#(MANGA ROUTE 1 !!!!!)

[asthecrowcrafts]

[no1ryomafan]

Been thinking about this too hard lately regarding my special interests but I find it funny how mega man was something I can’t remember if I ever convinced anyone to play due to how difficult it was despite the fact series order didn’t matter-even if people pushed it, it’s not the end of the world if you play ZX before Zero or shit like that-yet I’ve been able to easily get people into getter and I know it’s cause it’s only 13 eps (not looking at toei) and watching a show a easier commitment then playing a game, but I realized more and more over time that “oh yeah getter is one of those fucking things where you actually need to read the manga before watching most of the anime’s to really understand wtf going on despite them being all different canons” and I’ve low key feel bad that my friends do not get to know the full context of things.

It’s a general thing to my understanding that old anime adaptations after the 70s but before current day while do their own thing and not properly follow the manga, still have wanted you to have read it prior to understand what’s going on despite the adaptation not being a sequel. I felt this was especially apparent with dynapro mecha, I read the jeeg manga before I watched shin jeeg and while it also heavily referenced toei jeeg it makes part of the story easier to understand even if shin does bother to explain who past characters are to the audience, mazinger plots are fairly simple and I know people say shin is a great start but Mazinkaiser throws you into things, none of the characters get proper introductions despite how episodic the plot gets later, but Getter? All of the OVAs took different parts of the manga and stitched them together in a weird way, and also most of the characters again do not get proper introductions so you’ll be like “who?” the entire time.

New is the only one where this isn’t a huge issue as it feels designed almost to be a entry series for newbies but there’s still problems with it being your first getter entry even if it’s more minor compared to arma or svn, but stuff like Musashibo being Benkei and Musashi merged into one so if you watch the other ovas without reading the manga you’ll be like “who?” to those two in say arma and the fact while it reveals the cosmic horror aspect better then the other ovas, the ending can still be seen as super vague. (If anything what new does best without needing manga knowledge is the fact it’s middle arc is just also using a different Ishikawa manga cause that thing did not get finished translating so most English fans will never know wtf is going on there LOL but new explained it fairly well)

Genuinely it sucks to say since I don’t like dictating what order people consume media in cause at the end of the day if they’re confused yet still get into the series it does not matter, but getter to be properly experienced cannot be done if your a anime only. You really do need to read the manga to understand most of the anime’s unless you stick to Toei stuff, but that’s so different that your still not getting the proper getter experience.

[mekatrio]

now that i think of it, i doubt that kagepro's whole 'different media = different route' thing was planned from the start, bc i srsly doubt that jin had known he would receive manga and anime adaptations down the line. he probably had one solid storyline that he had wanted to write, but bc of the lack of time and resources that were allocated to him, he had to split the story up between different medias instead. man.... that sucks. well that explains why the first 18 manga chapters are near 1-to-1 adaptation of the novels, bc kgpr was probably originally just supposed to be one storyline.

but man thinking about another timeline where kagepro is more coherent and didnt need to be wrapped up in like, 3 years..... man. i dont get why it had to pushed to be finished in such little time. to the point where jin was so overworked that it affected his health and he was even homeless for a while..... its like the executive whoevers had no faith in jin's kagerou project. its so sad to think about, u really cant seperate the nature of this franchise from the fact that it was produced under such dire and unfair circumstances :(

[mari-lair]

hello ! i love your fics and analysis! I was wondering which tbhk ships you think will become endgame?

Anon I have the most white bread of answers but since you asked-

1 - Hananene.

Nene starts the manga by wanting a date. It doesn't matter with who, any hot guy will do. She has many infatuations but isn't in love with anyone, she just want to be loved.

Nene has a lot of small character developments in different areas throughout the manga, but her strongest and most consistent change is her increasing love for Hanako and her acceptance of it.

She is still a girl with a ton of emotions, and she finds hot people attractive BUT now she want Hanako and only Hanako. She rejects everyone she used to have a crush on, there is no doki doki's when she gets the attention of pretty people cause they aren't the boys she wants attention from anymore.

Even Teru doesn't compare to Hanako. She went on a 'date' with him and felt more excited about bragging than the actual 'date'

AND SHE DID NOT BRAG when hanako got back, she just wanted to enjoy that he's back.

I don't even know why I am going so in dept on the couple stablished since chapter 1 but since i'm already rambling: Despite everything crazy going on in the festival NENE'S BIGGEST FOCUS WAS TO CONFESS TO HANAKO. That's something she thinks more about than her own death, like girl- Hanako is her whole world. She will not get a romance with another person.

There is the question of "Will Nene survive?"

If she doesn't, she'll disappear and have no boyfriend but I bet she'll be thinking about Hanako in her death. If she finds a way to become a supernatural in a very wild narrative choice she will be able to stay with hanako in their cursed eternity forever.

In the case she lives and Hanako gets exorcised she won't move on. Aidairo loves tragedies and obsessive love, so I can't see her approaching crushes with the same whimsy after her love dies. And Aidairo would likely preffer to make her suffer in her grief and longing than give her a rebound with some random guy, cause it sure won't be Kou.

2 - Mitsukou

My personal preferences aside, it is clear they are written to have romantic implications. Kou will either die with Mitsuba (As shown in the new timeline), and stay with him in death.

Or live to have an intense homoerotic 'friendship' with him.

He legit can't get mitsuba off his head, he thinks about him more than anything during the manga and he has A LOT of problems to think about.

I can't personally picture an explicit confession but we had a lot of equivalents already. It would be weird for Aidairo to send them to the aquarium, make Kou obsessed with mitsuba (and vise verse), show that they are 'very very close' in this new timeline, keep drawing them star-struck by each other and so on without romance in the head.

Kou is also never able to put his feelings into words, like, bro that's suspicious as hell.

They always get matching art with all the couples in Aidairo's twitter arts too.

That's not queerbaiting, they may not be explicit but by the lord they are not subtle at all, there is never a single "oh Mitsuba is like a brother to me" moment, they don't undo any of the gay implications we see, they double down on it.

Kou may be bi but it sure isn't the Nene route that Aidairo is playing.

3 - Aoikane

Akane has loved Aoi since he was a little kid. Waaaaaaay before he got a clock keeper contract.

He saw that Aoi cared so much about his opinion that she'd break out of her cold persona and burst into tears at the idea of being hated, and he locked in for life.

They are the codependent childhood friends troupe, the "I know you better than anyone" troupe, the "you are a part of my life I can't live without" troupe and they both love each other from the very start of the manga, not showing romantic interest in anyone else.

Nothing has made Akane change his mind about being with Aoi. Not being stabbed, not being rejected many times, not facing how bad aoi is at deling with her issues head on. He'll do anything for her time and time again.

in Akane's own words:

They had many build ups and a whole arc dedicated to their developments with each other (which is a lot considering they aren't main characters and Aoi usually get no focus in this manga.)

Narratively, it wouldn't make any sense to dedicate so many chapters pointing out how much they mean to each other and slowly working through their issues only to slap another ship at the end.

And is not like Aidairo said "They had their arc let's never talk about them again!", the author went out of her way to say "Even in a world where Aoi is in an arranged marriage, she still loves Akane"

They aren't subtle.

From the matching names, to the way they both crumble when they are separated from one another and keep thinking about marriage, they are very devoted. They have already explicitly confessed to the audience that they are in love with each other.

They'll either stay together forever or they'll die together.

[hummingbird-games]

2024 in Review (Indie Games)

2023 | 2022 | 2021

Helloooo gamer friends!!!

I'm so tired.

Lol.

Anyhoo, y'all don't care about that!!! Y'all are here to see what games I played and what the heck I have to say about them! Reminders: I don't bash games I didn't like, and I try to post more in-depth thoughts and reviews and general yapping to Gem's Game Gems.

DEMOS

When Stars Collide - I am by no means a sci-fi girlie. I need a HEAPING dose of fantasy or fantasy elements to help me out. That said, y'all might remember how I went feral for Gilded Shadows, so I am locked in for this journey with WSC. It's just as mysterious and lore intense as GS, but also just as intriguing and engaging!

Love Me, Love Me Not - I looooove when a game charms me to pieces??? Our MC Addie, the introduced LIs, the story, the art??? Where do I begin?? Anyway, please check this one out y'all! I'm impatient for the full game (shocker, I know).

Threads of You: Beyond the Bay - So my thoughts and reactions for this one are on the side blog, but I really enjoyed the demo and I have eyes for Chris, Vince, and Alex hehehe.

