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ITP: KHR MOTHERFUCKING ESSAYS.
Because I have no patience for comment limits, and because my fingers apparently will just not stop typing words.
This is the response to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
misamiera’s request from this meme. The KHR request. Which would explain why, three questions in, the word count for the comment was at about 2,000 words.
1. My favorite character.
Gokudera! And I'm sure that by this point I have written literally dozens of rants about my undying affection for this hotheaded young rascal, but I gotta say, since chapter 364 came out and the comm briefly exploded with real, actual wank regarding him, I have been wanting to do yet another rant anyhow, because apparently Gokudera is a shitty friend, and also lololol he is one of the most self-centered characters in the series too, WOW. Anyway, comments like that tend to have the effect of working me up into a big I LOVE THIS KID SO MUCH frenzy because I automatically start going into a big lawyerly defense of him in my mind and it gets me thinking about all of his flaws and then that in turn inevitably gets me thinking about his strengths too, and I will end up pondering this shit for ages.
What I ended up thinking this time was that first of all, ANYONE, REALLY, is a shitty friend if we're grading on a Yamamoto curve, but either way it's kind of a moot point since I kinda figure (andchesauroshin brought up this point yesterday as well) that one of the main reasons Gokudera was so oblivious to Tsuna's giant rippling angst aura in that chapter was due to sleep deprivation! The same sleep deprivation that was A REAL AND ACTUAL PLOT POINT just a few chapters earlier but that everyone kinda forgot about, I guess due to all the subsequent awesome things that happened, like Iemitsu being the manliest man, and Hibari facing down 805933 like a boss. But it is true that even on his better days Gokudera's not as instinctive when it comes to this friendship stuff as Yamamoto is. Even when he does sense that something is wrong, he pretty much never knows what to do about it and most of the time will either just sit there awkwardly while making sadfaces, or try to JUMP INTO ACTION in his equally awkward FORCED SHOUNEN CHEER-UP MODE. Subtlety, let's face it, has never really been his strong point. So it’s not that he’s a shitty friend so much as he is FRIENDSHIP, HOW DOES I DO IT??!
And regarding him being self-centered, lol, holy shit, I was like. LET'S SEE. HIS GREATEST AMBITION IS TO BE THE MOST LOYAL FRIEND AND SERVANT OF THE PERSON HE ADMIRES MOST. HE LITERALLY BASES HIS ENTIRE SENSE OF WORTH ON HOW GOOD OF A JOB HE CAN DO TO SERVE AND PROTECT THIS PERSON ALWAYS. DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE WALKS AROUND SECRETLY AND SOMETIMES NOT-SO-SECRETLY HARBORING A FEAR OF REJECTION THAT BORDERS ON THE PATHOLOGICAL (WHICH IS UNDERSTANDABLE GIVEN THAT HE SPENT HIS ENTIRE CHILDHOOD GOING AROUND BEING FUCKING REJECTED) OVER THE COURSE OF THE SERIES HE'S LEARNED HOW TO ACTUALLY TRUST PEOPLE OTHER THAN JUST TSUNA AND TO PLAY NICE WITH THE OTHER KIDS, TO THE POINT WHERE I SWEAR TO GOD THAT EVER SINCE HIS YAMAMOTO-JESUSING IN THE FUTURE ARC, HE IS NOW JUST MR. FUCKING TEAMWORK. BYAKURAN'S ATTACKING? IT'S COOL BUT REMEMBER, TENTH, ALL OF US HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER TO FIGHT TO WIN OUR FUTURE BACK! INHERITANCE CEREMONY COMING UP AND RIVAL FAMILIES ARE TARGETING TSUNA? WE SHOULD ALL WORK TOGETHER WITH THE SIMON FAMILY TO PROTECT HIM, IT ONLY MAKES SENSE! YAMAMOTO MAIMED BY MYSTERIOUS ASSAILANT? WON'T FORGIVE WHOEVER DID THIS. CHROME GOT KICKED OUT OF MUKURO'S GROUP? THAT IS THE WORST THING I'VE EVER HEARD AND JUST FOR THAT, I AM GOING TO SIT HERE AND MAKE ALL THE SYMPATHY FACES. HIBARI IS FIGHTING AS FON'S REPRESENTATIVE? THAT FUCKING GUY HOW COULD HE BETRAY OUR GROUP LIKE THAT, FINE THEN YAMAMOTO, WE SHALL WORK TOGETHER TO RUN THE FUCK AWAY BEFORE THIS TONFA LUNATIC BEATS OUR FUCKING ASSES, SOB.
