#I keep telling myself the story isn't done with arc I so I don't have to cram everything in there

[emilykaldwen]

talk shop tuesday: what have you found most challenging about the world building in Maiden? Most rewarding?

also ilsym

you make me so happy thank you for this <3

Something I've found most challenging I think really comes down to the balance of 'for the vibes/story' and 'we need to stick to the party line'.

By that I mean, when it comes to stories be they fic or published, there's a certain amount of buy in we, as readers, are meant to do for the premise. How likely is it that the servant boy captures the heart of the princess and they get married? Not likely, but I'm not going to read that story and expect things to follow that party line - that level of realism. I'm suspending my disbelief to a degree in order to read a story I think I will enjoy.

So when it comes to Maiden, I try make it very clear on the tin: Here's the story, here's the two major things I want you to expect (That Abby and Aegon have a happy ever after, and that these kids are gonna make it out alive). However, it does not mean I am not sitting here incessantly rattle testing and rolling around plot ideas. Maiden is such a huge canon divergence with the simple fact that Aegon isn't marrying Helaena, and so from there I really work so hard to make sure each plot point makes sense within the world. I do everything I can to make sure that Abby as a character fits into the world. It's so important to me that she feels like she fits, and that the larger story feels like it fits that way my readers can roll with the 'please just go with this' plot points and moments for the sake of the story.

And truly, this might just be me putting too much pressure on myself, thinking that people are going to read my story in bad faith and get really nitpicky.

To go off this same point to your second question, it's been deeply and incredibly rewarding when people have told me that Abby feels like she should be part of the source material, that they find themselves surprised when watching an episode that she's not there. I literally had a friend of mine tell me over the weekend they had been watching HotD and when they got to the family dinner episode they were like 'where's abby?' for a good five minutes. And that... really makes it worth it.

[shadowed-dancer]

Villains and Their Fates - A Tragedy Would Have Been Fine By Me

I've seen a lot of people who try to write off frustration with the league's fates by saying "you just wanted them to survive" or "you're just upset your favourite character died". And while that may be true for a few people, I know that it's at least not true for myself (which must mean there are others who feel the same way). So today I'm here to share my thoughts. Despite liking the villains and wanting them to be redeemed, I was also willing to accept a well written ending if they died. I just wanted to ramble a bit about the three main villains (mostly Toga) and how I felt a tragic ending could have been improved.

The only villain I felt should have lived is Dabi, but that's more because of the awkwardness his unconfirmed death caused for Shoto (read this beautifully written analysis for more). If Dabi had to die, he should have died on the battle field OR in the hospital surrounded by family where he gets a few last words in. Leaving his fate unconfirmed leads to the ruined Shoto arc, but is also just weird for a character who has existed for so long. You're telling me that even Overhaul gets a confirmed ending but DABI doesn't?

I've also talked a bit about how Endeavor's survival ruins the subplot, and in 426 he continues by making Touya's final appearance about him (rather than the two brothers) but that's something I've talked about too much. If Endeavor has to be alive and hogging screen time, the least Hori could do is imply Touya will survive rather than die, so at least Enji isn't literally stealing time from his other family members to have some interaction with Touya.

If Touya has to end up in that machine, an ideal ending would have been the doctor saying "it will be a gruelling and near-impossible uphill climb to recovery" and then Shoto can smile and say "he's done it before". Boom. Simple as that. Leave it open, but at least on a positive note so we can assume that the family will have plenty of time to reconcile, as opposed to an unknown (but limited) amount of time that Enji vows to use to talk to him (yeah I know it's supposed to be a sweet gesture but even Touya calls bullshit on it). Let Shoto and Touya eat their soba, damn it!

For Shigaraki, my grievances extend to the writing of the entire final battle between him and Deku. As such, I don't have much to say aside from that because it really is just a product of poor writing. Neither were really allowed to talk before the big moment (hell, the vestiges were narrating Deku's emotions half the time like "he must be upset, this quirk meant so much to him". Why not let him tell us???) and the back-and-forth of Shigaraki being destroyed and then not only to be destroyed again was too much. It felt sloppy and hard to follow, and once you figured it out it just felt dumb. It's as if each chapter needed some massive reveal, but the story had done it so much at this point that it just felt tired and like it was happening "because Hori said so", and that should never be what drives a story.

Speaking of "because Hori said so"...

Oh Toga. Out of all the villains, I actually liked her confrontation the most. (Lies. If Dabi vs Shoto was the end of Dabi's fight, THAT would have been the best. But the Endeavor fight ruins it). Despite having limited screen time, Toga and Uraraka had a surprisingly well-built dynamic. Their few interactions were actually meaningful and created a strong foundation for a fight, and at the very least they had more of a personal connection than Deku and Shigaraki ever did. I think that Toga giving her blood to someone she loves (as opposed to drinking/taking their blood like she had said the whole series) is a beautifully tragic end to her character, but still something that could have fit.

To me, the problem comes with how she died. Let me replay the scene for you: Toga stabs Uraraka in the stomach and Uraraka bleeds too much because she keeps moving around. Toga then realizes she doesn't want Uraraka to die. To save her life, Toga has to do a blood transfusion with herself as a donor and she dies because she has to give ALL her blood.

Now... sure. Ok. Fine. Yeah. Maybe by real-world logic this makes sense. I guess. Whatever. But within the world of MHA, this setup is laughable.

Here's a list of things characters survived (or at least, they survived LONG ENOUGH to get to a hospital rather than dying on the battlefield): Deku shattering his bones with 1 million percent, whatever happened to Best Jeanist when AFO attacked him, Nighteye getting a massive spike through the torso, All Might with "his entrails strewn across the ground", Bakugo becoming Swiss cheese, Grand Torino being punched so hard a crater forms beneath him, Touya being a literal flaming skeleton, Bakugo's heart exploding, Edgeshot becoming a worm. Mirko getting a limb ripped off and then running full speed at Shigaraki. That's just off the top of my head, I know there's probably more.

But you want to tell me that Uraraka getting stabbed and then moving was a fatal wound that required ALL TOGA'S BLOOD? ALL OF IT? The reason Toga's death bothers me is that the setup cheapens the actual moment of sacrifice. It feels preventable, so when she tells us that Uraraka is going to die without her blood, all I could do is roll my eyes because I'm not allowed to use critical thinking skills, I have to just accept what Hori says and take it at face value.

If the author wants you to live as Edgeworm despite saying you were gonna die, you can. But if the author needs a stab wound to be fatal and require ALL of someone's blood? Well tough luck bud, that's just how it goes. Mirko can run and move all she wants after having a limb ripped off, but moving a bit after one stab wound is fatal. Why? Because I say so.

If Uraraka's wound was actually serious then this ending would have been a beautiful tragedy. But as it stands now, the ridiculousness of her wound makes it all feel preventable.

Oh, there's also the fact that Toga switching blood types when she transforms was never established, but I've rambled enough.

That's it. Thanks for reading!

[oneforblu]

skip and loafer episode 12

Skip and Loafer is one of my favorite mangas. It's a beautiful story about high schoolers growing up and their relationships with one another. I had been wanting to reread the manga for a while, but I realized I had never actually watched the anime! So, I finally decided to watch it, and I was blown away.

Episode 12 was a perfect season finale, and the entire season blew me away. From the beginning, we watched as Mitsumi adjusted to life in the city by making new friends and joining the student council.

One of her best friendships is with Shima Sousuke, a popular, handsome boy. What I love about episode 12 is that we see Shima's character arc hit its climax. Throughout the show, he is a laid-back guy. However, his internal conflict has to do with his constant need to perform for validation.

While Mitsumi is sure of her future, Shima doesn't have a clue what he wants to do because he has always done what others have asked of him. Of all the people in his life, Mitsumi is one of the few who knows about Shima's child-acting phase. She's pretty perceptive when it comes to Shima. Even when many others can't tell Shima is having a difficult time, she can see through his facade.

This scene may look silly initially, but it's Mitsumi's attempt at protecting Shima.

