[Report This]Date: February 10 2024 5:55 AM Title: Among Friends
I'm glad to see you give Black Bart some love here! It's only fitting that Blackbeard gets a mention and Mr. Roberts only gets mentioned indirectly, serving as another reminder that there's more to fame than just success.
Yukia has been pretty interesting to follow for a while now. She's shown some small signs that there may be more to her than just being a psychopath for several chapters, and that kiss with Higgins last chapter could have meant a lot of things. Now it looks like she's slowly working her way through the same process Higgins is, possibly setting up not one, but two redemption arcs! And a potential couple redemption arc at that!
But it was really enjoyable to see Yukia display that playfulness and even a bit of craziness in a way that was more loving and teasing than deadly, even if she wasn't fully aware of (or just doesn't want to admit) why she was acting that way. It'll be interesting to see how her excuse that Higgins is just "more fun" than most humans stacks up against Natasha's "new" stance on humanity.
As for Higgins, he shows a lot of subconscious trust in Yukia here, even after he keeps chastising himself for it. I kind of feel like his instinct are still good, even in a social situation like this. Even though he's seen Yukia eat humans several times and, on a conscious level, thinks she's going to do it to him, deep down somewhere, he dropped his guard because he knew he would be safe. I really don't think it was lust that led him to her room, at least not entirely.
It was phenomenal to see Chloé get past that struggle to accept herself, and it was fitting that Mika helped her do it, given that he inadvertently caused the problem in the first place. I've mentioned it a few times, but again, it was sadly sweet for her to wish that she could be what she believes Mika wants, a human girl. It's heartbreaking to feel like the person you love wants you to be something you can never be.
And it makes sense for her to feel that way, because Mika's feelings on that are a lot more complicated than she can comprehend, given that she's still learning (but has come a long way; keep it up, Chloé!) about complex human thoughts and emotions. Also, I think she took Mika's use of the word monster last chapter a bit too literal. He wasn't talking about her being a naga but rather about the prospect her viewing his entire species as food. The fact that she feels the way she feels at the start of this chapter kind of proves that she doesn't feel that way, though. It's just instincts (although those instincts can lead her to saving humans, too). Or anger, if you happen to stab her or kill her boyfriend's parents.
And it was extremely satisfying to see Mika help her accept herself by telingl her how he really sees her and for Chloé to take what's hers!
For his part, I don't think Chloé's new diet is what was bothering Mika in the first place. At the end of the last chapter and through most of this one, I kind of got the vibe that it's his new role that he's not comfortable with. I felt like he had come to terms with Chloé's need to eat humans when he took ownership of her stomachs. It's the fact that he's the one who has to decide who's on the menu that's his issue. Given how much the thought of Chloé determining which humans were food was for him, having to do that himself probably ways pretty heavily on him, even if he ultimately agrees that it's necessary.
I really like the way you handled Emelie's assimilation into the group. This is the first chapter where it really felt like she wasn't an outsider just tagging along. While Oklahoma accepted her pretty quickly, it makes sense that it would take Chloé and Mika more time to do so, and the past few chapters have done an excellent job of showing the tensions between Emelie and each of them individually without making it a central focus or feel melodramatic. We also saw them start to warm up to her gradually over time, and now the Neko is here giving love advice to and dancing with Chloé and Mika's thought that they could be four friends on vacation was kind of a subtle way for him to acknowledge her as a real part of the group.
Also, Emilie's history references and lack of understanding that things progress over time continues to be hilarious.
Cotton Eye Joe. In Mumbai. This is everything that's wrong with globalization. (I just want to note that I could have made a stupid pun about that "being the Bombay!" but I just couldn't bring myself to stoop that low. I feel like I deserve credit for that.)
Finally, at the end of the chapter, we see Natasha make a classic villain mistake. She can't have her human anymore, so now no one can! As I mentioned above, it'll be interesting (and probably bad for Natasha by the end of things) to see how Yukia deals with that.
Author's Response:
Cotton Eye Joe is far from the worst thing America has ever exported lol. Also yeah Black Bart is by far the more successful pirate, but Blackbeard is the one who is remembered.
Anyways yeah the group has become very close, having them get a little downtime shows that they're not four people on a mission, they're friends too.
Yukia is nuts, but she can develop some affection for others, Higgins has probably been on her radar from the first time he managed to land a hit on her when she was fighting him.