Basically the point I'm trying to make is that from where I'm sitting, it seems to me that Gokudera is often one of the very last people on Gokudera's mind, and while I am obviously SO, SO BIASED (so biased) in his favor, that doesn't change the fact that HE’S SELF-CENTERED!! is still one of the silliest things I've ever read, lol. Anyway, like I said, I appreciated it nonetheless because it did get me into a thinking-about-Gokudera mood, and listing all of those things above (which incidentally are each and every one of them reasons why he is my favorite) and afterwards I was just sitting back like, "hmm, yep. Still as in love with him as ever." FOURS YEARS AND COUNTING.
2. ANOTHER favorite character!!
Usually for these memes I rant about Yamamoto here, but Tsuna has been so wonderfully angsty and intriguing lately that I'll go with him today. I adore Tsuna for breaking from shounen tradition and not being a character who's all headstrong, steely determination, let's-jump-into-a-brand-new-adventure! like most other shounen heroes. For much of KHR thus far, Tsuna has mostly been more of a "hey guys, here's an idea, what say we just skip the adventure and hang out here and sleep in and maybe play some video games later on and order Chinese food or something?" kind of dude. Tsuna likes the simple pleasures in life.
All the same, though, he does have an edge to him. It's always been there, and while he used to keep it buried oh-so-nicely most of the time, it's been surfacing more and more, especially during the last two arcs. This isn't really a surprising development--if anything it's more of a long-overdue one, given that we've known ever since Reborn first shot him with a dying will bullet that Tsuna was capable of GAR, just reluctant. But it's only been in the last couple of arcs that Amano has really started to pile on the angst. The attack on Yamamoto, Enma's betrayal, that brief stint he spent brokenly wondering "holy shit did my dad really murder my best friend's ENTIRE FAMILY?", and last but not least the most recent chapters where what seems to be years' worth of pent-up resentment toward his dad is finally bubbling up after their most recent fight. Tsuna has dealt with angst before, but the thing about all of this stuff is that it's not just the usual (for him) life-or-death, saving-the-world type of stuff. All this new angst, this is all personal stuff, stuff that hits way too close to home.
And the fascinating thing about this sort of angst is that--again, unlike the "be the hero, save the world!" stuff, which he usually handles with a surprising amount of skill and grace--he is really not so good at dealing with this stuff at all. He gets sullen and angry and depressed, and takes to walling himself off and staring moodily off into space, and instead of his typical flailing-about "OH GOD WHY MEEEEE", he tends to be more silent and ":|" like he's fucking OOTP Harry Potter or something up in this bitch. And I like this side of him. Because once again, these are not typically heroic qualities but they are realistic ones, and I will always love Tsuna best when he is doing an absolutely shitty job of being a shounen hero and instead just struggling to do his best to be a regular stupid kid, GODDAMMIT.
3. My favorite character relationship, and by "relationship" I don't necessarily mean pairing and certainly not OTP, but on the other hand, depending on the fandom MAYBE I DO!
Yamamoto and Gokudera, but again I will break from tradition here since I've already written ALL THE RANTS, ALL OF THEM that I pretty much can on the subject. (FOR NOW.) Instead, since I'm still stuck on the topic of Tsuna, I will go with Tsuna and Reborn. :D I've always loved their relationship and how Reborn is one of the few people who seems to just get Tsuna through and through, and has a full understanding both of his weaknesses, and of all of those little, sometimes difficult-to-see strengths and possibilities. And how Tsuna in turn is always, always resisting him, but in the end almost always gives in anyway, and ends up better for it. Reborn knows how to push him, and Tsuna is someone that needs pushing, because he completely lacks the self-discipline and motivation to just get up and be awesome on his own. And on some level, he seems to understand this, and so he lets Reborn push, even as he whines and complains the entire time.
I feel it is worth noting here that Tsuna is a stubborn kid. We have seen this, and continue to see this every time he faces down an enemy he's serious about defeating, without or without dying will. He will not back down. So if he really, really wanted Reborn to just go away and leave him be and go back to his herp derp dame-Tsuna life, he could stand his ground, and world's greatest hitman or not, I think it's a battle of wills that Reborn would ultimately lose. But every single time, Tsuna has given in to him, and I honestly believe that's not just him taking the path of least resistance; it's because deep down there is a part of him that maybe does want to be great and do some great things, even though he may not feel that he's anywhere near ready to do them. And actually having someone else see that potential in him and believe that he can do it and want him to do it, it wakes up that part of him that maybe just maybe DOES kind of want to be a hero! Just a little bit.Or at least maybe a giant robot.
In a lot of ways I think Reborn sort of fills in some of the dad-shaped spaces in Tsuna's childhood and now his early adolescence. Which is one of the reasons that seeing all of these daddy issues coming to light now is super fascinating to me. For most of his childhood, Tsuna has lacked any kind of real attention from his dad, who's been largely absent from his life for huge chunks of time, and who even when he is home, still doesn't really pay attention to his son. Iemitsu jokes around and teases him and treats him like a little kid ("HI SON I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN TWO YEARS, WANNA GO CATCH BREAKFAST? "). The one thing he does not do, ever, is take Tsuna seriously. And I just have this feeling that Tsuna--maybe more than he wants this from anyone else--really, really wants to be acknowledged and taken seriously by his father.
