Characters Reactions to Canon Fics and Fic Recs

 

I don't have much fondness for these types of fics. These characters reacting to canon fics are often repetitive instead of doing something. Often these characters are trapped in a dark room or somewhere with the canonical media for them to watch and read. Very rarely they are allowed out of that so it's often a good thing that these characters are actively trying to change amidst watching/reading/playing the canon events they have access to. 

I'm big on stories, particularly if a story is so well-written about the meta of the story they are writing hence why Princess Tutu is in my top three favorite magical girls series and why ORV became one of my favorite stories ever. It’s to the point that when it comes to my favorite stories in the world, I’m more so focused on grabbing the books or getting things that better tell the story in pin form. 

Particularly if they know enough about the main characters to realize the guy they are following has loads of potential. 

I wholly recommend Advanced Release wherein Sephiroth received the original FFVII in his mail and began playing it with his besties Genesis and Angeal only to discover that it's not an inside job but rather a scarily accurate game that foretold the future. Little did they know whatever insanity and stupidity they deem is actually true to what Future Cloud who gave them the games can testify. 

They aren't the only ones to receive a game, however. Reeve received Dirge of Cerberus, the Turks are hilariously playing Before Crisis on their flip-phones, Zack got Crisis Core, Tifa got the light novels, and who knows got the movies? The author has noted that one person would not be the only one to receive a game or novel as seen with the Turks so it’s likely the main cast will get the scoop. Future Cloud is maximizing the people who can save the world and it’s only a matter of time young Cloud learns about this. 

All the while tiny young Cadet Cloud Strife found himself with interest from everyone who played the games. The Turks think of him as an interesting NPC who definitely made an impression on them while not knowing the reason why he made an impression in the first place was because he's the main character, Sephiroth and soon enough Angeal and Genesis begin to see the potential in him. Zack outright declared that he would be stronger than all of them combined. Considering they haven't seen the ending of the game where Cloud killed Sephiroth and in the movie where Cloud killed him again, all they see now is potential. Genesis probably will see Cloud having the potential to be the strongest magic caster that is not a Cetra. Tiny Cadet Cloud has no idea what is going on where his idol is offering him mentorship, Turks offering him a spot, why Angeal is treating him so kindly, and Zack wants to be besties with a random cadet. Confounded but ecstatic.  

I guess that's what Cloud gets as the Planet's chosen Champion because tiny Cloud has no idea that's his destiny. He's the main character so he's basically chosen to have so much potential to be the strongest man in Gaia with his sword and magic skills. 

Cloud doesn’t have main character syndrome obviously as he’s the main character who just happened to be chosen even if it might not look that way. He’s stubborn and self-loathing yet his wishes were granted in the most awful way possible. 

I just wonder how much young Cloud is going to get heckled moving forward now that a lot of people are growing more aware that he’s extremely important. 

Given that only Sephiroth met Future Cloud, I wonder how Tiny Cloud would react to Future Cloud, someone with so much power and capable of killing Sephiroth twice. 

I wonder if anyone from Nibelheim should survive this and learn about this including learning Cloud became Sephiroth's protege for no other reason than Seph seeing potential in him that Seph could see that Cloud even beat them and indeed Cloud can defeat him when Angeal and Genesis cannot. 

I wonder how the fan clubs would take this because this is Sephiroth after all taking on a random cadet for no reason other than Seph saying he saw potential in him. Seph can't exactly say that other than potential, he knows what Cloud would become just by meeting his future self because again Seph can be defeated if only because Cloud is capable of such a thing. How would fans take Seph's eventual dethroning of the strongest man by Cloud, his protege who is both impressive in his swordsmanship as well as magic? 

Honestly, anyone who didn't think Cloud would make it would see that with the right guidance, Cloud could become the Planet's Champion he was always destined to be. 

To be fair, Sephiroth, Angeal, Genesis, and Zack are training him up to be stronger than they could ever be, and not least they got evidence of just how powerful Cloud could be by his future self and the canonical events they saw. 

There’s still so much story left. We haven’t even gotten to Cloud’s actual mentorship yet, nor has he even told Zack about the light novels. We haven’t seen what Hojo plans to do to Cloud. Genesis has yet to know about Deepground. 

Heck, the Turks got their game in one go so they have to know things now and further investigate the Vincent case. In a comment, the author comments they will once they get to a certain scene with Vincent. 

Everyone who has gotten a game or a piece of media relating to FFVII should know by name that Cloud is the main character at this point and side-eye him basically as young Cloud just thriving under Seph's tutelage with added help from Angeal, Genesis, and Zack in their effort to make him the most powerful man that the Planet has literally chosen as their champion. 

Honestly, what about characters not in the know about the games but still knowing confidential details like Kunsel? Kunsel could potentially play a larger role than in canon wherein he acts as the tutorial guide. Kunsel has been portrayed as a Turk-like SOLDIER but how would he react to these events after the mission he had with Seph? Kunsel would want to leave Shinra after all after learning the dreaded secrets. However, he would never see Cloud coming after the mission. 

And what about the process where Cloud is just thriving under the tutelage of Sephiroth, Angeal, Genesis, and Zack? From what seems like a mediocre infantryman's fast learning turning him quickly to potentially the most powerful magic caster and swordsman who might have the chance of defeating the Silver General and indeed he can and will lest they stay and watch his spars against his mentor? What about Cloud just vibrating as he creates the fusion sword and uses that against Seph in the future? The Omnislash and its eventual versions until Cloud creates his ultimate sword? 

There’s confirmation and honestly, it’s a fact that Cloud will find out about FFVII. He already has an inkling with Tifa but he has no idea why he is suddenly the biggest target among the higher-ups at Shinra. 

And that's one of the top examples of characters watching/playing/reading the series that do something beyond knowing the future. It's dull and repetitive just from watching reactions. Sure, it's fine from isolation but when you're not doing something like Peggy Sue their timeline, then what are you doing?

Take another Final Fantasy example, this time entry number 15. 

The Basis of Reality has Ignis be taken to another world entirely where his world is but an entry of a popular series much like how Future Cloud grabs the consoles and games from our world to give to those trusted in another. 

Ignis found out several truths as well as the game forcing and glitching to make way for a new ending or in the same track depending on the change set. 

Now they haven't played the game since the beginning. If anything, they only watch some cutscenes and learn secondhand information from the gamer herself. They play some portion and learn some game mechanics so they can become savvy enough to write their golden ending. 

At least they knew the future and reacted to canon appropriately by actually changing things instead of just reacting. 

Not least they can see the visible changes in their extended absences and the visible glitches. 

At least these guys know they are living in a video game world so Noctis and Prompto used their video game know-how to level against the rails and ease towards a golden ending. 

Now, these two fics are essentially fix-fics when fics that contain the trope of characters watching canon have not been done to fix their future. 

The closest I see in this kind of trope even happening was a series summary of a Twisted Wonderland fic series where the Overblot villains became a strange group of friends after what they had watched and even then, in the main body, the TWST characters are still mainly locked in a black room with the game in front of them. 

Very rare I've seen these characters keep secrets of these canon franchise material and try to fix it. 

Heck, I doubt I would see a fanfic of the MHA cast, UA specifically, try to matchmake Hawks with Dabi after seeing their sizzling sexual tension at that meeting because to them, they are heroes who shouldn't get into illicit relationships with villains and this is well before character development. Because in the eye of the law, heroes getting together with villains is very bad. 

Though the idea would be planted and they don’t know every time they read and watch the interactions before the betrayal, the sexual tension is striking. 

Anyhow, can’t we get more creative works with the characters interacting with canon and changing it at the same time?

The two Final Fantasy fics above had them interact with all bases of the franchise, some more then others regarding how far along they are in their designated media. 

They are even changing it even when they haven’t finished it. Cloud is Sephiroth’s protege! The chocobros saved Ravus’ life! 

Just do something if these characters are gonna know the future! 

It’s repetitive if it’s just the reactions. There isn’t any creativity. 

I mean it wasn't much to the TWST fic series either. The summary events happened after they watched the events so I have no clue other than working together to get Yuu home and Grim his goal, I don't know how else other than maybe changing the events that went on like the Ghost Bride and everything else. 

But we still have to get through the watching first. Sure there are intervals of taking breaks albeit not much since they can’t leave. 

Probably expecting too much as fanfiction is a medium, most times there aren’t good writing and you have to sift through the piles of uninteresting to get to the interesting. 

You can find your typical tropes in fanfiction. In fanfiction, it’s the fun of imagining these characters in these scenarios. 

The non-fandom people who try to entice random people through tropes not realizing they are literally tropes and what makes fanfiction. The Harry Styles fanfiction to original literature pipeline is so stupid. Why the hell would it attract these girls into reading these when these guys just advertise fanfiction-like tropes? 

I love complicated pairings with tension and making their divorce everyone’s problem. I love pairings that are definitely foils and therefore compatible. The intensity in OTPs is my bread and butter. Like, Joongdok hit everything and surpassed even my intense OTPs through sheer weird intensity. Do you know you gotta be deranged to surpass Wangxian, right?! 

Do you see me falling for every ship that has this trope? I love complicated pairings the most hence why Honkai ships rapidly go up the ranks of OTP levels that only a few Genshin ships ever had. Even though I like Zhongchi and still read them, it's still not too close to the OTP levels that Haikavetham rapidly reached the endpoint and became an OTP. Joongdok shot up the ranks so quickly that it rivaled Dabihawks on its pace which Dabihawks got me in at their flashback meeting after the Endeavor battle with the Nomu. 

