#and since I am half-japanese I can post in Japan Time

[writingwithcolor]

Japanese Q Speedround: Google Is Right There

Hi, it’s mod Rina. It’s time to speedrun some asks. 

@troublsomeidiots​ asked: 

I'm writing a character who is both black and Japanese and lives in japan in a primarily Japanese area and wanted some help in writing a person who is biracial who lives in primarily homogenous society? Like what kind of struggles she would face, especially as a person who has never met anyone who is black other than in passing?

Open Youtube. Hit search bar on Youtube. "being black in japan" "half black half japanese in japan" "black hafu in japan". Try different combinations of keywords. Bon voyage.

(neither Marika nor I are Black. We will not be speaking to experiences we do not have.) (we can outsource to some of our friends if you ask a specific question. These are not specific questions.) 

(Black Japanese readers--please feel free to comment if there’s something you want OP to know!)

@layzeal​ asked: 

Hello! I have a question regarding family/last names in Edo period Japan. My story takes place in 1816, my character was born in 1796 from a commoner family (that she gets separated from a few years later, and in a different country).

I've read that regular people in Japan didn't adopt the use of family names until Meiji restoration, but I'm not sure how true that is. Would a family of commoners in that period carry a family name, or would they only use their first names? And any idea if that family would have to present a last name when moving/passing by a different country that does use them?

It's important for me to know, since the existence of a last name or not would quite heavily influence how hard it'd be for the family to meet again, and which means would be used. Thanks in advance!

When I gave Google some keywords from your query, the second result explained how pre-Meiji commoners without family/clan names used bynames to distinguish themselves, and gives additional data on them. Maybe give it another Google? 

@weavefeather asked:

Hello, I am a writer and I really need some advice. I am wotking on my book since a few years, maybe 2 or 3, and I finally got the points together how it could begin. My plan is that my MC (named Nanami Kudo) is an lawyer of the FBI and has to go to her homecountry Japan, beacuse they send her to foreign investigations about a syndicate of people.....  And the some things happen, like her brother who still lives in jp doesn't really welcomes her, some complications with the police and so on... 

But thats not the point! Im really struggling to take in words how she gets to the other country, leaving her home behind and her partner she worked with. Do you have any advice on it, maybe how to structure it, some words or scenarios that fit?

How she gets to the other country: …..She flies there.

How US government agents/workers relocate and what the experience is like: That's your job to google. We are not government agents. Try anecdata on reddit, reddit AMAs, and Quora.

It’s unclear what her relationship/proximity to Japan is. What kind of nikkei is she? Is she mixed race or monoracial? How much Japanese can she speak? So many unknowns. Go read our Japanese tag and appreciate just how many ways one can be a Japanese person. Until then, you are nowhere near close to being able to write a nikkei homecoming plot. 

Lastly, you are the author. Give us scenarios yourself and come back to us.

In Conclusion

Guys, you all gots to google some more. It’s beneficial to both of us: not only do we get to help with more specific things and have enough info to do so, but you don’t have to wait months until your ask comes through the backlog only to receive an answer you could have researched in anywhere from a couple days to 3 minutes. 

~ Rina

“But Rina, I don’t know how!” 

You’re in luck!

First, try one of our own post on Google shortcuts. 

Second, stay tuned for some very relevant posts...

COMING SOON: WWC’s A Beginner’s Guide to Academic Research

[mah-o-daryaa]

ATLA Modern AU: Avatar Edition

This is going to be a slightly different post. I don't think people ever consider the past Avatars in an AU set in a modern setting. Where do you think they would come from, if they had IRL nationalities?

For sake of simplicity, let's say the AU takes place in the United States, since most ATLA Modern AU fics I've read take place there, mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area. We could also use NYC as the setting, since Republic City is roughly based on 1920's Manhattan. I think this task would be much easier if we consider the real-life influences for each of the four nations. I'll be using this post as a reference for these influences.

For example, the Air Nomads are based off of Tibetan Buddhists with some Nepalese and Bhutanese influences, so it would be pretty obvious to make Aang Tibetan in a Modern AU. The same would also go for Yangchen, although I would personally prefer Bhutanese or Sikkimese Yangchen because the Western Air Temple (I'm not talking about the episode) is inspired by Bhutanese cliffside temples. Another option would be making both Aang and Yangchen part of a Tibetan diaspora living in India. Kyoshi, being half-Air Nomad, would also be of Tibetan ancestry.

The Fire Nation is inspired by a combination of Chinese and Japanese cultures, while Ember Island being inspired by Southeast Asian, mostly Thai and Cambodian culture. In a Modern AU, I can see Roku being Thai, while Wan and Szeto would most likely be Chinese, Szeto is from Hong Kong/Macau. I also have a particular desire for Korean Wan, for no other reason than the fact that his VA, Steven Yeun, is Korean. I also wouldn't mind Wan being part of a Chinese diaspora from Malaysia or Singapore.

The Earth Kingdom, being the largest and most diverse of the four nations, is inspired by many Chinese dynasties, various ethnic minority groups in China, and even other Asian cultures altogether. However, we'll be paying attention to one specific cultural influence in Kyoshi's appearance: Heian/Edo Japan. She wears samurai gear and kabuki makeup. How in the name of the Moon Spirit am I not supposed to make Kyoshi Japanese (half-Japanese, anyway)? Kyoshi Island, formerly known as Yokoya, is literally ATLA's equivalent to Japan in the real world. There are even Ainu influences in Kyoshi Island, what with the clothing of the people in Suki's village.

The last nation is the Water Tribes, and the last two Avatars left are Kuruk and Korra. Now, the Water Tribes actually have a more diverse range of cultural influences than what we might expect. According to both @atlaculture and @kkachi95, the SWT is based on Inuit, Yupik and other First Nation peoples, with some Polynesian influences as well. The NWT, in addition to these influences, is also influenced by Mongolian and Siberian peoples. Since Kuruk is from the NWT, in a Modern AU, he would probably be Siberian, mostly Yakut, but I wouldn't mind Mongolian Kuruk either. For Korra, since she is half-NWT and half-SWT, I think she would be mixed like Kyoshi, except Korra would probably be half-Inuit, half-Yupik. I also want Kuruk and Korra to be part of a Mongolian or Central Asian diaspora living in Russia (I'll admit, I'm only saying this because I really want them to speak Russian), but that probably wouldn't work due to the differences in their cultures in-universe.

I have an idea for a Modern AU involving the Avatars, as well as their backstories for said AU, but that's for another time. For now, I turn this question over to you guys, and I want to know your thoughts on my nationality headcanons.

[wrens-versus-the-world]

Intertwined With the Inhuman

Hehe :D Heres the first chapter!

Cross posted on wattpad under Dontjudgemepels

chapter one: and so it begins

(next chapter: 2)

as I looked at the letter for the fifth time today, I still couldn't believe it.

I, Y/n L/n, got a free ticket to japan and a free ticket back as well. I am so happy that I kept entering into those raffles!

I packed up my bags and prepared every thing that I may need while in japan. Another thing that I'm happy about is that, since I kept entering into the raffles I have quite a lot of yen, as well as a free hotel room and some free- non- expiring tickets to various events, which makes my life as a college student extremely easy, and my summer all the more fun!

I texted my group chat:

three best friends in a room:

depression (jerry), Cat lover(you), and smart one (cherry (cher for short))

Cat lover:

I'm so excited, but I'm also sad, since I won't see y'all and I cant afford to pay for the out of county wifi. D:

Smart one:

Well, that part sucks but japan is a safe country, and plus It'll be a good way to relax after the school year. those finals were rough

Depression:

thats for sure, those finals fucked me up, I didn't sleep for four days to study and then right after them I slept for two and a half days straight!

Smart one:

...

Jerry that's not safe.

anyways...

Y/n take lots of pictures, get us souvenirs and have fun! that's the best thing you can do okay! And if you ever feel unsafe just call the cops on a public phone, okay?

Cat lover:

see this is why you're my smart friend, And I'll try to keep that in mind... Anyways, I have a flight early in the morning, love y'all I'll try to take lots of pictures and get you gifts and food lol! ttyl

depression:

...

I thought i was your smart friend too...

Cat lover:

You are!!

depression:

yea sure, anyway, have fun loser, we'll miss you

smart one:

...

cat lover:

...

depression:

?

cat lover:

awww you'll miss me :D

*depression has logged off*

cat lover:

pft...

Smart one:

ignore him, he's right tho, we will indeed miss you! so you'd better have enough fun for all of us! love you, and get to bed

*Smart one has logged off*

I turned my phone off smiling to myself, my friends are so great!

Time skip: the next day (3: 30am)

I ran around the house making sure I had everything, seeing that I did, I called my uber and let them know to pick me up.

I walked out the door, and brought my suitcases out with me, and sat at the curb to wait.

while I waited I decided to play some honkai star rail, since I wouldn't be able to play it in japan (no wifi and all)...

the sound of a car pulling up brought be back to reality, and a girl with rich dark skip stepped out, "are you, Y/n, the cat lover?" she asked.

"yes, are you Trina...?" I asked unsure.

"yes! yes I am, okay hop in, let me help you with your bags." she beamed.

the ride to the airport was nice, the time flew by as I talked with trina, she was a really nice person. As we talked I found out that she also played star rail and we bonded over that, at the end of the ride we made sure to exchange ids (in game).

I made my way into the airport after saying goodbye to trina.

After checking in, checking my bags, and going through security I went to sit at my gate (for the flight).

Time skip: In japan

the voice of the flight attendant woke me up:

"Welcome to japan, and thanks for flying with our airlines!"

and she said that i looked out the window, to see the airport in japan, it was quite something (especially knowing i went across the globe to come here).

