#only reading the manga for a few chapter I’ve seen lol

[wow-an-unfunny-joke]

Knowing Chilchuck is a dad really changes the tone of some of his interactions- he really does act like a tired dad sometimes

[kustas]

Sorry for the incoming long rant.

I just rediscovered your blog, and I always enjoyed your thoughts on WHA and wanted to rant a little bit. I found a post of yours talking about how WHA is getting less nuanced and I feel the same way. I feel like in an effort to make every character feel like a person, the manga treats everyone’s issues as if they’re on the same level. I’m not sure if that entirely makes sense, but it feels like the manga is trying to make you sympathize with everyone to some extent, even though that doesn’t really work. For example, there is a chapter that pissed me off so much that I had to put the manga on pause. It’s the chapter where Coco shows off a spell that can clean water, and the townspeople are uninterested because they don’t need it. And the moral of the chapter is that Coco should make her spell for everyone. No. No no no. These people need to learn some damn compassion and realize that they need to help end what suffering that they are able to. The moral of the chapter should’ve been that these people need to stop thinking of only themselves. Everything else was aimed at them, so Coco’s spell didn’t need to be for them. It shouldn’t have been for them. There is also the situation with the knights. You went into this already but who gives a shit if they are offended by a grieving husband taking out his anger in them when they are a part of the system that caused his grief. The manga wants you to sympathize with everyone, and while I don’t think these people should be one dimensional their issues should not be treated on the same level as others. Anyway, sorry for the weird long rant, it’s just everyone treats this manga like it is The Most Flawlessly Progressive Manga Ever and your one of the few I’ve found who acknowledges is flaws without devaluing its strengths

Thank you for your ask! I agree with what you're saying and think you worded it very well. It's a bit of a shame it's so rare to find people openly critiquing the series in the community, while it's nothing serious (and minimized by being a bit of a hermit, lol) I've seen some animosity for doing it, I assume because many assume critiquing art means you don't like it or are opposed to what it's trying to do! Which isn't true. Granted Witch Hat Atelier contains many an obvious fantasy metaphor for real life social issues it should be under more scrutiny than normal if you ask me, because those are serious topics that affect people's real lives. I do have faith in the author's serious handling of touchy topics, but in the execution there are things I'd do differently for sure...

The manga wants you to sympathize with everyone, and while I don’t think these people should be one dimensional their issues should not be treated on the same level as others.

WHA has in its writing strong expectations from the reader regarding how you think of its cast I find hard to read through a lot - the latest arc in particular, comparatively, has much of its character based moments revolve around if they're good or bad in a way that implies it'll change how you think of a character and it disturbs me. Qifrey and Sasaran are two early examples of characters that do *not* play into that - Qifrey's beginning arcs simultaneously show him as a shady manipulator and genuinely good teacher who betters the life of his students, and it participates so much to the dramatic tension. Sasaran is a villain of the week who while shown to be a huge cunt, has a backstory that implies his original motives were not nefarious ones, and his life was not easy.

Compare this to a character like Dean who, as much as I'm a fan of his concept, falls rather flat because he's, depending on the chapter, pushed as good/bad to the reader, regarding his moral alignment. Characters who are just meant to be despicable don't have the same level of attention placed to their writing which is a similar issue. It feels insecure, like if the story was saying: we have those important characters, their role is to bring up difficult situations, please don't hate them, like them, see, they're nice too! And giving them chosen positive traits. People don't work like that and it feels cheap. Fandom's obsession with villains should show well a character being despicable doesn't make them unlikeable, and I'd like WHA's characters to be less "good"/"likeable" myself to make them a bit more human. This would detonate a fandom nuke given I still regularly see passionate debates about how mean and terrible characters like Agott or Custas are but hey

As for priorities in the depicted suffering of characters in universe - yeah, it's true some scenes feel a bit off in that department...the water cleaning scene you mention did not rub me the wrong way too hard, because it's centered around Coco, who's our main character, the story bending to give her a central role makes sense, and her unique position in witch society and how it relates to helping others are, with the responsibilities of witches, very important to the story. The apprentice backstories are an earlier example I had trouble taking too seriously because while they're all terrible, tiny silly Riche and her brother's experience with physical child abuse felt drawn with the same intensity as Agott being pushed to mental disarray by her rich fancy perfectionist family. It's all hard to complain about and might sting less if the writing was a bit less dramatic and preachy, but that might just be a me issue, I've seen many fans praise WHA's writing wholeheartedly, so...

What I am hoping is that the latest arc will conclude and lead to the shorter previous structure and we'll get individual attention brought to character stories, one after the other, instead of the all at once formula going on right now... We'll see!

[jounosparticles]

you know what time it is

I feel like a lot of people were split about if tanizaki would get killed by gozen or not and im. not surprised that he did kfbfnf he almost had it! and then lost it. oh well. rip

anyway!!! THE GUYS!!!!! they're back!!!!! HORAY!!!!!! I think it's neat that kenji got a hit on amenogozen since a part of his ability is literally being a force to be reckoned with. unstoppable force vs immovable object.

and then he gets murked

BUT HIS DEATH WAS REALLYYYY COOL!!!!! amenogozen is so cool guys you HAVE to trust me

she was really imposing this chapter!!!! she's been imposing for the past couple of chapters but we get to see her in like ACTION action I think is what gets me.

also she's bleeding into the pages. she's interacting with the paneling. she's disturbing the peace and status quo. ITS SO COOL!!!! her Big Ass Sword ends two panels and her silhouette is too big that her head peaks into a different panel. ITS SO COOL!!!! I love her so much

AND WITH KENJI SHE SLICES THE PANELS PHSYICALLY!!!!! ITS SUCH A NEAT EFFECT

uh. anyway. back to normal. lucy and kyouka are jumping into the fray!!! oh boy!!! oh no!!!! I have faith that they will find a way and come out of it alive. indomitable human spirit go

I think the reason everyone is dying from a narrative point is mainly to push atsushi into fighting gozen. that's the only way I can really explain it. he's usually conflict avoidant when it comes to fights and usually wants to talk it out before he resorts to it but the way that it's going I feel he will see the need to fight along the way.

also I truly thought akutagawa was gonna show up but I was deathly wrong JDBDND

anyway!! scared. scared for the next chapter

OHHH i love hearing ur thoughts. there’s so much going on this chapter it’s crazy .

im not surprised exactly by tanizaki either. Oh. imagine if this is him using light snow or something and really messing with everything . i wouldn’t be happy if that was the plot but it wouldn’t surprise me lol.

i agree the visual effects are really cool! i don’t read a lot of manga but this is definitely a really neat approach i’ve never seen before. it shows how terribly over it seems to be and i genuinely don’t know how they’ll get out of this.

lucky and kyouka look so pretty in these panels too like harukawa made them stun in their return. i feel like an update on so many povs means they’re trying to bring things in now. the next few months will be hectic to say the least

i like your idea about atsushi. usually he can be sympathetic but if we can see him do something out of pure Hatred and have him lose it i would not be mad. he deserves it

akutagawa is taking aya for ice cream or something trust 🙏🙏 they’re both happy i swear

[musicalmoritz]

Uhh kinda stupid question from someone who's technically new to the fandom despite following the manga for a while, where do ya'll find the official au's and their art? Like the Monster nursery one, I've seen them a lot but where does one find the originals?

There are many places to find the AUs!! Fair warning, some of them like Monster Nursery and Ghost Hotel have multiple parts but they’re still easy to find

The easiest place to find them is through the wiki page. Just google the name of the au + “wiki” like I did in the image above, and the first link should take you to a page with the full au.

