#it also has like 30+ chapters over 10 volumes

[intomybubble]

I’m 12 chapters into Medalist and right away I can see how it became an award-winning manga.

I am super excited to see it animated (Winter 2025) because its really hard to visualize the routines on paper. I hope the adaptation does the series justice because I just adopted the MC, Inori, as my new fictional daughter and she deserves it.

#desiree talks #desiree reads #READ IT! #it recently got an english physical release #it also has like 30+ chapters over 10 volumes #i teared up so much seeing their efforts #tsukasa (her coach) also bursting into tears is so relatable #after volunteering with preschoolers and elementary schoolers for 2 semesters i have a bigger soft spot for kids #Youtube

[alshamswelnahr]

52 demon slayer questions

1) Which chapter title do you find the most clever or fitting

2) Which character(s) in the manga do you believe is/are the most well-written and what makes them stand out to you

3) Which character introduction stands out the most to you and what makes it memorable

4) Whose character's conclusion impacted you the most and which one do you believe was the most skillfully crafted

5) Thoughts on "Kimetsu Gakuen" and your favorite character(s)/chapter(s)

6) Favorite character design (including: eyes, color scheme, hairstyle, attire)

7) Top three breathing styles

8) Which character has the most compelling backstory

9) Favorite sword or weapon design

10) Favorite original soundtrack/OP/ED

11) Name your top three favorite fights

12) Favorite anime adaptation change or added scene

13) Is there any scene, aspect, or a detail that you preferred in it's manga version over it's anime counterpart

14) Which sibling or familial bond is your favorite and what distinguishes it as your favorite

15) Which three panels do you find visually stunning and which three panels are your personal favorites

16) Standout quote/dialogue from the manga and what makes it special to you

17) Your favorite parallel or foil within the story

18) What do you think each Hashira/Upper Moon represents symbolically in the story

19) What moment(s) in the manga saddened you the most

20) Have you read the light novel and if so which story was your favorite

21) If you could add an extra manga arc what would it be about and where would it fit in the story

22) Share any headcanons you won't take any criticism on

23) Is there an element of the story you feel passionate enough about to write a thesis on

24) What is your favorite blood demon art

25) In your opinion who is the best-written demon and why

26) Which side character do you think deserved more spotlight

27) If a new Gaiden were released which Hashira would you want it to focus on

28) Your favorite volume cover/sketch and your favorite cover page/colored page

29) Favorite Taisho era whisper

30) How would you rank the story arcs

31) What is the most intriguing piece of lore or world-building element for you and what aspects would you like to see explored further

32) Name a moment in the manga you'd love to experience for the first time again

33) What is your opinion on the manga's ending

34) What initially drew you to watch or read the series

35) What message(s) do you believe kny is trying to convey to its readers, and what idea(s) you think it aims to explore throughout the story

36) What scene in the manga/anime do you find the funniest

37) How would you recommend this manga to someone who's never read it before

38) Which location/setting in the manga or anime do you find the most beautiful

39) Do you create fandom content like fanfiction or fanart and if so what kind

40) What is your favorite dynamic whether platonic or romantic

41) Are there any chapters or volumes you never get tired of rereading

42) What was the most surprising twist in the story for you

43) If you could switch two characters roles in the story (living or dead) would you and how would that affect the narrative

44) Which character did you have the biggest change of opinion about throughout the manga

45) Since love plays a central role in KNY which act or display of love touched your heart the most in the story

46) Do you own any Demon Slayer merch? If yes what items do you own

47) Is there an anime episode you could watch repeatedly without getting tired of it

48) Which version do you prefer watching: sub or dub? also which voice actor do you believe truly embodied their character or portrayed them most convincingly?

49) Does kny bring you comfort? If it does in what way or through which character do you find comfort

50) In demon slayer love's endurance surpasses death making it a story haunted by ghosts. Which one of them do you like the most and which interaction between the living and the dead stands out as your favorite

51) Is there a character that inspires you or whom you strive to be like and is there any you hope to never resemble

52) Lastly, out of Tanjiro's connections and empathies towards the characters, which bond or connection resonated with you the most and what was the reason behind that

#demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny #character asks #character ask meme #text #asks #blorbo #ask game #tanjiro kamado #kamado tanjiro #ask meme #kny asks #demon slayer asks

[marmixedwithabitofintellect]

Chapter 1 Sneak Peek

Perth, Australia. December 3rd, 2022.

Daniel. 7:30 PM.

Heidi (12:00 PM): Daniel please, I’ve been trying to reach you for the last three days.

Heidi (12:02 PM): You cannot ignore me forever.

Heidi (12:04 PM): It is not what you think.

Heidi (12:10 PM): Fine, I’ll leave you alone. For now.

Heidi (12:20 PM): But I will find you, and we will talk.

I sighed and dropped the phone in the cupholder and turned the volume up and rolled my head and neck before turning back to the road; after a few minutes the GPs spoke up, in seven miles, turn right and your destination will be on your left, I smiled and continued to drive.

At last. Freedom at last. I was done with McLaren and signed over with Red Bull, and I was done with letting everyone choose for and step over me, starting with my ex-girlfriend and friend. Well ex for me because she doesn’t seem to understand it.

The town was beautiful, peaceful, and quiet just as I needed. I parked and got out of my car and stretched; grabbed my phone, wallet and bag then closed the car. I texted my parents to let them know I had arrived and started making my way to the reception.

The hotel smelled homey, the candles gave it a lovely vibe and I felt at home. I rand the bell and a few seconds later a lovely lady appeared at the door, she gave me a big smile, which I returned alongside a wave.

“Well, hello dear, my name is Elsie, welcome to The Rosewood Guesthouse, are you checking in?”, I smiled and nodded, “Hello Elsie, I am, my name is Daniel Ricciardo”, she nodded and put on her glasses, “Okay dear let’s get you settled, please bear with me, my granddaughter is usually the one who helps me but she went out for a little”.

I chuckled and nodded, about three minutes later she clapped her hands, “Aha! I found you, okay so you’re in room number 3, let me take you there”, I nodded and followed her while listening to her instructions, “So, breakfast is served from seven to eleven; but if you want something a little earlier please let me know; we also serve lunch and dinner and again, if you need anything in between we will happily serve you; our house cleaning comes by every day and you can find us at the reception”.

The room was very cozy, and it smelled like oak wood, I turned to see Elsie and gave her a smile, “Thank you Elsie”, she nodded and left the room. After unpacking I decided to take a little walk in the gardens which were beautiful. I found a little bench and sat down, I ran a hand down my face and sighed while watching the sky, the sunset was just over, and the sky was still a hue of pinks, blues, and oranges I got spooked out when I heard someone speak from beside me.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”, I turned to look at her and my heart started beating faster, when the girl turned to look at me and smiled, I knew she would be special, I cleared my throat before answering her, “It is.”

She nodded, “It’s the afterglow”, I gave her a questioning look, she laughed, “A glow remaining where a light has disappeared; in my opinion, it is better than the actual sunset”, I nodded, “It really is”; she whistled her fingers and screamed, “Skye!”, a few seconds later a beautiful golden retriever ran to her, she ruffled her ears and then turned to look at me, “Enjoy the afterglow stranger, an welcome to Margaret River”.

#daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo imagine #afterglow #dr3 x reader #daniel ricciardo

[bingebuddie]

Here... We... Go...

Hi all,

Well, so far, 2024 has sucked for me... but anyway...

I've been feeling pretty out of sorts mentally, and depending on where my head is at, I've been bouncing back and forth between Fics and my Wes and Cole novel.

I am going on a writing retreat May 4-12th... so... expect some major movement...

I wanted to provide a few updates on where I am with my Fics and other works.

Sideways:

Published updates here have been slower than I wanted or anticipated. This has nothing to do with the story, as I have this outlined for Arcs 6-10... Yes, up to Arc 10.

My personal life has gotten in the way a lot over the last few months and has just eaten up my time to write.

Now, Arc 6 will lead right into Arc 7 and 7 into 8. You will want to throw some stuff at me for some of the wtf moments and having to wait between arcs... but it's all coming. Anyone new to the series has had the benefit of reading five fully finished-out arcs that took me about a year to write. Have some patience with me. It will be worth it.

Arc 6, Into The Unknown, has multiple chapters drafted. I just need to clean up some edits from my beta, and they will be posted. May is going to be a big month for this arc.

This is a pivotal point in the series. It spans Chapters 37-48, making it the longest arc so far. This installment will delve into the Seals' backstory, their connection with Buck and Eddie, and much more. It’s a substantial piece of the puzzle that you won't want to miss.

This one does have some heavy moments...

This does end with a cliffhanger... But I promise, it's not our boys directly you are left wondering about...

Arc 7—Strong—Eddie will need his friends and family like never before. This is a heavy Diaz family arc. The outline is eight Chapters.

This also ends in a cliffhanger and that promise I made above... does not apply here.... insert evil laugh...

Arc 8 Genesis—This is the big one. It all comes together here, and it is the part I am most excited to write. It is also the longest, with an outline of 16 chapters. You will find out more about Genesis in Arc 6.

This arc will change all of their lives and the status quo as we know it. Grab your seats and tissues. The previous title for this was Unleashed...

Arc 9 - Experience/Circles - Tentative Title - No tease, as it will spoil what's to come...

Arc 10 - My All - googles Mariah Carey ...

Sideways isn't going anywhere...

Shifted:

Volume 1: Nevermore

This was originally planned to be 30 chapters. I have 20 published right now. The rest of this is outlined, and chapters 21-25 are written and ready to be published. I haven't posted these because Chapter 25 ends on a massive cliffhanger, and I don't want to leave you all hanging. I will be finishing this... after Arc 6 of Sideways ...

I have a plan for the second arc... but that's all the way behind everything else on my docket...

Impossible:

If you have read this one, I have yet to post the last chapter...

This has an MCD, and while I was writing this, I lost a friend. It was hard to finish. I have finished the outline, and this will be completed soon.

Run:

This is on hold. I have too much else to focus on. Consider this on hiatus until I say otherwise. It might even be scrapped... will see...

Would You Mind:

This one was a lot of fun... The wrap-up/epilogue is done; it's with my beta...

Lap Dancing Eddie will return... in Sideways...

I Don't Want To Be Your Freind:

As of today, 7 of 11 chapters are posted. This is all outlined. I have drafts of chapters 8-11 done. Going to beta and will be posting soon...

I started this leading up to Season 7; it was my mind dealing with all the rumors and leaks... In my mind and my group chat, I was calling this my Anti Tommy and Marisol fic...

This got way out of hand and became a monster of a fic...

Now... on to what else I have brewing...

Future Shock - 3 Part Series - Magic/BAMF/Mayhem/Found Family/Soul Mates/Redux/Ryan Throw's The Timeline Into A Blender and Tada...

As It Is - 2030 and the 118 have been a fractured team since the lawsuit. When members of the team start to be picked off one by one, Hen, Chim, and Bobby, have no one to turn to until friends and family return in their most desperate hour.

As It Was - Details what led to the fracturing of the 118. A retelling of Season 2 and part of season 3...

As It Was Always Meant To Be - Now reunited, will the 118 be able to rally around each other, or will their painful past be too much to overcome.

This has a loose outline and it's very large ...

Depressed, Devasted, and Destroyed aka Something To Hold On To:

I keep calling this Triple D or DDD... This is a pure angst fest... major whump... like I'm mad at myself for the whump here ... seriously...

This has an outline...

Relationship Goals—In an effort to rebuild their friendship after their recent relationships crash and burn, Buck and Eddie join a local hockey team along with some of Buck's old seal friends. This was pure fan service to myself and a way to get Buck, Eddie, Wes, and Cole to play hockey and not have to do it on Sideways. This currently sits around 60 pages.

Stolen - A stolen kiss changes everything between Buck and Eddie... This angst fest is somehow incredibly soft... This is about 35 pages right now...

The Ties That Bind - Buck breakdown fic... This might get scrapped and merged into DDD from above...

All I Want for Christmas - Think Scrooged Vs. It's A Wonderful Life Vs 911... This won't be posted until holiday time...

The Wes and Cole novel is still moving along... it's my refuge when the show does something stupid...

I should probably get to writing... it's not like I have nothing to do....

#buck x eddie #buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buck and eddie #911 abc #buckley diaz family #evan buckely diaz #911 buddie #buddie fic #a03 fic #my fic #fic writing #911 fanfic #buddie fanfic

[ddwcaph-game]

Four New Traits!

Update: I've received some feedback and decided to reconsider adding the new traits. Check out this post for more information!

I'm not completely sure yet how these traits will work, but since this'll probably be the last ones I'll add in Volume 1, I've decided to add them in the next update and get some feedback sooner rather than later. They are:

💫 [Easily Distractable]

⚡ [Hyperactive!]

😳 [Socially Awkward]

🎒 [Super Organized]

A couple of years ago, someone pointed out to me that some of the MC's choices/thoughts have elements of anxiety/autism/ADHD and asked if this was the case. This was mostly unintentional on my part, and since it's an unfamiliar and sensitive subject, I thought it'd be best to not have an explicit choice for it, but fine if people wanted to headcanon it.

I wanted to give it a shot just like I did with the gender stuff (which was enlightening for both me and my characters), especially because having a young MC gives me a unique point of view to explore them. So I thought about it some more, and I think I found a way to make it work without adding a lot of extra workload.

I know that it's a spectrum and there's no strict definition or a single correct way of presenting them, so instead I separated it into different traits that doesn't directly state that the MC is neurodivergent. Writing in first person makes it hard to account for in every variation in every choice, so I'm keeping it somewhat vague and hopefully this gives the flexibility that MC may be either undiagnosed, or just has those traits.

This is a bit long, so I'll go a little bit into detail how I plan to implement the traits below:

⚡ [Hyperactive!]: (+20% Silly, Doubles [Well-Rested] Stat Bonuses)

You can select this trait at the beginning of Chapter 1, where you choose how to react to the bell ringing. The choice is:

Finally! Sitting inside the classroom for hours is torture. Some people say I'm hyperactive—but I don't understand how some people can just sit around all day.

This will probably restrict most passive choices where you decide not to do anything, and add new flavor text when the MC isn't doing much.

