I know I believe in nothing, but it is my nothing.

 Please do not screenshot or repost my writing elsewhere.

[hemorrhagia]

I'm gonna go back into the void after this, if you messaged me, I'm gonna get back to you at some point, don't take it personally that I'm posting this instead of getting back to you. Well, I mean you can take it however you want, I can't control how you feel, but I promise it's not personal. I haven't even spoken to my own irl friends in uh, t-ten months? Eleven?

Anyway, if you sent me something, I will get back to you at some point. Thank you for understanding.

I just randomly logged on today and saw this on my dash, and my insufferable know-it-all nature won't let me not volunteer information when I know the answer to something. So please keep in mind that we do not know who this character is (as of me writing this on August 16th at 6pm-ish) and I know just as much as anyone else, which is *nothing*. I also didn't draw it.

I do know the flower language here, though.

Please do not repost this, or link back to it, or share screenshots, to reddit, twitter (or whatever it is now), tiktok, threads, instagram, or you know, literally anywhere else.

The flowers on the outfit are (almost positively) orange asiatic lilies.

Here's the flower language for them (and the others).

Lilies in general can mean purity and other associated things, or can be associated with death and mourning, or even attaining purity through death. But that's just in general. Like with roses, different colours of lilies have their own specific meanings.

From Floriography: A Comprehensive Beginner’s Guide to Learn the Myths, Magic, and Meaning of Flowers by Johny Dixon:

Fun fact: a lot of yellow flowers traditionally have negative connotations! Yellow carnations are basically a slap to the face.

But as for orange lilies specifically, they have a few meanings.

In Japanese flower language (hanakotoba), lilies generally mean purity, dignity, and innocent.

For orange lilies, the following meanings are listed on hanakotoba.com:

華麗 splendid 愉快 delightful 軽率 hasty

and for flower language in English, it's listed as:

憎悪 hatred

However, on petalrepublic.com's hanakotoba guide they list the Japanese meanings as ones that I am most familiar with: hatred and revenge.

In the article on lilies in general and the western flower language, this is what's written on petalrepublic:

"Fiery and bright, the orange lily is a symbol of courage and confidence. The most popular of these is the Tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium). Great gifts for congratulatory events, they are perfect for graduations, new homes, and new jobs."

However, tiger lilies are generally thought of as their own thing with their own specific meaning and are usually associated with wealth, though they can also mean pride and prosperity. American tiger lilies have their own meaning of chivalry, knight, misanthropy, pride, and wealth.

There are other lily flowers in the lilium flower family, all with their own separate meanings, but asiatic lilies in orange are a deep colour closer to red and not spotted (like tiger lilies).

From floraqueen.com:

"The meaning of the orange lily flower has been interpreted in different ways. It is generally thought of to represent emotions such as confidence and, at the extreme, pride. The tiger lily can also symbolize wealth. It is said that the spots of this flower look like coins of money. The most extreme meanings of this flowerare hatred and disdain. You might want to think twice before giving these flowers to someone. Most of the other lily types are associated with positive things. Some people associate the orange lilies with friendship or passionate love, so it depends on the culture, context, and type of orange lily."

From petalsandhedges.com: it's way too long, so you can just click the link if you're interested in reading.

"Orange lilies, such as the Orange Tiger Lily, symbolize confidence, warmth, and energy. They can be seen as an expression of enthusiasm and a zest for life."

A lot of these are talking about tiger lilies, which is mildly frustrating, but I wanted to include a semi-decent sampling of different sources online.

From petalrepublic.com:

"The color orange has a range of meanings across cultures and time. Orange flowers may symbolize excitement, joy, positivity, passion, energy, and enthusiasm. To the Victorians, an orange rose sent the message of fascination and desire, while an orange lily meant strong dislike. Always, orange signifies strong emotions and sends a dynamic message."

From A Dictionary of Flowers and Gems by Skye Kingsbury:

From The Complete Language of Flowers: A Definitive and Illustrated History by S. Theresa Dietz

Here you can see that lilies in general mostly have positive meanings:

Beauty, birth, devotion, divinity, exalted an unapproachable, holy spirit, honor, humility, magnificence, majesty, marriage, modesty, pride, purity, purity of heart, religious, supreme, sweetness and humility, unity of heart.