Lost in Limbo - While I'd been keeping tabs on this game for what seems forever because of the character art that originally caught my attention, I almost didn't finish the demo because it was lowkey disturbing (I'm a wimp and not all horror is made equal). But!!! BUT!!!! I push through to the end, had a good time, noted that I need to play the full game in the daylight with the music turned down low. And I absolutely adore Ara and Xal so, so much.

A Simple Twist of Fae - Absolutely no one cares, but I read a lot of manga this year. Like, a lot-a lot. Like, ~180 books and 1/3 of that was manga. Anyhoo, When JMB announced she was cooking up this game, I was impatient to get my grubby hands on it. AND THEN I PLAYED IT AND IT WAS THE SHOJO INSPIRED GAME OF MY DREAMS?!?! Like.....I wish I could both have it on my computer and also on my bookshelf. Final build dropping when??? (Also the UI design is utterly delightful, I cry.)

The Summit Library (FULL DEMO) - The last time I reviewed this game, we got chapter 1 as a taste, and I was. Locked! In!! The full demo gives us the first 2 chapters as well as the previews for all the romance routes and while giving everyone a whirl I'm *still* undecided on who to go for in the future, I must mention this: TSL is so aspec friendly???? I do love a game with smut, don't get me wrong looks at College Craze but sometimes I have my moments of being overwhelmed/sliiiiiiightly repulsed and the variety of options you have to choose how you react and interact with the various LIs in this game is amazing. (I have more thoughts on this, so I'll try to remember to post to the sideblog, but please understand that this game is totally worth your attention and time imo!!!)

Fully Released & Played (at least 1 playthrough)

Rabbit Trail - This. Game. Is. SO. Cute. *punches the air* 😭🥹(Copy + paste of my review on the itch.io page -> This was so charming, so fluffy, so cozy, just delightful all around??? I've only reached one ending so far, but René is just the cutest protag to play as, and his interactions as he delivers his mail made me cheese so dang hard! (Also, I wanted to fight his parents for not properly appreciating their kid LOL))

Stuck by Design - I checked this game out because I was looking into games that fellow programmers had worked on, and this cozy game stumbled onto my lap. The music was perfect, the UI is beautiful and clean, and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance of the VA for the LI, Yuki.

Wake Me Up If You Need Me - I called this game older!HSDJY MC x Ryan coded and I'm still right. The voice actor MAKES this game, and the interactions the player has with Reed is so flippin' delightful?? All my love and adoration to the game developer. May they make more beautiful games.

CTRL FREAK - The developer team brought us The Faithfulness of the Universe which is a banger in its own right, and CTRL FREAK is the team's commercial, finished project that I also found delightful. The soundtrack and the animations are chef's kiss 💛

Breathless Winds - Ooo, baby, ooo. So. If there is only one game you play from this list and you have some spare cash to spend (at the time of writing, the game is on sale!!!) please, please, check this one out. It left me absolutely spellbound, both the orginal demo, and then the full game. While I didn't get to blog fully about this one, and I only tackled 2 of the 4 routes, this game is absolutely everything. This is my indie game of the year. Poppy and her journey resonated with me, and between the music and the art, everything just came together so perfectly.

Wake Up Magical Girl - Listen TF up, if miseri creates it, I'm gonna play it, idc, idc. That being said...this game had a kick to it that when I finished my first playthrough, I had to stare off into space and gather myself. It takes the concept of magical girls and heroism and gave me a teeny tiny existential crisis, but other than that, I'm fine, it's fine, play this game, thank you.

Sleeping Under Spells - God, I love me a game where I get to argue with a LI. I love it. Bonus points if it's lowkey stupid stuff we're bickering over LOL!!

Our Wonderland - Yeah, uh huh, you thought you'd escape me talking about this game this year, didn't yah???? Too bad. The fifth and final arc dropped this year and I played it and I cried and felt for the briefest moments that life was okay. To say something different than my review of last year, I love that this seems to be the game that helps fellow ace devs find and flock to each other, I'm not kidding 🤣 so thank you Carrot for helping us fellow aspec peeps feel seen and validated and understood!

I Watched a Full Game Playthrough and Highly Recommend

Replay Boys - Okay so technically at the time of posting, there's still one more video I'm waiting to watch (Naja of BlerdyOtome uploaded her stream to YouTube) but my Godddddd. I've had my eye on this game for FOREVER but I was lowkey waiting for it to move to itch.io (I'm still a lowkey Steam hater 🥹) anyhoo, watching this absolutely wild game made me go ahead and buy a copy for myself to replay at a later time, but it's just great. The summary only scratches this surface of what the game entails 🤣

Gemi’s Gushies

(a list within a list of games that have devs trucking along in the background and I want to spotlight for y’all)

Save the Villainess - Life got away with me and unfortunately I never finished my play of the demo BUT what I have played was fun and I hope to return to this in the new year!

Woman of Xal 2 - Plot Twist Studios is on that Sequel Train with the next installment of WoX!!! Which I'm VERY excited for!!! I've unfortunately only completed one playthrough of this game, but the first game is definitely a masterclass in replayability, and I hope next year I'll be able to do a second playthough as I wait for game 2's Kickstarter!

...

And that's 2024! Any shared favorites?

- Gemini 🫶🏾

[visionsofmagic]

- ', kinktober 2023 masterlist ↷

• includes: anime & manga ― marvel & dc ― video games •

◜ my first kinktober, so, I hope I will do fine. also, praying that this time I will be able to publish them on time and in order. ^^ have fun while commiting pretty sins with me in this kinktober of 2023! *kisses* [links will be added the moment they are published.] • m. masterlist ◞

◇ day 1-7: anime

I. gojo satoru › filming ⭑ before going on a mission, gojo decides to record you while being fucked by him to watch it later.

II. ryomen sukuna › breeding kink ⭑ sukuna just wants a womb to put his babies in but it changes when he fucks you.

III. fushiguro toji › size difference ⭑ you bet you can have toji raw & dry with only one go.

IV. uchiha obito › mutual masturbation ⭑ you can’t deny the desire you have for obito and you want to show it.

V. hatake kakashi › semi public ⭑ he seems to enjoy how you clench around him with the fear of being caught in the act.

VI. roronoa zoro › cock warming ⭑ you ask to zoro whether he needs any help or not, and in return, he makes you sit on his cock so that it can get warm while he’s sleeping.

VII. monkey d. luffy › eating out ⭑ why not using his devil fruit ability while eating you out?

◆ day 10-17: marvel & dc

X. bruce wayne › car sex ⭑ bats fucks you in his batmobile to teach you a lesson after you disobey his order.

XI. jason todd › hate sex ⭑ being the arkham knight’s sworn enemy has its perks; being fucked by him every night.

XIII. clark kent › aftercare ⭑ after having a rough session with clark, you let him take care of your exhausted body.

XIV. bucky barnes › dilf ⭑ you’re his sugar baby, so, he want you to show your gratitude to him in the way he pleases the most.

XV. steve rogers › face sitting ⭑ after caps shaves his beard a question pops into your mind – how it would feel to sit on his now clean face?

XVI. bruce wayne › power play ⭑ the game you play takes a different route in which you try to dominate him, but, he doesn’t allow you.

XVII. jason todd › thigh riding ⭑ while begging jason to start fuck you, you discover how you can get the pleasure you seek from riding his thigh.

◇ day 20-29: games

XXI. leon s. kennedy › praising ⭑ leon likes to being praised by you so much that it’s overwhelming.

XXII. simon ghost riley › sex pollen ⭑ after the mission is done, waiting for trucks, you realize something is wrong with your body but ghost there to help.

XXIII. heimdall › dom/sub ⭑ heimdall likes to be on his knees for you.

XXIV. chris redfield › riding ⭑ you try to take him raw.

XXVII. sub zero › humiliation ⭑ your grandmaster gives you a lesson for the disrespect you have showed in front of others.

XXVIII. cal kestis › first time ⭑

XXIX. simon ghost riley › toy/vibrator ⭑

◆ 30: bonus [soon!]

XXX.

enjoy! ♡

[twistedmionn]

Twisted Wonderland iceberg

Explanations ahead (slight spoiler warning)

Tier 1:

everything is self-explanatory, I think

Tier 2:

Haruhi = the protagonist of Ouran High School Host Club. She's a girl who dresses up as a boy (correct me if I'm wrong) and many players who have a female MC consider theirs to be like Haruhi. [EDIT: Thanks for the anon pointing out that I misspelled the name!]