💫 [Easily Distractable]: (+10% Bonus EXP, -10% Knowledge)

You can select this trait when looking at the Top 10 Students list while cleaning the classroom. The choice is:

It'd be nice to see my name up there with Wayne sometime. Understanding the lessons isn't that hard, but focusing on exams, assignments, studying—that's what's really hard. Wayne also struggles with not getting distracted, but he always knows how to keep me engaged when there's something more interesting than what we're studying.

This is a permanent version of the [Needs Improvement] Passive, with Wayne being MC's study buddy instead of JM. I hope the comparison with Wayne here is okay—I want to frame it in a positive light but I'm not sure if this is the best way. (The text after the choice mentions that if Wayne can do it, then MC can do it as well.)

In addition, the trait will also provide some unique flavor text and variations in certain scenes (especially long conversations).

😳 [Socially Awkward]: (+30% Introvert, +30% Reserved)

You can select this trait during Roselyna's introduction after she first hugs you. The choice is:

I stutter. What if I say something wrong? What if I misunderstood what she's saying—or she misunderstands me? Am I overthinking again? I don't wanna repeat myself over and over trying to explain.

MC's mostly comfortable around their friends, so I imagine this will mostly manifest in emotional scenes, when you meet a new person, when you discover a secret, interacting with B, or when MC has the choice of not being sure what to say (excluding their twin), and automatically default to that choice (with slightly different dialogue) if it makes sense. It would be exhausting to read if this affected every conversation.

🎒 [Super Organized]

You can select this trait along with the other organizational traits when packing your bag in Chapter 1. The choice is:

...and meticulously arrange my belongings/stuff by proper label and color. My bag is super organized, and it helps me focus this way.

Not much to say here, it's just a slightly different version of the [Organized] Trait.

***

This is very much new to me, so please let me know your thoughts, or if you have any concerns with the trait names, the wording of the choices, or something else. I'm not entirely sure I'm making sense here either. 😅

Anyway, I hope the start of the new year is treating you all nicely!

#ddwcaph #dear diary we created a plot hole #traits #interactive fiction #if #if wip #if game

[makima-s-most-smile]

Trigun Maximum 8.2

Ugh, one day left to chew through Vol.9 and then the bookclub and I can skip hand in hand through Vol.10. Why did the heatwave just hit? Gimme my thunderstorms back.

... I reached 30 panels for two chapters... Part Three comes soon... Why does Nightow have so many banger panels and why do I have to be like: Look! Look! I like this and this is why! And blabber on?

Trimax 8.1

Trimax 8.3

04: Escape

I read that in Chapel’s voice.

And he still hesitates. Maybe hesitates because he had to work with Chapel in all these months and had to do repeated senseless slaughters. Wolfwood may just not be able kill anymore. Even Legato.

Just the thought of your body moving not only against your explicit will, but in an active attempt to kill you. Legato IS scary. It says so much about him that his power (wherever it comes from) is about robbing other people of their ability to act. 

And Nightow draws movement and poses so godly. I wanna chew on his art.

Wolfwood seems to have run in without a true plan. His face reminds me so much of little WooWoo when he was shot the first time. He is scared for his life and does not want to die. But he still has nowhere else to go, he has to do this. No one else could do this.But at the same time, it shows his absolute trust in Vash. He can only survive if Vash has prevailed like he did over the months.

This I do not completely get. Has Legato made Wolfwood miss? Or did Wolfwood miss unconsciously? Or did the other Eye of Michaels somehow interfere?

The blood splatter reminds me so much of 98’ Ep 23. 

Wolfwood has put his life on the line to get Vash out, again. And he paid a massive price for it, again. But again, he had to, necause he knows that only Vash can stop the ongoing genocide by undoing Knives (with whatever methods. I don’t believe Wolfwood trusts that Vash could kill Knives.)

This says so much about Wolfwood. He is so used to transactional relationships, but the orphanage didn’t take anything from him, it just gave him a home. That’s why it is his paradise. That’s why he needs to protect it, because he still feels indebted to it. That’s why he so easily fell into parentification (last chapter of the volume). Outside of the orphanage, Vash and the insurance women may be the first people Wolfwood has met where it wasn’t about him being of use and it may be why he harbours an comparable guilt towards them as to the orphanage, because he benefited from the betrayal against Vash. 

Brainwashing 101: Take any personality from the to be brainwashed, erase his personhood, give him a goal that aligns with your wants. 

Perfect, Perfect and Perfect again. Why does Livio want to be perfect? Because in Chapel’s eyes, Wolfwood’s betrayal came to be because he was not perfect. And Livio as his replacement thus had to be perfect, better than Wolfwood the perfect pupil in any way. This is not Livio speaking, it is Chapel’s indoctrination.

There is much to be said just about that, but also that Wolfwood was indoctrinated like this, too. But his love and “debt” to the orphanage was in the end greater than the indoctrination. But we still see him struggle so much with being a person.

I love how the drawing style of Livio changes infight. His face disappears behind the mask covering half his face. A skeleton face, a person ground down to its bare bones, something missing humanity.

And I just love how Wolfwood is drawn fighting. He is so quick to think and react, even with this unhandy weapon. It is so quick and fluid and fast. Truly a god of battle, in the best and worst meaning of it.

I snickered at the panel of the explosion behind Chapel and him hopping/jumping awayffrom it with his wheelchair.

B… Batman? Is that you?

The closeup to Wolfwood’s face gives me the impression that he could have avoided the critical hit, but then Vash would have been hurt (more). So he shielded him with his body.

And Wolfwood cannot shoot Livio. He could shoot Legato in the end, but he cannot shoot Livio. Livio is a symbol of the orphanage. Wolfwood, as the caretaker and protector, cannot shoot Livio. It would be equal or even worse than Vash deciding to kill someone in cold blood. It is against the very core of his person. If he kills Livio, Wolfwood ceases to exist.

Livio was such a cutie... and then he got this mob of a hairstyle.

This injury is just so… uh… physical? How Wolfwood’s state of body is shown, the blood just flowing freely from his mouth like his mouth istself was the artery cut. And how it comes back to the attackers looming and coming closer all in black. And then it gets countered with this dreamlike looking panel of Wolfwood’s and Livio’s childhood, how they moved together, how they were happy at each others side and content (even though they seem to be working at that age). Chapel corrupted Livio, he corrupted Wolfwood. He is the difference between these panels, the thing that separates Wolfwood and Livio from their past relationship.

And that’s it. Wolfwood falls. It looks so simple and not “that” bad. But we know from his expression, from the one “Shit!” that Wolfwood has reached his limit. It changes from Wolfwood successfully fleeing with Vash to Wolfwood dying while trying something. These four panels are for me one of the most impressive ones from the manga. It just feels so real. You just know... And that is just... damn... Fuck... I need a minute.

We, the readers, have seen Wolfwood’s complexity from the start. We saw how he grew, how he constantly reflected upon his actions and how hard he judged himself. 

But Wolfwood never does. Like Vash, Wolfwood is unable to forgive himself. He is unable to realise that he is a victim of Chapel, that he did so much good and that he can continue to be better, that he has already gotten into a better place. There is no forgiveness for Wolfwood in himself. Even as the one who protects, he is not enough.