"we will now begin un-boarding."

Time skip: at the hotel:

the hotel was beautiful, the pictures did it no justice. The hotel was supposed to be a more modern twist on a traditional japanese design.

There was a closet, a bathroom and plenty of other things in the suite.

I unpacked some into the room, putting my clothes into the closet, my toiletries into the bathroom, and organizing everything else.

after I was settled in and had showered I looked at my To-Do list

1- go to a shrine

'seems simple enough' I thought to myself as I changed into a modest outfit, and grabbed the map, smoothly making my way out the door.

Saying goodbye to the staff as I left and letting them know that I'd be out. (Y/n speaking no japanese the staff thankfully speak english too)

the staff were even nice enough to point me in the direction of the shrine that I wanted to go to.

thanking them, I ran out the door, eager to get there! I made my way down the roads following their directions.

after a while, I found myself lost.

"that's okay I have my phone, Gps is good for this." I said to myself as I pulled my phone out.

"no wifi"

"...l-I forgot about that." I said as I read the error message that showed up as I tried to use the gps app.

as I was cursing my luck a blue haired male bumped into me causing me to drop my phone.

"Sorry miss, here let me get it for you" he said as he bent down and grabbed my phone. handing it to me when he stood back up.

"oh don't worry about it, thanks." I responded

'he's so nice'

I looked up at him to meet his eyes only to be met with a mask covering them.

"say, sir, I'm lost do you mind giving me directions to the shrine." I asked, inwardly hoping that I wasn't bothering him.

"Why of course." he said as he continued to give me the directions

"Thank you so much" I said as he finished, " I really owe you one-"

I was about to offer to buy him coffee but I was interrupted by the shout of a mad in a black coat and glasses, with black hair.

"Dottore! we're going to be late." he shouted

'oh'

"I'll let you get going, sorry to take up so much of your time, thanks again." I said to him as I made my way to the shrine, finding it much easier now that i had clearer directions.

Time skip: at the shrine

I got a fortune slip, and some pictures for my friends. and on the way to the shrine I happened to see a traditional dango stand... so I had to get some

it was very good, Jerry would be very jealous.

The sun started to set, so I finished up my time at the shrine, concluding it by ringing the bell three times and praying.

time skip: at the hotel

It was so fun, as I came back into the suite room I set down my shoes and got ready for a shower, where I washed up for bed.

after the shower I put some of the things I got for my friends into my empty suitcase, before getting into the bed.

Sighing contently, I turned to the lamp next to me and turned it off. trying to get comfortable in the bed (you're wearing a robe to sleep in btw).

as I let my eyes wonder I was met with some lifeless blue eyes.

a small 'ah' left my lips as I shot up from the covers.

the eyes just stayed there, neither of use made an attempt to move.

"wh- what do you want?" I questioned quietly, almost a whisper.

as I said that the man began to move towards me , soon the bed dipped as he crawled towards me. we were face to face, I began to lean away from him, my body leaning into the mattress as his towered over me and leaned in closer.

if we had been lovers the position would have been romantic, but I had never seen this man.

I soon had no where to lean now and he was awfully close to my face. I turned my head away from him, which in turn gave him access to my neck, to which he buried his nose into, and he seemed to be swelling me.

"you smell so good" the ginger haired male said in a deep voice as he attempted to bury his head further into my next, where my neck met my collar bone.

when i suddenly felt something wet on my neck i reflexively pushed him, causing our eyes to meet once more.

"you're quite the interesting human, I wonder." he said as I shook slightly

"who-"

"why do you smell like dottore?" the ginger growled

at the name of the man I'd seen earlier I relaxed some, although i'm not sure why.

"huh, are you perhaps in some sort of relationship with that man?" he asked his voice laced with venom as he mentioned him. "Your body relaxed when I said his name."

I wanted to reply, I just couldn't find my voice.

'who was this man?'

"childe I do suggest you don't go marking that which isn't yours." a deep voice interrupted.

the two of us turned our attention to a grey older man, who was illuminated by the moon light.

the man's above me, childe, obliged and got off of me, which allowed me to sit up and scoot away.

looking at the grey older man once more, I noticed that he had some sort of mask covering half of his face. and I also noticed his eye and how it seemed to glow.

I gazed back to childe and noticed how he looked like dog following its master's rules.

"I do apologize about his behavior, it is almost the full moon and he must not have been able to control himself." the older man said.

I opened my mouth to speak, but ultimately didnt know how to respond, " Uh, I suppose it should be okay... as long as it doesn't happen again..." I said, unsure the entire time.

suddenly I saw a flash of blue and heard a thud.

childe was on the ground four feet from the bed, i suddenly felt two arms wrapping themselves around me, I looked around and I couldn't tell who's arms they were.

childe was on the ground and the older man's was still standing.

the person behind me began to lean down to where my neck met my collar bone.

"it's okay, it's just me" Dottores voice whispered against my skin and he loosened his grip on my waist, allowing me to turn around to see him.

In my fear ridden state I clung to him, my arms wrapped around his neck, and in turn his arms tightened around my waist.

"I'm sorry" I whispered to him, so quietly, that he almost didn't catch it.

he rubbed his hand on the small of my back and glared at childe, and said, "I don't know why you're apologizing, but if anyone should apologize it should be me."

His sudden confession caused me to look up at him, only for him to lean down into my exposed neck (the robe was now slightly disheveled now thanks to childe) and bit down, causing me to gasp in surprise.

a deep sense of sleep soon took over me, as I began to hear dottore gulp , and my vision faded in and out, before faded to black. 

A/n:

>:D 

How is everyone liking it so far? 

also, im glad people here (tumblr) are enjoying this far more than the people on wattpad (which is a little surprising to me, but anyways.)

[jasminesilk]

~ New Legacy Challenge Coming Soon ~

Hello again! I hope you've all been well. It's been far too long since I've posted anything on this blog, and for that I am sincerely sorry. Life has been a whirlwind for me the past few years, and unfortunately my love for the sims has had to take a backseat for quite some time.

As I've mentioned before, I have been splitting up my time between Canada, Japan, and now Hawaii too! For those of you who don't know, I am half-Japanese, half-American, and married to a Canadian - so I am very lucky to have 3 places to call home. This does, however, make my life very hectic as I'm constantly in a state of flux.

While I don't think I will be posting any gameplay for a while longer, I will be sharing my newest legacy challenge with all of you sometime THIS MONTH! I am currently in the process of writing it, and then I will be making some custom banners for each generation, so it may be closer to the end of the month when I'm finally done. Regardless, I wanted to announce it here for those of you who are still following me (thank you so much for that, by the way)!

If you're still active here on simblr, I would love for you to like this post so I can either follow you back or keep you as a mutual. I will be culling dead blogs out of my following list to have somewhat of a fresh start.

Wishing you all the best and sending you each my love.

xoxo, matchacake 🍵🍰

[shararan]

Visual kei, Anime & Arlecchino: a (light-hearted) design analysis.

While I haven’t talked much about it, Arlecchino has driven me crazy since the trailer for A Winter Night’s Lazzo dropped. Not only is she a welcome breath of fresh air to Genshin’s female cast, but her entire design and every single element of it speaks to one of my greater joys in life, that joy being Visual Kei. And so with the Fontaine trailer out I thought I’d do an attempt at going through what aspects of Arlecchino can be compared to common styling elements within visual kei, but also how they can be potentially attributed to the influence visual kei has had on manga/anime as a whole.

‼️ I want to proceed with the disclaimer that this whole post is only intended to point out elements of Arlecchino’s design which are common style elements in visual kei. I’m someone who has been into visual kei and its other related branches for about two decades, wore the style myself (among other japanese street styles) for a very long time, but ultimately I am also just one nerd raving about why this character design brings me joy. Visual kei as a style is by definition very hard to define as being any singular thing, and so my only intent is to compare for fun’s sake!

(I also want to point out that any potential errors, be they spelling or just wording, might escape my notice as an ESL-speaker with eye problems.)

➻ With all that out of the way, let’s start with a brief rundown for anyone who might not be familiar with the heart of this entire analysis: What is visual kei?

‘Visual kei’ as a term encompasses many things. While there are disagreements regarding the validity of calling it a musical genre, visual kei can nonetheless be summarized as an alternative musical genre and movement from Japan dating its origins back to the 80s. Influenced by contemporary glam rock, visual kei has since grown into its own distinct thing over the years with many various sub branches flourishing alongside it.

The ‘visual’ part of its name is the simple concept which defines it: The style is all about conveying the utmost possible of theatrics and extravagance, and it’s in fact just as important as the music itself. Combined these two things turn into the ultimate visual performance, an experience never to forget.

The factor which makes visual kei stand out from many other subcultures and genres is the way it deals with gender presentation. Given its theatrical nature, many looking in from the outside might be shocked by just how chaotically gender and expression is displayed.

Back in the old internet days you would occasionally stumble into memes poking fun at how you could never guess the gender of a performer at first glance; If it looks like a man it’s a woman, if it looks like a man it’s a woman and any other variety of that kind of notion. And it’s true! In fact, some of the most famous artists within the genre are also known for effortlessly turning gender expression on its head (Mana, Hizaki to name but two).

➻ So how does this relate to Arlecchino?

Not only has manga and anime sought inspiration from visual kei bands and artists for a very long time (and thereby influencing a lot of stylistic choices we typically associate with those forms of media), Arlecchino is also designed with that exact type of gender nonconformity all over her!

Let’s start with her hair:

Her hair is THE most obvious example to trace to visual kei. Not only is it one main color together with separated black sections (a very common dye combination), it’s also asymmetrically styled with typical spray straightened spikes and V-shaped/spiked bangs covering only half of her forehead.

