was best. Then he learned what we the audience already knew. That ghouls weren’t as bad as everyone thought they were. And then fought for peace. And that coupled with how much he tried to help Seidou and loved Akira made be like and respect his character even more.

15. Kurona Yasuhisa

Another character I really liked from the beginning. See, I have a weakness for twins. I always loved the idea of one and think that no matter the relationship they are always interesting to watch in media. And her relationship with Nashiro, while not explored a whole lot, was still prominent and known. And her denial about her death and the form of insanity she went through because of it was both sad and entertaining to watch. The fact that she started to think about forgiving the person who killed her as well was...amazing. Over all I wish she was explored a bit more but am happy with what I got.

14. Urie Kuki

Another character that I slowly learned to appreciate. He started out as someone who cared only for his own motives but after losing someone who he hadnt realized he cared for he begun to care for his team and mant to protect them as much as he can. Becoming someone worthy of their loyalty and love. Going as far as to save one of the ones who betrayed him and tried to kill him just to get them all together again and keep his promise to his dead friend.

13. Ui Koori

Im not sure what made me drawn to him? Maybe his relationship with Hairu or his sense of Justice? I dont know but I do know that I like seeing his appearances. His fights and thought process was always fun as well. Over all Im not sure why I like him all I know is that I really do haha

12. Ken Kaneki

Okay I know, its basically illegal to have him so low on my list but honestly? I never really got that deep into his character? I mean he was sweet at first but then he was kind of boring? And I liked Haise a lot but really didnt like the reaper? The OEK one is cool and all but I still never got overly attached? I dont know. But I will say he is cool and I love how dedicated he is to his loved ones. And how honest he is about his flaws. Its really nice to see a protagonist that admires that he is selfish in certain ways and isnt always trying to do things for ‘the greater good’. And will do cruel and horrible things when push comes to shove. It makes him seem...a lot more human and tragic. Yet the fact he still had his happy ending made me happy for him. After the hell hes been through he deserves it.

11. Seidou Tawkizawa

Seidou. He...certainly needs a little help. Poor guy was such a innocent kid before his whole life was turnt upsidedown. I’ll be honest...I thought he was kind of annoying at first and then very scary later on. But after seeing a bit of his side of how everything went down and how much he cared for Akira and Amon my liking for him skyrocketed and I couldn't wait to see him again in the next chapter. How he sees himself and his future...it just hit to close to home for me. And soon enough he became one of my favorite characters.

10. Haise sasaki

Ahh, my favorite of all the Nekis. I really, really liked him. How parental he was with his squad and his storyline always interested me. The amnesia thing has always been one of my favorite tropes. He, to me, was a perfect mix of Kuroneki and Shironeki. Having the lightheartedness and empathy of Kuroneki and having the toughness and ability to fight as Shironeki. I liked how goofy he could be (i.e dressing up as women) and all his little moments with Akira, Arima and Juuzou. But he was a dream, nothing meant to last, so he had to go. But that does NOT mean I didnt enjoy watching him the most.

9. Kanae

I just really like her. I think her backstory is sad but not overdoing it and her dedication to Tsukiyama was certainly something that drew me to her. At first I thought I’d hate her but found myself sorely mistaken. And I cried a whole lot at her death and the touching moment when Tsukiyama, the person she loved so much, called her by her real name and accepted her despite

the fact she thought she never deserved anything even similar to perhaps she’d be even higher had she stayed longer but she left far to soon.

8. Eto Yoshimura

Eto is very interesting and fun to watch. Cruel and mean, yes, but also unpredictable! She never failed to make a impression on me everytime I saw a panel of her. I was always wondering ‘what will she do next?’ you know? I absolutly loved watching\reading her. Her backstory made me love her even more seeing as she had a bit of a struggle to get to were she is now.

7. Hairu Ihei.

Hairu is someone else I dont know why I like so much? We didnt see her much at all and what we did see of her was little. But something about her drew me in. She was cute and I didnt expect much from her but found out she was pretty strong. Also with how sweet and air headed she acted I already liked her a little, the strength was only a added bonus. I only wish we got to see more of her.

