#i chose some dialogues from the manga

[unk-art]

Who said old ladys can't support their otp?

If you guys like there will be a part 2

#my happy marriage #watashi no shiawase na kekkon #miyo saimori #kiyoka kudou #miyo x kiyoka #i chose some dialogues from the manga #shoujo

[courtmartialme]

some examples i can think of brotherhood crimes of doing riza(and royai) dirty in my opinion that's the absolute truth in the universe. consciously excluding stuff i think are minor but annoy me just as bad or else this post would be too exhausting:

being ugly in general

not including her time travel joke from when they learn that the elrics are kids and not adults on their way to recruiting them

not including the scene where roy meets her after she calls him when she meets barry the chopper and threatens to burn him out of jealousy

changing the dialogue after roy saves her from gluttony from:

to:

LIKE...... if brotherhood has the habit of cutting off scenes to make it shorter then WHY they would change this scene to become BIGGER AND WORSE. the dialogue in manga is a clear example of their trust and wordless care for each other. while in broho it's just ?????? roy being an asshole????? to his wife?????? whom he just left his post running for bc he sensed she was in danger???? whoever chose to change this dialogue. kill yourself

riza being nice to alphonse when they are at 3rd laboratory:

not including the only time in the whole series roy calls her by her first name only:

the WHOLE ishval arc. riza telling ed about ishval lasts a whole ass volume while it's barely an entire episode in anime like... hm.. for starters the way roy and riza meet again there is different. in manga she saves roy and hughes from a surprise attack, and only realizes it's roy when she sees him through the scope. then hughes tells roy that they brought a talented sniper from the academy and goes after her to thank her for saving them. in anime riza suddenly shows up to roy when he was talking to hughes and like... not necessarily a bad thing i guess but...... yeah.... also this whole conversation is cut off if i remember right.. among a lot of other things LOL i hate how ishval arc is played down in BH

riza being funny and cute not being included again

this scene when they reach 3rd lab again in promised day and roy jokes about wanting to see her honest tears again and riza replies saying water makes him useless BUT in manga she's all cute and blushy while in anime they make her be all # girlbaws about it because that's all brotherhood riza is about lmao they took away her moeness...crime

in manga, after roy gives up killing envy upon realizing it would lead to riza shooting him then killing herself, it shows him lowering her gun without the glove he previously had on. symbolizing that he lowered his weapon before he could lower hers. in anime he still has his gloves on

EDIT I FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT PANEL OF THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RIZA BEING INSUBORDINATE AND A BRAT SHE'S SO CUTE THIS PANEL IS WHAT INSPIRED MY USERNAME... SHE'S SO CUTE...... brotherhood is so scared of letting riza be cute and moe because she would be too powerful if they let her

EDIT 222222 BECAUSE I WOKE UP IN COLD SWEAT AT REMEMBERING I FORGOT THIS TOO

roy visits madame christmas' bar looking down and she asks him why doesn't he and elizabeth go someplace fun... we all know who elizabeth is right... and he says miserably that another man took elizabeth away from him(referring to riza being kept hostage by bradley) and at that the other girl asks if that means she has a chance with him now. everyone knows that roy is so wifepilled he won't look any other way if riza is in the picture lmao also how embarrassing it is that even your mom knows you're fucking your subordinate

i'm convinced somebody at BH staff hated riza's ass because of how often riza and royai scenes are changed or ignored... i know it's common for anime adaptations to cut off moments from manga but for an anime that whole premise is to be The Better Adaptation, doing it so often makes it bad to me. if you repeatedly exclude scenes that tell more about the characters because they're "not relevant to the plot", eventually there will be no actual personality left, only characters that are plot props

THERE'S A LOT MORE i wanted to include but this is already long enough and i got tired LMFAO a lot of things(most not included) are non issues because are mostly about riza being a bit silly, or showing more expression than she does in anime in a scene that otherwise doesn't change anything. but they still annoy me because by repeatedly excluding and changing these moments add to the view people have of her being nagging and stoic, at an attempt to make her a cool flawless Good Woman Character. what for.

#tecotalk #fma #riza hawkeye #throwing in the tag because fuck it #not hiding anything under the cut everyone will be subjected to this

[a-forbidden-detective]

Curious add-ons: Foreshadowing and when subtext becomes text (Part 3)

Squeezing two chapters into one episode can be quite a challenge. One, the continuity is going to be broken. Second, the narrative is going to be rushed leaving some attributes of the characters out.

Where was that scene where Toto mentioned his grandmother bc it reminded him of Ron’s fave tv program or him (mis)stepping again on the cat?

But at the same time this is also a chance to edit out or fine-tune some panels that might not affect the whole story. Or probably make another story altogether.

Like this entire scene for example. It is amusing that the anime writers chose to make the shooting star invitation appear already in the beginning of the episode, which Toto forgot to tell Ron after seeing the latter’s pink grapefruit eyes. The bloodshot eyes deeply concerned him only to find out that the culprit was Ron’s discovery of the wonderful world of the TV.

Unlike in the manga, where Toto has no idea, who the sender was, In the anime he knows the sender but not well enough. So anime writers, what are you up to? It could be for logical reason. As a police officer Toto should not be trusting of any unverified letters sent to him, which the manga just set up bc Akira wrote it.

Or, hear me out, if you are reading the manga or have read this chapter, this is going to be another setup for Ron. Another angst-filled one at that.

Then the invitation appeared again during the last 10 minutes or so, without the disturbance of a TV crew who, in the manga showed up during the duo’s dreadful/anxious moments. Ron, immediately ceased the invite and decided from then on that they must go there. No time for verification.

Toto has the invitation all the time with him in the anime and is holding on to it till he finds the right moment.

At first glance, the premise is Toto visits Ron to ask if the forbidden detective wants to be his plus one. Isn’t that thoughtful of Toto? It sounds so romantic, isn’t it? But what if Toto has an agenda? Or someone has and is only using Toto to get to Ron?

I am curious of the next episode(s). There are five chapters in the manga alone for the succeeding arc.

Anyway, the dialogue in the last 15 minutes or so has changed.

From Chapter 8:

Ron: I... almost ended up killing you. If something like this happens again, and the person I’m solving a case with dies… Forget being a detective, Id be so overwhelmed with despair that I wouldn’t be able to go on living.

From the episode 6:

Ron: “Something like that”? I nearly killed you. If anything like it happened again, and you died I'd despair of myself and wouldn't be able to carry on.

The difference lies that the anime writer has edited out the flowery generalisation but immediately got on with the killer word “you” as in Toto Isshiki.

And this momentous addition:

Toto: Until you can believe in yourself, I'll stick with you! Okay?

So far, my RonToto heart is full. But hopefully, the writer will stick to it until the end.

PS: They might forget Toto’s mention of grandmother but they make sure that he is polite and has good manners saying his apologies again for Ron’s eccentric behaviour.

#kamonohashi ron no kindan suiri #ron kamonohashi #totomaru isshiki #akira amano #ron et toto #ron kamonohashi: deranged detective #deranged detective #rkdd spoilers #episode 6 #rontoto #ron kamonohashi's forbidden deductions #rkdd wall of text #rkdd speculation

[the-fantabulous-toast]

Lettering sound effects in Shiori Experience

Hi! I’m Toast, the letterer on #dropout’s English translation of Shiori Experience. This series was my first time doing typesetting, and I’ve learned a lot over the two years I’ve been involved in the project. Each new chapter brings new challenges, and as our team has matured we’ve gotten more ambitious. We recently began translating the comic’s sound effects along with the dialogue, a decision which instantly doubled the size of our workload. 

Our most recent release, Chapter 64, was probably the most technically complex chapter we’ve done so far. The sound effects in this chapter were varied and complicated, presenting a number of interesting challenges. Today I thought it would be fun to give y’all a peek behind the curtain, and show the thought process and effort that goes into the adaptation of sound effects in Shiori Experience.

Shiori Experience is a music manga [citation needed], so it isn’t surprising that the sound effects can get pretty complicated. Music manga need to convey not just the sound, but more importantly the impact of a performance, conveying an auditory experience in a totally silent medium. Shiori Experience’s approach to this problem is to make the sound effects semi-diegetic objects. They hang in the air, burst out of crowds, get obscured by foreground objects, and cast shadows on their environment. This is a really cool effect, but also makes converting them from Japanese to English a fucking nightmare.

(Look at the shadows)

Shiori Experience is kind of a nightmare

In some ways, lettering for Shiori Experience isn’t actually that difficult. Sound effects in this series are goddamn everywhere and they’re fucking gigantic, but they’re always straightforward. Much like the art of the series, the sound effects are clean and angular, strong dynamic shapes which are easy to parse even if you can’t read the katakana. For a great example of this, look at this sequence from Chapter 64.

This sequence demonstrates what you can achieve with good lettering. The sound of the band is conveyed perfectly with these visuals. The clear and regular beat of the drums, the dark and energetic bass line, the screaming uncontrollable energy of the electric guitar. We didn’t even bother translating it. We didn’t need to.

But look at the sequence again. In spite of its apparent complexity, there’s only two fonts here, a dynamic block text and an angular brush. Those two fonts represent the vast majority of SFX in Shiori Experience. The rest is just text effects and perspective tricks.

So to convert these sound effects into English, we just have to find equivalent fonts. It took me a while to pin down a set of fonts I was happy with. For the pointy brush font I eventually settled on Jolly Lodger, a brush font with a sort of piratey vibe. I’m still not 100% satisfied with this conversion, it isn’t as pointy as the original, but it’s good enough for now.

And for the big block font I chose Boogaloo. It looks a little thin when it’s on its own like this, but it really bulks up with the right text effects.

Great! We’ve got our fonts! Doing the sound effects should be as simple as erasing the old text and replacing it with the new text, right? Wrong. The nightmare begins.

Different approaches

There are several schools of thought when it comes to lettering manga SFX. One is the "keikkaku means plan" approach. In a translator's note outside the panel, or in plain text near the SFX, describe what the sound is. This is incredibly easy. This is also lame.

(This is from the official release of Dungeon Meshi. I wouldn’t want to redraw this one either, but like, come on guys.)

Another school of thought is style matching. Similar to the translator’s note approach, but rather than plain text, the translation uses similar text effects to the original SFX. This works fine, but it can create a lot of visual clutter if implemented poorly.

(This is from Drifting Dragons. Please read Drifting Dragons.)

The last approach is full replacement. In this approach, the original SFX is (are you ready for this?) fully replaced by the new SFX.

SFX Redrawing

Replacing a sound effect isn’t as simple as just erasing it. We work with tankoban pages, scans of the Japanese volume release. These files are flattened, with the art and text all on one layer as a single image. We can’t just disable the text. In order to remove the original SFX, we have to redraw them.

(for context this is from when I had covid)

Redrawing means recreating the art hidden by the original SFX. This is a complex process, requiring a steady hand, sharp eyes, and  a lot of guesswork. Since we don’t know what precisely is underneath the original SFX, we have to use context to reconstruct it. The goal of any localization is to make the translation invisible to the reader. The same principle holds true in redrawing. The art we add needs to be invisible, meshing seamlessly with the original artwork.

(I made this dude up out of whole cloth. I’m honestly really proud of how he came out.)

#Dropout uses a mix of style matching and full replacement, with the choice between the two being determined by a number of factors. To illustrate that decision-making process, let’s break down the process of redrawing a page of Shiori Experience, specifically the spread across pages 172 and 173 from Chapter 64.

Deciding between Style Match and Full Replacement

This is the original untranslated page, and there’s a lot going on.