Say that to yourself first, Vash!

Can Vash hear people’s thoughts when they are near death? Or just people he feels close to? While the scene is so awesome, it also confuses me so, so, so, so much. Answer me, Mr. I-go-by-vibes-Nightow!

Even being at death's door, Wolfwood is not about himself, he is about comforting Vash. And that’s, again, just sad. Even when receiving protection, most likely for the first time ever, he cannot stop being the protector.

Oh, you just realised, you selfabsorbed butt! Vash, I love you. But Wolfwood truly has done so much for you. Kiss him when this is over and say it to him when he is not actively dying! Give him the appreciation!

Yeah, typical abuser behaviour from Chapel here. No surprise. Now that his revenge has not only failed, but it was actively stopped by some”thing” that he has to revere, Chapel shows himself as submissive. Or… if he only reveres Knives, since the Eye of Michael has never had any contact with Vash and it is exclusively under Knives, Knives put out the rule that Vash is a) to be unharmed and b) is not allowed to use his powers, no one should dare to make him use it. I really despise him more for it.

I think it is interesting that they still think that Knives has any hold over Vash or humans as a whole. The thing that Vash protects, humanity, will die if he stays. If Knives kills him now, he at least tried to prevent it instead of letting it happen. Same reason why Wolfwood acted, he knew that Knives is unstoppable for humans, but not for Knives. Knives means no future for the orphanage or himself. So why sit by and let it happen, waiting for death that will come anyway? They are helplessly underpowered, but a death by letting gruesome things happen or a death by trying to prevent it. Vash and Wolfwood would choose the latter.

While… it is nice that Vash has a reason to fight, Wolfwood would truly like for Vash to care for his life… I mean, he made Vash point his gun at his temple to make him understand that one day Vash cannot avoid the trolley problem. Wolfwood cares about Vash’ life… But Vash care cares not for what Wolfwood cares about, but about Wolfwood’s life. (Because he doesn’t understand the complexity of relationships and connections, since he runs from them since forever)

*surprised Pikachu face* If I constantly abuse my brother, he will leave me at the first true chance he gets?!?

Vash is going BECAUSE you are really going to end it this time!

Oh, Knives… Knives and his weird obsession with Vash. He still does not recognise that Vash has not only another opinion about the continuation of humanity, but that he himself is acting actively against it. Vash does not exist to Knives beyond being a body that has to be there for him. 

That is just a “GOTCHA!”-Smile! And how he got them!

And the hit every deck on their way down. As if they weren’t hurt beforehand.

*insert Hercules-meme of Hdes: “Okay, okay, fine, I am cool. I am calm” while his fire hair explodes*

NOT THE PUNISHER! HELP HER!

I still love that we next to never (beyond the introduction) see Wolfwood talk preacher-like or do churchstuff, and still everyone is like: Yeah, priest, preacher! It is the guilt, isn’t it?

05: Parting ways

NONONONONONONONONONONONO! Have you learned nothing from horror movies?

Deus ex machina, uh… deus ex phiala.

Ah, yes, the way to make a lesson stick... Child abuse. 

I am unable to not think about Tesla here. 

A kid, experimented on, unable to say no or safe themself. Well, Wolfwood survives, but does he really? Physically, he does. But the rest of his measly childhood dies, the rest of hope he had for himself, hope he may have  had for a future for himself. From then on, he is a tool, a weapon. And his only choice has been to be a shield for the orphanage and not completely Chapel’s weapon. From then on, his body is not his own. Nico has died, crucified to protect the future of the orphanage children.

But another kid ended up like him. This is the moment Wolfwood decides to leave Vash. He goes from relaxing to determined.

Wolfwood killed Chapel not only to get Knives, but mostly to protect the orphanage. Wolfwood followed along until he found out that Chapel still procured children from the orphanage to use as weapons. That’s when Wolfwood broke out.

Nightow mentioned somewhere that the ageing up and the vials were something spontaneously added. And you feel it when reading this. I still like it, but I know that if the vials were planned, they would have been introduced earlier, making other fights either shorter or more brutal (*stares at Midvalley or at Ninelives*). I mostly like them, but they come so out of left field. Same with the experimentations.

I’d love to have that more explored, because the comparison between Tesla is a big one. (I like what Stampede does with it.) Tesla is a being without agency whose existence gets used for horrific acts as Wolfwood. But Wolfwood still has a voice and dreams, unlike Tesla had. We see the results in his psyche, how he completely fixates on one part of him, his usefulness as protector, how that makes him up and what his dreams are after all he has lived through. And that is, in the end, to prevent other children from going through the same and, maybe, “if he could be selfish” to not having to kill anymore. And that makes the answer to the question of: “What would Tesla think about Knives’ actions?” at least for me, much less vague.

Same with the comparison Knives/Wolfwood. Knives received a massive amount of trauma by adults and has been on a revenge trip since then. Wolfwood’s trauma is somewhat different and much more personal, but even when killing his (then) main tormentor, he didn’t kill out of revenge or hate. He killed out of the need to protect others like him. Knives so often declares how he is protecting his sisters and Vash as justification for his hate, but Wolfwood protects so without declaring it and still owns up to the responsibility of his actions and is hurt by his guilt.

He is not talking about his encounter with Knives. He is talking about Livio. Killing Livio means Wolfwood’s own death. Letting Livion stay like this means Wolfwood’s death. Being the protector of the orphanage and ALL the children there is Wolfwood’s one main motivation to exist, it is the one thing that kept the guilt and the self hate at bay. There is no peace or future for Wolfwood, if he cannot get Livio out.

This is also the farewell. Because the orphanage and Livio is a bigger priority for him. This is the second time ever that Wolfwood decides the path on his own. First was killing Chapel/Knives and the second was rescuing Livio. Since getting the orders from Knives, Wolfwood was back to following orders and Vash’ whims. (Remember how often Wolfwood tried to point Vash to the goal of Knives and Vash was like: Yeah, no, I wanna go there instead.) Wolfwood leaves the big future to Vash, the big problem, Knives. He trusts Vash with the planet’s future. But it doesn’t read like Wolfwood considers his own future being part of it. 

And Nightow’s modus operandi: Interrupt heartfelt openness by sillies so no other questions can be asked.

Burrito Wolfwood just gives me life. I wanna hug him so badly.

Does Vash get that Wolfwood plans to leave? That Wolfwood is zoning in on December? After the closeup of Vash, Wolfwood hides his face. And he hides his face when he has something to hide. And just from the positioning from the panels it looks like he understands it. WHY DOESN’T HE TALK TO WOLFWOOD AFTERWARDS! 

The ships from earth truly mean hope, but since the resistance now know about Knives’ sucking up his sisters, the researcher is right in pointing that danger out. What I also think is important, Knives is breaking apart by all the power. He broke apart in front of Vash when he trapped him seven months ago. Shouldn’t absorbing more plants accelerate that process?

Protect Meryl! Meryl still had hope and her hope infected others. People need to fight for a future and not just leave it to Vash or give up. 

That’s so nice.

