#which... I think might be an accidental jojo reference

[duhragonball]

Battle Tendency Liveblog: JJBA Ch.109-113

Hard to believe we’re at the end of this crazy ride.  

Last time, Joseph had defeated Kars, only for Stroheim to order his men to finish Kars off with UV rays.  Stroheim just wanted Kars to hurry up and die faster, and maybe he also wanted credit for the kill, but instead he played right into Kars hands.    After Joseph kicked his ass, Kars put on a Stone Mask he had stowed away somewhere, and he installed the Red Stone of Aja into the Mask.  

I should probably go over that a bit, since it hasn’t been mentioned for a while.   Kars has been perfecting the Stone Mask technology for thousands of years.   It turns humans into vampires, but for his species it unlocks even greater powers.   But Kars hit a wall in his research.   He wanted to design a mask that would make him the ultimate life form, but he lacked the means to power such a mask.   He discovered an answer in the Aja Stone, a mineral that focuses light, but he needed a bigger, more flawless sample of it, and that’s the Stone he’s using right now, the one he captured from Lisa Lisa.  

So instead of killing Kars, Stroheim accidentally made his lifelong ambition come true.   One nice touch I just noticed is that the Mask itself falls apart as soon as it’s finished its task.    I suppose, in theory, someone else could have tried it on and get the same power boost as Kars?  Would it even work on a normal human?  Well, we’ll never find out.   

There’s a couple of ways to interpret this.   One is that Kars’ “Super” Mask was highly experimental, and it must have been untested, since he’d never had Lisa’s stone until now.   So it’s possible that the thing burned itself out after a single use.   The other interpretation is that Kars designed this Mask to self-destruct after the first use, because it was never intended for anyone else but himself.    The whole point of this was to become the Ultimate Life Form, the very pinnacle of all living creatures on Earth.   I think it was implied that Wammu and Esidisi were expecting to share in this power when the time came, but why would Kars have ever allowed for this?   What’s the point of being the greatest and best in the world if you have to share that top spot with two other guys? 

Stroheim realllly wants to believe this is all a big fluke, and that he didn’t just make the bad guy stronger.   The Ripple wound on Kars’ arm is still there, so Stroheim figures he’ll die anyway.    Except Kars doesn’t seem too bothered by his injury.   And then...

Yeah, so Kars not only repairs his injured arm, he reshapes his hand into a squirrel.   Joseph speaks for us all: What the fuck?

For a hot minute, everyone thinks the squirrel he made is kind of cute, until Kars sends it to find another squirrel and kill it.  Then the Kars-squirrel tears a hole through Stroheim and carves a trench in a Nazi soldier from chest to eyeball.   Then it rejoins Kars’ wrist, and turns into a flower, and then a butterfly.   Some Part 5 and 6 pre-references for ya.  

Then the sun comes up.    Wait, the Joseph/Wammu fight happened around midnight, right?    How many hours have these folks been out here?    And it’s February, too, so this had to have been a long night.  Anyway, the sun comes up, so we’re saved, right?   Wrong.  Sunlight doesn’t hurt Kars anymore, thanks to the power he got from his special mask.   So now what are they supposed to do? 

Well, Joseph’s going to use his last resort: running away.    Also, he grabs the Aja Stone, for no apparent reason.    Kars grows a pair of wings to chase him.    He no longer cares about the Hamon users, because they’re no longer a threat to him.   But he wants to kill Joseph personally, both to celebrate his new powers and to avenge the deaths of Wammu and Kars.  

Smokey joins Joseph, which doesn’t make much sense to Joseph, but Smokey wants to tell Joseph about Lisa Lisa being his mother.   Except Joseph’s a little too distracted by the eldritch horror that’s trying to murder him. Read the room, Smokey.

Here’s a helpful diagram of Kars to explain what his deal is now.   Basically, he’s immortal and can regenerate and reshape his whole body, but he had that before, just by being a Pillar Man.   The big upgrade is that he’s no longer weak to sunlight (and by extension, the Ripple), and he can now replicate the traits of any life form on Earth.    He’s faster than cheetahs and has better hearing than bats and so on.   He can go for a full year without eating, and he no longer needs to sleep.    Sex is meaningless to him, because procreation is only important for lower life forms to maintain their species.   Kars has no need for children or bretheren.    “There is but only one summit.”  

Maybe Wammu and Esidisi had understood that truth all along, and they never seriously expected Kars to share this power with them.   They practically worshipped Kars as it was, so maybe they were only doing this for the greater glory of their leader.   

So what does Kars plan to do with all of this power he now has?   The Aja Stone was his only goal before, and that’s done.    He has no enemies to fear, and as Speedwagon observes, there’s no way left to kill him.    This page states that his only purpose now is to create a world to match his own desire, but what is that?   What’s Kars’ vision for the Earth now that he’s reached this point?   

We never really find out, and I suppose that’s why it’s convenient that he decided to start out by killing Joseph.    For all we know, he would have just chilled out and left humanity alone after that, but this way there’s still an immediate threat to deal with.  

Miraculously, Joseph manages to stay ahead of Kars long enough to find the airplane that brought Stroheim here.   You’d think Kars could have caught up to him with all these fancy new powers, but Kars was never in much of a hurry.    He took his time to search for the Aja Stone, and he made it a point to trap Jojo and Lisa rather than risk fighting them fairly.  So even now, when he has such an overwhelming advantage, he seems to be playing things the same way.   He has no weaknesses, so he may as well take his time and stalk Joseph, if only to watch him squirm.

Joseph tries using the plane’s weapons to even the odds, but Kars grows armadillo hide on his wings to protect himself, and he fires the armor at Joseph like shrapnel.   So machinery doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.   

So Joseph just flies south, using the plane’s engines to give himself a comfortable lead.   He’ll run out of fuel in a couple of hours, but Speedwagon calls him on the radio and tells him that they’ll figure out a plan.   Except that Joseph already has his own plan.  There’s a volcanic island off the coast of Italy.  I assume this is Stromboli Island, since Italy has only three active volcanoes, and Mt. Stromboli is the only one on an island.   Anyway, Joseph plans to lure Kars into the volcano, and destroy him with molten lava.    I mean, Kars is still flammable, right?

Speedwagon hates this idea, because he doesn’t see any way for Joseph to pull this off without getting killed in the process, and that sounds way too much like what happened to Joseph’s father and grandfather.  Oh, and his great-grandfather.   I didn’t notice George I up there until just now.   Speedwagon tries to tell Joseph about Lisa being his mom, but Joseph can’t hear him because of all the piranha noises in the plane.    Wait... what?

Yeah, all the feathers that Kars turned into armor and launched into the fuselage?   Well, he’s still controlling those things, and now Kars has turned them into piranhas.   Well, I guess not literal fish, since they’d never survive up here.  The point is that Kars can control every cell in his body and mimic any animal traits he wants, so if he wants to make small bitey creatures to wreck Joseph’s plane, he might as well make them look like piranhas.    ALso he makes an octopus that tears up one of the engines.  

So Joseph bails out, but he’s a sitting duck in that parachute.    Kars calls him a butterfly caught in a web, which is the second time we’ve seen that analogy in Part 2.   Araki just out here telling everyone what Jolyne would be wearing in twelve years. 

But the parachute contains a dummy.    Why did Joseph waste time drawing a face on it?   Because he knew he had to fool Kars’ razor-sharp senses, of course.    Kars probably saw the dummy, and got suspicious, but then he noticed the eyes and mouth, and though “Oh, okay, I guess that’s a real person then.”  

Anyway, this suckers Kars in so that Joseph can crash into him with his plane and they can both go into the volcano together.

But Kars thinks he can tear up the plane before it lands.   Except a robot hand grabs him from behind, and he finds Stroheim stowed away.   Wait, so Stroheim outran Joseph AND Kars and hid in this plane before Joseph took off?   

Anyway, Stroheim manages to get Joseph out of the plane to relative safety, but he crushes his whole lower body in the process.  But it seems to be worth it, because Kars landed smack-dab in the volcano!  Awesome!   Fuck you, Kars, you screwed over Lisa Lisa, and that’s what you get!   He tries to protect himself, but he can’t grow a defense against 1000 degree heat...

... is what I would say, except no, Kars totally does that.   Just when Joseph thinks Kars has succumed to the lava, Kars pops out and slices off Joseph’s left arm with his goofy blade.  

How the fuck did Kars survive?   Well, he couldn’t grow a lava-proof shell, but he could create a porous layer beneath the shell, and use the air inside to insulate the rest of his body from the heat.   That wouldn’t protect him indefinitely, but it was enough to get the drop on Joseph.  

So that’s it then, right?  Not even molten lava can kill Kars, unless you could shove him down in there and keep him still for like ten minutes, and who’s going to pull that off?    Stroheim begins to lose all hope...

Then we get a flashback to Kars’ origin.   Long, long ago, there was a race of subterranean humanoid with long lifespans and an aversion to sunlight.   Prehistoric humans thought of them as gods or demons because of their reclusiveness and power.   Also, they would eat humans and animals, so that probably made them dangerous, too.   

But I don’t think they were nearly as powerful as the Pillar Men we’ve seen in this story.   I say this because the flashback establishes that Kars was the one who discovered the latent power in their brains, and he was the one who invented the Stone Mask technology to harness that latent power.   So it stands to reason that much of what he and the others could do was the result of Stone Mask enhancements.   The problem is that those enhancements increased the amount of blood they needed to consume, and the others in the Clan feared that Kars’ experiments would destroy their whole ecosystem.   So when they tried to stop Kars, he killed them all.   The only survivors were himself, Esidisi, and two young children who grew up to become Wammu and Santana.  

So that story tells you something about what Kars might do with this newfound “ultimate” power.   He didn’t achieve this for the good of his own people, because they’re all dead now, and he wiped most of them out personally.   If he would do that to his own kind, the rest of the Earth would be expendable to him.

Back to the present, Joseph’s not giving up yet.   He tries to use the Ripple one more time, but it doesn’t work.   Worse, Kars counters with his own Ripple.    Because Kars can do that now, you see.    He’s got the powers of all life on Earth, and that includes Ripple users, I suppose.   Worse, Kars’ Hamon power is hundreds of times greater, so he ends up getting badly burned on his right knee.  

So now Joseph’s completely out of tricks, and he starts to accept the inevitable.   Kars decides that the best way to kill Joseph would be to destroy him with his own finisher, Ripple Overdrive.  So he charges up the most powerful Hamon attack he can muster, and just as he’s about to strike...

Joseph impulsively grabs the Red Stone of Aja and uses it to block, kind of like how he stymied Kars back on that cliff in Switerland.   Only this time, Kars doesn’t hold back, and the Hamon attack is amplified.    It bursts through Joseph’s right hand and into the volcano below. 

The narration says that not even Joseph really understood any of this.   He just sort of acted on instinct.   That bothered me once, but now I see that it wasn’t entirely unconscious impulse.   Back in Venice, when Lisa first told Joseph about the Aja Stone, Joseph suggested destroying it to deny Kars his prize. But Lisa said there was a legend that foretold that Kars could never be defeated without the Aja Stone.   And that would at least explain why Joseph picked the thing up back in Switzerland before he fled to Mt. Stromboli.    Maybe it was unconscious action that made him pick up the stone in this fateful moment, but I think it was a more conscious thought that made him take the stone with him in the first place.   On some level, he remembered that legend.  

Okay, so there’s a mega-ultra-Super-Saiyan-5-Ripple that just went into a live volcano.    What good does that do?   Well, it makes the volcano erupt, and it launches Joseph and Kars into the air.    So what?   Kars can fly.    Yeah, he could, but...

You know, Joseph’s lost hand really left an impression on me when I first watched the anime of Part 2, but now that I’ve read the manga, I’ve noticed tons of severed and wounded forearms all through this story, almost as if Araki had been building up to this moment.    I’d make a Part 4 joke, but nah, that’s too easy.   But it wasn’t even that long ago that Wammu lost both of his hands, and then he launched them as Joseph to distract him.    Kars lost his hand before he grew it back and turned it into a squirrel.    Hell, Stroheim launched his robot hand at Kars to distract him for the volcano crash.   And now Joseph’s hand has somehow launched itself into Kars’ throat to distract him again!

I’m assuming that Hamon energy has a lot to do with this.   You’d think Joseph’s hand wouldn’t have survived getting fired up this high, and it shouldn’t be powerful enough or alive enough to bother Kars this much, but it does.   So I’m chalking it up to all that Ripple energy.  It briefly reanimated Joseph’s hand and made it follow Kars up to this altitude, kind of like how Jonathan controlled Wang Chung’s decapitated body at the end of Part 1.

So Joseph taunts Kars about this, and implies that he planned this somehow.    And when Kars pauses to ask if he did plan this, more rocks and stuff from the volcano hit him and send him even higher up into the air.

And Joseph claims that he did plan this entire thing!  That’s bullshit, but he hopes Kars will believe it, if only to make him more frustrated.    Maybe Joseph didn’t plan all this out, but he seems to have deduced what’s happening here.  

Kars has been launched so high into the air, and at such an incredible speed, that he’s achieved escape velocity.    Does Kars even realize what that means?   I mean, he’s super-intelligent, especially now, and he’s been alive for thousands of years, but what could he really know about outer space?    Has he ever even considered it before?  It seems like all of his ambitions involve the Earth, and only the Earth, and everything living upon it.  

As for Joseph, the chunk of rock he’s on does not fly into space.   Instead, it starts to fall back down, and Joseph assumes that he’s probably not going to survive the impact.    Eight hours later, Stroheim makes it back and informs Speedwagon that Joseph must have died in the eruption.   