Tier 3:

self-explanatory

Tier 4:

A fair amount of people headcanon Vil as a trans woman because he presents androgynously/feminine and doesn't care about gender roles. This has also caused discussion in the fandom because breaking gender roles ≠ trans.

Tier 5:

People sometimes wish TWST was more like a dating sim and had character/dorm routes.

Some people headcanon that Silver is based on Prince Philip (from Sleeping Beauty) and/or is a prince himself. I haven't played all of book 7 yet (only the parts out in the ENG server) so idk if the theory has been proven right.

Lilia is old and hints at dying soon.

Hot NPCs, such as Deuce's mom and Sebek's grandpa.

Ace and Deuce have expressed interest in Yuu at various points in the game.

Genshin VAs: Leona/Alhaitham, Silver/Kazuha, Idia/Razor are the ones I can think of

Tier 6:

A beastman (I think it was Jack) has stated that he has problems talking to animals, and Ruggie's talent at it is considered something special.

The tweels are considered intersex by some due to eel anatomy (I'm no eel expert).

Kalim is considered the real villain by some due to never really bothering to help Jamil.

Epel's backstory/attitude has many elements that a fair amount of trans men relate to.

There are theories that Lilia and Sebek are twisted from Peter Pan characters. I'm unsure about Silver, but I think I've read something about him being from another movie, too!

Tier 7:

Some people headcanon that Ace has experienced domestic abuse.

There's a theory that Ace will betray Yuu.

Cater has two sisters who boss him around, which is a resemblance to Cinderella.

Malleus might have two pps because well... dragon.

Epel and Deuce had a whole ass beach date. Deuce constantly cares for him and broke the school rules in order to make Epel feel better. Their scenes together (the settings) looked straight out of a shoujo manga. If Epel were a girl, this ship would be considered canon by most.

I'm not sure EXACTLY which languages Jade's VA speaks, but I do remember that he knows German.

In one of his Halloween vignettes, Ruggie — as opposed to Lilia — has indirectly expressed that he has no interest in romance/relationships.

Tier 8:

UH.

[wirewitchviolet]

Let's talk about how Ranma is trans in the 2024 anime, part 1

Way the hell back in 2018, after a random exchange with a friend, I sat down and wrote a series of four blog posts where I looked at the manga Ranma ½, which ran from 1988 to 1996, explicitly through a lens where I assumed the protagonist is in fact a trans girl. A major component of the series being that Ranma and several other characters fell into various pools in a cursed set of natural springs causing them to magically change into whatever tragically drowned in one when hit with cold water, then back to their original body with hot, and Ranma fell in the girl one, so it was bound to be a series that would crack a lot of eggs regardless, but my memory of reading it years before transitioning was that it worked on a mundane level too, particularly later. I did somehow forget a bit towards the end where Ranma honestly just kinda straight up comes out of the closet, but I'm not going to link to that panel yet again for the sake of preview links not blending together. Anyway, those posts were already the most popular things I ever put on this blog and have never stopped circulating, despite it being a pretty old and largely forgotten series at the time.

I had always had the idea that I really should go back and also watch the anime adaptation(s) of Ranma, which deviates a good bit from the manga, but that is 161 episodes, 3 movies, and 11 OAVs which are terribly terribly paced, and I don't actually get paid for this. But then lo and behold, here's a brand new anime adaptation coming out decades later, looking really nice, and surely that will deviate even more from the source material, so here I am diving in to find all new bits of gender stuff to talk about, under the fold here and-

Oh. Turns out the new anime series is actually an EXTREMELY faithful adaptation of the original manga and the only deviations I've actually noticed are that there's a little bit less nudity and the one scene with Ranma's breasts fully on display goes the route of not drawing nipples. And really that's only significant because the original anime adaptation somehow got away with that one. Speaking of the original anime run, this adaptation brings back the entire surviving voice cast, and continues the tradition of coloring Ranma's hair red in cold-water form as an extra tell for the audience. And speaking of color, one thing this adaptation does now and then that I really appreciate is punctuating certain scenes with the sort of cool pastel palettes (see above) that were used for the cover illustrations of the original manga.

Another thing the 2024 anime does is throw in a quick little vignette before the opening credits of each episode to restate that Ranma and Akane are engaged, and the feminizing water thing, which mostly feels like it's there as just a little extra emphasis that regardless of all the other shenanigans going on, those two are the one actual couple and making it clear that the rest of the tangled web of crushes and obsessions don't really matter. Something I feel like this adapatation is keen to emphasize in general. In fact, being as nearly 1 to 1 an adaptation as it is, the title of every episode is directly lifted from the chapter names of the manga, so we can just slap together a little infographic and see what's getting compressed a bit and what's getting the time it needs to breathe!

We're chewing through the extended fight scenes pretty quick and slowing down any time Akane's having an emotional moment or some time in the spotlight basically. Which makes sense since the action scenes in the manga are like all full page splash images with a word of text and need to be flowing quickly, and because we have the benefit of hindsight knowing that the Kunos become irrelevant real quick. We're also squeezing out a little early identity crisis stuff for Ranma in the process (there's an early dream sequence after first meeting Kuno, coming to grips with the whole "since I'm a girl, dudes want to sleep with me" realization that barely makes it in and a few early moments of internalized misogyny that get dropped), and we really give Shampoo's debut some space (not QUITE as much as the above suggests, most of episode 10 is wrapping up a three parter on the ice skating with her just punching through the wall as a cliffhanger at the end).

The whole thing is also paced out to nicely cover the first four volumes of the manga, out of 38. They might up the compression rate a little, but as it stands, it's going to take another 8 or 9 seasons to get through everything at this rate. In comparison, my first blog post got through three times this much of it, but the original anime covered only the first half of this in the same episode count (and then for some reason introduced Shampoo and Mousse early and didn't get through the ice skating until episode 27).

Anyway, like I said, this doesn't really change things up enough to have a lot to say about how clearly Ranma is trans. Jumping back to the start though yet again, it really cannot be emphasized enough though just how clearly, even from the very first episode, she is SO much more comfortable presenting as a girl, not at all nervous meeting Akane's family like that, then suddenly super tense and awkward and closed off when interacting with... really anyone while boy-moding. So I guess it's time to bust out some of these other lenses to look at this...

Let's talk about how Akane is gay, part 1

I mean, we've established she's into Ranma, with extra emphasis in this adaptation, and we've established that Ranma is in fact a girl, but that's just the one data point. What else do we have? Well, she's quite explicitly not a fan of guys, particularly guys who are attracted to her, and we're keeping plenty of a focus on that while not wasting time trying to pretend Kuno matters at all in the grand scheme of things. The closest she ever comes to showing interest in a guy is Dr. Kuno, and the anime here is strongly emphasizing how that's less of a real crush and more just emulating her oldest sister (Nabiki of course is also some flavor of queer, and I don't think anyone has ever questioned that) since that's kinda what you do, right? She also gets intensely jealous of the idea of Shampoo kissing Ranma while assuming Ranma is a girl, talks about how hot she is, and hell, at the start of things when everyone's assuming they've somehow gotten into a situation where one of the three sisters has to marry a cis girl, Nabiki points out how that works out perfectly for her. Because she is extremely gay.

Let's talk about how Ryoga is trans, part 1

OK so this isn't the same absolute slam dunk as Ranma turned out to be, but there is a surprisingly strong case to argue that Ryoga is also a trans girl. What do we know about Ryoga after all? Real real socially awkward. Only has one sorta-friend from childhood, who turned out to be trans later. Can we call Ryoga a furry? I'm not even talking about the pig curse, but there's this whole feral wolf vibe before that's even established. In a series where basically every guy who is ever introduced is a horny creep obsessed with rigid gender roles, Ryoga does not bat an eye at seeing women naked (which comes up oddly often), spends a lot of these early arcs hanging out with the gal pals to help practice gymnastics and skating, deals well enough with the pink heart collar and being called Charlotte, and like so many of us, Ryoga is introduced to the series indignantly sputtering about how Ranma's situation shouldn't really be called a curse and is a situation we'd be happy to be in. You could argue that Ryoga's saying this just relative to the pig curse, I guess, but I do at least get the vibe that Ryoga wouldn't be too super worried about finding hot water with that one.

