#I HAD HOPES FOR HIM WITH CHAP 108

[iamhereinthebg]

your posts about this newest chapter are so real because it disappointed me so much.

It was way too lighthearted and just seemed like a huge joke. I was expecting the trial to have suspense where you can really feel for the characters and wonder what will happen next, but it just ended up being comedic. It was funny, I’ll give it that, but I really really wanted some angst.

This may just be me, but Teru felt so out of canon to me. I can understand him putting on that “flawless student council” mask but it feels odd considering he is around mostly supernaturals. He is shown to be very intelligent and considering he is an exorcist and they are school mysteries why tf would that “look at how beautiful I am I could never” argument work. It was funny, sure, but just seemed out of canon for him.

Akane felt a little out of canon too to me? Probably not but he seemed to fully accept his role as a judge with little to no guilt at all. We don’t really get him looking guiltily at Teru or feeling frustrated, he’s just kind of there. Probably because (as always) the story focused on Hanako, Yashiro, and Tsukasa.

NOW UGHH TSUKASA IS SO FAVORITED ITS PAINFUL. You’re telling me after all that suspense around the clock keepers he takes them out in TWO PANELS. The clock keepers seem like a fucking joke in this chapter instead of the powerful mysterious beings they have shown to be previously.

Overall I expected something much more satisfying and I hope next chapter will be a little better because the last chapter got me so excited for nothing.

just my opinion though, I know some people enjoyed this chapter and that’s totally ok! just not my personal favorite

That's a mood ya-rr-ow. Big mood.

Many people enjoyed the chapter, and I'm happy for them, but I was also majorly disappointed so I'll talk about what you mentioned here and add some other things.

(I will just focus on the negatives here so if you're feeling hyped about the chapter. I am sorry, I wouldn't recommend reading this)

Okay let's go

Chapter 108 went out of its way to create a tense atmosphere, it was mostly a set up and hype piece for the trial.

Mirai was a beast, but Akane was the one that really set up the tone. He had the power to make Teru harmless, which only hyped up the other clock keepers since he is the lowest ranking keeper. Mirai and Kako's supposed power was said to be dangerous enough to make Akane, who hates supernaturals and is so firm in his beliefs, feel cornered, switch sides to 'do his duties', his vague words hinting that there is more to this trial than it seems on the surface.

So I don't think we were being delusional to expect this trial to be dramatic. To have angsty. To have character dept. To be important.

But despite the trial being the title, the spotlight, we got none of it: Not only is the trial treated as a joke, which I already don't vibe with considering how tense the atmosphere in chapter 108 is. It is an empty joke.

It doesn't teach us anything about the characters, it doesn't give any new information. Nothing.

Hanako's trial was a gag. He isn't even my priority character, but considering how he have the title of 'leader of the mysteries' and had been put on trial before for the Yorishiro's destruction, it is a baffling choice to make Kako not mention this big BIG crime when judging him.

Nene's trial 'revealed' she likes Hanako and want to confess to him. Which she has been doing this whole manga.

We could talk about her time crimes (every time travel that made her meet Amane), try to bargain her lifespan since this is the main conflict in the story and they are talking to the keepers of time. They could talk about her crime of helping to destroy the yorishiros with Hanako, or just acknowledge she is still a threat since she is the Kannagi, the only one capable of ripping their yorishiro in the first place. But no, those are stupid, let's spend 4 full pages of a monthly manga to tease a confession she already did in the very previous chapter.

Teru revealed he has some craving for destruction on him. Which surprise, surprise! It also isn't new information! How nice!

( I talked about his love for the idea of destruction and how it's almost an escapism recently, here you go if you're curious)

About Teru and Akane's acting weird. That's not them being ooc, that's Aidairo making a narrative choice to not take anything serious, including his own characters. Everyone is acting like themselves, and nothing contradicts what has been established about their personalities, but their competence has been drastically downgraded to move the plot quickly.

Teru has the bad habit of becoming pathetic when he has strong feelings, like locking himself in his room and hiding under the covers after his fight with Kou, seeing the Aois kiss, aware aoi is basically 'dead' and immediately hitting Akane's stab wound cause the situation stressed him. So it is in character that he wants to kill Akane, who has always been his stress relief.

However, because Teru takes things so personally, and it was stablished in chapter 108 that Teru is way more bothered by Akane's betrayal than being in a court of law, it makes no sense that he treat it as a normal court instead of using his very obvious alibi that he couldn't destroy the clock because he was with Akane. Teru doesn't turn this court into the confrontation that would bring attention to their split up, doesn't go "Are you doing to deny my alibi now?? betray me again??" or question "So? We are here! Why did it had to be now??" or anything that builds up on the last chapter to expand it.

Cause Aidairo decided the court doesn't matter. The build up doesn't matter. Once more, the consequences are an afterthought. We don't need the answers to anything.

Akane is still guilty, he can't look at Teru in the eye, can't defend him, but he goes "!!!" when Teru finally calls for him, paying full attention.

But this is comedic. And as i mentioned above, Teru doesn't say anything useful, anything with more depth than what we already know: that he is angry by Akane's betrayal and hasn't forgiven him.

We TRULY are given nothing in this trial.

Which is insane, cause even the promo art had details to build intrigue, a vague idea that while the chapter would be comedic in nature, it would explain more about the clock keepers, or at least expand on their boundaries.

Like, what are those numbers on the scale? will they be judged by year? Will a lie make their time be stolen? oooh what could it be! Can't wait for the chapter!

And the chapter comes, and there is nothing. The whole trial feels like filler. They treated the audience as a fool for being excited.

That's why this big twist at the end? I don't care.

As you said Tsukasa is overpowered, they are Aidairo's golden child. And they will break established lore rules and make a joke out of everyone else just cause he can.

It's not just Teru and Akane who were nerfed to make the plot move faster, not allowed to have any proper focus. The clock keepers were also a joke, acting 'in character' but more incompetent than they have been stablished to be.

Tsukasa op moment doesn't make me go "wow he is so cool" it made me look at the clock keepers and go "You are all are stupid"

Cause Tsukasa (who shouldn't even be here, we have no explanation as to why he could move when the clock stopped the school time but hanako couldn't?? but that's a rant for another time) has the judgment seal?? And he was already sentenced as guilty??? There are three clock keepers in the room too? So why not... you know... restrict him again...?

The clock keepers is a school rumor that was introduced all the way back in chapter 23. Like you said they are supposed to be super op! They are a mystery so hyped up that their power can throw the intire school into chaos in the Near Shore, where supernaturals are debuffed.

Even before Tsukasa attacked he made the clock keepers act incompetent, to make him look more mysterious and cool in comparison.

These very old and supposedly op school mysteries who govern time don't know who Tsukasa is, they also don't refer to him as a yorishiro despite the seal being in his face, and using titles for every other character (Leader of the school mysteries. Kannagi. Student council)

Which might look like a small thing, silly nitpick, but it shows the favoritism isn't just for a twist. Aidairo naturally like Tsukasa more than his own narrative, and is willing to make others be less competent for the sake of it.

I don't think Kakao will die. That would objectively be bad writing at this point. He'll probably be back in the next chap, a la "teru got fucked up by No.6" and "Akane got stabbed by Aoi but he lives bitch" or even "i always had a ton of clones, like Mei of the art room" but it is still disappointing to see him and Mirai get fucked up in their own boundary after all the hype they have accumulated through the story.

There is a hint Akane can be a yorishiro at the end of the chapter, and that is cool, genuinely really cool, but I am tired of getting excited over possibilities and 'promises for the future'. I want something concrete.

Speaking of which, I don't think Akane will die. This is just another bait to keep reading like when No.6 slashed Teru, Kou, and Akane and we didn't get any answers for a few months before 'oh well nothing happened :) no consequences to be had here folks!'

"But Tsukasa has always killed everyone that he pulled the heart of! there is Mitsuba, and The puffer fish of the mermaid, and the previous No.3 (the bird)" And to that I say I trust Akane's ability to say fuck to fate.

My boy gets new death flags every year, he collects them like pokemon cards, you all should have gotten used to it.

He also survived his bae stabbing him, this isn't new. Sucks to be Tsukasa and die by a stab in the gut and all but Akane is built differently (quite literally with two bodies).

He is also in his own boundary, so if Aoi doesn't kill him while in the territory of another mystery, but he dies in No.1's boundary I will... idk probably just sigh.

In short, Aidairo treated this as joke, so I will treat their cliffhanger as one too. Give me reasons to care in chapter 110. Cause at the moment? I don't.

[burningvelvet]

I finished Moby Dick. So, to continue my former post(s) documenting my thoughts, here we are (spoilers ahead):

captain ahab: i am once again asking hast thou seen the white whale

Narrator, for the 5 millionth time describing captain ahab: "MONOMANIACAL. MONOMANIAC. MONOMANIA."