However, orange lilies specifically mean: desire, dislike, hatred, passion, revenge.

So a few different sources say a few different things, but the consensus is mostly that orange lilies often mean hatred and revenge.

I'm pretty sure it's one particular character, because there is one other character with a similar flower associated with them and they're connected in the story; and the other flower this particular character is associated with connects them to a different specific character through their flowers and they also have a strong connection in the sotry. It's really the revenge meaning that seals the answer for me.

So! Who cares what I think, who do you think it is? Does that information change your guess?

Feel free to leave who you think it is in the replies and I'll check back sometime between 2 seconds to 34 months or something, possibly posthumously.

Or just tell me how you're doing! What's up, anything new? Positive things only please!!

As for the other illustrations and their flowers, I think:

Mitsuya: Probably spiderwort and an owl. Fitting, since he has the number 3 in his name and it has 3 petals and matches his hair.

Spiderwort means esteem not love in both flower languages.

Takemitchy: Morning glories (ipoema) and clover (no surprise there!) with dolphins and gears

There might be a third flower there with 8 sections, but I can't think of what it would be.

Morning glories mean:

In Japanese flower language: ephemeral love, hard bond, and love.

In English: affection, attachment, bongs, deference, embrace, glorious beauty, humility, I attach myself to you, love in vain, night, obstinacy, repose, she loves you, spontaneity, uncertainty, willful promises, love in vain, habit breaking, mortality, enthusiasm, and vitality.

They also mean she loves you, death and rebirth, and resurrection.

Pretty fitting.

There's another flower called wild morning glory (or bindweed, scientific name calystegia sepium) that looks very similar to regular morning glory, (scientific name ipoema).

However those flowers mean dead hope, extinguished hopes, and insinuation.

Feel free to tell me if you've figured out why Takemitchy's flower is a four leaf clover. I know, but I want to know if everybody else already knows yet or not.

There are also some tiny hearts and stars on his outfit :)

Chifuyu: Snowflakes and fleur de lis.

The fleur de lis is thought to have been inspired by the iris flower (but irises are Naoto's flower (volume 16 cover)).

I'm reluctant to think Chifuyu's flower is iris, because of the fleur de lis, but rather just the fleur de lis itself. The fleur de lis has a lot of meanings (that I really haven't looked into much), one of which is to represent the holy trinity.

Baji: I have no clue lol. There are like 1,200 flowers with 5 small round petals. Absolutely stumped. I don't know what flower is on his 2022 suit illustration either, violets??

Draken: Sweetbriar/Briar rose? Maybe?? and dragons of course.

If it's sweetbriar, then Draken is matching with Mikey, as sweetbriar is part of the rose family with the scientific name of rosa rubiginosa.

In western flower language, sweet briar means: a wound to heal, healing a wound, poetry, simplicity, spring, and sympathy.

"A wound to heal" feels pretty Draken-like to me, but I don't know.

Or possibly an Austrian rose, which is kind of similar looking and means: decrease of love, friendship, infidelity, jealousy, joy, try to care, unfaithfulness, platonic love, and you are all that is lovely.

Or Carolina rose, which means love is dangerous.

Mikey: Red roses, crowns, manji, and taiyaki!

The Japanese flower language is:

・あなたを愛してます I love you ・愛情 love; affection ・美 beauty ・情熱 passion ・熱烈な恋 passionate (romantic) love

The western flower language is:

Red Roses: beauty, congratulations, desire, healing, I love you, job well done, love, lust, passion, respect, protection, well done, courage.

Deep Red Roses: bashful, mourning.

Rosebuds: a heart innocent of love, beauty, confessed love, confession of love, innocence, virginity, and youth.

A full blown rose means: you're beautiful

A rose leaf: I never trouble, you may hope

Thornless rose: affection, early attachment

And probably a lot more!

This is all of the top of my head from a quick perusal, not crazy in depth or anything. I got nothing on the animals and I don't feel like looking it up, but hope this helps!

Again, please do not repost. I am so genuinely serious about this.

That's all. Safe travels!

Why would tumblr change the entire website like this and disable the legacy editor. I don't want to edit tags, I want a functional word processor that doesn't yell at me every 5 seconds! This is the darkest timeline.

