#and no oda's opinion doesn't matter either

[brookstolemybrand]

People really are overcomplicating the Yamato gender question.

I'll make this as simple as I can:

You don't have to figure out what Yamato's """real""" canonical gender is.

Yamato says he's a man. You can just listen to him and accept that he's a man. You don't need to come up with a whole ass new theory of gender for this, you don't need to pull out the conspiracy board, it's okay.

For the purposes of deciding what to call him: it does not matter why he chose to become a man, it only matters that he did.

[elledberry]

No, but like, WHY do people care so much about other people ship preferences?

I get it, I don't ship the obvious ones or the "right" or what was given to me by the author, but IS JUST A SHIP.

Look, don't get me wrong, I'm not angry at other preferences when it comes to this. What I get annoyed at is that when there is an illustration, an edit, a fucking fic, any kind of media, that shows that romantic dynamic between the characters they will be like

"siblings 🩷" "omg no how could ship that? They aren't like that." "Have you read the books ?" "Omg, people actually ship them?" "The author said..." "omg but this (name of other ship), it's so much better," and so on.

My beautiful person who comments in every edit of (some examples, but I'm sure that there's more) harmony, lunami, zutara, sasusaku .... do you really think that they/we don't know or care about this ? Do you know what you look like when u comment stuff like that? An idiot who can't let others have a different opinion on literally fiction character's romance life, like that one kid in kindergarten who saw another kid getting a toy and go's on about how that toy is lame compared to theirs, a spoiled brat.

You have so many things to be arguing about in the actual plot, but you can't cus you think that the idea of nami and luffy together is so wrong that you go around in every media of them "oda said..." But with other members of the crew, oda said absolutely nothing... not only that, but are we really discussing this ? Can we be talking about I don't know... how racist and hypocrites are some people in this famdon? Really give your disappointment and disgust to that(what is actually important).

Harry and Hermione are another great example of "I know they aren't like that but I like the idea of it" WE KNOW THEY AREN'T LIKE THAT but we think is cute it could HAVE BEING cute, sometimes people just grow up shipping and seeing they as a possible couple, like people who grow hating sakura and now simply can't have a actually good argument of why she should be hated on... that was an ironic comment by the way but also not, ( no, her not liking the main character the same way shouldn't be one, or the author not giving her screen time either much less cus of the fact the the anime did her dirty with so much disconnect things from the manga, like her relationship with sasuke <his perspective of it > or naruto himself for that matter, hate on a literally 12 years old for saying shit that every fucking person in the village grew up thinking, funny, why not hate on the thirdkage then? The person who could have actually stopped the hate on a little kid) [Sorry that got out of the main point]

Or zutara, my God, people get personal with just as harmony, relax, just cus I like them doesn't mean I hate kataang, surprise or not I do think they are indeed very cute, I'm pretty sure some other people who ship zutara too... we just see the potential, what could have happened, once again, enemies to friends to loves, the plot, you know ? There is no need to get offended by the IDEA of it. We love the drama and the fic, the illustrations, the edits are just a format that represents and shows it, share if people who likes it, you don't like it ? Oh well, let me tell you a secret, ignore it, you probably ignore so much more important things, why not a fucking edit of ship you don't even like ?, oh you can't ? You can't see other people "toy" and shut about your disappointment on it, is it that hard ?, oh well, have you actually not known that there's an amazing thing within social media, when you hold/press or simply click on the 3 dots on the top of the post, there's a option there, that's right, BLOCK IT the algorithm will understand if you continue blocking it, unlike some people.

I'm just rambling about this because I'm sick and tired of people being such a killjoy, I just want to enjoy "my ship" and see the comments of people who actually likes it to, not yours "siblings 🩷" in post which is definitely not about that, or "oda said..." when i didn't ask what he said, you know people have different things that brings them a scape from reality that brings them a funny giggle (no killing others people joy, when it's such a basic no harmful thing), wave of emotion for those who don't get to feel much in the day-to-day life or simple just cus.

It just petty of you, be better.

Ps.. There is no offense for those who ship other characters within these plots(or different ones), original, popular, or unpopular. Do your thing. Be happy. Just don't spoil others.

Ps2... NO I'm not defending incest that's no it at fucking all ( sorry if I didn't make it clear). I said "siblings" when it came to lunami and Harry x Hermione (cus people like to comment that on posts that aren't even about it < the platonic soul mates comment>), they AREN'T related or grown up at such. Point is you hating the idea of it and going on every post about the ship and hating there. hate all you want, but not on ,obviously, posts that are for the fans of the ship.

[beanghostprincess]

Not to keep beating a dead horse so to speak, but circling back to how the anime handles the Shuggy breakup it is personally the first time I've fully understood people who say the manga is way better & the "true" story because on the whole I think the anime is a really good adaption....except for this omg. I haven't read the manga fully either yet so now I'm wondering what else got a totally different vibe than intended & how that colors the perception of the story & characters. For instance, I'm already seeing anime onlys completely misinterpret Buggy's feelings in the shuggy breakup probably because of how brief it was.

I've had arguments in comments sections about people who do not think Buggy wanted to be Pirate King himself & his anger with Shanks isn't tied to him secretly sacrificing his OWN dream to follow him. To me the manga made it very clear that Buggy was making a great personal sacrifice in order to stay with his friend & how that all ties into his own insecurities, but a ton of anime onlys only saw it as Buggy being a whiny baby & not realizing how deep of a conflict Shanks refusing to look for the One Piece was for them 😭 and it's so frustrating! They just think Buggy is being "ungrateful" for everything Shanks did for him. I'm tired of the Shuggy dynamic being viewed so one sidedly in Shanks's favor & Buggy's detriment because they both narratively hold equal amounts of significance to each other. We just haven't been allowed to explore Shanks's side of it...yet. Oda kept Shanks's face obscured for a reason I'm sure.

And since the anime didn't frame it correctly Buggy's speech to Cross Guild about reigniting your dreams & setting sail for Laugh Tale loses all seriousness & comes off as just another gag instead & it breaks my heart because in the Manga while there is humor in it Buggy's tears are REAL & you can literally feel the spirit of One Piece flow through his speech. That speech shows us Buggy is a TRUE pirate! He ALSO inhereted Roger's will! I could literally feel the "I'm gunna become king of the pirates" OST from the anime play as I read it, but the anime framed it like another one of Buggy's "upward fialures" 💔 and it breaks my heart anime onlys don't get that. Imagine if Luffy gave up on his dream & finally after 30 years decided to believe in himself again? Imagine If Usopp really did give up in Water 7 & we didn't see him find the will to believe in himself until 39 years later? Buggy is an example of forgotten dreams & a lesson on it never being too late to go after them.

