#its what i like so much about opm's writing when it comes to saitama and the people he meets . hehe

[filbuddy3]

keep this thought under tight scp containment but i think truly only lesbians actually understands saitatsu

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Update 233 Review: Evaluation

I had initially postponed writing this until the next chapter, but I've come to realise I have so much meta to write that it's best I do each chapter individually.

Summary because it's been a moment

The first part of the chapter is set in the mountains above City G where the Council of Swordmasters is based. At their building, the three disciples are reviewing what they've been able to unearth about Sweet Mask. It's precious little, with nothing available before his signing up as a hero. Iaian surmises that this fits in with the information that Bushidrill has been able to uncover on Amai's shifting appearance. They consider that the shape-shifting could be a special power, but in light of his behaviour towards Do-S's hostages, was much more likely a sign of progressive monsterization. Iaian expands on it by recounting what he'd seen of Sweet Mask at the surface when he'd seen a monster struggling to keep its humanity. With surprising empathy, Iaian states that it's often those who've lost something who know its true value. They decide to keep a careful eye on Sweet Mask but say nothing to Atomic for now. Okamaitachi hopes that they end up glad to have kept Sweet Mask's hands clean.

Elsewhere, we see Kamikaze (it is not right to call him Atomic Samurai in this context) and Nichirin paying their respects at a shrine dedicated to successive generations of the Swordmasters. They are accompanied by two young people, here to take the places of the slain Swordmasters. We are treated to Yuta's thoughts of hunting down whatever remains of the Monster Association. Nichirin apologises to the pair to say that if he'd been stronger -- but Shido cuts him short. His father lived by the sword, after all, and falling in battle was an honourable death. Besides, as a bodyguard, seeing Nichirin alive would have pleased him.

Speaking of that, given how gravely Nichirin had been injured, it naturally leads to Kamikaze asking after the old man's health. Nichirin sits on the ground and hitches his robes up to show a pair of cybernetic legs. His entire lower half is now mechanical and he's apparently no worse off for it [Aside: I guess the doctors who butchered Air back in Chapter 182 weren't joking about Metal Knight's skill in cyborg medicine].

He stands up, and, declaring that circulating one's chi through body and weapons made them part of a whole -- artificial bodies included -- unsheathes his sword and slices at an apple that he tossed into the air. The apple is apparently unharmed, but the cliff face in the background is cleaved. The apple falls to the ground, and Shido and Yuta marvel at the accuracy of the old man's cutting the cliff but sparing the apple. Nichirin states that he did cut the apple as well. Kamikaze picks up the apple and explains that this is Nichirin's special technique: it's so fast and finally that the Apple rejoined itself, apparently unharmed. He is relieved the old man is his usual self.

It's now Nichirin's turn to ask him a question. Now that his rival Bang has retired, will Kamikaze stay at the Hero Association? Kamikaze looks wistful for a moment as he recalls himself leading the charge to take down Psykos-Orochi. He says that, indeed, he'd initially gone only to challenge himself, but now he had experienced something that he couldn't get anywhere else. Besides, he still had one more person whose strength he needed to fathom -- we are shown that it is King. He'd decide after then.

As he takes his leave, Nichirin thinks that Kamikaze has changed. Being thrown among a variety of strong fighters with vastly different strengths had broadened his mind. Maybe being a hero wasn't so bad after all. He says that last part out loud to Yuta's puzzlement.

We cut to the hero Association and to Saitama and Genos approaching it. Inside, Forte is putting the finishing touches to a dog house Black Sperm is disgusted, but shelter and food, even if it is only dog food, are what he needs right now, at least until he rebuilds his cell count. Saitama and Genos heave into view and Forte greets them. Black Sperm rushes behind the dog house in well-justified fear. His life wouldn't be worth a scrap of cigarette ash if Genos caught sight of him. Fortunately, Genos is a bit distracted, first by the dog's name, then by the news that Forte lives next door to Saitama. He wastes no time in evicting Forte.

I have a feeling the dog is going to be trouble

Finally, we're in the M-City branch of Mouse Sushi, the cheap rotating sushi place with the infamous nasty t-shirts Saitama loves. Atomic Samurai is there with his disciples, having paid a futile visit to King's residence. There's only one problem with this place: someone keeps taking every plate they have their eye on. After the fatty tuna plate is taken, Atomic stands up to confront the person only to find that is King. The chapter ends with Atomic standing over an anxious King and asking if he could talk to him for a few minutes.

Whew, if you think this is meaty, wait until we get to the meta. Grab a drink!

Meta

I really struggled with thinking where to even begin with this one. Well, let's take it like a hot bowl of soup, start on the outside and work our way in.

The Real Kaijin Shows Up

Small things first. It's hilarious that Genos invokes more fear than the actual monsters do at Saitama's residence. Surprising that he's been visiting Saitama for a while but has never run across Saitama's neighbours or pets until now. You'd think that Saitama had brought home a tiger. As if he were extolling how the beast is still barely half-grown and tame, and all everyone else could see is how it's already the size of a large fridge with cruelly-curved claws longer than one's fingers and fangs sturdy enough to bite through one's skull. Forte may know not to mess with Saitama but he's so aware of Genos's capacity to do actual violence to him that the latter doesn't even need to breathe a word of threat to commandeer his house.

the really big dogs don't need to growl

Don't Panic, It's Just A Monster

I love thus story: people are not blind or stupid. It's hard to keep secrets when someone takes an interest. The disciples are on Amai Mask's trail, and while they're fairly certain that they've uncovered a monster hiding as a human being, the circumspection and nuance they're showing is remarkable.

Despite their misgivings, they're prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and see him more as a person struggling to retain his humanity than as a monster biding its time to strike. In this, Iaian leans towards the former interpretation, while Bushidrill would rather err on the side of caution. Okamaitacchi is in the middle but is of the mind that this is a fluid situation that could go either way.

It's really neat that what was once a one-off gag, with Iaian telling Meltzegard that he could read the latter's murderous intent, has been repeatedly revisited ad deepened in the course of the story to create what is a wise and sympathetic response to a potentially dangerous situation. The disciples aren't blind to the danger of a monstrous hero, but because they can read intentions, they're willing to be heroes to the core and risk reaching out a helping hand to a struggling person.

Iaian's taking a risk in hoping there's a person in Amai who can be saved. But what else is a hero about?

Decisions and Inspirations

So, what will you do, Kamikaze? Had Nichirin died, what he'd have had to do would have been simple. As the new head of the Council of Swordmasters, Atomic would have had to resign as a hero and raise up a new generation. Thankfully, he's been spared that.

It's refreshing to get more insight into Atomic's character and find that he's been looking for both a source of challenge and inspiration in his life. Bang had certainly provided both while he'd been a fellow pro-hero. However, Atomic deciding to lead a charge to the very skies rather than stand on his pride and be an old man shouting impotently at the battle raging overhead had been a revelation. Terrible as the Monster Association showdown had been, it had also been a peak experience unlike any he could have imagined. He's hooked. [Since this is so late, Child Emperor's suggestions of a specialist dragon-slaying team would have found in Atomic an enthusiastic sponsor]. But he still wants a rival, so off he is to challenge King.

a new fire has been lit in this guy who thought he understood everything

Coming to Nichirin, I have three things to say:

A: Words Are Best Eaten Cold, With Salt

Despite having a disciple working as a hero (Spring Mustachio), Nichirin hasn't thought too highly of heroes. Depending on the translation, he'd called them hunters... or pest controllers. It's nice to see that he's had to eat his words.

I hope those words are tasty

B: The Old Lie

'Dolce et decorum est pro patria mori' . I don't blame Shido for clinging onto a view of his father bravely laying down his life. He needs all the comfort he can get.

We know the truth. Zambai was not felled by a superior foe but by a sentient barf bag spitting in his face.

Amahare's desecrated remains were so fragmentary that his coffin needed only a single pallbearer. A cruel duty indeed for Yuta to perform.

Nor can we forget Spring Mustachio fighting desperately to stop Nichirin's transected body from being burned, then Fubuki frantically keeping him alive, his guts kept from spilling out by what had been Genos's precious designer jacket.

a tableau of horror

This had been an actual conflict, not a carefully-managed test of skill vulgarly called a 'fight', and there was nothing sweet, fitting, nor fair about it.

C: Sword and Spirit

AND NOW FOR THE PART I'VE BEEN WAITING FOREVER FOR! Forever being from December 2017. It also ties into more recent chapters. The border between living and non-living has always been a bit porous in One-Punch Man and it's amazing to watch Nichirin make no distinction between his biological body, his sword, and his prostheses to forge a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. Once again, it comes down to spirit and willpower.

Had Genos witnessed this, he'd have asked Saitama for a leave of absence to study under Nichirin. This is the missing part that has been nagging at him, the question he'd asked Saitama about whether his parts truly made him stronger, to which Saitama had had no answer. Heck, just being able to observe Nichirin would have been profoundly inspirational for Genos.

ONE, however, is not in the business of giving Genos anything cheaply. No, on current headings, he's going to have to work it out for himself. Indeed, he accidentally and instinctively touched on the answer when he seamlessly rejoined himself after being bitten in two by Elder Centipede. He didn't think about what he was doing then: he was just totally determined not to be dismissed by that miserable worm. [It goes without saying that Kuseno did not get a distress call, nor brave monsters to see what the fuck was going on for himself because of a mere broken leg and some loosened plates of armour.]

Before and after: plates laid on a bias rejoining so perfectly there's no damage to see. And all the internals are fine too. Black magic shit that got the old engineer out of bed to do a field inspection.

Come to that, Saitama does know about the importance of will but does not know it consciously. Yet another gag that has become very much not a gag is that any object Saitama holds that he does not want to break becomes unbreakable. Cheap store-bought chopsticks catch a falling man -- and his clothes, in turn, don't give way. They become an extension of Saitama, like Nichirin's sword does of himself. Speaking of swords, it's notable that when Atomic Samurai managed to draw the sun blade, it was impossible to tell where the man ended and the sword began. Saitama just has no idea that that's what he's doing, so he can't teach it to his increasingly frustrated disciple.

the same principle, played very differently, but each in a life-or-death situation

And like that, another piece of the puzzle of the power scheme of OPM has been shown to us. No one character has the whole picture. We will hopefully get to piece it together by the end, and we hope that the right characters understand it well enough at the right time to make for good outcomes.

Next chapter review will be much shorter!

[rayadraws]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me cuz obvs I have already done it). spread the self-love ❤

Oh, thank you for tagging me!

Let's see...

Maybe it's just because I just finished it and it's my current obsession, but I AM very pleased with To Capture A Dragon (DND/OC fic). It's about Sorrel, a young gold dragon (in his human form) who is captured by dragon hunters and his attempts as freeing himself again.

Short excerpt:

“Everyone knows dragons hoard treasure. He’ll bring anything of value back and we’ll split it between us.”

“Do they?” Sorrel feigned ignorance. “But surely they don’t carry it with them? That seems awfully inconvenient to me.”

“She’ll make you talk. You’ll tell her where it is. She has all sorts of magical things with her. Tried and tested on other dragons.”

“I’m talking right now, you don’t need magic for that.”

“You shouldn’t be,” Robin reminded him.

“Sounds to me like you need to make up your mind on whether you want me to talk or not.”

Full work

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Next one is BG3 FicFeb Challenge, which is BG3 fanfic featuring my Tav, Cirrus the tiefling sorcerer. It's 29 oneshots based on prompts and I have never written so much in such a short period, I had a lot of fun with it.

Short excerpt:

“Darling, I usually have slightly higher requirements than this for my beverages,” Astarion retorted, watching Cirrus lift the bottle to his mouth with raised eyebrows, clearly judging his preferences. Cirrus shrugged, taking another swig of the cheap wine, managing to mostly hide his grimace at its sour taste.

“And you do not, I see. Low standards, I take it?” Astarion continued. Cirrus felt small under that intense red gaze, though the alcohol was helping with that. He’d always felt more confident after a couple of drinks. 

“Let the tiefling drink,” Shadowheart butted in, though she grabbed the bottle from Cirrus to try it for herself. “Oh, that is foul!” she exclaimed, wrinkling her nose at the taste hitting her tongue and near shoving the bottle back into his hand.

Full work (NSFW) (Bonus! Chapter 1 is actually Sorrel's first ever appearance. I developed him as a character after writing this lol)

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Demon Cyborg's Livestream

This is my most popular OPM/SG fanfic I think, I had a lot of fun writing it too.

Short excerpt:

> iLOVEdc: are u goin to confess

”Confess what?” At that comment he looks up, appearing confused. Or perhaps in denial.

> iLOVEdc: that u

> iLOVEdc: that hr means so much to u

”That’s none of your business.” Genos’ tone is sharp now, and loud. He catches himself, peeking over his shoulder, assuring himself that the lump on the floor remains still. Once confident that he didn’t wake his room mate up, he turns back to the screen, voice softer again.

”That’s between him and me.”

Full work

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Old Boys

A few oneshot featuring Saitama and Genos as an old married couple. I had a lot of fun writing these too.

Saitama gave him a curious look. He turned to look out the window.

“What is he doing anyway?” Pow asked.

“Stumbling around and looking angry.”

“He’s looking for caterpillars.”

“Come again?”

Pow spoke even louder. “Caterpillars! ”

Saitama snorted, gaze still on his husband outside. 

“You told him there’s caterpillars? This time of year?”

Full work

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For 5th and final one I'll pick Rewind, which is another SG fanfic. Genos gets amnesia and Saitama has to come to terms with him possibly never getting his memories back - and maybe that's for the best? It'll certainly be safer for Genos, anyway.

”Why am I a cyborg?” Genos asked one day, and Kuseno paused what he was doing, putting his tools down to give him a long, contemplating look.

This was something he’d debated long with himself since Genos woke up that awful day, many nights while Genos slept deeply in the next room. How much would be fair to say to the boy about his old life? His grief and rage had been large parts of his identity for as long as he’d known him. How many times had he seen his boy furious, heartbroken, devastated at the cruel fate he’d been handed? How many times had he woken up from nightmares, screaming, crying, sometimes setting off the fire alarm after attacking the ghosts of his past in his sleep? How many times had Genos told him as the oil streamed down his face that he wished he could forget his past once and for all?

Full work

[evanescentdawn]

Highlights of today’s writing:

—+311 to the khr/mp100 crossover! Where Tsuna’s haunted and consults Reigen. I kinda skip over a bit, because I wanted to quickly get to the Reigen part!!! It feels a bit off, writing tsuna from his pov, doesn’t feel like tsuna. So I might go over that again.

—Edited the Sanghee smut! Really satisfied with the progress. It’s just me finally writing up on all the things I had planned for this fic since I never really did. Only started it.

—+146 to the 8027 khr prompt thingy. Finally managed to word that beginning part which have been giving me trouble. Blergh. Tsuna’s pov doesn’t feel Tsuna to me quite though. 

—New naruto wip! Inosai, and really having fun with this one. It’s coming nicely along. REALLY love how it’s building up, and idea. It’s just good stuff and I’m so satisfied.

—I don’t really ship ritshou but anyways, I was thinking about that when I got hit by an idea, and started writing....and wow, FINALLY wrote the Ritsu pov I always wanted to. It’s hilarious that I always manage to write for my not ships and sort of notps. I mean. I do like ritshou, just not interested it at as something I would look for it. Just acknowledge it, and nod. I much prefer them as a platonic ship. Anyways, this is utterly ridiculous. There’s this really ritsumob moment though that is really cute and I absolutely adore. Also shdjdkd I really love the tone of this fic??? Makes me laugh. Because the whole thing is ridiculous if I just think about it haha

—Started something, with no idea what it is yet, even a fandom or characters. Just—ideas who might be, but undeceive as always. Djkdkdkd. Oh a poll helped me decide! Got it down, now. 

—This new wip makes me laugh so much. It’s shou & teru, and shou’s pov is so fun to write. I love that funky guy so, so much. Go crazy. 