I was thinking "the homosexual themes everyone talks about are really exaggerated apparently…" and then I got to the chapter about sperm squeezing

Stubb meeting with the French in chap 91 had the exact vibe of a filler episode on a comedy sitcom

there are a lot of moments that reminded me of The Office ngl like i could just imagine stubb in the little interview chair just talking. so much meme material. he's seriously just doing his own thing. the little random characters like the blacksmith and carpenter just talking shit and side-eyeing ahab in the background lmaoooo

Saint George didn't kill a dragon, it was a whale #THETRUTHREVEALED #WHALETRUTHERS

It would have been hilarious if the British people told Ahab that they already killed Moby Dick already before he could get to it. I was so hoping that would happen. Bonus points if it was the Rachel after he'd turned them away.

Ahab discusses the topic of madness a lot. It's almost like he's… mad...

I vote Ahab for the most Byronic hero to ever Byronic… Heathcliff and Rochester have nothing on him… The origin of the Byronic hero, Byron's titular character from the narrative poem Childe Harold, is literally mentioned by name in the novel and had to be a blatant inspiration - it could not be more obvious! (I have yet to encounter the famed Byronic heroes of Russian literature, most notably Eugene Onegin, a work where Byron is also blatantly name-dropped).

Everyone thinking Queequeg was dying and having a coffin made to his measurements and filled with grave goods at his direction and then him literally climbing into the coffin to test it out and then waiting silently to die…. then all of a sudden getting better and saying he chose to recover bc he remembered he had something on his to-do list….. iconic

Ishmael referring to Queequeg as "my Queequeg…" omg. Queerqueg

Queequeg drawing figures like the ones on his tattoos omg… au story where Queequeg is an artist/tattoo artist when???

I was literally saying "AWWWWW" out loud when Ahab and Pip were having their little moments

The irony of Ahab abandoning the Rachel then it coming back for Ishmael… the coffin lifeboat… etc… good stuff…

okay ahab is my man but yeah he was an asshole to the captain of rachel.

also feel bad for tashtego. he wanted that gold doubloon so bad and ahab was like SIKE, MOTHERFUCKER! umm tashtego did not get cut out of a whale by queequeg to deal with ur shit ahab!

Once again wanting a Black Sails/Moby Dick AU… I found this essay about the similarities between Flint/Ahab https://ijms.nmdl.org/article/view/22389/14361

They only have like 2-3 little moments together but like… Starbuck/Ahab kind of outdoing Ishmael/Queequeg there for a moment… chaps 132/134… oh my godddddddddddddd whyyyyyyy

Captain Ahab's moments in chapters 36/37 AAAAAHHHHH you will see me being normal about this

I noted some of my favorite Ahab moments/chapters and they are 36/37/41/70/99/108/109/113/115/116/119/125/129/132/134/135. Like I may seriously just re-read those chapters (no offense to Melville's whale facts, Stubb's jokes, & Pip's insanity)

the end is kind of similar to the great gatsby in the sense that you finally realize the entire novel was actually written for him to cope with his grief-related trauma & then suddenly it all makes sense. the lingering, the sentimentality regarding seemingly insignificant details or people, the meandering/digressing/procrastinating getting to the end, etc.

there are actually several moments -- i don't know if he actually referred to ahab or the others in past-tense specifically, but there were several moments where i felt like i kind of thought he was giving away the end before he did (it wasn't a shock to me bc i read about the end prior, but still)

[sylusjinwoon]

{ 108 }

where is your heart at?

opla!sanji vinsmoke x fem.reader

the ebb and flow of the ocean rocks the straw hat's ship in a back and forth motion, making you feel as though you were caught in a rhythmic lullaby.

a soft yawn escapes from your lips, and you were about to turn in for the night when a flash of blond was seen from your periphery. with a tilt of your head, you saw that it was sanji who caught your eye. observing him now, you realized that he was currently settled on the deck, gazing up at the night sky with a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. and you stood there, wondering if he needed someone to talk to.

how you came to be part of the straw hat crew was in a bit of an unorthodox manner. you lived on a well known island that acted as a hub for those who spent their time traveling the seas during their journey. you had a deep love for medicine and helping people heal, and yet...despite how you successfully studied and became a doctor by your own hard work and merit, you felt empty- unsatisfied even.

there was a routine that you were getting used to, and it was making your life become a bit stable and stale. it was always the same: you'd wake up in the morning, see the few people who come to your home with complaints of them or their loved ones feeling sick or injured.

doctor, please, i need your help, for my son has a fever from swimming in the ocean for too long.

doctor, do you have anything to help with my sprained ankles?

my stomach has been feeling awful lately, do you think you can help me get rid of this pain?

despite how much you loved your work as a doctor, you still felt as though there was something better for you out there, something much bigger than what your life had resorted to.

it was during this time in your life that you met a peculiar young man who had dreams of becoming the king of pirates.

on your way home, you found a young man passed out in the middle of the street, his red tank top and blue shorts caked with dirt as a straw hat remained askew atop of his head.

your instincts as a doctor kicked in right then and there, and you saw that his chapped lips were cracking, almost bleeding due to how dry they were. recognizing that this poor young man was dehydrated, you quickly ran to the nearest well and grabbed a bucketful of fresh water.

"okay sweetheart, you've gotta wake up a bit and drink some water for me." you place the bucket next to you and began getting the refreshing liquid into your hands before splashing his tanned skin with it. the sensation of the water on his heated skin seems to rouse the boy from his unconscious state, and when you managed to get a few drops into his lips did he finally open his eyes, revealing the comforting brown hue of them.

"whoa...i had no idea water could taste so sweet." the young man still seemed to be in a daze while you continued to coax him to drink more of the water in hopes of helping him recover from his dehydrated state. in what seemed like seconds, he perks up while eagerly introducing himself to you.

"hey there! the name's monkey d. luffy, but my friends call me luffy, so you can call me luffy, too! what's your name?"

your head was spinning from how bright and optimistic luffy was, but managed to stutter out your name to him. he repeats your name while shaking your hand in a firm grip.

"i gotta say, if it wasn't for you, i would totally be a goner! are you like, a doctor or something?"

you send him a wistful smile, "yes, i am a traveling doctor, but i mainly work locally, here, on this island. the townspeople usually tells me what ails them, and i help them when needed."

"well, i have a gut feeling that you'll fit right in with me and my crew, and we'll need a doctor if i'm gonna find the one piece and become king of the pirates!"

you couldn't stop the giggle that escapes , "what? you truly believe in such legends?"

"it's not a legend! it's the ultimate treasure that i'm determined to find with my friends! and you-" luffy ends up grasping your hands tightly into his. "you are going to make the perfect addition."

you blink back at him with your lips pursed. was this truly happening? and could you consider this a miracle? did you not consider your life stale and uneventful?

and now, this boy was pretty much offering you an escape; a chance to see the world and finally fill that emptiness you had been feeling. looking into his doe eyes and detecting no lies from him, you give luffy a smile and extend your hand out to him, accepting his offer.

when you first joined luffy's crew as their appointed doctor, you felt nervous upon entering his ship. following luffy's advice to pack lightly, you only came on board with your medical supplies and a few change of clothes. in the same eager voice, luffy introduces you to his crew, referring to you as the crew's doctor while going into exaggerated details on how you had saved his life when he passed out just a few moments ago.

"luffy, i told you not to eat so much salted meats! you were so focused on the food that you hardly drank anything, that's why you were dehydrated! and did you even get the supplies we needed?!" the woman with bright ginger hair known as nami scolds at luffy, and you had a feeling you would get along with her.

as nami continued to scold luffy, your eyes trail over to see his other crew mates: zoro, the pirate hunter with green hair and usopp, the laid back young man who had a gentle smile on his face. you were about to greet them when a sudden whistle cuts you off, catching your attention as a smooth voice calls out to you.

"my my, i had no idea luffy found such a refined lady to join us."

you were slightly frowning now, for you were certain no one who knew you well would ever call you refined or a lady. you glance back to see the source of the voice, feeling your heart soften and race just the tiniest bit.

standing a few feet away from you was a tall, blond man with sea-green eyes and a flirtatious smile. he wore a well tailored suit that fit him to perfection, and seeing the way his soft strands of hair fell across his handsome (almost angelic) features was enough to make any woman fall to her knees for him.

you watch as the man steps closer to you, swearing you heard zoro let out a grunt of annoyance as the tall blond takes a hold of your hand while brushing his lips at the back of them.

he whispers your name for a brief moment before continuing, "my heart has been stolen by you at first sight, madam, and you may call me sanji, for there is nothing more that could possibly fill me with joy than hearing the sound of my name coming from your parted lips."

before sanji could place his lips against the back of your hand, you ripped it away from his grasp while swinging your bag towards him, landing a hit against the back of his head as he let out a grunt of pain.

