#this is exactly how filler arcs should be

[as-the-lights-went-out]

The Kawaki genin arc was very sweet ❤️

[roughdaysandart]

3 cheers for cheers for neat Din charachter analysis!

Got overwhelmed with learning how to paint crystals (Christophsis is featured in 0-2, worked out for one of the made up cities i did before even watching TCW series, what a lovley concidence!) and distracted myself by finally neatly writing down the mando charachter arc I'll be incorporating (which has been on about 10 different sheets of notebook paper up until now) based off of the background drabble of the original fic.

Again it's not exactly anything unexpected so I dont consider it a spoiler (unlike SG's filler content, which has ALOTTA baggage and reveals im still pondering if i should reveal early) but spoiler warning I guess if you think it'll change the quality of your consumption of the future releases that much:

TW: EMOTIONAL SUPRESSION, SENSORY DEPRIVATION, BODILY SELF HATRED, RELIGIOUS COPING/MISUSE, ANXIETY, EXTREME LOSS, UNPACKIMG/REMEMBERANCE, sad tin can

Let me know what yall think! If it's got a logical flow of if there's any inconsistencies with the S1 Mando were dealing with for this fic. Does it SEEM like something he'd have the potential to have as an issue and navigate in the fic's context? I think yes...as m's backstory and lack of a family thereafter could be the root of such things... Anything seem too outlandish or unreasonable? These are notes, yes but I'd still be able to appreciate feedback with just this skeleton outline/timeline.

Shoutout to @thefrogdalorian for the "fierce independance born from trauma" line (from her one-shot "downpour") that stuck/resonated with me all these months brainstorming this interpretation of Din.

Can't say that @djarins-cyare didn't heavily influence my charachter analysis approach when it comes to mando so shoutout her writings are phenomenal

@the-mandawhor1an look at Dins scruffy ✨️shelter cat✨️ aestetic

[aceartistactivist]

Okay here we go!

Things I would have changed/am confused about in tua season 4

- first of all, it needed 10 episodes. Not 6. Don't even need to change the storylines- just flesh it out. Add random filler stuff. Not one of the characters got a real character arc because they didn't have enough screen time to show it!!

- speaking of, Jean and Gene got way too much screen time. Like I don't care about them I want to see the actual main characters

- no mention of Sloane????? Nothing???? What about the other sparrows? Do they exist in this timeline?

- how were they still riding in that van after puking so much in it lol 😭

- wtf is up with the only mention of Ray being a throwaway line that he walked out on Allison??? Seriously wtf??

- also, if Lila's parents are alive and living with her & Diego... Uhhh... are they not gonna address the fact that Five killed her parents in the last timeline? Like with all the scenes they had together I felt like that should have come up... I guess maybe that was something they already got past sometime in the 6 years?

- I'm so confused about Abigail. I'm just so confused. What is up with her

- STILL NO EXPLANATION FOR THE WHOLE ALIEN THING??

- also five's weird arc in s3 where he gets the tattoo? I'm still so confused about that. What was the purpose of the tattoo? Why was that whole thing a thing? I'm just lost 😭 and the "restaurant at the end of the world" scene in s4 was not exactly helpful or forthcoming either

- not a fan of how Ben's original death was just Reginald shooting him. Also the whole "reverse element of the marigold" thing seemed like a random idea turned plot device that just could have been planned/set up better. I also didn't understand the whole Jennifer thing. Why did she have the element thing in her anyway? Why was she in that container? I need explanations please

- IS REGINALD EVIL OR NOT HELP HE KEEPS GOING BACK AND FORTH

- Just so many things that could have been fleshed out

- where did the notebook five found that was "in his own handwriting" even come from? What version of himself figured out the subway system and wrote the cipher?? So many questions

- speaking of, what IS the subway system. Where did it come from. Why- just- why. I'm so confused about how it even affects the plot at all (except for the very end with the kids & family members)

- five and lila were supposedly lost in time for 6 years but they didn't change at all?? I get that actors are not going to be able to visibly age 6 years in a week but really, they couldn't have tried to make it look more believable? Changed their hair, added makeup and stuff? And then when they got back and they looked exactly the same as when they'd left and certainly didn't act like they'd spent 6 years lost in time? Like you'd think something like that would be extremely noticeable lol... I was expecting the others to be like oh my god what happened to you? And then it was just on we go business as usual. Like they could have done a lot more to make that feel realistic/believable I think

- oh, the ending... I get it, but I also think they should have gotten the lives they have "in most timelines" in the commission handbook thing, iykyk (basically if they'd all just grown up normally without the umbrella academy or anything)

- but... If Lila's family and Claire were taken to a restored timeline where the 43 children & umbrella academy never existed, wouldn't that create the same paradox that was the EXACT SAME THING that was the whole premise of season 3?? Remember the kugelblitz??? By YOUR OWN universe rules, sending those people to the restored timeline where they never existed created a kugelblitz that destroyed the real timeline and the universe for good. Congratulations.

- I was also hoping for an explanation of why their powers were slightly different but I guess it's just a plot device that doesn't really matter

- all in all, honestly, I really liked it! And I'm sad that pretty much the majority of the fandom doesn't. It could have been a lot better just by fleshing it out and giving the characters enough screentime for actual character arcs but. You know what. It's good enough for me. I'm satisfied

[mdhwrites]

Do you think Boscha was treated unfairly in the context of the show? I know you've said before what you would have wanted her characterization to be, but what do you think of her character as we have it in TOH - and do you think fan and narrative treatment lines up with this?

I'm going to ignore the fan element. Fandom is going to fandom after all. However, I can easily say where her narrative treatment went wrong in the show!

She should not have been in S3.

This is always a fun topic to me essentially because I am pro-Boscha. You ask me what her character is, the potential of it, etc. like that and I can give you reams of thoughts. However, I also said, before S2 came out and I was working on a fanfic where Boscha was quickly becoming the main character, that I didn't think Boscha should show up again. The reason is pretty simple too. TOH already had a lot of threads to pull and Boscha's narrative use was over. Honestly, Hexside was essentially was used up by then.

