#might be unusual to see him get such billing (especially as Diamond does not)‚ but it presumably reflects the success Barker had found with

[darth-does-stuff]

its ramble time. also yeah this is gonna be p long (hence the word - rambles) and prob talking a lot about patton and janus because i havent talked about them much and i have IDEAS

(also i know i want remy to be involved somehow but i havent figured out how yet. suggestions welcome ghjghjgs)

so thomas and logan are elves, roman remus and virgil are magic users (witches warlocks wizards whatever the word is lmao), remus specializes in wind magic, roman in fire, and virgil in weather. 

the magic virgil uses is often called chaos magic and in order for something to be generally classified as chaos magic, it needs to be unusual/rare, chaotic (duh) or unpredictable, and destructive. (these classifications might change as i think on them more). wind magic is largely argued upon whether it is chaos magic or not, seeing as how it is largely unpredictable and can be seen as destructive, but it doesnt fit the bill with the first one, leading to the arguments. same with fire magic, but they said it was too common for it to be chaos magic. virgil having weather magic means that he can create storms, sandstorms, generate lightning, windstorms, and also able to control (or rather ‘bend’) rain. of course, there are drawbacks and limitations, adding to the fact that virgil has a very hard time controlling his magic and harnessing it, he is not op dw. magic is also very much tied to emotions btw

also ro re and vee have two moms and they are a lesbian couple sorry i dont make the rules

elven lore and shit time - while gold is rare in many places in the fantasy land (i still have yet to decide on a name), in the elven land (i have not decided names for each section either lmao) iron and steel are actually harder to find than gold. gold still holds its own worth, but iron and steel are generally regarded as superior in worth than gold, which is why many nobles possess the material. and ive already explained the left eye crest thing with the elves, their left eye has a shape or crest to it along with a color that glows slightly. the glow can be dimmer or brighter depending on their emotions at the time. logan has a diamond shape to his left eye and a leaf green glow to it, which also happens to be his eye color as well. thomas’ is a heart and rainbow color and glow, while his actual eye color is an almond brown. ill discuss appearances in another post btw. anyways, the elven lifestyle is the most similar to humans, having a battleschool, its system nd shit, etc. although it does differ in terms of ‘rulers’. the humans have a monarchy while the elves rule through a council of 9. (an odd number so there arent any ties) logan uses both a sword and a bow as his weapons of choice. thomas was forced to go to battleschool so he basically just dips as soon as he can after teaching logan what he knows and becomes a healer because HEALER THOMAS 

PATTON AND JANUS TIME PATTON AND JANUS TIME PATTON AND JA

 patton is one of the merfolk, who (in this au) are a species that have two forms. their mer form, where the lower half of them is the mer tail fish tail what the fuck is it called. anyways the color of pattons tail (wtf is it dude) is a desaturated light blue. he has these like ??? spikes?? is that the word? jutting out from his forearms. (at the very least pointy things) and he will not hesitate to use them as weapons. yeah he’s a feral boy. he has some spots of scales on his upper body but they are pretty scarce. in his human form, he just looks like a human i dunno what you expected lmao. in the water his eyes are a really potent blue while on land they are much duller. he can also breathe underwater regardless of the form. patton also cant really will himself to either form, if he wants to be human form he has to be on land and vice versa for the mer form.

janus is a fucking uh,, dude idk the word for it. i guess the general word for it would be dragon but he’s more humanoid than dragon. a cross between the two ig. anyways he has scales on one side of his face, scaly wings because fuck yeah, horns jutting out from his forehead, and more shit that i have forgotten but i know he has it. the scales are a golden color, with warm yellows and light oranges mixed in. left eye has a dragon pupil type thing, like a slitted pupil. fuck i hate describing things ghdgakhgask. im playing around with the idea that dragons can shapeshift but nothing is set in stone with that tbh. most dragon folk are like janus, a mix between dragon and human, and only the really powerful ones are the ones that can actually turn into dragons so thats pretty rare. but fuck descriptions its time for fucking FRIENDSHIP and FAMILY

janus has a little brother whose name is emile and they are 6 and actually pretty shy. it took them a while to warm up to patton but now he literally loves pat and everytime he sees them he bolts over and just gives him a huge hug. patton tries to act all tough but he is so soft for emile there is no denying it and they all know it. jan and emile have an agender parent and a genderfluid parent. agender parent uses xe/xem btw. 