While ships have always been subjective, you do not see me falling for every ship that has that trope. 

It's a trope that in fanfiction is used as an imagination playground for characters they love. 

Fanfiction is its own medium that is unlike original literature. 

If that was the case, I would've been a Reylo fan, right? Nope, I am so not and not the least that these characters are so badly done with one of the characters is a white boy Neo-Nazi who shouldn’t been the focus at all or even be written into existence at all. It’s not even one of my hated ships EndHawks or simply uncomfortable for me like NaruHina. Reylo is designated as an annoying ship, pesky enough as a fly when I’m forced to deal with them in troves in the pin community. At least I sufficiently filtered out any EndHawks on Instagram for my peace of mind. Reylo I can deal with because I don't bother getting it into the way I did MHA hence why Endhawks ended up the way it had whereas my refusal of interacting with any SW Sequel Trilogy led me to see Reylo as a pesky fly. In the pin community, NaruHina and Reylo are extremely popular so I just gotta deal less so if I’m forced to deal with EndHawks which I quickly filter in all social media. It was sheer dumb luck that I saw the hashtag but not the picture in an account because I knew I saw an NSFW EndHawks pin from another pin maker which gave me psychic damage so I quickly figured out how to filter out anything regarding EndHawks. If I was on Twitter/X, then I’m gonna be in trouble unless I follow someone’s advice to get them out of my Dabihawks feed but I don’t have one because I refuse to be on that platform. 

I’m the ship and let ship, having been in the fandom for nearly two decades. I don’t bash ships as I already explained in previous posts about my feelings about certain ships. Interacting with ships that give me lots of annoyance would not do me good in actually curating my fandom experience. I refused to step on the grounds of ships I don’t like or care for for the sake of my sanity. I already suffered an Endhawks share on an instastory once and my brain broke so again for the sake of my sanity, it's better for me to even unfollow someone who would show Endhawks on their feed than have to see more of it. 

There are also ORV and Alien Stage fics that do have enemies or higher beings in power watching the series too so I don’t know what will change. All I know is that Secretive Plotter won’t be able to snatch up Dokja ASAP until maybe they leave the scenario. But even that's debatable considering the case of when Dokja will realize his feelings for his Joonghyuk over his obliviousness. Again, he'll learn who the fuck is Secretive Plotter in the first place anyways. 

From what I have seen of the ORV fic, there is an intention to show everyone this. If you know, you know. I don’t know how the fuck are going to change things because the reveal shows that it’s supposed to change things.  

I don’t know what will change when they finally leave the liminal space but at least we know there are changes. 

The ORV fic is Dramatis Personae and the ALST one is spectating our future. 

However, I do not know much of the latter fic to say that it will diverge outside of why letting the oppressors in on the future too? Let's hope and see something done because even in canon, I have yet to see how humans can reclaim their world from the aliens. 

For what it's worth about canon character watching canon, I have yet to see much that isn't just mediocrity.

Pokemon AUs and Crossovers Fic Recs

Pokemon AUs are really malleable. You can drop whatever crossover into the said world or fuse it. It’s one of my top AUs to catch my eye alongside Cardcaptor AUs. Like, I’m mostly eh on popular AUs like a coffee shop, modern, and mafia. 

The fun part is the selection of Pokémon teams. For nearly every fandom I came across, I saw fans put together Pokemon teams. 

Developing Pokemon teams for fictional characters is fun. Most of them have themes. For example, I saw a team for Wei Wuxian being Ghost Pokemon or yokai inspired teams like Ninetales or Absol. Another would be Lan Wangji with his Flying Pokemon, specifically Altaria. Not surprising given the cloud motif. 

The Pokemon world is an open sandbox for headcanons. I have my headcanons on how trainers manage to maintain their livelihood as trainers with their bank accounts and so forth. 

Step To The Left: In one world, the Tenth Generation escapes to the world of Heroes. In this reality, they flee to a world of Pokemon. 

This one is more comedy-based with the point of having these KHR characters react to the world around them. Unlike the other crossover fic the writer did for KHR, this one was happier and they could go under the radar because the Pokemon world is far more accepting of weirder things. 

Ryohei screaming Extreme and having training montages every morning? Normal. They got extraterrestrial Pokemon like Deoxys. Which is recorded in the Pokedex. Gokudera must be awed, knowing that for the people in this world, aliens are true and even lived among them in the form of supposedly the Cleffa and Elgyem/Beheeyem lines. And that's not getting into dragons. 

Hibari being a Pokemon Master team build cute Pokemon with his fighting skill to match theirs? They got Legendary Pokemon capable of wreaking havoc in their world due to their connection to it. For the love of Arceus, they got Celebi and Jirachi, a fucking time-traveling and a wish-making Pokemon respectively. Mew is the original Pokemon created after and by Arceus in-universe. On another note, Hibari is now the Pokemon Protag, competing against trainers and bad guys alike in his trek to become a Pokemon Master. 

What makes it hilarious is that only Gokudera, Fuuta, and Hibari are the only ones who actually look through the Pokedex. Meaning they know what Teddiursa and Magikarp evolve into. The Magikarp part is in which only the people in the Pokemon world and the three aforementioned kids know it when the rest of the people at Takesushi don't. Magikarp is not normal, Tsuna and Tsuyoshi! A normal Pokemon to choose as a starter or even a second Pokemon would be an Eevee or a Caterpie even! I'm sure after the Gyarados incident, they will be careful about it, helped by the fact they could look it up anytime and the daycare is filling up with many different types. 

I mean they are interested in learning new things to adapt like seeing Pokemon in everyday life. Training isn't the only thing used. Breeding, Doctor, Researching, etc are common in regards to Pokemon. I can see Gokudera considering going into Pokemon Researching and studying under a Professor of his choice. Since he's basically living in the world of UMAs, he would want to learn more up close. I like his Eevee to evolve via Friendship or Love which means Espeon, Umbreon, or Sylveon. Since Sylveon is taken by Hibari, he can have Espeon with the Psychic skills to help with his research. 

As for future Pokemon for Hibari, I can see catching Corsola as one of his many Water Pokemon. Maybe it's because my Misty love is going, but it fits with his image of the adorable Pokemon team builds. About three of his team are pink - Sylveon, Wigglytuff, and Skitty. I can see him picking sweet-based Pokemon - Milcery, Slurpuff, Vanillite, etc - since they look non-threatening but he will train them. I can see him getting Goomy and Swablu for one of his many Dragon-types (maybe it's my love for Swablu there since, in my headcanon, May eventually catch the Swablu she befriended, and why not? Maybe Swablu after talking to the flock went off to find her in the Johto region after her trek to Sinnoh). I can actually see him catching more Fairy and Normal types since most cute Pokemon are there. 

Because Hibari is so gosh darn happy in the Pokemon world. It's his dream come true. Animals including the fucking God of the world are capable of fighting and the many competitions in the world required training them to battle each other! And I think he really has no regrets about leaving Namimori to Kusakabe and his disciplinary committee. 

The Pokemon world is really a place he can abandon his Namimori for. I can see him getting all those special transformations like Mega Stones, Gigantamax, and Z-Crystals.  Maybe consider sending a Gyaradosite to Tsuna because he evolved a Magikarp without training. And Gokudera would like to research there too since most transformations rely on bonds. I'm sure he could find academic papers and videos by the Professors as they discuss them. 

I wonder whether or not Dino, Shouichi, and Spanner would ever go to visit via Byakuran. I can see Dino getting both Ponytas later evolved into Rapidashes - Kantoian and Galarian. Shouichi getting Psychic Pokemon and Spanner getting machine-based Pokemon. If Bianchi was there, she would love the Poison and food-based Pokemon a lot. 

Outsiders: When Louise attempted her summoning, the last thing she expected was being brought face to face with an angry God. Now forced into an unknown world vastly different from her own, she must prove herself to be the very best like no one ever was. 

I enjoy outsider POVs a lot. For the Pokémon world, outsiders tend to be in awe albeit dubious about the fact children as young as ten are allowed to roam the world. Ten-year-olds in the Pokemon world are more mature and likely to know basic stuff to travel the world on foot if they can. 

This time, Louise was reverse summoned instead. It was kept ambiguous whether or not Saito was supposed to be dragged there or if he even was one. 

Now with Henrietta joining them, it's all the more fascinating a fic. 

While I likely won't bookmark the story until at least I see more of Henrietta's path because we won't be seeing back at Halk for a long time, it's in the lead above those in my Marked For Later. Icarus' Dilemma is in my Marked For Later to see updates. 

I like the exploration of the Pokemon world. While the show had shown not just battling but also coordinator as a viable route as a competitive route should go that route, the fic is dedicated to worldbuilding and showcasing the bond between Pokemon and humans. 

As a fact, the world of Pokemon is designed for travelers so public transit is free. It's understandable why when trainers are such a large faction with the League and all. Tourists will have an easier time not spending the most ridiculous amount of money to travel. Even a cruise ship for trainers is considerably less expensive. 

It’s still a capitalist world where monopolies are very frequent. Even with well-intentioned guys, I think there aren’t enough laws in place to prevent them. Yeah, Silph is great he is our primary inventor of modern things but then we get Cosmos who runs so many things. 