In the background of the first panel is the sound of the band, バアアアン, phonetically translated as "BA-A-A-A-N", localized as “BWAAAM”. In the foreground is the cheering of the crowd, ボオワアアア, "BO-O-WA-A-A-A" phonetically, “ROOAAR” localized. Lastly, along the side of panels 3 through 6 is applause, パチ, "PA-CHI", “CLAP”.

At a glance, this page is overwhelming. The cheering sound effect is huge, with custom text effects conveying the energy of the crowd. Worse is the clapping, which overlays multiple panels with dozens of unique partially obscured faces. This looks like a pain in the ass to redraw, but in the end I decided to do a full replacement instead of a simpler style match. With the number and size of the SFX combined with the visual density of the panels, doing a style match would result in a cluttered unreadable mess. Too much of the original artwork would be covered, and there just isn’t enough space. So, full replacement.

The redrawing process

As I’ve gained more experience, it’s been surprising to learn what constitutes a difficult redraw. You’d expect crowd shots to be the hardest, with lots of unique faces and little details, but they actually aren’t that bad IMO. More detail means more context means less guessing. Definitely a lot of work, but not difficult. Meanwhile, something like a gradient or screentone pattern which looks simple is actually a goddamn nightmare to recreate, as we'll see later.

That’s why I started my redraw for this page with the clapping. Again, this looks like it would be really hard, but looks can be deceiving. There’s a lot of clapping, yes, but the text is thin and spaced out. Whiting out the text reveals just how little artwork is actually hidden by the sound effects.

After whiting out the original text, the next step is connecting as many existing lines as I can. I do the panel and bubble borders on a separate layer since they’re simple structural elements. The artwork itself requires a bit more thought. I need to examine the original artwork carefully to avoid connecting lines that shouldn’t be connected. Context can also provide guidance where there are no lines to connect, such as the cheering guy’s hat in the first panel, or the clapping hand in the second panel. Also, when there’s lots of little SFX like this it’s easy to miss a few lines, like the box thing near the bottom of the last panel (don’t worry I catch it later).

The last step is adding in all the inking and screentones, the pattern templates which fill in the “color” to the line work. I have to go through with the clone stamp tool, collect samples from the image, and extend the pattern to fill the blank areas. This is the most annoying step in the process for me, because it requires a level of precision even beyond what’s required for the line work. Humans are pattern-recognition machines. Our brains are really good at catching tiny discrepancies, like when a section of a pattern doesn’t quite line up with the rest of it. My patch job on this panel wasn’t perfect, and you can see where I couldn’t quite line things up in areas like the guy’s checkered shirt in the first panel.

And with that, this redraw is complete! Now it’s time to insert the English translation of the sound effect.

SFX Lettering

The clapping SFX is in that same brush font I pointed out earlier, which we use JollyLodger for. There’s no real perspective things or text effects here, so mimicking the original isn’t difficult. Here’s the before and after.

This approach of fully redrawing the old SFX before inserting the new SFX only works in situations like this, where the text is small and there’s enough detail to reconstruct the image with a high level of confidence. As an SFX gets larger, like the roar of a crowd, the harder it gets to fully replace. This calls for a different approach.

Because of the size and complexity of this sound effect, I decided to do the lettering first. This is the block font I identified earlier, which is replaced by Boogaloo. I do some basic manipulation right away, applying a black outline and distorting the text to create the same perspective effect as the original. The SFX in this series are subtly three-dimensional, and the replacement text needs to be in the same orientation to sell the effect.

I’m also being careful with my placement here, doing my best to align the new text with the old. This will be important later.

Next we need to recreate the distortion effect. Photoshop has functionality to mimic this kind of effect, but I opted to do it manually. Osada (the mangaka) does all these layouts, SFX and all, on paper. The original effect was hand drawn, so the replacement effect is hand drawn.

The lettering for this effect is now complete, and we can begin the redraw process. Since we already have the letters in place, we have the advantage of knowing exactly where a redraw is needed, turning what would otherwise have been an enormous replacement into a minor patch job. From here, it’s the same process as the clapping SFX: Raw, Blank, Line, Fill.

Minor sidebar: translating Japanese sound effects presents an interesting and incredibly niche problem. The katakana symbol オ is translated phonetically as “o”. The problem with that is that when you’re replacing a オ with an O in a sound effect, the hole of the O is positions right on the center of the オ. This makes オ really annoying to redraw. Every O turns into a little window of totally new art, with barely any reference points to draw from. It violates the principle of invisibility, but there’s really no way around it. You can see I got a little lazy here, and clonestamped a different section of the crowd into the hole. As long as I don’t draw attention to it nobody will notice. I hope.

Sidebar over. Just for fun, here’s the before and after for the whole page.

Closing thoughts

So that’s what it takes to do the sound effects for one page of Shiori Experience. This page alone took me multiple days to complete, and it wasn’t even the most complicated page in this chapter. It isn’t why our releases take so long (that can be laid at the feet of staffing and scheduling issues), but hopefully I’ve given you a sense of how much work goes into each new chapter.

This chapter would have taken even longer without the help of Adi and Bangistus, who pitched in on a lot of the smaller SFX. Up until now the lettering of this series has been a solo show, Toast all the way down. Now that Adi and Bang are on the team I’m still keeping most of the big pages for myself, but being able to toss to the others when I get overwhelmed is going to be invaluable. Hopefully I can rely on them in the future as well, there’s some big things coming down the pipe

This series is a labor of love. Sometimes frustrating, often exhausting, but always worth it. I owe this series a lot, and I hope it shows in the work I put into it. I think it would be fun to do more behind the scenes process content like this, so maybe keep an eye out for that in the future.

Lastly, just as a status update, #dropout is not dropping Shiori Experience.  We have a temporary translator who’s helping us put together Chapter 65, which will be coming out Eventually™. Not as long as last time, but like always don’t hold your breath. We’re not sure what will happen after 65 drops. We’re still desperately hiring for a main translator, seriously if you know anybody please hit me up.

That’s all from me. Take care y’all.

#shiori experience #scanlation #lettering #typesetting #redrawing #manga #toastpoasting

[blackstarchanx3new]

FSR rambles 17 ways Dark can insult you

It's been aWHILE.

Not Green practically begging this man to stop abusing Dark Link.

Shadow being insanely bitter at Green's position as the "Leader" of the group isn't well hidden here. When Shadow was in charge of things, he has shown to be very...Abusive. Like there's not a lot of ways around that lmfao. He was seemingly way less abusive to the Hinox's than the rock monster but like, we barely saw them interact.

Green appealing to Dark's emotions by stating "Shadow's kinds scary" is hilarious to me. Throw the shade Green Shadow deserves it a little at this point.

Green's got the right idea that introductions this late is probably a very bad idea given EVERYTHING going on.

I personally just love Dark chewing on Green's fingers it's cute. It's the kind of thing a cat would do lmfao. Green doesn't seem to mind it since he lets him do it till the next panel lmfao.

"Vaati's such a prick!" Shadow says. As if Vaati chose to make the curse sentient...And it wasn't like. A mistake. Quite the assumption there pal.

Ya think it would have assumed a physical form 7 years ago when he was created if that was the case but ehhhh-

As soon as Green falls into his anxieties Dark laughs like a crazy person. Because this dude feeds on emotions and that power is rated E for everyone, he doesn't discriminate against good or bad emotions.

Yeah well for laughing like a loon Daddy Shadow's gonna abuse him some more. You're a terrible dad Shadow Link.

Poor Green is concerned about Dark's wellbeing.

The fucking face Green makes after Dark is yanked is based on this meme:

Because it's funny as hell to me.

Also Shadow wrongly assumes what Dark's powers are:

I mean it's TRUE that he does feed off negativity. But the same is true for positive emotions too. Dark Link actually outright admits to preferring them on a few occasions. Dark Link is bad at being a parasitic curse.

Shadow dramatically stuffing Dark back into his hat is one of my favorite panels of this sequence. It's so dramatic and silly.

CALL. HIM. OUT. SIS.

Shadow needs to know when he's being an ass.

Green will give credit when it's due but Shadow was AWFUL TO THEM.

Some stuff to note:

Green doesn't actually answer the question on if he forgives Shadow or not. Haaaah.

That sure won't be relevant later, but it's pretty heavily implied he hasn't fully forgiven Shadow but IS willing to make an effort to accept him anyway.

Green being a bro here is smth I liked writing.

Green's hard to characterized so I ended up taking him in a different but SIMILAR direction to his cannon manga counterpart.

Like...Green didn't have a lot of his own traits vs the OG Link. He mainly just existed to be the voice of reason. Which is fine. But giving him depression means he can be a bit more interesting in my eyes than just "Diet Link" XDDDD

Green reminding us that him and Link had full conversations with each other at various points.

Which is. Interesting. I can't remember how much I dived into the concept of that in fsr rambles. But that is weird.

It suggests a level of detachment Link has from the four of them to the point he is able to have his own opinions/thoughts/and is able to do actions completely dethatched from all four.

Link is destinctly his own entity compared to the four of them...If that's the case. Where did that consciousness GO.

Perhaps a question to look into at a later date.

For now Green's giving some good ol hugs and thoughts to his pal Shadow Link.

Hah I'm sure you were glad Shadow.

And this page makes me laugh like hell at the implications in the 2nd to past panel.

I'm flabbergasted yall didn't catch that on release of these pages.

Like.

C'mon now.

They're blushing and touching each other.

Next panel they're missing articles of clothes (Their tunics specifically.) and have distinctly embarrassed looks on their faces, Green is hiding his neck for some reason and Blue's dialogue eludes to a substantial amount of time passing.

They did smth sus off screen and yall just, missed that.

I'm very disapointed nobody caught that till I pointed it out. I thought I was being too obvious with that shit.

Green hasn't exactly been hiding the fact he's been very eager for physical contact is all I'm saying.

LMFAO. Okay funny thing:

Shadow didn't have a bed. Because: Why the fuck would you give a shadow a bed.

Shadow also couldn't FEEL things in his weird limbo shadow state. Because he has been IN Link's bed before. Just couldn't actually feel it being comfortable.

No wonder dude has been touch starved to hell.

Idk what it is about the second to last page but I like Green and Shadow interacting and Shadow being a happy little camper.

Even though he's a dick he deserves to be happy with his family. (Smth I dislike strongly is how that dude got relegated to being Link's damn shadow at the end of the manga like...Noooooooo)

Green's had time to think about the things necessary for them all to live together which is sweet.

Link didn't do this before to have less suspicion he was actually gonna draw the sword.

Adding rooms to the house when he lives alone would have been SO SUS.

Green's excited at the prospect of their new life. Even if it'll be hard.

I did an oopsie in this page and didn't color shadow's glove and I'm not fixing it lmfao. Pretend it's there, this is a free comic on the internet. 😭

Blue yeeting a pillow at Green is funny since this is the second time this night the dude has told Green to get some damn sleep.

Greeeen can't sleep though.

I get it pal. I'm an insomniac too. 😞

Vaati's back.

And he cut his hair.

Dark's a silly goofy guy and noticed that because he's a creep.

There's just a whole other level of rude here because like:

Dark it's cut already wtf is he meant to do? X'D

Visually: it's worth noting they're in the temple Shadow dragged vio to at the beginning of the story.

Vaati has seemingly made that place his new home.

Dark's bluntness in the first panel just gets a kick out of me. He really thinks Vaati is dumb as hell and it shows.

Just to make it more obvious:

Dark wasn't ever referring to Vaati with the term "Master" in reference to he himself being Vaati's worker. He was referencing it in terms of Vaati being his teacher.

Which is like rubbing salt in a giant stab wound considering Vaati's former Master Ezlo and him weren't on good terms.