There’s dialogue and images that will take you through a Choose Your Own Adventure type story, only the options have already been chosen for you. This is probably my favorite place to read them just because it’s all very easy to follow

The next place to check is the @dbs-scans account here on Tumblr! They post all the official art and aus, and I think they might even post the chapters. To find the au you want you could simply Google the name of it and their account should pop up, or you could search their account directly through Tumblr by clicking on their archive or using the search bar feature on their blog

They include all the images from the au with the text that correlates with them translated below. I believe they usually do the aus in full, which is very helpful if you’re trying to find an au like Ghost Hotel with multiple parts. If they don’t have all the parts tho, you can always refer back to the wiki or go to the next source I’m about to show you

Our next resource is the hanakokun.officialarts account on TikTok. Beware, I don’t think they have all the aus, but I know they’ve posted some of them. They get their translations from the aforementioned dbs-scans account which kind of brings this response full circle lol, it’s a small fandom. They’ll post the images with the dialogue in the captions, and you should be able to find them in order all grouped together. You might have to scroll a bit to find some of the older aus. This is one of my favorite resources for keeping up with official TBHK content tho bcuz they post the new chapters in full and it’s an easy way to find official art

You might also be able to read the aus on Twitter if they’re still up but I don’t have Twitter so I couldn’t tell you for sure. At one point I was trying to find the last part of Ghost Hotel and I deadass had to refer to Google Images, sometimes you gotta scrounge around for yourself. But that shouldn’t happen too often because the resources I gave are very reliable!!

Thank you for this ask, and it’s not stupid at all!! I had to ask my TikTok followers where to find the HKOTO au a few months ago when I got a fic request for it. It took me a minute to figure out where to find all the content, which is standard for joining any fandom that has as wide a range for content as TBHK does. I’ve seen BSD fans have similar issues. And by asking that you probably saved a lot of people’s asses who were too embarrassed to ask the same question

[makeste]

[39 weeks later]

well all right then. I owe some explanations and some updates, so let's just get straight to that.

1. "what the hell, makeste. you can't just disappear for nine months and leave a sign on your blog that says "gone leavin'.'"

yeah I know. sorry guys.

so there are a lot of reasons for my long absence, but when you boil it all down, the essence is basically as follows: at its absolute max capacity, my ADHD brain is capable of keeping up with any two of the following: (1) work; (2) school; (3) tumblr. that's it. only two. no more and no less.

and for years this has not mattered at all because school was no longer in the picture! but as mentioned in my last two update posts, as of this past January, I had to start taking classes again for career advancement reasons, meaning my brain was quickly overloaded and something had to give. so yeah. I can assure you the past nine months have absolutely sucked and I am not AT ALL sure that it was worth it, but it is what it is.

I also want to add that I never intended to basically fall off the face of the earth anywhere near to this extent, let alone for this long. but in retrospect I probably should have seen it coming, seeing as this is not the first time it's happened, sob. and also in hindsight, towards the end of last year (during which I was already struggling to keep up with the weekly BnHA reactions) someone mentioned that it sounded like I was showing signs of being potentially close to burnout. turns out that observation was spot on lol.

so yeah. tl;dr, burnout + an obnoxiously busy real life schedule + a sprinkling of good old-fashioned ADHD "somehow I always underestimate how hard it is to restart something after taking a long break from it, and the longer I go without returning the worse it gets" brain shenanigans (more on that last part further down).

2. "MAKESTE. WHILE YOU WERE GONE, IN THE MANGA, THERE WAS A THING -- "

yes I have unfortunately been spoiled about The Thing.

3. "so wait, exactly how spoiled are you?? CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE THING"

I will make a separate post to talk about The Thing! I expect that many people will want to talk about this, and tbh I've really been wanting to talk about it too! I'm telling you, when I say the past nine months have sucked, I mean they have truly SUCKED, you guys. school is so fucking boring and I miss rambling about fandom stuff so fucking much.

anyway but with that said, ~*~PLEASE DO NOT TALK ABOUT ANY SPOILERS IN THIS POST~*~. I don't want to delete anybody's comments! but I will if necessary because I am a spoiler narc and I don't want to risk accidentally ruining stuff on the off chance that a non-spoiled person comes across this post. so yeah. however please do feel free to message me or comment in my other post (which I will link once it’s up; eta: here it is) if you do want to talk about The Thing.

4. "so aside from The Thing, are you otherwise caught up with the BnHA manga currently?"

so here's the hilarious part: no, I am not caught up. not even remotely. literally the last chapter of BnHA I read was chapter 339, which is the most recent chapter that I liveblogged, all the way back on December 31, 2021. I literally have not read a single new BnHA chapter in the year of our lord 2022 lol. :') basically for the same reasons I mentioned in my previous update post. tl;dr, reading/liveblogging a single new BnHA chapter is a minimum 4+ hour commitment for me, and by this point I have accrued a backlog of... oh sweet lord. 35 total chapters lol. so yeah. that's approximately 140 hours of catch-up that I need to do, which is paralyzing just to think about.

I do still plan on catching up, obviously! I'm just not sure how, lol. I may have some time to spare this weekend, so I might try to binge a few chapters and see how it goes. then I'll have to come up with some sort of sustainable posting schedule. I've been thinking about this for a while and I might try to do a Mon/Wed/Fri thing if I can swing it, but I don't want to commit to anything for sure yet until I see how those first few chapters go. fingers crossed, though.

anyway so I guess that's it. post is getting long. anything more will just be rambling.

sorry again, guys. how is everyone? what did I miss. aside from twitter dying and tumblr welcoming the refugees into our culture by inviting them to participate in the newly created fandom of a nonexistent 1970s mafia film.

[solradguy]

i’ve read through volcanic’s lta translation and it supposedly confirms the old fandom story that he carved it into his belt because his soldiers gave their lives to save him by disobeying his orders to leave him.

also there’s a bit which suggests that he saw some of sol’s confrontation with justice at the end of missing link. he keeps mentioning that he saw a gear mark on sol’s forehead that day. so that old headcanon has some truth to it.

i’m surprised at how much stuff the old fandom’s gotten right honestly. i don’t want to confirm anything. not until you, someone who can understand japanese, has seen it first.

Volcanic's the GOAT and has been at fan translating GG stuff for way longer than I have so whatever he says in his translations I trust 100%.

Ky seeing Sol's Gear mark is really interesting!! Denki Akiba's chapter in the GG Comic Anthology from 1998 (MEET AGAIN) is a recap of the end of Sol's Missing Link arcade route where he fights Testament and then Justice, and Ky is there but he gets knocked out. The manga volumes aren't canon, but the novels are. So I guess if this chapter and LtA both hint at Ky seeing it, then he very well could have!

MEET AGAIN ends before the part where Sol's limiter comes off, but Ky (and a few others) are in the scene. Even though Ky passes out from his injuries, he could have woken up later during the battle to have seen something. Not sure about everyone else though lol

It seems like much of the old pre-Xrd English language GG fandom were bilingual EN/JP speakers. Makes me wonder how many of these old headcanons that've ended up having a solid basis—or straight up confirmation—in the canon were things that had been implied or shown in Japanese-only materials (like the GGCA) that never got fan translations. People could've read them and then shared ideas from them, but without having anything in English to point at, it just kinda fell into a mystery headcanon zone as time erased their original posts...