Ririka, Shima's childhood actress friend, went through a rough patch that she blames on Shima. Since Shima believes he is at fault, he is always at her beck and call despite feeling uncomfortable. At this point in the episode, Mitsumi realizes Ririka purposefully sent Shima's mom away. Despite Mitsumi having some moments where she can't read a room, in this instance, Mitsumi knows that ririka means trouble.

The only way Mitsumi can think of warding off Ririka is to strike a pose similar to that of an anteater. It's silly, but it's a testament to Mitsumi's character. She isn't afraid to look weird if it means she can help someone. Throughout the season, Mitsumi was always making little messes, such as throwing up during the assembly and getting called the "big boss" of the school. Despite these awkward moments, Mitsumi doesn't let this get her down; she gets back up and keeps moving forward.

Shima is aware of Mitsumi's resilience. Unlike himself, Mitsumi isn't afraid of messing up. Shima finds himself drawn to her. Out of all the people he's met, Mitsumi is the one that he finds himself reaching out to.

During the season finale, Shima has a monologue that is one of my favorite moments in the entire manga. It's a testament to his character and the foundation of his future development.

Shima's constant need to perform has forced him to believe his OWN ideas and feelings don't matter

Since childhood, he has thought acting would be a way to make his mother happy. Although he hasn't worked since childhood, he has held onto that mentality his whole life. If he gives people what they want, they'll be happy, even if it costs Shima happiness.

Shima is tough on himself despite his "laidback" appearance. He believes his words and actions have no meaning and that he has no purpose if he isn't "performing" for someone else. He even calls Mitsumi and Kanechika "dazzling" and says that they're so far away from him. He doesn't see himself as someone who can fearlessly do what they want.

Although Shima clearly admires Mitsumi, it isn't until his big performance that he realizes what many of his feelings boil down to.

"I know this feeling. It's envy."

During his performance, he engages in an inner dialogue that circles around the idea that Shima doesn't know himself. Did he want his mom there to watch him perform? Does he want to keep acting? Was he glad she didn't stay? Is his lack of confidence the reason he is uncomfortable around girls? "Does it mean I can act if it's for myself?"

At the end of the day, Shima does not know who he is or what he wants. Unlike Mitsumi and Kanechika, who go 100% into everything they do and are genuinely happy about their choices, Shima has no clue what he finds joy in.

"You'll never be one of them."

It's a simple quote, but this is what leads Shima to understand his jealousy. He has separated himself from those he finds resilient, and despite believing he has to put on an act to make others happy, Shima is envious of those who can live freely.

Yes, this way of living may have been "easy" for Shima and may have even made many people happy, but it doesn't work anymore. After meeting someone like Mitsumi, he sees someone who isn't afraid to "get her hands dirty." Even Kanechika, who has succeeded with his plays, wouldn't have been able to get to this point without doing a few awful projects.

To find success, you need to be willing to make a mess and fall a few times. Although finding success is significant and unique, the most important thing is finding what you love and doing all you can to achieve your dream. This is why Mitsumi and Kanechika are so resilient. They understand there will be troubles along the way, but no problem is too big if it means they can accomplish their goals.

Shima takes a step forward to a new way of living by being vulnerable with Ririka.

Shima feels guilty about what happened with Ririka from the beginning, but we see him gather the courage to finally form a boundary. He isn't completely cutting himself off because he genuinely cares about her, but he tells her he can't keep following her down this destructive path.

I can not stress enough how important this moment is. He had spent so long doing what people expected of him because he believed it was the right choice. He was a people pleaser to a fault, but now he wants more for himself.

"I enjoy this school."

This is one of the rare moments when Shima is honest about his feelings, especially when he loves something. He loves his school, he loves acting, and he loves his friends, and he isn’t going to keep being the same person who was once passive about everything.

This scene is just so impactful. Following his inner monologue, where he talks about doing what others want and being jealous, now he can unapologetically say what he feels. This entire sequence is just so perfect.

I may be incredibly biased since Shima is one of my favorite characters, but this episode was one of the best-written episodes I have seen. It was a perfect way to end the season, with Shima finally stepping forward to become his own person.

Of course, he'll have moments when he's clumsy, but the important thing is that Shima is ensuring that he has a chance to find himself.

Towards the end of the episode, we get a cute moment between Shima and Mitsumi, which leaves her thinking, "But today, he seems almost like...a kid?"

I just love these last few moments of the episode. The little interaction between Shima and Mitsumi was too cute and such a nice touch to the season finale.

What I love the most about this scene is that Mitsumi notices that Shima has a more childlike air. It's almost like all that weight that was piling up throughout the season is finally gone, leaving Shima with the chance to spend his high school days comfortably.

All in all, this episode was the perfect season finale! The writing, the voice acting, the animation—everything was just so well done. It truly brought the story to life.

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There aren't enough words to describe how much I loved this episode, but I hope this post at least gave insight into why I love this series so much. Shima's growth is one of the best parts of this series, and this episode begins a new chapter in his life.

I love Shima and Mitsumi so much. Skip and Loafer is one of the best pieces of media I have ever read, and it will always have a strong impact on my life.

[goodluckclove]

Are You a Writer That Isn't Writing? Join Me Inside My Blanket Fort!

Hi! Welcome! It's so good to see you. i've just been hanging out here, kind of listening to my favorite podcast and drinking some green tea. I have another bottle here - do you want to try? It has lemon in it. It's sweet, but not too sweet. Just like I like it.

Yeah, so I might need to introduce myself. My name is Clover, but you can call me Clove. I've been a write for fifteen years and I've finished fourteen novels. I published one and I'm working on the sequel. I've written and produced plays, published short stories, and even worked as a copywriter and ghostwriter. That wasn't very fun. Actually, the writing was fun, but they brough in AI right at the end - it's a long story. Anyways, what I mean to say is that you could consider me a working writer. If you go through my blog I post a lot of snippets from what I'm working on. You can even Google my old pen name "Miranda Seaver" and find some columns and stories and I think a short play I had some strangers do over Facebook.

I'm not saying this to brag. I'm saying this because I've been doing this for a long time and I want you to have context to the work I've done as we keep talking to each other. If you read what I write and you don't like it, maybe you can decide that I have no idea what I'm talking about. That's fine. We can still be friends!

Okay, so you're probably here because you're having trouble writing. Either that or you just can't resist the allure of a blanket fort - that makes sense too. But assuming you're unable to write for some reason, I just wanted to speak to you in private. Because I know it's hard. I know it's disillusioning. And though there's this weird perception online that writers are supposed to hate writing, I personally believe the situation is a lot more nuanced than that.

Maybe you're scared. Or you're tired. Or the whole act of sitting down and writing feels so big and clumsy and unwieldy as it bounces around your head that you don't know what to do with it. The weight of it doesn't feel right. It happens - it happens to me too sometimes, and it never feels good. But it's a natural part of the creative process and it's more of a slight mishandling rather than massive sin or flaw of character.

It might not help that there's so much advice online, isn't there? It seems all these people have a set guide to how to do literally everything. There's some sort of odd binary to the creative process that some make it seem as if writers innately fall under. You're either a pantser that never outlines, or a plotter that only structures. Every draft has have a specific focus, and you must follow an arc to achieve any specific goal in your character or plot.

That's a lot! Isn't that a lot? I've been talking to a lot of new writers on here who find all of that information - especially the information that conflicts (A lot of them) to be deeply intimidating. If not intimidating, then just slightly...off. Potentially enough to make the act of opening a word processor and slamming out a few hundred words to not really seem like that much fun anymore.

See, there are useful writing resources on tumblr. People with unique experiences sharing their specific information in a public space where writers can benefit from it. How would a certain mobility aid impact a person's life? What are the physical ramifications of training on a sword? Look at this picture of some sickass gems of different colors! These are all super cool things that I find incredibly useful for both current and future reference.

On the other hand, the guides that speak structurally to writing? That try and tell you the exact steps to follow in order to achieve a certain result? A lot of them end their posts by plugging their ko-fi but don't actually show any of their own personal writing? They don't necessarily have the answers.

