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twig-tea · 3 months

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SHIPPER TAG GAME

Tagged by @lurkingshan and @stuffnonsenseandotherthings to dig into the vault. Friends, I have been Perpetually Online since 1995, when that meant I had to haunt my school library computer at lunchtime, so this is going to be for the fellow Olds. Sorry in advance for the HP mentions.

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore?

Have I let any ships go? Hmm. I'll go with Mulder/Scully from X-Files. Watching now, they should definitely not end up together lol

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

Sailor Mercury/Sailor Jupiter from Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. I. Was. Obsessed. This ship hit me like a ton of bricks in I want to say 6th or 7th grade.

I watched the show as it aired with English dubs, found out the episodes we got were censored, immediately fell into my completionist ways, went to the Asian mall (it was literally pan-Asian with stuff from Japan, China, Taiwain, Korea, etc.) and got definitely not official VCDs with Mandarin subtitles, and would sit with friends who spoke Mandarin and had them translate the subs to English for me (I say this like I forced them, but they offered because they were my friends and they also felt passionately about people seeing the uncensored show). I then learned how to Internet and would trawl for fanpages of the manga (it would take 20 minutes to load an image at the time, so rather than full scanlations I'd get walls of text describing what happened with maybe a single panel illustration). Uranus and Neptune were fantastic, but I already had Ami and Makoto aka Mercury and Jupiter long before I got to the Uranus/Neptune episodes (or the Sailor Stars manga arc).

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

Definitely Sailor Moon fanfic was the first fic I read. It was an easy step from finding fan summaries of the chapters not yet out in English > finding fan sites with fanfic on them, back before we had archives or even decent search engines and you had to just find the sites you needed through links from other sites. It was like a whole new world of possibilities opening up. The first real fanfic community I was in was Harry Potter.

In terms of first fic I wrote, I am not a writer; I've only ever written a small handful of not worth mentioning ficlets featuring the Kirk/Spock ship (Star Trek TOS).

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

Oh it was likely Serena/Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon and it was in person, because I had friends who got me into anime and manga early and they were artists who drew a lot of fanart.

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

Friends, I had a Livejournal. It was impossible not to get into ship discourse.

6. Did you used to have any no-otp or have it currently?

I am going to echo @stuffnonsenseandotherthings and @lurkingshan and say I was dead-set against Hermione as a ship with any of the men in Harry Potter (Hermione/Luna or Hermione/Ginny, though, we could talk), and I also really disliked Draco/Ron. I also am not here for Spock/McCoy (Star Trek), and I don't really enjoy Stucky (as in Captain America/Winter Soldier or Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes from Marvel).

OH and can I be a hater on main for a second? The first couple that I remember hating as a thing was probably Jo and Professor Bhaer from Little Women; I was SO MAD they married in the end. I felt very validated years later when I read that the author Lousia May Alcott was forced by her publisher to marry Jo off and made up the couple out of spite.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

The last fic I read was a Word of Honour modern AU pairing Wen Ke Xing/Zhou Zishu in which they rescued stray kittens.

SInce I started this, I've also read a One Piece Luffy/Zoro fic (and that's not even my favourite ship--I've been a Zoro/Sanji girlie since the early 2000s! I'm weak for banter.)

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs?

I have so many. SO many. Truly. I don't even know where to start with this question! I follow several AO3 tags and fanfic writers that I get regular fic updates from. Most of my OTPs are either canon (from queer/BL/GL media) or the most popular ship (I feel very lucky that my taste is so basic). There is no one couple I love the most. Just going to throw a dart at the board: From BL, the one I come back to a lot is Hira/Kiyoi in Utsukushii Kare, because their dynamic is so intense.

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

Hmm. That's what fandom is for, so not really? I usually get more annoyed when people do get together that I wish had stayed platonic (never forgiving Pacific Rim for that kiss, it was so unnecessary). And I'm extremely mad about censorship, i.e. couples that DID get together but we didn't get to see it for whatever reason (see e.g. Uranus and Neptune from Sailor Moon Sailor Stars; Chinese danmei novel live-action adaptations). Otherwise there are lots of these but I just read the fanfic and recover. I'll say I'm still annoyed Buffy didn't get to have with Faith what she had with Spike though. Their chemistry was off the charts.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

This is such a hard question. I came around a little on Lan Xichen/Jiang Cheng from MDZS/the Untamed, though it's still not my fave (it's a soft no not a hard no). I'll also give you an oldie: Andie McPhee and Pacey from Dawson's Creek. I hated Andie's character back in the day but now I like her character but really dislike how she was used in the show, which isn't the same thing. And I actually really liked how she and Pacey worked together.

I'll also give you a BL one: Kurosawa and Haruta in Ossan's Love. Ossan's Love s1 & 3 it was clear they were not OTP so that's a bit irrelevant anyway, but it's much less clear in s2 (the AU season) and the first time I watched it I wasn't sure how I felt about the way that season ended as much as I loved the season as a whole. I like it more every time I rewatch.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

LOL I am with everyone else on the Brian/Justin train but since that's been said twice I'll go with something else. I was a big Harry/Draco shipper back in the day, which would now probably get me cancelled for shipping someone with his bully (though a significant part of the fun of that ship was about how Draco was such an ineffectual bully...but I digress), in addition to of course how the author's transphobia ruined the whole thing for all of us (fanfic doesn't make her any money, so I don't have a problem continuing to read it in theory, but it's left a sour note over my experience and makes any engagement in that fandom less fun).

12. What was your favorite crack ship?

I was one of those foolish people obsessed with Hawkeye/Coulson before we'd even seen them face-to-face or knew almost anything about MCU Clint Barton. I still read fanfic of that ship even though it's been fully jossed and makes no sense at all anymore. Ok one more, I really love the very small Breakfast Club fandom shipping Brian/John and Claire/Allison. I've read the few fics on AO3 for the queer pair ghost ships in that show multiple times.

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics of?

Of all time, I've probably read the most Kirk/Spock fanfic. But that's due to the length of time I've been into the ship, the amount of time it's existed, and its popularity. I still read Kirk/Spock regularly.

14. What most of your ships usually have in common?

Honestly most can be boiled down to grumpy/sunshine pairs in which both are very competent in specific ways and both are hiding crippling self esteem issues behind their grumpy or sunshine-ness, and have strong but differing moral codes that they each respect in one another (and is usually where the feelings start). Banter is a must. I am admittedly also here for height difference in my ships. Double-plus bonus for terrible communicators who learn to understand one another's particular communication quirks.

Perfect encapsulation of this dynamic is Danny/Steve from Hawaii Five-0 (listen that show was copaganda trash but the fanfic was fun as hell).

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

Power dynamics that remain unaddressed as part of the story. Hate to love that isn't earned over time. When the relationship makes each other worse rather than better. When they never learn to trust one another. When one of them is in it as part of a savior complex and that doesn't get challenged or worked through. When only one of them has a personality. There's very little that I'd say is a hard no in terms of dynamics or setup for me, but it has to be handled well, and sometimes I don't have the energy to give something the benefit of the doubt.

tagging: @respectthepetty @wen-kexing-apologist @so-much-yet-to-learn @ginnymoonbeam @bengiyo with as always no pressure, plus anyone who sees this who wants to fill it out, consider yourself tagged and let me know so I can see it!

#tag game #thank you for tagging me #i am not tagging all of these shows lol #typed so that i can stop thinking it #I keep sitting on this because I think I'll think of others and will regret not including them but man it's just tumblr

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the-art-of-sanshoku · 5 months

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Manga Recommendations from Things I Read in 2023

I wanted to make an end of the year post highlighting things I read last year and want others to know about! I tried focusing on manga that don't have anime adaptions (although a few of these are getting ones soon) and covering a variety of genres. Anyway, let's get right into it with:

Ikoku Nikki (Tomoko Yamashita)

Status: Complete, 54 Chapters, unlicensed - complete fan translation (Note: When I say something is licensed or not this only refers to having an English release.)

Genre: Josei, SOL, Drama

Synopsis: After the loss of her parents, 15 year old Asa finds herself in the custody of her aunt Makio Koudai. Makio, the introverted novelist, has no experience with children but will do what she can for Asa.

While this isn’t an ordered list I will start with what is probably my favorite manga I read this year. Ikoku Nikki is a very cathartic read for me as there are a lot of adult characters who are just trying to figure things out (although this also applies to the teen characters, but it’s just more relatable with the characters closer to my age). Figuring out how to like yourself even when you don’t fit to society's “norms”, figuring out how to process traumas from growing up that still affect you well into your 20s and 30s and beyond, figuring out how to love others, figuring out who “you” even are. And it’s written and worded so lovely and deliberately that sometimes it says something and just puts into words a feeling you’ve had for forever but were never able to express and all of a sudden it just makes sense.

The cast is diverse and I think everyone can find someone to relate to. There are neurodiverse characters, and characters that widely spread the LGBTQIA + spectrum. But they don’t feel trope-y or anything, they’re just well fleshed out and well realized people. Ikoku Nikki just has a very “understanding” vibe that is just comforting to read and be seen by media. In a way it was a little of a life changing (life affirming?) read for me and I highly recommend it to anyone, and I pray it gets an official English release in the future so I can add it to my collection and support the author properly.