6. Uta

Uta, someone who I already liked, only grew on me as time went on. I thought he was funny, unique and very good looking. And as time whent on, and seeing how twisted he could be, it only made be want to see what would happen next with him. Whose side he was really on. Things like that. But then his fight with Yomo made be see him in a more emotional light. Seeing how close he was to him and still was in in a way. It was sweet and only made me like him even more.

5. Akira Mado��

Akira Mado. At first I never thought much of her. Just a sort of bland character who had lost her father. Nothing new, nothing interesting. But her relationship with Amon certainly made be feel a little closer to her and made be pity her at the end of the first manga. But then in Re: I grew a lot closer to her really quickly. Her character seemed more open to others and friendly. Her realtionship Haise especially made me like her a whole lot. Then all her confusion and journey forgiving and accepting ghouls made he so interested and caring of her character. How much she wanted to protect Seidou and the fact she still loved Amon-It just...Made he love her. So much.

4. Saiko Yonebayashi

Saiko is a very funny individual that I didnt like much at first. I thought she was more or less dead weight and didnt understand why she was their to begin with. But the more we got to know her the more that I grew to love her development and character. Shes funny and kind but also strong and determined. I love her a whole lot. How determined she is to do what she thought was right and how much she cared for everyone in her squad despite her own initial unwillingness to try and work. All things I love about her.

3. Tooru Mutsuki

Now I know how much this character is hated...And I understand too. He did a lot of twisted and messed up things. Stayed on the bad side a long time, attacked Touka and his squad helped turn Kaneki into a monster...But his backstory and the personality we were originally introduced to made me love him so...so much. It didnt matter much to me what he did because I knew why he did it and not to mention...Mutsukis one of the most interesting characters to analyze because of his mindset. Also the fact he tried to redeem himself and felt guilty about everything he did...It shows that he is trying to do better and he is. I just....really, really love Mutsuki.

2. Touka Kirishima

Touka is a very rough character, and I get that some people just dont like her, But I loved every second of her. The person with a rough outside slowly breaking out of their shell and becoming gentler as time goes on- its something I have a soft spot for. Loyal, selfless, strong and knows what she wants. A woman who is strong without being controlling or mary sue. I never got annoyed or bored of her and looked forward to seeing her every single time a new chapter was put out. And also her protectivness towards Kaneki, her child, Ayato, and Hinami made me love her all the more. Shes also got my favorite Kagune of the whole series-Yet another thing I love about this character.

1. Juuzou Suzuya

By FAR my absolute favorite character in Tokyo ghoul. Now dont get me wrong-Im well aware of his faults. And I know he wasnt on the good side for a while either, But even though these things are there, I love him anyway. Hes so interesting and his backstory was so heartbreaking. When I first saw him I was indeed mildly creeped out but it also made me curious. The more I saw of him the more I wanted to analyze and get to know his character more. And right when I thought I got to know him-The one person who saw him as a person and treated him as he should be treated was taken away. This caused Juuzou to experience his first emotional loss in a very long time. And he changed. I personally enjoy his more mature personality compared to his more bloodthirsty one but love both either way tbh. And hes also very adorable when he wants to be so thats always a plus.

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totallygayforrukiakuchiki · 6 years

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Why I love Rukia Kuchiki (aka rlly important facts that make her the best female manga character ever )

- First I have to say I love everything about her : how well-written she is, even her short temper, her ugly drawings, how funny she is, her love for plushies and cute things, her cluelessness about the human world like she cannot even open a juice box omg, how good she is at acting, the fact that she loves sweet food, her bickering with Ichigo, her small habits and everything that makes Rukia.... Rukia.

((The pics are only here to illustrate ( lol) I didn’t do any reseach and used the ones I already had so it’s SO NOT exhaustive))

Now let’s start with the deeper stuff PLEASE READ:

- Super selfless I mean even TOO SELFLESS for her own good, even Ichigo states that she should care about herself for once, this girl is selfless to the point of self-sacrificing and blames herself for just ??? Self-defending?

- Super forgiving , cannot believe how this girl has forgiven Byakuya, Renji, Urahara, Kira & co without thinking about it twice and never holds a grudge against them.

- Has the strongest sense of justice among all the characters. (Refuses to hurt Riruka, her speech to ichigo at the beginning of the manga, etc etc) Because before “protecting loads and loads of ppl” became ichigo’s motto it was hers.