If you read some prompt list and it inspires you, that's cool and great! Our brains think of a lot of really innovative things based on the smallest spark of input and that's a truly incredible thing. But if you read someone who makes a list of ways to show a certain emotion and you're left confused and discouraged - consider that they're wrong. Or not wrong, not really. They just don't have the right story.

For other forms of writing advice, maybe they're right - only not in a genre you want to write in. That's the weird thing about all these writing blogs that don't actually say what they write or read. If I was looking for writing advice, I wouldn't go to someone who specializes in reading and writing political thrillers or mysteries. They're valid genres, just not what I specifically do.

You just can't make grand blanket statements about this kind of thing, and that's an unpleasant truth I think we all need to hear.

Every writing rule has been broken successfully. The Dharma Bums, and frankly anything else Jack Kerouac has ever written, has truly no plot. American Psycho chains you to a truly reprehensible protagonist. Naked Lunch was written in one long chunk that was then cut up and rearranged, and then that nonsense was published. If On a Winter's Night a Traveler takes YOU (literally you - half the narrative is written in second person) and sends you on a wild goose chase where every other chapter is a different book. Kurt Vonnegut has a literal self insert of himself that shows up as a side character in Breakfast of Champions and then takes role in the lead cast in Timequake. Read a Chuck Palahinuik book and he will lie to you three time at least. Read House of Leaves and you'll feel like you're wandering a contemporary art gallery. I can't fucking get past the first 60 pages of Ulysses but I've been TRYING for YEARS because the prose is BEAUTIFUL.

I'm rambling. What I mean to say is that - you know Monet? Manet? Degas and Renoir, and all the other painters of the Impressionist era? They make the kind of paintings you probably think of if I ask you to imagine a painting you'd find in an art museum. They're respected - idolized, even. People will dedicate their lives to painting in honor to the legacy of Impressionism.

This would be a great surprise to early Impressionists, who were mocked mercilessly for their work. The name itself - Impressionism - was a reclaimed dig at how their art style was an impression of actual art. The road for it to even be CONSIDERED art, much less respected AS art, was a long one.

I'm rambling again, aren't I? I had a lot of this green tea. I just hate to hear so many people refuse to develop the ideas in their heads for one reason or the other. Or, even worse, they circle the brainstorming stage over and over again, far past the point of usefulness. I agree that some people function better with some form of an outline. I outline in my own way, through short form bullet points or taking space to storyboard in my head to music. It can help! But even if you work better with structure, there's a good chance that you don't need that much structure.

You can't fail here. You truly can't, I promise you. If you finish listening to me and you crawl out of the blanket fort and write two paragraphs, nothing bad will happen. If it's not the strongest thing you've ever written, that's okay. We're writers, aren't we? If you write something that you don't like, you aren't a fraud. You aren't weak. You aren't a hack. You haven't failed. You don't lack creativity or imagination or motivation.

Here's the truth: If you write something you don't like, you're a writer who wrote something you don't like. It doesn't mean you're bad. It doesn't even mean the writing is objectively bad. That's it.

Writers tend to be dramatic. I know I am. I laid on the couch for an hour trying to wrestle with act three of my newest book, and as my wife tried to talk me through it I slowly sank off the couch and onto the floor. Much as a slug would. If you ever get into that mindset, that's just a thing that happens when you're an artist. I think in the Hemmingway days writers would drink or smoke until they had the strength to try again.

We've seen how that turns out though. So welcome to the new era of writers who - though occasionally neurotic - try again at some point. And everyone is welcome. As I said already, there are no real rules or guides to the structure of writing, only ideas. And if you don't like the idea, you can look or think of another one.

And you can think of another one. Assuming you don't just have a drastically unrealistic perception of how much societal clout you can achieve by saying you're a writer (Answer: nearly none), you clearly want to tell a story. I haven't met a single person with that dream that has it based on nothing. The situation is so much more vast and complicated than the internet will try to make it out to be. Did you see some variation of the Apple Test and decide that your Aphantasia means you can never be a writer? Consider reading up on the Aphantasia Network to get a better look at the condition and learn more about what it means for you. Imagination is nuanced and it is absolutely not limited to Overall Apple Clarity!

Okay, that's all I have to say. I just want to see more people here putting their ideas to paper because a lot of them are really good and interesting, and they deserve to be seen. The feeling of writing your story is so much more complex and rich than just thinking about it, I promise. I know you can do it.

Okay okay. I have to pee. This was a long talk! I'm going to scoot past you in the fort now, but I think before you go on with your day you should maybe check out a video I think you'd like.

Have a nice day, Friend!

oh and this too.

yeah nice

[cinamun]

Hello Cinamun! I wanna start off by saying I love your blog very much, and your story is my favorite on Tumblr so PLEASE don’t block me!! But, I have to wonder if you’re starting to add drama just for chaos sake? We’re still in the middle of all the stuff with Dira/Ryker/Rah that’s unresolved, and now Jayce, who we’ve only seen as loyal and honest is gonna have an affair? It just feels like a bit too much. Can anyone be happy and secure for once? Does everyone have to go through pain and struggle every time? Hope is dealing with grief while being a first time mom of twins, and I have a soft spot for her so maybe I’m biased but I think she deserves a happily ever after. Black women deserve peace and happiness, along with all the BS we go through, there’s room for both. I really appreciate you as a writer. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to give us non-stop trauma just to keep up with the story.

Hey friend! Thank you for the kind words. But now, let us ask ourselves some questions, shall we?

"and now Jayce, who we’ve only seen as loyal and honest is gonna have an affair? It just feels like a bit too much."

Firstly....

Why do you think this man is going to have an affair? Why do you automatically assume that? ESPECIALLY after all of the qualifiers you gave him. Its only too much if you're *making* it too much.

Hear me out....

If you're new here, yes, it might seem like "too much" so I ask, too much of what, specifically? Implication? Subtext? Friend, that is THEE best part of writing. Your head is spinning so when and IF a shoe drops, you never see it coming. So again, "too much" of what, specfically?

"Can anyone be happy and secure for once? Does everyone have to go through pain and struggle every time?"

Nope, you're not new here and I can tell because you started with "please don't block me" so you MUST know that I get your second question all the time. So you're not new here you just rebranded to fucking troll me, and I hate that, but I'm gonna entertain you while I wait for my flight.

If you think pain and struggle is coming because Jay ran into a student in a coffee shop on campus, you need to ask yourself why you assume there will be "pain and struggle" every time. I enjoy mindfucking you, it might not be painful or a struggle but you might be shook and question your life choices when I'm done.

As for your last few sentences, I am a Black woman so I write about the experiences of Black women. You're anon so I don't know if you're a Black woman, I don't assume the identities of my readers.

Myself and a bunch of IDENTIFIED Black women readers have been over this topic already, about Black women deserving joy and our happily ever after. It is absolutely true that we do. So for you to assume the characters in this story wont get their happily ever after because they are Black women says more about you than it does about me as an author and Black woman.

Initially I was going to block you because if you want happy shit in every plot, every arc, you can find that on other blogs. I write real shit. I don't sugar coat a gotdamn thing. But I decided to just let you make the decision of unfollowing me if its "too much" for you. I am actually writing what I like to write about and if that's non-stop trauma then so be it. If people don't like that then its on them to stay or go. Fortunately, I am NOT writing non-stop trauma and anyone who feels like that clearly isn't reading the same story as the rest of the room.

Would you like your wings to go?

[burr-ell]

To expand on the previous post (with excellent addition by @kerosene-in-a-blender), I genuinely believe Laudna as a character would be a lot stronger in one of two scenarios:

1. Ditch the Whitestone stuff. I say this as someone who has produced almost nothing but de Rolo content—that is too big a part of Campaign 1 not to completely overshadow anything different the character tries to do in a long-form narrative. I think they could have threaded that needle, but that requires so much more focus and attention that a fast-paced story about a moon conspiracy just isn't built for. It's been 65 episodes and Whitestone nostalgia is all the character has meaningfully contributed to the narrative.