Tenkaichi: Nihon Saikyou Bugeisha Ketteisen (Yousuke Nakamaru & Kyoutarou Azuma)

Status: Releasing, 32 Chapters, unlicensed - ongoing fan translation

Genre: Action, Battle Royale, Seinen

Synopsis: 16 historical figures participate in a grandiose tournament of 1v1 battles to determine Nobunaga’s successor

On the opposite end of the manga spectrum we have Tenkaichi, which is just a very fun read. And sometimes I feel kind of crazy how little I’ve seen this talked about online by anyone, as it’s a super quality battle manga. It feels like a manga written by battle manga lovers for battle manga lovers, and in the author’s notes you can see this to be true. They love unpredictable battles with over the top powers and larger than life characters and they deliver. Tenkaichi lacks a “main character” so every fight feels like either side could win and I have even been surprised by a few outcomes of the battles. And even without a main character, the characters that exist are just super cool and easy to pick one to root for. They also usually become a bit more fleshed out via backstories so they’re not super shallow either. The art, paneling, and character designs are also really good, if you like fighting manga at all check this out.

Medalist (Ikada Tsuruma)

Status: Releasing, 36 Chapters, licensed

Genre: Sports, Drama, Seinen

Synopsis: A cinnamon roll coach and his cinnamon roll student aim to make her a gold medalist level skater

Medalist is a classic underdog story that is really elevated by its superb main characters and art. Inori and Tsukasa are a very silly and endearing duo, but are also incredibly dedicated and hardworking that make them impossible not to root for. Their relationship and belief in each other really forms the core of the manga. The art can be really funny with silly faces, but also really intense and beautiful to capture the figure skating and emotions of the skaters pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into their work. Each competition feels really thrilling and has you on the edge of your seat, and it does a good job of getting into the specifics of the scoring so you can follow along. It’s inspirational in the way that great sports manga are, it just makes you want to work hard to become someone you can be proud of.

Souboutei Kowasubeshi (Kazuhiro Fujita)

Status: Complete, 250 Chapters, unlicensed - complete fan translation

Genre: Supernatural, Horror, Action, Shounen

Synopsis: A lovecraftian mansion poses a threat to Japan. To handle this, a team of supernatural/paranormal/spiritual experts are sent in along with - a scrungly artist?

Kazuhiro Fujita is a mangaka that I feel is super underrated in the west. Despite getting anime adaptations of 2 of his works in Ushio to Tora and Karakuri Circus (although the Karakuri adaption was not the best unfortunately), I feel that these were overlooked and he doesn’t really get talked about. Which is a shame because I think he’s a really great mangaka. He’s been around since the 90’s, and you can tell through his artstyle and storytelling style. Despite Souboutei coming out in 2016 it still feels very old school shounen, but this isn’t a bad thing at all. Fujita’s manga are full of heart and his artwork really exaggerates faces and body language to communicate the character’s feelings. I like his manga a lot because from the start it will often tell you “the big bad” and the whole manga will build up this antagonist until a satisfying end and climax. It doesn’t introduce new threats, or powerscale indefinitely, or pad its runtime with unnecessary filler, it starts - brings you through an emotional rollercoaster of twists and turns - and then ends.

Souboutei is no different in this regard. It builds and builds on the primary antagonist (in this case the mansion of Souboutei) and its mysteries to make a journey full of intrigue where you want to keep turning the page to find out more. The mansion is also a great setting that becomes a character in its own right, a twisting labyrinth full of malice and various horrors. Fujita also always makes a unique cast of characters with varied motivations, ages, character designs, and abilities that make each memorable and likeable. Fujita also likes to make every little detail count and sometimes add to the main plot where you least expect. Being a shounen there’s also plenty of action, and his battles feel creative and the abilities are inventive to make for some exciting fights. Souboutei has a bonus for the main character being an artist and having large themes on passion and creation and “what is art” that gave me an extra layer of enjoyment. Also it must be said that Sakamaki Deido would totally be a hit as a tumblr sexyman if this manga had any fanbase at all. But whether you read Souboutei or one of his other works, I hope you give Fujita a try.

Rojica to Rakkasei (Kinome)

Status: Complete, 25 Chapters, unlicensed - has complete fan translation

Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, SOL, Seinen

Synopsis: The titular characters Rojica and Rakka spend wacky days in their wacky world.

Rojica to Rakkasei is a breath of fresh air with a fantasy world that’s just plain weird and unique. A lot of manga fantasy lately feel like derivative goblins and dragons and slimes type worlds in medieval european-esque settings. Not Rojica though, it kind of feels almost like surreal and absurdist manga, but doesn’t go quite that far so it’s easier to follow as a series of episodic adventures. It’s a short, creative read that I enjoyed from start to finish.

Witch Hat Atelier (Kamome Shirahama)

Status: Releasing, 74 Chapters, licensed

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Drama, SOL, Seinen

Synopsis: In this world there are people born as witches who can wield magic to help others. Or at least that’s what the world is made to think. After one fateful day, ordinary girl Coco, will learn the truth behind magic and become a witch apprentice.

Speaking of refreshing fantasy worlds, Witch Hat Atelier is a wonderful manga with great worldbuilding and setting. The “magic system” used in the manga is unique and feels very naturally woven into the world and society. This magic is harshly regulated and has many rules of its use, but Witch Hat Atelier lives by the creed “restrictions breed creativity” to create interesting solutions to difficult scenarios. The characters are delightful, focusing more on a younger cast of aspiring and bright girls who aim to become witches proper. Their struggles to make a magic unique to them and find their own voice in society make them a relatable bunch. Kamome Shirahama’s artsyle and paneling is also to die for, I love just looking at this manga. This manga isn’t all just school life and rainbows though, there’s a dark undercurrent to the story in the form of the antagonists the “Brim Hats” that bring some extra excitement and thrill to the story as well. Just a brilliant manga. Also the only manga with my little meow meow Qifrey

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (Uoto)

Status: Complete, 62 Chapters, recently licensed

Genre: Historical, Drama, Seinen

Synopsis: We’re studying heliocentrism! But it’s the 1400s…

A manga that really touched me on its themes of legacy, and passing knowledge down to new generations. This manga focuses on the secret studies of those who look at the stars and dare to challenge the current knowledge of the world. It takes place in Poland, which is a rather unique setting, in the 1400s. The constant threat of the inquisitors is felt at all times and our characters are left to question if this pursuit of knowledge is worth the weight of risk. What is the worth of my life? What is my purpose? What does it mean to be fulfilled? Philosophical, romantic (in a literary sense), and profound, this manga stands out among the crowd.

Futari Ashita mo Sorenari ni (Suzuyuki)

Status: Complete, 87 Chapters, recently licensed

Genre: Romance, Comedy, SOL, Seinen

Synopsis: Long term couple moves in together - fluff ensues

This is likely my favorite romance manga as it is one of the few to depict fluffy domestic life with your partner. Finding manga that deal with established relationships can be hard, but to find one about a healthy romance where the characters just live together and love each other and feel like adults and not the blushy “oooh she h-hh-holding my hand??” teenager mentality is a super fresh and nice thing to read (although I like those kinds of romances too, it’s just a bit oversaturated of a market comparatively). It’s a feel good romcom SOL with pretty much zero drama which some people may not like, but it had me grinning from ear to ear like a madman the whole time. If you like cute domestic fluff it’s a must read. Doesn’t overstay its welcome and has a great ending.

I have some more manga I want to talk about, but this post is pretty long so there will maybe be a part 2 ^.^

#manga #manga recommendation #mangacap #witch hat atelier #tongari boushi no atelier #ikoku nikki #tenkaichi #medalist #souboutei #fujita kazuhiro #rojica to rakkasei #chi chikyuu no undou ni tsuitei #futari ashita mo sorenari ni #my post

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spacecadetomoly · 2 years

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Matsuno Family Diary! Part 4: Todomatsu goes to a New Year's Eve Party! Does not get Laid, has Zero Game! (Unofficial English Translation)

The following is an unofficial English translation of an official short story released online for members of the official Osomatsu-san fan club. If you want to read the original Japanese version of the story or enjoy the other things the fan club offers its members please consider joining: https://osomatsusan-fc.com/

In the room of the Matsuno family sextuplets there is a notebook hidden away behind a bookshelf. This notebook exists so that the brothers may, should they so choose, express the deep feelings and profound thoughts which weigh upon their hearts and minds so heavily that they can no longer be contained.

It seems that today someone’s hand is once again turning the pages….

January 5th, 2022, Todomatsu

5 days after New Year's Eve… Today, I would like to write about what happened to me… The day before New Years, I found this advertisement for a machikon* on the internet: ――――――――――――――――――― [Mainly meant for singles in their 20’s] (Akatsuka Ward)

“Before I knew it, I had fallen in love. I understood the word "fate" for the first time...”

New Year's Eve love-hunting machikon event! Free drinks and desserts!

Only you can carve out a new life for yourself!

Let’s start a new romance! The man of your dreams is so close by!

―――――――――――――――――――

I’ve had my brothers destroy any chance I had at love before it could even start to develop. So this new year’s eve I decided to go to this event in town in secret without any of them knowing.

But I didn’t have the courage to go alone! So I called a bunch of people trying to find someone who would come with me. I ended up going with an acquaintance who works for a major company. I thought, “Totty, you don't stand a chance, do you?” Shobon...**

I don’t think any of my virgin NEET brothers know this, but it’s so hard to be popular at these kinds of events. In fact, forget about being popular, it’s hard enough just getting girls to remember who you are! After all, there are plenty of men out there. If you call them afterwards and they say "Oh...who's this guy?” then there’s no chance of starting a relationship with them! That's why you have to be memorable to the girls.

