I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to your ask! I haven’t really been in a daiya frame of mind for a while and I wanted to give this your question a proper think before I responded.
Well. I feel like I don’t have enough on Okumura to make a final assessment of his character. At first I was suspicious, and I admit, I felt the threat of Misawa’s eventual separation in his introduction and I might have been very on the fence about him.
After that I got rather worried about him because that middle school coach seemed creepy AF (and I’m a Worst Case Scenario gal with a colorful imagination), but again, I’ve had to discard my worst fears because they are… in the end, rather irrational. And Tera-sensei isn’t That Kind of writer (thank God).
I actually quite like Okumura to be honest.
I’m not sure what you mean with “the worst sides of Miyuki and Furuya”. I think that depends on your position, and I think my opinions of Miyuki and Furuya’s worst traits are probably very different from what most people think about them (or maybe I flatter myself in that regard).
Either way, I think Okumura deserves to be read on his own and not in comparison with others and I think that’s probably going to give you the most fleshed out version of my impression of him. So here goes:
(And please remember this is my personal opinion)
I think that Okumura is a Catcher at heart.
What I mean with this is that he’s most comfortable in a situation where he gets to call the shots from out of sight. He’s kind of shy and not all that good with people, but he’s also very prideful and very principled.
I think he thinks he knows what he wants.
In other words, I think he has specific goals in mind, that he’s ambitious and that he plays his baseball the way he’s been conditioned to through bad experiences. I think the betrayal of his old coach has left him somewhat jaded at an early age and because he sees things in black and white he’s forgetting to trust.
But I think he chose Seidou because he ultimately wants to trust other people, because he looked at the way Miyuki and Eijun play baseball, at how much fun they’re having in the diamond, and I think he wants to regain that childlike love of his sport.
Most of all, I think he’s a very kind, honest child, and I think that’s really beginning to show. Especially in the way he acts with Miyuki and Ono. He was happy that they trusted him to breeze through his tests, and he’s devastated that he didn’t meet their expectations.
And when it comes to Eijun, he’s going to be the perfect successor to Miyuki. Eijun plays best with a catcher that’s aggressive, that meets him halfway with everything he’s got, with somebody who likes to pick a fight. And Okumura has shown himself to be all that. He’s also not afraid to speak up against his Senpai, which is going to be important, because Eijun is the one with the last word in that duo, and while I do believe he’s growing into a leader, he’s also impulsive AF, and he needs somebody who encourages that he thinks things through.
That being said, Okumura isn’t Miyuki. Okumura has faults of his own, and those are not entirely understanding yet that the pitcher is a person with limits, that Eijun isn’t so amazing that he can accomplish anything Okumura asks of him. Okumura isn’t as good at reading people as Miyuki and he’s going to learn that to become as good as Miyuki.
And I think in the absence of that experience, Eijun is going to flower as a leader and an Ace once the third years retire.
So yeah! Definitely give the boy a chance. I think he deserves that.
So I’ve been meaning to write about this since chapter 88 came out, but, eh, laziness and RL got in the way (and I honestly thought others would be talking about it in more depth so I didn’t have to)
But here I am.
See, the reason I really love this chapter is because it gives us a completely new angle into Miyuki and Eijun’s relationship. Or rather, it gives us the key to reading their entire dynamic differently in Act II compared to what we’ve been able to do until then.
I love Miyusawa/Misawa to death, don’t get me wrong and I think as a ship and as a battery, nothing’s better. BUT hear me out please.
Kousawa/MuraMura isn’t bad, it’s not not bad because it’s actually good! This pair has something that Miyusawa don’t give me enough and i dont have a word for it so listen, i’ll explain it.
We can’t deny that the chemistry between Miyuki and Sawamura is such a stroooong force, and tbh mostly it comes from Sawamura as he’s the one who desperately wants to prove himself to Miyuki, he’s the one who wants acknowledgement from him and all. And as readers we know that Miyuki acknowledges him, recognizes his strength and his ability to rapidly but steadily improve. But does Sawamura feel this enough? Definitely not enough. Not as much as he gets it from Okumura.
