#I think the only thing I'd really criticize about that manga is that I don't think the sex scene was necessary

[dirkxcaliborn]

I'd have to say one of the cutest, novel moments in a romance manga I read recently was when one of the characters noticed the other's behavior and thought it seemed like the other character had feelings for him, but then he told himself off for making assumptions about other people's feelings lol

[sapphic-agent]

Let's Talk About the Bakugou Problem

I've been enjoying the Bakugou slander here on Tumblr, but I haven't come across anyone that gets to the root of the problem with Bakugou's character yet. I think it goes further than him having anger issues, being annoying, or even how violent and abusive he is. Why I think Bakugou is a bad character is due to the effect he has on the plot, world-building, and the rest of the characters. There's a lot of layers here, so I'd like to take the time to talk as in-detail as I can while typing on mobile.

*Note: I'll be following the anime as it's easier for me to follow and pick specific examples. Manga readers if you have anything to add I'd love to hear it, even if it's against what I've listed here*

*Note: Bakugou fans you're more than welcome to read, though I warn you might not like what you see. I tried to keep this as constructive as I could without letting my own biases seep in (whether I succeeded is up for debate) so that everyone could read it whether you like Bakugou or not. I'm fine with criticism towards my points, I only ask that you remain respectful. I won't engage with anyone who disrespects me or other users*

1. Consequences

This is a big one among Bakugou critics, so I think it's a pretty good place to start. Bakugou has almost never faced actual consequences to his actions (there's a difference between something bad that happens to happen to him and the world around him not accepting his behavior). There are two instances that I can think of that there was a direct ramification to something Bakugou has done. The first was during the Deku vs Kacchan fight where Bakugou does get suspended for four days while Izuku gets suspended for three days. The other is when he and Todoroki fail the provisional licensing exam. However, there's a problem with these two instances I mentioned.

With the D vs K fight, Bakugou was the one who goaded Izuku out of the dorms and instigated a fight. Izuku was trying to get him to go back to the dorms so they could settle their "issue" under adult supervision. He was trying to do the responsible thing. For Izuku to only receive a day less of punishment seems unfair. Though, you could make the case that he should have ignored Bakugou, it's still very clear that one was way more at fault than the other and there was barely a difference in their punishment.

The provisional licensing exam actually did well with failing Bakugou. It was almost a great lesson; that he can't say and do whatever he wants and expect the world to roll over for him. Unfortunately, it's undermined by Todoroki failing as well. Yes, Todoroki failed because of Inasa. But a) Inasa attacked him first which should have resulted in disqualification (what was Todoroki supposed to do, not fight back when he was being assaulted?) and b) Inasa's entire character seems shoehorned into the story. He doesn't really add anything to Todoroki's character as most of his problems with Todoroki were already resolved back in season 2. He also contributes nothing to the overall story. Shindou, for example, has a hand in testing 1A and forces them to work together congruently. Inasa seems like he was put in the story simply to make Todoroki fail. Why does Todoroki have to fail? Because Bakugou does.

It seems like Horikoshi always softens the blow for Bakugou in a way, if he's dealt any blow at all. By not allowing Bakugou to face consequences on his own, he might as well not be facing them at all.

Why are consequences so important? Because Bakugou's privilege is a problem.

I don't think I've seen anyone address this. The root of Bakugou's behavior comes from the fact that he was allowed to do all those terrible things because the world around him was tolerant of it. Teachers turned a blind eyes when he bullied Izuku because he had a great quirk and Izuku was quirkless. He's allowed to do and say whatever he wants because he has a great quirk. While people seem to be harder on Izuku because of either having no quirk or not being able to fully control his quirk. This is a huge part of the story that was set up in the beginning, but was almost never addressed despite being persistent throughout. And it's the most present with Aizawa.

Bakugou attempts to attack a fellow student the first day of class? Simply restrained, no repercussions. Bakugou uses excessive force against a classmate despite his teacher telling him to stop? Nothing more than a few not-so-nice words. Bakugou assaults his partner and refuses to cooperate? No words at all.

Now look at Izuku. Doesn't have full control of his quirk? His teacher attempts to humiliate and expel him in front of his classmates on the first day of class. Saves a classmate in an admittedly risky rescue mission? Said teacher proclaims he lost his trust and labels him a problem child (despite the orchestrator of said mission- Kirishima- being in the same room and not getting spoken to at all).

(I don't know if Aizawa's projecting, but pandering to the kid with the strong quirk while simultaneously disliking All Might isn't a great look.)

Even before UA, Bakugou is praised by the heroes for his strong quirk against the sludge villain despite the fact that his quirk made everything worse while Izuku is scolded even though they were the ones who did nothing while he did what he could to save someone.

"All men aren't created equal." That's one of Izuku's very first lines and a central point of the story. It's something you expect it to address multiple times, especially in regards to Izuku and Bakugou. But Bakugou being spared from consequences every single time he does something terrible means that the statement is validated, but the problem still persists and is never rectified or solved. Even if you think Bakugou "changed," that doesn't make his privilege go away.

2. Plot Compensation

The story goes out of its way to make Bakugou seem like a better person than he is.

My first example is the Sports Festival, specifically his fight with Uraraka. In this fight, Bakugou is met with booing from the audience for not going easy on her. And right off the bat, this is weird. Because not only have we never seen this attitude toward women heroes before or after this, the show is trying to tell us something when Aizawa tears the crowd down. Almost as if saying, "The crowd is dumb and wrong and if you think like the crowd, you're dumb and wrong." Aizawa claims that Bakugou is treating Uraraka like a real opponent by not going easy on her.

...is he though?

Because we never see Bakugou stand still in a fight like he does with her. Bakugou's fighting style relies a lot on mobility. During his fight with Tokoyami, who he knew he had an advantage over because of the light from his quirk, he isn't standing still. During his fight with Todoroki he isn't standing still. He only does this with Uraraka. Because this isn't Bakugou showing respect, it's him still looking down on her. He doesn't see her as a serious opponent, just an obstacle in his way.

And I know this sounds like a bold claim. But if you recall, Bakugou immediately confronts Izuku after the fight and accuses him of giving Uraraka the idea she used during their match. He assumes it was a ploy from Izuku, implying that he didn't think Uraraka capable of coming up with a plan with the potential to work against him. This isn't respect for an opponent.

(Note: the only thing in Bakugou's favor is it's probably not because she's a girl. He just naturally looks down on everyone who doesn't immediately stand out to him with a show of power like Todoroki)

Then we have the revered scene with the League or Villains.

This scene is praised because it "subverts expectations." That the violent, angry kid doesn't want to be a villain. He wants to be a noble hero. Aizawa- again- silences claims against Bakugou, citing that he wants to win and he knows he can't do that if he's a villain.

My thing is, however, the League targeting him in the first place. Why would they do this? Bakugou clearly has a heroic quirk. He scored first on the entrance exam. If they did any research at all beforehand, they would know that Bakugou was at the top of his class before UA and is in the top five currently. And they'd know he has wealthy parents.

(You would think Dabi especially would draw parallels to Endeavor and would be aware that Bakugou's ambition and heroic quirk don't make him similar to the League who have been discriminated against, shunned, and abused for most of their lives. Even with his behavior at the Sports Festival, Endeavor isn't the noble and kind type like All Might and most other heroes. So I'm not sure why Bakugou's behavior immediately screamed villain potential)

Nothing about him suggests he's had a hard life like most of the League. Nothing about him suggests he'd want to leave his comfortable life and secured future to become a villain.

This scene sets up Bakugou's redemption, right? It leads us to the Deku vs Kacchan fight and All Might's advice is what makes him take on his "save to win" mentality.

But not only does this seem like a convenient plot device, it decidedly ignores the uglier part of Bakugou's decision.

Bakugou rejected the LOV because he saw them as losers. But what if they hadn't been losers? What if they had been doing as well as they were at the end of season 5? Merging and becoming the MLA front, organized teams, wealthy, successfully recruiting members right under the heroes' noses.

Maybe Bakugou wouldn't have outright joined them. But at this point before shifting his perspective, his answer might have been very different.

But the story goes out of its way to hammer in Bakugou's scarce good traits to take your focus away from his overwhelming bad ones.

3. Bakugou's Character Shift "Development"

The way Horikoshi wrote Bakugou in the beginning is very different to how he is portrayed later in the show. No, I don't mean his development. I mean the major shift in his character between seasons 1/2 and season 3/4.

Bakugou in the beginning of the show is cruel, meanspirited, and violent. And he's still all of those things throughout the show. The one difference is that it's played for laughs in later seasons.

Bakugou's actions and words in seasons 1 and 2 are portrayed a lot more serious than in later seasons. He's an antagonistic force, one that Izuku has to strive to overcome not just to be a good hero, but for himself as Bakugou has been one of the most prominent obstacles in his strive to become a hero.

Look at his behavior during the battle trials. It's something serious, something that has even All Might worried. Bakugou knew he could have very well killed Midoriya and didn't care. It's brutal and almost hard to watch because at this point in the show Midoriya is weak and tiny (visually, we know he's never really been weak) compared to Bakugou and can really only outsmart him to win.

We never see Bakugou display anything close to this level of violence in later seasons. Not in the Sports Festival or 1A vs 1B or D vs K or the licensing exam or even against literal villains. Season 1 went out of its way to show Bakugou's cruel behavior even using it as something Izuku has to learn how to overcome even if he has to risk everything.