Speaking of the pig curse, I feel like every time I revisit Ranma I have a different perspective on the whole "P-Chan" situation. With this adaptation, it does feel significantly closer to "it's really just this super awkward situation where I've been looking for a good moment to explain and at this point it's been so long she'll probably kill me" than "I am a loathsome sex offender using a disguise to snuggle up with this girl who thinks I am a small animal" and Ranma is doing an appropriate amount of "I'm not going to blurt it out, but you should seriously come clean already" so, glad to know we're downplaying that.

Also, the emphasis on Ranma and Akane as The Couple in this adaptation really makes it clear that Ryoga isn't so much into Akane as just kinda... incapable of conceiving of any sort of existence that doesn't involve being Ranma's rival/friend/polycule member.

Anyway, I guess that's where I have to leave this until the second season drops? Have a patreon link?

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

The Face of Love (Masamune Date)

Full Manga translation → The Face of Love Episode 1

Please do not repost or upload elsewhere!

This manga is available exclusively for members of the IFC (Ikemen Series Fan Club)

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies.

TN: I don't have any experience with cleaning, typesetting, or redrawing, so things might look a little janky. All copyrights belong to Cybird.

Original Work: CYBIRD Artist: 藍月ちの Scenario Event: The Face of Love Masamune Route Episode 1

[chuckeroo777]

Laios got Eaten AU Chapters 1-52

So, I was pondering a lot (as I do), and was thinking about this AU. Here's my take on it. Sorry if my grasp on characterization isn't the best. Expect lots of Farcille.

This is mostly a plot point based summary, going chapter by chapter. If something isn't elaborated on, assume it's the same as canon.

Note: This first installment ends at the same point as the anime, but as a manga reader, there are spoilers for later in the canon story.

Edit: Wowzers, that ended up being over 4,000 words! Guess I had more to say than I thought.

This is pretty long, so I'll begin under the cut.

Chapter 1:

Unlike Laios' self deprecating take on this scenario, the rest of the team doesn't immediately give up on him. Marcille and Chilchuck are his friends, and if Falin thinks it's possible, then they're in.

Namari leaves of course, but Toshiro is more complex. He argues with Falin, trying to convince her not to embark on such a risky mission, and may accidentally frame it as Falin choosing between him and Laios. Falin, of course, picks Laios. Toshiro leaves, dejected. After feeling sorry for himself for a while, he gets his retainers and heads after her, hoping to offer backup.

Falin proposes the dungeon eating plan, having casually discussed the possibility with Laios in the past. Without the gourmet guide, she isn't as knowledgeable about monsters, but she is pretty good at identifying stuff from her days of eating weird stuff in the woods, so she can tell the walking mushroom isn't poisonous. She also manages to grab the scorpion, having messed with crayfish as a kid.

Unlike Laios, she doesn't try to eat the venom, but they still struggle, and Senshi comes in to help. Falin is very excited to have such an expert helping them out, and is happy to have him join the team.

In general, Marcille is just as squicked out by monster cuisine, but she tries to put on a brave face for Falin. In fact, her attempts to be more accepting results in her not yelling at Senshi, so the slime doesn't attack her.

Chapter 2:

They go after the man-eating plants, and things mostly go down the same. Without Laios, it takes a little longer for Falin and Senshi to figure out how to save Marcille, going for the root. Marcille gets seeds planted in her skin, but Falin is able to heal her and get them out.

Chapter 3:

Senshi takes them Basilisk hunting, and Marcille is dismayed to see Falin knows the trick for intimidating Basilisks, a sight she will not soon forget. While Senshi slices the snake, Falin caves the chicken's head in.

While Senshi prepares the Basilisk, Falin is able to use a detox spell on Doni. The two still stay to eat though.

Chapter 4:

Events mostly play out the same, though Falin is a bit more gentle in rejecting Marcille's help. Falin admits to having skipped class the day they learned about mandrake harvesting.

Chapter 5:

Chilchuck uses Falin's metal staff instead of the sword to find the passage. When they go to get the oil, Falin casts a fire-ward spell on Chilchuck, just in case. Senshi declines to take one too.

Chapter 6-7:

Without Laios' insights, they deem the living armor too dangerous after the first attempt, and take a slightly different route to the third level.

Much to Marcille's chagrin, they run into a nest of giant rats, and they end up having giant rat stir-fry instead.

Chapter 8:

Falin thinks Senshi's utilization of the golems is absolutely delightful.

Chapter 9:

Falin is rather uncomfortable with Chilchuck's suggestion to trade at the seedy bar, but doesn't argue.

Events with the orcs go more or less the same. Falin thinks Bahay is very cute.

Chapter 10:

No Kensuke, so they get ambushed by the bugs. Chilchuck gets bitten, but Falin is able to heal him.

Falin applies much better ghost wards than Marcille. In fact, she quickly realizes they are just paralyzed, and is able to heal them. Yeah, no. That would have way too big of a butterfly effect on the story. Maybe she's too distracted by the pretty bugs to notice.

Unlike Marcille, Falin thinks the centipedes are adorable. In fact, she secretly takes one and hides it in her pack to keep as a pet.

Chapter 11:

As one would expect, the ghosts are a complete non-issue. No ice cream for them.

Chapter 12-13:

No one in this party is crazy enough to bother with the living paintings. Without the delay, they are able to make camp at the level 4 entrance, bypassing the mimic.

Senshi catches some fish, and they have a very nice dinner.

Chapter 14:

Mostly the same, except instead of Laios, Senshi is saved by Falin. She has experience in such manners.

Chapter 15:

Sadly, Falin does not know the song, so they have to resort to earplugs. This leads to a silent but amusing argument where Chilchuck has to talk down Falin from eating fish-men without words. Falin does not pull the waterweed stunt.

Chapter 16:

The kraken battle is pretty much identical.

Unlike Laios, Falin has eaten calamari before, having gone to that restaurant with Marcille several times. She is very disappointed the kraken tastes bad.

Senshi cooks up the parasite, and Falin doesn't eat any raw.

Chapter 17:

No one is sick, so this chapter doesn't happen.

Chapter 18:

Marcille has a sponge bath and insists Falin take one too. Chilchuck is annoyed by their flirting, but Senshi thinks it's cute.

When the Undine attacks, Falin is able to waterwalk and help Marcille, but neither of them has particularly good magic for fighting an undine. Both are badly injured, but they manage to escape.

Falin is able to heal both of them, but they are both left very hungry, and relatively low on mana. They have a barbecue to help them recover.

Chapter 19-20:

The Tansu party arrives. Tensions aren't quite as high between Marcille and Namari, but it's still there.

After Tansu fails to pacify the Undine. the two parties agree to help each other out. First, they help get down to the tower. A well placed fireball saves Kiki from the tentacles. Sadly, without Laios' knowledge, they can't eat them, at least not as easily.

When coming up with a plan to stop the undine, the idea to trap it is brought up, and they basically use the same plan, except Namari is in on it from the start.

After killing it, Falin suggests eating it, and the two groups enjoy some kelpie stew before departing opposite ways.

Chapter 21:

More or less plays out the same. Chilchuck suggests making the suits, to which Falin enthusiastically agrees. Senshi makes froggy hash instead of pasta, since he doesn't know how to neutralize the stinging.

Marcille puts on the frog suit without complaint since Falin puts one on first.

She attempts to take it off to much complaint still.

Chapter 22:

Most identical chapter yet. Namari asks about Laios instead of Falin. That's it.

Chapter 23:

Plans are made to take down the red dragon. With Falin here, their warding spells are much better, but no Laios means Senshi is the only proper warrior. Falin is a decent fighter, and plans to join Senshi and Chilchuck on the frontline. They search the orc's storehouse and find some spears, which will hopefully be enough for the inverse scale.

They mostly come up with the same plan. Crush the dragon, then kill it.

Chapter 24-25:

The pot defenses fail, and they go ahead and crush the dragon. When the dragon emerges, Falin is able to execute the plan, stabbing the dragon as they play dead. However, she isn't able to stab deeply enough before the dragon recoils, the spear getting pulled away from her, landing some distance away.

Senshi tries to stab the dragon in the foot, but the spear breaks. Things go as they do in canon, with Senshi and Chilchuck managing to toss Falin the spear and blind the dragon in one eye.

Falin meets up with Marcille, and ends up pulling the same self-sacrificing gambit Laios did, stabbing the dragon in the throat while dangling from its mouth.

Chapter 26:

Falin falls unconscious, and has a dream about when Laios first left home, leaving her behind. And how he later promised to never leave her behind again.