[kosmogrl]

[townsprsnb]

first love

[miyukisluv]

to celebrate sk8 the infinity season 2 and ova!!

[grecoromanyaoi]

youre laughing. jk rowling published a book about a youtuber getting “canceled” for transphobia and racism then murdered. like half the book is just mean tweets the sjws send the protagonist. she named the made-up-made-up character the made-up sjws are calling an antisemitic caricature the yiddish word for shit. and youre laughing. it’s the same length as tolstoy’s war and peace.

[agony444]

[barnesandco]

My country, Pakistan,

is one-thirds underwater and over 30 million people have been displaced, the largest amount since partition. Over 1000 people have died, hundreds of them children. Countless more are left without shelter, food, water, and healthcare. The climate disaster is real and achingly tragic, right in front of my eyes. It's swallowing my country up and I don't know when it will stop. Even when the flooding stops, its consequences won't be over. People have lost their homes, their loved ones, their livelihoods. Pakistan is doing its best which is not even close to enough, so donations are much needed.

Personally, I am not donating to any politically-affiliated flood relief funds, and given the political corruption in this country, I advise others against it. But there are good people, good charities and NGOs doing their best to mitigate the effects. They are on the ground (and in the water) delivering crucial aid to those that need it. It's important to note that at the time of writing, 1 USD = 220 PKR, which buys a lot more than you know, so every dollar really does count. Here is are some trustworthy organizations that I recommend, if you can contribute:

1. Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan

2. Doctors Without Borders Pakistan

3. Pakistan Red Crescent

If you can, please donate whatever possible. If not, please signal boost, and keep Pakistan in your prayers. Thank you ❤️

[kosmogrl]

[retroscifiart]

Storyboards by Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud for Jodorowsky’s Dune (1974-75)

[roguetelemetry]

Storyboards by Jean ‘Moebius Morbius’ Giraud for Jodorowsky’s Dune (1974-75)

[hemorrhagia]

Clarifications on 267 regarding names.

Takemitchy calls him Mikey-kun again here, not just ‘Mikey’. I bring it up, because Takemitchy rarely leaves off an honorific, so I was very 👀 because I don’t think he’s ever just called him ‘Mikey’? 

Which is interesting, since he had stopped calling him Mikey to his face, and had been calling him by his full name instead (for quite a few chapters). At least in the translations. 

I was thinking he was going to drop the honorific altogether, if he addressed him as ‘Mikey’ again, since he started using ‘kimi’ to address him. Thinking of it less in a shippy way and more of an ‘I’m the adult here, I no longer view you as above me’ kind of way. But nope, the -kun is back.

Here he does just call him Mikey with no honorific.

The guys don’t call him Takemichi, they still call him Takemitchy (well, Takemicchi).

And here, he’s back to calling him Mikey-kun in his internal narration, not just ‘Mikey’.

[umbrum77]

I think....when I see people say they don't want to see "x" on AO3 and it's pointed out to them that tag system allows them not to see "x" and they insist that no that is not enough they reveal there hand.

It's not that THEY don't want to see "x" they don't want YOU to see "x". They have decided that you can't be trusted with your own decisions. That you can't make your own decisions. And that only are qualified to be the arbiters of what is good.

I think it's condescending, insulting and reveals more about how they want to control others.

[atomic-chronoscaph]

September - art by Al Moore (1951)

[hemorrhagia]

TR re-read volumes 16, 17, & 18 notes

[Kodansha English translation]

Volume 16

Holy shit.

Is this Mikey’s bike? I ask, because the customization/decal/logo/whatever is definitely whited out again...

And, as established, we already know what Shin’s bike looked like.

So like, that’s not HIS bike he’s working on right? It’s the one meant for Mikey (if it is indeed a CB250T, but it looks like it is to me?).

This is from when they were 12, turning 13, because of Draken's hair, most likely 2003. 

If it is actually Mikey’s bike, then why did Draken say in volume 6 ‘you’ve got no sempai to get a bike from’ (something along those lines)? It’s forever weird that he didn’t say ‘your bro’s never gonna give up his bike’ or something mentioning the fact that that’s the bike Shin rode.