By season 3, the perspective has changed. Bakugou name calling people, belittling people, yelling, and his acts of violence are now exaggerated for comedy. None of his actions are taken as seriously as they were before, despite some being almost or just as bad.

(It's worth mentioning that this was also around the time Bakugou began to get popular among fans)

A great example of this is in season 5 when he throws his headpiece at Izuku and makes him bleed. His casual act of his aggression towards his lifelong victim is present to make the audience laugh, despite the fact that Izuku was bleeding and the 1A boys are (rightfully) horrified.

(I'd like to add that there was no real reason to do this. Nothing he was saying would have exposed OFA and even if it had, he was done talking by the time Bakugou threw it)

If Bakugou had really changed at this point, this would have never happened in the first place. I can't call this changing or development, I call this his actions shifting into comedic relief and away from the serious connotations they previously held. By taking that away, it allows Bakugou to continue to do the same things he has all his life while under the guise of development. It undermines what's supposed to be his redemption arc.

4. Other Characters

Bakugou isn't the only one who gets a character shift. It's approximately the moment that Bakugou begins to get more attention that the other characters lose the substance they had at the beginning of the show.

The ones hit most notably by this are obviously Uraraka and Iida. They were Izuku's first friends, his original trio. More than that, they are set up as interesting characters with their own arcs and paths for becoming great heroes.

Even though I did have my complaints about her fight with Bakugou in the Sports Festival, it does turn Uraraka onto improving past her goal of becoming a rescue hero. She wants to become better in other aspects of being a hero so that she can succeed and keep up with her stronger classmates. She proved herself capable of this during her fight with Bakugou and it was the catalyst of her character development.

Iida was not only resolving himself with caring for Midoriya as a friend as well as being his rival and wanting to surpass him. There's also this darker side to him that no one expects from goody two shoes, straight-laced Iida that had so much potential for exploration.

Both of them are tossed to the side in favor of Bakugou. I would even go as far as to say that after season 2, they're almost irrelevant until season 6 and even then they're limited (before season 6 Uraraka's only character trait is that she ignores he feelings for Midoriya to become a better hero, which came out of nowhere and does nothing for her character). And they barley ever get moments with Izuku during time despite being his first friends.

Todoroki is a similar yet very different case. At the beginning of the show, he was intense and has strong feelings. (An interesting parallel is that if Iida was his friend becoming his rival, Todoroki was his rival becoming his friend and both relationships speak to Izuku as a character) Even if he didn't express them, we as the audience knew they were there. But as times passes he becomes flat and dull. Even though he's supposed to be part of the new trio, he's barley present (the dynamic between the three of them is uninteresting all around as it's basically Bakugou yelling at Izuku with Todoroki in the background. They never have any deep or heartfelt moments nor do they have good chemistry) and barely gets any one-on-one interaction with Izuku despite them being very good friends.

(I can't blame this all on Bakugou as the show also shifts from focusing to Todoroki to focusing on his own abuser which is part of the issue with his lack of character, but Bakugou's character does contribute to this problem of making the abusers more sympathetic than the victims)

Most if not the rest of 1A fade into the background after this, save for a few who have notable moments sprinkled in throughout the show. You can take this as a Bakugou prevalence problem, or it can be seen as Horikoshi just not knowing how to balance characters.

However, the character that suffers the most because of this is Izuku himself.

I don't think it's a bad thing that Izuku admires or looks up to Bakugou. I don't think it's a problem that he doesn't see anything wrong with Bakugou's behavior against him. Izuku grew up in an environment where that was normalized. That he's worthless because of his lack of quirk and Bakugou deserves to be on top because of his great quirk. Of course he internalized that, even though he knows that a quirk doesn't determine someone's worth. He was never given the tools or the means to beat that mindset.

What I despise is the fact that everyone around him enables it.

As I stated above, Aizawa is definitely the worst when it comes to this. Not only shoving Bakugou and Izuku together and making it Izuku's job to get Bakugou to cooperate, but hardly if ever condemning Bakugou when he lashes out against Izuku. Even without their history, what Bakugou does is wrong and should be treated as such.

Unfortunately and even though I love All Might, he's also guilty of this. It's true that he might not know the full extent of their toxic relationship, but All Might sees Bakugou instigate a fight with Izuku and decides it's okay to tell Bakugou about One For All. Bakugou did nothing to earn this honor: he hasn't shown Izuku support and hasn't been a reliable ally he could depend on. But even disregarding that, Bakugou had just been captured by villains who work for All For One. He was the last person on Earth who should have been entrusted with this secret.

The adults in Izuku's life enable and reward Bakugou's bad behavior and urge them into forming a relationship and partnership that frankly shouldn't exist (and only does to make Bakugou a better person and hero, it does nothing for Izuku). It's to the point where almost Izuku's entire character revolves around his relationship with Bakugou and how he improves because of it and how he helps Bakugou improve. And he further projects this when he "subtly" implies that Todoroki should forgive Endeavor, which feels like a justification towards the audience of his own feelings towards Bakugou.

5. Accountability

I mentioned consequences as my first point. But what many who want this miss, it goes hand-in-hand with accountability.

Unlike consequences, Bakugou more or less does take accountability in the form of his apology. But the apology was lackluster for a couple of reasons. The main thing is that it feels like a list of excuses rather than simply owning up to the fact that he was shitty and there's really no good reason for it. But simply explaining why you hurt the person you hurt isn't giving them the apology they deserve. It's making it about you.

Another thing, though, is that the apology is very scarce. It skips over the worst of Bakugou's actions. Nothing he said was anything 1A didn't already know. They don't know about the s*icide baiting which is one of the worst things he's done to Izuku (and that's only what we saw, who knows what Bakugou's been saying for years?). It also ignores everything he did in UA, which was a very big part of the problem. He treated Izuku poorly months prior to the apology and that shouldn't be ignored.

As far as accountability goes this apology isn't that great. But it's something. No, what's worse is that the other characters don't hold Bakugou accountable.

The other characters more often than not turn a blind eye to Bakugou's behavior. We've already covered Aizawa, but the rest of 1A is guilty of this too. No one says anything about the Battle Trials. Hardly anyone condemns Bakugou when he attacks or insults Izuku. Sometimes they'll chime in like Uraraka or Kirishima, but other than that no one outright tells him off. This is out of character for Iida in particular because he's such a stickler about rules and courtesy for others (he literally told off a six year old when he punched Izuku and tried to stop Mineta from perving on the girls, why wouldn't he do the same when it comes to Bakugou?). It's almost like the characters are blind to Bakugou's behavior.

What's weirder is that Mina and Kirishima- who were both stated to hate bullying- are friends with him. Why would the show go out of its way to tell us this only to saddle them into the "BakuSquad?" It doesn't make sense.

It's hypocritical that everyone in 1A is so tolerant of Bakugou but get annoyed with others; like Monoma for example. Or even Mineta because as much as I dislike him he's constantly being called out by 1A. It means that they know certain behavior is wrong and/or shouldn't be entertained, so we know they aren't completely unaware. But the fact that they largely ignore Bakugou's behavior and condemn Monoma's is so weird. You can't excuse one and not the other.

Conclusion

There's certainly more than this to my dislike of Bakugou. But I think I've mostly covered his negative impact on the story. Doing a deep dive into his awful personality is something I wouldn't wish on anyway. Many others have done that anyway, so I'm content to leave it out. But I hope you liked my little breakdown!

[dyaz-stories]

Yuta, Gojo, Geto, and does the end justify the means?

[spoilers up until JJK 269]

I've seen a post floating around about what the point of Yuta overtaking Gojo's body was, and since I haven't seen many people interpret it the way I have, I wanted to take a minute to talk about it.

First of all, I do think Gege had several reasons to do it, one of them being to give the answer to the "are you Gojo Satoru because you're the strongest or are you the strongest because you're Gojo Satoru". However, while many people tend to center that idea, it's only one aspect of it for me.

I'm also of the mind that part of it was telling the fans that nah, he really really wasn't coming back (don't necessarily assign malice to it, but yeah I think it was part of the point). That being said, there is an argument to be made that it was foreshadowed in chapter 90 by Kenjaku, so I don't think that was solely the point and Gege might have had this planned for a lot longer.

However, for me, it's not so much about the battle or about the plot, but rather about the themes it sets in place for the story, and these themes have been present for a while in Jujutsu Kaisen.

At the heart of it is, essentially, "does the end justify the means?"

That's a big theme in the manga as a whole, I'd argue. It's at the heart of the Geto thing ("does saving the lives of sorcerers justify killing every single non-sorcerer") in particular. It's behind most of the higher-ups' actions, though their 'ends' don't appear to be altruistic. It's also a question Gojo usually refuses to answer, or tentatively says "no" to — in refusing to kill Yuuji, Yuta, in protecting Hakari, and probably plenty of people before them. He does end up playing in that game, though, when he kills the higher-ups — deciding that the end might justify the means, a gamble he hadn't always thought worth taking until then. [This is my read on Gojo, but it's open to interpretation]

(I can't be brief to save my life so I'm putting the rest of this Very Long Post under the cut)

We see this not so much with the fight, but mostly in the conversations we see Yuta having in chapter 261, before taking Gojo's body. That's the whole point of the debate they're all having. Yuta is arguing that you have to do whatever to win against Sukuna,

while others, Kusakabe and Maki in particular, have their reservations. [Which is interesting considering Kusakabe does think that killing Yuuji to kill Sukuna was warranted, shows that values are complicated things]

Yuta's whole speech is about, really, the fact that you have to do whatever you can do, no matter what that is, to win. No matter whether or not you destroy yourself as a person, no matter how heinous it is, if it gets a win, it needs to be done.