It’s still a utopia despite its problems I think people are far more willing to solve the ills of the world or at least prevent stuff from repeating again. It still has its own history while still paralleling our world. 

Platinum Pirate: "Looks like we're going to be partners from now on. Together, we'll see all this world has to offer." When Incumbent Champion Lucas was called in to investigate a mysterious buildup of psychic energy in the Solaceon Ruins, he didn't expect his wish from so long ago to come true, in potentially the worst (or best) way possible.

An OP crossover which is surprising really. The modernity of Pokemon clashes with the golden age of piracy steampunk of OP. 

While OP has its own BS medicine, it's still not Pokemon medicine in which medicine could heal flesh wounds of any kind. It might not cure cancer but it's enough for an emergency patient. 

I wonder how long this story will last? Would Lucas go to the New World before the Strawhats or he’ll go home before the time skip? 

Lucas and his team are comparable to Warlords and on par with Vice Admirals. They can hold their own against Admirals. 

I’m pretty sure Lucas and the team won’t take kindly to Akainu. Hey, one of the authors of This Bites is assisting this author with this fic. I don’t like Akainu either but I really want to see it just because TB left on the cliffhanger about Punk Hazard and the Fleet Admiral thing. Godoka, OP is so juicy and the changed stuff in TB and this fic will be so awesome. 

Lucas and Co changed a lot. Crocodile escaped. 

Honestly, I want to see how the Pokemon world wrecks the One Piece world. Arceus has been hinted at for a while now and holy Godoka, I want more minds breaking.

Call Out The Difference: After Ingo's impromptu journey to Hisui (and back again), the Subway Masters has had enough of space-time shenanigans for a lifetime. Unfortunately, they're due for another set, in the form of an entirely new universe crashing into theirs. One without Pokemon. On the other side, the Avengers are definitely not ready to face the Masters of the Battle Subway and the chaos of their world.

I'm not a huge superhero fan. Though I technically kept up with MHA and T&B, I haven't been up to date with the MCU since Spiderman No Way Home with the return of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire. I haven't seen most of Phase 4 outside of the only Spiderman movie on that phase. The only other thing I saw was Wandavision. 

That said, this fic is a good entry for people who don't know that much. I only have basic knowledge of what happened in the first Avengers movie and I was able to pick what happened so far in the textual information the author gave us. 

I enjoy a world that only knows the Pokemon world as fiction suddenly crossing with just as technologically advanced and more open-minded due to having lived with them for so long. The culture clash was interesting, seeing as we're only getting twenty chapters. 

Just to be clear, the MCU got a wholly different Pokemon franchise with anime first then the games created later. Apparently, they got up to Unova but not much farther or close to Nimbasa. That means they don't know the craziness of later series including PLA's battle styles. The games universe doesn't have Ash Ketchum and Pikachu isn't as popular which means it takes place in-game, not in the anime universe. 

Honestly, I don't want to spoil it. Just read it. 

Algorithms, AO3, and Fanfic Recs (and Censorship)

 

I don't think making fun of kids growing up on social media depends heavily on engagement and don't know how to search for what is good for them without others' help. 

Now, I think fic recs are dearly needed in this climate. I'm still looking for Heartstopper fic recs posts for some time now as I recently got some good Legolas x Gimli fics recently and I'm currently reading this long fic. 

Fic recs are so good for me. An easy fic recs for me was to look at the bookmarks sections should I like the author or to see their Tumblr. 

That's why it's so easy for me to go searching for any fic recs posts on any media I'm currently into. 

Yes, there are lots of stories out there. 

Think of AO3, FF.Net, Livejournal, Spacebattles, and other fanfiction sites as libraries. Because that's what they are in the end. Libraries. 

Summaries and tags are there for the most part. 

Godoka, if kids of today think AO3 is hard to navigate, then imagine kinkmemes. You'll lucky to find a Delicious link page for everyone unless you are basically obsessively memorizing the page and section of a kinkmeme. Kinkmemes are like Jenga where these prompts are hopefully or not answered. 

Alongside FF.Net, I still search for fics on Livejournal and now Spacebattles. 

I'm not a social media person. Even now, as an ARMY, I mostly use my Tumblr. 

I'm so used to searching for fics that AO3 was an easy transition. 

AO3 doesn’t need engagement. 

Most fanfic writers I have seen don’t care much about engagement, just wanting to tell a story. While kudos and comments are nice, it’s something that is just isolated within the fic itself. 

Fandom in itself had been severely affected by the ‘content’ of the social media landscape. We’re basically The Menu the fandom experience of creativity and community. The fandom shared a love for whatever pop culture and the little subset of fans of a fanbase just bounce off each other for a particular ship or piece of media that was released slowly. Now binging and quick bites of content reduced art and community. And it went as far as affecting fandom. 

All fandom is a shared love for something. That’s why the algorithm for AO3 is antithetical to fandom. 

Fans shouldn’t be forced to create piece after piece just to maintain relevance in a fandom. They’re not creating but pumping out for approval. What fans want to share is a love for something. Something as simple as a ‘that’s so good!’ is enough of an encouragement as opposed to pumping out products like a machine. 

The point is a never-ending fandom because that’s the point. Not because there’s nothing left to be released does not mean that fans cannot still create. It’s steady and fun, not stressful. Somehow it’s consumerism rather than personal entertainment and community bonding through a common interest. 

It doesn't mean that fandom can't adapt to the new environment but when people are casually dropping series after it ends and no content is coming out of fandoms to the point it's called a dead fandom just for the series not having anything new coming out of it after it ended. There's a difference between a rarepair / minor fandom that didn't garner the fans to create and dropping after the series ended and not even thinking of making what happens in the potential. Really, I'm not even in the Genshin Impact and MHA fandoms right now but even I check them at odd times alongside Code Geass, Haikyuu, Daiya no Ace, and Durarara fics. For fuck's sake, Katekyo Hitman Reborn is still going strong to this day. 

What fandom usually does is gather after and in between episode/chapter releases to socialize, theorize, and create. 

Heck, even companies starting to release in pieces rather than the whole thing even Netflix does it by chopping up seasons for example. Though that might force making the finales even worse just to make it feel like a season finale. 

Fuck, you can use the top comments or kudos section on the AO3 as fanfic recommendations. Yes, the diamonds in the rough in the lesser-reviewed fics won’t be seen but the point is still there. 

If you like a particular author’s story, check out their other works, their bookmarks, and their gifted works in that order. If you notice in my AO3 bookmarks, I have several fics from several authors in multiple fandoms. I’m picky about what I like so it’s the ones I like best that are in my bookmarks while others from the same authors I just appreciate but no dice. 

Kids, please understand that I’m trying to help you. While I wasn’t there for the debacles of Livejournal as I was in 6th to 7th grade at the point aka I was just starting to explore fandom outside my books, I was there for the Tumblr fiasco. I know my fandom history as it’s interesting to learn. 

Please learn fandom history and it’s easy to search: read the summary, check the tags, use the filters, and use the search engine. If you like a particular story, check the author and if they have bookmarks, check their bookmarks because if you like the content of what they like, then what they read is similar.

Go find fic recs. TVTropes has one alongside having a fanworks page if found. Ask for fic recs on Tumblr or anywhere that is fan-related really.  

Learn why fans were frustrated with the loss of Tumblr's NSFW and now Twitter's with only logins to even see the NSFW and even then fans still go to other sites so they can publish their NSFW. Why AO3 is considered the last bastion of creativity that allows so many things to be told.

It’s an archive, a library with warning tags. 

Do they walk into a library or a bookstore expecting an algorithm and warning labels? I don't think books have trigger warnings at all. 

The books I want to read don't have warnings on them for certain. 

I have seen a warning on Witch Hat Atelier tankoban about that sexual harassment chapter but I don't think it's an overall thing I have seen so far. 

I know this because books are still the love of my life. I have a backlog of books as well as an entire history in my AO3.

AO3 basically asked you with the yellow banner that it’s content for adults and if you are ready to read it again. Because it is your decision at the end of the day, even with the fic in question having all the tags and warnings on it complete with the summary. 

You curate your own experience. Complaining and deliberately seeking out material you aren’t supposed to read is just you throwing a tantrum.

All those fics have a place to exist alongside the best fics. You don’t get to decide what kind of fics to even exist. 

AO3 has been called the last bastion of creativity for a reason. 

Do not think for a second you are special just because you think you know shit.

All you are showing about yourself is a spoiled brat who thinks they know better than the older women who literally built the superstructure of the fandom itself. 

Why is it so hard to ask for fanfiction recommendations? 

Fanfiction recommendations are a thing that should still occur. Not only older fanfiction is getting harder to find, but their presence is also nil compared to the recent work. 

An archive is an archive. With a functioning tagging system, it is used the filter and search the designated fanfiction. However, it will take longer aside from just knowing the basics. 

It’s an archive. An archive dedicated to saving fics from defunct sites because have they ever experienced just how many fics are lost from so many sites and just how many fanfics had been impacted by lawsuits even during the time when they just started to circulate as zines? An archive for the saving of fandom history that has been lost or could have been lost. 

Do you know how important that all art that is just used to create not be sold in capitalist institutions that are for the rich to see and discard how they want to see, disregarding the creativity and the hurdles that marginalized groups don’t have a chance in displaying their work due to the so-called style or have access or people doing what they love but no one appreciates it at the time or the drive to just create and not monetize? For historians, the voices of the ordinary are literal gold. I’m not a historian but Godoka, seeing historical ordinary voices, outside of the rich, educated, or well-known, are fascinating. 