Some were discontent to find out that she has a long ponytail, describing it as “feminine”. To me this only further strengthened her visual kei vibes, as it’s pulled back and down the back, separated from the shorter parts like a mullet. It’s not uncommon to see artists wearing hair extensions (both matching and mistmatching to the main hair color) in this exact manner, and the few but dramatic accessories she wears around the knot tying the hair on itself only serve to further enhance it.

Moving onto her face, Arlecchino might at first glance look just like any other anime styled character. However, I want to note that there’s a lot to the details here worth highlighting!

First off, she wears eyeshadow with very dark and sharp lashes and thin, upturned eyebrows. While there isn’t any one specific way of doing visual kei makeup, the fact remains that her eyes does resemble the typical key features that’s become commonly associated with the style since 00s. Her cross shaped irises also resemble the types of contact lenses some artists use.

As for her outfit, there are clear and obvious similarities to bands of the late 90s/early 00s: Ornate outer coat with ruffled sleeves, long pants with similar ruffle gathered around the shoes, waistcoat and fancy collar, as well as the highly decorated heels and claw-like nails on her gloves + rings.

While I couldn’t locate a specific picture unfortunately at the time of writing, gloves with metal claws or outright clawed gauntlets aren’t an unknown sight among very flashy visual kei bands.

This type of overall outfit silhouette displayed is, within the genre, obviously related to Elegant Gothic Aristocrat and western style Romantic Goth. Bands with this type of look might choose (but not always) to incorporate classical instruments and opera like vocals into their sound, as well as put a lot of emphasis on stage performances through the use of props, dancers and choirs. The first major bands to come to mind are Malice Mizer and Versailles, but I’m also reminded of ones such as Megaromania, Art Cube, Phantasmagoria etc.

However, in the case of Arlecchino there’s a somewhat “rugged” air to her overall look, which brings to mind bands during the mid 00s who would opt for a slightly trashier look, as well as a more chaotic heavier, sceamier sound. Leather and latex, shredded sleeves, chains, you get the picture. Bands coming to mind are the GazettE, (Old school) Dir en Grey, D’espairsRay, Born, Saruin, Exist Trace etc. If you combine the two types of flavours mentioned, I also want to mention UnsraW.

We also gain a peek of her ears between the spiked sections of her hair. While she has very simple style earrings, this of course is another common deliberate choice when styling the hair, particularly for artists whose ears are quite literally fully covered in jewelry.

While no particular look has any bearing on someone’s role in a band, this specific type of look is one I personally associate a lot with singers and front men. Highly fitting for Arlecchino whose presence demands your attention!

➻ Conclusion

Arlecchino mostly reminds me of bands that emerged and flourished during the mid 00s, but with strong 90s vibes as a cherry on the top. It’s also worth mentioning how aesthetically similar she is to the band Exist Trace, aka the arguably most famous female band in the genre.

It’s an extremely good mesh with the Fatui as the Tsaritsa’s theatre troupe, and its only more than fitting that Arlecchino debuts alongside Fontaine!

Obviously I cannot say for certain whether or not any of these points I made where deliberate design choices on Hoyoverse’s side (not just for Arlecchino but also other characters in Genshin who all have various degrees of the same influences) or if they’re simply a result of unknown influence. The influences visual kei has had on manga and anime cannot be understated, with many mangaka having drawn inspiration from visual kei bands and artists throughout the years (as well as other related but technically not visual bands such as BUCK-TICK and Guniw Tools) .

Many people assume that visual kei and other alternative japanese fashion subcultures drew inspiration from manga and anime, but it’s rather these styles that have served as the influence instead! Numerous bands have even lended their talents to create opening and ending songs to anime series. Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler is an obvious example of a series inspired by visual kei/ouji/lolita/aristocrat fashion and with visual kei bands performing for it.

All in all, this entire analysis is once again only meant to point out the various elements which makes Arlecchino so enjoyable to me personally as a character. Her look with the large coat in the trailer for A Winter Night’s Lasso made me super nostalgic to when I myself dressed that way on the daily, and when I styled it with a very similar jacket I had at the time. I don’t think people realize just how much contact they may have had with visual kei at first, and I tend to point this out often to people I meet when the topic comes up. I guess this was the essay format of that HAHAHA.

All in all, Arlecchino really speaks to me, both from a fashion but also (bi)gender point of view, and I literally cannot WAIT to finally meet her ingame once and for all!

[aquaburst3]

By popular request...or an anon commenting me last night about enjoying me creating posts about the flaws in TWST and wanting me to talk about the worldbuilding aspect specifically along with me having some free time between jobs, here it is!

Disclaimer: Keep in mind this is all personal opinion. If you enjoy the worldbuilding in the game and find zero problems with it, great! I don't care. You are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine.

Where do I even begin? The shorter question would be, "What isn't wrong with it?" xD But seriously, oh, boy—there's a lot. Hell, this is pretty much my go-to example how NOT to write an urban fantasy world.

The closest thing I can compare the world of TWST to is the movie Bright—and that's NOT a good thing. For those of you who never had the misfortune of watching that late 2010s trainwreck, it's about a cop played by Will Smith teaming up with an orc to retrieve a magic wand. Sounds cool, right? However, like with TWST, the worldbuilding is something to be desired. It's an alternate universe where two thousand years ago there was a big war between The Nine Races where the orcs supported the Dark Lord, but an orc defected and lead an army that defeated him. Despite everything, it's pretty much exactly like real life with a few added fantasy elements. It even brings up real world pop culture references, containing such cringey and problematic lines like, "Fairy lives don't matter" after the Will Smith cop squishes a pixie that's on par with a raccoon in that world.

The worldbuilding in TWST feels like that. It's exactly like real life but with a few Disney and fantasy elements slapped on top, like magnets on a fridge. There is hardly any deviation from real life. Things like planes, cell phones, methods of measuring, days of the week, etc all exist just as they do irl. When you stop and think about it, half of these things shouldn't exist and the other should be a little different.

Yana also never thinks of the implications all of this alternate history. Magic always existing and the Greek gods being real should have a huge ripple effect, creating a completely different history compared to real life, but yet it doesn't. Hell, the whole idea of knowing that the Greek gods are real alone would massively change world history, since they would be a proven concept, snuffing out every other religion in existence! The world should be more massively different than ours with Disney sprinkled on top. There's no imagination about how a world like this would work. To quote Lindsey Ellis, "You cannot import elements from our real world without including all of the history that comes with them. You can, but it's lazy, and it sucks." xD Sure, you can write a fantasy world with cars and stuff, but the histories and the ways those exist in those worlds cannot be the exact same. There must be some divergence for it to make sense.

None of the new worldbuilding elements sense or feels woven in. It feels like Yana tossing out whatever idea she comes up up with at the wall and seeing what sticks. A lot of it starts to fall a part or even contradicts itself.

Take the whole Stitch or Tsums events. The existence both of these imply that aliens exist. That brings up a lot of questions like...

What is this world's policy for alien life?

Are aliens well known entities for this world?

What are other's reaction to this?

How did his story play out in this world if that's the case?

Everyone in this world has a Disney counterpart, right? If that's the case, wouldn't that mean there's some TWST version of Stitch running around Night Raven?

Is any of this ever addressed? Nope. That's stupid. World shattering shit like that should be addressed. While I know these are probably more than likely corporate mandates, especially since Tmus are a Japanese Disney product while Stitch is super popular in Japan, she could've added a disclaimer saying that it's a crack au that has nothing to do with the canon. The fact that these are both canon is mind boggling.

Plus, both of these events create a giant plot hole. If aliens are known to exist in this world, then why the fuck can't Yuu go home? If aliens exist, wouldn't there be portals and other ways for them to go home? It just makes Yuu and the rest of the cast look like total dumbasses for never thinking of this!

It goes beyond stupid events, but happens in general. The game routinely brings up similar elements without thinking of their implications on the game as a whole. Take the whole existence of STYKs. It was never once brought up or foreshadowed in the game, but brings about a lot of questions that are hardly explored. Like if this has existed for hundreds of years, how the fuck hasn't anyone heard of it? If STYKS is attached has a branch which is like our world's, someone should've blew the whistle eons ago. Surely, someone as smart as Idia or another mage should've been able to hack them and expose that to the public. Right? Wouldn't there be more of a public outcry for stealing people away, including royalty? Wouldn't there be government oversight about this? None of these questions are never addressed. Yet that element is slapped in without a second thought. Same also goes for all of the new lore in regards to Lilia's past, those pointless prophet dreams or how Playful Land works.

The magic system and how overblot works also fall apart the more you think about it. According to the light novel, only one out of ten humans is a mage. The percentage goes up in other races, but it remains about the same. But that makes no sense. TWST isn't like the HP universe where mages are isolated from the outside world, they are a part of society. Wouldn't it be the DOMINANT gene after over centuries of mages fucking mortals? I think it being more like the ATLA or BNHA universe where mages are the majority would make a lot more sense. That's what I did in my fic. Hell, it would make the world more unique, because usually fantasy stories have it where mages are a minority.

How overblotting works is never fully explained. All that we know, despite being on the seventh fucking story arc, is that whenever a mage uses Okay, sure. But there are times where that isn't the case. Characters who hard use up any magic like Leona and Vil overblot. Even if you argue that they were emotional during those bits or something, wouldn't the other part play a bigger role, since they used up so little magic in those cases? How in the fuck is that unknown concept to the general public? Wouldn't that be common knowledge? Diseases like Alzheimer's aren't something that everyone experiences, but this existence of those things are still common knowledge. Hell, why is it extremely rare in the first place? Wouldn't it be more commonplace? I feel like having it be a biological consequence of a mage using up too much magic and it being a well known down side to the world like how it is in my writing makes a lot more sense and is much simpler.

