#I've got into way too many manga that end up like this because the author doesn't know or can't end it

[elbiotipo]

You also have to accept that Denji/Power was the best pairing for Denji and also that the ending of Chainsaw Man already happened (especially because there's no Power anymore) and no matter how cool it reads now part 2 will inevitably descend in an unreadable slog endless mess like all such manga.

But not everybody is ready for this. See me in a year or so.

[ayeliiss]

My two cents on MHA430 and Izuku's character

Disclaimer: this is NOT a hate post against Horikoshi and his manga. Simply, I need to lash my disappointment out somewhere and write my feelings down before I implode. I'm not trying to sound like 'ugh, I know better than them' at all, although I am aware some of my claims may give the 'why does the author think he knows so much?!' vibes, but keep in mind this is just my irrelevant opinion and it won't change anything anyway. So, please, don't come at me with 'lacking reading comprehension' or 'you're coping' (yes, I am) because I feel like fans are allowed to be upset at this ending even if you think differently! To each their own opinion, as long as it's respectful! Also, this might be unnecessarily long so, I apologize in advance.

Discussion about Izuku's character

First of all, if you're satisfied with the ending and what Izuku did/became, I'm genuinely happy for you. Truthfully, I envy you so damn much because I personally couldn't stop feeling empty and crying at night for him, and before you come at me with 'girl, he's fictional, it's okay you'll move on', yes, I know I'm a drama queen and I shouldn't be in one hell of a state for a fictional character, but I can't help it. I've grown as attached to him as I've ever grown to any character before, and there's no turning back. MHA is the first manga that ever moved me this hard and it'll forever remain a masterpiece for me, but it doesn't mean it's not flawed and should be free of criticism (always with respect for Horikoshi's work).

Funny thing is, I didn't even like Izuku when I first met him. He was the typical crybaby and too-optimistic MC I tend to dislike when I read a manga. Yet, the more I read, the more I started to understand him, the more I sympathized with him, and the more I loved him. I realized I related to him to such an outlandish extent, though I know we remain different in the way we act or think. But Izuku, even before Katsuki (and my friends know how obsessed I am with this blond lmao), became my first and greatest over-fixation and my main reason to continue reading/watching MHA. This manga changed my life; Izuku did too, and this isn't an understatement.

Just like him—and probably just like many of us—, I've endured bullying, been made fun of for being different, felt unwanted and hated, been belittled, and treated like shit for most of my teenage years. I think that's what really endeared him to me. I wanted to watch him grow, to watch him make real friends, to watch him receive the apologies and respect he deserved, to see him succeed. I wanted him to realize he was worth it and loved and, oh God, I wish he could know just how much his fans do love him.

And for 200+ chapters, I got what I wanted. Izuku got to live his dream, be around his idol who recognized him, and made new friends who admired him and wanted nothing but to be by his side. Then, the Vigilante arc happened, and everything changed. I won't dwell on the fact that, for me, this arc was the beginning of the decline of his character. It's worth noting though that it's at this precise moment that we've lost track of all his thoughts, but I'll focus on the ending, and how the way Horikoshi handled Izuku's character remains my biggest disappointment.

I sometimes joked with a friend of mine, saying, "Hori's favorite character is Katsuki and it shows so much, he even forgets he isn't his MC!" but I don't think it's much of a joke anymore.

Again, I'm very happy for those who are pleased with Izuku's closure. But, honestly, I can't grasp their process of thinking (I wish I could) because there's no way I can understand how it makes sense. It's not about him being quirkless—actually, I think this choice was cool—, it's about his obvious fucking depression.

After his initial withdrawal, there is never any resolution. He has never talked about his feelings to anyone, never opened up about all the things that bugged him, never taken it out on anyone. He just stopped having development, and never learned how to 'control his heart' (one of the biggest plots of the story, remember???). So, he continues to take everything up on his shoulders by the end of the story, and eight years later, he is feeling lonely, as he says himself:

Yes, I can read, and I know he's also saying he's happy with helping/encouraging other people. But it's literally denial. Izuku is in denial and it hurts me so much. He's alone (I'm not talking about how he's barely seen his friends, I know they didn't abandon him or anything, I'm talking about how he is feeling in general), deprived of his dream, and never got to talk about it to anyone (at least, on-screen. And if it's not shown, then it didn't happen). Even the adults around him don't see he's in pain—or, at least, don't think it's worth addressing. Aizawa can't even simply answer 'yes, you're cool' when Izuku obviously seeks praise and needs nice words after everything he's been through. He doesn't even get fans (except for two, waouh!) after saving the fucking world. He doesn't get a statue, no recognition. Katsuki leads a project for him to get a suit, but not the government? After everything he did? Why isn't he more recognized and acknowledged for his hard work? Killing him would've almost felt like a better choice lol (#it's a joke).

Even if, in the end, he gets to join his friends again and be a hero with them, he's still not opening up. How is it sane/healthy for him???? How will he even be able to maintain good relationships of any kind if there are already so many and huge miscommunication issues?

I hate this—I dislike how it's basically saying 'his feelings weren't that important!'. Izuku deserved better, a better closure. So much is missing from him; from this bitter ending, and I can't find any way to make myself feel better or to cope with it.

I am devastated, I feel empty for him, I just want someone to take him to therapy, to help him.

Some rumors have started to spread, about how 'Horikoshi has been forced to shorten his manga' but I don't believe this—MHA has been SJ's money-maker for a while. And even if it were to be true, the epilogue could've been handled differently. Hori could've focused on the most important parts (that he hasn't even shown/resolved at all) and left the irrelevant ones out (why introduce a new character if not to make us feel hopeful to see Tenko again, lol). He chose to not address the most important aspects of his story (including his MC's resolution and growth) and left us with huge plot holes. And now, we're stuck with our imagination, as usual.

I just can't with 'open endings' and 'it's left to interpretation' stuff. It's too easy to do that. I'm tired of mangakas not taking risks, rushing their own plots, and not digging deeper into their own MCs' traumas. I don't know what happened, but among the many issues left regarding this last chapter, Izuku's conclusion remains my greatest ick. I'm so sorry to say this, but Izuku didn't grow. He never learned from his mistakes and just didn't change—oh wait. Yes, he did change on one crucial aspect—his biggest trait, being obsessed with his childhood friend, totally disappeared! Maybe he started to stop caring about 'Kacchan and the others' and put himself first, to the point of forgetting the said childhood friend died twice for him, who knows? :))) (yeah, I'm especially pissed off at this lol don't mind me).

In my imagination, I see him being a pro-hero who continues to suppress his feelings and continues to act recklessly, to risk his life in the face of any danger that shows up. This is what happens when you leave it to fans' imagination, after all.

I know fanfictions exist, and I'm very happy this unclear ending motivated some writers to challenge their creativity. For me, it had the opposite effect. I'm disgusted, I am angry at Izuku and I know I'll struggle to finish my fics where he's involved because I don't want to deal with his character anymore. I'm too attached to canonical representation.

Man, I'm just devastated. I have no other words. And I'll have to live with this for the rest of my life. I feel betrayed. Shitted on. I'm dying inside and there's nothing I can do because it's over. Just like this long-ass essay, btw lol. Thank you if you're still here, thank you if you've read this! I'm pretty much open to discussion so if anyone wants to try and reassure me over some aspects or respectfully explain why I am wrong (I know I probably am, yet again those are my own feelings), please don't hesitate to do so. Also, I definitely need friends with whom I could talk about this deeper... so, my DMs are open too if you'd like to!