There are professional official archives for anything that are archived by people with advanced degrees who are paid to be there. AO3 is no different. It’s an archive of creativity from ordinary people who made no profit from basically doing regular fandom activity. Even something as the author’s note with the mundane or crazy life mentions is so significant to a glimpse of life out there. AO3 is the Library of Alexandria. 

Do not let anyone think otherwise because they bought into capitalism and the fact that not everything is for them and not everything is about them. 

Fanfiction is important because of the creativity, happiness, and community that can help people feel and get through the day. All fanworks are!

Fuck the elitist bs! All art is important even if these antis cannot see shit from their elitist puritanical bs.

Because on top of this, they display appalling misogyny, seeing only white women as the only ones who ever use AO3 and that women’s hobbies especially those over thirty are lesser and what they and their moral authority declared what women should be doing instead. Wow, not even thinking about intersectionality there! No women from the LGBT and WOC while saying that white feminism trumped everything while degrading white women at the same time! 

The History, Marked For Later, and Bookmarks are frequently used. I personally used the Bookmarks as the FF.Net Favorites equivalent and what made it better was the private as well as the Rec heart. Depending on my fanfiction, you can find the Rec heart prioritized over the normal bookmarks. 

While I would like to filter the History too, there is only so much I could do to find what fics I was reading for. 

AO3 is still in beta and still has lots of work to do. I mean there were periods where the fics I read didn't make on time to the History page until days later as a result of the problems with the server. 

I don't want an AO3 Wrapped or an algorithm. My current reading history is between me and whatever higher being. 

I will be redoing fanfic recs after so long. First up are Pokemon AUs and crossovers!

I can’t believe we got to the point of pro-censorship people climbing the ranks on OTW. It’s just sad to see the younger generation puritanical in ways that show they are too in the healthy ships.

*snorts* Given the NSFW romanticism of daddy issues that is so prevalent in EndHawks, I doubt the younger generation isn’t any less shy. Just selective oblivious. 

I don’t give a shit about EndHawks shippers and refuse to set foot on their grounds; seeing fanart gives me psychic damage because I can skip fanfiction about them but fanart is still art. I don’t want anything to do with that ship after seeing the implications and what it would mean for the characters, especially Hawks. 

Anyways, it’s clear that the younger generation is puritanical to horrifying degrees. 

Yes, you can tell stories without resorting to offensive shit. However, said offensive shit can provide good writing if you know how to write it tactfully. 

This tactfulness doesn’t seem to register. No exploration in their land. Apparently, after dealing with terrible execution, these things must never be discussed or be put in black and white.

Because even when people want villains of the sympathetic and redeemable, somehow the irredeemable and just bad are wanted yet seen as uninteresting. People want bad for evil’s sake but it depends on how the character is written. 

I mean Puss in Boots The Last Wish showcased the villains in different lights and well-regarded. 

What these guys up their ass about censorship showed is a lack of creativity and critical thinking. The point of a villain is usually the kill because that’s what a villain does. 

Censorship is bad. They want no creativity and critical thinking that had been so prominent in literacy. As a book enthusiast, that is a big no to these guys who want censorship even more on fandom grounds.

They are showing they know nothing of fandom history as all they want is to be pure despite people telling them it’s their own job to curate and just look at the damn tags. 

They aren’t doing anything worthwhile with their tantrums and crusades. They showed ignorance and a lack of common sense. 

The internet ain’t their babysitter. When regular YouTube is better for kids than actual YouTube Kids, then that says everything. And let’s not get into censoring words. That in itself is horrifying and showed an unwillingness to discuss. I refused to be censored so I’m happy to use them freely than be forced by this domino effect of censorship that began in TikTok. Horribly dystopian and offered nothing but a lack of human discussion regarding the human experience that is needed in a society that already refused to discuss these topics in a healthy way. 

Using words like unalive to censor basic human experiences like death, sex, and even terms for oppressed minorities is horrifyingly dystopian just because advertisers and corporations demand it. Young people and grown adults see it as normal and getting used to not talking about any of those topics without going around censors is a problem. It’s unsettling hence my refusal to bend down to those censors. 

Censorship is just bad. No matter what, history had shown how much it stifled in the name of morality even though all those people showed nothing but ignorance. 

Looking at you, Mary Whitehouse. Yeah, these Puritans of today in fandom spaces are Mary Whitehouse of fandom. If people who fight stupidly against ships existing instead of ignoring and letting others have their fun are foolish, these guys are idiots against all types of fun and imagination. 

I’m not a big horror fan but even I am aware that the horror classics should be appreciated. On an aside note, horror movies should be nominated and appreciated by the so-called superior film award shows that just go after biopics which is already dubious enough. You won’t see me watching a horror flick alone or with anybody but I understand the classics. 

I mean I'm moreover a romance genre fan than a horror fan. Please when romcoms had been denigrated and seen as fluff than anything of substance. Still popular so much that queer filmmakers are trying their hands at it as queer characters can lead a rom-com. I mean the last rom-com I heard was Fire Island, the queer Asian cast Pride and Prejudice romcom. Bros are the mainstream romcom that people are supposed to know when I wish people look at Fire Island instead. 

Anyways, censorship is not good for lack of better words. Nobody should censor creativity in fandom spaces just for these guys' so-called morality and moral panic. They don't seem to understand basic exploration and tactfulness on top of it. 

All I just want for them is to not throw spoiled tantrums and expect the internet to clean up that mess. With Elsagate's ominous return and many veterans and actual mature adults pointing out that even AO3 asked one last time if you seriously want to read something that only adults should see, then I'm wondering just how far they'll go just for their puritanical censorship. 

Fanworks with all the disclaimers are essentially theft. There was no need to add disclaimers on AO3 though. 

Fans particularly queer fans stole them and basically have a field day with them. It’s basically about certain fanbases, the shipping is about the dynamics in relation to the media and personal preference. Ship wars are about arguing who is the better match which is not as fun to witness as simply ignoring and reading. Ignoring ships that you don’t like instead of invading other ships’ spaces is better than seemingly doing your best to be superior in any way possible. 

This is literally no different from the public domain and the various mythologies we got of Western superheroes. There are official fix-its in comic book canon as well as what-ifs. Just because fans don’t profit from it does not negate that it’s a creative art in a community devoted to it. Just because women from all walks of life see it as a hobby does not negate the very idea of fandom. The significant difference was that commercialization and capitalism separate from fans' will to create. 

Without women being the first to push Star Trek and the Beatles, the men really wouldn't have taken a second glance at it. And even then it's the men who so-called legitimatize them (to the point the Beatles changed their look to appeal more to the male demographic whereas BTS attempted no changes and was always grateful to ARMYs for the opportunities) when female interests are often trashed. Pop culture media like Supernatural and Sherlock owed much of their popularity to women and these shows returned the favor by belittling these women including the shipping tendencies. 

And apparently, women’s hobbies relating to fandoms are even more denigrated. Women over thirty shouldn’t be participating in fandoms but instead, be spinsters according to these people. 

When older women are the reason for the superstructure that is the fandom in the first place. Zines? Women. 

Fandom is supposed to be fun with many fires going on behind. 

The whole thing with the puritanical tyranny going on with Gen Z is annoying and shows a lack of fandom history and lack of common sense and media literacy. All they want is to be ‘good’ in the eyes of the society that is demanding better rep for BIPOC and queer people. What they don’t seem to understand is the nuances of proper tactful exploration. 

Fandom is supposed to have fun with canon more or less being prompted for imagination. Whatever implications or whatever extrapolated from teeny tiny interactions or none at all is what is supposed to happen in fandom to have fun. Canon just provides the basics but does not mean that in itself the end-all-be-all that I see nowadays. 

Fanfic Rec: Ash Connection and The Road You Choose

The Ash Connection: A string of violent attacks at the hands of a mysterious Pokemon has caught Lance and the G-Men off-guard. Little about the motive is clear, other than Ash Ketchum is somehow the factor. His friends and rivals must confront an important question: Is he really the fabled Chosen one? Set during BW. Multiple pairings, including Pokeshipping, Contestshipping, and Ikarishipping.

Review: This is a series and the reason I left that part up there not linked because the last part isn't out.

I adore any fanfiction that has Ash as the Chosen One in some form or another, either by examining it in a similar fashion to Tales of Symphonia or just straight up asking why. This fic takes a creative route about faith in the Chosen One. Do people believe it or not? Melody certainly believes it and made a point to tell the G-Men flat-out.

The pairings don't detract from the writing at all. If anything else, it seemed more like icing, something that doesn't necessarily make things sweeter but there just fine as decoration. Makes me wonder what kind of cake I'll have for my wedding. Or I could do things creatively with the wedding main dessert course. I would prefer not to make anybody's allergies to act up.

Now, this makes all the movies canon. I want to comment on the movies that were released later in the Pokemon anime mainline: given that Legendaries and the occasional Mythics have been such an intrinsic part in the actual storyline of the main anime, I doubt Sun and Moon would have a proper movie despite its potential. While technically filler, I don't bother much about it since well I wonder how they are going about the Legendaries and Mythics in the Pokeani. Besides, making them canon is very easy just like making Baron Omatsuri canon for OP.