There's something a little self-sacrificial, self-martyrdom, lowkey suicidal about it too imo but that's besides the point (not necessarily a criticism of Yuta btw, think it makes him more interesting and gives him a lot of depth).

Anyway, back to the point: Yuta is emphatically saying, yes, the end justifies the means. That was also what the fandom was saying when the chapter was coming out, actually. I saw a lot of the argument that it was 'not realistic' for them not to do that, and that 'this was a war and yes, it's horrible, but war is horrible', etc, etc.

Now at that point, I was seething in my small corner of the Internet because from the moment that conversation was had, I needed Yuta to lose, because I fucking hated the message it would give if he won. This is, admittedly, a deeply subjective thing — it's a personal and political opinion, and everyone's going to have their own, but as far as I'm concerned, it would have been awful. At that point I was still really worried that the story was going to go full grimdark and I would have hated it if the last message we got was that renouncing all your values is justified in war if it gets you a win.

Anyway, we all know this by now, but that's not what happened.

Geto, who ended up renouncing even his own values by attacking sorcerers in the name of building his perfect world, loses to the love that Yuta has for Maki and Rika in particular, two non-sorcerers.

And Sukuna loses, not to a Kamo, a Zen'in or a Gojo, not even to the descendant of the big three vengeful spirits, all of whom have sacrificed so much of their values to get to the level of power they have, but to a no-name kid who doesn't even have a cursed technique armed with the power of love and friendship. (Not mocking this btw, thrilled about it) Just as importantly, Yuuji has done the very opposite of abandoning his values: he's fought to keep them until the very end. Even at the very end, he offers Sukuna a hand, because his main value is not to kill people, unless absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, Yuta going into Gojo's body gets him nothing. He's committed the abominable, and it's not a decisive move against Sukuna. He's gone against some very general human values — anyone can see why what he's done is fucked up (and I can't pinpoint it precisely but I'd argue that there's a parallel between that and him cursing Rika) — and it gets him nothing. Even if it had gotten him somewhere, there was another way. A way that didn't involve that.

So that, to me, is the point of Yuta taking over Gojo's body: no, you can't just do anything to win a battle, and yes, you can refuse to do certain sacrifices and succeed. Don't abandon the things you hold dear. You can lose, but you can also still prevail, Jujutsu Kaisen says in the end.

Now for the more critical part of this broadcast, while I do think this aspect is why Gege chose to have that happen, I 100% find that chapter 269 and the complete lack of consequences the action ends up carrying really really cheapens it. Everyone was up in arms about it at first, and then Yuta comes back and we act like nothing's happened? I mean it's a theme of the chapter for sure, acting like nothing's happened that is, but it still sucks.

I think that's partly why Maki is mad at Yuta in chapter 269, considering she was the one who was most strongly against the idea, but it's not brought up explicitly. It's completely incomprehensible to me that Gege thought the chapter would be better used talking about how they could have acted differently and that whole New Shadow Style school thing than dealing with the consequences of the characters' actions that he'd prepared earlier, but whatever.

So in the end, while it was an interesting point to bring to the story, it was not used to its full potential. In a story that's all about breaking cycles, it's a shame that there wasn't more light shed on how people kept repeating the same mistake.

[batbabydamian]

The new writer for nightwing (Dan watters) wrote a Damian-centric backup story in tec (multiple even, I think?) do we think it's too early to hope that the best duo may return to us sometime in the future? Also any hopes for the upcoming B&R arc by PJK? I have a few, mainly Maya sticking around for longer but also. The solicit opening on how Damian is the same age Bruce was when Bruce traveled the world makes me nervous. Please don't take Damian out of Gotham unless you have another book to put him in and I cant live in a Damian drought rn

ALWAYS HOLD HOPE FOR DUO INTERACTIONS!! a lot of Watter’s backups seem to be assigned to him, SO if he specifically chose to write Damian for that one backup then all the more fingers i am crossing 😭🤞 also funny enough in the Gotham City Villains book where PKJ wrote a Ra’s story, Watters has a story in it featuring Damian! seems promising that he enjoys his character enough 🤞🤞

PHEWWW...hopes for B&R… it’s oddly poetic that the first arc of Tomasi’s run featured a villain from Bruce’s world traveling days, and now we’re teased with that journey in relation to Damian. if this is really going down a self discovery sort of arc, i’m hoping for more exploration of Damian’s character outside vigilantism - like, Williamson having Damian develop his art in a “manga style” was such a good touch. art and storytelling (history, fairytales, his own father lol, etc) have been consistent details in Damian’s stories, so for him to really take them as his own by MAKING COMICS is so self indulgent of him!! it makes me so giddy it’s such a sweet piece of development 😭 SORRY FOR THE TANGENT but yeah more of Damian making choices for himself and his future!! he’s capable of doing so many things!! “a different way to help the world” has repeated in my brain so many times. i’m so curious. the main bit being about HELPING AHH Damian is so good…but also WHAT DO YOU MEAN...

i'd love for Talia (and Ra’s? whenever he’s done being a ghost ig?) to have a more meaningful role in this time of Damian’s growth!! orz speaking of Ra’s, NIKA?? icb we’re still in the dark with that but i’d like to at least have backups to continue her story with Ra's because that combo sounds so fun. is Ra's stuck to haunting his grandson's gf?? is Nika exposing him to kpop?? many questions

on the vigilante side, i need this villain and mystery to get me so hyped… i was excited for Damian to have another rogue to add to his list but Williamson dropped the ball on both Shush and especially Mistress Harsh 😭 ok didn’t mean for this to turn into criticism, at least his last arc has been giving something to gnaw on but YES i need to feel the stakes!! the INTRIGUE!!

smaller hopes would be more of Damian’s quips!! and HIS PETS. if they’re really moving in to Pennyworth Manor, they must have room for a dog, cat, and cow again!! and Goliath should continue to be a free spirit outside lol but still at Damian's side when he needs him :’)

Maya staying past Williamson's run is a big one that i'm wary of hoping for based on the "whole new arc/great jumping in point" marketing going on, BUT if she manages to make it, BIG WIN!! 😭 i like to think we’re safe from a Damian drought for a while considering the consistent greenlight on projects he’s in!! if DC actually ends B&R with this arc because Damian goes on another self discovery journey i can only hope he gets another solo or we all suffer together LOL

would love to hear your further thoughts on the upcoming arc as well!! :]

[justice-flonne]

Twitter and the death of Media Literacy

As the original post now has reblogs turned off before this post came out of the queue, looks like I have to make my own

Lemme tackle picture number 2 first. Number one, what the HELL do you mean "normal mentally ill [woman]"?? There's no such thing. There's not even such a thing as normal non-mentally ill. Everyone is different and has different reactions and symptoms. and number two: where the fuck do you get off calling the author a sex pest for the "crime" of exploring her options in brothels (well, i guess maybe it is a crime, i forget how japan's laws are, but still. i better not hear you demanding more rights for sex workers while indirectly demeaning their jobs, ya nitwit)? Being gay (or even just non-conforming, and that's not even just about gender) in Japan, while not as bad as say, the Middle East, is not exactly a walk in the park. She probably at the time of writing didn't have many options, and everybody explores their sexuality in different ways. It's really messed up that you're calling the author a sex pest for describing her life, especially since she did nothing wrong (as in, her encounters were all consensual. again, don't fully know the laws regarding brothels there. i think it's a "we'll pretend we didn't see that" scenario)

This also kinda ties into the downright dangerous idea that an lgbt+ person, lesbians especially, can only be an innocent pure being. that kind of thinking can and HAS gotten people into horrible abuse scenarios

As for the "incest"... whoo boy, this is gonna be long:

Now, I have actually read this manga, and I can cite the pages with the supposed "incest" mentioned in the first pic. I'd elaborate, but I'm admittedly quite bad at that, so I'll let the comic speak for itself:

(forgive me if there's any errors in the alt text. it's late 😭)

As you can see, the author does not LITERALLY want to fuck her mother. She has childhood issues from not enough affection (elaborated elsewhere in the book, but I'm tired. read it yourself. i got these pages from a definitely legal website, so can you), and wants to be held and coddled. She even straight up says what she feels is abnormal and yearns for a woman NOT RELATED TO HER to do things with. She KNOWS what she feels is strange and wants to (and eventually DOES) grow from this. I could post more images, but i'm probably pushing my luck as is

Point is, you "adults" really, REALLY need to learn that depiction is not the same as endorsement. Not everything is as cut and dry as the Marquis de Sade. This is, as the damn title says, the author's experience with loneliness as a result of growing up with an emotionally distant mother in a society that is markedly different than America

please, PLEASE, learn to think critically, and i mean "critical" in a "english class analysis" kind of way (for lack of a better term), not a "this thing you like is bad and it offends me" "critical." It's alright to be uncomfortable with things and even to not like things, hell I myself am a HUGE hater, but please, don't throw a tantrum because a real person wasn't a smol bean like you hoped

holy shit i need to go to bed

[amoransia]

Really late, but here's my ekuoto chapter 70 commentary. Nothing special, just me freaking out. You know. The usual.

