#dogfish series

[eileensdress]

Back on my DOGFISH train again :)

[polarsirens]

first shot

[bandcampsnoop]

8/5/22.

Ah, Melted Ice Cream...my favorite label from Christchurch, New Zealand. There have been so many great releases from this label run by Joe Sampson (Salad Boys).

This release is Violet French backed by The Horrible. Violet was originally from Dunedin but now lives in Christchurch (where The Horrible are also based). The music and vocals have the feel of Opposite Sex or Terror of the Deep (which I had forgotten how much I love).

But French's vocals and melodies also hint at the beauty and range of Natalie Merchant. The band is made up of members of Kool Aid, Dogfish,Wurld Series and Kane Strang.

This is one of favorite releases in a while.

[local-kneecap-dealer]

Because I'm going to school for bio anyway I've decided I'm going to make a series where I just post about random animals I find cool and a couple facts about them. I don't know how frequent this will be, but first creature on the list is-

Chain Catshark

Also known as the chain dogfish, chain catsharks are a nocturnal catshark that get up to 59 cm in length. They're found most commonly in the Northwest Atlantic and Western Central Atlantic. They're generally shy, and harmless to humans, their diet consisting of squid, bony fish, crustaceans, and bristle worms.

But the most interesting thing about them is that they're biofluorescent, and one of only four elasmobranch species with this ability!

Look at her! Isn't she gorgeous? I don't have much more to add rn but feel free to admire her beauty until next time I have an animal post

[obscure-earthbound-facts-media]

Gore of my comfort character

A series of sprites depicting a burnt, dead Dogfish that were meant to be used in an unused sequence of the ending cutscene.

(Full Dogfish sprite sheet in original resolution)

[vikugnavikugna]

A really rough sketch for the Worm/One Piece au I've been Ponderin' for a while now. Some random ideas for the main crew under the cut:

Let's start by making things clear: this is not for any kind of fanfic or anything of the sort. I have been known to write those when I was 14 and very into RWBY, but I still struggle to write anything too complex in english and I have since given up on the hobby anyway. I just like rotating Worm characters in my head and combining them with any other brainrot I am going through at any point of my life, y'know.

As for how the au actually works, I simply deleted all the characters from the One Piece universe from existance and then tried to apply every Worm character to the preexisting societal structures and dynamics of the Three Great Powers, whilst staying as close to the currently established canon and with making up as few new Devil Fruits as possible (currently on just 1, but I haven't gone through many side characters).

Now, as evidenced by the use of Haki and presence of Imp, this fanart portrays the crew at quite a later stage of their journey - I imagine the Underside Pirates (it is a butt joke, to be clear) started off somewhere in South Blue openly working for the mysterious Captain Coil, a man trying to make a name for himself before moving to the Grand Line. What the Underside Pirates didn't actually know is that they were slowly being set up for betrayal from the very start - Captain Coil is Thomas Calvert, a retired Marine, who works under a pseudonym solely so that he can build up the persona of Captain Coil as a threat to the World Government, fake arresting himself and gain the title of a Shichibukai (and with it, the entrance to the Holy Land Mary Geoise).

For the actual crew, let's go through them one by one:

Taylor D Hebert - newest recruit of the crew, starts off as quartermaster, before being promoted to the first mate and eventually captain further down the line. The user of Jou-Jou no Mi (shamefully, the only original Fruit I made up for this au so far - it possesses about the same capabilities as Taylor's powers do in canon). Not a lot to say here - take her Worm backstory, substitute being into heroes for being inspired to join the Marines and bosh, done. After the discovery of Haki I imagine she would start gathering bugs into shapes of objects and covering the entire swarm in armament Haki for some improvised weapons (she's doing that very thing and forming a katana in the art, coincidentally). Her attack name are references to english literature (I am polish so I cannot think of an example). Possibly gay for Rachel but, since Oda writes both romance and queer people weird, it's this very anime kind of crush where she acts normal 90% of the time, but then turns into a blushing mumbling idiot when Rachel is too close. Kind of like Kuroko from Railgun but with 100% less sexual assault, y'know.