So I completely agree with you that it doesn't matter how little panel time a moment gets because if Oda can convey all of THAT in like 3 panels then the anime can do so and then some in a minute or 2. I also can't help but think this will confuse viewers later on because I'm certain Buggy is going to get to do some really cool & meaningful stuff in the last arc & a lot of them will feel blindsided because the set up was executed weirdly.

Sorry for sending such a long post & feel free to ignore If ur tired of discussing this I just wanted to give you some validation &let you know you're not the only one who thinks this way. Adaptation has a lot more going into it than just copying manga panels & the a good anime should definitely know when to expand on brief scenes & how to set the correct mood for them.

Oh, please, if it's not a negative ask you can keep sending me stuff about the episode and the breakup all you want!!! I'm just tired of having to defend my opinion. As if it wasn't just that, an opinion. But I'm sooo open to talk about it!!

And you're right!!! It bothers me so much to just think about how Anime Onlys are going to perceive this episode... If Buggy is already misunderstood within the fandom, I can't imagine what's gonna happen now that HIS episode has gotten this awful pacing and explanation (I complain but I've watched the episode so many times already lmao)

People misunderstand their relationship so much and in such levels... I don't get it because it's literally right there. You can't miss it. They're canonically crucial for each other no matter how you see it. It IS mutual whatever they have going on. I know we don't have much of Shanks' POV but you don't even have to read between the lines to see it.

And Buggy being seen as whiny because he has... Feelings... And is emotional... After his whole life crumbles down... Idk about you but if I lived in my best friend's shadow for years and gave up on my dream to trust in his instead, and suddenly when our captain dies he says he won't follow it... I'd be pretty fucking emotional too tbh. I could defend Buggy all day long and explain his character, but I believe I've done that already... So many times... (I love it it's my favorite thing ever)

I love your comparisons to other characters giving up on their dreams because it's so real. Buggy is the representation of people who once gave up on their dream and now are getting the courage back to follow it again. His speech is so emotional I think I know it by heart at this point with how many times I've read this chapter. I always cry-- Every time-- And I'm sooo angry Toei made the episode for laughs basically. It frustrates me in unimaginable ways.

Buggy is gonna do something incredible and people will complain and say it was out of nowhere because his speech in the Anime seems for jokes and like one of his schemes to get away from his problems. But this man was literally having a breakdown in the middle of a torture session and made an impulsive, emotional decision that came from the depths of his heart, because he had been holding onto it for his whole life. That's what bothers me about the animation. The pacing is bad and the way they treat him is even worse...

Don't apologize!!!!! I loved reading this. You expressed yourself sooo well and in such a polite way!!! Basically, you wrote everything I thought about the episode and I'm so glad to finally talk to someone with my same views 😭💖💖

[symeona]

It's also so normal and human to just not be into someone romantically though.

Like i get liking them together but why do people always have to pretend there's any actual evidence for romance when their interpretation basically boils down to "you wouldn't do that for a friend would you". Like maybe not, much more likely for a best friend than a boyfriend though.

It's obvious how much they love either other. Textually that's all there is. Literally nothing points to romance.

Obviously you wouldn't do that for a friend irl. But you also wouldn't do that for a romantic partner. Also Magic isn't real. Also romantic or not it's clearly not meant to be a normal relationship anyway.

Why does it always have to be romance

I read your other ask anon, and don't worry I don't think you come off as unnecessarily combative or rude at all!!!! No need to apologize for sharing your opinion!! I appreciate it actually!! 🤘

I think these discussions are super interesting so don't worry at all, this is the fun of different perspectives imo. And if you had the time and energy I'd love to hear your interpretation of Jayce and V! I don't think my word is law, I just speak on what I feel. Feelings can change lol

And here's mine if u want more context for my dumbassery✨

I'm with you on that 10000%, not everything has to be romantic, not every sacrificial act has to be for the sake of romance or attraction. I think *my* favorite example of that is Zoro and Luffy from One Piece? If you haven't watched it, they truly are DEVOTED to each other and if Oda came out one day and made them romantic partners I would be mad 💀 I would make a post or two about that lmao

And for Arcane, I find examples like Sevika and Vander to be similar to that. Even though maybe I'm reaching here, there was clearly history between them before Sevika joined Silco. And she clearly felt guilty about what happened later, when she stood in front of his statue. I don't think there was romance there, but there must have been something close to a friendship or a level of respect. Same with Vander and Silco, those two had more visual parallels with Powder and Vi. I never got the feeling that there was something more there, the show was very clear. In fact, I genuinely thought they were brothers before I rewatched season 1.

But Jayce and Viktor piss me off dbndndhd

I didn't care much for them, I didn't even mind how the show treated their arcs or dialogues or anything. What bothered me were the creators, later. Because to me, they made no sense?? I don't consider myself illiterate in terms of film? Or human interactions for that matter?

Jayce and Viktor had many visual parallels to Vi and Cait. Like genuinely, the way they were treated cinematically was very similar, and I could get into it, but truthfully this doesn't mean THAT much to me djjdjddn I'm ace myself, and very firm about what it means to love someone as a friend vs a partner.

It's not that Jayce went too far for his friend, it's the long stares, the DIALOGUE ayo, the visuals that made me question wtf was going on between them. And it wasn't really anything more than a raised eyebrow for me, until the creators spoke up.

Cause, full transparency here, I don't like the discussions around Cait and Vi's sex scene. I really don't. I don't like how straight men seem to be so invested in releasing the full scene. And it makes me question, perhaps *unfairly*, the creator's motivations behind all the queerness in the show. Again, it doesn't have to be black and white. This is my genuine question though, how come none of the queerness touched no masculine ppl or men? Is it because of LoL and its predominantly straight fandom? Or was that just how the story was built.

I don't want to see V and Jayce get together, I honestly don't think they should've actually gone there

1. There was no time, you needed an extra season to convince me that either Jayce left Mel or that they became a throuple

2. Eh, not necessary for the story imo

But I just don't buy that their relationship was an uncomplicated friendship. I straight up don't, I think it got weird, i think it got even a little queer. And I thought it was fun that way. And I just wish the creators didn't speak on it at all. Just let it be weird.

Thank you, this was my essay bffjdbdb

[allbuthuman]

On Dazai's possible diagnoses

As a psych postgrad with an interest in psychopathology who's been rotating him in my brain for over a year, I thought I should put my two cents out there. This is probably gonna be long, so buckle up.

So, let's start with what he doesn't have: Borderline Personality Disorder

If it's a headcanon then by all means go ahead, but I really don't see Dazai having the disorder based on canon info. Because this is a take I see often, I will go through all the symptoms one by one and explain why I disagree.

A BPD diagnosis requires 5 of the following:

1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment

I don't wanna get too much into attachment patterns, but Borderline fear of abandonment is largely preoccupied in nature, while Dazai is extremely avoidant. There is a difference between efforts to avoid abandonment and resignation to loneliness. Dazai experiences the second - he does say that everything he holds dear will be lost, but that's something he has accepted. He does nothing to change it. He is resigned. No such effort is being made on his part.