But Kars isn’t worried at first, because he thinks he has this whole “vacuum of space” thing figured out.  He just takes a page from Wammu’s playbook and makes air jets on his back to expel compressed gas from his body, like the maneuvering thrusts on a spacecraft.  Except that’s not nearly enough to counteract the force of the volcano that sent him up here.  

Yeah, Kars has no idea how space works.  Instinctively, he probably counted on friction to slow him down, except there is no friction in space.   He probably also expected his air jets to push him a little bit at a time, and maybe he could pull in more air as needed, except there is no more air.   Even the air from his body is denied to him, because it just dissipates into the vacuum of space.    Kars talks about the air freezing as it comes out, but I don’t think that’s right.   What’s happening to him is like when you use one of those compressed gas canisters to clean your keyboard.    Release a lot of the gas at once, and the can starts to get cold.   That’s because the liquefied gas left inside the can now has more room, and it begins to boil as it expands.    This draws in heat from the surroundings, which makes the can feel cold to the touch.    That’s what’s happening to Kars here.   All he’s doing it losing all his body heat.   Maybe some of the air really is freezing around him, but I don’t know.   It depends on whether the sunlight is hitting him, I think.

Anyway, the last thing Kars says is “I can’t go back!!!” And that’s what makes this so perfect.   In the anime, we see the Earth recede into the distance as he continues to tumble further and further away. By surviving the lava, Kars had “mastered” the Earth, but now he’s been separated from the Earth.   He’s got all this incredible power, but without the Earth, he’s got no one to use it on.

And then we come to the pièce de résistance of Battle Tendency: The epilogue page that establishes, in no uncertain terms, that Kars never returned to the Earth.   There’s no miracle escape this time, no clever trick or loophole.   He simply doesn’t have the necessary acceleration to push himself back the way he came. 

Did he die?   Nope, because he made himself immortal, remember?   Not even sunlight or starvation can destroy him now.   But now death is the only thing he craves, because he’s completely alone and has nothing to do.   I can’t imagine he’s very comfortable like this either, because it’s incredibly cold in outer space, and Kars must be able to sense that cold, even if it doesn’t actually hurt him.  

And this is such a fitting punishment for a villain like Kars.  Just as Stroheim wanted to become superior and lost his humanity in the process, Kars ruthlessly sacrificed friend and foe alike to achieve this Ultimate form, and what good does it do him?    It’s become his prison, his hell.    At long last, he’s become the supreme being, a world unto himself, but with no one around to lord it over, there’s really no point to any of it.  

I just really love this ending.   I’m not sure how else I can express it.    This is what should have happened to Akio Othori in Revolutionary Girl Utena.    But Araki was brace enough to do it to Kars.  

I suppose I could attempt some exercise in JoJo Part Comparison and connect Kars’ final fate to all the other JoJo villains.    But I dunno, this is getting pretty long in the tooth as it is.   I’ll just say that I’m suddenly reminded of Reimi’s final words to Kira in Part 4, when Kira asks where he’s being taken.   “Who knows?   But I’m sure it’s somewhere you won’t be able to rest in peace.”

So all that’s left is the matter of Joseph’s funeral-- Nah, just kidding, he’s not even dead.   What’s weird is that Smokey says he met Joseph “six months ago”, which seems a lot longer than the events of this story.    Anyway, Joseph returned to New York, only to find everyone at the cemetary.   He wonders who they’re mourning, and he’s shocked to discover it’s him.

So yeah, the rock Joseph was on acted as a “shield”, and he managed to survive the fall, and even ended up near Venice, where Suzie Q found him and tended to his injuries.  Stroheim even set him up with a robotic hand to replace the one Kars lopped off.   I guess Stroheim never sent word of any of this to the U.S., probably because of Nazi Germany gearing up for World War II.  

Anyway, Suzie took care of him for like two weeks, and they got married.   So in a way, Joseph did follow in the legacy of Jonathan.   Not in the “dying young” way, but the “Beat the bad guy and wake up in the care of a gorgeous blonde lady who eventually marries you” kind of way.   You love to see it.   But Suzie forgot to send a telegram to New York to let everyone know Joseph was okay, which is why everyone is so shocked and why Joseph is so shocked about them being shocked.

Then we get the epilogues for all the surviving characters.   I mentioned this when I liveblogged the Part 5 manga a few years ago, but the stark contrast between Battle Tendency and Vento Aureo is that Part 5 is very ambiguous about its ending.   We know who wins and who loses and who survives, but that isn’t really enough.   We don’t know what will happen to Giorno Giovanna after Part 5.   Does he live up to his lofty dream, or does he succumb to corruption like his wicked father?  I think that’s intentional, because Giorno is the “golden wind” in the story.    He’s an agent of change, but we don’t get to see the effects of his efforts, only the cause that he fights for.    But Part 2 operates in the exact opposite way.   We know exactly how and when Speedwagon dies.   I’m a little confused how Stroheim could have died at Stalingrad when Kars and a volcano couldn’t kill him, but maybe the Russians had Stand powers.    I think the only minor mystery is that we don’t know what happened to Lisa Lisa after 1948.    It’s likely that she survived into Part 3, and maybe beyond, but we never see her again.

It’s also kind of weird how upbeat this epilogue is about reporting on the deaths of so many characters.   Like, Stroheim died in one of the worst battles in human history, but he went out on his own terms, so it’s cool?  I guess?   Even the characters without deaths, like Smokey, it’s sort of implicit that he’ll die sooner or later.   But it’s a good thing because it’s final and proper.    It’s something Kars craves now, but can never experience.  A life worth living, made more precious by its limitations.  Kars tried to use cheat codes in nature, and he ended up clipping through the map and making the game unplayable.   But Smokey, he‘ll be mayor someday.

As for Joseph, we see him in an airport in 1987, bullying Japanese people because his daughter married a Japanese guy and moved there.    He’s headed to Japan right now to see her and his grandson, who probably doesn’t even recognize him, it’s been so long.   

On the other hand, he appreciates his Walkman, which is either Joseph giving the Japanese some credit, or maybe he’s just too dense to notice the irony.   

I hate that he’s listening to the Beatles, because the Beatles are overrated trash.  My favorite thing about the Part 2 anime is how they changed his music to “Bloody Stream” by Coda, which a) kicks ass and b) wasn’t a song by the shitty Beatles.  

And that’s Battle Tendency.   Kind of neat how it closes on Joseph’s flight departing to visit his daughter and grandson, in contrast to the final panel of Part 1, which showed Erina floating in a coffin alone in the ocean.   Joseph has bucked the curse and he’s graduated to Part 3, for better or worse.   

But I feel kind of weird leaving it here, because I do love the way the anime wrapped up, so I’ll close out with this:

Tsugi ni omae wa “Grazie!” to iu!

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being Bruce and Nat’s adopted child

Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanoff x adopted!reader

warnings:

a/n:

prompt: anonymous: “Hcs for being Natasha and Bruce’s adopter daughter?”

you were adopted after being found on a mission, you were enhanced

bruce and nat took you in to make sure no one else did

and they absolutely fell in love with you after the fact

each of them had their past, same as you, so you felt comfortable opening up to them

soon enough, you were a family

this family longed to do the whole domestic thing

“y/n, are you ready for bed?”

“uh...can i stay up for ten more minutes?”

“i suppose i could make an exception”

“thank you, nat!”

you were only wanting to stay up to visit bruce in the lab

“what are you working on?”

“oh, nothing much, just a fun little surprises for nat”

“when can you teach me how to be a scientist?”

bruce got all excited that you said that because that meant bonding time!!!

“you—you wanna be a scientist?”

“yeah! you make it look super cool”

later on that night bruce couldn’t stop thinking about that comment to the point that he literally started crying

nat was leaning in the doorframe while she quietly watched her boyfriend and new addition talk

“y/n, it’s time for bed. we’ll say goodnight in a minute”

bruce and nat geeking out over how much they loved being parents

“i really do love them so much”

“how could you not? y/n’s the sweetest kid i’ve ever met”

they made it a habit of “tucking you in”

you didn’t need to be, but it still made you feel loved

you had a lot in common with bruce since both of you had powers, sometimes they were a bit difficult to control

speaking of that, sometimes you accidentally used your powers and managed to break things

you felt very bad and it overwhelmed you more, but the two of them had a lot of experience in that arena

“im sorry, im super sorry, i cant control it, it keeps happening”

“sh, sh, sh. it’s okay, y/n. these things happen. you don’t have to feel bad about them”

“believe us, if i had to apologize for everything i’ve ever broken, i’d be talking forever”

natasha taught you self defense (of course she did)

it counted as gym class for u 😌

because bruce was tasked with homeschooling you

bruce definitely plays ocean/rain sounds at night and he definitely had you start listening to them, too

natasha was abandoned as a child and raised to be a killer, so that’s definitely not what she wants for you

she wanted to show you love and compassion, things she missed out on growing up

bruce’s father was never there for him when he was growing up, so here he was being the father he always wanted

they really did want you to have the most normal life possible

“can we go out to the movies tonight?”

“what movie?”

“jojo rabbit?”

“uh...yeah, sure, let’s go”

u kept telling nat she looked like rosie (i used this joke in my last hc lmaoo)

“well...you’re not wrong”

you made jokes that shes secretly an actress, another form of spy

all she could do was shake her head and play along

bruce is a really good cook!!!

also he sneaks u more dessert than u should have

like way too much

really though, he just has a soft spot for you

and you guys have tons of photos now

nat and bruce love savoring all the moments

A L L T H E M O M E N T S

family pictures 😌

they introduced you to the rest of the avengers

you had only met them once (on the mission you were picked up on)

they were very impressed on how far you’ve come

“if anyone could raise you right, it would be natasha and bruce” -steve

“god, kid, with those two as parents? you’ll be unstoppable” -tony

you beg them to let you go on missions with you

they are very skeptical of letting you go, but occasionally they let it slide

“i mean, we are training them to use their powers, we might as well give them an outlet to channel them?”

“i guess you’re right, i’m just worried y/n’s gonna get hurt”

“we wont let that happen, bruce”

bruce was very scared that the hulk might hurt you

but you really killed it on the battlefield

it made your parents so proud!!

you did end up seeing the hulk get released, though

so you sat next to bruce on the way home and made him feel better

you actually fell asleep on bruce

he brushed your hair around while you just looked absolutely wiped out

after a while, you started getting more comfortable with calling nat and bruce “mom and dad”

it was a slow transition, there were steps

“see you soon, pops”

bruce dropped his fork when you said that

“did y/n just call me ‘pops?’”

“that they did”

he ran into nat for a hug and spun her in the air

as for natasha:

“hey, momma nat, do we have any superglue?”

“uh, yeah, check the junk drawer”

once the coast was clear...

“did y/n just..?”

“they did!!”

sooner or later, you just referred to them as “mom and dad” which always made them light up

like seriously, when they were in a bad mood, you’d just be like “hey mom/dad?”

and they’d be like “yes, my dear?”

and you’d be like “nothing, just wanna tell you i love you”

bam, instant happy

i just wanna close this up by saying that bruce is absolutely a newspaper dad, have a nice day

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @rorybutnotgilmore // @locke-writes // @sweetheartlisbeth // @queen-destenie // @natasha-danvers //

[harvestdew]

What's kiki's relationship with Abigail and Shane like? You have them listed as her besties on her reference ( though it might be a smidge outdated, since you mentioned that her favorite gift is tulips and hated gift is jojo cola on the baker kiki npc post and it's different on tge ref?)

i was gonna draw smthing in response to this but i’m getting busier so i figured i’ll just write out a response if that’s okay w/ you! i’m probably gonna ramble too cause i really like shane and abigail (I’M SORRY i’ll definitely put it under a read more so my followers can ignore this

so it is a teensy bit outdated only bc way i was rushing on the loves vs. hate portion of her reference. honestly i just think tulips are cute and also i developed a backstory for her revolving around how much she hates joja AFTER i made her so i only realized she hates their products then. i still think her besties are the same would be the same except i’d add sam 