Reborn takes him seriously. Reborn has higher expectations of him than anyone else Tsuna has met in his life. And maybe that, more than anything else, is why Tsuna has such a strong bond with him. On the one hand, being around Reborn essentially means ALL THE ABUSE. ALL OF IT. But on the other hand, well, maybe that just means that Tsuna is a masochist.
So hey there would you look at that, 2k words and I'm only a third of the way through the meme! If I didn't know any better I would say that Makeste REALLY LIKES TALKING ABOUT REBORN CHARACTERS. This calls for a round of OH MY GOD, I'M GONNA STOP TYPING ALREADY AND GET SOME SLEEP AND THEN COME BACK AND FINISH THE REST OF THIS THING TOMORROW.
o/
ETA: OKAY I'M BACK AND READY TO LIGHT IT UP LIKE IT'S DYNAMITE.
4. The moment/character/THING/WHATEVER that first hooked me on the fandom.
Once upon time, there was a boy named Gokudera and he was my favorite character in KHR, a comedy series about an alternate universe in which the Italian mafia was founded by, and basically exists for the sole reason of appeasing, the whims of crazy people.
Then one day Gokudera was walking down the street and met this dude, and then this and this and this fucking happened and I was like HOLY SHIIIIIIT. !!! Even having been forewarned that the series was going to take a turn for the badass at some point, nothing could ever have prepared me for the fact that in the space of two abrupt chapters KHR was going to assail ALL OF MY WEAK POINTS AT ONCE and just do a complete 180 from funnytimes to FUCK YEAH AMAZING. Before that moment came along, I was a fan of KHR, but in a mostly pale sorta way. After that moment? FLUSHED FOR LIIIIIIFE.
5. One of my favorite moments.
SO MANY MOMENTS. Actually, since I still have yet to catch up with reviews, can I just backtrack and say how much I have fucking loved the last five or six chapters? Seriously, it's been a return to form and then some, this arc. Chapter 359 in particular is the one I want to paragraph about, because that was seriously as close to a perfect chapter as KHR has had in ages. The build-up in this chapter is fantastic; the first nine or ten pages are relatively quiet (LULLING YOU INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY!!), and then all of a sudden the watches kick in and it's FIGHT TIME IN SIXTY SECONDS, OH SWEET JESUS. And I swear, despite the fact that it was almost laughably predictable how they all got caught off-guard, the next three pages are probably some of the most suspenseful pages Amano's ever drawn.
And then it all culminates in what is definitely, IMO, one of the best cliffhangers she's ever done. "What brings me home this time... is work." Turns out that maybe one of the reasons the rest of the chapter is so predictable is so that it catches us off-guard at the end. Because Iemitsu facing off against Tsuna alone in the very first round was something I was never in a million years expecting, and the shock of that combined with the huge question mark of where this was all gonna go... all of that basically left me with one of the giddiest adrenaline rushes I've had after reading a chapter. So yeah, needless to say, this chapter and that ending in particular were instant favorites for me.
6. A song or track that reminds me of this fandom.
"You've Got the Love" by FLOMAC (the original version is by The Source/Candi Station). This is one of many, many songs that remind me of KHR, but I'm linking this one today because it always makes me happy, and because this meme has featured a lot of Tsuna thus far so I might as well continue with that trend. To me this is such a Tsuna song; I mean hell, the first line is "Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air." XDD
Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough
And things go wrong no matter what I do
Now and then it seems that life is just too much
But you've got the love I need to see me through
As long as he's got his family there (OR ONE OF HIS MANY AND VARIED LOVERS, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU CHOOSE TO INTERPRET THAT "YOU" THERE), he's gonna be all right. <3
7. One miscellaneous awesome thing about the fandom.
Pretty much everything about KHR is both miscellaneous and awesome.
8. One completely random thought I have regarding this fandom.
Okay, it's not like any of my predictions are usually ever right. And on top of that, this is really more wishful thinking than predicting.
But with us finally getting to see Iemitsu fight, and what with the trio visiting Yamamoto's house in the most recent chapter, it got me to thinking: I would really, really, really love to see Tsuyoshi come out of retirement as well to fight alongside his son, and show Iemitsu how a real dad gets it done!
AND SINCE WE'RE MAKING IT A FAMILY AFFAIR, I nominate Bianchi for the last remaining watch, because it is one of my dearest hopes to see her tag team with Hayato at some point before the series ends. (As for Chrome, Team Kokuyou's still got two spots open so she can go fight with them, because really, just about the only thing this arc is lacking is more awesome lady fighters. LAL AND ADELHEID ARE REPRESENTIN', OF COURSE, BUT STILL, WE NEED MORE.)