—New another ritsu wip!!! Don’t know what it is yet but it’s about confined spaces in the loosest sense. About being stuck, and Ritsu and Mob, of course. Because I’m incredibly weak to them. HEY, I FINISHED IT?? it went completely craxy, haha and in a direction i didnt expect but its been reallyyy fun. Gonna let it rest before maybe posting it tomorrow. 

—Aoex new wip. DAD!RIN. I love that boy so much. He’s so precious and god, him as a dad? When I saw that post on that movie I couldn’t resist and write something. Might be Rinshi, or poly, or something entirely. I HAVE NO CLUE. It turned out to be rinshi XD, and omg I finished it????

—+526 words to the OPM/MP100 reigen & saitama wip. Aaaa. I’m really, really loving this one. How it’s coming along. ITS SO GOOD. I love, love it. A lot of good lines which make me very happy and how it’s all coming along together. Kind of. Still loose ends! But I think I am nearly there.

—Sad, sad fic about Regien & regrets, with centre on his relationship with Mob. Exploring a world where things have very, very wrong and Reigen is regretting a lot and there’s a lot of consequences that can’t be rewinded. Dimple is in here and NO help. As always, but I love him very much anyways, and he does care. (As much as he tries to tell himself he doesn’t). And Reigen moving forward—trying. It’s a hopeful, angsty fic. And about striving forward. Lots of people broken.

—Literally eight mins left to the day but I couldn’t resist and hard to write this idea that’s been burning in my mind ever since I read Warehouse. An canon compliant that explores what if Sungho’s memories were actually completely wrong? There’s nothing canon to refute this. Like actually evidence that his memories were real. So. I took it and ran with it.

[pseudonymsobriquet]

Tag Meme!

Rules: Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. Don’t cheat. Tag some people.

Thanks for tagging me, @boostthatgold and @ninja-crybaby~! Sorry it took me so long to finally do... (>~<)

Carole and Tuesday

One Punch Man

Parasyte: The Maxim

Fullmetal Alchemist

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Who is your favourite character in 2? Its very close between Genos and Saitama, but I think Genos wins by a hair (no pun intended). The borg is so emotional and loving and I just wanna give him a hug.

Who is your least favourite character in 1? Oh Cybelle, definitely. She’s a horrible person. Which is a damn shame since her song “La Ballade” is an absolute bop.

What is your favourite episode of 4? Episode 54, “Beyond the Inferno”. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Riza seeing through Envy’s disguise with ease, Roy confronting Hughes killer, a discussion on how hatred only breeds hatred and what makes someone human. The sympathy and pity you feel for Envy... there are so many great moments in this one episode and it’s one that I always remember to this day despite not having seen the series in at least four years. 

What’s your favourite season of 5? It only has one season, so I guess it’s season one by default lol. It was one hell of a ride for sure. Lots of interesting discussions and horrifying reveals, and does a great job at a “genre sike” by being relatively family friendly until episode three where everything gets turned upside down and you realise it’s a psychological horror despite the cute art style.

Who is your favourite couple in 3? Shinji and Murano were the only official couple in the show, but I definitely didn’t ship it. Kinda felt like you could take Murano completely out of the story and everything still would have been the same. Honestly, Shinji and Kana had better chemistry, but Kana needed to work on some of her stuff before that could happen. A relationship with Shinji and Hideo could have been interesting, too.

Who is your favourite couple in 2? I’m a huge fan of Saitama and Genos as a couple! They both help each other to work on their issues and become a better person. Genos helped bring Saitama out of his depression and to be more emotive, and open up to people, eventually leading to a happier more enjoyable life and him gaining a network of friends to rely on. Saitama in turn helped Genos to overcome his uncontrollable rage and to think more before acting so he doesn’t end up hurt as much. Also he taught him to focus on things other than revenge (though that may have lead to a bit of an obsession with Saitama himself lol). Every domestic interaction between the two seems natural and effortless, and if one is hurt the other goes wild which is an A+ trope that I just love lmao. I could write a damn essay on why these two are perfect for each other honestly. 

What is your favourite episode of 1? The last episode! It’s the end of a series, but the start of something great for all the characters. Also the Miraculous Seven Minutes was absolutely phenomenal and I’m so glad I watched it in the show before I listened. I also cried like four times during that seven minutes because of what it meant to the characters, and I don’t often cry at things! So this show making me cry four times in seven minutes is a feat of its own! Watch Carole & Tuesday folks, you won’t regret it. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll wanna bop along with the characters during every song.

What is your favourite episode of 5? Ooft, Episode 6, “This Just Can’t Be Right”. The absolute bombshell that was dropped towards the end was just horrifying in every way and I honestly didn’t see it coming. I think this was the point that both the characters and the audience realised exactly what a horrifying ordeal being a magical girl really was. Episode 8, “I was Stupid... So Stupid” is a very close second, and gives us another bombshell reveal I didn’t see coming that ramped up the horror even more. I won’t give any spoilers on these episodes tho ‘cause it’s one of those “it’s better if you experience it yourself” moments. What I will say is that Madoka Magica is a psychological horror at its heart, don’t let the cutesy art style fool you. 

What is your favourite season of 2? Season 1 by a long shot. I’ve personally seen the entirety of season 1 at least six times over, whereas I watched Season two once as it released. I enjoyed the second season and would love a third season to release, but season one was superior in every way. Maybe it’s because I feel like less happened in season two? Or that there was more focus on human interaction and relationships in the first? Or perhaps it’s because I really saw myself in season one Saitama? Whatever the reason, I could still happily watch season one like six more times.

How long have you watched 1? Carole & Tuesday only released last year, but I started watching when there were only three episodes out subbed! From there I kept watching it weekly as it released, and I’m so glad I decided to watch it because it quickly became one of my fave animes of all time. 

How did you become interested in 3? I first heard about Parasyte when I was about sixteen? I’m sure I saw it on a list of great horror manga while I was looking for something new to read. I actually read quite far in but never finished because I had to study for exams then lost my place and just never went back. Then this year, a full nine years later, I saw the anime was on Netflix and I remembered just how much I’d loved reading what I did of it, so I started and finished it in three days lol. Turns out I wasn’t far from the end when I’d lost my place all those years ago. It brought back nostalgia of something I loved as a teen and I loved how well animated it was (even though it can look a little silly at times). I’d definitely recommend Parasyte to anyone interested in horror anme and manga.

Who is your favourite actor in 4? Edward Elric’s Japanese voice actress Romi Park was my fave. She has The Range. When she voices Ed, I honestly believe every emotion, every performance she gives. From a scared child to a hero saving the world, she does an amazing job. 

Which do you prefer: 1, 2, or 5? It’s gonna be a close one between Carole & Tuesday and One Punch Man, that’s for sure. One Punch Man was an anime where I saw myself in the main character and his journey through depression and not knowing what to do in life, and Carole & Tuesday made me feel emotions I haven’t felt in a very long time and stressed the importance of music and friendship. Although, considering I have the Carole & Tuesday songs on a playlist and know every word to them all, and the impact that the series finale (and the series as a whole) had on me, I’m going to have to say Carole & Tuesday win this round because of just how much it meant to me. 

If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be? Oh man, I’d wanna be Olivier. The strength, the confidence, the pizazz... I think Olivier is everything I wanna be lmao. 

Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work? Parasyte and Fullmetal Alchemist? Hell yeah, I’d love to see that crossover. Maybe the parasites in that world could be a type of homunculous or something? They both had the same idea of infiltrating the government for their own personal gain too.

Pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple? Gus and Flora would make a great couple, I could definitely see them getting together after the series ends. Carole and Tuesday would be great too, though they work just as well as friends.

Overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5? Tricky, but I’d have to go with Parasyte. There were a lot of interesting moments and discussions in the series that pulled me in, like “what is humanity?” and “what makes someone human?” and “at what point is someone no longer human?” and “is it possible for humans and parasites to coexist?” Madoka Magica was a great series, had some great moments and asked some equally as interesting questions, but I think Parasyte pulled it off better in the end.

Which has better theme music, 2 or 4? Oooohhhh, that’s a tough one... One Punch Man or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood... I just listened yo all the songs from both to try make up my mind and I’m still a bit lost, so let’s go by “what’s more memorable/makes me feel some kind of emotion?” FMA: “Again” by Yui and “Shunkan Sentimental” by Scandal are the only ones that seem familiar and that I can remember when they aren’t in front of me. I know I’ve heard them all (I watched the entire series) but to say it probably has more music, I actually remember very little of it. OPM on the other hand... I know most of the words to “The Hero” by JAM Project and it makes me feel so hyped up. “Apostle of Silence” by JAM Project in the second season is just as rad and memorable. Both of the ending themes are beautiful and emotional. And the first ending theme seems to be about Genos wishing Saitama would come home safe, while the season two’s ending is sung by Saitama’s voice actor and seems to be a reply to the first season’s ending theme? Absolutely gay and iconic, 10/10. Wow, OPM hands down has the best music then I guess lmao.  I tag anyone who sees this that wants to do it~! Have fun, guys~! <3 

[deltaengineering]

Spring Anime 2019 Part 3: the doldrums

Spoilers: There’s going to be top tier shows in this season eventually.

Also spoilers: not today.

Araiya-san! Ore to Aitsu ga Onnayu de!

What: Anime schlub has to sub in for his father, who is a professional “girl washer”. He’s not supposed to go full lewd. He does.

❌ Unlike Nande Koko ni Sensei ga, this is actual porn. You just have to go looking for the full version, because the TV version is half as long (3:30) for some reason. I dunno, probably just a tight, moist timeslot.

❌ Well, it’s still Japanese porn so even uncensored you get mosaics all over the place, so maybe look for alternatives anyway.

❌❌ It’s porn, with all the writing, production and subtitle quality implications that brings.

Gunjou no Magmel

What: People explore the mythical continent Magmel in search for treasure and fame. A shounen protagonist watches them all die.

♎ This is based on a manhua, and you can tell by the typical tone problems. Everything about the characters is like an adventure shounen for the younger set, but it’s pretty violent and full of death.

❌ There’s nothing wrong with the above per se, but it doesn’t work. I would say it plays its hand too eagerly, so it comes across less of a subversion and more as just really juvenile.

❌ Beyond that incongruence, there doesn’t seem to be much to it. People walk into a meatgrinder while our protagonist is cool and sometimes slapsticky. Wow.

♎ It looks pretty okay, but there isn’t much effort or style to it. Hey, it’s not actually by some fly-by-night operation but by Pierrot, and they know a thing or two about (cheap, long-running) shounen.

❌ Well, they made a Chinese ripoff of Made in Abyss. I suggest you watch that instead. Or maybe Hunter x Hunter.

Isekai Quartet

What: The main characters of Re:Zero, Tanya the Evil, Konosuba and Overlord end up in a high school together.

❌❌ BUT IN A HIGH SCHOOL is only slightly less creatively bankrupt a concept than isekai itself, and only slightly less common as well.

❌ This doesn’t change my opinion that all of these shows aren’t very good. At least it reinforces my opinion that Re:Zero is the least bad and Overlord is possibly a bit better than it appears.

✅ The adaptation of the character designs to SD Flash animation is done well. In particular the Tanya characters looks better than in their own show and Ramrem are Nendoroids anyway.

❌ Going by the looks, this is building on the Re:Zero SD specials. Of course, the Re:Zero characters appear the least and Konosuba characters appear the most. It makes sense, because their bad comedy aligns best with the bad comedy of this show.

❌❌ I don’t think it’s funny and I have no love for any of the franchises/characters, which makes it a complete waste of time.

Namu Amida Butsu!

What: A bunch of bodhisattvas hang out in between fighting sins. You can’t spell “bodhisattva” without “bod”.

❌ This is very clearly an anime based on a mobile game where very pretty boys wear very elaborate clothes, so the character designs are eyesearingly garish as usual.

✅ Imagine my delight then when the first thing they do is to put them into frumpy tracksuits. That’s the single best joke I’ve ever seen in one of these. In fact, the whole episode is mostly based on fish-out-of-water comedy that’s not very unique but pretty funny when applied to these dreamboats.

✅ This looks a cut above the usual as well. About as good as Doga Kobo’s Touken Ranbu, which is the closest thing I can think of.

❌ The wild swing from cute boys doing cute things to fighting the bad mans is pretty clunky and it’s only going to get worse as a plot establishes itself.

❌ This is probably the best of these shows I’ve seen yet, but that doesn’t really mean all that much. A few decent jokes is not enough to carry something like this.

One Punch Man S2

What: The meme is back, baby. What, a second season opinion on this? Yeah, know that I think that OPM was fairly okay apart from the overreliance on its one joke.

✅ That one joke doesn’t even appear in this episode, which is the best thing they ever could have done. In fact, OPM S2 seems to hardly even be a comedy anymore. As someone who liked the setting more than the humor, I approve.

✅ I still like Saitama and Genos as characters as well. Plus, it never stops amusing me that One Punch Man is better at social commentary than MP100 and MHA combined, simply by virtue of being at least a little subtle about it.

❌ However, they replaced the joke with drama that wears out its welcome and a shitton of exposition. Neither of those are something I particularly want to see either.

♎ Of course the talk of the town is that this show moved from Madhouse to J.C. Staff and there has been a severe visual downgrade. Even though I will happily accept that downgrade in exchange for the show annoying me less, I can’t deny it’s there. I’d still say that it looks okay on its own merits, it’s only in comparison to the occasionally stellar looking original that it suffers.

♎ Since I’ve made it through S1, I’ll at least attempt to watch S2. It’s different but seems to work out to about as entertaining for now.

RobiHachi

What: Robby is a galactic gigolo and flies around with his straight man Hachi and a robot vacuum cleaner. Now that you say it, that does seem familiar.

❌ I had my problem with Space Dandy, but for all of its faults it was at least visually appealing. RobiHachi has the bare minimum of visuals and is so reliant on the banter between its leads that it might as well be an audio drama.

❌ Yeah, that banter. I don’t think it works at all. There is no wit and and barely any charm to it, which makes the whole thing extremely tedious. I checked the runtime when I felt like it was going way longer than the usual 24 minutes, and I found I was 8 minutes in.

❌ So the show does put an extraordinary amount of faith in the chemistry between its leads, to the point where there’s not much else (apart from the obligatory mecha parody that any sci fi comedy anime is required to have by law). 

♎ I kind of feel bad for this show because at least it feels like it’s going for something that might have potential. It’s just incapable of pulling it off in a manner that doesn’t bore me to tears.

Strike Witches - 501-butai Hasshin Shimasu!

What: OG Strike Witches, the baseline unimaginative 4koma comedy.

❌ I’ll just say that it’s baseline unimaginative 4koma comedy that fails (like most of these do) and move on to a more interesting topic:

❌❌ Which is the way this looks, i.e. shockingly bad. Barely animated skits can still look acceptable, but this is a barely animated version of something that looks like a 4th grader’s crayon attempt. And yes, I’m not expecting everything to look like glossy moeshit. I’m just expecting the comedy spinoff of glossy moeshit to do so.

❌ It’s Strike Witches. Without butts.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki

What: 3:30 regional/tourism anime about Nagoya, which is apparently full of strangely-accented catgirls that confound Tokyoites.

✅ This looks cute. Strike Witches could have looked like this, you have no excuse.

❌ Do you think Japanese regional accents are funny? If not, I don’t think this show is for you.

❌ The humor is shrill and obnoxious, which puts a pretty hefty dent into the cuteness.

[yiulee999]

Hey! What do you think of OPM season 2? I still love it & am looking forward to next weeks new episode but i just wish Saitama had more screen time ;-(

hey nonny~! 

apologies for the late reply, its a combo of not getting notifications (tumblr u useless trashbucket) and being on surgery rotation (i miss sleeping so much) 

firstly, i am truly glad you still love it and look forward to the new episodes!!! 💖💖💖please dont let anything i say from this point on dissuade you from that enjoyment 

THAT BEING SAID 

///cut for length 

ive only watched up to the second episode, and i am having Such Difficulties convincing myself to keep watching. i know my rxns to ep 1 were overall pretty positive and I stand by it but the more i watch the more the Cringe/Hypercritique starts take over. 

