#me: i don't care for shonen couples

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Morally Questionable Anime Milfs Submission Form

No mommy's perfect.

Welcome to the morally questionable anime milfs competition, where we pit hot moms who have made controversial choices against one another.

Fictional characters only please.

The term ‘anime’ is used loosely for simplicity’s sake. Manga, visual novels, manhua, manhwa, donghua, etc. are also allowed. If you have a question about a specific character, just ask. Or go ahead and submit them anyway, and if I don’t feel they fit, I just won’t include them.

Y'all know what milf means. I don't think I need to explain that one. Do feel free to tell me about your milf's sexiest qualities though.

Not limited to biological mothers—as long as the character fills a maternal role, it's fine.

This is NOT the place to submit outright abusive mothers (towards children, at least). The mom must genuinely care about their kid(s)/charge(s) and be someone who is not intentionally malicious. I would say it is alright to submit a 'bad mom with good intentions' who is trying their best, but still messing up, or a character that is a very good mother, but who's moral ambiguity arises from reasons Beyond their parenting. Example being the 'villain who's an excellent parent' trope. Just explain your reasoning to me, and I'll use my own discretion if I feel the character crosses a line.

I have not yet decided the bracket size, and will do so once I see the final submission count.

Some level of horniness in the propaganda is expected, but I will urge you guys try and keep things at a PG-13 level. Here's everyone's advisory notice now: Don't follow this particular competition if this type of content makes you uncomfortable.

Poll propaganda can be submitted through the ask box, replied directly on poll posts, or made as separate posts and then tagged with the blog name. Just be sure to keep things civil.

I'll keep the form open until June 15th. Have at it!

Other poll blog tags under cut:

@ultimate-anime-tournament @pinkhairswagtourney @canonmisogynyvictimstournament @gayelderstourney @generic-anime-boy-bracket @fuckablemeowmeowbattle @moon-swag-tourney @animemusicbrackets @best-transgender-character @bisexualdivorceebattle @irritable-bowel-showdown @gentle-giant-swag @transandautisticswagcompetition @transgenderswagincartoons @victimsofyaoipoll @tummy-troubles-tourney @chuunibyou-showdown @ocd-character-polls @tournament-winners-tournament @found-family-tournament @christ-figure-bracket @headachebattle @rock-swag-tournament @bestshipsmackdown @queerprotagonistshowdown @titular-twins-tournament @character-of-all-time @white-boy-bracket @ultimate-poll-tournament @autismswagsummit @transgenderautisticbracket @fuckable-old-man-battle @beefy-babe-showdown @cringefaillosersummit @homoerotic-shonen-rival-showdown @autisticgirliesbracket @emoboybattle @miku-figures-tournament @best-book-siblings @toxicoldmenyaoi @serialadoptersbracket @actually-insane-blorbo-bracket @gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat @characterswithgodsnamesbattle @most-tragic-character-tournament @toxicyuribracket @big-brother-battle-bracket @toxic-yaoi-tournament @gayest-classiclit @foreheadfaceoff @annoyingblondebracket @badass-queer-couples-battle @yuribracket @blond-jerk-tourney @tournament-announcer @whoishotteranimepolls @do-you-ship-it-polls

[gojuo]

Is satosugu a queerbaiting ship?

Yes and no. No, it's not queerbaiting in canon because Gege is not writing anything romantic in their relationship; Yes, it's queerbaiting coming from the fandom because the majority of stsg shippers are genuinely convinced there's something romantic between them in canon, and fandom is what a fan engages in way more than just canon therefore people get brainwashed/gaslighted into thinking stsg is meant to be canon.

Theories you read? That's fandom. Art you reblog? Fandom. Memes you consume and regurgitate? Fandom. Sending me asks about JJK? You're engaging in fandom. When you only—and I really mean only—read the manga and do not engage in any other aspect of JJK in online spaces, then you are not engaging in fandom therefore you have no stsg shippers forcing their headcanons down your throat and manipulating you into believing that shit. However... not engaging in fandom really isn't the reality for most JJK fans ... and because the majority of the JJK fandom are stsg shippers ... and because the majority of stsg shippers are truly convinced Gege wrote those two with a romantic dynamic ... people start to think there's actual romance happening and therefore he's queerbaiting bc "Gege will never have the balls to make stsg canon so he just sprinkles in random hints bc he's being censored by homophobic Shueisha!!!!" even though JJK has a lgbt couple and openly trans character like ... Lmfao.

The answer is no, there's no queerbaiting going on because there is no romance between stsg happening. Neither Gege nor his editors have never insinuated anything of the sort, nor have the voice actors, or anyone from the animation team. In canon, Gojo and Geto's relationship has only ever been portrayed as platonic. Any stsg cope that their friendship is secretly romantic is manipulative gaslighting. They keep twisting facts to suit their narrative and it's so annoying. "My one and only" is not romantic, the line before that is literally "My best friend"; "My soul knows otherwise" is not romantic, Gege said in the fanbook it's about the way Kenjaku's CT interacts with Gojo's Six Eyes; "Geto is the only deep bond Gojo has with a person" Literally a lie but this is also because of the age-old issue of Shonen writers' misogyny.

The biggest and greatest example of this issue is what Kishimoto did with Naruto/Sasuke/Sakura. To keep it short, Kishimoto, self-described as "I don't know how to write women", put all his effort into developing both Naruto and Sasuke as independent characters, their dynamic with each other, their relevance to the plot, their narrative arcs, etc. etc. and Sakura? She was just ... there. Not saying she was a nothingburger character but the gap between Naruto & Sasuke vs Sakura was considerably evident. And what happened when Kishimoto gave way more depth to the two guys in the trio over the girl? Mass shipping and delusional nrss is canon takes and egg hunts everywhere, even though it was clearcut that nrss was nothing but platonic. It's the same story with Gojo/Geto/Shoko (she literally disappears during HI like fuck you Gege), and the same story with Yuuji/Megumi/Nobara. Hell, I'd even go as far as to say it's the same with the Special Grades: Gojo/Geto/Yuuta/Tsukumo. There's a big disparity between character work for Gojo, Geto & Yuuta vs Tsukumo.

Gege might not make his female characters do fanservice like panty shots, unreasonably big tits, mad sexualization, KYAAHHH!!!, etc. all the time but that don't mean he's above being misogynistic to his female cast .

Gege did a lot of character work for both Gojo and Geto in HI which led up to the iconic Kenjaku reveal moment in Shibuya arc. Great. None of that shit was romantic in any way though. Had he given Shoko the same care and love he's given to the boys, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. Because that would mean that the fujos would have to engage with her character and her dynamic with other characters in a meaningful way. Alas... that didn't happen because Gege said this is a sausage fest.