ANYWAY if it wasn’t obvious kiki is just drawn to people who are closed off like haley or sebastian. i like dynamics where introverts are bothered by extroverts and opposites attract i’m sorry again

kiki + shane friendship

kiki first noticed shane walking out of the jojamart she habitually avoids and deduced he worked there

having his 2 heart event confirmed that so they were able to bond over a mutual hatred joja - his situation reminds her a bit of her dad since he worked for joja before he... died (which i alluded to a few asks ago) 

i'm gonna try not to reveal much about her past since i wanna illustrate it but they bear a lot of similarities in terms of depression

like in the 2 heart event he talks about feeling like failing and not being strong enough, etc. and she gets it b/c that’s why she moved to pelican town too

it’s more like she understands he needs emotional support as opposed to ppl feeding into his insecurities and encouraging bad habits

it’s NOT a friendship where he is constantly leaning on her. i don’t want a codependent friendship to form

like her friendship with haley they’re supposed to be mutually emotionally supportive of each other and help each other grow

while she encourages shane to get help, he’s encouraging HER to also get help instead of layering all her problems under a happy-go-lucky persona

as close as she is to say haley (her #1 best friend imo), i still think shane was actually the one who saw through the whole purely ^_^ part of her for a lack of better words 

he could tell she was faking being happy (not that her personality is an entire farce, but all the time would be unrealistic)

he was probably rude enough to say it to her face. but you know when they became friends it became more of a “idc why you ran away but you’re my friend and this is a problem that will inevitably lead to a mental collapse, kiki” 

on a lighter note though he used visit the farm habitually because he didn’t trust her enough to take care of the chickens in her new coop for a while

now he just comes over b/c they’re friends and all and also he accidentally got too attached to her chickens since he watched them grow up

they might not have a ton in common but i think she tries really hard to watch stuff like gridball with him even though she fucking hates gridball

abigail + kiki friendship

i have NOT thought about this one a lot i am so sorry i’m a dumb lesbian when i first played sdv i wanted to marry abigail off the bat solely b/c she was a cute gamer who owned a sword. i have high standards for men so i have to make up all sorts of shit to find sebastian bearable but women can do anything and they’re perfect

whatever i still think they’re besties. if she’s dating sebastian, she probably hangs out with abigail and sam by extension. their friendship isn’t as heavy as her friendship with shane but it doesn’t make it less significant to her

also if you recall that one haley comic i did. i actually drew abigail at first but decided i wanted haley

even if kiki didn’t tell abigail about anything that happened to her in zuzu city she drops by pierre’s so much that she visits abigail a LOT. it’s even easier to visit abigail than haley sometimes

i stole this from my friend amal but i also like thinking abigail gives the friends that will let her platonic cheek kisses and kiki is one of them b/c she loves them so much abigail is so cute

and they do it in front of pierre LOL they clown him so much cause he’s such a conservative

kiki intentionally jokes about stealing abigail from him by marrying her (with abigail’s permission) which tbh is a homage to her being the first person i wanted to marry

like kiki still does it to pierre while dating sebastian because yeah pierre knows it couldn’t happen but she just likes making him mad. sebastian gives a fuck either because he hates pierre too

i hate pierre i’m sorry

when emily’s too busy abigail helps her redye her hair when her roots start to show. i know apparently abigail’s hair is naturally purple but abigail just thinks it’s fun

and of course she brings abigail to the easier levels in the mines. they practice sword skills together but abigail picks them up so quickly that kiki swears abigail will surpass her one day. it’s also nice to have abigail back her up when she needs to mine ore. she brings abigail more than sebastian because abigail can handle herself 

someone please ask me about one of these for haley too. i swear i have a lot more thoughts on her friendship w/ haley. but on that note thanks for sending me this ask! i needed to decompress with oc junk

[littleeyesofpallas]

Bleach - Name Games

I know I already threw together the master list for these posts, but I realized another set of characters I could still bundle together.  Although they aren’t quite as interesting and loaded as a lot of the shinigami names had been.  Here’s the Fullbringers!

Ginjou [銀城] Kuugo[空吾]

“Silver Castle” is his family name, which seems dignified, and in retrospect almost feels like an accidental point toward the Quincy.  And his personal name is written “Void/Sky/Heavens”+“My/Our” I can’t tell which of the two readings feels like it makes more sense; “Our Heaven” or “My/Our Void” either of which position him as the leader of Xcution, but “My Void” also feels like it describes some of his personal conflict.

Interestingly his name is also a kind of wordplay on Ichigo’s name.  The “Silver Castle” is a kind of opposed image to Kurosaki[黒崎] “Black Cape” and like Ichigo’s own wordplay with numbers, “Kuugo” reads similarly to [九五] “Nine + Five.”  In a lot of numerological systems, which frequently disregard zero, 1 and 9 are opposed terminals in a sequence.  It’s a little hard to tell if Kubo meant for it, but it does kind of scan as if Kuugo is just named like a sort of bizarro Ichigo.

His Fullbring Cross of Scaffold is a dumb name with no meaning, and I only bring it up now because I’ll be mentioning the others’ Fullbrings while I’m at it.

Tsukishima[月島] Shuukurou[秀九郎]

“Moon Island“ and “Excellent Nine(th) Son.“  Curiously it piggybacks off Kuugo’s subtle Nine pun, and I really can’t help but want to draw ties between the “Moon” and Ichigo’s sword, as well as the “Island” and Ichigo’s “Cape/Peninsula.”  Without taking these two characters into consideration, the name really doesn’t seem to have any implicit meaning in relation to Tsukishima himself.

Tsukishima is also an actual place in the Chuou ward of Tokyo.  It’s the product of a reclamation project centered around what was the namesake island.  But I don’t think the name is supposed to reference that, because for one you wouldn’t normally have someone’s family named after a place based on its modern state, and also because it’s not like the small district has any particular features linked to Tsukishima’s character.

Book of the End I feel like was meant to be an attempt at double meaning with Book End, but I don’t think Kubo understood that even though “of” and “the” aren’t really present in Japanese and have to be added in when translating into English, it doesn’t mean you can just take or add them into English in the same way. 

Dokugamine[毒ヶ峰] Riruka[リルカ]

The Ga[ヶ] here reads as a possessive, as part of a place name, making her surname “Poison’s Peak“ and the given name, Riruka is just in katakana, so there’s no meaning to read; It is an actual Japanese name, and so there are a few conventional readings it would normally have, but I don’t think Kubo intended for any of those meanings to apply to Riruka.  Actually, I think he wrote her name in kana specifically to make her a kind of parallel to Rukia, like Kuugo is a parallel to Ichigo.  Also the pigtails, a bit of the attitude, and the poison shtick feels like it was salvaged off Loly Aivirrne’s general design.

Her Fullbring, Dollhouse was, I believe, a reference to the Priscilla album.  It’s a little too generic a name to say for certain, but given the time frame and that fact that Kubo went all Jojo and named most of the other Fullbrings after music albums, it lines up.

Kutsuzawa[沓沢] Giriko[ギリコ]

Weirdly his surname translates as “Boots”+”Swamp” which seems almost tailor made for Jackie Tristan’s character, and has no apparent meaning in relation to Giriko... (I won’t actually be covering Jackie in this considering her name has no Kanji at all)  And the name Giriko, as you can see above, is another kana only name.  The sound girigiri[ぎりぎり] is the sound of grinding, which might actually be part of what Kubo was going for here. i.e. the grinding of gears (of a clock).

(A kind of random sidenote is that the name Giriko was used in Soul Eater for a character who is a living weapon; his weapon form of choice being a chainsaw, so the name evokes the sounds of a grinding chainsaw blade.)

Unrelated to name though, what was up with Giriko originally having what definitely appears to be a riding crop that just never showed back up??  I get this weird BDSM dom vibe from his first appearance, although they pretty quickly resolve the formal wear into his bar tender aesthetic.  That may have had its own implications related to “grinding” sounds.

His Fullbring, Time Tells No Lies, is a Praying Mantis album.  Between that and the eyepatch he almost feels like a rehash of Nnoitra Gilga’s character notes...

Also, since there’s not going to be any other place to put it: Jackie Tristan’s Fullbring, Dirty Boots is an album by Sonic Youth.  And the more I think about this, I wonder if Giriko wasn’t supposed to have Dirty Boots at first, because honestly it would kind of play into that initial BDSM vibe he had, and Jackie’s little leather biker cap feels like a leather daddy kink thing more than just a biker boots thing.  And even after her powered up form gave her the little engine and exhaust pipe pauldron thing to kind of pull it together, her boots aren’t even particularly in the American biker style.  This isn’t really going anywhere, just something to think about...

Yukio[雪绪] Hans Vorarlberna[ハンス･フォラルルベルナ]

Yukio’s given name reads as “Snow Thread,” although the kanji used for “Thread” here is a weird archaic form that isn’t really used, but it is closely related to a more modern kanji that reads as “chord” or “thread.” Hans Vorarlberna is not a real name, but Vorarlberg is a state of Austria; I have no idea what the name means though, and I just assume Kubo picked it just because it sounded cool...

It feels like there was supposed to be some kind of parallel or theme in him getting paired off to fight Hitsugaya; Both kids, both light hair and ice/cold themed names and demeanor. (I almost get the feeling Kubo wanted him to have white hair until he remembered/was reminded that he already has like 5 other white haired characters running around.)  We knew by that point that Kubo had a penchant for clever thematic fights like the Ants and Dragons fights during the Arrancar Arc.  Yet there’s not really anything it this one?

His Fullbring, Invaders Must Die, is an album by The Prodigy.

Shishigawara[獅子河原] Moe[萌笑]

Family name is “Lion River-Beach” with Shishi referring to the animal itself but also the mythical lion dogs often depicted as guardian statues outside shinto shrines.  The given name Moe[萌笑] reads like “Bud(ding) Laughter” as in the start of a laugh.  The same “Budding” phrase can refer to showing symptoms of something like an illness.

I don’t actually know what to make of this name either; his general disposition as a bit of a goofball seems pretty aptly reflected in the given name, but the surname feels oddly specifically chosen for one that doesn’t seem to impart much meaning...  I’m wondering if there’s not a more subtle or even just superficial form of wordplay that I’m missing here by not being fluent or more familiar with casual conversational phrases in Japanese.

Like Ginjou and Tsukishima, his Fullbring falls outside the album theme.  Lucky Knuckles are just an actual thing: Gold plated knuckle dusters with slot machine lucky 777s on them.

[fauzhee10069]

The Wildest Theories of Caato (JoJolion)

This might be my last post about analyzing and debunking the hype of Caato. Maybe some of you are also getting tired, though I myself am also tired with those Caatofags who still appear occasionally. Back to the topic, here are the theories I mean:

”Caato is a rock human with an agenda”

Due to the strange shadow in her eyes during her first intro, the readers were theorizing about the possibility whether Caato is a fusion-human like Josuke or a rock-human.

But according to the colored manga, she doesn't have two different eye colors like Josuke. Besides, I noticed that Caato's eyes do not have the small cracks that signaled a fusion like him, only weird dark shadows.

I have also explained further about this issue in my previous post below:

How the manga coloring team determined that Caato doesn’t have split eyes

So I will skip this and immediately explain the theory of her as a rock-human. If the basis of this theory is her so called splitted-eyes, this is less acceptable, because it is not part of the rock-human’s characteristic.

Yagiyama Yotsuyu

Dainenjiyama Aishou

Damo Tamaki

a rock-woman

Moreover, it also contradicts the need for rock-humans to blend with ordinary human.

The other basis of the theory is the youthful looking Caato had, especially when she was compared to Holy's first appearance. It has been explained that rock-humans don’t age gradually, instead they grow by molting and changing their form all at once. They have longer life span than ordinary human and can look much younger than their actual age.

Even so, her youthful looking had little relevance to the plot. I think Araki simply likes to draw hot milf as callback to Lisa Lisa.

This theory also continues with the notion that Caato has an agenda… or mission, either as an agent or the mastermind herself. Whatever the agenda is, it is also associated with Higashikata family curse, the hereditary rock disease. Readers have thought about the theory of how the Higashikata got the rock disease curse, one of them speculated that they were cursed by the rock-humans. I also believe that this has something to do with the rock-humans (hopefully Tooru will reveal it in the future).

From this speculation, a crazy idea emerged from a reader that there was a forbidden love relationship between a rock-human and a Higashikata (as a mere human), born of the fruit of love from them who since then passed on the rock disease.

Then the connection with Caato as a rock-human is that she had a role in Johnny Joestar's death and the birth of equivalent exchange ability in Higashikata’s land, perhaps the rock-humans also needed to obtain the Holy Corpse.

In her current mission, Caato approached the Higashikata and successfully married to Norisuke IV, which should have made it easier for her to complete the whatever mission. But on the way, she made mistake and accidentally ended up having four children with him. Hmmm… that sounds intriguing- nah, THIS SOUNDS STUPID!

Why would you make this mistake by accidentally having kids… repeatedly?? It would make sense if it is only once (like Diavolo->Trish’s case), but four times? I doubt they were accidents, of course they were planned as it was implied in the family tree.

In addition, this reader must have missed a crucial fact about rock-humans: they could not have children with ordinary humans as they are biologically incompatible.

JJL chapter 46: Love Love Deluxe - part 4

If Caato is a rock-human, it is impossible to her to bear a single Norisuke IV’s child, let alone four- NO, it’s still possible actually.

!!! Spoiler of chapter 99 !!!

The most recent chapter of JoJolion (ch 99) added more information about rock-humans that:

JJL chapter 99: Endless Calamity – part 5

Therefore, if Caato a rock-human, it’s still possible for her to have child with an ordinary human (Norisuke IV). Theories regarding rock disease curse as a result of “this relationship” have also become increasingly possible. However:

The rock-women don’t have strong affection or bond to the child they gave birth and Caato certainly has affection and strong bond to her children as it was shown in her flashback.

Besides, the rock-baby at birth is only as big as beetles.

And we have seen how big Caato was when she was pregnant.

We’ve also seen baby Daiya in the flashback as well and how her children grew up like any normal human in contrast to the rock-human who lived as parasites in a wasp hive for 17 years until they began to venture into the outside world.

Wise non-Caatofag readers have said:

I like how the chapter 99 raises the theory that Caato is a rock-woman, with the fact that only rock-women and humans can have children, and AT THE SAME TIME disproves it by literally showing us how rock-women give birth to their children.

If Caato was a rock-human then that would've meant everyone except Norisuke IV and Mitsuba were rock-humans, and Tsurugi wouldn't have existed.

Moreover, if Caato was the reason for the curse upon the Higashikata, what about Rina who also contracted long before Norisuke IV and his children were born?

JJL chapter 21: Shakedown Road – part 4

If indeed the Higashikata family was hit by a curse due to forbidden relationship with a rock-human, rather than Caato, I think it is more appropriate to suspect Teru (Norisuke I's wife) that she could be a rock-human.

Caato was created as a comparison between Higashikata mothers’ role regarding of their decision and action in dealing with rock-disease and the knowledge of equivalent exchange as shown in JJL chapter 64 (her infamous flashback).

It is acceptable if this theory was created before chapter 64 was released, but pretty dumb if it came after the chapter was released.

There are still a lot of forced arguments issued by her supporters that you can read further here: Is Caato a Rock-Woman?