So yeah, that's just my musing on that, since this question is basically a free space for musings anyway!
9. One fic/essay rec, fanart, or fanvid that depending on the fandom I either had lovingly bookmarked or saved onto my hard drive, or only just now found during a two-minute Google search.
:D
8D!
And JUST TO MIX THINGS UP, have something other than Youtube parody AMVs:
(deviantart link here!)
GOOD NIGHT.
This is the response to
misamiera’s request from this meme. The KHR request. Which would explain why, three questions in, the word count for the comment was at about 2,000 words.1. My favorite character.
Gokudera! And I'm sure that by this point I have written literally dozens of rants about my undying affection for this hotheaded young rascal, but I gotta say, since chapter 364 came out and the comm briefly exploded with real, actual wank regarding him, I have been wanting to do yet another rant anyhow, because apparently Gokudera is a shitty friend, and also lololol he is one of the most self-centered characters in the series too, WOW. Anyway, comments like that tend to have the effect of working me up into a big I LOVE THIS KID SO MUCH frenzy because I automatically start going into a big lawyerly defense of him in my mind and it gets me thinking about all of his flaws and then that in turn inevitably gets me thinking about his strengths too, and I will end up pondering this shit for ages.
What I ended up thinking this time was that first of all, ANYONE, REALLY, is a shitty friend if we're grading on a Yamamoto curve, but either way it's kind of a moot point since I kinda figure (and
chesauroshin brought up this point yesterday as well) that one of the main reasons Gokudera was so oblivious to Tsuna's giant rippling angst aura in that chapter was due to sleep deprivation! The same sleep deprivation that was A REAL AND ACTUAL PLOT POINT just a few chapters earlier but that everyone kinda forgot about, I guess due to all the subsequent awesome things that happened, like Iemitsu being the manliest man, and Hibari facing down 805933 like a boss. But it is true that even on his better days Gokudera's not as instinctive when it comes to this friendship stuff as Yamamoto is. Even when he does sense that something is wrong, he pretty much never knows what to do about it and most of the time will either just sit there awkwardly while making sadfaces, or try to JUMP INTO ACTION in his equally awkward FORCED SHOUNEN CHEER-UP MODE. Subtlety, let's face it, has never really been his strong point. So it’s not that he’s a shitty friend so much as he is FRIENDSHIP, HOW DOES I DO IT??!And regarding him being self-centered, lol, holy shit, I was like. LET'S SEE. HIS GREATEST AMBITION IS TO BE THE MOST LOYAL FRIEND AND SERVANT OF THE PERSON HE ADMIRES MOST. HE LITERALLY BASES HIS ENTIRE SENSE OF WORTH ON HOW GOOD OF A JOB HE CAN DO TO SERVE AND PROTECT THIS PERSON ALWAYS. DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE WALKS AROUND SECRETLY AND SOMETIMES NOT-SO-SECRETLY HARBORING A FEAR OF REJECTION THAT BORDERS ON THE PATHOLOGICAL (WHICH IS UNDERSTANDABLE GIVEN THAT HE SPENT HIS ENTIRE CHILDHOOD GOING AROUND BEING FUCKING REJECTED) OVER THE COURSE OF THE SERIES HE'S LEARNED HOW TO ACTUALLY TRUST PEOPLE OTHER THAN JUST TSUNA AND TO PLAY NICE WITH THE OTHER KIDS, TO THE POINT WHERE I SWEAR TO GOD THAT EVER SINCE HIS YAMAMOTO-JESUSING IN THE FUTURE ARC, HE IS NOW JUST MR. FUCKING TEAMWORK. BYAKURAN'S ATTACKING? IT'S COOL BUT REMEMBER, TENTH, ALL OF US HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER TO FIGHT TO WIN OUR FUTURE BACK! INHERITANCE CEREMONY COMING UP AND RIVAL FAMILIES ARE TARGETING TSUNA? WE SHOULD ALL WORK TOGETHER WITH THE SIMON FAMILY TO PROTECT HIM, IT ONLY MAKES SENSE! YAMAMOTO MAIMED BY MYSTERIOUS ASSAILANT? WON'T FORGIVE WHOEVER DID THIS. CHROME GOT KICKED OUT OF MUKURO'S GROUP? THAT IS THE WORST THING I'VE EVER HEARD AND JUST FOR THAT, I AM GOING TO SIT HERE AND MAKE ALL THE SYMPATHY FACES. HIBARI IS FIGHTING AS FON'S REPRESENTATIVE? THAT FUCKING GUY HOW COULD HE BETRAY OUR GROUP LIKE THAT, FINE THEN YAMAMOTO, WE SHALL WORK TOGETHER TO RUN THE FUCK AWAY BEFORE THIS TONFA LUNATIC BEATS OUR FUCKING ASSES, SOB.