Why does Takemitchy have to keep it a secret; why would Shin being the founder be a secret if the Black Dragons 1st gen were famous. Why should Takemitchy be surprised to learn that if it should be common knowledge... 

And why does it even matter now that he’s dead when everyone should already know that Mikey’s brother was the Black Dragons’ boss.

The conversation about Izana happens on Monday, February 20th, Emma and Draken are in their uniforms already.

So I guess Mikey skipped school that day.

I guess Chifuyu and Takemitchy didn't go to school either, considering the clock says 1:37pm and Chifuyu wasn’t in uniform.

Which means Sanzu didn't go to school either? Unless a few hours passed between Chifuyu arriving and the Mizo Mid guys arriving.

Which makes me think even more that Mikey went to talk to Haru after reading the letter. Because Mucho could have waited till after school to grab everyone. Unless it is after school and a few hours passed, in which case: nevermind? Maybe.

Two of them were wearing their school uniforms and two weren't, so maybe it was after school?

Did Koko and Inupi even go to high school, or did they drop out after middle school? Because they also are not wearing uniforms, but they could have been picked up hours later and Takemitchy was just out cold while they were getting beaten up.  

Nighttime when Takemitchy wakes up, so a few hours pass. Yikes.

Mucho probably doesn't know about Shin's connection to Izana, he says 'for whatever reason'. Again, why doesn't anybody know anything... Why is it so secret... *long-suffering stare*

Chapter 141 is a great example of characters being unreliable. Yuzuha said that it was Taiju who had connections and was able to make vast amounts of money through them, but Taiju wanted Koko because he was so skilled at making money and had connections. She was wrong. Therefore, what she said was unreliable information. 

Almost nobody has complete information.

Did Izana really want Koko or was it Kisaki, hmm.

Sanzu really just stood in the corner that whole exchange and didn't back his captain up at all lmao. Love that for him.

Volume 17 (Emma's death volume)

Inupi calls him 'Mikey', but calls Takemitchy 'Hanagaki', but Mikey calls him 'Inui'.

Everyone at the meeting on the 21st had already been in the know about Izana being Mikey's brother. (Mizo mid, Inupi, Takemitchy, Chifuyu)

BUT there's no indication they heard anything about Shin or know he was Mikey's brother, they hear from Inupi that he was the person Izana was obsessed with, but that's it as far as we know. And Takemitchy wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about Shin. 

Shin is literally never mentioned when the other Toman members are around and it is still so perplexing to me, because it really does not seem like they even know anything that happened??

Interesting that Mikey doesn't mention Sanzu at all when he finds out Mucho betrayed them. Because he knows Sanzu is loyal already?

Mikey calls him Takemichi exactly one (1) time in the entire manga and it's on page 39, chapter 145.

Izana uses 兄貴 aniki for 'I just came to visit my bro's grave'.

5:08pm at the hospital.

None of the founders were at the Tenjiku fight either. It's like they're not allowed information?? Mitsuya was kept out of the fight... Smiley was too (though not a founder)

This is so annoying, I really don't know that they ever found out what happened.

Volume 18 (start of Tenjiku fight)

9:55pm Yokohama's 7th pier.

Tenjiku Big Four: Mocchi, Kakucho, Ran, Shion. Rindou and Mucho not included.

Goddammit. I know there's something related to 4 there. They're the 4 Heavenly Kings of Tenjiku... Journey to the West (of which my knowledge base is literally just Saiyuki >.>)?

Also, 4 is an unlucky number. Doomed from the start.

Tenjiku is India...

Ten 天 is also 'sky' or 'heaven' and a bunch of other things I'm not looking at rn (but it is very interesting).

The kanji for jiku is 竺 which is bamboo (but the way it's written as 天竺 is literally just India), but jiku じく also has some other definitions. Center being one of them.

I am so glad I figured out how to switch keyboards on my phone to Japanese this is one thousand times easier than copying and pasting 😭.

Chapter 156 is when we see them in reform school together. It says Juvenile hall, but they weren't old enough for juvie yet?? The age of criminal responsibility has been 14 since the late 90s.

The Japanese says 'shounen in' 少年院 so there's another word that has 'shounen in' as part of it, but it's longer and doesn't use the same kanji.

少年院 is literally reform school; juvenile training center; youth detention center.

