Is "Tsuna learns to work on his own" too ooc lesson for him to learn...? I don't remember him ever having problem having to rely on others (even prefering to rely on Reborn shooting him for example), even by the end he gathers everyone for help with issues.
So I wonder if him swinging the other way woud be too ooc. Like similar to tyl where Tsuna handles most of the plan alone, that kinda character regression lesson where Tsuna learns he should handle things alone to not burden anyone which isn't a good lesson.
Or if you have any lesson whenever good or bad you would like Tsuna to learn please share xdd
this pair is so damn rare i may end up writing one of the first fics for it but the potential of sentinel/sentinel w their equally kind approaches and the sheer gentle bittersweetness makes me go God God GOD
Thoughts under the cut. Including spoilers, obviously.
Boy do I have thoughts. Most of them already shared with Yudja, as usual, but I felt the need to post them, too, lmao.
These bitches weren't lying, when they were saying that the writing of this chapter [6] elevated R1999 to one of the best written gacha games, because, man. Don't get me wrong, R1999's writing is fantastic in general, but the last chapter especially had me go through such a rollercoaster of emotions and opinions that I found myself changing my pfp to Kakania on discord out of respect. It sounds funny, but after going on and on as to why I liked her, I thought, you know what? Time for a change. I don't think I've ever changed my Sayaka pfp there, lmao.
Anyway. Silly thing first is that I was super proud of myself, bc in the 5th chapter when that plane appeared, I guessed that it was around 1914. And kept guessing until I had it confirmed in the 6th chapter. Listen, if it was stated earlier, I overlooked it, and I just went on my history knowledge & I'm very happy with myself.
Which also kinda made me go "uh oh" when I checked the date under some of the parts early on, and saw 1/7... and then I realized it was the USAmerican date format, so it's just January. Lmao.
Anyway, the chapter was a ride, and the sheer amount of dread it had caused me was something else. You just things were about to go horribly wrong, but I had no idea how and what exactly would happen.
Also, funny thing is that aside from the fact that it was supposedly super well written (turned out to be a fact), I also got spoiled on two things, Hofmann's death (I just knew she was going to die, not how), and that yuri was doomed.
Man, was that yuri doomed.
Honestly, I'm super glad I got spoiled on this factTM, bc I ended up with assumptions, which ended up being compltely wrong in the best way.
Ngl, maybe it was some internalized ableism from me, but I kind of expected Isolde to be the "victim" in the doomed yuri, as in, Kakania doing something that would cause Isolde to turn away from her. But I was wrong in the best possible way, because I think it managed to write a tragedy for the both of them that wasn't some form of character assasination.
I think the writers took a bit of a risk with Isolde that ended up paying off. I mean, they wrote a mentally ill character who causes lots of deaths, but managed to do it in a way that didn't demonize her, but also didn't excuse her actions. Imagine stricking that kind of balance these days... And aside from that, you can even understand what led her to that kind of state of mind. I mean, aside from curses and expectations and being deemed hystric, she was a medium for ghosts, which included ghosts from the future. I'm fairly certain she references both world wars when she explains things to Kakania, and all in all, it's difficult not to sympathize with her. And it's easy to see why Manus sought her - she was suffering, especially from her mental illness, and aside from Kakania, nobody really treated her with respect and gentleness she deserved (no wonder she fell for her), so she made an easy prey for them.
But, you know, she still got a bunch of people killed.
It's as good time as any to talk about my favorite character of this chapter, Kakania - it took me by surprise. The media made me really distrustful of fictional doctros & psychologists, huh. But anyway.
What I loved about Kakania is that she wasn't fine with any of this. Even if Isolde said she'd done it for her, to realize her dream, it was so refreshing to see a character be genuinely horrified by another character's actions, regardless of the intentions or mental health.
It's such a popular trope, accepting somebody who'd done awful things because of love, and I do like it (when it's well written), but it was so incredibly refreshing to see R1999 not go for it. Reverse1999 really said that it was still awful, and there was no justification for that.
By God it was all so painful - it was painful for Isolde, because she just wanted to make Kakania happy, and it was painful for Kakania, because she was essentially betrayed by her dearest friend, and indirectly caused so much pain and destruction. You'd truly want nothing but for these two to make up somehow, for Kakania to hold Isolde close and tell her everything's gonna be alright - but Kakania doesn't do that. And you know what? I fucking respect her for it. She values human life too much to budge out of love. Even if it hurts. Isolde has simply caused too much pain and destruction to swipe it under a rug.
