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i missed you guys missed you missed you missed you
Our internet went out this weekend, and it’s only just now fixed. I am not happy. I need to be able to use the internet from home to grade, so I ended up spending hours more than I usually would on campus so I could grade. I also couldn’t do stuff like check our online banking or look up something random I wanted to know or comment on failfandomanon. I could technically do all those things on my phone (and I did read LJ and DW), but some sites are difficult to navigate on my phone, and commenting is really hard for me (texting is beyond my skill set; thank goodness most times I can talk into my phone and have it transcribe what I’m saying).
So here are the things I wanted to post about while I was away:
1. I am finally finished with Furuba. I was doing a reaction post per volume or handful of volumes, but I think I’ll just discuss the main points picking up where I left off in volume 13 to the end.
I love that Yuki and Kyo both are parts of Tohru’s past even though she’s not initially aware; Yuki wearing Kyo’s hat when he leads Tohru home reminds me a great deal of a similar back story for the main characters in Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple.
All the parental abuse, neglect, and rejection in the story really started to get to me by the end. As a parent myself, imagining a scenario in which I physically or emotionally abuse my kids or reject them entirely is impossible for me. Especially if all my kid does is turn into a kitty when I hug him. I don’t get the visceral horror all the parents of the Sohma kids seem to experience. And the sibling stuff is disturbing as well; from Momiji being separated from his siblings to Machi being accused of trying to kill her brother by a manipulative mother, those relationships are pretty tragic, too.
I found Tohru’s mother’s back story pretty satisfying and loved the joy she was able to find in her family.
I was not expecting the reveal that Akito is a girl, and I didn’t expect her relationships with both Kureno and Shigure. I don’t understand why Akito’s mom insisted she be raised as a man, and once again, her rejection of her child makes little sense to me. I think Akito’s mom truly loved her dad and was traumatized by his death and the way the other members of the household treated her but that hardly seems an excuse. I’m also not quite sure I understand exactly why Akito becomes so possessive and manipulative and cruel as a result unless those traits are just meant to be the perversion of the original deal the animals made with god.
I think the way breaking the curse is handled is probably the most interesting part of the whole story. I was expecting something like a fairy tale, Tohru making the right gesture or Kyo admitting a vulnerability or something similar to release them all. I think having the bond slowly dissolve naturally is probably a better choice, and I think that choice leaves fans with something interesting to chew on in fic—namely, to what degree is Akito consciously or unconsciously influencing that dissolution.
Tohru falling off the cliff was a bit much for me. LOL
I like the way all the endgame relationships play out (Aayame and Mine, FTW!) I died laughing at the part where Kakeru announces that Tohru is Yuki’s mommy in his heart (even though Yuki confirms that’s true later, the way Kakeru says it slays me). I cried at the end when Tohru and Kyo are shown as grandparents with Tohru’s mom’s wishes for Tohru written over the images of their happy family. So lovely.
I also liked seeing the original banquet and how the story and purpose of the zodiac became perverted over the centuries. So deeply sad and melancholy. This story contains a great deal of death, and one of the main themes seems to be learning to accept mortality and live well despite eventual death.
All in all, I’m glad I read this series even though manga and comics will never be my preferred genre to read.
2. All the Americans who believe that changing the time twice a year is a good idea should have to take care of an infant and a dog for a week after the time change while also continuing to fulfill their regular responsibilities and obligations. I do prefer waking up in the morning to sunlight but NOT THAT MUCH!
3. Who else thinks what the world needs now is a Peter Quill vid set to "Ain't No Other Man" by Christina Aguilera?
4. Rest in peace, Tom Magliozzi. I care shit all for cars, but you and your brother have brought a great deal of laughter and joy into my life over the years. Thanks for sharing your expertise and your mirth with us all.
5. I just placed a ginormous perfume order with BPAL, and I hope it will arrive before Christmas. :) Emma picked out imps of Dragon's Milk, Al-Shairan, How Doth the Little Crocodile, Schrody's Cat, Eden, and Good. I picked out imps of Bewitched, Troll, Kumiho, Whitechapel, Alecto, and Strangler Fig. I also got full-sized bottles of Phobos and Incantation for myself plus a full-sized bottle of Elf for Emma. I can't wait to try them all.
6. I am about to spam you all with some more posts (Walking Dead, kids today, Gotham) that I hope you all find mind-blowingly scintillating. Whoooooo!
So here are the things I wanted to post about while I was away:
1. I am finally finished with Furuba. I was doing a reaction post per volume or handful of volumes, but I think I’ll just discuss the main points picking up where I left off in volume 13 to the end.
I love that Yuki and Kyo both are parts of Tohru’s past even though she’s not initially aware; Yuki wearing Kyo’s hat when he leads Tohru home reminds me a great deal of a similar back story for the main characters in Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple.
All the parental abuse, neglect, and rejection in the story really started to get to me by the end. As a parent myself, imagining a scenario in which I physically or emotionally abuse my kids or reject them entirely is impossible for me. Especially if all my kid does is turn into a kitty when I hug him. I don’t get the visceral horror all the parents of the Sohma kids seem to experience. And the sibling stuff is disturbing as well; from Momiji being separated from his siblings to Machi being accused of trying to kill her brother by a manipulative mother, those relationships are pretty tragic, too.
I found Tohru’s mother’s back story pretty satisfying and loved the joy she was able to find in her family.