Much love to Izuku though; one of the best MCs I've encountered in my life, despite how he turned.

[gojosbf]

Sorry, but I need to say something I've been thinking about for a while. I found geto's death forcing. 1.he loses to a boy with no experience and the power of ''love''. 2.he was stronger and had more knowledge and experience than the boy yuta. 3. It seems that the author just wanted to get rid of geto so that this annoying villain Kenjaku could come. 4. In my opinion, Geto is the best villain. I don't understand why the author didn't want to continue with him. 5. His death was forced because Saturo already had a change in character and personality. What I'm trying to say is that in the film, Satura is already different, he's no longer that immature young man. 6. the serious work was much more dramatic if geto had survived saturo blow he would have become stronger and returned as a villain again with sukuna. Sorry if it's big, but I have these doubts that such a good and well-constructed character had a horrible ending and very little.

I have mixed feelings about this anon but first I'd clarify things point by point for you and then give my opinion if possible

1. Yuuta Okkotsu has a special grade curse, the queen of curses Rika, the power of "love" you speak tho it might sound cliché does fit here well and it was explained in the manga that love is considered the most twisted curse (if you saw the movie you'd have seen that gojo said this line to him too).

2. Yes sure geto had more experience and knowledge but yuuta is an acclaimed prodigy, his cursed technique is mimicry, rika was so scaringly powerful even before she fully evolved, geto KNEW that if he absorbed rika he'd have everything needed to form his "ideal world". He wasn't just any nobody who managed to get lucky.

3. Okay now here there are two reasons and I am trying my best to find words to explain it, yuuta was meant to be the original mc of jjk, he is the op character. Geto wanted rika (as I mentioned in the previous point) to accomplish his dream so if geto won that battle the story as whole would've taken a very different turn, we wouldn't need itadori and the whole first years and their stories. Remember how I said yuuta was supposed to the actual mc? Yeah that's were gege actually made changes so he could make a better and elaborate plot.

4. Geto Suguru was infact an amazing villain, yes. But you've also got to understand that he was sympathetic towards jujutsu sorcerers, he'd never risk harming them (his own last words being "I never hated anyone from jjk high") unless they're in his way. He had to die because we needed someone who'd go all out, no mercy to anyone, no regard and sympathy for anyone and that's exactly why we needed someone like kenjaku, who was equally powerful, evil and not shy to bring hell.

5. Geto's death had nothing to do with "changing gojo's personality", that change already happened after hidden inventory and premature death arc. His death was an important decision for future plot points (explaining why yuuji was special, sealing the strongest etc).

6. This is where I fully give my opinion, sure Suguru would've come back as stronger and even more powerful villain but would he have achieved what kenjaku did? Geto Suguru that we knew would choose any other route than sealing Gojo, he literally did not even try to protect himself and gave gojo a chance to kill him (during kfc breakup), he never attacked jujutsu high until yuuta happened, he worked with rejected sorcerers and never paired up with evil curses like hanami, jogo and mahito. So, to put it simply it was important part of plot that geto first turned evil and then died, that shaped so many important arcs of the manga and it was well thought out for long run. Sure it's sad and frustrating but that was one good writing move on gege's part and there's no denying that.

[ozzgin]

Do you have any advice for those who want to post their stories and ideas on here but are just starting out

Not sure if I'm the best person to offer advice on these matters, as I feel my presence here has been mostly accidental. That being said, I am capable of introspection and I've been here long enough to notice patterns, so I can gladly share my own observations with you! Feel free to draw your own conclusions. Everyone else is invited to offer corrections or additions. :)

Guide under the cut because it's another long ramble divided in 3 parts.

What to post

The million-dollar question. Do you want to share original stories, or fanfiction? Various genres, or reader centered romances? You have the choice to try your luck and dive in with your own thing or scour the market to build a following first.

I've seen trending original stories from accounts who'd just started out, but don't use that as a reference for the quality of your own work. If you're not gaining traction, it doesn't automatically mean it's bad. There are hundreds of variables involved: the time, the context, the people. It takes one big blog to discover your story and share it, and you've taken your first step into recognition. The main issue is, there's no guarantee when or if it's going to happen.

Your other choice is to introduce yourself with fanfiction. Consider it a way of saying “let me show you my writing skills through something of your interest”. If you've been wanting to write fanfiction from the beginning, great! Now comes the next question: what is your goal? If you want more recognition, you'll want to consider the fandoms. Is there something you're into that's currently also trending on Tumblr? Writing for Hazbin Hotel, for example, will most likely get you more notes than writing for some 90s manga very few people know about. At the end of the day, you shouldn't feel pressured to write for what's "selling", but you can always find a compromise that works for you. Once you gain more followers, you can always sprinkle in more variety. Having more people who appreciate your work will give you a little boost when venturing into other areas.

I'll give you my personal case: I decided to share my Baki story right at the time a new season was out. It just so happened that many other people were interested in said character. "I only watched two episodes and immediately searched for fics", or "I saw an edit and now I'm here". So, there were people actively keeping tab on recent works for more content, and one of the relevant blogs in the fandom shared my content as well. That got the ball rolling. I've always been a multi-fandom blog, and thus with more visitors came more diverse requests. "Wait a minute, I came for X, but I see you like Y, too!"

TL;DR: If you're interested in original work or lesser known fandoms but want recognition, try to expand into trending and popular fandoms to gain visibility.

How to post

Is there a specific template you must adhere to? Absolutely not. However, I've noticed many common elements from people sharing their stories. There are authors who will dive right into the story, no title, no descriptions, but they already have followers who know what to expect. If you're just starting out, you might want to offer a helping hand to people who don't know you yet. Have a concise, clear title. Make it obvious from the beginning what your story is about. You can include trigger warnings or content previews. Maybe a little synopsis or two-three sentences to summarize everything. I've seen some blogs mention that their shorter stories get more interaction (1-2k words), so this might be something to consider. If you would prefer going for longer works, perhaps it's wise to give everyone a heads-up and include the word count at the beginning. If you want to encourage people to check out your other works, you can include a link to your masterlist at the top of the post.

Regardless of appearances, once your content is written, it needs to be tagged. Which brings us to the next topic:

This truly isn't meant to call anyone out, just something I noticed. Many people don't know how to use the hashtag feature.

Let me give you a fabricated example: you just published your best fanfiction so far. The magnum opus of your work. Time passes, and you barely get any notes. You tagged the post with #fanfic (because it's fanfiction, right?), #writers of tumblr (to notify other writers of your presence), and #series name. It's not bad by any means, but these are extremely generic hashtags. If your only anchor for the post is, say, #Harry Potter, it will be immediately drowned by the massive influx of various content under this tag: memes, fanart, discussions, screenshots. Everything meets here. If your story is a reader insert, your target is not only the overall fandom, but specifically the people looking for this type of story. Which characters are featured? Is it more of a fluffy romance, or downright smut? Is your original character a monster? If so, what kind? You have to help people find your content. If you're not sure what tags to include, use other blogs as reference. Find stories similar to yours and check the top posts. What other tags did the author use? Is there a common pattern among these popular stories?