Turns out, the art style had a bigger impact than i thought on the length of which i enjoy shows. personally, i just really like when anime/shows have a happy marriage between writing and artwork. and when show directors know how to interpret writing, how to set up a scene (the angle, the music, the pacing), and then communicate with artists who have the skills to bring that idea to life using the medium they’re given -- that’s when writing becomes storytelling. OPM’s writing is still fantastic since they’re going off ONE (whereas GoT has the opposite problem where the production value is 4K and the writing is early 2000s livejournal/fanfiction lol god why is everyone dropping the ball in 2019??)

As for the art, since opm switched to jc staff and shingo natsume & co. left for other projects ( ;;_____;; im emo ), its inevitable we would see a drop in animation quality and i find myself constantly getting distracted by things i never used to get concerned about in the first season (bc of the high bar of expectations set by s1 artists/directors, like theres just no way jc staff would match up it to all of that and i feel bad for them, they’re trying their best but that doesn’t mean theyre immune to critique on the artistic liberties that they’ve taken that i feel as a viewer, may not have been the best choice?) 

the shading: no, just, unnecessary and distracting and why is it the center of saitamas face, im by far no expert in lighting but a bish can tell something doesnt look right??? 

the shading pt II: color choices. just gonna say i was not expecting sai’s ‘hair shirt’ in ep 1 to be bright-ass neon green, it was a little jarring at first and i miss him in red ;-; i get hes supposed to have poor fashion choices but i dont see him as the type to pick something that stands out so much in the crowd, like he likes to be left alone. NEON doesnt really relay ‘hi dont mind me im just barely existing here lol’ 

the shading pt III: genos arms/neck. okaY so the bby looks good in screenshots. like he’s shiny and nice to look at when nothings moving. bUT this is animation?? movement of objections is different from still life manga so making every single scene almost 99% like murata’s panels translates a little awkwardly to the screen (like staff is lucky bc murata’s a force of nature with his panels playing out like a movie for ref). but when genos moves, the arms are just distracting bc everything around him is drawn simply without shadows so they stand out by themselves and i (visually) forget about the rest of him haha. 

the pacing: it feels scripted, person A says this so we’ll show person A in the shot, then person B is saying something so we have to cut to person B, etc etc like keeping pretty steady to manga lines to the point where i was starting to get bored bc i knew what was coming. it was really intervaled? like someone had to be saying something at a certain effect and i think s1 had more dramatic pauses (lol) but thats how you can place emphasis on scenes to have an emotional impact if the character doesnt say anything and just let the soundtrack do some talking and the cadence of the script will change too (im 10000% talking about the sunset scene in s1 god bless. like it was slow, there was MOOD there wasn’t any rush and really gave the viewer time to think about the relationship between the two characters and what that moment meant to each of them) i feel like there were several scenes that could have been more like in the scene where sai protected fubuki, could have been a little more dramatically emphasized (aka just a pause) so the viewer could get a chance to understand that he purprosefully shielded her or when genos says that strong heroes are drawn to saitama--bUT nope its the same pace, like c l o c k w o r k just like my t eARS--

the fight scenes: how do i even start. the one scene that got me INTO opm (like watching the anime, reading the manga, drawing fanart, writing fanfic, reading fanfics etc) was kickstarted by the fight scene between genos and saitama in s1 that was circulating on tumblr a while back. i thought the characters were interesting and the fight was badass and it just looked SO COOL. (also the forehead flick at the end just kinda sealed my fate). going from that to s2 fight scenes where its mostly cut scenes and freeze scenes?? where theres a cut out behind the characters back?? during a fight scene????? this isn’t a calling card or an anime opening??? i dont understand. when they dont do cut scenes, its interesting but my initial impression is just underwhelmed. i can find good parts but it feels like i have to replay the scene to notice it? theres also an overwhelming amount of graphics/cgi manipulation that overpowers the actual art sometimes. its lacking some of the fluidity that comes from hand drawn fight scenes from first season. OTL

the sound directing: so i thought that the mood just felt off for certain scenes and the sound didn’t seem to support the scene as well (unless it was like the character’s theme or smtg) and i looked it up and the sound director was also replaced (Yoshikazu Iwanami replacing Shoji Hata). i have no idea if the sound director is also in charge of character lines but there were parts were fubuki was monologuing and i had no idea she was inner monologuing, i thought she was talking out loud and that just took extra effort on my part to re-orient myself (im nitpitcking i know but its just how i watch shows lol) 

there are still some parts i like about the animation:

fubuki looks bangin and i love her👌👗

all of this just made me realize how insanely lucky we were to have an amazing s1 and just have it exist and how i really could not care less if they had just waited forever to make s2 as long as we had the same crew come back. but anime is still a business and the quicker they dish out merch/seasons, the more money they can bring in. which they do in the short run but they would bring in more if they spent a little more on quality in the long run and it becomes one of those classics that ppl will rewatch and keep recommending to ppl who want to get into anime and oh my god we’re never gonna have that now, are we. if im gonna rec it to a friend its gonna be ‘read the manga!’ or ‘just watch s1!’ uGH. its just an unfortunate situation, its not one person’s fault either, so many factors go into what made opm s1 so spectacular and seeing s2 just made me appreciate s1 more. i guess im happy to have a s2 regardless? 

i’ll still watch to support (and bc i like suiryuu and wanna see sai in a karate gi and wig lol). maybe i just have to get used to the new style. 

so in summary,

[zne-theartist]

Stalking Destiny Ch 1 (rewritten)

Stalking Destiny chapter 1 rewritten | original post | AO3 link.

Author’s Notes: I hope everyone else is enjoying season two of OPM like I am! and I want to apologize to all my loyal fans waiting three years for me to return for OPM. alijsdfklksejfd. I rewrote the first chapter to fix spelling and grammar errors - but also to match my current writing style since it has changed since 2016 and I didn’t beta read it when I first wrote it. All the content is the same, just better worded! I also rewrote this because I’m writing the second chapter (coming within this week) so I wanted the first chapter to flow well for it!

Again the idea for this fic was spawned by @wamaii , I’m finishing this soon my pal lol

Chapter 1: The Meeting

It had been three months now.

Three months of having to deal with the incessant stalking of the great villain, Saitama. It had taken him two weeks to first realize that the villain had been watching him and it wasn’t just a coincidence that he was seeing the villain out more often in the areas he frequented. He had happened to look over his shoulder while walking to school because he thought he heard a friend calling his name when he saw him. The bald headed villain sticking halfway out from an alley, acting like he was completely hidden as he stared intensely at the blonde. When the villain had realized they had locked eyes, he only moved an inch more into the alleyway, no doubt thinking that would be enough to hide his form. Genos at that point quickly turned around and quickened his pace to school.

At first, he had been frightened. Why would the villain known for dealing so much destruction be following him? It didn’t help that Saitama wasn’t exactly being discreet about it. Sometimes, Saitama had a hideous, cheap, brown wig on his bald head, struggling to keep it on on windy days. Other times he sat on a bench on the school campus, eyeing at him through two holes cut in a newspaper for his eyes. Eventually thoughts sparked up in Genos’ mind: ‘what the fuck is he doing? Who does he think he’s fooling?’ But, no matter where Genos went, that villain was sure to be there.

Progressively, his feelings had moved from fear to confusion to irritation. He was in college and he was trying hard to keep his 4.0 GPA up, something he prided himself in since middle school. Genos was a dedicated person when it came to school and he wanted to get his degree as fast as possible; and this villain was posing a threat to his perfectionism. Genos was losing his concentration. The unknown of why the villain Saitama was following him ate him up from the inside out. He couldn’t even hang out with his friends to relax and get his mind off things because he was always there. His limits were breaking from this annoying, bald headed freak who just wouldn’t stop watching him!

That day had been particularly hard on him.

He had to sprint just to make it to his first class of the day, nearly missing it. A teacher had called him out after class, worried that he wouldn’t make an A+ for the grading period which was highly unusual given Genos’ track record. In another class, he had gotten a C on a test; that Genos had to beg the teacher to let him retake. The cream of the crop? His favorite sandwich was out at the cafeteria. At this point the blond’s patience was diminished so low he had nearly nothing left to deal with the stalker hot on his heels as he walked home from school. Honestly, if the man was trying to stalk the blonde, didn’t he know he had to put distance between them and make it not noticeable? The villain wasn’t even five feet back from him - in that ridiculous wig! He was using the last shreds of his patience to desperately try and ignore the heavy footsteps behind him, clutching tightly to the straps of his book bag.

Something snapped in Genos and he just couldn’t take it anymore. He was the reason he was beginning to slip up in his studies! He stopped walking and spun around, finger already up to point at the man in the hideous wig - for fuck’s sake anyone could tell he was bald and had slapped a toupee on! Anyone could fucking tell who it was!

Saitama nearly collided into the finger that pointed accusingly at him, but managed to stop in his tracks. His wide eyes stared down at the blond, unable to believe he was face to face with the cute, freckled face Genos. Saitama thought he was so much cuter than that cyborg Genos, and a whole lot slimmer. Also, compared to cyborg Genos who had been his own height, Genos was much shorter than he thought he’d be. He was also a thousand times cuter up close than afar.

“Stop fucking stalking me, villain!” Genos’ bark of sharp words snapped Saitama out of his thoughts. His mouth flailed open and closed like a fish out of water.

“I… I… m-my name…” Saitama felt absolutely powerless in this moment. Why? Was it because he was faced with the one thing he had been searching for the last year since he had come back from the hero alternate dimension? Saitama attempted to swallow his nerves as the blond’s hot glare dug into him like a knife. “I-I am… E-Eggb-b-bert…” His voice sounded so deflated. Where was all that fire he had earlier when he had pepped himself that today was the day he’d finally talk with Genos? That was the whole reason he had tailed him so close today!

“Cut the crap! I know it’s you, anyone could see, you’re the villain Saitama!” Genos was angry, upset the villain would even think such a stupid name and scheme would work on him like he was dumb.

Saitama opened his mouth to dispute Genos, but nothing came out. After a few silent minutes of nothing, a gentle breeze uprooted the wig from his shiny dome and sent it flying. Mentally he bid goodbye to the five dollars he spent on it from the tacky shop he had bought it from. His cover had literally blown away.

“I know that fucking bald head anywhere! You’re all over TV. And you’ve been stalking me for the past three months.”

Saitama felt like he had no strength in him; not even the strength to engage with his infamous, lame comeback that he wasn’t the bald one, but Genos was.

“I’m sick and tired of it. You’re ruining my life following me around!” Genos’ hands moved to stand firmly on his hips as his feet stood a shoulders’ width apart, his torso bent forward slightly as he was giving the villain Saitama a lecture for his life. “My grades are slipping; my friends don’t even want to hang out with me because you’re always around - I can’t concentrate anymore!” Genos felt like tearing at his hair as he glared daggers at the man. “Why the fuck are you stalking me in the first place? Do you have a problem with me?”

Saitama stared blankly at the man. “I…uh…um…” All words escaped him and he stood there, staring at the beauty before him. He was completely powerless, all thanks to a loss of words.

“Stop stalking me, or I’ll call the police!” Genos turned on his heel and angrily walked back home, leaving the villain in his dust.

When Genos got home he felt like punching a wall to let out all of his frustrations, but instead he did his best to focus on studying for the test he’d have to retake. When he failed, he did his best to sleep. Sleep didn’t come easy for him however, and he was suddenly wrought with the thought he could have died with the way he had talked to the very well known villain Saitama. He groaned into his hands as they covered his face. “What does he want from me?” Genos had never seen such a desperate look before. Saitama had looked at him like he had so much to say yet he had said nothing at all. He had looked incredibly weak. Genos let out a heavy sigh as he turned on his side, staring at the shades covering his window that was parted just enough to let a sliver of the moon peak into his room. That had not been the villain that was depicted all over the media…

Meanwhile, as soon as Genos had left, Saitama did not follow him back to his home like usual. Instead, he watched Genos’ figure retreat. His hand moved on its own, bunching his shirt into his fist as it rested on his chest, in a motion that almost seemed he was trying to clutch at his heart. “Damn.” His face contorted for a second into a scowl. “Is this what the hero me feels for the cyborg version?” Was he feeling happiness over Genos calling him bald, at talking so crudely to him, at finally coming face to face with the boy and talking to him? (Even if Genos was the one who had done all the talking.) He couldn’t even blame the kid for the outburst. He had been stalking Genos, and maybe he really wasn’t the best at hiding it.

This wasn’t his fault though! It was Genos’ fault. It was his fault for not coming to his side sooner. It was his fault for letting him become so dark. It was his fault for not saving Saitama. His mood progressively darkened and the people who were walking the streets took their time to completely avoid him. Yes. It was all Genos’ fault. “All your damn fault I’m like this.”

The poisonous depression rolled over him then dissipated until he felt nothing again. Like always, nothing and no one stopped him from breaking a few buildings.

All of a sudden Saitama was gone.

For two whole weeks he was able to relax and get his scores back up to his acceptable A+ status. Genos could have forgotten the villain had stalked him in the first place if the news would let him forget his existence. There were more recent sightings of Saitama destroying buildings and terrorizing people. As he watched the news each night, he felt some part of him that wanted to dispute it all. If he was such a villain, why had he been left completely speechless when confronted by a mere college student about his stalking? Was the villain in love with him or something? Genos scoffed at the idea, refocusing on his books and trying to refocus his mind. “That’s absurd… a heartless villain wouldn’t have such feelings.” His brown eyes gravitated to the television screen as they showed a close up of Saitama’s face from a traffic light camera. “...right?” Genos found the remote in his hand, clicking the pause button. He leaned his cheek into his other hand that had now forgotten he had been trying to write notes. He stared at the face on the screen in silence for a long time.

“He’s kind of handsome…”

His grades were back to normal and so was his mind. As a nice treat to release all the remaining tension caused from the three month long stalking trip, Genos had decided to go out one night with two of his friends to the arcade near the park.

They had been playing on one of the machines when their laughter and teasing was interrupted by the machine jolted on its own. They exchanged glances and looked back at the machine which was oddly silent. Genos reached out to touch it but the machine suddenly jumped up! Genos gasped, eyes wide as they all scrambled back.

The machine was turning into a monster! All of a sudden it was warping into a hideous mix of the skee ball machine and a humanoid figure. It was a massive, twisted result of machinery and man.

“I AM SPAWNED FROM THE TERRIBLE TREATMENT FROM YOU HUMANS. YOU TREAT US MACHINES LIKE DIRT, AND KICK US WHEN YOU DON’T GET YOUR WAY. I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL FOR THE TREATMENT OF MY BRETHREN AND MYSELF.” The machine howled in anger. The howl seemed to ‘wake’ the other machines as they began to glow and jolt just as the skee ball machine had done.

People were already screaming all around the arcade and beginning to run. The fun arcade games were turning into monsters! Genos look to his friends and shouted over the deafening noise of so many machines whirring to an impossible life, “We have to get out of here!” They joined the late night crowd in running to the doors of the arcade. Genos struggled to keep up with his friends who were ahead of him, and a quick glance over his shoulder confirmed the increased volume of clunking was the machines beginning to give chase. As they reached the doors he glanced around at the chaos, so many running for their lives. This had to be terror that he was feeling - and it propelled him to run faster.

“Keep going!” He shouted to his friends as they reached outside, pointing down the sidewalk. “Run, I’ll try and distract it!” As much as the terror shook his body, these were his friends.

“Genos! What the hell are you talking about?”

“We can’t just leave you behind!”

He had to protect them; no matter how stupid it was to act like a hero when he wasn’t a hero.

“Just go!” Genos yelled, eyes bright with determination as he began to run across the street. He glanced over his shoulder as the arcade’s automatic glass doors broke with the machinery monsters breaking out. Thankfully his friends had already began to run down the sidewalk.