"you're the crew's casanova, i see." you were laughing genuinely now, feeling amused at sanji's antics as he gave you a sheepish smile. "ah, you wound me, milady. but if i can get you to laugh like that more often, mademoiselle, it would all be worth it."

you roll your eyes to bite back the heat that was threatening to form on your cheeks, turning away from him to hide the grin that painted your features.

even during that first day, you knew that you belonged here, with luffy and the others.

throughout the journeys you shared with them, you remained by their side.

from stitching up zoro's deep wounds, to healing nami's fever, somehow, you formed a tight bond with each and every one of them, never once taking them for granted.

you even managed to put up with sanji's quirky and flirtatious nature. during your travels, you realized that sanji had a particular fondness and weakness to beautiful women, watching in amusement as he attempted to woo them into his arms, only to fail miserably.

and during the times where the blond cook would flirt with you, you would simply brush it off or tease him back, never once taking him seriously since you knew he would simply flirt with or hit on any woman he came across.

but, that had to be such an isolated existence, right? despite how sanji acted like he was an open book and was able to share his heart with the world, you had a feeling that truly wasn't the case for him.

you could see that now, watching him all alone on the deck while his friends were asleep-

and the loneliness that he exuded resonated deeply within you. forgetting all about your prior exhaustion, you step closer to him while clearing your throat, alerting sanji to your presence. he sees you and snuffs out his cigarette, and your heart warmed at his thoughtfulness.

"a penny for your thoughts?" you lean against the ship's bannister, looking down at the ocean waves while admiring how it perfectly reflected the night sky above. you kept your gaze on the crescent moon, silently beckoning for sanji to speak.

you could hear the smile in his voice, "a penny for my thoughts, you say?" he chuckles a bit. "what? you think something's bothering me?"

you shrug, still keeping your gaze on the dark waters of the ocean. "yes. for starters it's well past the midnight hour, and you're still awake."

"so are you."

"this isn't about me, sanji." you laugh, letting out a sigh before meeting sanji's gaze. his eyes appeared darker from beneath the moonlight, and you found it hard to decipher his emotions and what he was thinking.

"to me, you're an anomaly." sanji's eyebrows furrow in response to your words, yet you continue to explain, "you put on such a carefree and happy façade, you flirt constantly with women, yet sometimes, i feel like you're achingly lonely."

you shut your eyes briefly before standing back to your full height, no longer leaning against the bannister as you look back at the ocean. "i sometimes wonder, just where is your heart at, sanji?"

"it's with you." sanji answers without hesitation, causing you to break out in a knowing smile. you already had a retort on the tip of your tongue, ready to rebuttal his flirtatious words like you always do-

that is, until you finally got a good look at him.

the faint scent of cigarette smoke still lingers in the air, and as your eyes met with his sea-green gaze once more, you saw a strange, unfamiliar glint within them. his soft strands of hair blew in tune with the wind, and he was looking at you like you were the only girl that existed in the entire world-

he was looking at you with an expression akin to that of love and adoration.

your heart was suddenly pounding now, lips parted as the air seemed to escape from your lungs in shallow breaths. yet still, sanji keeps his gaze on you, reaching out a hand to brush back your hair when he tells you,

"my heart is with you. it's been with you since the moment i first laid my eyes on you."

you could feel your head shake, "n-no, that's not true. there's no way..."

sanji's smile was wistful, seeming to recall your first meeting as he gently curls a strand of your hair with his fingertips. "i knew you didn't believe me then, but i meant what i said... you had captured my heart. and that feeling...that feeling never went away- even now."

he takes you in his arms then, allowing your hands to rest against his chest, where you could feel the steady racing of his heart from beneath the palm of your hand. your smile was wide now, and you allow yourself to lean up against him, pressing your lips against his in a sweet kiss.

sanji tasted of hot cocoa and faintly of smoke, the taste strangely addicting to you as you delved your fingers into his soft hair. the more his lips molded against yours, the more you felt yourself melting into him.

you cling to him, relishing in his warmth while looking up at him with adoration in your own gaze.

"i never thought, nor even dared to dream that you could even feel the same way for me." sanji was grinning now, allowing the tip of his nose to gently inhale the scent of your hair as you rested your head against his chest before admitting to him.

"my heart is with you, too."

a.n. - lowkey have the biggest crush on opla!sanji. he's actually so cute and swoonworthy 🥹. this is so self indulgent, and unedited, so i apologize for any mistakes / errors!

all stories are written by rei; reposts, translations, and plagiarism are not allowed.

[lyloneliness]

I forgot smth while analyzing chap 108

(Manga spoil, it's about the dynamic of sigma's actions in chap 96 to 108)

While watching bsf S5's first episode 1 remembered nikolai's request to sigma to read Fyodor in order to know the true nature of his ability and be able to kill him.

I had forgotten since the point when dazai told sigma that Fyodor and nikolai would probably kill him, when out of the prison. That one line turned the 'Fyodor - dazai - nikolai + sigma' dynamic, to a 'Fyodor + nikolai - sigma - dazai' one (even though it quickly changed again as dazai got sigma to become his ally).

I don't know if that was what dazai was hoping by telling this to sigma, but it indeed got us here, even when in reality the situation (prior chuuya's arrival) was more like 'Fyodor vs dazai, nikolai arbitrator and dazai's chosen item sigma'.

[A little reminder, nikolai wants to save Fyodor cause he's his friend. But in order to be 'free', he wants to do the to kill him and prove he isn't controlled by his emotions. Since he can't chose, he leaves the decision to events and organizes the 'escape the prison' game.]

In reality, we don't really know if nikolai plans to kill sigma after the game, since it will happen only if Fyodor wins, and even Nikolai himself doesn't know which one of Dazai and Fyodor will escape.

So by organising the interaction in the control room, Fyodor got sigma to refocus on the 'what is your power' question and put the airport one a little on the side, even though it's not for nikolai anymore that sigma wants this infornation.

Does Fyodor know that nikolai wants this information? Does he know that he asked sigma to get it (even though sigma isn't moving to fulfil this request) and is it why his look gaze darkened when the question was asked?

All this made me notice that we didn't see gogol 'recently' and I think he will play a role very soon, but that, only the next chapters will tell...

[rosieblogstuff]

I posted 1,733 times in 2022

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#with parenting there's always the assumption that someone else is there to babysit or drive or volunteer or whatever parent task needs doing

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

This crossover is canon now right?

Nothing will disappoint me less than if, in mid-April 2024, The Rookie doesn’t produce an episode in which two middleaged women steal a police car from the Mid-Wilshire Station, go on a wild joyride through LA, and disappear in a mysterious flash of light right when they get cornered. I demand this Easter Egg storyline that Star Trek has teased me with! I mean, c’mon:

See the full post

31 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

#4

Jack + Matty’s Plan (whatever it was)

Mac might be our titular hero but Jack is absolutely the glue that binds so many of the relationships in the show together. And Jack and Matty is s really interesting one. Jack was so alarmed when he found out Matty was replacing Thornton, because of… whatever happened between Jack and Matty in the CIA. And aside from the assless chaps cold open (for which I would like to send the scriptwriters my deep and everlasting appreciation), we can only guess what all went on back then. 

Jack was plenty quick to turn Thornton in even though he and Mac spent years working close with her, including in the field. He refused to believe in Nikki’s innocence, and he and Mac were even closer with Nikki. But Matty? Jack’s trust for Matty is on a whole other level, right up there with his trust in Mac. 

I love this little scene in 2x17 where the team debates why Matty tried to lie to Mac about knowing his dad and if they can still trust her:

Mac: I can’t just ignore this. She already lied to me once.

Bozer: She can’t hide this. Jack found actual proof she was investigating your Dad.

Mac: No. We found proof Matty was compiling a dossier. We have no idea what was in the actual report.

(interrupted by Riley’s arrival but then…)

Riley: I swept through every government server and I found nothing. Either that report on your Dad is so top secret no one has access to it, or it simply doesn’t exist anymore.

See the full post

31 notes - Posted March 24, 2022

#3

Headcanon

Given a small amount of information about what James MacGyver has been up to for 15 years in regards to Mac, Murdoc would kill him for free. He would do it because it would fall under his “free human trash removal” policy, and he’d hope it would hurt the Phoenix. And also because, unlike the rest of the characters who ought to be trying harder to separate Mac from James, Murdoc wouldn’t mind if Mac’s upset over his trash father’s death, because you know, sometimes the things that are good for you are not things you enjoy, like going to bed on time or eating more vegetables. 

Just imagine if Matty had quietly slipped Murdoc just the right info around 3x3...

39 notes - Posted February 6, 2022

#2

Ok so we’re almost on to the next rewatch episode and before we get there....  I must confess that I LOVE 2x13 for all the Jack parts. Like everything with Jack in this episode is gold. I mean, the robot apocalypse is fun, there are some really great Mac lines, and I love that Bozer’s out there having his back for once. But I love, love, love Jack’s high school reunion. I love the hilarious, over-the-top awkwardness of the whole thing. I love it because it’s like any high school reunion. Like literally, trust me here, if you’ve never been to a high school reunion? This vibe is SO accurate. 

High school reunions are a weird mind game. You’re suddenly stuffed in a room with people whose opinions deeply mattered to you when you were ~17 years old. And so what if you haven’t given those people one second’s thought in 9.5 years? (or maybe 24.5, if you’re Jack!) It doesn’t matter how long it’s been or if you’re never going to see those people again, you’re probably also going to have that sudden, desperate need to prove you didn’t turn out to be some kind of loser.