TD;DR: Make your posts clear and obvious within the first few lines. Overly general or overly specific tags are not bad, but they shouldn't be your only identifying features. Make it very easy for people to navigate your blog (masterlists, consistent hashtag system, etc)

When to post

At one point I asked myself, out of curiosity, why some of my own posts are more popular than others despite the same amount of effort. Is there a difference depending on when you release your content? The answer is yes! There's an article discussing the best times to post on social media in order to maximize engagement. Of course, there's many variables involved, and these time intervals are not a guarantee. When are your followers most active? When do you notice a peak in notifications? Have a look at this neat desktop feature. It gives you all the answers you need. If your engagement is the highest at a given hour, it might be worth a shot to post your content then. You can also schedule your posts to match the patterns.

Let's say you posted something, and you suspect it hasn't reached all of your followers. Maybe it was a slow day, and it got less engagement than usual. I've seen people who reblog their own content the next day or even regularly, so you can opt for that if you're worried you missed out.

Additionally, Tumblr seems to reward activity. You may post as often or as little as you'd like, as long as you maintain a certain regularity. If you search for top posts/blogs of all time, you'll notice it's not actually an all-time chart, but only the content with recent engagement. A post with a million notes that hasn't been touched in 5 years won't show up. Same for blogs. The recommendations you see are of accounts who frequently post under the given hashtag. This is something to keep in mind as well.

Lastly, if you're willing/are extroverted enough, you can always try to network and build a group of mutuals. Reblog, leave comments, reach out to people within the fandom or who do the same thing. When a post is fresh, it may be temporarily bumped to the top of the search if it receives a burst of engagement. So, it definitely helps to have a bunch of friends who give you a little boost.

Yeah. This is what I have. It's not a matter-of-fact textbook, just what I personally witnessed or my own inferences. The most important detail is to give yourself time, and of course to have fun! I wish you the best of luck, and don’t forget that your ideas are worthy regardless of the outcome.

[bcbdrums]

For the fic writer ask?

🥭🍐🍇

From this ask game.

🥭 Rank from most enjoyable/fun to write to least: Fluff, Smut, Angst, Crack.

Angst, fluff, smut, crack. Crack is hard because I don't know how to do humor. And the humor I do occasionally write doesn't fit the crack-vibe. Smut... Becomes kind of one-note after awhile, for me. Fluff is a delight. They DESERVE to be happy and I will write all those warm fuzzy feels that may not be entirely in character but gosh darn it, the blorbos deserve them!!! And angst... Ah, angst, my wheelhouse. They're already suffering in canon. I will make it worse, I will drag it out for thousands of words... And I'm good at it. Definitely the easiest, and the most fun.

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a bad characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc…

I wouldn't say hate. If I hate something I tend to dissociate from it. Like, I won't watch Star Trek Generations at all. Never seen it. Trekkies know why, probably. If I didn't see it happen, it never happened! (I still don't hate it - can't hate something I haven't seen.) Or Soul Eater NOT, again don't hate, but hate certain choices so I just...dissociate and disavow. Especially when it heavily contradicts established canon, it's easy to disavow. But if I'm just mildly annoyed by something, or frustrated, I'll write like...missing scenes. Things that answer the unanswered questions or clear up confusion. Or when a thing ends too soon, I may write a missing scene thing that fleshes out more of the details and emotions. But as a canon purist I never change things. Now, if we wanna be specific about a specific canon... Honestly, nothing is leaping out? Just that missing scene/fleshing out details, thing.............. WAIT. I've got one. In the Soul Eater manga. Maka should have hugged Spirit. Like. I get that the author needed to wrap things up fast, and comedy is a good way to do it. But.... That...... What the author did there. That was wrong. Which makes me think of the Soul Eater anime. A specific thing I would have changed is, all of Crona's lines in the final scene in the Death Room should have been spoken by Spirit (and changed to make more sense). Honestly, that part makes me cringe. It ruins the final episode for me. I won't keep going about it because it'll make me upset, but yeah.

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one?

Well............... I've technically written over 200 fanfics about Drakken/Shego in Kim Possible. Just....those two. Aaaaaaahhhhh yesssssss making a villain romance work. That hits the spot. Like. How many love confession fics can I write? A lot, apparently. In Soul Eater, basically any moment Stein and Spirit are together onscreen I want to write about. 😅 Same in the manga. I'm not obsessed, I swear-- Other fandoms... I do have those moments but they aren't leapint out at me right now. If I think of them I'll edit this post to include them. Was trying to think of Star Trek and Sherlock Holmes (book and TV) canons. Hmm...

Thanks for the ask!!

[sweetchcolate]

I'm curious. What are your top 10 favorite shoujos of all time? (LN, Anime, Manga) Can you rank them from: I'll always love them and I'm very invested with them; to I like them, but I'm not very invested?

(why is it that the second someone asks me for anime recs or listing my fave series, I suddenly forget every series i ever read/watched lmao it is a curse)

Just as a reminder, these are series I either watched recently or remember at the top of my mind because of sheer popularity. Also, my bad in advance if it turns out some of these aren't shojo but shonen (reason I didn't include Skip&Loafer, for example).

With that out of the way, my top 10 fave shojos in order (that I would and have rewatched multiple times):

Revolutionary Girl Utena. A classic. It's got it all: the esthetics, the slightly surreal aspect of the world, the trope deconstruction, tackling rarely addressed issues (such as patriarchy, heteronormativity, the changes puberty brings to a teenage girl, etc.) as well as some... more sensitive ones (there's a reason there's so many trigger warning lists for RGU). Also, the music SLAPS.

SAFT (both anime and LN). Just look at my Sugar Apple Fairy Tale tag. I've liveblogged every episode of this show since I learned of its existence. I was looking forward to the previews. I fell into this head first and it was some of the best experience I had with a series! It was right up my alley: sunshine hardworking girl winning over the people around her thanks to her kindness and optimism + grumpy stoic traumatized man who becomes softer and grows thanks to her set in a semi-fantasy Europe-based world. I liked that both Anne and Shall had to deal with discrimination (Anne as a girl in a male-dominated industry, Shall as a fairy in a human-led society) and how the later LN volumes address those issues (instead of fairy slavery and sexism being just background lore). The show can be really pretty when it wants to, and the music is also very nice.

7th Time Loop (both anime and LN). Just like with SAFT, I'm obsessed. The anime is doing such a good job adapting the source material at a good pace, the quality is great, and the VAs are killing it. The LN also has very tight writing: the author has an eye for adding details that seem unassuming/offhanded at first, but end up being crucial. Rishe's and Arnold's characters and dynamic are phenomenal. Just look at my 7th time loop tag

Akatsuki no Yona (the anime/early corresponding manga arcs).

My Love Story with Yamada-kun at LVL 999.

Ouran High School Host Club (the anime). I'm a sucker for romance, but where OHSHC got me is with its humor. The first episode is a classic, and I will always love the light bulbs scene as each member of the host club figures out Haruhi is a girl. Tamaki is a riot, the perfect blend of goofy, perceptive, and introspective. He deals with some serious issues, but he never lets them drag him down or, at the very least, affect his precious ones. What's great about OHSHC too is the character growth in the second half of the show. The series lures you in thinking it's just a comedic slice of life high school romance only to hit you with some real feels when it reveals its characters' backstories, fears, and reflections.