Okay, I know it isn't canon but it's just so good and one of few horror films I'm willing to pop in and have in my possessions. And I have seen body horror in Japanese media. A lot.

The Road You Choose: Since there are only individual stories, I'll put it up instead. Rewrites of movies with the exception of the last really big one which basically builds upon the Legendaries and the Chosen One's responsibilities.

Not the best but it's the best I can come up with. You would have troubles with the links too because there might be more.

Like the fic above, this is more about there is an actual Chosen One who has responsibilities given to him by birth from the Legendaries. The golden Ho-Oh, whom Ash initially thinks was just an image from a rainbow, watched over his first steps into the world.

It has similarities with Ash Connection but that is where the similarities end. It involved Legendaries and Mythics who had control over their element. It also adjusted game canon too. Y'know the Articuno in Seafoam Islands... Yeah, but that's not the Alpha one. The Alpha ones are the Orange Archipelago's Elemental Islands. Okay, that needs explanation. Alphas are the massive ones that are telepathic for the most part and lives in important places in the world. Think the Tree of Beginning and the aforementioned islands which held the flow of the world in its hands.

I really adored how the Legendaries are portrayed. They are gods that harbored frightening power. And to kill them is a big mistake because, with one killed, they are likely to throw off the balance of the world. They are the most powerful beings in the entire world. You can still catch the lesser ones though. They're just not as powerful as the Alphas and catching them won't mean the end of the world. I mean just look at Tobias. I adore creationism in fiction and adore anthropomorphic personifications of abstract concepts. Give me that and I'll drink that with gusto.

I also liked just how flawed the characters are. Paul, for example, is worried out of his mind for his brother and of course, things like morality wouldn't be a concern when there's an apocalypse far worse than the weather destruction nearly six years ago.

I wish the Try Guys continue this series. I know it would take a lot of work, getting judges and kitchens. I want them to try making macarons because I know just how difficult it is. Even my cousins who love to bake wouldn't dare touch even a recipe because of its difficulty. Custard slices, whatever was on the technical challenge in GBBO because this is the point of Without a Recipe. Challenging recipes that the Try Guys try to make. Hey, the Try Guys are basically in the technical challenge in GBBO...without a recipe and only the ingredients they have in their reach. And have the power of experimentation. Looking at you, Eugene and Zach. I kinda expect Eugene to add alcohol in his baking from now on.

Despite this somewhat taking after The Great British Bake-Off if only in a spoof, I can see traces if someone did really well they won't show it. I know this because after I watched a few episodes of GBBO, it became obvious. This is why I was able to guess Eugene at least got a high score on his since the video didn't seem to focus on him too much beyond his mistakes. Yeah, even when I know Eugene is drunk, I can tell he would at least earn not a star for the effort like Ned but rather a star for creativity and doing better than everybody else. Like Ned, Keith tries but still has something painfully basic. Like he knows but he didn't seem to go out there like drunk Eugene. Think of it as a beginner basic stuff with little experimentation. Eugene experimented and seemed to manage well. Zach on the other hand... I would not do what he does in his cooking. Even without a recipe, he didn't seem to have the palate to compensate. His pie was barely edible while his friends made passable pies. Zach, dearie, I hope you manage to create something decent next time. Your experimentation

Progress Review: Thieves Can Be Heroes

You people already know my opinion on the Persona series and MHA so let's go forward!

FFNet. Summary: Izuku Midoriya thought he was down on his luck the day he was convicted of a crime for trying to save someone. As if being Quirkless wasn't enough, how he was supposed to be a Hero with a criminal record? As it turned out, fate had another plan for him.

So basically the Persona series happened in the world of MHA but also in the very same Persona-verse. Because the Persona-verse goes space-time continuum level of madness.

While there are certain canon divergences (Shiho staying and the Illegals' activity), it's still P5. Major events will still happen.

Barring the Kaneshiro incident probably since, in the MHA-verse, the yakuza are gone. Literally with Chisaki's arrest. Maybe Chisaki or a Hero would up being one of the major targets instead of on the ranks of Madarame and Shido.

While the P5 calendar of events has to stay in a strict schedule from the targets to the social link to the Christmas Eve Apocalypse, I don't know what the Illegals and the MHA would do.

Additionally, by the story's end, please add the Shadow Operatives. The Shadow Operatives could be a Hero Agency but a strange hero agency at that since they picked those who only have not quirks but rather have a Persona. And they combat the supernatural when others like All Might and Eraserhead could not. Think of them more underground than even the underground heroes and villains like Eraserhead. And they don't even score on the board or anything. Every one of their workers has a day-job but has so much experience in fighting Shadows and the supernatural that it's a given they are far more likely to take on gods than All Might. And they are saving the world far more frequently than these heroes just fighting criminals who used their powers for the wrong reason.

Listen, Nyarlathotep could and will destroy everything All For One worked for in a second. I know it because I saw how he is during his appearance. Messing with All for One's mind would be so easy for him.

Well, Izuku...Be glad that you are part of Persona 5 than any other Persona flagship titles.

If you were in the original Persona, you will fight against the Snow Queen AKA Nyx and temporarily Nyarlathotep with Kandori. You were stuck basically in one city because it was cut off and new heroes could not come in to save.

Because if you were in Persona 2, you will fail to save the Earth from Nyarlathotep. Because you aren't part of the adult team that did save the Earth from being destroyed...

Onto Persona 3, you would save the Earth certainly but at the cost of your own life. The thing about P3 was accepting one's death while living life to its fullest extent. I'm sure you don't mind sacrificing your life to save the world and acted as the barrier between Nyx and Erebus but goddamn it's playing right into your self-destructive habit of saving people at the cost of yourself. Minato/Makoto knows this and did it too but never at self-destruction. Izuku must learn self-preservation, not to kill himself for the greater good which would go against the theme of P3. He must live while accepting death. His acceptance of death is not like Akinari or Shinjiro or Ken or the rest of SEES.

While Persona 4's protagonist survived, he's in high school. UA is a high school and I don't think Yasogami High has a hero course. I don't think Gekkoukan High has a hero course, no matter how rich it is. In fact, I don't see any Persona-user in any of the flagship titles choosing to become public heroes when they had other interests. It's not that they aren't heroic but because it's simply isn't them. They are good and moral people certainly and had standards. They would save people, regardless of one's history and will treat people with human decency. You might be saving the town from a serial killer and later the world from a god but I doubt you would want to stay like this. They had dreams and hopes that they can achieve on their own merits.

Besides, Persona-users are different from Quirk-users, mainly that it's not a power that anyone can get like candy. You quite literally had to be broken to have potential - the more visible the mask, the visible the persona. A persona is a mask to protect yourself. To be an actual Persona-user, you have to accept the darkness in your heart and have your power that darkness instead of the darkness powering you. Additionally, Quirks have a limit, Personas don't. Sure they had a limit on the stresses of your mind - SP/HP but they are easily revivable with items and spells while you basically had to wait out until everything's in order because Quirks are biological functions. I literally fought one boss in P3 for nearly three hours. I was just damn lucky I was efficient with my items and SP. Sure, there is 20% of the population who won't have quirks but if and only if they were broken, then they have potential. There is a major difference between gaining a Quirk and Persona; in one of them, you must literally be broken...while the other is a biological function.

For example, Aoyama would have potential and he would certainly accept his Shadow in one try instead of rejecting it because from what I saw from him, he won't even deny it since he was willing to talk about it to Deku. Normal people like Ojiro and Sero won't have any potential. The entire staff at UA won't have potential, not Aizawa nor Nighteye... Probably Nedzu would have potential but I have serious misgivings about him, namely of his misanthropic behavior and that he could be the traitor if the traitor theory is indeed true. I think All Might would have potential, just by the fact he's wearing a mask. Of Class 1-A, those who have potential will be Aoyama, Kirishima, Deku, Bakugou, MINETA, Asui, Jiro, and Ashido. Probably add Ochako and Iida depending on the masks they wear. Momo, as much as I love her, puts up a mask for some time but I doubt she has potential the same way her supposed love interest Todoroki has - listen, I'm not a TodoMomo shipper in the slightest but ship whatever you want. I'm a happy Tododeku shipper alongside Kacchako since I find that pairing more appealing than IzuOcha. Shinsou will have potential too.

Hell, in DRRR, Izaya and Shizuo would certainly make the shortlist of having potential; I am absolutely certain if I place them in the Persona world, they would undoubtedly have potential. Kadota and Tom will not have potential whereas Simon will. No matter how badass I find you, Dotachin, you would never ever had potential the same way Izaya and Shizuo has.

Izuku, you have no clue what is waiting for you in this world. Considering PQ2, you would be meeting other Persona-users who would use mythological figures from Greek to Japanese to Chinese. You have yet to meet Aigis, a humanoid android capable of emotions. It dropped right into the uncanny valley but she's just as real as Morgana and Teddie. You have no clue you just collided with gods or godlike beings at all, demons certainly, but gods or godlike ones like Igor and the Demiurge. You have no clue about the Great Seal and the multiple apocalypses this world even has. Persona-users are the only type of people who can fight against the godlike beings, not the Heroes. Not even All For One would be able to stand against godlike beings who can quite literally kill him on the spot and I do mean on the spot. Nyarlathotep could manipulate his darker tendencies and unleashed on the world what All For One can do worse than he was usually doing. Nyarlathotep could also kill All For One easily. Philemon can do the same as does Igor. Demiurge could also kill him, Izanami could kill him, Marie could kill him...  As gods, they are basically higher than any human, even a human with a longevity Quirk or multiple strong quirks. Nothing could kill them barring the destruction of humanity itself.