She is willing to give her life to save human souls and to go anywhere for them. Honestly if even 50 ⁒ of the shinigami has her sense of duty the world would be ideal

- She is a tiny girl. Who can kick your ass and order you around. She is also able to stand on her own and OMG that’s so refreshing a shonen heroine who is selfless and caring but needs no man and is bossy THANK YOU. I mean she has all these qualities but still she can act boyish and punch you in the face or kick you if needed.

- She is FUCKING beautiful/ pretty without even trying and without fitting the standards She is also super graceful like woooooow. (And don’t fight me on this. Mizuiro, Keigo, her whole gang from the Rukongai, Hantarou, and even Orihime said so). I’d even say she can be sexy too, looking at Kubo’s drawings (dancing with Snow White, Mafia colorspread, honeymoon colorspread, Halloween costume etc etc)

- Extremely brave. Always ready to jump in front of danger and ready to die to protect ! (Even from her first appearance in the manga) (and she did it again)

- Has been through so much shit and is still so strong and amazing. She started off in the Rukongai as a kid with no family and had to steal food and fight to survive. Might have gotten killed everyday, it was hell litterally.

Lost all her friends to death except Renji.

Entered the academy and lost her best friend, her childhood friend, the only person she had left . Was adopted by her noble step-brother who didn’t even bother to look at her for 40 years and made her feel like a nuisance / a disappointment (I am not blaming anyone here, I know they may have their reasons I am just stating the facts).

Was bullied at the academy and had NO FRIENDS because people considered that she didn’t deserve to be here and only got a place bc she was privileged and a noble.

Had to kill the only man who ever looked at her as “Rukia”, understood her and was here for her when she was in the academy (and whom she loved - and if you think otherwise I’ll assume you have the emotional awareness of a pebble or cannot read a panel properly)

- Super self conscious despite having it all??? (Am I good enough? Do I deserve to be here? I nii-sama doesn’t look at me it’s probably that I am worth nothing) Girl stop doubting and blaming yourself !!! You are amazing !! (I relate a lot so that makes me love her more).

I’ll just add this , this is from her wiki page: “her cool and lone demeanor often forces her to hide her personal troubles, even from her friends. Ukitake says that Rukia rarely opens up, and has difficulty making friends”.

She is not just “cold” she doesn’t want to get hurt again and that touches my heart woooow

- Strong in a physical way. She protected Ichigo as many times as he protected her. I love how equal they are (even despite their big difference of level). I mean she defeated a fucking espada when she only had her Shikai + being in the deepest emotional and mental pain possible, stood against Yammy, is really talented at Kidou, beat strong hollows when she was powerless and IN A GIGAI, reaches bankai and became a captain when she started off as... nothing. She was a nobody from the Rukongai. She was very mediocre and her Kidou skills were average. And nobody really believed in her at first but she did it.

- also how she is attached to the human world is so touching to me. There are many other small things like how despite being a noble she remains so modest and chooses to talk to ordinary people. Etc etc.

- Caring and understanding. Always here to help the others. She is the only one should could lift ichigo’s spirit in one go when he was down. She did several times. She helped him through the trauma he went through due to his mother’s death, offering him a shoulder to lean on AND DIDNT ASK HIM to talk to her yet because she know it wasn’t what he needed and knew it would hurt him. But told him that when he would want to talk about it to someone, she would be there for him. I MEAN GIRL YOU ARE AWESOME IF HE DOESN’T ASK YOU TO MARRY HIM, I WILL.

And it made him feel so much better that he quoted the exact same words to his fathers chapteeeeeers after. She also helped Orihime and encouraged her when she thought she was useless and an inconvenience. She said together they would find a place for her to fight alongside everybody. WHEN all the other characters didn’t allow orihime to fight with them bc she was too weak, Rukia offered her support and to find solution together instead. (( Q U E E N)).

Encourages Ichigo’s sisters to eat next to him when he is severely injured etc, etc

- And how eager she was to save orihime!!She was litterally dying and yet crawled on the floor because she empathized with her and wanted to save her so much

- Annnnnd to finish I love how her relationship with Ichigo is written like, how deep they trust each other and don’t need words to communicate (like how she respects his personal space [“it’s enough just to know he is safe / memories in the rain/ their fight vs Grimmjow etc etc]).