“COME BACK HERE. LET ME SHOW YOU THE SAME TREATMENT THAT YOU SHOWED US.”

He was relieved they didn’t purse his friends or other fleeing patrons - but now they were giving chase to him. His breath caught in his throat as he turned back towards the park and sprinted towards it. Maybe he could lose them in the trees or get them to somehow fall into the pond. He wasn’t sure what he could do, but at least he knew his friends were safe.

Genos’ lungs burned as he ran through the park, panting, as he tried to lose the monsters. He was honestly terrified. He wasn’t sure what would happen to himself, but he knew people died every day that a monster appeared. His eyes burned at the thought that he would be in that statistic. He was thrown out of his thoughts literally as his ankle was caught and twisted painfully in a tree root, sending him flying forward and flat on his face. He cried out in pain and rolled onto his back, gasping for air. His chest heaved as he tried desperately to catch his breath and quiet himself. He could hear the rustling of the machines in the distance. He could guess they must have split up to cover more ground. They would probably look for other teenagers who might be in the park. Once it quieted down he could get up, escape the park, and run home to safety.

“FOUND YOU.”

Genos shrieked as the machine came into his line of sight a few feet away. He scrambled into a sitting position and tried to pull at the root which seemed to tighten its hold on his ankle. It hurt. He was scared. Genos could feel hot tears falling down despite his stubborn and scowling face. He didn’t want to cry when he was about to die, but everything he still wanted to do was flashing before his mind while he tried to still break free from the root. He hadn’t done a damn thing in the world. He hadn’t done anything memorable! He had only kept his nose stuck in a book his entire life!

The machine raised its fist as it screeched out in revenge, “I WILL DESTROY ALL YOU HUMANS.” He’d be crushed underneath the machine’s fist. Feebly, with the last ounce of protection he could give himself, he raised his arms up over his face. At least this way he wouldn’t see when the fist came down. “STARTING WITH YOU!”

Was this his death bed?

“Oi.” A deep, gravely voice thrust itself into the mix. Genos moved his arms at the voice and only caught a blur of black and red. His body was pushed back by a sudden gust of wind, landing back on his elbows. He gasped with his wide eyes staring in disbelief at the glint from the moon atop a shiny, bald crown.

“Saitama!” It was like a huge wind was knocked out of him at the name. Where had he come from?

There the villain stood, holding the machine up by, what was supposed to be, his neck. Saitama’s eyes were a dangerous red glare at the face of the monster. Genos could see the waves of anger rolling off of him in the same way his cape billowed out behind him.

“He’s mine.” The villain raised his other hand into a fist, and just like that - the monster was gone. Genos stared in awe. He had taken the monster out with just one punch. One punch… It brought about another fact to marvel at: Saitama had just saved his life. “Easy…” He heard the villain mumble to himself before he turned to Genos. Genos felt his body go rigid as Saitama walked over to him before he knelt down at his feet. Easily, the villain tore the root off of Genos’ ankle. Genos felt frozen as he stared at the villain. “Ah, you might’ve twisted your ankle with that fall. ...was kind of funny seeing you fall.” No smile accompanied his words. Had Saitama been watching him this entire time? Saitama looked up at Genos with relief before his eyes widened in slight shock and he reached out with a gloved hand.

Genos pulled his face back from the outreached hand and the villain rethought his action, bringing his hand to his own face. He scratched a little underneath his eye with his gloved finger. He was giving him a look like he expected him to know what he was trying to say without words.

“Huh?” Genos was confused, but brought a hand to his face to touch his fingertips just beneath his eye. “Oh.” How embarrassing! There were fat, wet tears still falling from his eyes. Quickly, he yanked his sleeve down over his hand and rubbed his eyes till the tears ceased. He couldn’t believe the villain had seen him crying! Saitama had to find it deplorable, laughable even. The villain said nothing, and simply stood to his feet. After a moment of awkwardly standing there, he extended his hand to Genos. Genos stared at it. “What?” His voice was quiet. Saitama jolted his hand to get his point across, unable to look at the blond. The dots connected and slowly Genos took his hand. After taking it though, he squeezed it. The squeeze caused Saitama to stop before he could pull the boy up off the ground. “Why?” Genos looked at their hands, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

Saitama stared down at the boy and used his free hand to rub the back of his neck. He didn’t say a thing and just pulled the boy up as gently as he possibly could.

Genos could only go with the motions as he was pulled back onto his feet. However, as soon as he was up, he winced and a soft hiss left his lips from the pain that shot from his right ankle up through his entire leg. The pain was horrible (and Saitama hadn’t let go of his hand) so he went crashing forward into the villain’s chest. Saitama was the one who went rigid next, still as Genos used him for support. Genos knew he wouldn’t be able to put any weight on his hurt leg.

Saitama swore to himself he was about to let out a very strangled, strange sound and so he turned abruptly, nearly pushing the kid off. Genos was surprised and was about to move back, but Saitama hadn’t let go of his hand yet. Instead, Saitama had turned his back to him before he crouched down to the ground.

“What are you doing?” Was there a hint of pink on the villain’s cheeks or was the moon playing tricks on him?”

“Don’t make me say it.” His voice was gruff, but Genos could hear no malice in it. As if to elaborate, Saitama yanked his hand so Genos was forced to lose his balance and brace himself against the waiting back. Finally, Genos wrapped his arms loosely against the villain’s neck which prompted the villain to let go of his hand so he could loop his arms underneath his knees. He couldn’t believe Saitama was offering him a piggyback ride.

As soon as he was settled, Saitama began the walk out of the park and back into the city with Genos on his back. As they walked out of the park, Genos noticed there were strewn mechanical parts littered everywhere as if a tornado had blown through the area. Had Saitama defeated all the machines? Genos looked at the back of the bald head before slowly he noticed their surroundings changing. He knew the route very well. The villain was taking him back to his home. It didn’t surprise him that he would know the way given he had stalked Genos for so long. Honestly, it would’ve been more surprising if he didn’t know the way.

His heart pounded in his chest as Saitama walked, and he could only hope that Saitama couldn’t feel it against his back. Genos was more confused than ever before. First, the villain stalked him. Second, he didn’t say a word when Genos confronted him and could only blub his mouth around like a fish. Third, he just disappeared out of nowhere except for being shot on television for destroying cities. Fourth, he showed up out of the blue after two weeks of nothing, and saved Genos. What was with this guy?

“You’re a villain,” It was a fact he stated out loud that he knew Saitama had heard but it didn’t garner him a response. “So, why did you save me?” Genos stared at the cape he was resting his cheek against, focused on the way the muscles beneath the suit began to relax as if he had let out a rather long exhale.

“You’re supposed to save me.” Genos nearly didn’t catch the soft spoken words. He tilted his chin up so he could look over Saitama’s shoulder, staring at the profile of his face. Genos’ eyes softened considerably. Handsome… Genos didn’t understand the villain’s words, but he squeezed his arms around his neck a little tighter and pressed his face into the back of his neck. He allowed himself to close his eyes and relax in the strong grip that kept him up.

They remained silent the rest of the way.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Demon Slayer 12 - 13 | OPM 23 - 24 (FINAL) | BSD 36 - 37 (FINAL) | Shield Hero 25 (FINAL) | Fruits Basket 12 - 13 | To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 1 | Astra 1 | Maou-sama, Retry! 1 | UchiMusume 1 | Dr Stone 1 | Fire Force 1 | Granbelm 1

Summer debuts aplenty!

Demon Slayer 12

I assume the creature on the episode titlecard is a boar…?

I see…! So Kyogai uses the drums like a game controller! Y’know, like A = attack and directional keys to move.

I almost expected Inosuke to appear from behind the screen door, but it was just Tanjiro…

Huh? For some reason, I find Zenitsu funny now…but only the tiniest bit. Not enough to laugh out loud, but enough to give tiny “heh”s.

Well…that episode title didn’t lie, at least…

Ah-hah! I knew it! Knewwwwwwwww it! It’s the double-personality trope I liked 5 years ago (you see it embodied in Martin/Alter-Az). The only thing I didn’t know was how Zenitsu would become badass…well, now we know. He sleep fights…I still think ingesting blood to invoke a second personality is still way cooler though.

Shoichi? Is that the kid’s name?

“Marechi” doesn’t seem to mean anything…

“Show me your wounds.” Then again, there are some wounds that you can’t present to others…not unless you show the side effects.

As much as I was scared by Exposition Crow, I have to be thankful the little feathered buddy is around. I wouldn’t understand “marechi” otherwise. But seriously, where does that crow hide in his spare time…?

Oh…the duty of filial piety…I know your feel, Tanjiro.

Tanjiro’s brain!Zenitsu is so accurate, I LOLled…a tiny bit.

Tanjiro, you gotta remember: be proud of where you’ve gotten today! Don’t be the man you were yesterday! Keep evolving with the times like water itself, because that is what water is about – change! (triumphant music plays in the background to accompany this declaration)

The only problem I have with filial piety is…what happens when your family has only daughters???

OPM S2 Ep 11 (Ep 23)

Garou’s got a point in that villains are meant to be sympathetic in order to get a good story. However, I’d still root for the heroes all the same.

Naruto running…why’s it so popular???

“Mentsuyu” (on Saitama’s blue shirt) means “noodle soup base” = a mixture of dashi (soup stock), soy sauce, mirin and sugar.

It took me a replay to realise that Garou turned red when the tree fell down.

BSD 36

Uh, dude? Who calls their kid “Eruisu-chan”…? It’s Elise, isn’t it?

Katai – yet again, can I just say he is the husbando we need and not the husbando we want? (LOL) There’s even what appears to be a sake bottle in the bottom left corner…  

Is there such thing as a bullet-proof futon???

Come to think of it, this scene with all the rubble about halfway through the episode looks like it comes from the Dead Apple first key visual –the one that came out when the movie was announced. Not the Shin Soukoku one, the other one with Soukoku in a rubble-filled place looking at the horizon.

Looking at Natsume-sensei from the back reveals his hair is calico-coloured too…

I wonder how much of Dazai’s scheming is actually just Natsume-sensei…?

“What did you have for dinner last night?” “Yeah.” – Just imagining this with a monotone instead of Akutagawa’s usual anger is hilarious!

Snakes don’t run…?

Oh, I get why he was calling Akutagawa “bro”! When you’re married, you call your brother in law “brother” as well!

Bungou Stray Dogs 37 (FINAL)

I discovered something – the kanji under ECHO, 回向, are read ekou. What do they mean? The verb form means “to hold a memorial service for [someone]”, so I’d assume it’s “memorial service”.

For some reason, when Atsushi said “you’re not paying for this ride!”, I thought, “It’s your Ubr driver here”…LOL.

I seem to remember that Goncharov controls rock and his power is The Precipice…but I don’t remember reading past ch. 52…

“How can you be so sure?” I thought it was something like “Because that’s what I would do.” Turns out I was right…maybe I have read chapter 53??? Or is this a previous chapter that’s been movd forward???

Hmm…come to think of it, why is Akutagawa’s power to control fabric anyway? (Because he can control other things, it’s just that he chooses to use his coat as a default.) Does the Rashomon story have to do with that…?

Oh, that’s cute. Shin Soukoku are on the same thinking wavelength now. (somewhat sarcastic)

Come to think of it – season 1 anime!Atsushi was about as whiny as Zenitsu…hmm. Now there’s a cross-anime comparison I never thought I’d make.

“…what appears to be a hiker…” (or maybe it was multiple hikers…?)

Did you notice Akutagawa was missing his coat?

“Fancy hat boy” – That’s why the fandom calls Chuuya “Mr Fancy Hat”, LOL.

One thing’s for sure – whether you like BSD or not, you gotta admit they have a great sense of closure.

Shield Hero 25 (FINAL)

See? There is a Meteor move for Naofumi!

Raphtalia’s mostly been saying nothing but “Naofumi-sama” over and over again…it kind of irks me. It’s too bad I’m almost finished with this show.

I’m gussing the reward has to do with Raphtalia’s village.

Is Naofumi leaving???

LOL, before Naofumi faced the Waves, he was wavering…geddit??? (Oh, that joke’s terrible…)

Fruits Basket 12

I think Shigure attended the ceremony to procrastinate on his writing…LOL.

Okay…I started this episode a few days back and now I hav a bowl of piping hot pho to go with it! Let’s get back to business!

Momiji is a scheming little brat, ain’t he?

The “Yuki wearing a girls’ uniform” was funny…because reactions.

Hmm…even though I know what’s going to happen, I only just realised Akito and Yuki only seem to wear traditional Japanese dress when tied down to their curse or their main house. Westrn cloths thereby symbolise progress for them…but you can’t say the same for Shigure, though, so there goes that hypothesis…

I thought for a second they were going to play baseball…that’s what they did in Star Driver.

Fruits Basket 13

Snake attack!!!

Hmm…Ayame clearly used a convo diversionary tactic there (avoiding the topic).

“Aya says he sells men’s dreams.” – LOL.

Demon Slayer 13

I find it interesting Tanjiro also has respect for his opponent, not just empathy.

Aww…this message of recognising your skills and having them be recognised by others is cute. I needd that, really – ever since about a year ago, sometimes I’m so negative I just want to be erased from the face of the earth. That’s why I love Rokuhoudou so much – it was my solace from such thoughts.

Seeing the eyecatch’s strip go vertical for Zenitsu was interesting – I didn’t think it would change orientation midway through the show.

Okay, in this book I read recently – Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin – the protagonist admits to having “an overdeveloped sense of theatricality”…or dramaticism or something like that. I now realised Zenitsu has that too…although now he’s back to bugging me as a result.

Oh! So Inosuke was the 5th survivor! I had a feeling that would be the answer, but now I’ve confirmed it.

WHOA! I’ve never seen Tanjiro go all Papa Bear like this!

…and you can tell with that pre-OP shot that Ufotable ran out of budget for once.

The Legend of the Eight Samurai is also known as…wait for it…Hakkenden! There’s an anime called that, y’know? Update: It’s Satomi Nansou Hakkenden vs Hakkenden (with some subtitle on it).

To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 1

First anime of summer! Now if only my CR would stop buffering so much…I’d be a happy person.

Oh…great. Fantasy information dump right here…just like Fairy Gone.

Is this weird that I recognise Patria to be…Korea? (At least in history. Its people seem to be generic Europeans.)

Is this a “dudes in war are scarred for life” thing again??? Please, please don’t let this be another Spec-Ops Asuka.

…and now here come the furries. (sarcastic)

Aren’t the white coats really impractical for battle???

If Cain isn’t a vampire or based on a bat…I dunno what I’d do, but I’m pretty sure he is, based on those pretty boy features.

I thought her name was Nancy…? Her name is Nancy Schaal Bancroft, after all.

Ooh! It’s the Abominable Walrus! I’m so scared~! (mocking tone)

This is basically an AI story, but fantasy-based, isn’t it…?

90s fire in the background…LOL.

“I’m going to ask Elaine to be with me.” – Now there’s something I didn’t think Hank would say.

LOL, Cain Madhouse really is mad! (in the Joker-style “insane” sort of way)

Well…uh, it was a bit predictable, but had its perks. I mean, there’s no CGI in it at all for one thing…I guess we wait for more (of this show and the debut of other shows) to see if it stays.

OPM S2 Ep 12 (Ep 24) (FINAL)

Shouldn’t that be “whale on an opponent”…?

What’s up with the montage, though???

*dead Centichoro* - Now that’s what I call “legs for miles”…! (LOL)

Astra 1

I’ve read some of the manga for this, so it’s my most anticipated anime this season! I can only hope it lives up to its own hype.

Double-length 1st episode! Ooh! Just like the manga’s double-length debut.

Okay, who decided on using CGI for Aries? Put it on the ship, not on her!

Oh, foreshadowing! Me likey.

I can’t really tell what Aries is meant to be screaming because she’s screaming over the woman, but it’s definitely not “beef” Aries is yelling.

Is it just me, or is there a frame around this scene at the Spaceport…?

I guess Aries is what they call a space case! (Wahaha!...Okay, I think that’s one stupid joke too many, now.)

