#and that was established and then dramatically destroyed in a few issues

[daydreamerdrew]

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #251

[mariacallous]

KORNIDZOR, Armenia (AP) — The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned that Azerbaijan is preparing genocide against ethnic Armenians in its Nagorno-Karabakh region and called for the U.N. Security Council to bring the matter before the international tribunal.

A report by Luis Moreno Ocampo issued Tuesday said Azerbaijan’s blockade of the only road leading from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh seriously impedes food, medical supplies and other essentials to the region of about 120,000 people.

“There is a reasonable basis to believe that a genocide is being committed,” Ocampo’s report said, noting that a U.N. convention defines genocide as including “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction.”

“There are no crematories and there are no machete attacks. Starvation is the invisible genocide weapon. Without immediate dramatic change, this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks,” the report said.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region within Azerbaijan that came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. Armenian forces also took control of substantial territory around the region.

Azerbaijan regained control of the surrounding territory in a six-week war with Armenia in 2020. A Russia-brokered armistice that ended the war left the region’s capital, Stepanakert, connected to Armenia only by a road known as the Lachin Corridor, along which Russian peacekeeping forces were supposed to ensure free movement.

A government representative in Azerbaijan dismissed the report from Ocampo, who was the ICC’s first prosecutor, saying it “contains unsubstantiated allegations and accusations.”

“It is biased and distorts the real situation on the ground and represents serious factual, legal and substantive errors,” Hikmet Hajiyev, an assistant to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, told The Associated Press, on Wednesday.

In December, crowds of demonstrators who claimed to be environmental activists blocked the Lachin Corrirdor. Azerbaijan later established a military checkpoint on the road, blocking traffic that it alleged was carrying weapons and other contraband.

In Kornidzor, near the Azerbaijan border, a line of 19 trucks loaded with some 360 tons of medicine and food supplies have been parked for two weeks waiting for permission to cross.

Vardan Sargsyan, a representative of a crisis management working group for Nagorno Karabakh set up by the Armenian government, told The Associated Press the Armenian government had asked for permission for the trucks to cross via Russian peacekeepers and provided details on their contents but so far received no response from Azerbaijan.

“Unfortunately, there have been many attempts from the Azerbaijani side to manipulate this situation,” he said. “We just hope that this humanitarian initiative will be accepted as humanitarian and that it will be possible to transfer the goods.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross has also complained of being unable to bring aid shipments into the isolated enclave during the blockade, although the organization was permitted to evacuate a limited number of patients to Armenia for medical care.

Ocampo said the U.N. Security Council should refer the situation to the International Criminal Court, a step that would be necessary for the ICC to take it up because Azerbaijan is not a signatory to the statute that created the court.

It is not clear if Russia would use its veto power on the Security Council against such a move. Russia has faced persistent criticism for its peacekeepers’ inaction in the blockade.

“Russia, responsible for peacekeeping in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the US, promoting current negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, are state parties of the Genocide Convention. ... They have a privileged position to prevent this genocide. Their intense confrontation due to the Ukrainian conflict should not transform the Armenians into collateral victims,” Ocampo wrote.

[samobservessonic]

I can now say for sure that this is the final part of the biggest Sonic story in StC so far. Five parts is nothing to sniff at and everyone one has been an epic. This climax promises to go strong, with the threat of Metallix hanging over our heroes. Sonic learned at the end of the last issue that whatever he does in the past, it might not stop Metallix after all, yet still he has to take the Time Stone and go on blind faith alone

Anyone who’s played Sonic CD will be familiar with this mechanic. Although admittedly, I could rarely get it to work and have never managed to get the good ending myself lol…

Like in the game, after travelling back in time, Sonic needs to destroy these machines to create a good future. But there’s a few differences here for the sake of the story adaptation. The first being that the machine itself is growing into the Miracle Planet. I actually can’t remember if that was the case in the game or not, but it’s a cool addition either way and works with StC’s more brutal takes on the way Robotnik’s technology works. The second is that Sonic needs to go inside the machines to break them, which he can do by being shrunk down small. These two features had no connection to each other in the game, but I like that they’ve linked them here for a smoother story transition. And third…

…the machines are powered by the Time Stones, with removing them being what breaks the machine. It’s a neat way to work the Time Stones into the plot without including the special stages, which would’ve taken more time to establish Now that I think about it, the Time Stones replacing the star posts as Sonic’s method of travelling through time in the game is also good streamlining for the sake of the story

Also nixed from the story is the second machine you need to destroy, the Metal Sonic hologram, which in the game would make the small animals appear unafraid of Sonic once more. There’s really no need or extra time for that here, as Sonic warps back to face Metallix in the present day, just like he knows the past version of himself did before

Now Sonic is back here and after watching the scenes play out in the same way, we get to see what comes next. Except that he doesn’t know what’s coming next himself, as whatever he changed in the past hasn’t affected the future. But wait a moment…

…Oh come on, it wouldn’t be a dramatic reveal if the changes to the timeline happened instantly. With everything Robotnik built on the Miracle Planet (or infected it with?) now gone, no shrink ray means that Sonic is no longer small

Which also affects Metallix! Huh. I know Metallix comes back to StC in a big way (which again, mostly happened before my time), so I’m looking forward to seeing how that pans out. A lot more than our aromantic protagonist is looking forward to spending a month trapped with Amy, I reckon

And that wraps up our epic! I feel like I’ve said most of what I could already say to sum up while I was reading through - this story had the gravity that a Sonic CD adaptation deserved. It wasn’t afraid to change things up for the sake of adapting game mechanics into the comic more smoothly, but at the same time it really did show off a lot of what you could do in Sonic CD. It genuinely felt like this was a story written by someone who played and enjoyed Sonic CD and wanted to make a story out of it, as opposed to being a game tie-in that was mandated to be written

I suppose some could argue that the first two parts being about Captain Plunder could’ve been a separate story to the Sonic CD adaptation, but I am a Captain Plunder celebrater (which is a step up from being an apologist) and think that a big member of the StC rogues gallery deserved a big introduction, too

So yes, this feels like a big milestone in StC. We have two specials to cover before getting back to our next Sonic story in the main comic, but I’m sure that the momentum they’ve built up with this story arc will keep going after this short break Also, before I forget, I thought there was something to do with Porker Lewis on the Miracle Planet that happened in this arc, but either that happens in a different story or I'm just remembering it wrong. Just thought I'd say that, since I brought it up in one of the last issues

[wroteclassicaly]

🖤 ANNOUNCEMENT 🖤

And yes, this is being called an announcement, & I’m using big font (because it’s important, lmao)…

After the events that transpired a few days ago, I had a lot of time to think about sticking around and everything that’s been going on. There’s a lot of crap that’s been following a lot of us for too long, shit that is mundane in comparison to what we are all dealing with in our real lives. I’m thirty years old, almost turning thirty-one. I don’t have time to act like an ignorant moron and send hate to anyone, let alone people that I admire and care deeply for. So there’s a few things I want to discuss here, and then I’m dropping this topic entirely, because drama and accusations are not worth my time or my mental health.

Let’s start with what’s been going on.

Someone has been sending anon hate (obviously), but it’s with my name attached. I have had several people tell me that they’ve gotten anons saying I am the person that’s spreading this hate around. And there’s been other anons that believe I have and have sent their fair share of accusations in as well. I’ve gotten unfairly blocked, I’ve been unfollowed and ghosted. And I shouldn’t have to continuously be made to feel the way I have felt over garbage lies, especially when I have done nothing but dedicate time to try and lift others up in a community that’s treated us all like dog shit!

If I was the type of person to act like this, then I would not have a fucking masterlist link to every single writer in this fandom, whose work that I love — linked to my own personal masterlist or blog navigation. I wouldn’t do these spotlights weekly. And I wouldn’t consistently encourage and hype people up if I secretly wanted them to fail or I hated them. How much sense does that make?

Despite what people might believe, I have never once sent anon hate in my life, because I know what that does to a person’s health. I’m a big believer in backing what I say on my blog, which is why you will/have consistently see(n) me discussing reblogging issues, feedback, etc. I’ve always stood up for what I believe in, and I know I have a big mouth. I’ve never denied it, and my name has always been attached to my opinions. But I’m not the only one who feels this way about certain things.

What I mean by that, is that whoever this person is that is sending the hate, doesn’t have the courage to say it. And they’re being cruel in how they’re treating authors who have worked hard to establish their platform. And that’s someone that I am not. I’m not going to publicly complain about similar issues and then go on anon about shit, like… really?? Lol.

I say what I mean. And I say it with my name and my face attached. It’s always been that way and it will stay that way. I’ll never stop speaking up or out, and I’ll never quit defending people!!!!

I don’t know who has said shit about me, I don’t know who this anon is, but I do know a few things. So… here we go.

— I will be utilizing the unfollow & block features for my own safety. If I use them then I have reasons that I do not need to, and will not explain.

— If you have any issues with me, or someone is telling you shit, or you get accusatory anons with my name attached - talk to me! Because I guarantee that they’re wrong.

— If you don’t like me, if you believe whatever you hear, let’s not pretend. Unfollow me, because I don’t want, nor need that kind of shit.

— Come to my DM’s and talk to me like an adult. Don’t let things fester. Don’t believe a bunch of fucking garbage. We’re all adults and this is ridiculous. (This goes for these anons. Say it with your voice, don’t fucking hide!)

I’m kind to everyone I come across, and I let people walk on me to the point that it destroys how I’m beginning to see myself. I know I rant, I know I’m negative a lot, that I’m dramatic. But I’m a genuinely good person, and I respect everyone, I try to be there for everyone, and I try to support everyone! If we are friends — I’ve got your back! Even if we aren’t close, I’m still here for you!

I let my good heart get stepped on and fucked over in my last fandom, and I let it take the joy I got from writing here. I’m not doing it again, not when Eddie Munson is my safe space! I refuse to let anyone push me away from this fandom or my blog, not again! I love this community (most of the time), and I admire so many of you, and I have also made the most amazing connections! I’ve never written so much for a character as I have for Eddie, now also for Steve!