Boscha is a minor supporting character to the main character's love interest. Not a major supporting character, a minor one. Amity's family is MUCH more important to her character than her one bitchy friend. The only use Boscha had narratively was to both contrast how Amity was changing and to also allow Amity an antagonist to overcome as she made her way to being on the side of good. Her being a one note bully is perfect for that and exactly how she should have been written. Winging it Like Witches capitalizes on this and fulfills both of her purposes and Amity cuts Boscha out of her life so... Why are we still seeing her? She is no longer even a supporting cast member to the love interest, she is just a floating character in the background.

And in S2, we get a fine answer for that. She's essentially one of the townsfolk of Wartwood in Amphibia. Someone who can show up for a quick gag but doesn't take up too much time. We're not trying to progress her character, we're just taking advantage of the fact that she's not gone. She's a gag but it's genuinely rooted in her character unlike the one joke that King or Hooty have that we're just supposed to mock. This worked. Period.

Then S3 tries to give her an arc. Why? Well... Because it doesn't want to be a kid's show. Kid's shows after all, like Amphibia, have characters who don't have some deep backstory or brooding complexity, they're just... Fun. They're nice. They aren't complicated. Boscha, WAY too late, was made to be complicated during a shortened season so the show could claim it had one more redemption? So it could claim its shallow bully character wasn't shallow? And she takes up a good amount of time in this episode for this when you have THREE SPECIALS. The stress of the world ending isn't enough to cause Willow to lose control, she needs one more push from Boscha. We finally have to acknowledge that what Amity did was a complete dick move to her best friend and then not actually acknowledge it because Amity gets to just be morally superior instead of a decent human being to this girl having a mental breakdown. It's awkward, clunky and does NO favors to Boscha besides just kind of making her look pathetic, which is a pretty common trick in TOH for trying to redeem someone. Boscha isn't so bad because she's actually a loser and not as bad as someone else in her nearby vicinity.

Why? Why do this? Why do this TWO SEASONS after Boscha was no longer narratively useful? It is just pointless to your overall story so it should have been cut. THAT is Boscha's biggest problem in the show and if anyone told me they couldn't forgive her for adding filler to S3, I couldn't tell them they're wrong.

I love Boscha. That means I know when to let her go, something the show should have learned if they actually cared about her. See you next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[tobiasdrake]

Do you have any thoughts on the Red ribbon army?

The RRA will left a mark on the history of Dragon Ball and will forever be a cornerstone of this entire series.

The Red Ribbon Army serves the purpose of bridging the gap between the silly and lighthearted antics of the first two arcs and the gradually more serious fare to come.

They offer Goku some interesting and creative challenges to overcome, while rarely being too threatening. For the most part, Goku bulldozes through everything they have to offer.

Hey, remember that time Goku sodomized a ninja? Good times.

But this goofy fare is juxtaposed against the real, serious menace of what the RRA is doing to the people around them.

Despite the ease with which Goku handles most problems that come his way, this feels tonally different from the first arc. There, the villains were local problems like a mountain on fire or a rabbit gangster. The closest thing to a serious villain was Pilaf of all people, and he just showed up with his Empire of Two Minions at the very end; Less a serious villain and more the last of the local problems.

Now Goku's fighting a geopolitical entity whose tendrils reach out across the world. The scope of this conflict isn't about what they can do to Goku. It's about what they are doing to other people.

These guys suck. Like. Professionally.

Also if you know who that child at knifepoint is then you know exactly how bad this is about to go for General Blue.

Hey, remember that time when Arale from Dr. Slump showed up for some reason to headbutt a Nazi in the balls with planet-splitting force? Good times.

I cannot stress enough that the Dr. Slump crossover is not anime filler. I just. I cannot stress that enough. This is an actual thing that happened in manga canon.

The RRA rarely pushes Goku, but that's not to say they're completely harmless either. General White gets a good shot in on Goku with his hyper-gun.

We've already seen that Goku isn't completely bulletproof; He takes some damage from getting shot with a gun.

So it's not clear how much stronger the hyper-gun is than a regular gun. Obviously not enough to penetrate Goku's skull. But I digress. Meanwhile, General Blue's paralyzing stare gives him an edge, since even he can't take Goku in a straight fight.

As an aside, I love how he menacingly approaches Goku while giggling and grasping the rock he was about to crush Krillin's skull with a moment ago. With the implication that he's going to bash Goku's skull with it instead.

But at the start of next chapter, the rock is nowhere to be seen.

So. I guess he had no malicious plans for that rock. He was just holding it and giggling for funsies. He's a rock fondler. We all have our quirks.

Now is probably a good time to mention that the anime added a scene to the Dr. Slump crossover in which General Blue is revealed to be a pedophile. That's it. That's the whole scene. He just stops off momentarily to hit on a little boy. That was something they felt the arc needed.

This does not mix well with Blue's shameless gay-coding in both the manga and anime alike.

So. Yeah. This was already weird and then Toei was like, "He should also be a pedophile. That's a good thing to spend our screentime on."

Thanks. I hate it.

Anyways.

This arc has been milked to death by future Dragon Ball material, and for good reason. The myriad adventures along each sub-arc of RRA has enough things going on that it's easy to hone in on any individual thing and make a story out of it.

This one guy who showed up during the General White portion inspired the entire Cell arc.

The whole-ass characters of Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu spun out of the legendary assassin Taopaipai.

(Who, and I cannot stress this enough, is holding a 20 Years of Assassination half-off sale. Oh my god. Hahahahahaha.)

The Saiyans weren't even a thought in Toriyama's head at the time he wrote this. But the way Goku steamrolls through Red Ribbon is incredible the second time through, with the added context of his heritage.

Later arcs are going to tell us that Goku is from a race of planet-killers, the greatest warriors in the universe, who shatter armies and planetary defenses, slaughtering entire worlds. And you can feel every ounce of that Saiyan heritage on display as Goku rips through the RRA like a force of nature.

There are even still some hooks left hanging, that the series never revisited.

