#cause its honestly just the biggest writing goals when it comes to romance and friendship and expression and snldkgnslkdnflskn

[arkus-rhapsode]

Why do some people hate Erza from FT?

Okay, wow. Loaded question right there. I’m going to assume you’ve read the entire series of FT because explaining this is kinda hard. In fact, describing how one feels about characters is difficult in the sense we all have varying reactions. Like there’s no checkbox list for good character that everyone has and abides by, but I will try and give you the general reasoning. I use a general reasoning because there is literally no way for me to send a survey to potentially millions who have read FT and ask “what is your opinion on Erza and why?”

Now to describe the reason why one might not like Erza it goes back to her introduction. Erza came in the series and was much beloved by almost every reader: she had a badass looking ability and attitude, she had a very appealing design, and in critical sense she brought something to the table of FT and that was she was conflicting to the guild. Her personality and way of doing things conflicted with the others and it made her more memorable in how she handled herself and in guild interaction. It also helped that she was a strong female because FT came out around this golden age of manga: age of One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto all running, Toriko, etc. FT was the only one to introduce a female character that seemed to be treated as on the same level as the males in a mainstream shounen series.

She then proceeded to have one of, if not the best, arc in FT, the tower of heaven arc. At this moment, Erza is at her pinnacle of character and we the audience are ready to see here it goes and it goes… Nowhere.

Yeah the first, and probably the biggest thing with Erza that people hate, and something that a lot of other characters with FT had, was she never developed post her time to shine. She has no goal, so there was journey. She doesn’t make like an endearing vow post tower of heaven. What she ends up getting is Jellal. Like in terms of character, the thing that only actually seems to change and effect her is whatever long distance relationship she had with Jellal. Another was in terms of character she just kinda stopped being consistent.

Now some would cite that they still lover her. “So what if her personality doesn’t change. I like her like that.” Well there isn’t anything wrong with a character like that, but as I said, no development (Beyond Jellel). When a character doesn’t seem to be changing then it actually causes the story to meander and causes one to question why is she even around. Eventually at the last arc Erza meets her mother and they have a big,confrontation and it result in nothing for her character. Like after the fight Erza isn’t changed on her opinion of like Dragon Slayers or Alvarez. During the fight she doesn’t say anything the is new, “You might be my biological parent, but my real family is Fairy Tail!” Yeah, no one saw that coming. And then the revelation of Wendy and Erza having a close, sisterly bond of Wendy wanting to protect Erza, not only comes out of nowhere (seriously, I think Wendy would be saying this to Natsu, but hey then we couldn’t have naked Wendy hugging naked Erza) which is referenced before the war, is not a focus until the fight with Irene, which is then dropped.

But hey, some don’t even care about the story, some just care about the Jerza ship. Fair enough, you like your ship to want more moments for it gives you an excuse to keep looking for new material. But then at the end Jellal and Erza don’t get together. That’s right, all this time spent on Erza being her most relevant thing to the plot aside from being, the strong one, which was her romance, didn’t get together. Oh I remember the day that happened. Tumblr filled with rage.

So that goes for character development. Well what about power? She’s still a badass female anime character? Wellllll… Erza came onto the scene strong with a few cool fights and even somewhat lost to Jose early on. She also probably has one of the best fights in the series when she faced Midnight. But a lot of that was early on and as more time went on people began noticing a certain pattern to how Hiro wrote not only her fights, but a lot of characters fights. Eventually I’d like to say around Tenrou (I honestly have no cool about fan reception around edolas) people notice Erza stopped winning fights because she was just that bass or she came up with a unique strategy using what skills she’s had at her disposal. No, she won by nakama power.

Now power of friendship can be a tricky thing. When done well it can convey a strong emotional bond that pushes one to push past their limits. But with Erza and Hiro, it literally became a tangible power. Her power increased and she made her way through combat situations with no actual strategy or reason, just having friends made her feel really strong inside and then plow through opponents. It didn’t help that in context that all these fights she had and extreme issue of being so thoroughly trounced that when she gave the patterned friendship speech it actually seemed like reality warpped to give her the win.