The lore around the fae also make zero sense. Common elements in fae lore like never thanking them or accepting gifts from them for you owe them a favour to cream and honey making them drunk are never brought up or mentioned. These are not random tropes brought up in shit like Baldur's Gate 3, but ingrained shit to the fantasy genre. You can't strip them out, because it is what makes the fae, fae. Hardly any types of fae from folklore are ever brought up outside of dragons and Tinkerbell style pixies. Characters like Vil who act very fae like are completely human. To be honest, I genuinely get the sense that Yana has done no research into this topic at all, because that's how out of touch they seem compared to how they are in folklore and other fantasy series. But if that is actually the case, then she should've looked into it more or consulted another writer who knows a lot about it.

Plus, the whole idea behind Briar Valley also makes no sense. They are completely isolated from the rest of the world...because…well, nothing, besides possibly vague hatred of tech. That's dumb. Countries don’t isolate themselves for no reason. There is always some sort of explanation for them to do that, whether it's manufactured for political gain like Panem or out of protection like Wakanda. Seriously, am I the only one that thinks that Brier Valley is just the fantasy Amish? As for the Spinning Wheel Wars, that will be explored in more depth as the fics go on.

If you want to see a world similar to TWST done right, watch The Owl House. That series, too, has a modern fantasy world. Unlike TWST, it seems like a fantasy world with modern elements instead of the other way around. Despite having phone-like devices and manga, it feels like stepping into another world.

Either way, if you wondered why I came up with completely different worldbuilding for my fics—this is exactly why. The worldbuilding in this game is pure dogshit. I wanted to create something leaps and bounds better than the bullshit we got. The fact that me, an amuetur writer, gets complimented and praised for the worldbuilding in my fics and it being better then the game is truly sad. Yana is a seasoned professional with a published manga with dozens of volumes under her belt, she should be better at this than me, not the other way around! Same goes for @stormkitty97, because she helps me brainstorm ideas for my shit and uses it in her writing, too.

The biggest sin of all is that there are some genuinely really cool ideas in TWST. The idea of turning into a monster whenever you use up too much magic is terrifying. The story could've done so much more with that if it made more sense!

As much as I might get hate for saying this, Yana reminds me a lot of Stephanie Meyers in the sense that she can come up with cool concepts and ideas, but has no idea how to execute them properly. I would love to see a better professional writer tackle a concept similar to overblot, because it would be cool and scary in the right hands.

I think one big lesson that amuetur writers like myself can learn from the worldbuilding in TWST is that if you are a "Pantser", aka someone who writes on the fly, like Yana, great, all the more power to you. Hell, I confess that I'm more like Brandon Sanderson in the sense that I'm a mixture of both a "Pantser" and an "Architect" Writer, and I came up with some elements of my worldbuilding on my TWST fics as I was writing like the characters being able to teleport. But for fuck's sake, have a solid plan for your worldbuilding and stick with it. Because constantly throwing ideas at the wall beyond the outlining stage will eventually make these contradictions arise and make your world fall apart. Also, if you are building a modern fantasy world like TWST, always think through the implications each element bring. Adding in elements from our real world will always drag along all of the history tied with it. Having your modern fantasy world seem like TWST or Bright is the last thing you want.

[olderthannetfic]

Re: the second language discussion.

I think for a lot of people who speak English as a native language, it can be overwhelming to choose a second language. If you don't primarily speak English, it might be easy to choose it as a second language. (Actually, it's often taught right in school.) For English speakers, it can be difficult to choose as there are so many options, and without a recommendation for work or personal passion, someone might put it off forever thinking, "Well, many people speak English anyway if we had to communicate." If I did business with Germany or loved the culture and had every expectation of visiting or moving there, obviously I would learn German. I wouldn't expect every German to speak English for me. But if I have no such spark, it can be almost impossible to choose a language and even more difficult to stick with it. Which is what everyone I know has said.

It might also be easier to choose if a person's location borders a foreign-speaking nation or has many who speak a second language in the population. (Like eastern Canada speaking French.)

Yes, I had to have two foreign language credits to graduate high school, but it was not until high school that they bothered thinking we might want to learn a second language. The teachers did not care how much we learned. And there was no support system for continuing our studies after graduation.

Over the years, I've experimented with learning Spanish, Japanese, French, and glanced at one or two others. It can be difficult to commit, especially if you're out of school with no drive but your own. I've finally chosen Spanish and do daily lessons on Duolingo (which may not be the best teacher, but it is for my budget and schedule). And even then, I have several times considering abandoning my Spanish lessons to pick up French instead.

I greatly admire people who have learned English as a second language, and I am highkey jealous of their bilingualism. I just hope everyone understands that if a person already speaks English, sometimes one of the biggest things holding them back is the overwhelm of choosing a second language, which isn't obvious for everyone.

--

I'll post people's opinions, but I think my own views are pretty easy to guess.

English speakers come from all over, but many of us under discussion are from the US...

As a teenager, I went to a fancy high school with great language instruction. They had a whole Japanese program. I was a massive weeb. Hell, I was a japanophile of longstanding, even before I discovered manga and then anime.

I took Spanish.

As an American there is one very obvious language to learn. Blindingly obvious. And it even happens to be one with a massive vocabulary overlap and "simple" grammar from the perspective of English. Now, I admit that back in the 90s, it was a pain in the fucking ass to find any cultural products to practice on that were easy enough but also on any topic I'd find easy, but things are better today. (Of course, this is me, so none of that ever motivated me half as much as Las aventuras del capitán Alatriste.)

My Japanese was crap even after a lot of study. I remember this one time while I was working in Japan that I went to a craft fair—one of those temple markets in Kyoto. I was looking at a table of jewelry. The guy there said something about being sorry that he didn't speak English (in Japanese, I presume, though I don't remember anymore). I looked up and realized that the tan guy with long black hair I'd seen out of the corner of my eye was definitely not Japanese. I stammered out that I understood some Spanish but didn't speak it if he spoke that. It had been a few years since I'd taken Spanish, but I figured I'd remember enough. So he started explaining his artwork and the symbolism, the river of life, various cultural motifs, etc.

Fifteen minutes later, as we were discussing educational policy in his country and how his Native parents had been part of the generation to get English removed from the schools in favor of Spanish as the foreign language and Native languages as the primary medium of instruction, he looked up at me and said "Oh, you don't speak Spanish, huh?"

--

It's true that a bunch of dumb racists would scream if we tried to make Spanish part of all grade school classrooms in the US. It's also true that there is one most obvious language to learn if you're an American.

[sailxdia]

AHHHHH You're playing ace attorney, I'm so excited! You already have some great takes and observations! I won't reblog anything you've posted yet because I don't want anyone in the notes to spoil you, I'm having fun seeing you guess!

you'll get the Edgeworth backstory in this game

Some of the dystopian elements are built out of a satire of the japanese justice system which uuuh, is a lot more like this than we'd all like

Dick Gumshoe is best boy.

Don't be afraid to look at a guide/walkthrough some of the "logic" the game wants out of the player, especially in the early games is really obtuse.

The pun names only get worse XD

--😼🔪

I did say that one post post made me decide to go for it. Always nice to have an excuse to try out new games, and this one doesn’t require grinding so I mean a good boon there 😆

I’m really glad you’re enjoying my live blogging. Writing whatever thing comes out of my head while I play is kind of nice.

*) On that I’m SO excited I’ll get that backstory this soon. I am beyond 👀 for it. Just to have so much hints of how juicie it must be so early I have all my eyes and ears waiting for the reveal.

*) Yeeaaah though Japan has a bad justice system. I’ve been watching a lot of live action shows from Showa and just seeing how they treat the police even back then it’s like … all I wish is your country could finally fix that but in general I wish the police everywhere weren’t giant shits.

*) Dick is like a poor dog or something! Like he looks like he looks up to Edgeworth so much. totally idolises the man and wants nothing more than to do good by him. The guy is a lost puppy and is trying his best. He seems just as raised by the culture as Edgeworth is and they are both just doing their part in being in a bad mess of a system while wanting nothing but the best it’s so sad D : he trying so hard. He’s obviously comic relief but also he genuinely seems like that cop that’d try his best to help a crying kid who lost their balloon or help out a lost kitten just, innocent man in a bad world.

I know I’m overly cutieing him but it’s just he has such a giant soft heart it feels like and I don’t have good words. he’s a puppy for Edgeworth and also his attack dog against crime. He’s got a soft heart but a heavy hand. I want to see him grow since he seems to be a new-ish detective. I want to see him get more into his detective feet. Like he’s 30, but I can’t think of him having been head of the department for that long and suddenly being head is so much different than following your superiors’ orders all the time.

*) AND NO I’m glad you told me to, because a guide just told me I was right in what I wanted to do. I just have to press everything before I can do what I wanted to??? Which I would never have naturally tried especially when the game is actively having Write say there’s ’nothing to press on’. I feel freed now that I can continue again : D

*) THE PUNS ARE AMAZING I’m so glad to hear they went all in because IT SO WIMSEY in the MURDER game Give me some more WIMSEY MURDEr

I obviously just want excuses to ramble anything my brain tells me while i play this 🤣 I’m so new to these characters but they are written with such complexity it’s like a real living world. I swear it’s like a lot of modern games barely have half this level of writing.

[adachimoe]

Finding Inaba

When I visited Japan in April, I got the idea in my head to visit the region that I believe represents where Persona 4 takes place since I had just replayed it in January. But how do you go somewhere that isn't real? Anime and video game pilgrimages are a thing. The term 聖地巡礼 (pilgrimage to the holy land) is used in Japanese to describe visiting a real life location that was used in a fictional something or other you saw. If you read up on the SMT fan wiki, it tells you to go to Fuefuki in Yamanashi because it has/had buildings there that look like the ones from Persona 4. But I wanted something more "authentic". Rather than go see a building, I wanted to go to an area that I thought reflected the game.