It also means that Brandon knows that Wolfwood is not just an alpha-dude that has a big pistol for “Biggus Dickus”-reasons, but uses it responsibly. 

And this… Why would Knives do this? More power? Nah. Knives absorbs his dead or nearly dead sisters to absorb as many bad memories of them as possible, so the plea to stop from his sisters stop, so they finally agree with him and do not hinder his deeply “rational” actions.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *sobs* Stop carrying your burden alone!

One little detail. We do not see Wolfwood’s eyes. This has become such an important visual cue for Wolfwood if he is lying or not. Wolfwood is lying. He doesn’t leave to protect himself or anything. He feels guilt for leaving and tries to avoid it by giving these reasons… That he’d be useless in the final battle anyway, so he can allow himself to betray Vash like this, his work is done here.

#trigun bookclub #trigunbookclub #Trigun Maximum 8.2 #Why do I talk so much? #I needed to delete like 5 pics because even for two chapters I went over the limit #groans

[starvels]

3, 6, 12, and 30!!

hello sweet astri!! thank you for these questions. 💌☘

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

a very good question that i rly hard for me to answer. i think a lot of the stuff i've written this year has pushed me to work in new genres or with new techniques and so i find a lot of pride mostly in the breadth and volume of the work i've published in the calendar year.

trying to narrow that down, i will say i am quite proud of the beginning of tenenbaum (it's complex and oh so transhuman), but i am less in love with the ending (it's rushed, no easy way around it) i am very fond of the complexity and breadth of my first long foray into ults fic with stop bath, but little pieces like blue oleander or the small pieces in the long and short of it are really good examples of me trying out some new tricks and succeeding p well at them (imho)

6. Favorite title you used?

stop bath, probably!! i lingered over the title choice for this fic for a very long time and even explained it as the first chapter:

Stop bath, noun.

Stop bath is a chemical used for processing black-and-white photographic films, plates, and paper. Stop bath is commonly a 2% dilution of acetic acid in water.

Because organic developers only work in alkaline solutions, stop bath halts the development process almost immediately and provides precise control of development time. Neutralizing the alkalinity of basic developers also helps to preserve the strength of the fixer, making it last longer.

the concept of stop bath, the function and form of it mimics to do with the layers of the fic - the blackmail with a physical photo itself, the delivery of key plot points, the astringent snapshots of steve and tony's relationship, his inability to want to give up sleeping w tony, [other plot spoilers]. stop bath also echoes pacing/development of the plot and characterization to me

12. How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?

god, what a question. counting them up, i have about.....28 WIPs for 3 different fandoms in my various scrivener files. 🙃🔪👌 it is...entirely too many. 10 of these i have already started to post, but a few of them are still very smol and far out. as a surprise tho, some of them are continuations of fics marked complete on my profile ehheeehe

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

writing PWP first comes to mind. (especially a 25k PWP to start off the year with and then later kinktober. i like to GO BIG kfdsjbnjk) but writing hockey rpf is close behind lmfao. didn't expect to fall into that, what can you do, etc.

--

ask me more from this AO3 writer's wrapped meme!

#our talk #fic talk #my fic #ao3 wrapped

[lady-of-the-spirit]

Can I get your honest opinion on Lore Olympus? I'm not into it (yet?) but my local Walmart has copies on the shelves and I keep half-considering getting it to actually read. Is it any good?

My first reaction is more about the book, not the story itself. I'd say that if you're okay with reading webcomics, I'd read it on webtoon instead. It's free, and you can read the whole comic in the format it was made for. The physical copy is fine, but there are times when you can tell the series was not made for the standard comic panel form. The first volume also only goes up to chapter 20, which is only 10% of the current story.

My opinion of the story itself: It has really beautiful art (for the most part anyway), and the characters are fun. Even the people most critical of it have a character or two that they love. (put the rest below the cut)

The romance drags on for a long time - Hades and Persephone kiss, sleep in the same bed at least twice, they have all this flirtatious banter, and they acknowledge more than once that they are romantically interested in each other, and they're somehow still unsure if the other person loves them back or would want to be in a relationship. They're in a really weird spot where they're more than friends but less than a couple and that's just how they are for pretty much the whole series, even though there's no real reason for them to be that way. They are a cute couple for the most part, though, so if you can put up with their "will they won't they" stuff, they should be okay.

If you can shut your brain off and don't overthink it, it's a good read. Even if you don't, if you can just ignore the more questionable parts of the story while you're reading it, it's still pretty decent.

If you can't ignore the more questionable parts of the story while you're reading it (and I know this is more you), there's plenty to bother you. Trust me.

Just off the top of my head: there's a rape plotline that didn't need to exist and imo was put in there for unnecessary angst/drama; the pacing is all over the place; Persephone is biologically and physically 19/20 for the whole story while Hades is 3000+ years old and looks like he's 30, the age gap is initially brought up as an issue but over time is forgotten about; Persephone gets an internship at Hades company, making him her boss.

So yeah! If you still want to give it a try, I'd still recommend reading it for free on webtoon over paying for the hard copy, but if you prefer hard copies and don't mind buying it, go for it.

I still enjoy the comic, for the most part. In a way that's become more "I'm gonna read this and complain about it the whole time" over time, but I still read it and enjoy reading it. If you're completely unable to put aside the more problematic parts of the story, it's not going to be a fun read for you.

#ask #disneyfan50 #thanks for asking :)

[365runesoftheamalgamations]

The Not Yet Shifted Months pt.2

hello and how are you?

Another month has passed for us and we are happy to report that we are still going strong! We thought that the first Month we did this was super cool and nice to see, especially for ourselves, so we are doing it once again!

Let's Get Into Everything, Shall We? Month: September | Year: 2022

Writing Milestones:

🌱 Progress on The Not Yet Abandoned Works has been slow this month. We ended up picking up some different Projects and all, but we did manage to get some solid work done, we think!

Grayland's Shadow 02 Drafts | 37 Chapters | 17k Words | Chapter Rewriting

The Plague Begins With Me 01 Draft | 06 Scene Drafts | 4k Words | Scene Drafting

Marathon Runners 01 Draft | 15 Scene Drafts | 10k Words | Scene Drafting

Mitch's Journals 02 Volumes | 07 Stories | 13k Words | Story Writing

The Vagabond Child 01 Draft | 05 Scene Drafts | 2k Words | Scene Drafting

The Rapunzel Witch 01 Draft | 05 Scene Writes | 4k Words | Chapter Updates

🌱 We revived an older WIP from the Not Yet Diminished Masterlist, called Constellations By Orion, and plan on giving it more attention as October comes and goes.

🌱 We created an Intro Post for The Rapunzel Witch, and got out three Chapters of the Story, along with a random Ficlet just for the fun of it!

🌱 We started a Ko-fi and managed to reach over 100 Page Views and are up to 4 Followers! :D

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Tumblr Milestones:

🌱 We hit the Fifty Follower Milestone, at the beginning of the Month and we are soaring as we make our way onto the next Milestone! We also had 29 New Wanderers coming along for the ride, which is honestly amazing!

🌱 We had an absolutely AMAZING month of Seven Hundred+ Notes! Honestly, this is more than wonderful and we are so happy to be getting into Tumblr, making wonderful mutuals, and shouting ourselves into the Void for Tumblr to share throughout the Worlds!