Colonel Violet and General Copper are still out there somewhere. This is all we ever hear from either of them - Though the anime adds a subplot where Violet loots the fucking vault after seeing which way the wind was blowing during Goku's assault. XD

So. Yeah. There's a lot going on in this arc and a lot for future arcs to draw from. Taopaipai himself has the distinguished honor of being the first Serious Threat villain despite his goofier antics like tonguing General Blue to death.

I like how he notes that if you're going to put a professional assassin through the "Kill this man and prove your mettle" test, you gotta pay for that. Even if it's a test of his ability, it's still a hit.

But at least they still got the half-price bargain for Blue's humiliating demise. This is the best time for the discerning shopper to consider adding a few extra murders to their shopping cart.

Taopaipai straddles the line between comical shenanigans and deathly serious threat. This moment is where Serious Dragon Ball is born.

Because again, that is the scope of this arc. Not what the RRA can do to Goku, but what they are doing to people.

Though, for the first time in history, Taopaipai is someone who can fuck up Goku pretty bad too.

We've seen Goku lose fights before but we'd never seen someone body him like this. At least, not without an excuse like a sucker punch or Goku being super hungry or a paralyzing stare or something.

This was a game-changer for Dragon Ball. For the first time, Goku got to go at an opponent with everything he had and got wrecked. Taopaipai took him down with a killshot he only survived because the Dodonpa struck a Dragon Ball he was carrying rather than impacting his flesh.

There's just. So much about this whole arc to gush about. Even Goku's friends get a piece of the action.

Well, most of them do. There is one notable exception who doesn't get the opportunity to show off and unleash his true power. The mightiest of all Goku's allies, and an underrated powerhouse waiting for his day in the sun.

Some day, Turtle. Some day they will all know your might and tremble.

So. Yeah. There's a lot to love here, and it caps off with one of the greatest shocking swerves in the history of Dragon Ball.

Ho. Ly. Shit. The comical pettiness of Commander Red mixed with the serious outrage from Adjutant Black here is such a phenomenal blend of Dragon Ball Goofy and Dragon Ball Serious. And. I. Feel it.

Much like Frieza being a critique of capitalism, the selfishness, lack of empathy, and pettiness of world leaders on display here is something I've only come to better understand as I've gotten older. Commander Red is a silly caricature of a man but he could easily be a real person that exists.

This is what soldiers are used for. All too often, they die for nothing but the selfish and petty whims of men like Red. Adjutant Black was out here Big Bossing it up like a decade before Metal Gear was a thing.

There's a reason why Dragon Ball keeps coming back to this arc. Whether it's the legacy of the RRA in Dr. Gero or DBS: Super Hero, redoing Goku's climb of Karin Tower like four times, or the PTO as a sort of galactic RRA, the Red Ribbon Army left a mark on Dragon Ball whose influence would continue to be felt long after the organization's fall.

They're a cornerstone of Dragon Ball history that will never be forgotten.

[thisisntevenmyfinalblog]

I like Hazbin so far, but I do feel like we could’ve gotten a show with a lot more nuance and depth and less jokes about SA if it was written by someone other than Vivziepop, because let’s be honest… the best parts of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are fanmade or written by other people

For example, the song Addict is honestly one of the most iconic and popular songs related to Hazbin Hotel, but it’s a fan song.

The Helluva Boss Pilot was better than Hazbin Hotel’s Pilot (subjective) because it was actually written by someone else.

You can still like HH and HB just fine, I don’t care, but people keep defending Vivziepop like she’s this saint who has done no wrong, and attacking anyone who says anything critical abut her.

Anyways, Hazbin is okay. It’s kinda average, but it’s still enjoyable that I wanna keep watching. I love Sir Pentious, hate how he was treated in Episode 6, and hey, if I get sent death threats or smth I might as well say all my opinions right now so you all can get them out.

The writers don’t know how to write women like Vaggie or Cherri Bomb

Alastor is overrated and overhyped. He could use more personality, and more screentime doing ominous and tricky things, instead of just “shows up, says threatening line, refuses to elaborate, leaves”

People in heaven acting just as bad as people in Hell (like Adam) is not a good or unique take. Good Omens has done it, and they’ve also done it better. I did like that Adam leading the exterminations was something that not everyone knew about, but I don’t think Sera should’ve known about it either. Idk exactly, but I would’ve gone about it in a different way.

Bringing back the writing women thing, I also think Charlie’s writing can be handled a little poorly from time to time. The only thing keeping her afloat for me is that she is to Rapunzel what Hellsa is to Elsa.

I hate Mimzy’s design. I don’t know why.

Actually kinda liked Lucifer just being a weird dad, but he’s should have a better redemption arc before all that.

Not Hazbin Hotel specific, but why are shows so afraid of having more than 15 episodes in a season now? I know they want to cut out filler because they no longer need to run for a certain amount of time, but honestly? Hazbin Hotel needs more episodes. It needs more time to flesh out its story, and this honestly applies to a lot of other shows whose stories could’ve been great if not for streaming.

Stephanie Beatriz is a great actress so use her better. She did amazing as Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Vaggie is… (no offense) just another of the badass Latina stereotype. Also, she is an amazing singer, but the super high octave in her and Carmine’s song did not do her voice any justice. It does not need to be that high, you can bring it down an octave or two.

I probably will have more complaints as more episodes come out. We’ll see. I still enjoy watching the show, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not perfect. Receiving criticism doesn’t mean it’s a terrible show, just that it has room for improvement.

If you read this far, thanks. I had to make a blog because I don’t have any other socials to say anything abt it on.

[kaibutsushidousha]

What are your thoughts on Papermoon? Did it change your expectations for the Ordeal Call arc?

I really liked most of PAPERMOON's cast. My unpopular opinion is that Minase can be a garbage writer but he's a great character creator. His characters are always built around one solid core and can feel one-note due to how they never shift too far from this core element, but the element is always chosen with one impactful scene or interaction in mind, and these goal scenes generally hit more often than they miss. Maybe. At least in PAPERMOON, they hit with Lainur, Bhima/Cerejeira, Medusa, Kama, and Duryodhana.