Unfortunately, I'm a normal boy that you can find anywhere. I'm just an ordinary guy. A little bit good-looking, kind of smart, a tad witty, and overall just plain ol’ Totty. I'm not highly educated, nor do I have a high income…

But you know what? The whole night ended up being such a big victory for me! ! ! I Did it! Woohoo!

Yes, I realized I am a unique character. I have a special characteristic that once you hear it, you'll never forget it.

You see, I am…a sextuplet!

There are no other sextuplets around, I’m part of the only set in town! It’s so unusual! So that’s what I first mentioned in conversations right after I introduced myself! There was no shortage of things to talk about, such as “Can I see a picture of you guys?” or “When you get injured, do the others feel it?” Is that good? No, It’s great!!!

To be honest, I used to think of my five brothers as nothing more than stains on my shirt, but from now on I'll think of them as appliqués on my shirt! Thank you!

But you know…even though I was number one in the amount of contact information exchanged no one has replied to me yet… I guess being remembered doesn’t automatically mean you’re popular….

P.S.

I’m not to blame for the porno book thing

Translator’s Notes:

* A machikon is a type of speed dating party held in a city where you and a group of strangers (can be as small as 10 or as big as 100) meet up with the goal of potentially hooking up. You don’t get a lot of time to talk to each person so a good first impression is very important.

** Shobon means downhearted or dejected. I thought about changing it to something else, but I couldn’t think of an English word that truly captures how cutesy and punchable Totty is being as well as “Shobon” does so I ended up leaving it in. Like, the image of him sighing out “Shobon…” makes me want to both hug and slap him, and I wanted to convey that feeling as authentically as possible.

This Is probably one of my favorite Matsuno Family Diary entries. It really captures Todomatsu as a character: he wants so badly to be his own person apart from his brothers, but he also doesn’t want that and hates being alone and even when he spends a night away from his family he still ends up talking about them the entire time because despite thinking he’s better than them he still deeply lacks confidence in himself as an individual person. In conclusion, Todomatsu is a land of contrasts, bless his dry little co-dependent heart.

Up next: A Valentine's Day Existential Crisis with Choromatsu!

#todomatsu #osomatsu san #mr osomatsu #Matsuno Family Diary #choromatsu #translations #osomatsusan

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harocat · 11 months

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Hi! I saw some pics you posted of LBFAD merch (they’re so cute!) on Twitter, and I was wondering where you bought them? And what are good places online to shop for LBFAD/cdrama (official and unofficial) merch in general?

Thanks!

Hello! Here are a few places I got mine:

First and foremost are ebay and aliexpress. These might seem obvious, but there's actually quite a lot of LBFAD merch on there. I know you might be worried about encountering bootlegs, and rightfully so, but in general my policy is to avoid anything where the prices look too good to be true. You probably won't find official keychains for under about 10.00, for example.

Here's a few aliexpress stores I've gotten official goods from: Ningbo Yingtong Official, Cosmile, COSJKDAKIMAKURA, Happy Life, Cosplay Accessories.

On eBay: zanqiaozhuang5, hotai18, blhs5904

Note that sometimes a store will have both official and non-official goods. For example, BLS5904 has official LBFAD merch like the plush and the acrylic sand art, but the keychains I got from them were bootleg (to be fair to them, when I got them and pointed it out, they were very helpful and honest in assisting me with getting official versions of the items). Go by the price. If something looks cheaper than you would anticipate, it probably is too good to be true. And there's plenty of kind of funky looking merch that is fake as well, so if something just looks a little weird, it's probably fake. You can also message or DM me. I can't guarantee accuracy, but I have gotten decent at spotting bootlegs by now.

You can also go to the following sites and find some goodies: CPOP UNIVERSE and CPOP HOT. I've ordered from both.

A note that CPOP Hot is overall cheaper, but the site IS in Chinese. I managed to successfully order with google translate, and they do ship internationally. It's pretty easy to use.

#haro talks #love between fairy and devil #cang lan jue #anonymous

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andresylupin · 1 year

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Btw do you have headcanons for what kind of poetry Lupin would enjoy? I know there’s that one poem about the willow tree he recited in the Confessions of Arsene Lupin, but I’m curious about other people’s thoughts :D (I also failed to track down the author who wrote that poem?) Do you think he’d read William IX or Marie de France? I’m a literature major myself and I got take a little peek at medieval French poetry in my courses

Interesting question! I am unfortunately not much of a poetry person, so I'm probably not the best to ask what Lupin's taste in that area would be ^^'

Although that doesn't mean I have nothing to say on the matter hehe. First of, the willow tree poem is an excerpt from Lucie, élégie by Alfred de Musset. The whole poem is quite long, and it begins and ends with the stanza about the willow tree.

"Mes chers amis, quand je mourrai,

Plantez un saule au cimetière.

J’aime son feuillage éploré ;

La pâleur m’en est douce et chère,

Et son ombre sera légère

À la terre où je dormirai."

"Friends beloved, when I die,

Plant a willow over me,

Through its leaves the night will sigh,

Kindly will its shadow be,

And its drooping boughs shall weep,

O'er the earth wherein I sleep."

(not quite accurate as far as translation go I'd say, but that's the first official translation I found online, and translating poetry is SO HARD anyway, so I'm leaving it as is)

Secondly, there are literary references, quotes, nods, etc, everywhere within Lupin stories, whether from Lupin himself or from the narration (found this really neat article about intertextuality by Leblanc in Lupin, which lists most of what we can find and goes into a bit more details than I did here→) Looking at it from a watsonian perspective, this is simply Maurice Leblanc's way to reconcile more "classic" literature with the more "common" style of Lupin: by making his character quote Musset, Shakespeare, Chateaubriand, Milton or Pline, Leblanc elevates Lupin to a learned scholar, and signals that he, as an author, is also a reader of that kind of literature. From a Sherlockian perspective, it just makes sense that Lupin be well learned in everything: he is a man of culture, that's precisely what sets him apart from regular thieves. Going by what we can find in the text, he seems to favour XIXe authors and old classics, which is not very surprising, since, remember, this is mostly a reflection of Leblanc's own library. So I fear french medieval poetry might a bit out there in that context, but as far as headcanons go, I really see no reason why he wouldn't have something by Marie de France on his shelves! The man's eclectic 😌

Somewhat related, there's also Gérard Baupré the unfortunate aspiring poet from 813, who Lupin treats rather condescendingly, disparagingly even. Now of course Baupré is nothing remarkable, and Lupin is only using him as a pawn, which explains this attitude (+ Baupré dares fall in love with the same woman as Lupin, and even *gasp* pursue her!). But it's interesting with how Lupin adresses him, always calling him "poet", making a mockery of it: further proof imo that Lupin is very much presented to us as a literary connaisseur, and in this case specifically poetry, thus making him able to judge whatever Baupré's scribbling, and evidently he doesn't think much of it.

And there you go, hope this was somewhat what you were looking for :D honestly I think headcanoning Lupin as a reader of pretty much anything really, is fair game. I like how french/European his references are (because, again, so are Leblanc's), but I'd be interested in him reading outside of European literary canon as well!

#answered #picaresquevoleur #Arsène Lupin #on all levels except physical lupin is a nerd

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joyce-stick · 1 year

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Audrey's Best Girls Winter 2023

youtube

Video of recommendations of girls (And media) which halfway through turned into a Bocchi the Rock video essay.

Transcript under the cut.

Previous video essay/transcript: Adachi and Shimamura's Second Season

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Hello everyone, it’s Audrey. So, it’s been some time, I was writing a script about problematic things, and then Joyce came along and started a separate script about things we had to recommend. I finished that script, and the end result of this process was a great incoherent mess, so I’m taking it from the top.

First thing we have to talk about today is Moonshine!~

Moonshine is a doujin visual novel produced by the now seemingly dissolved doujin circle Sakura Mint, whose origins I don’t have the resources nor Japanese language knowledge to trace any information about. It was released in 2007, and then translated to English in 2008, and, quite frankly, the fact that a freely available English translation exists for easy online downloading is a goddamn miracle. It’s really short, like, about an hour, or two if you’re slow like we are. Nonetheless, this VN made us cry like a little baby child. The reason for that being, it’s about a trans girl. And the other reason for that being, it’s about a trans girl falling in love with a gender ambiguous main protagonist who is, well, gosh, really.

This is a really raw and emotionally powerful little story with a really strong theme of how to move on with your life. From a life where you didn’t belong or weren’t loved, or from a life that you love but that can’t follow you, and how either can be equally painful, how change is always painful, even if it truly is for the better, and it’s just a whole lot of feelings. A story that made us cry this much needs to be read. The English version is available freely, it’s only a bit of time, and it’s very well worth it. You might need to fuck around with your graphics settings to get it to display in proper 4 by 3 if you want to play it in fullscreen without it stretching to 16 by 9, but still, very very worth it. Probably one of the best pieces of queer fiction that we’ve ever read, and the fact that it got translated the year after its release is incredible.

It also has a sequel, called Tsugi no Terasu, which is probably not called “Sunshine” in English because that’s not what the kanji means. This sequel never got any sort of digital release either officially or otherwise and it looks as if the doujin group that made it has long disbanded given that the web domain name they used to occupy is now populated by casino advertisements, sooo all their work is probably just kind of, gone, unfortunately. As is often the case when independently produced niche media exists and no one is doing any work to preserve it. These things just sort of go and vanish.