Watch out for spoilers!

Dante got a very special dialogue balloon with "..." in it. Which is curious to me. I'm sure it means some sort of reflection or surprise happening within him; I really want to what he's thinking. How do you feel? Knowing that the that child you were entrusted can't even bear to be awake anymore? That he runs to escapism? Must suck. Anyway.

On the other hand, dearest Daniel is real composed. Good job on getting info out of Belphegor. That's not really a high bar, though lmao... I mean, how are you a demon and can't LIE? Embarrassing... Go back to demon high school or something. Fall from grace again! The whole premise of your existence is being a lying thing that leads people to sin, and you're here having communication issues??? Dude. That's so moe.

Everyone thinking Belph's got something up his sleeve is fucking hilarious. No. Sorry. He's not Kira or anything like that. It's not all according to his "keikaku". He's just kinda dumb and suffers from Villain Monologue Syndrome...

Him saying "my witch", though... ough! (takes critical hit)

Really funny how he showed him off sleeping and everything. Why are you bragging? Is this something to show off? I guess it is for you... I'd be embarrassed if all my coworkers suddenly saw me sleeping on a plasma 100" inch TV, though. Maybe have a little consideration! Also, I don't think anyone's mentioned this before, but I think it's a cool detail that Priest's in a fetal position. Not only does this position bring one comfort, but it can also represent how he's about to be "reborn" as a witch of Sloth. The sphere he's sleeping in can kinda be a uterus, right?

Belphegor and Mikhail replying to each other while Leah was suffering out of confusion was funny. She got the straight man role forced onto her. Miha's "I see!" was cute. Very casual, as if he wasn't talking to a Demon Lord lol. To be fair, Bel is not really intimidating.

Meanwhile, Vir is busy trying to lead his shounen manga team to victory... (or not really.) They'll definitely get some piece of Belphegor though. I wonder what it'll be... he doesn't have anything like Asmodeus' eyes sticking out, so this is a mystery to me.

Me when I get excited about an interest of mine and end up yapping too much

Dante and Vergilius are heading to the same place, so they'll meet up again... I'm looking forward to the mess that comes out of that 👀.

Imuri needs to step up her game, or I'll be taking matters into my own hands because this is ridiculous. Femme Fatale? Wtf are you talking about. Fraudmuri. The Demon Lord of Fraud. Her true title.

Her biggest crime so far is being more in love with the idea of being in love with Priest than actually caring for him. Does that make sense? So far, she hasn't done any effort in actually coming to know him. She needs to KNOW!!!! At least I can respect that she also takes male rivals seriously... and her aggressiveness towards them. Lole.

She doesn't call Priest "sleepyhead" in the JP raws. I don't really mind the addition, but I thought it was worth noting here anyway. Makes it cute.

"It'll be over soon" Naw bro Imuri is coming at you with a fucking sledgehammer. Watch out.

Tiny Imuri is so fawking cute. I've been craving these Imuri flashbacks for forever because we know virtually nothing about her. What moves her. Why does she long to love!! We'll know in due time, I guess. But please show me a bit of it, Aruma-sensei...

Asmodeus being considerate enough to make sexual things vague to Imuri is nice, but it confuses me a bit. Well. I shan't dwell on it, lest my head blows up.

Imuri seems to have some complex about being a demon with no demon power, because she keeps asserting that she is a demon? Am I explaining this properly? Like in this chapter (ch.70) and chapter 3.

Anywho.

Imuri imagining the BL route... save me... my fucking sides... I burst out laughing the first time my eyes laid on that panel. True to her succubus nature, she didn't even consider the possibility of them using blood or whatever else instead of straight-up KISSING. Those are still bodily fluids, right?? Calm down, girl! Stay put!!!

"I'm not letting his first kiss go to some guy that just appeared!!" HE'S BEEN THERE FOR A DECADE! YOU ARE THE NEWCOMER!!! IMURI, GIRL!! You absolute buffoon! Clown, even!

Whew. Lmao.

This arc also feels like a callback to that one "sleeping beauty" comment from chapter 3.

...except their roles have switched.

This time, Imuri will be the one kissing Father on the cheek to wake him up, and it'll be so, so cute. Trust. Trust me. This will happen. (Going insane).

Go and make him your witch, Imuri... Dew it... Make a move... (screaming and crying)

[quirkwizard]

You haven't gotten a lot of Non Quirk questions in a while, so I wanted to send one that I think would be fun. What do you think would be the favorite anime/series of each 1-A Character? I know Tokoyami would be a Jujutsu Kaisen fan, but the rest I'm not sure.

Can I just say how much I enjoy questions like these? It's always really fun to get questions unrelated to Quirks, especially more light hearted, character focused questions like these. I appreciate you sending this in and encourage more non-Quirk related questions. That aside, I will expand this to include manga as well. There are some choices on here that I think are perfect, but I know that certain animes aren't the best adaptation.

Sato: Food Wars. Maybe Toriko if you want something more on brand with him. I would say more about it, but that would imply there is anything deeper to read into with Sato.

Koda: Pokémon. There really isn't anything complicated about this choice. Just a fun, lighthearted series with wonderous creatures under the main character's control.

Mineta: Without question, it's Kill La Kill. He's actually one of the few people who are able to read into it on a deeper level and what it's trying to say but nobody believes him.

Denki: I don't know, Seven Deadly Sins? Kaminari just seems like he would be the most basic, go with whatever's is the most popular kind of fan, never really commiting to anything for too long.

Tsuyu: I think she would be into cute and happy series. Something light and fun that puts a smile on your face and could enjoy with other people around. Think something like Spy x Family.

Sero: Maybe Steins' Gate? He's on the same level as Denki, but it's usually more along with critics are going with then general audiences and at least takes some time to think about it.

Ojiro: Pretty much any heavily technical fighting anime, like Hajime no Ippo, but has a special place in his heart for Dragon Ball Z. Who knew that a martial artist with a tail would hit a chord with Ojiro?

Hagakure: I think her being into Sailor Moon would make sense. Something fun and flashy. I could easily see her using her reflective powers to do the whole Moon Prisim Power thing.

Aoyama: I could see him being kind of anime snob, being more interested in really old animes like Revolutionary Girl Utena or Rose of Versailles. Just something really pretty looking for his Bishonen soul.

Mina: Again, another character like Denki, but instead of focusing on shonen, she's more into whatever is popular with rom coms or slice of life, like Don't Bully Me Nagatoro or Dress Up My Darling.

Jiro: I honestly see her being more pulled towards the soundtrack of an anime rather then it's content. Though I do think she'd be interested in Cowboy Bebop with it's general "cool" feeling to it.

Tokoyami: He certainly seems like the guy that would be into the whatever edgy anime flavor of the month. First Death Note, then Tokyo Ghoul, and most recently Jujutsu Kiasen.

Shoji: He'd be into the Berserk manga. Just one of that people that reads super mess up stuff and is one of the chilliest people around. The only time he gets angry is when you mention any of the adaptations.

Kirishima: His favorite would be Gurren Lagann and there is nothing you can do to change my mind. It's just too perfect. That being said, if you want to pick something more ongoing, I'd say Jojo's Bizarre Adventure for obvious reasons.

Uraraka: I think she'd be into One Piece. I'm not sure why exactly I picked that out, I just think that she would like it. Maybe it's the mix of good, light heart adventures, lots of action and heart renching movement that makes me think she'd like it.

Tenya: Pretty much anything related to Gundam. I could see him being into the mechanics of the robots and the amount of stragy involved in the fights. Out of all of them though, his favorite would be the objectively best Gundam series: G Gundam.

Bakugou: Bakugou is both sides of the deep Naruto fan coin. He's simultaneously the guy that's actually reading into it and understanding what's it's saying, but also the obnoxious dude bro that talks about it like it's the greatest manga ever without question.

Shoto: It was honestly really hard to think of anything for him. He just doesn't seem like the kind of that would be into it. I was tempted on Fire Force for a joke, but I like the choice of Fruits Basket better. I feel like the complications of family and bonds would speak to him.

Momo: I was tempted to go with Doctor Stone, but I had to go with Fullmetal Alchemist. She's definitely one of those people who slaves over all the little details and themes in whatever she is watch, her face glowing as she talks about Elric's character and journey.

Izuku: I really wanted to pick One Punch Man for obvious reasons, but I think he'd be more pulled towards Hunter x Hunter. I think he'd especially be interested in the power system that's one of the few in all of manga that doesn't have to do with whatever you're born with.

[pomodoko]

I don’t think his crush on Falin makes him creepy. Obviously Laios shouldn’t be giving microaggressions and should learn from his ignorance! I don’t think Toshiro is shallow and wholly hates Laios, yet I despise him as a person… He’s known Laios long enough to know that “dropping hints” is not a mature or effective response even though it makes sense why he didn’t have the courage to speak directly. Shuro being a fake friend was an issue long before his breaking point. Yes, he was repressed, envious and there were communication issues, but Shuro was also very genuinely ableist. Even if Shuro ‘is’ neurodivergent, people can be cruel to other neurodivergent people who are seen as less socially acceptable. Vitriol towards someone “not reading the room” is repulsively ableist.  Of course he isn’t the only one who’s ableist in the story, but the shattering of Laios’s trust is gross. Laios tries to mask but is unable to. Shuro is also a rich noble whose family literally OWNS Izutsumi (& possibly Tade). Yet he does not care about the ethics behind that. Not that he hates her necessarily, but the cold way he treats her reveals that he does not care enough to adapt to the struggles of those who are different / difficult. I feel like his spineless inaction is both a means to avoid conflict, but also a barrier that prevents him from treating others with respect. I think it’s logical for someone to dislike this dude.

