#his plan A was being able to leech off Yuu and his plan B was probably just freezing outside

[celestiaxoxo]

Biblically accurate Ace after being collared by Riddle in the first book trying to get Yuu to let him in Ramshackle

[tsukikoayanosuke]

Letting Out All My Feelings About Leona's Extended Arc (The Rebel of the Wilderness and Break & Gosh)

I think I'm going to think hard and reflect on why Break & Gosh is way harder to write than Jonah Argentum's Declassified Boarding School Survival Guide.

I blame Leona for this.

(I'll be referring the canon plot as Heartslabyul Arc and Savanaclaw Arc while the fanfic adaptation as The Crimson Tyrant and The Rebel of the Wilderness)

Because this is long, I’ll be cutting it here.

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WHY FILLER ARC?

I guess we can start with why I write filler arc. In the beginning, it served as a bridge between two canon arcs and a way to even my chapter count so it can end at 5 and starts with 6, or end with 0 and start with 1. It actually helps me in editing.

The Crimson Tyrant has 20 episodes (the arc ended in chapter 35), so technically I don't need a filler Arc, but I need to write something to bridge it with The Rebel of the Wilderness, thus 5 episodes of JADBSSG was made.

The Rebel of the Wilderness has 22 episodes (ending in chapter 62), so I have to make 3 or 8 filler chapters to even everything out. That was the original plan. However, B&G ended up having 15 chapters. So, I could either add another 3 chapters or take away 2. Unfortunately, I can't. Which brings us to the next point. 

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THAT ONE OVERBLOT PROBLEM

I've complained many times how I dislike the pacing of The Rebel of the Wilderness and I have issues with Savanaclaw Arc, especially during the ending. I know some people think, especially after Scarabia Arc, that Ruggie should've been the one who overblotted. During the story, it was Ruggie who used magic the most, not Leona. But instead, it was Leona, who only used his magic once a time in the whole arc, who overblotted.

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Let's look at the other victim overusing their magic before their overblot:

Riddle: We've seen him using [Off With Your Head] a lot across three arcs (prologue, Heartslabyul, and Savanaclaw). We've seen him collared Grim, Ace, Deuce, and nearly all the entire students.

Azul: He made deals with more than 200 students in Octavinelle Arc alone, including MC themselves. And during his breakdown he overused his magic to steal all the student's power without his contract, implying that he extend his power even more.

Jamil: Counting how many times Kalim's mood swings went and how he hypnotized MC, Azul, and Scarabia students. While we don't see this much, but it's safe to say that Jamil overused his power too.

Can I also added that these three characters had been doing this for a long time, way before the canon story start?

As a bonus, let's look at Ruggie:

We were shown how the incidents happened, we knew how many victims, we saw the stampede, we saw Ruggie drank an amplifier to raised his magic. It's safe to say that Ruggie used his magic a lot.

Compare all four with Leona, who only uses his [King’s Roar] once in the whole arc. You can see how disappointed some fans are for the lack of magic usage.

You can argue that his power is a One Turn Kill type, but that would imply that he overused his magic in one turn. Leona, being one of the oldest students in the student roster, can't control his magic in one attack? Sounds unlikely.

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But, I remember I had a conversation with that negative emotion also causes overblot. And I agree with this. However, I added that negative emotion and overusing power go hand-in-hand.

Riddle anger at Ace's speech and protest of not following the rule. What happened after that was Riddle collating every Heartslabyul student.

Azul, who is frustrated when Leona ruined his contract, in a desperate measure, stole every power of the students there.

Jamil and his jealousy with Kalim and how kept holding back his true potential before breaking down and hypnotized everyone into his slave.

Leona had been frustrated with being compared to Farena and his failed plan to eliminate Diasomnia, leading him to unleash his unique magic for the first time.

Even Ruggie. He had the potential to fell into despair. Leona kept raising his hope that this Magishift might be his chance to go to the big league, only for that hope to be crushed when Leona gave up. If the creator wants, they could make Ruggie suddenly unleash his power and attacking everyone for being betrayed.