Rachel Lindt - a dogfish fishman raised outside of Fishman Island, Rachel had a pretty tough life travelling the seas alone, always narrowly avoiding whichever slave hunting crew that confused her for a mermaid at any given moment. She has no fruit powers and minimal Fishman Karate skills due to never having a proper teacher. In combat she always relied mostly on various marine life companions she gathered throughout the years of travelling the sea - in many ways, her only family. Works as the crew's helmsman. Her attack names are hilariously simple and straightforward, often said after she delivers them, rather than during action (eg. she'll just calmly punch her opponent into the ground as they are mid screaming their attack name, dust herself off and calmly say 'Right Punch' before walking off). Mostly inspired by the fact, that it always annoyed me horribly how few female fishmen there were in the series. Completely unaware Taylor has a crush on her.

Alec Vasil - son of a Yonko and an ex-Celestial Dragon, Alec was one of the many children Nikos Vasil has produced with his various mistresses. There isn't much information about the Heartbreaker in Worm proper, but I imagine him as a Doflamingo kind of figure in this au - his connections and information about the Holy Land stops the Marines from ever attacking him directly and the powers of Ito Ito no Mi, whilst limited, let him marionette people around however he wishes to fulfill his various schemes. Alec himself is no Fruit user but, due to his mother being a Mink, can use Electro. Thanks to years of experimentation with the fighting style, he developed a technique which allows him a limited control over the electricity in his enemies' muscles, purposefully mimiquing the powers of his father - both to get his father's attention and to mock his abilities ('I can do everything you can and more without being a Celestial Dragon or a Fruit user' type deal). No one really knows what his job on the ship is supposed to be and, when asked, he just usually makes up whatever lie let's him laze off some more at any given moment (usually, 'Oh, yeah, I'm on permament Lookout duty, actually'). At first I thought his attack names should be in french, but nah, this dude is just screaming the most atrocious pun attack names known to mankind probably. Responsible for making up the crew's name.

Lisa Wilbourn - the crew's de facto unofficial captain in the early days, she also doubles as a navigator. A noble of a small kingdom in South Blue, her story plays out very similarly to the canon Lisa. At some point of it all she accidently gets her hands on Giro Giro no Mi and, when her family wants to exploit her mind reading abilities for business when she's still in mourning over her brother, she escapes her home island and gets scouted by Coil. I think that a lot of the time snipers are done real dirty in One Piece, so Lisa mainly uses long range weaponry (and later Observation Haki) during combat - she simply never puts any time into mastering Armament. Honestly not much to say here, I think she was one of the most obvious Devil Fruit fits in the entire crew. Out of every person in this drawing, I am the most disatissfied with her design and thus will probably do something about it shortly.

Brian Laborn - fills the role of a first mate, cook, quartermaster, doctor, canon master, shipwright and sometimes also a ship, if need be. My friend and I discussed whether to give him a Fruit power, as the only one that fits him - that being Yami Yami no Mi, which not only visually mimics Brian's power, but also makes the user literally suffer more in combat - is way too powerful for a small ass crew. So eventually I settled for just amking him the crew's boringman Haki user and martial artist. I mean, someone does need to fish out all these dumbasses from the ocean and Rachel isn't always around, I guess. A not zero chance he steals Yami Yami no Mi from Jack's crew later on or something of the like. He may use fullbody Armament at some point, purely because I think it gets REAL bad rep in One Piece and he would make it work, I bet. His attack names are all references to real life boxing history.

Aisha Laborn - there was much debate in my head whether Aisha should be the user of Memo Memo no Mi or Suke Suke no Mi - the latter eventually won out, because I believe Aisha going unnoticed by both foes and allies is more important than actually referencing the memory aspect of her powers. She got her hands on the Devil Fruit due to one of his mother's boyfriends, who was a pirate and robbed it off of someone on sea. Aisha ate the Fruit, angering her mother's boyfriend and, after being severly beaten up, managed to activate the Fruit's abilities to become invisible and call for Brian. The following sequence plays out similarly as in canon. Aisha would be on the ship from the very beginning, but Brian usually leaves her in some town when the Underside Pirates go on any kind of mission and it's not until later that she actually joins them as crew (or rather she sneaks onto their ship claiming to be their second permanent Lookout so many times that it just became easier letting her stay).