Erza vs Azuma? After he matched her blow for blow then detonates a massive tree bomb on her while she has no protection, she gets up cause she thinks of her friends and the symbolism of drawing energy from them manifest literally as now it so strong to cleave through Azuma and a massive tree root with no issue. Erza vs Minerva? First has a fight with Kagura, then proceeds to lose to a persona who has all of space at her beckoning and then new armor out of nowhere (and don’t second origin. why does she even own it in requip if she never had the strength to use it). Erza vs Kyoka? Kyoka is growing perpetually more powerful and then robs Erza of all five of her senses and increases her sense to pain. Erza wins with just her bare fists and the reason this is all possible is because, as Happy, says, “She’s Erza!”

“She’s Erza” quickly became a meme and go to phrase for an undeserving victory that seems to defy logic and only makes sense of why the character won was just because “she’s Erza” and nothing else. This would describe other anime characters to, even if they didn’t actually power of friendship their way through. I remember reading Tokyo Ghoul re and around the time Arima had fought against Sachi, a martial artist ghouls who when introduced beat the shit out of kaneki. And in their fight, Arima kills Sachi almost like its nothing.

It did help that with this friendship speech power Erza really stopped using her moveset to its fullest and uniqueness. Now, I’ve made a whole post on Erza’s powers before and I implore you to check it out. But in short, what happened was basically, Erza’s moveset involved her mixing and matching of different armors. But then eventually she just started to use the clear heart clothing or Samurai Pants more and more. And armor  who’s sole purpose is to raise only attack and sacrifice all defense. I was then no surprise when it seem Erza got beaten up or wounded because for a mage whose magic was armor she seemed to completely forgo it and use a more whose whole thing is higher attack. She also seemed to use it with this cherry blossom katanna that is suppose to be more powerful the more magic a user pours into it, but there is never any indication of that. (Like nothing visually to symbolize her putting magic in it. Nothing like a glow or aura. Not even the handle starting crouch up on her arm to symbolize how it eating her magic. Nothing.)

Now Erza was S-class, so of course she is suppose to be strong. But in this world your power comes from your magic. Like Laxus is S-Class and he isn’t going in and fighting bosses with just his bare fists, no lightning. SO watching her not utilize her powers became inheriting when more and more villains she fought had these insane gaps in magic power to her. It seemed like this shift to clear heart clothing was more of a way to retroactively make Erza come off as this swordfighter similar to Kagura, but we were both introduced to her as, and for a while I might add, her weapon was also her armor and what power extended from it. All this was then compounded in her last real fight of the series where a samurai pants Erza is swapped by Irene’s dragon paw and breaks all of the bones in her body minus her arm, then value herself in to sky while proclaiming friendship, radiating magic that who’s origin is never explained, and cutting a meteor in half with only her clear heart power. Then falling to the ground where she fought with a still completely shatter body for a bit.

Now I’ve heard the defense of many for Erza fights. A lot of Erza fans will try and justify any of her wins, with the reveal of Irene being a dragon being what is sited as why Erza is so powerful, because genetically she’s the descendant of a dragon. But we have two problems with that, the first being Irene stress that thanks to her enchantment, Erza is still in her womb as still a “human child.” The second being, Erza never shows any indication beforehand that her strength is similar to a dragon. Like she doesn’t grow like scales or something dragonic like during a fight, but we’re suppose to take her as being this powerful and just looking completely natural.

But then there’s the fan who is like, “Pfft, what do I care about fights? I read FT for the story and character. All y’all getting to hung up on the wrong thing.” Well that is a fine stance to take, I mean a lot of FT fans love the characters of the series. Well as I pointed out the issues one might have with how Erza developed. Then there’s the excuse, “Rhapsode, stop holding her to the standard of males. As a man you have no right to judge the development of a female character.” (I’m serious, someone used this argument on me) Well first off, Mashima is a man, and he created and is writing Erza. Second, for this strong female, she then got really really demeaned in fanservice.