Boob shot??? Why??? Also, according to the manga’s supplemental material found between chapters, Yun-Hua’s suit is newer than Aries’s (IIRC).

I definitely do not remember seeing a picture of Kanata’s sensei in the manga at all. I know Kanata refers to his sensei quite a bit, but…hmm…maybe the fact he looks like Charce means something. Update: For some reason, I remembered Charce as “Charles”…?

This scenery, with the ground making platforms in the air, looks like Dr Stone!!!

I just noticed the frame expanded after Kanata entered the sphere.

Did we need the flashback again???

Zetsubou is “despair”, at least from the way I learnt it – from Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, of course. It can be translated as “hopeless” in context, though.

Second recap from earlier in the episode. Well, at least it’s not Detective Conan or Demon Slayer bad…

Wow, they’re really trying to sell a potential Kanata x Aries ship here. That wasn’t in the manga either.

This is the 3rd time for the same recap…geesh. The things you notice when the episodes are compiled and online for you to watch…they can get kind of annoying.

I think the star = planet thing makes more sense when in Japanese, since “hoshi” can mean both. In English, it makes Aries sound like more of a space case…

Maou-sama, Retry! 1

…and the award for Most Boring Opening in a While goes to…this show!

I almost expected blonde!Rem to be called Rem…I knew that her name wasn’t Rem, but still…

Seriously? The face game of this show should be higher for it to pull off a gag involving funny faces…

The run cycle of this show’s…kinda suckish. Like Dororo’s one scene where he’s Naruto running.

“It’s you who is the root of all evil.”

UchiMusume 1

Aka “If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord”.

The language on the title card seems to be a substitute for English. If you just take that thing that looks like brackets as one symbol, that seems to be a Y. How can you tell? Because “little” matches the 3rd last word.

The devil language seems to be based on Japanese, though…at least from what I’m picking up. Update: Oh! So when she says “toilet”, it’s just the syllables backwards! Just like in Hataraku Maou-sama.

I swear, if this guy isn’t voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, I’m going to have to swallow my hydralyte drink properly! (I’ve been struggling to drink it all day today.) Update: Nope, it’s Nobuhiko Okamoto.

I thought I just read something on the devil list that said “Bobble Space” in English…wuh?

Dr Stone 1

This is my 2nd most anticipated debut of the summer 2019 season. Let’s go!

Ooh, I see Crunchyroll even got themselves a fancy new intro card…which makes them more like what Funimation used to be on that front…

I know people have been comparing Senku’s hair to green onions…and now I can’t unsee it. Dang it, you guys! That’s the first real thought I’m having for this anime?!

*raises arms like Christ the Redeemer*…and Boichi and Riichiro Inagaki said, “Let there be light!”…and for some reason, it was green light…

Hmm…I thought in the manga Yuzuriha was shoved to the tree, which made Taiju look more like a hero to her. Turns out she ran to the tree then got petrified, if the anime is anything to go by.

I heard a really accurate “what’s happening?” in the scene which is meant to have English speakers in it…it’s almost creepy, to be honest with you.

Shuei…LOL. It’s clearly a play on Shueisha.

I didn’t think of this when reading the manga, but this anime’s very much a Holmes and Watson scenario…although Watson here is a little bit too dumb for some people’s liking…

I swear TMS used pictures of the real thing when looking at those grapes…

I love seeing Senku being pissed off. He’s so smug all the time, I needed that change of pace.

Maybe one day Senku will make vodka…LOL. I’m kidding.

Fire Force 1

Oh geesh…so Ohkubo grabbed the Aria from Ao no Exorcist to make his nuns work???

Why is there Naruto running???

“I’m a newly-assigned…”

Kyoukai means church. Does it really mean “cathedral” as well???

“Is that the scent of a damp woman?” – Uh, duuuuuuuude? Excuse-moi? That is not how you treat a lady you’ve just met…!

Can I insert a “Twinkletoes” comment from Toph (Avatar) yet…?

Okay, scrap that. Can I do that Overwatch “Molten CORE!” thing instead…?

Granbelm 1

I started watching this because it’s being promoted as “magical girls drive mechs”.

One of the mech ladies reminds me of…what’s her name…from the Re:Zero LNs…I believe her name is Beatrice, but that’s the name of one of the library loli, isn’t it…? *Googles* Okay, her name is Priscilla. AFAIK, “Priscilla” is NOT the name of the orange-haired lady in Granbelm, though… Update: Her name is Anna, actually.

These mechs remind me of Kim from Twinkle Star Sprites.

Wow…ripoff purple iPhone, much…?

Shingetsu = new moon, mangetsu = full moon.

I feel like Mangetsu is a relatable protagonist, but also annoying as a result of being relatable.

“Pennies from heaven” is a phrase you say to declare your good fortune, much like you say “speak of the devil” for bad luck when it comes to a certain person who arrives at the wrong time.

[opmsecretsanta]

OPM Holiday Prompts 2017

This list will be updated every few days as more prompts are added.

You can submit prompts here at the event’s AO3 page. If you absolutely cannot use AO3, submit your prompt to opmsecretsanta via the ask box (rating/characters/prompt) and we will add it for you. You can claim/fill any prompt you want, as many as you want, no AO3 required.

Last day for sending in prompts is Dec 20th Last day to submit fills is Dec 31st

(List below the cut)

Prompt 001

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 001 Rating: Teen Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Genos, Saitama, Mumen Tags: Oblivious Genos, Demisexual Saitama, Saitama has hair Prompt: “Genfic or a non-sexual Saigenos story” 

Prompt 002

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 002 Rating: G Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos, Minibots Prompt: Saitama, Genos and the bots are getting ready for Christmas, baking (or trying to bake...) cookies. More than likely, there is flour everywhere and many reminders to ”stop eating the dough!” - I’ll leave it up to you who those reminders are aimed at though! ;)

Prompt 003

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 003 Rating: G Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Prompt: We follow one of the characters as they are struggling with thinking of a good gift for the other

Prompt 004

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 004 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Prompt: It’s Christmas and Genos has prepared a very special gift. Saitama comes home to a note on the door. ”Please go to where we met for the first time.” He makes his way to where he destroyed that Mosquito lady, only to find another note, which leads to another, then another... While whining over how much effort this is, he is taken on this trip down memory lane, before finally reaching his final destination and his gift. What is it? You decide.

Prompt 005

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 005 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Hero Saitama, Villain Genos Tags: Pre-Relationship, Mistletoe  Prompt: Villain Genos only wants one thing for Christmas: Getting the object of his affection (the Hero Saitama) to kiss him under the mistletoe.

Prompt 006

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 006 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos, Dr. Kuseno, Mini Bots Tags :Meet the Family, Family Dinners, Murphy's Law, Unconventional Families, Marriage Proposal, Family Drama Prompt: It's time for Genos and Saitama's families to finally meet over a holiday ham, and nothing goes as expected

Prompt 007

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 007 Rating: Any Pairing: Fubuki/Mumen, King/Sonic (or any combo of characters) Characters: King, Fubuki, Tatsumaki, Mumen, Sonic Tags: Office Party, Gift Exchange, Drunken Confessions, Walking In On Someone, Ugly Holiday Sweaters, Drama Prompt: The annual Hero Association Holiday Party and White Elephant gift exchange is usually boring and lame... but not this year. Someone gets a little too competitive over a gift, someone gets too drunk, someone crashes the party, everyone's sweaters are hideous, and King nearly has a heart attack.  (the tags wouldn't let me say any combination of secondary character relationship with each other, or with the main characters Genos and Saitama. I'm not picky. I ship all the ships)

Prompt 008

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 008 Rating: Teen Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos, Fubuki, Mumen, King Prompt: Saitama, Genos, Fubuki, Mumen, King, Zombieman, Metal Bat, and Silver Fang in a Dungeons and Dragons seeing. (Or you can dear then having fun playing a game and obviously have King win) Bonus points if Genosai is in the pic or fic somewhere. Even more if Garou is in there. (No NSFW please)

Prompt 009

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 009 Rating: G Pairing: Genos/Saitama, Teru/Mob Characters: Saitama, Genos, Mob, Teru Prompt: Crossover with Mob Psycho 100. Fanart of Teru and Shigeo; Genos and Saitama going on a "double date" or training session turning into a date. Bonus if Saitama helps Shigeo up from his exhaustion.

Prompt 010

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 010 Rating: Any  Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos, S-Class Heroes, Mumen, King Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Prompt: The HA organised a Christmas event for all the S-Class Heroes and their "plus one", they get to go to a luxurious hotel for the holidays and there is a competition for couples, where the winner couple wins a lot of prizes and a hotel room to spend the night!

Prompt 011

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 011 Rating: Any Pairing: Mumen/Sonic Characters: Saitama, Genos, Mumen, Sonic, Fubuki, S-Class heroes Tags: First Dates, First Kiss Prompt: Being Mumen Rider at this time of the year is a lot of stress, there's always one new hero to welcome to the HA, a new gift to think of, a lot of over-excited kids dying to meet Santa that need supervision and oddly holidays related monsters; so when a certain pretty ninja comes looking for him and invites him to "do something i don't know, whatever" well, it's a welcome distraction.

Prompt 012

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 012 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama, Charanko/Garou, Bang/Kuseno Characters: Saitama, Genos, Dr. Kuseno, Bang (Silver Fang), Charanko  Tags: Christmas Party, Mistletoe, Blushing Prompt: Bang invites Saitama and Genos over for Christmas, but Genos and had already made plans with Kuseno, but Bang said to bring him too, the more the merrier. When Genos, Saitama and Kuseno arrive at the dojo, they are happy to find how Bang, Charanko and Garou decorated the place, but a misplaced (or not?) mistletoe finds its way over Kuseno and Bang. Genos is not happy but traditions are traditions.

Prompt 013

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 013 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Alternate Universe - College/University, Meet the Family, Happy Ending Prompt: College teacher au. Saitama's family has been worrying about his mental health, especially since he started his new job as a junior professor. In a desperate attempt to stop nightly phone calls, Saitama tries to recruit a department intern to pretend to be his significant other for Christmas. The only one who agrees is Genos, who secretly already has a huge crush on him.

Prompt 014

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 014 Rating: Teen Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos, Mumen Tags: Angst with a happy ending, Christmas Fluff Prompt: Saitama hasn't had the best Christmas experiences in the past. Genos is missing his family more than ever during the holiday season. Both are simultaneously trying to ignore their own blues to make the other have the best Christmas ever. Granted, it doesn't work out very well until they talk about it and come to mutual understandings.

Prompt 015

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 015 Rating: G Pairing: Mumen/Saitama, Genos & Saitama Characters: Mumen, Saitama, Genos Prompt: Genos knows that Saitama and Mumen is crushing on each other, and takes advantage when they both ask him for what to give the other for christmas. He HAS to get them together!

Prompt 016

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 016 Rating: Any Characters: Mumen Prompt: How does Mumen Rider celebrate Christmas? Write or draw whatever comes to mind!

Prompt 017

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 017 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Prompt: Saitama scavenges abandoned planets for useful objects he then repairs and sells. His most valuable find is an android named Genos. He pulls him out of snow-coated rubble and cleans him up, wondering how much he's worth. Genos doesn't mind being mistaken for a machine. It doesn't help that his voicebox is damaged, or that small parts of his body are missing, showing the mechanical structures underneath. On their journey to the marketplace Saitama realizes that Genos is no android. He's human (a cyborg). Instead of selling him, Saitama offers a new home. (art or fic ❤)

Prompt 018

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 018 Rating: Explicit Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Prompt:  One/both are fuckin' in Santa suits. Ho ho ho. Bonus points if one of them is the reindeer.

Prompt 019

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 019 Rating: Any Pairing: King/Saitama Characters: Saitama, King Prompt:  King and Saitama decide to go on a date for Christmas because King has never had a real S.O. on Christmas before. (Whether it goes well or not is up to you)

Prompt 020

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 020 Rating: Any Pairing: Saitama/Sonic Characters: Sonic, Saitama Prompt:  Saitama refuses to have a real fight with him, so Sonic starts challenging him to every competition he can think of, from eating to racing to (insert ridiculous thing). Saitama actually participates and enjoys the pointless contests. Ends with them both admitting they just like spending time together. (Bonus points if Saitama challenges Sonic to a kissing contest)

Prompt 021

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 021 Rating: Explicit Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Tags: First Time Prompt:  Genos and Saitama are trying to have sex for the first time, but Genos keeps getting too enthusiastic about observing all of Saitama’s reactions / erozones / etc and keeps stopping to take notes. Saitama gets increasingly annoyed.

Prompt 022

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 022 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Friends to Lovers, Long-Distance Relationship, Online Dating Prompt: Saitama and Genos meet online (how/where is up to prompt filler). One day, they finally decide to meet up in real life and spend some time together. After just a few days, they start to fall in love.(Semi-cyborg Genos is a preference--more human than in canon, but still has non-human parts. What parts are up to prompt filler.)

Prompt 023

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 023 Rating: Teen Pairing: Genos/Saiama Characters: Saitama, Genos Prompt:  It's Christmastime and Genos planned the perfect Christmas Eve for them both. It was going so, so, so not well. Everything kept messing up, something always came up whenever Genos was preparing for it. He probably went to the fight still in the apron and it'd make the front page if it got covered by media. Anyways, yeah, the plan was not going so well and Genos was almost on the brink of tears because of frustration. What's Saitama gonna do to fix this situation?

Prompt 024

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 024 Rating: Teen Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Prompt: Genos knits them both silly Christmas sweaters. Does it go well? Does it become a disaster?

Prompt 025

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 025 Rating: Any Characters: Tatsumaki, Fubuki Tags: Alcohol, Christmas Eve, Sibling Bonding Prompt: Tatsumaki and Fubuki spend Christmas Eve together... with copious amounts of alcohol, of course.

Prompt 026

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 026 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama, Genos/Saitama/Sonic Characters: Genos, Saitama Prompt: Half-monster Genos and tentacle Saitama Could be anything. Cuddling by an open fire, smutty tentacle fun, Christmas stuff, you name it. Refs: http://78.media.tumblr.com/e601b9bedacdb6d3606c023c774ad233/tumblr_oudkx3iTeh1rzjk5bo1_1280.png (nsfw) https://78.media.tumblr.com/1fbac17ca8cfcf5ad0bd3a81df622acd/tumblr_otx4ziQxn81rzjk5bo1_540.png

Prompt 027

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 027 Rating: G Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Tags: Sickfic, Domestic Fluff, Friendship/Love, Pre-Relationship, Fever, Delusions, Humor, Hurt/Comfort Prompt: Genos gets sick and Saitama has to do his best to take care of him, despite never having taken care of a sick person before (other than himself). At some point, Genos' fever gets high enough that he starts getting a bit loopy. Lighthearted shenanigans ensue.(Can be an AU with human!Genos or canon-compliant, though I'm leaning a bit more towards preferring human Genos. It's also up to you if they end up getting together in the end or not, but please have there to be some clearly developing romantic feelings on Saitama's part either way.)

Prompt 028

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 028 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Prompt:  For reasons (left to the writer/artist's discretion, but maybe a Hero Association fundraiser? Saitama agreed because they get to keep their tips) Saitama, Genos, and any number of other heroes are roped into serving fans festive food and drinks while wearing Christmas-themed maid costumes. Romance would be nice but that's also left up to you.

Prompt 029

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 029 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Prompt: One or both of them are trans (bonus points for trans!sai). The rest is up to you. I just need more trans saigenos fics. Any rating is fine.Pls. My crops are dying.

Prompt 030

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 030 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos, King, Mumen, Fubuki Tags: Mutual Pining ,Story within a Story, Pre-Relationship Prompt: King is looking to run a Dungeons & Dragons campaign and offers to pay for takeout weekly for anyone who comes to play. Saitama and Genos are shoe-ins, as are several other heroes who are either there for the food or for the drama (or both).Genos and Saitama's characters are particularly flirty with one another, despite them not being in a relationship (yet?), and everyone but them can see how pathetically transparent they're both being.TL;DR: Genos and Saitama flirt and/or date in a D&D game because both of them are too silly to try to flirt and/or date in real life. Whether or not they realize what they're doing is up to the author's discretion!