My Happy Marriage.

Kimi ni Todoke.

Ones for a cute ride: Lovely Complex, Kamisama Hajimemashita, Akagami no Shirayukhime, Donten Ni Warau

Ones I've watched that were good, but lost interest in (mostly due to being too long or me catching up the latest release and not keeping up after): Skip Beat, Fruits Basket, Sailor Moon (the 1990s anime), Niehime

Ones I remember watching but won't ever watch again because I've outgrown the target demographic: Special A, Shugo Chara, Tokyo Mew Mew, Fushigi Yugi, Itazura Kiss

Ones I heard good praise for and want to check someday: Rose of Versailles, Basara, Colette Decides to Die

[garoumylove]

Forgive me OPM darlings for I have sinned...

I see a few people reading and interacting with my posts lately which makes my heart super happy but I think it's time to come clean.

I have committed the cardinal sin: I do not like the ending of the MA arc or the way Garou is characterised post his fight with Saitama.

I'm sorry...I'm sorry if this lets you all down. I know that this is not the Done Thing in the OPM fandom but I just...can't.

Now let me be clear because confessing to this comes with so many assumptions.

-NO, I DO NOT HATE THE MANGA. I fell in love with Garou through the manga. He become the light of my life during the A-Class fight. I think the manga did an amazing and brilliant job of capturing him and his spirit up until a certain point.

-NO, I DO NOT THINK THE MANGA SHOULD HAVE BEEN A 1 TO 1 CARBON COPY OF THE WEBCOMIC. While I do think the webcomic did a better job of Saitama vs. Garou and its aftermath than the manga, I don't think it should have been a straight up copy of it.

So what don't I actually like?

I stopped loving it after Garou got to the surface after the long hiatus of us not seeing him due to the Psykos fight.

Ever since he re-emerged he was not the same cocky, decisive, independent , threatening character. He was completely softened up to the point where, to me personally, his personality was no longer recognisable as the Garou I fell in love with.

I've had many discussions with people who feel similar to me and people who feel the complete opposite. The deal is that Garou since then has been really pure, way more than before.

I'm not upset because he's happy, I always wanted him to be, I just don't like the pure, age regressed Garou. He seems more naive and comical than before. To me, he feels more like Luffy now than Garou. It's not that I wanted him to be depressed and angry all the time, I just wanted him to be happy but more of a cocky young adult rather than the kid-like Garou we have now. I didn't want him to submit to authority so easily and for Bang to treat him like a small naughty child. I wanted him to reconcile with Bang and have a more mature mentor/mentee relationship and probably not so soon after his defeat.

I don't want to get too much more into this because I know this is a very sensitive topic and people get really upset about it as I've learned through personal experience. But I just wanted to be completely honest with anyone who may be reading or interacting with my posts.

I understand why so many people do like this much softer, child-like Garou and I think it really comes down to personal preference and unfortunately, that just isn't mine. I will continue to write and draw Garou as I see him, the Garou that I have built up in my mind based on everything up to the surface fight. The Garou that I fell in love with.

It's just my preference, just like some people like soft and fluffy fanfics and some people prefer darker, more brooding stuff.

I think there's no question that Garou's characterisation has changed to become more of a sweet comic relief and that's just something I'm not that attracted to.

I respect everyone's preferences and opinions and headcanons of Garou and other characters but these are mine.

I'm just going to keep doing what I've always been doing but I wanted to be honest with this because some people take this very seriously and this debate has ended friendships.

Please love the Garou that you love and enjoy what you enjoy. I guess I am just a heretic and will continue to be so. I'll go say my ten Hail Marys now ;)

[super-paper]

If you had to say, do you think this past few arcs of MHA, including the this final one, are rushed? I know many, many people have said it is so far, but like I just don’t see?? It seems that the pacing has been quite good, and the important moments are given impact, But the common complaints I see are that the story isn’t given enough room to breathe or it feels like it is going off a checklist. Do you think so too?

Yes and no. I do think some plot points have been expedited, but not out of lack of consideration for the story/characters or out of a desire to rush the story to an ending (or because Hori "secretly hates mha and just wants to get everything over with," or whatever absurd and insensitive nonsense redditwtter believes).

Rather, I always get the sense that Hori's always frustrated that he can't do even more for the series-- and recent interviews only cement this impression. MHA is his passion project and it's clear that he loves it deeply, but the constraints of this medium and his health problems sometimes make it difficult for him to fully realize that passion. Like, I don't want to overstep my boundaries as a fan and make insensitive assumptions, but-- as someone who also loves storytelling and art, I imagine it must be so unbearably frustrating to not be able to tell your story exactly the way you want to because of those aforementioned constraints. Despite that, he doesn't give up-- and as much as I want him to rest, I also can't help being in complete awe of his art/composition and how he delivers this level of quality on a near-weekly basis. He has an absurd level of talent.

Anyway. I feel that overall, act three has been paced just fine. The final act started out a bit rough with the dark hero and starnstripe arcs feeling mildly disjointed from each other-- but Hori found his rhythm again by the start of the war and thus far has managed to tie the themes and arcs of his core cast together in a satisfying way. I feel like people who claim that the pacing has been bad are kind of letting the cold, unrelenting march of real time cloud their judgement (MEMENTO MANGA AND MEMENTO MORI BROSKIS 🤘)-- but if you go back and binge read from the start of act 3 to now (306-405), it's easier to see that the final act has been paced well imho.

I've also mentioned this before, but, I feel people need to take the fact that Horikoshi introduced a lot of MHA's characters and plot elements when he was healthier into consideration with their critiques. Ongoing manga should not be critiqued the same way that one would critique a finished book-- understanding of the medium and its constraints are absolutely factors that need to be considered before you start bashing things like pacing or arguing that things have been "retconned," I feel.

And I also feel that as fans, we do have a responsibility to be aware of the grueling work conditions of this medium and the effects it has on the author, and then temper our expectations accordingly instead of expecting Horikoshi to neatly resolve every single subplot or minor character arc (For example: "Why aren't Momo, Denki, and Kirishima getting their moments in the final war?" bc they all got their big moments during the first war; "Why didn't we -see- Izuku and Toshinori developing their relationships with ALL of the 1A kids, Class 1A vs Deku and IronMight felt so forced!" *afo voice* BECAUSE THEY'RE EXTRAS-- bc this would be an absurd request even If Horikoshi didn't have health problems. It's perfectly fine to narrow the focus of Izuku's relationships down to certain key members of his class to emphasize the effect he has on people and narrow the focus of Toshi's relationships down to two or three other students to show his growth as a teacher-- the story would become excessively bloated & lose focus if we tried developing *every single side character/relationship*. This is literally basic writing 101).

I do agree that glossing over certain emotional beats in the aftermath of the first war was unfortunate and unlike what we'd come to expect from Hori (Midnight's death being treated like a footnote instead of a chance to explore the concept of personal loss in the students is the most egregious example)-- but for the past year or so we've seen a return to form in emphasizing/exploring the emotions of the core characters, so I do have high hopes for the finale/epilogue of Act 3!

