#good writing

[fevermuffin]

The more miserable they look, the better the writing is

[writerofstuff]

Dead Boy Detectives was surprising.

It surprised me when, instead of Crystal dropping in and fracturing Charles and Edwin's thirty years of friendship, they went with Crystal sinking into the fold of Charles and Edwin's friendship and becoming an important and unique addition to the group.

It surprised me when, instead of Gay Boy Pining Over Straight Best Friend, they went with Gay Boy Realises Feelings For Straight Best Friend And Confesses Almost Immediately with a bonus of Straight Boy Accepts Confession With Surprising Grace And Nothing Changes, Not Really.

It surprised me when, instead of making the female characters repetitive and semi-rational and ultimately less powerful, they went with characters who are smart and selfish and kind and cruel and strong and flawed and oh, they happen to be female too.

It surprised me when Charles liking Crystal did not affect one bit of how much he loved Edwin.

It surprised me when Jenny talked about spinsters with cats and Niko did not bat an eye.

It surprised me with Edwin and Niko. It surprised me with, we have forever to figure the rest out. It surprised me with Crystal's kindness, Jenny's empathy, the casual and absolute, the good you do will come back around.

Dead Boy Detectives was surprising. One day, I hope I can sit back and watch another show and none of this has to be surprising anymore.

[garfieldthehuman]

"A dog... but with slouching skin, and a man's hands."

Is such a deeply unsettling way to describe a werewolf. I don't even really think of werewolves as particularly scary but that line just freaked me the fuck out.

[fraeuleintaka]

I don't think I've talked about this so far but I need to mention it: I love what OPLA does in involving both Nami and Vivi (or their female characters in general) in significant fights!

Shonen-type shows since immemorial always find a bunch of convenient excuses for why the few main female characters that they have don't get involved in important fights. "They just happen to sit this one out because of plot reasons", "they're not strong enough", "they're not much of a fighter", "they have other super important skills besides combat!" but epic fights are still 90% of the reason these types of shows exist and the vast majority of the plot. How convenient that you have about 3 main female characters across 3 different shows and this conveniently applies to all of them. Huh, what a coinkydink!

I would've preferred if OP had more female characters in its core cast but it does have Nami, at least, and some significant female side characters. OPLA also does a lot to counteract this trope of the female characters conveniently never fighting any significant battles, at least so far in S2.

Vivi has some major moments in helping out Luffy against Wapol in the season finale. Nami and Vivi both face one of the named villains in the Little Garden arc with Miss Valentine - and Nami even helps in Zoro and Usopp's concurrent battle against Mr. 5 while busy fighting herself. Nami completely naturally participates in the battle against Buggy's goons in S2E1 and, with Usopp, even defeats the only "boss" in that battle with Alvida. While Smoker fights and defeats Miss Thursday, Tashigi fights and defeats Mr. 11, which even directly goes against the "action rule" that women are only allowed to fight other women. There's no feeling that the women are less capable fighters than the men, apart from individual characters obviously being more powerful than other individual characters, and there's no sense that the women are constantly taken out of the action for one convenient reason or another. Nami does spend the last 3 episodes of the season being ill which is also explicitly the reason she doesn't participate in the final fight against Wapol and his henchmen, but this is an exception, not the rule, which is why it doesn't hurt the story. Isolated cases like this are normal and happen to the men just as well (e.g. Luffy in S2E1) which is also shown in how Vivi participates in the final fight no problem.

Of course, the female characters also have other skills, characteristics and plot relevance that doesn't just revolve all around fighting (e.g. the way Nami's navigation skills are a major topic in S2E2 or how Vivi's bonding with the crew and her goal of saving her country drives a lot of the plot in the second half of the season), but the involvement of the female characters in the fighting is significant and feels completely natural, and I love OPLA for that.

[itsyourvoiceuseit]

I will say, I like that Kyle's War College buddies, even if they don't approve of his interest in Jay-Den, are still willing to throw down to defend his right to pursue Jay-Den. Because it's not like Darem was trying to physically attack Kyle. He was just trying to pull Jay-Den away because he was being a possessive baby. But Dzolo still stomped over to tell him to fuck off so Kyle could keep dancing with Jay-Den. It stops them from being two dimensional villains, and I appreciate that.