Marcille still has to heal Chilchuck and Senshi herself, since Falin is in no state to do it herself. They retrieve her leg, and Falin is able to finish healing all four of them.

They begin carving into the dragon, with Senshi taking the lead. Laios' intrusive thought fun facts end up saving the day, reminding Falin about the flame sac.

Chapter 27:

Falin doesn't even bother mentioning the resurrection office, already knowing what must be done. Marcille doesn't hesitate to offer her ancient magic as the solution.

Falin is able to assuage Chilchuck's concerns a little better than Marcille did, clarifying that the ancient magic is just used to perform magic of a magnitude impossible with just natural mana. He still doesn't quite buy it, but doesn't protest further.

Putting Laios' skeleton together takes longer, since no one here is super knowledgeable about dog skeletons. They get it eventually though.

Marcille does the ritual. Falin thinks Marcille is hot when she lets her hair down like that.

Laios is revived successfully, and everyone is incredibly happy.

Chapter 28:

No bath scene. :(

Laios is incredibly curious about their journey, and is running his mouth asking questions. He is extremely excited that his monster eating idea worked, and is practically glued to Senshi for a while asking questions. Due to his presence, Senshi doesn't explode the dragon.

Marcille isn't surprised in the least by Laios' enthusiasm, and is just glad to have her friend back. They enjoy their little dragon feast, regaling Laios with their tales of monster eating.

Unlike Falin, Laios does not realize that forbidden magic was used to revive him, and apologizes profusely for abandoning Falin, even though she insists it wasn't his fault.

Chapter 29:

When Thistle summons Laios, a ghost wakes Falin up. She wakes the others, and they go looking for him.

Unlike Falin, Laios doesn't gain magical power from the dragon, instead getting an even bigger boost to his strength. Falin isn't just knocked unconscious, but is badly injured by his punch.

Not even being dominated by the mad mage can stop Laios from yapping. As he is transformed, he gives Thistle tips, causing his chimera form to be significantly more dangerous, featuring a bigger but more slender build and bigger wings, allowing him to actually fly. As well as a few other embellishments, such as tail spikes and small horns.

The ghosts save the party, and things proceed as normal.

Chapter 30:

Chilchuck's arc is mostly the same, except that it is easier to convince Falin once she wakes up. Healing the internal bleeding Laios caused took a lot out of her, and both her and Marcille are tapped of magic. They agree to return to the surface.

Chapter 31:

Literally Identical.

Chapter 32:

Kabru's deductions are mostly the same, only altered slightly due to being warded by Falin instead of Marcille.

Shuro isn't quite as haggard. Falin isn't actively dead, so he doesn't feel the need to run himself ragged. Funny enough, taking better care of himself ends up canceling things out, and he arrives at Kabru's group at about the same time.

Chapter 33:

Senshi and Chilchuck have to fight the Dryads by themselves. They use the axe instead of Kensuke. Not that Laios helped much, but the first dryad manages to attack Senshi, leaving him in much rougher shape by the end of the fight.

Thankfully, he makes a full recovery once Falin recovers some mana from the yummy pottage.

Once Falin is recovering, she suggests teleporting out of the dungeon, but Marcille flat out refuses to let Falin do that again. It's way too risky. Now that they have a source of food, mapping out the area should be simple.

Chilchuck does not escape the sex ed.

Chapter 34:

A dramatic reenactment of chapter 34:

They still need to spend several days making the map, but at least petrification isn't an issue.

Chapter 35:

The ghost warns Falin about the wyvern, and they hide in the wall, so business as usual.

When Marcille accidentally puts on the frog suit, Falin decides to put hers on too. This somehow makes Marcille more mortified, not less.

Recognizing Falin, the ninjas don't attack. Marcille is annoyed how happy Falin is to see Toshiro, considering the bad terms he split off on.

Chapter 36:

Since Falin has been enthusiastic, but not overbearing about monster food, Chilchuck chooses to go with Senshi even more easily.

Falin explains what happened to Toshiro, leaving out the ancient magic. Toshiro has no reason to think Falin wouldn't be able to revive Laios. He is happy to learn that she intends to return to the surface, and he plans to try and talk her out of returning once safe on the surface.

Kabru can tell Falin is lying about something, but remains quiet.

Chapter 37:

Even though harpies show up, everything seems to be going well, until Hien splatters on the ground. The Laigon quickly proves to be a ferocious foe, with razor sharp claws, a vicious thagomizer, and the ability to easily fly out of reach, or drop opponents from deadly heights.

Marcille didn't know that sufficient brute force could splatter an Undine to death, but apparently so.

Falin watches in horror as she can see an almost joyous look in his eyes. He would never do this of his own volition... but he clearly doesn't hate it.

When Rin grounds the Laigon with lightning, Falin steels her resolve and charges in to pummel his weak point, but he smiles and says her name.

Chapter 38:

After Kabru fails to kill him, the Laigon is too powerful, and kills Kabru before Falin can do anything. Seeing the Laigon about to attack Falin, Marcille hits it with an explosion.

Snarling, the Laigon looks like it's about to pounce at Marcille and company, causing Falin to fully freak out and unleash her strongest offensive spell, causing several massive rocky spires to erupt and impale the Laigon from below, and accidentally hitting Rin in the process.

Screaming and convulsing in pain, the Laigon takes for the sky, fleeing as fast as it can, leaving behind a thick trail of blood.

With both Falin and Holm alive, as well as Marcille not being barred from helping, the revivals go smoothly.

Toshiro ends up getting into a shouting match with Falin regarding her goal of saving Laios. Falin insists that if they defeat the mad mage, they can save him. He insists that trying to do so at this point is suicidal.

In the heat of the moment, Toshiro declares that Laios isn't even worth saving, and Falin slaps him. The conversation comes to an abrupt end, with both severely regretting their actions. Toshiro walks off to think, while Marcille comforts Falin, who seems on the verge of tears.

Toshiro ends up apologizing, saying he can't understand her decision, but he will respect it. He has Maizuru give them supplies so they can head down immediately, and gives Falin the bell.

Asebi overhears Marcille speculating with Chilchuck about the Laigon, and the possibility of the dragon's soul getting mixed in due to her revival magic.

Kabru leaves with a higher opinion of Falin than he did of Laios, because while she seemed fascinated by monsters, she wasn't as crazed about it as him. Plus she didn't offer him a harpy omelette, so that helps.

Chapter 39:

Without the living paintings, they aren't able to quite grasp the mad mage's motives, but are still hopeful that they can talk to him.

And then the shapeshifters happen.

Chilchuck's Falin is an airhead, reflecting her calm demeanor and lack of commanding presence, even though she is ostensibly the leader without Laios around.

Senshi's Falin looks just like his Laios, but with longer hair. They look identical to Senshi.

Falin's Chilchuck is colder and more even-tempered than the real Chilchuck. She appreciates his levelheadedness and maturity.

Falin's Senshi is always spouting fun facts about food and food prep, and is always smiling. Senshi reminds her a lot of her brother's passions.

At first, the group is confused. They seem to be short two fakes. But then they find Falin's Marcille and Marcille's Falin making out in one of the cells. Both are too shy to admit their feelings, but apparently their mental images aren't so shy about it.

Once obvious stuff is out of the way, and equipment has been checked, Marcille and Falin have been found, but Chilchuck's Senshi, Marcille's Chilchuck, and Falin's Chilchuck are still around.

Chapter 40:

Marcille and Falin manage to eliminate Chilchuck's Senshi, since they both get a weird feeling from it, and all three Chilchucks agree it's the right Senshi, practically confirming it to be Chilchuck's.

The Chilchucks prove much trickier, until Falin comes up with an idea. We skipped chapter 13, so Falin suggests the Chilchucks provide their age. Marcille's says 20. Falin's says 45. Chilchuck is able to explain those guesses are way off the mark, and as the only one able to give a proper explanation of half-foot age ranges, he is clearly the correct one.

With all the copies locked up, the shapeshifter gives up and goes to find other prey.

Asebi ambushes the party as normal afterwards.

Chapter 41:

There is a bit of confusion at Asebi's accusations, since Marcille never confessed to using ancient magic, but Asebi overheard her talking about how she may have blended Laios' soul with the dragon, and that is not something someone does on accident. Clearly she must have been using black magic to do something like that.

Nonetheless, Marcille agrees to break the collar's magic, and things proceed the same. Falin attacks the hag with her mace-staff, creating a messier cut, but functionally the same.