[blizzoops]

Y'all, I need to rant about my latest hyperfixation. I stumbled upon the manga, "How Do We Relationship?" At first I was like aw, this is a cute and fun little yuri story, with a healthy helping of spice. But HOLY SHIT IT GOT TOO REAL TOO FAST. It's good, but got damn does it hurt lol.

It's got it's fun moments too, just look at how they meet, I love these two (rant below)

As a hopeless romantic I have read many a romance manga/webtoon, both het and yuri, and nothing has ever come to as painfully realistic as this. Most of them are just cute little stories of the main characters slowly working towards the point where they finally start going out, and then that's it. Happily ever after. I mean those are fine, but the characters and story are too shallow for me to really get invested in.

But this manga... this manga starts off with them dating right away. It focuses on the struggles of being in a relationship and it is soooooo painfully realistic. I can't count the number times where I was just like, "ahhh, fuck, yep, been there," or like, "ahhhhhhh shit, I had this conversation," "damn this stings lol," but like, in the best way lol, because it's relatable!

I just read an interview with Tamifull (the author) and how she didn't want to necessarily market this as yuri, and wanted to create a story exploring relationships themselves, so that even het people could get into. So mission accomplished I guess cuz even with my limited het experiences I'm still feeling pain lol. Don't get me wrong, there are times when the difficulties of being in a queer relationship are brought up, but it's not the focus.

The MCs go through a lot of self-reflection, guilt, regret. I'm gonna try to be subtle here but skip this paragraph if you don't want spoilers. Like, you care about someone and want to be honest with them, but there's parts of yourself that you're afraid to show, because you're scared if your partner see it's they'll hate you. But then that just ends up building a wall between you. Loving someone deeply but realizing that you're incompatible, and staying together is just hurting you both.

You don't really grow until you've experienced some real pain, and then learn not to make the same mistakes again. And I say the same mistake cuz they make other mistakes along the way lol, that's just life! It's insane how much the MCs have matured since the first chapter.

But yeah, I can't sing this Tamifull's praises enough. Not only is she masterful at writing characters, but she does everything herself with no assistants???? Wtf???? This is the first manga I've read and really got invested in a very long time. Lately it's been webtoons for me cuz they're short and for a lot of them I scroll through pretty quickly, cuz I'm just so busy. But I'm not kidding when I say I binged the whole thing in like 12 hours straight, then went back and reread some chapters lol. And now I get to painfully wait for the biweekly updates...

Anyway, if you made it this far, I highly recommend you read "How Do We Relationship." I got a Viz subscription just for this lol, it's just 2 bucks so no biggie. This has easily become one of my favorite manga of all time. And I hope it stays that way by the time it wraps up I'm looking at you Bleach...

[tworegimesof]

I've been putting off reading getohime fics for so long because I thought there wouldn't be too many, and boy was I proven right, but I came upon your fics on ao3 and was immediately hooked. I haven't read all of them yet, but the ones that I adore the most are your kidfics/ implied preggo fic esp with little Tomie in them. I just finished reading If We Make it Through December and author-chan, Why'd you have to make it hurt so much? 😭 As someone who's not accustomed to an angsty fic without a happy ending, it literally crushed my heart that Geto turned out the way he is in that fic, and his own kid wouldn't even be an exception to his demented vision of the world. But then I read Terrible, No Good, Awful, and even though it's a satosho fic with a side of getohime, I still adore the getohime crumbs here and there and ohhhhh!!! little Tomie is adorable (along with the satosho kiddos). I want to see more of her interactions with Geto in an Au similar to that fic where he's present and all is well... huhu, needless to say, I hope you consider making more getohime kidfic with more Geto and Tomie moments. I'd like to read how their relationship would turn out, given you made Tomie's mannerism similar to Geto's.

and oh, a question if you don't mind. In an AU where getohime is together and all is well, do you plan to give Tomie siblings or is it just gonna be her, their only child. #babieseverafter

When I pictured my life as a child I definitely did not think I'd be writing so many fics for such a specific rare pair but nonetheless, here I am.

Tomie is actually my favorite kid OC that I've written. Her name is from Junji Ito's Tomie, a manga about a girl who is so beautiful, that men become obsessed with owning her and kill her in a jealous rage, only for her to continually come back as a curse (her body regenerates). To me, Tomie is a great namesake because she embodies female rage (Utahime) and has a villainous resistance to a world more sinister than any person (Geto). And yeah, if Geto's own mother isn't an exception to the rule, than his child definitely wouldn't be either. I also think that Junji Ito is a major influence on Gege and the world of JJK, where there is the larger, mysterious and incurable problem of cursed energy that is the ooze from which Sukuna and Kenjaku spring (and is arguably the bigger villain). I know Ito also let Gege use an image from Uzumaki for Geto's Maximum Uzumaki. The only way I can get through this series is telling myself that JJK is Junji Ito shounen magic cage fights lol.

LOL Tomie has such a different dynamic with GetoHime than SatoShoko's kids have with their parents. I feel like Gojo and Shoko are actually very functional co-parents and their kids can rely on them for everything. I think Tomie is more independent. I think she takes her problems to Geto over Utahime because she wants to protect her mom and knows how ridiculous Utahime can be. I've been flirting with more kidfic in the Terrible, No Good, Awful-universe because it has the best set up for it, but I won't make promises, since I've got other stories for other fandoms to write.

Tomie is an only child. Pregnancy is one of the most metal things that the human body can do, and is so rough that I don't think my girl Utahime could do it twice.

Thanks for reading and apologies for the long rant! Clearly, I have a vision lol.

[voxofthevoid]

Hi!

I just dropped by to say that you are one amazing author. I found your fic "little lamb to slaughter" and i absolutely love the way you wrote goyuu and their character and interactions. the intensity left me breatheless. I'm so happy to have you joined our fandom and to write for goyuu. they are actually my favorite otp, so to have you write fics about them and give the fandom such a brilliant masterpiece is like winning the lottery. I'm looking forward to more goyuu fics from you, of course, at your own pace!

I just have one question, I hope you don't mind. why do you like goyuu? and what made you ship them?

Actual footage of me reading this ask 🥺

Thank you so much, anon!! This is incredibly sweet, and I don't even know what to say. I got into goyuu thinking it's a fairly small fandom/ship (by my standards—I've spent several years onboard juggernaut ships like victuuri and stucky), not expecting much interaction, but you guys have been so damn amazing from the start. I'm delighted to be here, and honestly, I'll be here for quite a while at the rate Gojou and Yuuji have me writing fics for them.

I don't mind at all! I'll put my answer under a cut because I am incapable of being concise, and I sure have many, many thoughts about this ship.

There's not really any rhyme or reason to the kind of characters or ships I like, only that I need to (a) love both characters a lot individually and (b) love their interactions in canon enough to want more of it—doubly so if I'm to write for it.

And honestly, both Gojou and Yuuji ticked off those boxes pretty early on. Yuuji's hands-down one of my favorite characters of all time. I liked him a lot in the anime itself, and by the time I caught up to the manga (it was around Chapter 200 at the time), I adored him beyond reason. Gojou was a wild ball of delight from the very first scene, and the more I saw of him, the more I liked him. I won't get into the whys of either now since that's not really the question, but suffice to say that both of them make me want to dig into their psyches teeth-first.