Yes, this world has apocalypses in the past...near multiple times for utter destruction but absolutely in one case...where if you were a teen and helping Tatsuya and the gang then...you will fail.

Listen, it's one of the things that make you a Persona-user and stopping an apocalypse at the hands at one of humanity's gods is one of them.

Like for Heroes, you stopping crime, petty or otherwise, although I doubt that they'll be able to stop the crimes that are still there in the real world and would still happen in a world with superheroes. Look at DC/Marvel where corruption amongst the populace and police are still viable.

But the end of the world shit where you have to stop gods from destroying everything. Yeah, Quirks could work but won't make a dent, unlike the Personas where the enemy is more likely to have weaknesses. Quirk-users would tire themselves out.

Let's go onto the world of BNHA.

Hmm... how can I say this? I think to some extent, it's quite dystopic.

For starters, Quirks are raised to a level. Yes, there is good equality for LGBTQ+ individuals - see Tiger of the Wild, Wild Pussycats - but there is the same discrimination. Just look at the bullying at Izuku and the posturing of Bakugou for starters. The Quirkless was bullied for something they can't control and those with 'heroic' quirks are raised up.

Not to mention, something that would fit right in with P5: the Hero industry. There are people who undoubtedly are not heroic by any means, taking it as a job than an act of heroism or using it for other means. Think the Heroes as...not as pros but rather as an auxiliary police force.

Even if Endeavor is not one of the Phantom Thieves of Heart's targets, then a Hero should be one. Since the Yakuza is all but gone in the series, then the Phantom Thieves' target instead of Kaneshiro could be a Hero.

Analyze the Hero Industry. If in the story there are corrupt cops, then they'll be corrupt heroes all the same. The canon of MHA practically had corrupt heroes and treated the job as a job.

Just because they are working against villains does not mean they are good people. The Phantom Thieves had their flaws but like the rest of the Persona-users, they are good people.

Hell, analyze the industry. Crossovers like the CCS crossover and Conversations with a Cryptid did it.

Now consider UA: it's basically a military school. While police schools are self-contained and they don't go to war against people who can bloody kill them in an instant... I don't think a majority had a license for teaching. Some of them can be good teachers like Aizawa and Midnight...but at the same time, they are moreover soldiers going to war against an invisible enemy.

Yes, there will be people who used their Quirks in criminal activity. I am not even going to talk about the League of Villains nor Chisaki in any form in this since it's pretty obvious.

I want to think about the pro Hero industry as an auxiliary force like I seriously wanted to. All Might helped stopping everything he sees including a robbery. However, these Heroes don't seem to know what is there to take about the know-how of policemen, particularly Japanese police.

The Japanese police force has lessons on how to interact which the pro Hero industry clearly did not demonstrate well in that regard. Some might be good with kids - All Might - but others not so much. They can take what it means to be on the field of pro Heroism but in terms of how the Japanese police do their work, they don't know shit.

The Japanese police learned theory lessons. From what we saw from UA, there are normal classes on top of training such as heightening their Quirk's limit/exposure. No lessons on interactions with victims or other necessary lessons that other take. I'm pretty sure they had Hero-related projects in the classes but something like teaching students to calm victims - something that apparently they had to know instinctively - is something that never appeared as appropriate classes. In comparison, Koro-sensei's classroom seemed downright normal because at least he only made sure they were trained in the arts of assassination for his murder and nobody else. Sure they can now defend themselves which is great. But he never wants them to use their new skills for anything but his murder. Nagisa even went on to teach with the sheer exception of his murder.

Sure, UA is teaching these Heroes about their powers but do we see theory classes on how to treat children or victims? Somehow, it must innate for them to even learn the dang thing. Saving them from a dangerous situation is one thing but it's another to reassure them without making them panic. Having kids learning to rescue traumatized victims from their horrible situations - I seriously wonder if I can pretend to merge any of the SMT worlds with MHA so I can see just how ineffective the whole Hero industry is when it comes to the apocalypse - and expecting them to already know. Deku literally had to learn on the job. Sure he and Togata are great with kids but he nor Togata are truly equipped to even go about a police operation that required superhuman powers to combat, not children.

These UA Heroes think they can sniff the traitor in their midst. Listen, just because they are Heroes does not mean they have the skills equipped for that level of investigation. Get the Japanese Special Defense - until it is a national threat, use something like the police force to sniff it out. Even the Persona series does this because the supernatural stuff is usually in that area and does not require national attention particularly for what looks like murder or rumors becoming reality or what just looked like people admitting crimes. Just look at Detective Conan where the Special Defense and the FBI are digging up dirt for the BO. I would totally understand the supernatural stuff where the police nor the nation realized what is happening. But when there is something like a traitor, don't get Heroes, get agents to infiltrate with the necessary skills. I'm more likely to trust Detective Conan's FBI/CIA/JSD over the Heroes any time of the day.

The over-reliance on overpowered spectacular Quirks is also a problem. Now it's probably Aizawa was in the same place as Hitoshi Shinsou and the probable cause of having a new test in mind of different Quirks.

Heroes are raised to another status altogether. Sure they are some good ones with All Might being worshipped for his genuine human decency but there are others who just had the quota.

Now MHA is all about what makes a hero.

I just don't trust the Hero industry in MHA. Yes, there are good heroes who deserve praise for common human decency like All Might but there are others who are not Endeavor or Captain Celebrity. I'm far more willing to trust the vigilantes in MHA than I will the Heroes.

Fanfic Rec: This Bites

This Bites!: Sea Kings, seasickness, sunburns, a 95% genocidal Navy, and more than a million and one other assorted ways to die. It's official. Being inserted into an anime sucks ass...But I guess it could be worse... Buuut I guess it could be worse. I mean, look on the bright side: At least I'm sailing with the future king of the pirates.

I won't mention anything about OP or Oda here anyway since I have past posts to do it for me.

As for Self-Inserts, I know fandom as a whole does not like them. Unless they do something new about it like this fic, SI fics are likely to be just as lampooned as any other fanfic tropes. Even when these writers are having fun and fundamentally harmless, SI fics are not going to be the epitome of plotty fanfiction that was known to be good and well.

It's a semi-serious fic like that Transformers fic Battlesleep. There are so many references to our world's media that not even OP's world of nonsense can make up for it. And that's barely scratching the surface just how cracky this fic can get. I can read crack fics but the best ones tend to the ones which have well-written mood whiplash as well as a serious plot to go with too without losing the essential plot goings. Crack is really hard to do, especially when one is consistent about its crack instead. I make this a thing: levity must happen regardless of a story. Focusing on the dark would just make things worse. I know cynicism and hatred and I know the current state of the world is less than pleasing but just a tiny piece of hope is better than the darkness.

This fic is creative, give it that at least. It started out too usual but give it time. The creativity came not just in the additional members - Vivi would prefer to live in her kingdom and act as their Queen-to-be but alas it was not to be in this fic - but also the very fact Strawhat Broadcast Station exist! I adore how outsiders reacted to the canonical events, building up support for the Strawhats. The world's adoration for the Strawhats continued when they kept saving people from oppression which would not help the Five Elder Stars' plans to turn the world against him or the Strawhats. Again, the reason I prefer outsiders who aren't involved with the mess would give their own perception of said events and reactions thereof. Seriously, the more Luffy proved to be a goodhearted fella who hates oppression and loves the freedom that he will want to have that freedom for everybody, the more almost the entire world loves him and would undoubtedly make him the Pirate King if there is a vote for it. He would be the popular choice while Blackbeard will be the least.

The Strawhats achieved 'precious cinnamon roll' status in-universe. They know they are dangerous but they are also decent people who hate oppression and loves freedom. Luffy, keep being the great man that will break the WG's chokehold.

Yeah, while I love lots of things of this fic, the Strawhat Broadcast Station is an amazing aspect. Because of the SBS, especially headed by people who might be calling Cross a prophet, there are many changes and reactions on the ongoings. Takoyaki 8 became the first mobile sports bar while many became fans of the Strawhats through their adventures and support. Fans actually called in during the Luffy and Lucci fight in Enies Lobby.

Because of these reactions, changes happened. For example, the Tontattas felt vindicated for their hero, Rebecca finding courage far earlier as a result of taking inspiration from Vivi, Sabo regained his memories way earlier, and the rest of the world finding the Strawhats' true character heroic.

Especially now that the guy that transported into an alternate dimension knows far up to Zou. I feared he is not equipped about the Yonko Saga which is starting to get worse. And Cross is well-aware of it, unfortunately.

Due to Cross' actions, things are going awry. Rebellions started well too early as a result of Enies Lobby events. Cross and Robin aired more dirty laundry than ever before, especially Cross who already made it a point to point out everything wrong with the WG. And he read the story! And that's on the big scale.

On a smaller scale, he helped Usopp's self-confidence and did not want to break him during the Thriller Bark events. If you knew canon Thriller Bark, you know what went down. He also motivated Luffy to use his brain more often. He's still dumb, but he's still better than even his grandfather. Due to Cross' influence especially in later events where he sees wits and trickery makes a lot of good, Luffy became smarter, even when it was partly because he wanted to get back on his grandpa and partly when how he sees its benefits.