Which, I believe, is the same thing as juvie in America, but it isn't in Japan. *spent far too much time looking at juvenile law in Japan, only to decide I don't actually care enough, and could not find answers about visitation ANYWAY*

'Mocchi-sama' YES GIRL, love the confidence.

I want Chifuyu and Mocchi to become bffs.

The Tenjiku conflict is literally not called that in canon, I just hate Kanto Incident with every fiber of my being, bc Kanto Manji.

Why DID Koko punch Inupi in the first place. Was it to push him away? Because he tries to get him to join Tenjiku after that? They are so fucking weird.

People complain about Mikey so fucking much lately, but Kakucho literally just let Emma die. THEY ALL SUCK AND AREN'T "GOOD PEOPLE".

🙄

I wonder if Koko was mad, because Inupi was repeating the cycle of finding another person to imprint on with Takemitchy and Koko was sick of it, because he thought it was his responsibility to protect Inupi and therefore, Inupi shouldn't want anyone else to offer his life to.

In trying to rebuild the Black Dragons after Mikey destroyed them, Inupi made them the worst they've ever been. Something something resurrection/reincarnation? Is this anything 🤔

AKA let the Black Dragons fucking die already Inupi, they were supposed to stay dead once Mikey killed them.

The snoring from Inupi does stop when Koko walks up to him in the library.

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh I found a typo!

Ah yes, coming come from school 😂

I really want to email Kodansha about the errors I've found so they can update the digital editions (and ask when the actual hell volume 27 is coming out!?), but don't know how to go about it.

Koko doesn't compare Inupi to Akane, he compares Akane to Inupi. I'm not even invested in this ship, but antis of them are so weird about the sister thing.

I don't think Koko got very far away before the house turned into an inferno? So, again, I can't help but wonder what started the fire.

Did... Inupi set his house on fire (perhaps by accident)? Because he was the one who was home, Akane was out, and his parents were still alive (probably at work).

Why do I have notes about this I'm so annoyed.

Koko thought he was in love with Akane, because of heteronormativity, he instinctively saved the person he had feelings for. He doesn't ever say what he loved about her. If Takemitchy does better than you, it's not a great sign.

Did Koko start wearing eye makeup to look older, since he started his criminal life so young?

See, this is the shit you'd expect out of kids who don't know what to do with their aggression. The stuff the S62 went away for: assault, going too far, beating up a cop. Which is why Mikey (allegedly, now) fucking up Haru's face like that, calmly, is so fucking alarming. Even Izana's behaviour didn't fill me with so much dread at first, it was revenge, and he was already presented as pretty violently unstable.

The S62 just seem like that already, like they genuinely don't care.

Angry: DO IT, BITCH. I love him, your honor.

Assorted end notes:

Yeah, nobody knew who Shin was. Not in relation to Mikey, not in relation to the Black Dragons. 18 volumes into a re-read and still nothing that I missed concerning this so far. This isn't a long manga, I could read the whole thing in two days, but I'm only going a few volumes at a time so I can take notes and hopefully don't miss anything pertinent. So taking my sweet time over here, and there's still nothing to indicate anybody knew him.

You cannot be beloved by delinquents all over Japan if not a single person outside your social circle has ever heard of you??? 

18 volumes and not one (1) person has ever brought up the first leader of the Black Dragons, that didn't personally know him. Except for Taiju, but he had a connection because he was the BD leader. And considering how he taunts Inupi, Inupi is probably the person who told him about Shin.

How was his shop a delinquent gathering place if nobody knew about it?

I don’t think Inupi is necessarily reliable either. He says:

Just. In what way does this face indicate awkward or bashful? If there was a little sweatdrop, maybe. I could buy that. It’s not like Wakui doesn’t know how to draw expressive faces, he’s drawn Shin’s face expressively (kinda). 

I think he’s remembering things through rose coloured glasses, I’m sure Shin absolutely was his hero. Why? Who the fuck knows (it should be Koko). But he’s another person where what he says doesn’t match up with what we’re shown.

I have not found my Waldo again yet 😔.

[washipink]

For trans activism to move forward you have GOT to learn to accept that not everybody who uses She/Her pronouns is going to be some short, white, skinny, passing person.