”Caato is descendant of Funny Valentine”

WHAT THE- How? I believe this is just a pure crack theory, there is absolutely no basis to strengthen this theory… other than their sorta similar hair curls:

The second one kinda reminds of Valentine’s under the effect of Tusk Act 4

And a silly word play in which the connection between Valentine and Caato would form the word: "Valentine Card." If you want to use puns, I recommend learning Japanese first! Because the explanation of the name "Caato" as a reference to "Card" is much more complicated than you might think.

Other than that, their links are very far away, one is American and the other is Japanese, one is blonde and the other is dark haired, etc (it is still possible though, considering the generation gap).

Hair curls aside, the hype of Caato’s Stand which often compared to D4C due to the similarity of their theme and mechanism (dimension-based and caught-in-between) might strengthen the relation of her as Valentine’s descendant.

But I think this should not be considered, given that some Stand users with blood relations such as Joseph-Josuke-Jotaro-Jolyne, DIO-Giorno, and Diavolo-Trish, even Caato and her own children (etc), each have Stands whose mechanism, design and theme are very different to each other.

Perhaps this theory was created to validate Caato's relation with the Holy Corpse and her hype as the main villain. However, the main villains in JoJo never had blood relationship between them. Their relationship is only “causal connection”:

and it should have been connected to “Dio” instead (LOL)

Besides, the curls in Caato's hair are also inconsistent, often not visible or even ignored.

her hair resembles more like bee abdomen

Also, don’t forget how her hair looked in her first intro:

where’s the curl? her hair looked very straight

She also has different hairstyle in the past.

It is not her curls that are consistent, but her “twin buns”. Of course, based on her hairstyle, it will make much more sense to regard her as an AU version of Jolyne than to link her as Valentine’s descendant. Moreover, Araki also put some call-backs such as the name of the prison where she was incarcerated (Stone Ocean), the duration of her sentence (15 years, the initial sentence of Jolyne) and the reason of her incarceration (murder).

And last, this reader again missed (I'm more sure that he deliberately ignored) an obvious fact that Valentine and his wife had no children.

SBR chapter 61: Both Sides Now - part 2

Maybe this reader used the argument that some characters in JoJo such as Joseph and DIO have illegitimate children they didn't know about. Considering Valentine's willingness to have sex with other woman and his relationship with his wife which implied not so harmonious (he didn't really mind his wife’s death & his wife was a cheater as well), he might accidentally sired bastard child.

But this possibility is not confirmed yet and it will be more ridiculous to use this unproven theory over the canon statement Valentine said in SBR chapter 61!

The idea of Caato as Valentine’s descendant is too silly and ridiculous, I’m gonna laugh my ass off.

These theories are too far-fetched and extremely forced.

[simonsaidthat]

Reading JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure For The First Time (And Ranking Them)

Splitting my thoughts into Parts (appropriately), this is the Third Post (not to be confused with JoJo Part 3) of my first impressions of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Manga (Parts 1-8), and ranking them based on “Which version of the Anime I want to see”, which I have not watched yet because dedicating time to watch a show would put me further behind from all my JoJo friends.

The listing so far includes:

8th: Part 1: Phantom Blood 7th: Part 2: Battle Tendency 6th: Part 6: Stone Ocean

The next two entries I had in mind were kind of a toss up, but I think I’m going to give it to:

Part 8: Jojolion

So as of this writing, Part 8 is still in production and “incomplete”, though the last few chapters I’ve read do have an air of finality to them (all the plot points are converging, there’s a time limit on a character’s life, most of the lingering mysteries have been solved, etc.), and enough has happened that I feel confident in ranking this series next to the others.

JoJolion is a lot.

The universe of JoJolion is a direct sequel to Steel Ball Run (Part 7) which was itself a soft reboot of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Part 7 was filled with aesthetic references and similarities to the previous six parts, but it did not share their continuity. Part 8 does have continuity with Part 7, and makes a lot of key references to Part 4 (including the name of the same town as Part 4 “Morioh”, and name drops of famous characters and one Stand from Part 4). 

Because of this continuity, Part 8 starts with a lot of boring but needed exposition to explain how this Morioh is different from Part 4′s. But where Part 4 was a slice of life comedy that focused on the environment of the town and its people, Part 8 is a slice of life that focuses on this one eccentric family facing off against what basically amounts to a Drug Cartel, while the amnesiac main character (also named Josuke) slowly unravels the lingering mystery about his origin.

I was getting a dark “Family Sitcom” satirical vibe from this series, and hope someone makes a “Too Many Cooks” mashup when Part 8 finally gets an Anime. Or at least add a laugh track.

I don’t know how being a direct sequel to a story that took place a century ago in America’s Wild West would over complicate the story of a Japanese Family Sitcom but JoJolion finds a way. 

One of the most frustrating aspects of Part 8 is the recurring aesthetic choice that causes unnecessary confusion when trying to explain the story aloud.

The main character of Part 8 is named “Josuke”, and he is adopted by the “Higashikata” family, becoming “Josuke Higashikata” (not to be confused with the main character of Part 4 who shares the same name). This Higashikata Family has a rare Hereditary Disease referred to as the “Rock Disease” that slowly kills the eldest child by turning them into rocks on their 10th Birthday, and messes with their short term memory.

Unrelated to that disease, you have a group of meta-humans called “Rock People” (likely a nod to the Pillar Men) that have the innate ability to become Rocks and hibernate over long stretches of time but otherwise look and act like regular humans when they’re not Rocks. The Rock People also have Stand Powers but that’s unrelated to being Rock People.

 And finally there’s a magical fruit that if you eat it can heal any desired wound on the body but causes an “equivalent exchange” that turns a random body part into stone.

The “Rock Disease”, the “Rock People”, and the “Rock Fruit” are not related to each other. 

The people suffering from the Rock Disease, are trying to steal the Rock Fruit from the Rock People that sell it. The Rock People are not humans who survived the Rock Disease, nor ate the Rock Fruit themselves, they’re just meta-humans with secondary Rock powers that supply the Rock Fruit to people who need it (like people with Rock Disease).

It’s such a baffling, unnecessary aesthetic choice.

Maybe. MAYBE there’s enough time in the unfinished story to reveal that 2/3rd’s of those Rocks are related, but I thought the Rock Disease was accidentally created from Part 7 Johnny Joestar trying to cure his wife by messing with the Holy Corpse. 

Speaking of I’ve also found the Family Tree of the Higashikata to be a little confusing in relation to the Joestar Family Bloodline, because there’s a “Holly Joestar” in Part 8 who suffers from an unknown, incurable disease, that also affects her memories but that disease is not related to the Rock Disease suffered by members of the Higashikata family (if it is related, I don’t remember it being clear).

Also, is this universe Holly related to this universe’s Johnny? Like, you’d think so, given the name “Joestar”, but Part 8 makes a lot of repeated references to the Higashikata Family Tree and Holly doesn’t appear on it. If Holly is the granddaughter of Johnny, than wouldn’t that make Josuke (who’s complicated origin makes him related to Holly by blood), coincidentally a cousin to the family that adopted him?

Anyway the Rocks aren’t the reason to be reading JoJolion. You’d probably be reading/watching an anime adaption because you’re a JoJo fan and you’re morbidly curious about this version of “Josuke Higashikata”, this version of Morioh, and this version of Yoshikage Kira who starts off already dead before the story begins, and learn what his relationship is to this version of “Josuke”.

Similarly to Parts 2 + 4, the scope of the story of Part 8 isn’t made clear right away, and its just the Hero going through one bizarre encounter after another until finally some major Villains show up. Even then though, Part 8 is unique in that it’s not clear who the “main central antagonist” is even at the tail end of the series. There are a few contenders, but there’s no real obvious candidate, just an organized evil “Fruit Cartel”.

Because of Josuke’s unique origin (popping out of the dirt at the very start, he’s basically “born” into the world), Josuke starts off with a kind of passive personality, like Johnathan and Giorno, but develops into a fiercer more confident character like Jotaro and the first Josuke. 

Even when he’s at his most “innocent” stage, he very clearly shows signs of having a temper. I remember early on after defeating an enemy Stand User, Josuke would wait for the girl he’s crushing on to turn her back before punching the downed enemy a few more times. As a JoJo, he probably goes through the most dramatic development over the course of the story (despite being probably the silliest looking of all the JoJo’s).

But I love his Stand “Soft and Wet”. It’s a very silly, seemingly lame power, but it’s got a nice aesthetic to it that will probably flow well in animation, and I just think the personified Stand looks awesome. It might be my favorite (looking) Stand of all 8 JoJo’s.

In fact, with the one exception that I can think of, Part 8 might have my favorite Stand Powers and Designs.

(Though I just remembered that Caeser Zeppeli’s Hamon took the form of Bubbles, making Josuke’s Stand likely an intentional reference to it).

But other than the slow start, and an incredibly “r*pe-y Jughead” supporting character (not that the 10 year old is much better...), I find the winks and nods to previous entries, specifically Part 4, to be a little frustrating because I’m constantly made to compare the two (and between Part 4 and Part 8, it’s no contest). 

I’m honestly not a huge fan of continuity or flagrant fan-service that creates a continuity lock-out for potential new readers. Granted, I don’t think Part 8 is as burdened by continuity as Part 6 was (hence, ranking this one higher) but still.

I suspect that the Anime Adaptions of previous parts don’t rely on filler arcs, but I wouldn’t mind more filler to focus on the other Higashikata Family, particularly ones who’ve only used their Stands once and then (so far) never again. 

Once JoJolion hits its stride, it does become pretty good, and as I said about Stone Ocean, the Stand Battles become more creative and harrowing further down the JoJo anthology. But other than the mystery of Josuke’s origin which I think is fairly compelling (particularly the actual flash back arc that explains it), I honestly can’t say I was that invested in the plight of the kid suffering from the Rock Disease. The disease itself is horrific, but the kid was kinda crummy up until he starts undergoing the symptoms.

[thepucegoose]

Starsky is Canonically Jewish - A Moodboard & Analysis

A detailed exploration of all the Many Many aspects in the canon that point to Starsky being Jewish can be seen under the cut + bonus headcanons! 

So I was looking at Starsky’s fanlore page and the discussion there talks about hints within the canon that Starsky may be Jewish. As one commentator notes, “There is plenty of mild justification for Starsky being Jewish”. Tbh, I’d say that, whilst subtle and never explicitly addressed, there is far more than just mild justification to suggest that Starsky is Jewish, and that he is in fact canonically so (and also I found the menorah they were talking about and I felt like I was on Myth-busters, which I’ve never seen but I imagine they mainly investigate fandom hearsay regarding background menorahs and other such suggestions. I’m insanely proud for having found it please appreciate because it took me a Very long time to, although I’ve found in researching this that there was at least one screenshot of it online here from 2011 :D). 

TV Tropes has Starsky down for the Ambiguously Jewish trope and whilst I definitely agree that Starsky fits this trope description, I would say that there really is nothing ambiguous about it. There are just so so many aspects that come together. This boy is just canonically Jewish! 

(Disclaimer: I’m not Jewish. Although I am very much considering converting and I’ve been studying everything I can about Judaism for well well over a year or so now, as well as attending services through whatever means I’ve been able to, I am by No Means even remotely close to being knowledgeable on the topic. Still, I figured there were some things I’d noticed whilst watching that hadn’t been mentioned that I wanted to bring up, and I also wanted to pull together observations by others into one place because I’m always hyped for canon representation and creating coherent resources. Extensive Research Is My Jam. If I’ve got anything wrong; said something in an uncomfortable way; talked where it wasn’t my place to talk; made assumptions I shouldn’t have; or like, said/done literally anything else that feels even slightly off then Please Please say and I’ll do everything I can to sort it!!)

Reasons why I reckon Starsky is canonically Jewish: 

For one, Paul Michael Glaser is Jewish and if William Shatner being Jewish is good enough for my Jewish!Kirk headcanons then it’s sure as heck good enough for my Jewish!Starksy headcanons. Furthermore, according to Wikipedia, both Leonard Goldberg and Aaron Spelling are Jewish, and a good many of the writers have Jewish surnames too, though I can’t find out much about them specifically. Due to their fame, and therefore extended biographies, Wikipedia does specify that writers Michael Mann, and Fred Freiberger are Jewish. Joe Naar, who produced the show, was also Jewish, and used to joke that his style “was born out of being a short Jew with a huge chip on his shoulder.” Rick Edelstein was hugely involved in the writing of the later series and you can really see the influence Judaism has on his work, as is evident in his more recent short story, Bodega. He also ended his short video supporting Obama in '08 with "l'chaim, to life".

Essentially, I think Jewish people were involved in all levels of production within the show - from the writing, to the acting, to the direction, to the production - and this can be seen in the varied means by which it’s suggested that Starsky is Jewish himself. As such, suggestions that may have been seen as accidental otherwise can then take on greater significance, whilst the more explicit examples take on more emotional weight. 

Why, then, would it not be more explicitly stated that Starsky is, and was always considered to be, Jewish? I read a really interesting post the other day about how Jewish people in Hollywood often felt unable to include Jewish characters/actors/themes in their work out of fear of seeming too “tribalistic, or insular, or that Hollywood was (as it was in the antisemitic imagination) a ‘Jewish’ front”. Obviously, I can’t comment from a Jewish perspective, but when I was younger I felt similar pressure in regards to including queer characters. As such, I think it’s really exciting to see the very explicit references to Starsky being Jewish, even if they aren’t clearly obvious to a wider audience not actively looking for such references.