2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships, characterised by alternating between extremes of idealisation and devaluation

I can see why someone would think such instability would be true for Dazai, but that's only on a surface level. If we think about it, his relationships with the people who actually matter to him have been surprisingly stable. My main examples are Oda, Chuuya, Atsushi, and Kunikida. While of course all of them grow and change, the dynamics that were set up when he met each of them have not changed much. Each dynamic is very different, but none of them has has any intense, abrupt shifts. Sure, his relationships can be intense, but that's mostly because of either a) the intensity of the people involved and the circumstances around them (Do you expect two very different and very traumatised teenagers to not fight?) or b) Dazai's persona. You can't take, for example, his fights with Kunikida as an example of instability, because, firstly, it's only ever been like that, and, more importantly, Dazai is fully capable of acting differently, which wouldn't be the case if this were a symptom.

About the second part, Dazai is not once seen alternating between idealisation and devaluation of the same person. What he thinks of those around him seems to be based on characteristics they actually have, interpreted of course by a person like Dazai, who is, like everyone, biased due to his own history and trauma. He's a person and he has opinions on people. Never has he completely idealised or devalued someone, let alone both for the same person, beyond that. The only time we, in the present timeline, see him let his emotions affect how he treats someone is when he first meets Ango again, and what we see is an appropriate reaction from someone who has been hurt. Hell, if anything, he should learn to do that more.

3) Unstable self-image

We literally have no idea. There is minimal information on how Dazai thinks of himself. The only times that I can think of where he actually gave a glimpse into it was when he called himself "a man hated by righteousness" and, less directly, when he told Atsushi that pitying himself would make his life a nightmare, which could have contained some projection. His alienation and struggles with humanity seem to be unchanging, even when he's receiving proof of the opposite, such as experiencing a connection to someone, to the point where he seems to be apprehensive even of change that could come naturally, such as growing close to the other ADA members.

4) Impulsivity in at least two potentially harmful ways (spending, sexual activity, substance use, binge eating, etc.)

He does have this. We don't know his other habits, but he's extremely careless when it comes to his own safety, and it's clear that he abuses alcohol.

5) Recurrent suicidal threats or attempts or self-mutilation. 

He also has this one, although differential diagnosis for BPD would require certainty that it exists beyond the limits of the Major Depressive Disorder that he does have.

6) Unstable mood/affect

That is clearly his persona. In fact, the unmasked Dazai seems flatter in affect than the average person, even though we very rarely see him. I could use Oda's descriptions of him as an example, since he's the one who perceived him the most. He's described Dazai's face as lifeless-looking, unmoving, his eyes like wounds. His "natural" state is empty, hollow. It's quite the opposite of someone who's dysregulated and overflowing with emotion, and it's quite clear that many of the reactions that he does display are dramatised and exaggerated on purpose, and often don't correspond to his true emotion at the time at all, if such a thing is present in the first place. You can't count an act as a symptom. His emotions are controlled to the extreme, even in situations where being emotional would be expected.

7) Chronic feelings of emptiness

He has this. Again, we don't know if we can differentiate it from the depressive emptiness, but it's there.

8) Difficulty controlling anger

We've barely seen him angry, let alone uncontrollably so. He's exploded in anger exactly once, in side B of The Day I Picked Up Dazai, when he rampantly attacked someone because Oda was in danger - as a teenager who was seeing the one person he cared about get hurt. Again, he controls his emotions very well almost at all times.

9) Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or dissociative symptoms.

We have no info on paranoid symptoms on his part. Dissociative symptoms are likely there in his struggle with humanity, but they seem to be present consistently throughout his life and not specifically stress-related.

To sum up: he has 3 out of 9 symptoms, two of which can also be explained by depression. In fact, he is in many ways the opposite of a borderline individual - too controlled, too avoidant, too disengaged from emotion. The only relationship patterns of his that might look BPD-adjacent are almost always part of his persona.

For something more plausible, which I also ultimately don't think he has, or at least we don't have enough info: Antisocial Personality Disorder

I'm not gonna go through all the symptoms again, but mafia Dazai demonstrated many of them. However, there are two reasons I don't think he could be given that diagnosis either.

1) We see him behaving in ways that might meet the symptoms only between the ages of 15 and 18. ASPD can't be diagnosed before the age of 18. Dazai as an adult doesn't show nearly as many of those symptoms, and it's not possible to diagnose an adult based on how he behaved as a teenager. That's neither accurate nor fair. The same is true for symptoms of Schizoid Personality Disorder, some of which teenage Dazai also had.

2) An ASPD diagnosis currently requires a diagnosis of conduct disorder before the age of 15. There is no info on Dazai as a child, and we have no idea how he behaved.

(bonus 3): Some symptoms, such as illegal behaviour, are hard to be applied to Dazai's case, because of the extreme circumstances he was in. He was in the mafia, being encouraged to kill people. Of course he broke the law.)

Now, for the things he actually has or might have:

Major Depressive Disorder, of course. This is already long, and I don't think I even need to elaborate. He has almost all the symptoms of chronic depression.

Possibly, Depersonalisation/Derealisation Disorder

Depersonalization/derealization disorder involves a persistent or recurring feeling of being detached from one's body or mental processes, like an outside observer of one's life (depersonalization), and/or a feeling of being detached from one's surroundings (derealization). (x)

It seems to me that his feelings of being inhuman would be quite likely to classify as depersonalisation. Again, we have no idea how Dazai experiences this from a first-person perspective. Everything he actually says is indirect, like calling this world a dream (even though that was at least partly acting), and often in connection to the real-life author and his words. However, it's clear that something is there that doesn't allow him to see himself as a person, and it has affected him significantly.

It's not certain, of course, that he would have this diagnosis. I just thought I should mention it as a possibility, because I haven't see anyone mention it in relation to him.

Even more possibly, Complex PTSD

I won't go through each symptom here either, but one of the core characteristics of C-PTSD is a deep feeling of alienation or shame, of something being fundamentally wrong with you in such a way that puts you apart from other people. Sufferers often feel like they're completely disconnected from others, permanently damaged or worthless, and experience a chronic sense of hopelessness. It is more likely to be caused by long-term traumatic circumstances rather than a singular traumatic event or situation.

Dazai was, for all we know, already very unwell by the age of 14, and was then taken in by Mori, who took his pre-existing feelings of alienation and weaponised them, in order to make him into the "demon prodigy". It's safe to assume that such feelings already existed, and were only maximised during his mafia years, where he was expected and even encouraged to tap into the things that made him different from others.

At the same time, he had no guidance on how to navigate his human emotions and needs and turmoil at any point, which must have only led to a further disconnect from them, therefore cutting his routes for connecting with others further and further.