Whatever is going on is fucking with a lot of us. It’s not fair and it’s not worth it. So let’s support and be kind to one another, and really think before we accuse/believe bullshit lies on innocent people, yeah?

Much love ❤️🖤♥️❤️

And also, a special shout-out to everyone that has checked in with me and shown support over the last few days! Shit, even the entirety that I’ve been here! I love y’all! 🥹💯

New Note -regarding in general-

A reminder to NOT believe everything you hear without context, based on blind or falsified ‘proofs’! A lot of shady shit has been happening to me and a lot of my friends lately, so please come to me before trying to villainize me or anyone else!!!!

Save the drama for your mama! It has no place here! ;)

[fictionfromafar]

Dead Sweet by Katrín Júlíusdóttir

Dead Sweet

By Katrín Júlíusdóttir

Translated by Quentin Bates

Orenda Books

Publication Date: 7 December 2023

What is it about Iceland that creates so many readers and indeed so many authors? The country boasts one of the highest rates of books per capita (3.5 books for every 1,000 inhabitants!) and studies in the past have shown that at least 50% of Icelanders read at least 8 books per year, while an impressive 93% of them read at least one. Katrín Júlíusdóttir is the latest translated crime fiction author from Iceland, yet she was far from a new name in her home country.

A former politician, she served several roles including Finance Minister for a period. There are definite references both to politics and finance within this story and also a tangible worldliness which is to the novel's enhancement. Dead Sweet is the start of a new series which offers a lot of promise and a intriguing main protagonist in enthusiastic young policewoman SigurdÍs.

Keen to develop her career in the force as a detective, she is fortunate enough to be drawn into the initial investigation when prominent one time business man and now civil servant Óttar Karlsson is found dead on a beach shortly after failing to turn up at a planned party to mark his fiftieth birthday. Once his relatives have been informed and news of his death becomes more widespread, it sends shockwaves through Icelandic political, and indeed, wider society, Not only was Karlsson respected and admired for his business acumen, it was also felt by many that he would be the type of leader that the country needed following the recent troubled financial climate. Yet as SigurdÍs and her colleagues delve into his business affairs, which included selling off government buildings, their perceptions of the man begins to change quite dramatically. It soon becomes clear that Karsson had been siphoning off profits that were due to the state. When evidence of his underhand dealing is leaked to the public a whole reevaluation of his character is almost instantaneous. Júlíusdóttir shows this most vividly in her descriptions of his funeral where the largest church in the country contains only a handful of people appear willing to pay their respects.

As part of the investigative matters, the novel introduces us to those who were closest to Karsson, his partner, his mother and his sister. Yet it soon becomes apparent to the police that maybe they didn't know him that well at all. In parallel to this, we also begin to learn about SigurdÍs and the troubled times within own family background. It doesn't take long for the reader to identify that our lead character carries a few unresolved issues of her own; yet these are drivers for her to establish the truth in her quest for justice. Her work relationship with her boss, Garðar, is supportive yet complex and a notable feature of his novel. Their dynamics are key as SigurdÍs feels she needs him to help her in her personal life while Garðar feels a great deal of responsibility towards her. The difficulty with this is that SigurdÍs' own approach increasingly diverges with his own as far as the investigation is concerned. While Karsson's actions have effectively destroyed the livelihoods of many, SigurdÍs begins to doubt if this could have been the real motivation for murder.

I found Dead Sweet to be a distinctive read with engaging characters. While the novel shines a light on shady financial affairs and features recollections on incidents that occurred in the past, I found it a very accessible book which took me 3 days to read. I think this must be in part due to the translation by Quentin Bates. It makes for a very promising debut with a tantalising indication as to the direction that the second novel in the series will take.

ABOUT KATRÍN JÚLÍUSDÓTTIR

Katrín Júlíusdóttir has a political background and was a member of the Icelandic parliament from 2003 until 2016. Before she was elected to parliament, Katrín was an advisor and project manager at a tech company and a senior buyer and CEO in the retail sector. She worked from a young age in the fishing industry, was a store clerk and also worked the night shift at a pizza restaurant. She studied anthropology and has an MBA from Reykjavík University. Katrín’s debut novel Dead Sweet received the Blackbird Award and was an Icelandic bestseller upon publication. She is married to critically acclaimed author Bjarni M. Bjarnason, who encouraged her to start writing. They have four boys and live in Garðabær.

When Óttar Karlsson, a wealthy and respected government official and businessman, is found murdered, after failing to turn up at his own surprise birthday party, the police are at a loss. It isn’t until young police officer Sigurdís finds a well-hidden safe in his impersonal luxury apartment that clues start emerging. As Óttar’s shady business dealings become clear, a second, unexpected line of enquiry emerges, when Sigurdís finds a US phone number in the safe, along with papers showing regular money transfers to an American account. Following the trail to Minnesota, trauma rooted in Sigurdís’s own childhood threatens to resurface and the investigation strikes chillingly close to home… Atmospheric, deeply unsettling and full of breakneck twists and turns, Dead Sweet is a startling debut thriller that uncovers a terrifying world of financial crime, sinister cults and disturbing secret lives, and kicks off a mind-blowing new series.

Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion in the blog tour and to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books for an advance copy of Dead Sweet. Please look out for the other reviews on the blog tour.

[primorcoin]

New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/former-ftx-us-president-lashes-out-at-insecure-sbf-in-49-part-twitter-thread-rant/

Former FTX US President lashes out at 'insecure' SBF in 49-part Twitter thread rant

Former FTX US President Brett Harrison has lashed out at Sam Bankman-Fried for manipulating and threatening colleagues who proposed solutions to reorganize FTX US’ management structure. 

Harrison shared his experiences with Bankman-Fried and FTX US on Dec. 14, explaining how he was hired “casually over text” in Mar. 2021 after working together at New York-based trading firm Jane Street for a few years.

But six months into Harrison’s tenure at FTX US, “cracks began to form” between the two, he said.

Despite recalling Bankman-Fried to be a “sensitive and intellectually curious person” at first, Harrison said he saw “total insecurity and intransigence” in Bankman-Fried when confronted with conflict, particularly when Harrison suggested FTX US establish separate branches for its executive, developer and legal teams.

16/49 I saw in that early conflict his total insecurity and intransigence when his decisions were questioned, his spitefulness, and the volatility of his temperament. I realized he wasn’t who I remembered.

— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 14, 2023

Harrison added that he “wasn’t sure what accounted for the dramatic change” in Bankman-Fried’s erratic behavior, though he suspected mental health issues may have been a “contributing factor.” 

Part of that irrational behavior Harrison describes included a series of gaslighting and manipulation tactics Bankman-Fried used against Harrison and other colleagues in their bid to clean up FTX US’ corporate mess.

Harrison also recalled his last attempt to fix FTX US’ organization issues with Bankman-Fried, claiming that he threatened to “destroy my professional reputation” if a formally apology wasn’t received:

29/49 In response, I was threatened on Sam’s behalf that I would be fired and that Sam would destroy my professional reputation. I was instructed to formally retract what I’d written and to deliver an apology to Sam that had been drafted for me.

— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 14, 2023

Harrison said that event “solidified” his decision to leave.

Related: FTX ex-staffer: Extravagant expenditures and cult-like worshipping of SBF

As for the fraud charges now laid against Bankman-Fried and other FTX colleagues, Harrison said he was blinded by the firm’s alleged commingling and misuse of billions of dollars of customer funds:

“I never could have guessed that underlying these kinds of issues — which I’d seen at other more mature firms in my career and believed not to be fatal to business success — was multi-billion-dollar fraud.”

“If any one of us had suspected let alone learned the truth, we would have reported them immediately,” he added.

Bankman-Fried was granted bail after posting a $250 million bond guarantee and pleading not guilty to all eight criminal charges laid against him on Jan. 3.

Harrison stepped down as FTX US President on Sept. 27 — about five weeks before FTX catastrophically collapsed — where he stated that he moved into an advisory role.

Source link

#Blockchain #BTC #CryptoNews

[pretending-ican-write]

Tinder but make it your girlfriend

I'm so sorry I haven't posted anything in agesss but I've been very much preoccupied with university and writer's block but this came to me after reading @sour--disposition 's fic on a similar idea!

In this, the reader is a mcyt/streamer and Tommyinnit's sister and dating Ethan.

Y/H/T (your hometown)

Y/A (your age)

Y/H (your height)

You were sat in the green room, idly scrolling through twitter responding to replies from fans and your friends, waiting for one of the crew to let you know it was your turn. Everyone else had already had their turn, returning to recount the lines used by the boys through laughter.

Originally you weren’t meant to be in the video but one of the girls had pulled out last minute so the boys had asked you to fill in the spot. As Ethan’s girlfriend you’d agreed to take part because you thought it would be funny to be involved instead of just being behind the camera.

Emma came back into the room, drawing you out of your thoughts, “good luck Y/N, I think you’ll need it.”

You smiled at her before getting up to follow the crew member into the shoot room. As soon as you walked in, the boys cheered. You stepped onto the footprints and looked at the camera to introduce yourself.

“Hi. I’m Y/N, from Y/H/T and I’m Y/A,” you looked at the line of your friends in front of you, “do your worst boys.”

Simon stepped up to the cut out first, trying to hide his smile, causing you to smirk back at him.

“Hi. I’m Simon, I’m 28 and I’m taller than Ethan,” he deadpanned, looking straight at you.

Alongside the other boys, you burst out laughing at Simon’s line, as Ethan made noises of insult from further back.

You stopped laughing enough to respond, “I mean the thing is, you’re right. So I’m gonna go for yes.”

The laughter resumed as Simon went to the right, flipping off your boyfriend as he went when JJ went up next. You took a deep breath, steeling yourself for what your friend was going to say.

He looked at you, “I’m JJ, I’m 27 and um, I’m not a weatherman but you can expect a few more inches tonight.”

“Oh God I feel sorry for your girlfriend, “you replied with a small laugh, “I think you might be exaggerating with a few inches there JJ.”

JJ put his hand to his chest, staggering back into Stephen at your response.

“It’s a hard no for me JJ. Not sorry,” you decided, dramatically swiping your hand to the left.