The explanation of their goals goes about the same, including Falin being rather happy to meet Izutsumi, though she's a little less weird about it, talking about how Laios was fine before the mage kidnapped him, and that hopefully he'll go back to that state of mind when saved.

Chapter 42:

In Falin's nightmare, the Laigon appears and tries to kill her, but Falin becomes lucid before it can strike.

Falin goes into Marcille's nightmare to help her. Being more experienced with this sort of thing, she is able to calm Marcille down, and cause her to become lucid, dispelling the nightmare without violating Marcille's private traumas.

They then spend the rest of the lucid dream having fun together. I'll let you decide how much those shapeshifter clones inspired their behavior.

Senshi cooks the nightmares, and much to the girls' dismay, the dream is shown for all to see. Everyone agrees not to bring it up again.

Chapter 43:

While searching the recovered packs, Falin is delighted to find the Dungeon Gourmet Guide. She was afraid it had been digested with Laios.

Note: Falin should be seeing the ghost by now, but I don't want to break up the chapter flow, so just assume the ghost got caught in ghost traffic.

Without Laios to block them, Marcille gets impaled by a few stalactites, and Falin has to tend to her. The fight goes as normal.

Izutsumi is able to undress without anyone being weird about it.

When doing the sauna thing, Chilchuck can't help but notice how closely Marcille and Falin are sitting. He tried to block the dream out of his mind, but it's clear that now that the feelings are out in the open, that's just how they're going to act from now on. He just hopes this doesn't cause any issues.

Chapter 44:

Falin finds the boiled mandrake quite tasty, and so doesn't question it when Izutsumi gives her a second.

When arguing over dinner, Falin is just as baffled as Izutsumi regarding the Barometz. As they run over, she flips through the guide, discovering the potential danger a few seconds too late.

Izutsumi and Marcille run off to do their thing. Falin panics and does something dumb. She starts barking. She isn't as good as Laios, but it's enough to scare off the wolves. Chilchuck isn't even surprised at this point.

Chapter 45:

Pretty much goes the same. Toshiro plans to report the Chimera, at least so people know to be wary, and Falin is just as careless with the bell as Laios.

As they eat their eggs, the ghost finally catches up and Falin is happy to chat.

Chapter 46:

Our party arrives in the golden country. Falin wants to check out the monster corrals, just like Laios, but while he was ecstatic about minotaur milking, Falin is much more charmed by the opportunity to pet the basilisk chicks.

Falin becomes extremely flustered at the sight of Marcille in a pretty dress. Unlike Laios, Izutsumi lets her pet her.

Since minotaur was not requested, they are served basilisk cordon bleu.

Sadly, the running joke of turning ghosts into ice cream is dead.

"One shall come who bears a staff of living wood." With Laios out of the picture, Marcille is the lion's next choice of champion.

Marcille really isn't sure what to think about this. Her? Become new queen of the land?

She ultimately gives no conclusive answer, but the possibility of gaining dominion over this land where no one ever dies is tempting.

Marcille and Falin share the double bed, while Chilchuck gets the single bed to himself. At least until Izutsumi curls up on him.

Chapter 47:

Breakfast goes smoothly, and they head back into the dungeon.

Things in the cistern go mostly the same, though Falin also thinks the griffon is Laios. Senshi doesn't panic until the griffon actually appears.

Chapter 48:

Marcille puts her plan into action, and Falin carries her.

With the second familiar, Falin suggests shaping it like a dragonfly, since they are very fast and agile. It isn't as fast as the wyvern, but it dodges a lot easier. The third familiar is still sky fish.

Once the griffon is defeated, Falin suggests eating the sky fish. Marcille objects, but she can't say no to Falin's smile.

And Senshi shares his story.

Chapter 49:

Unlike Laios, Falin doesn't push Senshi to try the griffon. She suggests cooking it, since they don't want to waste good food, but Senshi doesn't have to try it if he doesn't want to.

Senshi decides to go for it. You can decide if he's traumatized further, or if changelings follow logic, and meat without any spores on it (since it was cut from inside the griffon), and was then "washed" by turning it into soup turns back into hippogriff. Senshi tastes the "griffon" soup, and is immeasurably relieved.

Changlings are a lot of fun, but they sure open some plot holes. By all accounts, it should have reverted to hippogriff soup.

Look, this is my silly what-if AU, things don't have to be perfect.

Chapter 50:

Falin is a dwarf now. She sucks at magic, but now she can really smash some heads in.

Falin thinks half-foot Marcille is adorable. Marcille isn't sure what to think of dwarf Falin.

When they reach the door, Falin is surprised when her pet pearlipede crawls out unbidden and unlocks the door.

Despite the disadvantages, Falin's mace proves super-effective against the gargoyles, managing to defeat one, but tiring out while one is still left. They flee through the door.

Now that the party knows she has it (and that it's oddly useful), Falin starts wearing her pet as a bracelet.

While preparing dumplings, Falin ponders if maybe the griffon wasn't actually a griffon, but Chilchuck shuts her down before she can accidentally re-traumatize Senshi.

Chapter 51:

Falin notices Marcille's strong adverse reaction to the news that half-foots only live fifty years, but doesn't say anything.

Falin suggests the possibility of using the changelings on Laios, though unlike him, she doesn't consider that the two halves might change separately. She just imagines them turning the whole Laigon into a gnome or something.

When the last gargoyle arrives, Falin's staff gets knocked out of her grasp, and thrown by the gargoyle.

They use the knowledge from the transformed staff to defeat the last gargoyle. Sadly, Marcille does not get to fly.

Falin washes her staff.

Chapter 52:

Senshi grows curious and asks about Laios. Falin talks about how Laios always had trouble fitting in, and it wasn't until he started dungeon diving that he finally seemed able to make friends and be happy. Falin had dropped out of magic school because she didn't want Laios to be alone.

Marcille starts crying and clinging to Falin. She talks about how she used to hate Laios. But as they adventured together, he became like a brother to her. Falin starts crying too. Izutsumi sits by Chilchuck to avoid all the tears.

Senshi proposes his bacon and eggs plan. Falin can't find any issue with his reasoning, and thinks its a great idea, but Chilchuck points out how long it will take to eat that much meat. They start making plans for the foreseeable future.

Thistle tries to stop the Laigon from eating a walking mushroom, but is unsuccessful.

Chapters 53-85

Chapter 86-Finale

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Whenever I remember that Tenya almost went full vigilante mode for Tensei I want to scream so bad like it's not even funny.

Bnha somersaults its way into saying "maybe heroes are just good citizens with the power to do good things" and "maybe heroism is not in the big notorious acts but in being kind and fair in the day to day details" AND THAT'S ALL TENSEI.

AND THAT'S WHAT MOTIVATES TENYA TO GO FULL BLOODHOUND ON STAIN.

I'm not denying that the world needs the big ass heroism acts like defeating AFO or saving a city or all those flashy notorious feats. All Might is very needed, because there are threats that are too old and developed and have accumulated too much hatred and damage over the years. You cannot always prevent those things from happening and to believe so would be naive, right?

What I'm saying is that those big events are the lowest percentage. They are the consequences of a systematic failure.

Take two of the biggest evil plots in the manga: AFO planning to still OFA and Overhaul with his quirk-erasure bullets. Both plans depended on an abused child being used as objects, Eri because her quirk was the base of the bullet working and Tomura because he was just meant to be AFO's new body in the future. In both cases, AFO and Overhaul were cornered after losing the child they were using for their plots. In fact it was the kids resisting the abuse that contributed the most to their failure: Eri prevented Overhaul from hurting Deku and Tomura prevented AFO from escaping his decaying body.

In that sense, the little unknown pro-heroes taking care of their neighborhood's children do a lot to prevent cases like Tomura or Eri from happening. Hell, AFO and Overhaul were also kids who went the violent route to survive.

Ingenium's silent heroism is probably the best example of what a hero looks like. They don't seek fame or glory. They regard heroism as their duty, their responsibility. No matter how little the act is, it's still important to do it.

At this point, we must admit the Tenya's crisis over what happened to Tensei is not only about their bond as brothers. Yeah, that was Tenya's big bro, but it is no less than when Deku and Bakugo saw All Might fighting AFO for the last time— the last moments of their role models.

The Iida brothers' crisis was deep rooted in the main issues of the story, so I'm still baffled at how people just tend to ignore it.

Before Stain, the "League of Villains" was just a minor threat. Dabi was a nobody with no real crimes to his name. Toga was just a lost little girl trying to survive the streets. Spinner didn't even think about being a villain. Before Stain, things were bad, but no one really thought they could change the status quo, you know?