Now, all this doesn't mean that you can't ship stsg. It just means that stsg is not a canon ship, Gege is not being censored so he can't "confirm their love", it means that in canon there is no romantic love between those two and there never has been. But you can still ship it, though. Hell, I ship TojiGo! Literally negative romance there in canon obviously, but that won't stop me because exploring character dynamics outside of the confines of canon and the what-ifs is what shipping is all about! (Majority) stsg shippers are just annoying as fuck because they genuinely believe their ship is canon, try to force their headcanons and misinterpretations of the material down everyone's throats, and send death threats to anyone who dares to ship Gojo with literally anyone else. And then gaslight the part of the fandom that isn't into shipping culture so bad that people start to think this fujo ship is queerbaiting. Goddamn.

[buttercupshands]

So I've read ch 421 spoilers

It's a mess. I've been really patient with final arc even though I disliked some of the stuff happening enough for me to dissappear for a year or so.

Even if I dislike AFOmura with passion, at the start he was interesting to really explore how the quirk singularity was supposed to work. Without any "new being" sadly, I was curious what would happen and yet... Nothing.

Okay then what about Toga, Dabi and Spinner? What about their battles? Nothing really

Dabi was the most enjoyable of what was left of LoV with Toga close second. But they're both basically dead at this point. Spinner just existed for a couple of chapters, talked and then poof mission completed nothing else needed of him.

Toga's final chapter is still satisfying, it was similar to Jin's final chapter in a way.

Well what about the new chapter? Nothing

Tomura after 419 had basically become a background noise, maybe he'll come back one day. But not in this chapter.

This chapter is basically AFO talking like him losing Yoichi isn't something that happened 100 years ago. Are we supposed to care that he's sad and doesn't feel anything?

AFO trying to use his "tragedies" like he'll suddenly get a character development from it is just annoying.

Tomura's body in AFO's control now looks even more like a corpse rather than a normal body. Just let him die amd take his body with him if you don't want Tomura to live anymore. I don't care how sad AFO might be from suddenly understanding that his goal is hollow. About time

And now. Getting help in the finale of any arc is honestly something a person reading Shonen manga would expect and it's like a norm rather than an exception.

Except... Izuku is literally quirkless again. What can he really do now? No one really knows that he just decided to throw everything away just for the "crying child that needs saving". People already voiced how dumb that was and yet here we are with "crying child" saved, hands restored, but now there's no way to defeat AFO again.

And the worst thing is is that I actually tried to think about the arc and Izuku's role in it as something good for a long time and it didn't pay off at all.

I still like how he's paying attention to the fact that it's an All-Might merch, but sadly that means he doesn't pay needed attention to what he's going to do now and no one is actually capable of helping him in the moment.

It might as well end in "everyone believes that it'll be okay!" and stuff and that's it. That's all we'll get.

And I'm just lost at what to even look forward to in this finale. But maybe when it'll come out in a volume format I'll understand it better like I did with Izuku leaving UA arc. I basically just skipped it, looking at the leaks sometimes and only after it was finished I read it, two years after it came out I didn't bother watching anime version until this winter.

In the end all we can do is just wait and see, I'll still be doing sketches and stuff, but for now it's really not great or even just good.

(it still looks good tho, since Horikoshi is still Horikoshi)

[wavytam]

nowadays I wish Oda would stop Sanji's Nami mania if he doesn't want them to be canon. In the beginning his simping scenes were funny but the manga ends soon and this ship still just a joke. tbh I don't understand why Oda so afraid of romance. SaNa remind me Sango and Miroku from Inuyasha. he was a big playboy but in the end he only loved Sango. Shonen and couples totally normal.

Hello, anon, I feel you. SaNami holds a very special place in my heart and I think they have great potential as a couple (they will always be my number one ship) but sometimes I try to understand what exactly Oda is doing with them.

We can clearly see that Sanji does see Nami differently, like Miroku did with Sango (I also watched Inuyasha, and I loved them together).

The major problem will always be how Oda stated he does not want romance amongst the crew - which to some extent I understand, he does not want to shift the dynamic amongst the Strawhats (romance always makes people focus on the couple rather than the rest of the group) - but it annoys me to no end how, even if he says all of that, Oda still makes Sanji walk an extra mile for Nami.

If he intends to make another ship with them canon in the end, why write Sanji's interaction towards Nami the way he does?

Don't get me wrong, I love it when Sanji defends Nami, cares about her, and is really kind to her (she deserves that) - but if Oda is making all of this, because he wants Sanji to go through some type of heartbreak (or because he thinks it's funny, even after all these years) I think it would be better if he just stopped with Sanji's favoritism over Nami and make the cook move on, for his own good and hers too.

Obviously, Oda doesn't need to make Sanji stop being kind to her - I doubt he cares for Nami expecting something in return (see Pudding, for example, who he didn't stop being kind towards even after everything she said about him) - but Sanji can threat Nami well and still be with someone who loves him as much as he would love that someone (and doesn't humiliate him like other characters already did).

So, yeah, anon, I get you, and I am also tired. I will continue to ship them because I do think this ship has potential, and I think that both characters would be extremely happy with the other, but if Oda does not want them to be together at the end, I say: just make Sanji move on from Nami and make them end up with good love interests.

Sanji can still treat Nami well, with love and affection, just like he does with every woman, and still have a happy ending with a loving partner.

[theinternetisaweboflies]

Fashion is a Form of Ugliness so Intolerable that We Have to Alter it Every Six Months

Teru didn't have a couch, despite the rest of his furniture being Western in style, so when Shigeo came over they had to sit on the bed. They were lying side by side on their stomachs, reading the latest issue Shonen Jump, and relaxing after a busy day at the shopping arcade. The silence between them was almost comfortable.

They hadn't hung out much since what happened in February. Most of their time together was predicated upon Teru accidentally bumping into Shigeo, but that hadn't happened in a while. Not even when Shigeo made detours past his apartment, and Black Vinegar, and the Awakening Lab.

He was worried that Teru didn't want to spend time with him anymore, but Shigeo had finally screwed up his courage and texted first.

Teru had agreed immediately, and enthusiastically if the number of kaomojis was anything to go by.

They met at Takenoko-Dori, Teru's favorite shopping arcade. It was full of stalls selling spiked collars, bondage pants with legs wider than their waist, and T-shirts printed with esoteric designs.

Shigeo had bought a sweater that Teru picked out for him. It was an abstract black and white design, less interesting than the Hagemon shirt, but very soft.

Teru hadn't bought anything.

"Can I ask you a question?" Shigeo broke the almost-comfortable silence.

Teru looked up from the magazine. "Of course, Kageyama-kun! You can ask me anything."

"I'm not always very good at reading people, but the first time we went shopping together, you seemed excited. You were, right?"

Teru didn't stop smiling, but it tightened in a way that meant he didn't mean it. Shigeo was getting a little bit better at reading Teru's facial expressions, but it wasn't easy because most of them were smiles.