At the start of the game, the protagonist leaves the big city (presumably Tokyo) behind and goes to a small nowheresville city in the sticks called Inaba and he gains a Persona named after Izanagi (one of the important figures from the Kojiki). Inaba is a fictional, but I believe that a mashup of somewhere in Shimane and Tottori makes sense as a "real" location for it.

The game has a lot of references to the Kojiki mythology besides Izanagi - like the name Inaba itself comes from the Hare of Inaba, and the protag goes to a high school called Yasogami High. The modern day equivalents to some of the areas used as settings in those stories can be found in the Sanin region, which spans part of Shimane and Tottori. The eastern half of the Tottori prefecture where Tottori city is also used to be called the Inaba area before it was folded into Tottori. Those 2 are also the least populated prefectures in Japan, contributing to the "small town" and "nowheresville" feeling.

Izanagi's sister/wife that he co-created Japan with, Izanami, is said to be buried on Mt Hiba in Shimane where the modern day city of Yasugi is. (Perhaps Izanami is hanging out as a gas station attendant around her tomb? Hmm.) And Iya, located near Yasugi, has a folklore site called Yomotsuhirasaka named after the entrance to the underworld which also gets referenced as a dungeon. I wrote about my visit there in another post.

The map of Inaba from the game would kinda look like the map of Yasugi if you flipped it upside too. 🤔

The Tottori area in particular also makes sense geographically as the gang could theoretically ride scooters to the beach for the summer event, there's nearby skiing areas for the February event, plus the cast could feasibly go on a class trip to Kobe (the city used as the basis for Iwatodai from P3) from Tottori in a few hours time for the September event. Perhaps Tottori City itself is the larger Okina City in the game?

As you can tell, I have thought about this a completely normal(?) amount because I am unsatisfied with the belief in the fandom regarding Fuefuki in Yamanashi being Inaba purely due to buildings from there being used for location references. I get that Atlus themselves wrote about using Fuefuki as a reference. But like, the eastern half of Tottori used to be called Inaba and you can even go visit Yomotsuhirasaka. To me, the Sanin area represents it better.

Unrelated but amusing coincidence: There's a famous museum with a landscape garden in Yasugi called the Adachi Museum of Art. Clearly, Adachi opened a landscape garden over Izanami's tomb.

[anthromimicry]

hellooo, everyone! i hope all of y'all are having a good day so far... because i am here to once again lore dump on all of you all, which i apologize in advance for. but to expand more on that part in my doc where i wrote that one of misao's weaknesses is that she has an addictive personality, i mean that she is a 'love junkie' so-to-speak — and when i say that, i mean that she is very much an adrenaline seeker and/or actively seeks out adventure, which translates into her having this ongoing search for the dopamine rush that comes with starting a new relationship with someone. and whenever the original infatuation misao sometimes feels towards other people 'fades' ( since she has a fear of getting too close to someone and then having them abandon her... she often times will not allow herself to actually consider the possibility of getting into a deeper, more intimate relationship with someone, and stays stuck being in this phase where she's in love with this person in question but not in LOVE love with them if you catch my drift ) , for lack of better words, thing's go on to crash and burn because there wasn't enough of an emotional connection between them to keep the relationship they have going.

then misao is likely to just go look elsewhere for a new 'crush' or infatuation afterward; when, confronting herself as to why she is afraid of commitment and why she keeps on finding herself running from a relationship whenever she starts feeling even a bit 'too comfortable' around them, would probably be the best thing for her in reality. however... misao isn't really in a good place mentally in her current arc, so i feel as if it'll take a while for her to even acknowledge that this is indeed kind of a concerning behavior of hers. but i also meant that she has an ' addictive personality ' in other ways as well. like, i'm not going to lie, misao does overspend and could probably be considered as a ' shopaholic. ' and this behavior could have some linkage to her past seeing as she didn't have a lot as a child; not to say that anyone is at fault for that, of course. i just feel like misao feels this subconscious need to want to get things she likes the second she sees them now because she has the necessary resources to get them now ( which would be money, in this case ) when she didn't have them before. and the fact that buying something gives her this sense of instant gratification doesn't really help her case if i'm being honest. so, you could also definitely say that misao has a bit of trouble with controlling her impulses as well.

and speaking of impulses, there was also a time where misao very much overindulged in alcohol, particularly when she was still in japan + traveling with the japanese pirates that i had talked about a bit in one of my previous posts. this couldn't just be attributed to how abundant it was on the ship though; it also served as an unhealthy coping mechanism for her after her mother died and misao felt both like she was going nowhere in life + like she could go anywhere she wanted at the same time. the best way i could describe why misao felt like this was because she had never had that amount of freedom before in her life and that was quite the intimidating as well as somewhat harrowing thing to her to have to deal with. because although she might've felt alone before, misao did have her little half-brother with her and her mother, as well. but now she was running off with a bunch of pirates that she didn't know and although that part of her that craves adventure was very much satiated by this; pirates can honestly be very terrifying people.

though, once she had fallen in love with reika, thing's had certainly changed for her in a way. however... it couldn't erase that underlying emptiness that she felt in her heart at the time that was making her ask herself questions like ' why are you doing this? shouldn't you be doing something else, like taking care of ryu, for example? ' but misao kind of got swept away in all of the freedom she felt in the end ( which, she admittedly felt a bit selfish for ) , i think, and so these thoughts just started getting buried in the back of her mind. especially when they were coupled with alcohol. killing also provides her with a thrill, but she knows she has to be more careful now with when / where she does it. so that has kind of discouraged her from using it as an outlet in which she can seek her adrenaline rushes through... but yeah. i hoped y'all liked this little drabble of mine, though i know that it was actually super long and not actually ' little ' at all LOLLL.

[pocima]

Reol is one pathetic, thickheaded sellout. I have not had an artist breakup like this since The Neighbourhood. Imagine working on an infamous pedophile’s series’ remake and THANKING said pedophile just when you were given the benefit of the doubt (Nobuhiro Watsuki, author of Rurouri Kenshin). Imagine hopping on a track (while we’re at it calling it extremely mediocre would be generous) of a Vtuber with such a racist past that a producer who simply sent her company a beat felt the need to apologize and stopped promoting that song. The Vtuber in question (Mori Calliope) did a half-baked “apology” when called out and then went on to complain about “cancel culture” in a song, instantly disproving any possible remorse. Most recently (yesterday), imagine collaborating with McDonalds when they’re on the official BDS list when there’s no excuse for ignorance as there are extremely frequent protests and events for Palestine in Japan. When there are numerous Japanese artists expressing their support for the freedom of Palestinians. Seeing this come from someone who considers herself a minority and has spoken out against racism before, either she really lost any bit of the common sense she had in 2023, or just as believably if not more, she really was fake and performative throughout her entire career. I found myself to be fond of her early last year and I can certainly say I personally witnessed an incredibly laughable downfall, both music and more importantly morals wise. I don’t know if I can say I blame myself because nobody saw this coming and I wasn’t put onto this Earth to keep a 30 year old woman’s behavior in check, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t regret supporting her and recommending her throughout a time period of around a year, because I truly do. May her platform be diminished sooner or later.

Proof:

So that’s why I’ve been posting less and less about this lady in the past couple of months and what the username change was truly about… I’ve been finding out more and more about these incidents and stopped supporting her in private. I am responsible for and deeply regret not posting about this earlier (minus the McDonalds collab bc as I mentioned it happened yesterday and I’d post about the Kenshin thing immediately if I’d found out she personally thanked that creature though I was disgusted either way) and thought just removing her from my pinned would suffice, since that’s what I do when I no longer like an artist as to not give them attention at all and bc few of my mutuals are into her anyway but the MCD was the last straw for a post like this (as I mentioned I haven’t been listening to her at all for a while now). I realized I used to post about her more frequently than I remember and it didn’t feel right to just not call out someone I used to like as opposed to notoriously problematic figures I’ve disliked for a long while. I’m doing this because I DID use to give her lots of positive attention only to find out she didn’t deserve it, and I simply do not stand by it anymore. And I’m not calling all of my current faves unproblematic perfect angels either bc that’s frankly untrue, however her shameless check-chasing has reached revolting levels. If I have ever recommended her music to you, don’t even bother.

[yukihime242]

Today, we are going to be looking at anime with Mafia-themes. This also includes the Japanese version, Yakuza, since most of the anime are happening in Japan.

Let's get on to it! Also, 🚨SPOILERS🚨.

1️⃣ Nisekoi

(Picture Source: IMDb thru' Google Image Search)

This is one anime I have watched a long time ago and it was also an anime that is not exactly high on my list. It talks about Raku and Chitoge, both the children of a Yakuza and Mafia family respectively, being engaged to each other for the sake of peaceful living in the same town.

Despite them disliking each other, Raku and Chitoge tends to lean to each other for emotional support as they were the only ones who knew and understood perfectly well how difficult it was to bond with the class without them having to fear they were from a Yakuza or Mafia family.

I honestly don't like this anime, but at the same time it's not that I hate this anime. I guess because the series itself was very long and it was beginning to become a big bore. It was getting very typical and cliche. Raku, just by being himself, started to have many girls fawning over him as the series goes on.

However, I guess the big question is who was the girl that Raku promised to when they were both children? It was a major cliff-hanger and there was no conclusion to it in the anime. Naturally, I didn't want to sit through another season, if there were any, and so I googled the answer. Of course I am not going to say it here even though I did say "Spoilers".