I also find it AMAZING that she cares for him so much when his hollow is coming out, I mean she is not even slightly frightened and worries about him instead, she could-she should be traumatized after what happens with Kaien being possessed by a hollow but no she isn’t. + How they protect each other, helped each other through trauma, how they offered each other everything that the other ever wanted (Power to protect / normal and comfortable relationship).

Imma stop here because I could write 45 more pages explaining why their relationship is like the Golden Book of Healthy and Mutually Beneficial and Equal Relationships but that’s not the point here lol. But I like pretty much every relationship Rukia has with any character (Renji, Byakuya, Orihime, Ukitake etc..) I think she really brings out the best from each one of them.

I’m stopping here but there are so many more reasons to why she is my favorite character ever, just Knox this is rushed and non-exhaustive, I just felt like screaming how much I love Rukia Kuchiki to the world . But yeah non-cliché strong girl. Who will fight you. Who can stand on her own. But still shows us many emotions and is so caring and selfless.

#pro rukia #rukia #rukia kuchiki #I guess this is also pro IR lol #since they work as a pair to me #ir #the queen of bleach #pro ichiruki #ichiruki fandom #ichiruki #pro-rukia #pro ir #rukia stan #ichigo x rukia #is it okay if I tag this as bleach ?#bleach

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makeste · 4 years

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BnHA Chapter 287: Family Reunion

Previously on BnHA: The Tomura For One VS Deku And Pals clusterfuck reached new levels of clustfuckery as AFO possessed Tomura’s body and stabbed Kacchan and Endeavor. Shouto was all “good thing I leveled up offscreen so as to be able to fly around whilst carrying 400lbs worth of people”, and did just that and it was like, damn, son. Meanwhile Deku’s rage went Mach 100, and he kicked Tomura’s ass for almost two whole seconds, but in the process he apparently forgot that IF TOMURA TOUCHES HIM THAT IS VERY BAD, and so he stupidly let Tomura touch him and Tomura was all “GAME, SET.” Fortunately for Deku, his quirk plays by its own rules, and so the chapter ended with us cutting to the METAPHYSICAL OFA/AFO PARANORMAL DREAMSCAPE OF MYSTICAL BULLSHIT, where AFO!Vestige was all “lol Tomura y u mad”, and Nana!Vestige was all “SUP DEKU, YOU’RE JUST IN TIME, LOOKS LIKE IT’S ASSKICKING O’CLOCK.” I’m paraphrasing a bit, but that’s more or less the gist of it.

Today on BnHA: AFO is all “well if it isn’t Tomura’s grandmother who I murdered that one time”, and Deku is all “?”, and AFO is all “fucking vestiges, man, wild”, and Deku is all “??”, and AFO is all “ANYWAYS GETTIM TOMURA”, and OFA is all “NOT SO FAST”, and Deku is all “???”, and really, same. AFO then goes off on some wild tangent about how Deku is unworthy because he couldn’t protect everyone and needed help from OFA and got mad about his friends being stabbed, which is such a cold take it gave me hypothermia, but it ends up not mattering since Deku and Tomura both wake up seconds later with OFA still in the possession of its rightful owner, HOW ABOUT THAT. The chapter ends with the LoV approaching on Gigantomachia’s back with Dabi practically salivating at the mouth, and Toga trying to reignite an old fandom blood feud. Toga why would you do this to me. Toga.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS

[CROWD LOSING THEIR MINDS] FINALLY THE NANA HAS COME BACK TO BNHA!! IF YA SMELLLLL WHAT THE NANA IS COOKIN!!!!! [RINGSIDE BELL CHIMING WILDLY] [LOUD AIRHORN NOISES]

“chapter 287: mistake” omg. yeah I’ll say you made a mistake, AFO. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THESE FLEETING LAST MOMENTS OF YOUR SHITTY EVIL LIFE

(ETA: so in all seriousness this must be referring to AFO’s belief that All Might/OFA made a mistake in choosing Deku, right? “I can’t believe you went and chose this shounen manga protagonist as your champion, what were you thinking.” I’ll just put this out there: however many comic books AFO read as a child, it clearly was not enough.)