They put themselves between a rock and a hard place before the story even started. You can't bring in Delilah too often without inevitably treading on Campaign 1, but you also can't use her too little—not just because she's Delilah Briarwood, but also because that's the patron of a PC and your PCs need to be taking center stage. And yet there is nothing Delilah's presence has done in the story thus far that could not have been accomplished by a completely different, hitherto-unknown necromancer patron. Laudna's experiences in Whitestone could be replaced with a similarly traumatic backstory (it's not like Exandria is hurting for necromancers abusing power) and she'd have to actually elaborate on it and flesh out the worldbuilding and think about the backstory instead of being able to lean on "Hey, you guys remember that Briarwood arc? Freaky, right?"

2. Keep Laudna as she is and use her in an EXU miniseries. Set it in northwestern Tal'Dorei, where she's been wandering aimlessly for thirty years, spending half the time disassociating and half the time making her dolls. She meets a colorful group of people and they go on some adventures, and she finally decides to take back her life and do something about the voice in her head. You'd basically keep the Whitestone episodes of C3 as they are, give or take a few beats, as the climactic episodes of the series, and then the newly fire-forged friends set off for whatever new journey awaits them.

Maybe Laudna switches patrons; maybe she ditches the warlock thing entirely; maybe she ends the miniseries not knowing what she wants but excited to learn about it with her new companions. Mini-campaigns don't have to worry about that kind of thing! You can have your Whitestone nostalgia and some fanservice while still telling a pretty fun story, and it won't feel like a weird extra appendage to a main campaign that otherwise has very little to do with it. I wouldn't say it's a story I'd be interested in seeing continue, but it's perfectly serviceable for something small and self-contained.

What it has not been serviceable for is the long-form story of Campaign 3.

Honestly, I was a little concerned about all of this even before I started watching all the way through, but I wanted to give it time and judge it for myself. I don't believe in unfounded doomsaying, and I wanted to give the show a chance to do something interesting. And it has been 65 episodes, over 260 hours of content, which I think puts us well past the window of "give it a chance", and Laudna has spent the vast majority of her time not meaningfully engaging with her levels of warlock if it doesn't contribute to creepy girl vibes. (She frankly isn't engaging with her levels in sorcerer, either.) She's never even addressed potentially finding a new patron—so does she not want to? But then why is she so distressed about the idea of Delilah resurfacing? And if she does want a new patron, why has nothing actually happened in the almost-thirty episodes we've had since the Whitestone trip? If she's been "fighting Delilah for thirty-odd years", why didn't she take the chance to explicitly try to connect with, say, the Sun Tree? Or literally anyone else?

And honestly, as a Campaign 1 fan I have to say I'm also frustrated at how Delilah's presence specifically undercuts that story. Like, yeah, you have a technical reason for why she's still here, but "well she IS a powerful necromancer" is just a mechanical explanation, not a dramaturgical one. Her story is done. The chapter closed. She had ample opportunity, including when specifically asked by the Hells, to state any specific goals—any at all—and didn't. This is the woman who menaced Percy and Vex? This is the woman who permanently killed Vax? ...Really?

It could have been an interesting challenge to take on in referencing something from the past while bringing something new to the table, and it's not like they haven't done that before; they've already shown with Jester and the Traveler that it can be done. But they haven't done it here; any opportunity for Laudna to grow beyond her vague concepts—"What if Sun Tree Body...with Delilah patron? What if weird scary girl...but happy?"—has been generally ignored. Her killing Bor'dor is the first time in the entire campaign that she's done something that really got my attention, and in two episodes it's almost immediately papered over, followed by some inexplicable "must you continue to reconquer?" word salad about the gods.

Marisha explicitly refused to create a new character until she knew for sure whether or not Laudna would be resurrected. But if she enjoys her so much, when is she going to do anything meaningful with her?

[comicaurora]

If this is rude to ask please please ignore, this is from the perspective of someone in pre-planning stages of my own comic:

How long did it take you to shrink from the 30(?) page buffer I think you said you started with to 10 pages? I assume starting with that big buffer meant that this is less impactful to the comic and thus less stressful, but do you have breaks planned for yourself so you can re-up that backlog or do you intend to try to do it in-time with the comic? You're a powerhouse who I only ascribe to half the output of, but I'd love to know a little more about your backlog ethos. (When you have time of course!)

Heh, oh boy. The biggest bite got taken out of the buffer during Falst's intro arc. I had boarded something like a dozen pages when I decided I didn't like the direction they'd taken and I scrapped them back to blanks. I don't do this as a rule, but I could tell this one was a problem - I can't even remember why now, but there was something there that just wasn't working. I thus had a time-loss redoing those pages that made up the better part of a chapter, and my storyboard buffer shrank pretty significantly, though it's since recovered in a big way.

More of the buffer got worn down during the back half of the Zuurith arc and the Tynan fight, since every page was so complicated. Alongside the environmental fog and rain effects and the eight different kinds of glow, it was also a lot of characters on every page, and that increased the lineart and coloring time significantly. If I recall correctly, the buffer shrank to the low single digits a few times during that arc.

At some point I might take a break, but I kind of don't want to. I've kept up a solid pace this long and I don't wanna break my streak. I've been able to build the buffer back up to 20 pages before, but the problem is I tend to then take the following week or two off on the comic progress front because in my head I've made a good chunk of progress and thus should take a break. I'm getting better at incremental scene-by-scene progress, and I think chapter 20 is going to be good for rebuilding the buffer, because - spoiler alert - a lot of these scenes are one or two characters only, and most of them have fairly dark featureless backgrounds. I suspect I'll be able to get a healthy headstart just working through this chapter. This was my reward to myself for constantly making the Tynan fight increasingly complicated and ridiculous, and it's honestly a breath of fresh air to make these pages so much simpler.

My rule for comic-making is set a pace you can keep up. If you need to take a break, that's fine - my own unwillingness to do so is a me thing I'm working through. not a policy to emulate. I've been able to keep this up for three years with minimal buffer-loss, and as the story progresses my own art gets better and faster, making it easier for me to maintain this pace. That's why I made sure to start with such a hefty buffer - to give myself time to pick up speed and get better, time to have the occasional crash-and-burn week or even month where nothing gets done, and time to rewrite things that were being problems. Basically, the buffer is 100% working as intended so far, because all of those things have happened at least once.

The math is pretty favorable. With a three-page-a-week upload schedule, if I can finish three pages in under a week I'm guaranteed to keep the buffer going. At peak performance I can do five or six pages in one day, though that's dependent on complexity and that pace isn't sustainable for long - but of course it doesn't have to be, because that buys me two weeks to recover and do all the other stuff I couldn't do during the hellride. The block of pages I'm going to color tonight is five pages, which will buy me nearly two weeks. I lined and shaded those five pages on Friday, and I'd blocked out the backgrounds for this whole scene and the following one in one afternoon the previous week. It's not hellride-pace because it doesn't have to be, but if I needed to push it I could buy myself a week in under a day. Because of this, rebuilding the buffer back up to 20+ is a lower priority than keeping a steady pace that won't hurt my drawing hand or my writing brain.

But if I take too big of a hit I'll announce a two-week break or something. I have things arranged so hopefully I never have to, but ya never know, and it's important to be okay with taking the occasional unexpected hit!

[siflshonen]

I hope deku dies worse than bakugo they take both arms out idk but bakugo's death makes no sense I hate everything

Anon, I'm going to tell you something. I entered this manga with the understanding that Bakugo would experience a loss of the greatest magnitude since the very beginning.

And he was going to do it, like so many haughty, misguided, and fragile shonen archetypes before him, for the people he has loved, perhaps poorly, but also completely.

And I had to very seriously ask myself if I was sure I could watch this play out. I had to ask if I was ready to do that to myself.

And it made me so angry to watch this show, knowing that was what was happening, often unnoticed to the characters who he really need to notice the most, and then later, for me to just... read this manga at all. To read it knowing what was going to happen and why nobody ever addressed it directly.

To know, and watch Izuku be clueless about what Katsuki is mulling over in his heart. To watch him not really be able to explain what's happening to his classmates. To watch Toshinori not completely understand the details, but come so, so close still to be pushed away because Katsuki can't... accept it.

To watch and then be so furious and heartbroken when I listen to people in real life say Katsuki was a true villain and a psychopath and everything wrong with society and a worthless piece of shit.