[sebbyisland]

Please feel more than free to ignore this if u're not looking for manga rec, but if you liked Akane Banashi you might also like Girl Meets Rock/Futsuu no Keionbu!

The majority of casts are girls but not in a moe way, it doesn't have any annoying romance (at least for the major charas anyway) or fan service, and there has only been a few chapters out but it's pretty promising. (Kinda like Eizouken but about music) I think you can read all chapters legally on MangaPlus.

Lastly idk if there are any yuri (yet...LMAO) but seeing from the what we've been fed so far, it's safe to say it has some yuri potential LOL

Anw sorry for long rambling‼️Hope you have a good one and seeya

!!!! OH I’ve seen some promotion for it. Maybe I’ll check it out then !!!!

thank you sm for the rec!!! “Eizouken but music“ DOESSSS sound very fun!! Also no need to apologize lol I LOVE GETTING MANGA REC THK YOU SMMMMMMMM hope you also have a good day, anon!!

[2n2n]

idle thinking on the shape of love, endurance, persistence, and unconditional commitment in this manga.

rapidfur

!!!!! This is amazing! It's a little funny, but I always kind of disliked Akane, but... I feel like you have a knack for really looking deeper into the work and finding connections, and bringing out a complete story! It's a little funny, I think recent western fandom developments have made analysis for this series hard, since everyone is so quick to point out themes of abuse and such... which isn't necessarily bad, but when has real life ever been so simple. D:

HEY THANKS this is probably my... favorite of the posts I’ve made, I!!! even wish it was a little more coherent/organized lol.... but, I’m glad the messaging is there and interesting and got through!! I really-- feel most strongly, about this through line between all arcs!!! My jaw was.... on the floor, as Akane/Aoi happened, I couldn’t imagine their r’ship would also thread all of these themes into it. I also thought the manga would be a little messier, have a few more loose ends, some ‘randos’ if you will. I honestly thought Akane and Aoi would always remain boring to me, and I can’t believe the manga essentially popped me in the jaw about all my assumptions. The ‘twist’ of their personalities doesn’t even feel cheap, either .... I suddenly felt legitimately guilty for writing off Aoi as ‘just some normal girl, friend of Nene, nothing significant’..... I had to deal with Akane going from “god, some goober SIMP out here...” in my mind to “hhihihieeeek... why is he allowed to do hot things omg”

I’ve definitely seen some write-ups try to assert the theme is ‘abuse’, and responses to/conditions of abuse, but by god, if that were true, it sure would be gosche how often this manga uses punches and brutality as either a punchline (what is Akane + Teru in this lol?), or a spicey picante to an ultimately romantic scene

It would be so out of tune for a Manga About Abuse to sooooocapriciously depict the very ropes that symbolize isolation and ownership/control/influence of others as sexually alluring. Boy all the contexts of these, ropes... all these situations....

... but if isolation/ownership/control was at times allowed to be an aspect of some sort of, ultimate love, hmmmmm... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

hmmmm...love....

hmmm... control

hmmmm... influence..... 

hmmmm... HMMM 

Not to be TOO cheeky, lol, but gosh.... devotional love bleeds through every inch of symbolism in the manga. Hanako himself compares being ‘bound’ to ‘like being in a relationship’ (I can’t... believe you say that....)

Hanako relates a curse to love..... 

can’t believe we come all the way back around to this concept, so many chapters later.

ohhhhhh famous bound-boy Hanako-kun can just say being ‘bound’ and ‘being in a couple’ are synonymous by certain definitions? you who are bound? to someone? GEEZ. I honestly hate this manga sometimes. It’s TOO linear. It’s almost blindingly direct.

Which is to say, there's a lot more to appreciate to a character than only thinking theyre worthless because they're annoying... ♡ devotion! I was starting to think AidaIro was writing a really confusing all-over-the-place story, but these analyses are really making me rethink my way of media analysis. Sometimes it's very easy to just parrot what other people say as fact, and not think about things deeper... anyways! Just offering my appreciation again. ☆ミ

thanks again!!! It’s.... rrrgh I’m just one person with one interpretation, in a sea of equally proposed ones, I’m just happy if anything I say feels like it ‘clicks’ or rings true to what you’ve read yourself, personally. If it goes down smoother than other things you’ve tried to perceive in the text. 

Its always a struggle for me a bit-- I love DOING analysis-- but I also dislike the way modern fandom tends to convene on analysis and defer to analysis, rather than engaging the manga themselves directly (and trying to interpret it for their own). On one hand I resent the pipeline of some reddit take becoming the penultimate western narrative (usurping the very manga itself), but also I kindof have no choice but to try to assert my own take, too, and influence other’s perceptions (for better or worse, as I’m just some shmuck).

I feel that modern-day fandom is sortof odd, I think social media winds up dominating and creating a singular discussion/interpretation of media  .... I saw it so much I did want to at least, prove that someone out there has a different take, that very different interpretations can exist....?

...but anyway, I do think. Love is this manga’s greater unifying factor than anything else. Sincerely!!! Really!!!

[ssaalexblake]

FMA official translations reread/read, vol.2

Riza’s the only one who knows how to treat teenagers. Telling the brothers the truth, not condescending them and recognising they’re involved, but not allowing them to go with her to see what happened because they shouldn’t have to See it is the right line to follow. All this should be read with the perspective that Ed outranks her and she’s not actually allowed to tell him what to do. Not gonna call her a mother figure, but she’s probably earning a big sister ranking. 

hughes: pls tell me you don’t want me to put a corpse on trial?

Them discussing who the hell scar is and only knowing he has a scar and not knowing he’s an ishvallan has me??? Are the red eyes the only way to ID somebody as Ishvalan? Because Scar is a darker skin tone and the light hair even in the manga, and it’s the same with Miles, and nobody gets it till he removes his glasses at appropriate dramatic moments. Are they assuming that they’re both a different race, neither Amestrian or Ishvalan? I suppose most people don’t often see any ishvalans around. A great deal probably have never seen anybody probably, thanks to that state sponsored genocide thing. Especially if they didn’t live in the East? I can think of ways for it to make sense but it’s not actually self evident imo. 

and lol, The Elrics being out and in danger partly because Roy deliberately antagonised them and left them even more distressed than they already were, and that suddenly very much being roy’s problem. Poor brothers, but Roy, you deserved that. 

“i’ve never done anything to make anyone hate me! (actually i’ve done that a lot, but...) I don’t deserve to Die!” lollllllllllllllllll nice thought process Ed

and that he’s not used to people trying to murder him yet :/ 

Still wildly funny that people in this story only ever think it’s mildly weird some teenager walks around in a full set of metal armour for no reason. And that most don’t ever mention it or care at all, just question why he never takes the helmet off to eat. Literally nobody in this story actually Wears armour. A few people Are armour, but.. it appears in universe it’s a decorative item only, so it makes it even more funny. 

i think Ed’s actually smaller in proportion to Scar in the manga? Or maybe the static expressions of fear are more evocative, but this fight sequence truly looks like a terrified child being attacked by a huge dude trying to kill him, which Is what’s happening, but in the animation it’s less, idk, disturbing? It’s Probably the access to ed’s unfiltered thoughts while reading that makes it worse. 

chapter 6, finished. 