You may also be more likely to develop C-PTSD if:

you experienced trauma at a young age you were harmed by someone close to you who you trusted you were unable to escape the trauma (x)

While we don't know what happened in his pre-mafia past, all of this apply to his time in the mafia.

I will once again put the disclaimer that none of us knows how Dazai really experiences these things from his POV. He's an extremely opaque character, and most analysis of him is bound to contain a degree of assumption and guesses. However, there are some things that are more plausible than others based on his actions and reactions, and I think these three options, either separately or in combination, make the most sense to me. I would gladly elaborate further and discuss any part of this, including, of course, disagreements, as long as they're informed.

[melonteee]

I think the reason people don't really care about these changes is still the fact that most of them just don't pay this much attention to the characters or the themes. As we all probably know, the average opinion about Sanji is either like "oh he's the pervert nosebleed character I hate him" or just a lukewarm "Sanji is pretty cool he's strong". To them it comes as a shock when you say he's actually really mentally unwell and doesn't see any worth in himself or his life, I think people don't really see his self-hatred because he doesn't really have any outward bad thoughts about himself or criticise himself, if anything he just comes off as very cocky and confident to most people, not realising it's in his actions (and sometimes even in the dialogue). Most people just haven't paid attention to the details or just don't care. I feared this was always going to be the case with any kind of live action adaptation, because the problem is, different fans care about different things, but ironically, for some reason, they don't realise Oda wrote every detail on purpose. Showing Usopp's moments of bravery and Sanji's trauma & self-sacrifice are both SO important to their characters and I just cannot believe someone who calls themselves a "One Piece superfan" like the showrunner does, can just leave them out like they don't matter. But I guess the most important thing is to let Zoro steal the spotlight in every episode because he's the coolest and strongest and what fans REALLY want to see are the fights! And Grap lmao.

me when the showrunner doesn't care about the incredible subtlety of one piece's writing where Oda utilizes show don't tell masterfully, so we get a series where it both shows AND tells in an incredibly obnoxious way but they're not even showing nor telling the right things

[youroriginalsublimecupcakestuff]

Fem soukoku no ability AU

They're a saying in bungou highschool, that you never lived your life to the fullest if you Haven't been with Dazai Osamu .

The woman have a reputation to accept everyone with no exception even her strange habit of asking all those that she flirt with especially beautiful women for a double suicide doesn't damage her popularity.

They're a rules for her relationship no matter what they're always short, her longest relationship was with Oda sakunosuke, they broke up amicably and are still really close .

So why when she try to woo her chibi does it always go wrong ? Obviously it's all the stupid chibi's fault.

They say that love goes throught stomach so she had a fool proof plan : She'll make her the best bento that she'll ever had and she'll had no choice but to admit that the cutest, greastest and tallest dazai osamu is perfect for her and it will make chuuya's confess to her.

So why does her first try had a violet color and made chuuya pass out, sure she fantasized about making chuuya faint due to her charm but not like that, she nearly got arrested when her second bento produced a chemical gaze, her third bento was classified by the press and the government as weapon of mass destruction and her fourth bento exploded in chuuya's face.

And it was worse on Valentine day this stupidest and most oblivious chibi is popular with both gender which if you ask dazai very smart opinion it say a lot about the IQ of the students populations to find a slug charming, it's so pitiful she could cry.

It made that chuuya locker is always full of chocolate and others sweet and of course as a good and responsable owner, she have to make sure that chuuya does not see them after all knowing her silly chibi, she will either go into debt or overwork herself trying to give a return gift to all those who gave her present, so she's just being a responsable owner , she should be praised really.

She even do the rare efforts of going to school in advance and she's so generous that she share it all with their friends , she's just doing good deed really , after all ranpo-san, kyouka-chan and Kenji-kun are always so happy to receive them , she's such a good person.

With the help of her friends she tried to give chuuya handmade chocolate but her best result looked and tasted like a burn rock.

And it's not her only attempt, she tried making grand gesture but she only though them as prank, she even made a confession when they we're fifteen and chuuya acted disgutted , all that she does caused misunderstanding and chaos.

In the end it was her chibi who confessed and dazai's made sure to be compensated and pampered lots and lots for her trouble.

[quinloki]

Hey! I feel like I have over analyzed this WAY too much but I just have to put it out there.

I find that a lot of the fictional characters I am drawn to either mirror aspects of myself or aspect s of what I look for in a potential S/O, however recently I’ve been drawn to characters in fiction that I never thought I would. ( ex. Villains or characters that are a bit rough around the edges). It starts to make me question myself, because maybe it’s the fear of being judged idk?

Don’t know why this thought came to mind because it really shouldn’t be that deep 😂 and should really just except it at this point

It really should be that deep, in my opinion.

I think we've stopped being deep enough about character analysis and it's led to things like antiship bs. (There is SO MUCH packed in what's caused that, if I'm going to be honest, so character analytics is a pretty small part compared to other pieces, but still).

Villains don't *have* to be relatable, but it's fun when they are - and some of that is coming to terms with what parts of them you relate to and why. I can understand Doflamingo being desperate to have and protect a family - especially after we see what he's endured.

But that's what I really like about Oda and his villains - we get to see their motivations. There's not really a villain in that story that doesn't have some sort of relatable motivation.

Enel and Kuro are as close to one-dimensional as I think Oda gets, and there's still enough there for you to understand how they got to where they did even if you can't accept/relate to why. (And I don't think Enel is supposed to be relatable honestly. He's an arrogant god complex bastard who's almost playing the role of "WG" up in the clouds more than anything else).

Crocodile - intriguing during Alabasta - didn't really get much depth until Impel Down. And we don't know his background yet (certainly not like we do Doffy, Kaido, Big Mom, Katakuri, Buggy, etc.) where his depth has come in, is from his growth.

Final Fantasy 14 is really good about creating relatable villains to the point that it's hard to think of any one villain that feels truly villainous. With ONE exception, but it's a pretty big spoiler for the Endwalker expansion, so I'm not going to get into it.

But I'm digressing away from One Piece anyway.

It's okay to relate to the bad guy. You're going to be the villain in someone's story no matter what. It's good to know how your perspective can be interpreted because it's good to know when to try and defend yourself and when to ignore the haters -- and when to consider some introspection so you experience growth, instead of something worse.

[ofallthingsnasty]

Fem crocodile with a cute fat gf 🤭

Oh my god, it's a beautiful Saturday and you are putting fem Croc thots in my head ... I'll need to derail a little, sorry 🤧💕

cut for length + nsfw

Crocodile, Crocodile... Fattest tits in the whole land. Beefy. Shoulders wider than your wardrobe. I know Oda did a really feminine design and all that jazz but I don't think so. Futchy at best - has expensive taste, yes, takes her fashion seriously as well, but everything has to be professional and practical. If you think she rolls up to some deal with her tits nearly falling out of her decolleté, wrong. That's Doflamingo's job (that one doesn't ever wear a bra. Or appropriate tops, for that matter.) Loves her suits and shirts and expensive watches.