Ship - considering the crew's size, most likely a caravel. I'm firting with it being named Atlas, but are not sold on it. Jokingly referred to is as Shrugging Atlas in my head once. I think Atlas should be their second ship, something they gain after Taylor becomes a more prominent member of the crew, and they should start off with something else. No clue what tho.

[greatunironic]

✨ Fic Writing Review 2023 ✨

thank you to the lovely @sharpbutsoft for the tag!!

Words and Fics

308,791 words (jesus christ)

17 works published, and at least one more before year's out in the drafts (including on not published yet on a03)

7 were multi-chapter (not including "Never So Young", because i don't think the track listings + lyrics count)

the eating in the underworld series was eight fics long, and a third of my word count for the year

also the other hand knocking is my longest thing i've ever written (another third of the total word count)

3 podfics recorded -- in this house with you, the way i move in my mind by @silverkat1620, brutalist masterpieces by @chilledbuttotallyforgettable, and scheming on a thing by @daysarestranger

Top 5 Fics by Kudos

dogfish

leave the children behind

"Never So Young As That": 20 Years of the Boy with a Bat

folktale

the other hand knocking

My fandom fic events in 2023

@steddiebang - scheming on a thing

a fic for the digital NSFW edition of @steddiezine

the rare pairs mini bang over on twitter - saint of ongoingness

Upcoming Events and Projects for 2023

a twitter holiday exchange

the tiktok au + the martian au, though those will probably be 2024 things...

Rules & Tags below the cut!

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

Tags: @aidaronan, @daysarestranger, @palmviolet, @devilyouwere, @sparklyslug, @artaxlivs, @ruthofrhythm -- but no pressure, and apologies if you've already been tagged!!

[mangoisms]

like the part of the song where it falls masterlist

pairing: miyuki kazuya x f!reader

In which you get hit by Miyuki Kazuya's winning home-run of the World Series and things get a little… weird.

full summary: It is just your luck that you get knocked out (and consequently concussed) by the winning home-run of the World Series.

Bottom of the ninth, the sky dark, the floodlights on, the atmosphere of Petco Park absolutely electric.

You’re just trying to get a good shot of the field with your camera and then boom.

Baseball, meet face.

But the San Diego Padres won at least, right? That home-run broke the 4-4 tie. Their first World Series win ever and their first World Series appearance since, like, the 80s or something.

In no small part due to their trailblazer of a catcher, a foreign player, actually, the only Japanese starting catcher in the Majors currently — Miyuki Kazuya.

Good for them. Good for him!

Even if he is the guy to (technically) blame for concussing you.

contains: meet-ugly, mutual pining, light angst, not actually unrequited love

ao3 | wattpad | fic playlist | story tag | kazuya x reader tag

⚾️ chapter index

part one. rough as a thousand sharpened nails

part two. like a hinge, like a wing, like the part of the song where it falls

part three. also i wanted to be able to love. and we all know how that one goes, don’t we?

part four. mostly, i want to be kind

part five. and probably, if they don’t waste time looking for an easier world, they can do it

part six. dogfish

[nonhumanhermitheadcanons]

Helloo there blog! I just recently checked out one of your fics about the mermits! It was interesting that I came up with a silly headcannon:

Every season of Hermitcraft, there’s always been this underwater place where mermaids exist. Every hermit is welcomed. It cost like a diamond to become a mermaid and experience being a mermaid! ( I remember it was in one of the fics)

I feel like at least all of the hermits experienced being a mermaid once!

I could probably go on and on about this lol

Helloo there anon! That's an interesting headcanon! The mermits have probably always had a place to go, and yeah, once they've revealed themselves to the other hermits we're sure the other hermits would be welcome!