Another thing that Minase always knows how to do brilliantly, better than Nasu even, is to re-deliver the most memorable quotes of past Type-Moon content in new contexts. Bazett's growth marked by well-timed use of Angra quotes pretty much carries her event, and Yuga Kshetra's remixes of JinaKarna interactions ultimately deliver what's still the most powerful scene in FGO. Honestly, only Haganeya (Lilim Harlot event writer) competes with Minase when it comes to hard-hitting references. His good sense for this shows in his great choices for which otherwise minor aspects of Sakura and Rani should take the forefront in this new context and which shouldn't. And then his handling of Lainur is about as masterful as his handling of Bazett. When Lainur drops the "Because it might cause something to change"? That's exactly what I mean by clever recycling of old quotes.

But enough about his strong suits. Minase's storytelling sucks for a couple reasons and the most prominent of them is that he almost never knows what to do in the middle. His good conclusions suffer from how he struggles to lead up to them in exciting ways. And his number one crutch for this problem is reaffirming the character traits that will be relevant to the good conclusions ad nauseam.

PAPERMOON also introduces us to Minase's crutch number 2: plot recycling. Again, his inability to plan the midfield leads him to corrupt one of the things he's legitimately good at. Here we get sections 5 to 12, a whole 50% of the chapter, dedicated to the most uninspired and uncathartic rehashes of Gilles and Zouken's arcs in Fate/Zero and Heaven's Feels respectively. Genuinely garbage recycling. This cool cast really could be doing cool things instead.

Ultimately, I think Minase was a poor choice for the Alterego chapter because the setting and concepts involved play directly into his crutches. Alteregos being isolated facets removes the absolute need for Minase to flesh out the characters beyond their necessary core, and System Grail War being a simulation taken from real samples facilitates otherwise inorganic repetition. He's an uncreative man thrown into the smack middle of his comfort zone and this is the result.

Final verdict:

As for Ordeal Call expectations, yes, they did change. Before, I saw two routes for Ordeal Call.

A: pure Class mechanics-based filler that doesn't advance any of the plot points necessary for the finale.

B: final showdowns with each of the Apostles since Kotomine is Alterego, Dantes is Avenger, and Holmes is Ruler.

PAPERMOON was neither. It was completely unrelated to Kotomine, but it still changed the board for the finale by dooming Sion's plotline at the end.

Sion's arc in this chapter comments on how she's been always a sidelined cheerleader than a proper companion to Novum Chaldea, with her reasoning that she's not fit to be Fujimaru's friend because she predicted a role for herself in the finale that requires her not being a friend. This was already alluded to in Imaginary Scramble but mostly forgotten by the narrative otherwise.

Our main companion through this ordeal is an Alterego in the form of Sion's childish aspirations to be Fujimaru's friend despite knowing she can't, and the two of them are stuck in an unreal world where her actions wouldn't have consequences. So little Sion wholeheartedly indulges in this fun adventure.

However, even the most childish side of Sion knows that this cannot be. In the end, when she finally returns Fujimaru's Alterego to their complete self, she chooses to stay behind. The joyful memories of the child's adventure can't be allowed to return to the adult. Sion can't be Novum Chaldea's friend. This is essential to preventing mankind's demise.

The young Sion closes the door behind Fujimaru and leaves herself stuck in an isolated micro-world. It's the only option Sion Eltnam Sokaris is capable of taking. And then comes the epilogue revealing the fallout of it:

Sion remembers the adventure. Sion remembers being Fujimaru's friend. The bystander "unfortunately" became part of the team. The actress can no longer take the role in her script. It's over. She got attached to her sacrificial pawns. Sion had a chance to save the bleached Earth, but now she's suddenly faced with the greater challenge of saving both the world and the people she was planning to discard to save the world.

This is a big game changer for the final chapter, and honestly, in a route much more interesting than anything I had in mind. The Sion hype for FGO's finale is finally undeniably real. Took her long enough.

[mikittalabs]

something i don't think people really get about steven universe is that it's framed by steven's perspective. like he's not always the mc of an episode but he is undoubtedly the sole pov character. i think the distinction's important here cuz it ties into that whole "steven universe filler episodes" debate thing. to steven, crystal gem adventures and beach city shenanigans are of equal importance, at least initially. it gets a bit skewed in favor of gem adventures by the end of the show, i think, but never to the point that steven completely ignores one over the other.

like, steven's a kid. he likes hanging out and his home situation isn't exactly normal, even before the gems actually let him come on missions. that boy roams around, he knows everyone in town already, greg's car wash had a float in that one parade and steven's just chilling out on top of the van for it. that's how connie recognizes him in the first place. steven was practically raised by beach city as a whole. that's not to say that greg and the gems didn't do anything, just that. well. with steven being how he is, greg isn't totally confident in raising him, and the gems barely know what a baby is. one could say he was given an unhealthy amount of freedom.

with all that free time, it's no wonder steven is basically Thee beach city mutual friend. of course he also likes seeing what's up with everyone. the pace of the story is set by steven and steven is not one to stay at his home 24/7.

also, su loves to give its characters downtime because life is just kind of like that sometimes. it's slow, things don't happen back to back and you still have to take time to relax. some of the more lowkey episodes are my favorites, like "joy ride" is my jam!! it's just buck, jenny, and sour cream taking steven out to fuck around!! peak fiction. it's genuinely heartwarming seeing them encouraging steven to just be a kid after the s1 finale. and how they convince the gems to be softer on him is so <333.

i get that not everyone is going to like the beach city episodes, and that's fine. su is extremely character focused, and i feel like people tend to prefer more narrative focused stories. despite that, saying you should outright skip like, every episode with lars until he ends up in space is doing a massive disservice to his arc and the way steven interacts with him. it's true he's not "narratively relevant" until his death and resurrection, but not seeing him when he's still acting like a dick doesn't give you the full picture of him. it's not gonna make sense when he and sadie meet up again after months.

i have to wonder if people just wanted su to be a completely different show. the world wasn't ready for a slower, character focused show i think.

[sillypiratelife]

Hmmmm, how can I explain it...

Zoro met Sanji as a shameless flirt, right? It's just that his first impression was of Sanji flirting with Nami. That's okay, he considers Sanji an absolute moron for allowing Nami to manipulate him, but to each their own.