Prompt 031

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 031 Rating: Any Pairing: Saitama/Tatsumaki, Fubuki & Tatsumaki Characters: Saitama, Tatsumaki, Fubuki, Bang Tags: Friendship/Love Prompt: When Tatsumaki's only family couldn't join her for the holidays, she decides she didn't even want to celebrate it anyway. Then how the hell did she end up in Bang's dojo getting a pep talk from Egghead? add as many characters as you want as long as Tats and Sai are central

Prompt 032

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 032 Rating: Teen Pairing: Fubuki/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Fubuki Tags: Friendship/Love Prompt: New Years Eve tradition/countdown - Could be rated M or E go wild (by that I mean do whatever you feel like it); add as many characters as you feel like as long as it's centered on Fubuki and Saitama.

Prompt 033

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 033 Rating: Any Pairing: Mumen/Tatsumaki Characters: Mumen, Tatsumaki Tags: Getting to Know Each Other Prompt:  He's a C-class hero. #1 C-class, but C-class anyway. And her powers don't work on him. One could only expect Tatsumaki to be curious about it. (or a talk over spiced frappuccinos)

Prompt 034

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 034 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Mumen/Saitama/Sonic Characters: Saitama, Genos, Sonic, Mumen Tags: Christmas Fluff, Everyone is Gay Prompt: Last year he spent Christmas alone, cold, and miserable. A monster crashed through his front door and there was nothing on T.V. but romantic movies. At least the last 11 months have been better, and he's gotten THREE boyfriends?! This might be the best Christmas yet, if he can find them the perfect presents of course. OT4 fluff, anyone's POV is fine, nsfw is fine too.

Prompt 035

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 035 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Tags: AU, Fluff and Angst, Metropolis, Major Character Death Prompt: Humans and robots coexist in the futuristic city of Metropolis, although robots are discriminated against and segregated to the city's lower levels. A lot of Metropolis' human population are unemployed and deprived, and many people blame the robots for taking their jobs. Metropolis (2001) AU. Saitama as Kenichi and Genos as Tima. You can stick to the movie or write an au of an au. You don't have to have watched the movie honestly, but you should it's really good.

Prompt 036

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 036 Rating: Explicit Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Tags: Sex tapes Prompt: Genos is going to be away for a week and he wants to make a sex tape to keep Saitama company until he gets back.

Prompt 037

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 037 Rating: Mature Pairing: Fubuki/Psykos Characters: Fubuki, Psykos Prompt:  Both fic or art appreciated! It can be set in canon or an AU. I'd love some relaxed, peaceful mood along with it if it's possible :) And some mutual grooming maybe! (It says Mature in the tags, but anything between Gen-Mature is good)

Prompt 038

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 038 Rating: Any Pairing: None Characters: Genos, Kuseno Tags: Christmas, Family, Past Tense Prompt: A look at Genos and Dr. Kuseno's first Christmas together. Was it awkward, quiet, and uneventful? Or was it full of remiscining, warmth, and budding new family ties?(Angst is welcome, 15 year-old Genos is preffered)

Prompt 039

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 039 Rating: Explicit Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Tags: Established Relationship, Teasing, Flirting, Sexual Frustration, Humor Prompt: Saitama spends an entire day flirting with and teasing Genos when it's impossible for the cyborg to do anything about it. However, he doesn't really consider the fact that, once they get home, he'll be at Genos' mercy...So basically, a fic where the latter half is just Genos having his way with Saitama as revenge for all the teasing >:3cThe sex part is pretty much fair game, write whatever you'd like! As long as Genos is calling the shots. And I'd really appreciate Saitama getting pretty flustered over it all...

Prompt 040

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 040 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Tags:  Alternate Universe - Role Reversal Prompt: Alternate Universe where Genos survived the Mad Cyborg attack (perhaps with some scars) and never became a cyborg. he tries to train himself to be a better hero and take on the crazed cyborg one day, but can’t seem to become as strong as he needs to be. Then he meets Saitama, and is awed by his strength, but a little discouraged when he realizes that Saitama is at least part cyborg. Saitama feels inhuman and disconnected from the world, until this young, spitfire, hero wannabe comes into his life.

Prompt 041

Tag: #OPMSS Prompt 041 Rating: Any Pairing: Genos/Saitama Characters: Saitama, Genos Tags: Possessive Behavior, Love Bites, Marking Prompt:  Genos is very possessive and demonstrative with his affection. He enjoys leaving marks on Saitama, especially love bites and hickeys on Saitama's neck. Because of Saitama's high tolerance for injury, they don't last very long, so Genos has to keep reapplying them daily. Neither of them see that as a bad thing, and Saitama (secretly?) adores feeling so loved and wanted.

[theomnicode]

First, let me preface this by saying that I don't subscribe to the same pessmistic attitude as your tone seems to come off from all these posts. And no, you can't change my mind from optimistic viewpoint to a pessimistic one either because you keep on disparaging the author and the writer and their skill in professional writing that they do as their job.

I reserve that type of change and whether I want to view something from negative viewpoint for myself and I'm perfectly capable of also judging good writing from a poor one and the difference in just having different tastes in writing styles and themes.

That said...this is pretty long, but I have a helpful tl;dr at the end.

About OPM God not having space time powers...

Godrou got his powers from god, which includes flow of all energy and behaviour of all forces in the universe, which allowed him then to reverse engineer time travel. This is stated by the narrator upon awakened Garou's introduction.

I don't see why if the energy that he gained from opm god in the first place and the knowledge of everything would not allow the perceived originator of said power to perform the exact same feats.

That's why it requires a space time user like Blast to even FIGHT against OPM god, as pointed by Sitch. Otherwise one is just sol, because they can't touch him. He has a nice pocket dimension that is time dilated, as Blast points out when Saitama and Flash interact with the cube in the abyss chapter and it's form cannot be perceived by any normal means, as pointed by Sitch and all the heroes who did not see him stomp around.

If OPM god's entire existence is traced back to residing in a place which is time dilated, yet being able to affect other dimensions in real time, there's no reasons to suspect it does not have space time powers. Just like the divine power it granted to Garou which allowed Garou to do all sorts of cosmic feats, copy Saitama and Blast, warp around in hyperspace gates and what else and by narration.

Knowledge of the flow of all energy and behaviour of all the forces in the universe means exactly that. The narrator points this out. Time travel would fall under this, since we established it is possible to do.

So I don't believe for a second that OPM God would at any point, have LESS POWER than what it grants to its agents and Blast says it was not even a full impartation of power.

I really don't think OPM god is weaker than Godrou.

If this is too much reverse logic, then by all means, ignore it. But there's plenty evidence to suggest it does indeed have space time powers.

Genos gives plenty to hint towards that direction anyway. But then again, the theme seems to be that it's too outrageous so nobody believes him and nobody listens to him when he tries to tell important facts because it's far too long, ahahaha.

(Including the readers apparently...now that's irony)

Which actually makes it even funnier. Poor Genos tries his hardest to be the objective truth narrator and suddenly nobody takes him seriously because he has a ton to say.

--

Professional writing being an insult? That sounds like an insult on itself to disparage someone's writing skills based on that something gets franchised. That the quality of the writing automatically degenerates because it makes money now or that it has to be put inside structures and now he has to think about how much money the series makes instead of writing it properly. He's published works with Shueisha since 2012 and gotten plenty awards and nominations and has continued to work on Mob psycho season 3 very recently and is about to start a new series just now.

If his writing had deteoriated over the years because "too much shonen", then all the individual people who choose to continue to work with him on these new series, not the publishers mind you, would have probably noticed it.

If his writing had indeed become crappy and his skillset as a writer deteoriated because he's writing to make money instead of writing for passion, then MA arc would've been over long ago. That's the one arc that breaks the franchising potential, not enhance it.

It's not like he does not know Saitama as a character sells the franchise and it's not like he does not know Saitama vs Garou was the most anticipated fight in the entire series since it came out in webcomic. The fight has been planned out well in advance since Murata-sensei did those interviews about how the scale of the fight was going to be far larger than Saitama vs Boros. Not just the fight itself but the repercussions affect the whole series.

Instead the MA arc focuses on developing all the other characters at the cost of the main character and did not rush the arc, which even affects the sales because the MA arc did end up becoming kind of tedious with the lackluster inclusion of the main protagonist, but ONE has a lot to say about how poorly he thinks about corporations anyway.

The writing quality did not suffer no, the franchising did because he chose writing the storylines and fleshing out characters over franchising and making more money. The pacing in the MA arc suffered because of this and the volumes sell less and less as interest wanes.

So I would argue, that it was by focusing on writing and fleshing out the characters and the arc properly, the franchise itself took a hit.

If you want to critique something, then critique that. Not the lackluster writing, but the fact that he wanted to write all these side characters so much the arc suffers from overbloating.

There is no extra commercial interest to be had in arc that is designed around less commercial interest in general and solely focused on building up it's side characters. Because the side characters just aren't as marketable as Saitama.

It is an insult to injury to say he just lacks passion or writing integrity for the project anymore in favour of commercializing when it's really the opposite of that problem.

--

Different does not indeed mean it's bad, but there is a lot of expectancy going around that manga has suddenly degraded in quality because there's already very negative preconveived perceptions surrounding the manga which make it automatically bad when viewed with these lenses, no matter what the author does with the series. Pessimistic view.

Even good and meaty and highly interesting exposition chapters which give out a ton of brain teasers are apparently dumpsterfire and only straight up copies of the webcomic are praised as "being on the right track" and anything original is trashed without much more thought put into it. Or better, "Murata or editors messed up something."

That tells me a lot about what kind of biased lenses people are viewing the manga with. No positive interpretations allowed and that's why there's a lot of negativity going around. Not because the manga or writing is bad, but because they don't allow any positive interpretations of it any longer.

It seems a lot are just burned out. They'd do well to take a break from the series and then view it with different lenses so their opinion is not coloured by preconceptions and projecting their own negativity.

A lot of the criticism revolves around the opinions that some element is just bad or how it should not have a "shonen" element on it, which would just constrict the worldbuilding in general if the series has to pigeonhole itself into "only making parody out of shounen tropes."

Just because a story element happens a lot in shonen, especially battle shonen, does not make it unique to shonen manga only and shonen does not have exclusive rights to tropes or writing tropes. Not to mention being seinen, if one is just allergic to all the "common shounen tropes in battle manga", there's very little creative freedom left to write if the "supposed good writing" is to avoid them like plague. That's not going to happen.

There's the expectation that because the manga is commercialized (yea because mob psycho is not commercialized lol), the integrity and passion for the product is lost somewhere along the way. Despite the author and the mangaka doing backbreaking work to prove otherwise.

Just from technical standpoint, chapter 165 is extremely crisp. It's even worrisome how much passion goes into One punch man. You can't get this type of passion portrayed in art form if it's not shared between the two main producers behind the work.

Heck, the redraws happen because they're both perfectionists (such as how ONE wanted to portray Orochi fight differently and wanted to include a really obscure reference in Orochi's lobster body) and Murata himself is always seeking to improve his talents as an artist, regardless that his art is from technical standpoint already god-like.

Always seek self-growth, that's pretty much OPM message innit?

I don't think anybody disliked the additions made to the season 1 anime for instance, like the noodle eating contest. I don't see anybody disliking the additional universe expanding content like cd dramas either, some of which aren't even canon, which he never had to write and that stuff does not really make much money does it. Most of it is not even translated or available.

"the earlier manga tournament and pre-redraws are superior enough."

I mean, this is just opinion isn't it? What did pre-redraw orochi fight accomplish besides looking cool af and being Boros fight vr2? Storywise? Saitama beat them and that was it.

How were they superior in the literary sense that you go on about?

All the pre-redraws like phoenixman and orochi were pretty cool yea...but does sound disingenuous to say that "oh its just battle shonen now" and then on the same breath diss the elements that make it stand out from your standard battle shonen while liking the very classic interpretation of battle shonen fight. The non-conventional fights which introduced major storyline elements, foreshadowing and references in the same go. Like how the fights can be pretty comical and weird and inventive because Saitama does not care for your typical shonen rules and he can defeat Orochi by squirting lava at it. After Orochi tried to spew earth's literal core at him and he just ignored that.

Or the thought provoking fight between phoenixman and child emperor that introduced the concept of spiritualism into the series and HA's corruption on the inside, which can (will) be a major plot point further in.

It sounds like you and bunch of people are just pessimistic for the sake of being pessimistic and that negative attitude bleeds into projection.

--

I can readily admit that the time travel was also turnoff for me initially when I first read it, since it came out of the blue. Because time travel concept on itself is such a deus ex machina to use, so it is a fair point to criticize.

But we also have to remember that Saitama himself is basically a deus ex machina who breaks the rules, so he's also allowed to do whatever he pleases. This does not break worldbuilding because Saitama is OP. He can break the rules set out for him. Even if Garou had invented the concept, he could not do it because he lacked the power.

The more I think about how it is actually pulled off and how the story continues to build on the concept that "oh Saitama is a literal god but he totally forgot", while at the same time on the inverse there is this notion that he's still human, he's fallible just like anybody else, the more I like that it creates interesting themes and allows for a lot of character growth and moral dilemmas.

If he has this kind of power, then what should he use it for?

What is the morally good way of using this kind of power?

And so on. In my opinion, the time travel is done well in the series.

--

A lot of the criticism really does just revolve around opinions in all honesty. I like something, you don't like something and that's fair.

"God is not mysterious enough, time travel is bad, Garou did not give his impassioned speech to Saitama (yet), it's different from webcomic, psykorochi is too long and too extended, s-rank fight did not happen, saitama did not break garou's ego cuz he's not mean enough, saitama is too uwu now, everyone is too wholesome..."

While disregarding the character progression or simple story progression that has happened in the manga that would necessiate the differences from wc in the first place...

Is the criticism aimed at the writer for choosing bad story elements to present and so being a bad storyteller subjectively or is the criticism aimed at the writer for just being a poor writer? I'm not sure I can tell anymore.

ONE's writing in both his webcomic never faltered or degraded over time. While the writing has for the manga by falling into the same old, same old battle shonen cliches and tropes it was supposed to be different than.

This seems to be the crux of the issue innit?

That there's too many "supposed" cliches that were not present in the webcomic that he is not allowed to use to his benefit when he's writing opm for manga. And this pessimistic view that shonen should always be parody element in opm and if it's not, it means the writing is bad.

"It's turning into a shonen, it's bad now, I don't want to be reading shonen, atypical shonen is inherently bad."

Pretty sure majority of ONE's work is shonen too... I'm pretty sure he knows all about shonen tropes... and what constitutes as "shonen cliche or trope" anyway?

Garou unleashing Gamma ray burst is not much different from Boros using Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon and does not make it more or less "DBZ" than it already was in the early webcomic era even.

Or maybe it's the part where Saitama feeling emotions allowed him to get stronger is such a shonen cliche trope of "character feels angreh and gets emotional boost to get revenge"...but conveniently forgetting that Saitama feeling emotionally motivated to save the little kid from crablante, despite not motivated to even save himself because he was so dead inside, is what made him partake in journey to heroism in the first place.

Motivation stems from feeling strong emotion. If you don't have any emotions pertaining anything, you cannot feel the drive to perform those acts.

Saitama's feelings in the Garou fight don't make it shonen trope because he got angry, rather it's a very sad portrayal of a person who lost their family member to a perceived mistake of their own making and lashes out impulsively in revenge and feeling different emotions throughout the fight as it progresses, while dissociating from the emotions so they don't overwhelm him because he's been so apathetic for so long he could not regulate his emotions properly.

In shonen, characters get a power boost from righteous anger, they defeat the antagonist and that's it. Then they continue like nothing happened, normal everyday life joys and struggles. They are not going to adress their emotional reactions maturely.