patton has a mother and never knew his father. he and his mother have a rather,,, distant relationship i suppose. his mother is in the royal guard so she is called away often (though it does not excuse the neglect in the slightest) her and pat just mutually acknowledge that they both exist and go about their day. one day pat confessed to jan that he never really felt that they were his mom, more just a person who birthed him. one time in a particular bout of drowsiness, patton confessed that janus and his family were the ones that he truly considered family. janus got choked up and was like ‘shut up you bastard im supposed to be tough /pos’ 

the first time janus showed him how he could get rid of the dragon aspects of himself for a limited time, patton literally took one look at his human form and shouted ‘what the FUCK’ and janus was like ‘IVE SEEN YOU CHANGE FORM BEFORE WHATS YOUR DEAL’ and patton just screams ‘THIS IS FUCKIN WEIRD’ (all /lh) janus and patton get up to so many shenanigans its a wonder they havent gotten caught yet lmao

patton, once again in sleep deprivation cause thats the only fuckin time he’ll confess anything about his emotions, told janus that he was his first friend and that he was so scared to mess it up when they first became friends. he’d spent most of his life alone and always in this state of just,,, perpetual anger, bubbling right underneath the surface with no way to escape. it led to him getting in a lot of fights and just lashing out, especially at people who tried to become his friend, scaring them away. when janus came along and stayed, he said it was the best thing that ever happened to him. he finally had a friend. even when he lashed out and retreated back into himself, putting up those walls again, janus still stayed. he helped break those walls down bit by bit, helped patton with his anger issues, helped patton realize that janus was here to stay, and that he wasnt leaving.

if you cant tell, i love them sm ghdgaskgjs

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 2/12/18

Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 8 | By Yuji Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – After a great deal of effort, Tanba shows himself to be in excellent shape for Koshien. This, plus the trust his teammates have in him, makes it even more devastating when he’s hit by a ball in a practice game right before the tournament begins, fracturing his jaw. He’ll be able to return by the quarter-finals, but meanwhile it’s up to the younger pitchers to keep things together until then. I’m a sucker for a good training montage, so enjoyed Chris drilling Furuya and Sawamura on their control and defensive fielding skills. The coach has some nice moments where he shows appreciation for both the team and the female managers, and it’s also satisfying to watch Seido crush their first-round opponents. In fact, this is quite a satisfying volume all around, aside from a couple of grammatical errors in the translation. – Michelle Smith

Gabriel Dropout, Vol. 2 | By Ukami |Yen Press – There’s very little actual forward plot here—the series runs on its gags, so mostly what changes is the situation. We see the girls going to the beach; the story of how Gabriel and Vignette first met; the absolute ludicrousness that is Satanya buying a gun (no, not a real gun); Halloween costumes; and the class president, who is 100% human and a bit horrified by the out-of-context dialogue between the class angel and devil. Of course, the question here is “does it work? Is it funny?”, and the answer is yes, this is still funny. Raphael and her trolling continues to be my favorite, though we do see she does have one weakness. If you like light fluffiness and laughs, this is an excellent series to pick up. – Sean Gaffney

I Hear the Sunspot: Theory of Happiness | By Yuki Fumino | One Peace Books – One of the debut manga from last year that left the greatest impression on me was the deceptively quiet I Hear the Sunspot, so I was very happy to discover that it had a sequel, Theory of Happiness, that would also be translated. While ostensibly a boys’ love manga, the beautifully nuanced, evolving relationship between the series’ two leads—Taichi and Kohei—is rarely at the forefront of the story. Even so, it remains an essential underlying component constant to both the narrative and its characters. Theory of Happiness also introduces Maya who, like Kohei, has partial hearing loss, but whose experiences and perspectives are uniquely her own. As was the case with the first volume, Theory of Happiness is an exceptionally lovely and thoughtful manga with marvelous characterization. Apparently there is at least one more volume in the series; I hope to see it released in English, too. – Ash Brown

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 28 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – The war ended up being a bit of an anticlimax, mostly as we find out late in the volume that Harukyuu had a ringer from the start who was going to make the outcome obvious. I continue to wonder if Sinbad is going to end up being the major antagonist of the series, but I suspect that may have to wait till Alibaba’s return. Which isn’t happening just yet, though his chibi-doll form is certainly proving more mature than the petulant Judar. As for the war itself, I definitely enjoyed the character development for Kogyoku, who is forced to fight and kill in order to protect those closest to her and make sure they don’t lose themselves. It’s a big step forward for the former petulant princess. As for Aladdin… he’s still a bit lost. Great stuff. – Sean Gaffney