Because see, Sawamura Eijun entered Seido with a Miyuki Kazuya that had the duty to find and raise an ace. And that time, Furuya was the initial prospect, so naturally, they’d focus on him more. This put Eijun in a spare position in most of dna characters’ eyes, and tbh i feel like in Miyuki’s eyes too. Especially, when he said Furuya was so lucky that someone like Eijun is in his year, strongly implying that Eijun’s simply someone to push him forward to better himself and be more fitting to be Seido’s ace. Not only that, even at the infamous Ichidaisan vs Seido in Act 2, Miyuki and the coach prioritized Furuya over the team, leading them to a loss, that’s how you raise an ace, and that’s what they’re unconsciously doing. Of course it’s all changing now and i know, i understand.
What I’m trying to say is, Miyuki had never felt like a partner to Eijun, and tbh? He feels like a prize, at the end, along with the ace number. Miyuki Kazuya feels like an end goal of the first book or arc.
Unlike in Okumura’s case, where it’s almost reversed, but not really, Okumura went to Seido specifically to catch for Sawamura, which makes him already an ace for Okumura. It’s Okumura who wants to prove himself to Sawamura, but the thing is Sawamura is already very vocal about the fact that he trusts Okumura and really, while it may not seem Okumura is a vocal person, he is, and he knows what to say and do at crucial moments. He’s honest and this can be seen at the way he easily and explicitly compliments Eijun’s pitching and skills.
While, yes Miyusawa is still the best (IM FOREVER A MIYUSAWA)! Kousawa has this… unique charisma too that i just can’t turn away from.
IT’S JUST, I got so tired of people always putting Sawamura aside. I got so tired of watching him fight for everyone’s attention. I got soooo tired of watching him work his ass off just for everyone to give him the fucking time of the day. I got sooooo fucking tired of watching everyone putting him under a pitcher he’s already caught up with that it gave him this inferiority complex that just breaaaaks my heart so much. So when the first years who put him into some kind of a pedestal, especially Okumura, came into the picture i lost it! Because Sawamura deserves this, he worked for this. He worked so hard for this and I’m getting so emotional right now.
i dont know anything about party comps but the IPRE crew was 1 cleric, 1 fighter, and 5 whole wizards, can someone make fun of it for me
thank you all
fighters 1 clerics 1 wizards 5
someone who is good at party composition help. we keep dying
less wizards
no
They obvsl spec’d for endgame content u_u
tags from zenosanalytic:
The Adventure Zone The McElroys D&D frivolous reblogs the joke is that for most of D&D’s history wizards were absurdly weak at low levels like 2 hp die if a rat scratches them weak but unstoppable worldending god killers past lvl 19 who had access to spells that could make them into to better warriors/clerics than actual chars of those classes or high lvl monsters or could just summon armies of monsters in a single round if they didn’t feel like just mazing or vaporizing or incinerating or calling down a flipping meteor to crush someone instead but anyway
i don’t mean to sound fake deep but the reason 2018 felt so long was because we’re being fed what’s trending at such a rapid rate that we literally can’t remember half of the shit that even happened anymore. “Black Panther came out in February!” Marvel releases so many movies a year that we completely forget about the last movie as soon as a new one comes out and it repeats in a vicious cycle. “Tide Pods/Ugandan Knuckles was in January!” The life span of memes have been rapidly declining for years and it’s gotten to the point where the average lifespan of a meme is about 2 weeks and then the next thing gets popular and then that lasts for 2 weeks and it just keeps going. We’re literally losing our sense of time because of our rapid consumption of media and pop culture.
Sometimes when I’m sad I like to imagine what would happen in a crossover universe between Discworld and Harry Potter, and what Granny Weatherwax would make of their style of magic.
But then I think about more important things, like what would have happened if Granny Weatherwax ever met Albus Dumbledore, and I can’t help but feel a whole lot of shit could have been avoided if he’d had a good clip round the ear and a strong talking to about the whole “my hands are tied” bullshit that enabled years of abuse and suffering at the hands of adults in a position of authority over young, vulnerable people.
Like oh, this spell requires the bond of blood to keep him safe, all right. So that just means we’re not going to hold these adults accountable for their torment and abuse? I think the entire fuck not, Albus.
Snape is a double agent who is actually working for the greater good. All right, but that doesn’t stop him from being an absolute fucking shit weasel who shouldn’t be around children until he learns to control himself and works out his issues in a safe and sane manner, what the fuck, Albus.