I was not expecting the reveal that Akito is a girl, and I didn’t expect her relationships with both Kureno and Shigure. I don’t understand why Akito’s mom insisted she be raised as a man, and once again, her rejection of her child makes little sense to me. I think Akito’s mom truly loved her dad and was traumatized by his death and the way the other members of the household treated her but that hardly seems an excuse. I’m also not quite sure I understand exactly why Akito becomes so possessive and manipulative and cruel as a result unless those traits are just meant to be the perversion of the original deal the animals made with god.
I think the way breaking the curse is handled is probably the most interesting part of the whole story. I was expecting something like a fairy tale, Tohru making the right gesture or Kyo admitting a vulnerability or something similar to release them all. I think having the bond slowly dissolve naturally is probably a better choice, and I think that choice leaves fans with something interesting to chew on in fic—namely, to what degree is Akito consciously or unconsciously influencing that dissolution.
Tohru falling off the cliff was a bit much for me. LOL
I like the way all the endgame relationships play out (Aayame and Mine, FTW!) I died laughing at the part where Kakeru announces that Tohru is Yuki’s mommy in his heart (even though Yuki confirms that’s true later, the way Kakeru says it slays me). I cried at the end when Tohru and Kyo are shown as grandparents with Tohru’s mom’s wishes for Tohru written over the images of their happy family. So lovely.
I also liked seeing the original banquet and how the story and purpose of the zodiac became perverted over the centuries. So deeply sad and melancholy. This story contains a great deal of death, and one of the main themes seems to be learning to accept mortality and live well despite eventual death.
All in all, I’m glad I read this series even though manga and comics will never be my preferred genre to read.
2. All the Americans who believe that changing the time twice a year is a good idea should have to take care of an infant and a dog for a week after the time change while also continuing to fulfill their regular responsibilities and obligations. I do prefer waking up in the morning to sunlight but NOT THAT MUCH!
3. Who else thinks what the world needs now is a Peter Quill vid set to "Ain't No Other Man" by Christina Aguilera?
4. Rest in peace, Tom Magliozzi. I care shit all for cars, but you and your brother have brought a great deal of laughter and joy into my life over the years. Thanks for sharing your expertise and your mirth with us all.
5. I just placed a ginormous perfume order with BPAL, and I hope it will arrive before Christmas. :) Emma picked out imps of Dragon's Milk, Al-Shairan, How Doth the Little Crocodile, Schrody's Cat, Eden, and Good. I picked out imps of Bewitched, Troll, Kumiho, Whitechapel, Alecto, and Strangler Fig. I also got full-sized bottles of Phobos and Incantation for myself plus a full-sized bottle of Elf for Emma. I can't wait to try them all.
6. I am about to spam you all with some more posts (Walking Dead, kids today, Gotham) that I hope you all find mind-blowingly scintillating. Whoooooo!
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And fwiw, I much prefer to wake up in the dark and drive home from work when it's light than the other way around. Argh.
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I actually like waking up when it's light better than when it's dark, but I do not enjoy explaining to a 16 month old that we are not getting up at 4:40 today. LOL
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Tohru falling off the cliff was a bit much for me. LOL
*g* I remember when that happened, everyone I knew (who was reading it) was just like "...you can NOT be serious, Takaya-sensei." And then we remembered that the very first couple of chapters established that the ground there was unstable and prone to giving way (Tohru's tent getting buried in the landslide!), so while the actual falling-off-a-cliff is still a bit much, we were reminded of how thorough she is about laying the groundwork for things.
I’m also not quite sure I understand exactly why Akito becomes so possessive and manipulative and cruel as a result unless those traits are just meant to be the perversion of the original deal the animals made with god.
I've always read that as a direct response to Ren belittling and mocking the bond. It's been years now since I've read the series through, but Akito's entire self-image is defined by being the Jyuunishi's god, and by doing everything she can to drive them away, she can prove to herself (and Ren) that they'll love her and stay by her no matter what. (My thoughts/feelings on it are a bit more complex than that, but I would want to dig back into the books for reference before trying to write them up, and I just can't right now. ;_;)
(The most relevant tags I have are this one and this one, but I think most of the posts in one are also in the other. And from a quick glance, they're mostly chapter reactions, not overall stuff--I was reading the series as it was running in Japan, so my corner of the fandom was mostly responding that way at the time.)
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I had forgotten about the landslide that destroyed Tohru's original tent home! She did establish that early on, like volume one.
Ohh, you make a good point about Akito's behavior--that if she is awful and they still love her and they still stay, then she's secure. That makes sense. *nods*
Did you ever write any fic?
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Takaya-sensei's gift for foreshadowing is astounding. There are so many tiny threads in that series, and nearly all of them tie up in ways that really work for me. When Furuba was winding down I was terrified that I wouldn't like the ending, because while I generally find manga endings more reliable than anime ones (which makes sense, given how many anime are adapted from unfinished manga, or are incomplete adaptations), many of them are also...not great. But I loved the Furuba ending, with a couple of minor qualms.
I feel so horrible for Akito, and I have some real hope for where she'll wind up as a person. And she's fascinating! OTOH, Rin is my girl forever, and as a result, I have GIANT ISSUES with Akito that are never going away.
I wrote a LOT of fic. *g* The majority of it is Rin/Haru-centric (the sheer quantity is partly due to doing a
...I've had the website for years, and it still kind of amuses me that I have one at all. Its official reason for existence is that the fandom was so vicious and stupid about Rin when I first got into the series, and I loved her from day one, so clearly I needed an info site for her.
(Linking without any expectations as to what, if any, fics you might want to look at--zero pressure, honestly!--here are the relevant page of my website, where the oldest stuff is still tragically in .txt format, and the chronological master list from the 30 Kisses stuff, which includes nearly all of my post-series fic [and the couple of fics not on my site at all].)