This show is so good.

[nexis9]

You know, one of my favorite parts of tcf is how they deal with misunderstandings. Since Cale here, literally EVERYONE misunderstands what he means. Normally, I'm not a fan of when something adds a lot of misunderstandings, but the way the book does it is genuinely so good.

I generally feel second hand embarrassment when misunderstandings happen, but in tcf, when such misunderstandings happen, it tends to work out for him AND doesn't feel awkward. Mostly because they misunderstand Cale and think he's kinder then he is when he's actually being "selfish" (that gets quotation marks because he really isn't being selfish lol).

[autisticzenitsu]

How to write anxiety: Look at Zenitsu Agatsuma

It's not uncommon for a character to have a high level of anxiety, and have their arc and character development focused on overcoming that anxiety. It's been done numerous times.

However--speaking as someone with Generalized Anxiety Disorder--these attempts at writing anxiety usually fall flat, for a couple of reasons.

One--When this kind of character development is attempted, it's usually an 'instacure'. The character usually gets over their anxiety in the span of a single episode (or 2 or 3 max), typically with the help of people they just met. This is not how anxiety works--it's not that easy to "get over" it or push past it. It takes time and effort. This route actually kills realism and believability, and outright hurts my ability to connect with the character. The idea that anxiety is so to move past and can be "cured" just like that or with the right people (even if you barely know them) is honestly insulting.

Two--The anxiety is frequently portrayed as cutesy and sanitized. It is surprisingly rare to see it portrayed as actually disabling, and to see its portrayal include the uglier and non-cute parts of having anxiety. Frequently, anxiety is loud meltdowns. It's panic attacks. It's getting sick or passing out. It's catastrophizing. It's irritability. It's something that needs to be managed. It is not just cutely stuttering or hiding away. It is not something that a friend, loved one, or acquaintance can comfort you over and cure you of.

However, in the case of Zenitsu Agatsuma, both of these problems are avoided. It takes time and a lot of effort for him to push past his anxiety, only managing to fight awake when he confronted Kaigaku and on. While he took steps to become braver before that, it wasn't an instant fix--it was a work in progress. And while his anxiety doesn't go away, he does learn to function despite it and learns to manage it better. And that's incredibly realistic, authentic, and earned.

As for Zenitsu's arc itself--while some people in the fandom claim it's out of nowhere, rushed, sudden or had no build-up, that's actually not the case. It's actually well-crafted and well paced--and he steadily grows and takes steps to try and push past and manage his anxiety.

When we're introduced to him, we are not given a flattering picture. He's in the middle of a meltdown and pathetically begging a woman to marry him because he's genuinely convinced he'll die on his next mission--and he's so stuck in his own head that he fails to pick up on the fact that she's not interested in him and was actually trying to turn him down.

After Tanjiro (rightly) gives Zenitsu an earful and pulls him away from that girl, he asks Zenitsu why he's even in the Corps to begin with if he's begging for protection:

And while Zenitsu tries to explain, he promptly flies into another panic attack:

We're shown that Zenitsu's anxiety is extremely debilitating.

And later on, at Tsuzumi Mansion, we're shown this:

And this:

He passes out from anxiety, and sleep fights.

(Additionally, this is a form of sleep disruption. While Zenitsu's sleep fighting is obviously an exaggeration with a fantastical edge, sleep disruption is a well documented symptom of GAD/anxiety disorders).

Additionally, prior to passing out, his immediate instinct was avoidance. He asked Tanjiro to protect him, then when he was separated from Tanjiro, he wanted to grab Shoichi and leave Tsuzumi Mansion entirely. This is an incredibly realistic anxiety response.

His anxiety is portrayed as genuinely disabling. It's not meant to be seen as cute, or quirky. Sometimes it is played for laughs, but attention is also drawn to the fact that Zenitsu is a person who's suffering, given that Tanjiro (despite chewing him for begging a woman to marry him moments before) stops to ask if he's okay during their first meeting.

If he were just an object of ridicule and we were meant to see him as such, that moment wouldn't exist.

And during his introduction, we are also shown he has self-esteem that compound his anxiety:

And even before this, he called himself weak numerous times.