Teru sat up and crossed his legs. "Is this about the Hagemon shirt? I swear I was telling you the truth when I said it looked good on you. I wouldn't lie about something like that."

Shigeo blushed. "It's not that."

There was a pause before Teru's smile softened again. "Sorry if I sounded defensive. I've run into a couple of classmates outside of school that had some… creative things to say about my clothes. I guess it bothered me more than I would care to admit. Especially the idea that I… convinced you to buy something you didn't really want."

That made sense. Shigeo knew Teru used to be popular, but the last vestiges of that popularity had probably been shattered when Shigeo stripped, shaved, and beat him half to death. The first time.

"I like the Hagemon shirt. I like to see what you're wearing whenever we hang out. I look forward to it. I know it's not for my sake," he hurried to add, which made Teru's smile strain again for some reason. "I just… I admire your style. So I noticed…. You've been wearing the same shirt the last few times I've seen you out of uniform. Not that there's anything wrong with that! It's a nice shirt. It just… It doesn't seem like your usual style either. I was wondering if something was wrong?"

The question seemed to stump Teru, which was something that usually happened to Shigeo. He decided to give Teru a moment. He checked his phone.

"Shishou wants you to come by the office again. He said he wants your input on his new website design."

"I've seen it," Teru said distractedly. "It needs more flashing."

"I thought it needed an epilepsy warning," said Shigeo.

He was serious, but Teru laughed. There was even that little snort he usually tried to hide, although Shigeo didn't know why. It was a nice sound.

"I don't know who told you that you're bad at reading people." Teru plucked at the red shirt he was wearing yet again. "I thought this would be a basic staple piece when I got it, but to be honest, I'm sick of looking at it. I've actually been grateful for my school uniform. Not that it's a bad design. Just a little plain for my taste."

Shigeo didn't think purple plaid was plain, but that was what made Teru's fashion sense so fantastic. Even if his classmates said 'creative' things about it, they couldn't be as creative as Teru was.

"When Claw attacked that last time, they took out a good portion of my apartment." Teru rubbed the back of his head like this was somehow embarrassing. "Including my wardrobe. A bunch of my clothes were ruined. Well, not really ruined. I took them to my usual consignment store, and they didn't seem to notice anything wrong, even though they're really particular. I washed them first of course! I used vinegar, hydrogen peroxide…. No matter what I tried, I could still smell the smoke."

"Oh," said Shigeo. After his house burned down, it had been rebuilt from the ground up, but sometimes he still thought he could smell the smoke.

Teru laughed, but it wasn't the kind with the snort. "It was all in my head. Just like my fevers. It's so stupid. I guess I don't have enough problems if I have to keep making them for myself."

"I think you have enough problems," Shigeo said solemnly. At least he knew what to get Teru for his birthday next month.

Teru shrugged. "The fire wasn't even that big. Everything was fixed in a couple of weeks."

Shigeo hadn't seen Teru for a few weeks after their last confrontation with Claw either. "Where did you stay until-" he started to ask, but Teru was already waving him off.

"I still had plenty of boltholes around the city."

"Bolt… holes?" Shigeo didn't understand.

"You know, places to lay low. Places only a psychic could get to easily. Abandoned high-rise projects, stuff like that. When the housing bubble burst, it was great for boltholes."

Shigeo understood even less, but it sounded like Teru had spent several weeks essentially homeless. The guilt that was always crawling just beneath his skin nowadays rose up again to give him gooseflesh.

"Anyway," Teru was still talking, "I wanted to replace my clothes right away, but there were other expenses that took priority. Like walls."

Shigeo frowned. "Your parents didn't take care of that?"

"They can be hard to get ahold of sometimes." Teru leaned back against his pillows. "You know I was kidding about the walls, right? That was the building manager's problem."

"I knew that," Shigeo lied. He didn't know much about rental laws, and for once, he was pretty sure that was normal.

"I've started putting aside some extra savings, just in case something like that happens again. That's why I haven't been able to replenish my wardrobe just yet. Don't worry, Kageyama-kun. I'll be back to my fashionable self in no time."

Shigeo hesitated a moment, but only to make sure he got the words right. "If something like that happens again, you should come stay with me."

Teru flushed suddenly, and Shigeo started to worry about his fevers. He knew Teru had a hard time accepting help, but surely that wasn't enough to make him sick.

"Accepting help isn't a failure," he reminded Teru, just in case.

"Oh! Of course, but um… Are you sure your parents wouldn't mind?"

That was an easy one. "Of course not. They love you. You're the first friend I've brought home that isn't a thirty-year old man."

Teru laughed again, and it was the kind with the snort. "Thank you, Kageyama-kun. I'll keep that in mind."

He lay back down next to Shigeo, and when they returned to their comics, the silence was definitely comfortable.

[maoam]

I'm sorry for this long ass ask. I just wished to get a bit this out of my chest. Feel free to delete it if you would want to feel a bit more positive!

As you said once, if I remember correctly, there is no one more mysoginistic in fandoms (especially shonen) than the het shippers rather than the "fujoshis." In my personal experience, at least, I rarely have seen people hate a girl because she is in the way of their mlm pairing. But I have seen in het ships women be especially vile with their words like slut shaming, body shaming (flat chest vs busty discourses).

Especially in the Naruto fandom, I don't understand why NH and SS stans have to be on the march of war against each other, or why pit their favs against each other when they clearly are "not in the way" of their respective pairings, or even harass all other ships. In fact, I Hinata and Sakura are even in friendly terms. If not outright, they don't care about each other's existence for most of the time, I think?? So why so much catty?

Sometimes, I visit NH/SS/NaruSaku blogs out of curiosity, without doing anything but looking. Usually their content is all about shitting on other pairings but just that. They don't support other creators who appreciate the pairings, like writers or artists. Just shit on the rival pairing while be like "unlike that shit, this pairing has sense and is better". Like, they are more obsessive about what they hate rather than what they love. Absurd.

I have seen people call Sakura a cumdumpster (I swear to god that word-) and Sarada a hoe/slut, and considering Sarada is like 12 to 16 years old... well, it weirds me out. Or shame on the fact Hinata is a busty woman and usually that's the only bad thing they can say about her that comes to my mind, along with other slut shaming.

Or the weird obsession Sakura fans have about Sakura's body, like "THIS IS WHY SHE IS NOT FLAT." Why do you care so much if she's beautiful anyway?

I can go long but I won't because it sounds kinda frustrating.

But why can't these people just... stay in their planes? And ignore each other? Or if they love their one true pairing, just support artists or recommend fan fictions they like, or heck do something themselves and create a more positive environment not only for the fandoms but for themselves as well. Because most of the time, they go on anti - or pro tags and just harass people who think differently like they do with you or sneezemonster-

Again, sorry for the rant, and thank you if you had the patience of reading. Bless your day and keep doing what you do! What you write is always interesting to read <3

People mistake fujoshis (or just people who ship gay pairings) complaining about the het ships having no mutual development/how the female character in said ship has no individual development/revolves only around the guy she likes as "hating on the female character/misogyny". Which it isn't. Sure there might be couple who are misogynists, but that really isn't what I usually see. Meanwhile het shippers are indeed very vile in their ship wars.