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

12/03/2023 – 12/09/2023

Sunday

I checked out the first chapter of Ruirui Senki and was extremely bored by it. It feels like an amalgamation of all the popular Shounen Jump spiritual battle manga – selfless protag who always goes out of his way to help others in need, young-looking grandmother who’s also a mentor for the spirit battles, the spirits being manifestations of negative feelings, etc. My eyes immediately glazed over at the expository magic rules dialogue too, and the motivations for the glasses guy are so thin and basic but being presented like it’s really deep and thought-provoking. The only thing that this manga has an edge on over Jujutsu Kaisen or Dandadan is its immediate fujo appeal: uptight glasses guy who wants to do the right thing/laid-back chill guy who’s secretly a badass who protects glasses guy? Glasses guy literally sleeping on chill guy’s lap??? The fics just write themselves. This yaoibait definitely feels intentional, though I suspect it’ll be set aside once the main female lead from the opening color page is introduced proper. Maybe even a love triangle, who knows. The series is already derivative from the get-go, so why not. And them setting up a “problem solving club” of sorts at the end is just ripe for monster of the week material. I won’t be around to see it, obviously, other than to skim through and see if I’m right. Just a boring manga all around. (Also a weird nitpick, but the lettering in this chapter felt off… Some of the spacing and word fitting was just weird and bad at times… I feel like I’ve seen this letterer on other Shounen Jump works and I hadn’t noticed anything before, but this one looked a little rough. A product of crunch, perhaps? Overall it’s passable, but it’s just something that stuck out to me).

Undead Unluck was pretty good. I liked the random f-bomb being dropped LOL and I also like how the crash is what tears up Enjin’s hat to match how he had it in the last loop. Enjin’s mom is a classic “dying anime mom” with the low side ponytail to boot, but at least she’s a bit rugged and not kind and demure as dying anime moms tend to be. A few weeks ago I mentioned how I was excited to find out more about Enjin, but unfortunately I just find him a little one-note. The whole tough and ambitious delinquent-ish guy with straightforward ambitions and a heart of gold already feels a little played out… But at least with him on board, we can get on with what looks to be an exciting arc ahead.

Wow, the new Oshi no Ko chapter… Kana’s certainly taking a bold approach to things. Baring her own ugly feelings to invoke some emotional truth in Ruby for the sake of her acting…that’s pretty intense.

Dandadan was fun, I liked seeing Turbo Granny’s little adventure. Oh right, the anime was announced last week when this chapter was released! I’m really excited for it, and judging from the trailer I think I can trust Science Saru to do a good job. A quirky studio like that is pretty fitting for a quirky manga like this.

On the other side of the anime announcement spectrum is, unfortunately, Magilumiere… The trailer looked like any other modern shiny anime, and poster isn’t doing too much to sell me on the anime either…

The added crotch shadow alone is annoying enough, but Koshigaya’s whole facial expression has been nerfed so hard, and I don’t understand why they would have Kana hold her ID card when her reading manuals is a pretty big part of her early characterization?? The anime’s artstyle just doesn’t hold any of the original’s charm, either, and what little we saw of the Kaii in the trailer looked like regular anime slop with textures slapped onto it. I honestly don’t know if I’ll watch it… It’ll probably just make me sad.

All of that aside, the new Magilumiere chapter was pretty gripping. I constantly feel on the fence about whether or not Midorikawa will do a double-double cross, and I think I’m slightly leaning towards yes after this chapter. And, not gonna lie, seeing Shigemoto’s desperation at whatever this magic power chip thing is about is activating the gayship radar in my brain… Is he trying to stop them because it would grant Midorikawa more power than Shigemoto would like? Or…perhaps…the chip has some sort of downside that’ll harm Midorikawa, but he’s doing it to further his (and Shigemoto’s??) goals…? If it’s the latter, and Shigemoto subjected himself to these working conditions to protect Midorikawa from going so far as to bring harm to himself… The yaoi alarms are BLARING, especially with that last panel of Midorikawa smiling almost sheepishly as he mentions some sort of promise with Shigemoto… You know, before the betrayal, I was always hoping for some kind of ship fodder for Midorikawa since he seemed like a nice guy, but now the added edge of toxic yaoi is really elevating the flavour… This ship came out of nowhere but I’m a little obsessed with it already.

The One Piece chapter was fun, Kuma really is a good guy, huh. It’s kinda funny seeing Kizaru just hanging out and eating pizza with everyone. And seeing Ace again is so bittersweet…

A cute little Iroha/En moment to start off the Cipher Academy chapter. I have no idea who I actually ship him with since he seems to have chemistry with everyone, but this was pretty cute. And I’m glad we’re getting more insight into another one of Class A’s members! Aw Namasu is pretty cute, too. Cute chapter all around.

We watched a few more episodes of House, but I gotta be honest and admit that I was half-asleep through most of them.

Monday

Uhhhhhh

Tuesday

It’s fun seeing Pochita again in the new Chainsaw Man chapter. He really boils everything down concisely for Denji as he tries to move up through the hierarchy of needs. Will he ever actually attain self-actualization? I don’t know, but I’m rooting for him. I do hope the pets thing is a fakeout, and it doesn’t feel like Fujimoto’s style to kill off a bunch of animals…but who knows.

Watched some more House, but I was making dinner at the same time so I didn’t really catch much of the story. But it’s funny that House is cracking all these homoerotic jokes about Taub and Foreman living together, as if he and Wilson weren’t literally doing the exact same thing like a month ago.

Wednesday

The new extra chapter of Skip to Loafer was cute, but I have nothing to say about it.

We’re popping the biggest bottles today as Huddy has officially broken up! Somehow didn’t even last as long as Cameron and Chase’s relationship but this is for the best for everyone involved.

Thursday

I’m trying to procrastinate some work so I read the first chapter of Yan Ge’s Strange Beasts of China. Having dreamt of being a cryptozoologist in my youth, I do enjoy the premise a lot, and the first chapter shows promise with its light horror vibes and unique monsters. I could do without the pseudo-deep “maybe We’re the REAL beasts” musings but so far it’s passable.

Friday

Story-wise, not much actually happened in the new Undead Unluck episode, but I’m just happy to sit back and enjoy the stylistic direction. Knowing what I know now, though, I FEEL SO BAD FOR MY BOY SEAN AGHHHHHHH SAVE HIMMMMM also YESSSSSSS THE JUIZ MOMENT WAS PERFECT. I really like Juiz’s voice actress, too, she’s been really delivering on the recap and preview narrations as well as in the actual show. Another highlight for me was Shen saying that long sentence in Chinese – I think Hanae Natsuki did about as well as he could. He got pretty close in some places! Also them showing Lake Baikal when the night sky filled up with stars was so nasty (affectionate).

Saturday

A very cute and healing episode of SpyFam today, which is a nice respite after the tense action-filled episodes we’ve had. It’s all very very very cute, with some TwiYor fodder as a bonus, and we got a nice conclusion to Yor’s arc (even if it’s a little “yes I have re-affirmed that I will continue my status quo”). The scene with the adults in Anya’s life trying to impart the importance of honesty to her all while being massive liars themselves was some great ironic humor. I’ve always found it fun that in order to get the most use out of her abilities, Anya has had to learn to be mature in her own way and be receptive to the thinking and contradictions of the adults around her. This rough emotional maturity coupled with her childish whims is what makes Anya so compelling to watch.