wow Deku how slow are you

yes you’re inside OFA you dimbulb, did you think your clothes suddenly vanished out of the blue and the ghost of Nana just randomly appeared in the real world by some freak coincidence?? can you believe this kid. breaks his arms a measly 10-15 times in a row and all of a sudden he can’t think straight, get it together Deku

but also brb having a moment at the fact that his thoughts immediately run back to Kacchan, even with all of this nonsense going on and Nana about to lay the beatdown on AFO’s potato-lookin’ ass. forget that noise, all he wants to know is whether or not Kacchan is all right. fuckin’ geez. AM I OVERREACTING HERE A BIT. probably

(ETA: ALSO!! the way he just trails off!! “Kacchan is...” and then he can’t bring himself to complete the thought. oh my god my heart.)

HOLY SHIT

okay,

damn but this man sure knows how to ruffle my feathers. as eminently detestable as ever!!

could it be any clearer here that AFO is not on Tomura’s side?? for a moment I thought he had actually grabbed him by the back of the head in order to get him to look. but nope, he’s just resting his pointing hand on top of his head instead while he’s all “HEY TOMURA LOL IT’S THE GHOST OF YOUR DEAD PATHETIC GRANDMA”

for those keeping track at home, this would be the first time that Deku has heard this information -- that Tomura is Nana’s grandson -- and possibly the first time Vestige!Nana has heard it as well. Nana died when Kotarou was still a child, so for all we know the Vestige!Nana didn’t even know she had a grandson, lol. TODAY ON “MAKESTE RANTS AT LENGTH ABOUT THINGS THAT WILL PROBABLY BE ADDRESSED WITHIN THE NEXT THREE PANELS”, anyway moving on

lmao for the record I fucking LOLed at this giant question mark immediately bubbling up over Deku’s head

no idea what AFO is about to ramble on about now, haven’t read that far yet. but let the record show that Deku’s immediate reaction to hearing “BTW NANA IS YOUR ARCHNEMESIS’S GRANDMA LULZ” is everything I could have hoped for

(ETA: fandom nailed the shit out of this one with the confused Mr. Krabs meme lmao.)

okay so now AFO is monologuing at length about how he would sometimes have “riveting dreams” about the previous owners of all the quirks he stole. but once he gave the quirks away they stopped bothering him?? holy moly let me just take all the notes

okay so he’s saying that Vestiges are created whenever someone has their quirk stolen by AFO. but if they then disappear when he gives the quirks away, does that also mean that whoever receives the quirks also gets the original owner’s Vestige bundled in every time?? that would be wild okay hold up let me read the rest of this

so he’s saying that the Vestiges are actually the “consciousnesses” of the original quirk owners, which have become embedded in their dna or something. SOUNDS INCREDIBLY DUBIOUS TO ME LOL but on the other hand this is a world where children can be born with airplane heads, so my disbelief can hardly afford to pick and choose what it’s gonna be suspended at! anyways though, how does he know he’s the only one who was able to converse with them? did you conduct detailed six-month follow-up interviews with everyone you gave quirks to or what

and if it really is the case that this ability was formerly exclusive to him, isn’t that more evidence than ever that OFA and AFO are actually THE EXACT SAME QUIRK oh whoops am I getting ahead of myself again, sorry

MEANWHILE TOMURA IS ALL, “GRANDMA?”

“WHY AM I HERE, WELL LET ME TELL YOU A STORY, GRANDSON. YOU SEE THAT MAN GROWING OUT OF YOUR RIBCAGE THERE? WELL IT’S JUST THE FUNNIEST THING, ACTUALLY”

WAIT SO IS HE SAYING THEY’RE SOULS OR NOT??

this makes it sound like they won’t ever get to rest, which sure sounds like a soul thing to me. well whatever, soul, consciousness, I guess it’s just semantics at the end of the day

anyways though, so this asshole is finally done talking (I’m sure that won’t last), so now we can finally have the heartwarming reunion we’ve all been waiting for

sigh

-- actually, no, not “sigh”!! you know what!! because Tomura says “whatever the reason”, but that’s only because he doesn’t actually have a fucking clue about the reason. like, I don’t know if the knowledge that AFO killed Nana would be enough to give him pause, but if he knew the whole story and knew that AFO was behind not only Nana’s death, but the rest of his family’s deaths as well... now that would be a whole different thing

anyway. but at least it’s becoming clearer now why AFO spent all that time raising Tomura up as his heir and brainwashing him even though he seems to have been planning this body takeover the whole time. it’s all because he loves making people miserable! yaaaaay

btw HAS NANA HAD THE EXACT SAME MOLE ON HER CHIN AS TOMURA THIS ENTIRE TIME WTF. am I just the least observant person who ever lived lmao

lol wtf

ground: [randomly starts exploding]