For context, in this au the mermits are: Etho (who is the one that can cast a temporary mer spell on people), Grian, Hypno, Iskall, Impulse, Mumbo, Scar, Wels, and xB. We've done a few fics that include Etho turning other hermits into merpeople before; his spell lasts multiple days, during which the subject can't turn human again until the spell ends or either they or Etho die and respawn. Bdubs in H2DoubleO, Keralis in Sweetlips, Cub, Zedaph, and Xisuma in the main au fic, Deep Secrets, and Jevin in There Are Many Benefits to Being A Marine Humanoid. And may more Fishy adventures can be found in the full series.

See our list of hermits as Mers under the cut!

Bdubs would mostly visit a lot because Etho is there a lot - despite Etho always teasing him about his lovely pink mer tail. Bdubs insists that it's salmon-colored, to which Etho always points out that salmon aren't actually that color.

Beef wouldn't hesitate to get himself into the water, get a crash course on being a mer from his good friend Etho, and then insist that he taught him everything he knows :P

Cub would visit the mer palace frequently, too - he'd have fun as a mer. His tail is bright blue with highlights of white.

Doc's cybernetics may be waterproof, but that doesn't mean he necessarily likes to spend a lot of time in the water. It doesn't help that his merform is a bit unconventional. a ‘Leaf Sheep' sea slug to be exact.

False's tail one one of a sword fish, but she doesn't spend much time with the mers, she's busy being the queen of hearts and body parts. But once a Conduit was added, she's happy to pop by as a human.

Gem also doesn't really spend much time with the mers. She's visited once or twice; under Etho's spell her tail is very pretty and spotted, and her antlers turn into coral! But being stuck in the water for days with no legs is a little too disconcerting for her.

Jevin gets to be an octopus whenever he drops by! This is generally very conducive to him being a menace.

Joe is happy to stop by every now and again. Not to often but you know being a fish is quite conducive to building underwater. His tail is a pinstriped zebra fish.

Keralis has to stop by to see xB. All the time. His mer form is based on a very specific type of goldfish.

Pearl hit it off with a number of the mers when she was part of the Boatem crew, so she's happy to drop in whenever she needs a break. Maybe her mer form is based on a bogue - its scientific name is Boops boops :)

Ren very much prefers to keep his paws dry, but he's joined them a few times, as a dogfish shark of course

Tango doesn't like being a fish. He hasn't had a very good experience with it. Impulse and Zed did manage to peer pressure him into hanging out at the mer palace one time though. Never again, he tells them.

Cleo's mer form is a glass fish, meaning her spine is on full display within the tail. She's gone to the Mer hang out a few times but prefers to not get wet so she stays on land.

[saingirl101]

Ok i did it for Lou so now doing Iconic NeverAfter Nat 20s for other Members of Destiny's Children:

PIB: Has had so many great ones especially duo with Gerard but I think my favorite the most valuable was the crit at the end of the fight with spider muffet. Because rosamund had just gone down, red had to be brought back up, this was the first combat after the TPK of ep 3, so this finishing the fight before it got too bad was amazing.

Rosamund: She's had some really underated moments but I think her getting the Nat 20 insight on her herself in the in-between of episode 4 was super critical because it kind of woke her up and got her to start thinking about herself and her story in a different way. i think the story would be vastly different if she hadnt had that insight check.

Mother timothy Goose: Its not a D20 series without a critical beardsly blessed nat 20 roll. Clearly nat 20 perception on the inkwell to perceive the authors. It woke them up that theres thinks beyond the princess vs. fairies conflict, some of the stepmothers motivatiosn and what not as well as helping to form Destiny's heroes opinions on the future of the NeverAfter.

Ylfa: Poor emily does want to roll again so her dice dont get as mad at her but I think the most fun moment of the story was her rolling not great for several episodes and then roll really well saving the wolf from the baron. For me this is probably a crit overlooked but it was her opposed grapple check against the baron to essentially feed the baron to the wolf. It was just so poetic and really felt like the dice were blessing her that fight.