I feel like there's a lot of feelings in this writing that you gotta dial back. I totally understand where you're coming from, though. Being told to "read the room" was something I've experienced. I've been betrayed by people I thought were friends because I didn't know what I was doing was annoying them. It really hurt!

I also need to admit I've been on the other side, too! I don't like confrontations at all, but I've let things boil over because I was so afraid of confrontations that I'd snapped at my friends. Especially in Toshiro's state in which he was starving and lacking sleep and just saw his own love interest kill all of his retainers. If I was in his shoes, I'd snap, too! 😭

I wouldn't use the phrase "dropping hints" though. At least from my POV as an Asian from a high-context culture, where there's like, social hierarchy and such, and a lot of politeness abound. When it's something that you've been raised with for years and years, it's really hard to drop. Of course it's gonna be an issue! I think Ryoko Kui writing their argument and fight is a criticism on Japan's "high-context to the point of self-sabotage" culture. But it's important to note that it ended with both of them talking things out and Toshiro straight up saying "hey if you need to run I promise to smuggle you all out of the country". Here are some posts that I recommend reading that expand on it really well: here, here, here, here, and here.

In terms of Toshiro's family owning people, it's expanded more in the manga how these things came to be, but I'd suggest putting it in context of the manga rather than IRL. Toshiro came from the equivalent of Feudal Japan, after all. Here are some more posts talking about that (highly recommend the first one! it's a great read!): here, here (contains spoilers for the ending), and here. Do note that he treats all of his subordinates with respect, and he literally begged for their aid on his hands and knees to save Falin.

Anyway, at the end of the day, you're still going to dislike Toshiro and that's fine. My goal isn't to push my interest and opinions onto other people. I just didn't want him to be disliked shallowly, by reasons that are false or blown out of proportion. The characters of Dungeon Meshi are extremely flawed and incredibly well written, and it's really hard to see characters of color be judged more harshly. It feels the fandom's treatment of these characters will reflect on myself, and that's scary.

[erospandemos]

What is your ideal date with each of them?

If you have a fixed amount of time (4 days). Would you rather have a date with all of them at the same time? Or spend each day with only 1 of the girls?

And if you only get to hang out with 1 of them in LA. Who would it be?

I finally got the ideas needed to answer this ask!

I would rather spend each day with them because I'm not going to become the boyfriend of any of them so I might as well use the opportunity to experience four girlfriends. Greedy? Very much.

Chaewon 🐯

Chaewon is the typical girlfriend. Any 'traditional' date location could work with her but I don't know why, I'd really like to take her to a cat café. I'm talking about those cafés full of cats that you can play around with and pet.

Seeing a cute girl like her playing with small kitties would be very therapeutic. It's like her natural habitat.

After that, she'll probably take the lead and drag me to shop for couple-matching outfits and similar. Attention! You must absolutely compliment her on every outfit she tries! It can't not fit her, it's just that there are clothes that look better on her. If you don't compliment Chaewon, she gets insecure, you must always keep your girlfriend happy and cheerful.

At the end of the day, go home and drink. Yes, I wanna hear her drunk rambles because they're adorable.

"Oh, I'm seeing double..." Chaewon mumbles and hiccups. You look at her with worry, it might have been too much for today. She had already downed two bottles and was on the third.

"I think it's enough, Chae, I'm going to put everything away and then we can go to sleep."

"No!" she hiccups again. "This is pretty cool... there's two of you! Mmmh," she laughs and smirks, "You can give me double the amount of hugs this way, right? Come here!"

You can't resist and let her have your way, hugging her tightly.

Sakura 🌸

Sakura is more fit for home dates. Comfy dates in her or your bedroom are the way to go. You could watch movies, animes, shows, or even play games. Seeing her so passionate about playing games would make my heart flutter and also seeing her rage would be pretty funny.

Good luck to her if she wants to teach me how to play with her because I'm not good at all.

"Honey, you have to press R1," she hurriedly tells you, completely focused on the screen in front of her. It was a very critical situation.

"Uhm, this one?"

"NO! That's R2, wait—"

[GAME OVER]

"Not again..." she sighs with desperation and launches herself onto the bed, with open arms and open legs, completely lifeless and desperate.

"S-sorry about that."

"It's just a game, Sakura, it's just a game..." she continues to whisper to herself and then suddenly turns to you: "You're not leaving this house until you beat this level!"

If she feels like going out, we could surely go to the garage sells or thrift shops and look for old video games, mangas and action figures. Sakura seems like a person that likes collecting stuff and hunting for rare objects would be pretty cool.

Yunjin 🐍

I think she'd really enjoy going to a music club or a music shop. We could go to a guitar store and I'd spend all evening hearing her rambling about how a very specific Stratocaster has a superspecific tone that she wants to get. I'm also a musician myself so I'd really like to talk about these kinds of things with her.

Or we could go to her home and listen to her old songs. You know, her old archives of songs—look at her cringe at her old lyrics. Or maybe some unreleased songs...

"Listen to this," Yunjin says, clicking the play button on her laptop. You nod and posture yourself up, paying attention to every word and every note that comes out of the studio monitors.

But after the first verse and chorus, you turn around to Yunjin: "Oh, who were you talking about here? It sounds like me."

"Really?" she says, smirking sweetly. "Maybe it is you after all."

"This... this is a love song."

"I know."

Kazuha 🩰

She's the opposite of Yunjin. She isn't really talkative from what I've seen. Sure, if you get her to open up to you, she might start to say some silly stuff—getting comfortable enough to say stupid jokes. But normally, she's more reserved.

We could go on a book date, going around the city and visiting every bookstore. I don't know if she's a good reader but she certainly looks like one. I'd like to hear what genres she likes and tell her about mine.

And if she's more of a movie person, we could go to the cinema and watch a movie, while holding hands...

Go to the café perhaps. Get her a nice hot cup of coffee and then the park as the final destination.

"Look, look," Kazuha says, pulling your sleeve. You turn around wondering what caught her attention. Your date is pointing with excitement at the white bunny on the other side of the park, munching on some grass.

"Look at that rabbit. It's so white and round. Isn't it so cute?" she asks, with glittering eyes.

"Yeah, it looks kinda chunky."

"Are you saying that it's fat???" Kazuha retorts, furrowing her eyes in an adorable angry frown.

"I'm saying it's very cute." You quickly answer, rubbing the back of your head.

"Mmh. That's more like it."

-

Now, who would I hang out with in LA? I think the answer is pretty obvious: Yunjin. She looks like she knows already where to go so I won't have to prepare anything. She is also very fun to hang out with so it's perfect!

Thank you for the ask, frisky. It took long because I had no idea how to answer.

[boinin]

Adding this guy to the carousel of blorbos in my brain. I like that his tarot schtick leads into him being obsessed with probability and data 🖤

He's needlessly antagonistic, but that's Blue Lock for you. All bets are off when it comes to football. I personally enjoy the shit talking.

My only criticism of Hiiragi's great characterisation in Episode Nagi is... what for? Solely to entertain? Besides that, there isn't much purpose to it. His bravado in this match will be short-lived. Chigiri, Barou and Nagi win. Hiiragi passes the second and third selection, but remains on the bench for the U20 match, and barely plays during the Neo Egoist league. A guy that interested in probability must be aware how unlikely he is to make the national U20 team for the World Cup.

One of Blue Lock's strengths is its engaging line-up of characters. Even when they're barely shaded tropes, you root for and against them. But on the flip side, due to the manga format and pacing, there simply isn't enough time to spend on these interesting side characters. They rarely become more than a once-off antagonist or joke.

Hiiragi gets this one time to shine, before Episode Nagi moves on. After that, he's resigned to being background fodder, alongside other interesting characters (Darai, Hayate and Niou from the original U20 line-up spring to mind). If we're lucky, Hiiragi might show up to annoy Nagi during the U20 match or while they're teammates in Manshine.

It's a frustrating criticism. On the one hand, Blue Lock and Episode Nagi have an amazing formula. They're fast paced action manga, with sharp dialogue and thought-provoking concepts. The main characters in the franchise (which I'd identify as Isagi, Bachira, Chigiri, Kunigami, Rin, Nagi, Reo, Barou and Kaiser) get consistent development and page time. Other characters... don't. At least, not beyond the resolution of a particular arc or problem they're facing (Yukimiya for example).

Other characters are engaging but static—Raichi is an example. Has he received any significant development since his Team Z days? He's more grounded and less boastful, I'll accept, but we don't know much about his inner thoughts or motivations. Kurona and Gagamaru also suffer from this.

Don't get me wrong: Blue Lock achieves a lot of depth through clever exposition and panelling. If they spent more time on character development, they'd risk sacrificing hype. That'd be a greater lost, imo.

In truth, I don't think anything should change. There's nothing wrong with entertainment for entertainment's sake.

If anything, I'm bemoaning the fact there isn't more time or more English-language content available for Blue Lock's side characters. What we get is so good, it makes me hunger for more. Maybe that's what I'm really bothered by. In which case, less a complaint than a compliment.