Saitama feels shame and guilt for attempting to seek revenge and dealing beatdown on Garou because he has high moral integrity. From feeling righteous anger at the evil that killed all the heroes and al the people he knows...he does not feel like a hero for doing so. He almost impulsively destroyed the planet and wanted to kill another human being and just forget that a little kid asked him to spare him. At the end of the fight, he has expended all his emotions in the beatdown so he just feels dead inside and unmotivated to do anything.

If that is an example of a shonen trope and cliche to you, instead of honest to god portrayal of a man who got lost in sea of strong emotions he was ill-equipped to handle and honest feeling like in a good seinen manga and all this is portrayed gloriously with a thousand-yard stare, then we are not reading the same manga apparently. Or we simply view it via different lenses.

--

I don't think any of he characters have gotten ruined either. They are slightly different from wc, because they progressed differently. Character study is allowed and in real life personality has the capacity of growing and changing as one takes in new experiences and ages. That's psychology for you and ONE takes his psyche and especially emotional portrayal pretty seriously. That's why Murata also puts special emphasis on character eyes for emotional expression. "Eyes are the window to the soul", he even points this out in his How to draw manga-manga.

The differences in wc and manga is what also makes them interesting, how the same characters can be presented with different scenarios and how they grow differently based on that.

Ultimately, the goal does not seem to be to make a direct copy of wc anymore. It would be pretty boring to read a webcomic rendition vr2 just with better artwork if you already know the story inside out. That's not an experience he wants to give to faithful webcomic readers.

This way, there's actual surprises left in the story to tackle.

Something that webcomic readers might also enjoy. Just because it's new and it's not same old wc, does not mean it's bad either.

--

tl;dr Take a break from opm and don't always be so pessimistic.

Ho boy wouldn't it be nice if all the clickbait youtubers stopped spreading the rumour that ONE has ended the webcomic and actually used their brain a little bit.

I'm counting 3 separate youtubers, it's seriously getting old, annoying and disrespectful to the author.

If y'all love One punch man so much, stop being do disrespectful and entitled. He's not a douche, he would have come out and announced WC had ended officially.

Garou would break 4th wall and kick all these people's asses for being so unfair.

There is more to life than OPM webcomic and One punch man in general. There is also more that ONE wants to do besides a free comic strip. Give it a rest.

[gofancyninjaworld]

Webcomic to Manga: Turning a Curse into a Blessing

There is no question that Genos was not in a good way when Saitama came across him.  He was, in his own words, increasingly angry and frustrated at his fruitless hunt for the mad cyborg and had become completely reckless, almost as if daring some monster to put an end to him.  Once he met Saitama, he attached himself to him because he was desperate to learn how to acquire Saitama’s world-breaking power. His hunger has been a thing that worries us.

That’s pretty much where we still are in the webcomic, although damn, wit the sort of enemies Genos is hunting having shown themselves, it makes a lot of sense!   But more than that, the way the manga has been writing Genos's story, his quest for strength has become a blessing.

Right here, Right now

Genos: “Then it’s amazing that you always manage to be there on time.  I guess that’s a hero for you.”

Saitama: “Nah, I usually arrive too late at the scene”

OPM manga, chapter 9

In the first instance, that very worrying hunger of his  If Genos weren't so power-hungry, he wouldn't have pressed Dr Kuseno into giving him the body he took to the Monster Association.  He made the doctor unhappy and it made him unhappy to see the old man unhappy. But if he hadn't had done that... the world would be a different place. Very much for the worse.

ONE has a very particular way of indicating his approval of a character’s actions.

The story has no problem showing us heroes other than Saitama or Mumen Rider doing good and wonderful things.  However, it’s a lot more stingy in showing us the positive influence that their actions result in.  That’s when you know that ONE really approves of what that character has done.

It's very stingy with showing us the positive influence heroes have on the people they interact with *except* for Saitama. But this time... *this* time... we've not just been seeing what Genos does, the story has been showing us the impact he has on others. It's going out of its way to show us that this guy is doing things right.

Like, we see Food Battler stop the whole 'what makes S-Class heroes so special' thing that's been poisoning relationships among heroes.  You know that issue that had motivated Death Gatling to round up a posse and go after Garou without inviting an S-Class hero?  After seeing how Genos uses his power, we see Food Battler understand that difference and go 'well I may have special powers, but I need to make peace with doing what I can rather than resenting those who can do more' and that's because of Genos.  

We see Sekingar stop doubting himself and letting himself be swayed by this opinion and that opinion.  And then it’s really fascinating that Sekingar builds on what Food Battler realised and decides to implement putting heroes where they can add most value, rather than playing favourites.

We see the heroes who were just sitting there watching Tatsumaki struggle stop pitying themselves and find a creative way to help after Genos rallies them.

And the Psychick sisters.  Fubuki never thought someone would actually empathise with her problem and help her with her sister.  Her look speaks volumes.  Tatsumaki actually having someone who literally has her back?  Never thought it possible.

Genos is so hungry for power still, but he's turning it into something good.  I think that being more human helps turn it from just power to actual strength.  And I like that in the manga that Genos has stopped being a passive recipient of parts and actively pushes the doctor for what he needs. 

I say that Saitama saved his soul, what with accepting him as he was and just living a regular life with him. but Genos changing the way he understands Saitama, coming to aspire to be a symbol of strength himself  and thinking about how to live it?  That's all Genos. I'm so glad to see it beginning to pay off in the manga not that life is any kinder to him, alas.  But it's been nice to see that even the naysayers have had to find a tiny bit of respect for Genos this arc.

I don’t yet know which way the power Genos has acquired in the webcomic will break, if it will end up a curse or a blessing in the end, and that’s a point of anxiety.  But at least in the manga, we’re seeing how else it might go.

[rayadraws]

Raya-san, do you have any OPM OCs?

Ohh!Hm, well, I don’t have any that I have like... fleshed out, regularly draw or RP with or anything like that... I have a few that I’ve made up for my fics where I needed a certain perspective or some such? These are the ones that spring to mind...

I will put this under a Read More, on account of the quotes making the post a bit long...

The oldest one I have, I guess, is from The unwilling patient (2016) where we study Genos’ body through the eyes of a young cyberneticist working for the HA, tasked to repair Genos after he’s injured:

By all accounts, he should have felt beyond excited. As far as he knew, no one had ever been given the same opportunity - the same honour. This would be a true testament to his skills. He'd be able to say, afterwards, that "ah, yes, that is the result of my work! Look at him go, how I fixed him!" Something to put in his resume, for sure. Something to brag about later. He should have been ecstatic.

The truth, however, was that he only felt very, very nervous. Primarily thanks to a pair of gold-on-black eyes that shone with an absolute fury. Directed straight at him.

A few months later I made a follow-up to that one, where the guy is fleshed out a little more and we learn that his name is Sato Ichigo (and that he has a girlfriend who tells him to tone down the fanboy:ing). That piece is titled Ten Visits and is about Genos visiting Ichigo for repairs that he doesn’t want to bother Kuseno with, gradually forming a sort of friendship (which was Kuseno’s plan all along, heh) as well as seeing Genos/Saitama’s relationship through an outsider’s view, which is one of my favourite things to write...

If Ichigo had been braver, he might have asked Doctor Kuseno if maybe he could come for a visit to see his lab and his work, one day. But that felt too large a request, especially knowing how the old man preferred to work in the shadows.

Instead, he diligently took to pestering Genos a while later, when he was still waking up and too out of it to put up much of a fight.

"Will you take me to see him?"

"Ngh."

"Come on!"

"Muh..."

"Pretty please?"

The cyborg was still on the table, blinking at the harsh lights above him and looking rather lost. Saitama hovered nearby, watching everything but not in the almost hostile way he had when they first came in. If anything, he looked intrigued by Genos' confusion.

"I'm not usually there when he wakes up from bigger repairs like this. I guess I get why now... he probably doesn't want me to see him in this state" he said in an amused tone, poking a soft cheek and chuckling as the other tried to swat his hand away, metal palm not quite hitting the mark as he waved it almost 20 cm too far to the side. "Is he even really awake?" "Yes. His brain is fully active. It's just his body that's rebooting and calibrating. It's taking longer than usual because I had to disable so many functions when I worked on it today." "'seno id-on" "What?" the other two said together as Genos attempted to speak. He took a moment to give them each a half-hearted glare before taking a deeper breath and trying again. "Kus...eno. De-ion." "Kuseno's decision?" Saitama offered, used to trying to make sense of his disciple in various states of disrepair... and abilities to speak coherently. "Yes." "If the kid can visit him?"

"Yes."

"But you will ask him for me, right?" Ichigo replied immediately. "Please? I mean... The more I learn about his work, the better I can help you, too? You'll at least ask, right?"

"Man, you really dig the old man, huh?" Saitama offered when Genos remained quiet.

"I, yes, I do! I mean, just look at Genos! He's amazing!"

"Sensei... amazing" Genos murmured, but said sensei just jabbed at his cheek again in response to that. This time the cyborg managed to grab the offending index finger, but instead of pushing it away, he continued to hold the hand close to his face. The show of affection was not lost on the cybernetician.

"Sap" he teased, smiling.

The next one after THAT was in a piece called Left in the past, where Saitama and Genos chance upon Genos’ cousin from his childhood. Saitama is surprised that Genos apparently cut all ties to him years ago despite losing the rest of his family, but eventually learns why.

"Man, those girls really love you huh" he asks ruefully after they barely escape another round of fans begging for his autograph. "They do!" Saitama answers for him, giving Genos a mild shove, Kaito laughing at his flustered expression. "Do they know it's a lost cause?" Kaito continues and Genos' somewhat pleased expression immediately turns sour. "Enough from you" he mutters darkly at the other who smirks back challengingly. "Well, he's right, isn't he?" Saitama chuckles. "Demon Cyborg is definitely married to his job!" Kaito laughs with him, but Genos is quiet for the rest of the walk home.

A honourable mention for the Crazy cat lady monster in Catnos, because I actually quite dig her (and I very lowkey want to make some sort of follow up where like, Saitama is like “ok but I wanna try being a kitty too” and they find her again, so I can write about Saitama’s turn to be a cat...)

 ”Life is simpler as a cat, is it not? Eat, sleep, play. Not so many responsibilities, not so many worries. Well, if you can forget them, at least. But you still remember, don’t you, little kitty?”

 ”Meow…”

 ”So do I, so do I. I remember them all. All the people who mistreated me, who were cruel to me. Cats are better than people. Cats are never intentionally cruel to anyone…”

 Genos blinked up at the monster, but it paid him no mind as it continued.

 ”It was just me. Me and the cats against everyone. And I wished it was just me and the cats, and no one else at all. And then… it was. Such a thrill it was, to have that power…”

 Like a striking snake the hand suddenly struck out and grabbed Genos by the scruff of the neck. He yowled loudly, twisting and struggling to get away, fighting for his life as he was lifted high into the air, but it seemed impossible to escape the monster’s grip on him.

 ”Easy, easy…” the monster murmured. It was looking straight at him now, pale eyes unreadable, illuminated by the moon and a flickering street light. ”Now you can’t hurt me either. All I wanted was to be alone, but you couldn’t even let me have that? So mean… you’re better off as a cat…”

 Genos hissed as he dangled in the air, willing the monster to extend its other hand so that he could bite it, scratch it, anything.

 ”See? If you weren’t so mean, I wouldn’t have had to change you. If you’d just left me alone… But there’s no place for me in this world, is there? Not as a human, not like this…”

There’s the baby girl that I have actually drawn, here, although I don’t have a name for her or anything... but it’s probably her in the oneshot titled Pop where Genos has his torso filled with popcorn kernels while he sleeps, although she’d be a bit older there...

 Genos awoke over an hour later, no thanks to himself - it was an alert that roused him, beeping and blinking at the edge of his vision.

 FOREIGN BODY DETECTED

 ”Whu-” he flailed an arm around, blinking the light from his eyes. He’d been attacked? Why hadn’t his proximity sensors awoken him, what could possibly-

 A chubby face looked down at him from where he laid, breaking into a wide smile when she realized he was awake.

 ”Daddy!”

 ”H-honey? You’re up?”

 ”Yeah!” the little one proclaimed proudly, and reached her hand forward, towards his chest - why was his shirt pulled so high? He got his answer immediately as his daughter resolutely pushed something into his exposed vent, giggling in absolute glee as it disappeared into his body with a low rattle.

 ”What are you-...” carefully Genos pulled himself into a sitting position, pulling his shirt down as he did so - only to hear a strange, clinking noise, like pebbles in a can. A lot of pebbles. From inside his torso.

AND the very last one is... well, for ages I’ve had this idea of a group of little old ladies that live in City Z, not the abandoned parts like Sai but not too far from him, probably? They’ve lived there their whole lives and they’re not going to move now just because weird critters have started showing up more often. Fierce little ladies that spend a good portion of their day fighting with that bald man over the sales and scaring wolf level threats away with their purses and canes. I lowkey want to write about Genos and Saitama’s struggles with them, haha.

Bonus: One day Kuseno visits and the ladies see him and they are blown away and demand Genos introduce them to him and Genos is just suffering (and like Saitama, he’s used to just... fighting and arguing with them, normally, so it’s all very weird to him!)

Me, before answering this: alas I don’t really have any OCs, do I?

Me, after answering this: oh

[criscura]

Re:Re:Re:Sexualising Genos (sorry)

Hi, same anon, just like to clarify a couple of things @sinsually rebutted. (Sorry criscura I just wanted to clear something up)

You misunderstand me. My response was regarding why people sexualised Genos. I admit wholeheartedly it stemmed from a frustration from seeing it everywhere and I agree, tagging and filtering out the content we see isn’t easy or possible in tumblr. I even used patronising, condescending language that was in no way suited to a conducive discussion.

BUT, I’d just like to point out, my response “what does this say about us” is in reference to criscura’s original post about how we sexualise Genos “BECAUSE WE WANT TO SEE HIM MATURE AND BE IN A HAPPY RELATIONSHIP.” I’d like to raise the same point as you being that we should not generalise the fandom to think the same way. As I said, and I think you’ll agree, some people are just doing it for the jollies. Others may not be.

My main point was: People sexualise Genos for very different reasons and it would be naive and ignorant to say (as criscura did) that it was because we want him to be happy because we use him as a proxy to be happy. 

Therefore, I AGREE with you. If it says something about us, it doesn’t say anything in particular.  Especially not that “we want to see a character we relate to end up happy”. Sexualising Genos is not about that. That is my argument. 

When I bring up canonisation and being ‘in character’, I mean “if you’re going to talk about creating situations to see Genos happy, once you’re out of canon (as many depictions are), you’re not really looking at Genos as a character anymore. I acknowledge this is arguable. Characterisations and headcanons can vary. What I’m trying to say is that criscura’s main point about sexualising Genos being "an easy way for us to see a character we love fulfill some of his desires, and also gives us hope because seeing a character we relate to end up happy despite the odds being against them means there’s a chance for us too” is naive and generalising.

This is what I mean by projecting onto a 'character we love’.

TLDR; I do not agree that this is 'our character’, it is 'your character’ that you are sexualising, that you are 'making happy.’ Often, it is not a Genos I recognise. 