You have an entire school system that ascribes to ideas of inherent morality when in fact this is a thing that needs to be taught? Well no wonder there’s one house in particular that keeps going off the rails, you keep telling them they’re evil. Tell people something for long enough they’ll start to believe you. There’s nothing wrong with being selfish and cunning, sometimes that’s what it takes to survive. Teach them how to use those traits for good. As strength. My land, my home, my people (not my daughter, you bitch) how dare you try to hurt them. Teach them, Albus, you have to bloody teach them and realize that evil isn’t born. It’s made. In a thousand small deplorable ways. And it starts with treating people like things and I cannot be having with this.
Of course there’s also the other flipside to this thought process, which is imagining Gytha “Nanny” Ogg shouting “watcher Molly” as she thumps Bellatrix Lestrange on the back of the head with a cauldron, and drops her like a fucking stone. Later they’ll sit together and grieve, later there will be time to pick up the pieces and mourn. But for now there are things to fight for, people to keep alive. And people to keep from doing what they shouldn’t ever have to do, so you find a way to do it for them, by hook, crook or blunt force trauma.
And because my head wont let go of this thought:
“You always was a right little miss,” she said, taking a puff from her pipe and resettling her weight with a hefty bounce as the younger witch struggled to get out from under Nanny’s considerable girth. “Giving yourself airs and graces and such. Pretending you was too good to scrub a pot. Well, let me tell you something, Mistress Lestrange, you ain’t fit for nothing no more except maybe a noose. And if I had my way that might be the end of it. But we don’t do things like that no more, we don’t rule by blood.”
“Then you’re weak,” Lestrange shot back, still struggling to claw her way free. “A weak, old woman with nothing left but tricks up your fat sleeve.”
Nanny puffed in silence for a few more moments, then reached up her sleeve. “And your wand, dearie. Walnut is it? With a dragon heartstring core? Very nice, painting it black was a bit much, but you always were fond of your dramatics.”
She pulled out her own wand, holding it out under Bellatrix’s nose, whose face went cross eyed and then wide with panic.
“You know, I’ve only ever heard of Priori Incantatem,” she said, puffing on the end of her pipe until the pit glowed cherry red then white hot and she exhaled smoke like a dragon, “but I wasn’t about to risk it, not in front of all those kiddies. But I reckon now might be a good time…”
Also, for your consideration. Feegles.
“Haul yoo, aye yoo, the great big ugly gangly scunner wi-oot a nose. Can yesew? Well stitch this.”
Harry watched in consternation as Voldemort staggered back, dropped to the ground like a ton of bricks and lay still.
“That’s it?” he demanded, lowering his wand. “That’s all you had to do?”
Rob
Anybody, perched on his shoulder, looked up at the young wizard out the
corner of the eye, which was to say he looked him in the nostrils.
“Weell,”
he said, gesturing towards the chaos that had been unleashed as the
full force of the Nac Mac Feegle was unleashed upon the band of Death
Eaters, primarily by running up the inside of their trousers. “That’s
the thing about the lads. Once they’ve decided tae dae something, they
dae it good and hard.”
“But you just headbutted him!”
“Aye, weill,” Rob said, feeling as though the lad wasn’t quite grasping the practicality of the situation, “he might be a bloody great dark bigjob wizard, but he cannae cast a spell wi-oot a heid.”
Ok but the one I want to see is Dolores Umbridge vs Munstrum Ridcully, becuase that would be the Petty Academic Slapfight of doom.
Because Ridcully, for all his faults, probably understands that the actual learning of magic relies on a certain degree of both freedom and madness and sometimes explosions.
And Umbridge would crawl right up his skin with her concept of a “Defense Against The Dark Arts” Course, and in the middle of a lecture on recent runes, would go on a “tangent” on the history of various dark wizards and the means by which they were defeated and here Why Don’t We Have A Practical Outside, The Weather Is Nice (The weather is not nice. It’s Scotland. In Late November.) But everyone is really curious to see the old man actually take his wand out for once, only to discover that that’s not a wand at all, that’s a Burleigh & Stronginthearm and they’re all going to pass it around and whoever shoots the weathervane off the top of Ravenclaw tower gets 50 points. Hannah Abbot puts a bolt through Umbridge’s window, taking out a kitten plate and gets 100 points.