Paul Michael Glaser also played Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof (1971) - which I mention not only because it shows Glaser playing other Jewish roles, but also as a recommendation because I Love My Hyped Wee Jewish Communist Revolutionary Boy. Glaser talked about how Starsky was a culmination of other characters he’d played prior to Starsky (DVD extras) and I think this is quite evident in Starsky and Perchik’s respective behaviours. As a nod to this, the middle top picture is (apparently) from a Jewish Labour Bund publication. This is something you can learn more about on its Wikipedia article here, and there’s more interesting things about The Bund here and here as well!

As we all know, Starsky calls Hutch the Blond Blintz (to his Puce Goose) :D Here’s a recipe for blintzes from myjewishlearning.com - they’re like pancakes and it’s an Ashkenazim custom to eat them on Shavuot. Also I love the scene in The Set-Up: part 1 where he first calls Hutch the Blond Blintz and Hutch is like???? and Starsky just says Blintz very definitively and with no further explanation and Hutch is just like,,, u kno what,, I’m just going to roll with this.) 

I basically just really love this because it’s an example of Starsky being very openly and explicitly involved in Jewish culture, not just when he says it in The Set-Up, but also in Starsky’s Lady, when playing with the kids, especially as there aren’t a lot of references to things that carry on across multiple episodes.

I also like the way he pulls everyone else into his reference of it very un-apologetically; it feels very in character. There’s a picture of a blintz in the left column of the middle row! (Also, I feel like,,,, there might be some,,,, Freudian Implications to naming your partner after a rolled pancake filled with cream cheese that gets released when eaten?? @jimmyandthegiraffes fite me.)

Whilst Hutch looks at a glow in the dark cross being sold by Huggy in Jojo (written by Mann), Starsky picks up a mezuzah, which are put up at gateposts and door frames in Jewish homes - here’s a video about it :D The picture in the left-most bottom corner is Starsky inspecting this mezuzah. I really like this scene because he goes straight to it and seems to be considering it with very real interest. This is interestingly contrasted with Hutch picking up the cross, which isn’t the only time the show appears to draw a distinction between their respective cultural and religious heritages. 

I think that really responds to some of the stuff William Blinn has said about their casting and how thrilled they were to have two actors playing characters from such different backgrounds whilst having such great chemistry, and how that really helps form the magic of the show even (DVD extras). I think their respective choices really help to demonstrate how assumed it was that Starsky Would naturally pick up a mezuzah, in contrast to Hutch’s cross. 

The menorah (or actually Chanukkiah if we’re going to be really specific about it) in the background of Starsky’s apartment in Foxy Lady and in Blindfold. For so long I thought this was a myth but!! it’s not!!!! You can see it in the right hand column, middle row :D With the greatest thanks to the canon compendium for pointing out the episodes it appears in and also for like, literally everything else - it’s genuinely just the best fandom resource I’ve seen. I love this because I think, asides from a Magen David (Star of David), I think a menorah is one of the most well known symbols of Judaism and I think it’s really rad that it’s something the crew thought consciously to include, even if it is a largely not shown background detail. Again, it’s subtle but explicit which is why I would argue that Starsky is canonically Jewish.

It’s also worth remembering that even though it’s in an area in his apartment that doesn’t get shot by the cameras except on a few occasions, it Is a part of the apartment that’s Really visible from like, every direction and is right across from the front door. I’ve got another screenshot below from Blindfold that puts it more in context of where it is. I think this is really cool!! It’s obviously something he considers a big enough part of his life to keep on display year round and it’s something instantly recognisable and visible for anyone coming into his house (Foxy Lady came out on March 1st and Blindfold on October 21st, neither of which are around Chanukkah, if you’re going by episode air dates).

Speaking of the Magen David :D As can be seen in the episode Little Girl Lost, Starsky has a couple of blue six pointed stars on his dash under his Christmas decoration, as you can see in the top left hand corner of the mood board. I think this is really cool because Starsky is obviously very hyped for Christmas in this episode, hanging reindeer from his mirror and singing Christmas songs and being really hyped for presents, and this could be used to suggest that Oh No He Can’t Be Jewish He Likes Christmas, but not only does he only engage in secularised aspects of Christmas (in contrast to the nativity scene at Kiko’s house), there’s the very conscious inclusion of these stars. All the scenes in the car are set during Chanukkah, which ran from 16-24th December in 1976, and the stars are blue, which, along with white or silver, is often used for Chanukkah decorations and is traditionally associated with Judaism. Basically this remains in keeping with the subtle yet very conscious inclusion of Jewish symbolism, easily missed by those not thinking to look for it. 

Also I know heaps of Jewish people that enjoy the secular aspects of Christmas, particularly if the holiday has meaning for their friends. In Starsky’s case this might be more because he wants to annoy Hutch and he likes bickering or perhaps because he’s upset by Hutch’s increasing cynicism and wants Hutch to feel happier. Or because he wants a new caboose for his train set. Probably that.

In the bottom left hand corner you’ll see a picture of Paul Muni, born   Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund, Meshilem being his Hebrew name. I just like that Hutch suggests Starsky’s mother called him Rudolph Valentino and Starsky corrects him saying she “said I was more of the Paul Muni type”, suggesting the actor she compared him to was actually a notably Jewish one (Paul Muni references can be found in Lady Blue, as written by Mann, and Silence). Again, I think the contrast between Hutch suggesting a gentile actor, and Starsky raising a Jewish one instead is interesting, as well as highlighting Starsky’s mother’s engagement with, and perhaps predisposition towards, Jewish culture.

On it’s own this is perhaps more of a curiosity, maybe too much opportunity for coincidence to really warrant too much attention, but Dobey also chooses a Jewish comparison in The Velvet Jungle when he says, “who do you think you are, Starsky, Milton Berle?” So here we have two instances wherein the comparisons drawn with Starsky are with other Jewish personalities.

In Terror On The Docks (written by Freiberger), Huggy apologises for not bringing an ill Starsky chicken soup, instead bringing mustard green broth which, “where I come from is just as effective”. This might not have much significance in and of itself, except that literally just 2 episodes later, in Shootout, Sammy Grovner makes a joke about chicken soup being Jewish penicillin. In addition, Huggy’s reference to his own culture’s cure-all suggests that chicken soup would have been the culturally appropriate first-choice for Starsky. As such, I’ve included a picture of matzo-ball chicken soup in the top left hand corner. 

Also, in The Game, Hutch says in regards to their soup related upbringings that, “we obviously had different mothers” and Starsky says, “yeah, mine was chicken soup, yours was,, clam chowder”, which isn’t really that important except that the show likes to highlight their different cultural upbringings and once again they’re doing so by referencing something that is widely culturally understood to be Jewish, having already explicitly stated it within the show to be so. (I could write a whole dissertation about cultural soup references in Starsky and Hutch, but I’m not going to. Just note that there are a weird amount of them.)

We see in Running that Starsky calls his mother every Friday evening. I think this is really interesting because, if they were both observant orthodox, they wouldn’t be using electricity on Shabbat. I mean, duh, Starsky is Not observantly orthodox but this scene shows that neither is his mother. Any yet, the time they’ve picked to talk each week is on Friday evenings, when many Jewish families come together for Shabbat dinner. As such, I think this shows how Starsky’s Judaism holds a place within his life and his routines, as well as suggesting what tradition he may have been brought up in. I personally headcanon conservative, but Reform works too!

As the fanlore page says, “Starsky looked stunned when Nancy's mother asked him if he were Catholic in 'Terror on the Docks,' to which he replied he was not.” This scene is a really interesting one to watch for this (and, again, was written by Freiberger), and whilst this merely shows that he’s not Catholic, his confusion and bafflement suggests just how surprising this question is to him, and his discomfort is evident as he laughs awkwardly. I think this is an experience many minorities can attest to, and he’s feeling the unease that comes when you’re put under pressure to reveal a part of your identity that may well be not received well. 

In terms of the canon, I think the way in which this is played is so in line with the concept that Starsky is Jewish that it really suggests that this was something in clearly in mind in regards to his characterisation, at least by a number of the people working on the show. 

In terms of headcanons, I like Starsky’s bewilderment here because it seems like he straight up just thought it was obvious that he was Jewish, and so it offers an in-universe explanation for why he never says “I’m Jewish”, rather than the external explanation regarding the fears surrounding creating explicitly clear Jewish characters in the 1970s. 

It is interesting, in universe, that he doesn’t then say, “No, Mrs. Blake, I’m afraid I’m Jewish”, but I think this shows Starsky’s reticence to talk about his background with strangers, despite his comfort proudly talking about blintzes with Hutch and Terry. This is frankly just understandable, given the existence of antisemitism and Mrs Blake’s evangelical Catholicism, and again offers another explanation for why he never says I’m Jewish, wherein everyone he feels comfortable knowing already know, so there’s no need for him to say that. 

(This said, @jimmyandthegiraffes and I headcanon that he just explains everything he doesn’t know with the fact he’s Jewish, even when it’s totally unrelated, *queue Starsky’s sage voice* “Ah see, I wouldn’t know whether those out of date eggs are safe to eat because I’m Jewish.” - Hutch is going to throw something. Also saying he can’t eat something healthy Hutch has made because it’s not kosher, whilst eating something obviously treif, which I made a post about here.)

We also see Starsky’s reticence to talk about his background with antagonistic strangers/suspects in The Committee, “Starsky? What is it, Polish?” “Something like that.” And yet, in Starsky And Hutch Are Guilty we see Starsky talk with Sharon, with whom he obviously feels comfortable with, about his home cooked goulash, “My mother gave me a recipe straight from the old country.” Again, this shows an in universe explanation for why we never see Starsky talk about his background explicitly, as those who he feels comfortable knowing already know.

This line is also interesting as it suggests information about Starsky’s heritage that pretty clearly implies a family with an immigrant background;  this again would be in line with the experience of many Jewish people in the US, particularly when considering Starsky’s roots in New York as many families settled there fleeing pogroms and persecution. I headcanon that Starsky’s father was killed just after his 13th birthday (and his Bar Mitzvah) and moved to Bay City the summer after (this is taking Glaser’s birthday as Starsky’s for consistency).

This would mean Starsky lived in New York 1943-1956. The Jewish population of New York was at its peak in 1950 at 2 million. Still today, New York City is the largest community of Jews in the world within a city proper, including Tel Aviv. I think it perhaps goes without saying that this was and is particularly true in Brooklyn. I’ve seen lots of fics argue about where about in New York Starsky is from (with one claiming New Jersey which was pretty left field). The closest connection to New York that I have is that I grew up on the outskirts of the city it was named after. If you ever want to visit York, it has a lot of chocolate museums and a nice Gothic cathedral and a bad connection with Jewish history. I’m on a tangent. My point is, although I can figure Yorkshire accents, I’m not especially good at figuring out the nuances of New York accents so I leave it up to you lot, and on the whole people tend to suggest that he has a Brooklyn accent. We also know he has swum at Coney Island, and that the sea there tastes better than on the playboy island (Murder on Voodoo Island: part 2).

What we do know is that Starsky grew up on 84th Street (Targets Without A Badge: part 2) although there do seem to be a Lot of 84th streets in New York. We also know that if we are agreeing on Brooklyn then 84th street runs through Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Bensonhurt. I figure Bensonhurst works best because, even though it’s a very Italian neighbourhood now, until the 50s it was a Jewish/Italian neighbourhood, which works with Starsky’s grandmother’s flat above the Italian restaurant (Shootout). It also works with the implications surrounding Starsky’s family and the mob (The Set-Up: part 1) as the Bath Avenue Crew operated in Bensonhurst. The mob thing is also interesting when considering Starsky’s Jewish heritage. There’s a painted Bensonhurst shop front in the bottom middle of the mood board which has been kept the same since the 1950s when Starsky could have been living there!

This has all been largely (or wholly) tangential, but essentially my point is that what we know of Starsky’s heritage chimes pretty neatly with the experience of many Jewish Americans, which again ties in with the argument that Starsky’s Judaism was something held in mind by those involved in the creation of the show. 

Another thing I found interesting was in an article I was reading about Paul Simon, born less than two years before Glaser. In regard to Simon, Donald Fagen says, “There’s a certain kind of New York Jew, [...] almost a stereotype, really, to whom music and baseball are very important. I think it has to do with the parents. The parents are either immigrants or first-generation Americans who felt like outsiders, and assimilation was the key thought — they gravitated to black music and baseball looking for an alternative culture.” Simon responded to say that this wasn't too far from the truth. Obviously, Starsky enjoying baseball does not at all mean anything about him being Jewish, but it does fit in with his Jewish New York upbringing, from his father taking him to see the Yankees and him collecting baseball cards (Vendetta), to his enthusiasm with Pete (Little Girl Lost). 

It is worth noting how this enthusiasm for baseball seems to be something that Starsky engages in far more than Hutch, which is interesting given Soul's history with the sport. (I feel like they definitely could have done more with the fact that David Soul was a good enough player to be offered a contract with the Chicago White Sox). Perhaps this wasn't pursued because a passion for baseball was thought to be more in line with Starsky's upbringing, versus Hutch's Sea Scouts. Again, this maybe suggests a certain narrative held in mind regarding Starsky’s background and how it influenced his characterisation.

Curiously, any Yiddish on the show is typically said by Hutch rather than by Starsky. In Vendetta, Hutch says to Artie Sorkin, “Fagin, faigeleh. What’s the differences? You’re vermin.” Faigeleh meaning homosexual. Also, as the canon compendium notes, “Hutch calls his houseplant ‘Meschugah Mantherlus.’” ‘Meschugah’ means crazy in Yiddish.  “‘Mantherlus’ doesn’t translate as anything but is probably an inside joke and supposed to sound Latin.” (Ballad for a Blue Lady, co-written by Glaser.) 