🌱 We ended up falling off one of our Writing Challenges, but the other one held true for the rest of the Month! We will be trying to commit fully to them once again in October, in prep for NaNoWriMo!

The Great Motivation Experiment 43 Asks Answered | 8,854 Words Written

The 30 Days, 30 Lines Challenge One Attempt Made | Longest Streak: 10 Days

🌱 We joined the C.A.N.S. Discord Server - and if you want a community just in time for NaNoWriMo, or just want a good server for writers, you should too ! - and we love it. The events and soft sprints and everyone being vibrant and wonderful is just wonderful, we are more than hyped for November!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

September Shifting Into October:

🌱 We are going to be participating in different October Prompt Writing Challenges this year, in prep for NaNoWriMo! We want to get our writing habit up and going and we think the Challenges are a perfect way to do it! We will go into more detail about it in a different post, but here are a few glances at the Challenges we are doing!

100 Drabbles Challenge Will be used in tandem with the Great Motivation Experiment.

Inktober/Writing Prompts We like doing tiny drawings paired with poems or small snippets of writes for Inktober.

Whumptober The main writing Challenge and focus for the Spoopy Season.

🌱 We will be emptying out the Draft Hoard, in order to prep for NaNoWriMo and with all of the challenges we are participating in, we are more than confident in our ability to actually focus on something!

🌱 We will be introducing some more WIPs, again in preparation for NaNoWriMo, and so you will be seeing some more Works from The Not Yet Diminished Masterlist come to life before November rolls around!

🌱 We will be doing mostly new works, and will be working on our Blog and Kofi, so we will more than likely not hold any of the older works in the queue this month.

Thank you so much, if you stuck around and got to know what happened during this month! May this shift into the next month be smooth and gentle and filled with promised for everyone!

May The Odds Be Ever In Our Favor! :D

until we write again,

#background noise #long post #monthly wrap up #amwriting #writings #tumblr stuff #statistics #writingcommunity #writerscommunity #writeblr #highlights #milestones #rambles of the author #shifting months

[onyourmarkllc]

#OnYourMark #LLC

[wisowners]

#WisOwners – Wisconsin Business Owners

[bluejayblueskies]

1, 11, 15, 23, 30

weird questions for writers!

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

i write pretty much exclusively in times new roman! i usually switch to lucida grande for editing since that's the ao3 font and it helps me catch typos, and occasionally i'll write in arial in google docs if i don't feel like changing it from the default, but 9 times out of 10, it's times new roman. i don't really care much, but i've also gotten used to writing in tnr, so if i try to switch it messes with my flow and makes me think more about the font than the words, so i think i'm pretty much stuck with it XD

(more under the cut!)

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

i had to google what this means askldgag ('to get rid of an unnecessary storyline, character, or sentences in a piece of creative writing') but i do think it's good advice! i've been working a lot in the past few years since i started writing again (first for tma, and now for malevolent) to clean up my writing style, and i think this is part of it for sure. i get very attached to my long sentences, and learning to cut them up or delete them altogether was very hard for me. i'm still bad at outright cutting scenes or storylines that i'm fond of, and honestly the ones i'm less fond of as well. i'd love to get in the habit of re-writing an entire chapter to cull out unnecessary things, but as i'm not planning on writing for profit, simply for fun, and that doesn't sound very fun to me, i haven't put much weight on that

i do have a darling graveyard! i usually plonk sections that i discard into either my notes app or my outline, and sometimes i go back later to recycle, but most of the time i realize that those chunks are better off dead and buried and i don't resurrect them. there was a really good piece of advice i read once that said 'if you run into a block in your writing, the issue is probably 10 lines back' which has helped IMMENSELY, and that's where a lot of my cutting comes in, where i'll just chop a whole section i wrote and start over to get the flow better. thus, the darlings are usually better off dead, because they were causing more problems than solutions.

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

i write in the margins of textbooks that i own, and that's pretty much it. i like keeping my books in good condition, so i usually don't write in them, dog-ear my pages, etc.. (i don't take baths, but if i did, i don't think i would read in the bath.) i don't judge people who do, though! it can be very satisfying to mark up a book, and when i do it with textbooks, i love it a lot. it's just not for me with fiction (though i think i would feel better marking up a second-hand book than a bought-new book since it's already no longer in pristine condition!)

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

the physical environment i write in changes, but lately (since i moved) it's been mainly one of two places

i sit in the black faux-leather bucket chair i have in my room, one blanket beneath me, the other covering my legs, feet propped up on my bed (which currently has bookbinding stuff strewn all over it). i have the worst posture as i hunch over my laptop and write my silly little words. i have earplugs in and over-the-ear headphones on, blasting 'Heavy Rain Sounds | No Thunder' from spotify at max volume to drown out the sounds of living with five other people. i probably have some sort of beverage slowly equalizing to room temperature as i get caught up in the writing and forget about it. it's either too hot or too cold; there is no in-between

i sit at my desk in my office at work, where i basically sit around and wait for people to have a/v issues and thus have essentially 6-9 hours of free time to do whatever interrupted by occasionally having to explain to people how an adapter works. there's probably somebody singing vocal warmups in the background, or playing slightly-out-of-tune jazz saxophone, or playing the same piano piece ad nauseum. my coworkers could definitely see my computer screen if they looked; i've still got ao3 pulled up and visible in the background. i may still be listening to heavy rain sounds if the vocal warmups are bad enough, and i almost certainly have coffee that i'm chugging like it's the nectar of the gods because i probably got there at 7:30am and have to make it through to 11:00pm without leaving the building once. it is a Tuesday and i have not seen a window for seven hours <3

30. Talk to me about the role dreams play in your writing life. Have you ever used material from your dreams in your writing? Have you ever written in a dream? Did you remember it when you woke up?

hmmm, i used to use stuff from my dreams as the inspo. for original writing, but i don't do that as much anymore because a) i don't do much original writing anymore 😅 and b) i don't dream as much anymore! at least not in coherent, recognizable ways that aren't just like. stress dreams. i suppose the tradeoff is that i haven't had a nightmare in a while either so ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ i get inspiration from daydreams if that counts lol?

and i don't think i've ever written in a dream! the closest i've gotten is dreaming that i had a writing-based assignment finished, then waking up and finding out i did not in fact have it finished 😔

#ask #inklingofadream #thank you for the ask! 💕

[fictionfromafar]

The Shadow Murders by Jussi Adler Olsen

The Shadow Murders Department Q #9

By Jussi Adler Olsen

Translated by William Frost

Quercus Books/Dutton Group

Publication Date: 27 September 2022

Jussi Adler Olsen is inarguably Denmark’s most well recognised crime fiction writer with worldwide sales in excess of 30 million to date. The bulk of his novels so far have been set within the Department Q series which commenced with The Keeper Of Lost Causes (AKA Mercy), published in the English language in 2011.

One of the key mainstays of contemporary Scandinavian noir, as essential a cornerstone to the genre as Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander, Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole and Arnaldur Indridason’s Erlendur, Jussi Adler Olsen’s Department Q sees one of Denmark's best homicide detectives Carl Mørck investigate a series of cold cases with assistance from his team comprising of Assad, Rose and Gordon.