Murcielago, Vol. 5 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – Kuroko may be the star of the series, and she’s very good at being clever and solving the problems the police give her, but she is an absolutely horrible, despicable person. The only reason we read this series is because her over-the-top horribleness is so hilarious—when she sets out to seduce the mother of the missing nine-year-old girl who’s been captured by a serial child killer, your jaw wants to drop but you can only laugh. I actually wondered why we never got a follow through on it, but given the volume starts with Kuroko in bed with the victim from volume four, I may simply have to wait patiently. This is not a series for the timid—the graphic child strangulation is as bad as it sounds—but oh my god, it’s fun if you have a certain twisted mindset. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 11 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The grimness of this arc doesn’t let up—Bakugo is rescued, but the sacrifices are significant. I appreciated their teacher explaining that if they weren’t in a very unusual situation right now, he would have expelled the entire class except for those kidnapped and/or injured. Being a hero means following the rules—that’s why they aren’t vigilantes. (No, I haven’t read the side series yet.) We also get some home visits to the class’s parents, which range from hilarious (Bakugo) to dramatic (Izuku) to rather sweet (Kyoka). Next time we should get preparation for provisional hero licenses. In the meantime, enjoy the best thing about the volume, which I never mentioned: the epic All-Might fight in the first half. (OK, yes, and the new dorm chapters.) Top-drawer Jump. – Sean Gaffney

No Game No Life, Please!, Vol. 3 | By Kazuya Yuizaki and Yuu Kamiya | Yen Press -The laughable schedule of the NGNL novels, which have been delayed so often that people now simply roll their eyes, means that this third volume of the spinoff introduces characters from novels which aren’t out yet, and expects the reader to be familiar with them. That said, hardcore NGNL fans are famous for boycotting the Yen Press novels anyway, and are likely getting this solely for the laughs and the fanservice. There’s plenty of both, so they should feel at ease. We do see a bit of the point of this series, which is trying to give Izuna more experience. But for the most part it’s a goofy spinoff manga, not to be taken seriously and meant to be forgotten after it’s read. It does what it wants to. – Sean Gaffney

Orange Junk, Vol. 3 | By Heldrad | Chromatic Press – Oft described as a love letter to shoujo manga, Heldrad’s ongoing webcomic Orange Junk is a wonderfully energetic and addictive series. The third volume sees the conclusion of the male modeling competition which Bruce initially entered in an attempt to pay his mother’s hospital bills. Miles, the son of the man who financially ruined Louise’s family, unexpectedly turns out to be Bruce’s rival in the contest as well as in love. Louise, of course, remains rather oblivious to that particular fact; she hasn’t realized that Bruce has romantic feelings for her and the grudge she holds against Miles and his family overshadows most everything else. Orange Junk is intentionally ridiculous and melodramatic with explosive chemistry and surprising friendships among the increasingly large cast of strong personalities. While it isn’t exactly a parody, the series is most definitely a comedy, and a highly entertaining and legitimately funny one at that. – Ash Brown

Plum Crazy! Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat, Vol. 4| By Natsumi Hoshino | Seven Seas – You’d think that I, a fervent cat lover, would adore Plum Crazy!, but sadly that is proving not to be the case. Maybe the problem is that I love cats for how they actually are, but that the cats in Plum Crazy! are given so much inner dialogue and human motivation that they hardly feel like cats anymore. They exchange Christmas gifts, for example, and there’s a running gag (I use the term loosely) where Plum is concerned about the environment. Occasionally there are some cat-like behaviors, like Plum getting stuck above the ceiling (this really happened to a cat of mine!) and Snowball’s search for a snuggly sleeping spot, but they’re just not enough to make up for the rest (and it bugs me that nobody tries to correct Snowball’s bad behavior). Alas, I think I might be dropping this series. – Michelle Smith

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 2 | By Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu | VIZ Media – After a fantastic and surprising first volume, I have no excuse for being taken completely unawares by the big reveal in this volume, and yet I was. The nuanced way Norman managed to turn this information into an advantage was well handled, and boy, do I have sympathy for his position going forward. Meanwhile, a game of tag with Krone reveals it’s not impossible to get the jump on her, and the three leads decide to bring the next oldest pair (Don and Gilda) into the loop. The thing is… they don’t tell them the whole truth, and I’m sure this is going to come back to bite them, especially since Don is potentially about to discover it on his own by snooping in Mom’s secret room. What a cliffhanger! – Michelle Smith

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 9 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – STILL no amazing breakthrough, though it’s hinted we may FINALLY see it next time. Instead we mercifully get a bit less of Tatara and Chinatsu torturing themselves and more perspective from the rest of the cast, who can’t take their eyes away from this train wreck. We also see the return of Chinatsu’s rival Akira, who gets a flashback which shows, unsurprisingly, that her attitude stems from a severe case of hero worship gone wrong. (It could also be read as sort of yuri if you want to, but I suspect that’s not what the author has in mind.) There’s also a lot of dramatic dancing here, with lots of the art that is probably the best reason to read this title. I’m still reading it, but mother of God, END THIS ARC! – Sean Gaffney

By: Michelle Smith