You’ve got to accept that there are tall, hairy, and fat trans women who “havent done anything” and still deserve to be fucking gendered correctly.

I’m sorry you had to hear this from me, but not everybody is going to appeal to your UwU soft trans catgirl sensibilities.

[demonanata-deactivated20240707]

Everyones like "oh no the tragic events were so avoidable, thats terrible" but they never ask "did you experience catharsis, how was the catharsis, the catharsis looked fun"

[hemorrhagia]

TR re-read volumes 13, 14, & 15 notes

[Kodansha English translation]

Volume 13

If Wakui makes t/m canon, Hina's line to her father about 'because of how it would appear to society' will be interesting to look back on. Like, replace 'delinquent' in this conversation with 'boy/man' and yeah.

Mikey looks so ˚–˚ and young this whole volume.

Hina and Takemitchy in front of a collage of her death, versus Takemitchy holding Mikey in front of a collage of moments they had together.

Mikey calls Takemitchy weak exactly one time as far as I’m aware, but it was right after telling him he thought he was strong. So he doesn't really ever refer to Takemitchy as weak (as it relates to chapter 263).

'You don't give into anyone. Not even the leader of the Black Dragons.'

Not 'someone twice your size' or 'someone older and stronger than you', but specifically the leader of the Black Dragons.

Wonder if that word choice is super important... 

I think... perhaps Yuzuha didn't want Taiju to leave, and that's why she cried when he told her and then said 'bet you're relieved'. Like I'm sure she was, but also wasn't. There's no correct way to feel in that situation. He’s still her brother.

WAS something more-than-friends going on between Mucho and Smiley? I mean, probably not? But also, I’m getting some real BW vibes. That post about Smiley’s fur collar at New Year’s, what was seen can never be unseen. 

Kisaki was already plotting his next move by New Year's (not necessarily Izana).

I really hope Kakucho is alive to give us the answer of when exactly Kisaki and Izana connected. It really still seems like January-February, rather than earlier, but.

I just realized, Takemitchy is dressed like Mikey and wearing his jacket in the chapter 111 illustration.

So Koko's first name is Hajime, but the kanji is literally just 一 for one, right? His name is just one.

Well I was like, I wonder if there's a number thing going on here, like in Gundam Wing almost everyone is literally just named after a number. Zechs (sechs) = 6, Noin (neun) = 9 Quinze = 15, Quatre = 4, Duo = 2, etc...

Well! What the actual fuck is Mikey's last name!?

Sano. San-o, as in SAN or 三 THREE and how many times have I said there are 3 Mikeys... 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I can't believe I've done this...

Takemitchy also has 3 in his name, so do Mitsuya and Sanzu. Hakkai is 8. So on and so forth. 

Mm Koko is a common thread in all timelines where Toman goes bad (which is all of them). It's actually kind of funny.

Does Takemichi have the same phone in every future timeline? That's the real question...

Love that Takemichi still has finished instant noodles sitting on the floor, no matter what.

Interesting that Naoto goes with ‘Toman admin’ instead of ‘captain’. As in, perhaps Takemichi was still there when it became a criminal organization, rather than a biker gang, and then he left.

Takemitchy gets so mad when Naoto tells him Mikey is wanted for serial murder.

Volume 14 (Manila pt. 1)

Did a Mikey include a plane ticket so Takemichi (Takemitchy) could come to the Philippines and kill him, or did he expect him to buy his own flight? The real questions that keep me up at night.

'I couldn't stop from losing myself'

Mikey was squatted over Takemitchy the first time they met and he did the same thing the last time they met.

Takemitchy's palms are open, but he clenches his fists in anticipation as he waits for Mikey to shoot or not shoot.

Takemikey 🤝 Bajitora 'dont say something so depressing' solidarity.

I think there's been death in almost every single leap to the future. Draken on death row, Hina, Mikey, Naoto, Akkun, everyone in Toman, Chifuyu. 

Have Chifuyu and Takemichi ever talked about the time leaping when Takemitchy isn’t there?

Takemitchy thinks Takemichi quit Toman because he wasn't strong enough to keep up with everyone :/

**Why does Chifuyu have a '... yeah' speech bubble after Takemitchy says 'that's the kind of friend I want to be for Mikey-kun'

What's going on in his head, hmm.