But of course Jack’s reunion is like any awkward high school reunion x100, because of course Jack has to stick with the whole “bathroom tile salesman” cover story. Matty made sure to remind us all about it right at the start of the story so we can foresee Jack’s troubles coming from miles away.

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82 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

While I’m still talking about 2x13 I also love the scene at the end where Jack tracks down Korman. Because here’s Jack, taking on some unknown number of potentially dangerous badguys all by himself, like the badass CIA agent he used to be. 

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110 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[razberryyum]

A Gintama episode a day keeps the ending away...Episode 108

Episode Title: Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid

MY 12 FAVORITE MOMENTS IN EPISODE 108 (manga chaps 185 and 186):

I forgot how unbelievably sad this episode was: I was a weepy mess last night after watching it. I got sad reading the chapters for this Guardian Dog arc, but I always go into full blown cry mode for the anime because everything was just so much more emotional with the amazing voice performances and score. 

1) I wish Gin-chan had been around to hear the way both Kagura and Shinpachi defended him to Kyoujirou. He would’ve been so touched.

2) So much love!

3) I’m so glad Kyoujirou was taken in by Kaguzou and got to experience a childhood filled with familial love.

4) My tears started here.

5) Kyoujirou and Utsuzo were both such cute kids.

6) The sad thing is, Kaguzou probably showered Kyoujirou with more affection because he wanted to make sure he felt like he was part of the family, so that he would be more protective of Utsuzou like he would be of a brother. He was probably also assuming Utsuzou would understand because he’s his own flesh and blood. So it was especially heart-breaking that not only did Utsuzou not understand his father’s intentions, but his belief that he didn’t measure up to Kyoujirou and was a disappointment to his dad was probably what drove him to take his own life. So much sadness all around.

7) Gintoki making a really badass entrance: he basically knocked out ALL of the yakuza big wigs as if they were nothing.

8) Of course I will always love back-to-back support moments like this.

9) This can probably count as yet another proof that Gintoki is immortal: he survived the gut shot Kyoujirou gave him like it was nothing, and yet when the same thing happened to Kyoujirou, the dude never recovered from it.

10) I just really loved how considerate and kind Gintoki was towards Kyoujirou. He said everything the man wanted to hear in his last moments.

11) Ugh, this really got me. His resemblance to Hijikata didn’t help. I really, REALLY wish the ending had been different. Even though he tried to poison Gintoki and shot him in the stomach, I still found myself attached to Kyoujirou by the end of the arc so that I kept on hoping he would live through that gunshot somehow. So sad. 

12) They changed the end credits by including this image and it just made my heart ache all over again.

SHIPS TALLY:

Gintoki x Kyoujirou: I would’ve loved to see this ship try to challenge the high place in my heart that GinHiji occupies, especially since Gintoki definitely had some chemistry with Kyoujirou, but sadly it was never meant to be. 

Disclaimer: Gintama is not only about shipping. Gintama is hilarious, clever, exciting, poignant, heart-breaking, loving, brilliant, and just completely unbelievably amazing.  It is only due to Sorachi-sama’s immense generosity that I am able enjoy Gintama on an extra another level, the shippy level, and I am forever grateful for that. GINTAMA IS LIFE AND LOVE.

4/18/2019

[aspoonofsugar]

Hey! Hope you're having a great day. I've seen a lot of talk recently about Eren's friends and whether they'll keep following him after all this revalations. In chap 108 Eren asks Hanji and Levi if they'll have no other choice but to use the earth shaking and to sacrifice Historia (still not sure whether he could foresee the future in that moment though). Then Levi tells him it's their treaty with Hiszuro so yeah, they have no choice. Could this mean if Levi was in Shinganshina now-

(Same anon) - he would've supported Eren's plans (even if Eren wanted to use the full-rumbling as predicted by many fans)? Sorry for my weird q btw. I guess I'm just too desperate to see Levi back haha

Hello anon!

I have answered a similar question here and here.

In short, I think Levi would pretty much be in the same situation the 104th are.

All in all, Levi did not show sympathy for Eren’s attack on Liberio and immediately hit him when they were reunited in the balloon. Later on, we are shown him using Zeke as a scapegoat to justify Eren. He, like the 104th (Mikasa for example), prefers to believe that Eren is being manipulated by Zeke rather than the fact he has actually chosen to act on his own. Because of this, he irrationally hopes that by simply killing Zeke everything will somehow go back to normal.

In short, Levi’s behaviour has been very similar to the one the 104th and Hange have shown, so I doubt he is meant to be read as a possible ally to Eren by this point.

As far as your example is concerned, there Levi was merely stating the facts and not conveying a personal wish nor a personal decision. The fact that it might have been necessary to sacrifice Historia is something Paradis has already accepted by that point. People close to Historia like the 104th, Levi and Hange might not like it, but they have all come to at least consider the possibility (Eren being probably the exception).

What is more, the point of Eren is that he doesn’t want to go along with Hizuro’s plan, but he wants to do something else nobody knows of. The plan Paradis has had was to use the Rumbling as a deterrent or in a defensive way, but we are not sure Eren wants to do the same.

Thank you for the ask!

[goldenkamuyhunting]

In regard to characters interactions and weird behaviours...

...there’s a scene in chap 110 which has always caused me to ponder. To be honest things starts in chap 108.

In it, Ogata, along with Shiraishi, Sugimoto and Asirpa, are informed by Inkarmat and Cikapasi of how Tanigaki is also there.

At first Ogata is clearly displeased.

For who doesn’t remember it, Ogata believed Tanigaki killed Tamai, Noma and Okada, three other soldiers who wanted to rebel to Tsurumi. We don’t know if Ogata was friend with them or his relationship with them was the same he had with Nikaido (Nikaido will claim he doesn’t like Ogata)...

...and, in short, merely an alliance due to circumstances, but the key point is that Ogata thinks Tanigaki is still working for Tsurumi and he’s searching them due to him.

Somehow Ogata is worried about Tsurumi still hunting him.

Ogata through had remained to hear the whole story about Anehata Shinton (and wonder out loud how many times he has to tell people (or, more specifically to Tanigaki) not to leave their rifles unattended) and then… puff, unknown to the others he’s gone.

Where to?

Ogata has fundamentally gone to find Tanigaki. He sees Tanigaki arguing with the Ainu, trying to make clear he doesn’t want to harm them but he was framed and is being threatened to be killed.

At this point, instead than letting the Ainu either kill Tanigaki or deal with him the way they prefer he acts… by shooting a bullet in the air.

In short he doesn’t harm anyone, he just forcefully demands attention.

And here we get to chap 110.

As said before Ogata’s first worry is to know why Tanigaki is there as he’s worried he’s there on Tsurumi’s orders to… chase after him.

Not Asirpa and Sugimoto or Shiraishi who just escaped from the 7th’s grasp.

Him.

Although we never hear about Tsurumi sending someone after Ogata after attempting to kill him in chap 46, Ogata genuinely worries Tsurumi might still be after him.

I don’t know if he’s actually hoping for it (going after Ogata would mean acknowledging he could be dangerous on some level and Ogata craves acknowledgement and recognition but we’ll discuss about it later) or fearing it (Ogata had worked as hit man for Tsurumi so expecting Tsurumi to send hit men to kill him makes sense) but making sure about this is his first worry.

Tanigaki claims he had cut ties with the 7th…. Which fundamentally means deserting and betraying it, a thing Sugimoto will never hold against Tanigaki (differently from how he holds it against Ogata) and that he’s here only due to Huci.

Let’s remember that Ogata is weak toward Huci as well, as she reminds him of the grandmother he loves and he refused to kill Tanigaki in her house because otherwise he would have to kill her as well, as she would have been a witness.

It’s at this point Ogata decides to help Tanigaki… but the way in which he volunteers to help him is ugly.

He demands for Tanigaki to beg for his help, as if longing to humiliate Tanigaki.

Tanigaki, who had been willing to beg him previously when Ogata and Nikaido were threatening Huci...

...now refuses. Even if the Ainu seemed willing to kill him, he refuses Ogata’s help on the basis his help would come by killing the Ainu…

...and the whole thing ends up affecting Ogata enough he seems to lose his cool possibly for the first and only time in the manga, as not only he insists Tanigaki wants his help but, when an Ainu gets worried by their exchange and tries to have Ogata to lower his rifle, Ogata reacts by claiming he’ll kill him…

...when previously it was only Tanigaki who talked about Ogata killing them. Ogata never did… and he might not have planned it. He might have planned, for all we know, to tell the Ainu he would bring them the real culprit as he knew someone else did it.

We don’t really know… but I think not even Ogata, as fast and good as he is with weapons, would have managed to kill four Ainu with rifles before they were to shoot at him. He’s just too close to them and they’re scared by his threatening behaviour so they are likely ready to fire.