Basically the point I'm trying to make is that from where I'm sitting, it seems to me that Gokudera is often one of the very last people on Gokudera's mind, and while I am obviously SO, SO BIASED (so biased) in his favor, that doesn't change the fact that HE’S SELF-CENTERED!! is still one of the silliest things I've ever read, lol. Anyway, like I said, I appreciated it nonetheless because it did get me into a thinking-about-Gokudera mood, and listing all of those things above (which incidentally are each and every one of them reasons why he is my favorite) and afterwards I was just sitting back like, "hmm, yep. Still as in love with him as ever." FOURS YEARS AND COUNTING.
2. ANOTHER favorite character!!
Usually for these memes I rant about Yamamoto here, but Tsuna has been so wonderfully angsty and intriguing lately that I'll go with him today. I adore Tsuna for breaking from shounen tradition and not being a character who's all headstrong, steely determination, let's-jump-into-a-brand-new-adventure! like most other shounen heroes. For much of KHR thus far, Tsuna has mostly been more of a "hey guys, here's an idea, what say we just skip the adventure and hang out here and sleep in and maybe play some video games later on and order Chinese food or something?" kind of dude. Tsuna likes the simple pleasures in life.
All the same, though, he does have an edge to him. It's always been there, and while he used to keep it buried oh-so-nicely most of the time, it's been surfacing more and more, especially during the last two arcs. This isn't really a surprising development--if anything it's more of a long-overdue one, given that we've known ever since Reborn first shot him with a dying will bullet that Tsuna was capable of GAR, just reluctant. But it's only been in the last couple of arcs that Amano has really started to pile on the angst. The attack on Yamamoto, Enma's betrayal, that brief stint he spent brokenly wondering "holy shit did my dad really murder my best friend's ENTIRE FAMILY?", and last but not least the most recent chapters where what seems to be years' worth of pent-up resentment toward his dad is finally bubbling up after their most recent fight. Tsuna has dealt with angst before, but the thing about all of this stuff is that it's not just the usual (for him) life-or-death, saving-the-world type of stuff. All this new angst, this is all personal stuff, stuff that hits way too close to home.
And the fascinating thing about this sort of angst is that--again, unlike the "be the hero, save the world!" stuff, which he usually handles with a surprising amount of skill and grace--he is really not so good at dealing with this stuff at all. He gets sullen and angry and depressed, and takes to walling himself off and staring moodily off into space, and instead of his typical flailing-about "OH GOD WHY MEEEEE", he tends to be more silent and ":|" like he's fucking OOTP Harry Potter or something up in this bitch. And I like this side of him. Because once again, these are not typically heroic qualities but they are realistic ones, and I will always love Tsuna best when he is doing an absolutely shitty job of being a shounen hero and instead just struggling to do his best to be a regular stupid kid, GODDAMMIT.
3. My favorite character relationship, and by "relationship" I don't necessarily mean pairing and certainly not OTP, but on the other hand, depending on the fandom MAYBE I DO!
Yamamoto and Gokudera, but again I will break from tradition here since I've already written ALL THE RANTS, ALL OF THEM that I pretty much can on the subject. (FOR NOW.) Instead, since I'm still stuck on the topic of Tsuna, I will go with Tsuna and Reborn. :D I've always loved their relationship and how Reborn is one of the few people who seems to just get Tsuna through and through, and has a full understanding both of his weaknesses, and of all of those little, sometimes difficult-to-see strengths and possibilities. And how Tsuna in turn is always, always resisting him, but in the end almost always gives in anyway, and ends up better for it. Reborn knows how to push him, and Tsuna is someone that needs pushing, because he completely lacks the self-discipline and motivation to just get up and be awesome on his own. And on some level, he seems to understand this, and so he lets Reborn push, even as he whines and complains the entire time.
I feel it is worth noting here that Tsuna is a stubborn kid. We have seen this, and continue to see this every time he faces down an enemy he's serious about defeating, without or without dying will. He will not back down. So if he really, really wanted Reborn to just go away and leave him be and go back to his herp derp dame-Tsuna life, he could stand his ground, and world's greatest hitman or not, I think it's a battle of wills that Reborn would ultimately lose. But every single time, Tsuna has given in to him, and I honestly believe that's not just him taking the path of least resistance; it's because deep down there is a part of him that maybe does want to be great and do some great things, even though he may not feel that he's anywhere near ready to do them. And actually having someone else see that potential in him and believe that he can do it and want him to do it, it wakes up that part of him that maybe just maybe DOES kind of want to be a hero! Just a little bit.