"I don't understand why NH and SS stans have to be on the march of war against each other, or why pit their favs against each other when they clearly are "not in the way" of their respective pairings"

Because to them shipping is also a contest, and everyone is their competitor. They need to show everyone how they ship the best ship or how "their girl" is the best girl of the show. NH will talk about how Hinata is more "fertile" than Sakura (which is really misogynistic), how she is the heiress, how she is the richest girl in Konoha (lol). All very shallow things, none of them she even earned. And SS will go out of their way to "prove" Sakura is better looking than the other Naruto girls, because somehow that matters more than Sakura not having any dignity in the story... And yes, SS's crazy need to prove Sakura is not flat, sometimes they straight up edit Kishimoto's drawings so she would have a bigger chest.

This is also why these especially crazy people don't flock to shojo as much, since shojo doesn't usually have as big of a mainstream audience as shonen. And maybe they are addicted to one-sided interaction, because they relate to it? They can't relate to a female character that has reasonable feelings?

But yeah, recently I have seen a lot of Historia hate and it's all "she's spreading her legs to the farmer", "Whorestoria", "even her whore mother didn't like her", "blonde whore" and so on from certain het ship fandom. But sure fujoshis are the worst ones for saying Mikasa's character revolved too much around Eren...

[ayyyez]

In honor of the books I picked up today that I ordered a week ago (finally got more kimi ni todoke!!), what series of manga can you see some of our haikyuu favs reading? Or if not manga what kinds of books can you see them reading, YA, thriller, mystery, etc. Feel free to pick whomever you want for hcs, I humbly ask for Tanaka thou <3

A/N: Look at you getting two answered in one day, it's like you own my ask box at this point bestie lmao but yes I have so many vibes for this one, okay <3

TAGS: manga/reading headcanons, fluff, general

CHARACTERS: Tendou Satori, Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Kenma Kozume, honourable mentions at the end

TENDOU SATORI

Okay so we know he used to collect shonen jump magazine when it was around in a physical form. I say he was a subscription owner who would get each issue.

He strikes me as the kind of guy who likes collecting things. Especially artsy types things like his movies. Especially in physical form so his shonen jumps are no different.

He's a constant but casual reader in terms of what he keeps up with in terms of series.

By that I mean he's not like 'OMG I NEED TO READ ALL OF ONE PIECE I'LL BE SO UPSET IF I MISS ONE CHAPTER.' Absolutley not. He's a casual One Piece fan. I know it seems like they don't exist because once you're in you're in BUT HE IS.

He enjoys reading it, don't get me wrong, it's just he's not tearing the issue open for the next chapter.

Tendou's an allrounder with his reading. Will try everything in the issue. Really liked The Disastrous Life of Saiki K the year it was published! He just vibed hard with it.

With Shonen Jump, he's collected it forever so he's read all the early 2000's classics like Naruto, Bleach and Death Note. He watches the anime too.

Outside of the shonen jump I feel like the only manga he would go out of his way to purchase and read would be something of the horror vein because he's a horror fan.

The first time he went into a manga store and saw the covers of the Junji Ito works he HAD to know what they were about. Started with one and ended up collecting them all.

Still prefers watching horror and thrillers over reading them. There's just something more satisfying about cinematic terrors BUT he does enjoy his small collection of manga too.

He just over all prefers reading manga to chill out. Which is why his go to is more the popular shonen series.

Tendou is pretty good with recs too! If you handed him a romance and told him it was the best series in the world and he had to read it he would. He doesn't care, you like it so why wouldn't he? It's just not something he would usually pick up for himself.

He's pretty good at recommending things too. If you're unsure he'll just hand you a shonen jump mag and tell you to go nuts. Just don't read the ads like Ushiwaka please, he can't handle another one. lmao.

Hanging out with Tendou as teens reading manga together would honestly be the best lowkey date every. Just vibing in each others company. Probably watching anime together after too.

TANAKA RYUUNOSUKE

I see Tanaka as more of a manga reader too over anything lengthy like novels. He just doesn't have the discipline to sit there and read for long periods of time.

This is why studying is so hard for him! He just gets bored! Would rather be doing something where he can move around.

Definitely doesn't mind picking up a manga every now and again though.

Now as for what he reads. Well. Here's the things. He's actually a real softy at heart and a sucker for romance.

How does he discover this? Totally by accident, he swears.

He went in to pick up a couple shonen series and the shonen jump issue (he doesn't have a subscription he just picks it up on occassion) and the cashier accidentally mixed up a shoujo series into the bag that was on the counter on the side.

Tanaka didn't realise until he got home and for some reason he just never bothered returning it. He had paid for it after all. He might as well read it.

The thing is once he did, he couldn't put it down! He had to read another and another. He was hooked. And what was this serious? Well guess what it was also Kimi ni Todoke!

That gets him hooked on Shoujo romances and has him going in buying more series. He buys one for every two shonen series he gets, hiding it under them at the casier mentally telling them 'They're totally for my sister.' as if they can read his mind.

Doesn't get too embarassed if you ask him about it though it's just an awkward flush of the cheeks and 'Yeah, I like them.' Because Tanaka is one to stay true to himself.

Okay but because he reads a lot of it he kind of gets real sappy ideas about romance and dating.

All those ideas about being a gentlemen? Carrying your bad, walking on the side of the sidewalk closest to the road, standing in front of you during confrontations? All further reinforced by reading those manga.

Has a cute little blushy face when he reads the confession scenes too. Hopes to be that cool when he confesses on day.

If you like manga he really likes sharing that with you. Going to bookstores together, he vibes on just watching you browse with a content look on your face.

Will buy you anything you want. Even if its a whole stack. Tanaka is slamming those bills down and paying. Anything to make you happy and see that smile on your face.

KENMA KOZUME

Kenma started reading and collecting manga when his parents forced him to have a hobby other than gaming. Something about resting his eyes from screens.

He did already sort of like reading manga anyway. Was into series like the legend of zelda because of the game. Also collects the standard shonen jump series like one piece, hunter x hunter and naruto too.

The thing about Kenma is he started out with the popular stuff and then he branched out and collected a bit of everything the more he read.

He has a bit of everything from each demographic. Has your Sailormoon, Fruits basket and NANA from your shoujo. Josei like Chihayafuru, shonen/seinin like JoJo's bizarre adventure, fullmetal alchemist, AOT, Gintama, Tokyo Ghoul.

As time goes on he'll collect ones like Given, I hear the sunspot and Blue Flag too.