Look in a mirror, I thought (and still think) to those people. Look in a mirror and understand that you're just like him. Look in a mirror and understand you have a long way to go before you have enough empathy to understand what you're talking about.

Then, to hear people very often just, like, praise Izuku in the same breath made me extremely frustrated. It makes me say a lot of nasty things about Izuku! Self-disparaging, selfish, demanding Izuku. And every time I do it, I think to myself, it's because I'm looking in a mirror, too. And what I see looking back at me isn't Katsuki, but Izuku.

And then I think to myself, you know, I signed up for this knowing Katsuki made these choices, and kept watching over his shoulder even though I knew what was lying in wait for him. I was watching him figure it in one way or another, too, only to be tricked when he thought he conquered death and achieved some sort of enlightenment through his quirk evolution.

It was a really mean trick to watch the story play on him. But I think that's sort of the point.

There's worse things in real life and in shonen stories than death, anon. In fact, if you have the mindset of Gran Torino, death can be a mercy even if its prelude is humiliation and fear.

But, you know, a character with an arc like Katsuki's needs to have them face their greatest fear and show them at their lowest point. And it's not really his death or how he dies, or even if Izuku dies too that will be constructive for him in any way.

I think the real tragedy and challenge posed by his current circumstance isn't really the physical damage done to him or even that his story might end, necessarily. It's that he has to think his story will end with him still not caught up with Izuku. With him still just there, hanging on like a string of goldfish poop. With him being in Izuku's shadow.

With Izuku never seeing Katsuki for who he really is without the pedestal, the golden glow, the barrier of social boundaries they don't know how to navigate. And worse, the potential to save his life as it currently stands is predicated on someone else sacrificing theirs. That’s not a “perfect victory”. To Katsuki, it’s not a victory at all.

But Katsuki's gotta do it and get through this! He's gotta be here and we all have to sit in it with him now to see how it all turns out. I don't know how it will turn out, but it will.

And what kind of possible happy ending and victory would it be for Katsuki if, in the end, Izuku had only been mangled, too? After how hard Katsuki tried to help prepare him for this? To keep Izuku alive? To keep everyone safe?

I empathize with how heartbroken you are, anon, but I don't see how wishing for bad things on Izuku is going to help you. Katsuki has made his choice over and over again to help the person he thinks is so worthy, so wouldn't the best thing we can hope for in the spirit of his desires be to put all of those feelings away now and want the best for Izuku no matter what else may happen?

[thatstheproblemwithnapkinman]

my somewhat hot take on ric grayson

firstly, spoilers for the whole ric grayson arc. if you haven't read it and have somehow avoided learning about it through tumblr, here is your warning

also a disclaimer, i am only just getting into comics by reading nightwing. i have read nightwing (2011) aka new 52, grayson, and all the rebirth (2016) stuff. i am yet to read infinite frontier (it's on its way) so i can't talk about any of that

spoilers and shit opinions ahead

so, i read all of ric grayson aka nightwing (2016) #50-73/77 depending on how you want to fully define his arc and the supporting issues of batman #54-55, and the joker war where he gets his memories back

and tbh, it wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be

don't get me wrong, its an awful nightwing story. i did hate a lot of it. it was only when jurgens took over and actually made the plot a plot did it get better, but i was expecting it to be the worst thing in the world and i actually found myself enjoying it in the same way i enjoy watching twilight, which is to say its cringy but there's just something that keeps me hooked.

so lets look at the positives and negatives

positives:

bea: i actually really like bea. i think she was actually a decent match for dick as she did good in her own, non-vigilante way, and was reliable. she wasn't trying to backstab him or trying to mind control him, and she actively fought for him to get his memories back in the end and was willing to get to know dick even thought she fell in love with ric. she also wasn't annoyed that he was/is a vigilante and didn't tell him to stop for her sake. i'm not mad dick broke up with her bc i expected as much, but she was one of the better partners.

parts of ric: under it all, ric was still dick. i was expecting an absolute piece of shit but ric was actually a good guy after jurgens took over. maybe it was the expectations i had from what others have said but fully, i think he isn't given enough credit. he wanted to leave the life he didn't remember behind but ended up going back to it and being one of the 'nightwings'. he didn't do it for an anterior motive, he didn't do it because he owed someone, he did it because it felt right. especially after the way he reacted in nightwing annual #2 when bruce old him he was nightwing, it was nice to see him going out there.

the court of owls: i loved the court of owls tie in. its a great plot that has been central to dicks new 52 story, and one that carried all the way through to the end. especially with it being cobb in the end, the way it started, it felt nice and cyclical. the history of the court of owls in terms of its creation for new 52 is interesting and the way dick was tied up in it all is one of the things that i have really enjoyed throughout the 3 titles. seeing it through 2011, grayson, and then multiple times in 2016 makes me little nerd heart sing. again, it may just be my bias to the court as a villain, but seeing dick as a talon, even for a short period of time, was pretty cool.

joker war: obviously this whole storyline could work independently with dick or ric but i do like how it was tied into his story so well. the magic crystal thing is weird but, given dick's history with the joker as robin and as jason's brother, i loved that it was the joker that brought his memories back in the end i know it was the court and the bea that did most of the work but still i also loved seeing the aftermath, seeing him struggle to go back to nightwing despite him being dick again, the fact that he was happy as ric and had to leave that behind. dick had another hero moment and i do like that

ok, with that all done, here are the negatives:

the arc length: i know this is very common but the arc went on for way too long. i know it was because the original 8 issue plan was thrown out, and jurgens then had to do damage control, but it was still too long. im lucky that could read it all start to finish in one sitting, but this was an arc that lasted 2 years! like WHAT! this really should have been 1 arc, i get it being 2 after the whole mess with who wrote it but still, cut out like most of the middle stuff, have the first arc and the final court arc and then boom, it would be so much better.

the other parts of ric: ok, so i don't like most of his character. mainly him not accepting help from his family. again i know this is a common complain, most of the negatives are, but he had so many people around him that wanted to help and he dismissed them all. they all tried to help him have a life afterwards and he basically told them to fuck off. even after he started going and vigilante-ing again, he never reached out to talk to them. i do sort of get it when he first left the hospital to go to the manor and bruce had the stupid idea to show him his death, but i still think it was a major flaw.

dan didio, scott lobdell, and eric esquivel: if you don't know these names, count yourself lucky. i did my research and found a great reddit post all about the logistical history of ric grayson that is worth reading if you're interested but the crux of these three is a whole list of verbal abuse, toxic workplace practices, and sexual harassment/assault. didio is co-publisher and has a reputation of hating nightwing, like he tried to have him killed off during infinite crisis all the way back in 2005. lobdell is the person who ached for the amnesia arc to be extended despite him only writing 8 issues in the end. esquivel was only brought on for co-writer for one issue but that issue was released only a few days after sexual abuse allegations about him came out. a lot of these men being in charge of nightwing and not being fired until 2020 comes down to their standings in DC and the connections they had at the top. all disgusting, but it meant that the first chunk of ric graysons run is marred with their names and actions. i wouldn't;t include this as a factor except it is a factor. ric grayson may have been 'created' by benjamin percy but he only wrote the first issue, the next 8 were lobdell, before jurgens wrote the rest. and if the big men upstairs wanted ric grayson, they would get ric grayson.

honestly, when i got to #49, i was tempted to not read any further. I would just skip straight to infinite frontier and pretend that ric didn't exist. but i wanted to do my due diligence to the character, so i powered through and found that there was some light in the dark. there is a lot wrong with the arc, and even with the positives i would still say i didn't like the arc, but i can see some of the positives.

also again, this reddit post is super interesting for anyone who doesn't know the history behind ric as how he was received at the time. im glad i read it but i won't be revisiting it

[bleue-flora]

The second death wasnt rlly dying a hero either since c!dream and c!tommy were in an equal duel done by c!tommys own terms. It was during war. Giving the discs away for independence was heroism even though he provoked c!dream again in railway war, he explains throughout it that he was doing it to fight for lmanberg. (I dont get it either but that was his pov sorry i dont have the timestamp on hand) I don't consider the death in prison as him dying a hero at all as it wasnt protecting anyone. But I consider the death in finale as dying a hero especially the idea of going into danger with the goal of protecting the server since from his view c!staged duo were evil and he was told about their supposed plan to kill everyone even tho the plan was most likely a lie. However c!Tommy also isn't a hero at the same time because he's the one that caused the nuke to happen along with c!tubbo and accidentally doomed the whole server. But the nuke didn't kill anyone anyway, dreamxd transported everyone.