A fun thing to note: After Dark asks up front what he SHOULD call Vaati. Vaati responds with "Get off my bed" and didn't verbally protest to just "Vaati".

You'll notice Dark calls Vaati just "Vaati" from here on out I believe exclusively.

Which is pretty funny to think about because if Vaati had pulled his head out of his ass for a second and just told Dark what he preferred to be called, Dark probably would have actually listened in this moment since it was a genuine question.

Dark Link is only an annoyance if you fall into his traps. or have a bloated as hell ego like Vaati.

Vaati holding Dark Link like a spider by the leg here is so damn funny to me while Dark just, openly shows he would start touching this man the second he got to close if given the opportunity.

He did kiss Vaati without warning a few chapters ago so, don't really blame Vaati for wanting to avoid that. X'D

This entire sequence is just funny to me. But what's new.

Dark's being an oversharing weirdo and Vaati can't handle affection.

Smth I'm sure yall have noticed: Dark's expressions started off as creepy and disturbing and now have evolved into being goofy as fuck.

Dark can't emote properly. So the idea his face is just, all kinds of messed up expression wise has just as much comedic value as creep value. It can either be uncanny or silly.

The more frequently Dark makes "Disturbing expressions" the audience will get numb to it. As Dark becomes a character the audience outwardly is meant to like, smth disturbing about him becoming smth funny is a way of shifting perspective on a lot of aspects of him.

Smth I particularly like about the last panel is how Vaati visually cannot see dark but just knows he's there. XD

The fun thing about this scene is how you could really see it from both their perspectives here.

Vaati is very cynical. He's been hurt a lot (His own fault but still) he doesn't trust people and feels very alone. He misses the one time he connected with someone (Link from Minish cap).

But he's hesitant to make connections due to his attempt at redemption falling flat.

And then There's Dark Link:

Dark Link, is delusional to a degree but also painfully aware of other things.

His delusion is that he's a hero. Vaati's specifically which is why he compared Vaati to Zelda when he spoke to Shadow Link.

Vaati is the one he's protecting and keeping safe, Vaati is someone he cares about deeply even if Vaati, in every way: Sucks majorly.

But unlike Minish cap Link he doesn't try to get Vaati to change who he is.

He likes Vaati for who he is. Even if he thinks he's literally the worst.

At the end of the day: Dark isn't protecting Vaati because he was MADE too. He protects him because he wants too. And that's smth Vaati takes majorly for granted which we'll see down the line...

Dark's offering him unconditional love and Vaati can't understand that shit. Dark's loyalty confuses and just kinda frustrates him.

Since it's not logical. It's purely emotional.

Oh so much to say.

It's so hard to put into words what I think about their dynamic and why I love them. They're very messy but on equal footing. Vaati could push Shadow around and disrespect him in FSR I took the route Shadow and Vaati have an abusive parent and child relationship. But with Dark, that shit just doesn't work on Dark (at least for now) because the man is delusional as hell.

He truly believes he is not only smarter than Vaati but that he is THE ONLY THING protecting him and in a lot of ways: That's outright true.

A LOT of Dark Link's delusions have roots in reality. (Shadow saying they were "Family" so he wrongly associates Shadow as his "father" the only family Link had for instance.)

Vaati has to be kinda stupid from a writing standpoint (Cannon manga or not) because he needs to be defeat-able. His flaws boil down to making stupid as hell choices because he's narcisistic to a fault.

He can't think of shit outside of purely benefiting himself which...In the long run fucks himself over.

Dark is the kind of person you cannot argue with. Because he's insane.

Dark's not afraid of death, or pain...So it leads you to wonder what his weakness is. (And oh boy I hope that pays off haha.)

You throw something at Dark, he will spit it right back in your face 10 fold and he will be MEAN about it. Dark will low blow you into oblivion because it works.

Dark's morals are ALL OVER THE PLACE because he simultaneously thinks he is a curse made to destroy people emotionally and also thinks he's a hero.

In this case, Vaati's ego is Dark's ego.

At this point: Dark hasn't failed. He's done exactly as he's been asked in a round about way/depending on how you look at it.

I ain't even gonna pretend this scene wasn't meant to be sus.

Dark's very "Words are important" kind of guy for someone who sucks at communication haha.

Smth to note dialogue wise:

Dark's insult in the 2nd to last panel was him calling Vaati a baby effectively lmfao.

Since Picori are like mice/rats him calling Vaati a "Pup" was meant to insinuate Vaati is acting an infant Picori which just adds to the insult imo. Like instead of JUST calling Vaati a child he used language that was more suited to Vaati's upbringing.

That just cracks me up.

He went the extra mile to effectivly say "you're a poopy diaper baby huh?"

The last panel is just such: You have to get the last word huh? moment for Dark hahaha. X'D

1st panel:

Dark insinuates he is something OTHER than a curse which is odd. Though you can assume he just means he's a hero. But then again: Why does he think he's a hero exactly.

And the further conversation leads to a very odd revelation.

Vaati, by being in the four sword connected to Link, was cursed.

Which explains why Dark Link can see his memories when Vaati earlier in the comic referenced that he SHOULDN'T.

Woops.

This also explains why it works on Shadow Link. Because Shadow was magically attached to Link at the time of being cursed, Dark affects the three who were influenced by the sword and it's wielder at the time.

Dark's dialogue is further confusing/has weird implications when he asks Vaati:

"Perhaps you forgot what you WANTED, and where you WERE when you created me?"

Dark on multiple occasions has outright referenced the idea he was made to protect Vaati.

Which is weird if you think about it.

Dark wasn't made to just hurt people, but to protect something. Specifically VAATI, but this behavioral aspect makes a lot of sense when you consider he was created for.

Smth a bit morbid:

Dark Link outright states here he believes Link/his colors will kill him. And doesn't seem to care in the slightest.

Well Dark seems fine with his mortality as long as he gets to use it to protect Vaati.

2nd panel insult had me rolling it's so mean and out of pocket but what's new for Dark.

He brushes off Vaati's threats of curse breaking because: Well he's right about Vaati needing him at least for now.

We end on a very goofy note of Dark begging for more kisses if he does a good job. Which shows dude has optimism pouring out of his ass rn.

#fsr rambles #fsr #four swords adventures #four swords returns #four swords manga #four swords #four swords returns au #loz fsr au #loz #shadow link #dark link

[traumxrei-archive]

Can I please request

#3 - They just told him they liked him but they get shy and say “never mind, forget it” …and he wasn’t letting them dismiss it just like that

With Idia Shroud? (≧▽≦)

i like this prompt BSJKSHSOW

Thank you! Remember to take care of yourself

【 till we reach the happy end 】

prompt #3: They just told him they liked him but they get shy and say “never mind, forget it” (ft. idia shroud)

gender neutral! reader, spoilers for ghost marriage + suitor suit idia's vignette, 600 followers event (closed!)

author's note: uuu lyzaaaa i wrote this for you bb <33 honestly the most fun thing i've written in a while. i read his vignette n i scrapped the initial idea i had for this fic and,,,,well the rest is history. i hope you enjoy !!

Idia was having a terrible, horrible, no-good night. Emphasis on the horrible. He was literally just seconds away from being ghosted, and in quite the literal sense too. And he was about to get married against his will! If it was to one of his favorite characters, then maybe Idia would've said yes, but this was to a literal ghost who threatened 'eternal love' for him despite having just met him.

He shivered, feeling better now that he could actually move around. He really needed to get out of this getup. And quickly. Before someone made a comment about him being a tokusatsu villain or a cringy cosplayer...

"Ugh, this cravat is literally choking me, no cap," Idia muttered to himself as he slipped into NRC's darkened hallways. "Thank goodness the protag group were busy taking care of the rest..."

"Idia-senpai!" The call of his name made him flinch, though he instantly recognized it to be their voice.

"W-what's up, Prefect-shi...?" Idia hoped his voice didn't betray his nerves as he spoke. It was hard to think straight when he was literally right in front of his c-cru...cru— oh Idia really didn't want to think about the c-word right now.

"I saw you leaving and I wanted to ask if you were okay," The warm smile they gave him had his heart doing somersaults and Idia could almost forget about the bad things that happened that evening. Such was the life of 'Idia the Simp', who was simply happy that the object of his affections cared about him. How sad and loser-like, was he right?

"I'm fine. I mean, aside from my legs literally turning into jelly from standing for so long," Idia mumbled before raising his voice. "That ghost must've been grinding his stats real hard to be able to fight like that."

"I guess so," They mused, falling into step beside him. "I'm really glad that the others made it in time."

"Ace-shi really came in clutch in this one! He was like a hero from some kind of action manga. Actually, weren't they all pretty hero-like?"

Idia continued to ramble excitedly. "I mean, the protagonist's friends arrived fashionably late— and they were all dressed to impress like princes in a dating sim! Riddle-shi being cool and unapproachable, yet shows his awkward and kind side to the protagonist. Epel-shi as the fragile character that you can't help but want to protect, yet also has a cool and alluring side. And finally Rook-shi, the prince of a neighboring country who secretly protects the main character, and instantly gains best boy status when it's revealed—!"

Idia realized just how excited he was getting over nothing— the tips of his hair turning bright orange— and he sighed deeply, "Augh, really, a loser like me could never compare to shiny princes like them..."

"Don't say that," They had stopped walking. The cool night air tickled the back of Idia's neck as he stood rooted in spot. There was quite a serious expression on their face and Idia wondered if he chose the wrong dialogue option somewhere along the line...

"If it counts for anything I think you look really cool— no, a better word would be absolutely dashing," Their nervousness showed in the way they shifted every few seconds, swallowing before continuing.

"Aren't you really prince-like too? The mysterious heir to the throne that no one ever sees who secretly helps the kingdom by masquerading as an inventor. He continues to provide the kingdom with advance technology whilst under the cover of the unlikeable hermit, and the main character is the first one to learn of his secret."

"Wow, that," This time it was Idia's turn to swallow, his own hair tinting a light pink. "T-that almost makes me sound like a good character to romance... You should become a dating sim writer."

They laughed lightly at that, "Thanks, but...what I really wanted to say was... That is..." They took a deep breath before starting again, "Because of tonight and what happened, I thought that life is short. And that I can't possibly control everything, so I should make sure to say what I want to say properly before it's too late. Idia-senpai. I...like you."

Idia could not believe his ears. Was he dreaming? Was this heaven? Did he dream up being saved by Ace and the others but actually he became a ghost and crossed to the other side? He didn't even remember paying the ferry to cross the river Styx!

"Eh?" was all that managed to leave his mouth, his hair fully turning as flushed as his face felt. The gears in his head were turning, but that didn't mean he wasn't losing braincells trying to figure out what was happening. In the first place, the genre of this day changed way too many times! From slice-of-life to survival horror to fighting game, and finally....a romantic visual novel?? Give him a break already!

"Actually. Just forget I said that." They turned around to quickly walk away but Idia grabbed onto their sleeve before they got too far. Oh Sevens, he really chose the most insanely noob-like dialogue option there was on the "Ranking of Things to Say if Someone Confesses to You" (made by Idia Shroud).

"W-wait, this is...way too much information for my brain to handle, I think I need to download extra gigabytes of RAM for this," Idia said under his breath before finally raising his gaze.

The pale moonlight washed everything in blue, and he couldn't help but think that they looked so...pretty even half-obscured in light. Their stare was pinned at the ground and he really needed to say something before they ran away and it was impossible for him to rewind the scene and fiz his mistakes.