Gerard: So I am probably cheating a little but Murph's most iconic nat 20s have been essentially assisting PiB. That said I am counting that Nat 20 Luck Check Brennan rolled when Gerard took out the sword of truth on the gander as a nat 20 for Gerard. Because he was literally the only character left standing and the only one with a chance to fight back and it paid dividends with that move because it got them to the goose and ultimately got them the book back. so a clutch move even if it was brennan rolling it for Murph. XD

also a + 1, i feel like I need to also ground us by pointing out the best nat 1 moment by Lou/Pinocchio:

Rolling that nat 1 to save Rosamund and Ylfa and cause the Terrile Dogfish to critical fail its saving roll, getting them both out of danger and rosamund away from immediately failing her next round of death saves and dying.

[eileensdress]

I <3 writing them bc why are they like that.

[floofyfungi]

Was thinking about Shark Wars again. Decided to make some memes.

Looking back on it, Shark Wars is completely unhinged and I adore it for that. In no other series I have ever read does a megalodon get continuously beaten up by a goddam betta, or sharks ride whales into battle, or a dogfish tailfins a mosasaur! The ultimate villain is an evil wriggly magic worm.

I love it.

[brandonsdrunkagain]

All cans, one bottle! Juice Equals Juice collab from Great Notion Brewing and Equilibrium Brewing, Day Donkey Pale Ale, Zongo Double IPA and 21 Hopsilo Series IPA from Tampa Bay Brewing Company, Extra Sauce Lemonade Shandy from Pariah Brewing, Biscotti 2022 Bourbon County Brand Stout from Goose Island, Island Beats Tropical IPA from Lagunitas, Mandarin and Mango Crush IPA from Dogfish Head, Banger Double IPA from Saint Arnold Brewing and finally a 19.2 oz Dales Pale Ale from Oskar Blues!

[minusgangtime]

(Prim and Batten are a lot more sweet than their canon counterparts- They're still versions of Girlfriend after all lol (same with the actual Rebel Girlfriend-)

(Unlike canon Gnarly and Hangry, Gnarly!MB and Hangry!Blue speak in animal noises like Mangey!Beta (and canon Mangey maybe)-)

(Catfish doesn't speak in the series but Dogfish (Catfish!Blue) does- Although, Denizen (both canon and the version of Blue) is still mute)

(Dread!MB is a lot nicer and loyal to his crew than how his canon counterpart is (because I still hate canon Dread >:v))

[dragonmuse]

This proves, once again, that I cannot do anything without a firm deadline (or two). A bout of covid in summer and a couple of long road trips and train rides meant I got through many more audio books than I usually would. So I'll limit myself to my favourites here and give a short teaser each instead. Just because I really want to. Hope that's alright.

To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer. Avery and Bett are both 12 years old and live with single gay dads. That's excactly everything they have in common. Otherwise they couldn't be more different. Only now their dads have decided to fall in love and to send the girls to the same summer camp so they can get to know each others as "new sisters". This cannot stand! A reverse Parent Trap, if you will. Utterly hilarious and very heartfelt. Also the most realistic 12yo I've come across in fiction ever, I think.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss (Part 1 of the Athena Club series). When Mary Jekyll's Mother dies, Mary is left with no family, a lot of debt and a household staff she'll have to let go. When she comes into possession of a bank statement in the name of "Hyde" she is reminded of the cruel Mr Hyde who used to work for her late father and the high reward set for his apprehension. So, as one does when faced with mystery in Victorian London, she enlists the help of one Mr Holmes and the good Doctor Watson. You know how in gothic literature women are usually sidelined to wives, daughters, victims or monsters? Well, this is their story. And by "their" I actually mean "all of them"'s story. Readers of "Dracula Daily" will also encounter familiar names, especially in the second book. Brilliant, brilliant series!

The Fetch Philips series by Luke Arnold (of Black Sails fame), starting with The Last Smile of Sunder City. My current obsession. Detective noir novel set in an urban fantasy setting with a twist. Very cool world building and character development.