[context here & here]

Well I wasn’t really talking about whether Tommy’s other deaths were heroic or not, just whether his death in the finale fulfilled that “dying a hero” from the previous stream. Not sure if cc!Tommy meant that or not, but if we were to see it as such it’s an interesting story element.

The question I was having though, was whether we can say it does qualify as “dying a hero”. Or even further if it does because he is trying to stop staged duo and sacrificing his life for the rest of the server by keeping them there. Does that make it a different death than “self-sacrifice” because it seems very much almost the same to me? There is also the point to be made that does his premature death count as the selfless “dying a hero” since its before the nuke hits and he’s supposed to be stalling. Or because the whole point he’s there to begin with is heroic therefore he is “dying a hero”?…

As an aside, just some lore notes because I can’t help myself…

I’ve said this before but I think that since Tommy fully intended to take back his discs immediately after the L’manberg war [clip], it kinda under cuts his heroism. He doesn’t really give up his discs, because he’s not handing them over for Dream to keep permanently - something he actually does in the finale which actually rounds out his character arc nicely, by having him actually doing the heroic thing…

I am pretty sure the lore isn’t that everyone is teleported away by XD, but that everyone does die in the finale whether because of the Egg, nuke, or fight in the End (or Mumza takes/saves them) and then XD resets the world. Or perhaps because of all the death with the Egg and nuke, XD gains enough power to reset the world to stop the people from killing him in the End. Either way I’m pretty sure the nuke does happen and they do die but then are immediately reset or something.

Technically Jack sent the other nuke and it was him and Tubbo that fired the nukes so, really they are to blame lol. But anyways, I think whether or not clingy duo’s nuke plan was doomed from the start or whether or not staged duo were planning on killing everyone in the first place, doesn’t really matter or take away from the fact that Tommy was technically being heroic by facing Punz and Dream (the man who haunts his nightmares) to keep them there, knowing he’d die along with them, in order to protect everyone from being murdered….

And yet, still does that mean his pre-nuke death counts as heroism, fulfilling that earlier fate (making it some damn good story telling) - showing us what that Limbo is, or if because it’s too early and the circumstances are more specific around their conversation than the nukes, it doesn’t count?… a good argument for both sides I think. I wonder though whether cc!Tommy planned on that death being like the mirror of the saw trap or not…

[eurydicees]

If you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them?

Thanks if you want to answer.....

yes you can absolutely ask!!! apologies for taking so long to answer!

i honestly am really proud of most of my fics, so it was unexpectedly hard to choose my top ones. but here r my top fics of mine, in order of oldest to newest:

a reflection on being empty, being whole, & being in love (tamakyo)

this was written at a time when i was in particular struggling w my own racial identity, and being able to sort through it via tamaki was super cathartic. i'm really proud of the writing overall, but i'm also just really proud of myself for beginning to put all of my emotions re: race and sexuality into words. it's also part 2 of the first ouran fics i wrote, and the response i got was so overwhelmingly kind that i just had to keep writing for them :)

the path to gold is paves with the bones of the monsters that came before us (sakuatsu, iwaoi)

aaa i love this one. i'm genuinely so proud of it. it was one of those fics that just kinda comes to you and that you have to get out immediately or you'll die. i spent a few days nonstop working on this instead of answering work emails (rip) but 100% worth it. i'm really proud of the character arcs in this story, and, with it being so much about passion and burnout and dreaming, it also just means a lot to me personally.

sutures (iwaoi)

i love the structure of this one, both writing-wise, character-wise, and plot-wise. it's hard to talk about this one, but i think about it sometimes. this was written when i realized i needed a fic like it, and i'm really proud of it.

fragments of moments in which you love him (tamakyo)

another tamakyo one, but a little more experimental. i'm really proud of the way i shaped this narrative, and the way i played with form and structure to do it. i totally forget what the inspiration to write it was, but i'm happy i did.

lifespan of the sparrow, caged versus free (iwaoi)

this one is among the least popular on the list, which like. that's fair. it's tagged with animal death and no one wants to read that. 100% understood. that being said, i'm really proud of this. it was one of the several fics that was entirely handwritten and then typed up later. this one in particular went through a LOT of editing, which isn't something i usually do, so that was an interesting process, but i'm really satisfied with the way it turned out. it's not as personal to me as some of the others on the list, but i do think it's some of the best writing and narratives i've done.

the man who moved oceans to find home and the one who swallowed his raw heart whole (iwaoi)

this one took me more than a year to write, and you can tell lol. it went through so much care and love from the moment i wrote the first scene to the moment it was published. this took everything in me to write, and it kinda got away from me in terms of length, but i'm so proud of what it became. i think it's some of the best character and relationship development/work i've done, and i just think everyone should read it. i'm just so genuinely happy with where this went.

a brief and unofficial history of the stars (tamakyo)

another one completely handwritten! hehe. anyways i really love this one. i'm proud of how beautiful the language became and all the metaphors and i'm really really satisfied with it. i'm also really excited by kyoya's character in this, because so much of it is about him as a person as opposed to him as someone in love with tamaki, which is often what he becomes in my fics. so i'm really proud of that.

to find something holy in the horror of your body (iwaoi)

this one is really personal to my life and experience and gender. everything i feel about gender is so deeply superimposed into this fic that sometimes i think about it and think i just wrote about my experience and called it iwaizumi's life. which is not 100% true, i do think i did well in staying with his character rather than it being a self-insert, but still a lot of this is about what i feel. so this one is incredibly personal. i'm also really excited by the structure of this one; this is a premise i've been playing with for a while, but this is the first way i've figured out how to write it down that works. it's one of two (2) fics that i've ever shown irl people, so that just further confirms how proud i am of it (the other one was the first tamakyo fic on this list lol).

ty for asking! this was such a fun list to make <3

[grasslandgirl]

and fic writing questions! a) are there any motifs you're proud of/happy about/excited about in noble pining atm (like, could be mirrors or swords or vines or objects like that, or something more nebulous, like repeated dialogue or scene descriptors, etc.) and b) what's a challenge or problem you've had a fun time solving while drafting it, or that you're really proud of finding ways to handle? <3

a) so like. I realized far too late into the process of writing noble pining, after I'd realized how horrifyingly Long it was going to be, that I hadn't really anticipated or intentionally put any themes or motifs into it at that point? so as an insane person. I decided on a few themes I wanted to be intentional about that I thought were already present in the text, and like copy pasted relevant quotes I'd already written into a Google doc so I could keep track of them skfjbnskfjbn they kind of intersect, unsurprisingly, and its one of the points on my docket for editing to like. workshop integration and progress of the themes over the course of the story!!!

as for motifs uhhh. I don't really think so ?? not intentionally, anyway, like we could ask my betas uwu and bev if they've noticed any recurring themes or imagery or etc in their readings thus far but uhhh. no. this started as a silly goofy quick idea and then by the time I realized it was going to be the size and scope it was turning into, I had bigger problems ahead of me (like plot) to worry about, so stuff like motifs kind of got shoved by the wayside <//3 (maybe there are unintentional sav-isms?? probably. I'm sure I have common dialogue/scene/setting descriptors and tells that I'm unaware of that are all over this thing sfkjbnsfb)

b) ummm. so disclaimer I finished the first draft of np back in Feb (!! 25 chap 150k!!) and sent it off for beta'ing by the end of that month/beginning of march and um. haven't touched it since? not that I haven't gotten what I'm sure is lovely valuable feedback from my beloved treasured betas I just. haven't had the inclination or the spoons to start editing or working on the second draft of it. YET! I will. eventually. at some point I'll buck up and start on it, which will be the hardest part skfjbnskfjbnsf. so like. there isn't really anything Ive done Yet to be proud of, given that I haven't started editing actually, but I am proud of myself for like. figuring out the plot of it all?? I feel pretty damn good about the beats of the whole thing, which as someone who has NEVER even attempted writing anything this long or involved before was like. a huge impressive step for me! the other longest thing I've written was my d20 big bang fic from back in '21 and like. that was little more than 20k iirc?? and I got so stuck on trying to figure out the plot I wanted or how to make it work that I like. ended the fic BEFORE the plot climax so I didn't have to figure it out. so like. coming up with what I think is a pretty good plot arc and character arcs and individual and group beats and some politics in there and etc etc etc for this au. I'm proud of that <3 I hope when I read my feedback my betas will tell me that it works and that it isn't awful and bad. skfjbnskfjbnskfnj <333

[crypticbeliever123]

Someone who's watched the 2003 TMNT series recently as an adult please tell me, am I really the only one who thinks it's overrated?