Fred and George turn the third floor corridor into a Swamp and Umbridge is pleased to hear Ridcully bellowing at the Weasley boys about “BLOODY INSONSIDERATE, NEVER HAVE I EVER MET SUCH WRETCHEDLY-” but the second she’s around the corner it changes to “-brilliant young men, how much is this setup you have here? That potions-master could do with some aggravated moisturizing. Speaking of moisturizing, what would it take to get you two gentlemen to work on the faculty baths? Disgustingly substandard, nowhere to put your nail trimmings-”
Ridcully would like the students there too, I think. Especially the Slytherins, because he’s perfectly aware how important being a cunning bastard and willing to get your hands dirty or bloody if needed is, especially in the world of Magical Academia. They’re socially intelligent and disenchanted with the system, not Evil, Albus. The Malfoy boy would be a lot less trouble if he had something to do besides practicing subject’s he’s bored with. Fratricide, perhaps. I’m kidding Albus! (he’s only sort of kidding. Maybe not murder. Just turn him into a toad and keep him as a familair in a bowl on the mantlepiece.)
He’d be so mad about the Chamber of secrets though. Potter! A Basilisk! Why didn’t you bring the head back up it’d be magnificent hanging over the great hall. Oh I see. Well why didn’t you go BACK? Perfectly good potion ingredients going to waste, doesn’t that brooding mop of a potions master teach you anything about looti- er, collecting spell components?
I forgot I wrote this haha, and I’m glad @gallusrostromegalus made it better.
Okay but feagles and house elves tho
Obeyin’ the hag is one thing, but any hag that’d that inna worth the title
(Dobby takes it up first, under his breath: “no lords and no masters”)
Havelock Vetenari is not a man to “Go Spare”, and certainly not without good cause but that shambling mountain of paperwork and prejudice they call “The Ministry Of Magic” is several thousand good reasons. He doesn’t even WANT to take over this disaster but he can’t rest so long as it continues to exist.
But. He’s better than that. Why waste time in pointless rage when there are things he can actually do to fix this?
“Mr. Lipvig.” He says, conversationally. “Did you know that the currency conversion rates haven’t changed since Gringotts was founded? Seventeen silver sickles to a gold galleon since the 1100’s”
He doesn’t really need to say anything else. Moist blinks a few times, then gradually begins to vibrate as every instinct he possess is called to the forefront.
“They’re just down the street if you wanted to see their facilities-”
Moist’s chair actually spins with the force of his rapid departure.“
You’ve spent your whole life locked in libraries and studies, learning about the world around you without ever entering it. You’re filled with jealousy of those who do. Your past sins are sloth and envy. How do you plead?
sloth/envy strikes me really hard as code for depression/anxiety disorder double whammy u feel me? Griffin also describes Barry as ‘always nervous.’
also the implication that a middle aged dude who’s lived a pretty sheltered life is suddenly going into space? sounds a LOT like a mid life crisis.
Barry: *literally hops onboard a rocket ship to escape the fact that he spent 20 years collecting degrees not leaving any meaningful impact on the world*
Contrast with Lup’s “I did this world and kind of… crushed it?” *leaves this stink planet*
LOVE THAT CONTRAST! that dynamic! Lup who’s older and experienced and has done things, seen things! Barry saying he looks up to her, calling her the love that defined and redeemed him! it’s so GOOD
i’m working on my Barry character study rn and he’s just a MESS…i love him so much. he’s never been particularly good at people or emotions but he becomes defined by the love he feels for his family and it literally sustains his humanity! the growth! is so good
His character arc is to become an undead monstrosity powered by love and i think that’s beautiful
You know what? There are a lot of things I don’t understand about the LGBT community as a binary trans mlm. I don’t understand how trans people can be non-dysphoric, because my experience with dysphoria is very different. I don’t understand why there are so many MOGAI labels, or why xenogenders and things of the sort exist. I don’t understand how some lesbians can use he/him pronouns. I don’t understand why some nonbinary people use neopronouns when they can just use they/them. I don’t understand why there are so many ace/aro spectrum labels, because frankly I myself don’t like labels that much.
But guess what? I’m not an asshole.
I respect trans people and acknowledge that they are trans even if they don’t have dysphoria, because I know being trans isn’t an universal experience and is different for everyone.
I respect MOGAI labels, even if I think they are ‘cringy’ and unnecessary, because if they make you happy then what’s wrong with them? What’s wrong with using more words to describe yourself?
I respect he/him lesbians and use their pronouns, because even though I don’t fully understand why, it’s obvious that these pronouns make them more comfortable and as a trans person I understand that.
I use and respect the neopronouns for my nonbinary siblings even though I may say them wrong sometimes (I don’t have a lot of experience with them) because I understand what it’s like to be referred to as the wrong pronouns.