Largely I just found this interesting, but I did read a really cool study talking about the use of Yiddish in the American vernacular and one of its many findings was that gentiles with close Jewish friends were, unsurprisingly, more likely to use more Yiddish terminology. Also, unrelated but super fascinating, LGBT+ people were more likely to use Yiddish too.

On the Jewish immigrant experience, in Partners Starsky tries to get Hutch to play Pinochle with him, claiming "you love Pinochle", suggesting this is a game they frequently play together. Pinochle used to be a favourite card game of Jewish and Irish immigrants. I get that at this point I'm probably clasping at straws but I'm going for as comprehensive as possible, and I think it creates a good story about Starsky playing it with his family and later teaching it to Hutch.

It is interesting how Hutch is possibly shown to be engaging with Jewish culture in regard to both his use of Yiddish and his love of Pinochle. This may well be because Jewish culture permeates American society, after all it's Soul we see say the Yiddish "putz" in the bloopers. But it is slightly interesting that these were lines given to Hutch, perhaps for plot purposes, or because the writers were choosing to include their own culture and ways of speaking in a way that is safer through the evidently gentile Soul rather than the conspicuously Jewish Glaser. 

There are other instances of Judaism in Starsky and Hutch that aren’t necessarily pointing to Starsky being Jewish but that are notable. Huggy Bear and the Turkey starts with Starsky and Hutch undercover in Caplan Laundry, where Hutch seems to be undercover as an orthodox Jewish man (and Starsky his wife? Seemingly? They certainly uh, go for it in the bloopers). 

Caplan/Kaplan is a surname found in a number of cultures but it is a common Ashkenazim surname which also makes me headcanon Officer Minnie Kaplan as Jewish because we all want more Jewish headcanons in our lives and I think it puts her friendship with Starsky in an interesting context. (Marki Bey more like Marki Bae)

Again, it's Hutch we see taking on the more visibly Jewish role, although this does not go to negate Starsky's own Jewishness, as this may well be understood to be his influence on the friend he spends significantly more than 75% of his time with. Also, it can be assumed that Starsky is undercover as a Jewish woman as he appears to work at the launderette. 

Obviously A Body Worth Guarding is the episode that deals most with Judaism as the Jewish protesters are a central plot feature. It’s interesting that Starsky’s involvement with them is largely hostile, however, I think this is more to do with the circumstances. At first he believes they’ve hired muscle to hurt Anna so he goes in hard which means the Jewish Organisation for Action respond with a more hostile approach. And yet, he’s completely on-board with dropping the JOA lead and following the fascist one as a result of Kauffman’s logic that attacking Anna would only lead to more antisemitism, which despite being a sound argument had no actual evidence to support it. From this point Kauffman is still resistant to working with Starsky which means Starsky maybe is more heavy handed in his approach, but it is on order to get Kauffman to help him follow the fascist lead. Once the job has been done he seems a lot softer towards the JOA and genuinely thankful for their help.

Essentially, the episode is noteworthy but Starsky’s reaction to the JOA tells us not so much about his own personal beliefs and upbringing and more about how he approaches his job. I do think it interesting that he believes Kauffman’s logic and subsequently drops all suspicion of the JOA and instead trusts him enough to bring him in as help.

Also Huggy calls the JOA the “desert people” which might just be Huggy’s turn of phrase but I think it feels more comfortable if Starsky is Jewish as it’s more like banter between friends then.

In spite of all these very purposeful allusions and references to Starsky’s Judaism, in Savage Sunday he complains about having to work on a Sunday, the Christian sabbath instead of Judaism’s Shabbat. And yet, I don’t believe this undermines Starsky’s Jewish presentation as it seems that his complaints are more that he expects to have Sunday off because he is in a Christian society which usually allows him a break on a Sunday to which he can look forward to. When he’s complaining about working on a Saturday in Jojo (written by Mann), Hutch says, “Could be worse, could be Sunday”, to which Starsky replies, “Come on, Saturday’s bad enough”, bemoaning all the sports that he could be watching instead. 

This is interesting too as you could easily use this to headcanon him using sport as an excuse to express his frustrations at having to work on Shabbat, especially as it’s Hutch who says, “Could be worse, could be Sunday.”

Note: It was mentioned on the fanlore page that Huggy gives Starsky a wreath of garlic ‘for those of other persuasions’, but, as far as I can tell, the garlic is to ward off vampires of “all the rest of the denominations” when the cross for “any vampire of Christian persuasion” won’t be of help, rather than the garlic being for non-Christian vampire hunters. As always, I’m loving Huggy’s enterprising approach to religion, making sure he covers all bases, but it’s not really a suggestion that Starsky is Jewish, just that he needs to protect himself from non-Christian vampires.

In the same vein, Huggy does say “Shalom” to Starksy (and to Hutch) in Dandruff, though this seems to be more as an aspect of his undercover role as Prince Nairobi.

Essentially, Starsky is frequently presented as engaging with Jewish culture, practices, and traditions, often very visibly so. Aside from the very explicitly Jewish references, Starsky is very frequently characterised in a way that suggests his being Jewish was held in mind, on a writing level, an acting level, a direction level, and a production level. As I mentioned earlier, American society in imbued with Jewish culture and so many of these things may have been purely incidental. However, coupled with the more explicit examples of Starsky's Judaism they may be said to take on greater purpose and subsequent significance. Pretty much across the board, he is understood to be Jewish and whilst these references maybe subtle enough to pass by those not engaged with Judaism or considering it a possibility, this does not preclude Starsky’s Judaism from being a very knowing and explicit inclusion, and therefore canon.

Given all this, I have some headcanons about to what extent Starsky is practising! 

We canonically know he doesn’t keep kosher – I mean this boy eats linguine with clams. I have read a fic where Hutch is forbidden from telling Starsky’s ma that he eats bacon or meat with dairy and I really like this as a headcanon. I definitely think she Knows but she lets Starsky pretend he doesn’t because it keeps him happy.

We also know neither he nor his mother have qualms about not being shomer Shabbos, but as I mentioned earlier, we Do see them using Friday evenings as the time they choose to call one another.

We know he doesn’t wear a kippah on the regular, too. And he never says the Sh’ma out loud if he thinks he’s about to die, although I do think he probably says it to himself. Again, I think I’ve read a fic about that. As I reread the ones I have bookmarked I’ll add them in if I can find them.

Other than these examples, pretty much everything else as far as I can tell is fair game, particularly if you’re considering along the lines of Reform, or even conservative, depending on the community. I know a lot of Jewish people who would consider themselves to be actively practicing who don’t keep kosher or who work on a Saturday etc.

About that, as I mentioned above, we know he does sometimes work on a Saturday (and he complains about it). This suggests that he doesn’t necessarily frequent synagogue regularly, particularly as he was frustrated about missing the sport he likes to watch on a Saturday.

However, for one thing, this doesn’t mean he Never goes to temple, and for another, we do know that Starsky very likely celebrates Chanukkah, due to his Chanukkiah. Chanukkah is a relatively minor Jewish holiday and so if he celebrates this it’s likely he also celebrates other, more significant holidays, and high holy days. Maybe he doesn’t go to shul every week, but a synagogue on Yom Kippur is generally full of people who are not regular attenders.

Please imagine this boy trying to fast I bet Hutch would be glad as hell that Starsky isn’t at work lol.

Personally, I tend to headcanon that Starsky moves to greater observance post Sweet Revenge. I think the hospital rabbi is good at playing Pinochle and the two become friends and they have good philosophical debates and Hutch joins in and after Starsky is discharged they want to see the rabbi so they start regularly attending shul and they both find something they can get out of it, especially as I headcanon that they retire from the force I think it gives them a community. For Starsky, I think it gives him a connection to his heritage and his family and maybe his father in particular, as well as a focus on social justice work through the synagogue so that he and Hutch can still feel like they’re making a difference. Tbh, I think that Hutch might find a lot to connect to in Judaism, maybe in the way it’s focused on making a difference in the here and now and not in order to access some afterlife. To be clear, I don’t think that’s necessarily the angle Christianity takes but I think it is how Hutch might perceive it and I think he might find Judaism more grounding in that respect. Also, if he converts then Starsky’s ma would be thrilled that if he hasn’t found a nice Jewish girl then at least he’s found a nice Jewish boy and Starsky will tease that Hutch’s hair is so long he might as well be a girl. I think it would create a really interesting relationship between Starsky’s ma and Hutch where they talk about Judaism and she introduces him to recipes and books and stuff and later Hutch is showing Starsky and he’s like, how come Ma never showed me?! And Hutch is like, she tried to idiot you just got distracted. And they can just, explore stuff together. It’s really soft.

Also, I think they host Shabbat dinners every Friday and it’s really cool because it’s a way that they can stay in touch with the Dobeys after they’ve left the force, and how they can stay close with Huggy when they’re not visiting for tips every other day. Also Kiko and Pete can come and then stay the night and spend Saturday with them maybe to give Mrs. Ramos a break. Minnie can come too and say the prayers!! Plus Paco Ortega and Joey and tbh any number of the other kids they’ve accidentally adopted over the years.

Pesach at theirs is just, the fullest house you can possibly imagine I love it. @jimmyandthegiraffes came up with the idea that there isn’t space for Dobey and the boys are like, oh you’re sat on the counter and he’s like? But there’s an empty chair and place set out here?? And he goes to sit down and everyone is like, nOOoO that’s for Elijah!! You cAnt sIT in Elijah’S plaCe?!

Gosh I love them

Starsky high key calls the new year “secular Rosh Hashanah”

Even though I personally headcanon a greater observance after sweet revenge, there really is nothing at all to say he isn’t at least somewhat practising over the course of the series and even that he is, given the Chanukkiah and what that means about holidays. I like how he keeps it up year round to maybe keep in mind his faith/upbringing/background.

I think it’s interesting that many of the fics that engage with Starsky as Jewish often suggest that he’s not religious, which is of course completely possible. However, just because he doesn’t ever talk about a faith in God doesn’t mean it isn’t present, especially when faith is often something so private and proselytising isn’t a part of Judaism. Personally I think that Starsky does have faith in God throughout the series and after, and this does impact his relationship with Judaism prior to Sweet Revenge as he considers things like the mezuzah and engages with Jewish culture, but that it’s after Sweet Revenge that he starts engaging with his faith more as connected to Judaism and religious traditions, rather than I’m going to celebrate my culture and upbringing and also I have a faith in God. He sees the two as more connected perhaps? and his faith as having a more direct impact on his life.

I really like how Huggy says the thing about the chicken soup too, and the “desert people” line is made a lot sweeter by thinking of him as a cool supportive friend who Starsky has known for a long time and who typically engages with Judaism specifically because it means something to Starsky.

I seemingly have a lot of thoughts on this.

Also, I really like how he calls him blintz, weird Freudian implications aside, especially because blintzes can be eaten at any time but are typically associated with Shavuot and I like the idea that Starsky has really a really fond association with his religion but also with Hutch. I really like the idea that if Hutch converts then the two can stay up all night together, eating blintzes and cheese and Hutch can maybe read aloud for my dyslexic boy.

Essentially, I just really love thinking about this and I think there’s more space for an actively practising Starsky than there’s generally understood to be, religious or not, even over the course of the show. Especially if you consider Reform Judaism. But tbh just give me Jewish!Starsky fics and I’m happy whatever they’re like.

I’ve worked really hard to find each scene I’ve mentioned on my DVDs (this post has taken me literally So Long to write (9 months-ish? it’s my Child) and I’ve researched it far Far more than I do my uni assignments whoops), so you can be sure I’ve checked to make sure each reference is legitimate. If you want to see screenshots of these quotations, or you want to know whereabouts in the episodes they occur, then message me! If you have additional examples or you disagree with me or if you’ve spotted a mistake then share that too!

With all my thanks to my partner Chester who’s put up with me banging on about this and spending Hours and Hours being ridiculously pedantic in the hopes of creating as coherent a resource as I can. They’ve also contributed so much and just they’re rad. I also cannot thank enough the canon compendium for helping me fill in all the blanks and pointing me in all the directions I needed to go in, I Genuinely cannot think of a better fandom resource. Also the first 3 seasons scripts are available here which is a huge help.

tldr; Starsky is irrefutably, canonically Jewish and also I love him 

[sonicasura]

If Family #1

This is something I want to try. Basically it's how two characters from different series interact if they were family. I'll be choosing a family from one series and a single character from another.

This one will be my choice and the rest will be randomized. So let's start with a family whose known to get into bizarre situations. The Joestars! And the character for today will be...

Danny Fenton/Phantom!

Our favorite halfa teen hero being with the Joestars is going to be so interesting. I'll only be doing parts 1-5 since I don't know much about the other 3 Jojos. So let's start! Now for this it'll be split into two which is before secret and after!

Jonathan- Before Secret

-quite concern with Danny's health since he barely sleeps at night

- would protect Danny from bullies and teach him how to stand up for himself

- Danny would defend Jonathon from Dio and using a little bit of his ghost powers to foil Dio's schemes

- Danny would get angry at George's mistreatment of Jonathan for a single mistake

- Jonathan thinks Danny is his dog reborn as a human for how much Danny cares and protects him

-Danny would go ghost if Jonathan is in a situation he can't handle(though Danny would change not in anyone's sight)

-Jonathan feels worried for Danny and tries to find what he's hiding. Danny trusts Jonathan that he will tell him about being a halfa.

After secret

-Jonathan easily accepts Danny despite him being half dead and gets defensive if someone tries to harm him

-Danny would show Jonathan some of his powers for Jonathan to document since the man is curious about Danny's ghostly nature

-Jonathan would stay close to Danny during hot summers because Danny is as cold as a tundra and Danny wouldn't mind keeping his brother cool.