"You..." Idia cleared his throat, the pink of his hair fluttering with the passing wind. "Could I p-please hear that dialogue option...once again? I-I promise to give a better answer this time! Or did I already raise a death flag for myself and hurtle myself towards the bad ending? Ah, Idia, this is why you aren't suited to be a otome game protag, you should just stick t—"

The breath was stolen from his lungs as warm palms urgently cradled his face, "Senpai... I don't like hearing the person that I like talking badly about himself all the time. Especially right after I told him how cool he is."

The words came out in a wheeze as he spoke again, "Y-you said 'like' just now? What k-kind of like is that?"

"The 'romantic' type of like," They said, a finger ghosting over his cheek. "The 'I want to play your route till the happy ending' type of like."

"Oh. In a positive way," He hastily added, his hair growing brighter by the second. "Y-you're really good at these...romantic words."

"Of course I am," They gave him a mischievous grin. "I learned from the best games on the market. So what do you say to my proposal?"

Aaaanddd Idia was back to feeling faint again, "T-that was a figure of speech right? I don't think I can handle another proposal so soon—"

"Senpai," They chided softly as Idia tugged at the ends of his hair. "A simple yes or no would suffice."

"Uhm. If you can't already tell by this," Idia pointed to his hair— which was now bright pink and flaming dangerously high. "I'd like to stay with you too. Till the happy ending."

"Till the happy ending," They echoed, smiling as they finally released his face. Idia found himself missing the touch a little....just a little though.

He didn't get the chance to wallow before his hand was being clasped in theirs, "C'mon! Let's get you out of those fancy clothes and play some games in your room already!"

"W-wait a second, Prefect-shi?" Idia flushed harder, if that was even physically possible. "Y-you're skipping too many chapters of the dating stage, you know? There's an order to things!!"

"I meant video games, senpai," They laughed as they skipped in front of him, Idia's own steps frantic to stay close to them. "Get your head out of the gutter."

"R-right," Idia nodded, absolutely mortified for the second— or was it third time?— that night. "I knew that."

And Idia was the subject of their teasings long after the night was over. He had to live through the embarrassment of them recounting the whole story to an all-too-curious Ortho. (Maybe he should've programmed him with less curiosity, but alas he can't go back on his own genius.)

But well, he really couldn't complain. Not when they held his hand so tightly as they watched his favorite movies with him. And especially not when they fell asleep on his shoulder— a cliché that was one of his favorites to date. Idia was sure of it now. No matter what hardships or trials would follow in the future, he would play this route till the happy end.

thank you for reading this very based idia take (pls help i've gamer-talked for too long bc of idia) if you did, please like, subscribe, and check out my masterlist for other works !!

[ mini idia dictionary bc pog ]

tokusatsu villain - tokusatsu refers to a genre of live-action shows that heavily use special effects. think ultraman or kamen rider.

death flag - an action or dialogue that foreshadows an untimely death for a certain character. raising one means to basically accelerate the death of a character, since you're adding more death flags to their roster.

bad ending/happy ending - referring to otome games, where there are multiple endings to different routes that are achievable by changing dialogue/actions throughout the story.

lmk if there are any other terms i should add bc i lost count of the more confusing ones after re-reading this 3 times jskfjdskf

#/trau writes #/trau fics #idia shroud *shakes cylumes* #i love this man #he's a disaster #we stan a fool in the face of romance #i wrote this instead of sleeping (real) #idia shroud #idia shroud x reader #idia x reader #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twst fanfic #twst imagines #twst headcanons #twisted wonderland headcanons #twst phantom bride #twst ghost marriage

[autism-rizz-tournament]

Marina (Splatoon) - Autism Rizz Tournament Preliminaries

If you vote yes you must firmly believe in this character's autism AND in the rizz their autism gets them. If you don't want the character in the tournament just vote no

Propaganda:

While not canonically autistic, she does have a lot of autistic traits--she's rarely seen without her headphones (to the point where her ears aren't modeled in game), her tentacles constantly moving could be seen as stimming, and she has a very strong interest in machinery, to name a few. Marina also has a crush on her bandmate, Pearl. While it is never directly stated in-game, supplementary material basically confirms it. The Japanese version of the Splatoon database has described her as a "maiden in love," with the specific words used being in romantic contexts. Along with that, she has drawn a manga about Pearl, drawing flowers and hearts around her, and generally acts affectionate towards her in-game. It is unknown if Pearl reciprocates canonically, but she does have a very close relationship with Marina. She reciprocates Marina's hug at the end of Octo Expansion, and she is seen to be quite worried about her in the second trailer for Side Order. Pearl x Marina is a very popular ship in the fandom for these reasons.

she wears headphones near-constantly, is obsessed with heavy machinery, and is skilled in multiple forms of art (music, shoujo manga-style visual art, and stage design). she also notably chose team Order in the Chaos vs Order splatfest, and her dialogue in the announcement suggests she's resistant to change (though it could also just be interpreted as her being gay for her co-host)

this was a partly 'for fun'-type headcanon i quietly held for a while that i think was kinda niche at the time (though it is entirely possible i just wasn't in the right corners of the fandom) but then side order released and brought with it a ton of new reinforcement. to get the question of her rizz out of the way, people were so consistently horny for her while splatoon 2's splatfests were ongoing that it actually caused drama because her team typically had the popular vote and people chalked that up to participants voting based on their favorite hosts' opinion rather than their own. whether that's true or not is hard to prove, but the fact that it was plausible illustrates my point, and her popularity was even referenced in-game at one point. there's also MAJOR subtext that she and her bandmate pearl (who reads as adhd to me) are dating. now for the fun part, listed in no particular order but will probably trend towards sillier argumentation as it goes on. (includes some mild side order spoilers) - the "final" splatfest of splatoon 2 was chaos versus order, and marina's reasoning for picking order implies a resistance to change. this is reinforced in side order, in which she has to reconcile her inner desire to live in a consistent world with the fact that she knows forcing other people to conform for the sake of that is immoral when a rogue ai hijacks her virtual-reality program. - she shows signs of having social anxiety in a lot of dialogue, and it even arguably extends into her visual design because of her consistently pouty eyebrows. - at one point a childhood friend of hers mentions a time she infodumped to nobody in particular about excavators for 2 hours straight, and then pearl says she regularly goes on for longer now. - she has skill in a ridiculous amount of art forms: music, stage design (for splatfest battles, not music performance), shoujo manga-style visual art, and even programming, game design, and 3d modeling. - the logo of the virtual-reality program she designed is an infinity symbol, which also shows up in a few other places throughout it. - always seen wearing headphones, outside of specific promo art and images from her military backstory.

#marina ida #splatoon #marina splatoon #character tournament #poll #tumblr polls #tournament poll #tumblr tournament

[batbabydamian]

Batman and Robin (2023) #1 is out!! 🦇💕

Spoilers and lots of rambling below

Loved hopping in mid-mission with Bruce and Damian banter - the first issues of Damian's B&R 2009 and 2011 runs have Batman and Robin’s relationship on a rocky start, so it’s a refreshing change!

Bruce rhyming with the pause like he’s really thinking about it LOL he's having fun!!

"You roll your eyes just like your mother" SO CUUTE!! a nice way of relating Damian to Talia in a habit haha (would also be neat if Damian had some of his mom's physical features heehee...haha...) Also "it's just us here for a bit." Would anyone else from the batfam be staying there in the future? 🤔

OKAY really want to delve into Damian cutting Bruce off here, since we're mostly in Bruce's POV atm.

Bruce saying that he's happy Damian chose to live with him seems to impose the idea Damian chose Bruce over Talia. From how Bruce thought Talia should "never claim Damian" i don't think that's something Damian wants to hear, especially after Damian already chose not to be on either of his parent's side!!

Batman VS Robin (2022) #4

In the end of his Robin book, Damian says he's still figuring out who he is, so i'm wondering if he's conflicted about losing that independence of being able to carve a path of his own now that he's with Bruce again. Either way, Damian's (VERY CUTE!!) self insert AU story gives us a glimpse of his concerns about his parents and not getting to be a teenager 🥺

ANYWAY. OBSESSED WITH THIS!! HIS COMIC THUMBNAILS!! THE RANDOM ANIME EYES IN THE CORNER!! WELCOME BACK ARTIST DAMIAN 😭

EXPRESSING HIMSELF THROUGH DRAWING FROM GORE/HORROR TO FAMILY/OBSERVATIONS TO EXPERIMENTING WITH MANGA/COMICS!! ALL SO VALID AND WONDERFUL 😭

Damian quoting Alfred and probably cooking something he used to make for him?? i'm crying

Detective Comics (2016) Annual #4

We've really gone from Damian just leaving a reminder for Bruce to restock the fridge to Damian cooking breakfast for the both of them 🥺

THIS IS MY FAV PANEL IN THIS ENTIRE ISSUE LOL fav just eating well, cheeks full of food, so cute!! and Damian sounds like he's referring to when Bruce enrolled him to the school in Metropolis lol Though Bruce's reason was also to benefit Damian, he's better communicating that this time!

Super Sons (2017) #10

LOVE DAMIAN'S ROBIN MOBILE!! glad he's moved on from the batmobile and just got his own - it's very much the opposite too in how it's bright, open, and bulky where the batmobile's dark and sleek!

The last part of the issue showcases Di Meo's action! i was pretty worried about it, because when i first saw his interiors for DC VS Vampires (2021) i barely understood what was happening im so sorry sir 😭 Honestly, it was still jarring but much better! HUGE shoutout to their Letterer Steve Wands, because the SFX and dialogue placement improved the flow a lot!

Final thoughts: GORGEOUS ART, FUN WRITING, I LOVE DAMIAN!! i'm analyzing way too much but i'm just so happy to have an ongoing with Damian again (with a writer that actually! likes him!) 😭

My hopes are we get those fun stylized panels of Damian's art/comics where we get insight on his headspace similar to the shoujo panels from Robin!! Reunion of Damian and his pets!! And it's still early, but still holding out for Williamson to keep to his word on this!! 👀

#rambling #jfc i didnt expect this to get so long i really thought i was just gonna gush over how adorable Damian is in this issue LOL

[graytrailcam]

Indie Xenofiction; Data Lion

"Data Lion is a short visual novel about a lion who gets a camera collar put on him by a group of scientists wanting to document his journey. It has choices, 2 love interests, and many alternate endings including bad ends (game overs)!

The idea was inspired by masterpieces like The Lion King and the manga/anime Kimba The White Lion."

Found this game while searching around on Itchio, the game is completely free to download and can be completed within just a few hours. It is described by the author as being unfinished in its current state, but I think it can be played through completely with a feeling of some satisfaction. Here is the link for those interested

More in depth review under the cut featuring spoilers. If you're looking to play I do recommend going in blind, it's fairly simple and the fun is really found in unlocking the CGs, which isn't too hard to do.

This is a short game that reminds me a lot of media I grew up with on dA back in the day, so it was very entertaining. I can definitely tell this takes a lot more inspiration from Kimba than it does TLK with a lot of its story concepts and overall character design. The game itself runs on a seven day cycle so it's fairly short.

I enjoyed the main character's design, he's an intersex, mostly maneless lion that you can name, though the default name that pops up is 'Lion McLionface' (your character was supposedly named via an Internet poll made by the scientists attaching your radio collar)

You're also able to choose your stats, as this game does have (extremely basic and limited) combat. For my playthrough I named the lion 'Lasaga' to be a bit silly and I dumped all my stats into strength.

I'm not really sure what the stats of Skill and Speed do for you. I completed the game by getting all the CGs and didn't encounter anything that was explicitly skill or speed required, perhaps it has a factor in combat that I'm unaware of.