So I tend to think Ogata’s plan was different, as he also laughed at Tanigaki’s suggestion he would murder them and still seemed not planning to do it (his rifle is lowered) until an Ainu gets in between.

So what was the whole thing about?

What truly was going on?

We see the scene influenced by Tanigaki’s (and the Ainu’s) interpretation of it but we don’t know Ogata’s version and, what’s more, when the old Ainu man tells the Ainu to lower their rifles, the whole thing defuses abruptly.

Well, we don’t exactly see what happened afterward, but from how the situation will develop we can easily guess Ogata stopped threatening the Ainu and he was allowed to follow them at their village. He followed them at their village even if he would be clearly outnumbered and is allowed to sit on a spot that allows him to observe the whole scene or better snipe at them without anyone stopping him.

The old man, or better the Ainu chief, let him be, let him free to do as he pleases. He’s not afraid or hostile. We don’t know what he told Ogata but, evidently, he handled him perfectly. We’ve no idea if Ogata had fondness for his grandfather as well as Ogata never spoke about his relationship with him, so we don’t know if this is what pushed him to be agreeable, but I think the general idea here it’s more that the old man just knew how to handle him.

So… what was that fuss all about?

We don’t really get an answer… but it’s possible it’s tied to something we’ll learn in chap 169.

Ogata’s nickname ‘wildcat’ isn’t meant to be a cool nickname assigned to him by his companions in the Army, but an insult that’s more or less the equivalent of ‘son of a bitch’ as a wildcat is how a geisha who easily sleeps with her customers is called (therefore calling her as such is calling her a whore as geisha weren’t supposed to sleep with customers) and Koito points out that since Ogata is the son of such person he’s a ‘wildcat’ as well, hence the nick.

Tanigaki is there when the whole thing is explained to Sugimoto and he looks uncomfortable so he knew about it. Actually Tanigaki (and in the volume version Kiroranke as well) will be the ones who’ll tell to Hijitaka about how the whole 7th knew Ogata was an illegitimate son and it’s entirely possible the whole 7th knew about the nick and most of it used it either in front of Ogata or behind his back.

All this is meant to hint that the most of the 7th, if not all of it, despised Ogata for his birth and mocked and insulted him with that nickname. Now… knowing Tanigaki I don’t think he actually did that, partly because Ogata was his superior officer, partly because Tanigaki is a good person. However Tanigaki probably never spoke against it either.

When you’re bullied by a huge number of people, you often end up perceiving as everyone is against you, everyone is gossiping about you or making fun of you or despising you. So probably Ogata perceived Tanigaki as no better than the others, even if Tanigaki maybe didn’t feel doing like the others.

Hence Ogata’s wish to turn tables. Because everyone looked down at him, he wanted to force Tanigaki to acknowledge him, to beg for his help. However, even if in a dire situation, Tanigaki will refuse to do so. He doesn’t want Ogata’s help because, to him, Ogata will be only able to kill the Ainu. He doesn’t bargain with Ogata, he flatly refuses his help. He doesn’t need him, even if the Ainu were considering killing him.

And this is probably what upsets Ogata, that again he gets looked down by a man who claims to know what he’ll do. No one really knows what’s going on in Ogata’s mind but Tanigaki decides for himself he knows, even if he doesn’t truly know Ogata that well and rejects him. And while I don’t think Tanigaki even realized it, this should have caused Ogata to feel like he was being mocked and rejected as well, and to make matters worse the Ainu gets in between and Ogata almost looses it.

So why the situation defuses so easily?

The Ainu chief orders the Ainu to lower the guns. In Golden Kamuy Ainu are generally represented as wise. The Ainu chief likely figured out that by being threatening they would have pressured Ogata to attack them… but that if they were to let him be he would have showed no harmful intention toward them. It’s as if he’s scolding the Ainu for threatening Ogata, for overreacting when Ogata, despite his words, never raised his rifle toward them.

And it’s extremely interesting how, not much later, we’ll have Asirpa do what Tanigaki refused doing.

SHE asks Ogata to protect Tanigaki.

Sugimoto doesn’t trust Ogata to do the task...

...even if, as far as we know, he won’t say it to Ogata’s face, but it’s easy to figure out Ogata knows Sugimoto won’t trust him, not even if Ogata just helped to rescue him and Shiraishi.

After all, when Sugimoto faced Koito, he demanded Ogata’s sabre which Ogata gave him, remaining virtually without weapons if he couldn’t use his rifle (we’re told they weren’t supposed to use rifles or it would be dangerous) but when he tells Sugimoto not to try to stop Koito’s blow his warning goes completely ignored (though maybe Ogata should have spoken up sooner… but well, this is just one of the many instances in which Sugimoto chooses to ignore Ogata’s warnings).

Interesting enough Ogata, though a lot less rude with Asirpa, is still interested in being begged... sort of. He’s not going to say ‘yes’ and just do it, I guess his pride is still wound up by Tanigaki’s recent rejection.

Although he’s there, waiting to see what will be of Tanigaki and doesn’t leave his observing spot, he plays it as he’s not interested in Tanigaki’s fate at all. He demands to know what he would get for helping Tanigaki and points out Tanigaki is ‘a bad guy’ so he’s not obliged to help him as Tanigaki killed three of his ‘war buddies’ (again, it’s up to speculation if those three were actually Ogata’s friends, as they could have also been others who bullied Ogata. We know that in chap 8 at least one of them, Noma, thought little of Ogata as he first speculated that Ogata might have injured himself on his own, basically discussing his competence, then that he just wrote immortal to brag about himself, basically ridiculing his effort to communicate… Tamai though seemed to appreciate him, at least for his ability and Okada asked about his status… meaning he hadn’t checked on him but that’s it’s possible he cared or that he was just curious so… it’s hard to say which were their relations).

Sugimoto tells him his ‘war buddies’ were actually killed by a bear, giving as a proof that ‘he witnessed it’ assuming that Ogata should believe his word. Mind you, what Sugimoto is saying is true, even if he’s omitting the little details those three were chasing him and that he caused them to anger the bear… but since Sugimoto doesn’t trust Ogata it comes out as funny he expects Ogata to trust him.

Asirpa goes on defending Tanigaki. Tanigaki wanted to return by the Matagi but remained with Huci and if something were to happen to Tanigaki Huci will be sad.

Now, she doesn’t say ‘I will be sad’ but ‘huci will be sad’. It’s as if she knows Ogata is weak against her grandmother. But what’s more is that she tried to appeal to Ogata’s empathy. Tanigaki has to be helped because otherwise huci will be sad, and won’t it be sad for huci to be sad?

I can’t remember Ogata referencing to his own grandmother or to Asirpa’s grandmother with Asirpa’s around but somehow, more than appealing to how good of a person Tanigaki is or how he too was also Ogata’s war buddy or whatever, Asirpa referenced the effect Tanigaki’s death or mistreatment would happen on her grandmother, as if she expected Ogata to care. Maybe they talked about grandmothers off screen, maybe it’s in a revised scene of the manga I don’t know about but, for once, this is not what seal the deal.

Sugimoto, likely making fun of Ogata, claims that if Ogata doesn’t do as Asirpa says, Asirpa won’t like him anymore and won’t give him animal brains any longer. Sugimoto is smiling as he says so but it’s unlikely he would think this would be such a big deal to Ogata.

Although Asirpa seems to like Ogata, the first time she offered him a brain he refused...

...and we’ll see only later he had started to accept them from her… though he still refuses to say hinna.

Sugimoto isn’t really trusting Ogata to protect Tanigaki, he’ll tell Asirpa over and over Ogata is the last person she should trust… so it’s extremely unlikely he believed Asirpa’s ‘friendship’ meant something to Ogata.

Only it did.

Ogata turns his eyes on Asirpa and she doesn’t deny Sugimoto’s words. His face darkens which is something that happens when he’s stuck in a situation he doesn’t like… then he gives in. He’ll do it for no other gain that Asirpa won’t change her opinion on him.

She didn’t have to beg him, she didn’t have to bribe him. It’s not even her idea to use their relationship to motivate him, a relationship in regard to which Ogata had never openly expressed appreciation.

Yet, she doesn’t lie to him by denying this wouldn’t affect their relation, it’s important to her to have Ogata help her in this, to have Ogata protect Tanigaki, she probably feels she couldn’t feel the same with him if he were to let Tanigaki die. Even if she hadn’t meant it, in the end Asirpa’s trust in Ogata is a bet on their ‘friendship’. Because he cares about her, he’ll protect someone she cares about.

And here she does something that’s very different from Tanigaki.

Although Ogata gives in, he refuses to do so gracefully. He gives in but, in doing so, he hints he might be forced to hurt the other Ainu, Ainu Asirpa should care about much more than Tanigaki, as they are her own people.

Tanigaki had refused Ogata’s help because he feared Ogata would hurt the Ainu. Asirpa will instead accept Ogata’s help and she will insist on saying he’ll protect Tanigaki even if she too is worried. It’s not that Asirpa doesn’t care about the Ainu. I think that the idea is that Asirpa decided she wanted to believe Ogata would have helped Tanigaki without hurting the Ainu. She knows Ogata even less than Tanigaki but put much more faith in him.

