They Are Both On Opposite Ends Of The Height Scale Going From Shorty To Freakishly Large

There are plenty of small changes in Akane's behavior once the severance is over.

The one that caught my attention the most is this brand new habit of protecting himself.

Akane loves to be alive, but he has no fear of death or pain.

Teru bullies him every day and he keeps his guard down in the student council. Aoi stabbed him, the injury so severe that chapters later, it hurts Akane to even move, yet he kept himself wide open in battle.

This habit really is very new.

So what changed? What made him constantly be on the defensive?

It wasn't self-preservation. It's his duty.

He is needed alive.

The keeper of the present can't die.

Akane still isn't careful with himself. He isn't protecting himself, he is protecting the idea of a better present.

On the third of November 2020 there was a birthday party

the way wilbur and quackity cut to scar each other though with those words, “you are in my shadow. act like it.” because quackity has always been second. to wilbur, to schlatt, to karl. this is the one place where hes in charge and hes the star, of course he’s never gonna hand that over to wilbur. wilbur, who he tells “i don’t think of you at all.” because he knows damn well all wilbur ever wanted was a legacy. to be remembered. to be loved. and he wasn’t even given a grave.

they knew exactly where to bruise each other before they even put their fists up.

I lovbe them

“Dono: Smile if you like dick :D

Quackity: *Tries to not smile, ends up laughing his ass off*

Quackity: Stupid ass donos- *Laughing* you guys are idiots- “

This clip was nominated for a hispanic streamer event, if Quackity wins this, it will be shown to thousands of people as Q has to get his award, all of this live btw  

Quick question – why do the TCF fans keep portraying Bud Illis as an idiot?

It kind of bothers me, because in canon, Bud is not stupid.

Yes, he is a at times reckless (like that time he got captured by Jopis). And yes, he plays the "drunk idiot" role very well, to the point he completely fooled Raon when Cale and Bud met for the first time.

The problem is, for some reason, TCF fans remember that interaction between Cale & Bud in the inn and take it as his actual characterization, and not an act. Which it is.

Because Bud acts like a drunk blabbermouth idiot on purpose, there! Cale himself notices it almost instantly!!

Bud is an interesting character. He's someone who relies on his drunk act – which he does mostly to gather intel, just like OG Cale relied on his act to ruin his reputation – in order to be underestimated. And it works, because everyone is surprised just how much Bud knows, despite being from a different contient than Cale.

However, being drunk and supposedly recklessly talkative (even though I can tell he chose the information he told Cale in that first meeting very carefully, figuring Cale out at the same time), Bud also shows signs of very quick wit and spontaneous planning, just like Cale.

He figures out quickly that Cale and the others are no joke. He's willing to enter an alliance, and show Cale the Directory, and also makes the immediate decision to burn the Directory down, once he realizes that the White Star uses it for nefarious purposes.

We see his competence in the 1,001 mercenary squad rescue, how he's willing to do anything for his men, and isn't too stubborn to ask Cale for help, when he needs it. He's also compassionate and responsible enough to regret putting Cale in danger as he rushes in to save them.

Of course, I understand why the "idiot" part is what the fans actually remember of this character. He got captured by Jopis' "innocent" puppies. That.... wasn't his fault. He has an Ancient Power which should have warned him of potential danger, and yet, the puppies turned out one of the few immune exceptions to his senses. Bud's true mistake was going in alone, and doing so because the wanted to impress Cale. Which is why he gets no sympathy from Cale when they show up to "rescue" him and make a deal with Jopis.

Sorry, Bud, as much as I'm on your side, that was a hilariously stupid mistake on your part.

One incident shouldn't make fans believe that Bud is an idiot, though. The reason it does, however, is because of Glenn. Glenn Poeff's reaction to Bud getting stupidly captured shows us that this was not the first time when Bud was stupidly reckless. But it does fit his overall characterization. Bud is not stupid, but he's not as cautious as Cale, despite his justified paranoia about the White Star aiming to kill him.