This series of book are dark and at times brutal, rich with social commentary, yet provide lighter elements such as strong team camaraderie and black humour. So far six of the series have been as feature length films in Danish with an intention for the full series to be adapted.

It was always Adler Olsen’s intention to complete 10 volumes in the Department Q series as per the tradition of the Martin Book novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. With The Shadow Murders the author appears on track to complete the series as planned in the next novel.

Simultaneous to the main crime story in each novel, the series has slowly unravelled the mystery of the Amager nail gun murders. Back in 2007 a surprise ambush led to the death of a police detective called Anker and the paralysing of another, Hardy. While he was only grazed by a bullet, the events of that day have cast a heavy shadow over Carl Mørck’s career. His actions on the day have left suspicions in the senior management which then saw Mørck sidelined to cold cases that no one could solve, while his own guilt at emerging virtually unscathed has also led to his subsequent care of Hardy. Which running as an undercurrent in the eight prior novels, a discovery during The Shadow Murders places not only his team’s investigation in jeopardy but also offers doubts over Mørck’s own future.

Following a pair of intriguing opening chapters set in the past, Carl Mørck is visited by Chief of Homecide Marcus Jacobsen. The death of a lady in her sixties by suicide has reminded Jacobsen of a case thirty years earlier in his career when a young baby boy was killed. At the time his mother was approaching a car repair shop which suddenly exploded. The blast killed the merchanics at work in addition to the young child. At the time the police were unable to establish a reason for the explosion nor a possible motive for a crime.

The one perplexing aspect to the case was a pile of table salt found close to the scene of the blast. This jigs something in Mørck’s memory and he asks Rose to check unsolved deaths and she unearths the death of a right wing politician who was believed to have comitted suicide in his car garage where salt was also found present. The team are then prompted to look for unsolved or unexplained deaths were salt was left on the scene, gradually uncovering a pattern over several decades.

As Carl and team start to interview those related to these cases, their questioning leads to a confrontation they are unaware of. At this point it is revealed to the reader who the main villan of the story is with some understanding of their motives.

With a long running series like Department Q there is a degree of formalisation. The historic cases tend to lead to the discovery of a current case as the police procedural evolves into a race against time thriller with lives at risk, including a member of the team. There is a degree of similarity with the imprisonment of Merete Lynggaard in the very first novel of the series. Other aspects familiar to the reader include Mørck’s continued attempts to smoke cigarettes in his office – which has become more troublesome now that the department has been located alongside the other investigating teams in the new police HQ in Copenhagen (also mentioned in Katrine Engberg’s The Harbour). Assad’s camel sayings and gramatical errors are still present and the continued interaction between the team also provides light spots contrasting with some of the more gruesome deaths in the storyline. It is to be expected that these elements would apply through this novel as they did through the earlier books in the series. The relocation of the department as well as restrictions in place during the Coronavirus epidemic do alter the team dynamic slightly.

Overall this is another cleverly crafted novel which has been well researched by the author, who consults members of the police force to ensure procedural accuracy. While I probably would not recommend The Shadow Murders as a starting place to read Jussi Adler Olsen: The Keeper Of Lost Causes (AKA Mercy) and The Absent One (AKA Disgrace) are hard to beat. Yet for anyone who has read at least a few of the novels, this book will definitely satisfy. Unlike the usual clear resolutions of earlier novels, The Shadow Murders ends on a knife-edge. With approximately 9 months delay between the Danish language edition of this book and the English language version, eyes will soon begin to turn to see when the final volume of Department Q will appear. Be sure to be caught up before then.

Many thanks to The Dutton Group and Quercus Books for approving me to read an ARC on NetGallery. I chose to read the copy provided by The Dutton Group as the Quercus version had ‘Not For Distribution’ written across each page.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #crime fiction in translation #nordicnoir

[deliriumsdelight7]

40 Questions: 10, 15, 17 and 37

I answered 15 already, but I can do the rest!

10.) Which fic has been the easiest to write?

Absolutely none of them. Every fic I write involves a lot of time and effort trying to wring every last word out of my mind.

17.) Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Start to finish. I'll jot down notes for how a future scene will go down so I don't forget, but that's it. When I write, the characters have a tendency to surprise me by doing something I hadn't planned, which often changes the course of the story. So I have to write start to finish.

37.) Talk about your current wips.

All 20 of them? Oh god no, I'll be here all day. I'll talk about my HellCheer ones. If someone wants to ask me about my Rumbelle ones, be my guest.

We Could Be Invisible: this is a rewrite of season 4 where Chrissy survives the Vecna Incident, which causes certain changes to canon. Her survival will make it easier to clear Eddie's name and (spoiler alert) give him a happier ending than canon gave him. I'm having a hard time with this one because I can't bring myself to rewatch the show to get material. I've got the next chapter like 1/3 written.

My Blood Is My Own Now: I started writing this before Volume 2 came out, so this is basically a post-S4 AU where Volume 2 went entirely differently. It takes place after the party defeats Vecna, and the Hawkins Lab scientists manage to create new bodies for Vecna's three victims. The goal, if I can get this damn fic moving, is to follow Chrissy while she deals with not only the trauma of her past abuse, but also her death and torment under Vecna, plus the adjustment of being in a body that's hers but not. Basically I had a vibe and started writing without a plan. Whoops.

One More Time, Steal My Breath: Pure, soft BDSM with idiots in love. Basically an excuse for me to write these two being soft and horny, over and over and over. This next chapter will feature misunderstandings and semi-public sex.

Searching For Those Wasted Years: Someone on my discord server asked for Persuasion with HellCheer characters. This is... not that. But it was inspired by the premise. There's going to be angst and misunderstandings and fighting and revelations and messy emotions. I'm working on Chapter 2 now.

Hold Me Like You Held Onto Life: Vampire fic that takes place like 30 years post-canon. Eddie was brought back as a vampire by Vecna, and helped take him down. He leaves Hawkins to live a solitary life, because he's still wanted for the murders of Vecna's victims. 30 years later, he returns to Hawkins and finds a girl who shares Chrissy's name and her face. This is basically me giving Eddie a second chance at love, and Chrissy a chance at a childhood that wasn't abusive and traumatizing.

#fic ask game #ask answered

[rlxtechoff]

#IFTTT #Blogger

[lesbianakaashi]

The Forgotten Shounen: Katekyo Hitman Reborn

This is not a “Why you should watch/read khr” or anything like that. This is just me going into the deep dive and throwing my findings at you. I’m making this because khr used to be my favourite series when I was 15 (I had plushees, posters, tradingcards, the art book etc) and now as an adult I constantly find myself baffled at how unknow it seems to be.

1. Okay first what is khr?

Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or just Reborn! is a series by Akira Amano which was published in Weekly Shounen Jump from 2004 to 2012 (with 42 volumes) and got an anime adaption which run from 2006 to 2010 on Tv Tokyo (with 202 episodes and one OVA).

2. What’s it about?

Khr is a parody of the italian mafia and plays in a world where the mafia is heavily influencial. The protagonist is the japanese middle schooler Sawada Tsunayoshi who is known as “No good Tsuna” because of his failing grades, general weak and cowardly personality and weak physics.