Another chapter of Yuria-sensi no Akai Ito! I really enjoyed this chapter – it’s nice to see Yuria take some time off and socialize for once, even if it’s still to help someone else. Little Yuria is also super cute, I think the mangaka did a great job depicting his chaotic energy in a way that felt true to life. And then the conversation between Yuria and Ban was naturalistic and really hit upon some relationship issues that don’t often get explored in manga – even with the bombastic plot points of a secret gay lover and a secret family that’d be right at home in a soap opera, the central sticking point of Yuria’s relationship is about how Yuria herself is unwilling to give up on it, partly out of habit and partly out of stubbornness, and how this has forced her to sacrifice so much of herself and her life. But it’s great to see her take some small steps to reclaiming that time, such as when she admits to herself that she wants to be seen as desirable in her own right. I really love this manga, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

Managed to get in the new episode of Kusuriya before this post goes up. The tea party with Gyokuyou and Lishu is fascinating to watch play out in animated form. The silence of the room and the stiffness of ceremony and customs makes each spoken line feel weighty, and the subtle glances around the room feel like sharp analytical examinations of how everyone else is feeling. It’s almost Succession-y. The part where Lishu’s party whisper among themselves stood out to me for how it actually sounded like real whispering – typically you get a sort of half-whisper in anime, but this makes the setting feel realistic. Also now that I think about it, Lishu’s a really interesting character to me. She didn’t stand out to me before when reading the manga or light novel, but seeing her here with her small stature and clear anxiety, I can’t help but feel really bad for her. She’s been used as a political pawn for almost her whole life, and now she’s a teenage girl alone in a den of wolves and meant to navigate the socio-political web of both the rear palace and the country at large…her introduction made her seem almost like a brat, but I’m glad we’re quickly moving past that image of her. I haven’t gotten to any story arc in the manga or light novel where she features as a crucial figure in some political plot yet, but I hope that that’s on the horizon because it’d be really interesting.

Aww the return of the Maomao being tossed out of a room gag is so cute. And a weird thing that I noticed (because I’m insane and also it stuck out to my ear) was how Ah-Duo’s pronunciation of Fengming was weirdly decent and almost accurate, so kudos to the seiyuu there. THE GIRLS PINING FOR AH-DUO ARE SOOOOO REAL SHE’S SO HOT AND IKEMENNNNN. Ooo I really like the use of foreground and background as Maomao and the others walk through the corridor. Feels really alive and almost like a live-action shot. It looks like it’d be a useful animation trick to make a scene feel like it’s moving without actually needing to animate a lot. GAOSHUN SGHDJSFSDH turning a wilful blind eye to his master’s bad behaviour… It’s so funny seeing Jinshi’s childish side poke out, as well as his panic when he gets caught in the act. I also really enjoyed the squishiness in Lishu’s expressions in the scene afterwards, which peaked in her expression of panicked realization at the end. Agh, and a great revelation to cap off the episode. Really fantastic episode overall! Great pacing and dissemination of information, great performances, and great directing to boot. I hope that this is a sign that they geared up the production to bring the first half of this 24-episode cour to a strong finish.

[mokkemusic]

Since I can’t share these magazines anywhere else I may as well share them here. These are super cool and extremely old Bessatsu Friend Magazines that have Yuki Suetsugu older works way before Chihayafuru. Including her very old short mangas, Only You, Eden no Hana etc. I’ve gotten a few I bought so I’ll share them by magazine. This will be the first one I post:

Bessatsu Friend January 2001 (Eden no Hana chapters 8 & 9 2 pg color spread plus single color page.)

I didn’t know what chapters were in these till I actually got them but this Bessatsu Friend might be the best one cause it has one of my favorite scenes in all of Eden no Hana!

“Why…? If you look down on me as well… I’LL BE ALL ALONE!”

“I don’t look down on you…

I DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOU!”

- I��m gonna break this up right here. THIS, I think this is when I knew I loved Tokio as a character. It’s the words of “I don’t look down on you.” (Well yea that’s obvious Dana) No, you don’t understand those words are personal to me. I want someone to say that to me, genuinely. And actually mean it like Tokio does here. Verbalize it and mean it.

“I just feel terribly hurt.

I didn’t have the confidence to keep smiling by your side, as if I didn’t know anything.

I’m so sorry… You didn’t want to run away from the pain, but I was the one who wanted to escape.”

I don’t know what kinda magic Sensei has I really don’t know but the way she writes the genuine honesty of her characters, especially her male characters- It’s so hard to explain without being misconstrued. IT’S A GOOD THING. She shows the clearest way of saying “we all feel pain” Tokio is so honest with Midori in this moment. I’m suffering cause your suffering. Me reading this like “you can feel that way? You can?” But I believe it! The way Sensei depicts this scene I BELIEVE IT! I believe how raw it is. And I know that PLENTY of other Shoujo and Josei manga have similar moments where it’s just like this. But there’s something about the word choices the expressions there’s just something! That I am not literate enough to put into words for you I’m sorry. But this scene GOT TO ME! :')

Same thing with Chihayafuru. It’s something she does! And no one can take this magic and put in a bottle. I wish but it can’t be done. It’s special.

Something else I also REALLY love about this magazine is even though it's kinda distracting the way the ink bleeds to the other side. I am sure it's the paper choice and I am also sure it's probably because it's older quality. But you know what? I find this really frekin cool! Don't laugh at me if other older shoujo magazines do this too this is my first experience owning one. lol

Also the color changes of the pages is neat. I don't know how they decide that or if it's just they ran out of a color ink and had to move onto the next one idk but this is cool!

(Ahh that panel right after in the second image ahhh! god I just love owning the original magazines there's something so special!)

It also contained this 2 pg color spread! I've seen this before but now I have the one from the original magazine of Tokio, Midori and Hashiba! I know, I know this is Sensei's older style but still ugh Tokio's hair here I am not a fan I'll be honest lol. He just doesn't look like Tokio! (Then again how many arts has Sensei done of Taichi where he looks nothing like Taichi and how many hair color changes too. It's a stylized choice I'll let this one slide lol.) Midori and Hashiba look great here though. (See Chalres, I am giving Hashiba compliments and insulting Tokio. Frame it if you see this cause it won't happen again. :P)

There's also another single color pg but I cannot show that one here. It's a combination actually of ch. 8 pg 14 and pg 17. But done a different way and in color. So there I gave you that and you can look for yourself if you're curious.

I think this is also the perfect time to get into my disclaimer of even though I really love the work of Eden no Hana the story is very dark and there's a lot of sensitive themes. This is my personal merch but I am by no means telling you guys to go read this. And if you do get curious from my post (for the 2 people that might see this post) please be mature and proceed with caution cause I did say sensitive subjects and trauma. You can use your imagination.

[waywardstation]

Whoever suggested the Pokevillain kids being part of the Papa Ingo AU has made my mind go CHURNING!

Firstly, maybe if Cyrus and Guzma had better parents, they may have ended up better, so if anything, they deserve to have better parents! Papa Ingo can try his best to make them into better adjusted human beings!

But also like... We do actually have a canonical version of kid Giovanni out there... >.> We get to see Giovanni as a kid in the How I Became a Pokemon Card manga. And he was just a very cute, sweet kid! He's just baby who saves a Persian from poachers! It might hella mess Silver up to see his dad being such a nice little kid tho... Which could be interesting... But then again, it might be very funny to see Giovanni join Ingo's hoard of children as a teenager. Because according to How I Became a Pokemon Card, apparently as a teenager or something he was in a biker gang lol. So Giovanni coming in as this long-haired, teenage punk who's constantly wanting to start a fight... Pingo certainly has his work cut out for him! I just imagine that like... Everyone from Kanto seeing Giovanni as a little kid: ... That's Giovanni...? No... That can't be right! He's such a nice, sweet kid! Everyone from Kanto seeing Giovanni as a teenager: ... This is not what I expected, but that's Giovanni alright.