I respect ace/aro identities, regardless of ace discourse, because they are valid, and I don’t need to understand why or how someone chooses to identify. I myself would technically be demisexual, but I don’t choose to identify that way because it feels unnecessary. But if you feel like it fits? You do you.
Here’s a thought: you don’t need to understand something in order to respect it. Just let people keep identifying how they identify, they aren’t doing anyone any harm. And guess what? Even if they do turn out to be cishet, that’s fine too. At the end of the day, all we have done is earn an ally to the community.
one of my favorite things about the pokemon universe is how the humans are esp. the bad guys
like mob boss giovonni can pull out a glock and waste my 10 y/o ass but he doesn’t he just accepts that i knocked out his cat and hands me money
I have my own theory that humans in the Pokemon world don’t even have a concept of direct violence. They settle all disputes through Pokemon battles, but also a human without pokemon is entirely helpless. This might lend its self further to the notion that humans can’t venture outside of towns without bringing trained pokemon to protect them. Like, can Pokemon world humans even throw a punch? I think the notion of humans ever directly using violence against one another without pokemon involved is something they can’t even think of.
In one of the movies ash just straight up clocks lucario
ash is innovative in a world where humans can’t punch
*steeples fingers* okay so I know this is a humorous fun joke but like…
Let’s think about this for a moment.
Mob Boss Giovanni probably has a gun. Given the level of technological development in pokemon’s universe it’s very unlikely that nobody invented gunpowder or ever thought to put it together into a weapon, or that Giovanni would procure one.
Let’s also assume the average ten-year-old bright-eyed pokemon trainer is not wearing a bulletproof vest, or has particularly impressive gun dodging abilities.
Giovanni shoots child, Giovanni probably dies immediately.
“A clever plan..because if Harry here and his friend Ron hadn’t discovered this book, why–Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn’t acted of her own free will…and imagine…what might have happened then…The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pure-blood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and killing Muggle-borns…”
It brings me SO MUCH joy that the plot of Chamber of Secrets basically happens because Lucius is terrified out of his mind of Arthur and Molly Weasley and their SEVeN kids who were all raised to hold the line in case anyone tried to start a genocidal regime again. They are so powerful and so dangerous to any attempted rise to power from the Death Eaters, and Lucius feels the need to try and marginalize and demonize them in order to decrease the threat they pose.
And boy was he right to be concerned, they are…unstoppable. Each and every one of them. You thought it was impressive that it took five Death Eaters to kill their uncles? Try having a couple Weasleys illegally on the airwaves, one destroying Voldemort’s Horcruxes, one protesting at Hogwarts, one running loose in the government, one housing escaped prisoners, and one getting foreign support!! More children than they can afford? Try more children than you can effectively stop!!
And then when they ALL show up to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts? What a trip for Lucius Malfoy! Hey bigots! Would you like to pick an opponent based on which Quidditch position they excel at, or do you wanna roll the dice and go with one of the brothers who got 12 OWLs? Those are your only two options because Weasleys are EVERYWHERE and the weak link is NO ONE. The fear that must have been in his heart when one or two of them was around every corner of the school taking down his DE pals…is so amazing to think about. Glorious. Iconic. Every Weasley has red hair, freckles, and a drive to destroy the concept of blood purity at all cost!!
The Weasleys are not always nice or right, but they are GOOD and they believe in standing up for what is good, and when evil is around they SHOW UP to fight it. No questions asked. And evil is so scared of them, so worried about what they can do, that it resorts to desperately weaponizing a little girl to try and stop them.
THIS IS AMAZING!!!! GO, WEASLEYS!!!
The thing I love about Arthur Weasley is his function as a foil to Lucius. The Weasleys are dirt poor and Arthur’s job is a joke, but he’s widely respected to the point that the governers mention that finding his daughter in the chamber is the last straw. Not a pureblood student.One that’s related to Arthur. He’s well connected enough to get them into the Minister’s box at the Quidditch world cup. I forget which book it is, but at one point he gets an entire fleet of enchanted cars to take the kids to King Cross station to catch the train. This is all through sheer personal influence; everything the Malfoys achieve is through bribery. Lucius should fear the Weasleys.
Arthur Weasley runs on fairy tale power; he does favors for people, because he’s kind, and they do favors for him in turn.
just moving along like everyone else 