And while I recognise that 'people have their own fan interpretation’ that is not the issue here. The issue is, it is not his desires you are fulfilling, but your own. Sexual, non-sexual, whatever purposes it may be. It’s not that innocent, it’s self-indulgent, wish-fulfillment and all I’d like is for people to acknowledge that.

~~~~ 

((Submission from the Anon who initially replied to my post, answering sinsually’s reply!))

Thank you for sending this!! I agree with mostly everything, except for the idea that sexualizing Genos (or giving him other desires) is only to serve ourselves, and not because we want to see him happy. I genuinely believe that can come from a good place, and it is not inherently selfish, self-serving, or bad. I think, though, that a lot of our disconnect is coming from how we define characters, because I think you bring up a lot of really good points and it doesn’t make sense that we’re coming to completely opposite conclusions given that we have similar thought processes up until that point.

Ah...this...got quite long, and I didn’t mean for it. The rest of my answer is under the cut @////@

I suppose....I can see sexualization as a form of well-wishing because that’s how I see sex a lot of the time--if someone is going out, and they look really nice, I’ll give them a quiet cheer that they get good and fucked if that’s what they’re looking for, and can leave the interaction happier than when they went into it. It’s not because I want to see them having sex--if I wanted that, I would just watch porn. It’s because I want them to have it if that’s something they’re looking for, and because it’s nice to think you can go out and just...have a good time, without anything negative happening afterwards. That might sound ideal or sickeningly sweet, but it’s true, and I approach the characters I love the same way. 

Maybe it is naive to think many other people do the same, but even if it isn’t to the degree that I do it myself, I stand by the idea that it does happen and it’s not self-serving. Although I will concede that!!--I do enjoy seeing NSFW art of Genos/Saitama just on a sexual gratification level. For me, though, knowing that they’re enjoying it is extremely important. Otherwise I don’t want it, and it does seem like it’s the same way for a lot of fans. Of course it isn’t okay to generalize, so it wasn’t okay to think most people do. I....I don’t want to discredit fans though--I really, honestly think that there’s more heart than, ah....”head,” so to say, in OPM art. But again, that could be me being naive, and I admit and accept that.

However, I think...from what you’re explaining, our interpretations of a character--or at least the definitions of a story’s character!--are different, and I think that’s where some of the disconnect is coming from. From what I’m getting, you’re saying that a character is rooted indefinitely within their story, and if they have not been written/shown/described doing something as part of the story, then canonically they haven’t done it and cannot do it. Anything and everything else counts as outside the story, thus not canon, and enters the world of fandom, so it’s not the story’s character but the fan’s character.

Under that definition I would say no, Genos is not sexual and can’t be, because (like I said before) sexuality is absent in OPM (not that I think it can’t exist, just that it’s a huge white space that--if I’m remembering right--ONE has mentioned was left out because it doesn’t affect the main plot at all). It hasn’t happened in the show; we haven’t seen it.

On my end, though, a see a character as their own entity, capable of being able to separate from their story, and one that carries their own story with them. Mm.... I suppose I can explain it as while the way you seem to be explaining characters, the story that they’re part of is an intricate clockwork where the characters are the gears, and each is perfect for their given purpose...unless they are altered in any way by someone who isn’t the clock’s creator, in which case they won’t be able to fulfill that purpose and they’ll jam the entire system, because they didn’t create it and they don’t understand how it’s meant to work. On the other hand I see a story as the open windows/doors into a stuffed building that’s filled with characters that are all doing their own thing, and the scenes we see just happen to be what was visible through the window or door at that moment--what happens behind the walls is open to interpretation, and so long as it gets you from one window to the next in a believable way, then it could have happened that way.

Sorry to get a bit off-track there, but I said all that to explain that I think, so long as what fans come up with is in-character based off of what we’ve seen happen--that they have reasons to explain why they think a character would do such-and-such thing, and not just “I want to see it happen that way,”--then it could have happened that way. That’s why I think sexualizing them, and in turn Genos, is just another way that fans are thinking about him in order to better understand him. Sure, they may make self-indulgent porn, but so much of NSFW art is about what fans think the characters’ wants, needs, and desires are given what's happened in the story. And because I feel like a great deal of the OPM fandom is generally positive, and because it seems to be close to a lot of fans’ hearts, I think they’ll remember to take that into consideration. 

I also said it to explain why I think we agree on so many points, but diverge on that one, and to again emphasize I think what you’re saying is totally valid. We’re operating under different ideas. But like you mentioned!! Everyone is open to their own interpretations and their own headcanons, and that is absolutely okay, because we’re all allowed to freely theorize and wonder about characters and stories that we love. 

OH MY GOSH I reread this to post it and I realized I barely addressed using Genos as a proxy to happiness... I would normally go back and fix each section, but I will admit that I’ve spent about an hour and a half writing this and I’ve plain-old run out of time, so I have to address it in its own section here. Also please forgive me if this is confusing--I’m so tired, but I want to answer fully.

I suppose....I.... I can’t understand why that’s bad, and why it would count as glorifying something shameful. I’m not saying that as an accusation!! I’m not trying to sling that as an insult to make your point seem unaccredited, unfounded, or unreasonable. It’s simply that....well, why else do we have stories, except to relate to them and to have their characters push us and inspire us in other situations? This sounds sentimental, I know that, but if a character is close to us, if we look up to them and think we’re similar to them, why wouldn’t we imagine what they would do in certain situations, and try to act in the way they would? And then to imagine they could be happy somehow, to see that illustrated in fandom or in canon and feel hopeful that we could have the same....that’s why fan art is so popular, isn’t it? Because we relate to it and seeing our favorites be happy makes us happy and gives us hope? That’s one of the biggest reasons why we tell stories in the first place.

Ah, I know I’m rambling, and I’m sleepy to the point that everything is running together in my head, so I hope you know that I’m not trying to invalidate what you’ve said, and I really think you make good points. I think what you’re saying is important to hear, and though I disagree, you should be saying it if it’s what you believe and it’s important to you.

I...I’m sorry, I hope I’ve responded well, and that I’m not just....going on about things that are unrelated. Again, though, thank you for sending this!!! I appreciate it, and all the time you’ve spent thinking about it, I really do. It means a lot to be able to have open conversations like this.

[shipeo]

question meme, again! c: tagged by @gvenevera. hahaha hey vera, thanks so much for tagging me ♥

Rules: 1. Post the rules 2. Answer the questions given to you by the tagger 3. Write 11 questions of your own 4. Tag 11 people

1. What’s your childhood anime?

when i was a kid, we had a big screen television set up in the living room and my brother would binge watch full metal alchemist, fruits basket, one piece, and naruto there whenever he had free time. i always somehow ended up joining him for those little screenings, the unsuspecting sufferer to his passionate spiels about the characters, his speculations on plot, and the splendour of the story worlds.

out of all those, the one i’d really call my childhood anime is probably full metal alchemist. like, omfg. i had... this... hopeless crush on edward elric. /headdesks he was just. he was cute. i remember myself being so darn happy knowing he was a total shortie, just like i was, and i’d mouth his name quietly to myself as i watched him on tv because i liked the way it rolled off my tongue. THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING.

2. Social media? Which one’s your favorite?

hm, up till a while ago it was twitter - it’s sort of a handy depository of my thoughts (fangirly, and then not.) now, it’s probably tumblr. i’m fucking addicted. there are so many amazing people here??

3. Does your name (real or penname) have any meaning?

jamie doesn’t - my mum just chose it because all my siblings have a name that starts with ‘J’. it’s just a neat little commonality lmao.

shipeo, on the other hand, is the korean word for ‘want/desire’. i chose it because of its inherent meaning, and how it seems to describe my fascination with fandom. like, you see, when i love things, reblog things, interact – there’s some void within me that i’m trying to fill, even though i mightn’t realise it at the time. there’s a want inside of me that keeps me coming back to this strange endless cycle of consuming and creating content, whether it’s a desire for companionship, for romance, for excitement... and for me, shipeo encapsulates my own descent into self-indulgence, into falling so deep into my desires for no reason other than the fact that i want to.

also, i hear this word all the time in korean music and i like the way it sounds. c:

4. How many meals do you eat in a day?

um, around two. my sleep schedule has been pretty messed up lately, and that’s affected my appetite, so...

5. Are you afraid of ghosts? Or horror movies?

if ghosts exist, and if they look anything like they do in horror movies (they probably don’t) – then yes. ;__; i’m getting the fuck out of there.

i’m alright with horror movies, and i enjoy them to a great degree, but i do have to watch between the cracks in my fingers sometimes. HAHAHA. i’m definitely game to be scared shitless though LET’S DO IT. lol can you tell how contradictory i am??

6. What kind of phone do you use? iOS vs Android?

iPhone 5! c: i’m an apple nerd. ugh, it’s their branding, i’m tellin’ ya. i’m a fool for their philosophy.

7. How many languages can you speak?

English, Chinese, Conversational Japanese.

8. Which fic would you rather read: Major character death OR Non-consensual?

MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH HANDS DOWN. non-con makes me kind of queasy c’: and um, a major character death would be the opportune chance to do a character study and to flesh out what the surviving character really felt for the deceased. there’s that delicious turmoil and hurt, of course, especially if there’s unfinished business between the two characters. but more than anything, i appreciate how MCDs often unearth some deeply fundamental truths as to what it is for us to truly love someone. through everything that happens post-death, it gives some shape and form to the abstract impact that another soul can make on our lives. physical things, now laden with more meaning than ever before: an extra toothbrush left fraying in its holder. old strands of their hair on the floor and in the dusty corners. their online profile, pristine and untouched, like the owner had only disappeared for a little while.

there’s always a prevailing theme of inevitability and of regret, of our smallness as human beings. it’s a bitter reminder of what little power we truly have when faced with our own mortality. these are experiences that are intimately connected to our experience as creatures who love things and fear to lose them. stories like that? they remind us of our humanity. i mean, these are things we should celebrate. god, it hurts, but i think it’s worth it for that moment of self-reflection.

9. How do you feel about spoilers, especially for manga/anime?

i don’t mind it. fam, i’m a really chill person. i’m not going to freak out just because someone reblogged/tweeted/posted something they got excited about. hahaha. i tend to find more fault with myself than with others tbh.

besides, sometimes knowing what’s coming can get you more hyped for a series. c;

10. Favorite travel destination?

japan. that place is beautiful, steeped with culture, and unlike any place i’d ever been. kyoto was downright mystical and I WANT TO GO BACK SO BADLY.

11. Describe your OTPs – what do you think they have in common?

friend, i have too many OTPs.

bsd: akutagawa/atsushi, bnha; todoroki/midoriya, bakugou/kirishima, opm: saitama/genos, no. 6: nezumi/shion, pmmm: homura/madoka, nno: yoite/miharu... just to name a few.

i think i tend to like... the interplay between past hurts and healing.

one of the characters (A) normally has a near-unattainable goal, something that occupies them almost every minute of every day, makes them miserable without them even realising. enter B, who shows A a side of them they had never before thought of as valuable/important – usually a side of them that’s more tender/caring. more often than not, this leads to A becoming a better person because... well, love makes you want to be better. that’s definitely what atsushi does for aku (i mean, he could,) what midoriya does for todoroki, what kirishima does for bakugou, and what saitama does for genos. i also tend to like banter, undeniable chemistry, and any pairing with a deep canonical bond. i love relationships where the characters fulfil each other, in a way that is unique to them alone. give me all that heartwarming shit, ya’ll.

;___; j-just... anything to fill the void in my heart.

i’m not gonna come up with questions or tag anyone since i already did on the previous question meme! c’: fuuuck it’s 3am and i have a meeting in the morning fml GOOD NIGHT WORLD

[fanphimy-blog]

The following is a rather depressing very long rant I’ve been holding back for quite some time please feel free to scroll past this.

You know, I really love the feeling I get when I experience a new show or read that gets me really invested. But the feeling you get when you get to experience a new fandom, who are full of people interested in things similar to you? That, that isn’t an experience. That creates memories, friendships and a multitude of other fun things that are just hard to replace in general. It’s the feeling of being accepted and liked for liking what you like. It’s that feeling that keeps me coming back for new forms of entertainment, despite my own myriad of projects and life events that prevent me from absorbing entertainment to it’s fullest extent.  Perhaps this is just me still adapting to life as a high-school graduate and a full blown adult, but it’s a little sad to say lately I’ve been lamenting the feeling of not being able to experience that entertainment as of late. The most depressing feeling I’ve ever felt when experiencing a media of entertainment is that feeling when, well, I’m just losing that excitement I’ve just had for that same series not but two or even a week ago. That feeling of how badly you want to remain in that fandom but it just doesn’t interest you as much as it once has and you know in your heart that it’s time to move on. That feeling, along side that sensation of not knowing when the next form of entertainment will come into the picture and inspire you to create as much as the previous has, it’s the feeling I dread in the middle of my hype for each fandom I get into. Because I don’t want to lose my ability to empathize with my friend’s excitement with that piece still, I can’t just simply say “I’m bored with this I need something new.” Because I don’t want something new, I want that same excitement I had that they are still experiencing.  It’s a little lonely to think “I know I’ll be one of the first to get bored of this form of entertainment.” But I know it’s true at this point, and it’s not that I’ve lost love for that work, it’s that I’m missing the excitement that piece once gave me and no longer does. I have respect for that work, but I can’t scream about it or write fics about it like I once did. I’m happy that other people are continuously able to stay excited for things that they love but I...Just can’t, it happens time and time again, with Attack on Titan being the first to re-enter me back into the anime scene, the next Free!, and after that...Well, Nothing. 

Nothing Until I had spoken with a friend who introduced me into One Punch Man well before the days where it was even an idea of it to become an anime. At the time I thought “Oh this is so quirky and cute!” But as time went on and I stayed in that feeling of limbo where nothing was able to satisfy my need for entertainment, I revisited One Punch Man when I was going through some rather heavy depression and I resonated with Saitama’s feeling of lamenting over the interest in something he once felt so passionately for.  And I was hooked, back in with the game, needing more and more chapters sooner more and more, until I read the webcomic, I told all of my friends about it, I NEEDED that feeling of being included in a fandom with this series that I felt was too good to go unnoticed. When I realized that wasn’t something that was ever going to happen, I had delved further into the artist’s works and read Mob Psycho 100. That of which of the time wasn’t even a glimmer in Bone’s Studios eyes for shows to become interesting animes with! It filled that sensation for media I so desperately craved which was nice since I had a single person I could scream about it over, while theorizing and picking apart tropes and interesting psychological phenomena that ONE had so ingeniously been able to implement. ...Then OPM the preview for the anime came out and I fell in love all over again. Finally, the works I felt so desperately deserved this attention were finally getting it!....But, it was bittersweet. Even as excited I was for that anime, I was a little sad to know, it too, would experience the blow up of hype and fandom and eventually trickle back down into that select few who can maintain their love for something even after it’s been years of its airing.  Even so I inserted myself as apart of that fandom because it was amazing to experience again! The OPM fandom was and still is some of my favorite memories with a series to date as I’ve made amazing friendships there. But as time went on, I lost interest again and was feeling rather unsatisfied.  Then came My Hero Academia, a piece that I will always hold near and dear to my heart as it’s art style, charm and interesting characters are some of the few that I know I’ll remember for years to come.  The fandom though? The fandom will, without a doubt be one of the most memorable for me, as it is the first time I actively took involvement and learned of discord for the first time. I’ve met some of the most incredible people who have such passion and drive, that it makes me proud to know I’ve met them. It was painful when my excitement for BNHA began to wane because I knew such amazing people by now. I didn’t want to lose that feeling..I had hoped the MP100 anime would help quell that feeling as many people had also been interested in that anime but it didn’t. Like clockwork, I lost interest again after a short period of excitement.  And nothing has come still to replace that excitement that I so desperately crave. I just..I wish I had that ability to retain excitement and intense love for a series and am able to stay in a fandom and not get sad by the way a fandom slowly dies. I miss that feeling of excitement and can’t help but be a little down about how nothing else has come to replace that feeling, I don’t want to lose interest in anime again. But I fear if it does I’ll be stuck back in limbo where every day I just continuously work myself to death because I have no more distractions to stop me.  It seems extreme I know, but it makes time go by, and if nothing is interesting why not keep working? But I digress, this is about that depressing feeling of a dying fandom, not questionable work ethic decisions. Back on topic; I like to think of fandoms like stars; The bigger they are, the more quick and more violent their end, as discourse inevitably bubbles up like the intense usage and heat a super massive star produces.  Each variant is unique and have different properties that can extend or decrease it’s lifespan. And I just want so desperately for another star to come by and capture my interest again while I’m stuck in my bed recuperating from this bullshit health issue. I’m sure this is a rather pointless rant now but I just had to get it out.