You make a series of choices, some meaningful some not as most of them lead to the same exact events playing out. You can acquire the only pickable item, a thorn you can use in combat, in the game earlier on based on where you choose to make your home if you pick the Acacia Tree.

At some point a Safari Car will come by and observe you, if you make the right dialogue choices you can get some exposition on the setting you're in.

The animals in this particular section of Africa are apparently Bio-Engineered to have heightened, near human intelligence. The author of the game, Caveboy Tup has elaborated in a comment on the game's itchio page which I'll leave below;

This is definitely something that shows a lot of Kimba inspiration though it goes in a different direction that has some interesting implications. I would have been interested to see this explored in a more elaborate narrative.

The two love interests in this game are Jetsway and Rrred;

Their routes are very straight forward, I'd say you would have to really go out of your way to not pursue either of them, which makes it easy to pick and choose which one you 'romance', as it's also pretty bare bones in that regard too.

The one most advertised is definitely Rrred the lion who is featured more prominently on the game's page. He's not got a whole lot of depth, you have the choice to fight him or join up with him in a coalition immediately upon meeting him.

I do like the game's expression work, I find the animals emote in ways that are fun to look at and easy to read.

If you defeat him he will simply retreat and will show up again later to give some brief exposition on Jetsway's character.

Joining up with him starts his short route, which mostly consists of him scaring off crocodiles at the watering hole for you, which you are able to avoid without him regardless (The only time my character got a bad end was when I chose the wrong evasion option at this point in the story) The other portion is an encounter with a clan of hyenas that was pretty comedic, this got a good laugh out of me. It was the only time the game was particularly vulgar.

You escape the hyenas, as you are outnumbered no matter how high your strength stat is. The rest of the route is pretty uneventful, you travel together and it's implied there's some romantic interest between the two of you.

I will admit I found Rrred to be the less interesting of the two routes but I can see what appeal they were going for here.

The other route is Jetsway's which I found to have slightly more meat on its bones.

You meet Jetsway first in fact while looking for food but he only says that the radio collar you have on means you aren't one of his 'targets' before sprinting away.

Encountering him later finds him injured in the middle of the night after a fight.

There's more lore exposition with Jetsway regarding the largely left out bio-engineering aspect. He's some creature part of Glo's work that was created by them, it's specified he has some sort of Tech in his eye that isn't explained very much.

Poking around the dialogue options with him will give you the option of fighting him once he reveals he got these injuries fighting and killing lions, which explains why he specified you weren't a target earlier.

Upon defeating him, you can kill him here which I found interesting. But you can also choose to stay the night and nurse his wounds until he recovers.

You are given the option to walk him back home, and doing so will trigger an interaction between you two and Rrred, who calls Jetsway a murderer. Pushing Jetsway for more answers will only get you this in response.

There is no further elaboration on this plot point after this. I assume given the larger narrative that was mentioned by the creator that he's killing lions that are either human aggressive or resistant/unsuccessful in the Bio Engineering stuff. But that's only an educated guess.

Walking him home will after lead you to Utke town, where he says the humans will give him more medical treatment but that your character cannot stay.

You're able to stay the night, where you'll find Jetsway gone in the morning, but you are spotted by a Glo operative prior to this who takes this photo of you and Jetsway to 'share on the internet'.

After these two CG's, the final day is always the same. Your radio collar falls off on the seventh day and the scientists come to retrieve it. You have two options after this, to hide in wait to observe the humans at first, which will lead to you being tranquilized again while they retrieve your collar.

You can also attack the scientists, which will result in you ripping off the arm of one of them, the one named Saito.

They escape you after this, and leads to the final CG where Saito has been given a replacement prosthetic arm.

This concludes the game as currently published. I found it very charming to play and a nice way to spend part of an afternoon. It was definitely worth sharing since I haven't seen anyone discuss playing it or knowing it exists.

#data lion #visual novel #lions #xenofiction #video games #gray plays #gray plays data lion

[innerchorus]

Arslan Senki Chapter 124

I've cooled off a little bit after the intense experience that this chapter was, so here are a few thoughts! (I read the official simulpub on Kmanga, apologies that I haven't looked for the raw this time but it may be out there if you check.)

The chapter opens in the underground waterways and I am immediately relieved because this means that we did indeed backtrack a bit from last chapter, meaning that we are going to see the fighting there that reveals exactly how Andragoras reached Hilmes

Sam, when speaking of the existence of these tunnels, saying that if he'd known about them he wouldn't have 'helplessly surrendered the royal capital to the Lusitanian army'. Sam, please don't blame yourself! If the royal family chose to keep that knowledge to themselves, it's their fault, not yours. The fact that he's still blaming himself for this... That he thinks of himself as a failure in this respect... 😭

The Kishward-Sam fight was less nervewracking than the one the anime included in the battle for the Keep of Saint-Emmanuel, but only because I didn't know the outcome then. I think it's hard to get some of the nuances of this fight across in manga format but as usual Arakawa did a good job with it, and I want to discuss it a bit!

Sam's eyes here... He looks so sad, you just know he longed for that to have been him instead of leading the life he's living now

...and with that expression, the fight resumes. Kishward has already come to the conclusion that what Kubard said about Sam looking for death was true, and that's what we see when Sam next attacks, right after this line about envying Shapur and Garshasp. It's obvious that he's trying to force Kishward into a position where he has to kill him. He won't surrender, he won't switch sides, but he is willing to die like the warrior he no longer sees himself as.

If Kishward met him as he would someone he sees as a true enemy, he would have killed Sam then. He could have done so with his other sword while Sam is open after that strike. But he doesn't, because he doesn't want to kill his former comrade!

And Sam IS NOT WILLING TO KILL KISHWARD EITHER. If he had, Kishward would surely already be dead for what looks like seeking only to stand firm rather than land a fatal blow of his own, and that's why he only receives a broken sword and a shallow cut to the face. The... choreography (?) of the fight at this point is slightly different in the novels but I think the manga did a good job making a small change to show both of their attitudes more clearly.

(For the curious, in the novel Kishward's sword breaks on Sam's armour when Sam deliberately doesn't evade his slash, but as Kishward never intended for it to be a killing blow, it only cracks his armour. I'm not sure that would have come across from images alone so thumbs up to Arakawa for her modification.)

Sam still calling Andragoras 'Your Majesty' showing his inner conflict (Hilmes would hate it just as he did when Sam said 'His Highness Arslan' in his presence, but I find it understandable) but HE STILL DEFENDS HIS POSITION

and this is another small change from the novel but Arakawa's Sam is much more vehement here, much firmer in his conviction to not let Andragoras past and I love that because I can't deny it bothered me a bit in the novel scene where there's a lot of hesitance in his dialogue and he just says "Even though it's Your Majesty...' but here we get THIS:

And if that doesn't confirm that despite any inner conflict he feels, he will never betray Hilmes for Andragoras, I don't know what does. So I was thrilled to see this, honestly.

In the novel it feels as though it's Andragoras's imposing presence that oppresses Sam's will to resist him but that's not so here. I can only believe that Sam allows him through precisely because he wants to avoid the situation he mentioned earlier; 'more slaughter between kinsmen.' If Hilmes and Andragoras talk, will fighting between Parsians be averted? This must be his hope. I do wonder whether he ends up having his suspicions about precisely what Andragoras wanted to tell Hilmes, though... after all, he already knows part of it himself.

(I had some mixed feelings about this moment, so I did quite a lot of thinking about it before, but honestly, it makes sense for Sam's character and what we know is important to him. I'm just very, very glad Arakawa allowed him to face Andragoras down like that first. I do wonder how Hilmes would see things, though.)

Anyway Hilmes's expressions in the following scene wrecked me and just watching him sweat and tremble in position and be on the verge of vomiting was hard. Anyway, the sordid details come to light, and we know who the sorcerer who supplied Gotarzes with the prophecy that caused all of it was...

Some more images of Hilmes's (very beautiful) mother!

Gotarzes, though... The way he's drawn when he's grasping Osroes's wife shows how repulsive his decision was, and it's clear she doesn't want this, but she would have had no choice.

Hilmes tries so hard to believe that this is all a lie, but... you can tell that he can't. It's difficult to watch him go through this. And I can't believe we didn't even conclude this scene (unless Andragoras is just going to leave now in the manga; he didn't in the novels but we'll see, moving things around here could work but equally splitting it with the parallel conversation between Arslan and Tahamenay is a nice touch and I'm glad Arakawa is devoting the necessary time and attention to all of this).

You know... I'm exhausted lmao, someone else please post about the Team Arslan section that came after this.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki spoilers #sam #kishward #andragoras #hilmes #osroes #gotarzes #hilmes's mother #(maybe i didn't tag her before but she deserves her own tag) #it's my birthday today and the unexpected Shapur glimpse was a perfect gift

[cowboy-robooty]

Robooty Reviews: Oni To Tengoku (8.9/10) ROBOOTY PERSONAL FAVORITE

(in my heart its a 10/10)

Atsurou Aoki is an english teacher who has some mad fuckin self esteem issues. hes our beautiful pathetic man protag and he ends up tangled up in a relationship of sorts with the school nurse, Manabu Tengoku. Its a dry premise and honestly the first volume requires you to sludge through a lot of average yaoi evil shit but please please please im begging you endure okay. i have been an oni to tengoku-er since 2019 and ive been following the development of the sequel (oni to tengoku sai) and the (now third) sequel (oni to tengoku kyuu) of this series and GOD. ILL BE REAL IM A MANIAC AND PROBABLY GOT A LOT MORE OUT OF THIS SERIES THAN THE AUTHOR INTENDED AT ALL BUT IDGAF PLEASE READ IT PERHAPS YOU CAN EXPERIENCE THE SAME ENLIGHTENING AS ME. READ MORE HAS SPOILERS BE WARNED (PART 1 CUZ OF TUMBLR IMAGE LIMIT)

this will be a little different than usual because i have a whole lot to say about aoki and tengoku. Really, a lot of this will be just talking about how and why i like their relationship so if you end up liking this you should most definately read the full manga to experience it for yourself

Despite all the fuckin bullshit of the first volume, the manga is really fucking good at interweving in its core themes and setting up the psychological basis of Aoki. Aoki was abused by his mother as a child, but i think the depiction of abuse is really realistic because even though she whittles down his self esteem and makes him feel worthless she hugs him afterwards and still is motherly towards him, this aoki doesnt hate his mother and fully cut her off per say but she is a demon to him. its pretty realistic imo where parents can do awful things but they buy you a donut and then its like ermm well.. they bought me a donut and do this in my best interest so its okay. Aoki is fucked in the head though. because he doesnt feel like he can be loved deep down and his entire career path is something he chose only because it was expected of him by his family (and his entire life is grasping at straws in an attempt to not disappoint people)

he wants more than anything to just not be an embarassment and be "worthy" of being loved. I like how this is depicted because again it feels more realistic in that he isnt outwardly a freak about it or anything he doesnt have breakdowns in public or anything thats enough to warrent himself to feel like he needs to get help. but he definately does need help of some sort because his way of thinking and the constant guilt and shame he feels is just something thats normal to him now. hes just tired and a bit worn down, but its not like anything is exceptionally bad, since humans are surprisingly adaptable and hes just lived with feeling like hes an embarassment who disappoints people his entire life so its norm.

Tengoku obviously doesnt mean it in the way aoki is taking is. but its things like this that make the themes feel well interwoven to me. Aoki doesnt look tengoku in the eye and say "i have mommy issues and feel like being an embarassment is the reason i cant be loved" but he still shows it in a way that we the audience can see he means, since we can put together aoki's lifestyle and viewpoint from his inner dialogues and flashbacks to his mother's abuse. Aoki wants more than anything else to be a good boy because only good boys can be loved. and unfortunately for aoki san this kind of means he has developed a praise kink and good boy fetish which tengoku just naturally leans towards so erm haha tengoku just pushing those buttons all willy nilly!