Unless it hasn’t vanished, and someone does care! Like, I dunno, the girl reading this. I dunno about y’all, but I’d prefer that this thirteen year old VN that’s a sequel to a sixteen year old VN about a trans girl gets to be read, by someone, and hopefully continue to exist, and not evaporate into the mists of time. Sure, we can’t read it, but, details details. We’ll learn! How to read. I hope.

So I found a copy of Tsugi no Terasu for sale on akibaoo. Presumably this copy’s used, and there’s no guarantee it’ll work with our computer, or that it won’t be scratched to hell, but hey, you have to take some chances sometime in life. So, I bought it, with a portion of our, uh, meager, monthly Patreon earnings, so that we can collect it and take some form of action to preserve it in some form. Because this is what we’re supposed to do. I know we don’t have that much money, I know we’re probably going to have to eat a lot of rice for another month, but, what the hell, are we doing this youtube shit for, if not this shit? And I for one, am tired of watching hazel do all the awesome Japanese media preservation actions. I would like to have some of that glory! Somehow.

And that’s the thing.

So if you’d like to support the thing, that is to say, acquiring and assessing niche subcultural Japanese media so that we can talk about it and maybe help make it accessible to other people, and making video essays about these exploits and our emotional discoveries from them, or whatever else we do, which all apparently comes ahead of eating a proper diet because we’re insane… then please, please, donate money to us via Ko-fi, Patreon, or whatever. You will be rewarded in some way, I assure you, unless you don’t feel rewarded, and then you won’t.

So here, I’m gonna tell y’all about other interesting content that we’ve had a look at.

Witch from mercury!

Okay so I had a whole thing written about this show. And then I had a whole other thing. And then Joyce simplified that other thing to its base components. And I don’t feel like summarizing what she said about what I said. But really I just think you should look at the tweet I wrote. Which says,

“So basically this is the story of what'd happen if us talking to girls in our discord chats but we had mechas and were all caught in the middle of corporate/government space politics-wars-ing

“I’m sorry”

And also,

Suletta didn’t do anything wrong.

I’ve thought about this quite a long time, and others have kind of said it more succinctly, but I think that Suletta made, not the best decision, but a reasonable decision in this circumstance, to protect her fiancee from the guy pointing a gun at her.

I think the appropriate thing to do then would have been to emerge from Aerial apologizing profusely for the traumatic experience that Miorine just had of watching a dude get killed, instead of what she did do. That would have been the human thing to do. But Suletta didn’t act like a human in this situation because her mom told her that this behavior was a show of emotional strength. And that’s what’s happened here. And that’s interesting, because it plays really well into the story, I think, in showing that the shonen protagonist pluckiness that Suletta was trying to approach her circumstances with, doesn’t really work all of the time! Suletta, the main protagonist of this series, acted the most protagonist like that she’d ever acted in this scene, and it was the most out of character she’d ever acted, and like, gosh, I’m looking forward to seeing how they follow up on this. That’s really what I have to say about that.

Oh and also the show was good.

So yeah, that helped.

How Do We Relationship?

Which I’m going to refer to as Tsukiage, a shortened form of its Japanese title, from here on out.

Tsukiage is a story about lesbians.

And yes, yes, I know, there’s many stories “about lesbians” that I’ve told you about before. No. This isn’t like those. Tsukiage is About Lesbians. Tsukiage is about the experience of being a lesbian in This World, with all its gross bigotry problems. Tsukiage is about the experience of being in a group of heterosexual women and being asked what guys you like, and being unable to answer. Tsukiage is about the experience of being someone you know your parents would hate. Tsukiage is about the experience of being a teenager with no adults to trust in your life, but also about being an adult uncertain if you can trust the other adults in your life, and about the ennui of living isolated in a place you’ll probably never find your way out of, and about,

Tsukiage is about two twenty something lesbians who date each other because they’re the only lesbians they know and they have no idea what else to do, and who are really good at having a lot of sex with each other but are also really bad at dating and even worse at dating on the days when they're really bad at having sex with each other. And they're also both young and both had traumatic high school romance failures because, being a high school student is plenty traumatic in its own ways, and those wounds are still fresh to both of them even if they want to pretend they aren't, and it's bound to follow them still in this town they've lived their whole life in, and it's just a lot of spicy drama about that! I’ve been only three volumes in so far, and Miwa and Saeko are the first main pairing of a yuri manga we've seen to whom I’ve kind of ended up saying “nope”. I don’t get the sense that these two are made for each other in the same sense we got reading Adashima or Yagakimi or Sasakoi. They argue, they bicker, they feel jealous about each other, and about, maybe, 2 thirds of the way through the second volume, I realized I was reading a breakup narrative.

I mean, look at the back covers of the first four volumes. They telegraph it visually!

But also that makes this manga even more compelling for what it’s going for, because, um, conflict is good! And two people not made for each other is damn well better! Just yes, please do try to eventually get these two back together and sell me on this horrible relationship sorting itself. Or don’t, that’s also fine! I’ve not actually got to the chapter where they broke up, because, gosh, and tough, but yeah. And also this is probably the first manga I’ve read that actually shows how school can be traumatic, when it presents a supporting character who was deemed “gifted” in high school but ultimately wasn’t as good as their sibling and then was extremely othered by her family, and just is, generally, awfully maladjusted to, reality, because of the sheltered and overstructured way in which they lived being forced to rank as high as possible on exams, and like, shit! Like, I know Japanese high school is brutal, and it’s a plot point in a lot of anime and all, but this is the one time I can recall offhand when it was actually something that impacted the story and characters outside of a relatively contained studying arc, and it’s probably some of the realest fucking shit I’ve ever read.

Oh, also, um, Tsukiage is really damn funny. Like, the early volumes had me laughing involuntarily so much that I was seriously concerned about attracting noise complaints from others in our living space, or, around, generally? It’s a really good story, the art and faces are really good, the humor is really good and that's pretty damn essential, I think, for a story that deals in such heavy topics. The whole thing is good, so, yeah, read it!

Bad End Theater!

So yeah, I already used this game as b-roll in the Adashima video, so if you watched that, you probably already know that we liked this. And we do. It’s quite good. This game starts with, as Joyce said, *ruffles papers* “an unawakened lesbian is eaten by a demon… and in the next part of the game, the lesbian meets a demon lesbian who wants to eat her in the other way… and in the later part of the game, a reply guy apologizes for replying with violence… or actually replies with violence.”

So anyway this game took us a couple hours to 100% all its Steam achievements. Very short game, very good game, nice little queer vignette about the tragedy of people from different social backgrounds not understanding each other, and then understanding each other, one hopes. It’s not free, but it’s quite good, and easily recommendable! So yeah.

5, Spark the Electric Jester 3!

It’s a Sonic game. It’s basically a Sonic game. It’s much like the earlier game, Spark the Electric Jester 2, which is much like the earlier games Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, the video about which we were going to make is apparently not coming out until it does, because we keep getting distracted by pointless bullshit. The developer of this series is a former developer of Sonic fangames and started with the 2D Spark the Electric Jester 1, which we could not finish because we suck at 2D platformers.

One really interesting thing about this game is how it treats the lives system. Yes, it has one, but only for the final level. I find this super super interesting, because while we were playing the Sonic Adventure titles with a friend of ours, we kinda generally came into the agreement that the lives system of all these games was a mistake. And Sonic Team seems to have agreed, because they, uh, removed it, from Sonic Forces onwards. But Spark 3 puts it back deliberately, only for the final level, and the final level is basically designed to make you lose lives. Not through difficulty, exactly, because while it is difficult, it’s not insurmountable, once you know the lay of the land- but rather, through compounding difficulty by length. Utopia Shelter doesn’t feel exactly like a level, it feels like a whole city. It feels like, I suppose, if at the end of Sonic 06, the whole of Soleanna became a level from which Sonic had to escape- oh, well, I guess that sort of did happen, huh. Sorry, just um…

Sonic 06 is cool? I’m very sorry to say so. It’s a horrible mess, but it also is cool.

Anyway, Spark 3’s acknowledgement of lives as a part of the Sonic Adventure experience feels like, kind of great? Like it doesn’t just go, “oh this part annoyed people, let’s throw it away” it says, no, dying in Final Chase repeatedly and falling out to the main menu is part of this kind of game, let’s just, give the player a chance to experience that, at least once. Let's make this a part of the game, but make it better, by making the level earn it, both by being an awesome level whose difficulty feels contextually justified, and also by being in a game with phenomenal 3D controls and platforming and movement physics where the appeal of such a difficulty modifier isn't spoiled by deaths that don't feel like your fault And it’s done in a way that feels accessible, with the option of going back and just, playing more of the game more, if you feel like you need more lives to endure the stage, but odds are if you’ve done all the optional stages you don’t need that many. I got to the end of Utopia Shelter on my second try, with lives to spare.

And yeah, so, anyway. Spark 3. It’s a really good game. It’s got pretty great level design and a great sense of visual style, really good music, good movement except for those damn cars that glitch and start going sideways all the time… I started just doing the car stages on foot because I couldn’t be bothered. But other than those, great game!

And finally;

Bocchi the Rock!

Okay, so I’m not sure what about Bocchi I can say that isn’t already said by other people but y’know what, fuck it, Molly’s convinced me, I’m gonna tell the weird age gap crush story.