Just yeah, I worry a lot about the altered timeline. Even if we are still going to have the two-year time skip, I think Cross failed to stop the Summit War/Marineford but I hope to Godoka he saves Ace. Although I think Whitebeard is still going to die though. Knowing the Biblical Jeremiah, Cross is unlikely to prevent the war. I'm sorry, Cross, but even your name points too much in that direction. And I know my storytelling, okay, and the way it's going, Marineford is still going to happen. The reason why I know this to be true? Two things: Jeremiah, the Biblical Prophet and that Cross himself referenced Marineford in a special chapter. Even without the Aokiji accidentally helping Blackbeard, I still think Marineford war will still happen regardless of Cross' intervention. Likely without Akainu to kill Ace this time because Sengoku is trying really hard with the PR at the moment and the very fact Cross broadcasted Absolute Justice, something many sane and moral people will detest, everywhere will make it worst. I think Cross would also broadcast the killing of blood that forced Ace up to including killing pregnant women and babies just to kill Ace. Probably when Ace survived, he can reveal his story via SBS about his side of the story. The backlash would be there and more people would turn against the World Government more than ever before. Cross doesn't know everything the WG did in its time of corruption and dickery - since he did not read the Reverie arc - but he would still broadcast them to his best efforts. I'm pretty sure the true ruler of WG is watching SBS as intently, given just how sane he is in comparison to the rest of the World Nobles.

Although you have many allies from defected Marines, Revolutionaries, and pirates themselves, you have lots of manpower in many good places that could help to save the lives of Ace and probably Whitebeard. I do think Whitebeard is gonna die, revealing that the treasure exists.

So even with the butterfly of doom, in some way or another, it seemed like it tried to correct itself with a large majority of the Summit War saga still on. If you don't get it especially if the story had not hit you on the head with it, Summit War saga will still happen. Differently but still just as worse. Things still happen as in the original, sometimes just more or less worse. Defeating Moria in canon, too bad Moria awakened his Devil Fruit that made him a stronger opponent than he originally was.

Things will go crazy. The authors admit it so really I'm buckling up my seatbelts for the updates. I'm really waiting for the actual Marineford war after all.

...Of all the arcs I look forward to tackling in TB, it's the entire Summit War saga. I'm not even looking forward to any of post-Time Skip arcs, just Summit War. Admittedly, for Post-Time Skips arcs, it's actually Reverie I'm looking forward to the most in TB's adaptation since y'know Vivi won't join the line-up of Princesses that are at Reverie. She would still become friends with them instantly, mainly through their friendship with the Strawhats.

There is minor deconstruction then and there. It's not a hit in the face deconstruction that it is annoying. For example, Cross had knowledge of OP but only up to a certain piece, leading him to make assumptions that can get deadly for his team. For example, Baron Omatsuri. Look, I haven't watched all the movies either and I certainly won't remember all the SBS trivia. I saw Gold, Strong World, and Baron Omatsuri and that's about it when it comes to OP movies. And I never even seen a single OVA of OP. I saw fillers but not one OVA of OP. So I feared so much when I wanted to tell Cross the later arcs, especially Reverie, an insanely plot-significant one which packed so many punches without being too overwhelming.

Like many things, it is not perfect and I can name the said flaws. Hey, in comparison to the really bad works I have seen especially recently in VLD and SU, This Bites look like amazing Caterpiller sushi rolls and maybe add an eel temaki with it too. Sorry but I'm craving that for the moment. VLD started with one or two nice entrees but the more dishes come out, the course isn't worth it when the quality dropped, especially the dessert course that failed to appetize in presentation and just being plain good food. SU started out like that but instead of getting increasingly worse, it's bland instead. Bland as plain white bread without any necessary toppings. Ugh, how I wish to get my hands on a Japanese sandwich...

I wonder if there would be more members joining Post Time-Skip here. We know Jinbei will but who knows if Carrot or even Pudding could join.

I hope Oda and these authors kept their promises about no romances. Ship teases are fine. In WCI alone, we got ship teases with Sanji with Pudding and Nami. And Luffy too. Hey, I found Sanji pairing with men to be much more appealing than the ladies, to be honest. Oda because he saw how it literally tore apart Naruto. The last thing the OP fandom needs is endgames when its fandom is usually very open about its free shipping precisely because there is no endgame. I want it to differentiate from much other shounen and allow people to have their own open ending for their particular ship. Unless it's a romance right from the beginning that you made it clear there will be an endgame. Sure people can ship Sanami and ZoSan and LuSan and SanPud but I have seen that nobody in that fandom hit over the head because Oda made it clear in the beginning that there are no endgames. Just keep that promise, Oda and Cross-Brain.

I need to catch up on my Kingdom Hearts. I still have 3D after all.

Ugh, just knowing Frozen is even in this game. Though from what I heard, a large chunk of Frozen had been cut out including the Han reveal which is thank god. What is bad however is sitting through Frozen's songs which is only two fortunately but I loathe Frozen more than anything Disney put out including the living action remakes which many supposed had no place to exist. Yeah, I rather choose that over Frozen any time of the week.

While my loathing had simmered in the years since Frozen's release, make no mistake that I will avoid the fuck out of the stupid movie. Place me remotely near anything close to that movie, merch or anything food or parade, I will avoid it like my cousin's fear for cats. I will grit my teeth if my little niece likes it but I refuse to have that movie near me in any physical form or shape. If I'm forced to go through it in KH, I will make sure I'll play the dang longer so that the taste of Frozen is out of my mouth. Still, the over-glorification of the movie puts what an average Disney Princess film as a golden benchmark when it shouldn't be. I won't ruin anybody's feelings of the movie especially if you still enjoy it. As for me, I don't like the damn movie and would skim through the world of Arendelle in KH as easily as eating my favorite dish of seafood. I would plug my ears as soon as I reached Arendelle and happily watched as everything goes through with no sound for the sake of my sanity. Because I would blatantly spell out everything wrong with the storytelling of Frozen if I see it again.

That would annoy everybody with me including me. So yeah, expect me to plug my ears while and probably force others to play it for me just because I can't stand the movie.

Sorry for that rant. I'll probably find better joy playing Toy Story and Pirates of the Caribbean and the actual plot of the KH than I would be playing the world of Arendelle. In fact, I'll rather watch any of those movies barring TS3.

I am glad that Zachary Levi got his chance to voice in a KH game after all. He got his wish back when he got the voice of Flynn/Eugene in the end. While I am happy to see many returning cast members from the original return including the Frozen returnees, I thought they would be too busy. Mandy Moore was very busy which is why she didn't come back.

I still need to catch up on KH and I'm starting to get into Fire Emblem due to my cousin's influence who is a huge lover of such. Her go-to in SSB is always the FE characters just as others in my family would choose Lucas and Kirby.

Olympics AU~! or the World Stage~!

Hinata Shouyou, you will conquer the world someday with the National team, receiving Olympic Gold(s) on your repertoire. Considering your progress and ambitions, you are definitely on the road to becoming a nationally recognized figure, more than any other undersized ace from any other school ever. You will shock the Americans and the Brazilians so much in-universe they will admire your tenacity and skill. I will cheer you guys on!

Sports AU was a surprising liking for me. I never had much of an interest in sports because I am terrible at them. The only sports-related stuff I am good at or at least mediocre are martial arts (Tai Chi, Karate, etc.). I hope to take up fencing one day because fighting with a sword is awesome.

Maybe because I can like sports if people just sat me down either by telling me the rules and everything that goes into it (most sports anime did explain their basics along with some spins such as sports psychology in Oofuri's end) or by telling me in a dramatic story (I am quite good with that, considering my goal and I take the time to analyze through anything writing-wise). It worked for me with a lot of sports or games I wouldn't consider playing for the life of me, knowing I am terrible at them. Hikaru no Go is an awesome manga that I will always recommend and it's always on my upper list of sports anime recommendation on board games and altogether with physical sports games. I hoped to write a sports story myself in the future because that is how deep my love for it is. Sure, fairy tales and myths would take more priority as well as exploring alternate dimensions and differences in such a world.

Sports anime rarely go onto the world stage; they will mention it if there are character's goals in mind like Rin Matsuoka. Understandably too because there are lots of things going into making more than just the national stage with payments for loads of stuff like coaches. I mean just look at Hajime no Ippo as an example. There are lots more stakes involved. Olympics or whatever international competition is usually reserved for those who have lofty ambitions to actually make it such as the Oddball Duo, Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio. This is why YOI is surprising because it focused on the international stage; because narratively, it centered on Yuuri's ambitions to skate side-by-side Viktor, not on his rise to fame as Japan's top figure skater. Seriously, Yuuri is a well-written unreliable narrator.

The Olympics is the world stage, given the acclaim. Even Hetalia gave trivia about it. My family always go to watch the men's swimming events and other events too if they're on. I remembered my brother turning on the TV to play the golf event one time. Now that I think about it, one TV displayed my family's regular channels and the other the Olympics.

Then there are events instated into the Olympic curriculum in Tokyo 2020.

Seriously, though, in-universe, those who would go onto that stage would definitely shock the world with their unpredictability and get that gold for Japan. Japan, in-universe, will be so proud of their athletes. Their family and friends will proudly boast their victory for a long time.

Remember that the timeline in the series is definitely unless stated. What year are they living in? Are Rin and Haru going to participate in London, Rio or the Tokyo Olympics when they make the national team? There are some fanfics that just made these athletes participate in the closest or the future event at the time the fic was written.