Tengoku isnt an idiot though, as he pursues aoki he can definately connect the dots and all that shit for how aoki ticks. This isnt exactly hard to do anyways, since aoki passively talks about himself to tengoku during non crazy scenes and its not like hes an enigma or anything because again, he thinks that the way he lives is completely normal for a guy like him. Tengoku likes aoki and chases him and aoki isnt exactly a willing participant. Tengoku likes aoki because hes a fun plaything and interesting and pure hearted and everything tengoku is not and aoki begins to form an affection for tengoku because he itches the mental illness brain damage spot by pursuing and wanting him consistently and not getting bored.

These panels are true brain damage pages because it hits upon how all aoki wants is for someone to look at him directly and still want him. His greatest wish (that he doesnt even believe could come true at the bottom of his heart) is to have someone that could see him for who he is and despite all his flaws. despite how hes useless, despite how hes not good at anything (to him), despite how hes bad at relationships, despite how he cant talk with other people, and despite what an embarassment he is, still love and want him. Seriously, I must recommend you to read this for yourself. Theres the yaoi bullshit sludge but every chapter has bits and pieces of Aoki's mindset that is an insanely good representation and depiction of how that kind of mentality and acceptance is like.

Volume 2 is where things really pick up. Yaoi sludge has been toned down to make way for FUCKING SWAG!!!! the set up for aoki's mentality is done now were onto getting into the way tengoku and aoki's personalities actually interact with eachother. Along with dipping into tengokus crazy bitch syndrome

Over this volume, were shown that actually aoki and tengoku are a good match for eachother. At least, tengoku provides something special for aoki in that he doesnt know from personal experience the feeling of needing to earn love, but because of that he bounces off well with aoki because he shows basic interest in going "well your feelings and thoughts do matter though. youre a person too". this isnt explicitly said, but its little things liks this that end up making aoki fall in love with him. Aoki falling in love with tengoku is also interesting because this is his first time actively liking someone else because its what he wants, not because its what the other person expects. Despite how terrible their relationship was at first, it set a ground where Aoki was able to create a strong connection with someone without the initial fear of disappointing them since he even didnt like tengoku at first. Honestly with the way Aoki is I think that is why hes able to love tengoku out of his volition, since he already has shown his shameful parts to him and tengoku still wants him-- in fact tengoku is the only person who has seen Aoki's shame and refused to let him go, this lets Aoki take a breather and think about what HE desires for once instead of how to keep someone with him or do whats good for the other person/not shameful.

Also a new teacher is introduced who actually is one of the many guys Tengoku had play-boyed before who became a teacher just so he could try to win tengokus love lol. but he serves as a plot device for that yaoi jealousy arc WOOOHOOOO! I love the jealousy chapter a lot though because BOTH CHARACTERS experience jealousy in their own way. I'm not sure if what Aoki experiences can be classified under jealousy or not, but ill just say it is because thats easier. The chapter is wonderfully done though because see Tengoku has always been the one who chases Aoki but also the one who reminds him that he doesnt fall in love this is just a sex playboy thing. Aoki is the one who has fallen in love and does show this by treating Tengoku specially, but Tengoku obviously doesnt reciprocate this since the way he acts at least is more like Aoki is his favorite of a bunch of toys rather than his one and only like how Aoki sees him. Aoki feels bitterness over this because he wishes he could be loved by Tengoku since Tengoku is somewhat wishy washy and gives Aoki just enough to keep hope but also smushes that hope by refusing a drop more. (this is done though bc this is fucking yaoi ofc tengoku loves aoki to bits and pieces back but tengoku is just scared of liking aoki too much and showing it too much but hold on we havent gotten to tengokus insanity yet jeeeesus christ!). Also im kind of at the tumblr 10 image limit but I think showing these next three pages are really important so ermm me when i post this and then add a reblog or two with MORE BULLSHIT. I'll properly tag the versions with my reblogs

[stopdyingnow]

Outcast // Hayakawa Aki x GN! Reader Fluff

Warnings: None. Sfw. Focuses on Aki and reader’s healthy relationship. Story note: This is before Power and Denji moved into his apartment and when Himeno was alive.

————- Note: I'M CRINGING SO HARD AT THIS ALREADY- ;_; ahem. Anyways, no manga spoilers or spoilers past season one are here. So Anime onlys are completely safe. :)

I randomly got motivation to do this since it is a shower thought I had. Fictional character brain rot, am I right? I don’t know if this is considered a full on fic but more of a one-shot. Hope you enjoy. This is my first time writing on Tumblr (or a full on one-shot in general lol) so yeah. Hope it isn't too bad, if you want you can give tips in comments. ^^

Ended up being a bit longer than I thought, it was fun writing even though I struggled a bit at times to be happy with the dialogue and stuff. May edit a bit (cough cough a lot) more.

————-

Another month, another day.

Nighttime had overtaken the skies as you hear your co-workers laughing and enjoying themselves. They're all having fun, no worries whatsoever.

You were invited by Himeno to go out and drink. To have some fun for a bit. To let go of reality for a bit. The harsh reality of devils and lives constantly being robbed of innocent people.

It was a successful mission, so you were at the ramen restaurant watching your colleagues get drunk off of alcohol. It smelled like sweat and alcohol in the air, as you quietly sat there at a table not speaking to anyone.

In all seriousness, you didn’t really want to come. You would much rather stay home in your comfort area. You mainly came for two reasons: one being that you didn't want to decline Himeno's offer and seem a bit rude. You were starting to run out of excuses to not come. Second, being that you didn’t want to be the only outcast who didn’t come to a meeting where your co-workers are supposed to celebrate and forget about worries. All in bliss, getting high off of alcohol, escaping from reality.

You chose a chair where not too much people were as their laughs kept echoing. You sat somewhere to at least make you seem a bit included. You didn't drink any alcohol. You weren't a big fan of some. Certain drinks to you tasted disgusting in your opinion, and you didn't know how someone like Himeno could drink it raw.

You tried to peer your eyes at anything in an attempt at trying to ease the awkwardness of not having anyone to speak to. You didn't want to make it obvious you felt left out. If you were being honest, you felt like an outcast, like you weren’t really as included as some other workers are. Nobody tried to talk to you. And if they would do other activities, you'd be at home. Uninvited.

Or if you were invited, you barely spoke to anyone. If someone would reserve seats in a restaurant for the entire division, you would be the the person who is most likely to have been forgotten. Leading you to then be forced to eat at another table away from everyone else. Either that or if you do sit with many others, you'd be there in silence. Only occasionally speaking as you watch everyone else chat away, carefree. Having fun, getting high, getting that spark in their chest when they find someone they really enjoy talking to, and enjoying their time there in general.

So in conclusion, you felt like an outcast to others. Some people would only occasionally speak to you, only to stop speaking to you again. You barely knew anyone of them outside of work.

Well, except for one person that is.

Hayakawa Aki. Professional Aki. Known for being number one devil hater. The man whose family was robbed of him. The man who was forced to grow up too early in his life.

The Gun Devil obviously impacted everyone. Including you. So you couldn’t help but sympathize with him. At least some people who got affected had somebody. Whether it was an aunt, uncle, grandparent…While for Hayakawa, he had nobody. He had always blamed himself for his brother’s death. You knew that since you’ve known him for a while now. He always has blamed himself ever since that day.

November 18th, 10:00 am.

The Gun Devil would arrive and hit Japan for 26 seconds.

Deaths: 57,912.

United States: 124 seconds, 548,012 deaths.

China: 37 seconds, 316,932 deaths.

Soviet Union: 210 seconds, 155,302 deaths.

India: 15 seconds, 29,950.

Canada: 7 seconds, 8,481 deaths.

Mexico: 2 seconds, 6,088 deaths.

Hawaii: 0.4 seconds, 780 deaths.

In about five minutes, the Gun Devil managed to rob almost 1.2 million people of their lives.

New laws were enforced, orphanages began to overflow with desperate children and teenagers alike, kids, adults, grandparents, teachers, nearly everyone alike was impacted by the Gun Devil.

Hayakawa Aki, the man who deep down is filled with sorrow, anger, and guilt.

You remembered all of that. Felt a bit of sorrow, pity, and guilt in your gut for him and other victims, as a familiar face you began to notice was standing in a corner.

You couldn't help but feel yourself light up a bit. It was an opportunity. At least someone you know is there. At least someone who you know personally is there instead of being alone awkwardly, barely knowing anyone. You then stood up, and begin to wave to him, being careful not to be too loud to the point other workers would notice you. But just enough to get his attention. He noticed your hand, as his eyes met yours and he began to walk to you. Suit tied perfectly, hair tied in a topknot, eyes darting onto you.

Mister Hayakawa. Number one devil hater. The one who is supposedly cold on the outside.

As he walked toward you, you lightly smiled as he breathed in a cigarette.

“Aki- how are you?”

You were desperate to find someone to talk to by this point. You felt like an outcast at times as stated. Barely anyone talked to you at the moment and before. You couldn't help but feel alone at times. Every time you'd met up for the division to hang out and have fun it'd be the same. You would just be silent and ponder why you even decided to come.

Aki was the only one you knew well in that division. He was the only one who attempted to talk to you. The one who you could sometimes notice smiling in your presence.

Aki, the one you can go to to vent your problems.

Aki, the one who even bothers to ask how you are.

Aki, the one who speaks ever so politely to people that deserve it. Especially you.

Hayakawa Aki, the one who is always concerned for your safety despite what people say. Hayakawa Aki, the one who treats your wounds if you injure yourself. Hayakawa Aki, the one who you can always go to for comfort. The one you trust…

You were broken out of your train of thought, when he responded.

“I’m fine for now, thank you. I hope everything is going well for you.”

“It’s going fine so far- just glad to see you here so I can have someone to talk to. Better than just sitting there alone, am I right?”

He raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Hm? Don’t you have anyone else who talks to you here? You seem easy to get along with. I'm sure there's someone other than me.”

“Yeah, well…”

You couldn’t help but feel a flutter when he said you were, “easy to get along with.” Did he mean it? Cold devil hater Mister Hayakawa, calling someone easy to get along with? How nice. How surprising it’s you out of all people.

“I don’t really have any, close ones here y’know? I mean…Nobody really tried to reach out to me except for you. Or at least not as much.”

He lightly took a puff of his cigarette, when he spoke again.

“I see.”

You couldn’t help but notice a bit of pity in his eyes. Like he felt a bit, bad for you in a way? It was very hard to notice. But you can swear he at least feels a tiny bit of pity for you. A bit of empathy.

Aki empathizes with you. He remembers what it was like alone. Having to recover his family’s cold and lifeless bodies. Or at least what was left. They didn’t even look human. They looked like cold mannequins disguised as humans. No life in their eyes. He remembers the cold air and numb feeling he felt in his chest. He doesn't even know how to describe it.

He remembers being frozen in fear as he felt indescribable emotions during that time. A bit of denial when he first saw his house get blown away. Trying to process what just happened to not only him, but the entire world. Fear, anger, sorrow, guilt…

He felt alone. Like an outcast, perhaps? Nobody was there. That was something that hit him like a rock. Something he had absolutely no choice but to accept. No aunts, uncles, grandparents, no nothing.

He remembers coming to the realization that he truly was alone. Lonely, is the right word perhaps. Over time, he didn’t feel anything to it anymore as he first did. He was now numb. He felt nothing. Empty, perhaps. He was used to that feeling now. As stated, he became numb.