Her and a fat femme... So cute. You're the apple of her eye and whatever it is you want, you'll get it. Likes being called daddy in that 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' way. Very tongue-in-cheek and only in private. Handsy. Always has her fingers on your hips, adores just how round you are. Definitely buys you clothes that emphasize that. Total ass girl and it drives her up the wall when you have to squeeze by somewhere and... simply can't.

She's pretty vanilla, I think. Not the biggest fan of penetration in general. If you like it, she's willing to do that for you (be that a strap-on or toys) - but you'll have to work for it, be good for her. (Don't get any funky ideas about strapping her, though. Not happening.) Likes it when you ride her thigh until you're desperate, loves to finger you and eats pussy like a champ. Likes giving as much as receiving.

(As an aside, Doffy is going to fucking strap you to death, you'll smell like silicon, lube and pussy once you manage to crawl away from her. Big fan of you fucking her as well and she isn't shy about voicing her opinion on your skills, either. Just plops herself down on your face, who cares if your neck breaks? Doesn't give head or fingers you often but when she does you'll fucking piss yourself with the intensity of it. A fucking menace.)

[roadtripwithlucifer]

Hiiiii I left you a comment on the newest chapter of everything in halves and then decided that wasn’t enough so I’m coming over HERE to be annoying and tell you that ‘he can trust Oda,’ and “Now that we are working together, I suppose I should learn your name. How should I address you?” And “he could be dangerous,” ARE GOING TO LIVE IN MY HEAD FOR AGES. I’ve been WHEEZING like there’s something wrong with me. Lucy coming in with the finger-pointing. Atsushi why are you the way that you are, too gay to brain. Dazai the Disaster-man. AKUTAGAWA IS BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE HIM. R A N P O—

And I have to ask, do you have a favorite part of this chapter?

why are you soooooooo kindddddddd a;ldfjalk;sdjf URGH I DONT DESERVE IT BUT ALSO YESS YESSSSSS NO TAKEBACKSIES I WILL BE RANTING

First of all, I like this chapter a LOT. It marks a completion of the exposition - the scene is set, crumbs of foreshadowing have been dropped, and all that's left is to ramp up the drama. It was incredibly hard to write, but I'm pretty happy with the results!

Now, on to my favorites:

The cemetery scene with Dazai is number one, of course. I love what it reveals about Dazai specifically, and how much it throws him off that BEAST!Akutagawa is the way he is.

A part of it is purely superficial. Out of everyone Dazai's known in his life, Akutagawa is purely and unquestionably loyal to him and only him. In my opinion I think Dazai did that on purpose - I think he selected Akutagawa specifically to groom him. Make him his secret weapon, with little fealty to the Port Mafia. Maybe it was as part of his ploy to take down Mori, eventually Maybe it was something else. Either way, the other people in Dazai's life - Chuuya, Ango, Kunikida - care about him, sure.

But they would not follow his orders without question. They are not blind to who he is. Akutagawa is.

So when he meets an Akutagawa who not only despises him, but sees through his bullshit and refuses to play into his games, he truly does not know how to act.

Its like, you have a friend that is absolutely in love with you, and adore you even though you don't feel the same way. Then that friend suddenly moves on - doesn't treat you different, doesn't prioritize you, doesn't want you anymore - and suddenly that loss is magnanimous. Suddenly you'd do anything for them to look your way, even though you never wanted them until they no longer wanted you.

So the gut-punch after gut-punch Dazai must be experiencing right now has me kicking my feet and twirling my hair. This Akutagawa ignores him, chooses to protect Oda over indulging him, literally does not even know his name. And, just like someone being rejected, I think it actually endears Dazai to him, which is a mindfuck for the poor guy all on its own.

That also flows in a little into Atsushi's role in this chapter. While he shows up pretty briefly, his rejection of BEAST!Akutagawa when the others so readily accept him is a major plot point and ends up being an important part of our conflict and growth. He's also wrapped a little bit in the same bullshit Dazai is in.

He had been Akutagawa's singular point of interest for fuck knows how long. No matter who else is around (unless its Dazai of course,) Atsushi is the sole object of Akutagawa's attention. He's the only one that poses a challenge to him. The only one that can match him. The only one that can merge their abilities together. Akutagawa is Atsushi's burden to bear and, like a good detective, he """puts up with""" it.

Imagine his surprise when Akutagawa shows up and straight up ignores him. Avoids working with him. Doesn't even look at him. And its not like he ever ASKED to be the center of Akutagawa's attention, but now that he's not, it bothers him. It bothers him even more that no one seems to care that their Akutagawa is gone and has been replaced with some stranger.

I'm a little enamored with the I didnt realize how much I cared about you until you were gone trope. Except he's not gone, its still him, isn't it?

NOTABLE RUNNER UP SCENES:

The scene where Lucy tries to threaten him in the cafe. BEAST!Akutagawa is a fan of honesty and bravery, and Lucy's got both in spades. Is there an unlikely friendship brewing, perhaps??? I'd love to see Akutagawa in Anne's Room. Oh he would SO dig it.

Also the scene with Ranpo immediately coming to Akutagawa's defense. I hadn't planned for it initially, but after having written it, I'm a little obsessed. They're both blunt and observant, they both aren't well versed in social norms, they both have no idea how to ride a train. I also think that out of everyone, Ranpo is the least likely to let feelings about Original!Akutagawa bleed into how he treats BEAST!Akutagawa. Ranpo barely looks at faces anyway, all he knows is this is a different dude and he's very, very useful. I'm excited to see how their dynamic plays out.

WOW I"M SORRY. WHY IS THIS SO LONG. THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS MY BRAIN-WORMS ARE BRAIN-WORMING. I'm kissing you on the mouth pleaseee i WILL overexplain if you endulge me i'm so sorry

[harukamitsuki]

Hi, can you elaborate on your other rewrites besides MHA? Can you also give me tips on how to write well in a series that you intend to rewrite? Also sorry for posting this question on your MHA rewrite focused tumblr.

Hello!

-

So, my other main rewrite is called 'Rewrite The Stars', and it's a rewrite for Voltron: Legendary Defenders. It's being written on Ao3, and is a complete series rewite.

Each book in the series is a season. I have only written two thus far, but every chapter is planned out, and has been for a year.

The rewrite for Fairy Tail is pretty basic, mostly serving to create more world building within Fairy Tail, and build up on characters who either didn't do anything or whose characters had a massive downfall.

The rewrite for Sword Art Online is more complicated. It takes inspiration from SAO: Progressive, and takes more from the light novels rather than the anime. (Because way too many people believe Kawahara wrote all those perverted scenes in the anime when he really didn't).