Likes going to art stalls and places he can collect fan djs and art books too. Isn't really big on chit chat but will say a sweet 'I like your work.' Then pays and scurries off with a little happy face.

Like buying work of his favourite games and characters at the same time. Especially at conventions. Hates the crowds but finds this worth it.

Appreciates being able to do these things with you. Bonus if you like doing them too. If you simply go just to be with him he'll just swoon lol.

Back to the manga. He likes the anime adaptions too but doesn't always get a lot of time to watch them. Prefers games after all. If he does though he prefers to watch the anime after he's read the manga.

Loves watching the anime as a way to spend time with you though after you both have read the manga. Loves being able to compare and criticise it together. Just cuddling and vibing.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Reads books/manga: Semi Eita, Kuroo Tetsurou, Yamaguchi Tadashi, Yaku Morisuke

Reads manga: Hinata Shouyou, Atsumu Miya, Kunimi Akira, Hoshiumi Korai, Nishinoya Yuu, Kindaichi Yuutarou

Reads books: Sugawara Koushi, Yachi Hitoka, Oikawa Tooru, Kita Shinsuke

Reads food packaging and social media: Kageyama Tobio, Suna Rintarou, Kiyoko Shimizu

[cursedvibes]

Happy holiday.... What do you think that made Yuuji is so likeable as a character? I've only been in the JJK fandom for a year, and I've seen a lot of other JJK characters' stan. But one thing in common, they all love Yuuji and mostly will include him in their top 5 fav JJK charas (including me :D)...

Also, extra kudos cause your blog is anti-gojo. Most of my moots love him and can't stop talking about him. I already tell them that I don't really like him (actually I hate him), they're okay but still so into him. So I'm so happy when I found your blog.

What do you think that made gojo so famous? Is it the pretty face and bad personality (I'm still confused until now)....? I dislike gojo kinda like I dislike dazai from BSD. They're both called "The one who stole the spotlight from the protagonist" (by my animanga group)....

Happy holidays to you to, hope you had a good time

I think it's pretty hard not to like Yuuji. Even if you aren't that interested in his character, due to his friendly personality and plenty of cute moments it's hard to hate him. I think this Pure Sunshine Boy interpretation (that I don't entirely agree with) is the main reason fans are drawn to him. The suffering he has to endure and how he continues to grow from it is quite fascinating to witness as well. What I personally like about him is also how he has a darker side to him, that pure hatred he has reserved for Sukuna and Mahito, but which we also saw when he beat up bullies as a middle schooler. He's not just sunshine and rainbows, he has a quite serious and lonely side to him he often hides from others and that is the reason he used to not have many friends until recently. Fits with his morbid obsession with death and how he is prepared to die and wants to die to pay for everything he's done despite being so young.

Looking at fan interpretations of him, I'm not sure that's why he's in the top 3 of the popularity polls, but it's what I like about him. The main criticism I see of him is that people think he's too weak to be the main character of a shonen series and isn't the centre of attention enough, but I think that's pretty stupid and thankfully it's only a (loud) minority of people who think that. I'm glad he deviates from the shonen formula there.

Now for Gojo, I first have to say that I wouldn't consider myself "anti-Gojo". I often think he's annoying and recent developments in the manga led to me complaining about him a lot, but I don't actually hate him, not the way I do with Geto, Yuuta or at times Choso. His fans can get on my nerves a lot and I think he was written very badly after being released from the Prison Realm, but usually I don't care about him. I like his high school self actually, before he got so overpowered, his faults were more interesting there.

I think the majority of his popularity is because he's a pretty white-haired anime guy with cool powers and part of a popular yaoi couple, i.e. you got some dramatic feels mixed in there as well. That seems to be the gist of what I see online as reasoning for why people like him and what made him famous when the anime started airing. There are deeper reasons too (best ask a Gojo fan for those), but his looks, iconic blindfold design and relationship with Geto seem to be the main things people are drawn to. Things like that are often what's most important in making a character popular.

[sunshinecherryblossom]

So, I'll start by saying that I no longer care about anything related to Naruto after the tragic ending with the destruction of the characters; I was bored so I decided to take a look on Twitter to see some news and from what I understood a Japanese tweet says that, currently, among the best anime couples ever there are SS in first place and NH in second place and I won't even tell you the frenzy of the shippers and how they are praising their couples. Now, what I wonder is: if in 2015 the Japanese themselves had drawn up a list (also released on crunchy roll) of couples who had to break up and NH was in 10th place while SS was in 6th, how on earth is it possible that now the same are people saying otherwise? I have a doubt: is it perhaps thanks to the SP fillers to justify the ships? Is this perhaps a result of the remaining fanbase i.e. the pro-enders as the rest of them totally drifted away after the end? Or is it always due to the supposed popularity of NH and SS? I swear I don't understand it at all. Plus, since today is the day the current couples were canonized, the merchandise included SS as well as NH rings and now everyone is happily ever after. But excuse me for a moment, first you are constantly fighting with each other over who is the best couple and hurting each other and now all loving because SP gave you the same treatment? Oh well, I really don't know what to think... a shonen literally transformed into a shojo comedy.... I swear the Naruto Franchise couldn't fall any lower than this....

[cheapsweetsrocks]

Best of 2023 - Genre I've finally gotten into

This year, it's Crust Punk!

If I was feeling flippant, I'd say it was best described as punk, only political... There's a rawness, and an earnestness to it, as well as strong DIY inclinations in the culture that is really appealing. Bands like Amebix, Dystopia or Doom, really stood out to me; there's a lot of anger in the music, sure, but there's also a real sense of community and care that I want to see in more genres and fandoms!

I think one of the things I found most interesting delving into these bands was how close some of my musical taste already was; bands like Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror and Bolt Thrower (best band ever...🤘) are all very much crust-adjacent if not originating in that scene themselves (Napalm Death have always preferred describing themselves as a punk band rather than death metal or grindcore), and there was that one summer years ago when I listened to nothing but Gallhammer and completely screwed my muscal recommendations for years...

Many thanks to @spechblend for giving me some pointers about where to start, and also for finally convinving me to sit down and listen to Fugazi! (they're great, go listen!)

In 2024, I'm considering trying and get a better understanding of idol bands (specifically, from Korea and Japan). From an outsider's perspective, they seem...odd...

I've listened to a couple of bands in passing (specifically, TWICE and BLACKPINK, that I recall), and of course I'm familiar with Western manufactured boy- and girl-bands, but on the one hand, I feel like there's something fundamentally I don't get, and that annoys me, but on the other hand, there are some interesting bands that fall within the genre, like KBG84, Necromonidol, BiS (the Japanese band, not the Scottish one, who are definitely great), or Kasotsuka Shojo (which is a... cryptocurrency themed idol band...?! That sounds absolutely dreadful on so many levels, so I need to have a listen for myself...) that I want to check out.