He has been used to waking up, going to work, and in hopes of getting closer to achieving his goal of revenge to soothe all of the anger and sadness he has. He just felt a bit...empty. Perhaps.

He lived for nothing but revenge. Anger, hate, sadness, guilt.

He’d wake up every day in his empty apartment. It was the same cycle every day since the Gun Devil.

Wake up, go to work, come home, sleep, repeat.

Wake up, go to work, come home, sleep, repeat.

Wake up…go to work, come home, sleep, repeat…

Revenge. That was his only purpose. Nothing else. Repeat the same cycle every day and hope to get closer to his goal as stated. Hope to soothe the pain. Hope to get peace by revenge.

Afterall, he had nobody. So why should he care about anyone or anything else?

Although, there was one exception.

Someone that feels just as lonely as him at times. Someone that sits alone at gatherings, such as this one. Barely talking to anyone. Someone who can listen to him. Comfort him. Support him. Just as much as he does to other’s. Almost as much as to how he doesn't hesitate to pull out his sword to save a life. Almost as much as how with each stab or usage of the blade reduces his lifespan with every time he tears a devil's flesh.

Aki cries, you and Himeno know that.

Even if it is just a partner he has known for a bit or a rookie, he cries. He cares.

Aki, whose heart deserves so much more.

Aki, who is deep down one of the most empathetic and caring man you've ever known.

Aki, who’d cry over your death.

Aki, who would do anything to protect you even if he won’t admit how much you mean to him…

Sometimes, he might even think when he sees you that he might have something in his life other than revenge, anger, sorrow, guilt, or the same cycle for once.

Maybe, instead of going through the same endless and empty cycle, it was pretty fun to talk to you.

The day got a bit more fun whenever he talked to you. It was just recently he noticed that. He'd feel something whenever he would see the way you enjoy talking to him. Whether it was him telling you how ridiculous you can be, whether it was about devils, whether it is him venting his frustrations...

To see you smile, laugh, and to know you enjoyed it just as much. You were so grateful to how he was one of the few, no, the only one who reached out to you in and outside of work.

Aki, the one who tries to include you even in gatherings like these. The one who at least tries to speak to you if he sees you're alone in gatherings. All so that you don't get the saame feeling he gets when he's alone.

Aki, who makes the places where you're usually an outcast, left out in conversations, kind of fun.

Back at the present, you were there in your chair. The air smelling like alcohol, beer, and sweat. Aki stood there. His tall figure looking over you. Analyzing you.

That’s when you realized he has been standing this whole time.

It was a long mission, his legs must be sore and tired. You notice the bandage over his arm due to him donating some skin to the fox devil. He deserves a rest. A whole break honestly. A whole break from this miserable life in general. From this sorrowful world. A world where he could be happy and have a life purpose that isn’t revenge. Aki, who deserves so much more...

It comes to your mind to offer a seat to Aki.

“Oh, you’ve been standing a lot, haven’t you?”

“I guess so.”

“Here.”

You get up, and slide the chair out a bit.

You see he gets a bit confused as you pull the chair out, that's when you explain.

“You can have my seat.”

He gets a bit caught off guard by the sudden gesture. A nice act of kindness to him. He then begins to politely decline, not wanting to take your seat.

“Hm? It’s fine. I’m alright with standing. Thank you for the offer though.”

“Nono, you need a break, Aki. You really should...relax for once. You’ve been through a lot. And we got out of that mission barely alive. We don't even know if we'll survive the day tomorrow...So because of that,"

"can I at least offer you a seat, Mister Hayakawa?”

Been through a lot.

Been through a lot is an understatement.

For a while, he’s had nobody and his only life purpose was revenge.

Yet hear you are, concerned for him. Caring for his life. Even though you know his lifespan has been shortened due to the curse devil, you are still there with him. He gets baffled when he thinks about it. Someone as kind and sweet as you nurturing him. Listening to him. Even if he can't even owe you a full life if he survived. But yet, here you are still wanting him to relax. Offering him a seat. Comforting him. Smiling at him. Talking to him outside of work. Being concerned for him...

You’re a pretty damn good person, he thinks.

Just the way your eyes light up when you talk to him. The way they light up when you get really into conversations with him. That spark in your chest. The way you act that way around him.

He’d pretend to be annoyed by you at times. By your ridiculous conversations at times. Mister perfect Hayakawa. Always so professional. But deep down, he can’t deny it.

You’re adorable.

He gets out of his thoughts about you, about your pretty face. The one he could never bring himself to hurt or insult. When he is about to speak again to politely decline once again, you begin to slide his body down onto the chair stand up.

He gets a bit caught off guard when your arms go onto him. A flutter goes off in his chest as he realizes your skin is touching his.

“Please, let me, Mister Hayakawa.”

You lightly smile at him when your eyes meet his.

Mister Hayakawa. He’d pretend to be annoyed by the childish nickname you gave him just to tease him, however he can’t help but lightly smile at your childish teasing's. How you are always more cheerful around him. Especially when he tries to include you in conversations he notices you're left out in. He can't help but find it cute with how comfortable you are with him.

As he gets forced to sit down, you begin to walk away to maybe try and find another seat or a comfortable place to stand. But that’s when you feel a hand on your arm, ushering you down.

“Since there’s one seat, we’ll make it work.”

“Wait- hu-“

You get extremely caught off guard, when he drags you down onto the chair until you’re on his lap.

“Wait- Aki- wha-?“

“There’s one chair here, isn’t there?”

“How about we both sit here. It works. Doesn’t it?”

Your eyes widen a bit, extremely flustered and caught off guard. You did not expect that at all. Especially from Aki out of all people.

“Aki I’m going to crush you-“

“I’m fine. I can handle you sitting on my lap.”

You’re holding back your weight to not crush him, you're tensed up and incredibly flustered at him suddenly offering you on his lap. You look at him, a bit shocked. As he continues smoking his cigarette non-challantly like it's nothing.

You get even more caught off guard when he has his arms go onto your back and stomach, trying to straighten your posture.

Since when did he get so bold? You wonder.

When did he get so handsome? So charming?

“Straighten your posture a bit, bad posture can cause back pain. I don't want your back being sore on the next mission.”

“R-right…”

You swear you can hear him lightly chuckle as you’re on his lap. On how flustered you are. This is unlike him. Very unlike him. He's a sweet and empathetic man deep down. You know that. However this is in public, in front of others, where anyone can see.

However, this one time, perhaps he doesn’t care.

He wants you to be included. To not be like him when he was alone. Cold, empty, going through the same endless meaningless cycle in hopes for magically finding happiness one day.

Aki empathizes with you, Aki would always understand your emotions no matter what. Whatever happens, he'd always be as understanding as he possibly could with you.

“Aki, are you sure this is oka-“

“I’m the one who offered you on my lap, didn’t I?”

You nod, when his hands go to your shoulders to massage it. He tries to get you to relax, noticing how tense you are.

"You should relax, being tensed up can also cause soreness."

Because of those words, you begin to ease up a bit. You feel your body slowly stop being tense. And you swear you hear Aki chuckle about how flustered you are.

You’re cute. He thinks to himself.

A few minutes go by, and you and Aki begin to have some small talk. Some parts of the conversation about devils, how work is going, life, advice for outside of work…

For the first time in this gathering, you genuinely smile and laugh with him. As Aki looks at you, he notices you have that spark in your eye. The feeling you get when you're really enjoying a conversation with someone. That feeling in your chest. Like a fire being lit up and the flames burning. That great feeling. And if you're being honest, you can tell Aki feels the same.

Aki, the man you can always trust to be your therapist. The one who would wipe your tears if you cried. The one who calms you down. Helps you relax. You, the one Aki is empathetic towards. The one who Aki trusts to talk to. The one he can vent to. The few he wouldn't mind crying in front of.

You continue chatting instead of drinking. Him chuckling at some of your funny or weird retorts. You're still on his lap. Which in your opinion, is a lot more fun than getting high off of beer and alcohol as an escapism from reality.

Perhaps this night was a bit fun after all.

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. yes reader is quirky and not like the others ik. 😩✋🏻

#Chainsaw Man #CSM #Aki #Aki Hayakawa #Aki x reader #Aki Hayakawa x reader #Fluff #Aki x reader fluff #Aki Hayakawa fluff #Aki oneshot #Aki Hayakawa oneshot #Chainsaw Man x reader #CSM x reader #Chainsaw Man oneshot #CSM x oneshot

[krakenshaped]

Okay so more tag duel posting of cool things I've noticed on my first playthrough (as someone who chose Asuka as their duel partner)

Tag Duel 2 Spoilers ahead!!!

If not paired with the player, the other characters will pair themselves up as so (not sure about Asuka + Kenzan has Not Been Spotted Yet) (<- not sure if partners can change or randomise)

- Judai will partner up O'Brien. I've found them hanging outside the Osiris dorms in the morning, In the locker room next to the store at noon and in the dueling arena at night.

- Manjoume oddly enough partners up with Johan. I've found them in the classroom at night.

- Sho and Rei partner up. I've found them in the forest and on the volcano (if I'm remembering right, it was early game)

- I found Edo with Fubuki. Which is an interesting concept as well as a fun nod to the manga (maybe), Fubuki's win animation is that little thing they do when they poses, shake their tush and thumbs up. (The 10join classic) They're also found in the classroom at night.

- Kenzan has Not Been Found. He's missing in action.

- Jim partners up with Junko but I have a feeling it would have been Asuka had I not chosen her. They hang out at the harbour at night.

-Amon (lol) partners up with Napoleon (lol) because it seems a little obvious (lol) he couldn't find anyone to partner up with him (L bozo) he's having a baby tantrum in the card shop.

Other facts to note when considering when writing your ygo fanfiction (whether it be Asuka trivia or just map trivia)

Asuka likes grapes and steak sandwiches. She does not like gyoza or fermented cheese. Like. Girlie HATES gyoza and fermented cheese.

Asuka talks about Fubuki like he's still dead. Lmao. This can be written off as copy paste dialogue/win-lose quotes from TD1 but I think it's interesting to consider about what it says about their relationship.

Asuka has other reactions to areas around school at different times (which I'm assuming is the same for every character). One is the aforementioned harbour dialogue and the other, which happens during morning or noon, is Asuka hoping that nobody drew the golden eggwich yet.

In the first morning, Asuka chides you for sleeping in and gets angry at you for keeping her out too late, claiming its the girls curfew and she doesn't like staying out too late. This somewhat suggests Asuka is an early to bed early to rise sort of person as at least Judai and Edo don't comment on it.

Similarly if you try and skip class, Asuka will get angry at you and drag you to class anyway (honor student queen).

The abandoned dorm is easily one of the biggest maps in the game. Entering it plays some corpse party ass music. It's not scary but it is almost hilarious how Konami put their whole konamusi into the abandoned dorm while not even letting you enter the Yellow, Blue or Girl's dorm. (Which was what interested me the most since I was curious if there were rooms for each character.)

That being said, you can enter every room in Osiris including Manjoune's old room.

Oh right. Johan also confirms he's been living in the Red dorm in a stray piece of dialogue about how Ruby needs to lead him back to the Red dorm at night. This means he's probably staying with Judai and Manjoume (since at this point in time Manjoume was forcefully evicted out his own room by Rei.) Food for thought.

