au where instead of trying to surpass rad weekend, vbs are birders trying to beat a big year record. vivid bird squad
additional thoughts and context and such below the cut for the interested ✌️🐦🔭
birding has a reputation as a relaxing and chill retirement hobby, but if you're enmeshed in the subculture you will soon come to know the epic highs and lows. the cutthroat drama and betrayal and crashout fights and gossip and grudges and incorrigible, life-ruining, life-saving obsession. the pushing your mind and body and the goodwill of everyone around you to the absolute limit. the property damage and trespassing and run-ins with the law. the exhilarating passion and beauty of it all. joy and idiocy in equal measure. it's extremely easy for me to imagine it as a vbs-appropriate high-octane life calling, lol.
since this is based entirely on north american birding culture, they’re japanese-american and from LA instead of shibuya. sorry. a lot of the specific locations/birds are based off my experiences birding with my gf and friends while visiting california :]
vivid street itself crosses a naturalized strip of the LA river that has colloquially borrowed its name and hosts a passionate naturalist community... i've based it on the willow street estuary - where the concrete encasing the LA river recedes and green things return, great egrets roost on discarded shopping carts and flocks of shorebirds forage along graffiti-lined riverbanks. very resilient and defiant and absolutely brimming with life. ken is a highly-regarded birder who has opened a café-slash-interpretive-centre since completing his own Legendary big year (a Rad year, even) with taiga and nagi 3ish years ago. these days he's mostly left the numbers game behind him but is still an active presence in the community locally.
vivids + bad dogs bird dogs are birding/travel partners, but it's also the nature of the lifestyle that you continually run into the same people as you all orbit the same birds and follow the rhythms of migration, and thusly they increasingly keep winding up in the same places and kinda fully join forces at some point. the order of how everyone meets is directly parallel to canon still, so an and akito have known each other the longest and kohane is pretty new to it all. i think they are a tiny bit older than canon here but not significantly so - probably like late teens or early 20s.
the history / experience / talent dynamics that initially inform a lot of the vbs relationships translate really fluidly to birding in interesting ways, and it was fun imagining which type of birder each of them might be... kohane the motivated, talented amateur with a big camera, an the birder-by-birthright with something to prove, akito the perpetually-in-motion lister with nothing to lose. and to toya, i have given the highest honour of all: the keen-eyed, inscrutable larophile. though obviously they're all listers here which is a particular and hardcore slice of the subculture - remember, all birding (as long as you respect the birds and each other) is good birding no matter if you're “hardcore” or "casual" <3
i have many more ideas I wanna draw (kohane's philosophical development... toyas spark bird and how he met akito.... exploration of akian friendship..... more about the previous generation...), but this is already a kinda hefty post... for now enjoy this glimpse into the funny & chaotic & life-changing & and beautiful world of looking at birds!!! i tried to make it a) entertaining and accessible for people with no knowledge of birding and b) hopefully in-character while still keeping it faithful to the ways birders at this level really act and talk. the intersection is where the fun lies lol
if you're still here thanks for looking at my long post
I won’t bury the lead here, this translation was hands down my favorite to work on so far. It’s Don’t Forget Me, a souyo doujinshi created by Cento/Oono Imo (I was unable to find any socials---if anyone knows any, please contact me) and originally published 8/10/2012.
These scans were provided by @creatureactivist, who also specifically brought up wanting to see this one translated, so you have them to thank for this. Please support their work!
The full manga will be under the cover. Please read, enjoy, and support the mangaka!
it's meee I'm your guardian angel hiiiiii 😇 okay🙏 so. in about six months, you're gonna die of starvation. 🥺 and if I don't protect you, I will get: #fired! 🫢 and that is No Good 🙅♀️ hahaaa So. 🙏 I looked into causes of starvation, and it turns out: Your death is totally preventable! 😯 Uh oh! 😆 There's more than enough food to sustain you without interfering with anyone else's survival, but you're not allowed to have it! 🤨 Whaaat? 🤷♀️ Apparently, your death is premeditated by thousands of things called "shareholders." So. 🙏 I've been killing people,
soy yooo tu ángel de la guarda holiiiiii 😇 okay🙏 bueno. en como seis meses, vas a morir de hambre. 🥺 y si no te protejo, me van a: #¡despedir! 🫢 y eso No esta Chido 🙅♀️jajaaa Entonces. 🙏investigue acerca del tema y resulta que: ¡puedo prevenir tu muerte al 100%! 😯 ¡Uh oh! 😆 Hay más que suficiente comida para que sobrevivas sin que interfieras con la supervivencia de los demás, ¡pero no puedes teneral! 🤨 ¿Queeeé? 🤷♀️ Al parecer, tu muerte fue premeditada por miles de cosas llamadas "accionistas." Y bueno. 🙏 empeze a matar personas,
c'est moooi ton ange gardien coucooou 😇 bon 🙏 alors. dans genre six mois, tu vas mourir de faim. 🥺 et si je te protège pas, je vais me faire: #virer ! 🫢 et ça c'est pas Pas Super 🙅♀️ hahaaa Donc. 🙏 j'ai fait mes recherches sur les causes de famine et devine quoi: Ta mort est 100% évitable ! 😯 Oh-oh ! 😆 Il y a largement assez de ressources pour te nourrir sans interférer avec la survie d'autrui, mais tu n'y as pas accès ! 🤨 Quoooi ? 🤷♀️ Apparemment ta mort a été préméditée par des milliers de trucs appelées des "actionnaires". Du coup.🙏 j'ai tué pas mal de monde,
Sou euuu eu sou seu anjo da guarda oiiiiiii 😇 okay🙏 então. em uns seis meses, você vai morrer de fome. 🥺 E se eu não te proteger , eu vou ser: #demitido! 🫢 e isso Não É Bom 🙅♀️ hahaaa Então. 🙏 Eu dei uma pesquisada sobre as causas de morrer de fome, e descobri que: Sua morte é completamente previnível! 😯 Oh oh! 😆 Tem mais comida do que o suficiente pra te sustentar sem interferir com a sobrevivência de mais ninguém, mas você não pode acessar essa comida! 🤨 Queeee? 🤷♀️ Aparentemente, sua morte é premeditada por milhares de coisas chamadas "acionistas." Então. 🙏 Eu estive matando algumas pessoas,
Son euuuuuu son o teu ánxel gardián oliiiiiiii 😇 ben 🙏 entón. Como en seis meses, vas morrer de inanición. 🥺 e como non te protexa, vou ficar: #despedido! 🫢 e iso non está Nada Ben 🙅♀️ hahaaa Entón. 🙏 Mirei causas de inanición, e resultou que: A túa morte pode previrse completamente! 😯 Oh oh! 😆 Hai comida dabondo como para asegurala túa supervivencia sen interferir coa de ninguén máis, pero non podes tomala! 🤨 Queeeee? 🤷♀️ Resultou que a túa morte foi premeditada por miles de cousas chamadas "accionistas." Entón. 🙏 Estiven matando xente,
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