So, when we were like, 16, 17, thereabouts, we were presumed a cis boy, and about six entire feet tall, and because of this, non-attentive viewers would often mistake us for a college-age dude. This factor, alongside the color of our skin and the general, uh, emotional neglect, of our parents, lent itself to our delinquencies, i.e., doing basically whatever the fuck we wanted at the expense of getting verbally and/or physically harassed by our parents who weren’t happy with us doing whatever the fuck we wanted but were slowly giving up after whatever point at which they stopped paying for the therapy that didn’t fix this brain immediately. So it was one night, while we were out of the house, as we usually were, talking to people at a charity event for the community org we volunteered for back then, that we saw her.

That woman who played guitar. Who was, back then, about the age we are right now. Maybe a little bit older.

Don’t think I need to describe her elsewise, really!

We had played guitar, too, once, for several years even. But I think we’d given up on music, like, the year before, after our mom harassing us to practice the “right” way made it not fun for us anymore. Seeing that beautiful, talented, very nice, woman almost made us want to try again. Although, we didn’t, because our mom didn’t want us to ever touch an instrument again unless we were truly serious about trying to make money with it, because those lessons are expensive, and I guess that’s one of the many ways we disappointed her, by ostensibly wasting her money.

But anyway, this woman. She was nice. That’s most of what we remember about her. She was a nice, cool, and to our eyes then, pretty, older woman who felt easy to talk to, and seemed to empathize with our anxieties, as, little of them as we felt comfortable telling, and, we were awkward around here and didn’t say much other than to compliment here and to talk about Edgar Wright’s movies, but like, y’know, she was good. She was good. Remembering how she smiled and how she looked at us like… well, probably the same as she smiled and looked at everyone, but still, it seemed like she liked us, or liked having us around. Although, now, being a performing person, we understand it’s kind of in your best interest to smile at everyone who comes to see a show. But. Yeah.

And we knew we never had a chance with this nice older woman, and that our crush on her was inappropriate, but, still… we still thought about this nice, talented, tall, pretty, interesting woman, and how much we wished we could be closer with her, but alas, and curses, age gaps, strike something again. Our heart, most likely, but maybe something else too.

And you know where this is going, don’t you.

Yeah.

[Kikuri Hiroi, a clip]

Kikuri is far, far more unhinged than that woman. The woman we knew was, uh, hinged, enough, to not drink around the absurdly tall and cute 17 year old that kept coming to her gigs for unknown reasons. Kikuri meanwhile is hardly ever seen without a can of sake nearby. And she’s also a bit more, y’know, open, with Hitori-chan, whose face around Kikuri is constantly a mixture of mild terror and grand astonishment. And, yes, Seika and Kikuri, is definitely, the more appropriate ship, and the one more likely to happen in the actual story, if any explicit lesbianism did happen, which I don't expect it to, but Hitori and Kikuri, in my opinion, is much more compelling, precisely because of how inappropriate it is. There’s just something particularly compelling to us, anyway, in the thought of our dead-in-the-water teenage crush, or something adjacent to it, actually going, someplace. It’s true that had we acted on it in real life, assuming we weren’t just rejected and told to abscond permanently, it’d almost certainly have gone extremely badly, for all the reasons it’d have done that, but, y’know, fiction is meant for exploring those culturally taboo fantasies of these sorts without necessarily needing to consider those unsafe and undesirable consequences. Although… you can, cause that’s conducive to drama.

So anyway, as far as, the actual show, goes, I dunno, I think it’s all pretty clear in this moment. This entire surreal bit with the psychedelic rock concert, where Hitori sees Kuroi reach out to her in this imagined intimate moment and whisk her away through this weird and new aspect of music and life experience that she’s not felt before, and it’s just like… Yeah! Yeah, that’s how it felt to us back then, watching that nice older girl on that stage. It was really kind of nostalgic actually. So, there’s one layer of the appeal of Kikuri’s inclusion in the show, Hitori’s feelings for Kikuri as someone who is a mentor figure and has things to teach her. You could say the thing Kikuri has to teach is music, or, something else, and though Hitori isn't eloquent or brave enough to articulate whatever her crazy teenage feelings are, it's clear she… has some! Which are ambiguous enough that they could be interpreted as just her wanting to be like Kikuri, which was also an aspect of our teenage emotions about our cool guitar woman, or that Kikuri playing in front of her triggered a spicy homosexual awakening! Not wrong either way. Though I think it's both.

And the other layer of the appeal is just… well, Kikuri herself. And our adoration of and relation to Kikuri as not just a stand-in for our teenage age gap crush, but also as a character in our age range who is relatable to us as a young adult who feels similarly to her about life!

I don’t think I need to explain that one, but I will anyway.

Kikuri is an alcoholic.

At some point after we turned 21, when it wasn’t us, but Joyce, Joyce discovered alcohol, during one of the low points in our life when we were unstably housed, and gradually started to rely on it a fair bit more than she should have. For a good year or two there, Joyce was drinking off our ass about once a month, sometimes twice, and y’know, just sort of thinking, who cares. If I die, if I lose, if I go out. Who cares. cause I’m not going to! We only really stopped drinking as much as we did because it started costing money and we started finding ostensibly better ways to hurt ourselves, like buying the disc of an ancient Japanese-only doujin game and telling ourselves it’s media preservation. I don’t think we were ever as much of an addict as Kikuri but, just, watching Kikuri, and watching her ruin her life in, basically the same sort of a way, is extremely relatable and gross and eugh

And the whole gosh contrast of THIS WOMAN being Hitori’s mentor figure who she takes her cues from and then embarrasses herself trying to do it

Is just incredible and perfect and gosh

Both these lovely women are both ruining themselves trying to be cool and likable and awesome, and… SUCCEEDING, because, the… the people LIKE the women, ruining themselves! and it’s beautiful.

I’m sorry, it’s beautiful.

Anyway Bocchi good. Bocchi good.

We've been reading the manga of Bocchi since writing that bit, and I think the Bocchi manga is just, for one thing, somewhat inherently let down by not being an anime and not having songs play in it, but, it's got more humor, at least one more crazy adult, and it's got more happening in it, as there is in every manga, and I really like it.

[I had to transcribe this part because I ad-libbed it. - Audrey]

I also like how it goes about, y’know, putting forth the, general, thesis or idea that, you know um, quote, “Rock Touches People’s hearts, because it’s coming from a loser, but you can’t call it rock if it’s from a successful person” Because that’s a- that’s a statement to make. That’s a statement that I’m kind of into. because we’re very not successful and uh. Seeing characters like Kikuri, and Bocchi, and y’know, and her, underground band, and uh, characters like Aiko, and her… Shady Underground Journalism, and the fact that the manga presents all of them, all of these very unsuccessful women, as cool, because they are cool, and that’s, real, rock!

*giggling lightly* uhhhh ahaha and you know but also *mutters sheepishly* please donate to our patreon- *laughs*

And one thing that I’m, one thing that I, one other thing that I really like about the manga is that it, it focuses so much, it’s like- it’s not so school-centric as a lot of other manga about y’know, music teenagers, tend to be, like- They’re not the light music club! They’re- they’re, a real underground band and you know that’s…

That’s freaking cool! *chuckles* That they are, they are, y’know, actually doing concerts for money, and that’s, y’know, it’s about doing the concerts, for money, and about working with adults who also have been doing concerts for money! and drugs *laughing quietly*

And also the fact that so little of it is set inside the school, like, y’know, th-the one moment where like, th-the online journalist writer who’s just like spotlighting, who’s y’know, writing about bands, and looking for Hitori. And then she goes to the school and she’s just like… Kicked out of the school! Because she’s not- she’s… she’s a creep! Who doesn’t belong! In the school! A-And *laughs* And then y’know, in like, another manga where it’s the light music club that that’d just kind of be where the plot… stops! Where that plot line… stops! But she- But then she finds out that y’know, they don’t perform at school, because they’re not a school band, and then, she… goes to the live house… and advances the plot. And is also a kind of… fucked up, self-interested woman, who tries to… sequester Hitori into… agskjhgdkfhkdhjfdddd because she’s afkhjdhkhf she’s interested in money, and promising more than she’s probably able… able to give, she is……

[trails off laughing]

This- this chapter…! This is- This is a scene where, *hiccup* This is a scene where this woman tries to buy Bocchi, buy Hitori, with the promise of exposure! *laughing* That- That is literally: That is the literal description!

[long pause while Audrey gets herself under control]

Okay, I’m done ad-libbing.

One thing I wanted out of the anime, watching the anime, was to see the group grow and expand to the point where they actually do become a famous and successful band. That's basically what I figured it'd head for since, Hitori is already a successful YouTuber, as YouTubers go, and since Nijika said that's where she wanted it to go, that she wants to grow the band and become popular and help everyone reach their dreams. We kind of do have the whole "high schoolers become music celebrities" thing in Love Live, but I'd love to see that sort of thing be done in a way that feels more grounded and believable in a world where people actually seem to worry about money, outside of the fantasy confines of a nationally famous school club, and have it done in a way that the story doesn't stop happening once they graduate! Given how much the story already focuses on adults who are implied to be varying levels of fucked up just as well and seriously as its lead teenage characters who are implied to be varying levels of fucked up, it feels like the sort of story that's kind of made to transition to follow these girls out of their school lives. And I hope it goes there, and I also hope that the anime eventually gets further seasons because the material of the later manga chapters has itself a fantastic foundation if the rest of it is adapted in the same way, so, yeah.