While, yes, I do feel Leona's negative emotions have stronger reasoning, but Ruggie also had a reason to fall into despair and had high usage of magic than Leona. He was the perfect candidate for overblot.

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Why am I explaining this thing that all of you probably had known? Because, during The Rebel of the Wilderness, I kept trying to slip in every little chance for Leona to use his unique magic. Which mean, The Rebel of the Wilderness has more battle scene than The Crimson Tyrant.

In the end, I managed to slip in [King's Roar] in four accidents:

The sudden sandstorm during the flight practice (not a battle scene)

Jonah vs Leona one-sided Magishift

The stampede

Pre-Overblot battle

This is still considered little compare to what Ruggie did offscreen, but this is enough for the reader to know at least Leona uses his magic before the big overblot battle.

I'm not done yet!

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EARN YOUR "HAPPY" ENDING

Once we're done with that overblot problem, we have to talk about the whole aftermath. Because this ending is the main reason we have pacing issues.

First, let's look at Heartslabyul Arc. After Riddle's overblot and Ace demanded a Revenge Unbirthday, Riddle was shown to be taken to the infirmary by Trey. A few days later, the Revenge Birthday Party happened.

See this? There's a small few days gap between the overblot incident and the finale for the kids to recover and to think about his action, even have time for Riddle making that salty tart.

Now let's see Savanaclaw Arc. After Leona overblot, Crowley wanted to disqualify Savanaclaw from the match, but the Victim Club requested to keep the team. The Magishift then happened, Yuu got hit with a disk, wine up in the infirmary, and met Cheka.

You see something? The ending of Savanaclaw Arc happened on the same day of the overblot sequence. Which means, these kids didn't get a chance to rest. Leona never had a chance to think about the action. Ruggie didn't get help for his scar from Leona's power. And overall you basically overworked these kids!

You can argue that these kids are tough, but are you also saying that it's okay for Ruggie, who was threatened to turn into sand, to not get help? For Leona to take a break after overbloting?

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Can I also add that Leona flashback felt so rushed? Let's see the others' overblot flashback:

Riddle's flashback has five scenes in between monologues (1-28):

His birthday

Him studying with his mother

Meeting Trey and Chenya

Little kids’ strawberry tart discussion

His mom got angry.

Azul's flashback has four scenes in between monologues (3-34):

Two bullying scenes

First meeting with Floyd and Jade

Azul revealing his unique magic for the first time.

Jamil has the most with six scenes and probably more if you count every Kalim’s appearance in there (4-36):

Jamil got scolded for denying Kalim's request

Jamil's parent telling him to purposely hold back

Kamil kept "winning" in a few scenes

Kalim being chosen as the Scarabia Prefect and Jamil discussing this with Crowley

Two scenes of Kalim trusting Jamil

As for Leona (2-27):

The servant talking behind his back

Leona and Farena's argument.

Two. Leona has two flashback scenes. Leona flashback has more "tell" than "show"! Not to mention, this flashback only happens half of the episode! The other half was the overblot aftermath when Crowley was about to disqualify Savanaclaw Team. Why are they holding back? Why they only give so little about Leona's childhood?

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THE REBEL OF THE WILDERNESS PACING ISSUE

Because of me trying to add more of Leona using the power and fixing the ending, The Rebel of the Wilderness experienced more changes in its structure. I kept on cutting chapter into two and adding battles in the middle of the plot, and, for those who read my adaptation, the ending of The Rebel of the Wilderness is completely different from Savanaclaw Arc. Compare to Savanaclaw Arc's happy ending, The Rebel of the Wilderness can be considered as a bad ending. Leona wasn't able to join in the Magishift because he was unconscious post-overblot, so he could only watch the match from TV/magic mirror. Ruggie, who was spared from disintegrating, lead the team but still lose. And this is the last time we see Jonah with both of his real hand. Also, instead of Cheka, Farena was the one who talked to Leona, and it ended up with both of them arguing. Overall, it was a downer ending.