Speaking of side characters, this chapter also gave us the Zantetsu-Niko team up that was teased years back.

Niko appears to be avoiding the main action this match, but one thing I enjoyed: he briefed Zantetsu on what kind of plays to expect from Barou, Nagi and Chigiri. He also doesn't rely on Zantetsu to recognise these on sight—instead Niko does the watching and calls the next play out to him, using nicknames that Zantetsu will remember and understand.

Underrated moment that reinforces their character tropes to the reader: a watchtower, supporting the stupidly fast.

[presiding]

i wanna hear your recommendations!

a list with some stuff i like + a request for you to share yours :)

as a godless queer who spawned on earth randomly one time, my only holiday-season tradition is charity + passionately enjoying things. in lieu of passing my followers & mutuals $100 cash, have a random variety of things you might like to try - i know we're an international bunch so your mileage may vary on what you can access. in the spirit of giving i am hoping for some recs 🎁♥

disclaimer these are just things i like i am not paid. would be great. but.

yo ho ho if you read comics & manga but always found it to be a pain in the ass to source online, here's the aggregator app of your dreams: tachiyomiJ2K. real. not clickbait. android only tho. the extensions mangacute, mangadex, allanime, and mangareader, are good places to start. as a creator, i'm always iffy about recommending this kind of thing because i'd much prefer you went out and brought the things you're reading, however i'm not under any illusions about which era we're in, media-wise and economy-wise

gemma! - webcomic what if corvo was a woman and young emily was a dragon and they went on adventures in a fun fantasy/adventure way that is Extremely Gender. pictured: gender. god i want to be her > is this the greatest webcomic of all time? no. is it that sweet spot between 'mindless fun' and 'good'? yes. you get me

laksa noodles the more intl friends i have the more i realise that laksa isn't common everywhere. don't let that stop you from trying it. ultimate comfort food. hearty noodly soupy goodness. worth seeking out fr

ways of seeing - mini-documentary so profoundly changed the way i think that i had been wanting to revisit it and so was delighted to find its all on youtube. if you're an artist or want to improve your ability to critically think about what you're seeing in media, this is a must-see. link or embedded>

FUCKING GOOD AND CHEAP GREEN TEA price comment won't apply to everyone this site offers great prices for high quality tea direct from the farm. been buying from here for years and its always amazing - i love the houjicha/roast green tea, and if you like green tea but always wish it was stronger without sacrificing taste or becoming bitter, i recommend genmaicha matcha-iri, which uses matcha to intensify the flavour. yum

incense body powder being a perfume nerd who is prone to migraines sucks. if you like spices and good incense - not the $2 kind that you use to hide cigs from your parents but rather the kind that smells like wandering into a forest temple - you'll love incense body powder. it lasts well and i'd most compare it to a softer, more gourmand comme des garçons Incense series 3 kyoto. shoyeido is the easiest to source as far as i can tell, but other brands make it too. USD$11 - cheaper than even cheap perfumes tbh - the bag will last you years. if you try this please tell me i'd love to know what you think!

anyway!! i wanna hear your recs if you have any! can be any type of thing that has recently improved your mood or changed your life or you think someone else might like?

anyone reading can go for it, consider this a carte blanche for recommendations. gonna tag a few people - you don't have to of course thank you love you <;3 @lapinneok @dangerousdan-dan @arosebyothernames @headcrabrave @corvidad @neznoodles @retired-crow @corpseprince @i-really-hate-creating-usernames @geminison @fakeshibe @skemford @loveofdetail + please feel welcome if not tagged! edit OH @nekon-ron i tried to tag your old URL. ha

[cursedvibes]

Hi Cursedvibes, just want to ask for your thoughts on Thepersonperson's JJK 268 - 270 dream theory, if you don't mind.

I don't know that blog's specific theory, haven't read the whole post and it has been a while since I skimmed it, but I assume it's pretty much the same thing everyone else bringing up the theory has been saying. I'm generally not a fan of the "it was all a dream" trope. Any variation of it I've seen has just felt cheap or killed emotional investment/tension. Didn't like the Infinite Tsukiyomi in Naruto and Gege copying it with the merger or Yuuji's domain doesn't make it better.

Even if this is a dream, I don't see a reason for why it is necessary then to waste a whole chapter on nonsense bickering and addressing fandom criticism. This being a dream doesn't change that Gege is rushing things and dragging them out in other places. Like, if you're gonna make a dream, at least make it interesting and not bore your readers out of their minds that they are basically hoping for all this to be fake, so it makes an iota of sense. Maybe it would be better if we knew there was more to build on the dream sequences, but there's only one chapter left and I don't think a potential Part 2 will make things more interesting.

One thing I'd like to mention also is that I think all this tamtam over Yuuji's appearing and disappearing fingers and Megumi's scars is really not that deep. The same thing has been happening all throughout the Shinjuku fight and Gege didn't comment on it every single time because it's a reoccurring issue that has been fixed in volume releases. I'm not surprised the same would happen with Megumi's scars, since he just got them and Gege isn't used yet to drawing them.

So in short, not a fan of the theory, hope it doesn't happen but honestly at this point I can't really bring myself to care. In one week we'll get the last and hopefully final chapter of jjk and know for certain anyway. I can't say after the last 5 chapters that I'm very curious about how the manga ends, I just want it to be over. Sorry, I can't really give more of an answer.

[masodemic]

Have you given any thought to the fact that perhaps a Japanese stage showing in Japan for a Japanese audience will perhaps not be a complete and totally faithful match to the English translated interpretation of the series and characters? 10k words and yet most of your critiques are nitpicks based off your personal interpretation and vision for the project, when you have seemingly no context as to what this type of Japanese stage production usually entails. I'm not sure what exactly your vision was, but I don't believe it's anywhere close to the reality of stage productions in Japan. You bring up Takarazuka which is yet another indicator you have absolutely zero clue about what you're criticizing, as it is entirely separate from this type of stage in not only genre but also production, direction, and budget. I also don't think you have any concept of what the adaptation process actually entails; very frequently unnecessary characters and details are removed, glossed over, or combined. This doesn't equate to a "character assassination". A visual gag in a stage based off a manga which is primarily a comedy before anything else, especially in the early chapters, is not going to single handedly destroy the characterization of a character who, in the original work, is not even present. And bringing in an actor's age and physical acting choices in reference to a character you had never previously seen actually move? I'd like to see your ideal production of this work, though I'm not sure I'd have the time or patience for what would surely be a 3+ hours long, terribly unfunny and boring action play, based off your ideas of what have been done "wrong." Having your critiques is entirely valid, but waiting to drop a 10k word essay into the main tags while having absolutely zero cultural context for the genre of production you're speaking on while the stage is actively running and fans are attending just makes you seem like an overly negative, disrespectful elitist, sorry. Things will simply differ from a 10+ year old English translation when the story is presented in its source language to an audience of native speakers who will pick up on language specific comedy and tones. Really, I'm sorry, but you and the alleged others who dislike this stage play are not and will not be the target audience. Maybe Japanese 2.5d musicals are just not for you.

Hi!! Thanks for taking the time to ask me a question, I love how passionate you are about my rant. Really really appreciate the fact that you've spent god knows how long reading it making a thoughtful response 💖

One thing I'd like to clear away is that I read the manga in its original Japanese, the Showa Japanese so to say. I put the English translation here and there for people who might not read Japanese but still want to understand the screenshot. But sorry to everyone that I was not consistent.

Regarding my opinions on the musical I want to clarify that personally speaking I still believe Eroica could very well work as a musical. And like I said, I do not mind characters being different, Dorian was a bit different and he did good. I also wouldn't have minded if they wrote a new story while keeping the spirit of the OG work. However this particular production stripped it of whatever energy and humor it's got which is a real shame because Eroica is ... well, Eroica.

And thanks again btw, for wanting to see an Eroica musical staged by me. I'm sure it's not likely because licensing is such a bitch but good faith good faith 🤞🏻 It will be 12 hours long and everyone will be singing in avant garde made-up language wearing hooded capes

Hopefully most fans will be able to catch the show this second run around, it's an experience for sure, whether you think it's good or bad

[shakespearean-snape]

Hi there! so glad to see you posting again I like a lot of what you have to say about Snape. I noticed you say a few times tho that your visual headcanon for Snape isn't conventionally attractive and I just wondered if you had any reference of what he looks like in your mind? An actor or other famous person? just someone like that?

I'm just curious how you imagine Snape because I admit I just see Alan Rickman as Snape in my head since I started with the movies as a kid and didn't read the books a few until years later. It always interests me so much when people say they read the books before the movies or read the books with the movies coming out and saw Snape as someone else.

Its ok if you can't think of anyone just thought I'd ask. thx!

Hello!

*waves enthusiastically like an idiot with zero chill*

I get so giddy when someone sends me an ask like this so I hope no one thinks I don't enjoy questions about Snape or my headcanons. As anyone who knows me knows, I think a lot and especially about those things I love so I always have lots of thoughts rolling around in my head I can be positively overeager to share with anyone interested.

So to answer your question, I don't have a specific person pinned down that is 100% like how I picture Snape in my mind but some close candidates would be a young Adrien Brody (which I think is common enough among Snape fans as a choice, right there with Adam Driver these days), obviously the man that JKR based Snape around, John Nettleship, someone like Adarsh Jaikarran as a potential Hogwarts-era and early 20s Snape (even if he is more good-looking than I usually lean, in some pictures he just channels Snape vibes for me quite a bit) and a very young Julian Richings if you've ever seen photos of him in his younger years (I have two here for you so you can see my point a bit, here and here).