It follows Kirito, but also explores other characters and, as it would be written in 2024 and not 1980, it would have more accurate gameplay and culture.

-

As for tips on rewriting your own series...

My main tip would be to remember that rewrites are very different to normal fanfiction.

Ordinary fanfiction don't need a reason to exist. They don't need a message, or a theme, or even good writing. I started reading and writing fanfiction when I was eleven, so I'm very much of the opinion that fanfiction does not have to be written well to be good.

Fanfiction in general is just a story someone made directly based off of another work. I've seen a lot of people, particularly on TikTok, express this idea that fanfiction has to be good in order for it to be anything, and that's wrong.

My first fanfiction currently has over 100k reads on WattPad, and tens of thousands of votes. It was horrible: the characters were all 2D and OOC, the plot was haywire, nothing made sense, I turned the MC into a Gary Stu... But it doesn't change the fact that people read and enjoyed it.

This is a large reason why I continue to read fics that don't have a solif foundation, where the grammar is a mixed-bag, the characters are off, the plot is wacky, and the wordcount is under 500.

Fanfiction, no matter how bad or small it is, is fanfiction.

Rewrites are different, however.

Fanfiction can exist without any sort of meaning. You don't need a reason to write fanfiction.

Rewrites should. Rewrites need that message or theme to feel valid. Because it's not a fanfiction - it's a story.

So, my main tip would be to treat the rewrite like it's own story, not a fanfiction. This isn't a message of love to the author, it's a message to your audience.

For example, for My Rewrite Academia, one of the messages I want to say is that one of the strongest weapons you can have is kindness. A theme I want to portray is that of the Old vs New Generation.

Do you have a message and/or theme for the rewrite? If not, then that should be on your to-do list before you formulate any sort of plan.

Another tip I have is to have, at the very least, a loose plan before you start. This will help with setting up foreshadowing early on, and getting a good idea of how to pace yourself.

As it's a rewrite, changing characters is completely fine. If you'd like a character to be more confident, more anxious, more creative, more dumb, that's fine. It would be awkward in an ordinary fanfiction, but the rewrite is your canon. Characters can act differently if it fits with your characterisation of it.

Finally: it's perfectly fine to change things or add them as your write it. Many successful authors do this a lot.

The biggest example I can think of is Oda, the mangaka of One Piece. Franky was only created after Bon Clay's voice actor, the same as Franky's, was cast, and Oda created Franky because he loved his voice.

Mashima, who wrote Fairy Tail, wasn't originally going to bring back Lisanna - she was supposed to stay dead. (Honestly, I prefer her dead because she didn't do anything after she came back, but I liked Edolas so it was fine).

If an audience member says something like, 'Oh, I wonder if this will happen!', and you think that's a great idea, you can put it in if you want to. Not only will it make that audience member excited to be right, but it's basically free ideas you know will make at least one person happy, and if it makes you happy too, all the better!

-

No worries about sending that ask to MRA - it wasn't too out of line, and mistakes happen all the time. Thank you for sending this to my main blog! I wish you good luck on your rewrite, and I hope my tips are able to help you!

[greatwyrmgold]

Ugh, is this how Oda redeems Pudding? There are layers to my irritation, so bear with me.

Layer 1: We don't find out that Pudding has a lot of traumatic experiences with people calling her third eye creepy or gross until after Pudding tears up at Sanji calling her eye beautiful.

And it's not like a third eye is something obviously hideous and disfiguring that we can assume that kind of backstory about, especially in a world like One Piece's where forearms the size of your torso or an egg-shaped body or a zipper-mouth or whatever's going on with Gecko Moriah are treated as normal. I know Oda's female character designs tend to be more conservative, but still, this is ridiculous.

My point is, we needed a Pudding backstory flashback before chapter 862 if this was gonna work.

Layer 2: I'm sick of "Your mild flaw is beautiful!"

Not much to say here. It's a pretty common way to try and add some conflict to a romantic subplot without needing to resolve any conflict. One partner (almost always the girl/woman) has some physical abnormality that she's self-conscious about, even though it's almost always designed in such a way that it doesn't affect her appeal to the lowest common denominator. After enough drama has been wrung out of that plot point, the other partner (usually the guy) says that he doesn't think that barely-visible birthmark or cool demon powers or iconic scar or whatever makes her ugly.

This isn't always bad; Shrek handles it well. From the start of the film, we see that most people treat ogres badly, either fleeing in terror or chasing them with torches and pitchforks. We also learn how Fiona turning into an ogre at night has affected her specifically, how it was treated as a horrible problem to be solved and how she internalized that. And uncontrollably turning into a big green person isn't cool the way that voluntarily turning into a cool dragon would be. Shrek-ogres are designed to look weird more than cool; some people think they look cool, but they recognize that this is far from a universal opinion.

My point is that Shrek spent act 1 explaining why people might not want to turn into an ogre and act 2 explaining why Fiona specifically hates her curse, so when Shrek says "You're beautiful" in act 3 it has an actual emotional impact. Four panels of people insulting Pudding's eye (and three of her stabbing some of those people) just doesn't have the same impact. Sure, one of those people is her beloved mother, but one panel just isn't enough time to make Pudding's strong feelings about her eye feel real. (Especially since that panel comes after Sanji calls it beautiful.)

Layer 3: Why should being called "beautiful" by some guy matter?

If you're the kind of person who gets mad when someone implies there might be sexism in One Piece, this is your cue to leave.

The idea that women are vain and care deeply about their beauty is a pretty big Sexism Point, and it's hardly unique to Pudding. (See Nami for a prominent example, and in particular that bit in chapter...471 where Nami gets distracted by how pretty the wedding dress that someone dressed her in while she was unconscious. Relevant)

Women being focused on the approval of men is another big Sexism Point, though it's thankfully one One Piece hasn't indulged in much. Still, having a woman instantly change her mind on something significant because a man calls her pretty is a bad look.

Let's go over what happened here. Pudding was all gung-ho for Big Mom's plan where Sanji and his family get murdered and Big Mom gets all their fancy toys. Big Mom is really important to her, and she recognizes thinks that Sanji is just an unpleasant idiot. Then Sanji compliments her once and she's conflicted enough to fall to her knees instead of shooting Sanji, which she was looking forward to just a few pages prior. (And most of those pages are focused on the wedding guests, not the bride and groom.)

How am I supposed to interpret this, except "Pudding cares more about some guy calling her pretty than she cares about Big Mom, when loyalty to her has been her only established motivation until this second"?

Layer 4: Charlotte Pudding

If you're one of the people who responded to my last Charlotte Pudding post with comments about how I need to keep reading (I'm 862 chapters in, of course I'm gonna keep reading) or that I'd really like where Pudding ends up, hello! I really hope this isn't what you were talking about, because this seems like more of what I was complaining about there.