He moved over to the left, with an overdramatic pout, “I will never recover from this Y/N.”

“I’m sure your ego is big enough to survive this,” you smiled at him sarcastically, “who’s next?”

Stephen stepped up to the footprints, “I’m Stephen, I’m 25 and- you know what? Nah.”

You looked at him in shock as he went over to JJ whilst the others descended into laughter, Simon falling over and a couple of the others leaning on each other for support.

You pointed an accusing finger at him, “you know what? I expected that from Freezy but not you Stephen. I’m disappointed.”

“What did I do for this slander?” Cal protested.

“We haven’t got the time to explain that,” Lux laughed.

Tobi was next up, “Hi Y/N.”

“Afternoon.”

“I’m Tobi, I’m 27 and I’m 6 foot tall.”

You looked at him with amusement, “Ethan how tall am I?”

“Y/H,” he replied with a matching look.

“I thought so. If you’re 6 foot Tobi then I must fucking snow white,” you answered, pointing him towards the no side, “that’s just a bold faced lie.”

After Tobi came Callux who you knew was gonna be using a pick up line, “give us your worst then Lux.”

“The standards are high Y/N?” Asked Simon, currently the only when who you’d said yes to.

“We’ve established the bar is in hell, I’m dating Ethan,” you deadpanned, smirking at the laughter that followed.

Cal began after you’d all recovered, “I’m Calum, I’m 29. I have 206 bones in my body. Want to give me another one?”

You nodded, “yeah sure. Come here and I’ll break your leg in 2.”

Lux looked at you in complete shock whilst you just stared back at him, “off to the left you go Luxxy.”

Following him was Vik, “I’m Vik, I’m 25 and I play minecraft.”

“I mean I think Tommy would disown me if I said no but because you’re also an mcyt I feel I’m legally required to swipe right,” you explained, gesturing to the right.

Finally it was the turn of Ethan. He stepped up to the cut out and looked at you. You stared straight back at him, not breaking eye contact.

“Are they having a fucking staring contest?” Exclaimed JJ.

You nodded, “and I won.”

“I’m Ethan, I’m 24 but I’m pretty sure you know that. If you swipe left then I’ll no longer give you access to my wardrobe.”

You sucked the air in between your teeth, “see as funny as it would be for me to swipe left that is not something I’m willing to risk.”

You put your hands in a heart as he joined the other boys. He smiled back to you and you knew you’d be stealing the very t-shirt he was wearing later.

As Freezy stepped up you took a sip of water from the bottle in hand, “Hi. I’m Cal, I’m 26 and I’m also taller than Behzinga.”

Ethan put his middle finger up at Freezy which made you nearly spit the water from your mouth. You managed to swallow the water before pointing a threatening finger at your boyfriend warning him to behave.

“It just isn’t funny when you steal the joke Freezy. But I guess that’s why most your content isn’t,” you mused, siding him to the left.

He staggered into JJ who brought him to the floor as he ‘died’ at your take down.

“You’ve managed to kill 2 of them today Y/N. I hope you’re proud,” Ethan huffed.

You nodded, “yeah and now I’ll steal all their subscribers. Thank you KSI for your help, Freezy less so.”

“Can we have her removed from the set please?” JJ complained, “she’s destroying all of us.”

Vik shook his head, laughing, “it’s hilarious.”

“Only because you’re on the other side of it, fam!”

A crew member called out to you all, “can we move on to Harry please.”

When your best mate stepped up with his upside down notebook you burst out laughing, “I’m sorry Bog. Please continue.”

“Um, I’m Harry, I’m 24 and I actually have a poem for you.”

“Let’s hear it then.”

Harry cleared his throat to read, “Roses are red, the sun is bright, Y/N can’t play bedwars, she is so shite.”

“Insulting her doesn’t work,” shouted Stephen.

You flipped him off, “shut up Stephen. See I have some issues here. On one hand, you’re insulting me Harry but it’s also true. Plus, I actually wrote that poem Harry.”

The others 'ooed’ teasingly at your point before you continued, “but because it’s you I’m gonna say yes.”

He gave a little cheer and joined the others on the right, fist bumping Ethan.

The last one left was Josh, who you were praying wasn’t going to say anything weird given that you saw him like a brother.

“I’m Josh, I’m 29 and… no I just can’t do it. It’s too weird,” Josh laughed and walked to the right.

You breathed out a sigh of relief, “I’ll be honest I’m quite glad for that.”

With the boys all sorted to either side, the shoot was finally over and you were all free to go back to your flats.

You arrived back at your apartment to take a shower and change into Ethan’s t-shirt with a pair of leggings before joining him on the sofa to order takeaway and pick a movie.

He slid his arm easily around your shoulders, pulling you into him, allowing you to rest your head on his shoulder. You closed your eyes, the exhaustion of the long day finally hitting you.

“Thank you for being in the video,” Ethan murmured in your ear.

You smiled into his shoulder, “it was fun. Any opportunity to take the piss out of the boys.”

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Manga Review — I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 1 (Manga)

A New Look on a Compelling and Innovative Series

A manga adaptation of one of the best and queerest Yuri light novels I have ever seen, what is not to love! As a massive proponent of the light novels, I eagerly followed I'm in Love with the Villainess began serialization in Comic Yuri Hime last year. I am thrilled to get my hands on the first English volume, and now that it is finally out (digitally at the time of writing), I am equally delighted to read over the start of Rae and Claire's journey once again. Getting to see my favorite isekai protagonist and her bratty noble crush in full illustrations is terrific. However, it does not make for a completely flawless work.

I'm in Love with the Villainess follows Rei Ohashi, an avid otome gamer who dies and is reincarnated as Rae Taylor in her favorite game, "Revolution." Rather than chase any of the game's handsome bachelors, all students at the Royal Academy in the European-inspired fantasy world, Rae heads straight for her favorite character, the game's villainess! Rae begins to relentlessly tease the bratty and elitist Claire, much to the latter's frustration. Soon a rivalry forms between the two girls, but despite Claire's taunts and coldness, Rae is determined to stay by her side and protect her.

The increased focus provided to Claire and Rae's early relationship will be noticeable to light novel readers. While Inori's writing focuses mainly on world-building in the first several chapters, the manga makes the wise choice to condense much of this information for the sake of reading. Blocks of exposition work poorly in the manga compared to prose. However, establishing a setting is not completely thrown out the window. There are several small conversations and explanations of key aspects of the world. After quickly setting the story, the characters are left with room to explore.

Claire and Rae are the most enjoyable part of this manga. Rae is eager and doting, with a touch of masochistic. On the other hand, Claire is more arrogant, often looking down on peasants like Rae, and is continuously infuriated by her affection. A hilarious rivalry starts to spring up between the two, with Claire pranking or mocking Rae and then getting outraged when she revels in the attention and teases Claire by expressing her undying affection.

These interactions also further the story. They establish the dynamic between our two heroines and add more detail to the political situation and tensions between the commoners and nobility, the series’ main plotline. Interestingly, while Claire may believe commoners inferior, she also sees it as her responsibility to protect and instruct them in her very elitist way. Noticeably none of the torments she subjects Rea could ever cause permanent harm or damage. It is a fascinating insight into this character's mental state, and even in the first volume seeing her start to change and become more aware slowly is fascinating.

Much of the rivalry is comedy and often plays out as such. However, some readers may find it slightly off-putting and understandably see the dynamic as Rae sexually harassing Claire. I strongly encourage you to give this series a chance. This book will undoubtedly be the worst volume of an incredible series. Once I'm in Love with the Villainess breaks into its stride of exploring queer and socioeconomic issues, some point in the next volume based on reading the serialized chapters, I promise it will become a quick favorite. If you know you may not be able to overlook its immediate faults during the wait, consider holding off on the mage until after the second book is out and get them together.

Much of the previously mentioned content is the same or strongly similar to the light novels, perhaps a touch more emphasis on Claire's early hostilities; however, there are some significant points unique to the manga to consider. For one, Aonoshimo's artwork is fantastic! The characters and backgrounds are distinct, with only slight adjustments for the more comedic or dramatic stylistic choices. No matter the panel's tone, though, it is always easy to read without oversimplification. Aonoshimo also relies on very standard square or rectangle panels during most of the manga, but occasionally produces more dynamic boundaries and layouts for action and service scenes. Lastly, all the characters are on full display. It suddenly becomes a lot easier for light novel readers to picture their favorite moments. It is a lovely treat for returning readers as the visuals aid the characters, allowing us to clearly see Rod as the strong-willed if slightly aloof prince and understand how Maximillion Pegasus-cosplayer Thane is the most unpopular character in the fictional otome game when they are displayed visually.

There are some other vital factors to consider when reading the manga. For one, every character's personality was dialed up a few points, with Rae being a touch more physically affectionate and masochistic and Claire more easily exacerbated. However, the manga and the English translation takes many quirks and exaggerates them further, reducing the series’ performance. For example, while Claire's actions show the complicated relationship to commoners described above, her dialogue contains a surprising amount of vitriol and vulgarity that stands out notably.

Additionally, while Rod is usually the perfect if slightly detached prince acting as the occasional voice of reason in early chapters, his dialogue here appears laughable indifferent and meanspirited. As I'm in Love with the Villainess is one of a very few series that I follow the monthly serializations of in magazines, I was surprised to see this dialogue, as it did not stand out to me in the Japanese version (admittedly, the manga did overblow everyone's personality to some extent for comedic effect). I feel it changes the characters for the worse — do not get me wrong here, calls for "literal translation" are as unfavorable as they are uninformed. Still, the work feels careless at times.

Finally, there is the service. While the first volume contains virtually no romantic caresses or sweeping panels of scenery we associate with Yuri, there is a fair amount of salacious content. Of course, there are Rae's desperate and overblown expressions of admiration for Claire and her slight case of masochism. However, towards the end of the volume, Aonoshimo shows some skin. In one scene, Rae helps Claire get dressed and very openly admires her body, accompanied by some close-up panels of her back, stomach, and butt. There is also a very exposed bathing scene, although light covers the most explicate bits. It is obviously garish, though it tonally fits with Inori and Aonoshimo's more comedic manga interpritation and even includes some wholesome interactions with Claire and Rae alongside the sexualized comedy. Reader's millage will vary here, but I enjoyed it.