And that's just the feelings I have on that. If you're interested in more bocchi content then um, sakugablog has a couple writeups and translated interviews which talk about the production which is itself its own really interesting story! It also got us to read the manga, because the way that the anime's character designer expresses such passion for Hamaji's work is utterly palpable and gosh things. Also I think it's really funny that Kerorira decided to animate the Bocchi ice bath scene with her wearing a school swimsuit because that adds another deeper layer of hilarious cringe that isn't quite present in the manga version of the scene when you see that she's so mentally conflicted about the merits and demerits of this scheme that she can't bring herself to fully expose her own body to the ice water which would, uh, probably make the intended effect of catching a cold more likely and thus make the plan work better, and also the scene probably couldn't have become as much of a twitter meme if they'd decide to illustrate her without the school swimsuit like the manga does, since then instead everyone would be mentally and sometimes textually debating the merits and demerits of bath scenes in anime, again, except it'd be funnier than that because it'd be about *this* scene and that would be goshdarned hilarious.

I think that’s really kind of it for this one. We’re out of time. So we’ll see everyone next time. And thanks to our patrons.

Brea,

Dorian Newlin

hikari no yume

L Tantivy

pigeon

Sally

Scimitar

And Thijs

And everybody else.

oh wow that was, that was a, that was almost 48 minutes, okay um—

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tsunflowers · 1 year

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au where the ensemble square is a loose federation of spacefaring groups who all extremely want to absorb the others and steal their resources but they’re bound by a treaty

starting with cospro

obviously mika is a robot shu rescued from the trash and rebuilt to his specifications. it’s shu’s fault mika has odd eyes bc one of mika’s eyes was damaged and shu couldn’t find a replacement in the same color that was of sufficiently high quality. everyone is like “it’s so gross that shu made this robot boyfriend who’s obsessed with him” but actually mika is fully jailbroken and thinks for himself and is still obsessed with shu which is maybe even grosser

the twins are from an alien species that reproduces by mitosis so they used to be one being and then split into two. they’re always threatening that they could do it again and ibara wouldn’t be able to tell them what to do bc they would outnumber him. actually they can’t do this bc the first division took so much out of them and it was hard for them to establish their separate personalities at first but no one else needs to know that. probably close with rei bc he was one of the first nonhuman aliens they saw live comfortably among humans

nagisa was genetically engineered by godfather to be his successor and grown in a vat. potentially godfather was going to upload his brain into nagisa’s body when he died but that didn’t happen. he was fed a lot of knowledge in the vat but has very little practical experience bc he grew to adulthood in there. ibara is basically the same but he wears glasses with mini computer screens in them. hiyori is still old money. the spaceships they use were probably built by the tomoe corporation. cospro is based out of a space station and its people rarely go planetside but hiyori is one of the exceptions, he grew up on a planet and frequently returns there. jun I don’t know about. I think maybe he was an enhanced person who dropped out of the training program but hiyori picked him up bc hiyori liked him even though he wasn’t a perfect military fighting machine

rinne’s basically the same but instead of a village the amagis control an entire planetoid. probably they were the type you see in scifi where early settlers get cut off from other space exploration efforts and develop their own culture that people who reconnect with them find regressive. nikis dad was experimenting with nanobots for waste removal but he had a big oopsie and the bots went in niki so if he doesn’t consume enough they start eating him from the inside. he can even eat things that aren’t food as long as he can swallow them. theoretically his parents are searching for a cure but they mostly just want to escape this huge fuckup. himeru is a shapeshifting alien and he hates tatsumi bc tatsumi was part of a peaceful exploration team that visited his planet for the first time and accidentally brought a pathogen that got his brother sick. he’s not pretending to be his brother he’s just pretending to be human. but his universal translator device doesn’t work and it makes him always refer to himself in the third person. instead of the suou family using the oukawas as assassins they sent them to colonize a planet first so kohaku has spent his life breathing limited oxygen and fighting space beasts. he still met aira online by sneaking out to the one computer in the base camp every night

oh crazy:b are basically space pirates that ibara hired and he’s like “it doesn’t violate the treaty bc none of them are official cospro residents :)”

#immoral fruits

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mxtxnovelrealm · 2 years

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HOB Book Review Part One: Prologue and Chapter One

Intro: So I am obsessed right now with MXTX novels. I have the first two of all three series in the American physical adaption and I have them all on Kindle as well. And these are just my thoughts on Heaven’s official blessings Book One. I would like to note that I will be comparing the actual Novel to the donghaw and manhua and what and where I like it better. Over all a complete review chapter by chapter.

With that said let’s get to it.

The Prologue:

It’s probably the only part of the story that is not in Xie Lian’s point of view. I like the thought that the proluge is spoken about Xie Lian and it’s perhaps Hua Cheng’s words? The reason I think that is it’s written in admiration to Xie Lian. Or at least that’s what I got out of it? I like to point out that the English adabtion of the donghaw also has the VC of Hua Cheng narrating it. He also does a really good job of it and it as well.

That said It’s well written and I like that it explains a bit of the back story of Xie Lian and his first assentation to heaven. It tells the story without going into deep detail, only what we need to know to start the story.

It also gives us some questions. Now some of you may know the answer to those questions, as I understand there is an online translation of the book. (However I am trying my best not to read this beautiful story online and skip through. I really want to enjoy this story as much as I can by reading it for the first time with the physical books as they release. :D that said I have questions and please no spoilers. Hahaha!)

Anyway as I said the prologue leaves with some questions. It states that Xie Lian assend twice and is banished twice. That we all know. However it does not say what he did the second time to ascend back into heaven. Obviously something, or was it that when he was first banished it was a time limit? It also does not say how many years go by between the first two ascension. Only ‘many years later’ which could be anywhere from 10-100 years? My guess is less than 100 as later in the book Xie Lian states he hadn’t been in heaven for over 800 years. I am hoping that will be answered later in the story but if it’s not it’s not going to hurt me much either. I don’t think the amount of time matters as much as the reason why he was able to ascend a second time.

I also can’t wait to find out why he was Banished a second time and why it happened within 30 minutes of A ending. What had happened? That I know has to be answered later on. I like that the prologue has so many questions though. It makes it all the more exciting to want to read it.

In the Munhan it is said he started a fight with another Heavenly official. Yet in the book it just says he rampaged in full fury. It did not say he was fighting another but my guess is that what it was, as in the Dunghan it is also said he was in a fight with another.

Non the less I am looking forward to why that had happened. What made him angry and why was he fighting right off the bat? Did he do it on purpose? Perhaps. I honestly don’t know that answer and I am excited to find out.

The Prologue ends with the third ascension. Of course we don’t know what made him ascend again for a third time (not yet anyway) just that he did and it was an even bigger rumble.

Honestly I love the prologue. I love the little details it gives . It really bits you to the point you don’t want to stop reading. It also explains who our hero is as a person. At least one part of him. The Prologue to me reads like who ever is talking or narrating this part of the story is talking very highly of Xie Lian. It’s why I think this part is spoken by Hua Cheng.

The donghua had the prologue at the end of the first episode. Its animated beautifully and listing to Hua Cheng narrate it is one of my favorite parts. (At least in the English Its Hua Cheng. I am not sure in the original Chinese.)

Of course the manhua is beautifully drawn and it’s written simple. The writer of the manhua shortened it and made it simple and yet getting all the key elements. Regardless I think out of the three adaption I like the Book version the best as it goes through more detail however I do like the idea of it being narrated by Hua Cheng.

That being said I want to move onto Chapter one.

Okay so Chapter one starts three days later after he ascended. The Donghaw and Manhua both have it to where Ling Wen approaches Xie Lian right away, however but in the book it reads he has been there for three days already.

The manhua is the only one that is rather different than the other two. Right of the bat we see Xie Lian starting at the broken bell. Where in the book and Donghaw he is never shown the bell. Just told about it. However in the Donghaw we do see a nice animation of the bell being split by Mi Qing.

Now obviously after Ling Wen speaks with Xie Lian they enter the communication area. This part I am confused on. It is read like they enter by the mind. However I get the impression that they can see one another. At least sometimes. I am not sure about ‘private’ messages. When I first read the book I pictured it like an area they all gather and speak. That they were all physically there. However when I re-read it I got the impression they were only there by mind. Yet they can see each other.

I think…. Because when they are talking Xie Lian aplogised to Mu Qing and does not recognize him but when Nen Feng enters he recognizes him instantly. In the Donghaw we see Feng Xin enter the combination airway and is standing next to Xie Lian where everyone else is up behind a curtain. Almost like they are not physically there. To where the Manhua only has words like they are all speaking telepathically. So the communication thing confuses me a bit. I understand it is used by the mind but I am unclear if they can see you or not. My guess is they can unless they are in a private message? I may read it over again to see if I can get a better light of it.

Anyway, Xie Lian enters the communication area with Ling Wen and does not recognize Mu Qing. However he does recognize Feng Xin. The full story of how the three broke apart isn’t told yet. Only that Mu Qing left first and Feng Xin left after. Apparently Feng Xin stayed with Xie Lian until my guess an argument or disagreement took place? Whatever the reason after Xie Lian was banashed (again I am not sure if it’s the first or second time) they split up. However it seems that Mu Qing left first. Right after or right before the first banishment? However long it may be I am looking forward to the continuation of their back story later on. Non the less the book makes the encounters very awkward. Though I enjoyed reading it.