The shipping kind of evolved naturally. I blame MAPPA for the initial visual appeal—Gojou getting up in Yuuji's face and generally being a shameless thot definitely made me perk up. The whole basement training arc added fuel to the fire with the sheer potential of it all. But what made it go from cursory appreciation to full-blown obsession is that there's a lot of genuine affection, respect, and ease between the two of them despite the extremely brief time they know each other.

From Yuuji's end, there's adoration without awe and respect without fear. At first, it might be because he doesn't have a clue what Gojou's capable of, but then he sees Gojou's domain and watches him rip the head off a curse and step on it—and still nothing. Acknowledgement, yes, but he still treats Gojou as human first and foremost. When he dies the first time, he mentions Gojou in the list of people he doesn't have to worry about anymore with 100% sincerity—and who the hell worries about Gojou? Why would they? But it's consistently something Yuuji displays, even at Shibuya. Well before shit goes up in flames, he thinks Gojou should have support, and after he's sealed, it's clear Yuuji's concern is all for Gojou the person, not Gojou the strongest sorcerer. One of my favorite scenes from the Shibuya arc (which is saying something because I'm rabid about that entire arc) is Yuuji, bloody and utterly wrecked from Kenjaku's attack, snarling for them to give Gojou back. The fear, the worry, even the phrasing—kills me every damn time. It's there in the recent chapters too: Yuuji's unflinching willingness to die to free Gojou, his gratitude Gojou and Megumi gave him a role to play, his complete faith that everything will be fine once Gojou's free. Plus him not even batting an eye at Gojou's pre-battle aura in Chapter 220. There's just a lot of genuine trust and comfort there.

From Gojou's end, there's that instant liking to Yuuji. The anime legitimately makes it seem like he sees Yuuji shirtless one(1) time and decides to tap that, but even putting that aside, especially after the scene in the crematorium, it's pretty clear he just likes who Yuuji is as a person. There's an impressive number of scenes where he's just looking at Yuuji, and I am forever weak for how he takes off Infinity for Yuuji from, literally, Day 2. And apparently makes it enough of a habit that Yuuji takes it for granted and is comfortable asking him to lower it—which Gojou does, changing the whole mood of that scene in 220 for the better. I would kill to see more of their interactions in the post-unsealing times honestly. The reciprocal faith and respect also compel me. In the couple of weeks between Gojou meeting Yuuji and Yuuji dying due to Sukuna, Gojou gets attached enough to give us one of his few genuine displays of uncontrolled rage—as opposed to the usual deranged grin or coldness we see when he's violent—and also comes to believe Yuuji could've one day matched his power. Coming from him, that sure is something. Then there's how Sukuna, of all people, imply that Gojou never intended to let Yuuji be executed—which I do think tracks with Gojou's attitude toward Yuuji and the whole vessel business from nearly the start. There's just a lot of consistent care and faith there.

I can keep going, but you get the gist.

On top of all that, it's been a hot minute since I've sunk my teeth into a pairing with all sorts of power imbalances: adult/minor and teacher/student, plus the whole walking death sentence/executioner angle (Yuuji's willingness to die, Gojou not planning to let him but never telling him, etc.). It's fucked up, and as my Ao3 in general shows, I have a deep and abiding love for that kind of thing.

Also, I think Yuuji deserves to bend his pretty teacher over and rail him into infinity. As a treat. Since not much of that content exists, I will make it exist.

[earthbovndmisfit]

Hi !! For the ask-game! 2, 5, 6, 12, 20, 21 and 24 ? sorry if it's a lot!! hope you'll have a good day!!!

Fandom/fanfic asks!

2.- Most recent fandom you joined? Not sure if it counts because I've liked the games for actual years and I've just recently got more into them and became more active in the fandom, but it would probably be the Metal Gear series.

I don't watch or consume new media very often unless it's something that somehow takes my whole attention away from what I already like and I'm deep into, so it takes a while for me to get into a new series and fandom haha

5.- Favorite platonic pairing? In Jojo, that would be Erina and Speedwagon!! I love and cherish their friendship so much despite how little we see of it onscreen. This is also why I dislike it so much whenever the "everyone dates everyone" dynamic gets forced on Jonaeriwagon instead of just letting them be a happy V-polycule (not to mention the erasure of all things homo in Speedwagon by shipping him and Erina romantically and/or sexually when that's not even "necessary" for the polycule to work). Someone once said Erina and Speedwagon invented the "girl and her gay best friend" and they were so correct.

6.- Favorite headcanon? Going with Jojo again since that's like 99% of this blog, one of my fave headcanons ever is that of Speedwagon's body being covered by scars from his many years as a criminal (+ all of the more "honorable" ones he got after he joined Jonathan and helped him fight zombies, the one he got from Jack The Ripper, and whatnot).

Related to that one, I love the headcanon that Jonathan too has scars, most of them from his childhood, from his reckless ways (like that time we see him walking on a tree branch as a kid in the manga) and from playing around with Danny by the river, or from his boxing and rugby training. He also still has the scar from the wound Speedwagon caused him with his buzzsaw hat during their first encounter, since he wasn't a hamon user at the time and was unable to heal himself (the wound was said to be a deep cut, so it definitely must have left a scar). The sight of that one scar always makes Speedwagon apologize profusely bc he still feels bad for permanently marking Jonathan's skin with his own recklessness, however, Jonathan always reassures him that it's okay and that he genuinely likes it because, in Jonathan's words, much like Speedwagon's face scar does to him, it gives him personality too, and also "now we match, too, Robert!"

12.- Craziest thing you've ever done as part of a fandom? Already answered this one. This one is not as "crazy" I think?? But I'm adding it anyway as a bonus: I've always had a "if it doesn't exist, then make it yourself" approach when it comes to fandom stuff and spaces as a result of me always getting into obscure and/or unpopular fandoms/characters/ships, and so I always try to find ways to spread the love for what I like and share it with other fans regardless of how big or small the community is and promote interactions as much as I can and etc. This is also why I've kept this blog as some kind of "central" for all things Speedwagon/Jonathan and Jonawagon, for example. It is also why I try to tag every post I make or reblog, to make navigation easier for any and all fans of them who end up here, as I do still remember just how difficult it was to find anything for them years ago, when all you'd find would be "Speedweeeed best gril! XD! le funny memez" full of out of character bullshit.

20.- All-time favorite fanfic author? Probably HamonHugs when it comes to Jojo. Their portrayal of Jonathan and Speedwagon was always so on point and their stories were always so *chef's kiss* and had a perfect balance between fluff and cute moments and super hot and sexy ones too. There was also a fanfic author in the Yu Yu Hakusho fandom that I liked a lot but I can't remember their alias. They wrote some really good KuronuexKurama stories, though, as far as I can remember, they deleted their stories some years ago.

21.- Favorite fic trope? Already answered this one too!