The USJ incident was not the big deal because 1) how was attacking kids the answer? and 2) going for All Might was expected, since he was almost invincible and the biggest hero in the world and blah blah blah.

When Stain started attacking minor pro-heroes...

Stain was the opposite of Tomura. He admired All Might and saved those kids, but went after the pro-heroes with less powerful quirks. He gave the population a sense of control. It's like he said "hey, you don't have to go after All Might to change the system and why would you? The real problem are the ones on the lowest part of the pro-hero chain".

Suddenly, they could go against pro-heroes and win. Divide and conquer. Suddenly, there was a ladder to climb. Suddenly, you could target not the institutions responsible for the rotten ideology of your society, but the people who enforced the ideology with their daily work.

Stain defended his posture by saying that those people didn't want to be real heroes. They just wanted the money, the fame, they were not really committed to their duty.

And then attacked Tensei, of all people.

If big crimes are built from little crimes that are accumulated over time, what would happen if you decided to eliminate the people taking care of the little crimes?

The crisis of belief in pro-heroes was triggered by Stain. When Stain pointed out at Ingenium (the one in the suit was Tensei) and accused him of false heroism, it's when shit started to go south. He created the idea that pro-heroes should be punished if they don't perform correctly and that they deserve to die if they don't have pure ideas of their job— or whatever.

Tensei being the victim is supposed to show how hypocritical Stain is. Tensei is probably one of the only pro-heroes that never did anything wrong in the manga and one of the best family men to be presented. A man who was loved by everyone for being good in every sense of the word.

Stain projected his own fantasies on Tensei in order to accomplish his witch hunt, not truly caring to figure out who the person was. He just attacked for the sake of attacking, which explains why he was so popular: anyone could do the same and project their issues on him, fighting different battles disguised as just one cause.

When Tenya went after him, it could only make sense. The little of the Iidas is too righteous and noble, quick to judge and act, prone to making mistakes and getting carried away by the looks of it all. So easily his justice turns into revenge and he falls into the trap Stain set. Who knows what a hero student killing Stain would have caused...

At this point it's obvious I'm just ranting for the sake of ranting but 😭😭😭 give the Iidas the respect they deserve please.

[bubbleddisasters]

I know considering what we just learned in Caters dream this may be unlikely but:

I feel like Treys dream is just going to be everyone got fucking therapy. And something to do with dentistry and/or a bakery. Like thats it.

Just everyone actually works together in a safe, effective and healthy manner, Che’nyas an NRC student and is able watch over Riddle and keep watch/the dorm in line when Trey can’t and Cater opens up to him.

Like thats it. Everything else is status quo.

Ace and Deuce are still fucking around as usual, Yuu is the mediator, Leona finally got meds for his depression and some therapy so he’s not sleeping around as much, the majority of students are less manipulative and self absorbed, all is fine and dandy.

Ah yes, and You’ve predicted correctly, another Blue Che’nya Rant incoming under the cut lol:

———-

I need Che’nya to pull out his fourth wall breaking shenanigans again. He referenced Yuu’s mirror in Book 1 before Yuu even knew about it? AND The Cheshire Cat has Shapeshifting abilities and is literally the strongest creature in Wonderland only second to TIME ITSELF.

And what do Cats hate? Mice and Birds.

And who, pray tell, gets Alice out of Wonderland?

THE 👏CHESHIRE 👏CAT

You cannot tell me Che’nya was NOT the one who Mickey saw. Che’nya is already mildly hinted at being ridiculously OP.

Think also about Grim. Who has the same color palette and Blue fire as Ignihyde, and the only other character besides Che’nya to have a Cheshire esc grinning sprite. Also, a directly CAT based appearance, not a Lion like Leona, but your average joe cat.

Judging from Grims Design, role in the story and Bow, he’s likely based on Alices Cat in Alice in Wonderland that is unintentionally left behind by Alice when she falls through the Rabbit Hole.

Oh, and the Cheshire cat in the live action? DARKISH GREY AND FUCKING BLUE.

And Che’nya? Who conveniently appeared in both books with Tyrant in the name, conveniently has the ability to slip past NRCs barrier that took S.T.Y.X THEMSELVES SEVERAL HIGH POWERED ANTI MAGIC SHOTS to get through? Without Crowley noticing aswell? And likely teleporting the length of probably a SMALL COUNTRY just to go and fuck with Heartstabyl every other Tuesday or something? WITH NO VISIBLE MAGESTONE ON HIM.

Who randomly knew about our Mirror before we did, and DIRECTLY REFERENCED MICKEY/SOMEONE/ANOTHER WORLD BEING IN OUR MIRROR FROM THE START?? Who has had the ability to FLY, GO INVISIBLE, CONTROL HIS OWN GRAVITY AND LIKELY TELEPORT SO MUCH THAT TREYS SIBLINGS ASSUMED IT WAS CHE’NYA OPENING THEIR FRIDGE AND NOT THEIR OWN DAMM BROTHER, AND POSSIBLY DETACHING HIS OWN LIMBS, SINCE AGE FUCKING NINE (all seen/referenced in manga) , WHICH WE LEARNED SHOULD HAVE PRACTICALLY EXPLODED THE AVERAGE CHILD FROM ROLLO.

BRO HAS BEEN DOING FEATS WE’VE ONLY SEEN LILIA, CROWLEY AND MALLEUS DO.

Lastly, who could’ve followed us throughout our entire journey without notice?

In the Manga, a clone cater got LITERALLY impaled. Theres no way in hell every single person survived an overblot fight with, according to Ace, “A Couple Bruises” without some guardian angel bs happening.

WHOS ALSO THERE FOR ALICES ENTIRE JOURNEY AND PLAYS THE GUARDIAN ANGEL WHEN ALICE NEEDED AN EMERGENCY ROUTE OUT OF WONDERLAND WHEN SHE WAS BEING CHASED??????

THE 👏CHESHIRE 👏CAT

And theres only one person that can pull that role off without detection even if they slipped up, as if Crowley did so and suddenly accidentally became visible or smth, it’d draw more questions. Like wtf he’s doing his job????

For Scarabia, We basically had a magic shield (Floyd) and a Direct Target (Kalim), so Yuus less likely to catch Strays. Plus I wouldn’t put it above Floyd to work with Che’nya and just not fucking mention it. They seem like they’d get along well actually ngl.

Ignihyde is both the most suspicious and kinda hard to piece together, but why did Riddle end up the ONLY one to get oldified when they were likely similar distances to Tartarus. Something that conveniently forced him to pull out of the fight?

Also, you CANNOT tell me, no anti-magic necklaces or not, the magepens would be magic summonable. Thats way too risky and an obvious thing they’d have a backup for. Someone had to unlock it and I have my doubts it was Idia/Ortho, because that raised their fail rate probably quite higher.

Same goes for the Lightning Bolts. I heavily doubt Idia or Ortho would give them access to that at its full ability, especially pretty right off the bat, if the off chance of all three being used against them at once was on the table, since it would practically be the equivalent to a 3-1 hit K.O cheat code or 3-1 Instant D-20s in a row. 3 possible instant K.O shots per team, and 3 teams, totaling up to 9 POSSIBLE INSTANT K.O SHOTS. Thats way too risky. One? Maybe. Two? Eh. BUT NINE? BEFORE THE FINAL BOSS FIGHT? WITH THE MAGEPENS TOO?

Also, if someone had the batshit Idea (cough Epel or Rook cough) to jump down the tower, since it’s literally just the worlds deadliest spiral staircase, and summon some cushioning for their fall and jump to the last floor platform, they could speedrun directly to them with the fully charged bolt, and if they got the rest of the groups to do that, things would go to shit for Idia pretty fast.

They also had the equivalent of a trained sniper with them. If Rook finds major vulnerabilities and tells everyone where to hit them all at the same time, its probably over.

I can mildly see the possibility of OB! Idia getting too cocky and doing so, but I find it doubtful, as I feel he would label it an “endgame” reward considering how OP it is.

It’s been proved before that NRC has it basically on sight with RSA, which works in Che’nyas favor, since they focus on the fact an RSA students on campus rather then HOW he got there.

That, and the Overblotee or more logical guys will probably be like “Riddle/Trey sent Supervision? Yea all things considering that tracks honestly.”