‘JUST TRYING TO TAKE ON MIKEY-KUN WON'T SOLVE ANYTHING’.

Again, I will say that Chifuyu is the smartest character in the entire series.

Because how much progress are they making in the current 9/9 fight so far? Not much! 

And what are they doing? Trying to take on Mikey.

Actually, oh my God: 'that makes sense... Kisaki probably knows something...' Chifuyu says and then the next panel is Izana.

Smartest character!! 🏆

I wonder why Izana asks 'what made you want to join us?' Was Kisaki just going to stay out of it and direct from the shadows at first??

Okay so. The wall the dragon is painted on isn't actually that tall. I thought it was an error in the drawing,but every other scene aside from the first image had the wall at the same height. Artistic liberty *shrug*.

Volume 15 (Tenjiku encounter and Manila part 2)

'One day, Mikey will have no choice but to accept me.' Kisaki is really losing points again...

What's Mocchi's issue with Kakucho? He wants to finish before ‘that bastard Kakucho’ shows up? Why?

Makoto looks wildly different without his hair slicked back or closely cropped.

Team Mochizuki is the one that attacked 1st division.

Barf!

Kawata Twins aka Meguro Twin Devils.

Smiley and Angry don't have twin bikes, yet the match with mostly everything else.

Smiley says Tenjiku just formed in 128.

Mikey meets Izana the same day Tenjiku attacks. It looks like the same road as the 173 memory, perhaps? But not the same spot, the images don’t stand out as lining up upon quick comparison.

Why is Mikey '...' quiet after Draken says, 'sounds like they've got deep connections with Toman'?

Oh okay, Hanma was definitely there in the Manila timeline. Wonder what he was up to. I will be so annoyed if he’s the second time leaper and he was like comatose the whole time and that’s why he’s not Kisaki’s shadow in Manila part 2 (bc time leaping). 

Let me not be speaking this into existence.

Is...this supposed to be Smiley and Angry, perhaps? (and Mitsuya)

I wonder how Inupi felt getting stuck with Izana as his boss, yet again. Then again, Inupi seems to hate everyone who isn’t Takemitchy or Koko. 

Ch 133 what does Taiju say to Inupi in the raws...

Oh okay, he says: イザナはテメェの 心を満たしたか? So, the word ‘heart’ is in there, which is interesting. 

I wonder if he’s asking if Izana was able to fill his heart (because the verb used for ‘satisfy’ also has a definition of ‘fill’). And Inupi does seem to always be looking for someone else to fill his heart after Akane died (in my opinion). Eh, whatever.

[hemorrhagia]

TR re-read notes volumes 11 & 12

[Kodansha English translation]

Volume 11

The events of volume 10 seem to happen within like 4 days max at the end of November, because they never change from their Toman uniforms, Takemitchy's face is bandaged the whole time, and then boom! Christmas Eve is in a week. This arc drives me crazy.

Even if his face were unbandaged, there’s still no way to tell the passage of time. I desperately need clarification from the anime whenever it comes out.

After November 22nd I have no idea. Was it even November 22nd or did they wait a week to confront Taiju? One would think they would settle the inter-gang matter immediately to avoid all out war, but what do I know. 

So it's December 18th when Hina tells Takemitchy about Kisaki.

Presumably (?), her dad has that talk with him the same afternoon/evening, and then he breaks up with her on the 24th.

I wonder if Takemichi dumped her, when it was his turn, for the same reason (her father's wishes) or if he perhaps had feelings for someone else, or if it was just to protect her in general.

Takemitchy's face is unbandaged just in time for Hina to fuck it up again. She messed up his hair too. Good for her.

Nice to see his focus shift back to protecting Hina's future!

I wonder if any people that attend [redacted] Catholic Church are TR fans and recognized their church in the manga. Like, it's not a 1:1, Wakui did change details, but it's definitely based on this church.

Still don't know the significance of ‘Udagawa’.

Actually, this arc probably happened the same way in the execs timeline. Takemichi was already bowling, he and Hakkai still probably would have gone to hang out after, Takemichi would have gotten beaten up, which Toman would have to respond to, Hakkai leaves. The variables here are really whether Hakkai would have confessed his intentions and whether Takemichi would have tried to stop him; or stayed out of it, because it was between family.