This first outing of Aonoshimo's I'm in Love with the Villainess manga adaptation is very likely to be the weakest entry in a phenomenal series to follow. The manga does a fantastic job of bringing the original light novels to life in a new visual format. The artwork is excellent, and the story condensed with a slightly different focus that maintains the feel of the original while providing manga audiences with entertainment that does not feel constrained or lacking. However, the gradual pacing of the plot and the main characters' relationship means that the volume leaves off before showcasing the meat of the series and most of its best features. There is a little bit of the stumble out of the gate, and both the publisher and the manga will likely have to course correct in future volumes or else risk destroying the development and voice of the series remarkable characters. I still recommend the series, but unless you are a diehard fan of the original like you, you might wait a year or so until we have the second volume and can enjoy a more complete vision of Inori's intricate and groundbreaking story.

Ratings: Story – 8 Characters – 7 Art – 9 LGBTQ – 9 Sexual Content – 6 Final – 8

Check out I'm in Love with the Villainess (Manga) Vol. 1 today: https://amzn.to/3wTSJ9R

Thanks to Joshua Hardy, Courtney Williams, Peter Adrian Behravesh, and the rest of the team at Seven Seas for their hard work.

Help support future Yuri news and reviews, and get access to exclusive content by subscribing to the YuriMother Patreon

[snazzyscarf]

so i saw your post regarding ruby rose dismenbering a man and i need to ask... are you talking about Tyrian? the Serial-killer who's working with the evil witch who's trying to destroy the world? the guy who had only a few minutes before announced that he wanted to kidnap her and tried to kill her friends? And who had just poisoned her uncle with his tail, and thats why hed had cut his tail of? Like in kind of confused about your point because you made it sound like Tyrian was just some random dude she attacked for no reason and i want to engage in good faith here

You said you wanted to engage in good faith so I'm taking that at face value and using this to elaborate my point:

So I made that original post at around 3am when I was fed up enough with the show's ableism to share my own opinions on the part of the series that bothered me the most. So forgive me if the wording wasn't the most clear.

I am not here to argue on the morality of the characters. Tyrian is a bad guy; he's obviously evil and never in my post did I state otherwise. I figured we all knew that was a given, but I've quickly learned that unless something is clearly stated in bold letters, people will just make their own assumptions. This is my first time engaging with the rwby fandom so that's my bad. Ruby's actions in the situation were fine. It was self defense and perfectly understandable, I have no issue with that. My issue lies with the placement of her actions within the show and how the writers decided to treat them.

The scene where Tyrian gets his tail cut off happens in volume four. At this point in time, the main characters are split up because of the aftermath of the fall of beacon. One of the major parts of this aftermath is Yang getting her arm cut off. In the first half of the volume they spend a lot of time establishing how traumatic this was for her, and how she's coping with it. She struggles in coming to terms with how this change will affect the rest of her life. How well RT depicted this struggle is a topic for another day, but they tried. They established the idea that amputation is a serious thing that has lasting consequences and should be treated as such.

And then they go and cut Tyrian's tail off.

Here's where my issues come in: up until this point the show had conveyed the aforementioned tone toward disability. And that on its own was well and good. Then they introduce Tyrian, a character which you're not really supposed to like. He's violent, out for blood, and has a clear mission of harm. They then reveal that he's a faunus with a scorpion tail, and we're introduced to a new and dangerous fighting style. One episode later, and that faunus trait is severed from him. Afterwards? Not another mention of it, aside from Tyrian quietly getting a new prosthetic made in the background.

The main problem lies in the presentation of Yang's and Tyrian's events. We all remember how Yang lost her arm. This dramatic, cinematic shot that slows down time and replaces blood with glittering yellow lights. It's obviously a big deal. Then we have Tyrian losing his stinger: a harsh and violent shot, that makes sure to linger on how he writhes in pain before calling Ruby a bitch. It's very clear which one of these presentations gets the favoritism here. One is prettied up and artsy, and the other is cruel and unforgiving.

Viewing these two framings of limb loss in juxtaposition--especially considering their close proximity time wise--sends a very clear message. Only the good guys get their disabilities treated with dignity. "If you're one of the protagonists, of course you deserve to have your disability respected! But if you're an antagonist, we have free reign to be as insensitive with the topic as we want, because, well, it doesn't matter when it comes to you does it? We get to pick and choose when we want to handle serious topics with tact."

My issue was never with Ruby as a character defending herself. It was with the writer's respectful establishment of Yang's character arc regarding disability, and how immediately throwing that respect out of the window with Tyrian felt like a slap in the face.

[the-dragon-hearted]

Dream and Technoblade

So, the Dream and Techno villain duo - a breakdown of their characterization:

Get yourself a rival who will bond with you in prison, laugh at your jokes, argue with your shared torturers, and then leave you hidden Blueprints under the block where you two formed your first alliance. Get yourself someone who is your opposite in many ways, but your equal in so many others.

__________________________________________________________

Technoblade and Dream have always been the epitome of strength for the server. In that way, they're equals.

They've always been the tanks, the aces up the sleeves, the be-all-end-all. Equals.

They're similar in how they are quick to resort to violence as it's what they're best at. They're similar in how they very easily forget about the innocents they hurt to achieve their separate goals. They're similar in their basic characterization.

In other ways, they're completely different.

Take, for instance, their selfishness:

Both Dream and Techno have always been selfish. Dream's selfishness has been shown in his quest for power, for godhood. It's etched in the exile arc and brought to light in the final showdown where he finally meets his match; Punz's betrayal and the unexpected unification of the server against his, said, greed and selfishness.

Techno's selfishness on the other hand is shown when he sets a goal and sees it through because he is right and no one else can matter. It's seen in how he destroys L'Manburg two times; both times he sees himself to be in the right and pushes aside anyone else's opinion. Both times he takes action based on what he wants.

Dream's lust for power and control pushed everyone else he ever cared for away. He's always been self-serving with a flair for the dramatics (very different for dry-cut Technoblade who's never been impressed by anything thespian or dramatic). Unlike Technoblade, Dream is never happy where he is - he's always wanting something more. He's always been searching for the next big power, the next revival book, the next puppet to manipulate.

Techno's selfishness is different. He's never aspired to be anything more than what he is; Technoblade. All he's ever wanted is to exist without someone hurting him. He's correlated governments and anyone with 'power' to be something that can hurt him or those he cares about so he strikes out at them and destroys them without a second thought.

This basic character trait seems two-dimensional until you see how it's applied to the characters. Dream's selfishness isolated him from any support system and alienated him from his own friends, his own trusted mercenary. Techno's selfishness led him to do anything for those he cared for, even at the expense of others; it created a staunch loyalty that cemented his support system in Philza and now in the syndicate.

They're opposites to one another in how their selfishness formed them, but they're on parallel paths.

Furthermore, there's how these rivals interact with the plot:

Dream's always climbing up the next mountain. Yearning for the next battle. Every time we've seen Dream, except for the prison arc, he's always ready to fight. Always picking, poking, prodding, urging the plot to move along because he is never happy where he is. This is partially due to the fact that the audience never sees Dream except for when he is in a lore stream, whenever he's on the stream he's always turning the gears in the scene. He's either one of the main players or he's a constant threat watching from the sidelines.

Techno, on the other hand, was happy staying stagnant with the plot. The most motivated he saw him was while he was helping take back Manburg, and even then all he was trying to do was tear down the government and establish what he thought would be the next sense of normalcy; anarchy. After he tore down the government himself he took joy in staying stagnant. It almost felt like he was being unwillingly pulled along with the plot that he wanted nothing to do with (not the content creator, but the character) in how he was forced out of retirement by the people he hurt. He always seemed to like the norm. He was happy with Philza, with his house and his farm. He was happy with his crimes and his guilt. He never aspired or wanted anything else except to keep himself and his friends right where they were, without changing because changing could mean pain and Technoblade has made it clear that he does not like to feel pain, especially in the emotional sense.

The prison is a brilliant arc and I will stand by it because it did one crucial thing for these two villains; it brought them back into action. It brought them together.

It gave them both a reason to fight and it gave them sympathy from the audience. Now - before we get into the "abusers should not be given sympathy" argument we have to remember what we're watching here. It's a story. It's a special story in the sense that every character wants their voice to be heard. There's not one narrator behind it who can slight certain characters as the characters are all individually controlled by actual people. Of course, the plot lines are not going to be moral or necessarily 'good' in a moral sense - but they never had been. Dream has made it clear that he's a villain and the prison arc wasn't meant to make everyone go "ohhhhhh poor green bby :( " - it was meant to showcase Sam and Quackity. The prison arc was Quackity's time to develop and grow comfortable in the power vacuum that Dream left behind. It was Sam's time to fall from grace and lose himself. It was Dream's time, for the first time in his character's life, to stay still.

The prison arc poised the question: "What would happen if one of the biggest powerhouses was pulled from play?" What would happen to the plot if the big bad villain wasn't around?

The answer; a new villain/issue rises. Quackity, Wilbur - these people that the audience knows are not truly evil people were able to play around in the sandbox without Dream there to overshadow them.

But what about Technoblade? Well, funny enough the prison arc did for Techno the exact opposite thing it did for his rival. Technoblade gained more power, he made more friends, his syndicate - while not very active (which is fitting for the man who wants nothing more than for everything to stay the same) is still a support system. Dream became less of a threat but Techno remained the same threat he'd always been, just as distant as he always had been, with no reason to throw himself back into the fray.

Until, of course, they were both imprisoned. Now I could go on and on about how Techno's willingness to walk into a trap really spells out the interest he holds for his rival and the trust he holds for Philza. I could go on about how shoving those two rivals together was lovely for these antagonists to grow. But for now, let's focus on what the prison did for the characters in a fundamental sense.