-Danny will let out a Ghostly Wail if he sees Jonathan dangerously hurt or almost mentally broken. Don't fuck with Danny when it comes to protecting Johnathon.

-Jonathan would break every bone in someone's body if they hurt Danny in any way. The same applies to Jonathan when it comes to protecting Danny.

-Jonathan will ask Speedwagon to watch over Danny if something ever happened to him. (Everyone can trust Speedwagon.)

-Danny and Jonathan will easily rub off on each other when it comes to their habits. Johnathon would sometimes do witty banter in battle and Danny will pose out of habit.

-Danny ain't gonna let Jonathan die. Vampire head is no match for this ghostly protector.

Joseph- Before Secret

-Danny would be a bit uncomfortable around Joseph due to mishaps involving energetic buff men but will easily warm up to Joseph.

-Both will tell each other terrible puns 80% of the time to the ire of a lot of people.

-Joseph would try to encourage Danny to get a girlfriend but accidentally humiliates himself to Danny's amusement.

-If Danny has a secret then Joseph will do everything in his power to find out. Though if it's something very painful than Joseph will give Danny time.

-Danny will help Joseph keep his temper in check and Joseph will help Danny become more confident and clever.

-Joseph will beat the crap out of anyone who tries to bully Danny. Danny will defend Joseph when push comes to shove.

After secret

-Joseph would want to see everything Danny could do as a ghost.

-Both will go on a pranking spree much to the ire of everyone in New York.

-Both are a comedy duo in battle as they annoy their opponents with witty banter and terrible jokes.

-Danny will take pictures of Joseph in drag for blackmail. Joseph will have pictures of Danny when his powers mess up for blackmail as well.

-Danny wouldn't let any poison rings stay in Joseph whether by removing them or blasting anyone who tries.

-Danny will tell Lisa Lisa off for forcing Joseph to do the Hell Pillar Climb. Again don't mess with an angry ghost.

-Danny will save Caesar and Wamuu to keep Joseph from having a breakdown if they died.

-Kars is utterly screwed if Danny sees Joseph missing any limbs. An Ultimate Being can't do shit against an angry halfa.

-Both will help each other deal with PTSD.

Jotaro/Star Platinum- Before secret

(Danny can see and interact with Stands due to his ghostly half even if the Stands haven't manifested. Being around Danny will cause Stands to manifest faster.)

-Danny will be really uncomfortable with Jotaro's personality at first though Jotaro will try his best to not make Danny uncomfortable.

-Danny would think he's going crazy for he'll see a sihoulette of a purple man(Star Platinum) following Jotaro around even though Jotaro is unaware of the man's presence.

-Star will be incredibly surprise that Danny could see him even though he haven't been fully manifested.

-Danny will think Star is a manifestation of Jotaro's bottled up emotions and becomes more at ease being around him.

-Jotaro will notice Danny acting strange and try to figure out what's wrong.

-Fangirls will never even get close to Jotaro ever again because Danny will radiate a ghostly aura that scare the crap out of them.

-Danny turning into Phantom allows Star to fully manifest faster.

After secret

-Jotaro wouldn't be bothered by Danny being half ghost while Star will be completely enthusiastic at how unique Danny is.

-Danny would make charms of marine animals out of ghostly ice for Jotaro while Jotaro would make something for Danny with Star's help.

-Danny would prank Jotaro with his ghostly powers whether be cloning himself or making it snow in Jotaro's room. Jotaro will get back at Danny with twice the effort.

-Danny would go berserk if he sees someone treating Jotaro like shit(Steely Dan level) and Jotaro will get pissed if the same thing happens to Danny.

-Both would be more open with each other. Jotaro would become a bit more witty and Danny becoming more serious.

-Danny is the only Jotaro would allow to wear his hat.

-Both would decimate Dio with no effort because Dio won't be able to handle a Ghostly Wail Time Stop combo.

Josuke/Crazy Diamond- Before secret

-Danny would easily warm up to Josuke with his goofy yet kind nature.

-Josuke would be protective around Danny since someone like Danny gets easily bullied.

-Crazy Diamond would be surprised about Danny being able to interact with him and Danny's strange powers.

-Danny would help Josuke overcome his fear of turtles and Josuke would help Danny be more open to people.

-Crazy Diamond would try to help Danny whether be fixing broken possessions or just giving the halfa hug when he's feeling down. Danny likes Crazy Diamond's hugs.

-Danny would reveal his secret if Josuke and him were trapped in a dire situation.

After secret

-Josuke would easily accept Danny and tell him nothing will change his opinion on Danny.

-Josuke and Danny would goof around with Danny's powers whether be tossing snowballs, parody stories or shows involving ghosts or take flights with Danny carrying Josuke.

-Both of them would swap hairstyles for a day much to the shock of everyone.

-Danny would practice learning to heal others with his power since Josuke tends to get hurt a lot.

-No bomb will keep Danny from beating the crap out of Kira for making Josuke suffer.

Giorno/Golden Experience- before secret

-Both would immediately get along with each other from Giorno's charm to Danny's kindness.

-Golden Experience would be intrigued by Danny's strange nature.

-Danny would terrorize Giorno's parents for making him suffer until they flee Italy.

-Golden Experience would follow Danny during times when Giorno is safe to be left alone.

-Danny wouldn't be afraid of going ghost to protect Giorno even at the cost of his secret.

After secret

-Giorno would be unbothered by Danny being half ghost even going as far to call him an guardian from heaven. Golden Experience will consider Danny unique for being both of life and death.

-Giorno and Danny would share information about their powers so they work better together and create astounding combos and plans on the fly.

-Danny isn't going to let Abbacchio treat Giorno like dirt. Mr. Goth is going to learn that Danny doesn't play nice when it comes to his family.

-Sorry Prosciutto but you're completely useless with Danny around. Danny would freeze the entire train to protect Giorno and their friends.

-Danny and Golden Experience would experiment with GE's Life giving powers and Danny's Overshadow ability. Giorno would wake up to an army of ghostly Stand made animals and be so confused while Danny is whistling in the corner.

-Danny won't let anyone of Giorno's friends or gang die. He'll literally take them to the Ghost Zone if it would keep them safe.

-Diavolo would stand no chance against the combined might of Danny and Giorno. Golden Experience Requiem and Danny Phantom will make sure like Harbringers of Life and Death.

-Golden Experience Requiem would speak a lot more with Danny in secret until Danny convinces him to not hide his sentience from Giorno.

-Danny will tell Giorno to seek out his heritage and would have his back if something goes wrong. Giorno is glad he has someone like Danny by his side.

And that's it! I hope you guys like this since it's been in my head for awhile now! Until next time! Jambuhbye! (Kudos if you get the reference)

[friendliest-place-on-earth]

hey look i wrote something for once

so i mentioned awhile back that i’d started writing a hogwarts au. it’s currently one of my favorite things to work on right now, so i figured i’d post the first chapter to see how you guys like it. there’s probably some minor errors, but my laptop’s been acting up when i try to transfer writing here and i’m really, really tired, so pardon that. i hope you guys like it! -mod rose 💜

Davey peered out the window as the train pulled away from the station. His parents had left already, but not before telling Les a thousand times how much they’d miss him. His twin sister sat reading a book next to him, while the aforementioned Les was bouncing his leg and babbling nervously.

“What house do you think I’ll be in? I really want to be in Gryffindor, or maybe Slytherin, or-”

“Les, calm down. You'll probably end up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw like me or Sarah. And besides, I haven't had a pleasant encounter with students from either of those houses since I’ve gotten to Hogwarts.” Just then, the door slid open, and a group of louder students came in. Davey flinched, and Sarah nearly dropped her book on the floor. She dog-earred the page and put it away for its own safety. There were four boys and a girl, two of whom were already in uniform. A taller boy with sandy blond hair wore a Gryffindor tie, done poorly over his robes, while a slightly shorter boy with dark brown hair wore Slytherin robes and no tie. Davey rolled his eyes.

“Hey, uh, sorry about bargin’ in here. We’re kind of on the run and we’re hoping the assholes chasing us’ll back off before they get here,” said the boy with the Slytherin robes on. Davey glanced at Sarah, who had already taken her book back out. If she wasn’t going to mind these somewhat obnoxious students, then neither would he.

“Uh, sure, yeah. Go ahead and sit down,” Davey replied uncertainly.

“Sorry about them. They’re usually not this loud,” the girl apologized, brushing her reddish bangs out of her eyes.

“I’ve heard worse,” Davey said with a weak laugh, referring to Les, who took everything in with wide eyes. The girl smiled before sitting down next to Les.

“You’re a first-year, aren't you?”

“Yeah! I’m so excited!” Les replied, beaming.

“I’m Katherine. What’s your name?”

“I’m Les, and this is my brother, David. My sister Sarah is next to him.”

“What house do you want to be in, Les?”

“I want to be in Gryffindor, or Slytherin, but I’ll probably end up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw like my brother and sister.” Les answered.

“Which one of you is in Ravenclaw?” Katherine asked.

“I am,” Davey said.

“Nice to meet you, David. I’m Katherine. Plumber. I’m in Ravenclaw too.”

“David Jacobs.” Davey shook her hand, and she sat back down next to Les, and they began talking excitedly. Sarah glanced over at Davey, and he could see she had a faint blush on her cheeks.

“Don't tell me you've got a crush already,” Davey whispered teasingly.

“Shh! I do not!” Sarah’s voice was stern, but she wore a small smile on her face. Davey could tell her focus was far from the book she was pretending to read. He turned his attention back to the four boys who were arguing over who would be doing well in Quidditch this year.

“Gryffindor’s got some pretty good chasers this year, not to mention one of the best beaters and team captains in school history. If you think Slytherin stands a chance against us, you must be crazier than we thought, Jack,” the blond said, and it seemed like he was referring to the shorter burly boy sitting beside him. Jack rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, your chasers and your beaters might be good, but what about your seeker? Last year she got ahold of the snitch only once, and that was against Hufflepuff, who always tends to lose anyway.” Jack looked pleased with his answer, but what he didn't count on was Sarah raising an eyebrow before starting to talk. A shorter boy with a crutch looked confused for a moment before she started talking.

“You’d better watch your mouth. Last year was rough for a few reasons, and I’ve got no doubt us badgers will be giving you a run for your money this year. I wouldn't write the Hufflepuff team off so easily.”

Sarah promptly went back to reading, ignoring the looks of disbelief she got from the other members of the compartment.

“What? I can talk,” Sarah said defensively.

“I’ve never heard somebody say that much in one go,” Jack said, taken aback. Davey could already tell the direction his mind was going.

“What do you say we maybe talk some more?” he asked smoothly, but Sarah looked up at him and rolled her eyes.

“Sorry, but you're not really my type. Now, if you'd kindly leave me alone, I have a book to read,” Sarah replied curtly, and Jack sat back down before being taunted by the other two boys.

“You struck out good, Kelly! It's a wonder you had a girlfriend at all last year!” The tall blond elbowed him good-naturedly, and Jack rolled his eyes.

“You weren’t doing any better than me, Race! You got no room to talk,” Jack fired back, and Race feigned offense.

“Ah, come on, the both of you. Calm it down or we’ll get in trouble when the prefects come through.” The boy with the crutch waved it at them, nearly hitting Jack.

“Think your aim’s getting better, Crutchie. You only almost knocked me upside the head this time,” Jack grinned, and Crutchie nearly shoved him out of his seat.

“Shut up, you moron. I can soak you any old day I want to.” Crutchie waved his crutch threateningly with a laugh.

The train ride was fairly uneventful after that, with Sarah falling asleep on Davey about an hour in, and Les waking her up accidentally while begging Davey for money to get something from the trolley. After that, Davey wasn't sure if he could physically sit still. Finally, the train pulled in and after goodbyes and a pep talk from Katherine, Les slowly made his way over to Hagrid, who waved to Jack when he saw him get off. Jack smiled, and waved back, yelling a greeting.

The rest of them made their way to the carriages, and Davey was grateful the boys from the train filled up one and only one. He did not want to have to talk to them again. Katherine and Specs, Davey’s roommate, ended up joining them. The ride was mostly quiet, aside from Katherine and Sarah. They kept chatting quietly about school(Katherine was near the top of the class in everything, as was Sarah), Quidditch(Katherine was a chaser, and Sarah had never gone to a game in her life), and books. Both girls were avid readers, and they'd read most of the same series.

Leave it to Sarah to find a girl as book-crazy as she is, Davey thought to himself. Specs remained quiet, as if he was observing, and Davey was sure he was. When he came out to Specs in their fourth year, Specs looked at him for a moment before pulling a small rainbow flag out of his own case.

“You’re acting like I didn’t piece it together myself,” he’d told Davey, who started to laugh. He’d also told Davey he was bi. A slight bump jolted Davey out of his reverie, and he looked up.

The carriage pulled to a stop outside Hogwarts, and Davey was glad to be back. He was also starving. He made a mad dash for the long Ravenclaw table, and muddled through most of the Sorting ceremony until it was Les’s turn. He sat up straighter, trying to see the front of the room and stay awake. Les was in the chair with the hat dropped in front of his eyes, and Davey could see Sarah watching closely as well. Finally, the hat announced, “Hufflepuff!” and Sarah was among the first to begin celebrating. Les ran over and sat by her, grinning widely. Davey was happy for his little brother. Across the table, Katherine was pleased as well.

“I had a feeling about him,” she said with a sly grin.