It’ll pay off as Ogata knows perfectly well she doesn’t want him to hurt the Ainu (or people in general as Asirpa made it clear in chap 91)...

...and so he’ll devise a way to save Tanigaki that won’t hurt them, a way that requires from him labour and that puts him at risk as well.

A way that even if he’ll play along, Tanigaki won’t appreciate… because he believes it makes him look guilty. I doubt Ogata appreciated Tanigaki’s doubts as he sort of called them out as hypocrisy, telling him if he wants to go back he’ll be happy to help cut his nose.

Asirpa instead is completely the opposite.

The scene starts with her admitting to Sugimoto she has touched a snake (to save him, though he doesn’t seem to get that part and she doesn’t say it) he asks her if it was scary, but he’s not praising her for her effort to save him. As Sugimoto cares for Asirpa A LOT and never means to be rude with her, I guess he just hadn’t realized what Asirpa has done.

Asirpa asks him if her hands smells bad, admitting she had washed it a lot.

Sugimoto sniffs it but, if he replies yes or no is left unsaid.

Asirpa then moves to Ogata, asking him as well if her hand smells bad. Ogata moves even closer to smell it in a catlike way… which is really funny and cute at the same time but also denotes he’s doing what Asirpa asked him the best he can. He’s sniffing carefully. And in itself Asirpa’s move is meaningful because it hints she wants HIS opinion as well in that matter, that he’s part of the group as far as Asirpa is concerned.

Then Asirpa will proceed with praising him for his actions.

She’s very honest and detailed in this, acknowledging not only he managed to get Tanigaki away from the village but also that he didn’t harm anyone. She doesn’t try to deny that Sugimoto didn’t trust him at all, and even admits to him she too had some doubts (a thing she hadn’t admitted to Sugimoto) and that since he’s been so good now she sees him in a new light.

In short Ogata aimed for their relationship not to change and Asirpa instead tells him it has even improved. All the while Sugimoto is glaring at Ogata. Although he didn’t trust Ogata in the slightest and continued to claim Ogata wasn’t to be trusted, now that Ogata had basically done what Asirpa had asked him, Sugimoto continues to be distrusting and hostile. Unless something was revised in the volume he neither offers praises nor, at least, an admission he had misjudged him. Whatever Ogata had done doesn’t change in the slightest Sugimoto’s opinion of him.

Anyway we’ve discussed previously of how what pushed Ogata to act was to protect his relationship with Asirpa. Now that it has even improved and she had even praised him (and we know Ogata craves for approbation and praises) he should be happy, right?

Wrong.

First panel we see his face it is in the shadows and he doesn’t look that happy.

We can speculate various things in this regard, maybe he’s just not comfortable with being praised, maybe he’s displeased Asirpa had admitted she had doubts with him (especially considering this was the first time Asirpa had asked him to do something important as usually Asirpa asked Sugimoto), maybe he actually didn’t want their relationship to improve as he’s one who keeps other at distance so he’s not sure he’s comfortable with getting closer to Asirpa, especially considering he’s actually working with Kiro, maybe only now he’s realizing he has done all this for her and can’t quite admit it.

In fact his face darkens further in the next panel and even if he’s smiling that smile seems more like a forced grimace as he says… he’d done it because Tanigaki was one of his war buddies.

Now… while Ogata considered saving Tanigaki… he was willing to do it only if Tanigaki were to beg him or so he said. What really forced him to act was Asirpa, not Tanigaki. Yet Ogata doesn’t mention her involvement at all. He doesn’t blame her for having been pushy or insistent or something, nor comments on being glad she’s satisfied or anything. He involves Tanigaki then rushes to smell his hand again, as a way to switch topic.

While in the future Kiro will fundamentally demand him to keep a good relationship with Asirpa, it’s unlikely he was asked to do so now, or that he thought it would be of some use. He had no idea Kiro would play that sort of game… and Kiro couldn’t know that Ogata and Asirpa would end up spending time there, without him supervising (escaping with the airship wasn’t planned, nor was planned how Asirpa joined them).

So Ogata has ended up on keeping and improving his relationship with Asirpa of his own choice… though evidently he didn’t truly expect things to go like that nor knows what to do with it.

In a way we see that even when Asirpa offered him a bit of the mouse she caught (chap 103) what she did seems to come as unexpected to him.

Ogata had a catlike way to look at the mice Asirpa catches, one that hints interest. Yes, it’s also played on the laugh because he’s a cat… but he’s probably also hungry.

He sees the mouse she caught and eyes it with interest but when she roasts it, he gets farther, as if he didn’t plan to eat him… ...or he didn’t expect someone would feel like sharing it with him.

Asirpa reaches him and claims that, even if there isn’t much he should have some too.

We see he accepts the offering and, though he doesn’t thanks her, he seems thoughtful and… well, sad is a big word but he’s not happy and he’s not even neutral or uncaring. Asirpa pressures him for a hinna, he keeps on not looking at her, his face darkening, and this hints he doesn’t like the situation he’s in.

Sugimoto suggests to forget about him but Asirpa doesn’t let it go.

If Ogata can’t say ‘hinna’ now, maybe he’ll do it in the future. Maybe he’ll do it if he were to eat something he likes instead than a bit of mouse. ‘Hinna’ after all, doesn’t just mean ‘delicious’ but it’s sort of like thanking the Gods for the food. Ogata should thank the Gods they’ve something to eat but Asirpa understand he might not feel so prone considering how meagre this is, so, instead than forgetting about him, she tries to understand him, to get close to him through food. She asks what’s his favourite food.

So far no one had asked Ogata what he likes and what he doesn’t, except Asirpa. This was the extent at which their relationship had arrived when the whole Shinton thing had started.

Asirpa was just the person who remembered to feed him even if they had barely any food and that tried to get along with him, not forcing him but by trying to understand him, trying to get to know him.

It’s not much, really, but it was something Ogata decided he wanted to keep.

 On a sidenote there’s also something else that’s interesting about Ogata and Asirpa in the whole Anehata Shiton chapter. Of course it might be just me.

In chapter 113 Sugimoto is impressed by Anehata’s determination in having sex with a bear.

Asirpa doesn’t appreciate how Sugimoto seems to feel sorry for the man (not because he’s dead but because he died while in the middle of having sex with the bear, with the result his desire remained partially unfulfilled as he couldn’t finish)

...as, as Asirpa pointed out, the man was absolutely selfish in his love for animals, because he knew his act was wrong but, in order to erase it, he took it out on the animals, erasing them… and then asks Sugimoto why Anehata didn’t think of the consequences of his act as if he had, all those animals wouldn’t have to die.

Sugimoto doesn’t reply, and looks clearly embarrassed.

Ogata, who wasn’t close, joins them and replies, pushing his hair back and claiming all the guys feel like that, with Sugimoto telling him to stop.

The scene seems hilarious but actually it would be entirely possible to draw a parallel between what Anehata did and what Ogata’s father did, he had sex with Ogata’s mother when he shouldn’t have, caused a baby to be born and then erased everything by abandoning them.

There’s also to wonder why Ogata felt like answering to Asirpa’s question as he’s usually not the chatty type. Of course he might have wanted to embarrass Sugimoto, as without context Sugimoto can’t know how the situation with Anehata paralleled Ogata’s past and he would only see it as Ogata giving to young Asirpa information she shouldn’t know yet.

However there’s something else that could be at play here.

Back in chap 108 Asirpa finally asked Sugimoto why he wants the gold. Sugimoto replies since his best friend died in the war he wants to take his wife to America and get her treatment for her eyes. As he does so he thinks back at Umeko... her eyes kept hidden to our view and she seems to wear her bride kimono which matches the info Sugimoto gave us, Umeko has eyes problems (the eyes aren’t shown) and Umeko is someone else’s wife (she’s wearing a bride kimono).

An absolutely innocent picture, only he says so while Ogata is also present and Ogata is aware of a detail and takes care to refresh our mind about it.

In fact Ogata asks Sugimoto if, when Sugimoto told him he was searching the gold for the woman he loved, he was doing it for this widow.

Shiraishi is surprised but doesn’t seem to think anything bad about it. Asirpa’s eyes are covered. Sugimoto doesn’t reply, not denying and not confirming.

Either he thinks those aren’t Ogata’s business (or anyone else’s for the matter as Shiraishi too asked for confirmation and since Asirpa had just asked him why he wanted the gold, if this is true it can be viewed as a deliberate omission) or he’s ashamed of his own feelings (Umeko hadn’t recognized him and it’s possible that Sugimoto thinks she will never want him again) or they’re growing dim (he’s thinking at Umeko less and less and her memory only causes him pain so it’s possible he subconsciously ended up distancing himself from her in the face of all that had happened). We don’t really know, what we know is that Asirpa tries to abruptly switch the topic by showing them the totally unrelated crane dance.