We see this in the game and manga, but in the manga, we can see in the Heartstabyl Finale image that Che’nya never actually left after we see him get “chased out”, and has literally been chilling in a bush watching the group the whole time, meaning he’s likely pretty experienced with faking his departures.

So we can’t hear him, can’t see him, no footprints or footsteps, he can literally clip out of existence to miles away up a mountain on command??? And can unexplainably slip past 500 year old arcane barriers without breaking a sweat???

Bros got The Guardian Angel/ Spy package Deluxe.

Anyway thats just a bad theory but yea

Thats the end of my rant for now I need to eat lunch lol.

[piracytheorist]

Twilight Eyes Project: "Operation Strix" (part 1)

On our first glimpse of the spy protagonist's real face, we're directly treated with neutral Twilight eyes.

Typical day at work. Nothing too challenging for Westalis' best spy.

We continue with Twilight eyes on,

Until we're treated to our first glimpse of emotion: an angry explosion of frustration.

Still, eyes are narrowed, focused.

And then! Sad eyes as Twilight's superior reminds him that he will earn no medals and no recognition for his hard work.

In the anime there's even added animation to his look, as they narrow at first, then widen back just a bit when the superior's message switches to the reminder that thanks to his job, everyone else gets to leave peacefully.

This following progression from one look to the other is very telling.

As Twilight checks around the apartment for listening devices, and ensures he has a safe escape route, he has Twilight eyes. We can't see them in the manga, but it's easy to assume that's what he looks like in this moment.

And then, immediate switch to Loid eyes. Pleasant, willing, just your average psychiatrist with his average family moving into a new apartment. Nothing suspicious here!

This change is also interesting in the anime, as we hear for the first time the switch in his voice. Takuya Eguchi, his voice actor, uses a lower register and a "sharper" voice for Twilight's voice, but switches to a higher register and softer tone for Loid. This moment presents the difference spectacularly.

A change in presentation: investigative eyes in the manga, plain Twilight eyes in the anime.

A closer look on a character's eyes signifies a closer look into their thoughts. In the manga, Twilight thinks for a moment about how he apparently hates kids, and so we get a closer look. In the anime, the "I hate kids" line is omitted, and since he's only thinking about the progress of his new mission, we get a full-face shot.

Twilight eyes while he says he wants to adopt the child in front of him.

It will take him a while before he can master his "happy dad" face.

After Anya practically forces him to take her out with her, he thinks about how spies need to be inconspicuous, and we get investigative eyes.

Then, another difference of the opposite direction.

Full-face shot in the manga, focus on eyes in the anime. Since in the anime we expect some movement in the eyes during his small torrent of thoughts, a close-up works better as we get to focus on the way his eyes move; narrowing, closing, then opening again in concentration.

Then, Twilight eyes as he starts having doubts about how helpful Anya could be in the mission...

Then the anime proves it's worth its salt by showing his face when he tries to appease Anya with peanuts. And lo and behold, Loid eyes.

Typical Twilight eyes as he reads through the child-rearing books...

And then, a case of sad eyes?

I think the speech bubble with the ellipsis says it all. After reading about how to help a child for their "future", he reminds himself there won't be any "future" between him and Anya. He resorts to calling it a "waste of time" in the manga, but the context around the scene shows it's not investigating. All previous cases of "investigative eyes" had a form of inner monologue going on. The focus here happens in silence.

Verdict: sad eyes indeed.

(continued on part 2)

(anime only fan here, don't spoil me for the manga)

[do-you-ship-it-polls]

Mini ship tournament 1

Let's do something different for today to celebrate 1000 followers! I'll take some of the most popular ships on here and put them against each other and we'll see which one comes out on top.

feel free to vote even if you don't know the characters lol

previously featured propaganda:

Marcille/Falin Where do you even begin with these two like damn. Childhood best friends to lovers? Check. Autism? Check. Marcille willing to do quite the number of things to save Falin? Check. There are many things that you could get into with these two but that would require spoiling what happens in the manga, so uh lets just say the ship will get even more basis in the anime soon ;)

Yosuke/Yu (i'm a liar this one wasn't featured before but I gotta help the poor boys) People have theorized that Yosuke was supposed to be a romance route but that the developers changed their mind, due to unused dialogue that hints at his romantic feelings. It's especially funny because Yosuke is borderline(?) homophobic in the game. He calls Yu his partner aaalll the time and it's just as platonic partners but I swear there's dialogue where someone says "oh so he's your partner?" and Yosuke replies "no we're just friends". very suspicious

Akechi/Joker These men basically be flirting with each other the entire game it's hilarious

[summercranes]

SHITPOST... and talking about the p1 manga 😱

the manga is controversial with some fans, but liked by others, why is it a bad way to experience persona 1's plot? well, I'll explain… 

(before I begin, this in no way is meant to be disrespectful to the author, I enjoyed quite a few things within the manga, like the art, the humor, the addition of Kazuya, and the scenes between Eriko and Naoya. I'm just pointing out that the manga is not a good way to experience the story without playing the game first because of the changes, characters getting little to no screen time/cut development, routes being sped through, and a gross scene with Aki being added in the manga. I personally think the manga should be read after playing the game or watching a playthrough so people can form their own opinions on the faults, but I'm going to point out a few things that I think are important)

let's continue ⬇

Naoya's personality: in the manga, he's given a completely different personality from his canon one, and with the change of that, it ruins his parallel with Maki and Kandori. a lot of people assume that Naoya is meant to be the vessel for the character to play the game, but that is wrong. Naoya is silent for reason, he fears being seen as too much, and because of this fear, he became a loner and isolated himself from everyone, had no friends, didn't take school seriously, and was lonely, but in the manga, he's more outgoing and takes school seriously (gets pointed out by Brown in the manga, but Nanjo points out that Naoya never takes school seriously in-game), and seems to be somewhat close with the cast. the problem with him being outgoing with everyone is the fact he was never friends with them and saw them only as classmates until the game's events (it shows with the others being shocked by his behavior and personality as the game progresses, or in convos with them, or even with side characters, also gets confirmed in the club/world book) doing all of that/focusing his growth over Kazuya undermines the personal lesson he learns throughout the game of trusting others, overcoming loneliness, and working to find his own reason in life.

"I like to think he is usually silent, not because that's what his personality is like, but rather because it fits the tone of the game. He would like to express his emotions, but is afraid it will come off as too much."

SQQ: the route gets handled horribly/rushed and fucks some of the cast over horribly. sqq happens before the sebec route, (it's implied by Yukino in IS when she says Naoya was a good friend and led her, so it's pretty likely SQQ happened first because Yukino wasn't available for SEBEC, plus with the epilogue of the SQQ, it leads into SEBEC perfectly) yet it happens in the middle of the manga/literally almost at the end, not only that, one of the main characters in the quest gets done DIRTY. Yukino gets shit for lines and side-lined when she plays a huge role in the route and is even assumed to take the leader role for SQQ if they choose SEBEC instead (few npcs talk about it during the SEBEC route).

screen time: Yukino isn't the only one who receives little screen time in the manga, it's extremely evident with Ayase and Reiji. Ayase gets little screen time and no development, same with Reiji, he's just scattered throughout the manga. EVEN WITH BROWN, he gets like one page of development and that's it! it happens with some of the others like Elly, who gets a few. but yeah Reiji, Yukino, and Ayase get the worst of it.

Aki: for some reason, Aki is given the ability to change her appearance to appear old, I don't know why! and there's a weird scene involving her and kandori in chapter 35 pages 14-15 to be exact (even he was weirded the fuck out), she's transformed a few times after that, but that shit did NOT happen in game and is OOC.

I think we need to leave the "Naoya has no personality and the manga gives him one" take BEHIND! because it shows when he talks to the others, side conversations, or his answers during certain scenes (Mai) the world/club book too, anddd the novel and drama CD (the CD gives him even more character, Tadashi also worked on the drama CDs)

I think the manga really messed with people's perception of the game and Naoya's personality, again, he has a canonical reason as to why he's silent and isn't outgoing with anyone/is a loner. he's still an important character and protag, he's the one having to make all of the decisions and lead in both routes, nothing would progress if it wasn’t for him, especially with his own development.

TLDR: the manga messes with the plot, brings unnecessary changes to Naoya's character, gives a gross scene to Aki that doesn't happen in-game, cut character arcs and screentime.

[soulemnity]

Funny thing I just realized--

Due to recent events in the manga

Your wing!Luffy could... potentially be somewhat canon if Oda decides to go that route in the story

?!!?1??? im not caught up lol i gotta look at this