Anyway, despite me not being a big fan of this series, it was actually very popular back then. So, I guess it is worth a watch? I do remember Chitoge being a big baby when she lost the hair scarf her mother bought for her.

Rating: 6⭐/10

2️⃣ Arcana Famiglia

(Picture Source: Parallax Play thru' Google Image Search)

Anybody who watched Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) and have watched this anime would definitely ask the same question: "Ciel, what the heck are you doing in this anime?" 😂

Anyway, this is an adaptation from the otome game of the same title. The protagonist, Felicita, is the daughter and heiress to the renowned Cartel. The group of men, and boys, are members of the Cartel and they go around helping the family business, such as the Casino, and even help maintain peace in the town.

So the entire anime is about Felicita being offered up as a bride to the Cartel by her father, which understandably angered her. She decided to go great lengths into proving that she does not need a husband to take over the family. Throughout the anime, you will get to see Felicita observing the every day lives of the Cartel members and also joining them in their jobs. There, she grew to understand them better and also garnered support for her cause.

One thing that awed me in this anime, which can be weird to say, is the way the animators animate Felicita's hair in terms of movement. That is the most realistic hair movement I have seen in any anime setting. It was as though the animators working on this anime remembered that gravity exists for hair as well.

Okay, I know, it's weird... But putting Felicita's hair aside, it is actually quite a nice anime to watch. It does not have the romance genre in it despite it being adapted from its game counterpart, and it gives off a sense of family warmth. Another thing about this anime is that half of its episodes have a post-credit scene and those are hilarious.

Rating: 8⭐/10 (No, it's not because of the hair, I swear)

3️⃣ The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting

(Picture Source: Anime Feminist thru' Google Image Search)

A fairly recent anime where it shows a Yakuza henchman taking care of his boss's young daughter. It is a very cute anime where the Yakuza struggles to care for the young mistress' daily needs.

There isn't really much to talk about in this anime because it is just as it is. A yakuza babysitting his boss's daughter.

All I can say is that it is a highly recommended anime to watch, and it will make you smile from ear to ear as you watch it.

Rating: 9⭐/10

4️⃣ Katekyou Hitman Reborn

(Picture Source: DualShockers thru' Google Image Search)

This is one anime I have watched way before Nisekoi. I can't remember all of their names, but I do remember that the orange, light blue, and dark purple guys in the picture above were schoolmates.

Anyway, based on memory, the orange guy, also the main protagonist, was the heir to some mafia family. Just happened that his family migrated to Japan and their heritage was lost in transaction. The pipsqueak guy flew all the way to Japan to prep and teach the orange all he needs to know to take over the mafia family business.

This was also a very long series. I think apart from Bleach, this was another long series I actually finished. I can't remember most of the series but it was filled with lots of actions and fighting. I do remember that there was an arc where the band of misfits above got sucked into a time travelling issue. They ended up in an alternative universe where the mafia family were still trying to fight against the organisation that caused the "destruction" to the world of something. I also remembered some bloke in the anime saying that the timeline we were watching was the only one where they stood a chance of winning.

Anyway, it was quite an enjoyable anime but I wouldn't want to put myself through the long series again. Good watch overall.

Rating: 8⭐/10

[returntoaranara]

Good Afternoon🌞

The weather in July is sooooooo hot on Northern Hemisphere that makes me and ac Hopkins🐰💙🎈 nearly melted🫠.

Here are the 3 Hopkins at my home:

Today I am glad to see one of my favorite's cartoonist, Liz Climo's new comic on Tumblr. I really love her drawings on those cute animals with hillarious conversations and she didn't update her Tumblr since January. I had bought on of her comic book from the bookstore before and started enjoying her artworks.

Recently I found that I may prefer cartoons and entertainments for kids rather than watching those annoying Japanese Youtubers and anime (yes I seldom watch anime now). Stuffs for kids are pure and can relieve my stress. I also deactived my pixiv account and started using Deviantart last month since most of those popular artworks on pixiv (no matter they are for boys or girls) are drawn in artstyles of 18+ games that I don't like and most of the fanarts of popular animes and games drawn by girls are related to BL with mature content. Not only in pixiv, many Japanese website separate contents into "for boys" and "for girls" that make me frustrated😤. How come such artworks should be separated into these?! I wondered that why boys can only choose girls as their favorite characters while girls can only choose boys as their favorited characters for most of the anime/game lovers there. Nonetheless, many projects nowadays claiming "for girls" are actually focusing on boys' friendship (that is extremely male oriented) without a mc that I am not interested, making myself feel disappointed on those stuffs for girls. I think that a game/anime/project for girls should be more female oriented with a female/gender neutral mc even though it is not related to romance (just my opinion). I realized that the gender issues in Japan are too stereotyped and nearly 90% of ads on anime or gaming websites in Japan are related to 18+ porns (this one is the most important point ever, even when I am surfing on animal crossing walkthrough there) that make me feel uncomfortable so I decided to surf less Janpanese websites from now on.

MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS FROM DIFFERENT FANDOMS INCLUDE BOTH MALE AND FEMALE😭😭😭

I am trying to draw my own male oc but I stuck in designing his clothing. I finally realized the reason that I am not good at drawing boys as I don't know how to design charming or cute/cool costumes for them (I am not familiar with men's fashion). So I draw long chin boys AGAIN (yes I love guys with long chins).

My laptop can tilt into vertical position like this 😊

I tried to use Instagram and Threads but they keep showing those local contents that I hate and I cannot stop the recommendation from the AI😷. I decided to post something there sometimes but now viewing others' posts.

The summer semester had been ended earlier this month and I would like to challenge and learn some new stuffs to power up myself💪. There is only a month and a half left till the next semester😭. I hope I can graduate from the university next year (in the age of 25) and would like to work in a laboratory on biotechnology after graduation.

Finally with my fine CD bought long time ago but I realized that my laptop bought this year does not have a CD driver 💿😥. I would buy an external driver later before next semester start.

Have a nice day😎 (and I need to go out for a whole day tomorrow that may not able to complete Hajime's birthday event😥)

[startanewdream]

Five Stages of Starflower

Summary: James is oblivious, Lily is mostly okay with her unrequited love and Sirius has a few plans about this situation. For @keepingupwithpotters,@sunshine-marauders, @cellularphoneexplosion and @zephyrcove who all gave me the most Jily prompt of all time (“Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?”) and for @magixbeans (“I refuse to stop irritating you until you give me attention.”). Thanks for helping me celebrate this day ❤

Warning only for a few f-words every now and then (Lily curses when she is upset).

Sirius knows it.

Sirius fucking Black knows it.

Lily had been careful ever since last semester when she started to realize the signs of those things. She’d tried to back away, to avoid more contact despite the fact they had exchanged letters through Summer (just normal conversation, talking about what was going on and their families and discussing their friends – it didn’t mean anything), and that they had seen each other (they just happened to be on Diagon Alley on the same day to shopping, which was smarter and safer—and also didn’t mean anything), and Lily had convinced herself that her feelings for him were entirely friendly and would remain so—if only they hadn’t become Heads together.

There was no way her feelings could remain amicable when she was required to stay together with James Potter for hours at a time, alone in the Prefects Room as they worked and planned, their hands brushing against each other sometimes; or when they would run away to share a hot chocolate at the kitchen, enjoying the fact that as Head Boy and Head Girl they could ignore a little more the curfew, and he’d make her laugh and would help her wipe off the chocolate out of the corner of her mouth.

Lily had fancied someone before, and she knew how to identify the signs, as pale as those previous signs seemed when it came to James. Still, she knew what meant the way she would shiver whenever he’d touched her, or how her heart would skip a beat when their eyes met without planning and he would grin deviously at her or how she would sit closer to him than she needed, just to catch a sniff more of that wonderful scent.

She was falling for James Potter and the worst part was that she’d totally missed the timing in which he fancied her back.

Because all those signs she saw in herself were unfortunately absent from him. James had apparently mastered the art of considering her as nothing more than his friend, because when he’d touched the corner of her mouth—and she had blinked to him, she really had, a blink that said we are alone now and you are touching my mouth can you just kiss me?—James had done nothing but smile nicely, friendly, drawing away.

And she absolutely knew he was treating her as just his friend when the very next week he’d asked her if she didn’t mind changing her Friday patrol rounds with Leanne Diggory. Fridays were the day they patrolled together until late in the night. Fridays were the days where they would go to the kitchen and share a drink and talk about life and it was their moment.

‘Sure,' she had said, acting as if she didn’t understand what his request meant for them. ‘Any particular reason?’

James had flushed then, his hand automatically flying to his hair like he did when he was nervous and after a moment he glanced at Leanne across the Prefects Room. Lily had followed the direction of his gaze; Leanne was smiling back at James and Lily understood even more.

‘Well,’ she said then, keeping her voice carefully light even as a crushing weight had taken residence in her chest. ‘It’s a pretty reason.'

She couldn’t fault James for not being interested in her anymore, but she couldn’t also just stop feeling that thing for him, not since there was no way for her to avoid him completely. So she resigned herself to having a platonic crush on James Potter, one that she administered very well until the day of the first Quidditch game of the season.

Lily had been so diligent that none of her friends had noticed her feelings for him—and she knew that because there was no way Mary or Dorcas would keep it silent if they suspected. She had been careful not to gasp when they were on the grounds and James had been dropped at the lake by Sirius, stepping out of the water and taking off his shirt to dry himself (but she had taken that memory to her heart and lost herself in dreams about him); she had not frowned when she saw James leaving his group at the last Hogsmeade trip to go talk with Leanne, flashing that dangerous grin of his to her (but she had punched her pillow in anger lately, wishing James had come to her).