The next woman Sanji meets (in front of Zoro) is Nojiko, Nami's sister. The curious thing is that in the anime, Sanji doesn't react to her until Usopp says she's Nami's sister. He's clearly fixated on Nami, which okay, none of Zoro's business and he would not pay attention to it in the middle of a real crisis.

The party after destroying Arlong Park? Whatever, it is a party, everyone is excited, blah blah blah. He has seen it all, doesn't even care when he's drunk and happy himself. Move on.

Zoro is not there to see Sanji with Carmen and when they meet Tashigi, they're running for their lives (and Tashigi tells Sanji to get a grip and leave her alone to fight Zoro, so it's funny). Btw, there's a whole filler arc that I won't mention here.

Then Vivi walks into their lives.

Sanji doesn't react that much to Ms. Wednesday at first. I think it's partially in Whiskey Peak when Zoro loses some respect for Sanji, since he was so busy flirting with 20 women to realize they were in a trap. When they're back in the Going Merry, Sanji quickly flirt with Ms. Wednesday (Vivi) and Ms. Sunday (Robin), but nothing serious.

When Sanji learns everything, there's a moment when he goes to tell Vivi that "I still have a chance to shine. Now that the sleeping prince is awake, your safety is guaranteed". Zoro looks annoyed in the background.

For me, that's the moment when Zoro decided to treat Sanji as a total moron. All the respect that he showed to Sanji in Arlong Park and later at Logue Town? Gone from the surface. There were now two women in the ship and Sanji was being insufferable with both of them. Sanji's obsession with women proved to be a weakness of his, one that Zoro wouldn't ignore.

Remember how in Whiskey Peak there's a whole silly part of Luffy and Zoro fighting to see who is the strongest one? And then how in Little Garden Zoro is the one who starts their rivalry?

Sanji is very polite and normal to Zoro when he tells him to pick some food while he's going for a walk. What does Zoro do? He says "It's okay, I will hunt something that you would never manage to catch". Did he do it to force Sanji to train? Did he mean the jab because he was irritated with how Sanji treated women and how it affected him in a fight? What even was the need to say that?

After that, they were never normal. Zoro would react to every dumb flirt from Sanji. It's like he made his mission to irritate Sanji as much as possible. In turn, Sanji would answer the banter with insults of his own. Point of no return lol.

I think Zoro knew exactly how good Sanji was, but it frustrated him that Sanji would allow women to manipulate him and walk over him just like that. He also hated the fact he wouldn't take women seriously— the base of Zoro as a character comes from the very dilemma that girls can't ever be as strong as men, it came from his childhood friend, the person that he carries both in his weapon and in his dream.

"Do you think a swordman should hurt a lady?" is a slap to Zoro's face and not in the right way even.

It makes you wonder, you know. If the story could ever explore what being a woman means and how Zoro and Sanji think of it, given their respective childhood traumas. If we'll ever see acknowledged the root of Zoro and Sanji's rivalry. If it wasn't for their view on how a man should treat a woman, how would they treat and react to each other?

Maybe that's why I'm obsessed with Zoro and Sanji's dynamic. It's fun to pick it apart.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I know S1 was split because of covid and stuff and it resulted in book 1 getting 2 seasons and 15 episodes. and honestly, i dont think that was to many eps, with good writing it turned out it gave the books time to have enough pace to develop stories and characters perfectly I never felt any filler. so going forward I am actually little worried. because I assume not every next book will get 2 seasons even tho VL is longer for example. I worry VL will be rushed if it's only one season :(

But than again it's not like they have to cover 13 books in 13 seasons. I feel like VL and QOTD is the only that need full longer seasons coverage. TOTBT doesn't need separate season and can be incorporated somewhere. Armand's and Marius books are flashbacks that can be incorporated with other stuff throughout seasons. Memnoch is a trip but certainly not material enough of plot for a season of anything. Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle can't be ignored lol. Merrick can be incorporated in other stuff too. My point is most later books dont exactly need to be contained individual seasons and contained stories like first book was. that only leaves newest trilogy. so I dont know how they plan to do it.. but I feel like they could/should give Vampire Lestat 2 seasons. than have maybe 3 more seasons for everything else... because modern day plots are not that big it's mostly about flashbacks or tones of POVs

(I think you meant to say Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle can be ignored? Because then, yes^^)

I think Rolin will not be rushed, but I do think both TVL and QotD will get a "whole" arc - hopefully a longer season - and TtotBT might be combined with some elements of Memnoch and TVA.

I think the danger of Amel has already been hinted at and will be threaded through Akasha's arc already, and then the last big arc (and enemy) in the last books will be a big, overarching arc. Possibly spanning several seasons.

At least that is what I think might happen :) We'll see.

Rolin said the memory aspects and POVs would be done soon, and that makes sense, though some flashbacks or tales will definitely still be part of it.

Still, I am very much looking forward to the show moving "into reality" :)))

I cannot wait for it to be rooted in our world .... after all we saw the first tendrils with "Long Face".

I expect a loooooot more than that :)))

[killershark82]

Okay everybody

So

I know the infinity clock arc is just a filler arc for the anime

BUT

I am intrigued by it. Like if you could redo it to fit properly in the timeline where would you want to put it? I want to put it after the grand magic games not like, immediately though.

Because I also find the anime eclipse are so interesting too. Like it was very crack fic feely for me especially with the break dancing gray but like. More on celestial sprit magic and the actual spirit world was cool. I think I want to redo it as well but like more gradual to show that things aren’t quite right and then the floodgates open. Also I wouldn’t have natsu being back the spirit king because it’s not his magic. Lucy, yukino, and hisui should have done it. Also maybe get some other gate key summoners in on it. Idk how exactly it would happen because their main thing is summoning but also in Lucy’s case she never uses her whip enough in combat and I want to fix that.

So I would do this, and then do the infinity clock arc after that. And the. There’s more of like a shock factor because summoners are being put in comas and there’s stuff with the clock, and it would involve sabertooth and fairy tail working together to figure shit out and protect Lucy and yukino, and hisui would be involved too because she’s a summoner and would be targeted.

Also I’m a sucker for magical consequences and fairy tail didn’t have enough in my opinion (Lucy should have kept the scars from rewriting natsu’s soul). And all this leads to the question I was thinking about.