The book the conversation in the comincation area is more detailed. Both the Donghaw and Manhua shorten it with the later making it as brief as possible. Both the Donghaw and Manhua have this all happening at once that little time passes. However in the book it’s not until Xie Lian’s forth day that he returns to the mortal realm. Plus it seems that another three days pass before he makes it to his destination.

We see just how unlucky Xie Lian is as well. He apparently trips and hurts himself due to a cloud. In the Donghaw it makes it seem like something else happened, (and that may be.) However it is read that he actually gets hurt by a cloud.

Now I don’t know how a cloud can scratch or trip someone hahaha but somehow it does? That is the only reason I am questing this part. However if it did happen with Xie Lian stumbling due to a cloud and landing hard that … the poor guy.

Abyhow he gets to the little tea shop and that’s where he sees the butterfly.

Now I think this was an accident meeting. I think Hua Cheng had no idea Xie Lian was going to be there and they met by chance. Like he sends the butterfly over to confirm it is his Prince. Now I could be wrong. Maybe he already knew, but I have this idea that this meeting was a surprise.

I can just see Hua Cheng in the area to see if Qi Rong was there to beat his snot again and then suddenly he sees Xie Lian entering the city? Or maybe he heard Xie Lian was going to be in the area somehow but he wasn’t sure exactly where? Then just spots him? I really don’t know, but I do like that he uses a butterfly to see Xie Lian.

Like is It him? Here is my butterfly. Over all the fact that Xie Lian finds it cute is also adorable.

Then of course this is where Fu Yao and Nan Feng come in. Just randomly sitting at Xie Lian’s table. Thanks to some spoilers I stumbled on I know these two are actually Mu Qing and Feng Xin in disguise. However I think I would have figured it out non the less by the end of the book. It’s well written that it’s obviously them?

Clearly though their meeting is actually rather amusing and I enjoyed it. I think in the first chapter I didn’t stop smiling the whole time I read it. I mean I like the style of writing, I enjoy the flow of it all and the introduction of the characters.

The chapter ends with them in all wanting to find somewhere they can discuss about their mission.

It’s a simple chapter and it’s nice. The Donghaw and Manhua are roughly the same. No real complaints and I truly enjoyed it.

Ill review chapter 2 and maybe 3 tomorrow.

Feel free to message me to have a conversation, ask questions, or if you want more on my thoughts.

Thanks!!

#heaven official blessings #HOB #MXTX #Hua Cheng #Xie Lian #hualian #Review #Book review #reading

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wota-tenebrarum · 2 years

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So I’m playing this hyper-obscure PS1 RPG called Yakata: Nightmare Project that nobody seems to have played on either side of the Pacific. I’m playing it with a guide so I can finish it before Fire Emblem Musou, because I know once that comes out all my attention will go there and I’ll never finish Yakata. It’s actually really cool. It’s a dark fantasy/mystery RPG with mansions instead of dungeons, and even if the gameplay is a bit repetitive it’s got more than enough atmosphere to make up for it. I’m always excited to get to the next area. I’m currently in the “Mansion of Dolls”, which is a really cool half-contemporary, half-traditional Japanese house. However, the guides are the worst guides I’ve ever read for any game in my fucking life. There are three of them that I’ve found: two online, and then the physical one, which I did in fact buy because it was only 100 yen. Here’s what’s wrong with these guides: they do not tell you where to go. They simply tell you which items to get and when you’re going to fight a boss. One of them is even just a flat list of items in the order you’re supposed to get them. Remember that these dungeons are large mansions with many rooms. Now imagine trying to find, say, a set of matches without any idea which of the literally 50+ rooms contains said matches. And without any idea where in the probably-very-large room the matches are. It’s just that shit over and over, which would be fine if I was just vibing and not kind of in a hurry. But I am sort of in a hurry. so it’s a real bitch to have to trudge through every room until I find what I’m looking for. The game itself does offer some hints, but not always. And as I often mention, I am a translator by trade, but it really is still a bit more difficult to have to do this entirely in my second language, because this game never came out outside of Japan. The official guide is a little better, but only a little. Why? It has maps! These are helpful for the mini-dungeons you come across sometimes, mostly to save you a pause, but these maps ARE NOT LABELED. Well, they’re labeled with all the optional items... like, the HP refills and damage items and stuff. The optional stuff. The main items are not on the map. Fucking WHY???????? The rooms are also not labeled in the guide’s maps. Which, hey, I guess they never tell you which rooms to go into anyway, just like the online guides. But here’s an idea: tell us which rooms the items are in, AND label the maps! It’s really that easy! And nobody did it! I’m basically playing a massive (3 disc) RPG with moon logic puzzles totally blind. On a time limit. Wish me luck! It’s looking like I will actually finish, but yeah, definitely not coming back to this game for a LONG time, if ever. Even though it is really cool. Fuck the people who wrote these guides lol

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shijiujun · 3 years

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Okay I’ve decided to do a single rec after I finish one novel hahaha because if I wait to get around to it all it’ll never happen! Anyway because @sarah-yyy has been reading it and I’ve gotten a lot of asks/replies on this, I’m just going to do one huge list for one of my faves so everyone knows what’s going on and where to find things XD

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

This is set in a historical setting where men can marry other men, but it’s usually reserved for sons who were not borne by the official main first wife of the patriarch of the family, i.e. a son born by a concubine in a family may be forced to marry a man to keep him from being able to become the next family’s patriarch for example. This is because any family’s next leader needs to be able to have children with a wife who married in as a zheng shi (lawful wife), and not a ce shi (second wife) or any other concubines/mistresses etc. Most of these men who marry other men have to take them as their zheng shi and lawful spouse in a sense, and the same goes for the royal family.

The story starts with third prince Jing Shao, who was forced to marry Mu Han Zhang, a Marquis’ second son, by the Empress and Emperor, thereby officially and effectively cutting him out of the race for the throne. He’s mocked by the public as everyone knows what this means, and for the next 10 years, he neglects Mu Han Zhang, blaming him for his predicament, and deliberately showers his three other concubines with affection in front of him, but 10 years later, when Jing Shao is accused of treason, everyone leaves him except for Mu Han Zhang. They are chased to the edge of the cliff by soldiers, and Mu Han Zhang dies in his arms having taken an arrow meant for him earlier, and Jing Shao jumps off the cliff with his dead body, and promises that if there’s a next life, he will do everything Han Zhang says, and love him.

He wakes up immediately on the night of his marriage with Han Zhang, and realizes that he’s been given a second chance to make everything right. Han Zhang is definitely afraid of him, humiliated and angry when he first wakes up after how rough Jing Shao was with him earlier on their wedding night, and he has no memories of their past life. Jing Shao then sets to SHOWER HAN ZHANG with affection, love and basically everything, because he realized that this is the only person who stayed by his side until the end, and then he falls in love with Han Zhang properly this time, and also deals with every single person who maligned and schemed against him in his previous life, with Han Zhang by his side.

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available | Novel Translations | Manhua (You’ll have to download the KuaiKan app, the chapters are currently all free)

Characters:

1. 景韶 Jing Shao - 3rd Prince and is the first out of his three other brothers to be given a title 成王 (cheng wang). He’s referred to as 王爷, and also 小勺 (xiao shao) by Han Zhang. Went out on his first war when he was 14, and was thus given a title before any of his brothers. He’s known for being a merciless, cold and fierce army general/commander, but this was before his second life with Han Zhang, where he puts on like his doting mode and is basically a dumbass XD who listens to Han Zhang with a lot of trust, which is cool and all.

He marries Han Zhang when he’s 19, and in his first life he was very reluctant and resistant, and neglected Han Zhang for 10 years, until he was charged with treason and hunted down.

In his first life he wanted to snatch the throne, even from his blood-related brother Jing Chen, but more out of spite than anything else because he felt he was dealt an unfair hand by having to marry Han Zhang. Not only that, but Jing Shao is not his father’s favourite son, and he always felt that the emperor was biased against him. Anyway, a huge accumulation of daddy and anger issues, which is fair.

When he realizes that Han Zhang died for him, he decides he will be good to Han Zhang if they are reborn in their next life.

2. 慕含章 Mu Han Zhang - The 2nd son of Marquis Bei Hou’s, born to a concubine. He’s called by his 表字 which is 君清 (jun qing) by Jing Shao. Official First Wife Bei Wei Hou-furen and her son (who is in line to inherit the Marquis title from his father) has bullied him all his life, and wanted to push him into greater desperation by marrying him to Jing Shao, knowing he will suffer at the hands of the supposed merciless/heartless wangye. He has a weak body because of an accident when he was younger, and in his first life he was really sick after being neglected for 10 years, and knowing this in their second life, Jing Shao does everything he can to take care of him.

He is incredibly smart, has a brain for business and sales, and is also very good at handling people, especially scheming ones. He aids Jing Shao in the beginning of their second life, and then Jing Chen later as well, as both brothers begin to fight to put Jing Chen on the throne, against the 1st and 4th Princes. Is an incredibly good tactician in war as well.

3. 景琛 Jing Chen - 2nd Prince, Jing Shao’s blood related older brother who is handsome af too. His title, given later in the novel, is 睿王 (rui wang). He was misunderstood by Jing Shao in the first life as Jing Shao thought it was his brother who led to him marrying Han Zhang, and because he’s not very good at expressing himself and shows his concern to Jing Shao by nagging at him, Jing Shao always thought he hated him. In their second life, Jing Shao already knows that Jing Chen loves him and did a lot for him in his first life, and so trusts his brother and supports him right off the bat, because Jing Chen is indeed the most suited person for the throne.