Time in prison taught Dream fear. It taught his character what it felt like to be stagnant. What it felt like for nothing to happen. Now, it remains to be seen what the plot will do now that Dream is free. Will he continue to push it forward just as he had before or will he be more discreet, warier? Perhaps the time in prison will finally teach Dream to be more cautious - but who can say? All that's certain is he will not forget Quackity for what he did, just as Tommy won't forget Dream.

Time in prison for Techno, on the other hand, taught him nothing. All the prison did was reaffirm what Techno always thought; any large institution, anything with power will try to hurt Technoblade. The prison had the same effect on Techno as the Butcher Army did - it pulled him back into the plot kicking and screaming because the greatest warrior on the SMP cannot be allowed to sit idle. What the prison was meant to do was give Technoblade an excuse to come back into the plot, reluctant as ever because that's who he's always been.

So now the two are free, and they have the same goal. History does indeed repeat itself.

Their first alliance was formed in shadow, where Dream refused to outwardly say if whether he supported Pogtopia or not but his actions towards Techno made it clear that he would assist, albeit secretly. They didn't need to share words for both to get what the other wanted.

Their second alliance came after L'Manburg was won back from Schlatt, also forged in whispers. A whisper and an answer that resulted in chaos and destruction for which the two needed no rehearsal.

Their third came to finish off what they'd started, tearing a young country apart. They've never needed to plan, they're so similar that both Dream and Technoblade had prepared to annihilate L'Manburg on their own. All their alliance did was spell absolute decimation.

Now, it begins again. Only fitting their next alliance will go back to the hill where it began, with few words and an equation that spells destruction.

The prison may change Dream. It will not change Techno. Now, they're both out, closer than ever. Two loners, strong in their own right with a vendetta against the world.

It's almost guaranteed that they will be back for vengeance. Either together or on their own. Another similarity they share; they can be vindictive

[endlich-allein]

Promo "Liebe Ist Für Alle Da" (2009), Christoph "Doom" Schneider  — Interview by Philip Lageat, 16-11-2009, Nantes (Rock Hard #94)

Rock Hard : With six studio albums in the bag, it must be more and more difficult to establish a setlist. How do you deal with that ?

Christoph "Doom" Schneider : Strangely enough, we take our heads less at this level than in the studio. I am therefore going to surprise you by telling you that this is done as simply and naturally as possible, since we ultimately proceed in a very democratic way : each of us draws up a list of our favorite titles. We then compare the desideratas of each... and the majority wins, provided however that the songs chosen fit well into the show. We did it this time around and it worked really well, since we shared an identical opinion on many songs. Personally, I find that we have found a good balance between old songs and new songs. We play a lot of songs from our last album, Liebe Ist Für Alle Da, which suits me well because I admit that I was fed up with some old titles. I was almost sickened by playing them. So we discarded them, otherwise I think we would have quickly become jaded of the new show. So we had to be careful what we choose, because, given the special effects that we deploy on stage, it is quite difficult for us, after the fact, to make big changes in the setlist. It is that each of us must know precisely what to do, and where it must be, during each song : a misstep, a second of inattention, and you are toasted like a peanut ! (laughs) Anyway, a setlist usually follows you during a whole tour and I'm happy with it which, as I said, seems to me to be a happy medium, a pretty harmonious balance, between old and new songs.

RH : Twenty years ago almost to the day, on November 9, 1989, we witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall. As an East German, do you remember this historic moment ?

Christoph : Yes, I was in town. In the middle of the night, I heard the radio announcing that people were destroying the Wall. It must be said that, for a few days already, the rumor had swelled that this was going to happen. But I stayed home because quite frankly, I couldn't believe it ! (laughs) It wasn't until a day or two later that I crossed the Wall for the first time to go west. At the risk of disappointing, I was therefore not one of those people we saw on TV riding the Wall and destroying it with a pickax or hammer. I remember I was of course delighted, but the shock was such that it took me a while to adjust to this new life : during the first two or three years, I had the feeling of not being able to be part of nothing and of everything at the same time, to evolve in a space of total freedom. To tell the truth, it was an extraordinary period ! In East Berlin, it was chaos. We squatted in houses where we organized huge parties... (smile) There were no rules and a sweet scent of anarchy hung in the air. Musically, we all continued to play with our respective bands and for a while it didn't go so badly. Until we realized that the situation had changed dramatically and that these bands belonged to a period from now on bygone, were from another age. We felt that the time had come to start a new adventure by creating another group. The foundations of Rammstein were laid... From the start, we defined what our sound should be. Very quickly we figured out that even if we rehearse hard, we would never be able to sound like an American band. That's why we tried to create something unique, which really looks like us.

RH : Do you remember the first concert you saw in the West ?

Christoph : It probably must have been an unknown punk band. But the first big gig I attended was a Red Hot Chili Peppers show at a tiny club. In 1990, it seems to me. They were not as popular then as they are today and did not perform in large venues yet. Before this concert, I had never heard of it. It was a Californian who was squatting at my house who told me that it was a good group and offered to go see it. When I think about it, I wonder what she and I could say to each other, since I couldn't get a word of English ! (laughs) Anyway, we went to this concert and I took a huge slap. Never before have I seen something so exciting ! This is an evening that I will never forget...

RH : Despite multiple internal friction, Rammstein has always kept the same line-up. How do you explain this stability ?

Christoph : Rammstein is only worth the sum of his individualities and their uniqueness. If one of us left, or whoever, we wouldn't be dealing with the same group. Rammstein would no longer be. So, it's true, there were tensions between us during the recording of the last album (see previous interview), but that's how Rammstein works. I believe in these guys... And then we always had a fight every time we set foot in the studio, and that, for any album. It's just that, when we were younger, we were able to find common ground faster because we were less stubborn and had less ego. Maybe we are too stressed out today when we work together, because we know it is going to be a long and painful process. And that, we find it more and more difficult to bear it. But for me that's a good thing, because these tensions are a blessing, in that they sharpen our creativity. Without them we would not achieve exciting results. We only yell at each other over simple taste issues : "I like it, why don't you like it too?". It's just that sometimes we tend to forget about it and take things too personal. At my level, I now tend not to want to impose my point of view if the majority does not think like me. Others, on the contrary, do not get along with age and refuse to give up even the smallest square inch of land (laughs). Hence endless heated discussions. Not to mention that the producer also has an opinion and that we therefore have to juggle the desires of seven people. You should know that for the most of us no longer get along with the producer (Editor's note: the Swede Jacob Hellner who has so far produced all of Rammstein's albums) in terms of choices and tastes. We have not changed, not evolved one iota. We are still able to develop this stupid energy in order to provoke, and I like that because some people expect us to mature with age, that we become more "adult". And here we are shooting a porn clip (Editor's note: allusion to the video for the single "Pussy") ! (laughs) We're still the same kids who, twenty years ago, were overflowing with youthful enthusiasm : "That's going to be a blast. So what are we waiting for ?"

RH : To conclude, do you really sell this box containing Six dildos that we could see on the Net ?

Christoph : (Visibly embarrassed) I have no answer to that question. I think this is more of a joke than a reality... And then who would buy this anyway ? (laughs)

© P.R. Brown (2009)

[ouyangzizhensdad]

Please please do write the post about wwx not being dumb/oblivious. Those posts were just funny at first but somehow it's now become accepted fact. Meanwhile whether cql or mdzs wwx is a very competent, savvy protagonist who's actually pretty observant! It's getting pretty tiring to see him reduced to genki oblivous magical girl (not that I don't like those, it's just wwx is not one).

Hey anon! 

I do plan on writing a more elaborate meta post exploring what arguments there are in the novel to support my wwx is not dumb/oblivious agenda.

But for now I just want to address one factor I think plays a big part in shaping the fandom’s perception of wwx as oblivious/dumb, regardless of how wwx was actually written in the novel. That is, the creative liberties taken by (or forced onto) the cql production team, which have had in my opinion two consequences: 1) cql does not manage to establish how quick-witted and savvy wwx is, which is compounded by the fact that it chose to play the troublemaker persona straight  2) the fact that wwx and lwj’s relationship is entirely subtext actually ends up making wwx look oblivious (at least to people applying a queer reading/bl-danmei reading to their interactions--people who are obvious to or choose to ignore the subtext certainly wouldn’t come to the same conclusions). 

So, the first issue. In the novel, wwx’s intelligence is more of a focal point in the narrative because it is a crucial part of the dramatic irony/tragedy of his death: as a result it cannot help being more important to the themes of the novel. After all, he is ultimately hunted down because of and killed by his inventions. The man created an entirely new field of cultivation! In cql, this is somewhat lost due to the fact that he does not invent modao nor does he create the yin hufu, and his death is more of a suicide than a sacrifice (i am still not over the fact that he throws the yin hufu at the crowd to let them wage war over it? that’s the complete thematic opposite of his death in the novel...). 

The novel, as well, is better at establishing that wwx’s antics are generally not because he’s just being a troublemaker, but that they are a way in which he garners information, gets people to act the way he needs them to or misdirect them. For instance, in cql, when lwj destroys wwx’s (well, nhs’s) spring book in the library, wwx looks genuinely pained and affronted--in the novel, it is clearly shown that, when wwx realized lwj intended to bring the spring book to lqr, he intentionally made him angry so that he would destroy the evidence himself. the point of the prank was also to not only get a reaction out of lwj, but also (reading btw the lines) wwx’s way of trying to leave a lasting impression on lwj now that his punishment was over. Differently put, while wwx can do directionless pranks,  more often than not, they have an underlying meaning/goal instead of just being for Attention(TM) in general. In contrast, the web series is full of missed opportunities in terms of characterisation, and is so from the very beginning (I find extremely disappointing how they decided to adapt the mo mansion and dafan mountain arcs because of how important they are to establishing wwx’s character for the readers/viewers. Through these arcs, we get acquainted with the way he thinks and deduces information, and how he uses people’s perceptions of him and others to his advantage. If you can only read English, @pumpkinpaix‘s translation of the first few chapters might help get a better sense of the nuances). 

I’m not saying that wwx is portrayed as dumb in cql: but that his characterization is a lot more fuzzy and inconsistent, and that his intelligence is utilized mostly when wwx goes into his detective mode. As a result, I do feel like it undermines how analytical wwx is in all aspects of his life, making it easy to see him as, you know, someone who’s, like, half-smart, half-super-dumb. 