So yes--his anxiety is very realistically portrayed, and it isn't made into something that's meant to be seen as cute and quirky. In his case, it's made clear it's genuinely disabling. As we can see when he sleep fights, he's very lethal, so he's not actually incapable (far from it). It's his anxiety and extremely low self-esteem that are holding him back.

However, it's something he works on--he doesn't like being terrified and anxious, and dislikes how his anxiety overwhelms and controls him:

It's made incredibly clear that what he wants more than anything is to become a person who's brave enough to protect people.

And shortly after we're introduced to him during the Tsuzumi Mansion arc, he does start to take steps to do exactly that.

Look at the difference in him from Tsuzumi Mansion to Mt. Natagumo:

During Tsuzumi Mansion, Tanjiro had to pressure Zenitsu into going inside.

However, during Mt. Natagumo:

He goes up Mt. Natagumo--a mountain that he knows has at least one demon--and straight into danger because he was worried for Nezuko's safety.

This is a small step, but it is still character growth.

After Mugen Train, Zenitsu is stated to not be complaining as often, even when sent on solo missions.

And, despite being terrified, he joins Tanjiro and Inosuke in trying to protect Aoi and Naho and stands up to Tengen:

This is another step forward; he doesn't retreat, doesn't back down, and stands his ground.

And later on during the Red Light District arc, he stands up to Daki:

And he does this, knowing full well she's a strong demon:

He knows how strong she is, knows she's dangerous and could easily kill him. He's scared.

But he couldn't stand the way she was abusing that girl, and he intervened. This is a huge display of character growth.

Compare it to his Mt. Natagumo fight; there, he only snarked a bit at the Brother Spider Demon from a safe distance, and repeatedly tried to scale up a tree to get away.

Compare it to Tsuzumi Mansion, where he tried to take Shoichi and exit the mansion with him.

He does neither of those things here; here, he draws closer to her, grabs her hand (making physical contact) and demand that Daki let go of that girl.

A girl he doesn't know personally, and thus has no direct personal attachment to. And he still found the strength to push past his fear and anxiety to defend her and stand up to Daki for her.

This is huge step forward, and is a vastly underrated moment in his arc.

Yes, he isn't fighting awake (yet), but that doesn't mean this isn't growth. It very much is--in fact this is the clearest and most obvious sign yet that he's changing.

During the Swordsmith Village arc, Zenitsu is off on a separate mission, further cementing the fact that he's grown enough to handle missions separate from his friend group now.

But his anxiety keeps him from fighting awake until he gets the final push he needs:

He receives news of a personal tragedy; his older adoptive brother Kaigaku became a demon, and his adoptive grandfather Jigoro committed sepppuku because of it.

This is the catalyst that lets him act on the growth that he's already been building towards; he knows it's up to him to redeem Jigoro's legacy, and he knows that to do that he'll have to confront Kaigaku.

So he begins mentally steeling himself to do exactly that, despite Tanjiro worrying about him.

And it pays off--when he confronts Kaigaku, he fights him awake.

This is one of the most rewarding and hard-earned moments in the series.

Because Zenitsu's arc has been building up to this from the moment of his introduction.

But anxiety just isn't that easy to push past, especially when it's as debilitating and disabling as it is for Zenitsu. So he had to take smaller steps in order to get there.

That is incredibly realistic. This is an authentic portrayal of anxiety and just how hard it is to push past and manage it effectively. It's not something you can do overnight, and that is beautifully reflected with Zenitsu and his struggles.

And this development is never reverted--when Zenitsu fights Muzan during Sunrise Countdown, he's wide awake there, too:

And one of the things that makes his arc so good is that Zenitsu's anxiety doesn't just vanish after this.

He's still anxious (resulting in such behavior like unintentionally shouting his proposal). He still gets overwhelmed. He still cries.

But he's learned to manage it more effectively. His fear doesn't leave him, but his anxiety is no longer a barrier stopping him from keeping others safe. He is finally the person who is brave enough to protect others that he always wanted to be.

And that is why Zenitsu's arc is so, so good. That is why his development is so hard-earned and real and why his arc resonates so strongly. It's an excellent portrayal of anxiety, and I am so glad it exists and wish more attempts at portraying anxiety were like this.