But thinking about that just makes me think of other possible kids from the various manga series that could be brought into this AU... How I Became a Pokemon Card has a lot of cute kids in it, but probably too many to include in this AU lol >.< But then again, How I Became A Pokemon Card does have a canon 100% unambiguously trans kid in it. And unlike SOME people (coughhismothercough) I imagine that Ingo would actually respect his gender identity!

Also this series has like... Multiple children who want to be evil in it, so I think that Ingo would very much have his work cut out for him lol. Also Bill is there and a kid too...? (I just really wish that more chapters of How I Became a Pokemon Card were scanlated because it's just a very cute and calming little series. >.< )

I do think that it would be interesting if the main character from ReBurst or Conquest were to get dropped into this AU though. Those two might be some of the few characters who may get transported forwards in time, not back. (Though it's REALLY hard to tell when ReBurst takes place! My best guess would maybe be the Edo or Meiji period...? From the vibes...? VERY different vibes than Legends Arceus though, so my gut says Edo even though that doesn't make a whole lot of sense given that apparently laser guns exist in that world lol.)

That particular concept with kid versions of the villains would REALLY distort the timeline haha but this is an AU so we all can entertain whatever concepts we want!!

A competent parental figure would probably help several cases, as you said, yes! Ingo would do his best haha

And I have not read that manga, so I didn’t even know that information about Giovanni existed! Wow! Very interesting to see that he was a good kid, but I think seeing a teen biker punk fall into Hisui would be really entertaining!! It seems implied that most of the kids are very agreeable, and if anything, only give Ingo trouble indirectly. It would be interesting to see some of them explicitly go against Ingo…not everyone would make things easy for him! Some of them might want to be more dependent and simply not have to live under someone else’s rules.

And there are already so many faller kids included in here, and one guy can only manage so many, so perhaps not everyone from the manga haha, I’ve mostly just seen protags/rivals suggested. But yes!! I think Ingo would be accepting of all kids and how they are and do his best to help them (even if some of them are difficult!!)

And I LOVE Conquest!! I still play that game from time to time!! Very underrated game! Including the protags from there would be quite interesting! And I had not heard of ReBurst until you mentioned it. I looked it up, and wow!! Is it a manga about humans fused with Pokémon? Imagine one of those kids falling into Hisui!! Definitely no laser guns here haha

Thanks for your thoughts OP!! :)

[leaveamessageafterthescream]

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! 

[haleigh-sloth]

Okay kind of a heated question but why did so many people started throwing hate towards Toga with this chapter? I mean they did started throwing such in previous chapters, bit why so much in this chapter??? I mean i know that the majority of these people are just haters who want her dead, some who say that deku was nerfed for the plot and quite a few that are in a shipping war but i can't understand any other reason of why they throw so much hate.

Well definitely disregarding the troll who is represent sending the same shit to everyone about how Toga needs to die or whatever, and disregarding the shipping war—the only thing I personally have seen is people thinking Toga’s character has changed and suddenly started acting OOC or something for the sake of including Midoriya in the plot.

I disagree with that because I always always always expected Toga to confront Ochacko AGAIN after the war arc, AND somehow come to some sort of terms with Midoriya and Tsuyu alongside that. The only difference now to me is that Midoriya and Toga probably won’t reach friendly terms until closer to the end.

I think people were just taken by surprise that Midoriya was thrown into the Toga plot, which is fair to be surprised by, but also Toga has been seeking out Midoriya the entiiiiiiire story. This is not new. So her roping him into the Toga/Ochacko conflict is absolutely well within the set up from previous chapters.

But even with Midoriya getting thrown into it, I never expected the role to be taken from Ochacko. But I think people were upset about that possibility. But low and behold, Midoriya has fled the scene and now it’s up to Ochacko and Tsuyu.

I also think people were hoping for Toga to go seek out vengeance against Hawks, and are disappointed that she instead has chosen to focus on the heroes whose attention she’s been trying to get since she met them. And I’ve already voiced why I very very much did not like the revenge plot. THAT would have been wildly OOC to me. So I’m really glad it doesn’t seem (key word—shit could still hit the fan) like it’s going that way. I just don’t see how it would resolve or tie anything together. So I’m hoping things continue on this path. But I’ve seen people upset about that too.

I also think Toga is a bit harder for people to understand if you’re just reading this manga for fun and aren’t necessarily trying to dissect it and find underlying meanings in everything (like I and many others are lol). Toga is straight forward but also not. She’s convoluted in the way she asks for help, so it’s not entirely within the fault of Midoriya and Ochacko to kind of miss her point at first. That’s why it takes both sides working it out. Not just the hero kids, not just the LOV—BOTH have to talk and use their words. The responsibility doesn’t lie on one side. And I think Toga’s motivations and reasonings kind of fly over peoples heads. Which is fine because it will be crystal clear when her and Ochacko come to an understanding and work together in the end.

But yeah the Toga hate is wack. Idk what two ships are at war here (I can imagine one of them is IzuOcha but what is the other lmao) but that’s a dumb reason to hate Toga. I promise she isn’t gonna steal the main character lol. Anyway—that’s all I can think of.

[ofmermaidstories]

Gosh u make bakugo so in character it’s insane! Also do u have any fic recs?

Thank-you!! 🥺🌷🍊 we love that gremlin in this house. and i do!! i do have fic recs!! Are we looking for Bakugou/Reader spefific ones, or do we wanna branch out? I’ll keep it to Bakugou/Reader for the most part, unless an author I’m mentioning does another fic that I particular love. The following are some of my absolute favourites — I’ve reread them over, and over again, though they are, by no means, the end of my faves or recommendeds.

Explicit/Mature content warning, for most of these!!

from @makoodles, we have —

in bloom

general

Kirishima/Reader, one-shot

Your ground-floor apart is an oasis of plants and greenery that attracts the admiration of a local Pro Hero, on his way back and forth to work, everyday.

(this is so, so incredibly perfect — it is one of my all-time favourites, and is the reason i knew i wanted to write a flower-shop AU)

+

darling it’s better (down where it’s wetter)

explicit

Mermaid!Bakugou/Reader, one-shot

You’re caring for your Uncle-Not-Uncle Aizawa, in his sea-side home... and one day, you take the boat out. Downside: you very nearly drown in the following storm. Plus-side: You meet a merman! Who is kinda terrifying, not gonna lie.

(one of the first Bakugou/Reader fics I ever read — without having seen anything of the manga or show LMAO. Really set the bar, not gonna lie)

how to set fires by @hawnks

explicit

Bakugou/Reader, one-shot

You’re one of Bakugou’s early rescues; he never quite lets go of the feel of your hands grasping at him as you let yourself cry. And then one day you appear in his life again — as Kaminari’s assistant/best friend.

(GOD, this fic!! This fic. When it dropped I read it once, then went back and re-read it, and then immedately SCREAMED at my group chat - filled with my non-BNHA stan friends - about it, that is how good it is. Everything Hawnk’s writes has this like... trademark tenderness, it’s lovely, and the fact that Hawnk’s blesses us with it for Bakugou is just,,,, chef’s kiss.)

mine by @some-kindofgnome

explicit

Bakugou/Reader, one-shot

Bakugou has always needed to be the best; he shows you exactly how, after a Gala leaves him with nothing but his jealousy.