Asirpa doesn’t want Sugimoto to answer to that question, probably because she has a crush on Sugimoto and it pains her that, not only he only sees her as a child (well, compared to him she is, even though she can be much more mature than him) but that he might have another person he loves and to whom he’ll return. After all in chap 100 Asirpa had asked him to bring her to his home town to eat dried persimmons once everything is finished.

Maybe Asirpa hoped that, by then, she would be old enough to be considered… but if Sugimoto already has a significant other for whom he’s doing all this… well, her chances would lower considerably.

Sugimoto doesn’t connect the dots and doesn’t get why Asirpa made the crane dance… but I think it’s possible Ogata did as he watched the scene, saw how Asirpa flushed and sweaty and not meeting Sugimoto’s gaze as she replied (Asirpa is not one to get embarrassed) and might have connected the dots.

And this is sort of SUPER TERRIBLE for Sugimoto because Sugimoto is unaware of the whole thing… but Ogata might view the whole thing as Asirpa risking to end up like his mother, longing for a man who actually have another person in his life… (or that this fate might befall on the widow, for which Ogata cares less as he doesn’t even know her but still… I doubt he would be impressed favourably by the situation).

Hence the subtle warning to Asirpa about how men don’t really think to consequences…

...while Sugimoto, without absolutely meaning it, is being super suspicious because he’s defending Anehata and not explaining things to Asirpa.

It would be hilarious if it wasn’t actually tragic… but in a way it’s very likely it’s not just Sugimoto who’s forcing his own reading on Ogata, mistrusting him even when Ogata says the obvious, but Ogata too likely interprets Sugimoto through the lenses of his own past. Sugimoto’s hostile behaviour which starts almost immediately ruins any possible connection between them. Even if Sugimoto saved him when they were in Yubari, he rejected him with his next words, accusing to be a two timing bastard.

Ogata remembers he’d been saved (and he will save Sugimoto back) but, at the same time, he remembers also the rejection, a rejection he had through all his life.

If he had a different background maybe he could have taken Sugimoto’s occasionally childish gibes in his direction as mere bitching, a bitching that could even turn into amicable… but since he likely had to deal with snide remarks through all his life, Sugimoto’s should have felt like a repeating of the same bullying he had to deal in the army. Sugimoto doesn’t know his life but he decided to judge him negatively merely because he left the 7th

which Sugimoto knows planned to rebel against Japan…

...and therefore is nothing else but a rebel unit which might start a civil war and who had murdered its captain (see chap 13) which was probably led there in the open for this exact purpose.

Sugimoto, differently from Asirpa, never asks him for explanation or tries to get to know Ogata, he just decided he can’t be trusted and that’s it…and this clearly ended up not impressing Ogata positively.

I’m of the impression Ogata didn’t just shoot Sugimoto ONLY because Wilk talked with Sugimoto.

This is part of the reason, of course, but I also think there was something more personal. Ogata isn’t one who kills people when it isn’t necessary, after all, and Kiro didn’t instruct him to kill Sugimoto nor wanted for this to happen.

However Sugimoto being viewed as nothing better than another of the people who mistreated him as well as someone who might do to someone else what was done to his mother is definitely something that might have subconsciously made easier to push the trigger.

Which in a way is terribly ironic because, if my theory is true, it means that Ogata and Sugimoto look at each other thinking the other is ‘the bad guy’.

Of course this is just my speculation but I found rather interesting how the whole Anehata thing ended up apparently mirroring Ogata’s story as well as exposing in front of his eyes how Sugimoto is ‘tied’ to two women (poor Sugimoto though… he absolutely has no ill intentions toward Asirpa and he’ll likely do everything he could in order not to hurt her…).

Truth to be told I think Ogata too know Sugimoto cares for Asirpa a lot… but this probably doesn’t help much. Sugimoto still would have had to choose and, as far as Ogata knows, it’s the other woman the one he loves. I wonder if Ogata ever wondered if, had his father died prior to his mother, she would have been capable to give up on him. Well, we’ll probably find out more about the whole thing in the future, so far all these are just my speculations…

[marineclarity]

River Isle – IBC Winter League 7 – 14th January 2018

It got cold in the week and with hardly any rain, the river was back to being low and clear and with eleven booked in we’d have to use Hambridge again but how would it fish this week? We hadn’t had a frost and it actually felt fairly mild which hopefully was a good sign. I got to the bowling club for the draw and along with the regulars, it was great to see Ben Simmonds again and it’s always lovely to see Terry ‘The Toast’.

Between me, Steve P and Baz we sorted out the pegs, pools and boards etc and when everybody had finished eating, it was time to draw. I was holding the bucket of hope and as people started pulling out pegs there was the usual array of face pulling as the anglers expressed their delight or disgust. Baz finally got his wish (after 104 years of fishing the Isle) as he’d drawn 128 for the first time, Big Frank was on 126, Steve P pulled out 125 and young Stu had the choice of 124 or 124a. Adie drew 120 and despite saying he didn’t want it, I fancied it to do well, Terry and Fieldy were on 108 and 110 at Redbridge and as they hadn’t been in for a while it would be interesting to see how they fished.

Ben, Jake and Karl were at Hambridge which just left one ball in the bucket and I pulled out 123 which wouldn’t have been my first choice. Frank won off it with over 18lb in one of the early matches but it hasn’t done much since, it’s just one of those pegs I can never seem to get on with although it did nearly 5lb last week so at least I should get a few bites.

We got to the river and Stu had a look at 124a and 124 but decided on the latter which I thought might have been a mistake as it hasn’t produced the last couple of times it was fished. My peg looked really nice and I could get my box in quite low to the water. I set up a 1 gram bodied float to fish down the middle and a 0.6 gram DH16 for fishing across where there were two bits of cover which would hopefully hold a chub or two. On the menu for the day were the usual bronze and red maggots, casters and Bait-Tech Super Seed hemp.

Peg 123

On the whistle I started with the heavier rig and two red maggots at 8.5 metres down the middle, feeding casters and hemp just upstream and also across but I wanted to leave that as long as possible before trying it. Second run through, the float buried and a fair bit of elastic came out before I netted a nice chublet of 8oz or so, next chuck I had a small dace come off as I shipped back and it felt like there were a few fish there so I thought I’d try two sections to hand. I had a small roach quite quickly but the next few bites resulted in minnows so I stuck another section on to inch the float through just this side of the main flow and tried a caster for the first time. The float buried and the strike met with a pleasing amount of resistance and I netted a decent roach.

I started getting some nice roach

It was a bite a chuck and I was catching small roach, dace and gudgeon with the odd better roach and quite a few minnows (which I didn’t count) and after an hour I had 20 fish for around 3lb. The second sixty minutes was similar and I added another 15 fish for 2lb or so and was really enjoying myself and I was sure a chub would put in an appearance sooner or later. Going into the third hour, bites started to slow and I was catching quite a few gudgeon so I went a section further over and had a brief flurry of fish including a couple of nice roach although I bumped one and had one come off shipping back.

With three and a half hours gone, bites had slowed right up so it was time to pick up the other rig and go across to the far bank for the first time, the flow was going back on itself and I tried holding back and inching it through but it just wasn’t quite right and after ten minutes I hadn’t had a proper indication and felt like I was wasting my time. I swung the rig towards the far bank on my left just off some dead reeds, I knew I was well overdepth but I started getting bites again and had several roach including a couple of net fish.

A chap called Chris who’s a regular reader of the blog turned up and said he’d just come from Redbridge and he hadn’t seen them catch a lot, he stayed for a bit and I had several roach while he was there but because I was so far overdepth, a couple of times I didn’t see the bites and as I lifted the pole up, there was a fish on! He left me to it and went to see how the others were doing, I plumbed up again and shallowed the rig up but bizarrely, then I couldn’t get a bite! I added a few inches and started catching again, including some lovely roach.

Chris got back and said the two below the bridge (Frank and Baz) were winkling out some small fish before wishing me luck for the last half an hour, it was nice to meet him again and as always it’s lovely when people say they enjoy reading the blog, cheers mate! I had a few more roach including a couple of proper clonkers around 10-12oz and ended up with 77 fish (plus loads of minnows) and I was hoping if they averaged 2oz apiece I wouldn’t be far off double figures.

I packed up and walked down to give Stu a hand with the scales, he said he’d had a cracking day catching two big perch, two chub plus quite a few roach. We started the weigh in with Steve who had 2lb 14oz which included some nice roach, then we got to Stu and he had a lovely bag of fish, out of interest we weighed the perch on it’s own and at 2lb 2oz it was a new pb for him, altogether he weighed 9lb 11oz and it was going to be close between me and him. He also had some pike trouble which has cost him some fish today but he had really enjoyed himself and made the right choice of peg this morning.

Steve had 2lb 14oz which included some nice roach

Stuart had a lovely net of fish weighing 9lb 11oz from peg 124

We walked up to me and when I pulled my net out, I knew it was going to be really tight and was relieved when the needle swung past 10lb and Stuart called it a 10lb 5oz. We got back to the cars as Frank and Baz arrived, they’d weighed 4lb 15oz and 6lb 10oz respectively although Frank said he’d spoken to Jake at Hambridge who’d had 15lb odd and Ben had 10lb something from H4 so I was down to third and we hadn’t heard how they’d done at Redbridge yet!