I'm a big fan of a lot of Japanese metal and punk (Shonen Knife, Otoboke Beaver, Melt Banana) so it would be interesting to be able to put their music into some of the cultural context.

Will I get around to a deep dive into idol culture? Or will I just end up listening to more relaxing sludge/doom/death metal instead? Only time will tell... 🤔

[dragonfoxgirl]

It's been years.

Naruto was the anime that marked my childhood.

Bleach marked my teens.

I can't deny how invested I was at one point. Speculating like crazy because of the interactions, chemistry and overall bond that Ichigo and Rukia shared.

For years I watched their relationship be depicted closer. The way Tite would draw their eyes fixated on one another with so much emotion. Always in each other's immediate mind. Always drawn together in spreads and promotional covers.

For years, I thought I was blessed to watch their constant evolution as their relationship grew larger and more intricate. I thought, that they for sure would end up together. Because no friendship with that level of love for one another ends in just a simple "friendship" At a certain point, their interactions stopped being overly silly and comedic and the serious, emotional dial was cranked up to 100.

But obviously it didn't end that way.

Seriously, no hate towards Orihime. I think the character is very sweet. Same with Renji. But, looking back, their characters were always the ones with the unrequited love.

There was a point in the story in wich Renji let go of his feelings and moved on and same with Orihime. I don't remember with every exact detail when but I do remember I sensed the shift.

After that, I don't remember any important interaction between Renji and Rukia or Ichigo and Orijime that would make me think those feelings where still there. Or that they where even reciprocated.

Onwards from there, the road had seemed cleared for IchiRuki and that's why the ending of Bleach hit me so hard in the brain.

It felt so.... off.

There's no years worth of content. No countless interactions filled with trust and support. No several looks filled with warmth and longing. No teasing, gentle smiles or overwhelming emotions between the couples who ended up being Canon, atleast in my opinion.

Not when you compare between them and Ichigo and Rukia.

I remember from time to time, the scene where they both think they will never see each other again. That Ichigo would no longer be able to percieve her at all. How much pain, longing and just... love was contained in their eyes. When she started to fade and jerked her head upwards to meet his eyes in such a way.... It's like she wanted to reach out to him, say something but couldn't. Because she is ultimately bound by Tite's limits.

I wonder now.... if that's when he changed his mind, for whatever reason that I, to this day can't seem to sense from the rest of the story.

I wonder if that was his way of saying goodbye. I wonder if that was his way to close that possibility off in an emotional and respectful manner.

Bleach is getting its final arc animated and it's supposed to come out later this year. I'm not... sure if I want to watch it.

Thing is, if Tite really meant that scene as his own private goodbye, then maybe he shouldn't have kept pairing them up afterwards in the very same way as before.

Even to this day, promotional materials and special illustrations are still depicting them together. Even knowing the outcome.

Some people may think not watching a show because your ship didint end up Canon is immature and that why the heck would I care so much about characters being together in a Shonen.

But Bleach is different. Because A LOT of its plot, subject and story rides on Ichigo's and Rukia's relationship. It's not a side story thing and it's not a background filler. It's very much ingrained in the main storyline. Over and over again.

That's why the ending feels so unfaithful. Offbeat.

I chose not to regard it too much. Rather, I prefer to reminisce on the slowly building bond between them. Because that's not erased by the ending.

I guess, I will forever be sour on the fact they work so good together and that for me, it's just a bummer that they can never officially give fruit to years of blooming relationship and chemistry.

Truly an example of something just "meant to be" but will never get to.

Right now, for my life, I prefer to focus on things that can be.

[melonteee]

Is it just me or most of the arguments for “canon” ships from your ask sounds a lot of like “she was a girl, he was a boy, can I make it any more obvious?”

(I looked through the ship tags)

because one piece is a shonen and tons of people, especially male fans, have this idea that there will be end game ships between main boy/girl characters - and instead of calling it 'shipping' these guys call it a 'theory', even though they're literally participating in the act of shipping LMAO

In all fairness, usually that WOULD be the case with a shonen, as female characters are treated like a prize the protag will eventually get, but One Piece has proven time and time again that it does whatever the hell it wants. I'm not Oda and I have no idea what Oda is going to be doing, but the way he expresses writing of his characters and world leads me to believe he won't be doing ANY end game pairings at all.

Maybe I'll end up eating my words but even WHEN he writes couples, they're so rarely seen together or doing anything together that even the canon pairings can be interpreted whichever way anyone wants. Oda cares very much about his audience's freedom of interpretation, so I don't know why he'd ever shove someone like Luffy or Zoro or whoever into a strict end game pairing if there's no story benefit to it HHH

[selinascatnip]

I'm reading really good SasuSaku fic, the kind is hard to find because most of the ppl that ship them seem to have never been introduced to Uchiha Sasuke.

It brings a bittersweet taste to my mouth because I never deeply cared for this couple, but god knows the fics were plenty when I was the most into fanfiction than I ever been, and I truly believe that the reason I don't care a rat's ass for romance novels it's becauseon ffnet in the 2000's, Sasuke was the most Romance Novel Male Protagonist EverTM and canon Sakura at 12 years olf was more self aware of her condition as the pathetic Romance Novel AngenueTM than any Nora Roberts girlie could ever be. Being a child soldier does that to you, I think.

But this isn't a post about me reminiscing about a ship made of two characters that I never even loved, honestly the strongest feelings I ever had for them in canon was a mix of pity and anger because oh my gwd, I cannot empathize endlessly with their stupid choices.

But I understand trauma, and I understand that love isn't always a good thing. I don't like them, but I understand.

So, what is this post about? This post is about Titans.

Truly.

I swear.

This particular fic I'm reading, is very well written ,and the writer used the 'It's a wonderful life' trope, and then it's starts showing cracks, you know how it goes.

I really like this trope when it's well done. Especially when it's from the POV of a character that lives a life of penitence, like they don't think they deserve any better, is transported to world where suddenly they are brave enough to make good fucking choices and things start going alright.

You know what show seemed to like that trope as well? Titans.

They did it like 3 times. And none of the times they did it was good. It was always shit, it brought things to the table just to be scraped and useless afterwards or forgotten or badly handled and oh my god I'm so angry that even delusional bitches writing romance plots to shonen jump characters can do a better work than the Titans writers

[elfbingo]

booboo, how are you?

fav MHA character(s) and why? least favorite? who do you ship?

I gotta know

Working hard on all my projects! That's why it took me a few days to get to this. Apologies!

Now, on to your questions! If you were looking for short answers you asked the wrong person. Abandon all hope ye who enter here!

I’ll get to the shorter answers first:

“Who do you ship?”- Let me preface this by stating that I don't really care about ships, canon or otherwise. Like… at all. It takes a LOT to make me care about a romance in any story. Luckily, MHA is an action-shonen anime, so not a lot of that going on. However, I will try to put some more thought into this topic than I usually do. 