In a lot of ways I think Reborn sort of fills in some of the dad-shaped spaces in Tsuna's childhood and now his early adolescence. Which is one of the reasons that seeing all of these daddy issues coming to light now is super fascinating to me. For most of his childhood, Tsuna has lacked any kind of real attention from his dad, who's been largely absent from his life for huge chunks of time, and who even when he is home, still doesn't really pay attention to his son. Iemitsu jokes around and teases him and treats him like a little kid ("HI SON I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN TWO YEARS, WANNA GO CATCH BREAKFAST? "). The one thing he does not do, ever, is take Tsuna seriously. And I just have this feeling that Tsuna--maybe more than he wants this from anyone else--really, really wants to be acknowledged and taken seriously by his father.
Reborn takes him seriously. Reborn has higher expectations of him than anyone else Tsuna has met in his life. And maybe that, more than anything else, is why Tsuna has such a strong bond with him. On the one hand, being around Reborn essentially means ALL THE ABUSE. ALL OF IT. But on the other hand, well, maybe that just means that Tsuna is a masochist.
So hey there would you look at that, 2k words and I'm only a third of the way through the meme! If I didn't know any better I would say that Makeste REALLY LIKES TALKING ABOUT REBORN CHARACTERS. This calls for a round of OH MY GOD, I'M GONNA STOP TYPING ALREADY AND GET SOME SLEEP AND THEN COME BACK AND FINISH THE REST OF THIS THING TOMORROW.
o/
ETA: OKAY I'M BACK AND READY TO LIGHT IT UP LIKE IT'S DYNAMITE.
4. The moment/character/THING/WHATEVER that first hooked me on the fandom.
Once upon time, there was a boy named Gokudera and he was my favorite character in KHR, a comedy series about an alternate universe in which the Italian mafia was founded by, and basically exists for the sole reason of appeasing, the whims of crazy people.
Then one day Gokudera was walking down the street and met this dude, and then this and this and this fucking happened and I was like HOLY SHIIIIIIT. !!! Even having been forewarned that the series was going to take a turn for the badass at some point, nothing could ever have prepared me for the fact that in the space of two abrupt chapters KHR was going to assail ALL OF MY WEAK POINTS AT ONCE and just do a complete 180 from funnytimes to FUCK YEAH AMAZING. Before that moment came along, I was a fan of KHR, but in a mostly pale sorta way. After that moment? FLUSHED FOR LIIIIIIFE.
5. One of my favorite moments.
SO MANY MOMENTS. Actually, since I still have yet to catch up with reviews, can I just backtrack and say how much I have fucking loved the last five or six chapters? Seriously, it's been a return to form and then some, this arc. Chapter 359 in particular is the one I want to paragraph about, because that was seriously as close to a perfect chapter as KHR has had in ages. The build-up in this chapter is fantastic; the first nine or ten pages are relatively quiet (LULLING YOU INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY!!), and then all of a sudden the watches kick in and it's FIGHT TIME IN SIXTY SECONDS, OH SWEET JESUS. And I swear, despite the fact that it was almost laughably predictable how they all got caught off-guard, the next three pages are probably some of the most suspenseful pages Amano's ever drawn.
And then it all culminates in what is definitely, IMO, one of the best cliffhangers she's ever done. "What brings me home this time... is work." Turns out that maybe one of the reasons the rest of the chapter is so predictable is so that it catches us off-guard at the end. Because Iemitsu facing off against Tsuna alone in the very first round was something I was never in a million years expecting, and the shock of that combined with the huge question mark of where this was all gonna go... all of that basically left me with one of the giddiest adrenaline rushes I've had after reading a chapter. So yeah, needless to say, this chapter and that ending in particular were instant favorites for me.
6. A song or track that reminds me of this fandom.
"You've Got the Love" by FLOMAC (the original version is by The Source/Candi Station). This is one of many, many songs that remind me of KHR, but I'm linking this one today because it always makes me happy, and because this meme has featured a lot of Tsuna thus far so I might as well continue with that trend. To me this is such a Tsuna song; I mean hell, the first line is "Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air." XDD
Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough
And things go wrong no matter what I do
Now and then it seems that life is just too much
But you've got the love I need to see me through
As long as he's got his family there (OR ONE OF HIS MANY AND VARIED LOVERS, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU CHOOSE TO INTERPRET THAT "YOU" THERE), he's gonna be all right. <3
7. One miscellaneous awesome thing about the fandom.
Pretty much everything about KHR is both miscellaneous and awesome.
8. One completely random thought I have regarding this fandom.
Okay, it's not like any of my predictions are usually ever right. And on top of that, this is really more wishful thinking than predicting.
But with us finally getting to see Iemitsu fight, and what with the trio visiting Yamamoto's house in the most recent chapter, it got me to thinking: I would really, really, really love to see Tsuyoshi come out of retirement as well to fight alongside his son, and show Iemitsu how a real dad gets it done!
