Here's to a new year! Here's my first mega try (also first time posting in a while due to reasons) but heya! Admittedly struggled a fair bit with self doubt and anxiety on this one as put it off for a while/other things caught up with me but I figure I'll be glad I did it once I've done it. It's kinda being done last minute though, so admittedly there's that...
I'd been intending to make the mega about something else originally when I signed up, but that would require more time on my part (and I just binge read this recently, so it all works out). Anyways, my subject of the week is The Summer Hikaru Died; it's a queer (BL) horror manga which is currently also scheduled for anime release next year (2025).
Content warnings naturally follow and further details will be spoilered.
CONTENT WARNINGS
Grief, body horror and (very debatably IMO) mild gore, supernatural horror (ghosts/"impurities", otherworldly entities), death I suppose though that one's a given
Premise
The titular Hikaru went for a walk in the woods, died, and something came back wearing his body, something that doesn't quite know how to be human or mortal; "Hikaru" returned, to ensure that his best friend, Yoshiki, would not be lonely. Romantic tension (and tension of a less pleasant kind) ensues.
The plot/things I like about it thus far (light spoilers)
Yoshiki and "Hikaru" have an absolutely great dynamic- their relationship may not be fully healthy, but their intentions seem to both be in the right place, as are their deep feelings (Yoshiki's for Hikaru and increasingly for "Hikaru," and Hikaru and "Hikaru's" own true feelings) and honesty in this regard, despite the latter "Hikaru" being effectively an imposter of sorts. (it's complicated, but these are increasingly distinguished separately and I really like that process as well)
"Hikaru" is, while not quite a blank slate, extremely new to the concept of even just "being" in the sense that mortal creatures and individual organisms(?) do. They've had to learn (and Yoshiki has had to confront them about) the value and significance of life and death; they've increasingly established boundaries, and they approach the world with a liveliness and curiousity that is really cute (the original Hikaru was also lively FWIW, but "Hikaru" is experiencing everything anew even if they retain the memories).
Yoshiki, on the other hand, is both grappling with his grief and loss of Hikaru, while finding comfort (and discomfort alike) in his imposter, and in guiding them through a new world or state of being. He's finding his resolve and moral/ethical backbone interacting with "Hikaru" (very blue-and-orange morality dynamics, though they're learning), he's experiencing what could be described as a rocky but determined romance and queer experimentation at the same time "Hikaru" is being introduced to notions of attraction and desire (beyond instinctual desire to consume).
Their pairing in so many ways should not work (or rather would be usually destined for a tragic end). From the start, there have been several points where by all means it should have met such an end. But their determination and willingness to meet the other where they're at and gradually be understanding with the other is both fascinating and something I'd feel optimistic for (and interested in seeing play out further).
Anyways, I should cut myself short at this (and make sure to have something properly written beforehand for next time). But anyways, thus far it's a strong recommend (if you feel alright with the content warnings) from me.
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As a reminder, please do not discuss current struggle sessions in the mega. We want this to be a little oasis for all of us and the best way to do that is not to feed into existing conflict on the site.
Also, be sure to properly give content warnings and put sensitive subjects behind proper spoiler tags. It's for the mental health of not just your comrades, but yourself as well.
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I'm around such yappers and I can never get a word in edgewise and all of a sudden when I start infodumping I get shut down basically instantly. Why am I even here?
I ask myself this often, it keeps me from spending too much on people who can't stand hearing me talk but will talk my ear off in turn.
People here are shutting you down? Is not okay if that's what you mean. Am not sure what you mean entirely but.... I think I feel the same sometimes :/ Conversation moves so fast on here, I have missed participating in so much stuff just from times where I wasn't feeling well and had to
for a while and then I forgot about it or threads got locked or "too much" time passed to post about it
Btw, I rly appreciated your reply to me like a month ago about ideas for my gender math thing :3 Still thinking about it, just went through a bad time shortly after I posted that and logged out for a bit, then the thread got locked ofc :/
I have a half-finished formal proof in Metamath of a thing™ based on something one of you said even hehe, if I finish it I may post it sometime. Btw btw, if you like to infodump about math you can come do it here: https://hexbear.net/c/mathematics (unsure if you saw this new comm I asked for). I am cooking up some posts rn but social battery been quite depleted from holiday stuff lately, sometime I'll post :P
I should have been more specific but I was talking about some people IRL.
I'm glad you liked my reply :P. I'm sorry to hear you went through some rough stuff, but if you had stuff you wanted to say about it, you can reply here and I can go back and look at what I said for the context :)
I'm very interested in the new comm. I didn't know it existed! I will be spending time in there for sure hehe. And I'm excited to see what you have the energy to post.
I suspect 'here' means IRL
Ohh yeahh you're probably right, my bad