What consequences would you want to put on Lucy for surviving the sacrifice after being absorbed by infinity?

I was thinking some kind of warped connection with time magic and it maybe sincing her life span with celestial world time, which is so much slower. Also should her eyes change? Like as a physical side effect? I think that would be cool.

Pls

Share your thoughts

[dapper-lil-arts]

Any tips for an amateur writer? I've been writing a pmd:eos fic series on ao3 that's been getting praise, but I still feel inexperienced

Yooo pokemon mistery dungeon explorers of sky? Hell yeah best pokemon game to make fanfic of, easily. its an absolute BANGER Ok i got a few pieces of advice for ya, i don't mind sharing! 1 - One of the most important ones for me personaly, is to know and understand yourself and your own style of writing. By what i mean its like; you get an idea for a story, or a concept. But knowing your writing style, your capability to write scenes, and even the characters in question, do you KNOW that you can write this story? Its actually pretty important; Because writing takes up a LOT of time and effort, and if you just start blanking halfway into it, you'll have wasted so much time with a story that you don't exactly know how to do. I personaly have so many ideas, but i only execute on the ones that i am aware i can work on, and would know where to take, even if the idea is small. (For example, i had an idea for writing a fic of rarijack but only when theyre older, after the events of FIM. I started writing immediately because i knew exactly that i could do it; and am already 25 pages in and might finish today, heh) 2 - Write horizontaly, not verticaly. by that i mean; don't start at the beginning and work from there, consider all of your story's structure before you even start, act 1, 2, and 3, and its most pivotal moments. Much like you would sketch a drawing before lining and coloring, its important as hell that you are planning all your setups and payofss in advance, all of the arcs and character progression in tandum and stuff. This applies well to the first advice too! Don't be afraid to make an ugly ass sketch of a story, as long as youre aware that this is indeed a story you can make. Make the skeleton before adding the meat, and only after do you add the makeup. And as you write, more ideas will come to you! 3 - This one is more for my own, personal taste, but never be afraid of writing multigenre! By that like. If you're writing romance, dont be afraid to put action, if you're writing drama, dont be afraid to put a moment of comedy here and there; stories are infinitely more interesting when they're not just one note, not just a single tone! And the readers would absolutely be delighted on having moments of respite or shock, it keeps them on their toes. 4 - This one is hard to execute, and i cant give examples that arent long, but like. None of your scenes and sequences should be just what they are in the surface. Like; A character knows something that the other doesnt, or the audience knows something that neither character knows, or the underlying conflict is constantly clashing silently. A short example i can give is a scene in on of my fics in which a character was being asked about her past, and she spoke ernestly, but every once in a while i'd add a "She lied" after the information she provided; And i didn't need to add anything else, that in itself is enough for the audience to understand and consider why this character is doing what shes doing, and just that simple little thing added an really interesting layer to the simple conversation. Essentialy, there's no reason why a conversation should *just* be a conversation in your stories, and there is no reason why you should have filler for the sake of it. Pacing is important, and you can make every single scene and chapter on your story interesting, nothing stops you but you! The "She lied" thing is specialy important, because you don't have to treat your audience like babies. I didn't explain why she lied, because if any reader was paying attention, they'd understand completely, everything would simply click. A character can sometimes say something, and all you need to do is write the tone of their voice, and the reader can already connect the dots, or even something as simple as describing a facial expression or body language without explaining why it is what it is; It makes your story more engaging! I have a million other advice, but i felt like these were the most important ones i specificaly could provide. Good luck!

[gffa]

Have you also watched the One Piece anime? After watching the new live action I was like “oooh! I should check out the anime!” But it is like 1000 episodes. Is it worth it?

Hi! I've watched a good chunk of the One Piece anime, yes! I watched up through at least the Arabasta arc, probably up through episode 150 or so, but at the time that was all that was released, so I had to switch to the manga. (I kind of fell out of One Piece for awhile after certain events in the manga hurt my heart too much to keep going for awhile, but I've always intended to go back. So I would say I've read somewhere just past half of the manga?) So, take that into consideration, that I'm coming from "started with the anime, got 150 episodes in, that's all the further the anime was along at the time, so I had to switch to the manga, but I fell out somewhere around chapter 500 or so, but that was long enough that I had plenty of time to compare the manga and the anime to each other, once the anime caught up to where I was in the manga". My ideal One Piece watching order is pretty much exactly what I went through: - Be prepared for the first ~20 episodes to be kind of dull, maybe you'll like them, but most people find them kind of tedious, but idk maybe you could skip the first 30 episodes or so because OPLA covers the events reasonably well - Watch up through the Arabasta arc (episode 150 or so), the pacing of the anime is really, really watchable up to that point and the voice actors are ASTOUNDINGLY perfect in their roles - Switch to the manga for the Jaya arc/Skypiea arc, unless you're having a really hard time with it, Skypiea should still be pretty good pacing (up to episode 195 or so) - SERIOUSLY GET OUT OF THE ANIME AROUND THIS POINT because it has to start stretching out the events to fill time because it catches up to the manga too quickly, so there's a TON of filler, like by the time I went to try to watch the events of the Davy Back Fight in the anime, it was EXCRUTIATING trying to slog through the long, looooooong minutes of characters just STARING at each other to fill time Is it worth it? Yes, yes, and yes. One Piece is genuinely my favorite manga ever, nothing has ever come close to how well done I've found it to be. It's not perfect, it definitely has trouble when it comes to women (though, I think Oda is at least trying to get better about that) and the art style isn't going to be for everyone, but the sheer WORLDBUILDING and PLOT are absolutely NUTS, Oda knew exactly where this story was heading when he started and you can see that dedication unfold as it goes along, things that you had no idea were important back then, that just seemed random, will suddenly be MASSIVELY important, like as an example: When Shanks tells the sea monster to GET LOST! after it chomps his arm, there's a whooshing, the camera in both the anime/manga and the live action make a point of how the air kind of 'shakes' around him, and it's super dramatic, right? THAT'S GOING TO BE IMPORTANT LATER and watching OPLA I was struck all over again HOLY SHIT ODA PLANNED THAT FROM THE BEGINNING. One Piece is a deeply silly and ridiculous series, not everything is meant to be taken seriously, sometimes it's just Oda joking around and being goofy! But there's a genuine story about friendships and a massively internally consistent world that will slowly unfold before you and some of the most epic battles I've ever seen. One Piece is a series that has made me genuinely cry over Luffy's hat more than once, it has made me cry over a ship, that's how powerfully the story can affect my emotions, because it's genuinely such a loveable series. Yeah, I absolutely do recommend it! Start with the anime, but for the love of all things holy, stop at least around episode 200 and switch to the manga, it's a tough adjustment for a few chapters, but it's totally worth it!!