And then there was the first Quidditch match and Gryffindor had won and in the post-game euphoria, Lily had made the tiny mistake of hugging James and keeping that guilty longing smile on her face when they had broken apart.

That’s when her gaze had met Sirius, and he had widened his eyes in surprise, taking in all that her smile meant—by the time Lily had rearranged her face into a normal expression, Sirius was smirking knowingly, that moron.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He knows. Lily knows he knows. Sirius knows Lily knows he knows.

It could be worse if it were any of other James’ friends, she reasons dismayingly. Remus would have come to talk to her and urge her to share her feelings with James; Peter would spill the word to James, unable to keep a secret from him.

But it doesn’t look like any of these other scenarios is really worse as she sees Sirius’ eyes shining with a predatory look, like a wolf that knows it got his prey.

She considers running away. But Lily is no coward, there is no place for her to go permanently and she believes in keeping her enemies closer, if Sirius could be considered as one, at any chance. That’s why she keeps her ground, pretending everything is nice and not at all bothered when she sees James is near the fireplace talking with Leanne Diggory.

It won’t fool Sirius, but Lily can keep her dignity at least.

And remaining alone at the drinks table allows for him to get closer to her, which is important for her to check how much damage she did today.

‘Enjoying the party, Evans?’

Lily nearly sighs. Nearly one year of friendship with the Marauders told her they only call her by the last name when they are in full teasing mode.

James calls her a lot by Evans, though, but it sounds nice and she rather likes it.

‘Same as always. Nice party.'

‘Oh, I thought you’d be feeling… too crowded.' Sirius throws a glance towards the fireplace and Lily doesn’t need to follow the direction of his gaze to know what he is talking about. ‘Maybe you wish you were at one of those Head meetings.'

Lily pretends to be amused. ‘Heads can enjoy parties too.'

‘One of the Heads is certainly enjoying the party if the party is happening back at the throat of Leanne Diggory—’

She can control her eyes enough to not look in their direction to confirm how literal Sirius is being right now, but she cannot stop the grimace on her face fast enough; it is a spasm of hurt and anger and jealousy, and it becomes obvious that Sirius saw all these emotions when his grin just increases.

Well, too late to still save her dignity.

‘Good for him. Now, if you excuse me—’

‘Oh, I don’t,’ he replies gladly. ‘Why, you seem a little green to me, Evans.'

‘It’s my eyes, maybe you didn’t notice their colour before.'

‘Well, I never particularly cared, but I remember a young bloke reciting that your eyes were pure emerald bestowing grace upon that poor bloke’s heart.'

‘Jade,’ she corrects before she can think better of it. ‘He compared them to jades.'

Sirius’ grin is criminal now. At least, it’s making her want to murder him.

‘My, Evans, for someone that threw a hex at him you seem to have memorized his words.'

‘He kneeled to recite that poem to me in the middle of the Common Room, what else could I do?’

‘Snogged him?’ Sirius suggests, arching one eyebrow when Lily shakes her head. ‘Just imagine, if you had snogged him back then, he might not be snogging someone else right now.'

It’s a fair assumption, but this time Lily doesn’t have to disguise any particular emotion. She doesn’t regret not going out with James before; they were far too different back then. He matured a lot since those days when he would ask her out when he would be so infatuated with her that it was annoying mostly…

Unfortunately, in the list of things he changed since growing up, his feelings for her were included.

That makes her frown.

‘He is free to do whatever he wants,’ she says, a safe mid-term.

‘Or whoever he wants.’

She closes her fists, wanting to punch something; most likely Sirius’ face, though she will settle for her pillow too.

‘Are you here for any reason or you just want to piss me, Black?’

‘Mentioning that James’ hands are all over Diggory’s bum would piss you?’

‘Ah, fuck off, Sirius,’ she says, not bothering anymore to pretend anything.

He laughs—a loud carefree sound that seems like a dog’s bark to warn that something is happening; in this case, that Lily Evans is making a fool of herself.

‘I will leave you alone—if you just admit it.’

‘Admit what?’

'Are we really playing this game, Evans? Let's not go through the five stages of Lily Evans' acceptance of her undying love for James Potter, shall we?'

Lily blinks, fighting not to splurge over her drink.

'I have no idea what you are talking about, Sirius.'

'Have it your way then. I just thought you should know, I was kidding. James' tongue is carefully kept inside his mouth.'

And he indicates the fireplace. Lily looks at it now and, sure enough, though James is still talking to Leanne, he is fairly apart from her, hands untouching, in a friendly stance.

When she looks back, Sirius is not there anymore, but wherever he is she knows he is smirking, that prat. Continue reading on AO3 :)

[gentrychild]

5+ headcannons on an au where Izuku grew up in America and became the protege for Stars and Stripes

AFO moves his entire family to the US because Izuku manifested his quirk in class and he didn't want All Might sniffing around and finding his family. Izuku has a pretty good life and he is still an All Might fan. But when he is fourteen and a drunk Cathy (who was having a very passionate debates about Batman and Robin with her brothers) declares to the world that she will take as an apprentice anyone wanting to be a hero able to land a punch on her, he jumps on the occasion.

Everyone shows up with flashy quirks and crazy support items to try to just land one (1) punch on the number 1 US hero and Izuku shows up with a silencer quirk because it's hard to use a voice based quirk when you can't talk. ^^ It's smart but Cathy still (gently) defeats him since she is a pro hero and has super strength. Still, when they talk later (because he was one of the only kids not trying to overpower her), he talks about his quirk and says that he loves how it's actually powerful because Star and Stripe uses it efficiently. Even powerful quirks like theirs are limited by how smartly they use them.

Star and Stripe: "Finally someone who doesn't think I just punch things hard. T_T

I need you to understand that the whole AU, Izuku is "Ah, I missed my chance to be Star's apprentice but I shall cherish the memory of our fight and how nice she was to me that one time." while Star adopted him, they see each other once a week, all of her brother-in-arms know him, Inko is on a first name basis with her, and so on.

In the meantime, Star has been trying to post bail for her good totally platonic friend Nagant for about ten years but the Japanese government keeps taking her for a moron, there has been no trial, and enough is enough. She's done her waiting. She is going to Japan to break the love of her life... I mean, this really nice coworker of hers out of prison.

Will that cause the most horrific international accident that has ever happened if she gets caught? Absolutely. She is just planning not to get caught.

Things get slightly more complicated whe, she realizes that Izuku has been tagging along their super secret mission. She asks for someone to get her a Japanese translator (because no one speaks a lick of Japanese in her team, not even the one member with Japanese origin) so Carl kinda grabbed Izuku (the only one they know who can speak Japanese and keeps his mouth shut), who followed along because what kind of teenager would pass the opportunity to commit a crime?

"I never asked you to take a kid along for a break-out in a foreign country! He is a kid! How irresponsible do you think I am???" *CRICKET NOISES* "I hate all of you."

Izuku is not to approach Tartarus. Izuku is to stay outside. Izuku obviously gets into Tartarus but in his defense, he was being chased by a Tartarus guard who desperately needed a promotion.

Long story short, many gets separated, there is a prison riot, Nagant is outside her cell and putting herself between Carl (hasn't seen the guy in ten years and currently hiding behind her) and this poor child whose face she can't see but he is so still and trembling, he must be terrified.

Izuku is not terrified. He is a good boy who does his best to hold his urges in check and not just steal quirks from people and he is now confronted to a treasure trove of the most powerful quirks in the country and the nice excuse of self defense. He is doing such effort to control himself that he is violently shaking.

Listen, I will not tell you about the story of 9 US soldiers, one former pro hero turned soldier and the number 1 US hero chasing after the quirk gremlin with the yakety sax music as background music but I will just say that Tartarus lost half of its quirks that day.

So of course, AFO got blamed for that.

They manage to break out and since their way out was demolished, they go to All Might and all hide in his apartment for a week. All Might is pretty chill about the whole thing, Izuku is so happy to meet him, and if you were seeing Star, you would think she was introducing her child to her father or something.

Nagant is under the impression that the US death squad + the kid were here to assassinate someone in Tartarus and that rescuing her was an accident, which is helped by the fact Star can't admit the real reason as to why she's here. All Might is incredibly amused by the whole thing.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 328: Pandora’s Box of Discourse

Previously on BnHA: DEKU TOOK A BATH.

Today on BnHA: 

Also Naomasa grew a beard. Goddamn. 

please let this be a cool chapter that plays nice with my ADHD lol

(ETA: lol I feel guilty because a lot of people hated this chapter, but I’m just happy there was a lot of stuff to make fun of, and also that I have another week to work on my backlog of meta posts since the kids were MIA.)

around one month ago?? ah, okay, so we’re gonna find out what was in that Tartarus security file huh

I love that they just randomly set the place on fire

was it necessary to do this in order to escape? no. was it a good idea to set the island they were occupying on fire while they were in the midst of still occupying it? uh. was it cinematic as fuck? fuck yeah

wow it’s a pervert!!

that’s so great that the villains set loose this fine fellow who I’m sure is definitely not a serial rapist. truly the LoV is so noble and misunderstood. they’re just trying to free society from its chains people

oh my god??!