Hakkai: My brother beats me *vividly describes*,

Takemitchy: I broke up with my girlfriend.

I truly, truly cannot stand how Yuzuha's outfit is drawn. Why is her midriff constantly peeking through? Her skirt is following pleated skirt physics, but still.

I have a theory about why it's only Yuzuha drawn like this of all the girls, because it's weird that they're always drawn fully clothed and not sexy at all (except Emma that one time), and then there's Yuzuha. But she's ALSO not drawn in a sexy way, it's like actively uncomfortable.

Either 1. Wakui was told to make a fan service character and went 'lol okay' and used the worst candidate and always makes it weird and uncomfortable and unsexy, so you feel gross if you objectify this 15 year old girl as she's being brutalized.

Or 2. He uses clothing to show vulnerability. I'll expand upon this should it become relevant. I've got like around 5 pages written in my head about it.

'You used words like "family" so you could manipulate us this whole time'

Flashing 👏 Neon 👏 Sign 👏

Page 143

Taiju trying to justify his actions by saying 'they're the ones who tried to kill me in the first place'

Takemitchy doesn't understand why their conflict had to escalate to murder, because he's an only child and has never been trapped in an abusive family. 

INSANE that Mitsuya grabs the knife like that.

Mitsuya actually managed to tire out Taiju.

God, Inupi was such an asshole.

Volume 12

Again with Yuzuha in an uncomfortably revealing pose on the cover...

'We're all weak. That's why we've got family,' says Mitsuya, the person he chose as his family, talking about the family they created in Toman.

'Family?! Which one's your real family?! It's me, that's who!!' Taiju says while screaming in his face.

Flashing 👏 neon 👏 sign 👏

Hakkai casts off the BD jacket.

The Black Dragons are always always always a BAD thing in this story. They were created by whom? Whose idea was it to create the Black Dragons?? 

8th gen? Inupi ended up in reform school. 9th? Harassed Kazutora and led to creation of Toman which becomes a criminal organization in every timeline. 10th? Worst gen yet.

Taiju continuing to shift blame onto everyone besides himself, including the Lord.

'Even though I love them so much,' he says as he beats his little brother.

I genuinely thought it was going to be Baji's mom in the hospital in 263, or Haru's mom. I thought: no hecking way is Wakui handing me this parallel on a silver platter. 

And then he did! He isn’t subtle!

No, but for real, Koko and Inupi were so fucked for going along with this. It would be one thing if they couldn't go against him and we saw some sort of reluctance on their faces, but they're like. Bored.

Inupi is so lucky he turned into a puppy dog later, because this was such a bad look.

I feel like... every time someone says CB250T the furigana is just ‘babu’, because it’s just. Such a mouthful to say CB250T out loud. 

Mikey gets knocked down at exactly midnight on the 26th (it is technically no longer Christmas).

Something something Mikey is a Jesus allegory but I don’t know enough bible lore, despite being raised Catholic something something.

What is Koko talking about here? 'they ended up in a rough spot when the Haitani brothers of Roppongi came to power, so they ditched the gang and disappeared'

I think... he's saying Izana ended up in a rough spot at the same time that the Haitani brothers came to power, not that they were the cause of the rough spot.

Which would be when Shin died (because Mitsuya met the Haitanis in August 2003) hence the rough spot. So Koko didn't know about Shin and Izana having a connection, or probably that Shin was even connected to the Black Dragons?

I swear, nobody knew Shin was the leader...

Which he should know? As Inupi’s best friend? Like, he doesn’t have to know that Izana was Shin’s brother to make the connection that when Shin died... or actually, that’s a much better point of comparison considering that Inupi was close with Shin.

So... does Koko not know that Shin and Inupi were friends? He’s never mentioned him once. Or maybe he just doesn’t want to bring up another dead older sibling figure, idk, they are overly considerate of each other when they don’t need to be. Maybe he does know about them being close. Idk.

'The Black Dragons are dead!' Mikey says, happily. 

Yuzuha's compassion and understanding for her older brother is incredible. She doesn't hate him after what he put her through, he's her brother, she wants him to change.

This arc is about the Shiba family, but it's really about Yuzuha.