Look, there isn’t anything wrong with fanserivce or ecchi. I’ve defended it a great number of times and can be seen as the just a necessary of the industry trying to appeal to young boys. The problem with Fanservice is when it starts to demean a character or ruin the weight of a moment. Erza became hugely fanserviced in scene like her torture scene where an emphasis was put on titillation than actual horror of the scene. But you can combine strong and sexy in a character. Like Erza’s Heaven’s Wheel against Eisenwald. Sure it was was cleave exposing a maybe not the most practical looking thing, but attention wasn’t draawn to that. Attention was drawn to how she cleaned house against the thugs. But then it became progressively less so, not just in terms of the armor’s appearance, but also how Mashima laid out panels seemed to exist more to heighten the sexy even if they didn’t actually make sense. Erza’s armor against Irene was literally a bunny girl suit and with the instances of her fighting there are scenes of her downward slashes that literally are angled so the audience can see less of the action and more Erza’s thonged behind.

Like for a female character put on the same level of males, she sure does seem to get exploited more than the males. But again, people will still not have a problem with this and will hide behind the excuse of something like “Its ecchi!”

It also doesn’t help that around the time of the GMG, many turned on FT and by extension Erza. It was then in Tartaros with the she’s Erza moments, many high followed reviewers and internet critics of anime basically blasted her and that earned her a spot on the not liked characters list. With many following that same feeling.

But as you can see, my running point is that all of the examples  I give for why people might dislike Erza, there is still numerous people who will find a way to defend Erza and love her. Whether its through conjecture of her personality and feelings, whether its justifying how she wins her fights, or whether its claiming that fanservice doesn’t detract to them.

And then there are some who are like, “I know Erza’s flawed, but I still like her in other people’s head canons.” Which nothing is wrong with that. And then there are those who have opinions of her that won’t change because they are holding on to their love for the Erza at the beginning, or Erza in a way had an effect on their life. But all and all, if there is one thing to take away from this is its that Erza is flawed. Not a flawed character like Shaiapouf from Hunter x Hunter or Oedipus from Oedipus. And its because of those flaws that some do not like Erza and if we are being honest, even my enjoyment of the character became stifled thanks to a lot of the writing for it.

[demonbutterfly95]

50 Day Challenge - Hatake Sakumo

Prompt 1: Use the lyrics of your favorite song as the basis for a short story.

Pairing: Sakumo x Tsubaki Hikari (OC)

*Edits: I didn’t like how I portrayed the third confession and fleshed it out a bit more. Sakumo isn’t that creepy I promise. Also added the lyrics of the song that inspired this drabble. I’m In Love - Bobby (iKon)

When I’m next to you The world plays a song for me sometimes

The first time Sakumo asked her out Hikari had saved his squad.

It wasn’t the first time they met but it was the first time Sakumo actually saw her. He had been badly injured and watching her heal him while her fire and wind manipulation kept the rogue nin at bay left him in awe. She made quite a sight with the green glow of her healing but to add the light of the flames around them with her long brown hair dancing in the wind, he knew at that moment she was special.

The first time Hikari rejected him she didn’t give any reason. Simply shook her head as she rushed him into the operating room.

Baby I’m in love A love that won’t ever come to me again I’m in love yes I’m in love with you 

The second time Sakumo asked her out Hikari had been sleeping in a tree.

He hadn’t seen her in months since she lived outside of the village. As soon as his nose found her scent he took to the roofs and ended up at a large willow just outside of the village. Muting his chakra he moved until he was on the branch next to her. She began to stir from his movements and her lashes fluttered gently against her light complexion. Sakumo was stunned and at that moment wanted nothing else but to see that very sight every morning for the rest of his life.

The second time Hikari rejected him she clearly and firmly declined but still didn’t give any reason.

I might give you a hard time baby But after time, when you look back I hope you’ll be smiling, my baby So I can be your last that no one else was So come and take my hand

The third time Sakumo asked her out he was desperate.