[erithel]

When do you personally think the VLD series started going downhill in quality? By that I mean writing quality because somehow the animation and visuals stayed pretty throughout the entire mess that is the VLD show.

So from what I remember of the show, I think I'd say around season 4. But realistically, the episodes created for seasons 3, 4, 5, and 6 were probably where things started to fall off.

I of course don't know exactly what happened behind the scenes, but just based on the content of those seasons (especially 4 and 5), as well as the fact that all of them had no more than 7 episodes each, it gives the impression that there was a lot of hurried changes to their original plan, as well as probably pressure to rush to get episodes out before they had a cohesive, full season laid out.

Season 3 started off very strong, but ended on a flashback of how the lions came into existence. Which is fine, I guess. But it would have made more sense for that episode - that dealt with Zarkon's fall - to happen before Zarkon was defeated.

Season 4 had a couple good episodes, but also some that felt extremely filler-ish. Which again, is fine, but not when it's about half the episodes in the season.

And season 5 seemed to put its main focus on Lotor instead of the team.

Season 6 wasn't bad. It was more cohesive and had less filler.

But the issue that I think those seasons all dealt with was that season 3+4 should have been one season that dealt with Keith having to take over for Shiro and the eventual split of the team when he left.

And season 5+6 should have been one season that dealt with Lotor (not as the main focus was as the main arc) and how the team functioned as a new unit, while dealing with whether or not they could work with Lotor and actually trust him.

The way VLD went wrong was by breaking up these into 4 different seasons that had no cohesive arcs.

TV shows - and especially TV shows like this that are about adventure and defeating the enemy and team building - should always have a singular main arc per season. They should have one focus and one goal that is set up in the beginning, goes wrong in the middle, and is resolved in the end.

And unfortunately for VLD, it seemed that they were just throwing darts at a board in a desperate attempt to plug in ideas in order to get the seasons out on time.

From what I remember hearing, there was a lot of studio meddling, and that's really unfortunate. Because I believe everyone would rather wait a little longer for a well put together season of a show, rather than have something immediate, but largely unsatisfying.

[ichirukilover]

I closed the door to Bl/each after the tragedy of 6/86 and briefly opened a window to LA, because well that pair is my weakness and it made me laugh how treacherously I/R it was.

So when weeks ago I saw a beautiful I/R fanart on Tik Tok (The anime came back, so the algorithm decided it was a good idea to torture me), and the response to a comment that said "They should have ended up together "was "READ THE MANGA", I was baffled. I mean, what did that mean? had I read a fake manga all those years and the "real manga" appeared Da Vinci Code-style after 2016? Was it all a Jump conspiracy? Have we been duped all this time?

That piqued my curiosity, so I wandered around several sites, reading publications from the "correct/canon/real manga" point of view; and well, you'll see even worse things the bible says.

Here are my favorites:

"The I/H was evident from the beginning, just read chapter 0": yes, because a one-shot that is a sketch of the general idea of a manga, that goes through many revisions and rewrites is absolutely determinant in the development of the main manga, and seriously, what exactly is the evidence?

"HM arc is the ultimate proof of I/H, he went to rescue her and even came back from the dead for her": well, so did her other friends and even R/enji and R/ukia, maybe they were all in love with her too. And about the resurrection...just...never mind.

"I/H are perfect for each other" Here I could do a whole essay from a psychological point of view that proves that it is an absolute fallacy and was more than clear in the FB arc, in real life they wouldn't work and would be a toxic couple. And God knows at least that boy needs therapy.

"O***ime looks like Ma/saki" * Bombastic side eye. Criminal, offensive side eye *

"O***ime deserves I/chigo”: Oh, so he was some kind of trophy for being a good girl, so it wasn't enough to objectify her, they also do the same with the boy.

"Ru/kia was a shinigami and I/chigo was a human, and she's much older than him, their relationship was impossible." *Everything but the rain entered the chat*.

"I/H fought together against Y/wach": And we all know how well they (he) did, right?

"W/D/k/A/L/Y": *sigh* that's what it looks like when you try to fix a mess and fail miserably.

"W/D/k/A/L/Y's scribble": ...

"Anime invented IR": The studio simply pushed something that was already implicit in the original material and they knew it would sell more, it's basic marketing. Most of us knew what was filler and what wasn't (rolls eyes).

And there definitely wasn't a parallel manga that magically made sense of that ending. What a disappointment.

And I/R are the delusional and lacking in compressive reading? It's so much easier to say you just don't like people ship I/R, instead of sending them to read the manga or giving lazy arguments. Pathetic.

This was long, but I just needed to vent or something, because I honestly found the whole situation absolutely hilarious.

My English is broken, so I hope I have been understood.

PS: So in my delusional mind I/R is right now enjoying his honeymoon on the beach *wink**wink*.

Blessings.

As someone that didn't leave after the ending and has seen all these "amazing points" take form and basically became the classic "IH and pro ending dudebro agenda" list, let me tell you, I was and still am baffled too. No matter how many times I read them, I still get shocked at how some really believe that bunch of BS, or better they keep repeating it untill they'll believe it.