24.- Funniest fandom-related story? Already answered too! As a small bonus, I wouldn't say it's precisely funny since it's more of a super nice and touching experience I had, but it has happened to me at least once that someone recommended to me one of my own fics, saying it was one of their favorite fics ever and that I should totally read it. This person didn't know I was the author since I rarely ever mention my ao3/wattpad accounts or the fact that I raaaaarely ever write fics, so it was genuine praise. It was kinda odd in the best way possible and it was also super touching in the sense that once more I could see first-hand the positive impact some of my writing has had on someone else, similar to the times people have taken time out of their day to tell me just how much they enjoy my creations, or how happy they make them, whether it's my fics or my art. It's just undescribable but it truly makes my day every single time it happens 🫶

[tenrousei-kuroi]

Well, I’m not surprised it’s Sirius/Regulus. I should’ve seen this coming🤣

I’ve asked about incest shipping because I see different reasons out there. Some people just like it for the forbidden love/taboo aspect, some have bad real life experiences, and it has always intrigued me how common it is to like stories that are “morally wrong” (dark romances are very popular, for example) and not see fiction tied to real life morality but drawing the line at this theme, not only for personal taste but also imputing a moral obligation to depict it as wrong. 

My first incest ship was accidental. It was Yuki/Kaname from a series called Vampire Knight. We only discover they’re siblings at certain point in the story, and even after people were condemning them together I just didn't care and still rooted for the author not to separate them (which was in vain 😅). Eventually I came across Siri/Reggie and from then on there was no going back. I think it particularly struck me because, specially for older works, there was this flowery and tragic aspect to many – if not most – stories shipping them, a fleeting happiness that frequently wouldn’t last long.

Similarly to what you said, I have a pretty normal and stable life and darker themes have always caught my attention. Strangely, I love sad and bittersweet endings, even if I’m attached to the character and actually feel bad for them – tragedy is just so much more intense than any portrait of happiness I’ve ever seen. I had access to pretty much anything I wanted to read or watch growing up. Mostly because I’m a naturally private person and the ‘smart, well-behaved daughter’, my parents never used to question me much, but to this day this aspect of my life is pretty much my dirty little secret (that I don’t even think it’s dirty, but I assume peoplesurrounding me wouldn't think the same).

Anyway, I wish I could personally thank Ann for getting you hooked on Sirius/Regulus and creating so much good content for the fandom (btw, could I get a link to Palimpsest? Sounds like it’s really good).

Oooo I remember Vampire Knight! It used to come serialized in ShojoBeat, a manga magazine I got back in middle school. I admit I didn't finish the series but I did get to the incest reveal. I have some pretty vivid memories of a hilarious "argument" my friend and I had in gym class over it (she's cool, she was just very easily embarrassed, so it was funny to tease her with her ship turning out to be incestuous).

I didn't have much of a reaction to the plot turn that they were siblings because I was too busy picturing Mr. Kaname getting it on with Zero ;)

Angel Sanctuary was another early incest story I came across. If it wasn't clear by my profile pictures literally everywhere online I've a bit of a fancy for Kaori Yuki's work.

A Cruel God Reigns by Moto Hagio is another good manga rec if you're looking for something a bit more...I dunno', classy? Award-worthy? "Serious"? Whatever you want to call it, if you haven't read it, you should check it out. It's scanlation only, though, unless you can read Japanese, because I don't think it was ever officially localized in the English market.

Here's a link to Palimpsest. I'd recommend downloading a copy quick now, because that's a web archive and who knows how long it'll be up. Actually all of the author's previous HP stuff is up on that archive page and it's all good.

(Can you tell I'm typing on my computer instead of my phone this time? Suddenly my punctuation and formatting are semi-competent.)

And speaking of everyone's favorite incestuous Black brothers, I've got to get myself in gear--I'm super behind. I've got like three fests I need to finish up! ...plus a whole lot of WIP's that I swear I am working on. They'll all be finished...one day.

Sirius/Regulus is so much more popular now than it was when I was a teen. Easier to find too. And James/Regulus has blown up in an almost unrecognizable way. I swear I don't even know who the characters are in half the Jegulus fics I read.

I wonder how long the inertia will last? I guess no matter what, I was there writing my pretentious nonsense long before that stuff got popular and I'll still be here long after everyone else gets bored and moves on <3

Ao3 could blow up tomorrow, and I'd probably just set up a Sirius/Regulus mailing list.

[melishade]

After finishing the story and watching the visuals of aot, did it gave more ideas to work on?

Honestly, not really.

So for some context, I was a manga reader for AoT, and I specifically was in order to get more ideas for Attack on Prime. When the manga chapter for Assassin's Bullet came out, and Eren started laughing like a maniac over Sasha's death, I knew how I wanted to end the story, and I knew that the Rumbling was going to be activated. That is what spawned the creation of cm186: one of the first of many documents I had for AOP. (There was another that I had on a flash drive but the flash drive got busted and it costed too much to repair it and it devastates me to this day. Back up your files on different formats writers). cm186 was a lot of the brainstorming and rough drafts of that final battle and the aftermath of that battle.

Now I had an idea for an ending, it was just a matter of filling in the in between. How to get to that point. I continued reading AoT and continued writing for that 4 year gap that Isayama ignored. The Paths chapters dropped; that became some free ass real estate. And then AoT dropped the final chapter, and the final chapter wasn't something that I was particularly happy with. And I've stated in my author's notes of other chapters as to why that was the case.

Before and after the AoT manga ended, I was still writing, brainstorming, outline, analyzing, all that stuff for Attack on Prime. Even as I was writing chapters, I had written concept idea and scenes for future chapters that were either scrapped or changed via dialogue and action. Even now, as I've reached the climax: Guren No Yumiya, I still have to go back to previous chapters and fix certain things because I either don't like the direction I've taken, or the big scenes that happen in certain battles don't feel as impactful, so I have to add stuff.

Aot's anime ending remained mostly the same. I like the fact that they fixed Armin and Eren's conversation, which was one of the major problems that I had with the manga; however, there are still a lot of problems that I have with AoT's ending which would have benefited from an extra few chapters. Such as:

-Ymir's relationship with King Fritz, -Mikasa's role in the story, and the fact that she still holds onto Eren and thinks of him fondly when he killed 80% of all humanity (Also she kissed his decapitated head. That's still pretty gross.) -Also the whole Eren causing his mom's death because it's been shown in the show that abnormal titan can ignore a few individual people if they see a large host of people (i.e. Rod Reiss' titan) -We don't really see the fruits of the Alliance's labor post Rumbling. -Everyone looking at Eren rather fondly. This is kinda fixed in the anime, but it rubs me the wrong way in the manga. -The lack of time we really spend with the warriors and warrior cadets which causes their character development to be a little lackluster. I guess I'm thinking in the context of "I've known them for so little time compared to the main cast of three season"

There's a lot I could talk about, but I'm certain there are others who can explain it far better than I can. But AOP is essentially me addressing what I didn't like with AoT. Aot's anime ending did nothing to change that.

[charliethemanticore]

Hi! I watch/read a lot of anime/manga, so I figured I'd discuss the filler thing with you! Hope that's ok!

That's actually a very good point, I never thought about it that way! I think people disregard filler and don't consider it a regular addition to an adaptation, like it happens in other movies or shows, because in most cases its point is not to add anything worthwhile to the story, but to gain some time to not catch up to the manga.

So then, particularly in longer anime such as Naruto or Bleach, there are these entire arcs that completely deviate from the story and are ultimately pointless and stick out like a sore thumb. Whatever happened there is never brought back again, and its characters are promptly discarded as soon as the arc ends. This is something that doesn't happen in adaptations in other media (as far as I know), and what makes filler such an unique thing to anime.

Then there are cases where from some point on the anime completely deviates from its source material, such as Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 or Soul Eater. People don't refer to its original content as filler anymore because there's an understanding that they're doing their own thing.