Another reason why this was hard to adapt was that I kept messing around the scenes to make the plot flow better.

This is the order of event in Savanaclaw Arc:

Cafeteria incident with Ruggie stealing Grim's sandwich

Overblot + Magishift explanation

Prefect Meeting regarding Magishift + first incidents

The Ramshackle Ghost introducing to Grim on how to play Magishift

Crowley asking Grim and MC on investigating the incidents

Heartslabyul + Pomefiore interview

Visiting Trey + teaming up with Heartslbyul squad

Scouting Rook, the Leech twin, and Jack

Magishift mock battle versus Leona

Malleus' first introduction

Interviewing Jamil and Kalim

Ruggie chase

Teamed up with Jack

The stampede

Pre-overblot battle

Overblot battle + Leona's flashback

The Victim Club stopping Crowley from disqualifying Savanaclaw

Magishift battle

Cheka’s appearance in the infirmary

Grim eating more rock

Mickey’s appearance

And these are the exact scenes what happened in The Rebel of the Wilderness (also in JADBSSG and B&G):

Overblot + Magishift explanation (Chapter 36 & 39 of JADBSSG)

Prefect Meeting regarding Magishift + first incidents (the first chapter in The Rebel of the Wilderness)

Cafeteria incident with Ruggie stealing Grim's sandwich

Visiting Trey + teaming up with Heartslbyul squad

Crowley asking Grim and MC on investigating the incidents

Heartslabyul + Pomefiore interview

Scouting Rook, the Leech twin, and Jack

Magishift mock battle vs Leona

Malleus' first introduction

Interviewing Jamil and Kalim

Ruggie chase

Teamed up with Jack

The Victim Club stopping Crowley from disqualifying Savanaclaw

The stampede

Pre-overblot battle

Overblot battle + Leona's flashback

Cheka’s appearance in the infirmary (last chapter in The Rebel of the Wilderness)

Mickey’s appearance (Chapter 64 of B&G)

Grim eating more rock (Chapter 67 of B&G)

The Ramshackle Ghost introducing to Grim on how to play Magishift (CHapter 74 chapter of B&G)

Magishift battle (last chapter in B&G)

This also doesn't count the small changes in them, like how the Magishift mock battle happened or Farena's appearance.

However, with me changing these scene order, plus the built-up relationship in previous chapters, many reasoning that happened in this Arc change from canon:

Crowley's explanation about the overblot came way earlier than canon because I feel like this is a very important thing so he could delay from telling them. We don't know how long between Heartslabyul Arc and Savanaclaw Arc, but I assume it was weeks after the Heartslabyul Finale. What's the delay Crowley

Instead of hearing this from Crowley, Jonah hears about the Magishift from Riddle to further their relationship post-oveblot. Not only that, here Jonah was invited to the Prefect Meeting unlike in the canon.

Speaking of Prefect Meeting, I have two instead of one. The first one to establish Jonah equal position as Prefect with the others and to set up of Azul being the Magishift head committee, while the second went just like canon but with Jonah/MC attending that.

In Savanaclaw Arc, Crowley asked the MC to investigate. MC and Grim interviewed the Heartslabyul and Pomefiore victims first before hearing that Trey got injured and teamed up with the Heartslabyul squad. However, in the fanfic adaptation, Jonah and Grim heard about Trey's fall first then meeting Crowley about the investigation along with Riddle. By switching these, it felt like Riddle was the one having the idea to do the investigation instead if Crowley thrusting the responsibility to MC. I just want to show how Riddle had grown into a more caring good friend since he's taking the matter more personally as Trey's childhood friend first before his prefect responsibilities.

Not technically a change in scene orders, but because Jonah has a closer relationship to the Octavinelle Trio rather than the MC, the way the trio acts here were different from canon. Most notably, was the Azul declined to help Leona, forcing Leona to use his Unique Magic to caused confusion in the parade and letting Ruggie control fewer people without an amplifier.