He had been venting to his civilian childhood friend Chi at her family’s store when he caught whiff of her scent. Scanning the crowded marketplace he found her staring at them with the gentlest look in her eyes. For as long as he had known her, Sakumo had never minded the mask she wore on her lower face. At that moment he desperately wanted to see what kind of expression she was making. Then she disappeared.

Days, weeks, than months passed before he saw her again. He had been meeting Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru for drinks in the Village of Tea when he saw her at the bar. In seconds he was caging her in his arms and asking her to give him a chance. Since the first day they had met she had never left his mind. If she truly had no interest in him and asked he would leave her alone forever. But he didn’t feel that was the case at all. 

She was the one treating him each time he was at the hospital. The nurses had gossiped how if she wasn’t the one leading the surgeries, she would come in half way, or be waiting outside to step in if needed. Their hushed whispers included nightly vigils during critical monitoring and frequent checks on his file seemingly to track his recovery. With such vested interest in his health and well-being he couldn’t help but believe she held some feelings for him as well. 

I’ll hold onto you When you’re about to collapse I’ll be your shoulder So you can rest I’ll walk with you When no one’s there I won’t let go of your hand I’ll keep telling you Baby I’m in love with you 

The first time Hikari agreed to go out with him there was confusion in her eyes. Sakumo didn’t mind. He only needed a chance to show her he was completely in love with her.

[nordlichtgeschichten]

Question Time with Hal

owo thanks @warofmywords​

How Many WIPS are you working on at the minute? Yes. Too many RIP

What is each WIP about? Uhhh let’s go with the. Top 5. 1 - Finding Magic: Runa and Laith are just two normal teenagers from a small village in a country named Galetha. Until one day, Laith gets a cryptic letter from his grandfather; he and Runa can’t quite decipher it, but know he’s trying to tell something important. So they, alongside Runa’s unicorn friend Falfain, Runa’s dog Fana, and a demon named Ephraim they picked up along the way, leave to find Laith’s grandfather and get some answers. 2 - Rainbow: It’ll be a Visual Novel. In the world of Rainbow, everyone has “soul marks”; they look like simple black tattoos. Whenever someone meets someone who’ll play a big role in their life, good or bad, the mark turns colorful, showing that you’ve just met someone important. Some people never meet the ones their marks mean - It might be authors who inspire them, or celebrities they look up to, and not every mark has a counterpart, though many do. In the VN itself, the player can choose one of six marks, each standing for a different character - And where the journey leads, well, that’s up to the player. Friendship, romance, or something truly supernatural...? 3 - Ira & Lupita: I’m still in the planning phase, but I have written some shorter fics with them. Ira and Lupita are shapechangers and girlfriends, and since the shapechangers in general are vaguely inspired by the World of Darkness Fera, the plot might be, too, but idk yet. 4 - Cyberpunk: This is like, the least planned of them. It’ll be Cyberpunk-esque, following a small group of rebels who’re trying to overthrow the government. 5 - Changes: Lyka used to be just a normal kid. Until a seemingly kind woman promised her and her little sister shelter and food, if only they’d come with her. What the woman hadn’t mentioned was that Lyka and Fia, alongside many other kids and teens, would be used for experiments, designed to strengthen humanity. But this wasn’t what Lyka had in mind, so she tries to escape...

Where are you in the WIP’s progress? Finding Magic - Working on the Second Draft, I gotta rewrite Chapter 3 but am either a) procrastinating or b) too busy with other stuff >-> Rainbow - I’ve gotten like 50k words down b u t I gotta redo some planning bc it has several routes/ends so. Eh. Ira & Lupita - Um, planning and writing small ficlets of it Cyberpunk - Planning Changes - It’s kinda... Dormant right now, but I’m about 20k words in.

Do you have a favourite line in the WIP? if so, where and what chapter and what is it? Just gonna go with Finding Magic, and aside from like almost all of Ephraim’s dialogue, I really like the very first line. Translated, it’s roughly: “A young grove wyvern flew past Runa’s window. It swerved in the breeze and landed on her window sill before it lifted off again and continued its way. She looked after it, watched as it found its way away from the village’s houses and towards the trees.”