And, god, the last part, the hypnotism. As if I wasn't in enough pain already. It hurt to see Kakania, who hates hypnotism with burning passion, use it on somebody she cares so deeply, and it hurt to see Isolde in the end just accept that. Even if it gave the Foundation a fighting chance against the Storm, it was still hard to watch. It still meant Kakania crossing the kind of boundary she'd never wanted to cross, and for yet another person to take Isolde's agency away from her. But in the span of this entire chapter things changed, they changed. And Kakania was willing to do anything to help, after indirectly causing that hell.
I think in a way that ending... honestly this entire chapter speaks volumes about the dangers of "idealism" and "meaning well". There's a reason why the saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" exists. Idealism alone can lead to a catastrophy, and at the same time, sometimes something that goes against your principles might be more helpful in the long run.
As Madam Hofmann had said.
Honestly, moving to another character - Madam Hofmann. Not gonna lie, if I didn't spoil myself that she's gonna die, there's a chance I would've grown more attached to her... but watching Marcus beg her not to die was still heartbreaking. In general, her death was painful to watch. For most of the chapter she was so composed, but in the end she was stil just a person, and being in so much pain naturally broke her. Seeing her fight with her thoughts, clinging to her more rational side was painful.
I also loved her relationship with Marcus, especially since at first I was a bit unsure, given her rather cold demeanor, but, again, that one was on me and my assumptions. Hofmann was a great mentor. [*] A few quotes that I especially liked:
I think I like this one especially, because it manages to explain the problem, reassure Marcus, and at the same time doesn't bagatelize the issue. Like, that's how people your age are, but that's still not great and you need to get your shit together eventually.
A different quote, from Kakania's monologue this time:
But anyway, last but certainly not least, Marcus. I'm gonna be honest, I don't care about her all that much, but that is to no fault of her or her writing. Sometimes you just don't vibe with a character the right way. That being said, watching her growth throughout the entire chapter was a fantastic experience, and by the end I felt proud of how far she'd come. You did it, Marcus, you saved that mission. Madam Hofmann is definitely proud of you, too.
Been thinking about how the ability to laugh at one’s self is such a strength. I struggled badly with this as a teenager. Everything was SO SERIOUS. How DARE anyone suggest I was being a tad dramatic? 😂 I got so easily offended.
I can honestly say I’ve made strides in this area but have by no means arrived or anything. I just appreciate that laughing at ourselves keeps us humble. ‘Whoops—I looked stupid tripping like that’. Or—-‘Good Heavens I was so wrong about that idea.’
It diffuses tense situations and helps others know that you won’t get easily offended. You can have real conversations if one person can be willing to be corrected without being huffy.
We humans are capable of amazing things but equally we can be terribly silly. It’s good to step back and be able to laugh at our self importance. To remind ourselves that it’s ok if Bob over there doesn’t think I’m the smartest person in the room. Or if Gertrude doesn’t take my crisis about the cake burning as seriously as I do.
Who said laughter was the best medicine? They had a point.
Editing to add: RIGHT after I posted this I had to chase and trap a chipmunk who got into our house. 😂😂😂 yes he was adorable. But I don’t want him in my house. He was successfully freed. His name is Rocky. My kids were delighted 😂😂
Some of you may be asking why i choose to stick with Lord Apollon for as long as I have! Well we've been working together for most of my practice....i never realized it before.....but now i see it. He's been this figure that's been appearing in my dreams long before i realized my spiritual journey. When i first started i started researching wicca and learned its ways....it didn't feel right for me and i felt the need to keep searching then i wiggled my way through many pantheons before finally finding the greek one. The myths are so familar to us because we learn them in school.
But to back track a bit before my spiritual journey even began. I visited Greece with my highschool back in 2014. We visited Athens, Santorini and Delphi. We went up to the temple at Delphi and I had this most wonderous feeling of awe and a sense of coming back home. And a couple years ago , I thought back to that time after meditating with Lord Apollon. and then i went ah ha. Yes it all makes sense now. He's always been there for me. Even in past lives if those believe in that. I'm a witch and a hellenic polytheist so i do believe in both. I've also noticed we have very similar energy, happy, joyful, sunny, both love sunflowers! So many syncrecities. He's also my patron deity
I was a priestess for a different deity for awhile but after a long discussion with my spirit team, I decided to make the switch to Lord Apollon. You can switch in Hellenic Polytheism but its not all that common. But I found out that this was the best path forward for me. I still worship my previous goddess and still work with closely but we decided that my intuition and intense connection to Lord Apollon made the most sense to continue my journey. I don't have much to relearn but since it was a much different energy i have a bit to relearn and we both felt it was right to stay in training for the length of my mentorship with priestess i am under. I hope you all follow me on my journey!
Fun (?) Visual musings regarding Simon's white streak
You think that over time this could've at least been partly spurred on by the fact he has gotten so many electrical shocks over the course of the seven years in prison?
Oh right also I hc he has tremors cause of the whole electrical shocks thing- nerve damage is no joke people