Like it has to be nostalgia right?

Utrom Shredder stopped feeling like a real threat in season 2 partly because he stopped having as menacing a presence as season 1 and mostly because he lets Hun and Stockman get away with far too much. Like it's hard to take him seriously when he makes more threats than he carries out.

Karai was barely the Shredder at all even though she got the title sequence for a season and a half even as season 5 was hyping up the tengu Shredder who because he looked, acted, and sounded basically just like the old Shredder but give him mystic powers had the same danger feeling as Ch'rell, to me at least.

Plus I know I've read something about how the Justice Force existing in TMNT is justified by "if the audience can accept talking ninja turtles why not superheroes" but that just brings up the question of WHY THE FUCK DO THE TURTLES EVEN HIDE?! Like Dr. Dome has a see through skull and nobody bats an eye, but the humanoid turtles who interact with homeless folks on the regular who assume they're just REALLY into cosplay, would freak everyone out????

Plus it seems like the first few seasons really liked to save the animation budget with flashback recaps of previous events or felt the need to over explain things that have happened even when every character in the room ALREADY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED. Casey and April's romance is bland and boring but at times I'd almost rather watch an entire series of them instead of hearing the turtles remind us of what we and the other characters in the room already know.

Season 2 also had the annoying habit of having multi-part episodes which is fine if you do one or two 2-parters per season but season 2 had if I recall the 5-part Fugitoid arc and then two separate 2-part arcs for the Triceraton invasion. I had this same issue with the og Justice League series where all but one episode was a multi-parter and just makes the story feel dragged out.

Then there's Stockman who keeps being revived and kept as a brain in a jar for evil science even though HE'S LITERALLY INCOMPETENT AND UNTRUSTWORTHY!!! Why tf do Ch'rell and Bishop keep him around, especially after he backstabbed Ch'rell in the climax of season 1 and caused an entire mutation outbreak in season 4? Just let the megalomaniacal moron rest in fucking peace already!

Also can we just talk about how Hun was the original simp? Like that man was so fucking devoted to Utrom Shredder that even in a dystopian realm where Ch'rell had fused him to Stockman and was literally going to execute him this purple dragon bitch still begged for his master to take him back! Like we get it, Hun, you want to ride the Shredder's alien dick. Good God that man was loyal not to a fault but beyond fault. Never seen a bigger simp in animation before or since I swear.

The turtles don't feel like teenagers except Mikey and it's mostly because of their voices. They all sound like adults.

The garbage man did not need to exist. Most disgusting fatphobic and ableist caricature of villainy I've ever laid eyes on and his episodes are just gross.

Master Splinter calling Yoshi his father in the season 3 finale felt like it came out of nowhere. And I don't recall him calling Yoshi that afterward either.

Splinter knowing Shredder was an Utrom was a stupid retcon and just causes problems like my guy you couldn't have bothered to tell your sons that cutting off the Shredder's head would be pointless? And the Guardians were already canonically in the know in season 1 and didn't think anything of it when Shredder's head came off like "well done Leonardo you definitely killed the Shredder and we have no reason to inspect the body or be concerned whatsoever". The foreshadowing for the Utroms is great in some aspects but it makes retcons and general writing like this feel so stupid.

And lastly and this might just be me but the humor just doesn't hit home for me. It's funny in a way but not always. And the dialogue feels forced or stilted at times. I just don't get the hype and I want to.

This isn't to hate on any fans. I'm just genuinely curious what y'all see in this show that I just don't. Like what you like but please tell me why so I can maybe see the merits of it myself.

Like the main good point I can see is Leo's trauma arc but that's so late in the series it's just...

[madara-fate]

I've been following you for more than 5 years and I really like how you defend Sakura Haruno. But these days you strike me as somebody that tries to hang onto the smallest of characterizations. Boruto is a monthly manga and although it doesn't offer as much dynamism and story as Naruto did, it's to expect not seeing your all time favorite in it if you're a long-time fan of Naruto.

(I'm sending you this ask as a Mitsuki fan. My favorite character has been forgotten and done horribly in favor of Kawaki and I didn't expect this from Kishimoto, the man that created him and wrote a spin-off for him.)

Seeing a previous ask of yours, I don't think is bad to say that there and other characters much more important to the story than Sakura and it's not that bad to say that Sai or Ibiki are currently offering us so much more than her.

I actually have seen it myself and so have many Boruto readers. She's just not needed right now, or, rather, she is, because in this arc Kawaki has needed medical attention (and Naruto too in the past arc) but unfortunately she wasn't drawn in any panel these past 3 years; which is pretty fishy and weird considering Ikemoto shows how important medicine is.

It feels to me like medicine is so important and a key element in Konoha, but Sakura is not. Sakura, who is the head of the Medical Department, who directs the hospital, who is the main doctor or Konoha and who founded the mental health clinic in Konoha and Suna. Sakura is the face of medicine in Boruto (Shizune and Tsunade are retired and with no panels) for goodness sake. So it feels very off and sketchy, like Ikemoto doesn't like her...?

I saw you saying that you wouldn't bother to elaborate and keep saying that "Sakura is still working in the hospital" or "A hospital always has patients", etc. I agree with you, but that doesn't tell me anything as a reader. Why would I need to keep telling people that Sakura is important when, in fact, she as an individual is given the worst treatment in the manga? The hospital is important, I reiterate that, and your words of "a hospital always has patients", but if the patients are in the hospital in the manga and Sakura isn't in the scene, then what's the point? It's so frustrating that her job is more important than her as the worker.

I remember an ask saying "who is more important in Boruto Ino or Sakura" and you answered Sakura. I agree with that too, in my opinion a village can't survive or thrive without medical treatment to keep it healthy and ready to do missions. But at the same time, I feel discouraged because it's so obvious in the manga that Ino is very much more important and Ikemoto always has something to do for her, even if it's replacing phones or giving her the sensing role that her family never had. That's how you use a character in my opinion, her family was never leading the Sensing Unit but she was given that to write her in the manga and give her importance.

Sakura...it's not like she's useless or unimportant or anything, she's not. She's probably in her house tending her housewife activities or maybe in her hospital office. She's just gone when Kawaki, Boruto and others need her. It's so stupid. They don't draw her there when it's so freaking clear she is needed.

Sakura can do much more than just heal a few people. She can use her knowledge of things, her scientist side, her experience, she can fight, she can go on missions...

I see the importance of Ibiki above hers in a lot of chapters. Ibiki was working with Sai in interrogating members of Kara and the claw marks, besides, he was there when Kawaki and Boruto came back from their fight.

I see the importance of Sai above hers in a lot of chapters. Sai is always with Shikamaru and Naruto, even when I feel like the ANBU really is useless (there are no members now that I think about it). He was also there when Boruto and Kawaki came back from their fight.

I think it all translates into "who is drawn each chapter", "who knows about what is going on in Konoha" and even "who are the five exclusive people who know about that's going on". Sady, Sakura doesn't fit in any of the 3 and hasn't fitted since Kurama passed away and the Rinnegan was destroyed. And I seriously don't understand why.

Sakura is gone since chapter 44 and where currently on the way to chapter 76. That's almost half of the story, it's nuts.