When we meet Pudding, she seems like a kinda flat Nice Girl character, lying to save some strangers from Big Mom's police. It's a bit interesting that someone like that came out of the authoritarian Charlotte family, but that's about it.

Then it's revealed that she's actually not nice, she's evil, that Nice Girl personality was just an act. We're back to square 1, we need to rebuild Charlotte Pudding from scratch. This time she's equally flat, but also exactly what we'd expect from the authoritarian Charlotte family: A woman willing to do anything if Mom commands it.

And here, Pudding has a change of heart. A few nice words from Sanji have driven her to some third characterization. Maybe it'll be fleshed out, but I kinda doubt it. First, look at Pudding's history so far; he's not someone Oda has devoted much time to characterizing. He didn't even bother to explain the trauma triggering this crucial plot point until after it happened!

Second, I know chapter 1000 is deep in the Wano Country arc, and at chapter 862 the Whole Cake Island arc is far from finished. Sanji and the Vinsmokes need to have a reckoning and Luffy needs to beat up Big Mom and all this family drama needs to be wrapped up with enough time for the Straw Hats to get most of the way through another arc in less than 140 chapters. There's not a lot of time for Pudding to get her belated development.

Layer 5: Tumblr's Pudding fans

I'm not talking about the asshole who asked if I was dropped on my head as a fetus. I'm talking about the nice ones, the ones who encouraged me to keep an open mind about Pudding. The ones who raised my expectations enough that I could be disappointed. It's not logical, but I can't deny that that disappointment is part of why I'm spending so long complaining about this kinda irrelevant side character who Oda didn't think was important enough to develop properly.

That's the core of the problem, I think. Given all the pieces I have now, I can imagine a version of Charlotte Pudding who is really interesting. One whose self-loathing and devotion to Big Mom were properly established and explored. One who feels worthless and isolated. Maybe even one whose allegiance can change with a compliment without that feeling like a exist cliche.

But that's not what Oda wrote, whether because he didn't have room to write that without slowing the story too much or because he spent his writing spoons elsewhere. We got a character with two or three flat personalities that she switches between, without ever cohering as a gestalt whole.

She seems less like a person and more like a plot device. And now the big fight's starting, so that seems unlikely to change.

[luckystarchild]

We all know One Piece is absolutely PHENOMENAL, but nothing is perfect, so as a writer, what would you say is your biggest pet peeve or least favorite part of One Piece as a story?

My biggest issues with One Piece are largely the same issues I have with my own work. And that makes it hard to discuss because I am hyper-aware that these critiques either make me a hypocrite OR make it seem like I'm comparing myself to Oda, which is egotistical AF and equally as obnoxious. Either way, I'm screwed.

That being said...

Narrative bloat vs. subtle foreshadowing. The story is long. That length can put people off of the story and make it feel super bloated. It's a huge barrier to entry. Some stuff that takes place over just a few days in-universe takes hundreds of chapters to convey to the reader. And I'm sorry to say that some of it doesn't feel necessary to the story (here's lookin' at you, Thriller Bark) and can be a bit of a drag.

Some people defend the length and say everything matters and that even small details become relevant later, but IMO, those details/foreshadowing pieces are often delivered in such minor ways that you can't remember the foreshadowing when the plot actually, finally drops. The length of the story and the subtlety of the story are at odds, and that's sometimes a shame.

(Also, Oda did NOT plan everything in advance. He just didn't. Some things are missing foreshadowing that would've been there if he'd planned ahead. He absolutely capitalized on early plot points and expanded them later in the story, but that's not the same as foreshadowing or planning ahead. Oda is a great storyteller, but he isn't a god, and I wish people would recognize he's fallible and stop with this whole deification shit.)

(Also as a person who has an unfinished work over a million words long, and who takes many chapters to show a single day/hour, and who puts in TINY foreshadowing no one can remember after so many words, this is what makes me a hypocrite. Either that or I'm very self-aware. Either way... sorry lmao.)

The other issue I have is the handling of the story's characters, and this once again relates to the length of the story and the problems that length causes.

Much as I love the Straw Hats and think their backstories are all pretty epic, it feels like the characters get their Shining Moment in the Sun when those backstories are introduced before being pushed to the backseat for hundreds of chapters/entire arcs at a time. Then they get pulled forward again for a little while (Sanji in Whole Cake, for instance) before getting shoved into the background yet again to make one-off remarks here and there. It sometimes feels like they get more development in their backstories than they do in the actual narrative, which is... not great, in my opinion.

Example: It feels like Zoro hasn't had anything meaningful to do except fight since he was introduced. He gets some moments here and there (like in the chapter where "nothing happened"), but it's not substantial, and I truly feel like I don't know Zoro all that well even after all this time with him. And that's sad.

Also, the forays into the side characters in other crews are INTERESTING, sure, but sometimes they're just distracting and pointless. Example: Ace's big flashback with Oars Jr. stands out to me as tear-jerker-porn that didn't add much to the story overall. "But that's how he learned to make straw hats!!" I hear people screaming but--I don't actually give a shit how he learned to make them. I'm sorry. I just don't. Take out that whole thing. It's not needed. I simply do not care about the Oars Jr. and Ace friendship that is only relevant for 5 minutes before both of them die. Similarly, Ace also feels like a giant symbol and not a person. I was sad FOR LUFFY when he died, but I shed zero tears over his death itself.

Long story short: There's just not enough narrative to go around to develop EVERYONE properly, and I have New Character Fatigue, and I wish we'd stop meeting new people at this point. (Where TF is Smoker, I ask you? Please, I need him back, it's been like three arcs without him...)

Overall, I just wish the narrative would tighten up for the sake of the plot and the characters. The live action version actually does a good job of this, which I appreciate a TON.

And again, I recognize these same issues could be said of my own work, so go easy on those tomatoes you're getting ready to throw, please!

[notsp1derman]

other musings: why one piece should never be adapted into live-action

There is a certain trend lately of adapting unusual pieces of media to live action, and while I usually don't give a fuck, this time it touched something very dear to me, which is One Piece. I could spend hours here talking about my love for this saga and how this is just another consequence of capitalism and the urge to just squeeze out every last drop of money out of everything, but after the trailer for the new Netflix series dropped I just had to vent about something simpler. And boy do I have opinions about this.

Despite its very real portraying of very human problems such as racism and political instability, One Piece is, at its core, an absurd manga. The characters have such ridiculous mannerisms, the proportions are so exaggerated, and there are interactions so unserious that it can be even quite jarring at first; but hidden in its straightforward and sometimes nonsensical narrative is a masterful and ingenious thought process by Eiichiro Oda. Everything is a tad over-the-top, from the cartoonish style of the characters to the attention for detail in the backgrounds, in order to compose an universe that looks magical and whimsical but feels cohesive, realistic in some way. And it's through this exaggeration that Oda manages to convey so much emotion, and still make his readers feel such strong connections to his creation, even though it's far from our real world.