The appearance of the Victim Club to Crowley happened off-screen but presented in a flashback instead of at the end of the Overblot battle because you know how much changes happen beyond that.

Both the Magishift practice and the actual match happens in the filler Arc instead of in the main arc, mostly because I want this to happen when everything is more stable between Leona and Jonah.

So many reasoning, but all of them are connected to Break & Gosh

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WHEN YOU REALIZED YOUR FILLER ARC IS NOT TECHNICALLY A FILLER

According to TV Trope (my source of knowledge), filler episodes are entries in a generally continuous serial that are unrelated to the main plot, don't significantly alter the relations between the characters, and generally serve only to take up space. This could be considered Padding (the addition of scenes to lengthen a story) applied to a whole franchise by creating a brand new episode.

I call JADBSSG and B&G as 'filler arc' is because it's original from me to fill the time gap between the main arc for a reasonable pace. However, I also realized that nearly all of my filler episodes have some purpose for the plot with important plot points that it's impossible to take them out.

This includes:

Overblot explanation (36)

Magishift explanation (39)

Monstro Lounge's 'Sunday Supreme' program (40)

Jonah's new arm (63-64)

Jonah's inability to drink potions (63)

Jonah's birthday (70)

An explanation for Ruggie's loyalty (65)

Leona's therapy (72-73)

Leona's past (72-73)

Ruggie's past (65, 73)

Magic System explanation (75)

Magishift gameplay (74)

Hints about whatever Crowley had been doing with the overblot news (65, 66, 74)

Ramshackle lore (74)

Disney movies dreams (64, 66)

Not only that, some filler episode Mark's the first time characters ever interact with each other:

Jonah and Epel (38)

The Board Game Club (37, 69, 70)

Ace-Deuce and Silver-Lilia (63)

Lilia with the Golden Trio (63, 67)

Heartslabyul and Octavinelle (75, 76)

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However, this is even harder during B&G rather than JADBSSG and not only because B&G is trice the length of JADBSSG.

In JADBSSG, while it may be just a collection of one-shots, but there are some chapters that are connected with each other, which are 37, 39, and 40. Meanwhile, chapter 36 and 38 can stand on their own. So, I can actually change those two chapters in whatever order I can or even slip it in between the three-chapters, but I can't rearrange those three main.

However, you can't do this with B&G. You can't take away a chapter in B&G without making it awkward in the flow. Each chapter in B&G is connected in that certain order. You can't have Leona's Therapy (72-73) at the beginning of the Arc, because we need to address the Overblot aftermath damage (63-66) The Halloween chapters (67-71) can't happen after the Magishift Rematch (74-77), because we need Jonah and Leona to mend their relationship first in the therapy. You see, what I mean?

Heck, I can even consider B&G is part of The Rebel of the Wilderness because we haven't got that therapy and Magishift match until the end of the filler arc.

But in the end, I can't delete both filler arc because both of them have important plot points that will affect the main arc.

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END OF RAMBLING

Writing Break & Gosh was an experience. It was my first time writing sports scenes, but you can also call this the first time writing a full-fledge Arc. I'm still salty about my update schedule and how I kept changing the arc length, but it was certainly something. And despite all my rambling and nitpicking, I still like Break & Gosh.

The next filler arc is probably more lighthearted than Break & Gosh, probably in the same tone as Jonah Argentum's Declassified Boarding School Survival Guide, since it will be a Christmas special but also mark the point where I fully diverge in canon (related to Scarabia Arc, Happy Beans Day, and Fairy Gala). The Merchant of the Deep Sea will be the last time I'll follow canon in terms of the timeline.

I also want to say thank you to all who still sticking around after that mess of an arc. I tried my best to give Leona the therapy he deserved, but I'm still not sure whether I succeed or not. I'll let you decide whether this is a good arc or not.

Also while you at it, with filler arc you like better? Jonah Argentum's Declassified Boarding School Survival Guide or Break & Gosh? And which episode from the arc you like the best?