(It’s a PWP, but it’s very good,,, especially when it feeds us possessive, angry Bakugou.)

the sun has not yet fallen by @saintdabi

teen and up, angst

Bakugou/Reader, one-shot

You just want a little bit of the old Bakugou — he just wants some space. Frustrations bubble over, and things are said.

(I near cried LOL. I think it’s a very, very, realistic look at what it would be like, being with someone like Katsuki, who also works a high-pressure job — and the kind of fights that’d cause, when they can’t gvie as much of themselves to you as you want. It hurts, it hurts, but the first step is acknowledging the problem.)

now, @andypantsx3 is a fantastic source of BNHA/reader, lmao, and I couldn’t choose one so we have —

war paint

mature

Bakugou/Reader, chapters

Set in the same AU as Andi’s Cinderella Todoroki/Reader retelling, you’re the only child of a desperate family — so, in order to make enough coin to save the family farm, you disguse yourself as a man and join the Kingsguard. Pity Captain Bakugou is a suspicious piece of shit.

(one of the first of Andi’s I ever read, absolutely immersive.)

+

ab intra

mature

Shinsou/Reader, chapters

Someone is using their Quirk to hurt people, and you, a city detective, are at your wits end — and then in walks the secretive, wicked underground Pro Hero Hitoshi Shinsou. He’s obnoxious as all hell — and hiding something, something that could be important to this very deadly case.

(Apart from the trademark Andi steaminess, there’s a very real thread in this about trust, and what it means, and I find it lovely, set admist the suspense and excitement that it is)

+

cover shot (through the heart)

mature

Bakugou/Reader, chapters

You’re the well-paid but overworked assistant of one Bakugou Katsuki, model and international - and beautiful - meance. For four years he hasn’t been able to chase you away — and then he discovers a weakness of yours, wielding it with knife-like precision.

(Fucking hilarious. Between this and darling it’s better (down where it’s wetter) I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that much over a fic. I really admire humour in writing because it’s not a thing i can capture, LOL. But I’ve always enjoyed Andi’s Bakugou, because he is smart, and dangerous and sexy — and decisive in what he wants)

Bonus mention:

I Melt With You by art_deco_deity

NOT RATED

Bakugou/Reader, chapters

You’re a nurse who can take on other’s pain. Bakugou Katsuki crash lands on your balcony, and is, unfortunately, in a lot of pain.

(I’m still making my way through this, but ADD’s Bakugou is rough, mean — compelling. Reader wants to help, but often finds their buttons pushed)

there’s so many good fics out there!! these were a really, really select few that i enjoy. feel free to suggest others!!!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 324: Is There a Force Field Around Him??

Previously on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal was all “please tell Midoriya that I spent a concerningly small amount of money upgrading U.A. into a wacky physics-defying funtime grid so as to make the final battle much more confusing for everyone.” Present Day!Mic (or Present!Mic, if you will) and Jeanist were all “if only somebody could deescalate this dangerously unhinged mob, we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Ochako was all “LISTEN UP PEOPLE.” The mob was all, “god??” Ochako was all, “NO, IT’S ME, OCHAKO. I’M REALLY HIGH UP ON THIS BUILDING AND THE VISIBILITY IS LOW DUE TO THE RAIN, SO I CAN SEE HOW YOU MIGHT MAKE THAT MISTAKE. ANYWAYS, DEKU WAS OUT THERE RISKING HIS LIFE FOR YOU CLOWNS EVEN THOUGH HE’S JUST A KID, SO I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD ALL REMEMBER HOW TO BE DECENT HUMAN BEINGS, THANKS.” Let’s see if her Big Scolding Energy has any impact.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “so I have this speech planned out, and it’s really good, but it also only really needs about 6 to 8 pages, but I’m gonna see if I can stretch it out to 17 pages so I can kill time before we get to the next volume cliffhanger two weeks from now.” Anyway but it really is a good speech though. There are feels, and tears, and more talk about how Deku is so in need of a shower that just looking at him requires a tetanus booster, and more feels, and more tears, and bonus ship drama, and an iconic callback to the very first chapter which reframes the entire series in a new context in a totally epic and moving way, and it’s all very good. Except that Horikoshi is determined to never let anyone actually give this kid a hug. Who hurt you, dude.

omg we are opening on a callback to chapter 212, a.k.a. the chapter with by far the cutest flashback that doesn’t involve any baby Todorokis

baby Ochako is lethally cute. she could literally murder someone with her cuteness. I just want to scoop her up and play airplane with her until she accidentally activates her quirk while we’re spinning around and we both helicopter up into the air never to be seen again

“a child’s insistence” huh well that’s all well and good, but I sure hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to drag out the whole “sternly lecture the obnoxious citizens” plot for another whole chapter. no offense but I think we’re good

so page 2 is just continuing the whole happy/worried faces monologue, which of course is very important to Ochako’s character as it provides the context for why “who protects the heroes” ended up becoming her thing. and this is making me think we actually are in for a whole second chapter of this sob. when will my boy finally get to rest

OH MY GOD SUDDENLY THESE PEOPLE HAVE EYES IMAGINE THAT

HORIKOSHI: [reaches for a box of tissues while tearfully penning an homage to his beloved Spider-Man 2, specifically the train scene where the crowd sees Peter without his mask and they suddenly realize just how young he is]

HORIKOSHI’S HOMAGE SCENE: “COME TO THINK OF IT, I GUESS IT WAS KIND OF MEAN FOR US TO PICK ON THIS TEN YEAR OLD KID WHO WEIGHS 75 POUNDS AND LOOKS LIKE HE LOST A FIGHT WITH SATAN’S MOLDY OLD BASEMENT”

lol at this one guy who can feel the mood of the crowd shifting and is all “WAIT, NO, I WANTED TO KEEP BEING AN ASSHOLE DAMMIT”

as many pointed out last week, this man is wearing an All Might shirt. that’s some fantastic irony there

-- SDKFJWIGKS

“LITTLE GIRL, I HOPE YOU’RE NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE WALKING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A SOVIET-ERA BUS STOP.” heh. last week I said I was ashamed of BnHA being my favorite manga. that was a lie, actually

(ETA: in the original Japanese Ochako’s next two lines are basically “the only ones covered in mud will be us heroes!” followed by “please give us some time to get rid of the mud”, with that second line basically being the single funniest thing I’ve ever read rdslkjl. Ochako thank you so much for supporting my running gags. “YEAH WE KNOW HE’S DIRTY. WE ARE GONNA TRY AND CLEAN HIM UP, BUT IT MAY TAKE A WHILE, I’M JUST SAYING. I MEAN LOOK AT HIM. HE LOOKS LIKE AN ASBESTOS COSPLAY.”)

doesn’t the megaphone kind of look ever so slightly like an axe that she’s wielding maniacally here

easy there Lizzie Borden

also that’s a really bold claim to make there. and not one she necessarily should have to make, either. but as we all know, there’s nothing that shounen manga likes more than having its heroes bravely hoist heavy burdens of responsibility like good self-sacrificing citizens

p.s. lowkey loving how Kacchan is positioned here standing slightly behind Deku. not presuming to stand in front of him all overprotectively (because he would hate if anyone ever did that to him), and kind of being unobtrusive and letting others take center stage -- but still being close enough to Deku that he can catch him if he stumbles or passes out again

(ETA: or maybe not lmao.