Is there anything you wish you could change about how certain events have played out in your WIP? Hm... In Changes, there’s a character death that’s just. T_T.

Who is the worst OC in terms of things they’ve done? Hm... I like my villains to be the typical “heroes of their own story”, as in, they wouldn’t consider themselves villainous and many have understandable reasons - though not necessarily excuses. Since i don’t know enough about the government for the Cyberpunk WIP, I’ll go with Genevieve from Changes. For, y’know, causing the abduction of children and experimenting on them.

Who is considered a Hero/ main character and how did they get to this point? Finding Magic - Runa, Laith, Ephraim and Falfain all get POV chapters, though if I had to pick, I’d name Runa the #1 Main Character. She’s the one who convinces Laith to go look for his grandpa, she’s the one who knows Falfain, and she’s the one who decide to let Ephraim tag along. Rainbow - It’s you! Since you’re the player, and your decisions determine what happens. Ira & Lupita - Unsurprisingly, Ira and Lupita. Cyberpunk - Most of them don’t have names yet I’d put Avery as #1 main character though, since he’s the leader of the rebel group. His second in command is his datemate Jackie/Jordie. Changes - Lyka is the #1 Main Character, since she sets the escape in motion.

What happened to your villain to make them what they are now? Finding Magic - He genuinely thought he was doing good, that he was protecting everyone else. Cyberpunk - Not sure yet, but they probably do believe they’re making the world a better place Changes - Oof well. Genevieve’s firstborn child died of something that does occur in non-human animals, but is usually harmless in those. Her goal is to figure out how to splice animal DNA into humans so that in the future, those kinds of things are treatable.

Is there anything your OCs may want to change about themselves? Laith would love to be better at standing up for himself. At least his girlfriend has his back tho

Who was your first OC you ever created and do they still have a story? Oof, good question... A myriad of Pokémon Self-Inserts and Inserts of my friends, maybe. Or one of my many, many RPG characters... Maybe Fia, who I played in a Jurassic Park RP when I was 10 or 11?

What has been the biggest inspiration for your writing and/or your WIPs? Hm, I’m not sure, it varies depending on the day, my mood, etc. Most recently, it was reading Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books, because I’d love to be able to touch someone the same way her books touched me.

Who is your least favourite OC in terms of things they’ve done? Oof, good question... I guess if they were real people... Genevieve, and whoever made the government the way it is in the Cyberpunk story, even though I don’t even know  that guy yet. But since they aren’t... I can’t hate my own OCs. No matter what they do, I cannot dislike them. I did hate Genevieve when I started Changes, but she’s changed quite a bit since then.

What is one piece of advice you would give Past You, if you were given the chance? Honestly, no idea.

Do any of your characters celebrate Pride? If so, how? I feel like Ira and Lupita might. Runa absolutely would if she lived in our world. Avery and Jackie/Jordie probably did, before they joined the rebel group, because well, they really shouldn’t run around huge crowds with many people who might recognize them.

Is celebrating Pride any different from celebrating ours? Well, the Cyberpunk story is set in the future, so I’m guessing for Avery and Jay it’s similar but slightly different, though I haven’t done enough worldbuilding yet to know how.

Do you prefer fanfiction or original fiction? No. I love both.

How long have you been writing seriously? Hm, define seriously. I’ve been trying since I was, like, 12, even if most of those stories are now banned to a folder called “Old Stories” and not looked at anymore. Changes with its 20k got started when I was 14ish, but has been dormant for half a decade now. I started writing fanfic somewhat regularly in uh... March 2019, and I’ve been more involved in my original fiction since NaNo ‘18. So, pick one of those dates.

What genres do you tend to stick to? Mostly Fantasy, but also some Sci-Fi, I guess?

How good would you say you are at being able to write Angst? Have you ever made someone cry? I’ve made myself cry, does that count?

Any writeblrs you look up to? Well, you, Hal lol. Bc you’re pretty damn awesome at not letting those asshole anons get to you.