As for issue #2, part of it boils down to the fact that most of the obstacles to wangxian’s relationship had to be erased due to censorship. There no longer is homophobia/internalized homophobia to motivate moments of denial or internal conflict; there is no longer the phoenix mountain kiss to explain lwj’s reluctance to respond to wwx’s flirting after his rebirth (as I explored in one of my other meta post); there is no longer lwj’s failed confession and lwj’s mistaken belief that wwx knows of his feelings, etc. These vectors of tension help contextualise and explain why it takes so long for wwx to realize lwj’s feelings towards him (but let’s not forget that he does: after jinlintai, he starts to realize that lwj treats him especially well, which becomes a certainty after the second siege). the cql production team had no choice but to take these elements away. 

that being said, by adding new or by changing moments to support the subtext and to please (bl-danmei) fans, the show actually takes away even more vectors of tension/misunderstanding between wwx and lwj, and makes wwx’s crush seem even more obvious and straight-forward. Take for instance the mo mansion arc. In the novel, wwx sees the Lan disciples’ white robes and has this moment of reflection that he recognizes the robes, and sees danger in the fact that the Lan sect is involved, thinking he should leave but knowing he can’t until he resolves the curse. in cql, we get a slow-pan flash-back of wwx’s first encounter with lwj, leaving him clearly emotional. The novel sets up the association as: white robes -> Lan Sect (subtext, Lan Zhan) -> orthodox/sticklers to rules/people i’ve met in my previous life who disapproved of modao -> danger! In cql, we have instead: whites robes -> Lan Zhan -> emotional reaction/I miss him. That fact is further driven home when wwx starts playing wuji on a blade of grass, ending with a soulfully whispered “lan zhan”. In terms of subtext, it sure lays it on thick: wwx does look like he has a big crush on lwj! But that destroys a big source of tension between them at the beginning: when wwx is summoned into mxy’s body, he thinks lwj hates him and disapproves of his methods and wants to bring him to gusu to punish him. That’s why he wants to run away at first, why he doesn’t disclose his identity to him and why it takes him a moment to understand lwj’s intentions. cql does not do a great job of setting that up. And the changes they make to the events of wwx’s first life, including changes to the timeline through which we are introduced to what happened in the past, makes it even more difficult to see how wwx could have misunderstood lwj’s intentions or his own feelings (again, in a queer or danmei-bl reading of the subtext). They go on a mission together! Spend a lot of time working together toward a similar goal!Lwj calls him his zhiji (”soulmate” as is often translated)! Lwj literally tries to save him from dying! The last thing wwx would remember when he wakes up in mxy’s body would be lwj holding onto his hand and screaming his name when he let go! Again, it does great for the subtext--but it makes it really difficult to understand why wwx would misunderstand lwj’s intentions and feelings, and it makes his own feelings toward lwj seem quite obvious. 

Overall, the changes in the themes, genre, events, narrative timeline, characterisation and much more in adapting mdzs into cql have been an important influence explaining why the fandom has this vision of wwx as dumb/oblivious. It reminds me of the way some people on tumblr like to talk about Mr. Darcy as “shy” and “awkward” based on the movie pride and prejudice 2005, which totally misses the point of Mr Darcy and his character as portrayed by Jane Austen--but, if people have only or mainly engaged with this specific adaptation, it is not necessarily surprising that they hold this frankly misguided interpretation due to the choices made by the film production team. 

In contrast, in the novel, we are shown a lot to help us understand why wwx comes to the wrong conclusions or might not understand his own feelings and reactions. But that’s for all for another post!

[lotorhasabuttcape]

Umbrella Academy Season 2 Review

So, the season opens with Klaus and Bogo’s wedding. Personally, I was a bit surprised by this. I mean, I, like everyone else, had obviously noticed the sexual tension between Klaus and Pogo in season 1, but I didn’t think their relationship would progress so quickly. No matter—my confusion was quickly resolved when this was revealed to be a significant jump into the future. Now I’m excited to see what events will lead up to this moment. Curiously, pogo is depicted with blonde fur and piercing blue eyes. He didn’t have those before, right? What’s going on here? Luther is nowhere to be seen.

So now we catch up with Diego, who has been forced to quit promoting his tech startup in order to restrain Luther in his basement full time. We learn that Luther’s ape DNA has been ravaging his mind in addition to his body, and now he has begun to behave in a manner that is unpredictable and dangerous. It clearly pains Diego to do what must be done, but he understands the importance of protecting his siblings.

Allison is devastated, naturally. She wears all black for the remainder of the series, and her face is always obscured by an ornate lace veil. I thought this subtle symbolism of her grief was a nice touch. Her only solace in the entire series is hanging out with Vanya. They get like ice cream together and stuff and it’s really nice. Anyway.

Restraining Luther is really taking its toll on Diego. In just a few episodes he goes from a handsome young man to an old, stressed out geezer. [insert photo of old 5]. Clearly, something needs to be done about Luther. Diego can’t carry on like this, and it will rip him apart to continue to try. With Diego too broken to act, it is Vanya to the rescue. As established in Season 1, Vanya can breathe underwater and withstand intense atmospheric pressure, so naturally she volunteers to drive Luther to the moon to live out the rest of his days, just as Daddy Hargreaves intended. Luther had to be tased several times and restrained with horse tranquilizers, but the result is a peaceful, poetic, and poignant scene where Vanya sails through the sky while Drive Me to the Moon plays in the background. I’m not going to lie guys, I shed a tear at this moment.

You’re probably wonder why 5 let Vanya borrow his car for this purpose, as it was surely destroyed in the process of transporting Luther to his lunar prison. Well the answer is that he didn’t. Luther’s dramatic subplot eclipsed a larger issue. Just as 5’s age was reversed in Season 1 so that the 60-something year-old man was represented by a teen boy, this time 5’s aging process reversed even more. Five has now been reduced to a newborn infant, in a brilliant Benjamin Button-style twist. Despite his infantile appearance, it is made evident that he still possesses the sharp wit of an older man by the fact that he sips margaritas from his baby bottle and can frequently be seen cuddling and sucking on a loaded handgun.

None of the other siblings knew what to do with him or how to care for a baby. Because of this, Five spends the majority of the Season cradled in Dolores the mannequin’s arms, where he was left by his siblings, who did not know or care how to better look after him. He only moves from this position when Allison takes pity on him in episode 12, where she scoops him up, smiles at his delighted face, and finally removes her veil once and for all. We can safely assume that Allison has decided to adopt him from that point onward. Allison has never embraced typical sibling relationships, instead treating her brother Luther as a love interest and now, in order to heal her broken heart, treats her brother Five as an adopted son. This is a beautiful character arc and it was an honor to watch Allison’s character grow in such a significant way.

We see intermittent flashes of Luther on the moon. He is growing increasingly apelike, and finally, is no longer recognizable as the man he once was. Around this time, the enigmatic link between Pogo and Luther is finally revealed. When Luther is reduced to nothing but a King Kong-esque apeman destined to live and die in lunar solitude, Bogo��s blonde haired blue eyed appearance is explained at last. Boho steps forward in one of the final scenes, and in walks... Luther?? Wait what? The Hargreaves siblings are similarly confused, including Ben, who is now alive. There is nothing monkey-like about this Luther. He is 100% human. It is Allison who ventures first, to ask what is going on.

Luther, or should I say “Luther,” explains that he is not Luther at all. Luther is still a gorilla man rotting on the moon, just as Vanya left him. This new and improved Luther is actually Bogo, who explains that he had been growing increasingly human just as Luther had been feeling his humanity slip away. “You see, there was a link established between Luther and myself, ever since he was injected with the ape DNA in order to save his life. The same DNA that once saved mine.”

The siblings couldn’t believe what they were hearing. I, the viewer, couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Pogo was once a human?

“Not just any human. My children, it is so good to see you all again,” he said, and they finally recognized the voice as that of their father. Klaus divorced him immediately upon learning this shocking information.

In the end it is revealed that Reginald could take on other corporeal forms by switching his life force with theirs, and he had been using this technique to stay alive since the Byzantine empire, when he was born. He never intended to save Luther from the animal instinct that overtook him. Instead, all of it, including when he sent Luther to the moon the first time, was all just preparation so that Reginald could groom his next corporeal form. He never loved Luther as a son, and now he finally admitted it.

Over all I thought this season had a really great premise. Many of the scenes were beautifully acted and moved me to tears. I loved the tiny details, like how Hazel was JFK all long and how Vanya got together with Liberty Belle from GLOW. This season had a lot of great twists and I’m really excited to see what happens in Season 4. Let me know what you guys think!!

[voiceless-terror]

maybe some 🔥with JonTim for the prompts post?

Hello friend!! I got seized by the spirit of the season and decided to write this today <3 It’s an archives polycule AU where everything is nice and everyone’s happy, but it’s specifically focused on Jon/Tim. I hope that’s okay!!

“Are you sure you don’t want to help me?”

Jon nodded, a serene smile on his face. “Yes.”

“Not even the tiniest bit?”

“Not even that.”

“Could be fun! All that snow-”

“Tim.” Jon was giving him his most unimpressed glare. “Look at me. Do I look like I want to shovel snow?” It was true. Jon was currently wrapped in their two fluffiest blankets, sitting in front of a fire Tim had started and sipping from a mug of tea, a book in his other hand. He looked cozy and warm and all the things Tim wanted to be right now if he hadn’t announced that as a ‘good boyfriend,’ he should clear the driveway for when Martin and Sasha arrive. They’d woken up this morning to see the ground blanketed in a thick layer of white, the storm that Tim had insisted ‘would just pass through’ had evidently decided to stay the night. Tim wanted to make sure they didn’t have any trouble coming up. Unfortunately, he announced this right as he wrapped Jon up, and Jon was not moving any time soon.

“You only have one shovel,” Jon pointed out, snuggling deeper into the blankets. “There’s no point in my standing out there if I’m not going to help.”

“Moral support!”

