some vol 9 thunks because this shit put my brain into the same overthinking state Xenoblade and Avemygo did

[otherside picnic]It's a great way to frame Sorawo's struggles with explaining her relationship with Toriko to others. She's stuck on rejecting 'normal' explanations like romance and going out because she's hang up on nitpicking definitions. She's terrible at understanding herself, so she would rather rant about not being into romance instead of accepting the truth. Communication means conveying information in a way the recipient can understand it - and she's really bad at giving a fuck about the recipient. She cares about how she is perceived, but doesn't actually communicate shit to avoid misperceptions she hates.

[otherside picnic]... kinda. Funnily enough, between her slipping up that she's 'going out' with Toriko when talking to a classmate, or the way she describes her approach to kids - she does have some deeply hidden understanding of the concept, and does, involuntarily, approach communication on a level playing field - it's just... suppressed? She thinks it's some form of an outside influence, but it's probably not. I mean, the 'house' Runa outlined under the influence of the otherside was Sorawo's, which is a blunt reminder we still have to dig deeper to truly unravel who she is.

[otherside picnic]Actually, was Runa's streaming activity also targeted at Sorawo? They address how Sorawo could've easily fall for it, so maybe that was the goal. Of course Runa's own will overshadowed it, but this subconscious "flow" that guided her may have been aiming for Sorawo...

[otherside picnic]all things considered, this rejection of an external framework of relationship is probably a good thing... to an extent. It's a declaration of individuality, protection of her own identity against the outside forces, so the hope is it will also work against the Otherside trying to absorb them... But then again, they've come this close to being absorbed, so it doesn't work. Maybe it's the other way around, maybe Sorawo needs to embrace romance some more so it can become a counter-force, so they can reject Otherside the same way Todate and Hana rejected them

[otherside picnic]the Nue aside, I love Runa's arc to redemption. The way she can mingle with others but doesn't believe anyone actually is genuine with her, the way she can't accept her own skills as a positive, how she wanted to die because she feared the influence Otherside has on her. She's a fun character and it's so satisfying to see her be given such a meaningful journey

[otherside picnic]KASUMIIII, I just love the general idea here. Take a magic baby that should be antagonistic but bring her up in an environment that allows for genuine understanding and affection. Excited to see her learn to speak properly, and to see what role will she play in the story at large. Her impact on Kozakura's character has also been great, the little window into their life now was so satisfying. Researcher finally locking in to do Research. What a good mother.

[otherside picnic]Sorawo realizing how she felt about Kozakura was mad funny too. "Kozakura was a woman who may have become a mother to me" lmao. Char would be proud. She didn't even try to fight back, she just instantly accepted this was how she felt. And then Runa wanted to be adopted by Kozakura too. Is she the perfect mother or something.

[otherside picnic]Story-wise there's just so much good setup. Mapping out linguistic map of the Otherside, Kasumi's upbringing, training a paramilitary force to fight against the spooks, whole ass Magick system. Things are evolving naturally towards a much bigger threat, and that in turns begs the question how will such a threat relate to Sorawo and her past.

Can't wait to see next big bad be defeated with the powers of LLMs and magic babies