Bud's attitude towards Cale's crazy shenanigans also reminds the audience of two specific characters: Toonka, and Archie. Both of which are, at the same time, the "violent thugs" of their society, who contrast Cale in being shocked by his "mad viciousness" and become ironically "the only sane man on board". But just because Bud is also one of the characters who react to Cale as "dude, are you crazy?? Wait, nevermind..." doesn't mean that Bud is at the same intelligence level as Toonka and Archie. In fact, Bud is much, much more intelligent than those two. So it's not really fair to put him together with them in that department.

Bud is also a Sword Master, and a Mercenary King. We can probably conclude two things about his personality from that: one, he loves adventure and swordmanship. Two, he is brave enough to lead and make risks in order to achieve his ambitions. Bud is intelligent and a good actor, but he does love alcohol – he just pretends he's a lightweight (again, just like OG Cale). Bud is a good strategist and fighter, but he does make reckless mistakes from time to time, much to Glenn's exasperation.

So here it is. My reasons why "Bud Illis isn't as stupid as fans portray him in the fandom". Just because he's funny, doesn't mean he's a complete idiot. He's a competent leader, who managed to defend the Mercenaries against Arm in the Eastern Contient for a significant amount of time. He was one of the last lines of resistance towards the White Star there. That says things about him.

Give Bud some love, guys, he deserves it.

matching

I wanna talk about Anzai

I love him and i think he's an amazing and Extremely Overlooked character so im gonna ramble. sorry.

like i get it, he kind of has Chronic Background Character Syndrome (fortunately for him i have a Thing for characters like that) and he's not all that strong of a fighter. But he played a HUGE role in helping sakura grow and open up.

He was one of the first bofurin students to be casually friendly with Sakura and make him feel welcome after the fight with Sugishita

And he's the one who gets Sakura really thinking about what he can do for his class, and how to put Umemiya's words into action. Up till chapter 38 Sakura would just swing at whatever problem was directly in front of him, but Anzai changes that

It's clear that Sakura and Anzai have some traits in common too. Anzai tries to deal with Keel on his own, without asking for help or bothering anyone else. Sakura clearly respects that and sees something of himself in Anzai. He doesn't commit to getting involved in his business until he sees that Tsuchiya and Nagato are also hurt and that Anzai definitely Can't deal with it on his own

In the fight against Keel, even though he's grandstanding and being way too self-focused, Sakura still prioritizes clearing the way for Anzai to get to Nagato before anything else. It doesn't work out but i think this was the first step Sakura took in learning to work as a team and protecting someone's back (think later when he and Sugishita team up on the bridge)

and anzai is, of course, the first one to go down in that fight too. Nirei is the more important one but Anzai going down is the start of Sakura freezing up and losing control

And then the kicker for me is Anzai's forgiveness. First of Nagato, and then of Sakura. He prioritizes open communication and lets both of them get out all of their fears and insecurities and vent about how unforgivable and unlovable they think they are. And then he calls them dumbasses and reminds them that there's nothing that needs forgiving. That conversation with Nagato is one of the reasons Sakura even works up the courage to admit his fears to everyone.

And of course in That Scene(TM) in chapter 60 everyone pitches in on the conversation. But out of everyone in the class, all the people that Sakura had been building friendships with this whole time. The one who says it directly to his face is Anzai. Someone he identified with, someone he wanted to help, someone he failed to protect, someone he was terrified of being rejected by. Anzai is the one who grabs him by the neck and says Who gives a shit? We care about you, and nothing you do or say will change that.

and THAT LINE is what gets us this

anyway in conclusion i need more love and appreciation for anzai, he's such a good and kind person and the story uses him SO well. Solidly a top-5 character to me, maybe even a top 3

ctntduo vol2 reunion predictions

listen,, nostalgia made me do it, nostalgia and @quackityinc who came up with this au in the first place

feat. some bonus vice duo, because i have diseases. if you remember the characters they’re based on you are entitled to financial compensation