Jon heaved a sigh, rolling his eyes. “I’ll watch you from the window. You don’t want me to get cold, do you?” Jon wasn’t above a little guilt trip and Tim was the one who bundled him all up. It would be a shame to destroy all of that hard work, especially when the finished product was so damn cute. “Or you could just stay in with me-”

Tim groaned dramatically, winding a scarf around his neck with a flourish. “No, it’s fine. I think we’ve established I’m the good boyfriend, and you’re the lazy one.”

“I prefer practical.”

So now here he was, both sweating and freezing (the worst combination, objectively), making little progress on the driveway while Jon sat by the fire, cozy and warm and cute and very pleased with himself. It made Tim want to scowl and also squish Jon to his chest and never let him go, a fairly normal occurrence. 

This wouldn’t be an issue if everyone had come to the cabin at once. Tim had managed to lure Jon away by promising him control of the radio on the ride up, as well as an hour-long detour to the farm that had the horses Jon liked to talk to in very serious tones. Sasha was all about efficiency and wasn’t as indulgent as he was, so she was going to leave a few hours after them with Martin to keep her company. Martin would never allow one of them to feel lonely, though he did look put out at the thought of not being able to watch Jon with the horses. Tim promised to take lots of pictures. In the end, it was probably for the best- Martin had a tendency towards overpacking even for a weekend trip, so this would be a roomier arrangement. But then a surprise storm hit, delaying the two until the next morning. And Tim was going to make sure they had an easy time of it, if he had anything to say about it.

But it was so cold, and he’d slipped twice already, though his falls were cushioned by the snow. On both occasions he saw Jon burrowing his head into the blanket, trying to hide laughter. And Jon needed to stop- well, he needed to stop being Jon and enticing him to come back in. He kept tilting his head in the way he always did when there was an interesting passage in his book, and yawning and blinking like a tired cat, even nodding off a few times, only brought back by a shake of his head. Was he doing this on purpose? Was it all a part of his master plan to leave the driveway un-shoveled and keep Tim all to himself? Terrible, dastardly man. 

The last straw came when he was tired and aching, about half-way done. Jon had shuffled out of the room, blanket around his shoulder like a cape. He came back a few minutes later with two mugs of tea and something under his arm. He moved close to the window, setting the mugs down very purposefully, and tucking a bottle out from under his arm, pouring a rather liberal amount of whatever was in it into the mugs. Tim saw the beginnings of a smirk on his face and he dropped the shovel on the porch, stamping his way inside an exaggerated sigh.

“Fine, fine! You’ve seduced me from my work, my small cabin-dwelling siren,” Jon dodged the forehead kiss, Tim had yet to shed all of his cold, wet outdoor gear. “Hope you’re happy.”

“Very.” Jon settled back onto the couch with a little smile, opening up the blanket for Tim to join. “You weren’t getting much done, Tim. You spent most of your time staring.”

“You were being distracting!” He threw the coat into the corner, not caring about the mess so much as getting warm. He took the mug gingerly in his hands, walking over and burrowing into the blanket, Jon melting into his side. Jon was an icicle in almost all circumstances, but a few hours in front of a fire and nestled in blankets seem to have done him good; the man was like his own personal heater. He took a sip and almost choked at the way it burned his throat. “Jesus, what did you put in here?”

“Vodka,” Jon mumbled, tucking his face into Tim’s shoulder. “Only a little.” Jon’s flushed face and half-lidded eyes said otherwise. 

“Have you been drinking all this time?”

“Hnnn...maybe.” It was only noon. Tim opened his mouth to chastise him before thinking better. Well, we’ve done worse. “Catch up.”

Tim took another sip, still cringing at the taste. “I can’t get blasted like you are, pal. I’ve still got work to do.”

Jon shook his head against Tim’s arm. “Just stay here. It’s supposed to snow later, anyway.”

Tim paused. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, this afternoon.” Jon let out a yawn, closing his eyes. “Gonna undo all your hard work.”

“How long have you known that?” Tim stared down at him, a bit irritated as Jon only shrugged.

“Dunno. An hour, maybe?” He peeked his head up, looking out from under his eyelashes. Damn him. “But I liked watchin’ you work.”

Well, Tim couldn’t fault him for that. He ruffled Jon’s hair, ignoring the petulant whine it earned him. “You’re a little devil, you know that?”

“Mhm,” he mumbled drowsily, climbing right into his lap and throwing his arms around Tim’s neck. Well, that’s nice. “And I’m here to warm you up.” Tim wouldn’t say no to that.

It had been a while since it was just the two of them- don’t get him wrong, Tim loved the time any of them got to spend together, as tearing Jon away from his work was nigh on impossible. But sometimes it was nice to be alone, the two of them in front of roaring fire with alcohol coursing through their system and the sky growing ever-grayer in the background. He took a generous sip of Jon’s hideously doctored beverage and sunk deeper into the cushions, giving Jon a squeeze.

“Alright, you win. They’ll have to deal with a snowy driveway. They should’ve come up earlier, anyway.” He’d see them soon, it was fine. Till then, he would exhaust their liquor stash and thoroughly enjoy the warm, tipsy Jon in his arms. The man laid there quietly for a bit, warm and content, before he pulled back to meet Tim’s eyes with a look of deep offense.

“Can’t believe Sasha didn’t want to see the horses. Horses, Tim!”

“Honestly! The audacity of that woman, I swear.”

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28303050

[iamnmbr3]

Sorry if you're tired of hearing about this but I completely agree with your TMA ending thoughts. I genuinely thought the whole thing would culminate in a huge conflict between Jon and the others that ended in tragic and sad main character death, with Jon ultimately succeeding in his plan, only to find out at the very end that the whole thing was a lie. One last pointless machination of an unthinking, fear-hungry entity, eternally desperate for more. (1/2)

The idea that everything could magically be fixed by a grand gesture to send the entities away seemed so ridiculous to me that I thought it HAD to be a blatant lie and Annabelle would pop up to gloat about them destroying each other/ruining the world even more because they'd really believed they could so easily solve all their problems by giving them to someone else. Instead they played the plan totally straight after introducing it far, FAR too late in the series for it to mean anything. (2/2)

No need to apologize at all! Go for it. These are interesting thoughts. 

I think there’s something to be said for not having too many twists in close succession. Going “SIKE it was the Butler this whole time” and then one second later “SIKE no it wasn’t!” can undermine the emotional impact of the first twist and make the second one feel dumb. Of course this isn’t a hard and fast rule. it depends on how you execute it. I guess it’s not really the number of twists but how you execute them. Like in S2 we had a really good series of twists in close succession. It turned out that the person in the tunnels was Jurgen Leitner BUT he didn’t kill Gertrude and wasn’t the person we and Jon expected. And that worked. Each twist deepened the story.

Here though we had Jon give that epic speech about how he’s finally taking a stand against the web. And has that epic line about how he’s tricked the web and it and all the other fears will die trapped in a barren hell. It’s metal af. But then it completely gets undone a second later in a really lame way. If Martin came in and fought or betrayed Jon to his death that would be fine. But instead Martin comes in and after 5 seconds Jon inexplicably seem to entirely forget what his plan was and doesn’t care about stopping the fears from spreading anymore. Also he’s not at all upset that Martin apparently plotted with the others to betray him and went behind his back. (Hugely not a big fan of how the narrative frames Martin going behind Jon’s back or yelling at Jon as fine, but if Jon does the same thing it’s framed as wrong and he spends a huge amount of s5 constantly begging Martin for forgiveness for things. One of my many issues with the way jonmartin was written in late s5. But I digress.) 

Because Jon’s sudden change of heart doesn’t feel earned, it doesn’t really have any emotional impact or feel like a good twist. And it also undermines that actually emotionally impactful moment from a few minutes earlier when he finally made a choice for himself and tried to destroy the Web. And because Jon suddenly seems to forget his whole character goal and is ok with Martin stopping him, his failure to stop the Web isn’t framed as tragic or horrifying. Event though it should be. Because the narrative doesn’t feel aware of the implications of what is happening.

And yeah. Rip to you and everyone else who thought surely that couldn’t be the Web’s actual plan. I don’t get why if they wanted to stop the apocalypse they didn’t just kill Jonah. Or why if they needed Jon to go along with this plan to open the gap wider they tried to convince him in the way they did. Shouldn’t Annabelle have established herself as a friend he could trust earlier? Rather than trying to gain his trust by...kidnapping Martin and turning into a giant spider (his worst fear)? If the Web actually was just trying to get access to other worlds why didn’t it just get a bunch of Avatars to use their powers to open the gap BEFORE it started the apocalypse. And if Annabelle was tricking them why didn’t any character acknowledge this? Wouldn’t they be upset if they realized the Web wasn’t actually trying to help but rather just wanted to feed on more people? 

When characters don’t acknowledge or respond to their environment it makes the story feel very hollow and empty. TMA is a fictional podcast. It’s not real. The only thing that makes it feel scary or sad or dramatic is the characters in the story reacting as though it is real. In 160 remember how anguished Jon sounds? Remember when he says “Look at the sky Martin. It’s looking back.” and you can hear the hysteria and horror and awful glee and self disgust and despair all mingling in his tone? That makes that moment powerful. If he’d just been flat and disinterested or none of the characters had reacted to what happened it wouldn’t have been nearly as a good an episode. Because ultimately a lot of good storytelling isn’t what happens but how it’s presented. 

[galladerocksgamer]

Okay so I love the Paranormal Liberation War arc, it does so much fantastic stuff, dang near perfect across the board. But I think it’s pretty widely felt that the pacing got a bit off the rails near the end, we had big reveals and character moments stacking up and half of them barely even felt relevant. And me being the person who just thinks about things in depth and for long periods, I’ve still been dwelling on it for months. And now as the manga has continued, I’m finally seeing how some of the aforementioned War moments could have been better executed in different situations, because honestly this latest arc seems like it would have been tailor-made to address them all. So lemme take a closer look at three different components here: Mirio/Eri, Bakugo, and Hawks.