Deku: “ONE FOR ALL IS BEING ERODED!!!” LOL IS THAT WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE, OKAY THEN. I’ll take your word for it

y’all I cannot fucking get over this “AFO growing out of Tomura’s hip socket like a fucked-up ventriloquist dummy” shit though

you do realize that absolutely no one can take you seriously right now, right?? it’s important to me that you know this

WHAT’S THIS NOW

seems like SOMEONE has had it up to here with a certain SOMEONE ELSE’S bullshit lmaooo bye Felicia

I SAID GOOD DAY!!

you guys why is he not dying!!

-- OH DAMN

love how Deku is just lying there like “YOU KNOW THOSE DAYS WHERE YOU’RE LIKE, THIS MIGHT AS WELL HAPPEN.” poor Deku

(ETA: where in god’s name is OFA Prime standing. why are my thoughts fully consumed by this lmao.)

are Nana and OFA Prime even doing anything?? why are they sticking their arms out like that. wait hold up is this all a big metaphor for the back-and-forth going on between Tomura trying to steal OFA and OFA being all “actually no you can’t, please enter your password and click on all the boxes with bicycles in them to prove you’re a human first”?

OH SNAP OFA PRIME SAID NO THANKS

“SORRY BRO WE’VE ALREADY MADE OURSELVES AT HOME HERE”

I have only just noticed that metaphysical!Deku has the same scars as actual!Deku. and yet his arms are not currently broken! that doesn’t really seem consistent to me but whatever!! maybe he saved right before the boss battle, that would be smart of him

anyway, that’s great and all that OFA Prime is here helping out, but I really wanted to see Nana fight AFO in a one on one though so I’m a bit disappointed. also why is it only the two of them?? where are Banjou and the others. of all the times to be sleeping on the job

FOR FUCK’S SAKE, THIS MAN

WOULD YOU STOP. WOULD YOU JUST QUIT IT ALREADY

oh shit hold up

doesn’t this confirm that the reason he wanted to transfer his power to Tomura is because he believed it would make him strong enough to finally take OFA because of Quirk Singularity? jesus christ. and here he was so sure of himself. but it turns out he doesn’t actually know shit! you can’t just fucking take OFA like that ya dingdong that’s not how it works

(ETA: SO, A THOUGHT -- is there any sort of subtle hinting here in the way that he words this? “if your strength is combined with mine”, as opposed to “if my strength is combined with yours”? no idea if the admittedly-so-small-as-to-be-almost-inconsequential distinction between those two sentences exists in the original Japanese or not, but I find it very interesting that the English wording implies that he’s the one adding Tomura’s strength to his own, rather than vice versa.)

now he’s insulting Deku!!

excuse me sir WHO ASKED YOU anyway. and never mind that being consumed by an, AND I QUOTE, “unquenchable” rage is your protege’s whole THING, and that he also needed your help to avoid being burned to a crisp a short while ago. where do you get off I swear

(ETA: also just want to point out that in the panel before this one he says that he’s been “watching through Tomura”, which pretty much confirms that his consciousness or whatever is alive inside of him all the time. Tomura is definitely not getting rid of this guy any time soon.)

WOW

first he calls Kacchan useless, then he calls Deku a simpleton, and don’t even get me started with Nana. just, you guys. this man is just... a very, very rude man

NOW OFA IS ALL “THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT MAKES HIM SUCH A GOOD PROTAGNIST YOU BUTTMUNCH” AND OMG PREACH

“DESPITE HIS COMMON SENSE” sdfkllk my man he already has one brother roasting him, take it easy guy

AHH WHAT

IS THIS BACK IN THE REAL WORLD

YEP

hahaha nice try Tomura

so Deku’s all “I didn’t lose my power! BUT” and I assume the “but” is the part where his arms are still broken and shit, and meanwhile Tomura’s body is almost healed up now finally

they’re both wiped out and now AFO is again petitioning Tomura to let him take over goddammit