If we’re talking confirmed canon ships (discounting married couples), the only two I can even think of are Midoriya/Ochako and Denki/Jiro. I’m sure there are others, but MHA is (thankfully) very light on romance, so those two seem to be the only ones that have actually been confirmed as canon. (Forgive me if I’m wrong; I literally had to Google “canon MHA ships”.) Midoriya/Ochako is cute, and I love their dynamic. I think they'd be a good/healthy couple, but they're perfectly fine just as friends. Denki/Jiro is also sort of cute, a little more on the “belligerent sexual tension” side, but there’s not nearly as much to work with. That may be because these two don’t get as much focus as characters, I don’t know. Overall, the students in this show are more mature than their peers, so they’ve had to be more thoughtful about their futures and life decisions. They’re also still just kids. Adolescent relationships almost never last irl, and in fiction they seem to be portrayed in a similarly shallow vein, so I see no point getting invested.

If we’re talking non-canon, it’s still not my thing. I kind of low-key ship All Might/Inko Midoriya, but ONLY if Hisaishi Midoriya was out of the picture (I HATE cheating, even in fiction). That’s probably about it. I steer clear of shipping wars, so I’m not going to get into any of the other non-canon ships. I don’t care enough to paint a target on myself. 

The ships I really care about are the friendships. I'm way more into those, and found family! MHA is full of both, which is one of the many reasons I love it! (If you want to know who I “ship” in terms of “friendships” I’ll post a follow-up answer for that.) 

“Least favorite characters?”- I’m going to qualify my answer by setting aside characters you’re meant to dislike/hate (i.e. the villains/the Hero Safety Commission). Of those left, Mineta might be the only character I actively dislike. I think his design is fun, and his quirk is offbeat, but his personality is mostly awful. If he was a villain, or just some random background person, he wouldn’t grate as much. But Mineta is supposed to be funny and sympathetic. I don't hate him, I just... That character type (95% pervert) has never appealed to me, no matter the series. I'm glad he's gotten a bit better in the last few arcs, but it's been too little, too late for me to really like him. 

I also found Monoma irritating, but he’s gotten better.

Now onto my “long” answer. You have been warned! 

“Fav MHA character(s)?”- I have to say, a big part of the reason I love most of the characters in this show is the translation/VA work, as well as the animation. This may be the best English VA cast for a show I’ve ever heard, and the translation is exceptional. 

Aside from that, I love (or love to hate) pretty much all the main and side characters in the whole series. I think they all have something interesting to contribute to the story, even if they’re only in one scene. On the “villain” side, Twice is arguably my favorite, but I find all the main baddies compelling, and even some of the minor ones. On the “hero” side, the class 1-A kids have a special place in my heart, along with Mirio, Tamaki, All Might and Aizawa. 

However, if I have to pick favorites, my top 3 are Midoriya, Todoroki and Kirishima; not necessarily in that order. And that’s only if I have to really whittle it down, because the top tier would be even larger otherwise. (I do love a good ensemble!) Since you asked my reasons for picking my favorite(s), and I’m trying hard not to write an essay, I shall break it down thusly:

TODOROKI

Cool quirk!

Fun to draw

Half-and-half hair

Has scar; I want to hug him

Hidden sweet side

Also sassy

Overall bishonen looks without being aware of it (or not caring)

Dual personality like his quirk: cool-headed warrior/socially awkward teen 

Takes some things literally (with amusing results)

Curb-stomps multiple thugs at USJ like it's nothing

Snarks at said thugs about how they should be embarrassed

Loves his mum

Screw the rules, I’m doing what’s right!

Will throw hands if you hurt his friends

Terrible upbringing, still wants to be a hero like All Might

 Every reason to be villain but is Good Boi

Tells it like it is

Also worries about others

Stoic boy becomes soft boy with friends

Will do what it takes to be his best, even if it means working with abusive dad

Willing to forgive those who have hurt him

Admits and overcomes his weaknesses

Never gives up!

KIRISHIMA

Cinnamon roll

Sunshine boi 

Fun to draw

HIS EYES

Shark teeth

2 hairstyles, both cute!

Loyal

Sees the good in others (even Bakugo)

Worries about his friends

Not afraid to cry/be emotional

Positive manliness!

Devotion to chivalrous outlook is PRECIOUS

Works hard to improve

Protective quirk, protective heart

Super helpful

Overcoming insecurities to become a true hero!

Risks death to save lives

Always ready to help

Dad/son vibes with Fat Gum

Empathizes with others, even villains!

Consistently rises to the occasion

Knows others may have “flashier” quirks but still does his best

Looks terrifying in battle/is soft boi irl

Anyone that can put up with Bakugo as equals…

Keeps Lord Explosion Murder (somewhat) in line

Just overall seems like he gives excellent hugs

MIDORIYA

Cinnamon roll

Nerdy nerd nerd

Socially awkward

Freckles

Expressive eyes

Floof child

Mumbles to himself 24/7

Loves his mum

Fun to draw

Emotional without being annoying

Forgiving nature

Wants to be a hero to help others

Risked death as quirkless kid to save his bully

Always tries to do what’s right

Gains most powerful quirk and uses it for good

Seriously- every reason to be villain but is Good Boi

Willing to work harder than anyone to get where he is now

Lifelong outsider who helps others reevaluate their quirks’ potential

Bullied relentlessly and still didn’t give up hope for a better world

Dad/son relationship with All Might is GOLD

Big Brother vibes with Eri are made of diabetes

All his friendships… ALL OF THEM

Goes feral if you hurt his friends

Will go feral if you hurt total strangers

Smol boi, BIG PUNCH

Broken every bone in his body? Uses “Blackwhip Froppy Style” 

Seriously, nothing stops this kid. I love him so much!

I hope this answers all your questions. I did try not to go overboard, but… eh. 

[wavytam]

Hi! First of all thank you for your always on point theories and overall amazing Sanami content! <33

I've noticed that we've probably seen all the original main cast characters being romantically (or at least hinted to be so) connected to another character, even if the connection was one-sided. Nami was nowhere seen in a similar situation, except the gag-full marriage with Absalom. The manga is already on it's final saga and there's no sign of her having reciprocated or one-sided feelings towards another character, male or female. Personally, I think it would have been at least logical to make her reject Sanji somehow, if nothing is planned between them. He's been head over heels, willing to die for her for quite a long time and we don't see any signs or development from Nami's side, neither positive, nor negative. As of now, do you think there might be a future change in Nami's feelings or will her undefined position towards Sanji remain till the end, as we haven't seen anything after the WCI events?

Thank you once again and sorry for this long text lol!

Hello!! Oh! Thank you so much for your kind words!! I really appreciate it! 🥰☺️

About Nami not having any crush on anyone up until this point: this is a good point.

Now, about your question. "Do you think there might be a future change in Nami's feelings or will her undefined position towards Sanji remain till the end?"