1. Mirio and Eri

Probably the most random moment from the war’s climax, don’t think anyone was predicting the sudden return of Mirio to battle. I love Mirio, he’s one of my favorite characters, but it was a pretty anticlimactic way to bring him back into the fold. He doesn’t even really bring anything special to the battle, nothing uniquely Mirio. His role is just backing up Best Jeanist against the Nomu, and anyone could have done that. Burnin could’ve arrived sooner, or Manual and Rock Lock could’ve come back after getting the injured heroes to safety. Heck, if you still wanted the Nighteye agency to be involved, then Bubble Girl and Centipeder could’ve been the cavalry to help Jeanist. But instead Mirio returns unexpectedly and none too remarkably.

And on top of that, we’re basically just told “oh by the way Eri has some control of her power now.” Something that the series had been building up toward for awhile just … occurs off-screen with no forewarning. Really feels like a disservice to Eri and her development to not give that intense moment any real spotlight.

It felt extremely weird for me at the time, but I also kinda wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the coming arcs just couldn’t afford to place focus on Eri and Mirio, so their respective developments were tied together to lend an extra surprise to the war’s final bout. But instead this most recent arc has gone the opposite route … through the return of Chisaki.

The man once known as Overhaul, now thoroughly broken and wanting nothing more than to fix his one great regret. With Nagant’s defeat, he winds up back in custody, but having now once again met with Midoriya and made his wish known. So indeed, the opportunity arises for Eri and Mirio to be brought back to the forefront. I don’t doubt that we will indeed have at least a brief glimpse at Eri healing Chisaki’s boss as Midoriya promised, but the potential for that scene could really have been through the roof if it was the impetus for Eri to willingly use her power on a person for the first time.

Imagine Midoriya coming to Eri with that heavy request, of Eri deciding to offer this kindness toward Chisaki of all people, using her power to heal before the man who always told her that she could only destroy. Because really, I don’t think there’d be a question of that, we know the kind of kid Eri is, and she won’t let anyone suffer if there’s any way she could prevent it. Even if Chisaki was the person asking, there might be hesitation and fear, but is there any doubt she’d offer what aid she could in the end? And for Pops to be the first person she helps, to undo the harm carelessly inflicted by Chisaki … well, it’d certainly be poetic.

As for Mirio in this scenario, that could go a couple ways. Route 1: Eri is hesitant to help Chisaki with Pops because she would rather help Mirio get his Quirk back, and we know that her power seems to have a bit of a limit on it via the energy stored in her horn. So what if it did work, but she ran out of juice healing Pops and then made Mirio wait even longer? Well, of course that’s exactly what he’d insist on, he wouldn’t let himself take priority over another person in need of Eri’s help. And he’d take it all in good spirits as always. Or Route 2, if there was concern that Eri’s power could run wild while trying to help Pops, then they could go the complete opposite direction and have Mirio offer to go first, to be the guinea pig for Eri in case of emergency. But of course, he’d have full faith in her all along and coax her through, ensuring her of just how helpful and brave she always is.

So yes, can see how Eri and Mirio’s development could have taken a more satisfying route, and cap us off with some good ole Chisaki angst to boot (though at least we’ve still got a decent serving of that). Now moving on …

2. Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight

So Bakugo’s long and arduous journey of personal growth reached a new peak during the battle with Shigaraki, where his body moved without thinking and he underwent his true heroic awakening to protect Midoriya. Such a sacrifice seems like a perfect cap for his development for the War arc … and then a couple chapters later he forces himself right back into action to back up Best Jeanist, and as promised he reveals his over-the-top hero name to his mentor. In this case I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with the reveal, but in light of his preceding big heroic action, it really feels like a hat on a hat.

It’s not like Bakugo’s hero name heralded some major turning point for the battle; Jeanist’s arrival (and subsequently Mirio’s) had already assured that. And like Mirio, there wasn’t any real special reason for Bakugo to rejoin the fight with the Nomu, especially with Iida and Hado on the scene. After getting skewered by Shigaraki, it would have been pretty simple for Bakugo to just spend the rest of the fight bleeding unconscious on the ground, rather than complicating matters by shoving him back into the fray. And ultimately, the moment feels a bit anticlimactic. All the suspense waiting for Bakugo’s hero name, and then it’s revealed at a time where he barely even has the spotlight.

Of course, such a bombastic name as “Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight” doesn’t particularly lend itself to a quiet or emotional scene, so it wouldn’t be thematically fitting to move that revelation to Bakugo’s hospital bed or his somber apology to Midoriya. That said, given his decision to announce the name first to Jeanist, there would at least be precedent for him to have a “Dabi says secrets in a black speech bubble” moment in the hospital in which he talks to Jeanist but leaves the readers in the dark, before coming back to the actual audience reveal later on.

And there must certainly be other opportunities to present the name appropriately. Bakugo is a master of making an explosive entrance, after all. And when Class 1-A finally catches up to Midoriya, if Bakugo really wanted to make a big impact on his friend/rival before getting into the sentimental stuff, then it would be a prime chance to reveal his hero name in grandiose fashion, both to Midoriya and the audience.

Or if his hero name had been Kacchan, then that reveal would have fit right in with his apology to Midoriya, but that’s neither here nor there

This could be one scenario, of course, but it hardly feels like that would’ve been the only option. And compared to the crammed-in reveal in the final fight with the League, it’s easy to say that there could have been plenty of smoother roads to take.  But setting that aside, moving onto the final touch:

3. Hawks

The long-awaited Hawks backstory doesn’t really disappoint. Admittedly, there weren’t really a lot of holes necessary to fill in there; we’d had enough bits and pieces provided before this point to pretty much put together the whole picture of his crummy childhood. But even without any really surprising turns, the flashback is welcome and hits some good emotional beats. But really, the glaring issue in this area is the timing.

We’re presented this backstory at an instance where Hawks is hardly the most relevant character. Shigaraki is undergoing a personal crisis as All For One seizes the reigns of his own body, Endeavor’s dark history has been exposed and the Todoroki family is in turmoil, escapees from Tartarus roam the streets, and Midoriya consults internally with the vestiges of One For All ... and the narrative decides to take a chapter to look at Hawks. Practically nothing from his flashback directly relates to present events, serving only to further emphasize his already well-established devotion to Endeavor and his (misguided) understanding of Twice’s feelings. The timing is just kind of baffling, especially with some other more appropriate places being readily apparent.

For instance, only a dozen chapters later, we’re properly introduced to Lady Nagant. As Hawks’s predecessor within the Hero Commission, the two have a lot in common, and the similarities and differences between the two could set up some interesting comparisons if Hawks’s backstory was saved to follow up Nagant’s. Two idealistic young children, handpicked by the Commission and groomed into assassins, yet whose outlooks in the present day are starkly opposed? Nagant's guilt driving her to turn on the Commission, while Hawks holds few regrets despite the blood on his hands, longing for freedom from the Commission’s grasp? That kind of parallel could really have built a more solid foundation for Hawks’s past to be laid upon.

That could be an effective setup, but there’s another approach I’d actually much rather have seen, one that brings Hawks’s backstory not later, but earlier: during the dramatic confrontation between Hawks and Dabi. The instant that Dabi reveals he knows Hawks’s real name, the story opens itself up perfectly to dive into his past. And the timing would be superb, showing Hawks at his worst as he murders Twice, then turning back the clock to look at the innocent child who just wants to save people. A little boy whose feathers tingle with the need to rescue those in need, superimposed against the man whose same feathers are used to deliver the killing blow to a victim of hero society’s ills. You want angst? Now that’s how you do angst. Placing the backstory there would play up the tragedy of both Hawks and Twice simultaneously: a “hero” raised by the Commission to cut threats to their control short at the root, and a “villain” who could have been a kindred spirit but instead suffers for their would-be friendship.

And that’s not even the icing on the cake. The real matter of interest here comes in Hawks’s view of Endeavor. By the time we get to Hawks’s backstory, all of Japan has already learned of Endeavor’s history from Dabi, and the result of the timing feels a smidge tone-deaf, and fails to realize the full potential resonance of the situation. The flashback to young Hawks as a victim of child abuse, who is rescued (unwittingly) when Endeavor arrests his father, is presented to us as the moment when Hawks realized that heroes are real, not merely a fantasy. We see why he developed such an ideal view of heroes, and why he is so specifically loyal to Endeavor ... so just imagine if all that was presented during his showdown with Dabi. Imagine if all that came before the tragic revelation of Toya Todoroki. The true terrible irony, that Hawks was rescued from his abusive father by someone secretly guilty of the same crimes, that Hawks’s whole epiphany of “real heroism” was founded upon one of the most corrupt enforcers of all.

The end result would be the same, I’m sure. After all, this is certainly the same thought process Hawks was going through all along, and his decision to maintain his faith in Endeavor’s personal growth would presumably remain unchanged. But presenting Hawks’s backstory before Dabi’s would have opened up a lot more room for us as the audience to actually see Hawks’s views be challenged. If there’s one real complaint I’ve got about Hawks’s character, it’s that we don’t really tend to see him questioning himself or his actions; whatever happens, he rolls with it and presses on, no matter how his ideals are brought into question. But this simple matter of timing could go a long ways to remedying that, granting the audience the chance to watch Hawks grapple with his personal image of and approach to heroism, and his relationship with Endeavor, rather than allowing most of that to pass unseen in the wake of the war’s end. Even if he would ultimately come to the same conclusion, at least such a narrative structure would provide a much more satisfying presentation of his struggle up to that point.

So, I’m not great at endings, but that brings us to the conclusion of my rambling though process here. To recap, the more I’ve thought about it, the more obvious it is that the backloaded War arc could be remedied, and the following arc only made that more obvious. Why force Mirio’s return so soon when he could be tied in later with Eri mastering her powers and the desperate pleas of Chisaki? Why shove in Bakugo’s hero name when the boy has already made a tremendous impact on the arc, and will be more open to further focus during the conflict with Deku in the next? And why throw in Hawks’s backstory as a standalone chapter at a time when it’s largely irrelevant, when there was such great potential to emotionally contrast him with the backstory of Nagant or Dabi? These are the kinds of things I think about. Little things, really, and honestly the whole reason they stand out to me is just that the rest of the arc around them is so dang fantastic. So … yes. This is the testament to my love for this manga, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk, byeeeeee