Ironically, Julian Richings in the later years of his acting career would probably have been my first choice for a Voldemort fan cast back in the day when any Harry Potter reboot was purely in the realm of the hypothetical (I mean, c'mon, look at this and tell me you can't see it too) but as JKR is an unapologetic anti-feminist/TERF I provide no monetary support to any of her projects including any licensed games, the watching of future reboots or purchasing of future tie-in books in the HP universe, officially licensed HP merchandise, or even by giving traffic to what was formerly Pottermore, etc.

All I bring to the fandom now is my fan theories and love for Snape, which she not only does not benefit from but never seemed entirely at peace with given how the character got away from her and took off. I can't think of a better way to spite someone so utterly spiteful herself than to take the character she was most shocked by people loving in any capacity and celebrate him in every incarnation (gay, bi, trans, ace, autistic, poc, etc.) with my queer, gender-nonconforming little heart while she gets zero money off me for it.

Anyway I hope the visual guide gives you a little more insight into my mind. I've never seen Snape as "ugly" (even when I joke my Snape is "ugly" and I like him that way) but my mental picture of him is of a man whose looks might fall into that unconventionally attractive sphere or what some people call homely. Occasionally I veer off that a bit, as with Adarsh Jaikarran, oh, oh! And also Lee Soo Hyuk, Song Jae-Rim and Kento Yamazaki (ever since I saw him in the live-action Bloody Monday manga series adaptation)!

But yes, my favorite Snape and the Snape I love isn't usually model attractive but also not quite the gargoyle Harry describes (that kid had some ridiculously high standards of beauty tbh, about the only characters he didn't have mentally critical notes on their appearance was the unnamed Veela, Fleur, and Narcissa Malfoy so yeah he totally thought "Draco's mom has got it going on..." Lol!) but somewhere in that "unconventional" categorization of attractive which I feel really suits a man who so often defies easy categorization in general.

(Excuse all the edits. After I gave a few examples more started hitting me and I was like ohhhhh I should have shared them, why didn't I think to share them? So I may come back and make more edits throughout the day, no promises I won't! Lol)

[kafkaoftherubble]

做工前，聊一下JJK 245

This rambling is about Chapter 245 of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga!

Anime only, please turn away and feast your eyes on Itadori's Goat Moment (more like a Pyrrhic victory, damn) instead!

Yea, this chapter ain't doing it for me.

There's this faction in r/Jujutsushi that thinks most of a reader's criticism against C245 is because of how Confiscation ultimately worked. Instead of taking away Sukuna's Cursed Technique, it takes away his cursed tool (christened "Dumbell Maracas" by me) and leaves Sukuna's techniques and CE intact. Our heroes seemed to have not gained any purchase.

Then people, like the dude in the link above, would explain that this is literally how Confiscation should work in the real world, i.e. "taking away possessions such as guns." This KLReviews fella summed it up really well: "He (Sukuna) can pay his fines so the Judge charges him."

After ghost-reading Reddit for a bit, I've come to expect this emerging pattern every time after a rebuttal-against-criticism post like this one: a certain subset of people begin to believe that all critics have only one "actual" argument against the chapter—and the rest are just their emotions and biases talking. This time, the Actual Argument, in their mind, is "the problem with Confiscation." Then, with a rebuttal like this post existing, critics of C245 now somehow lose ground and can only rant more or less from being butthurt over their feelings or unrealized headcanons.

But really, what if our criticisms aren't centered on the blueballing of Confiscation?

I was really excited to see C244 be devoted to the gang trying to workshop a plan based on Japanese laws so that their capricious Judge Shinigami could mete out the best sentences for their advantage. The previous chapters had been balls-to-the-walls insane—to me, the chapters recalled Stephen Chow's "Mo Le Tau" style comedy I'd grown up on. I'm sure the Japanese reader and others will be reminded of their own familiar kinds of comedy styles—and even managed to give us insights into Takaba's psyche.

With C244, I was really getting ready to see the battle becoming a (brief?) legal procedural drama where it became a bit of a showdown of wits between Sukuna, Itadori, and Higuruma. What defense will Sukuna shore up? What critical hits will Higgy bring up?

I was so ready that I haunted my amazing ass friend who dabbles in law and pestered them to give me a crash course or an essay about things. Man, I learned quite a lot just from the conversation at the tail of C244.

Sukuna was always told to be this genius chessmaster with high IQ and whatnot, so pitting him in a courtroom drama and watching him quickly learn the ropes would have been the best show-not-tell ever. And yes! A little insight into Sukuna's backstory would be a great bonus. I'm not badgering Gege over that, but I know a lot of others care a ton about this for good reasons.

And if his Cleave and Dismantle were Confiscated, well, we would be able to see how good Sukuna throws down with pure Cursed Energy + Cursed Tool (that Dumbell Maracas) and, of course, his "⬛: Open" secret technique. However, this is again, beside the point.

I really wanted to see Sukuna show his chops in an arena beyond fighting, even if just a bit. And I thought it was the best arena for our protagonists to even the odds, too.

But no. Sukuna just went I AM BORED "Skip Ad" and then the verdict and then hooray, his Dumbell Maracas was the one Confiscated and he had his CT and CE intact. Don't worry; I'm sure Sukuna will win and get his confiscated tool back, too. It's literally in his contract that he cannot lose—it's like Steven Seagal, but way less pathetic.

Someone even had the audacity to say that this """proves""" Sukuna is "very high intelligent" because he "predicted" he's gonna face Higgy and so had this Dumbell Maracas at the ready to thwart Higgy's domain. Bruh. Can brain cells also be pulled out of an ass?

Because this specific show of intelligence is also kinda... ass-pully. Why would Sukuna know this would happen if Higgy himself didn't, and that this had never happened before in Higgy's Domain Expansion career? It's as if Sukuna had read the script and had a hand in its writing while everyone is at the mercy of Gege's chef skills. You know, the way we readers are, too.

I couldn't find this^ comment in that Reddit post now. It's probably nestled too deep in some of the threads.

I really don't mind Sukuna winning the court case in Higgy's Domain; most of us predicted that. Again, Sukuna Seagal. It's the process. The meat of the writing is in the process and Gege flunked that one with yet another instance of lazy writing. Come now! Takaba vs. Kenjaku was really good. I thought it signaled a momentum. It didn't.

C245 disappointed me for what I see as yet another case of "lazy writing" masquerading as "ineffable maverick subverting expectations while "clearly" setting up the twist at the beginning."

Yea, no. I'm not convinced. I translated enough hack novels and logic-challenged self-indulgent power fantasies as my work, that I can kinda catch what lazy writing looks like. This fits the bill.

Last thought: I honestly don't know why some people are so allergic to criticismS against a cherished author. CriticismSSSS. With plural. Lest one somehow believed it was "just one valid criticism (which I then rebutted!) and the rest are all dudes melting and seething". Also, hey, I'm not abandoning the JJK ship. I like the stuff. I can feel disappointment and dismay precisely because I like this stuff. It happens. You sometimes don't love everything about this thing.

Thank you for reading my ramble.

------ ----- --------

Links in this rambling, in order of appearance, will take you to:

r/Jujutsushi - "Catered, in-depth, text-based manga discussion of the series Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami. "

comedytradeschool.com - "MASTERING THE ART OF COMEDY: UNRAVELING THE GENIUS OF STEPHEN CHOW’S NONSENSE HUMOR." It divulges a bit on this style of comedy.

An additional entry to understand "Mo Le Tau" is in Wikipedia.

--------

Tagging @karasukarei because this is the rant I have been holding up, but I waited for the official chapter to drop before going off anyway 😂. For specifics we discuss in Discord hahaha EVEN THOUGH I SHOULD BE WORKING

[natsubeatsrock]

Ranking Fairy Tail Death Fakeouts

I'm not posting frequently enough to make joke posts.

We've had quite many death fakeouts in this series. 

That statement alone is an indictment on Hiro Mashima, who has gone on record to say that he enjoys writing characters in situations where it seems they died but survived.

I figured I'd rank as many fakeouts as I remember from best to worst. 

I tried to limit myself to situations where it was clear that we should think the situation led to death. However, things got out of hand. (You'll see.) Bear in mind that some involve groups of people who we thought died.

While this is my ranking, I tried to stick to these criteria in ranking them.

Should they have died otherwise?

Does their return make sense?

Is the series better for their return?

We're starting with the best version of this trope. 

Fairy Sphere was the best death fakeout, and I'm not sure people would expect it to fit these criteria.

Everyone on the island thought they would die. They accepted their fate in Toy Story 3 style when the Black Dragon came and blasted Tenrou Island, leaving only a crater. 

That's good games, folks.

However, the return makes sense. Those members were at a sacred spot for their guild. While we know Mavis' body isn't on the island now, we've seen her powers at work earlier in the arc. Mavis using one of the guild's most powerful spells is reasonable. It activated because of their shared spirit, leading to the Grand Magic Games.

I've criticized Mashima's handling of training in series, especially in the Grand Magic Games. Their return was a genius idea. Time skips happen often in anime and manga, but few function as this did. The heroes have to play catch-up with the rest of the world. The execution wasn't the best, but this was one of Mashima's best ideas in the series.