(Okay, I'm really sorry for how long it got! I tried to shorten it the best that I could!!)

I think that by the end of the manga, we will find out whether she likes Sanji romantically or not.

I don't think Oda will leave this unsolved, but I do think that (if Nami does reciprocate Sanji's feelings) he might make it happen very discretly, and maybe not even give much panel time for that. Similar to when, all of a sudden, Oda gave us a coverpage of Mister 9 and Miss Monday happily together... with a kid. It was so out of the blue, and we didn't really even see any moment between them that even hinted they had a mutual interest in one another.

Of course, with SaNami, from Sanji's part it's obvious he is interested in her romantically, but what we need now is for it to be mutual, and that's the part I think that might happen "offscreen".

I know this isn't something we, SaNami fans want things to go, but I there are to reasons for me to think that:

A) The "offscreen" route seems like the standard for how shonen mangas deal with romance. Shonen Jump still focuses on content for boys, and they don't think boys want to read about romance as much as girls. So my guess is that, even if Oda wanted to portray a romantic relationship amongst the crew (I don't think he does tho) I don't think he would be able to write that many romantic scenes - so a lot of the romantic development would have to happen offscreen.

I'll give you an example: Sasu Saku in Naruto. Please consider that I am not comparing the characters themselves with Nami and Sanji, I am just analysing how another mangaka from Shonen Jump developed the relationship of an endgame couple in his story and how it might be how Oda writes it too (because he is also a mangaka writing for the same company).

For the entirety of the manga, Saku had a crush on Sasu, but we never really knew whether he reciprocicated her feelings or not. He cared about her, obviously, but for years, fans had to rely on small hints that could be interpreted either as platonic or romantic from Sasu's part.

Only by the end of the manga did the author let us know that Sasu did, in fact, like Saku romantically. And if you rearead the manga knowing that, the moments between them that before were seen as ambiguous become mostly romantic.

(Please, do not interpret this wrong, I know Kishimoto and Oda are two completely different mangakas, with completely different writting styles, but they are writing for the same company, have the same audience and therefore have to follow the same set of rules)

B) I have a feeling that Oda doesn't want to shift the dynamic between the crew.

I myself am a very romantic person, but to be honest, I'm very picky when it comes to romance being portrayed in adventures. I've always liked to ship characters and read fanfics about them, but when it comes to the official content I don't like it when romance takes too much of a story that isn't supposed to focus on it. It's a weird thing from me, I know. Go figure.

Anyway, I think that Oda is afraid of that happening to his story. One Piece is about a group of friends helping one another to pursue their dreams. If we add romance in the mix, the "family" dynamic in the story shifts, and it doesn't really add to the main message anyway, which, to me, is "found family" and "freedom". Otherwaise, the fandom would also get into bigger fights, saying things like "W character loves x character more than y" "W character would rather let y die than character x because he/she loves her/him more" when these things don't really matter.

I know that there are people out there who do that anyway, but I think Oda wants to keep himself away from that type of discussions to focus more on the fraternal love the Strawhats clearly have for one another.

Obviously, it won't stop anyone from shipping (lol here I am, writing this huge text about SaNami even with all the warning from Oda himself), but maybe the wars could be even worse if Oda chose to portray romance. If that's the reason, I really understand where his mindset comes from.

With those two points in mind, my guess is: if Nami does reciprocate Sanji's feelings and they do end up together, not only do I think it will happen doscretly but I also think it's going to be only at the end of the story.

For now, I think Oda will keep on writting ambiguous moments between Nami and Sanji (with Sanji being the one crazy in love), trying to preserve the dynamic they already have until the very last arc, and only change it when the story comes to an end.

That way, romance amongst the crew won't be portrayed during the entirety of One Piece.

Okay, sorry for the big text!! But I hope I answered what you wanted to know!!

[alovelyburn]

Sooo Ending of berserk… what’s your worst nightmare for this story to end? What’s your dream of the berserk ending, like the perfect one that would satisfy you? How much is it possible to wither if those to happen? And the most logical ending according to you? What do you think we will actually get? I wonder if it’s in any way similar to your worst or best vision

I don't generally have a lot of nopes for endings, but admittedly it's way easier for me to think of things that I think would be trash than it is to think of things I'd really love to see, so here is my improvised "plz no" list:

Griffith being some kind of mustache-twirling megavillain who was sent to lure humanity into some kind of evil trap that he's going to spring and [idek, I've still never figured out what they think he's trying to do.] Sausage machine optional.

Guts has a major shonen powerup that leaves him literally just more powerful than the Godhand, allowing him to kill them all.

Guts, Casca and the infant kill the bad man with Love.

Notably these are exactly the endings a lot of people are expecting. I think the third is the most likely of the three, but overall still not very likely. The others I think are at or close to zero, though. Griffith may be more or less villainous than I personally interpret him, and I'm open to that, but I would be fall on my ass shocked if he lost that much of his characterization and like turned into a stereotype. And Miura was on record that Guts wouldn't get a bunch of extreme powerups, so that’s that situation.

If I had to pick a couple of things that I think would make for good elements in an ending, they would be:

Guts encountering Griffith's original personality in some form, presumably on the astral plane or something idek. and

Assuming Griffith dies, the last pages being Femto returning to the Vortex. Because why would killing his human incarnation necessarily kill his spiritual self?

And by that I mean that's what I would do if i were writing Berserk. I do think both things are possible, though I don't know the odds or anything.

That said, one thing about me is that I don't really have specific things that I hope for as a rule when it comes to stories. So I don't really have a dream ending, because I don't actually care what happens, lmao.

I did do a writeup of a bunch of stuff I thought would be satisfying resolutions to various plot threads one time, but I can't stress enough that it wasn't a wish list or even real predictions, just stuff that I thought made sense based on what the thread is, and how Miura tended to write around those things, and comments in story and comments in his interviews that kind of thing.

If you're curious, that's here. I still stand by most of it, at least for this second.

Mostly, though I just have kind of a checklist of things that should be addressed rather than specific things I'd like to happen. For example

Guts and Griffith's relationship needs to be resolved.

We need to find out what it is the Godhand are trying to accomplish and what the purpose is behind their 1000 year life cycle.

I need the Moonkid to have some kind of purpose to his presence lmfao.

I need the Gaiseric/Void backstory

From these, I think the first and second ones are almost certainly going to happen, I mean that's the plot of the story.

The third one I'm a bit worried about since Miura had said he wants people to interpret this kid themselves, like I'm hoping he meant "for now."

And the fourth one I think is like 85% likely to happen. I think it DEFINITELY would have happened if Miura were still with us, but since he isn't it, like everything, becomes a question of how much he told Mori.

And the thing I'd like to see regardless of what they are

Backstories for the Godhand

Miura had said he wanted to tell their stories but wouldn't get to it for a while... so I'm just hoping those backstories were integrated enough into the story that he shared them with Mori.