AND SINCE WE'RE MAKING IT A FAMILY AFFAIR, I nominate Bianchi for the last remaining watch, because it is one of my dearest hopes to see her tag team with Hayato at some point before the series ends. (As for Chrome, Team Kokuyou's still got two spots open so she can go fight with them, because really, just about the only thing this arc is lacking is more awesome lady fighters. LAL AND ADELHEID ARE REPRESENTIN', OF COURSE, BUT STILL, WE NEED MORE.)
So yeah, that's just my musing on that, since this question is basically a free space for musings anyway!
9. One fic/essay rec, fanart, or fanvid that depending on the fandom I either had lovingly bookmarked or saved onto my hard drive, or only just now found during a two-minute Google search.
:D
8D!
And JUST TO MIX THINGS UP, have something other than Youtube parody AMVs:
(deviantart link here!)
GOOD NIGHT.
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Secondly, OMG that Tsuna and Reborn meta. I'm really looking forward to more daddy-issues plot stuff. And Tsuna's reluctance and how he deals with things is one of the best parts of this series.
Thirdly, I think I will make "grading on a Yamamoto curve" part of my vocabulary XD You have such wonderful essaying in response to those people who never seem to get that Gokudera has had character development.
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Tsuna has become my favorite character along the way, especially through the latest chapters. He's just... amazing for some reason.
As much as I love Reborn, the latest chapters doesn't make me like him more though ;_; Or maybe that's just me not understanding his smirks and all.
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And Tsunaaaaaaaaa, Oh God, I love this kid. I'm so mad at Iemitsu. =/
Gokudera is in my top 3 favorite characters. I would love to read what you have to say about Dino. He is my #1! *_*
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Thankfully, you've done it for me! And, as per usual, it was glorious and beautiful and reminded me exactly of why I love that silly boy. You always say exactly what I want to say, but am too inarticulate to actually be able to get out in any coherent form.
And asdkfjask;dfkjsl what you said about Tsuna and Reborn and Tsuna! YES! Just, YES!
PLEASE. NEVER STOP STOP TALKING ABOUT REBORN CHARACTERS!
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Gokudera, meanwhile. I mean, yeah, Iemitsu punched Tsuna off a building and generally acted like a dick, but it's not that serious, is it? Families, whaddaya do. At least no one's poisoning anyone or killing anyone's mother at the moment, so, like, this is not such a terrible dad visit. Given that Gokudera's stated coping method is to avoid his family like the plague and pretend whenever possible that they don't exist, fleeing to Yamamoto's doubtless seems a sound and not especially troubling plan.
So yeah, I'm thinking between the sleep deprivation and the frightening lack of perspective on what constitues normal family life...Gokudera's behavior makes perfect sense. Mostly this chapter made me want to hug everyone and give them cookies. Except Iemitsu. I would like Reborn to shoot Iemitsu in the face, except that that would make Tsuna...if not sad, then at least deeply conflicted and guilty.
Further to which, I am REALLY INTERESTED in what Reborn's scheming here. Because he is obviously scheming something, hopefully at Iemitsu's expense because that asshole has it coming.
I'M LIKING THIS ARC, ACTUALLY. FRAN. *dies*
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So, to summarize: Gokudera = WIN, Tsuna = Aww ♥, and Tsuna+Reborn = awesome. I totally agree with you on like all three. Tsuna is my favorite character! He's kind of adorable but has this hidden BAMF-ness. And angst. Ohhhhhh. The angst ♥
I'm really glad you picked the Tsuna-Reborn relationship.... that's such a fun (but actually serious??) relationship that... kind of defines the entire series.
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oh my god people saw that wank, how many people saw that wank, I was involved in it AND I DIDN'T GET TO LEAVE MY OWN REPLY TO THAT and people saw that, crai.
ANYWAY I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING SAID. LETS NOT FORGET THAT THE WHOLE SHITOPI VS GOKUDERA BATTLE WAS ALL ABOUT SHITOPI THINKING GOKUDERA WASN'T SELF CENTERED ENOUGH. He is the opposite of self centered and selfish holy shit I cannot understand how people get these ideas from characters sometimes. IT MAKES NO SENSE TO ME. Anyway, from a story telling perspective, THIS IS WHY TSUNA HAS TWO FRIENDS. Gokudera tries to organize things, find ways to keep Tsuna safe, keep things from crushing him too much and Yamamoto cannot do that. He doesn't have the skills or the personality for it. He's sort of too optimistic when it comes to people. But because Gokudera can be so suspicious and emotionally, quite dumb, this is where Yamamoto comes in. TSUNA NEEDS BOTH OF THEM OK.