He has a wife and a concubine, 3 sons and 2 daughters at this point. He ends up helping Jing Shao a lot, and when he realizes that Han Zhang is way more adept at politics and the whole scheming thing than Jing Shao is, he begins trusting Han Zhang a lot more as well! There’s a surprise with Jing Chen hahaha which I loveee and could see, but wasn’t sure until they confirmed it in the last few chapters AHAHAHAHA.

Other Notable Characters:

1. Song Ling Xin (Second Wife) on the left, and two other concubines on the right

They’re pretty much vying for Jing Shao’s attention, but at this point apparently he hasn’t slept with any of them before. Song Ling Xin is the daughter of the Military Department’s Head Song An, and Jing Shao married her initially out of interest. The right most concubine (I forgot her name oops) was a gift given to him by his oldest brother, the 1st Prince. The two of them played a huge role in Jing Shao’s downfall back in his first life, and so in his second life, he especially detests Song Ling Xin. Plus the three of them keep bullying Han Zhang in the beginning, but thankfully Jing Shao is like: “Anything my Jun Qing wants”. They don’t stay around for long either, watch as Jing Shao gets rid of them like he’s swatting flies.

2. Xiao Yuan & Zhou Da-Ge

This is another male couple who’s been married for 7-8 years if I recall. Xiao Yuan is one of Jing Shao’s important allies and friends in the second life, because in Jing Shao’s first life, this was one of the only young officials in court who spoke up for him when the accusations of treason came about. Zhou Da-Ge is his husband, who is a cook running a restaurant in the city. Whenever Zhou Da-Ge bullies Xiao Yuan in bed a little too much, Xiao Yuan punishes him by making him wear colourful clothes out (pink, bright yellow, purple, etc.) and thus he has a reputation for being eccentric and a weirdo, but oh well, all for love.

3. Gu Huai Qing

One of Jing Shao and Jing Chen’s most powerful allies, and he becomes blood-sworn brothers with Jing Shao without realizing who he is. Later he takes a liking to Jing Chen.

(Will update with photos when they come out, but they’re a bit further into the story so we won’t have them for a few months yet ahahaha)

Amazing Scenes:

Jing Shao & Han Zhang first looks in the manhua

Jing Shao being THAT clingy husband and helping Han Zhang to wear his clothes properly so cute!!!!!

Han Zhang and Jing Shao in their first lives (10 years later), about to die, sad and then Jing Shao jumps down the cliff with Han Zhang’s corpse, regretful cuz he a dumb bij

Jing Shao unable to resist kissing Han Zhang’s cheek, realizes what he’s doing, and gets embarrassed LMAOOOO 没出息!!!!!!! (This is different from the novel, because in the novel Jing Shao just kisses and is done with that, the embarrassment part is drawn in only in the manhua hahaha)

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Jing Shao is like, he does a 180 entirely and he is very cognisant of all his faults and what he did wrong previously, and how badly he treated Han Zhang, so he legit forces his brain to go “I will listen to Jun Qing from now on” and he really sticks to it!

Loves kissing and teasing Han Zhang, but doesn’t force him into bed after their wedding night, and instead goes to Xiao Yuan and asks for tips on how to make his partner feel less scared about sex

The both of them end up with a pet tiger?!! That’s called Xiao Huang (little yellow) LMAO

They nap together a lot which I love <3333

Jing Shao knows he’s bullied at home, so when they go back to the Marquis Bei Hou manor, he holds Han Zhang’s hand in front of everyone to let them know Han Zhang has someone to back him up

Brings Han Zhang to war because he “cannot concentrate if Jun Qing isn’t with me at all times” - and asks for special permission to do so

Han Zhang notes that since he married Jing Shao, as the ‘wife’ he is supposed to serve Jing Shao, but it’s always Jing Shao serving him - Getting water for him, bringing him to baths, putting clothes on for him, putting food in his plate if it tastes nice, massaging his back and waist etc. - and best is he doesn’t have to deal with any in-laws?!! HAHAHA

Jing Shao gets revenge on those who hurt Han Zhang when he was younger for him, and the outcome is pretty hilarious but well-deserved

EPILOGUES are cute af!!!!

#the wife is first #you own my all #qi wei shang #妻为上 #danmei #danmei novel #stebeee recs #min's why you should read

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leaveamessageafterthescream · 3 years

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Okay I know that in general the readings I've seen about the gifting of the observatory are mainly romantic, and the main idea is that Gen is confessing his love, and that this opens the doorway to a potential romantic relationship between them. BUT!!! I think I have finally made sense of it all in the way that I think it was supposed to be read. As I used to think it didn’t serve a purpose so it had to be romantic in nature. Right???? (to be clear it made sense during the first time I read it, but has since been skewed in my mind to a shipping angle to end up at this point of not recognizing the actual purpose of this scene for the characters and the readers) The rest under the cut because this got long lol

Alright hear me out. I’ve been writing a fic with Gen and Senku in it, exploring their thoughts about each other. So I wanted to re-examine the observatory scene to just get a better handle on them! I mean it is lauded by sengen shippers as ‘THE CONFESSION SCENE’

So at the point in the story when Senkus birthday comes along, Senku was having troubles with the light bulb situation and spring is fast approaching. After Magma blindfolds him he actually thinks that the villagers are turning him over to Tsukasa and that Gen has orchestrated it. He must have constantly thought things could go belly up at any moment to have these thoughts in the first place! I mean that’s the first conclusion he makes!

But then Gen tells him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, because he’s never once actually thought of turning Senku over to Tsukasa. Instead he reveals the telescope and observatory to Senku. Senku is transported mentally back in time to when he’s a CHILD!! This is huge because this is Gen's way of telling Senku that he can see him. He can see his dreams, his ambitions, he can see what brings him peace, can see into his heart!!!

And Senku tries to find his footing in all this. He says a man doesn’t just go around telling people his birthday. (because of course he would fall back on this) So then Gen continues to tell Senku that he sees him, the date carved into the tree, and that he wholeheartedly believed in him before he even met him!! And in this way Gen is allowing himself to be seen!! BY!! SENKU!! (and the reader lol) Ever since we met Gen he has been the manipulator, the traitor, the liar, the self professed ‘most selfish man on earth’. BUT right here he’s telling Senku, in his own way, that that’s never been the case!! AND IT NEVER WILL BE!!!

Also i want to put the fan-translation up here as well…as this was the one I was familiar with as I read the manga online and only downloaded the official later, the language used here is also the one i see most often as ‘proof’

Of course looking back at Gen's actions when he’s first introduced, all he does is help Senku reach his goals over and over again! Even before the promise of cola is mentioned he’s 10 billion percent on Senkus side completely taken by Senku and his immediate goal of recreating electricity in this stone world. Tell me if you found yourself in Gen's position and this weird nerd (who should be dead) says he wants to make a generator, wouldn’t you be right there thinking ‘I gotta see this!’ I think afterwards Gen tries to divert a little bit by saying that the villagers probably feel the same way. Seeing what Senku has accomplished already makes him irreplaceable to them and they want to see him reach his goals. (and he hasn’t even heated their huts yet!) And they both agree that this is all gross because they are boys but also because they both SEE EACH OTHER! That’s uncomfortable for anyone!! And this isn’t to say that the observatory and what it stands for can’t be romantic in nature, I just think it’s important to understand what is really being said in this scene. I still absolutely love sengen as a romantic ship but the observatory scene is just not a romantic confession scene, in my mind. I do believe it sets an important foundation, they only grow closer after this because Senku doesn’t have to worry about Gen betraying him anymore. He drags him around with him for his ‘modern man-ness’. He agrees to Gens Lillian scheme (falling into hell together!). And I think he makes Gen drive his cars as, like, an extension of this trust. We know that Senku diverts any claims for the real reasons he does things as ‘it’s only logical to blah blah blah blah~’ like that’s bullshit and everyone knows it. Also important to note is that 3 of Senkus' sources of anxiety are resolved in these chapters. (4 if you count the tungsten/manganese, but I'm counting people here) The first is Magma, and they have a great conversation in the cave as well as saving each other's lives (with Chrome's help). And the next two are Gen and the Ishigami villagers. Senku is right that Gen can sway the villagers to do his bidding but neither Gen nor the villagers intend to betray Senku. And so having all that cleared up lets Senku move forward without the fear that the very people he’s working with will turn against him. I do have to say though that Senku only voiced these thoughts after being blindfolded, at least I don't remember any other instances of him voicing these concerns. I do think this moment is a possible moment of Senku maybe doubting those around him but I’m not too sure.

So it is fair in the end to think that the observatory scene didn’t serve a purpose for these anxieties because there isn’t a whole lot of lead up. If there had been several/a few instances of Senku doubting Gens intentions or thinking that the villagers don’t like him I think it’s possible this scene would leave a different impression on sengen shippers. Maybe!? :D Tell me your thoughts! Is this scene still romantic in your mind? if so, tell me why! I would love to hear it! Or just come talk to me about Dr Stone!

#dr stone #sengen #dcst #-coughs- anyways~#dr stone meta #sengen meta #plz don't yell at me kay? :)#i'm just a lil guy lol

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