SHANKED!!! oh my god I cheered for Stain before I realized what I was doing. time to have an identity crisis I guess

so he’s all “hey what’s going on.” which, while a respectable question, is something I personally would have waited to ask until I had put a bit of distance between myself and the fiery murder island. but that’s just my personal preference

Stain you really are tenacious I’ll give you that

“what’s the point of escaping prison if you’re not gonna be smart about it” well shit. anyways yeah you’re dead right, society is in the process of collapsing and the outside world is in total chaos, good call there

oh shit

I mean it’s not like we really expecting anything otherwise, but still. fucking brutal. I feel like these guys’ fates were decided the minute that one guy called AFO “scum” back in chapter 94. AFO is unmatched at getting long-term revenge

??

ahh, was it the security footage??

fdsdfk he’s still alive??

and he’s immediately launching into an inappropriately theatrical monologue even as the darkness closes in on him fdlfksjdlk. you know, was it ever confirmed that the other guy back in chapter 297 was Seiji’s dad? I’m just saying

very impressed that he’s still coherent enough to weigh the pros and cons before making the decision to gamble on giving this info to Stain, who at the very least has his own moral code and isn’t allied with AFO. it was definitely still a risk, but as we now know it was also the right call

what a weird alliance. so Stain tells him that he’ll give it to a just person, and the guy is all,

okay for real though I’m gonna need someone to run a DNA test on this guy. maybe it was some kind of cuckold situation?? the other guy had the family resemblance, but this guy absolutely 100% raised Shishikura Seiji and you are not going to convince me otherwise

anyway, so Stain is all,

PRISON GUARD: “???? ??????? what the hell. what the fuck does that fucking mean. I’m dying here, jesus christ, whatever man fuck you”

(ETA: I kind of feel like this might have been Stain’s last appearance in the manga, given all the fanfare. there’s not really much else he can do for the story at this point, and he seems to have gotten all the character development Horikoshi was planning on giving him. so if this really is it, hasta la vista and good riddance I guess.)

DWLFDKSLDK MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE

(ETA: I feel like this is meant to be evocative of that Sermon on the Mount painting, but in a really fucked up way lol.)

if it were me stumbling upon this scene I would just shake my head and walk right back into the flaming building. not getting involved in that mess. sorry not sorry. I’ll take my chances with the fire, especially given that it’s half-assed neutered BnHA fire lol

blah blah blah and so he decided to pass the info on to All Might -- HOT DAMN, HOLY SHIT

NAOMASA HOLY SHIT. THE APOCALYPSE LOOKS GOOD ON YOU, BOY

“I really like that facial scruff thing Aizawa’s got going on, I think I’m gonna get in on that” yes sir. “also thinking of ditching the tie in favor of the bulletproof vest look. also thinking of getting totally fucking jacked.” good lord. except I’m pretty sure that’s just body armor, but also I don’t care. anyway I should probably stop staring and actually read the fucking speech bubbles here lol

“All Might first handed this information over to Nao, and then went to see Deku, and then came back to Nao” thanks for that tidy little summary Horikoshi. we are capable of piecing events together in sequential order, I just want you to know that. but thank you

“so has Deku finally gotten a bath? also, sucks that Stain saved the day, but what are you gonna do” Nao I missed you so fucking much and didn’t even realize. how am I just now realizing that you are the perfect man

for a second I was gonna ask why Tartarus’s security systems would be cut off from the outside world, and then I remembered that’s a basic security control, and then I actually got impressed by how sensible that is. like, it’s been a while since I could genuinely say that the good guys (excluding class 1-A) did something smart. not that it helped them much in the end, but still

anyway so they’re talking about how AFO was able to coordinate the attack by communicating between his horcrux self on the outside and his ugly peanut-faced self on the inside

huh

okay you have my attention. I am taking notes here lol please continue

ah okay so he says that prior to Jakku, the transfer of information between him and his Vestige self was only one-way. but post-Jakku when Deku was in the hospital, he was able to tell what was happening inside the OFA Radical Lisa Frank Dead People Book Club Realm when he touched him. I feel like we established that before, actually. but he didn’t talk about how it actually felt, though

boy we already know this lol. yes AFO can talk with his horcrux self. and he can also communicate with his little bro in OFA too, let’s talk about that sometime why don’t we. what exactly does that imply, based on the rules we’ve established here

my god I cannot get over Naomasa and his fucking facial hair

no wonder All Might was in such a hurry to leave Deku and get back here

like I have no idea what this radio waves nonsense is but my god, people

that jawline. also so it’s a quirk, I see. except last I checked Deku didn’t have a radio waves quirk, so that doesn’t really explain his connection to AFO. but whatever, hopefully we’re at least getting closer to some kind of reveal here

(ETA: since I sometimes forget that other people’s lives don’t revolve around my theory posts, here are the two relevant links if you by chance want to know my thoughts about this.

Hagakure is still The U.A. Traitor™ regardless of whether Deku is passing information on to AFO through his psychic link, which he almost certainly is.

speaking of said psychic link, Deku is a horcrux.

just posting these now, because whenever trippy OFA stuff happens I tend to get an influx of theory asks. so hopefully this will be a bit of a time saver lol.)

-- wait, what

THAT’S what the recording was??!? holy SHIT. I genuinely was not expecting that. y’all wiretapped his fucking telepathy. fucking quirks, man. wild

AND THEY USED THAT POWER TO DETERMINE WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW, HUZZAH. GOOD SHOW

-- oh shit wait lol, except I forgot we’re not talking about 38 days from the present, we’re talking about 38 days from the date the conversation was recorded. heh. um

yeah that’s the face I would make too if All Fucking Might just casually told me we had eight days left until the end times

oh, pardon me. three fucking days

r.i.p. anyone who thought we were going to have another band arc sob. I sure hope Deku is enjoying that nap

(ETA: I realize people were hoping for a longer rest period here, but given that the man warned us all the way back in chapter 306 that we were entering the final act, you can’t really blame him too much when that turns out to be true. anyway but I do recognize that we’ve reached the point in the story where this kind of discourse is going to become a weekly occurrence, simply because there’s no possible way for Horikoshi’s actual endgame to line up perfectly with the variable headcanons of millions of fans, all of whom have wildly differing and in many cases contradictory expectations which can’t possibly all be fulfilled. anyway, so I’m already bracing myself for that lol. this coming year is going to be a wild ride.)

damn, U.A. out here looking like the motherfucking United Nations

-- is this U.A.?? I actually just realized, U.A. is four interconnected buildings, not two. wait holy shit is this Shiketsu?

wait holy SHIT

based on the overwhelmingly powerful vibes of bureaucratic incompetence, I’m thinking this really is the (future) U.N., or whatever organization it is that deals with international hero stuff

“just let them handle it themselves I’m sure they’ll be fine” yeah okay, thanks guys. appreciate it

wait oh shit did he say that it’s not just Japan?

soooo, what you’re telling me is that AFO is this close to bringing about the end of not just Japan, but the entire world, and you guys don’t think it’s a good idea to help the Japanese heroes stop him? so, genuine follow-up question: are you guys already planning your rich people exodus into space a la Wall-E, and that’s why you don’t give a fuck?? like, what??

omg international heroes

these guys are from World Hoodie Mission, right? is this Horikoshi’s way of reminding me to buy tickets

(ETA: and it worked too lol.)

WHO??? WHAT???

don’t tell me you’re introducing yet another badass new female character for me to fall in love with only to watch as you dismember them and/or blow them up, Horikoshi. I’m getting tired of playing this game my dude. don’t lie and tell me this time will be different. we’re not doing this again goddammit

noooooooooooooooooooo

god fucking dammit lmao. [sighs and rips the previous paragraph into shreds]

on behalf of Americans I apologize for our superheroes always being Like This

I also apologize because I love her already and I’m gonna be shameless about it. so fucking shameless you guys

is her fucking hair red white and blue. it is, isn’t it

this is the volume cliffhanger, 100% lol. it will take every ounce of Horikoshi’s willpower not to put her on the volume cover. he’ll have to settle for the spine or the inner cover this time because Deku VS his class 1-a superpals takes precedence. but it will be a close thing let me tell you

tbh it’s that smile that does it for me. she’s definitely All Might’s protege. get out there and show them how it’s done girl. and maybe call Salaam and BRD and see if you can’t convince them to play hooky from their governments as well. why not. world’s ending in three days you guys. “sorry, I’m busy this weekend” ain’t gonna cut it lol

so while I am not fully caught up with Vigilantes, I have read far enough to know that there’s an American hero named Captain Celebrity whose superpower from what I recall is being a humongous douchebag. and while I haven’t read far enough to know what happens to this guy, I can’t say I’m very disappointed to learn that he’s no longer the number one hero in the U.S. (actually, didn’t they kick him out and that’s why he moved to Japan to begin with?). anyway, so my thanks to Horikoshi for having a marginally higher opinion of Americans than Furuhashi, even though we have definitely not done anything to warrant said opinion lately, and you may have inadvertently opened the door to a pandora’s box of discourse lmao

(ETA: lol I went into the tags and they don’t disappoint. “why is she dressed like a flag” because she’s an homage to Captain America and Major Victory and literally every other character on this list. again, I apologize for fictional American superheroes being Like This. “oh boy another thicc waifu to make the fanboys happy” look, tumblr fandom never seems to have a problem thirsting over Dabi or Tomura or Aizawa or Nao, lol, I’m just saying. “where is Captain Celebrity” idk, probably murdered by the exploding bee cartel, let’s just be grateful for our good fortune and try not to Beetlejuice the man.)

anyway, so let’s see if Horikoshi’s recent character development with regards to making Mineta not terrible anymore will apply to other aspects of his writing as well. I know I was making light of discourse just now, but I do think the complaints about him introducing yet another new character at the 11th hour to be cannon fodder in the final battle are absolutely valid. and again, it wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t keep maiming/killing off his female characters one by one instead of developing them and letting them kick ass long-term. but that said, I will never complain about Horikoshi adding another female character to the series, regardless of how clumsy the attempt may be. go ahead and pander away, just give us more girl power lol

anyway so we’ll see how it goes, but I think I’m gonna be optimistic and let myself hope once again, even though I’m probably gonna regret it lol. it is what it is. she is standing on an airplane just chilling for fuck’s sake. I’m only human. anyway fingers crossed