DEKU: [falls to his knees]

KACCHAN: [glancing up from his phone a few minutes later] “someone just sent me the stupidest meme about milk crates -- oh. uh. you good...?”

really, son. “the burdens you can’t carry, we’ll carry them for you. ...later, I mean. right now it’s late, and we’re all cold and wet.”)

also lowkey loving this OchaTsu moment here

I was going back and binging Ochako chapters this past week for reasons, and I gotta say it really stuck out to me just how often these two are paired with each other. they do everything together. it’s a really sweet friendship that often goes unappreciated but it’s very cute

meanwhile, not to be outdone by the OchaTsu, Iida is staring at Ochako with open admiration talking about how she’s fighting too. it’s been so long since we’ve had any IidaRaka you guys. I was starving and I didn’t even know it

oh my lord IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING

THE LIGHT IS BACK. he finally looks like him again. what a cathartic fucking moment omg

ffklkdw

“I KNOW YOU ARE ALL SCARED, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS, WE DEFINITELY CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY AND WE ARE ALL SCARED TOO!” good pep talk there kiddo

BUT, jokes aside, truth be told this is the exact right approach to take imo, and something that’s long overdue. I’ve said this before, but this new generation of heroes is shaping up to be much more transparent than the All Might generation. they’re basically abandoning the almighty, untouchable Superman “heroes as gods” concept in favor of the more nuanced “heroes as people” concept instead. and that’s a good thing. seeing their heroes as humans, with human limitations and weaknesses and flaws, will hopefully not only lead to more scrutiny and accountability, but also more awareness of how hard some of them are working and how much they’re sacrificing. that’s something All Might never quite grasped back at the start of the series -- that the weak, vulnerable, injured him could be just as inspiring as the mighty, invincible him -- perhaps even more so. there’s a power in seeing otherwise ordinary people show extraordinary bravery and compassion. it inspires others to try and do the same

SSDLHK AIZAWA SIGHTING AAHHHHHH

so he was still back at the hospital this whole time?? smdh at this disrespect. that feeling when your sexy self-insert character’s powers of rationality are too strong, and so you have to nerf him so that he doesn’t ruin your Deku Angst arc twice over by (1) immediately talking some sense into Deku and making him come home Right This Instant Young Man, and (2) not allowing him to leave U.A. in the first fucking place. excuse me, you want to do WHAT now, Midoriya?? that’s it, go to your room

also living for Katsuki and Hawks’s soft expressions. Shouto’s too, although his is tinier and harder to see. and Jeanist’s 12-foot-long neck. imagine Jeanist’s head with Mic’s hair. maybe Jeanist had a mohawk back in the day and that’s why U.A.’s doors are so big now

speaking of soft faces, Enji’s is also excellent

what could this random close-up possibly imply?? hell if I know. but Horikoshi truly fears no discourse and that’s what I love about him

OMGGGG

“smh my child is so dumb.” poor Ochadad. your child is cute af count your blessings

SDOFFHSMH

I’m telling you guys. lethally, catastrophically cute

this speech is still ongoing lol. Horikoshi you’re doing so good but I think we get the point now my dude. you gotta learn how to transition out of these things

UNEXPECTED TOGA WHAT

“there we go” Horikoshi says, crossing off the last line on his list of Ochako ships. “that’s all of ‘em”

poor Ochako is just repeating the same “LET HIM REST, PLEASE, WITH EVERYONE’S COOPERATION, IF YOU DON’T MIND, WE APPRECIATE IT” talking points over and over again hoping someone will throw her a bone and acknowledge her already. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP HER

literally they’re all just staring up at her silently omg. work with me people!!

now she’s saying it for the 56th time but more dramatically all of a sudden

they got so dramatic that for a minute I thought she had suddenly leaped off the building or something

look, not to rush you or anything Horikoshi, but I’m starting to get the feeling that this is yet another one of those “the volume is ending soon so I need to either hurry things up or slow things down in order to make sure we end it on my perfect cliffhanger ending” chapters where you go to ridiculous lengths to drag things out much to the exasperation of your week-to-week readers

(ETA: ftr, volume 31 ended on chapter 306, and I’m predicting that vol. 32 will end with chapter 316 (a.k.a. “you’re next!” [explodes]). I’m guessing vol. 33 will follow suit and likely end on chapter 326, so keep your eyes peeled for a big cliffhanger in two weeks’ time. Deku’s dad?? All Might in peril?? U.A. traitor at long fucking last?? we shall see.)

is Deku straight up falling in love with Ochako right on the spot lol what is happening

I know I just said that I enjoy when Horikoshi gives zero fucks about discourse, but shipping discourse is a whole different beast lol. I hope he’s prepared

(ETA: and for the record, I have no interest in shipping discourse either, as always. and I think this scene can be interpreted as platonic, tbh, with the context being that Ochako was literally introduced as someone who was willing to help him so casually without a second thought, and now here she is saving him again.

I don’t think it really fully hit Deku until this moment how much he needed saving. like I said in another meta somewhere, selflessness is basically just selfishness on behalf of others. and Deku is selfless to a fault, but that’s okay, and it doesn’t mean he needs to change -- he just needs friends who are willing to be be selfish on his behalf in turn. and I think the full emotion of what it means to have friends like that just hit him at last. everything his friends have done for him, how much he needed it and didn’t even realize, and how grateful he is. anyways what a terrible day for rain.)

-- son of a --

is he apologizing?? or pleading?? please tell me that’s not the case, because what the actual fuck. Deku you beautiful precious radiant selfless child, this is the exact opposite of how this should be. all these motherfuckers should be on their knees apologizing to you

DEKU WHY

I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS FREAKING BOMBARDMENT OF EMOTIONS GODDAMIT. OUT HERE ARMED WITH YOUR FREAKING TREBUCHET OF FEELS TO LAUNCH AT ME UNPROVOKED. WHAT’S WITH THAT

FREAKING CHRIST. THIS BOY IS CRYING HIS EYES OUT AND HORIKOSHI IS JUST ZOOMING IN WITH THE CAMERA, LIKE CAN WE JUST CUT HIM A BREAK ALREADY. ENOUGH OF THIS. HE’S SO YOUNG AND HE TRIES SO HARD AND I JUST NEED HIM TO FEEL SAFE, HORIKOSHI PLEASE CAN YOU JUST GIVE ME THAT ALREADY WHAT IS THE FREAKING HOLD UP!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY!!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY PLEASE BE MY HUGGER BY PROXY!! SERIOUSLY GIRL IF YOU JUST HOLD YOUR UMBRELLA OVER HIM OR SOMETHING AND DON’T GO THE EXTRA MILE I’M ABOUT TO LODGE AN OFFICIAL COMPLAINT. THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS NOW

!!!!

A KOUTA IS GOOD TOO!!! oh my god if Kouta hugs him I will seriously 100% straight up cry. go on and test me

FOR THE LOVE OF --

is this man expressly forbidden from drawing hugs in his contract or something. DO YOU DO IT JUST TO SPITE ME?? this is tyranny, sir

AND I KNOW, THIS PAGE ACTUALLY CHALLENGED THE VERY PREMISE OF THE SERIES ITSELF, AND HERE I AM COMPLAINING ABOUT HUGS, OR THE LACK THEREOF. “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes.” and just like that, he waves a polite middle finger at all of the Strongest Greatest Chosen One shounen protags of old, in favor of something much less conventional, much more interesting, and much more suited to Deku’s character. because if that one sentence doesn’t just sum up Deku to a T. he gladly relinquishes his Greatest Hero status in favor of acknowledging the hero in everyone. what a class act. that’s my protagonist

I love this kid so fucking much I swear. only just PLEASE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. GIVE HIM HIS HUG