Ah... I'm pretty sure you two with your training would get the gold. You would make the Iwatobi Swim Club proud and recognized. Your childhood rivalry would be milked by the media, don't forget about it.

So these are just speculations who are likely to go either on the national or international stage in the sports anime. No, if there is a series that already displayed the professional stage (or at the least working toward that) at that point like Baby Steps, Major and Yuri on Ice, then I won't put on here. I am also disregarding anything that has any kind of international stage for non-physical sports too such as Hikaru no Go where the final arc, the Hokuto Cup arc, was international. Of course, given their profession, go-pros are going to compete internationally one way or another. Even with my limited sports knowledge, I'm pretty sure there are international events. 

Of course, I'm not even putting in Yu-Gi-Oh in this because we already saw how the card game even made it into the international stages already in later series. I still adore YGO, don't forget it but when it's already clear that many players such as Syrus and Chazz would do well in the pros. Even when Jaden is not a pro - surprisingly, given his character development, I don't see him pursuing a route of pro dueling, probably traveling and teaching. It took time-traveling to get back into the spirit of passionate dueling again but I don't think Jaden minded about becoming a nomadic traveler and teaching people to duel. While I am sure Yugi is proud of his title of King of Games, he would be just as happy for anyone to play happily as they used to. Even if it's a worthy opponent who preferred other routes in life. I seriously worried about the health of those playing Duel Monsters in the media because the sanity is so thin to slip such as in the case of Zane. Zane, dear, you should work on your health and sanity before choosing to go back to the pros. While I'm sure the pro world would be dubious welcoming you back, I'm pretty sure Kaiba, Yugi, and Joey would let it slide, given the shit, they went through. And I just know that the future works, just like Digimon Tamers, would make things realistic but also not at the price of what makes YGO popular in the first place. YGOGX kept the spirit despite its deconstruction. There is nothing wrong with realism but when you focus on realism above characterization and plot, it will the story die faster than the speed of light. Just look at Steven Universe, who focus on deconstruction to the point it dragged the story down. Just like VLD which focuses way too much on the darker stuff without anything real and honest about it. It's dark for the sake of darkness and that's one of the worst things you do when writing something dark. 

On the upside, we know that these guys would not take steroids because these people are talented as fuck and they know it. Kageyama and Hinata would refuse to take them because they want hard work and their own skills, not drugs. Although accusations would still spring about though... They would refuse to let their hard work go to waste simply because of drugs. Some might have peer pressure going in but come on, these guys would know right from wrong...depending on their character. I can trust these guys over Lance Armstrong at any time of the day. 

By the way, this post might be updated with more once I remembered more sports anime. 

Daiya no Ace: Miyuki Kazuya, Sawamura Eijun, Haruichi, Mei, Raichi, Tetsuya, and that's what I know. As much as I don't like Terajima's writing of Furuya, Furuya is likely going to go to the pros too. But that guy needs to grow first. I don't know about Chris though. Given his connections, he would likely make an American team. Now we know he hasn't broken it completely, it just would take time for his shoulder to regain mobility to play again. I know Chris doesn't mind it now, given his character development.

These guys I can see going pro just because of their sheer love for it. It's not just because they are so talented they would be scouted. I'm pretty sure people would want Raichi in the pros the moment he could graduate high school. Even when he made his debut, offers would likely come in and Raichi's dad would likely keep track of them if they're still interested as high school goes on.

Even without Sawamura's current goal to be an ace, I'm pretty sure Sawamura would go pro. He, like Hinata, is my sunshine in their series and I will defend their character. No, I am not a stan, but I make this clear that when things go wrong, especially in DNA, Sawamura usually brings a smile. Unlike Haikyuu which stayed well-written in its run, DNA has its dreary days that can only be lightened up by Sawamura.

Haikyuu: Personally, there's plenty of people who could go into the pros. The most who are definitely going to keep playing volleyball professionally was Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou, Oikawa Tooru, Ushiwaka, Bokuto Kentarou, and that's on the Miyagi Prefecture.

I don't see a majority of the current Karasuno team going pro though joining a volleyball club either in uni or as adults much like the alumnus is still very open. About Nishinoya, I can see him going pro in the future but I wasn't exactly sure. The rest of the cast from other teams I really don't see going pro despite their skills, not even Kuroo or Lev or Goshiki or Aone or Kanji. For Kei's character development, he didn't seem the type to go pro despite his recent love for it. Let's not forget that just because he wanted to block Hinata does not mean he wants to pursue life on the international waters. It's like forcing a talented writer to become a published author despite the author's wishes. Talented lot no doubt, but I don't think they would want to go into professional work. There's a difference between high school/university sport vs actual professional work as a sportsman. Being a pro athlete means more than just time and money.

We know Kageyama's head is always filled with volleyball to the point his dream is to play it on the international field. He already on track to get there too, being invited by the Japan under-19 training camp. Hinata is heading there, albeit at a slower pace because he didn't have the same exposure as Kageyama, who was already known as a prodigy. He is getting noticed during his first nationals and I trust Furudate to take him where he needed to go. Kageyama and Hinata made a promise in the manga to go to the Olympics together. Aside from the romantic implications, it's a done deal from the beginning since Hinata is fucking talented and ambitious. They're a pair since the start of their partnership and I can't see them separating when it comes to volleyball. Except maybe to evolve their training such as in the case in the training arc previous to the Spring Nationals and the Qualifiers.

Is Furudate going to go through the many things Hinata and Kageyama need to participate in the international field? Not just logistically, but with time and money and managers and so forth. Because I think they would have lots of supporters when they graduate. Karasuno would be so proud to see them play in the Olympics.

Honestly, I hope one of the last pictures we see of Hinata and Kageyama is them participating in the Olympics together. Just seeing canonical panels of the culmination of their effort would make me a happy camper.

Free!: Rin and Haru. I will say this: I'm never the one to ship rivals, very rare I do. I shipped Contestshipping (May/Haruka X Drew/Shuu) and Appealshipping (Dawn/Hikari X Zoey/Nozomi) but I certainly don't ship RinHaru, even when the rivalry eventually went to friendly. I don't know even know my thought process for even picking a rivalry-turn-romance.

Now for Haru, I actually didn't see him pursuing a career in professional swimming, no matter how talented he might be. He wanted to be 'free', whatever that means in his definition. I don't think being a pro swimmer would be free. Remember this is my thought before the finale of the second season. I'm still ambivalent, don't forget it, but I don't see the point of it bothering me so much it should take over my life. I have better things to worry about like getting a job.

I haven't even seen the third season of Free yet so yeah, the Free finales don't bother me much anymore since I long since moved on. I already moved forward from VLD so no worries about trauma or long time salt or anything like that. Given that I saw something similar happened to VLD in other forms of media, I'm not that worried about it.

I'm more surprised Free is still continuing well to this day. Is there more to the story? I know that they bought back characters in the movie in the later seasons but I have no clue that they planned more to it. I know YOI would still continue, of course.

Oofuri: Tajima, maybe Abe. I don't even know about our star pitcher, Mihashi. And that's on Nishiura side of things.

I actually don't see a lot of people going into pro baseball in this end. Like I see a lot of players in Daiya no Ace becoming pros but I barely see anybody in Oofuri who desires a place in the international stage. The most interesting part of Oofuri was sports psychology, written by someone who knows said psychology.

Just because they want to go to Nationals and play on the said stage does not negate their later pursuits in life.

Kuroko no Basuke: Surprisingly, none of the MiraGen made on the list of going pro, not even Aomine. The only character I see going pro would be Kagami Taiga and even then, that's dubious. Just because they love basketball does not mean they wish to pursue internationally like Hinata and Kageyama who think of volleyball almost all the time. Seriously, Kageyama would break if he was never ever to play volleyball again. I'm pretty sure the MiraGen and Kagami could live without basketball. This had been my mindset well before I saw the jobs like Firefighter Kagami or Kindergarten Teacher Kuroko or Pro Shogi player Akashi or Pilot Kise. Seriously, I thought Murasakibara would be much happier baking in his little patisserie than he would be playing basketball professionally.

Yowamushi Pedal: Like the Haikyuu examples, there are a lot of people that have the potential to go pro. I don't know about the future goals of these characters unless they truly honestly love the sport to the point they want to travel around the world to participate. I have no fucking clue until we get to the third year. I can see Naruko and Iwaizumi going pro. Onoda became a cyclist because it brings him friends. I can see him continuing to cycle in university and in his free time exempting the time fanboying over anime. I'm pretty sure he will still watch cycling and communicate with his friends but I don't see him pursuing a life cycling on the more international

...At least, I know that they would refuse the doping culture prevalent in the professional road racing sport. The characters would know from right and wrong although I do see them coming down with peer pressure and actually take it but utterly refuse a doping program. Even if pro cycling is getting better these days with Lance Armstrong and his former teammates hanging as a warning sign, there would still be the peer pressure of stupidity. Steroids are not going to make them better. The point of sports anime is that your spirit would strive you to go over the limit, reality be damned. Even if it means breaking your body.

Whether it was the national court or it would be the international games, I'm sure you will do well. Shock the world with your unpredictability that I love so much~! Silence those who don't expect Japan to make a humongous comeback with more than determined than ever. Isn't sports anime, across many tackling of genres like slice-of-life or just upfront Japanese spirit, is just that?