I'll probably update more trivia, tidbits and thoughts as i continue playing and tag it

-> #tag duel analysis

#ygo gx #tag duel analysis #asuka tenjoin #(since most of this is about her) #tag duel for people who dont have the resources to play tag duel #+ info for fanfiction authors #lowkey documenting this for myself too #i have covid so ive been wistfully dying while trying to desperately fuel my scraps of creative sporit #spirit* #the results are mixed

[the-crow-binary]

Thinking about the very scene where Hector "betrays" Dracula, at least, in Dracula's mind. :) (i wanted to put images but Tumblr won't let me because Tumblr sucks ass)

In the PtR manga, we don't have a direct dialogue between the two, but what Hector might have told him is implied, as he thinks with horror (after seeing Isaac's devils bring him human hands, and especially the hand of potential a mother holding the one of a very small child) "Forgive me... It's not your sin. Was it for such a purpose...? Please, please I'm human too". During that last line, see Dracula pierce through him with his claws, saying, directly this time "My food is human lives and humans faults. I will disappear only when humans are destroyed...". So we can assume Hector told Dracula about his doubts, putting emphasis on the fact he was a human too, and for Dracula that's betrayal enough. 🙂 We then see Hector, actually outside (on top of one of the Castle's tower?), being pushed into the void by demons, not Dracula. Wich my imagination fills with the images of Dracula letting Hector go after stabbing him, with devils following him, eventually pushing him. Dracula then laments to Isaac about this betrayal, unable to understand Hector. And that's how it goes for the PtR manga.

In the MF manga, things are a bit different, and we see it in a little more details. Hector is on his knees, calling out for Dracula, frantically asking "wait' please wait!! Why!? Why do you kill humans!? The reason I wanted power is because... I am a human, too...". And what does Dracula does? He ignores him. ❤️ Looks at him with disdain, and then walks away. ❤️

Now, what is interesting to note is that, in the MF manga, the scene we witness is not the actual scene... it's a memory shown to him by a crow that is very probably a devil itself (or at least possessing some kind of surnatural powers from coming from the Castle). Meaning it could totally be deformed to not represent what actually happened, but how Hector perceived it/how it made him feel. After all, we also see a little Hector telling him to just become a devil, so there's clearly some things that have been added or changed in his mind here. Wich means... the PtR version of this event could totally be the real version. 🙂

It matches. Dracula stabbing Hector with his claws (sounds very personal ngl) because he dared question him and reclaim his humanity. Hector seeing this as Dracula literally abandoning him, ignoring his concerns, denying/not even caring about his very humanity. Turning his back on him. Being literally disappointed in him. 🙂

We don't see Dracula stabbing Hector because the physical wounds did not matter here. It's not about what the claws do. It's about what they represent.

Dracula doesn't say anything either because he doesn't need to. It's barely if Hector remembers what the words were, but he does remember how they made him feel. Dracula could have stayed silent in the PtR version it would've been all the same to Hector... it would've been worse, actually. That's why he doesn't say a word in the MF version ❤️

The devils pushing him over the edge were nothing but an extension of Dracula, who left him to rot like he didn't matter. (A hard punch in the guts for Dracula's favorite. ❤️)

Now there is one problem with this interpretation... it's that Dracula literally tells Isaac he sent Hector after Trevor, and then Hector disappeared and might have betrayed them. (Note that I am mostly going with the MF manga version of events, though the biggest difference with the two mangas is the Isaac VS Hector encounter). So multiple possibilites:

Either Dracula straight up lied to Isaac (idk maybe he wanted to preserve Hector's image somehow, or that's just another way to bully Isaac by making him think he chose Hector once again and WITHOUT EVEN TELLING HIM. CHEH.), or... well, he did say he sent several devils with Hector... So either they're the same devils who threw Hector off a roof (lol) and Dracula doesn't know that (lmao), or this part did not happen in any other place than Hector's mind. Or it did happen but it wasn't the same devils who pushed him. Look I can't find perfect answers for everything alright, I just thought I had neat ideas. 😔 Well, there is also the possibility he did not lie to Isaac. He truly sent Hector after Trevor (right before Hector starts telling him about his doubts 🙂). And Hector truly disappeared. He just omitted the rest. ❤️ Forgot about telling Isaac, haha. ❤️

Anyway, to end this, have a nice little idea: the first time we see Hector in the MF manga, he got hurt and was found by Rosaly offscreen who healed him. By continuing reading, we eventually assume he was hurt when fighting the devils who were sent with him. But if we keep the idea i just talked about... Rosaly had to heal Hector from wounds inflicted by Dracula himself ❤️ No wonder he needs time to heal and eventually falls unconscious after leaving Rosaly's house ❤️

#akumajou dracula #curse of darkness #ptr manga #mf manga #vlad dracula tepes #hector castlevania #cod hector #hmmmm.... should i.... yeah okay i will. #hecula #hehehehehehehehehehehe

[psychewritesbs]

Hello there!

I've been giving a little stalk through your blog and I love your posts and insights, thank you for sharing them!

Now for what I came here to say - I've read @littleholmes post on RCT and reincarnation on ch 239 and your addition to it and I wanted to give some input (albeit a bit of in a different direction) as well since I've been thinking about that topic too, if that's alright!

I was like, 100% sure Gege had disposed of Gojo for real up until he deliberately chose to make reference again to the fact that to kill a RCT user you have to go for the head. Honestly, Gege has shown us so many time that we cannot dismiss any small dialogue line in his manga because the story will always make a way to circle all the way back to it that I believe he did not just randomly drop that line there.

SO, assuming Gege did not drop that line randomly nor is baiting us into thinking that, I got myself thinking about possible ways Gojo could make a comeback and the way I see it, I think the most likely way for him to manage to survive would be through RCT usage and eventually later with Shoko and/or Yuta's intervention to fully heal; what I think is something that we must consider as littleholmes said in the original post, is that Gojo's brain is most likely as good as fried after shinjuku showdown, so i think the chances are 1) Gojo isn't able to use RCT at all anymore and is effectively dead, or 2) he still manages to use RCT but has taken so much damage to his brain that he can't use his technique anymore.

Now for character development - I think Gojo's personal identity remains in close contact with his identity as "the strongest". I think Geto underlined that when they broke up at KFC parted ways with each other, and even though I don't think Gojo truly felt like that up until that moment since he still had Geto by his side and to him, they were the strongest, I do think it ended up becoming such a "dominant" self-perception of his that probably blinded everything else about his person and made him almost involuntarily isolate from everyone.

So to say, Gojo's identity as the strongest was what shackled him.

I wonder if it would be possible for Gojo, 29, fed a self-image of something close to godhood ever since a child, to ever part ways with that perception (and what comes with it) while mantaining his technique and remaining... well, the strongest..

I'm beating around the bush but where I wanted to reach was: I think it would be curious to see Gojo as a jujutsu-less leader. For someone like him to whose self-identity was always blurred with status, wouldn't it be freeing to "go north" as a new person, as someone who has more to offer than brute power, who can guide his students from a place of understanding, and be influencial despite lack of jujutsu (which ig would be possible since HQ was masacred)?

Okay, that's it, sorry for the english, for the messy thoughts and for barging in; I just wanted to read your thoughts on this perspective! Have a nice week :)

You: sorry for my English Also you: eloquently speaks in English better than many native English speakers, including myself 🤡😂

Omg anon, you're getting bumped up on the ask queue because this is relevant to this last chapter. Thanks so much for sharing the thoughts! This is good stuff.

I'm not going to lie, I am on camp "he's ded 💀", but all of these arguments in favor of him being alive are good stuff. Gege is so unpredictable that he might just bring him back from the dead all JC style SCREAMING IN SYMBOLISM NERD.

The thing is that ego death is metaphorical, right? And ego death is a prerequisite for the kind of growth you describe for a character that created a metaphorical barrier around himself with a self-ascribed identity as the strongest.

I've gone on the record ok like who's keeping the record lol that Gojo needed to die because I truly believe that, as the pinnacle of the very thing he sought to bring down, he simply needed to die. But after this conversation and littleholme's post, I like the more nuanced approach that, yeah, that attitude he held needed to die AND be reborn into something else.

Whether he can come back from said "death" or not is still up in the air. Everything is fair game at this point with jjk!

Thanks for reaching out, the comments, but above all, sharing your thoughts!

#ask the mental gymnastics anime girl #god i love jujutsu kaisen

[vetrenar]

So... I've finally watched the new Trigun and I'm completely swept off my feet! It's so beautiful, and incredible, and I like the new character designs (though I'm a bit sad that they decided to put Milly aside. I like Roberto and I love to see his "grampy dad" dynamic with Vash and Meryl but why can't we have +1 character instead of "that one or this one") and I have SO MUCH hope for this show...

Anyway, it made me think how different from each other all parts of the franchise are:

1. OG Trigun anime. "The First One" for many, for some of whom it's always will be The Best One.

In comparison with other variants of Trigun, the old anime feels the most like a goofy "classic" tale, with a bit of melancholic vibes. Yeah, it still has its share of sad moments but mostly the corners are smoothed. With 60% of the story being filler, it generally has more light hearted tone than the original manga. Also, the characters of the anime are much closer to the... I wouldn't say "ideal", but more like "archetypal" versions of themselves. Rem was a downright angel, July's destruction didn't kill anyone (although people still fought and killed each other afterwards), the philosophical question about kill not to kill is answered with "put a bullet through each of his limbs until he can't move and hope for the best" (ok, it was a strange one. But I'm still baffled with what Vash's plan was afterwards). What's more important, Vash's ideals, while are hard to reach, don't feel impossible.

2. Manga.

Oooo, I love this one. After the old anime, I totally wasn't prepared to how much more raw, brutal and unhinged the manga is. People who ask for FMA: Brotherhood treatment for the manga seemingly forget that such an anime would have to be shown only veeery late in the night, with the "for adults only" disclaimer.

At the same time, I find the raw, honest energy of the manga absolutely beautiful and love it much, much more than the old anime because of how down-to-Earth characters are there. They may not to be ideal, but they're undoubtedly, 100% human.

Yeah, it's Rem, after her symbolic "the ticket to the future" dream.

And Knives. So much more about Knives, his motivation and determination. And unlike the anime version, where he, being the odd one from the beginning and a bit of philosophical soul, took the problem of spiders and butterflies just too far, the manga version clearly shows that it's not really about good and bad ones. It's about how, after an excessive trauma, Knives' mind went to shit and never fully returned. He was more sensitive than Vash, and more open to dialogue with humans but, when cutting wood, it's a surgical scalpel that breaks first, not a kitchen knife.

Manga Knives doesn't just make scary faces. He sincerely asks his sisters to lend him their powers and, while the level of plant's self-conciousness is arguable, I think it's won't be so far fetched to say that they do care about him.

Aaah, yeah, manga's nice little body horror...

Also, manga is much more merciless towards Vash's pacifism. While anime says "yeah, it's hard, but if you try enough you can reach it", the manga is more about "It's impossible and everyone, including you, know that. But it doesn't means that you should stop trying, because even it's impossible, it's still the path you chose for yourself". And I think that this message is much stronger and more important.

3. Trigun Stampede.

Well, it's really a dark horse, isn't it? With so many controversy about changes in characters's design, story and everything. But from what I've seen so far, I can say that, while reboot doesn't try to repeat the original - original manga, not the old anime - word to word, it stays completely in tune to its main message and Vash's emotional journey, and it's the most important thing to me. And again, it's so incredibly beautiful and well made, and I really have so much hopes for it. My only fear is that there won't be a second season announcement because there is no way that they will be able to contain everything into merely 12 episodes.

Well, we'll see. Until that, Love&Peace, everyone!

#trigun #trigun stampede #trigun manga #vash the stampede #million knives #vash trigun #anime manga comparasion #i'm just so glad that Trigun gets more love #and the new anime is so good #and I'm ready to kneel before the genius that let Vash call Knives Nai #it wasn't in the manga but its a total canon to me