After the ceremony came the feast, and it was easily Davey’s favorite part of the day. The food was always amazing, especially after eating a light breakfast and lunch out of nerves. Once dinner was over, he, Specs and Katherine headed back up to the dorms, where several people were ready to pass out. Katherine stole a book off a shelf in the common room before heading to her room, waving goodbye to Davey and Specs. The two boys arrived to find their other roommates had beaten them up there. Henry and Jojo were nice enough, but they travelled in different social circles than Davey and Specs, so conversations were usually short, if they happened at all. As soon as he could, Davey took a quick shower because he knew he wouldn’t be alert enough to take a short one in the morning. After he was done, he got his pajamas on and got into bed. First day of classes, come at me, Davey thought as he drifted away.

[thiefking]

the kurosawas are probably the most detached from the rest of the Oc Web because they already have the hayashis to hang out with and kouki & nora are not the best at socializing (kouki wishes he could be. nora does not give a shit) the only other oc that i own that is definitely pre-established friend of theirs is mia...

okay this post got like really long hold on. oc relationship web (the self-insular version where it’s all My Own ocs except for a brief mention of katsuya/nate’s not-husband and the above mention of the hayashis) under the cut

haruka and zagreus (i literallydreamed the character concept and name up before i even knew a single thing about that one game. i dreamed i was a motorcyclist named zagreus and i went that’s fun i’ll make that real. let me live.) are bffs and also very friendly and easygoing people so they pretty much tie every other oc together in one big friendship web, but even more importantly there’s already an established connection to pull in my OTHER social recluse, because zagreus’s royal advisor/older sister figure is ophelia, who is the Biological older sister of nate, and as soon as ophelia and nate are reunited and zagreus finds out about it he’s obviously going to adopt nate as basically his brother and then through zagreus nate also meets ein and haruka and through haruka he meets the babbages. this is the giant web here

i also know that eventually nate and the kurosawas will be friends and i think haruka and nora would make good pals because haruka is like perfectly built to handle nora’s standoffishness... really my biggest trouble is connecting mia to the oc friendship web because she’s very picky about her company and she’s too aloof to maintain actual connections with most people. the only ones i can think of are loose “she’d be chill with zagreus” and “she would assume her being very vulgar and irreverent would piss nate off so she does that on purpose near him but he seems more than okay with it and in fact may even have a chuckle so she’d decide he’s also fine” and “she would be okay with rin (babbage) and ein thinking she’s cool because they Would think she’s cool as hell and mia agrees. but she’d be like errrmmm... no... if any attempt was made to get her to babysit. even though she’d do a decent job of it and isn’t actually as bad with kids as she thinks she is”

also i think thOH RIGHT and ophelia and nora and zagreus obviously have to become friends because they all like jojo. okay anyway i think zagreus and mia would be the most tickled with the fact that nate is this very serious-looking regal prettyboy whose wardrobe makes him look like he’s constantly cosplaying a vampire and/or miles edgeworth and speaks in a generally calm and verbose manner is:

Incredibly Clueless about like... generally accepted concepts like theme parks, roller coasters, anime conventions, video games/pokemon, and if you introduce him to any of these he approaches them with the same straightfaced curiosity and if you ask him questions you get to find out how many things he’s getting wrong. for example he thinks that “voltorb” is what the trainer he’s fighting named their little round pet. like he’d think it was Mr. Voltorb and Ms. Oddish and not realize that it’s a species name. and also he thinks that people getting stopped for pictures at disneyland is just something that happens there and the people all dressed up in their princess/prince outfits are just dressed like that casually because he also showed up dressed similarly and ALSO keeps getting stopped for photos. so he’s like “i see, so it’s a social norm in this town (he thinks disneyland is a town) to expect photographs. understood”

not only is he Not scandalized by hearing the word fuck he himself will occasionally say it. furthermore so long as he actually understands it he will laugh at dirty jokes. more esoteric ones/ones that you can only understand through internet exposure he won’t understand but if you teach him he’ll laugh

related to the above he’s never given up teasing ophelia for accidentally referring to zagreus’s mom as a milf and will very quickly inform people that she did that within the first half hour of reuniting with him after a full decade of neither of them seeing each other and ophelia is tormented by it (and the fact that because she refused to tell him what milf meant, he then asked his not-husband katsuya to define it, said not-husband being someone ophelia had JUST met for the FIRST TIME EVER the same day, who now knew two things about her: she’s nate’s sister and she has the hots for her boss’s mom)

he is willing to attempt to try referencing memes. he does not do it correctly 99% of the time and is strangely verbose about it or just says it with entirely the wrong cadence

has a very easily capitalized-upon curiosity just in general and will not question most requests to do something and will just be like Okay.

this is also all stuff that the rest of the crew would find fairly funny/endearing about him (save for kouki maybe because he and nate are basically on the same wavelength and get along more based on similar personalities and haruka just kinda likes Everyone) but mia and zagreus actively.... i guess exploit? these traits for comedic purposes the most

weirdly i feel like nora wouldn’t exploit it much but maybe it’s because again nate is similar to kouki and nora doesn’t tend to “exploit” any of kouki’s traits, kouki is usually in on whatever nora is trying to do (or at least they have a mutual understanding that they can use each other’s traits to their own advantages and even if they don’t know the plan necessarily they’re aware of what they might need to play up or even just Continue Doing)

nate is like... he’s fine with being handed things and told Do Something With This and given no further instruction. and if he’s laughed at when he says/does something that he didn’t intend to be funny he’s not embarrassed he’s just like “? is that wrong?” and doesn’t take it to heart. but he and mia/zagreus wouldn’t be on the same wavelength of what’s going on (or at least have wildly different perspectives on it?) the way kouki and nora are, mia/zagreus are getting some (friendly, good-spirited) comedy out of nate being the strange little man that he is and nate is usually getting a genuine learning experience that just happens to be very comedic for everyone around him

that also i think is an important difference between the two, nate is much more resistant to being embarrassed than kouki is in most situations. nate is capable of being very casually intimate/physically affectionate with katsuya (though he also doesn’t realize how blatantly romantic it is. once he’s like oh my god i am in gay love with him THAT is when he’s SLIGHTLY flustered about it but it very quickly goes back to not being embarrassing at all for him) and while nate can have his moments of “aw fuck a social blunder” he’s usually more... deeply saddened in an instant than embarrassed. kouki will get embarrassed more by much less and will ALSO be sad about it afterwards, he’s also like Genuinely Shy on top of being lonely and bad at speaking, as opposed to nate who is exceedingly lonely but not necessarily Afraid of talking to/approaching people. he’s just bad at being casual which makes it hard to make friends. kouki and nate are also on complete opposite ends of the verboseness spectrum and yet both ends have the same result of “friend-making very hard”

the plus side though is nate and kouki would be friends super easily because kouki wouldn’t find nate intimidating (actually he’d probably be scoping out whether nate Deserves To Get Robbed or if the hammer of justice need not be swung this time) and both of them are so Autism-Having that the other one’s social awkwardness does not affect them at all. actually itmakes it even better for both of them because nate can ask kouki 5 million questions and kouki can just answer with “*nods head* mm.” or “*shakes head* mm.” and nate’s like “excellent he’s answering my questions and doesn’t look scared this conversation is going great” and kouki islike “wow i can’t believe he’s still talking to me even though i’m barely saying anything this conversation is going great” and nate can infodump all he likes and kouki doesn’t have to stress out about trying to speak “better” because nate doesn’t expect/need him to

i also think it works well because kouki says So Very Little sometimes that it gets insanely vague (ironically enough he tries to only say the important words so that it ISN’T vague because he thinks the more words he says the more likely he is to be misunderstood. like more words = more opportunities to be misconstrued) but nate has no issue with basically rephrasing what kouki said with more words filled in to confirm what he meant and kouki can just be like Yeah or No It’s More Like _ and nate will be like ah i see and it just goes on as normal. which is i think a rarity for kouki because usually nora would be the one to translate kouki-isms and if nora isn’t there kouki would have to sit there thinking really hard about making sure the sentence is as clear as possible and get kind of nervous about being wrong about how clear it is, but nate is not easily offended and doesn’t look Visibly Confused by kouki-isms so kouki is in turn more comfortable and confident

likewise nora would be initially as distrustful of nate as he is with everyone but as soon as he realizes how similar to kouki he is AND that nate and kouki get along nora’ll be really chill with him. even moreso when he makes similar discoveries as mia irt “oh he actually is nowhere near as stuffy as he looks i guess he just dresses fancy”. also i think nora would still do something Adjacent to the mia/zagreus hijinks of giving nate something to do just to see how he reacts, nate and nora have a clearer understanding that if nora asks nate to do something they both know that it’s just for Funny Purposes and nate doesn’t get like... nutritional value out of it it’s just like nora asks him to read something (like just Read it with his eyes or read it aloud) and nate is like ah i’m going to be exposed to very strange words again aren’t i. mia and zagreus would do that sort of thing too it’s all part of the “funny ways to use nate’s strange little traits” umbrella it’s just that nora doesn’t partake in most of the other ways (at least not most of the time anyway. i think he would also be the type to lie to nate about what words/internet terms mean though)

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 3/18/20

Dr. STONE, Vol. 10 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – Dr. STONE thrives on ridiculous ideas, of course, but that does not mean that it cannot briefly pause when bad things are happening. Tsukasa is saved from immediately dying, but he is still dying, and the only solution that Senku can come up with is to cryofreeze him. This is handled rather well, though Senku is not shown to the reader when he is being emotional about it. After that,things get ridiculous again, as we need to go searching other continents. This means ships, which means unstoning the world’s most ridiculous ship captain, who iss also an arrogant SOB. Fortunately they have Yuzuhira, who can transform into JoJo when she is doing anything with sewing, be it bodies or sails. A ton of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Ex-Enthusiasts: MotoKare Mania, Vol. 3 | By Yukari Takinami | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – At 27, Yurika Namba is obsessed with “Makochi,” a guy she broke up with five years ago. When they meet again at her new job, she discovers that the real Makochi is not like her fantasy version. After initially trying to forget him by dating someone else, by volume three Yurika has told Makochi that she has feelings for him and is trying to project as much “cool girl” as possible so as not to scare him away from the prospect of a relationship. At first, I thought I might not like this series, as Yurika came off as unhinged and stalkery, but as it has gone on, I’ve come to enjoy it quite a bit, especially the fanciful sequences where various facets of Yurika’s brain (and sometimes Makochi’s!) debate and comment on what’s happening to their hosts. I’m intrigued to see where this goes next. – Michelle Smith

In/Spectre, Vol. 11 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – I had been joking about whether “Kotoko is terrible” was a running theme in this book (along with “Kotoko is thirsty”), but it looks like it may be the actual main plot, as Rikka’s machinations seem to be to get Kuro to realize what a horrible person she really is. This is a tall order, mostly as I think Kuro has realized this from the beginning. In the meantime, we get the end of the family murder mystery, which is done very well with lots of twists and turns and Kotoko being the perfect arrogant detective. I particularly liked the granddaughter, who is the one who comes off as the least self-serving (and the only one who didn’t plot to kill her grandmother). All this and a nyotaimori reference. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 13 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – The festival starts but doesn’t end in this volume, and we have several interlocking plots. Kaguya wants to confess but doesn’t. Chika is busy being herself and trying to find a balloon thief. Ishigami manages, somehow, to accidentally confess to Tsubame, which is a problem as she wants to concentrate on gymnastics and not dating but also doesn’t want to hurt him. And then there’s Shirogane, of course, who finally, in the cliffhanger, tells Kaguya he’s leaving to go to Stanford. This is all done with the usual heaping helping of humor, of course, but it’s also heartwarming that the reader has come to prefer the emotional character moments to the gag moments. Will we finally get a confession in the next volume? – Sean Gaffney

Stravaganza: The Queen in the Iron Mask, Vols. 2-3 | By Akihito Tomi | Udon Entertainment – This is one of the more frustrating series I’ve read in a while. The art is absolutely gorgeous, with amazing backgrounds and scenery, and some good action sequences. There are some horrific moments that bring to mind Attack on Titan and its better moments. But then there’s the constant nudity and sadism that is also throughout the books—the author seems to love to put the queen in danger and have her menaced/stripped/flogged by various bad guys. Rape does not come up, thank goodness, but it’s still annoying, because I’d love to recommend this to a wider audience, but once again it’s a series for those who really like the nude female form. Shame. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 13 | By Yuki Shiwasu | VIZ Media – Finally, finally, Takane and Hana manage to honestly admit their feelings for each other and become a couple. I loved Takane’s silent fist-clench of relief and joy, as well as some of the dialogue that follows, like Hana telling her father “He means the world to me,” and Hana’s mother being concerned about her daughter’s future options being limited. (Takane awesomely tells Hana, “Do whatever you want to do. The only difference is that I’m at your side.”) The family trip to Okinawa gets a little silly, with Hana working herself up to ambush him with a kiss again, but there are nice moments as well, and I appreciated the reminder that Takane is really not going to try anything physical with her at this point in time. I had a few volumes to catch up on for this review, and now I’m bummed not to have any more. – Michelle Smith

What’s Michael? Fatcat Collection, Vol. 1 | By Makoto Kobayashi | Dark Horse – When I was first introduced to What’s Michael?, it was after the series had already gone out of print in English and was difficult to find. I am thrilled that the manga is being released again, making it available to a wider audience. The first “fatcat” omnibus collect the first six volumes of Dark Horse’s previous edition with no real changes, as far as I can tell. It also includes a newly written essay by Zack Davisson which provides additional context for the series. What’s Michael? may simply be one of the best cat comics that I’ve read. Generally episodic in nature—although with some recurring characters and running jokes—Kobayashi perfectly captures not only the peculiarities and personalities of cats but also those of their human admirers. Some of the stories are more fantastic than realistic but What’s Michael? is a manga that is consistently funny and solidly entertaining. – Ash Brown

By: Ash Brown