You adressed them in a simple but direct and straight to the point way, I don't even need to add anything to what you said, agree to all of it, wait lol well maybe I could add the the pilot chapter lit has In0ue de0d at the end of it but what do we know, that doesn't seem to matter to them lol it doesn't have to make sense smh

In our delusional mind that ichiruki honeymoon on the beach is so vivid and real... I wonder why lmao

[itsclydebitches]



I know the season isn't even out yet but just looking I'm already breaking out in hives. It feels like its overcompensating: "Step right up, ladies and gentlemen we got talking animals, magical cats, a land of candy and absolutely no concern for the main plot! Is this distracting enough for you? Do you like all these bright colours and shiny new things? You've heard of a filler episode, right? Well, get ready for a filler season! Welcome to the next season of rwby, everyone!"

For me personally, the frustrating thing is that I like all these ideas on their own, but I don’t think they’re working for RWBY, especially right now. You want to do an Alice in Wonderland inspired arc? It should be bright and colorful and weird! But that all severely undermines the horror of our previous Volume, so maybe don't do that after the Everything of last season. You want your characters to have the time and opportunity to develop, focusing on introspective questions instead of the action-packed main plot? Sure, go for it, but maybe not at the height of the series' conflict, nine years into the story. I want to shove a basic plot diagram at the writers and point out that they’re interrupting a steady climb towards the climax with... this. There’s a reason why they’re filler episodes, singular, separated events that provide a needed break from the action without derailing it completely. A whole season---especially one that’s shorter than is now average and coming late---is a serious problem for RWBY's pacing and, frankly, makes it look like the writers are stalling while they figure out how the heroes can win when the story has done nothing to prepare them for that monumental challenge. Either that, or we're stretching RT's flagship story out as long as possible. Insert the plea not to pirate here.

And I know, I know, the Volume isn’t out yet and trailers can be misleading, but I’m honestly concerned that there’s nothing here about the main conflict. I have no doubt that the characters will come out of this experience having #LearnedSomething (whether we end up agreeing with their development is another matter entirely), but the trailer makes it seem like it will be a generic confidence boost (Ruby reasserts her desire to help people as the hero), rather than a concrete step towards defeating Salem. There’s no mention of the Relics, the Gods, magic they can use as a weapon, no hint that she’ll improve her silver eyes, or that what’s happening in Vacuo will be anything more than a pre-Volume 10 cliffhanger. What questions does the trailer/the events of Volume 8 imply that Volume 9 will tackle?

Will Ruby regain her confidence after this tragedy?

Will they find Jaune?

Will they regain/reforge their lost weapons?

Will they make it home?

What does all this equal? A reset. The trailer presents this as a Volume where the girls work to get back to exactly where they were at the end of Volume 8: back in Remnant, back with their weapons, back together, back fighting Salem, back to their confident selves. If the only goal is to get home, then yeah, this is literally filler. This entire Volume may exist not to forward the story proper, but to provide a lot of fluff content (like the humor) until what little plot there is gets them back to where they were 2+ years ago. Now, the writer in me DOES expect them to come away with something that will forward the plot, simply because I can’t imagine crafting a whole Volume that doesn’t, but the lack of insight into what that might be---do they meet the Gods? Get new powers? Learn a secret about Salem??---is one of the reasons why I think this is a badly constructed trailer.

And as I mentioned in a separate post, I really do find the lack of action to be odd. Someone responded that RWBY is more than its action sequences and yes, of course, but RWBY is, first and foremost, a combat show. I already laid out the ways previous trailers highlighted the girls’ battles that Volume (even if it’s only those in the first few episodes) and if you look at ANY ‘Best Of’ list, you’ll find nothing but the fights. When you think "RWBY" do you really picture the silly humor in between the fights...or do you think Nevermore, Apathy, Qrow vs. Tyrian, RWBY vs. Paladin, Ironwood vs. Watts, the White Fang, the Hound, etc. Beyond the combat being the most memorable of all RWBY's content, RWBY simply doesn’t exist without its fights. I don’t mean that in a “Monty originally created it to choreograph cool battles, but it’s grown so much since then” way, I mean it in a plot-focused “Our story is about a group of girls going to school to learn how to fight, and they fight grimm, and they fight an extremist group, and then they fight an immortal witch, and they fight her goons, and sometimes they fight each other, and the strongest fighters fight with magic, and when they’re not fighting they’re doing adjacent fighting things like training, taking care of weapons, traveling to the next fight, engaging in politics avoid fights but oops, that failed so now they're fighting again” way. Remove the combat from RWBY and all you’ve got is a disconnected collection of domestic moments/jokes more suitable to a drabble collection than a professional story. RWBY might have a non-combat framework that helps hold it together, but that doesn't mean that combat isn't still 99% of the story's focus and the draw for the audience.

All of which is just to emphasize that if our trailer is a) not giving us any conflict beyond “Get back to where we were in Volume 8” and b) not highlighting the combat that RWBY is built on, then it really does feel like filler in a literal sense. I know we made jokes about this a year back, but right now Volume 9 feels like RWBY’s beach episode. No, not because of Jaune landing on an island with a bunch of girls, but because, like the classic beach episode, our trailer presents this as an interlude where the primary plot remains fairly static and the characters engage in activities that contrast their normal routine. Here’s Haruhi and her friends leaving the host club behind to hang in a water park until they go home. Here’s Team RWBY leaving Remnant to explore a Wonderland until they go home. I know we need to wait to see what the tone of the whole Volume actually is, but even the humor of the trailer feels filler-y to me. In that---as you say, anon---it seeks to distract the audience all on its own, rather than occurring naturally among more plot-focused moments. (Like, for example, Weiss bemoaning the fact that she's never going to sleep again while they try to figure out how to help Mantle). Filler episodes often ignore the plot (and its accompanying worries) to make space for the lighthearted character interactions. Now here come the butt jokes, arm tug-of-wars, and purple raccoons.

Clearly the Volume will at least be tackling Ruby’s doubts---something I SO want to go well---but if the tone skews too lighthearted... yeah. Filler. Honestly, if the Volume does fail to sufficiently engage with Volume 8’s tragedies, I fully expect the fandom to start talking about how the girls deserved a fun, wacky Wonderland trip after everything they've been through, the same way we got a strong cry that they needed to rest in the mansion with tea while the rest of the Kingdom was falling to grimm. Potential filler will likely be seen as something earned by the protagonists (as if they were real people with real needs), rather than a writing mistake.