I had bites all day to weigh 10lb 5oz

Back at the results and as people started handing me the weigh boards, I saw that Ben had actually weighed a level 10lb so had I sneaked second place?, no was the answer because Adie had weighed 11lb 15oz from the ever consistent 120, Fieldy had 3lb 2oz from peg 110, apparently he had a chub early and then had nothing for the rest of the match and Terry ‘The Toast’ had a chub late from 108 to weigh 4lb 5oz. Karl was the other angler at Hambridge and weighed 4lb 6oz despite suffering from pike trouble, he even landed four of the toothy critters! Thanks to Jake Woodard for the photos*

A rather blurry Jake had a lovely net of roach to win with 15lb 3oz*

Ben had a nice day catching10lb of roach and perch on the waggler from H4

So I ended up third again and picked up £23 plus the all important nugget off of Steve and I have to say I really enjoyed today, I’ve had bites all day and it feels like there’s a lot of fish in the river at the moment, I bet pegs 122 and 129 would have fished today. I also think a few pegs lower down at Hambridge would fish as well, might be worth looking at for the next IBC match.

1 – Jake Woodard (Ilminster) – 15lb 3oz 2 – Adie Bishop (Taunton) – 11lb 15oz 3 – Jamie Rich (Against Men and Fish) – 10lb 5oz

Sections A – Stuart Aplin (Ilminster) – 9lb 11oz B – Ben Simmonds (Ilminster) – 10lb

After seven matches and dropping the worst result, this is how the league looks so far,

Jake Woodard – 12 pts (dropping 4) Adie Bishop – 13 pts (dropping 4) Jamie Rich  – 14 pts (dropping 30) Graham Field – 17 pts (dropping 30) Stuart Aplin – 27 pts (dropping 30) Frank Woodard – 34 pts (dropping 30)

I’ve also updated the list of framing pegs so far in the ten matches we’ve had on the river,

120 – 7 times (won 2) 110 – 4 times (won 2) 128 – 4 times (won 1) 126 – 4 times (won 2) 123 – 2 times (won 1) 128a – 2 times H4 – 1 time (won 1) H1 – 1 time (won 1) 124a – 3 times 125 – 2 times 125a – 1 time

I might actually tweak the format of this a bit to actually reflect how many times a peg has been used because as it stands it doesn’t really show how consistent a peg has been, for example, H1 has only been in twice and won once compared to say 125 which has been used several times but only framed twice so maybe I’ll have a play around with percentages.

We’ve had eight different winners so far with Frank Woodard and Adie Bishop the only anglers to win more than one match.

Hurf asked me to remind people that it’s Ilminster AA’s AGM at the bowling club on Friday 23rd February at 7:30pm.

Lastly I’ve got some really exciting news regarding big changes coming to the blog soon, I can’t say too much yet but all will become clear soon enough. I’ve got lots planned for this year including some great competitions and collaborations so please keep reading and get in touch with catch reports, photos and guest blogs.

Next up – River Isle

Coming soon – My next trip down memory lane

Check Out – My latest guest post (below)

[mari-lair]

the recent chapter was decent, but when I realised akane wasn't the yoshiro after convincing myself he was for a month i had to close the tab stare at the ground and like. process for a few seconds. how i wish he had been... i did enjoy mirai trying to save his life though, and teru recognising that they hadn't been going to their full strength because maybe they didn't care about the yoshiro, because as you said, they had been presented at a higher level and we didn't see that in chapter 109

I always had doubts about him being the Yorishiro, with Akane having 2 bodies and the supernatural one already being stabbed in the chest before, so even that reveal was more of a "oh, okay. Makes sense" feeling.

It's... kind of sad... my experience with this chapter. With this arc.

The only thing I like is Mirai saving Akane, and how rich with character quirks, values, and experiences, Akane's fight with Tsukasa is, it goes beyond just his judo skills (and Elise will talk about it when she has the time) But I'll be honest, I have no hope for this arc, no wish to think about it and theorize it or anything.

I am here for terukaneaoi and the way Aoi hasn't shown up even as a small panel since the clock was frozen is... very telling... Akane's 'betrayal' with Teru also saddens me, for the more I look at it, the more clear it becomes that it is a tool, not a conflict they planned as a means to clash ideals, learn more about each other, or strengthen/restructure bonds (like Aoikane in chap 69 or Kou and Teru in chap 87). When Aidairo does want to create character conflict, they are amazing at it! Which makes Akane and teru feel... that much weirder.

I never expected Teru to jump and try to help Akane, he is handcuffed and without his sword, but I did expect him to have some kind of thought about the situation while he watched Akane be beaten up in front of him.

We get no reaction panel about what he thought of the fight. At all. Akane isn't in immediate danger when we do see his thoughts but it still feels... Strange to frame chapter 108 in a way that highlights how much Akane's betrayal affects Teru on a personal level, to make chap 109's gag revolve around Teru being THAT angry with Akane and then... Make Teru not spare Akane a single thought.

Teru even takes into consideration Nene's lifespan, but absolutely nothing about Akane. No cursing him. No "oh he did almost die like I wished for, idk how to feel a bout that". No "it feels strange to not be able to do anything, just watch". No, "I guess he is a clock keeper not the boy i thought I knew". No "i'm glad he is not dead". Not even "he should have died", as cruel as it sounds, it would still make way more sense than just... Nothing.

He doesn't even refer to Akane by name.

Teru is someone who has taken things personally since his very introduction, unused to change and prioritizing his relationships over his duties (not exorcising Hanako so Kou doesn't get mad at him. Putting the intire school at risk cause Tiara wanted him to clean up a mokke in chap 39. Letting Akane punch him in chap 71, etc-)

He is pathetic and unexperienced when he takes things personally, he wants to be reliable and admired, he doesn't know how to handle not getting what he wants (especially with Akane, who always obeys). Even when he tries to be detached his pathetic nature still show up. It had been consistent.

But the guy that locked himself in his bedroom and hid under the covers for a whole day after his fight with Kou seemingly got over Akane betraying him in what must have been 1 hour without talking about it ? I know Akane is not as important to Teru as his family but it's insane that he got over it without even thinking about it or being able to move in any way to let his frustrations out.

The worst part is that even when I suspend my disbelief and go along with the idea that Teru "isn't taking things personally anymore and is in professional mode cause the situation is dire!" it still makes no sense.

Akane's betrayal should have filled his head with questions about the situation, about what changed, but Teru never even tried to connect his vague talk with Akane with the clock keepers seemingly being nerfed.

Why 'now?' feels like an important question. One that should stick, but Teru ignores it.

Which again. Goes agaisnt what is established of his opinion of Akane.

Why would he neglect the words of a colleague he considers wise? Of someone he is treating as fully part of the clock keepers now? Someone he always wanted to hear his opinions before even in his 'professional and smart' mode? Someone whose opinions we have been told he doesn't dismiss even when what Akane says clashes with his upbringing as an exorcist? I am just supposed to assume he is treating Akane as any other supernatural now? Is the betrayal an insta 'everything that has been established no longer applies' free card...?

So yeah, sure... This is a big improvement from chapter 109 but it has the same core problem as chapter 109, at least to me: Aidairo has no interest in exploring Teru as a character in this arc. Aidairo wants the spotlight fully on the broadcasting club, and they will tweak his character whenever it's convenient to set the stage. Just like Nene had turned into a kid with minimal agency, Teru has become a presence that doesn't ask questions, unless said questions will move the plot.

Feelings will also be reduced to what moves the plot, we don't need to know how he feels about being in a position with no power, no sword, and minimal knowledge for the first time in this manga. There is so much they can explore completely disconnected from Akane, despite putting a spotlight on their relationship in chap 108, but there is nothing for Teru's character.

Even when Tsukasa points at Nene, whom he isn't angry at, he has no reaction. He does not care about this guy targeting the little baby girl after witnessing Akane be dragged on the floor.

Of course he doesn't. This isn't about him, is a Hanako set up, Teru can't have even a panel of spotlight on him that is about his character, can't bring attention to his fall out with Akane, less the reader get any expectative from it, or take space in a manga that currently isn't about him.

Teru is a tool first, and a character second in this arc. Chapter 109 stuck him in a dumb gag box. Chapter 110 stuck him in a smart guy exposition box. His personality is picked apart when it is convenient not when it makes sense for a character that has been molded for 100 chapters.

I don't care about this plot. I care about my favorite characters, and how they would react to the circumstances the plot been put on. That's my priority. It isn't Aidairo's. Even if Teru does have a relevant role later, it's still clear that exploring his character isn't Aidairo's priority in this arc.

I told chapter 109 to make me care about the arc, and chapter 110 is way better but not enough to make me care. Which is very sad, I wish it did :(

...This was already a depressing enough answer as it is, I don't want to talk about it.