He becomes aware of the mafia world when a 2 year old baby called Reborn arrives at his house claiming to be the greatest hitman and declaring himself his home tutor. Reborn was send by the 9th head of the Vongola famiglia who is ready to retire and looking for a new heir. Which of course, is supposed to be Tsuna and now it's Reborns job to shape him into a worthy sucessor.

Tsuna rejects the violence of the mafia world and refuses the position as the 10th. Thanks to Reborn and his general craziness Tsuna meets different people and starts to make real friendships. Reborn wants 6 of those friends to be Tsuna's future guardians, basically a group of people which will be closest to him in the vongola famiglia. Tsuna might have no interest in those positions but the friendships he builds with them become really precious to him.

Reborns arrivial also brings in the enemies of the Vongola family which leads to Tsuna being forced to engage in battles. Generally Tsuna openly avoids fights and prefers to run away but will put himself in danger for his friends' sake or because of something Reborn did.

Through out the series Tsuna matures and gains strenght but he never becomes a power fantasy. He's just a guy with many flaws who grows through the human connections he makes.

Personally I think the relationship between Reborn and Tsuna is one of the best student teacher reltaionships in all of manga only topped by Mob and Reigen from Mob Psycho 100. Especially the last arc really underlines their unique relationship to me.

Furthermore, khr offers a new and unique battle system: The flames. I'm not gonna go into to too much detail but the general idea is that one fights with their dying will flame which basically turns off your the savety switch so you can fight with everything you have. The flames are seperated into different categories such as: sky, storm, mist, rain, sun, lightning and cloud and have different attributes asigned to each one. Tsuna's use of the sky flame and his transformation when using it is still one of my favourite shounen transformations to this day.

3. What happened?

The series did really well and then not so well over the course of its serialisation. After the manga got an anime adaption it increased in populairty and video games, light novels, and other products such as CDs were created based on the series. Reborn is one of the best selling series of Weekly Shōnen Jump and has sold around 30 Million volumes overall. It was and still is very popular in Japan but rather unknown in the west.

According to the article "The Rise and Fall of Weekly Shonen Jump: A Look at the Circulation of Weekly Jump" khr was the 10th bestselling series in Weekly Shōnen Jump, with a total of 7 million copies sold in 2007.

This number increasing to 15 milion in 2008. Which placed khr into the 4th best selling series of 2008 in Japan.

Between 2008 and 2010 those sales declined but still kept strong with khr as the 6th top selling manga in 2009, 8th best selling in 2010 and then 24th best selling in 2012.

In November 2014, readers of the Da Vinci magazine voted khr number 17 on a list of Weekly Shōnen Jump's greatest manga series of all time.

After the anime came to an apprupt stop in 2010 for unknown reasons the manga sells took a visible hit. (Apparently the studio wanted to put the anime on halt because they were busy with other projects and give Akira Amano time to develop her story but I couldn't find any source for this claim) Furthermore, the rushed last chapters of the manga in 2012 declined the popularity of the series even more. There's no offical statement as to why the manga was ended in such a way but it's reasonable to assume that Jump either cut it considering the decreasing sales or Akira Amano choose to end it for personal reasons.

Nontheless, Tsuna not being included in Jump Force (a fighting game where you can play as different characters from Jump) in 2019 even tho he made it in earlier Jump Stars games also underlines the decreased interest in the series.

Rumors on a reboot or anime adaption of the last two arcs surface from time to time but are genereally unlikely. Artland the studio which made khr has gone bankrupt around 2015-2016. It might be taken on by another studio but rather uncommen especially with such an old series.

4. Art style

The khr anime ended over 10 years ago and the old art style might not be appealing to newer audiences.

Especailly because the anime adaption follows Akira Amanos old art style which heavily developed within the years. Here a picture comparing characters in the new art style:

A modern anime adaption in the new art style would be aesthetically pleasing. It would probably look similiar to Psycho Pass since Akira Amano did the concept art for this series.

(My personal art student hot take is that both art styles are unique and fun. Up to this day Akira Amano still has my favourite art style and even if the amount folds in the characters clothing is a little extreme I love it dearly.)

5. Criticism

The show is not without flaws and even if I greatly enjoy it it wouldn't be right not to adress them.

Daily Life Arc:

A lot of people view the first 20 to 25 episodes as fillers and quickly lose intererst in the series. This is due to the fact that Akira Amano inteded the series to be a gag manga and focuses the first chapters on world building, character introduction and comical narratives. It's rumored that the decision to develop the story into a battle shounen was made because the sales weren't doing well enough at first. So the first chapters/episodes may seem titidious but are necessary for the story and the development of the characters. The tonal shift from a more gintama like gag manga to a darker battle focused story can also be offputting to some viewers.

Either way a lot of people blame this arc when discussing why khr never got an english dub or didn't end up on Toonami. I've also read that the manga never finished serializing in the north america. However, it finished in other western languages like german and spanish.

Censoring:

The anime censors A LOT. From Gokudera's smoking habit, Yamamoto's whole character arc which deals with heavy themes such as depression and suicidal thoughts. The general bloodiness of the manga was censored and sometimes whole chapters and characters were left out even if those were important to the devolopment of others.

Filler episodes:

Out of the 202 episodes the anime has around 29 filler episodes which makes roughly 14 %.

Sexism:

Even if Reborn was written by a woman most female characters are rather flat and their storylines often tied to a male character in one way or another.

Genereal things:

Khr, like many other long running series, is sometimes criticised for a lack of world building or unpopular narrative choices.

6. Hope?

Khr isn't exactly dead. As stated before the series is still very popular in Japan and still gets new merch pretty regulary. There are also petitions floating around for a reboot or a new anime season but those never get a lot of traction. Furthermore #Reborn2期アニメ化 (#Reborn2ndAnimation) used to get some traction on twitter not too long ago. Last year the Anime News Network did a poll on which anime the readers would like to see a rebooot of and khr placed second.

Either way here's a collection of recent khr things I could find.

- In 2018 a new bluray set was released in north america

- The khr stage play reached yet another new season

- A mobile game was released last year

- Currently ongoing anime cafe event called "Concerto di Vongola"

- Last month there was an event with the former VAs and stage play actors where they discussed their favourite khr episodes.

- There has been an increase in blind reacts to the openings on youtube which might bring in a new fan base. The biggest one I could find had around 90k views and was made in 2019. On this note check out the soundtrack. The first openeing Drawing Days by SPLAY still makes me go insane (but I'm biased of course)

There also renewed hope for a new season/reboot because Shaman King, Inuyasha and Bleach got anounced for new seasons after a long hiatus. It's important to keep in mind that the circumstances for those series are differnt tho. For example bleachs new anime is often tied to the immense success of the gatcha game.

7. Conclusion

Khr is a series which used to be a flagship for Weekly Shounen Jump and is deeply beloved by it's fans, especially in Japan. It influenced other shounen series like bnha. It would be nice to see it gaining a bigger fanbase in the west :)

#khr #khr meta #anime analysis #shounen jump #katekyo hitman reborn #mirytalks #long post #manga