“you won’t lose your mind” yep, he sure won’t! scout’s honor!! pinky swear!!

meanwhile Deku is getting fucking desperate flkjl;k my baby. and Machia is going to show up any second now too, probably. what else can fucking go wrong at this point

oh shit I shouldn’t have asked

get ready to rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuumble, probably

OH MY GOD

WELL AT LEAST SOMEONE HERE IS HAVING A GOOD TIME. jesus

so as soon as he heard Endeavor was there he got all, “TIME FOR THE BIG REVEAL”, is that right? WELL JOKE’S ON YOU TOUYA, YOUR DAD DOESN’T SEEM ALL THAT CONSCIOUS AT THE MOMENT, SO THAT’S GOING TO DRAIN A LOT OF THE TENSION FROM THE SCENE WHEN YOU GO ALL REVERSE DARTH VADER ON HIM AND HE’S ALL “ZZZZZZZZ”

meanwhile Toga is having unsettlingly quiet angst

jesus christ Toga this is all we need right now

“WAS JIN-KUN NOT A PERSON” sdkfjlk Horikoshi I swear. please have mercy on this fandom. this is the debate that refuses to die!!

but seriously ffs, the issue isn’t that Jin deserved to die, it’s that the countless people whom Jin would have either directly or indirectly killed didn’t deserve to die either. people don’t only become people when you attach names and faces to them! we all loved Jin because we’d gotten to know him, but that doesn’t mean his life was inherently worth more than the lives of all the people he would have killed. sometimes there’s just no good answer

like, it’s just crazy to me that because the heroes are all “we want to protect everyone!” but then aren’t always able to do so because that’s literally impossible, whereas the villains are all “we don’t care about anyone other than the select few people that we actually like!”, the villains somehow wind up getting the better PR. it just so happens that it’s infinitely easier to be loyal to the interests of a few people as opposed to ALL THE PEOPLE. like, no shit, it’s easier to stick to your moral code when you barely have a moral code. and so the villains can kill thousands and no one bats an eye, but if a hero fails to save even one person they’re hypocritical moral failures. like what the hell

BUT ANYWAY, sorry to go off on a tangent there lol, it’s not really a big deal. I’m just preemptively trying to stave off more discourse about it lol but who am I even kidding

anyways lol, but of course they won’t kill you unless they have no choice, Toga. but when it comes to catch-22 situations, it’s a bit much to infer that the heroes don’t consider the villains people just because they opt for the choice that spares more innocent lives. I sure as hell don’t want my babies out here killing people, but to say that they can’t no matter what or else they’re no different from the villains is just...

anyway so the chapter has now just ENDED, just like that!! on a shot of Ochako’s face!

I SENSE ANOTHER THROWDOWN COMING. and it had better not be a total letdown like the last one! NANA BARELY DID ANYTHING HORIKOSHI, WHAT THE FUCK. I started out with such high hopes lol

but I will settle for Toga VS Ochako, and Deku VS Tomura: The Sequel: Shouto’s Revenge! SPEAKING OF HEROES WHO HAVE NO QUALMS ABOUT MURDERING PEOPLE lmao

#bnha 287 #shigaraki tomura #all for one #shimura nana #midoriya izuku #one for all #lil bro when are you gonna get yourself a proper name so I can tag you #himiko toga #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #ofa the first

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raendown · 7 years

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Naruto Tag

It took me a couple days to get around to this, sorry! I was tagged by @moonfox22 and @dimancheetoile. Thanks guys!

Top 5 characters

1. Kakashi 2. Tobirama 3. Minato 4. Sakura 5. Obito

A character you’ve been disappointed in their development and why

This might be unpopular but Iruka. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my sweet little sensei. But I really don’t like the way he was portrayed in Road to Ninja or the wedding arc at the end of the anime. At the beginning of the show he is built up to be this kind man who learns to understand Naruto and care for him despite the demon fox inside the boy. I took from those things that he was the kind of person who was willing to listen to your problems.

But in Road to Ninja he just flat out yells at Naruto for being sad that his father is dead? He doesn’t even listen to Naruto or try to talk to him about these feelings? Like, yeah at the end of the movie they have that cute scene where Iruka shows up with a cake and that’s nice and all. But I don’t agree with the way they portrayed that conversation at the ramen stand.