I think what ultimately draws the line on what's filler or not it's its purpose and of course this is not a black or white thing, or matter of quality. Most people would agree that FMA 2003's ending is garbage, and the episode in DBZ where Goku and Piccolo learn how to drive is incredible. But then in cases where filler adds to and elevates the source material, can we still refer to it as such? That's a more difficult question! But I think we can all agree that Naruto's filler is pretty pointless, it made the show near unwatchable, and it's as fillery as filler can get. It's there to fill time and nothing else, no one's happy that it exists but alas it's there.

Sorry this got so long haha

Disclaimer: I have a migraine so this is very rambly and not the response such a well thought-out explanation deserves.

Thank you so much for your perspective I really appreciate it. (Also I feel like my tags were misleading. I watch a lot of anime I'm just like... Sitting in the corner doing my own thing bc I find active participation in fandom tends to be bad for my specific combination of issues)

But my biggest toxic trait is I fucking love like... 60% of the Naruto filler arcs (they're the only time my most beloved shino gets any real airtime and he DESERVES IT)

BUT based on every conversation I've had with my friends about this, this is because I have very different... Requirements when it comes to the stuff I like. The filler arcs are silly and fun and I enjoy them immensely (the only one I couldn't watch to completion was the robot Naruto one). Have a lot of complicated feelings about them though. Like The Three-Tails' Appearance is great because shino gets to be competent and Lee is a sweetheart and Sakura and Ino get to work together... But if that adorable child plays that leaf whistle one more time I may cry (guess where I'm up to in my rewatch)

Bleach filler is so much worse. Bount arc wasn't even enjoyable 0/10 couldn't even be saved by hot villains. I watched all but one arc of Naruto. I did not grant the same to bleach, it burned me too many times.

DBZ filler is complicated though because a lot of the filler has canon stuff sprinkled in which I think is a more seamless way to buy time - sprinkling filler into existing arcs rather than having just... 76 episodes of near continuous filler NARUTO. I understand the constraints were different though.

(fma:b is one of my favourites and I sort of just pretend 2003 didn't happen. It has some good points but I just can't. The author told them to go with their hearts and I respect that they committed but results were questionable)

Point is I think it's really interesting to see how other people interact with media because I'm mostly just sitting here like "are my favourite little guys talking? Brilliant. 10/10 you're doing great sweetie etc" im stressed out by literally everything else, a few episodes of some kids trying to unmask their teacher is enrichment in my enclosure

[dragon-queen21]

Thank you so much for the tag! Sorry for taking forever to respond to this I am honestly terrible at remember to do these things despite how much I love doing them

📷 What’s set as your phone’s lockscreen? A very old drawing on one of my oc's. I made it back in middle school I believe when I got my first phone

🍫 Cheese or chocolate? Odd question, but chocolate

✨ Do you have any nicknames? Yes! Way to many, which is funny considering my irl name is really long and not all that convenient to nickname. Mayliz is a nickname of it already. A very dear friend of mine calls me Maysun, been called Emmy and Liz as well in the past along with far to many others haha I really enjoy people giving me nicknames.

🎵 Last song you listened to? I Like the way you kiss me, but a female version of it

✏️ Have you ever written fanfiction? Yes. Far too many.

😏 Are you on discord? I am!

 💛 Do you have any piercings? My ears have a lobe piercing in them. Although I really want to get an industrial piercing one of these days. I just think they are so pretty.

🐰 What do you think says the most about a person? Their religion.

🍪 If you were a cookie, what kind would you be? Sugar cookie, or snickerdoodle, just because those are my favorites.

🐶 Are you more of a dog person or a cat person? Actually I'm a sheep person :3 (no but definitely dogs)

🎧 Headphones or earbuds? Earbuds

🌼 What’s the last thing you said out loud? Ummmm..... good question. I think it was saying to my mom that I was going to go and write (of which I'm not as I'm procrastinating by answering these :3)

🙃 What’s a weird fact that you know?

🦉 Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning person. I can't stay up late for the life of me ;-;

🧸 Favorite place to nap? I really don't like naps. Probably just in bed though, surrounded by as many stuffed animals as I can fit :3

🏳️‍🌈 Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community? Nope

🦋 Describe yourself in three words. Caring, passionate, and creative

👖 Jeans or sweatpants? Sweatpants

🥤 What’s your go-to Starbucks order? Carmel frappuccino, I think, I really don't drink coffee.

🧡 A color you can’t stand? Certain shades of green and yellow

💎 What’s your most prized possession? Probably my mangas, I have so many it's like my own little library :3

☕ Coffee or tea? Tea, Lemon specifically

🦖 Favorite extinct animal? umm...

🌙 How long have you been on tumblr? two years now... or was it three... I've been posting for two techinically

🌴 Desert island item? Mangas to read, or my sketch pad (plus a pencil) to draw

🐸 Describe your aesthetic. I don't know ✨

🔮 What’s your dream job? Being a published author/ manga artist

💙 Relationship status? Single ;-;

🌿 Describe your favorite outfit. There is this certain style of outfits, tight fitted shirts, a neck tie, corset belt, add a patterned skirt, leg warmer, ect. I don't know what the style is called, I guess kind of preppy and formal, I don't know, but that. Honestly I just really like outfits where I can wear a tie

🎤 Is there a song you know all the lyrics to? Way too many, I love listening to music often times just repeating the same song for hours on end

🤎 What color is your hair? Brown, though I want to dye the ends of my hair teal one day

💌 Do you talk to yourself? Yes, probably too much.

💄 Do you wear makeup? Sometimes. I enjoy doing fun eyeliner and blush on occasion.

🌸 Best compliment you ever received? A comment from such a long time ago that my writing was so good that I could be a publish author

💞 @ your favorite blog. @juicezone @z3r0b1tch35 @multifandomenjoyerr @awesomedurraworld If any of you would like to join :D

~ 💖 ASK GAME 💖 ~

📷 What’s set as your phone’s lockscreen?

🍫 Cheese or chocolate?

✨ Do you have any nicknames?

🎵 Last song you listened to?

✏️ Have you ever written fanfiction?

😏 Are you on discord?

 💛 Do you have any piercings?

🐰 What do you think says the most about a person?

🍪 If you were a cookie, what kind would you be?

🐶 Are you more of a dog person or a cat person?

🎧 Headphones or earbuds?

🌼 What’s the last thing you said out loud?

🙃 What’s a weird fact that you know?

🦉 Are you a morning person or a night owl?

🧸 Favorite place to nap?

🏳️‍🌈 Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?

🦋 Describe yourself in three words.

👖 Jeans or sweatpants?

🥤 What’s your go-to Starbucks order?

🧡 A color you can’t stand?

💎 What’s your most prized possession?

☕ Coffee or tea?

🦖 Favorite extinct animal?

🌙 How long have you been on tumblr?

🌴 Desert island item?

🐸 Describe your aesthetic.

🔮 What’s your dream job?

💙 Relationship status?

🌿 Describe your favorite outfit.

🎤 Is there a song you know all the lyrics to?

🤎 What color is your hair?

💌 Do you talk to yourself?

💄 Do you wear makeup?

🌸 Best compliment you ever received?

💞 @ your favorite blog.

Reblogs are appreciated!