Speaking of Mavis, I think her death fakeout was the best individual example. This might be because we didn't get enough reason to believe there was anything past her death. If you could make a phantom image of yourself, wouldn't you put yourself in your prime? We had no reason to believe she died at the age we saw her. 

I'm not the most supportive of Zervis, but I like this as a death situation. The good news is that she didn't die from the curse of contradiction. While it's a bit sketchy, I do like that there are attempts to keep her alive as soon as possible.

Her continued existence as Lumen Histoire (I prefer this name to Fairy Heart) was foreshadowed amazingly. It was a situation that affected all the major arcs from its mention to the end of the main series. Of course, after escaping Lumen Histoire, she continues to impact the series for the better. The Larcade/August situation is a mess, but I don't think it hurts Mavis' return.

Speaking of which, Lisanna's fakeout was also really good. (Shocking, I know.) Let me start by admitting that this one is hurt by her lack of importance in the series. She hasn't taken out any major villains or caused dramatic character changes (unless you read my stories). It doesn't matter since we never really were led to think she would become a super relevant character.

As for the other aspects, she passes with flying colors in my book. She should have died on the mission based on everything we know about the situation. No one in the guild operates under the assumption otherwise, and it is taken for granted for two in-series years.

However, we never see her die in the manga. We hear about the events and get flashes of what happened. However, Mashima never shows us that she died, even after the series was extended past Phantom Lord. While the anime shows more of what happened, the director admitted he never planned to treat Lisanna as dead. Edolas as an escape for Lisanna makes more sense than people give it credit for.

Next up is Irene, whose situation is interesting. I should be madder about how that was handled. There didn't seem to be a reason for her to kill herself, especially given the justification of actually loving Erza. While Acnologia brutalizing her body was too much, that felt like the nail in the coffin. If she wasn't dead before, she was dead then.

However, the return itself isn't nonsensical. Irene was impressed by Wendy's enchanting skills during their battle. No wonder she would want to tag along with her temporarily. I do prefer this justification for Irene. She still wants to find a body of her own to host. I'm glad she's selfish about it.

This aspect was one of my favorite things about the sequel. It was great to see how Wendy and Irene interacted with each other. Often, it would be Wendy accounting for Irene in situations or Irene intervening in places where Wendy needed help. I wasn't a big fan of the resolution, but I did appreciate that it tied into the Knightwalker situation.

The last of the good returns is Gajeel. His death was another situation that was treated as a given. He was being taken to 'hell' at the end of his fight. This was almost a tragic end to the best ship in the Big 4. We recognize their mutual feelings only to be ripped out of their hands just as soon.

The genius of this moment comes in the timing of events. It's hard to explain this, but the events of the arc all overlap in weird ways. This fight happens as Natsu and Lucy hope Brandish can negotiate peace with August and Irene's meeting with Acnologia. While the portal closes, Irene is casting Universe One. The spell changes the continent's shape-up, so it's not out of the realm of possibility this brings Gajeel back into commission.

Honestly, Gajeel doesn't do a whole lot past his return. He certainly puts work in, especially in the sequel. However, he's not impacting the series like several other characters mentioned before, along with others to come. Though, even at this point in the series, he's nowhere near the focus of the series. Not to mention, he's always been a secondary character, so no meaningful change there.

Other people wouldn't count this, but I'm putting Silver next. I say I'm not sure because this is a rare example of a fakeout of a death fakeout. Silver was killed by Deliora all those years ago. However, he was brought back to life thanks to Keyes, who used him as a puppet and experimental rat. This makes sense as a reason for him to return. 

However, the lead-up to this revelation is pretty messy. We're led to believe he's Deliora for some time, among other things. (We'll get to him soon enough.) His most meaningful impact is giving Gray Demon Slaying magic. His role involved setting plot points before their fight, like freezing Sun Village and capturing Natsu.

I'm not a fan of Jellal's return. This could be a higher ranking. The circumstances surrounding his supposed death are reasonable enough to think he died. We'd probably assume he was gone forever if it weren't for Mystogan showing up during Fantasia. Nirvana justifies his return. He's arguably made the most impact of anyone on this list.

So what gives?

Petty as it sounds, this version of Jellal bores me. Look at how Jellal acts before Nirvana and how he acts after it. Of course, this is because of what happened in the Tower of Heaven arc. However, I wish there was a way we could keep Jellal's snarky attitude while also being a heroic figure. Thank goodness Crimson Starbird wrote Kidnapping Erza. Speaking of which, his ranking is saved pending his joining Fairy Tail. It's a cliche ending to his arc, but a welcome cliche for a fan favorite. 

Moving down the rankings, God Serena is up next. This is another situation like Silver, where he died but was brought back to life. I don't like him or his return. I plan to talk about this later, but his death is made worse by the final battle of the main series. We're supposed to believe the power of eight dragons couldn't beat Acnologia. Yet the power of seven fire dragons can get the job done? No dice.

His importance in the sequel is to be noted. It certainly was a shock to see him come back. However, I don't think anyone was clamoring for this former member of the Spriggan Twelve to come back into the series. Brandish and DiMaria were more popular characters. I'd take my chances with the Dragneels coming back again. (You can tell this is a personal list.)

We have another fakeout in this list of death fakeouts because we have Igneel, Metallicana, Grandeeny, Skidarum, and Weisslogia. That's right, I'm putting all the dragons on this spot. This is another spot that feels like cheating because they did die all those years ago. All we saw was their last spurt of energy. That was enough to go toe to toe with Acnologia and destroy all the Face statues.

I want to like this one more. This was one of the best moments in the series. Still, I can't say that it makes sense for them to be back. I appreciate that this was hinted at, but the hints were cryptic. I'm glad the dragons destroyed the Dragon Seeds and Natsu's dreams. I can't put them any higher in good conscience.

I wish this next one was at the bottom, but I can't lie. I hate what happened to Ultear. I've talked about that much already. Last Ages might be the only thing I hate more than Nalu in Fairy Tail. That said, I can't act like it makes no sense to exist or that the results are shocking.

I can say that I'm annoyed by the future implications of this moment. I'd rather Ultear not be an active character in the series than see what's happened. Whenever I see Ultear do something, I can't tell if Mashima regrets his decision or is doubling down on it. This isn't anywhere frequent enough to piss me off more.

I'm going to throw Deliora next on this list. I'm not sure who counts for this list anymore. Let's start with the positives. His death was very well explained. The plot to revive him was interesting. 

However, this arc is among my least favorite in the series because of what happens when the ice melts. Outside of a version-dependent last roar, Deliora was always dead. While Moon Drip and Deliora's legacy matters moving forward, the real Deliora doesn't.

We're in the bottom three now. Fitting that the only man to be guild master three times is up next. Makarov's situation is a bit too weird. He only survived based on the technicality of Tenrou Island joining the continent when he went out. You probably didn't know that was a part of the deal. That's right. The only reason this can be justified isn't even common knowledge.

Honestly, there wasn't enough reason for Makarov to come back. The benefit to his return is that Erza can go on the Century Quest without worrying about being the guild master. I know that the Ghost Dragon Slayer was part of the guild, but that's not enough reason for him to not have passed leadership to the next generation.

This is another shocking addition to this list, but our second to last person is Kageyama. Technically, he was the first instance of this happening in Fairy Tail. During the Lullaby mission, he was about to free them from Erigor's trap, but he was stabbed before he could do anything. I could see this argued as not truly being a death fakeout. However, I'm counting it because it wouldn't make sense to interpret his absence as not being a death. Then again, we are talking about him here.

You could also argue that his situation isn't as bad as other characters we've mentioned. However, he earns this spot because, by coming back, he causes more problems for the Strongest Team. Let's get this out of the way. Natsu should have left him in the trap, regardless of his feelings. But by being brought along, he betrays the group's tenuous trust in him and endangered guild masters from all over the land. If he threatened them, I'd bump him higher on this list. He served as a glorified delivery boy. Erigor could have been in the same place as him, fought Natsu, and lost. Nothing serious would have been lost.

But he's not the worst. The undisputed worst death fakeout was only ever going to one person. You know her. You love her, but nowhere near as much as she loves Gray. That's right, Juvia's death fakeout is the worst. (I can hear the Gruvians coming for me from a mile away.)

I've also discussed this situation too much for any person's sanity to be intact. But let's review what we've gone through in this list. Some character's death (fake or otherwise) makes sense, but not the return. For others, the return is pretty sensible, but not the death. Many characters are saved by their relevance after the fact. Whatever the case, some aspect of their situation has reasonable logic. The best characters make sense on all accounts.

Juvia's in a league all her own. Juvia's death was under ridiculous circumstances that strained believability. Her return was arguably just as bad, if not worse. I've heard plenty of people talk smack about Lisanna's comeback. You can't tell me with a straight face that this is better. At least people didn't expect Lisanna to return at all, least of all the chapter after she was revealed to have died. That would be enough to earn this spot on its own.

What cements it for me is that Mashima decided to shoehorn her into nearly every arc of the sequel. I won't go so far as to say I wish Juvia was dead so the ship wouldn't happen. But is Juvia living to fuel one of Mashima's sloppiest ships ever to head towards being canon that good a tradeoff? By the way, this whole situation shaped Gruvia's current trajectory. Considering that happens to be one of the worst things about the sequel, I feel comfortable putting this return at the bottom of this list.

Let me know what you think. If I left anyone on this list, I'd be shocked to find out.