Same thing with the very last episode of the anime. Naruto comes over to visit him before his wedding and Iruka screams at him for neglecting her? And he says something like “there are things I failed to teach you about being a human” as if Naruto is doing something wrong just by visiting someone that is supposed to be precious to him? They’re supposed to view each other as brothers, what is supposed to be wrong with Naruto visiting him?

I dunno, it just bothered me that they seem to jump Iruka’s personality around from caring to careless whenever they need a convenient plot disturbance.

A character you wish had more panel/screen time

I wish we could have seen Ino actually doing something. We saw her flitting about Konoha and she appeared in some battles but usually did very little. I would have loved to see some of her actually being the bad ass I know she can be. I wanted to see her working in the Intelligence division like her father before her or destroying minds with her jutsu.

Favourite arc

Kakashi Gaiden. The whole thing. Hands down. Not only was the story line centered entirely around my ultimate fav, but it was a good story line. It showed Kakashi growing and changing, learning new things and letting that new knowledge change him as a person. We got to see the cold cruel beginning but also the moments of mercy and the proof that his humanity was still there. Knowing what he went through when he was younger changed everything about how I watched his older self interact with the people and events around him.

Favourite antagonist and why

I think a toss-up between Pein and Kisame. Neither of them were inherently evil but they were pushed towards evil acts by their disillusionment with the world around them. Pein as Nagato was such a little cinnamon roll who just wanted to make the world a better place and protect his friends. Then when he lost the most important person in his world he thought “fuck you I will force the world to be better”. Kisame was similar; he was just trying to do what he was told and be an obedient shinobi. When he questioned how actually fucked up the things he was asked to do were, he was punished for it. He joined the Akatsuki because they were trying to build a perfect world and, being really disillusioned with reality, he was happy to help with that plan. Not to mention - and yes I am this petty - Kisame is kinda hot!

Thoughts on Akatsuki and its evolution in the plot

The characters were very different from each other and very interesting. I liked the strange thing they had going on where they were fighting for world peace by murdering everyone. xD It was just kind of unique to me that their end goal was the perfect world that would make everyone happy, but of course they’re ruthless and willing to make sacrifices to achieve that goal.

By the end though I was more in to the individual characters than the Akatsuki as a whole because the organization got weird and messy and not written very well plot-wise. I wish we had more arcs on those characters, where they came from and what they had gone through while in this organization.

Choose a fixed point in the manga, alter it and give me your canon divergence

Instead of just leaving Obito’s body behind, Minato and his two surviving students wait for the earthquake to settle then go about retrieving their fallen friend. Oh, hey, surprise! Obito isn’t dead! They bring him back to the Leaf and he receives mass amounts of healing. They are able to save his organs but his arm and leg are fitted for prosthetics. Kakashi keeps the eye. They train together and become the single most terrifying duo you will ever face on any battlefield ever. Maybe fall in love along the way *winkwink*. Madara might find someone else to try and help with his plans but they fail as soon as they try and all of my precious babies live happily ever after. U.U

A canon ship that didn’t disappoint (hard, I know)

Can I use a FRIENDship instead of a relationship? Does that count? Because Kakashi and Gai are BroTP forever. These two idiots have literally never let each other down. They will fight for each other and believe in each other until they have both dragged in their dying breath.

Favourite rare pair/crack ship

Fav crack pairing will always be MadaKaka xD

A piece of fanart you love and wish to promote the artist

Uhhhh everything that anyone has ever drawn for me?

@syndellwins has done so many pieces for me and they are all wonderful. Hard to choose between them but I think this one of one of my KakaHana sequels might still be my fav.

@mrsvasiliev has gifted me the world’s best Kaka-butt more than once, starting with this glorious piece, also of one of my KakaHana soulmate au’s.

@thetoxicstrawberry knows exactly what she’s done. Of the ones on tumblr I would have to say my fav from her art is Madara in gotdamn footie pajamas! Drawn for a small MadaKaka piece written by me.

And most recently but certainly not least @redhothollyberries has created some beautiful art for the MadaTobi sequel I am almost half done. I might still be drooling on this. *shhhh*

You are all incredible and amazing people! I bow to your talents!