:'| I'm glad people agree with me with Gokudera not being a shitty friend/selfish/self centered at least, sob. AND HONESTLY, even if he wasn't sleep deprived before, I'm glad he's sleeping because that boy never sleeps to begin with. At least he's getting some rest and hell, it's not like Yamamoto isn't there(division of duties, Gokudera has learned it!).
re: Tsuna. Yes, yes, yes, yess. That's exactly why I love him. Because he's so real when it comes to personal issues and even though he can handle the world ending unless you manage to stop it like a pro, he closes off and becomes quiet and sullen when it comes to himself. HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO DEAL, IT ANNOYS HIM :( God I want to hug that boy so much right now.
And yes, to Reborn+Tsuna. Reborn's the first person to ever say to Tsuna that he can do something and he will do it, EVEN IF HE HAS TO DIE. HE really listens to Tsuna too when Tsuna needs to be heard - as much as I love Nana, she never really listened to Tsuna either.
and do you mind if I add you? I NEED ALL OF THESE REBORN RANTS IN MY LIFE, they feed my soul.
A Rant for a Rant!
Uh. Gokudera, self-centred? Man, I honestly wonder how they even came up with that. Even before he was "Jesus"ed, as you put it, the kid was looking for the best person to "go out with a bang" for. I agree with your defense of him, and would like to add this:
There is a difference between "shitty friend" and "socially inept". Gokudera was born and raised in the MAFIA, then spent his early teenage years on the street, being rejected constantly. Needless to say, he didn't have much experience with friendship. Nowadays, it's pretty clear that his world (mostly) revolves around Tsuna, but he sees him as "the boss" first and "a friend" second.
The thing is, to Gokudera, it's inconceivable that "the boss" could ever be defeated, let alone feel down. In this specific case, it's even harder, because from Gokudera's point of view, Iemitsu is probably a good father figure: loves his wife, wants his son to be a boss and will fight him like a man so said son can get better. Considering his background, Gokudera would have loved a father like that; which explains why, while Yamamoto went "You fought with your DAD?!" Gokudera went: "You LOST?!" Because the latter is more shocking to him. His mafia background is also the reason why he is mostly handling the situation with strategy discussions: to Gokudera, this battle royal is nothing more than yet another rite of passage for the Vongola. As far as he is concerned, the only thing not normal about it is that the guardians are fighting each other.
In short: 1, he overestimates Tsuna, and 2, he has no idea how to tell when people need comfort, let alone how to give it. But heck if he doesn't want to learn. That's one of the many reasons Gokudera is jealous of Yamamoto, who is the best friend you could ask for, and whom Tsuna can rely on. Gokudera desperately wants to be this for Tsuna too, hence his insistence on tagging along for the sleepover. "I can't leave you alone with Yamamoto!" indeed...
I also second everything you said about Tsuna. <3 Gosh, I love this kid. Now, what you said about his relationship with Reborn also seems very accurate, except... to a lot of people it looks like a heartwarming mentor/student relationship, but to me... It's a mafia hitman whose job consists of shaping a child into a criminal mastermind. FREAKISH. D8
But well done: Reborn does get Tsuna and knows how to push him because as a hitman he is used to manipulate people, be it by force, charisma or by pushing the right buttons. And Tsuna, who never had any friends or good mentor/father figure to speak of until Reborn came along, is torn between being freaked out (abuse! mafia! ShotInTheHeadMultipleTimes!) and being grateful. It doesn't help that Reborn looks like a baby, which combined to the rest is extremely confusing for any thirteen year old. With all this in mind, this relationship always looked frighteningly like Stockholm Syndrome to me: you know you're being used, yet sometimes feel like the person using you cares about you.
It would be different if Reborn had shown weaknesses, or some remorse or worry about his actions. I mean, I can believe Shamal cares about Gokudera, for instance. But Reborn? When he is happy, it's about a job well done, not a dear student improving. He ENJOYS beating Tsuna to a pulp. I have no idea what Reborn's background could be, but I think he is long beyond caring at this point.
Which drives me to my next point: Tsuna isn't just being stubborn, he has MORALS. These people are trying to turn him ino a criminal, and he will have none of it. Now, he is supposed to return the Vongola to what it used to be, but from Reborn and the Ninth, letting an everyday kid handle their problems is irresponsible at best and downright cruel at worst. It's still a shounen series, so when it comes down to it I think Tsuna CAN do it... But honestly, I would much prefer it if Amano stuck to his "anti-shounen" persona and had him find a way to escape from the mafia.
If Reborn becomes the final villain, I will be VERY happy. >) Well, except Tsuna would be devastated...
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And I have very high expectations of this arc Re: Tsuna and Iemitsu. If they haven't reached an understanding and/or if Iemitsu isn't feeling like the huge dick he is by the end of things, then I will be sorely disappointed.