I see Sumire and Katasuke talking about medical procedures and prosthetics and I feel like they put them there to avoid putting Sakura.

I think the writer hates Sakura, hates Mitsuki and doesn't even know what to do with Sarada. But the Sakura hate boner is obvious.

Okay, please listen, because I really meant it when I said I was tired of this topic.

But these days you strike me as somebody that tries to hang onto the smallest of characterizations.

I'm not hanging onto anything, it's other people who are hanging onto the original Naruto series and acting as though Sakura should have anywhere near the same plot significance that she once did. All I'm doing, is acknowledging the fact that she's not a main character anymore, and therefore, the fact that other characters sometimes have more plot significance than her is not a noteworthy observation, nor is it something to hate on the authors about. Sakura is a side character now, and the sooner people learn to wholeheartedly acknowledge that fact, the better.

My favorite character has been forgotten and done horribly in favor of Kawaki and I didn't expect this from Kishimoto

Mitsuki has not been forgotten about, he's still part of the series. But have you forgotten the fact that the very first scene of Boruto centred on Boruto and Kawaki? Kawaki's plot significance in the series was shown from the very beginning of the very first chapter, so I really don't know why people constantly act as though he usurped Mitsuki or Sarada's place, or as though his major role in the plot came out of nowhere, because it was foreshadowed from the very beginning of the series.

Seeing a previous ask of yours, I don't think is bad to say that there and other characters much more important to the story than Sakura and it's not that bad to say that Sai or Ibiki are currently offering us so much more than her.

Saying that Sai or fucking Ibiki is generally more important than Sakura (because that is what those people were saying), is silly. The mere fact that Sakura is not playing much of a role in this current arc, does not negate her overall importance to the plot. I'm sorry for my bluntness Anon, but at this point my tolerance for this topic has completely gone and I'm left with nothing but irritation.

I saw you saying that you wouldn't bother to elaborate and keep saying that "Sakura is still working in the hospital" or "A hospital always has patients", etc. I agree with you, but that doesn't tell me anything as a reader. Why would I need to keep telling people that Sakura is important when, in fact, she as an individual is given the worst treatment in the manga? The hospital is important, I reiterate that, and your words of "a hospital always has patients", but if the patients are in the hospital in the manga and Sakura isn't in the scene, then what's the point? It's so frustrating that her job is more important than her as the worker.

Here's the bottom line Anon - If you think that Sakura should be featured more in the story, then fair enough. I also wish she was featured more, and l've never said otherwise. The only issue I've ever had, is when people make ridiculous comments like how Sakura is now "irrelevant" because she's not featured as much as X, Y and Z in this current arc. And how Sarada has now been "replaced" by Kawaki despite the fact that she most definitely hasn't. People are constantly making these asinine and untrue claims, and blowing things way out of proportion because apparently, Sarada and Sakura have to be front and centre at all times, and if they're not, then they're either irrelevant to the plot, or they've been replaced by those who are.

People are constantly hounding me, acting as though I myself don't want Sakura to be more involved, when I've never said this. Of course I want her to be more involved - I've said a plethora of times, how much I want them to bring back the topic of finding out the origins of the Byakugou Seal, because I feel that could be a very interesting arc. However, all I've said on the matter, is that Sakura's currently limited involvement does not equate to her plot significance suddenly vanishing, and I really wish people would stop jumping to conclusions on this topic, because it really is fucking annoying.

Sakura...it's not like she's useless or unimportant or anything, she's not.

That is literally all I've said. That has literally been my point every single time people have brought this topic to my attention. So I'd really appreciate it if you and everyone else could please stop sending me asks on this and acting as though I don't think that Sakura has had a disappointingly small role in Boruto so far, because that's not true at all. She has had a disappointingly small role, I've said this multiple times. However, when people like yourself jump to conclusions such as how the author must "obviously" hate Sakura and Mitsuki, just because they're not appearing as much as you'd like them to, then yes there's a problem there, and the mere fact that I'd probably also have to explain why, already makes me not want to elaborate, because honestly the answer should be obvious.

[fireolin]

Hi! How are you? I hope you're doing well.

I re-read The Wishing Hunt and I was amazed! You are really doing an incredible work! The fact that you're writing it on the go and depending on the votes to know how the plot may change is... wow! It's not easy, I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must be! When reading it on one go, it seems really well-planned. Truly, everything —the writing, the characterization, the relationship, the plot, the world-building, the so many winks to canon and more— is soooo but sooooo well done, and to think you started it a couple years ago!

I'm enjoying it a lot, and I'm so looking forward to read how the story develops. I just wanted to come by and tell you this, but I'll try to write a more detailed comment next time in ao3 (so many things to say). Thank you so much for writing such an engaging story!

Thank you so much for this incredibly kind comment. It's just so good to hear you enjoyed reading the entire thing again, and especially that it's all hanging together, lol. I won't lie, you're right that writing this isn't easy (but writing usually isn't for me, unless it's something quick and spontaneous). I'm tracking the plot events and emotional arcs through a spreadsheet with columns for each aspect, so I don't rely only on my memory. It's harder now because more of the plot is set in stone and drawing to resolutions rather than being open to spontaneous branching. (If I let it keep branching, it will never conclude - although it's the kind of story and world that could keep going if I wanted.)

I'm still loving the world and every chapter pulls me in as I write. My process takes a few passes, and by the end I feel I've 'discovered' that chapter, while at the start, sometimes I have no clue myself how it's going to work out, only faith that it will.

Even for characters that have smaller roles, I often need to sketch a back story so I can get to know them and write them in a way that works for me. A lot of that never makes it into the fic, but it adds to my sense of the world.

It means so much to know you're still enjoying this after two years, with my updates that are spread weeks apart. It's a labour of love for me, but I'm not sure how I'd keep going without the kind of encouragement you and others provide. It really makes a difference and motivates me, letting me know the effort is worthwhile.

Thank you again so very much for being kind enough to send this message!

[dyonisia96]

For the "Yet another writing ask" list: 5, 10, 11, 25, 40

5. What's a tag you never want to use for your works even when it applies?

Character death? I don't know, I understand wanting to use it, and I have, I do indicate when that happens, but I'm not a superfan of those tags that tell you something that important in the story, it can ruin some of the emotional impact.

10. Top three favourite fic tropes.

OhhhH. Hm. I think I love when there's an accidental chaotic child acquisition - *clears throat* Seven and Ace. I also love when closed off characters finally open up or show a different, softer side of themselves. And I love stories that deal with mind stuff, may it be telepathy, hypnotism, dreams or altered states of consciousness and exploring mindscapes.

11. Three tropes that are fine but overrated.

Uh. Redemption arcs. I do love redemption arcs, but the more they are used, the iffier they get. Let characters own their ruthlessness. I think most people misunderstand what a redemption arc is and think that a couple of tears mean that all the bad things a character has done before are forgiven. Nope. XD It really depends on circumstance, and I think a redemption arc works only if a character hasn't crossed a certain ethical death horizon.

Romance. Most romances bore me, maybe because I'm mostly aromantic, who knows. But I have very low tolerance for them. They rarely interest me, but when they do, it's lovely and I admire the authors for doing something that was able to give me some emotions. I guess the problem resides more in using always the same tropes, I have found non conventional straight romances and queer romances a lot more interesting than what's presented in many other contexts.

Memory Loss. I freaking hate memory loss XD In most of the cases either way, it always depends on the story. But when I as a reader know the truth and the characters don't, it makes me go insane and I'm too angy to enjoy the story XD

25. Is writing the whole thing beforehand better or worse than writing it as you go?

I don't know if you mean this plot wise, but... I often have an outline, a very clear idea that I let coalesce in my mind. If I have a longer, more complex story, I will have to write down some things. However, I leave a lot of room for change and I try to stick to a very basic plot, that will still allow me to come up with a lot of things while I'm doing the writing itself. It's the only way to keep myself engaged in the moment and tell myself a story.

40. Write a 9-word fic.

Brevity isn't always everything, he wrote. I prefer to-

Thank you for the asks these are so much fun!