Identitti by Mithu Sanyal (translated from German by Altal Price) Nivedita's life is turned upside down when superstar postcolonial and race studies South-Asian professor Saraswati - her supervisor, mentor, idol and crush - is discovered to be actually… white. One of the most brilliant books I'v ever read, I think. A very, very darkly funny take on identity, race, academia and finding a place in the world. It makes you constantly go "Come on, the case is crystal clear now!", only to make you go "Huh. Or not." two pages later. You will also learn A LOT.

Now.. saving the best for last. Stories Beneath our Skin by Veronica Sloane. I will not give a summary here, because that simply feels too weird. But I loved it so damn much! This was my comfort while I was in bed with covid for over week. The found family dynamic reminded me quite a bit of Becky Chambers' books, and I mean that as the highest praise. I listened to it before Smut Nights became a thing so I was a bit suprised by the steamier bits, but that is in no way a complain ;) Can recommend it highly to anyone following you here!

Thank you for this reading program! It was a lot of fun! And thank you, just, for everything I guess!

omg omg you read my novel? I am torn between joy and wanting to hide under the bed. Just as a note to anyone who reads it now, please know I don't think it's cool for white guys to have dreads. It was really ridiculous that I wasn't aware of that in 2013.

I actually HAD to write the smut bits back then because the press (now defunct, hence it being self-published at this point and quite messy) required a certain steam level for novels.

AND MY MOTHER READ IT. She called me her 'little pornographer'. Truly a dark day.

But uh, being compared to Becky Chambers makes me want to ugly sob because I love all of her books very deeply, thank you.

And I love all of your reviews, my TBR list is now longer!

ANYWAY, please excuse me experiencing all my emotions at once, on to

YOUR POEM:

I wish I were a bonsai tree

so carefully tended

to be coaxed and trimmed

taking on a perfect shape

Would that I could give such peace

just by growing my tiny leaves

and reaching for the light

To be loved like that

for myself alone and the things

we make together

[dereksmcgrath]

It’s not just about a monkey named “Jugemu”; it’s also about how old stories remain relevant today.

Last weekend on the Sunday Morning Manga livestream, I talked about the value of the manga Akane-banashi as an example for how, as a teacher, I could teach public speaking and storytelling, and how the story spoke to me personally when it comes to a father coming up with a name for their child. 

But something I hadn’t considered, despite it staring me in the face, was what else the “Jugemu” story–the one the protagonist of Akane-banashi performs–has to tell me. 

I’m a big fan of Gintama. A few months ago, I had written a review of the final movie. I posted that review alongside a watchlist I curated of those episodes of the Gintama anime you should watch to understand the series, its setting, its characters, their back stories, and how it all pays off in the final movie.

One of the episodes on that watchlist is Episode 221, which introduces a pet monkey for the character Kyuubei. And as Kyuubei struggles more and more to come up with a name for the pet, the main characters–Gintoki, Kagura, and Shinpachi–recommend so many names. Kyuubei loves all of them…and so, combines the names into one lengthy profane name that is also at Shinpachi’s expense:

Jugem Jugem Shit-Tossing of Shin-chan’s Two-Day-Old Underwear of Shinpachi’s Life Balmung Fezalion Issac Schneider 1/3 Pure Love 2/3 Hangnail Anxiety Betrayal Knows My Name Or Does It Really Ignore Calls Squid Dogfish Halibut Trout-Cod Dogfish... This Is A Different Dogfish, I’m Talking About The Dogfish Shark Kaluga Angler Ray Yuuteimiyaoukimukou Pepepepepepepepepepepepe Runny Diarrhea

So, after reading Akane-banashi, I realized, “Oh, Gintama is just a bunch of rakugo stories.” And I don’t just mean because the pet monkey is named after the same “Jugemu” story, or that Episode 221 adapts the same story, only ramped up to be even more absurd and a lot more vulgar. 