Those hyperboles are a vital part of what makes One Piece one of the most unique works of fiction ever made, and one with such a strong personality, at that. So when forced to accept the heavy burden of making a live-action series of the best selling manga of all time, producers are faced with two choices: either to try and capture this absurdness as best as possible by being extremely loyal to the source, or to make adaptations to the characters and the world to make it a bit more realistic and appealing to the public.

And the thing is, there will never be a right answer to this. Being too loyal to the source would make it a ludicrous farce, and taking liberties would create something too different from the thing everyone already knows and loves. So Netflix chose the path of creative liberty, and the price paid was a stiff, void, and most importantly, uncanny take on something that should never be brought to the real world at all.

Don't get me wrong, I have much love for the cast and believe they are doing a great job, but unfortunately the feeling of just... wrongness will never fade, no matter the approach. The colorful characters feel like people in bad costumes, the special powers just feel weird, the colors feel wrong and the world doesn't feel vast, just empty. One that got me thinking a lot was Buggy. Of course, he was one of the most unserious characters of the whole manga, but even he was a bit intimidating at the beginning, and had his moments to shine. Live-action-Buggy is just some weirdo in a bright blue wig that looks like a sad cosplayer, and I can't take him seriously no matter how hard I try.

So what about the more bizarre parts of the cast, like Hannyabal or Blackbeard or just the overly huge Admirals? What about the huge sea monsters or the weird fish people of Arlong Park? The latter parts of the manga go without saying, because I seriously doubt the live action will get renewed for one more season. How can we expect any of this to be remotely close to the joy we feel reading or watching the original work?

And I think that's the whole problem with live actions from anime. The freedom to bend reality that is possible within the realms of manga and anime just will never be translated well into something so western as a modern tv show. These boring adaptations suck the soul out of the original source, and manage to transform even the most expressive and heartfelt ideas into uncreative remakes without a single ounce of personality, and it will be forever depressing to see it happening to yet another thing so well made like One PIece.

[harukamitsuki]

Hmm, most useless...

I'll look at this as 'least impactful'. As in, if you take them away from the narrative, nothing would change.

My pick is either Satou Rikido, as he just didn't do anything, or Hound Dog.

Satou's quirk is basically just steroids with constant road rage, a lesser version of both Izuku and Eijirou's quirks, and his character doesn't say anything, nor does he do anything other than call out Bakugou, (love him for that).

He doesn't fight any villains other than random goons that anyone could beat, and his character is so boring. All people know is that he likes to bake, but we don't know anything else.

Honestly, most of 1-A feel replaceable, because Horikoshi doesn't know how to juggle more than three characters at a time.

As for Hound Dog...

What the fuck did he do except be a gag? He could have been very important, seeing as he's a counsellor, something everyone needed, but nope. He's just a gag.

See, it's funny, because kids are supposed to feel safe around him and be open, but he's violent and has no concept of personal space. Laugh.

Yeah, those two are my top picks. I picked Satou over the others in 1-A, as they at least have varied quirks, whereas his is just a lesser version of more central characters.

There are more useless characters. Most of 1-B are useless, let's be honest. I like them, don't get me wrong, but they don't amount to much.

This is an issue with Horikoshi's writing. He introduces so many characters, but unlike say, One Piece, he doesn't give them enough time for us to actually care about them or even form an opinion.

One Piece is full to the brim with characters, and Oda makes you care about them. People even remember Duval, a character who appeared for one mini-arc, because his introduction was just that funny. We remember Condoriano, a filler character, because it was funny. We remember all those random background characters, because Oda made their appearance matter.

My Hero Academia just doesn't let you care about them.

Mha critical community: Who is the most useless character in the entire MHA canon? In your humble opinion? Be civil or I’ll bite your toes off

@bibibbon

@doodlegirl1998

[stuffgoeswrong]

Heyy, for the ship game - soukoku and ranpoe?

Thanks for asking!

Soukoku

Don't ship it

Why don't you ship it?

I am like, constantly at war with myself on this ship to be honest. I was really on board with it when I first started BSD, and then I really liked Oda so I was like, hmmm, Dazai has two hands man. But that gradually fell away, and now maybe for a week one month I'll be really into it (mainly cause one artist or writer really just gets the dynamic right and piques my interest), but then most of the time I'm like, eh, so I went with this category. I agree with others who believe the fandom has really dumbed down the complexities of Dazai and Chuuya's characters for the sake of the ship and amped up the stereotypes. My biggest issue with Soukoku is the Chuuya feminization problem and how overly sexual their relationship is always portrayed. I once saw a post that said something about how Chuuya in canon embraces his masculinity and loves being a guy, and I hate when people take that away from him. For Dazai's part, I also don't love how he's always the one in control and who has a plan, etc. Just, a lot of reasons.

2. What would have made you like it?

If it wasn't the most popular ship and the fans were more chill about them. If they were just more open to other ships with potential too. Soukoku is literally in the top 100 (I think 20-30?) ao3 ships according to ColeyDoesThings's 2022 summary video. I like Dazai and Chuuya and their partnership, but I've grown to prefer their dynamic as best friends who argue like siblings.

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I'm sure I could think of something, but I've spat out a lot of my brain capacity already tonight. I like it sometimes, just trust me😅.

Ranpoe

Ship it

What made you ship it?

Oh gladly! I mean, it's Ranpo and Poe, how do I not ship them? I love opposing dynamics like theirs a lot, like where there's one outgoing half of a ship and the other is more introverted and they can help each other grow socially because of their differences. That was a big appeal for me, and them having some history aside from the main story leaves room for interpreted events which is always fun imo! Of course, the fact that they're in opposite organizations but it really does not matter to either of them past their second meeting is so funny and wholesome. Poe just continued to show up at the ADA and he and Ranpo share mysteries and cases, leaving room for inspiring each other.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

I like that it's wholesome and seems very natural I guess? I like that they have things in common and how it's actually healthy. I have stickers of them on my laptop actually! I've been trying to get through a 100k+ fic about Poe's life since summer and it's really good, so I'm glad there's balance in Ranpoe's relationship and appreciate how people can imagine them without each other too. And they're both so funny with each other?? Poe taking small competition things seriously that Ranpo doesn't, Ranpo being stunned at Poe's paycheck, I can't explain it, they just immediately become more enjoyable in each other's presence.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Not really on the ship, but Ranpo's not one of my top favorites, so I don't talk about this ship or draw for it very often. It's kind of just there in my mind as fanon and I feel like my brain is not creative enough to wonder about them day to day to find the intriguing and fun bits. I did think Ranposano was better at one point, but that was a very very brief time.