In one of the first chapters of Akane-banashi, we get a flashback to her teacher explaining why rakugo persists: they’re shaggy dog stories–long-winded anecdotes made up of a sequence of seemingly unrelated events, until the entire story wraps up with an anticlimax.

That’s Gintama. That’s the series. That’s even one entire episode–Episode 283. That’s “Gintoki starts a confessional, gets confessions about his friends and enemies all wishing he was dead, until he finds out one of them left a dead body in his closet, only it’s not a dead body, it’s the shogun, so he tries to cover up the shogun’s death, only for the shogun to come back alive but without his memories, so everyone thinks the shogun is dead because no way is this amnesiac the shogun, and since Gintoki was last seen with the shogun before he disappeared, the police assume Gintoki assassinated him, and the episode ends with Gintoki arrested.”

Read that again. I think I’m mostly accurate in summarizing the plot, give or take a running gag about Gintoki being runny…fecal matter. 

That series of events doesn’t quite seem as well connected as it should be. And yet, the events in that sequence end up making sense as you watch: one moment leads to the next moment, one action leads to consequences that then prompt Gintoki to take a new action that causes a new problem that he then tries to solve, only for an earlier problem that wasn’t completely solved getting in the way of the new problem. It’s a kudzu plant, without becoming as bad as most kudzu plots.

Continuing from what Akane’s teacher told her, he explains that rakugo persists as a popular art form because they are stories that still entertain, because they speak to something still persistent in Japanese culture–and, in my selfishness, as I sit here in the United States, many of those stories speak in ways to us readers. 

Turning back to the “Gintoki’s confessional leads to his arrest for ‘killing’ the shogun,” it is a story about religion, faith, hucksters, and scam artists. Gintoki turns his friend, Tama, and her ability to act as not just a therapist-like character but an almost divine priestess to confess your sins to, into something akin to a religious cult. He is weaponizing people’s beliefs to get money for their prayers. This story taps into those human desires: to be forgiven, to pore over all of your flaws, to obsess about those flaws until you overlook the more important details (like Gintoki more concerned about his pudding he saved in the fridge than covering up the shogun’s death), and to give into your greed to make a buck off of someone’s beliefs. 

And it’s cathartic, to see one more religious huckster get his comeuppance–even if Gintoki is arrested for something he didn’t do, as opposed to manipulating the beliefs of people for a quick buck. 

I don’t think what I’m about to recommend is my best example, as it is a problematic text, but hearing the rakugo stories in Akane-banashi, and then seeing those same stories bastardized in Gintama, is like the academic essay “Shakespeare in the Bush,” in which American anthropologist Laura Bohannan is struggling to understand how, while talking with members of the Tiv in West Africa, they are interpreting Hamlet so differently, due to differences in how we all view parent-child obligations, whether ghosts are a thing in our culture, and so on. (And I’ll have more to say about ghosts, cultural transference, and localization on this Sunday’s livestream.) 

But that word, “localization” is at the heart of this. So much of our debates in translating and dubbing content in manga and anime is about “authenticity.” I love Gintama even though I don’t understand even one percent of the references in it coming out of rakugo and Japanese culture. I don’t understand all the depth of Akane-banashi, but I do understand what it has to say about storytelling. And just as Gintama is boring the same rakugo that Akane-banashi is pulling from, we have to be open to these reinterpretations. I have been really bad at that–I cling to nostalgia and how I think something should be, not because what I’m seeing is doing a good job at adapting or translating or updating the material, but because I want what is familiar to my very first encounter with it. And I have to do better at that. And that’s another detail I didn’t get to talk about with Akane-banashi, as a lot of the series is also about traditions over new approaches. But this is a long bit of rambling. 

The point I wanted to make–all I wanted to say, is that reading Akane-banashi has given me a new appreciation for how great Gintama was at translating rakugo stories, too. And in that watchlist document I made, I neglected to bring up all the filler. Maybe a reverse of that watchlist would be fun for a livestream topic–“essential Gintama ‘shaggy dog’ stories.” Would that be something you would want to hear about? Comment below or email me, derek.s.mcgrath@gmail.com.